JPH07181202A - Probe for inspecting substrate and correction method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a reduction in repairing time and cost by enabling the returning of the shape of a probe needle to the original state when it is deformed without removal from the apparatus by applying heat of a specified temperature to the probe needle directly or indirectly. CONSTITUTION:A probe needle employs an alloy showing a shape memory effect as material and the probe needle is bent properly in shape to match an inspection device. The probe needle 2a de formed of a probe 1 for inspecting a liquid crystal display body is made to contact a high temperature liquid heat source directly to turn the shape thereof to the original state by the shape memory effect of the alloy. Hot water 12 is selected as heat source. For the hot water is inexpensive. easy to handle and has sufficient heat to return the shape memory alloy to the original state. There is no need for removing the probe 1 from the inspection device and the hot water 12 filling a container 13 kept on the apparatus is made to contact the probe needle 2a deformed directly thereby enabling the returning of the shape thereof to the original state.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate inspection probe used for a glass substrate, a plastic substrate, a flexible wiring substrate, a hard substrate, etc. used for a liquid crystal display or the like, and a method for repairing the probe.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional substrate inspection apparatus, for example, one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-227078 is known.

In the above publication, in order to prevent deterioration of quality and yield due to mounting a driving IC on a liquid crystal display having a lighting defect, driving is performed from a large number of electrodes formed on a liquid crystal display of a glass substrate. There is shown a glass substrate inspection device that conducts a conductive continuity check up to a position where an IC is mounted.

The glass substrate inspecting apparatus disclosed in the above publication, for example, injects liquid crystal into a minute space in which two glass substrates are arranged to face each other, and intersects the scanning signal and data signal lines formed in a lattice on the facing surface. Is to inspect a liquid crystal display that electrically displays as a pixel.

The above inspection apparatus is provided with a mounting table for supporting the liquid crystal display body by vacuum suction, for example, and a lead pattern concentrated above the mounting table is provided at a position where a drive IC chip of the liquid crystal display body is mounted. There is provided an electrode body capable of collectively electrically contacting one end portion thereof and a probe card having an electrode terminal, for example, a probe needle, which individually contacts the other end portion of the lead pattern.

At the time of inspection, the mounting table rises to bring one end portion of the lead pattern, which is concentrated on the installation position of the drive IC chip, into surface contact with the electrode body, and the other end portion of each lead pattern. The probe needles are brought into contact with each other independently, and the electrical continuity test is executed in such a contact state.

In the above publication, the material of the probe needle is not mentioned, but generally, as the probe needle material of the probe for substrate inspection, Be-Cu (beryllium copper) alloy, W (tungsten) or the like is used. Metal is used.

[0008]

By the way, materials such as Be-Cu alloy and W, which have been used as the material of the probe needle of the conventional substrate inspection probe, are weak against external force and easily plastically deformed. . Therefore, when the probe needle is deformed, it is necessary to remove the probe from the inspection apparatus main body and correct it, or to replace the probe needle, which is troublesome and expensive.

The present invention solves the above problems of the conventional board inspection probe and provides a board inspection probe that can be easily corrected.

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided a substrate inspecting probe having a probe needle for inspecting a substrate, wherein the probe needle is formed of a shape memory alloy.

The present invention also provides a probe needle, wherein the board inspection probe is in contact with a drive signal input terminal of the board,
It is characterized by being constituted by a support of the probe needle, a driver TAB-IC for driving a substrate to be inspected, and a relay flexible wiring substrate for sending an electric signal to the driver TAB-IC.

According to the present invention, the probe needle is made of Ni-Ti.
It is characterized by being formed of a shape memory alloy composed of a (Nitinol) alloy or a Cu—Zn—Al (Betaloy) alloy.

Furthermore, the present invention is a method of repairing a probe for inspecting a substrate, wherein the probe needle is made of a shape memory alloy, wherein heat from a heat source that generates heat of a predetermined temperature is
It is characterized in that it is directly or indirectly supplied to the deformed probe needle to be corrected to the original shape.

[0014]

According to the substrate inspection probe of the present invention, when the probe needle of the substrate inspection probe is deformed, the material of the probe needle is not removed from the substrate inspection device without removing the substrate inspection probe mounted on the substrate inspection device. It is possible to restore the original shape of the needle by directly or indirectly applying heat of a predetermined temperature to the probe needle by utilizing the characteristic of the shape memory alloy. As a result, it is possible to reduce the repair time and the repair cost of the board inspection probe.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following description, a liquid crystal display inspection probe will be described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a substrate inspection device used for a substrate such as a plastic substrate, a flexible wiring substrate, or a hard substrate, Needless to say, the present invention can also be applied to an inspection apparatus for electronic devices such as ICs using a metal electrode having a fine pattern.

FIG. 1 is an external view showing the structure of a liquid crystal display body inspection probe 1 according to the present invention. The liquid crystal display inspection probe 1 includes a probe needle 2 that contacts a drive signal input terminal of the liquid crystal display 9, a support 2'of the probe needle 2, and a driver TAB-IC that drives the liquid crystal display 9 to be inspected.
3 and a flexible wiring board 4 for relay which sends an electric signal to the driver TAB-IC3.

As the material of the probe needle 2, an alloy having a shape memory effect is used as a material, and the shape of the probe needle 2 is appropriately bent and formed according to the inspection device. Various alloys showing a shape memory effect have been confirmed, but in the present invention, N
An i-Ti alloy or a Cu-Zn-Al alloy is preferable.
The reason is that when a Ni-Ti alloy or a Cu-Zn-Al alloy is used for the probe needle 2, the specific resistance of the inspection probe 1 is the same as when the conventional Be-Cu alloy and W are used, and the probe is used as an inspection probe. This is because it is suitable.

The probe 1 for inspecting a liquid crystal display according to the present invention is an L for driving the liquid crystal display element of the liquid crystal display 9.
It may be used as a lighting display test before connecting a driving device such as an SI chip or a film carrier with an LSI, and contacting each terminal for inputting a signal for driving a liquid crystal display element of the liquid crystal display body 9, The structure of the liquid crystal display inspection probe 1 is not limited to the above structure.

2 and 3 show an example of a liquid crystal display body lighting inspection device using the liquid crystal display body inspection probe 1 of this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view and FIG. 3 is a side view. . In these drawings, the liquid crystal display body inspection probe 1 in which the probe needle 2 is formed of a shape memory alloy is attached to the probe attachment board 5.

On the probe mounting board 5, a driving device 6 for sending an electric signal to the liquid crystal display body 9 through the liquid crystal display body inspection probe 1 is arranged. Such a probe mounting board 5 is mounted on the lifting stage 7.

A backlight 8 is arranged below the probe mounting board 5, and a liquid crystal display 9 to be inspected is placed on the backlight 8 and the tip of the probe needle 2 when the probe mounting board 5 descends. The liquid crystal display 9 is placed at a position where a drive signal input terminal (not shown) is surely in contact with it.

At the time of inspection, the probe mounting board 5 to which the probe 1 for inspecting a liquid crystal display is lowered, and the needle 2 of the probe 1 for inspecting a liquid crystal display is moved to the liquid crystal display 9.
A drive signal input terminal (not shown) is contacted, a drive signal is input to the liquid crystal display element (not shown) of the liquid crystal display 9 from the terminal, and the liquid crystal display 9 is turned on. As a result, the lighting inspection is performed by looking at the lit liquid crystal display body 9.

The liquid crystal display body lighting inspection apparatus shown in FIG. 2 has a structure in which the probe mounting board 5 on which the liquid crystal display body inspection probe 1 is placed moves up and down to perform the lighting inspection. The structure may be such that the side on which the body 9 is placed (backlight 8 side in FIG. 2) goes up and down for inspection, and the probe mounting board 5 and the liquid crystal display 9
It is also possible to adopt a structure in which both the mounting side (the backlight 8 side in FIG. 2) moves up and down for inspection.

Next, a specific method for repairing the liquid crystal display device inspection probe 1 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

The first repairing method is a method in which hot air is blown from a heat source to the deformed probe needle to restore the original shape by utilizing the shape memory effect of the alloy. FIG. 4 shows a correction method in the case where a dryer 10 that emits a high temperature and can blow a high temperature is used as an example of a heat source.

In this method, the structure / type /
Depending on the nature and the like, the heat generated by the heat source 10 may hit a portion other than the deformed probe needle 2a and affect the pitch accuracy of the probe needle 2, so that the pitch accuracy of the probe needle 2 is not affected. Is desirable.

In FIG. 4, the heat focusing tube 11 is attached to the tip of the dryer 10. The heat converging tube 11 is made of a material having sufficient heat resistance and heat insulation, for example, heat resistant plastic, and has a shape capable of converging heat. Further, in FIG. 4, the shape of the heat converging tube 11 is a funnel shape, but a conical shape or a pyramid shape may be used, and a hole serving as a heat emitting portion may be provided at the apex of the cone or the pyramid.
As a columnar or prismatic shape, a structure may be used in which a hole serving as a heat emitting portion is provided on the side opposite to the attachment portion to the heat source. However, also in this case, the pitch accuracy of the probe needle 2 is affected by providing a heat converging portion having a stepped shape, a conical shape, or a pyramid-shaped narrowed shape at a place where a columnar shape or a prismatic shape is formed, and forming the tip to a desired thinness. It is desirable to have a structure that does not give it. In addition, the heat converging tube 11 is replaced by the heat converging tube 1 regardless of the shape described above.
The structure may be bent at a portion of 1. The bending direction, number of times, and angle are not limited to specific directions and numerical values as long as they can be easily modified in consideration of the mounting state of the liquid crystal display device inspection probe 1. This makes it possible to more intensively supply heat to the deformed probe needles 2a and prevent the pitch accuracy of the probe needles 2 of the liquid crystal display inspection probe 1 from being affected.

The liquid crystal display inspecting apparatus shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 may have a structure in which a heat source such as a dryer is attached in advance. In this case, the mounting position and mounting method of the heat source are not particularly limited as long as they do not hinder the board inspection.

Further, a sensor for automatically detecting the deformation of the probe needle 2 is installed, and when the sensor detects the deformation of the needle portion 2, the dryer 10 automatically operates to detect the deformed probe needle 2a. The structure may be provided with a correction mechanism.

Further, in the work in the inspection process, the system may be such that a correction process is automatically inserted every predetermined number of times or every inspection of a predetermined time.

Next, the second repair method will be described. This is a correction method in which the deformed probe needle 2a of the liquid crystal display body inspection probe 1 is brought into direct contact with a heat source of a liquid having a high temperature to restore the original shape by the shape memory effect of the alloy. A specific example is shown in FIG. Here, hot water 12 was selected as the heat source. The reason for selecting hot water is that it is easily available, inexpensive, easy to handle, and has sufficient heat to restore the shape memory alloy to its original state. Therefore, other liquids can be used as a heat source as long as they have similar properties.

In FIG. 5, it is not necessary to remove the liquid crystal display body inspection probe 1 from the inspection device, and the probe 12 obtained by deforming the hot water 12 filled in the container 13 in a state where the liquid crystal display body inspection probe 1 is mounted in the inspection device. The original needle shape can be restored by directly contacting the needle 2a. Container 13
Is a container made of a material having heat resistance and durability according to the temperature of hot water, and in this example, a metal container is particularly preferable because it is excellent in heat resistance and durability. Also, instead of directly bringing a container containing hot water, place the heat source in a remote place,
The hot water may be circulated in the pipe to convey the hot water to the probe so that heat is applied only to the probe needle portion.

The same applies when other heat sources are used, as long as the container has heat resistance and durability depending on the temperature of the heat source. The shape of the container 13 does not matter. The temperature of the hot water 12 may be a temperature at which the shape memory alloy returns to its original state, or in the present invention, a temperature sufficient for the needle to return to its original shape. However, the shape memory alloy Ni-Ti alloy or Cu-Zn- described above is used. Al
When an alloy is used, the hot water temperature is preferably around 90 ° C. to achieve the above object. When a shape memory alloy Ti-Al alloy and Cu-Zn-Al alloy are used for the probe needle 2 of the liquid crystal display inspection probe 1, the hot water temperature is 90
The repair time was 1 second for both the Ti-Al alloy and the Cu-Zn-Al alloy in the state of ° C, and sufficient results were obtained to achieve the purpose.

It should be noted that materials other than the above can be used as the material of the probe needle 2 of the probe 1 as long as they are shape memory alloys that can obtain the same result.

Although the method for repairing the probe 1 for inspecting a liquid crystal display according to the present invention has been described above, the method for repairing the probe for inspecting a substrate according to the present invention is not limited to the method shown in the above specific examples. Any method may be used as long as it is a method of directly or indirectly supplying a heat source that generates heat of a predetermined temperature to correct the deformed needle portion 2a. Needless to say, the heat source is not limited to the heat source exemplified above.

[0036]

According to the substrate probe and the method of repairing the same of the present invention, since the repair can be performed while the substrate inspection probe having a deformed needle tip is mounted in the apparatus, the time required for the repair can be shortened.

Further, since the non-operation time of the apparatus is shortened, the productivity is improved.

Further, since the probe needle can be easily corrected, the cost for correction can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing a substrate inspection probe according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a liquid crystal display body lighting inspection device using the substrate inspection probe according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a liquid crystal display body lighting inspection device using the substrate inspection probe according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a method for correcting a probe needle according to the present invention by using a dryer as a heat source.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a method for correcting the probe needle according to the present invention by using hot water as a heat source.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 board inspection probe 2 probe needle 2'probe needle support 2a deformed probe needle 3 driver TAB-IC 4 flexible wiring board for relay 5 probe mounting board 6 driver TAB-IC driver 7 lift stage 8 backlight 9 inspection target Substrate 10 Dryer 11 Heat converging tube 12 Liquid heat source 13 Container

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A substrate inspection probe comprising a probe needle for inspecting a substrate, wherein the probe needle is made of a shape memory alloy. 2. The board inspection probe comprises a probe needle that comes into contact with a drive signal input terminal of the board, a support for the probe needle, and a driver TAB- that drives the board to be inspected.
2. The board inspection probe according to claim 1, wherein the board inspection probe comprises an IC and a relay flexible wiring board that sends an electric signal to the driver TAB-IC. 3. The substrate inspection according to claim 1, wherein the probe needle is formed of a shape memory alloy made of a Ni—Ti (Nitinol) alloy or a Cu—Zn—Al (Betaloy) alloy. probe. 4. A method for modifying a probe for inspecting a substrate, wherein the probe needle is made of a shape memory alloy, wherein heat from a heat source generating heat of a predetermined temperature is directly or indirectly applied to the deformed probe needle. A method for repairing a probe for board inspection, which comprises supplying the same to an original shape to correct the original shape.