JP2011230086A - Method for manufacturing nozzle plate for plasma display panel, nozzle plate for plasma display panel, and coating apparatus using the nozzle plate - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a nozzle plate which can prevent the generation of coating failure due to the wear of a nozzle exit, and in which a crack is hardly generated in the part of a nozzle hole.SOLUTION: Adjacent nozzle holes 5n and 5n-1 are arranged so that their center is mutually shifted in a Y-axis direction intersecting an X-axis direction, and each of the nozzle holes is at least partially modified by quenching treatment 12 to have higher hardness than the periphery thereof.

Description

  The present invention relates to a nozzle plate used for liquid or paste application in a plasma display panel manufacturing process.

The plasma display panel performs color display by generating ultraviolet rays by gas discharge and exciting the phosphor with the ultraviolet rays to emit light.
As seen in Patent Document 1 and the like, in this manufacturing process, stripe-shaped barrier ribs 21 are formed on an insulating substrate 20 as shown in FIG. Applying a paste containing is performed. In this phosphor coating process, a paste containing phosphor powder of each color of RGB is applied for each single color by a coating apparatus using the nozzle plate 1 in which a plurality of nozzle holes 22 are formed at intervals of 480 μm. .

  Specifically, the nozzle plate 1B is arranged in a direction crossing the stripe-shaped partition wall 21, and the paste B containing the phosphor powder for blue is sprayed between the partition walls 21 through the nozzle holes 22 of the nozzle plate 1B. However, as shown in FIG. 11B, the paste B is applied by moving the nozzle plate 1B relative to the substrate 20 in the direction of the partition wall 21 (Y-axis direction). Next, a paste R containing phosphor powder for red is applied as shown in FIG. 12 using another nozzle plate 1R formed at an interval of 480 μm. Furthermore, paste G containing phosphor powder for green is applied as shown in FIG. 13 using another nozzle plate 1G formed at intervals of 480 μm. By using the nozzle plate in this way, a component is obtained in which a paste containing phosphor powder for RGB colors is applied between the partition walls 21 at intervals of 160 μm.

  When the nozzle holes of the nozzle plates 1R, 1G, and 1B after use are observed from the outlet side of the nozzle holes, it can be seen that the nozzle holes are worn. If the use of the nozzle plate thus worn is continued and the manufacture of the above-mentioned components is continued, the size of the nozzle hole becomes large and the amount of the phosphor applied increases. However, a coating failure over the partition wall 21 occurs.

  Therefore, in the past, the wear resistance of the nozzle plate by the fluorescent paint is improved by quenching the nozzle plate so that the nozzle plate is not worn and the discharge amount is not uniform. is there.

JP 2004-14479 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-309402

  In this case, it is possible to improve the non-uniform discharge amount due to wear at the nozzle outlet, but because the nozzle plate is hard, cracks occur in the nozzle holes arranged in series due to bending and repeated strain. In the case of a manufacturing apparatus that uses a nozzle plate for mass production, the production process is interrupted when the nozzle plate is replaced, which causes a decrease in production efficiency.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a nozzle plate that can improve the non-uniform discharge amount due to wear at the nozzle outlet and that is less susceptible to cracking in the nozzle hole portions arranged in series due to bending and repeated strain. Objective.

  In the nozzle plate for a plasma display panel of the present invention, a plurality of nozzle holes reaching from one surface of the base plate to the other surface are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the base plate at intervals, and the adjacent nozzles The centers of the holes are arranged with their positions shifted in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction, and at least a part of each nozzle hole is modified to have higher hardness than the periphery of the nozzle hole. It is characterized by.

  In the plasma display panel nozzle plate of the present invention, a plurality of nozzle holes reaching from one surface of the base plate to the other surface are arranged at intervals along the longitudinal direction of the base plate, and partly Only the nozzle hole is modified such that at least a part thereof is higher in hardness than the periphery of the nozzle hole.

  In the method of manufacturing a nozzle plate for a plasma display panel according to the present invention, a plurality of nozzle holes reaching the other surface of the base plate are irradiated along the longitudinal direction of the base plate by irradiating one surface of the base plate with laser light. And the step of forming the centers of the adjacent nozzle holes shifted in the direction intersecting the longitudinal direction, and laser light from the one surface of each base plate to the inner peripheral wall of the nozzle hole And quenching the peripheral wall of the nozzle hole so as to have a hardness higher than that of the periphery of the nozzle hole.

  In the coating apparatus for a plasma display panel according to the present invention, a nozzle plate in which a plurality of nozzle holes reaching from one surface of the base plate to the other surface are arranged at an interval is opposed to the discharge port of the coating material. In the coating device attached, only the nozzle holes located in the vicinity of the discharge port among the nozzle holes are at least partially modified to have higher hardness than the periphery of the nozzle holes. Features.

  According to this configuration, at least some of the nozzle holes are modified to have higher hardness than the periphery thereof, and the hardness of the nozzle holes adjacent to each other is improved by shifting the positions of the centers of adjacent nozzle holes. As compared with the case where the nozzle holes thus formed are arranged in a line, it is effective in improving the wear resistance and reducing the occurrence of cracks.

  In addition, providing nozzle holes with high hardness and modified nozzle holes is also effective in reducing the occurrence of cracks and the like.

The perspective view in producing the nozzle plate of Embodiment 1 of this invention AA sectional view of FIG. BB enlarged sectional view of FIG. Enlarged perspective view during processing of nozzle hole of same embodiment Enlarged cross-sectional view during processing of nozzle hole of same embodiment The enlarged plan view which looked at the nozzle hole of the embodiment from the exit side The enlarged plan view which looked at the nozzle hole of the nozzle plate of a comparative example from the exit side Sectional view and pressure distribution diagram of coating device using nozzle plate of embodiment 2 of the present invention The enlarged plan view of the principal part which looked at the nozzle hole of the embodiment from the exit side The enlarged plan view which looked at the nozzle hole of another example from the exit side Enlarged perspective view at the start and during application of a paste containing blue fluorescent paint using a nozzle plate between the partition walls Enlarged perspective view during application of paste containing red fluorescent paint using nozzle plate between partition walls Enlarged perspective view in the middle of applying paste containing green fluorescent paint using nozzle plate between partition walls

Hereinafter, the manufacturing method of the nozzle plate of the present invention will be described based on specific embodiments.
(Embodiment 1)
FIGS. 1 to 6 show the nozzle plate being processed, which is necessary when manufacturing components used in the plasma display panel.

The nozzle plate 1 shown in FIG. 1 is used when a paste containing phosphor powder is applied between the barrier ribs formed at a pitch of 160 μm as described in FIG.
The base plate 2 of the nozzle plate 1 is made of SUS430 made of ferritic stainless steel. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the groove 3 whose width gradually decreases from the upper surface 2a toward the rear surface 2b is formed in the longitudinal direction (X (Axial direction). A thin part 4 of about 500 μm is formed between the bottom of the groove 3 and the back surface 2 b of the base plate 2.

  The thin portion 4 has a plurality of nozzle holes 5n-2, 5n-1, 5n, 5n + 1,... That reach from the one surface 4a to the back surface 2b of the base plate 2 that is the other surface along the X-axis direction. Are formed at intervals of 480 μm. Each nozzle hole has a diameter of about 100 μm and is formed as a long hole in the Y-axis direction as shown in FIG. Specifically, the centers of adjacent nozzle holes are alternately arranged with a distance d shifted in the Y-axis direction. In addition, the shape of each nozzle hole is such that the opening 4 b on one surface 4 a is larger than the opening 4 c on the back surface 2 b of the base plate 2.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, at least a part of the periphery of the opening 4c of each nozzle hole 5n-2, 5n-1, 5n, 5n + 1,... The hardness is higher than that of the modified material. Since the part not displayed in the quenching process 12 is not modified, the hardness is lower than the part of the quenching process 12. 6 is a view of the nozzle holes 5n-2, 5n-1, 5n, 5n + 1,... Viewed from the back surface 2b side of the base plate 2. FIG.

The plurality of nozzle holes 5n-2, 5n-1, 5n, 5n + 1,... Are formed using the laser irradiation device 6 as follows.
Here, the processing of the nozzle hole 5n and the nozzle hole 5n + 1 will be described as an example with reference to FIG.

  When forming the nozzle hole 5n, the laser light (wavelength: 1070 nm) generated from the first laser light source 7a shown in FIG. 1 is passed through the first mirror 8a and the first and second scan mirrors 9a and 9b. Further, the thin portion 4 is irradiated through the lenses 10 and 11, and the material is evaporated while the second scan mirror 9b is scanned to form the nozzle hole 5n.

  When one nozzle hole 5n penetrates, the first laser light source 7a is turned off before the adjacent nozzle hole 5n + 1 (indicated by the phantom line in FIG. 5) is similarly formed by the laser irradiation device 6, and the second The laser light source 7b is turned on, and the laser light (wavelength: 1053 nm) from the second laser light source 7b is transmitted through the second mirror 8b, the first mirror 8a, and the first and second scan mirrors 9a and 9b. Further, the peripheral wall 5a of the nozzle hole 5n is further irradiated through the lenses 10 and 11, and only the vicinity of the outlet of the nozzle hole 5n is subjected to the quenching process 12 to be modified.

  Even if the laser light generated from the second laser light source 7b has a high output (1 kW), the pulse width thereof is a narrow waveform on the order of picoseconds, and the first laser light source 7a used for evaporation of the material is used. The pulse width is extremely narrow compared to the laser beam generated from the laser beam, the effective output is small compared to the first laser light source 7a, and the irradiated portion is heated to the temperature required for quenching, so that the material It does not evaporate.

  When this modification is completed, the first laser light source 7a is irradiated at a predetermined location of the adjacent nozzle hole 5n + 1 (indicated by the phantom line in FIG. 5) to form the nozzle hole 5n + 1, and then the second laser light source In the same manner, only the vicinity of the outlet of the nozzle hole 5n + 1 is quenched and reformed. This process is repeated to repeat nozzle hole drilling and modification.

  When the opening 4b and the opening 4c have the same size, when the laser beam is applied to the peripheral wall 5a of the nozzle hole 5 from one surface 4a for modification, the laser beam to the peripheral wall of the nozzle hole 5 Although the irradiation range is limited, in this embodiment, since the opening 4b is larger than the opening 4c, the laser light can be irradiated to a wide range of the peripheral wall 5a of the nozzle hole, and the wide range of the nozzle hole Can be improved.

The effect of this embodiment will be described in comparison with the following comparative example.
(Comparative example)
FIG. 7 shows the base plate 2 of the comparative example as seen from the back surface 2b side of the base plate 2 in the same manner as FIG. 6 of the embodiment.

  The nozzle holes 5n-2, 5n-1, 5n, 5n + 1,... In this comparative example have the same interval (P1-P2) in the X-axis direction between adjacent nozzle holes as 480 μm, but all Nozzle holes are formed in a line on a single line. Others are the same as the embodiment, and at least a part of the periphery of the opening 4c is subjected to the quenching process 12.

  Even when the nozzle holes are arranged in a line on a single line at intervals of 480 μm as in this comparative example, the wear is less than that of a fully-quenched nozzle plate as in the conventional example, and long-term The occurrence of cracks can also be reduced by use.

  In the case of the example, even if the distance (P1-P2) between the adjacent nozzle holes in the X-axis direction is 480 μm, which is the same as in FIG. 7, the adjacent nozzle holes are shifted by a distance d in the Y-axis direction. Thus, the substantial interval (P1-P2) between adjacent nozzle holes can be made larger than in the case of the comparative example, so that the occurrence of cracks can be reduced over a longer period than in the comparative example.

  As described above, at least a part of the plurality of nozzle holes is modified to have a higher hardness than the periphery of the nozzle holes, so even if the application of extruding the paste containing the phosphor from the nozzle holes is executed, The shape can be maintained over a long period of time, and the occurrence of poor coating can be prevented.

  Further, since the thin-walled portion 4 of the nozzle plate 1 is left with a portion that has not been quenched, cracks are unlikely to occur in the portions of the nozzle holes arranged in series due to bending or repeated distortion, and the conventional nozzle Compared with the case where the wear resistance is improved by quenching like a plate, the number of times of replacement of the nozzle plate can be reduced, which is effective for mass production of plasma display panels.

  Further, since the adjacent nozzle holes are alternately shifted by the distance d, the distance between the centers of the adjacent nozzle holes can be made longer than that in which the nozzle holes are arranged in a line on a single center line. Therefore, the strength of the base plate 2 increases.

  Furthermore, when one side of the base plate is irradiated with a laser beam to form a nozzle hole 5n, and before the adjacent nozzle hole is drilled, the nozzle hole 5 is drilled from the same side as the side irradiated with the laser. Since the modification process is performed by irradiating the laser beam, the alignment and the like are performed in comparison with the case where the adjacent nozzle hole 5n + 1 is drilled and then returned to the nozzle hole 5n previously drilled to perform the modification process. It is unnecessary and has good workability.

(Embodiment 2)
8 and 9 show a coating apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
The coating apparatus includes a container 15 to which a coating material is supplied from a discharge port 14 and a base plate 2 that is attached to an opening of the container 15 so as to face the discharge port 14. A plurality of nozzle holes 5 are formed in the base plate 2 at intervals of 480 μm. The shape of the base plate 2 is the same as FIGS. 1 to 3 of the first embodiment, and the specific arrangement of the nozzle holes 5 formed in the thin portion 4 is different from that of the first embodiment. Furthermore, in the first embodiment, all the nozzle holes 5 are modified by at least a part of the opening 4c on the outlet side by the quenching process 12, but the nozzle holes 5 in the second embodiment are quenched. The difference from Embodiment 1 is that the processed 12 and the non-quenched 12 are mixed.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when the pressure distribution at the position of the discharge port 14 and the inner surface of the thin portion 4 is measured, the pressure distribution near the discharge port 14 is high, and as the distance from the discharge port 14 increases in the X-axis direction. The pressure distribution is low.

  Therefore, in the second embodiment, the nozzle holes in the section M1 in the vicinity immediately below the discharge port 14 are the adjacent nozzle holes after the nozzle holes 5 are formed by the first laser light source 7a as in FIG. Prior to the start of drilling 5, at least a part of the opening 4 c on the outlet side of the nozzle hole 5 drilled immediately before is modified by quenching treatment 12 using the second laser light source 7 b. When the nozzle hole 5 in the section M2 deviated from the section M1 in the vicinity immediately under the discharge port 14 is processed and the nozzle hole 5 is formed by the first laser light source 7a, the second laser is used. The quenching process 12 is not performed by the light source 7b.

  Since the modification by the quenching process 12 is performed only on the nozzle holes 5 in the section M1 where the pressure distribution is high as described above, all the nozzle holes 5 are not affected by the pressure distribution as in the comparative example shown in FIG. Compared with the case where the quenching process 12 is performed on the opening 4c, in terms of wear, the nozzle hole 5 in the section M2 is worn in that the reforming process is not performed, but the nozzle in the section M1 having a high pressure distribution. Since the quenching process 12 is performed for the holes 5, the degree of overall wear is relatively small. For the generation of cracks associated with long-term use, the reforming process is intermittently performed along the X-axis direction without modifying only the section M1 and modifying the nozzle hole 5 in the section M2. As compared with the comparative example shown in FIG.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the range of reforming is a part of the nozzle hole 5, specifically, the exit side of the nozzle plate 1, and the corner portion 13 (see FIG. 4)), the range on both sides was modified and the corner on the lower side of the moving direction was not modified, but the entire circumference on the outlet side of the nozzle plate 1 was quenched and modified. May be. In addition, since the flow of the paste to be applied is bent at the corner portion 13 on the upper side in the moving direction, in the nozzle plate 1 not subjected to the modification treatment, the corner portion 13 is more than the corner portion on the lower side in the moving direction. Wear was seen. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the processing time of the nozzle plate 1 by selectively performing the reforming process only on the portion with much wear as described above.

  In the above embodiment, the planar shape on the outlet side of the nozzle hole 5 is a long hole, but as shown in FIGS. 10A, 10B, and 10C, a circle, a rectangle, and two circles are connected. Any of the long holes can be similarly implemented.

  In the above embodiment, when applying the paste containing the fluorescent paint, the nozzle plate 1 is not modified with respect to the substrate 20 on which the partition plate 21 is formed. However, the substrate 20 on which the partition wall 21 is formed may be moved with respect to the nozzle plate 1, or the substrate 20 on which the partition wall 21 is formed and the nozzle plate are moved relative to each other. It is valid.

  The present invention contributes to mass production of plasma display panels.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Nozzle plate 2 Base plate 2a Upper surface of base plate 2b Back surface of base plate 3 Groove 4 Thin portion 4a One side of thin portion 4b Opening of one side 4a 4c Opening of back side 2b of base plate 2 5 Nozzle hole 5a Nozzle hole 5 peripheral wall 6 laser irradiation device 7a first laser light source 7b second laser light source 8a first mirror 9a, 9b first and second scan mirrors 10, 11 lens 12 quenching process 14 discharge port 15 container

Claims (7)

A plurality of nozzle holes reaching from one surface of the base plate to the other surface are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the base plate at intervals, and the centers of the adjacent nozzle holes intersect the longitudinal direction. And a nozzle plate for a plasma display panel in which each nozzle hole is modified with a hardness higher than that of the periphery of the nozzle hole. A plurality of nozzle holes reaching from one surface of the base plate to the other surface are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the base plate at intervals, and at least a part of the nozzle holes is at least a part of the nozzles A nozzle plate for a plasma display panel that has been modified to have higher hardness than the periphery of the hole. 3. The nozzle plate for a plasma display panel according to claim 1, wherein an opening on one surface of the base plate is larger than an opening on the other surface of the base plate. A plurality of nozzle holes reaching the other surface of the base plate by irradiating laser light to one surface of the base plate are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the base plate and the centers of the adjacent nozzle holes are A step of shifting the position in the direction intersecting the longitudinal direction;
Irradiating the inner peripheral wall of the nozzle hole with laser light from the one surface of each of the base plates, and quenching the peripheral wall of the nozzle hole so that the hardness is higher than the periphery of the nozzle hole; A method for producing a nozzle plate for a plasma display panel. The step of quenching the peripheral wall of the nozzle hole so that the hardness is higher than the periphery of the nozzle hole,
A nozzle hole is formed in a step of forming a plurality of nozzle holes reaching the other surface of the base plate by irradiating a laser beam on one surface of the base plate with an interval between the adjacent nozzle holes. The manufacturing method of the nozzle plate for plasma display panels of Claim 4 performed with respect to the nozzle hole already formed before forming the next nozzle hole. In the step of forming a plurality of nozzle holes reaching the other surface of the base plate by irradiating one surface of the base plate with an interval between the adjacent nozzle holes, the base plate The method for manufacturing a nozzle plate for a plasma display panel according to claim 4, wherein the opening on one surface is formed larger than the opening on the other surface of the base plate. A nozzle plate in which a plurality of nozzle holes reaching from one surface of the base plate to the other surface are arranged at an interval is an application apparatus in which the nozzle holes are attached to face the discharge port of the application material,
Only the nozzle hole located in the vicinity of the discharge port among the nozzle holes is at least partially modified with a hardness higher than that of the periphery of the nozzle hole.

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