JP3481837B2 - Display panel inspection socket - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display panel,
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display panel inspection socket which can be suitably used for inspection of display quality of an electroluminescence panel, a plasma display panel, and the like. 2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display panel or the like, a display panel before connection of peripheral circuits such as a driving IC tab is inspected for a display defect portion, a display quality, and the like. In that case, in order to turn on the display panel, it is necessary to contact the contact member with the electrode terminals arranged and formed on the substrate of the display panel. Therefore, conventionally, as a contact member with the electrode terminal, a needle-shaped or wire-shaped probe, a flexible wiring board formed by forming a contact pattern on a resin film substrate, or the like is used.
With the increase in the density and the fine pitch of the electrode terminals, flexible wiring boards have tended to be adopted from the viewpoint of ease of handling when making contact with the electrode terminals, manufacturing costs, and the like. [0003] The applicant of the present invention has also disclosed Japanese Patent Application No. 7-53555.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 7-100579, the present invention has proposed a display panel inspection socket capable of performing an inspection such as display quality of a display panel and an aging test for inspecting the durability of the display panel at a high temperature. This display panel inspection socket includes a substantially rectangular socket body provided with panel positioning means for holding the display panel substrate, and the socket body is provided along the arrangement direction of the electrode terminals on the display panel substrate. The extending film mounting plate is provided so as to be position-adjustable in the longitudinal direction thereof through position adjusting means, and a flexible wiring board having contacts for contacting the electrode terminals of the display panel is mounted on the film mounting plate. Have been. Therefore, by adjusting the position of the end of the film mounting plate by the position adjusting means, the position of the electrode terminal on the display panel substrate on the socket body and the contact on the flexible wiring board mounted on the film mounting plate are adjusted. After that, the panel pressing member provided in the socket body is pushed in from the outside of the socket body toward the inside, and the display panel substrate is pressed from behind the electrode terminals, thereby the display panel is pressed. In addition to being fixed to the socket body, the electrode terminals of the display panel and the contacts on the flexible wiring board in the socket body can be elastically contacted with a required contact pressure. [0004] The panel positioning means in the conventional display panel inspection socket is such that the substrate of the display panel housed in the socket body is resiliently directed toward the positioning piece by the pressing force of a spring. It is formed so as to perform positioning by pressing the same. However, the direction of action of the pressing force (including the direction of the component force) applied to the substrate of the display panel by the panel positioning means pushes the panel pressing member from the outside to the inside of the socket body. Since the pressing direction is opposite to the pressing direction, when the panel pressing member is pressed, the substrate of the display panel may be pressed by the panel pressing member and may be separated from the positioning piece. This may adversely affect the positioning accuracy between the contacts of the flexible wiring board attached to the film attachment plate and the electrode terminals on the display panel. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and can always hold a substrate of a display panel at an appropriate position, and can connect a contact of a flexible wiring board mounted on a film mounting plate to the display panel. By preventing the occurrence of displacement when pressing against the upper electrode terminal,
An object of the present invention is to provide a display panel inspection socket that can improve the alignment accuracy between a contact of a wiring board and an electrode terminal on a display panel. In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a substrate of a display panel housed in a socket body is positioned by a panel positioning means, and a panel pressing member is provided. A display panel inspection socket in which an electrode terminal of the display panel and a contact of a wiring board in the socket body are elastically brought into contact with each other by pushing the socket body from the outside to the inside of the socket body.
A positioning piece is provided at the corner to serve as a positioning reference.
The panel positioning means faces the positioning piece.
Characterized in that it is formed so as to positioned resiliently pressing the substrates of the display panel in the push-in direction and the same direction of the panel pressing member together are installed in the diagonal corners that. According to the display panel inspection socket of the present invention, first, the substrate of the display panel is housed in the socket body and the substrate is positioned by the panel positioning means, and then the panel pressing member is moved from outside the socket body. When pressed inward to make the electrode terminals of the display panel and the contacts of the wiring board in the socket body elastically contact, the pressing direction of the display panel substrate by the panel positioning means, the panel pressing member Is pushed in the same direction, the substrate of the display panel is pressed by the panel pressing member toward the reference of the panel positioning means. As a result, the display panel substrate can be always held at an appropriate position without causing a positional shift, and the alignment accuracy between the contacts of the wiring board mounted on the film mounting plate and the electrode terminals on the display panel can be improved. Can be improved. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 to FIG. 5 show one embodiment of the present invention. First, an active matrix type liquid crystal display panel 1 to be inspected by the display panel inspection socket of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 (a) to 7 (c). This liquid crystal display panel 1 has a rectangular glass insulating substrate 2.
Is formed by projecting a rectangular liquid crystal display unit 3 on one side 2a of the substrate.
A plurality of electrode terminals 4 are divided into blocks for each liquid crystal drive module and are arranged in parallel with each other on one surface 2a. In the liquid crystal display panel 1 shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the electrode terminals 4 are respectively formed on two sides (long side and short side) of the insulating substrate 2, and the liquid crystal display panel shown in FIG. In the panel 1, the electrode terminal 4 is located on the long side on the left side when viewed from the front.
In the liquid crystal display panel 1 of FIG. 1B, the electrode terminals 4 are arranged on the long side on the right side in front view. On the other hand, in the liquid crystal display panel 1 of FIG. 1C, the electrode terminals 4 are arranged and formed on three sides (two long sides and one short side) of the insulating substrate 2, respectively. In the display panel inspection socket according to one embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, FIGS.
Although it has a socket body 11 having a substantially rectangular shape in plan view applicable to any of the liquid crystal display panels 1 of FIG. 7C, related components are assembled so as to be compatible with the liquid crystal display panel 1 of FIG. In FIG. 1, the liquid crystal display panel 1 shown in FIG.
Is mounted on the socket body 11 such that the liquid crystal display unit 3 and the electrode terminals 4 face downward. Therefore, a flexible wiring board 12 as a wiring board having a contact 12a to be brought into contact with the electrode terminal 4 on the lower side and the right side of the socket main body 11, respectively, and the electrode terminal 4 and the contact 12a are elastically pressed into contact with each other. A panel pressing member 13 is provided. Each panel pressing member 13 is pushed toward the inside of the socket main body 11 in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the lower side and the right side of the socket main body 11, respectively, and elastically presses the electrode terminals 4 and the contacts 12a. It is formed so as to make contact. In this embodiment, the flexible wiring boards 12 on the lower side and the right side of the socket main body 11 are used as the panel positioning means 14 for positioning the insulating substrate 2 of the display panel 1 housed in the socket main body 11 as described above. A board pressing member made of a leaf spring 15 (see FIG. 4) is provided at each of the separated ends, and an insulating board 2 is provided at the upper left corner of the socket body 11.
A panel positioning piece 16 is provided as a positioning reference. On one short side (lower side) and two long sides of the upper surface of the socket body 11, there are formed long grooves 11a extending in parallel with the sides of the insulating substrate 2. Here, FIG.
(A) Corresponding to two sides of the four sides of the insulating substrate 2 of the liquid crystal display panel 1 on which the electrode terminals 4 are formed, the long grooves 11a on the lower side and the right side of the socket body 11 are preferably insulated. A material having substantially the same linear expansion coefficient as the substrate 2;
For example, a long film mounting plate 17 made of glass is accommodated so as to be slidable in the longitudinal direction. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a plurality of contacts 12a
The rear end side of the flexible wiring board 12 provided with is attached. The flexible wiring board 12 can be formed of various resins such as polyimide and polyester, and when the socket for inspection is used for inspection such as aging of the liquid crystal display panel 1, the flexible wiring board 12 is heated to 80 to 100 ° C.
For example, it is preferable to use a resin such as polyimide which can withstand the environmental temperature. An elastic support 18 made of a molded product of, for example, silicone rubber is mounted on the inner edge of the socket body 11 behind the contact 12a and in contact with the back surface (lower surface) of the flexible wiring board 12. The elastic support 18 extends along the direction in which the electrode terminals 4 of the liquid crystal display panel 1 are arranged. Then, the liquid crystal display panel 1 is mounted on the flexible wiring board 12. When the insulating substrate 2 of the liquid crystal display panel 1 is pressed by the panel pressing member 13, the front end portion 19a (the left end portion in FIG. 2A) of the socket body 1 is pressed.
A flexible shutter 19 is provided between the panel pressing member 13 and the insulating substrate 2. A spring (not shown) for pressing the rear end of the shutter 19 forward is attached to the socket body 11, and the front end 19a of the shutter 19 opens the liquid crystal display panel mounting area by the pressing force of the spring. From the retracted position (FIG. 2 (a)) to the covering position (FIG. 2 (b)) where the tip covers the upper surface of the side of the insulating substrate 2 of the liquid crystal display panel 1. The socket body 11 includes a flexible wiring board 1
A support plate 20 that covers the upper surface of the liquid crystal display panel 2 and has a tip extending along the side of the insulating substrate 2 of the liquid crystal display panel 1 is attached. The shutter 19 is slidably supported on the support plate 20. ing. The panel pressing member 13 of the present embodiment is a metal clamper 21 having a spring-like U-shaped cross section and mounted on the socket body 11 so as to sandwich the upper and lower sides of the socket body 11 and the insulating substrate 2 of the liquid crystal display panel 1. And a sliding piece 22 made of plastic which is slid on the upper surface of the shutter 19, for example, screwed to the lower surface of the upper portion over substantially the entire length of the upper portion of the clamper 21. As a plastic material used for the sliding piece 22, a material having high lubricity such as polytetrafluoroethylene is preferable. Although not shown, the shutter 19 is provided with an engaging portion that can be engaged with the sliding piece 22, and the sliding piece 22 presses the insulating substrate 2 of the liquid crystal display panel 1 at a pressing position (FIG. From b)), when it is retracted to the open position for opening the liquid crystal display panel mounting area, it engages with the engaging portion of the shutter 19. Then, the panel pressing member 13 is further moved from the open position in FIG.
When moving backward to the retracted position shown in FIG.
9 is moved from the covering position to the retracted position by the panel pressing member 13 against the pressing force of the spring. As shown in FIG. 3, the film mounting plate 17 is mounted on the socket body 11 via a position adjusting means so as to be adjustable in position in parallel with the arrangement direction of the electrode terminals 4 of the display panel 1. Referring to FIG. 3, the position adjusting means is provided at the upper right corner and the lower left corner of the socket body 11, respectively. This position adjusting means is shown in FIGS.
, A biasing spring 23 for biasing the film mounting plate 17 in one of its longitudinal directions and an adjusting member for adjusting the position of the end of the film mounting plate 17 against the spring force 24, and the urging spring 23 and the adjustment member 24 are disposed on the socket body 11 so as to act on the same end of the film mounting plate 17. This adjustment member 24
Is an end member 25 slidably housed in the long groove 11a and attached to the end of the film mounting plate 17, and an end of the long groove 11a so as to abut the inclined end 26 formed in the end member 25. Abutment piece 27 accommodated in the
7 has an adjusting screw 28 for displacing the groove 7 in the depth direction of the long groove 11a. Each of the biasing springs 23 is mounted so as to exert a spring force with its both ends held by spring holding portions 23a protruding on both sides of the long groove 11a of the socket body 11. Next, the operation of the display panel inspection socket of this embodiment will be described. First, the panel pressing member 13 is pulled out from the short side and the long side of the socket body 11, respectively, and is retracted to the retracted position shown in FIG. Next, the insulating substrate 2 of the liquid crystal display panel 1 is accommodated in the socket body 11 with the liquid crystal display unit 3 facing downward. Then, the insulating substrate 2 of the liquid crystal display panel 1 is pressed toward the panel positioning piece 16 by the leaf spring 15 of the panel positioning means 14 and positioned at an appropriate position. Next, the clamper 21 of the panel pressing member 13 at the retracted position is pressed from the outside to the inside of the socket body 11 toward the pressing position shown in FIG. At this time, first, the flexible shutter 19 is pressed by a pressing force of a spring (not shown) to move on the support plate 20 inward of the socket body 11, and the tip 19 a of the flexible shutter 19 insulates the liquid crystal display panel 1. The upper surface of the side portion of the substrate 2 is covered. Subsequently, the clamper 21 moves inward of the socket body 11 together with the sliding piece 22, and finally, as shown in FIG.
(B), the electrode terminal 4 of the display panel 1 and the contact 12a of the flexible wiring board 12 in the socket body 11 are elastically contacted. As described above, according to the present embodiment, the direction in which the panel positioning means 14 presses the insulating substrate 2 of the display panel 1 and the direction in which the panel pressing member 13 is pressed are the same. The substrate 2 of the display panel 1 is pressed by the member 13 toward the panel positioning piece 16 which is a reference of the panel positioning means 14.
Therefore, the displacement of the substrate 2 of the display panel 1 due to the pressing of the panel pressing member 13 can be reliably prevented.
As a result, the substrate 2 of the display panel 1 can always be held at an appropriate position, and the alignment accuracy between the contact 12a of the flexible wiring board 12 attached to the film attachment plate 17 and the electrode terminal 4 on the display panel 1 can be maintained. Can be improved. FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the panel positioning means 14 of the present invention. In the present embodiment, instead of the leaf spring 15 of the above-described embodiment, a pressing member 29 is provided at a diagonal corner (lower right corner of the socket main body 11) of a corner where the panel positioning piece 16 of the socket main body 11 is installed.
Is provided. The pressing member 29 includes a tension spring 30
A diagonal spring resilience is provided thereby. The reason why the pressing member 29 can be provided at the diagonal corner of the corner where the panel positioning piece 16 of the socket body 11 is installed is as follows.
The biasing spring 23 forming the position adjusting means, the adjusting member 2
4. This is because the end members 25 and the like are independently formed at other corners of the socket body 11 including the upper right corner and the lower left corner. Also in this embodiment, the insulating substrate 2 of the liquid crystal display panel 1 is pressed diagonally toward the panel positioning piece 16 by the pressing member 29. 13 can be reliably prevented from displacing the substrate 2 of the display panel 1 due to the pressing. Then, by this, the substrate 2 of the display panel 1
Can always be held at an appropriate position, and the alignment accuracy between the contact 12a of the flexible wiring board 12 attached to the film attachment plate 17 and the electrode terminal 4 on the display panel 1 can be improved. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, a non-flexible wiring board for forming a contact can be used. Further, other configurations can be changed as needed. Since the display panel inspection socket of the present invention is constructed and operates in this manner, the display panel substrate can always be held at an appropriate position, and is mounted on the socket body. This has the effect of improving the alignment accuracy between the contacts of the wiring board and the electrode terminals on the display panel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view showing one embodiment of a display panel inspection socket of the present invention. FIGS. 2A and 2B are cross-sectional views taken along line AA of FIG. FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view illustrating a retreat position of the panel pressing member, and FIG. 3B is a plan view illustrating an internal structure of each corner of the socket body. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a leaf spring. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 3; FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing a lower right corner of a socket body showing another embodiment of the panel positioning means of the present invention; c is a schematic front view showing liquid crystal display panels having different electrode terminal arrangements. [Description of References] 1 Liquid crystal display panel 2 Substrate 4 Electrode terminal 11 Socket body 12 Flexible wiring board 12a Contact 13 Panel pressing member 14 Panel positioning means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01R 31/00 G01R 1/073 G02F 1/13 101 G09F 9/00 352 G01M 11/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claim 1] A substrate of a display panel housed in a socket body is positioned by panel positioning means, and a panel pressing member is pushed in from the outside to the inside of the socket body to display the display. In a display panel inspection socket in which an electrode terminal of a panel and a contact of a wiring board in a socket main body are elastically contacted , a positioning which is a positioning reference at a corner of the socket main body.
Pieces are provided, and the panel positioning means is located at this position.
The display panel is provided at a diagonal corner opposite to the positioning piece and is formed so as to elastically press and position the substrate of the display panel in the same direction as the pressing direction of the panel pressing member.
A socket for inspecting a display panel, characterized in that: