JP4126503B2 - Positioning device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a positioning device for positioning a substrate.

  When a conductive pattern such as an electrode or wiring is formed at a predetermined position on a solar cell substrate or an electronic circuit board, the conductive pattern is formed on the substrate after positioning the substrate at a predetermined position. It is common. As a positioning method for determining the position of the substrate, for example, a method as shown in Patent Document 1 is known.

In this method, as shown in the explanatory diagram of FIG. 6, a registration mark (not shown) formed in advance on the substrate 100 held on the support base 101 is placed on an imaging device 102 such as a CCD camera disposed above the support base 101. Based on the amount of deviation between the position of the registered registration mark and the preset reference point, the support base 101 is moved so that the position of the substrate is adjusted so that the registration mark and the reference point coincide with each other. It is to decide.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-315430

  However, when the substrate is positioned by the method described above, it is necessary to print or engrave a registration mark at a predetermined position on the substrate in advance, and it is difficult to perform an efficient substrate positioning operation. There was a problem.

  In addition, the shape of the conductive pattern must be selected so that the conductive paste does not overlap the printed registration mark, and there is a problem in that the conductive pattern is restricted.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a positioning apparatus capable of efficiently positioning a substrate without affecting the formation of a conductive pattern.

  The above object of the present invention is a positioning apparatus for positioning a substrate having a linear first edge and a second edge not parallel to the first edge, the support supporting the substrate Means, drive means for moving the substrate while being held by the support means, position detection means for detecting the position of the substrate, and control means for driving the drive means based on detection by the position detection means; The position detecting means includes imaging means for imaging the edge at two locations on the first edge of the substrate and one location on the second edge, and the control means This is achieved by a positioning device that drives the driving means so that the edge portions imaged by the imaging means are respectively obtained as line segment data and the reference point data set in advance for each line segment data is matched with each line segment data. Ru

  In this positioning apparatus, the driving means includes a rotation driving mechanism that horizontally rotates the support means and a two-way driving mechanism that moves in two horizontal directions, and the control means is obtained at the first edge. The reference straight line connecting the reference point data corresponding to the two line segment data and the straight line corresponding to the first edge calculated from the relative position of each line segment data with respect to the reference point data are parallel to each other. It is preferable to drive the two-way drive mechanism after driving the rotary drive mechanism.

  Moreover, it is preferable to provide the light source arrange | positioned on the opposite side of the said imaging means on both sides of a board | substrate.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the positioning apparatus which can position a board | substrate efficiently can be provided, without affecting formation of an electroconductive pattern.

  Hereinafter, a substrate positioning device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a schematic configuration of a positioning device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 3 is a BB cross-sectional view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a CC cross-sectional view of FIG. In each figure, in order to facilitate the understanding of the configuration, enlargement or reduction is partially performed instead of the actual size ratio.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the positioning device 1 includes a position detection device 10, a support base 20, a drive device 30, and a control device 40.

  The position detection device 10 is a device that detects the position of the substrate W held on the support table 20, and is disposed above the support table 20. As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, the position detection device 10 includes two portions of a straight edge W <b> 1 (first edge) of the substrate W on the support base 20 and a straight edge. Three imaging devices 15, 16, and 17 are provided so that the edge portion can be imaged at one place of the other edge portion W <b> 2 (second edge portion) that is not parallel to W <b> 1. Examples of such imaging devices 15, 16, and 17 include a CCD camera and a microscope.

  The support table 20 is a base that holds the substrate W on the upper surface, and includes an internal space 21, a plurality of suction holes 22 that communicate the upper surface of the support table 20 and the internal space 21, and three light passage holes 23. I have. The inner space side end 22A of the suction hole 22 is connected to one end side of a suction tube (not shown). The other end of the suction tube is connected to a suction pump (not shown). With such a configuration, the substrate W placed on the upper surface of the support table 20 is sucked by the suction pump and held on the support table 20. The light passage hole 23 is provided at a position corresponding to a position directly below the imaging devices 15, 16, and 17. In addition, light sources 24 are installed at three locations on the bottom of the internal space 21. These light sources 24 are arranged on opposite sides of the imaging devices 15, 16, and 17 with the substrate W held on the support base 20 interposed therebetween, and light emitted from each light source 24 passes through the light passage hole 23. The direction of each light source 24 is determined so as to be irradiated toward the imaging devices 15, 16, and 17. Examples of such a light source 24 include a light emitting diode and a tungsten sphere.

  The drive device 30 is a device that moves the support base 20, and is disposed in the lower part of the support base 20. The drive device 30 includes a rotation drive mechanism that rotates the support base 20 horizontally and a two-direction drive mechanism that moves the support base 20 in two horizontal directions. With such a configuration, the driving device 30 can move the position of the substrate W while holding the substrate W on the support base 20. In the present embodiment, the two-way drive mechanism is configured so that the support base 20 can be moved in directions orthogonal to each other (directions indicated by arrows X and Y in FIG. 2). The two-way drive mechanism can also be configured to horizontally move the support base 20 in two directions that are not orthogonal to each other. The rotation drive mechanism and the two-way drive mechanism are preferably configured using, for example, a servo motor mechanism.

  The control device 40 is a device that drives the drive device 30 based on the detection result by the position detection device 10, and each edge imaged by the imaging devices 15, 16, and 17 is respectively imaged devices 15, 16, and 17. The driving device 30 is driven so as to pass through each imaging center (reference point). The operation of the control device 40 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 5A shows a state in which the substrate W is held on a holding stand and the edges of the substrate W are imaged by the imaging devices 15, 16, and 17. Reference numerals S 1, S 2, and S 3 denote imaging devices, respectively. The picked-up images picked up by 15, 16, and 17 are shown. Reference symbols C1, C2, and C3 are reference point data that serve as a reference for alignment, and are set in advance for each of line segment data L1, L2, and L3 described later. In FIG. 5A, position data corresponding to the imaging centers of the imaging devices 15, 16, and 17 are set as reference point data C1, C2, and C3.

  First, the control device 40 acquires the edge portions imaged by the imaging devices 15, 16, and 17 as line segment data L1, L2, and L3, respectively. The reference line BL connecting the reference point data C2 and C3 corresponding to the two line segment data L2 and L3 acquired at the linear edge W1 and the reference point data C2 and C3 of the line segment data L2 and L3 The rotational drive mechanism is driven so that the straight line CL corresponding to the linear edge W1 calculated from the relative position is parallel to each other. FIG. 5B shows a state in which the drive of the rotation drive mechanism has been completed. Thereby, the attitude | position of the horizontal rotation direction of the board | substrate W is determined. Thereafter, the two-way drive mechanism is driven so that the reference point data C1, C2, C3 set in advance for each line segment data L1, L2, L3 is matched with each line segment data L1, L2, L3. . FIG. 5C shows a state where the driving of the two-way drive mechanism is finished. Thereby, the X-direction position (position in the direction indicated by arrow X) and the Y-direction position (position in the direction indicated by arrow Y) of the substrate W are determined.

  As a method for calculating the straight line CL corresponding to the linear edge W1, the coordinates on the line segment data constituting the shortest distance between the reference point data C2 and C3 and the line segment data L2 and L3 are used. And a straight line CL corresponding to the linear edge W1 can be obtained from these coordinates. In the present embodiment, the imaging centers of the imaging devices 15, 16, and 17 are set as the reference point data C1, C2, and C3. However, predetermined positions other than the imaging center are set as the reference point data C1, C2, and C3. May be.

  Next, a method for positioning the substrate W having a square shape in plan view using the positioning device 1 configured as described above will be described below.

  First, the substrate W is supported on the support W so that the edge of the substrate W can be imaged at two locations on the linear edge W1 of the substrate W and at one location on the other edge W2 that is not parallel to the linear edge W1. The substrate W is placed on the substrate 20 and a suction pump (not shown) is operated to suck and hold the substrate W on the upper surface of the support 20.

  Next, while irradiating light from the light source 24, the imaging devices 15, 16, and 17 are operated to image the edge of the substrate W. At this time, light that has not been blocked by the substrate W among the light emitted from each light source 24 reaches each of the imaging devices 15, 16, and 17. The image to be formed is a projected image that can clearly identify the edge of the substrate W.

  Thereafter, the control device 40 is operated to obtain the edge portions imaged by the imaging devices 15, 16, and 17 as line segment data L1, L2, and L3, respectively, and as described above, the imaging devices 15, 16, and 17 The driving device 30 is driven so that the reference point data C1, C2, and C3 corresponding to the imaging center coincide with the line segment data L1, L2, and L3. In this way, two locations on the linear edge W1 of the substrate W are imaged by the imaging devices 16 and 17, and the edge of the imaged substrate W is the imaging center (reference point data C2, C2) of each imaging device 16, 17. Since the rotational drive mechanism and the two-way drive mechanism of the drive device 30 are driven so as to pass through (corresponding to C3), the rotational position of the substrate W (the position in the direction indicated by the arrow θ in FIG. 5) and X The direction position (the position in the direction indicated by the arrow X in FIG. 5) can be accurately adjusted to the predetermined position. In addition, the image pickup device 15 picks up an image of one place on the other edge W2 that is not parallel to the straight edge W1, and the edge of the imaged substrate W is the image pickup center of the image pickup device 15 (corresponding to the reference point data C1). Since the two-way drive mechanism of the drive device 30 is driven so as to pass through the substrate, the position of the substrate W in the Y direction (the position in the direction indicated by arrow Y in FIG. 5) can be accurately adjusted to a predetermined position. . As a result, the substrate W can be accurately placed at a predetermined position.

  In addition, according to the positioning device 1 according to the present embodiment, it is not necessary to print a registration mark for alignment on the substrate W in advance as in the prior art, so that the substrate W can be positioned efficiently. Further, the restriction on the pattern formation that the conductive pattern shape must be selected so that the conductive pattern does not overlap the register mark is eliminated, and a desired pattern shape can be formed on the substrate W. .

  In addition, since the positioning of the substrate W can be performed with high accuracy as described above, when the conductive pattern is overcoated on the same substrate W by a screen printing machine or the like, the position of the overlaid conductive pattern is shifted. Things can be effectively suppressed.

  Further, a light source 24 is disposed on the opposite side of the imaging devices 15, 16, and 17 across the substrate W, and the imaging devices 15, 16, and 17 are configured to capture a projected image of the edge of the substrate W. Therefore, the imaging devices 15, 16, and 17 can clearly recognize the edge of the substrate W. As a result, the control device 40 can clearly acquire the line segment data L1, L2, and L3 of the edge portion, and therefore can accurately match the edge portion of the imaged substrate W with each imaging center. W can be positioned with high accuracy.

  In the description of the above embodiment, the case of positioning the substrate W having a square shape in plan view has been described. However, the positioning device 1 according to the present embodiment has a linear edge W1 and a parallel to the edge. If it is a board | substrate which has other edge part W2 which is not, for example, the positioning to a predetermined position is efficiently performed also with respect to the other polygonal-shaped board | substrate, a half-moon shaped board | substrate, the board | substrate which chamfered the corner part, etc. be able to.

As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, the specific aspect of this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. In the above-described embodiment, the driving device 30 is configured to be able to move the position of the substrate W via the support base 20. For example, the driving device 30 is configured to have predetermined edges at each edge of the substrate W held on the support base 20. A drive device 35 that presses the position may be adopted and the substrate W may be moved directly. In the present embodiment, two locations and straight lines in the linear edge W1 of the substrate W may be used. In order to take an image of the edge at one location in the other edge W2 that is not parallel to the shape edge W1, a configuration including three imaging devices 15, 16, and 17 is employed, but this configuration is particularly limited. For example, a configuration including a single movable imaging device may be adopted, and the single imaging device may be configured to perform imaging while moving the three edge portions.

It is a schematic structure front view of a positioning device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view of the positioning device seen from the arrow A direction of FIG. It is BB sectional drawing of FIG. It is CC sectional drawing of FIG. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the action | operation of the positioning apparatus shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the positioning method of the conventional board | substrate.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Positioning apparatus 10 Position detection apparatus 15-17 Imaging apparatus 20 Supporting base 30 Drive apparatus 40 Control apparatus

Claims (3)

A positioning device for positioning a substrate having a linear first edge and a second edge not parallel to the first edge,
Support means for holding the substrate;
Drive means for moving the substrate while being held by the support means;
Position detecting means for detecting the position of the substrate;
Control means for driving the drive means based on the detection of the position detection means,
The position detection means includes an imaging means for imaging an edge at two places on the first edge of the substrate and one place on the second edge,
The control means acquires the edge imaged by the imaging means as line segment data, and drives the drive means so that reference point data set in advance for each line segment data is matched with each line segment data. Positioning device. The drive means includes a rotation drive mechanism that horizontally rotates the support means and a two-way drive mechanism that moves in two horizontal directions,
The control means includes a reference straight line connecting reference point data corresponding to two line segment data acquired at the first edge, and the first position calculated from the relative position of each line segment data to the reference point data. The positioning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the two-way driving mechanism is driven after the rotation driving mechanism is driven so that straight lines corresponding to the edge portions are parallel to each other.   The positioning device according to claim 1, further comprising a light source disposed on the opposite side of the imaging unit with a substrate interposed therebetween.

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