JPH063476B2 - Inspection device for flattomato display panel - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a flat panel such as a duty-driving liquid crystal panel, which is composed of a plurality of electrodes formed on a transparent substrate such as two sheets of glass facing each other. The present invention relates to an inspection device for a matrix display panel.

[Conventional technology]

This kind of flat matrix display panel
In the case of liquid crystal duty drive, as shown in FIG. 6, a large number of data electrodes DE formed by evaporating indium oxide (ITO) or the like on the surface of the glass substrate G _1.
And a large number of scanning-side electrodes SE formed similarly on the surface of the glass substrate G ₂ are arranged so as to face each other in a matrix, and liquid crystal is sealed between these glass substrates G ₁ and G _2. However, in the inspection of these panels, it is necessary to inspect not only the electrical characteristics (short circuit, open leak, etc.) but also the uneven brightness of the surface, the presence of interference fringes, etc. It is necessary to visually inspect it. Also, the electrodes DE and S in this kind of panel
The pitch of E changes with the increase in density of picture elements, which is increasingly desired in recent years.
A fine pitch of about 0.2 mm is required. by the way,
FIG. 7 shows a large number of electrodes DE and SE having such a fine pitch.
1 shows an example of a tester head that can be suitably used for inspecting a display panel P having a plurality of slits S. The tester head H has a large number of slits S formed at a pitch corresponding to the pitch of the electrodes DE and SE of the panel P. A main body made of methacrylic resin, for example, and a contact portion C formed in each slit S in an elastically deformed state and projecting from the top surface and the bottom surface of the main body at both ends. ₁ and a contact terminal C made of a metal having a spring property such as phosphor bronze having a connecting portion C ₂ .

In the test, a pair of tester heads H is used, and the contact portion C ₁ of the contact end C of one of the tester heads from the lower side of the panel P held horizontally is connected to the data side electrode DE.
In addition, the contact portion C ₁ of the contact terminal C of the other tester head from the upper side of the panel P is brought into contact with the scanning side electrode SE respectively. In this case, the data side electrode DE and the contact terminal to be brought into contact therewith. The alignment of C is performed as follows. That is, the panel P is held horizontally by the vacuum suction device first, and then the tester head H mounted on the stage is moved by using a stage whose movement is adjustable in the left, right, up, and down directions while looking through the microscope from above. As a result, the data-side electrode DE is aligned with the corresponding contact terminal C, and the last stage is moved up to bring the corresponding contact terminal C into contact with the data-side electrode DE and apply an appropriate pressure to perform alignment. It is supposed to be completed.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the case of the alignment method as described above, since the alignment is performed while looking through the microscope from above, the scan-side contact terminal C and the scan-side electrode SE which are required to lower the tester head H from above are required. Alignment was impossible, and alignment in this case had to be done by another method.

In view of such circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide an inspection apparatus of this type that can perform alignment between the scanning-side contact terminal and the scanning-side electrode by using the above stage.

[Means and Actions for Solving Problems]

According to this inspection device, the scanning stage has the scanning side contact terminal in the positioning stage on which the tester head having the data side contact terminal to contact the data side electrode is mounted so as to have a predetermined positional relationship with the data side contact terminal. Another tester head is mounted so that the data-side electrode and the data-side contact terminal are aligned with each other, and at the same time, the alignment of the scanning-side electrode and the scanning-side contact terminal is completed. Preferably, the data-side contact terminal group includes at least two dummy contact terminals each of which is capable of contacting at least two alignment dummy patterns provided on the substrate on which the data-side electrode is formed. The side electrodes and the data side contact terminals can be more easily aligned with each other.

〔Example〕

First, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the drawings, 1 is a main body frame of the apparatus, 2 is a base fixed on the main body frame 1, and 3 is a base 2. The x-stage 5 is slidably mounted on the x-stage 3 and is slidably mounted on the x-stage 3, which is movable in one direction by turning the coarse / fine adjustment handle 4 via a well-known screw mechanism. It is well known that the y stage 7 is movable in one direction orthogonal to the x stage 3 by turning the coarse / fine adjustment handle 6 via a well-known screw mechanism, and the y stage 7 is vertically slidably mounted on the y stage 5. Z stage that can be moved in the vertical direction by rotating the coarse / fine adjustment handle 8 via the rack and pinion mechanism, 9 is a θ stage rotatably mounted on the z stage, and 10 is fixed on the θ stage 9. Installed on the data side tester head A tester head supporting stage equipped with a mounting part 10a and a scanning side tester head supporting device 11 to be described later, and 12 is mounted on the main body frame 1 and arranged directly above the data side tester head mounting part 10a of the tester head supporting stage 10. Installed vacuum suction device, 13
Is a moving screw rotatably mounted on the tester head supporting stage 110, 14 is a block slidably mounted on the tester head supporting stage 10 and screwed to the moving screw 13, and 15 is a block. The lever 15 is pivotally mounted on 14 and has a tip portion 15a raised in an L shape, and a holding lever 16 is an adjusting screw screwed to the holding lever 15 so as to be able to move forward and backward. 17 is loosely attached to a small diameter portion of the adjusting screw 16. A tester head support member that is fitted and is pivotally mounted on the block 14 concentrically with the holding lever 15, and 18 is stretched between the holding lever 15 and the tester head support member 17 The spring 19 presses each other away from each other, and 19 is a lead clamper for the scanning side tester head H _S. Data side tester head H _D is secured by mounting screws 20, 20 in position on the data side tester head mounting portion 10a of the tester head supporting stage 10, 21 is fixed data side tester head on the stage 10 H _D Is a lead clamper for.
Incidentally, a tester head supporting stage 10 and a tester head support device 11, when the display panel P to be examined, the scanning side tester head H _S and the data side tester head H _D is held in such a predetermined position of the respective above, each The positions of the tester heads H _S and H _D contact terminals C _S and C _D are designed in advance so as to correspond to the scanning side electrode SE and the data side electrode DE of the panel P, respectively.

Next, the operation of the above device will be described.

FIG. 1 shows a state in which the display panel P is held at the inspection position and both the scanning side tester head H _S and the data side tester head H _D are set at the operating position. The case of newly setting the panel will be described with reference to FIG. 1. When the adjusting screw 16 is first rotated and raised, the tester head supporting member 17 is slightly turned right following this. The scanning side contact terminal C _S is the scanning side electrode SE of the panel P.
It rises away all at once. In this state, the moving screw 13 is turned to move the entire tester head supporting device 11 from the position shown in FIG. 3 to the right, and the scanning side contact terminal C _S is moved to the panel P.
Keep away from. Then slightly lowering the data side tester head H _D by turning the handle 8, a new display panel to be inspected to release the vacuum suction device 12 is set at a predetermined position, again worked with the panel of the vacuum suction device 12 Fixed in that position. While looking through a microscope (not shown) equipped in the upper position of the main frame 1 in this state, the position of the contact terminal C _D of the data side electrodes DE and the data side tester head H _D of the panel by operating the handle 4 and 6 Make a match. Then by operating the handle 8 again increases the data side tester head H _D, is respectively pressed against the data side contact terminal C _D to the data side electrodes DE. After that, the moving screw 13 is turned in the opposite direction to the above so that the whole tester head supporting device 11 is moved to the left until it comes into contact with the stopper (not shown), that is, to the position shown in FIG. Bring the contact terminal C _S of the tester head H _S on the scanning side onto SE. In this state, the adjusting screw 16 is turned in the direction opposite to the above to turn the tester head support member 17 slightly to the left, and the scanning side contact terminals C _S are brought into pressure contact with the scanning side electrodes SE of the panel, respectively, thereby performing the setting operation. Complete. In this case, the scanning-side contact terminal C _S results in pressing direction of peeling the glass substrate G ₂ formed with the scanning electrode SE panel is pressed downward from the suction position, the glass substrate G ₂ is the scanning side Since it is held by the contact terminal C _S and the holding lever 15, the suction position of the panel does not shift, and the scanning side contact terminal C _S of the scanning side contact terminal C _S can be aligned at the same time as the data side contact terminal C _D is aligned with the data side electrode DE. The alignment with the scanning electrode SE can be accurately and automatically performed.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment differs from the above-mentioned embodiments in the configuration of the scanning side tester head support device 11. That is, the jig block 22 having the lever 22a is provided on the tester head support stage 10.
Is rotatably mounted, and a scanning side tester head H _S is attached to the jig block 22. Further, the jig block 22 is located between the position of the lever 22a indicated by the solid line and the position indicated by the chain line. It can be rotated and held at each position by a click device or the like. The lever 22
When a has arrived to the dashed line position, the contact terminals C _S of the scanning tester head H _S to the scanning electrode SE of the flat panel P, which is held in place of the main frame 1 by vacuum suction apparatus 12 is suitable The scanning side electrodes of the panel P are designed in advance so that they can come into contact with each other by a pressing force, and the mutual relationship between the scanning side contact terminal C _S and the data side contact terminal C _D when the lever 22a is in the chain line position. SE and electrode DE on the data side
It is designed and installed so that it has the same mutual positional relationship with. Since this embodiment is constructed as described above, when setting the flat panel to be inspected, the lever 22a is first rotated from the chain line position to the solid line position to set the scanning side tester head H _S to the illustrated position. Then, the new flat panel is loaded into a predetermined position by the procedure described above, the data side electrode DE and the data side contact terminal C _D are aligned using the microscope, and the data side is moved by raising the stage 9. The scanning side contact terminal C _S can be properly brought into contact with the scanning side electrode E by simply pressing the contact terminal C _{D to} the data side electrode DE and then turning the lever 22a from the solid line position to the chain line position. You can As is clear from this description, this embodiment has an advantage that the operation becomes simpler.

In any of the above embodiments, the problem is that the data side electrode DE and the data side contact terminal C _D are completely connected even if the data side electrode DE is completely connected, as shown by the black dots in FIG.
This means that the scanning side electrode SE may not be connected to the scanning side contact terminal C _S due to the deviation of the contact point between the scanning side electrode SE and the data side connection terminal C _D from the regular position R. As a countermeasure against this case, according to the present invention, alignment dummy patterns 23 are provided at at least two positions of the glass substrate G ₁ on which the data-side electrodes DE are formed, and the data is provided in the center marking mark 23a. so that the dummy contact terminals 24 provided corresponding to the side tester head H _D can be aligned (see Figure 5). As a result, it is possible to prevent the data-side contact terminal C _D from being deviated from the right position to the left and right, and to ensure a reliable connection of the scanning-side contact terminal C _{S to} the scanning-side electrode SE.
Since the dummy pattern 23 can be formed in a portion where the data-side electrode DE does not exist, it is easy to see through a microscope and the alignment of the dummy contact terminal 24 is extremely easy, and also for the automation by introducing automatic pattern recognition. It is valid.

In the above embodiments, the liquid crystal panel was described as the flat matrix display panel, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to a plasma display panel having a counter electrode. It is needless to say that the invention can be applied to the case where the visual inspection is unnecessary and the scanning side and the data side may be turned upside down.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, in the inspection device for a flat matrix display panel having the counter electrode, the scanning side electrode and the scanning side contact terminal, which cannot be aligned, are aligned with the data side electrode and the data side contact terminal. It has the advantage that it can be automatically aligned by itself, and that the necessary tests can be carried out without damaging the panel.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a part of an embodiment of an inspection apparatus according to the present invention by breaking it, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an inspection according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a side view of an essential part of another embodiment of the device, FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the flat matrix display panel according to the present invention, and FIG. 5 is an alignment of a dummy pattern for alignment with a dummy contact terminal. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing the state, FIG. 6 shows a conventional example of a flat matrix display panel, (A) is a plan view thereof, (B) is a right side view, (C) is a bottom view, and FIG. 7 is a tester head. A conventional example (A) is a perspective view thereof,
(B) is a sectional view taken along the line BB of the perspective view (A). 1 ... Main body frame, 2 ... Base, 3 ... x stage, 4 ... Coarse / fine movement handle, 5 ... y stage, 6 ...
Coarse / fine movement handle, 7 ... Z stage, 8 ... Coarse / fine movement handle, 9 ... θ stage, 10 ... Tester head support stage, 11 ... Scanning side tester head support device, 1
2 ... Vacuum suction device, 13 ... Moving screw, 14 ... Block, 15 ... Holding lever, 16 ... Adjusting screw, 17
...... Tester head support member, 18 ...... Spring, 1
9 ... Lead clamper, 20 ... Mounting screw, 21 ...
… Lead clamper, 22 …… Jig block, 23 ……
Alignment dummy pattern, 24 ... Dummy contact terminal,
P: Flat matrix display panel, DE
...... Data side electrode, SE ...... Scanning side electrode, G ₁ , G ₂ ......
Substrate, H _D ...... Data side tester head, C _D・ ・ ・ Data side contact terminal, H _S・ ・ ・ Scanning side tester head, C _S・ ・ ・ Scanning side contact terminal.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Sadao Iwamoto 2-9-5 Nihonbashihonmachi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Yamato Scientific Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuhisa Ozawa 1-30 of Namiki, Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture Seiko stock company

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An inspection apparatus for a flat matrix display panel, which comprises electrode groups formed on two substrates so as to face each other, and data capable of contacting one electrode group on each of the substrates. A positioning stage device capable of three-dimensionally moving and adjusting a data side tester head having a side contact terminal group, and a scanning side tester head having a scanning side contact terminal group capable of respectively contacting the other electrode group of the substrate. And a supporting device for movably adjusting, the data-side contact terminal group includes at least two dummy contact terminals, and a positioning dummy pattern corresponding to at least two dummy contact terminals is provided on the panel. When the positioning stage device is installed, the specific point provided on the dummy contact terminal is operated by operating the positioning stage device. Inspection apparatus for a flat matrix display panel, characterized in that as allowed to respectively align the aforementioned electrode group and the contact terminal group by matching the pattern. 2. The inspection device according to claim 1, wherein the scanning-side tester head is fixed on a jig rotatably mounted on the supporting device. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein a reaction force is applied to the surface of the side facing the panel surface, which is in contact with the scanning side contact terminal group, as the contact pressure is applied. Inspection equipment.