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. 10, 2015
Filed:
Apr. 04, 2011
Applicants:
Hideo Iizuka, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Nader Engheta, Berwyn, PA (US);
Hisayoshi Fujikawa, Seto, JP;
Inventors:
Assignees:
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Erlanger, KY (US);
The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (US);
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G02B 5/18 (2006.01); G02B 26/02 (2006.01); G02B 26/08 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G02B 26/02 (2013.01); G02B 26/0808 (2013.01);
Abstract
A light switch (or valve) made up of two mutually inverted, substantially identical diffraction gratings with a liquid medium therebetween, arranged to allow the grating substrates to be shifted laterally relative to one another so as to align and mis-align the grating elements. When aligned, incident-polarized light passes through the switch and when misaligned, light does not pass through the switch but is reflected.