JPH07190889A - Method and apparatus for inspection of display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To execute the inspection of a display panel by a method wherein the inspection is changed over instantaneously so as to comply with many types and many conditions. CONSTITUTION:Pieces of program data 4 for every type and every condition of a display panel to be inspected are loaded in parallel. One out of them is selected by an operator's operation or by command data for every type and every inspection condition from a command part 3. The pieces of program data 4 are transferred to, and written into, a PGA 6. Thereby, the inspection method and the inspection apparatus can instantaneously comply with the type and the inspection condition of the display panel 9 to be inspected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus for a flat display module (hereinafter referred to as a display panel) having a flat display panel for liquid crystal, EL, plasma, etc. and a drive circuit for the flat display panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional inspection apparatus, as shown in FIG.
One circuit board unit 51a, 51b for one drive signal group according to each inspection condition, each type of production, and the drive signal having different type, phase, etc. for each standard TV signal. 51c, 51d, and 51e are manufactured, a large number of substrate units are prepared and stored, and the worker manually replaces them at appropriate times to supply them to the display panel 53 to be inspected through the common circuit 52, and one unit is installed. The inspection equipment supports the production of multiple models.

[0003]

The above-mentioned conventional inspection apparatus has the following problems. 1. Since it takes a certain amount of time to switch the inspection device according to each model of the display panel to be inspected, it will be a work time loss and the labor cost will increase the cost.

2. At the time of switching work of the above-mentioned inspection device, the worker has to select one out of a large number of circuit board units that suits the model to be produced and surely replace it, so that work becomes a burden, The possibility of work mistakes increases.

3. Each model, each inspection condition or each standard TV
Since one circuit board unit must be prepared for each signal, the number of circuit board units to be prepared increases as the number of models, the number of conditions, or the number of inspection devices performing parallel work increases. The work load such as production and maintenance is increased.

4. When dealing with new models or new conditions,
Each time, a new circuit board must be designed, studied, and manufactured. In order to deal with the differences in the inspection items for each model and the addition or deletion of new inspection items (inspection conditions), all applicable circuit board units must be modified.

6. Since there is basically only one type of drive signal generated from the circuit board unit, various conditions such as standard condition drive signal input, worst condition drive signal input, and NTSC standard TV signal input can be used when inspecting the same display panel to be inspected. Comparative inspection cannot be performed when PAL standard TV signals are input.

7. Since it takes some time to replace the circuit board unit, it is not possible to continuously inspect multiple models on the same production line.

The above problem becomes a big problem as the number of production models increases. The present invention aims to solve these problems.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, in the inspection apparatus of the present invention, various inspection signals of the display panel are stored in a memory element and prepared, and the memory element corresponding to the display panel to be inspected is prepared. The inspection signals are read out in a predetermined order, rewritten in the programmable gate array, and the inspection is performed by the output of the programmable gate array. As will be described in more detail below, in order to generate a corresponding drive signal for each model of the display panel, or for each inspection condition even for the same model, and for each standard TV signal for which the display panel will be used, Electronic circuits with different contents such as circuit configurations, connections, members, etc. are created as programming data, which are used as EP
-Record and save in each memory IC such as ROM. Then, each programming data is mounted in parallel inside the inspection device. One of the above programming data is electrically selected based on the following (1) to (3), and the programming data together with a reset (reprogramming command) signal is programmable gate array (hereinafter P
Call it GA). The PGA instantly rewrites the internal structure of the PGA with the contents based on the programming data by the programming data read from each memory IC or the like.

(1) Operation for switching production models performed by a worker (2) Image data for determining the model from the outer shape of a display panel to be inspected, command data output by an image determination device (3) Inspection for each model There is inspection sequence data that records the number of items, item order, inspection conditions, etc.
It is called every time the display panel under inspection is inspected, but the inspection data included in it and the command data for timely selecting the standard TV signal to be used can be rewritten in a very short time. It can be done again and again and again. As a result, when the inspection device is viewed from the outside, the same effect as instantly switching another inspection device (circuit board unit) based on the above-mentioned commands can be obtained.

[0012]

[Function] Each display panel model, each inspection condition such as the best drive condition, the standard drive condition, the worst drive condition, each inspection item,
Most of the drive signals of each standard TV signal (NTSC, PAL, SECAM, etc.) are digital signals related to the synchronization of display images, and the total number and systematic types such as horizontal and vertical directions are practically used. It can be limited to some extent within the common sense. The digital signal which occupies most of the above drive signals is generated by a general logic gate (NAND, O).
(R, etc.), and can be actually manufactured and operated using only the logic gate IC. Therefore, based on the circuit diagram of each drive signal generation circuit configured using these basic logic gates, the PG
Using commercially available computer software that converts information to A programming data, each model, each inspection condition, each T
Data corresponding to the V method is created. The completed programming data is written in a storage element such as a small EP-ROM, all the EP-ROMs / ICs are electrically connected in parallel to the common circuit board unit, and mounted in the inspection device.

The common circuit board unit is provided with a PGA, and the common circuit board unit is designed and manufactured so as to have maximum flexibility so that it can be commonly used in all models and under all conditions. The EP-ROM / IC that records each programming data is such that one data (IC) is electrically selected according to the command data generated inside the device during the operation by the operator from outside the device or the inspection work. The data transfer lines are joined. Then P
A programming signal currently incorporated in the GA is discarded, a reset signal is generated which gives an instruction to read data for reprogramming from the selected data IC, and after the command is confirmed, the reprogramming operation is performed. These series of operations are completed instantly.

The image-pickup / image-judging device may be a general device used in a production process or the like. By storing the feature due to the difference in the outer shape depending on the model and comparing the stored data with the actual image, The device determines the model of the display panel to be inspected and switches the model on behalf of the operator. The inspection sequence data is data in which the inspection items to be carried out for each model and the order thereof are recorded. The inspection sequence data is mounted inside the inspection apparatus in a set with the programming data for each model, and is sequentially called and utilized during the inspection work. Therefore, if the inspection items of the display panel to be inspected include items such as drive signal condition switching or drive standard TV signal switching, the inspection sequence data for issuing a command to switch programming data when selecting those items is created. . As a result, the device performs drive signal condition switching or drive standard TV signal switching operation on behalf of the operator. By combining these actions and continuing to work at the same time during the inspection work, the action as described in the previous section occurs.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to a circuit diagram. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a circuit portion of the present invention. The operator's operation, the signal from the image pickup / image determination device is received at the input terminal 1, the input signal and the feedback signal from the sequence data 5 are judged by the command section 3, and the programming data 4 and the sequence data 5 to be adapted are selected. A selection signal for The outputs of the programming data 4 and the sequence data 5 for each model selected by the command from the command circuit unit 3 are transferred to the PGA 6. PGA6 is the selected programming data 4
After the program is completed by the sequence data 5, the inspection drive signal based on the programming data is sequentially generated and output. The display panel to be inspected is sequentially inspected based on the programming data. The inspection result is displayed on the inspected display panel and the data is collected in the central computer.

It should be noted that, for each model of each display panel of the above programming data, each inspection condition such as the best drive condition, the standard drive condition, the worst drive condition, each inspection item, each standard TV signal (NTSC, PAL, SECAM, etc.). Most of the drive signals are digital signals related to the synchronization of the display image, and the total number and systematic types such as the horizontal direction and the vertical direction can be limited to some extent within the common sense in practical use. A digital signal which occupies most of the signal can be represented in a circuit diagram by a general logic gate (NAND, OR, etc.), and can be actually manufactured and operated only by using the logic gate IC. Therefore, using commercially available computer software that converts information from the circuit diagram data to PGA programming data based on the circuit diagram of each drive signal generating circuit configured by using these basic logic gates, each model, each inspection Data for conditions and each TV system is created. Similarly, for sequence data, each control signal generation circuit is configured by using a basic logic gate,
Sequence data is created from this circuit diagram. The programming data and sequence data thus completed are written in a storage element such as a small EP-ROM, all EP-ROMs / ICs are electrically connected in parallel to a common circuit board unit, and are stored in the inspection device. It will be installed. The auxiliary circuit 7 is a portion that generates and outputs a drive signal, which cannot be covered by the output of the PGA 6, on behalf of the PGA 6 according to a command from the PGA 6. The auxiliary circuit 7 is a digital IC in which the power source of the PGA 6 is a single + 5V power source, so its output level is limited to the range of 0 to 5V, but there is a possibility that the inspection drive signal may include a signal having a voltage range other than this. Since it exists, it has the function of supplementing that part. Sequence control unit 8
Receives the data sequentially transferred according to the inspection procedure from the sequence data 5 during the inspection work, and receives the O of the inspection drive signal.
N / OFF is controlled sequentially.

2 and 3 show command circuit section 3, programming data 4 and PGA among the device circuit elements shown in FIG.
6 is a detailed circuit diagram of the auxiliary circuit section 7, and the operation of each element will be described in more detail based on this. 2 and 3
Shows the configuration of one circuit in these two figures, and the two circuits are electrically connected by the connector 10. The memory 11a indicated by ROM0 to ROM9 in FIG.
11j are all memory ICs for storing the programming data 4, and the other circuit elements correspond to the command circuit unit 3 of FIG. Although the sequence data 5 is not shown, a memory IC that stores the programming data 4 shown in FIG.
It is composed of almost the same circuit as.

The program commands in this circuit are limited to those based on the setting by the dip switch 12 at the time of initial power-on and sequential switching by the operation of the push switch 13 by the operator after power-on, and are simplified. The command means based on the data output by the imaging / image determination device that determines the model from the outer shape of the display panel is omitted.
Before the initial power-on, the four dip switches 12 are set in advance and the ten ROM memories 11a-1
Specify one of 1j. The four dip switches 12 represent a 4-digit binary number according to each switch setting, with switch ON indicating 0 and switch OFF indicating 1. The binary values and the designated ROM memories 11a to 11j correspond to each other as shown in Table 1.

[0019]

[Table 1]

After this setting, when the initial power is turned on, the setting data is fetched into the counter IC (in this embodiment, "74HC192" manufactured by Toshiba is used) 14, the output of the counter 14 is confirmed, and according to the output, Memories 11a to 1 of ROM0 to 9 that store 10 pieces of programming data
One memory 11 of 1j is in the operation active state. The decoder IC (“74HC42” is used in this embodiment) 15 has a function of converting a binary value which is output data of the counter 14 into an operation of activating one of a large number of output terminals. In the circuit of the present invention, this effect is used as a data selection signal.

The shift register IC (in this embodiment, "74
HC 164 ”is used) The circuit near 16 is an oscillating circuit part 17 that generates a pulse of a constant cycle at the same time when the initial power is turned on.
, And generates signals 18 and 19 having two different timings based on the pulse. The two signals 18 and 19 have the timings shown in FIG. The signal 18 instructs the counter IC 14 to fetch the setting of the dip switch 12. Signal 19 is connector 10
Via the PGA (in this embodiment, "XC3042PC8
4 ”is used) 6 is a reset signal. That is,
After turning on the initial power, be sure to select and confirm programming data first, and then reset signal 19 to PGA6.
To perform programming operation. After the completion of this first programming, a signal is generated from PGA 6 via the B12 terminal of connector 10 to bring all ROM ICs into the inactive state regardless of the output of shift register 16. After this, the circuit continues to operate based on the read programming data.

Next, the operation when the operator operates the push switch 13 in this state will be described. At the same time when the push switch 13 is pressed, the counter IC 1
An up-count pulse is input to 4. Counter IC
14 adds 1 to the data value currently held and outputs it as new data. Here, if the retained data is 10
If 01 (data ROM 9 is selected), since the counter IC 14 is a decimal counter, new data is 0000.
Return to. If the DIP switch 20 for setting the counter reset is set, the timing of resetting the counter IC 14, that is, setting the new data to 0000 is determined. For example, if you want to return to data ROM0 after data ROM5, set 0101 (data R
011 which is a value obtained by adding 1 to OM5 selected)
It is only necessary to turn on the switches with 0, that is, the number "6" in decimal. When the push switch 13 is pressed for a certain time (however, for human senses, for a very short time, for example, about 6 μsec), the voltage due to the push switch 13 being continuously pressed via the A13 terminal of the connector 10. Is detected by the PGA 6 and the signal at the B12 terminal of the connector 10 is
The M0-9 are changed so as to be in the active state, and the reprogramming operation is performed. That is, at the same time as the push switch 13 is operated, the new programming data is selected and confirmed, and after the operation continues for some time, the PGA6
The reprogramming operation of will start. PGA
Since the re-programming command input terminal “D / P” 6 has an open drain structure, the PNP transistor 21 is required.

7-segment LED driver IC (“5022B” is used in this embodiment) 22 and 7-segment LE
D23 is for making the number of the data currently held visible.

The circuit shown above PGA6 in FIG.
This is an original clock oscillation circuit 25 that determines the operation timing of the entire circuit. The operation principle uses a phase-locked loop system and is compatible with various models and conditions. Therefore, the varicaps 35a to 35b and the variable capacitance coils 36a to 36d are used. Four circuits 25a to 25d having a similar structure and capable of changing only the oscillation frequency are mounted in parallel.
At the time of actual operation, one of these circuits is selected and used based on the programming data, and the input / output terminals of the other three circuits are pulled up inside the PGA 6 to suspend the circuits.

The circuit shown below the PGA 6 is a portion for generating an analog signal processing which cannot be realized or output by the PGA 6 which is a digital IC and a drive signal having a wide voltage range (handling a negative power supply). 1
Of the auxiliary circuit 7. The function will be described more specifically. The RC low pass filter circuit 26 has the function of adjusting the internal signal phase of the PGA 6 by changing the resistance value of the variable resistor from the outside. The circuit 27 including an RC low pass filter and a transistor buffer is
It has an effect of extracting only a low frequency signal from a composite signal in which signals of different types of frequencies are combined. Circuit 2 above
Both 6 and 27 perform analog signal processing. The three analog switch ICs 28a to 28c generate a negative voltage bias signal for each model. In this circuit, 0V, -5V,
There are three possible values of -6V. Operational amplifier ICs (“4560” is used in this embodiment) 29, 30, and 31 are portions that generate drive signals using a negative power supply. The operational amplifier IC29 constitutes an inverting amplifier circuit whose gain can be switched by switching (the resistance value of) the variable resistor connected between its input and output terminals. In this circuit, 4Vp-p, 5Vp-p, 6Vp- There are three possible values of p. The operational amplifiers IC30 and 31 are voltage follower buffers. Here, the operational amplifier IC30 outputs only the amplitude, the output that can change the bias voltage from outside the circuit, and the operational amplifier IC31 outputs the bias voltage −.
An output signal fixed at 1.5V is generated. The decoder IC (“74HC139” is used in this embodiment) 32 and its peripheral gate IC select the bias value of the negative voltage bias signal from the 2-bit model data output from the PGA 6 based on the programming data. Analog switch IC 28 and the analog switch I for selecting and switching the amplitude value of the negative power supply drive signal
It has a function of controlling C33. Output signals of the PGA 6 and each auxiliary circuit are output from the connector 34.

Although one embodiment has been described above, FIG.
By increasing the number of data connections based on the circuit shown in FIG. 3, providing external command inputs, and increasing the number of auxiliary circuits and output terminals, it is possible to easily support more models than the current model.
The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and may be modified without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0027]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be expected.

1. Switching of the inspection device according to each model of the inspected display panel can be done electrically instantly,
Its working time is zero.

2. Since the programming data for all models of the display panel to be inspected can be installed in one device, the burden of switching work according to each model is significantly reduced, and the possibility of work mistakes is also reduced.

3. Programming data can be easily duplicated.

4. By making the inspection device itself flexible, it is only necessary to create and add data when new models and new conditions are supported.

5. Addition and deletion of new inspection items and changes in inspection conditions need only be changed.

6. Since the programming data can be instantly switched during the same inspected display panel inspection,
It is possible to perform comparative inspection under various drive signal conditions.

7. Similarly, multiple models can be continuously inspected on the same production line in combination with an image pickup / image determination device for determining the type of display panel to be inspected.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an inspection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a waveform timing chart explaining the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a conventional inspection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 Programming data switching command signal generation section 4 Programming data (ROM) group 5 Sequence data (ROM) group 6 Programmable gate array IC 7 PGA auxiliary circuit section 8 Inspection work sequence control section 9 Inspected display panel 10 In-circuit jumper connector 11 ROM 12 initial setting dip switch 13 reprogramming operation push switch 14 counter IC 15 decoder IC 16 shift register IC 17 oscillation circuit part 18 shift register output signal waveform (counter reset) 19 shift register output signal waveform (PGA reset) 20 counter reset setting dip Switch 21 PNP transistor 22 7-segment LED driver IC 23 7-segment LED 25 Original clock oscillation circuit 26 RC low-pass fill 27 RC lowpass filter, a transistor buffer 28 the negative voltage bias signal switching analog switches I
C 29 operational amplifier IC 30 operational amplifier IC (voltage follower) 31 operational amplifier IC (voltage follower) 32 decoder IC 33 negative power supply drive signal switching analog switch IC 34 output connector 35 varicap 36 variable capacitance coil

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. Various inspection signals of a display panel are stored in respective memories, the memories are read out in a predetermined order corresponding to a display panel to be inspected, rewritten into a programmable gate array and inspected by an output of the programmable gate array. A method of inspecting a display panel, which comprises: 2. The programmable gate array is rewritten automatically based on the determination result of an image pickup device that determines the model from the outer shape of the display panel to be inspected, and multiple models are continuously inspected on the same production line. The method for inspecting a display panel according to claim 1, which enables the above. 3. The various inspection signals are made up of a plurality of condition data such as standard condition drive signal data and worst condition drive signal data, and the data are sequentially switched at the time of inspection of one display panel so that a plurality of drive conditions can be obtained. The method for inspecting a display panel according to claim 1, which enables the inspection. 4. The various inspection signals are data for each standard TV signal (NTSC, PAL, SECAM, etc.), and the inspection can be performed with each standard TV signal by sequentially switching the data when inspecting one display panel. The method for inspecting a display panel according to claim 1. 5. A plurality of memories for respectively storing various inspection signals of a display panel, a means for controlling reading of the memories corresponding to a display panel to be inspected, and rewriting the output thereof to a programmable gate array, A display panel inspection apparatus comprising: a means for supplying an output of a programmable gate array to a display panel to be inspected to perform inspection.