Electric lamp and discharge devices – With luminescent solid or liquid material – Solid-state type
Reexamination Certificate
2003-01-28
2004-09-21
Patel, Vip (Department: 2879)
Electric lamp and discharge devices
With luminescent solid or liquid material
Solid-state type
C313S505000, C313S506000, C313S512000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06794815
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2002-7015 filed on Feb. 7, 2002, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic electroluminescent (EL) display device, and more particularly, to an organic electroluminescent display device having improved manufacturability, a substrate of the same and a method of cutting the substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, much attention has been paid to electroluminescent display devices as spontaneous emission display devices because they have advantageous features suitable for next generation display devices, such as a wide viewing angle, a high contrast ratio and a high response speed. Electroluminescent display devices are classified into inorganic electroluminescent display devices and organic electroluminescent display devices according to materials to form emitter layers. Organic electroluminescent display devices have good luminance and a high response speed and are capable of achieving full-color display.
Generally, an organic electroluminescent display device (to be abbreviated as an organic EL device, hereinafter) is configured such that a positive electrode layer with a predetermined pattern is formed on a glass or other transparent substrate. Then, organic layers and a negative electrode layer with a predetermined pattern are sequentially stacked on the positive electrode layer in a direction orthogonal to the positive electrode layer. Here, the organic layers have a layered structure of a hole transport layer, a light emitting layer and an electron transport layer that are sequentially stacked, and these layers are made from organic compounds.
Usable materials for the organic layers include copper phthalocyanine (CuPc), N,N′-di(naphthalene-1-yl)-N,N′-diphenyl-benzidine (NPB) and tris-8-hydroxyquinoline aluminum (Alq3).
In the above-described organic EL device, where a drive voltage is applied to the positive electrode and the negative electrode, holes from the positive electrode migrate to the light emitting layer via the hole transport layer, and electrons from the negative electrode migrate to the light emitting layer via the electron transport layer. The holes and the electrons are recombined in the light emitting layer to generate excitons. As the excitons are deactivated to a ground state, fluorescent molecules of the light emitting layer emit light, thereby forming an image. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,452,576 and 6,390,874 disclose such organic EL devices.
To mass produce organic EL devices, as shown in
FIG. 1
, a plurality organic light emitting portions (not shown) are formed on a large base panel
12
at a predetermined interval. The respective organic light emitting portions are encapsulated by encapsulation caps
13
, and first and second groups of electrodes
14
and
15
drawn out from at least one of each end of the respective encapsulation caps
13
are patterned, thereby manufacturing a substrate
10
having the organic EL devices. The manufactured substrate
10
is cut at portions between neighboring encapsulation caps
13
, thereby producing a plurality of individualized organic EL devices
11
.
FIG. 2
shows a detailed diagram of the substrate
10
shown in FIG.
1
. As shown in
FIG. 2
, the first and second groups of electrodes
14
and
15
are drawn from one edge of each of the encapsulation caps
13
which encapsulate the respective organic light emitting portions. The first and second groups of electrodes
14
and
15
apply voltages to positive and negative electrodes (not shown) which constitute the organic light emitting portions. A wide dead space
16
is provided between an end portion of electrode terminals of the first and second groups of electrodes
14
and
15
and an edge of an adjacent encapsulation cap
13
, to then be easily cut along a cutting line A
1
. Additionally, the substrate
10
is cut along another cutting line A
2
. Thus, the substrate
10
is partitioned into the plurality of organic EL devices
11
. To remove the dead space
16
, the partitioned organic EL devices
11
may be further cut along a cutting line B, which lowers working efficiency, resulting in poor manufacturability.
Patterns of the respective electrode terminals of the first and second groups of electrodes
14
and
15
and the positive and negative electrodes connected thereto are inspected whether they are short-circuited or disconnected. In the substrate
10
of the organic EL device shown in
FIG. 2
, the respective organic EL devices obtained by primary cutting are individually inspected. However, individually inspecting the respective organic EL devices lowers working efficiency, resulting in poor manufacturability and requiring an increased work force and inspection facility.
FIG. 3
shows another example of a substrate
30
of an organic EL device to illustrate an inspection operation performed in terms of a unit substrate. First and second groups of electrodes
34
and
35
are drawn from respective one-side edges of encapsulation caps
33
which encapsulate a plurality of organic light emitting layers (not shown) provided on a single base panel
32
at a predetermined interval.
A wide dead space area
37
is provided between end portions of electrode terminals of the first and second groups of electrodes
34
and
35
and an edge of an adjacent encapsulation cap
33
, to then be cut along a cutting line C
1
. Also, a common electrode
36
a
is formed at an end portion of electrode terminals of the first group of electrodes
34
. The respective electrode terminals are all electrically connected by the common electrode
36
a
. A common electrode
36
b
is also provided at an end portion of electrode terminals of the second group of electrodes
35
. After the organic EL devices are inspected through the common electrodes
36
a
and
36
b
, the substrate
30
is cut along cutting lines C
1
and C
2
. To eliminate the electrically connected state and remove the dead space area
37
, the substrate
30
is further cut along a cutting line D in parallel with the common electrodes
36
a
and
36
b
, thereby finally producing the individualized organic EL devices
31
. However, similar to the substrate
10
of
FIG. 2
, the substrate
30
also requires an additional cutting operation to be partitioned into the plurality of organic EL devices
31
, which lowers a working efficiency and results in poor manufacturability.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide an organic EL device having first and second groups of electrodes which minimize inspection and cutting operations thereof, a substrate of the organic EL device and a cutting method of the substrate. Therefore, the present organic EL device increases the manufacturability thereof.
Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
To achieve the above and/or other aspects of the present invention, there is provided an organic EL device comprising a substrate, an organic light emitting portion which includes a positive electrode formed in a predetermined pattern, an organic layer formed on the positive electrode, and a negative electrode having a predetermined pattern in a direction orthogonal with the positive electrode, an encapsulation cap which encapsulates the organic light emitting portion, first and second groups of electrodes which are drawn out from at least one edge of the encapsulation cap and connected to the positive and negative electrodes, respectively, to drive the organic light emitting portion, and first and second dummy electrodes formed at one side of the substrate.
To achieve the above and/or other aspects of the present invention, there is provided a substrate of an organic EL device, the substra
Ito Hideki
Kota Atsushi
Lee Ju-won
Lee Sang-ho
Son Cheol-sig
Patel Vip
Samsung Oled Co., Ltd.
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