Claims
- 1. A method for forming an optical converter comprising the steps of:
providing at least two light guide ribbon structures, with each light guide ribbon structure formed by the steps of roll molding a substrate having a pattern of channels with each channel extending from an input edge to an output edge of said substrate and forming light guides extending along each of the channels from the input edge to the output edge; and assembling the at least two light guide ribbon structures together in a stacked arrangement.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the molding step comprises passing a thermoplastic material between a support and a patterned roller with said patterned roller shaping the thermoplastic material to form channels therein.
- 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the thermoplastic material is injected under pressure between the support and the patterned roller.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the roll molding step comprises passing a base material and a thermoplastic material between a support and a patterned roller with said patterned roller shaping the thermoplastic material to form channels therein.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the roll molding step comprises passing base and an optical material between a support and a patterned roller with the patterned roller shaping the optical material to form light guides on the base and further comprising the step of applying a thermoplastic material around the light guides to form channels.
- 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of roll molding a substrate having a pattern of channels on a substrate comprises defining each channel so that each channel is spaced apart from its adjacent channel by an input spacing at said input edge and by an output spacing at said output edge.
- 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of roll molding a substrate having a pattern of channels comprises defining each channel so that each channel is spaced apart from its adjacent channel by an input spacing at said input edge and by an output spacing at said output edge and wherein the input spacing at said input edge differs from the output spacing at the output edge.
- 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of assembling the at least two light guide ribbon structures comprises assembling the at least two light guide ribbons structure so that light guides of one light guide ribbon structure are separated from light guides from an adjacent light guide ribbon structure by a predetermined separation.
- 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of assembling at least two of the light guide ribbon structures further comprises assembling a spacer stacked between at least two light guide ribbon structures, said spacer separating the light guides of the adjacent light guide ribbon structure by the predetermined separation.
- 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the optical converter has an input edge and an output edge with light guides separated at the input edge by a first separation and separated at an output edge by a second separation that is different from the first separation.
- 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate is formed from a light absorbing material.
- 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the at least one of the substrate and spacer are formed from a light absorbing material
- 13. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of roll molding a substrate further comprises molding a substrate having two sides with each side having a pattern of channels thereon.
- 14. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of forming light guides comprises forming light guides using each pattern of channels.
- 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of forming a light guide comprises filling said channels with an optical material.
- 16. The method of claim 15 further comprising the step of curing said fluid optical material using light energy.
- 17. The method of claim 1, further comprising applying a coating of a cladding to the channels.
- 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the cladding comprises a reflective material.
- 19. The method of claim 1, wherein a reflective material is applied to the channels and further comprising the step of enclosing the channels with a reflective material to form a reflective light guide.
- 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the reflective material used to enclose the channels is coated onto the substrate and over the channels.
- 21. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of forming the shape of one or more of said plurality of light guides prior to assembling the light guide ribbon structures.
- 22. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of assembling at least two light guide ribbon structures further comprises the step of interposing a spacer between adjacent said light guide ribbon structures.
- 23. The method of claim 22 wherein the step of interposing a spacer comprises the step of applying an adhesive between adjacent light guide ribbon structures, said adhesive having a thickness.
- 24. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of assembling at least two of said light guide ribbon structures comprises the step of assembling the light guide ribbon structures in an aligned arrangement.
- 25. The method of claim 1, wherein the input edges of the light guide ribbon structures are arranged on one side of the optical converter to form an input side of the optical converter and output edges of the light guide structures arranged on another side of the optical converter to form an output side of the optical converter when the light guide ribbon structures are assembled.
- 26. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of applying an adhesive to at least one of said light guide ribbon structures said adhesive being adapted to join the at least one of said light guide ribbon structures to another light guide ribbon structure in a stacked arrangement.
- 27. The method of claim 24 wherein said light guide ribbon structures are arranged in an aligned arrangement using at least one of a pin, a hole, a slot, a detent, a magnet, an alignment element and a socket.
- 28. The method of claim 24, wherein each of said light guide ribbon structures has an alignment channel on one side and an alignment surface on another side with each alignment channel adapted to receive an alignment surface of another light guide ribbon structure when said light guide ribbon structure is assembled to another light guide ribbon structure.
- 29. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of forming said pattern of channels comprises the step of forming said channels wherein the cross sectional shape at said input edge differs from the cross-sectional shape at said output edge.
- 30. The method of claim 1 wherein said at least two light guide ribbon structures are formed in a common web and wherein the step of assembling more than one light guide ribbon structure comprises folding the web so that the light guide ribbon structures are joined in a stacked arrangement.
- 31. The method of claim 1, wherein each of said light guide ribbon structure contains channels comprising a portion of a light guide and the step of assembling the light guide ribbon structures comprises assembling the light guide ribbon structures so that the combination of one light guide ribbon structure with another forms a light guide.
- 32. A method for forming an optical converter comprising:
forming a web of light guide ribbon structures by the steps of roll molding a web of substrate having a pattern of channels, each channel spaced apart from its adjacent channel in accordance with a predefined pattern, and coating an optical material into the channels on the web of substrate to form light guides; segmenting the web of light guide ribbon structures to form individual light guide ribbon structures with each ribbon structure having an input edge and an output edge with light guides extending therebetween; and assembling the individual light guide ribbon structures in a stacked arrangement.
- 33. The method of claim 32 wherein the step of segmenting the web of light guide ribbon structures, comprises separating the web into individual separate light guide ribbon structures.
- 34. The method of claim 32, further comprising, the step of applying a coating support material between said light guides.
- 35. The method of claim 32, further comprising the step of applying a coating to the web of light guide ribbon structures.
- 36. The method of claim 35, wherein said coating provides a spacer for providing a spacer between adjacent stacked said light guide ribbon structures.
- 37. The method of claim 36, wherein the optical converter has an input edge and an output edge and wherein the spacer is used to provide a separation between the light guide ribbon structures at the input edge that is different from the separation of light guide ribbon structures at the output edge.
- 38. The method of claim 37, wherein the ratio of said output edge spacing to said input edge spacing exceeds about 1.4.
- 39. The method of claim 38 wherein the step of roll molding a substrate having a pattern of channels comprises the step of defining a pattern of channels on each side of a substrate.
- 40. The method of claim 31 wherein said light guide ribbon structures are curved.
- 41. The method of claim 31 further comprising the step of shaping an end face of at least one said light guides to provide a lens structure.
- 42. The method of claim 41 wherein the step of shaping an end face of at least one said light guides comprises the step of applying heat to said at least one said light guides.
- 43. The method of claim 32 wherein the thickness dimension at said input edge of said substrate differs from the thickness dimension at said output edge of said substrate.
- 44. The method of claim 32 wherein at least one said light guide ribbon structure has a plurality of input edges.
- 45. The method of claim 32 wherein at least one said light guide ribbon structure has a plurality of output edges.
- 46. The method of claim 32 wherein the step of forming light guides comprises the step of affixing said light guides onto said substrate according to said pattern of channels defined along said substrate and wherein the step of forming channels comprises applying a layer of thermoplastic material around the light guides.
- 47. A method for forming an optical converter, the method comprising the steps of:
forming an initial web layer of light guide ribbon structures by the steps of roll molding a web of substrate having a pattern of channels each channel spaced apart from its adjacent channel in accordance with a predefined pattern and coating an optical material into the channels on the web of substrate to form light guides; forming at least one subsequent web layer of light guide ribbon structure on the initial web layer by the steps of roll molding a web of substrate on the initial web layer of light guide ribbon structures, with each subsequent layer having a pattern of channels, each channel spaced apart from its adjacent channel in accordance with a predefined pattern and coating an optical material into the channels on the web of substrate to form light guides; and segmenting the web of light guide ribbon structures to form an optical converter having an input edge and an output edge with an array of stacked light guides extending therebetween.
- 48. The method of claim 47, further comprising the step of applying an intermediate layer between at least two of the layers.
- 49. The method of claim 47, wherein the step of applying an intermediate layer comprises the step of applying a coating.
- 50. The method of claim 47, wherein the intermediate layer comprises a spacer.
- 51. The method of claim 47, wherein the optical material comprises a reflective material and the intermediate layer comprises a reflective material that encloses the channel to form a reflective light guide.
- 52. The method of claim 47, wherein the step of forming said initial web layer of light guide ribbon structures further comprises the step of introducing a liquefied substance into each channel in said first array of channels.
- 53. The method of claim 47, further comprising the step of assembling more than one of the optical converters formed by segmenting the web.
- 54. An optical converter comprising:
at least two light guide ribbon structures assembled in a stacked arrangement with each light guide ribbon structure formed by the steps of roll molding a substrate having a pattern of channels with each channel extending from an input edge of the substrate to an output edge of said substrate and forming light guides extending along each of the channels from the input edge to the output edge.
- 55. The optical converter of claim 54 further comprising a spacer between the at least two light guide ribbon structures.
- 56. The optical converter of claim 55, wherein the light guide ribbon structures are assembled in an aligned fashion.
- 57. The optical converter of claim 54, wherein each light guide ribbons structure contains a channel adapted to cooperate with another light guide ribbon structure to form a light guide and wherein the light guides are formed by assembling the light guide ribbon structure.
- 58. An optical converter comprising:
individual light guide ribbon structures assembled in a stacked arrangement with each light guide ribbon structure formed by the steps of roll molding a web of substrate having a pattern of channels each channel spaced apart from its adjacent channel in accordance with a predefined pattern and coating an optical material into the channels on the web of substrate to form light guides and segmenting the web of light guide ribbon structures to form individual light guide ribbon structures with each ribbon structure having an input edge and an output edge with light guides extending therebetween.
- 59. The optical converter of claim 58, wherein the individual light guide ribbon structures comprise separated portions of the web.
- 60. The optical converter of claim 58, wherein the individual light guide ribbon structures are segmented by folding the web.
- 61. An optical converter having an input edge and an output edge with an array of stacked light guides extending therebetween, with the optical converter having an initial web layer of light guide ribbon structures formed by the steps of roll molding a web of substrate having a pattern of channels each channel spaced apart from its adjacent channel in accordance with a predefined pattern and coating an optical material into the channels on the web of substrate to form light guides and at least one subsequent web layer of light guide ribbon structure on the initial web layer formed by the steps of roll molding a web of substrate on the initial web layer of light guide ribbon structures, with each subsequent layer having a pattern of channels, each channel spaced apart from its adjacent channel in accordance with a predefined pattern, and coating an optical material into the channels on the web of substrate to form light guides.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is related to the following commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/314,843 entitled “Optical Computer Formed From Flexible Strips” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/314,557 entitled “An Apparatus and System For Forming a Fiber Optic Faceplate” both filed on Dec. 9, 2002.