The present invention relates to a plasma arc tube display device and, more particularly, relates to a plasma arc tube display device including coupled plural plasma arc tube modules each having arranged plural arc tubes having an electrical discharge space which confines, therein, an electrical discharge gas and a fluorescent member.
As structures for realizing large-sized image display devices capable of self light emission, display devices including arranged plural arc tubes which utilize the principle of plasma displays are disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Sho 61 (1986)-103187 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 11 (1999)-162358.
Each of the arc tubes has a hollow shape with a circular, elliptical, or rectangular cross sectional shape, generally has an MgO layer as a protective layer formed on an inner wall surface of a thin tube with such a shape for protecting a glass surface used in the thin tube from gas electrical discharge, further has a fluorescent layer formed on the MgO layer and, further, confines an electrical discharge gas formed from Ne and Xe gases mixed with each other, for example, within a hollow space thereof. A plurality of such arc tubes fabricated as described above are arranged such that sets of three arc tubes which emit light of respective primary colors of RGB are repeatedly arranged, in order to structure a display device capable of color image display. On front surfaces of these arranged arc tubes which are display surfaces thereof, display electrodes (sustain electrodes X and scan/sustain electrodes Y) are placed in a direction orthogonal to the plasma arc tubes, and address electrodes are provided on back surfaces thereof in a longitudinal direction of the respective plasma arc tubes. The display electrodes are structured by laminating transparent electrodes formed on a transparent resin film for ensuring transmission of emitted light and bus electrodes made of a metal such as copper as conductors, for example, for ensuring conductivity thereof.
Such a display device having the aforementioned structure is capable of realizing a self-light-emission type display with a diagonal distance of, for example, 100 inches, with the arranged plural plasma arc tubes. Further, since the plasma arc tubes are thin tubes, and the MgO layer and the fluorescent layer are formed inside the thin tubes, it is possible to fabricate a large-sized display device with small-scale fabrication equipment for fabricating these plasma arc tubes. This enables fabrication of display devices with lower costs.
As described above, such a display device employing plasma arc tubes has characteristics which other display devices cannot have, but requires attachment of electrode films having electrodes formed on large-area films to the front surfaces and the back surfaces of the arranged plasma arc tubes, in creating a large-area display device having a plurality of arranged plasma arc tubes. Accordingly, fabrication of the large-area electrode films and attachment of the electrode films to the arranged plural plasma arc tubes with high accuracy have induced a problem of increases of costs. Further, in conveying the large-screen display device, there has been a need for a large-sized packaging device, in order to prevent the display surface and the like from experiencing shocks and, furthermore, there has been a problem of difficulty of handling thereof.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Sho 61 (1986)-103187
Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 11 (1999)-162358
It is an object of the present invention to overcome an increase of a cost due to fabrication of the aforementioned large-area electrode films and attachment of the electrode films to the arc tubes with high accuracy and also to facilitate conveyance and handling of the large-screen plasma arc tube display device.
In order to overcome the aforementioned problem, a plasma arc tube display device according to one aspect of the present invention is characterized in that it includes plural plasma arc tube modules placed adjacent to one another, each plasma arc tube module including arranged plural plasma arc tubes, a front-surface substrate and a back-surface substrate each having electrodes, which are placed respectively on front surfaces and back surfaces of the arranged plural plasma arc tubes, and a back-surface frame placed on the back-surface substrate at a side which does not face to the plural plasma arc tubes, and coupling portions placed between the respective adjacent plasma arc tube modules, out of the plural plasma arc tube modules, for coupling the plural plasma arc tube modules to one another such that they are pivotable with respect to one another. The coupling portions preferably include folding-back portions of the front-surface substrates which are folded toward the back-surface substrates, in the respective plural plasma arc tube modules, at end portions of the plural plasma arc tube modules which are adjacent to each other, bonding portions for bonding the electrodes on the respective front-surface substrates to one another, and bending portions which can be bent between the folding-back portions and the bonding portions. Further, the plasma arc tubes confine an electrical discharge gas and a fluorescent member.
Further, the respective front-surface substrates can be secured to the respective back-surface frames at the folding-back portions. Also, preferably, chamfering is applied to respective end surfaces of the back-surface frames which are in contact with the front-surface substrates. Furthermore, preferably, the end portions of the respective front-surface substrates in the plasma arc tube module and the other plasma arc tube modules adjacent thereto are partitioned into plural parts, the end portions partitioned into plural parts are folded toward the back-surface substrates, and electrodes on the respective end portions partitioned into the plural parts are bonded to one another through the bonding portions. Also, there are provided fixing portions for fixing the respective back-surface frames in the plasma arc tube module and the other plasma arc tube modules adjacent thereto.
Further, the plasma arc tube display device according to another aspect of the present invention is characterized in that it includes pivot supporting portions which are coupled respectively to the plasma arc tube module and the other plasma arc tube modules adjacent thereto such that the plasma arc tube module and the plasma arc tube modules adjacent thereto are pivotable.
Further, a plasma arc tube display device according to another aspect of the present invention is characterized in that it includes plural arc tube modules each including a front-surface substrate which is provided on front surfaces of plural plasma arc tubes and has plural pairs of electrodes placed thereon in a direction orthogonal to a longitudinal direction of the plasma arc tubes such that the pairs of electrodes are in contact with the plasma arc tubes, a back-surface substrate which is provided on back surfaces of the plural plasma arc tubes and has plural electrodes placed thereon in a direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the plasma arc tubes such that the electrodes are in contact with the plasma arc tubes, and a back-surface frame placed on the back-surface substrate for supporting the plural plasma arc tubes, a relay driving circuit having driving circuits adapted to apply a voltage to at least one of the pairs of electrodes, the driving circuits being bonded to the electrodes on the front-surface substrates which are placed on the front surfaces of the plural plasma arc tubes and are folded toward the back-surface substrates at end portions thereof and to the electrodes on the front-surface substrates which are placed on front surfaces of other plasma arc modules adjacent to the plasma arc tube modules and are folded toward the back-surface substrates at the end portions, and coupling portions for coupling the plasma arc tube module to the other plasma arc tube modules adjacent thereto.
In this case, the aforementioned coupling portions can have folding-back portions of the front-surface substrates which are folded toward the back-surface substrates, in the respective plural plasma arc tube modules, at the end portions of the plural plasma arc tube modules which are adjacent to each other, bonding portions for bonding the electrodes on the respective front-surface substrates to one another, and bending portions which can be bent between the folding-back portions and the bonding portions.
A plasma arc tube display device according to another aspect of the present invention is characterized in that it includes a front-surface substrate which is provided on front surfaces of plural plasma arc tubes and has plural pairs of electrodes placed thereon in a direction orthogonal to a longitudinal direction of the plasma arc tubes such that the pairs of electrodes are in contact with the plasma arc tubes, each pair of electrodes being constituted by a pair of a sustain electrode X and a scan/sustain electrode Y; a back-surface substrate which is provided on back surfaces of the plural plasma arc tubes and has plural address electrodes placed thereon in a direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the plasma arc tubes such that the address electrodes are in contact with the plasma arc tubes; a driving unit which performs processing on signals from external devices, applies driving voltages to the pairs of electrodes and the address electrodes, applies a driving voltage to ones of the pairs of electrodes, in order to select cells which are defined by the pairs of electrodes and the address electrodes and are associated with light emission areas of fluorescent members, in response to the signals, and applies a driving voltage to the pairs of electrodes for causing the fluorescent members to emit light; a back-surface frame which is placed on the back-surface substrate in a plasma arc tube module for supporting the plasma arc tube module; bonding portions for bonding the electrodes on the front-surface substrate which is placed on the front surface of the plasma arc tube module and is folded toward the back-surface substrate at end portions and the electrodes on the front-surface substrates which are placed on front surfaces of other plasma arc tube modules adjacent to the plasma arc tube module and are folded toward the back-surface substrates at end portions to each other; and bending portions which can be bent between the bonding portions and the end portions of the respective front-surface substrates in the plasma arc tube module and the other plasma arc tube modules adjacent thereto.
In this case, preferably, there are provided fixing portions for securing the respective back-surface frames in the plasma arc tube module and the other plasma arc tube modules adjacent thereto, and the fixing portions have pivot supporting portions which are coupled respectively to the plasma arc tube module and the other plasma arc tube modules adjacent thereto such that the plasma arc tube module and the plasma arc tube modules adjacent thereto are pivotable.
Since there are provided plural plasma arc tube modules including arranged plural plasma arc tubes, front-surface substrates having pairs of display electrodes provided on the front surfaces of the arranged plasma arc tubes and back-surface substrates having address electrodes provided on the back surfaces thereof, the respective plasma arc tube modules are connected to one another through the front-surface substrates having flexibility for relaying the electrodes provided on the front-surface substrates, it is possible to realize a plasma arc tube display device which enables reducing areas of the front-surface substrates and the back-surface substrates, folding up the plasma arc tube modules and cost reduction and also facilitates conveyance thereof even if it has a large sized screen.
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described. In the present embodiments, there will be mainly described a case where arc tubes have a substantially rectangular cross sectional shape (with a longer side equal to 1 mm, a shorter side equal to 0.5 mm, and a thickness equal to 100 micrometers), but the cross sectional shape can be another shape such as a circular shape or an elliptical shape. Further, even in a case of rectangular cross sectional areas, dimensions are not limited to the aforementioned dimensions.
Plasma arc tubes 1 constituting the plasma arc tube modules 10 have a rectangular-shaped cross section, have a protective layer (for example, an MgO layer, which is not illustrated) formed on tubular walls thereof and further have a fluorescent layer 2 placed thereon. Further, an electrical discharge gas (for example, a gas formed from Xe gas and Ne gas which are mixed with each other, which is not illustrated) is enclosed therein, and the plasma arc tubes are sealed at opposite end portions. A plurality of such plasma arc tubes 1 are arranged, and the front-surface substrates 20 are attached to front surfaces of the plasma arc tubes 1 and the back-surface substrates 30 are attached to back surfaces of the plasma arc tubes 1, through a transparent adhesive member, preferably an epoxy resin or a photo-curing resin. Pairs of display electrodes 24 are formed on base films 22 in the front-surface substrate 20 at the surfaces contacting with the plasma arc tubes 1. The base films 22 are made of transparent films for facilitating transmission of light emitted from the plasma arc tubes 1 therethrough and, in the first embodiment, are made of films with a thickness of 120 micrometers which are made of poly ethylene terephthalate (PET). A material of the base films 22 is not limited to PET, and can be any material having flexibility for facilitating attachment to the plasma arc tubes 1, having transparency and also enabling formation of transparent electrodes (for example, ITO films and NESA films), metal electrodes, metal mesh-type electrodes and the like which constitute the pairs of display electrodes 24 formed on the base films 22. Further, the thickness thereof is not limited to 120 micrometers.
Address electrodes 34 are formed on base films 32 in the back-surface substrates 30. The address electrodes 34 are placed through copper plating to have a width of 200 micrometers and a thickness of 20 micrometers, such that they are in contact with lower portions of the plasma arc tubes 1 along a longitudinal direction of the respective plasma arc tubes 1. Also, the address electrodes 34 can be formed from a conductive paste through print processing, as well as through plating. It is also possible to employ a method for forming address electrodes 34 with a desired shape, by applying etching to a metal layer such as a copper layer attached to the base films 32.
The fluorescent layers 2 formed in the plasma arc tubes 1 are made of fluorescent members corresponding to colors of light emitted from the plasma arc tubes 1. For example, the plasma arc tube 1 which emits red light, the plasma arc tube 1 which emits green light, and the plasma arc tube 1 which emits blue light are arranged, in an order mentioned above.
The back-surface frame 40 is mounted to one surface of the back-surface substrate 30. The back-surface frame 40 and the back-surface substrate 30 can be mounted to each other by attaching them together on the entire surfaces or by partially attaching them to each other. Further, a curved portion 42 is provided or chamfering is applied to an end portion of the back-surface frame 40 near a portion of the plasma arc tube module 10 which is in contact with the adjacent plasma arc tube module 10, so that the back-surface frame 40 is processed into an L shape.
The aforementioned front-surface substrates 20 are folded, at folding-back portions 26, toward the back-surface substrates 30, near the adjacent plasma arc tube module 10, and the electrode relay board 50 establishes electrical connection between the pairs of display electrodes 24 in the respective plasma arc tube modules 10 adjacent to each other.
As described above, the plasma arc tube modules 10 are connected to each other through the electrode relay board 50, and the base films 22 in the front-surface substrates 20 are formed from PET or the like which has flexibility, which allows the plasma arc tube modules 10 to be folded about the vicinity of the electrode relay board 50, as illustrated in
As described above, the plasma arc tube modules 10 are connected to each other, through the base films 22 having flexibility, to form coupling portions therebetween, which allows the plasma arc tube modules 10 to be folded with respect to each other, as illustrated in
Next, with reference to
A structure of the pairs of display electrodes 24B is such that the display electrodes 24 and the display electrodes 24B are connected to each other via a through hole penetrating through the base film 22, and the pairs of display electrodes 24A and the pairs of display electrodes 24B on the respective front-surface substrates 20 are electrically connected to each other through the electrode relay board 50. The pairs of display electrodes 24A can also be provided with a through hole, and the pairs of display electrodes 24A and 24B on the respective front-surface substrates 20 can be directly electrically connected to each other, through thermo compression bonding, without using the electrode replay board 50.
Further,
Next, with reference to
In the plasma arc tube display device 200 according to the first embodiment, the respective front-surface substrates 20 are folded toward the back-surface substrates 30, between the plasma arc tube modules 10, and folded portions are provided with the bending portions 28 at which the respective front-surface substrates 20 can be bent. Accordingly, even if the plasma arc tube display device 200 has a large-sized display screen, it is possible to fold up the plasma arc tube modules 10, thereby facilitating handling thereof, during conveyance. Further, it is possible to create the individual small-sized plasma arc tube modules 10 and then assemble the plural plasma arc tube modules 10 to create the plasma arc tube display devices 200, which enables reduction of the sizes of the front-surface substrates 20 and the back-surface substrates 30 and also enables replacement of only plasma arc tube modules 10 which have been flawed, thereby offering an advantage of increase of a fabrication yield.
Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to
Further, it is preferable to place the aforementioned two connection means employing the arms 300 at positions outside of a width W of the electrode relay board 50. By placing the connection means in this manner, the connection means and the electrode relay board 50 are prevented from coming into contact with each other, when the plasma arc tube modules 10 are folded up.
Further, the plasma arc tube display device 210 has electrode deriving portions 215 for connecting the front-surface substrates 20 to circuits and the like which are not illustrated, wherein the electrode deriving portions 215 are shaped to be partitioned into plural parts. This shape is adaptable to the front-surface substrates 20 according to the first embodiment, and the partitioned electrode deriving portions 215 offer an advantage of enabling mounting the respective parts individually, thereby alleviating deformation of the front-surface substrates 215.
While, in the first and second embodiments, there have been described a case where the two plasma arc tube modules 10 are used,
A driving unit 500 is connected to the plasma arc tube display device 200. In the present embodiment, the pairs of display electrodes 24 extend in the direction of rows in the display screen, and each pair of display electrodes 24 is constituted by a pair of a scan/sustain electrode Y410 and a sustain electrode X400. Areas at intersections of the pairs of display electrodes 24 and the address electrodes 34 are referred to as cells. In selecting cells to be caused to emit light through electrical discharge between the pairs of display electrodes 24, out of the cells, the scan/sustain electrodes Y410 are used as scan electrodes for use in selecting cells on a row-by-row basis. The address electrodes 34 extend in the direction of columns and are used as electrodes for selecting cells on a column-by-column basis. The driving unit 500 includes a controller 512, a data processing circuit 514, an X driver 516, a scan driver 518, a Y common driver 520, an address driver 522, a power supply circuit which is not illustrated, and the like. An externals device such as a TV tuner or a computer inputs, to the driving unit 500, field data DF indicative of luminance levels (tone levels) (luminance levels for respective colors of R, G and B in a case of color display), on a pixel-by-pixel basis, along with various types of synchronization signals. The field data DF is temporarily stored in a frame memory 524 in the data processing circuit 514, then is subjected to processing required for tone display, then is stored in the frame memory 524 and is transferred to an address driver 222 at proper timing.
The X driver 516 applies a driving voltage to all the sustain electrodes X400. The scan driver 518 applies a driving voltage to the respective scan/sustain electrodes Y410 individually, in selecting cells. The Y common driver 520 applies a driving voltage to all the scan/sustain electrodes Y410 concurrently, in maintaining lighting of the selected cells.
Plasma arc tube modules including arranged plural arc tubes having fluorescent layers placed inside thereof, front-surface substrates and back-surface substrates which are provided with electrodes and are attached to opposite surfaces of these arranged arc tubes, and frames provided on the back-surface substrates are connected to each other through the front-surface substrates having flexibility for relaying the electrodes provided on the front-surface substrates. This can realize a plasma arc tube display device which enables folding up plasma arc tube modules, thereby facilitating conveyance even if it has a large-sized screen.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/JP2006/304585 | 3/9/2006 | WO | 00 | 9/8/2008 |