The Rambus family of custom and standard light guides are designed and manufactured at our facilities near Cleveland, Ohio, where over 7 million light guides have been produced on custom-designed equipment and processes.
At the heart of our lighting solutions are MicroLens optics. These tiny, three-dimensional light distribution features imprint directly onto the surface of light guides to provide optimal control of a fixture’s light output distribution.
Using our advanced design tools, optical designers can vary the size, shape and pattern of the MicroLens optics to create the desired light output, distribution and aesthetics for a wide variety of fixtures.
Each MicroLens optic is less than a millimeter across. Whether custom designed or in a uniform pattern as part of a standard product line-up, MicroLens optics enables precise control of the light output type, ranging from diffuse to specular. Once the MicroLens design is complete, it is programmed into our high precision CNC machine that can accurately hold tolerances down to 5 microns. Here, the master die is cut and used as the template for making the light guide molds.
After the master has been cut to the required dimensions and patterned with the correct MicroLens optics, it is carefully placed into the electroforming tank where nickel is plated onto the master, creating the shim that is used as the mold in the injection molding process. The shim is subsequently placed into one of our injection mold machines where liquid optical grade plastic is melted and injected into the mold, taking on the MicroLens shape and pattern.
Once set, the light guide is removed from the press by a robot handler and taken to the cooling rack and inspection station. At the inspection station, the light guide is examined to verify that the MicroLens Optics were properly formed and in the correct pattern. After the inspection, the light guides are sent to the profiler which trims and polishes the light guide to the desired size.
Finally, our expert quality assurance engineers and technicians perform a detailed inspection using highly specialized equipment to verify that the light guide meets the requirements of our customers. Our light guides are then ready to be integrated into a wide variety of lighting products for many different applications.
Additional information about our MicroLens Optics is available on rambus.com here.
