JPH09146009A - Turret - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small-diameter turret. SOLUTION: A turret plate 140 is mounted at a supporting base 110 so that this plate is rotatable without backlash. Five housing holes 144 for housing holders 180 are formed on the same circumference on the apper surface of the turret plate 140. Two screw holes penetrating the inner wall surfaces of the holes and the outer periphery of the turret plate 140 are formed in each the housing holes 144. Adjusting screws 176 are screwed into the respective screw holes. Small-diameter circular grooves 148 are formed partially in the respective housing holes 144 on the apper surface of the turret plate 140. O-rings 170 are housed in the circular grooves 148. These O-rings 170 are retained by a disk 172 fixed to the turret plate 140. A holder frame 182 has a tapered surface wider on the lower side and narrower on the upper side. The O-rings 170 and the front ends of the adjusting screws 176 come into contact with the tapered surface.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a turret for holding a plurality of holders and selectively disposing one of the holders on the optical axis of an optical instrument such as a microscope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A turret is provided with a plurality of accommodating holes for accommodating a plurality of holders having pinholes having different diameters on the same circumference. The position of each holder accommodated in each accommodation hole is adjusted in each accommodation hole. The position adjustment mechanism for this is generally
It is composed of an elastic member that pushes the side surface of the holder from the center side of the turret to the outside, and two adjusting screws that push the side surface of the holder from the outside against the force of the elastic member. A coil spring or a leaf spring is generally used as the elastic member.

An example in which a leaf spring is used as an elastic member is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 3
No. 157609. This example is a turret condenser for a microscope, and as shown in FIG.
The turret plate 16 can rotate around the support shaft 14. The turret plate 16 is locked at a predetermined angular position by a click mechanism 22 provided inside the support shaft 14.

As shown in FIG. 10, the turret plate 16 is provided with a plurality of accommodation holes 18 for accommodating the optical elements 20 on the same circumference. Each accommodation hole 18 is provided with a leaf spring 24 that pushes the side surface of the accommodated optical element 20 to the outside. In addition, each accommodation hole 18 has a turret plate 16
Is provided with two screw holes 26 connected to the outer peripheral surface of the two adjustment screws 28, and two adjusting screws 28 screwed into the screw holes 26.
Pushes the side surface of the optical element 20 inward against the elastic force of the leaf spring 24.

Optical element 20 housed in each housing hole 18
Is the position in the accommodation hole 18 so that the optical element 20 comes to a predetermined position when the rotary turret 16 is rotated, that is, the central axis of the optical element 20 coincides with the optical axis of the microscope. Is adjusted. This position adjustment is performed by adjusting the tightening amount of the two adjusting screws 28.

[0006] In addition, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 55-137109,
A position adjusting mechanism of a holder using a coil spring as an elastic member is shown. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the holder 34 is housed in the housing hole 32 of the holding member 30. The outer circumference of the holder 34 is a tapered surface 36. A pin 42 biased by the coil spring 40 projects from the inner surface of the accommodation hole 32, and the pin 42 is attached to the holder 34.
The tapered surface 36 of is pressed. The tapered surface 36 of the holder 34 is pressed by two adjusting screws 46 symmetrically arranged from the opposite side.

In this structure, the position of the holder 34 is adjusted by adjusting the tightening amount of the two adjusting screws 46. At this time, since the outer periphery of the holder 34 is the tapered surface 36, the holder 34 is not
Is constantly pressed against the bottom surface of the holder, and the orientation of the holder 34 is always kept constant.

When this position adjusting mechanism is applied to each accommodation hole of the turret, the structure shown in FIG. 13 is obtained. That is, the turret has five housing holes 32 for housing the holder 34.
Has a turret plate 48 provided on the same circumference. For each accommodation hole 32, the position adjusting mechanism shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 causes the pin 42 urged by the coil spring 40 to move the holder 34 to the holder 34. It is applied so that it pushes outward. In the illustrated example, the five holders 34 are provided with pinholes having different diameters.

[0009]

By the way, in order to reduce the size of the entire apparatus, it is necessary to reduce the size of the turret. That is, it is necessary to reduce the radius of the circumference in which the accommodation hole for accommodating each holder is arranged. There are some limitations to reducing this radius. The first limitation is that each holder must be placed so far that it does not contact the next holder. This depends on the outer diameter of the holder and the number of holders.
The second limitation is that it is necessary to secure a space for a holder position adjusting mechanism (especially, an elastic member) for each accommodation hole for accommodating the holder. If the holder is small and it is easy to clear the first restriction, the second restriction becomes important.

However, in the position adjusting mechanism using a leaf spring (see FIGS. 9 and 10), the leaf spring to be used has a certain size because the leaf spring secures the adjusting stroke by the elastic stroke. . Since the leaf spring is arranged inside the accommodation hole for accommodating the holder, the diameter of the circumference in which the accommodation hole for accommodating the holder is arranged is inevitably large to some extent.

Further, in the position adjusting mechanism using the coil spring (see FIGS. 11 to 13), it is necessary to secure a space for providing the coil spring between the center of rotation of the turret plate and each accommodation hole for accommodating the holder. Therefore, the diameter of the circumference in which the accommodation hole for accommodating the holder is arranged is inevitably large to some extent. The present invention aims to provide a small diameter turret.

[0012]

A turret according to the present invention is a turret plate in which a plurality of housing holes for housing a holder having a tapered surface on the outer circumference are formed on the same circumference.
Two screw holes are formed through the outer peripheral surface of the turret plate and the inner wall surface of the accommodation hole for each accommodation hole.Furthermore, it is provided on the turret center side of each accommodation hole. A turret plate having a space for accommodating elastic members intersecting with each other, means for rotatably supporting the turret plate, means for locking the turret plate at a predetermined angular position, and a space for accommodating in the elastic member storage space. An elastic member that comes into contact with the tapered surface of the holder, a pressing member that presses the elastic member against the tapered surface of the holder, and an adjusting screw that is screwed into the screw hole, the tip of which is in contact with the tapered surface of the holder. And a screw.

The upper side of the holder has a taper surface with a small diameter, and the taper surface is pushed from three directions by an elastic member and two adjusting screws. By adjusting the tightening amount of each adjustment screw, the holder moves inside the accommodation hole,
By this, positioning is performed. Since the elastic member and the two adjusting screws press the tapered surface of the holder, the holder is pressed against the bottom surface of the accommodation hole. Therefore, lifting of the holder is prevented and the positioning accuracy is improved.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the turret of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 2, the support base 110 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and the optical axis 1 of an optical device such as a microscope is placed at a position off the center.
It has a through hole 112 through which 11 passes. There is a through hole 114 in the center of the support 110, and the through hole 114 has a through hole 114.
20 is attached by screws 116. Jiku 12
In No. 0, a jig 126 is attached to the lower side by screws 124 and is fixed to the support base 110. Jiku 120
A conical tapered surface 122 is formed on the upper side of the.

A turret plate 14 is provided above the support base 110.
0 is arranged. The turret plate 140 has a conical taper surface 142 formed at the lower center.
The tapered surface 142 of the turret plate 140 is placed on the steel ball 160 placed on the tapered surface 122 of 20. Further, a flange 118 is provided on the upper peripheral edge of the support base 110, while a retaining ring 164 is attached inside the lower end portion 150 of the turret plate 140 with a screw 152, and between the flange 118 and the retaining ring 164. A plurality of steel balls 162 are stored in. Accordingly, the turret plate 140 can rotate with respect to the support base 110 without play.

As shown in FIG. 1, five accommodation holes 144 for accommodating each of the holders 180a to 180e are formed on the upper surface of the turret plate 140 on the same circumference. Each of the holders 180a to 180e has a holder frame 182 of the same shape.
0e holder frame 182 has different diameters (for example, 100 μmφ, 200 μmφ, 300 μmφ, 400
μmφ, 500 μmφ) Pinholes 188a to 188e
Are fixed by adhesion. In the present embodiment, there are five types of holders 180a to 180e, but in the following description, when the types of the holders 180a to 180e do not matter, they are collectively referred to as the holder 180.

For each accommodation hole 144, the turret plate 1
Two screw holes 175 are formed to penetrate the outer peripheral surface of 40 and the inner wall surface of the accommodation hole 144. Two screw holes 175
Are symmetrically positioned with respect to a line passing through the center of the turret plate 140 and the center of the accommodation hole 144, and preferably 12
At an angle of 0 °. An adjusting screw 176 for fixing the holder 180 and adjusting its position is screwed into each screw hole 175. The position adjustment of the holder 180 will be described later.

As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, a circular groove 148, which is a space for accommodating elastic members, is formed on the upper surface of the turret plate 140 on the turret center side of each accommodating hole 144. The circular groove 148 partially intersects with each accommodation hole 144, and the O-ring 1 as an elastic member is included therein.
70 are accommodated. The O-ring 170 is pressed by a disk 172 that is attached to the center of the turret plate 140 with a screw 174 and that serves as a pressing member that presses the elastic member against the tapered surface of the holder.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the turret is provided with a click mechanism for locking the turret plate 140 when the accommodation hole 144 reaches the position of the through hole 112 of the support base 110. The click mechanism includes five V-shaped click grooves 154 provided on the end surface of the lower end portion 150 of the turret plate 140, and a click spring 130 having a steel ball 134 at the tip, which is fixed to the support base 110 with screws 132. It is composed of and. The click groove 154 is provided so as to correspond to the position of the accommodation hole 144.
As shown in (B), when the steel ball 134 is fitted into the click groove 154, the accommodation hole 144 becomes the through hole 1 of the support base 110.
It is aligned with 12.

The holder 180 is held and its position is adjusted as follows. 1 and 2, the turret plate 1
Prior to placing the holder 180 in each accommodation hole 144 of the 40, the adjusting screw 176 is loosened, the O-ring 170 and the disc 172 are loosened.
Has been removed. After placing the holder 180 in each accommodation hole 144, put the O-ring 170 in the circular groove 148,
72 is attached to the turret plate 140 with the screw 174, and the O-ring 170 is pressed with the disc 172. Then, the adjusting screw 176 of each screw hole 175 is tightened. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the holder frame 182 has a tapered surface 184 whose lower side is wide and whose upper side is narrow, and the conical tip end of the adjusting screw 176 and the O-ring 170 are in contact with the tapered surface 184. Therefore, the force indicated by the vector f1 acts on the tapered surface 184 in contact with the O-ring 170, and the tapered surface 1 in contact with the tip of the adjusting screw 176.
A force indicated by a vector f2 acts on 84. As a result,
The holder 180 is pressed against the bottom surface 146 of the accommodation hole 144, and the bottom surface 184 of the holder frame 182 and the bottom surface 146 of the accommodation hole 144 are both processed to have high planarity, so that the holder 180 is stably held. Further, by adjusting the tightening of the two adjusting screws 176, the adjusting screw 176 or the O-ring 170 is pushed, and the holder 18
0 slides on the bottom surface 146 of the accommodation hole 144 and moves. That is, the position of the holder 180 is adjusted by adjusting the tightening of the two adjusting screws 176.

In this embodiment, the elastic member that pushes the holder 180 outward is the O-ring 170, and the space for arranging the O-ring 170, that is, the circular groove 148, is small in the radial direction. Therefore, the diameter of the circumference of the accommodating holes 144 can be reduced. As a result, a turret having a small diameter is obtained, which contributes to downsizing of optical instruments such as a microscope. further,
Since one O-ring 170 serves as an elastic member for the five holders 180, the number of parts is small, and there are secondary advantages that processing and assembly can be easily performed.

<Second Embodiment> Next, a turret according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. In the figure, the same members as those already described in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As can be seen from FIGS. 6 and 7, the turret of this embodiment is the first except that the elastic member arranged in the circular groove 148 is the elastic body 270 having a substantially cylindrical shape. It is the same as the turret of the embodiment. Examples of the substantially columnar elastic body 270 include round bar-shaped rubber and fragments obtained by cutting an O-ring with an appropriate length.

Holding and position adjustment of the holder 180 are performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, the diameter of the O-ring 170, which is an elastic body, is limited according to the diameter of the circular groove 148. However, in the present embodiment, since there is no such limitation, various elastic bodies can be used. There is an advantage that it can be diverted.

<Third Embodiment> A turret according to a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, the same members as those already described in the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals.

As shown in FIG. 8 (A), in the turret of this embodiment, a circular elastic groove 148 has a cylindrical shape with a part cut out as shown in FIG. 8 (B). Body 2
70 are arranged. The other parts are the same as the turret of the above-described embodiment.

The holder 180 is held and its position is adjusted in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Similar to the second embodiment, this embodiment also has an advantage that there are few restrictions on the length of the elastic body 370.

In the above description of the embodiments,
As the holders 180a to 180e, the holders having the pinholes 188 of different diameters are described as an example, but other holders such as optical elements such as relay lenses having different magnifications may be used. When the optical element is a lens, high-precision positioning is required in the direction orthogonal to the rotation surface of the turret plate 140, and the turret according to the present invention meets this requirement and is very useful.

[0029]

According to the present invention, the elastic member for pushing the holder to the outside is housed in the circular groove, and the width of the groove, that is, the dimension in the radial direction is small. Can be made smaller. Therefore, a turret having a small diameter can be obtained, which is effective for downsizing optical equipment such as a microscope. Furthermore, since the structure is simple, processing and assembly can be easily performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional top view of a turret according to a first embodiment.

2 is a cross-sectional view of the turret of FIG. 1 taken along line IIa-IIb-IIc.

3 is an enlarged view of a portion surrounded by a circle III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of the turret viewed in the direction of arrow IV in FIG.

FIG. 5 (A) shows the turret in FIG.
3B is a view seen from the direction of arrow VB in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional top view of the turret of the second embodiment.

7 is a cross-sectional view of the turret of FIG. 6 taken along line VIIa-VIIb-VIIc.

8A is a sectional view partially showing a turret according to a third embodiment, and FIG. 8B is a perspective view of a cylindrical elastic member shown in FIG. 8A.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a conventional example of a turret.

10 is a view for explaining a position adjusting mechanism using a leaf spring used in the turret of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a conventional example of a position adjusting mechanism using a coil spring.

12 is a sectional view taken along line XIIa-XIIb-XIIc of the position adjusting mechanism of FIG.

13 is a cross-sectional top view of a turret using the position adjusting mechanism of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

110 ... Support base, 140 ... Turret plate, 144 ... Housing hole, 148 ... Circular groove, 170 ... O-ring, 175 ... Screw hole, 176 ... Adjusting screw, 180 ... Holder, 184 ... Tapered surface.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A turret plate having a plurality of accommodating holes for accommodating a holder having a tapered surface on the outer circumference, the turret plate having an outer peripheral surface and an inner wall surface of the accommodating hole for each accommodating hole. Two threaded holes are formed through each of them, and further, it is provided on the turret center side of each accommodation hole.
A turret plate in which a space for accommodating elastic members that partially intersects each accommodation hole is formed, a means for rotatably supporting the turret plate, a means for locking the turret plate at a predetermined angular position, and an elastic member. An elastic member that is stored in the storage space, an elastic member that contacts the tapered surface of the holder, a pressing member that presses the elastic member against the tapered surface of the holder, and an adjustment screw that is screwed into the screw hole, the tip of which is Turret that has an adjusting screw that hits the tapered surface of the holder. 2. The turret according to claim 1, wherein the elastic member is an O-ring.