Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6310344
-
Patent Number
6,310,344
-
Date Filed
Tuesday, April 27, 199925 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, October 30, 200122 years ago
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Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 250 324
- 250 325
- 250 326
- 361 229
- 361 230
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International Classifications
-
Abstract
Disclosed is a wire-type corona charger having a wire electrode disposed between ground electrode plates. The wire electrode is supported by the ends of the plurality of wire electrode supporters which are so arranged that their ends have a curvature equal to arcuately-shaped upper edge of the ground electrode plates. The curvature coincides with one of the curvatures of the horizontal axis and the vertical axis of the interior surface of the panel faceplate, while the charger is pivoted along the other curvature of the faceplate. The charger can uniformly charge the photoconductive layer and improves the charging efficiency.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a wire-type corona charger for electrophotographically manufacturing a screen of a CRT, and more particularly to a wire-type corona charger and a method using the charger for electrophotographically manufacturing a screen of a CRT, in which the photoconductive layer can be uniformly charged by a wire electrode.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Referring to
FIG. 1
, a color CRT
10
generally comprises an evacuated glass envelope consisting of a panel
12
, a funnel
13
sealed to the panel
12
and a tubular neck
14
connected by the funnel
13
, and electron gun
11
centrally mounted within the neck
14
, and a shadow mask
16
removably mounted to a sidewall of the panel
12
. A three-color phosphor screen is formed on the inner surface of a display window or faceplate
18
of the panel
12
.
The electron gun
11
generates three electron beams
19
a,
or
19
b,
said beams being directed along convergent paths through the shadow mask
16
to the screen
20
by means of several lenses of the gun and a high positive voltage applied through an anode button
15
and being deflected by a deflection yoke
17
so as to scan over the screen
20
through apertures or slits
16
a
formed in the shadow mask
16
.
In the color CRT
10
, the phosphor screen
20
, which is formed on the rear surface of the faceplate
18
, comprises an array of three phosphor elements R, G and B of three different emission colors arranged in a cyclic order of a predetermined structure of multiple-stripe or multiple-dot shape and a matrix of light absorptive material surrounding the phosphor elements R, G and B, as shown in FIG.
2
.
A thin film of aluminum
22
or an electro-conductive layer, overlying the screen
20
in order to provide a means for applying the uniform potential applied through the anode button
15
to the screen
20
, increases the brightness of the phosphor screen and prevents ions in the phosphor screen from being lost and the potential of the phosphor screen from decreasing. And also, a film of resin
22
′such as lacquer (not shown) may be applied between the aluminum thin film
22
and the phosphor screen
20
, so as to enhance the flatness and reflectivity of the aluminum thin film
22
.
In a photolithographic wet process, which is well known as a prior art process for forming the phosphor screen, a slurry of a photosensitive binder and phosphor particles is coated on the inner surface of the faceplate. It does not meet the higher resolution demands and requires a lot of complicated processing steps and a lot of manufacturing equipments, thereby requiring high cost in manufacturing the phosphor screen. In addition, it discharges a large quantity of effluent such as waste water, phosphor elements, 6th chrome sensitizer, etc., with the use of a large quantity of clean water.
To solve or alleviate the above problems, the improved process of electrophotographically manufacturing the screen utilizing dry-powdered phosphor particles is developed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,767, issued to Datta at al. on May 1, 1990, discloses one method of electrophotographically manufacturing the phosphor screen assembly using dry-powdered phosphor particles through a series of steps represented in
FIGS. 3A
to
3
E, as is briefly explained in the following.
After the panel
12
is washed, an electro-conductive layer
32
is coated on the faceplate
18
of the panel
12
and the photoconductive layer
34
is coated thereon, as shown in FIG.
3
A. Conventionally, the electro-conductive layer
32
is made from an inorganic conductive material such as tin oxide or indium oxide, or their mixture, and preferably, from a volatilizable organic conductive material such as a polyelectrolyte commercially known as polybrene (1,5,-dimethyl-1,5-diaza-undecamethylene polymethobromide, hexadimethrine bromide), available from Aldrich Chemical Wisc., or another quaternary ammonium salt.
The polybrene is applied to the inner surface of the faceplate
18
in an aqueous solution containing about 10 percent by weight of propanol and bout 10 percent by weight of a water-soluble adhesion-promoting polymer (poly vinyl alcohol, polyacrylic acid, polyamides and the like), and the coated solution is dried to form the conductive layer
32
having a thickness from about 1 to 2 microns and a surface resistivity of less than about 10
8
l (ohms per square unit).
The photoconductive layer
34
is formed by coating the conductive layer
32
with a photoconductive solution comprising a volatilizable organic polymeric material, a suitable photoconductive dye and a solvent. The polymeric material is an organic polymer such as polyvinyl carboazole, or an organic monomer such as n-ehtyl carbazole, n-vinyl carbazole or tetraphenylbutatriene dissolved in a polymeric binder such as polymethylpolypropylene carbonate. The photoconductive composition contains from about 0.1 to 0.4 percent by weight such dyes as crystal violet, chloridine blue, rhodamine EG and the like, which are sensitive to the visible rays, preferably rays having wavelength of from about 400 to 700 nm. The solvent for the photoconductive composition is an organic such as chlorobenzene or cyclopentanone and the like which will produce as little cross contamination as possible between the layers
32
and
34
. The photoconductive layer
32
is formed to have a thickness from about 2 to 6 microns.
FIG. 3B
schematically illustrates a charging step, wherein the photoconductive layer
34
overlying the electro-conductive layer
32
is positively charged in a dark environment by a conventional positive corona discharger
36
. As shown, the charger or charging electrode of the discharger
36
is positively applied with direct current while the negative electrode of the discharger
36
is connected to the electro-conductive layer
32
and grounded. The charging electrode of the discharger
36
travels across the layer
34
and charges it with a positive voltage in the range from −200 to +700 volt.
FIG. 3C
schematically shows an exposure step, wherein the charged photoconductive layer
34
is exposed through a shadow mask
16
by a xenon flash lamp
35
having a lens system
35
′ in the dark environment. In this step, the shadow mask
16
is installed on the panel
12
and the electro-conductive layer
32
is grounded. When the xenon flash lamp
35
is switched on to shed light on the charged photoconductive layer
34
through the lens system′ and the shadow mask
16
, portions of the photoconductive layer
34
corresponding to apertures or slits
16
a
of the shadow mask
16
are exposed to the light. Then, the positive charges of the exposed areas are discharged through the grounded conductive layer
32
and the charges of the unexposed areas remain in the photoconductive layer
34
, thus establishing a latent charge image in a predetermined array structure, as shown in FIG.
3
C. In order to exactly form light-absorptive matrices, it is preferred that the xenon flash lamp
35
travels along three positions while coinciding with three different incident angles of the three electron beams.
FIG. 3D
schematically shows a developing step which utilized a developing container
35
″ containing dry-powdered light-absorptive or phosphor particles and carrier beads for producing static electricity by coming into contact with the dry-powdered particles. Preferably, the carrier beads are so mixed as to charge the light-absorptive particles with negative electric charges and the phosphor powders with positive electric charges, when they come into contact with the dry-powdered particles.
In this step, the panel
12
, from which the shadow mask
16
is removed, is put on the developing container
35
′ containing the dry-powdered particles, so that the photoconductive layer
34
can come into contact with the dry-powdered particles. In this case, the negatively charged light-absorptive particles are attached to the positively charged unexposed areas of the photoconductive layer
34
by electric attraction, while the positively charged phosphor particles are repulsed by the positively charged unexposed areas but attached by reversal developing to the exposed areas of the photoconductive layer
34
from which the positive electric charges are discharged.
FIG. 3E
schematically represents a fixing step by means of infrared radiation. In this step, the light-absorptive and phosphor particles attached in the above developing step are fixed together and onto the photoconductive layer
14
. Therefore, the dry-powdered particles include proper polymer components which may be melted by heat and have proper adhesion.
Where the surface of the panel is flat, a conventional linear corona charger, such as those shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,475,169, 3,515,548, and 4,386,837 issued respectively on Oct. 28, 1969, Jun. 2, 1970, and Jun. 7, 1983, can be used in the above-described charging step shown in FIG.
3
B. However, where the interior surface contour of the faceplate panel is non-planar or has a certain curvature as the usual panel, the conventional linear charger will not uniformly charge the photoconductive layer and may generate deleterious arcs because the spacing between the charger and the photoconductive layer cannot be maintained uniformly.
To overcome the above problems, U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,188 discloses another corona discharge apparatus
36
having a corona charger
50
as shown in
FIGS. 4 and 5
.
Referring to
FIG. 4
, the corona discharge apparatus
36
includes a housing
38
having a faceplate panel support surface
40
. A faceplate panel
12
having a conductive layer
32
and a photoconductive layer
34
coated thereon, is placed upon the support surface
40
and positioned by a plurality of panel alignment members
42
, which engage the outer surface of the panel sidewall. An electrical ground contact
44
, attached at one end of the housing
38
, is spring biased to contact the conductive layer
32
. A corona generator
46
is disposed within the housing
38
. The generator
46
includes a high voltage power supply
48
, which provides a corona voltage to a corona charger
50
. The corona charger
50
is pivotally attached, at the center of curvature of the faceplate
12
, by means of a support arm
52
to a support bar
54
. The support arm
52
is connected to a motor
56
by a reciprocating drive screw
58
, which causes the corona charger
50
to make multiple passes across the faceplate panel
12
. The ultimate charge on the photoconductive layer
34
is determined by the number of passes across the panel which, in turn, is controlled by a timer
60
which communicates with a motor controller
62
and the high voltage power supply
48
. The charging sequence is initiated from a control panel
64
. An electrostatic voltage probe
84
, coupled to a voltmeter
86
on the control panel
64
, measures the voltage on the layer
34
at the end of the charging cycle. A probe driver
83
moves the probe
84
into proximity with the charged photoconductive layer
34
.
While only one corona charger
50
is shown in
FIG. 4
, multiple chargers may be used.
The corona charger
50
is shown in FIG.
5
. The corona charger comprises an arcuately-shaped ground electrode
66
having two parallel sides
68
and an interconnecting base
70
, which form a U-shaped conductor. The sides
68
terminate in edges
72
that are rounded to suppress arcs during operation. A foil charging electrode
74
is supported, by means of an insulator
76
, between the sides
68
and the base
70
of the ground electrode. The charging electrode
74
also is arcuately-shaped and, preferably, has a substantially arcuately-contoured edge
78
with a plurality of pin-type projections
80
extending therefrom. The arcuately-contoured edge
78
and sides
68
are coincident with the curvature of one axis, for example the minor axis, of the interior surface of the faceplate panel
12
. The length of the support arm
52
is adjusted so that the center of curvature of the arc of the charger
50
coincides with the center of curvature of one of the axes of the panel interior surface.
In the means time, U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,217 issued to Wilbur, Jr. et al., on May 21, 1996, discloses a charging apparatus having a plurality of electrodes or blades installed on a base over the entire interior surface of the faceplate
18
, detailed depiction of which is omitted in the attached drawings. In the apparatus, the focusing blades correspond to the above ground electrode, and the charging blades are disposed respectively between the adjacent focusing blades and have a plurality of serration formed at the ends thereof. The charging head moves laterally within the faceplate panel by a distance substantially equal to the periodic spacing between the charging blades, thereby providing a substantially uniform electrostatic charge to the photoconductive layer on the faceplate. Therefore, the apparatus greatly increases the charging speed or shortens the charging time without jeopardizing the uniformity of the charge applied to the photoconductive layer, thereby greatly enhancing capability in mass production.
In order to achieve uniform exposing and developing in the steps shown in
FIGS. 3C and 3D
, it is preferred that the photoconductive layer
34
may be uniformly charged. Further, the charging electrodes and the photoconductive layer
34
must be prevented from being damaged by arc or spark therebetween. Therefore, the above-mentioned apparatuses employ arcuately-shaped thin plates as electrodes for charging, each of the plates having a plurality of pin-type projections
80
or serration, so as to provide a stable and uniform electrostatic charge to the photoconductive layer by means of desired corona charging.
Still, it is not easy for the pin-type projections
80
or serration to cause a uniform corona discharge due to their inherent shapes. That is, the greatest discharge is generated at the distal end of each projection or each tooth of the serration, while the intensity of discharge decreases as it goes far from the distal end. This problematic discharge causes multiform exposing and developing the above exposing and developing steps, thereby forming phosphor elements multiformly even in a desired array.
Meanwhile, it is well known in the art that a wire-type corona charger generates stable and highly uniform corona discharge and exhibits superior charging efficiency relative to other types of electrodes. However, because the interior surface of the panel
12
is spheric, and moreover because the larger cathode ray tube has the more complex aspheric panel surface in which the curvature of the horizontal section is larger than that of the vertical section, it is not easy for the wire electrodes to coincide with such complex curvatures.
The present invention has been made to overcome the above described problems, and therefore ti is an object of the present invention to provide a wire-type corona charger for electrophotographically manufacturing a screen of a CRT, which can uniformly charge the photoconductive layer by generating corona discharge through wire electrodes.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for electrophotographically manufacturing a screen of a CRT using the wire-type corona charger.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a wire-type corona charger for electrophotographically manufacturing a screen of a CRT, the wire-type corona charger being installed in a corona discharge apparatus and pivoted with a spacing over an entire interior surface of a panel faceplate of the screen along a first curvature which is one of curvatures of a horizontal axis and a vertical axis of the interior surface of the panel faceplate, so as to uniformly charge at least effective surface of a photoconductive layer with a desired voltage, the photoconductive layer being formed on an electro-conductive layer formed on the interior surface of the panel faceplate, the wire-type corona charger comprising:
a pair of ground electrode plates each of which has arcuately-shaped upper edge with a curvature substantially equal to a second curvature, the second curvature being a remaining one of the curvatures of the horizontal axis and the vertical axis of the interior surface of the panel faceplate, the pair of ground electrode plates being grounded with being arranged in parallel and spaced with regular intervals apart;
an insulating block disposed between the pair of the ground electrode plates and made from electrically insulating material, the insulating block having a plurality of wire electrode supporters so arranged that their upper ends are arranged to have a curvature substantially equal to the second curvature and lower than upper edges of the repair of ground electrode plates; and
a wire electrode being supported by the ends of the plurality of wire electrode supporters, to which a high voltage is applied, so that at least effective screen of the photoconductive layer is charged uniformly, the electro-conductive layer serving as an opposed electrode of the wire electrode.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, another wire-type corona charger may be installed in a corona discharge apparatus and pivoted to a predetermined distance along a first curvature which is one of curvatures of a horizontal axis of a vertical axis of the interior surface of the panel faceplate, so as to uniformly charge at least effective surface of a photoconductive layer with a desired voltage, the photoconductive layer being formed on an electro-conductive layer formed on the interior surface of the panel faceplate, the wire-type corona charger being pivoted with a spacing from the photoconductive layer, the wire-type corona charger comprising:
at least three ground electrode plates, each of which has arcuately-shaped upper edge with a curvature substantially equal to a second curvature, the second curvature being a remaining one of the curvatures of the horizontal axis and the vertical axis of the interior surface of the panel faceplate at each section of the panel faceplate nearest to each of the ground electrodes, the pair of ground electrode plates being grounded with being arranged in parallel and spaced with regular intervals apart;
at least two sets of insulating blocks each of which is disposed respectively between the ground electrode plates and made from electrically insulating material, each of the insulating blocks having a plurality of wire electrode supporters so arranged that their upper ends are arranged to have a curvature substantially equal to the second curvature; and
at least two wire electrodes being supported by the upper ends of the wire electrode supporters, to which a high voltage is applied, so that at least effective screen of the photoconductive layer is charged uniformly, the electro-conductive layer serving as an opposed electrode of the wire electrodes.
The present invention also provides a method for electrophotographically manufacturing a screen of a CRT, the method comprising the steps of:
(1) firstly coating an inner surface of a panel faceplate to form a volatile conductive layer on the inner surface;
(2) secondly coating the volatile conductive layer with a photoconductive solution to form a volatile photoconductive layer on the volatile conductive layer, the photoconductive solution not contaminating the volatile conductive layer;
(3) charging at least effective surface of the volatile photoconductive layer with uniform electrostatic charges by pivoting a wire-type corona charger along a first curvature corresponding to one of the curvatures of the horizontal axis and the vertical axis of an interior surface of the panel faceplate with a spacing over an entire interior surface of the panel faceplate, the corona charger generating a corona discharge;
(4) exposing the volatile photoconductive layer through a shadow mask to a light according to a characteristic of the volatile photoconductive layer, so as to selectively discharge the electrostatic charges having been charged on the volatile photoconductive layer in step 3; and
(5) developing the photoconductive layer by attaching powdered particles on one of an exposed area and an unexposed area of the photoconductive layer after charging the powdered particles, the exposed area having been exposed to light in step 4 to lose the electrostatic charges, wherein the wire-type corona charger comprises:
a pair of ground electrode plates each of which has arcuately-shaped upper edge with a curvature substantially equal to a second curvature, the second curvature being a remaining one of the curvatures of the horizontal axis and the vertical axis of the interior surface of the panel faceplate, the pair of ground electrode plates being grounded with being arranged in parallel and spaced with regular intervals apart;
an insulating block disposed between the pair of the ground electrode plates and made from electrically insulating material, the insulating block having a plurality of wire electrode supporters so arranged that their upper ends are arranged to have a curvature substantially equal to the second curvature and lower than upper edges of the pair of ground electrode plates; and
a wire electrode being supported by the ends of the plurality of wire electrode supporters, to which a high voltage is applied, so that at least effective screen of the photoconductive layer is charged uniformly, the electro-conductive layer serving as an opposed electrode of the wire electrode.
Another aspect of the present invention embodies in a method for electrophotographically manufacturing a screen of a CRT, the method comprising the steps of:
(1) firstly coating an inner surface of a panel faceplate to form a volatile conductive layer on the inner surface;
(2) secondly coating the volatile conductive layer with a photoconductive solution to form a volatile photoconductive layer on the volatile conductive layer, the photoconductive solution not contaminating the volatile conductive layer;
(3) charging at least effective surface of the volatile photoconductive layer with uniform electrostatic charges by pivoting a wire-type corona charger along a first curvature corresponding to one of the curvatures of the horizontal axis and the vertical axis of an interior surface of the panel faceplate over an entire interior surface of the panel faceplate, the wire-type corona charger being pivoted with a spacing from the photoconductive layer, the wire-type corona charger generating a corona discharge;
(4) exposing the volatile photoconductive layer through a shadow mask to a light according to a characteristic of the volatile photoconductive layer, so as to selectively discharge the electrostatic charges having been charged on the volatile photoconductive layer in step 3; and
(5) developing the photoconductive layer by attaching powdered particles on one of an exposed area and an unexposed are of the photoconductive layer after charging the powdered particles, the exposed area having been exposed to light in step 4 to lose the electrostatic charges, wherein the wire-type corona charger comprises:
at least three ground electrode plates, each of which has arcuately-shaped upper edge with a curvature substantially equal to a second curvature, the second curvature being a remaining one of the curvatures of the horizontal axis and the vertical axis of the interior surface of the panel faceplate at each section of the panel faceplate nearest to each of the ground electrodes, the pair of ground electrode plates being grounded with being arranged in parallel and spaced with regular intervals apart;
at least two sets of insulating blocks each of which is disposed respectively between the ground electrode plates and made from electrically insulating material, each of the insulating blocks having a plurality of wire electrode supporters so arranged that their upper ends are arranged to have a curvature substantially equal to the second curvature; and
at least two wire electrodes being supported by the upper ends of the wire electrode supporters, to which a high voltage is applied, so that at least effective screen of the photoconductive layer is charged uniformly, the electro-conductive layer serving as an opposed electrode of the wire electrodes.
A wire-type corona charger and a method using the charger according to the present invention prevent generation of arc or spark and thereby enable the uniform charging by corona discharge on the photoconductive layer without damaging the photoconductive layer even at repetitive charging. Therefore, the present invention largely improves the efficiency of corona charging and as well makes the density or the thickness of the phosphor layer of the phosphor screen uniform.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The above object, and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
FIG. 1
is a plan view partially in axial section of a color cathode-ray tube;
FIG. 2
is a section of a screen assembly of the tube shown in
FIG. 1
;
FIGS. 3A through 3E
are schematic sectional views for showing various steps in electro-photographically manufacturing the screen assembly of the tube according to the prior art, in which a portion of a faceplate having a conductive layer and an overlying photoconductive layer together with devices used in each step is shown;
FIG. 4
is a schematic section of a conventional corona discharge apparatus;
FIG. 5
is a perspective view of a conventional corona charger employed in the corona discharge apparatus of
FIG. 5
, the charging electrode of which has a plurality of pin-type projections;
FIG. 6
is a perspective view of a wire-type corona charger for electrophotographically manufacturing a screen of a CRT according to one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7
is a sectional view taken along the line
7
—
7
in
FIG. 6
;
FIG. 8
is an enlarged partial section taken along the line
8
—
8
in
FIG. 6
;
FIG. 9
is a front view of an insulating block employed in the wire-type corona charger of
FIG. 6
;
FIG. 10
is a front view of a ground electrode plate employed in the wire-type corona charger of
FIG. 6
;
FIG. 11
is a perspective view of another wire-type corona charger for electrophotographically manufacturing a screen of a CRT according to another embodiment of the present invention;
FIGS. 12 and 13
are graphs for showing distributions of the charged voltages according to the distance with respect to several charging times, respectively when 4.5 KV and 5 KV are applied to the wire-type corona charger;
FIGS. 14 and 15
are graphs for showing the ratio of the voltage variances to the maximum voltages shown in
FIGS. 12 and 13
under the same conditions as those in
FIGS. 12 and 13
.
FIG. 16
is a graph for showing distributions of the charged voltages according to the distance with respect to various values of the charging gap between the ground electrodes and the photoconductive layer, when 4.5 KV is applied to the wire-type corona charger; and
FIG. 17
is a graph for showing ratio of the voltage variances to the maximum voltages shown in
FIG. 16
under the same conditions as those in FIG.
16
.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Hereinafter, several embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.
FIG. 6
is a perspective view of a wire-type corona charger
100
for electrophotographically manufacturing a screen of a CRT according to one embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 7
is a sectional view taken along the line
7
—
7
in
FIG. 6
, and
FIG. 8
is an enlarged partial section taken along the line
8
—
8
in FIG.
6
.
FIG. 9
is a front view of an insulating block
105
employed in the wire-type corona charger
100
of
FIG. 6
, and
FIG. 10
is a front view of a ground electrode plate
103
employed in the wire-type corona charger
100
of FIG.
6
.
Referring to
FIGS. 6
to
8
, the wire-type corona charger
100
according to the embodiment of the present invention comprises a pair of ground electrode plates
103
, a wire electrode
101
, a pair of ground electrode plates
103
, and an insulating block
105
.
The wire-type corona charger
100
, installed in the corona discharge apparatus
36
of
FIG. 4
instead of the corona charger
50
, is pivoted along one of the curvatures of the horizontal axis and the vertical axis of the interior surface of the panel with spacings over the entire interior surface of the panel, so as to uniformly charge at least effective surface of the photoconductive layer with a desired voltage.
Each arcuately-shaped upper edge of the pair of ground electrode plates
103
has a curvature substantially equal to the remaining one of the curvatures of the horizontal axis and the vertical axis of the interior surface of the panel. In case where the interior surface of the faceplate
18
is aspheric, that is, the radiuses of the curvatures of the horizontal and vertical axes of the interior surface of the panel are different from each other, it is preferred that the above-mentioned remaining curvature has the longer radius, so as to enhance the uniformity of the charges and shortens the pivoting distance. Further, the pair of ground electrode plates
103
are arranged in parallel and spaced with regular intervals apart. The pair of ground electrode plates
103
may be grounded, or a predetermined voltage such as 1 KV may be applied to the pair of ground electrode plates
103
, as is to the focusing blade of U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,217.
The insulating block
105
is disposed between the pair of the ground electrode plates
103
so as to insulate the pair of ground electrode plates
103
and the wire electrode
101
. the insulating block
105
and the pair of ground electrode plates
103
may be detachably assembled by assembling means
106
, as shown in FIG.
6
. In this case, slots
103
′ may be formed in one of the insulating block
105
and the pair of ground electrode plates
103
, so as to adjust the relative position of the wire electrode
101
and the distal edge of the ground electrode plates
103
. In the meantime, the insulating block
105
may be inserted in and formed integrally with the pair of ground electrode plates
103
through injection molding without separate fixing means, differently from that shown in FIG.
6
.
The insulating block
105
has a plurality of wire electrode supporters
102
and
102
′ which support the wire electrode
101
on their ends. The wire electrode supporters
102
and
102
′ are arranged so that their ends are positioned along a curvature substantially equal to the above remaining curvature and lower than upper edges of the pair of ground electrode plates
103
. As shown in
FIGS. 6 and 7
, the wire electrode supporters
102
and
102
′ may be forcedly inserted in a supporter recess
105
′ formed on the upper surface of the insulating block
105
. Otherwise, they may be inserted in the supporter recess
105
′ by means of adhesives, or fixed by melting after insertion, or formed integrally with the insulating block
105
by injection molding, etc.
As shown by two-dot-dashed line in
FIG. 7
, the pair of ground electrode plates
103
may be formed integrally with each other by a base
103
″. Also in this case, the insulating block
105
may be inserted onto the base
103
″ and then fixed by a fixing means including adhesives, or be formed integrally therewith. Preferably, the upper surface of the insulating block
105
as above may be so formed to prevent leakage of high voltage.
More preferably, the wire electrode supporters
102
′ disposed at the opposite ends among the wire electrode supporters
102
and
102
′ may support the wire electrode
101
in such a manner that even the peripheral portions of the effective viewing screen of the faceplate
18
can be uniformly charged. In case where the wire electrode supporters
102
and
102
′ are supported in the supporter recess
105
′ after being inserted thereinto, it is preferred that the upper surface of the insulating block
105
is formed to have a curvature substantially equal to the remaining curvature, and that the plurality of wire electrode supporters
102
excepting from those at the opposite ends extend in normal directions with respect to the curvature of the upper surface of the insulating block
105
, while the wire electrode supporter
102
′ at the opposite ends extend to be open as widely as possible outward from the normal directions.
As apparent from the following description in relation to
FIGS. 12
to
17
, the value of the contact resistance due top the contact between the wire electrode
101
and the wire electrode supporters
102
and
102
′ has a large effect on the corona discharge. Therefore, required is a selection of material which exhibits high strength and mall current loss even with small contact area, in order to minimize the contact resistance. The present invention employs a material such as glass and ceramic, which not only shows the above characteristic but also has a high dielectric constant and durability, thereby further improving the uniformity of charge and the efficiency of corona charging. Furthermore, in order to achieve the same objects as above, the distal ends of the wire electrode supporters
102
and
102
′ may be formed sharply, e.g., their sections in the curvature direction may respectively have an inverted V-shape, so as to minimize the contact area between the wire electrode
101
and the wire electrode supporters
102
and
102
′, thereby minimizing the leakage of high voltage.
Therefore, the wire electrode
101
can have a desired curvature because it is supported on the distal ends of the wire electrode supporters
102
and
102
′ as constructed above. By applying high voltage to the wire electrode
101
, at least effective screen of the photoconductive layer
34
can be charged uniformly as described later on.
In the meantime, the wire electrode
101
has a tension-applying means
101
′ for applying tension to the wire electrode
101
. Referring to
FIGS. 6 and 8
, the tension-applying means
101
′ located at either ends of the insulating block
105
is formed integrally with the opposite ends of the wire electrode
101
. The wire electrode
101
is supported on the insulating block
105
by means of tension-support means
107
at one point between the tension-applying means
101
′ and the wire electrode supporters
102
′. Therefore, a constant tension is continuously applied to the wire electrode
101
along its entire length after the wire electrode
101
is installed, to thereby enable the uniform corona discharge along the entire length of the wire electrode
101
.
Preferably, the wire electrode
101
may be made of tungsten plated with gold, to further improve the discharge efficiency.
In addition, the wire electrode
101
may be located lower than the distal edge of the pair of ground electrode plates
103
by a depth H corresponding to a half of the spacing W between the pair of ground electrode plates
103
, and located at the middle of the spacing, thereby generating symmetric corona discharge to enable further uniform charging. In the tested wire electrode
101
whose testing result is shown in
FIGS. 12
to
17
, the spacing W is 12.8 mm and the depth H is 6 mm.
FIGS. 12
to
17
show several results after the above-mentioned charging step performed by the wire-type corona charger
100
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 12 and 13
are graphs for showing distributions of the charged voltages according to the distance with respect to several charging times, respectively when 4.5 KV and 5 DK are applied to the wire electrode
101
.
FIGS. 14 and 15
are graphs for showing ratio of the voltage variances to the maximum voltages shown in
FIGS. 12 and 13
under the same conditions as those in
FIGS. 12 and 13
.
FIG. 16
is a graph for showing distributions of the charged voltages according to the distance with respect to various values of the charging gap between the ground electrode plates
103
and the photoconductive layer
34
, when 4.5 KV is applied to the wire electrode
101
.
FIG. 17
is a graph for showing ratio of the voltage variances to the maximum voltages shown in
FIG. 16
under the same conditions as those in FIG.
16
.
Throughout
FIGS. 12
to
17
, the maximum charged point is located at the positions of the wire electrode supporters
102
and
102
′. Referring to
FIGS. 12
to
15
, in order to achieve uniform charging, it is necessary to be charged for about 8 seconds when the voltage applied to the wire electrode
101
is 4.5 KV, and only for 3 to 5 seconds when 5 KV, the charged voltage has substantially uniform value between 300 and 400 volt.
Referring to
FIGS. 16
to
17
, it is proper for the charging gap to be in the range from 4 to 9 mm in order to achieve uniform charging, when the voltage applied to the wire electrode
101
is 4.5 KV.
In general, cables for applying high voltage to the wire electrode
101
may be connected directly to the opposite ends of the wire electrode
101
. However, it is preferred that the cable
110
may be fixedly inserted in a cable groove
105
a
formed in the insulating block
105
to prevent leakage of high voltage, as shown in FIG.
8
.
FIGS. 8 and 9
show the cable groove
105
a
formed to be exposed on one side surface of the insulating block
105
in consideration of the thickness and manufacture of the insulating block
105
. In this case, it is preferred that insulating plates
104
are located between the ground electrode plates
103
and the exposed side surfaces of the insulating block
105
as shown in
FIGS. 6
,
7
, and
10
, so as to prevent leakage of voltage from the cable
110
inserted in the cable groove
105
a.
FIG. 11
is a perspective view of a wire-type corona charger
200
for electrophotographically manufacturing a screen of a CRT according to another embodiment of the present invention.
The wire-type corona charger
200
includes at least three ground electrode plates
203
, at least two insulating blocks
205
, and at least two wire electrodes
201
.
Similarly with the wire electrode
101
in
FIG. 6
, the wire electrodes
201
are supported by at least two sets of wire electrode supporters
202
and
202
′ arranged on the insulating blocks
205
. Besides, not only the constructions and functions of the ground electrode plates
203
, the insulating blocks
205
, and the wire electrodes
201
but other conditions are similar to those in the previous embodiment.
The wire-type corona charger
200
having the above-described construction may be installed over the entire faceplate
18
as those in U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,217. Then, the wire-type corona charger
200
can uniformly charge the entire faceplate
18
when it travels a distance corresponding to a spacing between two adjacent wire electrodes
201
. Therefore, the wire-type corona charger
200
can more rapidly perform the charging process in comparison with the wire-type corona charger
100
. Moreover, though the wire-type corona charger
200
is not installed over the entire faceplate
18
, a desired quantity of charges can be obtained even by low voltage because only one-time turning of the wire electrodes
201
corresponds to plural-time turnings of the wire-type corona charger
100
in FIG.
6
. In addition, the quantity of charges at the periphery of the effective screen of the panel
12
can be regulated by changing the voltage applied to the wire electrodes
201
.
Preferably, the wire electrode supporters
202
and
202
′ are arranged in a crossed alignment set by set. That is, the wire electrode supporters
202
and
202
′ are arranged in line along every other sets but not between adjacent sets, so as to maximize the charging uniformity by compensating the reduction of charges due to the leakage of charges through the wire electrode supporters
202
and
202
′.
Hereinafter, described will be a method for electrophotographically manufacturing a screen of a CRT using the wire-type corona charger
100
shown in
FIG. 6
, referring again to FIG.
3
.
The method comprises the steps of: (1) firstly coating an inner surface of the panel for form a volatile conductive layer
32
on the inner surface; (2) secondly coating the volatile conductive layer
32
with photoconductive solution to form a volatile photoconductive layer
34
on the volatile conductive layer
32
, the photoconductive solution not contaminating the conductive layer
32
; (3) charging at least effective surface of the volatile photoconductive layer
34
with uniform electrostatic charges by pivoting a corona charger along one of the curvatures of the horizontal axis and the vertical axis of an interior surface of the panel with intervals over the entire interior surface of the panel, the corona charger generating a corona discharge; (4) exposing the volatile photoconductive layer
34
through a shadow mask to a light according to a characteristic of the volatile photoconductive layer
34
, so as to selectively discharge the electrostatic charges having been charged on the volatile photoconductive layer
34
in step 3; and (5) developing the photoconductive layer
34
by attaching powdered particles on one of an exposed area and an unexposed area of the photoconductive layer
34
after charging the powdered particles, the exposed area having been exposed to light in step 4 to lose the electrostatic charges.
The powdered particles may be one of the first to the third phosphor particles, and the steps 3 to 5 may be repeatedly performed with respect to the other particles. Also, the light-absorptive material of the black matrix may be formed as above, and in this case, the method further comprises, before the charging step 4, the steps of: charging the photoconductive layer
34
with uniform electrostatic charges by corona discharge in order to develop the light-absorptive material, exposing the photoconductive layer
34
through a shadow mask to a light according to a characteristic of the photoconductive layer
34
, so as to selectively discharge the electrostatic charges charged on the photoconductive layer
34
; and developing the photoconductive layer
34
by attaching light-absorptive material on one of an exposed area and a unexposed area of the photoconductive layer
34
after charging the light-absorptive material, the exposed area being exposed to light in the exposing step to lose the electrostatic charges. In this case, the light-absorptive material is formed in a predetermined matrix construction.
In the above charging step, the charging apparatus as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,188 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,217 may be employed. Further, the high voltage applied to the wire electrodes
101
and
201
may be increased in proportion to the increase of the gap between the photoconductive layer
34
and the wire electrode
101
, the reduction of the thickness of the photoconductive layer
34
, and the increase of the pivoting speed of the wire-type corona charger, to thereby enable to regulate the quantity of the electrostatic charges on the photoconductive layer
34
by the wire electrode
101
in the charging step. It is preferred for the following process that the photoconductive layer
34
is charged with uniform electrostatic charges between 300 and 400 volt. As is in the detailed description with reference to
FIGS. 12
to
17
, the gap between the ground electrode plates
103
and the photoconductive layer
34
is preferably more than 3 mm.
Also, the photoconductive layer
34
may include a material responsive to one of the visible rays and the ultraviolet rays in the secondly coating step, so that the photoconductive layer
34
is exposed to light of the visible rays or the ultraviolet rays according to the material of the photoconductive layer
34
in the exposing step. The solution for the photoconductive layer
34
responsive to the ultraviolet rays, for example, may contain: an electron donor material, such as about 0.01 to 10 percent by weight of bis-1,4-dimethyl phenyl (-1,4-diphenyl (butariene) or 2 to 5 percent by weight of tetrapheyl ethylene; an electron acceptor material, such as about 0.01 to 10 percent by weight of at least one of trinitro-fluorenone and ethyl anthraquinone; a macro-molecular binder, such as 1 to 30 percent by weight polystyrene; and a solvent, such as the remaining percent by weight of toluene or xylene. This solution is further preferable because it does not require the dark environment for the exposing step.
Moreover, in the developing step, instead of being charged by the contact as shown in
FIG. 3D
, the powdered particles may be charged by a contact with a pipe in the course of being supplied, or charged by a corona discharge just before being sprayed by a spray coater.
The fixing step as shown in
FIG. 3E
may employ a vapor swelling method wherein the fixing is performed by a contact with a solvent vapor such as acetone and methyl isobutyl ketone, or a spraying method wherein an electrostatic solution spray gun sprays a mixture of at two kinds among methyl isobutyl ketone, TCE, toluene, and xylene of the petrolium group on the developed powdered-particles of red, green, and blue. Otherwise, the fixing step may omitted partly or totally.
In addition, the pivoting speed of the charger and the voltage-applying time and the applied voltage to each wire electrode may be variable independently to or in combination with each other, so as to charge the entire effective screen of the panel faceplate
18
to a uniform predetermined voltage. That is, the wire electrodes
101
and
201
as shown in
FIGS. 6 and 11
may be pivoted slowly at the periphery of the screen, or the charging time at the wire electrodes may be gradually prolonged as it goes inward from those at the sides, at the beginning and closing of the charging step. Further, the voltage applied to the wire electrodes may be changed from the higher voltage than to the same voltage as that applied to the other wire electrodes, so that the periphery of the faceplate may be charged equally to the other parts thereof.
As apparent from the above description of the construction and function of the wire-type corona charger and the method for electrophotographically manufacturing a screen of a CRT using the wire-type corona charger according to several embodiments of the present invention, the wire-type corona charger for electrophotographically manufacturing a screen of a CRT is achieved basically by means of the wire electrodes
101
and
201
and the wire electrode supporters
102
and
102
′, wherein the wire electrodes
101
and
201
enables more rapid and uniform charging of the photoconductive layer in the charging step of the process for electrophotographically manufacturing a screen of a CRT. The present invention further enables a uniform exposure and development in the above exposing and developing steps, thereby not only improving the productivity and quality of the CRT but also increasing the charging efficiency.
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the particular embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be effected therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Claims
- 1. A wire-type corona charger for electrophotographically manufacturing a screen of a CRT, the wire-type corona charger being installed in a corona discharge apparatus and pivoted with a spacing over an entire interior surface of a panel faceplate of the screen along a first curvature which is one of curvatures of a horizontal axis and a vertical axis of the interior surface of the panel faceplate, so as to uniformly charge at least effective surface of a photoconductive layer with a desired voltage, the photoconductive layer being formed on an electro-conductive layer formed on the interior surface of the panel faceplate, the wire-type corona charger comprising:a pair of ground electrode plates each of which has arcuately-shaped upper edge with a curvature substantially equal to a second curvature, the second curvature being a remaining one of the curvatures of the horizontal axis and the vertical axis of the interior surface of the panel faceplate, the pair of ground electrode plates being grounded with being arranged in parallel and spaced with regular intervals apart; an insulating block disposed between the pair of the ground electrode plates and made from electrically insulating material, the insulating block having a plurality of wire electrode supporters so arranged that their upper ends are arranged to have a curvature substantially equal to the second curvature and lower than upper edges of the pair of ground electrode plates; and a wire electrode being supported by the upper ends of the plurality of wire electrode supporters, to which a high voltage is applied, so that at least effective screen of the photoconductive layer is charged uniformly.
- 2. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upper ends of the wire electrode supporters are formed sharply, so that their sections in a direction of the second curvature respectively have an inverted V-shape, so as to minimize a contact area between the wire electrode and the wire electrode supporters, thereby minimizing leakage of high voltage.
- 3. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 1, further comprising tension-applying means for applying tension to the wire electrode, so as to generate a uniform corona discharge along an entire length of the wire electrode.
- 4. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 3, wherein the tension-applying means are located at either ends of the insulating block and formed integrally with opposite ends of the wire electrode, further comprising a pair of tension-support means each of which supports the wire electrode at either points between the tension-applying means and the wire electrode supporters disposed at either ends thereof, so that a constant tension is continuously applied to the wire electrode along its entire length after the wire electrode is installed.
- 5. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 1, wherein end supporters among the wire electrode supporters, which are disposed at the opposite ends, support the wire electrode in such a manner that even peripheral portions of an effective screen of the panel faceplate can be uniformly charged.
- 6. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wire electrode supporters are fixedly inserted in a supporter recess formed on an upper surface of the insulating block.
- 7. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 6, wherein a upper surface of the insulating block is formed to have a curvature substantially equal to the second curvature, and interior supporters of the wire electrode supporters extend in normal direction with respect to the curvature of the upper surface of the insulating block, while end supporters of the wire electrode supporters extend to be open as widely as possible outward from the normal directions, the end supporters being disposed at the opposite ends of the wire electrode supporters and the interior supporters being the remaining wire electrode supporters excepting from the end supporters.
- 8. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wire electrode is made of tungsten plated with gold.
- 9. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wire electrode is located at a center of a gap(W) between the ground electrode plates with being lower than the arcuately-shaped upper edge of the ground electrode plates by a depth H corresponding to a half of the gap.
- 10. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the insulating block and the pair of ground electrode plates may be detachably assembled by assembling means through holes thereof, the hole(s) in one of the insulating block and the pair of ground electrode plates being slotted so as to adjust a relative position of the wire electrode and the arcuately-shaped upper edge of the ground electrode plates.
- 11. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 1, wherein a cable for applying a high voltage to the wire electrode is fixedly inserted in a cable groove formed in one of two exposed side surfaces of the insulating block, and at least one insulating plate is located between the ground electrode plate disposed on the one exposed side surface and the one exposed side surface of the insulating block to cover the cable groove, so as to prevent leakage of voltage from the cable to the ground electrode plates.
- 12. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interior surface of the panel faceplate is aspheric, and the second curvature has a longer radius than the first curvature.
- 13. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the insulating block is inserted in and formed integrally with the ground electrode plates without separate fixing means.
- 14. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ground electrode plates comprise a base in a body, and the insulating block is inserted onto the base and then fixed by a fixing means including adhesives, and the insulating block is formed integrally with the base and the ground electrode plates by molding.
- 15. A wire-type corona charger for electrophotographically manufacturing a screen of a CRT, the wire-type corona charger being installed in a corona discharge apparatus and pivoted to a predetermined distance along a first curvature which is one of curvatures of a horizontal axis and a vertical axis of the interior surface of the panel faceplate, so as to uniformly charge at least effective surface of a photoconductive layer with a desired voltage, the photoconductive layer being formed on an electro-conductive layer formed on the interior surface of the panel faceplate, the wire-type corona charger being pivoted with a spacing from the photoconductive layer, the wire-type corona charger comprising:at least three ground electrode plates, each of which has arcuately-shaped upper edge with a curvature substantially equal to a second curvature, the second curvature being a remaining one of the curvatures of the horizontal axis and the vertical axis of the interior surface of the panel faceplate at each section of the panel faceplate nearest to each of the ground electrodes, the pair of ground electrode plates being grounded with being arranged in parallel and spaced with regular intervals apart; at least two sets of insulating blocks each of which is disposed respectively between the ground electrode plates and made from electrically insulating material, each of the insulating blocks having a plurality of wire electrode supporters so arranged that their upper ends are arranged to have a curvature substantially equal to the second curvature; and at least two wire electrodes being supported by the upper ends of the wire electrode supporters, to which a high voltage is applied, so that at least effective screen of the photoconductive layer is charged uniformly.
- 16. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 15, wherein the wire electrode supporters are arranged in a crossed alignment set by set.
- 17. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 15, wherein the wire electrodes are installed over the entire faceplate and pivoted with a distance corresponding to a gap between two adjacent wire electrodes, thereby uniformly charging the entire faceplate.
- 18. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 15, wherein the upper ends of the wire electrode supporters are formed sharply, so that their sections in a direction of the second curvature respectively have an inverted V-shape, so as to minimize a contact area between the wire electrodes and the wire electrode supporters, thereby minimizing leakage of high voltage.
- 19. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 15, further comprising tension-applying means for applying tension to the wire electrodes, so as to generate a uniform corona discharge along entire lengths of the wire electrodes.
- 20. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 19, wherein the tension-applying means are located at either ends of each of the insulting block and formed integrally with opposite ends of each of the wire electrode, each set of insulating blocks further comprising a pair of tension-support means each of which supports the wire electrode at either points between the tension-applying means and the wire electrode supporters disposed at either ends thereof, so that a constant tension is continuously applied to each of the wire electrodes along its entire length after each of the wire electrodes is installed.
- 21. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 15, wherein end supporters of the wire electrode supporters, which are disposed at the opposite ends, support the wire electrode in such a manner that even peripheral portions of an effective screen of the panel faceplate can be uniformly charged.
- 22. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 15, wherein the wire electrode supporters are fixedly inserted in supporter recesses formed on upper surfaces of the insulating blocks.
- 23. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 22, wherein an upper surface of each of the insulating blocks is formed to have a curvature substantially equal to the second curvature, and interior supporters of the wire electrode supporters extend in normal directions with respect the curvature of the upper surface of each of the insulating blocks, while end supporters of the wire electrode supporters extend to be open as widely as possible outward from the normal directions, the end supporters being disposed at the opposite ends of the wire electrode supporters and the interior supporters being the remaining wire electrode supporters excepting from the end supporters.
- 24. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 15, wherein the wire electrodes are made of tungsten plated with gold.
- 25. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 15, wherein each of the wire electrodes is located at a center of a gap between two adjacent ones of the ground electrode plates with being lower than the arcuately-shaped upper edge of said two adjacent ones by a depth H corresponding to a half of the gap.
- 26. A wire-type corona charger as claimed in claim 15, wherein a cable for applying a high voltage to each of the wire electrodes is fixedly inserted in a cable groove formed respectively in one of two exposed side surfaces of each of the insulating blocks, and at least one insulating plate is located between the ground electrode plate disposed on the one exposed side surface and the one exposed side surface of each of the insulating blocks to cover each of the cable grooves, so as to prevent leakage of voltage from the cable to the ground electrode plates.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
97-43624 |
Aug 1997 |
KR |
|
PCT Information
Filing Document |
Filing Date |
Country |
Kind |
102e Date |
371c Date |
PCT/KR97/00250 |
|
WO |
00 |
4/27/1999 |
4/27/1999 |
Publishing Document |
Publishing Date |
Country |
Kind |
WO99/12181 |
3/11/1999 |
WO |
A |
US Referenced Citations (6)