KR20080113621A - Appearance inspection apparatus and appearance inspection method of LCD panel which captures the whole appearance of LCD panel while moving high resolution camera - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are an appearance inspection apparatus and an appearance inspection method of an LCD panel which captures the entire appearance of the LCD panel while moving a high resolution camera. An apparatus for inspecting appearance of an LCD panel according to the present invention includes at least one high resolution camera and a control unit. At least one high resolution camera captures an external image of the LCD panel to be inspected. The control unit controls to capture an external image of the LCD panel while moving the high resolution camera on the LCD panel. The appearance inspection apparatus of the LCD panel according to the present invention captures the entire appearance of the LCD panel while moving the high resolution camera. The appearance inspection apparatus of the LCD panel according to the present invention can capture the entire appearance of the LCD panel with the high resolution camera while moving the high resolution camera on the LCD panel according to an area scan method.

Description

Appearance inspection apparatus and method by inspecting total appearance of a LCD panel by moving high-resolution camera across the LCD panel}

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to better understand the drawings cited in the detailed description of the invention, a brief description of each drawing is provided.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a state in which an LCD panel is tested by using an appearance inspection apparatus of an LCD panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 (a) is a diagram illustrating a path for moving a high resolution camera on the front surface of the LCD panel in the appearance inspection apparatus of the LCD panel of FIG.

FIG. 2 (b) is a diagram illustrating a path for moving a high resolution camera on the rear surface of the LCD panel in the appearance inspection apparatus of the LCD panel of FIG. 1.

3 is a conceptual diagram of an appearance inspection apparatus of an LCD panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for inspecting the appearance of an LCD panel, and more particularly, to an apparatus for inspecting the appearance of an LCD panel which captures the entire appearance of the LCD panel while moving a high resolution camera.

The inspection of the appearance of the LCD panel is to inspect a bad state of the appearance of the LCD panel, which is a different kind of inspection from the inspection of pixels of the LCD panel. The external appearance inspection of the LCD panel captures the external appearance image of the LCD panel, and then examines the defective state of the external appearance of the LCD panel based on the captured external appearance image.

In general, the external appearance inspection apparatus of the LCD panel photographs the external appearance image of the LCD panel using a low resolution camera. By the way, since a low resolution camera is used, it takes a lot of time to image the external image of an LCD panel. Accordingly, there is a problem that the visual inspection cannot be completed within the time given for the visual inspection.

In addition, in a general LCD panel external inspection device, if a time for imaging the external image is reduced in order to reduce the external inspection time, there is a problem that only a partial region of the LCD panel can be captured.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in an effort to provide an apparatus for inspecting appearance of an LCD panel, which captures an entire appearance of an LCD panel while moving a high resolution camera.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in an effort to provide a method of inspecting an appearance of an LCD panel, which captures an entire appearance of an LCD panel while moving a high resolution camera.

An apparatus for inspecting an appearance of an LCD panel according to the present invention for achieving the above technical problem includes at least one high resolution camera and a controller. At least one high resolution camera captures an external image of the LCD panel to be inspected. The control unit controls to capture an external image of the LCD panel while moving the high resolution camera on the LCD panel. The appearance inspection apparatus of the LCD panel according to the present invention captures the entire appearance of the LCD panel while moving the high resolution camera.

The appearance inspection apparatus of the LCD panel according to the present invention can capture the entire appearance of the LCD panel with the high resolution camera while moving the high resolution camera on the LCD panel according to an area scan method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In order to fully understand the present invention, the operational advantages of the present invention, and the objects achieved by the practice of the present invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention and the contents described in the drawings.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a state in which an LCD panel is tested by using an appearance inspection apparatus of an LCD panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an apparatus for inspecting appearance of an LCD panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes at least one high resolution camera 110A and 110B and a controller (not shown).

The high resolution cameras 110A and 110B capture an external image of the LCD panel PANEL to be inspected. The high resolution cameras 110A and 110B preferably have a resolution of 11 Mega / Pixel or higher. Here, the resolutions of the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B are suitable for capturing an LCD panel (PANEL) of 1083 * 627 mm, and the resolution may be changed in order to capture an LCD panel (PANEL) having a different size. . For example, when the size of the LCD panel PANEL is large, the resolutions of the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B may be higher. The high resolution cameras 110A and 110B may be charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras, but those skilled in the art will recognize that other types of cameras may be used.

The controller (not shown) controls the image pickup of the external image of the LCD panel PANEL while moving the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B on the LCD panel PANEL.

The apparatus for inspecting the appearance of the LCD panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention may image both sides of the LCD panel PANEL using different cameras. Referring to FIG. 1, the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B may include a first high resolution camera 110A and a second high resolution camera 110B. The first high resolution camera 110A may image the first surface of the LCD panel PANEL, and the second high resolution camera 110B may image the second surface of the LCD panel PANEL. The first surface of the LCD panel PANEL may be the front surface of the LCD panel PANEL, and the second surface of the LCD panel PANEL may be the rear surface of the LCD panel PANEL.

In the apparatus for inspecting the appearance of the LCD panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention, both surfaces of the LCD panel PANEL may be simultaneously captured by using the first high resolution camera 110A and the second high resolution camera 110B. . Of course, both surfaces can be imaged sequentially.

1, a first high resolution camera 110A and a second high resolution camera 110B are respectively provided on both sides of an LCD panel PANEL, and images of both sides of the LCD panel PANEL are photographed using different cameras. Is shown. However, the apparatus for inspecting the appearance of the LCD panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention may include a camera only on one side of the LCD panel. In this case, only one surface of the LCD panel PANEL may be imaged by using a camera disposed on the one surface side, or both surfaces may be sequentially imaged. In addition, it is also possible to image both sides of the LCD panel (PANEL) separately using two visual inspection apparatuses.

The appearance inspection apparatus of the LCD panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention can capture the entire appearance of the LCD panel PANEL while moving the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B. In more detail, a portion of the LCD panel PANEL is captured by the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B, and the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B are moved to another portion of the LCD panel PANEL. Then, other parts of the LCD panel PANEL are picked up by the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B, and the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B are moved to another part. Repeating this process, the overall appearance of the LCD panel PANEL is captured. The distance at which the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B are moved at one time may be changed according to the field of view (FOV) of the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B. That is, when the angles of view of the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B are wide, the range in which the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B can image at once is wide, so that the distance for moving the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B at a time may be longer.

The apparatus for inspecting appearance of the LCD panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention may move the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B on the LCD panel PANEL according to an area scan method. Thereby, the external appearance of the LCD panel PANEL can be imaged.

Hereinafter, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a path for moving the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B on the LCD panel PANEL to capture the overall appearance of the LCD panel PANEL will be described.

FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a path for photographing the front surface of the LCD panel PANEL.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2A, in order to capture the front surface of the LCD panel PANEL, the high resolution camera 110A includes the first area (the area indicated by 1 in FIG. 2A) to the sixteenth area ( While moving sequentially to the area indicated by 16 in Fig. 2A, the corresponding areas are sequentially picked up. The high resolution camera 110A can capture each of these areas near the center of each area.

Although FIG. 2A illustrates that the LCD panel is divided into 16 areas, the LCD panel may be divided into different numbers of areas. For example, the number of areas divided according to the resolution of the high resolution camera 110A and the size of the LCD panel PANEL may also change. That is, when the resolution of the high resolution camera 110A is increased, the size of the area that can be captured by one high resolution camera 110A increases, so that the number of areas may be reduced. In addition, as the size of the LCD panel increases, the number of regions may increase. The number of areas divided according to the angle of view of the high resolution camera 110A may also change. That is, when the field of view of the high resolution camera 110A is wide, since the range in which the high resolution camera 110A can capture an image is wide, the number of areas of the LCD panel PANEL may be reduced.

In addition, in FIG. 2A, the horizontal and vertical lengths of the 16 regions of the LCD panel PANEL are assumed to be the same, but the horizontal and vertical lengths of the respective regions may be different from each other.

The time taken to capture the entire front of the LCD panel will be described. The width of each area is W mm, the length is L mm, the moving speed of the high resolution camera 110A is V1 mm / sec, the setting time of the high resolution camera 110A is T1 sec, and the time required for imaging of the high resolution camera 110A. Is assumed to be T2 sec, the total imaging time Ttotal1 of the front surface of the LCD panel PANEL is expressed by Equation (1).

Ttotal1 = (W / V1 + T1) * 3 + (L / V1 + T1) * 12 + T2 * 16

Here, (W / V1 + T1) * 3 + (L / V1 + T1) * 12 is a moving time and a setting time of the high resolution camera 110A, and T2 * 16 is an imaging time of the high resolution camera 110A.

On the other hand, when the high resolution camera 110A photographs in the center of each area, W and L in Equation 1 may be replaced by the distance between the center points of each area. Of course, assuming that the horizontal length W and the vertical length L of all regions are equal to each other, the distance between the center points of each region will be equal to W and L in Equation 1.

FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating a path for capturing the rear surface of the LCD panel PANEL.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2B, in order to capture the back of the LCD panel PANEL, the high resolution camera 110A includes the first region (the region indicated by 1 in FIG. 2B) to the nineteenth region ( While moving sequentially to the area indicated by 19 in FIG. 2 (b), the corresponding areas are sequentially captured. Here, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the nineteen regions are merely examples.

On the front of the LCD panel, only the area of the LCD panel needs to be inspected, while on the back of the LCD panel, the AL tape (9 in Fig. 2 (b)) is included along with the area of the LCD panel. , The product label (11 in FIG. 2 (b)) and the BL label (17 in FIG. 2 (b)) should be further inspected. On the other hand, according to the kind of LCD panel PANEL and test | inspection item, it can also image | photograph another part other than the said parts 9, 11, 17 also. In addition, some of the portions 9, 11, 17 may not be imaged.

The total imaging time Ttotal2 on the back side of the LCD panel PANEL is expressed by the equation (2).

Ttotal2 = (W / V1 + T1) * 3 + (L / V1 + T1) * 9 + (C / V1 + T1) * 6 + T2 * 19

On the other hand, C is between the general area of the LCD panel PANEL (for example, the area indicated by 8 in FIG. 2 (b)) and the special area (for example, AL tape indicated by 9 in FIG. 2 (b)). It is assumed that the distance that the high resolution camera 110B moves. In Equation 2, (W / V1 + T1) * 3 + (L / V1 + T1) * 9 + (C / V1 + T1) * 6 is a moving time and a setting time of the high resolution camera 110B, and T2 * 19 is the imaging time of the high resolution camera 110B.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the apparatus for inspecting appearance of the LCD panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention may further include at least one robot unit 150A and 150B. The robot units 150A and 150B mount high resolution cameras 110A and 110B and move the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B on the LCD panel.

The robot units 150A and 150B may include horizontal robots 152A and 152B and vertical robots 154A and 154B. The horizontal robots 152A and 152B are disposed in the horizontal direction on the LCD panel PANEL and move the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B in the horizontal direction. The vertical robots 154A and 154B are disposed in the vertical direction on the LCD panel PANEL and move the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B in the vertical direction.

The apparatus for inspecting the appearance of the LCD panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention may fix the LCD panel PANEL, and then image the entire appearance image of the LCD panel PANEL. In more detail, the LCD panel PANEL is moved to an appearance inspection apparatus for imaging an appearance image. At this time, after fixing the LCD panel PANEL in front of the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B of the visual inspection apparatus, the external image of the LCD panel PANEL can be picked up while the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B are moved. For example, the LCD panel PANEL may be fixed in a state where the first region (region indicated by 1) of FIG. 2A is located in front of the high resolution cameras 110A and 110B. By fixing the LCD panel PANEL to pick up the image, the position error error in the external image pick-up can be reduced.

In the appearance inspection apparatus of the LCD panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the LCD panel (PANEL) may be arranged so that the front and back of the LCD panel (PANEL) is perpendicular to the ground.

3 is a conceptual diagram of an appearance inspection apparatus of an LCD panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Compared to the apparatus for inspecting the appearance of the LCD panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus for inspecting the appearance of the LCD panel according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes first to fourth auxiliary cameras 320A, 330A, 320B, and 330B. ) May be further provided.

The first secondary camera 320A and the second secondary camera 330A are disposed on the left and right sides of the first high resolution camera 310A, respectively, and the third secondary camera 320B and the fourth secondary camera 330B are the second high resolution camera. It is arrange | positioned at the left and right of 310B, respectively.

The external appearance inspection apparatus of the LCD panel according to the second embodiment of the present invention captures the external appearance image using three cameras per one side of the LCD panel (PANEL). For example, the first high resolution camera 310A, the first secondary camera 320A, and the second secondary camera 330A capture the front surface of the LCD panel PANEL, and the second high resolution camera 310B, the third secondary camera The camera 320B and the fourth auxiliary camera 330B may photograph the rear surface of the LCD panel PANEL. By picking up an external image using three cameras per side, a three-dimensional image can be obtained. Accordingly, the apparatus for inspecting the appearance of the LCD panel according to the second embodiment of the present invention can inspect an inspection item (eg, an inspection item such as whether a connector is lifted) that requires a three-dimensional image. Can be.

The apparatus for inspecting the appearance of the LCD panel according to the second embodiment of the present invention may further include laser pointers 340A and 340B. The laser pointers 340A and 340B scan a laser strip on the inspection target region of the LCD panel PANEL, and image the shape of the scanned laser strip with a camera. Then, the appearance state of the LCD panel PANEL is confirmed based on the shape of the laser band captured. Accordingly, the apparatus for inspecting the appearance of the LCD panel according to the second embodiment of the present invention has an advantage of identifying defects in the appearance state that cannot be identified only by an image captured by a camera.

The apparatus for inspecting the appearance of the LCD panel according to the present invention may inspect various appearance inspection items of the LCD panel after acquiring the entire appearance image of the LCD panel. For example, in order to inspect the chassis state of the LCD panel, an image of a normal LCD panel is registered in advance and an image of the LCD panel to be inspected is captured. Then, the Chassis state is examined by obtaining the difference between the normal image and the captured image.

The apparatus for inspecting the appearance of the LCD panel according to the present invention is capable of inspecting the appearance of all regions of the LCD panel after acquiring the appearance images of all regions of the LCD panel, and also inspecting only the appearance of some regions of the LCD panel. It may be. In addition, all the external inspection items of the LCD panel may be inspected, or only some of the external inspection items may be inspected. Accordingly, since the inspection item and the inspection area can be selected according to the type of the LCD panel, the appearance of various types of LCD panels can be inspected. In addition, inspection items and inspection areas can be selected according to the required inspection time. Meanwhile, the inspection area and the inspection item may be set by the user in advance.

The apparatus for inspecting the appearance of the LCD panel according to the present invention may further include an analyzing apparatus for inspecting the appearance of the LCD panel by analyzing the captured appearance image. The analysis device may be provided separately from the appearance inspection device of the LCD panel. In this case, the analyzing apparatus receives the external appearance image captured by the external appearance inspecting apparatus of the LCD panel to inspect the external appearance of the LCD panel.

In addition, the appearance inspection apparatus of the LCD panel according to the present invention may further include a storage device for storing the captured appearance image. The storage device may be provided separately from the appearance inspection device of the LCD panel.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for inspecting an appearance of an LCD panel, the method including: fixing an LCD panel to be inspected; And capturing an external image of the LCD panel while moving the high resolution camera on the LCD panel. The external appearance inspection method of the LCD panel according to the present invention captures the entire external appearance of the LCD panel while moving the high resolution camera.

In the above, the appearance inspection apparatus and appearance inspection method of the LCD panel according to the present invention have been described as being used to inspect the appearance of the LCD panel. However, the appearance inspection apparatus and appearance inspection method of the LCD panel according to the present invention may be used to inspect the appearance of other panels such as PDP panels. For example, it is possible to capture the overall appearance image of the PDP panel while moving the high resolution camera on the PDP panel. Also, while moving the high resolution camera, the portion to be inspected in the PDP panel can be captured.

As described above, optimal embodiments have been disclosed in the drawings and the specification. Although specific terms have been used herein, they are used only for the purpose of describing the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention as defined in the claims or the claims. Therefore, those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

As described above, the apparatus for inspecting the appearance of the LCD panel according to the present invention has the advantage of completing the appearance inspection of the LCD panel within a given inspection time by capturing the entire appearance image of the LCD panel using a high resolution camera. In addition, by capturing the external image of the LCD panel while the LCD panel is fixed, there is an advantage that the position error error when the external image is captured.

Claims (7)

In the appearance inspection apparatus of the LCD panel, At least one high resolution camera for capturing an external image of the LCD panel to be inspected; And And a control unit which controls to capture an external image of the LCD panel while moving the high resolution camera on the LCD panel. The appearance inspection apparatus of the LCD panel, the image pickup the entire appearance of the LCD panel while moving the high resolution camera on the LCD panel in accordance with an area scan (area scan) method, The high resolution camera has a resolution of 11 M / pixel or more, the appearance inspection apparatus of the LCD panel. The method of claim 1, And at least one robot unit for mounting the high resolution camera and moving the high resolution camera. The method of claim 2, wherein the robot unit, A horizontal robot disposed on the LCD panel in a horizontal direction and moving the high resolution camera in a horizontal direction; And And a vertical robot disposed in the vertical direction of the LCD panel and configured to move the high resolution camera in a vertical direction. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one high resolution camera, A first high resolution camera for imaging the first surface of the LCD panel; And And a second high resolution camera for imaging the second surface of the LCD panel. According to claim 4, Appearance inspection apparatus of the LCD panel, And the first and second surfaces of the LCD panel are simultaneously imaged by using the first high resolution camera and the second high resolution camera. The method of claim 4, wherein The first surface of the LCD panel is the front surface of the LCD panel, And a second surface of the LCD panel is a rear surface of the LCD panel. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one high resolution camera, First and second auxiliary cameras disposed on left and right sides of the first high resolution camera, respectively; And And a third and a fourth auxiliary camera disposed on the left and right sides of the second high resolution camera, respectively.

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