3m Innovative Properties Company

Anthony J Freking

Keith Michael Kotchick

Satinder K Nayar

Michael L Ruegsegger

Patrick H Marushin

Ashok Lu

John Fei

Ren Hua Feng

In a new packaging method for light management films in displays, such as liquid crystal displays, a stack of two or more optical films is held together before insertion into the display frame. The stack includes at least two of the films that are adhered together using adhesive positioned outside the viewing area of the films. In some embodiments, the adhesive is provided at one or more tabs provided around the periphery of the film stack.

Adhesive stacking for multiple optical films

Pre-aligned optical layers are stacked and arranged such that an adhesive layer, which is stacked onto the optical layers, contacts at least the uppermost layer and lowermost layer. The resulting subassemblies can be assembled into an optical display without individual handling of the layers, which reduces installation time and manufacturing costs.

Pre-stacked optical films with adhesive layer

The invention is directed to a new packaging method in which several optical films are bundled together before insertion into the display frame. This bundling makes handling of the films easier, reduces the number of steps required for assembly of the display device, reduces the chance of damaging the films and increases yields. At least two of the films in the stack are bonded together using a zero-gap bond. The zero-gap bond lies outside the viewing area of the film.

Package of optical films with zero-gap bond outside viewing area

An optical product comprised of an optical film and a protective cover has a cover removal tab attached along one edge. The cover removal tab allows the protective cover to be easily and efficiently removed from the optical film. In addition, there is no imprint of the cover removal tab on the optical film when multiple optical products are stacked or rolled up for storage, the protective cover remains the same size as the optical film, adding the cover removal tab to the optical product only requires a one punch-head converting machine, and there is minimal waste of material and time to add the cover removal tab.

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Vadnais Heights, MN, United States of America

Anthony J Freking