JP2500807Y2 - Image printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an image printer for printing an image using a liquid crystal display panel.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems] An image printer is very convenient because it can print desired image data such as a television image or a video image on a print sheet.

However, since the conventional image printer has a complicated hardware configuration, it can be realized only in a large television, a dedicated device, etc., and it has not been possible to meet the demand for miniaturization.

[Object of the Invention] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image printer capable of displaying an image of a television or the like on a print paper with a simple structure.

[Summary of the Invention] The invention is directed to a liquid crystal display panel for displaying an image, a storage unit for storing image data of an image displayed on the liquid crystal display panel, and an arbitrary moving image displayed on the liquid crystal display panel. An image read instruction means for giving an instruction for reading the image data at the timing from the storage means, and the image data stored in the storage means read by the instruction of the image read instruction means instead of the moving image display. A display control unit for displaying a still image on the liquid crystal display panel, a print paper storage unit arranged near the liquid crystal display panel for storing a photosensitive print paper, and a static image displayed on the liquid crystal display panel. An image print instructing means for instructing from outside the image to be printed on the print paper is provided.

[Embodiment of the Invention] An embodiment in which the invention is applied to a pocketable liquid crystal television will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b).

In FIG. 1 (a), 10 is a pocketable liquid crystal television. As shown in FIG. 1 (b), the housing 11 of the liquid crystal television 10 is composed of an upper case 12 and a lower case 13, and an image display unit 20 is mounted inside thereof. Image display section
As shown in FIG. 1 (c), reference numeral 20 denotes a front side polarizing plate 21 and a back side polarizing plate 22, and a liquid crystal display 23 for image display having a matrix electrode structure sandwiched between the polarizing plates 21 and 22. Have A liquid crystal shutter 24 is further sandwiched between the liquid crystal display 23 and the polarizing plate 22. That is, the image display unit 20 of this embodiment has a liquid crystal two-layer structure mainly including the liquid crystal display 23 and the liquid crystal shutter 24. Between the image display unit 20 and the backlight light guide plate 32 that guides the light from the fluorescent lamp 31, a print paper storage unit 33 that stores, for example, one photosensitive print paper P is provided. The print paper container 33 has an opening 34 for inserting and removing the print paper.

Now, in the housing 11, a printed circuit board 35 on which components of a television circuit for controlling the liquid crystal display 23, the liquid crystal shutter 24 and the like are mounted is mounted. As shown in FIG. 1D, this television circuit has a linear circuit 41 for extracting a video signal 81, an audio signal 82, and a vertical synchronizing signal 83 from the television signal received by the antenna 40. . The video signal 81 from the linear circuit 41 is supplied to the A / D converter 42,
Converted to digital image data. The digital image data is supplied to the latch circuit 43 and is latched in the latch circuit 43 at a constant cycle by the pulse signal 84 from the pulse generator 44. The image data latched by the latch circuit 43 is supplied to the gate 45. The gate 45 is controlled by a controller 46 that controls the entire television circuit,
The output is enabled according to the operation of the start button (START) 47. In this state, the image data from the latch circuit 43 is supplied to the driver 48 by the gate 45, and the television image is displayed on the liquid crystal display 23 by the driver 48. On the other hand, the audio signal 82 from the linear circuit 41 is
It is supplied to the speaker 50 via 49, and the voice is output from the speaker 48.

The image data latched by the latch circuit 43 is also supplied to (the input port of) the RAM 51 that stores the image data for one screen. The access mode (read / write) of the RAM 51 is designated by the read / write signal 85 from the controller 46. In this example, the controller 46
When the start button 47 is pressed, the RAM 51 is set to the write mode, and when the stop button 53 described later is pressed, the RAM 51 is set to the read mode. The address of the RAM 51 is designated by (the output of) the address counter 52. The pulse signal 84 from the pulse generator 44 and the initialization signal 86 from the controller 46 are supplied to the address counter 52. The initialization signal 86 is output from the controller 46 in response to the vertical synchronizing signal 83 from the linear circuit 41. The address counter 52 counts from the initial value in response to the pulse signal 44 from the pulse generator 44 each time the controller 46 provides the initialization signal 86, and performs addressing corresponding to the screen position of the liquid crystal display 23. . In this embodiment in which the start button 47 is pressed, the RAM 51 is set to the write mode, so that the image data latched in the latch circuit 43 corresponds to the address of the RAM 51 corresponding to the display position of the liquid crystal display 23. Written in position. Therefore, the latest television image for one screen is stored in the RAM 51.

In this embodiment, a stop button (STOP) 53 for stopping the television image displayed on the liquid crystal display 23 and a print for designating recording (printing out) of the television image (still image) on the print paper P. Button (PRINT) 54 is prepared. Therefore, when the television image to be recorded is displayed, the stop button 53 may be pressed first. When the controller 46 detects that the stop button 53 has been pressed, it closes the gate 45 in synchronization with the vertical synchronizing signal 83, while opening the gate 55 connected to the output port of the RAM 51. In addition, the controller 46 receives the read / write signal 85
The RAM 51 is switched from the write mode to the read mode. As a result, the image data for one screen stored in the RAM 51 at the time when the stop button 53 is pressed is changed to the address counter.
According to the designation of 52, the data is sequentially read from the output port of the RAM 51 and supplied to the gate 55. At this time, the gate 55 is in the open state (that is, the output enable state) (by operating the stop button 53), and therefore the image data from the RAM 51 is supplied to the driver 48 by the gate 55. Driver 48
An image is displayed on the liquid crystal display 23 by the image data for one screen from the RAM 51 which is sequentially supplied through the gate 55.
As a result, a still image is displayed on the liquid crystal display 23. In this state, the gate 45 is closed as described above. Therefore, the still image displayed on the liquid crystal display 23 is not affected by the image latched by the latch circuit 43.

In this way, a desired still image is displayed on the liquid crystal display 23, and if the user wants to record the same image, the print button 54 can be pressed. When the controller 46 detects that the print button 54 has been pressed, it controls the driver 56 that drives the liquid crystal shutter 24, and makes the liquid crystal shutter 24 transparent (from the silvered state that reflects external light, that is, the shutter OFF state). That is, it is turned on. As a result, the light of the still image displayed on the liquid crystal display 23 passes through the liquid crystal shutter 24 and illuminates (the relevant portion of) the print paper P (stored in the opening 34). As a result, the light-irradiated portion of the print paper P is exposed and the liquid crystal display
The still image displayed on 23 is recorded (printed out) on the print paper P. When the recording on the print paper P is completed, the print paper P may be taken out from the opening 34 of the print paper storage portion 33 and the start button 47 may be pressed. When the start button 47 is pressed, the controller 46 reopens the gate 45, closes the gate 55, and returns the RAM 51 to the write mode. As a result, the print state is released and the original state is restored.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various modifications can be made within a range not departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, the print completion may be notified by a lamp or the like after a lapse of a certain time after the print button 54 is pressed, and thereafter, the original state may be automatically restored.

[Advantageous Effects] According to the present invention, a liquid crystal display panel for displaying an image, a storage unit for storing image data of an image displayed on the liquid crystal display panel, and a moving image displayed on the liquid crystal display panel are stored. Image read instruction means for giving an instruction to read image data at an arbitrary timing from the storage means, and image data stored in the storage means read by the instruction of the image read instruction means for displaying a moving image. Instead, a display control means for displaying a still image on the liquid crystal display panel, a print paper storage portion arranged near the liquid crystal display panel for storing a photosensitive print paper, and a still image displayed on the liquid crystal display panel. Since the image print instructing means for instructing from outside the image of the above is printed on the print paper, an image of a television or the like is printed on the print paper with a simple configuration. It is possible to realize an image printer which can be projected and can be configured to be small and lightweight because a liquid crystal display panel is used, and which can easily select and print an arbitrary image.

In addition, after the moving image displayed on the liquid crystal display panel is stopped, you can select whether or not to print the still image.If you do not want to print it, for example, just view the still image without printing it. If you don't need to print it because you don't like it or if you stopped the moving image because you wanted to print it, but you don't like the still image, you can save it by not printing. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 (a) is a perspective view showing the outer appearance of a pocketable liquid crystal television according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 (b) is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1 (a). FIG. 1C is an enlarged sectional view of the image display unit 20 shown in FIG. 1B, FIG. 1D.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a pocketable liquid crystal television. 10 ... Pocketable liquid crystal television, 20 ... Image display unit, 23 ... Liquid crystal display body, 24 ... Liquid crystal shutter, 33 ... Print paper storage unit,
45,55 ... Gate, 46 ... Controller, 48,56 ... Driver,
51 ... RAM, 52 ... Address counter, 53 ... Stop button, 54
… Print button.

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A liquid crystal display panel for displaying an image, a storage means for storing image data of an image displayed on the liquid crystal display panel, and image data at any timing of a moving image displayed on the liquid crystal display panel. Image reading instructing means for giving an instruction to read out from the storage means, and the image data stored in the storage means read out by the instruction of the image reading instructing means on the liquid crystal display panel instead of the moving image display. Display control means for displaying a still image, a print paper storage unit that is disposed near the liquid crystal display panel and stores a photosensitive print paper, and a still image displayed on the liquid crystal display panel to the print paper. An image printer, comprising: an image print instructing means for instructing an external projection.