JPH11143394A - Structure for sealing airtight container and its sealing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide airtight container sealing structure and its sealing method capable of airtightly sealing a peripheral wall part of an airtight container while sufficiently suppressing expansion in the outside dimensions of the container. SOLUTION: The airtight container sealing structure is constituted of exhaust holes formed through spacer glass 76, a plate-like block part for blocking the exhaust holes, engagement parts projected from both the end parts of the block part to the container side, a cover member 108 engaged with the outside of the container on the engagement parts, and frit glass 110 for airtightly fixing the cover member 108 to the outer surface of the spacer glass 76. Since the exhaust holes formed on the spacer glass 76 are airtightly closed by the block part and the engagement parts are engaged with the outside of the container, a relative position can surely be positioned.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in a sealing structure and a sealing method for an airtight container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An airtight container having a pair of parallel plate portions provided at a predetermined interval and a peripheral wall portion provided along a peripheral portion of the pair of parallel plate portions and having an airtight space formed therein is provided. Are known. For example, a vacuum display tube (Vacuum Fluorescent Displ
ay: VFD), plasma display panel (Plas)
ma Display Panel: Gas discharge display tube such as PDP, and Field Emission Display: FE
D) or the like, or glass or metal (metallic) that constitutes an envelope such as a backlight such as a liquid crystal display or a sign and a flat discharge lamp (or a flat fluorescent lamp) used for general lighting and the like. In this case, it is an airtight container generally made of enamel. When manufacturing such an airtight container, for example, on the inner surface of a pair of parallel plate portions constituting the inner surface, for example, after providing an electrode or a phosphor for imparting a predetermined function to the airtight container, After assembling into a predetermined shape and evacuating the inside of the container through an exhaust hole, and further supplying a discharge gas or the like into the hermetic space as needed, the hermetic sealing is performed by closing the exhaust hole.

[0003]

By the way, in the above-mentioned airtight container, in order to keep the inside airtight,
For example, a sealing structure as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B or FIGS. 2A and 2B is employed. FIGS. 1 (a) and (b)
For example, this is an example of a sealing structure of a flat fluorescent lamp 10 described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-7559. In the figure, a part of the peripheral wall portion 12 is cut away to provide an exhaust hole 14 penetrating therethrough, and an exhaust pipe 16 is fixed to the exhaust hole 14 with a sealing agent 18 such as frit glass. . Therefore, when performing airtight sealing, FIG.
(b), after exhausting through a long exhaust pipe 16 as indicated by a dashed line and filling a predetermined discharge gas, the exhaust pipe 16 is blown out as shown by a solid line to exhaust holes. 14 is closed. In the drawing, reference numerals 20 and 20 denote electrodes arranged to face each other, and the phosphor layers 2 are provided on the inner surfaces of the glass plates 22 and 22 constituting a pair of parallel flat plate portions.
4 are provided.

FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) show actual fairness 3-22.
It is an example of a sealing structure of the VFD 26 described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 840 or the like. In the figure, the insulator layer 28 and the anode wiring 3
0, an anode 32, a phosphor layer 34, a mesh-shaped grid electrode 36, etc.
Is provided with an exhaust hole 44 penetrating it from the inner surface 38 to the outer surface 42, and a thin disk-shaped lid member 46 made of 426 alloy or the like closes the exhaust hole 44 with a sealing material 48 such as frit glass. It is fixed as follows. Therefore, when airtight sealing is performed, for example, a sealing material 48 is applied to the surface of the lid member 46, and the applied surface faces the plate glass 40 side and is positioned at a predetermined distance from the outer surface 42. After arranging and evacuating from the exhaust hole 44 and heating and melting the sealing material 48, the cover member 46 is pressed against the plate glass 40 and fixed to fix the exhaust hole 44.
Close. In the drawing, 50 is a filament cathode functioning as a hot cathode, 52 is an electrode terminal connected to each electrode in the VFD 26, and the hermetic container is joined to the plate glass 40 via the spacer glass 54. And a windshield 56.

However, in the structure using the exhaust pipe 16 as shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), since the exhaust pipe 16 is provided so as to protrude largely outside the hermetic container, its outer dimensions (the outer peripheral surface) are reduced. In addition to the increase of the contour dimension), there is a problem that the exhaust pipe 16, which is usually formed of a glass tube, is easily damaged and the handleability is poor. 2 (a) and 2 (b)
The chipless structure shown in FIG. 1 is proposed to solve the above-mentioned drawback particularly in a VFD or the like where miniaturization is required. On the other hand, an exhaust hole 44 is provided in the plate glass 40. Due to this, the anode wiring 3
The degree of freedom of routing such as 0 is reduced, or the manufacturing cost is increased due to the formation of the exhaust hole 44, and when the heating is performed for sealing due to the scratches formed in the process of drilling. There is a problem that the plate glass 40 is easily damaged. Incidentally, since the peripheral wall portion 12 and the spacer glass 54 are usually formed by bending a narrow narrow band-shaped glass plate or by melting and solidifying glass powder in a mold having a predetermined shape, a part of the peripheral wall portion 12 is formed. The cut-out exhaust hole 14 can be provided at the same time as its formation.
Moreover, such a chipless structure is similar to a flat fluorescent lamp used for lighting a decorative display of a store or the like or a sign of an emergency exit indicator light, among the flat fluorescent lamps 10 as shown in FIG. There is also a problem that it cannot be applied to a device that emits light from both of a pair of parallel plate portions. In the chipless structure shown in FIG. 2, light emitted from one flat plate portion (plate glass 40) is partially blocked by the lid member 46 fixed to the outer surface 42, so that uniform light emission from both surfaces. You can't get it.

Therefore, as described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-22840, it is desired to apply the above-mentioned chipless structure to the side end surface of the airtight container, that is, the peripheral wall portion 12 or the spacer glass 54. I have. However, when joining the glass plates 20, 20 and the peripheral wall portion 12 or the plate glass 40, the front glass 56, and the spacer glass 54 to each other, it is necessary to accurately position their relative positions. This is difficult because of dimensional variations and misalignment in the joining process. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, on the side end surface side of the airtight container, the outer peripheral surface 58 of the peripheral wall portion 12 or the spacer glass 54, the glass plate 20, 20 or the plate glass 40, and the front glass The outer peripheral end surface 60 of 56 does not usually lie on one plane, and irregularities are generated. In the joining process, the sealing agent 62 melted is used.
Are protruded to the outer peripheral side from between them, so that the protruding sealing agent 62 also forms irregularities. Therefore, in order to hermetically seal using the lid member 46 as in the case of the flat plate glass 40, it is necessary to apply a large amount of the sealing material 48 on the lid member 46. However, a portion where the thickness of the sealing material 48 is insufficient may be caused due to the unevenness, while the sealing material 48 protrudes outside the lid member 46 in a sealing process in an excess portion. For this reason, the airtightness becomes insufficient, the external dimensions are further enlarged, and further, a problem that the protruding sealing material 48 adheres to a heating jig or the like may occur. FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a case where the glass plate 20 or the like protrudes outward from the peripheral wall portion 12 or the like. On the contrary, when the peripheral wall portion 12 or the like protrudes, airtight sealing is performed. It becomes even more difficult.

Further, in the hermetic container constituting the flat fluorescent lamp 10 or the VFD 26, which is desired to be as thin as possible,
The thickness of the glass plate 20 or the plate / glass 40 is 1-2
(mm), and the height of the peripheral wall 12 and the spacer glass 54 is usually as low as about 2 to 3 (mm). Therefore, in consideration of the displacement during the sealing process after the evacuation, the diameter of the disc-shaped lid member 46 must be reduced so as not to protrude in the thickness direction of the airtight container. This makes it more difficult to reliably close the exhaust hole 14. Usually, the sealing material 4 is used in the sealing process.
Since the lid member 46 is heated to melt the cover 8, the lid member 46 cannot be fixed by magnetic force or the like to prevent displacement. In addition, the problem of the hermeticity of the sealing is not limited to that used for a flat-panel image display device or a flat-type discharge lamp or the like, and an attempt is made to seal using a lid member 46 on the side end surface of the hermetic container. In that case, it occurs similarly. Therefore, from these, the chipless sealing structure on the side surface of the airtight container has not been realized yet.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sealing structure of an airtight container capable of airtightly sealing the peripheral wall while sufficiently suppressing an increase in external dimensions. And a sealing method.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the gist of the sealing structure of the hermetic container according to the first invention is that a pair of parallel flat plate portions provided at a predetermined interval are provided. In a hermetic container provided with a peripheral wall portion provided along the peripheral edge portion of the pair of parallel plate portions, a sealing structure for exhausting and sealing from inside the container, and (a) the peripheral wall portion An exhaust hole penetrating from the inner surface on the inner side of the container to the outer surface on the outer space side, (b) a plate-shaped closing portion for covering and closing the exhaust hole, and at least the exhaust hole is A fitting portion protruding from both ends of the closing portion in the short side direction of the outer surface toward the airtight container, and a sealing fitted at the fitting portion to the outside of the airtight container. A stop member, and (c) connecting the sealing member to an outer surface of the peripheral wall portion. And a sealing material layer that hermetically fixed to is to contain.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an exhaust hole penetrating through the peripheral wall portion, a flat closing portion for covering and closing the exhaust hole, and at least the exhaust hole are provided. A sealing member fitted to the outside of the hermetic container at the fitting portion with a fitting portion protruding from both ends of the closing portion in the short side direction of the outer surface toward the hermetic container side; A sealing material layer for hermetically fixing the stop member to the outer surface of the peripheral wall portion to constitute a sealing structure of the airtight container.
Therefore, the exhaust hole provided in the peripheral wall portion is air-tightly closed by a flat plate-shaped closing portion provided in a sealing member air-tightly fixed to the outer surface of the peripheral wall portion with a sealing material. At this time,
Since the sealing member is provided with fitting portions protruding from both ends of the closed portion in the short side direction of the outer surface of the peripheral wall portion toward the airtight container, the fitting portion is provided in the airtight container. By being fitted to the outside, the relative position between the sealing member and the peripheral wall in the short side direction of the outer surface is reliably determined. Moreover, in the short side direction of the outer surface of the peripheral wall portion, the sealing material cannot be located outside the fitting portion, so that the expansion of the outer dimensions of the hermetic container due to the protrusion of the sealing material is also suitably suppressed. . Therefore, the sealing structure of the hermetic container which can be hermetically sealed at the peripheral wall while sufficiently suppressing the increase in the outer dimensions is obtained.

[0011]

According to another aspect of the first invention, preferably, the short side direction of the outer surface is a height direction of the peripheral wall portion from one of the pair of parallel plate portions to the other, and The length of the fitting portion in the direction toward the airtight container is substantially equal to or less than the thickness of the peripheral wall portion in the direction along the surface direction of the pair of parallel flat plate portions. With this configuration, the short side direction of the outer surface provided with the exhaust hole of the peripheral wall portion matches the height direction of the peripheral wall portion, and the fitting portion in the direction from the closing portion of the sealing member toward the airtight container side. The length dimension is made substantially equal to or less than the thickness dimension of the peripheral wall portion in the plane direction of the parallel plate portion. Therefore, in an airtight container having a flat box shape in which the short side direction of the outer surface provided with the exhaust hole coincides with the height direction of the peripheral wall portion, the outer surface of a pair of parallel flat plate portions used for a display surface or the like is provided. The fitting portion of the sealing member is fitted, but since the length dimension of the fitting portion is substantially equal to or less than the thickness dimension of the peripheral wall portion, the portion where the fitting portion is located is a parallel plate. The outer surface of the portion is limited to a portion that cannot perform any function due to the presence of the peripheral wall portion. Therefore, a suitable sealing structure can be obtained without causing any particular trouble in the function of the airtight container.

Preferably, the airtight container has a light emitting source inside and emits light from at least one of the pair of parallel flat plate portions. With this configuration, the airtight container includes a light emitting source therein, and is configured as a light emitting body that emits light generated by the light emitting source from at least one of the parallel plate portions. Therefore, a light emitting body such as a discharge display device or a lamp having a small outer dimension and sufficient airtightness can be suitably obtained. In particular, in a mode in which the length dimension of the fitting portion of the sealing member is set to be substantially equal to or less than the thickness dimension of the peripheral wall portion, since light cannot be generated by the sealing member, the pair of parallel flat plate portions In any case where light is emitted from one or both, light emission from the entire surface is suitably obtained.

[0013] Preferably, the sealing member is formed by bending a sheet metal. With this configuration, since the sealing member is bent from the sheet metal, the expansion of the size of the sealing member fixed to the outside of the airtight container is further suppressed, and the expansion of the outer dimensions is further suppressed. A sealing structure of the airtight container that can be obtained is obtained.

[0014]

A second aspect of the present invention to achieve the above-mentioned object is to provide a method of sealing an airtight container according to a second aspect of the present invention, wherein a pair of parallel flat plates provided at predetermined intervals are provided. A hermetic container provided with a portion and a peripheral wall portion provided along a peripheral edge portion of the pair of parallel flat plate portions, wherein the container is evacuated and sealed from the inside, and (a) the container is provided on the peripheral wall portion. An airtight container arranging step of arranging the airtight container having an exhaust hole provided from the inner surface on the inner side to the outer surface on the outer space side in a vacuum container, and (b) a flat plate-shaped closing portion and the closing portion thereof. A sealing member including a pair of fitting portions projecting substantially parallel to each other from a peripheral portion, a closing portion thereof is separated from the exhaust hole of the hermetic container arranged in the vacuum container by a predetermined distance, and The tip of the fitting is fitted into the airtight container. A sealing member arranging step of disposing a predetermined sealing material on at least one surface of the exhaust hole side of the closing portion at the position, and (c) after the sealing member arranging step, An evacuation step of exhausting from the exhaust hole, (d) after the sealing member disposing step, a heating step of heating and melting the predetermined sealing material in the vacuum vessel, and (e) an evacuation step thereof And after the heating step, a pressing step of pressing the sealing member toward the airtight container in the vacuum container so that the closing portion faces the exhaust hole.

[0015]

In this way, when the airtight container is sealed, the airtight container having the exhaust hole in the peripheral wall portion is disposed in the vacuum container in the airtight container arranging step.
In the sealing member arranging step, a sealing member having a plate-shaped closing portion and a pair of fitting portions projecting substantially parallel to each other from the peripheral edge of the closing portion is airtightly disposed in a vacuum vessel. At a position where the closing portion is separated from the exhaust hole of the container by a predetermined distance and the tip of the fitting portion is fitted into the airtight container, at least one surface of the closing portion on the side of the exhaust hole is provided with a predetermined sealing material. After being disposed in the applied state, the sealing material is heated and melted in the vacuum vessel in the heating step while being evacuated from the exhaust hole in the vacuum vessel in the exhausting step, and further, in the pressing step, the vacuum vessel is Inside, the sealing member is pressed toward the hermetic container such that the closing portion faces the exhaust hole. Therefore, since the evacuation step or the pressing step is performed in a state where the sealing member is fitted to the airtight container at the distal end of the fitting section in advance, the direction from one of the pair of fitting sections to the other, that is, the closing section. In the plane direction, based on the fitting between the fitting portion and the airtight container, a change in the relative position between the sealing member and the airtight container during each of these steps is suppressed. The exhaust hole is suitably hermetically sealed by the closing portion or the like.
Moreover, since the sealing material that is heated and melted cannot spread further in the direction in which the fitting portion is provided, the expansion of the outer dimensions of the hermetic container due to the protrusion of the sealing material is also suppressed. . As described above, when sealing the hermetic container, the peripheral wall portion can be hermetically sealed while sufficiently suppressing an increase in the outer dimension.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following examples, the dimensional ratios and the like of each part are not necessarily drawn accurately.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a VFD 70 in which an envelope is formed by an airtight container according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. In the figure, a VFD 70 has a plate-like substrate 72 and a transparent plate-like front plate 72 made of an insulating material such as glass, ceramics, or enamel, each having a thickness of about 1.8 to 2.0 (mm).
The glass 74 is joined via a rectangular frame-shaped spacer glass 76 having a height of, for example, about 3 (mm) and a central portion removed in a rectangular shape. (Airtight container). In this embodiment,
The substrate 72 and the front glass 74 correspond to one of the pair of parallel plate portions and the other, and the spacer glass 76 corresponds to the peripheral wall portion.

On the upper surface of the substrate 72 on the display surface 78 side, an anode wiring 80 made of metal such as aluminum formed by vapor deposition or the like is provided at the center in the longitudinal direction with a pair of cathode terminals each having an anchor 82 and a support 84. 86a and 86b are provided at both ends, respectively. Those cathode terminals 86
a, 86b, a plurality of filamentary cathodes 88 parallel to each other are provided with anchors 82 and supports 84 at both ends.
Are welded to each other so as to be installed at equal intervals along the longitudinal direction at positions relatively separated from the display surface 78. The cathode 88 is made of, for example, a tungsten (W) wire or the like whose surface is coated with an oxide solid solution of an alkaline earth metal having a low work function such as (Ba, Sr, Ca) O 2 as an electron emitting layer.

On the anode wiring 80, a plurality of sections divided corresponding to a predetermined display pattern shape via an insulating layer 30 made of, for example, low-melting glass having a thickness of about 40 (μm). The anode 92 is provided with the phosphor layer 94 having the predetermined display pattern on the anode 92. The anode 92 is made of a conductive material such as graphite, for example, and has a thickness of about 20 to 30 (μm). The phosphor layer 94 is composed of R (red), G
A phosphor corresponding to a predetermined emission color is selected and used from various phosphors of emission colors such as (green) and B (blue).
The thickness is about 15 to 30 (μm).

Further, the front glass 7 is separated from the phosphor layer 94.
A plurality of wire mesh grid electrodes 96 are provided for each predetermined light emitting section above the cathode 88 and below the cathode 88, that is, between the cathode 88 and the anode 92. The grid electrode 96 is made of, for example, SUS430. The grid electrode 96 is fixed on the display surface 78 with a conductive paste or the like at legs provided at both ends in the width direction of the VFD 70, and is the same as the anode wiring 80. It is connected to a grid electrode wiring 98 formed on a plane. The anode wiring 80, the cathode terminal 86, the grid electrode wiring 98, etc.
A plurality of electrode terminals (lead terminals) 100 are provided on the longitudinal side of the vacuum vessel, for example, penetrating to the outside through the space between the substrate 72 and the spacer glass 76. A predetermined voltage is applied to each of the predetermined anode 92, cathode 88, and grid electrode 96 through the electrode terminal 100.

The electrode terminal 1 of the spacer glass 76
The spacer glass 76 extends from the inner surface 102 on the inner side of the container to the outer surface 104 on the outer space side in the thickness direction, that is, the plane direction of the substrate 72 and the front glass 74, on the long side opposite to the side on which An exhaust hole 106 penetrating through the substrate 72 and the front glass 7 is formed by a frit glass 110 in which a lid member 108 having a substantially U-shaped cross section corresponds to a sealing material layer.
4, and are closed by being fixed to the spacer glass 76. That is, in this embodiment, the exhaust holes 106 are provided in the spacer glass 76 constituting the peripheral wall of the airtight container, and the frit glass 1
10 corresponds to a sealing material. The exhaust hole 106 is
As described below, a method of sealing the FD 70 is for exhausting the air after the airtight container is formed to evacuate the inside. In the drawing, reference numeral 120 denotes a getter.

As shown generally in FIG. 5, the spacer glass 76 having a rectangular frame shape has a part of its long side in the height direction (that is, the front side from the substrate 72 in the VFD 70).
A cutout portion 112 is formed with a width of about 1 (mm) over the entirety (in the thickness direction toward the glass 74). The above-described exhaust hole 106 is provided between the missing portion 112 and the substrate 7.
2 and the inner surface of the windshield 74. Therefore, the size of the exhaust hole 106 is
The width is about 1 (mm) and the height is about 3 (mm). The spacer glass 76 is manufactured by, for example, bending a band-shaped glass plate having a width of about 3 (mm), or filling glass powder in a mold having a predetermined shape, followed by heating, melting and curing. In the manufacturing process, the gap 112 is formed by providing a gap in the manufacturing process. That is, no mechanical processing is performed on the spacer glass 76 to form the notch 112 and subsequently form the exhaust hole 106 in the VFD 70. The thickness of the spacer glass 76 (dimension in the direction along the surface of the substrate 72) is about 2 (mm).

As shown in FIG. 6, the cover member 108 has a thickness of, for example, 426 of about 0.2 to 0.3 (mm).
A thin metal plate made of an alloy or the like is formed by bending using, for example, a mold or the like, and has a rectangular closing portion that is brought into contact with the outer surface 104 of the spacer glass 76, the substrate 72, and the end surface of the front glass 74. 114, and a pair of fitting portions 116, 116 protruding from both ends of the closing portion 114, that is, two sides parallel to each other, and projecting substantially perpendicular to the closing portion 114. Closed part 1 above
14 has a width dimension W, that is, the spacer glass 7.
6, the length in the longitudinal direction is about 5 to 10 (mm), and the height dimension H, that is, the length in the thickness direction of the VFD 70 is
It is about 7 (mm) (that is, about the same as or slightly larger than the thickness of the VFD 70). That is,
The closing portion 114 has a sufficiently large width W about 5 to 10 times that of the exhaust hole 106 having a width of about 1 (mm). The size of the fitting portion 116 is the same as the width of the closing portion 114, that is, about 5 to 10 (mm), and the protrusion L from the closing portion 114 is about 3 (mm). Therefore,
The protrusion L of the fitting portion 116 is about 1 (mm) larger than the thickness of the spacer glass 76.
Therefore, the distal end of the fitting portion 116 of the lid member 108 is located on the inner peripheral side of the inner surface 102 of the spacer glass 76, but as shown in FIG. A sealing agent (frit glass) 118 for bonding to the glass 76 has an inner surface 1
02, for example, by about 1 (mm) to the inner peripheral side, the fitting portion 116 has its sealing agent 118
Located only in the upper part of the windshield 74
Does not protrude to the part that contributes to the display.

The fluorescent display tube 10 constructed as described above
Is a state in which a predetermined drive pulse is constantly applied to all of the plurality of cathodes 88, and several tens (V) are sequentially applied to the grid electrode 96.
Scanning is performed by applying a positive acceleration voltage of a low voltage, and a predetermined positive voltage is applied to a predetermined anode 92 in synchronization with the scanning timing. When the accelerating voltage is applied to the grid electrode 96, thermions emitted from the cathode 88 by the application of the driving pulse are accelerated and diffused toward the anode 92 by the accelerating voltage. Is shut off when is applied. Therefore, electrons are selectively made incident on the anode 92 to which the positive voltage is applied and the acceleration voltage is applied to the upper grid electrode 96, and the electrons are made to collide with the phosphor layer 94 on the anode 92, whereby the fluorescent light is emitted. Only the body is selectively excited to emit light of a predetermined color, and a predetermined light emission display is obtained. Note that the details of the driving method are not necessary for understanding the present invention, and thus are omitted.

The VFD 70 is manufactured, for example, according to the process shown in FIG. First, in the hermetic container assembling step S1, the anode wiring 80 to the cathode 88 and the like are sequentially formed on the substrate 72 and the components such as the anchor 82, the support 84, and the grid electrode 96 are sequentially fixed, and separately prepared thereon. The spacer glass 76 and the front glass 74 are sequentially placed and heat-treated at a predetermined sealing temperature of, for example, about 480 to 500 (° C.), so that frit glass or the like applied to the upper and lower end surfaces of the spacer glass 76, for example. Are melted to fix them together. As a result, as shown in FIG.
22 are formed. At this time, the protruding sealant 118 (see FIG. 4; see FIG. 8) is provided on the side end surface 138 of the airtight container 122.
Omitted in. ), Substrate 72 and windshield 74
(Not shown), and relatively large unevenness due to a positional shift in the surface direction between the end surface and the outer surface 104 of the spacer glass 76 and the like are formed.

Next, in the airtight container arranging step S2, the above airtight container 122 is arranged in a predetermined vacuum chamber 124 for performing a sealing process. It is arranged at a predetermined position in the vacuum chamber 124. FIGS. 8 (b-1) and 8 (b-2) show this state. As shown in the figure,
The vacuum chamber 124 has a comb-shaped tube heater 12 for individually wrapping and heating a plurality of hermetic containers 122.
6. Exhaust holes 106 of each of the plurality of hermetic containers 122
Cover heaters 128 for individually wrapping and heating a plurality of cover members 108 for closing the heater, and arrows h in the figure.
Airtight container 1 configured to be movable in the vertical direction indicated by
The airtight container 122 is supported between both sides of the lid heater 128 and between a convex portion 126 a provided to protrude downward inside the tube heater 126.
, A support 130 for sandwiching and fixing, and an exhaust pipe 132 for exhausting from the vacuum chamber. The above-mentioned lid member heater 128 is provided for the lid member 10.
8 and is configured to be able to ascend toward the tube heater 126. Also,
These tube heater 126 and lid member heater 12
Reference numeral 8 denotes a member made of ceramics or the like and having a resistor therein for resistance heating, and a portion directly in contact with the airtight container 122 and the lid member 108 is formed of stainless steel or the like having high thermal conductivity.

As shown in detail in FIG. 9, in the above arrangement, the airtight container 122 is mounted on the substrate 72 and the front glass so that the side surface of the spacer glass 76 provided with the exhaust hole 106 is located on the lower side. The glass 74 stands upright so that the surface direction of the glass 74 is up and down.
08 has an exhaust hole 106 located substantially at the center in the width direction along the longitudinal direction of the spacer glass 76,
The closing part 114 is separated from the opening of the exhaust hole 106, that is, the end face of the airtight container 122 by a distance d of about 1 to 2 (mm), and the tip of the fitting part 116 is 1 (mm) from the end face of the airtight container 122. The fitting portion 116 is located at a height slightly above the airtight container 122, that is, at a height at which the fitting portion 116 is fitted to the airtight container 122. For this reason, a sufficiently large exhaust path in an exhaust process described later is ensured by a gap between the closing portion 114 and the airtight container 122, so that an exhaust pipe having an inner diameter of about 1 (mm) and a length of about 50 (mm) is provided. 1
Compared to the case of the sealing structure as shown in FIG.

Further, in the cover member disposing step S3, the cover member 108 disposed on the cover heater 128
For example, as shown in FIG. 10 (a), one surface to be brought into contact with the side end surface 138 of the hermetic container 122 (that is, the outer surface 104 of the spacer glass 76, etc.) in a state of being developed into a flat plate shape. A glass paste 136 is applied to 134 by, for example, a thick film screen printing method or the like, dried, and then bent as shown by the arrow to obtain the paste shown in FIG.
(b) As shown in FIG.
(I.e., dried glass paste 136). Note that the glass paste 136 is formed as shown in FIG.
0 (a) is applied so as to avoid the bent position indicated by the broken line.

Returning to FIG. 7, in the exhaust step S4,
By evacuating through the exhaust pipe 132, the degree of vacuum in the vacuum chamber 124 and in the airtight container 122 is increased. After a predetermined degree of vacuum in the airtight container 122 is achieved,
In the heating step S5, the airtight container 122 and the lid member 108 are heated by the tube heater 126 and the lid member heater 128, respectively. The heating of the airtight container 122 is for increasing the degree of vacuum inside the container.
Heated to about 0 (° C). Further, the heating of the lid member 108 is performed by applying the frit glass 11 coated and formed on the one surface 134.
0 to melt the frit glass 11
It is heated to a temperature of about 400 to 420 (° C.) which is determined according to the type of 0. These temperatures are set in the airtight container 122.
Is set sufficiently lower than the above-mentioned sealing temperature when assembling. When the frit glass 110 is sufficiently melted, in the pressing step S6, the lid member heater 128 is immediately moved upward as shown by the arrow u in FIG. As a result, the cover member 108 is
6 is brought into close contact with the airtight container 122 by being pressed at the position where it is provided.

At this time, the fitting portion 116 provided on the lid member 108 is
A sufficient amount of frit glass 110 is held between the lid member 108 and the side end surface 138 of the hermetic container 122 so as to function as a flow stopper.
The frit glass 110 is prevented from protruding outside the lid member 108 in the thickness direction of the frit glass. That is, as shown in FIG. 10B, even if the frit glass 110 is melted in a state where a relatively large amount of the frit glass 110 is applied to the one surface 134, the frit glass 110 is melted. Is held on one surface 134 thereof. Further, as described above, since the lid member 108 is configured to have a sufficiently large width of about 5 to 10 times the width of the exhaust hole 106, the spacer in the width direction, that is, the side end surface 138 of the airtight container 122 is formed. The protrusion of the frit glass 110 in the longitudinal direction of the glass 76 is suppressed. Therefore, even when the side surface 138 of the hermetic container 122 has large irregularities, a sufficient amount of the frit glass 110 for hermetic sealing can be obtained without enlarging the outside dimensions due to the protrusion.
6 is supplied to the periphery.

Incidentally, the disk-shaped lid member 46 as shown in FIG. 2 has no portion functioning as a flow stopper. Therefore, the exhaust hole 106 provided in the side end surface 138 of the hermetic container 122 having large irregularities is connected to the lid member 4.
In the case of trying to close at 6, as shown in FIG. 11, a large amount of frit glass 110 needs to be applied and provided on the lid member 46 so as to swell, so that the frit glass 110 is melted in the above heating step S 6. In this case, the frit glass 110 protrudes and the supply to the sealing portion becomes insufficient,
Alternatively, the protruding frit glass 110 may cause an increase in the outer dimensions of the hermetic container 122, and fouling of the heating jig.

After the lid member 108 is brought into close contact with the airtight container 122 as described above, in the cooling step S7,
The heating by the heaters 126 and 128 is terminated to cool the airtight container 122, the lid member 108, and the frit glass 110. As a result, the frit glass 110 is hardened, fixed to the airtight container 122 with the lid member 108 closing the exhaust hole 106, and hermetically sealed with the inside thereof at a high vacuum.

Here, in this embodiment, the spacers
An exhaust hole 106 penetrating through the glass 76 and a plate-shaped closing portion 1 for covering and closing the exhaust hole 106
14 and a fitting part 116 protruding from both ends of the closed part 114 in the thickness direction of the airtight container 122 toward the airtight container 122 side in the thickness direction of the airtight container 122. And a frit glass 110 for hermetically securing the lid member 108 to the outer surface of the spacer glass 76.
And the sealing structure of the airtight container 122 is configured.
Therefore, the exhaust holes 1 provided in the spacer glass 76
06 is a frit on the outer surface of the spacer glass 76.
It is airtightly closed by a plate-shaped closing portion 114 provided on the cover member 108 airtightly fixed by the glass 110. At this time, the lid member 108 is provided with fitting portions 116 projecting from both ends of the closing portion 114 in the thickness direction of the airtight container 122, and the fitting portion 116 is attached to the airtight container 12.
2, the relative position between the lid member 108 and the spacer glass 76 in the thickness direction is reliably determined. Moreover, the airtight container 122
In the thickness direction, the frit glass 110 cannot be located outside the fitting portion 116, so that the expansion of the outer dimensions of the hermetic container 122 due to the protrusion of the frit glass 110 is suitably suppressed. Therefore, a sealing structure of the hermetically sealed container 122 that can be hermetically sealed with the spacer glass 76 while sufficiently suppressing the increase in the outer dimensions is obtained.

In this embodiment, the closing portion 114
The length L of the fitting portion 116 protruding from the spacer glass 76 is substantially equal to the thickness of the spacer glass 76, that is, 1 mm.
(mm). Therefore, the exhaust hole 10
The short side direction of the outer surface provided with 6 is a spacer glass 76.
Even if the fitting portion 116 of the lid member 108 is fitted to the outer surface of the front glass 74 used as the display surface in the flat box-shaped
The length dimension L of the fitting portion 116 is the spacer glass 76
Is slightly larger than the thickness dimension of the sealing glass 118 and the width dimension of the sealing agent 118. Is the only part that cannot perform any function due to the existence of. Therefore, the airtight container 122
The preferred sealing structure can be obtained without causing any trouble in the function of the above, that is, without particularly causing partial chipping of the display of the VFD 70 or reduction of the viewing angle.

In this embodiment, the cover member 108
Is made of a sheet metal having a thickness of about 0.2 to 0.3 (mm). Therefore, the expansion of the dimensions by the lid member 108 fixed to the outside of the airtight container 122 is further suppressed, so that the sealing structure of the airtight container 122 that can further suppress the expansion of the outer dimensions is obtained.

In this embodiment, the cover member 108
Is designed to have a sufficiently large width W, which is about 5 to 10 times the width of the exhaust hole 106, so that it is sealed in the width direction, that is, in the longitudinal direction of the spacer glass 76 on the side end surface 138 of the airtight container 122. The stop length is sufficiently long. Therefore, higher airtightness can be obtained.

In this embodiment, the airtight container 12
In sealing the container 2, the hermetic container 122 having the exhaust hole 106 in the spacer glass 76 is arranged in the vacuum chamber 124 in the hermetic container arrangement step S2. A lid member 108 having a pair of fitting portions 116 projecting from the peripheral edge of the closing portion 114 substantially in parallel with each other is attached to the exhaust hole 1 of the airtight container 122 disposed in the vacuum chamber 124.
06, a position where the closing portion 114 is separated by a predetermined distance d = 1 to 2 (mm) and the tip of the fitting portion 116 is fitted to the airtight container 122 by p = 1 to 2 (mm). After the frit glass 110 is applied to the one surface 134 of the closing portion 114 on the side of the exhaust hole 106, the frit glass 110 is exhausted from the exhaust hole 106 in the exhaust step S4, and the frit glass is removed in the heating step S5. 110 is heated and melted. Further, in the pressing step S <b> 6, the lid member 108 is pressed toward the airtight container 122 so that the closing portion 114 faces the exhaust hole 106. Therefore, the evacuation step S4 is performed in a state where the lid member 108 is fitted to the airtight container 122 at the tip of the fitting portion 116 in advance.
Since the pressing step S6 is performed, in the thickness direction of the airtight container 122 from one of the pair of fitting portions 116 to the other, that is, in the surface direction of the closing portion 114, the fitting portion 116 and the airtight container 122 Since the relative position between the lid member 108 and the airtight container 122 is suppressed from changing during the respective steps based on the fitting, the spacer
The exhaust hole 106 provided in the glass 76 is preferably hermetically sealed exclusively by the closing portion 114. In addition, the frit glass 110 that is heated and melted has its fitting portion 1
In the direction in which the frit glass 110 is provided, the size of the airtight container 122 cannot be increased. As described above, when sealing the hermetic container 122, the spacer glass 76 can be hermetically sealed while sufficiently suppressing an increase in the outer dimensions.

In this embodiment, when the hermetic sealing is performed, as shown in FIG.
Are placed upright in the vacuum chamber 124, so that the airtight container needs to be laid down so that the exhaust hole 44 provided in the substrate 72 is located on the lower side. There is an advantage that the utilization efficiency of the vacuum chamber 124 is improved, and more VFDs 70 can be simultaneously processed.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following embodiments, portions common to the above-described embodiments will be denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a VFD 142 in which the short-side end surface of the hermetic container 122 is hermetically sealed with a flat box-shaped lid member 140 having one open side. In this embodiment, the missing portion 11 having the same shape as that shown in FIG.
2 is provided on the short side of the spacer glass 76, and an exhaust hole 106 is provided on the short side. In the lid member 140, a fitting portion 116 that is provided substantially perpendicularly from a closing portion 114 that directly closes the exhaust hole 106 is provided on the entire circumference of the closing portion 114. That is, two pairs of fitting portions 116 that are parallel to each other are protruded from the mutually parallel edges of the closing portion 114. Of the fitting portions 116, those extending from both ends of the closing portion 114 in the thickness direction of the VFD 142 are the same as those of the lid member 108.
2 and a part of the outer surface of the windshield 74 are provided, but those extending from the other ends of the closing portion 114 are provided so as to cover the end of the side end surface of the VFD 142. Therefore, as a result, one side of the VFD 142 is protected or reinforced by the lid member 140, so that the lid member 140 has a function of suppressing breakage of the VFD 142 in addition to a function of hermetic sealing.

The method for forming the lid member 140 is the same as that of the lid member 1 described above.
It is almost the same as 08. That is, for example, FIG.
As shown in (b), a glass paste 136 is applied by a thick film screen printing method or the like in a flat state where two pairs and four fitting portions 116 are developed, dried, and then bent by a mold. The fitting portion 116 is bent at a right angle.
Are assembled three-dimensionally to form the lid member 140. At this time, among the sides of the fitting portion 116 that are adjacent to each other, the ones that are abutted by the bending process have not been subjected to any joining process, but the frit glass 110 is also applied to the abutted portions in the sealing process. Since the airtight container 122 spreads, the airtightness of the airtight container 122 is sufficiently ensured. In addition, as a result of being formed in the shape of a flat box as described above, according to the lid member 140 of the present embodiment, the frit
Since the flow of the glass 110 and the protrusion of the glass 110 are suppressed in any direction, there is an advantage that the airtightness can be further improved without increasing the external dimensions. Further, as is apparent from the present embodiment, the position where the exhaust hole 106 is provided is arbitrary as long as the position is the side end surface 138 of the airtight container 122.

In the lid member 144 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 14, the fitting portions 116 protruded by being bent at substantially right angles from the closing portions 114 are opened so as to be separated from each other toward the distal end portion. Is formed. According to the lid member 144, when the lid member 144 is relatively moved toward the airtight container 122 when sealing the airtight container 122, the lid member 144 is inclined with respect to the surfaces of the substrate 72 and the front glass 74 of the airtight container 122. The side end surface 138 is guided along the fitting portion 116. For this reason, there is an advantage that the alignment in the lid member disposing step S3 is facilitated. It is desirable that the size of the opening on the tip side of the fitting portion 116 be kept within a relatively small range in which the thickness of the airtight container 122 such as the VFD 70 can be increased.

In the cover member 146 shown in FIG. 15, the pair of fitting portions 116 are provided substantially perpendicular to the closing portion 114, that is, substantially parallel to each other. Are open in a direction away from each other with a smooth curved surface. Therefore, also in the present embodiment, there is an advantage that positioning is easy when the tip of the fitting portion 116 of the lid member 146 is fitted to the airtight container 122 in the lid member arranging step S3.

In the lid member 148 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 16, a pair of relatively long fitting portions 116 project from the pair of long sides of the closing portion 114 in parallel with each other and are relatively short. A pair of protruding pieces 150 protrude from a pair of remaining short sides of the rectangular closing portion 114. For this reason, in this embodiment, when sealing the airtight container 122, the relatively long fitting portion 116 is provided at the tip end thereof as shown in FIGS. 8 (b-1) and 8 (b-2). Has a function of positioning by being fitted to the airtight container 122 in advance, while the relatively short protruding piece 150 has only a function of stopping the flow of the melted frit glass 110 exclusively. Therefore, the outer dimensions of the airtight container 122 are enlarged by the length S of the protruding piece 150, but the amount of the expansion is
Frit glass 1 which is sufficiently small in comparison with the case where
There is an advantage that the amount of No. 10 can be further increased and the airtightness can be further improved.

While the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings, the present invention may be embodied in still another embodiment.

For example, in the embodiment, the present invention
The case where the present invention is applied to a sealing structure such as D70 and 142 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to a flat type container as shown in FIG. The present invention is applied to various airtight containers forming an envelope of a luminous body such as a flat discharge lamp such as a fluorescent lamp 10 and a luminous body such as a PDP or FED used as a flat image display device. Further, the shape of the airtight container is not limited to the shape of a long flat box, and the height of the spacer glass 76 may be smaller when the flat plate portion is circular or various polygonal shapes, or when compared to the size of two sides of the substrate 72. The same applies to the case of forming a sufficiently large rectangular tube or the like.

In the embodiment, the present invention is applied to the hermetic container 122 made of ceramics, glass, enamel, or the like. However, the material of the hermetic container 122 is appropriately changed, and the hermetic container made of metal or the like is used. The present invention can be similarly applied.

In the embodiment, the substrate 72, the front glass 74, the spacer glass 76 and the like are formed separately from each other. For example, one of the substrate 72 and the front glass 74 and the spacer glass A glass 76 is integrally formed with the substrate 72 and the front glass.
The present invention is similarly applied to an airtight container 122 in which the other side of the glass 74 is sealed.

In the embodiment, since a part of the spacer glass 76 is cut off over the entire height, the spacer glass 76 has a height equal to the height and a width equal to the width of the cutout 112. Although the exhaust hole 106 is provided, the height dimension of the exhaust hole 106 is smaller than the height dimension by providing the cutout portion 112 in which a part of the spacer glass 76 in the height direction is dropped. It may be. Further, the width dimension of the notched portion 112 is not limited to about 1 (mm) shown in the embodiment, and may be appropriately changed within a range where an appropriate exhaust conductance and airtightness can be obtained.

In the embodiment, the cover member 108 and the like are made of 426 alloy having a thickness of about 0.2 to 0.3 (mm) and a width of 5 to 10 (m).
m), and the length of the fitting portion 116 is about 3 (mm) and formed by bending. The thickness, material, dimensions of each part, etc. The cover member can be appropriately changed according to the external dimensions, airtightness, and the like, and can be made of enamel, ceramics, glass, or the like. Further, the lid member 108 and the like may be formed by pressing or the like instead of bending.

In the embodiment, the airtight container 122 is used.
When sealing the airtight container 122,
Toward the airtight container 122.
If the lid member 108 or the like is pressed to a predetermined position at which the exhaust hole 106 should be closed, either the airtight container 122 or the lid member 108 may be moved, or both may be moved.

Further, in the embodiment, the glass paste 134 is applied to substantially the entire inner surface 134 of the cover member 108 and the like. However, the application to the fitting portion 116 is not necessarily performed. However, in order to improve the airtightness, it is preferable to apply it to almost the entire surface.

Further, in the embodiment, the frit glass 110 for fixing the lid member 108 and the like to the hermetic container 122 and hermetically sealing it is provided on one surface 13 of the lid member 108 and the like.
4, but may be coated on the side end surface 138 of the airtight container 122. In this case, in order to prevent the melted frit glass 110 from falling, the coated surface, that is, the side end surface 138 is positioned on the upper side, and FIG. 8 (b-1) and FIG. It is desirable to arrange them upside down.

In the embodiment, the heating step S5
Was started after the evacuation in the evacuation step S4 was substantially completed, but the heating step S5 may be started simultaneously with or earlier than the evacuation step S4. However,
In order to minimize the flow of the melted frit glass 110, it is desirable to perform the pressing step S6 immediately after the melting. Therefore, in consideration of the difference between the time required for heating and the time required for evacuation, after the degree of vacuum in the airtight container 122 reaches a predetermined value and the evacuation is substantially completed, the frit glass 110 is removed. Since it is necessary to set the start time of the heating step S5 so that is melted, it is preferable to start the heating step S5 after the end of the evacuation step S4 in order to facilitate handling of the apparatus.

Although not specifically exemplified, the present invention can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 (a) is a partially cutaway perspective view illustrating a sealing structure of a conventional flat fluorescent lamp, and FIG. 1 (b) is a perspective view of FIG.
It is an enlarged view which shows the principal part of b cross section.

2A is a perspective view illustrating a conventional fluorescent display tube sealing structure, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along line bb in FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a fluorescent display tube according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the fluorescent display tube of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows a spacer used in the fluorescent display tube of FIG.
It is a figure showing glass.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a lid member for hermetically sealing the fluorescent display tube of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a process diagram illustrating a method of sealing the fluorescent display tube of FIG.

8A is a diagram showing the airtight container assembled in the assembly process of FIG. 7, and FIG. 8B is a state in which the airtight container and the lid member are arranged in the vacuum chamber in the process of FIG. (B-2) is a view showing a cross section taken along the line II-II in (b-1).

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view showing the positional relationship between the airtight container and the lid member in FIG. 8;

FIGS. 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating a method of forming a lid member.

FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram when a conventional disk-shaped lid member is applied to side sealing.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a sealing structure according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating a method of forming a lid member applied to the sealing structure of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating still another example of the lid member.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating still another example of the lid member.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating still another example of the lid member.

[Explanation of symbols]

70: VFD (airtight container) 72: Substrate, 74: Front glass (a pair of parallel flat plates) 76: Spacer glass (peripheral wall) 106: Exhaust hole 108: Lid member (sealing member) 110: Frit glass (Sealing material) 114: Closed part 116: Fitting part 122: Airtight container

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An airtight container provided with a pair of parallel flat plate portions provided at a predetermined interval and a peripheral wall portion provided along a peripheral edge of the pair of parallel flat plate portions. A sealing structure for stopping, comprising: an exhaust hole provided in the peripheral wall portion from the inner surface on the inner side of the container to an outer surface on the outer space side; and a cover for covering and closing the exhaust hole. A flat-plate-shaped closing part, and a fitting part protruding from both ends of the closing part in a short side direction of the outer surface provided with at least the exhaust hole toward the airtight container. A sealing member fitted to the outside of the hermetic container at the portion, and a sealing material layer for hermetically fixing the sealing member to the outer surface of the peripheral wall portion. . 2. A short side direction of the outer surface is a height direction of the peripheral wall portion from one side of the pair of parallel plate portions toward the other side, and the fitting portion in a direction from the closing portion toward the airtight container. The sealing structure for an airtight container according to claim 1, wherein a length dimension of the peripheral wall portion in a direction along a plane direction of the pair of parallel flat plate portions is substantially equal to or less than a thickness dimension of the peripheral wall portion. 3. The sealing structure for a hermetic container according to claim 1, wherein the hermetic container includes a light emitting source therein and emits light from at least one of the pair of parallel flat plate portions. 4. The sealing structure for an airtight container according to claim 1, wherein the sealing member is formed by bending a sheet metal. 5. An airtight container provided with a pair of parallel plate portions provided at a predetermined interval and a peripheral wall portion provided along a peripheral portion of the pair of parallel plate portions, wherein the container is evacuated and sealed. An airtight container arrangement step of arranging the airtight container having an exhaust hole provided through the peripheral wall portion from the inner surface on the inner side of the container to the outer surface on the outer space side in the vacuum container, A sealing member having a plate-shaped closing portion and a pair of fitting portions projecting from the peripheral edge of the closing portion substantially in parallel to each other, the exhaust hole of the hermetic container disposed in the vacuum container. At a position where the closing portion is separated by a predetermined distance and the distal end of the fitting portion is fitted to the airtight container, at least one surface of the closing portion on the side of the exhaust hole is coated with a predetermined sealing material. Arranging a sealing member to be arranged, and arranging the sealing member After the step, an exhausting step of exhausting from the exhaust hole in the vacuum container, and after the sealing member arranging step, a heating step of heating and melting the predetermined sealing material in the vacuum container, After the evacuation step and the heating step, a pressing step of pressing the sealing member toward the airtight container so that the closing portion is directed to the exhaust hole in the vacuum container, Sealing method for airtight containers.