Gaseous cold cathode indicator tube having a segmented electrode and an insulating shield plate

Claim 1

A GASEOUS COLD CATHODE GLOW TUBE INCLUDING AN ENVELOPE HAVING A VIEWING WINDOW, A GASEOUS ATMOSPHERE WITHIN THE ENVELOPE INCLUDING AN IONIZABLE GAS AT A PRESSURE CAPABLE OF SUSTAINING CATHODE GLOW, AN ANODE ELECTRODE, A PLURALITY OF FLAT RIBBON-LIKE CATHODE ELECTRODES MOUNTED IN SAID ENVELOPE, SAID CATHODES HAVING CONSIDERABLY GREATER WIDTH THAN THICKNESS, AN INSULATING SUPPORT PLATE SUPPORTING EACH OF SAID CATHODE ELECTRODES FROM ONE EDGE WITH THE OPPOSITE EDGE FACING SAID VIEWING WINDOW SO THAT THE GLOWING EDGE OF A CATHODE MEY BE VIEWED, SUPPORT MEANS SECURING EACH CATHODE ELECTRODE TO SAID SUPPORT PLATE, SAID CATHODE ELECTRODES BEING ORIENTED IN A PATTERN SO THAT SELECTED ONES THEREOF MAY BE CONNECTED TOGETHER TO GLOW AS A UNIT HAVING A DESIRED CHARACTER REPRESENTATION, THE ENDS OF SAID CATHODE ELECTRODES BEING POSITIONED CLOSELY ADJACENT TO EACH OTHER SO THAT ALTHOUGH EACH CATHODE IS SPACED FROM THE ONE ADJACENT TO IT, WHEN TWO ADJACENT CATHODES ARE ELECTRICALLY CONNECTED AND PROPERLY ENERGIZED, THE GLOW OF ONE CATHODE MERGES WITH THE GLOW OF THE ADJACENT CATHODE TO GIVE THE APPEARANCE OF A SINGLE GLOWING ELECTRODE, AND SHIELD MEANS POSITIONED BETWEEN THE GLOWING EDGE OF EACH OF SAID CATHODES AND SAID SUPPORT PLATE TO LIMIT THE DEPOSITION OF SPUTTERED CATHODE MATERIAL ON SAID SUPPORT PLATE, SAID SHIELD MEANS COMPRISING A PLATE SPACED FROM SAID SUPPORT PLATE AND INCLUDING APERTURES THROUGH WHICH SAID SUPPORT MEMBERS PASS WITHOUT TOUCHING SAID SHIELD MEANS.