Subtractive color change system and method
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorN. Scot Hull
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A subtractive color change system for displaying a selected color to a viewer and a method of changing color. The system includes a layered assembly having transparent panels of primary and key colors, with a fixed-color background behind the layered assembly. The subtractive color change system may have a control unit to individually control the intensities and values of the primary color panels to render a color and to control the intensities and values of the panels in the layered assembly to reduce differences between the color rendered and the selected color and to display the selected color to a viewer.
Claims18
A wearable article, comprising:
- a background material;
- an electronic control unit;
- and
- a color change portion, secured to the background material and operatively coupled to the electronic control unit, the color change portion comprising a plurality of panels each having a transparent portion coextensive with one another across a visible area of the color change portion, each of the plurality of panels having a separately variable transparency and wherein the plurality of panels are comprised of at least one of:
- electrochromic compounds or electrochromic fibers;
- wherein the electronic control unit is configured to selectively induce a current through each of the plurality of panels to change the transparency of each of the plurality of panels independently and across a range of transparency intensity, wherein the transparency of each panel produces an adjustable rendered color of the color change portion.
A system, comprising:
- a background material;
- an electronic control unit;
- and
- a color change portion, secured to the background material and operatively coupled to the electronic control unit, the color change portion comprising a plurality of panels each having a transparent portion coextensive with one another across a visible area of the color change portion, each of the plurality of panels having a separately variable transparency and wherein the plurality of panels are comprised of at least one of:
- electrochromic compounds or electrochromic fibers;
- wherein the electronic control unit is configured to selectively induce a current through each of the plurality of panels to change the transparency of each of the plurality of panels independently and across a range of transparency intensity, and wherein the transparency of each panel produces an adjustable rendered color of the color change portion.
A method of making a wearable article, comprising:
- obtaining a background material;
- obtaining an electronic control unit;
- and
- securing a color change portion to the background material and operatively coupling the color change portion to the electronic control unit, the color change portion comprising a plurality of panels each having a transparent portion coextensive with one another across a visible area of the color change portion, each of the plurality of panels having a separately variable transparency and wherein the plurality of panels are comprised of at least one of:
- electrochromic compounds or electrochromic fibers;
- wherein the electronic control unit is configured to selectively induce a current through each of the plurality of panels to change the transparency of each of the plurality of panels independently and across a range of transparency intensity, and wherein the transparency of each panel produces an adjustable rendered color of the color change portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.