JPH0743732A - Liquid crystal display panel automatic repair device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic repair device capable of accurately aligning a connection portion with a spare signal line in order to repair a defective signal line. [Arrangement] The coordinates of the defective portion of the signal line in the liquid crystal display panel and the allowable range value of the partial relative movement are registered in the control personal computer, and the liquid crystal is registered in the allowable range value unit along the defective signal line. By moving the display panel and the laser irradiation device relative to each other, the misalignment between the liquid crystal display panel and the laser irradiation device is automatically corrected every time the allowable range value is reached, and the accurate position of the defective signal line and the spare signal line connection part is corrected. Make a match. [Effect] The liquid crystal display panel and the laser irradiation device are partially moved relative to each other along the signal line, and the positional deviation is automatically corrected every time the movement allowable range value is reached to reach the connecting portion, so that the other connecting portion is reached. Will not be erroneously recognized, and the regular maintenance work of the device will not be necessary.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for automatically repairing a defective signal line in a liquid crystal display panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, as an inexpensive flat panel display replacing a CRT (cathode ray tube), an active device in which a plurality of thin film transistors are added to picture elements formed near each intersection of a gate signal line and a source signal line is active. Although there is a liquid crystal display panel that drives liquid crystal by a matrix driving method, defects such as disconnection are likely to occur in the gate signal line or the source signal line of the liquid crystal display panel, and therefore it is necessary to repair the defect such as disconnection. . This repair work is performed by, for example, the production person identifying the defective portion and visually checking the signal lines one by one while manually operating the XY stage of the defect repair base to prepare the preliminary signals at the upper and lower ends of the liquid crystal display panel. Move to the connection part of the line and perform the work of connecting the preliminary signal line and the signal line that is broken by the laser irradiation of the laser irradiation device,
If a part of the liquid crystal display panel does not meet the predetermined standard quality condition in the pre-manufacturing process, the part is regarded as a defect and the XY coordinates are registered in the automatic repair device. The X and Y coordinates of the defective portion of the liquid crystal display panel are set by using a personal computer for control and a pattern recognition device.
-Align the Y stage and move the XY stage of the defect repairing table to the connection parts of the spare signal lines at the upper and lower ends along the defective signal line in the liquid crystal display panel to move the laser irradiation device. The connection is made by laser irradiation and the tip of the preliminary signal line is connected to a jumper signal line outside the liquid crystal display panel.

[0003]

Recently, as liquid crystal display panels have been required to be larger, have a higher density, and have a smaller density, the number of picture elements in the liquid crystal display panel has been increasing. The probability that defects will occur is also increasing.

Therefore, as described above, in order to reduce the number of defective products of the finally manufactured liquid crystal display panel, the liquid crystal display panel is manufactured while inspecting and repairing the liquid crystal display panel in each process. It is necessary to subdivide the manufacturing process into smaller pieces and execute the inspection and repair as described above in each manufacturing process. However, even with a liquid crystal display panel that is carefully manufactured by increasing the number of inspections and repairs as described above, a final inspection is usually performed at the stage of assembling the liquid crystal display panel. Then, the final quality of the manufactured liquid crystal display panel cannot be judged unless the inspection in the assembly process is performed.

In order to further ensure the inspection, it is considered that after the liquid crystal display panel is assembled, the liquid crystal display panel is inspected and the defective product is repaired. Visually confirms the signal lines in the LCD panel one by one, and manually operates the XY stage of the defect repair table to move defective signal lines to the spare signal line connection parts at the upper and lower ends. It was moved in the same way, and the connection work was done by laser irradiation of the laser irradiation device, but mistakes such as oversight of defective parts are likely to occur, and it requires time and manpower, so it was an inefficient work.

In the case of repair work by an automatic repair device,
As the X-coordinate shifts as it is moved, the spare signal line connection parts at the upper and lower ends of the normal signal lines adjacent to each other are erroneously recognized and are directly connected by the laser irradiation device, so that the defective source signal line is repaired. Instead, a defective liquid crystal display panel may be produced. For this reason, the automatic repair device always requires the development of a highly accurate defect repair base with an absolute error of ± several microns, which increases the cost of automatic repair device development and requires regular maintenance work to maintain the absolute error. However, the operation rate of the automatic repair device is reduced.

The present invention solves such a problem, and its purpose is to accurately align a connection portion with a spare signal line in order to repair a defective signal line in a liquid crystal display panel. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic repair device that can do the above.

[0008]

According to the present invention as set forth in claim 1, a control personal computer for registering coordinates of a defective portion in a liquid crystal display panel and the registered defective portion are provided. A liquid crystal display provided with a pattern recognition device for checking, a laser irradiation device for controlling laser irradiation for repairing the defective portion, and a defect correction base for supporting the liquid crystal display panel and moving it relative to the laser irradiation device. In the automatic panel repairing apparatus, the control personal computer has registered therein an allowable range value for partial movement by relative movement between the defect correction table and the laser irradiation apparatus.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the partial movement according to the first aspect is a movement having components in the XY directions, and the coordinate value on the X side is a permissible range value for the control part.
Being registered on the Sonar computer.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the partial movement according to the first aspect is a movement having components in the XY directions, and the Y-side coordinate value is a permissible range value for the control.
Being registered on the Sonar computer.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the coordinate in the liquid crystal display panel according to the first aspect, the coordinate is moved in the Y direction so that the defect occurs every time the Y coordinate reaches an allowable range value. The correction table is automatically corrected to the regular X coordinate. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the coordinate in the liquid crystal display panel according to the first aspect, the coordinate is moved in the X direction, so that the defect correction table is moved every time the X coordinate reaches an allowable range value. It is characterized in that it is automatically corrected to a regular Y coordinate.

[0012]

The coordinate of the defective portion of the defective signal line in the liquid crystal display panel and the allowable range value of the partial relative movement are registered in the control personal computer, and the liquid crystal display panel is arranged along the defective signal line. And the laser irradiation device are partially moved relative to each other, and when the coordinates after the partial relative movement reach an allowable range value, the positional deviation between the liquid crystal display panel and the laser irradiation device after the partial relative movement is automatically corrected, and there is a defect. It enables accurate alignment of the spare signal line connecting portions at the upper and lower ends of the source signal line.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an automatic repairing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a laser irradiation device 5 and a pattern recognition device 6 are used in a control personal computer 1.
And the defect repair base 7 are centrally managed.
Liquid crystal display panel 2 to be repaired on the XY stage 8
Is provided with a sample table 3 for supporting the laser irradiation device 5
Lens 4 for converging the laser light from the laser and irradiating it to the defective portion
There is. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view illustrating a display portion of a liquid crystal display panel used in the embodiment. The source signal line 11 and the gate signal line (not shown) are provided with a plurality of pixel electrodes and a plurality of pixel electrodes formed near each intersection. Two thin film transistors (not shown) are provided at the upper and lower ends of the source signal line 11 and two spare signal lines 9 intersect each other. Jumper signal line 1 for G
0 is connected.

The liquid crystal display panel 2 constructed as described above
A method of repairing the display portion of will be described. First, in the manufacturing process, the point A of the defective portion where the source signal line 11 of the liquid crystal display panel does not satisfy the predetermined standard quality state has coordinates of X = 200 and Y = 50 (hereinafter, X200, Y50).
Coordinates)), the coordinates are registered in the control personal computer 1 as they are,
When the process of repair work is started, the defective portion of the liquid crystal display panel 2 which has been registered is firstly detected using the pattern recognition device 6.
The defective portion of the source signal line 11 in the liquid crystal display panel 2 to be repaired on the sample stage 3 on the XY stage 8 of the defect repair stage 7 is pattern-recognized. Next, the position X is aligned with the coordinates X200, Y50 of the defect point A of the source signal line 11 registered in the control personal computer 1, and along the defective source signal line 11 of the liquid crystal display panel 2. The XY stage 8 is moved in the Y direction to the spare signal line connection portion D at the upper end, but the allowable range value of Y coordinate (Y is 2000 μm unit) is registered in advance in the control personal computer 1 and moved by 2000 μm. Then, the X200 coordinate is displaced (point B), the XY stage 8 is stopped, and the X200 coordinate of the defect point A on the source signal line 11 is automatically corrected (point C), and the defect is detected again. 2,000 μm along the source signal line 11 in the Y direction.
The stage 8 moves toward the spare signal line connection portion D at the upper end. In this way, the XY stage 8 is moved along the defective source signal line 11 in the Y direction.
When the automatic correction of the X200 coordinate is repeated while moving in the unit of 0 μm and reaches the preliminary signal line connection portion D at the upper end,
Preliminary signal line 9 registered in the pattern recognition device 6
The pattern is recognized, the coordinate position of the preliminary signal line connection portion D at the upper end is coordinated, and laser irradiation is performed by the laser irradiation device 5 to connect. Next, in order to connect the auxiliary signal line connecting portion E at the lower end, in the same manner as above, from the coordinates of the defect point A to Y along the defective source signal line 11.
In the direction, the XY stage 8 moves to the auxiliary signal line connecting portion E at the lower end while automatically repeating the correction to the X200 coordinate in the allowable range value unit of the Y coordinate, and the auxiliary signal line connecting portion E at the lower end is moved. When it reaches, the pattern of the preliminary signal line 9 registered in the pattern recognition device 6 is recognized, the coordinate position is aligned with the preliminary signal line connection portion E at the lower end, and the laser irradiation device 5 performs laser irradiation to connect. To do. After that, the auxiliary signal line ends F. G
And the jar signal line 10 is connected to complete the repair of the defective source signal line 11.

Although the above embodiment has been described by taking the source signal line 11 as an example, the same applies to the case of repairing the gate signal line and the element portion of the thin film transistor, and the allowable range value is limited to the unit of μm. Alternatively, the X coordinate may be partially moved in the X direction in units of permissible range values to automatically repeat the correction of the Y coordinate, and finally the XY coordinate of the defective portion may be adjusted.

[0016]

As is apparent from the above description, the automatic repairing apparatus of the present invention allows the control personal computer to set the coordinates of the defective portion of the defective signal line in the liquid crystal display panel and the allowable range value of the partial relative movement. Registered in advance, the liquid crystal display panel and the laser irradiation device are partially moved relative to each other along the defective signal line, and the liquid crystal display panel is automatically moved every time the coordinate after the partial relative movement reaches an allowable range value. The misalignment between the laser irradiation device and the laser irradiation device is corrected, and accurate alignment can be performed on the spare signal line connection part. Error occurs and the adjacent normal signal line and spare signal line connection part is erroneously recognized,
It is no longer necessary to connect the laser irradiation device as it is, and the cost of developing a highly accurate automatic repair device can be suppressed. In addition, there is no need for regular maintenance work to maintain an absolute error of ± several microns, and the troublesomeness that requires a lot of manpower for maintenance is eliminated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an automatic repair device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing a display portion of a liquid crystal display panel of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1. Control personal computer 2. Liquid crystal display panel 3. Sample stand 4. Lens 5. Laser irradiation device 6. Pattern recognition device 7. Defect repair table 8. XY stage 9. Preliminary signal line 10. Jumper signal line 11. Source signal line A. Source signal line defect point B. Point before error correction C. Point after error correction D. Top spare signal line connection part E. Bottom spare signal line connection part F. End of upper spare signal line G. Preliminary signal line end at the bottom

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Nobuyuki Kawase, 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture (72) Inventor Tatsuya Sasaki 22-22 Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A control personal computer for registering coordinates of a defective portion in a liquid crystal display panel, a pattern recognition device for confirming the registered defective portion, and laser irradiation for repairing the defective portion. An automatic repairing device for a liquid crystal display panel, comprising: a laser irradiation device for controlling; and a defect repairing table that supports the liquid crystal display panel and moves relative to the laser irradiation device, wherein the control personal computer includes An automatic repair device for a liquid crystal display panel, wherein an allowable range value for partial movement by relative movement between the defect repairing table and the laser irradiation device is registered. 2. The allowable range value for the partial movement is X
The automatic repair apparatus for a liquid crystal display panel according to claim 1, wherein the coordinate values on the side are registered. 3. The allowable range value for the partial movement is Y
The automatic repair apparatus for a liquid crystal display panel according to claim 1, wherein the coordinate values on the side are registered. 4. The defect correction table is automatically corrected to a regular X coordinate every time the Y coordinate reaches an allowable range value by moving the coordinate in the Y direction in the coordinate in the liquid crystal display panel. The automatic repair device for a liquid crystal display panel described in 1. 5. The defect correction table is automatically corrected to a normal Y coordinate every time the X coordinate reaches an allowable range value by moving the coordinate in the X direction in the coordinate in the liquid crystal display panel. The automatic repair device for a liquid crystal display panel described in 1.