JPH0322876Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to a display device using an electroluminescent element (hereinafter abbreviated as EL element).

BACKGROUND ART Fluorescent lamps, incandescent light bulbs, and the like are used in billboards and billboards that have been widely used in the past, as well as so-called neon signs. Such prior art has the problem of high power consumption and large size.

In order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to perform display using EL elements. An EL element consists of a flat EL light emitter sandwiched between a pair of electrodes, one of which is a transparent electrode, and the light emitter and electrode are hermetically covered with an outer envelope material. This prevents the characteristics of the EL light emitter from deteriorating due to humidity.

Problems to be solved by the invention When attempting to use such an EL element for display purposes, the EL element must be mounted in a fixed position. In order to mount such an EL element in a fixed position, it is conceivable to simply mount it in a fixed position using a bolt that penetrates the outer encapsulation material, but if this is done, the airtightness of the outer encapsulation material must be maintained. The life of the EL emitter will be shortened.

In an EL element, it is necessary to arrange a transparent electrode on at least one surface of an EL light emitter to transmit emitted light. This transparent electrode has a relatively high resistance, so when a transparent electrode having a large area is formed, the voltage will drop at a position far from the power supply position of the transparent electrode. Therefore, the EL light emitter cannot emit light with desired brightness. Therefore, in practice, there is a problem in that the light emitting surface of the electroluminescent element cannot be increased in size.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide an EL display device that can be mounted in a fixed position without impairing the airtightness of the EL element, and that can form a light emitting area over a large area. That's true.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention consists of (a) a base 1 made of a self-supporting film or a plate-like body; A pair of foil electrodes 3 and 4 arranged to extend
(c) a plurality of EL elements 13; (c1) a transparent electrode 29 forming a light emitting region 18;
The EL light emitting body 28 is sandwiched between the back electrode 30 and the translucent outer encapsulant 31, 32.
The main body 15 is airtightly covered by
and (c2) such a flat EL element 13 having a pair of input terminals 16 and 17 connected to the transparent electrode 29 and the back electrode 30, respectively, and protruding outward from one side of the main body 15. (d) The input terminals 16 and 17 of the EL element 13 are connected to the foil electrodes 3 and 4, and (e) The main body 15 of the EL element 13 is connected to the input terminals 16 and 17 of the adjacent EL element 13. The light-emitting regions 18 of each EL element 13 are arranged on the foil-like electrodes 3 and 4 so that the light-emitting regions 18 of each EL element 13 are connected and overlapped in sequence, so that the outer circumferential surface of the main body 15 on the back electrode 30 side is on the base 1. (f) A synthetic resin film that integrally covers the substrate 1, the foil electrodes 3 and 4, and the EL element 13 in a moisture-proof manner, and is transparent at least in the portion covering the light emitting region 18. (g) The foil-like electrodes 3, 4 are partially exposed from the outer envelope materials 23, 24.

Function According to the present invention, the substrate 1 is a film or a plate-like body and has self-supporting properties. Including this base 1, foil electrodes 3 and 4, and a plurality of EL elements 13,
Since the outer encapsulants 23 and 24 are integrally encapsulated in a moisture-proof manner, the outer encapsulants 23 and 24 can be glued to a fixed position while the EL element 13 is kept flat by the base 1. It becomes possible to install the

Furthermore, according to the present invention, a pair of foil electrodes 3 and 4 are arranged on one surface of the base 1 so as to extend in parallel with each other at intervals, and a plurality of EL elements are arranged on the foil electrodes 3 and 4. A pair of input terminals 16 and 17 of 13 are connected to each other, thereby making it possible to commonly supply power to each of the plurality of EL elements 13. The main body 15 of the EL element 13 covers the input terminals 16 and 17 of adjacent EL elements 13, and is partially overlapped one after another so that the light emitting regions 18 of each EL element 13 are connected.

The outer peripheral surface of the main body 15 of the EL element 13 on the back electrode 30 side is adhered to the base 1. In this way, the outer sealing material 2
3 and 24, the EL element 13
is not displaced on the substrate 1, and light can be emitted with desired brightness over a wide area.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a portion thereof. Substrate 1 consisting of a self-supporting film or plate-like body
is made of a material such as Bakelite.
A pair of parallel electrodes 3 and 4 are attached to one surface of the base 1 using an adhesive 2, as indicated by the imaginary line in FIG.
Paste it at the positions indicated by a and 4a. Electrodes 3, 4
is made of metal, such as copper, and is in the form of a foil. The electrodes 3 and 4 are formed in an L-shape, and when the outer envelope members 23 and 24 are heat-sealed as described later, the terminals 3b and 4b are attached to the outer envelope members 23 and 24 as shown in FIG. Lead wires 33 exposed from the tips of the formed protrusions 23b and 24b and led from the power source
and are electrically connected by soldering, etc.

A plurality of EL elements 13 are provided on the one surface of the base 1.
is attached using so-called double-sided tape 14 or the like. The double-sided tape 14 has a structure in which an adhesive is provided on both surfaces of a flexible synthetic resin film. The EL element 13 has a main body 15 and a pair of input terminals 16 and 17. input terminal 16,
17 are arranged on the electrodes 3 and 4, respectively.
The light emitting region 18 in the main body of the EL element 13 covers the vicinity of the input terminals 16 and 17 of the adjacent EL elements 13 up to the position indicated by the imaginary line 19 . As a result, the light emitting region 18 is continuously formed along the longitudinal direction of the base 1. Input terminals 16, 17
are soldered to the electrodes 3 and 4 with solder 20.

A UV absorbing sheet 21 is commonly placed on the EL element 13. The ultraviolet absorbing sheet 21 is transparent and made of, for example, acrylic resin, and is known as "HiS A Film" manufactured by Nippon Carbide Co., Ltd. By the action of this ultraviolet absorbing sheet 21, ultraviolet rays from the outside are blocked and do not reach the EL element 13. Therefore, deterioration of the EL element 13 due to ultraviolet rays can be prevented.

The surface of the base 1 opposite to the surface on which the electrodes 3 and 4 are fixed (lower side in FIGS. 1 and 2) is
The double-sided tape 22 is attached to the outer sealing material 23 at the position indicated by the imaginary line 23a in FIG. The outer sealing materials 23 and 24 are made of transparent synthetic resin films, and may be made of a material such as polyethylene terephthalate. Outer sealing material 23,2
4 are formed with protrusions 23b and 24b for covering and holding the terminals 3b and 4b of the electrodes 3 and 4 connected to the power cord 33, as described above.

The outer peripheral edges of the outer sealing members 23 and 24 are heat-sealed to be airtight.

A colored sheet 27 is attached to the outer surface of the outer sealing material 24 with an adhesive 26. The adhesive 26 and the colored sheet 27 are translucent. The colored sheet 27 is, for example, blue, so it can be seen vividly during the day, and at night, the bluish-white light emitted from the EL element 13 is transmitted to the ultraviolet absorbing sheet 21 and the outer sealing material 2.
4 is emitted from the colored sheet 27 to the outside,
As a result, the colored sheet 27 appears to shine brightly. If the colored sheet 27 is the outer sealing material 24 and the EL
If it is interposed between the colored sheet 27 and the element 13, the blue color of the colored sheet 27 will look a little cloudy due to the outer sealing material 24 during the daytime, and the brightness will be poor, and this will also occur during the night time. The same holds true when the EL element 13 emits bluish-white light. The present invention solves these problems and enables display in bright colors during the day and night.

Referring to FIG. 3, the EL element 13 is a flat EL
The light emitter 28 is sandwiched between a transparent electrode 29 and a back electrode 30 made of a material such as aluminum, and these are airtightly covered with translucent outer envelope members 31 and 32. EL light emitter 2
8 is, for example, an organic dispersed EL material,
It is milky white in color, and the outer sealing materials 31 and 32 are made of, for example, ethylene trifluoride chloride known under the trade name "Daiflon" manufactured by Daikin Industries, Ltd. The electrodes 29 and 30 are connected to input terminals 16 and 17 exposed from the sides of the main body 15, respectively. In this way, the EL light emitter 28 is connected to the outer envelope material 31,
By being airtightly covered by 32, a moisture-proof function is achieved. It also has this configuration
The moisture-proofing effect is further improved by airtightly covering the plurality of EL elements 13 with the outer sealing materials 23 and 24. A pair of foils 3 and 4 are arranged on one surface of the base 1 so as to extend in parallel with each other at intervals. A pair of input terminals 16 and 17 are transparent electrodes 2
These input terminals 16 and 17 are connected to the foil electrodes 3 and 4, respectively, and power is commonly supplied to each of the plurality of EL elements 13. The input terminals 16 and 17 are connected to the main body 15.
It protrudes outward from one side (to the right in Figure 2). The main bodies 15 of the EL elements 13 are partially overlapped in order so as to cover the input terminals 16 and 17 of the adjacent EL elements 13 so that the light emitting regions 18 of each EL element 13 are connected. The outer peripheral surface of the main body 15 of the EL element 13 on the back electrode 30 side is adhered to the base 1.

The outer sealing materials 23 and 24 are translucent as described above, so at least the portion that covers the light emitting region 18 is translucent, and the light emitting region 1 of the EL element 13 is translucent.
It can transmit light from 8.

The back side of the outer envelope material 23 of the EL display device 42 configured in this way is adhered to the fixing surface 44 of the support base 43 made of a material such as stainless steel using double-sided tape or the like, as shown in FIG. and fixed. Further, protrusions 23b, 24b of the outer sealing materials 23, 24 sandwiching the terminals 3b, 4b of the electrodes 3, 4.
It is also bent along the legs 45 of the support base 43 and fixed with double-sided tape or the like. In order to fix the display device 42 in this way, the base 1 of the outer sealing material 23 is
The surface opposite to the surface on which is fixed (lower side in FIGS. 1 and 2) may be an adhesive surface.

The EL display device 42 has a reference numeral 4 along its length.
As shown at 7, they are partially overlapped with each other, thereby making it possible to continuously form a wide display area.

According to the inventor's experiments, an EL display device 4 of an embodiment of the present invention having an ultraviolet absorbing sheet 21
2 when used in an ultraviolet irradiation device, 60
After a period of time, the luminance ratio of the EL element 13 to the initial luminance was 99%. On the other hand, when the ultraviolet absorbing sheet 21 was not used and the other configurations were the same, the initial brightness ratio was 89%. This confirmed that the ultraviolet absorbing sheet 21 is extremely effective in preventing deterioration of the EL element 13 due to ultraviolet rays.

FIG. 5 shows an EL element 13 of another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration related to the . This embodiment is similar to the previous embodiment, and corresponding parts are given the same reference numerals. As shown in FIG. The light emitting regions are continuously formed by overlapping.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5 2, with the ultraviolet absorbing sheet 21 placed on the outer sealing material 24,
EL element 13 connected to electrodes 3 and 4 in FIG.
is turned upside down and placed on top. After that, base 1 and
EL element 13 is attached, and another outer sealing material 2 is attached.
3 and the outer periphery of the above-mentioned outer sealing material 24 are heat fused,
A colored sheet 27 is attached to the outer surface of the outer sealing material 24. These configurations are similar to those of the previous embodiment.

The substrate 1 may be in the form of a film, and may be rigid or flexible.

Effects As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of EL elements 13 are arranged and attached to one surface of the self-supporting base 1, and a pair of foil-like Since the electrodes 3, 4 and the base 1 are covered with the outer sealing materials 23, 24 to have a moisture-proof structure, the outer sealing material 23 on the back side of the outer sealing materials 23, 24 is bonded with adhesive means, etc. It can be fixed in a fixed position by. In this way, display can be performed while the EL element 13 is kept moisture-proof.

Moreover, the main body 15 of the plurality of EL elements 13 is
Since the light emitting regions 18 of each EL element 13 are overlapped in sequence so as to cover the input terminals 16 and 17 of adjacent EL elements 13, it is possible to emit light over a wide area. This makes it possible to make the distribution of the light as desired, for example, uniform.

Since the power consumption of each EL element 13 is small,
Electric power can be supplied by the foil electrodes 3 and 4, and the overall shape can be kept flat, making it possible to downsize.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows an EL display device 42 of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a part of the embodiment, FIG. 3 is a partially cut-away cross-sectional view of the EL element 13,
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a structure for performing display using the EL display device 42, and FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure related to the EL element 13 of another embodiment of the present invention. 1... Base, 3, 4... Electrode, 13... EL element, 15... Main body, 16, 17... Input terminal, 1
8... Light emitting region, 21... Ultraviolet absorbing sheet, 2
3, 24... Outer packaging material, 27... Colored sheet, 33
……Lead.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (a) A base 1 made of a self-supporting film or plate; (b) A base 1 arranged on one surface of the base 1 so as to extend parallel to each other at intervals. A pair of foil electrodes 3, 4
(c) a plurality of EL elements 13; (c1) a transparent electrode 29 forming a light emitting region 18;
The EL light emitting body 28 is sandwiched between the back electrode 30 and the translucent outer encapsulant 31, 32.
The main body 15 is airtightly covered by
and (c2) such a flat EL element 13 having a pair of input terminals 16 and 17 connected to the transparent electrode 29 and the back electrode 30, respectively, and protruding outward from one side of the main body 15. (d) The input terminals 16 and 17 of the EL element 13 are connected to the foil electrodes 3 and 4, and (e) The main body 15 of the EL element 13 is connected to the input terminals 16 and 17 of the adjacent EL element 13. The light-emitting regions 18 of each EL element 13 are arranged on the foil-like electrodes 3 and 4 so that the light-emitting regions 18 of each EL element 13 are connected and overlapped in sequence, so that the outer circumferential surface of the main body 15 on the back electrode 30 side is on the base 1. (f) A synthetic resin film that integrally covers the substrate 1, the foil electrodes 3 and 4, and the EL element 13 in a moisture-proof manner, and is transparent at least in the portion covering the light emitting region 18. (g) The foil electrodes 3, 4 are partially exposed from the outer envelope materials 23, 24.