JP2015127734A - Observation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an observation device which facilitates positioning of a subject in X and Y directions and speed control therefor.SOLUTION: In an electric XY stage of an observation device, an X-axis mechanism unit 2 and Y-axis mechanism unit 3 for moving an XY table 1 are accommodated inside a case. A motor driver 19, which controls stepping motors 7 for the X-axis and Y-axis mechanism units 2, 3, and a controller 20 are connected with an XY stage control unit 17 of a microscope 14 through a power supply line 21 and signal line 22.

Description

  The present invention relates to a photographing apparatus that photographs a subject using a CCD camera or the like and processes the photographed image using a microscope.

  Since a digital microscope often observes a subject by magnifying it, there are cases where only local observation of the subject can be performed. Therefore, an XY stage that can arbitrarily move the subject in the X direction or the Y direction so that an arbitrary portion of the subject can be observed is often used.

  Motorized XY, which has higher positioning accuracy than manual operation, especially when you want to accurately position a small subject, or when tiling techniques that create a high-definition image by joining locally enlarged images of a large subject The stage is often used.

  A stepping motor is often used as a driving motor for the electric XY stage. Unlike closed loop control that requires a feedback function for positioning like a servo motor, the rotation angle of the stepping motor can be controlled by the number of input pulses, so it is easy to use open loop control without a feedback function. This is because the positioning operation can be performed at low cost.

  However, a stepping motor requires a dedicated driver to control the rotation angle with the number of pulses. If the specifications of the stepping motor are different, a dedicated driver that matches the specifications of each stepping motor is required. Therefore, in the motor supplier, considering the versatility in various applications, the stepping motor and the driver are supplied separately.

  In addition, since this driver only controls the rotation angle of the stepping motor according to the number of input pulses, the user also prepares a dedicated controller and a controller that controls the dedicated driver by setting the number and frequency of input pulses. In fact, the system had to be quite complicated as shown in FIGS.

  5 and 6 are conventional observation devices, where reference numeral 1 is an XY table, 2 is an X-axis mechanism, 3 is a Y-axis mechanism, 4 is a guide slider, 5 is a movable block, Ball screw, 7 stepping motor, 8 stand, 9 pole, 10 lens vertical movement block, 11 lens, 12 camera, 13 camera cable, 14 digital microscope, 15 display unit, 16 camera control , 17 is an XY stage controller, 18 is an XY stage controller, 19 is a motor driver, and 20 is a driver controller. The XY stage controller 18 is provided separately from the microscope 14, and the stepping motor 7 is configured such that power is supplied via the power line 21 and a control signal is sent via the control signal line 22. Going on.

  In the figure, reference numeral 23 denotes a subject fixed on the XY table.

  However, since many motorized XY stages used for digital microscopes have small subjects, the maximum amount of movement is also determined to some extent. Therefore, if there is only a specific stepping motor or driver, it is sufficient for use. It is.

  Therefore, if there is an electric XY stage that integrates a dedicated driver that drives the stepping motor and a controller that controls the dedicated driver, connect the power line and control signal line from the digital scope to the electric XY stage. Since the positioning control in the X and Y directions can be easily performed, it is very convenient.

  An object of the present invention is an observation having an electric XY stage that can easily perform positioning and speed control of a subject in an XY direction by simply connecting a power line and a control signal line from a digital microscope to a driver case of the power line and the XY stage. Is to realize the device.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, in a photographing apparatus, a lens system comprising a variable magnification lens or a fixed magnification having an arbitrary optical imaging magnification, a small CCD camera, a small CMOS camera, and an illumination system. In an electric XY stage device for observing an object to be observed by moving in an X direction and a Y direction, which is used in a digital microscope in which a photographed image display unit and a photographed image processing apparatus are integrated And a Y-direction stage moving means is an X-direction ball screw for moving the stepping motor and the table on which the subject is set in the X direction, a stepping motor for driving the ball screw, and a Y-direction ball screw for moving the table in the Y direction. And a stepping motor for driving the ball screw and the respective stepping motors. A driver for driving the ping motor and a controller for controlling the driver are housed in one case, and the digital microscope, the stepping motor and the driver are connected to each other by a power cable and a signal line. It is characterized by becoming.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the photographing apparatus according to the first aspect, the controller controls the mechanical rotation angle of the stepping motor by controlling the supply current by the driver that drives the stepping motor. It has a microstep control function that further reduces the resolution N ° to (N / D) ° and 1 / D, and the microstep coefficient 1 / D can be set arbitrarily by the control signal from the digital microscope. It is characterized by being configured to be able to.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the photographing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the X-direction driving ball screw and the stepping motor are housed in a case that is long in the X direction and for the Y-direction driving. The ball screw and the stepping motor are housed in a case that is perpendicular to the case in the X direction and that is long in the Y direction. Further, the controller and the driver are in a driver case formed in the lower part of the case that is long in the Y direction. It is characterized by being housed.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the photographing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the Y-direction case is placed on the Y-direction case on the driver case. Is characterized in that the X-direction cases are arranged on a stand in three stages.

  According to the above invention, if there is an electric XY stage integrated with a dedicated driver for driving the stepping motor and a controller for controlling the dedicated driver, power and control signal lines are supplied from the digital scope to the electric XY stage. Thus, the positioning control of the subject in the XY directions can be easily performed, which is very convenient.

Explanatory drawing showing the entire photographing apparatus according to the present invention Explanatory drawing of the XY stage portion of the present invention viewed from above Illustration of DIP switch Illustration of digital switch Explanatory drawing of a conventional photographing device Explanatory drawing of a conventional XY electric stage part viewed from above

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  1 to 2, the electric XY stage includes a stepping motor 7, a ball screw 6, a movable block 7, and a slider 4. The movable block 7 performs one-dimensional movement with the slider 4 as a guide. It has become.

  And the X-axis mechanism part 2 of the same structure crosses and is fixed on the movable block 7 of the Y-axis mechanism part 3 having this structure, and further, an XY table is placed on the movable block 7 of the X-axis mechanism part 2. 1 is fixed. By moving the X-axis mechanism unit 2 and the Y-axis mechanism unit 3 with this configuration, the XY table can be moved in two dimensions in the X-axis and Y-axis directions.

  Since the electric XY stage having such a structure is fixed to the stand 8 and the subject 23 is placed on the XY table, the subject can be moved to any position in the X and Y directions. The center of the can be positioned.

  The CCD camera 12 is connected to the camera control unit 16 of the microscope 14 by a camera cable 13 and displays an observation image on the display unit 15. The electric XY stage is connected to the XY stage control unit 17 through a power supply line 21 and a control signal line 22 and moves in the XY directions according to the command. The XY stage control unit 17 is connected to a motor driver 19 for driving the stepping motor 7 and a driver control unit 20 for controlling the motor driver 19.

  Since it is determined how many times the stepping motor 7 rotates in the rotation direction with respect to one input pulse, if the N-pulse signal is issued from the XY stage control unit 17, the stepping motor 7 rotates N pulses. Therefore, it is possible to move in any XY direction.

  If a driver having a microstep function is used, the rotation angle per pulse can be further divided.

  Generally, the driver has a mechanical dip switch (Fig. 3) for changing the number of divisions in the microstep. By switching the switch, the number of microstep divisions is changed to the required value. It can be done.

  The XY stage control unit 17 is connected to the XY stage control unit 17 of the digital microscope 14 through a power supply line 21 and a control signal line 22, and an XY table of the electric XY stage is received from the command of the number of pulses from the digital microscope 14. The movement of 1 can be controlled arbitrarily.

  Although not shown, if the digital microscope 14 is connected to a personal computer or a dedicated controller that can issue a movement control command, the electric XY stage 17 can be used without using the digital microscope 14. Any movement control is possible.

  FIG. 2 shows an electric XY stage according to the present invention, in which the motor driver 19 and the driver controller 20 are housed in the lower part of the case of the Y-axis mechanism 3 and integrated with each other as compared with the conventional one.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, the electric XY stage 1 and the digital microscope stage 14 are connected by the power line 21 and the control signal line 22, so that the digital microscope can be used without using the conventional XY stage controller 18. 14, the electric XY stage can be controlled.

  In the case of using a driver having a microstep function as described above, the number of microstep divisions is generally changed by mechanical switching of the dip switch. Since the digital switch shown in FIG. 4 is used, it is possible to arbitrarily change the division number of the microsteps from a controller such as the digital microscope 14 or a personal computer.

  As described above, according to the present invention, by simply connecting the digital microscope and the electric XY stage with the power supply line 21 and the control signal line 22, positioning of the subject in the XY direction and speed control can be easily performed.

  In addition, since the microstep coefficient of the stepping motor can be set arbitrarily from an external controller by adopting a digital switch, switching of the number of divisions becomes easier than before.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 XY table 2 X-axis mechanism part 3 Y-axis mechanism part 4 Guide slider 5 Movable block 6 Ball screw 7 Stepping motor 8 Stand 9 Pole 10 Lens vertical movement block 11 Lens 12 Camera 13 Camera cable 14 Digital microscope 15 Display part 16 Camera Control unit 17 XY stage control unit 18 XY stage controller 19 Motor driver 20 Driver control unit 21 Power line 22 Control signal line 23 Subject

Claims (4)

  It is a digital microscope that integrates a lens system consisting of a variable magnification lens or a fixed magnification with any optical imaging magnification, a small CCD camera or a small CMOS camera, an illumination system, a photographed image display unit, and a photographed image processing device. In an electric XY stage apparatus for observing a subject to be observed by moving in an X direction and a Y direction, a moving unit for the stage in the X direction and the Y direction moves a table in which the stepping motor and the subject are set in the X direction. An X direction ball screw for moving, a stepping motor for driving the ball screw, a Y direction ball screw for moving the table in the Y direction, a stepping motor for driving the ball screw, and a driver for driving each of the stepping motors and the driver Controller to control Accommodates within 1 month of the case of Ra, said digital microscope with the stepping motor and configured comprising capturing device so as to connect each power supply cable and a signal line between the driver.   The controller is configured so that the driver for driving the stepping motor further reduces the resolution N ° of the mechanical rotation angle of the stepping motor to (N / D) ° and 1 / D by controlling the supply current. 2. The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a step control function, wherein the micro step coefficient 1 / D can be arbitrarily set by a control signal from a digital microscope. .   The X-direction driving ball screw and the stepping motor are housed in a case that is long in the X direction, and the Y-direction driving ball screw and the stepping motor are housed in a case that is perpendicular to the X-direction case and that is long in the Y direction. The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller and the driver are housed in a driver case formed in a lower part of the case that is long in the Y direction.   The case in which the Y direction case is formed on the driver case and the case in the X direction is stacked on the stand in three stages on the case in the Y direction. 4. The photographing apparatus according to any one of items 3.

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