KR20000005671A - Flat fluorescent lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A flat plate fluorescence lamp is provided to obtain a stable luminance and a high brightness. CONSTITUTION: The flat plate fluorescence lamp comprises: a front glass panel(1); a bottom panel(2) corresponding to the front glass panel(1); a discharge path(3) formed so as to configure a fluorescence plane on an upper side of he bottom panel(2); a cathode electrode(8) inserted in one side of the discharge path(3); and an opposed electrode inserted in the other side of the discharge path(3) so as to oppose the cathode electrode(8). The front glass panel(1) and the bottom panel(2) are sealed so as to be maintained the discharge path(3) in a vacuum state, and then the discharge path is charged with a gas for a discharge. A fluorescence material(4) is coated on wall sides of the discharge path(3) and inside the discharge path(3) so as to be fluorescent at an electrical conduction between both electrodes.

Description

Flat fluorescent lamp

The present invention relates to a flat fluorescent lamp. In particular, the present invention relates to a flat fluorescent lamp suitable for use as a backlight and a planar light source of a liquid crystal display (LCD).

This application is the domestic priority application of 98-21244, filed June 9, 1998.

Unlike LCDs such as plasma display panels (PDPs) and field emission displays (FEDs), liquid crystal displays, that is, LCDs, cannot be used in places without light because they are non-light-emitting (light-receiving elements). In order to compensate for these disadvantages and to enable use in a dark place, a backlight (Back Light), which is a separate light source for uniformly irradiating the information display surface, is required.

Conventional backlights for LCDs are made of a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) in the form of a tube and bent in a straight, L-shaped, U-shaped, W-shaped, as a light emitting source was used. In installing an LCD backlight with such a light emitting source, a fluorescent lamp is mounted under the liquid crystal panel and light is emitted from the fluorescent lamp installed on the side of the liquid crystal panel using a direct light type plate and a transparent light guide plate provided with a diffuser plate between the fluorescent lamp and the liquid crystal panel. The backlight unit was made by using an edge light method that distributes the light to the entire LCD screen.

However, the conventional backlight has a low power consumption efficiency and a complicated structure due to reflection and transmission of light, and thus it is difficult to ensure uniformity of luminance as well as high production cost. In addition, the complexity of the conventional backlight structure is an important obstacle of light weight and thinning which are advantages of the LCD.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to providing a flat fluorescent lamp that can be applied to various sizes and can achieve stable light emission and high luminance in a planar shape.

1A is a cross-sectional view of a backlight of a conventional LCD (liquid crystal display device)

1B is an exploded perspective view of a backlight of a conventional LCD (liquid crystal display);

2 is a manufacturing process chart of the flat fluorescent lamp of the present invention

3A is an exploded perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention.

3B is a top view of the bottom plate 2 of one embodiment of the present invention.

4A is an exploded perspective view of the present invention

4B is a plan view of the bottom plate 2

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA ′ of FIG. 4.

6 is a detailed view of the portion B of FIG.

7 is a detailed view of the electrode support tube (A) 9

8 is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 9 is an assembly perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention

10 is a plan view of a circular flat fluorescent lamp of the present invention

** Description of Signs for Main Parts of Drawings **

A: LCD cell B: Prism plate

C: diffuser plate D: light guide plate

E: reflector F: cold cathode fluorescent tube

1: front glass plate 2: bottom plate

3: discharge passage 4: phosphor

5: discharge hole 6: bulkhead

7: glass encapsulant 8: discharge electrode

9: electrode support tube (A) 10: electrode support tube (B)

11: mercury getter 12: vacuum exhaust pipe

The front glass plate according to the present invention;

A bottom plate corresponding to the front glass plate;

A discharge passage formed to form a light emitting surface on an upper surface of the bottom plate;

A cathode electrode inserted into one side of the discharge passage; And

An opposite electrode inserted into the other side of the discharge passage so as to face the cathode electrode;

And bonding and sealing the front glass plate and the bottom plate to evacuate the discharge passage by vacuum evacuation, filling the rare gas for discharge (GAS), and applying a phosphor to the inside and the wall of the discharge passage to emit light when the two electrodes are energized. Fluorescent lamps are provided.

The flat fluorescent lamp according to the present invention can be used in various places where a flat light emitting body is required, but is particularly suitable for being used for the backlight of the LCD. As the cathode electrode used in the present invention, both a cold cathode or a hot cathode electrode may be used.

One of the methods for forming the discharge passage is to cover each space divided into a plurality of zones on the top surface of the bottom plate with a shielding film formed with a pattern of the discharge passage and processed by sandblasting to form a discharge passage. The part covered by the barrier film remains as a partition wall and the other part is processed to form a discharge passage.

Another method is to form a discharge passage by printing a pattern using a bottom plate as a resistor and developing the pattern to etch a portion without a resist with a fluorine compound solution. Formation of the pattern is formed by screen printing or photolithography.

Another method is to form a discharge passage by stacking the glass powder on the upper surface of the bottom plate by screen printing to form a partition wall.

Phosphors are applied to the inner wall of the discharge passage, evacuated, and filled with a rare gas (GAS) in the discharge passage to emit light along the discharge passage when high frequency is applied between both electrodes.

The light emitting surface may be formed of one light emitting area having the same discharge electrode or may be formed of a plurality of light emitting areas each having independent discharge passages and discharge electrodes.

In each light emitting area, the discharge passage is bent several times to constitute the whole light emitting area. In addition, the light emitting area may include a plurality of parallel discharge passages having the same discharge electrode. At this time, the parallel discharge passage has a certain pattern of gaps in the middle of the partition wall separating the discharge passage, so that the discharge passage can communicate with each other.

The flat fluorescent lamp of the present invention may be variously manufactured in a rectangular, circular or elliptical shape as needed.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 is a conventional edge light type backlight composed of a cold cathode tube, a reflecting plate and a diffusion plate.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of manufacturing a flat fluorescent lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which both sides of the bottom plate 2 are machined with discharge holes 5 for discharge. Attaching a masking tape on the upper surface to form a discharge passage 3, forming a pattern using a cutting machine, and processes the discharge passage 3 for discharge with a sand blasting machine. The part with the pattern remains as the partition 6, and the part without the pattern is processed and remains as the discharge passage 3. The partition wall 6 not only maintains a discharge passage but also serves as a support for preventing the breakage of the front and bottom plates 1 and 2 by atmospheric pressure when the front glass plate 1 and the bottom plate 2 are bonded and evacuated and sealed.

3A is an exploded perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention showing a flat fluorescent lamp having a single light emitting region.

3B is a plan view of the bottom plate 2 of FIG. 3A.

FIG. 4A is an exploded perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention showing a flat fluorescent lamp having a typical discharge path 3. FIG. The discharge electrodes 8 are inserted in parallel to both ends of the discharge passage 3. The discharge electrode 8 may be selectively manufactured as a cold cathode electrode or a hot cathode electrode, and thus may be manufactured to cope with various performances. The windshield plate 1 and the bottom plate 2 are separated, and the front glass plate 1 and the bottom plate 2 are separated from the front glass plate 1 by printing a silicon glass encapsulant 7 as a screen print or using a dispenser. After applying to the edge of the bottom plate 2, after drying the organic matter is removed using a firing furnace and the front glass plate 1 and the bottom plate 2 are bonded. In addition, the electrode support tubes (A) and (B) (9, 10) at the time of joining the bottom plates 1 and 2 also use the silicon-encapsulated glass encapsulant 7, Bond together to the bottom face.

After joining, it is heated, vacuumed, and exhausted through the vacuum exhaust pipe 12 installed in the electrode support tube (A) 9 attached to the lower surface of the bottom plate 2. After filling inside, vacuum exhaust pipe 12 is heated and sealed.

4B is a plan view of the bottom plate 2 of FIG. 4A and shows a discharge passage divided into a plurality of light emitting regions. Each of the light emitting regions is provided with a plurality of discharge passages 3 and partition walls 6, phosphors 4 are coated on the interior of the discharge passage 3 and side walls of the partition walls 6, and discharge holes 5 are provided at both ends of the discharge passage 3, respectively. .

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA ′ of FIG. 4B.

FIG. 6 is a detailed view of portion B of FIG. 5, and phosphor 4 is coated on sidewalls of discharge passage 3 and partition 6.

7 is a detailed view of the electrode support tube (A) 9, inserting the discharge electrode 8 in the electrode support tube (A) 9 and installing a mercury getter 11 to remove the mercury gas diffusion and moisture and impurity gas to contribute to the stabilization of light emission do. The vacuum exhaust pipe 12 is used for filling the vacuum exhaust and rare gas (Gas) in the discharge passage 3 and is heated and sealed after completion.

The discharge electrode 8 can be used as a cold cathode electrode or a hot cathode electrode to satisfy various requirements.

8 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention, the formation of the phosphor 4 applied to the discharge passage 3 and the side wall of the partition 6 and the lower portion of the front glass plate 1 is printed or sprayed by the Screen Print method. Apply with

The phosphor 4 is uniformly applied to the lower part of the front glass plate 1, the inside of the discharge passage 3 and the side wall of the partition wall 6, and after drying, the organic matter is removed using a firing furnace to reduce the efficiency of the lamp according to the discharge of the internal gas during discharge. And preventing shortening of life and maintaining stable light emission.

Figure 9 is an embodiment assembled perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention showing the discharge area divided into several on the upper surface of the bottom plate 2. Activation of the mercury getter 11 installed inside the electrode support tube (A) 9 attached to both ends of each discharge area is activated in the entire discharge passage 3 using a high frequency heater, and the lamp discharge is applied by applying a high frequency to the electric field. The rare gas (Gas) atom and the mercury atom for discharge in the activated tube are ionized, and the discharge rare gas ion and mercury ion emit energy in the form of ultraviolet rays. The ultraviolet rays generated at this time excite the phosphor 4 coated on the inner side of the discharge passage 3 and the side walls of the partition wall 6 and emit light.

10 shows a flat fluorescent lamp processed in a circular shape.

The flat panel fluorescent lamp of the present invention provides high brightness and stable light emission characteristics, realizes uniform brightness distribution of the entire display surface of the lamp, reduces power consumption, reduces thickness, reduces thickness, reduces weight, and simplifies portability of the liquid crystal display device. It not only maximizes the advantages of thinness but also dramatically reduces the light transmittance and luminance non-uniformity of the conventional backlight. The flat fluorescent lamp of the present invention can be produced in various sizes of specifications as needed, can be used for the backlight and lighting lamp of the LCD of all sizes required, and also can be variously applied to many fields requiring a flat light source. .

Claims (9)

Front glass plate 1; A bottom plate 2 corresponding to the front glass plate 1; A discharge passage 3 formed on the bottom plate 2 to form a light emitting surface; A cathode electrode 8 inserted into one side of the discharge passage 3; And An opposite electrode inserted into the other side of the discharge passage so as to face the cathode electrode; And bonding and sealing the front glass plate 1 and the bottom plate 2 to evacuate the discharge passage 4 and to fill the discharge rare gas (Gas), and to apply a phosphor 4 to the inside and the wall of the discharge passage 3 to form a positive electrode. Flat fluorescent lamp that emits light when the liver is energized. 2. The flat fluorescent lamp of claim 1, wherein the light emitting surface is composed of a plurality of light emitting regions each having independent discharge passages. The flat fluorescent lamp of claim 1, wherein the discharge passages 3 are formed by sand blasting or etching, or by stacking glass walls by thick film printing of a glass powder by a screen printer. The flat fluorescent lamp of claim 1, wherein the discharge passage 4 is bent several times to form the entire light emitting area. The flat fluorescent lamp of claim 1, wherein the discharge electrode 8 is a cold cathode electrode or a hot cathode electrode. 6. The flat fluorescent lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said discharge passage in one light emitting region comprises a plurality of parallel discharge passages (3). The flat fluorescent lamp of claim 6, wherein the plurality of parallel discharge passages 3 have a predetermined pattern in the middle of the partition wall separating the discharge passages 3 so that the discharge passages communicate with each other. 6. The flat fluorescent lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said flat fluorescent lamp is used for a backlight of a liquid crystal display device. The flat fluorescent lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the flat fluorescent lamp is circular or elliptical.