JP3536554B2 - Method of forming partition wall of flat display panel - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a method for forming partition walls of a gas discharge type flat display panel (FDP).

[0002] As a flat display panel, a plasma display panel (PDP) and the like are known.
DP has the advantages of a large screen with a simple process, high brightness, high-speed response, and a wide viewing angle. Promising, and with the recent trend toward more compact and larger image display devices, high resolution and high display quality are required.

In the above-mentioned PDP, generally, in order to prevent crosstalk between pixels (dot pixels), discharge interference, and the like and to improve display quality, a discharge space is defined for each pixel or a plurality of pixels arranged in the Y direction is shared space. Is provided.

[0004] The above-mentioned partitions are formed by a screen printing method using a printing mask having openings corresponding to the partition patterns,
The solid printing film formed by screen printing is patterned by using a sand blast method or the like to form a thick partition wall material layer corresponding to the partition walls, and is provided by firing, so that the partition walls have a uniform thickness and a flat top surface. Is difficult to obtain, a partition having a uniform thickness and a flat top surface can be easily formed,
Moreover, there is a demand for a method of efficiently forming such partition walls.

[0005]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 shows a flat display panel (F).
DP) is an exploded perspective view of an essential part showing an example of a surface discharge type PDP for color display, for example, and shows a basic structure of a portion corresponding to one pixel EG.

As shown in the figure, a unit light emitting region EU of a matrix display has a three-electrode structure in which a pair of display electrodes X and Y and an address electrode A are opposed to each other. Is a reflective surface discharge type PD.
Called P.

A display electrode 12 composed of a pair of X and Y for surface discharge is provided on the glass substrate 11 on the display surface H side with respect to the discharge space 24, so that the surface discharge is widened and the display light is reduced. ITO (Indium Tin O)
xide) A structure in which a wide transparent electrode 12a made of a film and the like and a metal auxiliary electrode 12b of a three-layer film structure such as Cr-Cu-Cr, which is narrow to complement its conductivity (low resistance), are laminated. .

The display electrode 12 is covered with a dielectric layer 13 for AC driving for maintaining a gas discharge using wall charges so as to be insulated from the discharge space 24. The surface of the body layer 13 is further covered with a protective film 14 made of an MgO film having a thickness of about several thousand degrees.

On the other hand, an address electrode A for selectively emitting light in the unit light emitting region EU is provided on a glass substrate 21 on the rear side at a constant pitch so as to be orthogonal to the pair of X and Y display electrodes 12. And a stripe-shaped partition 22 having a height of about 100 to 200 μm is provided between each address electrode A, so that the discharge space 24 is formed in the unit light emitting area in the line direction (extending direction of the display electrode 12). The space is defined for each EU, and the interval between the discharge spaces 24 is defined.

The glass substrate 21 has three primary colors of R (red), G (green) and B (blue) so as to cover the inner surface on the back side including the upper surface of the address electrode A and the side surfaces of the partition walls 22. The phosphor 23 of each color is provided to increase the luminance, and the phosphor 23 of each color is excited by ultraviolet rays radiated at the time of surface discharge to emit light.
Full color display is possible by a combination of G and B. During the display, the partition walls 22 prevent crosstalk between the unit light emitting regions EU, discharge interference, and the like.

In the PDP 1 having the above structure, predetermined components are individually provided for each of the glass substrates 11 and 21, and then,
The glass substrates 11 and 21 are arranged to face each other, the periphery of the gap between the two substrates is sealed with a sealing material, and the glass substrate is manufactured by a series of steps of exhausting the inside of the gap and filling a discharge gas.

By the way, the glass substrate 21 on the rear side is divided so as to partition the discharge space 24 for each unit light emitting area EU.
In order to form the partition wall 22 on the glass substrate 21 on which the address electrode A is formed, for example, a glass paste obtained by mixing a low-melting glass frit and a binder is applied to the glass substrate 21 by a plurality of times by a screen printing method or the like by 150 to 200 μm. And dried to form a solid glass coating layer.

Next, a photosensitive resin material such as a dry film having sand blast resistance is coated on the glass coating layer, and a predetermined pattern exposure and development treatment is performed to form a patterned resist mask for forming a partition,
After selectively cutting and patterning the glass coating layer through the resist mask by a sandblast method or the like, the resist mask is removed to form a partition wall material layer corresponding to a partition wall. By baking at 560 ° C., stripe-shaped barrier ribs 22 having a height of 100 to 150 μm are formed in regions between the address electrodes A to divide a discharge space.

[0014]

However, in the above-described conventional method for forming the barrier ribs 22, the thickness of one application of the glass paste by the screen printing method is about 10 to 20 μm. , 150-20
When forming a solid glass coating layer having a thickness of 0 μm for forming partition walls, the steps of screen printing and drying are repeated about 10 times or more, so that the glass coating layer is uniformly formed. It is difficult to form a solid having a large thickness.

Also, it is difficult to obtain a flat surface on the upper surface of the thick partition wall material layer corresponding to the partition walls formed by the screen printing step and the patterning step, since the trace of the mesh of the screen pattern is easily left. Therefore, when a discharge gap is formed by superposing the glass substrate 11 on the opposite side on the glass substrate 21 on which the partition wall 22 is formed by firing the partition wall material layer, a gap is formed at the top (joining surface) of the partition wall 22. This causes a problem that crosstalk occurs between adjacent discharge regions.

Further, a discharge gap is formed by superposing the glass substrate 11 on the opposite side on the glass substrate 21 in a state where projections and the like are formed on the upper surface of the formed partition wall 22, and the discharge space 24 is evacuated to a vacuum. In addition, the partition 22 is chipped or broken starting from the projection on the upper surface of the partition 22, and the broken pieces fall into a cell (discharge region) surrounded by the partition, and the cell portion has a display defect. There was also the problem of becoming.

Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, a method is employed in which the upper surface of the partition wall 22 formed by firing the partition material layer is polished by a rotary polishing device or the like to flatten the upper surface of the partition wall. Was. However, the partition walls 22 become hard but brittle when vitrified by firing, and the end portions (edge portions) of the partition walls 22 are easily chipped during the polishing treatment.
There are drawbacks that it is difficult to polish flat and that the partition walls may be damaged or collapsed in some cases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has been described above.
Alternatively, a flattening process is applied to a uniform film thickness distribution without protrusions and irregularities during firing, thereby flattening the upper surface of the fired partition walls, reducing crosstalk between adjacent discharge regions and improving display quality. It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel method for forming a partition of a flat display panel.

[0019]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a partition made of glass for partitioning or partitioning a discharge region in a discharge space formed between a pair of panel substrates facing each other. Forming a partition wall layer of a glass paste or a glass powder patterned into a predetermined partition shape on a panel substrate, and drying and not firing.
The step of pressing the upper surface of the partition wall material layer by a flattening means and the step of baking the partition wall layer are performed to form a partition wall made of glass having a flat upper surface.

Specifically, a partition material layer corresponding to a partition of glass paste or glass powder is formed on a panel substrate on which electrodes are formed in advance by a screen printing process only, or a screen printing process or the like and a patterning process.
Prior to baking the formed partition wall material layer, the upper surface of the partition wall layer is flattened as a flattening means, for example, by being brought into contact with a pressing platen in a state where the upper surface is slightly pressed at a constant pressure, or by a pressing roller. The upper surface of the partition wall material layer is brought into contact with a state where the upper surface is slightly pressed with a certain pressure, and is further rotated to remove protrusions and irregularities, and then subjected to a baking treatment.

[0021] Alternatively, the formed glass paste, or Oite the process in <br/> baking process of the partition wall corresponding partition wall material layer of the glass powder, the upper surface of the partition wall material layer became softened state, pre
As a heated flattening means, for example, the upper surface of the partition wall material layer is brought into contact with a state where the upper surface of the partition wall material layer is slightly pressed with a constant pressure by a pressing platen, or the upper surface of the partition wall material layer is slightly pressed with a constant pressure by a pressing roller. By pressing and contacting, and further rotating and moving to eliminate protrusions and irregularities, baking treatment is performed to easily and accurately form partition walls made of glass having a flat and smooth constant height. It becomes possible.

Accordingly, crosstalk between adjacent pixels partitioned by the partition wall having a flat upper surface is significantly reduced, and chipping does not occur. Therefore, the partition wall is formed by such a forming method. The display quality of the flat display panel can be improved.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing one embodiment of a method for forming a partition wall of a flat display panel (FDP) of the present invention in the order of steps. In FIG. 1, the same components as those in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

This embodiment is directed to the above-described partition wall of the surface discharge type plasma display panel (PDP) for color display. First, as shown in FIG. 1A, a striped address electrode A made of a Cr-Cu-Cr three-layer film, an Ag film, a Cr film, or the like is formed by a thin film forming method or a thick film forming method and a photolithography process. On the rear glass substrate 21 formed at a constant pitch, a glass paste obtained by mixing a low melting point glass frit and a binder, for example, is 150 to 200 μm so as to uniformly cover the address electrodes A by a screen printing method or the like. After applying to the thickness of 150 ~
By drying at about 180 ° C., a solid glass coating layer 31 is formed.

As a method of applying the glass paste, a bar coater method or an applicator method can be used in addition to the screen printing method. Next, a photoresist material such as a dry film having sandblast resistance is coated on the glass coating layer 31, and then the photoresist film 32 formed by the coating is subjected to a predetermined pattern exposure and development treatment to perform the process shown in FIG. As shown in (b), a resist mask 33 for forming a partition, which is patterned so as to mask the partition formation region, is formed.

As the coating of the photoresist material, a roll coater method, a spinner method, a spray method or the like can be used. However, by using a lamination method of coating a dry film, a large-screen panel substrate can be formed. It is possible to easily provide a thick and uniform photoresist film 32.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1C, the glass coating layer 31 is selectively cut and patterned by sandblasting through the resist mask 33, and then the resist mask 33 is removed. As shown in (2), a stripe-shaped partition wall material layer 34 corresponding to the partition wall is formed. (The steps so far are the same as the conventional forming step.) Next, prior to baking the partition wall material layer 34 corresponding to the partition wall formed by the patterning step or the like, the main part perspective view of FIG. As shown in the figure, the upper surface of the partition wall material layer 34 formed on the glass substrate 21 on the back side is used as a flattening means by, for example, at least 30
The contact surface is slightly pressed with a constant pressure by a metal pressing platen 41 made of a metal such as stainless steel having a mirror surface on the contact surface with a thickness of not less than mm and a projection on the upper surface of the partition wall material layer 34. After eliminating unevenness and unevenness and uniformly flattening the film thickness distribution (height distribution), the flattened partition wall material layer 34 is heated and fired at, for example, 530 to 560 ° C. to form partition walls.

Alternatively, the partition wall material layer 34 corresponding to the partition wall formed by the patterning step or the like may be
The partition wall material layer which is in a softened state during the heating and baking treatment at 0 ° C.
The upper surface of the partition 34 is brought into contact with the upper surface of the partition material layer 34 by slightly pressing the upper surface of the partition material layer 34 with a constant pressure by the pressing platen 41 to eliminate protrusions and irregularities on the upper surface of the partition material layer 34, Baking is performed by flattening so that the film thickness distribution (height distribution) becomes uniform to form partition walls.

As described above, the upper surface of the partition wall material layer 34 patterned corresponding to the partition walls is subjected to a flattening process of bringing the pressing platen 41 into a pressed state before or during firing, and then fired. It is possible to easily form a flat partition having a uniform film thickness distribution without any protrusions and irregularities.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part showing another embodiment of the method of forming the partition walls of the flat display panel (FDP) in the order of the steps following FIG. 1. In FIG. It is attached.

This embodiment is different from the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in that the partition wall material layer 34 corresponding to the partition wall formed by the patterning step or the like is fired prior to the baking process. The upper surface of the partition wall material layer 34 formed on the glass substrate 21 on the back side is pressed by a flattening means, for example, a metal press made of a metal such as stainless steel having a contact surface with a mirror finish of at least 50 mm or more in diameter. The rollers 42 are brought into contact with each other while being slightly pressed at a constant pressure, and further rotated and moved in the direction of the arrow to eliminate protrusions and irregularities, and to uniformly flatten the film thickness distribution (height distribution). The flattened partition wall material layer 34 is heated and fired at, for example, 530 to 560 ° C. to form partition walls.

Alternatively, the partition wall material layer 34 corresponding to the partition wall formed by the patterning step or the like may be
The partition wall material layer which is in a softened state during the heating and baking treatment at 0 ° C.
The upper surface of 34 is brought into contact with the above-mentioned pressing roller 42 while being slightly pressed with a constant pressure, and further rotated and moved in the direction of the arrow to eliminate protrusions and unevenness, and to control its film thickness distribution.
(Height distribution) is flattened and baked so as to be uniform to form partition walls.

According to this embodiment as well, the upper surface of the partition wall material layer 34 patterned for the partition walls as described above is rotated in a contact state by a slight pressure of the pressing roller 42 before or during firing. Since the flattening process is performed by the movement and the baking is performed, it is possible to easily form a flat partition having a uniform film thickness distribution without protrusions and unevenness on the upper surface.

In each of the above embodiments, the pressing platen used as a flattening means on the upper surface of the partition wall material layer 34 is used.
Regarding the pressing force of the pressing roller 41 or the pressing roller 42, the protrusions and unevenness on the upper surface are eliminated without breaking the partition wall material layer irrespective of whether it is unfired or during firing, and it is possible to flatten, for example, 1. It is appropriate to set it to about 0 to 3.0 kg / cm ² .

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the case where the partition wall material layer 34 patterned corresponding to the partition wall is formed by the screen printing step and the patterning step using the sand blast method is described. The method is not limited to, for example, a method of forming a partition material layer patterned corresponding to the partition only by a screen pattern printing process, or forming a groove of a partition pattern using a photolithography method in a solid-film-shaped photosensitive resist layer And
A method in which a glass paste or a glass powder is buried in the groove, the photosensitive resist layer is removed, and only the glass paste corresponding to the partition walls is formed, can be applied.

When the upper surface of the partition wall material layer 34 is pressed and flattened by the pressing platen 41 or the pressing roller 42 during firing, the temperature of the partition wall material layer 34 during firing should not be suddenly lowered. For example, the pressing platen 41 and the pressing roller 42 are heated in advance so as not to be thermally deformed, and a device equipped with these pressing platen 41 and the pressing roller 42 is inserted into a firing furnace, or a partition wall during firing. The glass substrate 21 provided with the material layer 34 is drawn into an apparatus provided with a pressing platen 41 and a pressing roller 42 provided adjacent to a heating unit in the firing furnace, and a flattening process is performed quickly and in a short time. It is important.

Further, in the above embodiment, an example in which a partition of a surface discharge type PDP for color display is formed has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this example. Various PDPs such as discharge PDP
This is extremely advantageous when applied to the manufacture of flat display panels such as

[0038]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the method for forming the partition wall of the flat display panel according to the present invention, the upper surface of the partition wall material layer corresponding to the partition wall is pressed before or during firing. Since flattening is performed by flattening means consisting of a platen and a pressing roller, and baking is performed, high-precision flat partitions having a uniform thickness distribution without protrusions and unevenness on the upper surface are easily formed. It becomes possible.

Accordingly, the crosstalk between adjacent discharge regions partitioned by the partition walls having the flat upper surface is significantly reduced, and chipping does not occur, so that the display quality is advantageously improved. It is extremely advantageous when applied to the manufacture of flat display panels such as various PDPs having partition walls, and has excellent effects in practical use.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a flat display panel (FD) of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing one embodiment of a method of forming a partition wall shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part showing an embodiment of a method of forming a partition wall of a flat display panel (FDP) in the order of steps following FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective sectional view showing another embodiment of the method of forming the partition wall of the flat display panel (FDP) in the order of steps following FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a main part showing an example of a surface discharge type PDP for color display as a flat display panel (FDP).

[Explanation of symbols]

21 Glass substrate 31 Glass coating layer 32 Photoresist film 33 Resist mask 34 Partition material layer 41 Press platen 42 Press roller A address electrode

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01J 9/02 H01J 11/00 H01J 11/02

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for forming a partition wall of a flat display panel, wherein a partition wall made of glass for partitioning or partitioning a discharge region is provided in a discharge space formed between a pair of panel substrates facing each other. A step of forming a glass paste patterned into a predetermined partition wall shape, or a partition wall layer of glass powder, and a step of flattening the upper surface of the dried and unfired partition wall layer by flattening means. And baking the partition wall material layer. 2. A method for forming a partition wall of a flat display panel, wherein a partition wall made of glass for partitioning or partitioning a discharge area is provided in a discharge space formed between a pair of panel substrates facing each other. after forming the barrier rib material layer of glass paste or glass powder, which is patterned in a predetermined partition wall shape, it softened state during the step of firing the partition wall material layer
A partition wall made of glass having a flat upper surface by pressing the upper surface of the partition wall material layer formed by a pre-heated flattening means.