KR100635220B1 - Apparatus for manufacturing eefl - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a coating apparatus for manufacturing EEFL, and to a coating apparatus for manufacturing EEFL that can shorten the process time required for coating the fluorescent lamp, and can reduce the area occupied by the equipment.

The present invention, while applying the protective material to the inner surface of the glass tube while changing the position of the glass tube along a predetermined movement trajectory, the first applicator to apply the protective material to the upper predetermined portion of the glass tube and the lower inner and outer surfaces of the glass tube A first large coating apparatus including a first brushing machine to remove the protective material by a predetermined length; A second applicator for further applying a fluorescent material to an inner surface of the glass tube to which the protective material is applied while changing the position of the glass tube along a predetermined movement trajectory, wherein the fluorescent material is applied to a predetermined portion of the glass tube to which the protective material is applied; A second large coating apparatus including a second brush for removing a fluorescent material applied to a bottom inner and outer surfaces of a glass tube by a predetermined length; A third applicator for applying a protective material from the lower end of the glass tube to the portion from which the fluorescent material and the protective material are removed while changing the position of the glass tube along the movement trajectory smaller than the movement trajectories of the first and second applicators and the lower end of the glass tube. A third large coating apparatus including a third brush to remove the protective material applied to the inner and outer surfaces by a predetermined length; It provides a coating device for manufacturing EEFL comprising a.

Description

Coating device for manufacturing EFEL {APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING EEFL}

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure explaining an application | coating process in an EEFL manufacturing process.

2 is a view showing that the light of 254㎛ wavelength does not pass by the protective material.

3 is a plan view showing the structure of a conventional coating device for producing EEFL.

4 is a plan view showing the structure of the coating apparatus for manufacturing EEFL according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a perspective view showing the structure of an applicator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a view showing another embodiment of the drying unit according to the present invention.

<Description of Symbols for Main Parts of Drawings>

1: conventional EEFL manufacturing applicator

10, 20, 30, 100, 200: large coating equipment

300: small coating equipment

12, 22, 32, 110, 210, 310: glass tube feeder

14, 24, 34, 120, 220, 320: applicator

16, 26, 36, 130, 230, 330

322 fixed part 324 moving part

326: coating portion 328: drying portion

G: Glass Tube Y: Protective Material

F: fluorescent material

The present invention relates to a coating apparatus for manufacturing EEFL, and to a coating apparatus for manufacturing EEFL that can shorten the process time required for coating the fluorescent lamp, and can reduce the area occupied by the equipment.

Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (CCFLs), which are applied to conventional LCD backlights, generally include a cylindrical nickel electrode inserted at both ends of several mm in diameter, and the electrode lead wire and both ends of the glass are sealed. There is an advantage that the non-light emitting area due to the electrode is small in a manner of generating high luminance light. Here, the non-light emitting area refers to the electrode portion of the CCFL.

However, it is very difficult to install nickel electrodes on the inner walls of both ends of the glass tube, and there is a problem of damaging the electrode part of the lamp in the process of connecting the electrodes by soldering. In addition, in the case of CCFLs, inverters must be connected to all CCFLs installed in the backlight unit in a one-to-one manner, thereby increasing the cost of the LCD and miniaturizing or thinning the LCD.

On the other hand, an external electrode fluorescent lamp (hereinafter referred to as EEFL) is a structure in which both ends of the glass tube are sealed and electrodes are formed to surround both ends of the lamp from the outside. The external electrode forms an electric field in the glass tube. It forms by gas discharge.

In addition to the advantages that the EEFL is easier to manufacture and longer lamp life than the CCFL, it is possible to connect a plurality of EEFLs in parallel through a single inverter, so that the brightness of the lighting unit can be kept constant and the size can be reduced in size. have.

In the manufacturing process, whether CCFL or EEFL, fluorescent material should be applied to the inner surface of the glass tube and filled with discharge gas inside the glass tube. However, in the EEFL, when the current is increased to increase the brightness of the lamp, the potential difference between the external electrode and the inside of the lamp deepens and a pin hole phenomenon occurs. Therefore, the protective material must be further coated on the electrode formation part. In this case, a material containing yttrium oxide (Y ₂ O ₃ ) is generally used as a protective material.

Therefore, in the manufacturing process of EEFL, a process of applying a protective material and a fluorescent material on the inner surface of the glass tube is required. This coating process will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1 as follows.

First, as shown in FIG. 1A, the glass tube G is erected vertically, and the protective material Y is sucked to a predetermined height on its inner surface to coat the protective material. Then, hot air is applied to the glass tube G to dry the coated protective material.

Then, as shown in Figure 1b, the fluorescent material (F) is further coated on the protective material (Y) is coated. The coating method is the same as the protective material coating method, and the height of coating the fluorescent material is slightly lower than the height of the protective material, as shown in Figure 1b. Therefore, the upper portion of the glass tube (G) is formed with a predetermined interval is coated with only the protective material (Y). Then, hot air is applied to the glass tube G to dry the coated fluorescent substance.

Next, as shown in Figure 1c, the protective material and the fluorescent material coated on the inner surface and the outer surface of the lower portion of the glass tube (G) to remove by a predetermined height using a brush. At this time, the height at which the protective material and the fluorescent material are removed should be the same as the height at which the external electrode is formed later. Of course, after the protective material is coated to prevent contamination of the fluorescent material, a separate process of removing the protective material coated on the inner and outer surfaces of the glass tube may be performed.

Next, as shown in Figure 1d, the protective material (Y) is once again coated on the protective material and the fluorescent material is removed at the bottom of the glass tube (G). At this time, the height of coating the protective material is as much as the height of the protective material and the fluorescent material is removed. The protective material is then dried by passing hot air through the glass tube.

Finally, as shown in Figure 1e, the protective material is removed by a predetermined length at the bottom of the glass tube (G). At this time, also remove the protective material coated on the glass tube (G). Then, the glass tube which has the same structure in the upper and lower sides of a glass tube is formed.

In order not to go through such a complicated process, the fluorescent material is first coated and the protective material is coated later, as shown in FIG. 2, the protective material Y does not pass light having a wavelength of 254 μm of mercury. There is a problem that is reduced by about 10 to 20%.

Therefore, as described above, the coating operation is performed through a complicated process. According to this process, since the coating is performed three times, as shown in FIG. 3, an application apparatus in which three identical coating apparatuses are connected in parallel is required. .

Here, the coating apparatus 10 includes a glass tube feeder 12; Applicator 14; It consists of a brushing machine (16). The glass tube feeder 12 is a component that supplies one or two glass tubes to the applicator 14 at predetermined time intervals. In the applicator 14, since the glass tube is processed in a vertical position, the glass tube feeder 12 stands the glass tube vertically and supplies it to the applicator 14. At this time, the speed of supplying the glass tube from the glass tube feeder 12 to the applicator 14 is matched with the glass tube processing speed of the applicator 14.

Next, the applicator 14 is a component for applying a protective material or a fluorescent material to the inner surface of the supplied glass tube (G). The applicator 14 performs a predetermined process for each point of the movement trajectory while moving the glass tube along a certain movement trajectory. In FIG. 3, this movement trajectory is made circular, and 32 process points exist on the circular movement trajectory. It takes about 3 seconds to move between each process point. Therefore, the process at that point must be completed within that time. The main process performed in this movement trajectory is the application | coating process which apply | coats a coating material in a glass tube, and the drying process which dries the apply | coated material. In other words, the vacuum suction unit is coupled to the upper end of the glass tube, the lower end of the glass tube is immersed in the port containing the coating liquid, and then the coating liquid is sucked into the glass tube to apply the coating liquid to the inner surface thereof. Then, the hot air spray unit for applying hot air to the upper end of the coated glass tube is combined, and a drying process is performed to dry the applied coating liquid by applying hot air into the glass tube. However, as the length of glass tubes produced in recent years increases, the time required for the drying process becomes longer. Therefore, more than half of the 32 process points on the trajectory are process points for drying.

Next, the brush 16 is a component for removing some of the coating material applied to the glass tube. In the coating process, the coating liquid applied to the outer surface of the glass tube should be removed, and some of the coating liquid applied to the inner surface of the glass tube needs to be removed for the subsequent process. Therefore, by using a brush to remove the coating liquid present on the outer surface and the inner surface of the glass tube.

However, the conventional coating apparatus has a structure in which three large coating apparatuses having such a configuration are continuously connected as described above. Therefore, there is a problem in that the installation cost is increased due to the large area occupied by the coating apparatus in the factory, and the process time is long by going through many process points.

An object of the present invention is to reduce the time required for the coating of the fluorescent lamp, and to a coating device for manufacturing EEFL that can reduce the area occupied by the equipment.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a first applicator for applying a protective material to the inner surface of the glass tube while changing the position of the glass tube along a predetermined movement trajectory, the protective material is applied to the upper predetermined portion of the glass tube; A first large coating apparatus including a first brushing machine for removing a protective material applied to a lower inner and outer surfaces of the glass tube by a predetermined length;

A second applicator for further applying a fluorescent material to an inner surface of the glass tube to which the protective material is applied while changing the position of the glass tube along a predetermined movement trajectory, wherein the fluorescent material is applied to a predetermined portion of the glass tube to which the protective material is applied; A second large coating apparatus including a second brush for removing a fluorescent material applied to a bottom inner and outer surfaces of a glass tube by a predetermined length;

A third applicator for applying a protective material from the lower end of the glass tube to the portion from which the fluorescent material and the protective material are removed while changing the position of the glass tube along the movement trajectory smaller than the movement trajectories of the first and second applicators and the lower end of the glass tube. It comprises a; a small coating device comprising a third brush for removing a protective material applied to the inner and outer surfaces by a predetermined length;

The glass tube provided in the first large coating apparatus arranged in the order of the first large coating apparatus, the second large coating apparatus and the small coating apparatus in the second large coating apparatus, and the glass tube provided in the second large coating apparatus. It provides a coating device for manufacturing EEFL coating in the small coating device.

Wherein the third applicator comprises: a plurality of glass tube fixing parts for fixing in combination with the glass tube; A moving part for moving the glass tube fixing part along a moving trajectory; An application unit provided at a predetermined portion of the movement trajectory and applying a protective material to the inner surface of the glass tube; It is preferable to be provided in a predetermined portion of the movement trajectory, and to be configured to include a drying unit for drying the protective material applied to the inner surface of the glass tube so that the application process can proceed quickly.

Moreover, in this invention, the application part is a protective material container in which a predetermined amount of protective materials are contained; An up and down drive unit for moving the fixing part in the up and down direction so that the lower end of the glass tube is locked into the protective material container, so that the configuration of the device is simple and easy to manufacture, and the manufacturing cost of the device is lowered. do.

In addition, the applicator is coupled to the upper end of the glass tube, by the suction of the gas in the glass tube is further provided with a vacuum suction unit for introducing the protective material into the glass tube, so that the application process is made faster.

In addition, in the present invention, the third applicator is further provided with a control unit for controlling the coating unit so that the protective material is applied to the height of the fluorescent material is applied to the inner surface of the glass tube, so that the coating height of the protective material is accurately controlled to generate a defective product To prevent them.

In the present invention, the first large coating device, the second large coating device, the small coating device to coat the glass tube at the same speed,

A first glass tube feeder provided adjacent to the first applicator and supplying the glass tube to the first applicator at a constant speed; A second glass tube feeder provided between the first brush and the second applicator and receiving a glass tube from the first brush at a constant speed and supplying the glass tube to the second applicator; A third glass tube feeder provided between the second brush and the third applicator and receiving the glass tube from the second brush machine at the same speed as the first glass tube delivery unit and supplying the glass tube to the third applicator; ,

The glass tube is automatically moved in the direction of the small coating apparatus from the first large coating apparatus so that the protective material and the fluorescent substance are applied, thereby increasing the overall process speed by in-line coating process for the inside of the glass tube.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a specific embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the coating apparatus 1000 for manufacturing an EEFL according to the present exemplary embodiment includes two large coating apparatuses 100 and 200 and one small coating apparatus 300. At this time, the two large coating apparatus (100, 200) has the same structure and function as the conventional coating apparatus. That is, each large coating apparatus includes a glass tube feeder (110, 210); Applicators 120, 220; Brushes (130, 230); and the structure and function of each component is the same as that of the conventional coating apparatus. Here, the first large coating apparatus 100 serves to apply a protective material to the inner surface of the glass tube, and the second large coating apparatus 200 serves to apply a fluorescent material to the inner surface of the glass tube.

Therefore, the first large coating apparatus 100, while applying the protective material to the inner surface of the glass tube while changing the position of the glass tube along a predetermined movement trajectory, the protective material is applied to a predetermined portion of the upper portion of the glass tube. That is, the protective material is not applied as much as a predetermined length at the upper end of the glass tube. The second large coating apparatus 200 applies the fluorescent material to the inner surface of the glass tube while changing the position of the glass tube along the predetermined movement trajectory, so that the fluorescent substance is applied to a predetermined portion of the portion where the protective material is applied. That is, the upper predetermined portion of the portion to which the protective material of the glass tube is applied is to prevent the fluorescent material from being applied.

Next, the small coating apparatus 300 includes a glass tube feeder 310; Applicator 320; Although composed of a brush 330, the area occupied by the device is as small as about 1/4 of the large coating apparatus 100, 200 described above, there is a slight difference in the configuration.

First, as shown in FIG. 4, the small coating apparatus 300 has a smaller movement trajectory of the applicator 310 than that of the large coating apparatuses 100 and 200. In view of the diameter of the moving trajectory, the diameter of the small coating apparatus 300 is half the diameter of the large coating apparatus 100, 200. Therefore, the area occupied by the small coating apparatus 300 in the clean room is reduced to 1/4.

The movement trajectory of the small coating apparatus 300 may be reduced because the application process performed by the small coating apparatus 300 is different from that performed by the large coating apparatuses 100 and 200. That is, the small coating device 300 is applied to a very short portion of the bottom of the glass tube. Therefore, the time for inhaling the protective material into the glass tube is shortened, and the time for drying the protective material applied to the inner surface of the glass tube is shortened. Therefore, in the small coating apparatus 300, the long moving trajectory is not required as in the large coating apparatus.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the applicator 320 provided in the compact coating apparatus 300 includes: a fixing part 322; Moving unit 324; An applicator 326; It consists of a drying part 328. The fixing part 322 is a component that receives and fixes the glass tube supplied from the glass tube feeder 210. As shown in FIG. 5, the fixing part 322 is coupled to the moving part 324, and is provided with a coupling clamp capable of engaging with a predetermined portion of the glass tube, which also fixes the glass tube. It can also be separated.

Next, the moving part 324 moves the fixed part 322 while rotating. That is, a plurality of fixing parts 322 are coupled to the outer circumferential part of the moving part 324 at regular intervals, and the moving part 324 rotates so that the fixing part 322 moves along the trajectory of the moving part 324. Will be. At each point where the fixed part 322 arrives while rotating along the moving part 324, an application part, a drying part, and the like are provided to allow a predetermined process to proceed.

Next, the applicator 326 is a component for applying a protective material inside the glass tube. In this embodiment, the application portion 326 includes a protective material container 326a; Up and down drive unit (not shown); The protective material container 326a contains a predetermined amount of protective material. At this time, the protective material should be contained at a depth enough to lock the bottom of the glass tube (G). And the vertical direction drive part is a component which moves the fixing part 322 to an up-down direction so that the lower end of the glass tube G may be locked in the protective material container 326a. That is, the glass tube (G) is lowered to be immersed in the protective material in order to apply the protective material to the lower end of the glass tube. At this time, the glass tube should be lowered so as to be immersed in the protective material to the portion of the glass tube to which the protective material should be applied.

In addition, a vacuum suction part 326b may be further provided in the application part 326. The vacuum suction part 326b is coupled to the upper end of the glass tube G to suck gas in the glass tube, so that the protective material is drawn up into the glass tube by the vacuum suction input. When the vacuum suction unit is used, a protective material can be applied to a higher height, and a high height protective material can be applied without filling the protective material container with a large amount of protective material, and there is an advantage of not wasting the protective material.

Next, the drying unit 328 is a component for drying the protective material applied to the inside of the glass tube (G). In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the drying unit 328 includes a hot air generator 328a and a hot air injector 328b. Therefore, the hot air generated by the hot air generator 328a is sprayed into the glass tube through the hot air sprayer 328b, thereby quickly drying the protective material inside the glass tube. The hot air injector 328b is coupled to the upper end of the glass tube to inject hot air in the lower direction of the glass tube.

In addition, the drying unit 328 may be provided outside the lower region of the applicator 320 so as to dry the lower region of the glass tube G as shown in FIG. 6. That is, as described above, the drying unit is not coupled to the upper end of the glass tube to dry the glass tube, but is provided on the lower side of the glass tube to apply heat from the outside of the glass tube to irradiate light to dry the glass tube. In the small coating apparatus 300, unlike the large coating apparatuses 100 and 200, the coating is not performed over the entire area inside the glass tube G, and the coating operation is performed only on a narrow region of the bottom of the glass tube. Therefore, the drying operation is required only for a narrow area where the coating operation is made, it is possible to provide a drying unit for applying heat or light only to the bottom of the glass tube. In this case, the drying unit 328 may be implemented as a hot air fan, a heat lamp or an infrared lamp.

Finally, in the present embodiment, it is preferable to further provide a control unit (not shown in the drawing) for controlling the application unit so that the protective material is accurately applied to the height of the fluorescent material applied to the inner surface of the glass tube. In order to apply the protective material to the height to which the fluorescent material is applied, the lowering height of the glass tube must be precisely controlled when the protective material is applied by the up-and-down driving part. When the protective material is applied by the vacuum suction part, the operation time of the vacuum suction part is accurately controlled. shall.

In the present embodiment, the glass tube is processed by operating the first large coating apparatus 100, the second large coating apparatus 200, and the small coating apparatus 300 at the same speed, thereby automating the glass tube coating operation. That is, the application and drying process is performed while rotating the first applicator 120, the second applicator 220, and the third applicator 330 at the same speed, and the first glass tube feeder 110 and the second glass tube are rotated. The feeder 210 and the 2nd glass tube feeder 310 supply a glass tube to each applicator according to the speed processed by each applicator. The first brushing machine 130, the second brushing machine 230, and the third brushing machine 330 also perform the same brushing operation as the processing speed of each applicator, and process the glass tube on which the brushing operation is completed. It is fed to each glass tube feeder at the same speed as the speed. Therefore, in the conventional coating apparatus, since the tac times of the first and second large coating apparatuses 10 and 20 and the third large coating apparatus 30 are significantly different, it is difficult to automate the process. By reducing the size of the coating equipment, the coating time of each coating equipment is matched to enable automation. Therefore, the EEFL manufacturing apparatus according to the present embodiment can automatically process the coating operation on the glass tube, there is an advantage that can significantly shorten the application time for each glass tube.

According to the present invention, since two large coating apparatuses and one small coating apparatus constitute a coating apparatus for EEFL manufacturing, the area occupied by the apparatus in the clean room is significantly reduced, and in the small coating apparatus, the processing time for one glass tube is greatly reduced. As a result, the overall time required for the coating process for the glass tube is shortened.

In addition, according to the coating apparatus for manufacturing the EEFL according to the present invention can automate the coating process of the glass tube, there is an advantage that can reduce the labor required for the operation, and significantly shorten the process time for each glass tube.

Claims (7)

Applying a protective material to the inner surface of the glass tube while changing the position of the glass tube along a predetermined movement trajectory, the first applicator for applying the protective material to the upper predetermined portion of the glass tube and the protective material applied to the lower inner and outer surfaces of the glass tube predetermined A first large coating apparatus including a first brushing device to remove by a length; A second applicator for further applying a fluorescent material to an inner surface of the glass tube to which the protective material is applied while changing the position of the glass tube along a predetermined movement trajectory, wherein the fluorescent material is applied to a predetermined portion of the glass tube to which the protective material is applied; A second large coating apparatus including a second brush for removing a fluorescent material applied to a bottom inner and outer surfaces of a glass tube by a predetermined length; A third applicator for applying a protective material from the lower end of the glass tube to the portion from which the fluorescent material and the protective material are removed while changing the position of the glass tube along the movement trajectory smaller than the movement trajectories of the first and second applicators and the lower end of the glass tube. It comprises a; a small coating device comprising a third brush for removing a protective material applied to the inner and outer surfaces by a predetermined length; The glass tube provided in the first large coating apparatus arranged in the order of the first large coating apparatus, the second large coating apparatus and the small coating apparatus in the second large coating apparatus, and the glass tube provided in the second large coating apparatus. Coating device for manufacturing an external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL) for coating in the small coating device. The method of claim 1, wherein the third applicator, A plurality of glass tube fixing parts which are combined with the glass tube to fix the glass tube; A moving part for moving the glass tube fixing part along a moving trajectory; An application unit provided at a predetermined portion of the movement trajectory and applying a protective material to the inner surface of the glass tube; Apparatus for manufacturing an external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL), characterized in that it comprises a; is provided on a predetermined portion of the movement trajectory, the drying unit for drying the protective material applied to the inner surface of the glass tube. The method of claim 2, wherein the applicator, A protective material container containing a predetermined amount of protective material; Apparatus for manufacturing an external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL) comprising a; up and down drive unit for moving the fixing part in the vertical direction so that the lower end of the glass tube is locked into the protective material container. The method of claim 3, wherein the application portion, Apparatus for manufacturing an external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL) is coupled to the upper end of the glass tube, by suctioning the gas in the glass tube is provided with a vacuum suction unit for introducing the protective material into the glass tube. The method of claim 2, wherein the drying unit, Applicator for manufacturing an external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL), characterized in that it is provided outside the lower region of the glass tube to dry the lower end of the glass tube. The method of claim 2, wherein the third applicator, Apparatus for manufacturing an external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL) characterized in that the control unit for controlling the coating unit is further provided so that the protective material is applied to the height of the fluorescent material is applied to the inner surface of the glass tube. The method of claim 1, The first large coating device, the second large coating device, the small coating device to coat the glass tube at the same speed, A first glass tube feeder provided adjacent to the first applicator and supplying the glass tube to the first applicator at a constant speed; A second glass tube feeder provided between the first brush and the second applicator and receiving a glass tube from the first brush at a constant speed and supplying the glass tube to the second applicator; A third glass tube feeder provided between the second brush and the third applicator and receiving the glass tube from the second brush machine at the same speed as the first glass tube delivery unit and supplying the glass tube to the third applicator; Apparatus for manufacturing an external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL) characterized in that the protective tube and the fluorescent material is applied while the glass tube is automatically moved in the direction of the small coating device from the first large coating device.

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