KR20060103648A - Backlight assembly and display apparatus having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A backlight assembly and a display device having the same are disclosed. The backlight assembly includes a storage container and a heat dissipation device. The storage container has a bottom portion for storing a light source for generating light. The backlight assembly includes a heat dissipation device disposed on a rear surface of the bottom and having a duct through which cooling fluid for cooling the bottom passes and a circulation unit disposed on the duct to flow the cooling fluid. The heat dissipation device including the duct having the flow path and the circulation unit is disposed on the rear surface of the bottom portion, whereby the temperature of the bottom portion is effectively lowered and the display quality of the display device is improved.

Description

BACKLIGHT ASSEMBLY AND DISPLAY APPARATUS HAVING THE SAME}

1 is an exploded perspective view of a backlight assembly according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II ′ of FIG. 1.

3 is an exploded perspective view of a backlight assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II 'of FIG. 3.

5 is an exploded perspective view of a backlight assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III ′ of FIG. 5.

7 is an exploded perspective view of a display device according to an exemplary embodiment.

The present invention relates to a backlight assembly and a display device having the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to a backlight assembly capable of improving the display quality of an image and a display device having the same.

In general, a liquid crystal display device includes a pair of substrates and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the substrates. Each substrate is formed with an electrode to form an electric field.

When voltages are applied to each of the electrodes formed on the pair of substrates, the liquid crystal layer is affected by the electric field. The liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer are rearranged by the electric field. Therefore, the transmittance of light passing through the liquid crystal layer is changed, and as a result, an image is displayed from the liquid crystal display device.

The liquid crystal display includes a display panel that displays an image by adjusting light transmittance of liquid crystal molecules included in the liquid crystal layer, and a back light assembly that provides light to the display panel.

The backlight assembly includes a light source for generating light. Examples of the light source may include a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL), an external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL), and a flat fluorescent lamp (FFL). Recently, a light emitting diode (LED) having excellent characteristics in terms of power consumption, color reproducibility, and luminance has been used.

However, LEDs generate a large amount of heat with light. The heat generated from the LED raises the temperature inside the liquid crystal display, and the elevated temperature changes the characteristics of the liquid crystal in the liquid crystal display, thereby degrading the display quality of the liquid crystal display.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to substantially eliminate one or more problems and limitations of the prior art.

One object of the present invention is to provide a backlight assembly for improving the display quality of an image.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a display device having the above-described backlight assembly.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a backlight assembly includes a storage container having a bottom portion for receiving a light source for generating light and a duct disposed at a rear surface of the bottom portion, and through which a cooling fluid for cooling the bottom portion passes. and a heat dissipation device having a duct and a circulation unit disposed on the duct to flow the cooling fluid.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display apparatus including a storage container having a bottom portion for receiving a light source for generating light, and a duct disposed on a rear surface of the bottom portion and through which a cooling fluid for cooling the bottom portion passes. and a backlight assembly including a heat dissipation device having a duct and a circulation unit disposed on the duct to flow the cooling fluid, and a display panel supported by the storage container and displaying an image using the light. .

By disposing a heat dissipation device having a duct and a circulation unit through which cooling fluid can pass, the heat dissipation device absorbs heat generated by the light source and conducted to the bottom, and is discharged to the outside using the circulation unit. As a result, the heat radiation device lowers the temperature of the bottom portion.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Backlight assembly

1 is an exploded perspective view of a backlight assembly according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a combination of the storage container and the heat dissipation device shown in FIG.

1 and 2, a backlight assembly 100 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a storage container 300 and a heat dissipation device 400.

The light source 200 is accommodated in the storage container 300, and the light source 200 includes a lamp 210 for generating light for displaying an image. In this embodiment, the light source 200 is, for example, a plurality of cold cathode fluorescent lamps.

The lamp 210 includes a lamp body 211 and a pair of electrodes 213 disposed on the lamp body 211.

The lamp body 211 has a rod shape, for example. Alternatively, the lamp body 211 may have a U-shape or C-shape. A fluorescent layer is formed on an inner side surface of the lamp body 211, and a discharge gas is disposed inside the lamp body 211.

The electrode parts 213 are disposed to face each other at both ends of the lamp body 211. Discharge voltages generated from a power supplier or the like are respectively applied to the electrode units 213.

On the other hand, the lamp bodies 211 may be arranged in parallel to the inside of the storage container 300 to improve the uniformity of the brightness of the light generated from the backlight assembly 100. The number of lamps 210 may be changed to correspond to the brightness and the uniformity of light.

The storage container 300 in which the light source 200 is accommodated includes a bottom portion 310 and a plurality of sidewalls 350, and the storage container 300 has a storage area by the bottom portion 310 and the sidewalls 350. Is formed.

The bottom 310 has a rectangular plate shape, for example. The bottom 310 has a front face 311 facing the light source 200 and a rear face 312 opposite the front face 311.

The sidewalls 350 include, for example, first to fourth sidewalls 351, 352, 353, and 355 extending from or around the perimeter of the front surface 311. Alternatively, the side walls 350 may be composed of two side walls facing each other.

Hereinafter, a direction parallel to the first sidewall 351 disposed on any one of the peripheral parts of the bottom part 310 will be defined as the first direction. The second sidewall 352 is disposed at the periphery of the bottom 310 to face the first sidewall 351. The third and fourth sidewalls 353 and 354 are disposed at the periphery of the bottom 310 in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction. Thus, the third and fourth sidewalls 353 and 354 face each other.

The heat dissipation device 400 is disposed on the rear surface 312 of the bottom 310. The heat dissipation device 400 circulates a cooling fluid, for example, air, to lower the temperature of the bottom 310. In this embodiment, the temperature of the bottom 310 is increased by the heat generated with the light from the lamp 210 disposed in the storage space.

The heat dissipation device 400 is disposed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the lamps 210, for example, and the heat dissipation device 400 is aligned at a position corresponding to the electrode portion 213 of the lamps.

Alternatively, the plurality of heat dissipation devices 400 may be disposed along the lamps 210 arranged in parallel with each other.

The heat dissipation device 400 includes a duct 410 having a passage for moving the cooling fluid and a circulation unit 460 for moving the cooling fluid.

In this embodiment, the duct 410 may include a duct body 420 and a duct cover 430 for forming a passage of cooling fluid in the duct body 420. The duct body 420 and the duct cover 430 may be integrally formed, and may be separately formed and then combined.

The duct body 420 is disposed on the back 312 of the bottom 310. The material constituting the duct body 420 may include a metal having high thermal conductivity, for example, aluminum or an aluminum alloy.

The duct cover 430 covers the duct body 420, and a passage through which the cooling fluid can move is formed in the duct 410.

A portion of the duct cover 430 is formed with an opening 440 through which cooling fluid may flow in or out of the duct 410. The opening 440 may be formed at, for example, a central portion of the duct cover 430. Alternatively, the opening 440 may be disposed at the end of the duct cover 430.

The heat dissipation device 400 may further include a heat dissipation fin 450 inside the duct body 420. The heat dissipation fins 450 protrude from the inner surface of the duct 410 to increase the contact area of the cooling fluid to improve the heat dissipation efficiency of the heat dissipation device 400.

The circulation unit 460 includes a circulation fan 470 for flowing the cooling fluid. The circulation fan 460 may allow the cooling fluid to flow into the duct 410 or flow out of the duct 410 according to the rotation direction.

In this embodiment, the storage container is formed by using a forced convection of the cooling fluid by forming a heat dissipation device 400 including a duct 410 through which the cooling fluid can flow and a circulation unit 460 forcing the cooling fluid to flow. The bottom 310 of 300 is cooled efficiently.

3 is an exploded perspective view of a backlight assembly according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a combination of the storage container and the heat dissipation device shown in FIG. The backlight assembly according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention has substantially the same components as those of the backlight assembly illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 except for the light source and the heat dissipation device, and thus a redundant description thereof will be omitted. The same reference numerals and names will be used.

3 and 4, the light source 200 is disposed on the bottom 310 and is a point light source having a point-shaped optical distribution. The light source 200 includes, for example, light emitting diodes 221 and a base substrate 226 accommodating the light emitting diodes 221.

The light emitting diodes 221 generate white light. Alternatively, the light emitting diodes 221 may generate colored light, for example, red light, green light, and blue light, respectively.

The base substrate 226 is disposed on the bottom portion 310 in the first direction in parallel with each other. Alternatively, the base substrate 226 may be arranged in a zigzag form. In FIG. 3, the two base substrates 226 are shown adjacent to the first and second sidewalls 351 and 352, respectively, but the number of the base substrates 226 may be changed according to the luminance and luminance distribution of the light. Can be.

The base substrate 226 houses the light emitting diodes 221. The base substrate 226 supplies power to the light emitting diodes 221. Thus, the base substrate 226 may be a printed circuit board.

The heat dissipation device 400 and the base substrate 221 may be disposed to correspond to each other in order to lower the temperature of the bottom portion 310 increased by the heat generated together with the light from the light source 200. For example, when the base substrate 221 is disposed in the first direction on the bottom 310, the heat dissipation device 400 may be disposed in the first direction corresponding to the base substrate 221.

Alternatively, the heat dissipation device 400 may be disposed along the ends of the base substrates 221, and the plurality of heat dissipation devices 400 may be disposed along both ends of the base substrates 221.

5 is an exploded perspective view of a backlight assembly according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III ′ of the combination of the storage container and the heat dissipation device illustrated in FIG. 5. The backlight assembly according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention has substantially the same components as the backlight assembly illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 except for the light source and the heat dissipation device, and thus a redundant description thereof will be omitted. The same reference numerals and names will be used.

5 and 6, the light source 200 includes base substrates 221 and light emitting diodes 226. The base substrates 221 are disposed on the bottom portion 310 in the first direction.

In this embodiment, the heat dissipation device 400 is disposed along the ends of the base substrate 221. The plurality of heat dissipation devices 400 may be disposed along the first ends of the base substrates 221 and the second ends opposing the first ends, respectively.

First and second openings 441 and 442 are formed at first and second ends of the duct cover 430 included in the heat dissipation device 400, respectively. Cooling fluid flows into or out of the duct 410 through the first and second openings 441 and 442.

First and second circulation fans 471, 472 are disposed adjacent to the first and second openings 441, 442, respectively. The first and second circulation fans 471 and 472 circulate the cooling fluid through the first and second openings 441 and 442, respectively.

By rotating the first and second circulation fans 471, 472 in opposite directions, the first circulation fan 471 can introduce cooling fluid into the duct 410 through the first opening 441, The second circulation fan 472 may allow the cooling fluid to flow out of the duct 410 through the second opening 442, and vice versa.

Hereinafter, the driving principle of the heat dissipation device 400 including the first and second circulation fans 471 and 472 will be described.

Referring to FIG. 6, as the light source 200 generates heat together with light, the temperature of the bottom 310 adjacent to the light source 200 increases. When the backlight assembly 100 is driven with respect to the ground, the air around the bottom portion adjacent to the first sidewall 351 has a first temperature due to natural convection and has a first temperature, and the floor adjacent to the second sidewall 352. The air around the negative has a second temperature lower than the first temperature. The second circulation fan 472 disposed adjacent to the second sidewall 352 introduces air having a second temperature into the duct 410. The air introduced into the duct takes the heat of the bottom 310 while passing through the flow path to cool the bottom temperature and at the same time the temperature of the air itself is increased. The first circulation fan 471 disposed adjacent to the first sidewall 361 discharges air having a temperature higher than the first temperature to the outside of the duct 410. Accordingly, the first and second circulation fans 471 and 472 force convection of the cooling fluid, thereby efficiently cooling the bottom 310.

7 is an exploded perspective view of a display device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Since the backlight assembly of the display device according to the exemplary embodiment has the same configuration as the backlight assembly according to the above-described embodiment, duplicate description thereof will be omitted, and the same reference numerals and names are used for the same components. Let's do it.

Referring to FIG. 7, a display device 500 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a backlight assembly 100 and a display panel 600.

The display panel 600 is disposed on the backlight assembly 100 and displays an image using light generated by the backlight assembly 100. The display panel 600 includes a first substrate 610, a second substrate 620, a liquid crystal layer (not shown), a printed circuit board 630, and a flexible printed circuit board 640.

The first substrate 610 controls a plurality of pixel electrodes in a matrix form, thin film transistors (TFTs) and thin film transistors (TFTs) for applying a voltage to each pixel electrode. It includes signal lines for.

The second substrate 620 is disposed to face the first substrate 610. The second substrate 620 is disposed to face the pixel electrode of the first substrate 610, is disposed on a common electrode and a common electrode to which voltage is applied, and a color filter corresponding to the pixel electrode. )

The color filters include a red color filter selectively transmitting red light, a green color filter selectively transmitting green light, and blue color filters selectively transmitting blue light.

The printed circuit board 630 may be disposed on the rear surface 312 of the bottom 310. The printed circuit board 630 processes an image signal input from the outside to generate a driving signal for controlling the thin film transistor TFT. The printed circuit board 630 may generate heat together with the driving signal.

The flexible printed circuit board 640 is electrically connected to the printed circuit board 630 and the first substrate 610, and provides a driving signal generated from the printed circuit board 630 to the first substrate 610.

The display device 500 may further include an optical sheet 700 and a top chassis 800.

The optical sheets 700 are disposed between the backlight assembly 100 and the display panel 600. The optical sheet 700 improves optical characteristics of light generated by the backlight assembly 100.

The optical sheet 700 may include, for example, a diffusion sheet 710 for diffusing light to improve uniformity of brightness and mixing efficiency of light and at least one prism sheet for improving front brightness of light through reflection and refraction ( 720). For example, the prism sheet 720 includes first and second prism sheets having a first prism pattern and a second prism pattern that are perpendicular to each other when viewed in a plane.

The optical sheets 700 may further include a reflective sheet, for example. The reflective sheet reflects the light generated from the light emitting diodes toward the display panel 600, thereby improving the brightness of the light.

The top chassis 800 surrounds the edge of the display panel 600 and is coupled with the sidewalls 350 of the storage container 300 to fix the display panel 600 and the backlight assembly 100. In addition, the top chassis 800 may prevent breakage or damage of the display panel 600 having brittleness and prevent the display panel 600 from being separated from the storage container 100.

According to the present embodiment, the heat dissipation device 400 is disposed in contact with the rear surface 312 of the bottom 310. The heat dissipation device 400 absorbs heat generated by the light source 220 and conducted to the bottom 310, and is discharged to the outside using a circulation unit. As a result, the heat radiating apparatus 400 can prevent the temperature in the storage container 100 from increasing.

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the heat dissipation device disposed on the rear surface of the storage container bottom absorbs heat generated by the light source and conducted to the bottom by the cooling fluid, and the absorbed heat is transferred to the circulation unit. By releasing to the outside, the temperature of the bottom part of a storage container falls.

In the detailed description of the present invention described above with reference to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art or those skilled in the art having ordinary skill in the art will be described in the claims to be described later It will be understood that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims (12)

A storage container having a bottom portion for storing a light source for generating light; And And a heat dissipation device disposed on a rear surface of the bottom part, the heat dissipation device having a duct through which a cooling fluid for cooling the bottom part passes and a circulation unit disposed on the duct to flow the cooling fluid. 2. The backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein the duct includes a duct body and a duct cover covering the duct body to form a passage of the cooling fluid in the duct body. The backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein at least one heat dissipation fin is formed inside the duct. The backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein the circulation unit includes a circulation fan for sucking and / or discharging the cooling fluid into the duct. The backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein first and second openings are formed at a first end of the duct and a second end opposite to the first end, respectively. 5. The backlight assembly of claim 4, wherein the circulation unit includes first and second circulation fans connected to the interior of the duct through the first and second openings. 7. The backlight assembly of claim 6, wherein the rotation directions of the first and second circulation fans are opposite to each other. The backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein the light source comprises lamps arranged in a rod shape on the bottom surface. The backlight assembly of claim 8, wherein the heat dissipation device is disposed along both ends of the lamps. The backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein the light source comprises a base substrate disposed on the bottom plate and a light emitting diode disposed on the base substrate. The backlight assembly of claim 10, wherein the heat dissipation device is disposed corresponding to the base substrate. An accommodating container having a bottom portion for storing light generating light, and a duct disposed on a rear surface of the bottom portion and having a cooling fluid for cooling the bottom portion, and a circulation disposed on the duct for flowing the cooling fluid A backlight assembly comprising a heat dissipation device having a unit; And And a display panel supported by the storage container and displaying an image using the light.

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