Display system with solid matrix display board

Claim 2

A display system comprising a display board comprising a matrix of display elements arranged in equispaced parallel vertical columns locatable by sequential numerical column addresses and parallel horizontal rows to form a solid matrix of said display elements; a shift register associated with each row of display elements, each of said shift registers having a storage stage sequentially corresponding to a display element in its associated row and an input; means providing input data corresponding to desired display characters and the particular column address of elements at which the first display character is to start; means for controlling the display, said controlling means comprising means for converting said display character data into column-by-column display character encoded signals, means for sequentially entering said encoded column-by-column signals into the input of said shift registers, for shifting said encoded signals from stage to stage, and for stopping said shifting when the first display character encoded signals reach the shift register stage associated with the display element at said particular column address indicated by said input data; means for actuating the display elements corresponding to the shift register stages having encoded signals therein; said entering, shifting and stopping means comprising a column location counter settable by said input data to said particular column address, a cycle counter, means responsive to the setting of said column location counter for causing said shift register to shift and said cycle counter to count simultaneously to said particular column address number, means responsive to said cycle counter reaching said column address number for sequentially entering said column-by-column display character encoded signal into said shift register and simultaneously advancing the count of said cycle counter, means responsive to the completion of entering said encoded signals for causing said shift register to continue to shift and said cycle counter to advance the count, and means for stopping said shifting and said counting when the count of said cycle counter reaches the number of stages in each of said shift registers; and each of said shift registers comprising a cycling loop connectable to pass data from the last stage thereof to the input thereof; and wherein said entering, shifting and stopping means comprises means responsive to the setting of said column location countEr for connecting said cycling loop.

Claim 3

In the system of claim 1 wherein said entering, shifting and stopping means comprises means for advancing the count of said column location counter simultaneously with the entering of said encoded signals into said shift registers, whereby said column location counter is automatically set to the address number for the next following display character after the operation of said stopping means.

Claim 4

In the system of claim 1 wherein said display actuating means comprises means responsive to special input data for operating the encoded display elements only after the operation of said shifting and stopping means.

Claim 5

A display system comprising a display board having a plurality of display lines locatable by line addresses, each of said display lines comprising a matrix of display elements arranged in equispaced parallel vertical columns locatable by sequential numerical column addresses and parallel horizontal rows to form a solid matrix of said display elements; a shift register associated with each row of display elements; each of said shift registers having a storage stage sequentially corresponding to a display element in its associated row and an input; means for providing input data corresponding to desired display characters, the address of the desired line on which said display characters are to appear and the particular column address of elements at which the first display character is to start; means for controlling the display, said controlling means comprising means for selecting the shift registers associated with the desired display line in accordance with said desired display line address data, means for converting said display character data into column-by-column display character encoded signals, means for sequentially entering said encoded column-by-column signals into the input of said selected line shift registers, for shifting said encoded signals from stage to stage, and for stopping said shifting when the first display character encoded signals reach the shift register stages associated with the display elements at said particular column address indicated by said input data; means for actuating the display elements corresponding to the shift register stops having encoded signals therein; said entering, shifting and stopping means comprising a column location counter settable by said input data to said particular column address, a cycle counter, means responsive to the setting of said column location counter for causing said shift register to shift and said cycle counter to count simultaneously to said particular column address number, means responsive to said cycle counter reaching said column address number for sequentially entering said column-by-column display character encoded signal into said shift register and simultaneously advancing the count of said cycle counter, means responsive to the completion of entering said encoded signals for causing said shift register to continue to shift and said cycle counter to advance the count, and means for stopping said shifting and said counting when the count of said cycle counter reaches the number of stages in each of said shift registers; and each of said shift registers comprising a cycling loop connectable to pass data from the last stage thereof to the input thereof; and wherein said entering, shifting and stopping means comprises means responsive to the setting of setting column location counter for connecting said cycling loop.

Claim 6

A display system comprising a display board having a plurality of display lines locatable by line addresses, each of said display lines comprising a matrix of display elements arranged in equispaced parallel vertical columns locatable by sequential numerical column addresses and parallel horizontal rows to form a solid matrix of said display elements; a shift register associated with each row of display elements; each of said shift registers having a storage stage sequentially corresponding to a display element in its associated row and an input; means for providing input data corresponding to desired display characters, the address of the desired line on which said display characters are to appear and the particular column address of elements at which the first display character is to start; means for controlling the display, said controlling means comprising means for selecting the shift registers associated with the desired display line in accordance with said desired display line address data, means for converting said display character data into column-by-column display character encoded signals, means for sequentially entering said encoded column-by-column signals into the input of said selected line shift registers, for shifting said encoded signals from stage to stage, and for stopping said shifting when the first display character encoded signals reach the shift register stages associated with the display elements at said particular column address indicated by said input data; means for actuating the display elements corresponding to the shift register stops having encoded signals therein; said entering, shifting and stopping means comprising a column location counter settable by said input data to said particular column address, a cycle counter, means responsive to the setting of said column location counter for causing said shift register to shift and said cycle counter to count simultaneously to said particular column address number, means responsive to said cycle counter reaching said column address number for sequentially entering said column-by-column display character encoded signal into said shift register and simultaneously advancing the count of said cycle counter, means responsive to the completion of entering said encoded signals for causing said shift register to continue to shift and said cycle counter to advance the count, and means for stopping said shifting and said counting when the count of said cycle counter reaches the number of stages in each of said shift registers; and each of said shift registers comprising a cycling loop connectable to pass data from the last stage thereof to the input thereof; and wherein said entering, shifting and stopping means comprises means responsive to the setting of setting column location counter for connecting said cycling loop.

Claim 7

In the system of claim 4 wherein said entering, shifting and stopping means comprises means for advancing the count of said column location counter simultaneously with the entering of said encoded signals into said shift registers, whereby said column location counter is automatically set to the address number for the next following display character after the operation of said stopping means.

Claim 8

In the system of claim 4 wherein said display actuating means comprises means responsive to special input data for operating the encoded display elements only after the operation of said shifting and stopping means.

Claim 9

In the system of claim 1 wherein said input means comprises means for manually preparing said encoded signals and wherein said controlling means comprises means for recognizing said manually prepared encoded signals and disabling said data converting means, whereby any display element on said display board may be individually controlled when desired.

Claim 10

In the system of claim 4 wherein said input means comprises means for manually preparing said encoded signals, and wherein said controlling means comprises means for recognizing said manually prepared encoded signals and disabling said data converting means, whereby any display element on said display board may be individually controlled when desired.