Radiation imagery chemistry: process – composition – or product th – Producing cathode-ray tube or element thereof – Using specific control or specific modification of exposure,...
Reexamination Certificate
1998-05-19
2001-05-29
Dunn, Tom (Department: 1754)
Radiation imagery chemistry: process, composition, or product th
Producing cathode-ray tube or element thereof
Using specific control or specific modification of exposure,...
C430S023000, C430S028000, C451S030000, C451S031000, C445S024000, C445S050000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06238829
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a plasma addressed electro-optical display having a flat panel structure in which a display cell is superimposed on a plasma cell, and particularly to a method of manufacturing discharge electrodes and barrier ribs formed on the plasma cell.
A plasma addressed electro-optical display making use of a plasma cell for addressing a display cell has been known, for example, from Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 4-265931. As shown in
FIG. 7
, this plasma addressed electro-optical display has a flat panel structure including a display cell
1
, a plasma cell
2
, and a common intermediate substrate
3
interposed therebetween. The plasma cell
2
includes a lower substrate
8
joined to the intermediate substrate
3
with a gap kept therebetween, in which gap an ionizable gas is sealed. Discharge electrodes
9
are formed on the inner surface of the lower substrate
8
in a pattern of stripes. The discharge electrodes
9
are printed and baked on the flat lower substrate
8
by a screen printing process or the like. Barrier ribs
10
are formed in such a manner that each barrier rib
10
partitions two adjacent pairs of the discharge electrodes
9
from each other, to thereby divide the gap in which the ionizable gas is sealed into discharge channels
12
. The barrier ribs
10
are also printed and baked by the screen printing process or the like such that tops thereof are in contact with the lower surface of the intermediate substrate
3
. A pair of discharge electrodes
9
contained in each discharge channel
12
function as an anode A and a cathode K to generate plasma discharge therebetween. The structure shown in
FIG. 7
, in which the anodes A and the cathodes K are formed on the same plane, is called “a planar discharge structure”. In addition, the intermediate substrate
3
is joined to the lower substrate
8
with glass frit
11
or the like.
Meanwhile, the display cell
1
includes a transparent upper substrate
4
. The upper substrate
4
is stuck on the intermediate substrate
3
using a sealant
6
or the like with a specific gas kept therebetween. The gap is filled with an electro-optical material such as liquid crystal
7
. Signal electrodes
5
are formed on the inner surface of the upper substrate
4
in such a manner as to be perpendicular to the striped discharge channels
12
. A matrix of pixels are defined at points at which the signal electrodes
5
cross the discharge channels
12
.
In the plasma addressed electro-optical display having such a configuration, display drive is performed by switchingly scanning rows of the discharge channels
12
in which plasma discharge is to be performed in linear sequence and applying image signals to columns of the signal electrodes
5
on the display cell
1
side in synchronization with the scanning. The generation of plasma discharge in each discharge channel
12
between the anode A and cathode K having the flat electrode structure causes the interior of the discharge channel
12
to be uniformly at an anode potential, thus effecting pixel selection for each row. In other words, the discharge channel
12
functions as a sampling switch. Then, by applying an image signal to each pixel in a state in which such a plasma sampling switch is conductive, the sampling is performed to control turn-on/off of the pixel. After the plasma sampling switch is turned into a non-conductive state, the image signal thus sampled is held in the pixel as it is.
In the case where the above planar discharge structure is employed for a transmission type plasma addressed electro-optical display, there arises a disadvantage in which the opening ratio of the pixels is sacrificed because the light shielding discharge electrodes
9
are provided in the discharge channels
12
. To cope with such a disadvantage, there has been proposed a plasma addressed electro-optical display, shown in
FIG. 8
, having a side surface discharge structure (also called a facing discharge structure or a wall discharge structure). In
FIG. 8
, for an easy understanding, parts corresponding to those of the plasma addressed electro-optical display of the planar discharge structure shown in
FIG. 7
are indicated by the corresponding reference numerals. In the side surface discharge structure, a discharge channel
12
includes a pair of discharge electrodes
9
having side surfaces facing to each other and barrier ribs
10
each being matched onto the upper surface of the discharge electrode
9
. The side surfaces, facing to each other, of the pair of the discharge electrodes
9
exposed in the discharge channel
12
function as an anode A and a cathode K to generate plasma discharge therebetween. Differently from the planar discharge structure, the side surface discharge structure ensures a high opening ratio because the anodes A and the cathodes K are not present on the bottom surfaces of the discharge channels
12
, causing an advantage in terms of luminance.
FIG. 9
is a typical perspective view showing a method of manufacturing discharge electrodes
9
and barrier ribs
10
in the side surface discharge structure. In the related art method, the discharge electrodes
9
were formed by printing a conductive material (conductive paste) in a pattern of stripes by screen printing, and the barrier ribs
10
were formed by printing an insulating material (insulating paste) on the pattern of the discharge electrodes
9
using the same screen mask. In this method, however, since the discharge electrodes
9
or the barrier ribs
10
must be formed high to some degree, it is necessary to repeat screen printing for ensuring the thickness of the discharge electrodes
9
or the barrier ribs
10
. For example, the barrier ribs
10
are formed by repeating about 10 times the screen printing. This makes the working time longer and may cause failure due to adhesion of dust. In this method, accurate positioning is also required for matching the barrier ribs
10
onto the discharge electrodes
9
, which takes a lot of labor. To facilitate the positioning therebetween, the barrier ribs
10
must be laminated and printed on the discharge electrodes
9
using the same screen mask. In this case, after printing the conductive paste for forming the discharge electrodes
9
, the conductive paste is required to be dried. Then, the screen mask is cleaned, and the insulating paste (a glass paste), which is exchanged from the conductive paste, is printed for forming the barrier ribs
10
. The above related art manufacturing method, therefore, necessarily adopts batch processing, thereby causing a problem in mass-production.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a plasma addressed electro-optical display, which is excellent in mass-productivity and production efficiency.
To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a plasma addressed electro-optical display having a structure in which a display cell is superimposed on a plasma cell, the display cell including an intermediate substrate, an upper substrate having columns of signal electrodes, and an electro-optical material held therebetween, the plasma cell including a lower substrate joined to the intermediate substrate, and a plurality of rows of discharge channels formed therebetween and composed of discharge electrodes and barrier ribs, the method including: a first step of forming the discharge electrodes each having side surfaces and an upper surface on a front surface of the lower substrate in a pattern of stripes; a second step of applying a photosensitive insulating material over the entire surfaces of the discharge electrodes to a specific thickness; and a third step of exposing the insulating material to light from a back surface of the lower substrate using the discharge electrodes as a mask, followed by development, to form the barrier ribs on upper surfaces of the discharge electrodes.
The first step may inclu
Dunn Tom
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal
Sony Corporation
Strickland Jonas N.
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