JP3385907B2 - Method for manufacturing plasma display panel - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a plasma display panel, and more particularly to a method for mounting a ventilation pipe for exhausting gas and filling gas in the discharge space of the panel,
And exhaust and gas filling methods. Evacuation and gas filling of the discharge space are performed through a cylindrical ventilation pipe (chip pipe) into a small-diameter ventilation hole that is opened in one of the flat substrates so as to communicate with the gas discharge space. In order to perform reliable exhaust and gas filling, the ventilation pipe must be mounted on the substrate without any gaps and at the same time ensure the strength after mounting.

Therefore, it is required to provide an easy and reliable method for attaching the ventilation pipe, and further a method for realizing the strength of the ventilation pipe in the exhausting and filling steps after the attachment.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is an external perspective view of a plasma display panel (hereinafter referred to as PDP) having ventilation tubes for exhaust and gas filling. As shown in FIG. 6, the PDP 21 is formed by bonding a front substrate 22 and a rear substrate 23 made of a glass material so as to have a predetermined discharge space.
This bonding is performed by the sealing material 24 applied to the peripheral portions of both substrates, and the panel envelope having the discharge space closed by the peripheral sealing is constituted.

Then, the discharge and gas filling process of the discharge space of the panel envelope is performed with the hollow ventilation pipe 28 fixed so as to communicate with the ventilation hole 25 formed in the rear substrate 23 in advance. In order to realize color display in the display area 30, although not shown, the electrodes forming the discharge cells of the matrix array, the dielectric layer insulating the discharge cells from the discharge space, and the discharge are formed on the inner surfaces of the pair of substrates. A partition that defines a region (discharge cell), and a phosphor or the like is appropriately disposed in the partition.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view for explaining a conventional method for attaching a ventilation pipe. Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 7 (a), a ventilation pipe 28 having a fixing portion coated with a fusion material 29 such as glass paste is prepared, and this ventilation pipe 28 is shown in FIG. 7 (b).
The rear substrate 23 is arranged so that the worker presses it vertically while aligning it with the portion of the rear substrate 23 where the vent hole 25 is formed so that the state shown in FIG. Then, the fusion material 29
Reapply a.

The ventilation pipe thus installed maintains the state shown in FIG. 7B due to the adhesive force of the fusion material and its own weight. As described above, after the state shown in FIG. 7B, heat treatment is performed to melt the fusing materials 29 and 29a,
This is cooled to be solidified, and the fixing of the ventilation pipe 28 on the rear substrate 23 is completed.

For the subsequent exhaust and gas filling, the PDP 21 having the ventilation pipe 28 fixed therein is carried into an exhaust furnace (not shown),
This is performed by connecting a pipe to the ventilation pipe 28. When the gas filling is completed, a gas burner or the like is used for the vent pipe
By melting the tip portion of 8, the discharge space 26 is completely closed.

[0008]

As described above, the ventilation pipe 28 is provided.
The fusion material 29 is applied to the back substrate 23 and the ventilation pipe 28 is attached to the back substrate 23.
Since the conventional method of attaching the ventilation pipe, which is arranged on the upper side and additionally applies the fusion material 29a, is mainly a manual process, the amount of the fusion material applied, the state of application, and the arrangement thereof are performed. An error may occur in the state or the like, and if the error is large, it may cause a fatal defect in exhaust and gas filling such as not completely sealing the fixed portion.

Therefore, the conventional method for attaching the ventilation pipe requires skill and is time-consuming. Further, after the ventilation pipe 28 is disposed on the rear substrate 23, the heat-melted fusion material 29 is solidified, and there is no means for holding it until the fixation of the ventilation pipe 28 is completed, which is unstable. No external force can be applied to the ventilation pipe 28.

Naturally, since the weight of the ventilation pipe 28 is added, it is not possible to stand the substrate in the vertical direction or turn the back substrate 23 so that it faces downward. Therefore, the exhaust process and the like following the ventilation pipe attaching process cannot be processed as a series of processes. That is, the efficiency is poor because it cannot be transported to the next process until the process of attaching the ventilation pipe is completed.

It is an object of the present invention to solve these problems and to provide a method for attaching a ventilation pipe which is capable of suppressing variations in the state of arrangement on a glass substrate, etc., even though the ventilation pipe is simply attached.

[0012]

In order to solve the above problems, in the method of attaching a ventilation pipe of the present invention, a step of vertically fixing a rod-shaped positioning jig in a ventilation hole formed in a substrate,
The process of fitting the ventilation pipe to the positioning jig and erecting it on the substrate , sandwiching the ventilation pipe and the substrate with clips and temporarily fixing them
After that, a configuration is adopted in which the step of pulling out the positioning jig from the ventilation hole of the substrate and the step of fixing the ventilation pipe to the substrate with a fusion material are sequentially performed.

According to the method of manufacturing a plasma display of the present invention which adopts such a ventilation pipe attaching step, the ventilation pipe is mounted on the substrate by using a positioning jig fixed so as to stand upright in the ventilation hole of the substrate. Since it is arranged at a predetermined position, it is possible to easily and stably arrange the ventilation pipe.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 are cross-sectional views for explaining a first embodiment of the present invention showing a ventilation pipe mounting step. Plasma display panel (hereinafter PDP
1), as shown in FIG. 1, by arranging a front substrate 2 and a rear substrate 3 made of a glass material to face each other with a predetermined gap therebetween and sealing the periphery of the substrate with a sealing material 4,
A panel envelope having a closed discharge space 6 is constructed. Vent pipe 8 for exhausting and filling the discharge space 6 with gas
Is fixed to the panel envelope as follows.

First, a rod-shaped positioning jig 7 is inserted into a ventilation hole 5 formed in advance in a rear substrate 3 which constitutes a panel envelope, and is made to stand upright. The positioning jig 7 is made of a material that has heat resistance and at least the insertion portion is elastically deformed, and has an insertion portion formed slightly larger than the ventilation hole 5 of the rear substrate 3. By press-fitting into the pores 5, they can be fixed upright on the rear substrate 3.

Next, the preform 9 and the ventilation pipe 8 formed of the fusion material are inserted into the positioning jig 7 as shown by an arrow by an operator or an automatic device having a holding arm, and the like, so that the rear substrate 3 is formed. It is arranged so as to surround the ventilation hole of. The preform 9 and the ventilation pipe 8 have inner diameters larger than the diameter of the positioning jig 7, and enable smooth insertion.

An arrangement state using this positioning jig 7 is shown in FIG. According to the method of disposing the ventilation pipe 8 on the rear substrate 3 using the positioning jig 7 as in this embodiment, the ventilation pipe 8
By the simple work of inserting the
The ventilation pipe 8 can be accurately arranged at a predetermined position on the rear substrate 3, that is, at a position facing the ventilation hole 5.

In the arrangement state of the ventilation pipe 8 shown in FIG.
By performing heating and cooling treatment, preform 9
Is melted and solidified, and the ventilation pipe 8 is fixed on the back substrate 3. The preform 9 is formed by heat-treating a powder containing low melting point glass as a main component in a molding die, and is melted by heat treatment at about 400 ° C., for example.
It is solidified by cooling it to about 350 ° C.

Therefore, when the preform 9 is melted by the heat treatment, the ventilation pipe 8 and the rear substrate 3 are bonded to each other, and the rear substrate 3 is solidified by cooling.
The ventilation pipe 8 can be fixed on the top. As mentioned above,
By using the preform 9 as the fusing material, the amount of the fusing material used does not vary, and stable fixing can be realized in accordance with the accuracy of the above-described arrangement position.

The sealing material 4 is also melted and solidified by this step, and the front substrate 2 and the rear substrate 3 are sealed at the same time. After the ventilation pipe 8 is fixed on the rear substrate 3, the positioning jig 7 fixed to the ventilation hole 5 of the rear substrate 3 is pulled out by press fitting so that the discharge space 6 can be exhausted and filled with gas. And

This extraction step can be performed manually by an operator, but an automatic device having a holding arm or the like which can be extracted in the vertical direction is used so as not to touch the fixed ventilation pipe 8. Is preferred. When the molten preform 9 comes into contact with the positioning jig 7, it is difficult to remove the positioning jig 7. Therefore, the preform 9 is extracted before it is completely dried, that is, in the molten state.

Thereafter, a panel envelope is arranged in an exhaust furnace (not shown), and a predetermined exhaust process is performed through the ventilation pipe 8 to make the discharge space 6 a vacuum state, and then the discharge space 6 is similarly passed. Gas for discharge is filled through the trachea 8. When the charging of the discharge gas is completed, the tip of the ventilation pipe 5 is melted and blocked by a gas burner or the like. FIG. 3 is a sectional view and a plan view for explaining a second embodiment of the present invention, and the same parts as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 are designated by the same reference numerals.

This embodiment is a method for enabling more reliable and efficient attachment of the ventilation pipe to the above-mentioned first embodiment, and as shown in FIG. 3, the clip 10 is used. It has a feature. The positioning jig 7 is inserted and fixed in the ventilation hole 5 of the rear substrate 3 and the preform 9 and the ventilation pipe 8 are inserted to arrange the ventilation pipe 8 on the rear substrate 3. Since it is the same, the description is omitted.

After the ventilation pipe 8 is arranged on the rear substrate 3, a clip 10 for temporarily fixing the ventilation pipe 8 to the rear substrate 3 is set as shown in FIG. Clip 10
Is made of a metallic spring material, and as is apparent from FIG. 3 (a), the hem portion 8a of the ventilation pipe 8 protruding outwardly.
By sandwiching the surface of the front substrate 2 with a predetermined pressure, the ventilation pipe 8 is temporarily fixed on the rear substrate 3.

Further, as can be seen from FIG. 3 (b), the clip 10 has a notch 10a for escaping the ventilation pipe 8, and the hem 8a on both sides of the notch 10a is pressed down for reliable fixing. I am doing it. In this way, the ventilation pipe 8 is temporarily fixed with the clip 10 and the positioning jig 7 is removed, and the preform 9 is melted by heat treatment to bond the ventilation pipe 8 and the rear substrate 3 to each other. After that, the molten preform is solidified by cooling.

According to the present embodiment, since the clip 10 temporarily fixes the ventilation pipe 8 with a predetermined pressure to fix the ventilation pipe 8 and the rear substrate 3 to each other, the ventilation pipe 8 is pressurized and stabilized. In this state, it is possible to firmly fix them. Further, since it is temporarily fixed by the clip 10, it is possible to prepare an exhaust by attaching a vacuum head or the like for exhaust to the exhaust pipe before completely fixing the exhaust pipe and the rear substrate.

That is, after the clip 10 is set and the positioning jig 9 is removed, it is placed in an exhaust furnace (not shown), and the ventilation pipe 8 is attached with a vacuum head for vacuum exhaust. By cooling, the preform 9 is melted and solidified, and then the exhaust treatment can be continuously performed. Therefore, the efficiency is improved as compared with the conventional method in which the ventilation pipe is completely fixed by heating and cooling and then transferred to the exhaust furnace to perform the exhaust process. Further, since the heat treatment is performed after the positioning jig 7 is removed, the preform 9 is not welded to the positioning jig 7.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the third embodiment of the present invention. Exhaust for more stable implementation of the second embodiment in which the ventilation pipe is attached and the exhaust is performed in a series of steps. It shows the state in the furnace. In this embodiment, similarly to the second embodiment, the positioning jig 9 (see FIG. 3) is used to dispose the preform 9 and the ventilation pipe 8 on the rear substrate 3, and the clip 1
After setting 0, the inside of the exhaust furnace 20 is set in the exhaust preparation state as shown in FIG.

In the exhaust furnace 20, the discharge space 6 of the PDP 1
A vacuum head 11 for evacuating and filling the inside is provided, and is connected by a clip 10 to a ventilation pipe 8 temporarily fixed to the panel envelope. The vacuum head 11 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the vacuum pump 15 and the gas supply source 17 are connected via a pipe 14, and the inside thereof is an O-ring 12 that keeps a sealed state at the time of connection with the ventilation pipe 8 and an O ring that is integrated with the pipe 14. It is composed of a pressing block 13 that comes into contact with the ring 12 and serves as a connecting portion of the ventilation pipe 8.

The O-ring 12 is brought into close contact with the ventilation pipe 8 and the pressing block 13 by squeezing the rotary lid 11a so that the ventilation pipe 8 and the pressing block 13 in the vacuum head 1 are closed.
Ensure the sealed state of the connection with. The vacuum pump 16 and the gas supply source 17 connected to the pipe 14 are configured to be switched by the control of the opening / closing valve 15. In FIG. 4, the vacuum pump 16 and the gas supply source 17 are the exhaust furnace 2
Although it is located inside 0, it is actually provided outside the exhaust furnace 20.

The pipe 14 is swingably connected to the upper wall of the exhaust furnace 20 via the support spring 18 above the vacuum head 11. This is to absorb the stress applied to the ventilation pipe 8 due to the vibration of the PDP 1 due to the thermal strain in the exhaust process or the like. As described above, the PDP 1 provided with the ventilation pipe 8 is placed in the state shown in FIG. 4, and then the preform 9 is heated by heat treatment so that the temperature in the exhaust furnace 20 becomes about 400 ° C. By melting and lowering the temperature to about 350 ° C., the melted preform is solidified to fix the ventilation pipe 8 and the back substrate 3 to each other.

In this step, since the sealing material 4 is also melted and solidified, the ventilation pipe 8 is fixed to the rear substrate 3 and, at the same time, the front substrate 2 and the rear substrate 3 are sealed by the sealing material 4. Then, the opening / closing valve 15 is opened with respect to the vacuum pump 16 and the vacuum pump 16 is operated, so that the P valve is opened via the pipe 14, the ventilation pipe 8 and the ventilation hole 5.
The discharge space 6 of DP1 is evacuated. At this time, the temperature in the exhaust furnace 20 is maintained at 350 ° C.

After that, when the inside of the discharge space 6 reaches a predetermined pressure, the inside of the exhaust furnace 20 is returned to room temperature, and the on-off valve 15 is switched to open the gas supply source 17 side.
The gas supply source 17 supplies the discharge gas at a predetermined pressure, and the discharge space 6 is filled with the discharge gas through the pipe 14, the ventilation pipe 8 and the ventilation hole 5 like the exhaust. Finally, the clip 10 is removed, and the discharge space 6 is completely closed by melting the tip of the ventilation tube 8 using a gas burner or the like.

According to the present embodiment described above, as in the second embodiment, the ventilation pipe 8 is attached (fixed) to the rear substrate 3.
Since the exhaust and the gas filling can be performed as a series of steps in the exhaust furnace 20, the work efficiency is improved.
Further, in the present embodiment, since the vacuum head 11 connected to the ventilation pipe 8 is swingable, the pipe 14 above it is supported by the support spring 18 that changes as shown by arrows a and b. The ventilation pipe 8 can follow the fluctuation of the PDP 1.

That is, when the PDP 1 fluctuates due to thermal strain in the ventilation pipe fixing process in which the temperature inside the exhaust furnace 20 becomes high, the exhaust process, etc., the ventilation pipe 8 moves due to the action of the support spring 18. Therefore, the stress applied to the fixed portion between the ventilation pipe 8 and the back substrate 3 can be suppressed, and the ventilation pipe 8 can be prevented from being damaged.

In this embodiment, the zigzag (coil-shaped) support spring 18 is fixed to the upper wall of the exhaust furnace 20, but the structure of the support spring is not limited to this. Figure 5
It is sectional drawing for demonstrating the modification of a support spring. Figure 5
(A) is provided with a support spring 18a having a substantially U shape, one end of which is fixed to the upper wall of the exhaust furnace 20 and the other end of which is a free end, and a metal string 18b is provided between the support spring 18a and the pipe 14. It is to connect.

Also in this example, since the support spring 18a bends as shown by an arrow a and the metal cord 18b swings as shown by an arrow b, the vacuum head 11 is swingably supported.
FIG. 5B uses a support spring 18c similar to the coil-shaped support spring 18 described in the third embodiment,
It is fixed to the lateral wall of the exhaust furnace 20 via a support rod 19. This example is adopted when it cannot be fixed to the upper wall due to the structure of the exhaust furnace 20 and the like, and the effect is the same as that of the third embodiment and the example of FIG. 5 (a). .

Further, in the third embodiment and the modification of FIG. 5, the support spring fixes the pipe 14 and the exhaust furnace 20, but the vacuum head 11 and the vent pipe 8 swing within a predetermined range. It suffices if it can be movably supported, for example, the vacuum head 1
It is also possible to fix the support spring to 1.

[0039]

According to the method of manufacturing the plasma display panel of the present invention, the ventilation pipe is arranged at a predetermined position on the substrate by using the positioning jig fixed so as to stand upright in the ventilation hole of the substrate. Therefore, although it is a simple method, it is possible to reliably and stably dispose the ventilation pipe at a predetermined position on the substrate.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view (1) for explaining a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view (2) for explaining the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view for explaining a second embodiment of the present invention,
It is a top view.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view for explaining a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view for explaining a modification of the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an external perspective view of a plasma display panel.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a conventional vent pipe attaching step.

[Explanation of symbols]

A few substrates 5 ventilation holes 6 discharge space 7 Positioning jig 8 ventilation pipe 9 Preform (fusion material) 10 clips

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-8-138553 (JP, A) JP-A-1-235125 (JP, A) Actual development Sho 62-184653 (JP, U) (58) Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01J 9/26 H01J 9/385 H01J 7/22 H01J 11/02

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A small one of a pair of substrates forming a discharge space.
If at least one of the boards has a vent hole and is connected to the vent hole,
The ventilation pipe is attached to the substrate with a fusion material so that
In a method for manufacturing a plasma display panel , a rod is inserted into a ventilation hole of the substrate when the ventilation pipe is fixed to the substrate.
-Like positioning jig is set upright and fixed, and ventilation is performed in this state.
When the tube is fitted into the positioning jig and placed upright on the board,
The air pipe and the substrate are sandwiched by clips and temporarily fixed
After that, remove the positioning jig from the vent hole of the board.
Ri, be secured to the vent tube to the substrate by the fusion Chakuzai
A method of manufacturing a plasma display panel, comprising: 2. A doughnut-shaped fusion material is fitted into the positioning jig prior to the ventilation pipe, and the fusion material is interposed between the ventilation pipe and the substrate. The method for manufacturing a plasma display panel according to claim 1. 3. A method for manufacturing a plasma display panel, wherein a vent pipe is provided on at least one of the pair of substrates forming a discharge space to evacuate the discharge space and fill the discharge gas. A rod-shaped positioning jig is erected and fixed to a ventilation hole formed in the substrate; a step of fitting the ventilation pipe with the positioning jig to erect it on the substrate; A step of sandwiching the board with a clip and temporarily fixing it; a step of extracting the positioning jig from a vent hole of the board; and a step of connecting the exhaust pipe and the vent tube in an exhaust furnace, A method of manufacturing a plasma display panel, comprising the steps of melting and fusing a fusion material by heating and cooling to fix the ventilation tube and the substrate. 4. The exhaust pipe connected to the ventilation pipe,
Claims characterized by being supported in a swingable state
Item 3. A method for manufacturing a plasma display panel according to item 3 .