JP2008287170A - Liquid crystal display device and refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid crystal display device in which surroundings of the liquid crystal panel is illuminated, and a refrigerator with which the inside of a drawn out refrigerator compartment is irradiated with light without increasing the number of components. <P>SOLUTION: In the liquid crystal display device 10, the liquid crystal panel 2 is interposed between a light guide plate 4 disposed on the front face thereof and a reflection plate 5 disposed on the rear face thereof, and the rear face of the reflection plate 5 is fixed to a substrate 9. An LED 3 is mounted in a surface nearly in level with the light guide plate 4 and makes light incident on one side end face 4a of the light guide plate 4. A cover 7 has a ceiling cover section 7a, an LED cover section 7b, a panel cover section 7c, a level difference cover section 7d, and a substrate cover section 7e. In the panel cover section 7c, at least the display range of the liquid crystal panel 2 is made transparent. In the level difference cover section 7d, at least a range confronting the other side end face 4b of the liquid crystal panel 2 is made transparent or open, and cover characters 6 etc. drawn on the substrate cover section 7e is irradiated with light. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly to a refrigerator having a liquid crystal display device arranged on the front surface.

In order to increase the convenience of conventional refrigerators, means (such as touch panels, dials, switches, etc.) for the user of the refrigerator to adjust the temperature of each refrigeration room (including the freezer room) and to set the rapid cooling, etc. There is one in which a liquid crystal display device that displays a temperature state of a refrigerator compartment, a set state, or an operation state is installed in front of a refrigerator. At this time, in a case where a liquid crystal panel is installed on the front surface of the door and an LED as a light source is arranged behind the liquid crystal panel (inside the door) (see, for example, Patent Document 1), the liquid crystal panel is not uniformly irradiated with light. For this reason, in order to solve this problem, there has been disclosed an invention provided with means for uniformly distributing the light of LEDs (for example, see Patent Documents 2 and 3).
Further, in order to increase the convenience of a refrigerator having a drawer-type storage room (same as a storage room), an invention has been disclosed in which a lamp that illuminates the lower side is provided above the drawer-type storage room (for example, (See Patent Document 4).

JP 2000-74548 A (Page 3-4, FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-22347 (page 2-3, FIG. 2) JP 2003-65654 A (Page 7, FIG. 8) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-300338 (page 2-3, FIG. 1)

In the inventions disclosed in Patent Documents 2 and 3, a liquid crystal panel is disposed in front, a light guide plate on which light is incident from an LED is disposed on the rear surface of the liquid crystal panel, and a reflector is disposed on the rear surface of the light guide plate. It is arranged. For this reason, light is uniformly irradiated over the entire surface of the liquid crystal panel, and characters and the like displayed on the liquid crystal panel can be clearly recognized. However, when the installation location of the refrigerator becomes dark, the means for performing the operation provided around the liquid crystal panel and the design characteristics drawn around the liquid crystal panel (including the cover covering the liquid crystal panel) are improved. However, there are problems that the patterns, characters, and the like are difficult to see, the operability is deteriorated, and the design is hindered.
In addition, the invention disclosed in Patent Document 4 illuminates the storage room from which the light from the lamp is drawn, so that the workability of storing and taking out the stored items is improved, but the installed lamp projects over the entire surface. For this reason, there is a problem that not only the design property is deteriorated but also the number of parts is increased and the manufacturing cost is increased.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a liquid crystal display device that can illuminate the periphery of a liquid crystal panel, and a refrigerator that can illuminate light in a drawn out storage room without increasing the number of components. With the goal.

A liquid crystal display device according to the present invention includes a liquid crystal panel, a light guide plate disposed on the front surface of the liquid crystal panel, a reflector disposed on the rear surface of the liquid crystal panel, and a substrate disposed on the rear surface of the reflector plate. An LED that enters light on one side end face of the light guide plate, and
A part of the light incident on the light guide plate is transmitted through the rear surface of the light guide plate to illuminate the liquid crystal panel, and is also transmitted through the other side end surface of the light guide plate.
In addition, a refrigerator according to the present invention includes a housing, a storage chamber that can be pulled out from the housing, and the liquid crystal display device disposed above the storage chamber,
A part of the light transmitted through the other side end face of the light guide plate of the liquid crystal display device illuminates the inside of the storage room when the storage room is pulled out.

In the liquid crystal display device according to the present invention, light (all or a part) emitted from the LEDs is partially reflected by the reflecting plate to irradiate the liquid crystal panel, and a part thereof is the other side end face of the light guide plate. Therefore, a part of the transmitted light can illuminate a range near the other side end face of the liquid crystal panel.
In other words, if an LED is placed above the liquid crystal panel, light is irradiated to the area below the liquid crystal panel, so that a means for operation is installed in the area, and operability or design is improved. By displaying characters or the like for making it appear, such a display can be easily visually recognized even when the periphery of the liquid crystal display device is dark.
Further, the refrigerator according to the present invention does not increase the number of parts, so that the manufacturing cost does not increase, and a part of the light transmitted through the other side end surface of the light guide plate of the liquid crystal display device is drawn out. Since the inside of the storage room is illuminated, workability is not deteriorated even when the place where the refrigerator is darkened or when the inside of the storage room becomes dark behind the operator.

[Embodiment 1]
1A and 1B schematically show a liquid crystal display device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, in which FIG. ), (C) are cross-sectional views (C-C cross-section of (a)) in bottom view. In FIG. 1, a liquid crystal display device 10 includes a liquid crystal panel 2, an LED 3 for irradiating the liquid crystal panel 2 with light, a light guide plate 4 for spreading the light of the LED 3 uniformly on the liquid crystal panel 2, and the light of the LED 3. A reflecting plate 5 to be reflected, a substrate 9 on which the reflecting plate 5 is installed, and a cover 7 surrounding them are provided.
The liquid crystal panel 2 is sandwiched between a light guide plate 4 disposed on the front surface and a reflection plate 5 disposed on the rear surface. The rear surface of the reflecting plate 5 is fixed to the substrate 9.
The LED 3 is disposed in substantially the same plane as the light guide plate 4, and light is incident on one side end face 4 a of the light guide plate 4. The LED 3 is discrete, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a chip LED may be used.

  The cover 7 includes a ceiling cover portion 7a, an LED cover portion 7b, a panel cover portion 7c, a step cover portion 7d, and a substrate cover portion 7e. At least the display range of the liquid crystal panel 2 is transparent in the panel cover portion 7c. The step cover portion 7d is transparent or open at least in a range facing the other side end surface 4b of the liquid crystal panel 2. On the substrate cover portion 7e, a display of characters and symbols for improving the operability of the apparatus in which the liquid crystal display device is installed, or a display of characters and patterns for improving the design is drawn ( Hereinafter, they are collectively referred to as “cover letters 6”).

Therefore, the light emitted from the LED 3 is incident on the light guide plate 4 and spreads uniformly, and a part of the light passes through the rear surface of the light guide plate 4 to illuminate the liquid crystal panel 2 (precisely, in the reflection plate 5). The reflected light is applied to the liquid crystal panel), and part of the light is transmitted through the other side end face 4b of the light guide plate 4, and part of the light is drawn on the substrate cover portion 7e 6 Can illuminate.
Therefore, since the substrate cover portion 7e is irradiated with light without installing any special irradiation means, the substrate cover portion is displayed together with the display displayed on the liquid crystal panel 2 even when the periphery of the liquid crystal display device is dark. The cover character 6 drawn on 7e can be easily visually recognized.

In the above, the LED 3 is disposed above the liquid crystal panel 2 and the substrate cover portion 7e disposed below the liquid crystal panel 2 is irradiated with light. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, The LED 3 may be arranged below the liquid crystal panel 2 to irradiate the substrate cover portion 7e arranged above the liquid crystal panel 2, or the LED 3 may be arranged on the left side of the liquid crystal panel 2 to display the liquid crystal panel 2. The substrate cover portion 7e disposed on the right side of the substrate may be irradiated with light.
Furthermore, although the thickness of the liquid crystal display device 10 is reduced by disposing the light guide plate 4 on the front surface of the liquid crystal panel 2 as described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and the rear surface of the liquid crystal panel 2 is not limited thereto. The light guide plate 4 may be further disposed behind the light guide plate 4.
Further, in FIG. 1B, the LED 3 is installed in parallel with the reflector 5 (facing downward), but the light incident on the light guide plate 4 by slightly tilting the LED 3 toward the reflector 5 side. Is actively irradiated to the reflecting plate 5 and downward.

[Embodiment 2]
2A and 2B schematically show a liquid crystal display device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention, in which FIG. 2A is a front view and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view in a side view (a cross section taken along line BB in FIG. 2A). ). In FIG. 2, the liquid crystal display device 20 includes a liquid crystal panel 2, an LED 3 for irradiating the liquid crystal panel 2 with light, a light transmission plate 8 that diffuses light, a reflection plate 5 that reflects light from the LED 3, and a reflection A substrate 9 on which the plate 5 is installed and a cover 7 surrounding them are provided.
A reflection plate 5 is disposed on the rear surface of the liquid crystal panel 2, and the rear surface of the reflection plate 5 is fixed to the substrate 9. The cover 7 includes a ceiling cover portion 7a, an LED cover portion 7b, and a panel cover portion 7c, and a light transmission plate 8 is installed at a step portion between the LED cover portion 7b and the panel cover portion 7c.

Therefore, the light emitted from the LED 3 is spread by the light transmission plate 8, and a part of the spread light is applied to the panel cover portion 7c. Therefore, the light passes through the panel cover portion 7c and illuminates the liquid crystal panel 2 (more precisely, the light reflected by the reflecting plate 5 is applied to the liquid crystal panel), and the cover drawn on the panel cover portion 7c. Characters 6 can be illuminated.
Therefore, the liquid crystal display device 20 shown in the second embodiment corresponds to the one in which the light guide plate 4 installed in the liquid crystal display device 10 shown in the first embodiment is removed and the light transmission plate 8 is installed. The substrate cover portion 7e can be irradiated with light without installing the irradiation means, and even when the surroundings of the liquid crystal display device are dark, the display on the liquid crystal panel 2 and the substrate cover portion 7e are applied. The drawn cover letters 6 can be easily visually recognized.
Note that although the LED 3 is discrete, the present invention is not limited to this, and is in accordance with Embodiment 1 in that a chip LED may be used.

[Embodiment 3]
FIG. 3 schematically shows a refrigerator according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention, in which (a) is a front view and (b) is a sectional view in side view. In FIG. 3, the refrigerator 100 has a refrigerating room 21 arranged at the top (hereinafter referred to as “top refrigerating room 21”), and the refrigerating room 22 and the refrigerating room 23 are arranged below the refrigerating room 21 in the horizontal direction. The refrigerating room 24 is disposed below the refrigerating room 22 and the refrigerating room 23, and the refrigerating room 25 is disposed below the refrigerating room 24 (hereinafter, the refrigerating rooms 21 to 25 are collectively referred to as “lower refrigerating room 26”). May be called). The uppermost refrigerator compartment 21 has an uppermost door 21a, and the refrigerator compartments 22, 23... 25 are all pull-out types and have doors 22a, 23a.

Further, the uppermost refrigerator compartment 21 and the lower refrigerator compartment 26 are provided with door switches (not shown) for detecting opening and closing of the uppermost door 21a and the lower door 26a, respectively. And when the uppermost door 21a opens, the interior lamp 11 installed in the uppermost refrigerator compartment 21 lights.
The uppermost refrigerating chamber 21 may be a drawer type, or the uppermost door 21a may have a hinge on one side edge and turn around a fulcrum. In the following description, the refrigerator compartments 22 to 25 may be collectively referred to as a “lower refrigerator compartment 26” and the doors 22a, 23a,... 25a may be collectively referred to as a “lower door 26a”.

The liquid crystal display device 10 (see Embodiment 1) is installed on the uppermost door 21a. Therefore, in the liquid crystal display device 10, since the light emitted from the LED 3 illuminates the liquid crystal panel 2 and the substrate cover portion 7e as described above, even if the installation position of the refrigerator 100 becomes dark, the substrate cover portion 7e. It is possible to visually recognize the letters 6 and the like or the letters or patterns drawn on the uppermost door 21a.
Further, since the light emitted from the LED 3 is transmitted through the other side end face 4b of the light guide plate 4 and emitted downward, the light illuminates the inside of the refrigerating room drawn out of the lower refrigerating room 26 by the light. It will be.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the liquid crystal display device of the refrigerator shown in FIG. Based on FIG. 4, operation | movement of LED3 of the liquid crystal display device 10 of the refrigerator 100 is demonstrated.
First, it is determined whether the user has operated the switch of the liquid crystal display device 10 (step 1).
When the switch operation is performed, the LED 3 is turned on to illuminate the liquid crystal panel 2 and the cover characters 6 printed on the substrate cover portion 7e of the liquid crystal display device 10 (step 2).

On the other hand, if no switch operation is performed, it is determined whether any of the lower doors 26a is opened (step 3).
If any of the lower doors 26 a is open, the process proceeds to step 2, the LED 3 is turned on, and the “open storage room” below the liquid crystal display device 10 is illuminated.
On the other hand, when the doors 21a to 25a are closed, it is determined whether the LED 3 is lit (step 4).
If the LED 3 is on, the LED 3 is turned off (step 5), and the process returns to step 1 again to determine whether a switch operation has been performed or one of the lower doors 26a has been opened.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the liquid crystal display device of the refrigerator shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, a determination (step 6) is added between step 4 and step 5 shown in FIG. 4 whether or not a certain time (about 30 to 60 seconds) has elapsed.
In this case, the LED 3 is turned off after a predetermined time has elapsed since the switch operation was completed and all of the lower doors 26a were closed.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the liquid crystal display device of the refrigerator shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, instead of turning off the LED 3 in step 5 shown in FIG. 4, the value of the current (ILED) flowing through the LED 3 is reduced by a certain amount A (for example, 10%) (step 7).
In this case, the LED 3 is turned off while the LED 3 is gradually darkened after the switch operation is completed and all of the lower doors 26a are closed.

  As described above, the third embodiment is drawn not only on the liquid crystal panel 2 but also on the substrate cover portion 7e of the liquid crystal display device 10 in order to perform illumination with the LED 3 from the position of the LED cover portion 7b of the liquid crystal display device 10 ( For example, the printed cover letters 6 can be illuminated, the visibility is improved, and the appearance can be improved even when the installation location of the refrigerator 100 is dark.

Further, since the LED 3 is turned on when any of the lower doors 26a is opened, there is no need to add a new light source part, and the lower part of the liquid crystal display device 10 while keeping the manufacturing cost without increasing the number of parts. The lower refrigerator compartment 26 (same as the refrigerator compartments 22 to 25) can be illuminated.
Although the above description shows that the refrigerator compartments 22 to 25 are all of the drawer type, the present invention is not limited to this, and the refrigerator compartments 22 to 25 can be rotated even if they are of the drawer type. It may be a formula. That is, in the case of the rotation type, the inner side (storage pocket or the like) of the lower door 26 that is rotated and opened is irradiated by the LED 3.

In addition, although the liquid crystal display device 10 is installed in the refrigerator 100, it is clear that the same effect can be obtained when the liquid crystal display device 20 (see Embodiment 2) is installed instead. It is.
Further, the liquid crystal display device 10 or the liquid crystal display device 20 may be installed in any one of the lower doors 26a in parallel with the upper door 21a or in place of the upper door 21a. At this time, the inside of the lower refrigerating chamber 26 below the installed lower door 26a is illuminated.
The refrigerated room in the above description is an example of a “storage room”, and instead of a refrigerated room, it is a freezer room, an ice storage room, or a vegetable room (not actively cooled) with controlled humidity. There may be.

  As described above, the third embodiment shows the refrigerator in which the liquid crystal display device 10 or the liquid crystal display device 20 is installed, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the liquid crystal display device 10 or the liquid crystal display device 20 As long as a liquid crystal panel is installed and there is a demand for irradiating light to a predetermined part, it can be installed in any electrical product. For example, when the liquid crystal display device 10 or the liquid crystal display device 20 is adopted as a display unit of a remote controller of various electric devices, light is irradiated onto the operation unit (button operation unit) simultaneously with the liquid crystal panel.

  Since the present invention can illuminate the periphery of the liquid crystal panel without increasing the number of parts as described above, various liquid crystal display devices in which characters or patterns are drawn around the liquid crystal panel are further used. In addition, it can be widely used as various electric appliances for home use and business use that are required to irradiate a predetermined part with light.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The front view etc. which show typically the liquid crystal display device which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. The front view etc. which show typically the liquid crystal display device which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. The front view etc. which show typically the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. The flowchart explaining operation | movement of the liquid crystal display device of the refrigerator shown in FIG. The flowchart explaining operation | movement of the liquid crystal display device of the refrigerator shown in FIG. The flowchart explaining operation | movement of the liquid crystal display device of the refrigerator shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  2: liquid crystal panel, 3: LED, 4: light guide plate, 4a: side end face, 4b: side end face, 5: reflector, 6: cover letters, etc., 7: cover, 7a: ceiling cover part, 7b: LED cover part 7c: Panel cover part, 7d: Step cover part, 7e: Substrate cover part, 8: Light transmission plate, 9: Substrate, 10: Liquid crystal display device (Embodiment 1), 11: Interior light, 20: Liquid crystal Display device (Embodiment 2), 21: uppermost refrigerator compartment, 21a: uppermost door, 22: refrigerator compartment, 23: refrigerator compartment, 24: refrigerator compartment, 25: refrigerator compartment, 26: lower refrigerator compartment, 22a: Lower door, 23a: lower door, 24a: lower door, 25a: lower door, 26a: lower door, 100: refrigerator (Embodiment 3).

Claims (6)

A liquid crystal panel; a light guide plate disposed on a front surface of the liquid crystal panel; a reflector disposed on a rear surface of the liquid crystal panel; a substrate disposed on a rear surface of the reflector; and one side end surface of the light guide plate An LED for entering light into
A part of the light incident on the light guide plate is transmitted through the rear surface of the light guide plate to illuminate the liquid crystal panel, and is transmitted through the other side end surface of the light guide plate. A cover body surrounding a part or all of the liquid crystal panel is installed,
The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein a part of the light transmitted through the other side end surface of the light guide plate illuminates a part of the cover body. A liquid crystal panel; a reflector disposed on the rear surface of the liquid crystal panel; a substrate disposed on the rear surface of the reflector; an LED disposed obliquely in front of one side end surface of the liquid crystal panel and irradiating light; ,
A light transmissive plate disposed between the liquid crystal panel and the LED and diffusing light;
The light emitted from the LED is diffused by the light transmission plate, and a part of the diffused light illuminates the liquid crystal panel. A cover body surrounding a part or all of the liquid crystal panel is installed,
4. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 3, wherein a part of the light diffused by the light transmission plate illuminates a part of the cover body. And a liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal display device is disposed above the storage chamber.
A refrigerator, wherein a part of light transmitted through the other side end face of the light guide plate of the liquid crystal display device illuminates the inside of the storage room when the storage room is drawn out. A liquid crystal display device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the liquid crystal display device is disposed above the storage chamber;
A part of the light diffused by the light transmitting plate illuminates the inside of the storage room when the storage room is pulled out.

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