Abstract:
The present invention discloses an optical vision inspection apparatus, wherein the light supply unit thereof includes a light source base having a concaved surface and a plurality of light-emitting elements providing shorter-wavelength light. The concaved surface can focuses the light emitted by the light-emitting elements onto the surface of the inspected object. In comparison with blue light or red light used in the conventional technology, the shorter-wavelength light has a higher energy. Therefore, in the present invention, the light signal receiving unit receives more intense light signals. Thus, no matter what type of defect there is, the succeeding signal-processing unit has more reliable light signals, and the result of defect inspection is more accurate.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus, particularly to an optical vision inspection apparatus. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    To promote quality and reduce cost, the defective elements should be found out and then repaired/rejected before the fabrication process ends. However, naked-eye inspection can no more meet the trend of fast fabricating large-scale and fine-line elements in the electronic and optoelectronic industries. In addition to electric performance test, the inspection of appearance and surface defects is also an important inspection item, and AOI (Automatic Optical Inspection) is a technology to inspect the appearance and surface defects of electronic elements. AOI not only can implement the quality control of finished products but also can aid the monitoring of semi-products, and errors can thus be forward amended. 
         [0005]    The common surface defects of electronic elements include dirt, dust, foreign matters, scratches, bubbles, cracked corners, and folded marks. Limited by the characteristics of the light source and the sensing range of CCD (Couple Charged Device), an AOI machine can usually inspect only few types of the defects mentioned above. An AOI machine generally adopts a light source according to various factors, such as the characteristics of the inspected object and the CCD used by the machine. As the frequency response of the current industrial CCD is between 300 and 700 nm, an AOI machine usually adopts a visible light source having a wavelength of between 470 and 680 nm. Refer to  FIG. 1(A)  and  FIG. 1(B)  for the conventional AOI machines. In  FIG. 1(A) , the machine only has a single light source  10 . The light source  10  has a plurality of light-emitting elements  101  emitting blue light with a wavelength of about 450 nm. The light source  10  is arranged below a carry disc  12  which carries an inspected object  13 . A CCD device  14  is also arranged below the inspected object  13  and used to receive the light signal reflected from the surface illuminated by the light source  10  for defect analysis, wherein the incident light is denoted by arrows with a solid line, and the reflected light is denoted by arrows with a dashed line. In  FIG. 1(A) , no matter whether the inspected object  13  is transparent or not, only a single surface can be inspected in one inspection operation. In  FIG. 1(B) , the machine has a first light source  10  and a second light source  11  which illuminate a transparent inspected object  13 . Thus, both sides of the inspected object  13  can be simultaneously inspected. The first light source  10  is arranged between the inspected object  13  and the CCD device  14 . The first light source  10  has a plurality of light-emitting elements  101  emitting blue light with a wavelength of about 450 nm. The second light source  11  is arranged below the inspected object  13  and at a position corresponding to the first light source  10 . The second light source  10  has a plurality of light-emitting elements  111  emitting red light with a wavelength of about 600 nm. Blue light has a better reflection capability, and red light has a better penetration capability; thus, the defects on both sides of the inspected object  13  can be simultaneously detected by the CCD device  14 . However, the structures of the light sources of the abovementioned AOI machines cannot concentrate light onto the inspected surface. Therefore, the light signal received by the CCD device  14  is pretty weak. 
         [0006]    The abovementioned two AOI machines are the common examples of the optical inspection technology. The positions of the CCD device, the inspected object and the light sources can be adjusted to achieve a better inspection result. No matter what structure the optical inspection machine has, the light source thereof is usually red light, blue light, or the combination of red and blue lights. However, both red light and blue light have longer wavelengths and lower energies. Many light-projection methods have been developed to solve the problem of insufficient energy, such as forward light projection, backward light projection, and structural light projection, but these designs usually bring about complicated optical inspection structures and longer optical paths. After traveling through a long optical path and being absorbed by the inspected object, the reflected or refracted light signal the CCD device receives is pretty weak and hard to analyze, and some tiny defects are thus unlikely to detect. 
         [0007]    Accordingly, the present invention proposes an optical vision inspection apparatus to solve the abovementioned problems, wherein higher energy light sources are used to intensify light signals and promote inspection accuracy. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an optical vision inspection apparatus, wherein the shorter-wavelength light-emitting elements are specially arranged to have more intense light energy focused onto the surface of the inspected object, and tiny surface defects can thus be easily detected. 
         [0009]    Another objective of the present invention is to provide an optical vision inspection apparatus, wherein the relative position of the light supply unit and the light signal receiving unit can be adjusted to enable the inspection of transparent objects and opaque objects. 
         [0010]    To achieve the abovementioned objectives, the present invention proposes an optical vision inspection apparatus, which comprises at least one light supply unit, at least one inspection table, at least one light signal receiving unit and at least one signal-processing unit. The light supply unit further comprises a light source base and a plurality of light-emitting elements. The light emitted by the light-emitting element has a shorter wavelength of between 370 and 400 nm. The light source base has at least one concaved surface. The light-emitting elements are arranged on the concaved surface and function as light sources. The concaved surface has a slope angle of between 5 and 30 degrees. Thereby, the light emitted by the light-emitting elements is concentrated onto the surface of the inspected object placed on the inspection table. The incident light is reflected to become a plurality of reflective-light signals or refracted to become a plurality of transmissive-light signals. The light signal receiving unit receives the reflective-light signals and the transmissive-light signals and transfers them to the signal-processing unit for the analysis of the surface defects of the inspected object. Via the concaved surface and the shorter-wavelength light source, the surface of the inspected object can has a given amount of incident light energy. Thus, the reflective-light signals or the transmissive-light signals also maintain at a given intensity. Accordingly, the optical vision inspection apparatus of the present invention can promote the overall detection accuracy. 
         [0011]    To enable the objectives, technical contents, characteristics and accomplishments of the present invention, the embodiments of the present invention are to be described in cooperation with the attached drawings below. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]      FIG. 1(A)  is a diagram schematically showing the structure of a conventional optical inspection machine with a single light source; 
           [0013]      FIG. 1(B)  is a diagram schematically showing the structure of a conventional optical inspection machine with dual light sources; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a diagram schematically showing the structure according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a diagram schematically showing the structure according to a second embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 4(A)  is a sectional view schematically showing the light supply unit according to the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 4(B)  is a perspective view schematically showing the light supply unit according to the present invention; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  is a diagram schematically showing the structure according to a third embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    An effective, stable and accurate light source is a critical factor in inspecting the appearance and the surface defects of an object. Thus, the present invention proposes an optical vision inspection apparatus. The related principles and the embodiments of the present invention are to be described in cooperation with the drawings below. 
         [0020]    According to classic physics, the reactions between the inspected object and the incident light include reflection, refraction, transmission and absorption, which are respectively associated with reflectivity, refractivity, transmissivity and absorptivity. Refractivity not only correlates with the physical properties of the inspected object but also with the wavelength of the incident light. For an identical optical glass, the refractivity of green light is higher than that of red light, and the refractivity of blue light is higher than that of green light. Refer to  FIG. 2  a diagram schematically showing the structure according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In  FIG. 2 , the inspected object  23  is an opaque object, such as a semiconductor substrate, a printed circuit board, a substrate coated with an opaque material, or the like. The inspected surface of the inspected object  23  placed on an inspection table  22  receives the light coming from a light supply unit  20 . In  FIG. 2 , the arrows with a solid line are used to indicate the propagation direction of the incident light. The inspection table  22 , the light supply unit  20 , or both of them are coupled to an adjust unit  21 . The adjust unit  21  adjusts the distance between the light supply unit  20  and the inspection table  22  according to the related parameters, such as the thickness of the inspected object, the position of the inspected object, the type of the light source, etc. Thereby, the light coming from the light supply unit  20  can focus on the inspected surface of the inspected object  23 , and the inspected surface can have a given intensity of light energy. As the inspected object  23  is opaque, most of the incident light is absorbed or reflected. A light signal receiving unit  24  receives the light reflected by the inspected object  23 , and the reflective-light signals are indicated by the arrows with a dashed line. A signal-processing unit  25  processes and analyzes the reflective-light signals. As the light signals are reflected from the inspected object  23 , the light supply unit  20  and the light signal receiving unit  24  are arranged on the same side of the inspected object  23 . 
         [0021]    Refer to  FIG. 3  a diagram schematically showing the structure according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Besides opaque objects, the inspected object may be a transparent one in this embodiment, such as that made of optical glass, quartz, or the like, and the structure of the inspection apparatus is different from that of the first embodiment. Similarly to the first embodiment, there is also a light supply unit  20  providing light for the inspected surface of the inspected object  23 . As the inspected object  23  is transparent, most of the incident light is absorbed or penetrates. As the light signals in the second embodiment are mainly transmissive-light signals, the light supply unit  20  and the light signal receiving unit  24  are respectively arranged on different sides of the inspected object  23 . 
         [0022]    Refer to  FIG. 4(A)  a sectional view schematically showing the light supply unit according to the present invention, and refer to  FIG. 4(B)  a perspective view schematically showing the light supply unit according to the present invention. In either of the optical vision inspection apparatuses disclosed in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the light supply unit  20  has a light source base  201  and a plurality of light-emitting elements  202 . For providing a higher energy, the light-emitting elements  202  emits light having a shorter wavelength of between 370 and 400 nm. The light-emitting element  202  may be realized by a light-emitting diode, a cold cathode fluorescent lamp, an organic electroluminescent element, or the like. In the abovementioned embodiments of the present invention, the light source base  201  has an obconical concaved surface  203 , and the light-emitting elements  202  are arranged on the concaved surface  203 . The slope angle of the concaved surface  203  is designed to focus light onto the inspected surface of the inspected object. Besides the obconical shape in these embodiments, the concaved surface  203  may have other forms, such as a rectangle, an inverted pyramid, a sphere, etc., to meet different inspected items or different mechanical designs. The concaved surface  203  may have an opening  204  used to accommodate the light signal receiving unit  24 . In addition to an ordered array, the light-emitting elements  202  may also be randomly arranged for the inspection of different defects. 
         [0023]    Refer to  FIG. 5  a diagram schematically showing the structure according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In the third embodiment, the optical vision inspection apparatus further has a qualified product collecting tank  291 , a defective product collecting tank  292  and a rework product collecting tank  293 . In this embodiment, a conveying unit  27  transports the objects to be inspected to the inspection table  22 ; the light supply unit  20  provides light for the inspected surface of the inspected object  23 ; the light signal receiving unit  24  receives the signals from the inspected object  23  and transmits the signals to the signal-processing unit  25 ; if the signal-processing unit  25  determines the inspected object  23  to be a qualified product after processing and analyzing the signals, a classifying unit  28  distributes the qualified product to the qualified product collecting tank  291  to wait for the succeeding fabrication step; if the signal-processing unit  25  determines the inspected object  23  to be a defective product after processing and analyzing the signals, the classifying unit  28  distributes the defective product to the defective product collecting tank  292  for returning the defective products; if the signal-processing unit  25  determines the inspected object  23  to be a product needing reworking after processing and analyzing the signals, the classifying unit  28  distributes the product needing reworking to the rework product collecting tank  293  for reworking. 
         [0024]    The abovementioned light signal receiving unit can be implemented with charge coupled devices. The optical vision inspection apparatus of the present invention may adopt different types of inspection tables, such as a partition rotary disc or an X-Y carry table, to meet different inspected objects. Further, a vacuum device or a clamp device may be used to fix the inspected object firmly on the inspection table so that the light supply unit can stably project light on the inspected surface of the inspected object. Besides, an extra auxiliary light supply unit may be used to assist in the inspection according to the features of the inspected object. For example, an auxiliary light supply unit may be installed at the same side of the light supply unit to enhance the intensity of the light reflected from an opaque inspected object, wherein the light sources of the auxiliary light supply unit may adopt the light-emitting elements similar to those used in the light supply unit. To enhance the intensity of the light penetrating a transparent inspected object, an auxiliary light supply unit may also be installed at the same side of the light supply unit; however, in this case, the light-emitting elements of the auxiliary light supply unit are mainly those having a high penetration capability. For simultaneously detecting both surfaces of an inspected object, two light supply units are respectively installed on two sides of the inspected object. The light source design and the architecture thereof disclosed in the present invention can apply to various optical vision inspection apparatuses. However, the practical structures thereof are influenced by many factors. Thus, the detail of them will not be further described herein. 
         [0025]    In summary, as the optical vision inspection apparatus of the present invention adopts light-emitting elements emitting a shorter-wavelength light and a light source base having a special concaved structure, light can focus onto the inspected surface of the inspected object, and the probability of detecting the defects on the inspected surface is promoted. 
         [0026]    Those described above are the embodiments to demonstrate the technical thought and characteristics of the present invention to enable the persons skilled in the art to understand, make, and use the present invention. However, it is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any equivalent modification or variation according to the spirit of the present invention is to be also included within the scope of the present invention.