Display device having a display film

Abstract

To provide a display film which offers enhanced sense of quality, texture, and decorative effect regardless of whether light-emitting means is on or off by reproducing a textured patterns on a metal surface and making it visible from the surface, and to provide a display device having the same.SOLUTION: A display film is provided, comprising: a transparent layer 6 consisting of a sheet-like transparent base material 5 having light-transmissivity and a surface layer provided with a patterned surface 9, formed by transferring a metal surface surface-processed with a textured pattern, on a front side thereof and disposed on a front side of the transparent base material 5; a half mirror layer 7 provided on a rear side of the transparent base material 5; and a display layer 8 provided on a rear side of the half mirror layer 7, the display layer being capable of expressing desired patterns such as characters.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a display film for emitting light to display desired shapes such as letters, numbers, and figures, and a display device having the display film. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, Patent Document 1 describes a display device that provides 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. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2008-70697 A (paragraphs 0005, 0006, Figure 2) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the display device described in Patent Document 1, when the light-emitting means is turned off, such as during the day, 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 luxury feel, texture, and decorative effect of the display device are small.

[0005] By the way, the surface of a metal may be polished to give it a fine uneven pattern such as a hairline or a spin pattern. The appearance of a metal surface with such an uneven pattern changes depending on the direction of light, and the brilliance increases, so it has excellent decorative effect and design, and is used in various components. Therefore, if a film that reproduces a metal surface having such a fine uneven pattern can be produced and the uneven pattern can be reflected on the surface by the half mirror layer as described above, the luxury feel, texture, and decorative effect of the display device can be improved 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 the above-mentioned display device.

[0006] The present invention has been made with attention to such problems, and aims to provide a display film and a display device having a display film that reproduces the uneven pattern of a 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. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] 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 a rear 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 the 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 table On the surface Uneven the surface layer on which the pattern is formed 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. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a front view of the display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention when a light-emitting means is turned on. [Diagram 2] FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the display film of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a front view of a display device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8]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. [Figure 9] The figures show 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. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A display film and a display device having the display film according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the following examples. EXAMPLES

[0015] First, the display device according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1 to Fig. 4. In the following description, the side on which characters or the like are viewed (upper side in Fig. 3) is 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 a light-emitting means 4 (see Fig. 3) described below is turned on, and Fig. 2 is a front view of the display device 1 when the light-emitting means 4 is turned off.

[0016] 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 drawings for ease of understanding.

[0017] As shown in the enlarged view of Fig. 4, the display film 3 of the present invention is formed by laminating a transparent layer 6, a half mirror layer 7, a smoke layer 15, and a display layer 8, in that order from the surface side. The transparent layer 6 is composed of a translucent surface layer 20 having a pattern surface 9 (described later) 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 has flexibility. The transparent substrate 5 is used as a substrate when the surface layer 20 is formed.

[0018] 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, and the surface layer 20 is provided with a patterned surface 9 formed by transferring a metal surface such as stainless steel that has been subjected to a surface treatment such as polishing to create a fine uneven pattern. The uneven pattern in this embodiment is a hairline pattern.

[0019] 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 the particle diameter is extremely small, so that the 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 is small, and the outline can be expressed sharply.

[0020] 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 members may be visible from the surface. To prevent this, the smoke layer 15 is provided on the back surface of the display layer 8.

[0021] 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 alphabet letters 10, opaque ink is printed on the back surface of the smoke layer 15, leaving only the area where the alphabet letters 10 are to be formed, and the part where the alphabet letters 10 are to be formed is made into a light-transmitting part 8a, while the other parts are made into opaque parts.

[0022] 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 and emits light on a 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 emission color may be any of white, red, green, and blue LED lamps. In particular, by combining LED lamps of the three primary colors of light, red, green, and blue, and controlling the light emission state of these LED lamps, it is possible to illuminate and display the alphabet characters 10 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 on a uniform surface.

[0023] In the display device 1 according to Example 1, when the light source 11 of the light-emitting means 4 is turned off and it is bright outside, such as during the day, the alphabet characters 10 on the display layer 8 and the light source 11 are concealed by the smoke layer 15, as shown in Fig. 2, 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, appears on the surface as it is reflected by the metallic half mirror layer 7 through the transparent layer 6 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 surface of a metal.

[0024] 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, so that alphabet characters 10 are luminescently displayed on the surface of the transparent layer 6. The alphabet characters 10 appear on the surface of a metallic hairline pattern 13, as if a metal surface had been subjected to a surface treatment. In this way, in the display device 1 according to the first embodiment, 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.

[0025] 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 subjected to a surface treatment with an uneven pattern such as a hairline. In addition, since the unevenness can be felt by touch, in addition to the visual effect, the surface can be recognized as if it were a metal surface that has been subjected to a surface treatment.

[0026] In addition, the half-mirror layer 7 is formed with a uniform thickness on the back surface of the transparent substrate 5, which has a smooth surface, and the display layer 8 is formed on the back surface of the smoke layer 15 formed with a uniform thickness on the back surface of this half-mirror layer 7. This prevents the shapes of characters, etc. in the display layer 8 from being blurred or losing their contours due to unevenness, and allows the contours of characters, etc. to be expressed sharply, making it possible to clearly view the desired shapes of luminous displayed characters, numbers, figures, etc.

[0027] The display layer 8 may be a so-called liquid crystal shutter that can display alphabet characters 10 or any other shapes according to an input signal. EXAMPLES

[0028] A display device according to Example 2 will be described with reference to FIG. 5. The same components as those in Example 1 are given the same reference numerals and duplicated descriptions will be omitted. The display device 1 of this example uses a surface-emitting organic EL element 14 as the light-emitting means. The display device of Example 2 can also achieve the same effects as the display device 1 of Example 1. 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.

[0029] In addition, the organic EL element 14 can emit light in various colors to display alphabet characters 10 or other arbitrary shapes by controlling the emission color, and the organic EL element 14 can also function as a display layer in addition to being a light emitting means. Display devices using the organic EL element 14 can be used as displays for personal computers, tablets, mobile phones, etc. EXAMPLES

[0030] A display device according to Example 3 will be described with reference to Fig. 6. The same components as those in Example 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals and will not be described again. The display device 1 of Example 3 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. EXAMPLES

[0031] A display device according to a fourth embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 7. The display device of this embodiment is applied to a 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. Furthermore, when the light-emitting means is turned on, numbers 18 and dots 19 formed on a 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.

[0032] Next, the process of producing the display film 3 according to the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 8 and Fig. 9. First, as shown in Fig. 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).

[0033] 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.

[0034] 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, in which the uneven pattern 22 on the surface of the metal 23 is transferred.

[0035] 9(a), a film-forming material containing high-brightness aluminum is evaporated onto the rear surface of the transparent layer 6 to form a half-mirror layer 7. The half-mirror layer 7 may be formed by coating using a printing process (e.g., screen printing).

[0036] 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 formation areas of characters, etc. remain as translucent areas 8a. By the above steps, the display film 3 according to the present invention can be easily manufactured.

[0037] 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 be hardened by penetrating into the very fine unevenness of the half mirror layer 7, thereby improving the unity. Furthermore, 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 shape with a sharp outline 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 that the display layer 8 can be easily formed, and thus the production cost of the display film 3 can be reduced.

[0038] When manufacturing a display film 3 without the transparent substrate 5, the ultraviolet curable ink 21 may be applied to the surface of the metal 23 and cured.

[0039] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings, the specific configurations are 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.

[0040] For example, in the above embodiment, the patterned surface 9 is a metal surface that has been subjected to a surface treatment such as a hairline or spin pattern, but the patterned surface may be a metal surface that has been subjected to a surface treatment such as a rising-light pattern, a matte finish pattern, a vibration pattern, or the like.

[0041] In the display film 3 of the 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.

[0042] Furthermore, in the display device 1 of the above embodiment, the display layer 8 is formed in contact with the rear surface of the smoke layer 15, but the display layer 8 may be formed in a sheet-like form of a predetermined thickness and spaced apart from the rear surface of the smoke layer 15.

[0043] Furthermore, in the display device 1 of the 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. [Explanation of symbols]

[0044] 1 Display device 2 Cases 3 Display film 4 Lighting means 5 Transparent base material 6 transparent layer 7 Half mirror layer 8 Display layer 8a Translucent part 9 Patterned surface 10 alphabetic 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 (uneven pattern) 18 numbers 19 points 20 Surface layer 21 UV-curable ink 22 Texture 23 metal 24 UV light source

Claims

[Claim 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 the 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.

Images