Display device with electrical zipper interconnect

• US 20060103641A1
• Filed: 11/14/2005
• Published: 05/18/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kent Displays Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Kent Displays Incorporated
• Inventors: Marhefka, Duane W.
• Granted Patent: US 7,479,940 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/204
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/1345 Conductors connecting electrodes to cell terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 2001/125 whereby the contacts of the switch are formed by teeth of a zipper
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/209 Auto-mechanical connection between a component and a PCB or between two PCBs
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 3/365 by abutting, i.e. without alloying process

Abstract

A display device includes an electronic display adapted to produce images, an electronic device that electrically communicates with the display and a zipper interconnect adapted to enable electrical connection between the display and the electronic device. The electronic display can be a reflective display such as a liquid crystal display or an emissive display such as one containing light emitting diodes. The electronic device that communicates with the display can be drive electronics adapted to electrically address the display so as to produce the images. In particular, the display is a cholesteric liquid crystal display that can be bistable and in the form of a passive matrix, active matrix or direct drive display. The zipper interconnect can include two rows of conductive teeth that are each electrically connected to one or more of: display electrodes, drive electronics, controller or associated electronics supported on one or more substrate portions. One set of traces can be connected to the display device (or to devices permanently connected thereto) on one substrate portion while the other set of traces can be connected to associated electronics on another substrate portion. When the zipper interconnect is moved so as to engage the teeth of the first and second rows together an electrical connection is made between the display device (or to devices permanently connected thereto) and associated electronics. Electrically insulative teeth can alternate with conductive teeth in the rows of teeth.

Claims

1. A display device comprising an electronic display adapted to produce images, an electronic device that electrically communicates with said display and a zipper interconnect adapted to enable electrical connection between said display and said electronic device.

2. The display device of claim 1 wherein said electronic device includes electronics adapted to electrically address and power said display effective to produce said images.

3. The display device of claim 2 wherein said display is a liquid crystal display.

4. The display device of claim 3 wherein said liquid crystal display comprises cholesteric liquid crystal material having planar and focal conic textures that are stable in absence of an electric field.

5. The display device of claim 2 wherein said display device comprises light emissive elements.

6. The display device of claim 1 comprising a fabric substrate supporting said display.

7. The display device of claim 2 wherein said display is a passive matrix display comprised of orthogonal lines of row electrodes and column electrodes and said electrical connection is made to said lines of row electrodes and column electrodes.

8. The display device of claim 2 wherein said display is an active matrix display comprised of a matrix of transistors and electrodes disposed on opposing sides of said display, said electrical connections being made to said transistors and said electrodes.

9. The display device of claim 2 wherein said display is a direct driven display comprising conductors patterned in geometric shapes and a common electrode, said conductors and said common electrode being disposed on opposing sides of said display, said electrical connections being made to said conductors and said common electrode.

10. The display device of claim 1 comprising an additional display electrically connected to said display with said zipper interconnect.

46. The display device of claim 1 wherein said display is selected from the group consisting of an electrophoretic display, an electrochromic display, and a liquid crystal display including cholesteric liquid crystal material having planar and focal conic textures that are stable in absence of an electric field.

11. A display device comprising:

a flexible substrate including a first substrate portion and a second substrate portion;

an electronic display including a plurality of display conductors, said display being supported by said first substrate portion;

drive electronics for applying an electric field along said display conductors effective to produce an image on said display, said drive electronics being permanently electrically connected to said display conductors and being supported on said first substrate portion;

a controller including control circuitry adapted to provide input data to said drive electronics that enables said drive electronics to apply said electric field, said controller being supported by said second substrate portion;

a plurality of first electrical conductors connected to said drive electronics and supported on said first substrate portion and a plurality of second electrical conductors connected to said controller and supported on said second substrate portion; and

a zipper interconnect adapted to enable electrical connection between said first electrical conductors and said second electrical conductors thereby electronically connecting said controller with said drive electronics.

12. The display device of claim 11 comprising a power source electrically connected to at least one of said second conductors, wherein said zipper interconnect is adapted to interconnect said first conductors and said second conductors effective to enable power to be transmitted from said power source to said drive electronics.

13. The display device of claim 11 wherein said display is a bistable display selected from the group consisting of an electrophoretic display, an electrochromic display, and a liquid crystal display including cholesteric liquid crystal material having planar and focal conic textures that are stable in absence of an electric field.

14. The display device of claim 11 wherein said display is an emissive type display comprising light emitting elements.

15. The display device of claim 11 wherein said display is a passive matrix display comprised of orthogonal lines of row electrodes and column electrodes and said electrical connection is made to said lines of row electrodes and column electrodes.

16. The display device of claim 11 wherein said display is an active matrix display comprised of a matrix of transistors and electrodes disposed on opposing sides of said liquid crystal material, said electrical connections being made to said transistors and said electrodes.

17. The display device of claim 11 wherein said display is a direct driven display comprising conductors patterned in geometric shapes and a common electrode, and comprising a layer of liquid crystal material, said conductors and said common electrode being disposed on opposing sides of said liquid crystal layer, said electrical connections being made to said conductors and said common electrode.

18. The display device of claim 11 wherein said substrate is comprised of a material selected from the group consisting of fabric, plastic, metal, glass and combinations thereof.

19. A display device comprising:

a flexible substrate including a first substrate portion and a second substrate portion;

an electronic display including a plurality of display conductors, said display being supported by said first substrate portion;

drive electronics for applying an electric field along said display conductors effective to produce an image on said display, said drive electronics being permanently electrically connected to said display conductors and supported on said first substrate portion;

a controller including control circuitry adapted to provide input data to said drive electronics that enables said drive electronics to apply said electric field, said controller being permanently electrically connected to said drive electronics and supported by said first substrate portion;

electronic circuitry adapted to provide data signals to said controller, said electronic circuitry being supported by said second substrate portion;

a plurality of first electrical conductors connected to said controller and supported on said first substrate portion and a plurality of second electrical conductors connected to said electronic circuitry and supported on said second substrate portion; and

a zipper interconnect adapted to enable electrical connection between said first electrical conductors and said second electrical conductors thereby electronically connecting said electronic circuitry with said drive controller.

20. The display device of claim 19 comprising a power source electrically connected to at least one of said second conductors, wherein said zipper interconnect is adapted to interconnect said first conductors and said second conductors effective to enable power to be transmitted from said power source to said drive electronics and said controller.

21. The display device of claim 19 wherein said display is a bistable display selected from the group consisting of an electrophoretic display, an electrochromic display, and a liquid crystal display including cholesteric liquid crystal material having planar and focal conic textures that are stable in absence of an electric field.

22. The display device of claim 19 wherein said display is an emissive type display comprising light emitting elements.

23. The display device of claim 19 wherein said display is a passive matrix liquid crystal display comprised of orthogonal lines of row electrodes and column electrodes.

24. The display device of claim 19 wherein said display is an active matrix liquid crystal display comprised of a matrix of transistors and electrodes disposed on opposing sides of said liquid crystal material.

25. The display device of claim 19 wherein said display is a direct driven liquid crystal display comprising conductors patterned in geometric shapes and a common electrode.

26. The display device of claim 19 wherein said substrate is comprised of a material selected from the group consisting of fabric, plastic, metal, glass and combinations thereof.

27. A flexible display device with zipper interconnect comprising:

a display including a plurality of electrical display conductors;

drive electronics adapted to selectively electrically address said display along said display conductors effective to produce images on said display;

a flexible substrate selected from the group consisting of a textile fabricated from natural or synthetic fibers, a sheet of polymeric material, paper, metal, glass and combinations thereof, said flexible substrate including a first substrate portion and a second substrate portion, said display being supported by said first substrate portion and said drive electronics being supported by said second substrate portion;

a plurality of first electrical traces supported by said first substrate portion and electrically connected to said display conductors;

a plurality of second electrical traces supported by said second substrate portion and electrically connected to said drive electronics; and

an electrical zipper interconnect, comprising

a first row of electrically conductive teeth connected to said first substrate portion and in electrical contact with said first traces and a second row of electrically conductive teeth connected to said second substrate portion and in electrical contact with said second traces, and

a slider adapted to be movable so as to interconnect the teeth of said first row and the teeth of said second row and to interconnect said first traces and said second traces thereby electronically connecting said drive electronics and said display.

28. The display device of claim 27 wherein said first substrate portion has a different chemical composition than said second substrate portion.

29. The display device of claim 27 comprising electrically insulative teeth alternating with the teeth of said first row and the teeth of said second row.

30. The display device of claim 27 wherein said flexible substrate comprises a third portion, further comprising second said drive electronics supported by said third substrate portion, a plurality of third electrical traces being supported by said first substrate portion and electrically connected to said display conductors and a plurality of fourth electrical traces supported by said third substrate portion and electrically connected to said second drive electronics;

and

a second electrical zipper interconnect comprising

a third row of electrically conductive teeth connected to said first substrate portion and in electrical contact with said third traces and a fourth row of electrically conductive teeth connected to said third substrate portion and in electrical contact with said fourth traces, and

a second slider adapted to be movable so as to interconnect the teeth of said third row and the teeth of said fourth row and to interconnect said third traces and said fourth traces thereby electronically connecting said second drive electronics and said display.

31. The display device of claim 30 wherein said display conductors include row electrodes and column electrodes extending orthogonally to each other and comprising liquid crystal material disposed between said row electrodes and said column electrodes, said drive electronics on said first substrate portion being adapted to drive said row electrodes and said second drive electronics being adapted to drive said column electrodes.

32. The display device of claim 30 comprising liquid crystal material, wherein said display conductors comprise a plurality of transistors having sources and gates on one side of said liquid crystal material and a transparent common electrode on the other side of said liquid crystal material, wherein first said drive electronics on said first substrate portion is adapted to electrically address said transistor sources, said second drive electronics is adapted to electrically address said transistor gates and one of said first drive electronics and said second drive electronics is adapted to electrically address said common electrode, effective to form the images on said display.

33. The display device of claim 27 comprising electrically insulative teeth alternating with the teeth of said first row and the teeth of said second row.

34. The display device of claim 27 wherein said display is a reflective display.

35. The display of claim 34 wherein the reflective display comprises a bistable liquid crystal material selected from the group consisting of cholesteric liquid crystal, twisted nematic liquid crystal, super twisted nematic liquid crystal, ferroelectric material, smectic material and combinations thereof.

36. The display device of claim 27 wherein said display is an emissive display comprising a plurality of light emissive elements.

37. The display device of claim 27 comprising liquid crystal material, said display conductors being formed as a plurality of display segments on one side of said liquid crystal material having geometric shapes, and a transparent common electrode disposed on the other side of said liquid crystal material, wherein said drive electronics are adapted to apply an electric field between said common electrode and said display segments effective to form the images on said display.

38. The liquid crystal display of claim 37 wherein said display segments are adapted to display at least one digit.

39. A flexible cholesteric display device with zipper interconnect comprising:

a liquid crystal display comprising electrode rows and electrode columns arranged orthogonal to each other, a layer of cholesteric liquid crystal material disposed between said electrode rows and said electrode columns,

drive electronics adapted to electrically address said liquid crystal material effective to produce images on said display, said drive electronics comprising row drive electronics adapted to electrically address said row electrodes and column drive electronics adapted to electrically address said column electrodes;

a flexible substrate selected from the group consisting of a textile fabricated from natural or synthetic fibers, a sheet of polymeric material, paper, flexible glass, flexible metal and combinations thereof, said flexible substrate including a first substrate portion, a second substrate portion and a third substrate portion, said display being supported by said first substrate portion, said row drive electronics being supported by said second substrate portion and said column drive electronics being supported by said third substrate portion,

a plurality of first electrical traces supported by said first substrate portion and electrically connected to said electrode rows;

a plurality of second electrical traces supported by said second substrate portion and electrically connected to said row drive electronics;

a plurality of third electrical traces supported by said first substrate portion and electrically connected to said electrode columns;

a plurality of fourth electrical traces supported by said third substrate portion and electrically connected to said column drive electronics;

a first electrical zipper interconnect, comprising

a first row of electrically conductive teeth connected to said first substrate portion and in electrical contact with said first traces and a second row of electrically conductive teeth connected to said second substrate portion and in electrical contact with said second traces, and

a slider adapted to be movable so as to interconnect the teeth of said first row and the teeth of said second row and to interconnect said first traces and said second traces effective to form an electrical connection between said display and said row drive electronics;

a second electrical zipper interconnect, comprising

a third row of electrically conductive teeth connected to said first substrate portion and in electrical contact with said third traces and a fourth row of electrically conductive teeth connected to said third substrate portion and in electrical contact with said fourth traces, and

a slider adapted to be movable so as to interconnect the teeth of said third row and the teeth of said fourth row and to interconnect said third traces and said fourth traces effective to form an electrical connection between said display and said column drive electronics.

40. The display device of claim 39 wherein said cholesteric liquid crystal material comprises planar and focal conic textures that are stable in an absence of an electric field.

41. The display device of claim 40 comprising a dispersion layer including said cholesteric liquid crystal material dispersed in a polymer matrix.

42. The display device of claim 41 said dispersion layer being supported on said flexible substrate without an additional substrate being disposed between said flexible substrate and said dispersion layer.

43. The display device of claim 41 wherein said display has a drapability coefficient of 5% to 95%.

44. The display device of claim 39 comprising electrically insulative teeth alternating with the conductive teeth of said first row, the teeth of said second row, the teeth of said third row and the teeth of said fourth row.

45. The display device of claim 39 wherein said column electrodes and said row electrodes are comprised of conducting polymer or carbon nanotubes coated or printed over said flexible substrate.