Claims
- 1. A method for making an electroluminescent lamp capable of displaying graphics when lit and appearing plain when unlit, said method comprising the steps of:
- depositing a conductive layer on a substrate;
- depositing an electroluminescent layer on said conductive layer;
- deposition a dielectric layer on said electroluminescent layer;
- depositing an insulating layer either before or after depositing said dielectric layer, wherein said insulating layer is patterned in accordance with said graphics; and
- depositing a conductive layer.
- 2. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein said step of depositing an insulating layer comprises the step of printing said insulating layer in a pattern corresponding to said graphics.
- 3. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein said step of depositing an insulating layer comprises the step of printing said insulating layer in a pattern corresponding to the reverse of said graphics.
- 4. A method for displaying graphics in an electroluminescent lamp by controlling the electric field within said lamp, said method comprising the steps of:
- depositing a continuous, transparent, conductive layer on a substrate;
- depositing an electroluminescent layer on said transparent, conductive layer;
- depositing on said electroluminescent layer a dielectric layer having increased thickness portions patterned in accordance with said graphics for reducing the electric field in said electroluminescent layer; and
- depositing a conductive layer on said dielectric layer.
- 5. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein said insulating layer is deposited after the dielectric layer and said step of depositing said insulating layer comprises the steps of:
- printing a first insulating layer in a first pattern;
- printing a second insulating layer in a second pattern on said first insulating layer to produce an insulation layer of non-uniform thickness.
- 6. The method as set forth in claim 5 wherein the first printing step is followed by the step of partially curing said first insulating layer before printing the second insulating layer.
Parent Case Info
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 08/302,258, filed on Sep. 8, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,508,585.
US Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
2919366 |
Mash |
Dec 1959 |
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Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
302258 |
Sep 1994 |
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