US 12,031,378 B2
System and method for controlling the state of two or more liquid-crystal-based switchable elements
Ties de Jong, De Veldhoven (NL); Heiko Christ, Darmstadt (DE); Jasper van den Muijsenberg, De Veldhoven (NL); Jens Osterodt, Darmstadt (DE); and Abraham Karel Riemens, Ag Eindhoven (NL)
Assigned to Merck Patent GmbH, (DE)
Filed by Merck Patent GmbH, Darmstadt (DE)
Filed on Oct. 27, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/511,984.
Prior Publication US 2022/0128846 A1, Apr. 28, 2022
Int. Cl. E06B 9/24 (2006.01); G02F 1/163 (2006.01); H04L 12/28 (2006.01)
CPC E06B 9/24 (2013.01) [G02F 1/163 (2013.01); H04L 12/2816 (2013.01); E06B 2009/2464 (2013.01)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method performed by a master controller for controlling the state of two or more liquid crystal-based switchable elements, the liquid crystal-based switchable elements being configured as smart windows and/or switchable subunits of smart windows, the method comprising:
a) defining, by a processor of the master controller, at least two keyframes, each keyframe comprising setting values defining the intended state of a group of liquid crystal-based switchable elements, the group being either a selection of one or more specific liquid crystal-based switchable elements or all available liquid crystal-based switchable elements;
b) computing, by the processor of the master controller, a display frame comprising setting values for the state of the group of liquid crystal-based switchable elements, based on at least one of the defined keyframes; and
c) controlling, by the processor of the master controller, the state of each of the liquid crystal-based switchable elements of the group of liquid crystal-based switchable elements as defined by the setting values of the computed display frame,
wherein controlling the state according to step c) comprises, for each of the liquid crystal-based switchable elements of the group of liquid crystal-based switchable elements, the steps of:
d) deriving, by the processor of the master controller, of an AC driving signal for the respective switchable element based on the respective setting value defined by the display frame and configuration values defining the relation between driving signal and a setting value of the respective switchable element; and
e) applying, by the processor of the master controller, the derived AC driving signal to the respective switchable element,
wherein at least two keyframes are assigned to an animation and each keyframe is assigned a time code, and
wherein an animation defined by the assigned keyframes is played back in accordance with the assigned time codes from a current time to a specific point in time by computing a display frame by means of a filter function in dependence on at least one of the keyframes of the animation and the current time, and wherein steps b) and c) are repeated until playback of the animation is complete and the current time is advanced in accordance with a predefined playback frame rate after each execution of step b).