US Patent No: 5,486,949

Number of patents in Portfolio can not be more than 2000

Birefringent interference polarizer

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ATTORNEY / AGENT: (SPONSORED)
 

Importance

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Abstract

A birefringent interference polarizer which may be fabricated from readily available materials using established coextrusion techniques is provided. The polarizer has a level of light absorption near zero and can be fabricated to polarize and reflect light of specific wavelengths while transmitting light of other wavelengths. The polarizer includes multiple alternating oriented layers of at least first and second polymeric materials having respective nonzero stress optical coefficients which are sufficiently different to produce a refractive index mismatch between the first and second polymeric materials in a first plane which is different from the refractive index mismatch between the first and second polymeric materials in a second plane normal to the first plane. The refractive index mismatch in the first plane is preferably at least 0.03.

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First Claim

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Patent Owner(s)

Patent OwnerAddressTotal Patents
3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANYST PAUL, MN7902

International Classification(s)

Inventor(s)

Inventor Name Address # of filed Patents Total Citations
Chang, Victor S Ellicott City, MD 7 542
Schrenk, Walter J Midland, MI 32 3613
Wheatley, John A Lake Elmo, MN 129 3535

Cited Art

Patent Info (Count) # Cites Year
 
3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY (4)
4,895,769 Method for preparing light polarizer 69 1988
4,937,134 Elastomeric optical interference films 134 1989
5,122,905 Relective polymeric body 187 1990
5,122,906 Thick/very thin multilayer reflective polymeric body 137 1990
 
POLAROID CORPORATION (2)
4,446,305 Optical device including birefringent polymer 178 1981
4,525,413 Optical device including birefringent polymer 187 1984
 
MEARL CORPORATION, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY (1)
4,310,584 Multilayer light-reflecting film 147 1979

Patent Citation Ranking

Forward Cites

Patent Info (Count) # Cites Year
 
3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY (186)
5,882,774 Optical film 415 1995
5,828,488 Reflective polarizer display 174 1995
5,612,820 Birefringent interference polarizer 219 1995
6,101,032 Light fixture having a multilayer polymeric film 85 1995
6,088,067 Liquid crystal display projection system using multilayer optical film polarizers 37 1995
6,080,467 High efficiency optical devices 78 1995
5,686,979 Optical panel capable of switching between reflective and transmissive states 319 1995
5,783,120 Method for making an optical film 231 1996
5,808,798 Nonpolarizing beamsplitter 28 1996
6,565,982 Transparent multilayer device 16 1996
5,808,794 Reflective polarizers having extended red band edge for controlled off axis color 166 1996
6,025,897 Display with reflective polarizer and randomizing cavity 93 1996
5,872,653 Birefringent interference polarizer 19 1996
6,590,705 Optical film with co-continuous phases 29 1997
6,111,696 Brightness enhancement film 196 1997
6,057,961 Optical film with increased gain at non-normal angles of incidence 42 1997
6,288,172 Light diffusing adhesive 36 1997
6,355,754 High refractive index chemical composition and polymers and polymeric material derived therefrom 46 1997
6,107,364 Methyl styrene as a high index of refraction monomer 51 1997
5,831,375 Electroluminescent lamp using multilayer optical film 50 1997
6,368,699 Multilayer polymer film with additional coatings or layers 94 1997
5,825,542 Diffusely reflecting multilayer polarizers and mirrors 182 1997
6,124,971 Transflective displays with reflective polarizing transflector 90 1997
5,965,247 Process for forming reflective polarizer 172 1997
5,962,114 Polarizing beam-splitting optical component 127 1997
6,088,163 Metal-coated multilayer mirror 39 1997
6,569,515 Multilayered polymer films with recyclable or recycled layers 30 1998
6,531,230 Color shifting film 109 1998
6,207,260 Multicomponent optical body 33 1998
6,179,948 Optical film and process for manufacture thereof 34 1998
6,157,486 Retroreflective dichroic reflector 55 1998
6,157,490 Optical film with sharpened bandedge 56 1998
6,120,026 Game with privacy material 12 1998
6,113,811 Dichroic polarizing film and optical polarizer containing the film 42 1998
6,111,697 Optical device with a dichroic polarizer and a multilayer optical film 55 1998
6,053,795 Toy having image mode and changed image mode 17 1998
6,049,419 Multilayer infrared reflecting optical body 83 1998
6,045,894 Clear to colored security film 59 1998
6,024,455 Reflective article with concealed retroreflective pattern 57 1998
6,012,820 Lighted hand-holdable novelty article 26 1998
5,999,317 Toy mirror with transmissive image mode 18 1998
6,018,419 Diffuse reflectors 26 1998
6,749,427 Dental articles including post-formable multilayer optical films 3 1998
6,256,146 Post-forming continuous/disperse phase optical bodies 32 1998
5,991,077 Multilayer polarizer having a continuous and disperse phase 42 1998
6,031,665 Method of forming a multilayer film having a continuous and disperse phase 25 1998
6,088,159 Reflective polarizers having extended red band edge for controlled off axis color 20 1998
6,117,530 Optical film 51 1998
6,208,466 Multilayer reflector with selective transmission 44 1998
6,583,930 Birefringent interference polarization 18 1998
6,352,761 Modified copolyesters and improved multilayer reflective films 47 1999
6,322,236 Optical film with defect-reducing surface and method for making same 94 1999
6,096,375 Optical polarizer 64 1999
6,381,068 Reflective projection screen and projection system 54 1999
6,515,785 Optical devices using reflecting polarizing materials 39 1999
6,407,862 Electronic projection system with polymeric film optical components 9 1999
6,185,039 Infrared selective reflective polarizing element 12 1999
6,449,093 Optical bodies made with a birefringent polymer 20 1999
6,459,514 Multilayer polymer film with additional coatings or layers 30 1999
6,329,046 Optical film and process for manufacture thereof 11 1999
6,264,336 Display apparatus with corrosion-resistant light directing film 6 1999
6,498,683 Multilayer optical bodies 19 1999
6,451,414 Multilayer infrared reflecting optical body 23 1999
6,543,153 Reflective polarizer having improved properties and optical display with improved reflective polarizer 17 1999
6,210,785 High efficiency optical devices 14 1999
6,511,204 Light tube 10 1999
6,141,149 Multilayer film having a continuous and disperse phase 24 2000
6,262,842 Transflective displays with reflective polarizing transflector 81 2000
6,268,961 Optical films having at least one particle-containing layer 47 2000
6,296,927 Optical film 21 2000
6,590,707 Birefringent reflectors using isotropic materials and form birefringence 23 2000
6,449,092 Reflective polarizers having extended red band edge for reduced off axis color 9 2000
6,396,631 Light fixture having a multilayer polymeric film 13 2000
6,335,051 Dichroic polarizing film and optical polarizer containing the film 8 2000
6,475,609 Color shifting film glitter 8 2000
6,455,140 Visible mirror film glitter 9 2000
6,307,676 Optical device with a dichroic polarizer and a multilayer optical film 25 2000
6,760,157 Brightness enhancement film 83 2000
6,804,058 Electroluminescent light source and display incorporating same 12 2000
6,967,778 Optical film with sharpened bandedge 2 2000
6,673,275 Method for making optical devices from homopolymers 0 2000
6,654,170 Optical device having continuous and disperse phases 3 2000
6,627,300 Optical device containing polymeric material domains having different degrees of randomness 6 2000
6,673,425 Method and materials for preventing warping in optical films 16 2000
6,541,591 High refractive index microreplication resin from naphthyloxyalkylmethacrylates or naphthyloxyacrylates polymers 41 2000
6,667,095 Multicomponent optical body 22 2001
6,641,883 High efficiency optical devices 3 2001
6,888,675 Transflective displays with reflective polarizing transflector 3 2001
6,534,158 Color shifting film with patterned fluorescent and non-fluorescent colorants 20 2001
6,506,480 Color shifting film with a plurality of fluorescent colorants 15 2001
6,917,399 Optical bodies containing cholesteric liquid crystal material and methods of manufacture 6 2001
6,573,963 Cholesteric liquid crystal optical bodies and methods of manufacture 63 2001
6,808,658 Method for making texture multilayer optical films 22 2001
6,830,713 Method for making coPEN/PMMA multilayer optical films 16 2001
6,827,886 Method for making multilayer optical films 26 2001
6,783,349 Apparatus for making multilayer optical films 20 2001
6,357,880 Display apparatus with corrosion-resistant light directing film 6 2001
6,737,154 Multilayer polymer film with additional coatings or layers 12 2001
6,829,071 Optical devices using reflecting polarizing materials 12 2001
6,613,819 Light stable articles 6 2001
6,635,337 Optical film 13 2001
6,876,427 Cholesteric liquid crystal optical bodies and methods of manufacture and use 6 2001
6,613,421 Optical film 15 2001
6,641,280 Hand-holdable toy light tube 12 2001
6,610,356 Dichroic polarizing film and optical polarizer containing the film 3 2001
6,641,900 Modified copolyesters and improved multilayer reflective films 19 2001
6,508,560 Display apparatus with corrosion-resistant light directing film 11 2001
6,905,220 Backlight system with multilayer optical film reflector 33 2002
6,574,045 Optical bodies made with a birefringent polymer 8 2002
6,788,463 Post-formable multilayer optical films and methods of forming 20 2002
7,095,009 Photopic detector system and filter therefor 6 2002
6,685,341 Light fixture having a multilayer polymeric film 14 2002
6,697,195 Loss enhanced reflective optical filters 26 2002
6,797,366 Color shifting film articles 14 2002
6,744,561 Multilayer optical bodies 8 2002
6,805,048 Method of marking a substrate using an electret stencil 11 2002
7,396,493 Multilayer optical film with melt zone to control delamination 0 2002
6,991,695 Method for subdividing multilayer optical film cleanly and rapidly 7 2002
6,953,623 Optical product having a high refractive index microreplication resin 8 2002
6,721,096 Polarizing beam splitter 37 2002
7,094,461 P-polarizer with large z-axis refractive index difference 2 2002
7,064,897 Optical polarizing films with designed color shifts 4 2002
6,952,312 Head-up display with polarized light source and wide-angle p-polarization reflective polarizer 65 2002
6,626,545 Light directing construction having corrosion resistant feature 1 2002
7,038,745 Brightness enhancing reflective polarizer 13 2003
7,075,056 Photopic detector system having a filter with an interference element, an absorptive element and an absorber or reflector 0 2003
6,987,612 Optical film with co-continuous phases 3 2003
7,083,847 Optical film 3 2003
7,074,463 Durable optical element 35 2003
6,946,188 Modified copolyesters and improved multilayer reflective films 11 2003
6,888,677 Multilayer optical bodies 5 2003
7,019,905 Multilayer reflector with suppression of high order reflections 1 2003
7,077,649 Dental articles including post-formable multilayer optical films 1 2004
6,934,082 Optical devices using reflecting polarizing materials 13 2004
7,321,464 Electroluminescent light source and display incorporating same 6 2004
7,511,783 Optical laminated bodies, lighting equipment and area luminescence equipment 1 2004
7,179,513 Durable optical element 14 2004
7,138,173 Red-green-blue polymeric interference film 12 2004
7,345,137 Modified copolyesters and optical films including modified copolyesters 1 2004
7,329,465 Optical films incorporating cyclic olefin copolymers 1 2004
6,999,233 Optical film with co-continuous phases 1 2004
7,241,437 Zirconia particles 14 2004
7,298,442 Cholesteric liquid crystal optical bodies and methods of manufacture and use 0 2005
7,282,272 Polymerizable compositions comprising nanoparticles 9 2005
7,141,297 Multilayer optical bodies 7 2005
7,385,763 Thick film multilayer reflector with tailored layer thickness profile 0 2005
7,400,445 Optical filters for accelerated weathering devices 0 2005
7,277,141 Optical bodies containing cholesteric liquid crystal material and methods of manufacture 0 2005
7,150,907 Modified copolyesters and improved multilayer reflective films 7 2005
7,147,903 High efficiency optical devices 3 2005
7,423,708 Display having a reflective polarizer 1 2005
7,123,418 Head-up display with narrow band reflective polarizer 3 2005
7,348,066 Optical films incorporating cyclic olefin copolymers 2 2005
7,652,820 Reflective LCD projection system using wide-angle cartesian polarizing beam splitter and color separation and recombination prisms 1 2005
7,057,816 Optical film with co-continuous phases 1 2006
7,943,206 Brightness enhancement film comprising polymerized organic phase having low glass transition temperature 0 2006
8,025,934 Polymerizable composition comprising low molecular weight organic component 1 2006
7,326,448 Polymerizable oligomeric urethane compositions comprising nanoparticles 4 2006
7,309,517 Durable optical element 8 2006
8,035,774 Multifunctional thick film reflective polarizer for displays 1 2006
7,622,164 Optical film assembly and display device 6 2006
7,256,936 Optical polarizing films with designed color shifts 1 2006
7,297,393 Optical film 1 2006
7,459,204 Modified copolyesters and improved multilayer reflective films 3 2006
7,833,593 High efficiency optical devices 0 2007
7,429,422 Zirconia particles 3 2007
7,744,987 Optical polarizing films 0 2007
7,547,476 Polymerizable compositions comprising nanoparticles 0 2007
7,524,543 Durable optical element 7 2007
7,427,438 Polymerizable oligomeric urethane compositions comprising nanoparticles 2 2007
7,468,204 Modified copolyesters and optical films including modified copolyesters 0 2008
7,674,523 Zirconia particles 1 2008
7,833,621 Light management films with zirconia particles 0 2008
8,168,302 Modified copolyesters and improved multilayer reflective films 0 2008
7,852,560 Display incorporating reflective polarizer 0 2008
8,213,082 Light control film 0 2008
7,713,597 Durable optical element 1 2009
7,851,054 Multilayer optical films having one or more reflection bands 2 2009
8,096,667 Light control film with off-axis visible indicia 0 2009
7,763,331 Optical film assembly and display device 3 2009
7,892,638 Durable optical element 0 2010
8,168,271 Optical film assembly and display device 0 2010
8,034,421 Polymerizable composition comprising low molecular weight organic component 1 2010
8,361,599 Durable optical element 0 2011
8,241,755 Polymerizable composition comprising low molecular weight organic component 0 2011
8,389,074 Optical film assembly and display device 0 2012
 
MOXTEK, INC. (21)
6,208,463 Polarizer apparatus for producing a generally polarized beam of light 67 1998
6,108,131 Polarizer apparatus for producing a generally polarized beam of light 63 1998
6,122,103 Broadband wire grid polarizer for the visible spectrum 212 1999
6,234,634 Image projection system with a polarizing beam splitter 71 1999
6,243,199 Broad band wire grid polarizing beam splitter for use in the visible wavelength region 74 1999
6,288,840 Imbedded wire grid polarizer for the visible spectrum 128 2000
6,452,724 Polarizer apparatus for producing a generally polarized beam of light 30 2000
6,447,120 Image projection system with a polarizing beam splitter 45 2001
6,710,921 Polarizer apparatus for producing a generally polarized beam of light 14 2002
6,785,050 Corrosion resistant wire-grid polarizer and method of fabrication 22 2002
6,666,556 Image projection system with a polarizing beam splitter 21 2002
7,375,887 Method and apparatus for correcting a visible light beam using a wire-grid polarizer 12 2004
7,570,424 Multilayer wire-grid polarizer 7 2004
7,306,338 Image projection system with a polarizing beam splitter 3 2005
7,800,823 Polarization device to polarize and further control light 3 2006
7,630,133 Inorganic, dielectric, grid polarizer and non-zero order diffraction grating 10 2007
7,789,515 Projection device with a folded optical path and wire-grid polarizer 2 2007
7,961,393 Selectively absorptive wire-grid polarizer 1 2007
7,813,039 Multilayer wire-grid polarizer with off-set wire-grid and dielectric grid 4 2009
8,248,696 Nano fractal diffuser 0 2009
8,027,087 Multilayer wire-grid polarizer with off-set wire-grid and dielectric grid 3 2010
 
DUKE UNIVERSITY (7)
6,243,152 Contrast polymer dispersed liquid crystal projection display system 8 1996
6,313,893 Compensation for DC balancing of liquid crystal displays 1 1997
6,204,901 Liquid crystal color shutters that include reflective polarizers that pass color components of light of a first polarization and that reflect a majority of color components of light of a second polarization 6 1998
6,771,339 Methods of compensating liquid crystal displays using DC balancing 1 2001
6,788,460 Projection screen apparatus 30 2002
6,746,122 Image projection system engine assembly 23 2002
6,768,566 Projection screen apparatus including holographic optical element 2 2002
 
MINNESOTA MINING AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY (5)
6,297,906 Light fixture containing optical film 34 1997
5,932,626 Optical product prepared from high index of refraction brominated monomers 54 1997
5,976,424 Method for making multilayer optical films having thin optical layers 49 1997
6,926,952 Anti-reflective polymer constructions and method for producing same 5 1998
6,082,876 Hand-holdable toy light tube with color changing film 32 1998
 
BRIGHT VIEW TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION (3)
6,967,779 Micro-lens array with precisely aligned aperture mask and methods of producing same 56 2003
6,829,087 Micro-lens array based light transmitting screen with tunable gain 19 2003
6,816,306 Micro-lens array based light transmitting screen with high resolution and low imaging artifacts 18 2003
 
INTELLECTUAL VENTURES HOLDING 26 LLC (3)
6,525,750 Projection display for computers 22 1996
5,977,942 Multiplexed display element sequential color LCD panel 30 1996
6,535,196 Multiplexed display element sequential color LCD panel 4 2001
 
PANASONIC LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY CO., LTD. (2)
7,006,173 Liquid crystal display device having particular reflective polarizer 71 1999
7,245,336 Liquid crystal display device 56 2006
 
SONY CORPORATION (2)
7,184,115 Display apparatus with two polarization compensators 2 2005
7,221,420 Display with a wire grid polarizing beamsplitter 13 2006
 
TEIJIN LIMITED (2)
6,677,031 Multilayer film, refractive polarizer film and semi-transparent film 6 2001
7,671,937 Polarizing plate 0 2006
 
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (2)
5,661,839 Light guide employing multilayer optical film 86 1996
RE37594 Light guide employing multilayer optical film 27 1999
 
TORAY INDUSTRIES, INC. (2)
8,110,282 Laminated film and molded body 1 2006
8,404,335 Laminated film and molded body 0 2012
 
CHI MEI CORPORATION (1)
6,483,612 Projection screen apparatus including holographic optical element 4 2000
 
CORNING INCORPORATED (1)
7,113,335 Grid polarizer with suppressed reflectivity 22 2003
 
DUPONT TEIJIN FILMS U.S. LIMITED PARTNERSHIP (1)
6,908,686 PEN-PET-PEN polymeric film 0 2002
 
INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE (1)
8,113,692 Light source module for generating polarized light 0 2009
 
LG ELECTRONICS INC. (1)
5,833,360 High efficiency lamp apparatus for producing a beam of polarized light 48 1996
 
MITSUBISHI PLASTICS, INC. (1)
7,413,799 Reflective film and reflective plate 1 2005
 
NOVOZYMES BIOTECH, INC. (1)
6,924,014 High efficiency optical devices 9 2003
 
PETER VOGEL;GE HEALTHCARE (1)
5,946,431 Multi-functional photometer with movable linkage for routing light-transmitting paths using reflective surfaces 2 1997
 
SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA (1)
7,251,076 Optical component and method for producing thick polyimide film 1 2000
 
TELSPAN SERVICES INC. (1)
6,403,223 Circular polarizer comprising anti-reflection material 9 1999