Linearly-addressed light-emitting fiber, and flat panel display employing same
First Claim
1. A light-emitting fiber comprising:
- an elongated fiber substrate;
at least one electrical conductor disposed along said fiber substrate for conducting an electrical signal along said fiber substrate;
a plurality of light-emitting elements disposed along a surface of said fiber substrate, each said light-emitting element having first and second electrodes between which the electrical signal is applied to cause said light-emitting element to emit light;
means operably associated with said fiber substrate for propagating an information-representative signal along said fiber substrate; and
a plurality of detectors disposed along said fiber substrate and each operably associated with one of said plurality of light-emitting elements for selectively applying the electrical signal thereto in response to the information-representative signal propagating along said fiber substrate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A display as for images and/or information comprises a plurality of linearly addressed light-emitting fibers disposed in side-by-side arrangement to define a viewing surface. Each light-emitting fiber includes a plurality of light-emitting elements disposed along its length which is linearly addressed by signals provided by a drive circuit at one end thereof. Linear addressing signals are either optical signals or electrical signals, and may be frequency modulated, digitally encoded or analog encoded. A detector associated with each pixel detects the linear addressing signal and decodes same to activate and deactivate organic or inorganic light-emitting material elements. Thus, the light-emitting elements emit light to display a pixel or sub-pixel of the image and/or information. The light-emitting fiber may include a transparent fiber as substrate for propagating the optical signals therethrough and may include electrical conductors disposed along its length for propagating the electrical signals.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A light-emitting fiber comprising:
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an elongated fiber substrate;
at least one electrical conductor disposed along said fiber substrate for conducting an electrical signal along said fiber substrate;
a plurality of light-emitting elements disposed along a surface of said fiber substrate, each said light-emitting element having first and second electrodes between which the electrical signal is applied to cause said light-emitting element to emit light;
means operably associated with said fiber substrate for propagating an information-representative signal along said fiber substrate; and
a plurality of detectors disposed along said fiber substrate and each operably associated with one of said plurality of light-emitting elements for selectively applying the electrical signal thereto in response to the information-representative signal propagating along said fiber substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. Light-emitting apparatus comprising:
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an elongated substrate having a length;
at least one electrical conductor disposed along the length said elongated substrate for conducting an electrical signal along the length of said elongated substrate;
a plurality of light-emitting elements disposed along the length of and on one surface of said elongated substrate, each said light-emitting element having first and second electrodes and a light-emissive material therebetween, wherein the electrical signal is selectively applied between the first and second electrodes of each light-emitting element to cause said light-emitting element to emit light;
a source of an information-representative signal operably associated with said elongated substrate for propagating the information-representative signal along the length of said elongated substrate; and
a plurality of detectors disposed along the length of said elongated substrate and each operably associated with one of said plurality of light-emitting elements for selectively applying the electrical signal thereto in response to the information-representative signal propagating along said elongated substrate. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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22. A display for displaying information comprising:
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a plurality of fibers disposed in side-by-side arrangement to define a viewing surface of the display;
at least one electrical conductor disposed along each of said plurality of fibers for conducting an electrical signal along each of said fibers;
a plurality of light-emitting elements disposed along a surface of each of said plurality of fibers, each said light-emitting element having first and second electrodes between which the electrical signal is applied to cause said light-emitting element to emit light;
means operably associated with each of said plurality of fibers for propagating an information-representative signal along each said fiber; and
a plurality of detectors disposed along each of said fibers and each operably associated with one of said plurality of light-emitting elements for selectively applying the electrical signal thereto in response to the information-representative signal propagating along said fiber, thereby causing ones of said light-emitting elements to emit light to display the information. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification