JP2006267804A - Objective lens positioning apparatus and microscope equipped with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a revolver apparatus capable of attaining the miniaturization of a centering mechanism, and to provide a microscope equipped with the revolver apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: A centering screw 36 for pressurizing a movable member 40 on the sliding surface of a revolver rotating member toward a direction orthogonal to an observation optical axis is arranged in the revolver rotating member. Arm parts 42a and 42b for energizing the movable member 40 toward the direction orthogonal to the observation optical axis are arranged on the movable member 40. A force applied by the arm parts 42a and 42b in the center axis direction of the movable member 40 is supported by each steel ball 36b of the centering screw 36. The center axis of the movable member 40 is aligned with the optical axis by screwing up the centering screws 36 and sliding the movable member 40 on the sliding surface toward the direction orthogonal to the optical axis. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an objective lens positioning device and a microscope equipped with the same.

  Observation of cell tissues, minerals, etc. is performed using a polarizing microscope.

  At that time, observation of cellular tissue, minerals, etc. is performed while rotating the rotary stage.

  In addition, inspection of a semiconductor wafer or the like is performed using an industrial microscope.

  At this time, a semiconductor wafer or the like is inspected by switching a plurality of objective lenses having different magnifications mounted on the revolver device without using a rotating stage. First, an object to be observed is specified with a low-magnification objective lens, and then a detailed examination is performed by switching to a high-magnification objective lens.

  By the way, in observation / inspection using a polarizing microscope, an industrial microscope, or the like, a so-called centering operation is performed in which the image is aligned with the center of the field of view so that the image does not deviate from the field of view of the microscope.

  The centering operation is performed using a centering mechanism provided in the revolver device, which is an objective lens positioning device.

The centering mechanism presses a movable member (cylindrical member to which the objective lens can be screwed) slidably held in the revolver rotating member in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the observation optical system of the microscope body. Two centering screws and one so-called gun ball that presses the movable member in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the observation optical system of the microscope main body by a spring force are provided (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-33705). Both the center screw and the ball are provided on the revolver rotating member. The two center screws and one gunball are arranged at an interval of 120 °. By rotating the centering screw, the optical axis of the objective lens screwed to the movable member is matched with the observation optical axis of the microscope body.
JP 2001-33705 A

  In recent years, an improvement in image brightness is required in microscopic observation, and an objective lens having a large aperture is attached to the revolver rotating member, so that the centering mechanism is also enlarged. As a result, the space for mounting the objective lens of the revolver rotating member is cut, and there is a problem that the same number of objective lenses as the conventional revolver device cannot be mounted.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an objective lens positioning device capable of reducing the size of the centering mechanism as compared with the prior art, and a microscope including the same. .

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an invention according to claim 1 is provided in an objective lens positioning device provided in an objective lens holder to which an objective lens is attached, for aligning the optical axis of the objective lens with the optical axis of an observation optical system. A cylindrical movable member supported on a sliding surface substantially orthogonal to the optical axis of the objective lens formed on the objective lens holder and capable of connecting the objective lens; and the movable member on the sliding surface. A pressing unit that presses in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis of the objective lens, and a biasing unit that is provided on the movable member and biases the movable member in the radial direction when the movable member is disposed on the sliding surface. It is characterized by having.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the objective lens positioning device according to the first aspect, the objective lens holder has a restricting portion for restricting a screwing amount of the objective lens with respect to the movable member.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a microscope comprising the objective lens positioning device according to the first or second aspect.

  According to the present invention, the centering mechanism of the objective lens positioning device can be reduced in size.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

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

  A polarizing microscope (microscope) MS includes an arm 1, a lens barrel 3 having an eyepiece 2 attached to an upper portion of the arm 1, a revolver device 10 having a plurality of objective lenses 4 attached to a lower surface of the arm 1, A substage 6 that moves up and down along a support column 5 to which the arm 1 is attached, a rotatable stage 7 that is provided on the substage 6 and is rotatable, and a lamp house 8 that houses an illumination light source are provided. The revolver device 10 that is an objective lens positioning device is provided with a centering mechanism (centering means). The microscope body is composed of the arm 1, the support column 5, the base portion 9, and the like.

  In the polarization microscope MS, observation / inspection of a cell tissue, mineral, or the like is performed while rotating a rotary stage 7 on which an observation object is placed.

  FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a cross section of a revolver device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The revolver device 10 includes a revolver body 20 and a revolver rotating member (objective lens holder) 30. The revolver device 10 can be attached to and detached from the lower surface of the arm 1.

  One end of a leaf spring 21 constituting a click mechanism is attached to the revolver body 20 with a screw 22. The other end of the leaf spring 21 supports a steel ball 23, and the objective lens 4 attached to the revolver rotating member 30 is positioned by dropping the steel ball 23 into the click groove 26.

  A cylindrical portion 24 that protrudes downward is formed at the center of the revolver body 20, and a rotation shaft 31 that is a rotation center of the revolver rotating member 30 is screwed into a screw hole 27 formed in the cylindrical portion 24. . A tapered surface 31 a is formed at the lower portion of the rotating shaft 31.

  A center hole 32 is formed at the center of the revolver rotating member 30 to accommodate the lower part of the rotating shaft 31, and the bearing ball 33 can roll between the tapered surface 31 a and the inner peripheral surface of the center hole 32. Has been placed.

  Further, the bearing ball 34 can roll between a step portion 25 formed on the outer peripheral portion of the lower surface of the revolver body 20 and a step portion 35 formed on the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral portion of the revolver rotating member 30. Has been placed.

  With this configuration, the revolver rotating member 30 is supported by the revolver body 20 so as to be rotatable about the rotation shaft 31.

  The revolver rotating member 30 is formed with a space 40 a in the circumferential direction for accommodating the movable member 40. The movable member 40 is supported by the space 40a of the revolver rotating member 30 by the elastic force of arm portions 42a and 42b (described later). The objective lens 4 is screwed to the movable member 40.

  One end of a substantially L-shaped rotation stopper 37 for preventing the rotation of the movable member 40 is fixed to the revolver rotating member 30 with a screw 37a.

  The revolver rotating member 30 has a sliding surface 38 substantially orthogonal to the optical axis L of the observation optical system of the microscope body. The sliding surface 38 is located on the movable member 40, and the movable member 40 is supported by the sliding surface 38 so as to be slidable in a direction substantially orthogonal to the optical axis L. The observation optical system is an optical system having an optical axis substantially parallel to the optical axis L of the objective lens 4 attached to the revolver rotating member 30 or an optical axis substantially perpendicular to the object to be observed.

  In addition, the revolver rotating member 30 is formed with an objective lens mounting surface (restricting portion) 39 that restricts the screwing amount of the objective lens 4 into the movable member 40 when the objective lens 4 is screwed into the movable member 40.

  FIG. 3 is a plan view of the movable member. However, the center screw (pressing means) 36 has a schematic cross section.

  The movable member 40 has a cylindrical shape, and a female screw 41 for screwing the objective lens 4 (see FIG. 2) is formed on the inner peripheral surface thereof.

  A pair of arm portions (biasing means) 42a and 42b was formed by forming a T-shaped slit 43 (see FIG. 4C) on the side surface of the movable member 40. As shown in FIG. 3, the pair of arm portions 42 a and 42 b spread outward from the space portion 40 a and function as springs when housed in the space portion 40 a.

  4A is a plan view of the movable member showing a state in which the movable member is accommodated in the space portion of the revolver rotating member, FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. (C) is a B arrow view of Fig.4 (a). FIG. 4A shows a schematic cross section of the center screw 36.

  When the movable member 40 is accommodated in the space portion 40a of the revolver rotating member 30 (see FIG. 2), the arm portions 42a and 42b are elastically deformed inward and substantially cylindrical as shown in FIG. Become. The tip portions of the arm portions 42a and 42b face each other with a predetermined gap s. The other end of the rotation stopper 37 described above enters the gap s and engages with the tip end portions of the arm portions 42a and 42b. The rotation stopper 37 prevents the movable member 40 from rotating around the optical axis and moving in the optical axis direction. Although not shown, a convex piece that contacts the upper surface of the movable member 40 may be formed on the rotation stop 37 in order to reliably prevent the movement of the movable member 40 in the optical axis direction.

  The centering screw 36 includes a screw main body 36a, a steel ball 36b that is caulked to the tip of the screw main body 36a, and a hexagonal column 36c that is fitted to the rear end of the screw main body 36a. The two centering screws 36 are screwed into the revolver rotating member 30 with a gap s and an interval of 120 °, respectively. The centering screw 36 urges the outer peripheral surface of the movable member 40 toward the optical axis L.

  The force by which the movable member 40 is urged by the spring force of the arm portions 42 a and 42 b is received by the steel balls 36 b of the centering screw 36.

  The centering mechanism is constituted by the two centering screws 36 and the arm portions 42a and 42b.

  The centering operation of the objective lens 4 is performed in a state in which the objective lens 4 is not completely tightened with respect to the movable member 40 but is slightly loosened (a state in which the objective lens 4 is loosened by about 10 to 20 ° from the completely tightened state). When the objective lens 4 is screwed to the movable member 40, the movable member 40 tries to rotate together with the objective lens 4 by the tightening force, but the rotation stopper 37 prevents the movable member 40 from rotating.

  When the centering screw 36 is tightened or loosened using a hexagon socket wrench or the like, the movable member 40 slides on the sliding surface 38 in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis L. Therefore, the central axis of the objective lens 4 screwed to the movable member 40 can be made to coincide with the optical axis L.

  After the centering operation is completed, the objective lens 4 is tightened. At this time, the objective lens 4 is pressed against the objective lens mounting surface 39 of the revolver rotating member 30 and is firmly fixed to the revolver rotating member 30.

  According to this embodiment, the movable member 40 is biased in the direction orthogonal to the optical axis L by the arm portions 42a and 42b provided on the movable member 40, and the gun ball of the revolver rotating member 30 is deleted. However, the mechanism can be reduced in size. As a result, even when the objective lens 4 has a large diameter, a space for mounting the objective lens 4 on the revolver rotating member 30 can be secured, and a conventional revolver device having a centering mechanism or a revolver device without a centering mechanism can be obtained. The same number of objective lenses 4 can be attached.

  Moreover, since the objective lens 4 is directly fixed to the revolver rotating member 30, the objective lens 4 can be firmly fixed to the revolver rotating member 30, and the position of the objective lens 4 does not shift due to vibration or small impact.

  Furthermore, as will be described later, the error of the height H of the revolver device 10 (the distance between the microscope body attachment surface 29 and the objective lens attachment surface 39) can be reduced, and the confocality can be ensured with high accuracy.

  The reason why the error of the height H of the revolver device 10 can be reduced is as follows.

  The error in the height H of the revolver device 10 is affected by the number of parts arranged between the microscope body attachment surface 29 and the objective lens attachment surface 39. In the case of the revolver device 10, the three parts of the revolver body 20, the bearing ball 34, and the revolver rotating member 30 are disposed between the microscope body attachment surface 29 and the objective lens attachment surface 39. On the other hand, in the case of a conventional revolver device, five parts including a revolver body, a bearing ball, a revolver rotating member, a pressing ring, and a movable member are arranged between the microscope body mounting surface and the objective lens mounting surface. When each part is assembled, the error (tolerance) of each part is directly reflected in the error of the height H. Therefore, the revolver device 10 of the present invention having a smaller number of parts has a height H higher than that of the conventional revolver device. The error can be reduced.

  Further, since the structure of the urging means (arm portions 42a and 42b) is simple and can be manufactured at low cost, the manufacturing cost of the centering mechanism can be reduced as compared with the conventional one.

  In addition, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where this invention was applied to the manual type revolver apparatus 10, of course, this invention is applicable also to an electric type revolver apparatus, for example.

  In the above embodiment, the arm portions 42 a and 42 b as the biasing means are formed integrally with the movable member 40. However, the arm portion may be formed as a separate component from the movable member 40 and attached to the movable member 40. Good.

  In the above embodiment, the revolver device is used as the objective lens positioning device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is also applicable to other types such as a slider type objective lens positioning device. Can do.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a polarizing microscope according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a cross section of a revolver device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the movable member. 4A is a plan view of the movable member showing a state in which the movable member is accommodated in the space portion of the revolver rotating member, FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. (C) is a B arrow view of Fig.4 (a).

Explanation of symbols

4 Objective lens 10 Revolver device 20 Revolver body 30 Revolver rotating member (objective lens holder)
36 Center screw (pressing means)
38 Sliding surface 39 Objective lens mounting surface (Regulator)
40 Movable members 42a, 42b Arm portions (biasing means)
MS Polarized light microscope (microscope)

Claims (3)

In an objective lens positioning device provided in an objective lens holder to which an objective lens is mounted, for making the optical axis of the objective lens coincide with the optical axis of the observation optical system,
A cylindrical movable member supported on a sliding surface substantially orthogonal to the optical axis of the objective lens formed on the objective lens holder, and capable of connecting the objective lens;
A pressing means for pressing the movable member on the sliding surface in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the objective lens;
An objective lens positioning device comprising: an urging means provided on the movable member, and urging the movable member in a radial direction when the movable member is disposed on the sliding surface.   The objective lens positioning device according to claim 1, wherein the objective lens holder includes a regulating unit that regulates a screwing amount of the objective lens with respect to the movable member.   A microscope comprising the objective lens positioning device according to claim 1.

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