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| Summary / Description | Light-emitting fibres positioned side-by-side with outputs positioned in various positions down each strand, used to create an optical display |
| Type of Prior Art | Issued Patents - US |
| Country | United States of America |
| Patent/Application # | 6,259,846 |
| Kind Code | United States (US) - United STATES Patent - A |
| Patentee Name | Sarnoff Corporation |
| Relevant Pages, Columns, or Lines | multiple (see comments below) |
| URL | http://www.google.com/patents?i... |
| Filing Date | October 15, 1999 |
| Additional Information | |
| Notes | |
Excerpt This invention involved light-emitting fibres positioned side-by-side horizontally, with outputs positioned in various positions down its length. There are small outputs along the side of each fibre through which light can pass from the source above the fibres. An electrical conductor sits down the side of the fibre to control where and to what degree the light passes through the mentioned outputs. |
The optical display of claim 1, wherein each strand contains a plurality of nodes and the output of each fibre is located at a respective node.
| Relevance | See column 3 for explanation |
The optical display of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the output comprises the output end of the waveguide.
| Relevance | See column 3 for explanation |
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 | See column 3 for explanation |
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 7 and 8 for explanation. |
United States