JPH08179712A - Rotary display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To display a variety of visual information without hindering a visual field by rotatably providing an arm-like member wherein a plurality of light emitter are arranged on its surface, and conducting light emitting control of respective light emitting elements in association with rotation of this arm-like member. CONSTITUTION: A number of light emitters 21 are arranged in a zigzag shape on a surface of an arm-like member 2, which is rotated around a rotary shaft 22 as a center by a rotation driving device 3. Through a sliding electrode formed on the rotary shaft 22, an electric current is supplied from a power source to a control device 4. By means of the control device 4, a position of an arbitrary point which is desired to be lighted is designated in a polar coordinate system, and in accordance with a rotation angle of the arm-like member 2, the light emitter corresponding to a radius is lighted. In this way, a character, numerical character, figure and the like can be displayed. Since the arm-like member 2 is rotating, a space after that can be seen through, and a rate for interrupting a visual field is decreased.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display device capable of displaying visual information such as letters, numbers and figures by means of blinking luminous bodies, and more particularly, it is characterized by rotating a plurality of luminous bodies. And a display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been a display device capable of displaying a lot of visual information by moving a plurality of blinking light-emitting bodies by utilizing the afterimage phenomenon of human vision. In such a display device,
There are those that move linearly and those that rotate.

As a rotary display device, there is a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-32992. This is on the surface of the rotating body around the spindle,
A plurality of light emitters are arranged in a direction substantially perpendicular to the moving direction. As the rotating body, a cylindrical body and a plate body as shown in FIG. 7 are disclosed.

[0004]

However, according to the rotary type display device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-32992 as described above, the rotary type display device is displayed on the surface of a cylindrical rotary member. The structure is such that the other side of the display device cannot be seen. Therefore, for example, when used as a signboard for a gas station, even if the signboard is installed beside a road, the signboard obstructs the field of view and causes an accident.

Therefore, the present invention has been made for the purpose of providing a rotary display device capable of displaying a large amount of visual information without obstructing the field of view.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the invention, at least one arm-shaped member is rotatably provided so that a rotation locus draws a disk-shaped plane, and is arranged in a direction parallel to the rotation axis. A plurality of light emitting bodies that emit light are arranged on the surface of the arm-shaped member at positions of different radii, and a rotating unit that drives the arm-shaped member to rotate, and each of the light-emitting bodies is associated with the rotation of the arm-shaped member. As a result, a control means for individually controlling light emission is provided.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the plurality of light emitting elements are arranged in a zigzag pattern on one side surface of the arm member. In the invention of claim 3, the two arm-shaped members are configured to form a diameter. In the invention of claim 4, the control means is
The control means outputs the coordinate data of each dot of the pattern to be displayed as polar coordinate data having the rotation axis as a pole, and controls the light emission of each rotating light emitter corresponding to the polar coordinate data.

[0008]

According to the invention of claim 1, a plurality of light-emitting bodies are arranged on the surface of the arm-like member, and the arm-like member is rotatably provided so that the rotation locus draws a disk-shaped plane, and the rotating means is used. Since it is driven to rotate, the locus of the light emitter forms a disk-shaped plane. At this time, since the radii of the positions of the respective light emitters are different, the loci of the centers of the respective light emitters form concentric circles having different radii without overlapping.

Then, by means of the control means,
Since the light emission is individually controlled in association with the rotation of the arm-shaped member, a disc-shaped display image can be obtained by a visual afterimage phenomenon. Since it is the arm-shaped member that actually rotates, it does not obstruct the field of view, and the other side of the disc-shaped display image can be seen through.

Further, since it is not the disk-shaped wide area that receives the wind but the thin area of the arm-shaped member, the influence of the wind is small. Further, in the invention of claim 2, since the plurality of light emitters are arranged in a staggered manner on one side surface of the arm-shaped member, the non-light emitting region between the light emitters is eliminated, and a higher quality display image can be obtained.

Further, according to the third aspect of the invention, since the two arm-shaped members form the diameter, the mass balance around the rotation axis is excellent and stable rotation can be performed. Also,
Since the luminous body is present every 180 degrees, a more detailed display image can be obtained. Further, in the invention of claim 4, the control means sets the coordinate data of each dot of the pattern to be displayed,
The polar coordinate data having the axis of rotation as the pole is output, and the rotating light emitters corresponding to the polar coordinate data are controlled to emit light, so that display images of various patterns can be obtained.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A rotary display device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the entire rotary display device, and FIG. 2 is a layout view showing an example of the arrangement of the light emitting bodies.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a rotary display device, 2 is an arm member, 3 is a rotary drive device, and 4 is a control device. The control device 4 is installed side by side with the arm-shaped member 2 and
An arm-shaped member 2 ′ similar to the arm-shaped member 2 is also provided on the back side of the rotary display device 1 so that images can be displayed on both sides of the rotary display device 1. A large number of light emitters 2 arranged on the surface of the arm member 2
As shown in FIG. 2, the Nos. 1 are arranged in a staggered manner along a substantially diameter. The arm member 2 is rotated by the rotation driving device 3 about a rotation shaft 22. With the sliding electrode formed on the rotary shaft 22, the control device 4
Power is supplied to.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of an example of the control device 4. Reference numeral 40A denotes an infrared light receiving portion provided on a substrate that rotates together with the arm-shaped member 2, and outputs a display data output trigger signal a each time it matches the position of the infrared light emitting portion 40B fixed to the frame of the rotary display device 1. To do. 41 is a memory (ROM) that stores the display pattern in polar coordinate format,
42 is a designating circuit for designating the display patterns in order, 43 is the input of the display data output trigger signal a, 43 is the polar coordinate data of the display pattern for one screen designated in the designating circuit 42, the arm-shaped member 2 A read circuit that sequentially reads and outputs during one rotation, 44 is a light emitter drive circuit that controls lighting of each light emitter 21 based on the polar coordinate data sequentially output from the read circuit 43. The memory (RO
By replacing M) 41, the display pattern can be changed. Further, various display patterns may be stored and selected by a selection switch or the like. Further, the memory 41 may be an electrically rewritable memory and the display pattern may be written by a serial communication means with the outside.

Reference numeral 45 is an optical sensor for detecting the brightness of the surroundings, and when the surroundings are dark, it controls the luminous body drive circuit 44 to suppress the luminance of the luminous body 21 and improve the visibility. The rotary drive device 3 is rotating at a constant speed. In the above description, the configuration is such that the display and the rotation are synchronized once for each rotation of the arm-shaped member 2. However, like the control device 4 ′ of another embodiment shown in FIG. Output circuit 50 for outputting a rotation timing signal b and a display data output timing signal c
The rotation driving device 3 is rotated by a stepping motor or the like in synchronization with the rotation timing signal c.
The display pattern may be sequentially output from the read circuit 53 using the display data output timing signal c as a read clock signal. For example, the display data for one screen is completed by 36 pulses of the display data output timing signal c, and the rotation driving device 3 synchronizes with each pulse of the rotation timing signal b of 36 pulses, and the rotation of the arm shape is increased by 10 °. The member 2 is rotated.

In the case of arranging them in a line, even if they are arranged densely, there is a region that does not effectively emit light between the respective light emitters, and the display image becomes unnatural when rotated, so that FIG. Figure 3
It is preferable to arrange them in a staggered pattern as shown in FIG.

In the control device 4, for example, the following Table 1
7) from the center of rotation at any rotation angle
When the second, eighth, and ninth display bodies are controlled to be turned on, a circular display image is obtained.

[0018]

[Table 1] 0: Extinguished 1: Illuminated Further, as shown in the following Table 2, when all the light emitters are turned on every 90 °, a cross-shaped display image is obtained.

[0019]

[Table 2] 0: Light off 1: Light up

In this way, the position of an arbitrary point to be turned on is designated in polar coordinate format, and the light emitting body at the position corresponding to the radius is turned on according to the rotation angle of the arm-shaped member 2. . In this way, characters, numbers, and figures can be displayed by expressing them in polar coordinates.

Moreover, due to the visual afterimage phenomenon, the locus of the light-emitting body of the rotating arm-shaped member forms a disk-shaped display surface, so that a display image having a wide area can be obtained.

The pattern data of the image to be displayed may be stored in a memory or the like in the apparatus, but when the pattern data in the normal rectangular coordinate format is input from the outside, it is converted into the polar coordinate format. The means may be built in the control device 4.

According to the rotary display device 1 having the above-mentioned structure, since only the arm-shaped member 2 actually exists in the display area, the ratio of obstructing the view is small. Therefore, in the display area, the display image due to the afterimage phenomenon appears to float, and the other side of the display area can be seen.
Therefore, even when it is installed at the entrance of a gas station or a store, there is a small possibility that the field of view is blocked, an accident can be prevented, and it is safe.

Further, in the display area, the resistance to the wind is limited to the arm-shaped member 2, so that the risk of falling due to the strong wind is reduced, which is safe. If a waterproof cover for the arm-shaped member 2 is formed of a transparent or translucent plate, the durability of the internal electronic circuit is also improved,
There is also no risk of being injured by the rotating arm-shaped member 2 by accidentally inserting a hand. Even when such a waterproof cover is provided, since the arm-shaped member 2 is rotating inside, the internal air is sufficiently agitated, and there is no problem of heat retention. As a precaution, a slit may be provided on the side surface of the frame or the like.

Further, since the afterimage phenomenon is utilized, a display area having a large area can be obtained with a small number of light emitters, and an effect of being economical can be obtained. The resolution by the rotation angle is
It is possible to improve the resolution in the rotation direction by making it sufficiently fine.

By arranging light-emitting bodies of different colors with substantially the same radius, color display is possible. For example,
As shown in FIG. 4, 2 ² = 4 color displays are possible by disposing two color light emitters and controlling lighting individually. The arm-shaped member may be formed in a Y shape, and red, green, and blue light-emitting bodies may be provided on each arm for color display.

Further, light-emitting bodies for three colors may be adjacent to the arm-shaped member.

The arrangement of the light emitters can have various patterns. It can be straight, staggered, or spiral. Further, the arm-shaped member may have a radius of at least one, but may have two diametrical members or three or more radii. In any case, it is sufficient that at least one luminous body exists on a certain radius.

Further, if the luminous body remote from the rotation axis is controlled so as to increase the luminance, uniform luminance can be obtained over the entire surface. In addition, the number of light emitting bodies may be increased at a position apart from the rotation axis. It is also possible to display a moving image by displaying a display image that changes little by little every half rotation of the arm-shaped member 2.

Further, by controlling the read timing in the read circuit 43 in FIG. 5 or by omitting a part of the display data output timing signal in FIG.
By intentionally shifting the rotation of the arm-shaped member 2 and the display pattern, the image can be rotated.

[0031]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a display device having a wide display area can be realized with a small number of light emitters.
Economically excellent effect can be obtained. Further, since the arm-shaped member rotates, the ratio of blocking the view in the display area is small,
The effect that the other side of the display device can be seen and is safe is obtained.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the effect that a more uniform display image can be obtained by arranging the light emitting elements in a staggered manner. According to the third aspect of the invention, the effect that a more detailed display image can be obtained by configuring the two arm-shaped members so as to form a diameter. Further, according to the invention of claim 4, since the control means outputs the polar coordinate data having the rotation axis as a pole, a desired display image can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a rotary display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an array of light emitting members in the arm-shaped member of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a part of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an arrangement of light emitting bodies for color display according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a control device.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a control device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an example of a conventional rotary display device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 rotary display device 2 arm-shaped member 21 light-emitting body 22 rotary shaft 3 rotation drive device (rotating means) 4 control device (control means)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A surface of the arm-shaped member, wherein at least one arm-shaped member is rotatably provided so that a rotation locus draws a disk-shaped plane, and a light-emitting body that emits light in a direction parallel to a rotation axis is provided. A plurality of rotating means for rotatably driving the arm-shaped member, and a control means for individually controlling light emission in association with the rotation of the arm-shaped member by arranging a plurality of them at different radius positions. A rotary display device characterized by being provided. 2. The rotary display device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of light emitting bodies are arranged in a zigzag pattern on one side surface of the arm-shaped member. 3. The structure according to claim 1, wherein the two arm members are configured to form a diameter.
The rotary display device according to the item. 4. The control means outputs coordinate data of each dot of a pattern to be displayed as polar coordinate data having a rotation axis as a pole, and controls light emission of each rotating light emitting body corresponding to the polar coordinate data. It is a means, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.
The rotary display device according to any one of 2 and 3.