JPH032889A - Display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a sound from being full and staying and to effectively emit the sound while keeping a waterproof function, etc., by providing a ferroelectric liquid crystal panel having a sounding function on an outside case which incorporates a display part so that it covers the front side of the display part. CONSTITUTION:The ferroelectric liquid crystal panel 8 having the sounding function which is constituted of two transparent substrates 81a and 81b disposed in parallel with a specified gap, driving electrodes 82a and 82b for sounding disposed inside the substrates 81a and 81b and ferroelectric liquid crystal 84 sealed in the gap (d) between the substrates 81a and 81b is provided on the outside case 1 which incorporates the display part 2 so that the panel 8 covers the front side of the display part 2. Therefore, a sounding part is exposed on the front side. Thus, the sound is prevented from being full and staying, thereby effectively emitting the sound. By providing a sound reflecting board 11 on the outside of the outside case, the countermeasure of waterproof to a resonance system becomes needless.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a display device that can display the time and the like as well as alert the user with sound.

[Prior Art] For example, when an alarm clock has a waterproof structure, a means for generating an alarm sound using a buzzer or the like is incorporated in the sealed structure along with a time display section using a liquid crystal or the like.

[Section WJ trying to solve] In this way, in the past, the alarm sound generating device was built into the external case and sealed, so the sound was emitted to the outside, and in order to produce a loud sound, it required a large amount of power consumption. I needed to.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a display device that efficiently radiates sound without being trapped while maintaining waterproof functions.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the display device of the present invention includes two transparent substrates arranged in parallel with a predetermined gap,
A ferroelectric liquid crystal panel with a sound generation function, consisting of a drive electrode for sound generation provided inside the substrate and a ferroelectric liquid crystal sealed in the gap between the substrates, is attached to an exterior case containing a display section. , and is provided to cover the front surface of the display section.

Also, at a predetermined distance from the above ferroelectric liquid crystal panel,
An acoustic reflector may further be provided.

[Example 1] FIG. 1 shows an alarm clock, in which a time display section 2 is housed in an exterior case 1. The time display section 2 is composed of a liquid crystal panel, and has two substrates 21 and 22 facing each other with a gap between them, display segment electrodes and counter electrodes (not shown) are formed on the opposing surfaces of both substrates, and are sealed in the gap. By applying a voltage to the liquid crystal, the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules changes to produce a display. Lead wires 3 are connected to the extraction electrodes of the liquid crystal panel 2 and are electrically connected to the circuit board 4. Polarizing plates 5.6 are provided on both the upper and lower surfaces of the liquid crystal panel 2, and a light reflecting plate 7 is provided on the lower surface of the polarizing plate 6. 10 is a back cover connected to the outer case 1.

A ferroelectric liquid crystal panel 8 is provided on the exterior case 1 as a cover that covers the front surface of the time display section 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the ferroelectric liquid crystal panel 8 has two transparent substrates 81a and 81b arranged in parallel with a predetermined gap between them. Electrode 8
2a, 82b and alignment films 83a, 83b are formed, respectively. A ferroelectric liquid crystal 84 is sealed in the gap between both substrates with a sealing material 85 such as epoxy resin.

Therefore, when a voltage is applied to the drive electrodes 82a, 82b, the ferroelectric liquid crystal panel 8 vibrates and displaces based on the electrostrictive effect of the ferroelectric liquid crystal 84, producing sound. A lead wire 9 is connected to the extraction electrode of the ferroelectric liquid crystal panel 8.
It is electrically connected to the circuit board 4.

With this structure, when a drive signal of 0 (zero) is supplied from the drive circuit formed on the circuit board 4 and the time is displayed on the time display section 2, the transparent substrates 81a, 81b, the transparent electrodes 82a, The time display on the display section 2 can be seen through the cover made of the ferroelectric liquid crystal panel 8 formed using the ferroelectric liquid crystal panel 82'b. When a drive signal with a frequency that generates a desired alarm sound is supplied from a certain drive circuit to the drive electrodes 82 a and 82 b of the ferroelectric liquid crystal panel 8 , the ferroelectric liquid crystal 84 is distorted due to the electrostrictive effect of the ferroelectric liquid crystal 84 . The panel 8 generates mechanical vibrations and emits an alarm sound to notify the arrival of the time.

The time display unit 2 housed inside is not limited to a liquid crystal panel, but may be a time display unit such as an electronic clock 1 or a mechanical clock, or a display unit of other instruments. good.

Figure 3 shows a device in which the sound emitted from the ferroelectric liquid crystal panel 8 is resonated to produce a louder sound. An acoustic reflecting plate 11 made of a material is connected to the exterior case 1 by a plurality of connecting members 12 . This distance d creates a space that constitutes a resonance system for vibrations of the liquid crystal panel 8. Therefore, the vibration of the ferroelectric liquid crystal panel 8 resonates in the space constituting the resonance system and becomes a loud sound, which is radiated from almost the entire circumference of the acoustic reflection plate 11.

Note that the acoustic reflector 11 is not limited to being fixed to the upper surface of the ferroelectric liquid crystal panel 8, but may be fixed to the lower surface at a predetermined interval d. In this case, it is effective to use the acoustic reflector 11 as the display section 2 and provide a sound emitting hole in the gap between the ferroelectric liquid crystal panel 8 and the exterior case.

[Effects] Since the present invention has the above configuration, the ferroelectric liquid crystal panel also serves as a cover for the display section, and no special space is required. And since the sounding part is exposed at the front, the sound is not trapped and the sound is emitted efficiently. Furthermore, since no sound emitting hole is required, it is advantageous for display devices that require waterproofness.

Further, by providing an acoustic reflecting plate, it is possible to emit a much louder sound, which is effective in reducing power consumption. If this acoustic reflector is provided outside the outer case, waterproofing measures against the resonance system are not required, and it can be placed in humid locations.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged partially cutaway sectional view of a ferroelectric liquid crystal panel, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the invention. 1. Exterior case, 2. Display section, 8. Ferroelectric liquid crystal panel, 81a, 81b. Random plate, 82a, 82b. Drive electrode, 84. Ferroelectric liquid crystal, 11. Acoustic reflection. Plate, d... spacing. that's all

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Two transparent substrates placed in parallel with a predetermined gap, a drive electrode for sound generation provided inside the substrate, and a ferroelectric liquid crystal sealed within the gap between the substrates. What is claimed is: 1. A display device comprising: a ferroelectric liquid crystal panel having a sound generation function, which is provided in an exterior case containing a display section, covering the front surface of the display section. (2) The display device according to claim 1, further comprising an acoustic reflector provided at a predetermined distance from the ferroelectric liquid crystal panel.