Durel Corporation

Douglas T Wheeler

Dee Lynn Johnson

Walter J Paciorek

Rodney T Eckersley

Ralph M McGuigan

Robert J Krafcik

Harold T Munson

A method for forming an electroluminescent lamp unit. A multi-layer sheet form electroluminescent lamp, the multi-layer sheet form lamp includes a pair of sheet-form conductive layers, one of which is transparent for transmitting light emitted from the particles, an electroluminescent sheet-form layer disposed between the pair of sheet-form conductive layers and having electroluminescent particles, and a carrier substrate for supporting the pair of sheet-form conductive layers and electroluminescent sheet-form layer. The multi-layer sheet form lamp is heated at a temperature sufficient for maintaining the operational integrity of said carrier substrate and said thermoplastic layers. The multi-layer sheet form lamp is them formed into a desired three-dimensional shape.

Electroluminescent lamp devices and their manufacture

An electroluminescent lamp assembly includes electroluminescent lamps of selected limited size placed and secured upon a larger printed circuit substrate employing surface mount techniques. The electroluminescent lamp assembly includes a substrate having a relatively large lamp receiving surface and relatively smaller lamps. At least one of these smaller lamps is a multi-layer sheet-form electroluminescent lamp having a sheet-form layer containing electroluminescent particles, the layer disposed between a pair of sheet-form conductive layers, one of which is transparent for transmitting light emitted from the particles. The electroluminescent lamps each have conductors exposed for engagement and connection with conductive traces on the lamp receiving surface of the substrate in a surface mounted face-to-face arrangement and are distributed in spaced-apart relationship according to a preselected illumination pattern and connected to the conductive traces.

An electroluminescent lamp unit includes a flat deformable substrate of preselected size having smaller sheet-form flexible electroluminescent lamps secured face-to-face at preselected positions on a surface of the substrate, the lamps connected with conductive traces on the substrate. The flat substrate with secured lamps can be deformed into a desired shape to provide a relatively inexpensive and reliable electroluminescent lamp unit applicable for a wide variety of applications. The flexible electroluminescent lamps of the unit can be individually addressable and may have different colors or intensities. A method of manufacture of such units employs surface mount technology in an automated version, pick and place robots select and place the lamps as instructed, followed by ultrasonic welding or mechanical or adhesive fastening.

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Tempe, AZ, United States of America

Douglas T Wheeler