Invalidity dossier
US 5150965
Added 9/23/2026, 4:04:25 PM
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Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
US 5,150,965 — Radiation-Emitting Panels and Display Assemblies
Bibliographic data (as supplied): Application US07/726,176; filed 1991-07-05; granted and published 1992-09-29; priority date 1990-07-16; inventor Neil A. Fox; original assignee Smiths Industries Public Limited Company (current assignee listed as Smiths Group PLC); status "Expired – Fee Related," with anticipated expiration 2011-07-05. Classified in H01J 61/00 (gas-discharge or vapour-discharge lamps) and H01J 61/30 (vessels; containers).
Purpose: To address problems with flat panel lamps — that low internal pressure necessitates thick, heavy plates; that a single flat lamp's failure causes total loss of illumination; and that bent or parallel fluorescent tubes, or panels divided by walls, give uneven illumination. The stated aim is high-intensity illumination with low power and heat dissipation, in a compact, lightweight form, with redundancy and even back-up illumination.
Plain-language scope: A radiation-emitting panel has three stacked plates. A transparent upper plate and an intermediate plate, sealed around their edges, enclose a first reduced-pressure gas-discharge volume. The intermediate plate and a lower plate similarly enclose a second discharge volume. Electrodes excite discharge; support members (preferably arrays of radiation-transmitting pillars, e.g. square-section, inclined-sided, optionally formed integrally on both sides of the intermediate plate) support the plates within their edges. Because the intermediate plate transmits visible radiation, illumination can come from the second volume even with no discharge in the first. Optional features include phosphor coatings, flat uncoated or thinner-coated regions between pillars, a reflector with inverted frusto-pyramids, unheated electrodes, and a display assembly (e.g. liquid crystal) with power supply switching to the second volume on failure of the first.
Not established by the excerpt: The full claims, complete description, drawings' details, any figures beyond those named, and the omitted text. It does not establish litigation, ownership transfers, validity, or the content of prior art beyond the WO 87/04562 discussion recited.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:51:11 PM
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PTAB challenges
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Assignment history
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Prior art
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Obviousness
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Extensions
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Derivative works
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