JP2002373584A - Image forming apparatus manufacturing method, and image forming apparatus manufactured using the manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To prevent damage to a pressing surface of a frame when joining a frame and a substrate constituting a vacuum container of an image forming apparatus. SOLUTION: A frit glass is applied to a rear plate (a), and a frame member is arranged on the frit glass (e),
A protection member is arranged on a portion of the frame member that is to face the face plate (f), and after the frame member is pressurized via the protection member, the frit glass is softened so that the frame member and the rear member are softened. Join the plates.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, application studies using an electron source having a large number of electron-emitting devices arranged on a flat substrate have been actively conducted. For example, image forming apparatuses such as an image display apparatus and an image recording apparatus have been developed. Is underway. Above all, flat-panel image display devices having a small depth have attracted attention as replacements for cathode-ray tube display devices because of their space saving and light weight. As such a flat-type image display device, an electron source substrate (rear plate) in which electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix and a face plate having a phosphor arranged opposite thereto are hermetically sealed via a frame. A container has been proposed which forms a container, and its structure is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-09-82245. FIG. 14 is a schematic configuration diagram of a display device described in JP-A-09-82245.

[0003]

In the display device having the above-described structure, when the frame 201 and the substrate 202 (rear plate or face plate) are joined as shown in FIG. 15, the joining member 203 is softened. In order to bring the frame 201 into sufficient contact with the joining material 203, the vicinity of the frame 201 is heated, and the frame 201 is pressed by the pressing member 204 (FIG. 1).
FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view showing a substrate and a frame to be joined by the heating and pressurizing processes. ). At this time, by heating and pressurizing treatment,
As shown in FIG. 15A, the pressing surface (A portion in FIG. 15) of the frame 201 adheres to the pressing member 204, and breaks when the frame 201 is separated from the pressing member 204 as shown in FIG. 15B. There was a case. In particular, when the pressurized surface of the support frame is subjected to a surface treatment such as a coating, the film may peel off, which is a problem.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel assembly which does not cause damage to the pressurized surface of the frame when joining the frame and the substrate constituting the vacuum container of the image forming apparatus in view of the above-mentioned prior art. It provides a method.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus using a vacuum container formed between a pair of opposed substrates with a frame therebetween, the method comprising: In the step of bonding the frame to one of the substrates via a bonding material, a protective member is disposed on a portion of the frame facing the other substrate facing the one substrate, and the protective member is provided. And pressurizing the space between the frame and the one of the substrates.

In the above method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus,
Preferably, a portion of the frame on which the protection member is disposed is subjected to a metal coating treatment. In this case, the protection member is preferably a metal, for example, a 426 alloy.

In such a manufacturing method, it is preferable that the bonding material is frit glass.

[0008] It is preferable that the method further includes a step of providing a getter material on the other substrate arranged to face the one substrate.

It is preferable that the method further includes a step of providing a bonding material made of a low-melting-point metal between the frame and the other substrate arranged opposite to the one substrate.

The present invention also includes an image forming apparatus manufactured by using the above manufacturing method.

In the method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus as described above, when the frame is joined to one of the opposing substrates with the joining material, the frame is added in order to bring the frame into sufficient contact with the joining material. When pressurizing with a pressure member, a protective layer is arranged on the pressing surface of the frame, and pressure is applied via the protective layer. As a result, the pressurized surface of the frame can be prevented from being damaged, and the subsequent bonding of the other substrate to the upper surface of the frame can be performed well. Thus, an airtight container having a high degree of vacuum can be formed, and a favorable display device can be manufactured.

In particular, when a low-melting-point metal is used for joining the frame to the other substrate, the shape of the contact surface of the frame with the low-melting-point metal is required to be smooth. A coating or the like may be provided, and in such a case, the present invention is particularly preferable.

[0013] Further, when bonding with a low melting point metal becomes possible in this manner, a getter material is provided on a face plate as in the display device described in JP-A-09-82245. In this case, it is particularly preferable. In the case of a configuration in which a getter material is provided on the face plate,
This is because a low-temperature treatment is preferable for the assembly process of the face plate and the frame in order to avoid unnecessary activation of the getter material during assembly.

[0014]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the outline of the configuration of the display device, which is one embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention, is the same as that of JP-A-09-82245, and the description thereof will be described later. A part related to the joining of the substrate, particularly the rear plate and the frame, will be described in detail.

The steps of bonding the frame members when manufacturing the display device will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11. First, the outline of the assembling apparatus used in the frame joining step will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a hot plate type assembling apparatus used when assembling a frame member of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a lower hot plate, and 23 is a hot plate 2
The heater which raises the temperature of 1 and 22 is shown.

The upper hot plate 21 is a lifting unit 25
The upper hot plate 21 and the elevating unit 25 constitute a pressure member. With this elevating unit, pressure on the frame can be evenly applied to the entire frame in a direction perpendicular to the rear plate substrate surface. Further, in this embodiment, a hole for vacuum suction is provided on the upper hot plate surface (the surface facing the lower hot plate surface), and the substrate can be fixed by vacuum suction.

The lower hot plate 22 is an XYθ table 2
The lower hot plate 22 can be moved in the in-plane direction (two-axis orthogonal direction on the same plane as the lower hot plate surface and the rotation direction) by moving the XYθ table 24.

The upper and lower hot plates 21 and 22 are provided with thermocouples (not shown) for measuring the temperature, and the heater 23 is operated by a temperature control computer (not shown).
Feedback control is performed so that the upper and lower hot plates 21 and 22 reach desired temperatures.

At the time of cooling, air is discharged from a cooling unit (not shown), and is cooled by passing through a flow path provided inside the hot plate.

The lifting unit 25 can be raised and lowered by an operator operating a controller (not shown).

The hot plate of the hot plate type assembling apparatus used in this embodiment is made of stainless steel.
The rod-shaped heater is arranged in it.

Using the apparatus having the above configuration, frame joining was performed as shown in FIG. 1 showing a frame member assembling process (process flow) of the display device of the present embodiment. 3 to 1 below
1 will be described in detail.

FIGS. 3 to 11 illustrate the process flow shown in FIG. 1 in more detail.

FIGS. 4A to 7A are views of the hot plate as viewed from directly above, and FIGS. 4B and 7B are cross-sectional views at the center of the hot plate.

Hereinafter, the frame member assembling process of this embodiment will be described in detail in the order of steps a to j shown in FIG.
However, in the present embodiment, details of the rear plate manufacturing process are omitted.

A. Frit coating (FIG. 3) First, as shown in FIG. 3, a frit glass 33 is dispensed at a frame bonding position on a rear plate substrate 31 (made of glass or the like) on which electron-emitting devices are formed together with patterns of electrodes, wirings, and the like. (Only the nozzle 32 is shown in FIG. 3) to apply an appropriate amount.

Here, the frit glass 33 was used as a paste by stirring and mixing frit glass powder and a vehicle (a mixture of an organic solvent and a resin powder).

The type of frit glass is selected from two types, crystalline and amorphous, depending on the heat treatment temperature in the subsequent step. The type of frit glass is not particularly limited. CL23 (made by Asahi Techno Glass Co., Ltd.), which is a frit glass, was used.

As a vehicle, terpineol which is an organic solvent and elvacite (a product of DuPont) which is a resin powder are used.
Were mixed at a ratio of 100: 1 (weight ratio), and the frit glass powder and the vehicle were stirred and mixed at a ratio of 10: 1 to obtain a paste.

The above resin powder Elbasite is used to improve the applicability of the paste, and the mixing ratio in the vehicle can be appropriately selected.

B. Frit drying Rear plate 3 coated with frit glass as described above
1 is dried in a drying oven at 120 ° C. for 10 minutes.

C. Frit calcination Further, calcination is performed at 360 ° C for 10 minutes in a calcination furnace. The calcination is a heat treatment for separating and removing a vehicle component used at the time of forming the paste. By this treatment, the frit glass powder is temporarily melted at a softening temperature and formed as a solid after the treatment.

D. Rear Plate Installation (Lower Hot Plate) (FIG. 4) As shown in FIG. 4, the rear plate 31 on which the above-described frit calcination has been performed is installed on the lower hot plate 22 of the hot plate type assembling apparatus (FIG. 2). At this time, the rear plate 31 is fixed at a desired position by a fixing jig (not shown) provided on the lower hot plate 22.

E. Frame installation (FIG. 5) As shown in FIG.
1 is arranged.

The frame member 51 is manufactured by cutting a 1.1 mm thick glass plate, and applying an Ag paste to one side by a printing method and firing the same to form an In material used for bonding the frame member and the face plate. An undercoating underlayer was formed.

When the frame member 51 is disposed on the frit glass 33, the glass surface of the frame member 51 (In base (Ag layer)
(The opposite side of the surface) is in contact with the frit glass 33.

After the positioning, positioning was performed using a positioning jig (not shown) so that the frame member 51 was located at a predetermined position on the rear plate 31.

The material of the frame member 51 was the same as that of the rear plate 31.

F. Protective Member Installation (FIG. 6) As shown in FIG. 6, a protective member 61 is disposed on the frame member 51 (In base (Ag layer) surface side). After the arrangement, positioning was performed using a positioning jig (not shown) so that the protection member 61 was located at a predetermined position on the frame member 51.

The protection member 61 is used to protect the In base (Ag layer) surface applied to the frame member 51, and is used for the purpose of preventing adhesion to a pressing substrate described later.

The material is desirably a material other than glass having the same thermal expansion as that of the rear plate 31. In this embodiment, the thickness of the 426 alloy (Fe-42% Ni-6% Cr alloy) is 0.15.
mm sheet is processed and used in the same shape as the frame member 51 (wider than the width of the frame member). The reason why the material is other than glass is that the In base-treated surface (thick Ag printed film) used in the present embodiment easily adheres to glass under high temperature and pressure conditions.

G. 7 and 8, an auxiliary member 72 having the same thickness as the rear plate 31 or slightly thinner is arranged around the rear plate 31 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

Further, a spacing member 71 is arranged around the rear plate 31 and the auxiliary member 72.

In the present embodiment, the thickness of the rear plate 31 is
Since it was 2.8 mm, the thickness of the auxiliary member 72 was 2.75 mm,
Two types of 30 mm in width, 600 mm in length and 900 mm in length (made of glass) were arranged on the long side and the short side of the rear plate 31, respectively.

The spacing member 71 has a thickness of 1.57 mm,
10 mm width, 500 mm length and 800 mm length (made of glass) were used.

When placing the space defining member 71 on the rear plate 31 (auxiliary member 72), as shown in FIG. 8, the wiring 81 was avoided and was in contact with the glass surface. This is to prevent the wiring 82 from being damaged by the space defining member 71.

The auxiliary member 72 is provided for the purpose of stabilizing the space defining member 71.

In the present embodiment, since the periphery of the substrate (the place where no wiring is provided) is selected as the place where the space defining member 71 is arranged, the width that can be installed is as narrow as 5 mm around, and the space defining member having a width of 5 mm or less is installed there. In this case, the width was set to 10 mm in consideration of the fact that the spacing member was cracked due to insufficient strength. For this reason, more than half of the width of the gap defining member 71 protrudes from the rear plate 31 and becomes unstable. Therefore, the auxiliary member 72 is arranged below the gap defining member 71 for the purpose of stabilization.

If there is no problem with the strength of the spacing member, FIG.
As shown in 2 and 13, a configuration without an auxiliary member can be adopted.

H. Pressing Substrate Installation (Upper Hot Plate) (FIG. 9A) Next, as shown in FIG. 9A, the pressing substrate 91 is vacuum-adsorbed to the upper hot plate 21.

As the pressing substrate 91, a glass plate made of the same material as the rear plate 31 was used.

The reason why the pressing substrate is used is that there is a possibility that the expansion and contraction of the upper hot plate 21 due to thermal expansion at the time of temperature rise and fall may cause damage to the space defining member 71 and the protective member 61. This is to prevent foreign matter (frit glass or the like) from adhering to 21.

In this embodiment, since the protective member 61 is provided, the upper surface of the frame does not adhere to the pressing substrate even if a glass material is used for the pressing substrate.

I. Main firing (FIGS. 9A to 9C, FIG. 1)
0) With the temperature profile shown in FIG. 10, the main firing of the frit glass was performed for bonding the frame members.

At this time, the elevating unit is operated in accordance with the temperature profile, and the upper hot plate 21 is lowered.
A load is applied to the frame member 51. At this time, the load can be controlled by the elevating unit, and the load can be applied perpendicularly to the rear plate substrate surface (the upper surface of the frame). Therefore, even if it is arranged at a portion outside the vacuum vessel, it is possible to prevent the entire upper surface of the frame from being joined in an obliquely inclined state.

The relationship between temperature and load will be described below.

Until the temperature reaches 400 ° C., the frame member 51
Protection member 61 and upper hot plate 2
1 m between the pressing substrate 91 and the pressing substrate 91
There is a gap of about m (FIG. 9A).

The upper hot plate 21 is lowered at 400 ° C., and the pressed substrate 91 is brought into contact with the protection member 61 (FIG. 9B). At this time, a load of about 20 kg is applied to the frame member 51.

When the temperature reaches 425 ° C., the load is increased to about 100 kg. Thereby, the frit glass is sufficiently crushed, and the frame member 51 is pushed down to the height defined by the space defining member 71.

After the start of cooling, the load is reduced to about 20 kg.
This state is maintained until the temperature reaches room temperature (the load is 20 kg, the pressing substrate 91 and the protection member 61 are in contact with each other).

J. After taking out (FIG. 11), the upper hot plate 21 is raised (FIG. 9).
(C)), from the lower hot plate 22 to the rear plate 31
Take out. At this time, adhesion between the upper surface of the frame and the pressed substrate 91 on the upper hot plate 21 was prevented by the protection member 61, so that the In base treatment (Ag layer) surface provided on the upper surface of the frame was not damaged. Good frame assembly was achieved. FIG. 11 shows the rear plate 31 taken out.

After the above process, the rear plate 31
The frame member 51 is bonded to the desired position with frit glass without damaging the upper surface of the frame.

In this example, the height from the rear plate glass surface of the frame member to the In base (Ag layer) surface is 1.365 m on average.
We were able to bond with an accuracy of 0.1 mm in m and range.

A desired value depending on the flatness of the hot plate,
If it does not fit in the range, it can be adjusted by laying a metal shim corresponding to the height of the frame member. At that time, the metal shim is arranged between the lower hot plate and the rear plate.

As a metal shim, a metal shim having a small heat capacity and not sticking (adhering) to a hot plate or a glass substrate is preferable, and an aluminum plate, a stainless steel plate or the like is used.

After the frame member bonding step as described above, forming and activating the electron source element, then applying In on the frame member, and then assembling a spacer for supporting between the face plate and the rear plate, Finally, the face plate and the rear plate are joined by baking and sealing in a vacuum sealing device to form a panel (FIG. 13). In addition, since damage to the upper surface of the frame was prevented by the frame assembling method of the present invention, In
The sealing of the face plate and the frame can be performed well, and a good display device can be manufactured.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described image display device.
The present invention is also applicable to an image recording device or the like that requires a vacuum container.

(Image Display Apparatus) Next, JP-A-09-8224 to which the manufacturing method (frame member bonding step) of the present invention is applied.
An example of the configuration of the image display device (FIG. 14) described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5 will be described.

In FIG. 14, reference numeral 2 denotes a rear plate serving as a container bottom, reference numeral 4 denotes a face plate, and reference numeral 3 denotes a support frame for supporting between the face plate 4 and the rear plate 2. A vacuum container (airtight container) for maintaining a vacuum inside the display device is formed.

When assembling the airtight container, it is necessary to seal the joints of the members in order to maintain sufficient strength and airtightness. In the present embodiment, as described above, the rear plate 2 and the support frame 3 are required. Sealing was achieved by using frit glass as a joining (sealing) material between the two and using a low melting point metal as a joining (sealing) material between the face plate 4 and the support frame 3.

On the rear plate 2, N × M surface conduction electron-emitting devices as the electron source 1 are formed. (N and M are positive integers of 2 or more and are appropriately set according to the target number of display pixels. In this embodiment, N = 144.
0, M = 480. The N × M surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in a simple matrix by M row-directional wirings and N column-directional wirings. The part configured in this way is called a multi-electron beam source.

The symbols D0x1 to D0xm and D0y1 to D0y1
D0yn and Hv denote air-tight electrical connection terminals provided for electrically connecting the display panel to an electric circuit (not shown). D0x1 to D0x of row selection terminal 10
0xm is the row wiring of the multi-electron beam source, D0y1 to D0yn of the signal input terminal 11 are the column wiring of the multi-electron beam source, and the high voltage terminal Hv is the metal back 8 of the face plate 4. It is electrically connected to a certain anode electrode.

To evacuate the inside of the hermetic container, after assembling the hermetic container, an exhaust pipe (not shown) and a vacuum pump are connected, and the inside of the hermetic container is raised to the power of 10 −5 [P
a) Exhaust to a degree of vacuum. Thereafter, the exhaust pipe is sealed, but a getter film (not shown) is formed at a predetermined position on the face plate 4 of the airtight container immediately before or after the sealing in order to maintain the degree of vacuum in the airtight container. I do. The getter film is, for example, a film formed by heating and depositing a getter material containing Ba as a main component by a heater or high-frequency heating, and the inside of the hermetic container is 1 × by the adsorbing action of the getter film. 10 minus 3 or 1 x 10 minus 5
The degree of vacuum of the power [Torr] is maintained.

Next, the multi-electron beam source used for the display panel will be described.

The multi-electron beam source used in the image display device of the present invention is not limited as long as the cold cathode devices are arranged in a simple matrix or a ladder, and the material, shape and manufacturing method of the cold cathode devices are not limited. . Therefore, for example, a cold cathode device such as a surface conduction type emission device, an FE type, or an MIM type can be used.

However, in a situation where a display device having a large display screen and an inexpensive display device is required, among these cold cathode devices, a surface conduction type emission device is particularly preferable. That is, in the FE type, since the relative position and shape of the emitter cone and the gate electrode greatly affect the electron emission characteristics, extremely high-precision manufacturing technology is required, but this achieves a large area and a reduction in manufacturing cost. Is a disadvantageous factor. In the case of the MIM type, it is necessary to make the thicknesses of the insulating layer and the upper electrode thin and uniform, which is also a disadvantageous factor in achieving a large area and a reduction in manufacturing cost. On the other hand, since the surface conduction electron-emitting device has a relatively simple manufacturing method, it is easy to increase the area and reduce the manufacturing cost.

[0078]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the frame is joined to one of the opposing substrates with the joining material, the frame is added in order to bring the frame into sufficient contact with the joining material. When pressing with a pressure member, a protective layer is arranged on the pressing surface of the frame, and pressure is applied via the protective layer, so that damage to the pressing surface of the frame can be prevented, and subsequent bonding of the other substrate to the upper surface of the frame is good. Can be done. Thus, an airtight container having a high degree of vacuum can be formed, and a favorable display device can be manufactured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a process flowchart showing a frame member assembling process of an image display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a hot plate type assembling apparatus used when assembling a frame member of the image display apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state of frit glass application in a frame member assembling step of the image display device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state where a rear plate is installed on a lower hot plate in a frame member assembling step of the image display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a state where a frame member is installed on a rear plate in a frame member assembling step of the image display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a protective member is set on the frame member in a frame member assembling step of the image display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state of setting a space defining member in a frame member assembling step of the image display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a view for explaining in detail the installation of the interval defining member in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the frame member is bonded by firing the frit glass from the installation of the substrate pressed against the upper hot plate in the frame member assembling step of the image display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a temperature profile when a frame member is bonded by main firing of frit glass.

FIG. 11 is a view showing a rear plate taken out after main firing in a frame member assembling step of the image display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a configuration when another interval defining member is used in a frame member assembling step of the image display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a configuration when another interval defining member is used in a frame member assembling step of the image display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic configuration diagram of a display device described in JP-A-09-82245.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a pressing process when a frame and a substrate constituting a vacuum vessel of a conventional image forming apparatus are joined via a joining material.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 Upper hot plate 22 Lower hot plate 23 Heater 24 XYθ table 25 Elevating unit 31 Rear plate 32 Nozzle (dispenser) 33 Frit glass 51 Frame member 61 Protective members 71, 111, 121 Interval regulating member 72 Auxiliary member 81 Wiring 91 Pressing substrate

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Osamu Takamatsu 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo F-term in Canon Inc. (reference) 5C012 AA05 BC03 5C032 AA01 CC10 5C036 EF01 EF06 EG05 EG06 EG50

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus using a vacuum container formed between a pair of opposed substrates via a frame, wherein the frame is attached to one of the opposed substrates via a bonding material. In the joining step, a protection member is disposed on a portion of the frame facing the other substrate facing the one substrate, and pressure is applied between the frame and the one substrate via the protection member. A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus, comprising: 2. The method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the frame on which the protection member is disposed is subjected to a metal film treatment. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the protection member is a metal. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the protective member is made of 426 alloy. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the bonding material is frit glass. 6. The method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a step of providing a getter material on the other substrate facing the one substrate. 7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of providing a bonding material made of a low melting point metal between the frame and the other substrate arranged opposite to the one substrate. Manufacturing method of an image forming apparatus. 8. An image forming apparatus manufactured by using the manufacturing method according to claim 1.