JP2017016016A - Lens unit, and duplex microscopic apparatus, for smart devices - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lens unit and a duplex microscopic apparatus for smart devices that can be easily focused and permits fixing of the focusing in the focused position.SOLUTION: A lens unit comprising a lens 1; a plate-shaped supporting member 2 that holds the lens 1 in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis; a specimen plate 3 made of elastic transparent plastic material, having a fold 3a formed in a direction orthogonal to the lengthwise direction and arranged on the supporting member 2 with this fold 3a positioned on the upper side; a fixed member 41 fixed to the supporting member 2; a focusing mechanism 4 having a pressing member 42 that is held by this fixed member 41 and varies the deflection of the specimen plate 3 by pressing the fold 3a part of the specimen plate 3, is mounted on a smart device having camera functions. The smart device-mounted lens unit constitutes a duplex microscope together with the camera.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a lens unit used together with a smart device having a camera function, and a compound microscope apparatus including the lens unit and the smart device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a focusing technique in a double microscope observation using a smart device.

  Recently, a lens unit for performing microscopic observation using a smart device having a camera function such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal has been proposed (see Non-Patent Documents 1 to 3). In Non-Patent Documents 1 to 3, it is reported that these new types of compound microscopes can effectively use autofocus and autoexposure that a smart device has as a camera function, and can obtain performance equivalent to a commercially available high-class microscope.

However, the compound microscope using the smart device described above has the following problems and is not widely used as expected.
(1) Since it is assumed to be held by hand, camera shake is likely to occur in the photographed image.
(2) A mechanism for fixing the lens to the smart device has not been established.
(3) When the object to be observed is brought close to, the external light is blocked by the microscope main body, so it is necessary to prepare a separate illumination device, and the structure becomes complicated.

  On the other hand, the present inventor has proposed a lens unit and a dual microscope apparatus that have a simple structure and can easily acquire a microscope observation image by being attached to a smart device (see Patent Document 1). This dual microscope apparatus uses the front camera of a smart device, is simple and has high operability, and can solve all the problems of the conventional dual microscope described above. .

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-057626

David N. Breslauer and four others, “Mobile Phone Based Clinical Microscopy for Global Health Applications”, PLoS ONE 4 (7): e6320, issued July 22, 2009 Z.J. Smith and nine others, “Cell-Phone-Based Platform for Biomedical Device Development and Education Applications”, PLoS ONE 6 (3): e17150, issued March 2, 2011 Sarun Sumriddetchkajorn et al., "Mobile Device-Based Digital Microscopy for Education, Healthcare, and Agriculture", Electrical Engineering / Electronics, Computer, Telecommunications and Information Technology (ECTI-CON), 2012 9th International Conference on, May 18, 2012 Day, p. 1-4

  However, in the above-described conventional compound microscope apparatus, the sample movement in the horizontal direction can be easily performed manually and its position can be easily fixed, but focusing is difficult, and imaging was performed depending on how the sample was placed. The image may be blurred.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a smart device lens unit and a compound microscope apparatus that can be simply focused and can be fixed in focus.

The lens unit according to the present invention is a lens unit that is mounted on a smart device having a camera function and constitutes a compound microscope together with the camera, and the lens and a plate that holds the lens from a direction perpendicular to the optical axis A support member, a transparent plastic material having elasticity, a fold is formed in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, a sample plate placed on the support member with the fold on the upper side, and fixed to the support member And a focusing mechanism provided with a pressing member that is held by the fixing member and changes the deflection of the sample plate by pressing the fold portion of the sample plate.
In this lens unit, a sample plate fixing material that fixes the position of one end of the sample plate may be disposed on the support member.
The pressing member may be a screw-like member or a rod-like member. When the pressing member is a rod-shaped member, the vertical position of the rod-shaped member can be fixed by a frictional force with a rubber material provided on the fixing member.
On the other hand, a concave or convex guide may be formed on the support member, and a convex portion or a concave portion that fits with the guide may be formed on the fixing member.
Alternatively, a metal plate or a metal tape made of a ferromagnetic material may be affixed to the support member, and a magnet may be embedded in the fixing member, and the fixing member may be fixed to the support member by a magnetic force.

  The compound microscope apparatus according to the present invention includes the lens unit described above and a smart device having a camera function, and the lens unit is positioned on the smart device so that the lens is positioned on the optical axis of the camera. It is what is mounted on.

  According to the present invention, the distance between the sample and the lens is adjusted by pressing a sample plate made of an elastic material and having a fold line so that the upper side is convex by a focusing mechanism and changing its deflection. Thus, the focusing operation can be performed easily, and the focus can be fixed at the focusing position.

It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the lens unit which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. A is a plan view of the lens unit 10 shown in FIG. 1, and B is a side view. It is an expansion perspective view which shows the attachment part of the focusing mechanism in the lens unit of the 1st modification of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an expansion perspective view which shows the structure of the press member of the focusing mechanism in the lens unit of the 2nd modification of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the lens unit used in the Example of this invention. A and B are transmission micrographs obtained by observing hair (black hair) using the lens unit shown in FIG. AC is a transmission micrograph which observed the replica (transparence) of hair using the lens unit shown in FIG.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below.

(First embodiment)
First, the lens unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. 1 and 2 are diagrams showing the configuration of the lens unit of the present embodiment. FIG. 1 is a perspective view, FIG. 2A is a plan view, and FIG. 2B is a side view. The lens unit 10 of the present embodiment is placed on a smart device having a camera function and constitutes a compound microscope together with the camera. As shown in FIG. 1, the lens 1, the support member 2, and the sample plate 3 are arranged. The focusing mechanism 4 is provided.

[Lens 1]
The lens 1 can be a ball lens or a gradient index (GRIN) lens formed of glass or plastic. The size of the lens 1 is, for example, 1 to 5 mm. However, the smaller the lens, the smaller the focal length, and the magnification of the dual microscope configured integrally with the smart device increases. Therefore, the size can be appropriately selected according to the required magnification. it can.

[Supporting member 2]
The support member 2 supports the lens 1 and the focusing mechanism 4. For example, a transparent flat plate or a semitransparent flat plate in which a through hole having a size capable of accommodating the lens 1 is formed can be used. For the support member 2, it is preferable to use a transparent material from the viewpoint of facilitating alignment between the camera optical axis of the smart device and the lens 1 of the lens unit 10. However, in that case, in order to prevent stray light from entering the lens 1, it is desirable to perform an opacity treatment such as coating the inner wall of the through hole with a black paint or a black sheet.

  Further, a convex or concave guide 21 that fixes the mounting position of the focusing mechanism 4 may be provided on the side surface of the support member 2. The guide 21 only needs to be provided at least at a position where the focusing mechanism 4 is attached. However, like the lens unit 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the guide 21 extends along the longitudinal direction on both side surfaces in the longitudinal direction of the support member 2. A convex or concave guide 21 may be provided. Thus, by extending the guide 21 in the length direction, the position of the focusing mechanism 4 can be arbitrarily adjusted only in the left-right direction without changing the vertical direction.

[Sample plate 3]
The sample plate 3 is used for placing an observation object (sample), and is formed of a transparent plastic material having elasticity. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the sample plate 3 has a fold 3 a formed in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and is arranged on the support member 2 so that the upper side is convex. In other words, the sample plate 3 is disposed on the support member 2 in a state of being bent in a “h” shape in a side view.

Here, the bending angle α ₀ of the sample plate 3 in the initial state before being pressed by the pressing member 42 is not fixed, and is arbitrarily set according to the focal length of the lens 1, the length of the sample plate 3, and the position of the crease 3a. can do. As a standard of the bending angle α ₀ , it is about 10 to 45 ° with respect to a planar state without the crease 3a. Further, the fold line 3a of the sample plate 3 can be formed, for example, at a position about 1/3 from one end. In addition, when arrange | positioning the sample plate 3 on the support member 2, it is preferable to arrange | position so that the one where the distance from the crease | fold 3a to an edge part may become the lens 1 side from a viewpoint of operativity.

[Focusing mechanism 4]
The focusing mechanism 4 includes a pressing member 42 that changes the deflection by pressing the sample plate 3 from above, and a fixing member 41 that holds the pressing member 42 and fixes it to the support member 2. In this focusing mechanism 4, the tip of the pressing member 42 is brought into contact with the fold 3 a portion of the sample plate 3, and the deflection of the sample plate 3 is changed by moving the pressing member 42 in the vertical direction. Thereby, since the vertical position of the observation object (sample) placed on the sample plate 3 can be adjusted, it is possible to perform a focusing operation (focusing) in microscope observation.

  Here, as the pressing member 42, for example, a screw-shaped member having a flat tip can be used. The fixing member 41 may be a bridge-shaped member having a screw hole into which the pressing member 42 can be screwed, for example. By adopting such a configuration, the focus position can be easily adjusted and fixed. Specifically, when a screw-like member is used for the pressing member 42, the pressing member 42 is screwed into the screw hole of the fixing member 41, and the axis of the pressing member 42 is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise, thereby obtaining a microscopic image. The sample plate 3 can be fixed at the in-focus position.

  The method for attaching the focusing mechanism 4 to the support member 2 is not particularly limited. For example, the support member 2 is held between the legs of the fixing member 41 or fitted to the end of the support member 2. There is a method of providing a mounting portion of the structure to be. Further, when the guide 21 is formed on the support member 2, the focusing mechanism 4 can be easily attached and positioned by forming a concave or convex portion that fits into the guide 21 on the leg of the fixing member 41. It becomes possible to do.

[Sample plate fixing material 5]
Furthermore, in the lens unit 10 of the present embodiment, a sample plate fixing material 5 that fixes the position of one end portion of the sample plate 3 by frictional force or adhesive force may be disposed on the support member 2. . As the sample plate fixing material 5, a material having a large frictional force such as rubber or a material having adhesiveness can be used. For example, a double-sided adhesive tape may be used. The thickness of the sample plate fixing material 5 is not particularly limited, but is preferably thinner from the viewpoint of ease of focusing, for example, 0.1 to 1 mm.

  When the fold 3a portion of the sample plate 3 is pressed by the pressing member 42 of the focusing mechanism 4, both end portions in the direction (longitudinal direction) perpendicular to the fold 3a of the sample plate 3 move on the support member 2, and the lens 1 In some cases, the position of the sample may be shifted. Therefore, when the sample plate fixing material 5 is provided on the support member 2 and one end portion of the sample plate 3 is disposed thereon, when the sample plate 3 is bent by the focusing mechanism 4, one end portion is The position is fixed by the sample plate fixing material 5, and only the other end slides on the support member 2.

  It is preferable that the sample plate fixing material 5 is disposed near the lens 1 and fixes the end of the sample plate 3 on the side close to the observation object (sample). Thereby, the position shift of the sample by focusing operation can be prevented efficiently.

[Non-slip material 6]
In the lens unit 10 of the present embodiment, a non-slip material 6 made of resin or rubber can be provided on the surface on the smart device side. By providing the anti-slip material 6 on the surface on the smart device side, stability when fixing to the smart device is improved. The thickness of the anti-slip material 6 can be set to, for example, 0.5 to 3 mm in consideration of unevenness of the case of the smart device (step difference between the display surface and the case).

  The anti-slip material 6 is preferably made of silicon rubber that is highly adsorbable with respect to the resin material that forms the display surface of the smart device. Thereby, after aligning the lens of the front camera of the smart device and the lens, the lens unit 10 can be easily fixed simply by pressing the lens unit 10 against the smart device.

[Operation]
Next, a method for observing a sample using the lens unit 10 having the above-described configuration will be described. First, the lens unit 10 of the present embodiment is disposed on a front camera provided on the image display surface side of the smart device. At that time, the lens 1 is arranged so as to be positioned on the optical axis of the camera provided in the smart device. For example, when the support member 2 is formed of a transparent flat plate, the lens 1 is arranged so that the camera window of the smart device seen through the support member 2 and the lens 1 overlap each other. Thus, a compound microscope is configured by the lens 1 of the lens unit 10 and the lens of the smart device built-in camera.

  Next, an observation object (sample) is placed on the sample plate 3 of the lens unit 10. At that time, the sample plate 3 is arranged so that the longer distance from the crease 3a to the end of the sample plate 3 is on the lens 1 side, and the sample is placed in the region directly above or near the lens 1. Thereafter, focusing is performed by manually operating the focusing mechanism 4 while confirming a microscopic image on the image display surface of the smart device.

  Specifically, when the sample position is lowered to shorten the distance between the sample and the lens, the pressing member 42 is lowered to press the fold 3a portion of the sample plate 3, and the sample plate 3 is bent. On the other hand, when the sample position is raised and the distance between the sample and the lens is increased, the pressing member 42 is raised to release the pressing of the fold 3a portion of the sample plate 3, and the deflection of the sample plate 3 is returned. Then, the operation of the pressing member 42 is stopped at the in-focus position, and the focus is fixed.

  In the lens unit of the present embodiment, the sample plate is formed of a transparent plastic material having elasticity, and the bending of the sample plate is controlled by pressing the fold portion by the focusing mechanism. The focal position can be easily fixed.

  Note that the lens unit of the present embodiment can be applied to both transmissive and reflective microscope apparatuses. Specifically, the lens unit of the present embodiment can obtain a transmitted image of the sample by using natural light as a light source or irradiating illumination light from above, and a light source near the lens. By arranging and illuminating from the lens side, a reflected image of the sample can be obtained.

(First modification of the first embodiment)
Next, a lens unit according to a first modification of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view showing a mounting portion of the focusing mechanism in the lens unit of this modification. In the first embodiment described above, the focusing mechanism is fixed to the support member by fitting the recess or projection provided in the support member with the recess or projection provided in the leg of the fixing member. However, in the lens unit of this modification, the focusing mechanism is fixed to the support member 2 by magnetic force as shown in FIG.

  Specifically, in the lens unit of the present modification, a metal plate (tape) 22 made of a ferromagnetic material such as band-like iron is attached to the long side end of the surface of the support member 2, and the fixing member 41 A magnet 43 is embedded in the leg. In this lens unit, the focusing mechanism is fixed to the support member 2 by the force with which the metal plate 22 and the magnet 43 are attracted.

  Here, FIG. 3 illustrates a configuration in which two magnets 43 are embedded in two legs, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the number and size of the magnets Can be appropriately selected according to the performance (magnetic force). For example, when a magnet having a strong magnetic force is used, a configuration in which only one magnet is embedded in the vicinity of the center in the width direction of each leg may be employed.

  If the focusing mechanism is fixed to the support member using magnetic force as in the lens unit of this modification, the focusing mechanism can be easily attached and detached and the position can be adjusted. The configuration and effects other than those described above in the present modification are the same as those in the first embodiment described above.

(Second modification of the first embodiment)
Next, a lens unit according to a second modification of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing the configuration of the pressing member of the focusing mechanism in the lens unit of this modification. 1 and 2 show a configuration using a screw-like member as the pressing member, the present invention is not limited to this, and the pressing member may be any member that can press the sample plate 3. .

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, a rod-shaped member 44 can be used as the pressing member. In this case, the fixing member 45 is formed with a through hole at the center of the upper surface, and a rubber material 46 is affixed to the inner side surface of the through hole, and the inner diameter thereof is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the rod-shaped member 44. Have been adjusted so that The inserted rod-like member 44 can be moved in the vertical direction and fixed at an arbitrary position by the elastic force of the rubber material 46.

  In the lens unit of this modification, the pressing member is configured by a rod-shaped member instead of a screw-shaped member, and the deflection of the sample plate is controlled by inserting this into the through hole and moving it up and down. Can be simplified. The other configurations and effects in this modification are the same as those in the first embodiment described above. The lens unit of the present invention can also be configured by combining the present modification and the first modification described above.

  Hereinafter, the effects of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the lens unit used in this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, in this example, a part of hair (black hair) and its portion are used by using a lens unit having the configurations of both the first modification and the second modification of the first embodiment described above. A replica (transparent synthetic resin with the hair surface structure transferred) was observed.

  FIG. 6A is a transmission image of hair taken by irradiating illumination light from directly above. Since black hair does not transmit light, in FIG. 6A, the sample (black hair) appears as a black silhouette against a bright field in the background. FIG. 6B is an oblique illumination image in which the illumination light is obliquely removed so that the illumination light does not enter the camera directly. In FIG. 6B, the asymmetrically colored hair is barely visible in the dark field.

  7A-C are transmission images of hair replicas. Since this synthetic resin replica is transparent, in FIGS. FIG. 7A shows a focused image, and the cuticle on the hair surface can be clearly observed. On the other hand, FIG. 7B is an image shifted toward the near focus, and FIG. 7C is an image shifted toward the far focus. 7B and 7C each show an unclear ghost image.

  As described above, even a transparent sample that is extremely difficult to focus on can be focused by an easy operation by using the lens unit of the present invention, and a microscope image can be observed at the in-focus position. It was confirmed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lens 2 Support member 3 Sample plate 3a Fold 4 Focusing mechanism 5 Sample plate fixing material 6 Anti-slip material 10 Lens unit 21 Guide 22 Metal plate 41, 45 Fixing member 42 Press member (screw-shaped member)
43 Magnet 44 Bar-shaped member 46 Rubber material

Claims (7)

A lens unit mounted on a smart device having a camera function and constituting a compound microscope together with the camera,
A lens,
A plate-like support member for holding the lens from a direction perpendicular to the optical axis;
A sample plate made of a transparent plastic material having elasticity, formed with a fold in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and disposed on the support member with the fold on the upper side;
A focusing member provided with a fixing member fixed to the support member, and a pressing member that is held by the fixing member and presses the fold portion of the sample plate to change the deflection of the sample plate;
A lens unit for a smart device.   The lens unit for smart devices according to claim 1, wherein a sample plate fixing material for fixing a position of one end portion of the sample plate is disposed on the support member.   The lens unit for smart devices according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the pressing member is a screw-shaped member.   The smart device lens unit according to claim 1, wherein the pressing member is a rod-shaped member, and a vertical position of the rod-shaped member is fixed by a frictional force with a rubber material provided on the fixing member.   The concave shape or convex guide is formed in the said supporting member, The convex part or recessed part which fits with the said guide is formed in the said fixing member, The any one of Claims 1-4. Lens unit for smart devices. A metal plate or a metal tape made of a ferromagnetic material is affixed to the support member, and a magnet is embedded in the fixing member,
The lens unit for smart devices according to claim 1, wherein the fixing member is fixed to the support member by a magnetic force. The lens unit according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
A smart device having a camera function,
The compound microscope apparatus, wherein the lens unit is placed on the smart device so that the lens is positioned on an optical axis of the camera.