JP2003117831A - Sandblasting device and barrier forming method for plasma display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sandblasting device to make patterning of a barrier of a plasma display panel whereby its base board is prevented from being ill influenced in the quality by the static electricity generated during the sandblasting process. SOLUTION: The barrier forming method for the plasma display panel includes a process in which a barrier material layer 14 is formed in such a way as covering an electrode 12 formed on the base board with the terminal part 12a exposed and subjected to machining with a grinding material for generation of patterning, wherein an electrostatic eliminating means 22 contacting with the terminal part 12a of the electrode 12 is provided so as to perform the sandblasting process while the static electricity generated on the base board is removed from the terminal part 12a. Because this method is free of generation of a large electric discharge during the sandblasting process, there is no risk of producing any defect in the electrode or barrier, and the patterning of the barrier can be conducted while the quality of the base board is well maintained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a manufacturing process of a plasma display panel (hereinafter referred to as PDP), and more particularly to a technical field of forming a barrier constituting a discharge space of a PDP by a sandblasting method. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a PDP has a structure in which a pair of electrodes, which are regularly arranged, are provided on two facing glass substrates, and a gas mainly containing Ne, Xe or the like is sealed between them. Then, a voltage is applied between these electrodes,
By generating an electric discharge in a minute cell around the electrode, each cell is caused to emit light to perform display. In order to display information, regularly arranged cells are selectively discharged and emitted. There are two types of PDP, a direct current type (DC type) in which electrodes are exposed in the discharge space and an alternating current type (AC type) in which an electrode is covered with an insulating layer. Both types are different in display function and driving method. Further, it is classified into a refresh drive system and a memory drive system.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the structure of an AC type PDP. This figure shows the front plate and the back plate separated from each other. As shown in the figure, two glass substrates 1 and 2 are arranged in parallel and opposite to each other. Barrier plates 3 provided in parallel with each other on a glass substrate 2 serving as a back plate are held at regular intervals. A sustain electrode 4 which is a transparent electrode is provided on the back side of the glass substrate 1 which is a front plate.
And a bus electrode 5 which is a metal electrode are formed in parallel with each other, a dielectric layer 6 is formed so as to cover the composite electrode, and a protective layer 7 (MgO layer) is further formed thereon. ing. Address electrodes 8 are formed in parallel with each other on the front side of the glass substrate 2 serving as a back plate so as to be orthogonal to the composite electrode and between the barriers 3 and cover the dielectric electrodes. 9 is formed, and a phosphor layer 10 is provided so as to cover the wall surface of the barrier 3 and the cell bottom surface. This AC type PDP is a surface discharge type, and has a structure in which an AC voltage is applied between the composite electrodes on the front plate to discharge. Then, the phosphor layer 10 is caused to emit light by the ultraviolet rays generated by this discharge, and the observer visually recognizes the light transmitted through the front plate.

The barrier on the back plate in such a PDP has conventionally been formed by overprinting by screen printing, but recently, it is often formed by a so-called sandblast method from the viewpoint of accuracy. When forming a barrier by this method, a barrier paste formed by adding a suitable binder resin and solvent to inorganic powder such as low-melting glass powder and refractory filler as a main component or component is applied on a substrate. Then, the barrier material layer is formed by drying, and a photosensitive resin composition layer having sandblast resistance is provided on the barrier material layer, and then patterned by a photolithography method into a cell demarcation mask, and the sandblasting mask is formed above the sandblasting mask. A procedure is adopted in which an unnecessary portion of the barrier material layer is removed by injecting mixed air containing an abrasive from the injecting nozzle, and then the sandblast resistant mask is removed and then firing is performed. And as the abrasive, glass beads,
Inorganic powders such as SiC, SiO ₂ , Al ₂ O ₃ and ZrO ₂ are used.

[0005]

Generally, the sandblast method has a drawback that static electricity is generated during processing. Therefore, when the barrier is formed by the sandblast method as described above, the substrate may be charged during the processing, which may adversely affect the quality of the substrate.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 2, in the case of a pattern in which the electrode 8 under the barrier material layer is divided at the center,
When the electrodes are charged and a certain amount of charge is accumulated, discharge occurs near the electrode division where the gap between the electrodes is small, so the dielectric layer in the vicinity is destroyed and pinholes occur, exposing the electrodes. Occurs. In addition, the charged abrasive is adsorbed to the electrode edge near the division where the electric charges are concentrated, and the barrier material in the vicinity becomes difficult to be ground and remains as a residue. Further, there is a problem that the thin electrode portion is disconnected.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is a barrier of a sandblasting apparatus and a PDP in which substrate quality is prevented from being adversely affected by static electricity generated during sandblasting. It is to provide a forming method.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the sandblasting apparatus of the present invention comprises a barrier material layer formed so as to cover the electrodes formed on the substrate with the terminal portions thereof exposed. A sandblasting device used for cutting and patterning with an abrasive material ejected from an ejection nozzle is characterized by including a charge removing means that comes into contact with a terminal portion of an electrode during machining.

In the PDP barrier formation method according to the present invention, the barrier material layer formed so as to cover the electrodes formed on the substrate with the terminal portions thereof exposed is cut with an abrasive. In a method of forming a barrier for a PDP including a step of patterning, a static eliminator that comes into contact with a terminal portion of an electrode is provided, and sandblasting is performed while static electricity generated on a substrate is neutralized from the terminal portion of the electrode. is there.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a main part of the sandblasting apparatus according to the present invention in a used state, and FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a state near one end of a substrate which is a workpiece in a working state. It is a side view.

The substrate, which is the object to be processed, has stripe-shaped electrodes 12 formed on a glass substrate 11, a dielectric layer 13 is formed so as to cover the electrodes 12, and a barrier material layer 14 is further formed thereon. Is formed, and the sandblasting mask 15 is formed on the barrier material layer 14. Since the electrode 12 is connected to an external power source, a plurality of terminal portions 12a are gathered at the end portion of the substrate.
The dielectric layer 13 is formed in a range where the terminal portion 12a of the electrode 12 is exposed, and the barrier material layer 14 thereon is formed in a portion slightly inside the dielectric layer 13. Also,
The sandblast mask 15 is formed between the electrodes 12 in a plan view.

This substrate is subjected to sandblasting in a processing chamber to remove unnecessary portions of the barrier material layer 14 and thereby patterned into a barrier shape. That is, it is carried into a working chamber by a carrying means such as a carrying roller, and is sandblasted by an abrasive material ejected from an upper jet nozzle while being carried in the working chamber, and then carried out from the working chamber.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 21 is an injection nozzle for injecting an abrasive material toward the substrate in the processing chamber, and the abrasive material is supplied together with air through the pipe by the abrasive material supply means. A plurality of the jet nozzles 21 are installed in the processing chamber, and are arranged so as to reciprocate in the direction B orthogonal to the substrate transfer direction A by the moving means provided in the upper part of the processing chamber. .

In the sandblasting apparatus of the present invention, the static eliminating means 22 is arranged so as to come into contact with the terminal portion 12a of the electrode 12 on the substrate. In the illustrated apparatus, a static elimination brush is used as the static elimination means 22, and the bristles thereof come into contact with the terminal portion 12a of the electrode 12 during processing. For example, it may be attached to the wall surface of the processing chamber in a bridging state so as to be movable according to the size of the substrate. This static elimination brush is preferably one in which electrically conductive resin bristles are planted, and a commercially available one can be used. Needless to say, it is desirable that the static elimination means 22 be grounded.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, in the sandblasting apparatus of the present invention, in order to protect the terminal portion 12a of the electrode 12 and the static eliminating means 22 from the abrasive, a shielding means 23 such as an eaves is provided in a state of covering them. It is provided. This shielding means 23
Is attached to the wall of the processing chamber so that it can be moved according to the size of the substrate. In addition, in FIG.
In order to make it easier to see the terminal portion 12a of the electrode 12 and the static eliminator 22, illustration of the shielding means is omitted, and in FIG.
A part of the shielding means 23 is cut away so that the second terminal portion 12a and the static elimination means 22 can be seen. Further, in FIG. 4, the electrode 1 located under the dielectric layer 13 and the barrier layer 14 is
2 is shown in a visible state.

Although only one end of the substrate is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the same static eliminating means and shielding means are provided at the other end. Further, in the case of a multi-sided board, the same static eliminating means and shielding means are also provided in the central part of the board which is the end of each surface.

When the barrier forming layer on the substrate is patterned by the sandblasting apparatus having the above-mentioned structure, the jet nozzle 2
Even if the abrasive material sprayed from 1 hits the substrate and static electricity is generated, the charge on the substrate is always removed by the static elimination means 22. Therefore, the occurrence of a large discharge phenomenon is prevented.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the sandblasting and PD according to the present invention are described.
It is needless to say that the method of forming the P barrier is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0020]

As described above, since the sandblasting apparatus of the present invention is provided with the static elimination means that comes into contact with the terminal portion of the electrode during processing, when the barrier forming layer on the substrate is patterned, It is possible to eliminate the electric discharge phenomenon caused by static electricity that occurs during sandblasting, to prevent defects in electrodes and barriers, and to perform barrier processing while maintaining good substrate quality.

According to the PDP barrier forming method of the present invention, a static eliminator for contacting the terminal portion of the electrode is provided, and the sandblasting is performed while static electricity generated on the substrate is neutralized from the terminal portion of the electrode. As a result, a large electric discharge does not occur during the sandblasting process, so that the barrier patterning can be performed while maintaining good substrate quality without causing defects in the electrodes and the barrier. In particular, in the case of a substrate having a pattern in which the electrodes are divided at the center, problems such as the occurrence of defects such as pinholes in the dielectric layer, residues of barrier material, and disconnection of electrodes that tend to occur in the vicinity of electrode division Can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a plasma display panel with a front plate and a rear plate thereof separated from each other.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a center division type electrode pattern.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a main part of the sandblasting apparatus according to the present invention in a used state.

4A and 4B are a plan view and a side view showing a state where one end portion of a substrate, which is a workpiece, is being processed.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2 glass substrate 3 barriers 4 sustaining electrodes 5 bus electrodes 6 Dielectric layer 7 protective layer 8 address electrodes 9 Dielectric layer 10 Phosphor layer 11 glass substrate 12 electrodes 12 terminals 13 Dielectric layer 14 Barrier material layer 15 Sandblast mask 21 injection nozzle 22 Static elimination means 23 Shielding means

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sand blast used for cutting and patterning a barrier material layer formed so as to cover an electrode formed on a substrate with its terminal portion exposed with a grinding material ejected from an ejection nozzle. A sandblasting device, characterized in that the device is provided with a discharging means for contacting a terminal portion of an electrode during processing. 2. The sandblasting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising at least two static eliminating means so as to come into contact with the terminal portions of the electrodes exposed at both ends of the substrate. 3. The sandblasting device according to claim 1, further comprising a shielding means for protecting the terminal portion of the electrode and the static elimination means from the abrasive. 4. The sand blasting device according to claim 1, wherein the static eliminator is a static eliminator brush. 5. A barrier formation of a plasma display panel, which includes a step of cutting and patterning a barrier material layer formed so as to cover an electrode formed on a substrate with its terminal portion exposed with a grinding material. A method for forming a barrier of a plasma display panel, which comprises performing static blasting in contact with the terminal portion of the electrode, and performing sandblasting while removing static electricity generated on the substrate from the terminal portion of the electrode.