JP5474688B2 - High-speed inspection and evaluation methods for resistive touch panels - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a resistance film type touch panel inspection / evaluation method. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for inspecting and evaluating the characteristics of a resistive touch panel at an extremely high speed, that is, in a short time.

Resistive touch panels (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “touch panels”) have a simple structure, are inexpensive, and allow finger input, so that their production is increasing year by year. Along with the expansion of the production volume, the inspection methods and means for ensuring the quality are being improved.
One of touch panel inspection and evaluation is a response characteristic test for pen input. A specific inspection method is to input a predetermined position with a pen (pressure bar) instead of a finger, input the detected X-axis and Y-axis position information into a computer, and check the linearity etc. by calculation. is there. The durability is an inspection for checking the number of times the characteristic is maintained by repeating the reciprocating motion of the contact rod.

In order to perform the response characteristic test of the touch panel efficiently and reliably, the entire touch surface is inspected, the reciprocating motion of the pressure bar is performed at high speed, and the specimen to be inspected is installed and inspected quickly. It is necessary that the inspection machine itself be operated stably for a long time.
Patent Document 1 has been proposed as an apparatus for inspecting and evaluating a touch panel at high speed. This device is integrally linked with a reciprocating cylinder member, and a plurality of tactile pressure pens that strike the plane of the sample to be inspected at predetermined intervals and two-dimensionally arranged in the form of a matrix. Evaluation device. This evaluation apparatus is a method in which a specimen to be inspected is fixed on a fixed support base, and a cylinder is driven while a pressure pen and a sample surface are spotted, and it is possible to perform a test at a reasonably high speed. .
This device has two drive parts, ie, a cylinder member drive and a stylus pen drive that is integrated with the cylinder member, and it takes a certain time to inspect the entire surface to be evaluated.

JP 2005-310093 JP

The present inventor conducted research on the development of a device capable of performing a response characteristic test at a higher speed, particularly a device capable of performing a durability test in a shorter time, with the expansion of production of resistive touch panels. In addition, research on the development of inspection / evaluation equipment with few moving parts and few failures was conducted.
In a conventional inspection device, a sample to be inspected (touch panel) is fixed on a fixed support plate with the inspection surface facing upward, and the inspection position is moved while reciprocating a plurality of pressure bars on the inspection surface. It was. Unlike this conventional method, a plurality of contact rods are arranged in a fixed array on the fixed support plate in an upward direction, and the inspection surface of the sample to be inspected is placed on the array of contact rods. The device that was placed so that they face each other and contact each other was found to be able to carry out inspection and evaluation in a very short time with only a vertical movement of each contact rod, and there are few failures. 2009-216567).

The previously proposed apparatus is a touch panel high-speed inspection / evaluation apparatus configured by the following requirements (a) to (e).
(A) On the inspection support base, a contact rod array in which a large number of contact rods are linearly arranged in a line, and a contact rod multi-stage array in which the contact rod arrays are arranged in multiple stages,
(B) Each contact rod is installed on the support base so as to protrude upward from below to the inspection surface through a hole in the plate plate, which is installed at the top of the contact rod multi-stage array,
(C) having a sample arrangement means that can be arranged so that the inspection surface of the sample to be inspected faces downward and comes into contact with the contact rod;
(D) High speed inspection of a resistive touch panel having control means that each contact pressure bar hits at a predetermined interval and (e) determination means for determining the contact pressure position and the inspection result of each contact pressure bar・ Evaluation equipment.

In this inspection / evaluation apparatus, a multi-stage arrangement of contact rods in which a large number of contact rods are arranged on a fixed support board is installed, and a sample to be inspected (touch panel) is arranged with the inspection surface facing downward. It is a structure, and an operation part is only the part of the up-and-down reciprocating motion of each contact rod. In this apparatus, when the sample to be inspected is arranged on the multi-stage arrangement of the pressure bar, the pressure bar hits the inspection surface at a predetermined interval according to the order controlled by the computer. It is desirable that the multi-stage arrangement of the pressure rods cover almost the entire inspection surface, so that it is not necessary to move the pressure rods and the arrangement along the inspection surface. For example, in the case of a response characteristic test of a sample to be inspected, it is possible to inspect in a short time of 10 seconds or less. Moreover, since the movable part is only the vertical movement of the pressure bar, there is an advantage that there is little failure and power consumption is small.
The above-described device is a device that operates and inspects the pressure bar according to a controlled order over the entire inspection surface of the sample to be inspected (touch panel). By using this device, inspection and evaluation are completed in a very short time, Judging the inspection / evaluation is also completed in a short time.

When actually inspecting and evaluating the touch panel using this apparatus, the operation is generally performed according to the following procedure.
(A) Insert and install the inspection surface of the touch panel downward on the inspection support base of the device.
(A) A flexible circuit terminal (FPC) at the end of the touch panel is connected to a connector that electrically connects to the judging means.
(C) The touching bar provided on the inspection support base is operated according to the order on the inspection surface of the touch panel,
(D) Based on the striking point of the pressure bar, the contact position of the pressure bar and the inspection result are determined by the determining means.
(E) Release the connection between the flexible circuit terminal (FPC) at the end of the touch panel and the connector electrically connected to the judging means.
(F) Remove the touch panel from the inspection / evaluation device,
In order to improve the operation efficiency of the inspection / evaluation apparatus, that is, to shorten the time required for inspection / evaluation of one touch panel, it is important to reduce the total time of the steps (a) to (f).

Of the steps described above, steps (c) and (d) can be performed in a very short time. Steps (a) and (e) can be operated manually (manually) relatively easily and do not require much time. However, when removing the touch panel from the device, since the inspection surface of the touch panel is closely attached to the support base surface of the device, manually removing the touch panel can be time-consuming, and in some cases it is quite Time may be required.
In order to manually remove the touch panel from the inspection / evaluation apparatus, one of the reasons is that the inspection surface of the touch panel and the support base surface of the apparatus are in close contact with each other, and there is no gap between both surfaces.

Therefore, the present inventor paid attention to a structure in which a pressure bar protrudes through a hole in the plate on the support base surface of the inspection / evaluation apparatus in order to take out the touch panel from the inspection / evaluation apparatus.
That is, after the hitting point of the pressure bar for the inspection / evaluation device is completed and the determination of the inspection / evaluation device is completed, the pressure bar is actuated again to protrude, the touch panel is pushed up, the support base surface and the touch panel When a gap of about 1 mm to 3 mm is formed between the touch panel and the touch panel, it is found that the touch panel can be easily taken out manually using the gap, and the present invention has been achieved.

The present invention has been achieved based on such knowledge, and according to the present invention, the following high-speed inspection / evaluation method for a touch panel is provided.
(A) On the inspection support base, a contact rod array in which a large number of contact rods are linearly arranged in a line, and a contact rod multi-stage array in which the contact rod arrays are arranged in multiple stages,
(B) Each contact rod is installed on the support base so as to protrude upward from below to the inspection surface through a hole in the plate plate, which is installed at the top of the contact rod multi-stage array,
(C) having a sample arrangement means that can be arranged so that the inspection surface of the sample to be inspected (touch panel) is directed downward and in contact with the contact rod;
(D) High speed inspection of a resistive touch panel having control means that each contact pressure bar hits at a predetermined interval and (e) determination means for determining the contact pressure position and the inspection result of each contact pressure bar・ Using the evaluation device,
A method for inspecting and evaluating a touch panel,

(1) A touch panel is attached to the device,
(2) The flexible circuit terminal (FPC) at the end of the touch panel is connected to a connector that is electrically connected to the determination means,
(3) Touching the pressure bar placed on the inspection support base on the inspection surface of the touch panel at a predetermined interval,
(4) The contact position of each contact rod and the inspection result are determined by the determination means,
(5) Release the connection between the flexible circuit terminal at the end of the touch panel and the connector electrically connected to the judging means,
(6) Next, the contact rod arranged on the inspection support base is projected to form a gap between the inspection support base surface and the touch panel inspection surface,
(7) A high-speed inspection / evaluation method for a resistive touch panel, wherein the touch panel is taken out from the inspection support base using the gap formed in this way.

In the above-described high-speed inspection / evaluation method of the present invention, the following embodiments (A-1) to (A-3) are preferable.
(A-1) When a touch panel is mounted on the inspection / evaluation apparatus, a U-shaped or L-shaped guide frame is provided on the inspection support base of the apparatus, and the touch panel is stored in a fixed position in the guide frame. about,
(A-2) When the touch panel is mounted on the inspection support base of the inspection / evaluation apparatus, the tip of the flexible circuit terminal (FPC) at the end of the touch panel is connected to a connector that is electrically connected to the determination means. That the connector is installed,
(A-3) When a gap is formed between the support base surface of the inspection / evaluation apparatus and the touch panel inspection surface, the contact pressure provided separately or combined with the contact rod for inspection / evaluation Actuating the bar and projecting the pressure bar to the touch panel inspection surface,

According to the method of the present invention, after evaluating and judging the touch panel from the inspection / evaluation apparatus, the contact rod is operated to form a gap between the support base surface of the apparatus and the inspection surface of the touch panel. It is possible to easily take out the touch panel manually, and the time required for the inspection surface of one touch panel as a whole can be shortened.

It is an apparatus used in the method of the present invention, and is a plan view schematically showing a support plate 1 and a plate plate 2 installed at the top of a multi-stage contact rod arranged fixedly on the support base 1. FIG. 2 shows an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of a pressure bar array, which is an apparatus used in the method of the present invention. The apparatus used in the method of this invention, Comprising: Sectional drawing of the state which has arrange | positioned the to-be-inspected sample (touch panel) in the apparatus is shown. The top view which looked at the state which arranged the to-be-tested sample on the support base from the top is shown.

The method of the present invention is implemented using the touch panel high-speed inspection / evaluation apparatus previously proposed by the present inventor. This device has already been filed as Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-216567 (filed on Sep. 19, 2009). This apparatus will be described first with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing a plate plate 2 installed on an upper part of a multistage arrangement of contact rods fixed to a support base 1 of an inspection / evaluation apparatus. In this inspection / evaluation apparatus, a multi-stage arrangement of contact rods is fixed on a support base 1, and the multi-stage arrangement of pressure bars is arranged in multiple stages.

The contact rod multi-stage arrangement refers to an arrangement in which a plurality of contact rods are arranged in a straight line in a row and arranged in a state of being stacked in multiple stages. The contact rod multi-stage arrangement is arranged between the plate plate 2 and the support base 1 in FIG. 1 and is therefore not shown in the drawing. Corresponding pressure rods are arranged corresponding to the numerous holes 3 of the plate plate 2. FIG. 1 shows a plan view of the support base 1, the plate plate 2, and the holes provided in the plate plate 2 for the sake of simplicity. As can be understood from the arrangement of a large number of holes 3 in the plate plate 2 in FIG. 1, in the case of FIG. 1, 10 pressure rods are arranged in a line (left and right lateral direction) in a straight line. It shows that the arrangement is arranged in six stages (vertical and vertical directions).

A plate plate 2 is provided on the upper surface of the multi-stage contact rod, and the tip of the contact rod protrudes through a hole 3 formed in the plate plate 2. In other words, the plate plate 2 has the same number of holes as the number of the contact rods present in the contact rod multi-stage array (in FIG. 1, 60 holes of 6 × 10).
Next, the plate plate 2 will be described. On the upper surface of the plate plate 2, the inspection surface of the sample to be inspected (touch panel) is placed in close contact. The contact rod protrudes from each hole 3 of the plate plate 2 and presses the inspection surface. Therefore, the hole 3 of the plate plate 2 has a hole diameter sufficient to allow the contact rod to pass through. Usually, the diameter is 0.7 mm to 1.5 mm, preferably 0.8 mm to 1.2 mm. Is appropriate.

Incidentally, the diameter of the pressure rod is generally about 0.9 mm to 1.1 mm, the shape of the pressure rod is cylindrical, and the tip (top) thereof may be flat, or semicircular or dome-shaped. It may be. The positions of the holes provided in the plate plate 2 have a role of determining the position of the inspection surface. Therefore, the arrangement position of the holes 3 in the plate plate 2 matches the position of the contact rod multistage arrangement. In order to inspect and evaluate the linearity of the touch panel, the plate plate 2 is preferably provided with holes 3 so that the holes 3 are arranged in a straight line and at equal intervals, and the same interval is provided in a multistage arrangement. Most preferably, the positions of the holes are arranged so that the entire inspection surface is covered and the vertical and horizontal intervals are the same. The hole spacing (pitch spacing) is advantageously 3 mm to 15 mm, preferably 4 mm to 13 mm. Thus, by arranging the holes so that the holes are linear and the intervals in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction are constant, it is possible to easily determine the state of sensing by the pressure bar.

The plate plate 2 is preferably flat and has a smooth surface, and a plastic plate or a metal plate (preferably an aluminum plate) can be used, and the thickness is desirably 1 mm to 5 mm, preferably 2 mm to 4 mm.
FIG. 2 shows an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the contact rod arrangement.
FIG. 2 shows a partially enlarged view of two adjacent pressure rods in the pressure rod arrangement. An actuator is installed below the plate plate 2 so that the contact rod moves up and down and presses the surface of the inspection surface. For example, a solenoid system (electromagnetic system) or a piezo element system (piezoelectric element system) can be adopted as the actuator that moves the contact rod up and down. FIG. 2 shows a mode in which the contact rod 5 is moved up and down by a solenoid system. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the solenoids 6 are arranged in the horizontal direction corresponding to the number of the pressure rods 5. The solenoid system is suitable when the pitch interval of the holes is about 5 mm or more.

The contact pressure bar 5 is set so that the contact pressure is about 30 to 250 g when contacting the inspection surface. The inspection surface of the sample to be inspected (touch panel) and the surface of the plate plate 2 should be in close contact and fixed so as not to be separated during inspection. The means for immobilizing the sample to be inspected and the plate will be described later.
The contact time when one contact pressure bar is pressed against the inspection surface is sufficient if it is about 0.1 seconds. Therefore, in the apparatus of the present invention, when one row has ten contact rod arrays, the time required for one row inspection is about 1 second. As shown in FIG. 1, when sixty contact rods are continuously operated, the entire surface can be inspected in about 6 seconds. If 100 contact rods are installed, the inspection can be performed in about 10 seconds. Therefore, in order to determine the suitability of a touch panel product using the inspection / evaluation apparatus of the present invention, if the replacement time of the apparatus is 30 seconds, the inspection will be completed in about 40 seconds to about 50 seconds. become. Thus, the inspection / evaluation apparatus of the present invention can be completed in a very short time to determine whether the function of the product operates properly. Further, even when examining durability, it is possible to perform inspection in a short time.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a sample to be inspected (touch panel) is arranged in an inspection / evaluation apparatus. A contact rod multi-stage array 9 is fixedly placed on the support base 1. The plate 2 is fixed to the upper surface of the contact rod multi-stage array 9. In FIG. 3, the contact rods in the contact rod multi-stage array 9 and the holes in the plate plate 2 are omitted in the drawing. The front end of the contact rod is pressed against the inspection surface of the sample to be inspected through the hole of the plate plate. A sample to be inspected is overlaid on the upper surface of the plate plate in a state where the inspection surface is in close contact therewith.
The specimen 8 to be inspected is fixed at a fixed position while being stored in a guide frame 10 provided on the support base 1.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which the sample 8 to be inspected is arranged in the inspection / evaluation apparatus, and the sample 8 to be inspected is installed horizontally with the inspection surface and the plate plate in close contact with each other.
As shown in FIG. 3, the inspection / evaluation apparatus used in the method of the present invention is such that when the sample to be inspected is fixed and installed, the electrically movable part is only the vertical movement of the pressure bar. The pressure rod multi-stage array 9 and the sample 8 to be inspected remain fixed. For inspection / evaluation, the contact rod moves up and down so that the sample 8 to be inspected is fixed so as not to move up and down, but the fixing means is not shown in FIG. The fixing means may be any means as long as the sample 8 to be inspected itself does not move up and down, and may be a method of applying a weight from above the sample to be inspected in FIG.

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the contact rod arrangement. FIG. 2 shows a positional relationship between two adjacent contact rod arrangements and plate plates. In the contact rod arrangement of FIG. 2, an example is shown in which a solenoid system (electromagnetic system) is used for the vertical motion of the contact rod. Each contact rod is moved up and down electromagnetically by a respective solenoid. A plate plate is disposed at the upper end of the contact rod, and the contact rod protrudes to the upper surface of the plate plate through a hole in the plate plate to press the inspection surface of the sample to be inspected. As described above, the inspection surface of the sample is placed in close contact with the upper surface of the plate plate, but FIG. 2 does not show the inspection sample.

When testing a sample to be inspected (touch panel) using the inspection / evaluation apparatus of the present invention, a contact rod is used based on the X-axis and Y-axis corresponding to the position of the hole provided in the plate plate 2. Pressing continuously from one end to the other and from the first stage to multiple stages, the difference between the obtained X-axis and Y-axis results is calculated by a computer, and consistency is determined based on a predetermined reference value Thus, the suitability of linearity can be evaluated.
The inspection / evaluation apparatus used in the method of the present invention preferably has the following aspects (B-1) to (B-7).
(B-1) The contact rod multi-stage array covers substantially the entire inspection surface of the sample to be inspected,
(B-2) In the contact rod arrangement, the contact rods are arranged at regular intervals. (B-3) In the contact rod multistage arrangement, the contact rod arrangements are arranged at regular intervals. is being done,
(B-4) Each contact rod is controlled to sequentially protrude from one end to the other end in each contact rod arrangement,
(B-5) In each contact rod arrangement, each contact rod is operated up and down by a solenoid system.
(B-6) In each contact rod arrangement, the contact rods are operated up and down by a piezo element method.
(B-7) In each contact rod arrangement, each contact rod is arranged at an interval of 3 to 15 mm,

FIG. 4 shows a plan view of the state in which the sample 8 to be inspected is placed on the support base 1 as viewed from above. A sample 8 to be inspected is accommodated in a guide frame 10 provided on the support base 1. In FIG. 4, the guide frame 10 is U-shaped, but it may be L-shaped. A preferred guide frame is U-shaped. In FIG. 4, a sample 8 to be inspected is inserted from the open lower portion of the U-shaped guide frame 10 for inspection. When inserted, the tip 12 of the flexible circuit terminal (FPC) at the end of the sample to be inspected (touch panel) 8 is electrically connected to the connector 11. This connector 11 is electrically connected to determination means (not shown). The guide frame 10 provided on the support base 1 fixes the sample 8 to be inspected to a fixed position on the contact rod array 4 and the position of the front end portion 12 of the FPC at the end of the sample 8 to be inspected is appropriate. It plays an important role for installation in a position that is in electrical contact with the connector 11.

In carrying out the method of the present invention, the following procedures (1) to (7) are performed.
(1) A sample to be inspected (touch panel) is mounted on the inspection / evaluation apparatus. At this time, it is desirable to provide a guide frame 10 on the support base 1 of the inspection / evaluation apparatus, and store the touch panel in the guide frame 10.
(2) The tip 12 of the flexible circuit terminal (FPC) at the end of the touch panel 8 is connected to the connector 11 that is electrically connected to the determination means. It is important that the FPC tip 12 and the connector 11 are positioned at predetermined positions so that the positions of both are accurately positioned and the circuit is electrically connected.
(3) When the connection between the distal end portion 12 of the FPC and the connector 11 is completed, the contact rods in the contact rod multi-stage arrangement arranged on the inspection support base 1 are spotted on the inspection surface of the touch panel at a predetermined interval.
(4) The contact position of each contact pressure bar and the inspection result are determined by the determination means.
(5) When the determination is completed by the determination means, the connection between the front end portion 12 of the FPC at the end of the touch panel 8 and the connector 11 electrically connected to the determination means is released.
(6) Next, the contact rod arranged on the inspection substrate 1 is protruded to form a gap between the inspection support substrate surface and the touch panel inspection surface.
(7) The touch panel is taken out from the inspection support base using the gap thus formed.
The procedures (6) and (7) will be described more specifically. As shown in FIG. 3, the touch panel 8 installed on the test support base 1 is in contact with the test surface of the touch panel 8 in close contact via the plate plate 2 on the contact rod multi-stage array. When the inspection and evaluation are completed after the means (4) and (5) are completed, the touch panel 8 is in close contact with the plate 2 on the support base, and since there is no gap, the touch panel 8 is quickly removed from the support base. Is not easy.

Therefore, in the present invention, attention is paid to the fact that the inspection / evaluation apparatus has a structure having the multi-stage contact rods 9 on the support base 1, and the hitting points of the contact rods for inspection / evaluation are completed. After the judgment is completed, when the pressure bar is operated again and protruded, the pressure bar functions as a protruding bar, the touch panel is pushed up, and a gap is created between the inspection surface of the touch panel and the plate plate. Using the gap, the touch panel can be easily and quickly removed from the support base.
The width of the gap formed by the contact rod may be about 1 to 3 mm, preferably about 1.5 to 2.5 mm.
The formation of the gap between the inspection surface of the touch panel and the plate plate may be the entire inspection surface of the touch panel, but it is not always necessary. For example: a gap may be formed on one side of the touch panel (the lower side of the touch panel 8 as shown in FIG. 4 or the lower side of the touch panel as shown in FIG. 1 facing the lower arrangement of the contact pressure bars). . In this case, a gap is formed on one side (lower part in FIG. 4) of the inspection surface of the touch panel 8, and the touch panel can be easily taken out by hand using this gap.

The pressure bar for pushing up the touch panel to form a gap may be a part or all of the pressure bar for inspection / evaluation. An array of sides).
Furthermore, the pressure bar for pushing up the touch panel does not need to be a pressure bar used for inspection and evaluation, and is a pressure bar (push-up bar) provided separately for pushing up. Also good. That is, the contact rod (push-up rod) provided separately from the contact rod multi-stage array provided separately from the contact rod multi-stage array is in a predetermined position (preferably one lower side of the touch panel; lower part in FIG. 4). Can be installed.

In this case, as a matter of course, it is necessary to provide a hole in the plate plate so that the tip of the separate contact rod protrudes. By separately providing the pressure rod for pushing up, it becomes easy to form the gap at a sufficient interval.
In order to form a gap between the inspection surface of the touch panel and the plate plate, the operation of the contact rod (or push-up rod) is carried out after releasing the connection between the FPC tip and the connector in the means (5). However, it is also possible to automatically operate the contact rod (push-up rod) simultaneously with releasing the connection in the procedure (5). By automatically operating in this way, it is possible to further reduce the time required for taking out the touch panel.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Support base | plate 2 Plate board 3 Hole 4 Contact rod arrangement | sequence 5 Contact rod 6 Solenoid 7 Solenoid support body 8 Sample to be inspected 9 Contact rod multi-stage arrangement | sequence 10 Guide frame 11 Connector 12 The front-end | tip part of a flexible circuit terminal

Claims (1)

Requirements (a) to (e) below (a) A contact rod array in which a large number of contact rods are linearly arranged in a line on the inspection support base, and the contact rod arrays are arranged in multiple stages. It has a multi-stage contact rod,
(B) Each contact rod is installed on the support base so as to protrude upward from below to the inspection surface through a hole in the plate plate, which is installed at the top of the contact rod multi-stage array,
(C) having a sample arrangement means that can be arranged so that the inspection surface of the sample to be inspected (touch panel) is directed downward and in contact with the contact rod;
(D) High speed inspection of a resistive touch panel having control means that each contact pressure bar hits at a predetermined interval and (e) determination means for determining the contact pressure position and the inspection result of each contact pressure bar・ Using the evaluation device,
A method for inspecting and evaluating a touch panel,
(1) A touch panel is attached to the device,
(2) The flexible circuit terminal (FPC) at the end of the touch panel is connected to a connector that is electrically connected to the determination means,
(3) Touching the pressure bar placed on the inspection support base on the inspection surface of the touch panel at a predetermined interval,
(4) The contact position of each contact rod and the inspection result are determined by the determination means,
(5) Release the connection between the flexible circuit terminal at the end of the touch panel and the connector electrically connected to the judging means,
(6) Next, the contact rod arranged on the inspection support base is projected to form a gap between the inspection support base surface and the touch panel inspection surface,
(7) A high-speed inspection / evaluation method for a resistive touch panel, wherein the touch panel is taken out from the inspection support base using the gap formed in this way.