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, 1998
Filed:
Jul. 12, 1995
Johannes A Van Haaren, Eindhoven, NL;
Dirk J Broer, Eindhoven, NL;
U.S. Philips Corporation, New York, NY (US);
Abstract
An illumination system comprises a radiation source and a broadband, cholesteric polarizer. Such a polarizer includes a layer of a polymeric material having a cholesteric ordering, the material being ordered such that the axis of the molecular helix is oriented transversely to the layer. The broadband character of the polarizer is obtained by increasing the pitch of the molecular helix from a minimum value at a first surface of the cholesteric layer to a maximum value at the second surface of the layer. The polarizer must be positioned in the illumination system in such a manner that the second surface of the cholesteric layer faces the radiation source. By virtue thereof, the illumination system attains a surprisingly low viewing-angle dependence of the brightness and the colour. This property is further improved by using a quarter lambda plate having a negative an isotropy in the refractive index.