JP7599675B2 - Display device having a display film - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a display film that illuminates and displays desired shapes such as letters, numbers, and figures, and a display device that has the display film.

For example, Patent Document 1 describes a display device that achieves a decorative effect by emitting light to display shapes such as letters. This display device includes a mirror surface, a half-mirror layer formed above the mirror surface via a light-transmitting layer, and a light-emitting means that emits light in a desired shape between the mirror surface and the half-mirror layer and at a position spaced apart from the mirror surface and the half-mirror layer. The letters, etc., emitted by the light-emitting means are projected onto the mirror surface, and the projected mirror image is reflected by the half-mirror layer, allowing the letters, etc. to be observed three-dimensionally through the half-mirror layer.

JP 2008-70697 A (paragraphs 0005 and 0006, FIG. 2)

In the display device described in Patent Document 1, when the light-emitting means is turned off during the day, for example, only a monotonous metallic color reflecting the material of the half-mirror layer is visible from the outside, and even when the light-emitting means is turned on, only characters or the like are displayed illuminated within the monotonous metallic color, resulting in a problem that the display device has little sense of luxury, texture, or decorative effect.

By the way, the surface of a metal may be polished to give it a fine uneven pattern such as a hairline or spin pattern. Metal surfaces with such an uneven pattern change appearance depending on the direction of light and have an increased shine, so they have excellent decorative effects and design, and are used in a variety of components. Therefore, if a film that reproduces a metal surface with such a fine uneven pattern could be produced and the uneven pattern could be reflected on the surface by the half mirror layer as described above, the luxury feel, texture, and decorative effect of the display device could be enhanced both when the light-emitting means is turned off and when it is turned on. However, since a film that reproduces the fine uneven pattern of a metal surface cannot be easily produced, it is difficult to apply it to such display devices.

The present invention was made with a focus on these problems, and aims to provide a display film and a display device having the display film that reproduces the uneven pattern of the metal surface and makes it visible from the surface, thereby enhancing the sense of luxury, texture, and decorative effect whether the light-emitting means is turned on or off.

In order to solve the above problems, a display device having a display film of the present invention comprises:
A display device having a display film and a light emitting means for illuminating a desired shape such as a character,
the display film is accommodated in a horizontally long rectangular frame-shaped case having an open front side, and the light-emitting means is accommodated in the case on the back side of the display film,
The display film is
A transparent layer including a sheet-like transparent substrate having light transmission properties and a surface layer provided on a surface side of the transparent substrate;
A half mirror layer provided on the back side of the transparent substrate;
a colored smoke layer provided on the back side of the half mirror layer;
A display layer provided on the back side of the smoke layer and capable of expressing a desired shape such as the characters;
Equipped with
the surface layer having a concave-convex pattern formed on its surface is formed to have a certain thickness, and the back side of the surface layer is bonded to the transparent substrate to be integrated therewith;
The display film is characterized in that the patterned surface is disposed in contact with the back side of the opening edge of the case, and the patterned surface is exposed on the inside of the opening edge.
According to this feature, when the light-emitting means arranged on the back side of the display film is turned off and it is bright outside, the uneven pattern of the patterned surface formed on the transparent layer is reflected by the half mirror layer and appears on the surface, and a metallic uneven pattern is visible from the surface of the display device as if a metal surface had been subjected to a surface treatment. Also, when the light-emitting means is turned on, the shapes of characters, etc. expressed on the display layer are illuminated and displayed on the surface of the transparent layer through the half mirror layer, and are visible as if characters, etc. were displayed on the surface of the metallic uneven pattern. Therefore, since the metallic uneven pattern is visible from the surface whether the light-emitting means is turned on or off, the luxurious feel, texture, and decorative effect of the display device can be enhanced.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention when a light-emitting unit is turned on. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the display film of the present invention. FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a front view of a display device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows the manufacturing process of the display film of the present invention, where (a) is a cross-sectional view of the process of transferring the surface of a metal that has been subjected to a surface treatment to the back surface of an ultraviolet curable ink, (b) is a cross-sectional view of the process of curing the ultraviolet curable ink with an ultraviolet light source, and (c) is a cross-sectional view of the process of peeling the metal from the transparent layer formed by curing the ultraviolet curable ink. This shows the manufacturing process for the display film of the present invention, where (a) is a cross-sectional view of the process of forming a half-mirror layer on the transfer surface on the back side of the transparent layer, (b) is a cross-sectional view of the process of forming a smoke layer on the back side of the half-mirror layer, and (c) is a cross-sectional view of the process of forming a display layer on the back side of the smoke layer.

The following describes the embodiments of the display film and the display device having the display film according to the present invention.

First, the display device according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 4. In the following description, the side on which characters or the like are viewed (upper side in Fig. 3) will be referred to as the front side, and the opposite side as the back side. The display device 1 is used in various displays (monitors) that emit light to display desired shapes such as characters. Fig. 1 is a front view of the display device 1 when the light-emitting means 4 (see Fig. 3), which will be described later, is turned on, and Fig. 2 is a front view of the display device 1 when the light-emitting means 4 is turned off.

As shown in the enlarged cross-sectional view of Figure 3, the display device 1 comprises a display film 3 housed in a horizontally long rectangular case 2 with an open front side, and a light-emitting means 4 provided on the back side of the display film 3. Note that the thickness of the display film 3 is exaggerated in the illustration to make it easier to understand.

As shown in the enlarged view of Figure 4, the display film 3 of the present invention comprises, in order from the surface side, a transparent layer 6, a half mirror layer 7, a smoke layer 15, and a display layer 8, which are laminated together. The transparent layer 6 is composed of a translucent surface layer 20 having a pattern surface 9 (described below) on the surface side, and a transparent substrate 5. The transparent substrate 5 is a transparent film made of, for example, PET (polyethylene terephthalate) resin or polycarbonate, and is flexible. The transparent substrate 5 is used as a substrate when forming the surface layer 20.

The transparent layer 6 is formed by applying a transparent ultraviolet-curable ink to the surface of the transparent substrate 5 and curing the ink to form a surface layer 20. On the surface of the surface layer 20, a patterned surface 9 is formed by transferring the surface of a metal such as stainless steel that has been subjected to a surface treatment such as polishing to create a fine uneven pattern. In this embodiment, the uneven pattern is a hairline pattern.

The half mirror layer 7 is formed by evaporating a metallic film material on the back surface of the transparent substrate 5. For example, it is preferable to use a film material containing high brightness aluminum. By using such a film material, a metallic half mirror layer 7 close to a mirror can be formed, and the uneven pattern is reflected with high brightness by the metallic half mirror layer 7. In addition, in the deposition, the metallic film material is heated and evaporated or sublimated, and the evaporated or sublimated particles are attached and deposited on the back surface of the transparent substrate to form a thin film, so that the thickness (light transmittance of about 18%) at which the half mirror effect is effectively obtained is obtained, and since the particle diameter is extremely small, there is little effect on the expression of the outline of the shape of the characters and the like of the display layer 8 that is displayed by light emission through the half mirror layer 7, and the outline can be expressed sharply.

The smoke layer 15 can be formed by printing a transparent colored ink, for example a mixture of transparent ink and black or brown ink, on the back surface of the half mirror layer 7. When the display layer 8 is directly illuminated by the light source 11, the lit light source 11 and internal components can be seen through the surface, so to prevent this, the smoke layer 15 is provided on the back surface of the display layer 8.

The display layer 8 receives light from the light emitting means 4 and emits light to display the desired shape consisting of letters, numbers, symbols, figures or a combination of these on the surface of the transparent layer 6. In this embodiment, for example, in order to emit light to display alphabetical characters 10, opaque ink is printed on the back surface of the smoke layer 15, leaving the area in which alphabetical characters 10 are formed, and the part in which alphabetical characters 10 are formed is made into a light-transmitting part 8a, while the other parts are made into opaque parts.

The light emitting means 4 is composed of one or more light sources 11, 11 on the left and right, and a light guide member 12 that introduces the light from the light sources 11, 11 from the left and right end faces to emit light from the surface. As the light source 11, it is preferable to use an LED lamp because it generates little heat, has a long life, and consumes little power, and the light emitted by the LED lamp may be any of white, red, green, and blue. In particular, by combining LED lamps of the three primary colors of light, red, green, and blue, and controlling their light emission state, the alphabet characters 10 can be displayed with light in various colors. The light guide member 12 is made of transparent acrylic, polycarbonate, glass, etc., and can introduce the light from the light sources 11, 11 to emit light from the surface uniformly.

In the display device 1 according to the first embodiment, when the light source 11 of the light-emitting means 4 is turned off and it is bright outside, such as during the day, as shown in FIG. 2, the alphabet characters 10 on the display layer 8 and the light source 11 are concealed by the smoke layer 15, and only the uneven pattern of the pattern surface 9 formed on the front side of the transparent layer 6, i.e., the hairline pattern 13, is reflected by the metallic half mirror layer 7 through the transparent layer 6 and appears on the surface and is visible. The light incident on the transparent layer 6 having the uneven pattern surface 9 is diffused by the half mirror layer 7, resulting in a three-dimensional hairline pattern 13, and a metallic uneven pattern is visible as if a surface treatment had been applied to the metal surface.

On the other hand, when the light source 11 of the light-emitting means 4 is turned on to cause the light-guiding member 12 to emit light from the surface, the irradiated light passes through the light-transmitting portion 8a of the display layer 8, the smoke layer 15, and the half mirror layer 7, and is emitted toward the surface side, causing the alphabetic characters 10 to be luminously displayed on the surface of the transparent layer 6. The alphabetic characters 10 appear on the surface of a metallic hairline pattern 13, as if a surface treatment had been applied to the metal surface. In this way, in the display device 1 of Example 1, the metallic hairline pattern 13 is visible from the surface whether the light-emitting means 4 is turned on or off, thereby enhancing the sense of luxury, texture, and decorative effect.

The transparent layer 6 of the display device 1 has a patterned surface 9 with a hairline pattern 13 formed on the front side, which provides a visual effect that is comparable to that of a metal surface that has been treated with a hairline or other uneven pattern. In addition, the unevenness can be felt to the touch, so that in addition to the visual effect, it can be recognized as if the surface of a metal has been treated with a surface treatment.

In addition, the half-mirror layer 7 is formed with a uniform thickness on the back surface of the transparent substrate 5, which is a smooth surface, and the display layer 8 is formed on the back surface of the smoke layer 15, which is formed with a uniform thickness on the back surface of this half-mirror layer 7. This means that the shapes of characters, etc. on the display layer 8 do not suffer from problems such as bleeding or loss of outline due to unevenness, and the outlines of characters, etc. can be expressed sharply, allowing the desired shapes of luminous characters, numbers, figures, etc. to be clearly seen.

The display layer 8 may be a liquid crystal shutter that can display alphabetic characters 10 or any other shape based on an input signal.

The display device according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 5. Note that the same components as those in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals and duplicated descriptions will be omitted. The display device 1 of this embodiment uses a surface-emitting organic EL element 14 as the light-emitting means. The display device of the second embodiment can achieve the same effects as the display device 1 of the first embodiment. Furthermore, by using such an organic EL element 14, the light-emitting means can be made thinner and lighter, and therefore the display device 1 can be made smaller and lighter.

By controlling the luminous color of the organic EL element 14, the alphabetic characters 10 or any other arbitrary shapes can be displayed in various colors, and the organic EL element 14 can be configured to function as a display layer as well as a light-emitting means. Display devices using the organic EL element 14 can be used in displays for personal computers, tablets, mobile phones, etc.

The display device according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 6. Note that the same components as those in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals and will not be described again. The display device 1 of the third embodiment does not include the light guide member 12, and the display layer 8 is directly illuminated by a light source 11 of a plurality of LED lamps provided on the back side of the display layer 8.

The display device according to the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 7. The display device of this embodiment is applied to the circular dial 16 of a watch, and a pattern surface 9 (not shown in this embodiment) is formed by transferring a metal surface that has been subjected to a spin pattern surface treatment onto the surface of a transparent layer 6 (not shown in this embodiment) similar to that of the previous embodiment, which is formed into a circular shape, so that a metallic spin pattern 17 appears on the surface of the dial 16. In addition, when the light-emitting means is turned on, the numbers 18 and dots 19 formed on the display layer 8 (not shown in this embodiment) are illuminated and displayed on the surface of the metallic spin pattern 17, so that the dial 16 can have a high-class feel, texture, and decorative effect.

Next, the process for producing the display film 3 according to the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 8 and 9. First, as shown in Figure 8(a), a transparent ultraviolet-curable ink 21 is applied to the surface of a transparent substrate 5, and then the surface of a metal 23 that has been subjected to a surface treatment to create an uneven pattern 22 such as a hairline is pressed against the surface of the ultraviolet-curable ink 21. The ultraviolet-curable ink 21 can be applied by a printing process (e.g., screen printing).

Next, as shown in FIG. 8(b), ultraviolet light emitted by an ultraviolet light source 24 is irradiated onto the back side of the transparent substrate 5 to cure the ultraviolet curable ink 21, and the cured surface layer 20 is integrated with the transparent substrate 5 to form a transparent layer 6.

Next, as shown in FIG. 8(c), the metal 23 is peeled off from the surface of the cured ultraviolet curable ink 21. At this time, since the ultraviolet curable ink 21 has poor adhesion to metal, the metal 23 can be easily peeled off from the transparent layer 6. When the metal 23 is peeled off, a patterned surface 9 is formed on the surface of the transparent layer 6, with the uneven pattern 22 on the metal 23 surface transferred thereto.

Next, as shown in FIG. 9(a), a film-forming material containing high-brightness aluminum is evaporated onto the back surface of the transparent layer 6 to form the half-mirror layer 7. The half-mirror layer 7 may also be formed by coating using a printing process (e.g., screen printing).

Next, as shown in FIG. 9(b), a colored transparent ink is printed on the back surface of the half mirror layer 7 to form a smoke layer 15. Next, as shown in FIG. 9(c), a display layer 8 is formed on the back surface of the smoke layer 15. The display layer 8 can be formed by printing (e.g., screen printing) a non-transparent ink on the back surface of the smoke layer 15 so that the areas where characters or the like are to be formed remain as translucent areas 8a. Through the above steps, the display film 3 according to the present invention can be easily manufactured.

In addition, the half mirror layer 7 is formed as a thin film by deposition on the back surface of the transparent substrate 5, which is a smooth surface, so that the unevenness is small and the smoothness of the back surface can be easily maintained, and the smoke layer 15 is printed and formed on the back surface of the half mirror layer 7 with a uniform thickness, so that it can be easily formed with a uniform thickness and can penetrate into the extremely fine unevenness of the half mirror layer 7 and harden, thereby improving the unity. And, since the display layer 8 is printed and formed on the back surface of the smoke layer 15, which is a smooth surface with a uniform thickness, in the printing process of forming the display layer 8, which can express a sharp outline shape that is easy to see, it is not necessary to consider the unevenness of the surface to be printed, i.e., the back surface of the smoke layer 15, so the display layer 8 can be formed easily, and ultimately the production cost of the display film 3 can be reduced.

When manufacturing a display film 3 without the transparent substrate 5, the ultraviolet curable ink 21 can be applied to the surface of the metal 23 and cured.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments, and additions and modifications that do not deviate from the gist of the present invention are also included in the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, the patterned surface 9 is a metal surface that has been treated with a hairline or spin pattern, but the transfer surface may be a metal surface that has been treated with a rising-light pattern, a matte finish pattern, a vibration pattern, or other surface treatment.

In addition, in the display film 3 of the above embodiment, the half mirror layer 7 is formed from a high-brightness aluminum film-forming material, but silver, gold, copper, or other metals or oxides may also be used as the film-forming material.

In addition, in the display device 1 of the above embodiment, the display layer 8 is formed in contact with the back surface of the smoke layer 15, but the display layer 8 may be formed in a sheet shape of a predetermined thickness and spaced apart from the back surface of the smoke layer 15.

Furthermore, in the display device 1 of the above embodiment, an LED lamp is used as the light source 11 of the light-emitting means, but a laser light source may also be used.

Reference Signs List 1 Display device 2 Case 3 Display film 4 Light-emitting means 5 Transparent substrate 6 Transparent layer 7 Half mirror layer 8 Display layer 8a Light-transmitting portion 9 Pattern surface 10 Alphabetical characters 11 Light source (LED lamp)
12 Light guide member 13 Hairline pattern (uneven pattern)
14 Organic EL element (light emitting means, display layer)
15 Smoke layer 16 Dial 17 Spin pattern (convex and concave pattern)
18 Number 19 Dot 20 Surface layer 21 UV curable ink 22 Textured pattern 23 Metal 24 UV light source

Claims (1)

A display device having a display film and a light emitting means for illuminating a desired shape such as a character,
the display film is accommodated in a horizontally long rectangular frame-shaped case having an open front side, and the light-emitting means is accommodated in the case on the back side of the display film,
The display film is
A transparent layer including a sheet-like transparent substrate having light transmission properties and a surface layer provided on a surface side of the transparent substrate;
A half mirror layer provided on the back side of the transparent substrate;
a colored smoke layer provided on the back side of the half mirror layer;
A display layer provided on the back side of the smoke layer and capable of expressing a desired shape such as the characters;
Equipped with
the surface layer having a concave-convex pattern formed on its surface is formed to have a certain thickness, and the back side of the surface layer is bonded to the transparent substrate to be integrated therewith;
A display device having a display film, characterized in that the patterned surface of the display film is positioned in contact with the back side of the opening edge of the case, and the patterned surface is exposed on the inside of the opening edge.

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