JP3723558B2 - Clamping device and aging tray - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a clamping device and a tray used when aging a plasma display panel (hereinafter referred to as PDP).
[0002]
[Prior art]
The PDP is attracting attention as a display device that replaces a cathode ray tube, and is promising for use in a large display such as a high-definition television. On the other hand, in the PDP, it is desired to obtain a high quality product capable of maintaining a stable discharge characteristic over a long period of time with high productivity.
[0003]
In order to obtain stable discharge characteristics, aging is performed in the PDP. Aging is to turn on all the discharge cells in the display surface continuously for a predetermined time at the stage where the discharge gas is sealed and PDP assembly is completed. When aging is performed, the surface layer portion of the dielectric layer is physically and chemically cleaned, the discharge start voltage is lowered to facilitate driving, and the discharge is stabilized.
[0004]
The basic structure of a PDP is that a glass substrate on which a large number of display electrodes are formed and a glass substrate on which a large number of data electrodes are formed face each other so that the display electrodes and the data electrodes are orthogonal to each other. A discharge gas is sealed in a space formed by a glass substrate and partition walls separating them. And aging is normally performed in the state as shown in FIG. That is, the PDP 1 is accommodated in the tray 2, the electrode end group located on one side of all the display electrodes X is connected to the short bar electrode 2X, and the electrode end group located on the other side of all the display electrodes Y. Is connected to the short bar electrode 2Y, and the electrode end groups located on both sides of all the data electrodes A are connected to the short bar electrode 2A on each side, and in this state, a predetermined voltage is applied from the AC power supply 20 This is done by applying. The display electrodes X and Y are on the back surface of the PDP 1, and the short bar electrodes 2X and 2Y are connected to the electrode end groups of the display electrodes X and Y from the back surface side. The data electrode A is on the surface of the PDP 1, and the short bar electrode 2A is connected to the electrode end group of the data electrode A from the surface side.
[0005]
By the way, as a structure for connecting the short bar electrode to the electrode end group in the tray, as shown in Patent Document 1, the structures shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 are known. In the structure of FIG. 10, the short bar electrode 22 and the glass substrate 11 on which the electrode end group is formed are sandwiched by a plurality of clips 21. In the structure of FIG. 11, the glass substrate 11 on which the electrode end group is formed is pressed against the short bar electrode 22 by sliding the clamp member 23.
[0006]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 11-213891 A [Patent Document 2]
JP 2002-56778 A [Patent Document 3]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-313235
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the structure of FIG. 10, there is a difference in the clamping pressure between the portion clamped by the clip 21 and the portion that is not, and the short bar electrode 22 is connected to all the electrodes in the electrode end group with a uniform pressure. It was difficult. Moreover, since the clips 21 had to be attached one by one, the workability was poor.
[0008]
Further, in the structure of FIG. 11, if the accuracy of the slide mechanism is inferior, the pressing force of the clamp member 23 becomes uneven, and the short bar electrode 22 is connected to all the electrodes in the electrode end group with a uniform pressure. It was difficult.
[0009]
The present invention provides a clamping device capable of connecting a short bar electrode to all electrodes in an electrode end group with uniform pressure and a simple operation, and performing aging using the clamping device. An object of the present invention is to provide an aging tray capable of obtaining a high-quality PDP with high productivity.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention according to claim 1 is an upper clamp member and a lower clamp member, which are arranged to face each other above and below and extend in parallel, a movable body holding the upper clamp member, a fixed body holding the lower clamp member, An upper clamp member that includes a support mechanism that supports the movable body with respect to the fixed body so that its height position can be displaced, and an elastic member that urges the movable body downward at a plurality of locations. And one of the lower clamp members is a short bar electrode, and the support mechanism has a plurality of upper rollers rotatably supported by the movable body, a plurality of lower rollers rotatably supported by the fixed body, and an upper portion A support plate that is held upright between the roller and the lower roller and has a plurality of notches on the upper edge, and the support plate is attached to the fixed body along both rollers. To move the top The laser is lowered into the notch, the height of the movable body is lowered, the movable body is biased downward by the elastic member, and the upper clamp member is placed on the lower clamp member. A clamp apparatus characterized in that an electrode end group of a display panel is clamped to a lower clamp member.
[0011]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a concave portion into which the upper roller is slightly fitted is formed at the upper end of the notch portion of the support plate.
[0012]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the clamp device according to the first or second aspect is provided, and the upper clamp member clamps the electrode end group of the plasma display panel with respect to the lower clamp member, and the electrode end group. Is a tray for aging characterized in that is connected to a short bar electrode.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a state in which the PDP 1 is accommodated in the aging tray 3 of the present invention. The tray 3 is formed of a rectangular box-shaped container without a lid and surrounded by a frame 31 having a low height. Inside each frame 31, four clamp devices 3X, 3Y, 3A, 3A. The clamp device 3X clamps the electrode end group located on one side of all the display electrodes X provided on the back surface of the PDP 1 against the short bar electrode, and the clamp device 3Y is mounted on the back surface of the PDP 1. The electrode end group located on one side of all the display electrodes Y provided is clamped to the short bar electrode, and the clamp devices 3A and 3A are all data provided on the surface of the PDP 1. The electrode end groups located on both sides of the electrode A are clamped against the short bar electrode.
[0014]
Next, the configuration of the clamp device will be described by taking the clamp device 3X as an example.
2 is a view taken along arrow II in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a view taken along arrow III in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. These drawings show a state before the operation of the clamping device. The clamp device 3X includes one short bar electrode 41, one clamp member 42, one movable body 5, one fixed body 6, and a plurality of (here, five) springs 8; And a support mechanism. The support mechanism supports the movable body 5 with respect to the fixed body 6 so that the height position thereof can be displaced. The short bar electrode 41 is configured, for example, by covering an elastic tube with a wire mesh. The clamp member 42 is made of, for example, resin. The movable body 5 and the fixed body 6 are configured by bending a metal plate.
[0015]
The short bar electrode 41 is positioned below the PDP 1, extends along the electrode end group on one side of the PDP 1, and is supported horizontally from below by the fixed body 6. As shown in FIG. 2, the fixed body 6 is fixed on the bottom surface 32 of the tray 3 by an L-shaped member 61. Note that the fixed body 6 is supported by the L-shaped member 61 with a slight play through the spring 611.
[0016]
The clamp member 42 extends above the PDP 1 so as to face the short bar electrode 41 and is horizontally supported by the movable body 5 from above.
[0017]
The support mechanism includes an upper roller 52 provided on the movable body 5, a lower roller 64 provided on the fixed body 6, and a support plate 7 provided between the rollers 52 and 64.
[0018]
The movable body 5 has a plurality of (in this case, two) arms 51 at an upper portion at intervals in the length direction. One end of the arm 51 is fixed to the upper portion of the vertical wall 53 and extends through a longitudinal long hole 621 formed in the vertical wall 62 of the fixed body 6 so that the upper roller 52 can be freely rotated at the tip. I support it. On the other hand, the fixed body 6 has a plurality of (in this case, two) arms 63 at a lower portion at intervals in the length direction. Here, the arm 63 is located immediately below the arm 51. One end of the arm 63 is fixed to the lower portion of the vertical wall 62 of the fixed body 6, and a lower roller 64 is rotatably supported at the tip. Here, the upper roller 52 and the lower roller 64 are arranged so as to overlap in a plan view. The upper roller 52 and the lower roller 64 are made of resin, for example.
[0019]
The support plate 7 has an upper edge 71 fitted in the groove 521 of the upper roller 52 and a lower edge 72 fitted in the groove 641 of the lower roller 64, and is fixed upright and fixed by both rollers 52, 64. It is held parallel to the body 6. That is, the support plate 7 supports the movable body 5 via the arm 51 and the upper roller 52, to the arm 63 and the lower roller 64, and thus to the fixed body 6.
[0020]
The upper end 81 of the spring 8 is detachably fixed to the top wall 54 of the movable body 5, and the lower end 82 penetrates the bottom wall 55 of the movable body 5 and is detachably fixed to the bottom wall 65 of the fixed body 6. ing. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the upper end 81 of the spring 8 is hooked through a through hole 541 on a bar 83 that is passed over the top wall 54. Similarly, the lower end 82 is hooked on the bar 84 (FIG. 4) passed to the bottom wall 65 through the through hole. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the springs 8 are arranged at substantially equal intervals. In FIG. 4, the spring 8 is in an extended state and urges the movable body 5 downward.
[0021]
As shown in FIG. 2, the upper edge 71 of the support plate 7 is formed with the same number (two in this case) of tapered notches 73 as the number of the upper rollers 52. In the state of FIG. 2, the upper roller 52 is positioned at the upper end of the notch 73. The support plate 7 is formed with two lateral long holes 74 at two locations. A stopper 67 fixed to the L-shaped member 61, that is, fixed to the fixed body 6 is positioned in the long hole 74. The stopper 67 is located at the left edge of the long hole 74 in the state of FIG. Further, an operating rod 75 is provided projecting outward in the approximate center of the support plate 7.
[0022]
According to the clamp device 3X configured as described above, the movable body 5 is supported by the fixed body 6 via the support plate 7 without contacting the fixed body 6. However, the movable body 5 is not limited thereto. For stable support of the movable body 5, as shown in FIG. 5 which is a VV sectional view of FIG. 2, the vertical wall 53 of the movable body 5 is fixed to the vertical wall 62 of the fixed body 6. In a state of being sandwiched between 91 and 92, it is slidably supported with respect to the fixed body 6. The vertical wall 53 is formed with a long hole 531 in the vertical direction, and the support shaft 93 of the spacers 91 and 92 is relatively movable in the long hole 531. The movable body 5 is movable with respect to the fixed body 6 even when supported by the spacer 91 or the like.
[0023]
The support plate 7 can move horizontally in the direction of the arrow from the state shown in FIG. 2 while being held by both rollers 52 and 64. The moving distance is regulated by the lateral length D of the long hole 74. That is, when the stopper 67 contacts the right edge of the long hole 74, the movement of the support plate 7 is restricted. The moving distance is set equal to the horizontal distance M from the upper end to the bottom end of the notch 73 where the upper roller 52 is located in FIG.
[0024]
The clamp device 3Y has the same configuration as the clamp device 3X. However, the clamp device 3Y is provided symmetrically with the clamp device 3X.
[0025]
In the clamp device 3A, since the data electrode A to be clamped is on the surface of the PDP 1, the short bar electrode 41 and the clamp member 42 are opposite to the case of the clamp device 3X. That is, the short bar electrode 41 is supported by the movable body 5 and positioned above the PDP 1, and the clamp member 42 is supported by the fixed body 6 and positioned below the PDP 1. Further, in the clamp device 3A, three combinations of the arm 51, the upper roller 52, the arm 63, and the lower roller 64 are provided, and three notch portions 73 of the support plate 7 are also formed. Other configurations of the clamp device 3A are the same as those of the clamp device 3X except for the dimensions. Both clamp devices 3A are provided symmetrically.
[0026]
The clamping device and the aging tray 3 having the above-described configuration are used as follows. First, as shown in FIG. 1, the PDP 1 that performs aging is accommodated in the tray 5 that is in a state before the four clamp devices 3X, 3Y, 3A, and 3A are activated. At that time, one side of the display electrode X of the PDP 1 is placed on the short bar electrode 41 of the clamp device 3X, one side of the display electrode Y is placed on the short bar electrode 41 of the clamp device 3Y, and both sides of the data electrode A are placed. Each side is placed on the clamp member 42 of the clamp device 3A. Then, the four clamping devices 3X, 3Y, 3A, 3A are operated.
[0027]
For example, the operation of the clamping device 3X is as follows.
In FIG. 2, the operating rod 75 is held and the support plate 7 is moved in the direction of the arrow. During the movement, the upper roller 52 descends along the tapered surface 731 of the notch 73 because the movable body 5 is biased downward by the spring 8. As the upper roller 52 is lowered, the arm 51 is lowered in the elongated hole 621, and the movable body 5 and the clamp member 42 are also lowered. Since the movement distance of the support plate 7 is regulated by the stopper 67 and the long hole 74 as described above, the moved upper roller 52 is positioned at the bottom end of the notch 73. FIG. 6 shows a state after the movement. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, when the upper roller 52 is positioned at the bottom end of the notch 73, the clamp member 42 comes into contact with the PDP 1 from above by the downward biasing force of the spring 8, and the display electrode X The electrode end group is pressed against the short bar electrode 41. Thus, in the clamp device 3X, the clamp member 42 clamps the electrode end group of the display electrode X to the short bar electrode 41.
[0028]
The other clamping devices 3Y and 3A operate in the same manner as the clamping device 3X. However, in the clamping device 3A, the short bar electrode 41 is connected to the electrode end group of the data electrode A by contacting the PDP 1 from above by the downward biasing force of the spring 8, and the electrode end group is connected to the electrode end group. Press against the clamp member 42.
[0029]
Thus, the respective electrode end groups of the display electrodes X and Y and the data electrode A of the PDP 1 are clamped with respect to the short bar electrode 41 by the four clamping devices 3X, 3Y, 3A and 3A, and accordingly, the display electrodes The X, Y and data electrodes A are connected to the short bar electrode 41, whereby the preparation for aging is completed. Then, as shown in FIG. 9, aging of the PDP 1 is performed by applying a voltage from the AC power supply 20.
[0030]
In the tray 3 configured as described above, the clamping pressure in the clamping device is due to the downward biasing force of the spring 8, so that the electrode end group is softly clamped with respect to the short bar electrode 41. Therefore, the electrode end group is not damaged by clamping. Therefore, a high quality PDP can be obtained.
[0031]
Moreover, since the springs 8 are provided at a plurality of locations (here, 5 locations), a soft clamping pressure is applied to the short bar electrode 41 at a plurality of locations. Therefore, the short bar electrode 41 is connected to all the electrodes in the electrode end group with a uniform pressure. Therefore, the reliability of aging can be improved, and a high-quality PDP can also be obtained from this point. In addition, since the fixed body 6 has a play with respect to the L-shaped member 61 via the spring 611, even if PDP1 inclines a little, the fixed body 6 can absorb the inclination, As mentioned above, The short bar electrode 41 can be connected to all the electrodes in the electrode end group with a uniform pressure.
[0032]
Furthermore, the clamping pressure can be easily and arbitrarily set by using the spring 8 having a different spring constant or changing the depth of the notch 73. Therefore, a preferable clamping pressure can be set for the aging target PDP. Therefore, the reliability of aging can be improved, and a high-quality PDP can also be obtained from this point.
[0033]
In addition, as shown in FIG. 8, you may form the recessed part 76 in which the upper roller 52 fits a little in the upper end of the notch part 73. As shown in FIG. According to this, the support plate 7 is positioned at the upper end of the notch 73 unless a force sufficient to push the upper roller 52 out of the recess 76 is applied to the support plate 7. It can be held stably in the state.
[0034]
The number of combinations of the arm 51, the upper roller 52, the arm 63, and the lower roller 64 may be determined according to the size of the PDP 1, and is not limited to two or three, and may be four or more. May be.
[0035]
Further, instead of the spring 8, another elastic member may be used.
[0036]
Further, in FIG. 1, one or both of the clamp devices 3X and 3Y may be movable in the arrow W direction, and one or both of the clamp devices 3A and 3A may be movable in the arrow Z direction. For example, a slide rail is provided on the bottom surface 32 of the tray 3, and the clamp device is installed thereon. According to this, since the clamping device can be arranged in accordance with the dimension of the PDP 1 in the W direction and the dimension in the Z direction, aging of the PDP 1 of various sizes can be performed.
[0037]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the clamping can be performed by using the biasing force of the elastic member, the electrode end group of the PDP can be clamped softly, and therefore the electrode end group is damaged. Can be prevented.
[0038]
Moreover, since the elastic members are provided at a plurality of locations, a soft clamping pressure can be applied to the electrode end group at a plurality of locations. Therefore, the clamping pressure can be uniformly applied to all the electrodes in the electrode end group.
[0039]
Furthermore, since the electrode end group can be clamped only by moving the support plate relative to the fixed body, the clamping operation can be performed easily and reliably, and the workability can be improved.
[0040]
According to invention of Claim 2, a support plate can be stably maintained in the state before an action | operation.
[0041]
According to the invention described in claim 3, the effect of the clamping device according to claim 1 or 2 can be exhibited with respect to clamping the electrode end group of the PDP to the short bar electrode in the aging tray. . That is, it is possible to obtain a high-quality PDP with high productivity by performing aging using the clamping device according to claim 1 or 2.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a state in which a PDP is accommodated in an aging tray of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a view taken along arrow II in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a view taken in the direction of arrow III in FIG.
4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG.
5 is a schematic VV sectional view of FIG. 2;
FIG. 6 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 after clamping.
FIG. 7 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 after clamping.
FIG. 8 is a partial view corresponding to FIG. 6 showing a modification of the support plate.
FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a state of conventional general aging work.
FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional structure in which a short bar electrode is connected to an electrode end group of a PDP.
FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view showing another example of a conventional structure in which a short bar electrode is connected to an electrode end group of a PDP.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Plasma display panel 3 Aging tray 3X, 3Y, 3A Clamping device 41 Short bar electrode 42 Clamp member 5 Movable body 52 Upper roller 6 Fixed body 64 Lower roller 7 Support plate 73 Notch 76 Recess 8 Spring

Claims (3)

An upper clamp member and a lower clamp member, which are opposed to each other and extend in parallel;
A movable body holding the upper clamp member;
A fixed body for holding the lower clamp member;
A support mechanism for supporting the movable body with respect to the fixed body so that the height position thereof can be displaced;
An elastic member that biases the movable body downward at a plurality of locations, and
One of the upper clamp member and the lower clamp member is a short bar electrode,
The support mechanism is held in an upright state between a plurality of upper rollers rotatably supported by the movable body, a plurality of lower rollers rotatably supported by the fixed body, and the upper and lower rollers. And a support plate having a plurality of notches on the upper edge, and when the support plate is moved parallel to the fixed body along both rollers, the upper roller moves into the notch. The lower end of the movable body is lowered and the movable body is urged downward by the elastic member, and the upper clamp member is placed on the lower clamp member. A clamping device characterized in that the group is clamped against a lower clamping member. The clamping device according to claim 1, wherein a concave portion into which the upper roller is slightly fitted is formed at an upper end of the notch portion of the support plate. The clamp apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the upper clamp member clamps the electrode end group of the plasma display panel with respect to the lower clamp member and connects the electrode end group to the short bar electrode. Aging tray characterized by

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