JP2007299603A - Image display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image display device having a sealing plate reinforced excellently by a reinforcement member. <P>SOLUTION: The image display device 10 is provided with an organic EL panel 20. The organic EL panel 20 has a positive electrode, an organic layer, a negative electrode, a sealing plate 25, and a reinforcement member 26. The sealing plate 25 is provided with a cavity portion 25a of which the plane shape and the cross-section shape are formed in nearly square form. Furthermore, the reinforcement member 26 is formed in a rib-form and is arranged on the upper side of the sealing plate 25 so as to be opposed to the two opposed sides of the cavity portion 25a of the sealing plate 25. By this reinforcement member 26, the sealing plate 25 is reinforced excellently, thereby occurrence of cracks or the like is suppressed well. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image display device, and more particularly to an organic EL (electroluminescence) display device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image display device, particularly an organic EL (electroluminescence) display device, includes an anode formed on a substrate, an organic layer having a light emitting function, and a cathode formed on the organic layer so as to face the anode. The organic layer is caused to emit light by applying a voltage to the organic layer via the anode and the cathode.

  However, the organic EL element has a problem that it is not resistant to moisture, and the organic layer is oxidized when exposed to the outside air, and the light emitting function is lost when the cathode is oxidized.

Therefore, in the conventional organic EL display, for example, a sealing plate (opposing substrate) is disposed so as to face the substrate, and the sealing plate is bonded to the substrate to be shielded from the outside air (for example, Patent Documents). 1).
JP 2003-272834 A

  By the way, in the structure which bonds a board | substrate and a sealing plate and interrupts | blocks from external air, when a sealing plate is thin or when a thin area | region exists in a sealing plate, there exists a problem that a crack arises in a sealing plate. When a crack occurs in the sealing plate, the function of blocking from the outside air is lowered, and there is a problem that the light emitting function is lowered due to oxidation of the organic layer and oxidation of the cathode.

  Therefore, there is a demand for an image display device including a sealing plate that is well reinforced by a reinforcing member so that the sealing plate does not crack.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an image display device including a sealing plate that is favorably reinforced by a reinforcing member.

In order to achieve the above object, an image display device according to a first aspect of the present invention provides:
An insulating substrate;
A first electrode formed on the substrate;
An organic layer formed on the first electrode and having a light emitting function;
A second electrode formed on the organic layer;
A recess for sealing the first electrode, the organic layer, and the second electrode is formed on one main surface, and the one main surface is formed on the substrate so as to face the substrate. An installed sealing plate;
With
The organic layer includes a light emitting region in a region where the first electrode and the second electrode face each other,
Installed on the other main surface of the sealing plate so as to have at least a region not facing the light emitting region of the organic layer and to face at least a part of the edge of the recess of the sealing plate It is further characterized by further comprising a reinforcing member.
Thus, by installing the reinforcing member on the other main surface of the sealing plate, it is possible to prevent the sealing plate from being cracked and exposing the organic layer or the like to the outside air. In addition, since the reinforcing member is installed at least in a region not facing the light emitting region of the organic layer, when the emitted light is taken out from the sealing plate side, the reinforcing member does not block the emitted light, and further from the sealing plate side to the light emitting element. Even when laser repair is performed, the reinforcing member does not block the laser. Furthermore, since the reinforcing member is not formed on the entire surface of the sealing plate, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

The planar shape of the recess formed in the sealing plate is substantially square,
The protrusion may be provided on the other main surface of the sealing plate so as to face two opposite sides of the bottom edge of the recess formed in the sealing plate.
In this way, it is possible to satisfactorily prevent the sealing plate from being cracked by configuring the reinforcing member only from the projecting portion and installing the projecting portion so as to face the two opposite sides of the bottom surface of the recess. it can.

The planar shape of the recess formed in the sealing plate is substantially square,
The protrusion may be formed in a frame shape and installed on the other main surface of the sealing plate so as to face the edge of the bottom surface of the recess formed in the sealing plate.
In this way, the reinforcing member is composed only of the projecting portion, the projecting portion is formed in a frame shape, and the crack is formed in the sealing plate by preventing the sealing plate from being cracked by installing it so as to face the edge of the bottom surface of the recess. Can do.

The planar shape and the cross-sectional shape of the recess formed in the sealing plate are substantially square,
The protrusion may be disposed on the other main surface of the sealing plate so as to face each of the squares on the bottom surface of the recess formed in the sealing plate.
Thus, by forming the reinforcing member only from the projecting portion and installing the projecting portion so as to face each of the squares of the bottom surface of the recess, it is possible to satisfactorily prevent the sealing plate from being cracked.

The bottom edge of the recess formed in the sealing plate may be formed in a curved surface so as to reduce stress concentration.
By forming the edge of the bottom surface of the recess in a curved surface in this manner, it is possible to prevent the sealing plate from being cracked more satisfactorily.

An edge of the bottom surface of the recess formed in the sealing plate may be formed in a step shape so as to relieve stress concentration.
Thus, by forming the edge of the bottom face of the recess in a step shape, it is possible to prevent the sealing plate from being cracked more satisfactorily.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, an image display apparatus provided with the sealing board which has favorable intensity | strength can be provided by forming a reinforcement member on a sealing board.

  An image display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, an organic EL (electroluminescence) display will be described as an example of the image display device.

  An image display apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the image display device 10. FIG. 2A is a view showing the arrangement of the anode 22 and the cathode 24, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view showing a part of the organic EL panel 20. 3A is a plan view specifically showing the sealing plate 25 and the reinforcing member 26, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA shown in FIG. 3A.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image display device 10 includes an organic EL panel 20, an anode lead-out wiring 31, an anode IC (Integrated Circuit) 32, an anode TCP (tape carrier package) 33, and a cathode lead-out wiring 34. The cathode IC 35 and the cathode TCP 36 are provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the organic EL panel 20 includes a substrate 21, an anode 22, an organic layer 23, a cathode 24, a sealing plate 25, and a reinforcing member 26. In the image display device 10 of the present embodiment, the case where the light emitted from the organic EL panel 20 is extracted from the substrate 21 side will be described as an example.

  The substrate 21 is made of a translucent material such as glass, quartz, resin, or the like so that the emitted light from the organic layer 23 can be sufficiently extracted. An anode 22 is formed on the substrate 21. Note that the emission color may be controlled by forming a polarizing filter, a color filter of R (Red) G (Green) B (Blue), a protective film, or the like between the anode 22 and the substrate 21.

The anode 22 is made of a conductive material. In the present embodiment, the anode 22 preferably has a light-transmitting property in order to extract emitted light from the organic layer 23 from the substrate 21 side. For example, the anode 22 is preferably formed of a material such as tin-doped indium oxide (ITO), zinc-doped indium oxide (IZO), SnO ₂ , or dopant-doped polypyrrole, and particularly preferably formed of ITO. Further, as shown in FIG. 2A, the anodes 22 are formed in a linear shape (long bar shape), and a plurality of anodes 22 are arranged on the substrate 21 so as to be parallel to each other. Also, auxiliary wiring can be formed to reduce the resistance of the wiring of the anode 22. An insulating layer (not shown) that covers the edge of the anode 22 is formed around the anode 22.

The organic layer 23 is formed on the anode 22 as shown in FIG. 2B, and emits excitons by at least a hole and electron injection function, additionally their transport function, and recombination of holes and electrons. It functions as a layer. The organic layer contains at least a fluorescent substance or a phosphorescent substance which is a compound having a light emitting function. As the fluorescent substance, for example, a metal complex dye such as tris (8-quinolinolato) aluminum (Alq ₃ ) can be used. In addition to this, or in place of this, quinacridone, coumarin, rubrene, styryl dyes, tetraphenylbutadiene, anthracene, perylene, coronene, 12-phthaloperinone derivatives and the like can also be used.

The organic layer 23 may include an electron injection / transport layer or a hole injection / transport layer. The hole injecting and transporting layer has a function of facilitating the injection of holes from the hole injecting electrode, a function of stably transporting holes, and a function of additionally hindering the transport of electrons. Has the function of facilitating the injection of electrons, the function of stably transporting electrons, and the function of additionally hindering the transport of holes. These layers increase the number of holes and electrons injected into the light-emitting layer. • Confine, optimize recombination area, and improve luminous efficiency. Further, the organic layer may be used as one of these light emitting layer, electron injecting and transporting layer, and hole injecting and transporting layer. For example, when the organic layer serves as both the light emitting layer and the electron injecting and transporting layer , Tris (8-quinolinolato) aluminum (Alq ₃ ) or the like is preferably used.

  The cathode 24 is formed on the organic layer 23 as shown in FIG. The cathode 24 includes, for example, alkali metals such as Li, Na, and K, alkaline earth metals such as Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba, rare earth metals such as La and Ce, Al, In, Ag, Au, Sn, Zn, It is formed using at least one kind such as Zr. In the configuration in which light is derived only from the substrate 21 side, the cathode 24 does not have to be formed to have translucency, but in the configuration in which light is also derived from the sealing plate side, the cathode 24 is also translucent. In this case, the cathode 24 is made of a light-transmitting material, or is thinly formed to have a light-transmitting property using a metal or the like. Further, as shown in FIG. 2A, the cathodes 24 are formed in a linear shape (long bar shape), and a plurality of cathodes 24 are arranged on the substrate 21 so as to be orthogonal to the anodes and parallel to each other. The cathode 24 is generally formed on the organic layer by resistance heating vapor deposition, induction heating vapor deposition, electron beam vapor deposition, sputtering, or ion plating. A cathode separator (not shown) made of an insulating material is formed between the adjacent cathodes 24.

  The sealing plate (counter substrate) 25 is attached to the substrate 21 via an adhesive layer (not shown). The sealing plate 25 has a substantially square planar shape as shown in FIG. In addition, the sealing plate 25 has a recess 25a formed in the central region of the sealing plate 25 as shown in FIG. 3B in order to seal the anode 22, the organic layer 23, and the cathode 24. The recess 25a is formed in a substantially square shape in plan and cross section. In this way, the sealing plate 25 is formed with a recess 25a, and as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), an adhesive region formed thick on the peripheral region and attached onto the substrate 21 via an adhesive layer; It is divided into a sealing region which is formed thin and faces the organic layer 23, the cathode 24 and the like. Since the sealing plate 25 includes the adhesive region formed thick and the sealing region formed thin, a region corresponding to the boundary between the adhesive region and the sealing region, that is, the edge of the bottom surface of the recess 25a. The stress tends to concentrate on the four corners, in particular. In the present embodiment, as will be described later, by installing the reinforcing member 26 on the upper surface of the sealing plate 25, it is possible to satisfactorily suppress cracks generated in the sealing plate 25. Therefore, the anode 22, the organic layer 23, and the cathode 24 are well protected from the external environment by the sealing plate 25.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3A and 3B, the reinforcing member 26 is provided at two locations on the upper surface of the sealing plate 25 so as to face two opposing sides of the recess 25a of the sealing plate 25. Installed. The reinforcing member 26 has a planar shape and a cross-sectional shape that are substantially square. The reinforcing member 26 has substantially the same length as the two opposing sides of the sealing plate 25 and is installed in parallel. As described above, since the sealing plate 25 tends to concentrate stress in the vicinity of the edge of the bottom surface of the recess 25a, the reinforcing member 26 is provided so as to face the edge of the bottom surface of the recess 25a via the sealing plate 25. By arrange | positioning, the sealing board 25 can be reinforced favorably. In this manner, the sealing plate 25 is reinforced favorably by the reinforcing member 26, and cracks generated in the sealing plate 25 can be well suppressed. In the present embodiment, the configuration in which the emitted light from the organic layer 23 is extracted from the substrate 21 side is taken as an example. However, in the process of forming the image display device 10, laser repair is performed from the sealing plate 25 side. Therefore, the reinforcing member 26 is installed so as to have at least a region that does not face the light emitting region of the organic layer 23. In addition, the area | region which does not oppose the organic layer 23 of the reinforcement member 26 may be colored in order to prevent reflection from external light. Further, the material of the reinforcing member 26 is not particularly limited, but a member including a metal having a high strength even though it is thin is preferable. The thickness of the reinforcing member 26 is not particularly limited, but is preferably 0.1 to 1.0 mm, and more preferably 0.2 to 0.7 mm. This is because if the thickness of the reinforcing member 26 is thin, sufficient strength cannot be obtained, and if the thickness is too thick, the cost increases and the thickness of the entire panel increases, so that it is necessary to secure a panel installation space. is there.

  The anode lead wiring 31 is formed on the substrate 21. Further, the anode lead-out wiring 31 is formed in a linear shape (long bar shape), and a plurality of anode wirings 31 are arranged on the substrate 21 so as to be parallel to each other. The other end of the anode lead-out wiring 31 is connected to the lower surface of the anode TCP 33 and is electrically connected to the anode IC 32.

  The anode TCP 33 is made of, for example, a foldable film formed containing an organic material, and an anode IC 32 for driving the anode 22 is mounted as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2A. The anode IC 32 is mounted on the anode TCP 33 by, for example, a TAB (Tape Automated Bonding) method. The anode TCP 33 is installed in a non-display area of the substrate, that is, an area where the anode, the organic layer, and the cathode are not formed.

  The cathode lead wiring 34 is formed on the substrate 21. The cathode lead wires 34 are formed in a linear shape (long bar shape), and a plurality of cathode lead wires 34 are arranged on the substrate 21 so as to be parallel to each other. The other end of the cathode lead-out wiring 34 is connected to the lower surface of the cathode TCP 36 and is electrically connected to the cathode IC 35.

  The cathode TCP 36 is made of a foldable film formed, for example, containing an organic material. On the cathode TCP 36, for example, a cathode IC 35 for driving the cathode 24 by the TAB method is mounted. The cathode TCP 36 is also installed on the non-display area of the substrate in the same manner as the anode TCP 33.

  In the image display device 10 adopting the above-described configuration, the sealing member 25 is reinforced favorably and the sealing plate 25 is cracked by installing the reinforcing member 26 so as to face the edge of the bottom surface of the recess 25a. It can suppress well occurring. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide the image display device 10 that blocks the influence of outside air and performs a satisfactory operation.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and applications are possible.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the reinforcing member 26 is formed on the sealing plate 25 so that the planar shape and the cross-sectional shape are formed in a substantially square shape and are opposed to the two opposite sides of the bottom edge of the recess 25a. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the reinforcing member 56 shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B may be formed in a frame shape. As described above, the reinforcing member 56 seals the sealing plate 25 in the vicinity of the edge of the bottom surface of the recessed portion 25a. Therefore, the reinforcing member 56 seals the edge of the recessed portion 25a, that is, the adhesion region of the sealing plate 25. It is installed in the area facing the stop area. The reinforcing member 56 is installed so as to have at least a region that does not face the light emitting region of the organic layer 23.

  Further, the reinforcing member 66 is not limited to being formed so as to correspond to each side of the recess 25a, and the reinforcing member 66 is particularly stressed in the sealing plate 25 as shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b). You may install in the area | region corresponding to four corners of the recessed part 25a which can be considered.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the recess 25a of the sealing plate 25 is formed in a substantially square shape and a sectional shape in a substantially square shape has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the edge of the recess 25b can be formed in a curved surface. Moreover, as shown to Fig.7 (a) and (b), the edge of the recessed part 25c can also be formed in step shape. By forming the edge of the recess in a curved surface or stepped shape in this way, the concentration of stress generated at the edge of the recess can be further reduced, and the reinforcement of the sealing plate by the reinforcing member can be further improved. it can. The planar shape of the recess 25a is not limited to a substantially square shape, and may be a circle, an ellipse, a polygon, or the like.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the reinforcing member 76 may be formed in a honeycomb shape. By forming in a honeycomb shape, not only the sealing plate 25 can be reinforced, but also the effect of improving heat dissipation can be imparted. When the reinforcing member 76 is formed in a honeycomb shape, the honeycomb holes and the light emitting area of the organic EL panel 20 face each other, that is, the honeycomb does not hinder the emission of light emitted from the organic EL panel 20. Installed. Further, the reinforcing member 76 is installed so as not to hinder processing such as laser repair performed from the sealing plate side 25 side.

  A desiccant may be installed on the bottom surface of the recess 25a of the sealing plate 25. When a concave region is further provided on the bottom surface of the recess 25a and the desiccant is installed, the thickness of the sealing plate 25 is particularly thin. Therefore, the reinforcing member 26 may be disposed so as to face this region. Thus, when providing a desiccant in the recessed part 25a of the sealing board 25, the area | region which installs a sealing member is adjusted suitably.

  In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which emitted light is extracted from the substrate 21 side has been described as an example. However, the configuration is not limited thereto, and a configuration in which the emitted light is extracted from the counter substrate side (sealing plate side) can also be employed. In this case, the reinforcing member 26 installed on the sealing plate 25 is installed so as to include at least a region that does not face the light emitting region of the organic layer 23 so as not to prevent the emission of the light emitted from the organic layer 23. Thus, even if it is a case where emitted light is taken out from the sealing board 25 side by arrange | positioning the reinforcement member 26 so that it may be provided with the area | region which does not oppose at least the light emission area | region of the organic layer 23, a reinforcement member is light emission light. Even when the emitted light is taken out from the substrate 21 side without preventing the lead-out, the process such as laser repair is not hindered.

  In the case where emitted light is extracted from the counter substrate side, the substrate 21 can be formed of an opaque material. For example, ceramics such as alumina, metal sheets such as stainless steel that have been subjected to insulation treatment by surface oxidation, thermosetting resins, thermoplastic resins, and the like can be used. Note that when light is extracted from the counter substrate side, it is preferable to use an inexpensive glass substrate because the manufacturing cost is reduced.

  In the case where light is extracted from the counter substrate side (cathode 24 side), the cathode 24 is formed of, for example, a metal such as an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal rare earth metal, or a material that transmits visible light. . When using a metal or the like, the cathode 24 is preferably formed to be 100 nm or less, more preferably 40 nm or less so as to have translucency. Examples of the material having transparency to visible light include conductive materials such as ITO, IZO, and ZnO—Al. Further, the cathode 24 may be formed by combining these metals and a material having permeability.

1 is a plan view schematically showing an image display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. (A) is a top view which shows typically arrangement | positioning of the electrode of the image display apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. (B) is sectional drawing of the organic electroluminescent panel which comprises an image display apparatus. (A) is a top view which shows typically the sealing board and reinforcement member of an image display apparatus which are shown in FIG. (B) is the sectional view on the AA line of Fig.3 (a). (A) is a top view which shows typically the modification of a reinforcement member. (B) is the BB sectional drawing of Fig.4 (a). (A) is a top view which shows typically the modification of a reinforcement member. (B) is CC sectional view taken on the line of Fig.5 (a). (A) is a top view which shows the modification of a sealing board typically. (B) is the DD sectional view taken on the line of Fig.6 (a). (A) is a top view which shows the modification of a sealing board typically. (B) is the EE sectional view taken on the line of Fig.7 (a). (A) is a top view which shows typically the modification of a reinforcement member. (B) is the FF sectional view taken on the line of Fig.8 (a).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image display apparatus 20 Organic EL panel 21 Substrate 22 Anode 23 Organic layer 24 Cathode 25 Sealing plate 26 Reinforcing member 31 Anode lead-out wiring 32 IC for anode
33 Anode TCP
34 Cathode extraction wiring 35 IC for cathode
36 TCP for cathode

Claims (6)

An insulating substrate;
A first electrode formed on the substrate;
An organic layer formed on the first electrode and having a light emitting function;
A second electrode formed on the organic layer;
A recess for sealing the first electrode, the organic layer, and the second electrode is formed on one main surface, and the one main surface is formed on the substrate so as to face the substrate. An installed sealing plate;
With
The organic layer includes a light emitting region in a region where the first electrode and the second electrode face each other,
Installed on the other main surface of the sealing plate so as to have at least a region not facing the light emitting region of the organic layer and to face at least a part of the edge of the recess of the sealing plate An image display device further comprising a reinforcing member. The planar shape of the recess formed in the sealing plate is substantially square,
The reinforcing member is installed on the other main surface of the sealing plate so as to face two opposite sides of the edge of the bottom surface of the recess formed in the sealing plate. Item 4. The image display device according to Item 1. The planar shape of the recess formed in the sealing plate is substantially square,
The reinforcing member is formed in a frame shape, and is installed on the other main surface of the sealing plate so as to face an edge of a bottom surface of the recess formed in the sealing plate. The image display device according to claim 1. The planar shape and the cross-sectional shape of the recess formed in the sealing plate are substantially square,
The said reinforcement member is installed on the other main surface of the said sealing board so that each square of the bottom face of the said recessed part formed in the said sealing board may be opposed. Image display device.   5. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein an edge of a bottom surface of the recess formed in the sealing plate is formed in a curved surface so as to relieve stress concentration.   5. The image according to claim 1, wherein an edge of a bottom surface of the recess formed in the sealing plate is formed in a step shape so as to relieve stress concentration. Display device.

Images