JP2006242821A - Imaging method of optical panel, inspection method of optical panel, imaging device of optical panel and inspection device of optical panel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging device of a liquid crystal panel capable of imaging the liquid crystal panel clearly from the view angle direction. <P>SOLUTION: A CCD camera 510 has a line sensor. The CCD camera 510 is supported so that the line sensor becomes parallel to the liquid crystal panel 900. The angle at which the CCD camera 510 takes a view of the liquid crystal panel 900 is adjusted at the view angle θ. Then, the focal point of the CCD camera 510 is adjusted onto a display surface 960 of the liquid crystal panel 900. The CCD camera 510 is moved in parallel with the display surface 960 of the liquid crystal panel 900, and an imaging domain L of the line sensor is scanned along the display surface 960 of the liquid crystal panel 900. A synthetic image is generated by synthesizing image data on each imaged line. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical panel imaging method, an optical panel inspection method, an optical panel imaging device, and an optical panel inspection device. For example, the present invention relates to an imaging method and apparatus for an optical panel that captures an image of the optical panel in an image display inspection of the optical panel.

As an optical panel for displaying an image, a liquid crystal panel having a liquid crystal cell disposed in each pixel on a display surface and controlling a display image by controlling a voltage applied to the liquid crystal cell is known.
In such a liquid crystal panel, for example, display defects such as luminance unevenness occur due to variations in the thickness of the liquid crystal cell. Therefore, an image display inspection is performed to inspect whether or not a display defect has occurred in the liquid crystal panel during the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal panel.

  As such an image display inspection, an image of a liquid crystal panel is picked up by an image pickup means such as a CCD camera, and it is determined whether or not the luminance variation for each pixel is within a predetermined threshold based on the image pickup data. . When the luminance variation for each pixel is larger than a predetermined threshold value, the liquid crystal panel is determined to be a defective product having a display defect, and only the liquid crystal panel having a luminance variation smaller than the predetermined threshold value is determined to be a non-defective product. Is done.

  Conventionally, when imaging a display screen of a liquid crystal panel with a CCD camera, a CCD camera with an area sensor built in is used, and this CCD camera is set immediately above the display screen of the liquid crystal panel.

However, depending on the viewing angle when the liquid crystal panel is actually used, the liquid crystal panel has a viewing angle at which the display screen looks sharpest.
Each liquid crystal layer is formed so that an image can be seen most sharply when the display screen is viewed from the viewing angle direction.
For this reason, there has been a problem that a display image cannot be sharply picked up if the image is taken from directly above the liquid crystal panel regardless of the viewing angle.
Furthermore, in recent years, since a high-resolution liquid crystal panel is desired, the display pixels have become very fine, and when imaging is out of the viewing angle, imaging data is obtained with the accuracy required for inspection of display defects. I couldn't do it.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the CCD camera 10 is set at the viewing angle θ of the liquid crystal panel 900 to capture an image (for example, Patent Document 1).
In the configuration shown in FIG. 3, the liquid crystal panel 900 is imaged by the CCD camera 10 while being illuminated by the backlight 300, and the defect inspection is performed by processing the image data from the CCD camera by the image processing unit 20.
According to such a configuration, since the image is picked up from the viewing angle θ, the display pixel can be picked up clearly, and the defect inspection is performed based on the clearly acquired image data.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-262843

As shown in FIG. 3, if the CCD camera 10 is set to the viewing angle θ, the sharpest image should be able to be taken because the image is certainly taken from the viewing angle θ.
However, since the angle at which the liquid crystal panel 900 is viewed from the CCD camera 10 is shifted from the right angle to the viewing angle direction, there arises a problem that focusing becomes difficult.
That is, since the display surface 960 of the liquid crystal panel 900 is imaged from an oblique direction, a side closer to the CCD camera 10 (P _{1 in} FIG. 3) and a side farther from the CCD camera 10 (P _{2 in} FIG. 3) can be formed. End up.
As a result, in the imaging region R of the CCD camera 10, even if the focal length is at the center, the focal length is shifted at the end of the imaging region R, and even if the image is clear at the center, At the end, an out-of-focus image is taken.

  Here, there is also an idea that a camera lens may be formed so that all of the imaging region R is in focus even when imaging from the viewing angle direction. However, it is technically difficult and very expensive to manufacture an aspheric lens for focusing on the entire region R in imaging from an oblique direction. In addition, since the viewing angle θ varies depending on the liquid crystal panel 900, manufacturing an aspheric lens corresponding to all of them makes the manufacturing effort and manufacturing cost enormous, which is not realistic. .

  An object of the present invention is to provide an optical panel imaging method, an optical panel inspection method, an optical panel imaging device, and an optical panel inspection device that can clearly image the optical panel from the viewing angle direction.

  An image pickup method for an optical panel according to the present invention is an image pickup method for picking up an optical panel capable of visually recognizing a clear image from a predetermined viewing angle, and the line sensor of an image pickup means having a line sensor is parallel to the optical panel. A prospective angle adjusting step of adjusting an angle at which the image pickup unit looks at the optical panel to the viewing angle in a plane orthogonal to a line-shaped image pickup region by the line sensor while maintaining the focus of the image pickup unit; A focusing adjustment step for matching the display surface of the optical sensor, and the imaging means and the optical panel in a focused state are moved relative to each other in parallel to the display surface of the optical panel so that the imaging region of the line sensor is A scanning step of scanning along the display surface; and an image combining step of generating a combined image by combining the imaging data for each line imaged in the scanning step. Characterized in that it obtain.

In such a configuration, the angle at which the imaging unit looks at the optical panel is adjusted to the viewing angle of the optical panel (expected angle adjustment step), and the focus of the imaging unit is adjusted to the display surface of the optical panel (focusing step).
Here, when the expected angle of the imaging means is adjusted to the viewing angle, the angle is adjusted within a plane orthogonal to the imaging area by the line sensor.

Thus, even when the optical panel is imaged from an oblique direction that is the viewing angle direction by changing the viewing angle in a plane orthogonal to the imaging area of the line sensor, for example, imaging is performed with respect to the distance between the imaging area and the imaging means. There is no influence on the relationship between the distance from the center of the area to the imaging means and the distance from the end point of the imaging area to the imaging means.
For example, when an imaging means having an area sensor that captures a two-dimensionally wide area is used to image the display surface of the optical panel from an oblique direction, the two-dimensional imaging region is closer to the imaging means and far from the imaging means. Therefore, the entire imaging area cannot be focused.
In this regard, in the present invention, since the imaging means having the line sensor is used, if the angle is changed within a plane orthogonal to the imaging area by the line sensor, the center of the imaging area or the end point of the imaging area can be focused. . Therefore, it is possible to obtain clear imaging data by focusing on the entire imaging area for each line.

In addition, since the prospective angle at the time of imaging the optical panel is adjusted in the prospective angle adjustment process, the prospective angle can be freely adjusted according to the optical panel to be inspected, and the optical panel to be inspected is always viewed from the viewing angle direction. The clearest image data can be obtained by imaging.
Then, for example, by scanning the imaging region over the entire display surface (scanning step) and combining the imaging data for each line obtained by this scanning (image combining step), the image is displayed on the display surface. Image data of the entire display image can be obtained.
Further, since it is a line sensor, the number of image pickup pixels can be greatly increased by making the image pickup pixels arranged in one direction finer than in the area sensor. Therefore, the entire image obtained by combining the image data captured by the line sensor can have a higher resolution than the image data captured by the area sensor.

  The optical panel inspection method of the present invention includes an imaging step of capturing a display image of the optical panel by the imaging method of the optical panel, and image display processing of the composite image thus captured to detect a display defect of the optical panel. And an inspection process to be performed.

  According to such a configuration, the defect inspection of the optical panel is performed based on the image clearly captured by the optical panel imaging method according to the invention. As a result, the inspection accuracy can be significantly improved.

  As image processing in the inspection process, the luminance value of each display pixel is calculated from the acquired image data, the luminance value distribution on the image is calculated, and the luminance value is determined by comparing the entire or surrounding luminance value. An example is detecting a pixel or region in which a defect has occurred. Display defects detected by such image processing include point defects, spot defects, unevenness defects, line defects caused by luminance defects of display pixels, bright spot defects caused by micro luminance defects in display pixels, or An example is a sunspot defect.

  An image pickup apparatus for an optical panel according to the present invention is an image pickup apparatus for picking up an optical panel capable of visually recognizing a clear image from a predetermined viewing angle, and includes an image pickup means having a line sensor, a display of the line sensor and the optical panel. A support means for supporting the imaging means with surfaces parallel to each other; and an angle at which the imaging means looks at the optical panel by changing the posture of at least one of the imaging means and the optical panel in an imaging area by the line sensor Focus angle adjustment means for adjusting the viewing angle within the orthogonal plane, and focusing adjustment for moving at least one of the imaging means and the optical panel to focus the imaging means on the display surface of the optical panel And at least one of the imaging means and the optical panel is relatively moved in a direction parallel to the display surface of the optical panel to Scanning means for scanning the imaging region of the sensor along the display surface of the optical panel, and image synthesizing means for synthesizing imaging data for each line imaged by the line sensor of the imaging means to generate a synthesized image. It is characterized by providing.

In such a configuration, the imaging unit is supported by the support unit so that the line sensor is parallel to the display surface, and the angle at which the imaging unit looks at the optical panel is adjusted to the viewing angle of the optical panel by the viewing angle adjustment unit. Further, the focus of the image pickup means is adjusted to the display surface of the optical panel by the focus adjustment means.
Here, when the expected angle of the imaging means is adjusted to the viewing angle, the angle adjustment is performed in a plane orthogonal to the imaging area by the line sensor.

  In this way, by using an imaging unit having a line sensor and further adjusting the angle in a plane orthogonal to the imaging area by the line sensor, it is possible to focus at the center of the imaging area or at the end point of the imaging area. Therefore, it is possible to obtain clear imaging data by focusing on the entire imaging area for each line.

Furthermore, since the image is taken from the viewing angle direction, the image of the optical panel can be taken most clearly. In addition, since it is a line sensor, the number of imaging pixels can be increased by making the number of imaging pixels finer than that of an area sensor, and high-resolution imaging data can be acquired.
Then, for example, when the image pickup area is scanned over the entire display surface by the scanning unit, and the image data for each line obtained by the scan is combined by the image combining unit, the entire display image displayed on the display surface is displayed. Image data is obtained.

  In the present invention, the visibility angle adjusting means rotates in a plane perpendicular to the imaging area by the line sensor, having the imaging means attached and fixed, and having a rotation axis parallel to the imaging area by the line sensor. It is preferable to include a freely provided rotating member.

According to such a configuration, the angle at which the imaging unit looks at the optical panel can be freely adjusted by rotating the rotating member.
Therefore, even when the viewing angle is different for each optical panel to be inspected, the expected angle can be freely adjusted.
As a result, the clearest image data can be obtained by always imaging the optical panel to be inspected from the viewing angle direction.

Here, in the present invention, it is preferable that the imaging unit has a single line sensor sensitive to monochromatic light.
In such a configuration, a monochrome line sensor sensitive only to monochromatic light is inexpensive, so that the imaging device itself can be made inexpensive.
For example, when the captured image data is used for display defect inspection of an optical panel, a monochrome line sensor is often used because a single color lighting inspection is often performed even for an optical panel capable of displaying a color image. It can respond enough.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the imaging unit has a plurality of line sensors each sensitive to light of a predetermined color.
In such a configuration, for example, a color image can be captured by having a line sensor that is sensitive to a plurality of colors such as R (red), G (green), and B (blue). For example, by picking up a color image of an optical panel capable of color display, it is possible to inspect the color development abnormality in each display pixel based on this color image data.

  An inspection apparatus for an optical panel according to the present invention includes the imaging apparatus, and an inspection unit that performs image processing on the combined image combined by the image combining unit to detect display defects of the optical panel. And

  According to such a configuration, since the defect inspection of the optical panel is performed based on the image that is clearly captured by the imaging device according to the invention, the inspection accuracy can be significantly improved.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be illustrated and described with reference to reference numerals attached to respective elements in the drawings.
(First embodiment)
A first embodiment according to the inspection apparatus of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of the inspection apparatus 100.
The inspection apparatus 100 is an apparatus that performs an image display inspection for inspecting the presence or absence of display defects in the liquid crystal panel (optical panel) 900. First, the liquid crystal panel 900 to be inspected will be briefly described.
The liquid crystal panel 900 includes an upper substrate 920 and a lower substrate 930 that sandwich the liquid crystal layer 910, and the upper substrate 920 and the lower substrate 930 are sandwiched between the upper polarizing plate 940 and the lower polarizing plate 950. In the liquid crystal layer 910, a liquid crystal cell is provided for each display pixel, and each liquid crystal cell is driven when a predetermined voltage is applied to the scanning line and the data line wired to each liquid crystal cell.

Here, each liquid crystal cell is disposed so as to be inclined toward the viewing angle direction so as to display an image most clearly when viewed from a predetermined viewing angle direction.
When the liquid crystal panel 900 is illuminated from the back by the backlight 300, the light transmittance is controlled for each display pixel by each liquid crystal cell, and an image is displayed on the display surface 960.

Next, the configuration of the inspection apparatus 100 will be described.
The inspection apparatus 100 includes a base 200, a backlight 300 that illuminates a liquid crystal panel 900 to be inspected from the back, a liquid crystal panel drive unit 400 that inputs a driving signal for inspection to the liquid crystal panel 900 to be inspected, An image capturing unit 500 that captures an image of the liquid crystal panel 900 and an image processing unit 600 that performs image processing on image data acquired by the image capturing unit 500 and inspects a display defect of the liquid crystal panel 900 are configured.

The backlight 300 is arranged on the base 200 so that the liquid crystal panel 900 to be inspected can be set horizontally on the upper surface side of the backlight 300.
The liquid crystal panel driving unit 400 is connected to a connection terminal (not shown) provided on the upper substrate 920 of the liquid crystal panel 900 via the inspection connection probe 410.
The liquid crystal panel driving unit 400 applies a driving signal for inspection to the liquid crystal panel 900 at a predetermined timing to display an image for inspection on the display surface 960 of the liquid crystal panel 900.

A configuration of the imaging unit 500 will be described.
The imaging unit 500 includes a CCD camera 510 as an imaging unit, a drive unit 520 that supports the CCD camera 510 and moves the CCD camera 510 relative to the liquid crystal panel 900, and a drive control unit 560 that drives and controls the drive unit 520. .

The CCD camera 510 is a camera that incorporates the line sensor 511 shown in FIG. 2 and images the imaging target line by line.
The line sensor 511 may be a single line sensor that is sensitive to monochromatic light, or may have a plurality of line sensors that are sensitive to light of a predetermined color such as RGB.

  The drive unit 520 includes a Z-direction drive unit 530 that moves the CCD camera 510 in the Z direction that is perpendicular to the base 200, and an X-direction drive unit 540 that moves the CCD camera 510 in the X direction that is the horizontal direction. An angle adjusting unit 550 that adjusts the angle of the CCD camera 510.

The Z-direction drive unit 530 includes a Z-axis column 531 erected on the base 200 and a Z-slider 532 that can slide up and down on the Z-axis column 531.
Here, the Z slider 532 is slid and driven with respect to the Z axis column 531 by a predetermined motor. As such a drive mechanism, for example, a screw shaft is provided in parallel to the Z axis column 531 and then the Z slider 532 is provided. As an example, a fixed nut is screwed onto the screw shaft, and the screw shaft is rotated by a predetermined motor. Further, an air bearing or the like is provided between the Z slider 532 and the Z axis column 531, and a mechanism for suppressing vibration of the Z slider 532 during sliding is built in.

  The Z direction drive unit 530 constitutes a focus adjustment unit that adjusts the distance between the CCD camera 510 and the display surface 960 of the liquid crystal panel 900 to the focal length of the CCD camera 510.

The X-direction drive unit 540 includes an X-axis beam 541 extending in the horizontal direction from the Z slider 532 and an X slider 542 provided to be slidable with the X-axis beam 541.
The X slider 542 is slid and driven with respect to the X axis beam 541 by a predetermined motor. An air bearing or the like is provided between the X slider 542 and the X axis beam 541, and a mechanism for suppressing vibration of the X slider 542 during sliding is built in.

  The X direction driving unit 540 causes the CCD camera 510 and the liquid crystal panel 900 to move relative to each other in a direction parallel to the display surface 960 of the liquid crystal panel 900 so that the imaging region L of the line sensor 511 extends along the display surface 960 of the liquid crystal panel 900. Scanning means for scanning is configured.

The angle adjustment unit 550 includes a support shaft portion 551 provided so as to be suspended from the X slider 542, and a rotation member 552 provided to be rotatable with respect to the support shaft portion 551.
The rotation member 552 is pivotally supported by the rotation shaft with respect to the support shaft portion 551. The rotation axis is provided in parallel to the display surface 960 of the liquid crystal panel 900, whereby the rotation member 552 rotates in a plane perpendicular to the display surface 960. The CCD camera 510 is attached and fixed to the rotating member 552. At this time, when the CCD camera 510 is attached to the rotation member 552, the line sensor 511 built in the CCD camera 510 is made parallel to the rotation axis, and the rotation member 552 is placed in the imaging region L by the line sensor 511. It rotates in the orthogonal surface S.

  The angle adjusting unit 550 constitutes a prospective angle adjusting unit that adjusts the angle at which the CCD camera 510 views the liquid crystal panel 900 to the viewing angle θ.

At the same time, the CCD camera 510 is attached to the rotating member 552 so that the line sensor 511 is parallel to the rotating shaft 553 parallel to the display surface 960, so that the rotating member 552 is connected to the line sensor 511 and the liquid crystal. The supporting means for supporting the CCD camera 510 is configured with the display surface 960 of the panel 900 being parallel to each other.
The rotating member 552 is rotationally driven with respect to the support shaft portion 551 by a predetermined motor.

  The drive control unit 560 drives and controls the Z slider 532 and the angle control unit 561 that adjusts the angle formed by the optical axis A of the CCD camera 510 and the display surface 960 of the liquid crystal panel 900 by rotating the rotation member 552. A Z-slider control unit 562 and an X-slider control unit 563 that controls driving of the X-slider 542 are provided.

The angle control unit 561 rotates the rotation member 552 according to the viewing angle θ of the liquid crystal panel 900, and the angle formed by the optical axis A of the CCD camera 510 with respect to the display surface 960 of the liquid crystal panel 900 is the viewing angle θ. To be. As a result, the angle at which the CCD camera 510 views the display surface 960 of the liquid crystal panel 900 is the viewing angle θ, and the angle at which the display pixels of the liquid crystal panel 900 can be clearly imaged.
Here, the viewing angle θ of the liquid crystal panel 900 to be inspected is set and inputted in advance to the angle control unit 561 based on the design data of the liquid crystal panel 900.

The Z slider control unit 562 calculates a focus position when the liquid crystal panel 900 is viewed at a viewing angle θ based on the focal length of the lens of the CCD camera 510.
Then, the Z slider 532 is driven to adjust the vertical distance between the CCD camera 510 and the liquid crystal panel 900, and the CCD camera 510 is driven and controlled to the in-focus position.

  The X slider control unit 563 slides the X slider 542 along the X-axis beam 541 to scan the line-shaped imaging region L over the entire display surface 960 of the liquid crystal panel 900. Here, the moving speed of the X slider 542 is appropriately set according to the image capture time (scanning cycle) by the line sensor 511.

The image processing unit 600 combines an image data from the CCD camera 510 to generate an image of a display image by the liquid crystal panel 900, and an image combining unit 610 that displays the display image combined by the image combining unit 610. A defect inspection unit (inspection means) 620 that performs defect inspection of the liquid crystal panel 900 based on the image.
The image composition unit 610 synthesizes the image data for each line from the CCD camera 510 in accordance with the moving speed of the X slider 542. An overall image of the display image by the liquid crystal panel 900 is generated by image synthesis in the image synthesis unit 610.
The defect inspection unit 620 performs image processing on the combined image combined by the image combining unit 610 and inspects defects generated in the display image of the liquid crystal panel 900. For example, a luminance value for each display pixel is calculated from the captured image, and the distribution state of the luminance value is compared with a predetermined threshold value to check whether luminance unevenness has occurred.

The operation of the first embodiment having such a configuration will be described.
First, the viewing angle θ of the liquid crystal panel 900 to be inspected and the size (vertical × horizontal) of the display surface 960 are extracted from the design data and set and input to the drive control unit 560.
In addition, the liquid crystal panel 900 is set on the upper surface of the backlight 300 and the liquid crystal panel driving unit 400 and the liquid crystal panel 900 are connected via the inspection connection probe 410.

Next, angle adjustment of the CCD camera 510 is performed by drive control by the angle control unit 561 (expected angle adjustment step). At this time, the rotation member 552 of the angle adjustment unit 550 is rotated by an angle corresponding to the viewing angle θ of the liquid crystal panel 900 by a control signal from the angle control unit 561. As a result, the CCD camera 510 looks at the liquid crystal panel 900 at the viewing angle θ.
Then, the position adjustment of the Z slider 532 is performed by drive control by the Z slider control unit 562, and the focusing of the CCD camera 510 is performed (focus adjustment step). That is, the distance between the CCD camera 510 and the display surface 960 of the liquid crystal panel 900 is adjusted, and the CCD camera 510 is focused on the display surface 960 of the liquid crystal panel 900.

When the CCD camera 510 is focused on the display surface 960 of the liquid crystal panel 900, the backlight 300 is turned on, and then imaging is performed while scanning the display surface 960 of the liquid crystal panel 900 by drive control by the X slider control unit 563. Executed (scanning step).
At this time, the X slider 542 starts moving from either end of the X-axis beam 541 and continues moving at a predetermined constant speed according to the scanning cycle of the line sensor 511.
Then, the imaging region L of the line sensor 511 scans the display unit 960 of the liquid crystal panel 900 from end to end.

Then, the imaging data captured for each line is sequentially output to the image synthesis unit 610, and the imaging data for each line is synthesized by the image synthesis unit 610 (image synthesis step). Then, a single composite image is generated.
Based on this synthesized image, defect inspection such as luminance unevenness is performed in the defect inspection unit 620 (inspection process).

According to 1st Embodiment provided with such a structure, there can exist the following effects.
(1) The CCD camera 510 having the line sensor 511 is used and the angle is changed in the plane S orthogonal to the imaging region L by the line sensor 511, so that the center Pc of the imaging region L and the end point Ps of the imaging region are focused. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to obtain clear imaging data by focusing on the entire imaging area L for each line. Furthermore, since imaging from the viewing angle direction can be performed, the image of the liquid crystal panel 900 can be captured most clearly.

(2) Since the line sensor 511 is used, the number of imaging pixels can be greatly increased by making the imaging pixels finer than the area sensor, and high-resolution imaging data can be acquired.

(3) Since it is possible to obtain image data that is clearly imaged by imaging from the viewing angle direction by the line sensor 511, a defect inspection of the liquid crystal panel 900 can be performed with high accuracy based on the image data that is clearly imaged. It can be carried out.

(4) Since the angle at which the CCD camera 510 looks at the liquid crystal panel 900 can be freely adjusted by rotating the rotating member 552, even if the viewing angle differs for each liquid crystal panel 900 to be inspected, it is expected The corner can be adjusted freely. As a result, it is possible to obtain the clearest image data by always imaging the liquid crystal panel to be inspected from the viewing angle direction.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and modifications, improvements, and the like within the scope that can achieve the object of the present invention are included in the present invention.
For example, the angle adjustment of the CCD camera by the angle adjustment unit and the position adjustment of the Z slider 532 by the Z direction control unit may be automatically numerically controlled by the drive control unit 560. Of course, focusing may be performed manually while observing on a monitor.
In the above-described embodiment, the case where the imaging region is scanned over the entire display surface of the optical panel and the entire display surface of the optical panel is imaged is described as an example, but only the region to be inspected, not the entire display surface. Of course, the image may be taken.
The liquid crystal panel has been described as an example of the optical panel to be inspected. However, as long as the optical panel has a viewing angle, it is a matter of course that a clear image can be captured by applying the present invention.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the orientation of the CCD camera is adjusted by the rotation of the rotating member when adjusting the angle θ at which the CCD camera looks at the liquid crystal panel has been described. Of course, the prospective angle may be adjusted to the viewing angle θ by changing the orientation of the liquid crystal panel. Further, the liquid crystal panel may be moved during focusing or when the imaging region is scanned along the display surface of the liquid crystal panel.

  The present invention can be used for liquid crystal panel imaging and liquid crystal panel inspection.

The figure which shows the whole structure of the test | inspection apparatus 100 in 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows a line sensor in 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows a mode that a liquid crystal panel is imaged with a CCD camera in a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... CCD camera, 20 ... Image processing part, 100 ... Inspection apparatus, 200 ... Base, 300 ... Back light, 400 ... Liquid crystal panel drive part, 410 ... Connection probe for inspection, 500 ... Imaging part, 510 ... CCD camera, 511 ... Line sensor, 520 ... Drive unit, 530 ... Z direction drive unit, 531 ... Z axis column, 532 ... Z slider, 540 ... X direction drive unit, 541 ... X axis beam, 542 ... X slider, 550 ... Angle adjustment 551 ... support shaft, 552 ... rotating member, 553 ... rotating shaft, 560 ... drive controller, 561 ... angle controller, 562 ... Z slider controller, 563 ... X slider controller, 600 ... image processing Part 610 ... image composition part 620 ... defect inspection part 900 ... liquid crystal panel 910 ... liquid crystal layer 920 ... upper substrate 930 ... lower substrate 940 ... upper polarizing plate 950 ... lower Light plate, 960 ... display unit, 960 ... display surface.

Claims (5)

An imaging method for imaging an optical panel capable of visually recognizing a clear image from a predetermined viewing angle,
While keeping the line sensor of the imaging means having a line sensor parallel to the optical panel, the angle at which the imaging means looks at the optical panel is set to the viewing angle in a plane orthogonal to the line-shaped imaging area by the line sensor. A prospective angle adjustment process to be adjusted;
A focus adjustment step of focusing the imaging means on the display surface of the optical panel;
A scanning step of scanning the imaging region of the line sensor along the display surface of the optical panel by relatively moving the imaging means and the optical panel in focus in parallel with the display surface of the optical panel;
An image synthesizing process for synthesizing imaging data for each line imaged in the scanning process to generate a synthesized image. An imaging method for an optical panel, comprising: An imaging step of imaging a display image of the optical panel by the optical panel imaging method according to claim 1;
An inspection step of performing image processing on the captured composite image to detect display defects of the optical panel. An inspection method for an optical panel, comprising: An optical panel imaging device that images an optical panel capable of visually recognizing a clear image from a predetermined viewing angle,
Imaging means having a line sensor;
Support means for supporting the imaging means in a state in which the line sensor and the display surface of the optical panel are parallel to each other;
A prospective angle adjusting unit that changes the attitude of at least one of the imaging unit and the optical panel so that the angle at which the imaging unit looks at the optical panel is adjusted to the viewing angle in a plane orthogonal to the imaging region by the line sensor; ,
Focusing adjustment means for moving at least one of the imaging means and the optical panel to focus the imaging means on the display surface of the optical panel;
A scanning unit that relatively moves at least one of the imaging unit and the optical panel in a direction parallel to the display surface of the optical panel, and scans the imaging region of the line sensor along the display surface of the optical panel; An image synthesizing unit that synthesizes imaging data for each line imaged by a line sensor and generates a synthesized image. An imaging apparatus for an optical panel, comprising: In the imaging device of the optical panel according to claim 3,
The prospective angle adjusting means includes:
The image pickup means is mounted and fixed, and has a rotation member that has a rotation axis parallel to the image pickup region by the line sensor and is rotatably provided in a plane orthogonal to the image pickup region by the line sensor. An image pickup apparatus for an optical panel. An imaging device for an optical panel according to claim 3 or 4, and
An inspection device for an optical panel, comprising: inspection means for performing image processing on the composite image synthesized by the image synthesis means to detect display defects of the optical panel.

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