Remotely-alterable electronic display label employing an electronic ink ...

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(12) United States Patent

Gelbman

(io) Patent No.: (45) Date of Patent:

US 7,669,768 B2 *Mar. 2, 2010

(54)

(75) (73) (*)

(21) (22) (65)

REMOTELY-ALTERABLE ELECTRONIC
DISPLAY LABEL EMPLOYING AN
ELECTRONIC INK LAYER INTEGRATED
WITHIN A STACKED-LAYER
ARCHITECTURE EMPLOYING AN
ANTENNA LAYER AND AN INTEGRATED
CIRCUIT LAYER SUPPORTING AN
ON BOARD BATTERY POWER
COMPONENT, AND A PROGRAMMED
PROCESSOR FOR DETERMINING
GRAPHICAL INDICIA TO BE DISPLAYED BY
SAID ELECTRONIC INK LAYER IN
RESPONSE TO ELECTROMAGNETIC
SIGNALS RECEIVED FROM SAID ANTENNA

Inventor: Alexander Gelbman, Mountain Lakes,
NJ (US)

Metrologic Instruments, Inc.,

Blackwood, NJ (US)
Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
patent is extended or adjusted under 35
U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
This patent is subject to a terminal dis-
claimer.
12/154,433
May 22, 2008

Prior Publication Data

Assignee:

Notice:

Appl. No.: Filed:

US 2009/0014535 Al Jan. 15, 2009
Related U.S. Application Data

(63) Continuation of application No. 11/196,776, filed on Aug. 2,2005, now abandoned, which is a continuation ofapplication No. 09/393,553, filed on Sep. 10, 1999, now Pat. No. 6,924,781.

(60) Provisional application No. 60/099,888, filed on Sep. 11, 1998.

(51) Int. CI.

G06K 7/08 (2006.01)

(52) U.S. CI 235/451; 235/383; 235/375;

235/492; 235/385; 340/5.91

(58) Field of Classification Search 235/451,

235/383, 375, 492, 385; 340/5.91 See application file for complete search history.

A remotely-alterable electronic-ink based display device employing an addressable display assembly including a layer of electronic ink including a bi-stable non-volatile imaging material. The device includes an integrated circuit layer having a storage element for storing instructions, programs and data, and a programmed processor in electrical communication with the addressable display assembly and an antenna structure. A signal transmitting layer transmits signals from the antenna structure to the remote activator module. A signal receiving layer receives electromagnetic signals from the remote activator module, using the antenna structure. An on-board battery power layer, operably connected to the integrated circuit layer, supplies electrical power the integrated circuit layer, which is responsive to electromagnetic signals received from the remote activator module by the antenna layer and the signal receiving layer. The addressable display assembly is responsive to output signals generated by the programmed processor, to display the determined graphical indicia. The antenna layer, integrated circuit layer, signal transmitting layer, signal receiving layer, on-board battery power layer are arranged and stacked together behind and within the spatial extent of the addressable display assembly so as to form the remotely-alterable electronic-ink based display device having a stacked-layer construction.

21 Claims, 7 Drawing Sheets

Page 3

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

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Search Report for PCT/US99/20777 completed Dec. 17, 1999.

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