Method and apparatus for controlling optical characteristics of a programmable surface medium

• US 5,444,559 A
• Filed: 03/26/1993
• Issued: 08/22/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Gerald S. Lang, Robert B.J. Warnar
• Original Assignee: Gerald S. Lang, Robert B.J. Warnar
• Inventors: Warnar, Robert B. J., Lang, Gerald S.
• Primary Examiner(s): LaRoche, Eugene R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): ZARABIAN, AMIR
• Application Number:
  US08/037,445
• Time in Patent Office: 879 Days
• Field of Search: 359/85, 359/72, 359/84, 359/55, 359/47, 359/36
• US Class Current: 349/19
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13318 Circuits comprising a photodetector

Abstract

An electromagnetic radiation control device is proposed using visually transparent computers and associated components to control the device'"'"'s optical memory and the characteristics of its active optical component all contained within a capsule. The invention can be applied to items such as eyeglasses, contact lenses, window panes, doors, building panels, mirrors, billboards, light shields, electronic displays (TV, etc), reducers, magnifiers, projection systems, sunlight reflectors, cameras and other lenses, portable transponders for the blind, optical prothesis, and any combination of the above.

Claims

1. An electromagnetic radiation control device comprising:

a front transparent planar capsule provided with a plurality of planar surfaces;

a rear transparent planar capsule sealingly engaged to said front planar capsule to provide an enclosed volume therebetween said rear capsule provided with a plurality of planar surfaces;

a transparent electro-optical agent provided within said enclosed volume;

a transparent energy collection device provided on at least one of said planar surfaces of said front and rear capsules;

a transparent sensor device provided on at least one of said planar surfaces of said front and rear capsules for receiving electro-optical information from an external object;

at least one transparent re-programmable solid state memory and control device provided on at least one of said transparent planar surfaces of said front and rear capsules for receiving information from said transparent sensor device and for the control of the characteristics of said transparent electro-optical agent based upon said information from said sensor device and material provided within said transparent memory, said transparent memory and transparent control device powered by said energy collection device said transparent memory and control device projecting images onto one of said planar surfaces based upon information included in said transparent memory and control device as well as information provided to said transparent memory and control device from said transparent sensor device, said transparent memory and control device and said transparent sensor device scanning, detecting, measuring, storing, computing and printing information based upon information provided in said transparent memory and control device and sensed by said transparent sensor device; and

a transparent electrode matrix provided on at least one of said planar surfaces of said front and rear capsules for connecting said transparent energy collection device and said transparent sensor device to said transparent memory and transparent control devices and for connecting said transparent memory to said transparent electro-optical agent to control the characteristics thereof.

2. The control device in accordance with claim 1, further including a plurality of interconnectable transparent memory and transparent control devices.

3. The control device in accordance with claim 1, wherein said transparent memory and transparent control devices are transparent to the naked eye.

4. The control device in accordance with claim 2, wherein said plurality of transparent memory and transparent control devices are connected to each other by one or more transparent internal buses.

5. The control device in accordance with claim 1, wherein said transparent memory and transparent control devices are electro-optically internally and externally re-programmable.

6. The control device in accordance with claim 5, wherein said memory and control devices are electro-optically internally and externally re-programmable.

7. The control device in accordance with claim 1, wherein said enclosed volume is provided with a plurality of segmented enclosed sections, each section provided with said electro-optical agent therein, the characteristics of said electro-optical agent in each of said enclosed sections controlled by said memory and transparent control devices.

8. The electromagnetic radiation control device in accordance with claim 1, further including a transparent coolant provided within said front and rear transparent capsules.

9. The electromagnetic control device in accordance with claim 1, wherein both said front transparent planar capsule and said rear transparent planar capsule are flat for their entire area.