Display panel and washing machine

Abstract

To provide a display panel which can share components for products at different destinations, and also to provide a washing machine using the same.SOLUTION: An operation panel 100 is configured by stacking a light source substrate 101 in which an LED 101a serving as a light source is disposed, a light guide part 102 in which a through hole 102a is provided in a location corresponding to the LED 101a, and a transmission mask 103 in this order from the rear side toward the front side. At a display location of a mark M, the transmissive mask 103 has a transmissive part P that matches the display size of the mark M, while the through hole 102a in the light guide part 102 is formed larger in size than the mark M at least in a predetermined longitudinal direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a display panel including a light source and a transmission mask, and a washing machine using the same. [Background technology]

[0002] Some display panels used in washing machines and the like display images by passing light emitted from a light source such as an LED through a transmission mask (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a conventional display panel 500.

[0003] As shown in FIG. 7, a conventional display panel 500 is configured by stacking, in order from the rear side, a light source substrate 501, a light guide section 502, a transmission mask 503, and a panel cover 504. LEDs 501a serving as light sources are arranged on the light source substrate 501. The light guide section 502 has through-holes 502a formed in positions corresponding to the LEDs 501a. The transmission mask 503 has characters, icons, marks, etc. formed as transmission sections. Characters that are always displayed may also be printed on the transmission mask 503. The panel cover 504 is a front light-transmitting plate that protects the surface of the display panel 500. The display panel 500 switches between displaying and hiding corresponding characters, icons, marks, etc. by turning on and off certain LEDs 501a. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-61150 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In many cases, multiple types of products, such as washing machines, are manufactured for different destinations. In such cases, if the languages ​​used differ for each destination, the character display on the display panel 500 must also be changed for each destination. In this case, the character length of the character display on the display panel 500 may differ depending on the languages ​​used. For example, FIG. 8A shows a transparent mask 503-1 for destination A (first language used), and FIG. 8B shows a transparent mask 503-2 for destination B (second language used).

[0006] In display panel 500 using translucent mask 503-1 or 503-2, the display / non-display of marks in areas 503a to 503c is switched by turning on / off LED 501a. Comparing translucent mask 503-1 and translucent mask 503-2, there is a difference in the length of the characters displayed due to the difference in the language used. Therefore, the positions of areas 503a to 503c are different between translucent mask 503-1 and translucent mask 503-2.

[0007] Conventionally, for display panels 500 destined for different countries, not only has the transmission mask 503 been changed, but the arrangements of LEDs 501a and through-holes 502a have also been changed in the light source substrate 501 and the light guide section 502. In other words, the light source substrate 501 and the light guide section 502 also need to be changed for each country of destination, which leads to problems such as a decrease in productivity of the display panel 500 and an increase in costs.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has an object to provide a display panel that allows components to be standardized for products destined for different countries, and a washing machine using the same. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to solve the above problems, a first aspect of the display panel of the present invention is a display panel that includes a light source and a transmission mask, and has a display mark that is switched on and off by turning on and off the light source, and is characterized in that it includes a light source substrate on which the light source is arranged, a light guide section that has a through hole at a location corresponding to the light source and reflects light emitted from the light source on the inner surface of the through hole and emits it as uniform light, and the transmission mask are superimposed in order from the rear side to the front side, and at the display location of the display mark, the transmission mask has a transmission section that matches the display size of the display mark, while the through hole in the light guide section is formed to be larger in size than the display mark in at least a predetermined longitudinal direction.

[0010] According to the above configuration, the size of the through hole in the light guiding unit in the predetermined longitudinal direction is larger than the size of the display mark, so that the position of the display mark can be changed simply by changing the position of the transmission unit in the transmission mask. As a result, when the position of the display mark needs to be changed depending on the destination of the product, it is only necessary to change the transmission mask, and the light source substrate and light guiding unit can be standardized for all destinations.

[0011] The display panel may also have a front light-transmitting plate on the front side of the transmission mask, and may have a character printing portion printed on the back surface of the front light-transmitting plate between the front light-transmitting plate and the transmission mask.

[0012] According to the above configuration, by forming a character printing section on the back surface of the front translucent plate, there is no misalignment between the characters and the transparent section due to the thickness of the front translucent plate, and a high-quality product can be provided that does not mislead users.

[0013] Furthermore, the display panel can be configured such that the position of the display mark differs depending on the destination, and the display panel has a fixed display area that displays the same in all destinations, and the longitudinal length of the through hole is longer the farther the through hole is from the fixed display area.

[0014] According to the above configuration, the range of positional deviation is larger for display marks that are farther away from the fixed display area, but by making the through holes in the light guide section longer the farther away they are from the fixed display area, it is possible to accommodate a wide range of positional deviations of the display marks.

[0015] In order to solve the above problem, a washing machine according to a second aspect of the present invention is characterized by including the above-described display panel. [Effects of the Invention]

[0016] The display panel and washing machine of the present invention have the advantage that components can be standardized for products destined for different countries. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a washing machine to which the present invention can be applied; [Figure 2A] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the appearance of a part of the operation panel, showing a state in which all LEDs serving as light sources are lit. [Figure 2B] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the appearance of a part of the operation panel, showing a state in which all LEDs serving as light sources are lit. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of an operation panel. [Figure 4] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a part of a mask pattern of a first transmission mask. [Figure 5A] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a part of a printing pattern in a character printing section. [Figure 5B] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a part of a printed pattern of a second transparent mask. [Figure 6]10 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a display location of a mark M on an operation panel. FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a conventional display panel. [Figure 8A] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a transmission mask for destination A (first language used). [Figure 8B] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a transmission mask for destination B (second language used). DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a washing machine 10 to which the present invention can be applied. The washing machine 10 may be a washing machine that only washes without drying, or may be a washer-dryer that can wash and dry. Furthermore, while the washing machine 10 shown in FIG. 1 is a drum-type washing machine, the present invention is not limited to this, and the washing machine to which the present invention can be applied may also be a vertical washing machine.

[0019] In washing machine 10, a laundry inlet (not shown) for inserting laundry is provided on the front of washing machine main body 11, and front door 12 is provided to cover the inlet. A detergent dispenser case 13 and an operation panel 100 are provided on the upper front surface of washing machine main body 11 (above front door 12). FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams showing an example of the appearance of a portion of operation panel 100, with FIG. 2A showing a state in which LEDs 101a (see FIG. 3), described below, are all lit, and FIG. 2B showing a state in which all LEDs 101a are turned off. Operation panel 100 may have a display unit 110 that only displays information, and a further area serving as operation unit 120 on which operation buttons are arranged. In this case, display unit 110 corresponds to the display panel described in the claims. Operation unit 120 may be a touch panel having a panel cover 104 (see FIG. 3), which is shared with display unit 110.

[0020] Next, the structure of the operation panel 100 will be described in more detail. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the operation panel 100. As shown in Fig. 3, the operation panel 100 is configured by stacking a light source substrate 101, a light guiding section 102, a transmission mask 103, and a panel cover 104 in this order from the rear side to the front side (display surface side). In addition, in this embodiment, the transmission mask 103 is configured by stacking a first transmission mask 1031 and a second transmission mask 1032.

[0021] LEDs 101a serving as light sources are disposed on the light source substrate 101. The light guide section 102 is a resin member having through holes 102a formed in locations corresponding to the LEDs 101a. Light emitted from the LEDs 101a is reflected by the inner surfaces of the through holes 102a and emitted as uniform light. The first transmission mask 1031 and the second transmission mask 1032 are formed with different patterns of light-shielding and transmitting sections. The panel cover 104 is a front light-transmitting plate (such as a glass plate or an acrylic plate) that protects the surface of the operation panel 100. Although the second transmission mask 1032 and the panel cover 104 are shown separately in FIG. 3, it is preferable that the second transmission mask 1032 be formed by printing on the rear surface of the panel cover 104.

[0022] Operation panel 100 switches the display / hide of corresponding characters, icons, marks, etc. by turning on / off a specific LED 101a. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, display unit 110 switches the display / hide of mark M (display mark) in display switching areas 100a and 100b, and characters and icons in display switching area 100c. Character display areas 100d and 100e are provided on the left side of display switching areas 100a and 100b, respectively, and printed characters are always displayed in character display areas 100d and 100e. In this example, the characters displayed in character display areas 100d and 100e indicate the operation modes of washing machine 10, and the currently selected operation mode is indicated by the lighting of mark M in display switching areas 100a and 100b.

[0023] FIG. 4 illustrates a portion of the mask pattern of the first transmission mask 1031. The first transmission mask 1031 is disposed as a sheet-like mask between the light guide unit 102 and the panel cover 104, and is attached to the surface of the light guide unit 102 with double-sided tape, adhesive, or the like. As shown in FIG. 4, the first transmission mask 1031 has transmission regions 1031a and 1031b corresponding to the display switching regions 100a and 100b of the display unit 110. In the transmission regions 1031a and 1031b, a plurality of rectangular transmission regions P1 are formed corresponding to the plurality of marks M displayed in the display switching regions 100a and 100b. However, the width of the transmission region P1 is set to be sufficiently longer than the width (in a predetermined length direction) of the marks M. Note that the "width" here refers to the length in the character arrangement direction of the character display in the character display regions 100d and 100e. Furthermore, the characters and icons in the display switching region 100c are formed as transmissive portions in the transmissive region 1031c of the first transmissive mask 1031. The first transmissive mask 1031 is aligned and attached to the surface of the light guiding unit 102, so that the transmissive region 1031c can be formed without misalignment with the shapes of the light source and the light guiding unit 102 for displaying the characters and icons in the display switching region 100c.

[0024] Here, the second transparent mask 1032 is formed by printing on the rear surface of the panel cover 104. A character-printed portion 1041 is also formed by printing between the second transparent mask 1032 and the panel cover 104. FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a part of the printed pattern of the character-printed portion 1041. FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a part of the printed pattern of the second transparent mask 1032.

[0025] The character-printed portion 1041 is printed directly on the rear surface of the panel cover 104, and includes characters, icons, and display frames as shown in FIG. 5A . While the color of the printed characters and icons is shown as "black" in FIG. 5A for convenience, the color is preferably different from the color of the second transparent mask 1032, and more preferably, is a color that is complementary to or has a significantly different brightness. In this embodiment, the color of the second transparent mask 1032 is "black," and the character-printed portion 1041 is printed using white paint or the like so that the characters and icons are visible against the black background. By forming the character-printed portion 1041 on the rear surface of the panel cover 104 in this manner, misalignment between the characters and the transparent portion due to the thickness of the panel cover 104 is eliminated, making it possible to provide a high-quality product that does not mislead users.

[0026] The second transparent mask 1032 is printed on top of the character-printed portion 1041 using a light-blocking paint. As shown in FIG. 5B , the second transparent mask 1032 has transparent regions 1032a and 1032b corresponding to the display switching regions 100a and 100b of the display unit 110. In the transparent regions 1032a and 1032b, a plurality of rectangular transparent portions P2 are formed corresponding to the plurality of marks M displayed in the display switching regions 100a and 100b. The transparent portions P2 are formed to be the same size as the marks M. Forming the transparent portions P2 of the same size as the marks M in the second transparent mask 1032 printed on the back surface of the panel cover 104 facilitates alignment of the character displays in the character display regions 100d and 100e with the marks M in the display switching regions 100a and 100b, thereby enabling a high-quality operation panel 100 to be provided through a simple production process. Furthermore, by forming the second transmission mask 1032 on the rear side of the panel cover 104, there is no light leakage within the panel cover 104, the visibility of the transmission part is high, and a high-quality product can be provided.

[0027] Furthermore, one rectangular transparent portion P3 is formed in the transparent portion region 1032c of the second transparent mask 1032. The transparent portion P3 is formed to include all of the characters and icons in the display switching region 100c. By forming the characters and icons in the display switching region 100c in the first transparent mask 1031 rather than the second transparent mask 1032, small pictures and characters such as icons can be displayed more clearly.

[0028] It is assumed that operation panel 100 according to the first embodiment is designed differently for each destination of washing machine 10. Specifically, the character display in character display areas 100d and 100e needs to be changed for each destination, and the width of character display areas 100d and 100e differs for each destination due to differences in the language used for character display. If the width of character display areas 100d and 100e differs for each destination, the position of mark M in display switching areas 100a and 100b also needs to be changed for each destination.

[0029] 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a display location of mark M on operation panel 100. Note that transmission mask 103 in FIG. 6 is formed by overlapping first transmission mask 1031 and second transmission mask 1032, and transmission portion P2 of second transmission mask 1032 becomes transmission portion P of transmission mask 103.

[0030] 6, the transmission portion P of the transmission mask 103 matches the display size of the mark M, but the through-hole 102a of the light guiding unit 102 is set to have a width greater than that of the transmission portion P. Therefore, the mark M can be displayed even if the position of the transmission portion P of the transmission mask 103 is changed within the range of the through-hole 102a. In other words, the operation panel 100 can accommodate changes in the position of the mark M for each destination of the washing machine 10 by changing the transmission mask 103, and the light source substrate 101 and the light guiding unit 102 can be made common to all destinations.

[0031] In addition, when the transmission mask 103 is configured to include the first transmission mask 1031 and the second transmission mask 1032, if the characters and icons in the display switching area 100c are the same for all destinations, the first transmission mask 1031 can be standardized. That is, the operation panel 100 can be adapted to all destinations simply by changing the character-printed portion 1041 of the panel cover 104 and the printed content of the second transmission mask 1032. In this way, by configuring the transmission mask 103 to include the first transmission mask 1031 and the second transmission mask 1032 superimposed on each other, marks that require high alignment accuracy with the LED 101a serving as the light source and the light guide unit 102 can be formed in the transmission portion of the first transmission mask 1031, and marks M whose position or shape changes depending on the specifications, destination, etc. can be formed in the transmission portion of the second transmission mask 1032. This makes it possible to provide operation panel 100 that is high quality and can flexibly accommodate changes in mark positions through a simple production process.

[0032] Furthermore, the width of the transmissive portion P1 of the transmissive regions 1031a and 1031b or the width of the through-hole 102a of the light-guiding unit 102 do not have to be the same in the transmissive regions 1031a and 1031b. In the example of Fig. 4, the width of the transmissive portion P1 in the transmissive region 1031a is longer than that in the transmissive region 1031b. This is because, when the display of the display switching region 100c on the operation panel 100 is the same for all destinations, the transmissive region 1031a is farther from the display switching region 100c than the transmissive region 1031b.

[0033] That is, in the case where the display of the display switching area 100c on the operation panel 100 is the same for all destinations (the display switching area 100c is a fixed display area) and the position of the mark M is different in the display switching areas 100a and 100b, the range of positional deviation of the mark M will be larger in the display switching area 100a that is farther from the display switching area 100c than in the display switching area 100b. For this reason, it is preferable to make the horizontal length of the transmissive portion P1 longer in the transmissive area 1031a corresponding to the display switching area 100a so that it can accommodate a wider range of positional deviation of the mark M.

[0034] The embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative in all respects and are not intended to be limiting. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be interpreted solely by the above-described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims. Furthermore, all modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the claims are included. [Explanation of symbols]

[0035] 10. Washing Machine 100 Operation Panel 100a, 100b, 100c Display switching area 100d,100e Character display area 101 Light source board 101a LED (light source) 102 Light guide section 102a Through hole 103 Transparency Mask 1031 1st transparent mask 1031a,1031b,1031c Transparent area 1032 2nd transparent mask 1032a,1032b,1032c Transparent area 104 Panel cover (front transparent plate) 1041 Character printing section 110 Display section 120 Operation section M mark (display mark) P,P1~P3 Transparent part

Claims

1. A display panel including a light source and a transmission mask, and a display mark that is switched between displayed and hidden by turning on / off the light source, a light source substrate on which the light source is arranged; a light guide portion having a through hole provided at a position corresponding to the light source, the light emitted from the light source being reflected by an inner surface of the through hole and output as uniform light; the transmission mask and the transmission mask are superimposed in order from the rear side to the front side, At a display location of the indication mark, the transmission mask has a transmission portion that matches a display size of the indication mark, while the through hole in the light guiding portion is formed to be larger in size than the indication mark at least in a predetermined longitudinal direction; the transmission mask has a configuration in which a first transmission mask and a second transmission mask are superimposed in contact with each other, the second transmission mask is disposed on the front side of the first transmission mask, a sub-transmission portion corresponding to the display mark is formed in the first transmission mask, and the transmission portion is formed in the second transmission mask; In the predetermined longitudinal direction, the length of the sub-transmissive portion is set to be longer than the length of the display mark, a display switching area in which display / non-display of characters or icons is switched by turning on / off the light source; a first transmission area corresponding to the display switching area is formed in the first transmission mask, and a second transmission area corresponding to the display switching area is formed in the second transmission mask; A display panel characterized in that in the first transparent area, the characters or icons in the display switching area are made transparent, and in the second transparent area, a rectangular area that includes all of the characters or icons in the display switching area is made transparent.

2. 2. The display panel according to claim 1, a front light-transmitting plate on the front side of the transmission mask; A display panel comprising: a character print portion printed on the rear surface of said front light-transmitting plate between said front light-transmitting plate and said transmission mask.

3. A display panel including a light source and a transmission mask, and a display mark that is switched between displayed and hidden by turning on / off the light source, a light source substrate on which the light source is arranged; a light guide portion having a through hole provided at a position corresponding to the light source, the light emitted from the light source being reflected by an inner surface of the through hole and output as uniform light; the transmission mask and the transmission mask are superimposed in order from the rear side to the front side, At a display location of the indication mark, the transmission mask has a transmission portion that matches a display size of the indication mark, while the through hole in the light guiding portion is formed to be larger in size than the indication mark at least in a predetermined longitudinal direction; the display panel has a fixed display area in which the position of the display mark varies depending on the destination and the display is the same for all destinations; The display panel according to claim 1, wherein the length of the through-hole in the longitudinal direction increases as the through-hole is farther from the fixed display area.

4. A washing machine comprising the display panel according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

Images