Electric lamp and discharge devices – With luminescent solid or liquid material – With gaseous discharge medium
Reexamination Certificate
2002-10-15
2004-09-07
Patel, Vip (Department: 2879)
Electric lamp and discharge devices
With luminescent solid or liquid material
With gaseous discharge medium
C313S495000, C313S582000, C313S634000, C313S553000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06787982
ABSTRACT:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY
This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, and claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. §119 from our application entitled SIDE BAR FOR FLAT PANEL DISPLAY DEVICE, MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF, AND FLAT PANEL DISPLAY DEVICE HAVING SIDE BAR filed with the Korean Industrial Property Office on Oct. 15, 2001 and there duly assigned Ser. No. 2001-63450, and an application entitled SIDE BAR FOR FLAT PANEL DISPLAY DEVICE, MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF, AND FLAT PANEL DISPLAY DEVICE HAVING SIDE BAR filed with the Korean Industrial Property Office on Feb. 20, 2002 and there duly assigned Ser. No. 2002-9011.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a flat panel display device, and more particularly, to a side bar used for sealing a faceplate to a backplate while being positioned between the faceplate and the backplate and maintaining a cell gap between the two plates. The present invention also relates to a method of manufacturing the side bar, and to a flat panel display device, in particular to a field emission display device, having the side bar.
2. Related Art
Generally, unlike a cathode ray tube which requires a large space and high voltage, a flat panel display device (FPD) is thin and substantially flat and it can be operated by low voltage. Flat panel display devices include a field emission display device (FED), a vacuum fluorescent display device (VFD), and a plasma display device (PDP).
Each flat panel display device differs in detailed structure depending on its type. However, every type of flat panel display device has electrodes disposed between two opposing plates, and the electrodes are operated to emit electrons. A phosphor layer formed on one of the plates is excited by the emitted electrons, and thus a predetermined pattern can be displayed.
The inner space between the plates is preferably maintained to be a vacuum so as to permit electrons to move easily. In order to maintain the inner space vacuum, the borders of the two plates are sealed with frit or with side bars provided with adhesive paste such as frit.
Side bars have been manufactured by cutting a flat glass plate at regular intervals. Both surfaces of the flat glass plate are provided with adhesive paste.
If the two plates are sealed with such a side bar, the cell gap between the two opposing plates of the flat panel display may not be uniform because of the amount of adhesive paste provided on both surfaces of the side bar. In other words, if more or less than the predetermined amount of adhesive paste is provided, the cell gap may be higher or lower than the predetermined height.
However, if a side bar having a height equivalent to a desired cell gap is employed for sealing, and the amount of adhesive paste provided on the side bar is reduced in order to resolve the above problem, the two plates may not be sufficiently sealed and they may leak.
It is difficult to manufacture a flat panel display which has a uniform gap between the two plates. In the case of a flat panel display having a gap between the two plates which is not uniform, brightness is also not uniform. Further, the pressure is not applied regularly to every spacer but is concentrated at a specific portion, and as a result, the spacer tends to break easily.
In order to improve the vacuum degree by removing gas generated while the electrodes and phosphor layers on the plates are fired, a getter is provided between the two plates or inside the exhaust pipe.
Getters employed for a flat panel display device are classified as evaporation-type getters and non-evaporation-type getters. The evaporation-type getter is being widely used for VFDs because of its low cost, but it generates particles during the activation process, it requires a substantial space to evaporate and deposit, and the activation temperature is relatively high. Hence, interest is now being focused on the non-evaporation-type getter.
A non-evaporation-type getter includes various types, such as a band-type and a ring-type. Due to convenience of use and low activation temperature, the band-type getter is widely employed for various fields.
There are basically two methods of providing a getter for a flat panel display. One is a method of providing the getter in an extra space outside the panel, and the other is a method of providing the getter in a space inside the panel.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.9-129161 discloses an FED according to a method of providing the getter in an extra space outside the panel. In this FED, first and second substrates are provided, a getter chamber is provided at the bottom of the second substrate, and the inner space between the first substrate and the second substrate communicates with the getter chamber via a connecting hole formed on the second substrate. An exhaust port is formed on the bottom of a glass which forms the getter chamber, and an exhaust tube is connected to the exhaust port. The getter is provided in the interior of the getter chamber using a getter support tool.
The getter support tool comprises a base section which has a band shape that is longer than the circumference of the getter, a hold section which is bent in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the base section and which grasps the getter from above and below, and support legs which are formed in one body with the base section and that maintain the getter at a predetermined height in the getter chamber.
Therefore, the amount by which the display in such a flat panel display as described above can be made thinner is limited because the getter chamber and the exhaust tube are provided at the bottom of the second substrate.
Further, the hold section must be bent for providing the getter to the getter support tool, and when the getter is provided inside the getter chamber, one of the support legs must be fixed on the getter chamber to prevent the getter support tool from deviating from its original position. Hence, it is inconvenient to fix the getter in the display device.
Korean Patent Laid-Open No.1999-43844 discloses another method of holding and activating a getter of an FED.
The method comprises forming a getter chamber and an exhaust tube on one side of a panel when manufacturing a flat panel display by aligning an upper substrate with a lower substrate and sealing them together, inserting the getter into the getter chamber after fixing the getter on a dummy wire by welding, enveloping the exhaust tube with the dummy wire by melting the exhaust tube, and activating the getter by heating after a process of exhaust and tip-off.
According to the above method, the flat panel display can be thinner than in the former case. However, a section of exhaust tube must be fixed on each side of the substrate, and the getter welded to the dummy wire must be inserted into the getter chamber through the exhaust tube. Hence, it is still inconvenient to fix the getter in the display device. Further, the quality of image display may be deteriorated due to the effects of heat on the substrate when the exhaust tube is melted using a torch.
When the getter is provided to the inner space of the panel, an extra structure, such as a metal wire or a getter holder, is usually employed to fix the getter. However, by using such an extra structure, the length of the process may increase and unnecessary space in addition to the effective area may also increase.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a side bar and a method of manufacturing thereof, which is capable of sealing a faceplate to a back plate of a flat panel display device and of maintaining a constant cell gap between two plates.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a side bar, and a method of manufacturing thereof, which has a getter-receiving portion in its body, and which is capable of sealing a faceplate to a back plate of a flat panel display device.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a flat panel display device having the above side bar. Because of such side bar, a non-
Chi Eung-Joon
Ryu Kyung-Sun
Bushnell , Esq. Robert E.
Patel Vip
Samsung SDI & Co., Ltd.
Zimmerman Glenn
LandOfFree
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