JPH04292837A - Plasma display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the substrate of a plasma display panel to be compact by expanding space between external connection terminals and reducing the number of repair terminals, regarding the plasma display panel of surface discharge type having a pair of adjacent electrodes laid on the substrate. CONSTITUTION:A plurality of electrode pairs 12 are laid in parallel to each other in a display region EH on a substrate 11, and electrodes 13 of the pairs 12 are electrically connected to one another in the unit of a plurality via a connecting conductor 130. The electrodes 13 and other electrodes 14 of the pairs 12 are laid in parallel, but so positioned as not to be superposed on one another via an insulation layer 60. In addition, the ends of the electrodes 14 are so led out as to intersect the aforesaid conductor 130, thereby constituting a panel 1.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a surface discharge type plasma display panel (PDP) in which a pair of electrodes are arranged adjacent to each other on a substrate.

In particular, in matrix display systems, the number of electrodes within a display surface increases as the display becomes more precise. Therefore, the arrangement (layout) of connection terminals for connecting each electrode to an external drive circuit becomes difficult in terms of space.

0003

[Prior Art] A PDP, which displays characters and figures in a matrix by a combination of dots (pixels) that emit light, is constructed by arranging a pair of substrates facing each other with a predetermined gap and sealing the periphery with sealing glass. It is configured to form a discharge space and selectively discharge discharge cells defined at intersections of electrode groups arranged in a grid.

Conventionally, among matrix display type PDPs, surface discharge type PDPs suitable for displaying various colors using phosphors have been known.

For example, a surface discharge type PDP with a three-electrode structure is
It has a plurality of electrode pairs consisting of a pair of display electrodes arranged adjacent to each other in parallel, and a plurality of address electrodes arranged perpendicularly to each electrode pair. Usually, the electrode pair is provided on the substrate on the display side, and the address electrode, together with the phosphor, is provided on the substrate on the back side.

Further, a selective discharge cell for selecting a dot to be emitted is defined at the intersection between one electrode of the electrode pair and the address electrode, and a main discharge cell is defined by the electrode pair near the selective discharge cell. Ru. The phosphor is excited by ultraviolet light generated during discharge of the main discharge cell and emits light.

FIG. 4 shows a conventional three-electrode structure surface discharge type PD.
FIG. 3 is a plan view schematically showing the display electrode structure of P1j.

[0008] On the substrate (glass substrate) 11, a plurality of electrode pairs 12j consisting of a pair of electrodes 13j and 14j are arranged in parallel to each other within the display area EH. Each electrode pair 12j corresponds to one line of display. Note that although five pairs of electrodes 12j are shown in the figure, in reality, several hundred pairs of electrodes 12j are usually arranged depending on the number of display lines.

One end (left end) of each electrode 13j is led out to the outside of the display area EH and connected to a repair terminal 132 provided outside the sealing glass (not shown) surrounding the display area EH. The other end (right end) of each electrode 13j is similarly led out to the outside of the display area EH and electrically connected in common by a linear connecting conductor 130j, so that one
It is connected to external connection terminals 131. That is, during display, a common drive voltage is applied to each electrode 13j. However, the number of commonly connected electrodes 13j is appropriately selected depending on the current capacity of the drive circuit element, etc.

On the other hand, the left end side of each electrode 14j is connected to the substrate 11
Each electrode 14j is connected to an external connection terminal 141 provided individually along the edge of the electrode 14j. Further, the right end side of each electrode 14j is connected to a repair terminal 142, respectively.

A flexible printed wiring board (not shown) is superimposed on the external connection terminals 131, 141, and the electrodes 13j, 14j are connected to an external drive circuit.

[0012] The repair terminals 132, 142 are connected to the electrodes 13j.
, 14j is disconnected, it is provided to enable repair of energization to the disconnected line. In other words, if, for example, it is found that the electrode 13j is disconnected within the display area EH during aging performed after the assembly of the PDP 1j is completed, use a lead wire or the like to connect the repair terminal 132 to the outside of the sealing glass. Connect with the connection terminal 131. As a result, if the electrode 13j is disconnected at one location, normal display is possible.

[0013] When manufacturing the PDP 1j configured as described above, the electrodes 13j, 14j and the connecting conductor 130j
are formed simultaneously. That is, the electrodes 13j, 14j and the connecting conductor 130j are formed by collectively patterning a transparent conductive film such as a Nesa film provided on the substrate 11 using a photolithography method.

[0014]

Conventionally, the external connection terminal 141 of the electrode 14j was led out to the end of the substrate on the opposite side of the connecting conductor 130j so as not to cross the connecting conductor 130j. Further, one repair terminal 132, 142 was provided for each of the electrodes 13j, 14j. That is, assuming that the number of display lines is m, a total of 2m repair terminals 132 and 142 are arranged outside the sealing glass together with the external connection terminals 131 and 141.

[0015] Therefore, in order to ensure the workability of the repair and to make the connection with the outside easy and reliable, the repair terminals 132, 142 and the external connection terminal 131 have a predetermined size.
, 141 at a predetermined interval, there is a problem that the glass substrate 11 becomes extremely large compared to the display area EH.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention makes it possible to increase the interval between external connection terminals, and to reduce the size of the board by reducing the number of repair terminals for dealing with disconnection of electrodes. The purpose is to

[0017]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the PDP according to the invention of claim 1, as shown in FIG. One electrode 13 of the electrode pair 12 is arranged in parallel.
is a plasma display panel 1 in which a plurality of electrodes 13 and 14 of the electrode pair 12 are electrically connected in common by a connecting conductor 130, and one electrode 13 and the other electrode 14 are parallel to each other with an insulating layer 60 interposed therebetween. They are arranged adjacent to each other so as not to overlap, and the end of the other electrode 14 is led out to intersect with the connection conductor 130.

In the PDP according to the second aspect of the invention, the connecting conductors 130 are provided on both sides of the display area EH, and the other electrode 14 of the electrode pair 12 is connected to the insulating layer 60.
The connecting conductors 130 intersect with each other through the connecting conductors 130.

[0019]

[Operation] One electrode 13 and the other electrode 14 of the electrode pair 12
are adjacent to each other via an insulating layer 60 provided including the display area EH. This insulates the electrodes 13 and 14 from each other.

A plurality of electrodes 13 of the electrode pair 12 are connected in a ring shape by two connecting conductors 130. Therefore, even if the electrode 13 is disconnected within the display area EH, voltage is applied to the discharge cell corresponding to the disconnected electrode 13 via the other electrode 13 and the connecting conductor 130, so that the voltage is applied to the discharge cell corresponding to the disconnected electrode 13 on the display surface. The display will be displayed normally.

The other electrode 14 of the electrode pair 12 crosses the connecting conductor 130 via the insulating layer 60 when leading out of the display area EH.

[0022]

Embodiment FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the structure of a three-electrode surface discharge type PDP 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] The PDP 1 has a glass substrate 11 on the display surface H side.
, a plurality of electrode pairs 1 consisting of a pair of display electrodes (hereinafter simply referred to as electrodes) 13 and 14 arranged adjacent to each other on the inner surface of the glass substrate 11 with an insulating layer 60 in between so as not to overlap each other.
2. A dielectric layer 17, a grid-shaped partition 19, a glass substrate 21 on the back side, an address electrode 22 extending on the inner surface of the glass substrate 21 in a direction perpendicular to the electrode pair 12, a band-shaped partition 29, and a predetermined luminescent color. It is composed of a phosphor 28 and the like.

The internal discharge space 30 is filled with a mixed gas of neon and xenon, for example, and this discharge space 30 is divided into unit light emitting areas by partition walls 19 and 29. Within this unit light emitting area, a selective discharge cell is defined by the address electrode 22 and one electrode 13 of the electrode pair 12, and a main discharge cell is defined by the paired electrodes 13 and 14. One phosphor 28 is provided for each unit light emitting region so as to expose a portion of the address electrode 22 to the discharge space 30.

The electrodes 13 and 14 are transparent electrodes made of Nesa film (tin oxide film), and a bus electrode (not shown) is superimposed on the back side in order to lower the line resistance value. Further, a protective film made of MgO (not shown) is provided on the surface of the dielectric layer 17.

The area within the display surface H where the electrode pair 12 and the address electrode 22 intersect becomes a display area EH (see FIG. 1) in which discharge cells are defined.

FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the electrode structure on the display surface H side of a PDP 1 according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a part of FIG. 1 on an enlarged scale. In these figures, components having the same functions as those in FIG. 4 are given the same reference numerals, and components corresponding to FIG.
The numbers are given by omitting "j".

In FIG. 1, a pair of electrodes 13 and 14 forming an electrode pair 12 are arranged parallel to each other on a glass substrate 11 within a display area EH. Each electrode pair 12 corresponds to one line of the display. Although the figure shows five pairs of electrodes 12 as in FIG. 4, in reality, as described above, several hundred pairs of electrodes 12 are normally arranged at a pitch of about 330 μm.

Both ends of each electrode 13 are electrically connected in common by a connecting conductor 130 outside the display area EH. That is, the electrodes 13 are connected in a ring shape on a plane by the two connecting conductors 130 and the other electrodes 13. This eliminates the need for a repair terminal for the electrode 13.

The connecting conductor 130 on the right side of the figure is connected to an external connection terminal 131, and a common driving voltage is applied to each electrode 13 during display. However, the number of commonly connected electrodes 13 is not limited to five, but is appropriately selected depending on the current capacity of the drive circuit element, etc.

On the other hand, one end (left end) of each electrode 14 is connected to an external connection terminal 141 and a repair terminal 1 alternately for each line.
42. Further, the other end (right end) side of each electrode 14 is also connected alternately to the repair terminal 142 and the external connection terminal 141 for each line. In other words, PDP
In No. 1, the external connection terminals 141 are provided on both ends of the glass substrate 11 in alternating lines.

A flexible printed wiring board (not shown) is placed over the external connection terminals 131, 141, and the electrodes 13, 14 are connected to an external drive circuit.

When manufacturing the PDP 1 configured as described above, the electrodes 13 and 14 are formed separately. That is, first, the NESA film provided on the glass substrate 11 is patterned to integrally form the electrode 13 and the connecting conductor 130, and silicon dioxide is coated so as to cover almost the entire surface of the glass substrate 11 including the upper surface thereof. An insulating layer 60 made of, for example, is formed. Thereafter, a NESA film is provided again on the insulating layer 60 and patterned to form the electrode 14.

[0034] And, as shown well in Figure 2,
A portion of the insulating layer 60 is removed to expose the external connection terminal 131 so that connection with the outside is possible.

That is, in the PDP 1, the electrodes 13 and 14 are arranged in the form of multilayer wiring with the insulating layer 60 interposed therebetween, and as a result, the electrodes 13 and 14, which must be electrically independent,
4 can be crossed, so external connection terminal 1
31, 141 and the repair terminal 142 can be arranged more freely.

According to the embodiment described above, the external connection terminal 14
1 was distributed and arranged on both ends of the glass substrate 11, so
The distance between the terminals can be increased compared to the conventional method. Therefore, since the terminal width dimension etc. can be increased, it is possible to reduce the size of the glass substrate 11 while ensuring good connection with the flexible printed wiring board on the external circuit side and ensuring reliability. Moreover, outside the display area EH,
The planar shape of the electrodes 13, 14 can be simplified, and the electrodes 13, 14 can be easily formed by photolithography or the like.

According to the above-described embodiment, since the electrodes 13 and 14 are formed separately, even in a high-definition PDP 1 in which the distance between the electrodes 13 and 14 is small, the electrodes may be damaged due to poor patterning, etc. No short circuit occurs.

According to the above embodiment, since the electrode 13, the insulating layer 60, and the electrode 14, which are commonly connected, are provided in this order on the glass substrate 11, in order to simplify the process, the glass substrate 1
When the insulating layer 60 is provided on the entire surface of the PDP 1, the only part from which the insulating layer 60 is removed is the upper part of the external connection terminal 131 corresponding to the electrode 13, which simplifies the manufacture of the PDP 1.

According to the above embodiment, since the insulating layer 60 is provided on almost the entire surface of the glass substrate 11, compared to the case where the insulating layer is provided only at the intersection of the electrode 14 and the connecting conductor 130,
There is no difference in level between the surfaces on which the electrodes 13 and 14 are formed, and disconnection of the electrodes 13 and 14 due to poor step coverage is less likely to occur.

In the above embodiment, the electrode 13 and the connecting conductor 130 are formed integrally, but the electrode 13 and the connecting conductor 130 may be formed of different conductive materials.

In the embodiment described above, the number of electrode pairs 12;
The arrangement pitch can be appropriately selected depending on the size of the display area EH and the display resolution. Further, the number of electrodes 13 to be shared can be any number greater than or equal to two. For example, 400 electrodes 13 may be shared by 20 electrodes. However, in that case, 20 external connection terminals 13
1 will be placed on the glass substrate 11.

[0042]

According to the present invention, the degree of freedom in deriving the electrodes is increased, and when arranging the external connection terminals, the distance between the external connection terminals can be increased to improve the state of connection with the outside. Moreover, short circuit between a pair of electrodes can be prevented, and manufacturing yield can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the number of repair terminals for dealing with electrode breakage can be reduced, and the size of the board can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing a display electrode structure of a PDP according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a three-electrode surface discharge type PDP according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view schematically showing the display electrode structure of a conventional three-electrode surface discharge type PDP.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 PDP (plasma display panel) 11
Glass substrate (substrate) 12 Electrode pair 13 Electrode 14 Electrode 130 Connecting conductor 60 Insulating layer EH Display area

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of electrode pairs (12) are arranged in parallel to each other in a display area (EH) on a substrate (11), and one electrode (13) of the electrode pairs (12) is connected to a connecting conductor (130). )
A plasma display panel (1) in which a plurality of electrode pairs (12) are electrically connected in common by a plurality of electrode pairs (12).
One electrode (13) and the other electrode (14) are arranged parallel to each other and adjacent to each other so as not to overlap with each other via the insulating layer (60), and the end of the other electrode (14) A plasma display panel characterized by being led out to intersect with a connecting conductor (130). 2. The connecting conductor (130) is connected to the display area (
EH) respectively provided on both sides of the electrode pair (12).
2. The plasma display panel according to claim 1, wherein the other electrode (14) crosses the connecting conductor (130) via the insulating layer (60).