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:
Sep. 04, 2012
Filed:
Dec. 10, 2010
Tatsuo Uchida, Miyagi, JP;
Takahiro Ishinabe, Miyagi, JP;
Tohru Kawakami, Miyagi, JP;
Kentaro Okuyama, Miyagi, JP;
Shinpei Nagatani, Kanagawa, JP;
Akira Ebisui, Miyagi, JP;
Masahiro Ikeda, Miyagi, JP;
Tatsuo Uchida, Miyagi, JP;
Takahiro Ishinabe, Miyagi, JP;
Tohru Kawakami, Miyagi, JP;
Kentaro Okuyama, Miyagi, JP;
Shinpei Nagatani, Kanagawa, JP;
Akira Ebisui, Miyagi, JP;
Masahiro Ikeda, Miyagi, JP;
Sony Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Tohoku University, Sendai-Shi, JP;
Abstract
An illumination device is provided and includes: a light guide member; a light source provided on one or more side faces of the light guide member; and a light modulating element including a pair of transparent substrates disposed to oppose each other with a gap therebetween, a first electrode provided on a surface of one of the transparent substrates, a second electrode provided on a surface of the other of the transparent substrates, and a light modulation layer provided in the gap and expressing a scattering property or a transparency to light from the light source in accordance with a magnitude of an electric field. The first electrode, the second electrode, or both thereof is patterned, and a density of pattern of the first electrode, the second electrode, or both thereof to which the patterning is applied is varied depending on a distance from the light source.