KR100791087B1 - Hopper for feeding lamp in fabrication of back light and method for controlling lamp feeding process using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is intended to improve productivity by optimizing the lamp supply to the bottom chassis in automating the lamp assembly for the backlight unit in the backlight unit manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device such as LCD TV.

To this end, the present invention includes a hopper body having a storage space for storing the lamps to be supplied to the bottom chassis for manufacturing a backlight unit, and a guide path for discharging the lamps to the outside; Lamp hopper for manufacturing a backlight unit comprising a; hopper roller is installed in the hopper body and rotatably installed in the hopper body to discharge the lamp of the storage space through the guide path in sequence Is provided.

LCD, Backlight, Lamp, Feeding, Hopper

Description

Hopper for feeding lamp in fabrication of back light and method for controlling lamp feeding process using the same}

1 is a front configuration diagram of a backlight unit manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1

3 is a plan view showing the bottom chassis, the figure in the circle is a partially enlarged perspective view showing the shape of the fixed socket;

4 is a detailed view of the lamp feeding unit of FIG.

5 is a perspective view showing a structural example of the hopper roller of FIG.

6 is a reference diagram sequentially showing a ramp drop process by the action of the shutter and the separator in the hopper

7 is a flow chart sequentially showing the progress of the lamp supply process of the present invention

8 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention dual type hopper.

9 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a third embodiment of the present invention dual type hopper.

10 is a flowchart sequentially illustrating a process of supplying a lamp when the dual type hopper of FIG. 9 is applied;

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

1: bottom chassis 100: fixed socket

2: pallet 3: guide rail

30: Guide Bracket 4: Hopper

400: Hopper roller 400U: Upper hopper roller

400L: Lower hopper rollers 400a, 400Ua, 400La: Insert groove

400b: protrusion 410: guide pass

5: clamping block 61: shutter

62: Separator L: Lamp

BL / U: Bottom chassis loading unit FD / U: Lamp feeding unit

FX / U: Lamp Fixing Unit V / U: Vision Unit

The present invention relates to a lamp supply apparatus for manufacturing a backlight unit and a control method thereof, and more particularly, optimization of a lamp supply apparatus applied to an automatic assembly of a lamp for manufacturing a backlight unit applied to an image display apparatus such as an LCD TV. In addition to providing a structure to provide a method for effective lamp feeding can be achieved.

In general, a flat panel display device includes a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), a field emission display (FED), Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD) has been actively studied.

Among the flat panel display devices, LCDs are in the spotlight due to mass production technology, ease of driving means, and high quality.

On the other hand, the LCD is bonded to the thin film transistor array substrate and the color filter substrate facing each other so that a constant cell-gap is maintained, a liquid crystal panel having a liquid crystal layer formed in the constant cell-gap, and driving the liquid crystal panel to display an image And a backlight unit for supplying light to the liquid crystal panel on the rear surface of the liquid crystal panel.

Accordingly, in the LCD, a backlight, which is a light source passing through the liquid crystal layer, is installed to display an image. The backlight may be classified into two types.

First, the lamp is an edge type backlight that is provided on the side of the liquid crystal panel to provide light to the liquid crystal layer. Second, the lamp is provided on the back of the liquid crystal panel to provide light directly to the front of the liquid crystal panel. It is a direct type backlight.

In addition, a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL: Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) installed at both ends of the tube and an external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL) at both ends of the tube are used as the lamp constituting the backlight. do.

Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp operates with low current, has low heat generation and long life, and is mainly used for LCD backlights, small portable devices, photocopiers, and various display devices.

Meanwhile, conventionally, in the process of manufacturing the backlight unit for LCD, a process of coupling the lamp L to the fixing socket of the bottom chassis (see FIG. 3) constituting the outside of the backlight unit is involved. The process of inserting the lamp (L) into the fixed socket is dependent on manual labor.

Therefore, in the production of liquid crystal display devices such as LCD TVs, the lamp assembly process is manually relied on by hand, which leads to a decrease in throughput, and inadequate assembly due to careless handling during assembly. There were many problems, such as a possibility of lamp breakage.

In particular, in the case of the LCD TV backlight unit, which is a large screen among the liquid crystal display devices, the length of the lamps L is very long and the number thereof is large. It is inevitably intensified.

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, in the process of manufacturing the lamp unit of the backlight unit of the liquid crystal display device such as LCD TV in the automated lamp assembly on the lamp unit, optimized lamp supply It is an object of the present invention to provide a hopper structure and a lamp supply process control method.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a hopper body having a storage space for storing lamps to be supplied to the bottom chassis for manufacturing a backlight unit, and a guide path for discharging the lamps to the outside; And a hopper roller installed in the hopper body to be rotatably installed inside the hopper body to sequentially discharge the lamp of the storage space through the guide path. A feed hopper is provided.

On the other hand, according to another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, a hopper body having a storage space for stacking the lamps to be supplied to the bottom chassis for manufacturing the backlight unit, and a guide path for discharging the lamps to the outside Wow; Lamp hopper for manufacturing a backlight unit comprising a; hopper roller installed in the hopper body to be rotatably installed inside the hopper body to discharge the lamp of the storage space through the guide path in sequence However, the hopper is provided with a lamp supply hopper for manufacturing a backlight unit, characterized in that the two adjacent to each other in a symmetrical form to form a dual type hopper.

On the other hand, according to another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, a hopper having a storage space for storing the lamps to be supplied to the bottom chassis for manufacturing the backlight unit, and a guide path for discharging the lamps to the outside A main body; A hopper roller installed in the hopper body and rotatably installed in the hopper body to sequentially discharge the lamps of the storage space to the outside through the guide path; And opening / closing means for opening and closing the guide path so that the lamps stacked on the guide path are sequentially discharged to the outside one by one by moving from the storage space to the guide path by the rotation of the hopper roller. A hopper for lamp supply for manufacture is provided.

On the other hand, according to another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, having a storage space for storing the lamps to be supplied to the bottom chassis for manufacturing the backlight unit, and a guide path for discharging the lamps to the outside A hopper body; A hopper roller installed in the hopper body and rotatably installed in the hopper body to sequentially discharge the lamps of the storage space to the outside through the guide path; Lamp opening for manufacturing a backlight unit, including; opening and closing means for moving to the guide path in the storage space by the rotation of the hopper roller to open and close the guide path so that the lamps stacked on the guide path are sequentially discharged to the outside one by one The hopper is configured, the hopper is provided with a lamp supply hopper for manufacturing a backlight unit, characterized in that the hopper is adjacent to each other in a symmetrical form to form a dual type hopper.

On the other hand, according to another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, a hopper having a storage space for storing the lamps to be supplied to the bottom chassis for manufacturing the backlight unit, and a guide path for discharging the lamps to the outside A main body; An upper hopper roller rotatably installed in the storage space of the hopper body and transferring lamps one by one through a guide path connected to the storage space; Lamp hopper for manufacturing a backlight unit is provided, characterized in that it comprises a lower hopper roller for supplying the lamp transferred to the guide path to the fixed socket as it is installed on the path of the guide path.

On the other hand, according to another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, the step of charging a lamp in each lamp storage space of a pair of dual type hopper; Rotating the hopper roller to drop the lamp which is charged in the storage space of the hopper to the bottom chassis side through the guide path for discharging the lamp; lamp supply process control method using a hopper for backlight unit manufacturing, characterized in that it comprises a This is provided.

On the other hand, according to another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, the step of charging a lamp in each lamp storage space of a pair of dual type hopper; Moving the lamps loaded into the storage space of the hopper by the rotation of the hopper roller to the guide path for discharging the lamps; Detecting a ramp accumulation height on the guide path; When the lamp accumulation height reaches a height capable of supplying the lamp, the step of opening the guide path by the opening and closing means to supply the lamp to the bottom chassis; lamp supply process control method using a hopper for manufacturing a backlight unit, characterized in that it comprises a This is provided.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, FIGS. 1 to 10.

1 is a front configuration diagram of a backlight unit manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a bottom chassis.

And, Figure 4 is a detailed view of the lamp feeding unit of Figure 1, Figure 5 is an enlarged perspective view showing an example of the structure of the hopper roller of Figure 4, Figure 6 is a sequential lamp drop process by the action of the shutter and the separator in the hopper Reference is shown.

7 is a flowchart sequentially illustrating a process of supplying a lamp of the present invention.

Prior to the description of the hopper of the present invention, the configuration of the backlight unit manufacturing apparatus for a liquid crystal display device to which the hopper of the present invention is applied for reference will be described first, and the backlight unit manufacturing apparatus for a liquid crystal display device of the present invention is for manufacturing a backlight unit. Carrying means for sending the bottom chassis (1) (bottom chassis) to each process location for the assembly of the lamp (L) (Carring Means); Before the lamp L is completely fixed to the lamp fixing socket 100 of the bottom chassis 1, the electrodes of both ends of the lamp L are simply raised on the fixing socket 100 to maintain a seated state. Lamp feeding unit (FD / U) for supplying (L); Lamp Fixing Unit (FX / U) for fixing the lamp L so that the electrode portion of the lamp L seated on the fixing socket 100 is completely fixed to the terminal of the fixing socket 100. It is configured to include.

In this case, the lamp feeding unit drops the lamp (L) to the bottom chassis (1) side to supply first, the supplied lamp (L) is the bottom chassis (1) is conveyed to the lamp fixing unit and then fixed socket ( Until it is stably fixed to 100), the parking (Parking) state of staying on the fixed socket 100 for a while is maintained.

On the other hand, the conveying means includes a pallet 2 on which the bottom chassis 1 rests, and a driving means for providing a moving force along the process progress direction of the pallet 2.

As the driving means, a servo motor, which is a driving source, and a ball screw mechanism which receives a rotational force and moves when the shaft is rotated are applied, and the pallet 2 is fixed to the ball screw mechanism.

On the other hand, LM guide (Linear Motion Guide) is provided for smooth sliding and accurate linear motion.

In this case, a separate guide roller may be mounted on the left and right edges of the pallet 2, and a guide rail 3 may be provided on the left and right sides thereof to induce an accurate linear movement of the pallet 2.

Unlike the above, as another example of the driving means, the pallet 2 may be connected to an air cylinder (not shown) and a guide rail or the like may be installed to move the pallet 2 by pneumatic pressure.

The lamp feeding unit is a hopper 4 installed to hang on the upper side of the lamp feeding unit so as to feed the lamp L with respect to the lamp fixing socket 100 of the bottom chassis 1. Relative for varying the horizontal and horizontal relative positions of the hopper 4 and the bottom chassis 1 so that the lamp supply from the hopper 4 to the bottom chassis 1 smoothly without damage or failure of the lamp Position adjusting means.

On the other hand, the hopper of this invention is comprised as follows.

The hopper of the present invention is a hopper body 450 having a storage space for storing lamps L to be supplied to the bottom chassis 1 for manufacturing a backlight unit, and a guide path 410 for discharging the lamps to the outside. Wow; A hopper roller 400 installed in the hopper body and rotatably installed inside the hopper body to sequentially discharge the lamps of the storage space to the outside through the guide path; And opening / closing means for opening and closing the guide path so that the lamps stacked on the guide path are sequentially discharged to the outside one by one by moving from the storage space to the guide path by the rotation of the hopper roller.

That is, the hopper body 450 is provided with a hopper roller 400 for rotating the lamp (L) filled in the upper storage space in the guide path 410 (guide path), the outer peripheral surface on the hopper roller 400 The insert groove 400a for allowing the lamp L to be sequentially transmitted to the guide path 410 is provided. The insert grooves are formed in plural in a shape spaced apart at regular intervals along the circumferential direction, it is preferable that the forming interval of the grooves to form more than 90 degrees.

On the other hand, the inner side of the hopper body 450 is a guide bracket 30 surrounding the outer circumferential surface of the hopper roller 400 at an angle and providing an upper guide surface for the lamp that is dropped from the storage space to the guide path 410 by the hopper roller 30 ) Is provided.

In addition, the outer circumferential surface between the insert groove of the hopper roller 4 is provided with an anti-entanglement means for preventing the entanglement between the lamps in the process of the drums filled in the hopper upper storage space entering the insert groove of the hopper roller. The entanglement preventing means is implemented by a protrusion 400b or a groove formed along the longitudinal direction of the hopper roller, and the cross-sectional shape of the protrusion may be various shapes such as a triangle.

When the hopper roller 400 rotates, the projections 400b having a triangular cross section in contact with the surfaces of the lamps L are momentarily positioned by the slip phenomenon caused by excessive surface contact between the outer circumferential surface of the hopper holder and the lamp surface. The force is evenly distributed throughout the longitudinal direction of the lamp while suppressing the imbalance. As a result, mutual interference and entanglement caused by irregular displacement of the lamps by contact with the hopper rollers are eliminated, and the lamps can be discharged to the outside of the hopper more smoothly without damage.

As the opening / closing means for opening and closing the guide path, a shutter 61 supporting the lamp of the lowest layer among the lamps L stacked on the guide path is provided on the lower side of the guide path 410 of the hopper 4, Directly above the bottommost lamp is a separator 62 which separates the lamps on the bottommost lamp from the bottommost lamp.

The shutter 61 and the separator 62 are installed to be able to move back and forth by a driving source such as an air cylinder or a solenoid device, and of course, are installed to be individually controllable.

The hopper 4 is characterized in that at least one or more pairs of dual type hopper is provided so that two lamps (L) are supplied at one time. That is, the hopper 4 has a structure in which at least one dual type hopper is installed, and two lamps L are simultaneously supplied from one dual type hopper, and two lamps L are simultaneously supplied from another dual type hopper. do.

At this time, one of the pair of dual type hoppers 4a and 4b may be controlled to selectively stop the lamp L feeding operation as necessary.

Then, two lamps L dropped from each dual type hopper are supplied with their polarities reversed.

In addition, one dual type hopper itself is a structure in which both side storage spaces and the hopper roller 400 are substantially symmetrical, and two dual type hoppers having a pair have a symmetrical structure. That is, the shutter 61 and the separator 62 are installed so as to be located inside the dual type hopper, not the outside of the liner, which is provided with the shutter 61 and the separator 62 when the lamp L is supplied. This is to exclude the interference with the bottom chassis.

On the other hand, the back light unit manufacturing apparatus to which the hopper of the present invention is applied has a relative position adjusting means for varying the relative position of the hopper 4 and the bottom chassis 1, the relative position adjusting means, the hopper (4) ) And horizontal relative position adjusting means for adjusting the relative position on the horizontal plane of the bottom chassis 1, and vertical relative position for adjusting the relative position of the hopper 4 and the bottom chassis 1 on the vertical plane. Can be divided into adjustment means.

The relative position in the horizontal direction may include a relative position in the front and rear direction, which is the process progress direction of the bottom chassis 1, and a relative position in the horizontal direction (ie, the width direction of the bottom chassis), which is perpendicular to the process progress direction. do.

According to the present embodiment, the horizontal relative position adjusting means and the vertical relative position adjusting means between the hopper 4 and the bottom chassis 1 support the bottom chassis 1 seated on the pallet 2 to support the bottom chassis 1. A lifter (not shown) which raises the bottom chassis to a predetermined height so that the bottom chassis does not interfere with the pallet 2 when moving in the process progress direction, and the bottom chassis 1 lifted by the lifter is clamped on the left and right sides and the left and right directions It comprises a clamping block (5) is installed to perform the alignment, and the movable block (6) is installed so that the clamping block (5) is fixed and movable along the process progress direction.

The clamping block 5 has a cone-shaped guide 500 inserted into the alignment hole of the bottom chassis 1 so as to be able to move forward and backward in the inward direction from the left and right sides of the bottom chassis 1. Is installed.

On the other hand, the vertical relative position adjusting means further comprises a drive means for moving the hopper 4 in the vertical direction.

Here, as the driving source for the lifting motion of the hopper 4, as described above, a driving motor or an air cylinder may be applied, and a guide for guiding the lifting motion of the hopper 4 may be installed.

On the other hand, the lamp fixing unit, the pusher (7) (8) for pressing the lamp (L) seated on the fixed socket 100 to completely fix the fixed socket, and the drive to change the position on the horizontal plane of the pusher And a driving means for lifting and lowering the pusher.

In addition, the lamp fixing unit further includes a lamp holder 9 for pressing the inner portions of both ends of the lamp L to prevent movement of the lamp L prior to the pushing operation of the pusher. The lamp holder 9 is further provided. Is lifted and lowered by a power source such as an air cylinder.

The lamp holder 9 is made of at least the material of the pressing surface of silicon so as to be advantageous in preventing breakage and damage of the lamp upon contact with the lamp L.

Meanwhile, the pusher includes a first pusher 7 for pushing the socket head 100a of the fixed socket 100 so that the electrode portion of the lamp L is inserted into the fixed socket 100 to be stably coupled with the terminal. And a second pusher 8 for pushing the lamp L such that the central portion of the lamp L is inserted into the supporter 110 provided in the bottom chassis 1.

In addition, the first pusher is fixedly installed on the column C installed across both X-axes so as to linearly move in the front-rear direction. That is, the first pusher is moved back to the X-axis driving motor (not shown) in the direction opposite to the process progress direction along the X-axis, and then returns to the original position after the pushing operation.

And, the second pusher is installed on the column (C) which is installed across both X-axis so that the first pusher is linear movement in the front-rear direction, along the Y-axis direction which is a direction perpendicular to the process progress direction on the column It is installed to be movable.

For reference, in FIG. 1, the second pushers 8, which are spaced apart for convenience, are illustrated in dashed lines to help understand the shapes of the first pushers 7 and the second pushers 8. However, since the first pusher and the second pusher are substantially positioned on the same line, when viewed from the front, the second pusher 8 is hidden by the first pusher 7 so that it is hard to see.

That is, in the actual equipment, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 2, the first pusher 7 and the second pusher 8 are actually arranged side by side and perform the pushing operation while moving together when fixing the lamp.

The first pusher 7 is provided with a plurality of unit pusher unit 700 in which the lifting motion of the pushing block 700a is individually controlled. That is, the pushing block 700a is pushed to the fixed socket 100 side while lifting individually.

The second pusher 8 takes the form of an integrated pushing block that simultaneously presses a plurality of ramps during the lifting movement.

In order to increase the number of lamps fixed to the fixed socket 100 in the vicinity of the first pusher 7 and the second pusher 8, the first pusher 7 and the second pusher 8 are controlled to be pushed by the lifting motion. The first auxiliary pusher 710 and the second auxiliary pusher 810 are further provided.

Substantially, since the first pusher unit is individually controllable by the unit pusher unit 700, an additional unit pusher unit is additionally installed, and the second auxiliary pusher is installed to be controlled separately from the second pusher 8.

On the other hand, in the backlight unit manufacturing apparatus for a liquid crystal display device of the present invention, after the lamp (L) fixing operation for the fixed socket 100 in the lamp fixing unit, the lamp (L) is correctly fixed to the fixed socket (100) It further includes a vision unit to visually check whether or not a fix.

The vision unit 10 is provided with a vision camera 10 that moves along the conveyance direction of the bottom chassis 1.

The automatic lamp feeding and fixing process by the backlight unit manufacturing apparatus of the present invention configured as described above is as follows.

First, the lamp feeding process in the lamp feeding unit will be described.

As the pallet 2 moves along the process progress direction by the conveying apparatus, the bottom chassis 1 seated on the pallet 2 is conveyed to the lamp feeding unit.

As such, when the bottom chassis 1 moves to the lamp feeding unit, the lamps L filled in the upper storage space of the hopper 4 are guide paths 410 for lamp supply one by one by the rotation of the hopper roller 400. Go to and pile up.

That is, a plurality of insert grooves 400a are formed on the outer circumferential surface of the hopper roller 400 so as to be spaced apart at regular intervals along the circumferential direction, so that the lamp L positioned in the insert groove is rotated by the hopper roller 400. It falls to the guide path 410 and is piled up.

At this time, the lamp of the lowest layer among the lamps L stacked on the guide path 410 is supported by the shutter 61 to prevent the fall, and the lamp immediately above the lowest lamp and the lamps thereon are the separators 62. It keeps separated from the lowest lamp by the.

In addition, the projections 400b, which are entanglement preventing means formed on the outer circumferential surface between the insert grooves 400a of the hopper roller 400, eliminate the entanglement between the lamps while the lamp enters the insert groove of the hopper roller.

On the other hand, when the height of the lamp (L) is placed on the guide path 410 or more than a predetermined height capable of supplying the lamp, the height is detected by a detection means (not shown) such as photosensors or proximity sensors, In response to the control signal according to the ramp accumulation height detection, the pallet 2 mounted with the bottom chassis 1 moves to the lower position of the hopper 4 for ramp feeding along the transport rail.

Subsequently, the bottom chassis 1 rises by a predetermined height by a lifter (not shown) installed at the bottom, and the clamping blocks 5 on the left and right sides of the bottom chassis 1 move forward in a state where the bottom chassis 1 is raised. Accordingly, the cone-shaped guide 500 provided at the tip of the clamping block 5 is inserted into the position alignment hole 120 of the bottom chassis 1.

Therefore, the position in the left-right direction (that is, the direction orthogonal to the bottom chassis traveling direction) is aligned by the clamping blocks 5 on both sides of the bottom chassis 1, which fall from the hopper 4. This is to ensure that (L) is correctly placed on the fixed socket (100).

On the other hand, the lifter holding the bottom chassis 1 in the left and right position alignment of the bottom chassis 1 is lowered again to exclude interference when the bottom chassis is moved, and the movable block having the clamping block 5 fixed thereto. 6 is advanced so that the bottom chassis 1 is located under the lamp supply position under the hopper 4.

Subsequently, the hopper 4 is lowered to a predetermined position (refer to the dotted line state in FIG. 4) to be close to the bottom chassis 1, and as the shutter 61 is opened after the lowering is completed, the lamp at the bottom is a guide path ( 410 exits and falls.

At this time, in the present invention, the dual type hoppers 4a and 4b in which two lamps are supplied at a time are arranged in a row so that four lamps are supplied when the shutter 61 is opened once.

That is, the hopper 4 is simultaneously supplied with two lamps L from the first dual type hopper 4a, and two lamps L are simultaneously supplied from the second dual type hopper 4b. Compared to the case where the lamps are sequentially supplied one by one, the time required for supply can be significantly reduced.

On the other hand, the two lamps L supplied from each of the dual type hoppers are supplied while being dropped in a state where the polarities of the electrode portions are arranged opposite to each other.

In addition, referring to FIG. 6, in the state where the shutter is first closed (see FIG. 6A), after the lowermost lamp L is dropped by opening the shutter (see FIG. 6B), the hopper (4) is once again raised, the shutter 61 is closed again during the ascent (see Fig. 6 (c)), and after the shutter 61 is closed, the separator 62 is retracted to the separator 62 The lamps L supported by the lamp move down one step (see (d) of FIG. 6), and in this state, the separator 62 moves forward to separate the lamps seated on the shutter 61 and the remaining lamps. In this way, the shutter 61 for the next lamp L drop can be opened (see FIG. 6E).

By the action of the shutter 61 and the separator 62, the bottom chassis 1 is also moved one step while the preparation of the next lamp L is made ready, whereby the new fixed socket 100 to which the lamp L is supplied is supplied. ) Are positioned below the guide path 410 of each hopper (4).

Therefore, when the shutter 61 is opened again, the lamps L are dropped from the respective hoppers 4 so as to rest on the fixed socket 100.

As described above, the dropped lamp L is simply placed on the fixing socket 100 and is simply placed on the supporter 110 which is held by the center of the lamp L to support it.

On the other hand, while the operation of the shutter 61 and the separator 62 and the stepping movement of the movable block 6 holding the bottom chassis 1 are repeated, the feeding by the drop of the lamp L of the hopper 4 is all performed. Upon completion, the bottom chassis 1 is moved to the ramp fixing unit by the advancement of the movable block 6 for the next process of fixing.

Hereinafter, a detailed description will be given of a lamp fixing operation process in the lamp fixing unit.

First, after the movement to the lamp fixing unit is completed, the clamping block 5 supporting the bottom chassis 1 retreats, so that the bottom chassis 1 moves back to the lamp fixing unit 2. ) Will be placed on.

Then, when the bottom chassis 1 is positioned at the correct position on the lamp fixing unit, a bar-shaped lamp holder 9 is lowered prior to the pushing operation of the pusher to slightly lower the inner portions of both ends of the lamp L. Press to prevent the movement of the lamp (L). At this time, the lamp holder 9 is pressed to hold the entire lamp (L) at a time, at least the pressing surface which is in direct contact with the lamp (L) is made of silicon material of the lamp in contact with the lamp (L) It will prevent breakage and damage.

In this state, the first pusher 7 for pushing the electrode part of the lamp L to be stably fixed with the terminal of the fixed socket 100 and the center portion of the lamp L are the bottom chassis 1. Each of the second pushers 8 that push to be inserted into the supporter 110 provided at the operation of the lamp L may be completely fixed.

Here, the first pusher (7) is provided with a plurality of unit pusher unit 700 which is individually controlled lifting movement, which is a printed circuit board (PCB) and a fixed socket (located below the fixed socket 100) In order to fix the lamp L more stably in consideration of the assembly tolerance and the tolerance of the socket itself and the like, and to reduce the impact on the printed circuit board.

That is, the unit pushing blocks 700a constituting the first pusher 7 press the socket head 100a of each fixed socket 100 while descending sequentially, and the socket head 100a has a taped structure. Therefore, when descending, the terminal is narrowed and the electrode part of the lamp L is stably clamped between the terminals.

In addition, since the second pushers 8 are provided in a zigzag form, the supporters 110 provided in the bottom chassis 1 are provided in a zigzag form so as to exclude interference with each other. ), The pushing operation is performed while moving in the form according to the arrangement form of the

In this manner, after the fixing of the lamp L is completed, the middle part of the lamp is inserted into the groove of the supporter 110 to be stably supported.

Meanwhile, in order to increase the number of lamps L fixed to the fixed socket 100 in the vicinity of the first pusher 7 and the second pusher 8, a pushing action is performed by lifting and lowering. The first auxiliary pusher 710 and the second auxiliary pusher 810 are further provided to control the change of the standard of the liquid crystal display.

Then, after completion of the lamp L fixing operation for the fixed socket 100 in the lamp fixing unit, the bottom chassis 1 in which the lamp L is fixed may determine whether the lamp is correctly fixed to the fixed socket 100. You will be taken to a vision unit that will be visually identified.

The vision unit detects whether the assembly state is defective by the installed vision camera 10 and, if there is a defect, takes follow-up measures.

On the other hand, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, of course, it can be modified and changed in various forms without departing from the scope of the technical spirit of the present invention.

8 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the dual hopper according to the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the shutter 61 and the separator 62 have been described, but the shutter ( It is also possible to change the structure in which the lamp L is supplied to the fixed socket 100 only by the rotation control of the hopper roller 400 in the state where the 61 and the separator 62 are deleted.

That is, when the angle between the insert grooves 400a formed in the hopper roller 400 is adjusted and the rotation angle of the hopper roller 400 is controlled according to the angle between the insert grooves 400a, the insert groove ( The lamp L inserted into the 400a is dropped through the guide paths 410 one by one and may be immediately seated on the fixing socket 100.

More specifically, the insert groove 400a reaches the position where the fall of the lamp is caused by the 90-degree rotation of the hopper roller 400 to the fixing socket 100 of the bottom chassis 1 (see FIG. 3). After the fall of the lamp, the lower hopper roller 400L is rotated 90 degrees again, which causes the bottom of the hopper until the next insert groove 400La reaches the drop point of the lamp. The movement of the chassis 1 causes the new fixing socket to be positioned, and the lamp is supplied again. Then, the lamp is supplied to all of the fixing sockets of the bottom chassis 1 by the repetition of this series of processes.

According to the dual type hopper structure and control process, it is possible to supply a lamp without a shutter and a separator, and this structure is of course applicable to the unit hopper as well as the dual hopper.

On the other hand, Figure 9 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the dual type hopper according to the present invention, instead of deleting the shutter 61 and the separator 62, installed in the storage space rotatably connected to the storage space The upper hopper roller 400U for transferring the lamp L one by one to the guide path 410 and the lower part for supplying the lamp L transferred to the guide path as a fixed socket is installed on the path of the guide path and rotates. Hopper roller 400L is provided.

At this time, the lower hopper roller 400L may be smaller in diameter than the upper hopper roller 400U.

On the other hand, on the outer circumferential surfaces of the upper hopper roller 400U and the lower hopper roller 400L, insert grooves 400Ua and 400La for holding lamps are provided, respectively.

And, on the outer circumferential surface of the upper hopper roller 400U, to prevent the entanglement between the lamp (L) adjacent to the upper hopper roller 400U during rotation to prevent the entanglement to facilitate the inflow of the unit lamp into the insert groove (400Ua). Means are provided.

However, the entanglement preventing means is unnecessary for the lower hopper roller 400L, because the lamp L on the guide path 410 does not have entanglement.

The lamp L supply process in this case will be described with reference to FIG. 10 as follows.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart sequentially illustrating a process of supplying a lamp L when the dual hopper of FIG. 9 is applied. First, in a state in which a lamp L is loaded in a storage space of a hopper, an upper hopper for lamp supply. The roller 400U is rotated.

Accordingly, the lamps in the storage space are held one by one by the insert grooves 400Ua formed on the outer circumferential surface of the upper hopper roller 400U and sent to the guide path.

At this time, since the entanglement preventing means is provided on the outer circumferential surface of the upper hopper roller 400U, when the upper hopper roller 400U is rotated, the entanglement between the lamps L adjacent thereto is prevented, so as to insert groove 400Ua of the unit lamp. The inflow is made smoothly.

Meanwhile, when the upper hopper roller 400U rotates, the lower hopper roller 400L may preferably be stopped for a predetermined time.

Accordingly, the lamp L is sequentially deposited on the guide path 410 above the lower hopper roller 400L. After detecting that the ramp accumulation height reaches an appropriate level, the lower hopper roller 400L is controlled by a control signal. ) Will rotate.

In the above, whether the lamp accumulation level on the guide path 410 reaches an appropriate level is detected indirectly by counting the driving time of the upper hopper roller by calculating, in advance, a time value required to be accumulated to an appropriate height through experiments, or the It may also be detected directly by using a detection means (not shown) such as a photosensor installed at a proper position of the guide path 410.

On the other hand, when the lower hopper roller 400L is rotated while the rotation angle is controlled, the lamp L, which is deposited on the guide path 410, is sequentially dropped to the fixed socket 100.

That is, when the angle between the insert grooves 400La formed in the lower hopper roller 400L and the rotation angle of the lower hopper roller 400L are controlled according to the angle between the insert grooves 400La, the The lamp L inserted into the insert groove 400La is dropped through the guide paths 410 one by one and may be immediately seated on the fixing socket 100.

More specifically, the insert groove 400La reaches the position where the fall of the lamp L is caused by the rotation of the lower hopper roller 400L by 90 degrees with respect to the fixing socket 100 of the bottom chassis 1. When the fall of the lamp L is made, the lower hopper roller 400L is again rotated by 90 degrees. The rotation of the lower hopper roller 400L is performed until the next insert groove 400La reaches the falling point of the lamp L. Under the hopper, a new fixed socket is positioned by the bottom chassis 1, and the lamp L is supplied again. Then, the lamp L is supplied to the entire fixing socket of the bottom chassis 1 by the repetition of this series of processes.

According to the dual type hopper structure and control process according to the above embodiment, the lamp L can be supplied without a shutter and a separator.

On the other hand, the dual type hopper presented above is advantageous for the rapid progress of the process, it is a matter of course that the supply of the lamp can be sufficiently performed even if not necessarily the dual type hopper.

In the control process, the lower path hopper is transported to the guide path 410 by the rotation of the upper hopper roller 400U without waiting for the lamp L to be accumulated to a certain level on the guide path 410. The roller 400L may also be rotated to supply the lamp, and may be controlled to stop the upper hopper roller and the lower hopper roller when the supply of the lamp is completed for the bottom chassis.

In addition, in the lamp supply is made by using two hopper rollers located in the upper and lower in the above embodiment, the rotation direction and speed of the hopper can be controlled separately, the same rotation direction and the same as necessary It can also be controlled by speed. In addition, although the rotation directions of the upper hopper roller and the lower hopper roller are the same direction, the specific rotation direction may be clockwise, it may be counterclockwise.

The present invention has the effect of significantly improving the productivity by automating the lamp supply process in the process of assembling and fixing the lamp (L) on the backlight unit of the liquid crystal display such as LCD TV.

That is, according to the present invention, since the lamp is automatically supplied in the lamp L assembling process, the conventional production of the backlight unit for the liquid crystal display device in which the lamp assembly depends on manual labor is reduced. And concerns such as assembly failure and lamp breakage can be solved.

In particular, in the case of the LCD TV backlight unit, which is a large screen among LCDs, the length of the lamp is very long and the number of assembly is increasing according to the trend of the large screen, thereby improving the problems caused by the manual operation. Becomes remarkable.

Claims (3)

A hopper body having a storage space for storing lamps to be supplied to a bottom chassis for manufacturing a backlight unit, and a guide path for discharging the lamps to the outside; A hopper roller installed in the hopper body and rotatably installed in the hopper body to discharge the lamp of the storage space to the outside through a guide path sequentially; Opening and closing means for opening and closing the guide path such that the lamps stacked on the guide path are sequentially discharged one by one by moving from the storage space to the guide path by the rotation of the hopper roller; When the hopper roller is rotated, to prevent the entanglement between the lamps adjacent to the hopper roller to prevent the entanglement to facilitate the inflow of the lamp into the insert groove; The opening and closing means opens and closes the guide path so as to directly support a lamp positioned at the lowermost layer among the lamps on the guide path under the guide path of the hopper body, and to drop the lowermost lamp supported. The lowermost lamp while separating the shutter which is possibly installed, and the lowermost lamp directly supported by the shutter and the lamps positioned thereon, prior to the drop of the lowermost lamp directly supported by the shutter among the lamps on the guide path. Separator is installed so as to open and close the guide path on the upper side of the shutter so as to support the lamps, and the drive means for driving the shutter and the separator, respectively, characterized in that it comprises a Hopper for lamp supply. A hopper body having a storage space for storing lamps to be supplied to a bottom chassis for manufacturing a backlight unit, and a guide path for discharging the lamps to the outside; An upper hopper roller rotatably installed in the storage space of the hopper body and transferring lamps one by one through a guide path connected to the storage space; A lower hopper roller which is installed on the path of the guide path and rotates to supply the lamp transferred to the guide path to the fixed socket; Lamp supply hopper for manufacturing a backlight unit, characterized in that it comprises a; means for automatically detecting the accumulation height of the lamp on the guide path. Charging a lamp into each lamp reservoir of the pair of dual type hoppers; Positioning the dual type hopper and the bottom chassis; And rotating the hopper roller to drop the lamp, which is charged in the storage space of the hopper, to the bottom chassis side through a guide path for discharging the lamp.

Images