Foil display

• US 20060291774A1
• Filed: 03/26/2004
• Published: 12/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Schoellmann, Volker, Duine, Peter Alexander, Giraldo, Andrea, Marra, Johannes, Creemers, Tijsbert Mathieu Henricus
• Application Number:
  US10/550,883
• Publication Number:
  US 20060291774A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 385/19
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0809 Several active elements per pixel in active matrix panels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0823 used to establish symmetry in driving, e.g. with polarity inversion
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0842 forming a memory circuit, e.g. a dynamic memory with one capacitor
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/061 for resetting or blanking
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/2081 with combination of amplitude modulation and time modulation space and time error diffusion G09G3/2066
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3473 based on light coupled out of a light guide, e.g. due to scattering, by contracting the light guide with external means

Abstract

A display device comprising a light guide (12), a back plate (14), a flexible element (15) arranged in between said light guide (12) and said back plate (14), and addressable electrodes (23) for inducing electrostatic forces on said element (15) a for bringing selected portions of said element (15) into contact with said light guide (12), in order to extract light from said light guide (12). The addressable electrodes (23) are arranged only on one of said light guide (12) and said back plate (14), and a biasing force acts on said flexible element (15) in a direction away from said addressable electrodes (23). The voltages required to operate the display will also be lower compared to the conventional foil display. In principle it is feasible to keep the electrode of the flexible element at ground potential while applying 10-20V pulses to the addressable electrodes to overcome the biasing force.

Claims

1. A display device comprising a light guide (12), a back plate (14), a flexible element (15) arranged in between said light guide (12) and said back plate (14), and addressable electrodes (23) for inducing electrostatic forces on said element (15) and for bringing selected portions of said element (15) into contact with said light guide (12), in order to extract light from said light guide (12), characterized in that said addressable electrodes (23) are arranged only on one of said light guide (12) and said back plate (14), and that a biasing force acts on said flexible element (15) in a direction away from said addressable electrodes (23).

2. A display device according to claim 1, wherein said addressable electrodes (23) are addressed using active matrix addressing.

3. A display device according to claim 2, wherein thin film transistors (TFT) (35) are used to address the electrodes (23).

4. A display device according to claim 1, wherein said element (15) is electrostatically biased away from the addressing electrodes (23).

5. A display device according to claim 1, wherein said element (15) is mechanically biased away from the addressing electrodes (23).

6. A display device according to claim 5, further comprising an elastic layer (31) between the flexible element (15) and the addressable electrodes (23).

7. A display device according to claim 1, wherein said addressable electrodes (23) are arranged on the back plate (14).

8. A display device according to claim 1, wherein said addressable electrodes (23) are arranged on the light guide (12).

9. A display according to claim 8, wherein a reflective layer (32) is arranged underneath the TFT (35).