KR101373507B1 - Apparatus for inspecting display cells - Google Patents

Abstract

A robot for handling a substrate on which display cells are formed and an apparatus for inspecting the display cells using the robot, the robot comprising: a support frame including a plurality of front support members for supporting a front surface of the substrate on which display cells are formed; A handle arm for holding the rear surface of the substrate supported on the front support members using vacuum pressure and connected to the support frame and rotating the support frame to vertically invert the substrate. And an inversion driver. In this case, the handling arm may be configured to grip the rear surface of the substrate in a non-contact manner, whereby the rear surface of the substrate may be prevented from being contaminated by direct contact.

Description

Apparatus for inspecting display cells < RTI ID = 0.0 >

Embodiments of the present invention relate to an apparatus for testing display cells. More specifically, a robot for handling a mother substrate (hereinafter, referred to as a substrate) on which display cells such as an organic light emitting device (OLED) are formed, and performing the inspection process on the display cells using the same. It relates to a device for.

The OLED device used as a flat panel display device is widely used in portable display devices, smart phones, tablet PCs, and the like, as well as being widely used as a next-generation display device due to its large size, having a wide viewing angle, excellent contrast and high response speed . In particular, the OLED device has advantages such as brightness, driving voltage, response speed, etc., and is capable of multi-coloring as compared with an inorganic light emitting display device.

In the manufacturing process of the OLED device, a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) layer is formed on the substrate through various film forming processes and etching processes, and on the TFT layer, a lower electrode and an organic layer (for example, a hole transport layer, Transport layer) and an upper electrode may be formed. Then, the OLED device can be completed by sealing the TFT layer and the substrate on which the organic light emitting layer is formed using an encapsulating substrate.

In particular, a plurality of OLED cells may be formed on the substrate, and after the sealing process is completed, individual OLED cells may be individualized through a cutting process to complete the OLED device.

Meanwhile, after the sealing process is completed, an inspection process for OLED cells formed on the substrate may be performed. In the inspection process, a function test of the TFT layer, a correction circuit inspection, an image quality inspection, a spectral inspection, an image inspection, and the like may be performed by applying an inspection signal to the OLED cells. However, since the inspecting process is performed after the sealing process is completed as described above, the loss due to the defective OLED devices in the inspecting process may be increased.

In order to solve the above problems, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-2006-0017586 discloses a method of performing the TFT array function test before performing the cell process after the TFT array forming process, -0046645 and 10-2011-0096382 disclose a method for measuring the thickness of the thin film layers during or after forming each thin film layer of OLED cells.

However, even if the function test for the TFT array and / or the thickness measurement for the thin film layers forming the organic light emitting layer are performed as described above, since the final inspection processes must be additionally performed after the sealing process is performed, There is a possibility that the productivity of the apparatus is deteriorated. Therefore, it is preferable that the inspection process is performed on the OLED cells before the encapsulation process is performed.

On the other hand, since the cell process is performed with the front side of the substrate on which the OLED cells are formed face down, the inspection process requires a new type of substrate handling robot for supporting and inverting the substrate.

Embodiments of the present invention provide an apparatus for inspecting characteristics of display cells such as OLED cells formed on the substrate using a substrate handling robot capable of receiving and inverting the substrate being transported with the front side of the substrate facing down. The purpose is to.

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According to one aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, an apparatus for inspecting display cells is connected to a transfer chamber connected to a process chamber for forming a plurality of display cells on a substrate, the display formed in the process chamber A test frame for performing an inspection process for the cells, a support frame disposed in the test chamber, and having a plurality of front support members for supporting a front surface of the substrate on which the display cells are formed; A substrate including a handling arm for holding a rear surface of the substrate supported on the front support members using a vacuum pressure and an inversion driver connected to the support frame and rotating the support frame to vertically invert the substrate Handling robot and the substrate handling robot A probe card including a stage loaded with a substrate inverted by the substrate and configured to be movable in a horizontal and vertical direction, a probe card disposed on the stage and configured to be in contact with the display cells; The tester may include a tester configured to apply a test signal to the display cells through the probes and test the electrical characteristics of the display cells. In this case, the substrate is transferred to the inspection chamber by a substrate transfer robot disposed in the transfer chamber, and the substrate handling robot may invert and load the substrate transferred to the inspection chamber on the stage.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the substrate handling robot may further include a base frame on which the inversion driving unit is mounted, and a vertical driving unit for moving the base frame in a vertical direction.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the substrate handling robot may further include a rotation driving unit connected to the support frame and configured to rotate the support frame by itself.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the substrate handling robot may further include an arm driver for moving the handling arm to move away from or closer to the rear surface of the substrate.

According to embodiments of the present invention, side frames may be provided at both sides of the support frame, and the front support members may be mounted to the side frames.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the side frames may include first and second clamping members for clamping first and second sides of the substrate facing each other, and third and fourth of the substrate facing each other. Third and fourth clamping members for clamping the sides may be provided.

According to embodiments of the present invention, at least one of the first and second clamping members and at least one of the third and fourth clamping members may be configured to be movable.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the handling arm may grip the rear surface of the substrate in a non-contact manner.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the handling arm may be provided with a plurality of vacuum pads for forming a vacuum pressure between the rear surface of the substrate and the handling arm.

According to embodiments of the present invention, each vacuum pad radially injects compressed air so that the vacuum pressure is formed between the vacuum pad and the rear surface of the substrate, and uses the flow of the compressed air and the vacuum pressure. The rear surface of the substrate can be gripped in a non-contact manner.

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According to embodiments of the present invention, an optical inspection unit for optically inspecting the display cells may be further provided.

According to embodiments of the present invention as described above, the substrate handling robot uses the compressed air provided radially by the vacuum pad mounted on the handling arm and the back pressure of the substrate using the vacuum pressure generated by the flow of the compressed air. It can be gripped in a non-contact manner, and also by holding the sides of the substrate when the substrate is inverted by using the first to fourth clamping members to make the inversion of the substrate can be made stable. In particular, since the rear surface of the substrate is held in a non-contact manner, contamination of the rear surface of the substrate may be prevented while the substrate is handled.

1 is a schematic diagram for explaining OLED cells formed on a substrate.
FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an apparatus for manufacturing the OLED cells shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining an apparatus for inspecting the OLED cells shown in FIG. 1.
4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a substrate handling robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view for explaining the substrate handling robot shown in FIG. 4.
FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view for describing the vacuum pad illustrated in FIG. 5.
FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view for describing the probe card illustrated in FIG. 3.
FIG. 8 is a schematic side view for explaining the probe card shown in FIG. 3.
FIG. 9 is a schematic side view illustrating the probe card accommodating part illustrated in FIG. 3.
FIG. 10 is a schematic front view for explaining a probe card transfer unit for transferring a probe card from the probe card accommodation unit shown in FIG. 3.
11 and 12 are schematic plan views for explaining a clamping unit for holding a probe card conveyed by the probe card conveyance unit shown in FIG. 10.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings showing embodiments of the invention. However, the present invention should not be construed as limited to the embodiments described below, but may be embodied in various other forms. The following examples are provided so that those skilled in the art can fully understand the scope of the present invention, rather than being provided so as to enable the present invention to be fully completed.

When an element is described as being placed on or connected to another element or layer, the element may be directly disposed or connected to the other element, and other elements or layers may be placed therebetween It is possible. Alternatively, if one element is described as being placed directly on or connected to another element, there can be no other element between them. The terms first, second, third, etc. may be used to describe various items such as various elements, compositions, regions, layers and / or portions, but the items are not limited by these terms .

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Furthermore, all terms including technical and scientific terms have the same meaning as will be understood by those skilled in the art having ordinary skill in the art, unless otherwise specified. These terms, such as those defined in conventional dictionaries, shall be construed to have meanings consistent with their meanings in the context of the related art and the description of the present invention, and are to be interpreted as being ideally or externally grossly intuitive It will not be interpreted.

Embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to schematic illustrations of ideal embodiments of the present invention. Thus, changes from the shapes of the illustrations, e.g., changes in manufacturing methods and / or tolerances, are those that can be reasonably expected. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the specific shapes of the areas illustrated in the drawings, but include deviations in shapes, the areas described in the drawings being entirely schematic and their shapes Is not intended to illustrate the exact shape of the area and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining OLED cells formed on a substrate. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an apparatus for manufacturing the OLED cells shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an apparatus for inspecting the OLED cells illustrated in FIG. 2.

1 to 3, a substrate handling robot according to one embodiment of the present invention may be used in an apparatus 100 for electrically and optically inspecting display cells, such as OLED cells 20.

Specifically, the inspection apparatus 100 of the OLED cells is a cell process for forming a plurality of OLED cells 20 on the substrate 10 in the manufacturing process of the OLED device and the OLED cells using a sealing substrate (not shown) It can be used to inspect the electrical and optical properties of the OLED cells 20 between encapsulation processes for encapsulating 20.

The cell process is a process of forming a plurality of OLED cells 20 on a substrate 10, including forming a TFT array layer on the substrate 10 and forming an organic light emitting layer on the TFT array layer. can do. For example, the organic light emitting layer may include a lower electrode, a hole transporting layer, a light emitting layer, an electron transporting layer, an upper electrode, and the like. 1, the OLED cells 20 formed on the substrate 10 in the cell process each have a plurality of test pads 22 electrically connected to the TFT array layer .

The sealing process may be performed after the cell process by sealing the OLED cells 20 by bonding the substrate 10 on which the OLED cells 20 are formed and the sealing substrate.

Meanwhile, the cell process and the encapsulation process may be performed in an inline manner so that the substrate 10 and the encapsulation substrate are not exposed to air. For example, the plurality of process chambers 40 and 50 for performing the cell process and the encapsulation process may be arranged in a cluster form. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the plurality of process chambers 40 and 50 may be connected to each other with the transfer chamber 44 interposed therebetween, and the process chambers 40 and 50 may be connected to each other. The interior can be isolated from the outside air.

The inspection apparatus 100 of the OLED cells 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention may perform the inspection process in an inline manner with respect to the plurality of OLED cells 20 formed by the cell process, in particular the inspection The process is preferably performed before the encapsulation process is performed. For example, the inspection process of the OLED cells 20 may be performed in the inspection chamber 102 of the inspection apparatus 100 connected to the transfer chamber 44. That is, the substrate 10 may be transferred from the first process chamber 40 to the test chamber 102 to perform a cell process, and after the test process is performed, the encapsulation process from the test chamber 102. It may be transferred to the second process chamber 50 for performing the.

On the other hand, as shown in Figure 2, one cluster type manufacturing apparatus 30 is shown, a plurality of cluster type manufacturing apparatus may be connected to each other.

Hereinafter, a method of inspecting the OLED cells 20 using the substrate handling robot 110 and the inspection apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the substrate 10 on which the plurality of OLED cells 20 are formed is transferred to the inspection chamber 102 of the inspection apparatus 100. The OLED cells 20 may be formed in the first process chambers 40 of the OLED manufacturing apparatus 30 as shown in FIG. 2. For example, a lower electrode, an organic light emitting layer, and an upper electrode may be formed on the substrate 10 in the plurality of first process chambers 40 as shown in FIG. 2. Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 2, three first process chambers 40 are provided, but the number of the first process chambers 40 may be changed in various ways, thereby the scope of the present invention. Will not be limited.

Meanwhile, the OLED manufacturing apparatus 30 is a substrate supplying the transfer chamber 44 and the substrate 10 to which the first process chambers 40 and the inspection chamber 102 of the inspection apparatus 100 are connected. Supply unit 60 may be included. A substrate transfer robot 46 for transferring the substrate 10 may be disposed in the transfer chamber 44, and the OLED chambers 20 formed on the substrate 10 may be disposed in the transfer chamber 44. The second process chamber 50 for encapsulation may be connected. In addition, although not shown, a second substrate supply unit (not shown) for supplying an encapsulation substrate (not shown) for encapsulating the OLED cells 20 may be further provided. The configuration of the OLED manufacturing apparatus 30 as described above is merely presented as an example, the configuration of the OLED manufacturing apparatus 30 may be variously changed.

The substrate 10 may be transferred from the first process chamber 40 to the inspection chamber 102 by a substrate transfer robot 46 disposed in the transfer chamber 44. In this case, all of the first process chamber 40, the test chamber 102, and the second process chamber 50 may be maintained in a state of being cut off from the outside air. In particular, the interior of the inspection chamber 102 may be formed with an inert gas, for example, a nitrogen gas atmosphere, in order to prevent the OLED cells 20 from coming into contact with air.

Referring to FIG. 3, a fan filter unit 104 may be disposed above the test chamber 102 to supply nitrogen gas into the test chamber, and the nitrogen gas supplied into the test chamber 102 may be disposed in the test chamber 102. It may be discharged through the lower panel 102A of the test chamber 102. The lower panel 102A may be provided with a plurality of outlets (not shown) for discharging the nitrogen gas, and at least a portion of the discharged nitrogen gas may be circulated in the piping 105 and the fan filter unit 104. Through the test chamber 102 may be supplied again. That is, the fan filter unit 104 may be connected to the nitrogen gas source 106 and may be connected to the circulation pipe 105 to recycle a part of the nitrogen gas. In addition, a lower portion of the test chamber 102 may be connected to the vacuum system 108, and the test chamber 102 may be maintained at a process pressure lower than atmospheric pressure. As an example, the vacuum system 108 may be connected to the circulation pipe 105.

Subsequently, the substrate 10 transferred to the inspection chamber 102 may be loaded on the stage 150 disposed in the inspection chamber 10 by the substrate handling robot 110.

4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a substrate handling robot according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view illustrating the substrate handling robot shown in FIG. 4.

4 and 5, a substrate handling robot 110 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be disposed in the inspection chamber 102.

Meanwhile, the substrate 10 may be transferred into the inspection chamber 102 in a state where the front surface on which the OLED cells 20 are formed is disposed downward. This is to prevent foreign matter from accumulating on the substrate 10 on the substrate 10. That is, in the cell process, the OLED cells 20 may be formed on the front surface of the substrate 10 while the front surface of the substrate 10 is disposed downward. In this case, the transfer arm of the transfer robot 46 may transfer the substrate 10 while supporting the edge portions of the substrate 10, and the substrate handling robot 110 may perform the inspection chamber 102. And front support members 112 configured to support front edge portions of the substrate 10 transferred to the substrate.

Specifically, the substrate handling robot 110 may include a support frame 114 having a plurality of front support members 112 for supporting the front surface of the substrate 10 on which the OLED cells 20 are formed, and the support. Mounted to the frame 114 and connected to the handling arm 116 and the support frame 114 for gripping the rear surface of the substrate 10 supported on the front support members 112 using vacuum pressure. An inversion driver 118 may be included to rotate the support frame 114 to vertically invert the substrate 10.

The inversion driver 118 may be mounted on the base frame 120, and may include a motor for providing a rotational force for inversion of the substrate 10. In addition, the base frame 120 may be configured to be movable in the vertical direction by the vertical driver 122. The vertical driver 122 moves the base frame 120 in the vertical direction to load the substrate 10 inverted by the inversion driver 118 on the stage 150 and to unload it from the stage 150. You can. Although not shown in detail, the vertical drive unit 120 may be configured using a motor, a ball screw, a ball block, or the like, or alternatively, may be configured using a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder.

On the other hand, the substrate handling robot 110 may be connected to the support frame 114 may include a rotation drive unit 124 for rotating the support frame 114 itself. The rotation driver 124 may adjust the placement angle of the substrate 10 by rotating the support frame 114. This is because the placement angle of the substrate 10 and the placement angle of the stage 150 transferred to the inspection chamber 102 may be different from each other. For example, the rotation driver 124 may be connected to the drive shaft of the inversion driver 118, and the support frame 114 may be connected to the drive shaft of the rotation driver 124.

The handling arm 116 may be configured to be movable to move away from or close to the rear surface of the substrate 10. For example, the substrate handling robot 110 may include an arm driver 126 for moving the handling arm 116. The arm driver 126 may include a guide for guiding the movement of the handling arm 116 and a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder, and load and unload the substrate 10 with respect to the substrate handling robot 110. To increase the spacing between the front support members 112 and the handling arm 116 and to grip the back side of the substrate 10 using the handling arm 116. The handling arm 116 may be moved such that a gap between a rear surface and the handling arm 116 is reduced.

Meanwhile, side frames 128 may be provided at both sides of the support frame 114, and the front support members 112 may be mounted to the side frames 128.

The side frames 128 have first and second clamping members 132 and 134 for clamping the first and second side surfaces of the substrate 10 facing each other, and a third of the substrate 10 facing each other. And third and fourth clamping members 136 and 138 for clamping the fourth side surfaces. In particular, at least one of the first and second clamping members 132, 134 and at least one of the third and fourth clamping members 136, 138 may be movable to hold sides of the substrate 10. Can be.

For example, the first and second clamping members 132 and 134 may be provided at both sides of the side frame 128, respectively, and the first clamping member 132 may be disposed at one side of the side frame 128. The second clamping member 134 may be fixed and configured to reciprocate with respect to the second side surface of the substrate 10 at the other side of the side frame 128. As an example, the first clamping driver 140 for moving the second clamping member 134 may be mounted at the other side of the side frame 128.

In addition, the third and fourth clamping members 136 and 138 may be mounted at roughly intermediate portions of the side frames 128, respectively, between the side frames 128 on the support frame 114. The second clamping driver 142 may be mounted to adjust the gap, that is, the gap between the third and fourth clamping members 136 and 138. The second clamping driver 142 may simultaneously move the side frames 128 in a direction facing each other or in the opposite direction. Alternatively, the second clamping driver 142 may selectively move one of the side frames 128. . As a result, the substrate 10 positioned on the front support member 112 may be prevented from moving in the horizontal direction by the first to fourth clamping members 132, 134, 136 and 138 in the state shown in FIG. 4. .

Meanwhile, the first and second clamping driving units 140 and 142 may be configured using pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders, respectively. However, since the configuration of the first and second clamping drivers 140 and 142 may be changed in various ways, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the handling arm 116 may grip the rear surface of the substrate 10 in a non-contact manner. This is because when the handling arm 116 directly contacts and grips the rear surface of the substrate 10, contamination by contact may occur on the rear surface of the substrate 10.

As an example, the handling arm 116 may include a plurality of vacuum pads 144 that form a vacuum pressure for holding a rear surface of the substrate 10 between the rear surface of the substrate 10 and the handling arm 116. ) May be provided. In this case, the vacuum pads 144 may be configured such that the holding surfaces of the vacuum pads 144 and the handling arm 116 are not in direct contact with the rear surface of the substrate 10.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view for describing the vacuum pad illustrated in FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 6, each vacuum pad 144 may be embedded as shown in the gripping surface portion of the handling arm 116. Specifically, a holding surface of the handling arm 116 may be provided with a recess into which the vacuum pad 144 is inserted, and the vacuum pad 144 inserted into the recess may include the handling arm 116 and the recess. A vacuum pressure may be formed between the rear surface of the substrate 10, particularly between the vacuum pad 144 and the rear surface of the substrate 10.

For example, as shown, the vacuum pad 144 may radially inject compressed air, and thus a vacuum pressure may be formed between the vacuum pad 144 and the rear surface of the substrate 10. . Specifically, the vacuum pad 144 may have a substantially disk shape, and the central pad may be disposed to be perpendicular to the substrate 10. In addition, a center hole 146 may be provided to provide the compressed air, and a cover structure 148 may be installed at a lower portion thereof to radially guide the compressed air.

As shown, the compressed air provided through the center hole 146 is radially guided by the cover structure 148, and consequently the space between the lower surface of the vacuum pad 144 and the rear surface of the substrate 10. It can flow radially through. The flow of air along the compressed air may be formed between the cover structure 148 and the rear surface of the substrate 10 by the flow of compressed air, whereby the cover structure 148 and the substrate are formed. Vacuum pressure may be formed between the rear surfaces of the 10.

The rear surface of the substrate 10 may be gripped by the handling arm 116 by the vacuum pressure. However, the substrate 10 is not in direct contact with the handling arm 116 because the flow of compressed air is present between the handling arm 116 and the backside of the substrate 10. Although not shown in detail, the handling arm 116 may be provided with a passage for providing the compressed air, and may be connected to a compressed air source for providing the compressed air through a separate air line.

As described above, the rear surface of the substrate 10 is gripped in a non-contact manner by the handling arm 116, but in addition, each side of the substrate 10 is driven by the first to fourth clamping members 132, 134, 136, 138. Since the substrate 10 is held, the substrate 10 may be stably maintained even while the substrate 10 is vertically inverted.

After the substrate 10 is inverted, the vertical driver 122 may move the base frame 120 downward. In this case, a stage 150 for supporting the substrate 10 may be disposed below the base frame 120.

The stage 150 may be configured to be movable in horizontal and vertical directions. That is, it can move down the substrate handling robot 110 for loading and unloading the substrate 10 onto the stage 150, and also for inspection of the OLED cells 20 on the substrate 10. It may be moved under the probe card 152 for inspection of the OLED cells 20.

In addition, the stage 150 may be provided with lift pins (not shown) for loading and unloading the substrate 10. Although not shown in detail, the lift pins may be configured to be movable in the vertical direction, and may protrude from the upper surface of the stage 150 for loading and unloading the substrate 10. In addition, a plurality of vacuum holes (not shown) may be provided on the upper surface of the stage 150 to hold the substrate 10.

For example, after the base frame 120 is lowered such that the substrate 10 is adjacent to the upper surface of the stage 150, the lift pins move upwards so that the substrate 10 moves on the lift pins. This can be supported. Subsequently, the stage 150 may be moved below the probe card 152, and the substrate 10 may be loaded on the stage 150 by the lowering of the lift pins. Subsequently, the stage 150 may be moved upwards such that the probes 154 of the probe card 152 contact the test pads 22 of the OLED cells 20.

FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view for explaining the probe card shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 8 is a schematic side view for explaining the probe card shown in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the probe card 152 may have a plurality of probes 154 configured to contact the test pads 22 of the OLED cells 20 formed on the substrate 10. have. In this case, the OLED cells 20 may be disposed to have a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns on the substrate 10, and the probes 154 of the probe card 152 may have a row of the OLED cells 20. It may be arranged in a line so as to be in contact with a row or a row of OLED cells 20 in the direction or column direction at the same time.

The probe card 152 also has an opening 156 extending in parallel with the direction in which the probes 154 are arranged so that the OLED cells 20 in contact with the probes 154 can be observed from above. Can have

However, unlike the above, although not shown, the probe card 152 may have two rows of probes arranged in parallel with each other on both sides of the opening 156. In this case, two rows of OLED cells 20 among the OLED cells 20 formed on the substrate 10 may be in contact with the two rows of probes at the same time. In addition, although the probe card 152 has probes 154 and one opening 156 arranged in a line, the probe card 152 may be arranged in a plurality of rows. It may have a plurality of openings for observing the probes and the OLED cells 20 in contact with the probes.

Although not shown, a plurality of contact pads (not shown) may be provided on an upper surface of the probe card 152, and the probes 154 may be disposed in contact with the contact pads. It may be connected to the inspection unit 160 for applying the inspection signal to the OLED cells 20 through the not shown. However, since the electrical connection method between the probe card 152 and the inspection unit 160 may be changed in various ways, the present invention by the electrical connection method between the probe card 152 and the inspection unit 160. The scope of will not be limited.

Referring again to FIG. 3, a probe card accommodating part 162 may be provided at one side of the test chamber 102 to accommodate the plurality of probe cards 152.

FIG. 9 is a schematic side view for explaining the probe card storage unit shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 10 is a schematic front view for explaining the probe card transfer unit for transferring the probe card from the probe card storage unit shown in FIG. 3. . 11 and 12 are schematic plan views for explaining a clamping unit for holding a probe card conveyed by the probe card conveyance unit shown in FIG. 10.

9 and 10, the probe card accommodating part 162 may include a card accommodating part 164 for accommodating the probe cards 152, and in the card accommodating part 164. The probe cards 152 may be stored in a multi-layered manner. In this case, a plurality of support members 166 or slots for supporting the probe cards 152 may be provided at both side surfaces of the card accommodating part 164.

The card accommodating part 164 may be configured to be movable in a vertical direction, and one of the probe cards 152 may be selected. For example, a clamping unit 168 may be provided at an upper portion of the test chamber 102 to mount a selected one of the probe cards 152, and may also be selected from the probe card receiver 162. A probe card transfer unit 170 may be provided inside the inspection chamber 102 to draw out the probe card 152 and load the probe card 168 into the clamping unit 168.

As an example, the probe card transfer unit 170 may include a horizontal transfer unit for transferring the probe card 152 in a horizontal direction, and the probe card 152 to load the probe card 152 into the clamping unit 168. It may include a vertical transfer unit for transferring the 152 in the vertical direction. Although not shown in detail, the horizontal transfer unit may include a transfer plate 172 configured to be movable in a horizontal direction, and the vertical transfer unit may be configured to be movable in a vertical direction in the horizontal transfer unit to the probe card 152. ) May include a plurality of support pins 174.

7 and 8, clamping slots 158 configured to be coupled to the clamping unit 168 may be provided at a side of the probe card 152. Each of the slots 158 may include an upper slot 158A extending in the vertical direction and a lower slot 158B extending downward to have a predetermined inclination angle from the bottom of the upper slot 158A. In this case, the lower slot 158B may extend in a substantially horizontal direction.

11 and 12, the clamping unit 168 moves the clamping pins 176 and the clamping pins 176 coupled to the clamping slots 158 of the probe card 152 in the horizontal direction. It may include a driver 178 for. That is, when the probe card 152 is moved upward by the support pins 174 of the vertical transfer part, the clamping pins 176 may be inserted into the upper upper slots 158A, and then the clamping pins. When 176 is moved in the horizontal direction by the driving unit 178, thereby the probe card 152 can be fixed by the clamping unit 168.

Although not shown in detail, rollers (not shown) may be mounted at ends of the clamping pins 176 so that the clamping pins 176 may be easily moved along the clamping slot 158. In addition, a mounting frame (not shown) for restricting the probe card 152 from moving in the direction of movement of the clamping pins 176 is additionally held while the probe card 152 is gripped by the clamping unit 168. It may be provided. On the other hand, as shown, although two pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders are used as the driving unit 178, the configuration of the driving unit 178 can be variously changed, the present invention by the configuration of the driving unit 178 itself The scope of will not be limited.

After the probes 154 are in contact with the test pads 22, a test signal may be applied to the OLED cells 20 through the probes 154, and the OLED cells to which the test signal is applied. Various characteristics of 20 can be examined.

For example, electrical inspection and optical inspection may be performed on the OLED cells 20. As an example, as an electrical test, the test unit 160 may measure resistance, current, voltage, etc. of the OLED cells 20. In addition, for the optical inspection, the inspection apparatus 100 may include an optical inspection unit 180, although not shown in detail, the optical inspection unit 180 may measure an image quality of the OLED cells 20. A color camera, a spectroscope for measuring color coordinates, an ellipsometer for measuring the thickness of the organic light emitting layer of the OLED cells 20, a vision camera for inspecting the appearance of the OLED cells 20, and the like. Can be.

The electrical inspection may be performed sequentially or simultaneously on a row of OLED cells 20 in contact with the probes 154, and the optical inspection may be performed sequentially on the array of OLED cells 20. Can be. To this end, the optical inspection unit 180 for the optical inspection may be configured to be movable in the direction in which the array of OLED cells 20 are arranged on the probe card 152. That is, the optical inspection may be sequentially performed on the OLED cells 20 observed through the opening 156 of the probe card 152.

After the electrical inspection and the optical inspection of the OLED cells 20 as described above are completed, the substrate 10 may be transferred from the inspection chamber 102 to the second process chamber 50. Specifically, the substrate 10 may be reversed by the substrate handling robot 110, and then the second process for the encapsulation process by the substrate transfer robot 46 via the transfer chamber 44. May be transferred to the chamber 50.

According to the embodiments of the present invention as described above, the substrate handling robot 110 may grip the rear surface of the substrate 10 in a non-contact manner by using the handling arm 116, the inversion of the substrate 10 By holding the sides of the substrate 10 when the inversion of the substrate 10 can be made stable. In particular, since the rear surface of the substrate 10 is gripped in a non-contact manner, contamination of the rear surface of the substrate 10 can be prevented.

The inspection apparatus 100 for OLED cells including the substrate handling robot as described above is a cell process for forming the OLED cells 20 by performing electrical inspection and optical inspection processes in the manufacturing process of the OLED cells 20. By performing in an inline manner between the encapsulation process for encapsulating the OLED cells 20 and greatly reducing the defective rate of the OLED cells 20, and also for subsequent processes for the OLED cells 20 that are determined to be defective. Since it can be omitted, the manufacturing cost of the OLED cells can be greatly reduced.

In addition, since the plurality of OLED cells 20 can perform both electrical and optical inspection processes in contact with the probes 154 of the probe card 152, the inspection efficiency of the OLED cells 20 is greatly improved. The manufacturing cost of the OLED cells 20 can be further reduced since there is no need to provide a separate inspection device compared to the prior art.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims It can be understood that

10: substrate 20: OLED cell
22: test pad 30: OLED manufacturing apparatus
40,50: first and second process chamber 44: transfer chamber
46: substrate transfer robot 100: OLED inspection device
102: test chamber 110: substrate handling robot
112: front support member 114: support frame
116: handling arm 118: reverse drive
120: base frame 122: vertical drive portion
124: rotational drive 126: arm drive
128: side frame 132,134,136,138: clamping member
144: vacuum pad 148: cover structure
150: stage 152: probe card
154: probe 160: inspection unit
162: probe card storage unit 180: optical inspection unit

Claims (12)

An inspection chamber connected to a transfer chamber connected to a process chamber for forming a plurality of display cells on a substrate, the inspection chamber configured to perform an inspection process on the display cells formed in the process chamber;
A support frame disposed in the inspection chamber and having a plurality of front support members for supporting the front surface of the substrate on which the display cells are formed, and mounted on the support frame and supported on the front support members by using vacuum pressure. A substrate handling robot including a handling arm for holding a rear surface of the substrate and an inversion driver connected to the support frame and rotating the support frame to vertically invert the substrate;
A stage loaded with the substrate inverted by the substrate handling robot and configured to be movable in the horizontal and vertical directions;
A probe card disposed on the stage and having a plurality of probes configured to contact the display cells; And
A test unit connected to the probe card to apply a test signal to the display cells through the probes, and to test the electrical characteristics of the display cells,
The substrate is transferred to the inspection chamber by a substrate transfer robot disposed in the transfer chamber, and the substrate handling robot inverts the substrate transferred to the inspection chamber and loads the display cells on the stage. Device for The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate handling robot,
A base frame on which the inversion driver is mounted; And
And a vertical driver for moving the base frame in a vertical direction. The method of claim 2, wherein the substrate handling robot,
And a rotation driver connected to the support frame and for rotating the support frame by itself. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate handling robot,
And an arm drive for moving the handling arm away from or close to the backside of the substrate. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein side surfaces of the support frame are provided at both sides of the support frame, and the front support members are mounted to the side frames. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the side frames clamp first and second clamping members for clamping first and second sides of the substrate opposite to each other, and clamping third and fourth sides of the substrate opposite to each other. And third and fourth clamping members for the purpose of inspecting display cells. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein at least one of the first and second clamping members and at least one of the third and fourth clamping members are configured to be movable. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the handling arm grips the backside of the substrate in a non-contact manner. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the handling arm is provided with a plurality of vacuum pads for creating a vacuum pressure between the back side of the substrate and the handling arm. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein each vacuum pad radiates compressed air radially such that the vacuum pressure is formed between the vacuum pad and the backside of the substrate. delete The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an optical inspection unit for optically inspecting the display cells.

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