JPH04184264A - Method for high density wiring and probe for display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain high-density wiring in a simple structure by arranging a plurality of film substrates in a layered structure, and connecting a flexible wiring substrate with an electrode at one end of the layered structure or integrally forming the film substrates with the flexible substrate. CONSTITUTION:A probe made of a plurality of thin wires is fixed onto a supporting base. An end of the probe is positioned corresponding to the pitch of the electrodes of an LCD panel to be measured. The supporting base is bonded to a probe mounting plate, and a film substrate is provided at the lower face of the probe mounting plate. The film substrate has a wiring and a connecting electrode formed at one face (lower face) thereof in a layered structure with a step difference to expose a connecting electrode part. A connecting end of the probe is connected by soldering or the like to an end of the film substrate. The electrode at the other end of the film substrate is connected with a flexible wiring substrate. When the other end of the flexible wiring substrate is extended and inserted into a connector, electric contact is achieved.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a high-density wiring method and a probe for a display panel, such as a probe used for a large liquid crystal (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as LCD) display panel. It is related to effective technology that can be used for.

[Conventional technology]

For example, as a prober for liquid crystal display panels,
There is a publication No. 70579. This blower consists of an X-probe head that moves parallel to the display panel mounting table along the X-axis of the display panel using an X-axis stage, and a Y-probe head that moves parallel to the Y-axis of the display panel using a Y-axis stage. In addition, a third probe head is provided that contacts any position on the display panel by means of an XY stage that moves in parallel along the X-axis and Y-axis of the display panel.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the case of an active matrix liquid crystal display panel, the display panel prober described above checks each pixel one by one. For this reason, there is a problem that the test time becomes enormous as the screen of the liquid crystal display panel becomes larger, or in other words, the number of pixels increases. Therefore, the inventors of the present application first devised a probe for a display panel that simultaneously contacts all electrodes of the display panel. In this case, a new high-density wiring method for electrically connecting a large number of probes provided in correspondence with a large number of display panel electrodes in a one-to-one correspondence has become necessary.

An object of the present invention is to provide a high-density wiring method with a simple configuration and a display panel probe that achieves a significant reduction in test time.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[Means to solve the problem]

A brief overview of typical inventions disclosed in this application is as follows.

That is, the connection electrodes at both ends are provided on one side, and a laminated structure is formed using a plurality of film substrates with steps so that the connection electrode forming portion is exposed, and a flexible wiring board is attached to the electrode at one end. A probe assembly having a plurality of probes arranged at the same pitch as the electrodes of the 0 display panel to be connected, and a plurality of probes having connection electrodes at both ends on one side and having a step so that the connection electrode forming part is exposed. The connecting end of the probe is connected to one electrode side which has a laminated structure, and a flexible wiring board is provided with one end connected to the electrode at the exposed other end of the film substrate, and the other end side is connected to the connecting end of the probe. into the connector to configure the electrical path for the probe.

[For production]

According to the above-described means, by interposing the laminated film substrate, high-density wiring using a flexible wiring board can be realized. As the number of electrodes increases due to larger display panels, by using the high-density wiring method described above, it is possible to construct electrical paths with a large number of probes in a simple manner, reducing test time. It will be done.

〔Example〕

FIG. 4 shows a plan view of an embodiment of the display panel probe according to the present invention.

In this embodiment, all electrodes of a liquid crystal display (hereinafter simply referred to as LCD) panel are contacted simultaneously in order to shorten test time. In this way, when simultaneously contacting all the electrodes on the LCD panel, the number of probes that are provided in one-to-one correspondence with all the electrodes on the LCD panel becomes enormous, and the probes themselves have to be The wiring work for configuring the electrical signal path is also difficult.

In this embodiment, a probe assembly unit is used in which a plurality of relatively small number of probes are fixedly provided to electrodes of an LCD panel. That is,
Each probe assembly unit is assigned to a large number of electrodes of the LCD panel. Although not particularly limited, in this embodiment, the LCD
The electrodes corresponding to the scanning lines arranged to run horizontally across the panel are divided into three parts to provide a three-piece probe assembly unit. Further, the electrodes corresponding to the signal lines arranged to run in the vertical direction of the LCD panel are divided into four parts, and a probe assembly unit consisting of four parts is provided. In this case, the four probe assembly units arranged in the longitudinal direction of the LCD panel are intended to make electrical contact with both ends of the same signal line. When the probes are arranged in this manner, it is possible to easily detect a break in the signal line electrode by checking continuity at both ends.

In addition to assigning probes to both ends of the same signal line as described above, the signal line electrodes of the LCD panel can be divided into odd-numbered and even-numbered ones, and for example, the upper probe assembly unit is assigned every other odd-numbered signal line. The lower probe assembly unit may be connected to every other even-numbered signal line electrode. In this case, the number of probes can be halved and the pitch can be made twice as large as the pitch of the signal line electrodes. On the other hand, a method is adopted in which a pixel signal is supplied to the signal line and a disconnection of the signal line is indirectly detected through bright spot inspection or dark spot inspection of the pixel.

This also applies to the probe assembly units, which are provided three on each side, corresponding to the scanning line electrodes arranged to extend in the lateral direction of the LCD panel.

Each probe assembly unit provided corresponding to each of the four sides of the LCD panel employs the high-density wiring method according to the present invention with a probe substrate to which the fixed end side of the probe is connected, as will be described later.

The other end of the flexible wiring board used in a high-density wiring method as described below is inserted into a connector provided on a connector mounting board, although this is not particularly limited. In the figure, each component located below the mounting plate is indicated by a dotted line. However, the connectors are shown as solid lines to facilitate understanding of this embodiment. In addition, the manipulator and LCD installed on the top side of the mounting plate
Polarizing plates and the like provided on the surface of the panel are omitted.

FIG. 1 shows a side view of one embodiment of a probe assembly unit and its wiring path for the probe.

The tip of the probe, which is made up of a plurality of thin filaments, is aligned in accordance with the pitch of the electrodes of the LCD panel to be measured, and is fixed on a support stand so as to maintain this position.

In this method of fixing the probe, the probe is fixed to the surface of the support using an adhesive or the like that is thermoset by heat treatment or the like.

Although not particularly limited, the tips of the probes are aligned using a positioning technique similar to that used for fixed probe boards for semiconductor wafers, and in this state, the plurality of probes are fixed using a support stand and an adhesive. The plurality of probes assembled in this manner are secured by the support with their tips in properly aligned relationship.

The support base for fixing the plurality of probes in this manner is adhered to the probe mounting plate. Although not particularly limited, the probe mounting plate is made of aluminum uniram whose surface is oxidized to have electrical insulation properties.

This probe mounting plate is provided with a film substrate on its lower surface side. Although not particularly limited, this film substrate is
Wiring and connection electrodes are formed on one side (lower surface), and the layered structure has a step difference so that the connection electrode portion is exposed.

A connection end of a probe is connected to one end of the film substrate by solder or the like. In the film substrate having this laminated structure, the distance from the support base is made different for each layer.

Therefore, the other end of the probe whose tip is aligned as described above is cut or bent as appropriate in accordance with the position of the connection electrode of the film substrate. Since the probe is fixed by the support base, even if the connecting end side is bent, the probe is maintained in the aligned state regardless of the distal end side.

A flexible wiring board is connected to the other end side electrode of the film substrate. This is done by soldering the connection portion between the film substrate and the flexible wiring board. Then, the other end of the flexible wiring board is extended and inserted into a connector as shown in FIG. 4, thereby establishing an electrical connection.

The probe mounting plate can be moved in the X, Y, Z, and θ directions by a manipulator provided on its upper surface. As a result, when the plurality of probe assemblies described above are assembled on the base plate (mounting plate), the probe tip of each probe assembly is finely adjusted to the electrode of the LCD panel to which electrical connection is to be made. .

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged side view of one embodiment of the probe assembly unit attached to the probe mounting plate, and FIG. 3 shows a corresponding plan view of one embodiment of the film substrate. has been done.

In this embodiment, single-sided film substrates consisting of first to third layers are used in a stacked manner. In this case, the length of the upper layer is shortened to form a layered structure with a step difference so that the connection electrode of the lower layer is exposed.

In other words, the length of the second layer film substrate is shorter than that of the first layer film substrate, and when stacked, the probe connection electrode shown by the black circle at the IN eye and the flexible wiring shown by the solid line are separated. The board connection portion is exposed. The length of the third layer film substrate is made even shorter than that of the second layer film substrate, and when stacked, the probe connection electrode of the second layer is shown as a black circle, and the probe connection electrode is shown as a solid line. The flexible wiring board connection portion is exposed. In addition, the third layer film substrate, which is the top layer, is
The entire surface is exposed, and wiring and electrodes are formed in the pattern shown in the figure. This is the same for the other first layer and second layer film wiring, and the length of each wiring is only increased according to the length of the film.

Although not particularly limited, the entire surface of the wiring and electrodes formed on the film substrate may be exposed, or only the connecting portions may be exposed and the rest may be coated with a thin insulating resin, etc. good.

By simply forming a laminated structure using a simple single-sided film substrate as described above, it is possible to form connection electrodes that can connect a large number of probes in a small area, as shown in the figure.

By forming a three-layer structure as in this embodiment, it is possible to configure substantially three times as many wiring lines in the same mounting space. In addition, in such a high-density wiring method, it goes without saying that the connections with the probes and the flexible wiring board are performed in order starting from the first layer of the film board.

The outline of the test of the liquid crystal panel using the above-mentioned display probe is as follows.

When a liquid crystal panel has a simple matrix configuration, scanning lines and signal lines are arranged in the horizontal and vertical directions of the display panel.

In this case, the probe is pressed against both ends of the signal line and the scanning line to check for disconnection. Thereafter, a drive signal is supplied as necessary to perform liquid crystal display tests such as an all-on test and an all-off test.

When the liquid crystal display panel has an active matrix configuration, in addition to checking for disconnections in the signal lines and scanning lines as described above, it is necessary to perform an on/off test on the TFT transistor provided for each pixel. For this reason, it is necessary to check the on/off states of the above-mentioned TPT transistors by at least checking whether all the transistors are lit or not. In this case, as in this embodiment, all electrodes of the display panel are contacted at the same time;
Tests can be performed under the same conditions as actual operating conditions.

FIG. 5 shows a side view of another embodiment of the probe assembly unit and its wiring path for the probe.

As in the previous embodiment, the tip of the probe consisting of a plurality of thin filaments is aligned in accordance with the pitch of the electrodes of the LCD panel to be measured, and is fixed on the support stand to maintain this state. . In this method of fixing the probe, the probe is fixed to the surface of the support using an adhesive or the like that is thermoset by heat treatment or the like. Although not particularly limited, the tips of the probes are aligned using an alignment technique similar to that used for fixed probe boards for semiconductor wafers,
In this state, multiple probes are fixed using a support stand and adhesive. Multiple probes assembled in this way are
The tips are secured in properly aligned relationship by the support.

In this embodiment, as an electrical signal path for a plurality of probes, a flexible substrate is formed into a laminated structure, one end of which serves as a connection electrode for the probes, and the other end extending as is and connected to the connector. That is, in this embodiment, as the electrical signal path of the probe, two of the film substrate and the flexible substrate are used as in the previous embodiment.
Instead of combining two flat cables, an FPC (flexible printed circuit) is used as a flexible substrate, and the probe connection end side thereof has a laminated structure in the same manner as described above to construct a high-density connection end. For this reason, the FPCs are combined into a laminated structure with an adhesive with steps as described above, and are bonded to the probe mounting plate.

The other end is left free with its corresponding connector (
(not shown). Since the other configurations are the same as those of the previous embodiment, detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

With this configuration, the connection between the film board and the flexible wiring board can be omitted as in the embodiment shown in FIG.
It is possible to reduce assembly man-hours and obtain good signal transmission characteristics.

FIG. 6 shows a plan view of another embodiment for explaining a method of connecting a film substrate and a flexible substrate.

In this embodiment, an FPC (flexible printed circuit) is used as a film substrate having a laminated structure, and connection is made to it using an FFC (flexible flat cable).

This FFC differs from FPC in that individual thin lead wires are glued together in a thin plate shape to form one flexible wiring structure. Therefore, the tips can be independently separated into individual leads. Therefore, in the wiring on the bottom row of the film board, the first layer has probe number 1, the second layer has probe number 2, the third layer has probe number 3, and the FFC
In connection with 1.2. from the lower cable.
3 and connector pin numbers. In this way, the probe numbers distributed separately across three layers can be assigned in order to each lead wire of one flexible wiring FFC. . By connecting one FFC to a film substrate having such a three-layer structure, it is possible to prevent connection errors in connection with a connector. That is, the above-mentioned Fig. 1 or Fig. 5
In the illustrated embodiment, there is a possibility of connection errors when connecting three flexible substrates to three connectors, but such connection errors can be prevented by using the above-mentioned FFC.

The effects obtained from the above examples are as follows. That is, (11) A laminated structure is formed using a plurality of film substrates with steps such that the connection electrodes at both ends are provided on one side and the connection electrode formation portion is exposed, and flexible wiring is connected to the electrode at one end. By connecting the substrates, it is possible to obtain a high-density wiring route with a simple structure.

(2) Connecting to the outside by using a flexible flat cable as the flexible board, separating the connection end into individual lead wires, and connecting them to terminal numbers in a fixed order across the film board. This has the effect of making it easier.

(3) By using an integrated structure using FPC as the film substrate and the flexible substrate of the laminated structure, it is possible to obtain the above-mentioned high-density wiring route and to omit interconnections.

(4) A probe assembly having a plurality of probes arranged at the same pitch as the electrodes of the display panel, and the connection electrodes at both ends are provided on one side, and the plurality of probes are arranged with a step so that the connection electrode forming part is exposed. Connect the connection end of the probe to one electrode side that has a laminated structure,
A flexible wiring board is provided, one end of which is connected to the exposed electrode at the other end of the film board, and the other end is inserted into a connector, or the film board and flexible wiring board are integrated using FPC. By configuring the electrical path of the probe by configuring the electrical path of the probe, it is possible to configure the electrical path with a large number of probes in a simple manner, even though the number of electrodes increases due to the larger screen of the display panel, and the test time can be reduced. The effect is that the time period can be shortened.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically explained above based on Examples, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned Examples, and can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist thereof. Nor. For example, the number of probe assembly units varies depending on the size of the LCD panel to be tested. For example, in an LCD panel for a laptop microcomputer, the aspect ratio is not set to 3:4 as in a color television, but is arbitrarily set to 10:4.

Therefore, various embodiments can be adopted, such as providing ten probe assembly units corresponding to the signal lines and four probe assembly units corresponding to the scanning lines. The structure of each member for integrally attaching a plurality of the probe assembly units corresponding to all electrodes of the LCD panel is as follows:
Various embodiments are possible. For example, the connector mounting board and the assembly mounting plate may be integrally constructed.

Further, the film substrate may be provided with only the connection portions at both ends on one side, and the wiring in the middle may be on both sides or have a multilayer wiring structure. Similarly, a flexible wiring board may also have a connecting portion on one side, and may have a double-sided structure or a multilayer structure in the middle. In addition to the probe, an electrode of an electronic device having small and high-density electrodes such as a semiconductor integrated circuit device or a display panel may be connected to one end side of the film substrate. In this case, the connection may be made by connecting each electrode using a lead wire or the like, or by using an appropriate high-density wiring board. Then, a film substrate or FP to have a laminated structure
The number of COs may be 3N or a plurality of layers such as 2 layers or 4 layers.

The display panel probe according to the present invention can be widely used in various display panels in addition to glass substrates such as the liquid crystal panel described above.

C Effects of the Invention] The effects obtained by typical inventions disclosed in this application are briefly explained below. That is, the connection electrodes at both ends are provided on one side, and a laminated structure is formed using a plurality of film substrates with steps so that the connection electrode forming portion is exposed, and a flexible wiring board is attached to the electrode at one end. By connecting the film substrate and the flexible substrate into an integral structure using FPC, a high-density wiring route can be obtained with a simple structure. In addition, the probe assembly has a plurality of probes arranged at the same pitch as the electrodes of the display panel, and the connection electrodes at both ends are provided on one side, and the plurality of probes are provided with a step so that the connection electrode forming part is exposed. Connect the connection end of the probe to one electrode side of the laminated structure, and use a flexible wiring board or FPC with one end connected to the electrode at the other exposed end of the film substrate. By making the above film substrate and flexible substrate into an integrated structure, and inserting the other end into a connector to form an electrical path for the probe, it is possible to easily cope with the increase in the number of electrodes due to the enlargement of display panels. Electrical paths can be configured with a large number of probes, making it possible to shorten test time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of a probe assembly unit of a display probe according to the present invention and a wiring route for the probe, and FIG. 2 is a side view showing an example of the probe assembly unit attached to a probe mounting plate. An enlarged side view showing one embodiment; FIG. 3 is a plan view showing one embodiment of a film substrate corresponding thereto; FIG. 4 is a plan view showing one embodiment of the display panel probe according to the present invention; FIG. 5 is a side view showing another embodiment of the probe assembly unit and its wiring route for the probe. FIG. 6 is a side view showing another embodiment of the wiring route for the probe assembly unit and its probe. FIG.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of film substrates are formed into a laminated structure with a step so that the connection electrodes at both ends are provided on one side and the connection electrode formation portion is exposed, and the electrode at one exposed end is formed. A high-density wiring method characterized by connecting one end side of a flexible wiring board to each. 2. The other end side of the flexible wiring board is electrically connected by being inserted into a connector having electrodes that match the wiring pitch of the flexible wiring board, Claim 1 High-density wiring method described. 3. The above flexible board is flexible, flat,
Claim No. 1, characterized in that the cable is made of a cable, and the connection end side of the cable is separated into individual lead wires and connected across a plurality of film substrates so as to correspond to terminal numbers in a fixed order. The high-density wiring method described in item 1. 4. A plurality of flexible wiring boards are formed into a laminated structure with a connection electrode at least one end provided on one side and steps such that the connection electrode formation portion is exposed;
A high-density wiring method characterized in that an electrical connection is obtained by inserting the other end into a connector. 5. A plurality of probes arranged at the same pitch as the electrodes of the display panel and connection electrodes at both ends are provided on one side, and a layered structure is formed with a step so that the connection electrode forming part is exposed. A probe using a plurality of film substrates to which connection ends of the probes are connected to the electrode side, and a flexible wiring board each having one end connected to an electrode at the other exposed end of the plurality of film substrates. A probe for a display panel, comprising an electrical signal path. 6. A plurality of probes arranged at the same pitch as the electrodes of the display panel and a connection electrode at at least one end are provided on one side and have a layered structure with steps so that the connection electrode forming part is exposed, and the above-mentioned A probe for a display panel, comprising an electrical signal path of the probe using a plurality of flexible wiring boards each having a connecting end of the probe connected to a connecting electrode.