KR20180135501A - Themal testing apparatus for flatpanel display - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a thermal image testing apparatus for a display panel through cell alignment. The thermal image testing apparatus includes: a base; a stage unit disposed at an upper portion of the base, in which a test object having a contact pad and a cell is seated on the stage unit in such a way as to be transferred in all directions on a horizontal plane; a gantry unit provided with a thermal image camera disposed at an upper portion of the stage unit in order to detect a point where a fault is generated by sensing temperature of the test object, in which the thermal image camera can be transferred in all directions at the upper portion of the stage unit; and a probe unit having an aligning camera arranged below the test object to photograph the rear side of the test object, and a probe pin aligned through information captured by the aligning camera and getting in contact with the contact pad to apply electric current. The thermal image camera senses the temperature while being transferred in one direction from an upper portion of the cell to which electric current is applied.

Description

THEMAL TESTING APPARATUS FOR FLATPANEL DISPLAY FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image inspection apparatus for detecting defective pixels in a display panel, and more particularly, to an image inspection apparatus for detecting defective pixels in which a specific temperature is displayed by applying a current to a probe pin in contact with an OLED cell having various shapes The present invention relates to an apparatus for inspecting an image of an image.

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a display panel is widely used as an apparatus for displaying an image.

Various types of display panels are being developed due to the development of portable devices such as smart phones and tablets, and a technology-intensive industry such as a touch-type input is possible not only as means for displaying images, but also as a technology- It is going fast.

A display panel for the purpose of displaying an image or detecting a change in electrostatic capacitance and converting it into an electrical signal for input is basically implemented by a combination of a number of pixels.

Since a combination of a large number of pixels is implemented to display a specific light or receive a specific electrical signal, each pixel must be operated organically.

However, defects may occur in some of the pixels of the display panel manufactured through various processes, and therefore, devices and methods for inspecting the defective pixels have been required.

Conventionally, it has been widely practiced to apply an electrical signal to a cell of a display panel to check whether there is a defect in pixels within a specific range.

However, in the case of a display substrate in which a plurality of OLED cells are arranged in a constant arrangement or a mechanical transfer and a contact operation are repeated in order to inspect each OLED cell, the OLED cell And the position of the probe pin can not be precisely matched.

In addition, since the substrate having OLED cells can be implemented in various shapes and sizes, it has been difficult to widely use an inspection apparatus for OLED cells having different shapes and sizes, and an electric signal is applied to the cells, In this method, it takes a long time to identify the cell in which the failure occurred, and the increase in the inspection time resulted in a decrease in the productivity.

Therefore, a method for solving such problems is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been conceived to solve the problems of the conventional art described above, in which cell alignment is performed so that the contact pads of the OLED cells aligned on the substrate can be arranged at precise positions with respect to the probe pins, The present invention provides an apparatus for inspecting a thermal image of a display panel through a cell alignment so as to obtain an accurate position of a defective pixel by measuring a temperature.

The problems of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned problems, and other problems not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for inspecting an image of a display panel through a cell array, the apparatus comprising: a base; And a thermal imaging camera provided at an upper portion of the stage unit for detecting a temperature at which the inspection object is sensed and detecting a defect, and a thermal imaging camera is provided on the upper portion of the stage unit A gantry unit provided to be able to be moved forward, backward, leftward and rightward, and an alignment camera arranged at a lower portion of the object to be inspected to pick up an image of the back surface of the object to be inspected, And a probe unit including a probe pin to which a current is applied, Thermal camera is transferred in one direction at the top is to sense the temperature.

The stage unit includes a seating plate on which an object to be inspected is seated on an upper surface thereof, and an alignment driver for supporting the seating plate and adjusting the movement of the seating plate in the front and rear directions.

Alternatively, the alignment driving unit is provided to raise and lower the seating plate.

The gantry unit includes a transverse conveying part in which the thermal imaging camera is coupled so as to be capable of being horizontally conveyed, and a vertical conveying part in which the transverse conveying part is coupled so as to be capable of conveying back and forth, and the thermal imaging camera is coupled to the transverse conveying part.

Alternatively, the transverse transfer part is disposed on a path through which the thermal imaging camera is transferred back and forth, and includes a thermal imaging camera and a microscope arranged on a straight line in the front-rear direction so as to enlarge the upper surface of the object to be inspected.

The thermal imaging camera further includes an origin camera disposed adjacent to the thermal imaging camera so as to calculate the coordinates of the thermal imaging camera and capturing an image of the upper surface of the object to be inspected.

Alternatively, the alignment camera may be disposed at a lower portion of the stage unit so as to be capable of imaging the upper portion, and the probe pin may be vertically and laterally moved.

The control unit controls the transfer of the stage unit and the probe pin according to the position information so that the cell and the probe pin are brought into contact with each other by the positional information obtained by imaging the cell mark displayed on the back surface of the inspection object, .

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for inspecting an image of a display panel through a cell array, the method comprising: sensing a temperature of the OLED cell to derive a pixel having a defect; It is possible to proceed with the operation.

In addition, it is possible to accurately acquire the position of the defective pixel, and it is possible to physically observe the position of the defective pixel as well as to diagnose the defective pixel.

In addition, various types of OLED cells can be brought into contact with the probe pins at precise positions through the cell alignment, and the stage unit in which the substrate is mounted and the probe pins can be transported to each other.

The effects of the present invention are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description of the claims.

1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for inspecting an image of a display panel through a cell array according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a front view of a thermal imaging examination of a display panel through a cell array according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a partial perspective view of an apparatus for inspecting an image of a display panel through a cell array according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a perspective view illustrating a thermal imaging camera of an apparatus for inspecting an image of a display panel through a cell array according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a perspective view illustrating a stage unit of an apparatus for inspecting an image of a display panel through a cell array according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a perspective view illustrating a gantry unit of an apparatus for inspecting an image of a display panel through a cell array according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a perspective view illustrating a probe pin of an apparatus for inspecting an image of a display panel through a cell array according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a perspective view showing an alignment camera of an apparatus for inspecting an image of a display panel through a cell array according to an embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a plan view and a rear view of a substrate, which is an object to be inspected by an apparatus for inspecting an image of a display panel through a cell array according to an embodiment of the present invention.
10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a temperature singularity point through a thermal imaging camera in an apparatus for inspecting an image of a display panel through a cell array according to an embodiment of the present invention.
11 is an image of a defective pixel captured through an apparatus for inspecting an image of a display panel through a cell array according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In describing the present embodiment, the same designations and the same reference numerals are used for the same components, and further description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for inspecting a thermal image of a display panel through a cell array according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an apparatus for inspecting a thermal image of a display panel through a cell array according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of an apparatus for inspecting an image of a display panel through a cell array according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, an apparatus for inspecting an image of a display panel through a cell array according to an embodiment of the present invention may be implemented as follows.

A base 100 and an inspection object P provided on the base 100 and composed of at least one cell (OLED cell) 20 are seated and the inspection object P is arranged on the horizontal plane A thermal imager 334 provided above the stage unit 200 dlm for detecting a temperature at which the inspection object P is sensed and detecting a defect, The thermal imaging camera 334 includes a gantry unit 300 provided so as to be able to be moved forward, back, left and right at the upper portion of the stage unit 200 and a gantry unit 300 disposed below the inspection object P, A probe pin 410 for sequentially applying contact to the contact pads 30 of each of the plurality of cells 20 through the aligning camera 420 for picking up images and the information picked up through the alignment camera 420, And a plurality of probes (not shown) Pin 410 is the camera image 334 in the open top of the cell 20 is applied to the contact current is transferred in one direction will sense the temperature.

Each of the above-described configurations will be described in detail below.

The base 100 is a plate-shaped member that is formed in contact with the bottom surface, and may be provided so that the stage unit 200 and the gantry unit 300 can be coupled and supported.

The base 100 is not limited to a plate-shaped member, but may be embodied as a frame so as to be firmly supported on a floor, and may be embodied in various forms according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

A rail may be provided on the upper surface of the base 100 so that the upper surface of the base 100 can be conveyed in one direction and in a direction orthogonal thereto.

The stage unit 200 includes a seating plate 210 provided horizontally and horizontally along the rail formed on the upper surface of the base 100 and having a substrate 10 as an object to be inspected P, And an alignment driving unit 220 which is coupled to the upper portion of the base 100 and supports the seating plate 210 at the lower portion and adjusts the forward and backward and leftward and rightward movement and inclination of the seating plate 210.

The seating plate 210 is formed so that its top surface is flat and at least one or more substrates 10 can be seated in contact with the upper surface.

In addition, a guide member (not shown) may be provided on the upper surface so that the substrate 10 can be seated at a predetermined position.

The alignment drive unit 220 interconnects the mounting plate 210 and the base 100 and is provided to support the mounting plate 210. The mounting plate 210 is disposed on the upper surface of the base 100, Forward, backward, and leftward and rightward movement based on the reference.

The seating plate 210 can be driven to raise or lower at least a part of the seating plate 210 so that the seating plate 210 can be maintained to be horizontal, .

The operation of the alignment driving unit 220 may be realized by driving a plurality of motors or by operating a cylinder using hydraulic pressure, which may be performed by various driving means according to the embodiment to which the present invention is applied. .

The gantry unit 300 may include a transverse transfer part 310 and a vertical transfer part 320 and the sensing part 330 may be coupled to the transverse transfer part 310 or the vertical transfer part 320 to ultimately detect The part 330 can be provided so as to be transversely and vertically conveyed to the organic movement of the horizontal transfer part 310 and the vertical transfer part 320.

The sensing part 330 is coupled to the horizontal transfer part 310 or the vertical transfer part 320 to be capable of lateral transfer and vertical transfer. In one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 The vertical transfer part 310 may be vertically transferred through the vertical transfer part 320 and the sensing part 330 may be coupled to the horizontal transfer part 310 so that the transfer part 310 can be transferred horizontally.

The sensing part 330 may be provided with a housing 332 coupled to the transverse conveying part 310 so that the transverse conveying part 310 can be transversely conveyed, and the thermal imaging camera 334 and the origin camera 336 are provided on one side of the housing 332 And a microscope 338 may be further provided on the other side.

In one embodiment of the present invention, lateral transfer through the lateral transfer part 310 is referred to as lateral direction, and vertical transfer through the vertical transfer part 320 is referred to as forward and backward directions, with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 .

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a thermal imaging camera of an apparatus for inspecting an image of a display panel through a cell array according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a cross- FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a gantry unit of an apparatus for inspecting an image of a display panel through a cell array according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

4, the thermal imager 334 and the origin camera 336 are disposed adjacent to each other so that the imaging directions are parallel to each other, and are coupled to one side of the housing 332 to face the upper surface of the seating plate 210 And can be provided so as to be capable of imaging in the downward direction from the vertical direction.

The thermal camera 334 is provided to detect the temperature at which the specific temperature is sensed by sensing the temperature of the area to be imaged, and the origin camera 336 measures the distance d from the thermal camera 334 And is provided for sensing the coordinates of the area imaged through the thermal imager 334.

More specifically, the origin camera 336 can be driven so that the coordinate information displayed on the upper surface of the sensing object P or the upper surface of the seating plate 210 is captured, and the distance between the sensed coordinate information and the infrared camera 334 d to calculate the coordinates of the area captured by the thermal imaging camera 334 to sense the temperature.

The microscope 338 is disposed in a straight line in the course of forward and backward movement of the thermal imaging camera 334 by the vertical conveying part 320 and enlarges and displays the defective position detected by the thermal imaging camera 334 at a high magnification .

The arrangement of the thermal imaging camera 334 and the microscope 338 on a straight line in the anteroposterior direction allows the horizontal transfer part 310 to be moved in the process of transferring the microscope 338 through the information sensed by the thermal imaging camera 334 So that the microscope 338 can be quickly transferred to the defective position only by the operation of the vertical transfer part 320. [

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a probe pin of an apparatus for inspecting an image of a display panel through a cell array according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a cross- 1 is a perspective view showing an alignment camera of the thermal imaging apparatus. Fig.

7 and 8, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the probe unit 400 includes a positioning camera 210 disposed at a lower portion of the seating plate 210 and capable of photographing the back surface of the inspection object P, And a probe pin 410 which is transferred through the position information detected through the alignment camera 420 and the alignment camera 420 to apply a current in contact with the contact pad 30 of the inspection object P. [

The probe pin 410 is provided so as to be capable of being conveyed in the left and right direction and contacts the substrate 10 which is the inspection object P placed on the upper surface of the seating plate 210, .

In detail, in one embodiment of the present invention, the substrate 10, which is the object P to be inspected, may include a plurality of OLED cells 20, or may be applied to OLED cells having various shapes, A contact pad 30 is formed on the upper surface and a cell mark 40 indicating the position of the OLED cell 20 is formed on the back surface.

The probe pin 410 contacts the contact pad 30 formed on the OLED cell 20 when the cell mark 40 is sensed through the alignment camera 420 to be described later and the positional information of the OLDE cell 20 is inputted So that at least one or more OLED cells 20 are powered.

Accordingly, the probe pin 410 can be provided to be vertically movable in the front and rear directions of the base 100. According to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied, the probe pin 410 can be moved up and down, have.

The thermal imaging camera 334 described above is transferred to the OLED cell 20 to be supplied with power and the temperature is sensed at the upper part. The point indicating the specific temperature is specified as the point where the defective pixel is generated, and the microscope 338 So that detailed observations can be performed.

The alignment camera 420 includes at least one or more OLED cells (not shown) disposed on the rear surface of the substrate 10 so that the rear surface of the object P to be placed on the mounting plate 210 can be imaged from the bottom to the top 20 to indicate the position of the cell mark 40. [

When the cell mark 40 formed on the back surface of the substrate 10 is detected by the alignment camera 420, position information specified through photographing of the cell mark 40 is input, and the stage unit The alignment drive unit 220 of the thermal imaging camera 334 drives the alignment driving unit 220 to transfer the inspection object P on the seating plate 210 and control the transfer of the horizontal transfer part 310 and the vertical transfer part 320, And a control unit (not shown) for controlling the position of the probe pin 410 and controlling the transfer and elevation of the probe pin 410.

The control unit (not shown) specifies the position of the OLED cell 20 to be inspected through the information of the cell mark 40 obtained through the alignment camera 420, 30 and the probe pins 410 so that they can be brought into contact with the probe pins 410.

The control unit may control the transfer of the thermal imaging camera 334 to the upper portion of the OLED cell 20 to be inspected after the contact between the probe pin 410 and the contact pad 30 is performed. have.

FIG. 9 is a plan view and a rear view of a substrate to be inspected by an apparatus for inspecting an image of a display panel through a cell array according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 10 is a cross- FIG. 11 is a view showing a state in which a temperature singularity is diagrammed through a thermal imaging camera in a thermal image inspection apparatus of a display panel through a cell array according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is an image of a pixel.

9, in an embodiment of the present invention, the object P to be inspected is an OLED cell 20 having a contact pad 30 formed on its upper surface, and the OLED cell 20 having various widths and widths And the alignment camera 420 obtains the positional information in accordance with the OLED cell 20 having each of various forms and controls the contact of the probe pin 410 and the thermal imager 334 through a control unit The position of the defective pixel can be derived.

The alignment camera 420 can recognize the cell mark 40 formed on the back surface of the substrate 10 and specify the positional information.

This may be applied to a substrate 10 having various types of OLED cells 20 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention and a plurality of OLED cells 20 may be arranged on one substrate 10 And the like.

In detail, the backside of the substrate 10 placed on the seating plate 210 is photographed through the alignment camera 420 to detect the position of each OLED cell 20, and at least one OLED cell The probe pin 410 is transferred to the position of the probe 20 to be brought into contact with the contact pad 30 of the OLED cell 20 to be inspected and the operation of the vertical transfer part 320 and the horizontal transfer part 310 The thermal imaging camera 334 is disposed at the vertical upper portion of the OLED cell 20 to be inspected to transport the entire OLED cell 20 or a specific line in a straight line and to sense the temperature, A defective pixel, which is a point at which a defect occurs, can be determined as a defective pixel, and a point determined as a defective pixel can be observed again at a high magnification by the microscope 338.

The image of such a defective pixel is as shown in FIG. 11, and when the inspection is performed according to an embodiment of the present invention, the position of the defective pixel can be specified to be cleaned. Therefore, The work can be performed more quickly and accurately.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. It is obvious to them. Therefore, the above-described embodiments are to be considered as illustrative rather than restrictive, and the present invention is not limited to the above description, but may be modified within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

P: Inspection object
10: substrate 20: OLED cell
30: contact pad 40: cell mark
100: Base
200: stage unit 210: seat plate
220:
300: Gantry unit 310: Horizontal transfer part
320: Vertical transfer part 330: Detection part
332: housing 334: thermal imager
336: origin camera 338: microscope
400: probe unit 410: probe pin
420: Alignment camera

Claims (8)

Base;
A stage unit provided on the base and having an object to be inspected including a contact pad and a cell, the object to be inspected being horizontally conveyed in a horizontal plane;
And a thermal imaging camera provided at an upper portion of the stage unit for detecting a temperature at which the inspection object is sensed and detecting a failure, wherein the thermal imaging camera is provided so as to be able to be transferred from the upper portion of the stage unit to the front, A gentry unit; And
A probe unit disposed at a lower portion of the object to be inspected and having a alignment camera for picking up an image of the back surface of the object to be inspected and a probe pin arranged in contact with information picked up through the alignment camera to apply a current in contact with the contact pad; Including,
Wherein the thermal imaging camera is transferred in one direction from an upper part of the cell to which the probe pin is applied and a current is applied, and the temperature is sensed through the cell alignment.
The method according to claim 1,
The stage unit includes:
A seating plate on which the object to be inspected is seated; And
An aligning driving unit provided on the base for supporting the seating plate and adjusting the movement of the seating plate in the longitudinal direction and the inclination of the seating plate;
And a display unit for displaying the image on the display panel.
3. The method of claim 2,
The alignment driver includes:
Wherein the mounting plate is moved up and down.
The method according to claim 1,
The gentry unit includes:
A horizontal transfer part in which the thermal imager is coupled so as to be capable of lateral transfer; And
And a vertical transfer part in which the transverse transfer part is coupled such that it can be transferred back and forth,
Wherein the thermal imaging camera is an apparatus for inspecting a thermal image of a display panel through a cell array coupled to the transverse transfer part.
5. The method of claim 4,
The horizontal transfer part
A microscope disposed on a path through which the thermal imaging camera is transferred forward and backward and arranged so as to take an enlarged image of the upper surface of the inspection object, the thermal imaging camera being disposed on a straight line in the longitudinal direction;
And a display unit for displaying the image on the display panel.
The method according to claim 1,
The thermal imager comprises:
An origin camera disposed adjacent to the thermal imaging camera and configured to capture an image of the upper surface of the object to be inspected so as to calculate coordinates of the thermal imaging camera;
The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the alignment camera is disposed at a lower portion of the stage unit and is capable of imaging an upper portion of the stage unit, and the probe pin is adapted to be moved up and down and left and right.
The method according to claim 1,
The position information obtained by capturing the cell mark displayed on the back surface of the inspection object is input from the alignment camera and the transfer of the stage unit and the probe pin is controlled according to the position information to control the cell and the probe pin to be in contact with each other Is performed;
And a display unit for displaying the image on the display panel.

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