Patent ID: 8654437
Filing Date: 2014-02-18
Classification: G02F,Y10T

Abstract:
1. An appearance-modifying device externally covering a surface and modifying a visual appearance of said surface, said device, comprising: first and second oppositely arranged optically transparent substrates; a spacer structure spacing apart the first and second substrates, wherein a space between the first and second substrates is divided into a plurality of cells; in each cell an optically transparent fluid having a plurality of particles dispersed therein, the particles being moveable in the fluid through application of an electric field; and a first electrode and a second electrode arranged to simultaneously, by application of a voltage across the electrodes, control a selective set of said plurality of cells to provided a common distribution of the particles within said selective set of said plurality of cells from a first, dispersed state in which an appearance of the surface covered by the appearance-modifying device is determined by optical properties of the particles, to a second state in which the particles are concentrated adjacent to at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode wherein the appearance-modifying device becomes optically transparent simultaneously in the selective set of said plurality of cells to allow light to pass therethrough making the surface covered by the appearance modifying device-visible to the user.