CA1046572A - Segmented gas discharge display panel device and method of manufacturing same - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure There is disclosed an improved gaseous discharge display panel device and process of manufacturing same. A
large number of cathode substrate electrode and mask structures are printed and fired on a single glass sheet, the electrodes being printed first and dried/cured at a higher temperature than subsequently applied mask and electrical crossovers, which are cured at lower temperatures. Upon completion of fabrication of the electrode and dielectric mask structures and crossover connections, the glass plate is simply scored and separated to provide individual back substrate and electrode mask structures which are then assembled with a like formed anode plate structure. Indivi-dual devices are then assembled with use of a seal rod pre-formed to have a gap in the seal structure and a laser facturable mercury dispensing giver. In forming the devices, the gas is processed through the small gap left in the seal structure and, the gap is closed with a short sealing rod through and about which outgasing and gas filling are formed during the final gasing step. Batch processing of devices in the range of 1000-5000 in a relatively short period of time.

Description

6~2 B~C~GROUND OF THE INVENTION
__ Fabrication of gas discharge display devices generally of the character disclosed herein have been accom-plished in the past and typically these are one-for-one type operations. That is, individual glass substrates and/or ceramic substrates are provided upon which the conductor runs are printed and then the dielectric masks are printed over the conductor runs and in the openings in the conductor runs for the cathode electrodes, the cathode materials which inter-face with the gas discharge medium are printed thereon and all of these being subsequently fired and cured. Such devices are subsequently assembled usually by the use of a gas filling tubulation but in some cases tubulationless devices have been fabricated in which final hermetic seal of two spaced apart substrates accomplished by utilization of an unfused sealing frame, evacuating the entire unit and back filling with an elevated temperature and then heating the assembled parts ;~
spaced between the electrode elements while retaining the gas in the assembly until the glass parts have been softened to a sealing temperature to result in a fusion sealing of the frame element and thereby final assembly of the device. This process is difficult and cumbersome and does not lend itself well to batch processing of individual display elements.
In Boswau U.S. patent 2,142,106 issued January 3,1939, a gaseous discharge display device having small glass discs carrying shaped cathode elements and individual anode elements are stacked in a disc with the interstices between the discs sealed in a manner around the periphery *o prevent electrode interference between each other, a small aperture being left -at one point in the periphery by leaving out the sealing opera-tion at this point to provide communication with the main gas chamber formed by an overall glass envelope or bulb. In the - 1 - ~

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soswau patent, the bulb is subsequently exhausted and filled with the gas a-t a proper pressure, the exhausting and back filling processes extending through and communicating through the aperture to the individual gas chambers formed in the spaced disc and the aperture then is filled with a suitable sealing materlal which permits the gas to permeate during the exhausting and filling operation thereafter this individual seal element or plug is sealed by heating means of electronic bombardment or other sealing means. The present invention is a direct and distinct improvement over the sealing technique -~disclosed in the Boswau patent in that the present invention adapts a portion of that technique of the Boswau patent and extends same to batch processing of thousands of individual discrete gaseous discharge panel elements in a manner and fashion not heretofore available, with yield factors significantly greater than those of the prior art. A sub-stantially bubble-free glass rod, shaped generally in the perimetrical configuration of the gas chamber is fused to the two substrate surfaces in an air atmosphere. A small opening -or space between the ends of the rod is provided. Large ~
numbers of the device may be stacked in trays, with a small ~;
glass rod bridging the ends of the rod and space and held in position by the opposing substrate. The rod seal or plug is slightly smaller in diameter to snugly fit between opposing substrate surfaces and has a fusion temperature slighly below that of the formed rod. Both materials are, however, of optical quality and of substantially bubble-free edge surfaces.
This loose rod seal element or plug permits batch vacuumiza-tion (also under bake out conditions if desired) and back filling with any desired gas composition of large numbers of individual devices in a single operation.
In the prior art, in making segmented electrode 10~657Z
gaseous discharye display panels, particularly alphanumeric type displays, the individual conductor runs are printed first and fired on the substrate and subsequently, the mask and cathode element electrodes e.g., those elements which are to ;~
be in direct conductive contact with the gas are printed and cured, the printing of the cathode elements being through the apertures or openings in the dielectric mask. In accordance with this invention, instead of using a ceramic substrate, simple, inexpensive glass substrates are used. The conductor elements forming the cathode electrodes which interface with the gas medium are printed first and cured at relatively -higher temperature so as to assure that those conductor seg~
ments or elements forming the cathodes of the device have a good hard surface at the gas interface 50 as to minimize sputtering problems and improve the discharge properties of such devices.
In the sealing operation described earlier herein, it has also been found that the use of screened on sealing -materials in an unfused state, is not as desirable as the use of a preformed rod element fabricated from glasses having fiber optic properties, that is to say no bubbles therein which distort and rupture the seal upon heating and/or ~
vacuumization. ~ -~ he typical and classical way of fabricating gaseous discharge devices is to vacuum bake the devices so as to remove included gaseous contaminants from the interior surfaces ;~
of the device. Vacuum baking is a very time consuming-and expensive process. In another feature of the process of this invention, the several thousand devices stacked in trays are placed in a vacuum chamber. ~he vacuum is pulled over the device without heating to remove substantially all of the free contaminants from the individual gaseous discharge devices and . ' '' . ' ' ~O'~t;572 then, at an ambient temperature, the gas filling is admitted to the processing chamber and thereby each individual gaseous discharge elemen-t is filled as room or ambient temperature.
This assures proper gas proportions and eliminates the need ~ -for accurate and precise calibration at high temperatures of the gas filling. Then, after the gas filling has been in-troduced to the devices, the devices are heated by Calarod ~
heaters inside the chamber so as to effect a melting of small sealing elements in the openings described earlier herein.
This technique thereby avoids the long time between the fil-ling and heating of the chamber thereby reducing a production run of thousands of devices in a single chamber to no more than six hours in pumped in heating back illing with the gas and `
the like. Since this sealing process is done at a pressure ~ ~-somewhat below ambient, and since the volume of gas in the vacuum chamber can be greater than the cumulative gas volume contained in the devices, there is sufficient heating under somewhat negative pressure conditions to assure good clean up of the device under less than perfect vacuum conditions and at -significantly reduced cost and processing time. In still another feature of the invention, small mercury-containing capsules or givers are activated by the use of a laser beam.
To this end, the device is provided with laser transparent windows in each of two glass substrates which thereby permits ~
the use of a laser beam to effectively break the mercury ~ .
capsule without damaging the device itself.
Finally, in the prior art, connections between the anode electrodes and exterior connections to operating poten-tials have been by means of small metal clips between the two substrates. In accordance with this invention a conductive epoxy is inserted between the terminals ends of the anode electrodes and the printed conductor ends o~ the cathode plate.

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:. ' . ' r~7z According to the invention, this epoxy is carefully cured so ~ -as to assure that there are no bubbles in contact with the anode elements which would tend to cause hot spots and breaking of the anode connections.
Thus, in accordance with the present teachings, an improvement is provided in the process for manufacturing a gas discharge information display panel device wherein a pair of rigid substrate members define parallel flat boundaries and a thin glass chamber in which information can be displayed is generated by plural discrete gas discharges between selectively energized electrodes. The improvement resides in the sealing of the information display panel which comprises joining the rigid members in spaced apart relation by a sealing member having ~;
the perimetrical shape of the gas chamber and defining the lateral boundaries of the chamber. The terminal ends of the ;
member are spaced apart to form a port so that the chamber is in communication with its ambient temperature. The spaced ends of the sealing member are fusibly bridged with a plugging ;~
member after the chamber has been filled with an ionizable gas.
In accordance with a further embodiment an improvement is provided in a gas discharge information display ;
panel comprising a pair of substrate plate members, seal means joining the plates in spaced relationship and defining a thin gas discharge chamber, the gas in the chamber and an electrode system for selectively ionizing a gas in the chamber to display information. The improvement resides in rendering the panel ~ ~
tubulationless comprising a seal means which includes a first ~ ;
seal member having a configuration defining the perimeter of the thin gas discharge chamber with the first seal member including a pair of spaced apart ends defining a vacuumization and gas filling port. A second seal member is provided which comprises a plug fusibly bridging the spaced apart ends of the first seal member and between opposing facing surfaces of the ~5~

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pair of plate members so as to seal the gas filling port.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
__ The above and other objects, advantages and features of the invention will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
Figure 1 illustrates a glass substrate upon which a first conductive pattern has been printed, one such pattern being shown in the top left hand corner thereof with the dash lines indicating the positions of a large number of other such ~;
patterns not shown in this drawing for purposes of clarity of explanation, Figure 2 illustrates the glass plate bf Figure 1 y upon which has been printed the first dielectric mask (a black colored dielectric but shown white in Figure 2), Figure 3 is the plate shown in Figure 2 having the crossover conductors printed on the mask of Figure 3 inter~
connecting the different elements shown, it being understood that a similar printing has occurred with respect to the other substrate elements shown in Figure 3, In Figure 4, a further dielectric printing has been accomplished over the crossover elements shown in Figure 3, Figure 5 is an exploded view showing the sequence of assembly of the different components into a device ready for batch fill and seal operations, Figure 6 is a top plan view of a completely assembled device. -~
Figure 7 is an enlarged sectional view showing the -placement of the seal rod bridging the gap on the now fused ~`

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seal frame, ~ -Figure 8 shows the mercury capsule in position with a laser beam directed thereto for fracturing same, Figure 9 is a process flows chart showing the individual printing and curing operations utilized in the manufacture of the devices.

DETAII,ED DESCRIPTION .
Referring now to Figures 1-8 in conjunction with Figure 9, Figure 1 shows a glass plate 10 which, in a specific example, may be ten inches by twelve inches single strength glass, has printed thereon individual cathode electrode patterns 11-1, 11-2, ll-N and cathode period elements 12-1, 12~N. Each cathode pattern constitutes a digit position, the illustrated embodiment being for a nine digit numeric display tn-9). It ~
will be appreciated that the invention is equally applicable ~-to alphanumeric segmentation as well as crosspoint matrix dis-play. These elements have cathode electrode segments 13A, 13B
etc. which, in the embodiment of this invention, constitute the cathode electrode elements defining the glow discharge portions of the display. It will be noted that certain ones of these cathode segments 13A, for example, has a further direct con- -ductive portion 14-A leading to a conductor pad 15-A. In the embodiment of this invention to be described herein, each of the corresponding segments 13-A in all of the digit positions 11-1, 11-2...11-N, are interconnected electrically, some of which are directly interconnected in the initial electrode printing shown in Fig. 1. For example, the center bar segment 13-C is shown as being an interconnected horizontal segment electrode and by conductor portion 14-C to a pad 15~C.
Alternate pads are also printed at this time for subsequent connection to the anode elements to be described later herein.

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In like manner, the cathode electrode 13-B in digit position 11-1 is interconnected to ever~ cathode segment designated with the numeral B b~ a conductor portion 14-B and thereby to a pad 15-B.
However, in accordance with the present embodiment, some of the cathode segments are not directly connected to conductors extending to the individual pad elements 15. In the illustrated embodiment, a first dielectric mask element 16 shown in Figure 2 is printed over the conductor segments leaving openings or vias 18-1, 18-2, 18-N and 19-1, 19-2, l9-N and 20-1, 20-N, 21-1, 21-N and 22~1, through 22-N, all of which are ~ registry with an underlying conductor portions or areas.
These vias are simply opening or spaces left vacant in the dielectric mask or layer 16. In addition to the vias or open-ings left for crossover connections, to be described later in connection with Figure 3, it will be noted that the individual cathode segments 13-A, 13-B, etc. and the periods therefor : ~.
12-1... 12-N, are left open. As has been described earlier, no ~ -further conductive material is applied to these cathode elements ~ ~
because they have been cured at a high~r temperature to thereby ~;-` -anneal and/or provide smooth surfaces for the discharge per se.
However, the crossover vias, 18-1...18-N, l9-1...19-N, 20 20-N and 22-1...22-N are left open for the purpose of permitting the conductor material which is printed in a manner shown in Figure 4 to make electrical contact with the conductor elements exposed by the vias. These form the electrical crossover con-nections shown in the pattern of Figure 3. It will be appreci-ated that conductor patterns may be devised so that the printing of such crossovers is eliminated or minimized. It should be understood that while the dielectric mask is shown as white, it is a black mask for highlighting the glow discharges at the cathode segments, and that the cathode material is white or . . : :, , .
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silver colored in appearance and, in fact, is basically a silver in a suitable vehicle. Furthermore, clear or transparent areas of glass have been stippled. Of course the anode glass substrate could be translucent.
In addition to the openings or vias to make the cross-over connections and in addition to the opening for permitting the cathode segments to be viewed in direct conductive contact with the gas, a pair of windows 25A and 25B are provided so that the glass substrate 10 is directly viewable through these openings 24 and 25. These openings are for the purpose to be described more fully hereinafter. ~Not shown in Figures 1 or 2 are conventional reg- `~ ;
istration marks, the registration marks simply being marks which are printed in dielectric material upon the substrate ~
10 and in any subsequent printing upon the substrate 10 when ~ -the dielectric material is printed so as to assure registration thereof. In like manner, in the following pace which also follows, further printings of the registration marks are made to assure the proper registrations are achieved. The term printing is used principally to encompass stencil screen print- ~
ing etc,. but other forms of printing may be used. ~;
As shown in Figure 3 the crossover interconnecting via 19-1 through via l9-N is designated with the numeral 30 and the crossovers connecting the vias 18-1...18-N are designated 31. In like manner, crossover conductor means 32, 33 and 34 are conductor printings upon the dielectric. The printing operations are simply screening or otherwise applying the conductive material directly upon the dielectric surfaces of the substrate with the conductive material entering the vias and making the electrical contacts with the conductor pre~
viously printed. It will also be noted that a pair of cross-overs 36 and 37 have also been printed upon the conductor solely ti5~Z

for the purpose of making the crossover connections between -the conductor elements as shown~
It will be noted that the conductive cathode segments for each of the digit positions remains exposed and these elements are, in effect, continuing to receive the temperature treatments (albeit at lower temperatures) Eor the curing of the dielectric layer 16 and the individual crossover layers as shown.
In a final printing operation, the final dielectric layer is applied over the crossover, the windows 25A and 25B
being maintained. The purpose of this final printing is, as `~
is well known, to avoid any glowing of conductor areas or por-tions which it is not desired to glow.
Referring now to Figure 9, it should be noted that an important step in the process just described in the fabrica-tion of the back substrate is that the electrodes which form the cathode segments for the display have been printed in an initial printing operation. This electrode is cured in step ~ ~ ;
5 as shown in Figure 9 at a much higher temperature than could be effected by prior art techniques in fabrication devices of the character of the present invention. In other words, by printing the cathode segments first and curing them at a much higher temperature to provide an improved cathode-gas interface, ~-the mask which is printed on at a later time, can be cured at lower temperatures without adversely affecting the conducting properties of the different conductor elements used in providing exterior connections for the device. As shown in Figure 9, the initial mask is printed in a two step operation of, first, printing the mask a first time, drying the mask and then curing the mask. A second mask printing, drying and curing operation is effected but it will be appreciated that these may be done in a single step. In some cases, the mask may be fabricated :

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as a film and transferred to the substrate~ However, it is important to assure that the mask is of a sufficient thickness that the gap adjacent cathode segments is separated by a physi-cal barrier of dielectric material. Thus, this second step is an important assurance that the dielectric between the ends of individual cathode segments is high enough to provide a barrier which avoids or minimizes shorting between nearby cathode segments.
The crossover printing is done with the same conduc-tive material as is used in the first printing o~eration of ~ ;
conductive material and it will be noted that in each case, the conductive material is dryed and then cured at higher temperatures. This material is a frit based thick film paste primarily of silver. The third mask printing operation, while it could have been limited to printing simply over the cross-overs, was, in effect, a full printing since this further assured ~
a sufficient barrier between the individual cathode segments ~ `
on the substrate. Thus, in addition to being able to print, dry and cure the cathode electrodes at a high enough temperature (a typical conveyor oven being about 50 ft. long, one foot per minute, there being about 15 heat zones with a maximum tempera-ture of 1100C.) as to assure a good, clean, smooth silver surface for the cathode electrode, printing the cathode elec-- trodes in the first printing step permits the buiiding up in the mask areas of sufficient barriers between the individual cathode segments as to reduce the possibility of conductive connections between the individual cathode elements due to the sputtering, etc. and thereby enhance the active life of the device.
As illustrated at box 18 of Figure ~, the device is scribed along the dash-dot lines and separated to provide indi-vidual back substrates illustrated in Figure 5 as element 50.

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Element 50 is identical to the differnet element 50 shown in Figure 4.
Referring now to Figure 5, the back substrate now designated as element 50, is identical to the back substrate component shown in Figure 4. Also shown in Figure 5 is an anode substrate 51 having printed thereon individual anode elements 52-1, 52-2, 52-N, there being one such anode electrode element for each digit position and adapted to overlie the indi-vidual cathode segments and the cathods period element 12;1 at a given digit position. The anode conductors are transparent tin oxide which are printed and fired on a single strength glass substrate 53. It will be appreciated that the printing and firing of these conductors may be done in a batch process, very much like the printing of the back substrate with cathode elements. The use of tin oxide as a transparent anode element is conventional in the art and is not described in detail here-in except to say that the process of printing same with large numbers of devices on a thin glass substrate is useful for the purpose of batch producing devices.
The top substrate or anode plate 51 is joined to the bottom substrate by means of a sealing element or member 55 which has been shaped so as to have the ends thereof 56 and 57 spaced by about a 1/4 inch to about 1/16 inch. The sealing element 55 is simply placed upon the black dielectric masked element and held in place by drying unfused dielectric. At the same time, small spacer rods 58 and 59 at each end of the device are likewise temporarily held in position by tacking as by the use of unfused dielectric. Spacer rods 58 and 59 consist of a ~ ?
hard glass composition having a higher softening temperature ;
than the sealing element 55. The seal element 55 is made from a fiber optic type glass which has no bubbles therein and which has a fusing or seal temperature below the melting point of the ;

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glass substrate 10 and spacer rods 58 and 59 (a seal temper-ature of about 450C is used). In addition, a small mercury capsule 60 is held in place in position over window 25A by a white unfused dielectric which is of essentially the same composition as the dielectric forming the mask but which does not have any pigmentation in it. The purpose of using a white unfused dielectric is so that a laser energy which is used to rupture the capsule 60 is not absorbed by the black dielectric to create heat in the black dielectric and thereby destroy the device. It is also for this reason that a pair of windows 25A
and 25B is provided.
After the sealing member 55 and spacer rods 58 and 59 and mercury capsule 60 have been positioned in the device, the anode plate Sl is positioned over these elements and a weight is applied thereto. The entire assernbly is passed -through a heating oven to fuse or join the sealing member 55 to anode plate 51 and back substrate plate 50. The resulting device is illustrated in Figure 6 and it will be noted that there is a small gap 65 so the interior of the gas chamber is accessible. A glass rod 66 having a diameter about the same diameter as spacer rods 58 and 59 is simply laid in the gap or crevice between back substrate plate 50 and anode plate 51 and constitutes the glass plug illustrated in block 23 of Figure 9.
It will be appreciated that the spacer rod elements 58 and 59 need not be located in the gas chamber formed or in the positions shown. They may be located parallel to the horizontal runs of seal 55, parallel to all four runs, between display positions for larger displays (see Baker et al U.S.
Patent 3,499,167); even externally of the chamber and parallel to the horizontal and/or vertical runs of seal member 55. As a matter of fact, the spacer may have a perimetrical pattern which is a twin to seal member 55, and only sliyhtly larger or .. ..
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smallerO The only size eriteria of the spacer is that it define the discharge gap and be a high melting tempe~ature glass and have a fiber softening point below that of seal member 55. ; As shown in Figure 6 alternate ones of contact pads 15 are connected to the cathode electrode on cathode plate 50 and the intervening ones are connected by means of a extruded conductive silver epoxy connectors 70~1, 70-2 as an improvement over prior art metal insert connectors previously used for this purpose. It is important to cure the epoxy at a temperature such that bubbles are not formed. Bubbles tend to cause con-centrations of current flow in the tin oxized coatings and thereby impair or destroy the connection thereto.
As shown in Figure 8, the mercury giver 60 is a ;~
filamentary glass tube ~18 mils in outside diameter) which is laser energy transparent~ It is positioned between a window 25~ and the cathode plate 50 and a transparent portion of the anode plate 51 (which may also be designated as a "window") and held in place for assembly purposes by a white dielectric.
The aluminum or copper block serves as a heat sink and should not be highly reflective for safety reasons. Instead of a glass capsule the giver may be any other radiant energy actuatable device, such as SAES type 150 giver from the SAES
company of Italy. -The gas filling may be a mixture of neon and argon, such as 99.5% neon and 0.5% argon. As is conventional, radio- ~ ;
active Krypton (Krypton 85) may be added to the fill mixture to lower the operating voltage. However, it will be noted that there are two unused contact pads 15 which could be used to operate a keep alive discharge as is also conventional in the art.
In a preferred embodiment, the edges 75 and 76 on . . : . : ,, . : . : ., ~, : . . : ' plates 50 and 51 from a slot or notch for receipt of the seal rod or plug member 60. This permits a simple mechanical reten-tion of the spacer in its desired position during the outgassing and gas filling operation. If desired the top horizontal run of seal member 55 may be located closer to the edge so that upon softening the seal material of element 55 will be pressed flat as shown in Figure 8 and the plug rod 66 held in position by an adhesive such as unfused dielectric. However, the seal member 55 may be formed flat in cross section and, as before, slightly thicker than the spacer rods. The panel assemblies, with seal rod 66 in the notch or space and bridging the ends -of the seal element 55, the panels are stacked, in stainless trays with the port of space 65 up and the glass rod 66 in place.
A high temperature glass shim, not shown, is located between the lower edge of anode plate 51 to maintain the proper rela- ~-tionship between the anode and cathode plates while the heating of seal rod 66 is performed.
Seal element 55 is a bubble-free glass to avoid "worm holes herein, a~fiber optic type glass such as Corning type 7570 glass 033" O.D. cane formed as shown in Figure 5 works satisfactorily, it having a relatively low temperature of about 450C. The glass plugging element or rod 66, placed across the opening or port 65 as shown, has fiber softening point below that of the sealing member 55; a similar glass with a fiber softening point 20 ~o 30 degrees lower is satisfactory.
The gas process procedure is the evacuation of the system, the introduction of the proper gas at ambient room temperature to the proper pressure, about 120 torr, and the heating of the seal rod so it closes the envelope with the desired gas condition. In the system described above, the cycle is 6 hours with 2000 devices per cycle. Each chamber ~ 14 -.
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can be large enough to handle as many as 5000 devices. The cycle may be reduced to 1-1/~ hours. If devices fail to seal, they are simply recycled. System gas is reco~ered by operating two chambers in parallel. After the sealed devices are re~
moved from the gas process system, each one is placed under a laser which is projected through a window in the device to crack the capsule and release mercury into the envelope. As is conventional in the art some panel aging time may be per-formed before releasing the mercury.
It will be appreciated that while a number of modifications have been referred to, others will become appar-ent to those skilled in the art and it is to be understood that such obvious modifications may be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of the claims appended hereto.-'' "' '''' ~

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Claims (24)

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. In a process for manufacturing a gas discharge information display panel device in which a pair of rigid substrate members define parallel flat boundaries and a thin gas chamber in which information to be displayed is generated by plural discrete gas discharges between selectively energized electrodes, improvement in the sealing of said information display panel comprising joining said rigid members in spaced apart relation by a sealing member having the perimetrical shape of said gas chamber and defin-ing the lateral boundaries thereof, the terminal ends of said member being spaced apart to form a port so that said chamber is in communication with its ambient atmosphere, fusibly bridging the spaced ends of said sealing member with a plugging member after the chamber has been filled with an ionizable gas.

2. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein the plugging member is of solid glass substantially matching the expansion properties of said sealing member and having a fiber softening temperature below the fiber softening temperature of said sealing member to form a suitable panel assembly.

3. The invention defined in claim 2 wherein said sealable panel assembly is firstly placed under a vacuum and secondly in an ambient environ-ment of the desired ionizable gas filling, then heating said plugging member to a temperature below the fiber softening temperature of said sealing member and above the fiber softening temperature of said plug member to thereby seal a predetermined volume of said ionizable gas in said chamber.

4. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein the step of joining said rigid members includes shaping a relatively thin solid glass member into the perimetrical shape of said chamber with the terminal ends spaced apart to form a vacuumization and gas fill port, sandwiching said sealing member between said rigid plate members and applying heat to fuse said sealing member to the opposed facing surfaces of said rigid members.

5. The invention defined in claim 4 including the step of applying spacer means to one of said rigid members, said spacer member having a dis-charge gap defining dimension, which is less than the thickness of said sealing member and during the application of heat to join said rigid members, applying pressure to said rigid members to reduce the thickness of said sealing member during joining step.

6. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said glass plugging member is a glass rod and the step of bridging is constituted by placing said glass plugging member between said rigid members.

7. A method of simultaneously producing a plurality of gas discharge information display panels, comprising placing a plurality of the formed sealable panel assemblies as defined in claim 1 in a common chamber and then performing said steps of placing, gas filling and heating.

8. The invention defined in claim 7 including the step of stacking said sealable panel assemblies in contiguous abutting relation to one another, the said solid glass plugging member being in alignment with one another, and at least during said heating applying pressure to said stack maintaining said panel assemblies in said contiguous abutting relation.

9. The invention defined in claim 7 wherein the application of said vacuum and the back filling with said gas filling is at a temperature approximately the operating temperature of the device.

10. The invention defined in claim 9 wherein said filling gas is at a pressure below atmospheric and is introduced into the chamber containing said stacked panel devices for a sufficient time during the application of heat to fuse said glass plugging member across said gap and seal the gas in said panel.

11. The invention defined in claim 7 wherein said glass plugging member is retained in position prior to the application of said heat by facing surfaces of said rigid members.

12. The invention defined in claim 8 wherein said panel devices are stacked vertically with said port oriented upwardly.

13. The invention defined in claim 12 wherein one of said rigid bodies is shorter in said vertical direction than the other, and in said step of stacking a nonfusible retainer in position to prevent displacement of the shorter of said rigid members.

14. The invention defined in claim 1 including forming a laser energy transparent window in each of said bodies which windows face each other in said panel assembly, positioning a mercury giver in said windows, and after sealing of said port, directing a burst of laser energy through one of said windows to cause release of said mercury in the gas chamber.

15. The invention defined in claim 14 wherein said mercury giver is in a laser energy transparent glass capsule.

16. In a gas discharge information display panel comprising a pair of substrate plate members, seal means joining said plates in spaced rela-tion and defining a thin gas discharge chamber, a gas in said chamber and an electrode system for selectively ionizing a gas in said chamber to display information, the improvement in said panel rendering same tubulationless comprising said seal means including a first seal member having a configura-tion defining the perimeter of said thin gas discharge chamber, said first seal member including a pair of spaced apart ends defining a vacuumization and gas filling port, and a second seal member, said second seal member comprising a plug fusibly bridging the spaced apart ends of said first seal member and between opposed facing surfaces of said pair of plate members so as to seal said gas filling port.

17. The invention defined in claim 16 wherein said seal member is a substantially bubble-free glass.

18. The invention defined in claim 16 wherein said plug member is a glass rod between opposed facing surfaces of said flat glass substrate plates.

19. The invention defined in claim 16 wherein the gas discharge information display panel comprises anode electrodes on one substrate plate member and cathode electrodes on an opposing substrate plate member, contact pads on one of said substrate members, including contact pads integrally connected to the electrodes thereon, said plate members being joined by a seal means defining with said plates a gas discharge chamber the plate having said contact pads having an overhung portion thereof carrying said contact pads, and a conductive, bubble-free extrusion between said plates electrically connecting the electrodes on the other of said substrates with at least one of the contact pads on said overhung portion.

20. The invention in claim 19 wherein said conductive, bubble-free extrusion is silver incorporated in an epoxy carrier inserted between said two plates at said selected contact pads.

21. The invention defined in claim 19 wherein said cathode electrode are printed with conductive silver paste on a glass substrate forming a part of said panel and said conductive silver paste is then heated to a firing temperature higher than any temperature subsequently used in the fabrica-tion of said information display panel so as to substantially eliminate cathode porosity and provide a smooth cathode surface.

22. The invention defined in claim 19 wherein said cathode elements printed on said glass substrate are coplanar and some of which have a short spacing therebetween, the step of printing said dielectric on said substrate of a sufficient thickness as to form a sputter barrier between the cathode elements having said short spacing.

23. The invention defined in claim 16 wherein there is included in combination with the gas discharge panel a laser energy activatable giver means, at least one laser energy transparent window in one substrate member, said laser energy activatable giver means being physically located within the gas chamber adjacent to said window, and means retaining said giver means in position between said window and the opposing substrate.

24. The invention defined in claim 23 wherein said gas discharge display panel has a discharge gap between the substrates of about twenty thousandths of an inch, said giver means being constituted by a filamentary hollow glass tube element consisting of a laser energy transparent glass having an outside diameter under about twenty thousandths of an inch and of a selected length, said tube elements being sealed at both ends and filled with elemental mercury, the length of said tube and the internal cross-sectional area of a hollow portion thereof being selected to contain predetermined quantity of said mercury in a liquid state.