JPH0647917U - Epi-illumination device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] The objective is to be able to deal with various spectroscopic methods with a simple means and to obtain a clear observation image without causing insufficient light quantity around the observation visual field. [Structure] On a second mounting portion 31 of a universal epi-illumination tube main body 25, a positioning pin 49 and cylindrical magnets 51 arranged at positions equally divided into three in the circumferential direction about the optical axis, respectively. A second light shielding cylinder 53, which is configured to be detachable from the second mounting portion 31 and is made of, for example, a steel material capable of receiving a magnetic force, is provided. In the second light-shielding cylinder 53, a pinhole 5 formed at a position corresponding to the positioning pin 49.
5 and a dark field ring 57 for separating the illumination optical path and the observation optical path so that the ring-shaped illumination light guided through the ring-shaped perforated mirror 43 is not mixed into the observation optical path. The dark-field ring 57 is held in the second light-shielding cylinder 53 by stays 59 which are arranged at positions equally divided into three in the circumferential direction about the optical axis.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to an epi-illumination device of a microscope system having an infinity-corrected observation optical system.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Conventionally, in an observation optical system, an infinity-corrected observation optical system is used in a microscope system in which an attachment or various optical members depending on the contents of the microscope are interposed, so that the magnification and the imaging characteristics are not affected by these optical members. It is provided. FIG. 4A shows an epi-illumination device of a microscope system including an infinity-corrected observation optical system (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-136807).

As shown in FIG. 4A, reference numeral 1 is an objective lens barrel, which is attached to a revolver 3 of a microscope (not shown). An objective lens 5 which constitutes a part of an infinity corrected observation optical system is provided in the center of the lens barrel 1, and a ring-shaped condenser mirror 7 is arranged on the outer periphery of the front end portion of the objective lens 5. There is.

A ring-shaped perforated mirror 9 for deflecting the illumination light to the condenser mirror 7 is disposed above the objective lens 5, and the first portion of the perforated mirror 9 is coaxial with the observation optical axis at the center thereof. A light blocking tube 11 is arranged. The first light shielding tube 11 is configured to prevent the ring-shaped illumination light deflected by the ring-shaped perforated mirror 9 from entering the observation light path. The illumination light emitted from the light source 13 is configured to be collimated by the illumination lenses 15 to 19 and then incident on the perforated mirror 9.

Further, since the above-mentioned attachment and various optical members are interposed between the objective lens 5 and the first light-shielding tube 11, a sufficient distance is secured between them and the illumination light is within the observation optical path. A second light-shielding tube 21 that separates the illumination light path and the observation light path is provided so as not to mix with the light.

In the epi-illumination device having such a configuration, the illumination light emitted from the light source 13 becomes parallel illumination light by the illumination lenses 15 to 19 and enters the ring-shaped perforated mirror 9. The ring-shaped illumination light reflected from the perforated mirror 9 passes through the illumination optical path and then is condensed on the object plane 0 via the ring-shaped condenser mirror 7.

The reflected light reflected by the object plane 0 enters an imaging lens (not shown) through the observation optical path in which the objective lens 5 and the first light shielding tube 11 are arranged. As a result, epi-illumination night field observation is performed.

[0008]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, in the conventional epi-illumination device, generally, in observing a biological system, the numerical aperture of the objective lens 5 is increased in order to increase the resolution, but when such an objective lens 5 is used, There is a problem of insufficient light quantity around the observation visual field.

The problem will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, in the figure, the infinity corrected observation optical system from the object plane 0 to the second light shielding tube 21 shown in FIG. 4A is schematically shown.

In this infinity-corrected observation optical system, the light rays generated from the observation visual field center P1 travel parallel to the optical axis as shown by ν1 to ν3, but the light rays generated from the observation visual field peripheral P2 are ν4 to ν4. As indicated by ν6, the light travels obliquely with respect to the optical axis.

Therefore, when the second light-shielding cylinder 21 (see FIG. 4A) is arranged on the way, all the light rays from the observation visual field center P1 are transmitted through the second light-shielding cylinder 21. The light beam from the periphery P2 of the observation visual field may be cut by the second light shielding tube 21, and the amount of attenuation of the light amount increases toward the periphery of the visual field and the image becomes dark (shown by the shaded area in the figure). See section).

This tendency is further enhanced as the upper end position of the second light-shielding cylinder 21 is moved away from the objective lens 5, as indicated by reference characters a to b in the figure. Similarly, when the numerical aperture of the objective lens 5 becomes large, the light quantity becomes insufficient.

It should be noted that such an insufficient amount of light can be resolved to some extent by thickening the observation light path. However, the optical system of the conventional epi-illumination device uses the illumination light to prevent mixing of the illumination light into the observation light path. Since the optical path and the observation optical path are separated by the second light shielding tube 21, the width of the observation optical path is limited, and it is difficult to thicken the observation optical path.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object thereof is to be able to cope with various spectroscopic methods with a simple means and to provide a clear observation image without causing insufficient light quantity around the observation visual field. It is to provide an epi-illumination device capable of obtaining the above.

[0015]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve such an object, according to the present invention, an object lens provided in a microscope system constitutes a part of an infinity-corrected observation optical system, and an illumination optical path is formed surrounding the objective lens. In the epi-illumination device that illuminates the observation field of view of the objective lens with the illumination light guided through the illumination optical path,

A separation optical system is provided which is configured to be capable of separating an observation optical path formed through the objective lens from the observation field of view and an illumination optical path through which the illumination light is guided. , Is provided so as to be attachable to and detachable from the microscope system according to a predetermined microscopic method.

[0017]

[Action]

 By appropriately attaching and detaching the separation optical system to and from the microscope system, it is possible to obtain a clear observation image that is compatible with various microscopy methods and that does not cause insufficient light quantity around the observation visual field.

[0018]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, an epi-illumination device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3. FIG. 1 schematically shows the configuration of an epi-illumination device of the present embodiment, which is equipped with a universal epi-illumination tube body 25 that can be attached to a microscope body 23.

As shown in FIG. 1, the universal epi-illumination tube body 25 has a female circular dovetail-shaped first mounting portion to which, for example, a lens barrel (not shown) having an eyepiece lens can be mounted. 27 and a second male dovetail-shaped attachment portion 31 configured to be able to attach the universal epi-illumination tube body 25 to the female dovetail portion 29 formed on the microscope body 23.

A turret mounting member 33 is detachably provided on the universal epi-illumination tube body 25, and a turret 37 is rotatably mounted on the turret mounting member 33 via a rotary shaft 35. Is held.

To this turret 37, for example, a first cube 41 holding a dichroic mirror 39 and a second cube 47 holding a ring-shaped perforated mirror 43 and a first light shielding tube 45 are exchangeably attached. By rotating the turret 37 about the rotary shaft 35, the first or second cube 41, 47 is moved in the optical path between the first mounting portion 27 and the second mounting portion 31. In addition, it can be appropriately inserted and arranged. By rotating the turret 37 and inserting the arbitrary cubes 41 and 47 into the optical path in this manner, it is possible to deal with various spectroscopic methods.

Further, on the second mounting portion 31 of the universal epi-illumination tube main body 25, a positioning pin 49 and a cylindrical marker arranged in a position equally divided into three in the circumferential direction about the optical axis. A gnet 51 and a second light-shielding cylinder 53 which is detachably attached to the second mounting portion 31 and is made of, for example, a steel material capable of receiving a magnetic force are provided.

As shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C, the second light-shielding cylinder 53 has a pin hole 55 formed at a position corresponding to the positioning pin 49 and the ring-shaped member. A dark field ring 57 for separating the illumination light path and the observation light path is provided so that the ring-shaped illumination light guided through the perforated mirror 43 does not mix into the observation light path. Are held in the second light-shielding cylinder 53 by stays 59 which are respectively arranged at positions equally divided into three in the circumferential direction around the optical axis.

Therefore, by bringing the second light-shielding tube 53 into contact with the second mounting portion 31 with the pin hole 55 aligned with the positioning pin 49, the second light-shielding tube 53 becomes a cylindrical magnet. Under the magnetic effect of 51, it is detachably attached to the second attachment portion 31. At this time, each stay 59 is aligned in the same direction as the direction of the stay (not shown) such as the first light-shielding cylinder 45 and the ring slit (not shown) in the optical path.

A clamp screw 61 is provided on the circular dovetail portion 29 of the microscope body 23, and the second mounting portion 31 is attached to the circular dovetail portion of the microscope body 23 with the second light shielding tube 53 attached. The universal epi-illuminator tube body 25 can be fixed to the microscope body 23 by tightening the clamp screw 61 after the insertion into the portion 29. The operation of the epi-illumination device of this embodiment will be described below.

First, in the case of epi-illumination dark-field observation, the turret 37 is rotated and the ring-shaped perforated mirror 43 and the first mirror 43 are provided in the optical path between the first mounting portion 27 and the second mounting portion 31. The second cube 47 holding the light shielding cylinder 45 is inserted and arranged. Then, the second attachment portion 31 to which the second light-shielding tube 53 is attached is attached to the microscope body 23.

As a result, the ring-shaped illumination light guided through the ring-shaped perforated mirror 43 illuminates the surface of the object to be observed (not shown) via the illumination optical path defined by the dark field ring 57. To be done. The reflected light reflected from the surface of the object to be observed is guided to the lens barrel through the observation optical path. By observing such reflected light through the eyepiece lens, epi-illumination dark-field observation on the surface of the observation object is performed.

Next, when performing epifluorescence observation of a biological system that requires an objective lens having a large numerical aperture in order to obtain high resolution, the turret 37 is rotated to rotate the first mounting portion 27 and the second mounting portion 27. The first cube 41 holding the dichroic mirror 39 is inserted and arranged in the optical path between the mounting portion 31 and the mounting portion 31. Then, after removing the second light shielding tube 53 from the second mounting portion 31, the second mounting portion 31 is mounted on the microscope main body 23.

An optical path diagram in this state is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the illumination light emitted from the light source 63 passes through the illumination lenses 65 to 69, is reflected by the dichroic mirror 39, and is irradiated onto the surface 0 of the object to be observed through the objective lens 71. The reflected light reflected from the surface 0 of the object to be observed again passes through the objective lens 71 and the dichroic mirror 39 and is applied to the eyepiece lens.

In such epi-illumination fluorescence observation, the second light-shielding tube 53 (indicated by a dotted line in the figure) is removed, and the reflected light, that is, the observation light is guided without the surrounding light being kicked. Therefore, there is no shortage of peripheral light.

As described above, the epi-illumination device of the present embodiment is capable of not only the epi-illumination dark-field observation but also the numerical aperture by simply switching the second light-shielding tube 53 for one universal epi-illumination tube body 25. Even in epi-illumination fluorescence observation of a biological system that requires a large objective lens, it is possible to obtain a clear observation image without insufficient peripheral light quantity. Further, since switching to various spectroscopic methods can be easily performed only by operating the turret 37, it is possible to provide an epi-illumination device having excellent operability. In the present invention, the number and shape of the magnets 51 are not limited to the configurations of the above-described embodiments, and may be arranged in a ring shape around the optical axis, for example.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, instead of the magnet 51, an immobilizer 73 is arranged on the second mounting portion 31, and the second light shielding cylinder 53 is attached to the second mounting portion by the immobilizer 73. It is also preferable to be configured to be detachably fastened to 31.

More specifically, the above-mentioned immobis screw hole 75 is formed in a side portion of the second mounting portion 31 in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis, and the immobis 73 has such a screw hole 75. It is configured so that it can be screwed through. Therefore, after the second light shielding tube 53 is brought into contact with the second mounting portion 31 with the pin hole 55 aligned with the positioning pin 49, the second light shielding tube is screwed to move the second light shielding tube 53. 53 can be fastened to the second mounting portion 31. The operation of this modification having such a configuration is the same as that of the above-described first embodiment, and therefore its description is omitted here.

In the present modification, the second light blocking tube 53 is firmly fixed by the immobilizer 73, so that the second light blocking tube 53 can be prevented from falling off. The other effects are the same as those of the first embodiment, and therefore the description thereof is omitted.

[0035]

[Effect of device]

 Since the present invention is configured so that the separation optical system can be freely attached to and detached from the microscope system, it can be used for various microscopy methods, and a clear observation image can be obtained without causing insufficient light quantity around the observation visual field. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a sectional view schematically showing the structure of an epi-illumination device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
2C is a plan view of a second light-shielding tube provided in the device shown in FIG.
Is a vertical sectional view thereof.

2A is a cross-sectional view showing a modified example of the device shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2B is a plan view of a second light shielding tube provided in the device shown in FIG. 2A, and FIG. , Its longitudinal section.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of an optical system for epi-illumination observation in the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4A is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a conventional epi-illumination device, and FIG. 4B is a diagram schematically showing an infinity-corrected observation optical system in FIG. 4A.

[Explanation of symbols]

25 ... Universal epi-illumination tube main body, 31 ... Second mounting portion, 49 ... Positioning pin, 51 ... Cylindrical magnet, 5
3 ... second light-shielding tube, 55 ... pinhole, 57 ... dark field ring, 59 ... stay.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An objective lens provided in a microscope system constitutes a part of an infinity-corrected observation optical system, an illumination optical path is formed surrounding the objective lens, and the illumination optical path is guided through the illumination optical path. In an epi-illumination device that illuminates the observation field of view of the objective lens with illumination light, an observation light path configured through the objective lens from the observation field and an illumination light path through which the illumination light is guided are configured to be separable. Equipped with a separation optical system, this separation optical system,
An epi-illumination device, which is detachably attached to the microscope system according to a predetermined speculum method.