JPH07181468A - Inspection method of transparent substrate and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an inspection device of a transparent substrate capable of easily inspecting the strain of the transparent substrate. CONSTITUTION:Water is housed in a receiving tray 6 of a steam generator 5 and steam is generated by heating a heater 7 to generate heat. The amt. of the steam to be generated is controlled by a humidity sensor 16 so that the specified humidity in a casing 1 is attained. The steam generated in the steam generator 5 makes the flow of the steam uniform by a mesh 11 and the steam is blown out upward instantaneously by blowing out of blow-off holes 9 of a blower 8. The glass substrate 19 for liquid crystals to be inspected is placed above an opening 2 for inspection. A lamp 12 of an illuminating device 13 is lighted to illuminate the rear surface of the glass substrate 19 for liquid crystal via a transparent plate 15 of an opening 14 for irradiation. Clouding of the glass substrate 19 for liquid crystals by the steam is photographed by a camera 17 and the presence or absence of the strain on the glass substrate 19 for liquid crystal is inspected. The kinds of the stain and the cause of its generation are searched by the degrees of the clouding, such as dark, thin and stripe patterns generated on the glass substrate 19 for liquid crystal.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transparent substrate inspection method and apparatus for inspecting stains on a transparent substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when inspecting a glass substrate for liquid crystal, which is a transparent substrate, for dirt, hold the glass substrate for liquid crystal and make steam in a boiler on the factory line, or steam from a pot or kettle. By applying these vapors to the glass substrate for liquid crystal, the location where the vapor is attached to the glass substrate due to the cloudiness of the vapor and the type of contamination such as oil and dust are inspected.

[0003]

However, as described above, when the liquid crystal glass substrate is held by hand and vapor is applied to the liquid crystal glass substrate, the vapor is generated by manually moving the liquid crystal glass substrate. Since it is applied, skill is required, and the vapor cannot be evenly applied to the entire surface of the glass substrate for liquid crystal, and in particular, dirt on the end portion of the glass substrate for liquid crystal cannot be found.

Further, when steam from a pot or a kettle is used, it takes time to apply steam to the entire surface of the glass substrate for liquid crystal, and the cloudiness at the portion where the steam first hits the glass substrate disappears and the spot is dirty. May not be found. On the other hand, when steam from a boiler in a factory line is used, water drops adhere to the liquid crystal glass substrate due to the large amount of steam, and it may not be possible to find dirt.

Further, even if dirt on the glass substrate for liquid crystal is found, the cloudiness due to the vapor disappears in a short time, so that there is a problem that it is not possible to find the location of the manufacturing process or device where the dirt is generated, or the cause of the dirt. Have

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a transparent substrate inspection method and apparatus capable of easily inspecting the contamination of the transparent substrate.

[0007]

A method for inspecting a transparent substrate according to claim 1, wherein vapor is uniformly and instantly blown on the transparent substrate so that the transparent substrate is photographed, and the transparent substrate is photographed. It is to inspect for dirt.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transparent substrate inspecting apparatus, which is provided between a steam generating device for generating steam, a spraying device for spraying the steam generated by the steam generating device, and the spraying device and the transparent substrate. It is provided with a uniform plate for making the steam sprayed from the spraying device uniform and a photographing means for photographing the transparent substrate sprayed with the steam.

[0009]

In the method for inspecting a transparent substrate according to the first aspect, vapor is sprayed uniformly and instantly on the transparent substrate and the clouded transparent substrate is photographed. Therefore, the entire transparent substrate is instantly exposed to the vapor. Clouds that have adhered to the surface and images of the cloud can prevent water droplets and the like, and therefore stains can be easily detected without requiring skill.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transparent substrate inspection apparatus in which a steam generating device generates steam, a spraying device sprays the steam, a uniform plate makes the steam uniform, and the transparent substrate is sprayed with the steam to make it cloudy. Since the image of the transparent substrate sprayed with the vapor by means is taken, the vapor is instantly attached to the entire transparent substrate and becomes cloudy.By capturing this cloud, water droplets etc. do not occur, so there is no need for skill. , Dirt can be detected easily.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A liquid crystal glass substrate inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a housing, and an inspection opening 2 for blowing out steam is formed in an upper portion of the housing 1, and
A partition plate 4 having a rectangular communication hole 3 is formed at a height position approximately one-third below the casing 1 so as to be vertically partitioned. The inside of the casing 1 is for preventing diffuse reflection of light. Matte black paint is applied.

A steam generator 5 is provided below the partition plate 4 of the housing 1. The steam generator 5 has a line-shaped heater 7 disposed above a saucer 6 for storing hot water, and the heater 7 heats the hot water in the saucer 6 to generate steam.

A blower 8 as a spraying device having a fan (not shown) is provided above the steam generator 5, and a blowout hole 9 of the blower 8 is substantially the same as the partition plate 4 in the communication hole 3. It is provided at a height and drives the blower 8 to blow the steam generated by the steam generator 5 upward.

Further, a mesh 11 as a uniform plate is provided above the partition plate 4 of the housing 1 substantially in parallel with the partition plate 4, and the steam blown by the blower 8 is made uniform and blows out upward.

An illumination device 13 having a linear lamp 12 is attached to the upper side surface of the partition plate 4 of the housing 1, and an illumination opening 14 is formed in the illumination direction of the illumination device 13. A transparent plate 15 is attached to the irradiation opening 14 to close it. On the other hand, a humidity sensor 16 for detecting the humidity inside the housing 1 is mounted on the side surface opposite to the lighting device 13, and the humidity sensor 16 controls the steam generator 5 to keep the humidity inside the housing 1 constant. I have to.

Further, a camera 17 as a photographing means is attached above the inspection opening 2 by a column 18.

A glass substrate 19 for liquid crystal, which is a transparent substrate, is placed on the inspection opening 2.

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

First, hot water or water is stored in the pan 6 of the steam generator 5, and the heater 7 is caused to generate heat to generate steam from the pan 6. When the steam is generated by the steam generator 5, the humidity sensor 16 controls the amount of steam generated so that the humidity in the housing 1 becomes substantially constant. Also,
The steam generated by the steam generator 5 makes the flow of the steam uniform in the mesh 11 and instantaneously blows the steam upward by the blowout from the blowout hole 9 of the blower 8.

Next, the liquid crystal glass substrate 19 to be inspected is placed above the inspection opening 2 of the housing 1, the lamp 12 of the illumination device 13 is turned on, and the transparent plate 15 of the irradiation opening 14 is inserted. And illuminates the lower surface of the liquid crystal glass substrate 19.

Then, in this state, the cloudiness of the liquid crystal glass substrate 19 due to the vapor is photographed by the camera 17, and the presence or absence of contamination of the liquid crystal glass substrate 19 is inspected. It is determined what kind of stains are caused by the degree of cloudiness such as dark, thin, and striped patterns generated on the liquid crystal glass substrate 19, and the cause of the stains is searched for.

According to the above embodiment, the glass substrate for liquid crystal 19
Since the liquid crystal glass substrate 19 does not need to be manually moved because the entire liquid crystal glass substrate 19 is exposed to the vapor by placing the above the inspection opening 2, the liquid crystal glass substrate 19 does not require any skill and is easily soiled. In addition to being able to inspect, etc., the entire edge of the glass substrate for liquid crystal 19 can be inspected because steam hits the edges.

Further, since the steam is instantly applied to the entire surface of the liquid crystal glass substrate 19, it is possible to prevent the fog from disappearing at the part where the steam first hits the liquid crystal glass substrate 19, and the mesh 11 covers the entire surface. Since the vapor is blown out uniformly, it is possible to prevent the vapor from not adhering to the glass substrate 19 for liquid crystal or the water droplets to prevent the stain from being found.

Further, a glass substrate for liquid crystal is used by the camera 17.
Since 19 is photographed, even if the cloudiness due to steam disappears in a short time, there are stains on the manufacturing process
You can find the cause of dirt.

[0026]

According to the transparent substrate inspection method of the first aspect, vapor is uniformly and instantly blown onto the transparent substrate, and the clouded transparent substrate is photographed. Since vapor adheres to the entire surface and causes cloudiness, and by imaging this cloudiness, water droplets and the like do not occur, and therefore dirt can be easily detected without requiring skill.

According to the transparent substrate inspection apparatus of the second aspect, the steam is generated by the steam generator, the steam is sprayed by the spraying device, the steam is made uniform by the uniform plate, and the steam is sprayed on the transparent substrate to make the cloudy haze. , Since the image of the transparent substrate sprayed with the vapor by the image capturing means is immediately attached to the entire transparent substrate, the vapor becomes cloudy and fog does not occur. Without this, dirt can be easily detected.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a liquid crystal glass substrate inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Steam generator 8 Blower as spraying device 11 Mesh as uniform plate 17 Camera as photographing means 19 Glass substrate for liquid crystal as transparent substrate

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A method for inspecting a transparent substrate, which comprises spraying vapor uniformly and instantly on the transparent substrate to cause the transparent substrate to be photographed, and to inspect the transparent substrate for contamination. 2. A steam generating device for generating steam, a spraying device for spraying the steam generated by the steam generating device, and a steam provided between the spraying device and the transparent substrate to spray the steam uniformly from the spraying device. An inspecting device for a transparent substrate, characterized by comprising: a uniform plate for performing an operation and an image capturing means for capturing an image of the transparent substrate sprayed with steam.