Patent Application
20230113328
This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 110137733 filed in Taiwan, R.O.C. on Oct. 12, 2021, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present disclosure relates to a device and method for removing electronic components and a method for manufacturing light-emitting diode (LED) panels, and in particular to a device for removing a specific one of a plurality of electronic components quickly and selectively, a method using the device to remove electronic components, and a method including the aforesaid removal method to manufacture LED panels.
A major category of existing commercially-available display devices is LED panel displays. In general, the manufacturing process of LED panel products entails performing epitaxy, mass transfer, die attachment and bonding. The mass transfer involves placing LEDs on a target panel or substrate by MEMS array technology and fixing the placed LEDs to the target panel or substrate by a means of attachment, such as solder. Thus, upon electrical conduction, the LEDs densely arranged on the panel get excited to emit light in different colors, respectively, thereby enabling high-saturation visual perception.
Mass transfer necessitates removal from the panel of defective LED chips or LED chips badly aligned in position or height. However, existing prior art is not effective in removing from a panel any chip otherwise attached to a specific position on the panel but requires moving a removal tool, such as a clamping jaw or laser welder, across the chips consecutively to above the chip to be removed before the removal operation begins. The removal process carried out with the removal tool is time-consuming. The removal tool is likely to hit and damage any other devices in the vicinity of the panel.
In view of the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art, it is an objective of the disclosure to provide a device for removing a specific one of a plurality of electronic components quickly and selectively, so as to enhance removal efficiency and reduce the likelihood of mutual collisions of surrounding devices.
The disclosure provides a device for removing electronic components, including a mounting platform, an energy beam generating appliance and a guiding mechanism. The mounting platform is adapted to mount a substrate in place. The energy beam generating appliance generates and emits an energy beam onto the mounting platform. The guiding mechanism guides the energy beam to a specific position on the mounting platform according to a signal.
In an embodiment, the guiding mechanism includes a galvo mirror for reflecting the energy beam to the specific position.
In an embodiment, the energy beam is a laser beam.
In an embodiment, the device for removing electronic components further includes a cleaning device. The cleaning device is disposed on the mounting platform and corresponds in position to a cleaning area. The cleaning area is of a width greater than or equal to a width of the substrate in a scan direction.
In an embodiment, the cleaning device is an injection nozzle.
In an embodiment, the signal includes a coordinate information about the specific position.
The disclosure further provides a method for removing electronic components, including: providing a substrate, with a plurality of electronic components being mounted on the substrate and including at least one component to be removed; generating a signal including a coordinate information about the at least one component to be removed; providing an energy beam; guiding the energy beam to coordinates of the at least one component to be removed according to the signal and reducing the bonding force between the at least one component to be removed and the substrate with the energy beam; and removing the at least one component to be removed.
In an embodiment, the method involves using an air current to remove the component to be removed.
In an embodiment, the electronic components are LED chips.
The disclosure further provides a method for manufacturing LED panels, including using the method for removing electronic components to remove LEDs.
Therefore, the disclosure provides a device and method for removing electronic components, using a guiding mechanism to guide an energy beam to a specific position on a mounting platform according to a signal, using the energy beam to reduce a bonding force between a component to be removed and a substrate, so as to remove the component to be removed. According to the disclosure, the method for manufacturing LED panels includes the method for removing electronic components to thereby remove a specific one of a plurality of electronic components quickly and selectively, so as to enhance removal efficiency and reduce the likelihood of mutual collisions of surrounding devices.
The aforesaid features and advantages of the disclosure are hereunder illustrated with embodiments, depicted with accompanying drawings, and described below.
The above and other features and advantages of the disclosure are depicted by accompanying drawings, illustrated by embodiments and described below. Direction-related terms, such as “on,” “under,” “left,” “right,” “front” and “rear,” used in the description of the embodiments below are applicable to the accompanying drawings only. Thus, the direction-related terms are descriptive rather than restrictive of the disclosure. Identical or similar reference numerals used in the embodiments below denote identical or similar components.
Refer to
For example, the mounting platform 100 is a movable track or a rigid plate and is adapted to mount the substrate 110 with the electronic components 2. In this embodiment, the electronic components 2 are, for example, LED chips or any other electronic components capable of emitting light; however, the disclosure is not limited thereto. The electronic components 2 include the component 2′ to be removed from the substrate 110. The component 2′ to be removed is, for example, a diode chip not capable of emitting light or a defective chip badly aligned in position or height during the transfer step; and the removal is achieved by a physical or energy means.
For example, the energy beam generating appliance 200 is a laser generator for generating and emitting a laser beam to the mounting platform 100. However, in another possible embodiment, the energy beam generating appliance 200 may also be a device which generates high-heat, low-frequency visible light. The guiding mechanism 300 guides the energy beam generated by the energy beam generating appliance 200 to a specific position on the mounting platform 100 according to the signal received. For example, the guiding mechanism 300 includes a galvo mirror 310. The galvo mirror 310 reflects the energy beam to a specific position. The position and orientation of the galvo mirror 310 relative to the energy beam generating appliance 200 are adjustable; thus, a user can adjust the position and orientation of the galvo mirror 310 relative to the energy beam generating appliance 200 to allow the energy beam to be reflected to a position anticipated by the user. Optionally, the guiding mechanism 300 further includes a lens for converging or diverging the energy beam, a chamber for adjusting energy beam power, and a slit for filtering or gathering any other energy beam sources; however, the disclosure is not limited thereto.
Preferably, the device 1 for removing electronic components further includes a signal unit 400, a cleaning device 500 and a recycling device 600. The signal unit 400 is electrically connected to the energy beam generating appliance 200 and the guiding mechanism 300 to provide information required for the energy beam generating appliance 200 to generate the energy beam E and for the guiding mechanism 300 to guide the energy beam E. The cleaning device 500 and the recycling device 600 are mounted on the mounting platform 100 (on the substrate 110 in this embodiment) to clean and recycle the component 2′ to be removed, respectively.
For example, the signal unit 400 is a signal generator or a controller for generating a programmed signal to be sent to the energy beam generating appliance 200 and the guiding mechanism 300 wiredly or wirelessly. The signal sent to the energy beam generating appliance 200 is indicative of, for example, the point in time at which the energy beam is emitted, the power of the energy beam, and the time interval required to keep emitting the energy beam. The signal sent to the guiding mechanism 300 includes, for example, a coordinate information required for guiding the energy beam to a specific position. After the guiding mechanism 300 has received the coordinate information, the position and orientation of the galvo mirror 310 relative to the energy beam generating appliance 200 can be adjusted, allowing the energy beam to precisely fall onto a target position. When the coordinate information is in a plural number, the guiding mechanism 300 can receive the coordinate information and then enable the energy beam to fall onto the target positions consecutively and precisely.
The cleaning device 500 is, for example, an injection nozzle. Upon reduction of the bonding force between the component 2′ to be removed and the substrate 110 with the energy beam E, the cleaning device 500 blows a pressurized air current whereby the component 2′ to be removed from the substrate 110 is moved away from its original position thereon, and thus the surface of the substrate 110 stays clean. However, in another possible embodiment, the cleaning device 500 is a mechanical arm adapted to allow soft bristles to be protruded, and the soft bristles clean the component 2′ to be removed once and for all after the energy beam E reduces the bonding force. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto.
The recycling device 600 is, for example, a suction nozzle for taking in, by suction under a negative pressure, the component 2′ cleaned with the cleaning device 500; thus, if the light-emitting capability of the component 2′ to be removed functions well, the component 2′ recycled by the recycling device 600 can undergo the transfer step once again, thereby precluding a waste of the electronic components 2. Furthermore, the recycling device 600 preferably corresponds in position to the cleaning device 500, and is more preferably disposed on two opposing sides of the mounting platform 100, so as to speed up the removal step of the electronic components 2.
In this embodiment, the signal unit 400 is also electrically connected to both the cleaning device 500 and the recycling device 600. After the energy beam generating appliance 200 and the guiding mechanism 300 have enabled the separation of the component 2′ to be removed and the substrate 110 according to the signal emitted from the signal unit 400, the signal unit 400 sends the signal to the cleaning device 500 and recycling device 600 at any time, such that the cleaning device 500 and recycling device 600 consecutively clean and recycle the component 2′ to be removed, respectively.
Refer to
In this embodiment, one single energy beam E is, for example, emitted at the same time, and the galvo mirror 310 consecutively varies its own position and orientation to reflect the energy beam E to the component 2′ to be removed. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto. In another possible embodiment, the energy beam generating appliance 200 emits a plurality of energy beams E once and for all, whereas the guiding mechanism 300 includes a plurality of galvo mirrors 310 and optical components corresponding in position thereto, respectively, and guides once and for all the plurality of energy beams E to all the components 2′ within a processing area, so as to further speed up the automated process of removing the components 2′ to be removed.
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The disclosure further provides a method for manufacturing LED panels, and the method includes the aforesaid method for removing electronic components from the substrate 110.
The disclosure is disclosed above by preferred embodiments. However, the embodiments are illustrative of the disclosure only, but shall not be interpreted as restrictive of the scope of the disclosure. Hence, all equivalent changes and modifications made by persons skilled in the art to the embodiments shall be deemed falling within the scope of the disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 110137733 | Oct 2021 | TW | national |
