JPH0862142A - Inspection equipment for liquid crystal display - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To inspect the characteristics of a pixel in a liquid crystal display correctly in relaxed posture by automating a series of operations for positioning a liquid crystal display sucked to an inspecting part at the contact position with a probe terminal and bringing the liquid crystal into contact with the probe terminal. CONSTITUTION: At a loader section 2, a single LCD(large liquid crystal display) 8 is taken out from a cassette 9 and prealigned. It is then delivered to a sub- chuck 11 at the loader section 2 and the sub-chuck 11 elevates the LCD 8 to a predetermined height. At an inspecting section 3, a gripper disposed at a transfer section grips the LCD 8 stopping at the predetermined height and transfers the LCD 8 to the center of inspection 16 where the LCD 8 is sucked to a supporting table 17. A probe terminal electrode 19 is brought into contact with the LCD 8 which is then electrically conducted and inspected visually. When the pixel state of the LCD 8 is observed through a microscope 6, movement information is inputted on a keyboard and the angle of base is set by means of a CPU.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display inspecting apparatus for inspecting characteristics such as color of pixels of a liquid crystal display.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a large-sized liquid crystal display (hereinafter abbreviated as LCD) constituting a television screen is used as an object to be observed, and there is an inspection apparatus for observing and inspecting the object to be observed and inspected. .. By the way, there is a step of observing and inspecting a large number of pixels formed on the LCD surface.

In the above steps, a step of energizing the probe terminal electrodes provided on the back side of the head plate of the liquid crystal display prober by contacting electrodes on the periphery of the LCD with each other,
The observation and inspection of the LCD is performed by using an inspection device called an LCD prober, which has a single step of observing and inspecting the state of the pixel of the LCD after being energized.

When observing the above LCD, LC
The color of a large number of pixels formed on the D surface is a structure in which the illumination light emitted from the light source of the backlight laid on the support of the inspection device passes through the color filter layer of the LCD to obtain the color. It is necessary to observe at an incident angle whose direction is orthogonal to the LCD surface, and if it is observed in an observation direction that is not orthogonal, the colors of adjacent pixels are photosynthesized and accurate color observation cannot be performed. Therefore, the above LCD
In order that the operator can observe the characteristic states such as the colors of the pixels in a comfortable posture in which the operator is sitting on a chair and pulling his chin, for example, a microscope can be observed according to the eye level of the operator. It is generally installed and fixed at a downward inclination of 45 degrees, and in general, the support base is installed at a constant (approximately 45 degrees) front downward inclination state to support the LCD in a state orthogonal to the microscope or the transparent window. Target. In addition,
As an observing means, there is also a type in which the operator does not use the above-mentioned microscope but provides only an opening or a see-through window in which transparent or translucent glass is fitted so that the operator can look into it.

[0005]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional inspection apparatus, that is, the LCD prober, the inclination angles of the microscope or the like as the observing means and the supporting base for supporting the LCD are orthogonal to each other. Since it is fixedly determined, the line-of-sight and direction of the operator who visually observes is constant, and the line-of-sight cannot be observed from other heights and directions. If only the see-through window is used without a microscope, it is possible to peep, but it is not possible to perform correct observation by photosynthesizing with the color of the adjacent pixel.

For this reason, a person other than an operator having a standard physique, for example, a person who is tall and has a high sitting height has a cat-back posture, while a person who is short has a posture in which the spine is stretched or the waist is lifted, and the microscope is placed in an unnatural posture. There was a problem that I had to look into and get tired.

Therefore, it is only necessary to be able to adjust the angle of the observation means such as a microscope according to the operator's physique and taste, but this is quite difficult. That is, in this type of LCD prober, even if the tilt angle of only the microscope as the observing means or the see-through window is changed, nothing happens, and at the same time, the tilt angle of the LCD support base must be variably adjusted. The probe terminal electrodes that come into contact with the electrodes of the LCD supported on the upper surface of the support base and carry current must also be adjusted in tilt angle without changing their relative positions, and it is very difficult to make these adjustments individually. Not relevant.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to make the inclination angles of the three of the observation means, the support of the liquid crystal display and the probe terminal electrode integrally (relative to each other). (Even without changing the position), the adjustment can be performed very easily and reliably, and operators of different physiques can select the line-of-sight height and direction that suits them, and the pixel characteristics of the liquid crystal display can be adjusted correctly in a comfortable posture. An object of the present invention is to provide an inspection device that enables observation and inspection.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has an inspection section having a mounting surface illuminated by a light source and a means for adsorbing a liquid crystal display, and a plurality of liquid crystals to be inspected. A loader section on which a cassette accommodating a display body is placed, a transfer section for taking out the liquid crystal display body from the cassette of the loader section and delivering it to the inspection section, and pre-alignment of the liquid crystal display body by this transfer section. Pre-alignment means for performing, alignment means for aligning the liquid crystal display adsorbed on the inspection unit with the contact position with the probe terminal, and contacting the liquid crystal display body with the probe terminal to light the liquid crystal display body And an observation means for inspecting. Further, the invention is characterized in that an inclination drive mechanism for integrally variably adjusting the inclination angles of the inspection section, the alignment means and the observation means is provided.

[0010]

According to the liquid crystal display inspecting apparatus of the present invention, the liquid crystal display is taken out from the cassette accommodating a plurality of liquid crystal displays by the loader section, and delivered to the inspection section illuminated by the transfer section, and the transfer section is provided. After pre-aligning the liquid crystal display with, the liquid crystal display adsorbed on the inspection unit is aligned with the contact position with the probe terminal, and a series of operations for contacting the liquid crystal display with the probe terminal are automatically performed. This can be done, and the liquid crystal display can be turned on and visually inspected with a microscope or the like.

Further, since the tilt drive mechanism for integrally variably adjusting the tilt angles of the three members of the inspection unit, the alignment unit and the observation unit is provided, operators of various different physiques can adjust the line-of-sight heights to suit their own. The size and direction can be easily and surely selected, and the pixel characteristics of the liquid crystal display can be correctly observed and inspected in a comfortable posture.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the liquid crystal display inspecting apparatus of the present invention is applied to a visual observation prober will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. First, the external structure of the visual observation prober of the present embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, the visual observation prober 1 is roughly classified into liquid crystal display bodies (hereinafter, LCD).
It is comprised of a loader section 2 for carrying the above) and an inspection section 3 for visually observing the carried LCD.

Incidentally, as related to the inspection section 3,
An operation surface 4 to be operated, a keyboard 5 for inputting information necessary for operating the visual observation prober 1, a microscope 6 for observing the LCD from above, and a display showing a process of positioning, that is, aligning the LCD. The device 7 and the device 7 are arranged on the upper rear housing of the visual observation prober 1.

Although the loader unit 2 and the inspection unit 3 are arranged in parallel to form a pair, the inclination of the LCD in the carrying direction is different. For example, the loader unit 2 side moves and conveys two-dimensionally in the horizontal direction, while the inspection unit 3 side conveys two-dimensionally to a tilted inclined surface, for example, an inclined surface of 45 °. There is. Moreover, since the inspection unit 3 is inclined, after receiving the LCD from the loader unit 2,
The LCD is tilted and transferred to the inspection unit 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the loader unit 2 takes out the LCD 8 from the cassette 9 which accommodates, for example, a large number of 4-inch LCDs 8 in a parallel direction with a plurality of intervals therebetween, and transfers them to the transfer unit 14 on the inspection unit 3 side. Carry it to the position where it will be delivered
Pre-align D8 with the pre-alignment plate 10,
After being adsorbed on the top surface of the sub chuck 11, it is raised to a predetermined height position and kept in a state of waiting for being transferred to the transfer section 14 on the inspection section 3 side. Further, when the LCD 8 that has been inspected by the inspection unit 3 is transferred and placed on the sub chuck 11, the LCD 8 is conveyed so as to be returned into the cassette 9. Here, the predetermined position is also a position for pre-alignment with the center of rotation on the top surface of the sub chuck 11.

The pre-alignment plate 10 is the sub chuck 1 of the elevating part 12 arranged near the operation surface 4 side.
It is provided at a position away from one position by a fixed distance L.
Generally, the pre-alignment plate 10 is located at a position separated by this distance L.
Home position 10a.

The surface of the pre-alignment plate 10 is the LCD 8
It is formed parallel to the surface. In addition, the sub chuck 11
The rotation center 25a of the
It can be conveyed so that d overlaps.

When the centers of the sub-chuck 11 and the pre-alignment plate 10 are overlapped with each other, the sub-chuck 11 is allowed to pass through during vertical movement up and down. 10b
Is cut out.

The inspection unit 3 will be described. Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the inspection unit 3 holds the LCD 8 mounted on the sub chuck 11 on the side of the loader unit 2 by the holding device of the transfer unit 14 provided below the inspection unit 3, It is moved to the position of the inspection center 16 via a rotating portion (not shown) having a structure for inclining. The LCD 8 that has moved is delivered to the support base 17 arranged at the position of the inspection center 16. The delivered LCD 8 is adsorbed and fixed by the vacuum pressure of the support table 17.

The support base 7 to which the LCD 8 is fixed is raised in the Z-axis direction until the electrode of the LCD 8 is brought into contact with the probe terminal electrode 19 provided on the head plate 18.

Colors are displayed on the LCD 8 by illumination called a backlight in which the pixels of the LCD 8 are laid on the surface of the supporting base 17 through the probe terminal electrodes 19 which are energized. Then, this color is observed and inspected by an observing means such as a microscope 6.

The movement drive of the loader unit 2 and the inspection unit 3 described above is executed according to a program stored in advance. Next, the characteristic configuration of the inspection unit 3 used in the liquid crystal display prober 1 of the present embodiment is as shown in FIG.
A support base 17 for supporting the LCD 8 on the upper surface is provided on a device main body 20 which is a probe device via a base 24,
The head plate 18 having a probe terminal electrode 19 on the back surface that contacts the electrodes of the LCD 8 and is energized by the movement of the support 17 and the characteristic state such as the color of the pixels of the LCD 8 at this time are visually observed by an operator. A microscope 6 as an observing means for supporting the microscope is provided on the base 24, and the base 24 is rotated in the up-and-down direction about a rotary shaft 25a horizontal to the apparatus body 20. A tilt drive mechanism 25 for integrally variably adjusting the tilt angles of the support table 17, the head plate 18 with the probe terminal electrode 19, and the microscope 6 is provided.

The base 24 movably supports the support 17 along the inclined base surface 21 by the ball screw 22, and the probe terminal electrode 1
The head plate 18 with the probe terminal electrode 19
Is supported at a fixed position on the upper surface of the support 17 in contact with the electrodes of the LCD 8, and the microscope 6 as the observation means is supported by the support 1.
The support base 17 and the probe terminal electrode 1 are supported at a position which is always arranged in a direction orthogonal to the surface of the LCD 8 on the upper surface of the LCD 7.
The relative positions of the three of the head plate with 9 9 and the microscope 6 are always kept constant.

The tilt drive mechanism 25 includes a drive shaft 25a which rotates about a side end of the base 24 and a rotary shaft 2a.
It is composed of a rotating portion 26 for rotating the base 24 around 5a.

The rotary shaft 25a is mounted on a bearing which is erected on the hollow portion 27 side where the base 24 of the liquid crystal display prober 1 is housed by the rotation. A side end portion of the base 24 is rotatably mounted on the rotating shaft 25a that is rotatably mounted in the vertical direction.

Therefore, the base 24 can be lifted up to the operation portion 4 side around the rotation shaft 25a of the rotation portion 26 of the hollow portion 27 provided so as to be dug behind the liquid crystal display prober 1. It is like this.

The rotating portion 26 is disposed at a position separated from the rotary shaft 25a, to which the side end portion of the base 24 is attached, by an R distance. That is, a turning piece 28 that is turned to a position separated by R distance from the side end of the base 24 is provided on the base 24 in the vertical plane direction.

The rotating piece 28 is provided with an inscribed circle 29. An inscribed gear 30 is carved along the inscribed circle. A gear 31 that meshes with the internal gear 30 is provided, and when the gear 31 rotates, the rotating piece 28 is subordinately rotated. That is, the base 24 is rotated about the rotary shaft 25a in the vertical direction.

At the center of the gear 31, the base 24,
A driving member (not shown) having a driving force capable of rotating all the loads of the head plate 18 and the microscope 6 is provided on the base structure on the liquid crystal display prober 1 side, for example, an electric motor pneumatic cylinder or the like. There is.

A worm gear is suitable as the gear 31, but the gear 31 is not limited thereto. The drive unit (not shown) that is interlocked with the gear 31 is used as a safety measure in an emergency.
Damper 32 so that it will not be damaged even if 4 falls in the rotating direction
Is provided below the base 24. In addition, the base 2
As a safety measure in case of 4 in case of emergency, the entire rear side may be surrounded by a cover or a mesh member 33.

A prober terminal electrode 19 is provided on the above-mentioned head plate 18, and this prober terminal electrode 1
The microscope 6 determines whether or not 9 is in contact with the electrodes of the LCD 8.
A hollow portion 18a as a see-through window is provided as observed in FIG. When dust such as dust or dust enters from the central portion 18a, a transparent or semi-transparent member 18b may be inserted so as to cover the hollow portion 18a. This transparent body may be a glass member, or a mark indicating the center may be written or engraved at the center of the glass member. Alternatively, a rotary drive unit such as a hinge may be provided to open and close.

Next, the operation will be described. Loader section 2
Then, one LCD 8 is taken out from the cassette 9, pre-aligned, and then the sub chuck 11 of the loader unit 2
The LCD 8 is delivered to the sub chuck 11, and the sub chuck 11 is raised to a predetermined height. Further, in the inspection unit 3, the gripping device 15 provided in the transfer unit 26 grips the LCD 8 which has risen to a predetermined height of the sub chuck 11 and is stopped, moves to the inspection center 16, and supports the inspection center 16. After adsorbing to 17 and contacting the probe terminal electrode 19, energize to L
CD8 will be visually inspected.

As shown in FIG. 1, the characteristic function of this embodiment is that when the position of the microscope 6 needs to be moved when observing the pixel state of the LCD 8 with the microscope 6, For example, when the observation position A is changed to another observation position B, movement information is input by operating the tilt angle θ ° via the keyboard 5 described above.

In accordance with the above-mentioned operation input, the CPU (not shown) incorporated in the liquid crystal display prober 1 operates, and the angle of the base 24 is driven according to the input information. The base 24 in the liquid crystal display prober 1 is set to the angle of the base 24 based on the operation input. Pixels on the surface of the LCD 8 are observed with the angle set. This completes the description of the operation of the liquid crystal display prober 1.

The backlight mechanism 37 provided on the support 17 used in the above-mentioned liquid crystal display prober 1 and another structure for physically holding the LCD 8 on the support 17 will be described below. Is provided so that the illumination body of the backlight, for example, the fluorescent lamp 34 can be replaced as shown in FIG.

That is, the supporting table 17 has a semi-transparent frosted glass 3 on the supporting surface 17a on which the LCD 8 is mounted and supported.
5 is provided flat with the support surface. Further, a backlight mechanism 37 is provided in the hollow portion 36 of the support stand 17 so as to be freely inserted and attached, so that the illumination body can be damaged and replaced.

In the structure of the backlight mechanism 37, two sockets for the fluorescent lamp 34 are provided on the base portion 37a. Further, a notch groove is provided for temporarily fixing the base portion 34a when the base portion 34a is inserted into the support base 17.

Further, less than half of the ball portion of the notch member on the outlet side of the hole into which the backlight mechanism 37 is inserted in the support base 17 projects, and the ball portion is fitted into the notch groove. It is configured.
Therefore, when the fluorescent lamp 34 is replaced by pulling out the knob 37b of the backlight mechanism 37 along the hole, the spring 37c of the notch member is pushed and the backlight mechanism 37 is pulled out and can be replaced. Here, the cord 37d for supplying the current of the backlight mechanism 37 is a knob 37d.
It is better to place it in the b direction. In this way, when the backlight mechanism 37 is configured to be attachable to the support base 17, the support base 1
Even if the fluorescent lamp 7 is damaged, maintenance can be performed much faster than the time required to remove the entire support stand 17 for repair.

Although the LCD 8 is sucked on the support base 17 by the vacuum pressure as described above, the fixing means of the LCD 8 when the vacuum pressure cannot be used or is not desired to be used is, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, an L-shaped gripping member 38 is swingably provided on the shaft-rotated bearing which is projected to the side of the support base 17. One end surface of this member is provided so as to come into contact with the surface of the LCD 8, and the other end surface is provided so that the compression spring 39 does not drop, and is provided so as to press down the LCD 8.

The above-mentioned gripping members 38 are provided at both ends of the support base 17 so as to grip both ends of the LCD 8. The gripping direction described above may be provided on the support base 17. The effect of the above embodiment is that since the base 24 for moving the support 17 in parallel with the inclined plane is controlled in angle, the microscope 6 itself provided on the base 24 also pivots. Since the observation direction is always orthogonal to the support surface 17a, it is not necessary to match the support surface after the angle control with the observation direction, which facilitates the operation. Since the angle of the base 24 can be automatically adjusted according to the operation input, the observation work can be completed in a short time.

[0041]

According to the present invention, in a tester for supporting a backlit liquid crystal display on a mounting surface and visually observing the characteristics of the liquid crystal display, the loader unit is used to load the liquid crystal display housed in a cassette. It is possible to automatically align the liquid crystal display attached to the probe terminal to the contact position with the probe terminal after pre-aligning the liquid crystal display with the transfer section while taking it out and delivering it to the inspection section. In addition, the characteristics of the liquid crystal display can be visually inspected accurately by bringing the liquid crystal display into contact with the probe terminals and turning on the liquid crystal display.

Moreover, when the observation direction to be observed is different, the tilt drive mechanism drives the inspection section to be tilted by an angle corresponding to the difference in the observation direction to set the surface of the liquid crystal display body to the orthogonal state. Even if the observation direction is different, the supporting surface for supporting the liquid crystal display in this observation direction can be tilted so as to be orthogonal to the observation direction for observation. Therefore, there is an effect that the operator can select the line-of-sight height and direction that suits himself or herself, and can correctly observe and inspect the pixel characteristics of the liquid crystal display in a comfortable posture.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view showing an embodiment of a liquid crystal display inspecting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the liquid crystal display inspecting device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional side view of the backlight mechanism of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional front view showing a modified example of the support base of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the liquid crystal display inspection device according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Liquid crystal display prober, 2 ... Loader section, 3 ... Inspection section,
6 ... Microscope, 7 ... Display device, 8 ... LCD, 9 ... Cassette, 17 ... Support stand, 17a ... Support surface, 18 ... Head plate, 18a ... Hollow part, 18b ... Transparent (semi-transparent) body, 2
0 ... Prober device, 24 ... Base, 25 ... Rotating shaft, 25a
... rotary shaft, 26 ... rotating part, 27 ... hollow part, 28 ... rotating piece, 29 ... inscribed circle, 30 ... inscribed gear, 31 ... gear, 34
... Fluorescent lamp, 37 ... Backlight mechanism, 37a ... Stand.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An inspection section having a mounting surface illuminated by a light source and having means for adsorbing a liquid crystal display, a loader section on which a cassette containing a plurality of liquid crystal display bodies to be inspected is mounted. A transfer unit that takes out the liquid crystal display body from the cassette of the loader unit and transfers the liquid crystal display unit to the inspection unit, a pre-alignment unit that pre-aligns the liquid crystal display unit by the transfer unit, and a liquid crystal display sucked by the inspection unit. A liquid crystal display comprising: an alignment means for aligning a body with a contact position with a probe terminal; and an observation means for visually inspecting the liquid crystal display body by bringing the liquid crystal display body into contact with the probe terminal to light the liquid crystal display body. Body inspection device. 2. A liquid crystal display inspecting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a tilt drive mechanism for integrally and variably adjusting tilt angles of the inspection unit, the alignment unit and the observation unit. . 3. The liquid crystal display inspecting device according to claim 1, wherein the observing means is a microscope or a see-through window that an operator looks through for visual observation.