Indication device

Abstract

To provide a display device with a structure that stably supports the liquid crystal panel. [Solution] The display device 10 comprises a light source substrate 6 on which a light source 6a for illuminating the liquid crystal panel 3 is mounted, a light guide 4 located behind the liquid crystal panel, and a case 5 that houses the liquid crystal panel 3 and the light guide 4. The light guide 4 has a facing surface 4a that faces the liquid crystal panel 3 and a side surface 4b relative to the facing surface 4a, and receives the light emitted from the light source 6a on the side surface 4b. The liquid crystal panel 3 is rectangular and has four outer edges corresponding to each of its four sides. Of the four outer edges, three are supported by support parts provided on the case 5, and the remaining one is supported by a convex support part 4d that protrudes forward from the facing surface 4a of the light guide 4.

Description

[[Technical Field]]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a display device. [[Background Art]]

[0002] Patent Literature 1 describes a display device comprising a display panel configured as a liquid crystal panel or the like, a light guide plate that guides light toward the display panel, and a circuit substrate positioned behind the light guide plate, the display device having a structure in which a light source element substrate is provided upright with respect to the circuit substrate. [[Prior Art Documents]] [[Patent Literature]]

[0003] [[Patent Literature 1]] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-227076 [[Summary of the Invention]] [[Problem to be Solved by the Invention]]

[0004] Patent Literature 1 neither describes nor suggests a structure for stably supporting a liquid crystal panel when adopting a structure in which a light source element substrate is provided upright with respect to a circuit substrate.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present disclosure is to provide a display device having a structure that stably supports a liquid crystal panel. [[Means for Solving the Problem]]

[0006] To achieve the above object, a display device according to the present disclosure includes: a liquid crystal panel; a light source substrate on which a light source for illuminating the liquid crystal panel is mounted; a light guide positioned behind the liquid crystal panel and configured to guide light emitted from the light source to the liquid crystal panel; and a case that accommodates the liquid crystal panel and the light guide,[[]END]] The light guide has a surface facing the liquid crystal panel and a side surface relative to the surface facing the panel, and receives the light with the side surface. The light source substrate is provided such that the light source faces the side surface. The liquid crystal panel is rectangular and has four outer edges corresponding to each of its four sides. Of the four outer edges, three are supported by support portions provided on the case, and the remaining one is supported by a convex support portion that protrudes forward from the opposing surface of the light guide. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to this disclosure, it is possible to provide a display device with a structure that stably supports a liquid crystal panel. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] An exploded perspective view of a display device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] A perspective view of the main part of the display device according to the same embodiment. [Figure 3] A perspective view of a partial configuration of the display device according to the same embodiment. [Figure 4] A perspective view of the main parts of the case, light source substrate, and circuit board according to the same embodiment. [Figure 5] A partial cross-sectional view of a display device according to the same embodiment, illustrating a convex support portion. [Figure 6] A partial cross-sectional view of a display device according to the same embodiment, illustrating a support portion provided on the case. [Figure 7] A partial cross-sectional view of a display device according to the same embodiment, mainly showing the protective part and the covering part. [Figure 8] A partial perspective view of the display device according to the same embodiment, mainly showing the protective part and the covering part. [Figure 9] A partial cross-sectional view of a display device according to the same embodiment, mainly showing an example of the configuration of the protective section. [Figure 10] Plan view of a modified display device. [Figure 11] A cross-sectional view taken along line I-I shown in FIG. 10 of a display device according to a modification. MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0009] An embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0010] The display device 10 shown in FIG. 1 is configured as, for example, a vehicle instrument. In each figure, an X-axis extending in the left-right direction of the display device 10, a Y-axis extending in the up-down direction of the display device 10, and a Z-axis extending in the front-rear direction of the display device 10 are shown. Unless otherwise specified, the up-down, left-right, and front-rear directions used below follow the respective XYZ axes. Note that the arrow indicating the X-axis points to the right, the arrow indicating the Y-axis points upward, and the arrow indicating the Z-axis points forward.

[0011] The display device 10 includes, in order from the front to the rear, a cover glass 1, a packing 2, a liquid crystal panel 3, a light guide 4, a case 5, a light source substrate 6 on which a light source 6a is mounted, a circuit board 7, a metal clip C, and a housing 8. The light source 6a is, for example, an LED (Light Emitting Diode).

[0012] The cover glass 1 has translucency and covers the liquid crystal panel 3 from the front. The cover glass 1 allows a user to see through and visually recognize various types of information displayed on the liquid crystal panel 3.

[0013] The packing 2 is located between the cover glass 1 and the liquid crystal panel 3. The packing 2 is formed in a frame shape from an elastic material and is sandwiched between the cover glass 1 and the liquid crystal panel 3. When the cover glass 1 is fixed to the case 5, the packing 2 is compressed between the cover glass 1 and the liquid crystal panel 3. Note that although the packing 2 is depicted as if overlapping with the cover glass 1 in FIG. 5, FIG. 6, and FIG. 11, this is merely an illustration of the packing 2 before compression for drawing purposes.

[0014] The liquid crystal panel 3 is illuminated by light from the light source 6a, and displays various types of information such as vehicle speed information. The liquid crystal panel 3 has a rectangular shape when viewed from the front (when viewed from the front).

[0015] The light guide 4 is formed into a plate shape from a light-transmitting synthetic resin, and as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, has a facing surface 4a facing the liquid crystal panel 3, and a side surface 4b opposite to the facing surface 4a. The facing surface 4a corresponds to the front surface of a main body portion 4c of the light guide 4 located behind the liquid crystal panel 3. The side surface 4b corresponds to the lower surface of a portion connected to the main body portion 4c and facing the light source substrate 6. Light from the plurality of light sources 6a arranged on the light source substrate 6 enters the side surface 4b and is guided into the interior of the light guide 4. The light guided into the interior of the light guide 4 exits from the facing surface 4a and illuminates the liquid crystal panel 3.

[0016] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5, the light guide 4 further has convex support portions 4d that project forward from the facing surface 4a. A plurality of the convex support portions 4d are arranged at intervals in the X direction. The function of the convex support portions 4d will be described later.

[0017] The case 5 is formed into a box shape opening toward the front, and accommodates the liquid crystal panel 3 and the light guide 4. The case 5 is formed of, for example, a white synthetic resin material. As shown in FIG. 1, the case 5 has four wall portions 5a surrounding the end surface of the light guide 4. The four wall portions 5a form a rectangular frame shape when the case 5 is viewed from the front.

[0018] Here, among the four wall portions 5a, one wall portion 5a provided corresponding to the light source substrate 6 is referred to as a specific wall portion 5ap hereinafter. As shown in FIG. 1, the specific wall portion 5ap is provided with a plurality of through holes 5b corresponding to the plurality of light sources 6a. With this configuration, light from the plurality of light sources 6a can be caused to enter the light guide 4 efficiently.

[0019] As shown in Figure 2, the specific wall portion 5ap has a groove 5c into which the front end of the light source substrate 6 is fitted. In addition to the wall portion 5a including the specific wall portion 5ap, the case 5 also includes a first elastic portion 5e having a first claw portion 5d for fixing the rear end of the light source substrate 6, as shown in Figure 4. This structure of the case 5 allows the light source substrate 6 to be held stably. The first elastic portion 5e has a restoring force generally in the X direction and is provided on both the left and right sides of the specific wall portion 5ap (only one of the first elastic portions 5e is shown in Figure 4).

[0020] Furthermore, case 5 further includes a second elastic portion 5g having a second claw portion 5f, provided on each of the four wall portions 5a that face each other in the left-right direction (only one of the second elastic portions 5g is shown in Figure 3). As shown in Figure 3, the second claw portion 5f is locked to the circuit board 7. The second elastic portion 5g also has a restoring force generally in the X direction. As can be seen by comparing Figures 3 and 4, the first elastic portion 5e and the second elastic portion 5g extend in the same direction (downward). This improves assembly workability.

[0021] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 6, case 5 has support portions 5h on three of the four wall portions 5a, excluding the specific wall portion 5ap (Note that Figure 6 shows the portion corresponding to any one of the three wall portions 5a). The support portion 5h is formed in a stepped shape to support the outer edge of the liquid crystal panel 3. As mentioned above, the rectangular liquid crystal panel 3 has four outer edges corresponding to each of its four sides. Of these four outer edges, three are supported by the support portions 5h provided on case 5, and the remaining one is supported by the convex support portion 4d. As will be described later, in a configuration where the light source substrate 6 stands in the front-to-back direction, it is not easy to provide a configuration to support the liquid crystal panel 3 on the specific wall portion 5ap that is close to the light source substrate 6. However, the display device 10 can support one outer edge with the convex support portion 4d provided on the light guide 4, thus providing a structure that stably supports the liquid crystal panel 3.

[0022] Furthermore, as shown in Figures 7 to 9, case 5 has a protective part 5i that covers the metal clip C and a covering part 5j that covers the front end of the light source substrate 6 from the front.

[0023] The protective section 5i is provided on the side of a specific wall section 5ap among the four wall sections 5a of the case 5. The protective section 5i is located between the cover section 5j and the circuit board 7. Specifically, as shown in Figure 9, the protective section 5i has an outer wall section 5i1 that runs along the outer edge of the circuit board 7, and an inner wall section 5i2 that faces the outer wall section 5i1 with the light source substrate 6 in between. The outer wall section 5i1 is formed in connection with the cover section 5i. The inner wall section 5i2 is formed using the part of the case 4 that supports the light guide 4.

[0024] By including the protective part 5i configured above, the display device 10 can suppress the scattering of metal powder generated by the friction of the metal clip C to the main part of the circuit board 7 or to the outside of the case 5, thereby maintaining marketability. Note that the protective part 5i does not need to cover (enclose) the entire outer circumference of the metal clip C. Furthermore, by including the covering part 5j, the display device 10 can effectively suppress the scattering of metal powder to the outside of the case 5.

[0025] The light source substrate 6 is a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) with an elongated shape in the left-right direction, and is installed behind the specific wall portion 5ap (wall portion 5a). Specifically, the light source substrate 6 is located between the specific wall portion 5ap (wall portion 5a) and the circuit board 7.

[0026] Multiple light sources 6a are mounted on the light source substrate 6 and are arranged in a predetermined arrangement direction. This arrangement direction is the X direction, which is the longitudinal direction (left-right direction) of the light source substrate 6. Similarly, multiple convex support portions 4d are also arranged in the arrangement direction (X direction). Although not shown in detail, the positions of the multiple convex support portions 4d and the multiple light sources 6a are different in the arrangement direction (X direction). In other words, the multiple convex support portions 4d and the multiple light sources 6a are in positions that do not overlap in the Y direction. This prevents light emitted from each of the multiple light sources 6a and guided to the main body portion 4c of the light guide 4 from reaching the convex support portions 4d. In other words, it prevents the convex support portions 4d from unintentionally emitting light and causing uneven illumination by the light guide 4.

[0027] The light source substrate 6 is positioned in the front-to-back direction, facing the side 4b of the light guide 4. This ensures that the light source 6a faces the side 4b of the light source substrate 6. In this way, the display device 10 can capture illumination light from the side 4b of the light guide 4, which is located directly behind the liquid crystal panel 3, thus minimizing the space required behind the liquid crystal panel 3. Therefore, the display device 10 can be constructed using efficient modules.

[0028] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 4, the light source substrate 6 has an overhang 6b at its longitudinal end. The first claw portion 5d is locked to the lower end surface of the overhang portion 6b. This hook mechanism using the first claw portion 5d allows the case 5 and the light source substrate 6 to be easily assembled.

[0029] The circuit board 7 is a PCB on which a controller that controls the operation of the display device 10 is mounted. The circuit board 7 is electrically connected to the light source board 6 and is located behind the case 5. As mentioned above, the first claw portion 5d fixes the rear end of the light source board 6, but as shown in Figure 4, a notch 7a is formed in the corner of the circuit board 7 corresponding to the first claw portion 5d (a missing portion is provided). The first claw portion 5d is located within the notch 7a. In this way, by providing a portion of the circuit board 7 that avoids the first claw portion 5d, the light source board 6 can be easily assembled to the case 5.

[0030] The metal clip C is fixed to the front of the circuit board 7. The metal clip C holds the light source substrate 6 upright relative to the circuit board 7, and electrically connects the light source substrate 6 and the circuit board 7.

[0031] The housing 8 is formed from, for example, a synthetic resin material and houses internal components such as the liquid crystal panel 3, light guide 4, case 5, light source substrate 6, and circuit board 7. The peripheral wall of the housing 8 and the peripheral edge of the cover glass 1 are fixed by known fixing means.

[0032] (modified version) The display device 10 described above may include an indicator display unit 9, as shown in Figures 10 and 11. The indicator display unit 9 emits light to display an indicator composed of characters, shapes, icons, or a combination thereof. For example, as shown in Figure 10, the indicator display unit 9 is provided above the area where the liquid crystal panel 3 displays information as an image. As shown in Figure 11, the indicator display unit 9 includes an indicator light source 9a and a light box 9b. The indicator light source 9a is composed of LEDs and is mounted on the circuit board 7. The light box 9b is a cylindrical part formed by a part of the case 5 and guides the light emitted by the indicator light source 9a to the cover glass 1. On the cover glass 1, an indicator is formed in the area illuminated by the light from the indicator light source 9a by a combination of a light-transmitting part and a light-blocking part formed, for example, by printing. The indicator display unit 9 displays information by the light emitted by this indicator.

[0033] In the above explanation, explanations of publicly known technical matters have been omitted where appropriate to facilitate understanding of this disclosure.

[0034] This invention allows for various embodiments and modifications without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the invention. Furthermore, the embodiments described above are for illustrative purposes only and do not limit the scope of the invention. In other words, the scope of this invention is indicated not by the embodiments, but by the claims. Various modifications made within the scope of the claims and the equivalent scope of the meaning of the invention are considered to be within the scope of this invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0035] 10…Display device 1...Cover glass, 2...Gasket, 3...LCD panel 4...Light guide, 4a...Opposing surface, 4b...Side surface, 4c...Main body part, 4d...Convex support part 5…case 5a...Wall part, 5ap...Specific wall part 5b...Through hole, 5c...Groove 5d...First claw portion, 5e...First elastic portion 5f...Second claw portion, 5g...Second elastic portion 5h...Support part 5i...Protective part, 5i1...Outer wall part, 5i2...Inner wall part 5j...covering part 6...Light source board, 6a...Light source, 6b...Protrusion part 7...Circuit board, 7a...Notch C... Metal clip 8... Cabinet 9...Indicator display unit, 9a...Light source for indicator, 9b...Lightbox

Claims

1. LCD panel and A light source substrate on which a light source for illuminating the aforementioned liquid crystal panel is mounted, A light guide is located behind the liquid crystal panel and guides the light emitted by the light source to the liquid crystal panel, The system comprises a case housing the liquid crystal panel and the light guide, The light guide has a surface facing the liquid crystal panel and a side surface relative to the surface facing the panel, and receives the light with the side surface. The light source substrate is provided such that the light source faces the side surface. The liquid crystal panel is rectangular in shape and has four outer edges corresponding to each of its four sides. Of the four outer edges, three are supported by support portions provided on the case, and the remaining one is supported by a convex support portion that protrudes forward from the opposing surface of the light guide. Display device.

2. The aforementioned light sources are multiple in number and are arranged in a predetermined direction. The aforementioned convex support portion is multiple in number and is arranged in the aforementioned arrangement direction. In the aforementioned arrangement direction, the positions of the multiple convex support portions and the positions of the multiple light sources are different. The display device according to claim 1.

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