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:
Mar. 26, 1996
Filed:
Jun. 17, 1994
James B Armstrong, Albuquerque, NM (US);
J Michael Lengyel, Ramona, CA (US);
Honeywell Inc., Minneapolis, MN (US);
Abstract
Fluorescent lamp energy efficiency is improved by providing geometric formations on the surface to which the phosphor coating is applied. By such geometric formations, a greater oblique surface area is available for receiving a desirably thin phosphor coating such that greater and more uniform visible light output is obtained from the device for a given energy input, i.e., greater relative to that possible with smooth surfaces receiving the phosphor coating. In the illustrated embodiment, the interior surfaces of an enclosure include V-shaped groove formations for increasing the interior surface area and establishing oblique orientation relative to approaching UV light rays. A UV light source is placed within the enclosure for excitation of a phosphor coating applied to the interior surfaces of the enclosure. The invention is particularly well adapted for use as a backlighting system in an active matrix liquid crystal display device.