JP2006164492A - Recording medium storage container having rewritable display section and its utilizing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording medium storage container in which a display section is provided to display recording contents of a recording medium and the display contents of the display section are easily changed. <P>SOLUTION: The recording medium storage container having the display section to display the recording contents of a recording medium has a feature in which the display section 3 is made of display elements 4 that can repeatedly record and erase visible information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a container for storing a recording medium such as a VTR cassette or a floppy disk, and more particularly to a container for storing a recording medium in which a display unit for displaying the recording contents of the recording medium can be rewritten and a method of using the same. It is.

  As is well known, a recording medium such as a VTR cassette or floppy disk is stored in a container made of synthetic resin or the like when not in use, and this container has a display unit for displaying the recorded contents of the recording medium. In many cases, the display portion is formed by a label attached to a container.

  The conventional container for storing a recording medium has a problem that it takes a lot of time since the label must be replaced when the recorded contents of the recording medium are rewritten. For this reason, in a container that stores a recording medium that frequently rewrites the recorded content, the recorded content is often not written on the display unit, but in this case, there is a problem that the recorded content of the recording medium is forgotten. It was.

  In addition, the recorded contents are usually written in characters on the display, but since the impression of the recorded contents fades after a long time, it may not be possible to immediately remember the recorded contents simply by looking at the characters. In particular, it is inconvenient when handling a large amount of recording media.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is a recording medium storage container having a display unit for displaying the recorded contents of a recording medium, the display unit It is an object of the present invention to provide a container for storing a recording medium in which the display content can be easily changed.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for using the recording medium storage container, wherein the recorded contents can be easily discriminated.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in a recording medium storage container having a display unit for displaying the recorded contents of a recording medium, the display unit repeatedly records and erases visible information. The display element can change the display state between the recording state and the erasure state by changing the display state to one by the action of an electric field, and changing to the other by the action of heat. Since the display unit displays two or more recorded contents simultaneously, it can be divided and displayed on two or more screens, and the range over which the action of the electric field or the action of heat is controlled, There is provided a container for storing a recording medium, characterized in that the recorded content can be displayed on a predetermined screen or the recorded content can be erased from the predetermined screen.

  Further, according to the present invention, it has a display unit for displaying the recorded contents of the recording medium, and the display unit comprises a display element capable of repeatedly recording and erasing visible information, and the display element is The change of the display state between the recording state and the erasing state is a method of using the container for storing a recording medium in which the change to one is performed by the action of an electric field and the change to the other is performed by the action of heat, Visible information obtained by processing information recorded on the recording medium can be divided and displayed on the display unit in two or more screens, and the range covered by the action of the electric field or the action of heat By being controlled, there is provided a method of use characterized in that the recorded content can be displayed on the predetermined screen or the recorded content can be erased from the predetermined screen.

  In addition, in order to perform rewrite processing at high speed and increase the number of rewrites, this display element is a liquid crystal / polymer that can change the alignment state of the liquid crystal dispersed and held in the polymer by the action of heat and electric field. It is preferable to use a composite film.

  According to the container for storing a recording medium according to the present invention, since the display unit is composed of a display element that can repeatedly record and erase visible information, there is no need to replace the label when changing the display content of the display unit. The display contents can be easily changed.

  Further, according to the method for using the recording medium storage container according to the present invention, the recorded contents of the recording medium can be easily determined by writing the visible information obtained by processing the information recorded on the recording medium to the display unit. can do. Therefore, it is particularly convenient when dealing with a large amount of recording media.

  Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a container for housing a VTR cassette, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA ′ of FIG.

  A container 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a box-shaped container made of synthetic resin or the like, and has an opening 1a for taking in and out a VTR cassette on one side. A rectangular recess 2 is provided on the upper surface of the container 1, and a display unit 3 made of a reversible display element is provided in the recess 2.

  The reversible display element constituting the display unit 3 includes a liquid crystal / polymer composite film (“Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal” film, hereinafter referred to as PDLC film) formed by dispersing liquid crystal in a polymer, and an electric field perpendicular to the PDLC film. Means for applying. As this means, both surfaces of the PDLC film may be sandwiched between electrodes. However, for the purpose of applying an electric field to an arbitrary portion, only the back surface side electrode is used, and the front surface side electrode may use an external electrode or the like. Therefore, the reversible display element includes at least an electrode (conductive layer) and a PDLC film, and a protective layer for the PDLC film is provided as appropriate. Further, when the surface of the container 1 provided with the reversible display element has conductivity, the conductive layer can be omitted.

  The principle of recording / erasing visible information of a reversible display device using a PDLC film is that the order of the liquid crystal molecular alignment is changed by heat, electric field, and (thermal-electric field mode) (homeotropic alignment or homogeneous alignment, random alignment) And light transmission (in the case of the guest-host effect using a dichroic dye in combination, the amount of light absorption of the dichroic dye) is utilized. Therefore, when using white turbid light (light scattering) in the recording state and clearing (light transmission) in the erasing state as the display state, the printing can be heated in a spot manner, for example, a heating means such as a thermal head or a laser head On the other hand, erasing is performed by applying an electric field equal to or higher than the threshold value of liquid crystal alignment to the PDLC film.

  The PDLC film has excellent performance that is optimal when applied to a recording medium storage container, as compared with various reversible display elements using a conventional heat-heat mode. That is, since the alignment state by application of an electric field changes at a high speed on the order of μsec, high-speed rewriting processing can be performed, and the number of rewritable times is sufficient. Also, the combined use of a dichroic dye provides good visibility, and since two types of external energy are used for rewriting, it cannot be easily tampered with, the display is difficult to disappear in a natural environment, and the display is highly reliable.

  As the PDLC film, for example, the one proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-71899 can be used, but among them, the PDLC film produced by the microcapsule method is liquid crystal because the liquid crystal is completely surrounded by the microcapsules. In the various points such as the absence of oozing out, the Japanese Patent Application No. 5-301489, Japanese Patent Application No. 6-33283, Japanese Patent Application No. 6-44735, Japanese Patent Application No. 6-119702, etc. The suggested ones can also be used.

  FIG. 2 shows the layer structure of the reversible display element 4 employed in the present embodiment. A conductive layer 5, a PDLC film 6, and a protective layer 7 are provided in this order on the recess 2 of the container 1. The reversible display element 4 is provided on the recess 2 by a known method such as a coating method, a printing method, a transfer method, or a laminating method.

  Examples of the polymer matrix that disperses and holds the liquid crystal in the PDLC film 6 include vinyl chloride resins such as vinyl chloride resins and vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymers, vinylidene chloride resins, polyacrylates, polymethacrylates, and acrylates. Acrylic resins such as methacrylate copolymers, polyvinyl alcohol resins, polycarbonate resins, polyester resins, epoxy resins, polyamide resins, polyurethane resins, polythiol resins, ionizing radiation curable resins that cure with ultraviolet rays or electron beams Etc. are used.

  Examples of the liquid crystal include a smectic liquid crystal, a nematic liquid crystal, a cholesteric liquid crystal, a dic cholesteric liquid crystal, a polymer liquid crystal, and a mixed system thereof. In addition, an appropriate amount of a dichroic dye can be mixed in the liquid crystal, and the display contrast can be increased by the guest-host effect, thereby improving the visibility.

  In order to disperse the liquid crystal in the polymer matrix, various methods such as a phase separation method, an emulsion method, a microcapsule method, a solvent evaporation method, a suspension polymerization method, etc. can be used. A certain emulsion method and microcapsule method are excellent, and the microcapsule method also has an effect of improving the durability of dispersed liquid crystal particles, and the microcapsule method by the in-situ polymerization method is suitable in terms of practical film thickness, display quality, etc. It is excellent in that a particle size of 10 μm or less can be obtained.

  The PDLC film 6 is normally used with a film thickness of about 3 to 23 μm. The lower limit is determined from the point of display contrast, and the upper limit is determined from the point of practical driving voltage to the alignment state of the liquid crystal.

The conductive layer 5 may be made of a material for a semiconductor region as long as the conductive layer 5 has a conductivity sufficient to apply a vertical electric field to the PDLC film 6 using a horizontal crossing path (for example, a sheet resistance of 10 ¹² Ω / sq or less). Although good conductivity is better in consideration of voltage application loss and the like. For example, the conductive layer 5 is made of a metal deposited film such as aluminum, a metal foil, a transparent conductive film such as an ITO film, a conductive coating film made of carbon black, or the like.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a terminal portion 5 a is formed at the rear edge of the conductive layer 5 so as to protrude rearward from the recess 2. This terminal portion 5a contacts the ground electrode in the index device 10 when the container 1 is mounted on the index device 10 described later. In addition, this terminal part 5a is not conspicuous by making the conductive layer 5 into a transparent material. Further, the terminal portion 5a may be extended to the back surface of the container 1, and the terminal portion 5a may be grounded by contacting the chassis of the index device 10. Further, without providing the terminal portion 5a, the charger may be arranged on the side surface of the PDLC film 6 so as to be in a non-contact state, or the liquid crystal may be aligned by bringing an electrode into contact with the PDLC film 6. .

  The protective layer 7 is appropriately provided to protect the PDLC film 6 from pressure, external force, external environment, and the like, and to provide heat resistance, wear resistance, scratch resistance, and the like to the print head 18 of the index apparatus 10 to be described later. . As the protective layer 7, a curable resin such as a thermosetting resin, an ionizing radiation curable resin that is cured by ultraviolet rays or an electron beam is preferable in terms of physical properties, and a lubricant such as a wax is added to a coating liquid or ink of these resins. A material obtained by appropriately mixing these various additives is formed entirely or partially. The thickness of the protective layer 7 is about 0.5 to 10 μm.

  The formation part of the protective layer 7 is on the PDLC film 6 or the non-formation part of the PDLC film 6 including the side surface of the PDLC film 6, that is, other than the display unit 3, for example, on the conductive layer 5, on the visible permanent fixing information, It is the whole surface of the container 1 and the base material sheet mentioned later. When the protective layer 7 is formed on the entire surface of the container 1 or the base sheet, a resin film made of polyethylene terephthalate or the like is used as the protective layer 7.

  As shown in FIG. 3, an intermediate layer 8 may be interposed between the PDLC film 6 and the protective layer 7, and an adhesive layer 9 may be interposed between the PDLC film 6 and the conductive layer 5. The intermediate layer 8 is for preventing the PDLC film 6 from being damaged when the protective layer 7 is formed by coating or the like, and the adhesive layer 9 is for improving the adhesion between the conductive layer 5 and the PDLC film 6. .

  Further, when the protective layer 7 is formed with a coating liquid, the intermediate layer 8 is used as a barrier layer with a coating liquid that does not affect the liquid crystal so that the coating solvent component penetrates into the PDLC film 6 and does not deteriorate the liquid crystal alignment performance. After forming, the protective layer 7 may be formed. The intermediate layer 8 can be formed by using a water-soluble coating liquid of a water-soluble resin such as polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, carboxymethyl cellulose, and starch. The thickness of the intermediate layer 8 is about 0.5 to 10 μm. The thicknesses of the protective layer 7 and the intermediate layer 8 are set such that an excessive voltage is not required for applying an electric field.

  By providing the intermediate layer 8, the degree of freedom in selecting the resin for the protective layer 7 is increased. For example, when an ionizing radiation curable resin such as soft urethane acrylate is used for the protective layer, excellent heat resistance, abrasion resistance, scratch resistance, Appropriate head touch and cushioning to the print head can be obtained.

  Further, the reversible display element 4 may be provided on a base material sheet having an adhesive layer on the back surface, and the base material sheet may be stuck on the recess 2.

Examples of the base sheet include polyester resins such as polyethylene terephthalate, vinyl chloride resins such as polyvinyl chloride, olefin resins such as polypropylene, acrylic resins such as polymethyl methacrylate, and styrene resins such as polystyrene. Further, a resin sheet or plate such as cellulose resin such as cellulose triacetate, paper such as coated paper, synthetic paper, metal foil, ceramic sheet, or a composite of these can be used. The thickness is appropriately selected depending on the application, but is about 50 to 1000 μm. These are usually insulative, but if they have moderate conductivity (the thickness of the base sheet used is about 10 ⁸ Ω or less), the conductive layer 5 is also used and the conductive layer 5 is omitted. You can also

  In addition, the surface of the container 1 or the base sheet is subjected to a known easy adhesion treatment such as a corona treatment, a primer treatment with a silane coupling agent, a urethane resin or the like in order to improve the adhesion with the conductive layer 5. Also good.

  Here, when the conductive layer 5 is transparent, the container 1 or the base sheet can be seen because the surface of the lower container 1 or the color of the base sheet or the surface of the recording medium inserted therein can be seen. When a hiding colored container or sheet such as milk white polypropylene resin is used, or a hiding layer (not shown) by printing or coating of white or the like is provided under the conductive layer 5, an image of the surface of the reversible display element 4 is obtained. It becomes easier to see. In particular, by using a black coloring type dye as the dichroic dye, it becomes possible to obtain black character printing on a white background, which is very easy to see.

  Next, an index device for writing and erasing information on the display unit 3 of the container 1 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the index device 10 has a rectangular parallelepiped appearance, and includes an insertion hole 11 having a rectangular cross section that extends horizontally from the front surface side toward the rear surface side. The container 1 in which the VTR cassette is inserted is inserted into the insertion hole 11 from the front end side with the concave portion 2 facing upward, and is positioned when the front end contacts the back of the insertion hole 11. Further, an operation knob group 12, a display 13 made of liquid crystal, and a power switch 14 are provided on the front surface of the index device 10, and legs 15 are attached to the four corners of the bottom surface.

  As shown in FIG. 5, above the insertion hole 11 in the index device 10, the main scanning direction (the left-right direction of the index device 10) and the sub-scanning direction (the front-back direction of the index device 10) are parallel to the upper surface of the container 1. ) And a writing / erasing mechanism 16 for writing and erasing information representing the recorded contents on the display unit 3 is provided.

  The writing / erasing mechanism 16 has a rectangular parallelepiped moving body 17 made of a synthetic resin or the like extending in the left-right direction of the index device 10. A print head 18 and an erasing head 19 are provided on the lower surface of the moving body 17. Is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 6, at one end of the moving body 17, a through hole 20 through which a support shaft 21 extending in the front-rear direction of the index device 10 slidably passes is provided. Both ends of the support shaft 21 are supported by bearings provided on a chassis (not shown) of the index device 10. The other end of the moving body 17 is provided with a screw hole 22 through which a rotating shaft 23 extending in the front-rear direction of the indexing device 10 and screwed on the outer surface penetrates and is screwed. Both ends of the rotating shaft 23 are rotatably supported by bearings provided on the chassis of the index device, and one end of the rotating shaft 23 is connected to a motor (not shown) attached to the chassis. When this motor is driven, the moving body 17 is guided by the support shaft 21 and moves in the front-rear direction of the index device 10.

  A rail 17a having a rectangular cross section extending in the longitudinal direction of the moving body 17 is engraved on the lower surface of the moving body 17 (see FIG. 5). A print head 18 is slidably engaged with the rail 17a. Yes. The print head 18 applies heat to the display unit 3 to write information, and is constituted by a laser head, a thermal head, or the like. The print head 18 has a screw hole 18a that extends in the longitudinal direction of the movable body 17 and through which a rotating shaft 24 having a screw engraved on the outer surface penetrates and is screwed. Note that both ends of the rotating shaft 24 are rotatably supported by bearings (not shown) provided on the moving body 17, and one end of the rotating shaft 24 is a motor (not shown) attached on the moving body 17. It is connected to. When this motor is driven, the print head 18 is guided by the rail 17 a and moves in the longitudinal direction of the moving body 17.

  The erasing head 19 is for erasing information written in the display unit 3 by applying an electric field to the display unit 3. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the erasing head 19 as viewed from below. As shown in FIG. 7, the erasing head 19 includes a rectangular substrate 25 extending in the longitudinal direction of the movable body 17 and a longitudinal direction on the substrate 25. An elongated voltage supply 26 arranged so as to extend in the direction and an array in the longitudinal direction on the substrate 25 and connected to the voltage supply 26 via a conductor pattern 25a formed on the substrate 25. A number of electrodes 27 are provided.

  A ground electrode (not shown) in contact with the terminal portion 5 a provided on the upper surface of the container 1 is provided at a position close to the front side above the insertion hole 11.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image processing circuit in the index device 10, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of a system for writing a part of the video recorded in the VTR cassette to the display unit 3 of the container 1. It is.

  Next, a method for writing a part of the video recorded in the VTR cassette to the display unit 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, in FIG. 9, a VTR cassette is loaded onto the VTR 201 and a reproduction operation is performed. The reproduced image is displayed on the television receiver 202. Further, a video signal is transmitted from the television receiver 202 to the index device 10 during a reproduction operation. As shown in FIG. 8, the index device 10 has an image memory 101 having a capacity for one frame, and continuously stores and rewrites a video signal for one frame (two fields) during a reproducing operation.

  Here, when a predetermined knob of the operation knob group 12 is operated to set the index device 10 to the writing mode, the rewriting operation of the image memory 101 is stopped. Then, the reproduction of the VTR 201 is stopped, the VTR cassette is taken out, and this is mounted on the index device 10. In this state, when the writing start state is set by the knob of the operation knob group 12, the video signal for one frame stored in the image memory 101 is read, and the video signal is processed by the video signal processing circuit 102. Thereafter, it is given to the drive circuit 103.

  The drive circuit 103 forms a pulse having a width corresponding to the level of the video signal for each pixel unit, and drives the print head 18 with the pulse. When the print head 18 is a laser head, the laser beam is emitted for the pulse width. The print head 18 scans in the left-right direction (main scanning direction or horizontal direction) of the index apparatus 10 and the front-rear direction (sub-scanning direction or vertical direction) of the index apparatus 10 by the moving mechanism described above, and uses a thermal head or a laser beam. The image for one frame is formed on the display unit 3 by heat. Note that the scan signal is separately generated in the index device 10, but the generation can be performed by the same method as that employed in a printer or the like.

  In addition, when an image is formed by a thermal head, in addition to what is usually called a serial head that writes information while sequentially moving in the horizontal direction as described above, a row of thermal heads for writing are arranged in the horizontal direction. A so-called line head can also be used. In this case, since only the scanning in the front-rear direction is required, an image can be formed quickly.

  Next, in order to erase the image displayed on the display unit 3, a voltage is applied from the voltage supply 26 to the electrode 27 in the range specified by the operation of the knob of the operation knob group 12. On the other hand, a ground voltage is separately applied to the conductive layer 5 of the display unit 3 via the terminal unit 5a. Therefore, an electric field is generated between the electrode 27 to which voltage is applied and the conductive layer 5, and information (image) on the PDLC film in the portion where the electric field is generated is erased.

  The display unit 3 may be divided into four areas E1 to E4 as shown in FIG. 10, and an image may be individually written and displayed in each area. In this way, a plurality of scenes can be displayed on the display unit 3. In this case, an image can be written in a predetermined area by controlling the scan range of the print head 18. In the case of erasing, a predetermined area can be erased by selecting the moving range of the erasing head 19 and the electrode 27 for applying a voltage. Note that the number of divisions of the display unit 3 is not limited to four, and can be divided into an arbitrary number.

  In the above embodiment, the case of a container for storing a VTR cassette has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to any recording medium storage container. For example, application to storage containers such as floppy disks, magneto-optical disks, optical disks, and audio cassettes is conceivable.

  In the embodiment, the case where an image is written on the display unit 3 has been described. However, information other than an image may be written. In that case, an index device capable of writing such information is required.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where the reversible display element was provided in the surface of the storage container 1, if the storage container 1 has transparency, you may provide in an inner surface side. If a protective layer, a concealing layer, or a concealing layer that also serves as a protective layer is formed on the side in contact with the recording medium, it is excellent in durability because it is less susceptible to impact from the outer surface.

It is a perspective view showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a container for storing a VTR cassette. It is an AA 'line arrow directional view of FIG. It is an AA 'line arrow directional view of FIG. 1, and is a figure which shows the other structural example of a reversible display element. 1 is a perspective view of an index device 10. FIG. It is a BB 'line arrow line view of FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a rewrite / erase mechanism 16 of the index device 10. FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the erasing head 19 as viewed from below. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing circuit of the index device 10. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a system for writing video recorded in a VTR cassette to a display unit 3. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example which divided | segmented the display part 3 into several areas, and was made to display for every area.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Container for recording medium storage 3 Display part 4 Reversible display element

Claims (4)

In a recording medium storage container having a display unit for displaying the recording contents of a recording medium,
The display unit is composed of a display element capable of repeatedly recording and erasing visible information,
The display element is a change in display state between the recording state and the erased state, the change to one is performed by the action of an electric field, the change to the other is performed by the action of heat,
Since the display unit displays two or more recorded contents at the same time, it can be divided and displayed on two or more screens.
A rewritable display characterized in that the recorded content can be displayed on a predetermined screen or the recorded content can be erased from the predetermined screen by controlling the range of action of the electric field or heat A container for storing a recording medium.   2. The display element according to claim 1, wherein the display element is formed of a liquid crystal / polymer composite film capable of changing an alignment state of liquid crystals dispersed and held in a polymer by the action of heat and an electric field. A storage medium storage container having a rewritable display section. A display unit for displaying the recorded contents of the recording medium, the display unit comprising a display element capable of repeatedly recording and erasing visible information, the display element being between the recording state and the erasing state; Regarding the change in the display state, the change to one is performed by the action of an electric field, and the change to the other is a method of using a recording medium storage container performed by the action of heat,
Visible information obtained by processing information recorded on the recording medium can be divided and displayed on the display unit in two or more screens,
A rewritable display characterized in that the recorded content can be displayed on a predetermined screen or the recorded content can be erased from the predetermined screen by controlling the range of action of the electric field or heat Of using a container for storing a recording medium having a portion.   4. The display element according to claim 3, wherein the display element is formed of a liquid crystal / polymer composite film capable of changing an alignment state of liquid crystals dispersed and held in a polymer by the action of heat and an electric field. Use of a container for storing a recording medium having a rewritable display unit.

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