This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 from Japanese patent application numbers 2009-020349, 2009-020350, 2009-020351, 2009-020352, and 2009-020353, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display system, especially, a display system for installation outdoors.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, plane surface type displays, such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), are widely used.
Recently, it has been desired to place liquid crystal displays permanently outdoors, because the thickness of the displays are small and can display high resolution pictures. Since the thickness of the LCD display is small, it can be installed on an outer wall of a building, or in narrow places such as bus stop shelters, etc. Moreover, because the resolution of a LCD display is high, it can display a clear picture even if the screen size is small.
Therefore, in order to install a liquid crystal display outdoors, a display unit arranging a liquid crystal display panel inside the accommodation part having a sealed structure is considered. However, in the outdoors, vibrations caused by vehicles passing near the display unit may damage the display unit.
A display system of the present invention comprises: a display apparatus; a frame; an engaging component (81) arranged on the display; an engaged component (82) engages to the engaging component (81) and connected to the frame via an elastic component (84); a preventing component (85) fixed to the engaged component (82), wherein the prevention component (85) prevents the display apparatus from falling over.
A first display apparatus of the present invention comprises: a display part; a light transmitting part arranged at the front side of the display part, wherein the light transmitting part comprises: a pair of light transmitting boards, and a light absorbing film inserted between the boards absorbing infrared radiation.
A second display apparatus of the present invention comprises: a display part; a cooling device cooling the display part; a light detector detecting an amount of light entering the display part, and a control part which operates the cooling device when the light detected by the light detector is larger than a predetermined value, and stops the cooling device when the amount of light detected by the light detector is smaller than the predetermined value.
A third display apparatus of the present invention comprises: a display part; an electric circuit controlling the display part; an accommodation part arranged at the back side of the display part and accommodates the electric circuit; an upper part cover component constituting the back wall of the accommodation part; a lower part cover component constituting the back wall of an accommodation part. The upper part cover component comprises: a first penetration hole made to pass the leg of a screw but not the head of the screw, and a second penetration hole connected with the first penetration hole and passes both the leg and head of the screw.
The present invention embodied in a display apparatus or display system will be specifically described below with the reference to the drawings.
1. Overview of the Display System
As shown in
The support stand 2 supports the display apparatus 1 and the backboard 3, and a frame part 21 for attaching the display apparatus 1 and the backboard 3 is formed. The frame part 21 has a structure that can contain the display apparatus 1 and the backboard 3. The structure for attaching the display apparatus 1 to the support stand 2 is explained below in section 3 entitled “Composition for attaching a display apparatus to a support stand”.
The backboard 3 is an installation stand for attaching an advertisement, and is installed in the frame part 21 at the back side of the display apparatus 1. The advertisement is attached on the surface 31 of the backboard 3, which is a back surface 102 of a display system. Here, the backboard 3 is formed from a material having an optical transparency in order to transmit a light emitted from the fluorescent light fittings 5. The advertisement attached to the backboard 3 is also formed from a material having an optical transparency as well. Hereafter, such advertisement is called “advertising film”.
The cover 4 is removably attached to the support stand 2, and it covers the surface 31 of backboard 3 when it is closed. Thereby, the advertisements can be protected by the cover 4. The portion which faces the surface 31 among the covers 4 is formed with a material having an optical transparency. Thereby, the advertisement can be seen from the back side 102 of the display system.
The fluorescent light fitting 5 is an instrument which illuminates the advertising film attached on the surface 31, and is constituted by a plurality of fluorescent lights extending in the perpendicular direction. The fluorescent light fitting 5 is attached to the frame part 21 between the display apparatus 1 and the backboard 3. By illuminating an advertising film with the fluorescent light fittings 5, characters printed on the advertising film can be seen even at nighttime.
A pair of aeration plates 6, 6 are arranged at the front 101 and the back 102 of the display system respectively, at the bottom part of the display apparatus 1. A plurality of vents 61, which aerate the inside and the outside of the display system are formed in the aeration plates 6.
The display system mentioned above can be installed in a bus stop or similar waiting area of public transportation systems, as shown in
By operating a display system by remote control using a cable or a wireless communication system, information displayed on the screen 112a can be updated remotely. Furthermore, when display systems are installed in each of multiple bus stops of a transportation system, those display systems can be managed collectively.
2. Display Apparatus
As shown in
Liquid Crystal Display 10
The liquid crystal display 10 is a plane surface type display, and as shown in
Depending upon its usage, various forms of display panel 11 can be used. In this embodiment, the display panel 11 has a rectangular shape extending in the vertical direction so that it can be installed in narrow places such as bus stops. Further, the display panel 11 tends have a high temperature, because it tends to generate heat especially on the surface 112 where the display screen 112a is formed.
Housing 12
Accommodation Part
As shown in
As shown in
A front wall 124 has a light transmitting part, in a location where it faces the display screen 112a. As shown in
The light transmitting boards 124a and 124b are formed by a material having a light transmittance such as a glass material. For example, glass material having 4 mm and 6 mm thick are used for light transmitting boards 124a and 124b respectively. Thereby, the strength of the light transmitting part is raised. Moreover, film which absorbs far-infrared rays is used for the light absorbing film 124c.
By forming a light transmitting part in the front wall 124, the display screen 112a is viewable from the front side of the housing 12.
According to the above-mentioned light transmitting part, it can reduce sunlight from reaching the display screen 112a, since the light absorbing film 124c absorbs far-infrared radiation. Therefore, the temperature rise in the display screen 112a is suppressed. Moreover, the visibility of the display screen 112a improves when a direct sunlight is incident.
Further, since the light absorbing film 124c is sandwiched by two light transmitting boards 124a and 124b, degradation of the film 124c is prevented.
Instead of sandwiching the light absorbing film 124c by light transmitting boards 124a and 124b, the film 124c may be simply attached to a front side or back side of the first light transmitting board 124a. Even in this case, it can prevent sunlight from reaching the display screen 112a, since the sunlight entering the front wall 124 is absorbed by the film 124c.
As shown in
By maintaining the first accommodation part 121 in a sealed state, and by accommodating the display panel 11 inside the first accommodation part 121, the display panel 11 can be protected from rain, dust, debris, snow, etc. even when the display apparatus 1 is installed outdoors.
As shown in
As shown in
Each of the cover parts 231, 232, 233 is removably screwed on the back of the back wall 125.
Since the first penetration hole 23a and the second penetration hole 23b are communicated, the lower cover 231 can slide between a first position where the leg 431 of the screw 43 penetrates the hole 23a (see
When the lower cover 231 is attached to the back wall 125, the cover 231 is screwed in a state where the leg 431 of the screw 43 is penetrating the first penetration hole 23a as shown in
Therefore, by simply loosening the screw 43 without detaching the screw 43 from the back wall 125, the lower cover 231 can be removed from the back wall 125. Further, during the attaching and detaching process as mentioned above, since the screw 43 remains attached to the back wall 125, the cover 231 can be hooked to the screw 43, and thus it can prevent the cover 231 from falling down.
On the other hand, in order to attach the lower cover 231 to the back wall 125, it can be done inversely from the detaching process as described above. Therefore, the lower cover 231 can be attached to the back wall 125 while the screw 43 remained attached to the back wall 125.
The same applies to the attaching and detaching of the upper cover 232 and the central cover 233, since they have a plurality of screw penetration holes 230 consisted by the penetration holes 23a and 23b as well as the lower cover 231.
Thus, the attaching and detaching of the cover component 23 (i.e. covers 231, 232, and 233) is eased.
By attaching the cover component 23 to the back wall 125, the concave portion 125a of the back wall 125 is closed by the cover component 23, and thus the second accommodation part 22 surrounded by the inner wall and the cover component 23 of the concave portion 125a is formed. In other words the front and the side wall of the second accommodation part 22 is constituted by the inner wall of the portion 125a, and the back wall of the accommodation part 22 is constituted by the cover component.
Thus, the circuit board 11e, which is arranged at an inner space of the concave portion 125a, is accommodated inside the second accommodation part 22. Thereby, the circuit board 11e arranged inside the accommodation part 22 will not be exposed to rainstorms or outside air when the display apparatus 1 is installed outdoors. Moreover, by arranging the circuit board 11e inside the second accommodation part 22, separately from the first accommodation part 121 for the display panel 11, the circuit board 11e will not be affected by a heat from the display panel 11. Accordingly, the circuit board 11e is less likely to be damaged.
By detaching the cover component 23, the back wall of the second accommodation room 22 is removed, and thereby the repairing or adjustment of the circuit board 11e can be done easily from back side of the case. Further, since attaching and detaching of the cover component 23 can be easily performed, the repairing or adjustment can be performed easily.
Instead of forming the screw penetration hole 230 consisted by the first and the second penetration holes 23a and 23b in all Of the cover parts 231, 232, 233, the screw penetration hole 230 may be formed only in the upper cover 231. Since the upper part cover component 231 is arranged in a higher position, a difficulty may follow when removing it, but by the penetration hole 230, it can prevent the upper cover 232 from falling off when attaching or removing.
Further, when the concave portion 125a is covered by the cover component 23, the portion 125b (which is also a portion of the back wall 125) formed under the concave portion 125a, and the cover component 23 are aligned in the perpendicular direction, as shown in
As shown in
To the circuit board 11e accommodated in the inner space of the concave portion 125a, a plurality of cables 11f are connected. These cables 11f run through the inner space of the concave portion 125c as shown in
When pulling the cables 11f outside the housing 12, it is desirable to bundle these cables 11f into one inside the housing 12 so that the connection with an external power supply or other apparatus can be made easily. Even if these cables are bundled inside the housing 12 to make a thick bundle, since the bundle can be accommodated in the space inside the second concave portion 125c, the extra space is not needed, and thus it can prevent the display apparatus 1 from growing in size.
Further, since the cover component 23 is removable from the back of the back wall 125, the cables 11f can be accommodated in a space inside the portion 125c in a state where the cover 23 is detached. Therefore, it can simplify the operation for passing the cables 11f inside the portion 125c.
Back Cover 4
As shown in
Although the outdoor air might intrude inside the housing 12 when the back cover 4 is opened for replacing the advertisement, display panel 11 and the circuit board 11e are less likely to be exposed to the outdoor air because they are arranged inside the accommodation parts 121 and 22. Thus, the damaging of the panel 11 and the circuit board 11e are prevented.
As shown in
In this embodiment, a circulation path 92 is constituted by four path parts 11a to 11d. The path part 11a is formed between the surface wall 124 of the accommodation part 121, and the surface 112 of the display panel 11, and is extended along the surface 112 in a perpendicular direction. In detail, a pair of path formation components 921, 921 for forming the path part 11a is arranged on the surface 112 as shown in
Additionally, as shown in
In this embodiment, the width W of the path part 11a (in the direction perpendicular to the outer surface of the display panel 11, see
The path parts 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d are annularly connected in order around the display panel 11, and surround the display panel 11. In other words, the path part 11a and the path part 11c are connected via path part 11b or path part 11d in the upper part or lower part respectively. The air in the circulation path 92 circulates through the surroundings of the display panel 11 by circulation fans 18 and 181 mentioned later. Therefore, the heat generated in the display screen 112a moves to the back 111 side.
Aeration Way
Inside the housing 12, the aeration ways 122 and 123 leading to the outside of the housing 12 is formed outside of the accommodation part 121. As shown in
The upper end 122a of the aeration way 122 is bent in a cranked shape as shown in
Heat Pipe 13
A plurality of heat pipes 13 are arranged in the path part 11c of the circulation path 92. As shown in
As shown in
In detail, as shown in
The heat pipe 13 arranged at the aeration way 123 side of the central line 111a stretches to the inside of the aeration way 123 from the inside of the accommodation part 121 (see
Further, as shown in
Thereby, heat from the display panel 11 can be collected directly from the back 111. Further, by covering the heat pipe 13 by the insulation cover 133, transmission of the heat of the heat pipe 13 to the air inside the accommodation part 121 is inhibited. Accordingly, the heat collected from the back 111 is efficiently transmitted outside the first accommodation part 121.
The heat emitted into the aeration way 122 and 123 from the heat pipe 13 is diffused outside the housing 12 via aeration ways 122 and 123. Hence, the aeration ways 122 and 123 function as heat collecting means which collect heat from the heat pipe 13. Accordingly, the rise in the temperature of the display panel 11 is prevented and the function of the liquid crystal display 10 can be maintained in a good state.
In this embodiment, since the heat pipes 13 are arranged at predetermined intervals at the back 111 of the display panel 11, heat can be collected from the whole path part, and can be collected from the whole back 111 side of a liquid crystal display. This enables the cooling efficiency of the display apparatus 1 to be high.
The temperature in the accommodation part 121 becomes higher than the temperate outside the accommodation part (i.e. aeration ways 122 and 123) when the display panel 11 generates heat. Additionally, coolant for heat exchange (e.g., fluid such as water) is placed inside the heat pipe 13. Therefore, from a view of raising the heat exchange efficiency of the heat pipe 13, it is desirable to arrange the heat pipes 13 so that they extend obliquely upward toward the aeration way 122 or 123 from inside of the accommodation part 121 as shown in
The heat pipe 13 in the outer side portion is arranged at a higher position than its inner side portion. By the heat from the display panel 11, the coolant in the inner side heat pipe 13 evaporates, and easily rises above toward the outer side. In the outer side portion, since the heat is deprived from the coolant by an air outside the accommodation part 121, the coolant is liquefied again and then falls back lower to inner side portion of the heat pipe 13. Then the coolant is evaporated again.
Thus, the coolant inside the heat pipe 13 circulates efficiently, and the heat exchange efficiency of the heat pipe 13 is raised. Accordingly, the heat from the panel 11 collected by the heat pipe 13 is efficiently emitted outside the first accommodation part 121.
Further, in this embodiment, since the heat pipe 13 is arranged at the back 111 of the display panel 11, restrictions when arranging the heat pipe 13 at the surface 112 side (i.e. inside the path part 11a) such as reduction of the display screen 112a, enlargement of a display apparatus 1, etc. are prevented. Thus, the heat exchange efficiency in the heat pipe 13 is high even if the heat pipe 13 is arranged at the back 111 because the heat generated by the display screen 112a is led to the heat pipe 13 by the air circulating through the circulation path 92.
Further, in order to raise a heat collecting efficiency from the back side 111 of the display panel 11, each of the heat pipes 13 is arranged along the back 111, as shown in
Further, in this embodiment, the heat pipes 13 are repeatedly arranged in predetermined intervals in the perpendicular direction as shown in
Air Conditioner 19
The air conditioner 19 has an evaporator 191 and a condenser 192 as shown in
As shown in
By arranging the evaporator 191 at the back 111 side of the display apparatus 1, the display apparatus 1 does not need to be enlarged in the height direction. Further, by arranging the evaporator 191 to the back 111 side instead of the undersurface side 114 of the display panel 11, the circulation path 92 can be shortened.
The evaporator 191 may be arranged at the lower part of the display panel 11, i.e., the undersurface 114 side of the display panel 11 instead.
Further, as shown in
As shown in
Moreover, between a pair of aeration plates 6, 6, an air intake and exhaust fan is stationed (not illustrated). This fan pulls air from the vent 61 formed in one of the aeration plate 6 and sends the air into the condenser 192 then discharges the air from the vent 61 in the aeration plate 6 of the other side. Thereby, the heat exhausted from the condenser 192 can be efficiently emitted outside the housing 12.
Although by operating the above air conditioner 19, the temperature rise in the display panel 11 is suppressed, in a situation where the sunlight does not enter the display panel 11 such as nighttime, the operation may make the temperature of the panel 11 extremely low, and may cause trouble. Further, it is undesirable in view of power consumption to operate the air conditioner more than necessary.
Therefore, the display apparatus 1 has a light detector 41 and the controller 42 as shown in
In detail, two light detectors 41 which are shown in right-hand side of
Controller 42 controls the air conditioner 19 based on the light intensity detected by the light detector 41 so that the temperature of the display panel 11 does not become too high or low. Further, since there are four light detectors 41, the controller 42 may control the air conditioner 19 based on the average value of the light intensity detected by each of the detectors 41.
For example, when the light intensity detected by the light detector 41 is larger than a predetermined value L, the controller 42 operates the air conditioner 19, and when the light intensity detected is smaller than the predetermined value L, the controller 42 stops the operation of the air conditioner 19. Here, the predetermined value L is determined based on the cooling efficiency of the air conditioner 19 or outside temperature, etc.
Further, the controller 42 may control the air conditioner 19 not only by the light intensity detected by the light detector 41 but also by the temperature in the first accommodation part 121 or outside temperature measured by a temperature sensor.
As a heat exchanging means for collecting a heat from the air inside the circulation path 92, other means may be used instead of the evaporator 191 and the condenser 192. Further, as a means for air intake and exhaust from the vent 61, other means may be used instead.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, the aeration plate 6 and the housing 12 are formed as different components, and the vent 61 is formed in the aeration plate 6. However, the vent 61 may be formed in the housing 12 without the aeration plate 6.
The circulating fans 18, 181 are fans for circulating the air in the circulation path. The circulating fan 18 is arranged at the back 111 side of the display panel 11, near the upper surface 113 of the display panel 11, as shown in
The circulating fan 181 is arranged at the back 111 side of the display panel 11, and near the evaporator 191, in the accommodation part 121. In this embodiment, as shown in
Thereby, the air in the circulation path 92 circulates around the display panel 11 in the direction of the solid line arrow, as shown in
According to the circulating fans 18 and 181, it can lead an air in the path part 11a along the front surface 112 of the panel 11 to the path part 11c along the back 111 efficiently.
The radiating fin 14 is arranged in the aeration way 122, as shown in
According to the above mentioned radiating fin 14, the heat dissipation efficiency from the heat pipe 13 to into the aeration way 122 and 123 increases, and, as a result, the cooling efficiency of the display apparatus 1 increases.
Aeration Fans 15 and 16
The aeration fans 15 and 16 are arranged in the aeration way 122, as shown in
The aeration fans 15 and 16 pass the air in the aeration way 122 to the same direction along the aeration way 122. That is, the aeration fan 15 passes the air in the aeration way 122 from the bottom up, by emitting the air to the outside of the housing 12 from the vent, as shown in
The aeration fans 15 and 16 are arranged in the aeration way 123 as well as in the aeration way 122 (see
According to the above mentioned aeration fans 15 and 16, the heat emitted inside the aeration way 122 and 123 from the heat pipes 13 can be efficiently diffused outside of the housing 12. Therefore, the radiating efficiency of the heat pipe 13 and the radiating fin 14 are increased in the aeration way 122.
Further, in this embodiment, since the air in the aeration way 122 and 123 flows from the bottom up, the air can flow efficiently upwards since the warm air has a natural tendency for going up. Therefore, the heat emitted to the aeration way 122 and 123 can be efficiently diffused to the outside of the housing 12.
In this embodiment, though the aeration fans 15 and 16 are used as blowing means to exhaust the air in the aeration way 122 or 123 outside of the housing 12, other similar means may be adopted.
As shown in
As described above, the heat from the display panel 11 is transmitted to the evaporator 191 by an air flowing inside the circulation path 92, and is collected by the evaporator 191. According to the heat insulator 7, it can prevent an over cooling of the display panel 11 near the evaporator 191. Therefore, the temperature distribution of the display panel 11 can be uniformalized, and accordingly can keep the display panel 11 in good condition.
Heat Collecting Fin 71, First Blowing Fan 72, and Second Blowing Fan 73
As shown in
Further, as shown in
Since the cooled portion 125h and the cover component 23 are aligned in substantially perpendicular direction (see
Thereby, the rise in heat of a circuit board 11e arranged in the second accommodation part 22 is suppressed.
Further, in effort of the heat collecting fin 71, much cool air is can be led to the back side of the cover component 23, and thus the second accommodation part 22 is further cooled.
As shown in
As shown in
As mentioned above, ventilation openings 26 and 27 are formed in the lower part and the upper part cover component 23 respectively. By operating the second blowing fan 73, air in the second accommodation part 22 flows from the opening 26 to the opening 27 as shown in
Therefore, a cold air is inhaled from the opening 26, and the heat from the circuit board 11e is emitted from the opening 27.
Further, since the air cooled by the evaporator 191 is led to the back side of the cover component 23 by the first blowing fan 72, the cooled air is inhaled inside the second accommodation part 22 from the ventilation opening 26, and thus the circuit board 11e is cooled.
Therefore, according the heat collecting fin 71, the first blowing fan 72, and the second blowing fan 73, the temperature rise in the circuit board 11e is inhibited. Thus a heat trouble in the circuit board is reduced.
Although the heat collecting fin 71 is used as a heat collecting means, and blowing fans 72, 73 are used as blowing means for cooling the circuit board 11e, other means may be used instead.
Instead of leading the air in the back side of the cooled portion 125b to the back side of the cover component 23 by the first blowing fan 72 as described above (see
Further, the first blowing fan 72 may be arranged under the heat collecting fin 71, instead of above the fin 71.
3. Composition for Attaching the Display Apparatus to the Support Stand
As shown in
In this embodiment, four engaging components 81 are arranged at the back of the display apparatus 1, and these engaging components 81 are attached to both side edges two by two, one on the top and the other on the bottom.
Further, as shown in
When attaching the display apparatus 1 to the support stand 2, first, the extended component 811 attached on the engaging component 81 is inserted into the corresponding engaged component 82 from the tip, as shown in
Thereby, the engaging component 81 is guided to the engaged component 82 by the extended component 811, and fits into the engaged component 82. As a result, the engaging component 81 and the engaged component 82 are engaged in a condition where the display apparatus 1 is inserted to the frame part 21. Thus, the extended component 811 assists the insertion (or fitting) of the engaging component 81 to the engaged component 82.
After the engaging component 81 is fitted to the engaged component 82, the extended component 811 is removed as shown in
When engagement sustaining component 83 is attached to the tip of the engaging component 81, it contacts the opening end side 82a of the engaged component 82. Thereby, the engaging of the engaging component 81 and the engaged component 82 is held by the engagement sustaining component 83.
According to the above mentioned structure, a position of the display apparatus 1 when inserted to the frame part 21 can be fixed only by engaging the engaging component 81 and the engaged component 82. Therefore, the positioning of the display apparatus 1 can be simplified. Further, by sustaining the engagement of the engaging component 81 and the engaged component 82 by the engagement sustaining component 83, the display apparatus 1 can be fixed to the support stand 2.
Further, in this embodiment, since the engaged component 82 is attached to the frame part 21 through the elastic component 84, even if a vibration is added to a display system, this vibration is absorbed by the elastic component 84.
Therefore, transfer of the vibration to the display apparatus 1 from the frame part 21 can be prevented, and a breakage of the display apparatus 1 by vibration can be prevented.
Preferably, the prevention component 85 having L-shaped structure may be fixed to the engaging component 82 as shown in
According to the composition such that the prevention component 85 is fixed to the engaging component 82 as described above, by securing the engagement of the engaging component 81 and engaged component 82 by the holding component 83 as shown in
Therefore, even if the elastic component 84 become depleted and the display apparatus 1 cannot be fixed to the frame part 21, since the first plate 851 of the prevention component 85 contacts with the back of the frame part 21, it can prevent the display apparatus 1 from falling forward.
Further, since fluorescent light fittings 5, and backboard 3 are arranged at the back side of the display apparatus 1, even if the display apparatus 1 is inadvertently released from the frame part 21, it can prevent the apparatus 1 from falling to the back side.
The present invention is not limited to the foregoing embodiment but can be modified variously by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. For example, the technology mentioned above is applicable not only to the liquid crystal displays, but also to the other plane-surface type displays, such as plasma displays, or organic electroluminescence (Electro-Luminescence) displays.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2009-020349 | Jan 2009 | JP | national |
2009-020350 | Jan 2009 | JP | national |
2009-020351 | Jan 2009 | JP | national |
2009-020352 | Jan 2009 | JP | national |
2009-020353 | Jan 2009 | JP | national |