CN219872003U

CN219872003U - Optical inspection device

Info

Publication number: CN219872003U
Application number: CN202321248840.0U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 汪杰; 杨莉
Original assignee: InfoVision Optoelectronics Kunshan Co Ltd
Current assignee: InfoVision Optoelectronics Kunshan Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-05-23
Filing date: 2023-05-23
Publication date: 2023-10-20
Anticipated expiration: 2033-05-23

Abstract

The utility model discloses an optical inspection device, which can efficiently perform optical inspection on the front and back of a panel and improve the yield of products. The optical inspection device includes: the panel bracket is used for fixing the panel; the first bracket is positioned on one side of the panel and is opposite to the first surface of the panel; the second bracket is positioned on the other side of the panel and is opposite to the second surface of the panel; a first inspection unit including a first light source and a first sensor disposed opposite to each other; the second inspection unit comprises a second light source and a second sensor which are correspondingly arranged; a rail surrounding the panel and perpendicular to the first surface of the panel; the first light source is located on the second support, the first sensor is located on the first support, the second light source and the second sensor are located on the first support, the second inspection unit performs optical inspection on the panel in a reflection type inspection mode, and the first support and the second support can move along the track.

Description

Optical inspection device

Technical Field

The present utility model relates to the field of liquid crystal display technology, and in particular, to an optical inspection device for a liquid crystal display panel.

Background

Automatic optical inspection (Automated Optical Inspection, AOI for short), which is a high-speed high-precision optical image detection system, uses machine vision as a detection standard technique, and can overcome the defect of using an optical instrument for detection by manpower.

AOI is an effective detection method for industrial automation, uses machine vision as a detection standard technology, and is widely applied to LCD/TFT, transistor and PCB industrial processes. Automatic optical inspection is a typical technique in industrial processes, in which the surface state of a product is optically obtained, and defects such as foreign matter or abnormal patterns are detected by image processing.

In the prior art, an automatic optical inspection machine for a display panel does not have a function of inspecting the back surface of the panel, but dirt or scratches on the back surface of the panel affect the yield of the panel, so that an optical inspection device capable of inspecting the back surface of the panel and timely finding defects on the back surface of the panel are needed.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the foregoing, an object of the present utility model is to provide an optical inspection device for a liquid crystal display panel, which can efficiently perform optical inspection on the front and back surfaces of the panel, thereby improving the yield of the product.

The utility model discloses an optical inspection device, which is characterized by comprising: the panel bracket is used for fixing the panel; a first bracket positioned at one side of the panel and opposite to the first surface of the panel; the second bracket is positioned on the other side of the panel and is opposite to the second surface of the panel; a first inspection unit including a first light source and a first sensor disposed opposite to each other; a rail surrounding the panel and perpendicular to the first surface of the panel; the first light source is located on the second support, the first sensor is located on the first support, and the first support and the second support can move along the track.

Preferably, the optical inspection apparatus further comprises: the second inspection unit comprises a second light source and a second sensor which are correspondingly arranged; the second light source and the second sensor are both positioned on the first bracket, and the second inspection unit performs optical inspection on the panel in a reflection type inspection mode.

Preferably, the first light source is perpendicular to the panel, illumination of at least part of the first light source is received by the first sensor after passing through the panel, a preset included angle is formed between the second light source and the panel, and at least part of the illumination emitted by the second light source is received by the second sensor after being reflected by the panel.

Preferably, the track is O-shaped and the panel is located within the surrounding range of the track.

Preferably, the rail includes an upper rail and a lower rail corresponding to the upper rail.

Preferably, the panel bracket includes a lateral rail and a support bar movable along the lateral rail.

Preferably, a sucking disc is arranged on one side of the support rod facing the panel so as to suck the panel.

Preferably, a baffle is arranged at one end of the support rod, which is far away from the transverse guide rail, and one side of the panel, which is far away from the transverse guide rail, is abutted against the baffle.

Preferably, the support bar is perpendicular to the transverse rail.

Preferably, the device further comprises a mechanical arm, wherein the mechanical arm is positioned outside the track, and the upper piece and the lower piece of the panel are realized through the mechanical arm.

According to the optical inspection device provided by the utility model, the two inspection units are arranged on the two brackets, so that the two inspection units can rotate around the panel along with the brackets, the two inspection units can inspect the front and the back of the panel, the possible missed inspection of the back of the panel by manual inspection is avoided, the inspection efficiency of the panel is further improved, and the two inspection units respectively adopt the transmission type and reflection type inspection modes, so that the defects such as dirt, scratch and the like on the back of the panel can be effectively detected, and the product yield is further improved. The optical inspection device is simple and reliable in structure, easy to manufacture and high in stability and inspection efficiency.

Drawings

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present utility model will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments of the present utility model with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an inspection mode of an optical inspection apparatus;

fig. 2 shows an inspection schematic of a first inspection unit of the optical inspection device;

fig. 3 shows an inspection schematic of a second inspection unit of the optical inspection device;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of the light ray path of a second inspection unit of the optical inspection apparatus;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic view of an optical inspection device inspecting the back side of a panel;

FIG. 6 shows a side view of the optical inspection device of the present utility model;

FIG. 7 shows a top view of the optical inspection device of the present utility model;

FIG. 8 shows a schematic view of a first embodiment of the optical inspection apparatus of the present utility model for panel transfer;

fig. 9 shows a schematic view of a second embodiment of the optical inspection device of the present utility model for panel transfer.

Detailed Description

Various embodiments of the present utility model will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the various figures, like elements or modules are referred to by like or similar reference numerals. For clarity, the various features of the drawings are not drawn to scale.

Also, certain terms are used throughout the description and claims to refer to particular components. It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a hardware manufacturer may refer to the same component by different names. The present patent specification and claims do not take the form of an element or components as a functional element or components as a rule.

Numerous specific details of the utility model, such as device structures, materials, dimensions, processing techniques and technologies, are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding of the utility model. However, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, the present utility model may be practiced without these specific details.

Furthermore, it should be noted that relational terms such as first and second are used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

The optical inspection device can be used for inspecting defects of the Mura type of the panel, wherein the defects of the Mura type generally refer to a block-shaped dead pixel area formed in the testing process of the screen display in the screen display industry; in the field of surface inspection, it is often also used to express the type of block defects of surface blocks such as leather, cloth, semiconductor frosting, and the like, which are different from the texture background.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an inspection mode of an optical inspection apparatus; the panel 130 in the optical inspection device 100 is, for example, vertically disposed, the first surface 131 of the panel 130 is, for example, a front surface, on which the photoresist layer 133 is disposed, and the second surface 132 of the panel 130 is, for example, a back surface, and the optical inspection device 100 includes, for example, two inspection units, which inspect the panel 130 in different manners, specifically, the first inspection unit 110 adopts a transmissive type, and the second inspection unit 120 adopts a reflective type. The first inspection unit 110 includes a first light source 111 and a first sensor 112, where the first light source 111 and the first sensor 112 are disposed on two sides of the panel 130, for example, the first light source 111 is disposed on a second surface 132 side of the panel 130, the first sensor 112 is disposed on a first surface 131 side of the panel 130, the first light source 111 is disposed opposite to the first sensor 112, the first sensor 112 can receive light emitted from the first light source 111 and transmitted through the panel 130, and inspection of a transparent film layer (a liquid crystal layer or the like) of the panel 130 can be achieved according to the light emitted from the first light source 111 and the light received by the first sensor 112. The second inspection unit 120 includes a second light source 121 and a second sensor 122, where the second light source 121 and the second sensor 122 are located on one side of the first surface 131 of the panel 130, and light emitted by the second light source 121 is reflected by the panel 130 and then received by the second sensor 122, and the second inspection unit 120 can perform optical inspection on the first surface 131 of the panel 130, specifically, for example, can inspect an opaque or semitransparent film layer of the first surface 131, such as a light-shielding matrix or other photoresist layer 133.

Fig. 2 shows an inspection schematic of a first inspection unit of the optical inspection apparatus, wherein the left part is a partial schematic of the first inspection unit for inspecting the panel 130, and the right part is an inspection result. Specifically, the first light source 111 is, for example, an LED light source capable of emitting preset special high-brightness white light, the first sensor 112 includes, for example, a first lens 1122 and a first camera 1121, the panel 130 in the drawing has, for example, an opening 134, and the detection result of the position of the opening 134 is obviously different from the rest normal area, so that the defect of the opening 134 on the panel 130 can be timely found by the inspection of the first inspection unit due to the obvious chromaticity difference caused by the semi-transparent photoresist film thickness change. Further, the dirt on the back of the panel 130 is generally a translucent or opaque foreign matter, and such defects can be easily detected by using the transmissive first inspection unit.

Fig. 3 shows an inspection schematic of the second inspection unit of the optical inspection apparatus, wherein the left part is a partial schematic of the inspection of the panel 130 by the second inspection unit, and the right part is a schematic of light reflection. Specifically, the second light source 121 is, for example, an LED light source capable of emitting light with a predetermined wavelength, the second sensor 122 includes, for example, a second lens 1222 and a second camera 1221, and a portion of the film layer on the panel 130 has a recess, so that the film layer thickness in the region changes. When the thickness of the film layer is normal and does not change, the reflected lights are parallel to each other, and when the thickness of the film layer changes, the reflected lights interfere with each other and generate interference fringes.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 4, the reflected light on the upper surface of the film layer is shown by a dotted line in the figure, the reflected light on the surface of the substrate is shown by a dotted line in the figure, and the two light beams are phase-separated and combined to form emergent light as shown by a solid arrow. The wavelength of the light emitted by the second light source 121 is a predetermined specific wavelength, which can satisfy that the emitted light does not generate interference ripple when the film thickness is normal. When the thickness of the film is changed, the length of the optical path shown by the dash-dot line is also changed, so that the phase difference is changed, and interference waves are generated.

Further, if the back surface (second surface) of the panel needs to be inspected optically to inspect the scratch (dent) and the film defect on the back surface of the panel, as shown in fig. 5, the first light source 111 in the first detection unit 110 needs to be interchanged with the first sensor 112, and the second detection unit 120 needs to be opposite to the second surface 132, which usually needs to be put into the optical inspection device again after the panel is turned over, so that not only the panel may be damaged during the turning process, but also the inspection efficiency is very low. Naturally, manual visual inspection can be adopted, but the detection rate and efficiency are extremely low, and the production requirement is difficult to meet.

Fig. 6 shows a side view of the optical inspection device of the present utility model, which comprises a panel bracket 140, a first bracket 150, a second bracket 160, a first inspection unit 110, a second inspection unit 120, a track, wherein the track in this embodiment comprises an upper side rail 171 and a lower side rail 172. In the optical inspection apparatus, the panel 130 is fixed by the panel bracket 140 such that the panel 130 is vertically disposed, and the rail surrounds the panel 130 and is perpendicular to the first surface 131 of the panel 130. The first surface 131 of the panel 130 is disposed opposite to the first support 150, and the second support 160 is disposed opposite to the second surface 132 of the panel 130, for example, specifically, the first light source 111 in the first inspection unit 110 is located on the second support 160 and can move up and down along the second support 160; the first sensor 112 in the first inspection unit 110 is located on the first support 150 and can move up and down along the first support 150, the first light source is disposed opposite to the first sensor, and the light emitted by the first light source can be received by the first sensor through the panel 130. The second inspection unit 120 includes a second light source 121 and a second sensor 122, which are both located on the first support 150, for example, and are both movable up and down along the first support 150, and the light of the second light source 121 is received by the second sensor 122 after being reflected by the panel. Further, the upper rail 171 and the lower rail 172 are in the same shape, for example, are ring-shaped, and are disposed opposite to each other, the upper and lower ends of the first bracket 150 are connected to the upper rail 171 and the lower rail 172, respectively, the upper and lower ends of the second bracket 160 are also connected to the upper rail 171 and the lower rail 172, respectively, the first bracket 150 and the second bracket 160 are movable along the rails, and inspection of the front (first surface 131) and the back (second surface 132) of the panel 130 is achieved by moving the first bracket 150 and the second bracket 160, without turning over the panel 130, damage to the panel 130 during turning over is avoided, and moving the first bracket 150 and the second bracket 160 is also more efficient than turning over the panel 130. Of course, it is not necessary to provide two corresponding tracks, namely an upper track and a lower track, and only a single track can satisfy the corresponding functions.

Fig. 7 shows a top view of an optical inspection device of the present utility model, wherein both the upper side rail 171 and the lower side rail 172 (hidden from view in top view) are O-shaped, and the panel 130 is positioned within the perimeter of its O-shaped track, thereby avoiding interference problems with the panel that may exist during the rotation of the rack along the track. Of course, the track may be provided in other closed rings such as an ellipse, and will not be described herein.

Fig. 8 shows a schematic view of a first embodiment of the optical inspection device for transferring a panel according to the present utility model, where the panel support 140 includes a transverse rail 141 and a support bar 142, the support bar 142 is used for supporting the panel 130, specifically, the support bar 142 is disposed vertically, for example, perpendicular to the transverse rail 141, and the support bar 142 can move along the transverse rail 141, a suction cup 1421 is disposed on a side of the support bar 142 facing the panel 130, a blocking piece 1422 is further disposed on an end of the support bar 142 away from the transverse rail 141, and a side of the panel 130 away from the transverse rail 141 abuts against the blocking piece 1422, and supports a bottom side of the panel 130 through the blocking piece 1422. The upper and lower sheets of the panel 130 of the optical inspection apparatus are realized by a robot arm 180 perpendicular to the direction in which the support bars 142 are located. Further, as shown in fig. 8, for the large-sized panel 130, in addition to the support bars 142 on the left and right sides, the support bars 142 are additionally provided at the middle area thereof to ensure the fixation stability of the panel 130, and although it may block a part of the area of the panel 130, the area cannot be detected, most of the area of the panel 130 can be effectively inspected.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of the optical inspection device for panel transfer according to the present utility model, which is similar to fig. 8 in its entirety, and the same parts are not repeated, and the second embodiment is different in that the mechanical arm 180 is located in the extending direction of the transverse rail 141, a middle turntable 190 is further disposed between the mechanical arm 180 and the optical inspection device, and a positioning pin 191 corresponding to the panel 130 is disposed on the middle turntable 190 in addition to the suction cup to fix the panel 130, and the panel 130 is transferred by the mechanical arm 180 after passing through the middle turntable 190. Further, as shown in fig. 9, when the size of the panel 130 is small, the support bars 142 may be provided only at the left and right sides of the panel 130, and the support bars 142 may not be provided in the middle area thereof, so as to reduce the area of the middle being shielded.

Embodiments in accordance with the present utility model, as described above, are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the utility model to the precise embodiments disclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the utility model and the practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the utility model and various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. The scope of the utility model should be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An optical inspection apparatus, comprising:

the panel bracket is used for fixing the panel;

a first bracket positioned at one side of the panel and opposite to the first surface of the panel;

the second bracket is positioned on the other side of the panel and is opposite to the second surface of the panel;

a first inspection unit including a first light source and a first sensor disposed opposite to each other;

a rail surrounding the panel and perpendicular to the first surface of the panel;

the first light source is located on the second support, the first sensor is located on the first support, and the first support and the second support can move along the track.

2. The optical inspection apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: the second inspection unit comprises a second light source and a second sensor which are correspondingly arranged; the second light source and the second sensor are both positioned on the first bracket, and the second inspection unit performs optical inspection on the panel in a reflection type inspection mode.

3. The optical inspection device of claim 2, wherein the first light source is perpendicular to the panel, at least a portion of the illumination of the first light source is received by the first sensor after passing through the panel, a predetermined angle is formed between the second light source and the panel, and at least a portion of the illumination of the second light source is received by the second sensor after being reflected by the panel.

4. The optical inspection device of claim 2, wherein the rail is O-shaped and the panel is located within a surrounding range of the rail.

5. The optical inspection device of claim 4, wherein the rail includes an upper rail and a lower rail corresponding to the upper rail.

6. The optical inspection device of claim 1, wherein the panel support includes a cross rail and a support bar, the support bar being movable along the cross rail.

7. The optical inspection device of claim 6, wherein a side of the support bar facing the panel is provided with a suction cup to suction the panel.

8. The optical inspection device according to claim 7, wherein a baffle is arranged at one end of the support rod away from the transverse guide rail, and one side of the panel away from the transverse guide rail is abutted against the baffle.

9. The optical inspection device of claim 7, wherein the support bar is perpendicular to the transverse rail.

10. The optical inspection device of claim 1, further comprising a robotic arm positioned outside of the track, wherein the robotic arm is configured to effect loading and unloading of the panel.