GB2432707A

GB2432707A - Rotating display with interleaved LEDs

Info

Publication number: GB2432707A
Application number: GB0623596A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Tsung-I Wang
Original assignee: Dynascan Technology Corp
Current assignee: Dynascan Technology Corp
Priority date: 2006-11-27
Filing date: 2006-11-27
Publication date: 2007-05-30
Also published as: GB0623596D0

Abstract

A display device having vertically interleaved lighting units comprises a base member (10), a rotational member (20) rotatably mounted on the base member (10), and a driving unit housed inside the base and rotational members. Across the cylindrical surface of the rotational member (20), there are at least two appropriately spaced light emitting arrays (211, 212, 213, 214), each containing at least one column of lighting units (210). The lighting units (210) in the columns of a light emitting array are positioned such that they interleave vertically with the lighting units in the columns of immediately adjacent light emitting arrays. Due to persistence of vision, the vertical gaps between the lighting units of a light emitting array appear to be compensated by the lighting units of adjacent light emitting arrays, when the rotational member is rotated. This arrangement aims to improve the vertical resolution of a rotating LED display.

Description

DISPLAY DEVICE WITH INTERLEAVED LIGHTING UNIT

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the invention

100011 The present invention generally relates to display devices, and more particularly to a display device of high produced image resolution whose lighting units are interleaving vertically disposed.

2. The Prior Arts

[0002) Conventional large display devices for advertisement usually have planar screens with uniformly distributed lighting units. Most of these devices have a limited viewing angle, meaning that the produced image can be perceived only when an observer stands substantially in the front of the display screen.

[0003) To achieve a 360-degree viewing angle, there are pmducts being developed to have a cylindrical screen. As the number of lighting units required to cover the cylindrical surface and therefore the cost are too high, some of the cylindrical-screen display devices have their lighting units arranged in a number of vertical arrays evenly spaced across the cylindrical surface of the display screen and, by rotating these arrays of lighting units and due to human's visual persistence, cylindrical images are produced on the screen of the display device. Usually high-powered light emitting diodes (LEDs) of various colors are used as the lighting units so as to produce vivid and colorful images.

[0004] The cylindrical-screen display device with rotating lighting units can achieve a fine lateral resolution below 0.1 mm in the produced image by appropriately controlling the rotational speed. However, there is an inherent limitation on the vertical resolution as some vertical gaps between the LEDs are inevitable. For example, assuming that surface-mounted (SMI)) LEDs are adopted, the vertical resolution in the produced image cannot be reduced below 4 nun, as a SMD LED has a dimension about 3 mm by 2 mm and some gap is required for wiring. In other words, it is difficult to achieve a fine resolution along the vertical direction of the produced cylindrical image.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005J To improve the vertical resolution of the produced cylindrical image, the present invention provides a display device whose lighting units are interleaved vertically on the rotational member of the display device.

100061 The display device of the present invention having vertically interleaved lighting units that are disposed contains a base member, a rotational member rotatably mounted on the base member, and a driving unit housed inside the base member and the rotational member for driving the rotational member to spin and to control the lighting units of the rotational member. Across the cylindrical surface of the rotational member, there are at least two light emitting arrays, each containing at least a column of lighting units, with appropriate lateral spacing therebetween. Each of the lighting units can be, but is not limited to, a fluorescent lamp or a LED that can emit light of various colors. The major characteristic of the present invention lies in that lighting units in the columns of a light emitting array are displaced vertically for an appropriate distance relative to the lighting units in the columns of immediately adjacent light emitting arrays so that the lighting units of adjacent light emitting arrays are interleaved vertically. In an alternative embodiment, the lighting units in a light emitting array are arranged into three columns and a number of horizontal rows. Each row contains three lighting units, each emitting red, green, and blue light, respectively. Similarly, the rows of lighting units in a light emitting array are displaced vertically for an appropriate distance relative to the rows of lighting units of immediately adjacent light emitting arrays so that the rows of lighting units of adjacent light emitting arrays are interleaved vertically.

10007] In an alternative embodiment, there is at least a light emitting array on the cylindrical surface of the rotational member. The light emitting array contains at least two columns of light units. Each of the lighting units can be, but is not limited to, a fluorescent lamp or a LED that can emit light of various colors. The major characteristic lies in that lighting units in a column are displaced vertically for an appropriate distance relative to the lighting units in the immediately adjacent columns in the same light emitting array so that the lighting units within the same light emitting array are interleaved vertically. In yet another alternative embodiment, the lighting units in a light emitting array are arranged into at least two groups, each containing three columns and a number of horizontal rows of lighting units. Each row contains three lighting units, each emitting red, green, and blue light, respectively. Similarly, the rows of lighting units in a group are displaced vertically for an appropriate distance relative to the rows of lighting units in immediately adjacent groups in the same light emitting array so that the rows of lighting units of adjacent groups are interleaved vertically. The interleaving of lighting units can be implemented within the same light emitting array, between adjacent light emitting arrays, or both.

[0008] When the rotational member is rotated with the lighting units thus arranged, through human's visual persistence, the inherent vertical gaps of lighting units appear to be filled up by the interleaved lighting units in adjacent rows, or columns, or arrays, thereby significantly enhancing the vertical resolution of the produced cylindrical image.

[0009] The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood from a careful reading of a detailed description provided herein below with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] FIG I is a perspective view showing a display device having vertically interleaved lighting units that are disposed according to the present invention.

100111 FIG 2A is a schematic view showing a first embodiment of the arrangement of lighting units.

[0012] FIG 28 is a schematic view showing the result of visual persistence when the light emitting arrays of FIG 2A are rotated.

[0013] FIG 3A is a schematic view showing a second embodiment of the arrangement of lighting units.

10014] FIG 38 is a schematic view showing the result of visual persistence when the light emitting arrays of FIG. 3A are rotated.

[0015] FIG 4 is a schematic view showing a third embodiment of the arrangement of lighting units.

[00161 FIG 5 is a schematic view showing a fourth embodiment of the arrangement of IS lighting units.

[0017] FIG 6 is a schematic view showing a fifth embodiment of the arrangement of lighting units.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

100181 The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way.

Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

100191 FIG I is a perspective view showing a display device having vertically interleaved lighting units according to the present invention, which contains a base member 10, a rotational member 20, and a driving unit (not shown) housed inside the base member and the rotational member 20. The base member 10 supports the display device on a surface (i.e., ground). The rotational member 20 has a cylindrical body rotatably mounted on top of the base member 10. A set of light emitting arrays 21 is provided vertically (i.e., parallel to the axis of the rotational member 10) across the cylindrical surface of the rotational member 20 with appropriate lateral spacing between the light emitting arrays.

Each of the light emitting arrays contains an appropriate number of lighting units (e.g., LEDs). By appropriately controlling the set of light emitting arrays 21 when it is rotated, a 360-degree, cylindrical image is produced on the surface of the rotational member 20 through human's visual persistence. The driving unit drives the rotational member 20 to spin and controls when and where to turn on and off the set of light emitting arrays 21 at predetermined times and locations.

100201 As illustrated in FIG 1, four neighboring light emitting arrays numbered as 211, 212, 213, and 214 are used as example in the following description. Each of the light emitting arrays contains a number of lighting units 210 arranged vertically on a base board 201. The base boards 201 are then affixed to the cylindrical surface of the rotational member 20 vertically with appropriate lateral spacing therebetween. The lighting units 210 could be LEDs of specific colors, or LEDs that can emit various colors, or fluorescent lamps. The present invention does not impose specific requirements on the numbers and types of the lighting units 210 in each of the light emitting arrays. In the following, each of the lighting units 210 is assumed to be a LED that can be controlled to emit various colors.

100211 FIG 2A is a schematic view showing a first embodiment of the arrangement of lighting units 210. As illustrated, each of the light emitting arrays 211, 212, 213, and 214 contains a single column of lighting units 210 where every two adjacent lighting units 210 have an appropriate vertical distance X. For each of the lighting units 210, its vertical distance to the closest lighting units 210 in the two immediately adjacent light emitting arrays is 1/2 X. In other words, the entire column of lighting units 210 in the light emitting arrays 212 is displaced relative to the light emitting array 211 for a vertical distance of 1/2 X, the light emitting arrays 213 in turn is displaced relative to the light emitting array 212 for a vertical distance 1/2 X, and so on. As such, for each lighting unit 210 in a light emitting array (say, 212), there is no lighting units 210 in the two immediate adjacent light emitting arrays (say, 211 and 213) at the same height.

[00221 FIG 2B is a schematic view showing the result of visual persistence when the light emitting arrays of FIG 2A are rotated. As illustrated, by vertically interleaving the lighting units 210 in the immediately adjacent light emitting arrays and due to human's visual persistence, the lighting units 210 of an immediately succeeding light emitting array (say, 212) appears to fill up the vertical gaps between the lighting units of the immediately preceding light emitting array (say, 211) along the direction of rotation. In this way, the inevitable vertical gaps between the lighting units 210 are filled up effectively and the vertical resolution of the produced image is thereby significantly enhanced.

[0023] FIG 3A is a schematic view showing a second embodiment of the arrangement of lighting units. As illustrated, there are six light emitting arrays 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, and 226, each containing a single column of lighting units 220. Again, every two adjacent lighting units 220 in each of the light emitting arrays 222-226 have an appropriate vertical distance X. The entire column of lighting units 220 in the light emitting arrays 222 is displaced relative to the light emitting array 221 for a vertical distance of 1/3 X, the light emitting arrays 223 in turn is displaced relative to the light emitting array 222 for a vertical distance 1/3 X, and so on. Similar to the previous embodiment, for each lighting unit 220 in a light emitting array (say, 222), there is no lighting units 220 in the two immediate adjacent light emitting arrays (say, 221 and 223) at the same height.

[0024] FIG 3B is a schematic view showing the result of visual persistence when the light emitting arrays of FIG 3A are rotated. As illustrated, by vertically interleaving the lighting units 220 in the immediately adjacent light emitting arrays and due to human's visual persistence, the vertical gaps between the lighting units 210 of a light emitting array (say, 221) appear to be filled up by the lighting units 220 of the immediately succeeding light emitting arrays (say, 222 and 223) along the direction of rotation. In this way, the inevitable vertical gaps between the lighting units are filled up effectively and the vertical resolution of the produced image is thereby significantly enhanced. The principle can be extended to embodiments where a light emitting array is displaced for a vertical distance of 1/4 X, 1/5 X, or a even smaller ratio, relative to a immediate preceding light emitting array so as to achieve ever higher vertical resolution. The present invention does not impose specific requirement on the displacement.

[00251 FIG 4 is a schematic view showing a third embodiment of the arrangement of lighting units. As illustrated, each of the light emitting arrays 231, 232, 233, are 234 have their respective lighting units 230 arranged in three columns and a number of horizontal rows in parallel. Each row contains three lighting units 230, which are LEDs emitting red, green, and blue light, respectively. By appropriately controlling the LEDs in a row, they can jointly manifest a specific color when they are rotated under human's visual persistence.

Every two adjacent rows in the same light emitting array has an appropriate vertical distance X. The rows of lighting units 230 in the light emitting arrays 232 are displaced relative to the light emitting array 231 for a vertical distance of 1/2 X, the light emitting arrays 233 in turn is displaced relative to the light emitting array 232 for a vertical distance 1/2 X, and so on. Again, when these light emitting arrays are rotated, the inevitable vertical gaps between the rows of the lighting units 230 are filled up by rows of lighting units 230 of immediately adjacent light emitting arrays.

100261 FIG S is a schematic view showing a fourth embodiment of the arrangement of lighting units. In contrast to the previous embodiments which interleave lighting units of immediate adjacent light emitting arrays, the present embodiment interleaves lighting units in the same light emitting array. As illustrated, each light emitting array 241 contains two coLumns, 2411 and 2412, of lighting units 240. For lighting units 240 in the same column, they are vertically spaced by an appropriate distance X but, for immediately adjacent columns 2411 and 2412 in the same light emitting array 241, the lighting units 240 of one column is displaced 1/2 X relatively to the lighting units 240 of the other column. In the present embodiment, the lighting units 240 can be LEDs of specific colors or LEDs that can emit various colors. When the lighting units 240 in the same light emitting array are interleaved as illustrated, the display device can have as minimum as a single light emitting array. Please also note that there can be more than two columns of lighting units in a single light emitting array.

10027] FIG 6 is a schematic view showing a fifth embodiment of the arrangement of lighting units. The present embodiment is a combination of previous embodiments of FIGS. 4 and 5. As illustrated, each light emitting array 251 contains two groups, 2511 and 2512, of lighting units 250. Each of the groups 2511 and 2512 has its respective lighting units 250 arranged in three columns and a number of horizontal rows in parallel. Each row contains three lighting units 250, which are LEDs emitting red, green, and blue light, respectively.

Every two adjacent rows in the same group have an appropriate vertical distance X. The rows of lighting units 250 in the group 2512 are displaced relative to the group 2511 for a vertical distance of 1/2 X. Again, there can be more than two groups of lighting units in a single light emitting array, and the present invention does not impose specific requirement on the displacement.

[0028] Please note that, as described above, the interleaving of lighting units can be implemented within the same light emitting array, between adjacent light emitting arrays, or both. On the other hand, to further enhance the contrast of the produced cylindrical image, the base boards 201 (as shown in FIGS. I and 2) could be coated with dark-colored paints.

[0029] Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details described thereof. Various substitutions and modifications have been suggested in the foregoing description, and others will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, all such substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. A display device having a plurality of

vertically interleaved lighting units disposed, comprising: a base member for supporting said display device on a surface; a rotational member, rotatably mounted on top of said base member, said rotational member having a plurality of light emitting arrays with appropriate lateral spacing therebetween, each of said light emitting arrays having a plurality of lighting units arranged in at least a substantially vertical column, said lighting units of two immediately adjacent said light-emitting arrays being displaced relative to each other for an appropriate distance such that the height of each of said lighting units in one light-emitting array fall within a vertical gap between two vertically adjacent lighting units in the other light emitting array; and a driving unit, housed inside said base member and said rotational member for driving said rotational member to rotate and control said light emitting arrays.

2. The display device having the vertically interleaved lighting units according to claim 1, wherein said lighting units of each of said light emitting arrays are arranged in a single column; and each of said lighting units is a LED.

3. The display device having the vertically interleaved lighting units according to claim 2, wherein said LED is capable of emitting red, green, and blue light.

4. The display device having the vertically interleaved lighting units according to claim 1, wherein said lighting units of each of said light emitting arrays are arranged in two columns; said lighting units in a first colunm are displaced vertically for an appropriate distance relative to said lighting units of a second column of said light emitting array such that the height of each of said lighting units in said first column fall within a vertical gap between two vertically adjacent lighting units of said second column; and each of said lighting units is a LED.

5. The display device having the vertically interleaved lighting units according to claim 4, wherein each of said lighting unit is a LED capable of emitting red, green, and blue light.

6. The display device having the vertically interleaved lighting units according to claim 1, wherein said lighting units of each of said light emitting arrays are arranged into three columns and a plurality of substantially horizontal rows; and each of said lighting units is a LED.

7. The display device having the vertically interleaved lighting units according to claim 6, wherein said lighting units in said row are capable of emitting red, green, and blue light, respectively.

8. The display device having the vertically interleaved lighting units according to claim I, wherein said lightmg units of each of said light emitting arrays are arranged into two groups; said lighting units of each of said groups are arranged into three columns and a plurality of substantially horizontal rows; said rows in a first group are displaced vertically for an appropriate distance relative to said rows of a second group of said light emitting array such that the height of each of said rows in said first group fall within a vertical gap between two vertically adjacent rows of said second group.

9. The display device having the vertically interleaved lighting units according to claim 8, wherein said lighting units in said row in said first group or in said second group are capable of emitting red, green, and blue light, respectively.

10. The display device having the vertically interleaved lighting units according to claim I, 2, 4, 6, or 8, wherein said lighting units of each of said light emitting arrays are configured on a base board coated with a dark-colored paint.

11. A display device having the vertically interleaved lighting units disposed, comprising: a base member for supporting said display device on a surface; a rotational member, rotatably mounted on top of said base member, said rotational member having at least a light emitting array with appropriate lateral spacing therebetween, each of said light emitting arrays having a plurality of lighting units arranged in at least two substantially vertical columns, said lighting units in a first column being displaced vertically for an appropriate distance relative to said lighting units of a second column of said light emitting array such that the height of each of said lighting units in said first column fall within a vertical gap between two vertically adjacent lighting units of said second column; and a driving unit housed inside said base member and said rotational member for driving said rotational member to rotate and control said light emitting arrays.

12. The display device according to claim 11, wherein each of said lighting units is a LED.

13. The display device according to claim 12, wherein said LED is capable of emitting red, green, and blue light.

14. The display device according to claim 11, wherein said lighting units of each of said light emitting arrays are arranged into two groups; said lighting units of each of said groups are arranged into three columns and a plurality of substantially horizontal rows; said rows in a first group are displaced vertically for an appropriate distance relative to said rows of a second group of said light emitting array such that the height of each of said rows in said first group fall within a vertical gap between two vertically adjacent rows of said second group.

15. The display device according to claim 14, wherein said lighting units in said row in said first group or in said second group are capable of emitting red, green, and blue light, respectively.

16. The display device according to claim 11, 12, or 14, wherein said lighting units of each of said light emitting arrays are configured on a base board coated with a dark-colored paint.