JPH08221009A - Information display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To perform a free pattern display having excellent visibility night and day by reducing irregularity of the display and contriving low power consumption in efficiently utilizing external light such as sunlight, etc. CONSTITUTION: A display substrate 4 having through holes 5 corresponding to individual dots of display information is arranged in the inside of a case 1 on the front surface side. A shutter unit 30 equipped with a shutter plate 32 is arranged for each through hole 5 on the display substrate 4. A light transmission plate 11 having translucency and fixedly holding a light source 12 on an upper end surface is arranged on the rear surface side of the display substrate 4. A dot reflecting surface 16 corresponding to each through hole 5 is formed on the rear surface of the light transmission plate 11. When light from the light source 12 is introduced from the upper end surface of the light transmission plate 11 into the inside, this light is reflected by the dot reflecting surface 16 of the light transmission plate 11, and a dotwise light surface is emitted by the light transmission plate 11, and hence when the shutter plate 32 of the display part corresponding to the dot of the display information is opened, the transmission light from the light transmission plate 11 is passed through the opened through hole to make a desired display.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention uses a light source such as an LED, a halogen lamp, and a metal haloid lamp at night for installing traffic information on a vehicle road, etc. by dot display, and uses solar energy during the day. The present invention relates to an information display device using the.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in addition to a fixed signboard having a very simple structure in which desired traffic information is printed on the surface, an information display device installed on an automobile road or the like to display traffic information and the like is disclosed. 58-55970, JP-A-59-59
It is known that an arbitrary display by a free pattern disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 146084 can be performed.

First, the display device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-55970 is composed of a plurality of display units arranged in a matrix. Figure 1 for each unit
As shown in FIG. 8 (a), the magnetic reversal element 101 and the exit 103 of the optical fiber 102 are provided above and below,
The lamp 10 is provided on the injection port 104 side of the optical fiber 102.
A light source 107 formed of the reflector 5 and the reflection plate 106 is provided for each of the plurality of optical fibers 102. The magnetic reversal element 101 is formed in a disc shape in which the front surface is a reflection surface and the back surface is a black surface, and is rotatably supported by a shaft. Also,
As shown in FIG. 18B, the character control unit 1 is provided in the middle of the optical fiber 102 with a light shielding plate 109 that rotates by turning the electromagnet 108 on and off to control passage and interruption of light.
10 is provided in a case 111 whose inner surface is a reflecting surface.

When displaying with this display device, during daytime, the lamp 105 of the light source 107 is turned off, and only the magnetic reversal element 101 of the unit corresponding to the character serves as a reflection surface on the outer surface side of the display portion, and Magnetic reflection element 10
The rotation is controlled so that the outer surface side of 1 becomes a black surface. Also,
At night, turn on the lamp 105 of the light source 107,
Only the optical fiber 102 of the unit corresponding to the character passes the light, and the other optical fibers 102 have the light blocking plate 10.
The light is blocked by 9.

Next, in the display device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-146084, as shown in FIG. 19A, a large number of display units arranged in a matrix form a display surface as a display section. The display unit includes a frame body 115 having an opening on the front surface, an emission port 117 of an optical fiber 116 as a light emission section disposed inside the frame body 115,
The shutter 118 and the stopper 119 are provided. The optical fiber 116 has the injection port 120 together with the optical fibers 116 of other display units.
The light from the light source 121 is led to the front opening of each unit. The shutter 118 has a black outer surface with a low reflectance, is located in front of the exit 117 of the optical fiber 116, and has a support shaft 122 provided slightly above the center thereof as shown in FIG. 19B. Body 1
It is rotatably supported on both side surfaces of the shaft 15. In addition, the shutter 118, as shown in FIG.
The lower part than 2 forms a light-shielding part that blocks light from the exit 117 of the optical fiber 116, and the upper part above the support shaft 122 forms a locking part that locks on a stopper 119 fixed to the upper surface of the frame 115.

[0006] When displaying with this display device, in the display unit that should be a dark part, the shutter 118 is in the state shown by the solid line in Fig. 19 (b) without energizing the coil of the electromagnet, and the exit 117 of the optical fiber 116. The light from is blocked. Further, in the display unit that should be the bright portion, the coil of the electromagnet is energized to magnetize the iron core, and the shutter 118 rotates to the horizontal state with the locking portion locked by the stopper 119. As a result, light is emitted from the emission port 117 of the optical fiber 116, the desired display unit becomes bright, and characters, numbers, figures, etc. are displayed. At this time, the shutter 118 functions as an eaves to prevent sunlight from being reflected and directly hitting the exit 117 or the like of the optical fiber 116.

[0007]

However, as shown in FIG.
And in the display device shown in FIG. 19, one optical fiber 102, 116 is used for displaying 1 dot for night display, but the diameter of the optical fiber 102, 116 itself is small, so the dot is also small, and this kind of When the above display device is used for displaying traffic information, there is a problem that visibility from a distant position is poor. In order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to increase the brightness of the light sources 107 and 121 to increase the amount of light incident on the optical fibers 102 and 116. In that case, more light sources 107 and 121 are driven. Electric power is required, which causes a new problem of wasting power.

Further, since the optical fibers 102 and 116 are used, not only the structure becomes complicated and the cost becomes high, but also it is difficult to collect the light from the light sources 107 and 121, and at that time, a loss occurs and the light is constant. There was a problem that the displayed information could not be displayed. Moreover, in the display device of FIG. 18 which performs display during the daytime by using direct reflection of sunlight, there is a problem that display unevenness occurs on the entire display surface or a part thereof depending on weather conditions and the degree of sunlight exposure. Further, in the display device of FIG. 19, since the light source 121 is driven to emit light regardless of day and night to perform display, the power consumption of the light source 121 is large,
There is a problem that the life of the light source 121 is shortened.

By the way, as shown in FIGS. 20 and 21, a liquid crystal display device disclosed in JP-A-5-11249 is known as a device that uses not only a light source but also external light as a backlight. This liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal display substrate 125 and a light guide plate 1 disposed on the lower surface of the liquid crystal display substrate 125 to diffuse and emit light to the liquid crystal display substrate 125.
26, and a printed circuit board 127 on which a drive circuit for driving the liquid crystal display substrate 125 is mounted on the lower surface of the light guide plate 126. A light guide plate 126 made of an acrylic plate has a reflection sheet 128 attached over the entire back surface, and a diffusion plate 129 and a reflection sheet 130 are arranged on the surface opposite to the liquid crystal display substrate 125. The diffusion plate 129 is arranged in a region where the liquid crystal display substrate 125 is positioned, and a fine dot-shaped white printed pattern is applied to the entire region except the upper portion of the light guide plate 126 to which the reflection sheet 130 is attached. The fluorescent tube 13 as a light source is provided on the side end surface of the extending portion 131 protruding from one end surface of the light guide plate 126.
2 are arranged. A white tape 133 is attached to each of the side end surface facing the one end surface on which the fluorescent tube 132 is arranged and the side end surface at the lower end of the light guide plate 126 so that the incident light in the light guide plate 126 does not pass through as it is. ing. An exposure surface 134 is formed on the side end surface of the upper end of the light guide plate 126 so that external light other than the fluorescent tube 132 is incident.

In the liquid crystal display device configured as described above, the light from the fluorescent tube 132 is taken in, and the external light is also taken in from the exposed surface 134 of the light guide plate 126, and these lights are mainly transmitted to the liquid crystal display substrate 125 side. It is diffusely emitted from the surface. This reduces the power consumption of the fluorescent tube 132,
We are trying to extend the service life.

However, in the above-mentioned liquid crystal display device, since the upper end side end surface of the light guide plate 126 is exposed, outside light can be taken in from the exposed surface 134, but the fluorescent tube 132 as a light source is used as the light guide plate. The light guide plate 126 is provided only on one end surface of the light guide plate 126 and reflects light by the reflection sheet 128 that covers the entire rear surface of the light guide plate 126. Brightness unevenness occurs, and it is impossible to uniformly diffuse and emit light over the entire display surface. Moreover, in the above liquid crystal display device, since the light is diffused by the diffusion plate 129 so that the light is emitted to the entire display surface of the liquid crystal display substrate 125 as a backlight, the display unevenness becomes more remarkable as the display surface becomes larger. appear. Therefore, it is not suitable for a traffic information display device that is installed outdoors and has a large display surface that requires identification of the displayed content even from a position that is separated to some extent day or night. Further, in order to solve this problem, in order to brighten the side end surface on the opposite side where the fluorescent tube 132 is arranged,
Therefore, more driving power is required, which causes a problem of increased power consumption.

Further, in the above liquid crystal display device, the light guide plate 12
Since the outside light is taken in only by the exposed surface 134 corresponding to the plate thickness of the side end surface of No. 6, it is applied to, for example, an information display device for displaying traffic information and the like in a dot display, and particularly when performing daytime display using only sunlight. However, it was not possible to capture the outside light in a sufficient amount of light necessary for providing a display that is easy to see.

Further, in the above liquid crystal display device, the reflection sheet 128 is attached to the entire rear surface of the light guide plate 126 on which the printed circuit board 127 is arranged, and the upper end side of the light guide plate 126 for taking in external light other than the fluorescent tube 132. Since the configuration is such that the end surface is exposed, the fluorescent tube 132 cannot be arranged on the back surface side of the light guide plate 126, and the arrangement position is limited to the side end surface of the light guide plate 126 excluding the exposed surface 134.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to efficiently utilize outside light such as sunlight to achieve low power consumption and reduce display unevenness. An object of the present invention is to provide an information display device that is capable of displaying free patterns during day and night with excellent visibility.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object, an information display device according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises a housing 1
A display section 31 provided on one surface side of the housing and having a shutter for each of a plurality of dots forming display information; and a light source 12 disposed on an end surface, and the light source 12 is arranged on the surface opposite to the display section. It is characterized in that it is provided with a light-transmitting light guide plate 11 on which dot reflecting surfaces 16 corresponding to dots are formed, and a control unit 60 for controlling the shutter of the display unit based on display information. The information display device according to claim 2, wherein the housing 1 has an opening 2 for taking in sunlight on the upper surface 1a, a reflector 10 for reflecting the sunlight taken in through the opening to the front surface 1b side of the housing, A display unit 3 provided on the front side of the housing and having a shutter for each of a plurality of dots forming display information.
1, a light source 12 disposed on an end surface, and a light-transmissive light guide plate 11 having a dot reflection surface 16 corresponding to each dot formed on a surface opposite to the display unit, and dots of the light guide plate. Moving means 19 and 68 for moving the light guide plate until the transmissive portion 17 between the reflecting surfaces is positioned at the shutter;
The control unit 60 controls the shutter of the display unit based on the display information. The information display device according to claim 3, wherein the housing 1 has an opening 2 for taking in sunlight on the upper surface 1a, a reflector 10 for reflecting the sunlight taken in through the opening to the front surface 1b side of the housing, A display unit 31 is provided on the front side of the housing and has a shutter for each of a plurality of dots forming display information, and a light source 12 is disposed on an end face, and the surface opposite to the display unit corresponds to each of the dots. And a light-transmitting light guide plate 11 having the dot reflection surface 16 formed thereon, and provided between the light guide plate and the display section.
A light introduction plate 20 that reflects sunlight, which is transmitted between the dot reflection surfaces of the light guide plate through the reflection plate, to the light guide plate side and introduces the sunlight into the dot reflection surface, and the display based on display information. And a control unit 60 that controls the shutter of the unit. The information display device according to claim 4, wherein the housing 1, a display section 31 provided on one surface side of the housing and having a shutter for each of a plurality of dots forming display information, and a surface opposite to the display section. A light-transmitting light guide plate 11 having a dot reflecting surface 16 corresponding to each dot formed therein, a light source 12 provided on a rear surface of the light guide plate along a side end surface of the light guide plate, and display information. And a control unit (60) for controlling the shutter of the display unit based on the above. Further, a solar battery 8 for charging sunlight may be provided, and the control unit 60 may drive the light source 12 to emit light and control the shutter of the display unit 31 by using the output of the solar battery 8 as a power source.

[0016]

In the information display device according to the first aspect, when the light from the light source 12 is introduced into the inside from the end face of the light guide plate 11, this light is reflected by the dot reflecting surface 16 of the light guide plate 11, and the light guide plate 11 is Surface-emit in a dot shape. Then, when the control unit 60 opens the shutter of the display unit 31 corresponding to the dot to be displayed this time based on the display information, the light guide plate 11 starts from there.
The dot-shaped transmitted light of passes through. Thereby, the light guide plate 1
In No. 1, the shutter portion forming display information is brighter than other portions and surface-emites in a dot shape, and a display having excellent visibility is performed even at night. In the information display device according to claim 2, in the case of daytime display using only sunlight, the light guide plate 11
Is moved by the moving means 19 and 68 to the respective dot reflecting surfaces 16 and 1
The transparent portions 17 between 6 move to the positions of the corresponding shutter portions. In this state, the reflector 1 is opened from the opening 2 of the housing 1.
The sunlight incident through 0 is reflected by the dot reflecting surfaces 16 and 1
The light is transmitted through the transmissive portion 17 between 6 and guided to the display unit 31.
Then, when the control unit 60 opens the shutter of the display unit 31 corresponding to the dot to be displayed this time based on the display information, the sunlight that has passed through the light guide plate 11 passes from there and the desired display is performed. On the other hand, when it is impossible to display only by sunlight (night display), when the light source 12 is driven, the light of the light source 12 is emitted from the dot reflection surface of the light guide plate 11 as in the information display device according to claim 1. The light guide plate 11 is reflected by 16 and emits light in a dot shape. Then, when the control unit 60 opens the shutter of the display unit 31 corresponding to the dot to be displayed this time based on the display information, the light guide plate 11 starts from there.
The dot-shaped transmitted light of passes through. As a result, the display can be performed using only the sunlight in the daytime, and the light source 12 is driven to emit light during the nighttime display in which only the sunlight is not displayed. Can be significantly reduced. In the information display device according to claim 3,
When sunlight enters from the opening 2 of the housing 1 through the reflector 10, the sunlight is reflected by the dot reflecting surface 16 of the light guide plate 11,
After passing through 16 spaces, the light guiding plate 20 is used to guide the light guide plate 1.
It is reflected to the 1 side and introduced to the dot reflecting surface 16. On the other hand, in the case of night display, the light from the light source 12 emits the light from the dot reflection surface 16 of the light guide plate 11 as in the information display device according to claim 1.
When the control unit 60 opens the shutter of the display unit 31 corresponding to the dot to be displayed this time based on the display information, the light guide plate 11 is reflected on the surface of the light guide plate 11 to emit light in a dot shape. Transmitted light passes through. As a result, when the light source 12 is driven to emit light, sunlight can be transmitted to the display unit 31 side together with the light from the light source 12, and during daytime display, when the display is difficult to see due to the ambient brightness, the light source 12 Can be used as an auxiliary light to display day and night. In the information display device according to claim 4, since the light from the light source 12 is introduced into the light guide plate 11 from the rear surface side of the light guide plate 11, the light guide plate 11 can be made thin and the light transmission loss is reduced. The incident efficiency of light is improved. In the daytime, sunlight is charged by the solar battery 8, and the control unit 60 uses the output of the solar battery 8 as a power source to drive the light source 12 to emit light and to control the shutter of the display unit 31. Labor saving can be achieved.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment of Information Display Device) FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a first embodiment of the information display device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the same device, and FIG. 3 (a) is a light guide plate in the same device. Side view of
3B is a rear view of the light guide plate, FIGS. 4A and 4B are configuration diagrams of a moving mechanism of the light guide plate in the device, and FIG. 5A is a partially enlarged view showing a display portion of the device. Fig. 7 is a rear view, Fig. 5 (b) is a plan view of the same, Fig. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing a display portion of the device, and Fig. 7
FIG. 3 is a rear view showing a shutter unit of the same device.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the information display device of this embodiment, a square opening 2 is formed in the depth direction of an upper surface 1a of a cubic casing 1 having an outer shape. In the opening 2, a square-shaped sunlight introducing plate 3 for allowing outside light such as sunlight to pass through inside the housing 1 is detachably provided in parallel with the upper surface 1a. In the embodiments described below, the external light is sunlight. The sunlight introducing plate 3 is composed of a translucent milky white resin plate, and not by simply changing the transparency but by using a colored plate,
Even when the weather is fine, the sunlight passing through the inside of the housing 1 becomes uniform, the brightness of the entire inside of the housing 1 is kept uniform, and the empty state is surely reflected on the display surface. Can be prevented.

When the sunlight introducing plate 3 is made of a milky white resin plate, it is not necessary to make it milky white and opaque depending on the ambient brightness. Therefore, instead of this resin plate, an electrically switchable liquid crystal is used. The sunlight introducing plate 3 may be configured by a display device (electronic device) such as a display, an electrochromic display, or a photochromic display that can be changed depending on the ambient brightness.

In this case, the passing amount of the captured sunlight can be electrically controlled according to the ambient brightness such as the weather, and the reliability is improved because it is not mechanical control. Even if some abnormality occurs in the device such as not operating normally, it is possible to prevent erroneous display by controlling the sunlight introducing plate 3 to be black and prohibiting the introduction of sunlight.

On the front surface 1b of the housing 1, a display substrate 4 having a black surface is provided upright. On the display substrate 4, a plurality of through holes 5 forming dots are formed in a matrix. To further explain, the through hole 5 is an information display device which is installed on an automobile road or the like and which displays traffic information and the like, which is provided with sufficient contrast without causing halation between the adjacent through holes 5 and 5 and is running. The center distance between the through holes 5 and 5 is formed to be larger than the diameter of the through hole 5 so that the display information can be efficiently recognized from the automobile or the like. Specifically, for example, 16 × 16 dots are formed by regularly forming 16 through 16 holes at a ratio of 20 mm in diameter and 30 mm in center interval.

On the front side of the display substrate 4, a translucent cover member 6 is attached in parallel with the display substrate 4 to prevent rain from entering and dust from entering from the outside. The cover member 6 is capable of transmitting sunlight and a light source (artificial light) 12 to be described later at least from a portion facing the through hole 5. Alternatively, the front surface of the display substrate 4 may not be black, and the front surface of the cover member 6 may be black except for the portions corresponding to the through holes 5, so that sunlight or the light of the light source 12 described later is transmitted.

A solar battery 8 is provided inside or outside the housing 1 at a position where it does not hinder the display. The solar battery 8 charges sunlight during the daytime, and the charged electric power is used as a drive power source for each unit when driving the shutter unit 30 which will be described later. It is also used as a power source for driving a light source that emits light. As described above, the solar battery 8 can be used to charge sunlight in the daytime, and the power can be used to drive the light source 12 and the shutter unit 30 during nighttime display without providing a separate power source.

At the periphery of the front surface 1b of the housing 1, there are provided eaves 9 projecting from the upper side to the front side and inclined in a downward slope toward both sides so as to block direct light of sunlight to the display surface. There is.

A flat plate-shaped reflection plate 10 inclined by 45 ° with respect to the display substrate 4 is arranged from the upper end of the rear surface 1c to the lower end of the front surface 1b inside the housing 1. Reflector 1
The surface of No. 0 is pear-treated to form fine irregularities, diffuses the sunlight that has passed through the sunlight introducing plate 3 and guides it to the display substrate 4 side, and is introduced through the sunlight introducing plate 3. The unevenness of sunlight on the display surface is reduced. In this way, the reflection plate 10 is disposed at an angle of 45 ° with respect to the display substrate 4, so that the sunlight taken in through the sunlight introduction plate 3 is almost entirely covered by the display substrate 4. Can be reflected across. Both inner wall surfaces 1d, 1d inside the housing 1 in which the reflector 10 is arranged also form a reflecting surface.

Between the reflector 10 and the display substrate 4, a thin square light guide plate 11 is erected in close contact with the rear surface of the display substrate 4. The light guide plate 11 is made of a translucent member such as an acrylic plate, and has a front surface 11 a and a rear surface 11.
The upper end surface 11c is polished flat so as to form a right angle to b. The upper end surface 11c of the light guide plate 11 has an upper end surface 1
The light source 12 is detachably provided along 1c.

The light source 12 has a case 12 in which a plurality of LEDs 12a are linearly arranged on a circuit board 12b at regular intervals.
Each LE is composed of an LED array 12A housed in c.
The light emitted from D12a is made incident inside from the upper end surface 11c of the light guide plate 11. Both ends of the case 12c are detachably fixedly held in parallel along the upper end surface 11c of the light guide plate 11 by fixing means 13 such as a U-shaped clip made of a leaf spring. The light source 12 is not limited to the LED, and may be a high-luminance one such as a halogen lamp or a metal halide lamp.

On the rear surface 11b of the light guide plate 11 opposite to the display substrate 4, a plurality of dot reflecting surfaces 16 are formed at the same pitch as the through holes 5 forming each dot, and the center of each dot reflecting surface 16 is formed. It coincides with the center of the through hole 5. A portion of the rear surface 11b of the light guide plate 11 other than the dot reflecting surface 16 forms a transmitting surface 17.

Each dot reflecting surface 16 is formed of a circular opaque print, and is formed of, for example, white ink having a higher reflectance than air. As shown in FIG. 3B, each dot reflecting surface 16 is formed so that the area closest to the light source 12 has the smallest area, and the area increases as the distance from the light source 12 increases. Further, since the dot reflecting surface 16 closest to the lower end surface 11d side coated with the reflecting member 18 described later receives more light than the other dot reflecting surfaces 16 due to the reflecting member 18, adjacent dot reflecting surfaces are reflected. It is formed of dots slightly smaller than the surface 16. In this way, by changing the size of the dots on each dot reflecting surface 16, the amount of light incident from the light source 12 on each dot reflecting surface 16 is made uniform. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3B, the dot reflecting surfaces 1 adjacent to each other diagonally.
The transmissive surface 17a between 6 and 16 is formed larger than the area of one dot reflective surface 16 having the maximum area.

Each dot reflecting surface 16 coincides with the position of each through hole 5 of the display substrate 4 when performing nighttime display, and the light source 1
2 of the light introduced into the light guide plate 11 from the light incident on the front surface 11a of the light guide plate 11 on the display substrate 4 side at, for example, 48 ° or less and totally reflected within the light guide plate 11 is displayed on the display substrate 4 side. Is diffusely reflected. As a result, a portion of the light guide plate 11 corresponding to the position of the through hole 5 emits light in a dot shape,
The light is transmitted to the display substrate 4 side.

A reflecting member 18 such as aluminum is coated on the lower end surface 11d of the light guide plate 11 opposite to the upper end surface 11c to which the light source 12 is attached by adhesion or vapor deposition. The reflection member 18 reflects the light from the light source 12 to the upper side of the light guide plate 11 so that the light does not pass through the lower end surface 11d of the light guide plate 11 and leak. Although not particularly shown, the reflecting member 18 is provided on the left and right side end surfaces 11 of the light guide plate 11.
If it is also applied to e, light leakage can be prevented more efficiently. In this case, the nearby dot reflecting surface 16 coated with the reflecting member 18 is formed with dots that are slightly smaller than the adjacent dot reflecting surfaces 16.

The light guide plate 11 is mounted on the housing 1 via a moving mechanism 19.
Attached to. As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the moving mechanism 19 includes two sets of a connecting member 23 such as an arm and a drive source 24 such as a motor and a rotary solenoid. The moving mechanism 19 constitutes a moving means together with the light guide plate driving section 68 described later. One end of the connecting member 23 is fixed to the lower end edge of the light guide plate 11, and the other end is pivotally supported by the drive source 24. Then, the moving mechanism 19 rotates when the drive source 24 is driven by the drive signal from the light guide plate drive unit 68 described later when the daytime display is performed and the rotating shaft 24a rotates in the arrow direction of FIG. 4A. The connecting member 23 rotates around the shaft 24a, and the light guide plate 11 is moved to the position shown in FIG.
(B) As shown by the alternate long and short dash line, it moves diagonally at an angle of 45 °. As a result, the center of the transmissive surface 17 between the dot reflective surfaces 16 and 16 is located at the center of the through hole 5 of the display substrate 4.

By the way, as shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b), the display substrate 4 has a shutter unit 3 for opening / closing the through hole 5 to pass / block the light guided from the reflector 10.
0 is provided for each through hole 5. The shutter unit 30 constitutes the display unit 31 together with the display substrate 4, and is attached to the rear surface side of the display substrate 4 for each through hole 5, and a shutter plate 32 for opening and closing the through hole 5, and a shutter plate 32. And a shutter drive unit 33 for driving the.

The shutter plate 32 is formed in a thin disk shape slightly larger than the through hole 5 provided in the display substrate 4, and as shown in FIG. The formed bar-plate-shaped attachment piece 32a is provided. A cylindrical spacer 3 having a predetermined thickness (front-rear width H1) and extending to the rear surface side is provided at the extending end of the mounting piece 32a.
2b is formed, and the spacer 32b is provided with a substantially half-moon shaped fitting hole 32c penetrating in the front-rear direction. The front and rear surfaces of the shutter plate 32 are colored black.

As shown in FIG. 6, the shutter drive section 33 comprises a base 34, a rotary shaft 41, and a magnetic body 43 made of, for example, a yoke or an iron core. The base 34 is
For example, a non-magnetic material such as synthetic resin is formed into a substantially cubic shape, and a fitting insertion groove 35 into which the spacer 32b provided on the mounting piece 32a of the shutter plate 32 is fitted is provided. The fitting groove 35 has a front-rear width H1 of the spacer 32b.
On the other hand, it has a gap width H2 substantially the same as that of the base 34, and is cut out from the upper surface 34a of the base 34 to the adjacent one side surface 34d, and at the inner side thereof, the vertical and horizontal abutments which are adjacent to each other at 90 ° are provided. It is formed to have surfaces 35a and 35b.

A shaft hole 36 through which a rotary shaft 41, which will be described later, is rotatably inserted, is formed in the front and rear sides of the base 34 through a fitting insertion groove 35 at substantially central portions of the front surface 34b and the rear surface 34c. . The shaft hole 36 has a large diameter 36 a on the rear surface side of the fitting insertion groove 35 and a small diameter 36 a on the front surface side of the fitting insertion groove 35.
It is formed in b.

On the rear surface 34c of the base 34, a coil mounting portion 37 having an insertion hole 37a which opens in the opening direction of the fitting insertion groove 35 of the side surface 34d is formed integrally with the base 34.
A coil 38 is attached to the coil attachment portion 37, and the tips 38 a and 38 a of the coil 38 are attached to the base 34.
Terminals 39, 3 for electrical connection extending to the front surface 34b side of the
9 are connected respectively.

On the front surface 34b of the base 34, a plurality of fixing legs 40 for fixing the base 34 to the display substrate 4 are provided so as to extend. The fixed leg 40 and the terminals 39, 39 are arranged at predetermined positions (the shutter plate 32) on the display substrate 4.
Are fixed through the fixing holes 4a and the terminal holes 4b provided at positions (corresponding to the through holes).

The rotary shaft 41 is made of, for example, a non-magnetic material such as synthetic resin, and its outer periphery has a rear surface 34 of the base 34.
It has a large diameter so that it can be rotatably inserted into a large-diameter shaft hole 36a formed in c.
It is formed to have a small diameter so as to be rotatably inserted into a shaft hole 36b having a small diameter formed in b, and a flange 41a is formed at the boundary between the large diameter and the small diameter. The rotary shaft 41 has
A spacer 32b whose rear surface is partly provided on the shutter plate 32 behind the flange 41a (that is, a large diameter portion).
A width H3 that is the same as the front-rear width H1 is cut out, and is formed in a substantially half-moon shape in cross section so as to be positioned and fitted in a substantially half-moon-shaped fitting hole 32c provided in the spacer 32b. At the rear end of the rotation shaft 41, one surface (upper side in FIG. 6) is magnetized to the N pole and the other surface (lower side in FIG. 6) is magnetized to the S pole. , 42b are fixed.

The magnetic body 43 has an upper extending piece 43a and a lower extending piece 43b which are parallel to each other, and is formed in a horseshoe shape (substantially U-shaped), and the lower extending piece 43b.
Is inserted into the insertion hole 37a of the coil attachment portion 37. The gap 44 between the upper extending piece 43a and the lower extending piece 43b is formed larger than the dimension of the large diameter portion of the rotary shaft 41.

The shutter unit 3 configured as described above
In 0, the shutter plate 32 is fitted into the fitting groove 35 of the base 34, and the shutter plate 32 is attached to the base 34 by the rotation shaft 41.
It is rotatably fixed with respect to and the extension piece 43b below the magnetic body 43 is fitted into the insertion hole 37a of the coil attachment portion 37 to be assembled as one unit.

The assembled shutter unit 30 corresponds to the through hole 5 by inserting the terminals 39, 39 and the fixing leg 40 of the base 34 into the terminal hole 4b and the fixing hole 4a of the display substrate 4, respectively. Display board 4
It is positioned and fixed on the rear surface side. Further, the rotary shaft 41 is rotatably provided on the base 34 so that its axis line is perpendicular to the display substrate 4, and the shutter plate 32 fixed to the rotary shaft 41 has a through hole 5 centered on the rotary shaft 41. Is rotated parallel to the display substrate 4 so as to open and close.

Then, as shown in FIG. 7, when the shutter unit 30 is assembled, the extension piece 43b below the magnetic body 43 is fitted into the insertion hole 37a of the coil mounting portion 37, whereby the magnetic body 43 is inserted. Extension piece 43 above
The gap 44 between the a and the extending piece 43b below forms a kind of magnetic loop circuit. The magnetic body 43 is
Between the upper extension piece 43a and the lower extension piece 43b, it is arranged so as to straddle a large-diameter shaft hole 36a formed in the rear surface 34c of the base 34 with respect to the base 34. The rotating shaft 41, which is the center of rotation of the shutter plate 32, has a magnetic body 43.
The permanent magnet 42, which is located in the gap portion 44 of the rotary shaft 41 and is fixed to the rear end portion of the rotary shaft 41, has a tip portion 43aa of the extension piece 43a above the magnetic body 43 which is the gap portion 44 and a extension piece 43b below.
Will be located in the center between the front end portion 43bb and the front end portion 43bb.

When the shutter unit 30 is fixed to the display substrate 4, the shutter plate 32 has a line L2 orthogonal to a line L1 connecting the center of the through hole 5 and the rotation center of the shutter plate 32 as shown in FIG. Disposed on top. (Hereinafter, this position of the shutter plate 32 is referred to as an initial state.) Further, the shutter plate 32 is rotatably fixed about the rotation shaft 41, but its rotation angle is the side edge portion of the mounting piece 32a. The contact surfaces 35a and 35b of the fitting insertion groove 35 provided on the base 34 are brought into contact with each other and are regulated at 90 °. When the shutter plate 32 is in the initial state, the permanent magnet 42 has an extending piece 43a above the magnetic body 43 formed in parallel.
Between the magnet and the extension piece 43b below and arranged parallel to the parallelism thereof by, for example, 45 °.
2b are upper extending pieces 43a and lower extending pieces 43a, respectively.
It is close to b. The permanent magnet 42 is arranged in the spacer 32 provided on the attachment piece 32 a of the shutter plate 32.
Positioning is performed by fitting a partially cutout portion of the rotary shaft 41 into the fitting hole 32c of b.

In the permanent magnet 42, when the coil 38 is not energized when the shutter plate 32 is in the initial state, each magnetized surface 42a, 42b is an extension piece above the magnetic body 43, as shown in FIG. 43a or the tip of the lower extending piece 43b is sucked and held in that state. Also, FIG.
As indicated by the alternate long and short dash line, the permanent magnets 42 also have the same magnetization when the shutter plate 32 is rotated 90 ° to close the through hole 5 (hereinafter, this position of the shutter plate 32 is referred to as a closed state). The surfaces 42a and 42b are respectively attracted to the tips of the extending pieces 43b below the magnetic body 43 or the extending pieces 43a above the magnetic body 43 to hold the state. Therefore, the shutter plate 32
When the coil 38 is not energized, the permanent magnet 42 is held in the initial state or the closed state by the permanent magnet 42 being attracted to the tip of the upper extension piece 43a or the lower extension piece 43b.

Further, in the display section 11 having the above-mentioned structure, the through hole 5 does not cause halation between the adjacent through holes 5 and 5 and a sufficient contrast can be obtained. As an information display device for displaying, it is arranged so that the displayed information can be efficiently recognized from a running automobile or the like. When the shutter units 30 are all arranged on the rear surface side or the front surface side of the display substrate 4 with respect to the respective through holes 5 arranged in this way, when the shutter plate 32 is opened and closed, the adjacent shutter units 3 are arranged.
The shutter plates 32 and 32 of 0 and 30 come into contact with each other, and as shown in FIG.
There is a possibility that a dead zone D where the shutter plates 32 interfere with each other is formed as shown in FIG.

For this reason, in the shutter unit 30 in this embodiment, the mounting piece 32a of the shutter plate 32 is provided with the spacer 32b having a predetermined thickness (front-back width H1) and extending to the rear surface side. Then, when assembling the shutter unit 30, the front and rear of the shutter plate 32 are reversed so that the spacers 32b are arranged to extend in the front direction, and two types of shutter units formed by using the same common parts are used. 30A and shutter unit 30
B can be obtained. Therefore, the shutter unit 30
By alternately mounting A and the shutter unit 30B on the rear surface side of the display substrate 4 for each through hole 5, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the height difference of H1 is generated between the adjacent shutter plates 32, 32, and the adjacent shutter plates 32, 32 do not come into contact with each other and interfere with each other. The display substrate 4 can be arranged on the rear surface side or the front surface side.

When the coil 38 is energized by a control signal from a control circuit (control unit) 60, which will be described later, the shutter drive unit 33 described above extends above the magnetic body 43 depending on the direction of the current flowing through the coil 38. The piece 43a and the lower extending piece 43b are magnetized and controlled to have different polarities, thereby driving the opening and closing of the shutter plate 32 with respect to the through hole 5.

Next, FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a control circuit 60 for controlling the above-mentioned shutter drive section. The control circuit 60 includes a communication control section 61, a switching section 62, a character expanding section 63, and dot data. The storage unit 64, the dot data comparison unit 65, the display output unit 66, the output monitoring unit 67, the light guide plate driving unit 68, and the power supply control unit 69 are provided.

In the case where the sunlight introducing plate 3 is composed of a display device such as a liquid crystal display, an electrochromic display, or a photochromic display, in addition to the character information indicating the wireless display content from the outside, the communication control section 61 is used. , Switching information for arbitrarily switching the color intensity of this display device is received.

A signal from a light control sensor 70 composed of, for example, a photodiode or a phototransistor is input to the switching unit 62, and the sunlight introducing plate 3 is used for a liquid crystal display, an electrochromic display, a photochromic display, or the like. When it is configured with a display device, the switching information and the dimming sensor 6 received by the communication control unit 61.
Based on the signal of No. 7, the display device is switched and controlled to have a desired color strength.

The character expansion unit 63 converts the character information received by the communication control unit 61 into dot data expanded on a matrix corresponding to the number of the through holes 5 (for example, 16 × 16) for each character. ing.

The dot data storage unit 64 has a current display memory 64a and a change display memory 64b, and the current display memory 64a stores the dot data of the currently displayed character. In addition, the change display memory 64
In b, the dot data of the character displayed this time which is expanded by the character expanding unit 63 is stored, and every time a new display is performed, the dot data stored at that time is rewritten in the current display memory 64a. It is designed to be used.

The dot data comparison section 65 compares the current dot data stored in the current display memory 64a with the current dot data stored in the changed display memory 64b, and compares the current dot data with the current dot data. The dot data is output to the display output unit 66.

The display output unit 66 includes the dot data comparison unit 6
5 so that only the shutter plate 32 corresponding to the current dot data that does not overlap with the current dot data input from 5 is opened and closed, the shutter drive unit 33 corresponding to each dot data outputs a control signal to the coil 38. It outputs a shutter open signal or a shutter close signal for energizing.

The output monitor 67 is the solar battery 8
Of the light guide plate 11 when the sun rises and the surroundings become sufficiently bright and the output of the solar battery 8 becomes higher than a preset value (voltage value).
To the light guide plate drive unit 68. In addition, the output monitoring unit 67 outputs a drive signal for controlling the supply / stop of the power supply to the light source 12 to the power supply control unit 69 depending on whether or not the control signal is output.
That is, when the output monitoring unit 67 outputs a control signal to the light guide plate driving unit 68, it outputs a power supply stop signal for stopping the power supply to the light source 12 to the power supply control unit 69. On the other hand, when the output monitor 67 does not output a control signal to the light guide plate drive 68, it outputs a power supply signal for supplying power to the light source 12 to the power supply controller 69. The set value to be compared with the output of the solar battery 8 is set according to the output value of the solar battery 8 when the ambient brightness is sufficient to display only by sunlight.

The light guide plate drive section 68 receives the control signal from the output monitor section 67 so that the transmissive surface 17 between the dot reflection surfaces 16 and 16 of the light guide plate 11 of the display board 4 is used for daytime display by sunlight. The light guide plate 11 is slanted at 45 ° as shown by the arrow in FIG. 3 through the moving mechanism 19 until it is located in each through hole 5.
Is moving in the direction of.

The power supply control unit 69 supplies power to the light source 12 via the solar battery 8 according to the power supply signal from the output monitoring unit 67, and via the solar battery 8 according to the power supply stop signal from the output monitoring unit 67. Light source 12
It controls to stop the power supply to.

Next, the opening / closing operation of the shutter unit will be described with reference to FIG.
A description will be given based on (a) to (c) and FIGS. 10 (a) to (c). The permanent magnet 42 in FIG.
The upper magnetized surface 42a is magnetized to the N pole, and the lower magnetized surface 4a
It is assumed that 2b is magnetized to the S pole.

First, FIG. 9 shows the closing operation of the shutter unit.
Describing based on (a) to (c), the N pole surface (magnetization surface 42a) of the permanent magnet 42 is the tip of the extension piece 43a above the magnetic body 43 in the initial state where the coil 38 is not energized. The portion 43aa is sucked. As a result, the permanent magnet 42
Is sucked and held at a position where the N-pole surface (magnetized surface 42a) faces the inner surface of the tip end portion 43aa of the upper extension piece 43a, and the shutter plate 32 is held at a position 90 ° away from the through hole 5. .

In this state, when the shutter closing signal from the control circuit 60 is input to the shutter driving section 33 and the coil 38 is energized, the extension piece above the magnetic body 43 is supplied as shown in FIG. 9A. 43a is magnetized to the N pole, and the extending piece 43b below is magnetized to the S pole. As a result, the N pole surface (magnetization surface 42a) of the permanent magnet 42 is the upper extension piece 43a that is the N pole.
And revolves around the rotation shaft 41 to a position closer to the through hole 5 by 45 ° (FIG. 9B).

Subsequently, the N pole surface (magnetization surface 4) of the permanent magnet 42 is
2a) is attracted to the lower extension piece 43b that is the S pole, and the S pole surface (magnetization surface 42b) of the permanent magnet 42 is attracted to the upper extension piece 43a that is the N pole, and the shutter plate 32
Rotates about the rotation shaft 41 to a position where the through hole 5 is closed (FIG. 9C). At this time, the N-pole surface (magnetized surface 42a) of the permanent magnet 42 is the tip portion 43 of the lower extending piece 43b.
The shutter plate 32 is sucked by the inner surface of bb, and is held at the position (closed state) in which the through hole 5 is closed.

Next, the opening operation of the shutter unit will be described with reference to FIG.
A description will be given based on (a) to (c). When the shutter plate 32 is held in the closed state and the shutter open signal from the control circuit 60 is input to the shutter drive unit 33 to energize the coil 38 in the state of FIG. The extending piece 43a is magnetized to the south pole, and the lower extending piece 43b is magnetized to the north pole. As a result, the N-pole surface (magnetization surface 42a) of the permanent magnet 42 repels the lower extension piece 43b, which is the N-pole, and rotates about the rotation shaft 41 to a position 45 ° away from the through hole 5 ( FIG. 10B).

Subsequently, the N pole surface of the permanent magnet 42 is attracted to the upper extending piece 43a whose (magnetization surface 42a) is the S pole, and the S pole surface (magnetization surface 42b) of the permanent magnet 42 is N pole.
The shutter plate 3 is attracted to the lower extension piece 43b which is a pole.
2 rotates about the rotating shaft 41 to a position (initial state) separated from the through hole 5 by 90 ° (FIG. 10C). At this time, the N-pole surface (magnetization surface 42a) of the permanent magnet 42 is attracted to the inner surface of the tip end portion 43aa of the extension piece 43a above, and the shutter plate 32 is held in the initial state.

Therefore, in the shutter unit 30 described above, the repulsion and attraction of the permanent magnet 42 to the magnetic body 43 (the upper extending piece 43a or the lower extending piece 43b) when the coil 38 is energized is utilized. The shutter plate 32 is opened and closed with respect to the through hole 5. Ie the first 45
The rotation of the magnetic body 4 is performed by the repulsion of the permanent magnet 42 against the magnetic body 43, and the subsequent rotation of 45 degrees is performed by the magnetic body 4.
This is done by attracting the permanent magnet 42 to the No. 3 magnet. The holding of the shutter plate 32 in the initial state or the closed state is performed by attracting the permanent magnet 42 to the magnetic body 43 (the upper extending piece 43a or the lower extending piece 43b) without energizing the coil 38. Are using.

As described above, in the information display device having the display section 31 described above, the sunlight introduced from the sunlight introducing plate 3 is reflected by the reflecting plate 10 in the case of the daytime display (when displaying only the sunlight). It is reflected by and is guided to the rear surface side of the display substrate 4 via the light guide plate 11. In the case of nighttime display (when display is impossible only with sunlight), light from the light source 12 driven by the power of the solar battery 8 is guided to the rear surface side of the display substrate 4 via the light guide plate 11. And the display substrate 4
The shutter plate 32 of the through-hole 5 corresponding to the dot of the character information is opened in the shutter unit 30 arranged in (1) to allow light to pass therethrough to display information such as desired characters, numbers, and figures.

In the information display device described above, the case 1 forming one character with 16 × 16 dots is regarded as one unit, and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of (7 in the illustrated example) casings are continuously arranged. Then, by letting light pass through the through hole 5 in which the shutter plate 32 is open,
The wireless information is used to display arbitrary textual information such as "closed during construction" as shown in.

Further, the operation for performing nighttime display and daytime display will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 (a) and 13 (b).
First, when performing nighttime display, the power supply control unit 69 drives the light source 12 to emit light by the power from the solar battery 8 in response to a power supply signal from the output monitoring unit 68. At this time, each dot reflecting surface 16 of the light guide plate 11 is formed as shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), the positions of the through holes 5 of the display substrate 4 coincide with each other. In this state, the light from the light source 12 is introduced into the light guide plate 11 from the upper end surface 11c of the light guide plate 11. Of the light introduced into the light guide plate 11, the light totally reflected by the front surface 11a of the light guide plate 11 on the display substrate 4 side is diffusely reflected by the dot reflecting surfaces 16 toward the display substrate 4 side. Then, a portion of the light guide plate 11 corresponding to the position of the through hole 5 surface-emites in a dot shape, and the shutter plate of the through hole 5 corresponding to the dot for forming display information by illuminating the display portion from the rear surface side by the light. The desired display is made by opening and passing light.

Next, in the case of performing daytime display using only sunlight, when the output of the solar battery 8 exceeds a set value and a control signal is input from the output monitor 67 to the light guide plate drive 68. The light guide plate driving unit 68 drives the driving source 24 to operate the connecting member 23. Rotation shaft 24 of drive source 24
When the connecting member 23 rotates about a, the light guide plate 11
Is a 45 ° diagonal direction (arrow direction in the figure) until the transmission surface 17 between the dot reflection surfaces 16 and 16 is located in the through hole 5 of the display substrate 4 to the position shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. Moving. At this time, the power supply control unit 69 stops the power supply from the solar battery 8 to the light source 12 by the power supply stop signal from the output monitoring unit 67. In this state,
Sunlight reflected by the reflection plate 10 from the sunlight introduction plate 3 is transmitted through the transmission surface 17 between the dot reflection surfaces 16 of the light guide plate 11 and guided to the display substrate 4 side. And
A portion of the light guide plate 11 corresponding to the position of the through hole 5 emits surface light in a dot shape, and the light illuminates the display unit from the rear surface side to open the shutter plate of the through hole 5 corresponding to the dot for forming display information. The desired display is performed by allowing the light to pass therethrough.

According to the information display device of the embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained. During the daytime, the sunlight introduced from the upper surface 1a of the housing 1 by the sun introduction plate 3 is reflected by the reflection plate 10
The light guide plate 11 is surface-emitted in a dot shape by being reflected by the light guide plate 11 and transmitted to the front surface 1b side of the housing 1 from the transmission surface 17 between the dot reflection surfaces 16 of the light guide plate 11, and the light source 1 at night.
Light from 2 is introduced from the upper end surface 11c of the light guide plate 11, reflected by each reflection surface 15 and transmitted to the front surface 1b side of the housing 1, so that the light guide plate 11 surface-emites in a dot shape to form dots. Since the through hole 5 is opened and closed by the shutter unit 30 to pass / block the dot-shaped transmitted light from the light guide plate 11, it is possible to reduce display unevenness due to direct light of sunlight and perform desired free pattern display. it can. that time,
Display can be performed using only sunlight in the daytime, and the light source 12 is caused to emit light when the display cannot be performed using only sunlight, and the sunlight in the daytime charged in the solar battery 8 drives the light source 12 and the shutter unit 30. It can be used as electric power. Moreover, the light source 12 is the upper end surface 11 of the light guide plate 11.
Since it is arranged only at one location c, and the dot reflection surface 16 of the light guide plate 11 emits surface light in accordance with each dot forming display information, a portion corresponding to the through hole 5 forming each dot of display information. Only the other part emits light brighter than the other parts, and not only the display with excellent visibility can be performed at night, but also the power consumption of the entire device can be significantly reduced as compared with the conventional one.

Since the square-shaped sunlight introducing plate 3 for introducing the sunlight into the housing 1 is provided over the entire upper surface 1a which is widely opened in the shape of a square in the depth direction of the housing 1, a sufficient amount of light is provided. By introducing sunlight into the housing 1, it is possible to perform free pattern display which is easy to see even in the daytime and has excellent visibility. Moreover, the sunlight introducing plate 3 is provided on the upper surface 1a of the housing 1 at the rear side of the light guide plate 11 apart from the light source 12, and the light source 12 does not occupy space.
Since 2A is used, the light source 12 is not limited to the upper end surface 11c of the light guide plate 11, and can be arranged anywhere around the light guide plate 11 without interfering with the reflection plate 10.

Further, by adopting the above-mentioned display section 31, the following effects can be obtained. The shutter unit 30 for passing / blocking light constitutes one unit including a shutter plate 32 and a shutter drive unit 33 for driving the shutter plate 32, and this unit includes the through hole 5 of the display substrate 4.
Since the display unit 31 is positioned and fixed relative to the display unit 31, the manufacturing of the display unit 31 is facilitated and the cost in the process can be reduced.

The shutter unit 30 includes a shutter plate 32.
Is configured to rotate and move in parallel with the display substrate 4 to open and close the through hole 5, and by mounting the shutter plate 32 by reversing it forward and backward, the moving height of the shutter plate 32 differs from the display substrate 4. The two types of shutter units 30A and 30B can be configured by the same common component. However, in the shutter unit 30A and the shutter unit 30B having such a configuration, the through holes 5 corresponding to each dot correspond to the display substrate 4 arranged so that the through holes 5 can efficiently recognize the display information. All the shutter units 30A and 30B by mounting them alternately on the rear surface side (one surface side) of the display substrate 4.
The shutter plates 32, 32 of the adjacent shutter units 30, 30 do not come into contact with or interfere with each other when the shutter plate 32 is opened or closed. Moreover, the shutter plate 32 for opening and closing the through holes 5 forming dots
Has a configuration in which it moves parallel to the display substrate 4, so that the viewing angle does not become narrow unlike the conventional case.

All the shutter units 30 are
Since the shutter plate 32 is mounted only on the rear surface side (one surface side) of the display substrate 4 and the shutter plate 32 is rotationally moved in parallel with the display substrate 4, the display portion 31 is formed in a flat plate shape with the display substrate 4 as a base portion. It is possible to reduce the size of the display unit 31 in the depth direction. Moreover, since the display unit 31 is formed in a flat plate shape with the display substrate 4 as a base,
It is possible to stack a plurality of display substrates 4 in the depth direction of the housing 1 so that the positions of the through holes 5 are aligned, and the shutter plates 32 of the stacked display substrates 4 are, for example, red,
It is possible to perform a multi-color free pattern display by using color filters of blue, green, black, etc. and controlling opening / closing arbitrarily.

Since the display command is remotely controlled by radio from the outside, an independent display device can be provided. Even in a mountain area where electricity is not supplied, sunlight is used in the daytime and the solar battery 8 is used at night. A desired display can be performed by driving the light source 7 by the electric power charged in the.

Power is supplied to the coil 38 of the shutter drive unit 33 only when the shutter plate 32 is opened and closed, and when the coil 38 is not powered, the shutter plate 32 is attracted and held by the permanent magnet 42. It is possible to save energy and save energy, and it is possible to sufficiently operate with the electric power charged by the solar battery 8 even in the display at night.

At the time of display, since the opening / closing of the shutter plate 32 is controlled only for the through hole 5 corresponding to the current dot data which does not overlap with the current dot data,
The opening and closing of the shutter plate 32 can be suppressed to a necessary minimum, and further energy saving can be achieved.

(Second Embodiment of Information Display Device) FIG. 14 is a partially enlarged sectional view showing a second embodiment of the information display device according to the present invention. The same components as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals. are doing. In this embodiment, the display substrate 4 and the light guide plate 11 are
A light introducing plate 20 is erected between the and. An external light reflection surface 21 is formed on a rear surface 20 a of the light introduction plate 20 facing the light guide plate 11 at a position facing the transmission surface 17 of the light guide plate 11. The external light reflection surface 21 has a portion corresponding to the center position of the transmission surface 17 of the light guide plate 11 as an apex, and upper and lower widthwise surfaces thereof are inclined downward toward the display substrate 4 side. A portion corresponding to the reflecting surface 16 forms a flat external light transmitting surface 22.

According to this structure, sunlight reflected by the reflection plate 10 and transmitted through the transmission surface 17 of the light guide plate 11 is reflected by the external light reflection surface 22 on the dot reflection surface 16 of the light guide plate 11,
The dot reflecting surface 16 diffuses sunlight to diffuse the external light 2
Since the light is transmitted to the display substrate 4 side from 2, it is possible to simplify the configuration because it is not necessary to move the light guide plate 11 unlike the first embodiment. When the light source 12 is driven to emit light, And the sunlight can be transmitted to the display substrate 4 side. Further, in the daytime display, when the display is difficult to see due to the surrounding brightness, the light source 12 can be used as auxiliary light to perform free pattern display during the day and night.

(Other Embodiment of Light Guide Plate) Next, FIG. 15 is a view showing another embodiment of the light guide plate. In this embodiment, the light source 12 of the first embodiment is attached only to the upper end surface 11c of the light guide plate 11, while it is arranged on the left and right side end surfaces 11e of the light guide plate 11, respectively. In the figure, on the left and right side end surfaces 11e of the light guide plate 11, inclined surfaces 26 are continuously formed from the upper end surface 11c to the lower end surface 11d. The inclined surface 26 is inclined at a downward inclination of 45 ° toward the display substrate 4 side, and a reflective member 27 such as aluminum is coated on the surface by adhesion or vapor deposition. On the inclined surface 26, the light emitted from the light source 12 is reflected by the reflecting member 27 on the surface toward the inner center of the light guide plate 11.

According to this structure, the light source 12 has the light guide plate 11
Since the light guide plate 11 is disposed on the rear surface 11b side of the light guide plate 11 along the inclined surfaces 13 of the both end surfaces 11e of the light guide plate 11,
The light propagation loss can be reduced and the light incidence efficiency of the light source 12 can be improved. As a result, light can be emitted to the display unit 31 more evenly. Moreover, the light source 1
Since 2 is composed of a small component such as an LED, it can be disposed without affecting the depth direction of the device. Further, the light sources 12 respectively arranged on the both end surfaces 11e have different emission colors such as red and green, and the light sources 12 are
By switching and driving, it is possible to display free patterns of two different colors. Note that the inclination angle of the inclined surface 26 is not particularly limited to 45 ° as long as it is an angle that allows total reflection on the front surface of the light guide plate 11 to introduce the maximum amount of light into the dot reflection surface 16. Further, the light source 12 may be disposed on the upper and lower end surfaces 11c, 11d facing each other of the light guide plate 11 or on the respective upper, lower, left and right end surfaces 11c, 11d, 11e of the light guide plate 11, and the light source 12 may be disposed on one of the left and right side end surfaces 11e. When only arranging, the side end surface where the light source 12 is not arranged is formed into a flat surface,
The reflection member 27 is attached to the surface.

(Other Embodiments of Dot Reflecting Surface Formed on Light Guide Plate) Next, FIGS. 16A and 16B are views showing another embodiment of the dot reflecting surface formed on the light guide plate. is there. FIG.
In the dot reflecting surface 16 shown in (a), a large number of fine minute dots 16a are white-printed in a dot area. The dot reflecting surface 16 shown in FIG. 16B has a printing portion 16b formed by white printing in the vertical direction in the area where dots are formed.
And the non-printing portions 16c are alternately formed.
The non-printing portion 16c located between b and 16b is the slit 16
forming d. With these configurations, it is possible to prevent the intermediate portion of the dot reflecting surface 16 from becoming dark and reduce display unevenness. Note that the dot reflecting surface 16 is not limited to white printing, but an impermeable film (for example, a colored filter) may be attached, or the surface may be subjected to dot-like pear processing to form fine irregularities.

(Other Embodiment of Reflector) Next, FIG. 17 is a view showing another embodiment of the reflector. The reflecting plate 10 of this embodiment is arranged inside the housing 1 while being curved to have a predetermined curvature. According to this configuration, display unevenness at the upper and lower ends of the display surface can be further reduced as compared with the configuration of FIG. 2, light can be reflected uniformly over the entire surface of the display unit, and the housing 1 The size of the entire device can be reduced by reducing the dimension in the depth direction.

By the way, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the display section is constituted by the shutter plate and the shutter drive section, and the opening and closing of the shutter plate with respect to the through hole forming the dot is controlled to perform the desired display. If the part is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display, an electrochromic display, an electro-optic ceramics (PLZT) shutter, etc., the dot spacing becomes finer than in the device using the shutter mechanism described above, and more detailed pattern display can be performed. it can.

Here, the PLZT shutter has a polarizer and an analyzer arranged on both sides of a PLZT made of a ceramic material, and linearly polarized light is elliptical due to a birefringence effect generated by applying a voltage to the PLZT. It is converted into polarized light and an intensity-modulated optical output is obtained through a polarizer.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the configuration in which the display is performed by using the wireless command or the solar battery has been described, but the configuration may be such that the display is performed by wire using the external commercial power source.

[0087]

As described above, in the information display device according to the first aspect of the present invention, the light from the light source arranged on the side end surface of the light guide plate is reflected by the dot reflecting surface to thereby form the light guide plate. Since the surface light is emitted according to each dot of the display information and the shutter of the display unit is opened and closed to pass / block the dot-shaped transmitted light from the light guide plate from the shutter part corresponding to each dot of the display information, Only the shutter portion corresponding to each dot forming the dot is made to emit light brighter than other portions, and desired free pattern display excellent in visibility can be performed even at night. According to the information display device of claim 2, display can be performed using only sunlight in the daytime,
By driving the light source to emit light during nighttime display, which cannot be displayed only by sunlight, it is possible to significantly reduce the power consumption of the entire device as compared with the related art. According to the information display device of claim 3, when the light source is driven to emit light, sunlight can be transmitted to the display unit side together with the light from the light source, and when the daytime display is difficult to see due to ambient brightness. Can use a light source as auxiliary light to display free patterns during the day and night. Claim 4
According to this information display device, since the light from the light source can be introduced into the light guide plate from the rear surface side of the light guide plate, the light guide plate can be made thin and the light transmission loss can be reduced to reduce the light incident efficiency of the light source. Can be improved. According to the information display device of the fifth aspect, since daytime sunlight charged in the solar battery can be used as driving power for the light source and the shutter, the power consumption can be further reduced and energy saving can be achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged side sectional view of the device.

FIG. 3A is a side view of a light guide plate in the same device, and FIG. 3B is a rear view of a light guide plate in the same device.

FIG. 4A is a configuration diagram of a moving mechanism of a light guide plate in the device, and FIG. 4B is a partially enlarged side view of the moving mechanism.

FIG. 5 (a) is a partially enlarged rear view showing a display portion of the same device, and FIG.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing a display section of the device.

FIG. 7 is a rear view showing a shutter unit of the same device.

FIG. 8 is a block configuration diagram of a control circuit for driving a shutter unit of the device.

9A to 9C are views showing a closing operation of a shutter unit in the same apparatus.

10A to 10C are diagrams showing an opening operation of a shutter unit in the same apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an information display device including a plurality of units.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a display state by the device.

FIG. 13 (a) is an operation diagram when the device is displayed at night, and (b) is an operation diagram when the device is displayed at daytime.

FIG. 14 is a partially enlarged sectional view showing a second embodiment of the same device.

FIG. 15 is a view showing another embodiment of the light guide plate in the same device.

FIG. 16 is a view showing another embodiment of the dot reflecting surface formed on the light guide plate of the device.

FIG. 17 is a view showing another embodiment of the reflection plate in the same device.

18A and 18B are views showing an example of a conventional information display device using a magnetic reversal element.

19A and 19B are views showing an example of a conventional information display device including a shutter driven by an electromagnet.

FIG. 20 (a), (b), (c) is a configuration diagram of a light guide plate utilizing external light.

21A and 21B are configuration diagrams of a liquid crystal display device using the light guide plate of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Housing | casing 1a ... Top surface 1b ... Front surface 2 ... Opening, 8 ... Solar battery, 10 ... Reflector plate, 11 ... Light guide plate, 12
... light source, 16 ... dot reflecting surface, 17 ... transmitting surface, 19 ... moving mechanism, 20 ... light introducing plate, 60 ... control unit, 68 ... light guide plate driving unit.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A casing (1), a display unit (31) provided on one surface side of the casing and having a shutter for each of a plurality of dots forming display information, and a light source (12) arranged on an end face. A light-transmitting light guide plate (11) provided with a dot reflection surface (16) corresponding to each dot on a surface opposite to the display unit, and a shutter of the display unit based on display information. And a control unit (60) for controlling the information display device. 2. A housing (1) having an opening (2) for taking in sunlight on an upper surface (1a), and a reflector for reflecting the sunlight taken in through the opening to the front surface (1b) side of the housing. (10), a display section (31) provided on the front side of the housing and having a shutter for each of a plurality of dots forming display information, and a light source (12) disposed on an end surface of the display section. A light-transmitting light guide plate (11) having a dot reflection surface (16) corresponding to each dot formed on the opposite surface, and a transmissive portion (17) between the dot reflection surfaces of the light guide plate is the shutter. Information comprising: a moving means (19, 68) for moving the light guide plate until it is located at a position, and a control section (60) for controlling a shutter of the display section based on display information. Display device. 3. A housing (1) having an opening (2) for taking in sunlight on the upper surface (1a), and a reflector for reflecting the sunlight taken in through the opening to the front surface (1b) side of the housing. (10), a display section (31) provided on the front side of the housing and having a shutter for each of a plurality of dots forming display information, and a light source (12) disposed on an end surface of the display section. A light-transmitting light guide plate (11) having dot reflection surfaces (16) corresponding to the dots formed on the opposite surface, and the reflector plate provided between the light guide plate and the display unit. A light introducing plate (20) for reflecting sunlight, which is transmitted between the dot reflection surfaces of the light guide plate through the light guide plate, to the light guide plate side and introducing the light into the dot reflection surface, and the display unit based on display information. And a control unit (60) for controlling the shutter of the information table. Apparatus. 4. A housing (1), a display section (31) provided on one surface side of the housing and having a shutter for each of a plurality of dots forming display information, and a surface opposite to the display section. A light-transmitting light guide plate (1) having a dot reflecting surface (16) corresponding to each dot formed on
1), a light source (12) provided on the rear surface of the light guide plate along the side end surface of the light guide plate, and a control unit (60) for controlling the shutter of the display unit based on display information. An information display device characterized by the above. 5. A solar battery (8) for charging sunlight, wherein the control unit (60) uses the output of the solar battery as a power source to drive light emission of the light source (12) and the shutter of the display unit (31). The information display device according to claim 1, wherein the information display device is controlled.