Front panel color annunciators for multi-channel instrument with color display
US5920297A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 12, 1997 |
| Grant date | Jul 6, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 12, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG09G5/02
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A measurement instrument's correspondence between channel controls and selectable trace color on a display is indicated by visual indicators placed proximate the groupings of controls for the different channels. The color of each visual indicator tracks that of the trace corresponding to the channel for that group of controls. In one embodiment a knob located within each group of controls selects a color. Each knob has on its shaft a wheel with colored regions, behind the panel, and only one color shows through a window. Changes in shaft position indicate electrically to the rest of the instrument what color to make the associated display. Another embodiment provides a group of three light emitting diodes (LED's) of primary colors, controls their relative intensities, and then makes their combined light visible upon the front panel, as a visual indicator. Also, small portions of the active region of the display may be covered by the source ends of an optical path for transmitting light. There is a separate optical path for each different visual indicator. The exit end of each optical path is that visual indicator.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.