JP4691784B2 - Microscope with electric revolver - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a microscope provided with an electric revolver.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The structure of a conventional microscope equipped with an electric revolver will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. The microscope in FIG. 3 includes a main body 130, a lens barrel 20, an eyepiece 10, an electric revolver 150, and a stage 180. The electric revolver 150 is attached to the arm portion 130 a of the main body 130. A plurality of objective lenses 170 can be attached to the electric revolver 150. The stage 180 is mounted on a substage 143 attached to the main body 130 so as to be movable up and down.
[0003]
As shown in FIG. 4, the electric revolver 150 includes a fixed portion 152 that is fixed to the arm portion 130 a described above, a rotating portion 151 that can rotate with respect to the fixed portion 152, and a motor 160 that rotates the rotating portion 151. The rotating portion 151 is provided with a plurality of objective lens mounting portions 151a. An objective lens 170 is attached to each of the objective mounting portions 151a. One of the plurality of objective lenses 170 is selectively placed on the optical path 142 of the fixed unit 152 by the rotation of the rotating unit 151. Thereby, observation can be performed with a desired objective lens 170.
[0004]
A mechanism for rotating the rotating unit 151 will be described. The rotating portion 151 is attached to the fixed portion 152 so as to be rotatable by a screw 153. The rotation axis 141 of the rotation unit 151 is inclined with respect to the optical axis 140. Therefore, the rotating unit 151 rotates while being inclined with respect to the optical axis 140. The motor 160 is disposed on the side surface of the fixed portion 152. A first bevel gear 162 is attached to the rotating shaft 160 a of the motor 160. On the other hand, a second bevel gear 158 that meshes with the first bevel gear 162 is attached to the outer periphery of the rotating portion 151. Therefore, when the motor 160 is rotated, the rotating unit 151 is rotated, and the desired objective lens 170 can be selectively disposed on the optical axis 140.
[0005]
In the microscope having the structure shown in FIG. 3, focusing on the specimen 181 on the stage 180 (hereinafter referred to as focusing) is performed by moving the substage 143 in the direction of the optical axis 140 and moving the stage 180 and the objective lens 170. This is done by changing the distance.
[0006]
In general, there are roughly two types of microscope focusing methods. One is a method of moving the stage up and down (hereinafter referred to as a stage focusing method) as in the above-described microscope of FIG. 3, and the other is a method of moving the objective lens up and down (hereinafter referred to as an objective focusing method). is there. Among the applications of the microscope, it is more convenient that the stage does not move in the Z direction in applications such as cell manipulation under a microscope such as manipulation in the biological field, and automatic conveyance of specimens in the industrial field. For this reason, it is desirable that the microscope used for these applications is an objective focusing system.
[0007]
On the other hand, the operation of the microscope has been labor-saving and automated, and a microscope employing an autofocus mechanism and an electric revolver has been developed.
[0008]
When an electric revolver is employed in an objective focusing type microscope, a configuration in which the entire electric revolver including a motor for rotating the revolver during focusing is conventionally moved up and down.
[0009]
In the case of the objective focusing method, there has been a demand for performing focusing more quickly.
[0010]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
An object of the present invention is to provide a microscope with improved focusing performance.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present application, the following microscope is provided.
[0012]
That is, a microscope main body, a focusing unit attached to the microscope main body so as to be movable up and down, and any one of a plurality of objective lenses provided in the focusing unit are selectively arranged at an observation position. Switching means for switching the objective lens to the observation position, a driving source of the focusing unit fixed to the microscope main body and moving the focusing unit up and down, and fixed to the microscope main body, the plurality of objective lenses And a switching source driving source for driving the switching unit to select one of them and place it at the observation position .
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A microscope according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0014]
As shown in FIG. 1, the microscope of the present embodiment includes a microscope main body 30, an autofocus device 100, a lens barrel 20, an eyepiece unit 10, a focusing unit 40 that moves up and down for focusing, an electric revolver 50, and a specimen. A stage 80 for mounting and a lamp house 90 for emitting illumination light are included.
[0015]
The focusing unit 40 has an optical path 41 for passing the light beam from the objective lens 70 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. The upper part of the focusing unit 40 is accommodated in the arm 30a of the microscope body 30 as shown in FIG. A cross roller guide 42 is provided in the arm portion 30a. The focusing unit 40 is supported by the arm unit 30a via the cross roller guide 42 so as to be movable up and down in the direction of the optical axis 45 of the objective lens 70 at the observation position. A pulse motor 43 is fixed inside the arm portion 30 a, and a pinion 44 is attached to the rotation shaft of the pulse motor 43. The focusing unit 40 is formed with a rack 46 that meshes with the pinion 44. Accordingly, the focusing unit 40 moves up and down along the optical axis 45 by driving the pulse motor 43.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 1, the revolver 50 is disposed below the focusing unit 40. A plurality of objective lenses 70 are attached to the revolver 50. The structure of the revolver 50 will be described in detail later.
[0017]
The autofocus device 100 is arranged on the upper part of the microscope main body 30 as shown in FIG. On the autofocus device 100, the lens barrel 20 and the eyepiece 10 are mounted in this order. In the lens barrel 20, a second objective lens (not shown) that forms an image from the objective lens 70 and a deflection member (not shown) that deflects the light beam that has passed through the second objective lens toward the eyepiece 10. And are arranged. In the autofocus device 100, a first beam splitter (not shown) that divides and deflects a part of the light beam traveling from the objective lens 70 to the second objective lens, and two further light beams that are divided and deflected by the beam splitter. A second beam splitter (not shown) that divides the light beam into two light fluxes and provides an optical path difference between the two light beams, and a CCD line sensor 66 that receives the two light beams from the second beam splitter (see FIG. 6, but not shown in FIG. 1) Is arranged. In the autofocus device 100, a control unit 67 (FIG. 6) for processing the output signal of the CCD line sensor 66 and controlling the driving of the pulse motor 43 to realize autofocus is also disposed. .
[0018]
The structure of the revolver 50 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the revolver 50 includes a fixed portion 52, a rotating portion 51 that can rotate with respect to the fixed portion 52, and a pulse motor 60 (drive source) for rotating the rotating portion 51. Yes. The fixed part 52 is fixed to the focusing part 40 (movable part) by a screw 52 a and supported by the focusing part 40. The rotating part 51 is attached to the fixed part 52 so as to be rotatable by a screw 53. Bearing balls 54 and 55 are arranged at portions where the rotating portion 51 and the fixed portion 52 are in contact with each other. The rotation axis 47 of the rotation unit 51 is parallel to the optical axis 45. A first gear 58 is attached to the outer periphery of the rotating portion 51 with a screw 58a. The longitudinal direction of the tooth groove of the first gear 58 is parallel to the rotation axis 47 and the optical axis 45.
[0019]
The pulse motor 60 of the revolver 50 is fixed to the microscope main body 30 by a fixing bracket 61. A second gear 62 is attached to the rotation shaft 60 a of the pulse motor 60. The second gear 62 is configured to mesh with the first gear 58 of the rotating unit 51. The longitudinal direction of the tooth groove of the second gear 62 and the rotation axis 60 a of the pulse motor 60 are both parallel to the rotation axis 47 and the optical axis 45 of the rotation unit 51. Therefore, by driving the pulse motor 60 and rotating the second gear 62, the rotating unit 51 can be rotated by a desired angle.
[0020]
The fixed portion 52 is provided with a through hole 52b along the optical axis 45 in order to allow the light flux from the objective lens 70 to pass therethrough. The rotating part 51 is provided with a plurality of objective lens mounting parts 51 a for attaching the objective lens 70. The mounting portion 51a has a shape in which an internal thread is formed on the inner wall of the through hole. Any position where the mounting portion 51 a is provided is a position that overlaps with the through hole 52 b due to the rotation of the rotating portion 51. In addition, in order to position the rotating portion 51 in the rotation direction, a plurality of V grooves 51b are formed on the upper surface of the outer peripheral portion of the rotating portion 51 at positions corresponding to the positions of the mounting portions 51a. A leaf spring 56 having a rigid sphere 57 fixed by welding to the tip is attached to the fixing portion 52. When the hard sphere 57 falls into the V groove 51b, the rotation part 51 can be positioned in the rotation direction. The positions where the plurality of V-grooves 51 b are provided are positions where the objective lens 70 attached to the mounting portion 51 a is stopped on the optical axis 45.
[0021]
As described above, in the microscope according to the present embodiment, the rotating unit 51 and the fixed unit 52 are supported by the focusing unit 40, whereas the pulse motor 60 is fixed to the microscope main body 30. Therefore, when the focusing unit 40 is moved up and down for focusing, the rotating unit 51 and the fixed unit 52 move up and down together with the focusing unit 40, but the pulse motor 60 does not move up and down. Therefore, the weight of the movable part together with the focusing unit 40 is light, and the focusing operation can be performed at a high speed with a small driving force. Thereby, a small thing can be used as the pulse motor 43 which drives the focusing part 40. FIG.
[0022]
On the other hand, in the case of such a structure, since the first gear 58 of the rotating portion 51 moves in the direction of the optical axis 45 during the focusing operation, a structure that maintains meshing with the second gear 62 that does not move is necessary. It is. In the present embodiment, the longitudinal direction of the tooth grooves of the first and second gears 58 and 62 is made parallel to the optical axis 45 by making the rotational axis 47 of the rotating part 51 parallel to the optical axis 45. I have to. With such a configuration, even when the first gear 58 moves in the direction of the optical axis 45 together with the rotating portion 51 during focusing, the first gear 58 is moved in the longitudinal direction of the tooth groove of the second gear 62. Since it moves along, it can move, maintaining both meshing. At this time, the length W of the second gear 62 is designed to be a length obtained by adding the tooth length necessary for meshing the normal gear and the moving amount of the focusing unit 40 necessary for the focusing operation. Thus, focusing can be performed while maintaining the meshing between the first gear 58 and the second gear 62. The amount of movement of the focusing unit 40 necessary for the focusing operation is obtained in consideration of the magnification of the objective lens 70 attached to the revolver 50.
[0023]
Here, the operation of each part at the time of switching and focusing of the objective lens 70 of the microscope of the present embodiment will be described.
[0024]
An objective lens 70 having a desired magnification is attached to each of the plurality of mounting portions 51 a of the revolver 50. In order to avoid a collision with the stage 80, it is desirable to use an objective lens 70 of a kind called an LWD (Long Working Distance) objective lens having a long working distance. Since this LWD objective lens has a long working distance (distance from the tip of the objective lens to the upper surface of the specimen (or the upper surface of the cover glass)), the revolver is installed substantially parallel to the stage as in this embodiment. The objective lens does not come into contact with the stage. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the microscope main body 30 is provided with a switch 68 (FIG. 6) for receiving an instruction to switch the objective lens 70 from the operator. The switch 68 is connected to the control unit 67. When the control unit 67 receives an instruction to switch the objective lens 70 from the switch 68, the control unit 67 outputs a control signal for instructing rotation to the drive circuit of the pulse motor 60 of the revolver 50, and rotates the rotating shaft 60a. Thereby, the rotation is transmitted to the first gear 58 via the second gear 62, and the rotating unit 51 rotates. The control unit 68 rotates the rotation unit 51 by a predetermined angle by controlling the number of output pulses to the pulse motor 60. When the rotation is stopped, the hard ball 57 falls into the V groove 51b, so that the stop position is accurately positioned. Accordingly, the plurality of objective lenses 70 attached to the rotating unit 51 can be sequentially switched, and the desired objective lens 70 can be selectively disposed on the optical axis 45.
[0025]
Next, when an operator instructs to perform focusing by a switch (not shown), an operation of focusing the objective lens 70 on the specimen on the stage 80 is performed. First, the sample is irradiated with illumination light from the lamp house 90. The light beam from the specimen is collected by the objective lens 70 and the second objective lens in the lens barrel 20 and reaches the eyepiece 10 by the deflection member in the lens barrel 20. At this time, the first beam splitter in the autofocus device 100 deflects a part of the light beam between the objective lens 70 and the second objective lens. The second beam splitter in the autofocus device 100 further divides this light beam into two light beams, and the CCD line sensor receives the two light beams. The control unit 67 processes the output signal of the CCD line sensor and obtains the strength of contrast for each of the two light beams. At the same time, the control unit 67 outputs a control signal instructing driving to the drive circuit of the pulse motor 43. The rotation of the pulse motor 43 is converted into a vertical movement by the pinion 44 and the rack 46, and the focusing unit 40 moves up and down in the direction of the optical axis 45. The fixed part 52, the rotating part 51 and the objective lens 70 of the revolver 50 supported by the focusing part 40 move up and down in the direction of the optical axis 45. At this time, the pulse motor 60 does not move because it is fixed to the main body 30. In accordance with the vertical movement of the objective lens 70, the contrast of the two light beams detected by the CCD line sensor changes.
[0026]
As described above, in the microscope according to the present embodiment, when the objective lens 70 is moved up and down, the revolver fixed portion 52 and the rotating portion 51 move up and down, whereas the pulse motor 60 and the second gear 62 move up and down. Since it is configured not to move, the weight of the vertically moving portion is small, and the driving force required for the pulse motor 43 is also small. Therefore, the microscope according to the present embodiment includes the electric revolver 50, and since the inertia weight of the movable part during the autofocus operation is small, the focusing operation can be performed at high speed and the focusing time can be shortened. At the same time, focusing accuracy can be improved. Further, the first gear 58 of the rotating portion 51 also moves up and down, but since the moving direction is the longitudinal direction of the groove of the second gear 52, the meshing of both can be maintained.
[0027]
In the present embodiment, the revolver is parallel to the stage. However, the revolver may be attached in an inclined state (similar to a conventional microscope).
[0028]
In the present embodiment, the switching of the objective lens to the observation position has been described using the rotating revolver as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the objective lens is attached to a plate-like member (for example, a slider) for observation. It may be slid to a position.
[0029]
Although the microscope of the present embodiment includes an autofocus device, it is of course possible to have a structure including the revolver 50 of the present embodiment in a microscope having a structure in which the focusing unit 40 is manually moved up and down. is there. Also in this case, since the inertia weight of the movable part is small, the focusing operation can be performed at high speed, and the effect of shortening the focusing time and improving the focusing accuracy can be obtained.
[0030]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a microscope having a lightweight movable part at the time of focusing while being a microscope provided with an electric revolver.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view showing an overall configuration of a microscope according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a cutaway cross-sectional view of the microscope of FIG. 1 near the revolver 50. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cutaway sectional view showing a configuration of a microscope including a conventional electric revolver.
4 is a cross-sectional view of a revolver 150 of the conventional microscope shown in FIG.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ in FIG.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a control system of the microscope according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Eyepiece part, 20 ... Lens tube, 30 ... Microscope main body, 30a ... Arm part, 40 ... Focusing part, 43 ... Pulse motor, 45 ... Optical axis, 47 ... Rotating shaft, 50 ... Electric revolver, 51 ... Rotation Part 51b ... V groove 52 ... fixed part 57 ... hard sphere 58 ... first gear 60 ... pulse motor 62 ... second gear 67 ... control part 70 ... objective lens 80 ... stage 90 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Lamp house, 100 ... Auto focus apparatus, 130 ... Microscope main body, 130a ... Arm part, 140 ... Optical axis, 141 ... Rotation axis, 143 ... Substage, 150 ... Electric revolver, 170 ... Objective lens, 180 ... Stage, 181 ... specimens.

Claims (3)

A microscope body,
A focusing unit attached to the microscope main body so as to be movable up and down;
A switching unit that is provided in the focusing unit and switches the objective lens to the observation position so that any one of the plurality of objective lenses that are installed is selectively disposed at the observation position;
A driving source for a focusing unit fixed to the microscope main body and moving the focusing unit up and down,
A microscope fixed to the microscope main body, and comprising a switching source driving source for driving the switching unit to select any one of the plurality of objective lenses and place the objective lens at an observation position . The microscope according to claim 1,
The switching means is a rotary revolver having a rotating part that rotates the shaft,
A first gear is provided on the outer periphery of the rotating part,
A second gear meshing with the first gear is attached to the drive source;
The longitudinal direction of the grooves of the first and second gears is parallel to the optical axis;
The microscope, wherein the second gear has a length in the longitudinal direction longer than a moving amount of the movable part. The microscope according to claim 2,
The rotation axis of the rotation unit is parallel to the optical axis.

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