JP2002260537A - Plasma display panel and method of manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a plasma display panel which does not cause interference of discharge with adjacent cells by forming closed cells after evacuation time is shortened by ensuring evacuation passages enough to evacuate air. SOLUTION: This plasma display panel comprises a front substrate 21, a back substrate 4, a discharge space formed between the substrates, barrier ribs 5 dividing the discharge space into separate pixels, sealing frit 7 for sealing both substrates around the periphery of a container, and spacers 6 which are made of glass having a softening point temperature relatively higher than a sealing point temperature, and are fixed between the barrier ribs and the front substrate. Here, the spacers keep the form of the substrates by providing a prescribed space between the front substrate and the barrier ribs, consequently, evacuation passages are ensured, and the space between the front substrate and the barrier ribs is closed with the spacers melted by heating at a higher temperature than the softening point temperature of the spacers.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a plasma display panel and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to a plasma display panel having a substrate provided with spacers and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the luminance of a plasma display panel (hereinafter, referred to as PDP) increases as the aperture ratio of pixels increases. Therefore, reducing the non-discharge gap that does not contribute to light emission is an important issue.

In general, a partition structure of a PDP has a stripe type structure. For the purpose of narrowing the non-discharge gap, a cell structure in which a discharge space is surrounded by a square-shaped partition is used. In recent years, a method of narrowing the distance has been adopted.

However, in this method, it takes a long time to evacuate the discharge space to a vacuum because the cell has a sealed structure. For this reason, productivity was not sufficient.

Therefore, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-9083
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6 (cited reference 1) discloses that a step is formed as an exhaust passage in a part of a partition wall, and has a certain effect in terms of securing an exhaust path.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-149771 (cited reference 2) discloses a method of providing a gap between the top of a partition and a front substrate by making a spacer surround the seal material. .

[0007]

However, in the configuration described in Patent Document 1 in which a partition is provided with a step, spatial isolation between adjacent cells, which is the purpose of forming the partition, is hindered. This causes a new problem in terms of display quality such as display flicker and erroneous lighting due to discharge interference.

Further, according to the method described in Patent Document 2, since a glass container is subjected to stress due to atmospheric pressure during exhaust, a large-sized PDP of type 10 or more causes deformation of glass so that a partition wall and a front surface are formed in a display portion. The gap between the substrates is closed or the substrates are damaged. Therefore, 10
Considering the application to a large-sized plasma display of a larger size, it is necessary to increase the evacuation time, which causes a problem that the productivity is reduced and the yield is reduced.

Therefore, one of the main objects of the present invention is to
It is an object of the present invention to provide a large PDP panel with a sufficient exhaust passage and a reduced evacuation time during evacuation, a closed cell is formed, and good display quality without interference of discharge with adjacent cells is provided.

[0010]

A plasma display panel according to the present invention comprises a front substrate, a rear substrate, a discharge space formed between the front substrate and the rear substrate,
A partition partitioning the discharge space for each pixel, and a seal frit provided on an outer peripheral portion of a display region to seal each of the front substrate and the rear substrate, between the partition and the front substrate, And a spacer made of glass whose softening point temperature is relatively higher than the sealing temperature.

In the plasma display panel according to the present invention, the spacer is disposed between the front substrate and the partition on the rear substrate. Still further, in the plasma display panel of the present invention, crystallized glass is used as a sealing material for sealing an outer peripheral portion of the display area.

Further, the softening point of the spacer of the plasma display panel according to the present invention may be higher than a sealing temperature and lower than the softening point of the partition wall. Is a configuration in which crystallized glass is used as a sealing material for sealing the outer peripheral portion of the glass.

Further, in the method of manufacturing a plasma display panel according to the present invention, a combination step of combining a front substrate and a back substrate, and a step of heating and sealing a seal frit formed on an outer peripheral portion of a display area to form the front substrate A sealing step of bonding the back substrate with a predetermined gap, an exhausting step of exhausting gas in the panel, and a gas introducing step of enclosing a discharge gas in the panel, after exhaustion is completed, or The configuration includes a heating step of heating the panel at a temperature relatively higher than the sealing temperature during the exhaust to fill the gap and form a closed cell.

Further, in the method of manufacturing a plasma display panel according to the present invention, the spacer may be heated to close a gap between the front substrate and the partition wall after the evacuation is completed or during the evacuation. .

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention is characterized in that a spacer made of a glass composition having a softening point higher than the sealing temperature is provided between a partition for separating and separating a discharge space for each pixel and a front substrate facing the partition. And the manufacturing method.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plasma display panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a spacer having a low softening point is provided between a front substrate and a partition wall of a rear substrate. The figure is shown.

The plasma display panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention has a front substrate 21, a rear substrate 4, a discharge space formed between the two substrates, and a partition for dividing the discharge space for each pixel. 5 and a configuration in which a seal frit 7 for sealing the two substrates is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the display area, according to the present invention, the sealing temperature between the partition 5 and the front substrate 21 is lower than the sealing temperature. Also, a spacer 6 made of glass having a relatively high softening point temperature is provided.

The spacer 6 has a predetermined gap between the front substrate and the partition, and has a function of securing an exhaust path. After the evacuation is completed, the spacer is heated at a temperature equal to or higher than the softening point of the spacer, thereby melting the spacer and closing the gap between the front substrate and the partition.

Therefore, it is possible to provide a high-definition plasma display panel which prevents interference with an adjacent cell and has no erroneous display or flicker while shortening the evacuation time.

Next, a plasma display panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a plasma display panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention in which a spacer is provided on a front substrate. FIG. 2 is a plan view, FIG. 11 is a side sectional view of a front substrate of the plasma display panel according to the first embodiment, and FIG.
1 is a front sectional view of a rear substrate of the plasma display panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 11 and 12, a front substrate 21 of a plasma display panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention has transparent electrodes 2a as XY two opposed row electrode pairs. , 2b to form a discharge gap G (22) and a non-discharge gap HG (23).

A bus electrode is provided on the transparent electrode. Further, a dielectric layer 9 is formed so as to cover the transparent electrode and the bus electrode.

According to the present invention, a spacer 6 made of glass having a low softening point is provided on the dielectric layer 9 along the non-discharge gap HG (23).

Generally, low softening point glass is PbO, B ₂ O
₃ , lead titanate or Zn for controlling the coefficient of thermal expansion using a metal ceramic mixture such as SiO ₂ as a base glass.
It has a composition to which a filler such as O is added, and the softening point can be set relatively freely by changing the mixing ratio.

Here, a PbO—B ₂ O ₃ —ZnO system was used for the composition of the base glass used for the spacer 6. In general, it is known that the higher the content of PbO with respect to B ₂ O ₃ and ZnO, the lower the softening point. Here, B
The ratio of PbO to ₂ O ₃ and ZnO is 40 to 60% m
As the mixing ratio of ol, a material whose softening point was relatively higher than the temperature at which the material was heated during sealing, that is, the softening point of the seal frit was used.

Further, a material containing a black pigment such as iron oxide, cobalt oxide and chromium oxide is used as an anti-reflection material for enhancing the contrast.

A discharge protection film 12 is formed so as to cover the entire surface of the dielectric layer including the glass spacer 6. The discharge protection film 12 is formed using, for example, an oxide such as MgO by a method such as an evaporation method, a sputtering method, a printing method, or a dipping method.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, a discharge space is formed on the back glass substrate 4 in the shape of a mouth surrounding a partition wall 5, and a part of the partition wall 5 is combined with the front substrate 21. Sometimes, it is at a position in contact with a part or all of the glass spacer 6.

Further, on the back glass substrate 4, a plurality of address electrodes 3, that is, column electrodes are formed in a direction in which the longitudinal direction is orthogonal to the transparent electrode. A white highly reflective dielectric layer 8 is formed so as to cover these address electrode groups 3.

The side surfaces of the white dielectric layer 8 and the partition walls 5 are respectively covered with a reflective layer 10 of strong reflectivity such as titania and a phosphor layer 11 having red, green and blue emission colors. ing.

Further, a seal frit 7 for sealing the rear substrate 4 and the front substrate 21 is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the display area. The seal frit 7 is made of amorphous glass having a softening point relatively lower than that of the spacer glass 6. The base glass of the seal frit 7 is made of PbO-B
_{Using a 2} O ₃ -ZnO system, P for B ₂ O ₃ and ZnO
The ratio of bO was set to be larger than that of the spacer glass 6, and the mixing ratio was, for example, 50 to 70% mol.

Next, a method of manufacturing the PDP of the present invention will be described.

The method of manufacturing a PDP according to the present invention includes the steps of:
1 and the back substrate 4, and heat sealing the seal frit 7 formed on the outer peripheral portion of the container to form the front substrate 2.
A sealing step of bonding the first substrate 1 and the back substrate 4 with a predetermined gap, an exhausting step of discharging gas in the panel, and a gas introducing step of sealing discharge gas in the panel. A heating step of heating the panel at a temperature relatively higher than the deposition temperature to fill the gap and form a closed cell is provided.

In this configuration, when the rear substrate 4 and the front substrate 21 are combined and sealed, the shape of the spacer glass 6 is maintained because the softening point temperature of the spacer glass 6 is higher than the sealing temperature. You.

Then, a gap corresponding to the thickness of the spacer glass 6 is formed between the partition wall 5 and the dielectric layer 9 formed on the front substrate 21.

Accordingly, an effect is obtained that an exhaust path in the panel is secured through this gap. And
After the evacuation is completed, heating is performed at a temperature equal to or higher than the softening point temperature of the spacer glass 6 to close the gap and form a closed cell.

This will be further described with reference to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5.

FIG. 3 is a manufacturing process diagram for assembling the panel of the present invention, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are heating profiles thereof. FIG. 3A shows the front substrate 21, the rear substrate 4, and the exhaust pipe 2.
6 shows a state in which 6 is positioned via a sealing material.

FIG. 3B shows a step of heating and melting the sealing material and a step of exhausting the inside of the panel. Temperature profiles are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The sealing step and the evacuating step do not necessarily have to be continuous steps, and FIG. 4 shows the temperature profile and the degree of vacuum in the panel during continuous processing.

FIG. 5 is a profile when sealing and exhaust are performed separately. The lower limit of the temperature range for heating in the sealing step shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is equal to or higher than the softening point temperature of the sealing material, and the lower limit is lower than the softening point temperature of the glass spacer 6.

For example, the softening point of the seal frit material used here is 380 ° C., and the softening point of the glass spacer 6 is 4
Since it was 40 ° C., the sealing temperature range was 380 ° C. or more and 44 ° C.
Although the temperature is lower than 0 ° C., sealing was performed at 420 ° C. here. In this temperature range, as shown in FIG. 3B, the gap 13 formed by the glass spacer 6 after sealing is performed.
Occurs.

Since the distal end of the exhaust pipe communicates with any of the discharge spaces surrounded by the opening-shaped partition through the gap 13, an exhaust path is secured. After the sealing is completed, the valves 14 and 16 are opened, and the inside of the panel is evacuated using the vacuum pump 17. Exhaust from 360 ° C to 430
C. for 3 to 30 hours.

FIG. 3 (c) shows a state after heating is performed at a temperature higher than the softening point of the glass spacer 6 after the evacuation is completed, and the temperature profile is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3C, the gap 13 between the partition wall and the dielectric layer of the front substrate is softened by the glass spacer 6 and is crushed and closed by a pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the container.

Thus, the barrier 5 and the front substrate 21 are
The dielectric layer covered with O is in close contact, and a plurality of closed spaces are formed using the discharge space surrounded by the partition wall 5 and the dielectric layer covered with MgO as one unit.

Since the softening point of the spacer 6 was 440 ° C. in the present embodiment, the heating temperature for melting the glass spacer to form a closed cell was 450 ° C. Here, the lower limit of the heating temperature is equal to or higher than the softening point of the glass spacer.

Further, only the glass spacer 6 is heated,
The closed cell can be formed by melting the glass spacer 6.

However, if the temperature is too high, the seal frit 7 on the outer peripheral portion may flow and the airtightness may not be maintained. Therefore, the heating temperature is preferably as low as possible. Therefore,
The heating temperature is desirably 440 ° C to 460 ° C.

After cooling the panel to room temperature,
By opening the valve 14 and the valve 15, the discharge gas was introduced into the panel in the range of 400 torr to 550 torr.

The introduction of gas into the panel is not particularly problematic even before the heating step for forming the closed cell, and strictly speaking, even after the closed cell is formed, due to minute irregularities on the partition walls and the dielectric layer. Since there is a gap, the introduction of gas is not a problem even after the closed cell is formed.

FIG. 3D is a view showing the state after the exhaust pipe is completely sealed after the gas introduction or the formation of the closed cell shown in FIG. 3C.

As described above, the larger the thickness of the glass spacer 6, the wider the exhaust path and the shorter the evacuation time. However, if the thickness of the glass spacer 6 is large, the width increases when the glass spacer 6 is crushed. The opening becomes small, and the luminance decreases. Therefore, the film thickness is desirably 30 μm or less. If the film thickness is 5 μm or less, a sufficient passage is not ensured at the time of evacuation. Therefore, the thickness of the glass spacer 6 is 5 to 30 μm.
m is desirable.

The glass spacer 6 of the plasma display panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention can be formed by a general thick film forming method such as a printing method, a lift-off method, a photosensitive paste method, and a sandblast method.

Here, it was formed by a photosensitive paste method as shown in FIG. For example, an acrylic UV curable photosensitive resin, a low softening point glass powder, and a solvent are mixed together to form a paste, and on the dielectric layer of the front substrate 32, for example,
After applying by a printing method and drying at a temperature of 100 ° C. to 200 ° C. to form a spacer having a film thickness of 5 μm to 30 μm, as shown in FIG. After curing the paste,
Unnecessary patterns are removed by development as shown in FIG. 10C, and 450 ° C. to 550 ° C. as shown in FIG.
The frit is fired by firing.

In the plasma display panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the glass spacer may be formed by any of a printing method, a lift-off method, and a sand blast method.

Next, a plasma display panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Second embodiment of the present invention
FIG. 6 shows a main part of the configuration of the plasma display panel of the embodiment.

In the plasma display panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the present invention is applied by forming the spacer on the front substrate. However, the present invention can be applied to the rear substrate.

Referring to FIG. 6, the spacer is formed on a part of the top of the partition on the rear substrate. Therefore, in this method, when combined with the front substrate, the same effects as those of the above-described plasma display panel of the first embodiment of the present invention can be obtained.

In this structure, as a method of forming the spacer on the partition wall, it can be easily formed by, for example, a printing method or a dispenser method.

Next, a plasma display panel according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the plasma display panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention, amorphous glass is used as the seal frit material for the outer peripheral container, but the seal frit can be made of crystallized glass.

Crystallized glass is generally a low-melting glass,
Al ₂ O ₃ , SiO ₂ , CuO, F, SnO ₂ , TiO
₂ , a composition in which a glass forming agent such as BaO, V ₂ O ₅ , and P ₂ O ₅ or a nucleating agent is added by several%.

As a characteristic of this glass, when heated at the time of joining, it softens and flows as glass and sinters and joins, but after joining, it crystallizes and its melting point rises. For this reason, even if it heats again, the viscosity of a joining part will hardly fall. When the seal frit is formed of amorphous glass, the frit seeps into the panel because it is softened again in the region shown in FIG. 4 or FIG.

For this reason, it is necessary to secure a distance of about 10 mm from the seal frit to the display surface, and since this portion does not contribute to display, the space efficiency is deteriorated. Here, by using crystallized glass, the object of the present invention is achieved without increasing the distance from the frit to the display surface.

Next, a plasma display panel according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. Fourth of the present invention
The configuration of the plasma display panel of the embodiment of
As shown in FIG.

In the plasma display panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the glass spacer is arranged along the non-discharge gap HG. In the plasma display panel according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the discharge gap However, since the glass spacer is provided to secure an exhaust path, there are a plurality of forming patterns.

The plasma display panel according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention is an example in which the glass spacer 6 is arranged at the intersection of the partition in the row direction and the column direction. Further, the arrangement position does not need to be in units of cells. As shown in FIG. 7, even if one spacer pattern is provided for a plurality of cells, a sufficient exhaust path is ensured.

Next, a plasma display panel according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described. The fifth of the present invention
The configuration of the plasma display panel of the embodiment of
As shown in FIG.

The plasma display panel according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is an example in which the width of the spacer 6 is smaller than the width of the partition wall 5, as shown in FIG. Since the glass spacer 6 is crushed in the heating step for forming a closed cell, its width is increased by an amount corresponding to the film thickness. Here, by forming the width of the glass spacer 6 smaller than that of the partition 5 in advance, the glass spacer 6 can be formed without reducing the opening area of the cell.

Next, a plasma display panel according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described. Sixth Embodiment
The configuration of the plasma display panel of the embodiment of
As shown in FIG.

The plasma display panel according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention is an example in which, as shown in FIG. 9, dashed spacers 6 are provided on the partition wall 5 in the vertical and horizontal directions, respectively. When each spacer 6 is softened and crushed, it is connected to an adjacent spacer to form a sealed cell with higher airtightness.

In the above-described plasma display panels according to the first to sixth embodiments of the present invention, the partition wall shape is a square shape, but the present invention can be applied to a stripe-shaped partition wall. In the striped partition structure, an exhaust path is secured in the direction along the partition, and the exhaust time is shorter than in the mouth-shaped partition structure. However, by applying the spacer according to the present invention, the exhaust path is directed in the partition direction. Since there is no limitation, the exhaust efficiency can be significantly improved and the exhaust time can be reduced.

[0073]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In the final panel configuration, since the cells have a sealed structure, false lights and flickering caused by spatial communication with adjacent cells are eliminated.

Therefore, the non-discharge gap HG shown in FIG.
Can be reduced, and a high-definition pixel can be formed. In addition, in the present embodiment, since the glass spacer contains a black pigment, reflection can be prevented and a panel having excellent contrast can be formed. Further, even when the present invention is applied to a conventional stripe-shaped partition wall, there is an effect of shortening the evacuation time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plasma display panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the plasma display panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a manufacturing process diagram for assembling the plasma display panel according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a heating profile in a manufacturing process for assembling the plasma display panel according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is another heating profile in a manufacturing process for assembling the plasma display panel according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a main part showing a configuration applied to the back substrate of the plasma display panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a plasma display panel according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a plasma display panel according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a plasma display panel according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a method of forming a thick film formed by a photosensitive paste method.

FIG. 11 is a side sectional view of a front substrate of the plasma display panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a front sectional view of a rear substrate of the plasma display panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 2a, 2b, 3 electrode 4 back substrate 5 partition 6 spacer 7 seal frit 8, 9 dielectric layer 10 reflective layer 11 phosphor layer 12 discharge protection film 13 gap 14, 15, 16 valve 17 vacuum pump 21 front substrate 22 discharge gap 23 Non-discharge gap 24 Bus electrode 25 Glass frit 26 Exhaust pipe 27 Seal port

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5C027 AA09 5C040 FA01 FA05 GB03 GB14 GF03 GF14 GF19 HA01 HA02 JA21 JA22 KA08 KB11 MA20 MA22

Claims (17)

[Claims] 1. A front substrate, a rear substrate, a discharge space formed between the front substrate and the rear substrate, a partition partitioning the discharge space for each pixel, and an outer peripheral portion of a display area. A seal frit for sealing each of the front substrate and the rear substrate, and a spacer made of glass whose softening point temperature is higher than the sealing temperature between the partition and the front substrate. A plasma display panel comprising: 2. The plasma display panel according to claim 1, wherein the spacer is provided at a position between the front substrate and the partition on the rear substrate. 3. The plasma display panel according to claim 1, wherein the spacer is arranged on the front substrate side before the sealing. 4. The plasma display panel according to claim 1, wherein the spacer is arranged on the rear substrate side before the sealing. 5. The plasma display panel according to claim 2, wherein the spacer is disposed along a non-discharge gap. 6. The spacer according to claim 2, wherein the spacer is disposed so as to be orthogonal to the non-discharge gap.
The plasma display panel as described in the above. 7. The plasma display panel according to claim 2, wherein the spacer is disposed at an intersection of the partition wall in a row direction and a column direction. 8. The plasma display panel according to claim 2, wherein the spacer is formed to have a width smaller than a width of the partition. 9. The plasma display panel according to claim 2, wherein the spacers are arranged in wavy lines in a row direction and a column direction of the partition wall. 10. A softening point of the spacer is higher than a sealing temperature and lower than a softening point of the partition.
Or the plasma display panel according to 4. 11. The plasma display panel according to claim 1, wherein crystallized glass is used as a sealing material for sealing an outer peripheral portion of the display area. 12. The plasma display according to claim 11, wherein the crystallized glass is a low-melting glass. 13. The low melting glass is made of Al ₂ O ₃ , S
iO ₂ , CuO, F, SnO ₂ , TiO ₂ , BaO, V
13. The plasma display panel according to claim 12, wherein the composition has a composition in which a glass forming agent such as ₂ O ₅ and P ₂ O ₅ and a nucleating agent are added by several%. 14. A combining step of combining a front substrate and a rear substrate, and a sealing step of heating and sealing a seal frit formed on an outer peripheral portion of a display area to join the front substrate and the rear substrate with a predetermined gap. Attaching step, an exhausting step of exhausting gas in the panel, and a gas introducing step of enclosing a discharge gas in the panel, and after exhausting is completed,
Alternatively, a method of manufacturing a plasma display panel, further comprising a heating step of heating the panel at a temperature higher than a sealing temperature during exhaust to fill the gap. 15. The heating step fills the gap,
The method for manufacturing a plasma display according to claim 14, wherein a closed cell is formed. 16. The heating step fills the gap,
The method for manufacturing a plasma display according to claim 14, wherein a stripe cell is formed. 17. The method of manufacturing a plasma display panel according to claim 14, wherein the spacer is heated to close a gap between the front substrate and the partition wall after or during the evacuation.