JP2718621B2 - LED display unit - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an LED display unit for displaying characters, figures and the like three-dimensionally by emitting light from a large number of LEDs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An LED display unit in which a large number of LEDs (light emitting diodes) are arranged in parallel on a substrate and a light diffusing member is mounted on the front side (light emitting surface side) of the substrate is generally shown in FIG. 9 (front view). This unit is composed of a large number of LED chips
(Not shown) are vertically and horizontally aligned and mounted on the wiring pattern, and a predetermined number of lead terminals 51 protrude from the back side of the substrate 50. A light-reflecting case 60 having a U-shaped cross section for guiding the light of the LEDs to the outside of the unit is mounted on the front side of the substrate 50. A light-transmitting circular surface corresponding to each LED is provided on the front surface of the case 60. 61 are formed. The light emitted from each LED passes through the light transmitting surface 61 of the light reflecting case 60 and goes out of the unit.

In such a unit as described above, the light emitting L
By appropriately selecting the ED pattern, characters, figures, and the like are displayed, and the display is sequentially moved (scrolled) to move the image.

[0004]

However, in the conventional unit, since the light reflecting case 60 has a U-shaped cross section, that is, the front surface of the light reflecting case 60 is generally a flat surface, the display image by the LED is flat. Therefore, even if the display is scrolled, the image looks only as a two-dimensional movement.

[0005] In particular, for example, in recent display devices for amusement equipment, there is a strong demand for a display image to be viewed three-dimensionally in order to give a strong impression and entertainment to a viewer. That is expected. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an LED display unit capable of displaying an image three-dimensionally.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an LED display unit according to the present invention is an LED display unit capable of displaying an image three-dimensionally by using a large number of LEDs. A substrate on which the LEDs are arranged, a light diffusion member provided on the front side (light emitting surface side) of the substrate, and having a curved transmission surface through which the light of the LEDs is transmitted; A partition that extends to the diffusion member and guides light emitted from the LED to the light diffusion member.

[0007]

In this display unit, since the light transmitting surface of the light diffusing member is a curved surface, when the display image by the LED is moved, the image looks three-dimensional due to the curved surface. For example, when the curved surface of the light diffusing member has a convex shape protruding from the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the substrate, when the display is scrolled from one end of the substrate to the other end, an image is displayed on the light diffusing member. The curved surface appears to gradually increase as it moves from one end to the center, and conversely, gradually decreases as it moves from the center to the other end. That is, the viewer can see the image floating while moving, and provide a stereoscopic image.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an LED display unit according to the present invention will be described based on embodiments. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a display unit according to the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a front view, and FIG.
Shown in In this display unit, a chip-shaped LED 2 is provided on the substrate 1 in a lengthwise direction and a width direction of the substrate 1 by 25 × 10 2.
Are arranged in parallel. These LEDs 2 are mounted on a wiring pattern provided on the front side of the substrate 1, and this wiring pattern is connected to a predetermined number of lead terminals 3 protruding from the back side of the substrate 1.

The surface of the substrate 1 is preferably black. This is to clarify the brightness of the LED 2 and the surface of the substrate located on the back side thereof, to clarify the outline of the display image by the LED 2, and to prevent reflection by light from outside the unit. A light diffusing member 4 is attached to the front surface of the substrate 1. In this embodiment, the light diffusing member 4 is composed of a light guide plate 5 made of resin and a light diffuser plate 6 made of resin fixed to the light guide plate 5. Be composed. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the light guide plate 5 is located on the front side at the center of the substrate 1 in the longitudinal direction.
Has a gentle convex curved surface that protrudes to the maximum,
It has a partition wall 5a that completely separates each LED 2 from adjacent LEDs. The partition wall 5a is provided on the substrate 1 from the curved surface of the light guide plate 5.
In the light guide plate 5, column-shaped holes are formed by the number of LEDs by the partition walls 5 a. In addition, the partition 5
a is preferably white in order to efficiently guide the light of the LED 2 forward.

Light diffusion plate 6 for diffusing and transmitting the light of LED 2
Are similarly gently convexly curved along the curved surface of the light guide plate 5. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, portions of the light diffusion plate 6 corresponding to the cylindrical holes formed by the partition walls 5a are transparent or translucent circular surfaces 6a, respectively, and the other portions are Preferably it is black. The lead terminal 3 on the back side of the substrate 1 is connected to a control circuit (not shown) for controlling the turning on and off of the LED 2. This control circuit is the same as that of a conventional display unit, and a description thereof will be omitted. The LED 2 emits light in accordance with a pattern such as a character or a figure, and has a function of sequentially scrolling the display.

In such a display unit, for example, an arbitrary character, figure, or the like is displayed from the left side of the substrate 1, and when this display is moved to the right side of the substrate 1, an image is formed by the convex curved surface of the light diffusion plate 6. Can be seen as approaching from the left back to the front and further away from the front to the right back, and can give a stereoscopic image with a strong impression to the viewer. Of course, the same applies to the case where the display is scrolled from the right to the left.

In order to utilize the features of this display function to display drums such as pachinko machines and pachislot machines, the display units as described above are arranged side by side so that the longitudinal direction of the substrate is up and down. What is necessary is just to move from the upper side to the lower side (or from the lower side to the upper side), and the three-dimensional display can further enhance the entertainment. In the above embodiment, the flat substrate 1 is used, but a flexible substrate such as a flexible substrate or an ultra-thin substrate may be used. In this case, since the substrate can be easily bent, if the substrate is bent according to the curved surface of the light diffusing member, the distance from the LED on the substrate to the front surface of the light diffusing member becomes constant, so that the luminous efficiency is uniform. Can be.

As another embodiment, a display unit using a flexible substrate is shown in FIG. 4 (front view), FIG. 5 (longitudinal sectional view of a main part), and FIG. 6 (back view). In this display unit,
A number of chip-shaped LEDs 12 are arranged in parallel on the flexible substrate 11, and each LED 12 has one red LED element and one green LED element. Also,
On the back surface corresponding to each LED 12 of the flexible substrate 11, a plurality of plate-like reinforcing plates 13 are adhered in a row. Further, on each LED 12, as one light diffusion film 14 having a thickness of about 0.2 mm is provided as a light diffusion member for making light diffusion uniform. In addition, red LED
The arrangement of the element and the green LED element is not necessarily constant for each LED 12, but is set arbitrarily.
Of course, each LED 12 is mounted on the wiring pattern of the flexible substrate 11.

The flexible substrate 11 having the LEDs 12 is made of plastic (polyester or the like) as shown in FIG.
The mounting surface of the LED 12 protrudes from the front surface of the case 16 in a white case 16 made of a resin, and the surface on which a plurality of lead terminals (pins) 15 are attached in a projecting manner by soldering is the case 16. It is bent so as to be located on the back surface of. The mounting surface of the flexible substrate 11 is fixed to the case 16 by, for example, a stopper 17. Also, a reinforcing plate 13 is adhered to the back surface of the lead terminal (pin) 15 of the flexible substrate 11. Flexible substrate 11
The mounting surface of the LED 12 is mounted on the front side of the case 16 by fitting a leg 18a of a frame 18 having a shape as shown in FIG. Pressed. As can be seen from the shape of the frame 18 in FIG. 7, the frame 18 does not exist on the light emitting surface side of the LED 12, and the diffusion film 14 adhered to the upper surface of the frame 18.
Only exists. With this display unit, the same operation and effect as those of the above-described display unit can be obtained. In this embodiment, the flexible substrate 11 is routed from the right end in FIG. 5 to the lower surface of the case 16. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the flexible substrate 11 may be routed from both left and right ends to the lower surface of the case 16. Is also possible. Further, in this embodiment, the flexible substrate 11 and the case 1
Although the lower surface of 6 is fixed using a stopper 17, it is not limited to this, and it is also possible to fix it with a resin pin.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. In particular, the curved surface of the light diffusing member may have various aspects other than the convex curved surface. For example, if the curved surface is concave instead of convex, or in the case of a flexible substrate such as a flexible substrate, if the substrate is bent into a concave shape, the display image is gradually distant from the side,
The visual impression is opposite to the convex shape, as it gradually approaches the opposite side again. Or, if the substrate is a long type,
It is also possible to make the curved surface wavy, that is, to adopt a mode that incorporates both convex and concave curved surfaces, to give the impression that the image is wavy.

[0016]

As described above, the LED display unit according to the present invention has a structure in which a substrate on which a large number of LEDs are arranged is provided with a LED.
Since a light diffusing member having a curved transmission surface through which the light of the ED is transmitted is attached, when the display by the LED is moved, the image moves with a sense of depth according to the curved surface, and a three-dimensional display can be realized. In addition, even when a flexible substrate such as a flexible substrate or an ultra-thin substrate is used as the substrate, a three-dimensional display can be similarly performed. Furthermore, since a partition is provided for each predetermined number of LEDs and extends from the substrate to the light diffusing member and guides the light emission of the LED to the light diffusing member, the light emission of the LED can be efficiently guided to the light diffusing member. As a result, the separation of the emission colors from the adjacent LEDs separated from each other becomes clear, and a sharp display can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a unit according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the unit shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front view of a unit according to another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a main part of the unit shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the unit shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of a frame used for the unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a unit according to a conventional example.

FIG. 9 is a front view of the unit shown in FIG. 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 11 Substrate 2, 12 LED 3, 15 Lead terminal 4, 14 Light diffusing member 5 Light guide plate 5a Partition wall 6 Light diffusing plate 6a Transparent or translucent surface 16 Case 18 Frame

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An image is displayed three-dimensionally using a large number of LEDs.
An LED display unit which can be shown, comprising: a substrate on which a large number of LEDs are arranged; and a light diffusion member provided on the front side (light emitting surface side) of the substrate and having a curved transmission surface through which light from the LED is transmitted. A partition that divides the LED by a predetermined number, extends from the substrate to the light diffusing member, and guides light emitted from the LED to the light diffusing member.