Electrophoretic display panel and associated methods for blinking displayed characters

Claim 1

An electrophoretic display apparatus adapted to display a plurality of written character lines with at least one selected character of said display blinking in a manner visible to the user of said apparatus, comprising: a fluid-tight envelope having a portion thereof which is at least partially transparent; an electrophoretic fluid contained within said envelope, said fluid having pigmented particles suspended therein, and a matrix of row and column electrodes passing through said envelope and said fluid; a plurality of anode segments passing through said envelope, wherein each displayed character area of said display is defined by at least one of the anode segments and by a corresponding group of row and column electrode intersections; supply means for supplying individual voltages to selected row and column intersections and to said anode segments to write characters to said display; control means coupled to said supply means, said control means operating said supply means to cause written characters to remain continuously visible to said user while also causing said supply means to sequentially apply a first potential bias of a given polarity between a group of row and column intersections corresponding to a displayed character area and an associated anode segment long enough to cause pigment particles to move relative to said intersections and to thereby erase a character written to said displayed character area and a second potential bias of an opposite polarity between said anode segment and said group of row and column intersections for a period of time sufficient to rewrite said character to said displayed character area, said supply means being responsive to said control means to alternately apply said first and second potential bias so that said selected character is blinked in a manner visible to said user; and a remote anode coupled to said supply means, said supply means being further responsive to said control means to supply a third potential bias of said given polarity between said row and column intersections and said remote anode to fully erase characters written on said display.

Claim 12

A method of operating an electrophoretic display to display a plurality of written character lines with at least one selected character of said display blinking in a manner visible to the user of said apparatus, said display being of the type including a fluid-tight envelope having a portion thereof which is at least partially transparent, an electrophoretic fluid contained within said envelope, said fluid having pigmented particles suspended therein, a matrix of row and column electrodes passing through said envelope and said fluid, a plurality of anode segments passing through said envelope, a remote anode isolated from said anode segments by said fluid, and an electrically conductive mesh screen disposed between said remote anode and said anode segments, wherein each displayed character area of said display is defined by at least one of the anode segments and by a corresponding group of row and column electrode intersections, said method comprising the steps of: (a) applying an alternating current to said mesh screen; (b) supplying individual voltages to selected row and column intersections and to said anode segments to fully write characters to said display; (c) selecting one of said characters written to said display for blinking; (d) applying a first potential bias of a given polarity between a group of row and column intersections, said group corresponding to a displayed character area occupied by the character selected during said selecting step, and at least one associated anode segment long enough to cause pigment particles to move relative to said intersections and to thereby erase the selected character; (e) applying a second potential bias of an opposite polarity between said associated anode segment and said group of row and column intersections for a period of time sufficient to rewrite the selected character to said displayed character area; (f) sequentially alternating between steps (c) and (d) until a different character is selected for blinking.

Claim 13

A method of operating an electrophoretic display to display a plurality of written character lines with at least one selected character of said display blinking in a manner visible to the user of said apparatus, said display being of the type including a fluid-tight envelope having a portion thereof which is at least partially transparent, an electrophoretic fluid contained within said envelope, said fluid having pigmented particles suspended therein, a matrix of row and column electrodes passing through said envelope and said fluid, a plurality of anode segments passing through said envelope, a remote anode isolated from said anode segments by said fluid, and an electrically conductive mesh screen disposed between said remote anode and said anode segments, wherein each displayed character area of said display is defined by at least one of the anode segments and by a corresponding group of row and column electrode intersections, said method comprising the steps of: (a) applying an alternating current to said mesh screen; (b) supplying individual voltages to selected row and column intersections and to said anode segments to fully write characters to said display; (c) selecting one of said characters written to said display for blinking; (d) applying a first potential bias of a given polarity between a group of row and column intersections, said group corresponding to a displayed character area occupied by the character selected during said selecting step, and at least one associated anode segment long enough to cause pigment particles to move relative to said intersections and to thereby erase the selected character; (e) applying a second potential bias of an opposite polarity between said associated anode segment and said group of row and column intersections for a period of time sufficient to rewrite the selected character to said displayed character area; (f) sequentially alternating between steps (c) and (d) until a different character is selected for blinking.