Ferranti-Packard Limited

Nei Canada Limited

Donald Winrow

Gordon Helwig

Charles Norman Smith

Kenneth G Copeland

A display device has lever mounted display members with their members on one end movable from exposed to eclipsed position to provide a variable display and permanent magnets on the other end to provide for control of the lever by magnetizable cores located rearwardly thereof. A housing structure accurately mounts both a frame which holds the levers and a rear face which holds the cores in three dimensions contributing to the precision of the magnetic control. The cores are mounted projecting from the rear wall of the housing. The forward ends of the cores may be accurately located again contributing to the precision of the magnetic control. The improvement of the magnetic coil means the energizing coils for the windings must be made smaller and for this and other reasons the device may be made smaller from front to back.

Display device

A display or indicator element has a set of movable and a set of fixed vanes of contrasting colors. Each set of vanes encompasses what is substantially a circle in the viewing direction. The sets of vanes are arranged so that the moving vanes move between a position where they are hidden (in the viewing direction) behind the stationary vanes and a position where the moving vanes occlude the stationary vanes. In such movements each moving vane passes between a pair of stationary vanes. Accordingly, contrasting effects are produced. Preferably the actuation for the movable vanes is electromagnetic.

Vane operated display or indicating device

A rotatable display or indicating element mounts a permanent magnet and is rotated greater than 90.degree. and less than 180.degree. between mechanical stops by an exterior pole piece of reversible polarity. A small permanent magnet adjacent the pole piece is designed with the locus of the rotatably mounted magnet to provide a stable position for the element just inward of the mechanical limiting position.

Display or indicating device with magnetic stop

A display element is mounted on a base to rotate less than 180.degree. between two limiting positions and to create mutually contrasting effects in the two positions. A magnetizable element mounted on the base extends parallel to the axis of rotation and exerts rotational torque at each of its free ends on one of two permanent magnets mounted on the display element to rotate outside of the free ends.

Display or indicator element

A disc rotatable to exhibit alternately one of its two faces under the influence of an external magnetic field, has its center of gravity offset with respect to the pivoting plane so as to ensure a positive torque when moving from either of its rest positions under the influence of the said magnetic field.

Gravity bias for display elements

A rotatable element for a display element is constructed of an open ring which supports a display surface resiliently bent from its unstressed attitude and held in such position. The element is designed to be pivotally mountable on an axis generally parallel to the mean plane of the display surface. The element is preferably magnetically operable by an exterior magnetic field and the element carries a magnet defining a field transverse to the pivotal axis. The exterior field for the rotatable element is preferably provided by a coil wound core resiliently mounted on the support surface for the element. The support surface provides brackets for location on each side of the element position and designed to receive a shaft mounting such elements.

Electromagnetic displays with resiliently mounted components

A middle tape punched to receive magnets is provided first with a tape on one side then with magnets in the punched apertures and then with a tape on the other side to provide a source of a series of magnetically actuable elements.

Magnetically actuable element and method of making

A display or indicating device has an array of display elements rotatably mounted on one side of a board and electrically controlled means for actuating them, where the board is of the type on which printed circuits are mounted.

Support for display elements

A plurality of longitudinally extending mounting elements are designed to mount in a single row a plurality of magnetically actuable display elements. Each of the mounting elements is designed to be located side by side and in close proximity to other row mounting elements of the same type and at each end is provided with couplings designed to couple the element to a member extending transversely thereto. The coupling elements and the transversely extending member are so arranged that a plurality of the coupling elements located side by side may be coupled to the transversely extending member. Energizing windings for individual magnetic control of each of the display elements is provided rearwardly of the row elements. Thus the windings for all the row elements may be applied while the elements are arranged end - to - end and the elements may then be rotated parallel to each other, with the windings attached for assembly to the transverse member.

Growing community of inventors

Weston, Canada

Donald Winrow