JPH08110363A - Inspection device of flat panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To accurately and easily position a positioning groove on a substrate for supporting a probe unit with a simple structure by forming a groove to be positioned on the opposing surface of the substrate of the probe unit. CONSTITUTION: A first positioning groove 11 extended in the pitch direction of a probe pin 7 and a second positioning groove 12 extended in a direction for crossing it are formed on a substrate 2 for supporting a probe unit 3. Also, first and second grooves 13 and 14 to be positioned corresponding to the positioning grooves 11 and 12 are formed on a surface of the probe unit 13 opposing the substrate 2. Then, the probe unit 3 is fixed to the substrate 2 by including an aligning member 15 consisting of a circular rod body or a spherical body between the grooves 13 and 14 to be positioned of the probe unit 3 and the positioning grooves 11 and 12 of the substrate 2, thus accurately positioning the probe unit 3, improving working efficiency and at the same time achieving a stable mounting accuracy, and narrowing a conductor pitch for coping with the increase in the number of layout.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

The present invention relates to a flat panel having a large number of circuit elements and conductors for leading the elements to external contacts, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC).
The present invention relates to a flat panel inspection device for inspecting electrical continuity of the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, liquid crystal displays which can be made smaller and thinner have been widely used as display devices for personal computers, televisions and the like. In this liquid crystal display, electrode lines (conductors) are formed in a grid pattern on a surface of a liquid crystal panel at a predetermined pitch, and liquid crystal elements (circuit elements) are formed at intersections of the electrode lines.
It has a structure in which

When manufacturing such a liquid crystal display, various product inspections are performed in the manufacturing process. For example, when conducting a continuity inspection of a liquid crystal panel, an inspection device equipped with a probe unit is adopted, and the inspection device includes a board that moves up and down in a direction perpendicular to the liquid crystal panel,
And a plurality of probe units attached to the board. This probe unit is constructed by disposing and fixing probe pins on an insulating base at a pitch corresponding to the external contacts of the electrode wires (for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 4-272).
865, Japanese Patent Application No. 4-281938). Then, the board is lowered to bring the tips of the probe pins into contact with the external contacts of the electrode wires of the liquid crystal panel, thereby checking the electrical continuity and judging the quality of the product.

By the way, in order to surely bring the probe pins into contact with the external contacts of the electrode lines of the liquid crystal panel, the pitch precision of the probe pins and the precision of mounting the probe unit on the board are important. Above all, the mounting accuracy of the probe unit is important for obtaining the reliability of the inspection accuracy of the entire apparatus.

As a mounting structure for such a probe unit, conventionally, a mounting bolt insertion hole for the probe unit is formed to have a diameter larger than the bolt diameter, and the unit is provided within the range of the gap between the hole diameter and the bolt diameter. There is a method of positioning by moving and fixing in this state by bolting, or a method of arranging each probe unit on the stage of the manipulator and moving the stage in the left-right and up-down directions to perform the positioning.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional structure, there is a problem that the workability is low and stable mounting accuracy cannot be obtained because the work is troublesome depending on the intuition of a skilled person.

Particularly, in recent liquid crystal displays, the electrode line pitch is becoming narrower along with the increase in the number of pixels due to higher image quality, and the screen itself is also becoming larger. In order to cope with such a narrowing of the pitch, it is necessary to further improve the accuracy of mounting the probe unit, and in order to cope with the increase in the number of arranged probe units accompanying the larger screen, positioning during mounting Workability needs to be improved. The above conventional structure cannot meet these requirements.

Here, for example, positioning by so-called pin fitting, in which a positioning knock pin is implanted in the board and the knock pin is press-fitted into a pin hole of the probe unit, can be considered. However, with this structure, it is necessary to provide multiple sets of knock pins and pin holes, but it is especially difficult to ensure the dimensional accuracy between the knock pins, and repeated replacement of the probe unit causes wear on the knock pins and pin holes due to wear. There is a problem that the deviation easily occurs, and as a result, it is difficult to cope with the narrowing of the pitch and the increase in the number of arrangements.

Further, as the screen becomes larger, the amount of thermal expansion of the probe unit mounting base increases, the mounting pitch of the probe unit changes accordingly, and as a result, the pitch accuracy of the probe pins may decrease.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, has a simple structure, can perform positioning work easily with high accuracy, and can suppress changes in the mounting pitch of the probe unit due to thermal expansion. It is an object of the present invention to provide a flat panel inspection device capable of coping with a reduction in pitch and an increase in the number of probe units arranged.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, the quality of a flat panel provided with a large number of circuit elements and conductors for leading the circuit elements to external contacts arranged at a predetermined pitch is determined by the above-mentioned external In the inspection device of the flat panel, the probe pin arranged corresponding to the contact point pitch of the probe unit is brought into contact with the contact point to inspect,
A first positioning groove extending in the pitch direction and a second positioning groove extending in the direction orthogonal to the pitch direction are formed on a base supporting the probe unit, and the first positioning groove is formed on a surface of the probe unit facing the base. Forming first and second positioned grooves corresponding to the second positioning groove between the first and second positioned grooves of the probe unit and the first and second positioning grooves of the base. It is characterized in that the probe unit is fixed to the base through an alignment member made of a circular rod or a sphere.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the first and second positioning grooves and the first and second positioning grooves are V-shaped grooves having inclined surfaces that are equiangular with respect to a center line. The alignment member is in contact with the inclined surface of the V-shaped groove, and the axis of the alignment member is aligned with the center line of the V-shaped groove in the pitch direction and the orthogonal direction.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the base is made of a material having a coefficient of thermal expansion substantially equal to that of the flat panel, and is divided into a plurality of pieces. .

[0014]

In order to mount the probe unit in the present invention, aligning members are arranged in the first and second positioning grooves of the base, and the probe unit is mounted in the first and second positioning units.
The positioning groove is arranged so as to abut the alignment member in the first and second positioning grooves, and in this state, for example, bolted and fixed. In this case, first, the axis of the aligning member is automatically aligned with the center lines of the first and second positioning grooves, and then the first and second positioned grooves are automatically aligned with the aligning member. As a result, the probe unit is simultaneously positioned in both the pitch direction and the pitch orthogonal direction.

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the positioning groove extending in the pitch direction and the pitch orthogonal direction is formed on the base of the inspection apparatus, and the positioning groove corresponding to the positioning groove is formed on the probe unit. Since the alignment member made of a circular rod or a sphere is interposed between the corresponding positioning grooves, the probe unit can be accurately positioned with a simple structure, and the work by a conventional expert can be eliminated.
Workability can be improved and stable mounting accuracy can be obtained. As a result, it is possible to cope with the narrowing of the electrode line (conductor) pitch accompanying the increase in the number of pixels and the increase in the probe unit accompanying the enlargement of the screen.

Further, according to the present invention, since the inner surface of each positioning groove and the aligning member such as the circular rod are positioned by making line contact or point contact, even if an error occurs in the diameter of the aligning member. There is almost no effect on the positioning accuracy.Therefore, the machining accuracy can be relaxed compared to the case where the outer peripheral surface of the pin is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the pin hole over the entire circumference as in the case of the above-described pin fitting, and the alignment with the inner surface of the positioning groove is adjusted. Since the contact point with the core member changes each time the probe unit is replaced, the problem of deterioration of positioning accuracy due to wear does not occur.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the positioning groove is a V-shaped groove, and the aligning member such as a circular rod or a sphere is brought into contact with the inner surface of the V-shaped groove, so that the positioning accuracy can be further improved.

In order to prevent deterioration of the probe pin pitch accuracy due to thermal expansion, the base may be made of a material having a thermal expansion coefficient substantially the same as that of the flat panel. As a material having a thermal expansion coefficient substantially the same as that of a flat panel,
There are ceramic type. However, ceramics are difficult to process, and it is difficult to accurately manufacture a base having a size corresponding to the increase in screen size. Therefore, in the invention of claim 3, since the base is divided into a plurality of pieces, the divided base becomes relatively small, and therefore, the above-mentioned ceramic material can be adopted and the dimensional accuracy can be kept high. Also, since it is divided into multiple parts, the amount of thermal expansion per base is reduced,
From this point as well, the probe pin pitch can be maintained with high accuracy.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 7 are views for explaining a flat panel inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the inventions of claims 1 and 2, and FIG. 1 is a side view showing a main part of the apparatus of this embodiment, and FIG. Is a perspective view of the probe pin, FIGS. 3 and 4 are side views and bottom views of the apparatus of the above-described embodiment, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are exploded perspective views, perspective views and views of the mounting state of the probe unit of the apparatus of the above-described embodiment. 7 is a front view showing a positioning device at the time of assembling the probe unit. In the present embodiment, an inspection device used for the continuity inspection of a liquid crystal panel (flat panel) of a liquid crystal display will be described as an example.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is an inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment. The inspection apparatus 1 is arranged on a rectangular frame-shaped board 2 which moves up and down in a vertical direction (direction of arrow a in FIG. 1) and a lower surface 2a of the board 2. The eight probe units 3 provided and a measuring device (not shown) are provided. The opening 2b of the board 2 is formed to be slightly larger than the outer shape of the liquid crystal panel A, and a pair of probe units 3 is arranged on each side of the opening 2b. Of course, the number of probe units 3 is not limited to eight. The above liquid crystal panel A
Has a structure in which a large number of liquid crystal elements as circuit elements are arranged on the upper surface of the circuit board, and the respective liquid crystal elements are led out to electrode contacts (conductors) at external contacts arranged and formed at a predetermined pitch on the periphery of the circuit board. It is a thing.

The probe unit 3 has a structure in which a pin unit 6 is supported by a holder 5 having a rectangular parallelepiped shape. The pin unit 6 has 80 to 300 probe pins 7.
Arrange them with a pitch of 00 μm or less and a pitch error of ± 20 μm or less, and mount them on a thermoplastic resin base (insulating base).
It is configured by being fixedly attached to the upper part of FIG.

The probe pin 7 has a wire diameter of 20 to 50 μm.
A Ni film is formed on the surface of the m low carbon duplex steel wire by electroplating or the like, and Au, Ag, Pt is formed on the surface of the Ni film.
This is a structure in which a conductive noble metal film made of, for example, is also formed by plating. The low carbon dual-phase steel wire is produced by subjecting a wire containing Fe as a main component to which C, Si, and Mn are added to strong working by cold drawing, and is produced by this. The processing cells have a fibrous fine metal structure in which fibers are arranged in one direction, and the tensile strength is 300 to
It is 600 Kgf / mm ² (see JP-A-62-20824). In addition to the steel wire, a stainless wire, a piano wire, or an amorphous wire can be used as the metal wire for the probe pin.

The probe pin 7 is composed of a body portion 7a located on a resin base 8 as an insulating base and a protrusion 7b protruding outward from the base 8. Approximately 1/2 of the main body 7a in the diameter direction is embedded in the resin base 8, and the remaining portion is exposed on the surface of the base 8.
This is manufactured by the following method. A concave groove is formed in the portion of the resin base 8 on which the probe pin 7 abuts with the above-described pitch accuracy, and the lower end of the probe pin 7 is sandwiched and supported by both edge angles of the concave groove. Then, the probe pin 7 is tensioned in a tensioned state, and is bonded and fixed in this state. It should be noted that the main body portion 7 with the above tension applied.
The main body portion 7a may be melted and embedded and fixed in the concave groove portion of the resin base 8 with which the main body portion 7a abuts by heating a by energization. The manufacturing method is described in Japanese Patent Application No. 4-28 mentioned above.
1938 for further details.

Since each probe pin 7 is held on the resin base 8 in this manner, a fine pitch of 300 μm or less and an error range of pitch accuracy of ± 20 μm or less are possible, and it is possible to cope with the recent increase in the number of pixels. . Incidentally, when the number of pixels of the liquid crystal panel 4 is 800,000, the required probe pin pitch is 150 μm, but according to the present embodiment, it can be realized by setting the wire diameter of the probe pin 7 to 100 μm. Also, in the case of 3 million pixels, the required probe pin pitch is about 80 μm, but according to the present embodiment, it can be realized by setting the wire diameter to 50 μm. Further, the wire diameter of the probe pin 7 can be set to 20 μm. In this case, the electrode wire pitch 2 of the liquid crystal panel 4 is
It can handle 5 μm.

The body 7a of each probe pin 7 of the pin unit 6 has a TAB (Tape Automat) not shown.
ed Bondig) is attached, and the TAB is connected to the measuring device of the inspection device 1. The TAB is formed by patterning a wiring to which each probe pin 7 is connected to a flexible film by an etching method or the like.
The respective wires and the respective probe pins 7 are collectively and simultaneously connected by thermocompression bonding. In addition to the TAB, a flexible printed circuit board, a glass substrate or the like can be adopted.

The probe pin 7 is straight from the main body portion 7a to the projecting portion 7b, and the tip portion 7c of the projecting portion 7b which abuts against the liquid crystal panel A is bent in an R shape on the base 8 side. . The tip portion 7c is formed by pressing with a mold, and the R outer peripheral surface of the tip portion 7c serves as a contact.

A notch 5a is provided on the lower surface of the holder 5 for supporting the resin base 8 at each angle θ with respect to the liquid crystal panel A.
Are formed. The resin base 8 is provided in the cutout portion 5a.
Are arranged so that the probe pins 7 are located on the lower side, are positioned in the pitch direction by a method described later, and are then fixed by adhesion. The inclination angle θ of the resin base 8 is set to 30 degrees, for example. The probe pin 7 has self-elasticity in which the tip 7c of the protruding portion 7b is elastically deformed by the amount by which the board 2 is further lowered from the state where the tip 7c of the protruding portion 7b is in contact with the liquid crystal panel. It slides forward (in the direction of arrow b) from the position in contact with A.

Further, a chamfered portion 8a is formed on the side of the protruding portion 7b of the resin base 8 so as to be substantially vertical. As a result, the tip portion 7c of the probe pin 7 can be seen from above the inspection device 1 vertically, and as a result, it can be determined whether or not the tip portion 7c is in contact with the external contact of the electrode wire without coming off. It is possible.

The board 2 is preferably made of a material having a thermal expansion coefficient substantially equal to that of the liquid crystal panel A, for example, a ceramic material. As shown in FIG. 4, four first positioning grooves 11 are formed on the lower surface 2a of the board 2 along each outer edge 2c of the board 2, and the first positioning grooves 11 are formed.
Extend in the pitch direction (X direction) of the probe pins 7 of the probe unit 3 arranged on the board lower surface 2a. The first positioning groove 11 is formed on the lower surface 2a of the board 2.
Two second positioning grooves 12 that are orthogonal to each other are formed in parallel, and the second positioning grooves 12 extend in a direction (Y direction) orthogonal to the pitch direction of each probe pin 7. All these first and second positioning grooves 11 and 12 are set on a processing machine in order to improve the accuracy of the right angle in the X and Y directions.
It is formed by processing without removing until all processing is completed.

The first and second positioning grooves 11 and 12 are formed in a V-shape so that the angle B as viewed in a cross section is 90 degrees and the angle B is symmetrical with respect to the center line c. The inner surfaces of 11 and 12 are polished. Incidentally, 11a and 12a are relief grooves of a grindstone at the time of polishing.

On the surface of each holder 5 facing the board 2, the first and second positioning grooves 11 and 12 corresponding to the first and second positioning grooves 11 and 12 are formed.
The second positioned grooves 13 and 14 are formed. Each of the positioned grooves 13 and 14 is formed in a V shape so as to form an angle symmetrical to the center line c at 90 degrees, and the inner surface thereof is subjected to polishing. In addition, 13a, 14
Reference symbol a is a relief groove of the grindstone.

First and second positioning grooves 1 of the board 2
1, 12 and the first and second positioned grooves 13, 1 of the holder 5
4, circular rod-shaped pins 15 and 15 serving as alignment members are respectively interposed, and each pin 15 is in line contact with the inner surface of each of the positioning grooves 11 to 14. Each of the holders 5 is a bolt 1 screwed from the upper surface side of the board 2.
It is fastened and fixed by 6. The depth of each of the positioning grooves 11, 13, or 12, 14 and each pin 15
The diameter of the pin 15 is between the two grooves 11, 13 or 12, 14.
Is set so that a gap is formed between the lower surface 2d of the board 2 and the facing surface 5b of the holder 5 such that the centering operation of the holder 5 is not hindered.

Here, the positioning of the pin unit 6 in the holder 5 is performed by the positioning device 20 shown in FIG. This is the fixed base 2 of the positioning device 20.
Positioning grooves corresponding to the first and second positioning grooves 11 and 12 are formed on the upper surface of 1, and between the grooves 11 and 12 and the first and second positioned grooves 13 and 14 of the holder 5. The holder 5 is positioned and fixed with the pin 15 interposed.
Then, the resin base 8 of the pin unit 6 is placed in the notch portion 5a of the holder 5 and the probe pin 7 positioned at the center in the pitch direction is aligned so as to be positioned at the center in the pitch direction of the entire holder 5. This alignment work is performed by moving the pin unit 6 in the pitch direction with the left and right micrometer 22, 23 while observing the probe pin serving as the center pin with a microscope. Then, the resin base 8 is positioned and fixed with a resin adhesive.

Next, the function and effect of this embodiment will be described. To assemble the probe unit 3 to the inspection device 1 of this embodiment, the first and second positioning grooves 11, 1 of the board 2 are to be assembled.
The pins 15 and 15 are arranged at the intersections of the two, respectively, and the holder 5 of the probe unit 3 is arranged so that the first and second positioned grooves 13 and 14 thereof come into contact with the pins 15 and 15, respectively. Then, in this state, the holder 5 is tightened and fixed by the bolt 16 inserted into the board 2 (see FIGS. 5 and 6).
reference). In this way, the probe units 3 are sequentially assembled (see FIG. 4).

In the assembly of the probe unit 3, first, when the pin 15 is placed on each of the positioning grooves 11 and 12, its axis c'is automatically aligned so as to match the center line c of the grooves 11 and 12. When the positioned grooves 13 and 14 of the holder 5 are brought into contact with the pin 15, the center line c of the grooves 13 and 14 is automatically aligned with the axis line c ′, and eventually the grooves 11 and 14
The center lines c of 13 or 12, 14 coincide.

Then, the liquid crystal panel A is inspected by the above inspection device 1.
In order to carry out the continuity inspection, the liquid crystal panel A is conveyed to a predetermined position of the inspection device 1, the board 2 is lowered, and the tip portions 7c of the probe pins 7 are brought into contact with the electrode wires of the liquid crystal panel A. As a result, the electrical continuity is checked and the quality of the product is judged. Next, the board 2 is raised and the next liquid crystal panel A ′ is conveyed (see FIG. 3).

In this case, as shown in FIG. 1, the probe pin 7 of the pin unit 6 is inclined at an angle θ with respect to the liquid crystal panel A, and the tip portion 7c is bent in an R shape.
Therefore, when the board 2 is further lowered from the state in which the tip portion 7c which is the contactor is in contact with the electrode wire of the liquid crystal panel A, the protruding portion 7b of the probe pin 7 is moved by the amount of overdrive corresponding to this lowering. The tip portion 7c is bent and displaced upward, and the tip portion 7c slides on the electrode wire in the b direction.
Thereby, good contact can be obtained and the load applied to the liquid crystal panel A can be made constant.

FIG. 8 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the bending displacement amount (overdrive amount) of the probe pin 7 of this embodiment and the contact resistance. As is apparent from the figure, in the case of the present embodiment, the bending displacement amount of the probe pin 7, that is, the above-mentioned over-angle, is set by setting the inclination angle θ of the probe pin 7 to 30 degrees and making the tip end into an R shape. Drive amount 100
It can be seen that a contact resistance of 1 Ω or less can be obtained by setting the thickness to about μm, and stable inspection performance can be obtained.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the V-shaped first and second positioning grooves 11 and 12 are formed in the pitch direction X of the board 2 and the direction Y orthogonal thereto, and the holder 5 of the probe unit 3 is formed. First and second positioned grooves 13 and 14 corresponding to the respective positioning grooves 11 and 12 are formed in the above, and circular pins 15 are interposed between the respective positioning grooves 11 and 12 and the positioned grooves 13 and 14. Since the probe unit 3 is fixed by making the pin 15 and bolting the holder 5 with high accuracy, the probe unit 3 can be positioned with high accuracy, and the workability and productivity can be improved without the need for skilled work. As a result, it is possible to cope with the narrowing of the electrode line pitch accompanying the increase in the number of pixels of the liquid crystal panel A, and it is possible to obtain stable mounting accuracy even if the number of probe units 3 increases as the screen size increases.

Further, the circular pin 15 is arranged in line contact with the inner surface of each of the positioning grooves 11 to 14 for positioning, and the workability and the processing accuracy can be improved as compared with the positioning by press-fitting the pin. Here, even if the outer diameter of the pin 15 changes, the positional relationship between the center line c of the positioning groove and the pin axis c ′ in the X and Y directions does not change, so the arrangement position does not change. In this case, the vertical mounting position of the probe unit 3 is changed by the amount of change in the outer diameter of the pin 15, but this change is absorbed by the self-elasticity of the probe pin corresponding to the above-mentioned overdrive amount, and the contact resistance is increased. Has almost no effect on

Further, in this embodiment, the protruding portion 7b of the probe pin 7 is linearly projected from the resin base 8 and the resin base 8 is inclined so that the protruding portion 7b is inclined with respect to the liquid crystal panel A.
Since the load is fixed at the time of contact and the contact resistance is reduced, the reliability of the pitch accuracy can be improved as compared with the conventional case where the protrusion is formed by bending so as to have self-elasticity.

Further, since the chamfered portion 8a is formed on the resin base 8 so that the tip portion 7c of the probe pin 7 can be seen from vertically above, the contact state of the protruding portion 7b is physically confirmed by a sensor or the like. This makes it possible to avoid misidentification due to poor contact. Moreover, since the amount of protrusion of the protrusion 7b can be minimized, strength and rigidity with respect to contact pressure can be secured.

Here, as the size of the liquid crystal panel increases, the required number of probe units 3 increases and the board 2 also increases in size. It becomes difficult to maintain accuracy. In such a case, it is effective to divide the board as in the invention of claim 3. For example, in the case of the frame-shaped board shown in FIG. 4, it can be considered that each side is divided into four. In this case, each board is attached to a common base member made of iron, for example.

When the board is divided in this way, each divided board can be relatively small even if the liquid crystal panel becomes large, so that the processing accuracy can be maintained even if it is a ceramic type board. In addition, since the division itself reduces the amount of thermal expansion of each board, the pitch accuracy of the probe pins can be maintained from this point as well.

Although the holder 5 and the pin unit 6 are separately formed in the above embodiment, the probe unit may be formed by integrally forming the holder 5 and the pin unit 6. Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the liquid crystal display inspection device has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to a device for conducting a continuity inspection of high density contacts such as a semiconductor integrated circuit.

[0046]

As described above, according to the flat panel inspection apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, the first positioning groove extending in the pitch direction of the probe pin on the base and the second positioning groove extending in the direction orthogonal to the pitch direction. A positioning groove is formed, and first and second positioned grooves corresponding to the first and second positioning grooves are formed on the surface of the probe unit facing the base, and the first and second positioned grooves and the first positioning groove are formed. Positioning is performed by interposing a centering member made of a circular rod or a sphere between the first and second positioning grooves, so that the probe unit can be positioned with a simple structure and with high accuracy, and workability is improved while stable. There is an effect that the mounting accuracy described above can be obtained, which in turn can reduce the conductor pitch and increase the number of probe units arranged.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the positioning groove is V-shaped.
Since a V-shaped groove is formed and a circular rod body, a spherical body, or the like is brought into contact with the inner surface of the V-shaped groove, the positioning accuracy can be further improved.

According to the invention of claim 3, the base is made of a material having a thermal expansion coefficient substantially equal to that of the flat panel and is divided into a plurality of pieces. Therefore, even if the material is difficult to process, the required processing accuracy can be secured. This has the effect of maintaining the pitch accuracy of the probe pins.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating an inspection apparatus for a liquid crystal panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a probe pin of the apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the apparatus of the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a mounted state of a probe unit of the apparatus of the above-described embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a mounted state of a probe unit of the apparatus of the above-mentioned embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing a pin unit positioning device of the device of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between a bending displacement amount of a probe pin and a contact resistance.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Inspection Device 2 Board (Base) 3 Probe Unit 7 Probe Pin 11 First Positioning Groove 12 Second Positioning Groove 13 First Positioned Groove 14 Second Positioned Groove 15 Circular Pin (Aligning Member) A Liquid Crystal Panel (Flat) Panel) X pitch direction Y pitch orthogonal direction

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. The quality of a flat panel provided with a large number of circuit elements and conductors for leading the circuit elements to external contacts arranged at a predetermined pitch is determined by the external contacts and the pitch of the contacts of the probe unit. In a flat panel inspection device in which correspondingly arranged probe pins are contacted for inspection, a first positioning groove extending in the pitch direction on a base supporting the probe unit, and an orthogonal to the pitch direction. And a second positioning groove extending in a direction in which the first and second positioning grooves are formed on the surface of the probe unit facing the base.
First and second positioned grooves corresponding to the second positioning groove are formed, and a circle is formed between each of the first and second positioned grooves of the probe unit and the first and second positioning grooves of the base. An inspection device for a flat panel, characterized in that the probe unit is fixed to the base through an alignment member made of a rod or a sphere. 2. The V-shaped groove according to claim 1, wherein the first and second positioning grooves and the first and second positioned grooves are V-shaped grooves having inclined surfaces that are equiangular with respect to a center line. The flat panel inspecting device, wherein the aligning member is in contact with the inclined surface, and the axis of the aligning member is aligned with the center line of the V-shaped groove in the pitch direction and the orthogonal direction. 3. The flat panel inspection device according to claim 1, wherein the base is made of a material having a coefficient of thermal expansion substantially equal to that of the flat panel and is divided into a plurality of pieces. .