COVER GLASS FOR FLAT PANEL DISPLAY DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME Technical Field The present invention relates to a cover glass for a flat panel display device and a method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly to a cover glass for a flat panel display device attached to a front portion of the flat panel display device so as to efficiently protect the flat display panel of the flat panel display device and to stably maintain the airtightness between the flat panel and the cover glass, and to a method for manufacturing the same.

Background Art Generally, in flat panel display devices such as liquid panel display devices or plasma display devices, a cover glass is attached to the front panel of the flat panel display device on which various images are displayed. The cover glass includes a plate formed on the front portion of the flat panel display device and spacers formed on the peripheral portions of the front panel of the flat panel display device. The plate of the cover glass is a front glass and the spacers of the cover glass are side glasses.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view for illustrating a conventional process for attaching a cover glass to the flat display panel of the flat panel display device.

Referring to FIG. 1, in order to protect the flat panel display device, the cover glass includes a plate 20 formed on the front portion of the flat display panel 10 and a plurality of spacers 30,31,40,41 formed at peripheral portions of the flat display panel 10.

In the process for forming the above-described cover glass, after two pairs of the

spacers 30,31,40,41 are disposed of at corresponding peripheral portions of the flat display panel 10, the plate 20 is disposed of on the spacers 30,31,40,41, that is the front portion of the flat display panel 10. Subsequently, after the spacers 30,31,40,41 and the plate 20 are attached by molding process to form the cover glass, the space between the cover glass and the flat display panel 10 form a vacuum to attach the cover glass on the flat display panel 10.

However, the manufacturing process of the cover glass may become complex and the manufacturing time of the cover glass may increase because the cover glass is formed by means of combining the plate with the spacers after the plate and the spacers are separately manufactured according to the above-described process.

Also, the manufacturing process becomes more complex as well as the space between the cover glass and the flat display panel may not be maintained vacuum since the plate is attached to the spacers by molding after several spacers are attached to the flat display panel by molding.

Furthermore, the cover glass may not efficiently protect the flat display panel since the connecting portion between the front plate and the spacers may be fractured by an external impact.

Disclosure of the Invention The present invention is intended to overcome the above-described disadvantages.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cover glass for a flat panel display device including a front plate and spacers integrally formed so as to efficiently protect the flat display panel of the flat panel display device as well as to stably maintain the airtightness between the flat display panel and the cover glass.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a cover glass having a front plate and spacers integrally formed.

To accomplish the object of the present invention, the preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a cover glass for a flat panel display device comprising a front plate and at least one spacer integrally formed with the front plate.

Preferably, the spacer is vertically extended from the front plate.

Also, to accomplish the object of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a cover glass for a flat panel display device comprising i) preheating a glass having a shape of a plate, heating the preheated glass to a temperature wherein the preheated glass is plastically deformed and forming a cover glass having a front plate and spacers integrally formed by pressing the heated glass.

Preferably, the method for a cover glass for a flat panel display device further comprises annealing the cover glass.

The cover glass is formed under a pressure of about 3 to about 6 kg/cm2 by a pressing method.

The step of preheating the glass is performed at a temperature of approximately 300 to approximately 800°C and the step of heating the preheated glass is performed by heating the preheated glass above the transition temperature of a glass such as a temperature of approximately 600 to approximately 1000°C.

The cover glass is attached to the flat display panel of a flat panel display device by using frit as a sealing agent.

According to the present invention, the cover glass can be simply manufactured through the cover glass is formed by one pressing process and the manufacturing cost and the manufacturing time can be much reduced.

Also, the durability of the cover glass greatly increases while the cover glass can have a more beautiful appearance since the cover glass has the front plate and the spacer integrally formed together.

Brief Description of the Drawings The above objects and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by a detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view for illustrating a process for applying the conventional cover glass to a flat display panel; FIG. 2 is a perspective view for showing a cover glass according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view for illustrating a process for manufacturing a cover glass according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 4 is a perspective view for showing a cover glass attached to a flat display panel according to the present invention.

Best Modes for carrying out the Invention Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but it is understood that the present invention should not be limited to the following embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view for showing a cover glass according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, a cover glass 100 of the present invention comprises a front

plate 110 and a spacer 120. The front plate 110 has a predetermined size and shape according to the flat display panel of the flat panel display device to which the front plate 110 is to be attached. The spacer 120 is integrally formed with the front plate 110.

The front plate 110 and the spacer 120 are composed of transparent materials to clearly show the flat display panel.

The spacer 120 is vertically extended from the front plate 110, so the connecting portions between the spacer 120 and the front plate 110, that is the edge portions of the cover glass 100, has an angle of about 90°. When the cover glass 100 having such structure is attached to the flat display panel, the edge portions of the cover glass 100 cannot be easily fractured, so the airtightness of the space between the cover glass 100 and the flat display panel can be maintained stably and the flat display panel can be efficiently protected by the cover glass 100. Also, the flat display panel having the cover glass 100 thereon can have a more beautiful appearance.

Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing the cover glass for the flat panel display device will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

At first, after the glass having a thin plate shape is cut according to the size of the flat display panel to form a flat-shaped glass, the flat glass is positioned on a stage and is preheated to a predetermined temperature. In this case, the flat glass is preheated to the temperature of approximately 300 to approximately 800°C which is lower than the transition temperature of glass. The flat glass is preheated for about 1 to about 5 minutes by the electric heating method or the method of using combustion heat.

Subsequently, the preheated flat glass becomes a deformable condition by the direct flame injection method for about 3 to about 30 seconds and by using the gas such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or city gas as the fuel source. That is, the preheated flat

glass is heated to the temperature of approximately 600 to approximately 1000°C, thereby the flat glass being easily formed to have a predetermined shape during the successive shaping process. When the flat glass is heated at a temperature above the transition temperature of the glass for about 3 to 30 seconds, the heated flat glass can be formed to have the predetermined shape with accordance to the flat display panel by the pressing method.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view for illustrating the process for manufacturing the cover glass according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the peripheral portions of the flat glass heated by the heater are bent by using a pressing apparatus 130 having an upper die 140 and a lower die 150, thereby the flat glass has the structure including the spacer 120 integrally formed with the front plate 110. That is, the flat glass is pressed under the pressure of approximately 3 to approximately 6 kg/cm2 by upwardly pushing the lower die 150 to form the cover glass 100 after the flat glass is positioned between the upper die 140 and the lower die 150.

Hence, the central portion of the flat glass becomes the front plate 110 of the cover glass 100 and the peripheral portions of the flat glass becomes the spacer 120 of the cover glass 100, so the cover glass 100 has the front plate 110 and the spacer 120 integrally formed with the front plate 110.

In the conventional cover glass, after a plurality of spacers and front plate are separately manufactured, the cover glass is formed by means of combining the spacers with the front plate, and then the cover glass is attached to the flat display panel. Therefore, the process for connecting the spacers to the front plate may be complex and the airtightness of the space between the cover glass and the flat display panel may not be maintained as well as the cover glass cannot be sufficiently protect the flat display panel.

However, according to the present invention, the cover glass can be attached to the flat display panel without connecting the front plate to the spacer since the cover glass includes the front plate and the spacer integrally formed together by using the pressing apparatus. Therefore, the cover glass of the present invention can be simply manufactured because the complex process for connecting the spacer to the front plate is not required.

Also, the cover glass of the present invention can effectively protect the flat display panel because the default of the connection between the front plate and the spacer can be radically prevented.

Furthermore, the cover glass of the present invention can have a more beautiful appearance as well as preventing the edge portions of the cover glass to be easily fractured during the use of the cover glass since the cover glass of the present invention has the front plate and the spacer integrally formed together.

In general, the fracture of a ceramic such as glass is caused by the cracks generated on the surface of the ceramic. In the conventional cover glass, such cracks may be generated on the connecting portions between the front plate and the spacer, so the cover glass is easily fractured because of the crack. However, the cover glass of the present invention can sufficiently prevent the generation of the cracks between the front plate and the spacer because the cover glass of the present invention has the front plate and the spacer integrally formed together. Hence, the cover glass of the present invention cannot be easily fractured by the crack during the use of the cover glass.

In succession, the cover glass 100 is annealed at the temperature of approximately 400 to approximately 600°C so that the cover glass 100 has a predetermined strength during the use of the cover glass 100. Thus, the cover glass 100 can effectively protect the flat display panel.

Then, the annealed cover glass 100 is cooled. At that time, the cover glass 100 can be cooled through the natural cooling method or the forced cooling method using a blower or cooling water.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view for showing the cover glass attached the flat display panel according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the cover glass 100 having the predetermined size with an accordance to the flat display panel 160 is positioned on the flat display panel 160, and then the cover glass 100 is attached to the flat display panel 160 after a sealing agent such as frit is applied between the cover glass 100 and the flat display panel 160. In this case, the cover glass 100 can be firmly attached to the flat display panel 160 by using the frit since the cover glass 100 and the frit are composed of similar materials.

While this invention has been described and shown as having multiple designs, the present invention may be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure.

This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains.

Industrial Applicability As described above, the cover glass of the present invention can be manufactured simply because the cover glass is formed by a single pressing process which allows the manufacturing cost and the manufacturing time to be much reduced.

Also, the durability of the cover glass of the present invention greatly increases and the cover glass can have a more beautiful appearance since the cover glass has the front plate and the spacer integrally formed together.