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GB2043318A - Liquid crystal display device - Google Patents

Liquid crystal display device Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2043318A
GB2043318A GB7944189A GB7944189A GB2043318A GB 2043318 A GB2043318 A GB 2043318A GB 7944189 A GB7944189 A GB 7944189A GB 7944189 A GB7944189 A GB 7944189A GB 2043318 A GB2043318 A GB 2043318A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
liquid crystal
crystal display
display
display device
display section
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
GB7944189A
Other versions
GB2043318B (en
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Toshiba Corp
Original Assignee
Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from JP16070478A external-priority patent/JPS5587194A/en
Priority claimed from JP8214879A external-priority patent/JPS567011A/en
Application filed by Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co Ltd filed Critical Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co Ltd
Publication of GB2043318A publication Critical patent/GB2043318A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of GB2043318B publication Critical patent/GB2043318B/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • GPHYSICS
    • G09EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
    • G09GARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
    • G09G3/00Control arrangements or circuits, of interest only in connection with visual indicators other than cathode-ray tubes
    • G09G3/04Control arrangements or circuits, of interest only in connection with visual indicators other than cathode-ray tubes for presentation of a single character by selection from a plurality of characters, or by composing the character by combination of individual elements, e.g. segments using a combination of such display devices for composing words, rows or the like, in a frame with fixed character positions
    • G09G3/16Control arrangements or circuits, of interest only in connection with visual indicators other than cathode-ray tubes for presentation of a single character by selection from a plurality of characters, or by composing the character by combination of individual elements, e.g. segments using a combination of such display devices for composing words, rows or the like, in a frame with fixed character positions by control of light from an independent source
    • G09G3/18Control arrangements or circuits, of interest only in connection with visual indicators other than cathode-ray tubes for presentation of a single character by selection from a plurality of characters, or by composing the character by combination of individual elements, e.g. segments using a combination of such display devices for composing words, rows or the like, in a frame with fixed character positions by control of light from an independent source using liquid crystals
    • GPHYSICS
    • G01MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01RMEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
    • G01R13/00Arrangements for displaying electric variables or waveforms
    • G01R13/02Arrangements for displaying electric variables or waveforms for displaying measured electric variables in digital form
    • GPHYSICS
    • G01MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01RMEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
    • G01R13/00Arrangements for displaying electric variables or waveforms
    • G01R13/40Arrangements for displaying electric variables or waveforms using modulation of a light beam otherwise than by mechanical displacement, e.g. by Kerr effect
    • G01R13/404Arrangements for displaying electric variables or waveforms using modulation of a light beam otherwise than by mechanical displacement, e.g. by Kerr effect for discontinuous display, i.e. display of discrete values
    • G01R13/407Arrangements for displaying electric variables or waveforms using modulation of a light beam otherwise than by mechanical displacement, e.g. by Kerr effect for discontinuous display, i.e. display of discrete values using a plurality of passive display elements, e.g. liquid crystal or Kerr-effect display elements
    • GPHYSICS
    • G09EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
    • G09FDISPLAYING; ADVERTISING; SIGNS; LABELS OR NAME-PLATES; SEALS
    • G09F9/00Indicating arrangements for variable information in which the information is built-up on a support by selection or combination of individual elements
    • G09F9/30Indicating arrangements for variable information in which the information is built-up on a support by selection or combination of individual elements in which the desired character or characters are formed by combining individual elements
    • G09F9/302Indicating arrangements for variable information in which the information is built-up on a support by selection or combination of individual elements in which the desired character or characters are formed by combining individual elements characterised by the form or geometrical disposition of the individual elements

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Crystallography & Structural Chemistry (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Liquid Crystal (AREA)
  • Liquid Crystal Display Device Control (AREA)

Abstract

A liquid crystal display device comprising a display (24) includes a numeral display and a unit display indicating e.g. in a thermometer a number of degrees C,: a dynamic driving circuit (20) connected to said numeral display and a static driving circuit (28) connected to said unit display cause numeral information and unit information to be simultaneously displayed. Low supply battery voltage can be indicated by flashing the unit display. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Liquid crystal display device This invention relates to a liquid crystal display device of battery drive type.
Liquid crystal display devices are widely used in the display section of desk computers and various measuring instruments. For example, a liquid crystal display device is used in a digital electronic thermometer which senses the body temperature by a temperature sensor such as a thermistor and converting the output of the sensor into a corresponding digital signal to display the body temperature. In this case, the liquid cystal device is employed for the purpose of reducing the power consumption in display section of the battery used as driving power source for the digital electronic thermometer.In the digital electronic thermometer of this kind, unlike desk computers or the like which deal with only digital quantities, the body temperature, which is an analog quantity, is detected by a temperature sensor, and the detected analog quantity is converted in an operation circuit into a digital quantity for displaying the measured body temperature in the digital form. In this case, if the output voltage of a power supply battery employed is reduced to a certain extent, the analog-digital conversion in the operation circuit can be erroneously effected although the display device operates normally, and this results in an erroneous measurement information display on the display section.Accordingly, it is necessary to inform the user of the fact that the electromotive force of the power supply battery is reduced to be lower than a predetermined value and also of the appropriate time when the battery has to be replaced. With the reduction of the battery voltage the difference in brightness between the liquid crystal display portion and the background portion of the display portion, that is, the contrast between these portions, is reduced, and hitherto it has been in practice to replace the battery when the displayed content can no longer be clearly seen. However, the contrast between the liquid crystal display section and surrounding portion is greatly influenced by the angle at which the display section is observed, and therefore, with the above method it is difficult to determine the accurate time when the battery has to be replaced.
An object of the invention is to provide a liquid crystal display device, with which the driving capability of the power supply battery can be known from the state of display of the displayed information.
One preferred form of the invention is a liquid crystal display device comprising liquid crystal display means including first and second display sections, first driving means coupled to the liquid crystal display means to dynamically drive said first display section and second driving means coupled to the liquid crystal display means to statically drive said second display section.
This invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a circuit diagram showing an electronic thermometer incorporating a liquid crystal display device embodying the invention; Figure 2 is a detailed schematic representation of the liquid crystal display device shown in Figure 1; Figures 3 and 4 are views showing the arrangement of segment electrodes constituting a numeral display element and that of corresponding back plate electrodes in the display unit shown in Figure 2; Figure 5 is a graph showing the relation between the difference in brightness between a dynamic display section and a static display section in the liquid crystal display unit shown in Figure 2 and the output voltage of the power supply battery; and Figure 6 is a view showing a display state of the liquid crystal display unit which includes a battery state display section.
Figure 1 shows an electronic thermometer circuit including a liquid crystal display system according to the invention.
This electronic thermometer circuit includes a thermistor 2, an oscillating circuit 4 whose output pulse frequency varies with changes in the resistance of the thermistor, and a reference oscillator 6 producing reference pulse signal. The output terminal of the oscillator 4 is connected to a counter 8, and the output terminal 6 is connected to counters 10 and 12. The counter 10 has a first output terminal for controlling the operating state of the counter 8 and a second output terminal. An output signal at the second output terminal of the counter 10 is used to set a memory 4 for storing reference temperature information into a reading mode and also to set an operation circuit 16 into an arithmetic operation mode.The operation circuit 16 performs calculations on the basis of the contents of the counter 8 and memory 14to produce a digital signal corresponding to the temperature of the atmosphere surrounding the thermistor 2. The digitial output signal from the operation circuit 16 is converted in a decoder 18 into a digital display signal and then supplied to a dynamic display driver 20. The dynamic display driver 20 drives a dynamic display section 22 of a liquid crystal display unit 24 in response to the first output pulse signal of the counter 12 and in accordance with a digital display signal from the decoder 18. The liquid crystal display unit 24 is also provided with a static display section 26 driven by a static display driver 28 in response to a second output pulse signal of the counter 12.Coupled to the static display driver 28 is a voltage detection circuit 29, which detects the output voltage of a power supply battery E and periodically produces a high level output signal when the output voltage becomes lower than a predetermined value. The display drivers 20 and 28 and the liquid crystal display unit 24 constitute the liquid crystal display system embodying the invention. The battery E is coupled to various circuit sections for driving these circuit sections, but for simplifying the drawing the connection between the battery E and the circuit sections are omitted.
Figure 2 shows the display drivers 20 and 28 and liquid crystal display unit 24 in detail. The liquid crystal display unit 24 has front and back electrode plates 24-1 and 24-2. The front electrode plate 24-1 has four digit numeral display elements ND-1 and ND-4 each formed of seven segment electrodes arranged in the form of a figure "8" as most clearly shown in Figure 3 and a temperature unit display element TD representing a mark ""C", and the back electrode 24-2 has four digit sub-numeral display elements SND-1 to SN D-4 each formed of three back plate segment electrodes BP-1 to BP-3 arranged in the form of figure "8" as mostclearlyshown in Figure 4 and a sub-temperature unit display element STD representing a mark ""C". The segment electrodes S-1 and S-2 are coupled together, the segment electrodes S-3 to S-5 are coupled together, and the segment electrodes S-6 and S-7 are coupled together.
The front and back electrode plates 24-1 and 24-2 are so arranged that a liquid crystal plate (not shown) is sandwiched between them to display numerals according to the voltages selectively applied to the segment electrodes S-1 to S-7 and back plates BP-1 to BP-3.
The dynamic display driver 20 includes a segment electrode driver 20-1 and a back plate electrode driver 20-2. The segment electrode driver 20-1 includes four output cables 31 to 34 coupled to the respective numeral display elements ND-1 to ND-4, and each cable has a first output line commonly connected to the segments S-l and S-2 of each numeral display element, a second output line commonly connected to the segments S-3 to S-5 and a third output line commonly connected to the segments S-6 and S-7. The back plate electrode driver 20-2 has three output lines commonly connected to the respective back plate electrodes BP-1, BP-2 and BP-3 of the sub-numeral display elements SND-1 and SND-4.
The static display driver 28 includes a flip-flop circuit 28-1 having the Q output terminal connected to the temperature unit display element TD, AND gates 28-2 and 28-3 each having one input terminal connected to the Q and Q output terminals of the flip-flop circuit 28-1 and an OR gate 28-4 having input terminals respectively connected to the outputter- minals of the AND gates 28-2 and 28-3 and an output terminal connected to the sub-temperature unit display element STD. The output signal of the voltage detection circuit 29 is supplied to the other input terminal of the AND gate 28-3, and is also supplied after inversion to the other input terminal of the AND gate 28-2.
Now, the operation of the electronic thermometer circuit shown in Figures 1 and 2 will be described.
The oscillator 4 is oscillating at a frequency corresponding to the resistance of the thermistor 2, and the oscillator 6 is oscillating at a reference frequency. The counter 10, which counts output pulses from the oscillator 6, supplies a high level output signal to the counter 8 through the first output line when its count is between C1 and C2. As a result, the counter 8 is set into a counting mode for counting output pulses from the oscillator 4. When the content of the counter 10 reaches C2, counter8 stops counting operation to hold the prevailing count. When the content of the counter 10 is between C2 and C3, it produces a high level output signal from the second output terminal for rendering the memory 14 into a reading mode and also setting the operation circuit 16 into the operating mode.As a result, the operation circuit 16 effects calculations based on the count data of the counter 8 and the reference temperature data from the memory 14 and produces a temperature display signal representing the temperature of the atmosphere surrounding the thermistor 2. The decoder 18 supplies digital data which corresponds to the temperature display signal from the operation circuit 16 to the dynamic display driver 20.The segment electrode driver 20-1 of the dynamic display driver 20 receives the digital data from the decoder 18 and the first output pulse signal from the counter 12 which divides the frequency of the output pulse signal of the oscillator 6, and supplies the segment electrode driving signals corresponding to the digital data from the decoder 18 through the cables 31 to 34 to the numeral display elements ND-1 to ND-4 with a timing determined by the first output pulse signal of the counter 12.
Meanwhile, the back plate electrode driver 20-2 successively and repeatedly energizes the back plate electrodes BP-1 to BP-3 of the sub-numeral display elements SND-1 to SND-4with a timing determined by the first output pulse signal of the counter 12.
Based on the energization states of the segments S-l to S-7 of the numeral display elements ND-1 to ND-4 and the energization states of the back plate electrodes of the sub-numeral display elements SND-1 to SND-4, a four digit numeral corresponding to the temperature display signal from the decoder 18 is displayed on the dynamic display section 22.
The output state of the flip-flop circuit 28-1 of the static display driver 28 is switched according to the second output pulse signal of the counter 12. When no high level output signal is produced from the voltage detection circuit 29, that is, when the output voltage from the power supply battery E is sufficiently high, the8 output signal oftheflip-flop circuit 28-1 is supplied through the AND gate 28-2 and OR gate 28-4 to the sub-temperature unit display element STD. Meanwhile, the Q output signal is supplied from the flip-flop circuit 28-1 to the temperature unit display element TD, so that the mark ""C" is displayed on the static display section 26.
When the output voltage of the power supply battery E becomes lower than a predetermined value, a high level output signal is periodically produced from the voltage detection circuit 29. With the high level output signal from the voltage detection circuit 29, the AND gate 28-3 is enabled and therefore the Q output signal of the flip-flop circuit 28-1 is supplied through the AND gate 28-3 and OR gate 28-4 to the sub-temperature unit display element STD. This means that in-phase driving signals are supplied to the display elements TD and STD, so that the mark ""C" is not displayed in the static display section 26. Thus, while the high level output signal is periodically supplied from the voltage detection circuit 29, the mark ""C" is repeatedly turned on and off on the static display section 26, so that the user readily recognizes that it is high time to replace the battery.
Figure 5 shows the relation between the driving voltage and the difference in brightness or contrast between the display portion and the background portion of the display portion which is obtained when the dynamic display section 22 and static display section 26 are driven by the same driving voltage. In the Figure, the solid line shows the contrast in the dynamic display section, and the broken line shows the contrast in the static display section. As is clearly shown in Figure 5, when the output voltage of the power supply battery is sufficiently high, the contrast in the dynamic display section 22 is substantially the same as that in the static display section 26, and a difference in the contrast is produced when the output voltage becomes lower than a predetermined value.Thus, whether the power supply battery is still effective or not can be readily confirmed from the observation of the contrast of, for instance, a numeral "36.98" displayed on the dynamic display section 22 and the mark ""C" displayed on the static display section 26, as shown in Figure 6. The display unit shown in Figure 6 is also provided with a battery state display section 36. The display section 36 includes a semicircular electrode 36-1 driven by the dynamic display driver 20 and a semi-circular electrode 36-2 driven by the static display driver 28, and the state of the power supply battery can also be seen from the contrast of the semi-circular electrodes 36-1 and 36-2.
While the invention has been described in connection with an embodiment thereof, this embodiment is not limited thereto.
For example, while the liquid crystal display device of Figure 1 according to the invention is assembled in an electronic thermometer, it may also be assembled in other measuring instruments, for instance, an instrument for measuring pressure or weight which uses not a thermistor but a piezoelectric element. Of cource, in some cases, it is possible to change the number of the numeral digits in the dynamic display section 22 and also change the unit mark in the static display section 26.

Claims (8)

1. A liquid crystal display device comprising: a liquid crystal display means including first and second display sections, a first driving means coupled to said liquid crystal display means to dynamically drive said first display section, and a second drive means coupled to said liquid crystal display means to statically drive said second display section.
2. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 1,wherein said first display section in said liquid crystal display means has a plurality of numeral display elements, and said second display section has a unit display element.
3. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said liquid crystal display means further includes a third display section energized by said first driving means and a fourth display section disposed adjacent to said third display section and energized by said second driving means.
4. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 3, further comprising control means for supplying a control signal to said second driving means when the output voltage of a power supply battery is detected to be lower than a predetermined value.
5. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 4, wherein when the output voltage of said power supply battery is detected to be lower than the predetermined value said control means supplies a control signal to said second driving means for periodically rendering the display output signal from said second driving means ineffective.
6. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising control means for supplying a control signal to said second driving means when the output voltage of a power supply battery is detected to be lower than a predetermined value.
7. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the output voltage of said power supply battery is detected to be lower than a predetermined value said control means supplies a control signal to said second driving means for periodically rendering the display output signal from said second driving means ineffective.
8. A liquid crystal display device, substantially as herein before described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
GB7944189A 1978-12-23 1979-12-21 Liquid crystal display device Expired GB2043318B (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP16070478A JPS5587194A (en) 1978-12-23 1978-12-23 Battery consumption detection in liquid crystal display circuit
JP8214879A JPS567011A (en) 1979-06-29 1979-06-29 Liquid crystal indicator driving system

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB2043318A true GB2043318A (en) 1980-10-01
GB2043318B GB2043318B (en) 1982-10-20

Family

ID=26423163

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB7944189A Expired GB2043318B (en) 1978-12-23 1979-12-21 Liquid crystal display device

Country Status (3)

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DE (1) DE2951760C2 (en)
FR (1) FR2444956A1 (en)
GB (1) GB2043318B (en)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2202952A (en) * 1987-03-31 1988-10-05 Michael Kennedy Pressure measuring apparatus
US5191797A (en) * 1990-04-24 1993-03-09 Itw Limited Miniature electronic pressure gauge
GB2228333B (en) * 1989-02-09 1993-09-22 Banner Eng Signal strength indicator with alarm
GB2319616A (en) * 1996-11-11 1998-05-27 Lg Electronics Inc An apparatus for displaying a temperature on a video display appliance

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3432247C2 (en) * 1984-09-01 1986-12-18 Mannesmann Kienzle GmbH, 7730 Villingen-Schwenningen Arrangement for displaying a malfunction of a liquid crystal display
DE3734979A1 (en) * 1986-10-16 1988-04-28 Olympus Optical Co ENDOSCOPE

Family Cites Families (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB1354392A (en) * 1970-10-27 1974-06-05 Suwa Seikosha Kk Electronic timepieces and display means therefor
CH539315A (en) * 1971-12-03 1973-07-15 Bbc Brown Boveri & Cie Information carriers for projection purposes
JPS5840150B2 (en) * 1974-02-26 1983-09-03 シチズン時計株式会社 electronic clock
CH662773A4 (en) * 1973-05-10 1976-02-27
JPS579756Y2 (en) * 1975-01-29 1982-02-24
JPS51128573A (en) * 1975-05-01 1976-11-09 Seiko Instr & Electronics Ltd Electronic timer with battery life dispay
US4110967A (en) * 1975-09-02 1978-09-05 Hiro Fujita Method and system for driving liquid crystal display device
JPS5282486A (en) * 1975-12-29 1977-07-09 Seiko Instr & Electronics Ltd Electronic watch

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2202952A (en) * 1987-03-31 1988-10-05 Michael Kennedy Pressure measuring apparatus
GB2202952B (en) * 1987-03-31 1991-06-05 Michael Kennedy Pressure measuring apparatus
GB2228333B (en) * 1989-02-09 1993-09-22 Banner Eng Signal strength indicator with alarm
US5191797A (en) * 1990-04-24 1993-03-09 Itw Limited Miniature electronic pressure gauge
GB2319616A (en) * 1996-11-11 1998-05-27 Lg Electronics Inc An apparatus for displaying a temperature on a video display appliance
GB2319616B (en) * 1996-11-11 1999-07-14 Lg Electronics Inc An apparatus for displaying a room temperature and a body temperature for a video display appliance

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE2951760C2 (en) 1986-01-02
DE2951760A1 (en) 1980-06-26
FR2444956A1 (en) 1980-07-18
GB2043318B (en) 1982-10-20
FR2444956B1 (en) 1984-11-30

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Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
746 Register noted 'licences of right' (sect. 46/1977)
PCNP Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee

Effective date: 19931221