1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to display apparatuses.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in general, as a display apparatus having a vacuum envelope of a flat panel structure, there has been known a field emission display (FED) which uses emission from a light emitting body irradiated by electrons accelerated by the voltage applied to an anode. A display apparatus using a surface conduction electron-emitting device as an electron source is under development.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-326583 discloses a configuration in which an anode is applied with a high voltage via a common electrode.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-185614 also discloses a configuration in which an anode is applied with a high voltage via a common electrode.
Particularly, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-185614 discloses a configuration in which the common electrode is electrically segmentalized into a plurality of areas.
The common electrode 120 is annularly provided so as to surround the periphery of a metal back 114, and is connected to an edge portion of the metal back 114 via a resistor film 122 (resistor member). In other words, the common electrode 120 has a plurality of electrode films 124 (conductive members) spaced-apart in the longitudinal direction, and is provided with a resistor film 122 annularly superposed on the electrode films 124 so as to annularly connect the electrode films 124, and the inner periphery of the resistor film 122 is connected to the edge portion of the metal back 114. The electrode film 124 is, for example, formed by patterning of a silver paste.
While the common electrode preferably has a resistance of some degree, when the resistance is too low, this leads to the occurrence of a voltage distribution. Although the resistance of the entire common electrodes can be prevented from becoming too large by narrowing an interval between the adjacent electrode films, when the interval between the electrode films is narrow, the possibility of an electric discharge occurring between the electrode films looms large.
An object of the present invention is to realize a configuration capable of suitably setting a resistance of the electrode supplying a voltage to an anode, while suppressing the electric discharge between the electrode films in the configuration in which the electrode supplying the voltage to the anode has a plurality of electrode films.
The display apparatus of the present invention includes an electron source; a substrate; a light emitting body arranged on the substrate and emitting light by being irradiated by an electron emitted from the electron source; an anode disposed on the substrate and supplied with a voltage for accelerating the electron; and an electrode for supplying the voltage to the anode, the electrode being disposed along a side of the substrate, wherein the electrode has a plurality of electrode films and a resistor film connecting between the electrodes, and the plurality of electrode films include two electrode films adjacent to each other, and a length of the portion opposing the other electrode film in one electrode film from among the two electrode films is longer than a length of the one electrode film in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the electrode.
According to the present invention, in the configuration in which the electrode supplying the voltage to the anode has a plurality of electrode films, the electric discharge between the electrode films is suppressed, while the resistance of the electrode supplying the voltage to the anode can be suitably set.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, referring to
As shown in
The inner surface of the front substrate 2 is formed with a phosphor screen 12 working as an image display surface. This phosphor screen 12 is formed by laying phosphor layers R, G, and B, and a light shielding layer 11 side by side, and superposed with a metal back 14 (equivalent to the anode of the present invention) made of aluminum and the like. The phosphor layers R, G, and B are formed in the shape of a stripe or a dot.
The inner surface of the rear substrate 4 is provided with a number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices 16 which emit electron beams for allowing the phosphor layers R, G, and B of the phosphor screen 12 to perform excited emission. These electron-emitting devices 16 are disposed in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns corresponding to each pixel, that is, each of the phosphor layers R, G, and B. Each electron-emitting device 16 includes an unillustrated electron emitting portion and a pair of device electrodes and the like which apply a voltage to this electron emitting portion. On the inner surface of the rear substrate 4, a number of wirings 18 for giving a drive voltage to each electron-emitting device 16 are provided in a matrix pattern, and the end portion thereof is pulled out to the outside of the vacuum envelope 10.
The rear substrate 4, the electron-emitting device 16, and the wiring 18 form an electron source.
The side wall 6 working as a junction member, for example, is sealed on the peripheral edge portion of the front substrate 2 and the peripheral edge portion of the rear substrate 4 by a sealing material 19 such as a low melting point glass and a low melting point metal, and joins these substrates to each other. In the present embodiment, the rear substrate 4 and the side wall 6 are joined by using a frit glass 19a, and the front substrate 2 and the side wall 6 are joined by using indium 19b.
The display panel 10 includes a plurality of slender plate-like spacers 8 having glass between the front substrate 2 and the rear substrate 4. In the present embodiment, though the spacers 8 are taken as a plurality of slender glass plates, a number of columnar spacers may be used.
Each spacer 8 has an upper end 8a abutting on the inner surface of the front substrate 2 via the metal back 14 of the phosphor screen 12 and the light shielding layer 11, and a lower end 8b abutting on the wiring 18 provided on the inner surface of the rear substrate 4. These spacers 8 support atmospheric load acting from the outside of the front substrate 2 and the rear substrate 4, and maintain the interval between the substrates at a predetermined value.
The display apparatus in this embodiment includes an unillustrated voltage supply portion to apply an anode voltage to the metal back 14 of the front substrate 2. The voltage supply portion, for example, applies a high voltage to the extent of 10 kV to the metal back 14, thereby increasing the voltage of the phosphor screen 12. As a result, between the earthed rear substrate 4 and the front substrate 2, a difference of voltages to the extent of 10 kV is formed.
When an image is to be displayed in the SED, a voltage is given between device electrodes of the electron-emitting device 16 via an unillustrated drive circuit connected to the wiring 18, and electron beams are emitted from the electron-emitting portion of any of the electron-emitting devices 16, and at the same time, an anode voltage is applied to the metal back 14. The electron beams emitted from the electron-emitting portion are accelerated by the anode voltage, and are irradiated on the phosphor screen 12. As a result, the phosphor layers R, G, and B of the phosphor screen 12 are excited to emit, thereby displaying a color image.
When the display panel 10 of the above described structure is to be fabricated, the front substrate 2 provided with the phosphor screen 12 is prepared in advance, and the rear substrate 4 provided with the electron-emitting device 16 and the wiring 18 as well as joined with the side wall 6 and the spacer 8 is prepared. The front substrate 2 and the rear substrate 4 are disposed inside an unillustrated vacuum chamber, and after the interior of the vacuum chamber is vacuum-evacuated, the front substrate 2 is joined to the rear substrate 4 via the side wall 6.
Meantime, the display apparatus of the above described structure has the front substrate 2 and the rear substrate 4 opposed to each other via a minute gap to the extent of 1 to 2 mm, thereby maintaining the interior thereof at a super-high vacuum. Hence, for example, when a foreign matter such as a thin film fragment is applied to the wiring 18 and the electron-emitting device 16, it is known that an electrical discharge occurs between the substrates 2 and 4 with that foreign matter as a base point. At this time, when the metal back 14 is formed across the entire surface of the front substrate 2, almost all the electric charges charged in the metal back 14 are concentrated on the discharging place so as to let an excessive discharge current flow, and as a result, the electron-emitting device 16 may be destroyed.
By adopting a configuration in which the anode is allowed to have some resistance, the current flowing at the time of the electric discharge can be suppressed. As a configuration for increasing the resistance of the anode, a configuration can be suitably adopted in which the anode is formed by a plurality of electrodes, and a resistor is connected between these electrodes. For example, the metal back 14 is configured to be a form electrically segmentalized into a plurality of areas, so that the electric charge can be prevented from concentratedly flowing into one place when an electric discharge occurs between the substrates. In the configuration in which the anode is allowed to have some degree of resistance in this manner, when the anode is configured to be supplied with the anode voltage at one place only of the anode, a voltage distribution occurs inside the anode due to the resistance of the anode. This voltage distribution can be prevented from occurring inside the anode by providing a common electrode (equivalent to the electrode of the present invention) along a side of the front substrate and supplying the voltage to the anode from the common electrode at a plurality of positions. However, when the electric discharge occurs close to the connection portion between the common electrode for applying the anode voltage to the metal back 14 segmentalized into the plurality of areas and the edge portion of the metal back 14, a problem arises that the electric discharge current flows into the edge portion of the metal back 14 via the resistor member connecting both of the common electrode and the metal back 14 so as to increase the electric discharge current. This problem can be improved by forming the common electrode by a plurality of electrode films and the resistor film connecting between the electrode films. This is because the current flowing from the common electrode can be limited. However, since the common electrode is provided in order to suppress the voltage distribution inside the anode surface, when the resistance value becomes too large, this creates a problem. Thus, when an attempt is made to narrow the interval between the electrode films, the possibility of the electric discharge occurring between the electrode films looms large. To solve this problem, the present embodiment has configured the common electrode as follows.
As shown in
On the other hand, a common electrode 20 is annularly provided so as to surround the periphery of the metal back 24. The common electrode 20 includes a plurality of electrode films 21 spaced-apart in its longitudinal direction, and a resistor film 23 is annularly provided superposed on the electrode films 21 so as to annularly connect the electrode films 21. The resistor film 23 of the common electrode 20 is connected to the edge portion of the metal back 24 via a resistor film 22. The electrode film 21, for example, is formed by patterning of a silver paste. The electrode film referred to in the present invention means a portion having a sheet resistor value of 1Ω/ or less. The resistor film means a portion having a resistor value larger than 1Ω/.
The common electrode is formed by the electrode films 21 disposed at intervals, so that the electric resistance of the common electrode 20 can be increased as compared with the case where the electrode films 21 are annularly connected. In the present embodiment, the extending direction of the sides opposed to each other of each electrode film 21 is oblique to the longitudinal direction of the common electrode 20. Here, the portion opposing the adjacent electrode films is a set of the portions satisfying a relationship where, when a normal line is taken toward the outside of the electrode film in each portion of the contour of one electrode, the normal line intersects the other electrode film.
In the present embodiment also, a common electrode 20 is annularly provided so as to surround the periphery of the metal back 24. The common electrode 20 includes a plurality of electrode films 21 spaced-apart in its longitudinal direction, and a resistor film 23 is annularly provided superposed on the electrode films 21 so as to annularly connect the electrode films 21. The resistor film 23 of the common electrode 20 is connected to the edge portion of the metal back 24 via the resistor film 22.
In the present embodiment, the portion opposed to each other of each electrode film 21 has a portion extended to the longitudinal direction of the common electrode 20 and a portion extended in the width direction of the common electrode 20 orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the common electrode 20. Hence, the length of the opposed portion of the electrode film 21 in the present embodiment is longer than the length of the opposed portion of the electrode film of the conventional art shown in
In this manner, in the present embodiment also, while the interval between the segmentalized electrode films 21 is secured so as to suppress an electric discharge between the electrode films 21, the entire resistance of the common electrode 20 can be prevented from becoming large.
In this modified example also, similarly to the embodiment shown in
Even by this configuration, the gap between the segmentalized electrode films 21 and 21a is maintained so as to suppress the electric discharge between the electrode films, while enabling to prevent the entire resistance of the common electrode 20 from becoming large.
In the present embodiment also, a common electrode 20 is annularly provided so as to surround the periphery of the metal back 24. The common electrode 20 includes a plurality of electrode films 21 spaced-apart in its longitudinal direction, and a resistor film 23 is annularly provided superposed on the electrode films 21 so as to annularly connect the electrode films 21. The resistor film 23 of the common electrode 20 is connected to the edge portion of the metal back 24 via the resistor film 22.
In the present embodiment, the portion opposed to each other of each electrode film 21 has a portion extended to the longitudinal direction of the common electrode 20 and a portion extended in the width direction of the common electrode 20, and has a comb teeth engagement shape. Hence, the length of the opposed portion of the electrode film 21 in the present embodiment is longer than the length of the above described embodiment.
In this manner, in the present embodiment also, while the interval between the segmentalized electrode films 21 is secured so as to suppress an electric discharge between the electrode films 21, enabling to prevent the entire resistance of the common electrode 20 from becoming large.
In each of the above described embodiments, the resistor film 22 connecting the common electrode 20 and the metal back 24, and the resistor film 23 connecting each electrode film 21 of the common electrode 20 to each other may be different or the same in resistance. When the resistance values of the resistor films 22 and 23 are to be made different, for example, the resistor film 22 can be made of TiO2 based material of 1×105Ω/ in sheet resistance, and the resistor film 23 can be made of ITO (indium oxide tin) based material of 1×104Ω/ in sheet resistance. When the resistance values of the resistor films 22 and 23 are to be made the same, for example, the resistor films 22 and 23 can be made of TiO2 based material of 1×105Ω/ in sheet resistance.
As described above, in the configuration where the sheet resistance value of the resistor film 23 in the common electrode is lower than the sheet resistance value of the resistor film 22 connecting the common electrode and the anode, the interval between the adjacent electrode films can be made larger comparing with the case where the sheet resistance value of the resistor film 23 is made the same as the sheet resistance value of the resistor film 22.
Here, a method for manufacturing the structures of the metal back and the common electrode shown in
When a high-definition complicated pattern as shown in
On the surface of the second layer common electrode base 52 thus formed, a conductive paste 53 is printed by using a screen. Here, when a printing plate of the mesh pattern having the same width as the common electrode 20 is simply used, the bottom of the groove 52a of the second layer common electrode base 52 ends up being also applied with the conductive paste 53, and a desired resistance value between the electrode films 21 cannot be obtained. In contrast to this, in the present embodiment, as shown in
The above described manufacturing method enables to print the pattern shown in
At this time, an aspect ratio of the segmentalized portion of the electrode film 21 (the gap of the segmentalized portion/the length of the segmentalized portion) is smaller than 0.26/26=0.01. The resistance value of the resistor film 23 between two electrode films 21 is ρ×G/L, and therefore, in the configuration shown in
While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-348193, filed Dec. 25, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
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