JP3324599B2 - Apparatus and method for attaching conductive film - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for attaching a conductive film to a display panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as a driver IC for a display panel such as a liquid crystal panel, TAB (Tape Automa) has been used.
Electronic components manufactured by the ted bonding method are often used. Further, as a method of bonding the driver and the display panel, a method of using a tape-shaped anisotropic conductive film is known. This conductive film is formed of an epoxy-based synthetic resin or the like mixed with conductive metal particles, but has an adhesive property so that it can be attached to a display panel, so that it has adhered to the separator on the upper surface. Supplied in state. The conductive film is attached to the display panel in a state of being attached to the separator, and then the separator is peeled off.

[0003]

Conventionally, after attaching the above-mentioned conductive film to a display panel, an operator visually inspects the quality of the attached state. Then, there was a problem that the inspection time and labor required for the inspection became enormous.

Accordingly, the present invention provides an apparatus and method for attaching a conductive film, which can automatically and accurately inspect the attached state of a conductive film attached to a display panel in a short time. With the goal.

[0005]

The conductive film sticking apparatus of the present invention is a conductive film sticking apparatus for sticking a conductive film to which a separator has adhered to a display panel and then peeling the separator from the conductive film. And a recognition unit having a camera. The recognition unit has a function of recognizing the position of the display panel and a function of checking whether or not the conductive film is adhered.

The method for attaching a conductive film according to the present invention includes the steps of observing the display panel by a recognition means to recognize the position of the display panel, attaching the conductive film having a separator attached to the display panel, The method includes a step of removing the separator from the adhered conductive film, and a step of observing the conductive film adhered to the display panel by the recognition means to check whether the conductive film is adhered.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an apparatus for attaching a conductive film according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, positioning means for positioning the display panel 1 will be described. In FIG. 1, 2 is a base, 3 is an X table driven by an X motor 4, 5 is a Y table driven by a Y motor 6, and 7 is a θ that rotates a holder 8 holding the display panel 1 in the θ direction. It is a table. That is, when the X motor 4, the Y motor 6, and the θ table 7 are driven, the display panel 1 can be moved in the XYθ directions with respect to a conductive film supply unit, a sticking unit, a peeling unit, and a recognition unit described later. Reference numeral 9 denotes a top plate provided above the base 1.

Next, the conductive film supply means will be described. 1
Reference numeral 0 denotes a first support plate vertically fixed to the top plate 9 in the X direction. Reference numeral 11 denotes a state supported by an upper portion of the first support plate 10 with separators 101 and 102 attached as shown on the left side of FIG. Is a supply reel on which the conductive film 100 (tape shape) is wound, and the tape-shaped conductive film 100 is wound in a three-layer structure in which upper and lower portions thereof are sandwiched between separators 101 and 102. 2, the conductive film 100 is guided by guide rollers 12 and 13 and passes through a sensor 14 for detecting the out-of-stock of the conductive film 100, and is fixed to a fixing block 15 provided on the first support plate 10. 2, the lower separator 102 is peeled off, the lower separator 102 turns around the fixed block 15, changes its direction by 180 °, is guided by the guide roller 17, and is wound on the take-up reel 18. .
Reference numeral 19 denotes a cylinder fixed to the first support plate 10, and a lower end of the rod 19a is connected to the upper separator 10
1, a conductive block 100, and a pressing block 2 for pressing the lower separator 102 against the upper surface of the opposed fixed block 15.
Connected to 0. 21 is moved in the X direction by moving means (not shown), and
And a lead-out unit that chucks the tip of the conductive film 100 and pulls out a predetermined length. 23 moves in the Z direction and draws out 2
1 is a pair of cutting blades for cutting the upper separator 101 and the conductive film 100 drawn out at 1 at fixed positions. Therefore, according to the conductive film supply means, the conductive film 1 having a predetermined length is provided.
00 can be supplied to the sticking means described below with the upper separator 101 attached.

Next, the sticking means will be described. Reference numeral 30 denotes a base table provided on the top plate 9, reference numeral 32 denotes an X table which is moved in the X direction by an X motor 31 provided on the base table 30, and reference numeral 34 denotes a base which is moved in the Y direction by a Y motor 33 provided on the X table 32. A Y-table 36 having an inverted L-shape, and a lifting block 36 which moves up and down in the Z-direction by a Z motor 35 provided on the Y-table 34 downward,
A θ motor 39 is fixed downward at the upper part of the elevating block 36, and the lower end of a rod 37 attached to the output shaft thereof is connected to an adsorption head 38 that contacts the upper separator 101 and adsorbs the conductive film 100. I have. This θ motor 39
Is for rotating the suction head 38 in the horizontal direction.
As shown in FIG. 2, a suction hole 38a is formed on the lower surface of the suction head 38, and the suction hole 38a communicates with a suction unit (not shown). Therefore, the upper separator 101 and the conductive film 100 are pulled out by the drawer 21 of the conductive film supply means.
, X motor 31, Y motor 33, Z motor 3
5 to move the suction head 38 to the upper separator 101.
When the suction means is driven to suck the upper separator 101 (see the solid line on the left side in FIG. 2) and cut by the cutting blade 23 of the conductive film supply means, the suction head 38 is moved upward by a predetermined length. Of the separator 101 and the conductive film 100 can be supplied. Next, as shown by the broken line in FIG.
The Y motor 33, the Z motor 35, and the θ motor 39 are driven to drive the upper separator 10 supplied to the suction head 38.
1 and the conductive film 100 are transferred to the display panel 1. In FIG. 1, a horizontal auxiliary support plate 41 is fixed to a second support plate 40 fixed to the top plate 9, and a crimping head 44 for temporarily crimping the transferred conductive film 100 (right side in FIG. 2). Is connected to a lower end of a downward rod 43 of a cylinder 42 fixed downward to the sub support plate 41. FIG. 2 shows the inside of the crimping head 44.
As shown in FIG.
4a is connected to a power supply unit (not shown). Accordingly, by temporarily compressing the conductive film 100 transferred to the display panel 1 by the pressure bonding head 44, a sufficient adhesive force can be given to the conductive film 100.

Next, referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, a peeling means for peeling the upper separator 101 from the conductive film 100 adhered to the display panel 1 by the sticking means and exposing the conductive film 100 to the outside will be described. explain. Reference numeral 50 denotes a supply reel mounted on the second support plate 40 and wound with an adhesive tape 51. Reference numeral 53 denotes an adhesive tape 5 fed out from the supply reel 50 in the direction of arrow N2 and folded by a pressing roller 52.
A take-up reel 54 for winding 1 is a cylinder fixed downward to the auxiliary support plate 41, and a rod 55 thereof is connected to an upper portion of a plate 56 that rotatably supports the pressing roller 52. Therefore, the X motor 4, the Y motor 6, and the θ table 7 are driven so that the pressing roller 52 is positioned above the upper separator 101 to be peeled, and the pressure-sensitive adhesive tape that drives the cylinder 54 to circumferentially contact the pressing roller 52. The upper separator 101, that is, the display panel 1 is pressed against the pressing roller 52 in the X direction while the adhesive tape 51 is sent from the supply reel 50 to the take-up reel 53 as shown in FIG. , The upper separator 101 can be peeled off. Note that the adhesive force between the upper separator 101 and the adhesive tape 51 is larger than the adhesive force between the conductive film 100 and the upper separator 101, and is larger than the adhesive force between the separator 101 and the adhesive tape 51. 100 and the display panel 1 have a large adhesive strength.
Only 01 adheres to the adhesive tape 51 and is collected on the take-up reel 53 side, and the conductive film 100 maintains the state of being adhered to the display panel 1.

Next, the recognition means will be described. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 60 denotes a camera mounted on the sub support plate 41 downward, and reference numeral 61 denotes a control box having a built-in light source. Here, as described later, the camera 60 observes the positioning mark 1 a to recognize the position of the display panel 1 held by the holder 8 and the function of the conductive film 100 attached to the display panel 1. It also has the function of inspecting the state of attachment. Of course, a camera or the like may be provided for each of these functions. However, as in the present embodiment, it is more cost-effective to perform these functions in one camera.

Here, the above-mentioned conductive film supply means, sticking means and peeling means are all arranged to operate in the X direction in the example of FIG. On the other hand, the conductive film 100 is usually attached to the display panel 1 not only in the X direction but also in the Y direction. In such a case, the θ motor 7 is driven to rotate the display panel 1 by 90 ° or 270 °. Of course, various changes may be made, such as disposing the first support plate 10 in the X direction and disposing the second support plate 40 in the Y direction.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the sticking device according to the present embodiment. A recognition unit 63 performs processing such as pattern matching on image data obtained by the camera 60, and outputs a result. 70 is a ROM for storing a control program according to the flowcharts of FIGS.
Reference numeral 71 denotes a CPU that executes a program in the ROM 70 and controls each element in FIG. 4, and has a role as an inspection unit that determines whether or not the adhered state of the conductive film 100 is good. Reference numeral 72 denotes a RAM provided with an area for storing various types of data such as an area for storing inspection data and an area for storing data relating to a sticking position shown in FIG. 11, and 73 a display for displaying an error display or an operation state to a user. The CRT 74 is a keyboard for the user to input necessary information. Further, the above-mentioned conductive film sticking means A, sticking means B, peeling means C, and positioning means D are respectively a supply controller E, a sticking controller F, a peeling controller G connected to a bus line,
It is controlled by the position controller H.

Next, a flow of a sticking method using the sticking apparatus of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 shows an outline of this flow.
At 0, the positioning marks 1a provided at two corners of the display panel 1 are recognized, and the position of the display panel 1 is confirmed (step 1). FIG. 9 shows an example of sticking to the display panel 1. In this example, P1 to P16 are sticking positions, and stick in the direction of arrows M1, M2, and M3 in numerical order.
In addition, between the sticking positions P6 and P7 and the sticking positions P10 and P1.
1, the sticking direction changes by 90 °. For this, as described above, the θ table 7 is driven so that each of the sticking directions M1, M2, and M3 is changed to the X direction in FIG. Corresponds by matching. Next, the sticking means B is driven, and the upper separator 10 is driven by the sticking operation shown in FIG.
1 and the conductive film 100 are sequentially bonded to the bonding positions P1, P2,... (Step 2). Next, the peeling means C is driven to peel off the upper separator 101 and adhere to the adhesive tape 51 by the peeling operation shown in FIG.
3 (Step 3). Then, an inspection described later is performed on the peeled state of the separator 101 and the adhered state of the conductive film 100 (Step 4). If there is no defective portion (Step 5), the process is terminated.

Next, pattern matching, which is the core of the inspection process of FIG. 6, will be described with reference to FIG. First, when an image is captured by the camera 60, the inspection object that enters the field of view S includes the electrode 1 b of the display panel 1 (a large number of them are arranged at a narrow pitch), the upper separator 101, and the conductive film 100. is there. Here, the electrode 1b is observed as dark in the image of the camera 60, and the separator 101 is usually observed as whitish because it does not normally transmit light. Also, the conductive film 10
0 is translucent and presents an intermediate state between the electrode 1b and the separator 101.

FIG. 8 (b) shows a state in which the conductive film 100 is satisfactorily adhered and the upper separator 101 is peeled off neatly, and an image as shown in FIG. can get. That is, when only the conductive film 100 is stuck on the electrode 1b, the image of the electrode 1b appears to be blurred.

Next, FIG. 8D shows the upper separator 10.
FIG. 8E shows a state in which the peeling of No. 1 could not be performed. That is, most of the field of view S is occupied by the white image of the separator 101, and has a very whitish appearance as compared to FIG. 8C.

FIG. 8F shows a state where the conductive film 100 cannot be stuck, and FIG. 8G shows an image at that time. That is, a dark image of the electrode 1b is clearly seen in the entire visual field S.

Therefore, the electrode 1b as shown in FIG.
8 (c), (e), and (g) are obtained as matching patterns for the inspection patterns shown in FIGS. 8 (c), (e), and (g). 8E, the minimum value is obtained, and FIG. 8C shows an intermediate value between them. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the upper limit (for example, 90%) and the lower limit (for example, 55) of the matching ratio are set.
%), A separator having a matching ratio equal to or lower than the lower limit is determined to be a defective peeling of the separator 101, and a separator having a matching ratio equal to or higher than the upper limit is determined to be a defective bonding of the conductive film 100. It is determined to be good.

In FIGS. 8B, 8D and 8F, the arrows indicate the direction in which the separator 101 is peeled off, and the field of view S is set near the peeling start position of the electrode 1b. Empirically, poor adhesion or poor peeling is likely to occur near the peeling start position, so that accurate determination can be made in a short time. If there is room in the processing time, the matching rate may be obtained for a plurality of locations or the entire area where the electrode group 1b is provided, and the average may be obtained. Further, as the determination method, FIG.
It suffices if each of (d) and (f) can be discriminated. In addition to the example shown in the figure, the height is measured using a sensor in which the wavelength of light to be detected is limited, or a laser irradiator, and the display panel is used. Various changes can be made, for example, by judging small (poor adhesion of the conductive film 100), medium (good), and high (poor separation of the separator 101) according to the height from the upper surface of 1.

Next, the inspection processing by the determination method of FIG. 8 will be described with reference to FIG. First, with reference to the position of the positioning mark 1a obtained in step 1 of FIG. 5, the positioning means D is driven so that the vicinity of the peeling start position among the adhering positions of the inspection target is adjusted to the visual field S of the camera 60 ( Step 41), fetch an image (inspection pattern) (Step 4)
2). Then, the recognition unit 63 sets the master pattern (FIG. 8).
(A)) and pattern matching are performed on the inspection pattern (step 43), and the matching rate for this inspection pattern is calculated. Then, the CPU 71 obtains inspection data of any of the good adhesion state, the poor peeling, and the poor adhesion for this inspection pattern by the determination method described in the description of FIG. (Steps 44-49). Then, the above processing is repeated until the inspection for all the sticking positions is completed (step 5).
0).

FIG. 10 shows an example of the result of performing the sticking and peeling operation as shown in FIG. Here, the sticking position P5
In (broken line), an adhesion error of the conductive film 100 has occurred,
At the sticking positions P8 and P15 (hatched lines), the separator 101
It is assumed that a peeling error has occurred. In this case, when the inspection process of FIG. 6 is performed, the inspection data shown in FIG. 11 is obtained. In this way, if there is a sticking failure or a peeling failure, FIG.
Is performed. That is, first, the retry number counter i is set to 1 (step 61), and the sticking position where a defect has occurred is extracted from the inspection data (step 62). If there is a sticking failure, the sticking means B is driven again to perform re-sticking (step 63). If there is a peeling-defective spot or a re-sticking point, the peeling means C is driven again to repeat the peeling. Perform (step 64). Here, in the example of FIG.
For, re-sticking and re-peeling are performed, and the sticking position P8,
At P15, only re-peeling is performed. Then, the inspection process shown in FIG. 6 is performed (step 65), and the inspection data is again referred to whether or not there is a defective portion (step 66). When there is no defective portion, the retry operation ends. On the other hand, if a defective portion remains, the number counter i is incremented (step 67), and the above processing is performed again. However, the number of times i is limited to four (step 6).
8). This is because the display panel 1 is vulnerable to static electricity or the like due to friction and is easily damaged, so that the sticking means B and the peeling means C do not excessively contact the display panel 1. If the number i becomes 5 or more, the CPU 71
Displays an error on the CRT 73 and stops the apparatus.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, a series of processes from the recognition of the position of the display panel to the inspection of the attached state can be automatically and accurately performed using the same recognition means. Work yield can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for attaching a conductive film according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory view of the conductive film sticking apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view of the conductive film sticking apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an apparatus for attaching a conductive film according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a conductive film sticking apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a conductive film sticking apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a conductive film sticking apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

8A is a view showing an example of a master pattern used in the conductive film sticking apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8B is a view showing a display panel of the conductive film sticking apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. (C) Illustrative view of an inspection pattern of a conductive film sticking apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention (d) Plan view of display panel of conductive film sticking apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention (E) Exemplary view of an inspection pattern of a conductive film sticking apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention (f) Plan view of a display panel of a conductive film sticking apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention ( g) Illustration of an inspection pattern of the conductive film sticking apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a display panel according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a display panel according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of inspection data according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 display panel 60 camera 71 CPU A conductive film supply means B sticking means C peeling means D positioning means

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-293721 (JP, A) JP-A-5-53130 (JP, A) JP-A-3-176604 (JP, A) JP-A-64-13716 (JP) JP-A-63-171489 (JP, A) JP-A-59-106368 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02F 1/13 101 G02F 1/1345

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A device for attaching a conductive film, to which a separator is attached, to a display panel, and then separating the separator from the conductive film, comprising: a recognition unit having a camera;
The recognition device has a function of recognizing the position of the display panel and a function of checking whether or not the conductive film has been bonded. A step of recognizing a position of the display panel by observing the display panel by a recognizing means; a step of attaching a conductive film having a separator attached to the display panel; and removing the separator from the attached conductive film. And a step of observing the conductive film adhered to the display panel with the recognizing means and inspecting whether the adhered state of the conductive film is good or not.