Patent · US6262706B1 · B1 · US
Retroreflective electrophoretic displays and materials for making the same
- (11) Publication number
- US6262706B1
- (21) Application number
- 09/140,988
- (22) Filing date
- 1998-08-27
- (30) Priority date
- 1995-07-20
- (43) Publication date
- 2001-07-17
- (45) Date of grant
- 2001-07-17
- (51) IPC
- B41J 2/01; B41J 2/02; B41J 3/407; C09D 11/00; G02B 26/02; G02F 1/1334; G02F 1/1343; G02F 1/1345; G02F 1/135; G02F 1/167; G04B 47/00; G04G 21/04; G06F 15/02; G06F 3/14; G06F 3/147; G09F 9/302; G09F 9/37; G09G 3/20; H01L 27/12; H01L 27/28
- (52) CPC
- H10D Inorganic electric semiconductor devices: 86/00
- B41J Typewriters; selective printing mechanisms, i.e. mechanisms printing otherwise than from a forme; correction of typographical errors: 2/01, 2/02, 3/4076
- B82Y Specific uses or applications of nanostructures; measurement or analysis of nanostructures; manufacture or treatment of nanostructures: 20/00
- C09D Coating compositions, e.g. paints, varnishes or lacquers; filling pastes; chemical paint or ink removers; inks; correcting fluids; woodstains; pastes or solids for colouring or printing; use of materials therefor: 11/30, 11/50
- G02B Optical elements, systems or apparatus: 26/026
- G02F Optical devices or arrangements for the control of light by modification of the optical properties of the media of the elements involved therein; non-linear optics; frequency-changing of light; optical logic elements; optical analogue/digital converters: 1/133305, 1/133348, 1/13336, 1/1334, 1/1343, 1/13439, 1/1345, 1/135, 1/1365, 1/167, 1/16757, 1/172, 2202/12, 2202/28
- G04B Mechanically-driven clocks or watches; mechanical parts of clocks or watches in general; time pieces using the position of the sun, moon or stars: 47/00
- G06F Electric digital data processing: 15/0283
- G06K Graphical data reading; presentation of data; record carriers; handling record carriers: 19/07703
- G09F Displaying; advertising; signs; labels or name-plates; seals: 9/302, 9/372
- G09G Arrangements or circuits for control of indicating devices using static means to present variable information: 3/344
- H05K Printed circuits; casings or constructional details of electric apparatus; manufacture of assemblages of electrical components: 1/097, 3/105, 3/1241
- H10K Organic electric solid-state devices: 10/462
- Y10S Technical subjects covered by former uspc cross-reference art collections [xracs] and digests: 977/775, 977/952
- (73) Assignee
- E Ink Corp
- (72) Inventors
- Jonathan D. Albert; Barrett Comiskey; Joseph M. Jacobson; Libing Zhang; Andrew Loxley; Robert Feeney; Paul Drzaic; Ian Morrison
- (54) Title
- Retroreflective electrophoretic displays and materials for making the same
- (57) Abstract
Disclosed herein are novel electrophoretic displays and materials useful in fabricating such displays. In particular, novel encapsulated displays are disclosed. Particles encapsulated therein are dispersed within a suspending, or electrophoretic, fluid. This fluid may be a mixture of two or more fluids or may be a single fluid. The displays may further comprise particles dispersed in a suspending fluid, wherein the particles contain a liquid. In either case, the suspending fluid may have a density or refractive index substantially matched to that of the particles dispersed therein. Finally, also disclosed herein are electro-osmotic displays. These displays comprise at least one capsule containing either a cellulosic or gel-like internal phase and a liquid phase, or containing two or more immiscible fluids. Application of electric fields to any of the electrophoretic displays described herein affects an optical property of the display.
- Full text
- View on Google Patents
Claims (24)
- An encapsulated electrophoretic display, comprising a capsule that contains at least a first species of particles and a second species of particles, each having a distinct electrophoretic mobility, wherein the first species of particles is retroreflective and wherein the first and second species of particles in a first relative position at least partially prevent light from retroreflecting and the first and second species of particles in a second relative position at least partially allow light to retroreflect.
- The display of claim 1, wherein said capsule is disposed in a binder.
- The display of claim 1, wherein at least one of the species of particles are corner cubes.
- The display of claim 1, wherein at least one of the species of particles has a reflective coating.
- The display of claim 1, further comprising a suspending fluid having a density substantially matched to the density of the first species of particles and the second species of particles.
- The display of claim 5, wherein said suspending fluid is a halogenated hydrocarbon.
- The display of claim 6, wherein said suspending fluid is tetrachloroethylene.
- The display of claim 6, wherein said suspending fluid is poly(chlorotrifluoroethylene) polymer.
- The display of claim 8, wherein said polymer has a degree of polymerization from about 2 to about 10.
- The display of claim 5, wherein said suspending fluid comprises a mixture of two or more fluids.
- The display of claim 5, further comprising an oil-soluble dye in said suspending fluid, said dye being selected from the group consisting of anthraquinone, azo, and triphenylmethane type dyes.
- The display of claim 5, further comprising a surfactant in said suspending fluid.
- The display of claim 12, wherein said surfactant is sodium dodecylsulfate.
- The display of claim 2, wherein said binder is selected from the group consisting of water-soluble polymers, water-dispersed polymers, oil-soluble polymers, thermoset polymers, thermoplastic polymers, uv-cured polymers, radiation-cured polymers, gelatin arabic, gum arabic, polyurethanes, polyamides, urea formaldehyde resin, melamine formaldehyde resin, cellulose, cellulose derivatives, polyvinylacetates, and polyvinylalcohol.
- The display of claim 14, wherein said binder further comprises an additive selected from the group consisting of organic surfactants, organic salts, organic particles, and organic pigments.
- The display of claim 1, wherein at least one of the species of particle is titania.
- The display of claim 1, wherein at least one of the species of particle is metal oxide-coated titania.
- The display of claim 17, wherein said metal oxide is selected from the group consisting of aluminum oxide and silicon oxide.
- The display of claim 18, wherein said metal oxide-coated titania comprises two layers of metal oxide coating.
- The display of claim 19, wherein said titania is coated with both aluminum oxide and silicon oxide in either order.
- The display of claim 1, further comprising a charge control agent.
- The display of claim 21, wherein said charge control agent is polyisobutylenesuccinimide.
- The display of claim 21, wherein said charge control agent is a metal soap.
- The display of claim 21, wherein said charge control agent is lecithin.
Description
The present invention relates to electrophoretic displays, particularly encapsulated electrophoretic displays, and to materials useful in fabricating such displays.
Electrophoretic displays have been the subject of intense research and development for a number of years. Electrophoretic displays have attributes of good brightness and contrast, wide viewing angles, state bistability, and low power consumption when compared with liquid crystal displays. Nevertheless, problems with the long-term image quality of these displays has, to date, prevented their widespread usage.
The recent invention of encapsulated electrophoretic displays solves many of these problems and offers additional advantages compared to liquid crystal displays. Some added advantages are the ability to print or coat the display material on a wide variety of flexible and rigid substrates. The clustering and settling problems, which plagued prior art electrophoretic displays and resulted in inadequate lifetimes for the displays are now overcome.
The purpose of this disclosure is to describe electrophoretic displays, especially encapsulated electrophoretic displays, and classes of materials, as well as some specific materials, which should be useful in their construction.
The successful construction of an encapsulated electrophoretic display requires the proper interaction of several different types of materials and processes. Materials such as a polymeric binder, a capsule membrane, and the electrophoretic particles and fluid must all be chemically compatible.
Citations (223)
- US2800457A
- US3036388A
- US3384488A
- US3406363A
- US3460248A
- US3585381A
- US3892568A
- GB1314906A
- US3612758A
- US3870517A
- US3668106A
- US3767392A
- US3792308A
- US3670323A
- US3756693A
- US3850627A
- US3772013A
- US3806893A
- US4273672A
- US3922255A
- US3909116A
- GB1465701A
- US4093534A
- US4001140A
- US4087376A
- US4045327A
- US4041481A
- US4062009A
- US4231641A
- US4196437A
- US4149149A
- US4143103A
- US4126854A
- US4123346A
- US4088395A
- US4068927A
- US4071430A
- US4211668A
- US4143472A
- US4126528A
- US4166800A
- US4147932A
- US4203106A
- US4201691A
- US4261653A
- US4298448A
- GB2044508B
- US4314013A
- US4272596A
- US4324456A
- US4218302A
- US4285801A
- US4368952A
- US4419383A
- US4305807A
- US4311361A
- US4444961A
- US4666673A
- US4418346A
- US4390403A
- US5082351A
- US4707080A
- US4605284A
- US4450440A
- US4438160A
- US4522472A
- US4502934A
- US4543306A
- US4439507A
- US4623706A
- US4824208A
- US4832458A
- US4655897A
- US4732830A
- US4648956A
- US4643528A
- US5216530A
- US4620916A
- US4726662A
- US4742345A
- US4891245A
- US4909959A
- US4746917A
- US4748366A
- US4850919A
- US5279694A
- US4947219A
- US4772102A
- US4919521A
- US4833464A
- US5017225A
- US5204424A
- US5638103A
- US5185226A
- US5070326A
- US5250932A
- US4931019A
- US5009490A
- US4889603A
- US5132049A
- US5041824A
- US5635317A
- US5650247A
- US5059694A
- US5302235A
- US5053763A
- US5276113A
- US5508068A
- US5066946A
- US5268448A
- US5105185A
- US5128785A
- US5254981A
- US5066105A
- US5389945A
- US5128226A
- US5177476A
- US5077157A
- US5057363A
- US5149826A
- US5066559A
- US5597889A
- US5654367A
- US5672381A
- US5565885A
- US5151032A
- US5272238A
- US5250938A
- US5138472A
- US5223823A
- US5187609A
- US5556583A
- US5315312A
- US5223115A
- US5303073A
- US5326484A
- US5676884A
- US5296974A
- US5614340A
- US5304439A
- US5216416A
- US5276438A
- JP2551783Y2
- US5344594A
- US5463492A
- US5247290A
- US5174882A
- US5266937A
- US5663224A
- US5266098A
- US5293528A
- US5359346A
- US5421926A
- US5543219A
- US5411398A
- US5298833A
- US5643673A
- US5707738A
- US5512162A
- US5270843A
- US5279511A
- US5543177A
- US5262098A
- US5561443A
- US5402145A
- US5583675A
- US5360689A
- US5498674A
- US5552679A
- US5380362A
- US5411656A
- US5627561A
- US5467107A
- US5707747A
- US5639914A
- US5403518A
- US5383008A
- US5573711A
- US5673148A
- GB2324273B
- GB2292119B
- US5725935A
- US5650872A
- US5729632A
- US5694224A
- US5759671A
- US5745094A
- US5604027A
- US5643506A
- US5604070A
- US5753763A
- US5828432A
- US5610455A
- US5715511A
- US6005817A
- US5716550A
- GB2306229B
- US5582700A
- US5693442A
- US5717515A
- US5737115A
- US5751268A
- US5717514A
- US5708525A
- US5760761A
- US5739801A
- US5767826A
- US5717283A
- US5714270A
- US5691098A
- US5709976A
- US6005791A
- US5808783A
- US5825529A
- US5754332A
- US5843259A
- US5930026A
- US5777782A
- US5783614A
- US5961804A
- US5900858A
- US5914806A
- US6014247A
Record as JSON
{
"publication_number": "US6262706B1",
"country": "US",
"kind": "B1",
"title": "Retroreflective electrophoretic displays and materials for making the same",
"abstract": "Disclosed herein are novel electrophoretic displays and materials useful in fabricating such displays. In particular, novel encapsulated displays are disclosed. Particles encapsulated therein are dispersed within a suspending, or electrophoretic, fluid. This fluid may be a mixture of two or more fluids or may be a single fluid. The displays may further comprise particles dispersed in a suspending fluid, wherein the particles contain a liquid. In either case, the suspending fluid may have a density or refractive index substantially matched to that of the particles dispersed therein. Finally, also disclosed herein are electro-osmotic displays. These displays comprise at least one capsule containing either a cellulosic or gel-like internal phase and a liquid phase, or containing two or more immiscible fluids. Application of electric fields to any of the electrophoretic displays described herein affects an optical property of the display.",
"claims": [
"1. An encapsulated electrophoretic display, comprising a capsule that contains at least a first species of particles and a second species of particles, each having a distinct electrophoretic mobility, wherein the first species of particles is retroreflective and wherein the first and second species of particles in a first relative position at least partially prevent light from retroreflecting and the first and second species of particles in a second relative position at least partially allow light to retroreflect.",
"2. The display of claim 1, wherein said capsule is disposed in a binder.",
"3. The display of claim 1, wherein at least one of the species of particles are corner cubes.",
"4. The display of claim 1, wherein at least one of the species of particles has a reflective coating.",
"5. The display of claim 1, further comprising a suspending fluid having a density substantially matched to the density of the first species of particles and the second species of particles.",
"6. The display of claim 5, wherein said suspending fluid is a halogenated hydrocarbon.",
"7. The display of claim 6, wherein said suspending fluid is tetrachloroethylene.",
"8. The display of claim 6, wherein said suspending fluid is poly(chlorotrifluoroethylene) polymer.",
"9. The display of claim 8, wherein said polymer has a degree of polymerization from about 2 to about 10.",
"10. The display of claim 5, wherein said suspending fluid comprises a mixture of two or more fluids.",
"11. The display of claim 5, further comprising an oil-soluble dye in said suspending fluid, said dye being selected from the group consisting of anthraquinone, azo, and triphenylmethane type dyes.",
"12. The display of claim 5, further comprising a surfactant in said suspending fluid.",
"13. The display of claim 12, wherein said surfactant is sodium dodecylsulfate.",
"14. The display of claim 2, wherein said binder is selected from the group consisting of water-soluble polymers, water-dispersed polymers, oil-soluble polymers, thermoset polymers, thermoplastic polymers, uv-cured polymers, radiation-cured polymers, gelatin arabic, gum arabic, polyurethanes, polyamides, urea formaldehyde resin, melamine formaldehyde resin, cellulose, cellulose derivatives, polyvinylacetates, and polyvinylalcohol.",
"15. The display of claim 14, wherein said binder further comprises an additive selected from the group consisting of organic surfactants, organic salts, organic particles, and organic pigments.",
"16. The display of claim 1, wherein at least one of the species of particle is titania.",
"17. The display of claim 1, wherein at least one of the species of particle is metal oxide-coated titania.",
"18. The display of claim 17, wherein said metal oxide is selected from the group consisting of aluminum oxide and silicon oxide.",
"19. The display of claim 18, wherein said metal oxide-coated titania comprises two layers of metal oxide coating.",
"20. The display of claim 19, wherein said titania is coated with both aluminum oxide and silicon oxide in either order.",
"21. The display of claim 1, further comprising a charge control agent.",
"22. The display of claim 21, wherein said charge control agent is polyisobutylenesuccinimide.",
"23. The display of claim 21, wherein said charge control agent is a metal soap.",
"24. The display of claim 21, wherein said charge control agent is lecithin."
],
"description_excerpt": "The present invention relates to electrophoretic displays, particularly encapsulated electrophoretic displays, and to materials useful in fabricating such displays.\n\nElectrophoretic displays have been the subject of intense research and development for a number of years. Electrophoretic displays have attributes of good brightness and contrast, wide viewing angles, state bistability, and low power consumption when compared with liquid crystal displays. Nevertheless, problems with the long-term image quality of these displays has, to date, prevented their widespread usage.\n\nThe recent invention of encapsulated electrophoretic displays solves many of these problems and offers additional advantages compared to liquid crystal displays. Some added advantages are the ability to print or coat the display material on a wide variety of flexible and rigid substrates. The clustering and settling problems, which plagued prior art electrophoretic displays and resulted in inadequate lifetimes for the displays are now overcome.\n\nThe purpose of this disclosure is to describe electrophoretic displays, especially encapsulated electrophoretic displays, and classes of materials, as well as some specific materials, which should be useful in their construction.\n\nThe successful construction of an encapsulated electrophoretic display requires the proper interaction of several different types of materials and processes. Materials such as a polymeric binder, a capsule membrane, and the electrophoretic particles and fluid must all be chemically compatible.",
"cpc": [
"H10D 86/00",
"B41J 2/01",
"B41J 2/02",
"B41J 3/4076",
"B82Y 20/00",
"C09D 11/30",
"C09D 11/50",
"G02B 26/026",
"G02F 1/133305",
"G02F 1/133348",
"G02F 1/13336",
"G02F 1/1334",
"G02F 1/1343",
"G02F 1/13439",
"G02F 1/1345",
"G02F 1/135",
"G02F 1/1365",
"G02F 1/167",
"G02F 1/16757",
"G02F 1/172",
"G02F 2202/12",
"G02F 2202/28",
"G04B 47/00",
"G06F 15/0283",
"G06K 19/07703",
"G09F 9/302",
"G09F 9/372",
"G09G 3/344",
"H05K 1/097",
"H05K 3/105",
"H05K 3/1241",
"H10K 10/462",
"Y10S 977/775",
"Y10S 977/952"
],
"ipc": [
"B41J 2/01",
"B41J 2/02",
"B41J 3/407",
"C09D 11/00",
"G02B 26/02",
"G02F 1/1334",
"G02F 1/1343",
"G02F 1/1345",
"G02F 1/135",
"G02F 1/167",
"G04B 47/00",
"G04G 21/04",
"G06F 15/02",
"G06F 3/14",
"G06F 3/147",
"G09F 9/302",
"G09F 9/37",
"G09G 3/20",
"H01L 27/12",
"H01L 27/28"
],
"assignees": [
"E Ink Corp"
],
"inventors": [
"Jonathan D. Albert",
"Barrett Comiskey",
"Joseph M. Jacobson",
"Libing Zhang",
"Andrew Loxley",
"Robert Feeney",
"Paul Drzaic",
"Ian Morrison"
],
"filing_date": "1998-08-27",
"publication_date": "2001-07-17",
"grant_date": "2001-07-17",
"priority_date": "1995-07-20",
"application_number": "US-14098898-A",
"family_id": "27586977",
"cited_by_count": 520,
"citations": [
"US2800457A",
"US3036388A",
"US3384488A",
"US3406363A",
"US3460248A",
"US3585381A",
"US3892568A",
"GB1314906A",
"US3612758A",
"US3870517A",
"US3668106A",
"US3767392A",
"US3792308A",
"US3670323A",
"US3756693A",
"US3850627A",
"US3772013A",
"US3806893A",
"US4273672A",
"US3922255A",
"US3909116A",
"GB1465701A",
"US4093534A",
"US4001140A",
"US4087376A",
"US4045327A",
"US4041481A",
"US4062009A",
"US4231641A",
"US4196437A",
"US4149149A",
"US4143103A",
"US4126854A",
"US4123346A",
"US4088395A",
"US4068927A",
"US4071430A",
"US4211668A",
"US4143472A",
"US4126528A",
"US4166800A",
"US4147932A",
"US4203106A",
"US4201691A",
"US4261653A",
"US4298448A",
"GB2044508B",
"US4314013A",
"US4272596A",
"US4324456A",
"US4218302A",
"US4285801A",
"US4368952A",
"US4419383A",
"US4305807A",
"US4311361A",
"US4444961A",
"US4666673A",
"US4418346A",
"US4390403A",
"US5082351A",
"US4707080A",
"US4605284A",
"US4450440A",
"US4438160A",
"US4522472A",
"US4502934A",
"US4543306A",
"US4439507A",
"US4623706A",
"US4824208A",
"US4832458A",
"US4655897A",
"US4732830A",
"US4648956A",
"US4643528A",
"US5216530A",
"US4620916A",
"US4726662A",
"US4742345A",
"US4891245A",
"US4909959A",
"US4746917A",
"US4748366A",
"US4850919A",
"US5279694A",
"US4947219A",
"US4772102A",
"US4919521A",
"US4833464A",
"US5017225A",
"US5204424A",
"US5638103A",
"US5185226A",
"US5070326A",
"US5250932A",
"US4931019A",
"US5009490A",
"US4889603A",
"US5132049A",
"US5041824A",
"US5635317A",
"US5650247A",
"US5059694A",
"US5302235A",
"US5053763A",
"US5276113A",
"US5508068A",
"US5066946A",
"US5268448A",
"US5105185A",
"US5128785A",
"US5254981A",
"US5066105A",
"US5389945A",
"US5128226A",
"US5177476A",
"US5077157A",
"US5057363A",
"US5149826A",
"US5066559A",
"US5597889A",
"US5654367A",
"US5672381A",
"US5565885A",
"US5151032A",
"US5272238A",
"US5250938A",
"US5138472A",
"US5223823A",
"US5187609A",
"US5556583A",
"US5315312A",
"US5223115A",
"US5303073A",
"US5326484A",
"US5676884A",
"US5296974A",
"US5614340A",
"US5304439A",
"US5216416A",
"US5276438A",
"JP2551783Y2",
"US5344594A",
"US5463492A",
"US5247290A",
"US5174882A",
"US5266937A",
"US5663224A",
"US5266098A",
"US5293528A",
"US5359346A",
"US5421926A",
"US5543219A",
"US5411398A",
"US5298833A",
"US5643673A",
"US5707738A",
"US5512162A",
"US5270843A",
"US5279511A",
"US5543177A",
"US5262098A",
"US5561443A",
"US5402145A",
"US5583675A",
"US5360689A",
"US5498674A",
"US5552679A",
"US5380362A",
"US5411656A",
"US5627561A",
"US5467107A",
"US5707747A",
"US5639914A",
"US5403518A",
"US5383008A",
"US5573711A",
"US5673148A",
"GB2324273B",
"GB2292119B",
"US5725935A",
"US5650872A",
"US5729632A",
"US5694224A",
"US5759671A",
"US5745094A",
"US5604027A",
"US5643506A",
"US5604070A",
"US5753763A",
"US5828432A",
"US5610455A",
"US5715511A",
"US6005817A",
"US5716550A",
"GB2306229B",
"US5582700A",
"US5693442A",
"US5717515A",
"US5737115A",
"US5751268A",
"US5717514A",
"US5708525A",
"US5760761A",
"US5739801A",
"US5767826A",
"US5717283A",
"US5714270A",
"US5691098A",
"US5709976A",
"US6005791A",
"US5808783A",
"US5825529A",
"US5754332A",
"US5843259A",
"US5930026A",
"US5777782A",
"US5783614A",
"US5961804A",
"US5900858A",
"US5914806A",
"US6014247A"
]
}
Record 6,353 of 8,000 in Patents full text (MLC-0201). Request the full dataset.