Liquid crystal flat panel display with an integral heater of predeterminable capacity
AssigneeAmerican Panel Corporation
InventorWilliam Dunn
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A flat panel liquid crystal display has a front plate and a rear plate with a layer of liquid crystal material maintained in a cavity between them. A thin film transistor array layer is disposed in the cavity, as is an integral heater with a grid of intersecting sets of horizontal and vertical conductors. The heating capacity of the heater is predeterminably set by selectively interrupting continuity of at least some of the intersecting conductors. In some embodiments, the discontinuities occur in only one set of the intersecting conductors.
Claims20
A heater assembly for a liquid crystal display (LCD) having front and rear plates with a layer of liquid crystal material and a thin film transistor (TFT) layer disposed between the plates, the heater assembly comprising:
- a heater grid comprising a set of horizontal conductors and a set of vertical conductors in intersecting relationship, the heater grid interposed between the front and rear plates;
- and
- a plurality of discontinuities dispersed throughout at least a portion of the heater grid.
A flat panel liquid crystal display (LCD) comprising:
- a front plate;
- a rear plate;
- a layer of liquid crystals maintained in a cavity between the front and rear plates;
- a thin film transistor (TFT) array layer disposed in the cavity;
- and
- a heater grid comprising a set of horizontal conductors and a set of vertical conductors in intersecting relationship, the heater grid interposed between the front and rear plates;
- and
- a plurality of discontinuities dispersed throughout at least a portion of the heater grid.
A flat panel liquid crystal display (LCD) comprising:
- a front plate;
- a rear plate;
- a layer of liquid crystals maintained in a cavity between the front and rear plates;
- a thin film transistor (TFT) array layer comprising a first and a second set of perpendicularly arranged leads disposed in the cavity;
- and
- a heater grid comprising a set of horizontal conductors and a set of vertical conductors in intersecting relationship, the heater interposed between the front and rear plates, the heater patterned onto the TFT array layer such that the horizontal and vertical conductors are arranged to run parallel to the corresponding set of TFT array layer leads;
- a discontinuity on at least one of the intersecting conductors.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.