JPH03252571A - Inspection device for substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To deal with large-sized substrates by providing a 1st and a 2nd moving mechanisms which move in the 1st and 2nd directions of electrode arrays of a body to be inspected and moving their 1st and 2nd probe stylus arrays by a test program. CONSTITUTION:A stage 1 for mounting the substrate 2 is moved in an X and a Y direction and positioned in the movement ranges of the moving mechanisms 3 and 12, and then moved in a Z direction; and a probe head is further moved and adjusted to easily correspond to the substrates 2 which vary in inch size by lots. The measurement signal of a tester is supplied by probe heads 9a and 9b for scanning lines and the breaking of each source line and a short circuit between adjacent source lines are inspected from probe heads 18a and 18b for signal lines as well. Further, selective feeding from the tester is performed through the heads 9a and 18a to inspect the disconnection resistance value at the intersection of a gate and a source line.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention is a method for testing a large substrate, for example, a substrate for inspecting each liquid crystal drive element on an LCD (liquid crystal display) substrate. Regarding equipment.

(Prior Art) An IC chip with electrodes arranged along the side edge of the device;
When inspecting the electrical characteristics of an LCD board or a printed circuit board, for example, the board is Inspection is performed by bringing inspection electrodes into contact with the source lead electrode and gate lead electrode present at the ends, respectively.

As an inspection device of this kind, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-7057
No. 9, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-204291, etc.

In these devices, three movable probe heads are provided on each side of a mounting table on which an LCD board is placed, and the functions of the liquid crystal drive element are tested by moving these probe heads on the mounting table.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, according to the conventional inspection device described above, each probe head has a large movement range, and when contacting each electrode formed at a minute pitch by sequential movement, the cumulative position error becomes large. This poses problems, such as hindering normal inspection and making it difficult to handle large substrates.

The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an inspection apparatus that can also handle inspection of large substrates.

Moon J [missing plants.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides the above-mentioned substrate inspection apparatus that performs inspection by bringing a probe needle array into contact with an electrode array of an object to be inspected provided on a stage. A first moving mechanism provided to move along the first direction of the electrode array provided on the object to be inspected, and a second moving mechanism provided to move the electrode array along the second direction. a moving mechanism, and the first and second probe needle rows provided in the first and second moving mechanisms, respectively, and the first and second probe needle rows are subjected to a predetermined test program. and means for inspecting the object to be inspected by moving it based on the substrate.

(Function) Therefore, according to the present invention, each LCD formed within the substrate
When performing an inspection, first, a stage equipped with an LCD board is moved in the x, y, and z directions to set the range of movement of the LCD, and then a moving mechanism that moves the LCD board along the X and Y axes is used. At the same time, the pair of probe heads mounted on each moving mechanism is moved and adjusted to bring the probe needle into contact with each electrode in the LCD.
Each liquid crystal driving element on the D substrate can be inspected.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example in which the present invention is applied to an inspection apparatus for a large substrate, for example, an LCD substrate, will be described with reference to the drawings.

An LCD board 2, which is an object to be inspected, is placed on a stage 1 that can move in x, y, z, and θ by means of suction and fixation, and the stage 1 is moved in two axes perpendicular to the mounting surface. X and Y axes, two axes in the height direction perpendicular to the X and Y axes,
Furthermore, they are configured to be movable in the θ direction, which is the direction of rotation around the Z axis.

On the other hand, the configuration of the moving mechanism having the probe head is as follows.

The moving mechanism 3 that moves in the X-axis direction, which is one side of the substrate 2,
Guide rails 4 are installed in the X-axis direction on opposite sides of stage 1.
is arranged, and X moves guided by this guide rail 4.
A bridge 5 is provided, and this X-bridge 5 is provided movably in the X-axis direction by a screw bolt 8 driven by a drive source of a motor 6. Furthermore, a pair of probe heads 9a and 9b having a plurality of probe needles 8a and 8b are mounted on the X bridge 5 to face each other. The probe heads 9a, 9b are configured to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the X axis and along the guide member 10.10 of the X bridge 5, and the probe needles 8a of the pair of probe heads 9a, 9b, The probe needles 8b are provided so as to face the substrate 2 below the opening 11 of the X bridge 5, and the probe needles 8a, 8b are provided so as to contact the source lead electrodes of the substrate 2. If the number of source lead electrodes on one side is 240, and the number of electrodes of the scanning line probe heads 9a and 9b is 60, then the scanning line probe heads 9a and 9b will be connected once to the source lead electrodes. In order to contact all the source lead electrodes corresponding to the length of one side of the substrate 2, inspection is performed by moving the moving mechanism 3 equipped with the probe heads 9a and 9b in the X-axis direction. be able to. On the other hand, the moving mechanism 12 that moves in the Y-axis direction, which is the other side of the substrate 2, is provided so as to be located below the above-mentioned moving mechanism 3. A guide rail 13 is disposed in the Y-axis direction, and a Y bridge 14 that moves while being guided by the guide rail 13 is provided.
It is provided movably in the Y-axis direction by a screw bolt 16 driven by a drive source, and the Y bridge 14 further includes:
A pair of probe heads 18a and 18b having a plurality of probe needles 17a and 17b are mounted facing each other. The probe heads 18a and 18b are configured to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the Y-axis and along a guide member 19 of the Y bridge 14, and the pair of probe heads 18b
Probe needles 17a and 17b of 8a and 18b are provided so as to face from the opening 2o of the Y bridge 14, and these probe needles 17a and 17b are provided so as to be in contact with the source lead electrode of the substrate 2.

Similarly to the above X-axis, if the number of source lead electrodes on one side of the substrate 2 is 240, the number of electrodes of the signal line probe heads 18a, 18b is 60; The probe heads 18a, 18b can contact 60 source lead electrodes at once, and in order to contact all the source lead electrodes corresponding to the length of one side of the substrate 2, the probe heads 18a, 18bti
- It can be inspected by moving in the Y-axis direction.

The above-mentioned moving mechanism 3 and moving mechanism 12 are moved according to a predetermined test program to
The CD board 2 is to be inspected.

Note that each probe head 9a, 9b, 18a, and 18b is provided with an UP/DOUWN function so that contact and non-contact with each lead electrode can be performed independently.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

Move the stage 1 on which the substrate 2 is placed in the X and Y directions,
The inch size of the substrate 2 is set in the lot by moving the stage 1 in the Z direction in this state and adjusting the movement of the probe head provided on the moving mechanism. Even if the configuration changes from time to time, it can be easily accommodated, and the probe needle of the probe head can contact the gate lead electrode and source lead electrode of the substrate 2.

The scanning line probe heads 9a and 9b supply measurement signals from the tester to inspect whether each source line is disconnected or not, and whether there is a short circuit between adjacent source lines. On the other hand, the signal line probe heads 18a and 18b supply measurement signals from the tester to inspect whether each source line is disconnected or not, and whether there is a short circuit between adjacent source lines. Further, by using the scanning line probe head 9a and the signal line probe head 18a, it is possible to test the insulation resistance value at the intersection of the gate line and the source line by selectively applying current from the tester.

Furthermore, even if the inch size of the substrate 2 changes, it can be handled with a minimum amount of space by simply moving the moving mechanism and the pair of probe heads, thereby contributing to throughput.

Note that although the above embodiment describes the inspection of an LCD board, the present invention can be applied to other substrates as long as the board is a large object to be inspected; for example, it can be applied to the inspection of thermal heads of printers, ceramic substrates, etc. .

As is clear from the above, the present invention has the following excellent effects.

That is, a moving mechanism that moves along the X-axis and Y-axis of the LCD is provided, and each moving mechanism is equipped with a pair of probe heads, and each probe head can be adjusted to move in a direction perpendicular to the moving mechanism. The stage on which the substrate is placed can also be adjusted for movement, making it possible to easily handle inspection of large substrates in a space-saving manner compared to conventional equipment, as well as providing high throughput at low cost. Therefore, it is possible to provide an inspection device that enables testing.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the inspection apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the same. 1...Stage 2...Substrate 3.12...Moving mechanism 9a, 9b...Probe head 18a, 18b...Probe head

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a substrate inspection device that performs inspection by bringing a probe needle array into contact with an electrode array of an object to be inspected provided on a stage, the electrode array provided on the object to be inspected moves along the first direction. a first moving mechanism provided to move along the second direction of the electrode array; and a second moving mechanism provided to move along the second direction of the electrode row.
a moving mechanism, and first and second probe needle rows provided in the first and second moving mechanisms, respectively, and the first probe needle array.
and means for inspecting the object to be inspected by moving a second row of probe needles based on a predetermined test program.