Dust collector for collecting dust in a cathode ray tube

Abstract: Disclosed is a dust collector for collecting dust in a cathode ray tube comprising a collecting means with a collecting space for collecting dust in the cathode ray tube, and a retaining means for retaining the collecting means in the cathode ray tube, whereby the internal voltage characteristics of the CRT are improved together with the picture quality. One embodiment of said dust collector, positioned between the shield up and the fourth grid and having at least one electron beam passing aperture, comprises a first sloping surface (21) and a second sloping surface (31) in parallel with said first sloping surface so as to form a collecting space for dust particles.

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention concerns a dust collector for collecting dust in a cathode ray tube (CRT) in order to improve the internal voltage characteristics and picture quality of the cathode ray tube. TECHNICAL BACKGROUND Generally a CRT displays video signals on a screen by moving an electron beam across the screen. The CRT includes a front panel provided with a shadow mask and a frame for supporting the shadow mask and a rear panel for enclosing an electron gun. The CRT also includes a screen coated with phosphor, graphite and oxide. The phosphor, graphite and oxide may be disintegrated by an impact externally undergone during or after the manufacturing process, thus producing dust floating around the shadow mask and in the electron gun with the fourth grid 4 and shield cup 3 as shown in Fig. 1. Such dust adheres to the electrodes (namely, the first to fourth grids) of the electron gun, which have a voltage difference of several hundred volts, so as to short them or cause an undesirable electric discharge. Furthermore, such dust obstructs the apertures of the shadow mask so as to prevent the electron beam from reaching the screen, so that the internal voltage characteristics of the CRT are degraded together with the piture quality. For reference, the second to fourth grids of the electron gun have 600V, 6 to 7KV, and 25KV, respectively. In order to resolve this problem, a mechanical vibration is applied to the bulb portion near the neck of the CRT or an air jet is applied to the inside of the CRT so as to remove the dust before inserting the electron gun into the neck. Nevertheless, the dust is not completely removed and, in addition, more dust is produced due to an impact externally applied after finishing the CRT, thus degrading the internal voltage characteristics as well as the picture quality. Document FR-A-1 099 721 shows a dust collector made of a ring with sloping surfaces and arranged around a focusing electrode of the electron beam. In this arrangement the dust is collected between the aforementioned ring and the cathode-ray tube wall. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a dust collector for collecting the dust in a CRT in order to improve the picture quality. In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a dust collector according to claim 1. Other features are recited in the subclaims. The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the drawings attached only by way of example. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ATTACHED DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a cross sectional view of the essential part of an electron gun embedded in the neck portion of a conventional CRT; Figs. 2A and 2B are, respectively, a plane view and a longitudinal section view of a dust collector for a CRT according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figs 3A and 3B are, respectively, a plane view and a longitudinal section view of a dust collector for a CRT according to another embodiment of the present invention ; Fig. 4 is an exploded view for illustrating the steps of asembling the dust collector of Figs. 2A and 2B into the electron gun; and Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of the essential part of the electron gun with the dust collector, according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ATTACHED DRAWINGS Referring to Figs. 2A and 2B., there is shown a dust collector with a disk-shaped retaining means 10 adapted for holding the shield cup of the electron gun according to one embodiment of the present invention. The retaining means 10 includes three beam apertures 11a, 11b and 11c formed in a straight line on the center thereof for respectively passing the red electron beam (R beam), green electron beam (G beam) and blue electron beam (B beam). Further, the retaining means 10 has four position aligning apertures 12 which are arranged to form a rectangle around the center thereof. The dust collector comprises a lower collecting part 20 with a first ring-shaped sloping surface 21 inclining outwardly and upwardly from the perimeter of the retaining means 10. The lower collecting part 20 is additionally provided with a first cylindrically shaped side wall 22 extending downwardly form the perimeter of the first sloping surface 21. The dust collector further comprises an upper collecting part 30 with a second side wall 32 attached to the outside surface of the first side wall 22 and a second ring-shaped sloping surface 31 extending inwardly and downwardly from the upper end of the second side wall 32. In this case, the second sloping surface 31 has a width the same as or smaller than the first sloping surface 21 so as to form a ring-shaped gap between the outside wall of the shield cup and the second sloping surface 31. Also the second side wall 32 has a height greater than the first wall 22 so as to form a dust collecting space between the first and second sloping surfaces 21 and 31. There is shown in Figs. 3A and 3B a dust collector comprising a retaining means 10 and lower collecting part 20 with the same structure as in Figs. 2A and 2B, according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 4, there will be described the steps of assembling the dust collector of Figs. 2A and 2B between the shield cup 3 and the fourth grid 4 of the electron gun. The four position aligning apertures 12 and three beam apertures 11a, 11b and 11c of the dust collector are aligned with those of the shield cup 3 and fourth grid 4. And there is shown in Fig. 5 essential part of electron gun having the dust collector. In Fig. 5, the upper and lower collecting parts 30 and 20 are positioned between the outside surface of the shield cup 3 and the inside wall 1 of the electron gun. Between the upper collecting part 30 and the outside surface of the shield cup 60 is formed a gap 40 to provide a passage for the dust to flow into the collecting space 50. The floating dust collected in the collecting space 50 is prevented by the upper and lower collecting parts 30 and 20 from moving towards the shadow mask and the lower electrode of the electron gun. As stated above, the dust collector of the present invention collects the floating dust between the shield cup and the fourth grid so as to prevent the dust from short-circuiting the electrodes of the electron gun and closing the apertures of the shadow mask, thus improving the internal voltage characteristies together with the picture qulity.

Claims: A dust collector for a cathode ray tube having an electron gun provided with a shield cup (3), comprising: means for retaining the shield cup, having a disk shaped bottom (10) supporting said shield cup and formed with at least one aperture for passing an electron beam delivered by the electron gun, a first ring-shaped sloping part (21) extending radially outwardly and away from the electron gun, from the periphery of the bottom, and a first cylindrical side wall (22) extending toward the electron gun from the periphery of the first sloping part (21) ; and a collecting part (30) having a second cylindrical side wall (32) attached to the outside of the first side wall (22) and a second ring-shaped sloping part (31) extending radially inwardly and toward the electron gun and terminating short of the shield cup for defining a gap (50), said ring-shaped sloping parts (21,31) defining a dust collecting space. A dust collector according to claim 1, wherein said shield cup and retaining means have a plurality of mutually aligned beam apertures (11a-11c) and a plurality of mutually aligned aligning apertures (12). A dust collector according to claim 2, wherein said disk shaped bottom is located between said shield cup (3) and a fourth grid (4) of the electron gun.

Inventors: PARK MYOUNG HO, WHANG CHEOL HO, PARK, MYOUNG HO, WHANG, CHEOL HO, Whang, Cheol Ho, c/o GOLDSTAR CO., LTD.
Applicants: LG ELECTRONICS INC, LG ELECTRONICS INC.
Application year: 1992
Main classification: H01J29
IPC codes: H01J3, H01J29