Patent Abstract:
A building block having at least one shape in the building block which includes a sealed volume surrounded by the shape, where the shape includes a transparent front and transparent rear to allow light to pass through the front and the rear and enter into a building partially or fully covered by the building block. There is at least one iris aperture diaphragm on the rear of each of at least one shape which is positioned to let all light pass into the building, each of the at least one iris aperture diaphragm having an adjustable opening to control how much light passes into the building.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present invention relates generally to the field of building materials for the construction of buildings. More specifically, the present invention relates to building materials that also act as a display and allow light to enter a building. 
     Most of the billboard size displays are used along busy highways. Large LCD display panels installed on the walls of buildings are now used for advertisement in cities. These large LCD panels are quite expensive to install and maintain, while also consuming large amounts of electric energy during operation. There are large populations living and working in major cities with many large tall buildings. The walls and ceilings of buildings are usually constructed by using opaque materials and windows. Illumination of the outside and inside of the building and heating/cooling of the building are necessary functions for people working and living at the building. 
     Saving energy is a very important task worldwide recently due to rapidly increasing greenhouse gas emissions in every day human activity. If a way of saving energy during illumination and heating/cooling of buildings can be found, then it would contribute to slowing down the deterioration of environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Radiation from the sun is an abundant energy source available to us all year long. It would be a significant achievement to find ways of utilizing sun light for the display and illumination as a part of buildings. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-functional structure as part of a building for display purposes and for illumination purposes. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     A building block having at least one shape in the building block which includes a sealed volume surrounded by the shape, where the shape includes a transparent front and transparent rear to allow light to pass through the front and the rear and enter into a building partially or fully covered by the building block. There is at least one iris aperture diaphragm on the rear of each of at least one shape which is positioned to let all light pass into the building, each of the at least one iris aperture diaphragm having an adjustable opening to control how much light passes into the building. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic of light through a transparent shape according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic of light through a transparent shape according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic of a concave aperture iris diaphragm according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic of light through a transparent shape according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic of light through a transparent shape according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic of light through a transparent shape according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic of concave aperture iris diaphragms according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic of a display unit according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  is a schematic of a display unit according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 10  is a schematic of light through a transparent shape according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 11  is a schematic of concave aperture iris diaphragms on a transparent shape according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 12  is a schematic of concave aperture iris diaphragms on a transparent shape according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 13  is a schematic of concave aperture iris diaphragms on a transparent shape according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 14  is a schematic of a display unit according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 15  is a graph of light beam intensity vs. travel distance according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 16  is a schematic of a display according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 17  is a schematic of a display according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 18  is a schematic of a display according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 19  is a schematic of a display unit according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 20  is a schematic of a concave aperture iris diaphragm according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 21  is a schematic of concave aperture iris diaphragms on a transparent shape according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 22  is a schematic of concave aperture iris diaphragms on a transparent shape according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 23  is a schematic of concave aperture iris diaphragms on a transparent shape according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 24  is a schematic of a display unit according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 25  is a schematic of a display unit according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 26  is a schematic of a control mechanism according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 27  is a schematic of a control mechanism according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is the use of display units and illumination units as building blocks for the construction of buildings. These building blocks can be used as part of the structural support of the building or merely be the facade of the building. 
       FIG. 1  shows a path of parallel light rays  10 ,  12  of a light beam as they pass through an optically transparent shape shown as a sphere  14  made from an optically transparent material such as glass, where the sphere  14  has a refractive index of (n). Ray  10  does not deviate from its path through the center of the sphere  14 . Ray  12  at a distance (h) from ray  10  passes through the sphere  14  and is refracted by angle of (h/R), for (h/R)&lt;&lt;1. Where (h) is distance between the rays  10 ,  12  and R is the radius of the sphere. Ray  12  exits the rear surface of the sphere at distance (h′) from where ray  10  exits the sphere. This relationship can be expressed as,
 
( h ′)=( h ){(2 /n )−1}  (1)
 
(h′) in equation 1 is a radius (r) of circular area covered by the light beam of rays at back of sphere  14 . The principles of the above effects are well described in reference, “WAVES”, Berkeley physics course, vol. 3, Chapter 9, by F. S. Crawford, Jr., McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1968.  FIG. 2  shows the path of a ray  12  parallel to ray  10 , which enters the sphere  14  at a distance (h) from ray  10 . The sphere  14  has a refractive index of n=2. Note that the (h′) becomes zero where ray  16  exits the sphere  14 , so all rays of the light beam passing through the sphere  14  are arriving at the focal point (F), according to equation (1).
 
       FIG. 3  is an example of partially open concave aperture iris diaphragm  18  with an operation control knob  20 . The front surface  22  is silvery mirror shape for full reflection to incoming light beams.  FIG. 4  shows the path of ray  12  with the fully open concave aperture iris diaphragm  18  located at focal point area of sphere  14 , where the rays of the light beam exit. Note, that the incoming rays are passing through the sphere  14  and an opening  24  in the concave aperture iris diaphragm  18 . The radius of the fully open concave aperture iris diaphragm  18  should be larger than (h′), which is a radius of the light beam at the focal point area. For the sphere  14  of an index of n&lt;2, the radius would be greater than “zero” in theory according to equation (1). The incoming light beam could be natural sun light or produced light such as LED lighting. The transmitted incoming light beam of rays can be utilized for illuminating the area on the other side of sphere  14  where the light beam of rays exit, for an example, the interior of a building.  FIG. 5  shows the path of parallel rays of a light beam with the closed concave aperture iris diaphragm  18  located at focal point area of sphere. The incoming light beam is fully reflected and directed back to the direction of incoming light beam. The front surface  22  of concave aperture iris diaphragm  18  is silvery mirror shape to fully reflect the incoming light beam.  FIG. 6  shows the path of rays of a parallel light beam passing through the sphere  14  of which refractive index is a little smaller than “2” and with a partially open concave aperture iris diaphragm  18  located at focal point area of the sphere  14 . The light beam size at the concave aperture iris diaphragm  18  will be determined by the refractive index and the size of sphere  14  for given incoming light beam. Further, the refractive index, (n), of the sphere  14  can be adjusted by choosing the proper transparent material to make the sphere  14 . The light beam size at the concave aperture iris diaphragm  18  becomes bigger as the refractive index becomes smaller than “2”, according to equation (1). For example, it would be larger beam radius(r) for the sphere  14  having a refractive index equal to “1.9” than that of a refractive index equal to “2”.  FIG. 6  shows the light beam partially transmitted from the incoming light source which can be utilized for illuminating beyond the exit side of sphere  14 , such as the interior of a building. This means that closing the aperture opening  24  of concave aperture iris diaphragm  18  prevents light from entering the building. 
     The combination of the transparent shape of the sphere  14  and the concave aperture iris diaphragm  18  as an illumination unit in a building block can be used as a material to build a building and/or its facade to allow light to illuminate the inside of the building. The illuminating of the inside of a building can be pre-set and controlled automatically in real time by adjusting the opening  24  of the concave aperture iris diaphragm  18  located at focal point area behind sphere  14  for a given incoming light source. The illumination unit can also be used to fully reflect incoming light away from the building by fully closing aperture opening  24  of concave aperture iris diaphragm  18 . 
       FIG. 7  shows three concave aperture iris diaphragms  18  having the reflecting surfaces  22  painted with the three primary colors of red, green, and blue in a reflective paint. The reflecting surfaces  22  are mirror like and shaped for full reflection of the incoming light beam. The primary three colored coatings are painted on top of the full reflected front surfaces  22  of three concave aperture iris diaphragms  18 . The opening  24  of concave aperture iris diaphragm  18  can be adjusted by the operation control knob  20  located at designed position, as shown in  FIG. 7 . The intensity of reflected colored light beam would be controlled by adjusting the opening  24  size of concave aperture iris diaphragms  18 .  FIG. 8  shows a display unit  26  used to form a display as part of a building. The display unit  26  includes three spheres  14  acting as transparent shapes with the three primary colored of reflecting concave aperture iris diaphragms  18  of red, green, and blue. The display unit  26  of three spheres  14  can be assembled within a unit box  28  that is formed around the three spheres  18  to make a brick like building material for use as part of the structure of a building. The radius of spheres  14  can be chosen to form the unit box size, where suggested diameters of the spheres  14  can be from 1 Cm to 1×10 2  Cm. The illumination units can be combined in a unit box  28  appropriate to the number of spheres  14  used in the unit box  28  for the display unit  16 . 
       FIG. 9  shows the rear view of the display unit  26  of  FIG. 8 . The primary colored reflecting concave aperture iris diaphragms  18  are located at the focal point area of each sphere  14 . The radius of concave aperture iris diaphragm  18  is determined depending on the refractive index of the sphere  14 . It should be larger than (h′) of equation (1).  FIG. 10  shows the path of rays of light beams entering the sphere  14  at three different angles and shows three concave aperture iris diaphragms  18  located at the corresponding focal point areas of sphere  14  for each ray.  FIG. 11  shows the rear view of the sphere  14  of  FIG. 10  with the three reflecting concave aperture iris diaphragms  18  located at focal point areas for the rays of the three light beams which enter the sphere  14  at different angles.  FIG. 11  represents the corresponding iris aperture diaphragms  18  locations at near focal point areas for rays of  FIG. 10 . Note, that three aperture iris diaphragms  18  can be controlled by the master knob  30  that can control all three aperture iris diaphragms  18  or control the aperture iris diaphragms  18  individually. 
       FIG. 12  shows the rear view of a sphere  14  that has seven reflecting concave aperture iris diaphragms  18  located at focal point areas to receive seven different light beams which emanate from different angles. In real situations, the incident light beam enters each sphere  14  from a wide space angle. So, the reflected light beam will also be seen from the different angles. Consequently, the display information would be delivered to the wide space angle. In other words, the reflected colors to be referred to as display information could be observed while walking or driving by the display unit  26  from the distance further than “2R”, as shown in  FIG. 15 . By installing the reflective aperture iris diaphragms  18  at the corresponding focal points of the sphere  14 , as shown in  FIG. 12 , a wide angle display panel could be constructed of multiple display units  26 . The seven aperture iris diaphragms  18  can be adjusted by the master control knob  30 .  FIG. 13  shows the rear view of a display unit  26  with three spheres  14  shown in  FIG. 12 . Each sphere  14  having the primary colors reflecting concave aperture iris diaphragms  18  located at focal point areas about the rear of each sphere  14 . The display unit  26  can be used as the building block or facade for the walls and ceilings of building and using a multiple of them together form a display.  FIG. 14  represents an assembled display unit  26  in the unit box  28 . It can be used like a brick for construction of the building. The front surface of the unit box  28  can be covered by the transparent panel. 
       FIG. 15  shows the change in shape of a traveling reflected light beam as it travels along toward a detector, i.e., eyes of person for an instance. The traveling distance is represented as (g×t), where (g) is a speed of light beam and (t) is the traveling time. And the (I) is the intensity of light beam. From the distance further than “2R”, the shape of a traveling reflected light beam is spread out quite significantly. The dispersion of a traveling light beam in a dispersive medium has been studied well. In a dispersive medium like an atmosphere, the refractive index is a function of frequency. And it is well described in references, “WAVES”, Berkeley physics course, vol. 3, by F. S. Crawford, Jr., McGraw-hill book company, 1968. “Classical Electrodynamics”, 2 nd  edition, Chapter 7, by John D. Jackson, John Wiley &amp; Sons, Inc., 1975. “Lectures on Physics”, Vol. 1, Chapter 31, by Feynman, Leighton, Sands, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. The reflected traveling light beam spreads as the traveling distance increases, as shown by the graphical representation in  FIG. 15 . The observed color of the display unit of  FIG. 14  becomes mixed colors of three primary colors of Red, Green, and Blue at distance further than “2R”. It is termed “far field observation” if the distance is larger than the separation of light beam sources which is “2R”. Near and Far field detector concepts are also well explained in reference, “WAVES”, Berkeley physics course, vol. 3, Chapter 9, by F. S. Crawford, Jr., McGraw-hill book company, 1968. Therefore by adjusting amount of reflected light intensity for each sphere  14 , as described for what is shown in  FIG. 6 , one can obtain a desired color from one display unit  26  of  FIG. 14  at far field observation due to mixing of three primary colors and the dispersion of traveling light beam in an atmosphere. 
       FIG. 16  shows the front view of a display made up of multiple the display units  26  having three spheres  14  with the reflecting three primary colored concave aperture iris diaphragms  18  shown in  FIG. 14  for each sphere  14 . The size of display can be made from (1 Cm)×(1 Cm) to (1×10 3  Cm)×(1×10 3  Cm) by choosing the size of spheres  14  as well as numbers of display units  26 . For one interesting application, the whole or part of building including outside walls and ceilings, and inside partitions, could be constructed by using the display units  26  to form the display. It is possible since the oxide materials like glass are tough and durable and also have good thermal insulation properties. The illumination unit shown in  FIG. 6  can be incorporated as part of the display to allow and control illumination inside a building automatically according to the pre-set condition as shown in  FIG. 27 .  FIG. 17  shows the rear view of display shown in  FIG. 16 . Note, that seven three primary colored reflecting concave aperture iris diaphragms  18  are located at the focal point area of each sphere  14 .  FIG. 18  shows the rear view of the display having a mixture of display units  26  of  FIG. 14  and illumination units of  FIG. 6 . The illumination inside building can be obtained partially by the transmitted light through the display unit  26 , however, the transmitted light cannot be controlled for an illumination only, since the main role of the display unit  26  is the presentation of pictures and messages on the outside of a building. Therefore, the main contribution to the pre-set illumination condition inside the building would be by the automatically controlled illumination units of  FIG. 6 , which complement the varying contribution from a display unit  26  in real time. Note, that the radius of sphere  14  of the display unit  26  and the illumination unit can be different. The radius of spheres  14  for the illumination unit  32  can be chosen to fit into the open space among the display units  26  as shown in  FIG. 18 . Also note, that the aperture iris diaphragm  18  of the illumination unit is one located at the focal point area. The size of the display with illumination units can be designed from (1 Cm)×(1 Cm) to (1×10 3  Cm)×(1×10 3  Cm), by choosing the radius of spheres  14  as well as number of display units  26  and illumination units. The whole or part of building including outside walls and ceilings, and inside partitions and walls, could be constructed by using the display units  26  along with illumination units. It is possible since the oxide materials like glass is tough and durable and has a good thermal insulation property. Most of all, glass is readily available and low cost. The display with display units  26  and illumination units can be utilized for both outside presentation and inside illumination in building. The presentation on the display can be programmed and controlled by CPU in real time. The illumination in building can be adjusted independently and automatically according to the pre-set lighting condition in real time by CPU also as shown in  FIG. 27 . The characteristic of light beam for illumination is same as that of incoming source light of the natural sun or artificial such as LED light, since it is transmitted light beam property through the sphere  14  and the opening  24  of the concave iris diaphragm  18 . 
       FIG. 19  shows the 3D view of the display unit  26  using three transparent cylinders  34  with one of the three primary colors of Red, Green and Blue as part of reflecting aperture iris diaphragms  36  on the cylinders  34 . The cylinders  34  are used instead of the spheres  14  shown in  FIG. 8 . The reflecting aperture iris diaphragms  36  for a cylinder  34  are shown in  FIG. 20 . The reflecting aperture iris diaphragms  36  form a focal line when using cylinders  34  instead of a focal point formed when using the sphere  14  of  FIG. 5 . The unit box  28  of the display unit  26  using three cylinders  34  can be similar in size and configuration to that of three spheres  14 . The size of cylinder  34  can be chosen according to a specific application of the display. The length, L, can be chosen from 1 Cm to 1×10 2  Cm, for an instance.  FIG. 20  shows the concave reflecting aperture iris diaphragm  36  for the cylinder  34 . It can open and operate like Venetian Blinds with a control knob  38 .  FIG. 21  shows the rear view of  FIG. 19 . Note, the concave reflecting aperture iris diaphragms  36  are located at focal line area of each cylinder  34 . 
       FIG. 22  shows the rear view of the cylinder  34  with three reflecting concave aperture iris diaphragms  36  located at the corresponding focal line areas for three different incoming light beams. For a cylindrical transparent lens, the angle along the horizontal direction could be only matter, since the other direction is already taken care of. It can be also the basic construction unit for a display with illumination units for the walls and ceilings of the buildings in city.  FIG. 23  shows the rear view of the display unit with the three cylinders  34  of  FIG. 19 . The cylinders  34  of  FIG. 23  include the corresponding primary colors reflecting concave aperture iris diaphragms  36  located at focal line areas of each cylinder  34 . The display unit  26  of  FIG. 23  can also be used as the basic construction unit for display with illumination units as walls and ceilings of the buildings.  FIG. 24  shows the display with a mixture of two types of the display unit  26  having the spheres  14  and the cylinders  34 .  FIG. 25  shows the display of  FIG. 24  with illumination units  40 , including both types of the display unit  26  with the illumination unit  40  for both outside display presentation and inside illumination of a building. 
       FIG. 26  shows a control mechanism for operation of the reflecting iris aperture diaphragms  18  of the display by using the control knobs. The control knobs of reflecting iris aperture diaphragms  18  are operated by a motor, which is controlled by a CPU. The programmed presentation shown on the display can be coded and delivered from CPU to the motor in real time. The illumination in building can be adjusted independently and automatically by responding to the pre-set lighting conditions controlled by the CPU and motor.  FIG. 26  show illumination sensors installed in a building to output signals of the amount of incoming light which is relayed to the CPU in real time.  FIG. 27  shows the control mechanism similar to  FIG. 26  for reflecting aperture iris diaphragm  18  of display with illumination units by using the control knobs. Actuators are used to control each control knob on individual reflecting aperture iris diaphragm  18  instead of a motor. Each actuator is controlled by CPU. The power for actuators can be supplied by the CPU commanding signal cable or can be supplied from the independent source on each actuator. 
     The presentation shown on the display can be programmed and controlled by the CPU in real time. The illumination in building can be adjusted independently and automatically according to the pre-set lighting conditions in real time by CPU. The illumination sensors could be installed each desired room in building and its output signals would be fed to CPU in real time. Each concave aperture iris diaphragm attached to the transparent spheres or cylinders in the display with illumination units of  FIG. 18  would be addressed and wired and controlled. The display with illumination units can be designed as various combinations and configurations of the display unit and the illumination unit, along with the sun light or/and artificial light as incoming light sources, for illumination and presentation on the display. The display units and illumination units can be used as a building block for walls and ceilings, like bricks or blocks. This is possible because the display unit and illumination unit can be made of versatile and durable materials such as various types of glass with wide ranges of the refractive index and size “2R”. Most importantly glass is low cost and relatively easy material to use as building construction materials. It provides a better way to design the efficient energy management system as part of a building compared to that of walls and ceilings constructed by the opaque bricks. 
     Radiation thermal energy from sun light through the display with illumination units provides additional options to keep the comfortable temperature inside building during winter. The display with illumination units can be adjusted to create the temperature gradient along the height of building. The cooler air coming into building from the 1 st  floor, is ventilating up to the top of building through an open ventilator along the height at the center of building. The temperature gradient would help ventilation by convection. It is known natural way to cool down inside building in summer. Glass has good thermal property as an insulator, so walls and ceilings made of display with illumination units would provide improved ways to keep inside building cool in summer and warm in winter. This is compared to buildings made of opaque bricks because of additional radiation energy from sun into buildings that can be utilized. Sun light is abundant energy source around us for all year long. Utilizing sun light radiation energy, in addition to using the other sources of energies such as an electric power, to maintain the buildings as comfortable place for living and working provides an additional option for saving overall energy consumption in buildings. 
     The transparent sphere or cylinder with an active AM OLED reflecting aperture iris diaphragm at the focal point or focal line area can be used as one display unit for display instead of using the display units of  FIG. 14  and  FIG. 19 . An active AM OLED aperture iris diaphragm can be designed as both the reflecting by the chosen color and/or the transparent functions. Sun light can be reflected as well as transmitted according to pre-programmed control signal. The control signal and power for the active AM OLED of the display units can be supplied by similar way as shown in  FIG. 27 . 
     While different embodiment of the invention have been described in detail herein, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modification and alternatives to embodiments could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, the particular arrangements are illustrated only and are not limiting as to the scope of the invention that is to be given the full breadth of any and all equivalents thereof.

Technology Classification (CPC): 4