JP2004319452A - Pole member arrangement tool, and pole member arrangement method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely arrange a pole member for withstand pressure on a glass plate constituting a display device envelope. <P>SOLUTION: Pole members 11 cut in a desired length are spread on an alignment plate 1a, and an alignment mechanism part 1 is oscillated and tilted to raise and align the pole members 11 on the alignment plate 1a. A transfer mechanism part 2 is allowed to abut on the alignment mechanism part 1, and the pole materials 11 are sucked by air exhaust by an air supply and exhaust device and transferred to the transfer mechanism part 2. An adhesive paste is applied to the pole members 11 sucked and retained by the transfer mechanism part 2. The transfer mechanism part 2 is arranged on a first substrate 7. The air exhaust by the air supply and exhaust device is stopped to release the suction of the pole members 11, and the pole members 11 are fallen and adhered onto the first substrate 7. The substrate with the pole members 11 adhered thereto is baked at a predetermined temperature to fuse them, whereby the pole members 11 are arranged on the first substrate 7. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention provides a vacuum glass envelope formed by sealing at least two glass plates with a predetermined space therebetween as a display device envelope such as a fluorescent display tube or a field emission display device. The present invention relates to a support member arranging jig for arranging a pressure-resistant support member therebetween, and a method of arranging the jig.

For example, an envelope of a thin display device such as a display device (Field Emission Display: FED) using a field emission type cold cathode as an electron source is generally a vacuum glass envelope made of a thin glass plate. As shown in FIG. 5H, the vacuum glass envelope includes a first glass substrate 60 (hereinafter, simply referred to as a first substrate) and a second glass substrate 61 arranged to face the first substrate 60. (Hereinafter, simply referred to as a second substrate), in which a phosphor that forms a display surface and an electron source that causes the phosphor to emit light are housed.
Further, between the first substrate 60 and the second substrate 61, a support member 15 is provided so that the vacuum glass envelope can sufficiently withstand an external pressure. As this support material, it is necessary to support between the two substrates without obstructing the display, and therefore, a glass fiber or a glass rod (circle, glass) having an outer diameter of several tens μm to 1 mm and a length of about 0.1 to 5 mm is required. Square shape).

  Conventionally, as a method of disposing such a support member 15 between the first substrate 60 and the second substrate 61, a method shown in FIGS. 5A to 5H has been conventionally used (see Patent Document 1). ). In the following, an example is described in which glass fiber is used as a support member, but the same applies to the case of a glass rod.

  First, a long glass fiber is cut into a predetermined length in advance, and a plurality of cut glass fibers 51 are aligned in parallel on a flat glass substrate 52 in a state of being closely attached (FIG. 5A).

In this state, an adhesive is applied from above the glass fibers 51 to temporarily fix each glass fiber 51 to the glass substrate 52. In a state where the adhesive applied to the glass fiber 51 is solidified, the glass fiber 51 is cut into a predetermined length by an outer peripheral cutting machine having a blade such as a diamond blade (FIG. 5B).
Thereafter, the adhesive applied to the glass fibers 51 is dissolved, and the cut individual glass fibers 51 are taken out from the glass substrate 52. Thus, a plurality of support members 15 having a predetermined length are produced (FIG. 5C).

The support members 15 manufactured in this manner are aligned using a dedicated jig 53 shown in FIG. 5D and are disposed on the first substrate 60 of the envelope. The jig 53 includes an alignment plate 54, a cushioning material 55, a porous material 56, a ventilation part 57, and a suction device.
The alignment plate 54 is provided with an alignment hole 54a for erecting and aligning the cut support member 15 at a position corresponding to the position where the cut support member 15 is disposed on the first substrate 60. The cushioning member 55 is disposed in close contact with the lower part of the alignment plate 54, and is formed of an elastic sheet. The porous material 56 is disposed in close contact with the lower portion of the buffer material 55, and is formed of a metal plate such as a stainless steel plate having a large number of holes (for example, Φ100 to 300 μm). The ventilation part 57 has a box shape such that a space is formed inside, and has an opening in a part thereof, and the opening is connected to the intake device.

  Then, in the jig 53 configured as described above, while the suction device connected to the ventilation portion 57 is operated and the cut support members 15 are sprayed on the alignment plate 54 of the jig 53, the alignment holes 54a are formed. Since the gas drawn from the support member 15 is sucked into the suction device through the porous member 56 and the ventilation portion 57, the support member 15 has an alignment hole 54a having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the cut support member 15. 5D, it is sucked into the inside and stands up, and as shown in FIG.

In this state, the application substrate 59 on which the adhesive paste 58 has been applied is placed on the jig 53 as shown in FIG. 5E, and the support substrate 15 is brought into contact with the support member 15 from above in parallel with the surface of the alignment plate 54. An adhesive paste 58 is applied to one end surface of the support member 15.
Next, as shown in FIG. 7F, the first substrate 60 is positioned with respect to the support member 15 having one end face coated with the adhesive paste 58, and is lowered from above in parallel with the surface of the alignment plate 54, One end surface of the support member 15 is attached to the first substrate 60 by contacting the support member 15 with the adhesive paste 58. Then, by baking the first substrate 60 at a predetermined temperature, the adhesive paste 58 is melted and one end surface of the support member 15 is welded to the first substrate 60 (FIG. 5 (g)).
The adhesive paste 58 is mainly composed of a low softening point sealing glass mixed with lead oxide so that the coefficient of thermal expansion is close to that of the first substrate 60 made of glass. It is made into a sticky paste by mixing a vehicle.

Next, the first substrate 60 on which one end surfaces of the support members 15 are welded at predetermined intervals is removed from the jig 53, and an adhesive paste 58 is applied to the other end surfaces of the support members 15 to face the first substrate 60. The second substrate 61 is aligned and then overlapped, and sealed in a sealing furnace to melt the adhesive paste 58 and weld the other end surface of the support member 15 to the second substrate 61. Thereby, a glass envelope in which the support members 15 are disposed between the two substrates is manufactured. (FIG. 5 (h)).
Thereafter, the vacuum inside the glass envelope is evacuated to produce a vacuum glass envelope in which the support member 15 is sandwiched and fixed between the first substrate 60 and the second substrate 61.

  A side plate having a predetermined thickness, a glass bead, a glass fiber, or the like is sandwiched between peripheral portions of the substrates 60 and 61 so that the first substrate 60 and the second substrate 61 face each other at a predetermined interval. The glass envelope is manufactured by sealing in this state.

JP, 11-250803, A Item 2, 3, 4, and 3,

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional support member disposing method, the first substrate 60 is lowered from above with respect to the support member 15 that has entered the alignment holes 54a of the alignment plate 54 of the jig 53, and the adhesive paste 58 is attached. One end surface of the support member 15 is attached to the first substrate 60 by making contact with the support member 15. For this reason, the first substrate 60 is lowered while maintaining the degree of parallelism with the alignment jig in which the first substrate 60 and the column material 15 with the adhesive paste 58 are aligned, and the one end surface of the column material 15 If they are not completely contacted, the support members 15 cannot be attached to the first substrate 60. In order to completely contact the first substrate 60 and the support material 15 with the adhesive paste 58, a device for strictly adjusting the parallelism between the alignment plate 54 and the first substrate 60 (for example, the applicant has An apparatus as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-250803) is required.
However, if such a device is provided, not only will a large cost be required, but also the device configuration will be complicated, which will be a factor that hinders automation of the process and the like.

  In addition, even if such a device is provided, the degree of contact between the column material and the first substrate due to variation in the length of the column material, undulation of the surface of the first substrate, or a parallelism error between jigs. It cannot be uniform in the plane. For this reason, there is a contact state of the support members, that is, some support members may contact more strongly than necessary, some may make weak contact, or no contact at all. There is a difference in the installation ratio (the number of actually installed strut materials / the number of strut materials that should be originally arranged). And, needless to say, those that do not come into contact are not necessarily arranged. However, even when the support material comes into contact with the support material more strongly than necessary, it is strong at one point where the support material and the first substrate are in contact. Since the force is concentrated and received, the support material or the first substrate is damaged, or even if the support material or the first substrate is not damaged, the support material or the first substrate bites on the inner wall or the bottom surface of the alignment hole 54a of the alignment plate 54. As a result, the support member 15 is not provided.

  In addition, the above-described problem similarly occurs due to the variation in the standing state of the support member that occurs due to the structure of the alignment hole 54a of the alignment plate 54 in which the support member 15 is filled. That is, the hole diameter of the alignment hole 54a formed in the alignment plate 54 is set to allow the column material to easily enter the alignment hole 54a at the time of filling. is there. For this reason, depending on how the column material enters, the column material may be filled in an inclined state with respect to the alignment holes 54a, and the upright (tilted) state of each column material varies due to the difference in the inclination. Will be. Naturally, also in such a case, since the contact state of the support member 15 with the first substrate 60 is different, the above-described problem is a factor that similarly occurs.

  Conversely, in order to prevent such a problem from occurring, the hole diameter of the alignment holes 54a should be close to the diameter of the support members so that the support members filled in the alignment plate 54 are not inclined. In this case, the filling rate of the support members in the alignment plate 54 is reduced. Then, as a result, the arrangement ratio of the support members to the first substrate 60 is reduced, and the column is overturned. Therefore, such a measure cannot be adopted.

As described above, the conventional support member disposing method not only requires a device capable of strictly adjusting the parallelism between the jig 53 and the first substrate 60, but also requires various devices as described above. There is a problem that the support members 15 are hardly transferred to the first substrate 60, and the arrangement ratio of the support members 15 to the first substrate 60 is reduced. In this case, since it becomes impossible to dispose the support member 15 in a place where the support member 15 should be originally provided, there is a possibility that a problem occurs in the pressure resistance of the envelope (the pressure resistance decreases). there were.
Further, in the conventional support material arrangement method, the filling of the support material 15 into the alignment plate 54 is visually confirmed, but it is difficult to automate the filling process in the filling operation while visually confirming. .

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of these points, without affecting the length of the support material, the undulation of the first substrate surface, or the inclination of the support material at the time of filling the alignment plate with the support material, and A support member disposing jig capable of securely disposing the support member on the first substrate without requiring a device for performing strict parallelism adjustment between the jig and the first substrate; and Its purpose is to provide a method.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method for automating the inspection of a column filling state and a jig using the method.

  In order to achieve the above object, a support member arranging jig according to claim 1 of the present invention is a jig for a vacuum glass envelope which is hermetically formed by at least two glass plates arranged opposite to each other. A supporting member disposing jig for disposing a supporting member between the two glass plates such that a distance between the two glass plates is maintained at a predetermined distance; A transfer mechanism having an alignment mechanism for aligning the support material at a predetermined position, and a transfer hole for transferring the support material aligned in the alignment hole of the alignment mechanism to the glass plate. And a part.

  The support member disposing jig according to claim 2 is the support member disposing jig according to claim 1, wherein the transfer mechanism portion includes a transfer plate having a plurality of transfer holes into which the support member enters. A transfer plate base disposed in close contact with the transfer plate and having a ventilation hole corresponding to the position of the transfer hole, and a box-shaped base having the transfer plate base as a bottom surface and forming a certain space therein. It is characterized by comprising a ventilation section and a supply / exhaust means for exhausting the inside of the ventilation section or supplying air into the ventilation section.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a jig for arranging a pole member according to the second aspect, further comprising a pressure sensor for detecting a pressure in the ventilation section.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a jig for arranging a pillar material according to the first aspect, wherein the alignment mechanism has a plurality of alignment holes for aligning the pillar material. It is characterized by comprising an alignment plate and a base on which the alignment plate is mounted.

  The support member disposing jig according to claim 5 is the support member disposing jig according to claim 4, wherein the base is disposed in close contact with the alignment plate, and has a predetermined opening diameter. A porous plate having a plurality of holes, a box-shaped exhaust portion forming a certain space inside with the porous plate as an upper surface, and exhaust means for exhausting the inside of the ventilation portion. Features.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a jig for arranging a pillar member according to the fifth aspect, further comprising a pressure sensor for detecting a pressure in the exhaust portion.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the jig for arranging the support member according to any one of the fourth to sixth aspects, wherein the alignment mechanism swings and tilts the alignment plate and the base. It is characterized by having movable means for causing it to move.

  A method of arranging the strut member according to claim 8, wherein the strut member is sucked and held at a predetermined position of the transfer mechanism portion by exhausting at least the inside of the transfer mechanism portion of the transfer mechanism portion having exhaust means. Releasing the evacuation of the transfer mechanism by the evacuation means, dropping the column material sucked and held at a predetermined position of the transfer mechanism, and disposing the column on the glass substrate.

  The method of arranging the strut member according to claim 9 includes a step of sucking and holding the strut member at a predetermined position of the transfer mechanism portion by exhausting at least the inside of the transfer mechanism portion of the transfer mechanism portion provided with the exhaust means. Judging the amount of the strut material sucked by the pressure change in the ventilation portion, and releasing the evacuation in the transfer mechanism portion by the evacuation means to remove the strut material sucked and held at a predetermined position of the transfer mechanism portion. Dropping and disposing it on a glass substrate.

  A method of arranging a support member according to claim 10, wherein the support member is suction-held at a predetermined position of the alignment mechanism by exhausting at least the alignment mechanism of the alignment mechanism having an exhaust unit. A step of judging an amount of the sucked column material based on a change in pressure in the exhaust unit, and a step of releasing the exhaust in the alignment mechanism unit by the exhaust unit.

  A method of arranging a strut member according to claim 11, wherein the strut member is sucked and held at a predetermined position of the transfer mechanism portion by evacuating the inside of the transfer mechanism portion of the transfer mechanism portion having a supply / exhaust means. By releasing the exhaust in the transfer mechanism by the exhaust means and supplying air into the transfer mechanism, the support material sucked and held at a predetermined position of the transfer mechanism is pressed out and distributed to the glass substrate. And a step of setting.

  According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a support member disposing method, wherein the support member is aligned with the alignment hole of the alignment mechanism, and the transfer mechanism including at least the exhaust unit is aligned with the alignment mechanism. Placing, and exhausting the inside of the transfer mechanism by the exhaust means, thereby sucking and holding the support members aligned in the alignment holes of the alignment mechanism at predetermined positions of the transfer mechanism, and Releasing the exhaust of the inside of the transfer mechanism by means, dropping the column material sucked and held at a predetermined position of the transfer mechanism, and disposing the support on the glass substrate.

  In the method of arranging a support member according to a thirteenth aspect, a step of aligning the support member with an alignment hole of the alignment mechanism unit and a step of aligning a transfer mechanism unit including a supply / exhaust unit with respect to the alignment mechanism unit. Placing, and exhausting the inside of the transfer mechanism by the exhaust means, thereby sucking and holding the support members aligned in the alignment holes of the alignment mechanism at predetermined positions of the transfer mechanism, and Releasing the exhaust in the transfer mechanism by means and supplying air into the transfer mechanism, thereby extruding the column material sucked and held at a predetermined position of the transfer mechanism and disposing it on the glass substrate. And characterized in that:

As described above, according to the present invention, when arranging the support members on the first substrate, variations in the length of the support members, undulations on the surface of the first substrate, or support during filling of the alignment plate with the support members are performed. The column material can be securely disposed on the first substrate without affecting the inclination of the material. For this reason, it becomes possible to reliably dispose the strut member at a position where the strut member must be arranged, and there is no possibility that a problem occurs in the pressure resistance of the vacuum glass envelope.
In addition, compared with the conventional method in which the first substrate is brought into contact with the support members standing upright on the alignment plate from above and the support members are disposed on the first substrate, the degree of parallelism is stricter. The struts can be disposed on the first substrate without the need for adjustments and equipment to perform them. Therefore, the apparatus itself can be simplified, and the completion of column alignment filling can be managed by the value of the pressure sensor, greatly contributing to the promotion of automation of the process.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a support member disposing jig according to the present invention. The support member arranging jig according to the best mode of the present invention is roughly classified into a jig for arranging a vacuum glass envelope of a display device between a first substrate and a second substrate constituting an envelope so that the envelope can withstand an external pressure. And a transfer mechanism 2 for transferring the support material from the alignment mechanism 1 to the first substrate.

The alignment mechanism 1 includes an alignment plate 1a and a base 1b.
In the alignment plate 1a, a large number of alignment holes 1c for erecting and aligning the support members are formed corresponding to the positions of the support members on the first substrate. The hole diameter of the alignment hole 1c is slightly larger than the diameter of the column material so that the column material enters in the upright state, and further, at the tip portion, the column material is easily dropped into the alignment hole 1c. It is formed in a tapered shape whose diameter expands upward. Also, the depth of the alignment hole 1c is such that when the support material enters, the tip of the support material does not protrude from the surface of the alignment plate 1a.

Note that the alignment hole 1c does not necessarily have to have a shape in which the hole diameter at the tip end of the alignment hole 1c is widened upward as in this embodiment, and the alignment hole 1c is easily inserted into the alignment hole 1c in a state where the support member stands. What is necessary is just to have a diameter which can enter.
The base 1b is disposed in close contact with the lower part of the alignment plate 1a, and the upper surface of the base 1b forms a bottom surface of the alignment hole 1c.

The transfer mechanism unit 2 includes a transfer plate 2a, a transfer plate base 2b, and a ventilation unit 2c.
The transfer plate 2a is provided with a transfer hole 2d for transferring the support material from the alignment hole 1c of the alignment plate 1a to the first substrate by a mechanism described later, facing the position of the alignment hole 1c of the alignment plate 1a. I have. The hole diameter of the transition hole 2d in the present embodiment is slightly larger than the diameter of the column material so that the column material can stand up and enter with high accuracy. The depth of the transition hole 2d is shorter than the length of the pillar material so that the pillar material that has entered does not become buried.

  The transfer plate base 2b is disposed in close contact with the upper portion of the transfer plate 2a, and has a ventilation hole 2e corresponding to the position of the transfer hole 2d of the transfer plate 2a. The hole diameter of the ventilation hole 2e is smaller than the diameter of the support material, so that the support material that has entered the transfer hole 2d does not pass through.

  The ventilation part 2c is formed of a box-shaped member that forms a certain space inside with the transfer plate base 2b as a bottom surface, and has an opening in a part thereof. Furthermore, a gas supply / exhaust device is connected to the opening, and by operating the device, gas (air) in the ventilation portion 2c is exhausted, or gas (air) is conveyed into the ventilation portion 2c. Air) can be supplied (supplied). For this reason, in the transfer hole 2d communicating with the ventilation part 2c via the ventilation hole 2e, gas (air) is sucked from the transfer hole 2d or exhausted by the air supply / exhaust device, or Gas (air) can be supplied from the transfer hole 2d with the supply of air from the supply / exhaust device. Specifically, the air supply / exhaust device can be configured by combining a pump such as a diaphragm pump for exhaustion, and using high-pressure air for air supply, so that it can be switched as necessary.

Next, a method of arranging the strut members by the jig for arranging the strut members according to the best mode will be described with reference to FIG. (The figure numbers correspond to the item numbers in the following description.)
The strut used in the strut disposition method in the best mode is the glass fiber or the glass rod described in the related art, and the manufacturing method is also the same, so that the description is omitted here. I do. In addition, the steps after the support members are provided on the first substrate and until the vacuum glass envelope is completely configured are the same as the steps described in the related art, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

(1) Filling and Arranging the Support Materials in the Alignment Mechanism Part The support material 11 cut to a desired length is spread on the alignment plate 1a of the alignment mechanism part 1 by the method described in the related art or the like, and is not shown. While the alignment mechanism 1 is swung by the movable means, the support 11 is tilted in the direction indicated by the arrow in the drawing to enter the alignment hole 1c of the alignment plate 1a, and the support 11 is raised in the alignment hole 1c. Align in state.
(2) Transfer of the pillar material to the transfer mechanism unit The transfer mechanism unit 2 is positioned and brought into contact with the alignment mechanism unit 1, and the air supply / exhaust device as the air supply / exhaust means connected to the ventilation unit 2c is operated. The gas (air) in the ventilation part 2c is exhausted, and the gas (air) is sucked in from the transfer hole 2d communicating with the ventilation part 2c via the ventilation hole 2e. Then, with the intake air in the transfer hole 2d, the column material 11 filled and aligned in the alignment mechanism unit 1 in the above (1) is sucked up into the transfer hole 2d of the transfer mechanism unit 2, and the column material is transferred to the transfer mechanism unit 2. 11 is held in a state where it has moved.
(3) Application of Adhesive Paste to Support Material In this state, the lower end of the support material 11 in a state where the application substrate 6 on which the adhesive paste 5 is uniformly applied is sucked and held in the transfer hole 2d of the transfer jig 2. , And the adhesive paste 5 is applied to the pillar material 11.
(4) Arrangement of First Substrate The transfer mechanism unit 2 in which the support material 11 is sucked and held is positioned and arranged on the first substrate 7, and the first substrate 7 is raised to be close to the transfer mechanism unit 2. Let it.
(5) Transfer of the pillar material to the first substrate The exhaust by the air supply / exhaust device connected to the transfer mechanism 2 is stopped. Then, the support 11 sucked and held in the transfer hole 2 d of the transfer mechanism 2 falls onto the first substrate 7, and is placed on the first substrate 7 by the adhesive paste 5 applied to one end surface of the support 11. Adhere to.
(7) Welding of pillar material to first substrate By firing the first substrate 7 with the pillar material 11 attached thereto at a predetermined temperature, the adhesive paste 5 is melted and the pillar material 11 is adhered to the first substrate. Weld one end.
Through the steps as described above, the support member 4 is disposed on the first substrate 7 that forms a part of the vacuum glass envelope.

  In the subsequent steps, the same steps as those in the related art are performed to form a vacuum glass envelope in which a support member is provided between the first substrate and the second substrate.

  In the case where the support member is disposed on the first substrate by the method described in the above-described best mode, the support member is disposed in such a manner as to drop onto the first substrate, so that the length of the support member varies. The support member can be reliably disposed on the first substrate without being affected by the undulation on the first substrate surface or the difference in the parallelism between the jigs.

  Further, even if the support material is slightly inclined in a state where the support material is vertically aligned on the alignment plate, when the support material is transferred from the alignment plate to the transfer plate by suction in the transfer mechanism unit 2, the support material tilts. Can be corrected and suctioned and held on the transfer plate in a state of standing up accurately. For this reason, the support members can be disposed on the first substrate without being affected by the inclination of the support members in the alignment plate. This makes it possible to securely dispose the support members in the envelope, and eliminates the possibility that a problem occurs in the pressure resistance of the envelope.

  In the case where the column material is disposed on the first substrate by the method according to the present invention, the first substrate is brought into contact with the column material standing upright on the alignment plate from above, as in the related art, and the first substrate is contacted. Compared with the case where the support member is transferred to the substrate, the support member can be disposed on the first substrate without requiring a strict parallelism adjustment and a device for performing the adjustment. Therefore, the apparatus group can be simplified, which greatly contributes to automation of the process.

Next, a first embodiment of the present invention that exhibits the same effect as the gist of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the support member disposing jig according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The configuration of the support member arranging jig according to the present embodiment is the same as the configuration of the best mode except for the base 1b 'of the alignment mechanism 1. Therefore, the description of the same parts is omitted here, and only the configuration of the base 1b 'will be described.

The base 1b 'of the support member arranging jig according to the present embodiment includes a porous plate 1d and an exhaust portion 1e.
The porous plate 1d is provided in close contact with the alignment plate 1a, and has a large number of holes (for example, φ100 to 300 μm) formed in a metal plate such as a stainless steel plate.
Below the porous plate 1d, there is provided a box-shaped exhaust portion 1e which forms a certain space inside with the porous plate 1d as an upper surface, and a part of the exhaust portion 1e. Has an opening.

Further, an exhaust device is connected to the exhaust portion 1e via a pipe connected to the opening, and a pressure sensor is provided in the middle of the pipe. The pressure sensor is connected to a pressure determination circuit (not shown). Here, by operating the exhaust device, the gas (air) in the exhaust unit 1e can be exhausted. For this reason, in the alignment hole 1c communicating with the exhaust part 1e via the porous plate 1d, gas (air) can be taken in from the alignment hole 1c with the exhaust by the exhaust device. At this time, the pressure in the exhaust unit can be measured.
The arrangement of the pressure sensor is not limited to the above-described piping section, and may be provided in the exhaust section 1e, or a pipe for connecting the pressure sensor from the exhaust section 1e.

Next, a method of arranging the support members using the support member arranging jig of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. (The figure numbers correspond to the item numbers in the following description.)
This method is the same as the other steps except for the steps (1) and (2) in the method of arranging the strut material using the strut arranging jig of the best mode. Therefore, the description of the similar steps is omitted here, and the different steps (1) ′ and (2) ′ will be described.

(1) 'Filling and alignment of the support material into the alignment mechanism unit The support material 11 cut to a desired length is sprayed on the alignment plate 1a of the alignment mechanism unit 1 and connected to the exhaust unit 1e of the alignment mechanism unit 1. While evacuating the exhaust unit 1e by operating the exhaust unit 1e, the alignment mechanism 1 is swung and tilted by movable means (not shown) in the same manner as in the best mode. Then, in addition to the swinging and tilting of the alignment mechanism 1, the air is sucked in the alignment holes 1 c with the exhaust by the exhaust device, so that the diameter of the support 11 is slightly larger than the diameter of the cut support 11. Is sucked into the alignment hole 1c, and is aligned in a state of standing in the alignment hole 1c.
Here, the display value of the pressure sensor changes in the decompression direction as the column material 11 enters the alignment hole 1c and the number of the alignment holes 1c filled with the column material 11 increases. When the size of the alignment plate is a rectangle having a long side of 200 mm and a short side of 170 mm, a hole diameter of 200 μm, and 5000 alignment holes 1c, the pressure value before filling and aligning the support material is −26.6 kPa based on the atmospheric pressure. On the other hand, the pressure value when visually confirming that the support material was filled 98% was −43.9 kPa.
Therefore, in this case, the reference pressure for completing the filling of the support was set to -43.9 kPa and stored in a pressure determination circuit (not shown). At the time of subsequent filling, the measured value of the pressure sensor is sent to a pressure judging circuit (not shown), and when the pressure value reaches this reference value, completion of column filling is judged.
The pressure value itself depends on the size of the alignment mechanism, the performance of the exhaust device, and the like, but in any system, the reference value is determined by the above-described procedure, and the completion of column filling can be determined.
(2) 'Transfer of the support material to the transfer mechanism unit The transfer mechanism unit 2 is positioned and brought into contact with the alignment mechanism unit 1 to stop the exhaust by the exhaust device, and is connected to the transfer mechanism unit 2. The ventilation unit 2c is evacuated by operating the air supply / exhaust device. Then, since the transfer hole 2d formed in the transfer plate 2a communicates with the ventilation portion 2c through the ventilation hole 2e, the column material 11 that is aligned and filled in the alignment mechanism portion 1 in the above (1). The support member 11 is sucked up by the transfer hole 2d of the transfer mechanism 2 and is held in a state where the support 11 is transferred to the transfer mechanism 2.
Then, the subsequent steps, that is, the steps until the column material 11 is provided on the first substrate 7 and the vacuum glass envelope after the column material is provided on the first substrate are completely configured. In this step, a vacuum glass envelope in which a support member is disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate is formed by performing the same steps as those in the related art.
In this embodiment, the pressure sensor is provided in the exhaust part 1e of the alignment mechanism part. However, the pressure sensor is also provided in the ventilation part 2c of the transfer mechanism part 2 by the same configuration, and the strut member is moved to the transfer mechanism part 2. May be checked.

Therefore, the method for arranging the strut according to the first embodiment has the following effects in addition to the method for arranging the strut in the best mode.
1) By oscillating and tilting the aligning mechanism 1 by the movable means while sucking air in the aligning holes 1c by the exhaust device connected to the aligning mechanism 1, the support members scattered on the aligning plate 1a are aligned. It is possible to more reliably fill and align the holes 1c in a short time.
2) Even if the pillar material has a relatively small outer shape and a light weight, the pillar material can be easily filled and aligned in the alignment holes of the alignment plate.
3) It is possible to manage the completion time of the column alignment filling by the value of the pressure sensor, which facilitates the automation of the process.

Here, the strut material arranging method according to the present invention (the best mode and the strut material arranging method according to the first embodiment) and the strut material arranging ratio according to the conventional method (the strut material actually arranged on the first substrate) Table 1 shows the results of an experiment conducted to compare the number (the number of support members that should be provided on the first substrate).
Table 1 shows that in each of the method according to the present invention and the conventional method, 629 support members having a diameter of 0.5 mm and a length of 3.5 mm are arranged on a 300 × 300 mm first substrate at a pitch of 15 mm on a first substrate. 3 shows the number of support members that can be disposed on the first substrate under the conditions set in FIG. As a result, the arrangement ratio of the pillar members in the case of the conventional method is about 77% on average. On the other hand, in the case of employing the method according to the present invention, the arrangement ratio of the strut members is almost 100% in both the best mode and the method according to the first embodiment. It can be seen that the arrangement ratio of the strut material has been significantly improved.

In the support member disposing method described in the embodiment, when the support member 11 sucked and held in the transfer hole 2d of the transfer mechanism unit 2 is transferred to the first substrate 7 in the common step (5). In the meantime, the exhaust by the air supply / exhaust device is stopped, and the suction to the support material 11 at the transfer hole 2d is stopped, so that the support material 11 falls to the first substrate 7 by its own weight, and the support material 11 is It is arranged on one substrate 7.
However, when the outer diameter of the strut member is relatively small (for example, 100 μm or less), the strut member itself has almost no weight. Therefore, it is difficult to dispose it on the first substrate.
Therefore, when arranging such a column member having a relatively small diameter, the exhausting by the air supply / exhaust device is stopped, and then the air is supplied into the ventilation portion 2c by the air supply / exhaust device, and the pressure in the ventilation portion 2c is reduced. May be made to be higher than the outside air pressure so that the column material is pressed out from the transfer hole 2d. In this way, it is possible to cope with a case where a small-diameter, lightweight support member is provided.

  In the support member disposing method according to the present invention, the adhesive paste 5 for fixing the support member 11 to the first substrate 7 is applied to the support member 11 by the application substrate 6. However, other than such a method, the adhesive paste 5 may be applied to the first substrate 7 in advance by screen printing or dispensing.

  In addition, the pillar material used in the pillar material arranging method according to the present invention can be applied not only to a glass pillar material such as a glass fiber or a glass rod, but also to a metal pillar material such as a ceramic.

It is sectional drawing of the support | pillar installation jig which concerns on the best mode of this invention. It is a figure which shows the support | pillar installation process by the support | pillar installation jig concerning the best form of this invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a support member disposing jig according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the support | pillar installation process by the support | pillar installation jig concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the support | pillar installation process by the conventional support | pillar installation jig.

Explanation of reference numerals

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Alignment mechanism part 1a ... Alignment plate 1b ... Base 1c ... Alignment hole 1d ... Porous plate 1e ... Exhaust part 2 ... Transition mechanism part 2a ... Transition plate 2b ... Transition plate base 2c ... Vent part 2d ... Transition hole 2e ... Ventilation holes

Claims (13)

A column material between the two glass plates so that a gap between the two glass plates is maintained at a predetermined interval in a vacuum glass envelope formed by sealing at least two glass plates opposed to each other. In the jig for arranging the strut material for arranging the
The support member disposing jig includes an alignment mechanism having an alignment hole for aligning the support material at a predetermined position, and transferring the support material aligned in the alignment hole of the alignment mechanism to the glass plate. And a transfer mechanism having a transfer hole for the support member.   The transfer mechanism portion includes a transfer plate having a plurality of transfer holes into which the column material enters, and a transfer plate provided in close contact with the transfer plate and having a ventilation hole corresponding to the position of the transfer hole. It is composed of a plate base, a box-shaped ventilation part which forms a certain space inside with the transfer plate base as a bottom surface, and a supply / exhaust means for exhausting the inside of the ventilation part or supplying air into the ventilation part. The support member disposing jig according to claim 1, wherein:   The support member disposing jig according to claim 2, further comprising a pressure sensor for detecting a pressure in the ventilation portion.   2. The alignment mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the alignment mechanism includes an alignment plate having a plurality of alignment holes for aligning the support members, and a base on which the alignment plate is placed. Jig for arranging strut materials.   The base is disposed in close contact with the alignment plate, and has a porous plate having a plurality of holes with a predetermined opening diameter, and a box-shaped exhaust unit having the porous plate as an upper surface and forming a certain space therein. The jig for arranging a strut member according to claim 4, further comprising: an exhaust unit configured to exhaust the inside of the ventilation portion.   6. The support member disposing jig according to claim 5, further comprising a pressure sensor for detecting a pressure in the exhaust unit.   7. The jig according to claim 4, wherein the alignment mechanism has movable means for swinging and tilting the alignment plate and the base.   Exhausting at least the transfer mechanism portion of the transfer mechanism portion having the exhaust means, thereby sucking and holding the support member at a predetermined position of the transfer mechanism portion, and releasing the exhaust in the transfer mechanism portion by the exhaust means. Dropping the column material sucked and held at a predetermined position of the transfer mechanism and disposing the column member on the glass substrate.   Exhausting at least the transfer mechanism portion of the transfer mechanism portion provided with the exhaust means, thereby sucking and holding the support member at a predetermined position of the transfer mechanism portion, and changing the amount of the sucked support member to a pressure change in the ventilation portion. And a step of releasing the exhaust in the transfer mechanism by the exhaust means, dropping the support member sucked and held at a predetermined position of the transfer mechanism, and disposing the support on the glass substrate. A method of arranging strut materials, characterized by the following.   Exhausting at least the alignment mechanism of the alignment mechanism provided with the exhaust means, thereby suction-holding the column material at a predetermined position of the alignment mechanism, and changing the amount of the suctioned column material into a pressure change in the exhaust unit. And a step of releasing the exhaust in the alignment mechanism by the exhaust unit.   A step of sucking and holding the support member at a predetermined position of the transfer mechanism by exhausting the inside of the transfer mechanism of the transfer mechanism having the supply / exhaust means, and releasing the exhaust in the transfer mechanism by the exhaust means. Supplying the air into the transfer mechanism, thereby extruding the support held at a predetermined position of the transfer mechanism, and disposing the support on the glass substrate. Installation method.   A step of aligning the support members with the alignment holes of the alignment mechanism, a step of positioning a transfer mechanism provided with at least exhaust means with respect to the alignment mechanism, and placing the transfer mechanism in the transfer mechanism by the exhaust means. Evacuation of the support member by suction at the predetermined position of the transfer mechanism portion by holding the support members aligned in the alignment holes of the alignment mechanism portion, and releasing the exhaust in the transfer mechanism portion by the exhaust means, Dropping the column material sucked and held at a predetermined position of the mechanism section and disposing the column member on the glass substrate.   A step of aligning the support members with the alignment holes of the alignment mechanism, a step of positioning a transfer mechanism provided with a supply / exhaust means with respect to the alignment mechanism, and placing the transfer mechanism in the transfer mechanism by the exhaust means. Evacuation to suck and hold the support members aligned in the alignment holes of the alignment mechanism at predetermined positions of the transfer mechanism, and releasing the exhaust in the transfer mechanism by the exhaust means, Supplying the air to the inside of the transfer mechanism, thereby extruding the support material sucked and held at a predetermined position of the transfer mechanism and arranging it on the glass substrate.

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