JP2008158501A - LCD substrate management device - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to improve the determination accuracy of a liquid crystal substrate by re-identifying defects and re-determining a panel or a substrate.
A liquid crystal substrate management apparatus includes a data management means having a database for recording defect information acquired from a liquid crystal inspection apparatus and image information and repair information acquired from a liquid crystal repair apparatus. The defect information acquired by the liquid crystal inspection device and the image data acquired by the liquid crystal repair device are recorded in a common recording means to create a database, enabling defect re-identification and panel / substrate re-determination. This makes it possible to improve the determination accuracy and manage defect trend information.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid crystal substrate management apparatus that manages a liquid crystal substrate used for a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, and the like, and more particularly to management of a liquid crystal substrate on a production line of the liquid crystal substrate.

  The liquid crystal substrate is inspected for defects by a liquid crystal inspection device on a production line including various processes, and is repaired by a liquid crystal repair device based on defect information found by the liquid crystal inspection device. In a production line, a liquid crystal substrate is usually provided with a plurality of panels on a glass substrate, and a plurality of TFT arrays are formed on each panel.

  The liquid crystal inspection apparatus, for example, inspects the liquid crystal substrate for defects such as gate-source short circuits, point defects, disconnections, etc. for the gates and sources provided in the plurality of TFT arrays, and determines each panel. The board is being judged. The liquid crystal repair device repairs the defect based on the defect information acquired by the liquid crystal inspection device.

  These defect information are only exchanged between the liquid crystal inspection device and the liquid crystal repair device, how the defect information obtained by the liquid crystal inspection device is reflected in the liquid crystal repair device, and the liquid crystal There is no management of the liquid crystal substrate such as what kind of defects are occurring on the substrate production line.

  The liquid crystal substrate has a recipe for each liquid crystal substrate such as the number and arrangement of panels set on the substrate and the pixel size in each panel. The liquid crystal inspection device and the liquid crystal repair device need to perform inspection and repair based on the recipe of the liquid crystal substrate. Conventionally, this recipe information is also managed for each liquid crystal inspection device and liquid crystal repair device, and it is necessary to set each device for each recipe.

  In the conventional management of liquid crystal substrates, information and recipe information obtained by each process device is managed only by individual devices on the production line including the inspection process and the repair process. When defect identification and substrate / panel quality determination are performed a plurality of times, it is difficult to perform re-determination by comparison with the previous process. Further, the determination accuracy depends on the determination accuracy of each device, and unless the determination accuracy of each device is improved, improvement of the determination accuracy of the liquid crystal management device cannot be expected.

  In addition, information common to each device such as recipe information and defect information is individually managed by each device such as a liquid crystal inspection device and a liquid crystal repair device, so the information management efficiency is poor, and the entire liquid crystal management There is also a problem that it is difficult to manage defect trend information.

  Therefore, the present invention aims to solve the above-described conventional problems, to enable re-identification of defects, and re-determination of a panel and a substrate, and to improve determination accuracy in a liquid crystal substrate, The purpose is to be able to manage the trend information of defects, and to centrally manage the recipe information.

  The present invention enables defect re-identification and panel / substrate re-determination by recording the defect information acquired by the liquid crystal inspection device and the image data acquired by the liquid crystal repair device in a common recording means and creating a database. The accuracy of determination in the liquid crystal substrate is improved, and defect trend information can be managed.

  For this purpose, the liquid crystal substrate management apparatus of the present invention includes data management means having a database that records defect information acquired from the liquid crystal inspection apparatus, image information acquired from the liquid crystal repair apparatus, and repair information.

  The liquid crystal inspection apparatus identifies the defect based on the acquired defect information, and determines the quality of the panel and the substrate, the possibility of repair, and the like based on the defect. The liquid crystal repair device repairs the liquid crystal substrate based on the defect information.

  The data management means records the defect information acquired by the liquid crystal inspection device and the image information and repair information acquired by the liquid crystal repair device in the database. Using the defect information, image information, and repair information recorded in the database, the defect is re-identified and the panel or substrate is re-determined for defect identification and determination at the time of liquid crystal inspection. By performing the re-determination, a plurality of determination processes are performed for the same defect, and the determination accuracy in the liquid crystal substrate can be improved.

  In addition, the database stores defect information, image information, and repair information for a plurality of liquid crystal substrates, and can acquire defect trend information by performing information processing such as statistical processing on the information.

  In addition, the data management means includes recipe information that defines the specifications of the substrate and the panel, and can be edited so that the recipe information can be centrally managed. By centrally managing the recipe information, each device can omit the process of individually storing and managing the recipe information.

  The data management means can exchange information with a connected terminal, edit recipe information at the terminal, and record and save it again in the database.

  As described above, according to the present invention, defect re-identification, panel / substrate re-determination can be performed, determination accuracy in the liquid crystal substrate can be improved, and defect trend information is managed. be able to. Also, recipe information can be managed in a unified manner.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view for explaining a liquid crystal substrate management apparatus of the present invention.

  On the production line of the liquid crystal substrate 2, various liquid crystal substrate manufacturing apparatuses 3 corresponding to the respective manufacturing processes, a liquid crystal inspection apparatus 4 for inspecting the formed liquid crystal substrate 2 for defects, and the liquid crystal substrate 2 based on the defect inspection results. A liquid crystal repair device 5 for repairing the above is provided. The liquid crystal substrate management apparatus 1 according to the present invention includes management means 6, and information acquired by the liquid crystal inspection apparatus 4 and the liquid crystal repair apparatus 5 is input and stored in a database 6 a included in the management means 6.

  The liquid crystal substrate manufacturing apparatus 3 manufactures the liquid crystal substrate 2 by forming a TFT array on a panel 2b on the substrate 2 such as a glass substrate.

  The liquid crystal inspection apparatus 4 performs defect inspection of the liquid crystal substrate 2 manufactured by the liquid crystal substrate manufacturing apparatus 3 on the production line, and acquires defect information. The defect information includes, for example, various information such as the position of the defect, a defect state such as a short circuit or a disconnection, a defect form such as a line shape, a dot shape, or a raster shape, a judgment result of whether the panel or the substrate is good, defective, or reproducible. Contains information. The defect information acquired by the defect inspection by the liquid crystal inspection apparatus 4 includes ID information such as a lot ID that specifies the manufacturing process of each liquid crystal substrate 2 and a substrate ID that specifies each substrate, and a recipe that indicates the specifications of each liquid crystal substrate 2. Information and waveform data (for example, 20-point data) are sent to the management means 6 and recorded and stored in the database 6a.

  The defect information is sent from the liquid crystal inspection apparatus 4 to the host system 8. The host system 8 is a host system that performs production management on the liquid crystal substrate, and various information is sent to the host system 8 from various liquid crystal substrate manufacturing apparatuses 3 installed on the production line. The user can refer to defect information of each liquid crystal substrate by accessing the host system 8.

  The liquid crystal repair device 5 receives the defect information and various information acquired by the liquid crystal inspection device 4 from the host system 8 and repairs the defective portion based on the defect information. At this time, if there is an error in the defect information and there is an error in the defect position or the defect type indicated by the defect information, the defect information is corrected.

  The liquid crystal repair device 5 sends the defect repair information, the corrected defect information, and the like as repair information to the data management means 6 and acquires image information of the liquid crystal substrate 2 and sends it to the data management means 6. The data management means 6 receives repair information such as defect repair information and correction defect information and image information sent from the liquid crystal repair device 5, and records and stores them in the database 6a. The liquid crystal repair device 5 also sends repair information such as defect repair information and correction defect information to the host system 8.

  Therefore, the data management means 6 records and stores the repair information and image information sent from the liquid crystal repair device 5 in the database 6a in addition to the defect information, recipe information and waveform data sent from the liquid crystal inspection device 4. .

  In addition to storing various information and data in the database 6a, the data management means 6 performs defect re-identification, panel / substrate re-determination, and correction and editing of information and data.

  In the defect re-identification, the defect position and the defect type are identified again by comparing the defect information acquired from the liquid crystal inspection apparatus and the repair information acquired from the liquid crystal repair apparatus. When the repair information includes correction position data and correction defect type information by re-identification, the first defect information is corrected and updated.

  Further, the re-determination of the substrate and the panel re-determines the quality of the substrate and the panel based on the repair information acquired from the liquid crystal repair device. The accuracy of defect determination can be improved by the two determination results of the redetermination result and the determination result acquired from the liquid crystal inspection apparatus.

  In the data correction, the defect information sent from the liquid crystal inspection device 4 and stored is corrected based on the corrected defect information sent from the liquid crystal repair device 5. For example, the defect position stored based on the defect information sent from the liquid crystal inspection apparatus 4, the state of the defect such as a short circuit or disconnection, and the defect portion is a defect such as a line, dot, or rusk However, if the repair information sent from the liquid crystal repair device 5 is a different defect position, defect state, and defect mode, the data management means 6 corrects the stored defect information based on the repair information, Save in the database 6a. The corrected defect information is also sent to the host system 8.

  The data editing is performed by editing the defect information sent from the liquid crystal inspection device 4 and stored based on the defect repair information, the corrected defect information, the image information, etc. sent from the liquid crystal repair device 5. In this editing, defect repair information, corrected defect information, and image information sent from the liquid crystal repair device are displayed on the terminal 7, and defect information such as defect type and determination result is edited on the terminal 7. You can also.

  The data management means 6 sends the stored liquid crystal substrate recipe information sent from the liquid crystal inspection device 4 to the liquid crystal repair device 5, and the liquid crystal repair device 5 performs a repair process for the liquid crystal substrate based on the recipe information.

  Further, the data management means 6 can edit this recipe information. Recipe information can be edited by displaying an editing screen on the terminal 7, and the edited recipe information can be stored in the database 6a.

  Next, defect information acquired by the liquid crystal inspection apparatus and repair information acquired by the liquid crystal repair apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. The liquid crystal substrate 2 shown in FIG. 2 shows an example in which four panels 2b1 to 2b4 are provided on the substrate 2a, but the number of panels is not limited to four and can be arbitrarily set.

  FIG. 2A is a diagram for explaining defect information acquired by the liquid crystal inspection apparatus. In the panels 2b1 to 2b4, for example, the defect 10A of the panel 2b1 is an example of a line defect that appears along the gate line or the source line on the panel, and the defect 10B of the panel 2b3 is a point defect that appears according to each pixel. The defect 10C of the panel 2b4 is an example of a raster-like defect that appears as a cluster of a plurality of pixels.

  The liquid crystal inspection apparatus detects each of these defects 10A to 10C, and acquires the defect position, the defect type, and the inspection result. As the defect type, for example, a defect state such as a short circuit or disconnection, a line shape, a dot shape, or a rusk-like defect portion can be used. The inspection result includes determination of whether the panel or substrate is good (OK) or defective (NG), whether repair is possible, or the like based on the degree or number of defects. For example, for a panel, if the degree of defects can be repaired by the liquid crystal repair device, it is determined that the panel can be repaired, and for a substrate, the number of defective panels is greater than the number of good panels. Determines that the substrate is defective. Note that the criteria for determining the panel and substrate can be arbitrarily determined by the user.

  FIG. 2B is a diagram for explaining image information and repair information acquired by the liquid crystal repair device. Here, it is assumed that the liquid crystal repair device repairs the liquid crystal substrate 2 shown in FIG. 2A, and the position of the defect 10B of the panel 2b3 is different. The liquid crystal repair device repairs each defect of the defect 10A of the panel 2b1, the defect 10B of the panel 2b3, and the defect 10C of the panel 2b4 based on the defect information acquired by the liquid crystal inspection device. In FIG. 2B, the repaired defect is indicated by a broken line. At the time of repair, the defect position and defect type may be different from those of defect information. In this case, corrected defect information is formed by correcting the defect position and defect type.

  The liquid crystal repair device acquires the image information of the liquid crystal substrate after repairing the defect, and sends it to the data management means together with the defect repair information and the corrected defect information.

  FIG. 3 is a display example of defect information and image information stored in the data management means. The terminal 7 reads out defect information and image information stored in the database 6a of the data management means 6 and displays them on the display screen. In the display example shown in FIG. 3, based on the defect information, the result of substrate determination or panel determination, the type of the defect, the defect content and the position thereof are displayed, the image information acquired by the liquid crystal repair device, or the liquid crystal inspection device In addition to displaying the 20-point waveform data obtained by the above, it is also possible to display a defect distribution state on a map based on the defect information. Note that the display example of FIG. 3 is merely an example, and the results of various statistical processes using defect information may be displayed in the data management means.

  The 20-point waveform data is the waveform data of the measurement signal acquired by the liquid crystal inspection apparatus, and the number of data points is not limited to 20 and can be an arbitrary number.

  As described above, the data management means 6 displays the defect information and image information stored in the database 6a, performs various statistical processes based on the defect information, displays the processing results, Recipe information can also be set or updated. When performing statistical processing based on defect information, it is possible to refer to the lot ID and substrate ID set for each substrate, and the frequency of occurrence of defects in the lot during each liquid crystal substrate production process and each production process. It is possible to acquire defect trend information such as defect types.

  Next, setting and updating of recipe information for the liquid crystal substrate will be described with reference to FIG. The recipe information is information that determines the size of the substrate, the center position and alignment position set on the substrate, the number and arrangement of the panels set on the substrate, the number of pixels and the pixel pitch of each panel, and is determined for each liquid crystal substrate. be able to.

  FIG. 4A shows the size of the substrate and the center position and alignment position set on the substrate. As the size of the substrate 2a, a size in the X direction and a size in the Y direction are set. Further, C defines the center position of the substrate, and A1 to A4 are alignment positions, which can be used for positioning the substrate.

  FIG. 4B shows the arrangement of panels formed on the substrate 2a. By setting the number of panels in the horizontal direction and the number of panels in the vertical direction, the total number of panels and the arrangement of the panels can be determined.

  FIG. 4C shows an arrangement of pixels included in each panel 2b. By setting the number of pixels in the vertical and horizontal directions and the pitch, the total number of pixels and the arrangement of the pixels can be determined.

  The data management means 6 sets and updates recipe information by editing on the screen of the terminal 7. In addition, when updating recipe information, it can identify based on board | substrate ID.

  Thereby, the recipe information is centrally managed by the data management means 6. With this unified management of recipe information, each device on the production line of the liquid crystal substrate can take in recipe information set on the same substrate based on the ID from the data management means 6, and each device records the recipe information. It is possible to perform an operation based on recipe information without having to do so.

It is the schematic for demonstrating the liquid crystal substrate management apparatus of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the defect information acquired with a liquid crystal inspection apparatus, and the repair information acquired with a liquid crystal repair apparatus. It is a display example of defect information and image information stored in the data management means. It is a figure for demonstrating the setting and update of the recipe information of a liquid crystal substrate.

Explanation of symbols

1. Liquid crystal management device, 2 ... Liquid crystal substrate, 2a ... Substrate, 2b, 2b1-2b4 ... Panel, 3 ... Liquid crystal substrate manufacturing device, 4 ... Liquid crystal inspection device, 5. Liquid crystal repair device, 6 ... Data management means, 6a ... Database, 7 ... Terminal, 8 ... Host system, 8a ... Stage side connector, 10A ... Line defect, 10B. .. Point defect, 10c ... Rusk defect, A1 to A4 ... alignment position, C ... center position.

Claims (3)

In what comprises a data management means having a database that records defect information acquired from a liquid crystal inspection device, image information acquired from a liquid crystal repair device, and repair information in which a defect is repaired,
If there is an error in the defect information at the time of defect repair, the liquid crystal repair device corrects the defect information and repairs the defect information, and repairs the defect information and the corrected defect information. Get as
The data management means performs defect re-identification and / or panel and / or substrate re-determination based on defect information, image information and repair information recorded in a database. Management device. The liquid crystal substrate management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data management unit stores recipe information for defining substrate and panel specifications in a database and makes the recipe information editable. The liquid crystal substrate management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the data management unit edits the recipe information by exchanging information with a connected terminal.

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