Electrophoretic display panel with selective character addressability

Claim 2

In an electrophoretic display for displaying characters in a plurality of character positions of a predetermined area, wherein said display includes a cathode structure, a grid structure, an anode structure and an electrophoretic suspension disposed in between said cathode structure and said anode structure, an improved anode structure comprising: a substrate; a plurality of conductive character blocks disposed on said substrate to lie in a single plane and arranged in a matrix containing columns and rows, each of said character blocks being a single unitary solid layer of conductive material of said predetermined area, wherein each of said character blocks is separated from each other on said substrate by column spaces and row spaces that define said predetermined area of each of said character blocks, and wherein each of said character blocks corresponds in position to one of the character positions in said display; row control lines disposed on said substrate in each of said row spaces, wherein a single row control line is coupled to each of said character blocks in a common row in said matrix; column control lines disposed on said substrate in each of said column spaces, wherein a single column control line is coupled to each of said character blocks in a common column in said matrix, and; means for selectively applying voltage to one said row control line and one said column control line to selectively change the voltage of one of said conductive character blocks in said matrix.

Claim 3

An anode structure as defined in claim 1, further including a first resistor and a first diode connecting each of said character blocks to a corresponding column control line and, a second resistor and a second diode connecting each of said character blocks to a corresponding row column line.

Claim 4

An anode structure as defined in claim 2, wherein said first resistor and said first diode are arranged in parallel and said second resistor and said second diode are arranged in parallel.

Claim 5

An anode structure as defined in claim 3, further including a first current limiting resistor arranged in series with said first diode and a second current limiting resistor arranged in series with said second diode.

Claim 6

An anode structure as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said character blocks is approximately 16 pixels wide and 26 pixels high.

Claim 7

An anode structure as defined in claim 4, wherein said first current limiting resistor and said first diode are monolithically formed and said second current limiting resistor and said second diode are monolithically formed on said anode structure.

Claim 8

An anode structure as defined in claim 2, wherein said electrophoretic suspension has a predetermined resistance and said first resistor and said second resistor have a resistance less than said predetermined resistance.

Claim 9

An anode structure as defined in claim 1, further including a first MOSFET connecting each of said character blocks to a corresponding row control line and a second MOSFET connecting each of said character blocks to a corresponding column control line.

Claim 10

An anode structure as defined in claim 1, further including a first thin-film transistor connecting each of said character blocks to a corresponding row control line and a second thin-film transistor connecting each of said character blocks to a corresponding column control line.

Claim 11

An anode structure as defined in claim 1, wherein said means for selectively applying voltage to one said row control line and one said column control line applies a negative voltage for erasing one of said conductive character blocks in said matrix.

Claim 14

A method as defined in claim 11, wherein said step of applying a negative voltage includes applying a negative voltage to more than one column control line to address more than one character block.

Claim 15

A method as defined in claim 11, wherein said step of interconnecting includes the substeps of; connecting each of the character blocks to said row control line by a first resistor and, parallel to said first resistor, a series connected diode and second resistor, and connecting each of the character blocks to said column control line by a third resistor and, parallel thereto, a series connected diode and fourth resistor.

Claim 16

A method as defined in claim 11, wherein said steps of interconnecting includes connecting each of the character blocks to a corresponding row control line and a corresponding column control line using active electronic components.

Claim 17

A method as defined in claim 14, wherein the character blocks are connected to row control lines and column control lines by thin-film transistors.

Claim 18

An electrophoretic display, comprising: anode having a plurality of separate character blocks arranged to lie in a single plane in a matrix having columns and rows, each of said, character blocks being a single unitary solid layer of conductive material deposited on a substrate, wherein each of said character blocks is of a predetermined area that is large enough to contain the largest sized character capable of being displayed on said electrophoretic display; a plurality of parallel row control lines arranged in between said rows of said matrix, wherein each of said character blocks in said matrix is coupled to a single common row control line; a plurality of parallel column control lines perpendicular to said row control lines and arranged between said columns of said matrix, wherein each of said character blocks in each of said columns in said matrix is coupled to a single common column control line; a plurality of parallel cathode lines; a plurality of parallel grid lines perpendicular to said cathode lines and insulated therefrom so as to form an X-Y matrix, said X-Y matrix of cathode and grid lines being arranged at a distance from said anode; an electrophoretic dispersion of particles in a suspension medium arranged between said anode and said X-Y matrix; means for controlling and applying voltage to selected cathode and grid lines of the X-Y matrix so as to cause the particles in the suspension medium to migrate toward the anode to write in the character blocks; means for selectively applying voltage to said row and column lines to write and erase individual character blocks, said voltage applying means applying a voltage to a row and column line corresponding to the character block to be erased so that the particles in the suspension medium between said selected plurality of cathode and grid lines and one of said conductive character blocks are caused to migrate away from the anode toward the X-Y matrix; and means for integrally controlling said means for applying voltage to said X-Y matrix and said means for applying voltage to said row and column control lines.

Claim 19

An electrophoretic display, comprising: anode having a plurality of separate character blocks arranged to lie in a single plane in a matrix having columns and rows, each of said, character blocks being a single unitary solid layer of conductive material deposited on a substrate, wherein each of said character blocks is of a predetermined area that is large enough to contain the largest sized character capable of being displayed on said electrophoretic display; a plurality of parallel row control lines arranged in between said rows of said matrix, wherein each of said character blocks in said matrix is coupled to a single common row control line; a plurality of parallel column control lines perpendicular to said row control lines and arranged between said columns of said matrix, wherein each of said character blocks in each of said columns in said matrix is coupled to a single common column control line; a plurality of parallel cathode lines; a plurality of parallel grid lines perpendicular to said cathode lines and insulated therefrom so as to form an X-Y matrix, said X-Y matrix of cathode and grid lines being arranged at a distance from said anode; an electrophoretic dispersion of particles in a suspension medium arranged between said anode and said X-Y matrix; means for controlling and applying voltage to selected cathode and grid lines of the X-Y matrix so as to cause the particles in the suspension medium to migrate toward the anode to write in the character blocks; means for selectively applying voltage to said row and column lines to write and erase individual character blocks, said voltage applying means applying a voltage to a row and column line corresponding to the character block to be erased so that the particles in the suspension medium between said selected plurality of cathode and grid lines and one of said conductive character blocks are caused to migrate away from the anode toward the X-Y matrix; and means for integrally controlling said means for applying voltage to said X-Y matrix and said means for applying voltage to said row and column control lines.