JP2003057629A - Display panel device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a display panel device having appearance unity and a good design characteristic without adopting a large liquid crystal display. SOLUTION: The display panel device is provided with a plurality of LCD display units 4, light transmission bodies 5 disposed between liquid crystal displays 4c of the LCD units 4, and a light source 2 for lighting the light transmission bodies 5. The lighting color of the light transmission bodies 2 is set to be a color almost equivalent to a background color displayed on the liquid crystal displays 4c. Thereby, a visual effect as if the area of the liquid crystal displays 4c are expanded is brought about because the region where the light transmission bodies 5 are present is viewed like the background of liquid crystal displays 4c when a power source is in an ON state.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a relatively large-sized display panel device incorporating a plurality of LCD displays, and more particularly to a display panel device suitable for mounting on a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, LCD display devices have been widely used in in-vehicle display panel devices, and large display panel devices incorporating a plurality of LCD display devices have also been proposed. In such a conventional display panel device, the display screen (so-called liquid crystal screen) of the LCD display is exposed at the window provided on the light-shielding front plate, and desired visual information is displayed on the liquid crystal screen. It is like this. LCD like this
By incorporating a display device, a clear and beautiful image can be displayed on the liquid crystal screen, so that a display panel device having an extremely good display quality can be obtained.

[0003]

By the way, in a vehicle mounted display panel device, when it is attempted to display all visual information such as speed data, fuel data or a navigation system on a liquid crystal screen, a plurality of LCD display devices are usually used. Must be incorporated. However, when a plurality of liquid crystal screens and a light-shielding front plate are arranged side by side, each liquid crystal screen that becomes a light emitting region and the front plate (non-display) existing between these liquid crystal screens, especially when the power is on at night. (Light emitting area)
Therefore, the brightness and color tone are extremely different from each other, so that the overall appearance is not uniform and it is easy to give the impression that a plurality of liquid crystal screens are simply arranged in a dispersed manner.
That is, since the contrast of brightness and color tone of each liquid crystal screen and the other area is too strong, it is not easy to visually impress the unity of the display panel device.
Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to enhance the design of the entire device and it is difficult to produce a high-class feeling.

Therefore, it is conceivable to adopt a large-sized liquid crystal screen capable of collectively displaying various kinds of information to significantly expand the light emitting area in the display panel, thereby enhancing the appearance uniformity as a display panel device. To be However, as is well known, the larger the liquid crystal screen of an LCD display, the worse the manufacturing yield and the cost thereof. Therefore, if a structure including a large liquid crystal screen is used, the display panel device becomes extremely expensive. It is not desirable because it becomes.

The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances of the prior art as described above, and an object thereof is to provide a display having a uniform appearance and a good design without using a large liquid crystal screen. It is to provide a panel device.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a plurality of LCDs.
In a region existing between the liquid crystal screens of the display, a light guide capable of illuminating with a color similar to the background color of these liquid crystal screens is provided. Accordingly, when the power is on, it is possible to set each liquid crystal screen and the other regions so as not to show an extreme difference in brightness and color tone, and thus it is possible to enhance the unity in appearance of the display panel device.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the display panel device of the present invention, a plurality of LCD displays, a light guide disposed between the display screens (liquid crystal screens) of these LCD displays, and this light guide are provided. A light source for illuminating is provided, and the illumination color of the light guide is set to a color substantially equal to the background color displayed on the liquid crystal screen.

In this way, if a light guide is provided in a region existing between liquid crystal screens of a plurality of LCD displays, and the illumination color of this light guide is made to resemble the background color of the liquid crystal screen, the power is turned on. At this time, since the region where the light guide exists is visually recognized like the background of the liquid crystal screen, it is possible to provide a visual effect as if the area of the liquid crystal screen was enlarged. Therefore, even if an expensive large-sized liquid crystal screen is not used, it is possible to give the display panel device a unified appearance and significantly improve its design.

Further, in the display panel device having such a structure, if the light guide is arranged on the front side of the peripheral edge of the liquid crystal screen so as to be overlapped, the black line framing the liquid crystal screen is hidden by the light guide. Therefore, a clear boundary line between the liquid crystal screen and the light guide is not visible, and the design is further enhanced.

In addition, in the display panel device having such a structure, a semi-transparent cover member is attached to a region which covers the liquid crystal screen and the light guide body so as to make it difficult to see the liquid crystal screen and the light guide body in a power-off state from the outside. By setting the light transmittance of this semi-transparent cover member to an appropriate value,
The image displayed on the LCD screen can be viewed without any hindrance when the power is on, and it can give the impression of having a uniform appearance even when the power is off when the liquid crystal screen or the light guide does not emit light. it can.

[0011]

EXAMPLES Examples will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of an in-vehicle display panel device according to this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

In these figures, reference numeral 1 is a resin case which is a frame body of a display panel device, 2 is a light source including a lamp or a fluorescent tube, 3 is a circuit board on which the light source 2 is mounted, and 4 is an LCD 4a. And a circuit portion 4b
D display device, 5 is a light guide body whose front surface emits light with substantially uniform brightness by guiding the light from the light source 2, 6 is a colored sheet attached to the front surface (illumination surface) of the light guide body 7, Is a translucent cover member that closes the opening 1a of the resin case 1 from the back side.

Inside the resin case 1, a plurality of (for example, 3
LCD display units 4 are provided, and the front surface of the LCD 4a of each LCD display unit 4 serves as a display screen (liquid crystal screen) 4c. These plural liquid crystal screens 4c are
The resin case 1 is arranged in a dispersed manner at various locations facing the opening 1a, and various visual information such as speed data and fuel data is displayed on a dedicated liquid crystal screen 4c. The background color of the image displayed on each liquid crystal screen 4c is set to a similar color (for example, blue). Light guide 5
Is made of acrylic resin or the like having a high light transmittance, and is processed into a shape such that the light of the light source 2 is almost evenly spread over the illuminated surface. A window portion 5a for exposing the liquid crystal screen 4c is formed in the light guide body 5, and a peripheral portion of the window portion 5a is overlapped with a front surface side of the peripheral edge of the liquid crystal screen 4c. The coloring sheet 6 is a non-glare sheet made of a polycarbonate resin or the like, and when the light of the light source 2 passes through the coloring sheet 6 through the light guide body 5, it changes into a light having a hue similar to the background color. The semi-transparent cover member 7 is for making each liquid crystal screen 4c and the light guide 5 in the power-off state difficult to see from the outside, and is made of, for example, a dark-colored smoke sheet. However, the semi-transparent cover member 7 is set to have a light transmittance such that an image displayed on the liquid crystal screen 4c can be viewed without any trouble when the power is on.

The display panel device having the above structure is
Since the light guide 5 is arranged in a region existing between the liquid crystal screens 4c of the plurality of LCD displays 4, and the illumination color of the light guide 5 is similar to the background color of the liquid crystal screen 4c, the power is turned on. At this time, the area where the light guide 5 is present gives a viewer an impression like a background of the liquid crystal screen 4c. Moreover, since the peripheral edge of the window 5a of the light guide 5 is overlapped with the peripheral edge of the liquid crystal screen 4c, the black line (not shown) framing the liquid crystal screen 4c is hidden by the light guide 5. As a result, it cannot be seen from the outside, and therefore no clear boundary line is visible between the liquid crystal screen 4c and the light guide 5. Therefore, by illuminating the light guide body 5, it is possible to bring about a visual effect as if the area of the liquid crystal screen 4c is enlarged.
The appearance uniformity of the display panel device is improved. That is,
Even if an expensive large-sized liquid crystal screen is not used, the design of the display panel device can be significantly improved by combining the plurality of liquid crystal screens 4c and the light guide 5.

Further, in the display panel device according to this embodiment, a semitransparent cover member 7 is arranged in a region covering the liquid crystal screen 4c and the light guide 5, and the semitransparent cover member 7 is provided.
Thus, the liquid crystal screen 4c and the light guide 5 in the power-off state can be made difficult to see from the outside. That is, since the liquid crystal screen 4c and the light guide body 5 do not emit light when the power is off, if the light transmittance of the semitransparent cover member 7 is set to an appropriate value, the liquid crystal screen 4c is displayed when the power is on. It is possible to set the image so that the entire image covered by the semitransparent cover member 7 looks black and the liquid crystal screen 4c and the light guide 5 are difficult to be seen from the outside when the power is off. Therefore, regardless of whether the power is on or off, the display panel device can always give the impression of a uniform appearance, giving a viewer a high-class image.

In the above-described embodiment, the coloring sheet 6 is used to illuminate the light guide 5 with a desired color. However, a light source 2 is provided with a cap for coloring, or the light source 2 and the light guide are guided. A coloring filter may be attached to the body 5. Further, if a filter whose tint to be colored by electrical control is changeable is used as the coloring filter, the illumination color of the light guide 5 can be easily adjusted even when the background color of the liquid crystal screen 4c is changed. Because you can
Usability is improved.

[0017]

The present invention is carried out in the form as described above, and has the following effects.

Since a light guide capable of illuminating with a color similar to the background color of these liquid crystal screens is provided in a region existing between the liquid crystal screens of a plurality of LCD displays, when the power is on, each liquid crystal screen is It can be set so as not to show an extreme difference in brightness and color tone from other areas. As a result, it is possible to provide a display panel device having a uniform appearance and a good design, without using an expensive large-sized liquid crystal screen.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of an in-vehicle display panel device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 resin case 2 light sources 4 LCD display 4a LCD 4b circuit part 4c Display screen (LCD screen) 5 Light guide 5a window 6 Coloring sheet 7 Semi-transparent cover member

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G09F 9/35 G09F 9/35 9/40 301 9/40 301 F term (reference) 2H038 AA55 BA01 2H088 EA01 EA23 HA10 HA22 HA28 HA30 MA20 2H091 FA23 FA41Z FA45Z LA16 LA30 MA03 5C094 AA60 BA43 DA01 ED01 ED02 HA05 5G435 AA00 BB12 CC12 CC13 DD09 FF08 FF12 GG12 GG22 LL17

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of LCD displays, a light guide disposed between display screens of the LCD displays, and a light source for illuminating the light guides. A display panel device, wherein an illumination color is set to a color substantially equal to a background color displayed on the display screen. 2. The display panel device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide body is arranged so as to overlap the front surface side of the peripheral edge of the display screen. 3. The semitransparent cover according to claim 1 or 2, for covering the display screen and the light guide in a region for covering the display screen and the light guide in a power-off state from the outside. A display panel device having a member attached thereto.