JP2002122790A - Microscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a microscope which enables easy setting of the rate of loosening of a stopper for regulating the spacing between a specimen and an objective lens, is simple in operation and is low cost. SOLUTION: A dial 22 of the stopper 20 is rotated, by as much as prescribed graduations, according to a scale 22a, by which the setting of the exact rate of loosening in the stopper position by one time of the operation is made possible, and the precise focusing operation after the changeover of the objective lens can be made.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a microscope provided with a stopper for regulating a distance between a specimen and an objective lens.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a sample observation using a microscope, when a sample placed on a stage is exchanged, the stage is lowered to an arbitrary position to prevent damage to the sample and an objective lens. In general, this is performed after the distance between the objective lenses is sufficiently widened.

[0003] However, once the stage is lowered, the focus position of the objective lens goes out of order.
It is necessary to focus again.

Therefore, focusing is performed again. This focusing procedure is first performed by (a) switching a low-magnification (about 10-fold) objective lens on the optical path and performing coarse focusing using a coarse movement handle. Then, (b) precise focusing is performed using the fine movement handle. further,
(C) The high-magnification objective lens is switched on the optical path, and the final focusing is performed using the fine movement handle.

[0005] In this case, if the amount of turning the coarse movement handle for focusing the low-magnification objective lens is precisely known, the subsequent operations (b) and (c) can be omitted.

For this reason, the conventional microscope is provided with a stopper capable of restricting the amount of movement of the coarse movement handle in advance, ie, capable of precisely returning the stage to its original position.

When the stopper is set at the point where focusing has been performed in the order described above,
If the stage is moved to the stopper position using the coarse movement handle when focusing again for sample exchange or the like, focusing can be performed by performing only the operation (c). That is, the stopper operates only for the coarse movement handle, and does not perform the stopper operation for the fine movement handle.

However, those provided with such a stopper have a problem that the structure is complicated, the number of parts is increased, and the cost is high.

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 4, an objective lens 3 is arranged at the tip of an arm 1a of a microscope body 1 so as to face a stage 2, and a focusing handle 7 is operated to move the objective lens 3. By moving in the optical axis direction together with the guide 5, focusing on the sample on the stage 2 is enabled. A screw 6 is provided on the guide 5 side, and the tip of the screw 6 is brought into contact with the arm 1a. Thus, it is considered that the position of the stopper can be adjusted by changing the screwing amount of the screw 6 to give a role as a stopper. With such a configuration, the configuration is simple and the price can be reduced.

[0010]

However, according to such a structure, the tip of the screw 6 on the guide 4 side is connected to the arm 1a.
And once the stopper is activated, the movement of the guide 4 is restricted at that position, causing the following inconvenience.

For example, when focusing is performed with a reference objective lens, and the tip of the screw 6 abuts against the arm portion 1a to activate the stopper, the objective lens is switched to a high-magnification objective lens to perform final focusing. Attempts to focus cannot be made due to restrictions at the first stopper position. Further, after focusing, defocusing cannot be performed unless the screw 6 is manipulated, so that it is not possible to confirm the focusing accuracy of focus.

Therefore, the tip of the screw 6 must be connected to the arm 1 in advance.
It is considered that the state of contact with a is slightly loosened from the in-focus position. However, since it is not known how much the loosening amount should be set, a visual observation is actually performed. While adjusting the screwing amount of the screw 6, the tip of the screw 6 is abutted against the arm portion 1 a to check the amount of blurring of the focus. The operation of checking the amount of defocusing by contacting the tip against the arm portion 1a must be repeated, and there is a problem that this operation is very troublesome. This makes the operation even more troublesome when the specimen on the stage 2 is frequently changed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a microscope which can easily set a loosening amount of a stopper, is easy to operate, and is inexpensive.

[0014]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
In a microscope in which at least one of the sample and the objective lens is moved in the optical axis direction and a stopper that regulates the distance between the sample and the objective lens is provided, the stopper is provided by loosening a stopper position with respect to the sample or the objective lens. A rotating body for adjusting the amount by the rotation amount is provided, and a rotation amount teaching unit for teaching the rotation amount to the rotating body is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the rotation amount teaching section is a scale.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the rotation amount teaching section is a plurality of projections formed at equal intervals.

As a result, according to the present invention, an appropriate loosening amount at the stopper position can be set by one operation only by rotating the rotating body of the stopper by a predetermined amount in accordance with the rotation amount teaching unit. .

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a microscope to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a microscope frame.
Is a horizontal base 11a, and the base 11a
The body 11b is formed upright with respect to the body 11b, and further has an objective arm 11c at the tip of the body 11b, which is parallel to the base 11a.

At the front of the body 11b of the microscope frame 11, a guide 12 as shown in FIG. The guide portion 12 has guide grooves 1 on both side surfaces.
The guide mechanism 12a is guided along a rail (not shown) along the guide grooves 12a, and a focusing mechanism (not shown) is rotated by operating a focusing handle 15 for coarse movement and fine movement arranged on the side surface of the microscope frame 11. Up and down direction,
That is, it can be moved in the optical axis direction.

A stage 13 is provided on the guide section 12 so as to protrude in the horizontal direction. This stage 13
Has an operation knob 14 on which a sample (not shown) is placed. By rotating the operation knob 14, the sample can be moved in the XY directions.

The revolver 16 is provided on the objective arm 11c. The revolver 16 is provided with a plurality of objective lenses (not shown). By rotating the revolver 16, these objective lenses are selectively switched on the optical path.

The eyepiece tube 1 is located above the objective arm 11c.
7 are provided. This eyepiece tube 17 has an eyepiece 18. The eyepiece 18 is mounted on the stage 1
3 is to visually observe the specimen image via an objective lens.

An opening 19 is provided on the front side of the body 11b of the microscope frame 11, and a stopper 20 is accommodated in the opening 19.

As shown in FIG. 2, the stopper 20 has a disk-shaped dial 22 integrally provided as a rotating body at an intermediate portion of a rod 21. The rod 21 has a threaded portion 21a formed at one end, and the threaded portion 21a is screwed into a fixing member (not shown) of the body portion 11b, and the abutting surface 2 at the other end is formed.
A stopper function is given by abutting 1b against the end face of the guide portion 12, and the screwing amount of the screw portion 21a can be adjusted by turning the dial 22. In this case, a scale 22a is printed on the peripheral surface of the dial 22 along the circumferential direction as a rotation amount teaching section, and an index 2 corresponding to the scale 22a of the dial 22 is provided on a side edge of the opening 19.
3 is attached, and the amount of rotation of the dial 22 can be read from the scale 22a for the index 23. In this case, the scales 22a are printed at intervals in consideration of the pitch of the screw portions 21a.

Next, the operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be described.

First, by rotating the revolver 16, the objective lens serving as a reference (about 10 times) is switched on the optical path for focusing, and at that position, the dial 22 of the stopper 20 is turned and the abutting surface of the rod 21 is turned. 21b is the guide part 1
2 against the end face.

From this state, the dial 22 is rotated by a predetermined scale while looking at the scale 22a, that is, a scale in consideration of the amount of defocusing when the high-magnification objective lens is replaced and the amount of focus confirmation. , Loosen the screwing amount of the screw portion 21a, and abut the surface 21b of the stopper 20.
A slight gap is formed between the guide portion 12 and the end face of the guide portion 12 as a slack amount. In this case, the amount of rotation of the dial 22 according to the scale 22a is determined according to the use situation, such as the pitch of the screw portion 21a and the amount of shift of the focus position necessary for confirmation of focusing.

In this way, when the specimen on the stage 13 is exchanged, the stage 13 is once lowered to a predetermined position by operating the focusing handle 15 for coarse movement, and then is moved upward. Is the stopper 20
Abuts against the abutment surface 21b. At this time, the stage 13 moves further upward from the original focus position by an amount previously loosened according to the scale 22a.

In this state, although the camera is not in focus,
Since the specimen image appears blurred, the focusing handle 15 for fine movement
To adjust the focus. In addition, revolver 16
Is operated to switch the high-magnification objective lens on the optical path, and the focusing handle 15 for fine movement is operated to perform the final focusing.

Therefore, in this case, the stopper 2
By simply rotating the zero dial 22 by a predetermined scale in accordance with the scale 22a, an appropriate loosening amount can be set, and since this loosening amount can be set by one operation, the operation is simple, and Since the structure as the stopper is simple, the cost can be reduced.

The scale 22 printed on the dial 22
A number or a mark can be used instead of a. In addition, not only one index 23 but also a plurality of indices 23 attached to the side edges of the opening 19 in correspondence with the scales 22a of the dial 22 may be provided.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of a stopper used in a second embodiment. The schematic configuration of a microscope to which such a stopper is applied is the same as that of FIG.

In this case, the stopper 30 has a disk-shaped dial 32 provided at an intermediate portion of the rod 31. The rod 31 has a threaded portion 31a formed at one end thereof. The threaded portion 31a is screwed into a fixing member (not shown) of the body portion 11b, and the abutment surface 31b at the other end is abutted against the end surface of the guide portion 12. Thus, a stopper function is provided, and the position of the stopper can be adjusted by turning the dial 32 and adjusting the screwing amount of the screw portion 31a. In this case, projections 32a are formed on the peripheral surface of the dial 32 at equal intervals along the circumferential direction.

Accordingly, by turning the dial 32 while touching the projection 32a with a fingertip, the screwing amount of the screw portion 31a can be loosened and an appropriate loosening amount can be set, so that the scale is bothersomely looked into. The operability can be further improved, for example, the operation can be performed without removing the eye from the eyepiece.

Note that the scale 22 described in the first embodiment is used.
a and the projection 32a described in the second embodiment can be applied together. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the stopper 2 is provided for the stage 13 which is moved up and down.
Although an example in which 0 and 30 are applied has been described, the present invention can also be applied to an apparatus in which the stage is fixed and the objective lens is moved up and down.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a microscope which can easily set the amount of loosening of the stopper, is easy to operate, and is inexpensive.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a stopper used in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a stopper used in a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional microscope having a stopper.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Microscope frame 11a ... Base part 11b ... Body part 11c ... Objective arm 12 ... Guide part 12a ... Guide groove 13 ... Stage 14 ... Operation knob 15 ... Focusing handle 16 ... Revolver 17 ... Eyepiece tube 18 ... Eyepiece 19 ... Opening 20.30 Stopper 21, 31 Rod 21a, 31a Screw 21b, 31b Abutment surface 22, 32 Dial 22a Scale 23 Indicator 32a Projection

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A microscope provided with a stopper for moving at least one of a sample and an objective lens in an optical axis direction and for regulating a distance between the sample and the objective lens, wherein the stopper is provided on the sample or objective lens side. A rotating body for adjusting the amount of loosening of a stopper position with respect to the rotation amount by a rotation amount, and a rotation amount teaching unit for teaching the rotation amount to the rotating body. 2. The microscope according to claim 1, wherein the rotation amount teaching unit is a scale. 3. The microscope according to claim 1, wherein the rotation amount teaching unit is a plurality of protrusions formed at equal intervals.