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| Summary / Description | A display panel that uses waveguides - the strands are placed side-by-side with a light source at the top shining down through. There are several outputs along the strand to allow the light to be produced as pixels, with acoustic energy used to control the output. |
| Type of Prior Art | Issued Patents - US |
| Country | United States of America |
| Patent/Application # | 5,596,671 |
| Kind Code | United States (US) - United STATES Patent - A |
| Patentee Name | Marshall A. Rockwell III |
| Relevant Pages, Columns, or Lines | multiple (see comments below) |
| URL | http://www.google.com/patents?i... |
| Filing Date | April 28, 1994 |
| Additional Information | |
| Notes | If you refer to sheet 8 of the US patent and compare it to figures 3 and 4 of the Australian patent, it is just a simplified version. |
Excerpt In this invention, waveguides are arranged in a parallel fashion across the display – the light source is placed at the tip, which shines down through the waveguides, guided by a graded index array. Multiple ‘taps’ are placed along the strands so as to allow the light to be released all the way along so as to produce this particular display’s version of pixels – acoustic energy is used to allow the output to be released at these various taps. |
An optical display comprising:
a plurality of strands arranged in spaced apart relationship;
each strand having a plurality of waveguides with each guide having an output at a different position along the length of the respective strand;
each waveguide having an input end; and
a light driver supplying light to the input end of each waveguide so light can propagate along the waveguide and exit at the outputs.
| Relevance | See columns 17-20 for explanation |
The optical display of anyone of claims 1 to 3, wherein each waveguide comprises an optical fibre.
| Relevance | See columns 11-12 for explanation |
The optical display of anyone of claims 1 to 6, wherein each strand is formed from an opaque sheath on which the nodes of that strand are supported, and the waveguides being supported in the sheath.
| Relevance | See column 13 for explanation |
The optical display of anyone of claims 1 to 8, wherein the strands are oriented vertically in use.
| Relevance | Refer to Figure 14 |
An optical display as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 9, wherein subsets of the plurality of strands are arranged in a plurality of substantially parallel planes.
| Relevance | Refer to Figure 14 |
An optical display comprising:
a plurality of spaced apart strands, each strand comprising;
a support element for supporting a plurality of optical fibres;
a plurality of diffuser elements on the support element, the diffusers being spaced apart along the length of the strand; and
a plurality of optical fibres supported by the support element, each of the plurality of optical fibres having a terminating end located at a respective diffuser element of the strand, wherein when light is provided to the optical fibres and propagates along the optical fibres, the light exits the terminating end of the fibres at the respective diffuser elements to thereby create an optical display.
| Relevance | See columns 17-20 for explanation |
The optical display of anyone of claims 17 to 21, wherein subsets of the strands are arranged in a plurality of substantially parallel planes.
| Relevance | Refer to Figure 14 |
United States