Patent Application
20130200539
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for manufacturing light guide plates and a method for manufacturing light guide plates using the apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
A light guide plate is typically employed in a backlight module for converting a point light source or a linear light source into an area/plane light source. The light guide plate includes a number of microstructures. The microstructures may be formed on a surface or two opposite surfaces of the light guide plate. The light guide plate with the microstructures can be manufactured through an injection molding method or a printing method.
However, the above mentioned printing method must employ a PET film as a substrate and thus this increases a total thickness of the manufactured light guide plate. In addition, a ratio of light transmission of the PET film is about 90%, which will also limit a total ratio of light transmission of the manufactured light guide plate. Furthermore, the UV curable needs to adhere the PET film firmly and needs to easily depart from the pressing roll at the same time, therefore, it is difficult to prepare the UV curable glue with a suitable viscosity coefficient.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an apparatus and method for manufacturing a light guide plate that can overcome the above-mentioned limitations.
Many aspects of the embodiments should be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
The coater 10 is used for containing UV curable glue 12. The coater 10 is substantially funnel-shaped and includes a mouth 102 and a pipe 104. The UV curable glue 12 flows into the coater 10 through the mouth 102 and flows out from the coater 10 through the pipe 104.
The first pressing roller 20 and the second pressing roller 30 are located nearby each other and spaced at a predetermined distance from each other. The first pressing roller 20 rotates around a first central axis, and the second pressing roller 30 rotates around a second central axis. A molding channel 103 is formed between the first pressing roller 20 and the second pressing roller 30. The UV curable glue 12 from the pipe 104 directly flows into the molding channel 103. The distance between the first pressing roller 20 and the second pressing roller 30 is substantially equal to a predetermined thickness of light guide plates 200 to be manufactured.
The first pressing roller 20 and the second pressing roller 30 cooperate to press the UV curable glue 12. The first pressing roller 20 includes a hollow cylindrical first main body 22 and a first molding core 24 sleeving and adhering the first main body 22. The first molding core 24 defines a number of first microstructures 242 on its outer surface. The second pressing roller 30 includes a hollow cylindrical second main body 32 and a second molding core 34 sleeving and adhering the second main body 32. The second molding core 34 defines a number of second microstructures 342 on its outer surface. The first main body 22 and the second main body 32 are on a same height with respect to the coater 10. The pipe 104 is aligned with the molding channel 103. The first microstructures 242 and the second microstructures 342 are printed on two opposite surfaces of the UV curable glue 12 when the UV curable glue 12 passes through the molding channel 103.
The first main body 22 and the second main body 32 are made of transparent material, such as silicon dioxide (SiO2). The first molding core 24 and the second molding core 34 are made of resin of which the molecule chain including fluorine, such as Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), or Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). The first microstructures 242 and the second microstructures 342 are formed by roller pressing method.
In this embodiment, each of the first microstructures 242 is substantially V-shaped, and each of the second microstructures 342 is substantially dot-shaped. The shape of the first microstructures 242 and the second microstructures 342 are not limited to this embodiment.
The two supporting device 222 are still and are partially extended into the first main body 22 and the second main body 32 respectively. The first main body 22 and the second main body 32 are rotatably positioned on the two supporting devices 222 respectively, and the first main body 22 and the second main body 32 can rotate with respect to the corresponding supporting devices 222. A rotating direction of the first pressing roller 22 is reverse to that of the second pressing roller 32. In this embodiment, the first pressing roller 22 is rotated clockwise, and the second pressing roller 32 is rotated counterclockwise.
The two UV lamps 60 are used for solidifying the UV curable glue 12 pressed by the first pressing roller 20 and the second pressing roller 30. The two UV lamps 60 are received in the first main body 22 and the second main body 32 respectively and are fixed on the two supporting devices 222 respectively. The UV lamp 60 in the first pressing roller 20 emits UV light towards the second pressing roller 30. The UV lamp 60 in the second pressing roller 30 emits UV light towards the first pressing roller 20.
The transmission roller 40 is positioned under the second pressing roller 30 and is used for transmitting the solidified UV curable glue 12 towards the winding roller 50. The transmission roller 40 rotates around a third central axis parallel to the second central axis of the second pressing roller 30. The winding roller 50 is used for winding the solidified UV curable glue.
Referring to
In step S21, a first pressing roller 20 and a second pressing roller 30 are provided, and the first pressing roller 20 and the second pressing roller 30 are located nearby each other and spaced a predetermined distance from each other. The first pressing roller 20 includes a number of first microstructures formed on the outer surface, and the second pressing roller 20 includes a number of second microstructures formed on the outer surface.
In step S22, the first pressing roller 20 and the second pressing roller 30 are rotated in reverse directions to each other. In this embodiment, the first pressing roller 20 is rotated clockwise, and the second pressing roller 30 is rotated counterclockwise.
In step S23, UV curable glue 12 in the molding channel 103 is distributed between the first pressing roller 20 and the second pressing roller 30. The UV curable glue 12 is pressed by the first pressing roller 20 and the second pressing roller 30 to print the first microstructures 242 and the second microstructures 342 on the two opposite surfaces of the UV curable glue 12 respectively.
In step S24, the two opposite surfaces of the pressed UV curable glue is illuminated by the UV light emitting from the two UV lamps, and thus the pressed UV curable glues is solidified.
In step S25, a transmission roller 40 is provided to transmit the solidified curable glue.
In step S26, a winding roller 50 is provided to wind the solidified curable glue.
The first pressing roller 20, the second pressing roller 30, and the winding roller 40 can be driven by motors (not shown).
The apparatuses 100, 300 and method for manufacturing the light guide plate employ two UV lamps 60 for solidifying the UV curable glue at the same time, thus a PET film can be eliminated. Therefore, the thickness of the manufactured light guide plate can be reduced, and the ratio of light transmission of the manufactured light guide plate can be enhanced. In addition, because the UV curable glue is no need to adhere on a PET film, therefore, it is easy to prepare the UV curable glue.
It will be understood that the above particular embodiments and methods are shown and described by way of illustration only. The principles and the features of the present disclosure may be employed in various and numerous embodiments thereof without departing from the scope of the disclosure as claimed. The above-described embodiments illustrate the scope of the disclosure but do not restrict the scope of the disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 101104022 | Feb 2012 | TW | national |
