Reflective electro-optic fiber-based displays

Abstract

A reflective display is formed using two orthogonal fiber arrays and an electro-optic material. The bottom fibers contain plasma channels, used to address the electro-optic material. Wire electrodes built into the fibers address both the plasma and the electro-optic material. The fibers are composed of glass, plastic or a combination of glass and plastic. Color is imparted into the display using colored fibers, adding a color coating to the surface of the fibers, or adding the color to the electro-optic material. The electro-optic material consists of a liquid crystal material, electrophoretic material, bichromal sphere material, electrochromic material, or any electro-optic material that can serve to create a reflective display. Another possible reflective displays is formed using an array of hollow tubes filled with an electrophoretic material sandwiched between two plates. The hollow tubes have either barrier walls or an electrostatic barrier, which restrict the flow of electrophoretic particles within the hollow tubes. The flow of electrophoretic particles over these barriers is controlled using electric fields, which makes it possible to matrix address the electrophoretic displays. Wire electrodes built into the hollow tubes and electrodes on the two plates are used to address the display. Reflectivity within the display is accomplished by using a reflective material to fabricate the tubes, coating the tubes with a reflective material or coating one of the two plates with a reflective material. The display can also function in a transmissive mode by applying an illuminating back to the display.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.