# US 5,707,267 A · Discharge chamber and method of manufacturing the same

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- Number: US 5,707,267 A
- Document ID: US5707267A
- Status: Granted
- Kind: A
- Application number: 08/694,215
- Filed: 1996-08-08
- Granted: 1998-01-13
- Earliest claimed: 1993-02-24
- Assignees: Sony Corporation
- Inventors: Masatake Hayashi
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US5707267A

## CPC

- G02F 1/13334: {Plasma addressed liquid crystal cells [PALC]}
- G09G 3/3662: {using plasma-addressed liquid crystal displays}
- H01J 17/48: with more than one cathode or anode, e.g. sequence-discharge tube, counting tube, dekatron
- H01J 2217/4025: for addressing electro-optical devices, i.e. LCD's
- G02F: OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
- G09G: ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION (arrangements for transferring data between digital computers and displays G06F3/14; static indicating arrangements comprising an association of a number of separate sources or light control cells G09F9/00; static indicating arrangements comprising integral associations of a number of light sources H01J, H01K, H10H, H05B33/12; scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission, details thereof H04N1/00)
- H01J: ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS (spark-gaps H01T; electric arc lamps H05B31/00; particle accelerators H05H)

## Abstract

A discharge chamber wherein the allowability for positional displacement of electrodes is increased to facilitate manufacture of the discharge chamber and a method of manufacturing the discharge chamber are disclosed. The discharge chamber has a flat panel structure wherein a first substrate and a second substrate are adhered to each other with a predetermined gap left therebetween. Striped anodes and cathodes are arranged alternately on the first substrate. Barrier ribs are interposed between the two substrates and arranged in a stripe pattern to partition the gap to form discharge channels. The anodes are arranged just below the barrier ribs and have a width dimension smaller than the width dimension of the barrier ribs. Meanwhile, each of the cathodes is arranged intermediately between each adjacent ones of the cathodes. Even if the barrier ribs suffer from relative positional displacement, the exposed surface area of the cathodes by which plasma discharge is dominated is kept fixed.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of manufacturing a discharge chamber which comprises first and second substrates defining therebetween a space filled with an ionizable gas, comprising the steps of:
forming a plurality of striped electrodes on a surface of the first substrate by a printing procedure, said electrodes comprising anodes and cathodes;
forming a plurality barrier ribs on the anodes by a printing procedure so that each of the barrier ribs has a width smaller than the anodes, while leaving said cathodes free of said barrier ribs; and
filling the space between the first and second substrates with the ionizable gas.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

A method of manufacturing a discharge chamber as claimed in claim 1, wherein said barrier ribs are located so as to define a plurality of plasma discharge channels.

### Claim 3

A method of manufacturing a discharge chamber comprising the steps of;
arranging first and second substrates having first and second facing surfaces respectively, arranged substantially in parallel to each other, defining a space therebetween;
applying a plurality of spaced apart anodes on said first substrate;
applying a plurality of cathodes on said first substrate, each of which is between a pair of anodes;
applying a plurality of barrier ribs onto said anodes end extending toward said second substrate, to define a plurality of plasma discharge channels, while leaving said cathodes free of said barrier ribs; and
filling said space with an ionizable gas.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method according to claim 3, wherein said anodes and cathodes are formed on said substrate using a thick film printing procedure using a screen mask.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method according to claim 4, wherein said barrier ribs are formed on said anodes using a thick film printing procedure using a second screen mask.

### Claim 6 (depends on 3)

The method according to claim 3, wherein said barrier ribs have a width dimension smaller than said anodes.

### Claim 7 (depends on 3)

The method according to claim 3, wherein said anode is applied at a pitch of approximately 410 .mu.m, and a width dimension between said cathode and respective anodes on opposite sides of said each cathode is approximately 55 .mu.m, and the width dimension of each anode is approximately 220 .mu.m and the width dimension of each cathode is approximately 80 .mu.m, and the width dimension of each barrier rib is approximately 120 .mu.m.