TW201804120A - Display device and refrigerator with the same capable of increasing the light use efficiency - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are a display device capable of increasing the light use efficiency and a refrigerator with the same. The display device includes: a display panel having a light penetration portion and a light blocking portion; a light guiding plate arranged at the back of the display panel; and a light emitting means to emit light into the light guiding plate. The light guiding plate is provided with a light extraction portion to radiate the light that is light-guided in the light guiding plate. The light extraction portion is formed on the back of the light penetration portion more than on the back of the light blocking portion.

Description

Display device and refrigerator provided with the same

The present invention relates to a display device and a refrigerator including the same.

Increasingly, display devices using a light guide plate are used in home appliances such as refrigerators, microwave ovens, and portable devices. A light guide plate is a plate that guides light incident from the side of a transparent plate such as acrylic, polystyrene, etc., to total light under the law of Esnael to guide the light, while taking out the light formed on the surface The part scatters part of the light and emits light. In addition, the display device is configured such that a character, a mark print, or a light-shielding film is arranged on the surface side of the light guide plate, and the character or the like is irradiated with light from a light source. As such a prior art aspect of using a display device under a light guide plate, for example, there is Patent Document 1.

Patent Document 1 relates to a storage room including a refrigerator main body, a storage room door that opens and closes a front opening of the storage room, a light-transmitting door front surface plate on a front surface of the storage room door, a substrate on a back surface of the door front surface plate, and a substrate. The display structure between the door and the front panel, the illumination means for illuminating the display structure toward the front surface of the door, the detection unit that detects the change in capacitance behind the display structure, and the guidance Light board, inspection The control unit that controls the measurement unit and the illumination means is configured on the substrate by the illumination means and the detection unit, and the detection unit adopts a mutual capacitance type.

[Previous Technical Literature] [Patent Literature]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2015-55361

However, in the technology described in Patent Document 1, the entire light guide plate emits light, and the film disposed on the light guide plate is not only a display portion corresponding to a character, but a large amount of light is irradiated to a light-shielding portion without a character or the like. Since it is absorbed by the light-shielding portion, there is such a problem that the light utilization efficiency is low.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a display device that improves light utilization efficiency or a refrigerator including the display device.

A display device includes a display panel having a light-transmitting portion and a non-light-transmitting portion, a light guide plate located behind the display plate, and a light-emitting means for making light incident on the light guide plate. The light guide plate includes A light extraction portion that emits light guided by light in the light plate, and the light extraction portion is formed more than the back of the light transmitting portion than the back of the non-light transmitting portion.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a display device that improves light utilization efficiency or a refrigerator including the display device.

1‧‧‧ refrigerator main body

2a‧‧‧Left refrigerator door

2b‧‧‧Right refrigerator door

2d‧‧‧Freezer

3‧‧‧Upper hinge

3a‧‧‧left hinge

3b‧‧‧Right hinge

4a‧‧‧ Ice door

4b‧‧‧Freezer door

4c‧‧‧Quick Freezer Door

4d1‧‧‧Freezer

4d2‧‧‧Quick Freezer

4d3‧‧‧‧Ice-making Chamber

5‧‧‧Vegetable room door

5d‧‧‧Vegetable Room

6‧‧‧Door front panel (glass panel)

9‧‧‧ Operation display area

9a‧‧‧ Display touch unit

10‧‧‧ display area

11‧‧‧LED

12‧‧‧light extraction section

13‧‧‧light guide

14a, 14b ‧‧‧ Display section (light transmitting section)

15‧‧‧Light-shielding section (non-light-transmitting section)

16‧‧‧display board (film)

17‧‧‧ substrate

23‧‧‧ Optical Structure

[FIG. 1] A front view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[FIG. 2] A diagram showing the display states of the display area and the operation display area of the P portion shown in FIG. 1.

[FIG. 3] A front view of a state in which a film is removed from a display device according to this embodiment.

[FIG. 4] A cross-sectional view of an operation display area in FIG. 2.

[FIG. 5] A graph showing the results of calculating the brightness of the display unit in the present embodiment.

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

The following description is based on a refrigerator in which a display device according to the present invention is built in a storage room door.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to this embodiment, and is a view in which a display portion and an operation portion are in a non-display state. The refrigerator main body 1 includes a refrigerator compartment 2d, a freezer compartment 4d1, a vegetable compartment 5d, and the like in this order from the top. Between the refrigerating compartment 2d and the freezing compartment 4d1, a rapid freezing compartment 4d2 is provided. An ice making chamber 4d3 is provided next to the quick freezing chamber 4d2.

Moreover, the front opening of each storage room is provided with the door which opens and closes the said front opening. That is, the front opening of the refrigerating compartment 2d is provided with a left refrigerating compartment door 2a and a right refrigerating compartment door 2b, and the freezer compartment 4d1, the quick freezing compartment 4d2, the ice-making compartment 4d3, and the vegetable compartment 5d are individually opened in front. A freezing compartment door 4b, a quick freezing compartment door 4c, an ice-making compartment door 4a, and a vegetable compartment door 5 are respectively provided.

The left refrigerator compartment door 2a and the right refrigerator compartment door 2b are pivoted freely through the upper hinge 3 (left hinge 3a, right hinge 3b) and the like provided on the upper part of the refrigerator main body 1, respectively. That is, the structure is a so-called French door which is configured as a left-right type.

In addition, the freezing compartment door 4b, the quick freezing compartment door 4c, the ice-making compartment door 4a, and the vegetable compartment door 5 are draw-out doors, respectively, and can be freely drawn out together with the container of the individual storage compartment.

The left and right refrigerator compartment doors 2a and 2b, the freezer compartment door 4b, the quick freezing compartment door 4c, the ice-making compartment door 4a, and the vegetable compartment door 5 are provided on their outer surfaces with a transparent front door panel (glass Board) 6.

Next, the operation display area 9 serving as both the operation area and the display area is operated by the user from outside to set the room temperature of each of the storage compartments such as the refrigerating compartment 2d and the freezing compartment 4d1, or the refrigerating compartment 2d and the freezing compartment 4d1. Wait for rapid cooling, or set the operation of the ice making device on / off, rapid ice making, etc. That is, the user operates the operation display area 9 so that the functions of the refrigerator can be set.

In addition, the display area 10 displays a result of the input from the operation display area 9. Through this display area 10, the operation performed by the user in operating the display area 9 can be confirmed, or the status of various functions set in advance can be confirmed.

Furthermore, the display touch section 9a for turning on the operation display area 9 and the display area 10 is operated, so that the operation display area 9 and the display area 10 are switched from the light-off state of FIG. 1 to the state of FIG. 2. Lighting status. That is, the user performs operations such as pressing, touching, and bringing his or her finger close to the display touch portion 9a (as an example of a “MENU” text display mark), so that operations other than the display touch portion 9a that is always recognizable are performed. The characters, symbols, and the like in the display area 9 and the display area 10 are switched from the light-off state to the light-on state, and are displayed on the glass plate 6 to operate the display area 9. Thereby, the display of characters and graphics that are usually recognizable at all times is only the display touch portion 9a, and the non-lighting operation of the display area 9 and the display area 10 can make a simple appearance and improve the design sense. In addition, the display area 9 and the display area 10 only need to be turned on when the display area 10 is operated, so that energy saving effects can be obtained.

In addition, when the display touch unit 9a is operated, all characters, graphics, and the like in the operation display area 9 and the display area 10 are illuminated and displayed. After the certain period of time has elapsed, the display area 10 is turned on only for the display of the setting status of the functions currently set, and other displays are turned off. In addition, when a certain period of time has passed in the non-operation state, all characters, graphics, and the like in the operation display area 9 and the display area 10 are turned off, and only the display touch portion 9a becomes visible. In this way, the display touch that is always recognizable After the operation of the unit 9a, all the characters and the like are temporarily turned on, so that the user can confirm the functions of the refrigerator and confirm what kind of setting changes can be made.

The back surface of the glass plate 6 is coated with a colored paint. Thereby, the processing is performed so that the foamed heat insulation material is not seen from the front side, and the operation display area 9 and the display area 10 are clearly recognized by the operation of the display touch portion 9a, so that a door having excellent appearance can be realized.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the operation display area 9 in FIG. 2. The display device corresponding to this operation display area 9 includes a display panel (film) 16 having a light-transmitting portion (display portion) 14 a and a non-light-transmitting portion (light-shielding portion) 15, and a guide located behind the display plate 16. The light plate 13, an LED 11 as a light emitting means for making visible light incident into the light guide plate 13, and a substrate 17 provided with a control circuit. The light guide plate 13 includes a light extraction portion 12 that emits light guided in the light guide plate 13.

Here, the display portion 14a is configured by a transmissive character, a mark, and the like, and the light-shielding portion 15 is formed on the periphery of the display portion 14a. In addition, a voltage is applied to the LEDs 11 arranged on the left and right sides of the light guide plate 13 formed of an acrylic material, so that light emitted from the LED 11 enters from the side of the light guide plate 13, and is totally reflected repeatedly to guide the light inside the light guide plate 13. . When the light reaches the light extraction portion 12 formed on the surface of the light guide plate 13, the light is emitted therefrom. In addition, placing the LED 11 and the light guide plate 13 not in the front-back direction of the substrate 17 but in the left-right direction of the substrate 17 makes it possible to reduce the overall thickness of the display device, and to increase the foam insulation of the back side of the display device. Material thickness to ensure thermal insulation performance.

The light extraction portion 12 is formed in a concave-convex shape as shown in FIG. 4. The light extraction portion 12 is provided behind or in the vicinity of the display portion 14 a more than other areas (light-shielding portion 15), so that the light-shielding portion 15 and the light-shielded portion are suppressed The light absorbed in 15 can efficiently irradiate the light guided in the light guide plate 13 to the display portion 14a, and the visibility of characters, symbols, and the like can be improved.

Further, among the light guide plates 13 formed to be long in the left-right direction, the density of the light extraction portions 12 on the center side is higher than the density of the light extraction portions 12 on the left and right ends. For this reason, even in the vicinity of the center far from the LED 11 where light is difficult to reach, a sufficient amount of light can be emitted, and unevenness in brightness in the left and right directions can be appropriately adjusted.

In addition, the light extraction portion 12 may be another manufacturing method capable of performing concave-convex processing such as laser processing, metal mold forming, and sandblasting. In addition, although the light extraction portion 12 shown in FIG. 4 has a structure in which a concave-convex shape is arranged, it is not necessarily limited to a concave-convex shape, and a resin containing a scattering material for visible light may be printed. When the light guided through the total reflection in the light guide plate 13 reaches the scattering material, the light is scattered and can be efficiently irradiated to characters, signs, and the like.

In addition, although the light extraction portion 12 in FIG. 4 is configured to be disposed only on the surface of the light guide plate 13 on the display panel 16 side, it is not necessarily limited to the surface of the light guide plate 13 and may also be a light guide also disposed on the substrate 17 side. The structure of the back surface of the light plate 13. Among them, it is more effective to provide a plurality of light extraction portions 12 on the front surface of the light guide plate 13 than on the rear surface of the light guide plate 13. The reason is that the light emitted from the light extraction portion 12 on the back of the light guide plate 13 can be suppressed from being absorbed by the substrate 17, and the light reflected by the substrate 17 in various directions can be blocked by the display plate 16. Absorbed by section 15.

Moreover, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the operation display area 9 and the display area 10 are juxtaposed vertically. In each region, as shown in FIG. 3, a plate-shaped light guide plate 13 and a plate-shaped optical member 23 are provided adjacent to each other.

The light guide plate 13 has a flat side surface facing the optical member 23. In addition, the angle formed by the left and right side surfaces 13a and the upper end surface 13b of the light guide plate 13 is set to 84 ° or more and 90 ° or less according to Snell's law. As a result, the light incident from the LED 11 is totally reflected on the end surface 13 b on the light guide plate 13 to suppress light leakage to the optical structure 23 side, and at the same time, the light guided in the light guide plate 13 can be efficiently irradiated onto the light guide plate 13. The display portion 14a improves visibility of characters and the like. In addition, the side surface (end surface) of the light guide plate is formed by cutting an acrylic plate into a desired shape, and performing mirror polishing as a final polishing. The manufacturing method may be particularly limited as long as the side surface is transparent.

FIG. 5 illustrates the brightness of the display portion 14 a when the light guide plate 13 provided with the light extraction portion 12 is applied. For the calculation method, optical simulation is used. That is, the optical characteristics of the LED, the structure of the light extraction portion and the light guide plate, and the material characteristics of the LED manufactured by the LED manufacturer are set in the simulation. The light guide plate calculates and evaluates the relative amount of light reaching points. FIG. 5 is a result of calculating the availability of light incident from the LED, and it is distinguished by the arrival point of the incident light.

As a result, it was found that although the number of LEDs was reduced by half in the present embodiment (the number of LEDs 11 was smaller than that of the display portion 14a) Number), the brightness of the display portion 14a is still the same as the conventional structure. The reason will be described below. The highest loss in the conventional structure is absorption by the light-shielding portion on the back of the display panel 16. However, in this embodiment, the number of light extraction portions behind the display portion 14a is greater than that in other areas, so it is estimated to suppress the The effect of irradiating the light-shielding portion 15 with light on the display portion 14 a such as a character or a mark efficiently. In addition, the second highest loss is absorption by the substrate 17, but in this embodiment, the light guide plate has more light extraction portions 12 on the surface than on the rear surface, so it is estimated that the light emission efficiency of the light guide plate surface is improved. The last loss is due to light leakage from the side of the light guide plate. In this embodiment, it is estimated that the side surface of the light guide plate 23 facing the optical structure 23 is flat and the left and right side surfaces 13 a and the upper end surface of the light guide plate 13 are flat. The angle formed by 13b is an effect of 84 ° or more and 90 ° or less.

Based on the above, according to this embodiment, it was confirmed that a display device capable of improving the visibility of the display portion 14a can be provided while suppressing the number of LED light sources to be mounted.

The display area 10 includes an LED (not shown) behind the optical member 23. The optical member 23 and the LED are provided on a substrate 17 common to the operation display area 9. Then, the light passes through the optical member 23 and is guided to a certain front surface side of the display panel 16 common to the operation display area 9, and is emitted from the display portion 14 a (light transmitting portion).

Here, the operation display area 9 is not to individually light up each display portion (light-transmitting portion) 14a, but to light up the whole; on the other hand, the display area 10 is to make each display portion (light-transmitting) according to the setting content. Part) 14b lights up individually.

In addition, although not shown, a detection section that detects a change in capacitance is located on the back of the operation display area 9. This detection unit is provided on the back side of the light guide plate 13, that is, on the front side of the substrate 17.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to a refrigerator in which a display device is built into a storage room door, and is also effective for other household appliances and industrial products with a display device such as a washing machine and an IH cooking heater. In addition, the light source may be not only an LED but also a cold cathode fluorescent tube, an organic EL, an inorganic EL, a phosphor, and other light emitters. In addition, in the light guide plate, it is effective to use acrylic resin, polycarbonate, polystyrene, etc., which have high transmittance to visible light.

11‧‧‧LED

12‧‧‧light extraction section

13‧‧‧light guide

14a‧‧‧Display section (light transmitting section)

15‧‧‧Light-shielding section (non-light-transmitting section)

16‧‧‧display board (film)

17‧‧‧ substrate

Claims (6)

A display device includes a display panel having a light-transmitting portion and a non-light-transmitting portion, a light guide plate located behind the display plate, and a light-emitting means for causing light to enter the light guide plate. The light guide plate includes A light extraction portion that emits light guided by light in the light guide plate. The light extraction portion is formed more behind the non-light-transmitting portion than behind the light-transmitting portion. A display device includes a display panel having a light-transmitting portion and a non-light-transmitting portion, a light guide plate located behind the display plate, and a light-emitting means for causing light to enter the light guide plate. The light guide plate includes The light extraction portion that emits light guided by light in the light guide plate. The light emitting means is located on the left and right sides of the light guide plate, and the density of the extraction portion on the center side is higher than that of the light extraction portions on the left and right ends. High density. A display device includes a display panel having a light-transmitting portion and a non-light-transmitting portion, a light guide plate located behind the display plate, and a light-emitting means for making light incident on the light guide plate, and the light guide plate and optical structure are arranged in parallel The surface of the light guide plate facing the adjacent optical structure is flat. For example, the display device according to claim 3, wherein the angle formed by the surface of the light guide plate facing the adjacent optical structure and the surface of the light guide plate facing the light emitting means is 84 ° or more and 90 ° the following. For example, the display device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the light extraction portion is formed on a display plate side of the light guide plate more than a rear surface thereof. A refrigerator includes a storage room door that opens and closes a front opening of the storage room, and a heat insulating material in the storage room door, and further includes a display device as set forth in any one of claims 1 to 5.