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US 11,906,872 B2Granted
Light modulator, light modulator method and smart glazing
AssigneeElstar Dynamics Patents B.V.
InventorsRomaric Mathieu Massard, Steven Van Mullekom
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Some embodiments are directed to a light modulator comprising transparent substrates, or a transparent substrate and a reflective or partially reflective substrate, multiple electrodes being applied to the substrates in a pattern across the substrate. A controller may apply an electric potential to the electrodes to obtain an electro-magnetic field between the electrodes providing electrophoretic movement of the particles towards or from an electrode.
Claims20
A light modulator comprising:
- a first substrate and a second substrate, the first and second substrates being arranged with inner sides opposite to each other, multiple electrodes being applied to the inner side of the first substrate and multiple electrodes being applied to the inner side of the second substrate, each of the multiple electrodes on the first and second substrates being arranged in a pattern across the substrate, the multiple electrodes each comprising:
- a multiple of main-lines extending across the substrate in a first direction, the multiple of main-lines of the multiple electrodes being arranged alternatingly with respect to each other on the substrate;
- an optical layer between at least the first and second substrate, the optical layer comprising
- a fluid comprising particles, wherein the particles are electrically charged or chargeable, and wherein the particles absorb or reflect light;
- at least one current sensing circuit connected to an electrode on a substrate, wherein the current sensing circuit measures a current in the electrode to which it is connected, wherein the light modulator comprises multiple current sensing circuits, each electrode of the multiple electrodes being connected to a corresponding one of the multiple current sensing circuits;
- and
- a controller comprising one or more processor circuits and a non-transitory electronic memory storing computer instructions executable by the one or more processor circuits to perform:
- applying an electric potential to at least one of the electrodes according to a measuring potential during a measuring duration,
- receiving at least one current sensing signal from the at least one current sensing circuit during the measuring duration indicating a current in the connected electrode,
- determining driving signals for the multiple electrodes from the at least one current sensing signals and from a target transparency or reflectivity, and
- applying an electric potential to the multiple electrodes according to a driving signal after the measuring duration to obtain an electro-magnetic field between the multiple electrodes, wherein the electro-magnetic field provides electrophoretic movement of the particles towards or from one of the multiple electrodes.
8 more elements
A light modulator method comprising:
- providing a light modulator comprising:
- a first substrate and a second substrate, the first and second substrates being arranged with inner sides opposite to each other, multiple electrodes being applied to the inner side of the first substrate and multiple electrodes being applied to the inner side of the second substrate, each of the multiple electrodes on the first and second substrates being arranged in a pattern across the substrate, the multiple electrodes each comprising
- a multiple of main-lines extending across the substrate in a first direction, the multiple of main-lines of the multiple electrodes being arranged alternatingly with respect to each other on the substrate;
- an optical layer between at least the first and second substrate, the optical layer comprising
- a fluid comprising particles, wherein the particles are electrically charged or chargeable, and wherein the particles absorb or reflect light;
- multiple current sensing circuits, each electrode of the multiple electrodes being connected to a corresponding one of the multiple current sensing circuits, wherein the current sensing circuit measures a current in the electrode to which it is connected;
- applying an electric potential to at least one of the electrodes according to a measuring potential during a measuring duration,
- receiving at least one current sensing signal from the at least one current sensing circuits during the measuring duration indicating current in a corresponding electrode,
- determining driving signals for the electrodes from the at least one current sensing signals and from a target transparency or reflectivity, and
- transmitting the driving signal to the light modulator for applying an electric potential to the multiple electrodes according to the driving signal after the measuring duration to obtain an electro-magnetic field between the multiple electrodes, wherein the electro-magnetic field provides electrophoretic movement of the particles towards or from one of the multiple electrodes.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.