JPH11311952A - Plane display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the plane display device which can be made thinner without causing any light leak. SOLUTION: A liquid crystal display panel and a surface light source part of the plane display device are held in a housing while held between the base part 64 of the housing 22 and a surface cover 60. A 1st side wall part 62 of the surface cover 60 and a 2nd side wall part 72 of the base part 64 have 1st and 2nd engagement surfaces extending crossing the fitting direction C of the surface cover 60 and base part 64 respectively and those engagement surfaces engage each other with tight adhesion.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a flat panel display,
In particular, the present invention relates to a flat display device used in combination with an electronic device or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a flat display device represented by a liquid crystal display device has been characterized by its thinness, light weight, and low power consumption.
It is used in various fields. Taking a light transmission type liquid crystal display device as an example, a liquid crystal panel having a liquid crystal layer held between a pair of electrode substrates, a bezel and a frame for holding the liquid crystal panel, and a liquid crystal panel held by the frame are provided. And a surface light source unit for illumination. Usually, the bezel is made of metal or the like to secure sufficient strength, and the frame is made of a resin having sufficient workability to hold the surface light source unit. Such a liquid crystal display device is provided in a housing of an electronic device such as a portable personal computer and a portable terminal.

[0003]

In recent years, attempts have been made to attach the liquid crystal panel itself to a housing of an electronic device or the like in order to further reduce the thickness of the flat display device. That is, without using the conventional bezel and frame, the liquid crystal panel is placed between the first housing having an opening corresponding to the effective display area of the liquid crystal display panel and the second housing located on the surface light source unit side. A configuration for directly sandwiching and fixing has been proposed.

According to such a configuration, the conventional bezel and the like can be eliminated, and the flat display device and the electronic equipment combined therewith can be further thinned.

[0005] In the flat display device having the above-described structure, the first housing includes a main surface portion having an opening corresponding to an effective display area of the liquid crystal display panel, and a side wall portion erected perpendicular to the periphery of the main surface portion. Similarly, the second housing has a main surface portion facing the surface light source portion, and a side wall portion erected at right angles to the periphery of the main surface portion. Then, the first housing is fitted with the side wall portion inside the side wall portion of the second housing, thereby forming the second housing.
It is connected to the housing.

However, when the side walls extending parallel to the fitting direction of the first and second housings are fitted together as in the above configuration, a gap is formed between the side walls, and light leaks from the gap. Display quality may be degraded,
The appearance of the appearance also worsens. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a flat display device which can be further reduced in thickness without causing light leakage.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a flat display device according to the present invention comprises: a flat display panel having a display area in which a plurality of display pixels are arranged; A circuit board that is connected to and supplies a drive signal, a flat light source unit that is provided to face the flat display panel and radiates light toward the front display panel, and corresponds to the display area of the flat display panel. A first housing having a window, a second housing sandwiching the flat display panel, the circuit board, and the flat light source between the first housing;
It has.

The first housing has a substantially flat main surface provided with the window, and a first side wall provided along the periphery of the main surface. Has a substantially flat main surface portion facing the flat light source portion, and a second side wall portion provided along the main surface portion and fitted to the first side wall portion. The first and second side walls extend in a direction intersecting with the fitting direction of the first and second housings and have first and second fitting surfaces facing each other. It is characterized by:

According to the flat display device having the above-described structure, the flat display portion and the surface light source portion are sandwiched and held between the first and second housings, so that the conventional bezel and frame are omitted, and the entire device is manufactured. The thickness can be reduced. In addition, since the first and second fitting surfaces of the first and second housings extend so as to be inclined with respect to the fitting direction of the first and second housings, the first and second housings are connected to each other. At the time of fitting, the first and second fitting surfaces are in close contact with each other, and it is possible to prevent generation of a gap in the fitting portion. Thus, light leakage from the surface light source unit to the outside of the device can be reduced, and display quality and appearance can be improved.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which a flat panel display device of the present invention is combined with a laptop personal computer will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a laptop personal computer includes a flat rectangular device main body 10 and a display unit 12 supported by the device main body to be openable and closable.
And

The apparatus main body 10 includes a rectangular base portion 16 having an open upper surface, and a cover portion 14 joined to the base portion so as to cover the opening of the base portion. A keyboard 18, a click switch 19, and the like are provided on the upper surface of the device main body 10, and a plurality of protrusions 23 are provided at a rear end of the upper surface of the device main body 10.

The display unit 12 is a main unit 1
The display housing 22 includes a flat rectangular box-shaped display housing 22 corresponding to the shape of “0”, and a liquid crystal display panel 30 and a flat light source unit described later housed in the display housing. The display unit 12 has a pair of legs 26 projecting from the rear end of the display housing 22.
The legs 26 are supported by the projections 23 of the device body 10 via hinges (not shown).

Accordingly, the display unit 12
Is rotatable between a closed position overlapping the upper surface of the device body 10 and covering the keyboard 18, and an open position illustrated in which the keyboard 18 and the liquid crystal display panel 30 are rotated upward to expose the keyboard 18. .

Next, the disc play unit 12 functioning as a flat panel display according to the present invention will be described in detail. As shown in FIG.
A light-transmitting liquid crystal display panel 30 having an effective display area 32 having a diagonal size of 12.1 inches and capable of color display;
Surface light source unit 5 arranged opposite to the back side of the liquid crystal display panel
0, a control circuit board 70 for controlling the liquid crystal display panel 30;
An inverter board 80 for controlling the surface light source unit 50 and a display housing 22 accommodating them are provided.

As shown in FIG. 3, the liquid crystal display panel 30
Are a rectangular array substrate 33 and a counter substrate 34 which are opposed to each other with a predetermined cell gap therebetween, and a twisted nematic (TN) type liquid crystal layer 35 held between these substrates via an alignment film. And The periphery of the array substrate 33 and the opposing substrate 34 are bonded together by a sealing material 36. In addition, the array substrate 33
And a polarizer 3 on the outer surface of the counter substrate 34, respectively.
7 and 38 are attached and arranged so that their polarization axes are orthogonal to each other.

The array substrate 33 has a glass substrate, and 800 × 3 signal lines 40 and 600 are provided on the glass substrate.
The scanning lines 41 are arranged in a matrix so as to be substantially orthogonal to each other. Near the intersection of each signal line 40 and each scanning line 41, a thin film transistor (hereinafter abbreviated as TFT) 42 using a polycrystalline silicon film in a channel region is arranged. Each TFT 42 has a gate electrode as a scanning line 41, a drain region as a signal line 40, and a source region as an I
Each pixel electrode 43 is connected to a pixel electrode 43 made of TO (indium tin oxide).

Further, on the glass substrate of the array substrate 33, a pair of signal line driving circuit portions 4 connected to the signal lines 40 are provided.
4a, 44b, and a scanning line driving circuit unit 45 connected to the scanning line 41 are provided. These drive circuits 44
a, 44b, and 45 are formed in the same process as the TFT.

The signal line drive circuit units 44a and 44b include a shift register (not shown), a digital-analog conversion circuit,
And a serial / parallel conversion of a digital image signal input from the outside based on a control signal,
The signal is converted into a desired analog signal voltage and output. The scanning line driving circuit unit 45 includes a shift register, a buffer circuit, and the like (not shown), and sequentially transfers and outputs scanning pulses based on a control signal input from the outside.

On the other hand, the opposite substrate 34 has a glass substrate,
On this glass substrate, a color filter layer (not shown)
It is configured by providing a counter electrode 46 made of TO.

The liquid crystal display panel 30 having the above configuration is electrically connected to a control circuit board 70 via a flexible wiring board 48. The control circuit board 70 is connected to the device body 10 via a flexible wiring board 72. The control circuit board 70 includes a digital image having timing corresponding to the liquid crystal display panel 30 and an arrangement order of data based on a digital image signal, a system clock, and a reference voltage supplied from the device body 10 of the personal computer. In addition to generating signals, it generates various control signals such as a horizontal clock signal, a vertical clock signal, a horizontal start signal, a vertical start signal, and an enable signal necessary for driving the liquid crystal display panel 30. Further, the control circuit board 70 may be configured to control a voltage required for driving, for example, a reference voltage of 3 V by -1 based on the reference voltage in addition to the logic system.
A power supply system for generating various voltages such as an off-level of a 0 V gate pulse, an on-level of a +20 V gate pulse, and an analog signal voltage of 0 to 6 V is included.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the surface light source 5
0 denotes a rectangular light guide plate 52, a tubular light source 53 arranged along one side of the light guide plate 52, a reflector 54 for introducing light emitted from the tubular light source 53 into the light guide 52, and brightness uniformity. An optical film 55 provided on a light exit plane of the light guide 52 for improvement and brightness improvement, and an optical film 56 provided on a non-light exit surface of the light guide plate 52 and reflecting light toward the light exit surface;
It has. The tubular light source 53 is connected to an inverter board 80, and the inverter board 80
Similarly to 0, it is electrically connected to the device body 10 side.

The liquid crystal display panel 30, the surface light source unit 50, the control circuit board 70, and the inverter board 80 configured as described above are held in a state sandwiched by the display housing 22.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, the display housing 22 includes a front cover 60 functioning as a first housing and a base portion 6 functioning as a second housing.
And a flat rectangular shape formed by fitting the peripheral edge portions of the front cover and the base portion to each other.

The front cover 60 includes a rectangular flat main surface portion 61 and a first side wall portion 6 erected along the periphery of the main surface portion.
The main surface 61 has a window 63 having a shape and size corresponding to the effective display area 32 of the liquid crystal display panel 30.
Are formed. The first side wall portion 62 is bent inward toward the base portion 64 and extends from the peripheral edge of the main surface portion so that the angle θ1 formed with the main surface portion 61 becomes an acute angle. The outer surface of the first side wall portion 62 is
a. Further, a plurality of portions of the first side wall portion 62 are cut and raised so as to be perpendicular to the main surface portion 61, and form fixing pieces 66 each having a screw hole 65.

The base portion 64 has a substantially flat rectangular main surface portion 68 slightly larger than the main surface portion 61 of the front cover 60.
And a second side wall portion 72 that stands substantially vertically along the peripheral edge of the main surface portion 68. A plurality of positioning protrusions 73 for positioning the surface light source 52 are provided on the inner surface of the main surface 68 of the base 64.

As can be clearly understood from FIGS. 4 and 5, the extending end of the second side wall portion 72 is provided with a second fitting inclined inwardly of the base portion 64 and toward the main surface portion 68. A surface 74 is formed. The second fitting surface 74 is inclined by an angle θ2 with respect to the main surface 68 in the same manner as the first fitting surface 62 on the front cover 60 side.

As shown in FIG. 6, the second side wall 72
At a plurality of locations, that is, locations facing the fixing pieces 66 of the front cover 60, engagement grooves 75 capable of accommodating the fixing pieces 66 are formed. Further, the second side wall portion 72 includes
Through holes 76 communicating with the engagement grooves 75 are formed, and extend perpendicular to the second side wall 72.

In order to secure sufficient impact resistance, the above-mentioned surface cover 60 is formed of a metal plate, for example, SUS having a thickness of 0.5 mm, and the base portion 64 is formed of a 1 mm-thick layer having excellent workability. Made of magnesium alloy.

The front cover 60 having the above-described structure is provided with the fixing pieces 6.
6 are aligned with the corresponding engagement grooves 75 on the base portion 64 side, and the fitting direction C orthogonal to the main surface portions 61 and 68 is
Along with the base portion 64. And each through-hole 7
By screwing the screw 77 into the screw hole 65 of the fixing piece 66 through 6, the front cover 60 and the base portion 64 are fitted and fixed to each other, thereby forming the display housing 22. In the fitted state, the first fitting surface 62a of the front cover 61 is connected to the second fitting surface 74 on the base portion 64 side.
Closely adhered to.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 5 and FIG.
The light guide plate 52 of the surface light source section 50 is disposed on the main surface section 68 of the base section 64 in a state where the light guide plate 52 is positioned by the positioning projection 73.
8 and the light guide plate 52. Tubular light source 53
The reflector 54 is held between the second side wall 72 of the base 64 and the light guide 52 via rubber caps 82 located at both ends.

The liquid crystal display panel 30 includes an optical film 55
, And are arranged on the surface light source unit 50 so as to overlap with each other. Further, the control circuit board 70 and the inverter circuit 80 are located on the side of the light guide plate 52 while the main surface 68
Is placed on top.

In this state, the front cover 60 is
Along with the base portion 64 and screwed with a plurality of screws 77 to form the display housing 2.
2 and the surface light source unit 50, the liquid crystal display panel 30, the control circuit board 70, and the inverter board 80
Is sandwiched between the front cover 60 and the base portion 64,
It is stored and held in the disc play housing 22. Then, the effective display area 32 of the liquid crystal display panel 30
Is located opposite to the window 63 of the front cover 60.

According to the personal computer configured as described above, the display unit 12 sandwiches the liquid crystal display panel 30 as a flat display unit and the surface light source unit 50 between the front cover 60 and the base unit 64. Because of the holding, the conventional bezel and frame can be omitted. Therefore, it is sufficiently thin, for example, 6.
A display unit having a thickness of about 2 mm can be realized. Along with this, it is possible to reduce the thickness of the entire personal computer.

Further, by performing light reflection processing on the inner surface of the main surface portion 68 of the base portion 64, the optical film 56 provided on the non-light emitting surface side of the light guide 52 can be omitted.
In this case, a display unit having a thickness of 6.0 mm can be realized.

Further, in the display unit 12, the first and second fitting surfaces 62a, 74 of the front cover 60 and the base portion 64 extend obliquely with respect to the fitting direction C of the front cover 60 and the base portion 64. Therefore, when these are fitted, the first and second fitting surfaces 62
a, 74 are in close contact with each other, and the occurrence of a gap in the fitting portion can be prevented. Thus, light leakage from the surface light source unit 50 to the outside of the display housing 22 can be reduced, and the display quality and appearance of the display unit 12 can be improved.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified within the scope of the present invention. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a first fitting surface 62a provided on the first side wall portion 62 of the front cover 61 and a second fitting surface 7 provided on the second side wall portion 72 of the base portion 62.
4 may be formed along a direction orthogonal to the fitting direction C, that is, a direction parallel to the main surface portions 61 and 68.

In this case, the first side wall portion 62 is
And the first fitting surface 62a
And a second bent portion 78b extending from the first bent portion in a direction substantially parallel to the fitting direction C.
And Further, screw holes 65 are formed at a plurality of positions of the second bent portion 78b to form a fixing piece.

The other structure is the same as that of the above-described embodiment, and the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. With the above configuration, the same operation and effect as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

Although the TN mode has been described as an example of the liquid crystal display panel 30, another light transmission type liquid crystal display panel may be used. In the above-described embodiment, the TFT 4
2. The signal line driving circuit sections 44a and 44b and the scanning line driving circuit section 45 are integrally formed by a semiconductor element using a polycrystalline silicon film as an active layer. The signal line driver circuit portion and the scan line driver circuit portion may be formed using a circuit board using a semiconductor film.

A part or the whole of the signal line driving circuit portion and the scanning line driving circuit portion may be constituted by using a chip-on-glass (COG) technology in which a driving IC chip is directly mounted on a substrate. In this case, by arranging the drive circuit on the substrate, the number of electrical connections between the liquid crystal display panel and the outside can be reduced, and the external circuit can be made smaller, so that the display unit can be made even smaller. It is effective in achieving Further, the flat display device according to the present invention is applicable not only to a display unit of a personal computer but also to various other electronic devices such as a portable terminal.

[0041]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a flat display device which can be further reduced in thickness without causing light leakage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exemplary perspective view showing a personal computer according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a display unit of the personal computer.

FIG. 3 is a plan view and a side view showing a liquid crystal display panel of the display unit.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a part of a front cover and a base part constituting a display housing of the display unit.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the display unit taken along line AA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the display unit taken along line BB of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 5, showing a modification of the display unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 ... Display unit 22 ... Display housing 30 ... Liquid crystal display panel 33 ... Array board 34 ... Counter substrate 35 ... Liquid crystal layer 50 ... Surface light source part 52 ... Light guide plate 60 ... Surface cover (first housing) 61 ... Main surface part 62 ... First side wall 62a First fitting surface 63 Window 64 Base part (second housing) 68 Main surface 70 Control circuit board 72 Second side wall 74 Second fitting surface

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI G09F 9/00 350 G09F 9/00 350A G02B 6/00 331 G02B 6/00 331 G02F 1/1333 G02F 1/1333 H05K 7/02 H05K 7/02 HS 7/14 7/14 A

Claims (8)

[Claims] A flat display panel having a display area in which a plurality of display pixels are arranged; a circuit board electrically connected to the flat display panel to supply a driving signal; A flat light source unit configured to irradiate light toward the front display panel, a first housing including a window corresponding to the display area of the flat display panel, the flat display panel, a circuit board, and A second housing for holding the flat light source unit between the first housing and the first housing, wherein the first housing has a substantially flat main surface provided with the window and a periphery of the main surface. The second housing has a substantially flat main surface portion facing the flat light source portion, and is fitted along the main surface portion with the first side wall portion. And a second side wall portion, wherein the first and second side wall portions are respectively provided with the first side wall portion. And a first and second fitting surfaces extending in a direction intersecting the fitting direction of the second housing and facing each other. 2. The first and second housings have a fitting direction substantially orthogonal to the main surface portion. The first housing is formed of a metal plate, and the first side wall portion is formed of a metal plate. 2. The flat display device according to claim 1, wherein the flat display device extends from a peripheral edge of the main surface to the second housing side such that an angle between the main surface and the main surface is a predetermined angle. 3. 3. The device according to claim 2, wherein the first side wall portion extends from a peripheral edge of the main surface portion to the second housing side such that an angle between the first side wall portion and the main surface portion is an acute angle. A flat display device as described in the above. 4. The second side wall portion extends substantially perpendicularly to the main surface portion, and the second fitting surface is provided at an extending end of the second side wall portion. The flat display device according to claim 2, wherein the flat display device is inclined inward of the housing and in a direction intersecting the fitting direction. 5. The first and second housings have a fitting direction orthogonal to the main surface portion. The first housing is formed of a metal plate, and the first side wall portion is A first bent portion extending substantially parallel to the main surface portion and having the first fitting surface; and a second bent portion extending from the first bent portion in a direction substantially parallel to the fitting direction. The flat display device according to claim 1, further comprising a unit. 6. The second side wall portion extends substantially perpendicularly to the main surface portion, and the second fitting surface is provided at an extending end of the second side wall portion, and the second side wall portion is connected to the main surface portion. The flat display device according to claim 5, wherein the flat display device extends substantially in parallel. 7. A flat display panel, comprising: a pair of substrates arranged to face each other; a liquid crystal layer held between the pair of substrates;
2. A driving circuit unit for supplying a predetermined signal to each display pixel based on a driving signal from the circuit board is integrally formed on at least one substrate.
7. The flat display device according to any one of items 6 to 6. 8. The flat light source section comprises: a tubular light source; a light guide for converting light emitted from the tubular light source into planar light; and a reflector for introducing light from the tubular light source to the light guide. The flat display device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising: an optical film provided to face the light guide, and for equalizing luminance of a plane. .