JP2010067428A - Electrode material for cold-cathode fluorescent lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electrode material for a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp in which depletion of Argon gas in a tube is hard to occur even if a discharge current is increased to around 20 mA. <P>SOLUTION: The composition is made so that WB has ≥50 vol.%, and at least one kind out of Ni, Ni alloy, and Co has ≥0.8 vol.%, and furthermore, the rest is composed of at least one of W and WC and inevitable impurities. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrode material for a cold cathode fluorescent lamp suitable for a cold cathode fluorescent lamp used for an illumination light source, a backlight of a personal computer monitor, a liquid crystal television, a liquid crystal display for a car navigation system, or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cold cathode fluorescent lamp has a structure in which electrodes 3 connected to the outside by terminals 2 are arranged at both ends in a glass tube 1. 4 and a sealed gas 5 composed of a rare gas and a small amount of mercury are sealed. A high electric field is applied to the electrodes 3 at both ends to generate a glow discharge in a low-pressure mercury vapor. The mercury excited by the discharge generates ultraviolet rays, and the ultraviolet rays on the inner surface of the glass tube 1 are excited by the ultraviolet rays. To emit light. In recent years, the electrodes used here are formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape capable of obtaining a hollow cathode effect. In this case, the terminal 2 is bonded to the bottom of the bottomed cylindrical electrode 3 by brazing or the like.

  In recent years, the cold cathode fluorescent lamp having such a structure has been used as a light source for backlight of a liquid crystal display. In recent years, it has been applied to liquid crystal televisions and liquid crystal displays for car navigation systems, and the demand for the liquid crystal displays is increasing. Furthermore, the number of cold cathode fluorescent lamps used in one product is approximately one for a liquid crystal display or the like of 15 inches or less, but a plurality of cold cathodes cannot be obtained because the required brightness cannot be obtained for large monitors and televisions. A fluorescent lamp is used. In such cold cathode fluorescent lamps, it is important to increase the brightness particularly in liquid crystal televisions that require a large screen and high resolution, and medical and industrial liquid crystal displays that require high reliability. . Further, from the viewpoint of reducing the number of optical sheets and the number of parts used in the backlight unit, higher brightness is strongly demanded.

  In order to increase the brightness of the cold cathode fluorescent lamp, it is necessary to (1) increase the discharge current and (2) reduce the gas pressure in the tube in order to increase the amount of electron emission from the electrode. When the discharge current is relatively low, such as about 6 mA, Ni that has been easily processed and inexpensive has been conventionally used as an electrode material for a cold cathode fluorescent lamp. Since the Ni electrode is easily sputtered by the gas ions in the tube when the discharge current is increased to about 10 mA, the electrode wears greatly. For this reason, when the discharge current is increased, there arises a problem that a hole is formed in the electrode or the cold cathode fluorescent lamp and the life of the cold cathode fluorescent lamp is shortened. Under such circumstances, Patent Document 1 discloses an electrode for a cold cathode fluorescent lamp in which WC having high sputtering resistance and low work function is dispersed in a W base having high sputtering resistance. According to the electrode for a cold cathode fluorescent lamp described in Patent Document 1, wear of the electrode is suppressed even under a discharge current of about 10 mA, and a cold cathode fluorescent lamp corresponding to high luminance can be obtained.

JP 2008-108580 A

  However, in recent years, there has been a demand for cost reduction of equipment, and an attempt to further increase the brightness of the cold cathode fluorescent lamp by increasing the discharge current to about 20 mA and reduce the number of lamps used in the equipment. Has been made. Under such a high discharge current, in the cold cathode fluorescent lamp using the cold cathode fluorescent lamp electrode described in Patent Document 1, etc., although the amount of wear of the electrode is suppressed, a slight amount of sputtering occurs. As a result, the argon gas in the tube is consumed, leading to non-lighting. This is a peculiar phenomenon that occurs when an element having high sputtering resistance such as W is used, and is generated when atoms sputtered in units of one to several atoms are deposited while involving argon gas in the tube. When Ni is used for the electrode, it is sputtered in a lump of about 10 to 100 atoms, and the specific surface area is smaller than that of sputtered atoms such as W, so that it is difficult to exhaust the argon gas in the tube.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrode material for a cold cathode fluorescent lamp which is unlikely to be depleted of argon gas in the tube even when the discharge current is increased to about 20 mA.

  In the electrode material for a cold cathode fluorescent lamp of the present invention, WB is 50% by volume or more, at least one of Ni, Ni alloy, and Co is 0.8% by volume or more, and the balance is at least of W and WC. It is characterized by a composition comprising one kind and inevitable impurities, and preferably W and / or WC is 5% by volume or less. Further, as the best mode, it does not contain W and WC, WB is 50 to 99.2% by volume, and the balance is a composition composed of at least one of Ni, Ni alloy, Co and inevitable impurities. It is characterized by. In these electrode materials for cold cathode fluorescent lamps of the present invention, the density ratio is preferably 80% or more by sintering.

  In the electrode material for a cold cathode fluorescent lamp of the present invention, WB having a covalent bond and high binding energy is used. For this reason, the electrode made of the electrode material of the present invention has higher sputter resistance and less wear than conventional electrodes using W or the like that do not have a covalent bond, so that the amount of sputtering of the electrode is reduced. The exhaustion of gas in the tube caused by sputtering is suppressed. Therefore, according to the electrode material for a cold cathode fluorescent lamp of the present invention, even when the discharge current is increased to about 20 mA, an electrode that is less worn and hardly exhausts the gas in the tube can be obtained, and the product life of the electrode can be improved. it can.

  In the electrode material for a cold cathode fluorescent lamp of the present invention, in order to improve the sputtering resistance, WB having a high binding energy by a covalent bond is mainly used. Although WC is also a covalent bond, its binding energy is lower than that of WB, and it is relatively easily sputtered. At that point, WB has high binding energy and is difficult to be sputtered. WB is used in the form of a powder, and a cold cathode fluorescent lamp electrode is obtained by sintering a powder containing WB. The resulting cold cathode fluorescent lamp electrode has pores and irregularities derived from the fact that the raw material is a metal powder on the surface, and has a larger surface area than that formed by punching from a rolled plate-deep drawing, Electron emission properties are improved. When the electrode density is 80% or more, the thermal / mechanical strength necessary for joining the terminal to the electrode in order to connect the electrode to the outside can be obtained. Therefore, the electrode material for the cold cathode fluorescent lamp of the present invention The composition preferably has a density ratio of 80% or more by sintering.

  In the present invention, by adding Ni having a low melting point to the WB powder, the sintering temperature can be lowered without substantially reducing the discharge characteristics and sputtering resistance of the electrode. Ni is easy to add in the form of a powder. In particular, the Ni powder has an action of activating the sintering, and has an effect of promoting the sintering and densifying the sintered body. Furthermore, when joining a terminal to an electrode in order to connect the electrode to the outside, Ni suppresses thermal and mechanical damage of the electrode. The minimum amount of Ni powder added is about 0.8% by volume, and below that, it is not preferable because a sintered body having a density of 80% or more cannot be obtained when sintering is performed at around 1300 ° C. Ni particles are present in the gaps between the WB particles, but Ni particles with low spatter resistance are preferentially sputtered, so that WB particles with high spatter resistance remain and cover the surface as discharge progresses. Become. Therefore, it is considered that Ni is sputtered only at the initial stage of discharge, and further sputtering of Ni is suppressed. Further, since the specific surface area is increased by the remaining WB, the electron emission property is increased. However, as the amount of Ni increases, the proportion of WB decreases, the number of gas ions colliding with Ni particles increases, the amount of Ni sputtering increases, and the life of the electrode is shortened. In particular, when the Ni content exceeds 50% by volume, the effect of improving the sputtering resistance by WB cannot be obtained effectively. From the above, the amount of Ni added is desirably in the range of 0.8 to 50% by volume.

  The same effect can be obtained even if Ni alloy or Co is used in addition to Ni. At this time, if the amount of addition is less than 0.8% by volume, the effect of densification by sintering is reduced, and an electrode having a density ratio of 80% or more cannot be obtained. On the other hand, when the added amount exceeds 50% by volume, the effect of improving the sputtering resistance by WB is reduced, and the sputtering resistance of the electrode is lowered. Therefore, at least one of Ni, Ni alloy, and Co is added to WB in the form of powder in the range of 0.8 to 50% by volume.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, the above WB can be added to at least one of conventional W and WC. However, since conventional W and WC are easily sputtered, the content of W and / or WC is 5% by volume or less in order to obtain good sputtering resistance under a discharge current of about 20 mA. It is preferable.

  In addition, the cold cathode fluorescent lamp electrode of the present invention can be produced by a conventionally known method. For example, a mold using a raw material in which a raw material powder is provided with a larger amount of binder or the like than that provided by a normal pressing method is used. It can manufacture suitably by the method to shape | mold. Hereinafter, the manufacturing process by this method will be specifically described.

  In the manufacturing method as described above, it is required to flow a metal powder containing a WB powder in a gap between the molds, so that a binder having a porosity higher than that when tapping the metal powder is used. It is preferable to add to the metal powder and knead. The amount of the binder added is preferably 40% by volume or more. If the amount of the binder is less than 40% by volume, the fluidity of the raw material becomes insufficient and uniform metal powder filling cannot be performed. On the other hand, if the binder is added in excess of 60% by volume, the subsequent debinding process takes a long time and causes an increase in production cost. In addition, since the molded body contains an excessive amount of binder, the metal powder cannot be uniformly filled, and shape stability in the debinding process and the sintering process is impaired, and the mold is likely to be deformed. Therefore, it is preferable that the addition amount of a binder is 40-60 volume%.

  Such a binder is more preferably composed of a thermoplastic resin and a wax. The thermoplastic resin is used for imparting plasticity to the raw material, and polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyacetal, polyethylene vinyl acetate, and the like are used. Wax prevents metal contact between raw materials, especially metal powder and molds (including dies and punches) to achieve uniform flow of metal powder during pressure molding, and molded body and mold during extraction It is added in order to reduce the friction between them and facilitate extraction, and paraffin wax, urethane wax, carnauba wax and the like are used. The thermoplastic resin and wax having such an action are suitable binders when configured in the range of 20:80 to 60:40.

  The raw material M is obtained by adding and kneading the binder to the metal powder containing the WB powder. This raw material M is formed by a mold shown in FIGS. First, after a predetermined amount of raw material M is filled in the die hole 14a of the die 14 (FIG. 2 (a)), the raw material in the die hole 14a is formed into an electrode shape as shown in FIGS. 2 (b) and 2 (c). The first punch 11 that forms the bottom of the molded body, the second punch 12 that forms the inner diameter part of the electrode-shaped molded body, and the third punch 13 that pressurizes the open end surface of the electrode-shaped molded body. 11 is fixed to the die 14, and the second punch 12 is pressed to be pushed into the raw material, and the third punch 13 is molded while applying a back pressure to the raw material. In order to extract the obtained electrode shape molded body 15, first, the first punch 11, the second punch 12, and the third punch 13 are extracted together with the electrode shape molded body 15 from the die 14 (FIG. 2D). Next, the second punch 12 is extracted upward from the electrode-shaped molded body 15 (e). Next, the second and third punches 12 and 13 are raised and separated from the electrode-shaped molded body 15 (f). In addition, although what was described in FIG.2 (b), (c) is shaping | molding by back extrusion, you may raise the 1st punch 11 and it may carry out forward extrusion. However, in any case, if the third punch 13 is formed while applying back pressure to the raw material, the height of the end of the electrode-shaped formed body can be formed uniformly, and the density of the raw material becomes uniform in the formed body. preferable.

  In the above molding step, since the raw material needs to flow and fill the gaps in the minute mold, the raw material is heated to a temperature equal to or higher than the softening point of the thermoplastic resin contained in the binder prior to pressurization. There is a need. If the temperature is not heated, or even if heated, the temperature does not reach the softening point of the thermoplastic resin, the flowability of the raw material is poor, and the raw material cannot be uniformly and densely filled in the gaps of the minute mold. Moreover, it is more preferable to heat to a temperature equal to or higher than the melting point of the thermoplastic resin that maximizes the fluidity of the raw material. This heating may be performed after a raw material is filled in the mold by installing a heater inside the mold, or the raw material may be heated and supplied in advance.

  The raw material may be supplied as a granulated powder of a certain size so as to be handled by a general stamping method using a filling method using a powder supply device such as a feeder (powder box). However, since the mold cavity of the mold for forming the target cold cathode fluorescent lamp electrode is very small, it is uniform and dense when granulated to a powder size suitable for a powder feeder used in a general mold method. It is difficult to fill the granulated powder. On the other hand, when the particle size of the granulated powder is reduced, the fluidity of the raw material powder is lowered, and it is difficult to adjust the granulated powder to a suitable size. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), the raw material is packed in a single pellet of a size that fits into the mold cavity, and the raw material is supplied in pellet units. preferable. Moreover, when supplying a raw material by a pellet unit, since supply is easy even if it heats a raw material previously, it is preferable also from this point.

  Since the electrode-shaped molded body obtained as described above contains 40-60% by volume of the binder component, the electrode-shaped molded body is heated to the thermal decomposition temperature of the binder component in order to remove the binder component. Do. The binder consists of a thermoplastic resin and a wax, but if the temperature rise rate near the thermal decomposition temperature of the thermoplastic resin and the wax is high, the thermoplastic resin and the wax will rapidly gasify and expand, causing the mold to lose its shape. Therefore, it is necessary to slowly increase the temperature at least near the thermal decomposition temperature of the thermoplastic resin and wax. From this point of view, the debinding step is temporarily held near the sublimation temperature of the wax as the first stage to remove the wax content in the binder component, and then held again near the thermal decomposition temperature of the thermoplastic resin as the second stage. It is preferable to use a two-stage heating and holding step for removing the thermoplastic resin component. Further, in order to gradually generate gas accompanying thermal decomposition, it is preferable to use a mixture of a plurality of thermoplastic resins and waxes having different thermal decomposition temperatures.

  However, when all the binder components are removed in this step, the metal powders such as the corners fall off because the bonding between the metal powders has not started at that time. Therefore, a very small part of the binder component needs to remain. The remaining binder component remains in the sintered body as will be described later, and C contained in the remaining binder component becomes a contained component. Therefore, by measuring the C content, the amount of the remaining binder can be identified. When the amount of C remaining in the sintered body is less than 0.01% by mass, the remaining binder component is insufficient and the metal powder falls off. For this reason, it is necessary to make a binder component remain so that C amount in a sintered compact may be 0.01 mass% or more. On the other hand, the upper limit of the amount of C in the sintered body needs to be 0.5% by mass. Such adjustment of the amount of C can be controlled, for example, by adjusting the holding time in the two-stage heating and holding process, and is achieved by setting the holding time in each stage to a range of 30 to 180 minutes. can do.

  In the electrode-shaped molded body after the binder is removed, the metal powders are not yet diffused and are not metallicly bonded, and are extremely brittle. Therefore, sintering is performed in order to diffusely bond metal powders in a metallic manner. The sintering temperature is suitably 1500 ° C. or higher. In the embodiment containing Ni or Ni alloy, the sintering temperature is preferably 1300 ° C. or higher. In the sintering process, since the metal powder is fine and has less unevenness as described above, the contact area of the metal powder is large, so that densification by sintering is likely to proceed, and the density ratio is increased at the above temperature. A dense sintered body of 80% or more can be obtained. However, if the sintering temperature is lower than the above temperature, densification by sintering does not proceed, and only a sintered body with low density and low strength can be obtained. On the other hand, if the sintering temperature exceeds 1800 ° C., the furnace will be worn away. Therefore, the upper limit of the sintering temperature is preferably set to the above temperature. If the sintering atmosphere contains oxygen or carbon, the surface of the metal powder is oxidized or carbonized, making it difficult for the sintering to proceed. Therefore, it is necessary to use an inert gas, hydrogen gas or a vacuum atmosphere (reduced pressure atmosphere) that does not contain these. is there.

  Prepare powders of WB, Ni, Co, NiB, and W, and blend and knead them in the proportions shown in Table 1 to prepare raw materials. Further, polyacetal (softening point: 110 ° C., melting point: 180 ° C.) and paraffin as binders A mixture of waxes (softening point: 39 ° C., melting point 61 ° C.) in a ratio of 4: 6 was added to form pellets. This pellet is heated to 200 ° C., supplied to a mold heated in advance to 140 ° C., compacted, cooled to 40 ° C., and then extracted to produce a bottomed cylindrical electrode compact. did. The obtained green compact was heated to 250 ° C. and held for 120 minutes, and then further heated and held at 450 ° C. for 120 minutes to remove the binder. Subsequently, sintering was performed by holding at 1350 ° C. for 60 minutes in an argon gas atmosphere. Using the obtained sintered body as an electrode, a cold cathode fluorescent lamp was assembled, and argon gas and neon gas were sealed, and a sputter discharge was continuously applied to the electrodes with a discharge voltage of DC 3 kV, a discharge current of 15 mA, and a distance between the electrodes of 50 mm, The time until the argon gas was exhausted was measured. Further, the sputtering amount of the electrode at the time when the argon gas was exhausted was obtained from the weight of the deposit adhered in the lamp. For comparison, an electrode made of 100% Ni and an electrode mainly made of W were produced in the same manner, and the results of tests performed in the same manner as described above are shown in Table 1. The time until the argon gas was exhausted and the sputtering amount of the electrode were evaluated as a gas depletion index and a sputtering resistance index, assuming that the case of an electrode made of 100% nickel was 100. In addition, as evaluation of sinterability, the density ratio of each sample was calculated | required by setting the case of a 100% nickel electrode to 100. These results are shown in Table 1.

  In Table 1, it is shown that the higher the gas depletion index and the sputtering resistance index, the better the electrode which is less likely to be depleted of gas and difficult to be sputtered. Further, “◯” indicates that the density ratio is 80% or more and the sputtering resistance index and gas depletion index are excellent, and “△” indicates that the density ratio is 80% or more but the sputtering index or gas depletion index is low. Evaluation was made with a density ratio of less than 80%, or a spatter resistance index or a gas depletion index that was remarkably low.

  Samples Nos. 1 to 6 in Table 1 were obtained by examining the influence of the amount of Ni in the electrode material by changing the Ni content and using the remainder as WB. The sample of sample number 1 consisting only of WB has low sinterability because it does not contain Ni, and the density ratio is as low as less than 80%. On the other hand, in the samples of sample numbers 2 to 6 containing 0.8 to 70% by volume of Ni, the sinterability is improved as the Ni content is increased, and the density ratio shows a good value of 80% or more. . Samples Nos. 2 to 6 containing WB have significantly improved anti-sputtering index as compared with the sample of Comparative Example 1 made of 100% Ni, and more than the sample of Comparative Example 2 mainly made of W. The gas depletion index is significantly improved. From this, it can be seen that the use of WB can greatly improve the spatter resistance index and the gas depletion index. However, since the ratio of WB decreases as the Ni content increases, the effect of improving the sputtering resistance by WB is reduced in the sample of Sample No. 6 containing 70% by volume of Ni. Spatter resistance index is smaller than the sample of Example 2. From these results, in the electrode material, if Ni is added in the range of 0.8 to 50% by volume and WB is set to 50 to 99.2% by volume, a sintered body having a density ratio of 80% or more can be obtained. It was confirmed that an electrode having a good sputtering resistance index and gas depletion index was obtained.

  Samples Nos. 7 and 8 in Table 1 were examined for the influence on the electrode when Co or Ni alloy (NiB) was added in an amount of 30% by volume instead of Ni. Samples Nos. 7 and 8 have a good density ratio of 80% or more, and the spatter resistance index and gas depletion index are similar to those of Sample No. 4 to which the same amount of Ni is added. Therefore, compared with the case of adding Ni, the same effect can be obtained even when Co or Ni alloy (NiB) is added, and a sintered body having the same density ratio, spatter resistance index, and gas depletion index is obtained. It was confirmed that

  Samples Nos. 9 and 10 in Table 1 were obtained by adding W powder to a powder containing WB and Ni and examining the influence of W. Compared with the sample of sample number 4 containing the same amount of Ni and not containing W, the sample of sample number 9 containing 5% by volume of W contains W which is more easily sputtered than WB. The index and gas depletion index are slightly lower. Furthermore, in the sample of Sample No. 10 containing 10% by volume of W, the spatter resistance index and the gas depletion index are lowered due to the increase in the W content, and the gas depletion index is particularly low. Therefore, WB can be used by adding to at least one of W and WC conventionally used, but in this case, the content of W and / or WC is preferably 5% by volume or less.

It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of a cold cathode ray lamp. It is sectional drawing which shows the filling process, pressure forming process, and extraction process which manufacture suitably the electrode for cold cathode ray lamps of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  11 ... 1st punch, 12 ... 2nd punch, 13 ... 3rd punch, 14 ... Die

Claims (4)

  WB is 50% by volume or more, at least one of Ni, Ni alloy, and Co is 0.8% by volume or more, and the balance is composed of at least one of W and WC and inevitable impurities. An electrode material for a cold cathode fluorescent lamp.   The electrode material for a cold cathode fluorescent lamp according to claim 1, wherein the W and / or WC is 5% by volume or less.   An electrode material for a cold cathode fluorescent lamp, wherein WB is 50 to 99.2% by volume, and the balance is a composition comprising at least one of Ni, Ni alloy, and Co and inevitable impurities.   4. The electrode material for a cold cathode fluorescent lamp according to claim 1, wherein the density ratio is 80% or more by sintering.

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