JP3091945B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electron-emitting device, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus such as an image display device and a recording device using a surface-conduction electron-emitting device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, two types of electron emitting devices, a thermionic electron source and a cold cathode electron source, are known. The cold cathode electron source includes a field emission type, a metal / insulating layer / metal type, and a surface conduction type electron emission element.

An example of the field emission type is disclosed in W.K. P. Dy
ke & W. W. Dolan, "Field Emi
session ", Advance in Electro
n Physics, 8, 89 (1956) and C.I.
A. Spindt, “Physical Prope
rties of thin-film field
emission cathodes with mo
lybdenum cones ", J. Appl.
Phys. , 47, 5248 (1976).

[0004] Examples of metal / insulating layer / metal type include C.I. A. Mead, "The tunnel-em
issue amplifier ", J. Appl.
Phys. , 32, 646 (1961).

Further, as an example of the surface conduction type, M.I. I.
Elinson, RadioEng. Elect
ron Phys. , 10, 1290 (1965).

[0006] The above-mentioned surface conduction type electron-emitting device utilizes the phenomenon that electron emission occurs when a current flows through a small-area thin film formed on a substrate in parallel with the film surface.

As the surface conduction type electron-emitting device, one using an SnO ₂ thin film by Erinson et al., Au
By a thin film [G. Dittmer: "Thin S
Solid Films ", 9, 317 (197
2)], an In ₂ O ₃ / SnO ₂ thin film [M. H
artwell and C.I. G. FIG. Fonstad:
"IEEE Trans. ED Conf.", 51
9 (1975)], using a carbon thin film [Hisashi Araki]
Others: Vacuum, Vol. 26, No. 1, p. 22 (1983)] and the like.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a characteristic evaluation apparatus for measuring the emission characteristic of electrons emitted from the above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting device. In FIG. 6, 41 is an insulating substrate,
44 and 45 are device electrodes, 42 is an electron-emitting portion, and 43 is a thin film including the electron-emitting portion 42, and these constitute an electron-emitting device. Further, 46 is a glass substrate, 47 is an anode electrode made of a transparent conductive film, 48 is a fluorescent film that emits visible light by electron irradiation, 49 is a power supply for applying a voltage to the electron-emitting device, and 50 is a voltage applied to the anode electrode 47. Is a high-voltage power supply for applying the voltage. A power supply 49 is connected to the device electrodes 44 and 45, and a high-voltage power supply 50 is provided above the electron-emitting device.
Are connected to each other. The glass substrate 46 having the anode electrode 47 and the fluorescent film 48 and the electron-emitting device are provided in a vacuum device 51.

In the above-described characteristic evaluation apparatus, the device electrode 4
When a voltage is applied between the electrodes 4 and 45 to emit electrons from the electron emitting portion 42 and a voltage of several hundred V to several thousand V is applied to the anode electrode 47, the emitted electrons e ⁻ are applied to the surface of the insulating substrate 41. The voltage applied to the electron-emitting device is shifted toward the positive electrode side (the element electrode 45 side in the figure) with respect to the normal line (dotted line in the drawing) from the electron-emitting portion 42 and flies (hereinafter referred to as “deflection”). "), And the locus of a dotted line with an arrow in the figure is taken. This can be confirmed from the fact that the center of the light emitting portion on the fluorescent film 48 due to the irradiation of the electron beam is shifted from the normal line of the electron emitting portion 42. The direction in which the electron beam is deflected is defined as a deflection direction, and an axis parallel to the deflection direction is defined as a deflection axis.

The above-mentioned electron emission characteristics are considered to be due to the fact that the potential distribution in a plane parallel to the insulating substrate 41 becomes asymmetric with respect to the electron emission portion 42. In particular, the surface conduction electron emission device Characteristic. However, the above-described field emission type electron-emitting device or metal / insulating layer / metal type electron-emitting device also shows this characteristic depending on the configuration.

The electron-emitting device as described above has a 10 ^-6 T
Since the device is operated in a vacuum of about orr or more, when forming an image forming apparatus using the electron-emitting device, an atmospheric pressure resistant structure is required. In particular, a large area rear plate (corresponding to the insulating substrate 41 in FIG. 6) and a front plate (glass substrate 4 in FIG. 6)
In the case of a flat-type image forming apparatus that performs atmospheric pressure support by using (6), the thickness of each substrate becomes extremely large, and the practicality is poor in terms of weight, cost, and the like. In order to avoid this, the image forming apparatus can be reduced in weight by arranging a spacer for atmospheric pressure resistance as a support between the back plate and the front plate to have an atmospheric pressure resistant structure.
Further, the spacer may be used for the purpose of keeping the panel interval constant.

Since the above-mentioned spacer is configured to withstand a pressure perpendicular to the surface of each substrate, each substrate and the spacer are usually in contact with a predetermined area.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic configuration of a conventional image forming apparatus using the above-described electron-emitting device. In FIG. 7, 6
1 is a back plate on which a plurality of electron-emitting devices (not shown) are mounted,
Reference numeral 62 denotes a front plate on which a phosphor (not shown) is mounted and arranged opposite to the rear plate 61; 63, a side plate connecting the rear plate 61 and the periphery of the front plate 62; and 64, a spacer. As described above, in the related art, an elongated plate is used as the spacer 64 and is arranged so as to divide the inside of the panel into a plurality of regions.

[0014]

In order to manufacture the above-described image forming apparatus, the inside of the apparatus (panel) needs to be about 1 mm as described above.
It is necessary to evacuate to 0 ^-6 Torr. However, the conventional image forming apparatus as shown in FIG. 7 has several problems typified by the following.

The first problem is that a gas is released from an organic substance or the like adhering to the inner surface of a panel member during evacuation, so that in a conventional apparatus having a large surface area of a spacer exposed to vacuum. In addition, the amount of gas released from the spacer surface increases, and the evacuation speed decreases. Further, it is difficult to completely degas the surface of the component, and even after the evacuation system such as the evacuation pump is disconnected (this process is called “sealing”), gas is released from the surface of the component. Therefore, if the surface area of the spacer or the like is large, the degree of vacuum inside the panel deteriorates with time after sealing.

Another problem is that in the conventional apparatus, since the spacers are arranged in a structure (tuft-like structure) that divides the inside of the panel into a plurality of spaces, the flow of gas molecules is poor, and the vacuum The time required for evacuation increases, and the evacuation efficiency deteriorates.

An object of the present invention is to improve the evacuation efficiency in evacuating a panel in an image forming apparatus using an electron-emitting device.

Another object of the present invention is to realize a panel structure in an image forming apparatus using an electron-emitting device which does not hinder the trajectory of electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device.

[0019]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a back plate on which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are mounted, and a back plate disposed opposite to the back plate and emitted from the electron-emitting devices. An image forming apparatus comprising: a front plate on which a member to be irradiated to receive electrons is mounted; and a flat spacer disposed between the back plate and the front plate.
Electrons emitted from the back plate generate velocity in the in-plane direction of the back plate.
While the spacer has a longitudinal
A substantially the same as the direction in degrees component, together constitute a spacer column intermittently provided in plurality in the longitudinal direction, Neighboring
The spacers in the adjacent spacer row are
An image forming apparatus is characterized in that the positions are shifted from each other.

[0020] The present invention has, as its feature, the plurality of spacers, it is identical in shape, said plurality of spacers have a plurality of types of shapes, a plurality arranged in said spacer sequence in the same direction An element comprising a plurality of element rows composed of electron-emitting elements, wherein one row of the spacer rows and one row of the element rows are alternately arranged, and an element comprising a plurality of electron-emitting elements arranged in the same direction as the spacer rows. It also includes a plurality of rows, wherein one row of the spacer row and the plurality of rows of the element rows are alternately arranged, and the electron-emitting device is a surface conduction electron-emitting device.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of an image forming apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a back plate, 2 is a front plate,
Reference numeral 3 denotes an envelope, 4 denotes a plate-like spacer whose longitudinal direction is substantially parallel to the x-axis direction, and 5 denotes an electron-emitting device formed on the back plate 1. On the surface of the front plate 2 facing the rear plate 1, a phosphor as a member to be irradiated is disposed.
Not shown in the figure.

In the present invention, a plurality of spacers 4 are provided intermittently in the longitudinal direction (x direction in FIG. 1), that is, at a certain interval. Therefore, the inside of the device does not have the tufted structure as described above, and the vacuum evacuation efficiency does not decrease. However, since an atmospheric pressure resistant structure as a vacuum vessel is necessary, the shape of the spacers is set so that the rear plate 1 and the front plate 2 and the plurality of spacers 4 are in contact with a predetermined area or more.
The number and spacer spacing are set.

In FIG. 1, electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device 5 have velocity components in the x direction and the z direction, and hardly any velocity components in the y direction. The electron beam emitted from the electron-emitting device 5 has a main component of the velocity in the x direction or the -x direction at the beginning of emission. That is, in this example, the x direction is the deflection direction. Then, the electron beam is accelerated in the + z direction by the acceleration voltage applied between the back plate 1 and the front plate 2, and finally collides with a phosphor (not shown) arranged on the inner surface of the front plate 2. An image is formed by emitting light.

As shown in FIG. 1, the longitudinal direction of the spacer 4 is made substantially the same as the direction (x-direction) of the in-plane velocity component of the back plate 1 of the electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device 5. Thus, the electron beam whose orbit is changed by the acceleration voltage flies without colliding with the spacer 4. For this reason, it is possible to prevent a decrease in luminous efficiency and device destruction as described above.

In the present invention, the spacers 4 are made to correspond to the gaps (for example, so-called black stripes) between the phosphor targets arranged on the front plate 2, and the electron-emitting devices 5 occupy the back plate 1. It is preferable to install it in a part that is not.

In FIG. 1, the electron-emitting devices 5 and the spacers 4 are omitted to some extent, and the numbers thereof are not limited in the present invention.

[0029]

The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to examples.

[Embodiment 1] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a first embodiment of the present invention in detail.
It is an enlarged plane (xy plane) figure in the state where the front plate was removed.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 6 denotes a spacer array in which a plurality of spacers 4 are arranged in the x-axis direction, and reference numeral 7 denotes an electron-emitting device array in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices 5 are arranged in the x-axis direction. In this embodiment, the direction of deflection of the electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device 5 is the x-axis direction.

The spacers 4 shown in the present embodiment all have the same shape. The length of the spacer 4 in the x-axis direction is A, and the distance between the spacers in the spacer row 6 is B. That is, the spacer row 6 is such that the spacer 4 having the length A is x.
Plural sheets are arranged in the axial direction at a distance B.

Then, one spacer row 6 is translated in the x-axis direction by (A + B) / 2, and is moved in the y-axis direction by, for example, 10.
Another spacer row 6 'is arranged at a position translated in parallel by the distance C for the element. By repeating the above, the arrangement of the spacers in the image forming apparatus was determined, and the image forming apparatus was manufactured.

Specifically, the spacer 4 has a length A = 4
0 mm, thickness in the y-axis direction 0.2 mm, height in the z-axis direction 3
B = 40m in x-axis direction using a glass spacer of mm
The arrangement was performed as described above while shifting by C = 15 mm in the m and y axis directions. The front and back plates made of glass have a size of 300 mm square and a thickness of 3 mm.

In this embodiment, an apparatus capable of efficiently evacuating the image forming apparatus and having a sufficient atmospheric pressure resistance structure was obtained.

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a second embodiment of the present invention in detail.
It is an enlarged plane (xy plane) figure in the state where the front plate was removed. In FIG. 3, the components denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG.
The equivalent member is shown. Also in this embodiment, the deflection direction of the electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device 5 is the x-axis direction.

The present embodiment is almost the same as the image forming apparatus of the first embodiment, but differs in the arrangement interval of the spacer.

Specifically, the spacer 4 has a length A = 4
0 mm, thickness in the y-axis direction 0.2 mm, height in the z-axis direction 3
mm = 30 m in the x-axis direction using a glass spacer
They were arranged in the same manner as in Example 1 while being shifted by C = 20 mm in the m and y axis directions. The front and back plates made of glass have a size of 300 mm square and a thickness of 3 mm.

Also in the present embodiment, an apparatus capable of efficiently evacuating the inside of the image forming apparatus and having a sufficient atmospheric pressure resistance structure was obtained.

[Embodiment 3] FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a third embodiment of the present invention in detail.
It is an enlarged plane (xy plane) figure in the state where the front plate was removed. Also in this embodiment, the deflection direction of the electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device 5 is the x-axis direction.

A feature of this embodiment is that two types of spacers having different shapes are used to form different spacer rows, and are arranged alternately. Other points are the same as in the first embodiment.

In FIG. 4, spacers 4a having different shapes are provided.
And the spacer 4b form a spacer row 6a and a spacer row 6b, respectively. The length of the spacer 4a in the x-axis direction is A1, and the length of the spacer 6b in the x-axis direction is A2.
The distance between the spacers in the spacer row 6a is B
1. The interval between the spacers in the spacer row 6b is B2. That is, the spacer row 6a includes the spacer 4 having the length A1.
a is formed by arranging a plurality of spacers at intervals of a distance B1 in the x-axis direction, and the spacer row 6b is configured by arranging a plurality of spacers 4b of length A2 at intervals of a distance B2 in the x-axis direction. Have been. In the y-axis direction, for example, 10
The spacer row 6a and the spacer row 6 are separated by a distance C corresponding to the element.
b were alternately arranged.

More specifically, the length A1 is used as the spacer 4a.
= 40 mm, a glass spacer having a thickness of 0.2 mm in the y-axis direction and a height of 3 mm in the z-axis direction. A4 = 10 mm, a thickness of 0.2 mm in the y-axis direction, and a height in the z-axis direction as a spacer 4b. Using a glass spacer of 3 mm in length, the spacer 4
a was arranged at a distance of B1 = 40 mm in the x-axis direction, and the spacers 4b were arranged at a distance of B2 = 70 mm in the x-axis direction, shifted from each other by C = 20 mm in the y-axis direction, and arranged as described above. The front and back plates made of glass have a size of 300 mm square and a thickness of 3 mm.

Also in this embodiment, an apparatus which can efficiently evacuate the image forming apparatus and has a sufficient atmospheric pressure resistant structure was obtained.

Reference Example FIG. 5 is a view showing a reference example of the present invention, and is an enlarged plan view (xy plane) of the image forming apparatus with the front plate removed. In FIG.
Those denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 2 indicate equivalent members. Also in this embodiment , the direction of deflection of the electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device 5 is the x-axis direction.

The feature of this embodiment is that spacers 4 having the same shape are used.
Constitute the spacer rows 6, and in each of the spacer rows 6, the spacers 4 are arranged so that the positions in the x-axis direction are the same.

The length of the spacer 4 shown in this embodiment in the x-axis direction is A, and the distance between the spacers 4 in the spacer row 6 is B. That is, the spacer row 6 is configured by arranging a plurality of spacers 4 having a length A at a distance B in the x-axis direction. Then, another spacer row 6 is arranged at a position where the spacer row 6 is translated in the y-axis direction by a distance C for, for example, 10 elements. By repeating the above, the arrangement of the spacers 4 in the image forming apparatus was determined, and the image forming apparatus was manufactured.

Specifically, as the spacer 4, the length A = 5
0 mm, thickness in the y-axis direction 0.2 mm, height in the z-axis direction 3
B = 40m in x-axis direction using a glass spacer of mm
The arrangement was performed as described above while shifting by C = 15 mm in the m and y axis directions. The front and back plates made of glass have a size of 300 mm square and a thickness of 3 mm.

Also in the present reference example , an apparatus capable of efficiently evacuating the inside of the image forming apparatus and having a sufficient atmospheric pressure resistant structure was obtained.

In each of the examples and reference examples , the spacer was fixed to the front plate and / or the back plate with low melting point glass (frit glass).

In order to further increase the strength of the image forming apparatus, the distance C may be shortened, and for example, the electron emission element rows 7 and the spacer rows 6 may be alternately arranged.

[0052]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In an image forming apparatus using an electron-emitting device, since the inside of the panel is not divided into a tuft-like structure and the surface area of the spacer can be reduced, the air flow in the panel at the time of evacuation becomes smoother, The amount of gas generated from the surface can be reduced. Thereby, the evacuation efficiency of the panel can be improved, and the manufacture of the image forming apparatus is facilitated.

Further, by aligning the longitudinal direction of the flat spacer with the direction of deflection of the electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device, it is possible to prevent the electron beam from colliding with the spacer. For this reason, it is possible to prevent a decrease in luminous efficiency and device destruction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged horizontal (xy plane) cross-sectional view of the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged horizontal (xy plane) cross-sectional view of the image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged horizontal (xy plane) sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged horizontal (xy plane) cross-sectional view of the image forming apparatus shown in the reference example .

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a device for evaluating characteristics of a surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a conventional image forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 back plate 2 front plate 3 envelope 4, 4a, 4b spacer 5 electron-emitting device 6, 6 ', 6a, 6b spacer array 7 electron-emitting device array 41 insulating substrate 42 electron-emitting section 43 thin film including electron-emitting section 44, 45 Device electrode 46 Glass substrate 47 Anode electrode 48 Fluorescent film 49 Power supply 50 High voltage power supply 51 Vacuum device 61 Back plate 62 Front plate 63 Side plate 64 Spacer

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masahiro Tagawa 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Naoto Nakamura 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Hideaki Mitsutake 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Yoshiyuki Nagata 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (56) References JP-A-2-299140 (JP, A) JP-A-4-355493 (JP, A) JP-A-60-50849 (JP, A) JP-A-4-47889 (JP, A) JP-A-8-315722 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01J 29/86 H01J 29/87 H01J 31/12 H01J 31/15

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A back plate on which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are mounted, a front plate disposed opposite to the back plate, on which an irradiation member receiving electrons emitted from the electron-emitting devices is mounted, and between the back plate and the front plate. In the image forming apparatus including the flat-plate spacers arranged in the above, the electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device,
While having a velocity component in the in-plane direction, the spacers
Longitudinal direction a substantially the same as the direction of the speed component constitutes the spacer columns intermittently provided in plurality in the longitudinal direction of the
And spacers in adjacent spacer rows
An image forming apparatus, wherein the longitudinal positions are shifted from each other . 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of spacers have the same shape. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of spacers have a plurality of types of shapes. 4. A method according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of element rows each including a plurality of electron-emitting devices arranged in the same direction as the spacer rows, wherein one row of the spacer rows and one row of the element rows are alternately arranged. the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. A semiconductor device comprising: a plurality of element rows each including a plurality of electron-emitting devices arranged in the same direction as the spacer rows; and one row of the spacer rows and the plurality of rows of the element rows are alternately arranged. the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein. Wherein said electron-emitting devices, an image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that a surface conduction electron-emitting device.