Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US5767818?dq=7,496,943
Timestamp: 2017-01-17 01:28:39
Document Index: 190445281

Matched Legal Cases: ['§0', '§1', '§2', '§3', '§1', '§1', '§1', '§2', '§2', '§4', '§3']

Patent US5767818 - Display device - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inPatentsA display device which includes a simplified wiring for respective display elements is provided to facilitate the assembly and maintenance. The display device is constituted of a large number of display units (50) arranged in a matrix, each including a display element (10) composed of a light bulb, a...http://www.google.com/patents/US5767818?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US5767818 - Display deviceAdvanced Patent SearchTry the new Google Patents, with machine-classified Google Scholar results, and Japanese and South Korean patents.Publication numberUS5767818 APublication typeGrantApplication numberUS 08/648,169PCT numberPCT/JP1995/000901Publication dateJun 16, 1998Filing dateMay 10, 1995Priority dateSep 27, 1994Fee statusLapsedAlso published asCA2177167A1, EP0731436A1, EP0731436A4, US6097351, WO1996010244A1Publication number08648169, 648169, PCT/1995/901, PCT/JP/1995/000901, PCT/JP/1995/00901, PCT/JP/95/000901, PCT/JP/95/00901, PCT/JP1995/000901, PCT/JP1995/00901, PCT/JP1995000901, PCT/JP199500901, PCT/JP95/000901, PCT/JP95/00901, PCT/JP95000901, PCT/JP9500901, US 5767818 A, US 5767818A, US-A-5767818, US5767818 A, US5767818AInventorsShinsuke NishidaOriginal AssigneeNishida; ShinsukeExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (10), Referenced by (79), Classifications (24), Legal Events (5) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetDisplay device
US 5767818 AAbstract
1. A display device having an array of display elements to display information, each of said display elements having a function to electrically change display modes of a pixel, said display device comprising:a plurality of display units, each of said display units including a display element, a regulator for controlling supply of electric power to the display element, memory means for storing prescribed address information, and a controller for controlling the regulator based on the address information stored in the memory means and a display signal supplied from outside the display units; a casing for fixedly accommodating said display units with the display elements arranged adjacent to each other on a display screen; an electric power source for generating electric power for driving the display elements; a control device for generating said display signal indicating a display mode of the display elements; electric power transmission means for supplying the electric power generated by the electric power source to the regulators in the respective display units accommodated in the casing; signal transmission means for supplying the display signal generated by the control device to the controllers in the respective display units; wherein respective unique address information is stored in the respective memory means of the display units and the display signal contains address information for indicating a specific display unit and data information for indicating a specific display mode; wherein the controller controls the regulator based on the data information in the display signal when the address information stored in the memory means corresponds to the address information contained in the display signal; wherein a plurality of display elements are provided in each display unit; wherein the address information contained in the display signal includes first address information indicative of a specific display unit and second address information indicative of a specific display element in a display unit; and wherein the controller controls a regulator for a specific display element indicated by the second address information based on the data information in the display signal when the address information stored in the memory means corresponds to the first address information. 2. A display device according to claim 1:wherein each display element includes a first color presenting element for presenting a first primary color R by energizing, a second color presenting element for presenting a second primary color G by energizing, and a third color presenting element for presenting a third primary color B by energizing; wherein the data information in the display signal includes information instructing light emitting states of the respective color presenting elements; and wherein the controller controls the regulator to supply electric power in accordance with said instructing information. 3. A display device according to claim 1:wherein each display unit includes a container; wherein a display surface is formed by the display element on a top surface of the container, and electrodes functioning as a part of the electric power transmission means and the signal transmission means are formed on side surfaces of the container; and wherein a plurality of display units are accommodated in the casing so that electrodes formed on the display units are physically in contact with adjacent ones, transmission lines of the electric power transmission means and the signal transmission means being constituted by physical contact between the electrodes. 4. A display device according to claim 1, further comprising:an address setting line for serially connecting a plurality of controllers in all or a part of the display units; wherein the respective controller has a function of address setting in which when prescribed address information is supplied to an input side of the address setting line, the address information is stored in the memory means, and the address information is renewed and outputted to an output side of the address setting line. 5. A display device having an array of display elements to display information, each of said display elements having a function to electrically change display modes of a pixel, said display device comprising:a plurality of display units, each of said display units including a display element, a regulator for controlling supply of electric power to the display element, memory means for storing prescribed address information, and a controller for controlling the regulator based on the address information stored in the memory means and a display signal supplied from outside the display units; a casing for fixedly accommodating said display units with the display elements arranged adjacent to each other on a display screen; an electric power source for generating electric power for driving the display elements; a control device for generating said display signal indicating a display mode of the display elements; electric power transmission means for supplying the electric power generated by the electric power source to the regulators in the respective display units accommodated in the casing; and signal transmission means for supplying the display signal generated by the control device to the controllers in the respective display units; wherein respective unique address information is stored in the respective memory means of the display units and the display signal contains address information for indicating a specific display unit and data information for indicating a specific display mode; wherein the controller controls the regulator based on the data information in the display signal when the address information stored in the memory means corresponds to the address information contained in the display signal; an address setting line for serially connecting a plurality of controllers in all or a part of the display units; wherein the respective controller has a function of address setting in which when prescribed address information is supplied to an input side of the address setting line, the address information is stored in the memory means, and the address information is renewed and outputted to an output side of the address setting line. 6. A display device according to claim 5, further comprising a common transmission line which functions as both the signal transmission means and the address setting line; andwherein the common transmission line is switched so that when the common transmission line functions as the signal transmission means, branches of the common transmission line connect to the respective controllers, and when the common transmission line functions s the address setting line, the common transmission line provides a serial connecting line to serially connect the respective controllers. Description
§0. Conventional Electric Bulletin Board
The present invention will be described based on an embodiment shown in drawings attached hereto. First, for comparison of the conventional electric bulletin board with the present invention, the structure of the conventional, general electric bulletin board will be described with reference to FIG. 1. In the conventional electric bulletin board, respective display elements 10 are provided by light bulbs. In this example, display elements 10 are arranged in a 5-by-10 matrix and housed in a device casing 20. A switchboard 30 is provided for supplying electric power to these fifty display elements (light bulbs) 10, and control device 40 is provided for giving commands to the switchboard 30. Two electric power supply lines 31 are wired to each of the display elements 10 (only a part of the wiring is shown to simplify the drawing). The control device 40 gives to the switchboard 30 commands as to which display elements 10 are to be electrically activated, based on information to be displayed (e.g., letters) on this electric bulletin board. Based on the commands, the switchboard 30 supplies electric power to only those of the electric power supply lines 31 associated with the required display elements 10. Only required display elements 10 are thus lit, and information is displayed by using the respective display elements 10 as individual pixels.
§1. First Embodiment of the Present Invention
§2. Second Embodiment of the Present Invention
FIG. 9 is a wiring diagram inside the display unit 80. As shown in this wiring diagram, two power source lines 62 connected to the power electrode 84P, eight address lines 72 connected to the address electrodes 84A, and three data lines 73 connected to the data electrodes 84D are wired inside the display unit 80. As described above, the interior of the display unit 80 is divided into sixteen sections to provide sixteen pixels. Each pixel is constituted of three light-emitting diodes 83R, 83G, 83B (in FIG. 9, for convenience, only six light-emitting diodes belonging to a first pixel and to a second pixel are shown, but actually each of all the forty-eight (3×16=48) light emitting diodes has such wiring). The respective light-emitting diodes 83R, 83G, 83B are connected to the power source lines 62, wherein the respective one terminals are connected through their associated regulators (relays) 85. Operations of the respective regulators 85 are controlled by a controller 86. Address information A and data information D are supplied to the controller 86 respectively through address lines 72 and data lines 73. Based on these information supplied and address information stored in the nonvolatile memory 87, the controller 86 controls the individual regulators 85. A writing voltage can be applied to the nonvolatile memory 87 from the write enable electrode 84W, and required address information can be stored from the controller 86 into the nonvolatile memory 87. A writing voltage applied to the write enable electrode 84W is lowered by a resistance element 88 and the lowered voltage is to be supplied to a control terminal of the controller 86. The controller 86 is programmed so as to execute required writing operation into the nonvolatile memory 87 when the lowered voltage is supplied to the control terminal. Electric power is supplied to the controller 86 and the nonvolatile memory 87 through the power lines 62, so that a voltage necessary for the operation can be secured.
§3. Embodiment having Address Setting Function
First, an example of the first embodiment described in §1 with addition of an address setting function will be explained. FIG. 14 is a circuit diagram of a display unit 55 constituting an electric bulletin board with an address setting function. Differences of the display unit 55 from the display unit 50 of FIG. 3 are that an address setting passage 74 is provided in addition to the electric power transmission passage 61 and a signal transmission passage 71, and that a controller 56 is used in place of the controller 53. The controller 56 has input terminals of two systems and an output terminal of one system. Display signals are supplied to a first one of the input terminals from the signal transmission passage 71, and address setting signals are supplied to a second one of the input terminals from the address setting passage 74. Address setting signals are outputted from the output terminal to the address setting passage 74.
Thus, when the respective display units 55 shown in FIG. 14 are arranged to assemble the display device and the address setting passage 74 is wired as shown in FIG. 16, the address setting in all the display units 55 can be very efficiently conducted. Though the wiring of only the address setting passage 74 is illustrated in FIG. 16, actually the electric power transmission passage 61 and the signal transmission passage 71 are wired for the respective display units 55 as shown in the circuit diagram of FIG. 2. After the address setting is completed, the display device operates as an electric bulletin board described in §1.
Though the above-described embodiment is basically the first embodiment described in §1 with the addition of the address setting function, it is also possible to add the address setting function to the second embodiment described in §2. FIG. 19 shows a circuit diagram of an example of the latter. In this example, the address lines 79 are passed through the controller 89. The controller 89 normally executes a processing equivalent to the normal display processing described in §2. That is, data of 8 bits inputted from an input side of the address lines 79 are outputted as they are to an output side thereof. Accordingly address values on the address lines 79 do not change even after passed through the controller 89. While the controller 89 executes the address setting procedure when a voltage is applied through a resistor 88, in other words, a writing voltage is applied to the write enable electrode 84W. That is, the controller 87 stores the 8-bit data inputted from the input side of the address lines 79 into the nonvolatile memory 87, increases the 8-bit data by 1 and outputs the increased data to the output side of the address lines 79. Accordingly the address value transmitted on the address lines 79 is increased by one when passes through each controller 89.
§4. Other Variations
In the embodiment with the address setting function described in §3, an address value is increased by 1 by the controllers 56, 58, 89, but it is possible to decrease an address value by 1. Unless continuous address setting is necessary, an increment value or a decrement value is not essentially "1". In short, what is necessary is that an address value is passed through the controllers to be renewed, whereby unique addresses are set in the respective display units.
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2010LAPSLapse for failure to pay maintenance feesAug 3, 2010FPExpired due to failure to pay maintenance feeEffective date: 20100616RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services