JP2010116595A - Device for supplying film-forming material - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for supplying a film-forming material of a film-forming apparatus having a simple structure, which can stably supply the film-forming material even when an amount of the material supplied from a hopper has changed. <P>SOLUTION: The device 40 for supplying the film-forming material has a material hopper 41, a material feeder 43 and a control board 48. The material hopper 41 supplies the film-forming material 22 which is stored inside the hopper to the material feeder 43. The material feeder 43 has a cylindrical body 43c which receives the film-forming material 22 from the material hopper 41 and has a helical groove 43e on its inner wall surface 43d; transports the film-forming material 22 in the cylindrical body 43c to the upper end part 46a of the material feeder 43 by rotating the helical groove 43e, and discharges the material to the outside of the material feeder 43. The control board 48 controls the amount of the film-forming material 22 to be discharged from the upper end part 46a of the material feeder 43. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a film forming material supply apparatus for a film forming apparatus, and more particularly to a film forming material supply apparatus for a film forming apparatus for forming a protective film of an AC plasma display panel.

  Plasma display panels (hereinafter referred to as PDPs) are becoming widespread for reasons such as high-speed display compared to liquid crystal panels, wide viewing angles, easy enlargement, and self-luminous and high display quality. is there.

  In the AC type PDP, a pair of substrates whose front sides are transparent are arranged to face each other so that a discharge space is formed between the substrates, and a partition for partitioning the discharge space is arranged on the substrate, and is partitioned by the partition An electrode group is arranged on the substrate so that discharge occurs in the discharge space. Further, a plurality of discharge cells are configured by providing phosphors that emit red, green, and blue light that are emitted by discharge. The phosphor is excited by vacuum ultraviolet light having a short wavelength generated by discharge, and red, green, and blue discharge cells emit red, green, and blue visible light, respectively, to perform color display.

  In the PDP having such a structure, in order to prevent the surface exposed to the discharge space of the substrate from being exposed to the discharge and changing the surface state due to ion bombardment sputtering, for example, magnesium oxide ( A protective film made of a MgO material is formed. Such a protective film is generally formed by an electron beam evaporation method in which a film forming material such as magnesium oxide (MgO) particles is heated and evaporated by an electron beam.

  At this time, the electron beam evaporation apparatus as a film forming apparatus includes a film forming material supply apparatus for supplying a film forming material to a hearth provided in the film forming chamber, and irradiates the film forming material in the hearth with an electron beam. Then, the film forming material is evaporated, and the evaporation gas is evaporated on the moving substrate.

  As a method for supplying the film forming material to these hearts, an example in which the film forming material supplied from the feeder onto the shooter is thrown into the hearth while sliding down on the shooter is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1). .

In addition, an example in which a film forming material is stably supplied to the hearth using a multi-stage material hopper and a rotating cylindrical feeder is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 2).
JP 2008-19473 A JP 2006-45589 A

  In the film forming material supply apparatus configured as described above, the feeder serves as a quantitative supply apparatus for supplying a predetermined amount of film forming material to the hearth.

  In order to stably form the protective film of the PDP, it is required to stably input the film forming material into the hearth. That is, it is important that a predetermined amount of the film forming material is stably supplied from the feeder to the shooter, stably slides on the shooter and is stably supplied to a predetermined position of the hearth.

  In other words, all of the stable supply from the material hopper to the feeder, the stable supply from the feeder to the shooter, and the stable supply from the shooter to the hearth are realized in order to stably supply the film forming material to the hearth. Is important.

  When a large amount of film forming material is suddenly supplied from the material hopper to the feeder, a large amount of film forming material overflowing from the feeder is supplied to the shooter. Causes an unstable phenomenon of the deposition rate due to being supplied to the substrate.

  Patent Document 2 discloses an example in which a plurality of material hoppers are provided to stably supply a predetermined amount to a feeder, but has a problem that the configuration of the material hopper itself is complicated.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve such problems and to realize a film forming material supply apparatus that can supply a film forming material stably even if the material supply from the material hopper changes, with a simple configuration. .

  In order to achieve the above object, a film forming material supply apparatus of the present invention is a film forming material supply apparatus including a material hopper, a material feeder, and a discharge control unit, and the material hopper is accommodated therein. The film forming material is supplied to the material feeder, and the material feeder includes a cylindrical body that receives the film forming material from the material hopper and has a spiral groove on the inner wall surface, and rotates the spiral groove to form the film forming material in the cylinder. Is discharged to the outside of the material feeder after being transported to the upper end portion of the material feeder, and the discharge control unit controls the discharge amount of the film forming material discharged from the upper end portion of the material feeder to the outside of the material feeder.

  According to such a configuration, it is possible to control the discharge of the film forming material discharged from the cylindrical body and realize a stable supply to the film forming apparatus even when there is an excessive supply from the material hopper to the material feeder. Can do.

  Furthermore, it is desirable that the discharge control unit is a control plate having an opening with a predetermined opening area provided at the upper end of the material feeder. According to such a configuration, even when the supply of the film forming material from the material hopper to the cylindrical body becomes excessive, only a film forming material that is mounted and transported in the spiral groove is discharged, and a predetermined amount of stable is achieved. Supply can be realized.

  Furthermore, it is desirable that the discharge control unit is a partition plate provided on the inner peripheral side of the spiral groove of the cylindrical body. According to such a configuration, even when the supply of the film forming material from the material hopper to the cylindrical body becomes excessive, the predetermined amount of stable conveyance is realized by suppressing the excessive loading of the film forming material into the spiral groove. be able to.

  Furthermore, the material hopper is preferably provided with a material discharge port, and a partition plate is provided extending from the lower part of the material discharge port to the inside of the cylindrical body, and is preferably positioned between the material discharge port and the discharge unit in a horizontal plane. . According to such a configuration, the inside of the cylindrical body is divided into a region that receives the supply of film forming material from the material hopper and a region that is discharged, and the film is formed from the material hopper on the discharged side. Stable discharge can always be realized without being affected by the supply of materials.

  Furthermore, it is desirable to incline the cylindrical body with respect to the horizontal plane. According to such a configuration, the film forming material can be reliably mounted in the spiral groove in the cylindrical body, and the film forming material can be reliably conveyed by the spiral groove.

  As described above, according to the film formation material supply apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to realize a film formation material supply apparatus that can stably supply film formation material to the hearth provided in the film formation chamber with a simple configuration. And a PDP that performs good image display can be realized.

Hereinafter, although the film-forming material supply apparatus in one embodiment of this invention is demonstrated using drawing, the embodiment of this invention is not limited to this.
(Embodiment 1)
First, the structure of the PDP will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of an AC type PDP. As shown in FIG. 1, the PDP 1 has a front plate 2 made of a front glass substrate 3 and a back plate 10 made of a rear glass substrate 11 facing each other, and its outer peripheral portion is made of a glass frit or the like. The material is hermetically sealed. A discharge gas such as xenon (Xe) and neon (Ne) is sealed in the sealed discharge space 16 inside the PDP 1 at a pressure of 400 Torr to 600 Torr.

  On the front glass substrate 3 of the front plate 2, a pair of strip-like display electrodes 6 made up of scanning electrodes 4 and sustain electrodes 5 and black stripes (light-shielding layers) 7 are arranged in a plurality of rows in parallel with each other. A dielectric layer 8 is formed on the front glass substrate 3 so as to cover the display electrodes 6 and the light-shielding layer 7 and retain a charge, thereby functioning as a capacitor. A protective film 9 is further formed thereon. .

  On the back glass substrate 11 of the back plate 10, a plurality of strip-like address electrodes 12 are arranged in parallel to each other in a direction orthogonal to the scanning electrodes 4 and the sustain electrodes 5 of the front plate 2. Layer 13 is covering. Further, a partition wall 14 having a predetermined height is formed on the base dielectric layer 13 between the address electrodes 12 to divide the discharge space 16. In each groove between the barrier ribs 14, a phosphor layer 15 that emits red, green, and blue light by ultraviolet light is sequentially applied and formed. A discharge space 16 is formed at a position where the scan electrode 4, the sustain electrode 5 and the address electrode 12 intersect, and the discharge space having the red, green and blue phosphor layers 15 arranged in the direction of the display electrode 6 is used for color display. It becomes the pixel of.

  Next, a film forming apparatus for forming the protective film 9 will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a film forming apparatus for forming a protective film of a PDP using the film forming material supply apparatus in Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing details of the configuration of the material hopper and the material feeder in the film forming material supply apparatus 40 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a control plate of the film forming material supply apparatus 40. FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 3, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 3.

  The film forming apparatus 20 is an electron beam (EB) vapor deposition apparatus that heats, melts, and deposits a film forming material with an electron beam, and a hearth 23 in which a film forming material 22 is filled in a vacuum chamber 21 that is a vacuum tank. Is arranged. An electron beam source 24 is installed on the side wall of the vacuum chamber 21, and the film forming material 22 on the hearth 23 is irradiated with the electron beam 25 from the electron beam source 24. The irradiation position of the electron beam 25 can be controlled by controlling an electromagnet (not shown) arranged on the side surface of the hearth 23. Further, an exhaust pump 26 for evacuating the vacuum chamber 21 and a vacuum gauge 27 for measuring the degree of vacuum are provided.

  Near the hearth 23, a front plate 2 in which a display electrode 6, a black stripe (light shielding layer) 7 and a dielectric layer 8 are formed on the front glass substrate 3 of the PDP 1 is installed. A heater 28 for heating the front plate 2 during film formation is installed above the face plate 2. A shutter plate 29 is provided between the front plate 2 and the hearth 23. By rotating the shutter plate 29, the vapor deposition particles 30 are inadvertently attached to the front plate 2 at a timing other than during film formation. Try to prevent. The film thickness of the protective film 9 formed on the front plate 2 is measured by the film thickness monitor 31 as needed.

  A thin film of magnesium oxide (MgO) is used as the protective film 9 of the PDP 1. Therefore, in Embodiment 1 of the present invention, pellets of magnesium oxide (MgO) are used as the film forming material 22.

  The film forming material 22 accommodated in the material receiving portion 23a of the hearth 23 is irradiated with an electron beam 25 to evaporate the film forming material 22, and the deposited particles 30 are deposited on the dielectric layer 8 of the front plate 2. Thus, the protective film 9 is formed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the hearth 23 is configured to be rotatable by a rotation shaft 32, and the position at which the film forming material 22 is supplied to the hearth 23 is different from the position at which the electron beam 25 is irradiated. I try to make it.

  The film forming apparatus 20 is connected with a film forming material supply apparatus 40 for replenishing the film forming material 22 because pellets as the film forming material 22 in the hearth 23 are consumed by heating and evaporation accompanying the film forming. ing. The film forming material supply device 40 includes a material hopper 41, a material feeder 43 disposed immediately below the material discharge port 42 of the material hopper 41, and a shooter 45 connected to the discharge portion 44 of the material feeder 43. The material hopper 41 and the material feeder 43 are installed in a vacuum chamber (not shown) that has been evacuated to remove moisture adsorbed on the magnesium oxide (MgO) pellets that are the film forming material 22, as well as the composition. A preliminary vacuum chamber that minimizes a decrease in the degree of vacuum in the vacuum chamber 21 when the film material 22 is supplied is configured.

  The material discharge port 42 of the material hopper 41 of the film forming material supply apparatus 40 is provided with an opening / closing valve 42a, and the opening / closing of the opening / closing valve 42a controls the input of the film forming material 22 into the material feeder 43. As shown in FIG. 2, the material feeder 43 includes a drive motor 43a at the lower portion thereof, and a drive shaft 43b of the drive motor 43a is connected to a cylindrical body 43c constituting the container. A spiral groove 43e is formed on the inner wall surface 43d of the cylindrical body 43c. Due to the rotation of the cylindrical body 43c, the film forming material 22 put into the cylindrical body 43c of the material feeder 43 from the material hopper 41 is mounted on the spiral groove 43e and transferred from the bottom to the top, and the upper end of the inclined cylindrical body 43c. It slides down on the shooter 45 from the discharge part 44 provided in 46a.

  The supply amount of the film forming material 22 to the shooter 45, that is, the supply amount of the film forming material 22 to the hearth 23 can be controlled by controlling the number of revolutions of the drive motor 43a.

  Next, details of the configuration of the film forming material supply apparatus 40 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The material hopper 41 stores a required amount of magnesium oxide (MgO) pellets as the film forming material 22 according to the period of continuous operation. For example, when the film forming apparatus 20 is continuously operated for a predetermined period, the film forming material 22 corresponding to the amount consumed by the hearth 23 during that period is stored in the material hopper 41. The lower part of the material hopper 41 has a funnel shape, and controls the opening / closing of an on-off valve 42a provided at the material discharge port 42 to control the supply of the film forming material 22 to the material feeder 43, thereby forming a component in the cylindrical body 43c. The amount of the film material 22 is controlled to be almost constant.

  The material feeder 43 is provided with a cylindrical body 43c in which a spiral groove 43e is formed on the inner wall surface 43d, and is connected to the drive motor 43a by a drive shaft 43b serving as a rotation shaft. Moreover, the cylindrical body 43c is arrange | positioned so that (theta) may incline at an angle of 50 to 60 degree | times with respect to a horizontal surface, as shown in FIG. A housing 43f is provided outside the cylindrical body 43c, and a discharge portion 44 is fixed to the housing 43f at an upper end portion 46a which is the lowest position among the upper ends of the inclined cylindrical body 43c. ing. The discharge portion 44 is disposed with a gap that does not hinder the rotation of the cylindrical body 43c and does not drop the film forming material 22 to the outside.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4A, in the first embodiment of the present invention, a control plate 48 provided with an opening 47 having a predetermined opening area through which the film forming material 22 passes as the discharge control unit. Is provided in the housing 43f of the upper end 46a from which the film forming material 22 is discharged. The opening 47 of the control plate 48 is an opening having a height H1 equivalent to the pitch of the spiral grooves 43e, and the control plate 48 has a height up to a position higher than the upper end 46b opposite to the upper end 46a. I am doing so. Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, the control plate 48 is provided in an arc shape along the outer periphery of the cylindrical body 43c. Also, as shown in FIG. 4B, the film forming material 22 mounted and transported in the spiral groove 43 e falls from the opening 47 of the control plate 48 to the discharge unit 44. Therefore, the film forming material 22 does not exist in the spiral groove 43e in the downstream portion of the control plate 48.

  Next, the case where the film-forming material 22 is supplied to the hearth 23 using the film-forming material supply apparatus 40 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described in detail.

  By opening the on-off valve 42a of the material hopper 41, a predetermined amount of the film forming material 22 in the material hopper 41 is supplied into the cylindrical body 43c. Since the cylindrical body 43c is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, the film forming material 22 supplied to the cylindrical body 43c is applied to the inner wall surface 43d of the cylindrical body 43c even when the film forming material 22 in the cylindrical body 43c is small. The film forming material 22 can be surely mounted in the provided spiral groove 43e.

  The film forming material 22 mounted in the spiral groove 43e is conveyed in the direction of the upper end portion 46a of the cylindrical body 43c by the spiral groove 43e when the cylindrical body 43c is rotated by the drive motor 43a. The film forming material 22 conveyed to the upper end portion 46 a falls from the upper end portion 46 a to the discharge portion 44. The film forming material 22 dropped on the discharge unit 44 slides down on the shooter 45 connected to the discharge unit 44 and is supplied to the material receiving unit 23 a of the hearth 23.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a storage state of the film forming material 22 supplied from the material hopper 41 to the cylindrical body 43c of the material feeder 43 in the cylindrical body 43c. The boundary of the film forming material 22 stored in the cylindrical body 43c is indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the boundary line C of the deposited film forming material 22 is slightly raised just below the material discharge port 42 of the material hopper 41, but is almost the same as the horizontal line as a whole. When the discharge amount from the material feeder 43 becomes smaller than the supply amount from the material hopper 41, the boundary line D rises to the same position as the upper end portion 46a of the cylindrical body 43c. In this state, the amount of film forming material 22 falling from the upper end 46a to the discharge unit 44 is such that the film forming material 22 overflowing from the boundary line D is added to the transport amount transported by the spiral groove 43e. As a result, it becomes impossible to control the discharge amount. Usually, the discharge amount from the material feeder 43 and the supply amount from the material hopper 41 are controlled so that such a state does not occur.

  On the other hand, when the material input from the material hopper 41 to the material feeder 43 rapidly increases in the state of the boundary line D in FIG. 5, a large amount of the film forming material 22 falls on the discharge unit 44. In such a state, a large amount of the film forming material 22 flows into the shooter 45 and causes a problem such as a large amount of material being supplied to the hearth 23 to change the deposition rate. Further, since a large amount of the film forming material 22 flows on the shooter 45, the sliding phenomenon does not catch up and a bridging phenomenon occurs on the shooter 45, causing problems such as the film forming material 22 not being supplied to the hearth 23.

  In the first embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a control plate 48 having an opening 47 having a predetermined opening area through which the film forming material 22 passes is used as a film forming material. 22 is provided in the housing 43f of the upper end portion 46a from which it is discharged. Further, the opening 47 of the control plate 48 is an opening having a height H1 equivalent to the pitch P1 of the spiral groove 43e shown in FIG. 5, and the height of the control plate 48 is the upper end on the side opposite to the upper end 46a. It has a height up to a position higher than 46b. As described above, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the discharge amount of the film forming material 22 falling on the discharge portion 44 is controlled by the control plate 48 having the opening 47.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state where a large amount of the film forming material 22 is supplied from the material hopper 41 to the material feeder 43 in the film forming material supply apparatus 40 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, even when the film forming material 22 is supplied in large quantities from the material hopper 41 to the material feeder 43 and overflows from the upper end portion 46 a of the material feeder 43, it falls to the discharge portion 44. The discharge amount of the film forming material 22 is controlled by the opening area of the opening 47. At this time, at least the height H1 of the opening 47 is made equal to the pitch P1 of the spiral groove 43e so that only the film forming material 22 mounted and transported in the spiral groove 43e can pass therethrough. The discharge amount can be a discharge amount that depends only on the area of the spiral groove 43e and the rotational speed. At this time, if the height of the control plate 48 is set to a position higher than the upper end portion 46b on the side opposite to the upper end portion 46a, the possibility of falling over the control plate 48 and falling to the discharge portion 44 is reduced. be able to.
(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing details of the configuration of the material hopper 41 and the material feeder 52 in the film forming material supply apparatus 50 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line EE in FIG. The basic configuration of the film forming material supply apparatus 50 in the second embodiment of the present invention is the same as that in the first embodiment, and the same reference numerals are given to the same components.

  The second embodiment of the present invention differs from the first embodiment in the configuration of the discharge control unit provided in the material feeder 43. That is, in the first embodiment, the control plate 48 is provided as the discharge control unit. However, in the second embodiment of the present invention, such a control plate 48 is not provided, and as shown in FIG. A partition plate 53 is provided as a discharge controller on the inner peripheral side of the spiral groove 43e of 43c.

  This will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 7, the partition plate 53 is fixed to the mounting flange 54 provided with the on-off valve 42a of the material hopper 41, and extends into the inside of the cylindrical body 43c on the inner peripheral side of the spiral groove 43e of the cylindrical body 43c. It is the plate-shaped member provided. At this time, it is desirable that the lower end portion 53a of the partition plate 53 provided to extend inside is extended to such an extent that the cylindrical body 43c is in contact with the spiral groove 43e with a rotatable gap.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the partition plate 53 is disposed between the material discharge port 42 and the discharge portion 44 of the material hopper 41 in the horizontal plane. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the partition plate 53 is positioned on the right side of the material discharge port 42 on the left side of the discharge portion 44, and the lower end portion 53a thereof is inserted as far as possible into the inside of the cylindrical body 43c. As shown in FIG. 8, the partition plate 53 has a predetermined width, and its side end portions 53b and 53c are close to the inner peripheral end of the convex portion 55 constituting the spiral groove 43e of the cylindrical body 43c. It is desirable to do so. That is, the partition plate 53 serving as a discharge control unit includes a cylindrical body 43 c on the side where the film forming material 22 is supplied from the material hopper 41 and the discharge unit 44 where the film forming material 22 is not supplied from the material hopper 41. It plays the role of partitioning with the side.

  Next, the case where the film-forming material 22 is supplied to the discharge part 44 using the film-forming material supply apparatus 50 in Embodiment 2 of this invention is demonstrated in detail.

  By opening the on-off valve 42a of the material hopper 41, the film forming material 22 supplied to the cylindrical body 43c is mounted on the spiral groove 43e and conveyed to the discharge unit 44 by the rotation of the spiral groove 43e. This is the same as the first embodiment.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a storage state of the film forming material 22 supplied from the material hopper 41 to the cylindrical body 43c of the material feeder 43 in the film forming material supply apparatus 50 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As described above, the partition plate 53 according to the second embodiment of the present invention has the inside of the cylindrical body 43c, the region where the film forming material 22 is supplied from the material hopper 41, and the side on which the film forming material 22 is discharged. It has a role of dividing into areas.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, the boundary line G is formed by the stored film forming material 22 in the region F on the side where the film forming material 22 from the material hopper 41 is supplied. However, in the region H on the side where the film forming material 22 is not supplied from the material hopper 41, there is basically no storage of the film forming material 22, and the film forming material 22 in the region H is mounted in the spiral groove 43e. Only the film forming material 22 is present.

  Therefore, even if the material input from the material hopper 41 to the material feeder 43 increases rapidly as shown in FIG. 7 and the film forming material 22 overflows in the region F, the region H side is affected. Instead, only the film forming material 22 carried in the spiral groove 43e is dropped on the discharge portion 44.

  As described above, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the discharge amount of the film forming material 22 falling to the discharge portion 44 is controlled by partitioning the inside of the cylindrical body 43c of the material feeder 43 by the partition plate 53. Yes. That is, even if a large amount of the film forming material 22 is supplied from the material hopper 41 to the material feeder 43, the amount of the film forming material 22 that falls to the discharge unit 44 depends on the amount mounted in the spiral groove 43e and its transport speed. It can be stably controlled only by a certain rotational speed.

  The partition plate 53 may be positioned between the material discharge port 42 of the material hopper 41 and the upper end portion 46a connected to the discharge portion 44. However, the partition plate 53 is provided closer to the discharge portion 44 side. A simple configuration is also possible.

  In the above description, the partition plate 53 inserted into the cylindrical body 43c is brought close to the cylindrical body 43c so that the cylindrical body 43c can rotate. However, the gap is a gap where the film forming material 22 does not flow. I just need it.

  As described above, according to the film formation material supply apparatus in the embodiment of the present invention, the film formation material supply to the film formation apparatus can be stably performed with a simple configuration.

  According to the film forming material supply apparatus of the present invention, the film forming material can be stably supplied to the film forming apparatus, and the film forming apparatus can be stably operated continuously. Applicable.

A perspective view showing the structure of an AC type PDP Sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the film-forming apparatus for forming the protective film of PDP using the film-forming material supply apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention Sectional drawing which shows the detail of a structure of the hopper and feeder of the film-forming material supply apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention The figure which shows the detail of a structure of the control board of the film-forming material supply apparatus The schematic diagram which shows the storage state in the cylindrical body of the film-forming material supplied to the cylindrical body of the feeder from the material hopper in Embodiment 1 of this invention The figure which shows the state in which the film-forming material was supplied in large quantities from the material hopper to the material feeder in the film-forming material supply apparatus of Embodiment 1 of this invention. Sectional drawing which shows the detail of a structure of the hopper and feeder of the film-forming material supply apparatus in Embodiment 2 of this invention EE sectional view in FIG. The schematic diagram which shows the storage state of the film-forming material supplied to the cylindrical body of the feeder from the material hopper in Embodiment 2 of this invention

Explanation of symbols

1 PDP
2 Front plate 3 Front glass substrate 4 Scan electrode 5 Sustain electrode 6 Display electrode 7 Black stripe (light shielding layer)
8 Dielectric layer 9 Protective film 10 Back plate 11 Back glass substrate 12 Address electrode 13 Base dielectric layer 14 Partition 15 Phosphor layer 16 Discharge space 20 Film forming apparatus 21 Vacuum chamber 22 Film forming material 23 Hearth 23a Material receiving part 24 Electron Beam source 25 Electron beam 26 Exhaust pump 27 Vacuum gauge 28 Heater 29 Shutter plate 30 Vapor deposition particle 31 Film thickness monitor 32 Rotating shaft 40, 50 Film forming material supply device 41 Material hopper 42 Material discharge port 43, 52 Material feeder 43a Drive motor 43b Drive shaft 43c Cylindrical body 43d Inner wall surface 43e Spiral groove 43f Case 44 Discharge portion 45 Shooter 46a, 46b Upper end portion 47 Opening portion 48 Control plate 53 Partition plate 53a Lower end portion 53b, 53c Side end portion 54 Mounting flange 55 Protruding portion

Claims (5)

A film forming material supply apparatus comprising a material hopper, a material feeder, and a discharge control unit,
The material hopper supplies the film forming material accommodated therein to the material feeder,
The material feeder includes a cylindrical body that receives the film forming material from the material hopper and has a spiral groove on an inner wall surface, and rotates the spiral groove to transfer the film forming material in the cylindrical body to the material feeder. After conveying to the upper end of the material, discharge out of the material feeder,
The discharge control unit controls the discharge amount of the film forming material discharged from the upper end portion of the material feeder to the outside of the material feeder.
A film forming material supply apparatus characterized by the above. 2. The film forming material supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharge control unit is a control plate having an opening with a predetermined opening area provided at an upper end of the material feeder. The film forming material supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharge control unit is a partition plate provided on an inner peripheral side of the spiral groove of the cylindrical body. The material hopper includes a material discharge port, the partition plate is provided to extend from the lower part of the material discharge port to the inside of the cylindrical body, and between the material discharge port and the upper end portion in a horizontal plane. The film forming material supply apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the film forming material supply apparatus is positioned. The film forming material supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical body is inclined with respect to a horizontal plane.

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