US3924228A - Electrostatically actuated display panel - Google Patents

Electrostatically actuated display panel Download PDF

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Publication number
US3924228A
US3924228A US538990A US53899075A US3924228A US 3924228 A US3924228 A US 3924228A US 538990 A US538990 A US 538990A US 53899075 A US53899075 A US 53899075A US 3924228 A US3924228 A US 3924228A
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United States
Prior art keywords
conductive
display panel
membrane
composite
window
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US538990A
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English (en)
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George W Goodrich
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Bendix Corp
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Bendix Corp
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Priority to US538990A priority Critical patent/US3924228A/en
Application filed by Bendix Corp filed Critical Bendix Corp
Priority to CA239,863A priority patent/CA1039838A/en
Publication of US3924228A publication Critical patent/US3924228A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Priority to GB49488/75A priority patent/GB1496559A/en
Priority to DE2556946A priority patent/DE2556946C3/de
Priority to FR7538951A priority patent/FR2296901A1/fr
Priority to JP50154683A priority patent/JPS5187991A/ja
Priority to NL7515238A priority patent/NL7515238A/xx
Priority to IT19024/76A priority patent/IT1054008B/it
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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    • 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
    • G09F9/37—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 being movable elements
    • G09F9/372—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 being movable elements the positions of the elements being controlled by the application of an electric field

Definitions

  • the display panel embodies one or more flexible membrane sections disposed in a predetermined pattern in an electric field generated between a transparent window and a closely spaced parallel support substrate.
  • electrostatic forces are generated which displace the charged sections either to or away from the window.
  • the space between the window and the substrate is filled with a contrasting colored. high dielectric opaque fluid which normally occludes the membrane sections when they are displaced towards the substrate.
  • the electrostatic t'orces displace the membrane sections against the window.
  • the membrane displaces the opaque fluid and the contacting portion of the membrane section becomes visible through the window.
  • Selectively charging individual membrane sections in the pattern indicative of the character to be formed. selectively displaces the charged membrane sections against the window and the desired character is visually formed.
  • a message imprinted upon a single segment can similarly be made to appear or disappear.
  • FIG-2 US. Patant Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet 2 014 3,924,228
  • the invention is related to the field of visual communications and, in particular, to passive display panel producing alpha numerical characters by electrostatically moving selected flexible membrane sections against the surface of a transparent window displacing an opaque fluid disposed therebetween and forming visible characters.
  • Prior Art Display panels may be roughly categorized as luminous or passive dependent upon whether they are self luminous or require ambient light to relay the information to the recipient.
  • Luminous display panels such as cathode ray tubes, arrays of light emitting diodes, and plasma panels have found wide acceptance in both industry and general public use.
  • the deficiency of luminous display panels is the tendency of the information displayed to be washed out, and even lost under intense ambient illumination.
  • passive display panels transmit the information to the recipient by means of reflected ambient light and visibility increases with increased ambient illumination.
  • Passive display panels have practical application where the ambient illumination may vary from intense daylight to subdued conditions.
  • Passive display panels range in form from the time honored score boards found in baseball parks to the more recent electronically activated liquid crystal displays and includes various types of panels in which the information is made visible by displacing an opaque fluid filling the space between a transparent window and the desired information.
  • the displacement of the opaque fluid is generally accomplished by moving the information bearing member into physical contact with the window. The physical contact displaces the fluid from between the window and member and the information, otherwise occluded by the opaque fluid, becomes visible.
  • the prior art teaches the displacement of information or character bearing members by mechanical, pneumatic, fluidic and electromagnetic forces.
  • G. A. Wearham in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,780,733 and 1,782,328 teaches the displacement of the member by both mechanical and fluidic means. J. M.
  • each face of vane has the same color as the adjacent face of the groove, so that when the vane is deflected to one side, the exposed face of the vane and the exposed surface of the V groove have the same color, and when the vane is deflected to the other side, the opposite side of the vane and the other face of the groove are exposed, displaying the contrasting color.
  • the vane is required to move through a considerable distance and relatively high electrostatic voltages are required.
  • Electrostatic deflection of a reflective membrane for light modulators has also been used with large screen television displays. Typical examples of such devices are disclosed by P. Kendall, Jr. et a1, U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,480, as well as my own U.S. Pat. No. 3,746,785.
  • the invention is an electrostatically actuated passive display panel.
  • the panel comprises a plurality of electrically isolated conductive membrane sections systematically disposed along the surface of a support structure in a predetermined pattern.
  • a transparent window having an electrically conductive internal surface is disposed parallel to the support structure and proximate the conductive membrane sections so that a distance of approximately 0.01 centimeter separates the window from the adjacent surfaces of the membrane section.
  • the space between the window and the membrane sections is filled with a low conductivity, high dielectric constant, colored fluid having sufficient opacity to occlude the membrane section when viewed through the window.
  • One end of each membrane section is fixedly attached to the support structure and the opposite end is free to move under the influence of internally generated electrostatic forces.
  • each membrane section Under the influence of electrostatic forces, the free ends of the membrane sections contact the inner surface of the transparent window.
  • the free end of each membrane section has a region imprinted with a color contrasting to the color of the fluid so that when the free end is in contact with the window, the contrasting color of the imprinted region is visible therethrough.
  • Means are further provided for generating an electric field between the conductive surface disposed along the inner surface of the window and the support structure and for individually conducting an electrical charge to each electrically isolated membrane section. Selectively charging individual membrane sections with electrical signals, having a polarity the same as that applied to the support structure, will generate an electrostatic field and therefor an electrostatic force between the window and the charged membrane sections.
  • the attractive electrostatic force urges the free ends of the charged membrane sections away from the support structure and into contact with the window, displacing the opaque fluid and rendering the region imprinted with the contrasting color to be visible. Reversing the polarity of the charge on the individual membrane sections so that it will have the same charge as on the window will return their free ends to their original position along the support substrate.
  • the membrane sections are arranged in the familiar seven bar alpha numerical pattern, including an eighth membrane section for generating a period or decimal point.
  • the invention may be embodied in an elementary form containing only a single membrane section with an imprinted message or a single alpha numerical pattern.
  • the display may also take more complex forms having a plurality of patterns arranged in linear or in two dimensional matrices.
  • the electrical power and potentials required for activation of the electrostatically activated display panel are well within the state of the art of solid state logic and switch ing devices, and may be either AC or DC.
  • the object of the invention is a passive electrostatically activated display panel compatible with state of the art logic circuitry and components having a high character density.
  • a further object of the invention is a multiple character passive display panel relatively simple and inexpensive to make.
  • Still another objective of the invention is a multiple character passive display panel using no exotic or expensive components or manufacturing techniques.
  • Another object is a display panel which may be matrix addressed or multiplexed.
  • FIG. 1 is an exaggerated cross section view of a preferred embodiment of the electrostatically activated display panel to show the individual elements and con struction details.
  • FIG. 2 is a plan view of the membrane sections arranged in the familar seven bar alpha numerical pattern.
  • FIG. 3 is a plan view of an alternate embodiment of the composite base having the leads to the individual membrane sections along a common edge.
  • FIG. 4 is a cross section of the alternate embodiment shown in FIG. 3.
  • FIG. 5 is a cut away perspective illustrating a multi character embodiment of the display panel.
  • FIG. 6 is a plan view of an alternate embodiment of a composite substrate for a display panel capable of being multiplexed.
  • FIG. 7 is a plan view of an alternate embodiment of a composite substrate for a panel capable of being matrix addressed.
  • FIG. 8 is a plan view of a composite base having a single membrane section with a printed message.
  • FIG. 9 is a plan view of a composite base having an alternate configuration for the membrane sections.
  • the body of the display panel comprises a composite transparent window 10, a composite membrane support base 12 and a spacer body 14.
  • composite base 12 and spacer body 14 form a structure having an internal cavity completely filled with a low conductivity opaque fluid 16.
  • the composite window comprises a window 18, such as glass or any other suitable transparent material and has a transparent conductive coating of any type known in the art which is applied along the inner surface of the window 18.
  • the transparent conductive coating 20, for example, may be a tin oxide coating, such as the commercially available NESA coating or a transparent vapor-deposited metalic film.
  • the conductive coating 18 is further overlaid with an insulation material 22.
  • the insulating material 22 When the conductivity of the insulating material 22 is approximately equal to the conductivity of the opaque fluid 16, the insulating material may be in the form of a continuous layer disposed over the conductive coating 20. However, when the conductivity of the insulating material is substantially less than that of the opaque fluid, the insulating material may be disposed over the conductive coating 20 in the form of a plurality of isolated islands such as would be obtained by evaporating silicon monoxide or other insulating material through a fine mesh screen. The spacing between the isolated islands being sufficiently small to prevent the conductive deflectable membrane sections 28 from contacting the conductive coating 20 between the islands.
  • the composite membrane support base 12 in the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1 comprises a metal plate 24 overlaid with an insulating material 26.
  • the insulating material 26 may be in the form of a thin continuous layer disposed over the internal surface of the metal plate 24.
  • the conductivity of the insulating material is substantially less than the conductivity of the opaque fluid, the insulating material may be disposed along the surface of the metal plate in the form of a plu rality of isolated islands.
  • the island configuration of the insulating material on the composite window and composite base permits the opaque fluid, having the higher conductivity, to be in electrical contact with conductive surfaces of the window and the base and enhances the establishment of a more uniform electrical field therebetween.
  • the composite base 12 may be made from an insulating material with a conductive coating disposed along the surface thereof. Attached to the insulating material 26 are a plurality of electrically isolated deflectable membrane sections 28 which will be discussed in detail with reference to FIG. 2. Electrical contact to each individual membrane section 28 is made by a like plurality of conductor elements, illustrated as pins 30 making electrical contact with each membrane section and passing through the metal plate 24- and insulating material 26 to the external surface of the display panel. By this means each membrane section 28 may be individually charged by an electrical potential applied to the associated pin 30. Insulator grommets 32 are provided for electrical isolation between each pin 30 and the metal plate 24.
  • the spacer body 14 is made from an insulating material and provides a circumferential fluid seal between the composite window 10 and the composite support plate 12.
  • the thickness of the spacer body 14 is selected so that the separation between the inner surface 34 of insulation layer 22 and the upper surface 36 of the membrane sections 28, indicated as dimension is approximately 0.01 centimeter.
  • the opaque fluid 16 is a high dielectric constant, low conductivity, colored fluid such as ethyl acetate, colored with a commercial oil soluble dye.
  • the control logic circuit 40 has an input indicative of the character to be formed. This input may be a manual input from a keyboard, or an electrical signal from an external source (not shown). The various types of inputs and the manner in which they are generated are well known in the art and need not be discussed for an understanding of the invention.
  • the control logic circuit may be powered from the same source as the display panel, as shown, or may be powered by an independent electrical source.
  • the control logic circuit is of conventional form and in response to an input indicative of a specific character outputs electrical signals on the leads connected to the pins 30.
  • the output sig nals from the control logic are bipolar electrical signals having either a magnitude and polarity the same as that applied to the transparent conductive layer 20 or the magnitude and polarity the same as that applied to the metal plate 24 from the electrical power source.
  • the details of the membane sections 28 are discussed with reference to FIG. 2.
  • This illustrated embodiment comprises eight electrically isolated membrane sections 28. Seven of the sections are arranged to define the elements of a typical seven bar alpha numerical character and the eighth section is a period or decimal point. The use of this pattern to generate both letters and numerals is well known and need not be further discussed.
  • the membrane sections 28 may be a thin metal foil such as 2 um thick aluminum foil or made from a thin sheet or film of a suitable plastic material, as polyester or polyvinyl chloride, heavily loaded with conducting particles, such as carbon black, so that each section is electrically conductive and assumes a common electrical potential when charged.
  • the plastic film may be metalized, using conventional metal deposition methods, such as vapor deposition to provide the desired electrical conductivity.
  • metal deposition methods such as vapor deposition to provide the desired electrical conductivity.
  • a thin insulating layer may be deposited over the conductive surfaces of the individ ual membrane sections as a barrier to electronic exchange to ions in the fluid.
  • Each membrane section 28, forming the alpha numerical character is comprised of three regions, as il lustrated.
  • the first region arbitrarily defined by the crosshatched area, is electrical contact region 42, which is fixedly attached to the insulating material 26 and in electrical contact with the associated pin 30. This may be accomplished using a conductive epoxy or by depositing a thin layer of indium or an indium alloy in the contact region of each membrane section 28 and affecting a cold indium weld between the layer of insulating material 26 and the contact region 42 of the membrane section.
  • the second region defined by the diagonal bar pattern, is the hinge region 44 and is that segment of the membrane which flexs when the section is subjected to electrostatic forces.
  • the third region is the imprinted region 46 which is imprinted with a color contrasting to the color of the opaque fluid 16.
  • the imprinted region would be black and vice versa.
  • other contrasting color combinations including the use of fluorescent colors on the imprinted regions could also be used if so desired.
  • the hinge region 44 and contact region 42 may be colored to blend in with the color of the opaque fluid.
  • an opaque mask deposited on the inside surface of the window could be used to occlude the hinge and contact regions of the sections.
  • the surface of the membrane sections 28 may be con tinuous or porous. A porous membrane would permit fluid to flow through the membrane reducing its resistance to movement thereby increasing the response time of display panel.
  • the operation of the display panel is as follows:
  • An electrostatic potential difference is established between the transparent conductive coating 20 disposed over the inner surface of the composite window It) and the metal plate 24 by means of the source of electrical power supply, such as battery 38.
  • Information indicative of the character to be displayed is input into the control logic 40 which generates electrical signals communicated to the respective pins 30 on the display panel.
  • the pins in electrical contact with the membrane sections 28, which form the input character, receive electrical signal having approximately the same magnitude and polarity as the potential the metal plate 24.
  • the membrane sections forming the input character assume the potential communicated to their respective pins and are subjected to an electrostatic force urging the free imprinted region 46 of the membrane sections towards the composite window 10.
  • the imprinted region of the membrane sections contact the transparent insulation material 22 overlaying the conductive layer 20 and displaces the opaque fluid 16 from therebetween. With the opaque fluid 16 so displaced, the im printed region 46 of each membrane section in contact with the transparent insulation material 22 becomes visible through the composite window It) and the input character is formed.
  • the remaining membrane sections receive signals from the control logic which have approximately the same magnitude and polarity as potential on the conductive coating 20 and are held against the insulation material 26 overlaying the metal plate 24 by electrostatic forces generated between the membrane sections and the support substrate.
  • the electrical potentials required to displace the membrane sections against the window appear to be well within the output capabilities of state of the art solid state logic circuitry. Buffer or interface amplifiers to increase voltage or current levels are not required.
  • the force of attraction per unit area between two parallel conductors can be derived from the energy stored in a capacitor.
  • the electrostatic force P is defined by the equation:
  • the display panel is also operable with alternating (AC) potentials.
  • AC alternating
  • the requirement for AC operation is that all applied potentials including the signals to the membrane sections be changed in a synchronous manner so that the directions of the electrostatic forces are unchanged.
  • AC operation of the panel is desirable because it significantly reduces the electrolysis of the opaque fluid and increases the life of the panel.
  • FIGS. 3 and 4 An alternate embodiment of the composite base eliminating the pins protruding therethrough for electrical contact to the membrane sections is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.
  • electrical conduc tors 48 are deposited on an insulator substrate 50 made from glass or one of the commercially available plastics.
  • the conductors originate from a common edge of the substrate, indicated as edge 52, and individually terminate at a location under one of the contact regions 42 of the associated membrane sections 28 (shown in phantom).
  • the conductors 48 may be formed on the insulator substrate 50 using any of the methods well known in the art, such as vapor deposition, silk screening, etc.
  • the conductors 48 are overlaid with a thin film of insulating material 54 such as silicon monoxide, except for the contact area 56 under the contact regions 42 of the membrane sections.
  • the entire surface area of the support substrate 50 again, with the exception of contact areas 56, is overlaid with a conductive film 58 which in turn is covered with insulator material 60.
  • the membrane sections 28 are attached to the composite substrate 12 in the desired positions and in electrical contact with the individual conductors 48 using any of the methods well known in the art.
  • the membrane sections may be attached to the composite substrate using a conductive epoxy or a thin layer of indium 62 over the area on the composite substrate 12, defined by the contact region 42 of each membrane section 28.
  • FIG. 9 illustrates an alternate configuration of the deflectable membrane sections 28 forming the alpha numerical character.
  • the hinge region 72 is connected to the narrow ends of the imprinted region 74 and are substantially longer than they are wide to provide increased flexibility of the hinge.
  • the hinge region may be colored to blend in with the color of the opaque fluid, as discussed with reference to FIG. 2, or a mask having the same color as the opaque fluid may be imprinted on composite window 10 to occlude the hinge region of the individual sections 28.
  • the dashed lines 76 outline the areas on the composite window to be masked when this latter concept is employed.
  • the areas 78 (diagonal lines) indicate the areas to which a conductive epoxy or other bonding agent is applied to attach the membrane sections to the composite substrate 12. The operation of the display panel is the same as discussed with reference to FIG. 1.
  • FIGS. 1 through 4 Although the display panel has been illustrated and described in FIGS. 1 through 4 as having only a single alpha numerical character, it is obvious that the con cept can be extended to a multiple character panel, as shown in FIG. 5.
  • the numbers used to identify the elements illustrated in FIG. 5 are the same as used in FIGS. 1 through 4.
  • the multi character panel may be activated using any of the methods presently available in the art including multiplex or matrix address techniques which require fewer leads between the display panel and the control logic.
  • the structure of the composite base may be made as shown on FIG. 6.
  • the insulator substrate 50 and electrical conductors 48 depicted in FIG. 3 are understood but not shown to simplify the drawing.
  • the continuous conductive film 58 is segmented into a plurality of electrically isolated conductive islands 64 which may be individually charged by means of the logic control 66.
  • the corresponding sections 28 of each character on the multi character display are electrically connected in parallel to the logic control 66.
  • the parallel electrical connections of the corresponding sections may be made during the fabrication of the composite base 12 or be made externally, as shown.
  • the operation of the multiplexed panel is as follows:
  • All of the islands 64 are initially electrically biased to the same potential as the window, with the exception of the addressed island associated with the character, the position of whose membrane sections are to be set.
  • the potential of the island being addressed is different from that of the window to generate an electric field, as discussed relative to FIG. 1.
  • All the sections are then charged for a short fraction of one clock cycle with a polarity opposite that of the window, i.e., the nominal potential applied to the conductive film on the composite base. Because the window and the nonaddressed islands have the same electrical potential, the sections associated with the nonaddressed islands are attracted to the closest electrode, be it the window or the composite base.
  • the sections to be displaced towards the window remain at the potential of the addressed island and the sections to be displaced against the composite base are biased to the potential of the window.
  • the sections at the window potential and associated with the nonaddressed islands will not move since there is no field gradient between the window and the islands and the sections will float electrically. Only the sections associated with the addressed island will be attracted to the composite substrate. The sections to be displaced against the window are charged to the potential of the addressed island.
  • the sections associated with the nonaddressed islands as discussed above, are attracted to the nearest electrodes and, therefore, will retain their initial position,
  • the sections associated with the addressed island will be displaced against the window by electrostatic forces.
  • Logic controls for performing the required function and generating the required potentials are well within the state of the art.
  • the location of the island being addressed can be determined from a pair of shift registers and the sections being driven in parallel from a third shift register device.
  • the information indicative of the characters to be displayed is serially generated and loaded into the section shift register device.
  • the structure of the composite substrate 12 may be made as shown on FIG. 7. Again, the substrate 50 and conductors 48 are not shown to simplify the drawing.
  • the continuous conductive film 53 is segmented into a plurality of electrically isolated conductive stripes 68 disposed in a plurality of rows which may be individually charged by a logic control 70.
  • Each conductive stripe 68 being associated with one row of characters on the multi character display panel.
  • the characters are divided according to columns and corresponding sections 28 in each character in each column are electrically connected in parallel.
  • the parallel electrical connection between corresponding sections in each column can be made during the fabrication of the composite substrate or made externally as shown. Although only four characters are illustrated, two in each row, and two in each column, the concept is readily extended to many rows and columns having many characters each.
  • the matrix operation of the display panel is similar to the multiplex operation. Initially, all the rows 68 are charged to the potential of the window except the row containing the character whose sections are to be charged. The information indicative of the sections to be displaced either towards or away from the window is applied to the respective leads on the column containing character. Obviously, the characters in the unaddressed columns will not change, and for the reasons discussed with reference to multiplex configurations, only the sections in the addressed column which are in the character in the activated row will change. All other characters will remain unchanged. By sequentially switching the activation of the individual rows and columns in a predeterminable order, each charac ter can be changed in accordance with the signals generated by the logic control. It would be obvious to one skilled in the art that the conductive stripes 68 could be disposed along the columns and that the parallel connection of the like character sections could be made along the rows without departing from the intent of the invention.
  • One such character pattern is the conventional by 7 dot matrix in which the characters are formed by activating predetermined dots within the matrix.
  • the conductive film on the composite substrate is segmented into a plurality of electrically isolated conductive stripes, one stripe for each row of dots in the pattern.
  • the membrane sections take the form of a plurality of parallel stripes angularly disposed to the conductive stripes; one parallel membrane section for each column in the dot pattern.
  • the intersections between the conductive stripes and the parallel membrane sections represent dots in the pattern. From the prior discussion with reference to FIG. 6 and 7, it is readily seen that by matrix addressing each row of conductive stripes and each column of membrane section in a predeterminable sequence the membrane sections at selected intersections can be deflected into contact with the window to form the desired character.
  • the principles of the electrostatic display panel may be embodied in a simple on/off type display having a predetermined message imprinted on a single moveable membrane, such as shown in FIG. 8. It is understood that this type of display may have more than one moveable membrane and more than one printed message.
  • the operation of the display panel illustrated in FIG. 8 is the same as the character forming configuration discussed with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 and need not be repeated here.
  • One skilled in the art will immediately conceive other embodiments based on the disclosed principles of operation. The embodiments illustrated and discussed are merely to present the invention in several of its many forms and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
  • An electrostatically actuated display panel comprising:
  • a composite base having at least one electrically conductive planar surface and a thin surface layer of insulating material disposed over said conductive surface
  • At least one electrically isolated, electrically conductive, flexible membrane section having a predetermined color, said membrane section having at one end a predetermined contact region fixedly attached to said composite base on the side having said layer of insulating material and electrically isolated from said conductive surface, the opposite end of said at least one membrane section being free to move under the influence of electrostatic forces;
  • a composite planar window disposed parallel to said composite base and separated therefrom by a predetermined distance slightly greater than the thickness of said membrane section, said composite window having a thin layer of transparent electrically conductive material disposed along the surface of I said window adjacent to said composite base;
  • a low conductivity high dielectric constant fluid having a color contrasting to the color of said at least one membrane section, filling in the space between said composite window, and said composite base, said fluidhaving an opacity sufficient to occlude viewing of said at least one membrane section when said membrane section is disposed against the surface of said composite base.
  • said at least one electrically conductive flexible membrane section 1 1 comprises a thin sheet of flexible material having a length substantially longer than its width, said sheet of flexible material having said predetermined contact region at one end, an imprinted region at the end opposite to said one end, and a hinge region disposed between said electrical contact region and said imprinted region.
  • said membrane sections further include a thin layer of conductive material disposed over at least one surface of said thin sheet.
  • said thin sheet further includes a thin layer of insulator material disposed over surface of said membrane sections.
  • said at least one membrane section is a plurality of membrane sections electrically isolated from each other, each of said membrane sections having a message printed on said imprinted regions and wherein said means for conducting independently conducts an electrical charge to each of said plurality of membrane sections.
  • said at least one membrane section comprises a plurality of electrically isolated, electrically conductive, flexible membrane sections disposed along the surface of said composite base in at least one predetermined character forming pattern, and said means for conducting independently conducts an electrical charge to each of said membrane sections.
  • said at least one predetermined character forming pattern comprises at least seven of said electrically conductive flexible membrane sections arranged to form a block numeral eight.
  • said character forming pattern further includes an eighth electrically conductive flexible membrane section within the block numeral eight to form a period.
  • said at least one character forming pattern comprises a plurality of character forming patterns linearly disposed along a straight line.
  • said at least one character forming pattern comprises a plurality of character forming patterns disposed in a multi line matrix.
  • said composite window further includes a thin. transparent layer of insulating material disposed over the transparent conductive material.
  • said layer of insulating material disposed along the surface of said composite window comprises a plurality of small isolated islands of insulating material systematically disposed over the transparent conductive material
  • said layer of insulating material disposed along the surface of said composite base also comprises a plurality of small isolated islands of insulating material systematically disposed along said conductive surface, further wherein each island of insulating material disposed along said composite window and said composite base are separated from all adjacent islands by a distance sufficiently small to support said flexible membrane sections in electrical isolation from said conductive material and said conductive surface respectively.
  • said composite base includes a rigid metal plate wherein said conductive surface is one surface of said metal plate.
  • said metal plate further includes a plurality of holes therethrough, one hole being disposed in the contact region of each membrane section, said means for conducting an electrical charge to each membrane section is a plurality metal conductor wire having a diameter smaller than the diameter of said holes and a length substantially longer than the thickness of said metal plate, one of said metallic conductor wires concentrically disposed in each of said holes with one end of said conductor wires flush with the surface of said insulating material and in electrical contact with said contact regions and insulating material disposed between said metal plate and said conductor wires, electrically insulating said wires from said metal plate.
  • said composite base includes a rigid plate of insulator material and said conductive surface is a thin layer of conductive material disposed over the surface of said rigid plate of insulator material on the side adjacent to said composite window.
  • said composite base includes a base substrate of insulator material and said conductive surface comprises a plurality of conductive islands disposed over the surface of said base substrate, each of said conductive islands being associated with at least one of said character forming patterns.
  • said composite base includes a base substrate of insulator material and said conductive surface comprises a plurality of conductive islands disposed over the surface of said base substrate, each of said conductive islands being associated with at least one of said character forming patterns.
  • said character forrnin g pattern is a multi element dot type matrix having a predetermined number of elements systematically arranged along two axes angularly disposed to each other,
  • said composite base includes a base substrate of insulator material and said conductive surface comprises a plurality of electrically isolated conductive stripes disposed parallel to one of said two axes, said plurality of conductive stripes equal to the number of elements in said multi element matrix along the other of said two axes,
  • said membrane sections comprise a plurality of narrow membrane sections disposed parallel to said other axis, said plurality of membrane sections equal in number of elements in said multi element matrix along said one axis.
  • An electrostatically actuated display panel system comprising:
  • a composite base having an electrically conductive planar surface and a thin surface layer of insulating material disposed over said conductive surface;
  • each of said membrane sections having along one edge a predetermined contact region fixedly attached to said composite base and an imprinted region at the opposite end having a predetermined color, each of said membrane electrically isolated from said conductive surface;
  • a composite window disposed parallel to said composite substrate and separated therefrom by a predetermined distance slightly greater than the thickness of said membrane sections, said composite window having a thin layer of transparent electrically conductive material disposed along the sur face of the composite adjacent to said composite substrate;
  • peripheral support means rigidly positioning said composite window with respect to said composite substrate and providing a peripheral fluid seal therebetween;
  • a low conductivity, high dielectric constant fluid having a color contrasting to the color of said imprinted region, filling in the space between said composite window and said composite substrate, said fluid having an opacity sufficient to occlude the' viewing of said imprinted region when said membrane sections are disposed against the surface of said composite substrate;
  • a source of electrical power having at least two outputs of different electrical potentials, one of said outputs providing electrical power to the conductive surface of said composite base substrate, the other output providing electrical power to the conductive material disposed along the surface of said transparent window;
  • control logic means electrically connected to the means for conducting an electrical charge to each of said membrane sections for generating electrical signals charging predetermined membrane sections in response to input signals indicative of character to be generated.
  • said source of electrical power is an AC source of electrical power wherein the potential of said two outputs alternate at a predetermined frequency, and wherein the potential of the signals generated by said control logic means synchronously alternate with two outputs of the AC power source to maintain the relationship between the potentials applied to the conductive surface of said composite base and the conductive material disposed along the surface of said transparent window, and signals applied to the membrane sections.
  • said at least one predetermined character forming pattern comprises at least seven linear electrically conductive flexible membrane sections arranged to form a block numeral eight, and further includes an eighth electrically conductive flexible membrane section within the block numeral eight to form a period.
  • said at least one character forming pattern comprises a plurality of character forming patterns disposed along a straight line.
  • the conductive planar surface of said composite base comprises a plurality of electrically isolated conductive islands disposed along said straight line of character forming patterns with at least one of said islands being disposed under each of said patterns;
  • said logic control means includes:
  • said at least one character forming pattern comprises a plurality of character forming patterns systematically disposed along the surface of said composite base in a multi line matrix of character forming patterns.
  • the conductive planar surface of said compositevbase comprises a plurality of electrically isolated conductive planar islands in a multi line matrix corresponding to the multi line matrix of character forming patterns, each of said islands being associated with a corresponding character forming pattern;
  • said logic control means further includes:
  • said conductive planar surface of said composite base comprises a plurality of electrically isolated conductive stripes disposed parallel to one of said two sets of lines, one of said parallel stripes corresponding with the patterns lying along each line in said one set of lines;
  • said logic control means further includes; means for generating electrical signals indicative of the characters to be generated for each character forming pattern in a first predetermined sequence;
  • said character forming pattern is a multi element dot type matrix having a predetermined number of elements systematically arranged at the intersections of two sets of parallel lines angularly disposed to each other;
  • said conductive planar surface of said composite base comprises a plurality of electrically isolated conductive stripes, each of said plurality of conductive stripes corresponding to one line in one of said two sets of parallel lines;
  • said membrane sections comprises a second plurality of narrow membrane sections, each narrow membrane section corresponding to one line in the other of said two sets of parallel lines;
  • said logic control means comprises:

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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)
  • Electrochromic Elements, Electrophoresis, Or Variable Reflection Or Absorption Elements (AREA)
  • Liquid Crystal (AREA)
US538990A 1975-01-06 1975-01-06 Electrostatically actuated display panel Expired - Lifetime US3924228A (en)

Priority Applications (8)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US538990A US3924228A (en) 1975-01-06 1975-01-06 Electrostatically actuated display panel
CA239,863A CA1039838A (en) 1975-01-06 1975-11-18 Electrostatically actuated display panel
GB49488/75A GB1496559A (en) 1975-01-06 1975-12-02 Electrostatically actuated display panel
DE2556946A DE2556946C3 (de) 1975-01-06 1975-12-18 Elektrostatisch betätigte Anzeigetafel
FR7538951A FR2296901A1 (fr) 1975-01-06 1975-12-19 Panneau indicateur actionne de maniere electrostatique
JP50154683A JPS5187991A (de) 1975-01-06 1975-12-24
NL7515238A NL7515238A (nl) 1975-01-06 1975-12-31 Elektrostatisch bekrachtigd weergavepaneel.
IT19024/76A IT1054008B (it) 1975-01-06 1976-01-05 Pannello visualizzatore

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US538990A US3924228A (en) 1975-01-06 1975-01-06 Electrostatically actuated display panel

Publications (1)

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US3924228A true US3924228A (en) 1975-12-02

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US538990A Expired - Lifetime US3924228A (en) 1975-01-06 1975-01-06 Electrostatically actuated display panel

Country Status (8)

Country Link
US (1) US3924228A (de)
JP (1) JPS5187991A (de)
CA (1) CA1039838A (de)
DE (1) DE2556946C3 (de)
FR (1) FR2296901A1 (de)
GB (1) GB1496559A (de)
IT (1) IT1054008B (de)
NL (1) NL7515238A (de)

Cited By (19)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4178077A (en) * 1975-08-27 1979-12-11 U.S. Philips Corporation Electrostatically controlled picture display device
FR2530849A1 (fr) * 1982-03-18 1984-01-27 Gen Electric Dispositif d'affichage electroscopique
FR2571573A1 (fr) * 1984-10-10 1986-04-11 Philips Nv Dispositif de reproduction d'images a liquide electroscopique convenant a la television
US4723834A (en) * 1984-11-21 1988-02-09 U.S. Philips Corporation Passive display device
US4736202A (en) * 1984-08-21 1988-04-05 Bos-Knox, Ltd. Electrostatic binary switching and memory devices
US4794370A (en) * 1984-08-21 1988-12-27 Bos-Knox Ltd. Peristaltic electrostatic binary device
US5014047A (en) * 1988-05-31 1991-05-07 Nitto Kohki Co., Ltd. Display element, display method and apparatus using said element
US5099353A (en) * 1990-06-29 1992-03-24 Texas Instruments Incorporated Architecture and process for integrating DMD with control circuit substrates
EP0554847A1 (de) * 1992-02-05 1993-08-11 Texas Instruments Incorporated Schaltbarer resonanter Filter für optische Strahlung
US5307082A (en) * 1992-10-28 1994-04-26 North Carolina State University Electrostatically shaped membranes
US5943033A (en) * 1994-09-06 1999-08-24 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba Display device
FR2781305A1 (fr) * 1998-07-15 2000-01-21 Commissariat Energie Atomique Dispositif d'affichage a tres faible consommation
US6239777B1 (en) * 1997-07-22 2001-05-29 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba Display device
US6304364B1 (en) * 1997-06-11 2001-10-16 President & Fellows Of Harvard College Elastomeric light valves
US20040166966A1 (en) * 1998-09-04 2004-08-26 Niel Nielson Portable scoreboard
US20110215342A1 (en) * 2010-03-02 2011-09-08 Oliver Steven D Led packaging with integrated optics and methods of manufacturing the same
CN103236128A (zh) * 2013-04-26 2013-08-07 吴同 电子安防膜
US20150360977A1 (en) * 2014-06-17 2015-12-17 Michael Paul Clements Method of Producing an Electrostatic Field Generator
WO2016057420A1 (en) * 2014-10-09 2016-04-14 Polyone Corporation Thermoplastic panel to shift perception of color temperature of light emitting diodes

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1774399A1 (de) 2004-07-14 2007-04-18 House-Building Society No. 887 "Paupio Murai" Verfahren und einrichtung zur regulierung und kontrolle von transparenz und durchscheinen einer glasierung oder wachsleinwand

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US3162849A (en) * 1961-05-10 1964-12-22 Honeywell Inc Two position visual display indicator
US3210757A (en) * 1962-01-29 1965-10-05 Carlyle W Jacob Matrix controlled light valve display apparatus
US3376092A (en) * 1964-02-13 1968-04-02 Kollsman Instr Corp Solid state display composed of an array of discrete elements having movable surfaces
US3556638A (en) * 1968-06-05 1971-01-19 Ibm Deflector plate for light deflector
US3812490A (en) * 1972-09-18 1974-05-21 Bendix Corp Flexible membrane display panel for generating characters visible in ambient light
US3825927A (en) * 1972-06-14 1974-07-23 R Passien Magnetic discboard

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2770061A (en) * 1955-12-30 1956-11-13 Ibm Display apparatus
US3162849A (en) * 1961-05-10 1964-12-22 Honeywell Inc Two position visual display indicator
US3210757A (en) * 1962-01-29 1965-10-05 Carlyle W Jacob Matrix controlled light valve display apparatus
US3376092A (en) * 1964-02-13 1968-04-02 Kollsman Instr Corp Solid state display composed of an array of discrete elements having movable surfaces
US3556638A (en) * 1968-06-05 1971-01-19 Ibm Deflector plate for light deflector
US3825927A (en) * 1972-06-14 1974-07-23 R Passien Magnetic discboard
US3812490A (en) * 1972-09-18 1974-05-21 Bendix Corp Flexible membrane display panel for generating characters visible in ambient light

Cited By (25)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4178077A (en) * 1975-08-27 1979-12-11 U.S. Philips Corporation Electrostatically controlled picture display device
USRE31498E (en) 1975-08-27 1984-01-17 U.S. Philips Corporation Electrostatically controlled picture display device
FR2530849A1 (fr) * 1982-03-18 1984-01-27 Gen Electric Dispositif d'affichage electroscopique
US4736202A (en) * 1984-08-21 1988-04-05 Bos-Knox, Ltd. Electrostatic binary switching and memory devices
US4794370A (en) * 1984-08-21 1988-12-27 Bos-Knox Ltd. Peristaltic electrostatic binary device
FR2571573A1 (fr) * 1984-10-10 1986-04-11 Philips Nv Dispositif de reproduction d'images a liquide electroscopique convenant a la television
US4723171A (en) * 1984-10-10 1988-02-02 U.S. Philips Corporation Electroscopic fluid picture-display device suitable for displaying television images
US4723834A (en) * 1984-11-21 1988-02-09 U.S. Philips Corporation Passive display device
US5014047A (en) * 1988-05-31 1991-05-07 Nitto Kohki Co., Ltd. Display element, display method and apparatus using said element
US5099353A (en) * 1990-06-29 1992-03-24 Texas Instruments Incorporated Architecture and process for integrating DMD with control circuit substrates
EP0554847A1 (de) * 1992-02-05 1993-08-11 Texas Instruments Incorporated Schaltbarer resonanter Filter für optische Strahlung
US5307082A (en) * 1992-10-28 1994-04-26 North Carolina State University Electrostatically shaped membranes
US5943033A (en) * 1994-09-06 1999-08-24 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba Display device
US6304364B1 (en) * 1997-06-11 2001-10-16 President & Fellows Of Harvard College Elastomeric light valves
US6239777B1 (en) * 1997-07-22 2001-05-29 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba Display device
FR2781305A1 (fr) * 1998-07-15 2000-01-21 Commissariat Energie Atomique Dispositif d'affichage a tres faible consommation
WO2000004412A1 (fr) * 1998-07-15 2000-01-27 Commissariat A L'energie Atomique Dispositif d'affichage a tres faible consommation
US20040166966A1 (en) * 1998-09-04 2004-08-26 Niel Nielson Portable scoreboard
US20110215342A1 (en) * 2010-03-02 2011-09-08 Oliver Steven D Led packaging with integrated optics and methods of manufacturing the same
US10500770B2 (en) * 2010-03-02 2019-12-10 So-Semi Technologies, Llc LED packaging with integrated optics and methods of manufacturing the same
CN103236128A (zh) * 2013-04-26 2013-08-07 吴同 电子安防膜
US20150360977A1 (en) * 2014-06-17 2015-12-17 Michael Paul Clements Method of Producing an Electrostatic Field Generator
US9481151B2 (en) * 2014-06-17 2016-11-01 Michael Paul Clements Method of producing an electrostatic field generator
WO2016057420A1 (en) * 2014-10-09 2016-04-14 Polyone Corporation Thermoplastic panel to shift perception of color temperature of light emitting diodes
CN107110467A (zh) * 2014-10-09 2017-08-29 普立万公司 用于发光二极管色温偏移感知的热塑性面板

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPS5187991A (de) 1976-07-31
DE2556946C3 (de) 1980-06-12
DE2556946B2 (de) 1979-10-04
GB1496559A (en) 1977-12-30
CA1039838A (en) 1978-10-03
IT1054008B (it) 1981-11-10
FR2296901A1 (fr) 1976-07-30
FR2296901B1 (de) 1978-05-19
DE2556946A1 (de) 1976-07-08
NL7515238A (nl) 1976-07-08

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