KR20070082773A - Apparatus for defecting of panel - Google Patents

Abstract

A panel testing apparatus is provided to improve light efficiency including light uniformity and light concentration by implementing upper and lower lamp parts emitting band type light. A camera(200) obtains an image of a part of panel(500). A lamp(310) is placed at a predetermined position separated apart from the panel at a predetermined distance, and generates light in a panel direction in capturing using the camera. A controller(400) controls a camera to obtain a portion of an image of the panel, and controls the lamp part to concentrate light to a part of the panel. The lamp part includes a light source generating light, a diffusion plate diffusing light generated from the light source, a cylinder plate diffusing light generated from the light source, and a cylinder prism concentrating light passing through the diffusion plate. A beam splitter reflects a part of light passing through the cylinder prism to send the light toward a panel.

Description

Panel inspection device {Apparatus for defecting of panel}

1 is a simplified diagram showing a panel inspection apparatus according to the prior art.

2A and 2B are plan views illustrating a top lighting module and a bottom lighting module according to the prior art.

3A and 3B are simplified views illustrating a panel inspecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a view showing 'A' part of FIG. 3B in more detail.

Figure 5 is a simplified diagram showing a panel inspection apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

6A to 7D are views illustrating images of panel edge portions obtained by using the panel inspection apparatus of the related art and the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings>

100: worktable 200, 200a: camera

310, 310a: upper lighting unit 311: light source

312 diffuser plate 313 cylinder prism

314: beam splitter 320, 320a: lower lighting unit

321: light source 322: diffuser plate

323: cylinder prism 400: control unit

500: panel 600: panel moving part

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a panel inspection apparatus, and more particularly, to a panel inspection apparatus capable of inspecting a portion of a panel (eg, an edge portion, etc.) quickly by minimizing an inspection error by improving light uniformity, concentration of light, and quantity of light. will be.

The panel includes a liquid crystal display (LCD), a PDP, and the like.

In general, a liquid crystal display (LCD) device is a display in which a desired image is displayed by individually supplying data signals according to image information to liquid crystal cells arranged in a matrix to adjust light transmittance of the liquid crystal cells. Device.

In the liquid crystal display, thin film transistor array substrates (TFTs) are formed on a large mother substrate, color filter substrates (CF) are formed on a separate mother substrate, and then two mother substrates are bonded together. Since the liquid crystal panels are formed at the same time to improve the yield, a step of cutting the unit liquid crystal panel is required.

In general, the cutting of the unit panel is performed through a process of forming a cutting scheduled groove on the surface of the mother substrate with a wheel that is harder than glass and allowing cracks to propagate along the cutting scheduled groove.

When the unit liquid crystal panel is separated as described above, burrs, cracks, and pattern cracks may occur on the edges cut through the cutting process. When burrs are generated on the edge surface (edge part) during this phenomenon, the surface of the liquid crystal panel is inspected after the cutting process for separating the liquid crystal panel because it causes serious defects in the manufacturing process equipment of the next liquid crystal panel.

A panel inspection apparatus used in the related art will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 2B.

1 is a schematic view showing a panel inspection apparatus according to the prior art, Figures 2a and 2b is a plan view showing an upper lighting module and a lower lighting module according to the prior art.

First, referring to FIG. 1, a conventional panel inspection apparatus includes a CCD camera 10, 10a, an upper illumination unit 20, 20a, a lower illumination unit 30, 30a, and a control unit 40.

Reference numeral 50 denotes a work table for inspecting a part of the panel 1 (for example, an edge part or the like).

The CCD cameras 10 and 10a are general cameras for acquiring an image of a subject, and acquire images of the edge portion of the panel 1.

The upper lighting unit 20 (20a) is located on the top of the panel 1 to generate illumination in the direction of the panel, the structure is as shown in Figure 2a, the overall shape is a donut shape, a plurality of light emitting diodes (LED) ) 21 is provided. The center of the upper lighting unit is in the form of a hole, the barrel portion of the CCD camera is connected.

The lower lighting unit 30, 30a is a general backlight (Back Light) is located at the bottom of the panel to generate illumination in the direction of the panel, the structure is as shown in Figure 2b, a plurality of LEDs 31 are square It is arranged in the form.

The controller 40 controls the CCD camera 10, the upper lighting unit 20, and the lower lighting unit 30.

However, in the related art, the upper illumination of the panel inspection apparatus causes light to be scattered in various directions, causing waste other than the light reflected by the camera lens. Thus, the upper lighting unit has a problem in that light efficiency such as light uniformity and concentration is inferior.

In addition, as mentioned above, the backlight 30 and 30a, which are the lower lights located under the LCD, are composed of a plurality of LEDs 31. Also, the light efficiency such as uniformity and concentration of light (including brightness of light) is poor. There is a problem.

As described above, as the light efficiency of the upper and lower illumination parts decreases, a problem arises in that the shutter speed of the camera cannot be increased. As a result, the inspection of the panel edge portion cannot be performed at a high speed. An inspection error occurred.

In particular, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 7A, as a result of the image reading obtained by the camera, the black marking part by chrome marking and the black marking part due to the light irradiated from the backlight do not penetrate the panel. No inspection was possible.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, its purpose is to use a camera instead of a normal CCD camera located in the upper, the panel by replacing the upper lighting unit and lower lighting unit with excellent light efficiency, such as uniformity and concentration of light The present invention provides a panel inspection apparatus capable of quickly inspecting a portion of a portion (eg, an edge portion, etc.) with a minimum inspection error.

Panel inspection apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a camera for obtaining an image of a portion of the panel; An upper lighting unit positioned at an upper portion of the panel to generate illumination in a panel direction when photographing with the camera; And a controller for controlling a camera to acquire an image of a portion of the panel, and controlling an upper lighting unit to concentrate light on a portion of the panel.

The upper lighting unit reflects a light source for generating light, a diffuser plate for diffusing light generated by the light source, a cylinder prism for collecting light passing through the diffuser plate, and a portion of the light passing through the cylinder prism toward the panel. It is characterized by comprising a beam splitter.

In addition, the present invention is characterized in that it further comprises a lower lighting unit located in the lower portion of the panel for generating illumination in the direction of the panel when shooting with the camera.

The lower lighting unit may include a light source for generating light, a diffusion plate for diffusing light generated by the light source, and a prism for collecting light passing through the diffusion plate.

The light source includes one power LED, and the prism is preferably a prism in the form of a cylinder in which light in the form of a band is output.

In addition, the present invention is characterized in that it further comprises a panel moving means for moving the panel in the x, y, θ direction.

In addition, in the present invention, one side of the camera may be integrally or assembled to the upper lighting unit.

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

3A and 3B are simplified views illustrating a panel inspecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 3A, the panel inspecting apparatus according to the present invention includes a camera 200, 200a, an upper lighting unit 310, 310a, and a controller 400.

In addition, the present invention may also include a panel moving unit (hereinafter, also referred to as a panel moving unit) 600 for moving the panel 500 in the x, y, and θ directions. Is the rotation angle of the panel.

Reference numeral 100 is a work table for inspecting the edge portion of the panel 500.

The camera 200 is an apparatus positioned on the upper part of the panel to capture an image of a portion of the panel, preferably an edge surface (edge portion) of the panel.

It is preferable to use a line scan camera as the camera 20.

The upper lighting units 310 and 310a are positioned between the panel and the camera to generate illumination in the panel direction when photographing with the camera.

The controller 400 controls the work table 100 as well as the cameras 200 and 200a and the upper lighting units 310 and 310a.

In other words, the control unit 400 controls the cameras 200 and 200a to obtain an image of the panel edge portion, and controls the upper lighting unit 310 and 310a to control the cameras 200 and 200a. Intensive illumination for clearer image acquisition when the image is acquired. In addition, when the camera 200 or 200a acquires an image of one panel edge line, the controller controls the work table 100 to move the x, y, and θ directions so as to display an image of the other edge portion of the panel. To be acquired.

Referring to FIG. 3B, the panel inspecting apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3A may further include a lower lighting unit in the present invention.

That is, the panel inspection apparatus according to the present invention includes a camera 200, 200a, an upper lighting unit 310, 310a, a lower lighting unit 320, 320a, and a controller 400.

The lower lighting units 320 and 320a are positioned at the bottom of the panel to generate illumination in the direction of the panel when photographing with a camera. Accordingly, in the present invention, the control unit also controls the lower lighting units 320 and 320a so that the cameras 200 and 200a intensively illuminate the illumination for clearer image acquisition when the image of the edge portion is acquired.

4 is a view showing 'A' portion of FIG. 3B in more detail, and shows the structure of the upper lighting unit and the lower lighting unit.

Referring to FIG. 4, the upper lighting unit according to the present invention includes a light source 311, a diffusion plate 312, a cylinder prism 313, and a beam splitter 314.

In the present invention, one power light emitting diode (LED) is used as the light source 311. The reason for this is that when the backlight composed of a plurality of LED arrays is used as the light source as in the related art, the efficiency of light uniformity and concentration is inferior.

The diffusion plate 312 serves to diffuse and transmit the light emitted from the power LED 311 to the cylinder prism 313.

The cylinder prism 313 focuses the light irradiated from the diffusion plate 312 to output light in the form of a band.

The beam splitter 314 reflects a portion of the light passing through the cylinder prism and directs the light toward the panel 500. Accordingly, the light finally reaching the edge portion of the panel has a band shape.

The band-shaped light 315 may be adjusted through various methods to be formed at the edge portion of the panel 500. For example, a method of properly adjusting the position of the diffuser and the cylinder prism, the angle of light reflection in the beam splitter, etc. There is this.

In addition, the lower lighting unit 320, 320a according to the present invention is a light source 321 for generating light, a diffusion plate 322 for diffusing the light generated by the light source, the light passing through the diffusion plate 322. And a cylinder prism 313 for condensing the band-shaped light to be output. Of course, the light of the lower illumination parts 320 and 320a finally reaching the panel edge part has a band shape.

As described above, by implementing the upper and lower lighting units for irradiating the band-shaped light on the upper and lower portions of the panel as described above, the efficiency of light such as uniformity and concentration of light may be improved.

Figure 5 is a simplified diagram showing a panel inspection apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, in the panel inspecting apparatus according to the present invention, the upper lighting units 310 ′ and 310 a ′ may be integrally or assembled to one side of the cameras 200 ′ and 200 a ′.

Accordingly, in the present invention, the assembly time and the setting time of the panel inspection device according to the present invention can be shortened.

In the present invention, when the upper illumination unit alone or the light emitted from the upper and lower illumination units is properly adjusted, the chrome-marked portion and the edge portion of the panel through which the light is not transmitted using the backlight (indicated by black) may also be inspected.

This will be described with reference to FIGS. 6A to 7D.

First, referring to FIGS. 6A to 7D, FIG. 6A (FIG. 7A) shows an image of a panel edge portion obtained by using the panel inspection apparatus according to the prior art, and FIGS. 6B (FIG. 7B) to FIG. 6D (FIG. 7D). Figure 6 shows an image of the panel edge portion obtained by using the panel inspection device according to the present invention, Figure 6b (Fig. 7b) shows the image of the panel edge portion when the brightness of the upper illumination portion stronger than the brightness of the lower illumination portion, FIG. 6C (FIG. 7C) shows an image of the panel edge portion when the brightness of the upper lighting portion is lower than the brightness of the lower lighting portion, and FIG. 6D (FIG. 7D) shows an image of the panel edge portion when only the upper lighting portion is used.

(1) In the present invention (see 6b to 6d), it can be seen that the image of the panel edge portion (in particular, the red ellipse reference) is clearer than the prior art (see Fig. 6a).

(2) Conventionally (see FIG. 7A), a portion of the panel edge due to chrome marking or backlight is black (especially not in a red ellipse), so that inspection of the portion was impossible, but the present invention (FIGS. 7B to 7D) In the upper illumination unit alone, or even black areas can be inspected by appropriately adjusting the light emitted from the upper and lower illumination units.

Although the upper and lower lighting parts are described in different configurations above, the upper lighting part described above may be used on both the upper and lower sides or one side of the panel, and similarly, the lower lighting part described above may be used only on the upper and lower sides or one side of the panel. There is also a developer decision.

As described above, with reference to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art will be variously modified and modified within the scope of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention described in the claims below. It will be appreciated that it can be changed.

As described above, in the present invention, the panel inspection apparatus may improve the efficiency of light, such as uniformity and concentration of light, by implementing upper and lower illumination units for irradiating band-shaped light to upper and lower portions of the panel.

Accordingly, in the present invention, since the shutter speed of the camera can be increased by a predetermined value or more, inspection of the panel edge portion can be performed at a high speed and inspection error can be reduced as much as possible.

Claims (5)

In the panel inspection device, A camera for acquiring an image of a portion of the panel; An illumination unit positioned at a predetermined distance away from the panel to generate illumination in a panel direction when photographing with the camera; And A controller for controlling a camera to acquire an image of a portion of the panel, and controlling the lighting unit to concentrate light on a portion of the panel; The lighting unit A light source for generating light, A diffuser plate for diffusing light generated from the light source; A cylinder prism for collecting light passing through the diffusion plate, and And a beam splitter which reflects a part of the light passing through the cylinder prism and sends it to the panel. In the panel inspection device, A camera for acquiring an image of a portion of the panel; An illumination unit positioned at a predetermined distance away from the panel to generate illumination in a panel direction when photographing with the camera; And A controller for controlling a camera to acquire an image of a portion of the panel, and controlling the lighting unit to concentrate light on a portion of the panel; The lighting unit A light source for generating light, A diffusion plate for diffusing light generated from the light source, and And a prism for collecting light passing through the diffusion plate. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The lighting unit is located on the upper or lower portion of the panel inspection panel, characterized in that for generating light in the direction of the panel when shooting with the camera. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The light source includes one power LED, and the prism is a prism in the form of a cylinder that outputs a strip of light. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And a panel moving means for moving the panel in the x, y, and θ directions.

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