TWI537547B - Polarized light irradiation device for light orientation and polarized light irradiation method for light orientation - Google Patents

Description

Polarization light irradiation device for light orientation and polarized light irradiation method for light orientation

The present invention relates to a technique of irradiating polarized light which is performed when light is directed.

In recent years, when an alignment layer for a liquid crystal display element or an alignment layer for a viewing angle correction film is obtained, a technique called light orientation by orientation by light irradiation is employed. Hereinafter, a film or layer which is oriented by light irradiation to produce an orientation is a light directing film. Furthermore, "orientation" and even "orientation processing" are directed to the directionality of a certain property of an object.

The light orientation is performed by irradiating polarized light to a film for a light directing film (hereinafter referred to as a film). The film material is made of, for example, a resin of polyimine, and the film material is irradiated with polarized light that is polarized in a predetermined direction. The molecular structure (for example, a side chain) of the film is aligned with the direction of the polarization axis of the polarized light by irradiation of the polarized light of a predetermined wavelength, and a light directing film is obtained.

The polarizing light irradiation device that illuminates the polarized light for the light direction is, for example, a device disclosed in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2. These devices are provided with a rod-shaped light source having a length corresponding to the width of the irradiation surface or a width thereof, and a wire grid polarizing element that polarizes the light of the light source. The film conveyed in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the light source is irradiated with polarized light. In the case of light orientation, there is a need for polarized light from a wavelength that visually illuminates the ultraviolet region. As a light source of a rod shape, an ultraviolet light source such as a high pressure mercury lamp is often used.

[Previous Technical Literature] [Patent Document]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent No. 4968165

[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent No. 4506014

[Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-127567

Although the important indicators of the quality of the directional processing are not necessary, they are oriented precision. When the orientation accuracy of the orientation is poor, the specific properties of the film become unable to proceed in a predetermined direction, and the effect of the predetermined orientation treatment cannot be obtained. The deterioration of the directional accuracy of the orientation may be such that the overall orientation and the predetermined direction in a certain plane are different directions, and the direction of the orientation is not uniform in a certain plane.

For example, in the light directing process in which the alignment film for a liquid crystal display element is obtained, since the molecules of the liquid crystal are arranged in the direction of orientation, the direction accuracy of the orientation is deteriorated, and when the whole direction is generated, the visibility of the entire screen is deteriorated. Further, when the accuracy is deteriorated, such as unevenness in orientation, a flicker or uneven display of a portion of the screen may occur.

The above orientation accuracy is very strict in the background of high performance and high functionality of products. For example, in a touch panel (touch screen display) in which a mobile device such as a smart phone is used, only the deterioration of the orientation accuracy of the orientation affects the reduction of the visibility of the screen and the unevenness of the display, so that a higher level is sought. Directional accuracy of light orientation.

The direction accuracy of the light orientation is determined by the accuracy of the direction of the polarization axis of the polarized light that is incident on the film. In order to satisfy the required directional accuracy, it is necessary to suppress the deviation from the predetermined direction of the polarization axis of the irradiated polarized light within a very small predetermined range. Therefore, the polarized light irradiation device for light orientation is required to irradiate the polarized light to the film material in a state where the axial misalignment is suppressed as described above. Therefore, it is necessary to have a polarization axis for monitoring the polarized light on the irradiation surface. The means of booking directions.

The monitoring of the polarization axis of the polarized light on the irradiation surface is indispensable for detecting the polarization axis direction of the polarized light. However, the detection of the direction of the polarization axis with good accuracy is not yet practical. See there is existence. For example, Patent Document 3 proposes a structure in which the direction of the polarization axis can be detected without rotating the photometric member. However, the point of further improving the detection accuracy of the direction of the polarization axis is not taught. In Patent Document 3, since the photometric member is not rotated, the accuracy of the rotation stop of the photodetector is not affected. However, the accuracy of the posture of the rotation origin of the photometric member is deteriorated, which results in deterioration of measurement accuracy.

The invention of the present invention has been developed in consideration of the above-mentioned points, and the irradiation technique of the polarized light for light orientation is capable of accurately detecting the direction of the polarization axis of the polarized light to be irradiated, and is capable of performing high quality at the point of the direction accuracy. Light setting The treatment is a problem of the present invention.

In the invention according to the first aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a light-directing polarized light irradiation device including a light irradiator that transmits light to a light-emitting surface through a polarizing element, and includes polarized light for detecting polarized light that is applied to the light-emitting surface. a polarization direction detection system in the axial direction, the polarization direction detection system is capable of detecting the direction of the polarization axis as an angle with respect to a device reference direction of a reference direction set in the device, and the polarization direction detection system is configured to be configurable to detect illumination a polarization direction detector for the position of the polarized light on the irradiation surface in the polarization axis direction, the polarization direction detector includes a photometric member that is parallel to the irradiation surface, and a light receiver that receives light from the light irradiator through the photometric member And a rotary driving source for rotating the photometric member around a rotating shaft perpendicular to the irradiation surface, wherein the intensity of the light received by the light receiving device is detected according to a state of change accompanying the rotation of the photometric member, and the photometric member is provided with a pair of photometric members The photometric aligner is configured to have a rotation origin when the photometric member is rotated in order to detect the polarization direction The posture of the photometric member is a posture toward a predetermined direction with respect to the device reference direction.

In the invention of claim 1, the invention of claim 1 is characterized in that the photometric member is provided with an alignment mark. The photometric aligner includes a photometric sensor that detects an alignment mark, and an arithmetic processing unit that calculates a posture misalignment amount of the photometric member in the predetermined direction from an output of the photometric sensor. The drive source control is rotated to eliminate the calculated amount of offset.

In the invention of claim 2, in the configuration of claim 2, the polarizing element adjusting mechanism is provided to adjust the arrangement angle of the polarizing element, and the polarizing element adjusting mechanism has the polarizing element adjustable. The arrangement angle is such that the direction of the polarized light detected by the polarization direction detecting system and the amount of deviation of the set orientation direction are eliminated, and the direction of the orientation is set to the direction of the polarization axis of the polarized light for the light direction.

In the invention of claim 3, the invention provides the workpiece transport system and the workpiece aligner that transport the workpiece toward the irradiation surface, and the set orientation direction is the workpiece specificity. The extending direction of the portion is set as a reference. When the workpiece aligner transports the workpiece to the irradiation surface by the workpiece transport system, the posture of the workpiece is adjusted so that the extending direction of the specific portion of the workpiece is predetermined with respect to the device reference direction. direction.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the invention of claim 5 is characterized in that, in the configuration of the request item 4, two first workpiece aligners, the first workpiece aligner, are provided as the first and second workpiece aligners. Is to perform alignment of the first workpiece, and the second workpiece aligner is to perform alignment of the second workpiece, Forming a first and second alignment marks on the first workpiece, and forming a first and second alignment marks on the second workpiece at the same position as the first workpiece, the first workpiece aligner The position of the two alignment marks of the first workpiece is detected, the angle between the extending direction of the line connecting the two alignment marks and the reference direction of the device is calculated, and the posture of the first workpiece is adjusted to be aligned so that the angle becomes At a predetermined angle, the second workpiece aligner includes: first and second two sensors, an arithmetic processing unit, a memory unit, a stage posture adjusting mechanism, and a transfer mechanism, and the first and second two sensors are The positional relationship of the two alignment marks of each workpiece can be simultaneously photographed, and after the alignment of the first workpiece is completed by the first workpiece aligner, the first workpiece after the alignment is completed or the first The second two sensors obtain the state of the first alignment mark of the first workpiece as the first sensor photography in the state of the posture after the alignment is completed, and obtain the second image as the second sensor. Align the state of the mark, arithmetic processing Processing image data of the first alignment mark of the first workpiece after the first sensor is photographed, and memorizing the position information of the first alignment mark in the memory portion, and processing the first after the first sensor is photographed The image data of the second alignment mark of the workpiece is used to memorize the position information of the second alignment mark in the memory portion, and the workpiece handling system is to transport the second workpiece to the first alignment mark by the first sensor. And photographing the position of the second alignment mark with the second sensor, The stage posture adjusting mechanism has a position information read from the memory portion such that the first alignment mark of the second workpiece is located at a position where the first alignment mark of the first workpiece is positioned, and the second workpiece is second. The alignment mark is located at a positional mechanism in which the second alignment mark of the first workpiece is positioned.

In order to solve the problem, the invention according to the invention of claim 6 includes a step of arranging a workpiece on an irradiation surface, irradiating the irradiation surface with light by the polarizing element, and irradiating the workpiece with polarized light, and detecting the irradiation. a polarization direction detecting step of the polarized light in the polarization direction of the surface, wherein the polarizing direction detecting step is a step of arranging the polarization direction detector on the irradiation surface to detect the direction of the polarization axis, and the polarization direction detector is provided in parallel with the irradiation surface a light-measuring member of a posture; a light-receiving device that receives light emitted from the light illuminator through the light-measuring member; and a rotational driving source that rotates the light-measuring member around a rotating shaft perpendicular to the illuminating surface, according to the intensity of light received by the light receiving device The state in which the photometric member is rotated changes to detect the polarization direction, and the photometric member alignment step is provided to detect the polarization of the posture of the photometric member at the rotation origin when the photometric member is rotated with respect to the device reference direction toward a predetermined direction. Direction, the direction of polarization detection is the detection of the polarization direction detector after the step of aligning the light meter The step of the light direction.

In the invention of claim 7, the invention is characterized in that the photometric member is provided with an alignment mark, and the photometric member alignment step has a step of controlling the rotational driving source. The control step is to detect the alignment mark of the photometric member by the photometric member sensor, and calculate the photometric member from the photometric member in the predetermined direction by the output from the photometric member sensor and the arithmetic processing unit. The amount of misalignment of the posture is used to eliminate the calculated amount of misalignment.

In addition, in the configuration of the above-mentioned claim 7, the invention provides the polarizing element adjusting step of adjusting the arrangement angle of the polarizing element, and the polarizing element adjusting step is to adjust the above by the polarizing element adjusting mechanism. The arrangement angle of the polarizing element eliminates the step of the direction of the polarized light detected by the polarization direction detecting system and the amount of the offset in the set orientation direction, and sets the orientation direction to a direction in which the light is oriented and directed to the polarization axis of the polarized light.

In the invention of claim 9, the invention of claim 9 includes a workpiece transporting step of transporting a workpiece to the irradiation surface, and a workpiece alignment step, wherein the set orientation direction is a workpiece The extending direction of the specific portion is set as a reference, and the workpiece alignment step has a posture of adjusting the workpiece when the workpiece is conveyed to the irradiation surface in the workpiece conveying step, so that the extending direction of the specific portion of the workpiece is opposite to the reference direction of the device. The composition of the predetermined direction.

Further, in order to solve the above problems, the invention of claim 10 is characterized in that, in the configuration of the above-mentioned claim 9, there are two workpiece alignment steps as the first and second workpiece alignment steps, and the first workpiece alignment step is Performing a first workpiece alignment step, and a second workpiece alignment step is a step of performing a second workpiece alignment Forming a first and second alignment marks on the first workpiece, and forming a first and second alignment marks on the second workpiece at the same position as the first workpiece, the first workpiece alignment step The position of the two alignment marks of the first workpiece is detected, the angle between the extending direction of the line connecting the two alignment marks and the reference direction of the device is calculated, and the posture of the first workpiece is adjusted to be aligned so that the angle becomes The step of predetermining the angle, the second workpiece alignment step has: a first photographing step, a position information memory step, a second photographing step, and an aligning step, the first photographing step is a borrowing mechanism after ending the alignment of the first workpiece Transmitting the first workpiece after the alignment or the first and second sensors to perform the first alignment of the first workpiece by the first sensor in a state of the posture after the alignment ends At the same time as the photographing of the mark, the step of photographing the second alignment mark by the second sensor, the position information memory step is processing the image data of the first alignment mark of the first workpiece after the first sensor photographing The first pair The position information of the mark is stored in the memory unit, and the image data of the second alignment mark of the first workpiece after the first sensor is photographed is processed to memorize the position information of the second alignment mark in the memory unit, The second photographing step is to transport the second workpiece to the photographing position of each sensor, and photograph the second alignment mark by the second sensor while photographing the first alignment mark of the second workpiece by the first sensor. The step of aligning has a position information of reading the memory in the memory, and according to the read position information, the first alignment mark of the second workpiece is located at the first work The first alignment mark of the member is positioned at a position, and the second alignment mark of the second workpiece is located at a position where the second alignment mark of the first workpiece is positioned.

As described below, according to the invention of claim 1 or claim 6, the direction of the polarization axis of the polarized light irradiated by the irradiation surface is actually detected by the polarization direction detecting system, so that it is possible to check whether or not the direction with respect to the device reference direction is The intended direction. At this time, in order to detect the polarization direction, the posture of the photometric member of the rotation origin when the photometric member is rotated is oriented in a predetermined direction with respect to the device reference direction, and thus the detection accuracy of the polarization direction is higher.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2 or claim 7, in addition to the above effects, the photometric member is provided with an alignment mark, and the photometric sensor detects the alignment mark for alignment of the photometric member, and thus the photometric member The accuracy of the rotation origin is higher. According to this point, the detection accuracy of the polarization direction can be made higher.

Further, according to the invention of claim 3 or claim 8, in addition to the above effects, the arrangement angle of the polarizing element is adjusted to eliminate the amount of deviation of the direction of the polarized light detected by the polarization direction detecting system from the set orientation direction, and thus Further, a light directing process with high direction accuracy is realized.

Further, according to the invention of claim 4 or claim 9, in addition to the above effects, the workpiece is irradiated with the polarized light in a state of being aligned by the workpiece aligner, so that even when the robot is used to put the workpiece into the apparatus, the input is made. Device time When the posture accuracy of the workpiece is low, the light orientation can be performed with high directional accuracy.

Further, according to the invention of claim 5 or claim 10, in addition to the above effects, in the second workpiece aligner, since the two alignment marks are simultaneously photographed by the two sensors to perform alignment of the workpiece, This shortens the time required for alignment. Therefore, productivity can be improved.

1‧‧‧Light illuminator

11‧‧‧Light source

12‧‧‧Polarized element unit

121‧‧‧Polarized components

2‧‧‧Workpiece handling system

21‧‧‧ stage

22‧‧‧Transport drive shaft

23‧‧‧Linear Guides

24‧‧‧Transport drive source

3‧‧‧Workpiece aligner

31‧‧‧ Sensor

32‧‧‧Motion posture adjustment mechanism

33‧‧‧Workpiece alignment control

4‧‧‧Polarization direction detection system

40‧‧‧Polar Direction Detector

41‧‧‧Detector Receiver

42‧‧‧Lighting parts

43‧‧‧Rotating mechanism

435‧‧‧Rotary drive source

45‧‧‧Test Department Control Department

461‧‧‧Photometer marking

462‧‧‧Light meter marking

5‧‧‧Transfer organization

51‧‧‧Transport drive shaft

52‧‧‧Transfer drive source

53‧‧‧Transversely moving orbit

6‧‧‧Light meter aligner

61‧‧‧Determometer sensor

7‧‧‧Polarized element adjustment mechanism

71‧‧‧ Underwriting

72‧‧‧Advance and resale

80‧‧‧Workpiece alignment control

801‧‧‧ display

81‧‧‧First workpiece aligner

82‧‧‧Second workpiece aligner

821‧‧‧first sensor

822‧‧‧Second sensor

9‧‧‧Main Control Department

W, W1, W2‧‧‧ workpiece

WM1, WM2‧‧‧ alignment mark

R‧‧‧illuminated area

Fig. 1 is a perspective schematic view of a polarized light irradiation device for light direction according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the light irradiator 1 shown in Fig. 1, (1) is a schematic cross-sectional view in the short direction of the irradiation surface R, and (2) is a schematic cross-sectional view in the longitudinal direction of the irradiation surface R.

Fig. 3 is a perspective schematic view showing the structure and operation of the polarizing element 121 used in the polarized light irradiation device for light direction of the embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the workpiece aligner 3.

Fig. 5 is a view showing the principle of alignment of the workpiece W with respect to the workpiece aligner 3 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a view showing the principle of alignment of the workpiece W with respect to the workpiece aligner 3 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a schematic front cross-sectional view showing the polarization direction detector 40 shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 8 is a diagram showing the reason necessary for the alignment of the photometric member 42. Outline picture.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the photometric aligner 6.

Fig. 10 is a view showing the principle of aligning the photometric member 42 with respect to the photometric aligner 6 of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of the polarizing element adjusting mechanism 7.

Fig. 12 is a schematic plan view showing a polarized light irradiation device for light orientation according to a second embodiment.

Fig. 13 is a perspective schematic view showing the configuration of the second workpiece aligner 82 of the apparatus of the second embodiment.

Fig. 14 is a view showing the adjustment of the sensors 821, 822 of the second workpiece aligner 8 shown in Fig. 13.

Fig. 15 is a view showing adjustment of the sensors 821, 822 of the second workpiece aligner 8 shown in Fig. 13.

Fig. 16 is a plan view schematically showing the alignment operation at the time of mass production, showing that each of the sensors 821 and 822 of the second workpiece aligner 82 performs the photographing of the workpiece marks WM1 and WM2 of the second workpiece W2. status.

Next, the form for carrying out the invention (hereinafter referred to as an embodiment) will be described.

Fig. 1 is a perspective schematic view of a polarized light irradiation device for light direction according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The polarized light irradiation device shown in Fig. 1 is for a light-oriented treatment such as a plate-shaped workpiece W with a film liquid crystal substrate. The apparatus includes a light irradiator 1 that irradiates the workpiece W with polarized light.

In this embodiment, the workpiece W has a rectangular shape. As described above, in the light orientation, the polarized light has a necessity to make the polarization axis accurately toward the direction of the orientation. The direction of the orientation can be arbitrarily set, hereinafter referred to as the orientation direction. The orientation direction is set based on the direction in which the specific portion of the workpiece W extends. In the following description, an example of this is that the short side direction of the workpiece W is the set orientation direction.

The light irradiator 1 irradiates the irradiation surface R with the polarized light of the polarization axis toward the set orientation direction. As shown in Fig. 1, the irradiation surface R is set to a rectangular region.

2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the light irradiator 1 shown in Fig. 1, (1) is a schematic cross-sectional view in the short direction of the irradiation surface R, and (2) is a schematic cross-sectional view in the longitudinal direction of the irradiation surface R. As shown in FIG. 2, the light irradiator 1 includes a light source 11 and a polarizing element unit 12 disposed between the light source 11 and the irradiation surface R.

As the light source 11, in this embodiment, a light-emitting portion having a long dimension is used. The light source 11 is disposed such that the long direction of the light emitting portion is directed in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the set orientation direction. In this embodiment, the light source 11 is a rod-shaped high-pressure mercury lamp, but a metal halide lamp or an LED may be used. Further, a light-emitting portion in which the point light sources 11 are arranged in a row may be used in a row.

A mirror 13 is disposed behind the light source 11 (on the side opposite to the irradiation surface R). The mirror 13 is a long-length mirror that extends in the longitudinal direction of the light source 11, and covers the back of the light source 11 so that the light is reflected by the side of the irradiation surface R. Improve the efficiency of light utilization. The mirrors 13 are formed in a pair, and the cross-sectional shape of the reflecting surface is an elliptical arc or a parabola. Furthermore, the light source 11 or the mirror 13 is housed in the globe 14.

The polarizing element unit 12 is composed of a plurality of polarizing elements 121 and a frame 122 that holds the plurality of polarizing elements 121. Each of the polarizing elements 121 has a square plate shape and is arranged along the longitudinal direction of the light source 11. As shown in Fig. 2, the polarizing element unit 12 is provided at the lower end opening of the globe 14, and is positioned between the light source 11 and the irradiation surface R.

In this embodiment, each of the polarizing elements 121 is a wire grid polarizing element. However, the material of the gate is not limited to a wire, and therefore, the following is simply referred to as a gate polarizing element.

Fig. 3 is a perspective schematic view showing the structure and operation of the polarizing element 121 used in the polarized light irradiation device for light direction of the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the gate polarizing element 121 has a structure in which a conductive stripe-shaped gate 124 is formed on a transparent plate member 123. The separation interval of the gate 124 (indicated by g in FIG. 3) is an interval which is about the wavelength of the polarized light or shorter.

Among the linearly polarized lights, the polarized light having a polarization axis toward the longitudinal direction of the gate 124 (referred to as s-polarized light, denoted by Ls) cannot pass through the gate 124 because the electric field component is along the longitudinal direction of the gate 124. On the one hand, the polarized light (referred to as p-polarized light, which is denoted by Lp in FIG. 3) in the direction along the surface of the transparent plate member 123 and having the polarization axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the gate 124 is the electric field and the long direction of the gate 124. It is orthogonal, so it can pass through the gate 124. For this reason, p-polarized light is exclusively emitted from the gate polarizing element 121. because Therefore, the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the gate 124 (hereinafter referred to as the gate width direction) is set in advance in the direction along the surface of the plate member 123 as the set positioning direction, and only the polarizing axis is directed toward the set orientation direction in the irradiation surface R. Light orientation can be achieved by irradiation of polarized light.

In addition, although it is described as "only", it is actually difficult to irradiate only the P-polarized light on the irradiation surface R. The p-polarized light has a larger amount of illumination than the s-polarized light, depending on the extinction ratio (the ratio of the amount of emission of the polarized light to the amount of the emitted light of the s-polarized light) which is one of the performances of the polarizing element 121.

Therefore, as shown in Fig. 3, when the workpiece W is placed on the irradiation surface R, the direction of the short side of the workpiece W is made to coincide with the polarization axis direction (gate width direction) of the p-polarized light, so that the polarization toward the set orientation direction can be obtained. The shaft is irradiated onto the workpiece W, and the light directing process is correctly performed in the set orientation direction.

As described above, when the polarized light irradiation device arranges the workpiece W on the irradiation surface R, it is necessary to bring the polarization axis of the polarized light toward the set orientation direction. In this embodiment, since the orientation direction is set to the short-side direction of the workpiece W, the workpiece W is placed on the irradiation surface R in a state in which the short-side direction coincides with the polarization axis direction of the irradiated polarized light. In this case, the workpiece W may be irradiated with the polarized light while being stationary on the irradiation surface R. However, the apparatus of the actual form can pass the irradiation surface R and pass through the viewpoint of uniformizing the surface of the light irradiation amount. The composition is irradiated with polarized light.

Specifically, the device of the actual form includes a workpiece transport system 2 that passes the irradiation surface R until the workpiece W is transported to the position of the irradiation surface R by moving the workpiece W. Fig. 1 shows a schematic structure of the workpiece transport system 2 to make.

The workpiece transport system 2 includes a stage 21 on which the workpiece W is placed, and a stage moving mechanism that moves the stage 21.

The stage 21 has a plurality of support pins (not shown). Each of the support pins protrudes slightly from the upper surface of the stage 21. Each of the support pins has a tubular shape and performs suction for vacuum suction. The stage 21 is vacuum-adsorbed and held by the support pins. In the present specification, the term "stage" is used in a broad sense. It is not limited to a table on which the workpiece W is placed, and a member that can hold the workpiece W is called a "stage".

A robot (not shown) that mounts and collects the workpiece W is provided in combination with the stage 21 described above. The robot mounts one piece of the workpiece W on the stage 21 at the set mounting position, and teaches collection of the position of the workpiece W after the polarized light is irradiated.

The stage moving mechanism is a mechanism that linearly moves the stage 21. In this embodiment, the mounting position of the workpiece W and the recovery position are the same position (hereinafter referred to as the loading/recovering position), and are set on one side of the irradiation surface R. A horizontal conveyance line that passes through the irradiation surface R from the loading position is set.

The workpiece transport system 2 includes a transport drive shaft 22 and a pair of linear guides 23 disposed along the transport line. The linear guide 23 is disposed on both sides of the transport drive shaft 22 in an extended state in which parallel linearity is good.

The stage 21 is mounted on a bottom plate 210 provided on the lower side. The transport drive shaft 22 is a ball screw that is latched to the driven block 211 that is fixed to the lower surface of the bottom plate 210. A slider 212 fitted to the linear guide 23 is fixed to both ends of the lower surface of the bottom plate 210. And connected to the transport drive shaft 22 as In the drive drive source 24 for the servo motor, the transport drive source 24 is linearly moved integrally with the bottom plate 210 by the rotation of the transport drive shaft 22.

The moving distance of the stage 21 by the workpiece transport system 2 is such that the workpiece W on the stage 21 reaches the irradiation surface R and passes completely through the irradiation surface R. The so-called complete passage means that the rear end of the workpiece W passes through the irradiation surface R.

In this embodiment, the workpiece W is also irradiated with polarized light when it is returned to the collection position. That is, as described above, the advancement arrival position of the movement is set at the position completely passing through the irradiation surface R, and after the stage 21 is positioned at the forward arrival position, the conveyance drive source 24 rotates the conveyance drive shaft 22 in the opposite direction. The table 21 is retracted to the loading position. At the time of this retreat, the workpiece W passes through the irradiation surface R again, and receives the irradiation of the polarized light.

Furthermore, the device includes a main control unit 9 that controls the entire device. The movement of the stage 21 as described above is performed by the main control unit 9 sending an appropriate control signal to the conveyance drive source 24.

According to the above configuration, in the apparatus of the embodiment, the workpiece W is irradiated with the polarized light. At this time, as described above, it is required to improve the direction accuracy of the polarization axis of the irradiated polarized light.

In the above-described embodiment, the orientation direction is set to be the short-side direction of the workpiece W, and it is necessary to irradiate the polarized light in a state in which the polarization axis is directed in the short-side direction of the workpiece W. Therefore, the direction in which the device is the reference is determined (hereinafter referred to as In the device reference direction, the light illuminator 1 is disposed such that the polarization axis of the polarized light is directed to a predetermined angle with respect to the device reference direction. The predetermined angle Although it can be arbitrarily set and set in accordance with the setting orientation direction, in the following description, 0 degree is taken as an example. That is, the light illuminator 1 is disposed such that the direction of the polarization axis coincides with the device reference direction. Then, the workpiece W is mounted on the stage 21, and the short-side direction of the workpiece W is conveyed to the irradiation surface R toward the apparatus reference direction.

The device reference direction becomes a conceptual direction at the time of designing the device, but based on the direction of the components actually present in the device during assembly or adjustment of the device and actual control. The actually existing member can be selected as a member having a good linearity, and this embodiment is a linear guide 23. That is, the direction in which the linear guide 23 extends is the device reference direction in this embodiment.

The posture of the polarizing element 121 is particularly important for the light irradiator 1, and in this example, the mounting is performed with high precision so that the gate width direction coincides with the device reference direction.

On the other hand, the workpiece W is mounted on the stage 21 by the robot as described above. However, even if the robot is taught to mount the workpiece W in the posture in the short-side direction toward the device reference direction, the posture of the workpiece W at the time of mounting cannot be obtained at the same height. Accuracy is only slightly different. Therefore, the apparatus of the present embodiment includes the workpiece aligner 3 such that the workpiece W mounted on the stage 21 has a predetermined posture with respect to the apparatus reference direction. The predetermined posture is a posture in which the short side direction coincides with the device reference direction as described above, and the workpiece aligner 3 performs alignment so that the short side direction of the workpiece W faces the apparatus reference direction.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the schematic configuration of the workpiece aligner 3. 5, and 6 are views showing the principle of alignment of the workpiece W with respect to the workpiece aligner 3 of Fig. 4. As shown in Fig. 4, alignment marks (hereinafter referred to as workpiece marks) WM1 and WM2 are provided on the workpiece W. The workpiece aligner 3 is mainly a workpiece mark sensor 31 that detects the workpiece marks WM1, WM2; a stage posture adjusting mechanism 32 that adjusts the posture of the stage 21; and processes the output data control load from the workpiece mark sensor 31. The workpiece alignment control unit 33 of the stage posture adjustment mechanism 32 is configured.

The workpiece marks WM1, WM2 are formed at a manufacturing process that does not affect the workpiece W, for example, along the edge of one short side of the workpiece W. In this embodiment, each of the workpiece marks WM1 and WM2 is a cross-shaped pattern.

The workpiece mark sensor 31 is an image sensor such as a CCD, and performs photographing of the workpiece marks WM1, WM2 when the workpiece W is conveyed. As shown in Fig. 1, the workpiece mark sensor 31 is disposed at a position adjacent to the conveyance line between the mounting recovery position and the irradiation surface R. The workpiece mark sensor 31 is attached, and when the workpiece W is mounted on the stage 21, the workpiece marks WM1 and WM2 are passed through the position directly below the workpiece mark sensor 31.

When the workpiece W mounted on the stage 21 is transported by the workpiece transport system 2, the workpiece mark sensor 31 photographs the workpiece marks WM1 and WM2. For convenience of explanation, the workpiece mark WM1 on the front side in the conveyance direction is referred to as the first workpiece. Marked, the workpiece mark WM2 on the back side is the second workpiece mark.

When the workpiece W is transported along the linear guide 23, the first workpiece mark WM1 is first photographed by the workpiece mark sensor 31, followed by the workpiece mark sensor 31 photographing the second workpiece mark WM2. Fig. 5 (1) shows an image of the first workpiece mark WM1, and (2) shows an image of the second workpiece mark WM2.

In the workpiece mark sensor 31, as shown in Fig. 5, an XY coordinate given as a reference direction of the photographing surface is shown. In this embodiment, the Y-axis of the imaging surface coincides with the device reference direction. That is, the workpiece mark sensor 31 is mounted in a good posture so that the Y-axis of the photographing surface coincides with the device reference direction.

The photographic data of the workpiece mark sensor 31 is sent to the workpiece alignment control unit 33. The workpiece alignment control unit 33 includes an arithmetic processing unit that performs image processing, and acquires data of the still image shown in Fig. 5 (1) as the image data. Further, only two workpiece marks WM1, WM2 amount between the center of the distance L ₁ by moving the workpiece stage 21 acquires still image data of FIG. 5 (2).

The arithmetic processing unit specifies the coordinates of the image center of each of the workpiece marks WM1 and WM2 in order to process the data of each still picture. Then, the separation distance between the image centers of the two workpiece marks WM1 and WM2 is calculated. In the data of the first workpiece mark WM1 shown in Fig. 5 (1), the coordinate of the center of the first workpiece mark WM1 is C ₁ , and the data of the second workpiece mark WM2 represented by the fifth figure (2) is the first workpiece. WM1 marker coordinate of the center ₁ ', as represented in FIG. 6 calculates the C _1' and C ₂ to C separation distance L _2.

Two workpiece marks WM1, WM2 from the center C _1, C ₂ between the design value and L ₁ is known. Therefore, the deflection angle θ ₁ of the workpiece W with respect to the Y-axis is obtained by θ ₁ =tan ^-1 (L ₂ /L ₁ ). The arithmetic processing unit is configured to perform the above-described calculation to calculate the deflection angle θ _{1 of the} workpiece W. The direction connecting the centers of the two workpiece marks WM1 and WM2 is coincident with the short side direction of the workpiece W, and the Y axis of the workpiece mark sensor 31 is aligned with the device reference direction, so that the calculated deviation angle θ ₁ becomes the workpiece W The deviation angle of the short side direction with respect to the device reference direction.

The workpiece alignment control unit 33 generates a control signal in which the calculated deviation angle θ ₁ is zero, and sends it to the stage posture adjustment mechanism 32. The stage posture adjusting mechanism 32 is a mechanism that can rotate the stage 21 at least around the vertical rotation axis. The stage posture adjusting mechanism 32 rotates the stage 21 by the signal from the workpiece alignment control unit 33 so that the offset angle θ ₁ is zero (that is, the short side direction of the workpiece W coincides with the device reference direction).

The workpiece alignment control unit 33 is, for example, a PLC (Programable Logic Controller) device that defines a circuit to perform the above-described image processing and control signal generation. A commercially available XYθ mechanism can be used as the stage posture adjusting mechanism 32. In addition to the posture control in the θ direction, the stage 21 is moved in the XY direction as needed, and the workpiece W is positioned at the most appropriate position in the XY direction.

When the alignment of the workpiece W is performed as described above, the workpiece W is conveyed in a vacuum suction state, and the workpiece W is in a posture toward the device reference direction in the irradiation surface R. Therefore, as long as the polarized light with good accuracy of the polarization axis is irradiated onto the irradiation surface R in the device reference direction, the workpiece W can be subjected to light directing treatment with high precision.

The problem here is that the conventional device does not have a means for confirming that the polarization axis of the polarized light in the irradiation surface R is accurately oriented toward the set orientation direction. As described above, the direction of the polarization axis of the polarized light of the irradiation surface R is determined by the gate width direction of the polarizing element 121. Therefore, the assembly of the device At this time, the light irradiator 1 is disposed so that the grating width direction of each of the polarizing elements 121 held by the frame is accurately matched with the device reference direction. However, after the assembly of the device, the conventional device does not have a means for verifying whether or not the polarization axis of the polarized light irradiated on the irradiation surface R is oriented in the set orientation direction. Moreover, the technique of measuring the polarization axis with the required high measurement accuracy is not disclosed in the prior literature.

In the device of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the polarization direction detecting system 4 for detecting the polarization axis direction of the polarized light irradiated from the light irradiator 1 is provided, and the polarization direction detecting system 4 includes the polarization direction detector 40. . The configuration of the polarization direction detector 40 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 7. Fig. 7 is a schematic front cross-sectional view showing the polarization direction detector 40 shown in Fig. 1.

The polarization direction detector 40 detects the polarization direction by the photometric rotation method. In other words, the polarization direction detector 40 includes a detection light receiver 41 that receives light emitted from the light irradiator 1, a light meter 42 that is disposed on the incident side of the detection light receiver 41, and a light meter 42 that is irradiated A rotating mechanism 43 that rotates around the vertical axis of the surface R.

The detecting light receiver 41 is not particularly limited as long as it has sensitivity to the wavelength of the polarized light, and for example, a germanium photodiode is used. As shown in Fig. 7, the detecting light receiver 41 is held by the support 411.

In the embodiment, the polarizing plate is used as the photometric material, and a grating polarizing element is used as the photometric material 42 similarly to the polarizing element unit 12 included in the light irradiator 1. The photometric member 42 is held by the frame plate 421. The frame plate 421 is located on the upper side of the photometric member 42, and the photometric member is held on the lower side. 42. An opening (hereinafter referred to as a light entrance) 422 through which the light is incident on the photometric member 42 is formed in the casing 421.

The rotation mechanism 43 is a cylindrical holding body 431 that fixes the frame plate 421 to the upper end, a rotating body 432 fixed to the lower end of the holding body 431, and a driven gear 433 fixed to the surface around the rotating body 432; A drive gear 434 of the gear 433 and a rotary drive source 435 that connects the drive gear 434 to the output shaft. When the rotational driving source 435 is operated, the rotation of the driving gear 434 is transmitted to the holding body 431 through the driven gear 433 and the rotating body 432, so that the photometric member 42 rotates together with the frame plate 421. The rotation shaft of the rotation mechanism 43 is a vertical direction coaxial with the holding body 431 or the rotating body 432.

As shown in FIG. 7, the polarization direction detecting system 4 has a detection system control unit 45. The detection system control unit 45 includes an arithmetic processing unit, and the output of the detection light receiver 41 is sent to the detection system control unit 45 for arithmetic processing.

The rotational drive source 435 is controlled by the detection system control unit 45. In other words, the detection system control unit 45 operates the rotation driving source 435 to operate the position where the photometric member 42 is rotated (rotation angle 0°), and receives the polarized light to rotate the photometric member 42 by 180 degrees from the posture. The detection light receiver 41 measures and outputs the intensity of the received polarized light when it is rotated. When the direction of the gate of the photometric member 42 is parallel to the direction of the gate of the polarizing element 212, the intensity of the polarized light incident on the photodetector 41 becomes maximum, and the direction of the gate of the photometric member 42 and the direction of the gate of the polarizing element 212 are positive. At the time of intersection, the intensity of the polarized light incident on the light receiver 41 is minimized. The arithmetic processing unit sequentially compares the intensity of the output polarized light, and detects the angle at which the intensity of the polarized light is maximized. result. For the rotation angle, the pulse motor can be calculated as the rotation drive source 435 from the number of pulses. It is also possible to set a rotary encoder at the rotary drive source 435 for detection.

In the polarized light irradiation device of the embodiment, the direction of the polarization axis of the polarized light of the irradiation surface R is detected by the polarization direction detector 40 as described above. However, the direction in which the polarization direction detector 40 detects the polarization axis is simply not realized. Light directional processing with sufficient high precision direction. This is a problem due to the arrangement accuracy of the polarization direction detector 40 itself. Hereinafter, this point will be described using FIG. Fig. 8 is a schematic plan view showing the reason why the alignment of the photometric member 42 is necessary.

The detection of the polarization direction by the photometric member rotation method is as shown in Fig. 8, and the direction of the detected polarization axis is the relative angle based on the rotation origin. The rotation origin in Fig. 8 is θ = 0° (X-axis). For example, a possible rotary encoder that detects the rotation origin is used, and the polarization angle is measured after the posture of the photometric member 400 is the rotation origin. However, at this time, the origin of rotation with the rotary encoder must be aligned to a known angle with respect to the device reference direction. When the rotation origin coincides with the device reference direction (angle 0°), the detected polarization axis direction becomes an angle with respect to the device reference direction, and it is possible to determine whether or not it matches the set orientation direction within the allowable accuracy range.

However, the rotation origin does not coincide with the device reference direction, and it is not known that the rotation origin is at an angle of several degrees with respect to the device reference direction, that is, the direction of the polarization axis as the angle with respect to the device reference direction cannot be detected. For example, even when the rotation is started from the origin of rotation until θ _m becomes the rotation angle, the output of the photoreceptor becomes maximum. If the angle of the rotation origin relative to the reference direction of the device cannot be known, it cannot be obtained as the reference direction with respect to the device. The direction of polarization of the angle. Therefore, it cannot be judged whether or not it coincides with the set orientation direction within the range of the allowable accuracy.

Of course, at the time of assembly of the device, the rotary encoder is incorporated in the polarization direction detector 40 with respect to the reference member, and the member to be the reference is mounted at a predetermined angle with respect to the device reference direction. At the time of the device 40, the direction of the polarization axis can be accurately detected. However, the direction in which the polarization axis is detected is the direction of the polarization axis of the polarization light of the actual light-oriented irradiation surface R. Once the detection of the polarization axis direction is confirmed and the direction is correct, the polarization direction detector 40 must be used. Removed from the irradiation surface R. In other words, in the case of adjustment of the installation of the apparatus to the production line or monitoring of the polarization axis of the produced idle polarized light, it is necessary to consider the arrangement (setting) and removal of the polarization direction detector 40.

In view of these points, the device of the embodiment includes a detector transfer system that arranges the polarization direction detector 40 toward the irradiation surface R or removes from the irradiation surface R, and performs a polarization direction detector 40 by the detector transfer system. The photometric aligner 6 that aligns the photometric member 42 is disposed when the irradiation surface R is disposed.

The detector transfer system includes a transfer mechanism 5 and a lateral movement mechanism (not shown). The transfer mechanism 5 transfers the polarization direction detector 40 between the position on the transfer irradiation surface R and the retracted position. The lateral movement mechanism causes the polarization direction detector 40 to be in the transfer system in order to change the detection position on the irradiation surface R. The transfer direction moves in the vertical direction.

The transfer mechanism 5 partially uses the components of the workpiece transport system 2 for the sake of simplification of the structure. Specifically, in this embodiment, the retracted position of the polarization direction detector 40 is provided on the side opposite to the mounting and collecting position where the illuminating surface R and the workpiece W are sandwiched. The retracted position is at a level substantially the same as the irradiation surface R.

As shown in Fig. 1, the pair of linear guides 23 of the workpiece transport system 2 extend beyond the irradiation surface R to the retracted position on the opposite side. Further, a transfer drive shaft 51 that extends from the retracted position through the irradiation surface R is provided. The transfer drive shaft 51 is a ball screw and extends in parallel with the linear guides 23 on both sides. A transfer drive source 52 is coupled to the transfer drive shaft 51.

The polarization direction detector 40 is mounted on a gantry (hereinafter referred to as a detector gantry) 401 in a horizontal posture. As shown in Fig. 1, the lateral transfer rails 53 are placed across the pair of linear guides 23 and the transfer drive shaft 51. The lateral transfer rail 53 extends in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the linear guide 23 and the transfer drive shaft 51. The detector stand 401 is spanned over the lateral moving rail 53, and a lateral moving mechanism (not shown) is a mechanism that linearly moves the detector stand 401 on the lateral moving rail 53. The lateral movement mechanism (not shown) can be realized, for example, by providing a self-propelled mechanism on the lower surface of the detector mount 401 or by providing a ball screw in parallel with the lateral movement rail 53.

Sliders 54 are respectively provided on both ends of the lateral movement rail 53 to slide on the linear guide 23. A driven block 55 is provided at the center of the lower surface of the lateral movement rail 53, and the transfer drive shaft 51 of the ball screw is latched. Therefore, when the transfer drive shaft 51 is rotated by the transfer drive source 52, The linear guide 23 guides the linear movement rail 53 to move linearly such that the detector mount 401 on the lateral movement rail 53 or the polarization direction detector 40 thereon also linearly moves along the linear guide 23.

The main control unit 9 shown in Fig. 1 transmits a control signal to the transfer drive source 52, and controls the transfer of the polarization direction detector 40 at the retracted position to the position on the irradiation surface R or the control to return to the retracted position. .

Further, as is clear from Fig. 1, the lateral movement rail 53 is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the light source 11, and a lateral movement mechanism (not shown) is a mechanism for selecting which position is used as the detection position in the longitudinal direction of the light source 11.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the photometric aligner 6. The polarization direction detector 40 is provided with alignment marks (hereinafter referred to as photometric members) 461 and 462 for detecting the posture of the photometric member 42. The photometric aligner 6 is composed of: a sensor (hereinafter referred to as a photometric sensor) 61 that detects each of the photometric members 461, 462, and an output data from the photometric member sensor 61: a control photometric member The control unit of the posture of 42 is constituted. The control unit is the above-described detection system control unit 45. Further, in Fig. 9, the photometric member 42 and the frame plate 421 are separately depicted for easy understanding, but actually, as shown in Fig. 7, both are in close proximity.

In this embodiment, the photometric member marks 461 and 462 are provided on the main body of the photometric member 42. More specifically, as the photometric member 42, the same gate polarizing element as that of the polarizing element unit 12 is used. The photometric member 42 is a structure in which the micro-gate 420 is formed on the surface of the transparent plate material as enlarged in FIG. The photometric member 42 has a gate portion 422 that forms a region of the gate 420, and The edge portion 423 of the region where the gate is not formed, the gate portion 422 performs a polarizing action. Further, as shown in Fig. 9, the photometric member 42 is a member having a square plate shape as a whole, and is held by the frame plate 421.

As shown in FIG. 9, the photometric member marks 461, 462 are formed at the edge portion 422. In this embodiment, two photometric members 461 and 462 are provided. Although each of the photometric member marks 461 and 462 is formed in various types, this embodiment is of a type in which a square of the same size is formed. Further, the frame plate 421 has openings 424 for observing the respective photometric members 461 and 462.

In the present embodiment, the centers D ₁ and D _{2 of the} respective photometric member marks 461 and 462 are detected and aligned, and the straight line DL connecting the centers D ₁ and D ₂ of the respective photometric member marks 461 and 462 can be accurately formed so as to be aligned with the gate. The gate width of the portion 422 is uniform.

Further, although the photometric member 42 is rotated by the rotation drive source 435 as described above, the two photometric member marks 461 and 462 are formed at equal positions with respect to the rotation center C. That is, the point where the perpendicular line from the rotation center C toward the straight line DL connecting the centers D ₁ and D ₂ of the respective photometric marks 461, 462 intersects the straight line DL is located between the two photometric members 461, 462. point.

On the other hand, the arithmetic processing unit having the detection system control unit 45 processes the output data of the photometric member sensor 61, calculates the amount of deviation of the photometric member 42, and performs image processing for generating control data. Fig. 10 is a view showing the principle of aligning the photometric member 42 with respect to the photometric aligner 6 of Fig. 9. Here, FIG. 10 is an example of an image showing the photometric member marks 461 and 462 photographed by the photometric member sensor 61, and is marked for the photometric member. The data of the images of 461 and 462 are represented by the principle of alignment of the photometric member 42.

In this embodiment, the photometric aligner 6 performs alignment of the photometric member 42 when the polarization direction detector 40 is transferred by the moving mechanism 5. Specifically, when the polarization direction detector 40 is transferred by the transfer mechanism 5, the photometric member marks 461 and 462 pass directly under the photometric sensor 61. At this time, each of the photometric member marks 461, 462 is sequentially photographed by the photometric sensor 61.

For convenience of explanation, the photometric member mark 461 on the side close to the irradiation surface R is referred to as a first photometric member mark, and the photometric member mark 462 on the side close to the retracted position is referred to as a second photometric member mark. Fig. 10 (1) shows images of the first photometric marks 461, 462, and Fig. 10 (2) shows images of the second photometric marks 461, 462.

The photometric sensor 61 is an image sensor such as a CCD similar to the workpiece mark sensor 31, and the arithmetic processing unit of the detection system control unit 45 obtains the still image as shown in FIG. 10 from the photometric sensor 61. Image data.

The arithmetic processing unit processes the respective images, and specifies the center position coordinates D ₁ (D ₁ ') and D _{2 of the} photometric member marks 461 and 462 in the same manner as in the fifth drawing, and calculates the separation distance M between D ₁ ' and D ₂ . ₂ . And, by means of the distance M ₁ between the centers D ₁ and D ₂ of the two known photometric members 461, 462, the photometric member 42 is obtained relative to the Y axis by θ ₂ =tan ^-1 (M ₂ /M ₁ ) The deviation angle θ ₂ .

The photodetector sensor 61 is placed with good posture, so that the Y-axis of the coordinate system shown in Fig. 10 coincides with the device reference direction. Further, since the direction of the detection line DL is as described above in the gate width direction, the inclination angle θ ₂ of the calculated detection line DL (the tenth diagram is also the line amount M ₁ ) is the angle of the photometric member 42 with respect to the gate width direction of the device reference direction. It is the amount of deviation of the photometric member 42 (hereinafter referred to as the photometric member offset angle θ ₂ ).

Arithmetic processing unit is configured metering member after calculating attitude angle θ _2, the metering device generates a deviation angle θ ₂ is 0 (-θ ₂ only changing the posture) of the control signal.

When the photometric member 42 is rotated only by -θ ₂ so that the photometric member offset angle θ ₂ becomes 0, the straight line DL connecting the centers D ₁ and D ₂ of the two photometric member marks 461 and 462 is aligned with the Y axis, and becomes the device reference. The direction is the same. That is, the long direction of the grating of the photometric member 42 is in a state of being aligned with the device reference direction, and the photometric member 42 is aligned. At this time, the arithmetic processing unit generates -θ ₂ as control data, and the detection system control unit 45 transmits a control signal for rotating only -θ ₂ to the rotational driving source 435. Further, when the inclination of the straight line DL is negative, the image processing unit outputs +θ _{2 of the} control data by rotating the +θ ₂ reference line. Therefore, the control signal transmitting portion is configured to cause the photometric member 42 to be made. Only the control signal of +θ ₂ is rotated to the rotary drive source 435.

Next, an operation of detecting the polarization axis direction of the polarized light using the polarization direction detecting system 4 having the above configuration will be described.

The main control unit 9 operates the transfer drive source 52 to move the polarization direction detector 40 from the retracted position to the position on the irradiation surface R. At this time, the detection system control unit 45 operates the photometric aligner 6, and the photometry sensor 61 performs imaging of the photometric member marks 461 and 462 passing through the lower side. Further, the arithmetic processing unit in the detection system control unit 45 processes the output from the photometric sensor 61 to generate control data, which is sent to the rotation as a control signal. Drive source 435. As a result, the photometric member 42 is aligned. Therefore, when the polarization direction detector 40 is at the position on the irradiation surface R, the grating width direction of the photometric member 42 is in a state of being in good agreement with the device reference direction accuracy.

In the case where the polarization direction detection is performed at this position, the lateral movement mechanism (not shown) is operated as needed, and the polarization direction detector 40 is moved toward the longitudinal direction of the light source 11 to be positioned at an arbitrary position on the irradiation surface R ( For example, the central location).

In this state, the detection system control unit 45 sends the detection start signal to the polarization direction detector 40 so that the rotation drive source 435 rotates. Further, the detection system control unit 45 specifies a rotation angle at which the output value from the photoreceptor 41 that changes with the rotation becomes the maximum value, and the angle thereof is used as the detection result of the polarization direction. After the detection of the polarization direction at a certain position in the longitudinal direction of the light source 11, the lateral movement mechanism (not shown) is operated, and the polarization direction detection is performed at another position.

The polarized light irradiation device of the embodiment includes the polarization direction detecting system 4, the detector transfer system, and the photometric aligner 6 according to the above-described configuration and operation, and can accurately detect the polarization axis of the polarized light irradiated on the irradiation surface R. direction. In order to further effectively utilize the polarization direction detecting system 4, the apparatus of the embodiment includes a mechanism (hereinafter referred to as a polarizing element adjusting mechanism) 7 for adjusting the arrangement angle of the polarizing element 121 of the light irradiator 1. Hereinafter, the point will be described.

Fig. 11 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of the polarizing element adjusting mechanism 7.

The polarization detected by the polarization element detecting mechanism 7 in the polarization direction detecting system 4 When the light direction deviates from the device reference direction, the arrangement angle of the polarizing element 121 is adjusted so that the polarization direction is accurately aligned with the device reference direction. It is only necessary to adjust the arrangement angle of the polarizing element 121. However, in this embodiment, a mechanism for adjusting the arrangement angle of the entire light irradiator 1 is employed.

As shown in FIG. 2, the polarizing element unit 12 is attached to the globe 14 and serves as a component of the light irradiator 1. In the embodiment, the polarizing element adjusting mechanism 7 is provided with an end surface 71 provided on one end surface of the globe 14 (a flat surface is a surface on the short side among the rectangular side surfaces); on the other side of the globe 14 Among them, two advancing and retracting pins 72 for pushing the end faces of the lamp cover 14 and a pin driving source 73 for driving the respective advancing and retracting pins 72 are provided. A receiving member 74 is fixed to one end surface of the globe 14, and the retaining pin 71 is provided to abut against the receiving member 74. The two advance/retract pins 72 are provided on the opposite end faces. The underpin 71 abuts on the center of one end surface, and the two advance/retract pins 72 abut at positions equidistant from the center of the other end surface.

The position of the underpin 71 is fixed, and the abutment of the front end is a fulcrum (rotation center) at which the lamp cover 14 rotates. The two advance/retract pins 72 are advanced and retracted in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the device reference direction, and are set such that when one of the advance and retreat pins 72 advances, only the distance causes the other forward/backward pin 72 to retreat, and when the other advance and retreat pin 72 advances, One of the advance and retreat pins 72 is only receded by its distance. Each of the advance/retract pins 72 is advanced and retracted by a precision screw mechanism such as a micrometer, and the borrowing drive source 73 advances and retreats only by a specified distance. In addition, the two advance and retreat pins 72 can also be manually moved forward and backward.

One of the advance and retreat pins 72 advances and the other advances and retreats 72 When retracting, the entire light illuminator 1 rotates around the front end of the underpin 71. Thereby, the polarizing element unit 12 in the light irradiator 1 is also rotated, and the posture of the polarizing element 121 is adjusted. The angle of rotation is only a slight angle for the purpose of adjusting the posture of the polarizing element 121, for example, ±0.5°. Rotate within the range from left to right.

The polarizing element adjusting mechanism 7 as described above is used when the apparatus is installed for the production line or the maintenance of the apparatus. For example, when the light irradiator 1 is provided, the lighting light source 11 irradiates the polarized light to the irradiation surface R, and the direction of the polarization axis is detected by the polarization direction detecting system 4. If the polarization shift angle does not enter the allowable range, the polarizing element adjustment mechanism 7 is operated or manually adjusted so that the polarization deviation angle becomes zero.

Further, during the operation of the apparatus, it is possible to check whether the light orientation is performed with good precision at any time. That is, once the operation of the apparatus is stopped, the direction of the polarization axis is detected by the polarization direction detecting system 4. Further, it is checked whether or not the polarization deviation angle is within the allowable value, and when the allowable value is exceeded, the polarization element adjustment mechanism 7 performs adjustment.

When the adjustment as described above is performed as described above, the polarized light having a direction of the polarizing axis with a high accuracy toward the device reference direction can be constantly irradiated onto the irradiation surface R. Therefore, when the workpiece W is aligned by the workpiece aligner 3 and the orientation W is accurately mounted on the stage 21 in the apparatus reference direction and conveyed to the irradiation surface R, the workpiece W can be oriented toward the setting. Directional accuracy is good for light orientation.

Next, the operation of the entire polarized light irradiation device for light direction of the embodiment will be described. The following instructions are also polarized illumination for light orientation. Description of an embodiment of the invention of the method of shooting.

The workpiece W is transported to a position of a robot (not shown) by a batch transport mechanism such as an AGV (Auto Guided Vehicle) or a single-piece transport device such as a pneumatic conveyor. The robot mounts one workpiece W on the stage 21 .

The main control unit 9 operates the workpiece aligner 3 to align the workpiece W. When the alignment of the workpiece W is completed, the main control unit 9 sends a control signal to the workpiece transport system 2, and the transport drive source 24 operates to move the stage 21 from the mounting/recovering position toward the irradiation surface R, and is positioned by the irradiation surface R. Forward limit position. At this time, the light source 11 of the light irradiator 1 is turned on in advance, and the workpiece W is irradiated with polarized light when passing through the irradiation surface R.

When the stage 21 reaches the forward limit position and is confirmed by a sensor (not shown), the main control unit 9 reverses the transport drive source 24, and reverses the transport drive shaft 22 to retract the stage 21. The main control unit 9 stops the stage 21 when it passes the irradiation surface R and returns to the mounting/recovering position. When the return path is conveyed, the workpiece W is also irradiated with polarized light when passing through the irradiation surface R. The workpiece W that has been returned to the collection position is taken out from the stage 21 by the robot, and the workpiece W that has not been processed next is mounted on the stage 21 by the robot. After that, repeat the same action.

By the process of repeating the light directing process by the above-described polarized light irradiation, the inspection of the polarization axis direction of the polarized light of the irradiation surface R is performed at any time. In other words, when the main control unit 9 stops the repeating process, the stage 21 operates the polarization direction detecting system 4 while retracting to the mounting/recovering position. The main control unit 9 causes the detector transfer mechanism to move the polarization direction detector 40 from the back The position is moved to the detection position. At the time of the transfer operation, the detection system control unit 45 operates the photometric aligner 6 so that the detection line DL coincides with the device reference direction, and the rotation drive source 435 maintains this state. Further, after the polarization direction detector 40 is positioned at a position directly below the light source 11 by the transfer mechanism 5, a lateral movement mechanism (not shown) is operated as necessary, and the polarization direction detector 40 is positioned at an arbitrary detection position in the longitudinal direction of the light source 11. .

Once the polarization direction detector 40 reaches the detection position, the rotational drive source 435 starts to rotate. After the polarization direction detector 40 is rotated by 180 degrees, the detection light receiver 41 outputs the direction in which the highest angle is the polarization axis, and calculates the deflection angle (polarization deviation angle) with respect to the device reference direction. The polarization direction detecting system 4 sends the calculated polarization deviation angle to the main control unit 9.

The main control unit 9 determines whether or not the detected polarization deviation angle is within the allowable value. When the allowable value is exceeded, the polarizing element adjustment mechanism 7 is operated to adjust the posture of the light irradiator 1 so that the polarization deviation angle becomes zero. The main control unit 9 includes a display (not shown), and displays information on the polarization deviation angle of the transmitted signal or whether or not the information is within the allowable value on the display. Further, the display of the main control unit 9 displays only the polarization deviation angle, and the operation of the polarization element adjustment mechanism 7 is also performed manually. After the inspection of the direction accuracy of the above polarized axis and the adjustment of the posture of the polarizing element 121 are performed, the single-chip processing of the polarized light irradiation of the workpiece W is started.

According to the polarized light irradiation device for light direction of the embodiment, the direction of the polarization axis is set to a predetermined angle with respect to the device reference direction by arrangement The light illuminator 1 is irradiated with the polarized light toward the irradiation surface R, and the workpiece W is aligned with the direction in which the orientation direction is set to a predetermined angle with respect to the device reference direction through the irradiation surface R, so that the direction of the workpiece W is irradiated to the polarization axis. High-precision polarized light for high-quality light-directed processing.

Further, the polarization direction detecting system 4 can actually detect the polarization axis of the polarized light irradiated by the irradiation surface R, and it can be checked whether or not the device reference direction is oriented in a predetermined direction. At this time, the photometric aligner 6 adjusts the posture of the photometric member 42, and the posture in which the polarization axis of the photometric member 42 becomes a predetermined angle with respect to the device reference direction can be used as the rotation origin, so that the detection accuracy of the polarization direction can be further improved. Therefore, the polarization deviation angle can be calculated with high accuracy, and the polarization deviation angle of the polarization element adjustment mechanism 7 can be corrected with high precision. For this reason, the light directing process with high direction accuracy can be further realized.

Further, since the photometric member 42 itself is provided with an alignment mark, the alignment accuracy of the photometric member 42 can be further improved. For the photometric member marks 461, 462, members other than the photometric member 42 (for example, the frame plate 421) may be provided, and the marks on the other members may be detected to perform alignment of the photometric member 42. However, at this time, the photometric member 42 is required to be mounted with good posture accuracy with respect to the other members, and when the mounting accuracy is lowered, the alignment accuracy of the photometric member 42 is directly affected to be lowered. In this embodiment, since the photometric member 42 itself is provided with an alignment mark, the above-mentioned cumbersome and problematic problems are not caused.

Furthermore, in the embodiment, the photometric member 42 is a gate polarizing element, and the photometric member marks 461 and 462 can form the gate 420 on the transparent substrate. The photolithography step is formed together. That is, the mask for forming the photometric member is also provided in advance in the mask for forming the gate, and the photometric member marks 461 and 462 can be formed simultaneously with the gate, and the positional accuracy and pattern accuracy can be formed in the same manner as the gate 420. High precision.

Further, in the apparatus of the embodiment, the detector transfer system for setting and removing the detection position on the irradiation surface R of the polarization direction detector 40 is provided, and therefore, mass production is performed in addition to the installation of the production line of the device. It is suitable for monitoring the polarization direction during the period. When the operation of the apparatus is stopped, the operator can manually arrange the polarization direction detector 40 at the detection position. However, it is troublesome, and the worker may enter the clean room, resulting in a problem of reduced productivity. According to the embodiment, the above problems are not caused.

Moreover, since the transfer mechanism 5 uses the mechanism of the workpiece conveyance system 2 in part, the structure of the apparatus can be simplified, and the cost can be reduced. In particular, in this embodiment, the transfer mechanism 5 positions the polarization direction detector 40 on the irradiation surface R by the linear guide 23 of the workpiece transport system 2, so that the positional accuracy and posture of the polarization direction detector 40 can be improved. Precision.

Further, in addition to the transfer mechanism 5, a lateral movement mechanism for moving the polarization direction detector 40 in the direction perpendicular to the irradiation surface R perpendicular to the transfer direction of the transfer mechanism 5 is provided, so that an arbitrary position on the irradiation surface R can be used as the detection position. For example, the detection position is selected in the long direction of the light source 11, or the polarization direction can be detected at a plurality of positions. Therefore, it is suitable for detailed inspection of the state of the polarization axis of the irradiation surface R.

In the apparatus of the first embodiment described above, the sensor of the workpiece aligner 3 and the sensor of the photometric aligner 6 can also be a sensor use. For example, the detector transfer system may transfer the polarization direction detector 40 to the position of the workpiece mark sensor 31, or may return to the irradiation surface R to detect the polarization direction after the alignment of the photometric member 42.

Next, a description will be given of a polarized light irradiation device for light orientation according to the second embodiment.

Fig. 12 is a schematic plan view showing a polarized light irradiation device for light orientation according to a second embodiment. The apparatus of the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the first and second workpiece aligners 81 and 82 are provided, and other points are substantially the same as those of the first embodiment. The first workpiece aligner 81 performs alignment of the first workpiece W1, and the second workpiece aligner 82 performs alignment of the second workpiece W2. Further, as shown in Fig. 12, a control unit (hereinafter referred to as a workpiece alignment control unit) 80 that controls the alignment of the workpieces W1 and W2 by the two workpiece aligners 81 and 82 is provided.

In this embodiment, the first workpiece aligner 81 is used for adjustment, and the first workpiece W1 is a workpiece prepared for adjustment. Further, the second workpiece aligner 82 is for mass production, and the second workpiece W2 is a general workpiece which is an object of the light directional processing. Although the first and second workpieces W1, W2 are provided with two alignment marks, the type or formation position of the two alignment marks is the same as that of the first embodiment. Also, in the first and second workpieces W1, W2, the two alignment marks are formed at the same position.

The apparatus of the second embodiment also includes a polarization direction detecting system 4, and the polarization direction detecting system 4 includes a photometric aligner 6. The photometric member finder 61 of the photometric aligner 6 is also an image sensor such as a CCD, and the first workpiece aligner 81 uses the photometric sensor 61 for the workpiece. Detection of the mark. Hereinafter, the sensor is referred to as an adjustment sensor. On the other hand, the second workpiece aligner 82 is provided with two sensors 821 and 822 for detecting the workpiece marks. Each of the sensors 821 and 822 is also an image sensor such as a CCD. Hereinafter, the first sensor 821 and the second sensor 822 are referred to.

In this embodiment, the workpiece alignment control unit 80 is also provided. The signal from the adjustment sensor 61 and the signals from the first and second sensors 821 and 822 are input to the workpiece alignment control unit 80.

The configuration or operation for alignment of the first workpiece W1 using the adjustment sensor 61 is the same as that in the first embodiment. However, since the arrangement position of the adjustment sensor 61 is at a position exceeding the irradiation surface R, the main control unit 9 conveys the stage 21 to this position at the time of alignment.

The configuration of the second workpiece aligner 82 using the first and second sensors 821, 822 will be described using Figs. 12 and 13. Fig. 13 is a perspective schematic view showing the configuration of the second workpiece aligner 82 of the apparatus of the second embodiment.

As shown in Fig. 13, the second workpiece aligner 82 includes two first and second sensors 821 and 822, an arithmetic processing unit, a memory unit, a stage posture adjusting mechanism 83, and an adjustment transport mechanism. The arithmetic processing unit and the storage unit are provided in the workpiece alignment control unit 80. The stage posture adjusting mechanism 83 is a mechanism that moves the stage 21 to adjust the postures of the workpieces W1 and W2 in the XYθ direction, similarly to the first workpiece aligner 81 or the workpiece aligner 3 of the first embodiment.

The adjustment transport mechanism is for the first workpiece W1, and the adjustment sensor 61 is replaced with the first second sensor 821, 822. The mechanism used for photography. In principle, the sensor can be replaced. However, in consideration of the problem of accuracy, this embodiment adopts an adjustment carrier that transfers the aligned first workpiece W1 to the photographing position of the first and second sensors 821 and 822. The mechanism is also used as the workpiece handling system 2. That is, the workpiece transport system 2 can transport the aligned first workpiece W1 from the photographing position of the adjustment sensor 61 to the photographing position of the first and second sensors 821 and 822.

More specifically, as shown in Fig. 12, the photographing position of the adjustment sensor 61 is set on the opposite side to the mounting and collecting position via the irradiation surface R. The pair of linear guides 23 and the transport drive shaft 22 extend from the mounting and collecting position through the irradiation surface R, and the adjustment sensor 61 is positioned substantially directly above the one linear guide 23. Therefore, the workpiece transport system 2 can transport the stage 21 on which the first workpiece W1 is mounted to the photographing position of the adjustment sensor 61.

On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 12, the first and second sensors 821 and 822 are disposed at positions adjacent to the mounting recovery position and the irradiation surface R. The first and second sensors 821 and 822 are arranged substantially along the transport line. The first sensor 821 is disposed on the side closer to the irradiation surface R, and the second sensor 822 is disposed on the side closer to the mounting and recovery position. The separation distance of the first and second sensors 821, 822 is substantially equal to the separation distance of the first and second workpiece marks WM1, WM2. Therefore, as long as the alignment of the first workpiece W1 by the adjustment sensor 61 is completed, the conveyance drive shaft 22 is reversed, and the stage 21 is moved backward by a predetermined distance, so that the first workpiece W1 can be positioned to mark each workpiece. WM1 and WM2 are located directly below each of the sensors 821 and 822.

The predetermined distance to be retracted (hereinafter referred to as a set back distance) is an arrangement position according to the conveyance direction of the first and second sensors 821 and 822. When the alignment is performed by the adjustment sensor 61, the first workpiece W1 passes through the imaging area of the adjustment sensor 61, and stops at the advancement arrival position. The distance between the forward arrival position and the photographing position of the first and second sensors 821, 822 is a set back distance.

Figs. 14 and 15 are views showing adjustments of the sensors 821 and 822 of the second workpiece aligner 8 shown in Fig. 13. In the above, FIG. 14 is a view showing an example of an image of the workpiece mark that is photographed by the sensors 821 and 822 by setting the retracted distance of the stage 21 that has been aligned with the first workpiece W1. Fig. 15 is a view showing the posture or position adjustment of the sensors 821 and 822 in accordance with the image of each workpiece mark shown in Fig. 14.

In Fig. 14, Fig. 14(1) is an image of the first workpiece mark WM1 photographed by the first sensor 821, and (2) is a second workpiece mark WM2 photographed by the second sensor 822. Image. Since the first workpiece W1 is aligned, the first workpiece mark WM1 and the second workpiece mark WM2 are accurately aligned in the device reference direction. In Fig. 14 (1) and (2), the first and second workpiece marks WM1 and WM2 are offset in the X-axis direction, but the direction in which the first and second sensors 821 and 822 are arranged does not coincide with the device reference direction. s reason. Further, in this example, the image of the second workpiece mark WM2 is inclined from the XY axis. This is also based on the oblique configuration of the second sensor 822 relative to the device reference direction.

In this state, although two workpiece marks can be memorized The position information of WM1 and WM2, but the posture and position of the two sensors 821 and 822 are adjusted for easier alignment during mass production. That is, as shown in Fig. 15, the posture of the second sensor 822 is adjusted such that the XY axis coincides with the XY axis of the second workpiece mark WM2. Then, the positions of the respective sensors 821 and 822 in the XY direction are adjusted so that the first and second workpiece marks WM1 and WM2 are positioned substantially at the origin in the imaging planes of the respective sensors 821 and 822. In Fig. 15, the sensors 821 and 822 before adjustment are indicated by broken lines, and the adjusted sensors 821 and 822 are indicated by solid lines.

Each of the sensors 821 and 822 is attached to a pedestal (not shown) having a mechanism for adjusting the position and posture in the XYθ direction by means of a micrometer, and the mechanism is shown in Fig. 15 by operating the mechanism. Further, as shown in Fig. 12, the workpiece alignment control unit 80 includes a display 801, and displays the workpiece marks WM1 and WM2 captured by the respective sensors 821 and 822 together with the XY axes of the respective sensors 821 and 822. While observing the image of each of the workpiece marks WM1 and WM2 with the display 801, the operator operates the adjustment mechanism to display the state shown in FIG.

After the position adjustment of each of the sensors 821 and 822 is indicated by the solid line in the state of FIG. 15, the worker sends an operation command to the image processing unit, and processes each of the first workpieces W1 of the respective sensors 821 and 822. The image data of the workpiece marks WM1 and WM2 is stored in the memory unit at the center position. Further, the display 801 becomes a touch panel, and an instruction is input through the display 801. Hereinafter, the center of each of the workpiece marks WM1 and WM2 of the first workpiece W1 after the alignment of the memory position is referred to as a first reference mark center C _s1 and a second reference mark center C _s2 . Furthermore, this adjustment is a manual adjustment using an adjustment mechanism, and each of the reference mark centers C _s1 and C _{s2 does} not completely coincide with the coordinates of the origin near the origin of the XY coordinates.

Further, as described above, the position of the stage 21 when the positions of the reference mark centers C _s1 and C _s2 are memorized is the position at which the stage 21 should be positioned when the mass production is aligned. Hereinafter, this position of the stage 21 is referred to as a mass production alignment position. The information on the position at the time of mass production is information of the conveyance distance starting from the collection position, and is stored in the memory unit in the main control unit 9.

A sequence control program for alignment during mass production (hereinafter, a weighing production alignment program) is attached to the memory unit in the workpiece alignment control unit 80. The main control unit 9 positions the stage 21 at the mass production alignment position at the time of alignment of the workpiece W2 at the time of mass production. The mass production alignment program is executed in a state in which the stage 21 on which the second workpiece W2 is mounted is placed at the time of mass production. Fig. 16 is a plan view schematically showing the alignment operation at the time of mass production, showing that each of the sensors 821 and 822 of the second workpiece aligner 82 performs the photographing of the workpiece marks WM1 and WM2 of the second workpiece W2. status.

As described above, since the stage 21 is mounted on the workpiece W by the robot, the posture of the workpiece W is not displaced toward the device reference direction. One example of this offset is the image of each of the workpiece marks WM1, WM2 as shown in Fig. 16. In Fig. 16, the image of each of the workpiece marks WM1, WM2 of the first workpiece W1 in which the center position is stored in the memory portion is indicated by a dotted line for reference.

The calculation processing unit calculates that the center of the image of the first workpiece mark WM1 of the second workpiece W2 (hereinafter referred to as the first detection image center) C _d1 coincides with the first reference mark center C _s1 and makes the second workpiece W2 The moving distance of the XYθ axis of the stage 21 required for the center of the image of the workpiece mark WM2 (hereinafter referred to as the second detected image center) C _d2 and the second reference mark center C _{s2 is} equal. By performing the algorithm, for example, the inclination of the line amount (hereinafter referred to as the detection line amount) connecting the first detection image center C _d1 and the second detection image center C _d2 can be calculated, and the line amount is calculated with respect to the first and second reference mark centers C. _s1, dose (hereinafter referred to as the baseline amount) C _s2 is the angle θ. Then, the movement distance in the XY direction required to match the reference line amount is calculated for the detection line amount of only -θ, and the distance in the XY direction and -θ are output as control signals.

The workpiece alignment control unit 80 sends the control signal output from the arithmetic processing unit to the stage posture adjustment mechanism 32, and causes the stage 21 to move only the calculated distance of XYθ to align the workpiece W. Thereby, the reproduction of the posture and position of the first workpiece W1 is performed for the second workpiece W2.

Furthermore, the two sensors 821 and 822 adjust the position and posture according to the aligned first workpiece W1. Therefore, when the stage 21 is in the mass production alignment position, the arrangement accuracy by the robot is not required. The deterioration is above the limit, that is, the workpiece marks WM1 and WM2 are not separated from the photographing area, resulting in a situation in which alignment is impossible. Once the workpiece marks WM1, WM2 are out of the photographic area so that they cannot be aligned, it is only necessary to appropriately move the stage 21 to find the position at which the workpiece marks WM1, WM2 are captured.

The control and operation of the entire apparatus at the time of mass production are the same as those of the first embodiment except that the second workpiece aligner 82 is used to align the workpiece W2. After confirming that the second workpiece W2 is mounted on the stage 21 by the robot, the main control unit 9 sends a control signal to the workpiece handling system 2 The stage 21 is advanced to the aligned position during mass production. Also, alignment is performed using the second workpiece aligner 8 as described above. When the alignment is completed, the main control unit 9 sends a control signal to the workpiece transport system 2 to further advance the stage 21 and pass through the irradiation surface R. After the stage 21 reaches the forward reaching position, the main control unit 9 reverses and retracts the stage 21. The stage 21 passes through the irradiation surface R while retreating, and stops when it returns to the loading/recovering position. After that, the robot collects the exposed workpiece W2. The same operation is repeated for the next workpiece W2, and single-chip processing is performed.

In this embodiment, the alignment of the workpiece W2 at the time of mass production by the second workpiece aligner 82 having the two sensors 821 and 822 is performed, so that the time required for the alignment is shortened, and productivity is improved. In the first embodiment, the workpiece marks WM1 and WM2 are photographed by one sensor 31, and the workpiece misalignment angle is calculated. Therefore, it is necessary to move (scan) the workpiece W in the predetermined direction with respect to the sensor 31, and the workpiece is misaligned. The calculation for the calculation of the angle is also complicated. Therefore, there is a tendency for the time required for alignment to increase. In the second embodiment, when the two sensors 821 and 822 are used for mass production, the two workpiece marks WM1 and WM2 are simultaneously photographed to obtain the workpiece deviation angle. Therefore, the scanning operation of the workpiece W2 is not required, and the calculation processing is relatively simple. . So the time required for short alignment can be. Therefore, according to the second embodiment, the light direction processing can be performed with high directional precision and high productivity.

Further, in this case, in the second embodiment, the position and posture of each of the sensors 821 and 822 are adjusted by the workpiece W1 for adjustment in the post-alignment state. Therefore, the workpiece marks WM1 and WM2 of the second workpiece W2 are not produced during mass production. Deviate from the photographic area of the sensor so that it cannot be aligned. Once you can’t On time, the stage 21 can be appropriately moved as described above, but the apparatus of the second embodiment does not require this operation, and the productivity can be improved.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the orientation direction is set to be the short-side direction of the rectangular workpiece. However, this is an example of the direction of the longitudinal direction or the diagonal direction, and the direction of the specific portion of the workpiece is used as a reference and in any other direction. It can be obtained by setting the orientation direction.

Similarly to the longitudinal direction of the linear guide 23 (the conveyance direction of the workpiece), any direction such as the horizontal direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the linear guide 23 can be obtained as the device reference direction.

The angle of the orientation direction with respect to the device reference direction is 0 degrees (the same) in the above embodiments, but this can be arbitrarily set. When the setting orientation direction is inclined with respect to the device reference direction, a mechanism for changing the posture of the light irradiator 1 as described in Patent Document 2 may be employed.

Further, the polarization direction detector 40 is preferably in a state in which the photodetector 42 is aligned with the irradiation surface R (other heights similar to the irradiation surface R), but this is not a necessary condition. As long as the irradiation surface R is parallel to the photometric member 42, the position of the irradiation surface R may be up or down. Since the upper and lower sides do not cause the polarization direction of the polarized light to be greatly different from the irradiation surface R.

Further, although each of the sensors 31, 61, 821, and 822 is a CCD sensor, an image sensor other than the CCD sensor may be used, or a sensor other than the image sensor may be used. For example, it is also possible to use a pair of photosensors to capture pairs of the workpiece W or the photometric member 42. The change of the reflected light generated by the quasi-marking to detect the position of each of the alignment marks, and the detection of the center of the alignment mark can be performed as long as the shape of the alignment mark, the number of photosensors, or the arrangement position is managed. Or, the specific line amount (detection line amount) of the alignment mark is detected, and the configuration equivalent to the photographing by the image sensor is set.

Although the plate has been described as the workpiece, as long as it is related to the detection of the polarization direction or the alignment of the photometric member, the long workpiece disclosed in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2 can also be used for the roller-to-roll conveyance. Implemented in the same way.

Further, in the second embodiment, the configuration of imaging the images of the two workpiece marks of the aligned first workpiece W1 by the two sensors 821 and 822 is performed except for the case where the first workpiece W1 is conveyed. Two sensors 821, 822 can also be transferred. However, since one of the components for conveying the first workpiece W1 can also be used as the workpiece conveyance system 2, the configuration can be simplified.

1‧‧‧Light illuminator

2‧‧‧Workpiece handling system

3‧‧‧Workpiece aligner

4‧‧‧Polarization direction detection system

5‧‧‧Transfer organization

6‧‧‧Light meter aligner

9‧‧‧Main Control Department

11‧‧‧Light source

13‧‧‧Mirror

14‧‧‧shade

21‧‧‧ stage

23‧‧‧Linear Guides

24‧‧‧Transport drive source

31‧‧‧ Sensor

40‧‧‧Polar Direction Detector

51‧‧‧Transport drive shaft

52‧‧‧Transfer drive source

53‧‧‧Transversely moving orbit

54‧‧‧ Slider

55‧‧‧Driven block

61‧‧‧Determometer sensor

121‧‧‧Polarized components

210‧‧‧floor

211‧‧‧ driven block

212‧‧‧ Slider

401‧‧‧Detector stand

R‧‧‧illuminated area

W‧‧‧Workpiece

Claims (10)

A polarized light irradiation device for light direction, comprising a light-oriented polarized light irradiation device that irradiates polarized light to a light irradiator of a workpiece disposed on an irradiation surface through a polarizing element, and is characterized in that light is set on the workpiece. Oriented, and set the orientation direction as a direction to be directed to the polarization axis of the polarized light, and include a polarization direction detecting system for detecting a polarization axis direction of the polarized light irradiated on the irradiation surface, and a polarization direction detecting system capable of detecting the direction of the polarization axis as a direction The workpiece is disposed at a predetermined posture with respect to the device reference direction with respect to the device reference direction, and is irradiated with polarized light polarized in the set orientation direction with respect to the device reference direction, and the polarization direction detecting system is A polarization direction detector that can be disposed at a position that detects a direction of a polarization axis of the polarized light that is incident on the irradiation surface, the polarization direction detector includes a photometric member that is parallel to the irradiation surface, and light that is emitted from the light irradiator a light receiving device that receives light through the light measuring member; and rotates the light measuring member around a rotating shaft perpendicular to the illuminated surface The rotation driving source detects the polarization direction by the intensity of the light received by the light receiver according to the state of the change with the rotation of the light measuring member, the light measuring member is provided with the light measuring member aligner, and the light measuring member aligner is for detecting the polarized light The direction is such that the posture of the photometric member in the rotation origin when the photometric member is rotated is a posture toward the predetermined direction with respect to the device reference direction. Polarized illumination for light orientation as described in item 1 of the patent application The illuminating device is provided with an alignment mark, and the photo aligning aligner is provided with: a photometric sensor for detecting an alignment mark, and calculating the predetermined direction by outputting from the photometric sensor The calculation processing unit of the posture deviation amount of the photometric member is controlled by the rotation drive source to eliminate the calculated offset amount. The polarizing light-illuminating device for light-oriented according to the second aspect of the invention, wherein the polarizing element adjusting mechanism that adjusts an arrangement angle of the polarizing element is provided, and the polarizing element adjusting mechanism adjusts an arrangement angle of the polarizing element to eliminate borrowing. The polarization direction detection system detects the polarization direction and the amount of deviation of the set orientation direction. The light-aligning polarized light irradiation device according to claim 3, further comprising a workpiece transport system and a workpiece aligner that transport the workpiece toward the irradiation surface, wherein the set orientation direction is a direction in which the specific portion of the workpiece extends According to the reference, when the workpiece aligner transports the workpiece to the irradiation surface by the workpiece transport system, the posture of the workpiece is adjusted so that the extending direction of the specific portion of the workpiece is in a predetermined direction with respect to the device reference direction. The light-aligning polarized light irradiation device according to claim 4, wherein the first workpiece aligner is provided as the first and second workpiece aligners, and the first workpiece aligner is first. Alignment of the workpiece, the second workpiece aligner is to perform alignment of the second workpiece, Forming two first alignment marks on the first workpiece, and forming a first and second alignment marks on the second workpiece at the same position as the first workpiece, the first workpiece alignment The device detects the positions of the two alignment marks of the first workpiece, calculates the angle between the extending direction of the line connecting the two alignment marks and the reference direction of the device, and adjusts the posture of the first workpiece to be aligned to make the angle At a predetermined angle, the second workpiece aligner includes: first and second two sensors, an arithmetic processing unit, a memory unit, a stage posture adjusting mechanism, and a transfer mechanism, and the first and second two sensors The positional relationship of the two alignment marks of each workpiece can be simultaneously photographed, and after the alignment of the first workpiece is completed by the first workpiece aligner, the first workpiece after the alignment is completed or the first a second two sensors, in a state of the posture after the alignment is completed, a state in which the first alignment mark of the first workpiece is obtained as a first sensor, and the second sensor is obtained as a second sensor Second alignment mark state, operation Processing the image data of the first alignment mark of the first workpiece after the first sensor is photographed, and memorizing the position information of the first alignment mark in the memory portion, and processing the first sensor after the photographing The image data of the second alignment mark of a workpiece is used to memorize the position information of the second alignment mark in the memory portion, and the workpiece handling system is to transport the second workpiece to the first alignment by the first sensor. Marking and photographing the position of the second alignment mark with the second sensor, The stage posture adjusting mechanism is configured to position the first alignment mark of the second workpiece at a position where the first alignment mark of the first workpiece is positioned according to the position information read from the memory portion, and make the second workpiece second The alignment mark is located at a position where the second alignment mark of the first workpiece is positioned. A method of irradiating a polarized light for aligning light, comprising: arranging a workpiece on an irradiation surface, irradiating the irradiation surface with a polarized light, irradiating the workpiece with a polarized light, and detecting a polarized light irradiated to the irradiated surface In the polarization direction detecting step of the polarization direction of the light in the direction of the polarization axis, the workpiece is set to perform light orientation, and the orientation direction is set as the direction of the polarization axis to be directed to the polarization light, and the device reference direction is set in the device, and the polarization light is set. The illuminating step is arranging the workpiece on the illuminating surface in a predetermined posture with respect to the device reference direction to perform polarized light polarized in the set directional direction. The polarizing direction detecting step is to arrange the polarizing direction detector on the illuminating surface instead of the workpiece to detect the polarized light. The step of the direction of the axis, the polarization direction detector includes: a photometric member that is in a parallel posture with respect to the illumination surface; a photoreceptor that receives the light emitted from the light irradiator through the photometric member; and the optical axis of the photometric member that is perpendicular to the illumination surface Rotating drive source rotating around, according to the intensity of light received by the light receiver with metering A state change detecting rotation of the polarization direction, the metering member is provided with the alignment step, so that the posture of the metering member when the origin of rotation of the rotary metering member means toward the reference direction predetermined posture relative to the direction To detect the polarization direction, the polarization direction detecting step is a step of detecting the polarization direction by the polarization direction detector after the photometric member alignment step. The method of irradiating a polarized light for light direction according to claim 6, wherein the photometric member is provided with an alignment mark, and the photometric member alignment step is a step of controlling the rotation drive source, the control step is a photometry The sensor detects the alignment mark of the photometric member, and eliminates the amount of deviation of the posture of the photometric member from the photometric member in the predetermined direction by the output from the photometric member sensor and the arithmetic processing portion Calculated offset amount. The polarizing light irradiation method according to claim 7, wherein the polarizing element adjusting step of adjusting an arrangement angle of the polarizing element, wherein the polarizing element adjusting step adjusts the arrangement of the polarizing element by a polarizing element adjusting mechanism The angle is used to eliminate the step of the polarization direction detected by the polarization direction detecting system and the amount of deviation of the set orientation direction. The method of irradiating a polarized light for light direction according to the eighth aspect of the invention, wherein the method of transporting a workpiece to the irradiation surface, and a workpiece alignment step, wherein the setting orientation direction is an extension of a specific portion of the workpiece The direction is set as a reference, and the workpiece alignment step is a step of adjusting the posture of the workpiece so that the extending direction of the specific portion of the workpiece is in a predetermined direction with respect to the device reference direction when the workpiece is conveyed to the irradiation surface in the workpiece conveyance step . The method of irradiating a polarized light for light direction according to claim 9, wherein the first workpiece alignment step is the first workpiece alignment step of the workpiece alignment step, and the first workpiece alignment step is performed on the first workpiece In the step of aligning, the second workpiece alignment step is a step of aligning the second workpiece, the first and second alignment marks are formed on the first workpiece, and the second workpiece is the same as the first workpiece Forming a first and second alignment marks on the first workpiece, the first workpiece alignment step is to detect the positions of the two alignment marks of the first workpiece, and calculate the extending direction of the line connecting the two alignment marks with the above An angle formed by the reference direction of the device, adjusting a posture of the first workpiece to be aligned to make the angle a predetermined angle, and the second workpiece alignment step has: a first photographing step, a position information memory step, a second photographing step, and In the aligning step, the first photographic step is to transfer the first workpiece after the alignment or the first and second sensors by the transfer mechanism after the alignment of the first workpiece is finished, in the pair quasi- The state of the posture after the end is performed by the first sensor performing the photographing of the first alignment mark of the first workpiece, and the step of photographing the second alignment mark by the second sensor, the position information memory step is processing The image data of the first alignment mark of the first workpiece after the first sensor is photographed, the position information of the first alignment mark is memorized in the memory portion, and the first workpiece after the first sensor is processed is processed. The image data of the second alignment mark stores the position information of the second alignment mark in the memory portion, The second photographing step is to transport the second workpiece to the photographing position of each sensor, and photograph the second alignment by the second sensor while the first sensor photographs the first alignment mark of the first workpiece. In the step of marking, the aligning step reads the position information stored in the memory portion, and according to the read position information, the first alignment mark of the second workpiece is located at the position where the first alignment mark of the first workpiece is positioned. And causing the second alignment mark of the second workpiece to be located at a position where the second alignment mark of the first workpiece is positioned.