Apparatus for the display of embedded information
Contents
1. Al 20 FIG I 20 22 FIG 2 20 22 FIG 3 Patent Application Publication Feb 7 2013 Sheet 2 of 10 US 2013 0033518 Al 1 FIG 5 Patent Application Publication Feb 7 2013 Sheet 3 of 10 US 2013 0033518 1 METROPOLIS SUBWAY Z AVE STATION FOOD DRINK FIG 6 Patent Application Publication Feb 7 2013 Sheet 4 of 10 US 2013 0033518 Al 12 z ne gt men en peert 1 huge Dante gt eS a ee __ 22 MEMORY EMBEDDED OR ATTACHED 30 20 32 SUBSTRATE DISPLAY 36 SWITCHES SENSORS 38 FIG 8 Patent Application Publication Feb 7 2013 Sheet 5 of 10 US 2013 0033518 Al 72 n E Soup Tuna Caserole Recipe Idea 1 of Mushroom 1 Can Tuna Fish BREAKFAST ERAL US 2013 0033518 1 Feb 7 2013 Sheet 6 of 10 Patent Application Publication H 4 H RRR LR RRM Af bit BE MJY EI JJ 7 DLS MEE LIE MT ME LOS QS ROMA LAS IN N IN 96 N FIG 11 US 2013 0033518 1 Feb 7 2013 Sheet 7 of 10 Patent Applicat2. E Ink disclose mechanisms for dynamically displaying information on a flexible sub strate These pages can be imaged electronically and have a variety of advantages and differences from ordinary paper that is taught in U S Pat Nos 5 708 525 5 751 268 5 914 805 and 6 055 091 assigned to Xerox Corporation and as also described by J Jacobson et al in various papers and patents prepared on electronic paper electronic books and e ink Including U S Pat Nos 6 017 584 6 124 851 and publica tion WO 00 67110 0011 In accordance with an aspect of the present inven tion there is provided a substrate for the electronic display of information comprising a digital recording medium associ ated therewith where information may be stored by the digi tal recording medium attached to the substrate and an updateable substrate display located on an exposed surface of the substrate wherein said substrate display includes a dis play medium capable of selectively displaying one of at least two possible colors at each pixel location thereon where the substrate display changes state in response to a signal gener ated from information stored in the digital recording medium 0012 One aspect of the invention is based on the recogni tion of an opportunity for the use of new technologies in association with conventional goods In particular the devel opment of flexible substrate displays and small embeddable memory devices allows the n
3. in the nature of one of the sensors described above 0050 Referring to FIG 11 a similar embodiment for the present invention is displayed where the substrate is the product packaging this time in the nature ofa cereal box 84 It will be appreciated that various packaging materials might seek to employ such an invention including fast food fran chises catering to children with childrens meals in a box Box 84 preferably includes a semi rigid paperboard substrate hav ing a display 32 and other components associated with it Here again display 32 may be formed in association with the substrate ormay be added at a point during the preparation of the packaging For example as will be described in further detail below the entire display control memory and power apparatus may be pre fabricated and simply affixed to the box as it is being manufactured 0051 Inaddition toa display associated with a paperboard container 86 cereal box 84 also includes a power source 78 a controller 30 and a separate memory 22 It is further con templated that the box may be constructed in such a manner as to allow a user to interact with the display through touch pressure sensitive sensors 80 Moreover although it may be possible to allow potential consumers children who purchase for the game and parents who purchase for the food contained in the box to see a demo of the game on the display by pressing button 86 DEMO it is further contemplated th
4. substrate It has long been desir able to capture in electronic format the image found on the printed page To facilitate this need many organizations use image scanners and optical character recognition devices However scanning or digitizing a document image can be quite difficult particularly when one seeks to accurately redisplay such an image or to modify it 0005 Itis known as demonstrated by companies such as E Ink Corporation and Xerox Palo Alto Research Center PARC that a thin flexible substrate may be used to produce re writeable images in dual e g black and white blue and white or multi colored formats However the present inven tion is directed to the combination of such media or display technology with an embedded or associated data source so as to make the combination useful taking the display technol ogy from a mere novelty to a practical and time saving device in accordance with the various embodiments described herein 0006 As is suggested herein it is possible to store and access information associated with a substrate that also dis plays all or portions of the stored information For example display means such as e ink electric paper gyricons etc may be used to produce a book on a chip or similar display device Furthermore the present invention is not limited to traditional paper substrates and may include textiles and fabrics such as clothing where a user might be able to wear the su
5. 9 FIG 12 is an exemplary illustration of an elec tronic patent embodiment in accordance with aspects of the present invention 0020 FIG 13 is an orthographic representation of an embodiment in which the present invention is integrated with a well known product as a visual reference 0021 FIG 14 is an illustration of an application of the present invention in association with the display of a photo graphic image including additional output features 0022 FIG 15 is a perspective view of a self adhesive backed substrate as may be practiced in accordance with aspects of the present invention and 0023 FIG 16 is a side view of a machine suitable for the mass production of substrates in accordance with the present invention 0024 The present inventions will be described in connec tion with a preferred embodiment however it will be under stood that there is no intent to limit the inventions to the embodiment described On the contrary the intent is to cover all alternatives modifications and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the inventions as defined by the appended claims DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 0025 For a general understanding of the present inven tion reference is made to the drawings In the drawings like reference numerals have been used throughout to designate identical elements 0026 Referring to FIGS 1 3 there are depicted illustra tive embodiments o
6. APPARATUS FOR THE DISPLAY OF EMBEDDED INFORMATION which is a continuation of U S patent application Ser No 12 210 378 filed Sep 15 2008 by Michael Weiner titled APPARATUS FOR THE DISPLAY OF EMBEDDED INFORMATION which is a continuation of U S application Ser No 09 860 916 filed May 18 2001 by Michael Weiner U S Pat No 7 429 965 titled APPARA TUS FOR THE DISPLAY OF EMBEDDED INFORMA TION which claims priority from Provisional Application No 60 205 451 by Michael Weiner titled DOCUMENT WITH EMBEDDED INFORMATION filed May 19 2000 all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety 0002 The following related application is hereby incor porated by reference for its teachings DOCUMENT WITH EMBEDDED INFORMATION Michael Weiner et al abandoned application Ser No 09 860 734 filed May 18 2001 BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 0003 This invention relates generally to the display of embedded information and more particularly to the combi nation of a digital memory and a substrate to produce a self contained information storage and display device such as a book on a chip However the present invention is not limited to traditional substrates and may include cloth or wall coverings and e paintings that are mat able 0004 The present invention is an apparatus for embedding digital information within a document substrate and display ing that information via the
7. US 20130033518A1 as United States a2 Patent Application Publication Pub No US 2013 0033518 1 Weiner 43 Pub Date Feb 7 2013 54 APPARATUS FOR THE DISPLAY OF 60 Provisional application No 60 205 451 filed on May EMBEDDED INFORMATION 19 2000 75 Inventor plas Weiner Ormond Beach FL Publication Classification US 51 73 Assignee Technology Innovations LLC G09G 5 02 2006 01 Pittsford NY US 62 345 594 21 Appl 13 571 828 57 22 Filed Aug 10 2012 An apparatus for the electronic display of information where en ci the apparatus is substrate incorporating a digital recording US Application Data medium attached to or embedded within the substrate The 63 Continuation of application No 13 422 017 filed on substrate further includes a flexible substrate display located Mar 16 2012 which is a continuation of application No 12 210 378 filed on Sep 15 2008 now Pat No 8 159 463 which is a continuation of application No 09 860 916 filed on May 18 2001 now Pat No 7 429 965 18 on an exposed surface ofthe substrate where the display is a medium capable of selectively displaying one of at least two possible colors at each pixel location thereon in order to produce a substrate medium that may be modified in accor dance with a user s selection Patent Application Publication Feb 7 2013 Sheet 1 of 10 US 2013 0033518
8. able memory device In FIG 4 the present invention is illustrated in the form of a wearable hat 18 whereas in FIG 5 the invention 1s depicted as an item of clothing such as T shirt 19 In both of the embodi ments memory in the form of a memory 23 is an ultra small high capacity durable media designed to link a host of differ ent digital products by capturing and sharing digital content whether images text or audio e g music files Sony s line US 2013 0033518 Al of memory stick products includes Cyber shot digital cam eras Handycam camcorders VAIO personal computers a Memory Stick Walkman personal stereo a voice recorder a Memory Stick printer the CyberFrame digital photo frame and AIBO entertainment robot The storage device is avail able as a64 MB capacity Memory Stick and larger capacity 0032 Inthe memory stick a tiny microcontroller connects to a flash memory chip on one end On the other end a 10 pin flat contact connector with guide grooves on the Memory Stick s underside ensures reliable data exchange up to a mil lion times A compatible flat contact connection or port 30 would be required to be connected to the display 32 and other circuitry components in the present embodiment Because data is contained on a silicon chip instead of on a tape or disk no motor magnetic head or optical pickup is necessary This allows products to be smaller lighter and more efficient Memory Stick s RAM holds data for a
9. at the full game may not be available or usable until a sensor not shown located inside the box 84 is activated In other words a demo of the game could be seen however a purchase of the goods must be completed in order to access the contents and activate the sensor to enable the complete game As used herein the term game is intended to include not only interac tive video games as are well known but also various contests requiring disclosure of participation rules or other informa tion of interest to those inclined to read cereal boxes and other product packaging 0052 FIG 11 is a perspective illustration of an alternative embodiment of the apparatus depicted in FIG 7 where sub strate 20 has been produced in the form of a tri fold brochure 90 In the embodiment depicted brochure 90 includes a paper or similar substrate 20 and a display 32 Again the information available for display is retained within a memory 22 which is in turn accessed read from and written to via the methods described herein and includes a controller and power source not shown so as to be responsive to a reader s selection through pressure sensitive buttons 24 or other suit able sensing or signalling mechanisms It is also contem plated that the embodiment of FIG 11 or other alternatives described herein may include a thin flat speaker 92 suitable for replaying audio information stored in memory 22 as well Feb 7 2013 As indicated in regi
10. ate technology that can either be selected using external power or internal power sewn or otherwise connected therein 0040 changeable information messages such as ban ner that scrolls across a hat animated characters that move along a shirt jacket or pants programmable patterns includ ing moving and securing them in a position when desired such as to cover up a stain 0041 an outside lamination of an item such as a room divider or a wall or desk or file cabinet or chair etc wherein the color and or pattern of the wall or room divider can be changed from time to time as desired by the customer and where the electronic circuitry drivers not shown affect ing the change can either be part of the wall or room divider or desk or file cabinet or chair etc or they can be imaged as needed by placing them against an imaging or exposure surface with drivers built in or by using a handheld wand for electronically refinishing the image The handheld device would contain the same type of EMF or electrostatic emitting waves that drivers in today s configuration use to alter the displayed images 0042 The techniques and embodiments for such a display could be applied to virtually any surface that can be covered with or made out of the various multi state display technolo gies These coverings wall surface upholstery etc can also serve as message boards moving patterns changing scenes such as the out
11. ated that substrates such as those depicted in FIG 15 are suitable for affixation to any surface including other substrates bro chures such as described above etc The substrate may be affixed to another surface by removing a backing sheet 126 so as to reveal a self stick or adhesive layer 124 on the rear surface of the display substrate It is also contemplated that an individual located for example at a computer workstation where programming of memory 22 can be automated may produce a low volume quantity of such substrates 0059 FIG 16 is a side view of a machine suitable for the mass production of substrates such as those depicted in FIG 15 including the application of an adhesive and affixation to another sheet or substrate Referring to FIG 16 depicted therein is an assembly apparatus suitable for affixing one or more display substrates and components associated therewith to a secondary or backing sheet or substrate More particu larly the machine 140 includes a hopper or input stack 142 that contained a plurality of substrates 20 preferably includ ing a memory and a display arranged with bottom feeding as is known in the paper feeding arts One modification to the hopper 142 may be the addition of an interface 144 suitable for connecting to and programming the memory in the memory display substrate in the event that the substrates are not pre programmed A similar hopper 146 is provided for the storage or staging of backing s
12. bstrate as a T shirt or a baseball cap and where the information or appearance of the cloth substrate could Feb 7 2013 change Other applications as will be described herein include wall coverings and e paintings that are mat able place mats etc 0007 As will be appreciated by those familiar with the new display techniques the advantage of re writeable sub strate materials combined with a tailored information source content including text images etc is that a user then has a portable system by which the information may be accessed Furthermore such a system may make it easier for a user to become accustomed to reading a book using this new tech nology 0008 Heretofore other patents and publications have dis closed the embedding of information the relevant portions of which may be briefly summarized as follows 0009 U S Pat No 5 517 407 to Weiner teaches a means of embedding memory into a book and then searching a microchip or other memory using a common connector If this system were to come into vogue then copiers and printers could output to that type of memory and connector and take advantage of an installed base of users 0010 Xerox Corporation announced in 1998 an elec tronic staple that holds the URL address of one or more pages on the Internet that relate to the printed page Similarly electric paper described by Sheridan et al and an alternative invention by MIT Media Lab
13. c substrate to sense pressure exerted by a viewer Upon sensing such pressure the switches signal controller 30 to begin downloading and replaying digi tal audio information stored in the memory 22 the digital audio information being converted to signals suitable for creating audible information via speaker 92 In such a situa tion it may not be necessary to include a display 32 particu larly if the substrate is used for a photograph However the embedded memory remains and the speaker becomes an additional or alternative means for representing the informa tion stored in the memory 22 It is also contemplated that the US 2013 0033518 Al embodiment ofFIG 14 may include one or more regions that employ a display substrate not shown 0058 Turning lastly to FIGS 15 16 depicted therein is an embodiment of the present invention made for ready attachment to other substrates and a simple machine for facilitating such attachment More specifically FIG 15 is a perspective view of a self adhesive backed substrate 20 Sub strate 20 includes various elements previously described such as a power source 36 controller 30 and memory 22 all interconnected via circuitry and a controller so as to enable the information stored in memory 22 to be displayed via display 32 In the event that the substrate needs to be updated or reprogrammed an optional connector 120 that is ported to the controller is included It should be further appreci
14. des an updateable electrophoretic display unit where the flexible substrate display changes state in response to a signal generated from information stored in the digital recording medium and wherein the display substrate is employed to display and update textual and graphic information in the nature of an electronic book and where the device further includes a portable power supply for providing power to said digital recording medium and said substrate display and at least one user interac tive element that allows a user to selectively alter the display of information on the substrate display 2 A device for the electronic display of information com prising a frame substrate into which the device is permanently embedded a digital recording medium associated with the device wherein information stored by the digital recording medium is received through a wireless source and is stored by the digital recording medium an updateable flexible substrate display located on an exposed surface of the device wherein said substrate display includes a display medium capable of selec tively displaying one of at least two possible colors at a plurality of pixel locations thereon where the substrate display includes an updateable electrophoretic display unit where the flexible substrate display changes state in response to a signal generated from information stored in the digital recording medium and wherein the display substrate is em
15. doors movies pictures of vistas harbors mountains etc 0043 In accordance with the various embodiments of the present invention already described it is intended that the substrate itself provides the means for displaying and possi bly controlling or altering the information embedded therein or associated therewith As is further depicted in the embodi ment of FIG 7 and as described for example in U S Pat 5 517 407 for a DEVICE FOR INCLUDING ENHANC US 2013 0033518 Al ING INFORMATION WITH PRINTED INFORMATION AND METHOD FOR ELECTRONIC SEARCHING THEREOF a book may have not only embedded memory associated therewith but also may include flexible substrate pages for the display of information in the form of a book Such pages are suggested by the flexible substrate e g gyri con or e ink displays enabled by the techniques taught by Sheridon et al in for example U S Pat Nos 5 708 525 5 751 268 5 914 805 and 6 055 091 assigned to Xerox Cor poration and as also described by the MIT Media Lab in various papers prepared on electronic paper electronic books and e ink and U S Pat Nos 6 017 584 6 124 851 and publication WO 00 67110 all of which are hereby incorpo rated by reference for their teachings In particular the system depicted in FIG 6 is preferably comprised of a substrate 20 that is a twisted ball or twisted cylinder or electrophoretic ink display capable of outputting the inf
16. enable selection of the information to be dis played such as pages of a book The addition of a light sensor might allow the display to adjust brightness or contrast or mode dark text on light background or light text on dark background in response to the level of light detected 0047 Additional alternative embodiments of the elec tronic substrate display include a means for downloading information to the embedded memory such as a direct port connection In addition to the methods and techniques described above it may also be possible to employ radio frequency RF of infra red IR transmission mechanisms with a suitable port or receiver connected to or associated with the substrate so as to allow content to be downloaded from computer or other information terminals For example the book embodiment of FIG 7 contemplates the ability to insert the substrate into the paper feed tray of a copier scan ner wherein digital copies of each ofa plurality of documents are scanned and then stored on the embedded memory 22 for subsequent display on the regions 26 of the substrate In this manner a user may view a collection of scanned documents e mail recipes bank statements newspaper etc In a further alternative it may be possible to download the information from an optical memory card such as that described in U S Pat No 4 835 376 or a computer able to load data into the embedded memory 0048 In yet a further alternative e
17. f an aspect of the present invention In particular there is shown a substrate sheet 20 having a memory device 22 embedded within or attached to a surface thereof In the embodiment of FIG 2 the embedded memory device 22 is physically embedded within or between one or more layers of the substrate possibly during its manufacture so as to be concealed from visual detection by a viewer of the substrate The substrate 20 may include a paper or compa rable textile based substrate a portion of which may be con ducive to various marking copying printing or silk screen ing tasks such as ordinary bond paper cloth or linen paper of any size weight and color and may also include other mate rials such as transparency materials vinyl labels card stock vellum cotton Nylon polyesters Tyvek etc As described below other components associated with the memory may also be embedded with or affixed to the sub strate material It is further contemplated and applicable to many of the applications described below that the substrate may include another upper layer to waterproof weatherproof or otherwise seal a surface of the substrate from its environ Feb 7 2013 ment Such a substrate may be used outdoors perhaps affixed to the outside of a vehicle or structure 0027 It is also understood that all or a portion of the substrate a layer thereof or a display area associated there with may be in the form of electric paper employi
18. g up a different display or map depicting the requested infor mation Such buttons could include matrix or pressure or touch sensitive sensors so as to sense contact with the surface of the substrate A user seeking additional information about his her present location could tap or touch the you are here location or button areas to see more detailed information restaurants transportation retail stores lodging etc much in the manner that information is provided to users of MapQuest or similar software and world wide web systems that are commonly available 0037 Therefore as depicted in FIG 6 the present inven tion may be used as a subway or public transportation inter face where a user can selectively access maps transportation schedules and routes and even advertisements via a wall mounted display substrate Rather than an expensive com puter terminal kiosk the present invention could be inte grated within a wall mounted frame accessible to the user Furthermore instead of the substrate itself a frame or a cover glass may provide the touch sensing capability providing signals that would be provided to a display controller as described herein 0038 Use of a flexible display substrate with embedded memory as a piece of cloth or integrated into clothing or other coverings e g wallpaper framed pictures etc would potentially include 0039 a achangeable pattern using gyricon type or other re writeable substr
19. heets or pages that are to have memory display substrates attached thereto 0060 In response to a network command to prepare one more of such memory display substrates affixed to a sheet controller 150 initiates a process whereby substrate 20 and sheet 152 are fed Once separated from their respective stacks the substrate and sheet are advanced toward a nip 156 where the two components are to be forced into contact with one another attempting to affix one to the other Initially substrate 20 may be shifted in position perpendicular to the feed direction so as to align the substrate with a desired position on the sheet 152 Once shifted a glue or similar adhesive material may be applied to the underside of the substrate 20 using a brush reservoir combination 160 before the substrate is placed into contact with the sheet Once con tacted the two components are fed through a nip 156 where they are joined by the application of pressure at the nip and are then fed to output tray 170 In this manner a memory display substrate may be prepared and affixed to the surface of any printed goods e g cereal cartons can labels etc 0061 In recapitulation the present invention is an appa ratus for the electronic display of information where the apparatus is a substrate incorporating a digital recording medium attached to or embedded within the substrate The substrate further includes a flexible substrate display located on an expo
20. ion Publication zum DE PO pan Vaar Spe en we gy peed vo pa nen am en pd arme DOTS Te hg ped gm pa bor sp ader Kran verl my mn wor wur MR KEEL en 195 9 dem rc sjed 9 92 gt Patent Application Publication Feb 7 2013 Sheet 8 of 10 US 2013 0033518 Al FIG 13 Patent Application Publication Feb 7 2013 Sheet 9 of 10 US 2013 0033518 Al 20 112 24 24 36 92 FIG 14 FIG 15 ent Application Publication FIG 16 US 2013 0033518 Al APPARATUS FOR THE DISPLAY OF EMBEDDED INFORMATION 0001 This application is a continuation of and claims priority from the following U S patent application Ser No 13 422 017 filed Mar 16 2012 by Michael Weiner titled
21. le to the user Returning to the Figure dashboard 102 includes a complete substrate 104 with a memory not shown display substrate 32 power source not shown touch sensors 24 and control logic not shown all integrated into a small panel that may be affixed to the dashboard of an automobile or within a glove or other compartment 0055 In the embodiment depicted the memory not shown may be pre loaded with information relating to vari ous features of the vehicle or product or a complete user and service manual It is also possible that the memory associated with the display may be updateable so that when the vehicle or product is serviced the service or other current information can be recorded in the memory for subsequent retrieval or display 0056 Turning next to FIG 14 there is depicted another application of the present invention in association with a photographic image 112 The present invention is contem plated for use as a backing material for a photographic sub strate where the invention may store digital audio informa tion on memory 22 for replay to a viewer of the photograph Furthermore the application can be provided with an adhe sive layer to affix it to the photograph or without adhesive to allow it to be reused with multiple photographs for example within a frame 0057 More specifically one or more touch sensitive switches 24 may be employed at positions behind or embed ded within the photographi
22. mbodiment a system employing the substrate to display a map could interface to a global positioning system GPS where the location coordi nates could automatically be updated on the map showing the user his her direction of travel and possible progress since the last updated position An example ofa system providing such information in a laptop interface is found in DeLorme s Earthmate Road Warrior and Earthmate GPS Receiver More specifically a portable GPS device may be connected to a display operating in accordance with the invention described above so that a map preprinted or stored on memory associated with the display is able to be updated to show a user s current location It is understood that such an application will require communication of the scale and coor dinate coverage of a particular map being displayed which could be embedded in the map ina chip or other media which makes contact with the GPS such as by pin contacts or other interface mechanism Additionally one might embed or mount onto a printed map which has gyricon or e ink type capability this system and rewrite the entire map including where you are and even enlarge the map to scale or shrink it like the maps on interactive map direction web sites 0049 Turning next to FIGS 9 and 10 two alternative applications of the present invention are depicted In particu lar the embodiments depicted in FIGS 9 and 10 include use of a substrate having memor
23. n indefinite period and withstands heat dust and rough handling 0033 As depicted in FIGS 4 and 5 each of the wearable embodiments may include a port preferably having a con troller 30 associated therewith for processing data driving or controlling the display 32 Moreover such a system would require a power source such as a replaceable battery 36 or renewable portable power supply e g a photovoltaic array not shown which may also be integrated with the substrate or article worn by the user As a further aspect depicted for example in FIG 4 an external signal generator such as switch 38 may be employed to allow the wearer to alter the display between one of a plurality of display selections available in the memory 0034 The Memory Stick provides instant data transfer and data can be recorded erased and re recorded In a pre ferred embodiment the embedded memory device is not only flexible in nature preventing it from interfering with the normal or intended use of the substrate but also very dense in terms of the information that can be stored thereon Embed ded memory 22 and removable memory 23 are both prefer ably suitable for use in storing information such as informa tion related to the image on the substrate For example the stored information may include a bitmap image s an alter native version of the document e g text only translation for another language information relative to the transfer or reproduc
24. nfor mation in memory without the time consuming and costly masking process traditionally associated with programmable devices Information can be burned into semiconductor memory on demand 0030 Embedded memory device 22 may also be a chip a strip of bubble memory or a laser imageable surface as described for example in U S Pat No 4 835 376 to Drexler and as described in an article by Wired News Inventor Warns MS on Patents by James Glave May 11 1998 Alterna tively the memory may be in the form of a conventional magnetic tape or strip e g recording tape or magnetic card strip that is embedded or applied to the substrate In yet another alternative embodiment the embedded memory may be an optical or laser imageable medium such as found in a CD ROM wherein the embedded memory can contain infor mation embedded by laser on the flat surface and later read by a reader Examples of such technology are U S Pat No 4 835 376 to Drexler In any of the various substrate memory embodiments it is possible to either embed into the print copy substrate or to affix onto it embedded memory 22 positioned in such a way as to allow information to be trans ferred into the memory and for information to be retrieved therefrom 0031 Depicted in FIGS 4 and 5 are other possible embodiments of a digital recording medium associated with the substrate one employing a Memory Stick recently introduced by Sony or similar detach
25. ng twisted balls or cylinders gyricons as taught by Sheridon et al for example in U S Pat Nos 5 708 525 5 751 268 5 914 805 and 6 055 091 assigned to Xerox Corporation and as also described by J Jacobson et al in various papers prepared on electronic paper electronic books and e ink Moreover such display substrate materials while flexible by design may be employed in embodiments where the substrate and associated display are maintained in a rigid condition e g a frame mounted and or matted configuration 0028 Similarly in the embodiment of FIG 3 the embed ded memory device 22 is physically attached to a surface upper or lower of substrate 20 In any of the various embodi ments it is intended that the substrate be usable in the same manner as conventional paper textiles or similar substrate materials Such uses necessarily include ink and xerographic printing silk screening photography painting and other methods of placing marks or images on the substrate as well as post marking manipulation of the substrate As contem plated by the present invention the substrate may be employed as pages in an electronic book as product pack aging or as an article of clothing wearable by a user 0029 The embedded memory 22 is preferably a type of semiconductor memory Semiconductor memory continues to enjoy the benefits of increasing capacity and reduced cost and flash memory and equivalents now allow putting i
26. ons 96 and 98 brochure 90 may also include information printed on substrate 20 in a conventional fashion 0053 FIG 12 is yet another possible application of the present invention this time as an electronic patent In the embodiment depicted it is contemplated that much like the embodiment of FIGS 7 and 11 a patent may be printed using one or more display substrates 32 on a common substrate 20 so as to display all or parts of an issued patent In this way as such substrates become common and less expensive to manu facture the patent could be printed on a single substrate having the ability to display images in one region thereof and textual information in the other Moreover pressure sensors underlying buttons 24 could be used to allow a user to scroll through the images and textual columns of the patent Depending upon the length of the patent and the size of the memory not shown associated with the substrate it is also conceivable that appendices and other information may be provided with the electronic patent 0054 FIG 13 is an orthographic representation of an embodiment in which the present invention is integrated into the dashboard 102 of a vehicle As depicted by this embodi ment the present invention may be integrated with a compo nent of the product it is intended to be used with of for Accordingly the usefulness of the product may be maxi mized as relevant information is made immediately availab
27. ormation stored in the embedded memory 22 associated therewith It is further con ceivable as depicted in FIG 6 that the substrate is formed using the techniques proposed by Sheridon and includes a power supply 36 e g lithium battery such as employed in watches rechargeable batteries a photovoltaic energy sup ply oran AC adapter as well as user interface buttons or keys 24 page forward page back In operation the information stored in the embedded memory 22 is displayed as a series of pages perhaps imitating a book format where the substrate 20 is oriented in a landscape orientation and where the sub strate includes a pair of opposing pages 26 separated along centerline 28 For further description of the details of an electronic book the teachings of U S Pat No 5 517 407 to Weiner are hereby incorporated by reference 0044 In such an embodiment a user who wishes to read the contents of the book that are stored on the digital record ing medium would simply push or touch the location indi cated by the buttons 24 to move the displayed pages forward or backward As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art buttons 24 require a pressure or touch sensitive switch that is associated with the embedded memory 22 In addition the substrate would require circuitry possibly an embedded pro cessor or controller 30 suitable for updating the displayed information in response to a user request e g depressing
28. ovel combination of the two to provide improved uses thereof including consumer goods packaging information sources etc 0013 The present invention is advantageous because it can be produced inexpensively and is reusable compared to other approaches providing a way in which to display infor mation or to alter the appearance of goods using the flexible substrate displays The invention can be adapted to any of a number of consumer goods and applications The techniques of the invention are advantageous because they provide a range of alternatives each of which is useful in appropriate situations Some of the techniques can be used to modify or alter the appearance of goods or information displayed thereon in response to a user s request US 2013 0033518 Al BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0014 FIGS 1 3 illustrate various embodiments for a sub strate in accordance with one aspect ofthe present invention 0015 FIGS 4 7 illustrate particular applications of the substrate of FIG 1 in conjunction with a flexible substrate display in accordance with another aspect of the present invention 0016 FIG 8 is a block diagram of circuitry employed in accordance with the present invention 0017 FIGS 9 and 10 are perspective illustrations of alter native embodiments for aspects of the present invention 0018 FIG 11 is a perspective illustration of another alter native embodiment of the apparatus depicted in FIG 7 001
29. page buttons 24 0045 It will be further appreciated that any such embed ded memory operating in conjunction with a display capa bility as described herein may require circuitry for reading the information stored on the embedded memory and transferring and or processing the information for display A simple block diagram of such a system is depicted in FIG 8 In the system a microcontroller 30 possibly including a connector port operatively associated therewith or similar device is used to read information from memory 22 The data read from the memory is then processed so as to make it suitable for driving a substrate integrated display 20 or 32 It will be appreciated that the function of the controller 30 may simply be as a video driver controlling signals suitable for displaying the data stored in memory However controller 30 may be enhanced to further receive inputs from other sources such as switches user manual inputs or similar sensors visible light infra red radiation pressure audio etc that will allow the system to respond to external conditions It will be further appreci ated that the power for generation of a sensor signal may be derived from the sensors themselves for example a pressure Feb 7 2013 sensor could employ a piezoelectric or triboelectric effect while an optical sensor signal could be generated by a pho tovoltaic effect 0046 As described above the user operable switch es or sensors may
30. ployed to display and update textual and graphic information in the nature of an electronic book and where the device further includes a portable power supply for providing power to said digital recording medium and said substrate display and at least one user interac tive element that allows a user to selectively alter the display of information on the substrate display wherein said user interactive element includes a touch sensitive device embedded within the substrate
31. sed surface of the substrate where the display is a display medium capable of selectively displaying one of at least two possible colors at each pixel location thereon in Feb 7 2013 order to produce a substrate medium that may be modified in accordance with a user s request 0062 It is therefore apparent that there has been pro vided in accordance with the present invention an apparatus for the electronic display of information While this invention has been described in conjunction with preferred embodi ments thereof it is evident that many alternatives modifica tions and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art Accordingly it is intended to embrace all such alterna tives modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims What is claimed is 1 A device for the electronic display of information com prising a frame substrate into which the device is permanently embedded a digital recording medium associated with the device wherein information stored by the digital recording medium is received through a wireless source and is stored by the digital recording medium an updateable flexible substrate display located on an exposed surface of the device wherein said substrate display includes a display medium capable of selec tively displaying one of at least two possible colors at a plurality of pixel locations thereon where the substrate display inclu
32. tion of the document image or other machine read able information relevant to the document e g biblio graphic footnotes related URLs appendices indexes etc 0035 Referring next to FIG 6 there is depicted a semi permanent version of the present invention where a signifi cant portion or the entire substrate 20 is in the form of a flat matted substrate perhaps within a frame 40 hanging or oth erwise mounted on a vertical surface such as wall 43 In the embodiment depicted the substrate displays a map thereon The map may be permanently printed on the substrate and information updated on the map for example to illustrate the location of mass transit vehicles such as subway trains where real time data updates would require the transmission of information from a source of vehicle information perhaps broadcast and received by an associated local radio receiver connected to the display 0036 In the embodiment depicted in FIG 6 the entire substrate may be the display 32 where the information dis played may default to a map but may change in its detail or entirely alternative content in response to an external signal Another example of such a signal could be touch sensitive switches placed behind or in operative association with dis Feb 7 2013 played buttons 44 where a series of display controls e g zoom and display menu selections food drink shop museums etc may be depicted each of which might brin
33. y and an associated display mechanism so as to enable a product or a product s packaging to be interactive and to provide information or other feedback in response to a user As depicted in FIG 9 of soup 70 or similar good may include a container 72 that is at least partially surrounded by a label substrate 74 Substrate 74 may further include various elements described above so as to allow the product label to be programmable and interactive For example a portion of the label may be a display 32 made of gyricon or electrophoretic ink material Display 32 may be US 2013 0033518 Al further connected to and controlled by a micro controller 30 or similar programmable device having a memory not shown associated therewith to store information to be selec tively displayed Also included in or associated with the label substrate is a power source 78 in the nature of a small battery or photovoltaic cell In a nominal condition display 32 may simply depict the traditional label image or informa tion However display 32 may also depict additional product information e g ingredients list or nutritional information perhaps in multiple languages Furthermore additional information such as suggested recipes might be stored and displayed on such labels perhaps in response to user selec tions via a touch sensitive switch or sensor 80 It will be appreciated that sensor 80 may be a pressure sensitive switch or matrix or may be
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