JP2011203649A - Display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a display device freely and easily changing shape, pattern, color etc. without restricting a region to be displayed.SOLUTION: The display device includes: an LED light source 11; a trigonal prism 12 which is arranged on a light emission surface of the LED light source 11, transmits light from the LED light source 11 and refracts the light according to a prism effect; and a diffusion plate 13 which is arranged on the light emission surface of the trigonal prism 12, projects the light from the trigonal prism 12 and is translucent.

Description

  The present invention generally relates to a display device, and more particularly to a display device for notifying a user of various information such as an operation state of an apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a display device that expresses various information such as an operation state of an apparatus by transmitting light from a light source such as an LED through a transparent plate formed by printing predetermined characters and figures.

  Further, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-36492 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1) discloses a display device with improved visibility for a user. In this display device, when light from a plurality of LEDs is transmitted through a transmissive member, light is emitted from each LED between the LEDs, and the boundary portion of the light is blurred. In this way, it is possible to display so that the user can easily recognize the changing display form and the user can easily understand the display contents.

JP 2009-36492 A

  However, the conventional display device can only display a predetermined printed shape or pattern. Further, in the display device described in Patent Document 1, only the display form is changed by blurring the boundary portion of light. Therefore, the conventional display device has a problem that the size, pattern, color, etc. cannot be freely changed.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a display device that can freely change the shape, pattern, color, etc., without limiting the displayed area.

  A display device according to the present invention includes an LED light source, a light-transmitting member that is disposed on the light emission surface of the LED light source, transmits light from the LED light source, and refracts the light by the prism effect. A translucent diffusion plate disposed on the light emitting surface and projecting light from the translucent member.

  In the display device of the present invention, the light-transmitting member transmits light from the LED light source and refracts it by the prism effect, whereby a shape or pattern as a display form can be formed. Then, the translucent diffusion plate projects light from the translucent member, so that a subtle change such as blurring or gradation can be imparted to the shape or pattern formed by the translucent member. The user can visually recognize the slightly changed shape or pattern by viewing the light projected on the diffusion plate from the outside of the diffusion plate. Therefore, by using the display device of the present invention, it is possible to form and display a freely changed shape or pattern using simple components.

  In the display device of the present invention, the translucent member is preferably a triangular prism. In this case, it is possible to form a shape or pattern as a display form using a simple translucent member called a triangular prism.

  In the display device of the present invention, it is preferable that the LED light source and the triangular prism are arranged so that the optical axis of the LED light source passes through the apex of the triangular prism. In this case, it is possible to create a form in which two shapes and patterns formed by light transmitted through both sides of the apex of the triangular prism are divided, for example, a leaf shape.

  Furthermore, in the display device of the present invention, it is preferable that the translucent member is disposed so as to be close to the emission surface of the LED light source.

  In the display device of the present invention, the LED light source preferably emits at least two colors selected from the group consisting of red, green, and blue. Thereby, a subtle color change can be created by superimposing a plurality of colors of light.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to form and display a freely changed shape or pattern using simple components.

It is a perspective view which shows the basic composition of the display apparatus as one embodiment according to this invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section orthogonal to a longitudinal direction of a triangular prism in the display device of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section parallel to the longitudinal direction of a triangular prism in the display device of FIG. 1. It is a top view which shows typically one example of the shape and pattern which are formed and displayed by the display apparatus of FIG. 2 is a photograph showing one example of shapes and patterns formed and displayed by the display device of FIG. 1.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the display device includes an LED light source 11, a triangular prism 12 that is an example of a translucent member disposed on the light emitting surface of the LED light source 11, and light emission from the triangular prism 12. And a translucent diffuser plate 13 disposed on the surface. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the LED light source 11 and the triangular prism 12 are arranged so that the optical axis C of the LED light source 11 passes through the apex of the triangular prism 12. In this embodiment, the triangular prism 12 is arranged so as to be close to the emission surface of the LED light source 11. The LED light source 11 only needs to emit at least one color selected from the group consisting of red, green, and blue, and may be a single color light source or a light source in which two types of colors are mixed. The triangular prism 12 is made of a transparent material such as acrylic resin. The diffusion plate 13 is made of a translucent material such as polycarbonate resin or acrylic resin. As an example, the diffuser plate 13 has a color such as milky white.

  In the display device configured as described above, the light from the LED light source 11 passes through the triangular prism 12 and is refracted by the prism effect, so that the light propagates to the region surrounded by the two-dot chain line P. In this way, a shape or pattern as a display form can be formed by the triangular prism 12. As an example, the leaf shape 50 can be formed by the triangular prism 12 as shown in FIG. The leaf shape 50 is composed of two substantially symmetric shapes divided by a center line such as the main vein portion of the leaf vein. The center line extends in the longitudinal direction of the triangular prism 12 and corresponds to the apex of the triangular prism 12.

  The light transmitted through the triangular prism 12 is projected onto the translucent diffusion plate 13. Thereby, subtle changes such as blurring and gradation can be imparted to the shape and pattern formed by the triangular prism 12. As an example, a leaf shape 50 as shown in FIG. 4 can be blurred or a gradation can be added to the inside of the leaf shape 50 as shown in FIG.

  The user looks at the light projected on the diffuser plate 13 from the outside of the diffuser plate 13, so that the slightly changed shape or pattern, in the example of the above embodiment, the outline is blurred and gradation is added. The formed leaf shape 50 can be visually recognized. As described above, in the display device of the present invention, the triangular prism 12 is used as a component that gives a shape or pattern to light, and the translucent diffuser 13 is used as a component that displays the shape or pattern while slightly changing the shape or pattern. Using simple components, it is possible to form and display a leaf shape 50 having a slightly changed outline or interior.

  In the above-described embodiment, the shape or pattern as a display form is formed using a simple translucent member called the triangular prism 12, but the translucent member is not limited to the triangular prism 12, and at least an LED light source. What is necessary is just to be able to transmit the light from 11 and refract it by the prism effect.

  In the above embodiment, the LED light source 11 and the triangular prism 12 are arranged so that the optical axis C of the LED light source 11 passes through the apex of the triangular prism 12, thereby transmitting light that passes through both sides of the apex of the triangular prism 12. The shape formed by dividing the two shapes or patterns, for example, a leaf shape 50 having a main vein portion of the leaf vein can be created. However, the leaf shape 50 may be variously changed by disposing the LED light source 11 and the triangular prism 12 by shifting the vertex of the triangular prism 12 with respect to the optical axis C of the LED light source 11.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, when a green monochromatic light source is used as the LED light source 11, a fresh green leaf shape 50 can be created. When a light source in which blue and green are mixed is used as the LED light source 11, a leaf shape 50 of green leaves can be created. When a light source in which red and green are mixed is used as the LED light source 11, a leaf shape 50 like a fallen autumn leaf can be created. Thus, the leaf shape 50 in which the color slightly changed can be created by using light of a single color or overlapping light of a plurality of colors.

  In the display device of the present invention, the arrangement of the translucent member such as the triangular prism 12 or the translucent diffusion plate 13, for example, the distance between the triangular prism 12 and the diffusion plate 13, By changing the orientation in various ways, it is possible to freely change the shape, pattern, size, etc., without limiting the displayed area. Further, by superimposing the colors of the LED light sources 11, the shape and pattern can be displayed by changing the color. A plurality of LED light sources 11 may be arranged to display a plurality of leaf shapes 50 and other shapes and patterns in a row. Furthermore, the degree of blur and gradation can be changed with respect to the shape and pattern formed of the translucent member by variously changing the transparency and color of the translucent diffusion plate 13. You may change a display form by changing the electric current etc. which flow through the LED light source 11. FIG. For example, by increasing the distance between the triangular prism 12 and the diffusion plate 13 and increasing the current flowing through the LED light source 11 to emit light brightly, the shape and pattern can be displayed in a large size while keeping the brightness constant. Can do.

  By attaching the display device of the present invention to the outside of the device, the user can be notified of various information such as the operating state of the device. For example, during the operation of the air conditioner, the power consumption is large by notifying the user that the power consumption is small by displaying the leaf shape 50 of green leaves, or by displaying the leaf shape 50 such as the dead leaves of autumn leaves. The user may be notified of this. In this case, depending on the amount of power consumption, the air conditioner that is currently operating will contribute to the environment as a warming measure by emotionally appealing to the user by the subtle change in the color of the leaf shape 50. Can inform you. In addition, various information, such as an operation state, can be emotionally appealed to a user and notified by attaching the display apparatus of this invention to the outer side of other electric equipment other than an air conditioner.

  It should be considered that the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative and non-restrictive in every respect. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above embodiments but by the scope of the claims, and is intended to include all modifications and variations within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of the claims.

11: LED light source, 12: triangular prism, 13: diffusion plate.

Claims (5)

An LED light source and a light transmissive member that is disposed on a light emitting surface of the LED light source and transmits light from the LED light source to be refracted by a prism effect;
A display device, comprising: a translucent diffusion plate that is disposed on a light emitting surface of the translucent member and projects light from the translucent member.   The display device according to claim 1, wherein the translucent member is a triangular prism.   The display device according to claim 2, wherein the LED light source and the triangular prism are arranged so that an optical axis of the LED light source passes through a vertex of the triangular prism.   4. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the translucent member is disposed so as to be close to an emission surface of the LED light source. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the LED light source emits at least two kinds of colors selected from the group consisting of red, green, and blue.