JP2004302290A - Liquid crystal display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To fix a panel holder, which supports a liquid crystal panel, in an exterior housing without looseness only with a lock means without requiring any additional component. <P>SOLUTION: A liquid crystal display device uses the lock means comprising a locking protrusion 24 formed on a side frame 21 of a panel holder 20 and a lock hole 34 formed on a side frame 32 of the exterior housing 30 to fit the panel holder 20 in the exterior housing 30. An elastic deformation part 211 which is equipped with the locking protrusion 24 and can elastically and partially deform is formed on the side frame 21 of the panel holder 20 and this elastic deformation part 211 is provided with a press abutting part 25 which projects from a side frame external wall surface 21a of the panel holder 20 and abuts against an internal wall surface of the exterior housing 30 when the locking protrusion 24 is fitted in the lock hole 34. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, to a locking structure of a panel holder that supports a liquid crystal panel and an exterior housing that houses the panel holder.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, demands for liquid crystal display devices, especially liquid crystal display devices for portable devices, have become increasingly strong in weight and thickness. For this reason, not only the liquid crystal panel itself has been reduced in thickness, but also the weight and thickness of the panel holder and exterior housing that support it have been reduced.
[0003]
In addition, the transmissive or transflective liquid crystal panel has a backlight on the back side (opposite observation side). Backlights are classified into a direct type and a sidelight type according to the arrangement of light sources.Since the sidelight type can be made thinner than the direct type, it is particularly preferable for a liquid crystal display device for a portable device or the like. Has been adopted.
[0004]
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view schematically illustrating an example of a liquid crystal display device including a sidelight-type backlight. In commercializing the liquid crystal panel 10 as a display device, some peripheral components are attached to the liquid crystal panel 10.
[0005]
In this example, the liquid crystal panel 10 is of a COG (chip on glass) type in which a bare chip 11 a such as an IC or an LSI serving as a liquid crystal driver is mounted on a terminal portion 11, and the terminal portion 11 is provided via a flexible substrate 14. A control circuit board 15 for driving a liquid crystal is connected.
[0006]
The panel holder 20 is used for assembling. The panel holder 20 is made of a synthetic resin having a rectangular side frame 21, and has storage portions on both sides thereof. The liquid crystal panel 10 is accommodated in one accommodating portion (a lower accommodating portion in FIG. 4) of the panel holder 20 with the back surface 12 side inside.
[0007]
A backlight 22 for irradiating the liquid crystal panel 10 with light is stored in the other storage part (the upper storage part in FIG. 4) of the panel holder 20. A light source housing 26 for the backlight 22 is provided on one side of the side frame 21 of the panel holder 20.
[0008]
The panel holder 20 is mounted inside the exterior housing 30. In this case, the exterior housing 30 is made of a metal material such as a magnesium alloy in order to provide rigidity to the entire device, and is formed as a flat box including a bottom plate 31 and side frames 32 arranged on four sides thereof. .
[0009]
The exterior housing 30 is attached so as to cover the outer side of the panel holder 20 excluding the display surface of the liquid crystal panel 10. The panel holder 20 and the exterior housing 30 are provided with locking means for preventing falling off. I have. The locking means are provided between the side frame 21 and the side frame 32 facing each other. In this example, two locking means are arranged on each of two long sides.
[0010]
One of them will be described with reference to the perspective view of FIG. 5. The locking means includes a locking projection 24 formed on the side frame 21 of the panel holder 20 and a locking hole 34 formed on the side frame 32 of the exterior housing 30. The locking projection 24 is formed with an inclined surface 241 having a forward taper in the direction in which the panel holder 20 is pushed toward the exterior housing 30.
[0011]
According to this, by forcibly pushing the panel holder 20 into the exterior housing 30, the locking projection 24 rides over the side frame 32 of the exterior housing 30 as shown by the arrow in FIG. Fit.
[0012]
After the panel holder 20 is mounted in the exterior housing 30, the flexible circuit board 14 is bent by approximately 180 °, the control circuit board 15 is placed on the bottom plate 31 of the exterior housing 30, and fixed with double-sided adhesive tape or the like. The positioning at this time is performed by positioning holes 151 formed in the control circuit board 15 and positioning pins 35 provided on the bottom plate 31 of the exterior housing 30.
[0013]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
According to the locking means (combination of the locking projection 24 and the locking hole 34), the panel holder 20 is securely held in the exterior housing 30, but the panel holder 20 is loose. There is.
[0014]
That is, both the panel holder 20 and the exterior housing 30 have dimensional tolerances inevitable in manufacturing, and a gap is formed between the panel holder 20 and the outer housing 30 due to a difference in a built-in clearance or a thermal expansion coefficient. 20 may move.
[0015]
Then, since the control circuit board 15 side is fixed to the exterior housing 30 with a double-sided adhesive tape or the like, an excessive stress is applied to the flexible board 14 interposed between the liquid crystal panel 10 and the control circuit board 15. There is a risk that the connection may be broken.
[0016]
To prevent this, the panel holder 20 may be fixed to the exterior housing 30 with, for example, a double-sided adhesive tape to seal the backlash of the panel holder 20. However, the application of the double-sided pressure-sensitive adhesive tape involves parts costs and operation costs, and is therefore not preferable in terms of cost and productivity.
[0017]
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to securely fix a panel holder for supporting a liquid crystal panel in an exterior housing by only the above-mentioned locking means without requiring any additional parts.
[0018]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a liquid crystal panel, a liquid crystal panel, a panel holder made of a synthetic resin for supporting the liquid crystal panel from the back side, and an exterior housing in which the liquid crystal panel is housed together with the panel holder. And locking means for locking the panel holder in the exterior housing, wherein the locking means comprises a locking projection formed on a side frame of the panel holder, and a locking projection of the exterior housing. And a locking hole formed at a position opposed to the liquid crystal display device, wherein the side frame of the panel holder is provided with an elastically deformable portion provided with the locking projection and partially elastically deformable. The elastically deforming portion has a pressing portion which protrudes from an outer wall surface of a side frame of the panel holder and which comes into contact with an inner wall surface of the exterior housing when the locking projection is fitted into the locking hole. Is characterized in that parts are provided.
[0019]
According to this configuration, since the pressing portion protruding from the outer wall surface of the side frame of the panel holder elastically abuts on the exterior housing, a gap generated between the panel holder and the exterior housing is temporarily reduced to a dimensional tolerance. Even if it is very small in the range, it is possible to seal the backlash of the panel holder due to the very small gap, but in order to solve the above-mentioned practical problem, the panel of the pressing part The projecting height of the holder from the outer wall surface of the side frame may be set to be larger than the clearance generated between the panel holder and the exterior housing.
[0020]
Further, it is preferable that the elastically deforming portions having the locking projections are arranged symmetrically at least on two opposite sides of the panel holder, and that the pressing portions provided on each of them have the same protrusion height, According to this, the liquid crystal panel supported by the panel holder can be positioned at the center of the exterior housing.
[0021]
In order to make a part of the side frame of the panel holder an elastically deformable portion, for example, a method of forming a pair of cut grooves at a predetermined interval on the same side frame, and a method of forming a pair of cut grooves between the inner wall surface and the outer wall surface of the side frame of the panel holder. There is a method of forming, for example, a rectangular slit hole along the extending direction of the side frame from the upper end surface side or the lower end surface side, but in the case of the former method of forming a kerf, the elastic deformation portion is formed. It is preferable to make the inner wall surface side thinner so that the elastically deformable portion pushed back from the exterior housing side can be prevented from contacting the liquid crystal panel.
[0022]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a main part showing a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part in an assembled state of the first embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a main part showing a second embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view. Note that, in this embodiment, the configuration other than the panel holder may be the same as the above-described conventional example, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.
[0023]
As shown in FIG. 1, also in the present invention, as a locking means for fixing the panel holder 20 in the exterior housing 30, a locking projection 24 formed on the side frame 21 side of the panel holder 20, And a locking hole 34 formed on the side frame 30 side.
[0024]
The panel holder 20 is a molded product made of synthetic resin, but the exterior housing 30 may be made of a metal material such as a magnesium alloy or a synthetic resin material. Although FIG. 1 corresponds to FIG. 5 of the conventional example described above, the upper and lower positional relations are interchanged.
[0025]
The locking projection 24 has an inclined surface 241 on the lower surface thereof which is tapered forward in the direction in which the panel holder 20 is pushed toward the exterior housing 30, but the upper surface is substantially perpendicular to the side frame 21. It is formed as a step surface 242.
[0026]
In order to form a part of the side frame 21 including the locking projection 24 as the elastically deformable portion 211 which can be easily bent, in this example, the position of the side frame 21 is set at both sides of the locking projection 24 from the upper end surface to the lower end surface. Are provided at a predetermined depth.
[0027]
The elastically deforming portion 211 projects from the outer wall surface 21a of the side frame of the panel holder 20, and when the locking projection 24 is fitted into the locking hole 34 of the outer housing 30, the side frame 32 of the outer housing 30 is formed. A pressing portion 25 that contacts the inner wall surface is formed.
[0028]
In this example, the pressing portion 25 is provided from the step surface 242 of the locking projection 24 to the upper end surface of the side frame 21, but may be provided, for example, on one side or both sides of the locking projection 24.
[0029]
The protruding height of the pressing portion 25 from the side frame outer wall surface 21a can be arbitrarily set on condition that it is lower than the protruding height of the locking projection 24. However, the protruding height is generated between the panel holder 20 and the exterior housing 30. Preferably, it is set to be larger than the clearance.
[0030]
With the provision of the pressing portion 25, as shown by a broken line in FIG. 1, the inner wall surface 211a side of the elastic deformation portion 211 is shaved to make the elastic deformation portion 211 thinner than the other side frame portions. Is preferred.
[0031]
The amount of shaving on the inner wall surface 211a is such that the inner wall surface 211a does not protrude inward from the inner wall surface of the side frame 21 when the elastically deforming portion 211 is pushed back from the exterior housing 30 via the pressing portion 25. Therefore, it is preferable that the height is equal to or greater than the protruding height of the pressing portion 25.
[0032]
An example of an assembling procedure will be described with reference to FIG. The backlight 20 is stored in the panel holder 20. FIG. 2 shows only the light guide plate 221 and the reflection sheet 222 as its components. The liquid crystal panel 10 is housed in the panel holder 20 so that the back surface thereof faces the backlight 20.
[0033]
Then, the panel holder 20 is inserted into the exterior housing 30 so as to be pushed. At this time, the elastic deformation portion 211 bends inward, so that the locking projection 24 gets over the side frame 32 of the exterior housing 30 and fits into the locking hole 34, and the pressing portion 25 moves the side frame 32 Contact the inner wall.
[0034]
Since the elastically deformable portion 211 is pushed toward the inside of the panel holder 20 by the side frame 32 of the exterior housing 30 via the pressing portion 25, the pressing portion 25 is pressed against the inner wall surface of the side frame 32 by the reaction force. Since the panel holder 20 is elastically contacted without a gap, the panel holder 20 does not rattle in the exterior housing 30.
[0035]
Further, by forming the elastically deformable portion 211 in the thin shape as described above, even if the elastically deformable portion 211 is pushed back from the exterior housing 30 side, the inner wall surface 211a can contact the end surface of the liquid crystal panel 10. Thus, no mechanical stress is applied to the liquid crystal panel 10.
[0036]
The elastically deformable portions 211 including the locking projections 24 are preferably arranged symmetrically on two opposite sides of the panel holder 20 as shown in FIG. The liquid crystal panel 10 can be positioned at the center of the exterior housing 30 by making the protruding heights of the pressing portions 25 the same.
[0037]
Next, as a second embodiment of the present invention, a part of the side frame 21 including the locking projection 24 is formed as an elastically deformable portion 211 that can be easily bent. For example, a rectangular slit hole 213 may be formed on the back side of the.
[0038]
The slit hole 213 is formed at a predetermined depth from the upper end surface or the lower end surface between the inner wall surface and the outer wall surface of the side frame 21 of the panel holder 20. It may be a hole penetrating to the end face.
[0039]
Since the elastically deformable portion 211 formed by the slit hole 213 does not come into contact with the end face of the liquid crystal panel 10 even when it is bent inward, the inner wall surface 211a side is cut away like the elastically deformable portion 211 of the first embodiment. It is not necessary to reduce the thickness, and the mechanical strength of the side frame can be increased as compared with the case where the thickness is reduced.
[0040]
As a modification of the first and second embodiments, the elastically deformable portion may be obtained by simply shaving the inner wall surface of the side frame 21 to reduce the thickness without using the cut groove 212 or the slit hole 213.
[0041]
In the above embodiment, the case where the backlight is provided has been described, but the backlight is not an essential component of the present invention. Further, the locking hole formed in the exterior housing is formed in a substantially square shape, but is not limited thereto. The shapes of the locking holes and the locking projections, the number provided, and the like may be arbitrarily selected.
[0042]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, when the synthetic resin panel holder supporting the liquid crystal panel is mounted in the exterior housing, the panel holder is formed on the elastically deformable portion provided on a part of the side frame of the panel holder. In a liquid crystal display device using a locking means comprising a locking projection and a locking hole formed in a side frame of the exterior housing, the elastic deformation portion on the panel holder side protrudes from the outer wall surface of the side frame of the panel holder, By providing a pressing portion that comes into contact with the inner wall surface of the exterior housing when the locking projection is fitted into the locking hole, no additional parts such as a double-sided adhesive tape are required, and only the locking means is used. The panel holder can be securely fixed in the exterior housing.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a main part showing a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing an assembled state of the first embodiment.
FIG. 3 is an essential part perspective view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an exploded schematic perspective view showing a conventional liquid crystal display device.
FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing the locking means employed in the conventional example in an enlarged manner.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Liquid crystal panel 14 Flexible board 15 Control circuit board 20 Panel holder 21 Side frame 21a Side frame outer wall surface 211 Elastic deformation part 211a Inner wall surface 212 Cut groove 213 Slit hole 24 Locking projection 241 Inclined surface 242 Step surface 25 Pressing portion 30 Exterior housing 31 bottom plate 32 side frame 34 locking hole

Claims (5)

A liquid crystal panel, a panel holder made of synthetic resin for supporting the liquid crystal panel from the back side, an exterior housing in which the liquid crystal panel is housed together with the panel holder, and a member for locking the panel holder in the exterior housing. A liquid crystal comprising: a locking projection formed on a side frame of the panel holder; and a locking hole formed at a position facing the locking projection on the exterior housing. In the display device,
The side frame of the panel holder is provided with an elastically deformable portion which is provided with the locking projection and is partially elastically deformable. The elastically deformable portion projects from an outer wall surface of the side frame of the panel holder. A liquid crystal display device provided with a pressing portion that comes into contact with the inner wall surface of the exterior housing when the locking projection is fitted into the locking hole. 2. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein a height of the pressing portion protruding from an outer wall surface of the side frame of the panel holder is set to be larger than a clearance generated between the panel holder and the exterior housing. 2. The elastic deformation portion having the locking projection is disposed symmetrically at least on two opposing sides of the panel holder, and the pressing portions provided on each of them have the same protrusion height. Or the liquid crystal display device according to 2. The elastically deformable portion is formed by a pair of cut grooves cut into the side frame of the panel holder at predetermined intervals, and the elastically deformable portion has its inner wall surface side cut to be thin. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1. The elastically deformable portion is formed by a slit hole cut along an extending direction of the side frame from an upper end surface side or a lower end surface side between an inner wall surface and an outer wall surface of the side frame of the panel holder. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein

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