Patent Grant
10410548
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
The sense of sight is utterly compelling to those human beings who possess it. The adage that a picture is worth a thousand words resonates with an appreciation of the profound importance of taking in visual information. The sense of sight is unique in allowing us to absorb so much information from our world so quickly. It is natural then that entertainers, artists, and advertisers all want to engage people with their own visual content for the purpose creating a desired response in their intended audience. A visual display system is one of the ways that people can experience the presentation of visual information and it is the focus of the present disclosure.
There are numerous features of a visual display system that contribute to its impact upon viewers including: size, brightness, contrast, color saturation, color depth, display refresh rate, resolution, pixel pitch, pixel pitch uniformity, and others.
There are numerous other features of a visual display system that are of interest to the owners and operators of such systems including: ease of installation, ease of service, reliability, ease of configuration, ease of maintenance, ease of operation, cost of the system, cost of installation, cost of operation, cost of service, and others.
In consideration of the foregoing points, it is clear that embodiments of the present disclosure confer numerous advantages and are therefore highly desirable.
A large visual display may be constructed from a plurality of generally planar display modules tiled into a predetermined pattern leaving no gaps and creating no overlaps between display modules. Each display module may have a plurality of light emitting elements arranged onto a display plane in a predetermined pattern and thereby creating a highly uniform visual effect. The perimeter region of each display plane may be designed such that abutting and aligning the display planes of adjacent display modules allows continuation, without visual aberration, of the pattern of light emitting elements across the boundary between adjacent display modules. The plurality of display modules, suitably abutted and aligned, collectively create a viewing plane that is free from visible aberration.
A pitch distance may be defined between adjacent light emitting elements within a single display module. The predefined pattern of light emitting elements may be designed to provide a highly uniform pitch distance across an individual display module. The perimeter region of each display plane may be designed so that the pitch distance across adjacent display modules is substantially the same as the pitch distance within a single display module. A highly uniform visual effect across an entire plurality of display modules may thereby be created.
A large visual display assembled from a plurality of display modules may have an underlying support frame structure onto which the plurality of display modules may be assembled. Abutment and alignment of the display planes of adjacent display modules is an important factor in the overall visual quality of the large visual display. In such display systems it is important to be able to: install display modules onto the support frame with the necessary alignment and abutment; service a display module that has previously been installed onto the support frame without disturbing adjacent display modules; and remove a display module that has previously been installed onto the support frame without removing or significantly disturbing adjacent display modules. Novel display module mounting apparatus and methods may be used to accomplish these highly desirable goals.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure an apparatus for mounting a display module to a support frame, the display module having a display plane coupled to a substrate, said apparatus comprising:
a releasable frame coupler coupled to said substrate and providing a first standoff distance between said display plane and said support frame;
a pivoting releasable frame coupler coupled to said substrate and providing a second standoff distance between said display plane and said support frame;
an adjustable linkage coupled between said pivoting releasable frame coupler and said display plane, said adjustable linkage operative to provide an adjustable deflection of at least a portion of said display plane.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, exemplary embodiment 1.0 is further characterized as having both an installed position and a service position, said installed position defined when said releasable frame coupler and said pivoting releasable frame coupler are both coupled to said support frame, said service position defined when said pivoting releasable frame coupler is coupled to said support frame and said releasable frame coupler is not coupled to said support frame.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, exemplary embodiment 1.0a is further characterized in that said display plane is disposed at a first angle with respect to said pivoting releasable frame coupler when in said installed position, said display plane is disposed at a second angle with respect to said pivoting releasable frame coupler when in said service position; and wherein said first angle and said second angle are not equal.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, exemplary embodiment 1.0 or 1.0a or 1.0b is further characterized in that said releasable frame coupler and pivoting releasable frame coupler couple to said support frame by means of magnetic attraction.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, exemplary embodiment 1.0 is further characterized in that the releasable frame coupler is an adjustable releasable frame coupler that provides an adjustable first standoff distance between said plane and said support frame.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, exemplary embodiment 1.0 is further characterized in that the pivoting releasable frame coupler is an adjustable pivoting releasable frame coupler that provides an adjustable second standoff distance between said plane and said support frame.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, exemplary embodiment 1.0 is further characterized in that the adjustable linkage has a neutral position providing no deflection of the display plane.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, exemplary embodiment 1.0 is further characterized in that the adjustable linkage is operable in compression to provide said adjustable deflection of at least a portion of said display plane.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, exemplary embodiment 1.0 is further characterized in that the adjustable linkage is operable in tension to provide said adjustable deflection of at least a portion of said display plane.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, exemplary embodiment 1.0 is further characterized in that the adjustable linkage is operable in both tension and compression to provide said adjustable deflection of at least a portion of said display plane.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, exemplary embodiment 1.0 is further characterized in that the adjustable linkage is operable in to provide an adjustable concave deflection of at least a portion of said display plane.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, exemplary embodiment 1.0 is further characterized in that the adjustable linkage is operable in to provide an adjustable convex deflection of at least a portion of said display plane.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, exemplary embodiment 1.0 is further characterized in that the adjustable deflection of at least a portion of said display plane is concave or convex or flat.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, an apparatus for mounting a display module to a support frame, the display module having a display plane coupled to a substrate, said apparatus comprising:
a support rib coupled to said substrate, opposed to and substantially parallel to said display plane, said support rib having a first portion and a second portion;
a releasable frame coupler coupled to said first portion of said support rib and providing a first standoff distance between said display plane and said support frame;
a pivoting releasable frame coupler coupled to said first portion of said support rib and providing a second standoff distance between said display plane and said support frame;
an adjustable linkage coupled between said first portion of said support rib and said second portion of said support rib, said adjustable linkage operative to provide an adjustable deflection of at least a portion of said display plane.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, an apparatus for mounting a display module to a support frame, the display module having a display plane coupled to both a first support rib and a second support rib, said apparatus comprising:
a releasable frame coupler coupled to said first support rib and providing a first standoff distance between said display plane and said support frame;
a pivoting releasable frame coupler coupled to said first support rib and providing a second standoff distance between said display plane and said support frame;
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a display module for mounting to a support frame comprises:
a display module having a plurality of light emitting elements coupled to a substrate and arranged in a predetermined pattern forming a display plane;
a releasable frame coupler coupled to said substrate and providing a first standoff distance between said display plane and said support frame;
a pivoting releasable frame coupler coupled to said substrate and providing a second standoff distance between said display plane and said support frame;
an adjustable linkage coupled between said pivoting releasable frame attachment and said display plane, said adjustable linkage operative to provide an adjustable deflection of at least a portion of said display plane.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, exemplary embodiment 4.0 is further characterized as having both an installed position and a service position, said installed position defined when said releasable frame coupler and said pivoting releasable frame coupler are both coupled to said support frame, said service position defined when said pivoting releasable frame coupler is coupled to said support frame and said releasable frame coupler is not coupled to said support frame.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, exemplary embodiment 4.0a is further characterized in that said display plane is disposed at a first angle with respect to said pivoting releasable frame coupler when in said installed position, said display plane is disposed at a second angle with respect to said pivoting releasable frame coupler when in said service position; and wherein said first angle and said second angle are not equal.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, exemplary embodiment 4.0 or 4.0a or 4.0b is further characterized in that said releasable frame coupler and pivoting releasable frame coupler couple to said support frame by means of magnetic attraction.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a system for mounting a plurality of display modules comprising:
a support frame operative to support the weight of said plurality of display modules along a support direction, and operative to comply with curvature of said support frame in directions orthogonal to said support direction;
each of said plurality of display modules comprising a plurality of light emitting elements coupled to a substrate and arranged according to a predetermined pattern forming a display plane;
each of said plurality of display modules mounted to said support frame by a mounting apparatus comprising:
a releasable frame coupler coupled to said substrate and providing a first standoff distance between said display plane and said support frame;
a pivoting releasable frame coupler coupled to said substrate and providing a second standoff distance between said display plane and said support frame;
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide display module mounting apparatus and methods. A large visual display may be constructed from a plurality of generally planar display modules tiled into a predetermined pattern leaving no gaps and creating no overlaps between display modules. Each display module may have a plurality of light emitting elements arranged onto a display plane in a predetermined pattern and thereby creating a highly uniform visual effect. The perimeter region of each display plane may be designed such that abutting and aligning the display planes of adjacent display modules allows continuation, without visual aberration, of the pattern of light emitting elements across the boundary between adjacent display modules. The plurality of display modules, suitably abutted and aligned, collectively create a viewing plane that is free from visible aberration.
A pitch distance may be defined between adjacent light emitting elements within a single display module. The predefined pattern of light emitting elements may be designed to provide a highly uniform pitch distance across an individual display module. The perimeter region of each display plane may be designed so that the pitch distance across adjacent display modules is substantially the same as the pitch distance within a single display module. A highly uniform visual effect across an entire plurality of display modules may thereby be created.
Turning now to
Large tiled displays are often mounted on existing architectural features. These architectural features often present physical imperfections such undulations, unevenness, ripples, ridges, gaps, etc that can impact the alignment and position of any support frame that is mounted thereupon for the purpose of supporting a large tiled display. Unless special measures are taken to ameliorate the underlying imperfections of the architectural features, the final tiled assembly of display modules may show the imperfections caused by the uneven mounting environment. Embodiments of the present disclosure describe novel display module mounting apparatus and methods that may be used to ameliorate the unevenness in the underlying architectural features upon which the support frame and ultimately the large tiled display are mounted.
A large visual display assembled from a plurality of display modules may have an underlying support frame structure onto which the plurality of display modules may be assembled. Abutment and alignment of the display planes of adjacent display modules is an important factor in the overall visual quality of the large visual display. In such display systems it is important to be able to: install display modules onto the support frame with the necessary alignment and abutment; service a display module that has previously been installed onto the support frame without disturbing adjacent display modules; and remove a display module that has previously been installed onto the support frame without removing or significantly disturbing adjacent display modules.
Turning now to
The display plane 74 of
Continuing with
Continuing with
The apparatus of
In order to flex in response to the operation of linkage 30, substrate 76 is not strictly rigid but rather requires sufficient flexibility to physically comply with the mechanical urging of the adjustable linkage. It can also be seen that the position of the pivoting releasable frame coupler 20, length of adjustable linkage 30, the mechanical advantage of adjustable linkage 30, and the location and way in which adjustable linkage 30 is coupled to display plane 74, all may be varied within the scope of this disclosure to provide variations in deflection of display plane 74.
Turning now to
Now with reference to
Continuing with
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, shown in
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, shown in
The support frame 40 of
Turning now to
It can be seen in
Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions are possible. It may be desirable to combine features shown in various embodiments into a single embodiment. A different number and configuration of features may be used to construct embodiments of the apparatus and systems that are entirely within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Therefor, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein.
Any element in a claim that does not explicitly state “means for” performing a specified function, or “step for” performing a specific function, is not to be interpreted as a “means” or “step” clause as specified in 35 U.S.C. Section 112, Paragraph 6. In particular, the use of “step of” in the claims herein is not intended to invoke the provisions of 35 U.S.C. Section 112, Paragraph 6.
This continuation utility application claims the benefit of U.S. non-provisional utility application Ser. No. 15/219,951, filed Jul. 26, 2016, entitled “Front Serviceable Mounting Apparatus and Methods”. Application Ser. No. 15/219,951 claimed the benefit of application Ser. No. 15/010,593, filed Jan. 29, 2016, entitled “Front Serviceable Mounting Apparatus and Methods”. Application Ser. No. 15/010,593 claimed the benefit of U.S. non-provisional utility application Ser. No. 14/865,937, filed Sep. 25, 2015, entitled “Front Serviceable Mounting Apparatus and Methods”. Application Ser. No. 14/865,937 claimed the benefit of U.S. provisional Application No. 62/113,698, filed Feb. 9, 2015, entitled “Display Module Mounting Apparatus and Methods”. Application Ser. Nos. 15/219,951, 15/010,593, 14/865,937, and 62/113,698 are incorporated herein by reference.
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