JP2002072921A - Display panel and producing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve such a problem that the gas generated in an applying process of sealing member and a baking process deteriorates a phosphor, the thickness of the seal member becomes uneven and the gap between substrates becomes uneven. SOLUTION: After two sheets of substrates are opposingly disposed, the seal member is disposed so as to be brought into contact with the side surface of at least on one side substrate of two sheets of substrates. Because the seal member is arranged after the two sheets of substrates are opposingly disposed, the gas generated from the seal member in a temporary baking process and the baking process spreads into the gap of the order of only 100 μm and, therefore, the phosphor in a display area is hardly made to be contaminated. In addition, because it is unnecessary that the seal member which is applied thickly beforehand is pressed by springs, etc., and is extended and the gap of the two sheets of substrates are regulated with a height of partition when opposingly disposed, an envelope having a uniform gap regardless of the strength of the spring can be manufactured.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display panel and a method of manufacturing the same, and particularly to a method of forming a sealing member.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a gas discharge panel has been known as a display panel, and an AC type plasma display panel (hereinafter referred to as PDP) as shown in FIG. 9 is known.

This PDP comprises an upper panel substrate 4 made of glass having a plurality of display electrodes 1, a dielectric layer 2 and a protective layer 3 formed on an inner surface thereof, and a direction perpendicular to the display electrodes 1. A plurality of arranged data electrodes 5 and a dielectric layer 6 are formed on the inner surface, and a partition wall 7 made of low melting point glass for partitioning a light emitting region is formed in parallel at predetermined positions on the dielectric layer 6. The lower panel substrate 8 made of glass is disposed opposite to the lower panel substrate 8, and the outer peripheral edge is sealed with a sealing member 9 made of low-melting glass sandwiched therebetween. Is provided with an envelope 10 in which the inner surface of the peripheral end portion is sealed.

[0004] Phosphors 11 for realizing color display are applied on the dielectric layer 6 for each light emitting area defined by the partition walls 7, and neon and xenon are contained in the envelope 10. About 500 Torr of mixed discharge gas
r (66.5 kPa).

[0005] A method of manufacturing a PDP is as follows. First, the display electrodes 1 of silver or the like are formed on the upper panel substrate 4 in a predetermined pattern. Next, a dielectric layer 2 having a predetermined pattern is formed on the upper panel substrate 4 on which the display electrodes 1 are formed by printing or the like. Subsequently, a protective layer 3 of magnesium oxide or the like is formed thereon by a method such as vapor deposition. On the other hand, a data electrode 5 of silver or the like is provided on the lower panel substrate 8 in a predetermined pattern.
To form Next, a dielectric layer 6 having a predetermined pattern is formed on the lower panel substrate 8 on which the data electrodes 5 are formed by printing or the like. Next, a partition 7 having a predetermined pattern is formed thereon by printing or sandblasting. Next, phosphors 11 of three colors of red, green and blue are formed in a predetermined pattern between the partition walls 7 by a method such as printing. Subsequently, a sealing member 9 made of low-melting-point glass and mixed with a resin or a solvent is formed into a paste around the lower panel substrate 8 and a portion overlapping with the upper panel substrate 4 by means of a dispenser or the like. It is formed thicker than that. Next, the formed sealing member 9 is temporarily fired in an electric furnace or the like to remove a resin component and a solvent component contained in the sealing member 9. Next, the upper panel substrate 4 and the lower panel substrate 8 are disposed to face each other and temporarily fixed with clips or the like.
Is temporarily fixed with a material equivalent to that of the sealing member 9 and fired by an electric path or the like. Near the peak temperature in the firing step, the sealing member 9
In a molten state, it is spread by a pressing force of a clip or the like, and has a thickness regulated by the height of the partition wall 7 while sealing the inner surfaces of the upper panel substrate 4 and the lower panel substrate 8 and is fixed together with cooling. Thus, the envelope 10 is completed.

Generally, before the discharge gas is sealed, the inside of the envelope 10 is evacuated and then the discharge gas is sealed. As described above, the process of forming the envelope of the display device using a flat plate such as glass and making the interior of the envelope vacuum is performed by, for example, FED.
(Field emission display) is also required.

[0007]

However, the prior art has the following problems.

First, a sealing member 9 is provided around the lower panel substrate 8.
Is formed and the resin component is removed in the preliminary firing step (this is also referred to as de-buying treatment), the phosphor 11 formed on the lower panel substrate 8 is exposed to the atmosphere in the furnace during the preliminary firing step. become. The phosphor 11 is exposed to a gas containing, for example, CO, CO _2, or other carbon generated during the calcination step, and some of these gas molecules are converted into the phosphor 11.
Adheres to As a result, when the panel is completed and turned on, the luminance and the chromaticity deteriorate.

Also, in the sealing step, the resin component slightly remaining from the sealing member 9 in the preliminary firing step is gasified by combustion, and the gas contaminates the phosphor 11 in the display area.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10A, the sealing member 9 is formed on the lower panel substrate 8 so as to be thicker than the height of the partition wall 7. Ideally, a pressing means such as a clip 14 is used at the time of firing. Fig. 10
The thickness is equivalent to the height of the partition 7 as shown in FIG. However, if the sealing member 9 cannot be expanded sufficiently due to insufficient pressing force or unevenness of the clip, its thickness becomes larger than the height of the partition wall 7 as shown in FIG. Substrate 8
And the adjacent pixels cannot be separated by the partition wall 7. As a result, when the panel is turned on, the discharge spreads to the pixels that should not be turned on, causing a defect, or causing noise to occur easily in a low pressure area.

The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and prevents the gas generated from the sealing member 9 from contaminating the phosphor 11 and easily and uniformly forms the sealing member 9. It is an object of the present invention to provide a display panel that achieves a good sealing state in which the thickness is equal to the height of the partition wall 7 and a method of manufacturing the display panel.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display panel having a sealing member formed so as to cover a side surface of at least one of two substrates. In a joint area between the member and the two substrates, a joint area of a portion where the two substrates do not overlap is larger than a joint area of an inner surface of the overlapped portion. Accordingly, sealing is mainly performed on the side of one substrate and the outside of the portion of the other substrate that overlaps with the substrate, so that a sealing member is formed at a portion distant from the display area. It becomes difficult for the gas generated from the attachment member to reach the display area.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display panel comprising:
A periphery including at least a part of a side surface of at least one of the substrates is covered with a band-shaped member having a sealing member formed thereon. This makes it possible to easily and reliably perform sealing on the side surface of at least one of the two substrates.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing a display panel, the sealing member is arranged so as to be in contact with a side surface of at least one of the two substrates after the two substrates are arranged to face each other. It is characterized by. In order to dispose the sealing member after the two substrates are opposed to each other, the gas generated from the sealing member in the preliminary firing step or the firing step is only 100 μm of the two substrates.
The gaps of about m are widened, so that the phosphor in the display area is not easily contaminated. Also, there is no need to spread the sealing member, which has been previously thickly applied, by pressing it with a spring or the like, and the gap between the two substrates is regulated by the height of the partition wall when they are opposed to each other. Can be manufactured.

In the method of manufacturing a display panel according to claim 8 of the present invention, after the two substrates are arranged to face each other, a sealing member is arranged so as to be in contact with the side surface of at least one of the two substrates; The sealing member is melted by using a laser. Thereby, the sealing after the two substrates are opposed to each other can be performed easily and in a short time.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing a display panel according to the ninth aspect, after the two substrates are arranged to face each other, a sealing member is arranged so as to be in contact with a side surface of at least one of the two substrates. The sealing member is melted using a lamp. Thereby, the sealing after the two substrates are opposed to each other can be performed easily and in a short time.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing a display panel according to the tenth aspect, after the two substrates are arranged to face each other, the two substrates are heated to a melting temperature of the sealing member, and at least one of the two substrates is heated. The sealing member is disposed by a hot melt method so as to be in contact with the side surface of the substrate. Thereby, the sealing after the two substrates are opposed to each other can be performed easily and in a short time.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-156170 discloses a technique in which a third substrate is used for sealing from outside the two substrates in order to maintain the airtightness of the discharge space even when the sealing region is made thin. However, there is no mention of the gas generated from the sealing member, or any variation in thickness when the sealing member is expanded during the firing process, and has nothing to do with the problem intended by the present invention and the means for solving the problem. Things.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Here, the description will be made using a PDP in particular. However, other display panels that seal two substrates around each other, particularly those that have a process of evacuating the inside of the panel, and the atmospheric pressure (760 Torr (101.08 kPa)) This is effective when filling a gas exceeding ().

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a sectional view schematically showing a sealing member of a PDP according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view schematically showing a conventional sealing member for comparison. It is. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a modification of the sealing member of the PDP according to the present embodiment.

In FIG. 1, a sealing member 9 made of low-melting glass is formed on the upper panel substrate 4 having a thickness of about 3 mm and the lower panel substrate 8 also having a thickness of about 3 mm outside the overlapping portions of both panel substrates. I do. At this time, the joining portion 20 between the sealing member 9 and the upper panel substrate 4 and the sealing member 9
The joint between the substrate and the lower panel substrate ensures the hermeticity of the two substrates and the joint strength of the panel. The position of the sealing member 9 is clearly far from the display area as compared with the conventional example shown in FIG.
The gas generated during the pre-firing or re-firing hardly reaches the display area, and the panel does not deteriorate the phosphor 11. Also, the width of the joint 21 between the lower panel substrate 8 and the sealing member 9 shown in FIG. 1 is about 3 mm, which is narrower than the conventional joint width of about 5 mm. Can be controlled with a relatively small force when controlling the gap, and it is easy to ensure uniformity.

Here, a low-melting glass is shown as the sealing member 9, but a thermoplastic adhesive can also be used. In the case of using an adhesive, a gas containing carbon is generally easily released, so that the panel sealing structure shown in FIG. 1 is more effective for preventing deterioration of panel characteristics.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 15 denotes a sealing member 9 in advance.
It is desirable that the material does not deteriorate even at the melting temperature of the sealing member 9. For example, a band formed by weaving ceramic fibers or a metal foil such as nickel steel having a thermal expansion coefficient relatively close to that of glass can be used.
The paste-like sealing member 9 may be applied to the base material 15 and attached to both substrates as they are, or the green sheet-shaped sealing member 9 may be applied to the base material 15 and then further applied to two substrates. You may stick it. The bonding with the lower panel substrate 8 may be performed only on the side surface of the lower panel substrate 8, but there is no problem even if a part of the back surface of the lower panel substrate 8 is bonded in order to secure sufficient bonding strength.

(Embodiment 2) Next, a method of manufacturing a PDP according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 4A, a display electrode 1, a dielectric layer 2, and a protective layer 3 are formed on the surface of about 3 m.
The upper panel substrate 4 having a thickness of about 3 mm and the lower panel substrate 8 having the same thickness of about 3 mm, on which the data electrodes 5, the dielectric layer 6, the partition walls 7, and the phosphors 11 are formed, are disposed so as to face each other. The gap between the two substrates is regulated by the height of the partition wall 7 of about 100 μm formed on the substrate 8.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), a paste-like sealing member 9 is provided so as to be in contact with at least one of the side surfaces of the portion where the upper panel substrate 4 and the lower panel substrate 8 overlap. Is applied. Here, the paste-like sealing member 9 is made of a powdery low-melting glass 100 g and a vehicle C (manufactured by Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd.) having a viscosity of 40 cP for 20 m
Mix well and use.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4C, the applied sealing member is dried by a dryer at 100 ° C. for about 10 minutes. Here, the temperature may be further increased to 350 ° C. and pre-baking may be performed to remove the resin component contained in the vehicle C.
In this manufacturing method, the gas generated from the sealing member 9 does not easily enter the inside of the panel at the time of sealing, so that the calcination step may be omitted. However, in order to prevent the resin component from remaining in the sealing member 9 as much as possible, it is desirable to keep the resin component at a temperature of 350 ° C. for about 20 minutes during the heating process in the next baking step.

Finally, as shown in FIG.
Is raised to 450 ° C., kept at that temperature for about 10 minutes, and then cooled to complete the envelope 10.

Here, as shown in FIG. 4 (c), instead of applying the paste-like sealing member 9 with a dispenser 22 or the like, it was preliminarily formed into a rod-like shape as shown in FIG. It is also possible to use a preform sealing member 23. After arranging the preform sealing members 23 on the four sides, the envelope 10 can be completed through a firing step shown in FIG.

(Embodiment 3) Next, another PDP manufacturing method according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, the method of manufacturing the PDP shown in FIG. 4 in the second embodiment is characterized by the firing step of the sealing member 9 from (c) to (d), and only the portion will be described in detail. I do.

In the present embodiment, a light beam is used in place of the conventional firing using hot air circulation.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 24 denotes a laser irradiation device. The sealing is performed by irradiating and melting the sealing member 9 formed around the two substrates with the laser irradiation device 24. Here, a YAG laser, a carbon dioxide laser, a semiconductor laser, or the like can be used as the laser.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 25 denotes a halogen lamp. The sealing is performed by irradiating the sealing member 9 formed around the two substrates with the halogen lamp 25 and melting it. Here, heat rays are radiated only to the sealing member 9 by the halogen lamp 25, but the sealing member 9 on the upper panel substrate 4 or the lower panel substrate 8 is irradiated.
Since there is a possibility that both substrates may be broken due to a temperature difference between the peripheral portion and the central portion where the is formed, it is preferable to design the apparatus to heat the entire substrate with a plurality of halogen lamps.

Further, in FIG. 8, reference numeral 26 denotes a hot melt apparatus. With hot melt, the members used for bonding etc. are heated above the melting temperature in a device such as a dispenser,
A member in a molten state is applied to a member to be directly joined by using an extruding mechanism, and is fixed together with cooling. Here, a low melting point glass or a thermoplastic adhesive, which is a raw material of the sealing member 9, is filled in the hot melt device 26, and the sealing member 9 is applied to a predetermined position on the substrate while heating to a melting temperature of each member. I do. At this time, the two substrates are desirably heated to the melting temperature of the sealing member 9.

[0035]

As described above, the display panel according to the present invention is a display panel in which a sealing member is formed so as to cover a side surface of at least one of two substrates. Since the bonding area of the part where the two substrates do not overlap is larger than the bonding area of the inner surface of the overlapping part in the bonding area with the two substrates, the sealing is mainly performed on the side surface of one substrate and the other. Since the process is performed outside the portion of the substrate that overlaps with the substrate, the sealing member is formed in a portion distant from the display area, so that gas generated from the sealing member does not easily reach the display area.

In the display panel according to the present invention, the periphery including at least a part of the side surface of at least one of the two substrates is provided.
By covering with a band-shaped member forming a sealing member, 2
Sealing on the side surface of at least one of the substrates can be easily and reliably performed.

Further, in the method of manufacturing a display panel according to the present invention, the two substrates are arranged to face each other, and then the sealing member is arranged so as to be in contact with the side surface of at least one of the two substrates. The baking step or the gas generated from the sealing member in the baking step spreads between the gaps of only about 100 μm between the two substrates, making it difficult to contaminate the phosphor in the display area. Further, it is not necessary to spread the sealing member applied in advance with a spring or the like by pressing it with a spring or the like, and the gap between the two substrates is regulated by the height of the partition wall when the substrates are opposed to each other. Envelopes can be made.

Further, in the method for manufacturing a display panel according to the present invention, after the two substrates are arranged to face each other, a sealing member is arranged so as to be in contact with the side surface of at least one of the two substrates, By fusing the member using a laser or a halogen lamp, the sealing after the two substrates are opposed to each other can be performed easily and in a short time.

As described above, it is possible to prevent the phosphor from being contaminated by the gas generated from the sealing member, and to easily and uniformly make the thickness of the sealing member equal to the height of the partition wall in a good sealing state. And a method for manufacturing the same.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a simplified cross-sectional view showing a sealing member of a PDP according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a simplified sealing member of a conventional PDP.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing another sealing member of the PDP according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a simplified PDP sealing step according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing another simplified sealing step of the PDP according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a simplified cross-sectional view showing another sealing method of the PDP according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing another sealing method of the PDP according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a simplified cross-sectional view showing another sealing method of the PDP according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional PDP.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing a part of a sealing process of a PDP according to a conventional mode.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a defective product in a PDP sealing process according to a conventional mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 4 upper panel substrate 7 partition wall 8 lower panel substrate (one panel substrate) 9 sealing member 10 envelope 14 clip 15 base material 22 dispenser 23 preform sealing member 24 laser irradiation device 25 halogen lamp 26 hot melt device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5C012 AA09 BC03 5C040 FA01 HA01 MA23 MA30 5C094 AA03 AA42 AA43 AA48 BA31 CA19 DA07 DA12 EB02 EC04 FA01 FA02 FB01 FB02 FB15 GB01

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A display panel having a sealing member formed so as to cover a side surface of at least one of two substrates, wherein the two substrates have a bonding area between the sealing member and the two substrates. A display panel in which the joining area of the non-overlapping part is larger than the joining area of the inner surface of the overlapping part. 2. A display panel in which a periphery including at least a part of a side surface of at least one of two substrates is covered with a band-shaped member on which a sealing member is formed. 3. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein the sealing member is made of low-melting glass. 4. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein the sealing member is made of a thermoplastic resin. 5. A method for manufacturing a display panel, comprising: arranging two substrates facing each other, and then arranging a sealing member so as to contact a side surface of at least one of the two substrates. 6. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 5, wherein the sealing member is a low-melting glass formed into a rod shape by removing a die in advance. 7. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 5, wherein the sealing member melted in a state where the two substrates are heated to the melting temperature of the sealing member. 8. After arranging the two substrates to face each other, arranging a sealing member so as to be in contact with a side surface of at least one of the two substrates, and melting the sealing member using a laser. Characteristic display panel manufacturing method. 9. A method comprising: disposing a sealing member so as to contact a side surface of at least one of the two substrates after disposing the two substrates to face each other; and melting the sealing member using a lamp. Characteristic display panel manufacturing method. 10. After the two substrates are arranged to face each other, the two substrates are heated to the melting temperature of the sealing member, and hot-melt method is applied so as to be in contact with the side surface of at least one of the two substrates. A method for manufacturing a display panel, comprising disposing a sealing member.