JP4245113B2 - Probe block - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a probe block of an inspection probe apparatus for inspecting electrical characteristics of a liquid crystal panel, and more particularly to a probe block having a plurality of lenses.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The probe block of color liquid crystal panels with high resolution such as S-XGA and XGA, which are currently in the mainstream, is a four-layer, four-stage zigzag structure with multiple probes arranged side by side. ing. However, even if the positional relationship between the needle-shaped probe and the electrodes of the color liquid crystal panel is aligned using the microscope of the inspection device, the front probe may be above the probe on the back side and the total number may not be visually confirmed. . Therefore, if the inspection is performed without sufficiently confirming the alignment of all the electrodes and the probes, the color liquid crystal panel is determined to be defective, and this defect determination is caused by a line defect due to a defect in the color liquid crystal panel or due to the probe. There is a problem that it is difficult to immediately determine whether a color liquid crystal panel is defective.
[0003]
A probe block that makes it easy to confirm the alignment between the probe and the electrode is disclosed as a probe substrate in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-132852. This probe substrate is manufactured from a transparent plate such as quartz, and is provided with a conductive protrusion protruding from the wiring pattern at a position corresponding to the electrode pad of the semiconductor chip. Light is transmitted through the substrate, and the electrode pad and the conductive protrusion are aligned while observing the electrode pad and the conductive protrusion of the semiconductor chip.
[0004]
Further, the present inventor disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-121667 as a probe block for a color liquid crystal panel, a probe block electrode corresponding to each of a plurality of electrodes arranged in one direction on the periphery of the liquid crystal panel. Through a transparent substrate having a plurality of electrodes formed on the lower surface and projecting from one end of the probe block electrode and contacting the plurality of electrodes of the liquid crystal panel when the probe head is lowered, and a fixing plate that holds the transparent substrate downward A probe block including a contact block to be held and a liquid crystal panel driving semiconductor device having a plurality of leads connected to the other ends of the probe block electrodes has been proposed.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the probe substrate of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-132852, even if the above-mentioned transparent substrate is used for the probe block of the liquid crystal panel several tens times larger than the semiconductor chip, the probe substrate becomes large and the apparatus becomes large and difficult to handle. There is a problem. In addition, there are various sizes of liquid crystal panels and electrode positions, and a large number of transparent substrates must be prepared accordingly, resulting in an increase in equipment costs. In addition, every time the size of the liquid crystal panel and the position of the electrodes are different, there is a problem that a transparent substrate having a probe has to be replaced and aligned, and a great amount of man-hours are wasted on preparation work. Even if the wiring having conductive protrusions is formed on one transparent substrate, the wiring becomes long because the transparent substrate itself is large. As a result, there is a problem that a voltage drop and crosstalk occur and an accurate inspection cannot be performed.
[0006]
Moreover, in the probe block of the said Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2000-121667, although the positional offset of the electrode of a transparent probe block and the electrode of a color liquid crystal panel is observed with the microscope of an inspection apparatus, it is fine pitch (60-70 micrometers). In the electrode arrangement, in order to grasp the mutual position, the magnification of the microscope must be increased, and if the magnification is increased too much, the image appears dark and observation is not easy.
[0007]
The object of the present invention is to form a plurality of lenses on the surface of the transparent block constituting the probe block, thereby enlarging the position of the protruding electrode of the transparent block that comes into contact with the electrode of the liquid crystal panel and easily positioning the position of the mutual electrodes. It is to provide a probe block that can observe the relationship.
[0008]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-230325 discloses a liquid crystal display device in which microlenses are formed on the surface of a counter substrate of a liquid crystal display panel so as to correspond to individual pixels. However, the microlens is provided by selectively irradiating the microlens corresponding to the white defect pixel of the liquid crystal display device with the energy beam, disabling the microlens and causing the defective pixel to the normal pixel. This is because defects are corrected by making them relatively black spots. As in the present invention, by forming a plurality of lenses on the surface of the probe block used for inspecting the electrical characteristics of the liquid crystal panel, the mutual alignment between the probe block electrode and the electrode of the liquid crystal panel can be easily confirmed. Is completely different in purpose, structure, and effect.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The probe block of the present invention has a probe function and has a probe function, which is formed from the front surface to the back surface, protrudes from both ends of the probe block electrode, and contacts the electrodes of the liquid crystal panel and the tape carrier package (TCP). A transparent block having a projecting electrode, a TCP mounted with a driving IC chip and connected to a probe block electrode of the transparent block, a flexible cable (FPC) connected to an input side terminal of the TCP, and these transparent blocks And a contact block for holding and fixing the fixing plate, and a lens is formed at one end of the transparent block. A plurality of lenses of the transparent block are provided on the surface side facing the protruding electrodes that are in contact with the electrodes of the liquid crystal panel. Further, the TCP on which the driving IC is mounted has its output side terminal connected to one protruding electrode of the probe block electrode of the transparent block and fixed to the fixed plate.
[0010]
The probe block of the present invention has a probe block electrode formed on the back surface having a probe function and a protrusion protruding from both ends of the probe block electrode and contacting a liquid crystal panel electrode and a tape carrier package (TCP) terminal. A transparent block having electrodes, a TCP on which a driving IC chip is mounted and connected to a probe block electrode of the transparent block, a flexible cable (FPC) connected to an input side terminal of the TCP, a transparent block, and a TCP And a contact block for holding and fixing the fixing plate, a lens is formed at one end of the transparent block, and the output terminal of the TCP is one of the probe block electrodes. It is in contact with the protruding electrode and fixed at one end of the fixing plate. And butterflies. The TCP input side is not fixed and is a free end, and a flexible cable is connected to the input side terminal.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1A and 1B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view AA showing a probe device for explaining a probe block according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 2A, 2B, and 2C are a plan view, a side view, and a front view, respectively, of the transparent block portion in the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1A, the probe device for a color liquid crystal panel includes a plurality of probe blocks 1 arranged side by side along a long side and a short side of a rectangular liquid crystal panel 12.
[0012]
As shown in FIG. 1B, the probe block 1 has a probe block electrode 4 that has a probe function and is formed from the front surface to the back surface, and protrudes from both ends of the probe block electrode 4. A transparent carrier 2 having projection electrodes 5a and 5b that are in contact with the electrodes of the panel electrode 13 and the TCP 6 and a tape carrier package (TCP) 6 in which an IC chip is mounted and an output side terminal is connected to the projection electrode 5b of the transparent block 2 A flexible cable (FPC) 9 connected to the input terminal of the TCP 6, a fixing plate 8 for fixing the transparent block 2 and the TCP 6, and a contact block 7 for holding and fixing the fixing plate 8. Yes. The feature of this embodiment is that the output terminal of the TCP 6 is connected to the protruding electrode 5b of the probe block electrode 4 of the transparent block 2, the TCP 6 is fixed to the fixed plate 8, and the end of the transparent block 2 A plurality of lenses 3 are provided.
[0013]
Next, the manufacturing method of a transparent block is demonstrated. The width (W) is about 1.2 times the width of each electrode block of the color liquid crystal panel, the length is about 5 times the length of the electrode of the color liquid crystal panel (L), and the thickness (T) is color. A transparent block to be the base is manufactured with dimensions about twice as large as the base plate of the liquid crystal panel. A plurality of lenses 3 are formed by processing and polishing at one end on the surface side of the transparent block. One end of the width (W) portion of this transparent block is polished into a knife edge shape, and a conductor is deposited on the front and back surfaces of this transparent block with a thickness of about 500 μm, and the same width and the same pitch as the electrodes of the color liquid crystal panel Then, etching is performed by an etching method so that the tip of the electrode has a protruding shape, and a plurality of linear probe block electrodes that are conductive from the front surface to the back surface of the transparent block are formed.
[0014]
At both ends of the probe block electrode 4, a protruding electrode 5 a for contacting the panel electrode 13 of the liquid crystal panel 12 and a protruding electrode 5 b for connecting to the output side terminal of the TCP 6 are provided. The lens 3 is provided on the surface of the transparent block 2 facing the protruding electrode 5a. Since the vicinity of the protruding electrode 5a can be enlarged and viewed by the lens 3, alignment with the panel electrode 13 of the liquid crystal panel 12 is facilitated. A plurality of lenses are provided, but they are preferably provided at both ends as shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. This is because if the probe block electrode and the panel electrode are aligned at both ends, the alignment of the central portion is automatically performed.
[0015]
The FPC 9 that can be connected to the output side pad of the printed circuit board 10 is pressure-contacted by the pressure-contact method so that the display signal of the color liquid crystal panel 12 can be input to the input side terminal of the TCP 6. The transparent block 2 and the TCP 6 are fixed to the fixing plate 8 and attached to the contact block 7 of the probe unit to complete the probe block with a lens. In this embodiment, an example in which one end portion of the transparent block is processed and polished into a knife edge shape is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other shapes such as an R shape may be used.
[0016]
Next, alignment between the protruding electrode 5a of the probe block electrode 4 and the panel electrode 13 of the liquid crystal panel 12 will be described. The probe head that holds the contact block 7 in FIG. 1B via an XY adjustment mechanism (not shown) is slightly raised. Then, the liquid crystal panel 12 is inserted into the gap between the stage 11 and the transparent block 2. The inserted liquid crystal panel 12 comes into contact with the stopper and is positioned.
[0017]
Next, the probe head is lowered to such an extent that the protruding electrode 5a does not come into contact with the panel electrode 13 of the liquid crystal panel 12, and the illumination lamp on the upper part of the liquid crystal panel 12 is turned on, and the position of the protruding electrode 5a and the panel electrode 13 of the liquid crystal panel 12 are turned on. Is observed through the lens 3 of the transparent block 2, the protruding electrode 5 a is moved by the XY adjustment mechanism, and the protruding electrode 5 a and the panel electrode 13 of the liquid crystal panel 12 are matched. Then, the probe block 1 is fixed by operating the clamp of the XY adjustment mechanism. Such operation is performed for each probe block to complete alignment.
[0018]
By the lens 3 provided on the surface of the transparent block 2, the positional deviation between the transparent block 2 and the panel electrode 13 can be enlarged and confirmed, and alignment can be performed easily. Even if a defect occurs in one of the TCP 6 or the transparent block 2, the structure can be separated as shown in the figure, so that the other member can be used as it is. Here, the transparent block can be made of a transparent material such as glass or quartz. After the positioning of the probe block is completed, a display signal from the printed circuit board 10 is input to the panel electrode 13 of the color liquid crystal panel 12 through the FPC 9, the TCP 6 and the transparent block 2, and a display inspection is performed.
[0019]
Thus, since the probe block of the present invention can be observed with a microscope through the lens of the base transparent block, the positional relationship between the probe block electrode and the panel electrode can be easily confirmed. In addition, since the probe block of the present invention can simultaneously manufacture a large number of transparent blocks by an evaporation method and an etching method using an automated facility, the probe block can be manufactured at a low cost and with a short delivery time. Furthermore, even if a problem occurs in either the TCP or the transparent block, the transparent block and the TCP are separated and are not fixed together so that one part can be used without wasting it. There is an advantage that can be.
[0020]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the second embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are a plan view, a side view, and a front view, respectively, of the transparent block portion of the second embodiment. The width (W) is about 1.2 times the width of each electrode block of the color liquid crystal panel, the length is about 10 times the electrode length of the color liquid crystal panel (L), and the thickness (T) is color. A transparent block 21 serving as a base is manufactured with a size approximately three times as large as the base plate of the liquid crystal panel.
[0021]
Processing and polishing are performed so that a plurality of lenses 22 are formed on the surface side of the transparent block 21. A conductor is deposited on the back side of the transparent block 21 to a thickness of about 500 μm, and etched so that the same width is obtained at the same pitch as the electrodes of the color liquid crystal panel, and the tips of the electrodes at both ends are in a protruding shape. Etching is performed by the method to form a plurality of conductive linear probe block electrodes 23. The lens 22 is provided on the surface side facing the protruding electrode 24 a that contacts the panel electrode 27 of the liquid crystal panel 26. In the second embodiment, since the electrodes are formed only on the back side of the transparent block, there is an advantage that it is easier to manufacture than the first embodiment in which electrodes are formed on both the front and back surfaces.
[0022]
The output side terminal of the TCP 25 is brought into contact with the protruding electrode 24 b at one end of the transparent block 21 and fixed at one end of the fixing plate 28. The FPC 29 that can be connected to the output side pad of the printed circuit board 30 is pressed by the pressure contact method so that the display signal of the color liquid crystal panel can be input to the input side terminal of the TCP 25. The input side of the TCP 25 is a free end. The transparent block 21 and the output side terminal portion of the TCP 25 are fixed to the fixing plate 28 and attached to the contact block 31 of the probe unit, thereby completing the probe block with a lens. In the second embodiment, since the TCP 25 and the transparent block 21 can be easily separated from each other, replacement is easy even if the TCP 25 or the transparent block 21 breaks down.
[0023]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the present invention, since the transparent block and the TCP are connected so as to be separable, even if a defect occurs in either one, the transparent block or the other block is not wasted. There is an effect that the TCP can be exchanged and used.
[0024]
In addition, the present invention has an effect that the positional relationship between the electrode of the probe block and the electrode of the color liquid crystal panel can be easily aligned because the contact portion can be enlarged and observed from the surface side of the transparent block by the convex lens portion. There is.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIGS. 1A and 1B are a plan view and an AA cross-sectional view showing a probe device for explaining a probe block according to a first embodiment of the present invention, respectively.
2A, 2B, and 2C are a plan view, a side view, and a front view, respectively, of a transparent block portion in the first embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are a plan view, a side view, and a front view, respectively, of a transparent block portion according to a second embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Probe block 2, 21 Transparent block 3, 22 Lens 4, 23 Probe block electrodes 5a, 5b, 24a, 24b Protruding electrodes 6, 25 TCP
7,31 Contact block 8,28 Fixed plate 9,29 FPC
10, 30 Printed circuit board 11 Stage 12, 26 Liquid crystal panel 13, 27 Panel electrode

Claims (8)

Transparent with a probe block electrode having a probe function formed from the front surface to the back surface, and a protruding electrode that protrudes from both ends of the probe block electrode and contacts a liquid crystal panel electrode and a tape carrier package (TCP) terminal TCP connected to the block, the probe block electrode of the transparent block mounted with the driving IC chip, the flexible cable (FPC) connected to the input side terminal of the TCP, and the fixing for fixing the transparent block and the TCP A probe block having a plate and a contact block for holding and fixing the fixed plate, and a lens is formed at one end of the transparent block. The probe block according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of lenses of the transparent block are provided. 3. The probe block according to claim 1, wherein the lens of the transparent block is provided on a surface side facing a protruding electrode that contacts an electrode of a liquid crystal panel. 2. The probe block according to claim 1, wherein an output side terminal of the TCP mounted with the driving IC is fixed to a fixed plate in contact with one protruding electrode of the probe block electrode of the transparent block. A transparent block having a probe block electrode formed on the back surface having a probe function, and a protruding electrode that protrudes from both ends of the probe block electrode and contacts a liquid crystal panel electrode and a tape carrier package (TCP) terminal, and driving TCP mounted with IC chip for use and connected to probe block electrode of transparent block, flexible cable (FPC) connected to input terminal of TCP, fixing plate for fixing transparent block and TCP, and fixing A contact block for holding and fixing the plate, and a lens is formed at one end of the transparent block, and an output side terminal of the TCP is in contact with one protruding electrode of the probe block electrode. A probe block fixed at one end. The probe block according to claim 5, wherein a plurality of lenses of the transparent block are provided. The probe block according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the lens of the transparent block is provided on a surface side facing a protruding electrode that contacts an electrode of a liquid crystal panel. 6. The probe block according to claim 5, wherein the input side of the TCP is not fixed and is a free end, and the flexible cable is connected to an input side terminal.

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