TWI467626B - Ultraviolet radiation device - Google Patents

Description

Ultraviolet irradiation device

The present invention relates to a discharge lamp having a susceptor and an ultraviolet ray irradiation apparatus using the same, and particularly to a liquid crystal substrate for manufacturing a television, a display or the like, in particular, a liquid crystal material containing a photosensitive material. A discharge lamp having a susceptor and an ultraviolet ray irradiation device used for manufacturing a liquid crystal.

In the liquid crystal display device, the intensity of the transmitted light of the liquid crystal panel is controlled by utilizing the refractive index anisotropy of the liquid crystal and applying a voltage to the liquid crystal to change the direction of the refractive index anisotropy. In such a liquid crystal display device, it is very important to control the arrangement of liquid crystal molecules in a state where no voltage is applied to the liquid crystal.

In the method of manufacturing a liquid crystal panel, in order to obtain a high-luminance and high-speed-reactive MVA panel, a liquid crystal composition containing a polymerizable component is held between the substrates, and the polymerizable component is polymerized in a state where a voltage is applied, thereby specifying Techniques for the tilt direction of liquid crystal molecules are known.

This technique is called PSVA (Polymer Stabilized Vertically Aligned nematic), and is described, for example, in Patent Document 1. In this technique, as the polymerizable component, a monomer material polymerized by ultraviolet rays can be used.

The use of a liquid crystal substrate of a monomer material has several problems associated with display inhomogeneity, which is caused by incomplete polymerization and deformation of the polymer. In order to prevent such poor polymerization, the monomer material must be appropriately irradiated with light, and strict temperature management must be performed.

The light used for the polymerization varies depending on the type of the monomer material, but it is probably an ultraviolet ray having a wavelength of 310 nm to 380 nm. In order to complete the polymerization, it is generally necessary to perform long-term light irradiation. Therefore, it is preferable to use a light source lamp which is efficient.

In view of the above, the inventors of the present invention have developed the lamp for a light source shown in Fig. 11.

In the discharge lamp 1, the pair of electrodes 3 and 4 are opposed to each other via the discharge space S on the upper and lower surfaces of the flat rectangular light-emitting tube 2 having a dielectric material. A rare gas (for example, helium gas) is sealed in the discharge space S, and when a high-frequency voltage is applied between the electrodes 3 and 4, a dielectric barrier discharge is generated in the discharge space.

Further, the inner surface of the arc tube 2 is coated with an anthracene active strontium borate (Sr-BO: Eu (hereinafter referred to as SBE)) phosphor and an anthracene active magnesium aluminate strontium (La-Mg-Al-O: Ce (hereinafter LAM)) A phosphor 5 such as a phosphor or an active yttrium phosphate (La-PO: Gd, Pr (hereinafter referred to as LAP: Pr, Gd) phosphor.

According to such a discharge lamp, light having a maximum energy peak at 310 to 380 nm in the ultraviolet spectrum can be emitted, and can be utilized as a high-efficiency light source with a discharge lamp.

However, in the discharge lamp, it is known that the wall temperature of the arc tube 2 becomes high. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 12, when the discharge lamps 1, 1 and the substrate (panel) W are directly opposed to each other and the light is irradiated, the heat of the discharge lamp causes the temperature of the monomer to rise, and the polymerization process cannot be performed.

Therefore, it is necessary to maintain an optimum temperature state in the panel substrate for holding the monomer material.

In the event that the temperature management of the panel substrate is insufficient, and the temperature management of the monomer material cannot be properly performed, polymerization failure may occur, and a problem of burn-in may occur in the liquid crystal panel of the final product.

In view of the above, in order to reliably control the temperature of the discharge lamp, for example, a method of individually cooling the discharge lamp using a cooling jacket or the like as in Patent Document 2 can be considered.

However, recently, it is not uncommon for a large-sized panel having a liquid crystal panel size of more than 2000 mm as a workpiece, and the length of the discharge lamp for processing the panel certainly requires a longer length. Therefore, even with the above-described apparatus having a cooling structure, the treatment of a long discharge lamp becomes extremely complicated, and in particular, it is extremely difficult to perform an operation of allowing the discharge lamp to enter and exit with respect to the cooling jacket.

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-123008

[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-235678

The present invention has a problem of the above-mentioned prior art, and is directed to a power supply mechanism in which a pair of electrodes are opposed to each other on an outer surface of a light-emitting tube made of a dielectric material, and the electrode is provided at one end portion of the light-emitting tube. In order to provide a discharge lamp having a susceptor that can be easily attached to and detached from the casing of the ultraviolet ray irradiation device, the discharge lamp can be easily inserted into the cooling pipe of the ultraviolet ray irradiation device.

Furthermore, it is an ultraviolet irradiation device including a housing and a discharge lamp mounted on the housing, and the discharge lamp having the susceptor can be easily and smoothly provided for the inside of the cooling tube provided in the housing. Further, it is easy to install the discharge lamp into an ultraviolet irradiation device in a state in which it can be attached and detached with respect to the casing.

In order to solve the above problems, a discharge lamp and an ultraviolet irradiation device having a susceptor according to the present invention are characterized in that a base is provided on a non-power supply side end portion of the light-emitting tube opposite to the power supply mechanism side end portion, and the base is provided. The seat is provided with a guiding mechanism for sliding and guiding along the light-emitting tube.

In addition, the method further includes: a feature of providing a plurality of sliding bodies on the base of the light-emitting tube, and further comprising: the base is detachably formed with respect to the light-emitting tube.

Further, a cooling pipe is provided in a casing of the ultraviolet irradiation device, and the discharge lamp having the susceptor is inserted in the cooling pipe by the guide mechanism in a sliding state, and is The base is detachably engaged with the engaging member of the frame.

Further, the discharge lamp having the susceptor is detachably supported by the support mechanism of the casing by the power supply mechanism.

According to the present invention, by mounting a pedestal at a non-power supply side end portion of a discharge lamp having a pedestal, and providing a guiding mechanism at the pedestal, when a discharge lamp is to be inserted in a cooling pipe provided in the ultraviolet ray irradiation device, For example, even in the case of a long discharge lamp, the discharge lamp can be smoothly and easily inserted by the guide mechanism, and the discharge lamp can be replaced smoothly.

Further, by providing the guide mechanism with a plurality of sliding bodies, when the discharge lamp is inserted into the cooling pipe, the stable discharge lamp posture can be maintained, and the insertion work can be made easier.

Furthermore, by detachably attaching the susceptor to the light-emitting tube, it is only necessary to remove the susceptor and replace the light-emitting tube when the discharge lamp is replaced, which is economical.

Further, since the discharge lamp having the susceptor is inserted into the cooling pipe of the casing of the ultraviolet ray irradiation device, the non-supply side end portion is automatically detachably engaged with the casing, so that the work time can be shortened. Chemical.

The ultraviolet irradiation device 10 has a pair of outer walls 12a and 12b in the casing 11, and in many cases, the opening and closing portion 13 is formed only in one of the outer walls 12a depending on the working environment.

Inside the casing 11, a light transmissive member, for example, a cooling pipe 14 made of quartz glass is provided. Although only one of the cooling tubes 14 is shown in the drawings, it generally has a plurality of roots.

The cooling pipe 14 is supported by the inner walls 16a, 16b which are suspended from the top portion 15 of the casing 11. Further, cooling air flow paths 17a, 17b are formed between the inner walls 16a, 16b and the outer wall 12.

The discharge lamp 20 having the susceptor is inserted into the cooling pipe 14 and supported, and is cooled by the air flowing through the cooling air flow path 17a → the cooling pipe 14 → the cooling air flow path 17b.

Fig. 2 is a view showing a discharge lamp 20 having a susceptor according to the present invention, and the basic discharge lamp structure is the same as that of Fig. 11. That is, a pair of external electrodes 22, 23 are provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the flat rectangular light-emitting tube 21.

A power feeding mechanism 24 is provided at one end of the arc tube 21, and a high-frequency voltage is applied to the electrodes 22 and 23 via the power supply lines 25 and 26. Thereby, a dielectric barrier discharge is generated in the discharge space inside the arc tube 21.

For example, when the discharge gas is helium, the phosphor applied to the inside of the arc tube is excited by emitting ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 172 nm, for example, ultraviolet rays of 310 to 380 nm are emitted.

On the other hand, the susceptor 30 is provided on the non-power supply side end portion on the side opposite to the end portion on which the power supply mechanism 24 is provided. Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, in the base 30, as the guide mechanism 31, sliders 32, 33, and 33 are provided on the lower surface and both side surfaces. In the present embodiment, the roller 32a is provided only in the lower lower sliding body 32, but a roller may be provided in the left and right side sliding bodies 33, 33. Further, the sliders 32, 33, and 33 abut against the inner circumferential surface of the cooling pipe 14, respectively.

Referring again to Fig. 1, the discharge lamp 20 having the susceptor inserted into the cooling pipe 14 is detachably engaged with the card provided on the outer wall 12b of the casing 11 at the front end (the left end in the drawing). The member 40 is assembled.

As shown in Fig. 5, the engaging member 40 is constituted by a vertical plate 41 and a horizontal plate 42, and the vertical plate 41 is fixed to the outer wall 12b of the casing 11. Further, the horizontal plate 42 has a notch 43 formed in the center of the front end side.

When the discharge lamp 20 is inserted into the cooling pipe 14 from the opening/closing portion 13 on the right side of Fig. 1, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the sliding of the guide mechanism 31 provided on the base 30 of the discharge lamp 20 is shown. The bodies 32, 33, and 33 are guided to slide along the inner peripheral surface of the cooling pipe 14, and are engaged with the left engaging member 40 while maintaining their posture.

At this time, the lower surface of the base 30 is run to the horizontal plate 42 of the engaging member 40 to be supported. At this time, the slider 32 below the susceptor 30 is housed in the notch 43 of the horizontal plate 42, and therefore does not interfere with the horizontal plate 42.

In addition, the guiding mechanism 31 of the engaging member 40 and the base 30 is a horizontal plate that keeps the base 30 running to the engaging member 40 before the sliding body 32 below the base 30 is disengaged from the cooling tube 14. 42 is supported on the positional relationship.

Referring again to Fig. 1, a support mechanism 50 is provided between the outer wall 12a of the casing 11 and the inner wall 16a outside the right end of the cooling pipe 14.

The support mechanism 50, as shown in Fig. 6, is a power supply mechanism 24 for supporting the discharge lamp 20.

As shown in Fig. 7, the support mechanism 50 includes a door member 51 and a horizontal member 52 that is rotatably coupled to the door member 51 at one end. The door type member 51 is provided with a vertical spring 53 that presses the power supply mechanism 24 of the discharge lamp 20 from above; on the other hand, the horizontal member 52 is provided with a horizontal spring 54 that presses the power supply mechanism 24 from the rear.

Further, an engagement pin 55 is provided on the side surface of the door member 51, and the horizontal member 52 is provided with an engagement piece 56 that engages with the engagement pin 55.

When the discharge lamp 20 is to be inserted into the cooling pipe 14, as shown in Fig. 7b, the horizontal member 52 is open, and the discharge lamp 20 is inserted in this state. When the front end of the discharge lamp 20 is engaged with the engaging member 40 and positioned at a predetermined position as shown in Fig. 1, the horizontal member 52 rotates as shown in Fig. 7b, and the engaging piece 56 is engaged with the engaging pin. 55.

In this state, the horizontal member 52 is supported from below the power supply mechanism 24 of the discharge lamp 20, and the horizontal lamp 54 thereby presses the discharge lamp 20 from the rear.

On the other hand, the vertical spring 53 of the door member 51 is supported by pressing the power supply mechanism 24 from the upper direction toward the horizontal member 52.

In this manner, the base 30 of the non-power supply side end portion of the discharge lamp 20 and the power supply mechanism 24 of the power supply side end portion are respectively supported by the engagement member 40 and the support mechanism 50 to be positioned at a predetermined position.

Further, in the case shown above, the horizontal plate 42 of the engaging member 40 supports the base 30 itself from below, and FIG. 8 shows another implementation of the different positional relationship between the base 30 and the horizontal plate 42 of the engaging member 40. example.

In the figure, the horizontal plate 42 is set to have a positional relationship in which the side sliders 33 and 33 of the base 30 are supported from below.

At this time, of course, before the lower slider 32 is detached from the cooling pipe 14, the horizontal plate 42 is formed in a positional relationship with the side sliders 33, 33.

Fig. 9 is a view showing another embodiment of the slider. The two sliders 35 and 36 are provided in a state of being deployed downward in a substantially figure-eight shape in order to support the discharge lamp from below. In this case as well, it is also possible to provide rollers in the sliding bodies 35 and 36.

Furthermore, Fig. 10 shows another embodiment of the susceptor 30. The base 30 is an arc tube 21 that is detachably attached to the discharge lamp 20. A protective member 37 is attached to the arc tube 21, and the base 30 is attached to the protective member 37, and is fixed by a mounting screw 38 or the like.

As described above, according to the discharge lamp with a susceptor of the present invention, the discharge lamp is assembled to the ultraviolet ray by attaching a susceptor to the end of the non-supply side of the illuminating tube and providing a guiding mechanism at the pedestal. When the inside of the cooling pipe of the apparatus is installed, the guiding mechanism can be smoothly and easily inserted, and the replacement work time of the long discharge lamp can be greatly shortened, and the work can be performed reliably, and the effect is excellent.

10. . . Ultraviolet irradiation device

11. . . framework

14. . . Cooling tube

20. . . Discharge lamp with pedestal

twenty one. . . Luminous tube

22, 23. . . electrode

twenty four. . . Power supply mechanism

30. . . Pedestal

31. . . Guiding mechanism

32. . . Lower sliding body

33, 33. . . Lateral sliding body

40. . . Engaging member

41. . . Vertical board

42. . . Horizontal board

43. . . gap

50. . . Support mechanism

51. . . Portal member

52. . . Horizontal component

Fig. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an ultraviolet irradiation apparatus of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an overall perspective view of a discharge lamp having a susceptor of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a partial perspective sectional view of Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of Figure 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a main part of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing another main part of Fig. 1.

Fig. 7(A)(B) is a view showing the action of the support member alone.

The eighth (A) (B) diagram is another embodiment of the engaging member.

Figure 9 is another embodiment of a slider.

Figure 10 is a further embodiment of a pedestal.

The 11th (A) (B) diagram is a conventional discharge lamp.

Fig. 12(A)(B) is a conceptual diagram of conventional ultraviolet irradiation.

12a, 12b. . . Outer wall

13. . . Opening and closing department

14. . . Cooling tube

15. . . top

16a, 16b. . . Inner wall

17a, 17b. . . Cooling air flow path

20. . . Discharge lamp with pedestal

twenty four. . . Power supply mechanism

30. . . Pedestal

32. . . Lower sliding body

33, 33. . . Lateral sliding body

40. . . Engaging member

50. . . Support mechanism

W. . . Substrate

Claims (4)

An ultraviolet irradiation device includes a housing and a discharge lamp mounted on the housing, wherein a cooling tube through which a cooling gas flows is provided inside the housing, and the discharge lamp has a discharge of a pedestal The lamp has an arc tube formed of a dielectric filled with a discharge gas, and a pair of electrodes are opposed to each other outside the arc tube, and a power supply mechanism for the electrode is provided at one end portion of the arc tube, and a power supply mechanism a non-powered end portion on the opposite side is provided with a base; and a sliding body for guiding the front light-emitting tube in the cooling tube is disposed on the base, and the discharge lamp is assembled to be detachable and can be Sliding guidance is performed in the aforementioned cooling tube. The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 1, wherein the discharge lamp having the susceptor is detachably supported by a support mechanism of the casing by the power supply mechanism of the arc tube. The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of sliding bodies are provided. The ultraviolet irradiation device according to claim 1, wherein the susceptor is detachably formed with respect to the arc tube.