Liquid crystal cells – elements and systems – Liquid crystal system – Heads-up display
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-12
2004-12-14
Wilson, Allan R. (Department: 2815)
Liquid crystal cells, elements and systems
Liquid crystal system
Heads-up display
C349S002000, C349S005000, C349S007000, C349S017000, C349S058000, C361S689000, C361S604000, C361S689000, C361S689000, C361S689000, C361S688000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06831708
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display apparatus including therein a recording/reproducing unit that reproduces information pertaining to an image, a music or an audio which is stored in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD which is equipped in the recording/reproducing unit, or a recording/producing unit that writes the information in the recording medium.
2. Related Background Art
A thin-type flat image display apparatus such as a display apparatus using an electron-emitting device, a display apparatus using plasma discharge, a display apparatus using liquid crystal or a display apparatus using a vacuum fluorescent display are used in a television, a terminal of a computer, an advertising medium or an indicator. In addition, attention has been recently paid to a wall-hung TV of 40 inches or more in screen size, which utilizes the characteristic of a thin type image display apparatus. The basic structure of the image display apparatus includes an image display unit, an electric circuit unit, a structure section that supports the image display unit and the electric circuit unit, a speaker unit and so on.
In recent years, an input source for playing audio and video with such an image display apparatus is now changing from an analog signal to a digital signal, with which various input/output devices for image signals have been spread. In particular, a device that can record and reproduce a video signal is now changing from a device such as a conventional video tape recorder which uses a tape as a recording medium to a device such as a digital video disc (DVD) which uses a disc as a recording medium.
FIG. 14
is a diagram showing the appearance of a conventional image display apparatus
100
that includes a recording/reproducing unit therein.
In the figure, reference numeral
100
denotes a main body of the image display apparatus which houses a CRT module for image display, a recording/reproducing unit, an electric circuit and so on therein. Reference numeral
101
denotes a display screen of the CRT, and
102
is a storage medium projecting from the main body
100
. The storage medium
102
utilizes, for example, an optical disc medium, and the operation of taking in/out the optical disc with respect to the main body is conducted by projecting the storage medium
102
from the main body
100
. Also, when the image or the like stored in the recording medium is reproduced, the storage medium
102
is received in the main body
100
and then operates. Conventionally, the storage medium
102
is disposed at a facade of the main body which is the same side as that of the display screen
101
taking the operability by the user into consideration. Also, in recent years, attention has been paid to a display apparatus using plasma discharge as a thin type wall-hung TV.
FIG. 15
is a diagram showing the appearance of an example in which a recording/reproducing device
114
is connected externally to a thin type wall-hung TV.
In the figure, reference numeral
110
denotes a thin type wall-hung TV, and
111
is an image display unit using, for example, plasma discharge. Reference numeral
112
denotes a left speaker, and
113
is a right speaker. Reference numeral
114
is a recording/reproducing device, and
115
is a storage medium using an optical disc medium. Reference numeral
116
denotes a power cable of the recording/reproducing device
114
, and
117
is a signal cable that connects the wall-hung TV
110
and the recording/reproducing device
114
.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11-190978 discloses a liquid crystal display monitor in which a magnetic disc drive device and an optical disc drive device are disposed on a back side of the liquid crystal display monitor, and a disc ejection outlet is disposed at a side surface of a casing.
Also, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 9-179660 discloses a computer in which a CD-ROM device is installed in a unit having a screen display unit.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 10-222246 discloses a structure in which a disc device is disposed at a side of a casing having a display apparatus in which the display apparatus is not disposed in an information processing device.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 7-248850 discloses an electronic calculator having an input/output device that detachably holds a storage medium at a cap portion having a flat display.
In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 10-144065 discloses a laptop computer including an LCD, an HDD and an FDD at a cap portion.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 10-125050 discloses a portable personal computer structured in such a manner that a recording medium drive device is disposed under a keyboard, and a direction that faces a recording medium insert/extract slot and so on is changed at the time of extracting the drive device and further its position can be held in a horizontal state or a vertical state.
As shown in
FIG. 14
, in the image display apparatus in which a storage medium
102
is inserted into a main body
1
to conduct recording/reproducing operation, there is no need to provide a cable wiring for connecting an image display apparatus
100
and a recording/reproducing device that reads or stores data from the storage medium
102
, thus to supply power to the recording/reproducing device. Therefore the appearance is simple, which allows excellent operability by the user. However, the structure of this type must be improved as follows:
(1) The depth dimension of the image display apparatus
100
(D
1
in the figure) becomes larger with an increased screen size, and therefore it is difficult to locate the image display apparatus in a small room. For example, if the size of the screen
101
is 36 inches, its depth becomes about 60 (cm). This is caused by the structure of a CRT used in the image display unit
101
.
On the other hand, in the case of connecting a conventional thin-type wall-hung TV and an external recording/reproducing device as shown in
FIG. 15
, though the wall-hung TV is space-efficient (in the figure, the dimension of D
3
is about 80 [mm] to 100 [mm]), a space in which the recording/reproducing device
114
is located is additionally required. Also, there arises such a problem that the cable
117
that connects the wall-hung TV
110
and the recording/reproducing device
114
is exposed from a wall surface, which can be unsightly.
This problem can be solved by equipping the recording/reproducing device
114
in the thin type wall-hung TV
110
. In the image display apparatus using a CRT with a deeper depth as shown in
FIG. 14
, the depth of the storage medium
115
(D
2
in the figure) is well within the depth (D
1
) of the entire device
100
, but in the thin-type display apparatus such as the wall-hung TV, the depth dimension (D
3
) of the entire apparatus becomes smaller than the dept (D
2
) of the storage medium
115
, resulting in such a problem that the integration is difficult. Also, even in the case where the depth dimension of the entire apparatus is larger than the depth of the storage medium, a mechanism for writing or reading data with respect to the storage medium is required, and thus the integration is still difficult.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional examples, and therefore an object of the present invention is to provide an image display apparatus which is capable of housing a recording/reproducing unit in the apparatus without damaging the characteristics of a thin type image display apparatus such as a wall-hung TV.
Another object of the present invention is to realize a structure for making the handling of the storage medium easy in a case where a structure is adopted such that a storage medium is contained in the image display apparatus, and to improve the degree of freedom in locating a peripheral device.
In order to achieve the above objects, according to the present invention, there is provide
Ortiz Edgardo
Wilson Allan R.
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