Front mask of display device and manufacturing method thereof

A front mask of a display device having luminous parts (LED) and peripheral parts (a connector and the like) are integrated by resin-molding with the parts being electrically connected in advance by a film insulated wire. Each part is arranged at a predetermined position prior to resin-molding. Then, electrical connection is make between these parts by the film insulated wire. Finally, resin is injected to manufacture an integrated body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a front mask of a display device in which 
display parts of an image display device such as LED displaying an image, 
and the peripheral parts are integrated by resin-molding, as well as to a 
manufacturing method thereof. 
2. Description of Related Art 
Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 62-49192(1987) discloses a 
front mask of a display device in which display parts and peripheral parts 
are integrated by resin-molding. FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the 
conventional front mask which has been disclosed as mentioned above. FIG. 
2 shows a partially cutaway view of FIG. 1 as seen along the direction II. 
FIG. 3 shows a sectional view as seen along the line III--III of FIG. 2. A 
front mask 30 has an LED 22, which functions as luminous parts, and 
peripheral parts of the luminous parts, including a resistor 23 and a 
connector 24 to be connected to an external device, are integrated by 
resin-molding. A terminal 25 of the LED 22 and a terminal 26 of the 
resistor 23 project beyond the surface 27 of a mask main body 21. An 
electrical connection is made between the terminal 25 and the terminal 26, 
between the terminal 25 and the connector 24, and between the terminal 26 
and the connector 24, by a conductor pattern 28 which is formed on the 
surface 27 by printing. 
The manufacturing process of the front mask 30 which has such structural 
features as mentioned above is described below. First, a mold for forming 
is prepared. The LED 22, the resistor 23, and the connector 24 are 
installed at the mounting portion, which has been formed at a 
predetermined position of the mold. Then, liquid resin is injected through 
an injection opening of the mold. After the resin is hardened, the mold is 
demolished, and the mask main body 21 which is integrated with each part 
is taken out. Then, the conductor pattern 28 is formed by printing at the 
predetermined position on the surface of the mask main body 21 between the 
terminal 25 and the terminal 26, between the terminal 25 and the connector 
24, and between the terminal 26 and the connector 24. 
Since a conventional front mask 30 of a display device is constructed as 
mentioned above, the LED 22, the resistor 23, and the connector 24 are 
integrated with the mask main body 21. This makes it possible to 
manufacture such a device with a high level of accuracy in size. There, 
however, exist problems. For example since the connection between these 
parts is made by the printed conductor pattern 28, the printing process is 
complicated. Further since each part should be arranged by considering the 
level of printing performance of the conductor pattern 28, there is a 
considerable limitation in the degree of freedom in the arrangement of 
each part and design. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In the front mask of display device of the present invention, the luminous 
parts (LED) and the peripheral parts (the connector and the like) are 
integrated by resin-molding while they are set in an electrically 
connected condition by a film insulated wire in advance. Each part is 
placed at a predetermined position in the mold prior to the resin-molding 
process. Then, electrical connection is made between the corresponding 
parts by using the film insulated wire. After the process, resin is 
injected to manufacture an integrated body. 
One object of the present invention is to provide a front mask of a display 
device which makes it possible to improve operation of the manufacturing 
process as well as the manufacturing method thereof. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a front mask of a 
display device which improves the degree of freedom in the arrangement of 
each part as well as the manufacturing method thereof. 
The above and further objects and features of the invention will more fully 
be apparent from the following detailed description with the accompanying 
drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to 
the drawings. 
FIGS. 4 and 5 show a preferred embodiment according to the present 
invention. Reference numeral 10 in the drawing shows a front mask in which 
the LED 2 and a connector 5 are integrated with a mask main body 1 by 
resin-molding with epoxy resin and the like. The LED 2 and the connector 5 
are electrically connected by a film insulated wire 8 which is integrated 
with the mask main body 1. 
The film insulated wire 8 is formed in an integrated body which is made of 
a plurality of conductors or insulated wires running in parallel to each 
other. As a conductor, a thin annealed copper wire, a twined annealed 
copper wire, a copper foil or the like can be used. The processing of film 
may be carried out by the method in which adhesion is obtained by such 
adhesives as PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) between the insulated wires which 
are laid out in parallel to each other, or the method in which a conductor 
is sandwiched between insulating tapes and then heat-pressed. The 
insulating tape which has a lamination of low melting point polyethylene 
and the like over one side of the polyester tape is used as material in 
this process. The film insulated wire 8 which is used in this preferred 
embodiment has a conductor 8a sandwiched between two sheets of insulating 
tapes 8b and 8b. 
The manufacturing process of the front mask which has the above mentioned 
features, especially the resin-molding process, is described below by 
reference to FIG. 6. FIG. 6(a) shows a mold for forming to be used in the 
resin-molding process. This mold is comprised of the metal mold 11 on the 
core side and the metal mold 12 on the cavity side. A cavity 13 is 
established in the position between the molds 11 and 12 in a way that the 
cavity 13 fits the shape of the front mask to be manufactured. A resin 
injection opening 14 is established which communicates with the cavity 13. 
In addition, mounting portions 15 for positioning are provided on the mold 
11 on the core side to install the connector, the LED, and the like. 
Parts including the LED 2 and the connector 5 are installed on the mounting 
portions 15 provided at a predetermined position in the mold for forming 
particular structural features. Then, electrical connection is made 
between parts including the LED 2 and the connector 5 by using the film 
insulated wire 8. FIG. 6(b) shows the condition of these parts after the 
electrical connection. Then, liquid resin is injected through the resin 
injection opening 14. When the resin hardens, the molds 11 and 12 are 
demolished and the front mask 10, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, is 
manufactured. 
In the above mentioned manufacturing process, electrical connection is made 
between the corresponding parts by the film insulated wire 8 after each 
part is set on the mounting portion 15. It is, however, possible to mount 
these parts as an integrated body at the predetermined position of the 
mold after forming the electrical connection between the corresponding 
parts by the film insulated wire 8, and before carrying out resin-molding. 
In the front mask 10 which is taken out of the mold, the LED 2 and the 
connector 5 are integrally resin-molded with the mask main body 1. At this 
point in time, the film insulated wire 8 is also integrally resin-molded 
with the mask main body 1. As a result, the method according to the 
present invention does not involve the complicated work of printing on the 
narrow surface of the resin after molding like the conventional 
manufacturing method. This significantly improves operation in the 
manufacturing process of the front mask. 
In addition, a higher degree of freedom is obtained with regard to the 
arrangement of each part of the front mask as compared with the 
conventional method since the connecting operation using the film 
insulated wire 8 can be made without restriction if there is a space 
provided between these parts. As a result, restrictions in operation of 
the design work of a display device with a front mask can be considerably 
reduced when compared to the conventional method. 
Furthermore, since the film insulated wire 8 is employed in the process, it 
is possible to produce approximately the same level of thickness as that 
of the printing wire of the conventional method. This makes it possible to 
produce a unit not only compact in size, but also excellent in appearance. 
As this invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from 
the spirit of essential characteristic thereof, the present embodiment is 
therefore illustrative and not restrictive, since the scope of the 
invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description 
preceding them, and all changes that fall within metes and bounds of the 
claims, or equivalence of such metes and bounds thereof are therefore 
intended to be embraced by the claims.