JP2769372B2 - LCD probe device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to an LCD probe device.

(Prior Art) In an LCD probe device, for example, a liquid crystal display element substrate (hereinafter abbreviated as an LCD substrate) or the like as a device under test is supported and fixed on a mounting table, and a probe electrode is brought into contact with an electrode pad of the device under test. And an electrical characteristic test such as a power test by a tester and a functional test by visual inspection of a display screen.

When using the LCD substrate as a device to be inspected, a probe having a plurality of probe electrodes corresponding to a plurality of electrode pads provided on each side of a liquid crystal panel which is a unit to be inspected formed in the LCD substrate Inspection has been performed by providing units and the like and bringing the probe electrodes of each unit and the like into contact with the object to be inspected.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, when inspecting the electrical characteristics of various sizes and large-sized liquid crystal panels in recent years, each probe card has a unique probe card according to the electrode pad arrangement on each side of the liquid crystal panel. Alternatively, the probe unit or the like must be replaced, and the replacement work and the subsequent positioning work not only increase the burden on the operator, but also reduce the use efficiency of the apparatus.

In addition, the liquid crystal panel may be formed with a large number of electrode pads on one side, for example, a linear shape of 1,000 electrode pads. Manufacturing a probe unit corresponding to this electrode pad configuration increases costs and increases the size of various sizes. The inspection object and the inspection of the inspection object lack versatility. Also, JP-A-61-
If the probe electrode group is brought into contact with the electrode pad array in a divided manner using the function disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 181143, the versatility of the apparatus is generated for the device under test, but the electrode pads are extremely large and large. When the probe unit is adapted to a liquid crystal panel or the like, it is necessary to increase the size of the probe unit with high precision, and there is a problem that the position control and the mechanism of the device become complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides versatility with a smaller number of simple driving mechanisms for a large number of electrode pads in various sizes of an inspection object and a large inspection area size. It is an object of the present invention to provide a probe device which reduces the replacement work of the probe unit, which is a pre-inspection process, and reduces the manufacturing cost of the probe unit.

[Configuration of the invention]

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides claim 1,
Square, with multiple electrode pads on at least three sides
In an LCD probe device for contacting a probe with the electrode pad of the inspection unit on the LCD substrate and inspecting electrical characteristics of the LCD substrate, a mounting table on which the LCD substrate is mounted and which can be moved in at least one axis direction. A fixed probe unit having probe electrodes that are arranged to face each other in parallel with the direction of movement of the mounting table and that correspond to a part of a number of electrode pads provided on opposite sides of the inspection unit body. And a probe electrode arranged at right angles to the direction of movement of the mounting table, and having probe electrodes arranged corresponding to a number of electrode pads provided on the remaining sides of the inspection unit, and integrally with the mounting table. A movable probe unit that moves, wherein the mounting table and the movable probe unit are moved within the size range of the inspection unit in the LCD substrate, and the inspection unit is divided and inspected. It is characterized in.

According to a second aspect, the mounting table of the first aspect is movable up and down,
The LCD substrate is raised, and the electrode pads are in contact with the probe electrodes of the fixed and movable probe units.

(Operation and Effect) According to the present invention, the relative position between the probe electrode of the fixed probe unit and the inspection unit on the LCD substrate is moved by moving the movable probe unit integrally with the mounting table on which the LCD substrate is mounted. Until changes, inspection units of various sizes can be divided and inspected, and the movement of a short distance by a small number of drive systems can efficiently perform inspections over a wide range in a divided manner. It is possible to reduce the work of replacing the probe unit, thereby reducing the burden on the operator and the operating cost of the apparatus.

Embodiment An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an LCD probe device will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, the inspection method will be described. An ordinary liquid crystal panel is an aggregate of liquid crystal display cells. Each cell is wired to a gate electrode and a drain electrode provided around the liquid crystal panel, and a current voltage is applied to each cell from these electrodes. In the inspection of the liquid crystal panel, which is an aggregate of the liquid crystal display cells, the leakage current of the drain electrode pad is detected while applying a voltage to the gate electrode pad, and the quality of the liquid crystal display cell is determined. Further, it is visually confirmed whether the display is correctly performed. In this way, the inspection of the liquid crystal panel is performed.

Next, the device will be described. This LCD probe device (1)
As shown in FIG. 1, the LCD is roughly divided into
Inspection unit (2) that performs electrical characteristic inspection of substrate (10)
And a transport unit (3) for transporting the LCD substrate (10) to the inspection unit (2).

The transport section (3) includes a storage section (31) for setting a carrier A containing an untested LCD substrate (10) and a storage section for setting a carrier B containing a tested LCD board (10). A carrier (A) for removing the untested LCD substrate (10) from the carrier A and transporting the untested LCD substrate (10) to the testing unit (2); and transporting the tested LCD substrate (10) to the carrier B. The vacuum tweezers (33) and the LCD substrate (1) transported by the vacuum tweezers (33)
0) is temporarily mounted, and a pre-alignment stage (34) for performing predetermined alignment is provided. The pre-alignment stage (34) is capable of vertical movement and θ rotation, rotates the mounted LCD substrate (10), and performs pre-alignment using a transmission type sensor such as a photo interrupter. As described above, by performing the positioning of the LCD substrate (10) in advance, the alignment in the inspection unit (2) to be described later is reduced, and the LCD having a considerable size is used.
It is possible to prevent adverse effects such as collision with the surrounding mechanism when the substrate (10) is transported.

Next, the configuration of the inspection section (2), which is a characteristic configuration of the apparatus of this embodiment, will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. FIG.

The inspection section (2) is provided with a mounting table (20) for supporting the LCD substrate (10) by, for example, vacuum suction. The mounting table (20) has an X-axis and a Y-axis that are orthogonal to the mounting surface.
The LCD substrate (10) is movable in the axial direction, the Z-axis direction which is the vertical direction, and the θ direction which is the circumferential direction of the Z-axis, using an alignment control mechanism (not shown) and a CCD camera (21).
Can be aligned in the X, Y, and θ directions, and can be driven in the Z direction so that the LCD substrate (10) can be brought into contact with a probe electrode described later.

The LCD substrate (10) is, for example, 450 mm long and 450 mm wide, and
For example, a plurality of rectangular liquid crystal panels (15) having a diagonal length of 10 inches, each of which is formed of a Y matrix wiring circuit or a liquid crystal display driving circuit formed by TFT technology, are formed at equal distances. A target mark for alignment is provided around the corner. On three sides around the liquid crystal panel (15), a large number of electrode pads are formed in a straight line at the same pitch interval, for example, 200 μm. To 80
0 gate electrodes are formed on the other side.
Individually formed. The electrical characteristics of the liquid crystal panel (15) are measured, for example, a continuity check is performed, and the LCD substrate (1) is measured.
Inspection of all liquid crystal panels (15) in (0) will be performed.
The inspection section (2) is configured to correspond to the measurement of the liquid crystal panel (15). That is, the inspection section (2) is provided with a probe mechanism (16). Next, the configuration of the probe mechanism (16) will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the probe mechanism (16) has a drain probe as a fixed probe unit connected to the drain electrode pad (17) when the liquid crystal panel (15) to be inspected is inspected. The units (18a) (18b) are fixed to the fixed supports (22a) (22b). In addition, a gate probe unit (26) as a movable probe unit connected to the gate electrode pad (25) is provided with a movable support base (2).
7) Fixed to. The drain probe electrodes (19a) (19a) are connected to the drain probe units (18a) (18b).
b) The drain electrode pad (17) on the liquid crystal panel (15)
For example, 400 gate electrodes are formed in the same arrangement as that of the above, and 200 gate probe electrodes (28) are similarly formed in the gate probe unit (26), and the drain probe electrodes (19a) (19b) and the gate probe Each of the electrodes (28) is electrically connected to a tester (not shown) via a cable or the like.

The movable support table (27) can be moved by a drive mechanism (30) to a desired distance in one axis direction indicated by A and B in the figure, and the direction is fixed by a guide shaft (33a). The support (22a) (22b) and the movable support (2
7) is a predetermined distance such that the drain probe electrodes (19a) (19b) and the gate probe electrode (28) are in contact with the drain electrode pad (17) and the gate electrode pad (25) on the liquid crystal panel (15), respectively. After being adjusted, the installation is fixed. At the start of the inspection of the liquid crystal panel (15), the movable support (27) is moved so that the gate probe electrode (28) and the drain probe electrode (19) have the same positional relationship as the electrode pads in the liquid crystal panel (15). ing.

Next, the operation of the probe device (1) for measuring a liquid crystal panel (15) formed on an LCD substrate (10) as an object to be inspected will be described.

The LCD substrate (10) is transported from the carrier A containing the untested LCD substrate (10) to the pre-alignment stage (34) by the vacuum tweezers (33), and is moved to the X axis and the Y axis in the probe mechanism (16), respectively. LCD to be parallel
The direction of the substrate (10) is roughly adjusted.

Later, the LCD substrate (10) is transported in parallel to the mounting table (20),
It is mounted on a mounting table (20). At this time, the predetermined target mark on the LCD board (10) is
The mounting table (20) is moved in each of the X-axis, Y-axis, and θ-axis directions using the alignment control mechanism, and the XYθ axes in the LCD substrate (10) are the XYθ axes in the probe mechanism (16). Fine adjustment is made so as to be the same as the direction of each axis. In the Z-axis direction, a predetermined distance is provided for a contact stroke with the probe electrode. Liquid crystal panel (15) in LCD substrate (10)
Is input to the probe device (1) in advance, and based on the information, the mounting table (20) is driven to move the first inspected liquid crystal panel (10) to a predetermined position of the probe mechanism. .

The liquid crystal panel (1
FIG. 5) shows the state shown in FIG.
Drive the gate probe electrode (28) and the drain probe electrode (19a) (19b) to the gate electrode pad (25) and the drain electrode pad (17) of the liquid crystal panel (15), respectively. Is applied. At this point, the inspection of the left side area (34) of the liquid crystal panel (15) is performed. After the inspection is completed, the mounting table (20) is lowered downward in the Z direction, and the mounting table (20) is further moved a predetermined distance L, for example, in the direction A, which is the same direction as the axial direction of the drive mechanism (30) in the figure. In the embodiment, the liquid crystal panel (15) is moved by the same distance L as one half of the side length on the drain electrode side, and furthermore, the movable support (27)
Is moved in the direction A by the same length L by using the drive mechanism (30). Next, as described above, when the mounting table (20) is raised upward, the gate probe electrode (28) is again placed on the gate electrode pad (25), and the drain probe electrode (19) is newly placed on the liquid crystal panel (15). It contacts the drain electrode pad (17) in the right area (35). Next, a predetermined test signal is applied from a tester (not shown) to the liquid crystal panel (1).
Inspect the right area (35) of 5). This completes the inspection of one liquid crystal panel (15). In the case of a large liquid crystal panel, the liquid crystal panel to be inspected can be divided and inspected by moving the predetermined distance L again.

Hereinafter, similarly, all the liquid crystal panels (1
5) is sequentially inspected, and the inspection of the LCD substrate (10) is completed.

The inspection-completed LCD substrate (10) is transported from the inspection unit (2) to the storage unit (3) by the vacuum tweezers (33) and stored in the carrier B.

All of the above-mentioned series of operations are automatically controlled by the CPU.
If position information of the CD substrate (10) is input, position control, inspection, and the like are automatically performed based on the information.

The above is the description of the embodiment apparatus provided with one movable gate probe electrode unit. In this case, the liquid crystal panel (15) has electrode pads arranged on three sides. However, in other liquid crystal panels, electrode pads are provided on four sides, and a gate electrode pad and a drain electrode pad are provided on opposite sides of the liquid crystal panel. In the case of such a liquid crystal panel, the same operation and effect can be obtained by providing two movable gate probe electrode units. At that time, as shown in FIG. 3, the movable support (27) and the guide shaft (33a) in FIG. 2 are provided at opposing positions, respectively, and the operation is performed by the gate probe electrode (28).
It suffices to operate so that the distance between them is always equal to the distance between the rows of gate electrode pads (25) of the liquid crystal panel (15).
Movable support A that holds the opposing gate probe unit A (41) and gate probe unit B (43), respectively
The support (4) connecting the (40) and the movable support B (42)
If the distance between the gate probe units is adjusted and fixed according to 4), the one probe mechanism (30) moves the two probe units while maintaining the distance from each other, thereby reducing the area in the liquid crystal panel (15). It is possible to carry out the inspection in a divided manner.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of a probe device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a probe mechanism of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a case where two movable probe units are provided in the probe mechanism of FIG. FIG. 15 ... LCD panel, 10 ... LCD board 27 ... Movable support stand, 19 ... Fixed support stand 20 ... Placement stand, 21 ... CCD camera 26 ... Gate probe unit 18 ... Drain probe unit 44 ... Support

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An LCD probe device for inspecting electrical characteristics of an LCD substrate by bringing a probe into contact with the electrode pads of a test unit on an LCD substrate having a large number of electrode pads on at least three sides in a rectangular shape. A mounting table on which the LCD substrate is mounted and movable in at least one axis direction; and a plurality of mounting tables arranged opposite to each other in parallel with the moving direction of the mounting table and provided on opposite sides of the inspection unit. A fixed probe unit having a probe electrode arranged corresponding to a part of the electrode pad, and a plurality of electrode pads arranged at right angles to the moving direction of the mounting table and provided on the remaining side of the inspection unit. A movable probe unit having a probe electrode arranged correspondingly and moving integrally with the mounting table, wherein the mounting table and the movable probe unit are connected to an inspection unit in the LCD substrate. An LCD probe device, wherein the inspection unit is divided and inspected by moving within the range of the size of the body. 2. The LCD probe device according to claim 1, wherein the mounting table is movable up and down, and the LCD substrate is raised so that the electrode pads contact the probe electrodes of the fixed and movable probe units.