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:
Dec. 27, 1994
Filed:
Jan. 21, 1993
Robert P Ryan, Wauwatosa, WI (US);
Ryan Screen Printing Inc., Milwaukee, WI (US);
Abstract
The viewing angle and illumination intensity of windows and indicator panels are improved by printing the legends associated with indicator windows on a clear plastic sheet. An opaque ink having a color that contrasts with the color of the printed matter is coated on the backside of the panel with suitable masking so that transparent windows are defined in the panel. A clear tinted ink is coated on the background color coating to impart color to the windows. The next coat is a transparent ink, which contains a white reflective and light-dispersing pigment that makes it translucent. Finally, a coat of a transparent ink is applied and it is cured to produce a textured effect which contributes to the light scattering and diffusing process performed by the white pigment such that when a window is illuminated from the backside, it can be visualized along an optical axis which is almost parallel with the plane of the panel. The various inks that are applied after the windows are created can be combined in many cases to reduce the method to a single coating step. The method can be used to treat large panels where obscuring the individuality of LEDs is sought.