JPH07135341A - Led display unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an LED display unit which can display an image three- dimensionally. CONSTITUTION:The LED display unit comprises a substrate 1 on which a plurality of LEDs 2 are arranged in parallel, a a protruding light guide plate fixed to the front side of the substrate 1 and provided with barrier walls 5a for guiding the light from each LED 2 individually, and a light diffusion plate 6 secured to the curved face of the protruding light guide plate and provided with a transparent or translucent plane corresponding to each LED 2, wherein the optical guide plate 5 and the light diffusion plate 6 constitute a light diffusion member. When a display on the LED 2 is scrolled, the protruding light diffusion plate 6 presents a three-dimensional image.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an LED display unit for stereoscopically displaying characters, figures and the like by emitting light from a large number of LEDs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An LED display unit in which a large number of LEDs (light emitting diodes) are arranged in parallel on a substrate and a light diffusing member is attached to the front side (light emitting surface side) of the substrate is generally shown in FIG. 4 (side view) and FIG. 5 (front view). This unit is composed of a plurality of chip-shaped LEDs on a substrate 50.
(Not shown) are vertically and horizontally aligned and mounted on the wiring pattern, and a predetermined number of lead terminals 51 are projected from the back side of the substrate 50. A light-reflecting case 60 having a U-shaped cross section is attached to the front side of the substrate 50 to guide the light of the LED to the outside of the unit. The front side of the case 60 has a light-transmitting circular surface corresponding to each LED. 61 is formed. Then, the light emitted from each LED passes through the light transmitting surface 61 of the light reflecting case 60 and goes out of the unit.

In the unit as described above, L which emits light is used.
Characters, figures, etc. are displayed by appropriately selecting the ED pattern, and the image is also moved by sequentially moving (scrolling) the display.

[0004]

However, in the conventional unit, since the light reflection case 60 has a U-shaped cross section, that is, the front surface of the light reflection case 60 is generally a flat surface, the image displayed by the LED is flat. However, even if the display is scrolled, the image only looks like a two-dimensional movement.

In particular, for example, in the display devices of recent amusement machines, there is a strong demand for stereoscopically displaying the display image in order to give the viewer a stronger impression and amusement. That is expected. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an LED display unit capable of displaying an image in three dimensions.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an LED display unit of the present invention is provided with a substrate on which a large number of LEDs are arranged and a front surface side (light emitting surface side) of the substrate, And a light diffusing member having a curved surface that transmits the light of the LED.

[0007]

In this display unit, since the light diffusing member has the light-transmitting curved surface, when the display image by the LED is moved, the image looks three-dimensional due to the curved surface. For example,
When the curved surface of the light diffusing member is a convex shape protruding toward the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the substrate, when the display is scrolled from one end of the substrate toward the other end, an image of the curved surface of the light diffusing member is displayed. It seems that it gradually increases as it moves from one end to the center, and conversely it gradually decreases as it moves from the center to the other end. In other words, the viewer can see the image while moving, and can provide a stereoscopic image.

[0008]

EXAMPLES The LED display unit of the present invention will be described below based on examples. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a display unit according to the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a front view, and FIG. 3 is a side view.
Shown in. In this display unit, a chip-shaped LED 2 is arranged on the substrate 1 in a lengthwise direction and a widthwise direction of the substrate 1 of 25 × 10.
They are arranged in parallel. These LEDs 2 are mounted on a wiring pattern provided on the front side of the substrate 1, and this wiring pattern is connected to a predetermined number of lead terminals 3 protruding from the back side of the substrate 1.

The surface of the substrate 1 is preferably black. This is for clarifying the brightness of the LED 2 and the surface of the substrate located on the back side thereof, for clarifying the contour of the display image by the LED 2, and for preventing reflection by light from the outside of the unit. A light diffusing member 4 is attached to the front surface of the substrate 1, and in this embodiment, the light diffusing member 4 includes a resin light guide plate 5 and a resin light diffuser plate 6 fixed to the light guide plate 5. Composed. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the light guide plate 5 is located on the front side at the center of the substrate 1 in the longitudinal direction.
Has a gentle convex curved surface that protrudes to the maximum,
It has a partition wall 5a that completely separates each LED 2 from the adjacent LED. The partition wall 5 a is formed from the curved surface of the light guide plate 5 to the substrate 1
Since the partition wall 5a is formed, cylindrical holes are formed in the light guide plate 5 by the number of LEDs. The partition wall 5
It is preferable that a is white in order to guide the light of the LED 2 forward efficiently.

A light diffusing plate 6 for diffusing and transmitting the light of the LED 2.
Is curved along the curved surface of the light guide plate 5, and is similarly gently curved in a convex shape. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the portions of the light diffusion plate 6 corresponding to the cylindrical holes formed by the partition walls 5a are transparent or semitransparent circular surfaces 6a, respectively, and the other portions are It is preferably black. The lead terminal 3 on the back side of the substrate 1 is connected to a control circuit (not shown) that controls lighting and extinguishing of the LED 2, and since this control circuit is the same as that of a conventional display unit, description thereof will be omitted. It has a function of causing the LED 2 to emit light in accordance with a pattern such as a character or a figure, and scrolling the display sequentially.

In such a display unit, for example, when an arbitrary character or figure is displayed from the left side of the substrate 1 and this display is moved to the right side of the substrate 1, the image is displayed by the convex curved surface of the light diffusion plate 6. Appears to approach from the left back to the front, and further away from the front to the right back, and a stereoscopic image with a strong impression can be given to the viewer. Of course, the same applies when the display is scrolled from the right side to the left side.

In order to utilize the characteristics of this display function to display drums such as pachinko and pachislot, the display units as described above are arranged side by side so that the longitudinal direction of the substrates is the vertical direction, and the display is It can be moved from the upper side to the lower side (or from the lower side to the upper side), and the three-dimensional display can further enhance the entertainment. Although the flat substrate 1 is used in the above embodiment, a flexible substrate such as a flexible substrate or an ultrathin substrate may be used. In this case, since the substrate can be easily bent, if the substrate is bent according to the curved surface of the light diffusing member, the distance from the LED on the substrate to the front surface of the light diffusing member becomes constant, so that the luminous efficiency is uniform. You can

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. In particular, the curved surface of the light diffusing member may have various forms other than the convex curved surface. For example, if the curved surface is made concave instead of convex, the displayed image will be gradually distant from the side and gradually approach the opposite side again, which gives a visual impression opposite to the convex shape. Alternatively, when the substrate is a long type, the curved surface may be wavy, that is, both convex and concave curved surfaces may be incorporated to give the image an undulating impression.

[0014]

As described above, the LED display unit of the present invention has the LED on the substrate on which a large number of LEDs are arranged.
Since the light diffusing member having a curved surface that transmits the light of the ED is attached, when the display by the LED is moved, the image moves with a sense of depth according to the curved surface, and three-dimensional display can be realized. Also, even if a flexible substrate such as a flexible substrate or an ultrathin substrate is used as the substrate, three-dimensional display can be similarly performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a unit according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the unit shown in FIG.

3 is a side view of the unit shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a unit according to a conventional example.

5 is a front view of the unit shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 substrate 2 LED 3 lead terminal 4 light diffusing member 5 light guide plate 5a partition wall 6 light diffusing plate 6a transparent or semi-transparent surface

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] December 27, 1994

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Full text

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Document name] Statement

Title of the invention LED display unit

[Claims]

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an LED display unit for stereoscopically displaying characters, figures and the like by emitting light from a large number of LEDs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An LED display unit in which a large number of LEDs (light emitting diodes) are arranged in parallel on a substrate and a light diffusing member is attached to the front side (light emitting surface side) of the substrate is generally shown in FIG. 8 (side view) and FIG. 9 (front view). This unit is composed of a plurality of chip-shaped LEDs on a substrate 50.
(Not shown) are vertically and horizontally aligned and mounted on the wiring pattern, and a predetermined number of lead terminals 51 are projected from the back side of the substrate 50. A light-reflecting case 60 having a U-shaped cross section is attached to the front side of the substrate 50 to guide the light of the LED to the outside of the unit. The front side of the case 60 has a light-transmitting circular surface corresponding to each LED. 61 is formed. Then, the light emitted from each LED passes through the light transmitting surface 61 of the light reflecting case 60 and goes out of the unit.

In the unit as described above, L which emits light is used.
Characters, figures, etc. are displayed by appropriately selecting the ED pattern, and the image is also moved by sequentially moving (scrolling) the display.

[0004]

However, in the conventional unit, since the light reflection case 60 has a U-shaped cross section, that is, the front surface of the light reflection case 60 is generally a flat surface, the image displayed by the LED is flat. However, even if the display is scrolled, the image only looks like a two-dimensional movement.

In particular, for example, in the display devices of recent amusement machines, there is a strong demand for stereoscopically displaying the display image in order to give the viewer a stronger impression and amusement. That is expected. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an LED display unit capable of displaying an image in three dimensions.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an LED display unit of the present invention is provided with a substrate on which a large number of LEDs are arranged and a front surface side (light emitting surface side) of the substrate, And a light diffusing member having a curved transmitting surface for transmitting the light of the LED.

[0007]

In this display unit, since the light transmitting surface of the light diffusing member is a curved surface, when the display image by the LED is moved, the image looks three-dimensional due to the curved surface. For example, when the curved surface of the light diffusing member has a convex shape protruding toward the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the substrate, when the display is scrolled from one end of the substrate to the other end, an image of the light diffusing member is displayed. The curved surface seems to gradually increase as it moves from one end to the center, and on the contrary, it gradually decreases as it moves from the center to the other end. In other words, the viewer can see the image while moving, and can provide a stereoscopic image.

[0008]

EXAMPLES The LED display unit of the present invention will be described below based on examples. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a display unit according to the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a front view, and FIG. 3 is a side view.
Shown in. In this display unit, a chip-shaped LED 2 is arranged on the substrate 1 in a lengthwise direction and a widthwise direction of the substrate 1 of 25 × 10.
They are arranged in parallel. These LEDs 2 are mounted on a wiring pattern provided on the front side of the substrate 1, and this wiring pattern is connected to a predetermined number of lead terminals 3 protruding from the back side of the substrate 1.

The surface of the substrate 1 is preferably black. This is for clarifying the brightness of the LED 2 and the surface of the substrate located on the back side thereof, for clarifying the contour of the display image by the LED 2, and for preventing reflection by light from the outside of the unit. A light diffusing member 4 is attached to the front surface of the substrate 1, and in this embodiment, the light diffusing member 4 includes a resin light guide plate 5 and a resin light diffuser plate 6 fixed to the light guide plate 5. Composed. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the light guide plate 5 is located on the front side at the center of the substrate 1 in the longitudinal direction.
Has a gentle convex curved surface that protrudes to the maximum,
It has a partition wall 5a that completely separates each LED 2 from the adjacent LED. The partition wall 5 a is formed from the curved surface of the light guide plate 5 to the substrate 1
Since the partition wall 5a is formed, cylindrical holes are formed in the light guide plate 5 by the number of LEDs. The partition wall 5
It is preferable that a is white in order to guide the light of the LED 2 forward efficiently.

A light diffusing plate 6 for diffusing and transmitting the light of the LED 2.
Is curved along the curved surface of the light guide plate 5, and is similarly gently curved in a convex shape. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the portions of the light diffusion plate 6 corresponding to the cylindrical holes formed by the partition walls 5a are transparent or semitransparent circular surfaces 6a, respectively, and the other portions are It is preferably black. The lead terminal 3 on the back side of the substrate 1 is connected to a control circuit (not shown) that controls lighting and extinguishing of the LED 2, and since this control circuit is the same as that of a conventional display unit, description thereof will be omitted. It has a function of causing the LED 2 to emit light in accordance with a pattern such as a character or a figure, and scrolling the display sequentially.

In such a display unit, for example, when an arbitrary character or figure is displayed from the left side of the substrate 1 and this display is moved to the right side of the substrate 1, the image is displayed by the convex curved surface of the light diffusion plate 6. Appears to approach from the left back to the front, and further away from the front to the right back, and a stereoscopic image with a strong impression can be given to the viewer. Of course, the same applies when the display is scrolled from the right side to the left side.

In order to utilize the characteristics of this display function to display drums such as pachinko and pachislot, the display units as described above are arranged side by side so that the longitudinal direction of the substrates is the vertical direction, and the display is It can be moved from the upper side to the lower side (or from the lower side to the upper side), and the three-dimensional display can further enhance the entertainment. Although the flat substrate 1 is used in the above embodiment, a flexible substrate such as a flexible substrate or an ultrathin substrate may be used. In this case, since the substrate can be easily bent, if the substrate is bent according to the curved surface of the light diffusing member, the distance from the LED on the substrate to the front surface of the light diffusing member becomes constant, so that the luminous efficiency is uniform. You can

As another embodiment, a display unit using a flexible substrate is shown in FIG. 4 (front view), FIG. 5 (longitudinal sectional view of essential parts), and FIG. 6 (back view). In this display unit,
A large number of chip-shaped LEDs 12 are arranged in parallel on the flexible substrate 11, and each LED 12 has one red LED element and one green LED element. Also,
A plurality of plate-shaped reinforcing plates 13 are attached in a row on the back surface of the flexible substrate 11 corresponding to each LED 12. Further, a single diffusion film 14 having a thickness of about 0.2 mm is provided on each LED 12 as a light diffusion member for making the diffusion of light uniform. In addition, red LED
The arrangement of the element and the green LED element is not necessarily fixed for each LED 12, but is set arbitrarily.
Of course, each LED 12 is mounted on the wiring pattern of the flexible substrate 11.

The flexible substrate 11 having the LED 12 is made of plastic (polyester or the like) as shown in FIG.
In the white case 16 consisting of, the mounting surface of the LED 12 is projected to the front surface of the case 16 in a convex shape, and the surface to which the plurality of lead terminals (pins) 15 are attached in a protruding manner by soldering is the case 16. It is bent so that it is located on the back side of. The attachment surface of the flexible substrate 11 is fixed to the case 16 by a stopper 17 for example. A reinforcing plate 13 is also attached to the back surface of the lead terminal (pin) 15 of the flexible substrate 11. Flexible substrate 11
The mounting surface of the LED 12 is attached to the front side of the case 16 by fitting the leg portion 18a of the frame body 18 having a shape as shown in FIG. 7 to the claw portion (not shown) provided in the case 16. It is pressed. As can be seen from the shape of the frame body 18 in FIG. 7, the frame body 18 does not exist on the light emitting surface side of the LED 12, and the diffusion film 14 attached to the upper surface of the frame body 18 does not exist.
Exists only. With this display unit, the same operation and effect as those of the above display unit can be obtained. In this embodiment, the diffusion film 14 is attached to the upper surface of the frame body 18, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the diffusion film 14 may be attached directly to the LED 12. Also,
In this embodiment, the flexible board 11 is routed from the right end portion in FIG. 5 to the lower surface of the case 16, but the invention is not limited to this, and the flexible board 11 may be routed from the left and right end portions to the lower surface of the case 16. Is also possible. Further, in this embodiment, the flexible substrate 11
Although the lower surface of the case 16 is fixed by using the stopper plate 17, the invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to caulk with a resin pin.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. In particular, the curved surface of the light diffusing member may have various forms other than the convex curved surface. For example, if the curved surface is concave instead of convex, or in the case of a flexible substrate such as a flexible substrate, the substrate is bent concavely, the display image is gradually distant from the side,
The visual impression is the opposite of the convex shape that gradually approaches the opposite side again. Alternatively, if the substrate is a long type,
It is also possible to give the impression that the image is wavy by making the curved surface wavy, that is, adopting a mode that incorporates both convex and concave curved surfaces.

[0016]

As described above, the LED display unit of the present invention has the LED on the substrate on which a large number of LEDs are arranged.
Since the light diffusing member having a curved transmission surface for transmitting the light of the ED is attached, when the display by the LED is moved, the image moves with a sense of depth according to the curved surface, and three-dimensional display can be realized. Also, even if a flexible substrate such as a flexible substrate or an ultrathin substrate is used as the substrate, three-dimensional display can be similarly performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a unit according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the unit shown in FIG.

3 is a side view of the unit shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a unit according to another embodiment.

5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a main part of the unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of a frame body used in the unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a unit according to a conventional example.

9 is a front view of the unit shown in FIG.

[Explanation of reference numerals] 1,11 substrate 2,12 LED 3,15 lead terminal 4,14 light diffusing member 5 light guide plate 5a partition wall 6 light diffusing plate 6a transparent or semi-transparent surface 16 case 18 frame ────── ────────────────────────────────────────────────

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] December 27, 1994

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Fig. 4

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 4]

[Procedure Amendment 2]

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[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 5]

[Procedure 3]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

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[Correction method] Added

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[Figure 6]

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

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[Correction method] Added

[Correction content]

[Figure 7]

[Procedure Amendment 5]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

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[Procedure correction 6]

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[Correction method] Added

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[Figure 9]

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A substrate comprising a large number of LEDs, and a light diffusing member provided on the front surface side (light emitting surface side) of the substrate and having a curved surface for transmitting the light of the LED. LED display unit.