JP2002207173A - Microscope equipped with motor driven revolver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a microscope which is additionally improved in focusing performance. SOLUTION: This microscope has switching means 50 for switching an objective lens used for observation to an observation position, a driving source 60 for driving the switching means 50 and a moving section 40 for moving the objective lens to the optical axis direction of the objective lens. The moving section 40 is movable in the optical axis 45 direction of the objective lens separately from the driving source 60. A microscope body 30 is respectively separately fitted with the moving section 40 and the driving source 60.

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 motorized revolver.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The structure of a conventional microscope equipped with a motorized 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 130 a of the main body 130. A plurality of objective lenses 170 can be mounted on the electric revolver 150. The stage 180 is a sub-stage 14 attached to the main body 130 so as to be vertically movable.
3

As shown in FIG. 4, the electric revolver 150 includes a fixed part 152 fixed to the arm 130a, a rotating part 151 rotatable with respect to the fixed part 152,
And a motor 160 for rotating the motor 51. Rotating part 15
1, a plurality of mounting portions 151a for the objective lens are provided. The objective lens 170 is attached to each of the objective mounting portions 151a. One of the objective lenses 170 is selectively arranged 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 unit 151 is rotatably attached to the fixed unit 152 by a screw 153. Rotating part 15
One rotation axis 141 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 a side surface of the fixed part 152. A first bevel gear 162 is attached to a rotating shaft 160a 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 part 151. Therefore,
When the motor 160 is rotated, the rotating unit 151 rotates,
The desired objective lens 170 can be selectively located on the optical axis 140.

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 sub-stage 143 to the optical axis 140.
Stage 180 and the objective lens 170
This is done by changing the distance between

In general, there are roughly two types of microscope focusing methods. One is a method of moving the stage up and down as in the microscope of FIG. 3 described above (hereinafter referred to as a stage focusing method), 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 uses of a microscope, it is more convenient that the stage does not move in the Z direction in cell manipulations under a microscope such as manipulation in a biological field or in automatic transport of a specimen in an industrial field. For this reason, it is desirable that the microscope used for these applications is of the objective focusing type.

On the other hand, labor saving and automation of the operation of the microscope have been advanced, and a microscope employing an autofocus mechanism and an electric revolver has been developed.

When an electric revolver is used in an objective focusing type microscope, a configuration in which an entire electric revolver provided with a motor for rotating the revolver during focusing is moved up and down is conventionally used.

In the case of the objective focusing method, there has been a demand for performing focusing more quickly.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a microscope with improved focusing performance.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following microscope.

That is, in a microscope having switching means for switching an objective lens used for observation to an observation position, a driving source for driving the switching means, and a movable part for moving the objective lens in the optical axis direction of the objective lens, The movable part is movable in the optical axis direction of the objective lens separately from the drive source, and the movable part and the drive source are separately attached to a microscope main body, respectively. .

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A microscope according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The microscope according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG.
Microscope body 30, autofocus device 100, lens barrel 2
0, an eyepiece 10, a focusing unit 40 that moves up and down for focusing, an electric revolver 50, a stage 80 for mounting a sample, and a lamp house 9 that emits illumination light
Contains 0.

The focusing section 40 has an optical path 41 for passing a light beam from the objective lens 70 as shown in FIGS. The upper part of the focusing unit 40 is housed inside the arm 30a of the microscope main body 30 as shown in FIG. A cross roller guide 42 is provided inside the arm 30a. The focusing unit 40 includes the cross roller guide 4
The objective lens 70 at the observation position is supported by the arm 30a via the optical axis 2 so as to be movable up and down in the direction of the optical axis 45. Further, a pulse motor 43 is fixed inside the arm portion 30a, and a pinion 4
4 are attached. The focusing section 40 has a pinion 4
A rack 46 that meshes with the rack 4 is formed. Therefore, the focusing unit 40 moves up and down along the optical axis 45 by driving the pulse motor 43.

As shown in FIG. 1, the revolver 50 includes a focusing unit 4.
0. A plurality of objective lenses 70 are attached to the revolver 50. The structure of the revolver 50 will be described later in detail.

The autofocus device 100 is disposed above the microscope main body 30 as shown in FIG. On the autofocus device 100, the lens barrel 20 and the eyepiece 1
0 are sequentially mounted. A second objective lens (not shown) for forming an image from the objective lens 70 and a deflecting member (not shown) for deflecting a light beam passing through the second objective lens toward the eyepiece 10 are provided in the lens barrel 20. And are arranged. In the autofocus apparatus 100, a first part that divides and deflects a part of the light beam traveling from the objective lens 70 to the second objective lens is provided.
A beam splitter (not shown), a second beam splitter (not shown) for further dividing the light beam split and deflected by the beam splitter into two light beams and providing an optical path difference between the two light beams, and two light beams from the second beam splitter CCD line sensor 66 (see FIG. 6, but FIG.
(Not shown). Further, a control unit 67 (FIG. 6) for processing the output signal of the CCD line sensor 66 to control the driving of the above-described pulse motor 43 and realizing autofocus is also arranged in the autofocus apparatus 100. .

The structure of the revolver 50 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the revolver 50 includes a fixed part 52, a rotating part 51 rotatable with respect to the fixed part 52, and a pulse motor 60 (drive source) for rotating the rotating part 51. I have. The fixing section 52 is fixed to the focusing section 40 by a screw 52a.
(Movable part) and supported by the focusing part 40. The rotating part 51 is rotatably fixed by a screw 53.
2 attached. Bearing balls 54 and 55 are arranged at a portion where the rotating part 51 and the fixed part 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 provided on the outer periphery of the rotating portion 51.
Are attached by screws 58a. First gear 5
The longitudinal direction of the tooth groove of No. 8 is parallel to the rotation axis 47 and the optical axis 45.

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 a 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 section 51. Second
The longitudinal direction of the tooth groove of the gear 62 and the pulse motor 60
Are both parallel to the rotation axis 47 of the rotation unit 51 and the optical axis 45. Therefore, by driving the pulse motor 60 to rotate the second gear 62, the rotating unit 51 can be rotated by a desired angle.

The fixed portion 52 is provided with a through hole 52b along the optical axis 45 for passing the light beam from the objective lens 70. The rotating section 51 is provided with a plurality of objective lens mounting sections 51 a for mounting the objective lens 70. The mounting portion 51a has a shape in which a female screw is formed on the inner wall of the through hole. Any position where the mounting portion 51a is provided is a position that overlaps the through hole 52b due to the rotation of the rotating portion 51. Further, in order to position the rotating part 51 in the rotation direction, a plurality of V-grooves 51 are provided on the upper surface of the outer peripheral part of the rotating part 51 at positions respectively corresponding to the position of the mounting part 51a.
b is formed. The fixed portion 52 has a rigid ball 57 at its tip.
Are fixed by welding. When the hard sphere 57 falls into the V-shaped groove 51b, the rotating portion 51
Can be positioned in the rotation direction. The positions where the plurality of V-grooves 51b are provided are respectively the mounting portions 51a.
Is a position for stopping the objective lens 70 attached to the optical axis 45 on the optical axis 45.

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
It is fixed to 0. 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 part movable together with the focusing unit 40 is light, and the focusing operation can be performed at a high speed with a small driving force. Thus, a small-sized pulse motor 43 for driving the focusing unit 40 can be used.

On the other hand, in the case of such a structure, the first gear 58 of the rotating section 51 is moved to the optical axis 45 during the focusing operation.
Therefore, a structure that maintains meshing with the second gear 62 that does not move is required. In the present embodiment, by setting the rotation axis 47 of the rotation unit 51 to be parallel to the optical axis 45, the longitudinal direction of the tooth grooves of the first and second gears 58 and 62 becomes parallel to the optical axis 45. I have to. With such a configuration, the rotating unit 51 during focusing can be used.
Also, even if the first gear 58 moves in the direction of the optical axis 45, the first gear 58 moves along the longitudinal direction of the groove of the teeth of the second gear 62, so that the meshing between them is maintained. You can move as it is. At this time, the length W of the second gear 62 is designed to be a length obtained by adding the length of the teeth necessary for the normal gear meshing and the moving amount of the focusing unit 40 necessary for the focusing operation. Thereby, the first gear 58
Focusing can be performed while maintaining the engagement between the gear and the second gear 62. The amount of movement of the focusing unit 40 necessary for the focusing operation is determined in consideration of the magnification of the objective lens 70 attached to the revolver 50, and the like.

Here, the operation of each part at the time of switching and focusing of the objective lens 70 of the microscope according to the present embodiment will be described.

The plurality of mounting portions 51a of the revolver 50 include:
An objective lens 70 having a desired magnification is attached to each. The objective lens 70 has an LWD (Long Working Length) having a long working distance in order to avoid collision with the stage 80.
Distance) It is desirable to use a type called an objective lens. Since this LWD objective lens has a long working distance (the distance from the tip of the objective lens to the upper surface of the sample (or the upper surface of the cover glass)), the revolver is installed substantially parallel to the stage as in the present embodiment. Also, the objective lens does not contact the stage. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the microscope main body 30 has a switch 68 for receiving an instruction to switch the objective lens 70 from the operator.
(FIG. 6) is provided. The switch 68 is connected to the control unit 6
7 is connected. When receiving an instruction to switch the objective lens 70 from the switch 68, the control unit 67 outputs a control signal for instructing rotation to a drive circuit of the pulse motor 60 of the revolver 50, and rotates the rotating shaft 60a. As a result, the rotation of the first gear 58 through the second gear 62 is prevented.
And the rotating part 51 rotates. The control unit 68 controls the number of output pulses to the pulse motor 60 to rotate the rotating unit 51 by a predetermined angle. When the rotation is stopped, the hard ball 57 falls into the V groove 51b, so that the stop position is accurately positioned. Thus, the plurality of objective lenses 70 attached to the rotating unit 51 can be sequentially switched, and a desired objective lens 70 can be selectively arranged on the optical axis 45.

Next, when an operator instructs to perform focusing by a switch (not shown), an operation of focusing the objective lens 70 on the sample on the stage 80 is performed. First, the specimen is irradiated with illumination light from the lamp house 90. The light beam from the sample is condensed by the objective lens 70 and the second objective lens in the lens barrel 20 and reaches the eyepiece 10 by the deflecting 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. Control unit 6
Reference numeral 7 processes the output signal of the CCD line sensor and obtains the intensity of contrast for each of the two light beams. At the same time, the control section 67 outputs a control signal for instructing the drive circuit of the pulse motor 43 to drive. The rotation of the pulse motor 43 is converted into 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 section 52, the rotating section 51, and the objective lens 70 of the revolver 50 supported by the focusing section 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. The contrast of the two light beams detected by the CCD line sensor changes according to the vertical movement of the objective lens 70.

As described above, in the microscope of the present embodiment, when the objective lens 70 is moved up and down, the fixing portion 5 of the revolver 5
Since the pulse motor 60 and the second gear 62 are configured not to move up and down while the rotation unit 2 and the rotating unit 51 move up and down, the weight of the part that moves up and down is small, and the pulse motor 43 is required. Driving force is small. Therefore,
The microscope according to the present embodiment can perform focusing operation at high speed because the inertial weight of the movable portion during the autofocus operation is small while the electric revolver 50 is provided, and can shorten the focusing 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 between them can be maintained.

In this embodiment, the case where the revolver is parallel to the stage has been described. However, the revolver may be mounted in an inclined state (similar to a conventional microscope).

Further, in this embodiment, the switching of the objective lens to the observation position has been described using a rotating revolver as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the objective lens may be connected to a plate-like member (for example, a slider). It may be attached and slid to the observation position.

Although the microscope according to the present embodiment is provided with an auto-focusing device, the microscope having a structure in which the focusing unit 40 is manually moved up and down may be provided with a structure including the revolver 50 according to the present embodiment. Of course it is possible. Also in this case, since the inertial weight of the movable portion is small, the focusing operation can be performed at high speed, and the effects of shortening the focusing time and improving the focusing accuracy can be obtained.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a microscope having a light movable portion at the time of focusing, even though the microscope has an electric revolver.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the overall configuration of a microscope according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cutaway sectional view of the vicinity of a revolver 50 of the microscope in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cutaway sectional view showing a configuration of a microscope equipped with a conventional electric revolver.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a revolver 150 of the conventional microscope of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line A-A ′ of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a control system of the microscope according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 eyepiece, 20 lens barrel, 30 microscope body, 30a
... arm part, 40 ... focusing part, 43 ... pulse motor, 45
.., Optical axis, 47, rotating axis, 50, electric revolver, 51, rotating part, 51b, V-groove, 52, fixed part, 57, rigid sphere, 58
.. A first gear, 60 a pulse motor, 62 a second gear, 67 a control unit, 70 an objective lens, 80 a stage, 90 a lamp house, 100 an autofocus device, 130 a microscope body, 130a Arm part, 140
... optical axis, 141 ... rotary axis, 143 ... substage, 15
0: electric revolver, 170: objective lens, 180: stage, 181: specimen.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A microscope comprising: a switching unit that switches an objective lens used for observation to an observation position; a driving source that drives the switching unit; and a movable unit that moves the objective lens in an optical axis direction of the objective lens. The microscope, wherein the movable section is movable in the optical axis direction of the objective lens separately from the drive source, and the movable section and the drive source are separately mounted on a microscope main body. 2. The microscope according to claim 1, wherein the switching means is a rotary revolver having a rotating part that rotates about an axis, and a first gear is provided on an outer periphery of the rotating part.
A second gear meshing with the first gear is attached to the drive source. A longitudinal direction of a groove of the first and second gears is parallel to the optical axis, and the second gear Is a microscope whose length in the longitudinal direction is longer than the amount of movement of the movable part. 3. The microscope according to claim 2, wherein a rotation axis of the rotation unit is parallel to the optical axis.