JP5078772B2 - Airtight container and image display device manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an airtight container. In particular, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a vacuum hermetic container (envelope) used in a flat image display device.

  An image in which a large number of electron-emitting devices that emit electrons according to an image signal are provided on the rear plate, and a fluorescent film that emits light upon receiving electron irradiation and displays an image is provided on the face plate, and the inside is maintained in a vacuum. Display devices are known. In such an image display device, a configuration in which a face plate and a rear plate are joined via a support frame to form an envelope is common. When manufacturing such an image display device, it is necessary to evacuate the inside of the envelope to create a vacuum. This step can be performed in several ways. As one of the methods, a method is known in which the inside of the container is evacuated through a through hole provided on the surface of the container, and then the through hole is sealed with a lid member.

  When sealing a through-hole with a lid member, in order to obtain a sealing effect, it is necessary to arrange a sealing material around the through-hole. Several methods are known for arranging the sealing material, but when applied to a vacuum-tight container, a structure in which the sealing material does not flow into the through hole is desirable. This is because it is necessary to heat and soften or melt the sealing material in order to form the sealing material uniformly around the through hole. At this time, the sealing material flows into the through hole due to the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the container. This is because there is a fear. In particular, in the case of an envelope of an image display device, the sealing material that has flowed into the through hole causes a discharge phenomenon.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for forming a surface facing a through hole of a lid member into a tapered shape. The tapered surface is formed such that the distance from the surface on which the through hole is formed increases as the distance from the peripheral portion of the through hole increases. The melted sealing material is deformed by its own weight, moves toward the tapered portion, and the inflow into the through hole is suppressed.

Patent Document 2 discloses a technique in which a circular through hole is closed with a spherical metal cap or the like, and a contact material between the through hole and the cap is filled with a sealing material from the outside to seal the through hole. . Since the cap fits into the tapered through-hole, when the inside of the container is vacuum, the cap receives a force directed toward the inside of the container and is easily adhered to the through-hole, and as a result, the sealing material is difficult to flow in.
JP 2003-192399 A US Pat. No. 6,261,145

  In the technique described in Patent Document 1, since the sealing material directly faces the through hole, there is a high possibility that the sealing material flows into the through hole when the sealing material is melted. That is, even though most of the sealing material flows into the tapered portion, some sealing material may be influenced by the vacuum inside the container and may flow into the through hole. In the technique of Patent Document 2, since the sealing material is only applied around the cap and there is no step of pressing the sealing material as in Patent Document 1, it is difficult to distribute the sealing material evenly. . For this reason, it may be difficult to obtain sufficient sealing performance.

  The present invention provides a method of manufacturing an airtight container including a step of sealing a through-hole with a lid member, which can ensure sealing performance and suppress the inflow of a sealing material into the through-hole. For the purpose. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing an image display device using such a method for manufacturing an airtight container.

In the method for manufacturing an airtight container according to the present invention, the inside of the container is evacuated through a through hole provided in the container, and the plate-like member is disposed on the outer surface of the container where the inside is evacuated so as to close the through hole. A lid member is disposed so as to cover the process and the plate-like member, and the lid member and the outer surface of the container are joined via a sealing material positioned between the lid member and the outer surface of the container, and the container is sealed. And a process. Then, in the sealing step, the plate-like member is pressed against the outer surface of the container with the lid member after the sealing material is deformed so as to contact the outer surface of the container while pressing the plate-like member against the outer surface of the container with the lid member. In the state, it includes solidifying the sealing material.

Another method for producing an airtight container of the present invention includes a step of exhausting the inside of a container through a through hole provided in the container, and a sealing member between the plate-like member and the lid member. A laminate prepared by sandwiching the inside of the container, pressing the laminate so that the plate-like member blocks the through hole against the outer surface of the evacuated container, and sealing the lid member with the outer surface of the container. And the step of sealing the container. Then, in the sealing step, the plate-like member is pressed against the outer surface of the container with the lid member after the sealing material is deformed so as to contact the outer surface of the container while pressing the plate-like member against the outer surface of the container with the lid member. In the state, it includes solidifying the sealing material.

  The manufacturing method of the image display apparatus of this invention has the process of manufacturing the envelope by which the inside was evacuated using said manufacturing method of an airtight container.

  According to the present invention, in a manufacturing method of an airtight container including a step of sealing a through hole with a lid member, a manufacturing method capable of ensuring sealing performance and suppressing the inflow of the sealing material into the through hole. Can be provided. In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method for manufacturing an image display device using such a method for manufacturing an airtight container.

  The method for manufacturing an airtight container of the present invention can be widely applied to a method for manufacturing an airtight container whose inside is evacuated to a vacuum. In particular, the present invention can be suitably applied to a method for manufacturing an envelope of a flat-type image display device whose inside is evacuated to a vacuum.

  (First Embodiment) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic step diagram showing a sealing process that can be particularly preferably used when sealing a through hole in a state where the through hole of the airtight container is installed on the upper surface of the envelope.

  (Step S1) First, the inside S of the container 1 is exhausted through the through hole 5 provided on the surface of the container 1. The container 1 can have any desired material and configuration. In the case of a flat image display device, a part of the container 1 is often made of glass. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1A, the container 1 includes a face plate 2, a rear plate 3, and a support frame 4, which are joined to each other by appropriate means such as glass frit, An airtight container is formed. The rear plate 3 is provided with a number of electron-emitting devices (not shown) that emit electrons according to an image signal. The face plate 2 is provided with a fluorescent film (not shown) that emits light when irradiated with electrons and displays an image. The rear plate 3 is further provided with a through hole 5 that is a substantially circular opening. The position and size of the through hole 5 are appropriately set in consideration of a desired degree of vacuum of the container 1 and a desired exhaust time. In the present embodiment, only one through hole 5 is provided, but a plurality of through holes 5 may be provided. In order to improve the adhesion and wettability with the sealing material 12 which will be described later, a portion of the outer surface 6 of the container 1 around the through-hole 5 may be surface-treated using ultrasonic cleaning or the like. A film may be formed.

  The exhaust means of the container 1 is selected so that the inside of the container 1 has a desired degree of vacuum. The exhaust means is not particularly limited as long as the inside of the container 1 is exhausted through the through hole 5 and the steps described below can be performed. When the entire container 1 is evacuated in a state where it is placed in the vacuum evacuation chamber, the moving mechanisms (rotating up and down mechanisms 20 and 23 in the embodiment) of members (plate member 8, lid member 13 and the like) described later are also in the same chamber. Since it can be provided in, it is desirable.

  (Step S2) As shown in FIG. 1B, the plate-like member 8 is arranged so as to block the through-hole 5 on the outer surface 6 of the container 1 in which the inside S has been exhausted. Specifically, the plate member 8 is brought into contact with the plate member 8 along the peripheral edge 9 (see FIG. 1A) of the through hole 5 and the through hole 5 is closed by the plate member 8. To place. The plate-like member 8 has a size larger than that of the through hole 5 and is a circular member having a diameter larger than the diameter of the through hole 5 in this embodiment. The plate-like member 8 is desirably arranged substantially concentrically with the through hole 5. The contact surface 10 of the plate-like member 8 contacts the outer surface 6 of the container 1 and prevents the sealing material 12 from flowing into the through hole 5. Therefore, the contact surface 10 has a shape and a surface so that a gap (leak path) between the plate member 8 and the outer surface 6 of the container 1 is reduced when the plate-like member 8 is disposed so as to cover the through hole 5 of the container 1. It is desirable that the roughness be determined. The thickness of the plate member 8 is appropriately determined in consideration of the sealing performance and deformability of the sealing material 12. In the present embodiment, a plate-like member having a protruding structure (projecting portion 18) as described in the second embodiment can also be used.

  (Step S3) As shown in FIG. 1C, the sealing material 12 is provided on the surface 11 (see FIG. 1B) opposite to the contact surface 10 with the through-hole 5 of the plate-like member 8. A sufficient amount of the sealing material 12 is provided so as to extend to the outside of the plate-like member 8 so as to cover the plate-like member 8 and to have a larger thickness than the plate-like member 8. The material of the sealing material 12 is not particularly limited as long as desired sealing properties and adhesive properties can be obtained. In this embodiment, since the glass container 1 used in the flat image display device is targeted, in consideration of high sealing performance as the sealing material 12 and stress during heating, an In alloy such as glass frit, In, or InSn. Is used.

  (Step S <b> 4) As shown in FIG. 1D, the lid member 13 is disposed on the sealing material 12. As a result, the lid member 13 is disposed so as to cover the plate-like member 8. Depending on the sealing characteristics of the sealing material 12, it has a plane area larger than the plane area of the plate member 8 so that a sufficient seal width X (see FIG. 1 (f)) can be obtained around the plate member 8. It is desirable to use the lid member 13. Next, as shown in FIGS. 1 (e) and 1 (f), the sealing material 12 is pressed downward in the vertical direction (white arrow) by the lid member 13, and the sealing material 12 extends along the outer peripheral portion 15 of the contact surface 10. Thus, the sealing material 12 is deformed so as to fill the space 14 between the lid member 13 and the outer surface 6 of the container 1. Specifically, when the sealing material 12 is pressed by the lid member 13, a part of the sealing material 12 moves to the side of the plate-like member 8 while being deformed, as shown in FIG. The other part also extends in the lateral direction along the lid member 13. Further, when the sealing material 12 is pressed by the lid member 13, the sealing material 12 completely fills the space 14 and expands to almost the same width as the lid member 13 as shown in FIG. Thereafter, the sealing material 12 is heated and solidified.

  However, the sealing material 12 does not necessarily need to be deformed to such a state. For example, if a predetermined seal width X is secured, it is not necessary to expand to the same width as the lid member 13. Further, in FIG. 1, the sealing material 12 remains between the plate-like member 8 and the lid member 13, but all of the sealing material 12 moves to the space 14 between the lid member 13 and the outer surface 6 of the container 1. May be.

  When pressing the sealing material 12 with the lid member 13, it is desirable to heat the sealing material 12 to a temperature at which the sealing material 12 melts in accordance with the characteristics of the sealing material 12. Thereby, the deformation performance of the sealing material 12 is enhanced. In the present embodiment, since the entire container 1 is placed in the vacuum exhaust chamber, convection during heating cannot be expected, and heating efficiency may be reduced. Therefore, for the purpose of shortening the heating time when heating the sealing material 12 to the melting temperature, before the step of deforming the sealing material 12, at least the plate-like member 8 and the lid member 13 are within a range in which the sealing material 12 does not melt. One may be heated. Heat from the plate-like member 8 or the lid member 13 is transmitted to the sealing material 12, and the heating effect of the sealing material 12 is obtained. It is desirable to determine the heating temperature so that the plate-like member 8 or the lid member 13 is not destroyed by a rapid temperature change.

  The method for applying the load (pressing force) can be selected as appropriate. For example, means such as using a spring material, applying a pressing force mechanically, or arranging a weight can be used. Further, in this embodiment, the application of the load for holding the position of the lid member 13 and the application of the load for deforming the seal material 12 are realized by the same load, but different means are used. May be. In addition, about the load in this case, the force by which it is crushed enough so that a sealing material maintains airtightness at least is required. When the sealing material 12 is deformed, as shown in FIG. 1E, the lid member 13 is rotated about an axis parallel to the direction in which the sealing material 12 is pressed (for example, the central axis C of the lid member 13). The sealing material 12 may be pressed by the lid member 13. The sealing material 12 is more efficiently deformed and is uniformly filled in the space 14.

  According to this embodiment, the sealing material 12 is deformed while the plate-like member 8 is pressed by the lid member 13, and then the sealing material 12 is solidified and sealing joining is performed. That is, when the sealing material 12 is melted and deformed, the plate-like member 8 is pressed against the through-hole 5 with a downward force, thereby closing the through-hole 5. Therefore, the sealing property between the contact surface 10 of the plate-like member 8 and the outer surface 6 of the container 1 is improved, and the molten sealing material 12 is less likely to flow into the through hole 5. Thereby, in the flat-type image display device, it becomes easy to prevent a discharge phenomenon caused by the seal material 12 that has flowed in when a high voltage for image display is applied. Depending on the material of the sealing material 12, the sealing material 12 may generate gas. However, in this embodiment, since the sealing material 12 hardly flows into the container 1, the gas-emitting electron emitting element or the like is used. It is difficult to cause adverse effects.

  In the present embodiment, both the seal between the contact surface 10 of the plate-like member 8 and the outer surface 6 of the container 1 and the seal by the sealing material 12 provided between the container outer surface 6 and the lid member 13 are used. Therefore, the sealing performance itself is improved, and it becomes easy to prevent airtight defects.

  In the present embodiment, the thickness of the plate-like member 8 defines the minimum value of the thickness of the sealing material 12. Therefore, even if the pressing load is somewhat large, the sealing material 12 is prevented from being deformed to a thickness equal to or less than the thickness of the plate-like member 8, and the reliability of the airtightness is improved. However, it is not desirable to increase the pressing load so as to prevent the container 1, the plate-like member 8, and the lid member 13 from being destroyed.

  In the above embodiment, the sealing material 12 is disposed on the back surface 11 of the plate-like member 8. However, the sealing material 12 may be thickly applied to the side of the plate-like member 8 and sealed while being pressed (crushed) by the lid member 13. That is, if the lid member 13 and the outer surface 6 of the container 1 are finally joined via the sealing material 12 positioned between the lid member 13 and the outer surface 6 of the container 1, the sealing material 12 is provided first. The position can be determined as appropriate.

  (Second Embodiment) This embodiment is characterized in that a laminated body composed of a plate-shaped member, a sealing material and a lid member is brought into contact with the through hole from below the through hole to seal the through hole. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment, and the other points are the same as those of the first embodiment. Therefore, in the following description, points different from the first embodiment will be mainly described, and for matters not described, refer to the description of the first embodiment.

  A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic step diagram showing a sealing process that can be used particularly preferably when the through hole is sealed in a state where the through hole of the airtight container is opened downward in the vertical direction.

  (Step S51) As shown in FIG. 2A, the inside of the container 1 is exhausted through the through-hole 5 provided on the surface of the container 1. This step is the same as in the first embodiment.

  (Step S52) As shown in FIG. 2B, a laminate 16 is prepared in which a plate-like member 8a and a lid member 13 are laminated with a sealing material 12 sandwiched between the plate-like member 8a and the lid member 13. To do. The same lid member 13 as in the first embodiment can be used. Although the plate-like member can be obtained by using the plate-like member 8 of the first embodiment, in this embodiment, the plate-like member 8a having the cylindrical or hemispherical protrusion 18 that can be inserted into the through hole 5a is provided. Used. As will be described later, when the plate-like member 8a is brought into contact with the outer surface 6 of the container 1, the projection 18 is inserted into the through hole 5a. That is, the protrusion 18 functions as a guide when the plate-like member 8a is brought into contact with the through hole 5a. Therefore, it is desirable that the protrusion 18 has a size (diameter) that can be easily fitted into the through hole 5a. The same sealing material 12 as in the first embodiment can be used. Prior to the formation of the laminate 16, at least one of the plate-like member 8 a and the lid member 13 may be heated within a range in which the sealing material 12 does not melt.

  (Step S53) As shown in FIG. 2 (c), the laminate 16 is placed on the outer surface 6 of the container 1 evacuated along the peripheral edge 9 (see FIG. 2 (a)) of the through hole 5a. It arrange | positions so that the shaped member 8a may contact | abut and the through-hole 5a may be closed with the plate-shaped member 8a. As described above, this operation is performed with the through hole 5a opened downward in the vertical direction. Since the protrusion 18 is inserted into the through hole 5a, positioning is easy. At this time, depending on the characteristics of the sealing material 12, the sealing material 12 may be heated to such an extent that the sealing material 12 does not melt.

  (Step S54) As shown in FIG. 2D, the sealing material 12 is pressed vertically upward (in the direction of the white arrow) with the lid member 13. The means for applying the load can be appropriately selected as in the first embodiment. While maintaining this state, the sealing material 12 is heated to a temperature at which the sealing material 12 melts. The melted sealing material 12 is deformed so as to fill the space 14 between the lid member 13 and the outer surface 6 of the container 1 along the outer peripheral portion 15 of the contact surface 10. Specifically, when the sealing material 12 is pressed by the lid member 13, as shown in FIG. 2D, a part of the sealing material 12 moves to the side of the plate-like member 8a while being deformed. The other part is also dragged by the lid member 13 and spreads in the lateral direction. When the sealing material 12 is further pressed by the lid member 13, the sealing material 12 completely fills the space 14 and expands to almost the same width as the lid member 13 as shown in FIG. Thereafter, the sealing material 12 is heated and solidified. Thus, in this embodiment, the laminate is pressed so that the plate-like member closes the through hole, the lid-like member and the outer surface of the container are joined via the sealing material, and the container 1 is sealed. In addition, as in the first embodiment, the sealing step includes solidifying the sealing material after the sealing material is deformed while pressing the plate-like member with the lid-like member.

  In the present embodiment, the through hole can be sealed with the through hole opened downward in the vertical direction, and the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be achieved. That is, it becomes difficult for the molten sealing material 12 to flow into the through-hole 5a, and in the flat image display device, it becomes easy to prevent a discharge phenomenon caused by the flowing sealing material 12. It is difficult for gas to adversely affect the electron-emitting device. The sealing performance itself is also improved, and it becomes easy to prevent airtight defects. Even if the pressing load is somewhat large, the sealing material 12 is prevented from being deformed to a thickness equal to or less than the thickness of the plate-like member 8a, leading to an improvement in airtight reliability. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the step of sequentially providing the plate-like member 8, the sealing material 12, and the lid member 13 is unnecessary, and the step of forming the laminate 16 can also be performed independently, so that the sealing step There is also an effect that can be rationalized.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the laminated body including the plate-shaped member, the sealing material, and the lid member is brought into contact with the airtight container from the bottom has been described. As described in the first embodiment, also in the present embodiment, when the sealing material 12 is deformed, the sealing material 12 is rotated while the lid member 13 is rotated around an axis parallel to the pressing direction of the sealing material 12. May be pressed by the lid member 13. In addition, before the step of deforming the sealing material, at least one of the plate member and the lid member may be heated within a range where the sealing material does not melt.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with specific examples.

Example 1
This example is an example in which an airtight container is created using the first embodiment. This embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  In this example, the container 1 was stored in the vacuum exhaust chamber 31 and the vacuum exhaust chamber 31 was evacuated to vacuum using the exhaust means 22 provided with a turbo molecular pump and a dry scroll pump. In the vacuum exhaust chamber 31, heating heaters 19a and 19b are provided as heating means. The container 1 includes a through hole 5 having a diameter of 3 mm on the upper surface.

  As the plate member 8, soda lime glass having a diameter of 5 mm and a thickness of 300 μm was prepared. As the sealing material 12, a glass frit was prepared by calcination to form a diameter of 7 mm and a thickness of 400 μm, from which the paste component was removed. As the lid member 13, soda lime glass having a diameter of 8 mm and a thickness of 800 μm was prepared. A 150 g weight made of SUS340 was prepared as the load application weight 21. Each of these members was mounted on a rotary up-and-down mechanism 20 capable of moving up and down and rotating independently for each member, and placed in the vacuum exhaust chamber 31.

Process (a) The exhaust means 22 was operated, the inside of the vacuum exhaust chamber 31 was exhausted, and the degree of vacuum inside the container 1 was lowered to 1 × 10 ⁻³ Pa or less through the through hole 5. In accordance with the exhaust process, the heaters 19a and 19b were operated, and each member inside the vacuum exhaust chamber 31 was heated to 350 ° C., which is a temperature below the softening point of the glass frit that is the sealing material 12.

  Step (b) The plate-like member 8 was arranged directly above the through hole 5 by the rotating vertical mechanism 20.

  Step (c) The sealing material 12 was disposed immediately above the plate-like member 8 by the rotating vertical mechanism 20.

  Step (d) The lid member 13 was disposed immediately above the sealing material 12 by the rotating vertical mechanism 20. Thereafter, the load applying weight 21 is rotated and moved directly above the lid member 13 by the rotating up / down mechanism 20, and the load applying weight 21 is slowly moved at a speed of 1 mm / 1 min by the rotating up / down mechanism 20 so that the load is not applied suddenly. Lowered and loaded on the lid member 13.

  Step (e) Heating was performed up to the softening point of the glass frit.

  Thereafter, the load application weight 21 was cooled to room temperature while being loaded on the lid member 13, and then the inside of the vacuum exhaust chamber 31 was purged, and the completed container 1 was taken out.

  As described above, a vacuum hermetic container in which the through hole was sealed with the sealing material and the inside was evacuated to vacuum was produced. A glass frit having a thickness of 305 μm was formed between the lid member 13 and the outer surface 6 of the container 1 without a gap. In the present embodiment, the load application weight 21 is mounted in the step (d), so that the plate-like member 8 remains at the periphery of the through-hole 5 while the glass frit that is the sealing material is melted and crushed in the step (e). Continue to push to the department. For this reason, the flow of the sealing material 12 into the through hole 5 was not recognized. Further, since the sealing is performed at two places, that is, the peripheral portion of the plate-like member 8 and the through-hole 5, and the peripheral portion of the lid member 13 and the through-hole 5, a vacuum-tightness with sufficient airtightness was obtained.

(Example 2)
This example is an example in which an airtight container is created using the second embodiment shown in FIG. The present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  In this example, the container 1 was stored in the vacuum exhaust chamber 31 and the vacuum exhaust chamber 31 was evacuated to vacuum using the exhaust means 22 provided with a turbo molecular pump and a dry scroll pump. In the vacuum exhaust chamber 31, heating heaters 19a and 19b are provided as heating means. The container 1 has two substrates facing each other, a surface conduction electron-emitting device (not shown) is provided on one inner surface of the substrate, and an anode electrode and a light emitting member (not shown) on the inner surface of the other substrate. Is formed. The container 1 has a through hole 5a having a diameter of 4 mm on the lower surface.

  A non-alkali glass having a diameter of 10 mm and a thickness of 500 μm was prepared as the lid member 13. On top of that, a sealing material 12 made of In and formed to have a diameter of 8 mm and a thickness of 400 μm was provided. On top of that, a plate-like member 8a made of non-alkali glass having a plate shape with a diameter of 5 mm and a thickness of 300 μm and having a protrusion 18 with a diameter of 1 mm and a height of 2 mm at the center was loaded to prepare a laminate 16. The rotary up-and-down mechanism 23 includes a stage 24 to which a vertical upward pressing force can be applied by a spring material 25 having a spring constant of about 1 N / mm (100 gf / mm). The laminate 16 was placed on the stage 24 and placed in the vacuum exhaust chamber 31.

Step (a) First, the laminate 16 was retracted to a position where it was not heated by the heaters 19a and 19b by the rotary up-and-down mechanism 23. Next, the exhaust means 22 was operated to exhaust the inside of the vacuum exhaust chamber 31, and the degree of vacuum inside the container 1 was lowered to 1 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa or less through the through hole 5. In accordance with the exhaust process, the heaters 19a and 19b are operated to exhaust the adsorbed gas in the container 1, and the container 1 is heated at 350 ° C. for 1 hour by the heaters 19a and 19b. Thereafter, the heaters 19a and 19b and the container 1 were naturally cooled until the temperature reached 100 ° C.

  Step (b) The laminate 16 was moved directly below the through-hole 5 by the rotating vertical mechanism 23. Subsequently, the chamber 31 is continuously evacuated and heated again by the heaters 19a and 19b. The container 1, the stage 24 including the spring material 25, and each member of the laminate 16 are heated to the same temperature as the container 1. Then, it was heated to 100 ° C. which is lower than the melting point of In.

  Step (c) With the protrusion 18 of the plate-like member 8 a inserted into the through-hole 5, the plate-like member 8 a is held on the stage 24 using the rotary vertical mechanism 23 until the plate-like member 8 a comes into contact with the peripheral edge of the through-hole 5. The laminated body 16 made was slowly raised. Subsequently, the rotary vertical mechanism 23 was raised 5 mm at a speed of 1 mm / sec so that the plate-like member 8 was pressed by the spring material 25.

  Step (d) Using the heaters 19a and 19b, the container 1 and each member were heated at a rate of 3 ° C./min to 160 ° C., which is equal to or higher than the melting point of In. Even when In melts, each member is continuously pushed toward the through hole 5 by the spring material 25, so that the sealing material 12 is deformed as the In melts, and the through hole 5 is sealed.

  Thereafter, while the laminated body 16 was kept pressed by the spring material 25, it was cooled to room temperature, and then the inside of the vacuum exhaust chamber 31 was purged, and the completed container 1 was taken out.

  In the airtight container formed as described above, In having a thickness of 300 μm was formed between the lid member 13 and the outer surface 6 of the container 1 without a gap. Further, since the pressing by the spring material is continuously performed in the steps (c) and (d), the plate-like member 8a remains in the through hole 5 while the sealing material 12 is melted and deformed in the step (d). As a result, the sealing material 12 was prevented from flowing into the through hole 5. Further, since the plate member 8a and the peripheral portion of the through-hole 5 and the lid member 13 and the peripheral portion of the through-hole 5 are sealed at two places, a vacuum airtight with sufficient airtightness was obtained.

  In this way, an image forming apparatus having a surface conduction electron-emitting device inside and evacuated inside was obtained. Although 15 kV was applied between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode for this image formation for 24 hours, no discharge occurred in the image forming apparatus area and its peripheral area, and it was confirmed that the electron acceleration voltage could be stably applied.

(Example 3)
This example is an example in which an airtight container is created using the second embodiment. A present Example is described with reference to FIG. 2, FIG. 5 (a)-(e), and FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the container 1 has a through-hole having a diameter of 2 mm on the lower surface, and a support (spacer) 26 is provided inside so as not to be broken even when a load is locally applied from the outer surface of the container around the opening. It has the composition which has. The flange 30 which is an exhaust pipe has an inner diameter larger than that of the through hole, and has an up-and-down mechanism 23 using a linear introduction machine, a spring material 25, and an internal heater 19c connected to the spring material. . By pressing the heater to the container side by the vertical mechanism, a load can be applied according to the pressing amount. At the same time, the flange 30 is connected to an exhaust means 22 having a turbo molecular pump and a dry scroll pump so that the inside can be evacuated to a vacuum.

  The plate-like member 8a has a protrusion having a diameter of 1.9 mm and a height of 500 μm on a disk shape having a diameter of 5 mm and a height of 500 μm, and these are made of PD-200 manufactured by Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. The sealing material 12 was made of an alloy composed of In and Ag shaped to a diameter of 4 mm and a thickness of 1.5 mm. A tray-shaped member having a recess having a diameter of 7 mm and a depth of 1 mm was prepared as the lid member 13a using PD-200. And the plate-shaped member 8a, the sealing material 12, and the cover member 13a were mutually laminated | stacked in this order, the laminated body was formed, and this laminated body was arrange | positioned in an exhaust pipe.

  Step (a) On the internal heater 19c in the flange 30, the lid member 13a, the sealing material 12, and the plate-like member 8a were laminated and arranged in the same manner as in FIG.

  Step (b) An O-ring 29 made of the material viton was disposed in the opening of the flange 30.

Step (c) The O-ring 29 is in contact with the periphery of the through-hole 5 of the container 1, and the O-ring is formed by the container 1 and the flange 30 at a position where the center of the diameter of each member and the center of the through-hole 5 are aligned While pressing 29, evacuation was started by the evacuation means 22, and the inside of the container 1 was evacuated.
Step (d) The internal heater 19c in the flange 30 was heated to 150 ° C. and then heated to 170 ° C. at a rate of 1 ° C./min. Then, by raising the vertical mechanism inside the flange at a speed of 1 mm / min, the laminated body of the plate-like member 8a, the sealing material 12, and the lid member 13a is moved along the exhaust pipe and laminated so as to close the through hole. The body was pressed against the outer surface of the container while being placed.

  Step (e) Thereafter, the internal heater 19c was naturally cooled to room temperature while maintaining the state where the pressure in the step (d) was applied. Then, after the sealing material 12 was solidified, the exhaust by the exhaust means 22 was stopped, the inside of the flange 30 was purged with the atmosphere, and then the O-ring 29 and the container 1 were separated.

  As described above, the outer surface of the container and the lid member were joined to each other through the sealing material, thereby sealing the container and creating a vacuum hermetic container in which the inside was evacuated. In the step (d), since the plate-like member 8a is continuously pressed against the peripheral edge of the through hole 5 while the sealing material 12 is melted and deformed, the flow of the sealing material 12 into the through hole 5 is prevented. We were able to. Further, since the plate member 8a and the peripheral portion of the through hole 5 and the lid member 13a and the peripheral portion of the through hole 5 are sealed at two places, a vacuum airtight with sufficient airtightness was obtained. Further, in the present embodiment, the inside (recessed portion) of the lid member 13a is formed by aligning the volume inside the tray shape of the lid member 13a (volume of the recessed portion) and the sum of the volume of the plate-like member 8a and the volume of the sealing material. The sealing material was formed without any gaps, and the appearance was not overflowing outside the lid member 13a. Further, in comparison with the case where the entire container 1 is disposed in the vacuum chamber, when a plurality of vacuum airtight containers are continuously formed, the container 1 is connected at the portion of the O-ring 29 to connect the inside of the flange and the inside of the container. It only needs to be evacuated and the volume to be evacuated is small. For this reason, the time required for exhaustion can be shortened, and the total preparation time can be shortened.

Example 4
This example is an example in which the envelope of the image display device is created by partially improving the second embodiment. The present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 4, and 7.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, an anode electrode 28 is provided in a container 1 serving as an envelope, and a spring terminal 27 which is a terminal portion made of a conductive material on a plate-like member 8a having a protrusion. It is characterized by having. In addition, it is the same as that of Example 2 except having the spring terminal 27 and the point from which the material of a plate-shaped member and a cover member differs. As shown in FIG. 4, the container 1 was stored in a vacuum exhaust chamber 31, and the vacuum exhaust chamber 31 was evacuated using an exhaust means 22 equipped with a turbo molecular pump and a dry scroll pump. In the vacuum exhaust chamber 31, heating heaters 19a and 19b are provided as heating means. 2 and 7, the container 1 includes a face plate 2 and a rear plate 3 that face each other. A surface conduction electron-emitting device (not shown) is formed on the inner surface of the rear plate 3 having a through hole, and an anode electrode 28 and a light emitting member (not shown) are formed on the inner surface of the face plate 2. Then, the envelope (container 1) is formed so that the surface conduction electron-emitting device, the anode electrode, and the light emitting member are located in the envelope. The container 1 has a through hole 5a having a diameter of 4 mm on the lower surface. The distance from the outside of the hole to the anode electrode is 3.4 mm.

  2 and 7, an Fe—Ni alloy having a diameter of 10 mm and a thickness of 500 μm was prepared as the lid member 13. On top of that, a sealing material 12 made of In and formed to have a diameter of 8 mm and a thickness of 400 μm was provided. On top of this, a Fe-Ni alloy having a plate shape with a diameter of 5 mm and a thickness of 300 μm, having a projection 18 with a diameter of 1 mm and a height of 1 mm at the center, and a spring terminal 27 made of a conductive material welded to the top of the projection. A laminated body 16 was prepared by loading the plate-like members 8a made of The length of the spring terminal is 4 mm. The rotary up-and-down mechanism 23 includes a stage 24 to which a vertical upward pressing force can be applied by a spring material 25 having a spring constant of about 1 N / mm (100 gf / mm). The laminate 16 was placed on the stage 24 and placed in the vacuum exhaust chamber 31.

Step (a) First, the laminate 16 was disposed at a position where the rotary heater 23 was not heated by the heaters 19a and 19b. Next, the exhaust means 22 was operated to exhaust the inside of the vacuum exhaust chamber 31, and the degree of vacuum inside the container 1 was lowered to 1 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa or less through the through hole 5. In accordance with the exhaust process, the heaters 19a and 19b are operated to exhaust the adsorbed gas in the container 1, and the container 1 is heated at 350 ° C. for 1 hour by the heaters 19a and 19b. Thereafter, the heaters 19a and 19b and the container 1 were naturally cooled until the temperature reached 100 ° C.

  Step (b) The laminate 16 was moved directly below the through-hole 5 by the rotating vertical mechanism 23. Subsequently, the chamber 31 is continuously evacuated and heated again by the heaters 19a and 19b. The container 1, the stage 24 including the spring material 25, and each member of the laminate 16 are heated to the same temperature as the container 1. Then, it was heated to 100 ° C. which is lower than the melting point of In.

  Step (c) With the protrusion 18 of the plate-like member 8 a inserted into the through-hole 5, the plate-like member 8 a is held on the stage 24 using the rotary vertical mechanism 23 until the plate-like member 8 a comes into contact with the peripheral edge of the through-hole 5. The laminated body 16 made was slowly raised. Subsequently, the rotary vertical mechanism 23 was raised by 5 mm at a speed of 1 mm / sec so that the plate-like member 8a was pressed by the spring material 25.

  Step (d) Using the heaters 19a and 19b, the container 1 and each member were heated at a rate of 3 ° C./min to 160 ° C., which is equal to or higher than the melting point of In. Even when In is melted, each member is continuously pushed toward the through hole 5 by the spring material 25, so that even if the seal material 12 is deformed as the In melts, the seal material does not flow into the through hole. The container 1 was sealed. At this time, as described above, since the sum of the length of the spring terminal 27 and the length of the projection 18 of the plate-like member is large with respect to the distance from the outer surface of the rear plate to the anode, the spring material 27 serving as the terminal portion is It fixes in the state which contacted the anode electrode 28, shrink | contracting 1.6 mm.

  Thereafter, while the laminated body 16 was kept pressed by the spring material 25, it was cooled to room temperature, and then the inside of the vacuum exhaust chamber 18 was purged, and the completed container 1 was taken out.

  In the airtight container formed as described above, In having a thickness of 300 μm was formed between the lid member 13 and the outer surface 6 of the container 1 without a gap. Further, since the pressing by the spring material is continuously performed in the steps (c) and (d), the plate-like member 8a remains in the through hole 5 while the sealing material 12 is melted and deformed in the step (d). As a result, the sealing material 12 was prevented from flowing into the through hole 5. Further, since the plate member 8a and the peripheral portion of the through-hole 5 and the lid member 13 and the peripheral portion of the through-hole 5 are sealed at two places, a vacuum airtight with sufficient airtightness was obtained.

  In this manner, an image display device having a surface conduction electron-emitting device inside and evacuated inside was obtained. The spring terminal 27 made of a conductor is held in contact with the anode electrode 28 in the image display device. Since the plate-like member 8a welded to the spring terminal 27 is an Fe—Ni alloy, the sealing material 12 is In, and the lid member 13 is also an Fe—Ni alloy, the lid member 13 and the anode electrode 28 are electrically connected. Have. As described above, in this example, in the preparation of the vacuum hermetic container, the container was sealed, and at the same time, the conduction electrode to the inside of the vacuum container could be prepared. In this example, the envelope of the image display device was created using a laminate in which a plate-shaped member, a sealing material, and a lid member were laminated. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to the method described in the first embodiment. In this case, the same effect can be obtained.

It is a schematic step figure which shows the sealing process of 1st Embodiment. It is a schematic step figure which shows the sealing process of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure showing a 1st Example. It is a figure showing a 2nd Example. It is a schematic step figure which shows a 3rd Example. It is a figure showing a 3rd Example. It is a figure showing a 4th Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Container 5, 5a Through-hole 6 Outer surface 8, 8a Plate-shaped member 9 Peripheral part 10 Contact surface 12 Sealing material 13 Cover member 14 Space | gap 16 Laminated body 18 Protrusion

Claims (9)

Exhausting the interior of the container through a through-hole provided in the container;
A step of disposing a plate-like member on the outer surface of the container whose inside has been evacuated so as to close the through hole;
A lid member is arranged so as to cover the plate-like member, the lid member and the outer surface of the container are joined via a sealing material positioned between the lid member and the outer surface of the container, and the container is Sealing, and
Have
The sealing step includes deforming the seal member so as to contact the outer surface of the container while pressing the plate member against the outer surface of the container with the lid member, and then moving the plate member with the lid member. A method for producing an airtight container, comprising solidifying the sealing material while being pressed against the outer surface of the container. Exhausting the interior of the container through a through-hole provided in the container;
Preparing a laminate in which a plate-like member and a lid member are laminated with a sealing material sandwiched between the plate-like member and the lid member;
The laminate is pressed against the outer surface of the container, the inside of which is evacuated, so that the plate-like member closes the through hole, and the lid member and the outer surface of the container are joined via the sealing material, Sealing the step,
Have
The sealing step includes deforming the seal member so as to contact the outer surface of the container while pressing the plate member against the outer surface of the container with the lid member, and then moving the plate member with the lid member. A method for producing an airtight container, comprising solidifying the sealing material while being pressed against the outer surface of the container.   The manufacturing method of the airtight container of Claim 1 or 2 which has the process of heating at least one of the said plate-shaped member and the said cover member before deform | transforming the said sealing material.   Deforming the sealing material includes pressing the sealing material against the outer surface of the container with the lid member while rotating the lid member about an axis parallel to the direction in which the sealing material is pressed. The manufacturing method of the airtight container of any one of Claim 1 to 3.   The plate-like member has a protrusion that can be inserted into the through-hole, and the plate-like member abuts on the outer surface of the container with the protrusion inserted into the through-hole. The manufacturing method of the airtight container of any one of 1-4.   The method for manufacturing an airtight container according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a planar area of the lid member is larger than a planar area of the plate member. The exhausting step includes exhausting the inside of the container by connecting an exhaust pipe having an inner diameter larger than the through hole to the through hole,
The step of disposing the laminate includes disposing the laminate provided in the exhaust pipe so as to close the through hole by moving the laminate along the exhaust pipe.
The manufacturing method of the image display apparatus of Claim 2.   The manufacturing method of an image display apparatus which has the process of manufacturing the envelope by which the inside was evacuated using the manufacturing method of the airtight container of any one of Claim 1 to 7.   The envelope further includes an anode electrode, the plate member has a terminal portion made of a conductive material, and the sealing step is performed in a state where the terminal portion is in contact with the anode electrode. The manufacturing method of the image display apparatus of Claim 8.

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