JP2007528113A - Flat fluorescent lamp, method of sealing and exhausting a flat fluorescent lamp, and lamp manufactured by this method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for sealing and evacuating a flat fluorescent lamp, wherein the process of sealing and evacuating the flat fluorescent lamp is performed at a relatively low temperature, and a flat fluorescent lamp manufactured by a rough method. .
An apparatus for sealing and exhausting a flat fluorescent lamp is an upper chamber in which a fluorescent lamp 10 having an exhaust port 12a is placed, and is formed on an external heater 21 attached to the upper surface and a lower surface. An upper chamber 20 having a connection port 22, an exhaust duct 30 having vacuum pumps 31 and 32 and a gas injection part 33 connected to the connection port 22 of the upper chamber, and a connection port 22 of the upper chamber 20 A lifting device 40 having a substrate 14 disposed on the upper surface for covering the exhaust port 12a, an internal heater 50 provided on the upper surface of the lifting device, and provided next to the internal heater 50. A temperature sensor 51.

Description

  The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for sealing and exhausting a flat fluorescent lamp, and a flat fluorescent lamp manufactured by the method. In particular, it relates to flat fluorescent lamps and methods and devices for sealing and evacuating flat fluorescent lamps. In addition, the process is performed at a relatively low temperature, the brightness is improved by reducing the deterioration of the fluorescent lamp compared to the prior art, the degree of vacuum is improved, the whole process is simplified, and further comparisons are made. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for sealing and exhausting a flat fluorescent lamp, and a flat fluorescent lamp manufactured by the method.

  Flat fluorescent lamps are used for the backlighting of flat display panels. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a typical flat fluorescent lamp includes a flat front glass substrate 1 having a phosphor layer 2 provided on a lower side, a phosphor layer 4, a dielectric layer 5, and an electrode portion 6. Are formed in order on the upper surface, a support 7 that is fixed to the edges of the front and back glass substrates 1 and 3 with glass solder and seals the fluorescent lamp, and the front and back glass substrates. It has a plurality of spacers (not shown) for supporting 1 and 3.

  Until now, in the manufacture of flat fluorescent lamps, the vacuum mounting technique is generally used, and the front and back glass substrates 1 and 3 and the support portion 7 are integrally attached. The interior space of the flat fluorescent lamp defined by the front and rear glass substrates 1 and 3 and the support portion 7 was evacuated and sealed using a vacuum.

  An example of such a vacuum mounting technique is the technique used in the manufacture of plasma display panels (PDPs). As shown in FIG. 3, in this example, the exhaust tube 8 is attached to the hole 3a of the rear glass substrate 3 and connected to a vacuum device for exhausting the lamp. Thereafter, gas is injected into the lamp through the exhaust tube 8, and then the exhaust tube 8 is cut and sealed.

  The lamp thickness should be reduced in view of its characteristics. However, in the above method, there is a portion left after the exhaust tube 8 is cut and sealed, so that it is difficult to apply the method. Furthermore, when using the above method, the exhaust tube 8 should be sealed by dissolving it in a solid or liquid state, so that the degree of vacuum due to the gas generated in such a process. May be a problem.

  Another example of such vacuum mounting technology includes the technology of Japanese company H. The technique uses a method in which the hole 7a and the exhaust part 9 are formed beside the support part 7 that supports the front and back glass substrates 1 and 3. The lamp is exhausted using the exhaust part 9. As shown in FIG. 4, the gas is then injected through the exhaust 9 and subsequently sealed. This method has the further disadvantage that the manufacturing process becomes complicated and gas loss increases.

  On the other hand, Osram GmbH uses a method in which exhaust and gas injection are performed between the support portions 7 of the front glass substrate 1 and the rear glass substrate 3 without using holes and sealing, and then sealing is performed. ing. Since there are no holes, this method has the advantage that it can be sealed cleanly.

  However, this method is a complicated process, increases gas loss, and requires accurate equipment because precise alignment of the front and back glass substrates is required.

  Furthermore, since the temperature of the material used for sealing the front glass substrate and the back glass substrate needs to be 400 ° C. or higher, there is a problem that the phosphor material is deteriorated.

  Therefore, the present invention has been conceived to solve the problems in the prior art. An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for sealing and exhausting a flat fluorescent lamp, and a flat fluorescent lamp manufactured by the method, which reduces deterioration of a phosphor material as compared with the prior art. Thus, the brightness is improved, the degree of vacuum is increased, the process is simplified, and a flat fluorescent lamp can be manufactured with a relatively small thickness.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for sealing and evacuating a flat fluorescent lamp having an external heater attached to an upper surface side and a connection port formed on a lower surface side is disposed. And an exhaust duct connected to the connection port of the upper chamber and having a vacuum pump and a gas injection part, a lifting device disposed under the connection port of the upper chamber, and an upper surface of the lifting device An internal heater and a temperature sensor provided beside the internal heater are included.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for sealing and exhausting a flat fluorescent lamp having a rear glass substrate on which one or more exhaust ports are formed, and the substrate for covering the exhaust port or its periphery. And a second step of removing impurities from the upper chamber by heating at 50-150 ° C., and a substrate is connected to the exhaust port. , A third step of evacuating using a vacuum at 250 to 300 ° C., a fourth step of filling the fluorescent lamp with an inert gas, and pressing the substrate against the exhaust port , Having a fifth step of heating and curing at 150-250 ° C.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  5 and 6 are schematic diagrams illustrating an embodiment of an apparatus for sealing and evacuating a flat fluorescent lamp according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a side view showing an embodiment of a flat fluorescent lamp manufactured using the apparatus for sealing and evacuating a flat fluorescent lamp according to the present invention.

  An apparatus for sealing and evacuating a flat fluorescent lamp according to the invention has an upper chamber 20 in which a fluorescent lamp 10 having an exhaust port 12a is arranged. The upper chamber 20 has an external heater 21 attached to the upper surface and a connection port 22 formed on the lower surface. Further, the exhaust port 30 is connected to the connection port 22 of the upper chamber 20 and attached with the vacuum pumps 31, 32 and the gas injection part 33, and is disposed below the connection port 22 of the upper chamber 20, and the exhaust port 12a. A lifting device 40 having a substrate 14 placed on the upper surface thereof, an internal heater 50 attached to the upper surface of the lifting device 40, and a temperature sensor 51 disposed beside the internal heater 50.

  As shown in FIG. 5, it is preferable to further assemble a lower chamber 60 below the upper chamber 20 and seal the apparatus by surrounding the exhaust duct 30 to stabilize the entire apparatus.

  Furthermore, the vacuum pumps 31 and 32 are preferably a rotary pump 31 for low vacuum and a turbo pump 32 for high vacuum, respectively. However, any other pump can be used if necessary.

  FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method of using an apparatus for sealing and evacuating a flat fluorescent lamp according to the present invention. A method of using the apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 8 in conjunction with FIG.

  In the method, a flat fluorescent lamp 10 having one or more exhaust ports 12a already formed on the back glass substrate 12 or formed during the process is placed in an apparatus for sealing and exhausting, and then sealed and exhausted. This is a method for executing processing.

  First, in a state where the exhaust port 12a of the flat fluorescent lamp 10 is disposed in the connection port 22 in the upper chamber 20, in a first step S10, a silicone-based binding material is formed on the substrate 14 to cover the exhaust port 12a or its periphery. 15 is screen injection printed.

  Next, in a second step S20, impurities are removed from the substrate 14 at 50 to 150 ° C. using an external heat source, and then the substrate is placed on the internal heater 50 disposed on the upper surface of the pulling device 40. Alternatively, the substrate 14 is disposed on an internal heater 50 disposed on the upper surface of the pulling device 40, and then impurities are removed from the substrate 14 at 50 to 150 ° C. using the internal heater 50.

  Thereafter, in a third step S30, heat is supplied from the external heater 21 to 250 to 300 ° C., and impurities are removed from the inside of the lamp by an exhaust means using vacuum.

  In a fourth step S40, the fluorescent lamp 10 is filled with an inert gas through the gas injection unit 33.

  Next, in a fifth step S50, the substrate 14 is pulled up using the pulling device 40, the substrate is pushed toward the exhaust port 12a, the internal heater 50 is operated, the substrate is heated to 150 to 250 ° C., and the substrate is cured. (cure).

  It is preferable that 1 to 4 exhaust ports 12a are formed in the rear glass substrate 12, and the diameter of each exhaust port is 1 to 5 mm. The substrate 14 covering the exhaust port 12a is made of glass or soda lime glass, and preferably has a diameter of 10 to 30 mm.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the substrate 14 can have various shapes such as a circle and a rectangle.

  Hereinafter, the operation and effect of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The present invention uses a silicone resin, and the lamp is exhausted through the exhaust port 12a by a technique for sealing the front and rear glass substrates and the support portion 13 at a low temperature and by vacuum means at a high temperature, and the gas is injected into the lamp. And providing an apparatus and method in which the substrate 14 is coupled to the exhaust port 12a using the same material.

  In order to achieve this object, the flat fluorescent lamp 10 of the present invention is configured as follows. A phosphor layer 16 is disposed on the front glass substrate 11, a white reflecting plate 17 is added to the rear glass substrate 12, a needle-like electrode 19 is disposed on one surface of the reflecting plate 17, and a dielectric layer 18 is disposed between the electrodes. In order to achieve this insulation, it is added to the reflection plate, and the back phosphor layer 16 is formed to be disposed on the dielectric layer 18.

  The front and back glass substrates 11 and 12 are coupled to each other by a support portion 13 disposed between them. At this time, the exhaust port 12a is provided in the support portion 13, and the discharge space defined by the support portion 13 and the front and back glass substrates 11 and 12 is filled with the inert gas through the exhaust port. It is then heated and sealed.

  With such a method, the electrode 19 is disposed on the one surface, while the phosphor layers 16 are disposed on both sides of the front and back glass substrates 11 and 12, thereby having a long life and improved luminance uniformity. Further, by using the needle-like electrode 9, a flat fluorescent lamp having a reduced light emission voltage and reduced power consumption can be obtained.

  With respect to the sealing method, a liquid or solid silicone material (Si—O—C) is discharged using a discharger or a device that performs the same function, and thereby the upper and lower ends of the support portion 13 are spaced at regular intervals. Printed on top. The material is heated to about 50 to 150 ° C. to remove impurities remaining in the material.

  At this time, it is possible to change the order of the processes. For example, the silicone material can be released to the front and back glass substrates 11, 12 instead of directly releasing the silicone material to the support 13 to achieve their bonding.

  Therefore, the support 13 prepared in advance and the front and rear glass substrates 11 and 12 are accurately positioned with respect to their positions, and pressure is applied for a predetermined bond strength. The silicone material is then cured at 150-250 ° C, preferably 200-220 ° C. At this time, an important curing condition is a curing temperature at which impurities can be completely removed.

  According to such a sealing method, the sealing can be performed at a lower temperature than in the prior art, for example at a temperature of 200 ° C. or higher. Compared to the conventional method of heating and sealing glass at a high temperature, the sealing time is short, and the sealing device can be easily manufactured because only low-temperature control is required.

  Furthermore, since the sealing is performed at a low temperature, the phosphor material is hardly deteriorated by the high temperature. Recently, it has been found that the blue phosphor material for PDP or the three-wavelength material is deteriorated during the heat treatment process for the phosphor material together with the high-temperature sealing process.

  For this reason, heating is performed in an atmosphere of argon or neon instead of general air. Alternatively, a method of preventing thermal damage by coating is used. However, the degradation of brightness reduction is not completely eliminated by these methods.

  The flat fluorescent lamp manufactured by this low-temperature sealing method can be sealed at 250 ° C. or at a temperature lower than that at which the blue phosphor material is not deteriorated. It can be understood that the deterioration of the green and red phosphor materials can be prevented by the same method without being limited to the blue phosphor material.

  As can be attributed to the same result, the reduced degradation of the blue phosphor material is due to the small amount of blue reduction and the green and red in the white display due to the mixture of green, red and blue in a flat fluorescent lamp. It is possible to add further. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the benefit of increased brightness.

  Thereafter, the flat fluorescent lamp 10 manufactured in this way is placed in the sealing and evacuating apparatus of the present invention, evacuated by vacuum, filled with the injected gas, and finally sealed.

  Sealing after evacuation is characterized in that the sealing is performed using the same silicon resin (Si-O-C) material as described above. In the state in which the front and rear glass substrates 11 and 12 and the support portion 13 are bonded to each other with the silicone resin, the flat fluorescent lamp 10 is provided with the exhaust port 12a in advance or in the apparatus. 12a is covered with the substrate 14 to which the silicone resin is attached, and further has heat applied, so that it does not have the form of a tube (tube).

  A substrate 14 having a small thickness of 0.5 to 2 mm, preferably 1 to 1.5 mm and a diameter of 10 to 30, preferably 15 mm, was applied to an internal heater 50 provided on the pulling device 40. It arrange | positions through the silicone resin 15. FIG.

  At this time, when the substrate 14 is disposed on the silicone resin 15, a process of sufficiently removing impurities in advance is required. If the impurities are not removed sufficiently, the impurities are discharged from the silicone resin 15 due to heat during operation of the flat panel or the like, reducing the brightness and shortening the life.

  The silicone resin 15 from which impurities are removed in such a manner is applied to the substrate 14 disposed on the internal heater 50. The exhaust process is then performed at a high temperature.

During the exhaust treatment, after maintaining a vacuum of about 10 ⁻⁶ to 10 ⁻⁷ Torr, the temperature of the internal heater 50 is lowered, so that the silicone resin 15 on the substrate 14 having high viscosity is lowered due to the previous temperature rise. Controlled to have.

  Thereafter, gas is injected into the lamp at a predetermined pressure, and the substrate 14 is pulled up to cover the exhaust port 12a.

  The lamp manufactured by such a method can be manufactured thinly because there is no residue due to the cut of the tube as compared with a conventional lamp manufactured using a tube. Furthermore, the lamp of the present invention can solve the problem that when a long tube is used, the time under vacuum is long due to high conductivity and the degree of vacuum is lowered.

  In addition, the in-line exhaust method, which has the advantage of a reduced overall thickness of the lamp, does not have a glass plate covering the port as compared to the present invention, so that a thin lamp can be manufactured. However, this method has the disadvantage of increasing gas loss. Furthermore, the method has the disadvantage that the entire lamp should be kept in vacuum and the process should be carried out, which increases the size of the device and takes time to adjust the vacuum. The present invention has such an advantage that the lamp can be made thinner by compensating for such disadvantages.

  Therefore, in the flat fluorescent lamp 10 manufactured in this way, it is possible to realize a thinness that can be applied to an illumination device that requires a small thickness or an LCD backlight.

  According to the present invention described above, sealing is achieved by heating and curing the silicone resin (Si—O—C) at about 250 ° C. Thus, the sealing temperature is a lower temperature than in conventional sealing methods up to low temperatures of about 200 ° C. or higher.

  Furthermore, the time for sealing is shorter than the conventional method in which sealing is performed by heating glass at a high temperature. Furthermore, since the sealing device only needs to be controlled at a low temperature, it can be easily manufactured.

  In addition, in the flat fluorescent lamp of the present invention, the same silicone resin material is used in the exhaust treatment, and there is no residue after cutting the tube as compared with the conventional lamp manufactured using the tube, so the lamp is manufactured thinly. can do. Furthermore, the lamp of the present invention can solve the problems that the time under vacuum is long and the degree of vacuum is reduced due to high conductivity when a long tube is used. The present invention can achieve a thinner lamp while compensating for such disadvantages.

  The above-described embodiments are merely examples for explaining the technical idea of the present invention, and the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned drawings or embodiments.

It is sectional drawing which shows the example of the conventional flat fluorescent lamp. It is the disassembled perspective view which shows the example of the conventional flat fluorescent lamp. It is the schematic which shows an example of the method of sealing and exhausting the conventional flat fluorescent lamp. It is the schematic which shows another example of the method of sealing and exhausting the conventional flat fluorescent lamp. 1 is a schematic view of an apparatus for sealing and evacuating a flat fluorescent lamp according to the present invention. 1 is a schematic view of an apparatus for sealing and evacuating a flat fluorescent lamp according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view showing an example of a flat fluorescent lamp made using an apparatus for sealing and evacuating a flat fluorescent lamp according to the present invention. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for sealing and evacuating a flat fluorescent lamp according to the present invention. It is the schematic which shows the Example of the board | substrate of the planar fluorescent lamp by this invention. It is the schematic which shows the Example of the board | substrate of the planar fluorescent lamp by this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the planar fluorescent lamp made by the method of this invention.

Claims (9)

An upper chamber in which a fluorescent lamp with an exhaust port is placed, an external heater attached to the upper surface, and an upper chamber having a connection port formed on the lower surface;
An exhaust duct having a vacuum pump and a gas inlet connected to the connection port of the upper chamber;
A lifting device disposed below the connection port of the upper chamber and having a substrate located on an upper surface for covering the exhaust port;
An internal heater provided on the upper surface of the lifting device;
A temperature sensor provided next to the internal heater;
A device for sealing and exhausting a flat fluorescent lamp characterized by the above. In claim 1,
An apparatus for sealing and exhausting a flat fluorescent lamp, further comprising a lower chamber disposed below the upper chamber and surrounding the exhaust duct. In claim 1,
The vacuum pump is a low vacuum rotary pump and a high vacuum turbo or refrigeration pump for sealing and exhausting a flat fluorescent lamp. In claim 1,
1 to 4 exhaust ports are formed on the back glass substrate of the lamp, and each exhaust port is sized to have a diameter of 1 to 5 mm for sealing and exhausting a flat fluorescent lamp characterized in that Equipment. In claim 1,
An apparatus for sealing and evacuating a flat fluorescent lamp, wherein the substrate is made of glass or soda-lime glass and has a diameter of 10 to 30 mm. A first step of screen or injection printing a silicone based binder on a substrate to cover the exhaust port or its periphery;
A second step of removing impurities from the upper chamber by heating at 50 to 150 ° C .;
A third step of evacuating using a vacuum at 250-300 ° C. with the substrate placed beside the exhaust port;
A fourth step of filling the fluorescent lamp with an inert gas;
A fifth step of pressing the substrate toward the exhaust port and heating and curing at 150-250 ° C .;
A method of sealing and evacuating a flat fluorescent lamp having a back glass substrate having one or more exhaust ports. A first step of forming one or more exhaust ports in the rear glass substrate of the lamp;
A second step of screen or injection printing a silicone-based binder on the substrate to cover the exhaust ports or their surroundings;
A third step of heating at 50-150 ° C. to remove impurities from the upper chamber;
A fourth step of evacuating using a vacuum at 250-300 ° C. with the substrate placed beside the exhaust port;
A fifth step of filling the fluorescent lamp with an inert gas;
A sixth step of pressing the substrate against the exhaust port, heating at 150 to 250 ° C., and curing;
A method of sealing and exhausting a flat fluorescent lamp characterized by the above. Using a device for sealing and evacuating a flat fluorescent lamp according to claim 1, in a method of sealing and evacuating a flat fluorescent lamp having a rear glass with one or more exhaust ports formed beforehand. There,
First screen or injection print a silicone based binder on the substrate to cover the exhaust ports or their perimeters;
A second step of removing impurities from the upper chamber by heating at 50-150 ° C .;
A third step of placing the substrate on the pulling device and operating a vacuum pump to evacuate using vacuum at 250-300 ° C .;
A fourth step of injecting an inert gas into the fluorescent lamp;
A fifth step of pressing the substrate against the exhaust port of the fluorescent lamp using the lifting device, operating the internal heater to heat at 150 to 250 ° C., and curing;
A method of sealing and exhausting a flat fluorescent lamp characterized by the above.   A flat fluorescent lamp manufactured by the method according to claim 8.

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