JP2006320525A - Display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the ratio of light to be leaked uselessly without being used effectively for illumination of a liquid crystal display panel from an aperture part for display when arranging a light guide plate behind the liquid crystal display panel and then forming the aperture part for display which is arranged behind the light guide plate and through which a displayed matter can be visualized. <P>SOLUTION: A liquid crystal display device 1 is provided with the liquid crystal display panel 20 and the light guide plate 50 arranged behind the liquid crystal display panel. The displayed matter 100 is arranged behined the light guide plate 50, and the aperture part 53 for display for visualizing the displayed matter 100 is formed at the light guide plate 50. The light guide plate 50 takes lights emitted from a first lamp set 51 and a second lamp set 52 into itself through its end face. Reflection treatment for reflecting the lights from the lamp sets into the light guide plate 50 is carried out to an inclined surface 55 facing the first lamp set 51 and an inclined surface 56 facing the second lamp set 52 among surfaces forming the edge of the aperture part 53 for display. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a display device for a gaming machine. More specifically, the present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device incorporated in a gaming machine having a display object such as a rotating reel.

  Among the gaming machines, there is a genre called a swivel type. This is done by arranging a number of rotating reels (usually three) that are formed with a number of patterns on the circumference and stopping the rotation of the rotating reels in order to check whether the patterns are aligned. The winning grade is determined according to the type of the game, and a payout is made with medals and prize balls. It is widely used as a slot machine or pachislot machine.

Recently, a liquid crystal display panel is combined with a display such as a rotating reel to display a story-like image or display a guide for a game method to further enhance the fun of the game. An example of such a gaming machine can be seen in Patent Document 1.
JP 2004-283548 A (pages 4 to 27, FIGS. 1 to 16)

  When a liquid crystal display panel is combined with a display such as a rotating reel, the following configuration is usually used. That is, a liquid crystal display panel, a liquid crystal shutter, a light guide plate, and a display object are arranged from the side closer to the player's viewpoint. The light guide plate captures the light emitted from the light source from the end face and illuminates the liquid crystal display panel from the back, but in the specifications for the gaming machine, a display opening that enables visual recognition of the display object is formed in the center. Yes. The liquid crystal shutter disposed between the light guide plate and the liquid crystal display panel plays a role of showing a display object only when it is necessary to show it, and blocking it from view at other times.

  When the display opening is formed in the light guide plate as described above, the light that should be used to brighten the liquid crystal display panel escapes from the display opening, and the brightness corresponding to the power consumption cannot be obtained. It becomes a problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of this point, and reduces the proportion of light that leaks involuntarily from the display opening in the light guide plate, so that the light energy is effectively utilized for the original purpose of lighting the liquid crystal display panel. An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display device.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a liquid crystal display panel, a liquid crystal shutter, a light guide plate that illuminates the liquid crystal display panel from behind by taking in light emitted from a light source and a display object in this order from the viewpoint side. In the liquid crystal display device in which the display opening is formed in the light guide plate to allow the display object to be visually recognized, the display opening of the light guide plate has the edge of the surface forming the edge thereof. The surface facing the light source is subjected to a reflection process for reflecting light from the light source into the light guide plate.

  According to this configuration, the light that goes out of the light source and goes straight in the light guide plate and escapes from the edge of the display opening returns to the light guide plate by the reflection treatment applied to the surface forming the edge. The amount of light that illuminates the liquid crystal display panel from behind increases, the brightness of the liquid crystal screen increases, and the visibility of the liquid crystal screen improves.

  According to the present invention, in the display device having the above-described configuration, a surface other than a surface facing the light source among the surfaces forming the edge of the display opening of the light guide plate is subjected to a reflection process.

  According to this configuration, light that tries to escape from the edge of the display opening of the light guide plate that does not face the light source also returns to the light guide plate due to the reflection treatment applied to the surface. The amount of light shining from behind is further increased, the brightness of the liquid crystal screen is further increased, and the visibility of the liquid crystal screen is further improved.

  According to the present invention, in the liquid crystal display device having the above-described configuration, the surface subjected to the reflection treatment is inclined with respect to the viewpoint.

  According to this configuration, the reflected light can be dispersed in the light guide plate, and uneven brightness can be reduced.

  According to the present invention, in the liquid crystal display device having the above-described configuration, the reflection process is a blast process.

  According to this configuration, the reflection process can be performed efficiently and at low cost.

  According to the present invention, even if a display opening for visually recognizing a display object such as a rotating reel is formed in the light guide plate, it does not negatively affect the visibility of the liquid crystal display panel and has high brightness. An easy-to-see LCD screen can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 are partial cross-sectional views of a liquid crystal display device, in which different portions are cross-sectioned, and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of components.

  The liquid crystal display device 1 includes the following components. First, a bezel 10 in which a thin metal plate is formed into a frame shape is disposed on the forefront. On the back of the bezel 10, there are a liquid crystal display panel 20, a liquid crystal shutter 30, a frame-shaped inner frame 40 made of synthetic resin, a light guide plate 50, a first lamp set 51 and a second lamp set 52 of the light source, and a metal fixing. The plates 60 are arranged in this order and assembled as an assembly. This assembly is housed in an outer frame 70 made of synthetic resin and attached to a predetermined location of a gaming machine (not shown).

  A display object 100 made up of a plurality of rotating reels is disposed behind the liquid crystal display device 1. 1 and 2 indicate the presence of the display object 100 with virtual lines. A light source 110 is disposed between the liquid crystal display device 1 and the display object 100 in order to illuminate a rotating reel constituting the display object 100. The light source 110 is a cold cathode ray tube, and is arranged vertically so as to illuminate the display object 100 evenly. The display object 100 may be of an internal illumination type. In order to make the display object 100 visible from the front surface of the liquid crystal display device 1, rectangular display openings 53, 61, and 71 are formed in the light guide plate 50, the fixed plate 60, and the outer frame 70, respectively.

  The 1st lamp set 51 and the 2nd lamp set 52 are arrange | positioned at the long side opposing end surface of the light-guide plate 50, and the light-guide plate 50 takes in the light which the 1st, 2nd lamp sets 51 and 52 emit from these end surfaces. The light incident on the light guide plate 50 is redirected forward by a well-known reflection structure formed on the back side plane of the light guide plate 50, and illuminates the liquid crystal display panel 20 from behind through the liquid crystal shutter 30. A reflection sheet 54 is attached to the back surface of the light guide plate 50 in order to improve the reflection performance.

  The display opening 53 of the light guide plate 50 is bordered by four surfaces, all of which form an inclined surface with respect to the viewpoint. A surface facing the first lamp set 51 and a surface facing the second lamp set 52 are inclined slopes 55 and 56 that expand toward the liquid crystal display panel 20. Two surfaces extending in a direction orthogonal to the inclined surfaces 55 and 56 are also inclined surfaces that taper toward the liquid crystal panel 20.

  The slope 55 has a reflection process for reflecting a part of the light from the first lamp set 51 into the light guide plate 50, and the slope 56 reflects a part of the light from the second lamp set 52 into the light guide plate 50. Each is subjected to a reflection treatment. Also on the slope extending in the direction orthogonal to the slopes 55 and 56, a reflection process for reflecting the light transmitted through the light guide plate 50 into the light guide plate 50 is performed. The reflection treatment is performed by roughening the surface of the slope by blasting such as sand blasting or bead blasting.

  The reflection processing method is not limited to blast processing. The metal mold for molding the light guide plate 50 may be etched to form a fine texture pattern on the inclined surface, or a metal mirror may be deposited on the inclined surface to form a half mirror.

  The operation of the liquid crystal display device 1 is as follows. During the game, the liquid crystal shutter 30 is in a shutter closed state, that is, a cloudy state, except when the winning chance is reached, and the display object 100 is not visually recognized. Even when the shutter is closed, a certain percentage of light can be transmitted, and the surface of the liquid crystal shutter 30 shines with a predetermined luminance by the light from the light guide plate 50 and the light from the light source 110 that is reflected by the display object 100. That is, the liquid crystal shutter 30 functions as a backlight of the liquid crystal display panel 20. In this state where the display object 100 is not visible, the liquid crystal display panel 20 develops an image using the entire surface.

  When the winning chance comes, the liquid crystal shutter 30 is in the shutter open state, that is, transparent. Also in the liquid crystal display panel 20, the image disappears from a position corresponding to the display opening 53 of the light guide plate 50, and the display object 100 can be visually recognized. After that, the liquid crystal display panel 20 is played with an effect image that raises the winning mood in a place outside the display object 100.

  During the game, the light guide plate 50 continues to irradiate light in the direction of the liquid crystal display panel 20. The light traveling from the first lamp set 51 toward the inclined surface 55 and the light traveling from the second lamp set 52 toward the inclined surface 56 escapes into the display opening 53 and is not useful for illumination of the liquid crystal display panel 20. . However, since the slopes 55 and 56 are subjected to reflection treatment, a part of the light hitting the slopes 55 and 56 from the inside of the light guide plate 50 is reflected and returns to the inside of the light guide plate 50. For this reason, the light quantity which illuminates the liquid crystal display panel 20 from the back increases, the brightness | luminance of a liquid crystal screen rises, and the visibility of a liquid crystal screen improves. Further, since the light is reflected by the slopes 55 and 56, the reflected light is dispersed in the light guide plate 50, and the luminance unevenness is reduced. This also improves the visibility of the liquid crystal screen.

  In addition, light that tries to pass through the inside of the light guide plate 50 from the slope extending in the direction orthogonal to the slopes 55 and 56 into the display opening 53 is partially reflected by the reflection treatment applied to the slope. Is reflected and returns to the inside of the light guide plate 50. For this reason, the amount of light that illuminates the liquid crystal display panel from behind increases further, the brightness of the liquid crystal screen further increases, and the visibility of the liquid crystal screen is further improved. Further, since it is the slope that reflects the light, the reflected light is dispersed in the light guide plate 50, and the luminance unevenness is reduced. This also improves the visibility of the liquid crystal screen.

  Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view different from FIG. Exploded perspective view of parts

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Liquid crystal display device 20 Liquid crystal display panel 30 Liquid crystal shutter 50 Light guide plates 51 and 52 1st, 2nd lamp set (light source)
53 Display opening 54 Reflective sheet 55, 56 Slope
100 display objects

Claims (4)

From the viewpoint side, a liquid crystal display panel, a liquid crystal shutter, a light guide plate that takes light emitted from the light source from the end face and illuminates the liquid crystal display panel from the back, and a display object are arranged in this order, and the display object is disposed on the light guide plate. In the liquid crystal display device in which the display opening that enables visual recognition is formed, the light from the light source is applied to the surface facing the light source among the surfaces forming the edges of the display opening of the light guide plate. A display device, characterized in that a reflection process for reflecting the light guide plate is performed. 2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein a surface other than a surface facing the light source among surfaces forming an edge of the display opening of the light guide plate is subjected to a reflection process. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the surface subjected to the reflection process forms a slope with respect to the viewpoint. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the reflection process is a blast process.

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