JP2008116470A - Substrate-inspecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate-inspection device capable of attaining precise visual inspection for a substrate to be inspected. <P>SOLUTION: The whole of a device body 4, having a substrate holder 10 for holding the substrate to be inspected, is made to be movable along a guide 1a of a base table 1, the device body 4 is made to be rotatable around a Z-axis as the center via a rotary part 6, and further, the substrate holder 10 itself is also to be rotatable around an X-axis orthogonal to the Z-axis as the center via a shaft part 12 having a friction mechanism. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate inspection apparatus used for visual inspection of a glass substrate of a flat panel display (FPD).

  Conventionally, in the inspection of a substrate such as a glass substrate of an FPD, a glass substrate surface is held by a hand and moved in the range of illumination light while illuminating light is applied to the surface of the glass substrate. There is known a method that enables visual inspection for observing a defective portion such as the above.

  By the way, recently, FPD glass substrates have become larger and larger due to the compatibility with large screens and increased efficiency by obtaining multiple products from a single glass substrate. In addition, when the glass substrate is enlarged, it becomes difficult to hold it by hand, and observation becomes impossible.

  In view of this, a substrate inspection apparatus is considered in which a glass substrate is placed on a substrate holder instead of a hand, and the appearance of the glass substrate is observed while moving the substrate holder.

  However, the conventional substrate inspection apparatuses have a drawback that the degree of freedom of movement of the glass substrate is considerably limited and difficult to use compared to the inspection method by hand holding due to restrictions on the movement mechanism of the substrate holder.

  Also, in the conventional substrate inspection apparatus, the mounting direction of the glass substrate is determined in order to achieve a swinging and moving mechanism at the time of inspection, but recently, the use efficiency in a clean room with limited space is effective. From the viewpoint of improvement, it is desired to be able to mount from various directions.

  Furthermore, glass substrates and the like are very precise, and even a few particles can be defective. As a general clean room structure, air flows from the ceiling toward the floor (down flow), and particles are caused to flow under the floor by the air. For this reason, in order to prevent particles generated as a structure of the apparatus from falling on the glass substrate, it is necessary to isolate the particle generation source or to arrange it under the glass substrate as much as possible.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate inspection apparatus capable of realizing an appearance inspection of a substrate to be inspected with high accuracy.

The invention according to claim 1 is a substrate inspection apparatus in which an observer visually inspects a glass substrate irradiated with illumination light to inspect defects on the glass substrate, and a rectangular substrate holding unit that holds the glass substrate; First rotation support means for rotatably supporting the substrate holder on a horizontal axis;
It is characterized by comprising a support base to which the first rotation support means is attached and a base that supports the support base so as to be linearly movable in the left-right direction with respect to the observer. 1
The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in claim 1, further comprising second rotation support means for rotatably supporting the first rotation support means on an axis orthogonal to the horizontal axis. Toru.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the first rotation support means connects a pair of upright frames and the upright frames that rotatably support the substrate holding portion on a horizontal axis. It has a horizontal frame, and the 2nd rotation support means has a rotation part which supports the approximate center of the horizontal frame so that rotation is possible on a perpendicular axis.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the apparatus further comprises height adjusting means for moving the substrate holding portion in the vertical direction.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the present invention, the height adjusting means extends and contracts a pair of upright frames that rotatably support the substrate holding portion on a horizontal axis.

  A sixth aspect of the present invention is the method according to any one of the fourth or fifth aspects, wherein the height adjusting means is adjusted to a height that is easy for an observer to observe while the substrate holding portion is tilted at a predetermined angle. It is characterized by.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform an appearance inspection with a high degree of freedom while applying left and right and up and down swings to the substrate to be inspected on the substrate holding means. High test results can be obtained.

  In addition, the substrate to be inspected can be rotated not only about the Z and X axes, but also about the Y axis, so that the appearance can be inspected from various directions. Can be obtained.

  Furthermore, there is no obstacle above the substrate holding means, and it is possible to prevent any restrictions on the mounting direction of the substrate to be inspected on the substrate holding surface. It can be effectively applied even in a clean room where only a narrow space where the direction is determined can be secured.

  Furthermore, even if particles are generated by the moving means and the load relaxation means, it is possible to prevent the substrate to be inspected held by the substrate holding means from being affected.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
1A and 1B show a schematic configuration of a substrate inspection apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a base, which has a guide 1a extending in a linear direction and a plurality of fixed legs 2.

  The apparatus main body 4 is supported by such a base 1. The apparatus main body 4 has a cylindrical shape that is rotatably supported via a plurality of bearings 6a on a support base 5 that is moved along the guide 1a of the base 1 and a shaft portion 5b that protrudes from the support base 5. The rotating part 6 is provided.

  In this case, the support base 5 has a plurality of rollers 5a and is movable along the guide 1a in the direction indicated by the arrow. Further, the support portion 5 is provided with cylinders 7 and 8 in a direction along the guide 1a. These cylinders 7 and 8 have substantially the same operating force as the force required for the movement of the apparatus main body 4 along the guide 1a. By moving the apparatus main body 4 while pressing a left switch (not shown). The operating force of the cylinder 8 can be moved in the left direction in the figure by applying a light force with the operating force of the cylinder 7. Similarly, the operating force of the cylinder 8 is applied by moving the device body 4 while pressing the right switch (not shown). The apparatus body 4 can be moved in the right direction in the figure with a light force. If these switches are provided in the upright frames 9a and 9b of the substrate support base 9, which will be described later, preferably the handle portions of the upright frames 9a and 9b, the operability of the switches can be improved.

  The rotating unit 6 is provided with a substrate support frame 9. The substrate support base 9 has a pair of upright frames 9a and 9b facing each other and a horizontal frame 9c connecting the upright frames 9a and 9b. The central part of the horizontal frame 9c is fixed to the rotating part 6 and is rotatable about the shaft part 5b.

  And the substrate holder 10 as a board | substrate holding means is provided in the upright frame 9a, 9b front-end | tip part. This substrate holder 10 sucks and holds the peripheral portion of a substrate 11 to be inspected such as an FPD glass substrate using air or the like. The central portions of both side edges of the substrate holder 10 are provided with shaft portions 12 and 12 having a friction mechanism. And is supported by the upright frames 9a and 9b so as to be rotatable about the X axis. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the friction mechanism of the shaft portions 12 and 12 has the tip portion of the shaft portion 12 formed in the small diameter portion 12a, and the small diameter portion 12a is connected to the upright frame 9a (9b) via the spring 12b. By inserting the tip portion and tightening and fixing with the nut 12d through the presser plate 12c having a spring property, it is possible to obtain friction that can maintain this state when the substrate holder 10 is rotated by a predetermined angle. I have to.

  On the other hand, the upright frames 9a and 9b have a stretchable structure, and the cylinders 13 and 14 are embedded therein, respectively. These cylinders 13 and 14 have a push-up force that balances the weight of the substrate holder 10 holding the substrate 11 to be inspected. The cylinder holders 10 and 14 move the substrate holder 10 up and down with a light force by the operating force of the cylinders 13 and 14. I can do it.

  Next, the operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be described.

  First, after lowering the substrate holder 10 in the Z-axis direction, the substrate holder 10 is rotated until it becomes horizontal about the X-axis, and the apparatus body 4 is moved along the guide 1a of the base 1 to the substrate transfer position. Then, the substrate 11 to be inspected is placed on the substrate holder 10 by the substrate transport means (not shown), the substrate 11 to be inspected is positioned at a predetermined position by a positioning member (not shown), and is sucked and held by a substrate pressing member (not shown).

  From this state, the apparatus body 4 is again moved along the guide 1a of the base 1 to an observation position where macro illumination for appearance observation is prepared, and appearance inspection is performed under this illumination.

  The substrate holder 10 is rotated around the X axis to incline the substrate 11 to be inspected at a predetermined angle, and the length of the upright frames 9a and 9b of the substrate support base 9 is adjusted so that it can be easily observed by an observer. Match. Then, the surface of the inspected substrate 11 is visually observed under macro illumination, and the surface of the substrate is observed. In this case, when the side of the substrate holder 10 is pulled and pushed, the entire apparatus main body 4 rotates around the Z axis. By doing so, it becomes possible to observe the appearance while adding a horizontal swing, and when the substrate holder 10 is pulled by holding the upper and lower ends, the substrate holder 10 rotates about the X axis. It is possible to observe the appearance while adding vertical swing.

  Thereafter, when the inspection of the inspected substrate 11 is completed, the substrate holder 10 is rotated until it becomes horizontal, the inspected inspected substrate 11 is replaced with a new inspected substrate 11, and the same operation as described above is repeated. It becomes like this.

  Accordingly, in this way, the entire apparatus main body 4 having the substrate holder 10 that holds the substrate 11 to be inspected can be linearly moved along the guide 1 a of the base 1, and the apparatus main body 4 can be moved via the rotating unit 6. Since the substrate holder 10 itself is configured to be rotatable about the X axis via the shaft portion 12 having a friction mechanism, the substrate holder 10 can be rotated by an independent manual operation. The appearance inspection can be performed under a movement with a high degree of freedom while swinging left and right and up and down with respect to the substrate 11 to be inspected, and a highly accurate inspection result can be obtained.

  Further, since the rotation of the substrate holder 10 about the X axis can be stopped at that position even if the hand is released during the rotation by the friction mechanism, the safety for the observer can be sufficiently secured.

  Further, the moving means for moving the apparatus main body 4 along the guide 1a of the base 1 and the moving means having the upright and retractable frames 9a and 9b of the substrate support base 9 are cylinders 7 for reducing the movement load of these moving means. 8, 8, 13, and 14 are disposed below the rotation center axis X of the substrate holder 10, so that the substrate 11 to be inspected on the substrate holder 10 is contaminated even if particles are generated by these moving means and load relaxation means. There is nothing.

  In the substrate holder 10 described above, the peripheral portion of the substrate to be inspected 11 is held by suction using air or the like. For example, when the substrate to be inspected 11 is large, it is shown in FIG. Thus, in addition to the frame portion 10a having the substrate suction portion 10b that sucks the peripheral portion of the substrate 11 to be inspected, the auxiliary holding portion 10c having the substrate suction portion 10b that sucks the plate surface of the substrate 11 to be inspected is provided. Good. In this way, the entire surface of the inspected substrate 11 can be held in a flat state. When the substrate 11 to be inspected is thick and heavy, as shown in FIG. 4, a fixed key portion 10d that clamps these peripheral portions is provided corresponding to the peripheral portions of the substrate 11 to be inspected. In addition, a key portion 10e that is rotatably supported by a support point 10f is provided corresponding to one side edge, and the fixed key portion 10d first holds the three sides of the peripheral portion of the inspected substrate 11 and can rotate from this state. The key part 10e is rotated to hold the remaining one. In this way, it is possible to reliably hold the inspected substrate 11 that is thick and heavy.

(Second Embodiment)
FIGS. 5A and 5B show a schematic configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention, and the same parts as those in FIG.

  In this case, the substrate holder 10 is provided with a rotation holder 15 so that the substrate 11 to be inspected can be held on the rotation holder 15. The rotation holder 15 is rotatable on the surface of the substrate holder 10, and the center of rotation is on the intersection point of the X axis and the Z axis and on the axis Y perpendicular to the plane having the X axis and the Z axis.

  In this way, the substrate 11 to be inspected on the substrate holder 10 can obtain not only rotation about the Z axis and X axis but also rotation about the Y axis, and performs appearance inspection from various directions. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a test result with higher accuracy.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the substrate holder 10 that is rotatably supported through the shaft portions 12, 12 having the friction mechanism at the tips of the upright frames 9 a, 9 b of the substrate support base 9 holds the substrate 11 to be inspected. When the substrate holding surface 101 to be rotated is rotated to a parallel position, the substrate holding surface 101 is positioned at the uppermost part of the apparatus main body 4, and the same applies to the first embodiment.

  In this way, there is no obstacle around the substrate holding surface 101 of the substrate holder 10, and there is no restriction on the placement direction of the substrate 11 to be inspected on the substrate holding surface 101. In addition, the present invention can be effectively applied even in a clean room in which only a narrow space in which the mounting direction of a conventional substrate is determined can be secured.

  In the above-described embodiment, the apparatus main body 4 is fixed by the plurality of fixed legs 2, but the entire base 1 may be moved using a caster. In this way, the apparatus main body 4 can be freely moved, and can be used as a cassette for storing the substrate to be inspected or a carrier for transporting the substrate to be inspected 11 between the production line and the inspection station under macro illumination. Can be used.

The figure which shows schematic structure of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows schematic structure of the friction mechanism used for 1st implementation. The figure which shows the modification of the board | substrate holder used for 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the other modification of the substrate holder used for 1st Embodiment. The front view which shows schematic structure of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The front view which shows the use condition of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Base, 1a ... Guide 2 ... Fixed leg, 4 ... Apparatus main body 5 ... Support stand, 5a ... Roller 5b ... Shaft part, 6 ... Rotating part 6a ... Bearing, 7 ... Cylinder 8 ... Cylinder, 9 ... Substrate support stand 9a, 9b ... Upright frame, 9c ... Horizontal frame 10 ... Substrate holder, 101 ... Substrate holding surface 10a ... Frame portion, 10b ... Substrate adsorption portion 10c ... Auxiliary holding portion, 10d ... Fixed key portion 10e ... Key portion, 11 ... Covered Inspection board 12 ... Shaft part, 12a ... Small diameter part 12b ... Spring, 12c ... Presser plate 12d ... Nut, 13.14 ... Cylinder 15 ... Rotating holder,

Claims (6)

In the substrate inspection apparatus in which the observer visually inspects the glass substrate irradiated with the illumination light and inspects the defect on the glass substrate,
A rectangular substrate holder for holding the glass substrate;
First rotation support means for rotatably supporting the substrate holder on a horizontal axis;
A support for mounting the first rotation support means;
A base that supports the support base so as to be linearly movable in the left-right direction with respect to the observer;
A board inspection apparatus comprising: 2. The substrate inspection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising second rotation support means for rotatably supporting the first rotation support means on an axis orthogonal to the horizontal axis. The first rotation support means has a pair of upright frames that rotatably support the substrate holding portion on a horizontal axis and a horizontal frame that connects between the two upright frames, and the second rotation support means includes: The substrate inspection apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a rotating unit that rotatably supports a substantially center of the horizontal frame about a vertical axis. The substrate inspection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising height adjusting means for moving the substrate holding portion in the vertical direction. 5. The substrate inspection apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the height adjusting means extends and contracts a pair of upright frames that rotatably support the substrate holding portion on a horizontal axis. 6. The substrate inspection apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the height adjusting unit adjusts the height to be easily observed by an observer in a state where the substrate holding portion is inclined at a predetermined angle.

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