JP2012108242A - Automatic microscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic microscope in which an operator does not get his or her hand caught and which does not collide with an obstacle and the like to damage a unit, when a sample is placed on/ejected from a sample mounting stage.SOLUTION: The automatic microscope comprises: a housing for storing a unit including an XY stage on which a sample is placed, a motor, a feed mechanism, and a guide mechanism; an opening, provided to a side wall of the housing, for replacing the sample placed on the XY stage; a controller for performing speed control on the motor; and control means for issuing a speed command to the controller. When a sample mounting stage mounted to the XY stage is taken in and out from the side wall of the housing in order to replace the sample, electric current given to the motor for driving the XY stage is limited to being smaller than electric current for movement in the housing.

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic microscope used in, for example, a drug discovery support system, and more particularly to an automatic microscope suitable for use in an apparatus that automatically acquires a cell image.

  In the field of new drug development, there is a movement to increase development efficiency by automating and speeding up the process of screening promising compounds from hundreds of thousands to millions of new drug candidates. . The drug discovery support system responds to these demands.In particular, the drug candidate compounds are administered to cells, the changes in the cells are photographed with a camera, and the resulting images are processed to affect the effects of compound administration. There is a system that automatically and quickly performs the process until confirmation.

  Generally, in order to observe a desired position of a sample in an automatic microscope, the sample is mounted on an electric XY stage. These XY stages are generally composed of a feed mechanism such as a motor and a ball screw, a guide mechanism, and the like. Such an apparatus is arranged in the casing, and the sample mounting stage mounted on the XY stage is moved to a predetermined position outside the casing before and after the measurement.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of such an automatic microscope.
In FIG. 4, reference numeral 17 denotes a housing, in which necessary devices as an automatic microscope including the XY stage 21 are arranged, and predetermined work is automatically performed according to a predetermined process via a motor or the like (not shown). Done. A portion indicated by a dotted line A indicates an arrangement space of the necessary device. Reference numeral 15 denotes a controller, and 16 denotes a control device (CPU), which controls operations of various devices including a motor disposed in the housing 17. Reference numeral 18 denotes an opening for taking in and out the sample from the housing after the start and end of the measurement.

JP-A-8-271794 JP 2000-88764 A

  By the way, in the conventional example shown in FIG. 4, when the sample is taken out, the sample mounting base comes out to the outside of the housing. However, if there is an operator's hand in the vicinity of this, the entrainment occurs. There was a risk of injury. Or, if there is an obstacle, there is a problem that the device is damaged due to a collision.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic microscope that does not involve an operator's hand or collide with an obstacle or the like to damage the apparatus when placing and removing the sample on the sample mounting table. Yes.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and in the automatic microscope according to claim 1,
A housing in which an apparatus including an XY stage on which a sample is placed, a motor, a feed mechanism, and a guide mechanism are housed; an opening provided on a side wall of the housing for exchanging the sample mounted on the XY stage; In an automatic microscope equipped with a controller for controlling the speed of the motor and a control means for issuing a speed command to the controller, a sample mounting table mounted on the XY stage is inserted into and removed from the side wall of the housing in order to exchange the sample. In this case, the current applied to the motor for driving the XY stage is limited to be smaller than the current for moving in the housing.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the automatic microscope according to the first aspect, the motor is stopped when a load exceeding a predetermined value is generated on the motor outside the casing.

In claim 3, in the automatic microscope according to claim 1 or 2,
The motor is a stepping motor.

As is apparent from the above description, according to claims 1 to 3 of the present invention,
Outside the housing, the current applied to the motor that drives the XY stage is limited to be smaller than the current for moving in the housing, and it is detected that the current value exceeds the limited value due to the increase in motor torque. Since the operation stops, it is possible to prevent injury, destruction of the device, and the like.

It is a perspective view of the automatic microscope of this invention. It is a top view of the automatic microscope of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the state which is taking in / out the sample from the side surface of the housing | casing of an automatic microscope. It is a perspective view which shows the conventional automatic microscope.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an XY stage on which a sample of an automatic microscope is mounted, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the XY stage shown in FIG. Although not shown in the figure, the XY stage is housed in, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped housing. In addition to the XY stage, various optical elements for functioning as an automatic microscope are housed in the housing, but are not shown in the figure.

  In these drawings, a ball screw 2 with a guide having a predetermined length is fixed to the surface of a rectangular base 1. Here, a ball screw is presented as an example of the feed mechanism, but another feed mechanism using a timing belt may be used. A motor 3 is connected to one end of the ball screw 2 of the guide-equipped ball screw 2, and the motor portion protrudes outward from the side of the base 1. For example, a stepping motor is used as the motor 3.

  An X-axis connecting member 4 is fixed to the moving table portion 2a of the ball screw 2 with guide. Y direction guides 5 and 11 are fixed to the upper surface of the X-axis connecting member 4 at a predetermined distance, and an upper table 6 is fixed to the moving table 2 b of the Y direction guide 5. Since the moving table 2b is on the back surface of the Y-direction guide 5, it is not shown in the figure.

  A ball screw 7 with a guide having a predetermined length is fixed to the opposite side of the base 1 along the side. A motor 8 is connected to the ball screw of the ball screw 7 with guide. A Y-axis connecting member 9 is fixed to the moving table portion 2c of the ball screw 7 with guide.

  A Y table 10 is coupled to the Y-axis connecting member 9. A Y-direction guide 11 is fixed to the base 1, and a Y table 10 is fixed to the moving table of the Y-direction guide 11. A pair of X direction guides 12 and 13 are attached to the Y table 10, and these guides 12 and 13 support the upper surface table 6 so as to be movable in the X direction.

  In the above configuration, the upper table 6 can be moved in the X direction by driving the motor 3, and the upper table can be moved in the Y direction by driving the motor 8. The upper table 6 is provided with a sample loading port 14. Further, a housing 17 (see FIG. 2) is provided in the X direction of the XY stage, and an opening 18 is provided in a part of the housing 17.

  FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the sample take-out port, and shows a state in which the upper surface stage 6 is moved and the sample loading port 14 is moved out of the housing 17 through the opening 18 (see FIG. 2). A sample mounting table 19 is provided at the sample mounting port 14.

  In the state where the upper surface table 6 is returned into the housing, the opening 18 is closed by the door 20. The two motors 3 and 8 are connected to the controller 15, and the controller 15 is connected to the PC 16 (see FIG. 1).

Next, the operation of the automatic microscope described above will be described.
The PC 16 can move the upper table 6 and the Y table 10 to desired positions via the controller 15 according to a built-in program.

  Then, only when the door 20 is opened for sample exchange and the sample loading port 18 is taken in and out of the housing 17, the motor 3 is driven in a state where the drive current value is more limited than in normal operation. By limiting the current value, the output torque of the motor 3 is limited.

As a result, when the XY table 6 collides or gets caught outside the casing 17, the output torque is limited, and the controller 15 detects the signal that the motor 3 has reached the specified current value, and is safe. The motor 3 is stopped.
When driving the XY stage inside the housing, a sufficient current is applied to the motors 3 and 8 to perform high-speed driving.

The above description merely shows a specific preferred embodiment for the purpose of explanation and illustration of the present invention. For example, the shape of the XY stage or the ball screw with guide is not limited to the example shown in the figure, and any shape having an automatic microscope function may be used.
Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes many changes and modifications without departing from the essence thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Base 2,7 Ball screw with guide 3,8 Motor 4 X-axis connection member 5,11 Y direction guide 6 Upper surface table 7 Through-hole 9 Y axis connection member 10 Y table 12, 13 X direction guide 14 Sample mounting port 15 Controller 16 Control means 17 Housing 18 Opening 19 Sample mounting table 20 Door 21 XY stage

Claims (3)

A housing in which an apparatus including an XY stage on which a sample is placed, a motor, a feed mechanism, and a guide mechanism are housed; an opening provided on a side wall of the housing for exchanging the sample mounted on the XY stage; In an automatic microscope equipped with a controller for controlling the speed of the motor and a control means for issuing a speed command to the controller, a sample mounting table mounted on the XY stage is inserted into and removed from the side wall of the housing in order to exchange the sample. In this case, the automatic microscope is characterized in that the current applied to the motor for driving the XY stage is limited to be smaller than the current for moving in the housing.   The automatic microscope according to claim 1, wherein the motor is stopped when a load exceeding a predetermined value is generated on the motor outside the casing.   The automatic microscope according to claim 1, wherein the motor is a stepping motor.