KR100801438B1 - Apparatus for detecting of lcd panel and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus and a method for inspecting an LCD panel are provided to detect fine defects caused by the difference of color filter patterns and inspect the occurrence of defects accurately in the LCD panel by dividing a received light into several lights by wavelength through a spectroscopic sensor and comparing the data obtained from the divided lights based on average extraction, deviation extraction and variance extraction with a predetermined reference value. A light emitting unit(130) generates light at a lower part of an LCD panel(110), collecting the light to form parallel light, and regulates the amount of the parallel light. A light receiving unit(140) receives the light passing through the LCD panel. A prism-spectroscopic sensor unit(150) outputs transmittance data by diffusing the received light, separating the diffused light according to wavelength, and filtering the light in a predetermined wavelength band. A controller(160) determines the presence or absence of defects by processing the outputted transmittance data to generate inspection data for determining defect type and comparing the inspection data with a predetermined setting value stored in a memory.

Description

Apparatus for detecting of LCD panel and method

1 is a block diagram of a liquid crystal display panel inspection device according to the present invention.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of the control unit of FIG. 1.

Figure 3 is a graph of the wavelength band for each R, G, B in the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for inspecting a liquid crystal display panel according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

110... LCD panel

130... Light emitting part

140... Receiver

150... Prism and Spectroscopy

160... Control

161... Average calculator

162... Deviation calculator

163... Disperser

164... Distributed Tea Extractor

165... Fault determiner

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an LCD panel inspection, and more particularly, to a liquid crystal display panel inspection apparatus capable of accurately detecting fine defects that are not visually identified due to a step of a color pattern during manufacturing of an LCD panel. And to a method thereof.

Recently, as the demand for electronic devices such as computers, televisions, mobile phones, and the like explode, the demand for flat panel display devices used inevitably for such electronic devices also increases. Such flat panel displays include Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), Plasma Display Panel (PDP), Field Emission Didplay (FED), among which high-definition is possible, and LCDs that have already been mass-produced Is most in the spotlight.

An LCD is a display device that displays information on a screen by using refractive index anisotropy of a liquid crystal. The LCD consists of a liquid crystal formed between the upper substrate and the lower substrate and both substrates. In general, the lower substrate is a drive element array substrate, and the upper substrate is a color filter substrate. A plurality of pixels are formed on the driving element array substrate, a driving element such as a thin film transistor is formed on each pixel, a color filter layer for realizing color is formed on the color filter substrate, and a pixel electrode The alignment film for orienting a common electrode and a liquid crystal molecule is planned.

In the conventional method of inspecting the panel of the LCD, a panel is photographed using a camera, and visual data of each pixel is visually inspected from the photographed image to determine visual defects.

However, such a conventional inspection method can accurately detect defects that can be visually identified, but it is impossible to accurately detect and determine defects that are difficult to visually identify, that is, defects that are difficult to analyze even when using a camera.

Accordingly, the present invention has been proposed to solve various problems occurring in the inspection method of the conventional LCD panel as described above,

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display panel inspection device and a method for accurately detecting fine defects that are not visually identified due to a step of a color pattern in manufacturing an LCD panel.

Another object of the present invention is to separate the received light for each wavelength by using a spectroscopic sensor, and to process data through the signal processing such as average extraction, deviation extraction, dispersion, and dispersion difference extraction. The present invention provides a liquid crystal display panel inspection device and method for accurately determining a defect by comparing the result signal and a predetermined reference value to determine whether the panel is defective. .

"Liquid crystal display panel inspection apparatus" according to the present invention for achieving the above object,

A light emitting unit generating light at a lower portion of the panel of the liquid crystal display, condensing the light into parallel light, and adjusting the amount of parallel light;

A light receiving unit configured to receive light passing through the liquid crystal display panel;

A prism and a spectroscopic sensor unit for dispersing the light obtained by the light receiving unit, separating the dispersed light for each wavelength, and filtering the set wavelength band to output transmittance data;

And a control unit which processes the transmittance data obtained through the prism and the spectroscopic sensor unit to make detection data for determining a defect, and compares the detection data with a reference set value stored in the memory to determine whether there is a defect.

The control unit in the above,

An average calculator configured to calculate average values of the transmittance data obtained by the band pass filter for each of R, G, and B; A deviation calculator for calculating a deviation which is a difference between the calculated average value and the transmittance data; A disperser extracting a dispersion value using the transmittance data and the deviation; A dispersion difference extractor extracting a dispersion difference after rearranging the dispersion values; And a defect determiner which determines whether there is a defect by comparing the extracted dispersion difference with a reference set value previously stored in the memory.

"Liquid crystal display panel inspection apparatus" according to the present invention,

And a display unit (LCD) for displaying the defect position and the defect size.

In addition, the "liquid crystal display panel inspection method" according to the present invention for achieving the above object,

A first step of dispersing light passing through the panel of the liquid crystal display device, separating the light for each wavelength to obtain transmittance data;

A second step of processing the obtained transmittance data through signal processing to make detection data for determining a defect;

And a third step of determining whether there is a defect by comparing the detection data with a reference set value stored in the memory.

In the second step,

Calculating average values of the obtained transmittance data for each of R, G, and B; Calculating a deviation which is a difference between the calculated average value and the transmittance data; Extracting a variance value using the transmittance data and the deviation; And rearranging the extracted dispersion values and extracting a dispersion difference.

Hereinafter, described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Before describing the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

1 is a block diagram of a liquid crystal display panel inspection device according to the present invention.

Here, reference numeral 130 is a light emitting part for projecting the light generated from the light source (halogen lamp) 120 to the liquid crystal display (LCD) panel 110, the collimating lens to focus the light at the top to make parallel light (Collimate Lens) 132 and a Slit-Aperture 133 for adjusting the light receiving area and adjusting the light receiving intensity.

Reference numeral 140 is a light receiving unit for receiving the light transmitted through the LCD panel 110, and a focus lens for focusing and focusing the received light is formed at a predetermined position.

In addition, reference numeral 150 denotes a prism / spectral sensor unit for dispersing the light obtained by the light receiving unit 140, separating the dispersed light for each wavelength, and filtering the separated light in a set wavelength band. It is preferable to provide a prism for dispersing the light, a spectroscopic sensor (CCD sensor) for separating the light dispersed by the prism for each wavelength, and a band pass filter for filtering the light separated by the spectroscopic sensor into a set wavelength band.

In addition, reference numeral 160 denotes the data obtained through the prism / spectral sensor unit 150 as transmittance data, which is processed into the detection data for determining defects, and the reference data stored in the detection data and the memory 170. As a control unit to determine whether there is a defect, as shown in Figure 2, the average calculator 161 for calculating the average value for each of the obtained transmittance data, R, G, B, the average value and the transmittance A deviation calculator 162 for calculating a deviation that is a difference between the data, a disperser 163 for extracting a variance value using the transmittance data and the deviation, and a variance difference for extracting a variance difference after rearranging the variance values And an extractor 164 and a defect determiner 165 for comparing the extracted dispersion difference with a reference set value previously stored in the memory 170 to determine whether there is a defect.

In addition, reference numeral 180 denotes a display unit (LCD) for indicating a defect position and a defect size.

In the liquid crystal display panel inspection apparatus according to the present invention configured as described above, the light source 120 generated by the halogen lamp in the light emitting unit 130 is projected under the LCD panel 110, and the LCD panel ( At the upper portion of the 110, the light receiving unit 140 receives the light passing through the LCD panel 110. At this time, the slit-aperture 133 is formed in the light emitting unit 130 to adjust the light receiving area.

The light receiving signal of the light receiving unit 140 is focused through the focus lens 141 and then transmitted to the prism / spectral sensor unit 150 through an optical cable, dispersed by a prism, and separated by wavelength through a spectroscopic sensor. The light separated by wavelength passes through the band pass filter and becomes transmittance data for each band (per wavelength) set in each filter, and is transmitted to the controller 160. In this case, the band filter separates the wavelengths by passing light for each set wavelength band, and the result is to transmit the transmittance data for each band. In particular, the band filter 170 uses three filters for filtering the blue (B) band (430 to 510 nm), the green (G) band (511 to 580 nm), and the red (R) band (581 to 700 nm). It is desirable. 3 is a characteristic graph in which actual light is analyzed for each wavelength. The data obtained through each band filter is transmittance data.

Here, the transmittance (%) is expressed as a formula below.

Here, Rλ represents the amount of light for each wavelength band in the absence of an object, Dλ represents the amount of light for each wavelength band in which light is completely blocked, and Sλ represents the amount of light for each wavelength band passing through the LCD panel, which is an actual sample.

Examples of transmittance data values for each wavelength range are as follows.

First, blue (B) becomes 430 nm-8.001, 450 nm-8.002, ....., 510 nm-9.005, and green (G) has 511 nm-9.007, 550 nm-9.5, ....., 580 nm-11.005 Red (R) becomes 581 nm-13.001, 590 nm-14.002, ....., 700 nm-15.005. Here, the transmittance data for each wavelength is converted from the measured light quantity into data, and it is obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not fixed but depends on the intensity of the light quantity.

When transmittance data is input, the average calculator 161 in the controller 160 calculates an average value for each of R, G, and B. Here, the average value adds all the transmittance data for each wavelength of R, and divides the addition value by the number of divided wavelength stars (n) to calculate the average value. Similarly, the total transmittance data for each wavelength of G is added, and the addition value is divided by the number of divided wavelengths (m) to calculate an average value, and the total transmittance data for each wavelength of B is added and the addition value is added. The average value is calculated by dividing by the number of divided wavelengths (k).

Next, the deviation calculator 182 calculates the deviation using the input transmittance data and the average data for each wavelength band calculated by the average calculator 181. For example, the average value of B is subtracted from the transmittance data (8.001) of 430 nm among the wavelengths of B, and the result is calculated as the deviation of the wavelength of 430 nm among the wavelengths of B.

After the deviation is calculated for each color wavelength band, the dispersion device 183 is dispersed to calculate the dispersion value for each color. Therefore, n dispersion values are calculated for the B band, m dispersion values are calculated for the G band, and k dispersion values are calculated for the R band. The dispersion value is calculated by the following [Equation 2].

Here, n means the number of input wavelengths of the B band.

Next, the dispersion difference extractor 164 rearranges dispersion values for respective wavelength bands for each color obtained by the dispersion unit 163. For example, while scanning the LCD panel, the dispersion values for the 430 nm band of B color are rearranged by position, and the dispersion values for the 450 nm band of B color are rearranged by position. When the rearrangement is completed, the difference between the front and rear variances is subtracted and the difference value is extracted as the variance difference. In other words, the B-color 430 nm band position-specific dispersion values are 0.001 (1), 0.001 (2), 0.001 (3), 0.001 (4), 0.007 (5), 0.001 (6), ....... If .0.001 (n) is equal, the variance difference is calculated as the difference between the variance value at position 1 and the variance value at position 2, and the variance value at position 0 and 2 and the variance value at position 3 The difference in variance is the difference between the variance of positions 0 and 3 and the variance of position 4, and the difference in variance is the difference between the variance of positions 0 and 4 and the dispersion of position 5 is 0.006 and the dispersion of position 5. The variance difference, which is the difference between the value and the variance value at position 6, is 0.006.

The dispersion difference calculated as described above is input to the defect determiner 165 for each color band, and the defect determiner 165 obtains the dispersion difference for each color wavelength band thus obtained and the wavelength for each color previously stored in the memory 170. When the obtained dispersion difference is out of the range of the reference setting value, the determination is made as a defect, by comparing the reference setting values for each unit. At this time, it is also possible to confirm the defect position. Here, the reference set value is a value preset through experiments, and is assumed to be an optimal reference value for implementing the best LCD panel.

On the other hand, the control unit 160 controls the display unit 180 to display the size and location of the defect on the screen when the defect is found, the display unit 180 displays the location and size of the defect on the screen by this control, the inspector is easy So that the location and size of the defect are known.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of inspecting a liquid crystal display panel according to the present invention.

As shown in the drawing, in step S101, it is checked whether the light passing through the LCD panel 110 is received by the light receiving unit 140. If the light is received as a result of the checking, the received optical signal is transmitted through a optical cable through a prism / It is delivered to the spectroscopic sensor unit 150, and is dispersed by the prism in step S103 and separated by wavelength through the spectroscopic sensor. The light separated by wavelength passes through the band pass filter and becomes transmittance data for each band (per wavelength) set in each filter, and is transmitted to the controller 160.

Here, the method of acquiring transmittance data is various, and the light emitting unit 130 and the light receiving unit 140 are collectively assumed to be a detector.

For example, a method of acquiring transmittance data by fixing a detector including the light emitter 130 and the light receiver 140 and moving the LCD panel 110 between the light emitter 130 and the light receiver 140 to move forward or backward. The method of fixing the detector 130 and the light receiving unit 140 together and obtaining the transmittance data while the LCD panel 110 moves forward or backward on the lower or upper surface of the detector, fixing the LCD panel 110 and emitting the light emitting unit 130. ) And the light receiving unit 140 to obtain the transmittance data while moving forward or backward of the LCD panel 110, the light emitting unit 130 and the light receiving unit 140 and the LCD panel 110 cross each other transmittance data A method of acquiring transmittance data while fixing the LCD panel 110 and advancing or reversing the lower or upper surface of the LCD panel 110 to which the detector consisting of the light emitting unit 130 and the light receiving unit 140 is fixed; Detection consisting of the light emitting unit 130 and the light receiving unit 140 And the LCD panel 110 can be a method of obtaining the transmission data and cross each other.

In addition, the encoder (not shown) is configured separately from the position where the LCD panel or the detector moves forward or backward, so that when the LCD panel or the detector moves forward or backward, the encoder moves data at a constant speed or at a constant speed while failing to match the encoder movement data. It is also possible to obtain the position data.

When the transmittance data is obtained, the controller 160 calculates an average value for each of R, G, and B in step S105. Here, as is well known, the average value adds all transmittance data for each wavelength of R, and divides the addition value by the number of divided wavelength stars (n) to calculate the average value. Similarly, the total transmittance data for each wavelength of G is added, and the addition value is divided by the number of divided wavelengths (m) to calculate an average value, and the total transmittance data for each wavelength of B is added and the addition value is added. The average value is calculated by dividing by the number of divided wavelengths (k).

Next, in step S107, the deviation is calculated using the input transmittance data and the calculated average data for each wavelength band. For example, the average value of B is subtracted from the transmittance data (8.001) of 430 nm among the wavelengths of B, and the result is calculated as the deviation of the wavelength of 430 nm among the wavelengths of B.

Subsequently, in step S109, a dispersion value for each color is calculated. Therefore, n dispersion values are calculated for the B band, m dispersion values are calculated for the G band, and k dispersion values are calculated for the R band.

Next, in step S111, the dispersion value for each wavelength band for each color is rearranged and the dispersion difference is extracted. For example, while scanning the LCD panel, the dispersion values for the 430 nm band of B color are rearranged by position, and the dispersion values for the 450 nm band of B color are rearranged by position. When the rearrangement is completed, the difference between the front and rear variances is subtracted and the difference value is extracted as the variance difference. In other words, the B-color 430 nm band position-specific dispersion values are 0.001 (1), 0.001 (2), 0.001 (3), 0.001 (4), 0.007 (5), 0.001 (6), ....... If .0.001 (n) is equal, the variance difference is calculated as the difference between the variance value at position 1 and the variance value at position 2, and the variance value at position 0 and 2 and the variance value at position 3 The difference in variance is the difference between the variance of positions 0 and 3 and the variance of position 4, and the difference in variance is the difference between the variance of positions 0 and 4 and the dispersion of position 5 is 0.006 and the dispersion of position 5. The variance difference, which is the difference between the value and the variance value at position 6, is 0.006.

Finally, in step S113, the dispersion difference of each wavelength band of each color is compared with the reference setting value of each wavelength band stored in the memory 170 in advance, and when the acquired dispersion difference is out of the range of the reference setting value, a defect is generated. Decisions can be made at this time. Here, the reference set value is a value preset through experiments, and is assumed to be an optimal reference value for implementing the best LCD panel.

Meanwhile, although not shown in the drawing, the controller 160 controls the display unit 180 to display the size and location of the defect on the screen when the defect is found, and the display unit 180 displays the location and size of the defect on the screen. By making it easy for the inspector to know the location and size of the defect.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described specific preferred embodiments, and various modifications can be made by any person having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the gist of the present invention claimed in the claims. Of course, such changes will fall within the scope of the claims.

According to the present invention described above, there is an advantage that it is possible to quickly and accurately detect fine defects which are not visually identified due to the step of the color pattern in manufacturing the LCD panel.

In addition, it is possible to display the type (position of R, G, B), location and size of fine defects, so that the defects can be removed more quickly and accurately when removing defects later. It can be extracted before it is combined with TFT-Array panel, which is an LCD panel of LCD, and it can compensate for cost reduction in manufacturing and time and cost loss to be inspected again in the final product.

Claims (16)

In the device for checking the defect of the liquid crystal display panel, A light emitting unit generating light at a lower portion of the panel of the liquid crystal display, condensing the light into parallel light, and adjusting the amount of parallel light; A light receiving unit configured to receive light passing through the liquid crystal display panel; A prism and a spectroscopic sensor unit for dispersing the light obtained by the light receiving unit, separating the dispersed light for each wavelength, and filtering the set wavelength band to output transmittance data; And a control unit which processes the transmittance data obtained through the prism and the spectroscopic sensor unit into detection data for determining a defect, and compares the detected data with a reference set value stored in the memory to determine whether there is a defect. Device panel inspection device. The method of claim 1, wherein the light emitting unit, And a collimating lens for condensing light into parallel light and a slit-aperture for adjusting the amount of parallel light. The method of claim 1, wherein the control unit, An average calculator for calculating average values of transmittance data obtained by the prism and the spectroscopic sensor unit for each of R, G, and B; A deviation calculator for calculating a deviation which is a difference between the calculated average value and the transmittance data; A disperser extracting a dispersion value using the transmittance data and the deviation; A dispersion difference extractor extracting a dispersion difference after rearranging the dispersion values; And a defect determiner which determines whether there is a defect by comparing the extracted dispersion difference with a reference set value previously stored in a memory. The method of claim 3, wherein the average calculator, Add all transmittance data for each wavelength of R (red), divide the addition value by the number of divided wavelengths (n), calculate an average value, add all transmittance data for each wavelength of G (green), and add The average value is calculated by dividing the value by the number of divided wavelengths (m), and adding all transmittance data for each wavelength of B (blue), and calculating the average value by dividing the addition value by the number of wavelength stars (k). Liquid crystal display panel inspection device, characterized in that. The method of claim 3, wherein the deviation calculator, And a deviation for each wavelength band is calculated by subtracting the input transmittance data for each wavelength band and the average data for each wavelength band calculated by the average calculator. The method of claim 3, wherein the disperser, N dispersion values are calculated for the B (blue) band, m dispersion values are calculated for the G (green) band, and k dispersion values are calculated for the R (red) band. Device panel inspection device. According to claim 3, The dispersion difference extractor, Liquid crystal display panel panel inspection apparatus characterized in that the dispersion value for each wavelength band for each color obtained by the disperser is rearranged, subtracted the front dispersion value and the rear dispersion value after the rearrangement is completed and the difference value is extracted as the dispersion difference. . According to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal display device panel inspection device, And a display unit (LCD) connected to the control unit to display a defect position and a defect size. The liquid crystal display panel is manufactured by using a liquid crystal display device panel inspection device including a detector, a spectroscopic sensor, and a control unit including a light emitting unit for generating light and a light receiving unit for transmitting or receiving light reflected through the liquid crystal display device panel (LCD panel). In the inspection method, A first step of dispersing light passing through the panel of the liquid crystal display device and separating transmittance data by wavelength with the spectroscopic sensor to obtain transmittance data; A second step of processing the obtained transmittance data through signal processing to make detection data for determining a defect; And a third step of determining whether there is a defect by comparing the detection data with a reference set value previously stored in a memory. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first step of obtaining the transmittance data, A method of acquiring transmittance data by fixing a detector consisting of the light emitting part and the light receiving part and advancing or reversing the LCD panel between the light emitting part and the light receiving part. A method of acquiring transmittance data while advancing or retracting a method, a method of acquiring transmittance data while fixing an LCD panel, and a light emitting part and a light receiving part moving forward or backward of an LCD panel up and down, and a light emitting part, a light receiving part, and an LCD panel cross each other. Method of acquiring transmittance data while the LCD panel is fixed and a detector consisting of a light emitting part and a light receiving part is fixed, and a method of obtaining transmittance data while moving forward or backward on the lower or upper surface of the LCD panel. Method of obtaining transmittance data while the panels cross each other, LCD panel or The encoder is provided separately from the forward or backward position so that when the LCD panel or the detector moves forward or backward, the defect and position data are acquired while matching the encoder movement data at constant or non-constant velocity. A liquid crystal display device panel inspection method, characterized in that obtaining transmittance data. The method of claim 9, wherein the second step, Calculating average values of the obtained transmittance data for each of R, G, and B; Calculating a deviation which is a difference between the calculated average value and the transmittance data; Extracting a variance value using the transmittance data and the deviation; And rearranging the extracted dispersion values and extracting a dispersion difference. The method of claim 11, wherein the average value calculation, Add all transmittance data for each wavelength of R (red), divide the addition value by the number of divided wavelengths (n), calculate an average value, add all transmittance data for each wavelength of G (green), and add The average value is calculated by dividing the value by the number of divided wavelengths (m), and adding all transmittance data for each wavelength of B (blue), and calculating the average value by dividing the addition value by the number of wavelength stars (k). Liquid crystal display panel inspection method characterized in that. The method of claim 11, wherein the deviation calculation, And calculating a deviation for each wavelength band by subtracting the input transmittance data for each wavelength band and the calculated average data for each wavelength band. The method of claim 11, wherein the variance value calculation, N dispersion values are calculated for the B (blue) band, m dispersion values are calculated for the G (green) band, and k dispersion values are calculated for the R (red) band. Device panel inspection method. The method of claim 11, wherein the dispersion difference extraction, And rearranging the obtained dispersion values for each wavelength band for each color, subtracting the front dispersion value and the rear dispersion value after the rearrangement is completed, and extracting the difference value as the dispersion difference. The method of claim 9, wherein the liquid crystal display device panel inspection method comprises: And a fourth step of displaying a defect position and a defect size of the liquid crystal display panel.

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