Texas Instruments Corporation

Michael A Piliavin

Jeffrey Brian Sampsell

Perry A Penz

James R Toker

To increase the perimeter seal strength of plastic LCDs, reinforcement holes are formed in the plastic substrate at the maximum stress points. These holes, which are not in contact with any active area of the device, are filled with glue, so that each pair of holes in the upper and lower substrates forms a tensile connection which directly links the two substrates together at the maximum stress points.

Perimeter seal reinforcement holes for plastic LCDs

A proximity switch in which the electronic characteristics of a liquid crystal display are monitored relative to a reference liquid crystal display to determine when an operator has come into proximity thereto. A controller monitors the display elements, liquid crystal displays, respective capacitances or inductance and when an operator comes into proximity to an electrode in the display element, the controller senses this proximity due to the change in capacitance or inductance of the element. This sensing allows the controller to recognize when a change of state is desired by the operator. The use of the reference element allows the controller to respond only to operator proximity and not to noise caused by changes in the environment, such as temperature.

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Plano, TX, United States of America

Michael A Piliavin