Panel type display device

This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2007-0002081, filed on Jan. 8, 2007, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

1. Field of the Invention

Apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate generally to a panel type display device and, more particularly, to a panel type display device capable of minimizing temperature increase in the interior of a case and a display panel.

2. Description of the Related Art

A panel type display device, such as a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) or a Plasma Display Panel (PDP), has a flat type panel on which images are displayed. The panel type display device has a thinner thickness and a lighter weight as compared with those of a conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) display device.

As disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2006-162641, such a display device includes a case having front and rear cases, a display panel mounted in an interior of the case, and circuit boards mounted in the interior of the case to be electrically connected to the display panel. Air inlets through which air flows are formed at a lower portion of the rear case, and air outlets through which air is exhausted are formed at an upper portion of the rear case. Air flowing through the lower air inlets cools down the display panel and the circuit boards in the interior of the case, and is then exhausted through the upper air outlets.

However, in such a display device, a display panel and circuit boards, from which heat is produced, are mounted in the same space, such as the interior of a case. For this reason, there is a problem in that the internal temperature of the case is increased due to inter-heating between the display panel and the circuit boards. Such a temperature increase causes the surface temperature of a display panel to be increased. In the case of an LCD panel, the temperature increase causes deterioration of the liquid crystal.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to address the above-mentioned problems occurring in the related art, and an aspect of the present invention is to provide a panel type display device capable of minimizing temperature increase in the interior of a case and a display panel.

Therefore, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a panel display device, which includes: a case; a display panel mounted in an interior of the case; at least one circuit board which controls the display panel; a first cooling fluid path which cools the display panel; and a second cooling fluid path which cools the circuit board, wherein the first and second cooling fluid paths are separated from each other.

Further, the case may include front and rear cases coupled to each other, and the rear case may include a circuit board mounting part provided on an outer surface of the rear case such that the circuit board is mounted in the circuit board mounting part.

Furthermore, the circuit board mounting part may have an open rear while being recessed from the outer surface of the rear case such that the circuit board is mounted in the circuit board mounting part, and a cover for covering the circuit board mounting part, on which a plurality of air flow holes are formed, may be mounted on the circuit board mounting part.

In addition, the first cooling fluid path may include a space between a rear surface of the display panel and an inner surface of the rear case, and the second cooling fluid path may include an internal space of the circuit board mounting part.

Further, air inlets through which air flows in the first cooling fluid path may be formed at a lower portion of the rear case, and air outlets through which air is exhausted from the first cooling fluid path may be formed at an upper portion of the rear case.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a panel type display device, which includes: a case; a partition plate for partitioning an interior of the case into first and second cooling fluid paths; a display panel mounted between the partition plate and a front surface of the case to be cooled by air flowing in the first cooling fluid path; and at least one circuit board mounted between the partition plate and a rear surface of the case to be cooled by air flowing in the second cooling fluid path.

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is sectional view of a panel type display device according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the panel type display device according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a panel type display device according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a panel type display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The display device includes a case 10 , a display panel 20 mounted at an inner front of the case 10 , and a plurality of circuit boards 31 , 32 and 33 mounted at a rear of the case 10 .

The case 10 includes a front case 11 coupled to the display panel 20 at a front thereof and having an opening 13 formed at a screen portion, and a rear case 12 of which an edge portion is coupled to the front case 11 at a rear of the display panel 20 .

The display panel 20 may be an LCD or a PDP. The circuit substrates 31 , 32 and 33 are electrically connected to the display panel 20 through a flexible wiring part 34 (not shown in phantom). A plurality of electronic components are mounted on the circuit substrates 31 , 32 and 33 . The plurality of electronic components constitute a driving circuit for controlling light emission of the display panel 20 , a control circuit, a tuning circuit, a power circuit and the like.

As illustrated in FIG. 2 , circuit board mounting parts 41 , 42 and 43 for respectively mounting the circuit boards 31 , 32 and 33 are provided on a rear surface of the rear case 12 . Each of the circuit board mounting parts 41 , 42 and 43 has an open rear while being recessed in a predetermined depth from rear to front of the rear case 12 such that the circuit boards 31 , 32 and 33 can be received in the circuit board mounting parts 41 , 42 and 43 , respectively. Further, covers 51 , 52 and 53 for covering the circuit board mounting parts 41 , 42 and 43 are mounted thereon, respectively.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 , a plurality of air inlets 61 through which air for cooling the display panel 20 can flow in an interior of the case 10 are formed at a lower portion of the rear case 12 , and a plurality of air outlets 62 through which air in the interior of the case 10 can be exhausted are formed at an upper portion of the rear case 12 . Further, as illustrated in FIG. 2 , a plurality of air flow holes 71 and 72 through which air can flow in internal spaces of the circuit board mounting parts 41 , 42 and 43 are formed on the covers 51 , 52 and 53 for respectively covering the circuit board mounting parts 41 , 42 and 43 .

As illustrated in FIG. 1 , such components independently constitute a first cooling fluid path 60 for cooling the display panel 20 and second cooling fluid paths 70 for respectively cooling the circuit boards 31 , 32 and 33 . That is, the first cooling fluid path 60 is formed by a space between a rear surface of the display panel 20 and an inner surface of the rear case 12 , and the second cooling fluid paths 70 are respectively formed by internal spaces of the circuit board mounting parts 41 , 42 and 43 of the rear case 12 . Thus, the first and second cooling fluid paths 60 and 70 are separated from one another.

Therefore, the display panel 20 is cooled by air flowing along the first cooling fluid path 60 . Air flowing in through the air inlets 61 cools the display panel 20 while rising along the first cooling fluid path 60 , and is then exhausted through the upper air outlets 62 . Further, each of the circuit boards 31 , 32 and 33 is cooled by air flowing in an interior of the second cooling fluid path 70 through the air flow holes 71 and 72 formed on each of the covers 51 , 52 and 53 . Air flowing in the first and second cooling fluid paths 60 and 70 respectively cools the display panel 20 and the circuit boards 31 , 32 and 33 while flowing from bottom to top of the first and second cooling fluid paths 60 and 70 due to a natural convection phenomenon.

In such a cooling structure, heat produced from the circuit boards 31 , 32 and 33 can be discharged through the second cooling fluid paths 70 without influencing the display panel 20 , and heat produced from the display panel can also be discharged through the first cooling fluid path 60 without influencing the circuit boards 31 , 32 and 33 . Accordingly, the display panel 20 and the circuit boards 31 , 32 and 33 can be smoothly cooled, and thus temperature increase in the interior of the case 10 can be minimized. As an experimental result, such a cooling structure enabled a temperature of a front portion of the display panel to be dropped by about 5 to 7° C. as compared with a cooling structure of the conventional display device.

In FIG. 2 , the circuit board mounting parts 41 , 42 and 43 are recessed from rear to front of the rear case 12 . However, the present invention is not limited thereto but may be implemented in such a manner that circuit boards are mounted to protrude from an outer surface of a rear case, and respectively covered with covers.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a panel type display device according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, a partition plate 500 for partitioning a cooling fluid path is mounted on an inner surface of a rear case 120 . Thus, in the state in which circuit boards 32 are mounted on an inner surface of the partition plate 500 , the partition plate 500 can be mounted on the inner surface of the rear case 120 . That is, a circuit board mounting part is replaced by the partition plate 500 . Further, a plurality of air flow holes 710 and 720 for air flow of a second cooling fluid path 700 are formed on the rear case 120 . A first cooling fluid path 60 and air inlets and outlets 61 and 62 respectively formed at lower and upper portions of the rear case 120 are identical with those of the first embodiment. That is, the first and second cooling fluid paths 60 and 700 are separated from each other by the partition plate 500 mounted on the inner surface of the rear case 120 in the second embodiment.

As described above, in a panel type display device consistent with the present invention, first and second cooling fluid paths for respectively cooling a display panel and circuit boards are separated from each other, thereby preventing a phenomenon in which the circuit boards are heated by the heat of the display panel or the display panel is heated by the heat of the circuit boards. Accordingly, there is an advantage in that the cooling efficiency for the display panel and the circuit boards is enhanced, so that temperature increase in the interior of a case and the display panel can be minimized.

Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.