Method and apparatus for controlling formation of two-color balls for a twisting ball display
First Claim
1. An apparatus for fabricating bichromal balls, comprising:
- means for fabricating droplets from electrically conductive hardenable liquids having different colors and flowing along the fabricating means, a forward end of the droplets forming ligaments from the hardenable liquids, the ligaments being unstable at an edge region of the fabricating means and breaking up into the droplets, each droplet including hemispheres of different colors;
an RF signal generator for producing electrical pulses at the edge region of the means for fabricating the droplets, for increasing the instability of a distal end of the ligaments, a capacitance in the conductive liquids causing current to flow from the signal generator to the hardenable liquids, thereby increasing the instability by producing Joule heat in at least a part of the ligament;
means for heating the droplets for reducing a diameter of the droplets and forming substantially spherical balls, each of the balls comprising hemispheres of different colors; and
means for collecting the bichromal balls.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for fabricating bichromal balls includes a means for fabricating droplets from electrically conductive hardenable liquids. The liquids have different colors. A forward end of the hardenable liquids becomes unstable and breaks up into the droplets. Each droplet includes hemispheres of different colors. An RF signal generator produces electrical pulses which increase the instability of the forward end of the hardenable liquids. A capacitance in the conductive liquids causes current to flow from the signal generator to the hardenable liquids. A diameter of the droplets is reduced to form substantially spherical balls. Each of the balls includes hemispheres of different colors. The bichromal balls are collected.
132 Citations
19 Claims
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1. An apparatus for fabricating bichromal balls, comprising:
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means for fabricating droplets from electrically conductive hardenable liquids having different colors and flowing along the fabricating means, a forward end of the droplets forming ligaments from the hardenable liquids, the ligaments being unstable at an edge region of the fabricating means and breaking up into the droplets, each droplet including hemispheres of different colors; an RF signal generator for producing electrical pulses at the edge region of the means for fabricating the droplets, for increasing the instability of a distal end of the ligaments, a capacitance in the conductive liquids causing current to flow from the signal generator to the hardenable liquids, thereby increasing the instability by producing Joule heat in at least a part of the ligament; means for heating the droplets for reducing a diameter of the droplets and forming substantially spherical balls, each of the balls comprising hemispheres of different colors; and means for collecting the bichromal balls. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 14, 15, 16)
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6. An apparatus for fabricating bichromal balls from a slurry, having a first part and a second part and including a polymer capable of forming a hardenable material and an electrically conductive carrier fluid, a first colored pigment added to the first part of the slurry and a second colored pigment added to the second part of the slurry, the slurry being less viscous than the polymer, comprising:
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a spindle; a separator member attached to the spindle through a rotatable connector, the separator member having a first surface and a second surface located opposite the first surface and an edge region in contact with both the first and second surfaces; means for flowing the first and second parts of the slurry over the first and second surfaces, respectively, toward the edge region so that the first and second parts of the slurry arrive at the edge at substantially the same flow rate and form a reservoir of the parts of the slurry outboard of the edge region, the reservoir including side-by-side regions of the first and second parts of the slurry; means for propelling the first and second parts of the slurry from a forward tip of the reservoir as a plurality of ligaments having side-by-side portions of different colors, a forward end of the ligaments being unstable and breaking up into droplets, each droplet including hemispheres of differently colored slurries; an RF signal generator for producing electrical pulses at the tip of the edge region, the pulses enhancing the break-up of the ligament into the droplets by increasing the instability of the forward end of the ligament, a capacitance in the electrically conductive carrier fluid causing current from the electrical pulses to flow from the signal generator through the tip of the edge region and to the carrier fluid, thereby increasing the instability by producing Joule heat in at least a part of the ligament; means for removing the carrier fluid from the droplets via heat to form substantially spherical balls, each of the balls comprising hemispheres of different colors and having a diameter less than a diameter of the droplet from which it is formed; and means for collecting the bichromal balls. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 17, 18)
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10. A method for fabricating bichromal balls, comprising:
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spinning a separator member on a spindle; flowing first and second slurries over opposite surfaces of the separator member and toward an edge thereof so that the slurries arrive at the edge at substantially the same flow rate, the first and second slurries having different colors and being electrically conductive; forming a reservoir of the first and second slurries outboard of the edge, the reservoir including side-by-side regions of the first and second slurries; propelling the first and second slurries out of the reservoir as a plurality of ligaments having side-by-side portions of different colors; generating an electrical pulse at a tip of the reservoir at the edge region for facilitating the forward end of each ligament to become unstable and to break-up into a droplet, a capacitance in the ligament created by the electrically conductive slurries causing a current to flow at the tip, thereby increasing the instability by producing Joule heat in at least a part of the ligament; and removing fluid from the droplet via heat and forming a substantially spherical ball having hemispheres of different colors and a diameter less than a diameter of the droplet. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 19)
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Specification