Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
  • H01J9/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for the manufacture, installation, removal, maintenance of electric discharge tubes, discharge lamps, or parts thereof; Recovery of material from discharge tubes or lamps
  • H01J9/42—Measurement or testing during manufacture

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to a probe apparatus for testing for short circuits and breakages of the electrodes of a Plasma Display Panel (hereinafter, referred to as "PDP"), and more particularly to a probe apparatus for testing for short circuits and breakages of a plurality of minute electrodes used as the scanning lines of a PDP.
• PDP Plasma Display Panel
• a PDP includes a plurality of electrodes for horizontal and vertical scanning. Accordingly, the short circuit or breakage of each horizontal or vertical scanning electrode causes the defect of a picture element, so the horizontal and vertical electrodes of the PDP should be tested and only PDPs without defects should be input to subsequent processes.
• each electrode is merely 80j-t.ii and the interval between
• the excessive fabricating costs of the probe apparatus are incurred.
• the price of the probe apparatus is high and the maintenance costs of the probe apparatus are also high, so there occurs the problem that the manufacturing costs of the PDP are excessively increased.
• each electrode of a PDP is merely 80 zm, so the tip of the
• an object of the present invention is to provide a probe for testing for short circuits and breakages of the electrodes of a plasma display panel, which does not require a test equipment to be fabricated with an ultrahigh degree of precision, which does not need the frequent replacement of the probe, and which has no risk of the damaging the electrodes.
• the present invention provides a probe apparatus for testing for short circuits and breakages of the electrodes of a PDP that employs a rolling probe instead of a conventional probe having a pointed tip.
• a value of resistance between one side of each electrode in rolling contact with a probe and the other side of the electrode is calculated by a microprocessor and it is determined whether the electrode is shorted or broken on the basis of the calculated result. Therefore, very precise test results can be obtained, problems concerning the wear and damage of the probe or electrode are eliminated, and the fabricating costs of the probe apparatus are reserved due to no need for superhigh precision technology.
• Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the entire appearance of a probe in accordance with the present invention
• Fig. 2 is a longitudinal cross section showing the entire construction and operation of the probe of the present invention
• Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the tip of the probe of the present invention
• Fig. 4 is a graph illustrating a sampling process in accordance with the present invention
• Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a limitation in the specifications of the tip of the probe.
• the probe apparatus of the present invention is comprised of a probe 3 for being brought into contact with an electrode 2 while being rotated by a motor 1, a tip 4 formed on one end of the probe 3, a support frame 6 for supporting the center portions of the probe 3 and the motor 1, the support frame 6 being provided with a bearing for allowing the probe to be rotated, a coupler 7 for connecting the motor 1 to the probe 3, the coupler 7 being provided with an opening 8 in a side of the coupler 7, and rotation detecting means for detecting the number of rotations by emitting and receiving infrared rays on both sides of the opening 8.
• an electric source is applied to the motor 1, so the probe 3 is rotated.
• the support frame 6 itself can be considered as an electrode.
• the tip 4 of the probe 3 is slantingly brought into contact with an electrode 2. Accordingly, though the tip 4 of the probe 3 is brought into point contact with the electrode 2, the degree of damage caused to the electrode 2 is considerably reduced in comparison with a conventional probe apparatus in which upper and lower probes come in contact with the electrode 2, under the condition that the rolling speed "a" at which the tip 4 of the probe 3 rolls on the electrode 2 while being in rolling contact with the electrode 2 is synchronized with the moving speed "b" of the electrodes 2. Additionally, as shown in Fig. 3, while the tip 4 of the probe 3 rolls over one- sides of multiple electrodes 2, current flows through the probe 3, one side of each electrode 2 and the other side of the electrode 2.
• the calculation of the value of resistance is made on the basis of the variation of current.
• variation of current is converted to a digital value through an analog/digital converter, and this digital value is calculated and sensed by the variation of the value of resistance by a microprocessor. If the variation of the value of resistance deviates from a predetermined range of allowable variations, the electrode 2 is determined to be shorted or broken. That is, it can be determined whether the electrode 2 is shorted or broken by comparing the variation between the values of resistance at one and the other ends of the electrode 2 with the values of the predetermined range.
• the value of resistance actually measured by the probe 3, as shown in Fig. 4, is kept intermediate at the moment when the tip 4 is situated at the center of the electrode 4 and stably in contact with the electrode 4.
• the value of resistance is relatively large at the moments of initial and final contact. Thereafter, the tip 4 comes in contact with two electrodes 2, so the two electrodes 2 seem to be shorted therebetween. These processes are repeated. As a result, the microprocessor undergoes a sampling period between the initial contact period and the final contact period, and disregards input values during the initial and final contact periods and the period for which the tip 4 of the probe 3 is in simultaneous contact with two electrodes.
• the diameter of the tip 4 of the probe 3 is greater than the height of the electrode 2. Additionally, the measurement is impossible if the tip 4, as shown in Fig. 5, comes in contact with three electrodes 2, so the diameter of the tip 4 should be smaller than the minimum diameter that would allow the electrode 2 to come into contact with three electrodes 2.
• the number of rotations of the probe 3 can be detected by the rotation detecting means 9.
• the motor 1 can be controlled by the microprocessor on the basis of the detected number of rotations.
• an air-rotated fan can be employed instead of the motor 1.
• a solenoid valve for controlling the supply of air should be operated by the rotation detecting means 9.
• the value of resistance is measured by the rolling of the tip 4 of the probe 3, so the driving structure of the probe 3 is considerably simplified as compared with a conventional one in which the short circuits and breakages of a plurality of horizontal and vertical scanning lines are tested for while shape probes continuously and vertically slide along both sides of the electrode 2. Accordingly, the fabricating costs of the probe apparatus can be greatly reduced. In consequence, the entire fabricating costs of a PDP can be considerably lowered. Additionally, in accordance with the present invention, the value of resistance is measured by the rolling of the tip 4 of the probe 3 on the electrode 2,so the wear of the electrode 2 and the probe 3 does not occur, thereby considerably reducing the frequency of breakdown and the maintenance costs of the probe apparatus.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Measuring Leads Or Probes (AREA)
• Testing Of Short-Circuits, Discontinuities, Leakage, Or Incorrect Line Connections (AREA)
• Manufacture Of Electron Tubes, Discharge Lamp Vessels, Lead-In Wires, And The Like (AREA)
• Gas-Filled Discharge Tubes (AREA)

Priority Applications (2)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=19661428

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Cited By (1)

Families Citing this family (3)

Citations (5)

Family Cites Families (1)

• 2000
  • 2000-04-03 KR KR1020000017397A patent/KR100350513B1/ko not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2000-05-10 AU AU47839/00A patent/AU4783900A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-05-10 JP JP2001577576A patent/JP2003531387A/ja active Pending
  • 2000-05-10 CN CN00808390A patent/CN1353858A/zh active Pending
  • 2000-05-10 WO PCT/KR2000/000445 patent/WO2001080275A1/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (5)

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