JPH10199401A - Forming method for barrier rib of flat display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method to form uniformly shaped barrier ribs efficiently at low cost by using a simple barrier wall forming process without employing patterning by means of a sand blasting method which requires elimination of glass dust and special environmental countermeasures against harmful dust. SOLUTION: In a forming method for barrier ribs of a flat display panel which is provided with glass barrier ribs to partition a discharge space formed in between a pair of panel substrates facing each other into a number of individual discharge regions, a flat barrier rib material layer 52 with a predetermined thickness is formed on a panel substrate 51 by a printing method or the like. Then in a state of the barrier material layer 52 softened by heat, while a rotating die 45 having a recessed and projected pattern 46 around its periphery is being rotated, the pattern 46 is continuously duplicated on the layer 52 by pressing the die 45 to the layer 52. After the substrate 51 as well as the layer 52 is slowly cooled, uniformly shaped barrier walls 53 are thereby formed efficiently at low cost.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a method of forming a partition wall of a gas discharge type flat display panel (FDP).

[0002] A plasma display panel (PDP) is known as one type of flat display panel. PDPs have the advantages of high brightness, high-speed response, and a wide viewing angle because they can be made thin and have a large screen by a simple process. Are promising as flat display panels, and in recent years, with the increase in size, there is a demand for high resolution, high display quality, and low cost.

In the above-mentioned PDP, generally, in order to prevent crosstalk between pixels (dot pixels) and discharge interference and to improve display quality, a discharge space is assigned to each pixel or a plurality of pixels arranged in the Y direction is shared. Is provided.

The partition walls are generally formed by using a low-melting glass as a forming material and a screen printing method using a printing mask having openings corresponding to the partition pattern, or a solid printing film simply formed by screen printing, such as a sand blast method. Is used to form a thick partition wall material layer corresponding to the partition walls, and is provided by firing.

In particular, the sand blast method has an advantage that a partition having a width of 100 μm or less can be easily formed and a high-definition partition can be obtained. However, the sand blast method applies a fine abrasive powder to a workpiece by high-pressure air. Therefore, it is not easy to control the conditions for spraying the abrasive powder on the workpiece, and a highly skilled technique is required.

Further, since the glass dust is scattered during processing, it is necessary to remove the glass dust so that the working environment does not adversely affect the operator. Further, since the glass dust contains lead, Such glass dust removal processing becomes complicated, and special improvement and maintenance of the working environment are required for the removal processing.

Therefore, there is a demand for a method of efficiently forming partition walls having a uniform shape by a simple partition wall forming step without removing glass dust and special environmental measures.

[0008]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 shows a flat display panel (F).
DP) is an exploded perspective view of an essential part showing an example of a surface discharge type PDP for color display, for example, and shows a basic structure of a portion corresponding to one pixel EG.

As shown in the figure, the unit light emitting area EU of the matrix display has a three-electrode structure in which a pair of display electrodes X and Y and an address electrode A are opposed to each other. Reflective type surface discharge type PD
Called P.

A display electrode 12 composed of a pair of X and Y for surface discharge is provided on the glass substrate 11 on the display surface H side with respect to the discharge space 24, so that the surface discharge can be widened and the display light can be reduced. In order to minimize the shading of ITO, use ITO (Indium Tin O
xide) A structure in which a wide transparent electrode 12a made of a film and the like and a metal auxiliary electrode 12b of a three-layer film structure of Cr-Cu-Cr or the like which is narrow to complement its conductivity (low resistance) are laminated. .

The display electrode 12 is covered with a dielectric layer 13 for AC driving for maintaining a gas discharge using wall charges so as to be insulated from a discharge space 24. The surface of the body layer 13 is further covered with a protective film 14 made of an MgO film having a thickness of about several thousand degrees.

On the other hand, an address electrode A for selectively emitting light in the unit light emitting region EU is provided on a glass substrate 21 on the rear side at a constant pitch so as to be orthogonal to the pair of X and Y display electrodes 12. And between the address electrodes A are striped barrier ribs 22 having a height of about 140 μm.
The discharge space 24 is partitioned by the unit light emitting area EU in the line direction (the extension direction of the display electrode 12), and the interval between the discharge spaces 24 is defined.

The glass substrate 21 has three primary colors of R (red), G (green) and B (blue) so as to cover the inner surface on the back side including the upper surface of the address electrode A and the side surfaces of the partition walls 22. The phosphors 23 of each color are provided to increase the luminance, and the phosphors 23 of each color are excited by ultraviolet rays radiated at the time of surface discharge to emit light.
Full color display is possible by combining G and B. In the display, the partition 22 prevents crosstalk between the unit light emitting areas EU and discharge interference.

In the PDP 1 having the above structure, predetermined components are individually provided for each of the glass substrates 11 and 21, and then,
The glass substrates 11 and 21 are arranged to face each other, the periphery of the gap between the two substrates is sealed with a sealing material, and the glass substrate is manufactured by a series of steps of exhausting the gap and filling a discharge gas.

By the way, the glass substrate 21 on the rear side is partitioned so as to partition the discharge space 24 for each unit light emitting area EU.
In order to form the partition walls 22 thereon, as shown in FIG. 4A, for example, a glass paste obtained by mixing a low melting point glass frit and a binder is formed on a glass substrate 21 on which the address electrodes A have already been formed by a screen printing method or the like. Is applied to a thickness of about 170 to 190 μm by overprinting a plurality of times, and dried to form a solid glass application layer 31.

Next, a photosensitive resin material 32 such as a dry film having sand blast resistance is coated on the glass coating layer 31 and subjected to a predetermined pattern exposure and development treatment to perform patterning as shown in FIG. After forming a resist mask 33 for forming the partition walls, the glass coating layer 31 is selectively cut and patterned by the sandblasting method or the like through the resist mask 33, and then the resist mask 33 is removed and the width is substantially reduced. A partition material layer corresponding to a 150 μm partition wall is formed, and the partition material layer is heated and baked at, for example, 570 to 600 ° C., and the tip of the partition wall is polished to a flat surface to form each address electrode A as shown in FIG. At a height of 140 μm that divides the discharge space into an area between
A stripe-shaped partition wall 22 having a width of.

[0017]

However, the conventional method for forming the partition walls 22 using the sandblasting method as described above can form partition walls having a height of about 150 μm and a width of 100 μm or less. There is an excellent advantage that the partition walls can be formed with high definition. However, on the other hand, since a fine abrasive powder is sprayed on a workpiece by high-pressure air or the like, a considerably skilled technique is required.

Further, during processing, abrasive dust is scattered, and in particular, lead-based glass dust is scattered in the patterning of the partition walls by the sand blast method, so that the worker's health may be impaired depending on the working environment at the time of processing. There is a problem in that the removal of the scattered lead-based glass dust becomes complicated, and dust prevention treatment and complete maintenance of the working environment are required.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention forms a uniform-shaped partition wall efficiently and at a low cost by a simple partition wall forming step which does not require the removal of glass dust and a special harmful dust-proof environment. It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel method for forming a partition of a flat display panel.

[0020]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a step of forming a partition material layer in a partition forming area on a panel substrate, and rotating a rotary mold having an uneven pattern on the outer peripheral surface. A predetermined partition is formed on the panel substrate by a process of rolling the concave-convex pattern on the surface of the partition material layer by pressing against the partition material layer while pressing.

Specifically, after a partition material layer made of a low melting point glass having a predetermined thickness is formed on a panel substrate on which electrodes are formed in advance by a screen printing process and a baking process, the partition material layer is heated again. In the softened state, the rotating mold having a gear-shaped cross section in which a plurality of concave and convex patterns corresponding to the partition to be formed on the outer peripheral surface are rotated is pressed against the partition material layer while rotating, and Controlling the rotation speed, or the moving speed of the panel substrate, or synchronizing the rotating speed of the rotating mold with the moving speed of the panel substrate, continuously rolling the uneven pattern on the surface of the partition wall material layer, and cooling By doing so, it becomes possible to easily form a plurality of partition walls made of glass in the partition wall formation region on the panel substrate.

Therefore, in such a method of forming the partition,
Since there is no scattering of glass dust, no dustproof environmental equipment is required, and a plurality of partitions made of glass of a certain height can be easily formed at low cost without requiring a high level of skill.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing one embodiment of a method for forming a partition wall of a flat display panel (FDP) of the present invention in the order of steps.

This embodiment is directed to the above-described partition wall of the surface discharge type plasma display panel (PDP) for color display. First, a thin film forming method or a thick film forming method and a photolithography process are performed on a glass substrate.
For example, a lead-based low melting point glass frit and 5 wt. % Of an ethylcellulose-based binder is applied to a thickness of 170 to 190 μm by a screen printing method or the like so as to uniformly cover the address electrodes, and then dried at about 140 to 160 ° C. to be solid. To form a glass coating layer.

As a method of applying the glass paste, a roll coater method or an applicator method can be used in addition to the screen printing method. In addition, when a glass paste is applied by a screen printing method to form a glass coating layer, it is necessary to repeat printing several times, but it is easy to make the thickness of the glass coating layer uniform.

Next, in order to remove the organic solvent and the binder in the glass coating layer, the glass coating layer is heated at 350 ° C. in the air to perform preliminary firing. Thereafter, the glass coating layer is further heated to 600 ° C. to be sintered, vitrified, and then allowed to cool in the air to form a partition material layer having a thickness of 150 μm.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1, the panel substrate 51 provided with the above-mentioned partition wall material layer 52 is
Place on 44. As the heating furnace 41, an internal furnace base 43
For example, an air cylinder in the length direction of the heating furnace 41,
Alternatively, a substrate transfer body 44 that is moved by a feed mechanism (not shown) combining a pulse motor and a ball screw, and a temperature distribution that changes the inside of the furnace from a high-temperature region to a low-temperature region in accordance with the substrate transfer body 44. The heater 42 is disposed so as to have a plurality of concavo-convex patterns 46 corresponding to the partition walls to be formed on the outer peripheral surface at a predetermined position in the high temperature region of the furnace near the low temperature region. A mold 45 is rotatably installed by a rotation mechanism (not shown) outside the furnace.

Next, the substrate transport body 44 is transported in the direction of the arrow by a feed mechanism (not shown) and the panel
The partition wall material layer 52 on the substrate 51 is heated again to about 500 ° C. to soften it, and the softened partition wall material layer 52 is rotated in synchronization with the transfer speed of the substrate transfer body 44. By transferring and passing it to the gap immediately below,
As shown in the enlarged perspective view of the relevant part, the concave and convex pattern 46 of the rotary mold 45 is continuously rolled on the surface of the partition wall material layer 52.

The partition material layer 52 on which the concavo-convex pattern 46 is rolled
Is cooled in the process of being transferred from the low-temperature region to the outside of the furnace, so that 150 μm
It is possible to easily form a plurality of partition walls 53 made of glass having a height of.

In the rotary mold 45, the height of the convex portions of the plurality of concave / convex patterns 46 is equal to that of the partition material layer 52 which is a solid film.
It is necessary to form the partition wall so that the pressure contact depth becomes shallower than the thickness of the partition wall and higher than the height of the rolled partition wall. The reason is that the material of the partition wall rises in the concave portions between the convex portions when the concave-convex pattern 46 of the rotary mold 45 is pressed against the surface of the partition material layer 52.

Since the leading end surfaces of the partition walls 53 formed by the above-described method are difficult to be flat, the entire leading end surfaces of the plurality of formed partition walls 53 are finally polished flat to obtain a uniform surface of 140 μm. Height, 120 μm width, 65
A panel substrate on which partition walls 53 having a pitch of 0 μm are formed can be obtained.

The rotary mold 45 is made of a heat-resistant non-metallic material such as a heat-resistant steel material such as stainless steel or a sintered body such as SiC or CrO so as to sufficiently withstand the partition rolling process in a high-temperature region. By performing the partition rolling process in an inert atmosphere, the deterioration of the rotary mold 45 due to oxidation can be effectively prevented, so that the service life can be improved.

In addition, the surface of the rotary mold 45 is coated with a release agent such as silicone or a coating process such as Teflon, so that the adhesion of the low melting point glass can be prevented. Also, instead of applying such a release agent or release coating treatment, when rolling the concavo-convex pattern 46 on the surface of the partition wall material layer 52, the partition wall material layer 52 on the panel substrate 51 and the rotary mold are formed.
45, for example, after forming the partition wall 53 by interposing a polyimide film having a thickness of 7.5 μm, by heating and removing the polyimide film, the low-melting glass adheres to the rotary mold 45. Can be prevented.

Further, in the above embodiment, an example in which a partition of a surface discharge type PDP for color display is formed has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this example. Various PDPs such as discharge PDP
It is very advantageous when applied to the production of flat display panels such as a flat display panel.

[0035]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the method for forming a partition of a flat display panel according to the present invention, a plurality of partitions are continuously formed on the surface of a partition material layer provided on a panel substrate with a small number of steps. Thus, it can be formed efficiently and at a lower cost than in the past.

Therefore, the present invention is very advantageous when applied to the manufacture of flat display panels such as various PDPs having partition walls, and has an excellent effect in practical use.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a flat display panel (FD) of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing one embodiment of a method of forming a partition wall in P) in order of process.

FIG. 2 shows a flat display panel (FD) of the present invention.
It is a principal part expansion perspective view which shows one Example of the partition formation process of P).

FIG. 3 Surface discharge PDP for color display as FDP
It is a principal part disassembled perspective view which shows an example.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing a method of forming a partition of a conventional surface discharge type PDP in the order of steps.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 41 heating furnace 42 heating heater 43 furnace base 44 substrate transfer body 45 rotary mold 46 concave and convex pattern 51 panel substrate 52 partition material layer 53 partition

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A step of forming a partition material layer in a partition forming region on a panel substrate, and pressing the concave and convex pattern on the partition material layer while rotating a rotary mold having a concave and convex pattern on an outer peripheral surface. Forming a partition on the surface of the material layer. 2. After forming a flat partition material layer having a predetermined thickness in a partition forming region on a panel substrate, a rotary mold having an uneven pattern on an outer peripheral surface is rotated while the partition material layer is softened. A method for forming a partition of a flat display panel, comprising forming a partition by rolling the concavo-convex pattern continuously on the surface of the partition material layer by pressing against the partition material layer while the partition is formed.