JP2009025266A - Analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an analyzer that holds an energy radiation source at a fixed position and enables accurate analysis, without having to apply strength, structure or material restrictions on an airtight vessel, such as, vacuum vessel. <P>SOLUTION: The analyzer comprises the airtight vessel 1 for accommodating a sample in a predetermined position within an internal space; an analysis section 2 for analyzing the sample S; a base plate 113 for supporting the airtight vessel 1; a support structure 3 fixed to the base plate 112, supporting the analysis section 2, and separating it from the sample S at a predetermined distance; and a connection mechanism 5 for allowing a relative movement between the airtight vessel 1 and the analysis section 2 by deformation of the airtight vessel 1, accompanying introduction and emission of a gas, and airtightly connecting the air-tight vessel 1 and the analysis section 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an analyzer for performing quantitative / qualitative analysis of a sample using an X-ray, an electron beam or the like.

  In this type of analyzer that performs quantitative and qualitative analysis of a sample by irradiating the sample with energy rays such as X-rays and electron beams, if the analysis is hindered by gas such as the atmosphere, the sample is placed in a vacuum vessel. And the analysis is performed in a vacuum.

On the other hand, in such a configuration, in order to improve the spatial resolution, the energy beam is converged and irradiated in the smallest possible region using a light collecting mechanism, and the sample is positioned at the light collecting position. In addition, the distance between the sample and the energy source is set accurately. Conventionally, such an energy ray source and a light collecting mechanism are attached to the wall of the vacuum vessel.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-19708

  However, when the vacuum vessel is sealed and the internal space is evacuated, the vacuum vessel is distorted by the compressive force from the surroundings due to atmospheric pressure, so the deformation changes the distance between the condensing mechanism and the sample, and the spot diameter increases. In some cases, the desired spatial resolution cannot be obtained. In particular, when a high resolution is required, a slight distortion of the vacuum vessel can be a big problem.

  Therefore, as shown in Patent Document 1, there is also known a structure in which a beam is extended from a corner portion of a vacuum vessel considered to have the smallest distortion, and the energy beam source is supported by the beam. It is still supported by a vacuum vessel that does not provide a fundamental solution to the problem.

  In addition, it is conceivable to reduce the distortion itself by thickening the wall of the vacuum vessel or using a material with high strength, but this may cause problems such as an increase in weight and cost, or the distortion may be reduced. In response to the setting of the distance to the sample in anticipation, it is difficult to set accurately, and the setting operation may be complicated. Such problems are common not only to vacuum containers but also to pressurized containers that pressurize and seal the inside.

  The present invention has been made to solve these problems all at once, and its main problem is that it is structurally and structurally strong against airtight containers such as vacuum containers and pressurized containers. It is an object of the present invention to provide an analysis apparatus that can hold an energy ray source or the like at a certain position without any particular limitation and can perform an accurate analysis.

  That is, the analyzer according to the present invention is fixed to the airtight container that accommodates the sample in a predetermined position in the internal space, the analysis unit that analyzes the sample, the base plate that supports the airtight container, and the base plate. A support structure that supports the analysis unit at a predetermined distance from the sample, and a relative movement between the hermetic container and the analysis unit due to deformation of the hermetic container when the gas is led in and out. And a connection mechanism for hermetically connecting the analyzing section and the hermetic container.

  In such a case, the support structure that supports the analysis unit is fixed to the base plate, which is one of the members having the greatest structural strength, and is disposed separately from the airtight container. It is hardly affected by distortion caused by decompression or pressurization in the container. In addition, since the analysis unit is configured to be relatively movable without being fixed to the hermetic container, even if the hermetic container is distorted and deformed, the connection mechanism absorbs the movement and the analysis unit is positioned at a certain position. Can be held in. Therefore, the distance between the analysis unit and the sample does not change and is kept constant, enabling accurate measurement. Moreover, even if relative movement occurs between the analysis unit and the airtight container, the airtight state can be maintained by the connection mechanism.

  As the connection mechanism that can be made compact and easy in structure, there are a through hole that penetrates the wall of the airtight container substantially perpendicularly, an outer peripheral surface of the analysis section that is slidably fitted in the through hole, What consists of the sealing structure provided in between is preferable. If it is such, since an analysis part will penetrate in a vacuum vessel, the effect that the distance of an analysis part and a sample can be shortened can also be show | played.

  As a configuration that is unlikely to interfere with the hermetic container and its peripheral devices and can contribute to downsizing, the base plate extends outward from the hermetic container, and the support structure extends the base plate. And a beam member that is cantilevered at the upper end of the standing member and extends above the hermetic container, and the analysis unit is provided at the tip of the beam member. Mention may be made of being attached and penetrating the top wall of the hermetic container.

  Specifically, the hermetic container is provided with a container body having an opening on the front side, a lid for closing the opening, and a side of the container body, and the lid can be opened and closed. Since the guide support mechanism is provided on the side surface, the guide support mechanism is provided on the side surface and the opening is provided on the front surface side. Therefore, the upright member is erected on the back side where no special structure exists. It is preferable that the beam member is configured to extend from the back side to the front side of the container body in order to reduce the size and prevent interference between members.

  Of course, if there is no such structural limitation, the holding stability of the analysis unit may be improved by, for example, holding both beam members.

  A case where the effect of the present invention is particularly remarkable includes a case where the opening opens obliquely upward. This is because the size of the top wall body, that is, the strength is reduced and the distortion is increased by the amount of the opening portion obliquely upward, but according to the present invention, it is hardly affected.

  As a specific embodiment, the analysis unit may include a housing that communicates with the internal space of the hermetic container and an energy ray source that converges and irradiates the sample through the housing. .

  As described above, according to the present invention, the support structure that supports the analysis unit is disposed separately from the airtight container, and the analysis unit is not fixed to the airtight container and is in an airtight state. Therefore, the analyzer can be held at a fixed position without being affected by the distortion of the hermetic container. In other words, the energy ray source or the like can be held at a fixed position without any structural or material restrictions on the strength of the hermetic container, and an accurate analysis is possible.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The analysis apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment is a vacuum container 1 that is an airtight container for accommodating a sample S, as shown in FIG. 1 as a schematic overall perspective view and as shown in FIG. 2 as a schematic cross-sectional view showing an internal structure. And an analysis unit 2 for analyzing the sample S inside the vacuum vessel 1, a support structure 3 that supports the analysis unit 2, and a connection mechanism 5 that hermetically connects the analysis unit 2 and the vacuum vessel 1. And used for qualitative and quantitative analysis of the sample S.

  Each part will be described. As shown in FIG. 2 and the like, the vacuum vessel 1 is supported on a base plate 112 having an equal thickness plate that also serves as a bottom plate of the vacuum vessel 1, and an opening for loading and unloading the sample S The container main body 11 having 1a, a lid 12 for closing the opening 1a, and a guide support mechanism 4 for supporting the lid 12 so as to be opened and closed are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the container body 11 is made of aluminum and has an outline of a shape obtained by obliquely cutting an upper portion of a hollow rectangular parallelepiped along one side, and the cut oblique portion is an opening 1a. . The opening 1a is closed by an aluminum hollow lid 12 having a substantially right triangular prism shape that is horizontally tilted. Between the lid body 12 and the opening 1a, an O-ring O3 made of resin, which is an elastic seal member, is interposed so as to ensure airtightness of the internal space of the container in the closed state. In the following description, the side on which the opening 1a is provided is described as the front, that is, the front, but this is merely for convenience of description and does not indicate an absolute direction. In addition, a movable stage A movable in the XYZ directions is provided inside the container main body 11, and the sample S is placed on the movable stage A.

  The guide support mechanism 4 opens and closes the lid body 12 along a predetermined track between a closed position shown in FIG. 3 and an open position shown in FIG. 4 forward and downward from the closed position. Specifically, the guide support mechanism 4 includes a pair of brackets 41 supported on the side surface of the container body 11 so that only horizontal sliding is possible, and a base end portion rotatably attached to the bracket 41. 12 includes a pair of arms 42 that respectively support the respective side portions 12 and a trajectory restricting portion 43 that restricts the movement of the lid 12 to the predetermined trajectory by restricting the movement of the arms 42. The track restricting portion 43 is, for example, a columnar convex portion 431 provided at a position deviated from the rotation center of the arm 42 and protruding inward, and an outer side of the rail member R attached to the container body 11. The engaging groove 432 formed on the side surface is provided, and the convex portion 431 engages with the engaging groove 432 and moves along the extending direction of the engaging groove 432, thereby regulating the behavior of the arm 42. To do.

  As shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 5, etc., the analysis unit 2 is provided immediately above the sample S, and includes an analysis unit main body (not shown) and a housing 22 that accommodates and holds the analysis unit main body. I have.

  The analysis unit main body includes an X-ray source (not shown) that emits primary X-rays as energy rays, and an X-ray condensing conduit (not shown) that focuses the primary X-rays on a small spot diameter and irradiates the sample S. And a detector (not shown) that detects fluorescent X-rays and the like generated from the sample S irradiated with the primary X-ray, and analyzes the elements contained in the sample S from the detection result of the detector. It is something that can be done.

  As shown in FIGS. 2, 5, and 6, the housing 22 is a hollow one having an opening 22 a for X-ray irradiation on the lower surface.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the support structure 3 is fixed to an extension portion 112 a that extends rearward from the vacuum vessel 1 in the base plate 112, and stands upright from the extension portion 112 a. A member 31 and a beam member 32 that is cantilevered at the upper end of the upright member 31 and extends above the vacuum vessel 1 are provided. More specifically, the upright member 31 includes, for example, a pair of support columns 311 erected from the respective side portions of the base plate extension portion 112a and a horizontal member spanned between the upper end portions of the support columns. 312. The beam member 32 is composed of, for example, two beam elements 321 arranged in parallel. The beam member 32 extends from the center of the horizontal member 312 toward the front, and the tip is positioned above the vicinity of the center of the vacuum vessel 1. It is configured. And the housing | casing 22 of the said analysis part 2 is attached to the front-end | tip part of this beam member 32. FIG.

  The connection mechanism 5 includes a through hole 51 that is perpendicular to the top wall body 111 of the container body 11, that is, a vertical hole, and an outer peripheral surface 52 of the housing 22 that fits into the through hole 51 via the seal structure 7. The connection mechanism 5 allows the internal space of the vacuum vessel 1 and the internal space of the housing 22 to communicate with each other. Here, the seal structure 7 includes a groove 52a provided around the outer peripheral surface 52 of the casing and an O-ring O1 which is an elastic seal member fitted so as to partially protrude into the groove 52a. By fitting the housing 22 into the through hole 51, the O-ring O1 is pressed and deformed between the groove 52a and the inner peripheral surface of the through hole 51, and is tightly sealed to the outside. Secure. Thus, as is clear from this configuration, the seal structure 7 allows relative sliding movement of the housing 22 and the through hole 51 within a predetermined range while maintaining airtightness.

  When the inside of the vacuum vessel 1 is evacuated under such a configuration, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIGS. 2 and 6, the wall body is distorted inward by the compression action by the atmospheric pressure. For example, the top wall body 111 is It will move downward. On the other hand, since the support structure 3 that supports the analysis unit 2 is disposed separately from the vacuum vessel 1, the analysis unit 2 is held at the same position, and only the top wall body 111 slides with respect to the analysis unit 2. And move downward. Therefore, the distance between the analysis unit 2 and the sample S is kept constant, the focused spot diameter of the X-ray is maintained as initially set, and accurate measurement is possible. Further, even if a slide occurs between the analysis unit 2 and the top wall body 111, a vacuum state can be maintained by the seal structure 7.

  Furthermore, since the structure can permit the deformation of the vacuum vessel 1 in this way, in other words, the rigidity of the vacuum vessel 1 can be set smaller than that of the conventional case, and the design flexibility can be greatly expanded. For example, in this embodiment, the container main body 11 is made of aluminum so as to reduce the weight that could not be achieved in the past.

  In addition, in this embodiment, the support structure 3 includes a standing member 31 that stands on the back side of the vacuum vessel 1 and a beam member 32 that is cantilevered by the standing member 31 and extends to the front side. Since it does not extend to the front or the side, it is possible to ensure the degree of freedom of the configuration and movement of the lid 12 existing on the front side and the guide mechanism existing on the side.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.
For example, the position where the support structure (standing member) stands is not limited to the back side, and may be the front, side, corners, etc. of the vacuum vessel, or the support structure may be attached to the side or back of the base plate. . In that case, the base plate may have the same shape as that of the vacuum container in plan view, and it is not always necessary to extend outward. Moreover, even if the outer frame or casing held by the base plate has a function as a support structure, the same effect as that of the above embodiment can be obtained. Furthermore, if the entire configuration permits, the holding stability of the analysis unit may be improved by, for example, using both beam members.

Further, the through hole may be formed not only on the top wall body but also on the side wall body. If there are a plurality of analysis parts, a plurality of through holes may be provided accordingly.
In the above embodiment, the support structure is fixed to the base plate that supports the vacuum vessel. However, the support structure may be completely separated from the vacuum vessel.

  Moreover, you may make it connect an analysis part and a vacuum vessel using a bellows etc. as a connection mechanism. Further, as the seal structure, a groove is provided in the housing of the analysis unit and the O-ring is fitted therein, but conversely, that is, a groove may be cut in the inner peripheral surface of the through hole and the O-ring may be fitted. . The present invention can also be applied to a pressurized container other than a vacuum container, for example, a pressurized container, and the shape thereof may be various, such as a cylindrical shape or a spherical shape.

  In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

1 is an overall perspective view of an analyzer according to an embodiment of the present invention. The longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the internal structure of the analyzer in the same embodiment. The side view which showed the guidance support mechanism in the embodiment, and showed the state which has a cover body in a closed position. The side view which showed the guidance support mechanism in the same embodiment, and showed the state which has a cover body in an open position. The perspective view which shows the analysis part and support structure in the embodiment. The expanded partial sectional view which showed a part of internal structure of the analysis part in the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Analyzer S ... Sample 1 ... Vacuum container 11 ... Container main body 111 ... Wall body (top wall body)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 112 ... Base board 112a ... Extension part 11a ... Through-hole 1a ... Opening part 12 ... Cover body 2 ... Analysis part 22 ... Housing | casing 3 ... Support structure 31 ... Standing member 32 ... Beam member 4 ... Guide support mechanism 5 ... Connection mechanism 7 ... Seal structure

Claims (6)

An airtight container for storing the sample in a predetermined position in the internal space;
An analysis unit for analyzing the sample;
A base plate for supporting the airtight container;
A support structure that is fixed to the base plate and supports the analysis unit at a position spaced apart from the sample by a predetermined distance;
An analysis apparatus comprising: a connection mechanism that hermetically connects the analysis unit and the hermetic container while allowing relative movement between the hermetic container and the analysis unit due to deformation of the hermetic container accompanying gas introduction / extraction.   The connection mechanism includes a through-hole penetrating substantially perpendicularly to the wall of the hermetic container, an outer peripheral surface of the analysis unit slidably fitted in the through-hole, and a seal structure provided therebetween. The analyzer according to claim 1. The base plate extends outward from the airtight container;
The support structure includes a standing member that stands up from an extending portion of the base plate, and a beam member that is cantilevered at the upper end of the standing member and extends above the airtight container;
The analysis apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the analysis unit is attached to a distal end portion of the beam member and passes through a top wall body of an airtight container. The airtight container is provided with a container body having an opening on the front side, a lid for closing the opening, and a guide that is provided on a side of the container body and supports the lid so as to be opened and closed. And a support mechanism,
The analyzer according to claim 3, wherein the standing member stands on the back side of the container body, and the beam member extends from the back side to the front side of the container body.   The analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the opening is opened obliquely upward.   The analysis according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the analysis unit includes a casing communicating with the internal space of the hermetic container, and an energy ray source that converges and irradiates the sample through the casing. apparatus.