Analog display apparatus and method

Abstract

 An analog display apparatus includes one or more indicating members representing information; and a driving unit rotating the indicating members according to the information. Light emitting portions are disposed on end portions of the indicating members, and the light emitting portions emit light toward a front portion or a rear portion of the analog display apparatus.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0081523, filed on August 31, 2009, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to an analog display apparatus and method, and more particularly, to an analog display apparatus and method that display analog information by using light irradiated from a light source.

2. Description of the Related Art

[0003] Conventional analog display apparatuses directly have visible indicating members that rotate based on a rotary shaft. In particular, in conventional clocks, a user reads scales using indicating members including an hour hand, a minute hand, and a second hand on a dial of a clock.

[0004] In some conventional clocks, the user observes positions indicated by end portions of the hour hand, the minute hand, and the second hand using only their eyes, and accordingly, it is difficult to recognize time information precisely in a dark place.

[0005] In other clocks for addressing the above problem, light may be irradiated onto a display portion of the clock in order to identify positions of the hour hand, the minute hand, and the second hand of the clock easily.

[0006] Otherwise, a fluorescent material may be applied to the hour hand, minute hand, and the second hand of the clock so that the user may recognize the time easily due to light emitted from the fluorescent material.

[0007] However, according to the above conventional clocks, the user recognizes the time by identifying the positions of the clock hands with using only their eyes, and accordingly, it is difficult to recognize the time when the clock hands are tiny, and when the display portion of the clock has a complex design.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The present invention provides an analog display apparatus displaying analog information, wherein indicating members that display the analog information are magnified and has a simple and concise outer appearance.

[0009] The present invention also provides an analog display apparatus displaying analog information using a conventional analog display apparatus by emitting light.

[0010] The present invention also provides an analog display apparatus that may display the analog information intuitively to a user in a dark place.

[0011] According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an analog display apparatus including a main body that includes: one or more indicating members representing information; and a driving unit rotating the indicating members, and the information represented by the indicating members is in accordance with the rotating of the indicating members, wherein light emitting portions are disposed on end portions of the indicating members, and the light emitting portions emit light toward a front portion or a rear portion of the analog display apparatus.

[0012] The light emitting portions may be incline with respect to the indicating members toward the front portion or the rear portion of the analog display apparatus.

[0013] The analog display apparatus may further include two or more of the indicating members, and the light emitting portions disposed on the end portions of the indicating members may be inclined with respect to the indicating members at different angles from each other toward the front portion or the rear portion of the analog display apparatus.

[0014] Irradiated distances of the lights emitted from the light emitting portions may be different from each other.

[0015] The analog display apparatus may further include a housing covering the indicating members from a front portion of the analog display apparatus.

[0016] The light emitting portions may be inclined with respect to the indicating members so that the light emitted from the light emitting portions may be transmitted out of the housing.

[0017] The housing may include: a cover unit that is opaque; and a transmission unit that is transparent and disposed on a circumference of the cover unit.

[0018] The indicating members may be curved toward the front portion or the rear portion of the analog display apparatus.

[0019] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an analog display method, in which information to be displayed is represented by a rotation, the method includes displaying the information using projected lights having different properties, and the properties may be one or more selected from the group consisting of an irradiated distance of the projected light, a color of the projected light, an intensity of the projected light, and an irradiated area of the projected light.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an analog display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the analog display apparatus taken along a line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating a difference between light irradiating angles of light emitting portions in the analog display apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a front view of the analog display apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1, in a state of displaying analog information.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0021] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to accompanying drawings as follows.

[0022] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an analog display apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the analog display apparatus 100 taken along a line II-II of FIG. 1. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the analog display apparatus 100 of the current embodiment includes a main body 140 displaying analog information and a housing 120 that may be coupled with the main body 140. The analog display apparatus of the current embodiment may be a clock, for example. However, the analog display apparatus of the present invention is not limited to a clock, but may be any one of various kinds of apparatuses for displaying analog information.

[0023] The main body 140 includes one or more indicating members for displaying the analog information (for example, time). For example, indicating members 146 and 148 may be an hour hand and a minute hand of a clock, respectively.

[0024] A driving unit 144 is mounted on a base 142 of the main body 140. When seen from the front (left side of FIG. 2), the base 142 of the main body 140 may have a disc shape. However, the shape of the base 142 in the main body 140 is not limited thereto, and the base 142 may be a polygonal plate or an oval plate. The housing 120 that may be coupled to the main body 140 may have a shape corresponding to that of the main body 140. Therefore, when the base 142 of the main body 140 is circular, the housing 120 may also have a circular shape. If the base 142 of the main body 140 is formed as a polygon or an oval, the housing 120 may also have a polygonal shape or an oval shape.

[0025] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the driving unit 144 is disposed on a center portion of the base 142. The indicating members 146 and 148 are coupled to a multi-axis shaft 145 protruding from the driving unit 144. Therefore, when the shaft rotates, the indicating members 146 and 148 respectively rotate at predetermined angular velocities. In this case, the indicating member 146 performing as the hour hand representing hours rotates 1/12 of a revolution per hour, and the indicating member 148 performing as the minute hand that represents minutes rotates one revolution per hour.

[0026] The indicating members 146 and 148 are rotated by the driving unit 144 according to the analog information (for example, time). The driving unit 144 may be operated by using a battery or by an external alternating current (AC) power.

[0027] On the other hand, light emitting portions 146a and 148a are disposed on first end portions of the indicating members 146 and 148, respectively. Second end portions of the indicating members 146 and 148 are connected to the multi-axis shaft protruding from the driving unit 144 to allow the indicating members 146 and 148 to be rotated at the predetermined angular velocities. The light emitting portions 146a and 148a may be connected to the same power supply as that of the driving unit 144 or to an additional power supply to emit light.

[0028] When seen from the front, the housing 120 includes a cover unit 122 that is located frontmost, and a transmission unit 124 forming a wall along a circumference of the cover unit 122. The cover unit 122 may be formed of translucent material. That is, the cover unit 122 may be formed of translucent material that transmits the light emitted from the light emitting portions 146a and 148a to a predetermined level, rather than a material that blocks the emitted light completely. The transmission unit 124 may be formed of a transparent material. Otherwise, the transmission unit 124 may be formed of translucent material that transmits the light to a predetermined level.

[0029] The housing 120 is larger than the main body 140, and accordingly when seen from the front, the housing 120 hides the main body 140.

[0030] A mounting recess 152 is formed in the base 142 so as to allow the analog display apparatus 100 to be mounted on a wall or a predetermined place. In addition, mounting slots 150 are formed in the base 142 along a boundary of the base 142.

[0031] The transmission unit 124 is formed as a hollow cylinder having a funnel-crone shape. A first end portion of the transmission unit 124 may be mounted onto the cover portion 122, and a second end portion of the transmission unit 124 may be coupled to the main body 140.

[0032] One or more projections 12B are formed on a circumference of the second end portion, which is open, of the transmission unit 124 in the housing 120 in order to couple the housing 120 to the main body 140. The projections 126 are disposed on the circumference of the transmission unit 124 to be engaged with the mounting slots 150. A locking portion 128 is further protruded in a circumferential direction of the second end portion of the transmission unit 124 and is formed on an end portion of each projection 120. The locking portion 128 has a smaller width than that of the projection 126. Therefore, when the projections 126 are inserted into the mounting slots 150 and the housing 120 is rotated relative to the main body 140, the locking portions 128 are coupled onto a bottom portion of the base 142 via the mounting slots 150 such that the housing 120 and the main body 140 are coupled to each other.

[0033] The housing 120 has enough internal space so as not to interfere with the rotations of the indicating members 146 and 148 of the main body 140.

[0034] Referring to FIG. 2, the light emitting portions 146a and 148a, which are respectively formed on the first end portions of the indicating members 146 and 148, emit light toward portions indicated by the first end portions of the indicating members 146 and 148, and simultaneously the light is oriented toward a rear portion of the analog display apparatus 100 (right side of FIG. 2). In addition, although it is not shown in FIG. 2, the light emitted from the light emitting portions 146a and 148a may be oriented toward a front portion of the analog display apparatus 100 (left side of FIG. 2).

[0035] Here, the light emitting portions 146a and 148a may be condensing type light emitting units that may gather light to emit the light. For example, the light emitting portions 146a and 148a may be light emitting diodes (LEDs); however, the present invention is not limited thereto. Although it is not shown in FIG. 2, the light emitting portions 146a and 148a may additionally include light gathering units.

[0036] Referring to FIG. 2, the light emitted from the light emitting portions 146a and 148a transmits through the transmission unit 124 of the housing 120, and then is projected toward the base 142 of the main body 140.

[0037] Alternatively, the indicating members 146 and 148 themselves may be curved toward the rear portion of the analog display apparatus 100, and the light emitting portions 146a and 148a may be disposed on the first end portions of the indicating members 146 and 148. In this case, the light emitted from the light emitting portions 146a and 148a is irradiated toward the rear portion of the analog display apparatus 100. Otherwise, the indicating members 146 and 148 may be curved toward the front portion of the analog display apparatus 100, and the light emitting portions 146a and 148a may be disposed on the first end portions of the indicating members 146 and 148. Then, the light emitted from the light emitting portions 146a and 148a is consequently irradiated toward the front portion of the analog display apparatus 100.

[0038] Otherwise, if the light emitting portions 146a and 148a do not already irradiate the light toward the front or rear portion of the analog display apparatus 100, an optical path of the light may be changed while passing through the transmission unit 124 to be irradiated toward the front or rear portion of the analog display apparatus 100.

[0039] Here, the indicating member 146, between the two indicating members 146 and 148, performs as an hour hand, and the indicating member 148 performs as a minute hand. Therefore, the light emitted from the light emitting portion 146a and the light emitted from the light emitting portion 148a are to be distinguished from each other. In the current embodiment, the light emitted from the light emitting portion 146a of the indicating member 146 and projected toward the rear portion of the analog display apparatus 100 is referred to as a first projection light L1 (refer to FIG. 4) and the light emitted from the light emitting portion 148a of the indicating member 148 and projected toward the rear portion (or the front portion) of the analog display apparatus 100 is referred to as a second projection light L2 (refer to FIG. 4).

[0040] To distinguish the first projection light L1 and the second projection light L2 from each other, in the analog display apparatus 100 of the current embodiment, irradiated distances, that is, distances the emitted light travels from the light emitting portions to the transmitting unit 124, may be different from each other. In more detail, the light emitting portions 146a and 148a, which are respectively disposed on the first end portions of the indicating members 146 and 148, may be inclined toward the rear portion (or the front portion) with respect to the indicating members 146 and 148 at different angles from each other.

[0041] FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating a difference between light emitting angles of the light emitting portions 146a and 148a. Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the light emitting portion 146a is disposed on the first end portion of the indicating member 146, and a main body 146b of the light emitting portion 146a is fixed on the indicating member 146 at a predetermined angle by a fixing unit 146c. The light emitting portion 146a of the indicating member 146 is inclined with respect to the indicating member 146 toward the rear portion (or the front portion) of the analog display apparatus 100 at a predetermined angle α 1.

[0042] In addition, the light emitting portion 148a is disposed on the first end portion of the indicating member 148. A main body 148b of the light emitting portion 148a is fixed on the indicating member 148 at a predetermined angle by a fixing unit 148c. The light emitting portion 148a is inclined with respect to the indicating member 148 toward the rear portion (or the front portion) of the analog display apparatus 100 at a predetermined angle a 2.

[0043] Here, the angle a 1 of the light emitting portion 146a of the indicating member 146, which performs as the hour hand, is greater than the angle α 2 of the light emitting portion 148a of the indicating member 148, which performs as the minute hand.

[0044] FIG. 4 is a front view of the analog display apparatus 100 of the current embodiment, in a state of displaying information. Referring to FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 4, the first projection light L1, which is emitted from the light emitting portion 146a and projected toward the rear portion (or the front portion) of the analog display apparatus 100, has a short emission distance, and the second projection light L2, which is emitted from the light emitting portion 148b and projected toward the rear portion (or the front portion) of the analog display apparatus 100, has a relatively longer emission distance when compared with the first projection light L1 due to having the difference angles α 1 and α 2 of the light emitting portions 146a and 148a.

[0045] Since the hour hand of the clock is generally shorter than the minute hand, the user intuitively recognizes the first projection light L1, which is shorter than the second projection light L2, as the hour hand and the second projection light L2 as the minute hand.

[0046] When the analog information to be displayed is time information, in order to distinguish the projection lights L1 and L2 representing the hour hand and the minute hand from each other, colors of the projections lights L1 and L2 may be different from each other, intensities of the projection lights L1 and L2 may be different from each other, or widths of the projection lights L1 and L2 may be different from each other, as well as the different emitting distances described above.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 4, the indicating members 146 and 148 and the light emitting portions 146a and 148a disposed on the first end portions of the indicating members 146 and 148 in the analog display apparatus 100 of the current embodiment are not directly exposed to the user. The user may see the cover unit 122 of the housing 120, and the projection lights L1 and L2 irradiated to outer portions of the cover unit 122.

[0048] To this end, the light emitting portions 146a and 148a emit light inclined with respect to the indicating members 146 and 148 so that the projection lights L1 and L2 may be transmitted out of the cover unit 122. Since the irradiated distances of the projection lights L1 and L2 may be adjusted by adjusting the inclination angles of the light emitting portions 146a and 148a, lengths or areas of the projection lights L1 and L2 may be adjusted, accordingly.

[0049] Although it is not shown in the drawings, a light blocking portion may be disposed on paths of the light emitted from the light emitting portions 146 and 148 so as to make a predetermined shadow, and thus signs or symbols may be represented in the projection lights L1 and L2.

[0050] Due to a diffracting property of light, a peripheral portion of the circumference of the cover unit 122 shown in FIG. 4 may be illuminated indirectly, and thus, the analog display apparatus 100 itself may be used as an illuminating apparatus having an excellent outer appearance.

[0051] The analog display apparatus according to the embodiments of the present invention may be applied to various dashboards or display plates.

[0052] According to the present invention, the analog display apparatus having a good looking outer appearance using the light may be provided.

[0053] In addition, the analog information may be conveyed to the user intuitively in a simple way.

[0054] Also, according to the analog display apparatus () of the present invention, the analog information may be conveyed to the user easily in the dark place.

[0055] The analog display apparatus of the present invention may be used as an illuminating apparatus, as well as the display apparatus for conveying analog information.

[0056] While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. An analog display apparatus comprising a main body that comprises:

one or more indicating members representing information; and

a driving unit rotating the indicating members, and the information represented by the indicating members is in accordance with the rotating of the indicating members,

wherein light emitting portions are disposed on end portions of the indicating members, and the light emitting portions emit light toward a front portion or a rear portion of the analog display apparatus.

2. The analog display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light emitting portions are inclined with respect to the indicating members toward the front portion or the rear portion of the analog display apparatus.

3. The analog display apparatus of claim 2, further comprising two or more of the indicating members,
wherein the light emitting portions disposed on the end portions of the indicating members are inclined with respect to the indicating members at different angles from each other toward the front portion or the rear portion of the analog display apparatus.

4. The analog display apparatus of claim 3, wherein irradiated distances of the lights emitted from the light emitting portions are different from each other.

5. The analog display apparatus of claim 4, further comprising a housing covering the indicating members from a front portion of the analog display apparatus.

6. The analog display apparatus of claim 5, wherein the light emitting portions are inclined with respect to the indicating members so that the light emitted from the light emitting portions is transmitted out of the housing.

7. The analog display apparatus of claim 5, wherein the housing comprises:

a cover unit that is opaque; and

a transmission unit that is transparent and disposed on a circumference of the cover unit.

8. The analog display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the indicating members are curved toward the front portion or the rear portion of the analog display apparatus.

9. An analog display method, in which information to be displayed is represented by a rotation, the method comprising displaying the information using projected lights having different physical properties,
wherein the properties may be one or more selected from the group consisting of an irradiated distance of the projected light, a color of the projected light, an intensity of the projected light, and an irradiated area of the projected light.

Drawing