Inserting flexible fiber optic light pipes into your chassis can increase real estate behind the panel face and help to reduce noise naturally. They can also guide the brightness of LEDs around obstacles without “bleeding” unwanted light into other areas. In this article, discover the key advantages of incorporating light pipes into your design.
As the world continues to become more and more tech-enabled, electronics have become commensurately more complex, incorporating increasing quantities of LEDs. The purpose of these lights, ostensibly, is to provide intuitive user feedback. However, if there is too much “light bleed” from one bright LED to a different LED’s indicator lens, it could cause confusion for the operator. In some cases, this isn’t a huge issue. In other cases though - especially in medical, military, industrial, and aerospace applications - a misinterpreted LED signal can lead to costly mistakes, or worse.
In an effort to make LED indicators as user-friendly as possible, there are a few solutions that can be implemented. One option is to simply reduce the brightness of the LED itself. Another is to add a photocell that correlates LED brightness with ambient light. A third option, and the one that is the most accurate and user-friendly, is to use light pipes, guides, or tubes.
For further detail about the lines of flexible light pipes that are offered by BIVAR, along with a brief overview of some of the available engineering development support, click through to the article.