JPH1078456A - Probe device for inspecting liquid-crystal display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a new constitution, which can perform the almost perfect panel inspection before the mounting of the IC chip, and can perform the inspection of the wiring pattern on an outer terminal part an the sometime, in the inspecting probe device for a liquid-crystal display panel. SOLUTION: At the tip part of a holding plate 40, an air-supply port 40a and a wide opening port 40b are provided. An elastic sheet 42 is attached so as to close the wide opening port 40b tightly. An IC chip A is bonded and fixed on the outer surface of the elastic sheet 42. A flexible circuit board 43 is bonded and fixed to the lower surface of the holding prate 40. A wiring pattern 43a is provided on the flexible circuit board 43. The tip part of the wiring pattern 43a is made to be a connecting terminal part 43b. On end of a conductive wire 44 is bonded to the connecting terminal part 43b, and the other end is bonded to a contact terminal 45. A molding body 46 tar molding the connecting terminal part 43b and the conductive wire 44 is formed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a probe device for testing a liquid crystal display panel, and more particularly to a probe device suitable for performing a lighting test on a liquid crystal display panel of a type having an IC chip mounted on an external terminal. Regarding the structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional liquid crystal display device, one of two substrates constituting a liquid crystal display panel is protruded from an outer peripheral portion thereof, and the liquid crystal display panel is pulled out of a display area on a surface of the protruding portion. In general, an external terminal having a plurality of external terminals formed therein is provided.

The external terminals are arranged with external terminals for applying a drive voltage for causing a liquid crystal display panel to perform a display operation. Wiring from a liquid crystal drive circuit is connected to each external terminal. Is done.

[0004] The number of external terminals in the external terminal portion has increased with the recent increase in the definition of liquid crystal display devices, and the pitch of terminals has also been reduced. Therefore, in many cases, the flexible wiring board is usually connected to the external terminal portion by using heat sealing.

Further, in order to cope with miniaturization and thinning of the liquid crystal display device, a COG (Chip On Glass) in which an IC chip having a liquid crystal driving circuit built in is directly mounted on the external terminal portion.
Type liquid crystal display panel. In this case, the wiring layer extended from the display area of the liquid crystal display panel is connected to the first terminal group to be connected to the output terminal of the IC chip.
A second terminal group corresponding to the input terminals of the IC chip is arranged at a position facing the terminal group. These second terminal groups are directly pulled out to the outer edge of the external terminal portion and become the external terminal group connected to an external control circuit or the like.

[0006]

In the above-mentioned conventional COG type liquid crystal display panel, after the liquid crystal display panel is formed, an IC chip is mounted on an external terminal portion, and thereafter, panel inspection is performed. I have. However, if the panel inspection is performed after the mounting of the IC chip, the liquid crystal display panel itself is defective or the IC chip is defective, and the product is defective. There is a problem that it becomes. Actually, the liquid crystal display panel is often defective and the IC chip is often wasted.

On the other hand, when a panel inspection is performed before mounting an IC chip, a simple inspection of the liquid crystal display panel itself can be performed. It cannot be performed, and to perform the lighting inspection, an inspection apparatus having the same function as the liquid crystal driving circuit must be prepared.

Further, in the panel inspection after the mounting of the IC chip, only the portion of the liquid crystal display panel ahead of the first terminal group can be inspected, and the wiring inspection of the second terminal group and the external terminal group connected thereto is performed. Since it cannot be performed simultaneously, even if there is a defect on the external terminal portion, a defect cannot be detected until the inspection after mounting the IC chip, and there is a problem that the IC chip is wasted eventually.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display panel inspection probe device which can perform almost complete panel inspection before mounting an IC chip, and can perform external inspection. It is an object of the present invention to provide a new configuration capable of simultaneously inspecting a wiring pattern on a terminal portion.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a holding member for accommodating a plurality of wirings, and a plurality of connection terminals attached to the tip of the holding member and exposed. And a plurality of inspection probes arranged in parallel with the connection terminals of the integrated circuit, wherein the wiring is conductively connected to the inspection probe. Probe device.

According to this means, by lowering the holder onto the external terminal portion, it is possible to bring the connection terminal of the integrated circuit into contact with the external terminal portion and at the same time to contact the test probe. By performing the inspection on the liquid crystal display panel, the same inspection as when the integrated circuit is mounted can be performed.

Here, the inspection probe has an exposed contact terminal portion, a flexible wire connecting between the contact terminal portion and the wiring, and an elastic resin covering the flexible wire. Is preferred.

According to this means, since the inspection probe connects the wiring and the contact terminal with a flexible wire and is covered with the elastic resin, the position of the contact terminal is adjusted to the surface of the external terminal. It is possible to flexibly cope with the height, to obtain a reliable contact, and to stabilize the contact between the connection terminal of the integrated circuit and the external terminal portion. Moreover, since it can be formed only by connecting a flexible wire and filling and curing with an elastic resin, it can be easily manufactured.

Preferably, the integrated circuit is elastically attached to the holder.

According to this means, since the integrated circuit is elastically attached to the holder, the state of contact between the connection terminal and the external terminal is stabilized, and a reliable contact can be obtained. .

Further, it is preferable that a wiring board to be connected to the liquid crystal display panel is mounted on the holder, and the wiring is a wiring layer formed on the wiring board.

According to this means, since the wiring board to be connected to the liquid crystal display panel is mounted on the holder, the production is facilitated.

Preferably, the holder has a holding mechanism for detachably holding the integrated circuit.

According to this means, by providing the holding mechanism for detachably holding the integrated circuit, it is possible to appropriately select and inspect different integrated circuits.
After the integrated circuit is mounted and inspected, the integrated circuit can be directly attached and fixed on the external terminal portion and then removed, so that the integrated circuit can be mounted on the liquid crystal display panel.

[0020]

Next, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view illustrating a use state of the probe device according to the present embodiment. The liquid crystal display panel is composed of various liquid crystal displays. In the illustrated example, the liquid crystal display panel includes an element substrate 10 having a wiring layer 11 connected to a pixel electrode and a counter substrate 20 having a counter electrode 21. The liquid crystal layer 30 is sandwiched between them.

As shown in FIG. 3, on the outer edge of the element substrate 10, an external terminal portion 15 is formed which extends laterally beyond the end of the counter substrate 20. On the surface of the external terminal portion 15, a plurality of first lead-out lines 12 drawn out from the display area facing the liquid crystal layer 30, and second lead-out lines 13 formed at intervals from the first lead-out lines Are formed in a predetermined pattern.

The first lead-out wiring 12 is connected to the wiring layer 11 or the counter electrode 12, and as shown in FIG. 2, its tip is a predetermined integrated circuit chip (hereinafter simply referred to as IC chip) A. The first terminal 12a is formed corresponding to the output terminal of the first terminal 12a. The inner end of the second lead-out line 13 is a second terminal 13a formed corresponding to the input terminal of the IC chip A. The outer end of the second lead-out line 13 is connected to an external control. It is an external terminal 13b for connecting to a circuit, a power supply circuit, or the like. The external terminal 13b
For example, in the connection terminal portion B of the flexible circuit board,
It is conductively connected to a connection terminal configured to be arranged at the same pitch as the external terminal 13b.

As shown in FIG. 3, the external terminal 15 is designed so that a plurality of IC chips A are arranged side by side. These IC chips A are connected to external terminals 13b connected to a control circuit and a power supply circuit. The supplied control signal and power are received at the second terminal 13a, a drive signal is generated based on the control signal and the power, and the drive signal is generated from the first terminal 12a toward a wiring layer, a counter electrode, and the like in the liquid crystal display panel. It is configured to send a drive signal. The mark 14 is the IC chip A
This is printed for positioning.

Depending on the type of the liquid crystal display panel, the external terminal 15 may be formed only on the outer edge of the element substrate 10, but the outer edge of the opposing substrate 20 may also protrude outward from the end of the element substrate 10. In some cases, the overhanging portion is formed, and the overhanging portion (on the back side) is formed as the external terminal portion 25 similar to the external terminal portion 15.

In the present embodiment, a holding plate 40 made of an insulating material (for example, a hard resin) having a certain degree of rigidity as a holding body is mounted on a lifting mechanism (not shown) so as to be able to move up and down with high accuracy. Have been. An air supply hole 40a penetrating vertically and a wide-opening 4 formed continuously below the air supply hole 40a are formed at the tip of the holding plate 40.
0b is provided. An air supply tube 41 connected to an air supply device (not shown) is provided in an upper opening of the air supply hole 40a.
Is connected. An elastic sheet 42 made of a flexible thin film, for example, a synthetic rubber sheet is attached so as to seal the wide-opening 40b.

On the outer surface of the elastic sheet 42, the I
The C chip A is adhered and fixed. This IC chip A
May be the IC chip A itself mounted on the external terminal portions 15 and 25 shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3, or another IC chip having almost the same function but not formed for inspection.
It may be a chip.

When the gas is supplied to the air supply hole 40a through the air supply tube 41, the elastic sheet 42 covering the wide-opening portion 40b expands downward, and the IC chip A is elasticized by the elastic characteristic according to the gas supply pressure. It can be kept in place.

A flexible circuit board 43 is bonded and fixed to the lower surface of the holding plate 40. The flexible circuit board 43 is provided with a plurality of wiring patterns 43a of a predetermined pattern formed on the surface or inside. .
The distal ends of the plurality of wiring patterns 43a serve as connection terminal portions 43b. The connection terminal portions 43b are formed on the lower surface side of the holding plate 40 and are formed in the recesses 40c formed behind the wide-opening portions 40b. Is facing.

One end of a conductive wire 44 made of a gold wire or the like is bonded to the connection terminal portion 43b. The other end of the conductive wire 44 is connected to a metal contact terminal 45.
It is connected to the. Then, the plurality of connection terminal portions 4
A molding body 46 is formed by filling the concave portion 40c with an insulating resin and then solidifying it so as to mold the 3b and the plurality of conductive wires 44. The molded body 46 not only fills the concave portion 40c of the holding plate 40, but also covers a connection portion between the conductive wire 44 and the contact terminal 45, and also exposes a lower surface of the contact terminal 45. In addition, it is configured to protrude downward from the concave portion 40c.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a method of forming the mold body 46. Connection terminal portion 43 of wiring pattern 43a patterned on the surface of flexible circuit board 43
b is connected to the frame plate 48.
Are bonded to a plurality of connection pads 47 arranged on the substrate. In this state, the flexible circuit board 43 is bonded and fixed to the lower surface of the holding plate 40 shown in FIG. 1, and the insulating resin is poured into the concave portion 40c of the holding plate 40. After the insulating resin is cured, the frame plate 48 is removed, and the connection terminals 45 are joined to the exposed portions of the connection pads 47 (the portions that have been in contact with the frame plate 48).

An inspection control device 50 is connected to the wiring pattern 43a of the flexible circuit board 43 so that a control signal and a power supply potential are supplied to the plurality of wiring patterns 43a in a predetermined inspection cycle and inspection pattern. It is configured.

According to the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the gas is supplied from the air supply device at a predetermined pressure through the air supply tube 41, whereby the elastic sheet 42 is supplied.
Is inflated downward, and the IC chip A is held in a state of being projected downward by the gas pressure. With the pressure of the supplied gas kept constant, the IC chip A and the contact terminals 45 are lowered onto the external terminals 15 of the liquid crystal display panel by a lifting mechanism (not shown) for operating the holding plate 40.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the input terminal a and the output terminal b of the IC chip A are connected to the second terminal 13a shown in FIG.
And the first terminal 12a.
When the holding plate 40 is pressed on the element substrate 10 so as to come into contact with the IC chip A, the IC chip A is pressed on the external terminal portion 15 with a predetermined strength by the elasticity given by the elastic sheet 42 expanded by the gas pressure. The contact terminals 45 are pressed against the external terminal portions 15 with a predetermined strength by the elasticity of the mold body 46.

At this time, the input terminal a and the output terminal b of the IC chip A are connected to the second terminal 13a and the first terminal 1 respectively.
2a, a pressure sensor for detecting that the gas pressure kept constant was increased by the contact pressure of the IC chip A was attached, and the pressure detection value of the pressure sensor was set to a predetermined value. It is preferable to control so that the elevating mechanism is stopped and the movement of the holding plate 40 is stopped when the ascent is performed.

By lowering the holding plate 40, the input terminal a of the IC chip A comes into contact with the second terminal 13a of the second extraction wiring 13, and the output terminal b of the IC chip A becomes the first terminal of the first extraction wiring 12. 12a, and the contact terminals 45 are in contact with the external terminals 13b of the second lead-out wiring 13, so that the contact terminals 45 are connected via the wiring pattern 43a of the flexible circuit board 43 in the same state as the state where the IC chip A is mounted. Inspection can be performed.

Here, the flexible circuit board 43 is the same as or has the same structure as the flexible circuit board connected to the external terminals of the second lead-out wiring 13, so that the same state as that of the completed liquid crystal display device is obtained. In this state, the inspection can be performed.

In this embodiment, the lighting inspection of the liquid crystal display panel can be performed by bringing the IC chip A into contact with the first terminal 12a and the second terminal 13a, and bringing the contact terminal 45 into contact with the external terminal 13b. it can. In this case, the IC chip A was detachably held on the holding plate 40 by a method such as vacuum suction or a gripping mechanism, and the IC chip A was brought into contact with the external terminal portion 15 of the liquid crystal display panel to perform an inspection. Thereafter, if the inspection result is good, the IC chip A can be mounted on the external terminal portion 15 as it is.

As shown in FIG. 7, when mounting the IC chip A, gripping arms 61 and 62 having variable distances are provided at the distal end, and the IC chip A is held between the gripping arms 61 and 62. The inspection is performed by the inspection arm 60 which also serves as the holding plate 40 in the above embodiment. The inspection arm 60 has the same probe structure as the contact terminal 45 connected to the wiring pattern 43a of the flexible circuit board 43, similarly to the holding plate 40. Thus, by holding the IC chip A between the gripping arms 61 and 62 and providing the probe structure, a structure substantially similar to the holding plate 40 of the above embodiment is realized.

By lowering the inspection arm 60 on the external terminal 15 of the liquid crystal display panel, the inspection of the liquid crystal display panel can be performed in the same manner as described above. At this time, if no defect is found in the liquid crystal display panel, then the inspection arm 60 is used as it is as a mounting head for the IC chip A. When the heat sealing method is used as the mounting method, as shown in FIG.
An anisotropic conductive adhesive sheet 70 is laid on the IC chip A, and the IC chip A is sandwiched between the gripping arms 61 and 62. The terminal and the terminal formed on the external terminal 15 are positioned so as to come into regular contact via the anisotropic conductive adhesive sheet 70. The anisotropic conductive adhesive sheet 70 is obtained by dispersing conductive particles in, for example, a photocurable or thermosetting resin adhesive.

Next, pressure is applied from above the IC chip A held between the gripping arms 61 and 62 while heating (about 200 ° C.) by the pressing tool 71 shown in FIG. Are melted, and conduction in the vertical direction is generated, and the terminal of the IC chip A and the terminal on the external terminal portion 15 are adhered and fixed in a state of conduction.

According to this method, the inspection of the liquid crystal display panel and the mounting of the IC chip A can be continuously performed by the inspection arm 60, and the mounting of the IC chip A by the inspection arm as it is after the mounting of the IC chip A. It is also possible to confirm a defect.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

According to the first aspect, by lowering the holder onto the external terminal portion, the connection terminal of the integrated circuit can be brought into contact with the external terminal portion, and at the same time, the inspection probe can be brought into contact with the external terminal portion. By performing the inspection of the liquid crystal display panel in the state, it is possible to perform the same inspection as when the integrated circuit is mounted.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the inspection probe connects the wiring and the contact terminal with a flexible wire and is covered with an elastic resin, the position of the contact terminal is set at the position of the external terminal. It is possible to flexibly correspond to the surface height, to obtain a reliable contact, and to stabilize the contact between the connection terminal of the integrated circuit and the external terminal portion. Moreover, since it can be formed only by connecting a flexible wire and filling and curing with an elastic resin, it can be easily manufactured.

According to the third aspect, since the integrated circuit is elastically attached to the holder, it is possible to stabilize the contact state between the connection terminal and the external terminal and to obtain a reliable contact. it can.

According to the fourth aspect, since the wiring board to be connected to the liquid crystal display panel is mounted on the holder, the production is facilitated.

According to the fifth aspect, the provision of the holding mechanism for detachably holding the integrated circuit allows different integrated circuits to be appropriately selected and inspected.
After the integrated circuit is mounted and inspected, the integrated circuit can be directly attached and fixed on the external terminal portion and then removed, so that the integrated circuit can be mounted on the liquid crystal display panel.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged vertical sectional view showing a use state of an inspection probe device for a liquid crystal display panel according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of an external terminal portion of the liquid crystal display panel.

FIG. 3 is a partial plan view of an outer edge portion of the liquid crystal display panel.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a method of forming a probe structure.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state before the start of inspection.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state at the time of inspection.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of an inspection arm showing a different embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an IC chip mounting process using an inspection arm.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 40 holding plate 40a air supply hole 40b wide-opening 41 air supply tube 42 mounting member 43 flexible circuit board 44 conductive wire 45 contact terminal 46 molded body 47 connection pad

Claims (5)

[Claims] An integrated circuit having a plurality of wirings, a plurality of wirings, a plurality of connection terminals attached to a tip end of the plurality of wirings, and a plurality of exposed connection terminals, and the plurality of connection terminals are arranged in parallel with the connection terminals of the integrated circuit. An inspection probe device for a liquid crystal display panel, comprising: a plurality of inspection probes, wherein the wiring is conductively connected to the inspection probes. 2. The test probe according to claim 1, wherein the test probe has an exposed contact terminal portion, a flexible wire connecting the contact terminal portion and the wiring, and an elasticity covering the flexible wire. A probe device for inspecting a liquid crystal display panel, comprising: a resin. 3. The inspection probe device for a liquid crystal display panel according to claim 1, wherein the integrated circuit is elastically attached to the holder. 4. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the holding member has a wiring board to be connected to the liquid crystal display panel, and the wiring is a wiring layer formed on the wiring board. Inspection probe device for liquid crystal display panel. 5. The inspection probe device for a liquid crystal display panel according to claim 1, wherein the holding body includes a holding mechanism for holding the integrated circuit in a detachable manner.