JP2002350485A - Display board inspection equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: A display substrate can be attached to and detached from a substrate receiver without moving the substrate receiver in a plane parallel to the display substrate received by the substrate receiver. . An inspection apparatus includes a first moving block disposed on a side of a substrate receiver, and a second moving block movable forward and backward from the side of the substrate receiver by a driving mechanism. The contact block provided with the plurality of contacts is disposed on the second moving block, and the second moving block is biased by the elastic body in a direction inclined with respect to the display substrate. ing. The second moving block is moved in the biasing direction by the elastic body as the first moving block advances and retreats, the forward movement is restricted by the stopper of the first moving block, and the second moving block is moved in a direction perpendicular to the display substrate. , Thereby displacing the contactor unit in the same direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an apparatus for inspecting a display substrate such as a liquid crystal display panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an apparatus for inspecting a display substrate such as a liquid crystal display panel comprises a plurality of probes or contacts which are brought into contact with electrodes of the display substrate, assembled on a base plate such as a head plate or a support plate. The base plate is assembled to the frame of the apparatus, the display substrate is placed on an inspection stage such as a substrate receiver arranged in the frame, that is, a measurement stage, and the display substrate is moved in the X, Y, and Z directions by the inspection stage. It is configured to move in the Z-axis direction orthogonal to the display substrate, thereby pressing the electrodes and the contacts of the display substrate (for example, JP-A-1-124740, JP-A-8-254).
677).

[0003]

However, in such an inspection apparatus, the display substrate is moved relative to the inspection stage unless a substrate receiver such as an inspection stage is moved in a plane parallel to the display substrate received by the inspection stage. Cannot be removed.

It is an object of the present invention to enable a display substrate to be attached to and detached from a substrate receiver without moving the substrate receiver in a plane parallel to the display substrate received by the substrate receiver. .

[0005]

An inspection apparatus according to the present invention includes a substrate receiver for receiving a display substrate, and one or more contact units disposed on a side of the substrate receiver. The contactor unit is a support block disposed on a side of the substrate receiver, the support block including a drive mechanism, and is advanced from the side of the substrate receiver by the drive mechanism and retracted to the side. A first moving block moved in a first direction, a second moving block disposed on the first moving block movably in a second direction inclined with respect to the display substrate, A contact block provided with a plurality of contacts to be brought into contact with the display substrate and supported by the second moving block; and the second moving block for separating the contacts from the electrodes of the display substrate. An elastic body for urging in the second direction. The support block,
Further, the second moving block is moved forward by the first moving block.
And a stopper portion that abuts on the moving block of the second moving block to limit the advance of the second moving block.

During standby, the first moving block is retracted to a standby position away from the substrate receiver in a first direction. Therefore, the second moving block is separated from the display substrate received by the substrate receiver in the first direction, and is separated in the third direction perpendicular to the display substrate by the biasing force of the elastic body. Have been. In this standby state, the first and second
Since the moving block and the contact block are separated from the area where the display substrate is placed on the substrate receiver, the display substrate can be attached to and detached from the substrate receiver.

At the time of inspection, the first moving block is advanced with respect to the substrate receiver by the driving mechanism, and the second moving block contacts the stopper. Accordingly, the forward movement of the second moving block is prevented, and in this state, the second moving block is retracted in the second direction with respect to the first moving block against the urging force of the elastic body. At this time, the second moving block is displaced in the third direction so that the closer the first moving block approaches the substrate receiver, the closer the contact block approaches the display substrate. Displaced toward the display substrate and pressed against the electrodes of the display substrate.

When the first moving block starts to retreat from the advanced position, the second moving block is advanced with respect to the first moving block by the urging force of the elastic body. At this time, the second moving block is displaced in the third direction so that the contact block is separated from the display substrate as the first moving block is further away from the substrate receiver. In a third direction.

As described above, according to the present invention, the display substrate can be attached to and detached from the substrate receiver without moving the substrate receiver, and only the first moving block is moved in the first direction. Thus, the contact can be moved to a position where the contact comes into contact with the display substrate and a position away from the display substrate. As a result, the time for attaching and detaching the display substrate to and from the substrate receiver is reduced.

[0010] The second moving block includes an inclined block disposed on the first moving block so as to be movable in the second direction, an arm mounted on the inclined block, and a rotation provided on the arm. One or more rotatable members arranged so as to be able to move and abut on the stopper portion movably in a third direction perpendicular to the display substrate. With this configuration, since the rotating member rotates while being in contact with the stopper, the movement of the second moving block in the third direction is stable and smooth.

The second moving block may include a plurality of the rotating members spaced in the third direction. With such a configuration, the plurality of rotating members rotate while contacting the stopper, so that the movement of the second moving block in the third direction is more stable and smoother.

The support block includes a pair of the stoppers interposed between the movement paths of the first moving block, and the second block includes a pair of the arm units individually corresponding to the stoppers. And two sets of the rotating members individually corresponding to the stopper portions. With such a configuration, the second moving block contacts the first moving block at least at two places with the moving path of the first moving block therebetween, so that the second moving block moves in the third direction. Movement is more stable and smoother.

The support block may have a recess for receiving a part of the rotating member when the rotating member comes into contact with the stopper and is moved toward the display substrate. With this configuration, when the first moving block starts retreating, when the rotating member escapes from the recess, the second moving block is moved in the second direction by the urging force of the elastic body, and the contact is displayed. Since the display substrate is separated from the display substrate in the third direction, there is no risk of rubbing the display substrate with the tip of the contact, and there is no risk of damaging the display substrate and the contact.

[0014] The support block may further include a guide portion for guiding the movement of the first moving block in the first direction. By doing so, the movement of the first moving block in the first direction becomes stable and smooth.

[0015] A plurality of the contactor units may be arranged beside the substrate receiver. By doing so, the adjustment of the parallelism between the tip of the contact and the display substrate can be performed for each contact unit, so that such adjustment of the parallelism is facilitated, and the contact with the display substrate can be easily adjusted. It is possible to reduce the possibility that contact misalignment may occur with the child.

[0016]

1 to 6, an inspection apparatus 10 is used for inspecting a rectangular display substrate 12. FIG. In the illustrated example, the display substrate 12 is a liquid crystal display panel, and thus the inspection device 10 is used for lighting inspection of the liquid crystal display panel. However, the present invention can also be applied to other display panel inspection devices such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display panel and an organic EL display panel.

The inspection apparatus 10 includes a substrate receiver 14 for receiving the display substrate 12, and a plurality of contact units 16 arranged on the side of the substrate receiver 14.

In the example shown in the figure, the substrate receiver 14 is a box-shaped chuck top which is mounted on a measurement stage, that is, an inspection stage, and is open upward, and accommodates a backlight 18. The upper surface of the substrate receiver 14 is a receiving surface of the display substrate 12.

The substrate receiver 14 includes a plurality of positioning pins 20.
Is provided on each of the upper surfaces of the two adjacent side walls of the substrate receiver 14, and a pusher 22 that pushes the display substrate 12 toward the positioning pin 20 is pressed by the upper surface of the other two adjacent side walls. Prepare for each.

A plurality of contact units 16 are arranged on two adjacent side walls of the board receiver 14. In the illustrated example, three contactor units 16 are provided on one of the adjacent side walls.
Are arranged, and two contactor units 16 are arranged on the other of the adjacent side walls.

Each contactor unit 16 has a support block 24 disposed on the side of the substrate receiver 14, and a support block movably in a direction of being advanced from the side of the substrate receiver 14 and retracted to the side. 24, the first moving block 26 supported by the display 24, and the display substrate 1 received by the substrate receiver 14.
A second moving block is disposed on the first moving block so as to be movable in a direction inclined with respect to the second moving block, and a contact block supported by the second moving block is included.

The moving direction of the first moving block 26 is a first direction parallel to the display substrate 12 received by the substrate receiver 14, and the moving direction of the second moving block 28 is The second that is inclined and extends diagonally up and down
And the direction away from the substrate receiver 14 toward the substrate receiver 14 in a third direction (upward in the illustrated example) perpendicular to the substrate 12.

The support block 24 has a mounting plate 32 mounted on the side surface of the substrate receiver 14 and a plate-shaped base 34 mounted on the mounting plate 3.
2 and a drive mechanism 36 for moving the first moving block 26 in the first direction is assembled on the base 34, and a guide for restricting the moving direction of the first moving block 26 to the first direction. The rail 38 is disposed on the drive mechanism 36.

The base 34 is positioned with respect to the mounting plate 32 and the board receiver 14 by receiving positioning pins (not shown) provided on the mounting plate 32 into positioning holes 40 shown in FIG. Are attached to the mounting plate 32 by a plurality of bolts (not shown) using the mounting holes 42 shown in FIG.

The distal end of the base 34 (the end on the side of the substrate receiver 14) is formed with two stoppers 44 which stand up at intervals in the width direction of the base 34. Drive mechanism 36
Is an air cylinder mechanism which supplies and discharges compressed air using the pipe 46 in the example shown in the figure. However, the drive mechanism 36 may be capable of adjusting the position of the first moving block 26 in the first direction, such as a jack-type drive mechanism.

The base 34 can be used without using the mounting plate 32.
May be assembled to the substrate receiver 14, or the drive mechanism 36 may be assembled to the mounting plate 32 without using the base 34. In the former case, the positioning pins and the screw holes for the bolts are formed in the substrate receiver 14.

The first moving block 26 includes a driving mechanism 36
Thereby, the contact 48 shown in FIG. 4 is moved to a forward position where the contact 48 contacts the electrode of the display substrate 12 and to a standby position where the contact 48 is separated from the display substrate 12 and retreats, that is, a retreat position. The fact that the first moving block 26 has been moved to the forward position and the retracted position means that sensors 50 and 52 disposed on the base 34 detect the shutter mounted on the side of the first moving block 26, respectively. Is detected by Each of the sensors 50 and 52 includes a light transmitter and a light receiver, and is arranged so as to reach between the light transmitter and the light receiver by moving the shutter 54 together with the first moving block 26.

The first moving block 26 is provided for facilitating the movement of the first moving block 26 in the first direction.
It is connected to the guide rail 38 by a plurality of balls (not shown). The first moving block 26 has a guide rail 56 at the distal end extending in the second direction.

The second moving block 28 assembles the guide 58 on the guide rail 56 so as to be movable in the first direction.
The inclined block 60 is assembled to the guide 58, and the stopper arm 62 is screwed to the inclined block 60. The stopper arms 62 correspond to the stopper portions 44 individually.
Two rolling members 6 which move in a third direction perpendicular to the display substrate 12 on the substrate receiver 14 while rotating in contact with the stopper portion 44.
4 is assembled to each arm at intervals in the vertical direction.

In the illustrated example, each rotating member 64 is a roller mounted on the arm so as to be rotatable around an axis extending in a fourth direction perpendicular to the first and third directions. Such other members may be used. The guide 58 is connected to the guide rail 56 by a plurality of balls 66 (see FIG. 6) to facilitate the movement of the inclined block 60 in the second direction.

The base 34 has a recess 68 at the base end of each stopper 44 for receiving a part of the lower rotating member 64 when the first moving block 26 is moved to the advanced position. .

Each contact 48 is a spring pin type probe and extends through the contact block 30. The contacts 48 are arranged in the same arrangement as the electrodes of the display substrate 12, and are connected to the wiring board 70 assembled to the contact block 30, the connector 72 assembled to the wiring board 70, and the connector 72. Via the connected flexible printed wiring board 74 (see FIG. 4), it is electrically connected to the electric circuit of the inspection apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 7, the second moving block 2
8 is moved away from the first moving block 26 by an elastic body 80 such as a compression coil spring disposed in holes 76 and 78 formed in the first moving block 26 and the inclined block 60, respectively. Biased in the direction.
The elastic body 80 is prevented from dropping out of the hole 76 by a set screw 82 screwed into the hole 76.

As shown in FIG. 8, the maximum movement amount of the first moving block 28 in the second direction is screwed into the first moving block 26 through the hole 84 formed in the inclined block 60. Is limited by the stopper screw 86 provided.

The degree of parallelism and the height position between the tip of the contact 48 and the display substrate 12 can be adjusted for each contact unit 16. For this reason, such adjustment work of the parallelism and the height position is facilitated, and the possibility that a contact shift occurs between the display substrate and the contact is reduced.

Next, the operation of the inspection apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

During standby, the first moving block 26 is
As shown in (C), the drive mechanism 36 controls the substrate receiver 14.
Has been retracted to a standby position separated from the camera in a first direction. For this reason, the second moving block 28 is retracted in the first direction from the display substrate 12 on the substrate receiver 14 and is moved in the second direction in a state where the second moving block 28 is in contact with the stopper screw 86 by the elastic body 80. It is urged and separated from the display substrate 12 in the third direction.

In the standby state, the first and second moving blocks 26 and 28 and the contact block 30 are separated in the first direction from the area where the display substrate 12 is disposed on the substrate receiver 14, so that the display block is not used. The substrate 12 can be attached to and detached from the substrate receiver 14.

The pusher 22 is displaced to a position shown by a dotted line in FIG. 1 when the display substrate 12 is placed on the substrate receiver 14, and is shown by a solid line in FIG. 1 when the substrate 12 is placed on the substrate receiver 14. Substrate receiver 1 displaced to position
4 is pushed onto the positioning pins 20. As a result, the display substrate 12 is positioned in a predetermined state with respect to the substrate receiver 14.

At the time of inspection, the first moving block 26 is advanced toward the substrate receiver 14 by the driving mechanism 36. FIG.
As shown in (B), at the end of the advance of the first moving block 26, the rotating member 64 of the second moving block 28 comes into contact with the stopper 44. Thereby, the advance of the second moving block 28 is prevented, and in this state, the first moving block 26 is further advanced.

When the first moving block 26 is further advanced, the second moving block 28 is retracted in the second direction with respect to the first moving block 26 against the urging force of the elastic body 80. At this time, the second moving block 28 is lowered so that the closer the first moving block 26 approaches the substrate receiver 14, the more the contact block 30 is displaced toward the display substrate 12. At this time, the rotating member 64 descends while rotating while contacting the stopper portion 44.

As shown in FIG. 9A, when the first moving block 26 is advanced to a predetermined position, a part of the lower rotating member 64 is received in the recess 68, whereby the contact member 48 is pressed by the electrode of the display substrate 12.

At the end of the forward movement of the first moving block 26, the second moving block 28 is displaced in the third direction without displacing in the first direction with respect to the display substrate 12.
There is no risk of rubbing the display substrate 12 with the tip of the contact 48, and there is no risk of damaging the display substrate 12 and the contact 48.

When the first moving block 26 starts to retreat from the advanced position, the second moving block 28
Is moved forward with respect to the first moving block 26 by the urging force. At this time, the first moving block 26 is
The second moving block 28 is retracted by the distance L1 and displaced by the predetermined amount Z in the third direction so that the contact block 40 moves away from the display substrate 12 as the distance from the contact 48 increases. Is separated upward from the display substrate 12 by a predetermined amount Z as shown in FIG. At this time, the rotating member 64 comes into contact with the stopper portion 44 and rises while rotating.

At the start of retreat of the first moving block 26,
When the rotating member 64 escapes from the recess 68, the second moving block 28 is moved in the second direction by the urging force of the elastic body 80, and the contact 48 is separated from the display substrate 12 in the third direction. Therefore, there is no risk of rubbing the display substrate 12 with the tip of the contact 48, and there is no risk of damaging the display substrate 12 and the contact 48.

Thereafter, the first moving block 26 is further retracted by the distance L2 and returned to the retracted position, and the second moving block 28 and the contact block 30 are also returned to the retracted position.

At the end of the forward movement of the first moving block 26 and the start of retreat, the two sets of rotating members 64 sandwiching the moving path of the first moving block 26 are in contact with the two positions of the stopper 44 for each set. Because of the rotational movement, the movement of the second moving block in the third direction is stable and smooth.

As described above, according to the inspection apparatus 10, the display substrate 12 can be attached to and detached from the substrate receiver 14 without moving the substrate receiver 14, and the first moving block 26 can be connected to the first moving block 26 by the first moving block 26. Just move the contact 4
8 can be displaced to a position where it contacts the display substrate 12 and a position away from the display substrate 12, and as a result, the time for attaching and detaching the display substrate 12 to and from the substrate receiver 14 is reduced.

Since the first moving block 26 is guided by the guide 38 both when the first moving block 26 moves forward and backward, the forward and backward movement of the first moving block 26 becomes stable and smooth. . Similarly, the second moving block 28 is guided by the guide 58 both at the end of the forward movement of the first moving block 26 and at the start of the retreat, so that the movement of the second moving block 28 is stable, Become smooth.

Further, the contactor unit 16 is mounted on the substrate receiver 1.
4, the contact unit 16 moves with the substrate receiver 14 even when the substrate receiver 14 is mounted on an appropriate stage such as an inspection stage and the substrate receiver 14 is moved by the stage. Therefore, the positional relationship between the contactor unit 16 and the substrate receiver 14 and the display substrate 12 received by the same does not change.

As the driving mechanism 36 for moving the first moving block 26 forward and backward, another mechanism using a motor, a rotary actuator or the like as a driving source may be used instead of the above-described air cylinder mechanism.

An inspection device 90 shown in FIG. 10 includes a pulse motor 92 whose position is controlled like a servomotor, and a lead screw 94 rotated by the pulse motor 92.
And a lead nut (not shown) screwed to the lead screw 94 are used as a drive mechanism.

The pulse motor 92 is mounted on the base 34 via the base 96, the lead screw 94 extends in the direction of movement of the first moving block 26, and the lead nut is incorporated in the first moving block 26. ing.

According to the inspection device 90, the Z-up amount of the contact 48 can be finely and easily adjusted as compared with the case where an air cylinder mechanism is used.

Instead of the spring type contact 48, another type of contact such as a needle type, a blade type, a film type and the like may be used. The present invention can be applied not only to an apparatus for horizontally disposing a display substrate on a substrate receiver, but also to an apparatus for disposing a display substrate obliquely on a substrate receiver.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of an inspection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 in FIG. 1, wherein (A) is a view in which a first moving block is advanced,
(B) is a diagram in which the first moving block is retracted.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing one embodiment of a contact unit used in the inspection device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the contact unit shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a right side view of the contact unit shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a view as viewed along line 6-6 in FIG. 4;

7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 in FIG.

8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 8-8 in FIG.

9A and 9B are diagrams for explaining the operation of the contactor unit shown in FIG. 3, wherein FIG. 9A is a diagram when the first moving block is at a forward position, and FIG. FIG. 7C is a view when the forward movement end time and the backward movement start time are present, and FIG. 7C is a view when the first moving block is at the backward movement position.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the inspection apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 90 Inspection device 12 Display substrate 14 Substrate receiver 16 Contact unit 24 Support block 26 First moving block 28 Second moving block 30 Contact block 32 Mounting plate 34 Base 36 Drive mechanism 38 Guide rail 44 Stopper section 48 Contact 56 Guide rail 58 Guide 60 Inclined block 62 Stopper arm 64 Rotary member 68 Recess 70 Wiring board 80 Elastic body 86 Stopper screw 92 Pulse motor 94 Lead screw

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masayuki Ansai 2-6-8 Kichijoji Honcho, Musashino City, Tokyo F-term in Japan Micronics Co., Ltd. (reference) 2G011 AA15 AB01 AB02 AB05 AB07 AB08 AC01 AC06 AE01 2G014 AA13 AB21 AB59 AC10 2G132 AA20 AB01 AE02 AF02 AF06 AL09 2H088 FA12 FA13 FA30

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A substrate receiver for receiving a display substrate, and at least one contact unit disposed on a side of the substrate receiver, wherein the contact unit is disposed on a side of the substrate receiver. A support block including a drive mechanism, the support block including a drive mechanism, a first movement block that is moved in a first direction that is advanced from the side of the substrate receiver and retreated to the side by the drive mechanism, A second moving block disposed on the first moving block so as to be movable in a second direction inclined with respect to the display substrate, and a plurality of contacts that are in contact with the display substrate; A contact block supported by a second moving block, and an elastic body for urging the second moving block in the second direction so as to separate the contact from an electrode of the display substrate; The support block is Et al in, provided with a stopper portion for limiting the advance of contact with the second movable block to the second moving block Advancement of the first moving block, the inspection device for a display substrate. 2. The second moving block includes an inclined block disposed on the first moving block so as to be movable in the second direction, an arm unit assembled to the inclined block, and the arm unit. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising at least one rotating member rotatably disposed on the display substrate, the rotating member being movably in contact with the display substrate in a third direction perpendicular to the display substrate. . 3. The inspection apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second moving block includes a plurality of the rotating members spaced in the third direction. 4. The support block includes a pair of the stopper portions that interpose a moving path of the first moving block,
The said 2nd block is provided with a pair of said arm parts each corresponding to the said stopper part, and two sets of said rotating members each corresponding to the said stopper part, The Claim 2 or 3 characterized by the above-mentioned. Inspection equipment. 5. The support block has a recess for receiving a part of the rotating member when the rotating member comes into contact with the stopper and is moved toward the display substrate. The inspection device according to any one of items 1 to 4, wherein 6. The support block further includes the first block.
The inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: a guide unit that guides the movement of the moving block in the first direction. 7. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the contact units are arranged on a side of the substrate receiver.