Apparatus for the digital display or recording of data
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for producing data for display and/or recording purposes, said apparatus comprising:
- a liquid crystal cell having a pair of light transparent parallel spaced walls, said cell having an input side on one side of the cell at one of said walls and an output or display side on the opposite side thereof at the other of said walls, light transparent electrodes on the facing sides of the walls profiled to produce alpha-numerical data and/or machine-readable code marks, a source of light producing parallel light rays on the input side of the cell, means for addressing the electrodes in accordance with given information, a liquid crystal material between the walls, and a fiber-optic plate on the output side of the cell having a plurality of parallel arranged optical fibers embedded in a light-absorbing material, wherein the angle of inclination between the light rays produced by said source and the axes of the optical fibes exceeds the limit angle for which total reflection of light rays occurs in the fibers passing undisturbed through the liquid crystal material whereby such light rays do not pass through the fibers.
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Abstract
The apparatus includes a liquid crystal cell having transparent front and back walls with transparent electrodes on their facing sides and a liquid crystal material between the walls. The electrodes are segmented into matrix elements according to the cumulative pattern of all characters desired to be displayed or recorded, and are electrically addressable in response to selection circuitry. The front wall is in the form of a fiber-optic plate comprising a plurality of parallel arranged optical fibers. The apparatus is particularly useful to display or record measurement data, such as from a weighing device.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. An apparatus for producing data for display and/or recording purposes, said apparatus comprising:
- a liquid crystal cell having a pair of light transparent parallel spaced walls, said cell having an input side on one side of the cell at one of said walls and an output or display side on the opposite side thereof at the other of said walls, light transparent electrodes on the facing sides of the walls profiled to produce alpha-numerical data and/or machine-readable code marks, a source of light producing parallel light rays on the input side of the cell, means for addressing the electrodes in accordance with given information, a liquid crystal material between the walls, and a fiber-optic plate on the output side of the cell having a plurality of parallel arranged optical fibers embedded in a light-absorbing material, wherein the angle of inclination between the light rays produced by said source and the axes of the optical fibes exceeds the limit angle for which total reflection of light rays occurs in the fibers passing undisturbed through the liquid crystal material whereby such light rays do not pass through the fibers.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
- 9. In an apparatus for weighing articles and applying alpha-numerical data and/or machinereadable code marks to the articles, which apparatus includes a liquid crystal cell for producing data and/or marks to be applied to a record carrier applicable to the articles, a weighing device for weighing the articles and feeding a first input to the cell, and a computer receiving the first input of the device and the input of a unit having adjustable and fixed text and feeding a second input to the cell, the improvement in the cell which comprises a pair of spaced transparent walls, said cell having an input side on one side of the cell at one of said walls and an output or display side on the opposite side thereof at the other of said walls, transparent electrodes on the facing sides of said walls, a liquid crystal material between said walls, means for electrically addressing said electrodes in accordance with said inputs, said electrodes profiled to produce said data and/or marks, a source of light producing parallel light rays directed to the input side of the cell, a fiber-optic plate at the output side of the cell having a plurality of parallel arranged optical fibers embedded in a light-absorbing material, and said source and optical fiber axes being such that the angle of inclination therebetween exceeds the limit angle for which total reflection within the fibers occurs of light rays passing undisturbed through the liquid crystal material whereby such light rays do not pass through the fibers.
- 16. In an apparatus for weighing articles and digitally displaying price and weight values, which apparatus includes a liquid crystal cell having a display face for displaying digital price and weight values, a weighing device for weighing the articles and feeding a first input to the cell to display the weight value, a computer receiving the first input of the device and the input of a unit having programmable text which in turn feeds a second input to the cell, the improvement in the cell which comprises a pair of spaced transparent walls, said cell having an input side on one side of the cell at one of said walls and an output or display side on the opposite side thereof at the other of said walls, transparent electrodes on the facing sides of said walls, a liquid crystal material between said walls, means for electrically addressing said electrodes in accordance with said inputs, said electrodes profiled to produce said weight and price values, a source of light producing parallel light rays directed to the input side of the cell, a fiber-optic plate at the output side of the cell having a plurality of parallel arranged optical fibers embedded in a light-absorbing material, and said source and optical fiber axes being such that the angle of inclination therebetween exceeds the limit angle for which total reflection within the fibers occurs of light rays passing undisturbed through the liquid crystal whereby such light rays do not pass through the fibers.
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18. In a liquid crystal cell having transparent parallel spaced front and back walls, a source of light producing parallel light rays at the back wall, transparent electrodes on the facing sides of said walls, and a liquid crystal material between said walls which when activated cause the scattering of light rays, the improvement in the front wall where an image may be produced being in the form of a fiber-optic plate comprising a plurality of parallel arranged optical fibers at an inclination to the light rays in excess of that which would cause total reflection of the light rays within the fibers, said plate having a plurality of parallel arranged optical fibers embedded in a lightabsorbing material for preventing the transmission of undisturbed light rays and allowing transmission of light rays disturbed by activation of electrodes.
Specification