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US 4,283,119 AGranted
Method of producing spacing elements for electro-optical display devices and such display devices
AssigneeSiemens Aktiengesellschaft
InventorHorst Hofmann
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AssigneeSiemens Aktiengesellschaft
InventorHorst Hofmann
Estimating the term…
Fiber-shaped metal-containing spacing elements having a well-defined diameter of less than 100 .mu.m for spacing two plates in an indicia display device, such as a liquid crystal cell, are produced by providing a wire composed of a metal selected from the fourth to sixth adjacent groups of the Periodic Chart of the Atoms, converting the peripheral surface layer of such wire into a brittle metallic compound and breaking-up the so-treated wire into desired size individual spacing elements. By utilizing metal wires, an exact diameter dimension can be attained and by chemical conversion of the wire surface, the produced metal wire loses its ductility and can be easily broken-up into desired size elements. Spacing elements of the invention are useful in all types of indicia display devices particularly in multiplex liquid crystal display devices.
In an indicia display device such as a liquid crystal cell having two plates spaced from one another via at least two spacing elements, the improvement comprising wherein said spacing elements are composed of a metal core enveloped by a layer of a brittle metallic compound, said metal core and layer of brittle metallic compound having identical metal atoms which are selected from the fourth through the sixth adjacent groups of the Periodic Chart of the Atoms and said compound being selected from the group consisting of a carbide, a boride, a nitride, and a silicide;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.