JP2008014674A - Inspection device of display panel and inspection method using the inspection device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inspection device capable of carrying out foreign matter inspection between a glass substrate and a polarization plate, and a sticking position inspection of the polarization plate. <P>SOLUTION: The device integrally includes a polarization plate sticking position inspection means in a display panel wherein the polarization plate is stuck to the glass substrate at a prescribed distance from a peripheral edge of a rectangular glass substrate and a foreign matter inspection means, and includes an inspection table having the polarization plate sticking position inspection means on a surface opening side of a backlight-type inspection case constituting the foreign matter inspection means. The inspection table includes a light transmission part for placing the display panel, a positioning part positioning two continuous sides of the glass substrate of the display panel placed, and a distance measuring member measuring the distance from a periphery of the glass substrate abutting on the positioning part to a periphery of the polarization plate. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a display panel inspection device and an inspection method using the inspection device, and more specifically, the presence or absence of foreign matter between the glass substrate and the polarizing plate, which is performed after the polarizing plate is attached to the glass substrate of the display panel. And the inspection of whether or not the position of the polarizing plate is a regular position.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a display panel of a liquid crystal display device is generally provided by sealing a liquid crystal between an array substrate made of a glass substrate provided with a transparent electrode and a color filter substrate, and attaching a polarizing plate to the outer surfaces of both glass substrates.
In the manufacturing process of the display panel, a liquid crystal is sealed between two glass substrates, and then a polarizing plate is pasted on both front and back surfaces of the glass substrate. After this pasting operation, between the glass substrate and the polarizing plate, An inspection to confirm the presence or absence of foreign matter and an inspection to confirm the sticking position of the polarizing plate are performed.
Conventionally, foreign matter inspection and pasting position inspection are performed by different inspection devices, and inspection is performed by conveying display panels to these two inspection devices, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the foreign matter confirmation inspection irradiates the display panel 1 placed on the inspection table 2 that transmits light with the illumination device 3 from the back side, and refracts the light incident on the display panel 1. Depending on the presence or absence, there is often a method of inspecting whether there are foreign objects such as broken glass or dust between the glass substrate 1a and the polarizing plate 1b. In many cases, this inspection is a visual inspection. However, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-170102 (Patent Document 1), a sensor is used to detect irregular reflection of light caused by foreign matter between a glass substrate and a polarizing plate. Yes.

  On the other hand, the position of the polarizing plate is inspected when the display panel is positioned and placed on the inspection table, and the distance from the outer edge of the glass substrate of the display panel to the outer edge of the polarizing plate is measured by a distance measuring means. There are many. In addition, as an apparatus for inspecting the attaching position of this type of polarizing plate, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-165097 (Patent Document 2) takes an image of a display panel to which light is applied with a camera, and the edge of the polarizing plate appears in the taken image. A device for inspecting whether or not the polarizing plate is stuck at a regular position by comparing the position of the black matrix and the position of the black matrix is disclosed.

JP 2004-170102 A JP 2005-165097 A

As described above, conventionally, foreign substance inspection and pasting position inspection are performed by different inspection apparatuses. Therefore, after carrying out inspection by transporting the display panel from one manufacturing device that attaches a polarizing plate to a glass substrate to one inspection device, this display panel must also be transported to another inspection device for inspection. In addition, the work efficiency is poor due to the large number of transfer operations. In addition, the display panel may interfere with other members during the transportation of the display panel and may be damaged. If the number of transportation is large, the risk of the display panel being damaged during the transportation is increased. Furthermore, when the inspection of the display panel is a sampling inspection, an operator often carries the display panel to an inspection device. In that case, the labor burden of an operator increases with the enlargement of a display panel, and if it conveys to two inspection apparatuses, there exists a problem which a labor burden increases further.
Moreover, since the devices of Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 use sensors and cameras, there is a problem that the device becomes expensive.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and both inspection of foreign matter between the glass substrate and the polarizing plate and the inspection of the polarizing plate is performed after the polarizing plate is attached to the glass substrate of the display panel. It is an object to be able to perform this with a single inspection device.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a polarizing plate sticking position inspection means and a foreign matter inspection means for a display panel in which a polarizing plate is attached to a glass substrate at a predetermined distance from the outer peripheral edge of a rectangular glass substrate. With integrated,
On the surface opening side of the backlight type inspection case constituting the foreign matter inspection means, an inspection table equipped with a polarizing plate pasting position inspection means is mounted,
The inspection table includes a light transmissive portion on which the display panel is placed, a positioning portion for positioning two continuous sides of the glass substrate of the placed display panel, and a glass substrate in contact with the positioning portion There is provided a display panel inspection apparatus comprising a distance measuring member that measures the distance from the periphery of the polarizing plate to the periphery of the polarizing plate.

According to the inspection apparatus of the present invention, an inspection table capable of inspecting the polarizing plate affixing position is integrally attached to the surface side of the backlight type inspection case for foreign object inspection. When the display panel is placed, the light from the backlight passes through the light transmission part and irradiates the display panel. Therefore, the light is refracted at the part where there is a foreign substance between the glass substrate and the polarizing plate and is different from the other parts. Because it shines, it is possible to confirm the presence or absence of foreign matter. At the same time, the distance from the periphery of the glass substrate to the periphery of the polarizing plate can be measured by the distance measuring member provided on the inspection table, and it can be inspected whether or not the polarizing plate is attached to the regular position of the glass substrate.
As described above, since the two inspections of the foreign substance inspection and the polarizing plate sticking position inspection can be performed by one inspection apparatus, the number of times the display panel is conveyed can be reduced, and the working efficiency can be improved. In addition, since the number of times of conveyance is reduced, it is possible to reduce damage to the display panel caused by interference with other members during conveyance. In addition, the inspection apparatus according to the present invention does not use an expensive machine such as a camera. The device can be manufactured at low cost.

The positioning part of the inspection table is provided over the entire length of two continuous sides of the glass substrate, and a plurality of the distance measuring members are arranged on each of the two sides with a gap in the length direction. preferable.
According to this configuration, since the display panel to be inspected has a rectangular shape, when the distance from the periphery of the glass substrate to the periphery of the polarizing plate is measured at each side position of at least two consecutive sides, the glass substrate of the polarizing plate It is possible to accurately inspect the position of attachment to the skin.

One of the distance measuring members is fixed to the inspection table at a close position of a corner portion sandwiched between two continuous sides of the glass substrate, while the other distance measuring member is along the positioning portion. May be provided so as to be movable.
According to the above configuration, since the distance measuring member can be moved to an appropriate position according to the size of the display panel to be inspected, even if the size of the display panel changes, from the periphery of the glass substrate to the periphery of the polarizing plate Can be measured at an optimum position.

The distance measuring member includes a measuring instrument main body provided with a display unit for displaying a measured value, and a measuring rod that is urged and projected from the measuring instrument main body so as to be movable in an axial direction. Measuring the distance by the amount, when the peripheral edge of the glass substrate of the display panel is brought into contact with the positioning portion, the peripheral edge of the polarizing plate attached to the glass substrate interferes with the tip of the measuring rod, It is preferable that the measurement rod is pressed to displace the protrusion amount, and the distance between the peripheral edge of the glass substrate and the peripheral edge of the polarizing plate is measured by the protrusion amount.
When the distance measuring member has the above-described configuration, the distance between the outer edges of the glass substrate and the polarizing plate can be measured by the protruding amount of the measuring rod by simply placing the display panel in contact with the positioning portion. It is possible to easily and accurately inspect whether or not the position is a regular position. Furthermore, there is no need to use an expensive camera for inspecting the polarizing plate sticking position as described in Patent Document 2.

It is preferable that a shielding material that shields light from the backlight is slidably provided on the inspection table, and the shielding material can be moved to the light transmission portion of the inspection table in accordance with the size of the display panel to be inspected.
The display panel to be inspected has various sizes, but it is preferable that the inspection apparatus can be shared so that the inspection can be performed by one inspection apparatus even if the size of the display panel changes.
For this purpose, the size of the light transmission part of the inspection table may be adjusted to the display panel of the largest size. Since the transmissive part becomes large, the light from the backlight is also transmitted to the light transmissive part around the display panel. In this case, the light transmitted through the light transmission part around the display panel is incident from the periphery of the display panel and the display panel shines white, making it difficult to see the light that is irregularly reflected at the part where the foreign substance is present, making it difficult to perform the foreign substance confirmation inspection. Become.
Therefore, when inspecting a display panel having a small size, it is preferable to provide the above-described shielding material so as not to transmit light to the outer periphery of the display panel.
In the present invention, since the shielding material can be slidable with respect to the inspection table and the size of the light transmission part can be changed, it can be used for inspection of display panels having different sizes.

The distance measuring member may follow and slide when the shielding material and the distance measuring member are connected and the shielding material is slid.
According to the above configuration, when the shielding material is slid in accordance with the size of the display panel, the distance measuring member also slides following the shielding material. Therefore, it is troublesome to align the distance measuring member according to the size of the display panel. Can be omitted.

  Instead of slidably providing the shielding material, a plurality of shielding materials for shielding the light of the backlight are provided on the examination table, and these shielding materials are attached to one side of the examination table so as to be freely mounted. It is also possible to provide rectangular cutouts having different sizes, and to change the size of the light transmission part by the cutouts by turning over the required number of these shielding materials.

It is preferable that a recess is provided on the surface of the inspection table on the display panel arrangement side, and a gap is partially provided between the inspection table and the display panel arranged on the inspection table.
If there is no gap between the inspection table and the display panel arranged on the inspection table, the inspection table and the display panel are in close contact with each other, and the display panel cannot be easily detached from the inspection table after the inspection is completed. With the above-described configuration, a gap is formed between the recess of the inspection table and the display panel on the inspection table. Therefore, when the display panel is removed, an operator puts a finger into the clearance to remove the display panel from the inspection table. It can be removed more easily.

Furthermore, as a second invention, an inspection method using the display panel inspection apparatus of the present invention is provided. The inspection method is:
The display panel is arranged on the inspection table so that the peripheral edge of the display panel is in contact with the positioning portion of the inspection table, and the display is performed depending on whether the light of the illuminating means transmitted through the light transmission portion is refracted in the display panel. While detecting the presence or absence of foreign matter between the glass substrate of the panel and the polarizing plate, the distance measurement member measures the distance from the peripheral edge of the glass substrate of the display panel to the peripheral edge of the polarizing plate, and the polarizing plate is It is characterized by detecting whether or not it is pasted at a regular position.

  According to the inspection method, both the foreign substance inspection and the polarizing plate sticking position inspection can be performed by one inspection apparatus, so that the number of times the display panel is conveyed can be reduced, the work efficiency is improved, and the number of times the conveyance is performed. Therefore, the risk of breakage of the display panel, such as cracking or chipping of the glass substrate due to interference between the display panel and other members, which can occur during transportation, can be reduced.

As described above, according to the present invention, the foreign substance inspection for inspecting whether or not a foreign substance such as a glass piece or dust is mixed between the glass substrate and the polarizing plate, and the polarizing plate is placed at a normal position of the glass substrate. Both inspections of the application position inspection of the polarizing plate for inspecting whether or not it is attached can be performed with one inspection apparatus.
Accordingly, the number of times the display panel is transported can be reduced, the work efficiency can be improved, and the risk of breakage of the display panel due to the interference between the display panel and other members that can occur during transportation can be reduced by the amount of transportation. .
Further, since the inspection apparatus of the present invention does not use an expensive machine such as a camera, the inspection apparatus can be manufactured at a low cost.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 to 8 show a first embodiment of the present invention. The display panel to be inspected in this embodiment is a liquid crystal display panel shown in FIG. 2, and the inspection apparatus 10 of the present invention is a foreign object of the display panel 40. FIG. Both the inspection and the polarizing plate attachment position inspection can be performed.

In the foreign matter inspection, in the display panel 40, a foreign matter 50 is placed between C1 and C2 between a pair of glass substrates 41 and 42 that are sealed and fixed to each other and polarizing plates 44 and 45 that are attached to the respective outer surfaces. It is inspected whether or not is mixed. In the polarizing plate sticking position inspection, whether or not the polarizing plates 44 and 45 are attached to the glass substrates 41 and 42 at regular positions, that is, the outer peripheral edges 41a and 42a of the glass substrates 41 and 42 and the outside of the polarizing plate. It is inspected whether or not the distance L between the peripheral edges 44a and 45a is a normal dimension.
In the display panel 40 of this embodiment, the polarization axes of the two polarizing plates 44 and 45 are parallel to each other, and are normally black that does not transmit light when no electric field is applied.

The inspection apparatus 10 includes a box-shaped inspection case 30 having a surface opening and an inspection table 11 attached to the surface opening side of the inspection case 30. A fluorescent lamp 31 is juxtaposed on the bottom surface of the inspection case 30 (the back surface with respect to the inspection table 11) to form a backlight type inspection case. The inspection table 11 has a configuration in which a transparent plate 13 is attached in a frame 12 made of a rectangular frame, and a display panel 40 to be inspected is placed on the transparent plate 13 and positioned by a positioning unit 15 mounted on the frame 12. At the same time, the distance measuring device 16 can measure the sticking position of the polarizing plate.
As shown in FIG. 1, the inspection case 30 and the inspection table 11 are supported so that the inspection table 11 side is a front side, the inspection case 30 is a back side, and the upper side is inclined vertically. It is mounted on the base 33. Therefore, the display panel 40 placed on the surface of the inspection table 11 is in a posture in which the upper side is inclined rearward to facilitate inspection from the front.

Each configuration will be described in detail below.
The transparent plate 13 attached in the frame 12 of the inspection table 11 is made of a transparent acrylic plate, and constitutes a light transmission part 14 that transmits the light of the fluorescent lamp 31 from the back surface to the display panel 40.
The transparent plate 13 is adjusted to the size of the maximum display panel to be inspected by the inspection apparatus 10. Further, a concave portion 13 e extending in the vertical direction Y is provided in the center of the transparent plate 13 in the horizontal direction X.

  On the surface side of the frame 12, a stepped positioning portion 15 is provided along a lower side 13 a of the transparent plate 13 and one side 13 b (left side in FIG. 1) continuous with the lower side 13 a. The inner surface 15a on the transparent plate 13 side of the positioning portion 15 is an orthogonal surface with respect to the surface of the transparent plate 13, and is a contact surface that positions the peripheral edge of the display panel 40 in contact. In this embodiment, the positioning part 15 is provided over the full length of the lower side 13a and the one side 13b of the transparent plate 13, and it is L-shaped. In addition, you may provide a positioning part partially at intervals along the lower side 13a and the one side 13b.

  The positioning unit 15 is provided with two distance measuring devices 16 on each of the L-shaped sides. As shown in FIG. 3, the distance measuring device 16 includes a measuring device main body 16a provided with a display unit 16b on which measured values are displayed, and a measuring bar 16c protruding from the measuring device main body 16a. The measuring rod 16c is movable in the axial direction. When the tip 16c-1 of the measuring rod 16c is pressed, the measuring rod 16c is inserted into the measuring device main body 16a, and when the pressing is released, the measuring rod 16c returns to its original position. It is so energized. That is, the distance measuring device 16 measures the required distance by the amount of protrusion of the measuring rod 16c displaced by pressing the measuring rod 16c.

As shown in FIG. 3, the distance measuring device 16 is attached through the positioning portion 15, and the measuring rod 16 c protrudes from the inner surface 15 a of the positioning portion 15 in a direction orthogonal to the inner surface 15 a, The distal end side of the measuring instrument main body 16a is protruded from the outer surface 15b of the positioning portion 15, and the display portion 16b of the positioning portion 15 is exposed so as to be visible. The distance measuring device 16 measures the distance L from the inner surface 15a of the positioning portion 15 to the tip 16c-1 of the measuring rod 16c, and displays the value of the distance L measured by the display portion 16b.
Further, when the measuring bar 16c is arranged at a position close to the surface of the transparent plate 13, and the display panel 40 is arranged on the examination table 11 as shown in FIG. The polarizing plate 45 interferes with the measuring rod 16c, but the glass substrates 41 and 42 do not interfere with the measuring rod 16c.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3A, a distance measuring device 16A is fixed in the vicinity of the corner portion 15c of the positioning portion 15 where the corner portion of the display panel 40 is positioned.
On the other hand, the distance measuring device 16B provided at a position away from the corner 15c is slidable along the extending direction of the positioning portion 15, as shown in FIG. Therefore, the positioning portion 15 to which the distance measuring device 16B is attached is provided with a long through hole 15d extending in the sliding direction of the distance measuring device 16B.

  On the back side of the inspection table 11, shielding plates 17 and 18 (shielding materials) made of a black rectangular acrylic plate that shields the light from the fluorescent lamp 31 are provided. One shielding plate 17 is slidably mounted in the left-right direction X on the other side 13c side of the transparent plate 13, while the other shielding plate 18 is slidably mounted in the vertical direction Y on the upper side 13d side of the transparent plate 13 for inspection. The area of the light transmission part 14 can be adjusted according to the size of the target display panel 40.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 4A, in the state where the shielding plates 17 and 18 are pulled out to the maximum from the inspection table 11, the shielding plates 17 and 18 are not arranged at positions facing the transparent plate 13, and the transparent plate The entire surface 13 is the light transmitting portion 14. On the other hand, when the shielding plates 17 and 18 are slid and pulled toward the transparent plate 13, the shielding plates 17 and 18 are disposed to face a part of the transparent plate 13 as shown in FIG. Only the portion of the transparent plate 13 on which 18 is not opposed is the light transmitting portion 14.

As shown in FIG. 5, the slide mechanism of the shielding plates 17 and 18 is provided with a guide rail 19 extending in the left-right direction X on the back surface of the upper and lower frame portions 12 a of the frame 12 of the inspection table 11. The slide protrusion 17a is slidably fitted in the guide rail 19. When the shielding plate 17 is moved, the slide protrusion 17a of the shielding plate 17 is slid along the guide rail 19, and the shielding plate 17 is slid in the left-right direction X.
On the other hand, a guide rail 20 is provided on the back surface of the left and right frame portions 12b of the frame 12 with the shielding plate 17 straddling the vertical direction Y, and a slide protrusion 18a provided on the shielding plate 18 is slidable in the guide rail 20. It is mated. When the shielding plate 18 is moved, the slide protrusion 18a of the shielding plate 18 is slid along the guide rail 20, and the shielding plate 18 is slid in the vertical direction Y.
In this way, the shielding plates 17 and 18 are arranged at positions shifted in the front-rear direction Z perpendicular to the left-right direction X and the up-down direction Y, so that the shielding plates 17 and 18 can slide without interfering with each other. .
Further, in order to position the slidable shielding plates 17 and 18 at a required location, as shown in FIG. 6, the bolt B is tightened through a bolt hole 12 c provided at the required location of the frame 12, and the shaft portion tip Ba of the bolt B is tightened. Are held by the shielding plates 17 and 18.

  Further, a distance measuring device 16B attached to the positioning unit 15 in a slidable state is connected to the shielding plates 17 and 18 via connecting bars 21 and 22 extending from the front surface side to the back surface side of the inspection table 11. Therefore, when the shielding plates 17 and 18 are slid, the distance measuring unit 16B moves following the shielding plates 17 and 18, and the distance between the distance measuring unit 16B and the shielding plates 17 and 18 is kept constant.

As shown in FIG. 5, the inspection case 30 on the back side of the inspection table 11 has a plurality of fluorescent lamps 31 arranged in parallel at a position facing the transparent plate 13, and between the transparent plate 13 and the fluorescent lamp 31. A diffusion sheet 32 is disposed on the transparent plate 13 so that the light from the fluorescent lamp 31 strikes the transparent plate 13 evenly.
Further, the inspection case 30 is provided with a through hole 30a through which the shielding plates 17 and 18 are penetrated, the shielding plates 17 and 18 are projected to the outside through the through hole 30a, and an operator slides the shielding plates 17 and 18 manually. To be able to.

Next, a method for inspecting the display panel 40 using the inspection apparatus 10 will be described.
First, the shielding plates 17 and 18 are slid in the required directions according to the size of the display panel 40 to be inspected, and as shown in FIG. 7A, the light transmitting portion 14 is a portion where the shielding plates 17 and 18 are not arranged. Is the same shape as the display panel 40.

  Next, with the fluorescent lamp 31 turned on, the display panel 40 that has completed the attaching operation of the polarizing plates 44 and 45 is placed on the inspection table 11, and a single inspection device 10 performs foreign matter inspection and polarizing plate attachment position inspection. Two inspections are performed.

As shown in FIG. 7B, two continuous sides of the peripheral edge 42a of the glass base 42 of the display panel 40 are brought into contact with the inner surface 15a of the positioning part 15, respectively.
At this time, as shown in FIG. 8B, the peripheral edge 45a of the polarizing plate 45 on the inspection table 11 side of the display panel 40 interferes with the tip 16c-1 of the measuring rod 16c of the distance measuring device 16, and the measuring rod 16c is It is pressed to the positioning part 15 side.
Thus, when the peripheral edge 42a of the glass substrate 42 is brought into contact with the inner surface 15a of the positioning portion 15, the distance L from the inner surface 15a of the positioning portion 15 to the tip 16c-1 of the measuring rod 16c is equal to the peripheral edge 42a of the glass substrate 42. It corresponds to the distance from the peripheral edge 45a of the polarizing plate 45. Therefore, the distance from the peripheral edge 42a of the glass substrate 42 to the peripheral edge 45a of the polarizing plate 45 can be measured by the amount of protrusion of the measuring bar 16c from the positioning part 15, and the measured value is displayed on the display part 16b of the measuring instrument main body 16a.

In the inspection apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, four distance measuring devices 16 are provided, and the distance from the peripheral edge 42a of the glass substrate 42 to the peripheral edge 45a of the polarizing plate 45 is measured at each of both sides of the two continuous sides of the display panel 40. Therefore, if all the measured values are within the predetermined range, it can be confirmed that the polarizing plate 45 is stuck at the normal position of the glass substrate 42, and even if one of the measured values is out of the predetermined range. For example, it can be detected that the polarizing plate 45 is not attached to the regular position.
For example, in the case of a 32-inch display panel, if the distance from the peripheral edge 42a of the glass substrate 42 to the peripheral edge 45a of the polarizing plate 45 is within a range of 5 to 10 mm, it is determined that the polarizing plate 45 is stuck at the regular position. Is done.
For the inspection of the attachment position of the polarizing plate 44 attached to the back surface of the glass substrate 41, the display panel 40 is turned over and placed on the inspection table 11, and the same operation as described above is performed.

The display panel 40 is irradiated with light from the fluorescent lamp 31 from the back side through the light transmitting portion 14 of the inspection table 11. Since the display panel 40 is normally black, when the display panel 40 is in a state where no electric field is applied, the display panel 40 does not transmit the light from the fluorescent lamp 31 and the surface is dark.
If there is a foreign object 50 such as a glass piece or dust between the glass substrate 41 and the polarizing plate 44 of the display panel 40 and between the glass substrate 42 and the polarizing plate 45, the fluorescent lamp 31 that has entered the display panel 40 with the foreign object 50 is used. The light is irregularly reflected, and the irregularly reflected light is transmitted through the polarizing plate 44 on the surface side, and partially shines white as shown in FIG. 7B. The white light can visually detect that there is a foreign substance 50 between the glass substrate 41 and the polarizing plate 4 and between the glass substrate 42 and the polarizing plate 45.

  As described above, when an abnormality is detected in the foreign object inspection and the polarizing plate pasting position inspection performed by one inspection apparatus 10, the polarizing plate on the side where the abnormality is detected is peeled off, and a foreign object is detected. After removing the foreign matter, the polarizing plate is again attached to the glass substrate and inspected by the inspection apparatus 10 again.

As described above, in the inspection apparatus 10 of the present invention, the foreign object inspection for inspecting whether there is a foreign object such as a glass piece or dust between the glass substrate 41 and the polarizing plate 44 and between the glass substrate 42 and the polarizing plate 45; In addition, it is possible to perform both inspections of the attaching position inspection of the polarizing plate for inspecting whether or not the polarizing plates 44 and 45 are attached to the normal positions of the glass substrates 41 and 42.
Therefore, since it is not necessary to transport the display panel 40 to a different inspection apparatus for each inspection, the number of transports can be reduced, the work efficiency is improved, and the display panel 40 and other members that can occur during transport are reduced by the amount of transports that are reduced. It is possible to reduce the risk of breakage of the display panel 40 such as breakage or chipping of the glass substrates 41 and 42 due to the interference.

In addition, since the shielding plates 17 and 18 can be slid to match the shape and size of the light transmission portion 14 with various sizes of display panels, the inspection apparatus 10 can inspect display panels of different sizes. .
Further, since the recess 13e is provided in the transparent plate 13 of the inspection table 11 and a gap is provided between the transparent plate 13 and the display panel 40 at the position of the recess 13e, when the display panel 40 is removed, However, by putting a finger into the gap, the display panel 40 can be easily removed from the inspection table 11 and work efficiency can be improved.
Furthermore, since the inspection apparatus 10 of the present invention does not use an expensive machine such as a camera, the inspection apparatus 10 can be manufactured at a low cost.

In the present embodiment, two distance measuring devices 16 are provided on each side of the positioning unit 15 of the inspection table 11, but three or more distance measuring devices 16 are provided on each side, and only on both sides of the side of the display panel 40. It is good also as a structure which can measure the distance of the periphery of a glass substrate and the periphery of a polarizing plate not in the center.
Further, the display panel to be inspected may be normally white that allows light to pass through in a state where no electric field is applied.

FIG. 9 shows a modification of the first embodiment.
In this modification, a pair of measuring rods 16 c are provided on the distance measuring device 16, and not only the position facing the polarizing plate 45 attached to one glass substrate 42 but also the polarizing plate 44 attached to the other glass substrate 41. It is also provided at a position opposite to.

According to the said structure, when the display panel 40 is arrange | positioned in the predetermined position of the test | inspection stand 11, as shown in FIG.9 (B), the distance from the peripheral edge 41a of the glass substrate 41 to the peripheral edge 44a of the polarizing plate 44 can also be measured, The sticking positions of the polarizing plates 44 and 45 on both sides of the display panel 40 can be inspected simultaneously. Therefore, it is not necessary to dispose the display panel 40 over the inspection table 11 in order to inspect the attachment positions of the polarizing plates 44 and 45 on both sides.
In addition, since another structure and an effect are the same as that of 1st Embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted.

10 to 12 show a second embodiment of the present invention.
In this embodiment, the shielding material which shields the light of the fluorescent lamp is different from that of the first embodiment.
In other words, in the present embodiment, the shielding material is formed by a plurality of shielding sheets 60, is placed on the inspection table 11, and only the upper part is attached to the upper frame of the frame of the inspection table 11.
In the present embodiment, the four shielding sheets 60A, 60B, 60C, and 60D are arranged in an overlapping manner, but may be two, three, or five or more depending on the type of display panel to be inspected.

  Each shielding sheet 60 is provided with a rectangular cutout at a corner on the side close to the corner 15 c of the positioning portion 15 of the inspection table 11, and the cutout has a different size for each shielding sheet 60. Of the overlapped shielding sheets 60, the cutout 60A-1 of the lowermost shielding sheet 60A on the inspection table 11 side is the largest, and the cutouts 60B-1, 60C-1 of the shielding sheets 60B, 60C, and 60D as they go to the upper layer , 60D-1 are made smaller in order.

As shown in FIG. 10, when all the shielding sheets 60 </ b> A to 60 </ b> D are hung on the surface side of the inspection table 11, only a portion of the transparent plate 13 exposed to the surface side by the notch 60 </ b> D- 1 of the shielding sheet 60 </ b> D. It becomes the light transmission part 14.
Then, as shown in FIG. 11, when only the shielding sheet 60D is turned over to the back side of the inspection table 11, the notch 60C-1 of the shielding sheet 60C larger than the notch 60D-1 of the shielding sheet 60D in the transparent plate 13 is caused. Only the portion exposed on the surface side becomes the light transmission portion 14.
Further, when the shielding sheet 60 is turned over and all the shielding sheets 60A to 60D are turned over to the back side of the inspection table 11 as shown in FIG. 12, the shielding sheet 60 is not disposed on the transparent plate 13, and the transparent plate The entire surface 13 is the light transmitting portion 14.
In this way, by changing the number of shielding sheets 60 that turn back to the back side of the inspection table 11, the size of the light transmission portion 14 can be changed, and display panels having different sizes in the inspection apparatus 10 of the present embodiment. Can be inspected.
In addition, since another structure and an effect are the same as that of 1st Embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted.

It is a perspective view which shows the inspection apparatus of the display panel of 1st Embodiment of this invention. The display panel is shown, (A) is a plan view and (B) is a side view. (A) (B) is drawing which shows the distance measuring device attached to the inspection stand. (A) Drawing which shows the inspection apparatus which pulled out the shielding board from the inspection apparatus, and was used for the inspection of a large size display panel, (B) pulled the shielding board into the inspection apparatus, and was used for the inspection of a small size display panel It is drawing which shows an inspection apparatus. It is an AA line sectional view of an inspection device. It is drawing which shows the positioning structure of a shielding board. (A) (B) is drawing which shows the arrangement | positioning method of the display panel to an examination table. (A) (B) is drawing which shows the method of the sticking position confirmation test | inspection of a polarizing plate. (A) (B) is drawing which shows the modification of 1st Embodiment. (A) (B) is drawing which shows the inspection apparatus of 2nd Embodiment of this invention. (A) (B) is drawing which shows the state which turned over a part of shielding sheet. (A) (B) is drawing which shows the state which turned over all the shielding sheets. It is drawing which shows the conventional foreign material confirmation test | inspection.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Display panel inspection apparatus 11 Inspection stand 13 Transparent plate 13e Concave part 14 Light transmission part 15 Positioning part 16 Distance measuring device (distance measuring means)
16a Measuring instrument body 16b Display unit 16c Measuring rods 17, 18 Shield plate 30 Inspection case 31 Fluorescent lamp (illuminating means)
40 Display panel 41, 42 Glass substrate 44, 45 Polarizing plate 60A, 60B, 60C, 60D Shielding sheet (shielding material)

Claims (9)

A polarizing plate pasting position inspection means and a foreign matter inspection means are integrally provided for a display panel in which a polarizing plate is attached to the glass substrate with a predetermined distance from the outer periphery of the rectangular glass substrate,
On the surface opening side of the backlight type inspection case constituting the foreign substance inspection means, an inspection table equipped with a polarizing plate pasting position inspection means is mounted,
The inspection table includes a light transmission part on which the display panel is placed, a positioning part for positioning two continuous sides of the glass substrate of the placed display panel, and a glass substrate in contact with the positioning part A display panel inspection apparatus comprising a distance measuring member for measuring a distance from the periphery of the polarizing plate to the periphery of the polarizing plate.   The positioning portion of the inspection table is provided over the entire length of two continuous sides of the glass substrate, and a plurality of the distance measuring members are arranged at intervals in the length direction on the two sides. The display panel inspection apparatus according to 1.   One of the distance measuring members is fixed to the inspection table at a close position of a corner portion sandwiched between two continuous sides of the glass substrate, while the other distance measuring member is along the positioning portion. 3. The display panel inspection apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the display panel inspection apparatus is movably provided.   The distance measuring member includes a measuring instrument main body provided with a display unit for displaying a measured value, and a measuring rod that is urged and projected from the measuring instrument main body so as to be movable in an axial direction. The distance is measured by the amount. When the peripheral edge of the glass substrate of the display panel is brought into contact with the positioning portion, the peripheral edge of the polarizing plate attached to the glass substrate interferes with the tip of the measuring rod and the measurement is performed. The display according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the protrusion is displaced by pressing the bar, and the distance between the peripheral edge of the glass substrate and the peripheral edge of the polarizing plate is measured based on the protrusion amount. Panel inspection device.   2. A slidable shielding material for shielding the light of the backlight is provided on the inspection table, and the shielding material can be moved to a light transmitting portion of the inspection table in accordance with the size of a display panel to be inspected. The display panel inspection apparatus according to claim 4.   The display panel inspection apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the shielding member and the distance measuring member are connected, and the distance measuring member follows the slide of the shielding member.   A plurality of shielding materials for shielding the light of the backlight are provided on the inspection table, and these shielding materials are attached to one side of the inspection table so as to be freely mounted. Each of the shielding materials has a rectangular shape with a different size. 5. The display panel inspection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a cutout portion, wherein a size of the light transmission portion can be changed by the cutout portion by applying a required number of the shielding materials.   The concave portion is provided on the surface of the inspection table on the display panel arrangement side, and a gap is partially provided between the inspection table and the display panel arranged on the inspection table. The display panel inspection apparatus according to Item 1. An inspection method using the display panel inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
The display panel is arranged on the inspection table so that the peripheral edge of the display panel is in contact with the positioning portion of the inspection table, and the display is performed depending on whether the light of the illuminating means transmitted through the light transmission portion is refracted in the display panel. While detecting the presence or absence of foreign matter between the glass substrate of the panel and the polarizing plate, the distance measurement member measures the distance from the peripheral edge of the glass substrate of the display panel to the peripheral edge of the polarizing plate, and the polarizing plate is An inspection method characterized by detecting whether or not affixed to a regular position.

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