JP2003015528A - Image display structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a new image display structure with finer expression properties. SOLUTION: A plurality of recessed sections (or projected sections) 2, with a slant face serving as a pixel are provided on a surface 1, on which an image is to be displayed. Each recessed section is arranged at the position of the pixel, constituting a stipple type screen. Also, each recessed section is formed, by selecting the area and/or inclination of the slant face of each recessed section, so that a prescribed image appears and disappears in the stipple type screen, according to the difference of light reflection state at the slant face.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image display structure capable of displaying an image on the surface of an object, and more particularly to a display structure capable of displaying an image depending on a viewing angle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image display structure is known in which unevenness is formed on the surface of coins, metal products, etc., and a viewer can emphasize or recognize a specific pattern depending on how light is reflected by the unevenness. There is.

For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-188898, a pattern is formed on the surface of a metal material, which is composed of a concavo-convex surface in which a large number of fine grooves extending in the same direction are arranged in parallel, and the incident angle of light and the viewer There is disclosed a configuration in which the pattern appears and disappears depending on the viewing angle. However, in such a configuration,
A single piece is meaningless, and the large number of fine grooves merely acts like hatching applied to individual areas of the pattern. That is, depending on the viewing angle, the hatching shines for each area, and that area is emphasized more than other areas. Therefore, the pattern does not disappear, and the pattern can be clearly identified by the hatching itself even when viewed from the direction in which the hatching does not shine.

On the other hand, in the latent image processing performed on a so-called "new 500 yen coin" issued as new money in 2000, a specific pattern disappears so that it cannot be distinguished from the surrounding base material at all. . On the back of this coin, "500"
A number of parallel grooves (which can be understood as a ridge) are machined inside two zeros of the number, depending on the viewing angle, the state of "500 yen" appears, no display, There are three types of display states in which vertical lines appear. Thus, a latent image is a phenomenon in which different images appear independently and separately in the same region of the object surface. The parallel grooves forming the latent image display screen are
One book constitutes each part of the image.

[0005]

As described above, the conventional image display structures use stripe-shaped uneven lines, although there are differences in the degree of appearance and emergence of images and the mechanism. Therefore, the expressiveness of the image is limited by the uneven lines, and it is difficult to freely express the gradation of fine shadows.

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel image display structure having finer expression.

[0007]

The present invention has the following features. (1) A plurality of dot-shaped concave portions or dot-shaped convex portions are provided on the surface on which an image is to be displayed, and each concave portion or convex portion is arranged at the position of a pixel forming a dot-shaped screen and Each concave portion or convex portion has an inclined surface area and / or inclination selected so that a predetermined image appears and disappears in the dot drawing screen due to the difference in the reflection state of light on the inclined surface. An image display structure characterized by being formed.

(2) Recesses or protrusions so that the display state of the dot-like screen is such that no image is displayed on the screen or two or more different images are displayed separately depending on the viewing angle. The image display structure according to (1) above, wherein the portion is formed by selecting the area and / or inclination of the slope.

(3) Some or all of the concave portions or the convex portions have two or more slopes, and the above (1).
Alternatively, the image display structure described in (2).

(4) In any one of the above (1) to (3), the shape of the concave portion or the convex portion is a wedge shape, a triangular pyramid shape, a quadrangular pyramid shape, a pentagonal or higher polygonal pyramid shape, or a conical shape. Image display structure described.

(5) In order to change the area and / or inclination of the slope, one or more conditions selected from the following (a) to (c) are selected, the above (1) to (4).
The image display structure according to any one of 1. (A) Depth of concave portion or height of convex portion. (B) The opening diameter of the concave portion or the base outer diameter of the convex portion. (C) The orientation of the opening of the recess or the orientation of the base of the protrusion.

(6) The opening shape and the opening direction of all the concave portions, or the base shape and the base portion of all the convex portions are formed to be the same, and the inclination angle of the slope of each concave portion or the convex portion. The image display structure according to any one of the above (1) to (5), wherein the image appears and disappears in the dot-shaped screen only by the difference.

(7) The recesses or protrusions provided on the surface on which an image is to be displayed are all recesses.
The image display structure according to any one of 1.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, a mode in which a concave portion is formed on the surface of an object to form an image will be described as an example.
Also in the case of using the convex portion, the basic display mechanism is the same as in the case of the concave portion, and it can be understood that “concave portion” in the following description is read as “convex portion”. However,
The positions of the reflecting slopes in the concave portions and the convex portions are opposite to each other. Further, for the sake of explanation, the shape of the recess is a wedge shape or a quadrangular pyramid as shown in FIG. 2, but the shape is not limited to this.

In the image display structure according to the present invention, as shown in a simple model in FIG. 1, a surface 1 on which an image is to be displayed is provided with a plurality of dot-shaped concave portions 2 having inclined surfaces. Each concave portion 2 has a dot-shaped screen (hereinafter, also simply referred to as “screen”) s
Are present at the positions of the pixels forming the. It is the slope of each recess that actually functions as a pixel for displaying the target image. The slope of each recess is formed by selecting the area and / or inclination of the slope so that a predetermined image appears and disappears in the screen due to the difference in the light reflection state. For example, the recesses 3 in the vertical (A1) row in FIG. 1 have inclined surfaces (surfaces that are substantially parallel to each other) having the same inclination, and the other recesses 4 are the recesses in the vertical (A1) row. 3 is formed so as not to have a slope showing the same reflection.

With the above-mentioned structure, depending on the angle at which this surface is viewed (the irradiation angle of the light source may be different), a difference occurs in the light reflection state on each slope of each recess, and a specific image appears and disappears on the screen. To do. For example, as shown in black in FIG. 1A, only the slopes located on the same side of the four recesses 3 in the vertical (A1) row are reflected all at once (inversely, a light-dark reversal state in which no reflection is performed may be performed). ), The character "1" is displayed on the screen in a dotted manner. However, when the tilt of the object is changed (viewing angle is changed) or the light irradiation state is changed,
As in (b), there occurs a state where all pixels are not reflected (or a state where all pixels are reflected to the same degree), and the character “1” in the vertical (A1) column is a dot-drawing screen. It becomes difficult to be recognized because it is buried in. That is, a latent image is formed in which the image appears on the screen depending on the viewing angle.

In FIG. 1 (a), of the four slopes in each recess of the vertical (A1) row, only the upper one slope is colored black, but depending on the viewing direction, the vertical (A1) row may have a different shape. The configuration may be such that "1" can be displayed by another slope group. In addition, only the group of one slope on the upper side is "1"
May be displayed.

The arrangement pattern of the concave portions is not limited, and it is sufficient that the concave portions are arranged so that the concave portions are present at the positions of the pixels where it is recognized that the screen is a dot-like screen when the surface of the object is seen. Preferable arrangement patterns of the recesses include a hexagonal close-packed pattern, a matrix pattern as shown in FIG. 4, an array in which the matrix is obliquely displaced like a brick line, and a completely random array. .

The outline of the dot drawing screen may be the same as the outline of the image to be displayed. For example, in the case where a screen showing the outline of a person's face (for example, a screen in which concave parts are gathered in a circle) is displayed on a slope so that the eyes and mouth change as a moving image, This is the base screen of the moving image, and the entire face is also an image. Further, the screen area may be the same as the screen of a general display device such as a television set, in which a background area and the like are added around the image area to be displayed. In either case, the screen does not disappear from the surface of the object, and a predetermined image appears and disappears on the screen.

The recess may have any shape as long as it has one or more slopes to be pixels. For example, the wedge shape as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the triangular pyramid shape, the quadrangular pyramid shape as shown in FIG. 2C, the polygonal pyramid shape with five or more sides, the conical shape, and the opening shape are complicatedly uneven. Examples include irregularly shaped cones. The conical shape here includes a frustum shape, and the apex may be sharp, flat, or spherical.

The concave shape having a dot shape means that the opening shape (the convex shape has a base shape) occupies the position of one pixel on the dot drawing screen, and the slope has a shape which functions as one pixel. It means that the aspect ratio of the opening shape. Although the aspect ratio is not limited, for example, as shown in FIG.
In the case of the quadrangular opening shape shown in, the preferable aspect ratio is about (length: width) = (0.25: 1) to (4: 1).

In the wedge-shaped recess illustrated in FIG. 2A, three surfaces other than one slope e1 are vertical surfaces.
The vertical surface is unlikely to be an effective reflective surface. In order to display an image using such a concave portion, for example, as shown in FIG. 3A, only the slope of the slope of a specific concave portion 22 of the concave portions 21 to 23 that specifically contributes to the image is specifically specified. The angle β (the depression angle with respect to the surface of the object) may be set, and the slopes of the other concave portions 21 and 23 may be set to the depression angle α.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the depression angle of the slope of the specific concave portion 32 related to the first image is β1,
The depression angle of the slope of the concave portion 33 related to the second image is set to β2, the depression angle of the slopes of the other concave portions 31 and 34 is set to α, and the like. Even with a single concave shape, a plurality of images can appear and disappear.

As shown in FIG. 3 (b), by providing a difference in the depression angle of the slope, it is possible to independently display two or more images, and to provide a slight difference in the depression angle of the slope. By doing so, it is possible to change the reflection method and change the gradation of one image stepwise.

The recess illustrated in FIG. 2B has a wedge shape having two slopes e2 and e3 like a roof of a house. With such a concave shape, the angle range in which an image can be seen is wider than that of the concave portion of FIG. 2A, and it is easy to display a large number of types of images. Further, between the image displayed on the slope e2 side and the image displayed on the slope e3 side,
The images can be clearly identified because of the large difference between the viewing angles of the screen. Such a characteristic is also advantageous for identifying an image by a machine or the like.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which an image is displayed by using the concave portion shown in FIG. In FIG. 4A, vertical V1 and V
Only the slope on the right side of each concave portion in the second row and the horizontal rows H1 and H2 has a specific angle and is reflected to display the pattern "+". Further, in FIG. 4B, only the slope on the left side of each recess in rows H1 and H2 has a specific angle, and a pattern "-" is displayed when the angle at which the screen is viewed is changed. As described above, there are intermediate states in which nothing is displayed on the screen, and there are also display states in which light and dark are reversed.

The concave portion of FIG. 2C has a quadrangular pyramid shape having four slopes, and the range of viewing angles is three-dimensionally widened as compared with the case of FIGS. 2A and 2B. More kinds of images can be easily displayed and a complicated decoration effect can be obtained.

Among the concave shapes, the conical shape shows the features of the concave shape having many slopes such as the quadrangular pyramid shape more conspicuously. That is, since there are innumerable slopes different from each other in one conical recess, by similarly changing only the slopes in a specific direction of a specific recess group (the opening shape is not circular but elliptical, etc.). It is also possible to exhibit a display action such that the image becomes a deformed annular shape) and the image continuously changes.

The recesses arranged at the pixel positions on the screen may have various shapes mixed depending on the purpose, and the depth of the recesses, the opening diameter, the direction of the opening, the size of the entire recess, etc. can be freely set. You can set it. If the opening shape is not circular, the opening diameter may be set as appropriate such as the largest dimension. The orientation of the opening of the concave portion (orientation of the base portion in the convex portion) means the posture of the opening shape appearing on the surface of the object. For example, as shown in FIG. 1A, the postures of 3 and 4 are inclined by 45 ° C. with each other even with the congruent / similar opening shape.

As described above, the image can be displayed depending on the inclination of the slope. To change the inclination of the slope,
The depth may be changed or the opening diameter may be changed. Further, even if the slopes have the same inclination, it is possible to add shade to the image by changing the area of the slopes. By combining the size of the slope and the size of the area, it is possible to express more complex and delicate shades.

For example, in the example of FIG. 5, the directions of the openings are different between the concave portions in the vertical columns V1 to V5 and the concave portions in the horizontal rows H1 to H3, and depending on the viewing angle, the image in the horizontal rows H1 to H5 is displayed. And the images in the vertical V1 to V5 columns are displayed separately. Further, among the same columns, only the V3 column is similar in size to the recesses in the other rows, and in the same row, only the H2 line is similar in size to the recesses in the other rows. Has become. Therefore, the horizontal line at the center of FIG. 5A and the vertical line at the center of FIG. 5B are dark images.

As shown in FIG. 1, by changing only the direction of the concave portion corresponding to the target image, it becomes possible to easily and clearly make the image appear and disappear. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, if the recesses have the same opening shape and the same opening direction, and the image appears and disappears only due to the difference in the slope of each recess, the image is not displayed. Then, it is difficult to identify that the image is hidden, because all the recesses have exactly the same opening,
The appearance of images becomes more vivid.

The material of the object having the surface on which the image is to be displayed is metal, plastic, wood, concrete, stone, sand,
Solids such as powder, paper and ground are preferred. Among these, materials having high reflectivity are preferable, and metals and plastics are preferable. In addition, even if the material does not have reflectivity, the surface of the formed recess may be subjected to surface treatment such as plating, vapor deposition, and coating. Further, even with a fluid, an image can be displayed by arranging concave parts or convex parts on the surface while maintaining the directionality.

The type of article having a surface on which an image is to be displayed is not limited, and includes, for example, small items such as ornaments and coins and medals, tools and figurines, advertising panels, monuments, buildings, and land. Good. Further, the image display structure is not only provided in addition to the article, but may be a decoration mainly having only the image display structure such as a painting or a sticker.

The opening diameter and arrangement density of the recesses are several tens of μm to several m depending on the size of the screen and the viewing distance.
Further, a size larger than that may be appropriately selected. For example, when the target article is a small coin or the like, it is held in a hand and the screen is viewed at a distance of about 20 to 30 cm. In such a case, although depending on the complexity of the image, the outer diameter of each concave portion is about 25 μm to 500 μm, the depth of the portion is about 5 μm to 500 μm, and the arrangement pitch is 25 μm to 75 μm.
About 0 μm is preferable. These values are preferable ranges for making an image look beautiful, and do not limit the present invention. Further, when a screen is formed on the wall surface of a building and the change of the image is shown from a distance, the size of each recess and the arrangement pitch may be enlarged according to the distance to the screen.

As a method of forming the concave portion and the convex portion, for example,
Forging, rolling, molding, casting, cutting and the like can be mentioned.
In the formation by forging, rolling, cutting, etc., the processing of the recess tends to make it easier to obtain a high quality product having no sink mark or chip. Further, the concave portion is relatively less damaged than the convex portion even when it is hit from the outside. In addition, the concave portion does not increase the external dimensions of the article. From these points, the image display structure by the concave portion is a preferable aspect.

The image display structure allows images to appear and disappear depending on the viewing angle, and in particular, a plurality of images can appear and disappear independently in the same screen. Therefore, if the parallax of both eyes is used, it is possible to display a stereoscopic image by the image display structure. The image to display is
The image may be any type such as a picture, a character, a symbol, or a pattern, but may be an image in which each pixel randomly shines.

[0038]

The image display structure according to the present invention does not display an image by a set of scanning lines as in the prior art, but may show a dot-shaped image as a set of dot-shaped depressions or projections. it can. Therefore, the degree of freedom of expression is improved as compared with the related art, and it becomes possible to provide fine shade gradation in multiple directions.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an image display structure according to the present invention with a simple configuration example. In FIG. 1A, the slope that is specifically reflected to display an image is shown in black (the same applies to the following figures).

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the shape of a recess. In the case of convex portions, these concave portions are inverted and protruded.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an inclination of each slope.

FIG. 4 is an example of a case in which an image is displayed by forming an image display structure using the recess shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example in which shading is added to an image by changing the area of a slope.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Surface to display image 2 Concave (or convex) with slope S dot drawing screen

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Jun Yoshida             1-179 Tenma, Kita-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture             Ministry of Internal Affairs and Mining Bureau F-term (reference) 5C096 AA11 BA03 CA04 CA15 CB01                       CE01 CE24 FA05

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A surface on which an image is to be displayed is provided with a plurality of dot-shaped concave portions or dot-shaped convex portions, and each concave portion or convex portion is arranged at a position of a pixel forming a dot-shaped screen.
In addition, each concave or convex portion has an inclined surface area and / or inclination so that a predetermined image appears and disappears in a dotted image due to a difference in light reflection state on the inclined surface. An image display structure characterized by being selected and formed. 2. A display state of a dot-shaped screen is a state in which an image is not displayed in the screen depending on a viewing angle, and 2.
So that the above different images are displayed separately,
The image display structure according to claim 1, wherein each concave portion or convex portion is formed by selecting an area and / or inclination of a slope. 3. The image display structure according to claim 1, wherein some or all of the concave portions or the convex portions have two or more slopes. 4. The concave or convex shape is wedge-shaped,
The image display structure according to claim 1, wherein the image display structure has a triangular pyramid shape, a quadrangular pyramid shape, a pentagonal or more polygonal pyramid shape, or a conical shape. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein one or more conditions selected from the following (a) to (c) are selected in order to change the area and / or the inclination of the slope. Image display structure described. (A) Depth of concave portion or height of convex portion. (B) The opening diameter of the concave portion or the base outer diameter of the convex portion. (C) The orientation of the opening of the recess or the orientation of the base of the protrusion. 6. An opening shape and an opening direction of all the concave portions, or a base shape and a base portion of all the convex portions are formed to be the same as each other, and the inclination angles of the slopes of the concave portions and the convex portions are different from each other. The image display structure according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the image appears and disappears in the dot-striped screen only by the difference. 7. The image display structure according to claim 1, wherein all the concave portions or convex portions provided on the surface on which an image is to be displayed are concave portions.