The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 07, 2026
Filed:
Apr. 19, 2023
3m Innovative Properties Company, St. Paul, MN (US);
Kevin W. Gotrik, Hudson, WI (US);
Stephen J. Etzkorn, Woodbury, MN (US);
Nicholas A. Johnson, Burnsville, MN (US);
Tao Liu, Woodbury, MN (US);
John J. Sullivan, Hudson, WI (US);
Bharat R. Acharya, Woodbury, MN (US);
3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY, St. Paul, MN (US);
Abstract
A light control film includes a plurality of substantially parallel optical cavities. Each of the optical cavities has a height H along a thickness direction of the light control film and a minimum lateral dimension W along an in-plane width direction orthogonal to the thickness direction, where H≥W. The optical cavities are substantially filled with a liquid including a plurality of light absorbing particles configured to move along the thickness direction in response to one or more applied signals or fields such that the movement along the thickness direction causes each of the optical cavities to transition between a substantially opaque state and a substantially transparent state. A full viewing angle of the light control film increases when the optical cavities transition from the substantially opaque state to the substantially transparent state.