Abstract:
A back support panel for use in a flat panel display is provided by at least two panel sections with each of the panel sections having a generally planar surface. The at least two panel sections are adjacent one another and secured together so their generally planar surfaces are in the same plane to form the back support panel with a generally planar surface. A method of producing the back support panel for use in a flat panel display is also disclosed.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Technical Field  
         [0002]     The invention concerns a back support panel for a flat panel display and a method of producing such a panel.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Background Art  
         [0004]     There are many ways of producing a back support panel for flat panel displays such as liquid crystal displays and plasma displays. It is commonplace to make the back support panel in one piece. However, as the panels become larger and larger, the tooling and machines needed to make one piece back support panels become prohibitively large and expensive. Therefore, it would be advantageous to make the back support panels in multiple pieces and attach the pieces together to form the back support panels.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     The object of the present invention is to create a novel back support panel for use in a flat panel display.  
         [0006]     A further object is to provide such a back support panel which may be readily and economically fabricated and will enjoy a long life in operation.  
         [0007]     It has now been found that the foregoing and related objects can be readily attained with the following steps:  
         [0008]     (a) providing at least two panel sections, each of the panel sections having a generally planar surface;  
         [0009]     (b) arranging the at least two panel sections adjacent one another so their generally planar surfaces are in the same plane; and  
         [0010]     (c) securing the at least two panel sections together to form a back support panel with a generally planar surface for use in a flat panel display.  
         [0011]     Desirably, portions of adjacent ones of the at least two panel sections are overlapped during the arranging step. Then, during the securing step, the overlapped portions of adjacent ones of the at least two panel sections are secured together. The overlapped portions can be secured together by a method chosen from a group consisting of welding, screwing, riveting and adhesive bonding. The overlapped portions can have a reduced thickness.  
         [0012]     According to one embodiment of the invention, the overlapped portions of adjacent ones of the at least two panel sections are tabs and grooves. The tabs and grooves have cooperating apertures therein which are used to secure the at least two panel sections together during the securing step. At least one of the cooperating apertures is threaded to accept at least one screw used to secure the at least two panel sections together during the securing step.  
         [0013]     In a further feature of the invention, the at least two panel sections are two end panel sections and a middle panel section. During the arranging step, portions of the two end panel sections are overlapped with portions of the middle panel section. During the securing step, the overlapped portions are secured together.  
         [0014]     The invention will be fully understood when reference is made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]      FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of back light panel module employing the back support panel of the present invention being used in combination with a liquid crystal display panel and a liquid crystal display front bezel;  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  is a front plan view of a first embodiment of the back support panel of the present invention after assembly;  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view taken along the  3 - 3  line of  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0018]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view taken along the  4 - 4  line of  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0019]      FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view of the first embodiment of the back support panel of the present invention prior to assembly;  
         [0020]      FIG. 6  is an exploded perspective view of a two piece variation of the first embodiment of the back support panel of the present invention prior to assembly;  
         [0021]      FIG. 7  is an exploded perspective view of a second embodiment of the back support panel of the present invention prior to assembly;  
         [0022]      FIG. 8  is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the second embodiment of the back support panel in the circle  8  of  FIG. 7 ;  
         [0023]      FIG. 9  is a front plan view of the second embodiment of the back support panel of the present invention after assembly;  
         [0024]      FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional view taken along the  10 - 10  line of  FIG. 9 ;  
         [0025]      FIG. 11  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of  FIG. 10  within the circle  11 ;  
         [0026]      FIG. 12  is a cross-sectional view taken along the  12 - 12  line of  FIG. 9 ; and  
         [0027]      FIG. 13  is an exploded perspective view of a two piece variation of the second embodiment of the back support panel of the present invention prior to assembly.  
         [0028]      FIG. 14  is perspective view of one of the end sections in the third embodiment of the back support panel of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0029]     Turning first to  FIG. 1  of the drawings, therein illustrated is a flat panel display  10  provided with back light panel module  12 , liquid crystal display panel  14  and liquid crystal display front bezel  16 . For the purpose of illustration, this invention will be described with reference to a liquid crystal display, but it is applicable to other flat panel displays such as low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS), organic light-emitting diode (OLED), plasma display panel (PDP) and the like.  
         [0030]     The liquid crystal display front bezel  16  is a frame with a central opening  18 . The central opening  18  is in a rectangular shape and defines the active area for the liquid crystal display panel  14 . The liquid crystal display panel  14  can be of the TFT-LCD variety which uses liquid crystal to control the passage of light. The basic structure of a TFT-LCD panel is known by those skilled in the art but may be thought of as two substrates sandwiching a layer of liquid crystal. The front substrate comprises a front electrode layer and a polarizer, while the back substrate has semiconductor components fabricated thereon for controlling the liquid crystal layer. The back substrate also comprises another polarizer.  
         [0031]     The back light panel module  12  is located at the back of the liquid crystal display panel  14  and comprises a back-light source therefor in a manner well known in the art.  
         [0032]     As seen in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , a major component of the back light panel module  12  is a back support panel  20  upon which all of the various components of the back light panel module  12  are mounted including connectors connected to a power source to power the flat panel display  10 . The back support panel  20  is provided by end sections  22 ,  24  which surround middle section  26 . As best seen in  FIGS. 2 through 4 , the end sections  22 ,  24  and middle section  26  have areas  22 A-B,  24 A-B,  26 A-D of reduced thickness which are overlapped so as to match the thickness of the remainder of the end sections  22 ,  24  and middle section  26  to maintain a level surface on both sides of the back support panel  20 . As best seen in  FIG. 5 , the back support panel  20  also has raised channels  28  on the top and bottom thereof. Various keyhole apertures  30 , round holes  32  and notches  34  are defined in the ends of the back support panel  20  providing mounting points for the various components of the flat panel display  10  and means to assemble the back light panel module  12  to the liquid crystal display panel  14  and liquid crystal display front bezel  16 .  
         [0033]     From  FIG. 5 , it should be clear that the end sections  22 ,  24  are identical so they can be fashioned from the same tooling in a metal forming press. The top and bottom portions of the middle section  26  are also identical so the middle section  26  is reversible, i.e., reduced thickness areas  26 A and  26 B can overlap with reduced thickness areas  22 A and  22 B as well as reduced thickness areas  24 B and  24 A while reduced thickness areas  26 C and  26 D can overlap reduced thickness areas  24 A and  24 B as well as reduced thickness areas  22 B and  22 A. The reduced thickness areas  22 A-B,  24 A-B,  26 A-D can be milled on a milling machine. The end sections  22 ,  24  and the middle section  26  can be formed of sheet metal material and are secured to each other by welding, adhesive or other well known securing methods.  
         [0034]     Turning now to  FIG. 6 , therein is illustrated a two-piece back support panel  120  which is a variation of the three-piece back support panel  20  shown in  FIGS. 2 through 5 . For ease of explanation, all components of this variation which are similar to the components found in the three-piece back support panel  20  shown in  FIGS. 2 through 5  are identified using like references numerals which are increased by  100 . The back support panel  120  is provided by end sections  122 ,  124 . The end sections  122 ,  124  have areas  122 A-B,  124 A-B of reduced thickness which are overlapped so as to match the thickness of the remainder of the end sections  122 ,  124  to maintain a level surface on both sides of the back support panel  120 . The back support panel  120  also has raised U-shaped channels  128  on the top and bottom thereof. Various keyhole apertures  130 , round holes  132  and notches  134  are defined in the ends of the back support panel  120  providing mounting points for the various components of the flat panel display  10  and means to assemble the back light panel module  12  to the liquid crystal display panel  14  and liquid crystal display front bezel  16 . The end sections  122 ,  124  are identical so they can be fashioned from the same tooling in a metal forming press. The reduced thickness areas  122 A-B,  124 A-B can be milled on a milling machine. The end sections  122 ,  124  can be formed of sheet metal material and are secured to each other by welding, adhesive or other well known securing methods.  
         [0035]     Referring now to  FIGS. 7 through 12 , a second embodiment of the back support panel  220  of the present invention is shown. The back support panel  220  is provided by end sections  222 ,  224  which surround a middle section  226 . The end sections  222 ,  224  and middle section  226  have tabs  222 A,  224 A,  226 A and grooves  222 B,  224 B,  226 B which mate as shown in  FIGS. 9 through 12 . Each of the tabs  222 A,  224 A,  226 A and grooves  222 B,  224 B,  226 B have apertures  227 ,  229  ( FIG. 8 ) which align when the tabs and grooves are in full mating engagement. The apertures  229  in the grooves  222 B,  224 B,  226 B are threaded to accept screws  231  to hold the end sections  222 ,  224  and middle section  226  grooves in assembly. It is possible to provide a slot  233  at the end of the grooves  222 B (see  FIG. 8 ),  224 B,  246 B and to make the tabs  222 A,  224 A,  226 A slightly longer than the grooves. As such, when the end sections  222 ,  224  and the middle section  226  are assembled to complete the back support panel  220 , the tip of each tab is inserted into the slot of the corresponding groove in an interlocking position, as shown in  FIGS. 10 and 11 . Other means for securing the various sections  222 ,  224 ,  226  of the back support panel  220  can be used such as welding or riveting.  
         [0036]     Like the first embodiment, the back support panel  220  also has raised channels  228  on the top and bottom thereof. Various keyhole apertures  230 , round holes  232  and notches  234  are defined in the ends of the back support panel  220  providing mounting points for the various components of the flat panel display  10  and means to assemble the back light panel module  12  to the liquid crystal display panel  14  and liquid crystal display front bezel  16 .  
         [0037]     The end sections  222 ,  224  and the middle section  226  can be formed of sheet metal material. The end sections  222 ,  224  are identical so they can be fashioned from the same tooling in a metal forming press. The top and bottom portions of the middle section  226  are also identical so the middle section  226  is reversible, i.e., the middle section  226  as shown in  FIG. 7  can be rotated one hundred eighty degrees (180 degrees) and tabs  222 A,  224 A,  226 A and grooves  222 B,  224 B,  226 B will still mate and apertures  227 ,  229  will still align.  
         [0038]     Referring now to  FIG. 13 , therein is illustrated a two-piece sheet metal back support panel  320  which is a variation of the three-piece back support panel  220  shown in  FIGS. 7 through 12 . For ease of explanation, all components of this variation which are similar to the components found in the three-piece back support panel  220  shown in  FIGS. 7 through 12  are identified using like references numerals which are increased by  100 . The back support panel  320  is provided by end sections  322 ,  324  which have mating tabs  322 A,  324 A and grooves  322 B,  324 B. The end sections  322 ,  324  are identical so they can be fashioned from the same tooling in a metal forming press. Each of the tabs  322 A,  324 A and grooves  322 B,  324 B have apertures  327 ,  329  which align when the tabs and grooves are in full mating engagement. The apertures  329  in the grooves  322 B,  324 B are threaded to accept screws  331  to hold the end sections  322 ,  324  in assembly. The back support panel  320  also has raised U-shaped channels  328  on the top and bottom thereof. Various keyhole apertures  330 , round holes  332  and notches  334  are defined in the ends of the back support panel  320  providing mounting points for the various components of the flat panel display  10  and means to assemble the back light panel module  12  to the liquid crystal display panel  14  and liquid crystal display front bezel  16 .  
         [0039]     Referring now to  FIG. 14 , a third embodiment of a two-piece back support panel is shown. This two-piece back support panel has two identical end sections to be joined at their joining ends. Only one of the end sections  422  is shown in  FIG. 14 . At the joining end of the end section  422 , the end section is split into two substantially equal parts  422 A and  422 B. The part  422 B can be stamped, for example, to form a step. Again, various keyhole apertures  430  and round holes  432  are defined for providing mounting points for the various components of the flat panel display  10 . If only two end sections  442  are used to complete a back support panel, then the length of the assembled panel will be substantially equal to L. The end sections can be securely attached by welding, spot-welding, for example. The width of the panel is W.  
         [0040]     Thus, it can be seen from the foregoing specification and attached drawings that the back support panel of the present invention can be easily constructed using at least two sections. At least two of the sections are identical to one another so they can be constructed from the same tooling.  
         [0041]     It should be noted that the flat panel display  10  can also be a plasma display panel (PDP) which also comprises a front bezel  16 , a plasma panel  14  and a back panel module  12 . The back panel module  12  also has a back support panel  20 .  
         [0042]     It is believed that the many advantages of this invention will now be apparent to those skilled in the art. It will also be apparent that a number of variations and modifications may be made therein without departing from its spirit and scope. Accordingly, the foregoing description is to be construed as illustrative only, rather than limiting as this invention is limited only by the scope of the following claims.