Finding the ideal light guide / light pipe and understanding the many options available has just got a whole lot easier for Electronic Design Engineers with the launch of Multitron’s new Light Guide Micro-Site.

The new site is carefully designed to help Engineers easily navigate to the optimum Light Guide solution for their application.  The MENTOR range of Light Guides is amongst the most comprehensive in the world, offering over 450 standard part numbers, the majority of which are immediately available ex-stock.  These encompass all conceivable types in both classic sizes for the 5.08mm grid and miniature 2.54mm versions. Practically all of these parts have the ability to be modified in dimension or material used, often with little or no tooling cost. The Micro-Site provides guidance on this as well as on totally custom MENTOR optics solutions.

Multitron's Light Guide Micro-site provides a background description of Light Guides for those who need it and splits the range into six categories for those who want to jump straight to the detail. “Category Description” pages provide invaluable general insights whilst the “Graphical Category Overview” pages provide an “at a glance” understanding of the different types of light guides available in that particular category, along with direct links to the detail pages.  The latter include dimensioned drawings, simple selection charts and information on ex-stock availability, MOQs for non-stocked parts and custom possibilities etc.  Rather than displaying long lists of tables, the site uses graphical icons with instant "on hover” explanatory tool-tips.

With substantial and invaluable support from MENTOR, we have tried hard to make Multitron’s new Light Guide Micro-Site the web’s most comprehensive resource and obvious first port-of-call for specialist engineers seeking the optimum light guide.

Yes, you did read the above correctly but do check again just to be sure! This MENTOR innovation opens-up a whole new world to electronic design engineers who in the past have not had the tooling budgets or volumes to justify custom light guide solutions.

For the first time, any engineer with no matter how small a volume can now specify just about any shape or size they want in two dimensions to create custom area, bargraph or solid strip light guides that are professionally designed using sophisticated techniques and software that are unavailable to most companies.

MENTOR’s expert lighting engineers will use their specialist skills and advanced optical design software to ensure that LEDs are optimally positioned to deliver homogenous light with no bleed and will provide advice on the LED type to use.  All of this is possible with no tooling costs and usual MOQ is just 300pcs.  An engineer’s dream!!

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Square Light Guides are an innovative new introduction from MENTOR. Not only do they look great but they allow you to visibly differentiate your product designs from the more mundane.

There are three standard types, all with immediate ex-stock availaibility in various dimensions. One is a front panel mounted single light guide with a 3.2mm chamferred head and the other two are PCB-mounted horizontal light guides in sigle and 3-row versions with 1.4 mm square elements in arrays of between 1 and 10 columns.

 It is worth noting that whilst the multi-column array versions have tiny light elements closely spaced together, MENTOR’s clever integrated diaphragm prevents light bleed even when different colours are used adjacent.

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With so much current excitement surrounding MENTOR’s innovative and leading-edge opto solutions, it is sometimes all-too-easy to forget their near 100 year mechanical and electro-mechanical component heritage! MENTOR remains one of the world’s largest manufacturers of industrial handles and control knobs. They ship millions of ultra-high quality equipment / enclosure handles and turning knobs annually in their inimitable “boringly reliable” manner – delivered on time and never a quality issue!

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Our blog also covers more informal news items. Did you know for instance that MENTOR's Electronica 2014 stand featured 17 large-fomat fine-art prints commissioned from Multitron's MD Duncan Grove FRPS?

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Established in 1920, MENTOR GmbH is a 500 employee international component manufacturer with standard ranges encompassing light guides, opto, handles, knobs, switches, sensors, and. Design and manufacturing facilities in Germany, Poland, Tunisia and China allow MENTOR to fulfill customer requirements from design to finished component, all in-house.

Opto design and manufacture is a core and world-leading MENTOR competency and they are first-tier suppliers of lighting to many major auto companies. This experience has resulted in them developing unique skills and they are able to virtually design optics and take these designs to in-house production without the need for prototyping. Many non-automotive companies are now exploiting these skills.

Multitron is MENTOR's exclusive agent /distributor for the UK & ROI and is also responsible for representing MENTOR to the world's major global component distributors.

Multitron was formed in Jan 2012 with active support from MENTOR. Its sole objectives are to assist UK & ROI Design Engineers with design solutions as well as maintaining MENTOR's legendary service levels for its many customers in the region. It also manages MENTOR's supply chain to the world's major global electronic component distributors.