Static information storage and retrieval – Systems using particular element – Molecular or atomic
Reexamination Certificate
2002-10-03
2004-05-04
Le, Thong Q. (Department: 2818)
Static information storage and retrieval
Systems using particular element
Molecular or atomic
C365S153000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06731532
ABSTRACT:
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not Applicable.
REFERENCE TO AN APPENDIX
The present application includes a hard copy appendix comprising pertinent specification pages and drawings of co-inventors' U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/844,862, filed Apr. 27, 2001, by ZHANG et al. for MOLECULAR MECHANICAL DEVICES WITH A BAND GAP CHANGE ACTIVATED BY AN ELECTRIC FIELD FOR OPTICAL SWITCHING APPLICATIONS (Hewlett-Packard Company docket no. 10013977) as relates to subject matter claimed in accordance with the present invention.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for distribution of information, more specifically to electronically displaying informational content and, more particularly to a reusable, high contrast, very high resolution, rewritable print medium and methods for fabrication thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Hard copy and, more recently, electronic display information is communicated in many forms and by many means. Erasable-rewritable print media communication tools range from simple pencil-on-paper to chalk-on-blackboard to dry marker pen-on-whiteboard. More sophisticated hard copy processes allow mechanized business and commercial printing processes—including laser and ink-jet printers, offset lithography, silkscreen, and the like, for printing—but those processes are usually restricted to the permanent print category (versus “erasable print” or “erasably writable” formats and methods). The bulk of print is commercially produced and made available through books, magazines, newspapers, and various other forms of permanent ink (“toner” or, more generically “colorant”) on cellulose fiber media (commonly known as “paper”). The information content—generally alphanumeric text and graphical images—contained in this form is of a sufficiently high resolution and contrast to be easily read over prolonged periods of time without eye discomfort. Compared to electronic devices, hard copy media has the advantages of having zero power consumption while remaining highly portable, allowing comfortable reading in locations of choice and body positions that may be periodically varied to change reading distance and posture to maintain comfort. Such print media, however, requires a relatively high cost in printing, binding, warehousing, and distribution. The hard copy cost, independent of printing means, is normally amortized through a single reading, after which the book or other document is physically stored or discarded. Since these latter cost factors also require a definable time expenditure between content generation and availability to the reader, the content of the media is not contemporaneous; e.g., today's newspaper actually is filled with “what happened yesterday.”
Much print is created by hand, e.g., using pen or pencil on paper. In many cases, such print is used for temporary information storage such as phone numbers, reminders, grocery lists, and appointments. Print media for such print commonly consists of notepads, Post-It® notes, calendars, tear-sheet display boards, and the like. In each instance, the medium is usually used for its intended purpose then later discarded or ignored, leading to waste, recycling costs, and clutter.
Chalk-on-chalkboard and dry marker pen-on-whiteboard print overcome issues of media waste and clutter. Such print images are produced with powders or inks that coat the media surface without permanent attachment, allowing easy image viewing, erasing, and subsequent re-imaging. However, such print is not applicable to portable media applications, such as grocery lists, bound image applications, or other uses in which the media surface may be smeared by contact. A further disadvantage is the messy residue that results from the removal of the chalk or ink from the media surface.
Business printers, such as the ubiquitous laser and ink-jet printers, in connection with the Internet overcome some of these problems and provide contemporaneous information distribution with an attendant hard copy printing availability, but at a higher cost per page and usually at a lower quality or in a different format than commercial print. (The term Internet is used herein as a generic term for a collection of distributed, interconnected networks (ARPANET, DARPANET, World Wide Web, or the like) that are linked together by a set of industry standard protocols (e.g., TCP/IP, HTTP, UDP, and the like) to form a generally global, distributed network. (Private and proprietary intranets are also known and are amenable to conforming uses of the present invention.)
Computers, on the other hand, provide virtually instantaneous distribution of content through the Internet at significantly reduced cost to the reader. Similarly, with the advent of handheld devices such as palmtop computers, electronic books, net-ready telephones, and “personal digital assistants” (PDAs), print can be generated on electronic displays of varying sizes and types. Computer displays, however, provide far less comfortable readability by displaying content at significantly lower resolution than hard copy media. Cathode ray tube (“CRT”) displays have greater resolution capability but have low portability, if any, and require substantially stationary body positioning and reading at a somewhat fixed focal length, leading to comparatively rapid eye strain and posture discomfort. Liquid crystal displays (“LCD”) generally used in portable computers allow somewhat greater portability, but at the expense of display contrast, off-axis viewability, and higher cost. In part, the lower resolution of portable displays stems from the difficulty of matrix addressing at higher resolution.
FIG.
1
AA (Prior Art) exemplifies the basic operation of a flat panel electronic display, such as a commercially available, flat panel, LCD
1
(dashed lines are used in this drawing to indicate continuation of discrete elements of the apparatus so as to make the drawing less complicated). Basically, the LCD
1
includes a plurality of picture elements (“pixels”) defining the resolution of the display, generally formed by an array of thin film transistors (“TFT”) and too small to be seen in this FIGURE (e.g., 600 dots per inch (“dpi”). A plurality of gate lines
2
and data lines
3
form a pixel control grid for active area “B” of the panel
1
. The gate lines
2
and data lines
3
extend as leads
5
outside of the active area B for connection to known manner integrated circuit drivers. A plurality of pads, one for each line, are formed in region “C” about the periphery of the active area B as discrete pad regions
4
are coupled by the leads
5
to the gate and data lines
2
,
3
. Color LCD is produced by backlighting the individually switched pixels crystals through color filters. Note importantly that the resolution of the screen is limited by the technology related to interconnect wiring—namely, between the gate and data lines and the microprocessor or memory sending data—and driver size for each pixel. Moreover, such a device requires power to maintain each pixel in its current state and continually to backlight the crystal screen.
The at least one order of magnitude lower resolution of computer displays in comparison to commercial hard copy commonly prevents the reader from seeing a full-page comparable document at one time. Moreover, because of screen size constraints, without a very large video monitor or shrinking the page to fit a screen, the reader must use manual controls to scroll the displayed image down the document page in order to read its entire content. Furthermore, graphic images often can not fit on a single screen without severe zoom-out reduction in size, limiting the detail which can be displayed. Still further, there is the requirement of booting-up the computing device, turning on the specific application (notepad, calendar, or the like), and making at least one user command entry to obtain a document page of interest. More often than not, rather than using a PDA to make a note,
Vincent Kent D.
Williams R. Stanley
Zhang Xiao-An
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