JP2002365037A - Apparatus and method for alignment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an alignment apparatus in which a stick-slip phenomenon is not generated and by which a high-accuracy alignment can be performed. SOLUTION: A movement mechanism is installed at one from among four sides of a lower-side surface plate 35 via a base 36, and dogs 56 at an upper-side surface plate 28 are sandwiched and mounted between a pair of rollers 50, 55 at the movement mechanism. When operations of an actuator 37 at the movement mechanism at one from among the four sides of the surface plate 35 are combined, an adjusting operation in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction and the θ-direction is achieved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an alignment apparatus and an alignment method, and more particularly, to joining a pair of panel-shaped works while holding them by a platen, and positioning the pair of panel-shaped works relative to each other in the surface direction. The present invention relates to an alignment device and an alignment method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal panel,
As shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13, the color filter 91 and the TFT panel 92 which are combined in a state of being joined to each other vertically need to be correctly positioned in the plane direction. In order to position the color filter 91 and the TFT panel 92 in the plane direction, alignment using an alignment device is performed.

FIG. 14 and FIG. 15 show an example of an alignment apparatus conventionally used for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel. This alignment apparatus includes a gantry 1 as shown in FIG. 14, and a base 2 is fixed to an upper portion of the gantry 1. The frame 3 is erected and fixed on the upper surface of the base 2. Z on the inside of frame 3
The shaft guides 4 are attached, and the elevating plate 5 is supported by these Z-axis guides 4 so as to be able to move up and down.

An X-axis guide 6 is fixed to the lower surface of the elevating plate 5 supported by the Z-axis guide 4 of the frame 3 so as to be able to move up and down, and the X-axis guide 6 forms an X-axis stage. 7 is mounted so as to be movable in the X-axis direction. The upper platen 7 is moved and adjusted in the X-axis direction by an X-axis actuator 8. The elevating plate 5 is moved up and down by an X-axis actuator 8 fixed to the top plate 9 of the frame 3 or is pressed downward.

On the other hand, a θ-axis guide 11 is attached to the upper surface of the base 2 on the gantry 1, and a θ-axis stage 12 is attached by the θ-axis guide 11 so as to be rotatable in the θ-axis direction. Then, the θ-axis stage 12 is operated by the θ-axis actuator 13, whereby the θ-axis rotational movement is performed. A Y-axis rail 14 is fixed on the θ-axis stage 12, and the lower surface plate 15 is supported by the Y-axis rail 14 so as to be movable in the Y-axis direction. The lower platen 15 is driven in the Y-axis direction by a Y-axis actuator 16.

FIG. 15 shows an upper surface plate 7 also serving as an X-axis stage of such a conventional alignment device, a Y-axis surface plate 15,
3 shows the positional relationship between the θ-axis stage 12 and the θ-axis stage 12, and shows a state in which they are arranged so as to overlap each other up and down. The upper platen 7 is driven in the X-axis direction by the X-axis actuator 8, the lower platen 15 is driven in the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis actuator 16, and the θ-axis actuator 13 is mounted on the θ-axis stage 12 by the θ-axis actuator 13. The lower platen 15 placed thereon performs a rotational motion in the θ-axis direction.

In such a conventional alignment apparatus, a color filter 91 and a TFT panel 92 shown in FIG. 12 are held by suction on an upper surface plate 7 and a lower surface plate 15, respectively. In such a state, the actuators 8, 16, and 13 are actuated to perform positioning in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the θ-axis direction. The TFT panel 92 and the TFT panel 92 are positioned relative to each other in the plane direction.

[0008]

Here, the color filter and the TFT panel held by the upper surface plate 7 and the lower surface plate 15, respectively, are in a state of being pressed by the pressing actuator 10 from above. Therefore, a high frictional force is generated between the color filter and the TFT panel. Therefore, when positioning the color filter and the TFT panel in the mutual plane direction in such a state, a high driving force that overcomes the frictional force described above is applied in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the θ-axis direction. Need to be added.

Here, the driving force for alignment as described above is generated by the X-axis actuator 8 when the movement is adjusted in the X-axis direction, for example. This driving force is transmitted to the upper platen 7, the X-axis guide 6, the elevating plate 5, the frame 3, the base 2, the θ-axis guide 11, the θ-axis stage 12, the Y-axis rail 14, and the lower platen 15 in this order. As a result, the color filter sucked and held on the upper surface plate 7 is moved in a plane direction with respect to the TFT panel held on the lower surface plate 15.

[0010] Such a method of applying a force causes a problem in that the corresponding portion is deformed or displaced by a driving force overcoming the frictional force when the rigidity of each portion constituting the alignment device is low. Therefore, the rigidity of each part of the alignment apparatus must be made sufficiently high, which increases the size and weight of the apparatus, and requires a large driving force as an actuator for driving each part.

When a member which is elastically deformed by a frictional force is interposed in the above-mentioned force transmission path, a stick-slip phenomenon occurs. That is, when the driving force exceeds the frictional force, the driving force suddenly starts to move, thereby exceeding the target position. After that, since the positive friction coefficient is large, the member does not move until the elasticity of the member exceeds a predetermined value, and repeats the operation of moving again at the moment when the value exceeds the predetermined value. Therefore, there is a problem that positioning accuracy is deteriorated.

[0012] As described above, the conventional alignment apparatus uses X
Since the three-axis adjustment mechanisms in the axial direction, the Y-axis direction, and the θ-axis direction are combined, the structure becomes complicated. Therefore, the number of components of the apparatus increases, and high-precision processing technology is required. In addition, it is necessary that the device has high rigidity as a whole and has a highly accurate structure. This has the disadvantage that the device is large, heavy and expensive.
Moreover, the positioning response at the time of alignment is deteriorated by stick-slip, and it is difficult to obtain the accuracy of the device, and there is a drawback that the maintainability is low.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an alignment apparatus and an alignment method capable of reliably performing surface positioning without increasing the rigidity of the apparatus itself. The purpose is to provide.

[0014]

The main invention of the present application is an alignment apparatus for joining a pair of panel-shaped works while holding them on a surface plate, and positioning the pair of panel-shaped works relative to each other in the surface direction. A moving means provided on one of the pair of platens and moving the other platen; and a moving means provided on the other of the pair of platens and engaged with the moving means. And an engaging portion, wherein the other platen is moved in a surface direction relative to the one platen by applying a force to the engaged portion by the moving means. The present invention relates to an alignment apparatus for performing the above.

[0015] Here, the pair of stools have a rectangular shape, moving means are provided on four sides of one stool, and engaged portions are provided on four sides of the other stool, respectively.
The movement in the X-axis direction, the movement in the Y-axis direction, and the rotation in the θ-axis direction may be performed by a combination of the movements of the moving means on the four sides. Also, the base of the moving means is fixed to one surface plate,
A sliding plate is slidably provided on the base, the sliding plate slides by a moving actuator attached to the base, and a clamp mechanism is provided on the sliding plate. The dog constituting the engaged portion of the other surface plate may be clamped. Further, the clamp mechanism on the sliding plate includes a fixed roller having a fixed position of a support shaft, and a moving roller that moves the position of the support shaft, and further includes a clamp actuator. A moving roller may move to cooperate with the fixed roller to clamp the dog.

In addition, the apparatus further comprises image recognition means for recognizing the reference marks of the pair of panel-shaped works, and control means for controlling the operation of the moving means in conjunction with the recognition of the reference marks by the image recognition means. Good. Further, a positioning member may be provided that penetrates one of the pair of surface plates and engages with the guide portion of the other surface plate, and rough positioning may be performed by the positioning member.

The pair of surface plates are arranged vertically, and the pair of panel-shaped works are positioned in a horizontal plane, and one of the lower surface plates supports a rolling element on a base. It is movable in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the θ-axis direction, and the other upper surface plate may be vertically movably supported by vertical guide means. Further, the other surface plate may be pressed against the one surface plate by a pressing actuator from above. Further, the other surface plate may be connected to a gravity canceling cylinder, and the pressing force of the other surface plate pressing the one surface plate may be adjusted by the gravity cancellation cylinder. In addition, stopper means may be provided for receiving the other surface plate located on the upper side at the lowermost position, and the stopper means may include elastic means for substantially balancing the weight of the other surface plate.

The main invention relating to the alignment method is as follows.
In an alignment method for joining a pair of panel-shaped works in a state held by a surface plate, and positioning the pair of panel-shaped works relative to each other in their surface directions,
The other surface plate is moved relative to the one surface plate by applying a force to an engaged portion of the other surface plate using a moving means provided on one of the pair of surface plates. And relatively moving in the plane direction.

Here, a moving means is provided on each of four sides of one of the pair of base plates, and an engaged portion is provided on each of four sides of the other base plate. The positioning in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the θ-axis direction may be performed on the joining surface by a combination of the movements of the means.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention included in the present application, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a moving actuator provided on one of the upper surface plate and the lower surface plate and the other is provided on the other. Adjustment operations in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the θ-axis direction are performed by combining dogs. That is, since the mechanism for alignment in the surface direction is provided directly between the upper surface plate and the lower surface plate, the alignment device has a simple structure. In addition, by reducing the number of components requiring high precision, it is easy to increase the precision of the apparatus. In addition, by adopting the direct drive method, selection of a drive system that minimizes mechanical loss is achieved. Further, a frame structure that does not require high rigidity can be realized. Further, such a structure improves the maintainability.

[0021]

FIG. 1 shows an entire configuration of an alignment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This device has a gantry 20. The base 21 is placed on the gantry 20
Are fixed, and a Z-axis guide 22 is erected on a base 21. The upper ends of the Z-axis guides 22 are connected to each other by a top plate 23.

The elevating plate 24 is supported by the Z-axis guide 22 so as to be able to move up and down. That is, the sleeve 25 attached to the elevating plate 24 is slidably fitted to the elevating guide 22. Moreover, the lifting plate 24 is connected to the rod 27 of the lifting actuator 26. An upper surface plate 28 is fixed to the lower surface of the lifting plate 24. The upper surface plate 28 is connected to a rod 30 of an air cylinder 29 for canceling the gravity. The air cylinder 29 is supported by the top plate 23.

On the other hand, a ball mount 33 is fixed to the base 21 on the gantry 20. The ball mount 33 supports a number of balls 34. The lower platen 35 is supported by the ball 34 so as to be movable in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the θ-axis direction.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2 in particular, bases 36 are respectively connected to four sides of the lower surface plate 35, and a moving actuator 37 is attached to these bases 36.
Is provided. By driving these movement actuators 37, the upper surface plate 28 is moved in a plane direction relative to the lower surface plate 35 by a movement mechanism described later, thereby achieving the alignment operation.

Next, the moving mechanism of the lower platen 35 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the plurality of balls 34 are held by a retainer 40 in a state where their positions are regulated in the plane direction. And lower surface plate 35
A pedestal pin 41 is attached to the lower surface of the ball mount, and a pedestal pin 42 is attached to the upper surface of the ball mount 33. The balls 34 held by the retainer 40 are pressed by the pedestal pins 41 and 42 from above and below. Therefore, the lower surface plate 35 is supported by the ball 34 on the ball mount 33 so as to be movable in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the θ-axis direction.

Next, a mechanism for moving the upper surface plate 28 in the plane direction with respect to the lower surface plate 35 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, sliding plates 45 are attached to the bases 36 attached to the four sides of the lower platen 35 as described above, and are guided in the length direction by the guide rails 46 of the base 36. It is movably supported. The sliding plate 45
A clamp lever 47 is rotatably supported above by a bearing 48 and a pin 49. Crank lever 47
A movable roller 50 is rotatably supported at one end by a movable center of the movable roller.

On the other hand, a cam follower 51 is rotatably attached to the other end of the crank lever 47. A cam 52 is movably supported on the sliding plate 45 so as to be in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the cam follower 51. The cam 52 is moved by a cylinder 53. A fixed roller 55 whose center position is fixed via a bracket 54 is rotatably attached to an end of the sliding plate 45. And the moving roller 50
The fixed roller 55 and the fixed roller 55 sandwich a dog 56 constituting an engaged portion of the upper surface plate 28.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, a positioning mechanism for roughly positioning the lower surface plate 35 in the surface direction is provided on the base 21. This positioning mechanism is composed of a cylinder 60, and a conical cam 62 is provided at the tip of a rod 61. When the conical cam 62 is pushed into the receiving guide 63 provided on the lower surface of the lower surface plate 35, the outer surface of the conical cam 62 positions the lower surface plate 35 in the surface direction. ing.

1 and 8 on the base 21.
As shown in FIG. 7, a stopper 66 for receiving the elevating plate 24 to which the upper surface plate 28 is attached is provided. The stopper 66 has a cylindrical housing 67 as shown in FIG. 8, and a lower spring receiver 68 is disposed in the cylindrical housing 67, and the spring receiver 68 is movable vertically by a bolt 69. Installed. And this spring receiver 68
Are fixed by set bolts 70 in the height direction. A spring receiver 71 is slidably disposed above the cylindrical housing 67. A wrapping screw 72 is screwed into the upper end of the spring receiver 71. A coil spring 73 is disposed between the upper and lower spring receivers 71 and 68. The coil spring 73 generates an elastic restoring force substantially balanced with the weight of the lift plate 24 on which the upper surface plate 28 is mounted.

As shown in FIG. 4, a part of the corner of the upper surface plate 28 is cut out by a notch 75, and a CCD camera 76 is mounted so as to face the notch 75. The CCD camera 76 detects a color filter 91 and a reference mark on the TFT panel 92 disposed between the upper surface plate 28 and the lower surface plate 35. A CCD camera 76 for detecting such a reference mark is connected to a controller 77 shown in FIG. Here, the structure in which the CCD camera 76 is attached to only one corner of the upper surface plate 28 is shown.
8 are preferably attached to the plurality of corners.

The controller 77 constitutes a control system of the alignment device, and is connected to a touch panel 78 constituting an input device. A monitor 79 is connected to the controller 77 to display a control state.

The controller 77 has a corresponding driver 81
The moving actuators 37 respectively attached to the four sides of the lower surface plate 35 are controlled via the. Further, the controller controls the pressing actuator 26 on the top plate 23 shown in FIG. Further, the controller 77
Controls the pulse motor 84 for positioning the CCD camera 76 in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction via the driver 83. Further, the controller 77 controls the opening and closing of the pair of solenoid valves 86 via the driver 85. These solenoid valves 86 control the supply and exhaust of air to and from the air cylinder shown in FIG.

As described above, in the alignment apparatus according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of balls 34 are provided between the ball mounting table 33 on the base 21 and the lower surface plate 35.
And a guide mechanism that allows the lower platen 35 to freely slide on the ball mounting table 33 in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the θ-axis direction. Here ball 3
4 is held by a retainer 40. In addition, since the surface receiving the ball 34 requires high hardness, the pedestal pins 41, which have been particularly hardened, are pressed into the lower surface plate 35 and the ball mounting table 33, respectively, and then polished. Plane processing is performed with high accuracy.

A groove 38 for vacuum suction is formed on the upper surface of the lower surface plate 35 as shown in FIG. 4, so that the TFT panel held on the surface plate 35 is suction-held. A suction groove similar to the suction groove 38 of the lower surface plate 35 is also formed on the lower surface of the upper surface plate 28 attached to the elevating plate 24, whereby the color filter 91 is formed on the lower surface of the upper surface plate 28. Is to be adsorbed.

The upper platen 28 is, as shown in FIG.
The sleeve 25 fixed to the lower surface of the base 4 and provided on the elevating plate 24 is fitted to the Z-axis guide 22, whereby the sleeve 25 is slid up and down in a state where its position is restricted by the Z-axis guide 22 in the horizontal direction. I can do it. The elevating plate 24 is suspended by an elevating actuator 26, and the motor of the actuator 26 is driven to move up and down.

As shown in FIG. 4, a moving mechanism is attached to each of the four sides of the lower surface plate 35, and by controlling and operating the moving mechanism, the upper surface plate 28 as shown in FIGS. , The lower platen 35 is moved in the surface direction, and the relative position of the lower platen 35 with respect to the upper platen 28 is changed.
12 and FIG. 1 show the alignment in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the θ-axis direction when the TFT panel 92 is overlapped with the TFT panel 92.
3 is performed.

Here, the moving mechanism shown in FIG.
, And the dog 56 of the upper surface plate 28 is sandwiched between a pair of rollers 50 and 55. One roller 55 of the two rollers 50 and 55 is a fixed roller whose center does not move, and the other roller is a movable roller whose center position moves. By operating the air cylinder 53, the cam 5
2, the crank lever 47 is rotated through the cam follower 51, and the movable roller 50 is moved in the direction approaching the fixed roller 55.

When the moving actuator 37 is operated with the dog 56 of the upper platen 28 sandwiched between the pair of rollers 50 and 55, the dog can be moved by the guide rail 46 on the base 36 (see FIGS. 5 and 6). The sliding plate 45 supported by the slider slides. Therefore, the sliding plate 45
All the parts above slide together. Therefore, the pair of rollers 50 and 55 also slide together. Such an operation changes the relative position of the upper surface plate 28 and the lower surface plate 35 in the surface direction. Therefore, alignment for highly aligning the two panels of the color filter 91 adsorbed on the lower surface of the upper surface plate 28 and the TFT panel 92 adsorbed on the upper surface of the lower surface plate 35 is achieved. .

FIG. 10A shows a state in which the moving mechanisms provided on the four sides of the lower surface plate 35 are all at the neutral position or the origin position. On the other hand, FIG. 10B shows an operation of moving the lower platen 35 with respect to the upper platen 28 in the X-axis direction. This operation is achieved by operating the pair of actuators 37 located at the upper and lower positions in opposite directions while maintaining the left and right actuators 37 of the lower platen 35 at the neutral position.

FIG. 10C shows the operation of moving the lower surface plate 35 in the Y-axis direction with respect to the upper surface plate 28. This operation is achieved by operating the left and right actuators 37 in opposite directions while maintaining the upper and lower actuators 37 of the lower platen 35 at the neutral position.

FIG. 11A shows a state in which the lower surface plate 35 is rotated counterclockwise by θ with respect to the upper surface plate 28. Here, this is achieved by simultaneously performing the operations of pushing out the rods of the four actuators 37 provided on the four sides of the lower surface plate 35.

On the other hand, FIG. 11B shows the rotation in the θ-axis direction, in which the lower platen 35 rotates clockwise with respect to the upper platen 28. This operation is achieved by causing all of the actuators 37 on the four sides of the lower surface plate 35 to operate to retract the rod.

Accordingly, the relative positioning operation in the surface direction at the joint surface between the upper surface plate 28 and the lower surface plate 35 makes it possible to position the color filter 91 and the TFT panel 92 as shown in FIGS. Done. The color filter 91 is adsorbed and held on the lower surface of the upper surface plate 28 as shown in FIG.
Is held by suction on the upper surface. In this state, the color filter 91 and the TFT panel 92 are joined, and the above-described positioning in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the θ-axis direction is performed, so that the color filter 91 and the TFT panel 9 are positioned.
2 is performed in the plane direction.

Further, such alignment is performed by the CCD camera 76 shown in FIG.
This is achieved by detecting the reference mark on the T panel 92 and controlling the actuators 37 on the four sides of the lower surface plate 35 via the driver 81 by the controller 77 in FIG. Therefore, high-accuracy alignment in which the result of image recognition is fed back is achieved.

Here, the upper surface plate 28 is in a state where the position in the surface direction is regulated by the Z-axis guide 22 in principle.
On the other hand, the lower surface plate 35 is supported by the balls 34 on the ball mount 33 so as to be movable in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the θ-axis direction. Therefore, the actuator 6
By restricting the receiving guide 63 with the conical cam 62 as shown in FIG. 7 according to 0, the position of the lower surface plate 35 in the surface direction can be roughly regulated in advance. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the stroke of the above-described moving mechanism by the actuator 37, and the control operation is rationalized.

Further, the upper platen 28 is pressed by the pressing actuator 26 against the lower platen 35 at the time of the above-mentioned surface matching. At this time, the upper platen 28 is pressed by the air cylinder 29. It is possible to partially cancel the gravity of the mounted elevating plate 24. Therefore, the upper surface plate 2 pressed by the pressing actuator 26
The pressing force on the lower surface plate 35 of the base 8 can be arbitrarily adjusted by the air cylinder 29. Therefore, particularly when the positioning is performed, the air cylinder 29 may be operated and the pressure applied to the upper surface plate 28 may be reduced. As a result, the driving force of the actuator 37 is reduced, and high-accuracy alignment is achieved.

When the lift plate 24 supporting the upper platen 28 is machined as shown in FIG. 1 with the driving force of the air cylinder 29 set to 0, the lift plate 24 can be received by the stopper 66. This prevents an unnecessary large load from being applied to the lower platen 35 or the ball 34 supporting the lower platen 35.

As described above, in the alignment apparatus and the alignment method of the present embodiment, the upper platen 28 and the lower platen 35 are adjusted in the plane direction by the mutual movement mechanism of the two. The mechanism is simplified, the accumulated error is reduced, and the accuracy of the device is improved. Also, the simplification of the mechanism has advantages in assemblability and maintainability. Further, the cost can be reduced by simplifying the mechanism, and the apparatus can be provided at a lower cost than the conventional alignment apparatus. Further, the alignment apparatus of the present embodiment has a small number of components of a movable portion for performing alignment, and has a small mechanical loss, so that high alignment accuracy can be obtained. In addition, since the force applied in the surface direction for alignment is only the moving mechanism interposed between the upper surface plate 28 and the lower surface plate 35, a highly rigid frame structure is not required, and a reduction in size and weight is achieved. Is done.

Although the present application has been described with reference to the embodiments, the invention included in the present application is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the technical concept of the invention included in the present application. It is. For example, the above embodiments relate to an alignment apparatus and an alignment method for positioning a color filter and a TFT panel in a process of manufacturing a liquid crystal panel, but the present invention can be widely applied to positioning of various other panel-like works. is there.

[0050]

The main invention relating to the alignment apparatus is an alignment apparatus which joins a pair of panel-shaped works while holding them on a surface plate, and positions the pair of panel-shaped works relative to each other in the surface direction. A moving means provided on one of the surface plates and moving the other surface plate, and an engaged portion provided on the other of the pair of surface plates and engaged with the moving device, The other platen is moved in the surface direction relative to the one platen by applying a force to the engaged portion by the moving means.

Therefore, according to such an alignment apparatus, it is possible to move the other surface plate relative to one surface surface in the surface direction by applying a force to the engaged portion by the moving means. Thus, it is possible to transmit the alignment force in the plane direction via the moving means without intervening other members, thereby achieving the alignment of the pair of panel-shaped works. Therefore, the alignment force is not transmitted to the frame or the like, whereby the frame does not need to have high rigidity, and the size and weight can be reduced, and the cost of the alignment apparatus can be reduced.

The main invention relating to the alignment method is as follows.
In an alignment method for joining a pair of panel-shaped works in a state held by a surface plate, and positioning the pair of panel-shaped works relative to each other in their surface directions,
By using a moving means provided on one of the pair of platens to apply a force to the engaged portion of the other platen, the other platen is moved relative to the one platen. In the plane direction.

Therefore, according to such an alignment method, by moving the engaging portion of the other surface plate using the moving means provided on one of the pair of surface plates, By moving the surface plate relative to one surface plate in the surface direction, it becomes possible to position a pair of panels held by the surface plate in the surface direction, without stick-slip phenomenon. In addition, the pair of panel-shaped works can be positioned with high accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an alignment apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part showing a moving mechanism between an upper surface plate and a lower surface plate of the alignment apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a main part plan view showing support of a lower surface plate.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of a moving mechanism interposed between an upper surface plate and a lower surface plate.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view of the main part.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged front view of the main part.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part showing a structure for rough positioning.

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view and a side view showing the structure of the stopper.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a control device.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing positioning in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing positioning in the θ-axis direction.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing mutual positioning of a color filter and a TFT panel in a plane direction.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged sectional view showing a state of the positioning.

FIG. 14 is a front view of a conventional alignment device.

FIG. 15 is a main part plan view showing a positional relationship between an upper surface plate, a lower surface plate, and a θ-axis stage in the alignment apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ‥‥ stand, 2 ‥‥ base, 3 ‥‥ frame, 4 ‥‥ Z
Axis guide, 5 ‥‥ lift plate, 6 ‥‥ X-axis guide, 7 ‥‥ upper surface plate (X-axis stage), 8 ‥‥ X-axis actuator,
9 ° top plate, 10 ° pressing actuator, 11 ° θ
Axis guide, 12 ° θ axis stage, 13 ° θ axis actuator, 14 ° Y axis rail, 15 ° lower surface plate, 1
6 ‥‥ Y-axis actuator, 20 ‥‥ mount, 21 ‥‥ base, 22 ‥‥ Z-axis guide, 23 ‥‥ top plate, 24 ‥‥ lift plate, 25 ‥‥ sleeve, 26 ‥‥ press actuator, 27 ‥‥ Rod, 28 ‥‥ upper surface plate, 29 ‥‥ air cylinder, 30 ‥‥ rod, 33 ‥‥ ball mount,
34 ‥‥ ball, 35 ‥‥ lower surface plate, 36 ‥‥ base,
37 mm moving actuator, 38 mm vacuum suction groove,
40 ‥‥ retainer, 41, 42 ‥‥ pedestal pin, 45 ‥‥
Sliding plate, 46 ‥‥ guide rail, 47 ‥‥ crank lever, 48 ‥‥ bearing, 49 ‥‥ pin, 50 ‥‥ moving roller, 51 ‥‥ cam follower, 52 ‥‥ cam, 53 ‥‥ cylinder, 54 ‥‥ Bracket, 55 ° fixed roller, 5
6 ‥‥ dog (engaged part), 60 ‥‥ cylinder, 61 ‥‥
Rod, 62 ° conical cam, 63 ° receiving guide, 6
6 ‥‥ stopper, 67 ‥‥ cylindrical housing, 68 ‥‥ spring receiver, 69 ‥‥ bolt, 70 ‥‥ set bolt, 71
‥‥ Spring receiver, 72 ‥‥ Wrapping screw, 73 ‥‥
Coil spring, 75mm notch, 76mm CCD camera,
77 ‥‥ controller, 78 ‥‥ touch panel, 79 ‥
{Monitor, 81, 82 driver, 83 driver, 84 pulse motor, 85 driver, 86}
‥ Solenoid valve, 91 ‥‥ Color filter, 92 ‥‥ TFT panel

Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 2F065 AA03 AA14 BB02 BB28 CC25 DD03 FF04 FF42 JJ03 JJ26 MM02 PP12 QQ38 2F069 AA17 BB40 CC06 DD12 FF01 GG04 GG07 GG45 JJ14 JJ17 MM02 MM24 MM34 FA03FA03 FA03FA03 FA032 HA58 HA59 JA04 JA06 JA14 JA15 JA17 JA28 JA38 KA03 KA04 KA06 KA07 KA08 KA14 KA15 KA18 LA01 LA12 LA15 PA30

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. An alignment apparatus for joining a pair of panel-shaped works while holding them on a surface plate, and positioning the pair of panel-shaped works relative to each other in a surface direction thereof. A moving means provided on the base plate for moving the other base plate; and an engaged portion provided on the other of the pair of base plates and engaged with the moving unit, An alignment apparatus characterized in that the other surface plate is moved in a plane direction relative to the one surface plate by applying a force to the engaged portion by means. 2. A pair of base plates having a rectangular shape, moving means are provided on four sides of one base plate, and engaged portions are provided on four sides of the other base plate, respectively. 4
2. The alignment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the movement in the X-axis direction, the movement in the Y-axis direction, and the rotation in the θ-axis direction are performed by a combination of the movements of the side moving means. 3. A base of the moving means is fixed to one of the bases, and a sliding plate is slidably provided on the base, and the sliding plate slides by a moving actuator attached to the base. 3. The alignment apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a clamp mechanism is provided on the slide plate, and the clamp mechanism clamps a dog forming an engaged portion of the other surface plate. 4. The clamp mechanism on the sliding plate includes a fixed roller having a fixed position of a support shaft, and a movable roller having a position of the support shaft moving, and further includes a clamp actuator. 4. The alignment apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the movable roller moves by the operation of (1), and cooperates with the fixed roller to clamp the dog. 5. An image recognizing means for recognizing a reference mark of the pair of panel-shaped works, and a control means for controlling an operation of the moving means in conjunction with the recognition of the reference mark by the image recognizing means. Claim 1 or Claim 2
An alignment apparatus according to item 1. 6. A positioning member which penetrates one of the pair of surface plates and engages a guide portion of the other surface plate, and performs rough positioning by the positioning member. The alignment device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein 7. A pair of platens are arranged up and down, and the pair of panel-shaped works are positioned in a horizontal plane, and one of the lower platens is a rolling element on a base. , And can be moved in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the θ-axis direction, and the other upper surface plate is vertically movably supported by vertical guide means. The alignment device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein 8. The alignment apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the other platen is pressed against the one platen from above by a pressing actuator. 9. The other surface plate is connected to a gravity canceling cylinder, and the pressing force of the other surface plate pressing the one surface plate is adjusted by the gravity canceling cylinder. Item 9. The alignment device according to item 8. 10. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising stopper means for receiving said other surface plate located at an upper position at a lowermost position, said stopper means including elastic means for substantially balancing the weight of said other surface plate. The alignment apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the alignment is performed. 11. An alignment method in which a pair of panel-shaped works are joined while being held by a surface plate, and said pair of panel-shaped works are positioned relative to each other in a surface direction thereof. The other platen is moved in the surface direction relative to the one platen by applying a force to the engaged portion of the other platen using a moving means provided on the platen. An alignment method, comprising: 12. A moving means is provided on each of four sides of one of the pair of base plates, and an engaged portion is provided on each of four sides of the other base plate. The X-axis direction, Y
The alignment method according to claim 11, wherein positioning is performed in the axial direction and the θ-axis direction.