Remotely controlled electroluminescent totaling display

The need for automatic visual display of numerical information has grown rapidly in recent years. As a result, at least a dozen different numerical indicators are now available. Each will show any one of the ten Arabic numerals when actuated by the proper pattern of electrical signals. Some show painted numerals by electromechanical means; others use optical projection, masked lamps, edge-lighted plastic sheets, matrices of incandescent or neon lamps, numerically shaped wires in neon lamps, or cathode-ray tubes to indicate the desired numerals. Some distribute the ten numerals along a vertical line; some stack the numerals in depth, and some show each and every numeral in the same space and on the same plane. The device described here uses an electroluminescent phosphor to form a truly planar numerical indicator.