JP5273842B2 - Liquid crystal display device and gaming machine equipped with liquid crystal display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid crystal display device capable of performing high luminance light emission, and a game machine provided with such a liquid crystal display device. <P>SOLUTION: The liquid crystal display device has a plurality of pixel regions (for instance, pixel electrodes or sub pixel electrodes) provided on a glass substrate (for instance, a first glass substrate or an array substrate), and a light emitting element provided on the glass substrate so as to be adjacent to the pixel region. In the liquid crystal display device, luminance is improved by light emission by the light emitting element formed on the glass substrate, and image display unlike before is made possible by the light emitted by the light emitting element. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device and a gaming machine equipped with the liquid crystal display device. The present invention relates to a gaming machine provided with a display device as display means.

  In recent years, the spread and diversification of gaming machines are progressing. As various gaming machines are on the market, various ideas have been devised so as to become a gaming machine that can capture the player's interest more strongly. As one direction of such a device, enhancement and reinforcement of the production are made. In addition to a method of outputting voice, music, sound effects and the like from a speaker and appealing to the sense of hearing as an effect performed during the game, an effect by light using a light emitting device is also performed so as to appeal to the player's vision.

As a gaming machine that produces an effect by light, for example, a gaming machine (for example, Patent Document 1) that controls lighting of a decorative portion surrounding a prize opening in a gaming board by light emitted from a light emitting device provided inside the gaming machine. A gaming machine (for example, Patent Document 2) in which a light emitter such as a cathode ray tube is provided on the front side of a gaming board has been proposed.
JP 2005-130910 A JP 2005-110931 A

  As a production method appealing to the player's vision, a method of providing a liquid crystal display device in a gaming machine and displaying various moving images on the liquid crystal display device is generally used. When performing an effect using such a liquid crystal display device, it is desirable that a brighter screen can be provided so that the player's vision can be appealed more strongly.

  However, in a general liquid crystal display device, a backlight which is a light emitting device is provided behind the liquid crystal display device. Since the light emitted from the light emitting device is dimmed every time it passes through the glass substrate and the color filter layer constituting the liquid crystal display device, it is difficult to achieve high luminance. For this reason, there is a problem that an effect using high-luminance light emission is limited. In general, the backlight consumes a relatively large amount of power.

  The present invention has been made by paying attention to the above circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display device and a game machine that can realize high-intensity light emission while realizing power saving and realize a new light effect form. Is to provide.

In order to solve the above-described problem, a liquid crystal display device according to claim 1 includes a plurality of pixel regions (for example, pixel electrodes or sub-pixels) provided on a liquid crystal glass substrate (for example, a first glass substrate or an array substrate). A pixel electrode), a light emitting element provided on the glass substrate so as to be adjacent to the pixel region, and a colored layer provided to face the pixel region and the light emitting element, and the color layer The region corresponding to the light emitting element is a transparent non-colored region that transmits light emitted from the light emitting element .

According to the liquid crystal display device described in claim 1, brightness is improved by light emission by the light emitting element formed on the glass substrate, or an unprecedented image display is possible by light emitted from the light emitting element. It becomes. In addition, since the light emitting element is used without relying only on the backlight, it can contribute to power saving. In addition, since the light emitted from the light emitting element passes through the transparent non-colored region and is emitted to the front surface of the liquid crystal display, high luminance can be realized without being dimmed.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the liquid crystal display device according to the first aspect, the light emitting element is provided between adjacent pixel regions.

  According to the liquid crystal display device described in claim 2, the same effect as that of the liquid crystal display device described in claim 1 can be obtained, and uniform light emission can be obtained over the entire liquid crystal glass substrate. High brightness can be obtained.

  A liquid crystal display device according to claim 3 is the liquid crystal display device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the light emitting element is a white LED.

  According to the liquid crystal display device described in claim 3, the same effect as that of the liquid crystal display device described in claim 1 or claim 2 can be obtained, and even if the luminance cannot be achieved only by the backup light. Become feasible.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention , in the liquid crystal display device according to any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, the liquid crystal display device further includes control means for performing light emission control of the light emitting element. It is characterized by.

According to the liquid crystal display device described in claim 4 , the same operational effects as those of the liquid crystal display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 can be obtained, and driving control of individual light emitting elements can be performed. By doing this, it is possible to display a new unique effect (for example, an effect using a light emitting element or an effect using characters) different from the image display by the pixel region.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention , a gaming machine includes the liquid crystal display device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects. Examples of such gaming machines include pachinko machines, slot machines, video game machines, and the like.

According to the gaming machine described in claim 5 , the same effect as that of the liquid crystal display device described in any one of claims 1 to 4 can be obtained. In other words, such a gaming machine is provided with a liquid crystal display device having higher brightness than before, so that the player can easily see the game screen and perform an unprecedented effect using light emission by the light emitting element. Therefore, it is possible to further increase the player's willingness to play.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the liquid crystal display device and game machine which can implement | achieve a new light effect form while enabling high-intensity light emission, aiming at power saving can be provided.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[First embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a basic configuration example of a liquid crystal display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

  The liquid crystal display device according to the present embodiment includes a backlight 101 positioned at the rearmost side of the liquid crystal display device 100, a first polarizing plate 102 disposed in front of the backlight 101, and a first polarizing plate 102. First glass substrate 103 disposed in front, second glass substrate 104 disposed in front of first glass substrate 103, and second polarizing plate disposed in front of second glass substrate 104 105.

  The backlight 101 includes a light guide plate, a cold cathode tube attached to the side of the light guide plate, a reflective sheet that wraps the cold cathode tube and reflects light toward the light guide plate, and a prism sheet provided on the upper surface of the light guide plate It is a member comprised by the above.

  The first polarizing plate 102 (including the polarizing sheet) is a member that generates linearly polarized light that is light that vibrates only in a certain direction, and is, for example, a polyvinyl alcohol polymer film to which an iodine compound is added.

  The first glass substrate 103 is a member also called an array substrate. The thin film transistor (TFT), a pixel electrode switched by the TFT, a gate electrode, a source electrode, and a drain electrode for driving the TFT are formed on the glass substrate. , And a light emitting element (LED) disposed in a region adjacent to the pixel electrode.

  The second glass substrate 104 is a member also called a color filter substrate. In the second glass substrate, sub-pixels with red (R), green (R), and blue (B) colors are formed on the glass substrate by a manufacturing method such as a pigment dispersion method. Note that a layer including sub-pixels over the second glass substrate 104 is referred to as a colored layer. The colored layer may be provided with a transparent region (region where any of red, green, and blue pigments are not applied) for transmitting the light emitted from the light emitting element in the viewer's direction. .

  A protective film made of a transparent resin or the like is formed on the colored layer. A transparent conductive film is further formed on the protective film. This transparent conductive film functions as a common electrode and is used to control the direction of liquid crystal molecules by applying a voltage between the pixel electrode and the common electrode.

  Similar to the first polarizing plate 102, the second polarizing plate 105 is a member that creates linearly polarized light that is light that vibrates only in a certain direction. However, the second polarizing plate 105 is attached so as to be in a direction orthogonal to the polarization direction of the first polarizing plate 102.

  The first glass substrate 103 and the second glass substrate 104 are assembled and assembled, and a liquid crystal material is injected and sealed in a gap (gap) between the two glass substrates. The substrate formed by this process is also called an array cell substrate, a panel substrate, or the like. A driving electronic circuit (not shown) is attached to the array cell substrate so that it can be electrically controlled. The first and second polarizing plates 102 and 105 are attached to the front and back surfaces of the array cell substrate. The liquid crystal display device 100 is completed by attaching the above-described backlight 101 thereto.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an element arrangement on the first glass substrate 103 according to the present embodiment. A pixel electrode 201 is formed on each first pixel on the first glass substrate 103. Note that wiring (not shown) on the matrix is formed on the glass substrate 103 so that the application of voltage to each pixel electrode 201 (more specifically, each sub-pixel electrode described later) can be controlled. Yes.

  A light emitting element 205 is disposed between the pixel electrodes 201. In this example, a wiring (not shown) is also connected to the light emitting element 205 and is driven by an X driver circuit 203 and a Y driver circuit 204 as control means described later.

  Each pixel electrode 201 includes three sub-pixel electrodes 202R, 202G, and 202B, and each sub-pixel electrode 202R, 202G, and 202B is driven by an X driver circuit 203 and a Y driver circuit 204, respectively. A voltage is applied to the sub-pixel electrodes 202R, 202G, and 202B in response to a drive signal applied through the wiring from the X driver circuit 203 and the Y driver circuit 204, whereby the first and second glass substrates 103, The arrangement direction of the liquid crystal molecules enclosed between 104 is switched, and the light from the backlight 101 is on / off controlled.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an array cell substrate formed by bonding the first and second glass substrates 103 and 104 together.

  A colored layer 301 is formed on the lower surface of the second glass substrate 104. The colored layer 301 has sub-pixel regions for each color of red (R), green (G), and blue (B), and a transparent region 303 that is a non-colored region is provided in a region facing the light emitting element. ing. A protective layer 304 is provided on the surface of the colored layer 301.

  Sub-pixel electrodes 202R, 202G, and 202B are formed on the upper surface of the first glass substrate 103 at positions facing the sub-pixel area 302, and are adjacent to the transparent area 303 at positions facing the transparent area 303. A light emitting element 205 (LED or the like) is formed and arranged so as to be positioned between the pixel electrodes. In this example, the light-emitting element is configured by laminating a predetermined phosphor layer 306 on a compound layer 305 such as gallium nitride (GaN), but is not limited thereto. In this embodiment, a white LED is arranged as the light emitting element 205, but an LED other than the white LED can be used as the light emitting element 205.

  In each light emitting element 205, current is passed or stopped through wiring (not shown) in accordance with the control signals from the X driver circuit 203 and Y driver circuit 205 described above. As a result, on / off of light emission of the light emitting element 205 can be controlled by control signals from the X driver circuit 203 and the Y driver circuit 204. The light 307 emitted from the light emitting element 205 passes through the color filter substrate which is the second glass substrate 104 and is emitted to the front of the liquid crystal display device 100. That is, in addition to the light emitted from the backlight 101, the light 307 emitted from each light emitting element 205 is emitted from the liquid crystal display device 100. The liquid crystal display device 100 according to the present invention is a conventional liquid crystal display. Compared with the display device, the liquid crystal display device has a higher luminance.

  In addition, according to the liquid crystal display device 100 according to the present invention, each light emitting element 205 can be individually controlled to be turned on / off. Image drawing processing by the element 205 can also be performed, and image display processing by the light emitting element 205 can be performed in addition to the conventional image display processing using sub-pixels. For this reason, an unprecedented image effect can be achieved.

[Modifications, etc.]
In the above embodiment, the light emitting element 205 is disposed between the pixel electrodes 201 (Y direction or row direction), but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an arrangement pattern of the light emitting elements 205 that can be used in the present invention. FIG. 4A illustrates an example in which the light-emitting elements 205 are arranged between the pixel electrodes 201 in the Y direction (column direction) as described in the above embodiment. FIG. 4B illustrates an example in which the light-emitting elements 205 are arranged between the pixel electrodes 201 in the X direction (row direction). FIG. 4C shows an example in which the light emitting elements 205 are arranged between the pixel electrodes 201 in both the X direction (row direction) and the Y direction (column direction). FIG. 4D illustrates an example in which one light-emitting element is arranged between a plurality of pixel electrodes in the X direction (row direction). FIG. 4E illustrates an example in which one light-emitting element 205 is disposed between a plurality of pixel electrodes 201 in the Y direction (column direction). FIG. 4F illustrates an example in which one light-emitting element 205 is disposed between a plurality of pixel electrodes 201 in the X direction (row direction) and the Y direction (column direction). In the example shown in FIG. 4, the arrangement pattern of the pixel electrodes 201 is illustrated as a stripe arrangement or a diagonal arrangement, but the present invention is applicable to the liquid crystal display device 100 adopting a delta arrangement. Needless to say.

[Second Embodiment]
The present invention is also realized as a gaming machine having the liquid crystal display device 100 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is an overall external perspective view of a game machine as an example of a gaming machine having the liquid crystal display device 100 according to the first embodiment.

  The game machine 1 has a housing 2, and the housing 2 is provided with a liquid crystal display device 100. The liquid crystal display device 100 is a display device for displaying a game screen, for example, and is the liquid crystal display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  Further, a touch panel sensor 74 is provided on the surface of the liquid crystal display device 100, and a character or a soft button displayed on the liquid crystal display device 100 is touched by a player, and this is detected to be a user input. .

  In front of the liquid crystal display device 100, a coin insertion unit (coin insertion slot) for inserting game value media (hereinafter collectively referred to as “coins”) such as coins, medals, tokens, and chips to be paid for the game. 4 is provided. Note that a bill insertion unit such as a so-called bill validator may be provided in the housing 2 as appropriate, and the game provided by the game machine 1 may be played by using the bill as a game value medium.

  Below the liquid crystal display device 100, a control panel 5 serving as input means for the player is provided. The control panel 5 is substantially the same as that provided in a known game machine for a player to input an instruction to the game machine 1.

A sub-display 8 for displaying information and images that are not directly involved in the game (for example, a payout number table, a description of the game content, etc.) that can be changed at any time is provided at the top of the housing 2. ing. As the sub-display 8, the liquid crystal display device according to the first embodiment may be used, or a conventional liquid crystal display may be used. Further, a pair of speakers 9L and 9R for outputting voice / music and the like are provided on both sides of the sub-display 8.
On the other hand, a coin receiving part 7 for receiving a paid-out coin by the player is provided at the lower part of the housing 2.

[Internal configuration example of game console]
FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram showing the internal configuration of the game machine 1. As shown in FIG. 6, the game machine 1 has a game machine board 30 and peripheral devices connected to the game machine board 30 inside the housing 2. A plurality of circuits are mounted on the game machine substrate 30 with the microcomputer 31 as the center.

The microcomputer 31 has a main CPU (Central Processing Unit) 32, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 33, and a ROM (Read Only Memory) 34.
The main CPU 32 functions in accordance with a program stored in the ROM 34 and receives signals as input from each part of the control panel 5 via the I / O port 39, while inputting / outputting signals with other components. The operation control of the entire game machine 1 is performed. The RAM 33 stores data and programs used when the main CPU 32 functions. For example, a random number value sampled by a sampling circuit 36 described later is temporarily held after the game is started. The ROM 34 stores a program executed by the main CPU 32 and permanent data.

A random number generator 35, a sampling circuit 36, a clock pulse generation circuit 37, and a frequency divider 38 are connected to the main CPU 32.
The random number generator 35 functions in accordance with an instruction from the main CPU 32 and generates a certain range of random numbers.
The sampling circuit 36 extracts an arbitrary random number from random numbers generated by the random number generator 35 in accordance with an instruction from the main CPU 32, and inputs the extracted random number to the main CPU 32. The clock pulse generation circuit 37 generates a reference clock to be used by the main CPU 32, and the frequency divider 38 inputs a signal obtained by dividing the reference clock at a constant period to the main CPU 32.

  The game machine board 30 is equipped with a lamp driving circuit 59, an LED driving circuit 61, a hopper driving circuit 63, a payout completion signal circuit 65, an image control circuit 71, and a sound control circuit 72. These circuits are I / O. The main CPU 32 is connected via the port 39.

The lamp driving circuit 59 outputs a signal for turning on the lamp 60 to the lamp 60, and turns on / off the lamp 60 during the game. This lighting / extinguishing effect produces a game.
The LED drive circuit 61 controls blinking display of the LED 62. The LED 62 displays the number of credits and the number of acquired credits.

  The hopper drive circuit 63 drives the hopper 64 according to the control of the main CPU 32. The hopper 64 performs an operation for paying out coins as a game value, injects coins into the coin receiving portion 7, and pays back coins to the player. It is a device to execute.

  The payout completion signal circuit 65 is connected to the coin detection unit 66, and the coin detection unit 66 measures the number of coins paid out by the hopper 64, and the data of the measured number value is sent to the payout completion signal circuit 65. Notice. The payout completion signal circuit 65 counts the number of coins from the coin detection unit 66, and outputs a signal notifying completion of coin payout to the main CPU 32 when the number reaches the set number of pieces of data. .

  The image control circuit 71 controls image display on each of the liquid crystal display device 100 and the sub-display 8 and displays various images such as a design image described later on the liquid crystal display device 100 and the sub-display 8. The image control circuit 71 increases the brightness of the liquid crystal display device 100 by driving and controlling the light emitting elements, or draws a predetermined drawing or pattern by the light emitted from the light emitting elements 205, thereby producing an unprecedented effect. It can be performed. It should be noted that the effect using the light emitting element 205 may be interlocked with the effect by image display using normal pixels, or an original effect may be performed.

  The image control circuit 71 includes an image control CPU, a work RAM, a program ROM, an image ROM, a video RAM, and a VDP (Video Display Processor). The image control CPU determines an image (design image, etc.) displayed on the liquid crystal display device 100 and the sub display 8 according to an image control program stored in advance in the program ROM based on the parameters set by the microcomputer 31. In addition, light emission control of the light emitting element 205, liquid crystal molecule direction control, and the like are performed. The work RAM is configured as a temporary storage unit when the image control CPU executes the image control program.

The program ROM stores an image control program, various selection tables, and the like. The image ROM stores image data such as dot data for forming a character image and a background image. The video RAM is configured as a temporary storage unit when an image is formed by VDP. The VDP has a control RAM, generates an image signal corresponding to the display contents of the liquid crystal display device 100 and the sub display 8 determined by the image control CPU, and outputs the generated image signals to the liquid crystal display device 100 and the sub display. 8 is output.
The sound control circuit 72 controls sounds such as music and sound effects generated from the speakers 9L and 9R based on a command from the main CPU 31.

  A control panel 5 and a touch panel sensor 74 are connected to the microcomputer 31, and an inserted coin sensor 73 that detects a coin inserted from the coin insertion unit 4 and outputs a detection signal to the microcomputer 31. It is connected. The microcomputer 31 adds a value corresponding to the number of coins inserted according to the detection signal to a credit value corresponding to the number of coins held in the game machine 1 by the player.

  According to the game machine 1 having the above-described configuration, it is possible to realize the game machine 1 that can emit light with high luminance and can draw with the light emitting element 205 in addition to the conventional image drawing with RGB pixels. Advantages such as diversification of production patterns can be obtained from the results.

[Modifications, etc.]
(1) In the first and second embodiments, the liquid crystal display device 100 has been described as a so-called TFT (Thin Film Transistor) type device, but the present invention is a liquid crystal display device using a so-called simple matrix type glass substrate. (For example, STN liquid crystal display) is also applicable. In the liquid crystal display device using the glass substrate of the simple matrix system, if the light emitting element 205 is formed and disposed adjacent to a pixel region constituted by portions where electrodes running in the X and Y directions are orthogonal to each other. Good.

The figure which shows schematic structure of the liquid crystal display device concerning this invention The figure which shows the element arrangement | positioning on a 1st glass substrate Schematic cross section of array cell substrate (A) is a diagram showing an example of a first arrangement pattern of light emitting elements, (B) is a diagram showing an example of a second arrangement pattern of light emitting elements, and (C) is an example of a third arrangement pattern of light emitting elements. FIG. 4D is a diagram illustrating an example of a fourth arrangement pattern of light emitting elements, FIG. 5E is a diagram illustrating an example of a fifth arrangement pattern of light emitting elements, and FIG. The figure which shows the example of the arrangement pattern, External perspective view of a game machine equipped with a liquid crystal display device Functional block diagram showing an internal configuration example of a game machine

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Liquid crystal display device 101 ... Backlight 102 ... 1st polarizing plate 103 ... 1st glass substrate 104 ... 2nd glass substrate 105 ... 3rd glass substrate 205 ... Light emitting element 303 ... Transparent area | region (non-colored area | region)

Claims (5)

A plurality of pixel regions provided on the liquid crystal glass substrate;
A light emitting element provided on the glass substrate so as to be adjacent to the pixel region ;
A colored layer provided facing the pixel region and the light emitting element;
Have
A region corresponding to the light emitting element of the colored layer is a transparent non-colored region that transmits light emitted from the light emitting element .   The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting element is provided between adjacent pixel regions.   The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting element is a white LED. The liquid crystal display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by further comprising a control means for performing light emission control of the light emitting element. A gaming machine comprising the liquid crystal display device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 .

Images