Patent 7298073 was granted and assigned to Futaba on November, 2007 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
In a fluorescent display tube, a metal spacer is used as a height sustaining member and a fixing member of linear member so that the fixing strength of the linear member in the lengthwise direction is increased. In the fluorescent display tube, both ends of filament and Al wires are bonded onto a cathode electrode formed on a substrate by ultrasonic bonding. The ends of the filament are embedded in a part in the Al wires in the shape of being bent into a letter Z or an inverted letter Z to form fixing portion.