JP2011053324A - Microscope - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a microscope having a peripheral unit electrically connected thereto without causing trouble in microscope operation. <P>SOLUTION: This microscope has: a microscope body 2 provided with a female type round dovetail 21 and a first electric contact point 20; and a peripheral unit 3 mounted detachably on the microscope body 2 and provided with a male type round dovetail 31 engaging with the female type round dovetail 21 and a second electric contact point 30 forming a pair with the first electric contact point 20. When the female type round dovetail 21 in the microscope body 2 is engaged with the male type round dovetail 31 in the peripheral unit 3, the peripheral unit 3 is moved into the predetermined direction, and both of the round dovetails 21, 31 are tightened, the contact of the first electric contact point 20 and the second electric contact point 30 is promoted, and the peripheral unit 3 and the microscope body 2 are mutually connected in accordance with the engagement of the male type round dovetail 31 and the female type round dovetail 21. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a microscope.

  Conventionally, electrical connection between a microscope and a peripheral device of the microscope such as an illumination device has been mainly performed using a cable from the viewpoint of price, ease of arrangement, and reliability of connection (for example, (See Patent Document 1).

JP-A-11-84252

However, in recent years, when a microscope and a peripheral device are electrically connected by a cable, as the peripheral device is diversified, the number of cables increases to surround the microscope, and the user's hand comes into contact with the cable. There is a problem that this causes an obstacle to the operation of the microscope.
Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a microscope capable of electrically connecting peripheral devices without causing an obstacle to microscope operation.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention
A microscope body having a female round ant and a first electrical contact;
A peripheral device that is detachably attached to the microscope main body and includes a male round ant that engages with the female round ant and a second electrical contact that forms a pair with the first electrical contact;
When the female round ant of the microscope body is engaged with the male round ant of the peripheral device and the peripheral device is moved in a predetermined direction to fasten the two round ants, the male round As the ant and the female round ant are engaged, the contact between the first electrical contact and the second electrical contact also proceeds to connect the peripheral device and the microscope main body. I will provide a.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the microscope which can connect a peripheral device electrically without causing the trouble of microscope operation can be provided.

1 is a side view of a microscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention. (A) is a top view of the microscope main body in 1st Embodiment of this invention, (b) is a top view of a microscope. (A) is a side view of the illuminating device in 1st Embodiment of this invention, (b) is a bottom view, (c) is an arrow view of (a). In the microscope which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention, it is a side view which shows a mode that the illuminating device was piled up two steps. It is a side view of the microscope which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. (A) is a top view of the microscope main body in 2nd Embodiment of this invention, (b) is a top view of a microscope. (A) is a side view of the illuminating device in 2nd Embodiment of this invention, (b) is a top view, (c) is a bottom view, (d) is an arrow view of (c).

Hereinafter, microscopes according to embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
(First embodiment)
As shown in FIG. 1, a microscope 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is attached to a microscope body 2, an illumination device 3 that is detachably attached to an upper portion of the microscope body 2, and an upper portion of the illumination device 3. This is an upright microscope composed of a lens barrel 4.

The microscope main body 2 includes a base portion 5, a support column portion 6, and an arm portion 7 in order from the bottom.
The base portion 5 is provided with a substage 8 provided so as to be movable in the vertical direction (Z direction), and a vertical movement handle 9 for moving the substage 8 up and down. A stage 10 on which a specimen (not shown) is placed is fixed to the substage 8, and the user can move the substage 8 and the stage 10 up and down integrally by operating the up and down movement handle 9. it can. The stage 10 is provided with a stage handle 11 for moving the stage 10 in the horizontal direction (XY direction). Such a base unit 5 is provided with a power cord 12, and power is supplied to the microscope 1 by connecting the power cord 12 to an external power source (not shown).

  The column 6 incorporates a microscope control unit 13 for controlling each electric element provided in the microscope 1. The support 6 is provided with an external connection cord 14 and can be connected to an external controller (not shown) such as a personal computer. This makes it possible to monitor and control information transmitted and received between the microscope control unit 13 and the illumination device 3 via an electrical contact 20 of the arm unit 7 and an electrical contact 30 of the illumination device 3 described later. Such a column portion 6 and the lighting device 3 are connected by a power supply cable 15, and power necessary for the lighting device 3 can be supplied from the column portion 6. In addition, the support | pillar part 6 is also provided with the reserve terminal (not shown) for a cable connection.

The arm portion 7 extends above the stage 10, and a revolver 17 that holds a plurality of objective lenses 16 so as to be capable of rotational switching is installed on the lower surface thereof.
As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2A, the upper surface of the housing of the arm portion 7 is engaged with the male round ant 31 at a position facing the male round ant 31 of the lighting device 3 described later. A possible female round ant 21 is formed. The optical axis of the objective lens arranged at the observation position has a positional relationship that penetrates the engaged circular ants 21 and 31. The female round ant 21 has a larger diameter than the male round ant 31 so that the male round ant 31 can move in the X direction (the direction along the upper surface of the arm portion 7). Is provided.
The female round ant 21 can be screwed from the side toward the center (from the front end side of the arm 7 on the observer side toward the back side of the microscope 1, that is, in the X direction). Fastening screws 22 are provided. The female round ant 21 is formed with two positioning projections 23 for appropriately aligning the male round ant 31 for aligning the position after the lighting device 3 is mounted on the arm portion 7. ing. As shown in FIG. 2A, the two positioning projections 23 are provided at two positions closer to the dent portion 24 described later than the center of the female round ant 21 when viewed from the fastening screw 22. Yes.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper surface of the housing of the arm portion 7 is sufficiently separated from the female round ant 21 in the X direction, and faces a protruding portion 35 of the lighting device 3 described later. A recess 24 is formed at the position. The recessed portion 24 has a cubic shape capable of accommodating the protruding portion 35 of the lighting device 3. Electricity directed in the −X direction (observer side) is provided on the inner wall located on the opposite side of the female round ant 21. A contact 20 is provided.
In the present embodiment, the electrical contact 20 employs a so-called spring contact that can expand and contract in the X direction. With this configuration, when the electrical contact 30 of the lighting device 3 to be described later comes into contact with the electrical contact 20, it is possible to prevent damage to the electrical contacts 20 and 30 due to excessive contact and to realize appropriate contact. The electrical contact 20 is not limited to a so-called spring contact, and a socket pin or the like may be employed. The electrical contact 20 having such a configuration is electrically connected to the microscope control unit 13 in the support column 6. In addition, the recessed part 24 is formed sufficiently larger than the protruding part 35 so that the protruding part 35 of the illuminating device 3 is movably fitted in the X direction, and a retreat space 24a is secured.

The illuminating device 3 is an LED, a lamp light source, or the like that emits illuminating light, and a mirror switch for selectively switching these by holding a dichroic mirror or a half mirror that guides the illuminating light from the LED or the lamp light source to the microscope body 2. The device etc. are built in (all are not shown).
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3A, a male round ant 31 and a projecting portion 35 projecting downward are provided on the lower surface of the housing of the lighting device 3. In the protruding portion 35, an electrical contact 30 that forms a pair with the electrical contact 20 of the recessed portion 24 in the arm portion 7 is located at a position opposite to the male round ant 31 (a position closer to the back surface of the microscope 1). , Facing in the X direction (toward the back side of the microscope 1).
As shown in FIG. 3 (a), on the upper surface of the housing of the lighting device 3, a female round ant 37 in which the lens barrel 4 is mounted with the same configuration as the female round ant 21 in the arm portion 7, A recessed portion 36 having the same configuration as the recessed portion 24 of the arm portion 7 is provided. For the case where the intermediate lens barrel is not mounted above the illumination device 3 as shown in FIG. 1, the recess 36 is provided with a detachable lid member (not shown) that prevents intrusion of dust and dirt. In addition, the electrical contact 30 of the protrusion part 35, the electrical contact of the recessed part 36, the above-mentioned LED, and the switching device are electrically connected to each other.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the lens barrel 4 includes an eyepiece 4 a for a user to look directly into. A male round ant (not shown) having the same configuration as the male round ant 31 in the illumination device 3 is formed on the lower surface of the housing of the lens barrel 4.

  In the microscope 1 having the above-described configuration, the illumination light from the illumination device 3 passes through the arm portion 7 of the microscope body 2 and then is irradiated onto the specimen on the stage 10 by the objective lens 16. Thereby, the observation light from the specimen enters the lens barrel 4 through the objective lens 16, the arm unit 7, and the illumination device 3 in this order, and is guided to the eyepiece unit 4a. As a result, the user can look into the eyepiece 4a and observe the sample image.

Here, in the microscope 1 according to the present embodiment, a procedure for attaching the illumination device 3 to the arm unit 7 will be described.
First, the user loosens the fastening screw 22 of the arm portion 7, retracts the fastening screw 22 in the −X direction, which is the front end side (observer direction) of the arm portion 7, and moves the illumination device 3 to the arm portion 7. The male round ant 31 is placed in the female round ant 21 and the protruding portion 35 is placed in the recessed portion 24 with respect to the upper surface of the housing. At this time, the protruding portion 35 is located on the front end side in the recessed portion 24, and the electrical contact 30 and the electrical contact 20 are not in contact with each other.

  Next, the user screws the fastening screw 22 of the arm portion 7 in the X direction. As a result, the fastening screw 22 abuts on the male round ant 31 of the lighting device 3 and pushes the male round ant 31 in the X direction. Then, the male round ant 31 pushed in the X direction engages with the female round ant 21, whereby the lighting device 3 and the arm portion 7 are mechanically connected. At this time, the male round ant 31 is pushed in the X direction by the fastening screw 22 until it abuts against the two positioning projections 23 in the female round ant 21. Therefore, the male round ant 31 is precisely positioned by the fastening screw 22 and the two positioning projections 23, and the positions of the center of the male round ant 31 and the center of the female round ant 21 are as follows. Matching can be performed appropriately.

  Further, as described above, when the user screws the fastening screw 22 of the arm portion 7 in the X direction, the male round ant 31 of the lighting device 3 is pushed in the X direction by the fastening screw 22. Accordingly, the entire illumination device 3 moves in the X direction with respect to the arm unit 7. For this reason, the protrusion part 35 of the illuminating device 3 will also move to the X direction within the recessed part 24 of the arm part 7. FIG. As a result, the electrical contact 30 of the projecting portion 35 is gradually and appropriately brought into contact with the electrical contact 20 in the recessed portion 24, and the lighting device 3 and the arm portion 7 are electrically connected. Specifically, by this electrical connection, a dimming state of the illuminating device 3 is transmitted from the illuminating device 3 to the microscope control unit 13, or a control signal for changing the dimming state or the filter position of the illuminating device 3 is transmitted. Transmission from the microscope control unit 13 to the illumination device 3 or the like becomes possible.

With the above attachment procedure, the illumination device 3 can be easily and reliably attached to the arm portion 7. In the present embodiment, the direction in which the male round ant 31 is moved in the female round ant 21 (the moving direction of the lighting device 3 for mechanically connecting the lighting device 3 to the arm portion 7), and The direction in which the projecting portion 35 is moved in the recessed portion 24 (the moving direction of the lighting device 3 for electrically connecting the lighting device 3 to the arm portion 7) is set in the same X direction. Therefore, the mechanical connection between the lighting device 3 and the arm portion 7 and the electrical connection can be achieved simply by moving the lighting device 3 in the X direction relative to the arm portion 7 by screwing the fastening screw 22 in the X direction as described above. Connections can be made simultaneously. In addition, what is necessary is just to implement the above-mentioned procedure in reverse order, when removing the illuminating device 3 from the arm part 7. FIG.
Further, since the electrical connection is performed by screwing the fastening screw 22, the contact between the electrical contact 20 and the electrical contact 30 becomes slow. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of damage to electrical contacts that are vulnerable to impact.

  As described above, in the microscope 1 according to the present embodiment, the electrical connection between the arm portion 7 of the microscope body 2 and the illumination device 3 that is a peripheral device of the microscope body 2 is performed using the electrical contacts 20 and 30 without using a cable. It can be carried out. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the cable from surrounding the microscope and hindering the operation of the microscope as in the conventional microscope. In addition, problems such as deterioration of the appearance, expansion of the arrangement space, and accumulation of dust on the cable can be solved.

  In the microscope 1 according to the present embodiment, the mechanical connection between the illumination device 3 and the arm unit 7 is performed by the male round ant 31 and the female round ant 21 as described above. Here, such a connection method is widely used in connection between a conventional microscope and a conventional peripheral device. For this reason, when manufacturing the illuminating device 3 and the microscope main body 2 in the present embodiment, it is possible to follow the mechanism of the conventional product, and thus there is an advantage that the ease of manufacturing is improved. Moreover, the microscope main body 2 of the present embodiment also has an advantage that a conventional peripheral device having a male round dovetail portion can be used by being attached to the arm portion 7. In this case, the electrical connection between the conventional peripheral device and the microscope body 2 is performed by connecting the conventional peripheral device and the spare terminal of the support column 6 with a cable.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the microscope 1 according to this embodiment includes an LED (not shown) that emits illumination light having a wavelength different from that of the illumination device 3, and the other configuration is the same as that of the illumination device 3. It is also possible to arrange 40 between the illumination device 3 and the lens barrel 4 for use. In this case, the illumination device 40 is electrically connected to the microscope main body 2 via the illumination device 3 as shown in FIG. Therefore, the user can use the illumination device 3 and the illumination device 40 selectively and illuminate the specimen with illumination light having a desired wavelength for observation. Also in such a case, since the cable for electrically connecting the illumination device 40 and the microscope body 2 is not necessary, it is possible to effectively eliminate the above-described problems such as the cable becoming an obstacle to the microscope operation. it can. Although FIG. 4 shows a state in which the lighting devices are stacked in two stages, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is of course possible to have three or more lighting devices.

(Second Embodiment)
Regarding the microscope according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, description thereof will be omitted, and different parts will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 5, the microscope 45 according to the present embodiment includes a microscope main body 46, an illumination device 42, and a lens barrel 4. The microscope main body 46 includes a base portion 5, a support column portion 6, and an arm portion 41.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6A, the upper surface of the housing of the arm portion 41 is sufficiently separated from the female round ant 21 and faces a protrusion 65 of the lighting device 42 described later. A recessed portion 54 is formed at the position. The recessed portion 54 has a cubic shape that can accommodate the protruding portion 65 of the illumination device 42, and contacts the inner wall located on the Y direction side (right side from the observer side toward the microscope 1) in the −Y direction. An electrical contact 50 is provided with the tip of the section facing. The electrical contact 50 is electrically connected to the microscope control unit 13 in the column 6. The recessed portion 54 is formed to be sufficiently larger than the projecting portion 65 so that the projecting portion 65 of the lighting device 42 can move in the X direction, and a retreat space 54a is secured.

The illuminating device 42 in the present embodiment incorporates an LED, a mirror switching device, and the like (all are not shown), like the illuminating device 3 of the first embodiment.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7A, a male round ant 31 and a protruding portion 65 protruding downward are provided on the lower surface of the casing of the lighting device 42. An electrical contact 60 that is paired with the electrical contact 50 of the recess 54 is provided at the position on the Y direction side of the protrusion 65 so as to face the Y direction. The electrical contact 60 employs a so-called spring contact that can expand and contract in the Y direction.
As shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, a recess 66 is provided on the upper surface of the housing of the lighting device 42 at a position sufficiently away from the female round ant 37. The recessed portion 66 has the same configuration as the recessed portion 54 of the arm portion 41 described above. In addition, the electrical contact 67 of the recessed part 66 of such a structure, the electrical contact 60 of the protrusion part 65, the above-mentioned LED, and the switching apparatus are electrically connected mutually.

With the above configuration, the microscope 45 according to the present embodiment can achieve the same effects as those of the first embodiment. Moreover, the microscope 1 according to the present embodiment can easily and reliably attach the illumination device 42 to the arm portion 41 by the same procedure as in the first embodiment.
In the present embodiment, when the user screws the fastening screw 22 of the arm portion 41 in the X direction, the protruding portion 65 of the lighting device 42 causes the electrical contact 60 to contact the electrical contact 50 of the recessed portion 54. However, it moves in the X direction in the recess 54. When the male round ant 31 is positioned by the two positioning projections 23 of the female round ant 21 and the fastening screw 22, the electrical contact 60 and the electrical contact 50 are appropriately opposed to each other and illuminated. The device 42 and the arm part 41 are electrically connected. Therefore, as in the first embodiment, the direction in which the male round ant 31 is moved within the female round ant 21 (the movement of the lighting device 42 for mechanically connecting the lighting device 42 to the arm portion 41). Direction) and the direction in which the protruding portion 65 is moved in the recess 54 (the moving direction of the lighting device 42 for electrically connecting the lighting device 42 to the arm portion 41) are the same X direction. For this reason, the mechanical connection and electrical connection of the illuminating device 42 and the arm part 41 are made only by moving the illuminating device 42 in the X direction with respect to the arm part 41 by screwing the fastening screw 22 in the X direction. Can be done simultaneously.
Here, in each of the above embodiments, the illumination device is shown as an example of a peripheral device that is electrically connected to the microscope. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the characteristic configuration of the illumination device (such as a male round ant portion or It is possible to apply the protrusions etc. to other peripheral devices such as filter switching devices.

According to each of the above embodiments, it is possible to realize a microscope in which peripheral devices can be electrically connected easily without incurring obstacles in microscope operation, expansion of arrangement space, and deterioration in appearance.
Moreover, in each said embodiment, the positional relationship of the female round dovetail part and recessed part in the housing | casing upper surface of an arm part is not restricted to the above-mentioned thing. If the female round dovetail portion and the recessed portion are provided at positions separated from each other as in the above embodiments, the male round dovetail portion of the lighting device and the female round dovetail portion of the arm portion are provided. Even if play occurs, it is preferable because it is possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of poor contact of electrical contacts due to the effect of play.
In each of the above embodiments, the power supply from the microscope body to the illumination device is performed using a power supply cable, but the power supply is performed by the electrical contact of the arm unit and the electrical contact of the illumination device. You can also This makes it possible to maximize the effects of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,45 Microscope 2,46 Microscope main body 3,40,42 Illuminating device 7,41 Arm part 20,50 Arm part electric contact 21 Female round dovetail 22 Fastening screw 23 Positioning protrusion 24,54 Indentation of arm part Portions 30 and 50 Electrical contact points 31 and 37 of the lighting device Male round ants 35 and 65 Projecting portions 36 and 66 Recessed portion of the lighting device

Claims (6)

A microscope body having a female round ant and a first electrical contact;
A peripheral device that is detachably attached to the microscope main body and includes a male round ant that engages with the female round ant and a second electrical contact that forms a pair with the first electrical contact;
When the female round ant of the microscope body is engaged with the male round ant of the peripheral device and the peripheral device is moved in a predetermined direction to fasten the two round ants, the male round As the ant and the female round ant are engaged, the contact between the first electrical contact and the second electrical contact also proceeds to connect the peripheral device and the microscope main body. . The male round ant is provided on the lower surface of the casing of the peripheral device joined to the microscope body,
The female round ant is provided on the upper surface of the housing of the microscope main body to be joined to the peripheral device, facing the male round ant, and passing through the optical axis of the objective lens arranged at the observation position. And
The first electrical contact is provided on a protruding portion formed on a lower surface of the casing of the peripheral device,
2. The microscope according to claim 1, wherein the second electrical contact is provided in a concave portion formed on a top surface of the housing of the microscope main body at a position facing the protruding portion. The female round ant is movable in the predetermined direction and is fixed to the male round ant by pushing in the predetermined direction, and the fixed member is pushed in the predetermined direction by the fixing member. A positioning projection for positioning the male round ant in contact with the male round ant,
The microscope according to claim 2, wherein the peripheral device is moved in the predetermined direction with respect to the microscope main body by pushing the male round ant into the predetermined direction by the fixing member. The tip of the contact portion of the first electrical contact is provided in the projecting portion of the peripheral device so as to face the predetermined direction,
The second electrical contact is provided in the concave portion of the microscope main body in a direction opposite to the predetermined direction,
The microscope according to claim 3, wherein one of the first electrical contact and the second electrical contact is extendable in the predetermined direction.   On the upper surface of the peripheral device casing, a female round ant having the same configuration as the female round ant, and a concave portion having the same configuration as the concave portion having the second electrical contact are further provided. The microscope according to claim 4.   The diameter of the female round ant is larger than the diameter of the male round ant, and the recessed portion is a retraction space into which the first electrical contact is fitted before the male round ant is pushed in. The microscope according to any one of claims 2 to 5, further comprising:

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