JP2002168730A - Optical element measuring instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical element measuring instrument allowing efficient measuring work to be conducted without being obstructed by replacing work of measured optical elements. SOLUTION: By the motion of a conveying beam 15, an already-measured (N-1)-th optical element 11 mounted on a measuring stage 13 is conveyed to and mounted on an OUT stage 14 while an N-th optical element 11 supplied to an IN stage 12 is conveyed to and mounted on the measuring stage 13. Measuring work is started after an opening part 21 in a black box 22 of an optical unit 16 is closed by the N-th element 11 to shield the black box 22 from light. During this measuring work, the already-measured (N-1)-th element 11 is evacuated from the OUT stage 14, and a new (N+1)-th element 11 is supplied to the IN stage 12. By repeating this operation, measuring work of optical elements 11 and replacing work thereof are conducted sequentially and in parallel, thereby enhancing work efficiency.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a measuring apparatus for arranging an optical element such as a solid-state imaging device in a dark box and performing a measuring operation for various optical tests and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an optical element measuring apparatus for performing a characteristic test or the like of an optical element such as a solid-state image pickup element, the optical element is generally placed in a closed dark box to optically shut off the outside. It is configured to perform the measurement operation of the optical element in a state where the optical system of the measuring device and the optical element are opposed to each other through a window formed in the dark box. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of such a conventional optical element measuring device.
In this optical element measuring apparatus, a measurement substrate 3 holding an optical element 1 to be measured is arranged in a dark box 5. The measured optical element 1 is mounted on a socket 2 attached to a measuring substrate 3 and is arranged with the measured surface facing upward. The measurement substrate 3 is moved in a horizontal direction by a slide mechanism (not shown), is supplied with power from the outside through a cable 7, and supplies power and the like to the optical element 1 to be measured.

An optical system unit 4 for measurement is provided on the upper surface of the dark box 5, and the measured optical element 1 is slid to a predetermined measurement position (the position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 2) in the dark box 5. In the moved state, the optical system unit 4 and the measured optical element 1 face each other, and the optical system unit 4 performs a measurement operation on the measured optical element 1. On the upper surface of the dark box 5, a window 8 for exchanging the optical element 1 to be measured is provided at a position avoiding the optical system unit 4, and a shutter mechanism 6 is provided on the window 8. Have been. Also,
When replacing the measured optical element 1, the measured optical element 1 is slid to a predetermined attachment / detachment exchange position (the position indicated by a broken line in FIG. 2) in the dark box 5, and the window 8 (shutter mechanism) is moved. In the state where 6) is opened, the pick-and-place operation of the optical element 1 to be measured is performed by a transfer robot or the like (not shown). After replacement of the optical element 1 to be measured, the window 8
(Shutter mechanism 6) is closed, and the inside of the dark box 5 is shielded from light,
A measurement operation is performed.

[0004] Next, a procedure required for a measuring operation and an exchanging operation of the optical element 1 to be measured in the conventional optical element measuring apparatus having such a configuration will be described. First, when the measurement operation is completed, the measurement substrate 3 with the socket on which the optical element 1 to be measured is mounted is slid from the above-described measurement position to the detachable replacement position, where the window 8 (shutter mechanism 6) of the dark box 5 opens. The measured optical element 1 to be measured is ejected by a pick-and-place operation by a transfer robot or the like, and then a new optical element 1 to be measured is mounted on the socket 2. Next, the new optical element to be measured 1 is slid to the above-described measurement position, and at the same time, the window 8 (shutter mechanism 6) is closed and the dark box 5 is shielded from light. Then, when the complete dark box 5 is formed, the measurement operation starts.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional optical element measuring apparatus, the measuring operation is stopped during the operation of replacing the optical element under test 1, and there is a problem that the working efficiency is low. In particular, since the replacement of the optical element under test 1 is generally a very detailed operation, it takes a relatively long time. During that time, the measurement operation is stopped and the operation is suspended, so that the operation efficiency is greatly reduced. become. On the other hand, a tester or the like used for a measuring device is an extremely expensive device, and if the work efficiency is reduced by replacing the optical device under test 1, the use efficiency of expensive equipment is reduced, and the manufacturing cost is increased. There is a problem that invites.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to perform an efficient measuring operation without being hindered by the replacing operation of the optical element to be measured, and to improve the use efficiency and investment efficiency of the measuring equipment. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical element measuring device.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an optical element measuring apparatus for optically measuring an optical element to be measured in a light-shielded state, wherein the optical element to be measured is mounted by a socket contact. A first stage for measurement, a second stage for supplying the optical element to be measured, which is arranged in parallel with the first stage, and a second stage for supply, in which the optical element to be measured is arranged in parallel with the first stage. A third stage for discharge to be mounted, and the optical element to be measured mounted on the second stage is transported to the first stage and mounted, and the optical element to be measured mounted on the first stage is mounted on the first stage. A transport mechanism that transports and mounts the optical element to be measured to the third stage, a supply mechanism that supplies and mounts the optical element to be measured to the second stage, and an optical element that is mounted to the third stage. A dark box having a discharge mechanism for ejecting the light, and an opening in which the optical element to be measured mounted on the first stage is arranged, and the inside of which is shielded by closing the opening with a member on the measurement stage side. And an optical unit arranged in the dark box and performing measurement on the measured optical element arranged in the opening,
A moving mechanism for moving the dark box in a direction of coming and going with respect to the first stage.

In the optical element measuring apparatus of the present invention, for example, the optical element to be measured is mounted on the first stage for measurement while the optical element to be measured is mounted on the second stage for supply and the first stage for measurement. Starting from the point in time when the measurement operation on the measured optical element is completed, first, the transport mechanism is operated, the measured optical element mounted on the second stage is transported to the first stage and mounted by the socket contact, The optical element to be measured mounted on the first stage is removed, transported to the third stage for discharge, and mounted. In this state, the moving mechanism moves the dark box with respect to the optical element to be measured mounted on the first stage, the optical element to be measured is arranged at the opening of the dark box, and the opening is closed. Is shielded from light, and a measurement operation is performed. At the same time, a new optical element to be measured is mounted on the empty second stage for supply by the supply mechanism. Also,
At the same time, the measured optical element that has been subjected to the measurement operation and is mounted on the third stage for ejection is ejected by the ejection mechanism. That is, during the period in which the measurement operation is being performed, the supply operation of a new optical element to be measured and the discharge operation of the measured optical element to be measured are performed.

If the supply operation of the measured optical element and the discharge operation of the measured optical element are shorter than the measurement operation, the supply operation and the discharge operation are completed before the end of the measurement operation. If the supply operation of the measured optical element and the discharge operation of the measured optical element are longer than the measurement operation, the supply operation and the discharge operation are completed after the measurement operation is completed. In any case, the measurement operation, the supply operation, and the discharge operation can be performed in parallel, and the overall operation efficiency is greatly improved. Then, after the measuring operation, the supplying operation and the discharging operation are completed, the operation returns to the first operation, and the transport mechanism operates to transport the optical element to be measured mounted on the second stage to the first stage and mount it by the socket contact. And the first
The measured optical element mounted on the stage is detached, transported to the third stage for discharge, and mounted. Thereafter, the parallel operation of the measuring operation, the supplying operation, and the discharging operation is similarly performed.

As described above, according to the present invention, the measuring operation and the supplying and discharging operations of the optical element to be measured can be performed simultaneously in parallel, and the waiting time between each operation is reduced to improve the efficiency of the operation. It is possible to effectively operate equipment such as an expensive tester and measure more optical elements. Therefore, the utilization efficiency and investment efficiency of the measuring equipment can be improved, and the production cost of the optical element can be reduced.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the optical element measuring device according to the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a configuration example of an optical element measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The optical element measuring apparatus includes an IN stage (second stage) 12 for supplying a measured optical element 11 such as a solid-state imaging device to a base 23, a measuring stage (first stage) 13 for socket contact, and a discharge. OUT
Stage (third stage) 14 and optical element 11 to be measured
Beam 15 for transporting light, optical unit 16 for optically measuring optical element 11 to be measured, and measurement stage 13
Cable 2 between the socket 13A of FIG.
4 and a relay measurement board 17 for relaying via the 4 and the like.

The IN stage 12, the measuring stage 13 and the O
The UT stages 14 are arranged at regular intervals in a line in the transport direction of the measured optical element 11. Further, each of the stages 12, 13 and 14 is provided with an optical element 11 to be measured.
At almost the same height. The measurement stage 13 has a socket 13A into which a lead of the measured optical element 11 is inserted.
The relay measurement board 17 is arranged directly below 3A, and is fixed to the base 23. The measured optical element 11 is mounted on the IN stage 12 by a transfer robot (supply mechanism) (not shown). The measured optical element 11 mounted on the OUT stage 14 is discharged by a transfer robot (discharge mechanism) (not shown).

The transport beam 15 is moved in the vertical and horizontal directions (directions indicated by arrows A, B, C, and D in FIG. 1) by a transport mechanism (not shown). It is lifted from below and positioned and held by the recess 15A. The measured optical element 11 held by the transport beam 15 is pressed by a pressing plate 20 of an optical unit 16 described below at a position above the measurement stage 13, and is held by the transport beam 15 and the pressing plate 20. , Is mounted on the socket 13A of the measurement stage 13. The transport beam 15 is disposed on both sides (both sides perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1) of the row of the stages 12, 13, and 14, so that the optical element 11 to be measured can be stably held. ing. In the present example, this transport beam 15 is indicated by arrows A, B, C,
D is moved cyclically in the order shown in FIG.
1 is transported in parallel as a set of two, and an efficient transport operation is performed with a simple configuration.

The optical unit 16 includes a holding plate 20.
A light guide 18 composed of a glass fiber cable and a lens is arranged in a dark box 22 composed of a light shielding cover 19 and a light shielding cover 19. The optical unit 16 is disposed at a position coaxially opposed to the measured optical element 11 mounted on the measuring stage 13, and the dark box 22 is slid vertically (arrow Z direction) by a moving mechanism (not shown). Is what is done. That is, in this example, the light guide 1
Numeral 8 is fixed, and is configured to prevent the optical system from malfunctioning due to vibration during movement by moving only the dark box 22.

Further, in the optical unit 16, the measured optical element 11 held on the transport beam 15 is pressed by the pressing plate 20, and the optical element 11 to be measured is taught between the transport beam 15 and the pressing plate 20. In this state, the measured optical element 11 is mounted on the socket 13A of the measurement stage 13. The holding plate 20 is formed with an opening 21 into which the tip of the measured optical element 11 mounted on the measuring stage 13 is inserted. The opening 21 allows the light guide 18 to move from the light guide 18 to the measured optical element. The optical characteristics of the measured optical element 11 are measured by irradiating light to the optical element 11. In the present embodiment, the dark box 22 is completely shielded from light by the holding plate 20 being in contact with the measured optical element 11 and the opening 21 being closed by the measured optical element 11. Thereby, optical measurement of the optical element under measurement 11 can be performed in a light-shielded state.

In this embodiment, the opening 21 is closed by the optical element 11 to be measured. However, the opening 21 may be closed by another member on the measurement stage 13 side. . Further, a buffer member for absorbing a shock or a dimensional error at the time of contact with the measured optical element 11 may be provided on the holding plate 20 side. In this example,
The above-described vertical and horizontal movement of the transport beam 15 and the dark box 2
The two movements in the vertical direction are linked by one motor and three cams. By unifying the driving sources, the simplification of the structure and the stability of the control operation are obtained.

Next, the operation of the optical element measuring device having the above configuration will be described. First, the first measured optical element 11 supplied to the IN stage 12 is moved to the transport beam 15.
Is lifted (arrow A) by the ascending operation (arrow A), and then, a rightward movement operation (arrow B) is started, and the optical element 11 is moved above the next measurement stage 13 (arrow b). Next, the holding plate 20 of the optical unit 16 moves down (arrow Z), and the measured optical element 11 is held by the holding plate 20.
And the transport beam 15, and while the mutual position of the holding plate 20 and the transport beam 15 is secured, the synchronous lowering operation is performed (arrow C), and the optical element 11 is inserted into the socket 13 </ b> A (arrow c). ). When the holding plate 20 holds down the optical element 11, the opening 2
1 is closed, and the dark box 22 is shielded from light.

In this state, the measuring operation is started. Then, during this measurement operation, the transport beam 15 moves to the left (arrow D) and returns to the original position. During this measurement operation, the second optical element 11 to be measured is supplied to the IN stage 12 by the supply mechanism. Then, when the measuring operation is completed, the transport beam 15 and the holding plate 20 are raised synchronously (arrows A and Z), the first optical element under test 11 is extracted from the socket 13A (arrow d), and then the transport beam 1 is moved.
5 moves to the right to move the first optical element under test 11 to the next OUT.
The optical element 11 is transported to the stage 14 (arrow e), further lowered (arrow C), and the first optical element under test 11 is mounted on the next OUT stage 14 (arrow f).

The operation of the transport beam 15 causes the second optical element 11 to be measured supplied to the IN stage 12 to be simultaneously transported, and the first optical element 11 to be measured
The socket 13 of the measurement stage 13 is operated by the same operation as described above.
Inserted into A. As a result, the operation of measuring the second optical element under measurement 11 is performed.
First optical element 1 to be measured inserted into UT stage 14
1 is discharged by the discharge mechanism. Further, the second optical element 11 to be measured is supplied to the IN stage 12, and at the same time, the carrier beam 15 returns to the original position. By performing such an operation cyclically, during the measurement work of the N-th measured optical element 11, the discharge work of the (N-1) -th measured optical element 11 and the supply work of the (N + 1) -th measured optical element 11 are performed. Perform at the same time.

As described above, the optical element measuring device according to the present embodiment can provide the following effects. (1) Measurement position of the measured optical element 11 (measurement stage 1
(4) Instantaneous (less than 1 second)
It is possible to minimize the measurement stop time and to improve the effect of using the equipment such as an expensive tester, which is a conventional problem. (2) The work of measuring the optical element 11 to be measured and the work of replacing (supplying and discharging) the optical element 11 to be measured can be performed in parallel, minimizing the measurement stop time, and increasing the cost, which has been a conventional problem. It is possible to improve the effect of using equipment such as a simple tester. (3) Since the light-shielding state of the dark box 22 is formed by the light-shielding cover 19 covering the light guide 18, the holding plate 20, and the optical element 11 to be measured itself, it is compact, and it is possible to reduce the size and cost of the apparatus. Become. (4) Socket 13A into which optical element 11 to be measured is inserted
, The relay measurement board 17 and the tester are fixed, and the wiring is always connected. Therefore, the measurement is hardly affected by disconnection and noise, and the reliability of the measurement test is high.

[0021]

As described above, in the optical element measuring apparatus according to the present invention, the first stage for measurement in which the optical element to be measured is mounted by the socket contact, and the optical element to be measured are arranged in parallel with the first stage. A second stage for supply, which is mounted in parallel with the first stage, a third stage for discharge, in which the optical element to be measured is mounted, and a first stage for mounting the optical element, which is mounted on the second stage. A transport mechanism for transporting and mounting the optical element to be measured mounted on the first stage to the third stage, and a supply mechanism for supplying and mounting the optical element to be measured to the second stage. A discharge mechanism for discharging the measured optical element mounted on the third stage, and an opening in which the measured optical element mounted on the first stage is arranged;
A dark box whose inside is shielded from light by closing the opening by a member on the measurement stage side, an optical unit arranged in the dark box and measuring the optical element to be measured arranged in the opening, and a dark box; And a moving mechanism that moves the first stage toward and away from the first stage.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the measuring operation and the supplying and discharging operations of the optical element to be measured can be performed simultaneously in parallel, and the waiting time between each operation can be reduced to improve the efficiency of the operation. This makes it possible to effectively operate equipment such as an expensive tester and measure more optical elements. Therefore, the utilization efficiency and investment efficiency of the measuring equipment can be improved, and the production cost of the optical element can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a configuration example of an optical element measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration example of a conventional optical element measuring device.

[Explanation of symbols]

11: Optical element to be measured, 12: IN stage, 13
…… Measurement stage, 14 …… OUT stage, 15 ……
Carrier beam, 16 Optical unit, 17 Relay measurement board, 18 Light guide, 19 Light shielding cover, 2
0 ... holding plate, 21 ... opening, 22 ... dark box, 23 ... base.

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An optical element measuring apparatus for optically measuring an optical element to be measured in a light-shielded state, comprising: a first stage for measurement in which the optical element to be measured is mounted by a socket contact; A second stage for supply, which is arranged and mounted with the optical element to be measured, a third stage for discharge, which is arranged in parallel with the first stage and mounts the optical element to be measured, and A transport mechanism for transporting and mounting the mounted optical element to be measured to the first stage, and transporting and mounting the optical element to be measured mounted on the first stage to the third stage; A supply mechanism for supplying and mounting the optical element to be measured to the stage, a discharging mechanism for discharging the optical element to be measured mounted on the third stage, and a mounting mechanism mounted on the first stage A dark box having an opening in which the optical element to be measured is arranged, the inside of which is shielded by closing the opening by a member on the measurement stage side; and the opening arranged in the dark box. An optical unit, comprising: an optical unit that performs measurement on an optical element to be measured, which is disposed in a first stage, and a moving mechanism that moves the dark box in a direction to approach and separate from the first stage. 2. The transport mechanism has a transport beam for holding two optical elements to be measured in parallel, and circulates the transport beam to move the optical element to be measured mounted on the second stage. 2. The operation of transporting and mounting the optical element to be measured mounted on the first stage and the operation of transporting and mounting the optical element to be measured mounted on the first stage to the third stage. The optical element measuring device according to claim 1. 3. The optical element measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the member on the measurement stage side for closing the opening of the dark box is the measured optical element itself mounted on the measurement stage. 4. The optical element measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the first stage, the second stage, and the third stage are arranged at equal intervals. 5. The optical element according to claim 4, wherein the first stage, the second stage, and the third stage are arranged in a line along a direction in which the measured optical element is transported. measuring device. 6. The optical element measuring apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the first stage, the second stage, and the third stage support the optical element to be measured at the same height. . 7. The optical element measuring apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the optical element to be measured is mounted on a socket of the first stage while the optical element to be measured is sandwiched between the carrier beam and the dark box. . 8. The optical element measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the socket of the first stage is connected to a tester through a relay measuring board. 9. The optical element measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a driving source of the moving mechanism and a transport mechanism is unified. 10. The optical element measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the optical element to be measured is a solid-state image sensor.