Avery Dennison Corporation

Preco, Inc.

Feng Wu

Steven R Chapman

Kejian (Kevin) Huang

Ethelbert Galicia

Guang-Xue Wei

Daniel B Miller

James J Bucklew

Kejian Huang

Christopher Chow

Methods of making tiled articles and molds used to make retroreflective articles. The methods include forming a prism array on a master substrate and forming a replica of the master. A reference edge is formed on the replica, thereby reducing the size of the prism array, yet maintaining a lateral dimension of the replica to maintain ease of handling of the replica. The replica is copied and the reference edge on the copied tiles are exposed, such that the reference edge can be mated and secured face-to-face with a reference edge on other tiles in order to form a tiled article. The tiled article is used as a mold to produce retroreflective articles or can be further duplicated and mated to form larger tiled articles to be used as molds. Tiled articles used as molds and retroreflective articles produced from the molds are also disclosed.

Tiled retroreflector with multi-stage dicing

A method of making an array () of aberrated optical elements (). The method comprises the steps of providing a substrate having a first surface with forming elements thereon, and controlled working a localized region on the first surface of the substrate. The controlled working is of a magnitude sufficient to aberrate one or more of the forming elements in an affected site surrounding the localized region.

Method of making an array of aberrated optical elements

A retroreflective sheet structure () comprising a transparent layer () having a front light-receiving surface () and a rear retroreflecting surface (). Light incident on the front surface () will pass through the layer (), impinge on the rear retroreflective surface () and reflect back out through the front surface () in a predetermined direction. An identifying indicia () is chosen and then formed on the retroreflecting surface (). This indicia () can be used for identification purposes, even years after an end product incorporating the reflective sheet structure () has been out in the field.

Retroreflective sheet structure

A directionally active projection device is described that includes a planar display providing a pattern of information. The planar display includes regions of light transparency and regions for blocking light transmittance. The directionally active projection device also includes a lens arranged adjacent to the planar display, and a collection of light sources arranged as an array in a focal plane of the lens. Also described are methods of controlling directionally active projection devices.

Direction active projection

A method of scoring a multi-layer film structure, wherein the multi-layer film structure comprises a metal layer and polymer layer bonded to each other, the method comprises using a single laser beam incident to the polymer layer to produce a score line in the polymer layer, wherein the laser energy is absorbed only by the metal layer.

Laser scoring of metal/polymer structures

A rotationally insensitive, retroreflective prismatic sheeting and method of manufacture is provided. The sheeting includes discrete clusters of cube corners that are separated from one another on all sides by a textured surface. Each of the cube corners in each cluster has a base edge that is not collinear or parallel with the base edges of cube corners on either side of it. The array of cube corners clusters is rulable, and the cube corners have different orientations. Four or more of the cube corners in each cluster may have edges that converge into a central point within the cluster, and the cube corners of the clusters may include at least two symmetrical pairs of cube corners. The shapes of the cube corner clusters may be polygonal, and all of the cube corners may share a common vertex located at the center of the polygonal shape.

Rulable multi-directional prism cluster retroreflective sheeting

An infrared light transmission film includes a polymer matrix and at least one red colorant, blue colorant, and yellow colorant that are uniformly dispersed in the polymer matrix at amounts effective to allow transmission through the film of at least about 85% of light with wavelengths over about 800 nm while blocking transmission of at least about 90% of light with wavelengths less than about 750 nm.

Infrared light transmission film

A retroreflective sheeting () comprising a cube layer () having a front light-receiving surface () and a rear retroreflecting surface (), and a metallic layer () covering the rear retroreflecting surface (). The rear surface () comprises an array of retroreflective elements () and diffusing patches () within such array (without retroreflective elements ()). The metallic layer () covers the retroreflective elements () and the diffusing patches (), whereby diffusing patches () scatter incoming light increasing daytime brightness to a desired level.

Growing community of inventors

Lake Zurich, IL, United States of America

Feng Wu