JP2010203944A - Substrate inspecting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a substrate inspection apparatus provided with a substrate floating mechanism that suppresses fluttering of the substrate that occurs due to transfer between substrate floating mechanisms when the substrate is floated and conveyed by air, and does not deviate from the subject depth of an ultra-high resolution camera.
In a substrate inspection apparatus comprising a substrate transport unit for transporting a substrate and a defect inspection unit for inspecting a defect of the transported substrate, a plurality of substrate levitation mechanisms for levitating a substrate installed in the substrate transport unit are provided. And a substrate floating mechanism is alternately arranged in the defect inspection section with respect to the transport direction, and a defect inspection apparatus for detecting defects by imaging the surface of the substrate between the alternately arranged substrate floating mechanisms is provided. A substrate inspection apparatus.
[Selection] Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate inspection apparatus for inspecting a glass substrate, a color filter, and the like used in, for example, a liquid crystal display panel and a plasma display panel.

  With the recent increase in size and thickness of flat panel displays such as liquid crystal display panels and plasma display panels, as a method for transporting a substrate in a manufacturing process, a substrate 2 is conventionally converted to a cylindrical rotating shaft 40 as shown in FIG. A method of transporting a plurality of rotating rollers 41 provided has been mainly used. For example, the substrate collides with the rollers due to bending due to the weight of the substrate being transported, vertical fluctuation during transport, or the like. And various problems such as scratches caused by alignment have become apparent.

  In order to avoid such damage to the substrate, the large substrate with large deflection due to the weight of the substrate and large vertical vibration during transportation is replaced with conveyor transportation using rollers, and the entire surface of the substrate is floated by air and contactless. A technique for transporting the sheet to the surface has been developed (Patent Document 1).

  In addition, for example, color filters used for flat panel displays are inspected for defects in the manufacturing process. In recent years, screens have become higher definition, and accordingly, inspection machines themselves are required to have high performance. For example, when inspecting defects of 5 μm or less, an inspection machine using an ultra-high resolution camera with a resolution of 3 μm or less has become essential from the viewpoint of quality assurance.

  Therefore, as described above, conveyance by air levitation that does not come into contact with the conveyance surface has been performed. However, since the original non-contact air levitation transfer technology only lifted the substrate by blowing out air, the substrate floating accuracy variation is large, and the substrate fluctuates up and down due to the levitation variation during transfer, There has been a problem that the inspection surface deviates from the subject depth of the inspection camera. Therefore, as a solution to such a problem related to the floating of the substrate, there is a substrate floating mechanism that suppresses fluctuations in the floating amount by the air suction force, as described in Patent Document 2, by performing suction simultaneously with air blowing. It has been developed.

  In the above technique, the flying unevenness due to the air conveyance is eliminated, and the substrate can be floated with stable floating accuracy. However, in substrate defect inspection, for example, when imaging is performed with an inspection camera using transmitted illumination, the substrate floating mechanisms must be installed side by side and imaged between the substrate floating mechanisms. Further, even when using reflected illumination, for example, in order to prevent false detection such as a pseudo defect due to reflection of the substrate floating mechanism, it is necessary to take an image using a gap between the substrate floating mechanisms as in the case of using transmitted illumination. Therefore, in the defect inspection apparatus, it is necessary to separate the substrate floating mechanism to have a structure having a gap between the substrate floating mechanism and the substrate floating mechanism.

  When the substrate levitation mechanism is used, if the entire surface of the substrate is on the substrate levitation mechanism, levitation fluctuation is suppressed and stable levitation is possible. However, when the substrate is transported between the substrate levitation mechanisms, air is blown out. As a result, the flying height of the front and rear ends of the substrate in the transport direction may fluctuate due to the suction of air and the deflection of the substrate itself, and the ultra-high resolution camera may deviate from the subject depth. In addition, even when the substrate is transported on the substrate floating mechanism, the air blowing portion and the air suction portion on the entire surface of the substrate floating mechanism are spot-arranged. Every time the substrate is alternately climbed, the flying height of the substrate fluctuates at the front end portion and the rear end portion in the transport direction of the substrate.

  In order to suppress the variation of the floating amount when the substrate passes between the substrate levitation mechanisms, according to Patent Document 3, a roller is attached between the substrate levitation mechanisms, and the method moves downward after the substrate passes. Can be mentioned.

JP 2004-279335 A JP 2008-7319 A JP 2006-258727 A

  However, when the entire surface of the substrate is inspected using, for example, a line sensor type high resolution camera for substrate defect inspection, if the roller is used between the substrate floating mechanisms, it is difficult to install illumination, and the substrate on the roller There is a problem that defect inspection cannot be performed on the surface.

  The present invention provides a substrate inspection apparatus provided with a substrate floating mechanism that suppresses fluttering of the substrate that occurs due to transfer between the substrate floating mechanisms when the substrate is floated and conveyed by air, and does not deviate from the subject depth of the ultra-high resolution camera. With the goal.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate inspection apparatus including a substrate transport unit that transports a substrate and a defect inspection unit that inspects a defect of the transported substrate. It has a plurality of substrate levitation mechanisms, and the substrate levitation mechanisms are arranged alternately in the transport direction in the defect inspection unit, and detect defects by imaging the surface of the substrate between the alternately arranged substrate levitation mechanisms. A substrate inspection apparatus comprising a defect inspection apparatus.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the surface of the substrate floating mechanism facing the substrate has a vent hole made of a porous body, and the substrate floating mechanism includes a plurality of air blowing spaces and a plurality of air suction spaces. The substrate inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of air blowing spaces and the plurality of air suction spaces are connected to each other.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the substrate inspection apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the air blowing space and the air suction space are alternately arranged in a stripe shape along the substrate conveyance direction. is there.

  According to the invention according to claim 1, the plurality of substrate levitation mechanisms that float the substrate and transport the substrate, and the substrate levitation mechanisms are alternately arranged in the defect inspection portion with respect to the transport direction, When the substrate moves between the substrate levitation mechanisms, it is on the left and right substrate levitation mechanisms that are adjacent to each other between the substrate levitation mechanisms. Is possible.

  According to the invention according to claim 2, since the plurality of air blowing spaces and the plurality of suction spaces are connected to each other, the internal pressure of each space becomes uniform, and the surface of the substrate levitation mechanism facing the substrate is air. Blowout and suction can be performed uniformly over the entire surface, enabling stable substrate transfer.

According to the invention according to claim 3, the substrate floating mechanism has an air blowing space and an air suction space, and the air blowing space and the air suction space are alternately configured in a stripe shape along the substrate transport direction. Since the substrate is not transported alternately between the air blowing portion and the air suction portion with respect to the substrate transport direction, stable substrate transport is possible without causing the substrate to flutter.

The block diagram of the board | substrate inspection apparatus which uses the board | substrate floating mechanism of this invention. The top view for demonstrating arrangement | positioning of the board | substrate floating mechanism and defect inspection apparatus of the board | substrate inspection apparatus of this invention. The side view for demonstrating arrangement | positioning of the board | substrate floating mechanism and defect inspection apparatus of the board | substrate inspection apparatus of this invention. The top view which shows another arrangement | positioning of the board | substrate floating mechanism and defect inspection apparatus of this invention. The perspective view which looked at the defect inspection apparatus of the board | substrate inspection apparatus of this invention from the lower side. The cross-sectional perspective view of the board | substrate floating mechanism of the board | substrate inspection apparatus of this invention. The figure which shows the cross section of F of FIG. The figure which shows the cross section of G of FIG. The figure which shows the conveying method using the conventional roller.

  Hereinafter, a substrate floating mechanism in a substrate inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a substrate inspection apparatus to which a substrate floating mechanism is applied.

  The substrate inspection apparatus 1 according to the present invention includes a substrate levitation mechanism having a plurality of substrate levitation mechanisms 3A-1, 3B-1, and 3C-1 that maintain the substrate 2 at a certain height by blowing and sucking air. A substrate gripping mechanism 4 that fixedly grips one side of the substrate 2 and a substrate that is provided adjacent to one side surface of the substrate floating mechanism and transports the substrate 2 in a direction along the transport direction X via the substrate gripping mechanism 4 A floating control unit A including a transport mechanism 5, an air supply unit B that supplies air to the substrate floating mechanism, and an air suction unit C that performs air suction, and a transmission illumination light source (not shown) that illuminates the substrate A defect inspection apparatus 15 including an imaging camera 15-1 and an imaging camera 15-3 for imaging the illuminated substrate, and a gantry 36.

  2 and 3 are views for explaining the arrangement of the substrate floating mechanism and the defect inspection apparatus 15, FIG. 2 is a plan view, and FIG. 3 is a side view. In the substrate floating mechanism, a substrate floating mechanism 3A including a plurality of substrate floating mechanisms 3A-1 is arranged on the loader side that transports the substrate, and a plurality of substrate floating mechanisms are provided in a defect inspection unit in which the defect inspection apparatus 15 is installed. A substrate floating mechanism 3B including 3B-1 and a plurality of substrate floating mechanisms 3B-2, an imaging camera 15-1, an imaging camera 15-3, a transmitted illumination light source 15-2, and a transmitted illumination light source 15-4 are provided. A defect inspection apparatus 15 is disposed, and a substrate floating mechanism 3C including a plurality of substrate floating mechanisms 3C-1 is disposed on the unloader side. Further, in the defect inspection section where the defect inspection apparatus 15 is installed, the substrate floating mechanisms are alternately arranged in the transport direction.

  The arrangement of the substrate floating mechanism and the defect inspection apparatus 15 is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 2. For example, FIG. 4 shows another arrangement of the substrate floating mechanism and the defect inspection apparatus. Between the substrate floating mechanism 3A and the substrate floating mechanism B of the defect inspection part where the defect inspection apparatus 15 is arranged, and between the substrate floating mechanism 3B of the defect inspection part where the defect inspection apparatus 15 is arranged and the substrate floating mechanism 3C on the unloader side. The arrangement is such that there is no gap between them. With this arrangement, the substrate floating mechanism 3B of the defect inspection unit where the defect inspection apparatus 15 is arranged and the substrate floating mechanism 3A on the loader side, and the substrate floating mechanism 3B of the defect inspection unit where the defect inspection apparatus 15 is arranged and the unloader side are arranged. Fluttering of the substrate between the substrate floating mechanisms 3C is further suppressed.

  The defect inspection apparatus 15 includes an imaging camera 15-1 and a transmission illumination light source 15-2, and an imaging camera 15-3 and a transmission illumination light source 15-4. The imaging camera 15-1 and the transmission illumination light source 15-2 are provided. The imaging camera 15-3 and the transmission illumination light source 15-4 are provided between the substrate floating mechanism D and the substrate floating mechanism E, respectively. The surface of the substrate illuminated by the transmissive illumination light source 15-2 and the transmissive illumination light source 15-4 is imaged by the imaging camera 15-1 and the imaging camera 15-3, and the captured image is an image processing device (not shown). To process the image and detect defects.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the defect inspection apparatus 15 of the substrate inspection apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 as viewed from the lower side of the apparatus, and exaggerates the thickness and flying height of the substrate 2.

  In FIG. 5, the substrate floating mechanisms of the defect inspection unit in which the defect inspection apparatus 15 of the present invention is installed are the substrate floating mechanisms 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26, which are alternately arranged. A transmission illumination light source 15-2 and a transmission illumination light source 15-4 are arranged below the substrate floating mechanism, and an imaging camera 15-1 and an imaging camera 15-3 are attached to the gantry 17 above. It has been. When the substrate 2 is transported in the transport direction X and the substrate passes between the substrate floating mechanisms, the surface to be inspected of the substrate 2 is imaged by the imaging camera 15-1 and the imaging camera 15-3, and defect detection is performed. . As the imaging camera 15-1 and the imaging camera 15-3, for example, a plurality of line sensor cameras are used to image all the regions in the width direction of the substrate, and the substrate is transported in the X direction so that the entire surface of the substrate is covered. Inspected.

  The light source that illuminates the substrate 2 is not limited to the transmissive illumination light source. For example, a reflection light source may be provided on the same side as the imaging camera with respect to the substrate 2. The illumination light source may be appropriately selected depending on whether the contrast of the defect to be detected is higher in transmission or reflection.

  When the substrate is floated and conveyed, the substrate floating mechanism may be bent due to the weight of the substrate itself. However, by alternately arranging the substrate floating mechanisms described above, for example, the substrate floating mechanism 20 and the substrate floating mechanism 21 When the substrate 2 is transferred between the substrate 16 and the substrate levitation mechanism 20 and the substrate levitation mechanism 21, the substrate levitation mechanism 22 and the substrate levitation mechanism 22 disposed on the left and right sides of the substrate levitation mechanism 23 are blown and sucked by air. 2 supports the weight of itself and enables stable and highly accurate floating transportation.

  The substrate levitation mechanism of the substrate levitation mechanism 3B of the defect inspection unit has the above structure, but the substrate levitation mechanism 3A on the loader side and the substrate levitation mechanism 3C on the unloader side only need to satisfy the function of transporting the substrate. The mechanisms do not have to be staggered as described above.

  Next, the substrate floating mechanism will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the substrate floating mechanism, FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 6F, and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 6G. The thickness and flying height are exaggerated.

  The substrate floating mechanism in the substrate inspection machine 1 of the present invention is a rectangular hollow structure, and the surface 3a facing the substrate 2 has a plate-like porous body with numerous fine holes (for example, porous carbon or Metal sintered body). This surface 3 a is connected to the hollow space 6. The hollow space 6 can form a uniform upward air flow 10 over the entire surface 3 a by applying compressed air through the pipe 9. The upward air flow 10 makes it possible to slightly lift the substrate 2. The pipe 9 is connected to a pressure pump (not shown) having an air filter via the pressure air path 31, the manifold 32, and the pressure regulating valve 35 shown in FIG.

Further, the surface 3 a is connected to the hollow space 7 in the substrate floating mechanism. The hollow space 7 is not electrically connected to the hollow space 6 and is connected to the chamber 8 through the opening 11. The chamber 8 is connected to the pipe 12, and by sucking air through the pipe 12, the internal pressure of the hollow space 7 is lowered, so that the flying height of the substrate 2 can be maintained with high accuracy. . The pipe 12 is connected to a blower pump 34 via a suction path 30 and a ball valve 33.

  In the substrate floating mechanism, a plurality of hollow spaces 6 and a plurality of hollow spaces 7 are alternately arranged in a stripe shape. The hollow space 6 is electrically connected to all the hollow spaces in the substrate floating mechanism through the bypass 13a. At least one of the plurality of hollow spaces 6 is provided with a bypass 13 b for connection to the pipe 9.

  Since the hollow space 6 and the hollow space 7 inside the substrate floating mechanism are configured in a stripe shape along the transport direction of the substrate 2, the substrate 2 passing over the substrate floating mechanism is always a region where air is blown out. The area where air is sucked is constant in the transport direction, and no fluttering occurs at the substrate edge, enabling stable and highly accurate substrate transport.

  The substrate floating mechanism has the above structure in the defect inspection apparatus 3B. However, the substrate floating mechanism 3A on the loader side and the substrate floating mechanism 3C on the unloader side may satisfy the function of transporting the substrate. The structure of the levitation mechanism is not necessary. In other words, the hollow space 6 and the hollow space 7 do not necessarily have a stripe shape along the substrate transport direction.

  As described above, according to the substrate inspection apparatus having the substrate floating mechanism of the invention, it is possible to suppress the floating variation of the substrate and stably convey the defect, and the defect caused by the flapping of the substrate can be obtained by performing the inspection between the substrate floating mechanisms. It is possible to prevent erroneous detection and perform highly accurate defect inspection.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Board | substrate inspection apparatus 2 ... Board | substrate 4 ... Board | substrate holding | grip mechanism 5 ... Substrate conveyance mechanism 6 ... Hollow space 7 ... Hollow space 8 ... Chamber 9 ... Piping 10 .... Uniform upward air flow 11 ... opening 12 ... pipe 15 ... defect inspection device 15-1 ... imaging camera 15-2 ... transmission illumination light source 15-3 ... Imaging camera 15-4... Illumination light source for transmission 16... Between substrate floating mechanism 17... Gantry 20 .. substrate floating mechanism 21 .. substrate floating mechanism 22. -Substrate levitation mechanism 24-Substrate levitation mechanism 25-Substrate levitation mechanism 26-Substrate levitation mechanism 30-Suction path 31-Pressure air path 32-Manifold 33-Ball valve 34 .... Blower pump 35 ... Pressure adjustment valve 36 ... Base A ... Upper control unit B ... Air supply unit C ... Air suction unit D ... Between substrate levitation mechanisms E ... Between substrate levitation mechanisms 3A ... Multiple substrate levitation mechanisms 3B arranged on the loader side ..Multiple substrate levitation mechanisms 3C arranged in the defect inspection unit, multiple substrate levitation mechanisms 3A-1 arranged on the unloader side, and substrate levitation mechanisms 3B-1 arranged on the loader side Substrate levitation mechanism 3B-2 arranged in the inspection unit ... Substrate levitation mechanism 3C-1 arranged in the defect inspection unit ... Substrate levitation mechanism 3a arranged on the unloader side ... Surface 13a facing the substrate .... Bypass 13b ... Bypass X ... Conveying direction 40 ... Cylindrical rotating shaft 41 ... Many rotating rollers

Claims (3)

  In a substrate inspection apparatus comprising a substrate transfer unit for transferring a substrate and a defect inspection unit for inspecting a defect of the transferred substrate, the substrate inspection apparatus has a plurality of substrate floating mechanisms for floating the substrate installed in the substrate transfer unit, The levitation mechanism is alternately arranged in the defect inspection section with respect to the transport direction, and includes a defect inspection apparatus that detects defects by imaging the surface of the substrate between the alternately arranged substrate levitation mechanisms. Substrate inspection device.   The surface of the substrate levitation mechanism that faces the substrate has a ventilation hole made of a porous body, the substrate levitation mechanism has a plurality of air blowing spaces and a plurality of air suction spaces, and a plurality of air blowing spaces and a plurality of air blowing spaces. The board inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the air suction spaces is connected.   3. The substrate inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the air blowing space and the air suction space are alternately arranged in a stripe shape along the substrate conveyance direction.

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