The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 11, 2011
Filed:
Jul. 03, 2007
Nathan J. Smith, Oxford, GB;
Paul A. Gass, Oxford, GB;
James M. Ball, Woodbridge, GB;
Martin D. Tillin, Abingdon, GB;
Michel Sagardoyburu, Angais, FR;
Nathan J. Smith, Oxford, GB;
Paul A. Gass, Oxford, GB;
James M. Ball, Woodbridge, GB;
Martin D. Tillin, Abingdon, GB;
Michel Sagardoyburu, Angais, FR;
Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha, Osaka, JP;
Abstract
A liquid crystal cell () comprises a layer () of cholesteric liquid crystal material; and a retarder () disposed in an optical path through the layer () of cholesteric liquid crystal material. The cholesteric liquid crystal material is switchable between a first state in which it cooperates with the retarder () to provide a first viewing angle range and a second state in which it cooperates with the retarder () to provide a second viewing angle range which is smaller than the first viewing angle range. The pitch of the cholesteric liquid crystal material is greater than an intended wavelength of operation of the liquid crystal cell divided by the average refractive index of the liquid crystal material. The liquid crystal cell may be used as a Viewing Angle Restriction (VAR) element, to enable another component, such as a display panel (), to be operated in either a wide viewing mode or a narrow viewing mode.