Patent Application
20080084360
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
As shown in
As shown in
An IC (integrated circuit) chip 21 and a driver chip 22 are mounted on the film substrate 19. The driver chip 22 is connected to the IC chip 21. The aforementioned display element 17 is connected to the driver chip 22. An antenna wire 23 is coupled to the IC chip 21. The antenna wire 23 is embedded within the film substrate 19, for example. The antenna wire 23 is designed to receive radio waves or a radio signal. The received radio signal is supplied to the IC chip 21.
As shown in
Positional information of the display panel 14 is stored in the non-volatile memory 27. The positional information may include the numbers of the row and column specifying the location of the display panel 14 within the screen, for example. The uppermost row in the vertical direction of the truck 11 is defined as the first row for the count of the number of the rows, for example. The front end column in the longitudinal direction of the truck 11 is defined as the first column for the count of the number of the columns, for example. The information stored in the non-volatile memory 27 is transmitted from the antenna wire 23 through the transmission/reception circuit 25.
A driver circuit 28 is incorporated in the driver chip 22. The driver circuit 28 is connected to the transmission/reception circuit 25 and the power supply circuit 26 of the IC chip 21. The driver circuit 28 is also connected to the display element 17. The driver circuit 28 is designed to receive electric power from the power supply circuit 26. The driver circuit 28 outputs a driving signal to the display element 17 in response to the reception of the radio signal output from the transmission/reception circuit 25. The driving signal specifies color displayed on the display element l7. The display element 17 displays a specific color in accordance with the received driving signal.
The driver circuit 28 serves to pass the electric power to the display element 17. The display element 17 is designed to change the color in response to the supplied electric power. The power supply circuit 26 in this manner serves as a power supply for both the transmission/reception circuit 25 and the driver circuit 28 or display element 17. The transmission/reception circuit 25 is designed to receive voltage of a relatively lower level. To the contrary, the display element 17 is designed to receive voltage of a relatively higher level. Specifically, the power supply circuit 26 is capable of supplying voltage of difference levels.
Next, description will be made on the structure of the display element 17. As shown in
The transparent substrate 35 of the third liquid crystal layer 33 is bonded to the transparent substrate 34 of the second liquid crystal layer 32. The transparent substrate 35 of the second liquid crystal layer 32 is bonded to the transparent substrate 34 of the first liquid crystal layer 31. Each of the liquid crystal layers 31, 32, 33 is sealed between the transparent electrodes 36, 37. Sealants 38 are utilized to seal the liquid crystal layer 31, 32, 33. The cholesteric liquid crystal is in this manner sealed within a closed space. The lower transparent substrate 35 of the first liquid crystal layer 31 is received on a light absorbing layer 39 colored black. The light absorbing layer 39 is designed to absorb light led into the display element 17.
The transparent substrates 34, 35 and the transparent electrodes 36, 37 are contoured outside the contours of the liquid crystal layers 31, 32, 33. As shown in
A predetermined voltage is applied to the transparent electrodes 36, 37 in the display element 17. The orientation of liquid crystal molecules changes in the liquid crystal layers 31, 32, 33 in response to the supply of the voltage. Even after the supply of the voltage has been stopped, the liquid crystal molecules are kept in a predetermined orientation. The orientation of the liquid crystal molecules is utilized to control the reflection of light led into each of the liquid crystal layers 31, 32, 33. A predetermined color is in this manner displayed on the display element 17 based on the degree of the reflection.
As shown in
As shown in
Next, a brief description will be made on a method of renewing the display on the display device 13. The controller circuit 49 generates a control signal for the display panels 14 in each of the columns. The control signal includes positional information and color information. The positional information specifies the position of the individual display panel 14 in each of the column. The positional information includes the numbers of the row and column specifying the location of the individual display panel 14. The color information specifies color for the individual display panel 14 identified in the positional information. The individual reader/writer 47 generates the radio signal based on the control signal generated for each of the column.
The transport mechanism 48 brings the signal transmission device 46 at a position corresponding to the front end column in the screen. Authentication processing is executed between the readers/writers 47 and the corresponding display panels 14 prior to the transmission of the aforementioned radio signal. Predetermined information is exchanged between the readers/writers 47 and the corresponding display panels 14, respectively. After the authentication has been completed, all the readers/writers 47 simultaneously transmit the radio signals to the display panels 14 in the front end column. The radio signal may be transmitted in the form of a packet, for example.
The individual display panel 14 receives the radio signal through the antenna wire 23. The power supply circuit 26 generates electric power in response to the reception of the radio signal. The generated electric power is supplied to the driver circuit 28. When the transmission/reception circuit 25 receives the control signal, the positional information contained in the radio signal is compared with the positional information stored in the non-volatile memory 27. The transmission/reception circuit 25 extracts the color information of the position specified in the positional information stored in the non-volatile memory 27. The color information is supplied to the driver circuit 28.
The driver circuit 28 generates the driving signal based on the color information. The driving signal specifies color for the display element 17. The driving signal enables application of a predetermined voltage to the transparent electrodes 36, 37 of the display element 17. The orientation of the liquid crystal molecules changes in the liquid crystal layers 31, 32, 33 in response to the supply of the voltage. The liquid crystal molecules are kept in a predetermined orientation even after the supply of the voltage has been stopped. Display of a predetermined color is established on the individual display element 17 in the front end column.
The transport mechanism 48 then brings the signal transmission device 46 at a position corresponding to the second column next to the front end column. Authentication processing is executed between the readers/writers 47 and the corresponding display panels 14. All the readers/writers 47 simultaneously transmit the radio signals to the display panels 14 in the second column. The same processing is repeated for the third column, the fourth column, and the subsequent columns. Display of a predetermined color is in this manner established on the individual display element 14 in all the columns. A predetermined character or graphic appears on the display device 13. The display is renewed on the display device 13 in this manner.
The display device 13 enables exchange of radio signals between the display panels 14 and the readers/writers 47. A predetermined color is displayed on the individual display element 17 in response to the reception of the radio signal. Utilization of the radio signal in the renewal of the display on the display device 13 serves to eliminate wirings between the display panels 14 and the signal transmission device 46 as well as between the display panels 14. This leads to a simplified structure of the display device 13.
Moreover, the display device 13 and the signal transmission device 46 are physically separated from each other. The signal transmission device 46 is utilized only for the renewal of the display. The weight of the display device 13 can thus be reduced. In addition, the display element 17 and the film substrate 19 are sealed within a closed space established between the covers 18, 18 in the individual display panel 14. Since no wiring is required as described above, an opening or a joint for wiring can be eliminated in the covers 18, 18 or enclosure 16. The display element 17 and the film substrate 19 are thus reliably prevented from getting wet.
As shown in
As shown in
The controller circuit 49 generates a control signal for the display panels 14 in a column for the renewal of the display on the display device 13 in the same manner as described above. The individual reader/writer 47 generates a radio signal based on the control signal. The transport mechanism 57 brings the signal transmission device 46 at a position corresponding to the front end column of the display panels 14 in the screen. The distances are adjusted between the readers/writers 47 and the display panels 14. The readers/writers 47 then simultaneously transmit the radio signals to the display panels 14 in the front end column. Display of a predetermined color is established on the individual display element 17 in the front end column in the same manner as described above.
The transport mechanism 57 then brings the signal transmission device 46 at a position corresponding to the second column of the display panels 14. Since the main body 56 has different diameters in the longitudinal direction of the airship 55, the distances change between the readers/writers 47 and the display panels 14 in response to shift between the columns. Accordingly, the distances are adjusted in response to shift between the columns. The readers/writers 47 simultaneously transmits the radio signals to the display panels 14 in the second column. The same processing is repeated for the third column, the fourth column, and the subsequent columns. Display of a predetermined color is in this manner established on the individual display element 14 in all the columns. A predetermined character or graphic appears on the display device 13.
A reference clock may be input into the individual reader/writer 47 from the controller circuit 49 in the signal transmission device 46 prior to the transmission of the radio signals from the readers/writers 47. The operating clock of the readers/writers 47 is thus synchronized with the reference clock. The phases of the radio signals are in this manner aligned with each other in all the readers/writers 47. The transmission of the radio signals is synchronized with one another. The radio signals are transmitted from the readers/writers 47 at the same time point. This results in avoidance of interference between the radio signals of the adjacent readers/writers 47, for example.
The signal transmission device 46 may allow generation of the radio signals at the controller circuit 49. The generated radio signals may be distributed to the respective readers/writers 47. The readers/writers 47 are reliably prevented from a shift in the timing for generation of the radio signals. The transmission of the radio signals is synchronized with one another. The radio signals are transmitted from the readers/writers 47 at the same time point. This results in avoidance of interference between the radio signals of the adjacent readers/writers 47, for example.
As shown in
The display panel 14 or display element 17 can take any shape or form different from the described one. The display panel 14 may take the shape of a circle, a triangle, a parallelogram, or the like. Likewise, the dimension of the display panel 14 or display element 17 may be changed depending on the resolution of the display element 17.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-274370 | Oct 2006 | JP | national |
