Patent · US Expired

Process for obtaining a transparent article with a refractive index gradient

US5807906A · kind A · utility

69Cited by
15References
32Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 27, 1996
Grant dateSep 15, 1998
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 27, 2016

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG02C2202/12
  • WIPO fieldOther special machines
  • WIPO sectorMechanical engineering

Abstract

Process for obtaining a transparent article with a refractive index gradient, including the steps of: (1) irradiating a crosslinkable liquid mixture of base photopolymerizable monomers which is modulated spatially in intensity and/or irradiation time to form a structure gradient according to a desired index profile until a self-supporting polymer matrix is obtained; (2) swelling the polymer matrix to thermodynamic equilibrium in a swelling composition containing a polymerization initiator and one or several polymerizable monomers producing a polymer of different refractive index from the refractive index of the matrix obtained in step (1); and (3) polymerizing the swelling composition which has diffused into the matrix homogeneously, thereby obtaining a transparent article with a refractive index gradient.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.