Patents by Inventor James J. Francl

James J. Francl has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Method for forming liquid crystal display cell walls using a patterned electric field
    Patent number: 5929960
    Abstract: A method for forming walls (8) between substrates (11, 12) in a liquid crystal cell (10) includes the step of forming a cell with a liquid crystal-monomer mixture (50). The cell (10) is then exposed to ultraviolet light (70) causing the monomer to be selectively polymerized to form walls (8) between substrates (11, 12) of the cell. The monomer is selectively polymerized by applying an electric field across the cell through a patterned conductive coating (31, 32) on each substrate (11, 12) to separate the dispersed monomer to the low field, interpixel regions (72). The cell (10) is then exposed to ultraviolet light (70) to polymerize the separated monomer to form the walls (8) in the low field regions (72).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 27, 1999
    Assignee: Kent State University
    Inventors: John L. West, Marc Rouberol, Yimin Ji, James J. Francl