JP2001135263A - Image-forming apparatus and manufacturing method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image-forming apparatus equipped with a spacer than can support the front and rear plates with a stability, and its manufacturing method. SOLUTION: In this image-forming apparatus 1 that is equipped with a back board 2 mounting an electron emission device 8, a front board 3 mounting a fluorescent substance 7 and facing the back board 2, a spacer 6 placed between the back board 2 and front board 3, and forms an image by illuminating electrons emitted from the electron emission device 8 onto the fluorescent substance 7, the spacer 6 is molded in a single body with the front board 3 and together, in such a manner that width of the spacer 6 is molded with the edge part of the back board 2 being set wider than that of the front board 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having an electron source and a phosphor and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A CRT, which has been widely used as an image forming apparatus, has a disadvantage that it has a large volume and weight and requires a high voltage. )
Or liquid crystal display (LCD) or PDP (Plasma D
A flat image forming device has been developed that has features such as isplay panel), FED (Field Emission Display), etc., with large screens, high image quality, light weight and thinness, and can be installed anywhere.
The range of their use is expanding.

The FED is a matrix type in which a pair of flat substrates forming a back plate and a front plate are arranged to face each other to form a flat vacuum vessel, and electrons are emitted to the inner surface of the vacuum vessel of the back plate by an electric signal. And a phosphor that emits visible light by an electron beam is formed on the front plate side of the inner surface of the vacuum vessel in correspondence with RGB pixels. By selectively applying a voltage to emit electrons, a desired light spot is displayed at a desired position on the screen and an image is displayed.
There is an advantage that the viewing angle is wider than LCD and power consumption can be suppressed lower than PDP.

In such an FED, the distance between the electron-emitting device and the phosphor is kept at 500 μm or more in order to suppress the occurrence of abnormal discharge, and the distance is kept constant over the entire surface of the FED in order to avoid problems such as uneven brightness of light emission. , And further, it is necessary to make the inside a high vacuum of 10 ⁻³ Pa or more. However, as the display area of the FED increases, the front plate and the back plate are pushed by the atmospheric pressure, particularly near the center of the FED, causing distortion and bending. In a severe case, the front plate and the back plate are deformed or broken. There was a problem of doing.

As a method for solving such a problem that the front plate and the back plate are deformed or broken by the atmospheric pressure, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 36363 proposes increasing the thickness of the front plate. However, this method has a problem in that the advantage of the FED that the weight can be reduced is lost.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 10-92314 discloses a glass plate cut into a predetermined shape at a predetermined position on a back plate on which electron-emitting devices are formed in order to keep the front plate and the back plate constant. An FED in which spacers are arranged and bonded with an adhesive such as glass frit is disclosed.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-334832, the risk of damaging the phosphor formed on the surface of the front plate during assembly can be avoided by fixing the spacer to the front plate and bringing the spacer into contact with the rear plate. Is disclosed.

[0008]

However, in the method of forming a spacer in which a glass plate is processed into a predetermined shape and bonded with a glass frit according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-92314, a spacer having a minute shape can be easily and accurately formed. In addition to the difficulty in forming the glass frit, there is a problem that the spacer is inclined or falls in the step of melting and fixing the glass frit, and the production yield is reduced.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-334832, the risk of damaging the phosphor formed on the front plate surface during assembly can be avoided. When the spacer is slightly tilted due to sintering or the like, there has been a problem that the withstand load of the spacer is remarkably reduced to cause chipping and that the front plate and the back plate cannot be supported.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of easily assembling the apparatus and improving the durability of a spacer, and a method of manufacturing the same. is there.

[0011]

Means for Solving the Problems The present inventors have made intensive studies in view of the above-mentioned problems, and as a result, have formed a spacer integrally with the front plate side, and have a rear plate having a width greater than the width of the end of the spacer on the front plate side. By increasing the width of the end on the side, the phosphor on the front plate surface is not damaged at the time of joining the spacer, and even if the joining angle of the spacer to the front plate is inclined, the load capacity of the spacer is significantly reduced. It was found that the front plate and the back plate could be stably supported without performing.

That is, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, there is provided a back plate provided with an electron-emitting device, a front plate provided with a phosphor and arranged at a position facing the back plate; And a spacer disposed between the front plate and the front plate, wherein the spacer is integrated with the front plate, wherein the spacer is integrally formed with the phosphor by irradiating the phosphor with electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device. The width of the spacer is wider at the rear plate side end than at the front plate end width.

Further, the spacer has a trapezoidal shape,
It is preferable that the angle θ between the side surface of the spacer and the perpendicular of the front plate is 0.5 to 8 °.

Further, in the method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, there are provided (a) a step of forming a phosphor on a surface of a front plate made of ceramics or glass, and (b) a step of forming the phosphor on the front plate. Forming a soft resin layer on the
(C) A plurality of spacer-shaped projections are arranged on the surface of the molding die base material, and the width of the tip of the projection is wider than the width of the projections on the base material side. Pressing the layer against the surface and releasing to form a space for the spacer in the resin layer; and (d) applying a paste containing glass powder and / or ceramic powder in the space for the spacer on the front plate surface. Filling to form a spacer molded body; (e) removing the resin layer on the front plate surface; and (f) firing the spacer molded body on the front plate surface to form a spacer on the front plate surface. A step of integrally forming;
(G) a step of bonding and fixing a back plate to the tip end surface of the spacer.

Another method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes the steps of (a) forming a soft resin layer on the surface of a front plate made of ceramics or glass; A plurality of convex portions having a shape are arranged, and the width of the tip of the convex portion is larger than the width of the convex portion on the base material side, and the resin layer on the front plate surface is pressed against the surface, and separated. Forming a space for a spacer in the resin layer,
(C) a step of filling a paste containing glass powder and / or ceramic powder into the space for spacers on the front plate surface to form a spacer molded body; and (d) removing a resin layer on the front plate surface. (E) baking the spacer molded body on the front plate surface to integrally form a spacer on the front plate surface; and (f) forming a phosphor on the spacer forming surface of the front plate. The process of
(G) a step of bonding and fixing a back plate to the tip end surface of the spacer.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An FED, which is an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, will be described with reference to a schematic sectional view of FIG. F
ED1 is a back plate 2 formed in parallel with a predetermined separation.
And the front plate 3 are respectively joined to the frame 4 to form a panel 5 sealed by the back plate 2, the front plate 3 and the frame 4. In the panel 5, rib-shaped spacers 6 arranged in parallel to support the rear plate 2 and the front plate 3 are formed, so that the distance between the rear plate 2 and the front plate 3 is kept constant. Have been.

On the inner surface of the panel 5 of the front panel 3, phosphors 7, which emit R, G, and B light, are arranged in a predetermined pattern so as to face an electron emitting element 8, which will be described later. Light can be emitted when electrons emitted from the element 8 collide with a predetermined phosphor 7.

Further, on the surface of the back plate 2, respective conductor layers (not shown) forming a positive electrode and a negative electrode are arranged so as to intersect, and the electron-emitting device 8 is formed at the intersection. The present invention is not limited to the above-described electron-emitting device 8 in which an insulator is interposed between the positive and negative electrodes, and may be, for example, a surface conduction type or field emission type electron-emitting device. .

According to the present invention, the spacer 6 is formed integrally with the front plate 3, and the width of the spacer 6 is wider at the rear plate 2 end than at the front plate 3 end. It is. Thus, by forming the spacer 6 on the front plate 3 side, the phosphor 7 can be easily formed without damaging the phosphor 7 at the time of manufacturing, and even if the spacer 6 is formed to be inclined with respect to the front plate 3, If the width of the back plate 6 on the side of the back plate 2 is small, the substrate cannot keep the plane parallel to the perpendicular direction, and the load resistance of the spacer 6 is extremely reduced. On the other hand, by forming the width of the spacer 6 on the side of the back plate 2 wider, a surface parallel to the perpendicular direction of the substrate can be maintained, and the load resistance of the spacer 6 can be stably maintained without drastically decreasing. Thus, the rear plate 2 and the front plate 3 can be supported.

The cross-sectional shape of the spacer 6 is desirably a trapezoidal shape from the viewpoint of efficient light emission and improvement of load resistance of the spacer.

The back plate 2 and the front plate 3 are made of quartz glass,
It is composed of a glass substrate such as soda lime glass, low soda glass, lead alkali silicate glass, borosilicate glass, bismuth glass, or a ceramic substrate such as alumina or silica, and the front plate 3 is formed of a transparent material. .

Further, the conductor layers for the positive electrode and the negative electrode forming the electron-emitting device 8 are made of silver (Ag), aluminum (Al), nickel (Ni), platinum (Pt), gold (Au), palladium. A metal such as (Pd) or an alloy containing each as a main component, amorphous silicon, polysilicon, graphite, or the like can be used. Further, at the intersection of the conductor layer for the positive electrode and the conductor layer for the negative electrode, S
An insulator made of at least one selected from oxides and nitrides of i, Ti, Ga, W, Al, Pd and the like is interposed.

Further, if necessary, a diffusion preventing layer (not shown) made of a ceramic thin film of silica, silicon nitride or the like is provided between the back plate 2 and the electron emitting element 8 in order to prevent diffusion of impurities into the electron emitting element 8. )) Is desirable.

In FIG. 1, the spacers 6 are formed for each of the three sets of R, G, and B of the electron-emitting device 8, but may be arranged for each row. It may be formed for every four or more elements. Further, the spacer 6 is not limited to the rib shape. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, it is sufficient that the spacer 6 has sufficient strength to secure the panel 5 even in a strip shape, a column shape, or a frame shape.

Further, it is desirable that a black matrix is arranged at a specific position other than the phosphor 7 forming portion. The black matrix is made of a material that becomes black or dark, and for example, a mixture of an oxide powder of Fe, Ni, Cu, Mn and the like and a low melting point glass, metallic chromium, graphite and the like can be used.

Further, in order to release electric charges accumulated in the phosphor, a transparent ITO film (not shown) is formed between the front plate 3 and the phosphor 7 or aluminum (Al),
A metal back (not shown) made of a foil made of silver (Ag), nickel (Ni), platinum (Pt), or the like is used as the phosphor 7.
It is desirable to form it on the surface by an evaporation method or the like.

Further, the metal back serves not only to release the electric charge accumulated in the phosphor 7 but also to reflect the light emitted from the phosphor 7 to increase the luminance. The thickness of the metal back is desirably about 100 to 300 nm for the purpose of transmitting electrons from the electron-emitting device 8 and reflecting light emitted from the phosphor 7 into the panel 5. Further, the metal back may be formed on the entire surface of the front plate 3. However, in order to increase the bonding strength of the spacer 6 to the front plate 3, the metal back should not be formed on the surface of the front plate 3 on which the spacer 6 is formed. Is desirable.

Further, by dispersing conductive particles such as metal powder in the spacer 6 and connecting the end of the spacer 6 to a potential control circuit (not shown), the surface of the spacer 6 can be prevented from being charged.

Next, a method of manufacturing the image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to a process chart of FIG. 3 showing an example of a method of manufacturing the image forming apparatus of FIG. In FIG. 3, the frame 4 is omitted.

First, a front plate 3 made of the above-described material is prepared, cut into a predetermined shape, and then a grid-like black matrix is formed by a photolithography method, a printing method, or the like, and a region surrounded by the black matrix is formed. The phosphor 7 is formed at a predetermined position by a known method such as a photolithography method, a printing method, and an inkjet method. From the viewpoint of improving the bonding strength of the spacer 6 to the front plate 3, it is preferable that the phosphor 7 is not formed on the portion of the front plate 3 where the spacer 6 is formed by using a mask or the like.

In order to release the electric charge accumulated in the phosphor 7, an ITO film (not shown) is formed between the front plate 3 and the phosphor 7 by a paste coating method, a vapor deposition method, or the like, or Aluminum (Al), silver (Ag), nickel (N
i), a metal back (not shown) made of foil having a thickness of about 100 to 300 nm made of, for example, platinum (Pt) or the like is preferably formed on the surface of the phosphor 7 by vapor deposition or the like. It is desirable to form a protective layer 20 made of resin on the surface of the phosphor 7 in order to prevent the metal back 7 from being damaged and to form the metal back to be thin and uniform in thickness.

The protective layer 20 can be formed of a resin paste to which a defoaming material or a leveling material is added by a photolithography method, a printing method, an ink jet method or the like in addition to a binder and a solvent described later. Is desirably eliminated at the time of removal or by heat treatment.

Next, a resin paste for forming the soft resin layer 21 is prepared. The resin is desirably a curable resin such as a wax, an acrylic resin, a butyral resin, an epoxy resin, or the like, an ultraviolet curable resin, an electron beam curable resin, or a thermosetting resin. In addition, DBP (dibutyl phthalate), DOP (dioctyl phthalate), α-
Plasticizers such as terpineol, benzyl alcohol, IP
It is desirable to add a high boiling point solvent such as A (isopropyl alcohol), carbitol or the like to adjust to a desired softness.

Further, in order to enhance the shape retaining property of the resin layer 21, a second resin powder having an average particle diameter of 50 μm or less, particularly 10 μm or less, and made of, for example, a hardened bead-like plastic may be added. It is desirable that the second resin powder is finally removed.
It is desirable to completely decompose and volatilize by the following heat treatment.

The resin paste is applied to the surface of the front plate 3 to a predetermined thickness by a known film forming method such as screen printing, a doctor blade, a slit coater, or a spin coater to form a resin layer 21. Here, as described above, it is desirable to interpose the protective layer 20 having a thickness of about 1 to 20 μm at the interface between the front plate 3 and the resin layer 21 in order to maintain the shape retention of the phosphor 7 if desired.

If the protective layer 20 is formed of the same components as the resin in the spacer molded body 28 described later, the adhesion of the resin layer 23 to the front plate 3 can be enhanced.

Further, as another method of forming the resin layer 21, a resin film having a predetermined thickness is formed on the surface of a polyester resin film such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate) by the above-described method, and cut into a predetermined shape. It may be press-bonded to the surface of the front plate 3 while being heated as required.

Next, the resin layer 21 is applied to the mold base material 22.
A spacer forming die 24 in which a plurality of spacer-shaped convex portions 23 are arranged on the surface and the end width of the convex portion 23 on the front end side is narrower than the end width of the convex portion 23 on the base material 22 side is used. The resin layer 21 is pressed against the surface and released to form a space 26 for the spacer in the resin layer 21.

That is, the sectional shape of the spacer gap 26 is such that the width of the opening of the spacer gap 26, that is, the width of the end of the spacer gap 26 on the back plate 2 side is the bottom of the spacer gap 26, that is, the spacer. Front plate 3 of air gap 26
It is formed wider than the width of the end on the side. As described above, the protrusion 23 of the mold 24 is formed so that the end width on the base material 22 side is wider than the end width on the front end side, so that the resin can be filled into the mold and the resin can be separated from the mold. There is an advantage that the moldability is improved, and the pressing and releasing of the mold can be easily performed.

The protrusion 23 in the molding die 24 is formed, for example, at the bottom of the space 26 for the spacer, that is, the front plate 3 of the spacer 6.
Side end is 300 μm or less, particularly 150 μm or less, and the width of the opening of the space 26 for spacer, that is, the end at the back plate 2 side is 350 μm or less, particularly 200 μm or less, and height 1
It is desirably in the form of a rib of at least 00 μm, particularly at least 500 μm, and particularly desirably the trapezoidal shape as described above. A plurality of spacer gaps 26 are arranged in parallel, and the spacer gaps 26 can be formed as long as the spacing between the spacers is 100 μm or more and the pitch between the spacers is 200 μm or more.
The numerical value range of the spacer shape corresponds to a spacer formed by firing a spacer molded body described later, and the size of the spacer gap 26 increases by shrinkage due to firing.

The molding die 24 is made of a highly rigid material such as metal, ceramics, glass, hardened resin or rubber, or the like, and is preferably a flat plate type or a roll type. There is no problem even if the surface of the mold 24 is subjected to a surface treatment or the like in order to improve the releasability or the wear resistance.

Further, the shape of the convex portion 23 of the molding die 24 is not limited to a rib shape, but may be a strip shape, a column shape, or a frame shape as shown in FIG. The strip-shaped, column-shaped, and frame-shaped spacers as shown can be manufactured.

The pressing method is as follows: when the molding die 24 is a flat plate type,
A method of disposing the mold 24 at a predetermined position on the surface of the resin layer 21 and pressing the mold 24 at a predetermined pressure, and then releasing the mold 24,
When the mold 24 is a roll mold, a method in which the roll mold 24 is arranged at a predetermined position on the surface of the resin layer 21 and the roll mold 24 is rotated and moved while being pressed can be applied. Then, if desired, the resin layer 21 in which the spacer gap 26 has been formed is cured.

On the other hand, a glass paste having an average particle size of 0.5 to 6 μm and an organic substance such as a binder, a plasticizer, a dispersant, and a solvent are kneaded to prepare a paste for a spacer.

The glass powder contains PbO, SiO ₂ and B ₂ O ₃ or the glass powder is Bi
It preferably contains ₂ O ₃ and B ₂ O ₃ and has a melting point of 6.
It is preferable that the spacer be densified at a temperature of 50 ° C. or lower and a temperature of 650 ° C. or lower from the viewpoint of avoiding thermal deformation of the glass substrate.

Acrylic and polyvinyl butyral binders are used, DBP (dibutyl phthalate) and DOP (dioctyl phthalate) are used as plasticizers, nonionic and phosphoric acid dispersants are used as dispersants, and solvents are used as dispersants. , I
Higher alcohols such as PA can be used.

In the above-mentioned paste for spacers,
If desired, adjust the strain point of the glass, thermal expansion of the spacer
For controlling and coloring the coefficient, T having an average particle size of 0.5 to 6 μm
iO _Two, ZrO_Two, ZnO, SiO_Two, BN, Al_TwoO_Threeetc
Ceramic filler may be added.
To prevent shrinkage due to baking, and to provide conductivity to spacers.
For example, Si, Zn, Al, S having an average particle size of 0.5 to 6 μm
Metal powders such as n, Cu, and Mg may be added.

Then, the space 26 for the spacer of the resin layer 21 is formed.
The spacer paste is filled therein by a known printing method such as screen printing, filling with a dispenser, vacuum injection, rubbing by squeezing, and the like, and cured to form a spacer molded body 28.

Next, after forming the spacer molded body 28,
(1) Method of physically peeling off by brush cleaning, etc.
(2) a method of dissolving the resin layer 21 with a solvent or the like and flowing it out;
(3) The resin layer 21 remaining on the surface of the front plate 3 is removed by using at least one of the methods of burning and volatilizing the resin layer 21 by heat treatment.

Further, after the resin layer 21 is removed, an oxidizing atmosphere or a non-oxidizing atmosphere, for example, 400 to 65
By firing at 0 ° C., particularly at 450 to 500 ° C., the spacer 6 can be integrally formed on the surface of the front plate 3. Note that at least a part of the removal of the resin layer 21 by the heat treatment can be performed simultaneously with the firing.

On the other hand, a conductor layer made of the above-mentioned material is formed on the surface of the back plate 2 made of the above-mentioned material by photolithography or the like so that the conductor layer for the positive electrode and the conductor layer for the negative electrode intersect at a predetermined position. The electron-emitting device 8 is formed by depositing and interposing an insulator made of the above-described material by a sputtering method, an evaporation method, an ion beam sputtering method, a CVD method, an MBE method, or the like at an intersection thereof. .

The frame 4 is arranged between the rear plate 2 and the front plate 3, and the frit glass is fixed to the rear plate spacer and the frame by a printing method, and / or
Alternatively, the frame is formed by applying the heat treatment at 400 to 500 ° C. by coating the front end face of the spacer and the frame body with the front end face of the spacer 6 formed on the front plate 3 and positioning the front end face of the spacer 6 at a predetermined position on the back plate 2. After bonding the body 4 and the spacer 6, a vacuum pump is provided at one end of the panel, and the inside of the panel 5 is evacuated to about 10 ^-4 Pa and sealed, thereby producing the image display device of the present invention. can do.

It should be noted that the phosphor 7 is formed by connecting the spacer 6 to the front plate 3.
After the spacer 6 is formed on the surface of the front plate 3 in the same manner as described above, the above-described phosphor paste is used on the surface of the front plate 3 other than the spacer 6 forming portion. Can be formed by an inkjet method or a printing method using a mask or the like. Then, the front plate 3 on which the phosphor paste is adhered is formed to 400 to 600.
The phosphor 7 can be formed by heat-treating the paste at a temperature of about 450 ° C., particularly about 450 to 500 ° C. to volatilize and remove the paste.

[0054]

Embodiment 1 (Embodiment 1) End width 8 on the front end side of a mold projection.
0 μm, the height of the projections from the base material is 1200 μm, the length of the projections is 10 mm, and the spacer-shaped projections comprising the end width of the molding die projections shown in Table 1 on the substrate side are pitch 700 μm.
A 10 mm square metal mold having the above conditions was prepared. Table 1 shows the angle θ between the side surface of the spacer-shaped protrusion and the perpendicular to the front plate surface.

The sample No. For 7, the half of the spacer on the back plate side is trapezoidal (θ = 5 °) as shown in FIG.
Thus, the front plate side half was formed in a rectangular shape (θ = 0 °).

On the other hand, the surface of a glass substrate made of soda lime glass having a thickness of 2 mm and a size of 40 × 40 mm was coated with ITO.
The film was formed by an evaporation method.

A plasticizer is kneaded in paraffin wax, and a sheet-like resin layer having a thickness of 1050 μm is formed on the surface of the ITO film by a slit coater.
By cutting to 25 mm, pressing the flat mold from the surface of the resin layer, plastic deformation, by releasing the mold,
Spacers for the spacers were formed at predetermined positions in the resin layer on the surface of the glass substrate.

After the resin layer was pressed by the flat metal mold and plastically deformed, the flat metal mold was released to form a space for spacers having a height of 1200 μm and a pitch of 700 μm on the front plate. .

Further, a low melting point glass powder having an average particle size of 5 μm, a titania powder, a silicon powder, a binder, a solvent,
A paste kneaded with a dispersant is filled into the space for the spacer, and dried and solidified to obtain a spacer molded body.
The resin layer was heated to ℃ to remove the solute.

Next, the substrate from which the resin layer had been removed was heated to remove the binder, and then baked at a temperature of 500 ° C. for 10 minutes to produce a substrate with spacers integrated with the front plate.

The obtained substrate with spacer was observed from the side using a three-dimensional measuring device, and the inclination of the spacer was measured. Then, the spacers other than the spacer near the center of the panel that was sintered and integrated with the front plate at each angle β shown in Table 1 were removed,
The spacer formed on the front plate at each angle β shown in Table 1 was loaded from above in the direction perpendicular to the spacer, and the load at which the spacer broke was measured as the strength of the spacer. The results are shown in Table 1.

The angle β of the spacer with respect to the front plate is
Is the angle between a straight line connecting the respective center points at the tip and base of the spacer as shown in FIG. 6 and a perpendicular to the front plate surface.

[0063]

[Table 1]

From the results shown in Table 1, it was found that the width of the spacer was larger in the end of the joint portion of the rear plate than in the joint portion of the front plate. In Nos. 2 to 7, it was confirmed that even when the spacer was formed inclined, the front plate could be stably supported without extremely lowering the strength.

On the other hand, in the case of the sample N in which the end width of the spacer on the side of the back plate joint and the width of the end of the spacer on the front plate joint side are the same.
o. In No. 1, the withstand load significantly decreased with respect to the inclination of the spacer.

(Example 2) A metal cylinder having a diameter of 200 mm was prepared, and a spacer having a width of 100 μm on the tip side and a width of 200 μm on the substrate side having a trapezoidal shape and a height of 1100 μm was formed on the side surface of the cylinder. A roll mold having a pitch of 900 μm was prepared.

On the other hand, a low melting glass, iron oxide (Fe ₂ O ₃ ), nickel oxide (Ni
₂ O _3), after applying a paste mainly composed of chromium oxide (Cr ₂ O ₃₎ by a printing method and baking, to form a lattice-shaped black matrix having a thickness of 10 [mu] m. Then, R, G, and B phosphors were respectively applied to predetermined positions surrounded by a black matrix by using a screen printing method, and were fired to form phosphor layers having a thickness of 15 to 25 μm.
Thereafter, a 10 μm thick protective layer mainly composed of an acrylic resin was formed on the surface of the phosphor layer by screen printing. Further, after curing the protective layer, a metal back made of aluminum was vapor-deposited on the surface by a vapor deposition method to a thickness of 200 nm.
Deposited in thick. At this time, the protective layer and the aluminum were formed in portions other than the portion where the spacer was formed as shown in FIG.

Then, the first embodiment was applied to the surface of the metal back.
After the resin layer is formed in the same manner as in Example 1, the resin layer is moved on the resin layer while being pressed and rotated using a roll-shaped mold having the same convex shape as in Example 1 to be plastically deformed. Sample No. A spacer gap having the same shape as that of No. 3 was formed on the front plate surface at a height of 1100 μm and a pitch of 900 μm at a predetermined position on the front plate surface where no phosphor was formed.

Then, a molded body for a spacer was prepared and debindered in the same manner as in Example 1, and baked at a temperature of 500 ° C. for 10 minutes to prepare a spacer integrated with the front plate.

On the other hand, an insulating material, Si, is formed on a predetermined position on the surface of the back plate made of a glass substrate by sputtering.
A conductive layer for a positive electrode made of platinum (Pt) and a conductive layer for a negative electrode made of tungsten (W) and amorphous silicon (Si) were formed via O ₂ to form an electron-emitting device.

The distance between the front plate and the rear plate is 20.
A frame having a size of 0 × 200 mm, a width of 5 mm, and a thickness of 1050 μm is arranged, and the end of the spacer formed on the front plate is aligned with a predetermined position on the back plate, and heated at 450 ° C. for 10 minutes with frit glass. Then, the image forming apparatus was assembled. Further, the obtained image forming apparatus was evacuated to about 10 ⁻⁴ Pa, and the front plate and the back plate could be supported without breaking the spacer.

Further, when a voltage was applied to the obtained image forming apparatus and electrons were emitted from the field emission device, the phosphor was excited and light emission was observed. Further, it was found that by applying a voltage corresponding to the information signal to the modulation electrode, an image was displayed, and the phosphor could be manufactured without damage.

[0073]

According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, by forming the spacer integrally with the front plate side, it is possible to prevent the phosphor from being damaged, and to reduce the width of the spacer on the front plate side to the width on the back plate side. By making the spacer wider, even if the spacer is formed inclined, the strength is not significantly reduced, so that the front plate and the back plate can be stably supported.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an example of an image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a shape of a spacer in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a process chart showing a method for manufacturing the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing a shape of a mold in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows a sample No. of Example 1. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a spacer shape of No. 7;

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view for explaining an inclination angle β between the spacer and the front plate in the first embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... FED 2 ... Back plate 3 ... Front plate 4 ... Frame 5 ... Panel 6 ... Spacer 7 ... Phosphor 8 ... Electron emission element 9 ... Black matrix

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kiyohiro Sakasegawa 1-4-4 Yamashita-cho, Kokubu-shi, Kagoshima Inside the Kyocera Research Institute. 6 Kyocera Corporation Shiga Plant F-term (reference) 5C012 AA05 BB07 5C032 AA01 CD06 5C036 EF01 EF06 EG02 EG50

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A back plate provided with an electron-emitting device, a front plate provided with a phosphor and disposed at a position facing the back plate, and disposed between the back plate and the front plate. And an image forming apparatus that forms an image by irradiating the phosphor with electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device, wherein the spacer is formed integrally with the front plate, and the spacer is An image forming apparatus, wherein the width of the end is larger at the rear plate side than at the front plate side. 2. The spacer according to claim 1, wherein the cross section of the spacer is trapezoidal, and an angle between a side surface of the spacer and a perpendicular to the front plate surface is 0.5 to 8 °.
The image forming apparatus as described in the above. 3. A step of (a) forming a phosphor on a surface of a front plate made of ceramics or glass, and (b) forming a soft resin layer on the phosphor forming surface of the front plate. (C) A plurality of spacer-shaped projections are arranged on the surface of the molding die base material, and the width of the tip of the projection is wider than the width of the projections on the base material side. Pressing the layer against the surface and releasing to form a space for the spacer in the resin layer; and (d) applying a paste containing glass powder and / or ceramic powder in the space for the spacer on the front plate surface. Filling to form a spacer molded body; (e) removing the resin layer on the front plate surface; and (f) firing the spacer molded body on the front plate surface to form a spacer on the front plate surface. Integrally forming; and (g) forming the Method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus characterized by comprising a step of bonding and fixing the back plate to the front end surface of the p o. 4. A step of (a) forming a soft resin layer on the surface of a front plate made of ceramics or glass; and (b) arranging a plurality of spacer-shaped protrusions on the surface of a molding die base material, and A step of forming a spacer gap in the resin layer by pressing a spacer molding die whose tip width is larger than the width of the protrusion on the substrate side, pressing the resin layer on the front plate surface against the surface, and releasing the mold. (C) filling a paste containing glass powder and / or ceramic powder into the space for spacer on the surface of the front plate to form a spacer molded body;
(D) removing a resin layer on the front plate surface;
(E) firing the molded spacer on the front plate surface to form a spacer integrally on the front plate surface; and (f).
A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus, comprising: a step of forming a phosphor on the spacer forming surface of the front plate; and (g) a step of bonding and fixing a back plate to a tip end surface of the spacer.