Glowing acrylic sheet creates new possibilities

Better design possibilities and greater efficiency – using a light guide plate equipped with LEDs has many advantages. The Danish company Ingemann Components is presenting the possibilities and the solution at Elmia Subcontractor.

A light guide plate is made of acrylic and at first glance looks like an ordinary sheet of plastic. But it has a unique built-in structure that resembles small cells or dots. This enables the whole sheet to light up even though the light source in the form of LEDs only comes from one side – that is, without any background lighting.

“There’s great interest in light guide plates because they open the door for more design possibilities and also make sign manufacturing more efficient,” explains Jens Præstgaard Møller, sales and product manager at Ingemann Components.

Ingemann Components began in 2002 and is a supplier of plastic components to industry. The company specialises in lighting in the fields of optics, diffusion and reflection.

The market exists where LED lighting is used – examples are sign manufacturing, the machinery industry and displays.

“Light guide plates are where we see development happening in the years ahead and it’s also where we will be focusing heavily,” Jens Præstgaard Møller says. “Old-fashioned lighting is deep set and uses a lot of sheet metal, but light guide plates are significantly thinner because the lighting only comes from the sides.”