JPS6226474B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a drive system for a self-shifting gas discharge panel that shifts a discharge spot in two dimensions.

MC is a self-shifting gas discharge panel that does not have crossover parts in the electrode wiring on the board.
(Meander Channel) type and ME (Meander Channel) type and ME (Meander Channel) type and ME (Meander Channel) type and ME (Meander
Electrode) type has already been proposed. The MC type uses a barrier to regulate the shift direction of the discharge spot, and the shift channel has a meandering shape, while the ME type uses a meandering electrode shape to form a linear shift channel without using a barrier. This is what I did.

In such MC type or ME type gas discharge panels, a configuration has already been proposed in which the discharge spot is shifted in the two-dimensional direction between the column direction and the row direction. Such a two-dimensional shift gas discharge panel is equipped with a write driver for one line, writes from one end of the line, and after writing for one line, writes the contents of the entire line. By shifting in the column direction and writing one row again, it is possible to perform multi-row writing display, which requires fewer terminals and requires only one row of writing drivers. Since it only needs to be provided, it has the advantage of being an economical configuration.

In such a two-dimensional shift gas discharge panel, there is a write row provided with a write electrode at one end;
It consists of a display line that shifts the contents of this write line in the column direction and displays it, and during the row direction shift operation in the write line, the contents of the display line are held and displayed statically. I need to let it happen. For that reason,
It is possible to completely separate the electrodes for write rows and display rows and control them separately, but since the discharge forms are different, there will be a difference in the operating margin, and there will be a shift in the column direction from the write row to the display row. When you make them do
There is a drawback that the discharge spot serving as information disappears or erroneous discharge occurs.

The present invention improves the above-mentioned drawbacks, and
The purpose is to provide a drive system that allows two-dimensional direction shifting to be performed stably. Examples will be described in detail below.

To briefly explain the driving method of the self-shifting gas discharge panel of the present invention, the column direction electrodes connected to the plurality of bus bars on one substrate are common to the write row and the display row, and The row direction electrodes connected to the plurality of busbars on the top are connected to separate busbars for the write row and the display row, and during the write operation, the row direction electrodes connected to the plurality of busbars are The discharge spots are sequentially shifted in the row direction, and in the display row, a pulse voltage is applied by sequentially selecting the bus bars so that the discharge spot is reciprocated between adjacent discharge points. The discharge spot is shifted in the column direction by considering the row and display row as one unit. Therefore, the write row and the display row always have the same discharge form and no difference in operating margin occurs, so that two-dimensional shifts in the row and column directions can be controlled with the same operating margin.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the electrode arrangement of the self-shifting gas discharge panel belonging to the above-mentioned ME type, in which the electrodes x1li to x3li, , x2aj to x2nj and write electrodes wl (l, i, j=1, 2, 3, ...) are provided, and as shown by dotted lines on the other substrate, 3
Electrodes y1lk, y connected to book busbars Y1 to Y3
2lk, y2am~y2nm, y3am~y3nm
(k, m=1, 2, 3, . . . ) are provided, each covered with a dielectric layer and placed facing each other with a discharge gas filled space interposed therebetween.

The electrode arrangement order in the row direction is x1l1, x2l1, x3l1, x2l2,
x1l2, x2l3, x3l2, ... and on the other board, y1l1, y2l1, y1l2,
y2l2,..., and the electrode arrangement order in the column direction is, for example, x111, x
2a1, x121, x2a2, ... and y111, y2a1, y3a1, y on the other board
2a2, y121, y2a3, y3a2, y2a
4. Also, for bus lines X1 and X3, electrodes x1li and x3li are connected by connecting conductors in the column direction, respectively.
However, the electrode x2li, including the electrodes x2aj to x2nj, is connected to the bus line X2 in a meandering manner by a connecting conductor. Therefore, three bus lines X
1 to X3, but no crossover portion occurs. Also, bus lines Y1 to Y3 and electrodes y1lk, y2lk, y2am to y2nm, y3am to y
3 nm means the aforementioned bus lines X1 to X3 and electrodes x1li to
are mutually connected in a connection relationship similar to the connection relationship with x3li, x2aj ~ x2nj rotated by 90 degrees,
The configuration is such that no crossover portion occurs.

As mentioned above, the self-shift gas discharge panel belonging to the ME type consists of a pair of glass or other substrates placed opposite each other, a neon or other discharge gas sealed between the pair of substrates, and a pair of glass or other substrates placed opposite each other. has an electrode array formed in the row direction and column direction on the inner surface of the
Discharge points between opposing electrodes are arranged regularly and periodically so that a discharge spot generated by a write electrode at one end of the electrode array in the row or column direction can be shifted in the row or column direction. It is something.

Then, one of the pair of substrates and the other substrate are provided with n busbars of first to nth, where n is an integer of 3 or more, and one substrate is provided with 2 (n-
1) a row direction electrode group with repeating patterns;
A column direction electrode group having 2(n-2) repeated patterns is provided.

In FIG. 1, since n=3, one substrate is provided with three bus lines X1, X2, and X3, and, for example, electrodes x111, x211,
A group of row electrodes in which 2 (3-1) = 4 patterns of x311 and x212 are repeated, and an electrode x11
1, x2a1 = 2 (3-2) = 2 column direction electrode groups are provided in which patterns are repeated.

The electrodes at the intersections of the electrode groups in the row direction and the column direction, for example, the electrodes x112, x122, ...
As a shape having an electrode portion extending in the row direction and the column direction, it is connected to the first bus bar, for example, the bus bar X1, by a column direction connection conductor, and an intermediate electrode between the intersections of the electrode groups in the row direction, for example, an electrode. x311, x3
21, . Connect by connecting conductor. For example, electrode x2a
1, x211, x212, x222, . . . are connected to the bus line X2 by meandering connecting conductors.

In addition, a row direction electrode group with 2(n-2) repeated patterns and a column direction electrode group with 2(n-1) repeated patterns are arranged on the other substrate, and a row direction electrode group with 2(n-1) repeated patterns on the other substrate. Discharge points are provided so as to be regularly arranged in the row and column directions so as to face the column direction electrode group. In Figure 1, on the other board,
A row direction electrode group in which 2 (3-2) = 2 patterns of electrodes y111 and y211 are repeated, and electrode y1
11, y2a1, y3a1, y2a2 of 2(3-
1)=4 column-direction electrode groups with repeated patterns are provided. Then, the discharge points are regularly arranged in the row direction and the column direction, facing the row direction electrode group and the column direction electrode group of one substrate. The electrode at the intersection of the electrode groups in the row direction and the column direction on the other substrate is connected to the electrode at the intersection of the electrode groups on one substrate, for example, the electrode forming the discharge point A is connected to the electrode part of the electrode x122. The electrode has a shape that extends in the row and column directions opposite to the extension direction, and this electrode is connected to the first busbar, for example, busbar Y1, by a connection conductor in the row direction.

Further, an intermediate electrode between the intersections of the electrode groups in the column direction, for example, electrode y3a1, is partially opposed to adjacent electrodes in the column direction of one substrate, for example, electrodes x111 and x2a1, and the n-th electrode of the other substrate Connected to a bus bar, for example, bus bar Y3, by a connecting conductor in the row direction,
The other row direction electrode and column direction electrode are connected to the second to (n-1)th generatrix of the other substrate, for example, the electrode y
2a1, y2b1, . . . are connected to the bus bar Y2 by meandering connecting conductors. Thereby, each electrode can be connected to three or more busbars without creating a crossover portion.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of drive waveforms during shift operation in the row direction, and shows Vx1 to Vx3, Vy1 to Vy3.
are the pulse voltages applied to the bus lines X1 to X3 and Y1 to Y3, respectively, Vsh is the shift pulse, Ve
is the erase pulse.

For example, if write electrode w1 is selected and a write pulse is applied, and a shift pulse Vsh is applied to bus lines X1 and Y1, a discharge spot is shifted between electrodes x111 and y111, and then a shift pulse Vsh is applied to bus lines X2 and Y1. When the voltage is applied, the discharge spot shifts between the electrodes x211 and y111, and then the bus line X3 and Y1
When a shift pulse Vsh is applied to the electrode x31
When the discharge spot shifts between electrodes x311 and y111, and then a shift pulse Vsh is applied to bus lines X3 and Y2, the discharge spot shifts between electrodes x311 and y211, and then a shift pulse is applied to bus lines X2 and Y2.
When Vsh is applied, the discharge spot shifts between the electrodes x212 and y211. i.e. shift pulse
The application of Vsh is shown as a set of bus lines (X1, Y
1), (X2, Y1), (X3, Y1), (X3, Y
2), (X2, Y2), (X1, Y2) (X1, Y
1) The discharge spots shift in the row direction in the following order. Then, the erase pulse Ve is applied to the discharge point after the shift, so that the wall voltage is erased.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a drive waveform for a shift operation in the column direction, where Vx1 to Vx3 and Vy1 to Vy3 are pulse voltages applied to bus lines X1 to X3 and Y1 to Y3 as in FIG. , electrode x1li, y1lk
After the discharge spot has been shifted in between, that is, after applying the shift pulse Vsh to the bus lines X1 and Y1, the shift pulse Vsh is applied to the bus lines X1 and Y2. For example, if a shift pulse Vsh is applied to the bus lines X1, Y2 after the discharge spot has been shifted between the electrodes x112 and y112, the discharge spot is shifted between the electrodes x112 and y2b1. Next, bus line X
When the shift pulse Vsh is applied to the electrodes x112 and x3b1, the discharge spot shifts between the electrodes x112 and x3b1.

In the column direction shift, shift pulse Vsh
shows the generatrix as a set, (X1, Y1), (X
1, Y2), (X1, Y3), (X2, Y3), (X
2, Y2), (X2, Y1), (X1, Y1), ...
It will be applied in this order.

As can be seen from the above-mentioned FIGS. 2 and 3, during the row direction shift operation, the bus lines X1 to X3, Y1, Y
A shift pulse Vsh is applied to 2 in a predetermined order,
There is play in the bus line Y3. Further, during the column direction shift operation, the shift pulse Vsh is applied to the bus lines X1, X2, Y1 to Y3 in a predetermined order, and the bus line X3 becomes idle.

In addition, static display can be achieved by, for example, applying sustaining voltage pulses to the bus lines X1 and X2 alternately at a predetermined period and continuously to the bus line Y1.
Discharge spots are generated alternately between 1lk and between electrodes x2li and y1lk, and the contents written by write electrode wl are displayed as discharge spots. Note that the sustaining voltage pulse can be the same pulse as the shift pulse Vsh, and therefore the pulse generation circuit can be shared between the shift operation and the static display, which is the same as the conventional example. It is.

The discharge points arranged in the row direction in Figure 1 are A
~F, the discharge points arranged in the column direction are shown as b~f, and the branching point of the shift between the row direction and the column direction is the discharge point A. Also, if the electrode configuration is simplified and made linear, it will become an MC type configuration as shown in Figure 4.
The shift channel becomes meandering as shown by the arrow.

In this Fig. 4, when one discharge spot is shifted in the row direction, A, B, C,...F, A, B
This results in a shift over one discharge point. This means that for bus lines X1 to X3, X1, X2,
One busbar is selected in the order of 3, X2, X1, X2, ..., and for busbars Y1 to Y3, Y1,
This is because one bus line is selected in the order of Y2, Y1, Y2, . . . . Such a discharge spot driving method is hereinafter referred to as a single cell scanning method.

On the other hand, there is a method in which discharge spots are generated at a plurality of adjacent discharge points and shifted.
That is, if the bus lines to which the shift pulse Vsh is applied are shown as a set, (X1, X2, X3, Y1), (X3, Y
1, Y2), (X1, X2, X3, Y2), (X1,
By repeating Y1, Y2), the discharge point (A, B,
The discharge spot is shifted by repeating the sets C), (C, D), (D, E, F), and (F, A). This is 1
Since the electrodes are shared by individual discharge spots, this method is hereinafter referred to as a shared electrode scanning method.

Such a shared electrode scanning method can be similarly applied in the case of column direction shift, and any scanning method can be applied to the present invention.

When the write row is shifted in the row direction using the single cell scanning method, the display row is shifted by the bus line Y.
1, Y2, and when the bus line Y1 is selected, the selection order of the bus lines X1 to X3 is X1, X2, X3, X2, X1, X as described above.
2,..., so the discharge spots are A, B,
The discharge points of C, B, A, B, . . . are shifted back and forth. In other words, the content already written in the display line is retained while swaying, so
Hereinafter, this will be referred to as the sway method.

Also in the shared electrode scanning method, when a shift operation is performed in the write row, only one of the bus lines Y1 and Y2 is selected in the display row as described above.
The bus lines X1 to X3 are (X1, X2, X3), (X
3), (X1, X2, X3), (X1), (X1,
2, X3), so when bus line Y3 is selected, the discharge spot is (A,
B, C), (C), (A, B, C), (A), (A, B, C)
Since the discharge occurs at the discharge point, the display contents are retained in the display row by the sway method.

As mentioned above, one bus line X1 to X3 is common to the write row and the display row, and the other bus line Y1 to Y3 is provided separately for the write row and the display row, thereby achieving the single cell scanning method. In the shift operation of the write row by either the shared electrode scanning method or the shared electrode scanning method, the written contents can be held and displayed in the write row by the sway method.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a two-dimensional shift gas discharge panel having write rows and display rows, where L1 is the write row and L2 to Ln are the display rows. Also W1~W
7 is a write electrode when displaying one character with, for example, 5 x 7 dots, X1 to X3 are bus lines common to the write line and display line, AY1 to AY3 are bus lines for the write line, BY1
~BY3 is the generating line of the display line, and each line L1~Ln
have the electrode arrangement structure shown in FIG. 1, respectively.

As mentioned above, the busbars of one of the substrates, e.g., busbars Y1 to Y3,
is divided into, for example, AY1 to AY3 and BY1 to BY3, corresponding to the writing row area and the display row area, and the bus bar of the other board is provided in common to the writing row area and the display row area. It is.

Bus lines X1 to X3 are sequentially selected according to the single cell scanning method or the shared electrode scanning method to generate shift pulses.
Vsh is applied, and during a write operation, write electrodes W1 to W7 are selected according to the write information and a write pulse is applied, and a discharge spot generated thereby is applied to bus line AY1 of bus lines AY1 to AY3. , AY2 are selected as described above and the shift pulse Vsh is applied, so that they are sequentially shifted to the write row L1. At that time, for example, among the buses BY1 to BY3, the bus BY1 is selected as described above and the shift pulse is
Since Vsh is applied, a discharge spot is generated by the sway method.

When writing is completed, the contents of writing line L1 are displayed on line L2
By controlling the column direction shift described above, that is, the bus lines AY1 to AY3, BY1 to BY
3 and, for example, the bus lines X1 and X2, the written contents are sequentially shifted. Furthermore, display line L
By independently deriving the bus lines BY1 to BY3 of 2 to Ln for each row, it is possible to maintain the display contents in any row by controlling the sway method when shifting in the column direction. It is also possible to shift the display rows in the column direction.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the electrode arrangement for more stable operation of row direction shift and column direction shift, in which the electrodes and connecting wires connected to bus lines X1 to X3 are shown by dotted lines, and bus lines Y1 to Y3 are shown as dotted lines. Electrodes and connecting conductors connected to are shown in solid lines. In this embodiment, the discharge point A of the branch point is formed between the electrodes connected to the bus lines X2 and Y2, that is, the meandering connecting conductor. Discharge points B, b, F, adjacent to this discharge point A,
7 is a sectional view of the main part along the row direction, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the main part along the column direction. In each figure, 1 and 2 are substrates such as glass, 3 and 4 are dielectric layers such as low melting point glass,
5 is a space filled with a discharge gas such as neon.
Note that a protective film resistant to ion impact, such as MgO, is generally formed on the dielectric layers 3 and 4.

When shifting the discharge point spots in the row direction in the order of discharge points E, F, A, B, C, and D, the bus line
If a shift pulse is applied to 1, Y2 and the discharge spot reaches the discharge point F, then the bus line X2, Y2
By applying a shift pulse to 2, the discharge point A
The discharge spot shifts to the bus line X3, Y2.
By applying a shift pulse to , the discharge spot is shifted only to the discharge point B. That is, as explained with reference to FIG. 1, the discharge spot will not shift to two discharge points at the same time.

Also, when shifting the discharge spots in the column direction in the order of discharge points e, f, A, b, c, d, the bus line
If a shift pulse is applied to 2, Y3 and the discharge spot reaches the discharge point f, then the bus line X2, Y3
By applying a shift pulse to 2, the discharge point A
The discharge spot shifts to the bus line X2, Y1.
By applying a shift pulse to the discharge point b
The discharge spot will shift only when

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a connection configuration when the electrode arrangement in FIG. 6 is simplified and a write row and a display row are provided, and the discharge spot written by the write electrode Wi is connected to the bus line X1. ~ By selecting the combination of X3 and bus lines AY1, AY2, the discharge points W, A, B, C...
will be shifted to Since it is a branching point of discharge point A,
Column direction shift is when the discharge spot shifts to the discharge point A, the bus lines X1, X2 and the bus lines AY1 to AY
3. By selecting a combination of BY1 to BY3, the discharge points are sequentially shifted to A, b, c, d, . . . .

Figure 10 shows an example of the drive waveform of the single cell scanning method, and the bus lines X1 to X3 in Figure 9 are
Vx1 to Vx3, Vya1 to bus line AY1 to AY3
Pulse voltages shown as Vyb1 to Vyb3 are applied to Vya3 and bus lines BY1 to BY3. Further, Vw indicates a pulse voltage waveform applied to the write electrode. For each pulse voltage, SP is a shift pulse with a pulse width of about 10 μS, VP is an overlap pulse with a pulse width of about 1 to 5 μS, EP is an erase pulse with a pulse width of about 0.5 to 3 μS, and WP is a write pulse. It's a pulse. or
VA to VF and VW indicate pulse voltage waveforms applied to discharge points A to F and W, and arrows indicate shift timings of the discharge spots.

The discharge spot is shifted in the row direction in the order of discharge points A, B, C, . That is, A to F at the top of FIG. 10 indicate periods during which discharge spots are generated at discharge points A to F.

In the display line, the bus line BY2 is selected and the shift pulse SP is applied, and the erase pulse EP is applied to the bus lines BY1 and BY3, and the discharge spot is A→B→B→A. →F→F→A→B
→ The displayed contents are maintained by sway shift at the discharge points F, A, and B.

Further, FIG. 11 shows an example of the drive waveform in the case of column direction shift, and Vx1' to Vx3' are the bus line X.
Pulse voltage waveform applied to 1 to X3, Vy1' to
Vy3' indicates a pulse voltage waveform applied to bus lines AY1 to AY3 and BY1 to BY3. By using such a driving waveform, discharge spots are generated and shifted sequentially to discharge points A, b to f during the periods indicated by A, b to f. Note that SP, VP, and EP represent shift pulses, overlap pulses, and erase pulses as described above.

FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 show examples of drive waveforms by the shared electrode scanning method, and show Vx1 to Vx3,
Vya1~Vya3, Vyb1~Vyb3, Vw, VA~
VF and VW are the pulse voltage waveforms applied to the bus bar and discharge point as in Figure 10, and Vb to Vf are the discharge point b
The pulse voltage waveforms applied to ~f and VA' to VF' represent the pulse voltage waveforms applied to the discharge points A to F of the display rows, respectively.

When a write pulse with a waveform indicated by Vw is applied to the selected write electrode during the FAB period and a discharge spot is generated at the write discharge point W, then the discharge point F,
Since pulse voltages with waveforms VF, VA, and VB are applied to A and B, discharge points A and B adjacent to the write discharge point W and discharge points F, A, and F at positions where the discharge spot has already been shifted are applied. A discharge spot is generated at point B, and the discharge spot shifts to discharge points B and C during the next BC period. Furthermore, in the next CDE period, the discharge spot shifts to discharge points C, D, and E. Thereafter, the discharge spots are shifted in the row direction in the same manner.

In addition, in the row direction shift, pulse voltages shown as VA' to VF' in FIG.
By applying a pulse voltage of the same phase to the two, no potential difference occurs, and the state is equivalent to no pulse voltage being applied. Therefore, the discharge spots are F, A, B, →B, C, →F, A, B→
E, F, →F, A, B→...discharge points E~C
During the row direction shift period in the write row, the display contents can be held in the display row by the sway method.

In addition, during the column direction shift period, pulse voltages of the same waveform are applied to the discharge points A to F of the write row and display row, and the pulse voltages are applied sequentially as shown at Vb to Vf. Therefore, the discharge spot is f,
A, b→b, c→c, d, e→e, f, →f,
It is shifted by the set of discharge points A and b.

12 and 13 do not show the application of erase pulses;
Pulse voltages of the same phase are applied to the buses other than the Y bus, and no voltage is applied to the corresponding discharge points, but by shifting the pulse voltage phase in this case, a narrow pulse voltage is applied to the discharge points. It can be applied as an erase pulse.

14 and 15 show drive waveforms when applying the erase pulse as described above, and the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 12 and 13 indicate corresponding pulse voltage waveforms, respectively. Note that the erase pulse can also be formed by a difference in pulse width between the X bus line and the Y bus line.

Figure 16 shows four-phase X bus lines X1 to X4 and Y bus line Y.
1 to Y4, discharge points A to H are arranged in the row direction, discharge points b to h are arranged in the column direction, and discharge point A is a branching point.

FIG. 17 simplifies the electrode arrangement in FIG. 16 and shows part of the write rows and display rows.
AY1 to AY4 are Y busbars of write rows, and busbars BY1 to BY4 are Y busbars of display rows. The row direction shift uses the X bus lines X1 to X4 and the Y bus lines AY3 and AY4, and the column direction shift uses the Y bus lines AY1 to AY3 and BY1 to BY4.
The shift direction is shown by an arrow in the case where X bus lines X1 and X2 are used. However, it is also possible to adopt a combination of other bus lines. For example, in the row direction shift, X bus lines X1 to X4 and Y bus line
AY1 to AY3 can be used. Further, as described above, the discharge spot can be shifted by either the single cell scanning method or the shared electrode scanning method. Furthermore, in the display row, the display contents can be held by the sway method during the row direction shift period.

FIGS. 18a to 18c are explanatory diagrams when a figure is written and displayed on a gas discharge panel having a spacer by shifting in two-dimensional direction, and as shown in FIG. 18a,
There are cases where multiple spacers SPS are provided on a gas discharge panel in order to maintain a constant distance between the discharge electrodes, and in that case, if the spacer SPS is present in the discharge spot shifting method, further shifting will not be possible. . Therefore, the writing part WT is a spacer.
It is arranged to avoid the position of SPS, and the contents written by writing section WT are shifted in the row direction, and the spacer
The unused area due to SPS becomes relatively large.

A part of the graph drawn as shown in Figure 18a is
It is shifted in the column direction as shown in FIG. The missing portion of this graph is written from the writing unit WT, and the already written contents are retained in the sway method as described above, thereby making it possible to display the graph as shown in FIG. That is, the unused area due to the spacer SPS can be displayed as a small area indicated by diagonal lines.

By using the two-dimensional direction shift function, various applications are possible not only in graphic display as described above but also in character display. While the shift operation of the discharge spot in the shift operation region is being performed, the discharge spot is generated by the sway method in the non-shift operation region, so the operating margins in both operation regions are almost equal, and the non-shift operation region Even if the operating region is switched to a shift operation, the transition can be made stably.

Examples of the configuration of a drive circuit for performing the above-mentioned shift operation include row direction shift,
It is preferable to use a ROM that separately stores the distribution order of drive pulses for each shift step in the column direction. For example, when driving a panel with an electrode configuration as shown in FIGS. 5 and 9 using the shared electrode scanning method as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the first
A configuration as shown in FIG. 9 can be adopted. 1st
In FIG. 9, ROM1 to ROM4 included in the basic timing signal generation circuit 10 are used for four unit steps (B, C), (C, D,
The clock pulse generator 11 stores the pulse generation timing corresponding to each electrode in E), (E, F), and (F, A, B), and when the shift command signal is "1" and a row shift is commanded, the clock pulse generator 11 Outputs b1~ of counters 12 and 13 that count clock pulses from
Address signals A0~An, P1~ from decoders 14 and 15 based on bn, bn+1, bn+2
Drive timing signals Ix1~ are sequentially read out at P4 and sent to the shift driver 16 connected to each electrode of the panel.
Supply IbY3. During this time, the write timing signals Iwu and Iwd are simultaneously read out from the ROM 4 corresponding to the phase (F, A, B) when it is addressed, and the write timing signals Iwu and Iwd are read out from the character generator 17 selected based on the character designation signal. Write driver 18 in which write information is connected to write electrodes W1 to W7
is added at a predetermined timing. Furthermore, when the shift command signal becomes "0" and a column shift operation is commanded, four unit steps (f, A, b), (b, c), (c, d, e) are performed during the column shift. ), (e,
ROM5 to ROM8 storing pulse generation timing corresponding to each electrode in f) are connected to decoders 14 and 1.
Addressed by the output of 5, the column shift timing signal is read and a column shift operation as previously described with respect to FIGS. 12 and 13 is performed. Here, each ROM may have an address of 11.times.24, and a drive pulse train of unit steps can be obtained by a sequence in which the contents of 11 rows are sequentially read out in parallel.

As explained above, the present invention provides three or more busbars on each of one substrate and the other substrate so that crossover portions do not occur with respect to the row direction electrode group and the column direction electrode group. In a two-dimensionally shiftable self-shifting gas discharge pulse in which a part of the connecting conductor is connected in a meandering manner, the busbar of one of the pair of substrates, for example, busbar Y
1 to Y3 are divided into AY1 to AY3 and BY1 to BY3 corresponding to the write line area and the display line area, and in either the write line area or the display line area, When performing a shift operation in the row direction or column direction, a shift pulse is applied to the divided busbars to which the area belongs so as to shift the discharge spot by the single cell scanning method or the shared electrode scanning method, and the other In the region, shift pulses are applied to the divided busbars belonging to that region in a different order from the application order of the shift pulses applied to the divided busbars belonging to the region in which the shift operation is performed, and the discharge is performed. The discharge spot is prevented from shifting in one direction by a sway method in which a forward shift operation and a reverse shift operation are repeated between adjacent discharge points.

Therefore, since the discharge forms in the write row region and the display row region are the same, the operating margins are approximately equal, making it possible to smoothly transition from the display state to the shift operation. Also, since the row direction shift and column direction shift can be performed arbitrarily,
The number of write drivers can be reduced even in the case of multi-line display, and various applications are possible in the case of graphic display.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the electrode arrangement of a self-shifting gas discharge panel that can be shifted in two-dimensional directions, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a drive waveform during a row direction shift operation, and Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a drive waveform during a column direction shift operation. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a drive waveform. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of electrode connection that simplifies the electrode arrangement of FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is an explanation of a multi-line display self-shifting gas discharge panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram of the electrode arrangement of a self-shifting gas discharge panel that is different from Figure 1, Figure 7 is a sectional view of the main part along the row direction of Figure 6, and Figure 8 is the column of Figure 6. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the main part along the direction, FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of electrode connection that simplifies the electrode arrangement of FIG. 6 and forms write rows and display rows, and FIGS. 10 and 11 are single cell scanning diagrams. 12 and 13 are explanatory diagrams of driving waveforms according to the shared electrode scanning method. FIGS. 14 and 15 are explanatory diagrams of driving waveforms according to the shared electrode scanning method including erase pulses. FIG. 16 17 is an explanatory diagram of the electrode arrangement of a self-shifting gas discharge panel that is different from FIGS. 1 and 6, and FIG.
An explanatory diagram of electrode connection in which the electrode arrangement shown in the figure is simplified and a write line and a display line are formed. Figures 18a to 18c are explanatory diagrams in which graph writing and display operations are performed by shifting in two-dimensional direction. Figure 19 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. X1~X3, Y1~Y3 are bus lines, x1li~x3
li, x2aj~x2nj, y1lk, y2lk, y2am~
y2nm, y3am to y3nm are electrodes, wl is a write electrode, and A to F and b to f are discharge points.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pair of substrates facing each other, a discharge gas sealed between the pair of substrates, and an electrode array formed in the row direction and the column direction on the inner surfaces of the pair of substrates, respectively. The discharge points between the opposing electrodes are arranged regularly and periodically so that the discharge spot generated by the write electrode at one end of the electrode array in the row or column direction can be shifted in the row or column direction. A gas discharge panel arranged in a gas discharge panel, wherein n (n=an integer of 3 or more) busbars, numbered from first to nth, are provided on one substrate and the other of the pair of substrates, respectively; A row-direction electrode group with 2(n-1) repeated patterns and a column-direction electrode group with 2(n-2) repeated patterns are provided on the substrate. The electrodes at the intersections of the groups are shaped to have electrode parts extending in the row and column directions, and are connected to the first generatrix by a connection conductor in the column direction. The electrode is connected to the n-th bus bar by a column-direction connection conductor, and the other row-direction electrodes and column-direction electrodes are connected to the second to (n-1)th busbars by meandering connection conductors; A row direction electrode group with 2(n-2) repeated patterns and a column direction electrode group with 2(n-1) repeated patterns are placed on the other substrate in the row direction. and the electrode groups in the column direction, so that the discharge points are arranged regularly in the row and column directions, and the electrodes at the intersections of the electrode groups in the row and column directions are arranged on the one substrate. The shape has an electrode portion extending in the row direction and the column direction in the opposite direction to the extending direction of the electrode portion of the electrode at the intersection of the electrode groups, and a connecting conductor in the row direction is connected to the first generatrix of the other substrate. connecting an intermediate electrode between the intersection points of the group of electrodes in the column direction to partially face an adjacent electrode in the column direction of the one substrate, and connecting it to the nth busbar of the other substrate in the row direction; The other electrodes in the row direction and the electrodes in the column direction are connected to the second to second electrodes of the other substrate by conductors.
A meandering connecting conductor is connected to the (n-1)th bus bar, and the bus bar of either one of the one board and the other board corresponds to a writing row area and a display row area. The generating line of the other substrate is provided in common to the writing row area and the displaying row area, and the generating line of the other substrate, the writing row area and the displaying area While the discharge spot is shifted in one direction by the shift pulse applied to the divided busbars belonging to one of the regions, the shift pulse applied to the divided busbars belonging to the other region is shifted in one direction. By making the application order different from the application order of the shift pulses applied to the divided busbars belonging to the one region, the discharge spot in the other region is shifted between adjacent discharge points in the opposite direction to the forward shift operation. A drive method for a self-shifting gas discharge panel that is characterized by swaying by repeating direction shifting operations.