GB2312072A

GB2312072A - Abbreviated scrolling display panel

Info

Publication number: GB2312072A
Application number: GB9616502A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alan William Robinson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1996-03-26
Filing date: 1996-08-06
Publication date: 1997-10-15
Also published as: GB9616502D0; GB2312072A8; GB9606368D0

Abstract

A display panel is provided which is extremely short so that it can display only 2 to 4 characters but in which an entire message can be displayed by scrolling across the visible character locations sequentially. The display can be used on motor vehicles to communicate with other road users while taking up less space than prior displays of this type. The display may also be used in confined situations.

Description

Abbreviated Scrolling Display Panel A phenomenon of motoring in the modern age is known as "ROAD-RAGE" , whereby psychological effects are brought about in individuals by virtue of the actions of other road users giving effect to a "car body language" involving motor vehicles and the individuals in control of them.

Quite often particular actions are seen as aggressive by other parties when in fact they have not been intended as such, but have been brought about by misunderstanding between the drivers or by a mistake on the side of one of the parties.

The lack of direct communication between the parties encourages the situation to escalate despite there being no original intention for such a situation to develop initially. Such events lead to the phenomenon known as Road Rage in its worst form, but has manifestations affecting safety and good driving manners in less overt situations.

It has been analyzed that the fundamental problem is the lack of communication between drivers.

A comparison of pedestrians in a crowded shopping area (as an example) rarely leads to similar confrontations because of the various forms of communication available between pedestrians, even though a much higher concentration of individuals may exist.

It is believed therefore that more effective communication between drivers of motor vehicles could improve understanding thus tending to reduce the road rage phenomenon. Generally, however, greater ability for road users to communicate should provide for better safety and produce a more efficient environment.

A simple and effective communication means between drivers could be in the form of a visible alphanumeric display panel showing simple phrases which could provide communication / explanation in various circumstances. Such phrases as: SORRY, PLEASE HELP and THANKYOU - may in the main provide adequate means of calming potentially aggressive situations, although in some circumstances much fuller information need be communicated. In some instances, it may even be advantageous for messages to be displayed automatically, such as for example where a vehicle's sensors have detected road-ice conditions or where an automatic braking system has been activated during normal braking. Many other examples may be cited but indication to other road users in such circumstances provides additional information which may allow driver reaction to be gauged more effectively.

A display panel positioned at the rear of the vehicle and activated appropriately, either automatically or by a small number of push switches, or similar arrangement, selected by the driver, would provide a satisfactory arrangement.

Such arrangements have been described to some degree previously, however the practical limitation to adoption of such an approach has been the high cost of providing a suitable display panel commensurate with market perception of pricing, together with the limited space available for position'a suitable device.

Typically, a sufficiently large conventional scrolling electronic display panel with approximately 16 characters with say 2" high characters retails in the region of 200 300 which is prohibitive for the application, and also occupies a significant amount of space being 2 to 3 ft.

(0.6m to 0.9m) long.

However, experiments have shown that communication can be achieved effectively using an abbreviated form of scrolling character display, where only a small number of characters (say 3 or less) are able to be displayed simultaneously, but where the entire message is scrolled across the visible character locations sequentially. Indeed, where such a display is incapable of displaying more than a few of the letters of each word simultaneously, it is found that the human eye/brain system is still capable of discriminating messages of any given length without difficulty.

The human brain is able to successfully discriminate at scrolling speeds of up to several characters per second using this approach.

The practical result is that an acceptable form of information transfer may be implemented using a small length display, greatly reducing both the cost of fabrication and the installation space required. Where, because of the suitability of its overall dimension, the display duplicates as a vehicle braking stop light (preferably centre mounted) a convenient, low cost and compact arrangement is produced.

The character dot arrangement may be similar to that of conventional electronic displays utilising a 7 x 5 dot matrix to define alphanumeric characters (although differing geometries could be adopted). On this basis a complete display can be constructed with an array of approximately 7 x 10 to 7 x 15 illuminated elements. Such an arrangement requires only 10% to 20% of the elements needed in conventional displays, and also produces a very effective vehicle stop light when all illuminated elements are deployed simultaneously.

Using a 7 x 15 element matrix as an example, the word "THANKYOU" occupying 8 character widths would be displayed on a device only 3 characters wide as shown in Fig 1, where the first 4 sequential illuminated dot positions of the word are shown in turn, from top to bottom of the diagram. Inter character gaps have been omitted for brevity.

Scrolling sideways at up to several characters per second a complete message is easily recognised employing such a dynamic arrangement.

Further, the display so described can be used as a general purpose display sign - not associated with motor vehicles specifically - where its merits provide advantages over conventional displays. Additionally the device may be provided with a computer interface to allow remote control of the displayed information.

Claims

1. An electronic scrolling display panel whereby the width of the display panel is extremely short, enabling only a small number of characters to be displayed simultaneously being much less than is required typically to display the majority of words, and where the width may or may not be an exact number of alphanumeric character widths.

2. An arrangement according to claim 1, whereby the display is sufficiently wide to show only 2, 3 or 4 characters approximately simultaneously.

3. An arrangement according to the previous claims mounted in or on a vehicle, positioned in such a way as to be able to be observed by others, external to the vehicle.

4. An arrangement according to the previous claims having the ability to display a range of messages or phrases according to various circumstances.

5. An arrangement according to the previous claims having the ability to display a range of messages or phrases selected by the driver or controller of the vehicle, or optionally by other means.

6. An arrangement according to previous claims whereby, the display is an electronic display incorporating LED, LCD, gas discharge, or other techniques.

7. An arrangement according to previous claims using an electronic scrolling technique to provide a display whereby the characters shown appear to move from one end to the other as a consequence of illuminating the matrix elements in an appropriate sequence.

8. An arrangement whereby the various messages to be displayed are selected by means of 1 or more selector switches, arranged for easy access by the driver or controller of the vehicle.

9. An arrangement according to claims 1 and 2, whereby the display panel incorporates function as a vehicle braking stop light or other light.

10. A general purpose electronic display according to claims 1 or 2 for use in confined locations and/or price sensitive applications.

11. An arrangement according to claims 1 or 2 whereby the electronic display is provided with a simple electronic interface to permit control by computer of the information being displayed.

12. An arrangement according to claim 11 whereby the interface protocol is as defined by existing standards such

as RS232, IIC,dor alternative.

13. An arrangement according to previous claims whereby a means is provided for the user to define the information within the messages to be displayed.

14. An arrangement according to previous claims whereby the user is only able to display pre-arranged sets of information within the messages and has no facility for defining alternate ones.

15. An item constructed and arranged substantially as herein described.