Solid state gas panel display circuits with non-inductive solid state isolation between low level logic and high level drive signal functions

Claim 3

A solid state electrical circuit completely devoid of isolation transformers for utilizing low power (low voltage-low low time product) signals having fixed supply voltage references to control selective distribution of high power electrical pulses (large voltage-time product), from common sources to individual lines in an array of multiple lines, said pulses occurring intermittently at intervals separated by dead space intervals of at least a predetermined minimal duration, comprising: a plurality of sources of said low power signals supplied by fixed reference power and operating in timed coordination with the source of said high power pulses; said sources providing said low power signals only in dead space intervals between occurrences of said high power pulses; successive said low power pulses designating selections of individual said lines as distribution objects and occurring at a signalling rate sufficiently high to be capable of conveying distribution of intelligence relative to each and all of said object lines during a single said dead space interval; a source of floating reference control voltage varying in correspondence with said high power pulses; electrical selection circuits including unidirectionally conductive elements controllably biased by said floating reference control voltage coupled directly to said low power signal sources for utilizing said low power signals to develop multiple pre-conditioning signals spatially associated with respective said lines during said dead space intervals and for isolating said low power sources from effects of said high power pulses during said occurrences of said high power pulses; and multiple bistable switching circuits subject to being conditioned by said pre-conditioning signals for providing selective series circuit connection paths between said sources of high power pulses and said lines.

Claim 4

A solid state electrical circuit completely devoid of isolation transformers for utilizing low power (low voltage-low low time product) signals having fixed supply voltage references to control selective distribution of high power electrical pulses (large voltage-time product), from common sources to individual lines in an array of multiple lines, said pulses occurring intermittently at intervals separated by dead space intervals of at least a predetermined minimal duration, comprising: a plurality of sources of said low power signals supplied by fixed reference power and operating in timed coordination with the source of said high power pulses; said sources providing said low power signals only in dead space intervals between occurrences of said high power pulses; successive said low power pulses designating selections of individual said lines as distribution objects and occurring at a signalling rate sufficiently high to be capable of conveying distribution of intelligence relative to each and all of said object lines during a single said dead space interval; a source of floating reference control voltage varying in correspondence with said high power pulses; electrical selection circuits including unidirectionally conductive elements controllably biased by said floating reference control voltage coupled directly to said low power signal sources for utilizing said low power signals to develop multiple pre-conditioning signals spatially associated with respective said lines during said dead space intervals and for isolating said low power sources from effects of said high power pulses during said occurrences of said high power pulses; and multiple bistable switching circuits subject to being conditioned by said pre-conditioning signals for providing selective series circuit connection paths between said sources of high power pulses and said lines.

Claim 5

In a system for controlling operations of a gas discharge display panel, in which multiple conductive lines traversing multiple discharge sites are used to convey electrical drive pulses from a common source to individual selected said sites in order to effect writing, erasing and sustaining effects relative to said selected sites and in which said drive pulses fluctuate intermittently between null and high amplitude levels relative to said sites with at least a predetermined minimum dead time spacing interval of null level output between successive high levels, the improvement comprising: multiple floating powered bistable drive switching circuits one per each said line, having connective elements coupled in series between respective said lines and the source of said drive pulses to control selective distribution of said drive pulses to said lines in accordance with bistable conditions of respective said circuits; a source of low level pre-conditioning signals having fixed power supply voltage reference and timed to occur only in the dead time spaces between consecutive high level fluctuations of said drive pulses; a source of high level control voltage varying in timed coordination with said high level drive pulses; and all solid state selection circuit means, including unidirectionally conductive circuit elements controllably biased by said control voltage, coupled between said low level source and said switching circuits for effecting pre-conditioning of individual and switching circuits to select bistable conditions in accordance with signals supplied by said low level source in said dead time intervals; said unidirectionally conductive circuit elements of said selection circuit means being isolation circuits completely devoid of reactive elements preventing said drive pulses from exerting conditioning or disturbing influence upon said low level source.

Claim 6

In a system for controlling operations of a gas discharge display panel, in which multiple conductive lines traversing multiple discharge sites are used to convey electrical drive pulses from a common source to individual selected said sites in order to effect writing, erasing and sustaining effects relative to said selected sites and in which said drive pulses fluctuate intermittently between null and high amplitude levels relative to said sites with at least a predetermined minimum dead time spacing interval of null level output between successive high levels, the improvement comprising: multiple floating powered bistable drive switching circuits one per each said line, having connective elements coupled in series between respective said lines and the source of said drive pulses to control selective distribution of said drive pulses to said lines in accordance with bistable conditions of respective said circuits; a source of low level pre-conditioning signals having fixed power supply voltage reference and timed to occur only in the dead time spaces between consecutive high level fluctuations of said drive pulses; a source of high level control voltage varying in timed coordination with said high level drive pulses; and all solid state selection circuit means, including unidirectionally conductive circuit elements controllably biased by said control voltage, coupled between said low level source and said switching circuits for effecting pre-conditioning of individual and switching circuits to select bistable conditions in accordance with signals supplied by said low level source in said dead time intervals; said unidirectionally conductive circuit elements of said selection circuit means being isolation circuits completely devoid of reactive elements preventing said drive pulses from exerting conditioning or disturbing influence upon said low level source.

Claim 7

In a gas discharge display panel having multiple discharge sites manipulatable in responsE to electrical signals providing intermittent sustain drive conditioning to all sites and intermittent write/erase drive conditioning to selected sites, improved control means comprising in combination: a source of floating reference control voltage fluctuating in timed coordination with said drive signals; bistable drive switch circuit means powered by said control voltage having connecting elements coupled in series circuit between individual said sites and sources of said sustain and write/erase drive signals for controlling selective application of said write/erase drive signals to respective said panel discharge sites in accordance with bistable conditions preestablished in said bistable circuit means during dead time spacing intervals between said drive pulses; and selection circuit means coupled to said bistable switch circuit means in random selection configurations for establishing bistable connection conditions in individually selected said connecting elements exclusively in quiescent dead time intervals between occurrences of said intermittent sustain conditioning and write/erase drive signals.

Claim 8

In a gas discharge display panel having multiple discharge sites manipulatable in responsE to electrical signals providing intermittent sustain drive conditioning to all sites and intermittent write/erase drive conditioning to selected sites, improved control means comprising in combination: a source of floating reference control voltage fluctuating in timed coordination with said drive signals; bistable drive switch circuit means powered by said control voltage having connecting elements coupled in series circuit between individual said sites and sources of said sustain and write/erase drive signals for controlling selective application of said write/erase drive signals to respective said panel discharge sites in accordance with bistable conditions preestablished in said bistable circuit means during dead time spacing intervals between said drive pulses; and selection circuit means coupled to said bistable switch circuit means in random selection configurations for establishing bistable connection conditions in individually selected said connecting elements exclusively in quiescent dead time intervals between occurrences of said intermittent sustain conditioning and write/erase drive signals.

Claim 9

In a gas discharge display panel having multiple discharges sites subject to emitting intermittent pulses of illumination when appropriately conditioned by sustain, write and erase drive signals applied from sources common to said sites through transverse row and column conductors crossing in selectable pairs at said sites, improved write/erase selection control circuits comprising: a source of floating reference control voltage fluctuating in correspondence with said drive signals; multiple all-solid state bistable high voltage drive switching circuit means, one per each said row and column conductor, said switching circuit means being powered by said control voltage and having individual connecting circuit elements in series circuit between the respective conductor and said common sources of drive signals, said bistable circuits and associated connecting elements being subject individually to receiving selective bistable pre-conditioning by random access selection of individual said bistable circuits in advance of occurrence of said write/erase drive signals, in order to provide thereby for bistable selective connection of said sustain, write and erase drive signals in parallel to respective selected conductors; and selection circuit means including unidirectionally conductive circuit elements controllably biased by said control voltage for supplying low voltage pre-conditioning signals selectively in random selective order to said drive switching circuit means to establish select bistable conditions in said drive switching circuit means in random selective sequence; said unidirectionally conductive elements of said selection circuit means being interposed in the paths of said low voltage pre-conditioning signals for isolating the sources of said low voltage signals from the drive signals coupled through said connecting elements of said switching circuit means and for coupling said low voltage signals for utilization in conditioning said switching circuit means when said drive signals are quiescent.

Claim 10

In a gas discharge display panel having multiple discharges sites subject to emitting intermittent pulses of illumination when appropriately conditioned by sustain, write and erase drive signals applied from sources common to said sites through transverse row and column conductors crossing in selectable pairs at said sites, improved write/erase selection control circuits comprising: a source of floating reference control voltage fluctuating in correspondence with said drive signals; multiple all-solid state bistable high voltage drive switching circuit means, one per each said row and column conductor, said switching circuit means being powered by said control voltage and having individual connecting circuit elements in series circuit between the respective conductor and said common sources of drive signals, said bistable circuits and associated connecting elements being subject individually to receiving selective bistable pre-conditioning by random access selection of individual said bistable circuits in advance of occurrence of said write/erase drive signals, in order to provide thereby for bistable selective connection of said sustain, write and erase drive signals in parallel to respective selected conductors; and selection circuit means including unidirectionally conductive circuit elements controllably biased by said control voltage for supplying low voltage pre-conditioning signals selectively in random selective order to said drive switching circuit means to establish select bistable conditions in said drive switching circuit means in random selective sequence; said unidirectionally conductive elements of said selection circuit means being interposed in the paths of said low voltage pre-conditioning signals for isolating the sources of said low voltage signals from the drive signals coupled through said connecting elements of said switching circuit means and for coupling said low voltage signals for utilization in conditioning said switching circuit means when said drive signals are quiescent.

Claim 11

Improved panel control circuit according to claim 5, wherein each said bistable drive switching circuit means comprises an all-solid state bistable latch circuit which is controlled by said control voltage, and an all-solid state connecting circuit containing a said connecting element for effecting high voltage switching of said drive signals via said connecting element; said switching circuit operating effectively as an open or closed contact under switching control established by the output state of said bistable latch circuit.

Claim 12

In a gas discharge display panel having multiple discharge sites formed at cross-positions of transverse row and column drive conductors and adaptive to receive intermittent high voltage drive conditioning in accordance with low voltage digital selection signals supplied during quiescent intervals Between drive conditionings, improved isolation means comprising: a source of control voltage varying in timed correspondence with said drive voltages; all solid state coupling circuits having low level supply voltages of constant magnitude relative to the drive conditioning voltages; said coupling circuits including unidirectionally conductive circuit elements controllably biased by said control voltage and selection control signal inputs and outputs, said selection control inputs and outputs being subject to being conditionally coupled and decoupled depending upon the biased conditions of said unidirectionally conductive elements; said control voltage varying intermittently between coupling and decoupling biasing levels in timed relation to transitions of said drive conditioning voltage to respective null and high amplitude levels thereby providing effective coupling between said selection signal inputs and outputs only during quiescent intervals between occurrences of said high level drive conditioning amplitudes.

Claim 13

In a gas discharge display panel having multiple discharge sites formed at cross-positions of transverse row and column drive conductors and adaptive to receive intermittent high voltage drive conditioning in accordance with low voltage digital selection signals supplied during quiescent intervals Between drive conditionings, improved isolation means comprising: a source of control voltage varying in timed correspondence with said drive voltages; all solid state coupling circuits having low level supply voltages of constant magnitude relative to the drive conditioning voltages; said coupling circuits including unidirectionally conductive circuit elements controllably biased by said control voltage and selection control signal inputs and outputs, said selection control inputs and outputs being subject to being conditionally coupled and decoupled depending upon the biased conditions of said unidirectionally conductive elements; said control voltage varying intermittently between coupling and decoupling biasing levels in timed relation to transitions of said drive conditioning voltage to respective null and high amplitude levels thereby providing effective coupling between said selection signal inputs and outputs only during quiescent intervals between occurrences of said high level drive conditioning amplitudes.

Claim 14

In a gas discharge display panel having multiple discharge sites adaptive to receive joint intermittent high voltage sustain drive pulse conditioning for intermittent maintenance of light emission states at sites previously conditioned by selectively applied high voltage write drive pulses and adaptive further to receive erase conditioning by high voltage erase drive pulses, improved write/erase selection control means comprising: multiple bistable switch circuit means coupled in discrete pairs to individual said sites for controlling coincident voltage selection of said sites by application jointly thereto of said sustain drive conditioning pulses and application selectively thereto of said write and erase drive conditioning pulses; plural sources of parallel occurring low voltage selection conditioning code pulses having maximum durations which are extremely short relative to minimal durations of said sustain, write and erase pulses; and conditionally operative all solid state coupling circuit means connected between said low voltage sources and said bistable switch circuit means for conditionally effecting coupling of said low voltage pulses to produce selective input conditioning of said bistable switch means only in quiescent intervals preceeding occurrences of said write and erase pulses; said coupling circuit means including controllably biased unidirectionally conductive coupling elements which are forward biased to effect coupling of said low voltage pulses during said quiescent intervals and reverse biased to isolate said low voltage sources from said bistable switch means during said write and erase pulse occurrences and sustain drive occurrences.

Claim 15

In a gas discharge display panel having multiple discharge sites adaptive to receive joint intermittent high voltage sustain drive pulse conditioning for intermittent maintenance of light emission states at sites previously conditioned by selectively applied high voltage write drive pulses and adaptive further to receive erase conditioning by high voltage erase drive pulses, improved write/erase selection control means comprising: multiple bistable switch circuit means coupled in discrete pairs to individual said sites for controlling coincident voltage selection of said sites by application jointly thereto of said sustain drive conditioning pulses and application selectively thereto of said write and erase drive conditioning pulses; plural sources of parallel occurring low voltage selection conditioning code pulses having maximum durations which are extremely short relative to minimal durations of said sustain, write and erase pulses; and conditionally operative all solid state coupling circuit means connected between said low voltage sources and said bistable switch circuit means for conditionally effecting coupling of said low voltage pulses to produce selective input conditioning of said bistable switch means only in quiescent intervals preceeding occurrences of said write and erase pulses; said coupling circuit means including controllably biased unidirectionally conductive coupling elements which are forward biased to effect coupling of said low voltage pulses during said quiescent intervals and reverse biased to isolate said low voltage sources from said bistable switch means during said write and erase pulse occurrences and sustain drive occurrences.

Claim 16

In a gas panel display system in which light emission conditions are established and sustained by coincident applications of manipulative and sustaining drive voltages to light emissive cells formed at discrete crossovers of arrays of multiple cross-positioned conductors, wherein the sustaining drive voltage is characterized by recurrent generation of high voltage conditions separated in time by null voltage conditions persistent for predetermined dead time intervals and wherein the manipulative drive voltages are subject to being produced intermittently during selected intervals of generation of the high voltage levels of the sustaining drive voltage, the improvement of: relatively isolated first and second circuits for respectively supplying said manipulative and sustaining drive voltages, said second circuit characterized by sustaining supply voltage inlets, drive bussing outlets common to said first circuit and solid state switching circuits arranged in series between said inlets and outlets; said switching circuits characterized by being devoid of discrete transformer elements in the series circuit paths between said supply inlets and bussing outlets; and a third circuit for establishing selective connections between said common bussing outlets and individual said cross-positioned conductors; said third circuit characterized by having all solid state integrated circuit construction totally devoid of discrete transformer components and thereby not subject to circuit delays and cost factors characteristic of transformer components; said third circuit including controllably biased unidirectionally conductive coupling elements serving to provide the effective coupling and isolation of transformers.

Claim 17

In a gas panel display system in which light emission conditions are established and sustained by coincident applications of manipulative and sustaining drive voltages to light emissive cells formed at discrete crossovers of arrays of multiple cross-positioned conductors, wherein the sustaining drive voltage is characterized by recurrent generation of high voltage conditions separated in time by null voltage conditions persistent for predetermined dead time intervals and wherein the manipulative drive voltages are subject to being produced intermittently during selected intervals of generation of the high voltage levels of the sustaining drive voltage, the improvement of: relatively isolated first and second circuits for respectively supplying said manipulative and sustaining drive voltages, said second circuit characterized by sustaining supply voltage inlets, drive bussing outlets common to said first circuit and solid state switching circuits arranged in series between said inlets and outlets; said switching circuits characterized by being devoid of discrete transformer elements in the series circuit paths between said supply inlets and bussing outlets; and a third circuit for establishing selective connections between said common bussing outlets and individual said cross-positioned conductors; said third circuit characterized by having all solid state integrated circuit construction totally devoid of discrete transformer components and thereby not subject to circuit delays and cost factors characteristic of transformer components; said third circuit including controllably biased unidirectionally conductive coupling elements serving to provide the effective coupling and isolation of transformers.

Claim 18

A system according to claim 9 wherein said third circuit comprises first, second and third stages arranged in tandem for utilization of low level condition selecting signals; the third stage including active solid state connective elements arranged in series circuit between said common drive bussing outlets and individual said conductors; said first and third stages being powered by respective fixed and floating referenced low level supply voltages; and said second stage containing said controllably biased unidirectionally conductive coupling elements and providing coupling between said first and third stages; said biasing of said unidirectionally conductive circuits of said second stage being arranged to be effective to permit coupling between said first and third stages only during presence of null voltage conditions at said drive bussing outlets and effective otherwise to decouple and isolate said first and third states.

Claim 19

A system according to claim 10 wherein said third stage comprises register and decoding sub-stages, said register sub-stage comprising a discrete latching element per each said connective element for indivually controlling said connective elements; and wherein said first stage is arranged to provide coded address signal functions to said third stage, said signal functions being subject to designating individual said latching elements for selection and subject to being decoded by said decoding sub-stage of said third stage for providing bistable conditioning inputs directly to said designated latching elements of said third stage; whereby said connective elements of said third stage are subject to receiving random access pre-conditioning to open and close conditions of control relative to respective connective elements in accordance with said coded address signal functions; said coded address signal functions being suppliable at recurrence rates and power levels which are not subject to being limited by transformer element delays.

Claim 20

A system according to claim 9 wherein said first circuit comprises manipulative supply voltage and discrete transformer and semi-conductor elements in series circuit between said manipulative voltage inlets and said common bussing outlets; said first circuit being characterized by having lesser power delivery capability relative to emission cells of said panel than said second circuit due to the presence of said transformer elements but having the advantage of being separately adjustable to said second circuit.

Claim 21

A system according to claim 9 wherein said second circuit comprises a bridge network of semi-conductive switching circuit elements subject to effecting varied connection between said sustaining supply voltage and said bussing outlets subject to varied connection to said panel conductors under control of said third circuit.

Claim 22

A system according to claim 9 wherein sustaining operation of said second circuit is suppressed during active manipulative operation of said first circuit and operations of said first circuit are spaced at time intervals suitable for permitting existing light emission states of said panel cells to be sustained by operations of said second circuit.