JP2009080042A - Circuit pattern inspection device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the following problem: as to an inspection device to inspect a conductive pattern by a non-contact sensor, the movement accuracy and the technical difficulty level of the moving mechanism of a sensor part becomes high during inspection by the height differences on the surface of an inspection stage and the warp of the substrate which are caused by a larger-sized substrate, and even its manufacturing cost is affected thereby. <P>SOLUTION: In this circuit pattern inspection device formed by using a simple conveyance mechanism, the non-contact sensor part and the inspection stage are fixed during inspection, the substrate to be conveyed passes between them with the substrate floated from the inspection stage by a fixed distance, a distance between the conductive pattern on the substrate to be inspected and the sensor part becomes fixed, and vertical fluctuation such as waviness or the like on the potential level of a detected detection signal is suppressed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a circuit pattern inspection apparatus capable of inspecting the quality of a conductive pattern formed on an upper surface of a substrate passing through a fixed sensor unit in a non-contact manner.

  In recent years, display devices using liquid crystals on a glass substrate, so-called liquid crystal display devices and plasma display devices, have been mainstream instead of vacuum tube display devices such as cathode ray tubes. In the manufacturing process of these display devices, inspection for the presence or absence of disconnection and short circuit is performed on the conductive pattern to be the circuit wiring formed on the glass substrate.

  As a conventional method for inspecting a conductive pattern, for example, as described in Patent Document 1, a pin tip of an inspection probe is sequentially brought into contact with both ends of a conductive pattern, and a DC inspection is performed from one inspection probe. There is a contact type inspection method (pin contact method) in which a signal is applied, a DC inspection signal propagated from the other inspection probe is detected, and the presence or absence of a detection signal is inspected for disconnection or short circuit.

As a different inspection method, Patent Document 2 discloses that an AC inspection signal is applied from one inspection probe while at least two inspection probes are moved capacitively coupled to both ends of a conductor pattern, and the other inspection probe is used. The AC inspection signal propagated through the conductor pattern is detected by. The presence or absence of disconnection and short circuit in the conductive pattern is inspected by the change in the waveform of the detection signal.
JP-A-62-269075 JP 2004-191381 A

  In the liquid crystal display device described above, an increase in the size of the display screen and the densification of the pixels are realized by the advancement of manufacturing technology in accordance with the user's request. In addition, manufacturers can handle larger substrates so that they can produce as many products as possible in a single manufacturing process in order to respond to the increase in production volume and to keep the production cost per product low. A production line using manufacturing equipment is built. For this reason, the circuit pattern inspection apparatus also requires a configuration that can handle the large substrate.

  In particular, as an inspection device for an electronic circuit in which pixels are densified, a pin contact type inspection device creates a probe card composed of a plurality of inspection probes with a narrow pitch for each product, and thus the manufacturing cost is low. It is high. In addition, since the pins contact the conductive pattern whose line width is extremely narrow and cause damage, it may cause problems in the subsequent manufacturing process, and it is suitable for dense pattern inspection. Some devices are hard to say. For this reason, it is desirable to use an inspection apparatus in which the inspection probe is not in contact with the conductor pattern and uses capacitive coupling.

  In an inspection apparatus that uses non-contact and capacitive coupling without pin contact, the inspection probe is spaced apart from the conductive pattern and receives the AC inspection signal propagated from the conductive pattern. Signal. In order to increase the inspection accuracy, it is necessary to reduce the overall swell of the detected AC inspection signal and to make the signal change of the defective portion conspicuous.

  Therefore, it is important that the same capacitive coupling state continues when passing over the conductive patterns to be arranged, that is, the distance between the inspection probe and the conductive pattern is constant in units of several tens of μm. It will be.

  However, as shown in FIG. 8, the large glass substrate 4 to be inspected is thinner than the size, and thus is easily affected by gravity, and the height difference (h1, h2) on the surface of the inspection stage 52 to be placed. ) Greatly affects. In addition, a slight amount of warpage may occur overall due to heat applied to the process. Furthermore, since the moving mechanism of the inspection probe 51 is moved on a glass substrate that is several meters square, the structure of the moving mechanism becomes complicated.

  In order to solve the problems caused by such a large substrate, production of a flat inspection stage, non-floating adsorption of the glass inspection substrate during inspection, and fluctuation in height (distance between the inspection probe and the substrate) are required. No moving mechanism is required. In any case, requesting the current inspection accuracy or higher inspection accuracy for a large substrate is expected to increase the technical difficulty and significantly increase the manufacturing cost.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a circuit pattern inspection apparatus that is optimal for disconnection and short circuit inspection of a conductive pattern formed on a large substrate while maintaining a constant distance between the opposing conductive pattern and the inspection probe. .

  In order to achieve the above object, the AC inspection signal propagates through the conductive pattern by capacitively coupling the non-contact AC inspection signal to a plurality of rows of conductive patterns formed on the substrate to be conveyed. A non-contact detecting unit, an inspection stage that is separated from and opposed to the sensor unit and is made of a conductor, and a transport mechanism that transports the substrate between the sensor unit and the inspection stage. And a substrate position adjusting mechanism that is provided on a side of the inspection stage facing the sensor unit and maintains the substrate passing therethrough in a state of air floating at a constant distance, and the detection obtained continuously by the sensor unit. There is provided a circuit pattern inspection apparatus comprising: a determination unit that determines that a conductive pattern having a sharp amplitude change in a signal is defective.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a circuit pattern inspection apparatus that is optimal for disconnection and short circuit inspection of a conductive pattern formed on a large substrate while maintaining a constant distance between the opposing conductive pattern and the inspection probe.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
The circuit pattern inspection apparatus of the present invention inspects the quality of conductive patterns formed in rows at regular intervals for forming a dot matrix display panel on the surface of a glass substrate. In the present embodiment, the conductive patterns have substantially the same pattern width, and the pattern intervals are also substantially equal. However, when the sensor part wants to move, if the sensor pair is opposed to both ends of the same conductive pattern, the width of the middle part of the conductive pattern may change, or inspection may be performed even if the pattern intervals are not equal. Can be implemented.

  FIG. 1 shows a block configuration example of the circuit pattern inspection apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of the detection signal processing unit.

  This circuit pattern inspection apparatus is roughly divided into a sensor unit 1 that performs non-contact inspection with a conductive pattern to be inspected, and an inspection stage that is spaced apart from the sensor unit 1 and maintains a separation distance (height) during inspection. 5, the transport mechanism 7 that transports the inspection target substrate 4 so as to pass between the sensor unit 1 and the inspection stage 5, and the entire apparatus, and the substrate 4 based on the detection signal obtained from the sensor unit 1. The controller 8 is configured to determine whether the plurality of conductive patterns 19 formed above are disconnected or short-circuited.

  Furthermore, as peripheral devices, an input unit 11 such as a keyboard and a touch panel, and a display unit 12 for displaying setting conditions, inspection conditions, and the like are provided. Further, a host device 15 for remotely managing or monitoring may be provided. Input of inspection conditions and the like from the host device 15 is also possible.

3 and 4 show examples of the external configuration of the circuit pattern inspection apparatus.
In the present embodiment, a rectangular base portion (stand) 31 longer than the width of the substrate to be inspected, struts 32 provided at both ends of the base portion 31, and a guide portion 33 horizontally mounted between the struts. A plurality of guide rails 33a provided on the upper surface of the guide part 33, a sensor support member 34 provided to slide on the guide rail 33a, the sensor part 1 suspended from the sensor support member 34, and a sensor part 1, and an inspection stage 7 provided at a position facing the lower side of 1. Further, on the base portion 31, a transport frame 35 disposed along the substrate transport direction orthogonal to the guide portion 33, and a stopper member 36 that can move on the transport frame 35 and lock the front end and the end of the substrate 4. And a plurality of transport rollers 37 that are arranged uniformly upstream and downstream in the transport direction with the inspection stage 7 sandwiched above the transport base 35. In the following description, the length of each probe of the sensor unit is referred to with respect to the width direction of the conductive patterns to be arranged (X direction in FIG. 3 or the substrate transport direction). It is called length.

  In such a configuration, the sensor unit 1 is provided with at least a pair of application probes 1a and detection probes 1b. Both probes of the present embodiment do not have pins, and have an area according to the area of the object to be inspected (depending on the design, for example, about one pattern or two patterns with respect to the conductor pattern). It is a board. The application probe 1a is supplied with an inspection signal having an AC waveform from the inspection signal supply unit 2, and applies the inspection signal to the conductive pattern 19 to be inspected by capacitive coupling. The detection probe 1b is located above the conductive pattern 19 to be inspected, and receives (detects) an inspection signal propagated through the conductive pattern 19 by capacitive coupling. The detection probe 1b detects a disconnection failure of the conductive pattern 19 to be inspected. In the present embodiment, the detection probe 1 b is formed to have substantially the same length as the width of the conductive pattern 19 or at least shorter than the length including the pitch width between the conductive patterns 19. This is because it is easy to identify a conductive pattern having a defect. However, actually, even if the detection probe 1b is hooked on two or three conductive patterns, the peak of the detected signal is obtained by causing each center of the application probe 1a and the detection probe 1b to face the same conductive pattern. It is also possible to specify a conductive pattern having a defect from the value. In addition, a second detection probe (not shown) is arranged in the vicinity of the detection probe 1b so as to be positioned above the conductive pattern adjacent to the conductive pattern 19 to be inspected, and the conductive pattern 19 to be inspected. A short circuit is detected.

  Therefore, if it is only a disconnection inspection, it can be constituted by a pair of probes. In the case of a short-circuit inspection, one application probe 1a and two detection probes 1b are desirable and may be appropriately selected and provided. In addition, if the detection probe 1b has a width (area) applied to the two conductive patterns 19, it is possible to detect whether the disconnection and the short circuit are good or bad with one detection probe 1b. Further, the second detection probe is not necessarily located above the conductive pattern adjacent to the conductive pattern 19 to be inspected, and can be detected even if it is arranged at a position where the distance of several conductive patterns is separated. .

  The number of these probe pairs is different depending on the group of conductive patterns formed on the substrate 4 (division of conductive patterns to be one display device at the time of product). In the example shown in FIG. Two pairs of probes are provided for testing one group. The number of probe pairs is defined by the specifications of the board, and unused probe pairs are retracted outside the board inspection range in the guide portion 33.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the height position adjustment mechanism 10 for adjusting the facing distance (height position) between the sensor unit 1 and the inspection stage 5 and the conveyance direction of the substrate 4 are controlled by the control unit 8. A retraction mechanism 9 that moves the sensor unit 1 in the direction and retreats to a predetermined position is provided.

  The retraction mechanism 9 includes a guide part 33 and a drive part (not shown) provided in the sensor part 1 or the guide part 33. The retraction mechanism 9 moves the sensor unit 1 over the guide unit 33 to retreat out of the substrate inspection range when the sensor unit 1 is not used, when the apparatus is stopped, or during inspection. If the retracting mechanism 9 is used, movement along the forming direction of the conductive pattern 19 is also possible, and in order to detect where the defective portion exists on the pattern with respect to the conductive pattern 19 determined to be defective. In addition, the sensor unit 1 can also be used as a moving mechanism for moving the sensor unit 1 along the direction in which the conductive pattern is formed. In addition, you may provide a moving mechanism separately for the position detection of the defective location in this conductive pattern.

  A distance measuring sensor 13 for measuring the distance between the substrate 4 and the inspection stage 5 and the distance between the inspection stage 5 and the sensor unit 1 is provided in the vicinity of the inspection stage 5 or the sensor unit 1. The distance measurement sensor 13 irradiates the substrate 4 with, for example, laser light, and detects the distance between the substrate 4 and the inspection stage 5 from the minute reflected light. Alternatively, the distance between the substrate 4 and the inspection stage 5 may be calculated by irradiating the conductive pattern 19 on the substrate 4, detecting the distance from the reflected light, and subtracting the thickness of the substrate 4. Similarly, the distance between the inspection stage 5 or the sensor unit 1 is also measured from the reflected light.

  Further, an imaging unit 14 that images the conductive pattern 4 of the substrate 4 is provided in the vicinity of the sensor unit 1, and the inspection start position is positioned from the captured image. Further, it may be attached to the sensor unit 1 so as to be integrally movable, and an image of a defective portion on the detected pattern may be captured and displayed.

  The inspection stage 5 is made of a conductor, and has a width L2 that is, as shown in FIG. 5A, in particular, the width L1 of the detection probe 1b of the sensor unit 1 that is less than twice the same width. Further, as shown in FIG. 5B, a substrate position adjusting mechanism 6 is provided on the upper surface of the inspection stage 5.

  The substrate position adjusting mechanism 6 of the present embodiment supplies air to the air discharge part 61 formed by a porous member having a disk shape, the suction port 62 provided at or near the center of the disk, and the air discharge part 61, for example. The air supply part 63 which consists of a compressor etc. which performs, and the air suction part 64 which consists of a pump etc. which inhale from the suction port 62 are comprised. In the present embodiment, four air discharge units 61 are conceptually illustrated in FIG. 5B, but are not limited to this, and pass between the sensor unit 1 and the inspection stage 6. It is only necessary to provide the number of substrates that can maintain the air floating state at a constant distance (either a constant distance from the inspection stage or a constant distance from the sensor unit). Accordingly, the air discharge portions 61 may be arranged in a plurality of rows. In the present embodiment, the air discharge unit 61 has a circular shape when viewed from above. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the air discharge unit 61 may be arranged in a rectangular matrix arrangement or appropriately shifted. Furthermore, the air discharge part 61 may be formed in a hexagonal shape so as to have a honeycomb arrangement.

  The substrate position adjusting mechanism 6 may be configured using a known air float mechanism. In the air supply part 63, since it is necessary to supply the air of a fixed flow volume, you may control using a mass flow controller, for example. Moreover, it is not limited to air (air), You may use nitrogen and an inert gas. Furthermore, if the inspection is carried out immediately after the formation of the conductive pattern in relation to the manufacturing process, the temperature of the gas to be discharged is adjusted (lowered) in order to float, and the substrate 4 is cooled. Can also be implemented.

  In this configuration, the air discharge unit 61 uniformly discharges air that has passed through the porous member from the entire surface. The suction port 62 sucks a certain amount of discharged air. In such a configuration, when the substrate 4 such as glass is placed on the inspection stage 5 by adjusting the ratio of the air discharge amount and the suction amount, the substrate 4 floats with the discharged air and sucks. Will limit the ascent distance. That is, the substrate 4 above the inspection stage is stopped in the air at the position where the lifting distance is adjusted. In the present embodiment, the floating mechanism is not limited to the above-described configuration as long as the substrate 4 can maintain a floating state at a constant distance from the inspection stage 5.

  In this embodiment, since the inspection stage 5 and the sensor unit 1 are fixed at the time of inspection, the transport mechanism 7 that transports the substrate 4 so as to pass between the inspection stage 5 and the sensor unit 1 is provided. Yes.

  Various known mechanisms can be applied to the transport mechanism 7, for example, a belt transport mechanism, a roller transport mechanism in which a large number of rollers are arranged, a motor slide transport mechanism using a linear motor, and air levitation transport by air levitation. The structure which combined these may be sufficient. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a roller transport mechanism that is disposed on the upstream side and the downstream side in the transport direction in the inspection stage 5 and configured using a plurality of rollers 37 is taken as an example. In the present embodiment, it is divided into an upstream side and a downstream side with the inspection stage 7 in between, and a part of the stopper portion is arranged to overlap. These rollers 37 are provided with a rotation drive mechanism (not shown), and are rotated by the control of the control unit 8 to convey the substrate 4 to be placed. In addition, as long as the board | substrate 4 is the range conveyed appropriately, it is not necessary to provide a drive mechanism in all the rollers 37. FIG.

  In the present embodiment, for example, the stopper portions 36 are provided so as to be respectively placed on the front end side and the rear end side of the substrate 4. The stopper portion 36 is provided with a sliding mechanism that slides at a constant speed in the transport direction. These stopper portions 36 can be controlled so that the substrate 4 is conveyed at a constant speed when the substrate 4 is conveyed by the roller 37. Further, the roller 37 is brought into a free state without providing a driving mechanism, or is brought into a floating state by an air floating mechanism instead of the roller 37, and the stopper portion 36 is slid in the carrying direction to carry the substrate. It is also possible.

  Furthermore, as a modification, for example, a belt conveyance mechanism using a belt conveyor can be adopted. What is necessary is just to produce a belt track in which the belt conveyor avoids the inspection stage 7. That is, it is configured such that the belt conveyor once sinks downward before the inspection stage 7, passes below the inspection stage 7, and rises again. In this configuration, since the transport speed of the upstream and downstream substrates sandwiching the inspection stage 7 is the same, the transport speed can be easily controlled. Furthermore, a large number of small holes are opened in the belt conveyor, a fan or the like is provided inside, and air is sucked from the inside, so that the substrate 4 is conveyed while being adsorbed to the belt conveyor, and prevents substrate displacement during conveyance. be able to.

  The output signal processing unit 3 also amplifies the minute analog detection signal sent from the sensor unit 1 to a predetermined voltage level (a level at which quality can be determined), and the detection amplified by the amplification circuit 21. A band-pass filter 22 that removes a noise component of the signal and passes a necessary band, a rectifier circuit 23 that full-wave rectifies a detection signal from the band-pass filter 22, and a smoothing circuit that smoothes the detection signal subjected to full-wave rectification 24. Note that the rectifier circuit 23 that performs full-wave rectification and the smoothing circuit 24 that smoothes the detection signal are not necessarily provided.

  The control unit 8 is set by the CPU 16, a central processing unit (CPU) 16 that performs arithmetic processing according to programs and set calculation conditions, a storage unit 17 that stores programs used for the CPU 16, control parameters, inspection results, and the like. And a determination unit 18 for determining disconnection failure or short-circuit failure of the conductive pattern to be inspected according to the determination criteria.

  The inspection signal supply unit 2 generates, for example, an AC 200 KHz, 200 V sine wave signal as the inspection signal and supplies the sine wave signal to the application probe 1a. In such a case, since the detected inspection signal is also 200 KHz, a bandpass filter that allows 200 KHz to pass is used as the bandpass filter 22. The inspection signal is not limited to a sine wave signal, but may be a signal having an amplitude, and may be a rectangular wave or a pulse wave.

Next, the inspection by the circuit pattern inspection apparatus of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.
First, at the time of start-up, an inspector performs initial setting of each component in the apparatus and input of inspection parameters (inspection parameters defined by a substrate to be inspected and a conductive pattern) to set inspection conditions. The inspection conditions include numerical values defined by the substrate to be inspected and the conductive pattern as predetermined inspection parameters, for example, setting of the size and thickness of the substrate to be inspected, the position of the sensor unit with respect to the conductive pattern Matching or the like is set based on a normal routine. At this time, condition setting and a test inspection may be performed using a dummy substrate or the like.

  At this time, the substrate position adjustment mechanism 6 adjusts the substrate 4 to be inspected from the inspection stage 5 so that the substrate 4 is lifted, for example, by a distance of 30 μm. Further, the height position adjusting mechanism 10 adjusts the height so that the distance between the application probe 1a and the detection probe 1b of the sensor unit 1 and the conductive pattern on the substrate 4 is a distance at which the inspection signal is properly applied and detected. Adjustment in the (Z direction) is performed. This adjustment may be performed while actually applying / detecting a signal to the conductive pattern. Further, the application probe 1a and the detection probe 1b of the sensor unit 1 are positioned so as to be positioned in a non-contact manner above both ends of the conductive pattern.

  Next, the substrate 4 to be inspected is supplied to the upstream transport mechanism 7. At this time, the stopper portion 36 is placed on the front and rear ends of the substrate 4 on the transport roller 37. After the position adjustment of the sensor unit 1 is confirmed, the sensor is transported to the inspection start position of the substrate 4 by the transport mechanism 7. At this time, for example, the start position is confirmed by the image captured by the imaging unit 14.

  When the substrate 4 is transported by the transport mechanism 7 in response to an inspection execution instruction from the control unit 8 and is applied to the inspection stage 5, the sensor unit 1 applies the inspection signal to the conductive pattern and the inspection signal propagated through the conductive pattern. Detection is performed. The detection signal is input to the detection signal processing unit 3.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the detection signal processing unit 3 first amplifies the input detection signal to a necessary level by the amplifier circuit 21. Next, a noise component is removed from the amplified detection signal by the band-pass filter 22 that passes only the frequency band of the inspection signal. Thereafter, the detection signal that has passed through the bandpass filter 22 is full-wave rectified by the rectifier circuit 23, and the full-wave rectified detection signal is smoothed by the smoothing circuit 24 to be generated as a detection signal. This detection signal is digitized by an A / D converter (not shown) in the controller 8.

  The CPU 16 converts the digital detection signal after A / D conversion, and sends it to the determination unit 18. The determination unit 18 detects the presence or absence of an instantaneous steep change in the read detection signal, and determines disconnection or short circuit according to the positive or negative direction of the change.

  Specifically, with respect to the detection signal continuously detected by the sensor unit 1, a sharp change from the signal value of the immediately preceding detection signal (a signal value having a peak value and returning close to the original signal value) It is determined that there is a short circuit or disconnection defect in the conductive pattern that has generated the change in amplitude of Note that the detection signal from the sensor unit 1 according to the present embodiment changes at a constant potential level, but the above-described determination is performed even if vertical fluctuations such as swells in the potential level of the detected detection signal occur. Can be implemented. In other words, a judgment level is set in advance for a steep change from the signal value, and a defect judgment is made for a steep change exceeding the judgment level from the previous signal value. A good / bad judgment is not made for a change in the potential level of the detection signal. Therefore, the judgment criterion is that the judgment level (signal value) is superimposed in the positive and negative directions with respect to the change of the signal value over time, and is always the previous detection signal value or the average detection signal value in a preset period. Therefore, a conductive pattern to be inspected in which a detection signal that is out of the upper limit or lower limit of the range is output is determined to be defective. Note that the average detection signal value in a preset period may be the average of the entire period (integrated amount), or may be the average value of a plurality of detection signal values acquired during the period. Further, the upper limit or lower limit of the positive / negative range from the detection signal value is that the detection signal value is a and the determination level is b, the upper limit of the pass / fail judgment range is a + b, and the lower limit a−b of the range is Suggest.

  FIG. 6 shows a concept for explaining the inspection in the inspection unit and the inspection stage. As shown in FIG. 6, the substrate 4 being conveyed is always maintained in a state of being lifted by 30 μm from the inspection stage 5. Therefore, even if the substrate 4 is warped or distorted, the position is adjusted with respect to the inspection target area of the substrate 4, so that the distance between the sensor unit 1 and the conductive pattern is constant.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of the movement distance of the substrate 4 and an output signal from the sensor unit 1 (after amplification processing). As a result A of the position adjustment of the substrate 4 performed by the substrate position adjusting mechanism 6 according to the present embodiment, 0.3V is kept constant. On the other hand, the result B in which the substrate position adjusting mechanism 6 is not operated and the position of the substrate 4 is not adjusted is that the distance between the sensor unit 1 and the conductive pattern changes because the height of the substrate 4 varies. The range of approximately 0.12V to approximately 0.19V is changed. Both defective portions are detected at the same positions of about 24 mm and about 53 mm. Conventionally, the undulation of the output result is corrected using software. In this embodiment, since the hardware output result can be used as it is for determination, software processing for flattening is not required, and the apparatus configuration can be simplified and the determination speeded up.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the application probe and the detection probe in the sensor unit are not in contact with the conductive pattern, damage due to contact with the conductive pattern can be eliminated even if inspection is performed. It is possible to prevent surface scratches and peeling.

  During inspection, the distance between the sensor unit and the inspection stage is fixed, and the substrate passes through a certain position above the inspection stage. For this reason, the distance between the sensor portion and the conductive pattern on the substrate is constant, and vertical fluctuations such as undulation of the potential level in the detection signal can be prevented.

  Further, since the substrate is adjusted in position between the sensor unit and the inspection stage and passes through the specified position, no problem occurs in the detection result even if the substrate is vertically moved or warped or distorted. Therefore, a highly accurate transport mechanism is not required, and a simple transport mechanism can be used. Therefore, not only can the manufacturing cost of the apparatus be reduced, but various configurations can be used as the transport mechanism.

  Further, in this embodiment, since it is not a conventional inspection stage for mounting and fixing the substrate, it does not require a stage area having a high plane accuracy with the size of the substrate, and is highly skilled in producing the inspection stage. Does not require technology. Furthermore, since the sensor unit is not configured to move on the substrate, a sensor moving mechanism for moving inspection is unnecessary, and the sensor unit is realized by only a simple and small adjusting mechanism for height adjustment before inspection.

  In addition, by considering the width of the board to be inspected at the design stage and taking into account the number of sensor parts and the length of the guide part where the sensor parts are provided, the sensor parts can be matched to the board even if the boards have different sizes. Thus, it is highly versatile to be able to inspect the substrates of various sizes equally by simply moving them on the guide portion. In addition, the number of sensor units can be increased or decreased, and the specifications required by the user for substrate inspection can be easily accommodated.

  In addition, since the distance between the sensor unit and the conductive pattern is constant, there is no up-and-down potential level undulation in the combined capacitance, software processing is unnecessary, and the processing capacity of the control unit is tight. Therefore, the result processing is simplified and the response such as the detection time is improved. Further, it becomes easy to determine a change in the signal level of the defective portion, and erroneous determination can be suppressed.

  Since the guide unit is provided with a retraction mechanism in which the sensor unit retreats along the pattern direction of the conductive pattern formed on the substrate, when a defect is found in the conductive pattern, the retraction mechanism is used. By moving the sensor unit along the conductive pattern, the position of the defective portion of the conductive pattern can be detected.

It is a figure which shows the block structural example of the circuit pattern inspection apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the detection signal process part shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of an external appearance structure which looked at the circuit pattern inspection apparatus of this embodiment from diagonally upward. It is a figure showing an example of appearance composition which looked at a circuit pattern inspection device of this embodiment from the top. FIG. 5A is a diagram for explaining the sizes of the inspection stage and the sensor unit, and FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a substrate position adjusting mechanism provided on the upper surface of the inspection stage. It is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating the test | inspection in the test | inspection part and test | inspection stage of the structure by this embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the relationship between the movement distance of a board | substrate, and an output signal from a sensor part. It is a figure for demonstrating the structure which mounts a large sized board | substrate on a stage and moves a sensor part.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Sensor part, 1a ... Application probe, 1b ... Detection probe, 2 ... Inspection signal supply part, 3 ... Detection signal processing part, 4 ... Substrate (glass substrate), 5 ... Inspection stage, 6 ... Substrate position adjustment mechanism, 7 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Conveyance mechanism, 8 ... Control part, 9 ... Retraction mechanism, 10 ... Height position adjustment mechanism, 11 ... Input part, 12 ... Display part, 13 ... Distance measuring sensor, 14 ... Imaging part, 15 ... Host apparatus, 16 ... Central processing unit (CPU), 17 ... Storage unit, 18 ... Judgment unit, 19 ... Conductive pattern, 21 ... Amplifying circuit, 22 ... Band pass filter, 23 ... Rectifier circuit, 24 ... Smoothing circuit, 31 ... Device base unit ), 32... Support, 33. Guide section, 33 a. Guide rail, 34. Sensor support member, 35.

Claims (2)

A sensor unit configured to apply an AC inspection signal in a contactless manner to a plurality of rows of conductive patterns formed on a substrate to be transported, and to detect the AC inspection signal propagated through the conductive pattern in a contactless manner. When,
An inspection stage that is spaced apart from the sensor unit and made of a conductor;
A transport mechanism for transporting the substrate so that the substrate passes between the sensor unit and the inspection stage;
A substrate position adjusting mechanism that is provided on the side of the inspection stage facing the sensor unit and maintains the substrate passing therethrough in a state of air floating at a constant distance;
A determination unit that determines that a conductive pattern having a sharp amplitude change in the detection signal continuously obtained by the sensor unit is defective;
A circuit pattern inspection apparatus comprising: The substrate position adjusting mechanism is
An air discharge part made of a porous member that allows gas to pass through;
A suction port provided in or in the vicinity of the air discharge unit, for sucking the gas discharged from the air discharge unit;
An air supply unit for supplying air to the air discharge unit;
An air suction part for sucking air from the suction port;
Comprising
The ratio of the discharge amount of the gas discharged from the air discharge portion and the air suction amount sucked from the suction port is adjusted to maintain the substrate in a floating state at a constant distance on the inspection stage. The circuit pattern inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

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