U.S. patent number 3,911,422 [Application Number 05/447,595] was granted by the patent office on 1975-10-07 for gas panel with shifting arrangement with a display having increased light intensity.
This patent grant is currently assigned to International Business Machines Corporation. Invention is credited to Frank M. Lay, Allen W. McDowell.
United States Patent |
3,911,422 |
McDowell , et al. |
October 7, 1975 |
Gas panel with shifting arrangement with a display having increased
light intensity
Abstract
A gas panel arrangement for storing, displaying and selectively
shifting information from one place therein to another includes an
envelope filled with an illuminable gas, a plurality of vertical
conductors disposed in parallel on one side of the envelope, a
plurality of horizontal conductors disposed in parallel on the
opposite side of the envelope with the regions of illuminable gas
in the vicinity of the coordinate intersections of the vertical and
horizontal conductors defining gas cells, a writing arrangement
which inserts binary information in a given portion of the envelope
by igniting or not igniting the illuminable gas cells to represent
binary ones and zeros, a shifting arrangement which includes a
first sequence of signals repetitively supplied to the vertical
conductors to shift binary information horizontally, and a sustain
mechanism which supplied a second sequence of signals repetitively
to given vertical conductors thereby to increase the number of
ignited gas cells and accordingly increase the light intensity to
render brighter letters, numbers, characters and the like which are
illuminated on the face of the display device.
Inventors: |
McDowell; Allen W. (Kingston,
NY), Lay; Frank M. (Woodstock, NY) |
Assignee: |
International Business Machines
Corporation (Armonk, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
23776961 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/447,595 |
Filed: |
March 4, 1974 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
345/61;
345/63 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G09G
3/28 (20130101); H01J 17/495 (20130101); G09G
5/28 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G09G
3/29 (20060101); G09G 3/28 (20060101); H01J
17/49 (20060101); G06F 003/14 () |
Field of
Search: |
;340/343,324M,166EL,168S
;315/169TV,169R |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Curtis; Marshall M.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Thomas; Ralph L.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. . 1. gas panel for storing, displaying and selectively shifting
information from one place therein to another comprising:
an envelope filled with an illuminable gas,
a plurality of vertical conductors disposed in parallel on one side
of said envelope, a plurality of horizontal conductors disposed in
parallel on the opposite side of said envelope orthogonally to the
vertical conductors, the illuminable gas in the vicinity of
coordinate intersections of the vertical and horizontal conductors
defining gas cells,
write circuits coupled to said horizontal conductors for
selectively writing in said envelope binary information by ingiting
or not igniting the illuminable gas cells to represent binary ones
and zeros,
shift circuits coupled to said vertical conductors for selectively
shifting binary information from one gas cell to another along the
horizontal conductors, and
sustain circuit means coupled to the shift circuits for selectively
modifying the function of said shift circuits to terminate shifting
and also to ignite twice as many gas cells as ignited by the write
circuits thereby to increase the intensity of the displayed
information.
2. A gas panel for storing, displaying and selectively shifting
information from one place therein to another comprising:
an envelope filled with an illuminable gas,
a plurality of vertical conductors disposed in parallel on one side
of said envelope, a plurality of horizontal conductors disposed in
parallel on the opposite side of said envelope orthogonally to the
vertical conductors, the illuminable gas in the vicinity of
coordinate intersections of the vertical and horizontal conductors
defining gas cells.
write circuits coupled to said horizontal conductors for
selectively writing in gas cells of said envelope X binary bits by
igniting or not igniting the illuminable gas of each cell to
represent binary ones and zeros,
shift circuits coupled to said vertical conductors for selectively
shifting from one gas cell to another along the horizontal
conductors said X binary bits, and
sustain circuit means coupled to the shift circuits for selectively
modifying the function of said shift circuits to terminate shifting
and also to operate gas cells in said envelope to store 2X binary
bits which thereby increases the intensity of the displayed
information by igniting twice as many gas cells as ignited by the
write circuits.
3. A gas panel for storing, displaying and selectively shifting
information from one place therein to another comprising:
an envelope filled with an illuminable gas,
a plurality of vertical conductors disposed in parallel on one side
of said envelope, a plurality of horizontal conductors disposed in
parallel on the opposite side of said envelope orthogonally to the
vertical conductors, the illuminable gas in the vicinity of
coordinate intersections of the vertical and horizontal conductors
defining gas cells,
write circuits coupled to said vertical conductors for selectively
writing in said envelope binary information by igniting or not
igniting the illuminable gas cells to represent binary ones and
zeros,
shift circuits coupled to said horizontal conductors for
selectively shifting binary information from one gas cell to
another along the vertical conductors, and
sustain circuit means coupled to the shift circuits for selectively
modifying the function of said shift circuits to terminate shifting
and also to ignite twice as many gas cells as ignited by the write
circuits thereby to increase the intensity of the displayed
information.
4. A gas panel for storing, displaying and selectively shifting
information from one place therein to another comprising:
an envelope filled with an illuminable gas,
a plurality of vertical conductors disposed in parallel on one side
of said envelope, a plurality of horizontal conductors disposed in
parallel on the opposite side of said envelope orthogonally to the
vertical conductors, the illuminable gas in the vicinity of
coordinate intersections of the vertical and horizontal conductors
defining gas cells,
write circuits coupled to said vertical conductors for selectively
writing in gas cells of said envelope X binary bits by igniting or
not igniting the illuminable gas of each cell to represent binary
ones and zeros,
shift circuits coupled to said horizontal conductors for
selectively shifting from one gas cell to another along the
vertical conductors said X binary bits, and
sustain circuit means coupled to the shift circuits for selectively
modifying the function of said shift circuits to terminate shifting
and also to operate gas cells in said envelope to store 2X binary
bits which thereby increases the intensity of the displayed
information by igniting twice as many gas cells as ignited by the
write circuits.
5. A gas panel for storing, displaying, and selectively shifting
information from one place therein to another comprising:
an envelope filled with an illuminable gas,
a plurality of N vertical conductors disposed in parallel on one
side of said envelope, wherein N is any integer which is a multiple
of three, a plurality of W horizontal conductors disposed in
parallel on the opposite side of said envelope, where W is any
integer which is a multiple of three, the illuminable gas in the
vicinity of the coordinate intersections of the vertical and
horizontal conductors defining gas cells.
first signal means coupled to a given portion of said envelope for
selectively writing therein binary information by igniting or not
igniting the illuminable gas cells to represent binary ones and
zeros.
second signal means for supplying a sequence of discrete signals
P1, P2 and P3 for shifting information horizontally, means
connecting the P1 signals to the vertical conductors 1, 4, 7 . . .
. N-2, means connecting the P2 signals to the vertical conductors
2, 5, 8 . . . . N-1, and means connecting the P3 signals to the
vertical conductors 3, 6, 9 . . . .N whereby each set of three
successive vertical lines is energized seriatim by the signals P1,
P2 and P3 in the direction of the horizontal shift of binary
information,
third signal means for supplying a sequence of discrete signals R1,
R2 and R3 for shifting information vertically, means connecting the
R1 signals to the horizontal conductors 1, 4, 7 . . . . W-1, means
connecting the R2 signals to the horizontal conductors 2, 5, 8 . .
. . W-1, and means connecting the R3 signals to the horizontal
conductors 3, 6, 9 . . . . W, whereby each set of three successive
horizontal lines is energized seriatim by the signals R1, R2 and R3
in the direction of the vertical shift of binary information,
fourth signal means for supplying a train of normalized signals,
means coupling the train of normalized signals to each horizontal
conductor on which new information is written and shifted
horizontally, said train of normalized signals being composed of
discrete signals which occur in time between each of the pulses P1,
P2 and P3.
said second signal means including additional means for inhibiting
P1 signals and simultaneously continuing to supply P2 and P3
signals on the associated vertical conductors to sustain ignited
gas cells and for terminating horizontal shifting of binary
information, and
said third means including further means for inhibiting R1 signals
and simultaneously continuing to supply R2 and R3 signals to the
associated horizontal conductors to sustain ignited gas cells and
for terminating vertical shifting of binary information.
6. A gas panel for storing, displaying, and selectively shifting
information form one place therein to another comprising:
an envelope filled with an illuminable gas,
a plurality of N vertical conductors disposed in parallel on one
side of said envelope, where N is any integer which is a multiple
of three, a plurality of W horizontal conductors disposed in
parallel on the opposite side of said envelope, where W is any
integer which is a multiple of three, the illuminable gas in the
vicinity of the coordinate intersections of the vertical and
horizontal conductors defining gas cells,
first signal means coupled to a given portion of said envelope for
selectively writing therein X binary bits by igniting or not
igniting the illuminable gas to represent binary ones and
zeros,
second signal means coupled to said vertical conductors for
shifting binary information selectively from one gas cell to
another along said horizontal conductors,
third signal means coupled to the horizontal conductors for
shifting binary information selectively from one gas cell to
another along said vertical conductors, and
fourth means coupled to the second signal means and the third
signal means for modifying the function of the second signal means
and the third signal means whereby shifting is terminated and 2X
binary bits of said envelope are operated thereby to increase the
illumination of the displayed information.
7. A gas panel for storing, displaying, and selectively shifting
information from one place therein to another comprising:
an envelope filled with an illuminable gas,
a plurality of N vertical conductors disposed in parallel on one
side of said envelope, where N is any integer which is a multiple
of three, a plurality of W horizontal conductors disposed in
parallel on the opposite side of said envelope, where W is any
integer which is a multiple of three, the illuminable gas in the
vicinity of the coordinate intersections of the vertical and
horizontal conductors defining gas cells,
first signal means coupled to a given portion of said envelope for
selectively writing therein X binary bits by igniting or not
igniting the illuminable gas to represent binary ones and zeros,
and
second signal means coupled to said horizontal conductors for
shifting binary information selectively from one gas cell to
another along said vertical conductors,
third signal means coupled to the vertical conductors for shifting
binary information selectively from one gas cell to another along
said horizontal conductors, and
fourth means coupled to the second signal means and the third
signal means for modifying the function of the second signal means
and the third signal means whereby shifting is terminated and 2X
binary bits of said envelope are operated thereby to increase the
illumination of the displayed information.
8. A gas panel for storing, displaying and selectively shifting
information from one place therein to another comprising:
an envelope filled with an illuminable gas, a plurality of N
vertical conductors disposed in parallel on one side of said
envelope, where N is any integer which is a multiple of three, a
plurality of W horizontal conductors disposed in parallel on the
opposite side of said envelope, where W is any integer which is a
multiple of three, the illuminable gas in the vicinity of the
coordinate intersections of the vertical and horizontal conductors
defining WN gas cells,
writing means coupled to a given portion of said envelope for
selectively writing therein X binary bits by igniting or not
igniting the illuminable gas cells to represent binary ones and
zeros,
shift means coupled to the vertical conductors for supplying a
repetitive sequence of signals P1, P2 and P3 for shifting said X
binary bits horizontally, means connecting the P1 signals to the
vertical conductors 1, 4, 7 . . . N-2, means connecting the P2
signals to the vertical conductors 2, 5, 8 . . . N-1, and means
connecting the P3 signals to the vertical conductors 3, 6, 9 . . .
N, whereby each set of three vertical conductors is energized
seriatim by the successive signals P1, P2 and P3 in the direction
of the horizontal shift of binary information, and
said shift means including additional circuits which inhibit P1
signals but continue to supply P2 and P3 signals to associated
vertical conductors thereby to operate 2X binary bits in said
envelope and terminate horizontal shifting.
9. A gas panel for storing, displaying and selectively shifting
information from one place therein to another comprising:
an envelope filled with an illuminable gas, a plurality of N
vertical conductors disposed in parallel on one side of said
envelope, where N is any integer which is a multiple of three, a
plurality of W horizontal conductors disposed in parallel on the
opposite side of said envelope, where W is any integer which is a
multiple of three, the illuminable gas in the vicinity of the
coordinate intersections of the vertical and horizontal conductors
defining WN gas cells,
writing means coupled to a given portion of said envelope for
selectively writing therein X binary bits by igniting or not
igniting the illuminable gas cells to represent binary ones and
zeros,
shift means coupled to the horizontal conductors for supplying a
repetitive sequence of signals P1, P2 and P3 for shifting said X
binary vits vertically, means connecting the P1 signals to the
horizontal conductors 1, 4, 7 . . . N-2, means connecting the P2
signals to the horizontal conductors 2, 5, 8 . . . N-1, and means
connecting the P3 signals to the horizontal conductors 3, 6, 9 . .
. N, whereby each set of three horizontal conductors is energized
seriatim by the successive signals P1, P2 and P3 in the direction
of the vertical shift of binary information, and
said shift means including additional circuits which inhibit P1
signals but continue to supply P2 and P3 signals to associated
horizontal conductors thereby to operate 2X binary bits in said
envelope and terminate vertical shifting.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Application Ser. No. 262,367 filed on June 13, 1972 for Gas Panel
With Multi-Directional Shifting Arrangement by Allen W. McDowell et
al., now U.S. Pat. No. 3,795,908.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. This invention relates to gas panels and more particularly to
such devices where information displayed and shifted, vertically or
horizontally, may be viewed more easily by increasing the number of
the illuminated gas cells of the gas panel.
2. In earlier Ser. No. panels such as that described in co-pending
application Ser. 214,348 referred to above, information represented
by ignited gas cells in the form of numbers, letters, characters
and the like are shifted horizontally, vertically, or both
horizontally and vertically to a selected position. Such
illuminated numbers, letters characters and the like are depicted
by a series of single illuminated gas cells which form the shape of
the visible character. It is desirable to increase the light
intensity of the visible characters in the earlier gas panels by
increasing the number of ignited gas cells, and it it desirable to
do so without increasing the complexity of the writing, shifting
and sustaining circuitry needed to operate the gas panel in order
to minimize the cost of construction and repair. It is to this end
that the present invention is directed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a feature of this invention to provide a gas panel for
storing, displaying, selectively shifting information from one
place to another on the face of a gas panel, and to increase the
light intensity of displayed characters by increasing the number of
ignited cells which define such characters.
It is a feature of this invention to provide a gas panel for
storing, displaying, selectively shifting from one place to another
on the gas panel, and to increase the light intensity of displayed
characters by increasing the number of ignited cells which define
such character by an arrangement which is simple in construction
and relatively inexpensive to manufacture, operate, and
maintain.
In one arrangement according to this invention a gas panel is
provided for storing, displaying, selectively shifting characters
from one place to another by an arrangement which includes an
envelope filled with an illuminable gas having a plurality of
vertical conductors disposed in parallel on one side of the
envelope and a plurality of horizontal conductors disposed in
parallel on the opposite side of the envelope thereby to form a
matrix array or grid network. The illuminable gas in the vicinity
of the coordinate intersections of the vertical and horizontal
conductors define gas cells. A writing device is coupled to a given
portion of the envelope for writing information therein by igniting
or not igniting the illuminable gas to represent binary ones and
zeros. Information written or inserted on the face of the gas panel
thereafter is shifted through the matrix array of vertical and
horizontal conductors to selected destinations. Once information in
the form of a character, represented by a series of individual
igniting gas cells has reached its destination by shifting
operations, its light intensity is increased by igniting another
gas cell adjacent to each individual ignited gas cell forming the
character. The ignited cell may be on the horizontal axis to the
left or right, or it may be on the vertical axis either above or
below. Alternatively, additional adjacent cells in both the
horizontal and the vertical regions may be illuminated. This can be
accomplished in various types of gas panel display devices
including that shown and described in said co-pending application
Ser. No. 214,348 referred to above by providing sustain signals to
the coordinate drive line where the information is shifted to as
well as the adjacent coordinate drive line from which the
information last was shifted. By so doing the number of ignited gas
cells is doubled thereby increasing the light intensity of the
displayed character. If the last shift is performed along the
horizontal axis, then the pairs of ignited gas cells are disposed
horizontally. If the last shift is performed along the vertical
axis, then the pairs of ignited gas cells are disposed vertically.
If it is desired to increase the light intensity of a displayed
character further, then such pair of ignited gas cells may be
shifted again, either vertically or horizontally as desired,
thereby to ignite and sustain still further adjacent gas cells.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the
invention will be apparent from the following more particular
description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment according to this invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates a gas panel which shifts characters to the right
and forms the characters with single ignited gas cells.
FIG. 3 illustrates the character in FIG. 2 shifted once to the
right and sustained to ignite a pair of gas cells for each gas cell
in FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 illustrates in detail the pulse distributor shown in block
form in FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 illustrates a gas panel which shifts characters upwardly and
forms the characters with single ignited gas cells.
FIG. 6 illustrates the character in FIG. 5 shifted once upwardly
and sustained to ignite a pair of gas cells for each ignited gas
cell in FIG. 5.
FIG. 7 illustrates the character in FIG. 6 shifted once to the left
or right, or the character in FIG. 3 shifted once up or down, and
thereafter sustained to double once again the number of ignited gas
cells in FIG. 3 or FIG. 6.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring first to FIG. 1, a gas-filled container 10 serves as a
storage or display device. The container 10 may be filled with a
combination of illuminable gases in the vicinity of atmospheric
pressure. One suitable such container is illustrated and described
in co-pending application Ser. No. 214,348 filed on Dec. 30, 1971
for Gas Panel Fabrication by Peter H. Haberland et al.
A set of W horizontal conductors 15 through 19 are disposed as
shown beneath the gas, where W is any integer which is a multiple
of three. A set of N vertical conductors 21 through 29 are disposed
as shown above the gas, where N is any integer which is a multiple
of three. The horizontal conductors or drive lines 15 through 19
and the vertical conductors or drive lines 21 through 29 serve as
coordinate lines which divide the gas into a grid network or a
matrix array of gas cells. Gas cells are defined by the regions of
the gas between the vertical and horizontal lines at the coordinate
intersections of such horizontal and vertical lines. The gas panel
is shown with a small number of vertical and horizontal conductors
in the interest of convenience.
A vertical drive line 40 disposed above the gas and a plurality of
horizontal drive lines 45 through 49 disposed beneath the gas are
used to insert or write data in the gas by igniting or not igniting
the gas cells defined by the coordinate intersections of the
vertical drive line 40 and the horizontal drive lines 45 through 49
thereby to represent binary information. The gas-filled container
10 is operated by signals applied to the vertical and horizontal
drive lines. A normalized pulse generator 60 supplies signals on an
output line 61 to the horizontal drive lines 15 through 19. Signals
from the normalized pulse generator 60 on the line 61 are supplied
also through an inverter 62 to a pulse distributor 63. The pulse
distributor 63 in turn provides signals on output lines 71 through
73. Signals on output line 71 are supplied to a set of vertical
drive lines 21, 24 and 27. Signals on the output line 72 are
supplied to a set of vertical drive lines 22, 25 and 28. Signals on
the output line 73 are supplied to a set of vertical drive lines
23, 26 and 29. Signals on the output line 73 are supplied also to a
set of gates 81 through 85. A character generator 90 supplies
signals representing binary data on output lines 91 through 95 to
respective gates 81 through 85.
For a detailed description of the construction and operation of the
gas panel reference is made to co-pending application Ser. No.
262,367 for Gas Panel With Multi-Directional Shifting Arrangement
filed on June 13, 1972 by Allen W. McDowell et al. Briefly
summarized, the character generator 90 supplies signals through the
gates 81 through 85 to respective lines 45 through 49 to ignite
selected ones of the gas cells defined by the coordinate
intersections of the vertical line 40 and the horizontal lines 45
through 49. This transfer is made by a P3 pulse on the line 73. The
pulses P1, P2 and P3 are supplied in a repetitive sequence for
shift operations. The next P1 pulse shifts information represented
by the ignited cells on the vertical line 40 to the corresponding
horizontal position on the vertical line 21. The following P2 pulse
shifts information represented by the ignited cells on the vertical
line 21 to the corresponding horizontal position on the vertical
line 22. The next P3 pulse shifts information represented by the
ignited cells on the vertical line 22 to the corresponding
horizontal position on the vertical line 23, and simultaneously the
P3 pulse operates the gates 81 through 85 to transfer the next byte
of information from the character generator 90 in the form of
signals which ignite selected gas cells on the vertical line 40 as
explained above. This process continues until all bytes of a given
character have been inserted at the left, shifted to the right, and
stored as ignited gas cells on the vertical lines 23, 26 and 29. P3
pulses are continuously applied on the line 73 to sustain the
ignition of gas cells on the lines 23, 26 and 29 thereby to provide
permanent storage. The character thus written on the face of the
gas panel is depicted by a series of ignited gas cells which, as
shown in FIG. 2, are individual light sources with dark areas
therebetween. FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a gas panel
showing the grid network of vertical and horizontal drive lines
with ignited gas cells forming the letter R. The grid network of
horizontal and vertical lines in FIG. 2 is much more compact than
that shown in FIG. 1. The grid network of FIG. 1 was expanded for
ease of illustration, but in a practical arrangement the horizontal
and vertical drive lines are disposed with 35 to 50 lines per inch.
The letter R in FIG. 2 is formed with a series of individual
ignited gas cells where each gas cell is a point source of light.
FIG. 2 illustrates the manner in which characters are generated and
displayed by the gas panel illustrated and described in said
co-pending application Ser. No. 262,367 referred to above.
Displayed characters are more easily seen if the light intensity of
such characters is increased. One way to increase the light
intensity is to increase the number of ignited gas cells which
define the character. One simple and novel technique for doing this
according to this invention is to shift the character of FIG. 2 to
the right to its destination and then during sustain operations
double the number of ignited gas cells along the direction of the
shift by sustaining the ignited gas cells repetitively with P2 and
P3 pulses on all of the vertical lines 22, 23, 25, 26, 28 and 29 in
FIG. 1. By sustaining all ignited gas cells with both P2 and P3
pulses, instead of using only P3 pulses as was done before, twice
as many gas cells remain ignited, and this result is illustrated by
the character R in FIG. 3. Next the manner of sustaining with P2
and P3 pulses is described.
Referring next to FIG. 4, a train of pulses from the inverter 62 is
supplied to a ring circuit composed of stages P1, P2 and P3. The
pulses of the train supplied to the ring circuit are distributed to
the respective output lines 101, 102 and 103 in turn. Signals on
the lines 102 and 103 are supplied to respective drivers 105 and
106. Output signals from the drivers 105 and 106 are supplied on
the respective lines 72 and 73 as P2 and P3 pulses respectively. P1
signals on the line 101 are supplied to an AND circuit 107. A mode
control latch 108 has an output line 109 which supplies output
signals to the AND circuit 107. Input control lines 110 and 111
supply signals to the mode latch 108. A control signal is applied
to the input line 110 to set the mode latch 108 to the shift mode,
and this latch in turn supplies a control signal on the line 109 to
operate the AND circuit 107. This causes the AND circuit 107 to
pass P1 pulses on the line 101 to a driver 104. The driver 104 in
turn supplies P1 pulses to the output line 71 when shifting
operations take place. A control signal is supplied to the input
line 111 to reset the mode latch to the sustain mode. When this
takes place, the mode latch 108 supplies a signal on the output
line 109 which deactivates the AND circuit 107 thereby inhibiting
the P1 pulses on the line 101 from reaching the driver 104. No P1
pulses are supplied on the output line 71 whenever the mode latch
108 is reset to the sustain mode. If a character is to be inserted
on the face of the gas panel in FIG. 1, a signal is applied on the
line 110 in FIG. 4 thereby to set the mode latch 108 and condition
the AND circuit 107 to pass P1 pulses. Thereafter the pulse
distributor 63 supplies successive pulses P1, P2 and P3 on
respective lines 71, 72 and 73 as successive sets of data signals
from the character generator 90 in FIG. 1 are supplied to the gas
panel and shifted to the right. Once all information has been
inserted and shifted to the right to the desired location, the
shift mode is terminated by supplying a control signal to the line
111 in FIG. 4 which thereby terminates the shift mode and initiates
the sustain mode. This inhibits the further passage of P1 pulses to
the lines 21, 24, and 27 in FIG. 1. However, the pulse distributor
63 in FIG. 4 continues to supply P2 and P3 pulses from the stages
P2 and P3 of the ring circuit along respective lines 102 and 103
through respective drivers 105 and 106 to respective output lines
72 and 73. The P2 signals on the line 72 in FIG. 4 are supplied to
the vertical conductors 22, 25 and 28 in FIG. 1. The P3 signals on
the output line 73 in FIG. 4 are supplied to the vertical drive
lines 23, 26 and 29 of FIG. 1. Each binary bit of information
represented by an ignited gas cell on horizontal lines is sustained
by a P3 pulse on the associated vertical line, and in addition the
gas cell adjacent thereto on the left is ignited by a P2 pulse.
This is illustrated by example next.
For the purpose of simplifying the illustration, a single binary
bit is used. Let it be assumed (1) that the mode latch 108 in FIG.
4 is reset to the shift mode, (2) that the next pulse to occur is a
P1 pulse, (3) that a gas cell in FIG. 1 defined by the coordinate
intersection of horizontal line 17 and vertical line 23 is ignited,
and (4) that the sustain mode will be initiated when the ignited
gas cell reaches the location defined by horizontal drive line 17
and vertical drive line 26. The next P1 pulse causes the gas cell
on the horizontal line 17 to be shifted from the vertical line 23
to the vertical line 24. The subsequent P2 pulse causes the ignited
gas cell on the line 24 to be shifted from the vertical line 25 to
its ultimate destination on the vertical line 26. A control signal
is supplied to the line 111 in FIG. 4 to reset the mode latch 108
to the sustain mode. This inhibits the passage of further P1 pulses
to the lines 21, 24 and 27 in FIG. 1. When the next P2 pulse is
supplied on the line 72 to the vertical line 25 in FIG. 1, it
reignites the gas cell defined by the coordinate intersection of
the vertical line 25 and the horizontal line 17. It is pointed out
that this gas cell has retained its binary one state sufficiently
long to reignite when the P2 pulse recurred. The subsequent P3
pulse on the line 73 in FIG. 1 is supplied to the vertical line 26,
and it reignites the gas cell at the coordinate intersection of the
vertical line 26 and the horizontal line 17. This gas cell retained
its binary one state sufficiently long to reignite when the P3
pulse recurred. Thereafter the P2 and P3 pulses continuously
sustain the gas cells on the horizontal line 17 at the coordinate
intersections with the vertical lines 25 and 26. Thus, it is seen
from the foregoing that the single ignited gas cell defined by the
intersection of the horizontal line 17 and the vertical line 23
results in two gas cells on the horizontal line 17 at the
intersection of vertical lines 25 and 26 being ignited and
sustained. Thus it follows that the light intensity of the
character information thereby represented is increased.
From the forgoing illustration of how one ignited gas cell is
employed to ignite two gas cells along the horizontal shift
direction upon the termination of the shift operations, it readily
is seen how all of the single gas cells depicting the character R
in FIG. 2 are converted to double gas cells which depict the
character R in FIG. 3. The light intensity of the character R in
FIG. 3 is greater than that in FIG. 1 because it is composed of
twice as many ignited gas cells as the character in FIG. 2. The
increased light intensity is caused by ignited gas cells disposed
along the horizontal axis in FIG. 3. It may be desirable to
increase the resolution with gas cells along the vertical axis in
some instances, and this is described next.
Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the character R may be shifted onto the
face of a gas panel from the bottom thereof. Character information
is inserted at the bottom of the panel and shifted vertically to
the desired destination. For purposes of this illustration the
panel in FIG. 1 may be rotated 90.degree. thereby placing the
character generator 90 across the lower edge of the gas container
10. Information inserted as explained before and is shifted
vertically to the desired location using single ignited gas cells
to depict characters as illustrated in FIG. 5 with the letter R.
This is done using the shift mode of operation. When the character
reaches its destination, the shift mode is terminated, and the
sustain mode is initiated. P2 and P3 pulses then are employed to
ignite a pair of gas cells in the vertical direction as illustrated
with the letter R in FIG. 6. Thus it is seen how the light
intensity of a displayed character may be increased by using
ignited gas cells disposed along the vertical axis.
If it is desirable to increase the light intensity of a character
further, this may be done by shifting the character R in FIG. 6 to
the right as illustrated in FIG. 7. Each pair of cells disposed
vertically in FIG. 6 are employed during the shift to ignite an
additional pair of vertical cells as shown in FIG. 7 thereby again
doubling the number of ignited cells and increasing the light
intensity accordingly. The character R in FIG. 6 may be shifted to
the left in order to obtain the same result. The character R in
FIG. 3 may be shifted vertically, either up or down, to double the
number of ignited gas cells thereby to obtain the light intensity
of the character R in FIG. 7.
It is pointed out that the circuits in FIG. 1 can be used to obtain
the light intensity for the character R shown in FIGS. 3 and 6.
Since such circuits cannot shift along both the vertical and the
horizontal axes, the light intensity shown in FIG. 7 cannot be
obtained by the arrangement in FIG. 1. However, said co-pending
application Ser. No. 262,367 referred to above shows an arrangement
in FIG. 4 therein which permit horizontal and vertical shifting
selectively. Such arrangement, if modified according to the
principles of this invention, can provide characters of the type
shown in FIG. 7. Any other gas panel which provides for shifting
characters horizontally and vertically on a selective basis can
display character of the type shown in FIG. 7.
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with
reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood
by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and
details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and
scope of the invention.
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