JP2014006395A - Microscope and temperature retaining member - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a microscope and a temperature retaining member, which make it possible to carry out observation by fixing temperature conditions for a sample and an objective lens, without decreasing observation efficiency.SOLUTION: A microscope capable of observing a sample to be observed comprises: a microscope body; a stage attached to the microscope body and placing thereon the sample or an accommodation container for accommodating the sample; an objective lens configured to condense observation light from at least the sample; an observation optical system configured to image observation light condensed by the objective lens; a temperature retaining member attached to the microscope body, defining a predetermined space area, and configured to accommodate in the space area at least the sample or the accommodation container on the stage and the objective lens; and a temperature adjustment section configured to adjust the temperature of the space area to a set temperature and retains the set temperature. The bottom portion of the temperature retaining member is located higher than the bottom portion of the microscope body.

Description

  The present invention relates to, for example, an inverted microscope that observes a specimen by irradiating the specimen with illumination light and receiving light reflected or transmitted from the specimen, and a heat retaining member attached to the microscope.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the fields of medicine and biology, a microscope for illuminating and observing a specimen is used for observing cells and the like. In the industrial field, microscopes are used for various purposes such as quality control of metal structures, research and development of new materials, inspection of electronic devices and magnetic heads, and the like. As observation of a sample by a microscope, observation by visual observation, imaging a sample image using an imaging element such as a CCD or CMOS image sensor, and displaying the captured image on a monitor is known.

  Here, when observing cells and the like in the fields of medicine and biology, the change process may be observed while culturing the organism. In this case, since it is necessary to cultivate organisms under a certain temperature condition, a heat retaining member (a heat retaining box) that maintains a constant temperature in a predetermined space is provided (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  In patent document 1, the heat insulation box consists of a 1st box half body and a 2nd box half body, and is attached so that a microscope main body may be included substantially. Moreover, in patent document 2, the heat insulation box consists of a 1st box half body and a 2nd box half body, and is attached to the surface by the side of mounting the culture container of a stage. Moreover, each heat insulation box which patent document 1 and patent document 2 disclose has a means for maintaining the temperature of internal space to preset temperature, and observes the observation environment of a sample by accommodating a culture container inside. Control to temperature range.

JP-A-8-114750 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-156996

  However, since the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is provided so that the heat insulation box substantially includes the microscope main body, the volume of the internal space to be temperature-adjusted is large, and it may take time to reach the set temperature. It was. In this case, there is a possibility that a time lag occurs between the installation of the heat insulation box in the microscope and the start of observation, and the observation efficiency is lowered.

  In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2, since only the culture vessel on the stage is covered, the objective lens is exposed to the outside of the heat insulation box. As a result, the temperature conditions of the specimen and the objective lens differ, and there is a possibility that accurate observation cannot be performed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and provides a microscope and a heat retaining member capable of performing observation with a constant temperature condition between a specimen and an objective lens without reducing observation efficiency. With the goal.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a microscope according to the present invention is a microscope capable of observing a specimen to be observed, which is attached to the microscope body and the microscope body. A stage on which a storage container for storing a specimen is placed; an objective lens that collects at least observation light from the specimen; an observation optical system that forms an image of the observation light condensed by the objective lens; and the microscope main body And a heat insulating member that forms a predetermined space region and stores at least the specimen or the container on the stage and the objective lens in the space region, and sets the temperature of the space region to a set temperature. A temperature adjusting unit that adjusts and maintains the temperature maintaining unit, wherein the bottom of the heat retaining member is located above the bottom of the microscope main body.

  The microscope according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above invention, the heat retaining member is detachable from the microscope main body.

  The microscope according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above invention, the microscope main body forms part of a bottom surface of the heat retaining member.

  The microscope according to the present invention is the above-described invention, wherein the microscope main body includes a base portion that forms a base, first and second wall portions that face each other from an end portion of the base portion, and extend upward. And a beam portion supporting the objective lens holding means for holding the objective lens, wherein the bottom portion of the heat retaining member abuts the beam portion. It is characterized by.

  Further, a heat retaining member according to the present invention includes a substantially box-shaped microscope main body, a stage mounted on the microscope main body, on which a specimen to be observed or a container for containing the specimen is placed, and at least the specimen An objective lens holding unit that holds an objective lens that collects the observation light and an observation optical system that forms an image of the observation light captured by the objective lens are attached to a microscope to form a predetermined spatial region A temperature-maintaining member that is maintained at a temperature set by the temperature adjustment unit, and at least the specimen on the stage or the container and the objective lens are accommodated in the space area, The bottom surface is located above the bottom surface of the microscope main body.

  According to the present invention, the heat retaining member that is attached to the microscope main body and is maintained at the temperature set by the temperature adjusting unit at a predetermined space includes at least the specimen or the container on the stage and the objective lens in the space. Since it is housed and the bottom is positioned above the bottom of the microscope main body, it is possible to perform observation while maintaining the temperature condition between the specimen and the objective lens constant without reducing the observation efficiency. .

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an inverted microscope according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the inverted microscope according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing a configuration of a main part of the inverted microscope according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of an inverted microscope according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a front view schematically showing a configuration of a main part of the inverted microscope according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing a configuration of a main part of the inverted microscope according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited by the following embodiment. The drawings referred to in the following description only schematically show the shape, size, and positional relationship so that the contents of the present invention can be understood. That is, the present invention is not limited only to the shape, size, and positional relationship illustrated in each drawing.

(Embodiment 1)
First, the inverted microscope according to the first embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an inverted microscope according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the inverted microscope shown in FIG.

  The inverted microscope is a microscope for observing a specimen to be observed from below the specimen, and is placed on the microscope body 1, the stage 2 supported by the microscope body 1, and the stage 2, for example. An observation optical system 3 for observing the specimen or the specimen in the culture vessel from below is provided. The inverted microscope is provided with a heat retaining box 100 (heat retaining member) that maintains the temperature of the internal space at a set temperature and accommodates at least the specimen (culture container) on the stage 2 and the objective lens 31. The inverted microscope includes a control unit 20 that controls the entire inverted microscope and a temperature adjustment unit 21 that adjusts the temperature of the space inside the heat insulation box 100.

  The microscope main body 1 has a box shape and includes a base 1a extending in the front-rear direction, a rear wall 1b (first wall) extending upward from the rear edge of the base 1a, and a front edge of the base 1a. It has a front wall portion 1c (second wall portion) that extends upward, and a beam portion 1d that forms a beam that interconnects the upper portion of the rear wall portion 1b and the upper portion of the front wall portion 1c. A mounting area for the illumination light introducing device 4 is defined in the lower area of the beam portion 1d, and an installation area for the objective lens 31 (see FIG. 2) is defined in the upper area.

  Two fitting grooves 1b1 and 1c1 are formed in the vertical direction on the inner side of the rear wall portion 1b and the inner side of the front wall portion 1c that define the mounting region. The fitting grooves 1b1 and 1c1 to be paired are for detachably mounting the illumination light introducing device 4 and extend in the left-right direction, and are prismatic convex portions 4a provided in the illumination light introducing device 4. Can be fitted. The projections 4 a provided in the illumination light introducing device 4 are guided in the fitting grooves 1 b 1 and 1 c 1, and the illumination light introducing device 4 is attached to the microscope body 1. The mounted illumination light introducing device 4 is positioned and fixed by the convex portion 4a and the fitting grooves 1b1 and 1c1. In the first embodiment, the description will be made assuming that three fitting grooves 1b1, 1c1 are formed in the vertical direction. However, one or two may be formed, or four or more may be formed. Good.

  As shown in FIG. 2, fitting holes 1b2 communicating with each of the two fitting grooves 1b1 described above are formed in the rear wall portion 1b side by side in the vertical direction. The fitting hole 1b2 is for mounting the lamp house 5, and a cylindrical convex portion 5a provided in the lamp house 5 can be fitted therein. The projection 5 a provided in the lamp house 5 is guided in the fitting hole 1 b 2, and the lamp house 5 is attached to the microscope body 1. The mounted lamp house 5 is positioned and fixed by the convex portion 5a and the fitting hole 1b2.

  A revolver 6 (objective lens holding means) and a focusing device 7 are attached to the upper surface of the beam portion 1d that defines the attachment region. The revolver 6 can be rotated and moved up and down, and a plurality of objective lenses 31 having different magnifications can be attached thereto. One objective lens 31 among the objective lenses 31 attached to the revolver 6 is arranged on the optical axis. The semi-focusing device 7 is for focusing the objective lens 31 on the sample. By operating the semi-focusing device 7 under the control of the control unit 20, the revolver 6 moves up and down and the objective attached to the revolver 6 is used. The focal point of the lens 31 is focused on the sample. In the first embodiment, the method of exchanging the objective lens using the rotation type revolver 6 has been described. However, a configuration using a slide type revolver instead of the revolver 6 may be used. In the slide method, a desired objective lens can be arranged below the sample via a slider that is slidable in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the objective lens.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper surface 1b3 of the rear wall 1b and the upper surface 1c2 of the front wall 1c constitute the same plane extending in the horizontal direction, and the stage 2 is the upper surface of the rear wall 1b. It is attached and supported across 1b3 and the upper surface 1c2 of the front wall 1c.

  The stage 2 is a plate-like body whose upper surface and lower surface are flat, and a specimen is placed on the upper surface. In addition, an opening (a through hole) 2a is provided at almost the center of the stage 2 so that the specimen does not fall, and excitation light or observation light from the specimen passes therethrough.

  Further, when the specimen (culture vessel) mounting surface of the stage 2 is an XY plane and the direction orthogonal to the XY plane is a Z direction, the stage 2 is configured to be movable at least in the XY direction. The stage 2 is movable in the XY plane by a motor (not shown) under the control of the control unit 20. The control unit 20 detects a predetermined origin position on the XY plane by an origin sensor at an XY position (not shown), and moves the observation position on the specimen by controlling the driving amount of the motor with the origin position as a base point.

  Here, the focusing movement in the Z direction may be performed by moving the revolver 6 up and down by the focusing device 7 described above, or the stage 2 may be movable in the Z direction by a motor. When the stage 2 can be moved in the Z direction, the control unit 20 detects a predetermined origin position in the Z direction of the stage 2 by a Z position origin sensor (not shown), and the motor drive amount is determined based on the origin position. By being controlled, the specimen is moved to an arbitrary Z position within a predetermined height range.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the observation optical system 3 enables observation of a specimen, and is provided across the microscope main body 1 and the lens barrel 8 attached to the microscope main body 1. In addition to the objective lens 31 described above, the observation optical system 3 has an imaging lens 32, a mirror 33, a relay lens 34, an imaging lens 35, and an eyepiece lens 36.

  The imaging lens 32, the mirror 33, and the relay lens 34 are attached to the inside of the microscope body 1, and the observation light that has become a parallel light beam by passing through the objective lens 31 is connected by passing through the imaging lens 32. The image is incident on the lens barrel 8 via the mirror 33 and the relay lens 34.

  The imaging lens 35 and the eyepiece lens 36 are attached to the inside of the lens barrel 8, and the observation light incident from the microscope main body 1 is imaged by passing through the imaging lens 35 and looking into the eyepiece lens 36. Observed.

  The illumination light introducing device 4 has a substantially columnar shape, and is formed with a convex portion 4a protruding from any one of the opposing side surfaces of the columnar shape. Further, a dichroic mirror that selectively reflects or transmits the wavelength of light is provided inside. Specifically, the dichroic mirror reflects the light introduced from the lamp house 5 toward the stage 2 and transmits the light emitted from the specimen on the stage 2.

  The lamp house 5 makes incident-light illumination light emitted from a light source provided inside enter the base 1a. In addition to the light source that emits the light for epi-illumination, the lamp house 5 is an excitation that transmits light corresponding to the wavelength of the excitation light for exciting the luminescent material held by the sample among the light emitted from the light source. A plurality of filters are provided, and excitation light is emitted by switching the excitation filter according to a desired wavelength. The excitation light emitted from the lamp house 5 is taken into the illumination light introducing device 4 through the convex portion 5a.

  The inverted microscope shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a transmission illumination device 9. The transmitted illumination device 9 is attached to the upper area of the microscope body 1. The transmitted illumination device 9 includes a support 91, a light source 92 that is attached to the support 91 and emits light for transmitted illumination, a light projector 93 that is attached to the support 91, and a condenser lens 94 that is attached to the support 91. ,have.

  In the above-described inverted microscope, when the illumination light introduction device 4 is attached to the attachment region, the convex portion 4a provided on the illumination light introduction device 4 is inserted into the fitting grooves 1b1 and 1c1 provided on the microscope body 1. The convex portion 4 a provided in the illumination light introducing device 4 is guided by fitting grooves 1 b 1 and 1 c 1 provided in the microscope main body 1, and the illumination light introducing device 4 is attached to the microscope main body 1. The mounted illumination light introducing device 4 is positioned and fixed by the convex portion 4a and the fitting grooves 1b1 and 1c1.

  In the inverted microscope having the above-described configuration, in the case of epi-illumination, the epi-illumination light from the lamp house 5 is bent toward the objective lens 31 by the dichroic mirror of the illumination light introducing device 4. When the illumination light bent by the dichroic mirror is applied to the specimen on the stage 2 via the objective lens 31, for example, fluorescent dyes or fluorescent proteins of cells in the specimen are excited to emit fluorescence. The objective lens 31 takes in the emitted fluorescence as an image, passes through the dichroic mirror, forms an image by the imaging lens 32, and is visually observed by the observer at the eyepiece 36 through the relay lens 34 and the imaging lens 35. The

  In the case of transmitted illumination, when the transmitted illumination light from the transmitted illumination device 9 is irradiated onto the specimen on the stage 2 through the mirror, the light transmitted through the specimen is taken into the objective lens 31 and is connected by the imaging lens 32. The image is visually observed by an observer through an eyepiece lens 36 via a relay lens 34 and an imaging lens 35. Transmitted light observation is used when performing bright field observation, phase difference observation, differential interference observation, and the like.

  Here, the inverted microscope includes a specimen (culture vessel) placed on the stage 2 and a heat insulation box 100 (maintained in the region where the objective lens 31 is disposed) for maintaining the environmental temperature at a set temperature. The heat insulating box 100 is composed of two members (a first member 101 and a second member 102) that form a hollow space.

  FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing the configuration of the heat retaining box 100 of the inverted microscope according to the first embodiment. The heat insulation box 100 is formed by connecting one end surfaces of a first member 101 and a second member 102 having openings 101a and 102a formed on one end side so as to block the openings.

  The first member 101 has a box shape having a stepped shape when viewed from one side, and has an opening 101a at one end of a surface orthogonal to the surface. In addition, the first member 101 is provided in a hollow space with a stepped portion 101b in a stepped shape, a first cutout portion 101c cut out in a substantially rectangular shape from the outer edge of the opening 101a, and controls the temperature adjusting unit 21. A heat generating element 101d that originally generates heat, a concave portion 101e having a concave shape provided in accordance with the shape of the stage 2, and a second semi-circular portion 102f, which will be described later, are cut out in a substantially semicircular shape from the outer edge of the opening 101a. A second notch 101f that forms an insertion hole for transmitted illumination light.

  Similar to the first member 101 described above, the second member 102 has a box shape having a stepped shape when viewed from one side, and has an opening 102a at one end of a surface orthogonal to the surface. Further, the second member 102 is provided in a hollow space with a stepped portion 102b in a stepped shape, a first cutout portion 102c cut out in a substantially rectangular shape from the outer edge of the opening 102a, and controls the temperature adjusting unit 21. The heating element 102d that originally generates heat, the concave portion 102e having a concave shape provided in accordance with the shape of the stage 2, and the semicircular shape cut out from the outer edge of the opening 101a, and the first cutout portion 101f transmits light. A second notch 102f that forms a light insertion hole. The second member 102 has a window portion 102g provided so as to be freely opened and closed. The heating elements 101d and 102d are realized by using, for example, a fan heater, and adjust the temperature while circulating air in the space by blowing air heated by the rotation of the fan. Thereby, the temperature in space can be made uniform.

  The first member 101 and the second member 102 described above are attached to the microscope main body 1. Here, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first member 101 and the second member 102 are disposed so as to accommodate the stage 2, the objective lens 31 and the condenser lens 94 in the hollow space, and have openings 101a and 102a. The outer edges come into contact with each other to form a sealed state. At this time, the step portions 101b and 102b are in contact with the upper surface 1b3 and the side surface of the rear wall portion 1b, the upper surface 1c2 and the side surface of the front wall portion 1c, and the beam portion 1d, respectively, and the lowermost surfaces of the step portions 101b and 102b are the beam portions. Located at 1d.

  In addition, in a state where the outer edges of the openings 101 a and 102 a are in contact with each other, the first notches 101 c and 102 c surround and abut the support column 91, and the first member 101 and the second member 102 and the support column 91 are in contact with each other. The sealed state is maintained in Furthermore, by forming the recesses 101e and 102e, the sealed state can be maintained without interference between the stage 2, the first member 101, and the second member 102 due to the movement of the stage 2. At this time, the second notches 101f and 102f form insertion holes through which the transmitted illumination light from the transmitted illumination device 9 is inserted into the heat insulating box 100.

  Note that the specimen (culture container) or the like can be operated by opening the window 102g and inserting a hand or a work tool. Thereby, the operability of the specimen (culture container) and the like can be maintained regardless of the installation of the heat insulation box 100.

  In the heat insulation box 100 provided as described above, by controlling the heat generation of the heating elements 101d and 102d by the temperature adjusting unit 21, the temperature of the internal space of the heat insulation box 100 can be adjusted and maintained at a set temperature. . In addition, since the penetration holes for transmitted illumination formed by the second notches 101f and 102f are smaller than the size of the heat insulation box 100, the influence on the temperature change in the internal space of the heat insulation box 100 is small. For this reason, the influence of the insertion hole is negligible, and the temperature of the internal space of the heat insulation box 100 can be adjusted and maintained at the set temperature by the temperature adjusting unit 21.

  At this time, the heat retaining box 100 is disposed so as to accommodate the stage 2, the objective lens 31, and the condenser lens 94 in the internal space, and the lowermost surface is located on the beam portion 1d on the upper side of the illumination light introducing device 4, While preventing the internal space of the heat insulation box 100 from becoming unnecessarily large, the temperature condition of the environmental temperature of the specimen in the culture vessel and the environmental temperature around the objective lens 31 can be maintained constant and identical. . Moreover, the number of parts of the heat insulation box 100 can be reduced by making the beam portion 1 d and the like a part of the bottom surface of the heat insulation box 100.

  According to the first embodiment described above, in the heat insulation box 100, the stage 2, the objective lens 31, and the condenser lens 94 are disposed in the internal space, and the lowermost surface is disposed above the illumination light introducing device 4. Since it is positioned at the beam portion 1d, observation can be performed with the temperature condition between the specimen and the objective lens 31 constant without reducing the observation efficiency. In addition, since the objective lens 31 is accommodated in the heat insulating box 100, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of condensation in the objective lens 31 and accurately observe the optical image.

  In the first embodiment described above, the openings 101a and 102a of the first member 101 and the second member 102 are described as being connected to each other. However, in this contact portion, a connecting member for connecting the two. For example, it is preferable that the engaging lever and the engaging claw are provided and connected to each other.

  Further, in the above-described first embodiment, the first member 101 and the second member 102 have been described as being provided with the heating elements 101d and 102d, respectively, but if there is no problem with the temperature adjustment of the internal space of the heat insulating box 100. You may provide a heat generating body only in either. Moreover, although the window part was demonstrated as what is provided in the 2nd member 102, you may provide in the 1st member 101 or both.

  In addition, in the transmission illumination device 9, it is possible to provide a filter switching turret having a plurality of excitation filters. Thereby, also in transmitted illumination observation, the wavelength of illumination light can be selected and a sample can be observed.

  In addition, in order to prevent the gap generated between the microscope main body 1 and the heat insulating box 100 more reliably, an elastic body made of sponge, rubber, or the like may be provided at each contact portion.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the overall configuration of the inverted microscope according to the second embodiment. FIG. 5 is a front view schematically showing the configuration of the heat retaining box 100a of the inverted microscope according to the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing the configuration of the heat retaining box 100a of the inverted microscope according to the second embodiment. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the component same as the structure demonstrated in FIG.

  The inverted microscope according to the second embodiment is a microscope for observing a specimen to be observed from below as in the first embodiment, and is replaced with the above-described microscope main body 1 and the above-described stage 2. A stage 200 supported by the microscope main body 1 and an observation optical system 3 for observing a specimen placed on the stage 200 from below are provided. In addition, a mounting area for the illumination light introducing device 4 is defined in the microscope body 1, and an attachment area for the objective lens 31 (see FIG. 2) is defined in the upper area.

  The stage 200 is a plate-like body whose upper surface and lower surface are flat, and a specimen is placed on the upper surface. In addition, an opening (through hole) 2a is provided at almost the center of the stage 200 so that the sample does not fall, so that excitation light or observation light from the sample can pass therethrough.

  Further, when the specimen (culture container) placement surface of the stage 200 is an XY plane, the stage 200 is configured to be movable in the XY directions. The stage 200 is formed, for example, by laminating a plate-shaped reference member (middle plate), a first moving member (upper plate), and a second moving member (lower plate). At this time, the stage 200 stacks the first moving member so as to be able to reciprocate in the X direction on the XY plane with reference to an intermediate reference member, and also stacks the second moving member so as to be able to reciprocate in the Y direction. To do. The opening 2a is provided in each of the reference member, the first moving member, and the second moving member, and is formed by through holes communicating with each other.

  The specimen placed on the stage 200 (first member) is moved and operated in the XY plane by the operation unit 2b shown in FIG. Specifically, the operation unit 2b includes an X-direction movement operation unit 201 for moving the stage 200 in the X direction and a Y-direction movement operation unit 202 for moving the stage 200 in the Y direction. The operation unit 2b and the stage 200 are connected by a base shaft 2c fixed to a reference member. Further, the X-direction movement operation unit 201 inputs, to the first moving member, power that moves in the X direction with respect to the reference member by its rotation. The Y-direction moving operation unit 202 inputs, to the second moving member, power that moves in the Y direction with respect to the reference member by its own rotation. Thus, the stage 200 can be moved in accordance with the amount of rotation by rotating the X-direction movement operation unit 201 or the Y-direction movement operation unit 202 around the central axis of the base shaft 2c.

  Here, the inverted microscope includes a heat retaining box 100a (a heat retaining member) for maintaining the environmental temperature of the specimen (culture container) placed on the stage 200 and the region where the objective lens is disposed at a set temperature. ) Is provided. The heat insulation box 100a includes two members (a first member 101 and a second member 103) that form a hollow space. The heat insulation box 100a is formed by connecting one end surfaces of a first member 101 and a second member 103 having openings 101a and 102a formed on one end side so as to close the openings. The first member 101 has the configuration described above.

  Similar to the first member 101 described above, the second member 103 has a box shape having a stepped shape when viewed from one side, and has an opening 102a at one end of a surface orthogonal to the surface. Further, the second member 102 is provided in a hollow space with a stepped portion 102b in a stepped shape, a first cutout portion 102c cut out in a substantially rectangular shape from the outer edge of the opening 102a, and controls the temperature adjusting unit 21. A heating element 102d that originally generates heat, a concave portion 102e having a concave shape provided in accordance with the shape of the stage 200, and a hole portion 103a through which the operation portion 2b and the base shaft 2c can be inserted. The second member 103 has a window portion 102g that can be opened and closed.

  The first member 101 and the second member 103 described above are attached to the microscope main body 1. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the first member 101 and the second member 103 are disposed so as to accommodate the stage 200, the objective lens 31 and the condenser lens 94 in the hollow space, and the outer edges of the openings 101a and 102a are arranged between each other. Contact to form a sealed state. At this time, it is possible to prevent the heat insulating box 100a, the operation unit 2b, and the base shaft 2c from interfering with each other by allowing the hole portion 103a to pass through a part of the operation unit 2b and the base shaft 2c to be exposed to the outside. In addition, in order to maintain a sealed state, it is preferable to arrange | position the elastic body mentioned above to the outer edge of the hole 103a.

  In the heat insulating box 100a provided as described above, by controlling the heat generation of the heating elements 101d and 102d by the temperature adjusting unit 21, the temperature of the internal space of the heat insulating box 100a can be adjusted and maintained at the set temperature. . At this time, the heat retaining box 100 a is disposed so as to accommodate the stage 200, the objective lens 31 and the condenser lens 94 in the internal space, and the lowermost surface is positioned on the beam portion 1 d on the upper side of the illumination light introducing device 4. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the internal space of the heat insulation box 100a from becoming unnecessarily large and to keep the temperature condition of the environmental temperature of the specimen in the culture container and the environmental temperature around the objective lens 31 constant and the same. Can do.

  According to the second embodiment described above, in the heat insulating box 100a, the stage 200, the objective lens 31 and the condenser lens 94 are disposed in the internal space, and the lowermost surface is disposed above the illumination light introducing device 4. Since it is positioned at the beam portion 1d, observation can be performed with the temperature condition between the specimen and the objective lens 31 constant without reducing the observation efficiency.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, even if a removable water receiving tray that receives liquid leaking from the culture vessel or the like is used instead of the beam portion 1d, it is applicable. In the first and second embodiments described above, the heat retaining boxes 100 and 100a are in contact with the beam portion 1d or the water receiving tray and accommodate the stage 2, 200, the objective lens 31 and the condenser lens 94 in the internal space. As described above, if the position of the bottom of the heat insulation box 100, 100a is higher than the bottom of the microscope body 1 and the stage 2, 200 (specimen or culture vessel) and the objective lens 31 are accommodated, the specimen and objective Observation with a constant temperature condition with the lens 31 can be realized.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the inverted microscope has been described as an example. For example, an objective lens for enlarging the specimen, an imaging function for imaging the specimen via the objective lens, and a display function for displaying an image are provided. The present invention can be applied even to an imaging device provided, such as a video microscope.

  As described above, the microscope and the heat retaining member according to the present invention are useful for performing observation while maintaining the temperature condition between the specimen and the objective lens without reducing the observation efficiency.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Microscope main body 1a Base part 1b Back wall part 1b1 Fitting groove 1b2 Fitting hole 1b3 Upper surface 1c Front wall part 1c1 Fitting groove 1c2 Upper surface 1d Beam part 2,200 Stage 2a Aperture 2b Operation part 2c Axis 3 Observation optical system 4 Illumination light Introducing device 4a, 5a Convex portion 5 Lamp house 6 Revolver 7 Focusing device 8 Lens tube 9 Transmitting illumination device 20 Control unit 21 Temperature adjusting unit 31 Objective lens 32, 35 Imaging lens 33 Mirror 34 Relay lens 36 Eyepiece 91 Post 92 Light source 93 Projecting device 94 Condenser lens 100, 100a Insulation box 101 First member 101a, 102a Opening 101b, 102b Step part 101c, 102c First notch part 101d, 102d Heating element 101e, 102e Concave part 101f, 102f Second notch part 102 , 103 Second member 102g Window 1 3a holes 201 X-direction moving operation unit 202 Y-direction moving operation unit

Claims (5)

A microscope capable of observing a specimen to be observed,
A microscope body,
A stage that is attached to the microscope main body and on which the specimen or a container for accommodating the specimen is placed;
An objective lens that collects at least the observation light from the specimen;
An observation optical system that forms an image of the observation light condensed by the objective lens;
A heat retaining member attached to the microscope body, forming a predetermined space region, and storing at least the specimen or the container on the stage, and the objective lens in the space region;
A temperature adjusting unit for adjusting and maintaining the temperature of the space region at a set temperature;
With
The microscope characterized in that the bottom of the heat retaining member is located above the bottom of the microscope main body.   The microscope according to claim 1, wherein the heat retaining member is detachable from the microscope main body.   The microscope according to claim 1, wherein the microscope main body forms part of a bottom surface of the heat retaining member. The microscope body is
The base that forms the foundation,
First and second wall portions facing upward from the end of the base and extending upward, respectively;
A beam for connecting the first and second wall portions to each other, and a beam portion for supporting an objective lens holding means for holding the objective lens;
Consists of
The microscope according to claim 3, wherein a bottom portion of the heat retaining member is in contact with the beam portion. An objective lens holder that holds a microscope main body, a stage that is mounted on the microscope main body and on which a specimen to be observed or a storage container for accommodating the specimen is placed, and at least an objective lens that collects observation light from the specimen Means and an observation optical system that forms an image of the observation light taken in by the objective lens, and a predetermined spatial region is formed, and the temperature of the spatial region is set by a temperature control unit A heat retaining member maintained at a temperature,
Accommodating at least the specimen or the container on the stage, and the objective lens in the spatial region;
A heat retaining member, wherein a bottom surface is located above a bottom surface of the microscope main body.

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