JPH03219279A - Image information display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To record, erase, and store image information providing an image display body which contains a specific heat sensing material, a heating device which heats this image display body uniformly, and a thermal head which is arranged behind this heating device and can contact with the image display body to record the image information on the image display body. CONSTITUTION:The image display body 3 has two state transition temperatures t1 and t2 (t1<t2) higher than a temperature t0 and contains the heat sensing material 2 which becomes transparent when heated to t1 - t2 and then cooled below t0, and becomes turbid in white when heated above the temperature t2 and then cooled below the temperature t0. Further, a heat recording device 9 is equipped with the thermal head which is arranged so that it can contact with the image display body 3 having a uniform transparent or white turbid surface by being heated and cooled by the heating device 10 and can record the image information on the image display body 3 by heating the image display body 3 at t0 - t2 or above t2. Consequently, the display body which stores the image information and has the image information recorded can easily be stored.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an image display device that is capable of reversibly recording and erasing image information by heating, and that is capable of storing recorded image information without maintaining the heated state. Regarding.

Conventionally, CRT displays have been widely used as display devices for office computers, word processors, etc., but because these CRT displays have a structure in which display pixels are formed by electron beam scanning, input/output speed is fast and high performance is required. Brightness images can be obtained, but the equipment is large, expensive, and the image quality lacks clarity.
- Also, since image information is displayed on a fixed screen, due to its structure, it is not possible to record the displayed image information and take it out of the device for storage, and there is a limit to the image display capacity. There are some problems.

In response, a reusable heat-sensitive image display material has been developed that uses a reversible chemical substance that develops color when heated and disappears when cooled, and also has hysteresis characteristics with respect to temperature. This display body displays image information by utilizing the phenomenon that the two states of color development and decolorization can coexist at a certain temperature due to the above-mentioned properties, but the display state of the image information is maintained. In order to achieve this, the display body must be maintained at a temperature at which the two states coexist. Therefore, in an image display device that displays image information using the image display body, a heating device for keeping warm is essential, and a cooling device for erasing is also required, making the device complicated. be. Moreover, it also has the problem of consuming a large amount of energy.

Also, in this image display, in order to take out the display surface on which image information is displayed and store it outside the device, the display surface must be kept in a thermal state at all times, which is numerically difficult. It is.

On the other hand, in recent years, heat-sensitive materials have been discovered that can reversibly repeat a cloudy state and a transparent state depending on the heating temperature, and can stably maintain either state below a certain temperature.

This heat-sensitive material consists of a matrix material made of a thermoplastic resin or the like and a low molecular weight substance dispersed in the matrix material, and when maintained at a specific temperature t0 or higher,
It has the property of changing its state depending on its temperature. That is, this heat-sensitive material has two state transition temperatures t1. It has a temperature of t2 (tl t2), and when it is heated to a temperature of 2 or more and then cooled to a temperature of t0 or less, it becomes cloudy and becomes a maximum light shielding state.

On the other hand, when this cloudy heat-sensitive material is heated to a temperature range of t1 or more and lower than t0 and then cooled to t0 or less, the heat-sensitive material becomes transparent.

Furthermore, when the cloudy heat-sensitive material is heated and maintained at a temperature range of t0 or more and less than t3, and then cooled to t0 or less,
As the heating temperature increases from 10 to t, the white turbidity of the heat-sensitive material when cooled shows a continuous intermediate white turbidity from the maximum light shielding state to transparency.

This state change of the heat-sensitive material is mainly based on a change in the organic low molecular weight substance in the heat-sensitive material.

A heat-sensitive recording material in which image information can be repeatedly recorded and erased using the heat-sensitive material has been proposed, but no specific product has been disclosed.

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, an object of the present invention is to improve the conventional CRT display by using the heat-sensitive recording material.
Instead of heat-sensitive image display devices that use heat-sensitive materials that have hysteresis characteristics between color density and temperature, it is possible to record and erase image information, and it is also possible to save display bodies on which image information is recorded. Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image display device which has a simple mechanism and is inexpensive, and which is also capable of continuously recording, displaying, and erasing image information.

In the image display device of the present invention, firstly, by heating and cooling to a specific temperature, a uniform transparent surface becomes a cloudy surface depending on the heating temperature, and a specific area of the surface is changed to a cloudy surface depending on the heating temperature. An image display body having a heat-sensitive material capable of displaying image information by being heated to a specific temperature and then cooled, and a plurality of thermal heads that are disposed so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from said image display body Vc and whose temperature can be controlled. an image information display device comprising: a heating recording device for recording image information on the image display body; and a heating device for applying a uniform transparent surface or cloudy surface pressure to the image display body, the image display body being endless. The shape is rotatable by being supported by a plurality of rollers, and at least one of the rollers is a driving roller. In the apparatus, a signal indicating a recording position of image information is recorded on a side edge of the image display body using the heating recording device, and a reading device is further provided for reading this signal. .

The heat-sensitive image display surface used in the present invention is
A heat-sensitive material made of an IJx material and an organic low-molecular substance is coated with a film thickness of 3; -! ; 0 #, preferably 10-30 μm, and is produced by laminating it on a base material such as plastic or a thin metal plate.

The mixing ratio of the heat-sensitive material (IJx material) and the organic low-molecular substance is preferably 3;/ to #:/ in terms of weight ratio.

The matrix material includes thermoplastic resins such as polyester, polyamide, polyacrylate, polymethacrylate, polystyrene, silicone resin, polyvinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride-vinyl chloride copolymer, vinylidene chloride-7-crylonitrile copolymer, etc. One or more selected polymers can be used.

The organic low-molecular substances include saturated or unsaturated mono- and dicarboxylic acids or their esters, amides and ammonium salts; saturated or unsaturated halogenated fatty acids or their esters, amides and ammonium salts; arylcarboxylic acids or their esters; Among the amides and ammonium salts, one or more substances selected from organic compounds with a carbon number of 1O-X) can be used. Particularly preferred substances include linear saturated higher fatty acids such as valmitic acid, stearic acid, arachidic acid, and behenic acid, or their esters, amides, and ammonium salts.

In addition, in this specification, the term "organic low-molecular substance" refers to 10
It means an organic compound having a molecular weight of 0 to 'yoo.

The base material is preferably a flexible material that can form an image display body into a sheet shape, such as plastic or a thin metal plate.

In addition, a colored base material is preferable in order to add contrast to an image.

Incidentally, if the heat-sensitive material itself can sufficiently maintain its solid shape by using a large amount of the matrix material and the organic low-molecular substance, the image display body can be constructed without using the base material.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the image display device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an image display body used in the present invention.

For example, by casting the above-mentioned heat-sensitive material Y on a polyester film base L, the thickness of the film can be determined. ;-! ;0μ
m is preferably applied to 10 to 3 Qltjn to create an elongated sheet-like image display body 3 having a structure in which a heat-sensitive material 2 is laminated on a base material 1. Next, this image display body 3 is formed into an endless shape.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the image display device of the present invention.

The image display body 3 is wound between a pair of rollers ≠, j and 1.5+ having different diameters and a platen roller 6. Said Laurada.

j and platen roller t are installed in a horizontal position below the image display device at an appropriate interval, while the other pair of rollers ψ1 and 51 are arranged vertically to the rollers ψ and S. It is installed at the top of this display device in the upper direction. That is, these rollers are positioned at each vertex of a right triangle, and the display body 3 moves around them.

The display body 3 wound between the rollers is longer than the transmitting station connecting the rollers, and the longer portion is stored between the rollers S and 1° and Sl.

The rollers μ, S and tAl, ! The large diameter roller of f1 and IAI are driven by AC motors 7 and 7, respectively.
1 and rotates at a constant speed.

On the other hand, the platen roller 6 is connected to a pulse motor and rotates intermittently, and the display body 3 is held and moved by a heating recording device 9 connected to the platen roller 6.

The heating recording device 9 has a plurality of thermal heads whose temperature can be controlled, and records image information on the display body 3 by selectively heating the thermal heads according to image information. There is.

Between the roller radar j and the platen row 26,
A heating device IO is provided that uniformly heats the display body 3 to bring the surface of the display body 30 into a uniform state.

As shown in Fig. 3, this heating device io consists of two heating elements such as nichrome heaters facing each other with a certain space between them, a temperature detecting element such as a thermistor for controlling the heating temperature, and a temperature detecting element such as a thermistor for controlling the heating temperature. It consists of a control device/3, and the display body 3 is made to pass between two heating elements 77 kept in a constant heating state to make the display body 3 in a uniform state.

The space between the platen roller 6 and the rollers ψl and 51 is an image information display section, and a colored board is installed along the display body 3 inside the display body 3 wound by each roller. This serves as the back material of the display body 3.

Further, each of the above-mentioned members is housed in a casing/S having an opening in the display section. And in the opening,
A transparent protective plate/l is fitted.

Next, the operation of the image display device of this embodiment will be explained.

First, a case will be described in which image information is recorded transparently on a display body l having a cloudy surface.

The roller q is rotated clockwise and the roller Hiroshi 1 is rotated counterclockwise υ at a constant speed faster than the platen roller 6.

The display body 3 is held between the platen row 26 and the heating recording device 9 with pressure stronger than the pressure applied by the rollers Hiroshi and S. Next, when the platen roller 6 is rotated to the left, the display body 3 moves in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2 while maintaining tension between the roller ≠ and the platen roller 6. Also,
3 indicators between the roller tAl and the platen roller base;
Since the roller 1 is rotating in the same direction at a faster speed than the platen roller 6, it similarly maintains a tensioned state.

Simultaneously with the start of movement of the display body 3, the heating device 10 is heated to a temperature of 17 or more at which the surface of the display body becomes cloudy, so that the display body 3 that has passed through the heating device becomes uniformly cloudy.

When the cloudy display body 3 reaches the position of the heating recording device 9,
The thermal head of the heating recording device 9 selectively heats the display body 3 to a transparent temperature t8 or higher and lower than t2 depending on the image information. When the display body 3 is heated to a predetermined temperature by the heating recording device, the display body 3 is moved by the action of the platen roller 6 and cooled to room temperature. The heated parts of the three cooled displays become transparent, and image information is recorded as transparent parts on the cloudy surfaces.

The display body 3 on which image information has been recorded is viewed visually through the transparent protection plate /1 at the display section, and then is stored in the space between the rollers μ and j via the rollers 1 and 61.

The display body 3 on which this image information is recorded is further transferred to a roller 4
4. When it reaches the heating device 10 after passing through the heating device 10, it is uniformly heated again and becomes cloudy, and the image information is erased.

Further, when recording image information in a cloudy state on the transparent display member 3, recording and erasing of the image information can be achieved by simply changing the heating temperature and performing the other operations in the same manner as described above.

Furthermore, when it is desired to re-display the image information that has been displayed, a code signal indicating the position of the recorded information is recorded on the display body 3, and a recording position reading device is installed to read this signal. This makes it easy to search for recorded locations.

In the embodiment described above, when recording image information with the tiger fever recording device, a code signal indicating the position corresponding to the image information is recorded on the side edge of the display body 3.

Furthermore, a recording position reading device/7 is installed just before the display body 3 on which image information is recorded reaches the display section.

The code signal is generated according to the image information as shown in Figure ψ.
It is recorded on the display body 3 as a transparent portion.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, the recording position reading device/7 includes, for example, light emitting elements l!, which are provided at corresponding positions. -/,
/! -yu, /l-3 and light receiving element /9-/, /tayu, /
9-3, the recording position of the corresponding image information is read depending on the presence or absence of transmitted light.

When the recorded image information is displayed again by rotating the platen row 26 clockwise, it is determined that the desired image has come to the display position by reading the code signal with the recording position reading device/7. , the platen roller 6 can be stopped and the image information can be displayed again.

As described above, the image display device of the present invention has a good memory property for image information, and can easily store the display body on which the image information is recorded without keeping it in a heated state. Moreover, the structure is simple and inexpensive, and the energy consumption is low. It is also possible to create a display with a larger screen than ever before. Furthermore, by providing a recording position reading device, it is extremely easy to search for a re-display section when re-displaying image information.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an image display body used in the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the image display device of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the heating device used in the present invention,
The Minoh figure shows a code signal indicating the recording position of image information, and FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the recording position reading device. l...Base material, Y...thermal material, 3...image display body,
Hiroshi. tA', j, j'...roller, ≦...platen roller, de...heating recording device, 10...heating device, /7
...Information reading device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] Heating to a specific temperature and cooling results in a uniform transparent surface or a cloudy surface depending on the heating temperature, and by heating a specific area of the surface to a specific temperature depending on the image information and then cooling it, the image information an image display body having a heat-sensitive material capable of displaying an image, and a plurality of thermal heads that are disposed so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from the image display body and whose temperature can be controlled, and a heating device that records image information on the image display body. An image information display device comprising a recording device and a heating device to make the image display body a uniform transparent surface or a cloudy surface, the image display body having an endless shape and supported by a plurality of rollers. An image display device that is rotatable, and at least one of the rollers is a drive roller.