Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09F—DISPLAYING; ADVERTISING; SIGNS; LABELS OR NAME-PLATES; SEALS
  • G09F9/00—Indicating arrangements for variable information in which the information is built-up on a support by selection or combination of individual elements
  • G09F9/30—Indicating arrangements for variable information in which the information is built-up on a support by selection or combination of individual elements in which the desired character or characters are formed by combining individual elements
  • G09F9/302—Indicating arrangements for variable information in which the information is built-up on a support by selection or combination of individual elements in which the desired character or characters are formed by combining individual elements characterised by the form or geometrical disposition of the individual elements
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09F—DISPLAYING; ADVERTISING; SIGNS; LABELS OR NAME-PLATES; SEALS
  • G09F9/00—Indicating arrangements for variable information in which the information is built-up on a support by selection or combination of individual elements
  • G09F9/30—Indicating arrangements for variable information in which the information is built-up on a support by selection or combination of individual elements in which the desired character or characters are formed by combining individual elements

Definitions

• the invention relates to an electronic display device intended to display particular signs, such as in particular alphanumeric characters.
• the active display means is comprised of one or plu ⁇ eral elements whose optical characteristics vary in function of an electrical excitation signal, selectively controlled by an electronic control circuit.
• the invention can be applied, in certain of its characteristics, for example to a display device comprising a set of light-emitting diodes, more generally designated under the British abbreviation "LED” or even to any other display device meeting the above definition.
• an electronic display device comprising a set of modules which are respectively constituted either by the electrodes of a liquid crystal cell, or by light emitting diodes, and which have the form of straight lines arranged adjacent and at the end, by lines and by columns.
• patent application EP 0 146 285 describes a display device of another type, that is to say structured essentially in the form of a matrix of points, with n rows and p columns (n being equal to 5 and p equal to 3, in this example).
• the pixels of this matrix that is to say the most elementary patterns which each form an individually addressable electrode, have been modified with respect to the pixels of the matrices.
• most classic points only in order to increase the resolution.
• the designers of this matrix while wanting to imperatively keep the qualities of low order matrices , (typically 5x3), tried to increase the number of pixels.
• they therefore quite naturally started from a classic matrix form, comprising rectangular pixels, and in particular square pixels, by definition all identical and distributed in a homogeneous manner.
• the resulting structure therefore essentially consists of several repeated groups, each composed of four isosceles triangles. By observing the outline or the envelope of these groups, we can clearly see the appearance of the original rectangles whose meeting constitutes the grid or grid of the matrix.
• Patent application EP 0 180 685 in particular in its last embodiment partially addresses this problem.
• the primary goal being to improve the aesthetics of the characters, the designers of this device started, no longer from an imposed diagram of electrodes, but from the result to be obtained, namely letters and numbers themselves for only then conform the electrodes.
• the pixels obtained are irregularly shaped and are arranged in a disorderly manner, without systematic repetition in rows and columns, these pixels having for the major part of them different contours.
• This type of device is called “mosaic” because of its composite-looking structure, formed by numerous pixels with heterogeneous contours (rounded, rectilinear, at an angle, etc.), but complementary and concordant, overlapping into each other. It is noted that a logical and uniformly distributed distribution of the pixels or electrodes is not taken into account over the entire surface of the device, as opposed to the matrix structures defined above. This type of device is similar to the arrangement of the pieces of tinted glass found in old stained glass, places of worship, especially in the West.
• This device has major drawbacks.
• connections are formed by tracks which are structured, like the electrodes, by a photolithographic process on a substrate covered with a conductive layer and they are therefore likely to vary the optical characteristics of the liquid crystal between them and part of the counter electrode. It is therefore understood that these connections can appear on the cell, at the same time as the alphanumeric characters displayed, which again contributes to deteriorating the quality of the display.
• the device according to this application EP 0 180685 although providing a marked improvement in the appearance of the characters, still remains very limited since it does not allow the display of lowercase letters. It also has the essential drawback of having to be sized according to the size of the numbers and the letters to be displayed. This dimension is therefore fixed and it can only be modified by changing the device already installed in favor of another, of different size.
• the object of the present invention is therefore to respond to these drawbacks by providing an improved display device capable of visualizing much more stylized characters, for example close to the Helvetica Halbfett character, of excellent (aesthetic) definition. , free from defects of the type mentioned above, but in which the number of pixels can be minimized to obtain a low cost price.
• the present invention also aims to provide a display device making it possible to respond to the problem of sizing the characters at a cost even as low as possible.
• the subject of the invention is an electronic display device, of the type comprising: at least one electro-optical display means, such as for example a liquid crystal cell, a certain number of elementary patterns associated with said electro means - display optics, these elementary patterns being for the most part conformed, from a series of stylized and chosen alphanumeric characters, in the form of a structure of the composite mosaic type whose frame is formed by the patterns which have heterogeneous and complementary contours, arranged in concordance to overlap each other, similar to a puzzle, characterized in that said mosaic is chopped up by optically passive strips which partially cover some of said elementary patterns and form a cutting of the mosaic.
• electro-optical display means such as for example a liquid crystal cell
• elementary patterns being for the most part conformed, from a series of stylized and chosen alphanumeric characters, in the form of a structure of the composite mosaic type whose frame is formed by the patterns which have heterogeneous and complementary contours, arranged in concordance to overlap each other, similar to a puzzle,
• said optically passive bands are shaped and are provided on the mosaic in positions such that these bands are capable of overlapping and masking the elementary patterns of smaller area in order to eliminate them.
• said strips are rectilinear and are all positioned only perpendicular or parallel to the direction of reading of the characters on the device.
• FIG. 1 schematically shows in cross section a liquid crystal cell of a conventional type forming, by way of example, the active display means of the device according to the invention
• FIG. 2 represents one of the alphanumeric characters displayed by a prior device, this figure showing highlight the faults of this type of character
• FIG. 2a is a very enlarged view of the arrangement of the elementary patterns, taken at defect 10 in FIG. 2
• FIG. 3 is a top view of a mosaic according to a first embodiment, intended to equip the display device according to the invention, the patterns of this mosaic being in this example constituted by electrodes of a cell, such as that represented in FIG.
• FIG. 3a is an enlarged view of the region Illa of the figure 3
• FIG. 3b is a view similar to FIG. 3, but representing the various elementary patterns of the mosaic associated with their electrical connection
• FIGS. 4a to 4k respectively represent some of the alphanumeric characters which may be displayed by the inter ⁇ medial of the mosaic according to the first embodiment
• Figure 5 shows a top view of a counter electrode according to one invention
• Figure 6 is a top view of a mosaic that according to a second embodiment of the invention
• FIG. 7 is a top view of a basic frame intended to form a mosaic as represented in FIGS.
• FIG. 8 is a top view of a second step of manufacturing said mosaic, comprising the base frame of Figure 7 associated with an additional frame
• Figure 9 shows a third step of manufacturing the mosaic of FIG. 6, in which the blackened regions correspond to continuous separations or cutouts arranged on the mosaic for chopping it
• FIG. 10 represents the frame obtained after the step represented in FIG. 9
• FIGS. 11 to 38 represent alphanumeric characters which can be displayed in particular thanks to the mosaic of FIG. 6.
• a liquid crystal cell which forms the active display means of the device according to the invention, this cell 1 comprising, in a known manner, a transparent front blade 2 and a transparent blade 3 and joined together by a sealing frame 4.
• the sealing frame 4 defines a sealed volume in which a mixture is trapped 5 composed of a liquid crystal and, for example, a dichroic dye.
• Blades front 2 and rear 3 that form the substrate cover * their internal face respectively of the electrodes 6a and 6b against the electrode, the latter which are transparent are constituted for example by a mixture of indium / tin oxide.
• the front blades 2 and rear 3 generally also carry a dielectric layer and an alignment layer which are not shown here.
• cell 1 further comprises an element 7 of the reflector-diffuser or transflector type, depending on the display mode that is desired.
• the devices currently known on the market include electrodes 6a cut and arranged * in order to be able to display relatively esthetic characters.
• a technique consists in cutting the counter-electrode 6b in a particular way so that no part of this counter-electrode is opposite an electrical connection 11.
• each elementary pattern having its own electrical connection which leaves in the free space left on the substrate, between this pattern and the neighboring pattern, it is easily understood that the design of the counter-electrode 6b is all the more complicated, and that the latter is therefore all the more expensive.
• connection 11 As shown in FIG. 2a, another solution consists in dividing each connection 11 into several branches 11a, these branches which are thinner therefore being much less visible, at least from a certain distance.
• FIGs 3 and 6 there is shown in top view the two embodiments of the mosaic according to the invention, the patterns of this mosaic which are generally called "pixels" being constituted in this case by the electrodes 6a.
• these patterns can be constituted by diodes electroluminescent arranged on a suitable support, or by any other display means which can be activated electrically.
• the arrangement of the elementary patterns to the pixels according to the invention corresponds well to the definition of mosaic, and in particular of composite mosaic, since it will be noted that these patterns have heterogeneous and complementary contours, namely rounded, rectilinear or oblique with indifferent combinations, these patterns being arranged in concordance to nest one inside the other, similar to a puzzle. It is noted that all these patterns are arranged in an irregular and disorderly manner without any systematic repetition of rows or columns, in one direction or another.
• each mosaic of these two embodiments is shaped to be able to display characters close to the "Helvetica Halbfett" style.
• the mosaic M of elementary patterns m makes it possible to display all the punctuation marks so that the combination of several mosaics M together, juxtaposed or superimposed in modules, allows the display of intelligible messages, made up as structured sentences or as a group of coded words.
• the groups of patterns G are arranged in rows L1 to L6 and in columns C1 to C5.
• the isolated elementary patterns m., M ? and M_ allow the accentuation of Germanic and Nordic characters.
• the elementary patterns m. and m- are aligned and are respectively provided in the extension of columns C1 and C5.
• the concealed element n which has the appearance of a substantially rectangular ring is disposed substantially below the elementary patterns m, and m, and facing the central column C3.
• the lines L1 to L6 of the groups G. to G delimit at least three characteristic zones A, B and C respectively, a last zone D forming the abovementioned accentuations.
• Zone A is the zone for viewing or materializing a first size of capital letters, while zone B is the zone for viewing small letters.
• Zone C is, for its part, the zone allowing in particular the display of the end of the jambs and the display of the underlines, zones A, B and C each having five columns suitably aligned.
• Zones A and B advantageously comprise, in the first embodiment of FIG. 3, respectively five and three lines of characteristic groups, this choice of odd numbers of lines allowing the display of letters or numbers such as "B", “ 3 “or” 8 ", the hollowed parts 20 are centered relative to a horizontal crossbar 22, as shown particularly in FIGS. 4g to 4i.
• the spacing distance Y which separates each elementary pattern (for example the pattern m,) from the adjacent pattern (s), in this case the patterns ⁇ to m 7 , - is low, that is to say of the order fi fi from 10.10 meters (10 ym) to 50.10 meters (50 ⁇ ).
• This distance has the essential function of electrically isolating neighboring patterns and it forms the width of the insulation spaces Es on the mosaic. that separate the patterns from each other.
• the patterns in each group are therefore arranged relative to each other very closely, and seem, even at a small distance, contiguous to each other. As can be seen in the letters and numbers in Figures 4a to 4k, this distance distance Y does not appear in the characters displayed.
• each group G. is formed by at least two elementary patterns joined adjacent and separated from each other, at least in part, by an isolation space Es.
• the spacing distance Y is chosen as small as possible taking into account the feasibility conditions and the chosen yield.
• each group of patterns at least in zones A and B has a spacing interval of rectilinear shape.
• each characteristic group G, to G is separated from the neighboring group or groups by separation bands b, each separation band being in fact provided, in the case of a liquid crystal cell, by the absence of conductive layer on the substrate between the electrodes 6a of the neighboring groups; this substrate being constituted by the blade 2.
• the separation strips b to preferably all have the same width X, this width preferably being of the order of
• 1.2.10 meters (1.2 mm). Typically, it is chosen equal to 1.5.10 meters (1.5 mm).
• the value X that is to say the width of the separation bands which form the different characteristic groups G, to G, is in any case clearly greater than the value Y which is the width of the interval or Isolation space Es left between adjacent elementary patterns in the same group.
• the value X is chosen between 25 and 120 times greater than the value Y.
• the spacing distance Y is chosen to be less than 100.10 " meters (100 ym).
• the mosaic according to the invention has a chopped structure such that the separation strips formed between two adjacent groups always have a width X which is greater than the spacing distance Left there between the motives of these groups.
• all the elementary patterns are organized into groups; that is to say joined together in pairs, at least in part at the limit of the attachment.
• the mosaic comprising 152 elementary patterns, only 5 of them being isolated, it can be determined that in the whole mosaic, approximately 97% of the elementary patterns are organized in groups.
• the separation strips b, to b constitute optically passive regions and form, between groups &, to G, preferential passages of the electrical connection elements 30, from the elementary patterns m. toward the periphery of the display means, as shown in. Figure 3b.
• separation bands bl, -_ n. form clearly delimited free zones, as can be seen very clearly in FIG. 3, so that it is quite easy to form correspondingly the counter-electrode 6b represented in FIG. 5, this counter electrode 6b being shaped so that its "uncut" areas 40, which correspond to the absence of a conductive layer, are arranged opposite the separation strips in which the electrical connections are made.
• these regions are optically passive and that the electrical connections 30 do not appear on the display device when viewing the alphanumeric characters.
• the mosaic M namely the arrangement of the different elementary patterns m, between them, is provided so that at most four separation bands b, intersect on or in the active display means.
• the separation bands b are angularly offset Tune from one another by an angle ⁇ greater than 60 degrees.
• this angle ⁇ corresponds to that from which the appearance of defects, as will be defined below, begins to decrease significantly.
• the angle ⁇ is at most equal to 90 degrees. It should also be noted that in the preferred embodiment, the outer contour of each group of patterns G is substantially straight, this contour preferably being substantially rectangular.
• the bands b. are in fact formed by continuous separations or cutouts S. to S which are formed on the major part of the display means, these continuous separations S, to S crossing the mosaic M from end to end to open out from its lateral edges respectively right and left, and its upper and lower edges. This is particularly true in zones A, B and C for vertical separations S, to S ", and in zones A and B for horizontal separations S ⁇ to S g .
• the separation bands b, to b and the continuous separations or cuts S, to S are organized perpendicular or parallel to the direction of reading L of the characters on the mosaic.
• the continuous partitions or cutouts S, to S- and the separation bands which they form can be defined as being oriented in essentially vertical and horizontal directions.
• the display device makes it possible in particular to eliminate faults such as the dots or marks 10 which appear on. the characters displayed by the currently known devices.
• FIG. 2a shows in detail the arrangement of the elementary patterns of a known display device. The appearance of faults 10 on such an arrangement can be explained by the combination of several phenomena.
• the defects can be geometrically represented as an arc of a circle or a circle of radius RI, the circle being tangent to the ends or points of the various elementary patterns which converge towards the point of intersection j_.
• the radius RI is already greater than the distance from which it is left between the various elementary patterns.
• the defect 10 appears to be already predominant with respect to the intervals which are left between the patterns, this defect in addition to these intervals appears in the same optical mode, which is different from that of the characters affi ⁇ chés, that is to say in a contrasting manner with respect to these characters.
• the defect 10 at this distance magnifies considerably to materialize in the form of a circle of radius R2, this radius R2 being very much greater than the radius RI of the defect which is visible at a short distance.
• the circle envelopes the point of intersection I at the level of the separation strips for example bl3, bl8, bl9 and b20, has a radius r. with a value less than the width X of the separation strips b .. , ⁇ o on *
• the envelope circle does not appear at a short distance and no longer forms a defect, since it is no longer preponderant with respect to the width of the separation strips b,. Furthermore, at a great distance the optical "erosion" is less great since for the same arc of a circle f, this arc of a circle f tends to approach considerably the points or ends of the groups G,.
• the envelope circle of the point of intersection I has a radius r 2 of value substantially equal to the width X of the separation strips b. .
• the definition of the characters and the readability are improved when the separation bands b, and more particularly the continuous separations or cutouts S, to S which form the hash of the mosaic, are orien ⁇ ted parallel and / or perpendicular to the reading direction of the displayed characters, the mosaic M being oriented on a whole panel display assembly, in the direction in which it is represented in FIG. 3, namely vertically.
• this mosaic M offers, thanks to its configuration, an appreciable aesthetic characteristic in that the accentuation elements for lower case letters (see FIGS. 4d to 4f) are arranged in the area A for viewing or materializing the upper case letters.
• the accentuation elements of lower case letters are practically attached to these lower case letters, as is moreover provided for in the various alphabets, such as the Latin alphabet.
• this possibility is explained by the arrangement in groups of elementary patterns.
• the accentuation elements cannot be distinguished in the body of a uppercase alphanumeric character which uses this group to be viewed, as shown in the characters of Figures 4d to 4f.
• the separation bands b, and therefore the continuous separations or cuts S, to S are 1-n rr 1 n arranged so that their points of intersection I are in outside the materialization regions of the branches of the characters, which appear vertically or horizontally.
• FIG. 6 there is shown a composite display mosaic according to a second embodiment according to the invention.
• the mosaic according to this embodiment comprises four continuous separations or vertical cutouts oriented perpendicular to the reading direction L, as well as three continuous separations or cutouts S5 to S7 oriented parallel to the reading direction L, that is to say defined as being horizontal.
• the seven continuous partitions or cutouts which form the hash of the mosaic M have a width X, of a value equal to those mentioned above.
• FIG 7 there is shown a basic frame T , said first frame, which constitutes the starting structure of the mosaic according to the invention.
• This basic frame T is intended to form the area B which allows the display of lowercase letters, as well as the display of a first set of small figures.
• this basic frame T has been partially reproduced, in particular its upper part referenced T ⁇ has been reproduced.
• the dashed line L represents the upper part of the base frame T.
• the cutting line L to duplicate the base frame, c was positioned so that after joining the two frames T .. and T 2 the oblique isolation spaces come into concordance, which will subsequently allow the display of characters of different dimensions, within the same single mosaic.
• the cutting line has been positioned at the intersection of insulation space E oriented obliquely.
• the continuous separations or cutouts then completely compartmentalize the resulting frame T, since they cross the major part of the mosaic according to the invention and thus form different groups of elementary patterns in the mosaic.
• the partitions or cutouts S, to S- partially cover certain elementary patterns of the weft -.
• these optically passive partitions or cutouts are arranged so that they completely overlap and mask the elementary patterns of smaller areas, which have been blackened in FIG. 9 for a better representation of the drawings. Since these strip separations or cuts S, to S 7 are optically passive and correspond to an absence of electrode surface, the elementary patterns of smaller surface are eliminated and no longer need to be associated with an addressing which pose problems both in terms of electronics and in terms of electrical connections.
• the mosaic according to the invention comprises at least two horizontal partitions or cutouts referenced S 5 and S ⁇ , and which are very advantageously placed in the vicinity of zones in which the density of the elementary patterns is the greatest. These zones are referenced respectively 100 and 120. Preferably, these separations or cutouts Se and S 7 are located tangentially to these zones 100 and 120 of high density of elementary patterns.
• this mosaic therefore comprises a third separation or horizontal cut " Sy which is arranged tangentially to the line L, which forms the group of patterns intended in particular to display an upper horizontal bar of lower case letters.
• this separation or cutout S 7 is placed directly above the line Lg.
• the separation into vertical strips or cuts it will be specified that at least two of them, namely the separations S, and S. are positioned tangentially to regions or columns C. and C g of the mosaic which are intended in particular to form jambs of letters.
• the device according to the invention comprises four continuous partitions or cutouts which are arranged perpendicular to the direction of reading, these four partitions or cutouts respectively defining between them the five columns C, at C ⁇ , among which the columns C. , C, and C g respectively constitute lateral and central columns for forming the legs. It will be specified that these central columns C, and lateral columns C ,, C 5 present equal widths. In addition, these three columns C ,, C, and C g for forming the legs are separated two by two by intermediate columns C ⁇ and C- which are of equal width between them but of a width less than that of the three columns C ,, C, and C ⁇ .
• FIG. 10 represents a chopped weft T, which is the result of the operation of FIG. 9 and to which we will then add spaces of insulation E to form in particular the accents, the jambs or the roundings of certain alphanumeric characters.
• the mosaic according to the invention comprises four zones for displaying alphanumeric characters of different size.
• the mosaic according to the invention comprises a first display area A which corresponds to the formation of alphanumeric characters of medium size, and in particular to the formation of a first set of capital letters and numbers (FIGS. 11-18 ).
• This first zone A uses all the columns and the rows of the mosaic, except for the last Lg which corresponds to zone C forming the end of the jamb of the large letters and forming the underscores.
• This mosaic comprises a second zone E intended to allow the display of alphanumeric characters of large sizes, namely large capital letters and large numbers. The letters displayed are visible in Figures 19 to 26.
• zone E uses all the available surface of the mosaic, zone A being therefore included in zone E.
• the third characteristic display area of this mosaic is area B which is intended essentially to allow the display of small numbers, in a first position as will be explained below, and of lower case letters.
• lower case letters use part of zone A and part of zone C for certain letterheads and jambs.
• this zone B is included in zone A and is placed directly above the underline zone C .
• the mosaic according to the invention further comprises a fourth zone F which in turn allows the display of small figures, but which have a position different from those displayed by zone B, namely significantly higher.
• the zone F is nested inside the zone B which together and in superposition constitute the zone A.
• the characters displayable thanks to this zone E are represented on FIGS. 35 to 38.
• this mosaic contains at least two characteristic zones for the formation of characters of the same family (numbers, letters in upper or lower case) but of different sizes. More precisely, it comprises at least two characteristic zones A, B for the formation of figures of different sizes. Even more precisely, it comprises three characteristic zones A, B, E for the formation of figures comprising three different sizes, namely large, medium and small.
• a mosaic for the formation of figures, and in particular small figures, on different levels respectively upper and lower.
• a mosaic has been provided which is capable of displaying, with the same and unique frame, namely the final hatched frame T5 represented in FIG. 6, different size of figures (small, medium and large) and different sizes d 'the same letter family (large and small).
• the problem of predetermined sizing of alphanumeric characters this possibility of size variation with a single mosaic also making it possible to eliminate a display cell, in the case for example of 1 hour display. .
• the invention can be applied to an electronic display device with a low multiplexing rate, that is to say in which certain elementary patterns are electrically connected to one another, corresponding to the rate of multiplexing.
• the counter electrode 6b must include regions electrically isolated from each other and provided with their own electrical connection, and no longer be in one piece (conti ⁇ bare), as is the case for the counter electrode shown in FIG. 3c.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Devices For Indicating Variable Information By Combining Individual Elements (AREA)
• Liquid Crystal (AREA)
• Electrochromic Elements, Electrophoresis, Or Variable Reflection Or Absorption Elements (AREA)

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• 1990
  • 1990-11-26 WO PCT/CH1990/000270 patent/WO1991008563A2/fr active IP Right Grant
  • 1990-11-26 ES ES90917024T patent/ES2091250T5/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1990-11-26 EP EP90917024A patent/EP0456783B2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1990-11-26 JP JP2515732A patent/JPH04505814A/ja active Pending
  • 1990-11-26 KR KR1019910700786A patent/KR0169981B1/ko not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1990-11-26 DE DE69027671T patent/DE69027671C5/de not_active Expired - Lifetime

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