JPS5871534A - Gas electric-discharge panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To manufacture a surface-discharge-type gas electric-discharge panel, which enables large display, with a high manufacturing yield without any need of a large-scale manufacturing plant. CONSTITUTION:A display panel 10 is principally constituted of a pair of large glass base plates 12 and 13, which form a plate-like sealed structure and are opposed to one another with an electric-discharge gas space 11 allowed between them, and a supporting base plate 21 used for panel reinforcement. Each of four glass base plates 121, 122, 123 and 124 is provided with a plural number of laterally extending Y-electrodes on it, and a plural number of vertically extending X-electrodes 16 are provided over the Y-electrodes 14, with an insulating vapordeposition film 15 made of borosilicate glass interposed between the Y-electrodes 14 and the X-electrodes 16. The second gas sealing space 23, which is continuous with the first gas charge space 11, is provided between the combination base plate 12 and the supporting base plate 21. Since the pressure of the space 23 is the same as that of the space 11, there is no fear that above combination base plate 12 deforms due to the external atmospheric pressure during either the exhaustion of the gas charge space 23 or actual display operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a display panel using gas discharge, particularly a new panel structure for a large display using a surface discharge type or monolithic type gas discharge spring μ.

One type of gas discharge panel is a panel called a surface discharge type or a monolithic type. As is well known from, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 47-12, this type of gas discharge spring μ has an The feature is that both electrodes are arranged near the intersection of these two electrodes to generate a flash discharge along the substrate surface. Compared to a panel, the requirement for accuracy of the gap between a pair of substrates (discharge gap) is significantly relaxed, and an ultraviolet-excited phosphor is attached to the inner surface of the cover substrate, allowing for change of display color and multi-color display. Recently, it has become desirable for display devices using such gas discharge springs to be able to display large images, figures, and a large number of characters. When manufacturing such a large display panel where the spring μ must be made larger, the surface discharge spring μ does not require discharge gap accuracy as described above, so regardless of the flatness of the glass substrate used. This has the advantage that it is easy to obtain a panel with uniform discharge characteristics. However, even in this surface discharge spring p, as the size increases and the number of electrodes increases accordingly, the probability of occurrence of electrode breakage and short circuit accidents per substrate decreases, and as a result, the manufacturing yield of the panel decreases significantly. In addition, there is the problem that large equipment is required when forming the electrodes.

The object of the present invention is to provide a new surface discharge type gas discharge spring μ which solves the above-mentioned conventional problems and is capable of large-sized display. Briefly stated, this invention:
A plurality of nine electrode support substrates each supporting a predetermined pattern of electrode pairs, the side end surfaces of each substrate are butted together, and a single cover substrate made of a translucent material is placed on the electrode formation side of this combined substrate. , a single reinforcing support substrate is placed facing each other with a predetermined gap between them on the side opposite to the electrode formation side, and the peripheries of these eight opposing substrates are sealed, and two A gas-filled space is formed, and both gas-filled spaces communicate with each other via a through hole provided in the combination substrate, and a tube for sealing the discharge gas is provided in the reinforcing support substrate. It is characterized by:

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are a plan view of a surface discharge type gas discharge spring μ according to an embodiment of the present invention, and a sectional view thereof taken along line 1-1. In these figures, the display spring/L'IO
The main components are a flat plate-like sealed structure consisting of a pair of large glass substrates 12 and 18 facing each other with a discharge gas space 11 in between, and a support substrate 21 for reinforcing the panel. One (upper) glass substrate 1 that functions as a cutting board
3 has a single plate structure, but the other (lower) glass substrate which functions as a 1f pole support substrate has 12 pieces, for example 20 pieces.
Four glass substrates 1 with a size of about X20-=400-
21, 122, 123, and 124 are combined with the side edges of two adjacent sides butted against each other.

Note that for convenience of explanation, the substrate 12 will be referred to as a combination substrate hereinafter.

The four glass substrates 121, 122, 123, 124
are a plurality of YW poles 1 extending laterally on the substrate, respectively.
4, and a plurality of X electrodes 16 extending in the vertical direction are further formed thereon via a vapor-deposited insulating film 15 made of borosilicate glass. A power saving layer 17 made of a vapor deposited film of borosilicate glass or aluminum oxide is provided on these X electrodes 16, and a surface layer 17 made of a vapor deposited film of magnesium oxide (not shown) is further coated thereon. It's crowded. Therefore, the Yitfm group on each substrate and X
One end of the electrode group is aligned so that it spans between two adjacent substrates as shown in the figure, and the other end of the electrode group is positioned as a connection terminal for an external drive circuit. Exposed to the outside. Each Y′ft pole and each Xtli[ on the two substrates on the same line are electrically connected inside or outside the spring μ to function as one X electrode and one Y electrode respectively. Alternatively, the Y and X electrodes 14.1 may each function as a separate and independent xi.
6 are formed by patterning a vapor-deposited conductive layer such as a Cu-Al alloy using a photolithographic exposure method.In addition, a layer of low melting point glass or the like is formed between the cover glass substrate 130 and the combination substrate 12 in the vicinity of the cover glass substrate 130. Frit material 18
A first gas-filled space 11 that functions as a gas discharge space in the gap between the two substrates that are sealed facing each other.
is formed.

The first gas-filled space communicates with a second large gas-filled space 28, which will be described later, via a through hole 20 provided in the electrode support substrate 124.

If such a configuration is adopted, the number of electrodes per small electrode support substrate is about the same as that of the electrode support substrate in a general-purpose small display spring μ, so there is no reduction in manufacturing yield, and the deposition equipment Manufacturing equipment such as these will not be enlarged.

On the other hand, a large support substrate 21 for reinforcing the panel is placed on the lower surface of the combination substrate 12 so as to support it. Between these substrates 21 and 12, a frit material 18 is provided at the periphery. Further, each electrode supporting substrate 121-
A low melting point glass 22 for adhesion and Nubesa is provided at each of the 124 butt-corresponding locations, and these component materials are used to bond the 4 sheets together.
The combination mounting plate 12 and the supporting substrate 21 are airtightly integrated, and a second gas-filled space 28 is formed in the gap between these two substrates, which are sealed opposite each other. The sealed space 28 communicates with the first gas filled space (gas discharge space) 11 as described above. Furthermore, the reinforcing support substrate 21 is also provided with an exhaust port 24 and a tip pipe 19. A mixed gas of Xe+He is sealed into the two gas-filled spaces 11 and 23 through the chip tube 19. What is important here is that a gas passage is provided in the adhesive 22 that bonds the butt portions of each electrode support substrate so that the discharge gas can freely flow within the second gas-filled space. There is a need. Furthermore, the periphery of the panel must be sealed in such a manner that the end surfaces of the electrode supporting substrates are also hermetically sealed. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 25 indicates a low melting point glass for bonding the chip tube 19 to the supporting substrate 21. If such a chip tube structure is adopted, the chip tube 19 can be provided on the support substrate 21 by hermetically sealing the periphery of the combination substrate 12 to the support substrate 21.

According to this, the gas-filled space 28 between the combination substrate 12 and the support substrate 21 has the same atmospheric pressure as the gas discharge space 11, so that when the gas-filled space is evacuated or during actual display operation, the external pressure is This eliminates the possibility that the combination substrate 12 will be deformed.

Therefore, the gap between the discharge gas spaces 11 can be maintained constant, and thin and lightweight substrates can be used for each of the electrode supporting substrates constituting the combination substrate 12, thereby reducing the overall weight of the spring μ. There is an advantage that it can be done. To show concrete numerical values regarding this, the above-mentioned 20X20=4
The electrode supporting substrates 121 to 124 having a size of 00- are l
ff thickness is sufficient. Incidentally, the tip tube is m1
When the structure is attached to the laminated board 12, the thickness is 5n.
tFM supporting substrate must be used. The thinner each of the electrode supporting substrates is, the more reliable the sealing between the end faces can be when the end faces are butted and assembled.

Now, to briefly describe one example of a method for assembling such a large display spring μ, first, four individually manufactured electrode support substrates 121, 122, 123, and 124 are assembled with one end face protruding from the adjacent end faces. Place the frit material 1 in the specified position.
8 and adhesive material 22 are placed in advance on the support substrate 2.
Put it on top of 1. At this time, the abutting portions of the four electrode supporting substrates are accurately positioned on the adhesive material 22. After that, the four electrode supporting substrates, that is, the combination substrate 1
A frit material 18 is provided on the laminate structure 2, and a suitable spacer (not shown) is placed on top of the frit material 18, and a glass substrate 18 for the cover is placed on top of the frit material 18. When appropriate pressure and heat are applied to this laminated structure, the adhesive is bonded. material 22 and frit material 18
are melted, thereby adhering (bonding) the respective substrates and sealing the gas-filled space 11.23. After that, the chip tube 19 is attached to the support substrate 21 and the gas-filled space is sealed through it. If discharge gas is filled in 11.28, the required large surface discharge type gas discharge display spring μ will be completed.

Regarding the method of driving such a large display spring μ, if the electrodes on the same line on two adjacent electrode support substrates are electrically connected externally, it is possible to drive the spring μ over the entire surface with a madrids address. In addition, in the case where the electrodes are not electrically connected to each other between the electrode substrates, it is possible to perform partial matrix address driving for each electrode support substrate. In the former case, the driving circuit can be simplified, and in the latter case, although the driving circuit becomes complicated, high-speed address display can be achieved.

One embodiment of this invention has been described above, but
The essence of the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and various modifications and expansions are possible. First of all, the following modification examples are listed: 1) The number of electrode support substrates combined is 2X2=
The number is not limited to four, but may be more than four. FIG. 8 shows an example in which 3×3=9 substrates are combined. In this case, five substrates 12δ, 126 are sandwiched between four square substrates 121, 122, 123°124.゜127.128,129
The electrodes are electrically connected by well-known bonding techniques to co-linearly located electrodes of adjacent substrates with each substrate abutted against each other.

2) Butt part of each electrode support substrate (between 9111i surfaces)
The joining method may be performed by interposing a low melting point adhesive between the abutted parts.

8) The applicable springs are not limited to the above-mentioned matrix type springs, but also segment type and 7μ shift type springs.

4) As for the electrode structure, in addition to the above-mentioned two-layer structure,
5-1098, an electrode pad with a floating structure that is capacitively coupled with the lower layer electrode is provided at a position close to one side of the upper layer electrode, and a discharge is caused between the upper layer electrode and the electrode pad. A matrix type electrode structure is also applicable.

5) The formation of [% and dielectric material] is not limited to the above-mentioned thin film technique, but can also be formed by a thick film technique.

Further, as an example of expansion according to the present invention, the gas discharge space 11
By arranging an ultraviolet-excited phosphor with a predetermined emission color inside or outside the panel, it is recommended to apply it to color conversion or multicolor display. Eight specific examples regarding this will be explained.

That is, in the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a desired phosphor 26 is provided on the inner wall surface of the cover glass substrate ISO. In addition, as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 4, the second embodiment uses a small phosphor supporting substrate of 41°42. 43... are combined in the same manner as the W electrode support substrate and provided at a predetermined gap (0, I M') from the electrode support substrate in the discharge gas space ll of the spring μ. be. In FIG. 3, the reference numeral 51 indicates Nubesa, and 52 indicates an adhesive. According to this second dormitory example, when providing a large-scale color conversion or multicolor display panel, there is a great advantage that large-scale equipment is not required for the phosphor formation process. In this example, a mixed gas of Xe+He is used as the discharge gas, so the phosphor material suitable for this gas is red (Y・Gd)B.
OsJ, 'u, the blue color represents BaMgAJ l 4023:3, and the green color represents Zn2SiO4:R'u.

Furthermore, the third embodiment, as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG.
In this configuration, a fluorescent body 26 is formed and a nine-person shaped fluorescent body supporting substrate 61 is arranged opposite to the outer wall surface of the cover gown substrate 13. In short, this is an example in which a phosphor is provided outside the panel, and in this case, sufficient consideration must be given to prevention of deterioration and moisture resistance of the phosphor. As a countermeasure for this, in this example, first, a mixed gas of Ar+N2 is added to the discharge gas in terms of materials.
In addition, the glass plate for the cover is made of a glass material made by Corning Corporation with a thickness of 1 piece, such as Corning 9-54° Corning 9700, and the phosphor material is TO2S:Eu, ZnS:
Ag and ZnS:Cu-Al are used, respectively. Next, in terms of structure, as shown in FIG. 5, a perforated insulating substrate 62 for making each discharge area independent is provided in the gas discharge space 11, and the periphery of the phosphor support substrate 61 is sealed with a frit material 68. At the same time, a doffing cap is sealed in a sealed space between the substrate 61 and the cover cap board 18.

The phosphor support substrate 61 is made of a relatively thick glass plate of 2 mm, and when used in combination with the perforated insulating substrate 62, it has the effect of reinforcing the cover glass substrate 13. According to this embodiment, the phosphor can be disposed after the panel is completed after assembling each electrode support substrate and the cover glass substrate, so the flexibility of the panel to meet the display color requirements is increased, and the discharge It is only necessary to provide the phosphor for complete panels with good characteristics, and therefore the multicolor display spring μ
It has the advantage that the production yield can be significantly increased.

As is clear from the above description, the present invention is intended for a surface discharge type gas discharge spring μ that enables large-sized displays, and is a t-pole supporting substrate that is relatively easy to manufacture and has a high manufacturing yield. A plurality of boards are combined with the side end surfaces of each board butted, and a single large cover board is placed above the combined board, and a single large reinforcement support board is placed below the combined board. The peripheries of these eight substrates are sealed and the two gas-filled spaces formed between these eight substrates are communicated with each other, and an electric discharge is applied to them through the chip tube attached to the reinforcing support substrate. This device is characterized in that it is filled with gas, and it is possible to manufacture a large gas discharge display spring μ with a high manufacturing yield without requiring large-scale manufacturing equipment. Furthermore, such a large display panel can be made lightweight. Furthermore, by providing a phosphor inside the gas discharge space defined between the cover substrate and the combination substrate or on the outer wall surface of the cover substrate, a large color conversion or multicolor display spring y can be easily manufactured. can be obtained effectively.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are plan views showing an example structure of a surface discharge type gas discharge spring μ to which the present invention is applied, and 1-1' thereof.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line. FIG. 5 is a plan view and a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention. 10: Display panel, 11 and 28-Gas filled space, 1
2: Combination substrate (electrode support substrate), 13: Cover substrate, 14: Y electrode, 15: Insulating film, 16: Σ electrode, 1
7: dielectric layer, 18 and -68: frit material, 19:
Chip tube, 2o: Through hole, 21: Support substrate for panel reinforcement, 22 and 52; Adhesive, 24; Exhaust port, 26: Fluorescent material, 41.42.48... Bow small fluorescent material Support substrate, 51: Nubesa, 61: Large phosphor support substrate, 62
; Perforated insulating substrate, 121-129: Electrode supporting substrate. 11th < 1 3rd ['knee 1

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] α) A plurality of il and gi supporting substrates supporting electrode pairs in a predetermined pattern are brought into contact with the side end surfaces of each substrate, and the dragon pole forming side of this combination substrate is transparent. A single cover substrate made of a flexible material and a single reinforcing support substrate are placed opposite each other with a predetermined gap on the side opposite to the pole forming side, and the periphery of these three opposing substrates is are sealed to form two gas-filled spaces in the gap between them, and these gas-filled spaces communicate with each other via a through hole provided in the combination substrate, and furthermore, the reinforcing support substrate is sealed. A gas discharge panel characterized by being provided with a tube for sealing discharge gas. (2) The gas discharge spring μ according to claim 0, characterized in that a phosphor is provided on the inner wall surface of the cover substrate. (8) The above-mentioned combination substrate has four rectangular electrode-supporting substrates butted against each other with the side end surfaces of two adjacent sides, and the side end surfaces of the remaining two sides of each electrode-supporting substrate are 1
The gas discharge spring A/ according to claim 1, characterized in that a terminal for leading out a pair of electrodes is provided.