JP2006185686A - Panel type light emission device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a panel type light emission device capable of realizing increase in size and reduction in thickness and weight at the same time and allowing easy assembly suitably for mass production for performing surface light emission like a plane light emission lamp. <P>SOLUTION: A discharge space 3 is constructed between a pair of substrates 1 and 2, at least one of which is constructed of transparent glass, and light is emitted from the transparent glass plate surface by discharge inside the discharge space 3. The substrate 1 constructed of a transparent glass on at least one side is provided with a corrugated plate structure part 11 and is brought into contact with the inside face of the substrate 2 on the other side at respective ridge line parts 11a on the inside face side of the corrugated structure part 11, and consequently, the discharge space 3 is divided into a plurality of tubular spaces 3a by the ridge line parts 11a to be continuously connected on the substrate 1 circumference side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a panel type light emitting device used for a backlight of a liquid crystal display, a panel type illumination or the like.

  As a flat light-emitting lamp used for a backlight of a liquid crystal display, etc., a high-vacuum discharge space in which a discharge gas is sealed between a pair of opposing glass substrates is formed, and a phosphor is provided on the inner surface facing the discharge space of at least one substrate. There is a structure in which a layer is provided and a phosphor is excited to generate a required light emission by a discharge between positive and negative electrodes arranged in the discharge space. In recent years, however, large screens and thinnings of video display devices in general, including home TVs, have been progressing at the same time, and liquid crystal displays have also been increased in size. Also, there is a demand for a flat light emitting lamp for use with a large light emitting area and a reduced total thickness.

  However, a flat light emitting lamp having a high-vacuum discharge space inside needs to ensure the pressure resistance strength as a vacuum vessel. However, in the conventional enlargement means, the thickness of both glass substrates is increased, or FIG. As described above, in the discharge space 80, it is general to reinforce by interposing a partition-like or columnar support 83 between the glass substrates 81 and 82. In the figure, reference numeral 84 denotes a frame-like spacer that is disposed between the peripheral portions of the glass substrates 81 and 82 to secure the discharge space 80.

  However, in the method of ensuring the vacuum pressure resistance by increasing the thickness of the glass substrate, the increase in weight associated with the increase in the size of the flat light-emitting lamp becomes very large. Yes, it cannot cope with the level of enlargement demanded in recent years.

  In addition, in the method of interposing a partition-like or columnar support between the glass substrates, it is difficult to select a support material in order to ensure the uniformity of the discharge space and suppress the outgassing during operation as much as possible, In addition, these supports are positioned and arranged between both substrates with high precision so that a large number of supports are equally subjected to vacuum pressure resistance, and are fired in a temporarily assembled state and fused and fixed with glass frit or the like. The assembly and production takes a lot of labor and time, and the yield is poor and the production cost is high.

  In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a panel type light emitting device that performs surface light emission such as the flat light emitting lamp, which can simultaneously realize an increase in size, thickness, and weight, and is easy to assemble and suitable for mass production. It is intended to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, according to claim 1 of the present invention, a discharge space 3 is formed between a pair of substrates 1 and 2, at least one of which is made of transparent glass. In the panel type light emitting device that emits light from the transparent glass plate surface by the discharge in the discharge space 3,
At least one substrate 1 made of transparent glass has a corrugated plate structure 11, and each ridge line portion 11 a on the inner surface side of the corrugated plate structure 11 abuts against the inner surface of the other substrate 2, and the ridge line portions 11 a. The discharge space 3 divided into a plurality of parallel tubular spaces 3a... Is communicated on the substrate 1 periphery side.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the panel type light emitting device according to the first aspect, one (1) of the pair of substrates 1 and 2 is formed of a transparent glass plate having a corrugated plate structure 11, and the other (2) is a flat plate. It has a certain configuration.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the panel type light emitting device according to the first aspect, the pair of substrates 10 and 10 are both made of a transparent glass plate having a corrugated plate structure portion 11, and both the substrates 10 and 10 are corrugated plate structure portions. The ridge line portions 11a and 11a on the inner surface side are in contact with each other.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the panel type light emitting device according to any one of the first to third aspects, the phosphor layer 4 is formed on the inner surface side facing the discharge space 3 of at least one substrate, and the fluorescence due to the discharge excitation is generated. It is configured to radiate.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the panel type light emitting device according to any one of the first to third aspects, a rare gas or mercury vapor is enclosed in the discharge space 3 to emit ultraviolet rays by discharge.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, in a panel type light emitting device that performs surface light emission such as a flat light emitting lamp, at least one of a pair of substrates that are disposed opposite to each other to form a discharge space is transparent having a corrugated plate structure. It consists of a glass plate, and each ridge line portion on the inner surface side of the corrugated plate structure portion is in contact with the inner surface of the other substrate, and both substrates are supported by each ridge line portion on the inner surface side of the corrugated plate structure portion. In addition, since the vacuum pressure resistance can be shared by these many support portions, even when the light emission area and thus the substrate area are increased, it is not necessary to set the substrate thickness to be particularly large in order to ensure the vacuum pressure resistance. And weight reduction can be realized at the same time. Thus, a substrate having a corrugated plate structure can be mass-produced stably in both size and quality by heating brace from the raw material of the plate glass, and both substrates are fritted with the peripheral edge of the butted surfaces. Since it can be integrated into a container shape having a discharge space simply by sealing via glass, the panel type light emitting device can be assembled and manufactured easily and at low cost.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the panel type light emitting device as described above, wherein one surface is corrugated and the opposite surface is flat, and one or both of them are light emitting surfaces.

  According to the invention of claim 3, there is provided the panel type light emitting device in which both surfaces are corrugated.

  According to invention of Claim 4, what radiates | emits the fluorescence by discharge excitation as said panel type light-emitting device is provided.

  According to invention of Claim 5, what radiates | emits an ultraviolet-ray is provided as said panel type light-emitting device.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a panel light-emitting device according to the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 6 show a panel type light emitting device D1 of the first embodiment, and FIG. 7 shows a panel type light emitting device D2 of the second embodiment.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the panel-type light emitting device D <b> 1 of the first embodiment is made of transparent glass and a rectangular substrate 1, most of which forms a corrugated plate structure 11 except for a flat peripheral edge 1 a, and a transparent A flat panel type cell having a flat rectangular substrate 2 made of glass and sealed with a fritted seal 5 at the peripheral edges 1a and 2a of each other and having a discharge space 3 between the substrates 1 and 2. Is configured. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, the corrugated plate structure 11 of the substrate 1 has a form in which the corrugations having a longitudinal section convex in the shape of a semicircular arc arranged on the outer surface side are arranged in the long side direction of the substrate. Each ridge line portion 11 a is in contact with the inner surface of the other substrate 2.

  The discharge space 3 configured between the two substrates 1 and 2 is divided into a plurality of parallel tubular spaces 3a along the short side direction of the substrate by the contact of the ridge line portions 11a to the substrate 2 side. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the tubular spaces 3a... Are opened to electrode arrangement spaces 3b and 3b along the long side direction of the substrate at both ends, so that the whole is in communication. In each electrode arrangement space 3b, an electrode wire 6 is disposed over the entire length, and leads 6a, 6a of both electrode wires 6, 6 are led out from between the two substrates 1, 2 to the outside.

  The substrate 1 is formed into a shape having a corrugated plate structure 11 or the like by a hot press of a sheet glass raw material like the substrate 2, and as shown in FIG. 1, the electrode arrangement spaces 3b and 3b on the inner surface side are formed. The provided portion has belt-like convex portions 1b and 1b on the outer surface side, and has an exhaust pipe mounting portion 1c that protrudes to the outer surface side from the center position of the belt-like convex portion 1b on one side to the substrate side end. The exhaust pipe mounting portion 1c has a groove shape on the inner surface side of the substrate 1 from the electrode arrangement space 3b to the substrate side end, and when sealing both the substrates 1 and 2 via the frit seal 5, FIG. Thus, the exhaust pipe 7 is inserted and fixed.

  In addition, the exhaust pipe 7 shown in FIG. 1 has a shape shortened by fusing and sealing, and is initially long. The frit seal 5 is a paste material in which a glass frit having a melting point lower than that of the glass materials of both the substrates 1 and 2 and the exhaust pipe 7 is mixed with a vehicle, has an adhesive force in a paste form, and has a solvent by baking. Evaporate to form glass.

  In the production of the panel type light emitting device D1, it is assembled into a product form through a frit seal 5 in which the two substrates 1, 2, electrode wires 6, 6 and the exhaust pipe 7, which are the components, are applied to the sealing / bonding part. Then, this is heated and fired to fuse the entire frit seal 5 into a molten glass, and then the air in the discharge space 3 is sucked and exhausted to a predetermined degree of vacuum from the exhaust pipe 7, and then from the exhaust pipe 7. After a required discharge gas is introduced into the discharge space 3, the exhaust pipe 7 is rolled and sealed with a gas burner or the like.

  In such a panel type light emitting device D1, the entire space of the discharge space 3 is formed between the electrode lines 6 and 6 by connecting the leads 6a and 6a of the electrode lines 6 and 6 to the respective electrodes and applying a predetermined voltage. Then, a discharge through the tubular spaces 3a is generated.

  Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, if the phosphor layer 4 is provided in advance on the inner surface of the flat substrate 2 facing the discharge space 3, the phosphor is excited by the discharge to emit light, and the surface of the substrate 2 The surface emission corresponding to the region of the discharge space 3 is generated. In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, if phosphor layers 4 and 4 are provided in advance on the inner surfaces of the substrates 1 and 2 facing the discharge space 3, similar surface emission occurs from both surfaces. Of course, in contrast to FIG. 5, if the phosphor layer 4 is provided only on the substrate 1 side, surface light emission from the substrate 1 side occurs. In addition, since the surface light emission from the board | substrate 1 side is made from a corrugated surface, it becomes light emission which has directivity. Thus, the phosphor layer 4 can be easily formed by applying a paste containing the phosphor powder to the substrate surface in advance by brushing or the like, and curing the coating film by the above-mentioned heating and baking.

  On the other hand, if the above-described phosphor layer 4 is not provided and a rare gas such as mercury vapor or xenon that can generate ultraviolet light by discharge is sealed in the discharge space 3 as a discharge gas, a flat type It becomes an ultraviolet lamp. Further, if the phosphor layer 4 is provided on the whole or a part of one side of both the substrates 1 and 2 and a similar discharge gas is enclosed to form an ultraviolet lamp, light emission from the phosphor layer 4 occurs when ultraviolet rays are emitted. Therefore, this light emission can be used to determine whether the ultraviolet lamp is on or off.

  In this panel type light emitting device D1, each ridge line portion 11a on the inner surface side of the corrugated plate structure portion 11 of the substrate 1 is in contact with the inner surface of the other flat substrate 2, and the overall vacuum pressure resistance is increased at these multiple contact portions. Therefore, the substrates 1 and 2 can ensure a sufficient vacuum pressure resistance with a thin plate thickness even though the entire area is large. Thus, the substrate 1 having the corrugated plate structure 11 can be stably mass-produced in a uniform size and quality by heating brace from the raw material of the plate glass, and the both side substrates 1 and 2 are in contact with each other. Since the extremely flat panel type cell having the discharge space 3 can be configured simply by sealing the la and 2a via the frit seal 5, the entire apparatus can be assembled and manufactured easily and at low cost.

  In the panel-type light emitting device D2 of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the pair of substrates 10 and 10 made of glass and having a rectangular shape are both corrugated plate structures similar to the substrate 1 in the light emitting device D1 of the first embodiment. 11. In this case, the two substrates 10 and 10 are formed by mutually abutting flat peripheral edge portions 10a and 10a so that the ridge line portions 11a and 11a on the inner surface side of the corrugated plate structure portions 11 and 11 abut each other. It is sealed via a frit seal 5. Therefore, other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  Also in such a panel type light emitting device D2, similarly to the panel type light emitting device D1 of the first embodiment, a phosphor layer (not shown) is formed on the inner surface facing one or both of the discharge spaces 3 of both substrates 10 and 10. By providing this, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which surface emission from one side or both sides due to phosphor discharge excitation is generated, or a configuration in which ultraviolet light emission is generated by using a rare gas such as mercury vapor or xenon as the enclosed discharge gas. .

  Also in this panel type light emitting device D2, the pair of substrates 10 and 10 having the corrugated plate structure 11 abut each other on the ridge line portions 11a and 10a of the corrugated plate structure 11, and both of these contact portions Since the substrates 10 and 10 are supported by each other, even if the area of the substrates 10 and 10 is large, a sufficient vacuum pressure resistance can be secured with a thin plate thickness. Further, the substrate 10 having the corrugated plate structure 11 can be stably mass-produced as described above, and the electrode 10 having the discharge space 3 can be obtained simply by sealing the both substrates 10 and 10 via the frit seal 5. Since a flat panel cell can be constructed, the entire apparatus can be assembled and manufactured easily and at low cost.

  As described in the first and second embodiments, in the panel type light emitting device of the present invention, even if the light emitting area and thus the substrate area is increased, the thickness of the substrate is set to be particularly thick in order to ensure the vacuum withstand voltage. Since there is no need, it is possible to simultaneously realize an increase in size, thickness and weight. Therefore, it is possible to provide a light source for a display such as a backlight of a liquid crystal display that can cope with a large screen and a thin screen of a general video display device in recent years. A large area constituting the whole or a part can be provided at low cost. On the other hand, a flat type ultraviolet lamp can be provided which is suitable for sterilization and photocuring resin curing.

  The panel-type light-emitting device of the present invention can be applied to all devices that emit light using a discharge such as a plasma discharge method or an internal electrode discharge method, other than those that emit light or emit ultraviolet rays by the phosphors described above. . In addition, the detailed configuration of such a light emitting device can be variously modified in addition to the embodiment.

It is a perspective view which shows the panel type light-emitting device which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a cross-sectional top view of the principal part of the panel type light-emitting device. It is sectional drawing of the AA line of FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 2. It is the longitudinal cross-sectional view of the principal part which made the panel type light-emitting device the single-sided light emission type. It is the longitudinal cross-sectional view of the principal part which used the panel type light-emitting device as the double-sided light emission type. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the principal part of the panel type light-emitting device concerning 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the structural example of the conventional panel type light-emitting device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 2 Substrate 1a, 2a Peripheral part 3 Discharge space 3a Tubular space 4 Phosphor layer 5 Frit seal 6 Electrode wire 6a Lead 7 Exhaust pipe 10 Substrate 11 Corrugated plate structure part 11a Ridge part D1, D2 Panel type light emitting device

Claims (5)

In a panel type light emitting device in which a discharge space is configured between a pair of substrates at least one of which is made of transparent glass, and light is emitted from the transparent glass plate surface by discharge in the discharge space.
At least one substrate made of transparent glass has a corrugated plate structure portion, and abuts on the inner surface of the other substrate at each ridge line portion on the inner surface side of the corrugated plate structure portion, and a plurality of parallel tubular spaces are formed by these ridge line portions. A panel-type light-emitting device, characterized in that the divided discharge spaces communicate with each other on the substrate peripheral side.   2. The panel type light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein one of the pair of substrates is made of a transparent glass plate having a corrugated plate structure and the other is a flat plate.   2. The panel-type light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein both of the pair of substrates are made of a transparent glass plate having a corrugated plate structure, and the two substrates are in contact with each other on the inner ridge line portion of the corrugated plate structure.   The panel type light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein a phosphor layer is formed on an inner surface facing the discharge space of at least one of the substrates, and emits fluorescence by discharge excitation. The panel-type light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein rare gas or mercury vapor is enclosed in the discharge space, and ultraviolet rays are emitted by discharge.

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