JP2009259514A - Gas discharge panel manufacturing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gas discharge panel manufacturing device for greatly reducing the problem that a local recess is produced in a PDP in a sealing or exhausting process resulting in the crack of the PDP. <P>SOLUTION: The gas discharge panel manufacturing device comprises a gripping means 41 for gripping a pair of substrates 2, 3 in the state of being opposed to each other across a sealing member 17 provided at the peripheral edge thereof, during sealing or exhaust, the gripping means 41 having an escaping cavity 60 for avoiding the interference with the substrate 2 when the gripping means 41 is inclined with its dead weight. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a gas discharge panel manufacturing apparatus represented by a plasma display panel (hereinafter referred to as PDP).

  In recent years, gas discharge panels typified by PDPs have attracted attention as thin display devices with excellent visibility. For example, PDPs are used in homes in terms of high definition, large screens, and ease of manufacturing. It is also spreading.

  In this PDP structure, a front substrate having a plurality of display electrodes composed of scan electrodes and sustain electrodes and a rear substrate having a plurality of data electrodes intersecting the display electrodes are sandwiched by a partition formed on the rear substrate. By facing each other, a discharge cell is formed at the intersection of the display electrode and the data electrode, and a phosphor layer is provided in the discharge cell.

  Then, a discharge gas is sealed in the discharge cell, a discharge is generated by a periodic voltage applied between the display electrode and the data electrode, and visible light is emitted by irradiating the phosphor layer with ultraviolet light from the discharge. The image is displayed.

  In the process of manufacturing the PDP, the front substrate and the rear substrate on which the respective parts are formed are arranged to face each other, and the sealing process for sealing the periphery, and before the discharge gas is sealed in the discharge space in the PDP, And an exhaust process for exhausting the inside of the discharge space. In the sealing step, after forming a sealing member made of, for example, low-melting glass around the front substrate or the back substrate, the front substrate and the back substrate are arranged to face each other, and after positioning, the periphery is made of a metal clip or the like The sealing member is softened and fluidized by heating while being gripped by the gripping means to form a PDP which is a vacuum container. Further, in order to supply and exhaust gas in the PDP in the subsequent exhaust process, an air supply / exhaust hole is formed in the PDP, and in this sealing process, a glass exhaust pipe is similarly used as the sealing member. It is closely attached / fixed.

  In the exhaust process, first, a gas supply / exhaust head is connected to a glass exhaust pipe attached to the supply / exhaust hole. The gas supply / exhaust head unit connects the gas supply / exhaust unit for supplying and exhausting the gas in the PDP and the exhaust pipe described above. Then, the gas in the PDP is exhausted by the gas supply / exhaust unit while heating the entire PDP, and then the discharge gas is sealed in the PDP up to a predetermined pressure, and the exhaust pipe is blown and sealed.

Since this sealing / exhaust process is performed continuously, the gas supply / exhaust head portion and the supply / exhaust hole are connected from the beginning of the sealing process via an exhaust pipe or the like (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-356038 A

  To realize a gas discharge panel manufacturing apparatus capable of greatly reducing the problem of causing local dents in the PDP and, as a result, cracking in the PDP, in the sealing process and the exhaust process. Objective.

  In order to achieve the above object, the gas discharge panel manufacturing apparatus of the present invention arranges a pair of substrates opposite to each other with a sealing member provided on the peripheral edge thereof, and grips them with gripping means in that state, and seals them. A gap for clearance is provided in the gripping means so that interference with the substrate does not occur when the gripping means is tilted by its own weight when performing attachment and exhaust.

  In order to achieve the above object, the gas discharge panel manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is configured such that a pair of substrates are opposed to each other with a sealing member provided on the peripheral edge thereof, and are gripped by gripping means in that state. A support mechanism for supporting the gripping means is provided so as to resist the gripping means from being inclined by its own weight when sealing and exhausting.

  In order to achieve the above object, the gas discharge panel manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is configured such that a pair of substrates are opposed to each other with a sealing member provided on the peripheral edge thereof, and are gripped by gripping means in that state. When performing sealing and exhaust, a lifting wire is provided for lifting the gripping means against the tilting of the gripping means due to its own weight.

  According to the present invention, the manufacture of a gas discharge panel that can greatly reduce the problem of causing local dents in the PDP and, as a result, cracking in the PDP, in the sealing process and the exhaust process. An apparatus can be realized.

  Hereinafter, although the manufacturing apparatus of the gas discharge panel by one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated using figures, the aspect of this invention is not limited to this.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing a schematic structure of a PDP that is one of gas discharge panels manufactured by a gas discharge panel manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The PDP 1 has a structure in which a pair of front substrate 2 and rear substrate 3 face each other with a partition wall 4 interposed therebetween. The front substrate 2 includes a display electrode 8 formed of a plurality of pairs of scanning electrodes 6 and sustain electrodes 7 formed on the front glass substrate 5, a dielectric layer 9 formed so as to cover the display electrode 8, and a dielectric thereof. For example, the protective layer 10 made of, for example, MgO is formed so as to cover the body layer 9. The scan electrode 6 and the sustain electrode 7 have a structure in which the bus electrodes 6b and 7b are stacked on the transparent electrodes 6a and 7a.

  The back substrate 3 includes a plurality of data electrodes 12 formed on the main surface of the back glass substrate 11, a dielectric layer 13 formed so as to cover the data electrodes 12, and the data electrodes 12 on the dielectric layer 13. In this structure, the barrier ribs 4 are formed at positions corresponding to each other, and the phosphor layers 14R, 14G, and 14B are formed between the adjacent barrier ribs 4.

  Then, the front substrate 2 and the rear substrate 3 are arranged to face each other to form a discharge space 15 and display an image. An arrow in the figure indicates the image display direction 16.

  Next, the manufacturing method of PDP1 by embodiment of this invention is demonstrated.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the manufacturing process schematically showing the manufacturing method of the PDP 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the method for manufacturing the PDP 1 is roughly divided into a front substrate 2 formation step S10, a rear substrate 3 formation step S20, and an assembly step S30 thereof.

  The front substrate 2 forming step S10 includes a scanning electrode / sustain electrode forming step S11, a dielectric layer forming step S12, and a protective film forming step S13.

  On the other hand, the back substrate forming step S20 includes a data electrode forming step S21, a base dielectric layer forming step S22, a partition wall forming step S23, and a phosphor layer forming step S24.

  The assembly step S30 includes a PDP formation step S31 for performing a sealing / exhaust / gas introduction step, an aging step S32, and a PDP completion step S33. Through these steps, the PDP 1 is completed.

  Next, the PDP formation step S31 will be described in detail below. In this process, the front substrate 2 and the rear substrate 3 are arranged to face each other and the periphery of each substrate is sealed with a sealing member, the exhaust process for exhausting the gas in the PDP 1, and the discharge gas is introduced into the PDP 1. A gas introducing step for sealing is performed.

  First, a process performed as a previous stage of the sealing process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view schematically showing a state in which the front substrate 2 and the rear substrate 3 of the PDP 1 are arranged to face each other. As described above, the sealing member 17 is formed so as to surround the image display region 18 in the peripheral portion of either the front substrate 2 or the rear substrate 3, and both the substrates are disposed to face each other. The aligned substrates are temporarily fixed by gripping means 20 such as a clip so as not to be displaced. The sealing member 17 is made of frit glass or the like, and is applied to the aforementioned position by a screen printing method or an injection method. Then, after heating to such an extent that the resin component can be removed, the front substrate 2 and the rear substrate 3 are arranged to face each other.

  And in order to exhaust the gas which exists between the front substrate 2 and the back substrate 3 which are opposingly arranged, the air supply / exhaust hole 19 is previously formed in PDP1. The air supply / exhaust hole 19 is generally formed in a corner portion of the PDP 1. This is because the air supply / exhaust hole 19 cannot be formed in the image display region 18 where the partition wall 4 is formed, and it is necessary to avoid a flexible circuit board attached to the lead portion of each electrode. Therefore, it is inevitably formed at the corner.

  On the other hand, since the PDP 1 is used as an image display device such as a television, it is required to make this frame portion, that is, an area other than the image display area 18 of the PDP 1 as small as possible. As a result, the air supply / exhaust hole 19 is located close to the sealing member 17.

  4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion A surrounded by a dotted line in FIG. 3, that is, a peripheral portion of the air supply / exhaust hole 19 of the PDP 1. This shows a state where the PDP 1 is installed in the apparatus used in the PDP forming step S31. Thus, the exhaust pipe 21 is attached to the air supply / exhaust hole 19 via the tablet 22 which is a sealing material. As a material of the tablet 22, for example, low melting point frit glass or the like can be used.

  And the center of the air supply / exhaust hole 19 and the center of the hole of the tablet 22 are made to correspond substantially. At this time, it is positioned and attached so that the center of the opening at one end of the exhaust pipe 21 and the center of the exhaust hole 19 are substantially coincident with each other, and another fixing jig (not shown) is provided so that the respective centers are not displaced. )) To fix. An exhaust head 23 is connected to the other end of the exhaust pipe 21. The exhaust head 23 serves to connect a gas supply / exhaust section for supplying and exhausting gas in the PDP and the supply / exhaust hole 19 via an exhaust pipe 21 and the like.

  Next, the manufacturing apparatus used in the PDP forming step S31 will be described. FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a gas discharge panel manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention used in the PDP forming step S31 of the manufacturing method of the PDP 1. Thereby, each process of sealing, exhaust, and gas introduction can be performed consistently. The PDP manufacturing apparatus 31 has a configuration in which a vacuum exhaust system 34 and a gas introduction system 35 that are gas supply and exhaust units are connected to a furnace body 33 having a heating mechanism 32. Further, in FIG. 5, a portion surrounded by a dotted line is the vacuum exhaust device system 34, and a portion surrounded by a broken line corresponds to the gas introduction device system 35.

  The vacuum exhaust device system 34 includes a valve 36a such as a pump, a manifold 37, a vacuum exhaust device 38a, and a main valve 39. The gas introduction device system 35 includes a gas sealing device 38b such as a gas cylinder, a valve 36b, a manifold 37, and a main valve 39. It is composed of The manifold 37 and the main valve 39 are shared by both the vacuum exhaust device system 34 and the gas introduction device system 35. In FIG. 5, the description of the peripheral portions of the air supply / exhaust hole 19 and the exhaust pipe 21 is omitted.

  The PDP 1 temporarily fixed by the gripping means 20 (FIG. 3) is placed in the furnace body 33 of the manufacturing apparatus 31, heated to a temperature at which the sealing member 17 is melted by the heating mechanism 32, and then cooled. By solidifying, the front substrate 2 and the rear substrate 3 are hermetically sealed, and the exhaust pipe 21 and the rear substrate 3 are hermetically sealed. The furnace body 33 is again heated to a predetermined temperature by the heating mechanism 32, and the gas in the PDP 1 is evacuated through the exhaust head 23 by the vacuum exhaust system 34. At this time, the valve 36a of the vacuum exhaust system 34 is open, and the valve 36b of the gas introduction system 35 is closed. After evacuation, the temperature is lowered to near room temperature, the valve 36a is closed, the valve 36b of the gas introduction device system 35 is opened, and a discharge gas of a predetermined pressure (for example, about 530 hPa in the case of Ne—Xe mixed gas) 800 hPa pressure).

  Finally, a predetermined portion of the exhaust pipe 21 (FIG. 4) is locally heated and melted, and the blocked portion is cut. In this way, the exhaust pipe 21 is sealed and hermetically sealed.

  Next, a state in which the PDP 1 is installed in the PDP manufacturing apparatus 31 and the exhaust pipe 21 is attached to the exhaust head 23 in the above-described PDP formation step S31 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6, 7, 8, and 9. To do. These drawings are cross-sectional views schematically showing an installation state of the gripping means 41 in the vicinity of the air supply / exhaust hole 19, the exhaust pipe 21, and the exhaust head 23 in the gripping means 20 of the PDP 1. FIG. 6, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 are sectional views showing a schematic configuration of a gas discharge panel manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration of a conventional gas discharge panel manufacturing apparatus. Is shown in a sectional view. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the same component.

  First, after the front substrate 2 and the rear substrate 3 are arranged to face each other, the gripping means 20 (FIG. 3) is disposed around the PDP 1 except for the vicinity of the air supply / exhaust holes 19 for the purpose of temporarily fixing, and the PDP 1 is gripped. A PDP gripping means 41 having a structure different from that of the gripping means 20 (FIG. 3) is attached near the air supply / exhaust hole 19.

  The PDP gripping means 41 is provided with an upper address plate 42, a lower address plate 43, and a guide plate 44, and an upper address plate column 45, a lower address plate column 46, and a connection plate column 47 are attached to the guide plate 44. ing. The upper support plate support 45 for supporting the upper support plate and the lower support plate support 46 for supporting the lower support plate are connected via a spring 48, and are movable with a fixed position on the guide plate 44 as a fulcrum. At the time of attachment to the PDP 1, the end portion of the PDP 1 is placed along the guide plate 44, and the PDP 1 is sandwiched and fixed by the upper address plate 42 and the lower address plate 43.

  In addition, a ring-shaped resin (not shown) corresponding to the outer diameter of the exhaust pipe 21 is provided inside the exhaust head 23 in order to make the connection with the exhaust pipe 21 airtight. Further, a gas pipe 50 for supplying and exhausting gas and a cooling water pipe 51 for cooling the ring-shaped resin are connected to the exhaust head 23. The gas pipe 50 and the cooling water pipe 51 move flexibly.

  The furnace body 33 is provided with a plurality of columnar PDP support columns 40. The head of the PDP support column 40 has a shape such as a spherical shape or a roller shape that reduces friction with the object to be contacted, and the PDP 1 can freely move according to the thermal expansion / contraction of the PDP 1. It is like that. Then, the PDP 1 temporarily fixed by the gripping means 20 and the PDP gripping means 41 is placed on the plurality of PDP support columns 40.

  By using the PDP support pillar 40 as described above, a large stress is generated in the exhaust pipe 21 due to a difference in thermal expansion / contraction during heating / cooling in the sealing and exhaust processes, and cracks are generated in the exhaust pipe 21. It is possible to suppress the occurrence of a problem that the PDP 1 leaks due to the occurrence or the inclination of the exhaust pipe 21.

  And the exhaust pipe 21 is attached to the independent exhaust head 23, and the air supply / exhaust hole 19 and the exhaust pipe 21 of the PDP 1 are in contact with each other via the tablet 22, and the centers of the air supply / exhaust hole 19, the exhaust pipe 21 and the tablet 22 are substantially coincident. Align so that Further, one of the connection plates 52 is attached to the connection plate support 47 provided on the guide plate 44 of the PDP gripping means 41, and the other is attached to the exhaust head 23. In this way, the PDP gripping means 41 and the exhaust head 23 are connected.

  Here, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 9, since the gripping means 41 is in a cantilever state, it may be tilted due to its own weight. FIG. 10 is a sectional view schematically showing a state in which the gripping means 41 is tilted. That is, since the gap between the front substrate 2 and the rear substrate 3 is originally regulated by the partition 4 (FIG. 1) formed on the rear substrate 3, the sealing member 17 of the PDP 1 is softened and flowed by heating at the time of sealing. At this time, it is crushed only to the same height as the partition wall 4, and for this reason, the flatness of the PDP 1 is maintained from the central part to the outer peripheral part where the sealing member 17 is formed. If the gripping means 41 is tilted, the gripping force on the partition wall 4 is weakened, and at the same time, the tilted gripping means 41 causes interference with the front substrate 2 of the PDP 1 and a load acts locally. As a result, an excessive load is applied to the sealing member 17 directly below the gripping means 41 via the front substrate 2. Therefore, when the sealing member 17 softens and flows due to heating at the time of sealing, the sealing member 17 immediately below the upper support plate column 45 on which an excessive load is applied is formed by the partition wall 4 compared to the surrounding sealing member 17. As a result, the PDP after the completion of sealing and exhausting is crushed more than the regulation of the gap between the substrates. There is a problem that the shape becomes locally recessed, and then the PDP is cracked because the recessed portion is pressed when a flexible substrate (FPC) for connecting the PDP to the drive circuit is pressed. There was a case.

  Here, in order to suppress the occurrence of such a problem, 1. 1. An excessive load is not applied to the sealing member even when the gripping means for gripping the PDP is inclined, or It can be considered that there are roughly two approaches to prevent the gripping means for gripping the PDP from tilting.

  Therefore, according to the apparatus for manufacturing a gas discharge panel according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 6, the shape of the upper support plate support 45 between the PDP 1 and the portion where the sealing member 17 of the PDP 1 is formed. It is assumed that there is a gap 60 in the gap. By having the structure as described above, the sealing member 17 has the gap 60 for “escape” so that “interference” due to the inclination does not occur even when the PDP gripping means 41 is inclined by its own weight. Thus, an excessive load is not applied to the sealing member 17, so that the sealing member 17 is not crushed much in the portion corresponding to the portion directly below the upper support plate column 45 as compared with the other portions.

  Note that the shape of the gap 60 and the configuration of the PDP gripping means 41 are not limited to those shown in FIG. 6, and a member corresponding to the upper strut plate strut contacts the PDP at the location where the sealing member 17 is formed. Any shape and configuration may be used as long as they satisfy the requirements. Note that the optimum shape and configuration varies depending on the material, dimensions, weight, etc. used, and is not uniform. However, a member corresponding to the upper support plate column contacts the PDP at the location where the sealing member 17 is formed. It is clear that not having solved the dent accompanying the local crushing of the sealing member considered as a problem in this case.

  Thus, the PDP 1 manufactured in this embodiment does not have a local dent, and the PDP is not cracked when a flexible substrate for connecting the PDP to the drive circuit is bonded. It was confirmed that the effect of.

  In the apparatus for manufacturing a gas discharge panel according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 7, the support pin 61 is provided as a support mechanism for supporting the grip means 41 so that the grip means 41 is inclined against its own weight. By having the support mechanism as described above, the weight of the PDP gripping means 41 can be supported by the support pins 61 via the connection plate 52, so that the PDP gripping means 41 does not tilt and the upper support plate support 45 As for the portion corresponding to the position directly below, an excessive load is not applied to the sealing member 17 as compared with other portions.

  Since the support pin 61 is provided on the furnace body 33, there is a difference in thermal expansion / contraction during sealing / exhaust heating / cooling with respect to the connecting plate 55 of the supporting PDP gripping means 41. is there. Therefore, as described in the background art, in order not to cause a problem that the gas in the PDP leaks due to a large stress in the exhaust pipe, cracks in the exhaust pipe, or tilting of the exhaust pipe. It is required that the connection plate 55 is movable on the support pin 61 for lubrication. Therefore, the tip of the support pin 61 is a sphere or a roller, and the surface of the connection plate 55 in contact with the support pin 61 must be a smooth surface.

  In the apparatus for manufacturing a gas discharge panel according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 8, the lifting wire connecting portion 63 and the furnace body 33 provided in the PDP gripping means 41 are lifted by the lifting wire 62 so that the PDP gripping means 41 has its own weight. It is assumed that it is connected so as to resist leaning. By having the lifting mechanism as described above, the weight of the PDP gripping means 41 can be supported by the furnace body 33 via the lifting wire 62, so that the PDP gripping means 41 is not inclined by its own weight, and the upper cover plate Even in a portion corresponding to a position immediately below the support column 45, an excessive load is not applied to the sealing member 17 as compared with other portions.

  An excessive load is not applied to the sealing member 17 in the PDP 1 manufactured by the gas discharge panel manufacturing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 7, and FIG. It was confirmed that local dents of the PDP 1 were not generated, and therefore it was possible to prevent the occurrence of leaks such as cracks in the PDP 1 when the flexible substrate was crimped.

  As described above, the present invention is useful for manufacturing a gas discharge panel.

Sectional perspective view which shows schematic structure of PDP which is one of the gas discharge panels manufactured with the manufacturing apparatus of the gas discharge panel by one embodiment of this invention. The flowchart of the manufacturing process which shows schematically the manufacturing method of PDP which is one of the gas discharge panels manufactured with the manufacturing apparatus of the gas discharge panel by one embodiment of this invention. The top view which shows roughly the state by which the front substrate and back substrate of PDP which are one of the gas discharge panels manufactured with the manufacturing apparatus of the gas discharge panel by one Embodiment of this invention were opposingly arranged. Sectional drawing which expands and shows the A section enclosed with the dotted line in FIG. The schematic block diagram which shows the manufacturing apparatus of the gas discharge panel by one embodiment of this invention Sectional drawing which shows schematically PDP and the holding means in the manufacturing apparatus of the gas discharge panel by one embodiment of this invention Similarly, sectional drawing which shows schematically PDP and the holding means in the manufacturing apparatus of the gas discharge panel by one embodiment of this invention Similarly, sectional drawing which shows schematically PDP and the holding means in the manufacturing apparatus of the gas discharge panel by one embodiment of this invention Sectional drawing which shows schematically PDP and the holding means in the manufacturing apparatus of the conventional gas discharge panel Schematic cross-sectional view for explaining problems in a conventional gas discharge panel manufacturing apparatus

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Plasma display panel 17 Sealing member 19 Air supply / exhaust hole 21 Exhaust pipe 23 Exhaust head 33 Furnace body 40 Panel support pillar 41 Panel holding means 42 Upper cover plate 43 Lower cover plate 44 Guide plate 45 Upper cover plate column 46 Lower cover plate column 46 47 Connection plate support 48 Spring 50 Gas piping 51 Cooling water piping 52 Connection plate 60 Air gap 61 Support pin 62 Lifting wire 63 Lifting wire connection part

Claims (3)

When a pair of substrates are placed opposite to each other with a sealing member provided on the peripheral edge thereof, and gripped by the gripping means in that state, when sealing and exhausting, when the gripping means is tilted by its own weight, An apparatus for manufacturing a gas discharge panel, wherein a gripping means is provided with a clearance for escape so as not to interfere with the substrate. A pair of substrates are arranged opposite to each other with a sealing member provided on the peripheral edge thereof, and gripped by the gripping means in that state so that the gripping means resists tilting by its own weight when performing sealing and exhausting. A device for manufacturing a gas discharge panel provided with a support mechanism for supporting the gripping means. A pair of substrates are arranged opposite to each other with a sealing member provided on the peripheral edge thereof, and gripped by the gripping means in that state so that the gripping means resists tilting by its own weight when performing sealing and exhausting. A device for manufacturing a gas discharge panel provided with a lifting wire for lifting a gripping means.

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