JPH0769673B2 - Flashing display panel - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an automatic blinking type display panel for automatically blinking a display.

“Prior Art” Conventionally, for example, in order to automatically blink the display in a liquid crystal display panel, the drive voltage of the liquid crystal display panel is repeatedly turned off at regular intervals by a timer or the like. For this reason, a timer is especially required.

An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic blinking type display panel in which the display is automatically blinked without providing a timer or the like and particularly without providing a power source.

[Means for Solving the Problems] According to the present invention, a liquid crystal shutter, a display arranged to oppose the back surface of the liquid crystal shutter, and a solar cell that opposes the back surface of the liquid crystal shutter and does not overlap the display. And a photoelectric conversion element such as This liquid crystal shutter blocks transmission of light when a drive voltage is applied, and transmits light when a drive voltage is not applied.The photoelectric conversion element converts light transmitted through the liquid crystal shutter into electricity. And, the converted electric output is applied to the liquid crystal shutter as a drive voltage.

With such a configuration, external light is transmitted through the liquid crystal shutter in the state where the drive voltage is not applied to the liquid crystal shutter, and the external light is converted into electricity by the photoelectric conversion element. Since the electric output is applied to the liquid crystal shutter as a drive voltage, when the drive voltage exceeds a predetermined value, the liquid crystal shutter becomes opaque, the light to the photoelectric conversion element is blocked, and the output voltage of the photoelectric conversion element decreases. When the voltage becomes a predetermined value or less, the liquid crystal shutter becomes transparent, and these things are repeated. Therefore, the display arranged so as to face the back surface of the liquid crystal shutter automatically blinks to enhance the display effect.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows an exploded perspective view of an automatic blinking type display panel according to the present invention. A liquid crystal shutter 11 is provided. The liquid crystal shutter 11 is of a so-called normally white type, which transmits light when no drive voltage is applied thereto and blocks light when a drive voltage is applied thereto. The liquid crystal shutter 11 is constructed by attaching polarizing plates on both sides of a TN liquid crystal cell, for example.

A solar cell 12 is arranged as a photoelectric conversion element in contact with the back surface of the liquid crystal shutter 11. A display 13 is provided on the back surface of the liquid crystal shutter 11 so as to face it. In this example, the reflector 19
Is provided and is displayed on the surface of the reflection plate 19 on the liquid crystal shutter 11 side.
Are formed by application, for example, and the solar cell 12
When the array is formed. The reflector 19 is an LCD shutter
It is integrated with 11. The reflection surface of the reflection plate 19, that is, the surface on the liquid crystal shutter 11 side is preferably an irregular reflection surface,
For example, a surface-finished aluminum plate having a satin finish, or a substrate obtained by vapor-depositing aluminum on another substrate can be used.

The light that has passed through the liquid crystal shutter 11 and reached the solar cell 12 is electrically converted, and the electric output thereof is applied to the liquid crystal shutter 11 as a drive voltage.

That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the output of the solar cell 12 is divided by the resistors 14 and 15 as needed, and the divided voltage is charged in the capacitor 16. The voltage across the capacitor 16 is applied to the shift trigger circuit 17, and when the input voltage of the shift trigger circuit 17 exceeds a predetermined value, the state is inverted and the output voltage of the shift trigger circuit 17 is applied to the liquid crystal shutter 11. When the input voltage of the shift trigger circuit 17 becomes lower than a predetermined value, the state is inverted (return),
The application of the voltage from the shift trigger circuit 17 to the liquid crystal shutter 11 is stopped.

With this configuration, in the initial state, the output voltage of the solar cell 12 is zero, the liquid crystal shutter 11 is open, that is, in the light transmitting state, and accordingly, the external light transmitted through the liquid crystal shutter 11 is the solar cell 12. And the light is converted into electricity by the solar cell 12 and the liquid crystal shutter 11 is in the open state, so that the display 13 can be seen from the outside, that is, through the liquid crystal shutter 11, as shown in FIG. 3A. The display is done.

When the amount of electricity converted by the solar cell 12 exceeds a predetermined value, the state of the shift trigger circuit 17 in FIG. 2 is inverted, and a drive voltage is applied to the liquid crystal shutter 11 from the solar cell 12, and thus the liquid crystal shutter 11 is The display 13 is in a closed state in which light is not transmitted, and thus the display 13 is invisible from the outside as shown in FIG. 3B. At the same time, the incident light on the solar cell 12 also disappears, so that the electric charge of the capacitor 16 is gradually discharged. As a result of this discharge, when the input voltage to the shift trigger circuit 17 becomes a predetermined value or less, the state of the shift trigger circuit 17 is inverted, the application of the drive voltage to the liquid crystal shutter 11 becomes zero, the liquid crystal shutter 11 becomes the open state, and the display 13 is displayed outside, and light is incident on the solar cell 12 through the liquid crystal shutter 11. Therefore, the above is automatically repeated.

That is, the display state of FIG. 3A and the display cut-off state of FIG. 3B are automatically repeated, and blinking display is performed. The repetition cycle of this display blinking is the sensitivity of the solar cell 12, the liquid crystal shutter 11
2 and the resistance values of the resistors 14 and 15 in FIG. 2, the capacitance value of the capacitor 16 and the threshold value of the shift trigger circuit 17 can be changed.

As the liquid crystal shutter 11, GH mode (N _n liquid crystal), NCAP (microcapsulated liquid crystal) or the like may be used. A liquid crystal shutter 11 may be AC-driven by inserting a circuit for converting a DC voltage into an AC voltage between the output side of the solar cell 12 and the input side of the liquid crystal shutter 11, and an adjusting circuit for setting the display blinking cycle. May be provided.

[Advantages of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically blink the display with a simple configuration without providing a timer, and to improve the display effect, for example.

Since the liquid crystal shutter 11 has a low voltage and low power consumption, a photoelectric conversion element, for example, a solar cell having a small area can be used, and as described above, it may be arranged in the peripheral portion of the liquid crystal shutter 11, The display area can be widened.

Since it is composed of a combination of a liquid crystal shutter and a photoelectric conversion element such as a solar cell, a very thin display can be realized,
It is light in weight, and especially when a plastic film liquid crystal or NCAP method is used, a lighter and thinner display panel can be obtained. Also, because the configuration is simple, it can be made at low cost,
It can be used for various displays.

Since the display blinking cycle changes depending on the amount of light transmitted through the liquid crystal shutter 11, it can be used for measuring the amount of incident light, that is, the illuminance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of an automatic blinking type display panel according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of its electric circuit, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing examples of a display state and a display disconnection state. is there.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A liquid crystal shutter that blocks transmission of light when a drive voltage is applied, and transmits light when a drive voltage is not applied, a display disposed opposite to the back surface of the liquid crystal shutter, and the liquid crystal. Opto-electrical conversion element which is arranged so as to face the back surface of the shutter and does not overlap with the display, converts light passing through the liquid crystal shutter into electricity, and applies the converted electric output as a drive voltage to the liquid crystal shutter. An automatic blinking display panel consisting of.