JPH09274861A - Gas discharge display apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To form a pattern (diaphragms, etc.) with high precision and at low cost. SOLUTION: A plurality of panel blocks 12, on which the same patterns are formed, are arranged in a supporting stand 10 without gaps in vertical and horizontal directions to constitute a back face plate 14. Anodes and auxiliary anodes 42 of respective panel block 12 are inserted into wire holes 44 formed in the supporting stand 10 and led out to the back side of the supporting stand 10. This gas discharge display apparatus comprises this back face plate 14 and a front face plate 34 in which cathodes 36 are formed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas discharge display device, and more particularly to a large capacity, large screen plasma display.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A gas discharge display device (plasma display) has a structure in which two flat glass plates (a front plate and a back plate) are provided with a pair of electrodes arranged regularly and a discharge gas is sealed between them. ing. When a voltage is applied between the electrodes, glow discharge occurs in a minute space (discharge cell) around the electrodes to emit light. Conventionally, as a gas discharge display device,
For example, reference 1 “Shingaku Giho. TECHNICAL REPORT OF IEICE.E”
ID92-60, pp.73-78 "or Reference 2" Technical Report. TECHNICAL "
REPORT OF IEICE.EID92-60, SID94DIGEST.pp.715-718 ''
Are disclosed in. In the configuration examples of these documents, an anode, an auxiliary anode, a partition and a phosphor layer are formed on the back plate by a thick film printing method.

[0003]

However, the conventional gas discharge display device has the following problems.

In the thick film printing method, a paste is printed by a screen printing machine and baked to form a pattern. Therefore, it has an advantage that it can be produced by a small number of steps and the cost of manufacturing equipment is low. The thick film printing method is not suitable for forming a fine pattern of several μm, but is suitable for forming a pattern of several tens μm to several hundreds μm on a large area.

However, as the substrate becomes larger, it becomes difficult to form a pattern by the thick film printing method. In the thick film printing method,
Print the paste using the screen. The screen is, so to speak, a net woven with metal wires, and the larger the screen, the more likely it is that warp or twist will occur. This leads to pattern defects. Therefore, in thick film printing using a large screen, there is a problem that the accuracy of the pattern becomes poor (Reference 3 “Nikkei Electronics, October 23, 1995 (No. 64).
7), pp.94-95 ").

The partition walls (ribs) of the gas discharge display device can also be formed by using the sand blast method. In the sand blast method, a photo mask is used instead of the screen, so that relatively good pattern accuracy can be obtained. However, since photolithography is used, the process is more complicated and the cost is higher than that of the thick film printing method. Specifically, in the case of the sand blast method, in addition to the steps performed by the thick film printing method, the steps of resist application, exposure, development, sand blast and resist stripping must be performed.

In either of the thick film printing method and the sand blast method, a screen or a photomask must be prepared according to the screen size of the display to be created. Therefore, the cost is high.

In addition, the screen and photomask sizes are currently limited, and only plasma displays with screen sizes of 50-60 inches can be made.

Therefore, it has been desired in the past to provide a gas discharge display device having a large screen size which realizes desired dimensional accuracy at low cost.

[0010]

According to the gas discharge display device of the present invention, in a gas discharge display device comprising a back plate having a discharge cell array and a front plate, the back plate comprises a plurality of panel blocks. , A support base for arranging and supporting the panel blocks, each of the panel blocks being a block substrate, and a plurality of discharge cells provided on the block substrate to form the discharge cell array. It is characterized in that it is provided with a partition wall that defines the above and an electrode that operates so as to cause a gas discharge for each discharge cell.

By thus dividing the gas discharge display device into a plurality of panel blocks, it is sufficient to increase the number of panel blocks even when a large display is produced. No need to make it big. Therefore, if the panel block is sized so that the pattern can be formed with good accuracy by using the thick film printing method, the desired dimensional accuracy can be achieved at a low cost and a large screen can be obtained. It is possible to obtain a gas discharge display device of a size.

Here, the discharge cell corresponds to a display cell in the case of a DC type gas discharge display device, for example. Further, when the auxiliary cell is provided, this is also included in the discharge cell.

According to a preferred configuration example of the gas discharge display device of the present invention, the support base has a wire hole for inserting the electrode from the support side to the back side of the panel block, and the electrode is the block substrate. Is bent and inserted into the wire hole at the end portion thereof, and the wire hole through which the electrode is inserted is sealed with lead glass.

As described above, by inserting the electrode into the supporting base and projecting it to the side opposite to the panel block, the position on the supporting base where the panel block is to be installed is determined, and the electrode is placed outside (on the supporting base). It can be taken out on the back side). Therefore, the electrical connection of the electrodes can be arbitrarily made for each panel block. The discharge gas is sealed by embedding the lead glass into the wire hole into which the electrode is inserted.

According to a preferred configuration example of the gas discharge display device of the present invention, the block substrate is provided at the end portion.
A groove is provided for fitting the electrode without protruding from the end face of the end portion.

As described above, by providing the groove in the end face portion of the above-mentioned end portion of the block substrate, the bent portion of the electrode can be accommodated in the groove, and the panel blocks can be regularly arranged without gaps.

According to a preferred configuration example of the gas discharge display device of the present invention, the material of the electrode is 42-6 alloy (F
e (52%) Ni (42%) Cr (6%)) is used.

As described above, since the 42-6 alloy has substantially the same expansion coefficient as lead glass (sealing glass), the lead glass is not isolated from the electrodes due to the influence of heat generation, and the discharge gas is sealed. be able to.

According to a preferred configuration example of the gas discharge display device of the present invention, the discharge cell includes a display cell and an auxiliary cell, the display cell including a phosphor layer, and the front plate. A cathode, including an anode and an auxiliary anode as the electrodes, the cathode and the anode together operate to cause a main discharge as the gas discharge for each of the display cells, and the cathode and the The auxiliary anode and the auxiliary anode are operated so as to cause a pilot discharge as the gas discharge for each of the auxiliary cells.

Here, the main discharge means a discharge for emitting light. Further, the seed discharge is a discharge that is preliminarily performed to promote light emission due to the main discharge.

By thus dividing the direct current gas discharge display device into a plurality of panel blocks, it is sufficient to increase the number of panel blocks even when a large display is produced. There is no need to enlarge the block itself. Therefore, if the panel block is sized so that the pattern can be formed with good accuracy by using the thick film printing method, the desired dimensional accuracy can be achieved at a low cost and a large screen can be obtained. It is possible to obtain a gas discharge display device of a size.

Further, according to a preferable configuration example of the gas discharge display device of the present invention, the discharge cell is provided with a phosphor layer, the front plate is provided with a display electrode, and the display electrode is used as the electrode. An address electrode that works together with an electrode to cause a main discharge and a pilot discharge as the gas discharge in each discharge cell, and the display electrode and the address electrode are covered with a dielectric layer. Is characterized by.

As described above, by dividing the AC type gas discharge display device into a plurality of panel blocks, it is sufficient to increase the number of panel blocks even when a large display is produced. There is no need to enlarge the block itself. Therefore, if the panel block is sized so that the pattern can be formed with good accuracy by using the thick film printing method, the desired dimensional accuracy can be achieved at a low cost and a large screen can be obtained. It is possible to obtain a gas discharge display device of a size.

[0024]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the drawings are schematically shown to the extent that the configuration, size, and arrangement relationship of the embodiment of the present invention can be understood, and the numerical conditions and the like shown below are merely examples. The invention is not limited to this embodiment.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining the outline of main components of a gas discharge display device according to the first embodiment. The gas discharge display device of this configuration example includes a back plate 14 and a front plate 34 on a support base 10, in which panel blocks 12 of a size smaller than the size of the support base 10 are regularly arranged without gaps in length and width. There is. Each panel block 12 is provided with a plurality of discharge cells, and these panel blocks 12 are arranged in contact with each other to form a discharge cell array as a gas discharge display device. Therefore, as many panel blocks 12 as possible to realize a desired screen size are installed on the support base 10. The support base 10 and the front plate 34 are made of soda lime glass cut into a size slightly larger than a desired screen size.
Further, the support base 10 is provided with wire holes 44 for passing the anodes and the auxiliary anodes 42 protruding from the panel block 12 at appropriate positions.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the structure of the panel block 12 according to the first embodiment, with a part cut away. The gas discharge display device of this embodiment is of a direct current (drive) type and is of a phosphor reflection type. Therefore, the panel block 12 of this configuration example includes the display cell 16 and the auxiliary cell 18 as the discharge cell, and the display cell 16 has the fluorescent light having the anode hole 26 so that a part of the anode 28 is exposed. A body layer 24 is provided. The display cell 16 and the auxiliary cell 18 are defined by a partition wall 22 above the block substrate 20. The partition wall 22 is formed by sintering powder of low melting point lead glass and ceramics (such as alumina). The partition wall 22 is formed by a thick film printing method or a sand blast method.

As described above, the phosphor layer 24 is deposited on the display cell 16 defined by the partition wall 22.
An anode hole 26 is provided in the phosphor layer 24, and a part of the anode 28 is exposed from the anode hole 26. The auxiliary cell 18 is provided with an auxiliary anode 30 extending in parallel with the anode 28 on the block substrate 20. In this embodiment, four display cells 16 form one pixel, and one panel block has four pixels.

The anode 28 and the auxiliary anode 30 are provided in parallel with each other, and on one end surface of the rectangular block substrate 20 (the end surface indicated by the arrow a in the drawing), the partition wall 22 is formed. It is bent at a right angle to the surface opposite to. Each of the anodes 28 and the auxiliary anodes 32 is provided at the end surface portion (end portion) of the block substrate 20 that corresponds to this bent portion (portion indicated by arrow b in the figure).
Slit (groove) 3 so that the bent part of
2 are provided. By the slits 32, the block substrate 20 can be kept in a square shape, and the panel blocks 12 can be successively arranged on the support base 10 and arranged in a matrix without gaps. Since the patterns formed in each panel block 12 are the same, the display cells 16 are arranged in a matrix, and the auxiliary cells 18 are engaged with the auxiliary cells 18 of the other panel blocks 12 to form linear cells. By arranging the panel blocks 12 as described above, there is no gap between the panel blocks 12, so that the arrangement pitch of the discharge cells is not disturbed and the image quality is not deteriorated.

The panel block 12 has a wire hole 44 in which the anode 28 and the auxiliary anode 30 are provided on the support 10.
It is installed on the support base 10 by being inserted into. The anode 28 and the auxiliary anode 30 are inserted into the wire holes 44 and taken out to the back side of the support 10. Since the anode 28 and the auxiliary anode 30 between each panel block 12 are electrically separated, it is possible to individually drive the discharge cells for each panel block 12. Further, by appropriately connecting the anode 28 and the auxiliary anode 30 between the panel blocks 12 on the back side of the support base 10, it is possible to drive the gas discharge display device for each appropriate panel block 12.

A wire groove 38 for fitting a cathode 36 (FIG. 1) provided on the front plate 34 when the front plate 34 is placed on the upper side of the rear plate 14 is placed above the partition wall 22.
Are formed. Therefore, the cathode 36, the anode 28, and the auxiliary anode 30 are provided so that their longitudinal directions intersect at right angles. In addition, the auxiliary cell 18 and the display cell 16
A priming slit 40 is formed on an upper portion of the partition wall 22 that separates the partition wall and the partition wall.

The back plate 14 and the front plate 34 having such a structure
, And discharge gas is sealed between them, and they are opposed to each other,
Around the rear plate 14 and the front plate 36 and the wire holes 44.
And are sealed with lead glass to form a gas discharge display device. Each panel block 12 is sandwiched and fixed by the support base 10 and the front plate 34. As the discharge gas, for example, He-Xe (5%) is used. Where the cathode 3
6, the anode 28 and the auxiliary anode 30 have an expansion coefficient of 42-6 (Fe (52%)-Ni) close to that of lead glass.
Since the (42%)-Cr (6%)) alloy is used, the sealed portion of the discharge gas is not damaged by thermal expansion.

The drive system of the gas discharge display device of this embodiment is a direct current system, and line sequential drive and pulse memory drive are possible. In the case of the conventional gas discharge display device, the discharge time of each display cell 16 when line-sequential driving is performed is
Since a voltage is applied to each cathode line one by one, when all the cathodes are driven for 1 second, there is only (1 / cathode line) seconds and sufficient luminance cannot be obtained. The number of cathode lines in a normal gas discharge display device is about 500.
The discharge time is 1/500 second.

In the configuration example of this embodiment, the anode does not intersect all the cathodes, but the cathode 36 provided in the panel block 12 and the anode 28 intersects.
Is four. Therefore, when driving is performed for each panel block 12, it is sufficient to apply a voltage to each of the four cathode lines, and therefore the discharge time is 1/4 second, which is longer than the conventional discharge time. can do. Therefore, the brightness can be increased.

Although the brightness decreases as the number of cathodes to which a voltage is applied at a time increases, the configuration example of this embodiment can set a small number of cathodes to apply at a time. It is possible to obtain brightness. In the case of a large display, since the number of cathode lines is large, it is preferable to divide the panel blocks and drive them in this way. In this embodiment, it is possible to adjust the brightness by appropriately adjusting the discharge time.

As described above, according to the gas discharge display device of this embodiment, the partition wall 22 of the panel block 12 is formed.
And the like are formed by a method most suitable for the size of the panel block 12, and the panel blocks 12 are arranged on the support base 10 to form a gas discharge display device. It can be realized at low cost.

If the display cells 16 and the auxiliary cells 18 may have the same pitch, the panel block 12 may be formed by the sand blast method or the thick film printing method using the same photo mask or screen. Since it is good, it is not necessary to prepare a different mask for each screen size, and the manufacturing cost is reduced.

Further, as described above, since the electrodes (anode 28 and auxiliary anode 30) are taken out to the outside (back side of the support base 10) for each panel block 12, it is possible to operate each panel block 12. is there. Also,
It is possible to operate every arbitrary number of panel blocks 12 by appropriately connecting the electrodes, and it is expected that the range of selection of the driving method is expanded.

Further, although the case where the present invention is applied to the direct current system / phosphor reflection type gas discharge display device has been described in this embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and the alternating current system may be used. Further, it may be a phosphor transmission type. Next, a case where the present invention is applied to an AC system / phosphor reflection type gas discharge display device will be described.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 3 is a perspective view for explaining the outline of main components of a gas discharge display device according to a second embodiment. Even if the AC method is used, as in the configuration example of the first embodiment, the support base 10 is attached to the support base 1.
A panel block 12 having a size smaller than 0 is composed of a back plate 14 and a front plate 34 which are regularly arranged without gaps in length and width. However, the display electrode 54 is provided on the front plate 34 instead of the cathode 36. Since the display electrode 54 is covered with the dielectric layer 52, it is not directly exposed.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the construction of the panel block 12 of the second embodiment, with a part cut away. The gas discharge display device of this embodiment is of an alternating current (driving) type and is of a phosphor reflection type. Therefore, the panel block 12 of this structural example includes the discharge cells 46 extending linearly, and the discharge cells 46 are provided with the address electrodes 48 as electrodes. Discharge cell 4
6 is defined by a partition wall 22 on the upper side of the block substrate 20. The partition wall 22 is made of the material described in the first embodiment, and is similarly formed by the sand blast method or the thick film printing method.

Discharge cell 46 defined by barrier ribs 22
A phosphor layer 24 is laminated on the. The address electrode 48 is provided on the lower side of the phosphor layer 24. The address electrode 48 is covered with the dielectric layer 50, and the partition wall 22 and the phosphor layer 24 are sequentially stacked on the upper side thereof. ing.

The address electrodes 48 are provided in parallel with each other, and on one end surface of the rectangular block substrate 20 (the end surface indicated by the arrow a in the drawing), the side opposite to the surface on which the partition wall 22 is formed. It is bent at a right angle to the surface of. In the same manner as in the first embodiment, the bent portion of each address electrode 48 is prevented from projecting to the end surface portion (end portion) of the block substrate 20 corresponding to this bent portion (the portion indicated by the arrow b in the figure). , Slit 32
Is provided. By the slits 32, the block substrate 20 can be kept in a square shape, and the panel blocks 12 can be successively arranged on the support base 10 and arranged in a matrix without gaps. Each panel block 1
Since the patterns formed in 2 are the same, the discharge cell 4
6 is engaged with the discharge cell 46 of another panel block 12 so as not to deteriorate the image quality and forms a linear cell.

The panel block 12 includes address electrodes 48.
Is inserted into the wire hole 44 provided in the support base 10 to be installed on the support base 10. The address electrode 48 is inserted into the wire hole 44 to support the support 10.
Is taken out on the back side of. Since the address electrodes 48 between the panel blocks 12 are electrically separated, it is possible to individually drive the discharge cells for each panel block 12. It is also possible to drive the gas discharge display device for each appropriate panel block 12 by properly connecting the address electrodes 48 between the panel blocks 12 on the back side of the support 10.

The rear plate 14 and the front plate 34 having the above-described structure are combined with the discharge gas sealed between them so as to face each other, and the periphery of the rear plate 14 and the front plate 36 and the wire hole 44 are made of lead glass. The gas discharge display device is configured by sealing. Each address electrode 48 and each display electrode 54
And are combined such that their longitudinal directions are orthogonal to each other.

As described above, as described in the configuration of the second embodiment, it is understood that the same effect as that of the configuration example of the first embodiment can be obtained.

[0046]

According to the gas discharge display device of the present invention,
Since the pattern of the panel block is formed by an optimum method for the size and the panel block is arranged on the support base to form the gas discharge display device, the gas discharge display having a pattern with high dimensional accuracy is formed. The device can be manufactured at low cost. Further, it is possible to easily obtain a gas discharge display device having a large screen size.

Moreover, since the panel block may be formed by the sand blast method or the thick film printing method using the mask or the screen having the same pattern, a mask having a different size is prepared for each screen size of the gas discharge display device to be prepared. Manufacturing cost is reduced.

Further, since the electrodes are taken out to the outside for each panel block, it is possible to perform the gas discharge operation for each panel block. Further, by appropriately connecting the electrodes, it is possible to operate every arbitrary number of panel blocks, and there is a remarkable effect that the range of selection of the driving method is widened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a gas discharge display device according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a panel block according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a gas discharge display device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a panel block according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10: Support stand 12: Panel block 14: Back plate 16: Display cell 18: Auxiliary cell 20: Block substrate 22: Partition wall 24: Phosphor layer 26: Anode hole 28: Anode 30: Auxiliary anode 32: Slit 34: Front plate 36: Cathode 38: Wire groove 40: Priming slit 42: Anode and auxiliary anode 44: Wire hole 46: Discharge cell 48: Address electrode 50, 52: Dielectric layer 54: Display electrode

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A gas discharge display device comprising a back plate having a discharge cell array and a front plate, wherein the back plate comprises a plurality of panel blocks and a support base for arranging and supporting the panel blocks. Each of the panel blocks includes a block substrate, barrier ribs provided on the block substrate to define a plurality of discharge cells forming the discharge cell array, and a gas discharge for each discharge cell. A gas discharge display device, comprising: an electrode that operates to wake up. 2. The gas discharge display device according to claim 1, wherein the support base includes a wire hole through which the electrode is inserted from a support side of the panel block to a back side thereof, and the electrode is an end of the block substrate. The gas discharge display device is characterized in that it is bent at a portion and inserted into the wire hole, and the wire hole through which the electrode is inserted is sealed with lead glass. 3. The gas discharge display device according to claim 2, wherein the block substrate has a groove in the end portion for fitting the electrode without protruding from the end face of the end portion. A gas discharge display device characterized by: 4. The gas discharge display device according to claim 2, wherein the material of the electrode is a 42-6 alloy (Fe (52%)).
A gas discharge display device using Ni (42%) Cr (6%). 5. The gas discharge display device according to claim 1, wherein the discharge cell includes a display cell and an auxiliary cell, the display cell includes a phosphor layer, and the front plate includes a cathode. An anode and an auxiliary anode as the electrodes, the cathode and the anode are operated together to cause a main discharge as the gas discharge for each of the display cells, and the cathode and the auxiliary anode are A gas discharge display device, wherein the gas discharge display device is operated so as to cause a pilot discharge as the gas discharge for each of the auxiliary cells. 6. The gas discharge display device according to claim 1, wherein the discharge cell includes a phosphor layer, the front plate includes a display electrode, and the electrode serves as the electrode and the display electrode. An address electrode that operates so as to cause a main discharge and a seed discharge as the gas discharge is provided for each discharge cell, and the display electrode and the address electrode are covered with a dielectric layer. Gas discharge display device.