JP2011128030A - Defect inspection device and defect information management method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a defect inspection device capable of suppressing a defect data amount to be managed without impeding acquisition of a defect generation state on a substrate to be inspected. <P>SOLUTION: This defect inspection device includes means for: acquiring image data to be inspected of the substrate surface to be inspected generated by an imaging device; detecting a defect part by comparing the image data to be inspected with reference image data; generating defect data including at least a position coordinate of the detected defect part; calculating the number of defect parts existing on each domain based on a section reference domain data and the position coordinate; detecting a defect part crowded domain by comparing the number of defect parts in each domain with a tolerance in each domain; replacing defect data of each defect part in the defect part crowded domain with domain position data determined beforehand to the domain; and transmitting the domain position data and non-replaced defect data of the defect part to a management server. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention provides a defect inspection apparatus that detects a defect portion on a surface of a substrate to be inspected, generates defect data corresponding to the defect portion, and transmits the defect data to a management server connected via a network, and The present invention relates to a defect information management method using the defect inspection apparatus.

  A liquid crystal display panel used for a liquid crystal display device includes a pair of glass substrates facing each other with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween. These glass substrates are formed by laminating a thin film transistor or a color filter layer on a transparent glass plate, and are manufactured through a number of processes. In the glass substrate manufactured in this way, a defective portion may occur in the manufacturing process. Therefore, in order to detect a glass substrate including a defective portion, an appearance inspection of the glass substrate is performed after the end of each process.

  For such an appearance inspection, a defect inspection apparatus for detecting a defective portion on the glass substrate is used. This type of defect inspection apparatus detects a defective portion on a glass substrate based on image data of the glass substrate surface imaged by a camera. In addition, the defect inspection apparatus generates defect data corresponding to the defect portion along with the detection of the defect portion. For example, as shown in Patent Document 1, the defect inspection apparatus uses defect position coordinates indicating the position of the defect portion, defect size data indicating the size of the defect portion, type / color, and the like as the defect data. Defect type data or the like is generated. The generated defect data is stored and managed by a storage device or the like provided in the defect inspection apparatus.

  The appearance inspection is usually performed for each production line. Therefore, when there are a plurality of production lines, a plurality of defect inspection apparatuses operate simultaneously in parallel. In such a case, the defect data generated by each defect inspection apparatus is transmitted to a data management server that is electrically connected to each defect inspection apparatus, as shown in Patent Document 1, and is collectively managed there. Such defect data is used, for example, for specifying a repair location necessary for repairing a glass substrate, selecting a repair method, and the like (see Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a conventional defect information management system. As shown in FIG. 7, the defect information management system 200P includes a plurality of defect inspection apparatuses 1P and a data management server 100P connected to each defect inspection apparatus 1P via a network (not shown). Defect data generated in each defect inspection apparatus 1P is transmitted to the data management server via the network, and is collectively managed by the data management server. According to such a defect information management system 200P, it becomes easy to grasp the defect occurrence status and the like of each production line.

JP 2003-98547 A

  The defect data generated by the defect inspection apparatus is normally generated for all detected defect portions. Therefore, when a large number of defect portions are generated in an inspection target such as a glass substrate, a large number of defect data are generated so as to correspond to all of them. That is, a large number of generated defect data is stored in a storage device or the like and managed there. As described above, when a large number of defective portions occur in the inspection target, the amount of information to be managed increases, which is a problem.

  In particular, when defect data generated by a plurality of defect inspection apparatuses is collectively managed by an external data management server, if the amount of defect data transmitted from each defect inspection apparatus is too large, a large load is placed on the data management server. It has become a problem.

  By the way, depending on the purpose of use of the defect data to be managed, even if there is no defect data for each inspection target, there may be a case where some defect data is sufficient. For example, in the case of a glass substrate in which defective portions are concentrated at a specific location, there is a case where it is desired to grasp a general defect occurrence state of the glass substrate for repair or the like. In such a case, even if not using all the defect data of the dense defect portion, if the data of some of the dense defect portions are used, the approximate defect portion of the dense defect portion is used. The position etc. can be specified. Therefore, depending on the purpose of use of defect data, excess defect data is managed by a data management server, a storage device or the like, which is a problem.

  In addition, this type of defect inspection apparatus may erroneously determine that a defect portion has occurred in the inspection object (so-called erroneous detection of a defect portion). As the cause of such a situation, for example, the installation direction of the inspection target is deviated from a predetermined position, and foreign matter is attached to the lens of the camera that images the inspection target. When there is such a cause, the defect inspection apparatus often determines that a large number of defective portions are generated in the inspection object. Therefore, when erroneous detection frequently occurs in the defect inspection apparatus, the defect inspection apparatus generates a huge amount of defect data and transmits the defect data to the data management server, which is a particular problem.

  In recent years, glass substrates and the like for liquid crystal display devices to be inspected have become larger. For this reason, the number of defect portions detected by the defect inspection apparatus also tends to increase as the inspection object becomes larger. Therefore, the solution of the above problems is desired.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a defect inspection apparatus and the like that can suppress the amount of defect data to be managed without obstructing the grasp of a defect occurrence state on a substrate to be inspected.

The defect inspection apparatus according to the present invention is as follows.
<1> A defect inspection apparatus that detects a defective portion on a surface of a substrate to be inspected, generates defect data corresponding to the defective portion, and transmits the defect data to a management server connected via a network. ,
Acquisition means for acquiring image data to be inspected obtained by an imaging device imaging the surface of the substrate to be inspected;
Detecting means for detecting the defective portion by comparing the image data to be inspected with predetermined reference image data corresponding thereto;
Using the coordinate system of the reference image data, specifying the position coordinates of the detected defect portion, and generating means for generating defect data including at least the position coordinates;
Based on predetermined division reference area data corresponding to the image data to be inspected and represented in the coordinate system and dividing the image data to be inspected into a plurality of areas, and the position coordinates, A calculation means for calculating the number of defective portions existing in the region;
An area detection means for detecting the area where the defect portions are densely compared by comparing the calculated number of defect portions in each area with a predetermined tolerance value for each area;
Replacement means for replacing the defect data of each defective portion in the detected area with area position data predetermined for the area;
A defect inspection apparatus comprising: transmission means for transmitting defect data of a defective portion in an area not detected by the area detection means and area position data replaced by the replacement means to the management server.

  <2> The defect inspection apparatus according to <1>, wherein the detection unit includes an extraction unit that extracts defect portion image data corresponding to the defect portion from the image data to be inspected.

<3> Measuring means for measuring the size of the defective portion based on the defective portion image data obtained by the extracting means;
Determining means for comparing the defect image data with predetermined defect type data to determine the type of the defect portion;
Association means for associating the defect data obtained by the generating means with the size data of the defective part obtained by the measuring means and the type data of the defective part obtained by the discriminating means to the defect data including at least the position coordinates of the defective part obtained by the generating means. The defect inspection apparatus according to <2>, further comprising:

<4> Monitoring means for monitoring whether or not the same area is continuously detected as a defective portion dense area by the area detecting means in a plurality of substrates to be inspected using the same section reference area data When,
The defect inspection apparatus according to any one of the above items <1> to <3>, further comprising: a notification unit that notifies erroneous detection based on a monitoring result.

<5> A defect inspection apparatus that detects a defective portion on a surface of a substrate to be inspected, generates defect data corresponding to the defective portion, and transmits the defect data to a management server connected via a network. ,
Acquisition means for acquiring image data to be inspected obtained by an imaging device imaging the surface of the substrate to be inspected;
Detecting means for detecting the defect portion for each region by comparing the image data to be inspected with predetermined division reference image data corresponding to and divided into a plurality of regions;
Using the coordinate system of the division reference image data, specifying the position coordinates of the detected defect portion, generating means for generating defect data including at least the position coordinates;
A calculation means for calculating the number of defective portions detected for each region;
An area detection means for detecting the area where the defect portions are densely compared by comparing the calculated number of defect portions in each area with a predetermined tolerance value for each area;
Replacement means for replacing the defect data of each defective portion in the detected area with area position data predetermined for the area;
A defect inspection apparatus comprising: transmission means for transmitting defect data of a defective portion in an area not detected by the area detection means and area position data replaced by the replacement means to the management server.

  <6> The defect inspection apparatus according to <5>, wherein the detection unit includes an extraction unit that extracts defect portion image data corresponding to the defect portion from the image data to be inspected.

<7> Measuring means for measuring the size of the defective portion based on the defective portion image data obtained by the extracting means,
Determining means for comparing the defect image data with predetermined defect type data to determine the type of the defect portion;
Associating means for associating the defect data obtained by the generating means with the size data of the defective part obtained by the measuring means and the type data of the defective part obtained by the discriminating means to the defect data including at least the position coordinates of the defective part obtained by the generating means. The defect inspection apparatus according to <6>, further comprising:

<8> Monitoring means for monitoring whether or not the same area is continuously detected as a defective portion dense area by the area detecting means in a plurality of substrates to be inspected using the same section reference area data When,
The defect inspection apparatus according to any one of <5> to <7>, further comprising: notification means for notifying erroneous detection based on a monitoring result.

  The defect information management method according to the present invention is as follows.

<9> A defect information management method for detecting a defect portion on a surface of a substrate to be inspected, generating defect data corresponding to the defect portion, and transmitting the defect data to a management server connected via a network. And
An acquisition step of acquiring image data to be inspected obtained by an imaging device imaging the surface of the substrate to be inspected;
Detecting the defect portion by comparing the image data to be inspected with predetermined reference image data corresponding thereto;
Using the coordinate system of the reference image data, identifying the position coordinates of the detected defect portion, generating a defect data including at least the position coordinates,
Based on predetermined division reference area data corresponding to the image data to be inspected and represented in the coordinate system and dividing the image data to be inspected into a plurality of areas, and the position coordinates, A calculation step of calculating the number of defective portions existing in the region;
Comparing the calculated number of defects in each region with a predetermined tolerance for each region, and detecting a region where the defect portions are dense,
Replacing the defect data of each defective portion in the detected area with area position data predetermined for the area; and
A defect information management method comprising: a transmission step of transmitting defect data of a defective portion in an area not detected by the area detection means and area position data replaced by the replacement means to the management server.

  <10> The defect information management method according to <9>, wherein the detection step includes an extraction step of extracting defect portion image data corresponding to the defect portion from the inspection image data.

<11> A measurement process for measuring the size of the defective part based on the defective part image data obtained by the extraction process;
A determination step of comparing the defect image data with predetermined defect type data to determine the type of the defect portion,
An associating step for associating the defect data obtained at the generating step with the defect data including at least the position coordinates of the defective portion with the size data of the defective portion obtained at the measuring step and the type data of the defective portion obtained at the discriminating step The defect information management method according to <9>, further comprising:

<12> A monitoring step of monitoring whether or not the same region is continuously detected as a defective portion dense region by the region detection step in a plurality of substrates to be inspected using the same section reference region data When,
A defect information management method according to any one of <9> to <11>, further comprising: a notification step of notifying erroneous detection based on a monitoring result.

<13> A defect information management method for detecting a defect portion on a surface of a substrate to be inspected, generating defect data corresponding to the defect portion, and transmitting the defect data to a management server connected via a network. And
An acquisition step of acquiring image data to be inspected obtained by an imaging device imaging the surface of the substrate to be inspected;
Detecting the defect portion for each region by comparing the image data to be inspected with predetermined division reference image data corresponding to and divided into a plurality of regions;
Using the coordinate system of the division reference image data, specifying the position coordinates of the detected defect portion, and generating the defect data including at least the position coordinates;
A calculation step of calculating the number of defective portions detected for each region;
Comparing the calculated number of defects in each region with a predetermined tolerance for each region, and detecting a region where the defect portions are dense,
Replacing the defect data of each defective portion in the detected area with area position data predetermined for the area; and
A defect information management method comprising: a transmission step of transmitting defect data of a defective portion in a region not detected by the region detection step and region position data replaced by the replacement step to the management server.

  <14> The defect information management method according to <13>, wherein the detection step includes an extraction step of extracting defect portion image data corresponding to the defect portion from the inspected image data.

<15> A measurement process for measuring the size of the defective part based on the defective part image data obtained by the extraction process;
A determination step of comparing the defect image data with predetermined defect type data to determine the type of the defect portion,
An associating step for associating the defect data obtained at the generating step with the defect data including at least the position coordinates of the defective portion with the size data of the defective portion obtained at the measuring step and the type data of the defective portion obtained at the discriminating step The defect information management method according to <14>, further comprising:

<16> A monitoring step of monitoring whether or not the same region is continuously detected as a defective portion dense region by the region detection step in a plurality of substrates to be inspected using the same section reference region data When,
The defect information management method according to any one of <13> to <15>, further comprising: a notification step of notifying erroneous detection based on a monitoring result.

  According to the defect inspection apparatus and the like of the present invention, it is possible to suppress the amount of defect data to be managed without hindering the grasp of the defect occurrence status on the inspected substrate.

It is explanatory drawing which represented typically the structure of the defect inspection apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a functional block diagram of the defect inspection apparatus shown by FIG. It is explanatory drawing which represented typically the position of the defect part detected by the detection part. It is explanatory drawing which represented the division reference area data typically with the defective part shown by FIG. It is a functional block diagram of the defect inspection apparatus in 2nd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows a part of functional block diagram of the defect inspection apparatus which concerns on other embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which represented the conventional defect information management system typically.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a defect inspection apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments exemplified in this specification.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view schematically showing a configuration of a defect inspection apparatus according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the defect inspection apparatus 1 includes a CPU 11, a ROM 12, a RAM 13, an external interface 14, an acquisition unit 15, a storage unit 16, a display unit 17, an input unit 18, and the like as hardware configurations.

  The CPU (central processing unit) 11 is a device that executes arithmetic processing for operation control of the defect inspection apparatus 1. A data bus 19 is connected to the CPU 11, and the CPU 11 exchanges data with other hardware shown in FIG. 1 via the data bus 19.

  A ROM (Read Only Memory) 12 stores various programs and various menus for operation control of the defect inspection apparatus 1 in advance. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 13 is configured by SRAM, flash memory, or the like. The CPU 11 executes the control program in the ROM 12 while using the RAM 13 as a work area. Therefore, data generated when the control program is executed is temporarily stored in the RAM 13.

  The acquisition unit 15 is connected to the CPU 11 via the data bus 19 and is connected to the imaging device 2, and the output data from the imaging device 2 is converted from analog to digital and stored in the storage unit 16. The imaging device 2 has a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera as an imaging part, images the glass substrate 3 to be inspected, and generates imaging data (inspected image data). The imaging device 2 is set to image the glass substrate 3 when an imaging instruction signal is input from the CPU 11 of the defect inspection device 1 via the acquisition unit 15.

  The storage unit 16 includes an HDD (hard disk drive) or the like, and is connected to the CPU 11 via the data bus 19. The storage unit 16 stores imaging data and the like acquired from the imaging device 2 by the acquisition unit 15 based on the control of the CPU 11. And remember. The storage unit 16 also stores the defect inspection result (defect data) by the CPU 11 based on the control of the CPU 11. Various data such as reference image data and section reference area data, which will be described later, are also stored in advance in the storage unit 16.

  The display unit 17 is composed of a CRT, an LCD, or the like, and is connected to the CPU 11 via the data bus 19 and displays the operation state of the defect inspection apparatus 1 and the defect inspection results, and various menus stored in the ROM 12. Do.

  The input unit 18 includes a keyboard and a mouse, and is connected to the CPU 11 via the data bus 19. An operator operates the defect inspection apparatus 1 using the input unit 18 in accordance with the display content of the display unit 17. To do. Various instruction information input from the input unit 18 by the operator is stored in the RAM 13 under the control of the CPU 11.

  The external interface (I / F) 14 is connected to the CPU 11 via the data bus 19. Based on the control of the CPU 11, the inspection result of the defect inspection apparatus 1 stored in the storage unit 15 is sent to the network 20. To the data management server 150. Note that a plurality of other defect inspection apparatuses (not shown) are connected to the network 20.

  As a defect part which the defect inspection apparatus 1 detects, the part in which the foreign material has adhered on the glass substrate 3, the part in which the wiring pattern is missing on the glass substrate 3, etc. are mentioned, for example. The defect inspection apparatus 1 detects such a defective portion on the glass substrate 3, generates defect data corresponding to the detected defective portion, and transmits the defect data to the management server 150 via the network 20. It is a device for performing. Such processing in the defect inspection apparatus 1 is realized by the CPU 11 executing a program stored in the ROM 12.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the defect inspection apparatus shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the processing steps of the defect inspection apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

  The process in the defect inspection apparatus 1 is started in accordance with an instruction from the operator input via the input unit 18. When the processing is started, the CPU 11 outputs an imaging instruction signal to the imaging device 2 via the acquisition unit 15, and the imaging device 2 images the surface of the glass substrate 3 based on the instruction signal to obtain image data. (Inspected image data) is generated. This image data is acquired from the imaging device 2 by the acquisition unit 15 (inspected image data acquisition unit 101), converted into a digital signal, sent to the storage unit 16, and stored.

  Next, the detection unit 103 reads out the inspected image data from the storage unit 16 and the reference image data corresponding to the inspected image data stored in the storage unit 16 (reference image data storage unit 102) in advance. The process which detects a part is performed. The detection unit 103 compares the image data to be inspected with the corresponding reference image data and collates them, thereby comparing the image data to be inspected with a portion corresponding to a defective portion (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as a defective portion). Is detected, and the defective portion is detected. The reference image data is data generated based on the design data of the glass substrate 3 to be inspected. In other embodiments, imaging data obtained by imaging a normal glass substrate 3 with the imaging device 2 in advance may be used as the reference image data.

  The detection unit 103 includes a defect portion image data extraction unit 104 that extracts image data of a portion corresponding to the defect portion from the inspection image data. The defective part image data extracting unit 104 extracts image data of a part corresponding to the defective part by using a difference between the inspected image data and the reference image data corresponding to the inspected image data. The extracted defective portion image data is sent to the storage unit 16 and stored therein.

  The defect data generation unit 105 reads the defect part image data, and determines the position coordinates (defect position coordinates) of the defect part corresponding to the read defect part image data using the coordinate system of the reference image data. Note that the reference image data used in the present embodiment is represented by a two-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the position of the defect portion detected by the detection unit 103. FIG. 3 shows a state in which a plurality of defective portions f exist on the surface of the glass substrate 3 expressed as inspection image data. FIG. 3 shows coordinate axes corresponding to the reference image data. The coordinate axis is indicated by x on the horizontal axis and y on the vertical axis. For example, the position coordinates of the defective part f1 shown in FIG. 3 are expressed as (x, y) = (a, b). In this manner, coordinate values (positional coordinates) based on the coordinate axes are determined for each defect portion f detected by the detection unit 103.

  The size measuring unit 106 reads out the defective part image data from the storage unit 16, classifies the size of the defective part based on the read out defective part image data, and generates defect size data corresponding to the defective part. That is, the size measurement unit 106 reads out the reference size data stored in advance in the storage unit 16 together with the defect portion image data, and compares the reference size data with the defect portion image data to thereby determine the size of the defect portion. And the defect size data corresponding to it is generated.

  The type discriminating unit 107 reads out the defective part image data from the storage unit 16, classifies the defective part by shape, color, etc. based on the read out defective part image data, and generates defect type data corresponding to the defective part. . That is, the type determination unit 107 reads out the reference type data stored in advance in the storage unit 16 together with the defective part image data, and compares the reference type data with the defective part image data to thereby determine the type of defective part. And the defect type data corresponding to it is generated.

  The associating unit 108, for the position coordinates (defect position coordinates) of the defect portion generated by the defect data generation unit 105, the defect size data corresponding to the defect portion generated by the size measuring unit 106, and the type determination A process of associating the defect type data corresponding to the defect generated by the unit 107 is executed. That is, the defect position coordinates, the defect size data, and the defect type data are collected as one defect data by the associating unit. The defect data collected by the association unit 108 is sent to the storage unit 16 and stored therein.

  Next, the defect number calculation unit 110 reads the defect position coordinates from the storage unit 16 and the partition reference area data stored in advance in the storage unit 16 (the partition reference area data storage unit 109), and sets the defect position coordinates and the partition. Based on the reference area data, a process of calculating the number of defective portions existing in each area in the division reference area data is executed. The division reference area data corresponds to the glass substrate 3 to be inspected, and also corresponds to inspected image data obtained by imaging the glass substrate 3. This section reference area data is set so as to divide (divide) the inspected image data into a plurality of areas. Conditions such as the number of divisions (number of areas) of the inspected image data and the size of each divided area are appropriately set based on empirical rules and the like. The coordinate system of the section reference area data is set so as to correspond to the coordinate system of the reference image data.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the partition reference area data 4 together with the defect shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, each area of the partition reference area data 4 is schematically shown as a portion surrounded by a broken line. In the present embodiment, the size (area) of each region is set to be the same. The defective part number calculating unit 110 is set to calculate the number of defective parts for each region. The number of defect portions in each region is set so as to correspond to the number of defect position coordinates. The number data of defective portions in each region is sent to the storage unit 16 and stored therein.

  Note that region position data for specifying a position is assigned in advance to each region of the partition reference region data. For example, in the partition reference area data shown in FIG. 4, codes A to H are assigned to the areas arranged in the vertical direction, and codes 1 to 10 are assigned to the areas arranged in the horizontal direction. . Therefore, the position of each area (area position data) is specified using these codes. For example, the area position data of the area where the defect portion f1 exists is “B5” when these codes are used.

  The defective part dense area detection unit 112 is determined for each area of the defect part number data of each area from the storage unit 16 and the partition reference area data stored in the storage unit 16 (allowable value storage unit 111) in advance. The permissible value (threshold value) is read out, and processing for detecting a region where defect portions are densely packed (defect portion dense region) is executed. For each region of the partition reference region data, the number of defect portions that can be permitted in advance is determined as an allowable value α. The allowable value for each region is set as appropriate based on empirical rules and the like. In the present embodiment, the same allowable value α = 5 (pieces) is set in advance for all regions. In other embodiments, a different allowable value may be set for each region. In the present embodiment, for convenience of explanation, the allowable value is set as α = 5 as described above. However, in other embodiments, for example, α = 1,000 may be set.

  The defective part dense area detection unit 112 compares the number of defective parts corresponding to the area (defect part number data) with an allowable value α for each area, and determines whether the number of defective parts exceeds the allowable value α. Thus, a region where the number of defective portions exceeds the allowable value α is detected. This region is a defect portion dense region. For example, in the section reference region data schematically shown in FIG. 4, there are ten defect portions f in the region whose region position data is “D1” (hereinafter, region D1). Therefore, the region D1 is detected as a defective portion dense region by the defective portion dense region detection unit. As shown in FIG. 4, the area other than the area D1 is not detected as a defect dense area because the number of defect portions in each area is equal to or less than the allowable value. Information (positional region data) on the detected defective portion dense area is sent to the storage unit 16 and stored therein.

  The replacement unit 114 detects the position region data of the defective portion dense area detected from the storage unit 16 (region position data storage unit 113) and the defect data of all defective portions existing in the defective portion dense region from the storage unit 16. , And the process of replacing the read defect data of each defective portion with one position area data is executed. For example, the replacement unit 114 reads out the position area data “D1” of the area D1, which is a dense area of the defect area, and 10 defect data corresponding to the 10 defect areas f existing in the area D1. Are replaced with one position area data “D1”. That is, the defect data relating to the defective portion in the replaced area D1 is only the position area data “D1” of the area. The defect data after replacement is sent to the storage unit 16 and stored therein.

  In this way, the replacement unit 114 replaces the defect data of the defective portion existing in the defective portion dense region with the region position data corresponding to the region, so that the total amount of defect data of the defective portion is compared with the conventional one. Can be reduced. In addition, if there is area position data corresponding to the defective part dense area, it is possible to grasp the location where the defective part is dense in the glass substrate 3 to be inspected in the area unit of the division reference area data. . Therefore, also in the defect inspection apparatus 1 of this embodiment, the defect occurrence state of the glass substrate can be sufficiently grasped depending on the purpose of use.

  The transmitter 115 stores the defect data of the defective portion existing in the defective portion dense area replaced with the region position data stored in the storage portion 16, and the defect portion other than the defective portion dense region stored in the storage portion 16. The defect data corresponding to all defective portions existing in the area is read out, and the defect data is transmitted to the data management server 150 via the external interface 14 and the network 20. As described above, the transmission unit 115 sends only information necessary for grasping the defect occurrence status of the glass substrate 3 to be inspected to the data management server 150. Therefore, according to the defect inspection apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the amount of information (defect data) managed by the data management server 150 for grasping the defect occurrence status can be reduced as compared with the conventional case.

  If such a defect inspection apparatus 1 is utilized, defect information can be managed while suppressing the amount of defect data.

[Second Embodiment]
Subsequently, a defect inspection apparatus according to another embodiment (second embodiment) will be described. The hardware configuration of the defect inspection apparatus according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the defect inspection apparatus 1 shown in FIG. Therefore, when describing each structure of the defect inspection apparatus in 2nd Embodiment, the code | symbol of each structure of the defect inspection apparatus 1 of 1st Embodiment shown by FIG. 1 is utilized as it is.

  As described above, the hardware configuration of the defect inspection apparatus 1 of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, but the processing operation of the defect inspection apparatus 1 of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment. Is different. FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of the defect inspection apparatus according to the second embodiment. Hereinafter, the processing steps of the defect inspection apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 5.

  First, as in the first embodiment, the processing in the defect inspection apparatus 1 is started in accordance with an instruction from the operator input via the input unit 18. Then, as in the first embodiment, imaging data (inspected image data) of the glass substrate 3 is generated by the imaging device 2, which is acquired by the acquisition unit 15 (inspected image data acquisition unit 201), and is a digital signal. And is sent to the storage unit 16.

  Next, the detection unit 203 reads out the inspection image data from the storage unit 16 and the divided reference image data corresponding to the inspection image data stored in the storage unit 16 (the divided reference image data storage unit 202) in advance. Then, a process for detecting a defective portion is executed. This divided reference image data is obtained by dividing the reference image data used in the first embodiment so as to be divided (divided) into a plurality of regions. That is, the divided reference image data has both the function of the reference image data used in the first embodiment and the function of the section reference data used in the first embodiment. The detection unit 203 compares the inspected image data with the divided reference image data corresponding to the divided image data and divides it into a plurality of regions, and compares the divided image data with each other to detect defects in the inspected image data. It is set to determine whether or not a portion corresponding to the portion is included and detect the defective portion for each region.

  The detection unit 203 includes a defect portion image data extraction unit 204 that extracts image data of a portion corresponding to the defect portion for each region of the divided reference image data from the inspected image data. The defective part image data extracting unit 204 extracts defective part image data in the same manner as the defective part image data extracting unit 104 of the first embodiment. The extracted defective portion image data is sent to the storage unit 16 and stored therein.

  The defect data generation unit 205 reads the defect part image data from the storage unit 16 and uses the coordinate system of the division reference image data to determine the position coordinates (defect position coordinates) of the defect part corresponding to the read defect part image data. Determine. As in the first embodiment, the defect data generation unit 205 in the present embodiment also uses a two-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system.

  The size measuring unit 206 and the type determining unit 207 generate defect size data and defect type data for the detected defective part in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The associating unit 208 executes a process of associating defect size data with defect type data with respect to defect position coordinates in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The defect data collected by the association unit 208 is sent to the storage unit 16 and stored therein.

  The defective part number calculating unit 210 executes a process of calculating the number of defective parts detected for each region of the division reference image data. The number of defect portions in each region is set so as to correspond to the number of defect position coordinates. The number data of defective portions in each region is sent to the storage unit and stored.

  The defective part dense area detection unit 212 is determined for each area of the defect part number data of each area from the storage unit 16 and the divided reference image data stored in the storage unit 16 (allowable value storage unit 211) in advance. The permissible value (threshold value) is read out, and processing for detecting a region where defect portions are densely packed (defect portion dense region) is executed. Also in the present embodiment, the number of defective portions that can be allowed in advance for each region of the divided reference image data is determined as the allowable value α, similarly to the partition reference region data in the first embodiment. In addition, region position data for specifying a position is assigned in advance to each region of the division reference image data of the second embodiment in the same manner as the partition reference region data of the first embodiment.

  The defect density area detection unit 212 compares the number of defect parts (defect part number data) corresponding to each area of the division reference image data with an allowable value α, and the number of defect parts is an allowable value. It is determined whether or not α is exceeded, and a region where the number of defective portions exceeds the allowable value α is detected. The area detected in this way is defined as a defect dense area. In the present embodiment, the same allowable value α is set for all regions, as in the first embodiment. Information (positional region data) on the detected defective portion dense area is sent to the storage unit 16 and stored therein.

  In the same manner as in the first embodiment, the replacement unit 214 converts the detected defect region dense region position region data from the storage unit 16 (region position data storage unit 213) and the storage unit 16 into the defect portion dense region. The defect data of all existing defective portions are read out, and a process of replacing the read defect data of each defective portion with one position area data is executed. The defect data after replacement is sent to the storage unit 16 and stored therein.

  Thus, also in the defect inspection apparatus 1 of the second embodiment, the entire amount of defect data in the defective portion can be reduced as compared with the conventional defect inspection apparatus.

  Similarly to the first embodiment, the transmission unit 215 stores the defect data stored in the storage unit 16 in the defect portion dense area replaced with the region position data and the storage unit 16. The stored defect data corresponding to all the defective portions existing in the region other than the defective portion dense region are read out, and these defect data are transmitted to the data management server 150 via the external interface 14 and the network 20. Execute the process. As described above, the transmission unit 215 sends only information necessary for grasping the defect occurrence status of the glass substrate 3 to be inspected to the data management server 150. Therefore, the amount of information (defect data) managed by the data management server 150 for grasping the defect occurrence status can be reduced as compared with the conventional case.

  If the defect inspection apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment is used, defect information can be managed while suppressing the amount of defect data.

[Third Embodiment]
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a part of a functional block diagram of a defect inspection apparatus according to another embodiment. The basic configuration of the defect inspection apparatus of this embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. The basic functions of the components in the defect inspection apparatus are the same as the contents shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. However, the defect inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a monitoring unit 116 and a notification unit 117 in addition to the defect inspection apparatus according to the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (see FIG. 6). ).

  When the defect inspection apparatus 1 inspects a plurality of glass substrates 3 using the same partition reference region data, the monitoring unit 116 continuously detects a specific region of the partition reference region data as a defect portion dense region detection unit 112. A process for monitoring whether or not the signal is detected is executed. When the defect inspection apparatus 1 detects a portion that is not a defective portion as a defective portion (that is, erroneous detection), a specific region of the partition reference region data is a defective portion dense region over a plurality of glass substrates 3. It may continue to be detected. Therefore, the monitoring unit 116 is provided in order to find a case where the defect inspection apparatus 1 may be erroneously detected. The monitoring unit 116 compares the pattern of data with the possibility of erroneous detection with the pattern of defective data transmitted by the transmission unit 115 to determine the possibility of erroneous detection. Note that the data used when determining erroneous detection is stored in the storage unit 16 in advance. This data (pattern) is created based on an empirical rule or the like.

  Based on the monitoring result of the monitoring unit 116, the notification unit 117 performs a process of notifying the operator of the possibility that the defect inspection apparatus 1 has erroneously detected. When the monitoring unit 116 determines that there is a possibility of erroneous detection, the notification unit 117 is set to notify the operator of the possibility of erroneous detection using the display unit 17 or the like. Note that the defect detection apparatus of the present embodiment may notify the operator of the possibility of erroneous detection using a dedicated buzzer, a dedicated lamp, or the like for notifying the possibility of erroneous detection.

1 Defect Inspection Device 11 CPU
12 ROM
13 RAM
14 External interface 15 Acquisition unit 16 Storage unit 17 Display unit 18 Input unit 19 Data bus 20 Network 150 Data management server 2 Imaging device 3 Glass substrate

Claims (16)

A defect inspection apparatus that detects a defective portion on a surface of a substrate to be inspected, generates defect data corresponding to the defective portion, and transmits the defect data to a management server connected via a network,
Acquisition means for acquiring image data to be inspected obtained by an imaging device imaging the surface of the substrate to be inspected;
Detecting means for detecting the defective portion by comparing the image data to be inspected with predetermined reference image data corresponding thereto;
Using the coordinate system of the reference image data, specifying the position coordinates of the detected defect portion, and generating means for generating defect data including at least the position coordinates;
Based on predetermined division reference area data corresponding to the image data to be inspected and represented in the coordinate system and dividing the image data to be inspected into a plurality of areas, and the position coordinates, A calculation means for calculating the number of defective portions existing in the region;
An area detection means for detecting the area where the defect portions are densely compared by comparing the calculated number of defect portions in each area with a predetermined tolerance value for each area;
Replacement means for replacing the defect data of each defective portion in the detected area with area position data predetermined for the area;
A defect inspection apparatus comprising: transmission means for transmitting defect data of a defective portion in an area not detected by the area detection means and area position data replaced by the replacement means to the management server.   The defect inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detection means includes extraction means for extracting defect portion image data corresponding to the defect portion from the image data to be inspected. Based on the defect part image data obtained by the extraction means, measuring means for measuring the size of the defective part,
Determining means for comparing the defect image data with predetermined defect type data to determine the type of the defect portion;
Associating means for associating the defect data obtained by the generating means with the size data of the defective part obtained by the measuring means and the type data of the defective part obtained by the discriminating means to the defect data including at least the position coordinates of the defective part obtained by the generating means. The defect inspection apparatus according to claim 2, comprising: Monitoring means for monitoring whether or not the same area is continuously detected as a defective portion dense area by the area detecting means in a plurality of substrates to be inspected using the same partition reference area data;
The defect inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising notification means for notifying erroneous detection based on a monitoring result. A defect inspection apparatus that detects a defective portion on a surface of a substrate to be inspected, generates defect data corresponding to the defective portion, and transmits the defect data to a management server connected via a network,
Acquisition means for acquiring image data to be inspected obtained by an imaging device imaging the surface of the substrate to be inspected;
Detecting means for detecting the defect portion for each region by comparing the image data to be inspected with predetermined division reference image data corresponding to and divided into a plurality of regions;
Using the coordinate system of the division reference image data, specifying the position coordinates of the detected defect portion, generating means for generating defect data including at least the position coordinates;
A calculation means for calculating the number of defective portions detected for each region;
An area detection means for detecting the area where the defect portions are densely compared by comparing the calculated number of defect portions in each area with a predetermined tolerance value for each area;
Replacement means for replacing the defect data of each defective portion in the detected area with area position data predetermined for the area;
A defect inspection apparatus comprising: transmission means for transmitting defect data of a defective portion in an area not detected by the area detection means and area position data replaced by the replacement means to the management server.   6. The defect inspection apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the detection means includes extraction means for extracting defect portion image data corresponding to the defect portion from the image data to be inspected. Based on the defect part image data obtained by the extraction means, measuring means for measuring the size of the defective part,
Determining means for comparing the defect image data with predetermined defect type data to determine the type of the defect portion;
Associating means for associating the defect data obtained by the generating means with the size data of the defective part obtained by the measuring means and the type data of the defective part obtained by the discriminating means to the defect data including at least the position coordinates of the defective part obtained by the generating means. And a defect inspection apparatus according to claim 6. Monitoring means for monitoring whether or not the same area is continuously detected as a defective portion dense area by the area detecting means in a plurality of substrates to be inspected using the same partition reference area data;
The defect inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 7, further comprising notification means for notifying erroneous detection based on a monitoring result. A defect information management method for detecting a defect portion on a surface of a substrate to be inspected, generating defect data corresponding to the defect portion, and transmitting the defect data to a management server connected via a network,
An acquisition step of acquiring image data to be inspected obtained by an imaging device imaging the surface of the substrate to be inspected;
Detecting the defect portion by comparing the image data to be inspected with predetermined reference image data corresponding thereto;
Using the coordinate system of the reference image data, identifying the position coordinates of the detected defect portion, generating a defect data including at least the position coordinates,
Based on predetermined division reference area data corresponding to the image data to be inspected and represented in the coordinate system and dividing the image data to be inspected into a plurality of areas, and the position coordinates, A calculation step of calculating the number of defective portions existing in the region;
Comparing the calculated number of defects in each region with a predetermined tolerance for each region, and detecting a region where the defect portions are dense,
Replacing the defect data of each defective portion in the detected area with area position data predetermined for the area; and
A defect information management method comprising: a transmission step of transmitting defect data of a defective portion in an area not detected by the area detection means and area position data replaced by the replacement means to the management server.   The defect information management method according to claim 9, wherein the detection step includes an extraction step of extracting defect portion image data corresponding to the defect portion from the inspected image data. Based on the defect image data obtained by the extraction process, a measurement process for measuring the size of the defect,
A determination step of comparing the defect image data with predetermined defect type data to determine the type of the defect portion,
An associating step for associating the defect data obtained at the generating step with the defect data including at least the position coordinates of the defective portion with the size data of the defective portion obtained at the measuring step and the type data of the defective portion obtained at the discriminating step The defect information management method according to claim 10, further comprising: In a plurality of inspected substrates to be inspected using the same partition reference area data, a monitoring process for monitoring whether or not the same area is continuously detected as a defective part dense area by the area detection process;
The defect information management method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, further comprising: a notification step of notifying erroneous detection based on a monitoring result. A defect information management method for detecting a defect portion on a surface of a substrate to be inspected, generating defect data corresponding to the defect portion, and transmitting the defect data to a management server connected via a network,
An acquisition step of acquiring image data to be inspected obtained by an imaging device imaging the surface of the substrate to be inspected;
Detecting the defect portion for each region by comparing the image data to be inspected with predetermined division reference image data corresponding to and divided into a plurality of regions;
Using the coordinate system of the division reference image data, specifying the position coordinates of the detected defect portion, and generating the defect data including at least the position coordinates;
A calculation step of calculating the number of defective portions detected for each region;
Comparing the calculated number of defects in each region with a predetermined tolerance for each region, and detecting a region where the defect portions are dense,
Replacing the defect data of each defective portion in the detected area with area position data predetermined for the area; and
A defect information management method comprising: a transmission step of transmitting defect data of a defective portion in a region not detected by the region detection step and region position data replaced by the replacement step to the management server.   The defect information management method according to claim 13, wherein the detection step includes an extraction step of extracting defect portion image data corresponding to the defect portion from the inspected image data. Based on the defect image data obtained by the extraction process, a measurement process for measuring the size of the defect,
A determination step of comparing the defect image data with predetermined defect type data to determine the type of the defect portion,
An associating step for associating the defect data obtained at the generating step with the defect data including at least the position coordinates of the defective portion with the size data of the defective portion obtained at the measuring step and the type data of the defective portion obtained at the discriminating step The defect information management method according to claim 14, further comprising: In a plurality of inspected substrates to be inspected using the same partition reference area data, a monitoring process for monitoring whether or not the same area is continuously detected as a defective part dense area by the area detection process;
The defect information management method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, further comprising a notification step of notifying erroneous detection based on a monitoring result.

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