A Brief History of Light Guides
A Brief History of Light Guides
In 1874 Chikolev utilized multiple mirrored tubes to split a beam of light from a single source. One of the earliest full-scale applications was at a gunpowder factory in Okhtinsk (Russia), near St. Petersburg.
1880 Chikoleve (Russia) and Wheeler and Molera & Cebrian (USA) independently published their inventions of light-guiding tubes.
1965 G. Bukhman (USSR/Kiev) proposed the slit hollow light guide (SLG) with continuous light emittance via an optical slit along the guide, and together with J. Aizenberg, patented (1970) the explosion-proof electric luminaire - light guide.
1974 J. Aizenberg and G.Bukhman (USSR) patented systems for both artificial light and daylight, and for utilizing waste heat from the lamps. They constructed prototypes using plastic optical films. 1978 J. Aizenberg, G. Bukhman, and V. Pyatigorskly patented a wedge-shaped, flat light guide (WLG).
1968-1981 The All-Union Lighting Research Institute (VNISI ) and Ekotechsvet carried out theoretical and experimental studies in Moscow and Kiev to develop mathematical models for light guide design.
1981 L. Whitehead (Vancouver, Canada) developed the prismatic light guide using total internal reflection, in collaboration with 3M Corporation.
1985 R. Appeldorn and S. Cobb of 3M in the United States oversaw the development of a new micro-replication process for making thin (0.5mm-thick) prismatic film from transparent polymethylmethacrylate.