JP2018081175A - Lens fixing member and microscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide: a lens fixing member that prevents heat from flowing out of a liquid immersion object lens when a biological sample is observed in liquid immersion with a microscope while being cultivated, easily controls a temeperature suitable for cultivation state, and has a high fixation accuracy of the object lens to a microscopic optical system; and a microscope.SOLUTION: A lens fixing member 4 mechanically coupling a lens 1 to a microscope body 2, comprises: a fixing cylinder 51 fixing the lens; a plurality of lateral projection parts 6 provided circumferentially and equally distantly on at least three locations on an outer peripheral surface of the fixing cylinder, and each including an outer surface as a curved surface arranged within one virtual cylindrical surface 10 ; a flange part 22 provided at an end of the fixing cylinder; and a plurality of vertical projection parts 7 provided on the flange part circumferentially and equally distantly on at least three locations of a circular cylinder and projecting in an axial direction of the fixing cylinder, and each including an end face as a planar surface arranged within one virtual plane 12.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a lens fixing member that holds and fixes a lens in an optical instrument such as a microscope, and a microscope having the lens fixing member.

  In a microscope or the like used for semiconductor circuit creation or biological sample observation, the space between the observation lens and the object to be measured is filled with an immersion medium such as water instead of air so as to be in a so-called immersion state. It is known that effects such as an improvement in optical resolution and an improvement in contrast by eliminating unnecessary reflection due to an air layer between the lens and the sample can be obtained. In addition, when observing biological samples such as cells, the samples themselves are often immersed in physiological saline or a liquid medium for cell culture. Is convenient. When observing such a biological sample with a microscope equipped with an immersion lens, the liquid in which the sample is immersed is used as a culture medium, and the entire medium including the sample is maintained at a temperature suitable for culture. It is often carried out for a long time such as time-lapse observation while standing or culturing.

  In culturing a biological sample such as a cell, it is necessary to keep the temperature of the sample suitable for culturing, humidity, and gas concentration such as carbon dioxide gas constant. As an apparatus for culturing while observing a biological sample for a long time, an incubator for a microscope is known.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional microscope incubator described in Patent Document 1. As shown in FIG.

  In the conventional microscope incubator shown in FIG. 13, an observation dish 33 containing a sample 32 and a culture medium 31 is installed in an incubator 40. A heating heater 34 is disposed so as to sandwich the lower portion and the upper portion of the dish 33, and plays a role of keeping the temperature of the culture medium 31 and the sample 32 constant while the observation is continued. In addition, although general room temperature is 20 to 25 degreeC, the temperature suitable for culture | cultivation of the biological sample 32 is 36 to 38 degreeC, and in order to continue favorable culture | cultivation, the temperature of the culture medium 31 and the sample 32 Must be kept within that range.

JP 2011-229474 A

  However, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, when immersion observation of the sample 32 is performed by immersing the immersion objective lens 30 in the culture medium 31 in order to perform immersion observation, the medium 31 is transferred from the culture medium 31 to the objective lens 30. Heat conduction occurs, and further heat conduction from the objective lens 30 to the microscope main body through the objective lens mounting portion (the objective lens mounting portion and the microscope main body are not shown in FIG. 13). As a result, the heat applied to the medium 31 and the sample 32 escapes through the objective lens 30, and it becomes difficult to maintain the medium 31 and the sample 32 at a temperature suitable for culture. In general, in order to stabilize the temperature adjustment, it is important to reduce the heat input and output, but the heat of the medium 31 and the sample 32 escapes through the air in the dish 33 and the incubator 40. Of these, heat that escapes through the objective lens 30 described above is particularly significant. During observation, since the tip of the objective lens 30 is always in contact with the culture medium 31 also serving as an immersion medium, the sample 32 and the medium in the incubator 40 are heated by the heating heater 34 so as to compensate for the heat escaping from the objective lens 30. However, if the amount of heat that goes out is large, there may be a situation where the sample 32 and the culture medium 31 do not reach a sufficient temperature. In addition, in order to compensate for the amount of heat flowing out, it is necessary to increase the heat generation capacity of the heating heater 34 provided in the incubator 40.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and prevents the outflow of heat from the immersion objective lens when immersing the biological sample with a microscope while culturing the biological sample, and easily adjusts the temperature suitable for the culture state. An object of the present invention is to provide a lens fixing member and a microscope with high accuracy of fixing an objective lens to a microscope optical system while realizing it.

In order to achieve the above object, a lens fixing member according to one aspect of the present invention includes:
A lens fixing member for mechanically coupling the lens to the microscope body,
A fixed cylinder for fixing the lens;
A plurality of side protrusions which are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the fixed cylinder at equal intervals in at least three locations, and whose outer surface is a curved surface disposed in one virtual cylindrical surface;
A collar provided at an end of the fixed cylinder;
A plurality of vertical portions which are provided at the flange portion at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the cylinder and project in the axial direction of the fixed cylinder at at least three locations, and whose end surfaces are planes arranged in one virtual plane And a protrusion.

In order to achieve the above object, a microscope according to another aspect of the present invention includes:
A lens fixing member according to the aspect;
The lens fixed to the lens fixing member;
A microscope main body having a mounting hole for fixing the lens fixing member,
The curved surfaces of all the side projections of the lens fixing member are in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the mounting hole of the microscope body, which corresponds to the virtual cylindrical surface, and all the vertical surfaces of the lens fixing member. Each plane of the projection is in contact with the bottom surface in the axial direction of the concave portion that is recessed in the radial direction at the end of the mounting hole of the microscope main body, which corresponds to the virtual plane. Is fixed to the mounting hole,
The fixed cylinder and the flange of the lens fixing member are not in contact with the microscope main body.

  As described above, according to the lens fixing member and the microscope according to the aspect of the present invention, the fixing cylinder and the collar portion of the lens fixing member are arranged in one virtual cylindrical surface while being in non-contact with the microscope main body. The curved surfaces of the outer surfaces of the plurality of side projections are positioned in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the attachment hole of the microscope body, and the planes of the end surfaces of the plurality of vertical projections arranged in one virtual plane are the microscope body. It is positioned in contact with the surface intersecting the inner peripheral surface of the mounting hole. As a result, it is possible to stably and easily adjust the temperature of the biological sample and the culture medium in the incubator by suppressing heat outflow from the objective lens without reducing the fixing accuracy of the objective lens.

Sectional drawing of the optical component fixing mechanism in Embodiment 1 of this invention The perspective view of the receiving member of the optical component fixing mechanism in Embodiment 1 of this invention The top view of the receiving member of the optical component fixing mechanism in Embodiment 1 of this invention The figure of the microscope main body in embodiment of this invention Sectional drawing of the optical component fixing mechanism in Embodiment 2 of this invention The perspective view of the receiving member of the optical component fixing mechanism in Embodiment 2 of this invention The top view of the receiving member of the optical component fixing mechanism in Embodiment 2 of this invention Sectional drawing of the optical component fixing mechanism in Embodiment 3 of this invention The perspective view of the receiving member of the optical component fixing mechanism in Embodiment 3 of this invention The top view of the receiving member of the optical component fixing mechanism in Embodiment 3 of this invention Sectional drawing of the receiving member of the optical component fixing mechanism in Embodiment 3 of this invention Sectional drawing of the receiving member of the optical component fixing mechanism in Embodiment 3 of this invention Explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the incubator for microscopes described in patent document 1

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an optical component fixing mechanism having a lens fixing member according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing only the receiving member 4 extracted from the optical component fixing mechanism according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a view of the receiving member 4 in FIG. 2 as viewed from above, of the optical component fixing mechanism according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a view of the vicinity of the attachment hole 3 of the microscope main body 2 at the lower part of the microscope to which the receiving member 4 is attached in the optical component fixing mechanism according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The receiving member 4 is an example of a lens fixing member. The microscope main body 2 is a part of the structure of the microscope, and is a part for fixing the immersion objective lens 1 and the like, and is greatly recessed in the radial direction at the attachment hole 3 and the end of the attachment hole 3 on the observation object arrangement side. And a recess 53. The inner peripheral surface of the mounting hole 3 functions as a mounting cylindrical surface 14 in the radial direction of the receiving member 4. The cylindrical central axis 15 is the central axis of the mounting cylindrical surface 14. The bottom surface in the axial direction of the recess 53 is an example of a surface that intersects the inner peripheral surface of the mounting hole 3, and functions as the mounting surface 13 in the axial direction of the receiving member 4. On the attachment surface 13, openings of a plurality of attachment screw holes 18 penetrating the microscope body 2 are arranged at predetermined intervals.

  This optical component fixing mechanism is mainly performed by a receiving member 4 fitted in an attachment hole 3 provided in the microscope main body 2. The receiving member 4 includes a cylindrical portion 51 having a flange portion 22, and the cylindrical portion 51 includes a screw portion 5, a plurality of side protrusion portions 6, a plurality of vertical receiving protrusion portions 7, and a plurality of through holes 8. And are provided. The cylindrical part 51 is an example of a fixed cylinder. On the outer peripheral surface of one end portion in the central axis direction of the cylindrical portion 51, an annular flange portion 22 that protrudes in the direction orthogonal to the axis of the cylindrical portion 51, that is, in the radial direction, is integrally provided. The vertical receiving protrusion 7 is an example of a vertical protrusion.

  The immersion objective lens 1 and the receiving member 4 are fixed to each other by screwing the screw part 1 a of the immersion objective lens 1 into the screw part 5.

  On the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 51, for example, at least three (for example, six in FIG. 2) side protrusions 6 that are vertically long and roughly rectangular are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. Each side protrusion 6 has the same height along the radial direction. The side contact surface 9 on the outer surface of the side protrusion 6 has an elongated strip shape or a strip shape, and the strip region is aligned in a direction parallel to the central axis 17 of the screw portion 5. Therefore, the side contact surface 9 on the outer side of the side projection 6 is a curved surface, and the virtual contact cylinder 9 is a virtual cylindrical shape as a whole on each side contact surface 9 of the plurality of side projections 6. The surface 10 is configured. The central axis of the virtual cylindrical surface 10 is configured to coincide with the central axis 17 of the cylindrical portion 51 constituting the outer shape of the screw portion 5 within a range of general machining accuracy. All the side contact surfaces 9 can be positioned by contacting the mounting cylindrical surface 14 which is the inner peripheral surface of the mounting hole 3 when the receiving member 4 is mounted in the mounting hole 3 of the microscope body 2.

  Here, the respective numerical ranges of the length in the axial direction of the side protrusion 6, the width in the direction orthogonal to the axial direction, and the height in the radial direction will be exemplified.

  As an example of the axial length of the side protrusion 6, about 3 mm to 6 mm is preferable. If the length in the axial direction is too long (for example, exceeding 6 mm), the mounting accuracy is improved, but the contact area with the microscope main body is increased, which may impair the effect of the present invention. However, when the side projection 6 is divided into a plurality of parts as in the second and third embodiments, the upper limit is not limited to this. The reason is that the length of the hypothetical side projection 6 composed of the entire divided side contact surface 21 (for example, from the upper end of the upper side projection 6 to the bottom through the notch 26 (unevenness)). About the length to the lower end of the side projection 6 on the side, the contact area with the microscope main body is reduced by dividing the side projection 6 into a plurality of side projections 6, and thus the length exceeds 6 mm. It is because it may be. That is, as an example, the length of the upper side protrusion 6 may be 3 mm, the length of the notch 26 may be 2 mm, and the length of the lower side protrusion 6 may be 3 mm, for a total of 8 mm.

  As an example of the width of the side protrusion 6 in the direction orthogonal to the axial direction, about 0.5 mm to 2 mm is preferable. If this width is too large (for example, exceeding 2 mm), the contact area with the microscope main body increases, which may impair the effects of the present invention.

  As an example of the radial height of the side protrusion 6, it is preferably 0.5 mm or more in order to make the effects of the present invention effective. From the viewpoint of ease of processing, 1 mm or more is preferable. preferable.

  A plurality of cylindrical vertical receiving protrusions 7 are provided on the upper surface of the flange portion 22 at equal intervals and at least three places on the circumference. Each vertical receiving projection 7 protrudes upward in FIGS. 1 and 2 along the direction of the central axis 17 and toward the periphery of the mounting hole 3 of the microscope body 2, and as an example, is constituted by an annular ring. . In addition, the vertical receiving surfaces 11 of the upper portions of the vertical receiving projections 7, that is, the vertical receiving surfaces 11 of the vertical receiving projections 7 that are provided at a plurality at equal intervals and on the circumference at least at three or more locations. Are arranged in a virtual plane 12 which is a virtual plane.

  Here, each numerical range of the axial height of the vertical receiving projection 7 and the width (outer diameter) of the cylindrical portion will be exemplified.

  An example of the height in the axial direction is preferably 0.5 mm or more in order to make the effect of the present invention effective, and is preferably 1 mm or more if possible from the viewpoint of ease of processing.

  As an example of the width (outer diameter) of the cylindrical portion, (diameter of through hole 8) +1 mm or more is preferable, and (diameter of through hole 8) +2 mm to (diameter of through hole 8) +4 mm is preferable if possible. If the width (diameter) is too large ((diameter of the through hole 8) +4 mm), the area of contact with the microscope main body increases when the screw is passed through the through hole 8, and the contact area with the microscope main body increases. May impair the effectiveness of

  An attachment surface 13 is provided in the recess 53 near the periphery of the attachment hole 3 of the microscope body 2, and a plurality of attachment screw holes 18 are provided in the attachment surface 13 at predetermined intervals. A mounting cylindrical surface 14 is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the mounting hole 3.

  When the receiving member 4 is fitted into the mounting hole 3, the upper part of the cylindrical portion 51 is inserted into the mounting hole 3, and all the side contact surfaces 9 are positioned against the mounting cylindrical surface 14 and all the vertical receiving contacts are placed. The surface 11 is positioned against the mounting surface 13. As described above, since the side contact surfaces 9 provided at equal intervals in at least three places all constitute one virtual cylindrical surface 10, the mounting cylindrical surface 14 has a general machining accuracy. The cylindrical central axis 15 that is the central axis of the mounting cylindrical surface 14 and the central axis of the virtual cylindrical surface 10, that is, the central axis of the immersion objective lens 1 that is attached to the screw portion 5. Similarly, the (optical axis) can be matched. In other words, at the time of attachment, if the virtual cylindrical surface 10 of the receiving member 4 and the attachment cylindrical surface 14 of the attachment hole 3 of the microscope body 2 are attached so as to coincide with each other, the attachment is performed with the central axis (optical axis) of the immersion objective lens 1. Positioning can be performed so that the center axis 17 of the hole 3 coincides.

  Similarly, since the vertical contact surfaces 11 provided at least at three or more positions at equal intervals and on the circumference are all arranged in one virtual plane 12, the mounting surface 13 is a general machine. It can be attached to match within the range of machining accuracy. In other words, at the time of attachment, if the virtual plane 12 of the receiving member 4 and the attachment surface 13 of the microscope body 2 are attached so as to coincide with each other, the immersion objective lens 1 can be positioned in the central axis (optical axis) direction.

  In this way, the receiving member 4 and the microscope body 2 are fixed to each other by fitting the receiving member 4 into the mounting hole 3 and then screwing the screw 16 into the screw hole 18 through the through hole 8 and fastening them. A washer 19 is sandwiched between contact portions between the head 16 a of the screw 16 and the through hole 8, and a contact portion between the screw 16 and the edge of the through hole 8 is isolated by the washer 19. If a material having a low thermal conductivity such as a resin is used as the material of the washer 19, further suppression of heat outflow can be expected.

  At this time, the direct contact between the receiving member 4 and the microscope main body 2 is only the screw hole 18 through each side contact surface 9, each vertical contact surface 11, each washer 19, and each screw 16. Compared with the area of the portion where the receiving member 4 faces the mounting cylindrical surface 14 and the mounting surface 13, the contact area is very small. That is, each side projection 6 and each vertical receiving projection 7 are in contact with the microscope main body 2, and the cylindrical portion 51 and the flange portion 22 are not in contact with the microscope main body 2. Therefore, even when the tip of the immersion objective lens 1 is in contact with an immersion medium such as a medium heated in the incubator, heat is transmitted from the immersion objective lens 1 to the receiving member 4. The structure is such that heat is not easily transmitted from the member 4 to the microscope main body 2, and it is possible to suppress unnecessary removal of heat from the culture medium during culture.

  Further, each side contact surface 9 has an elongated band-like region aligned in a direction parallel to the central axis 17 of the screw portion 5, but by providing in this way, in a direction inclined with respect to the central axis 17. While suppressing backlash, backlash in the diameter direction of the virtual cylindrical surface 10 is also suppressed. Similarly, each vertical receiving surface 11 is arranged on the mounting surface 13 so as to surround the screw portion 5. However, by providing the vertical receiving surface 11 in this way, backlash in a direction inclined with respect to the central axis 17 is suppressed. However, the position in the direction along the central axis 17 is determined. Therefore, the immersion objective lens 1 can be attached and fixed to the microscope body 2 with high positional accuracy by the receiving member 4.

  The vertical receiving protrusion 7 and the side protrusion 6 are arranged so that the side protrusion 6 is not included in the cross section including the vertical receiving protrusion 7 and the central axis 17. The plurality of side projections 6 and the plurality of vertical receiving projections 7 are arranged so as not to overlap in a plan view. With such a configuration, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the vertical receiving protrusion 7 and the side receiving portion 6 that are in contact with the microscope main body 2 overlap the same phase portion on the circumference of the central axis 17. They are arranged in a distributed manner. Thereby, the heat conduction location from the contact location to the microscope body 2 is not concentrated and arranged at a specific location, so that both the circumferential direction of the receiving member 4 and the direction of the central axis 17 are heated. Is transmitted evenly, and temperature unevenness is not generated in the microscope body 2. When temperature unevenness occurs, mechanical distortion occurs in the vicinity of the microscope main body 2, particularly in the vicinity of the attachment hole 3 or the attachment surface 13, causing a positional or angular shift between the microscope main body 2 and the immersion objective lens 1. It becomes.

  It is conceivable to use a resin material for the receiving member 4 of the optical component fixing mechanism. However, fixing the objective lens 1 to the microscope main body 2 requires a high positional accuracy at a level generally assumed as an optical instrument. Therefore, the thermal expansion coefficient is larger than that of a metal material, and distortion or creep caused by heat. However, it is difficult to obtain a necessary and sufficient fixed position accuracy as an optical instrument with a resin material that cannot be avoided. As the metal material used for the fixing member, iron, aluminum, iron, or an aluminum-based alloy is used. In particular, brass, stainless steel, or the like is preferable because processing accuracy in machining can be obtained.

  As described above, in this configuration, each side projection 6 and each vertical receiving projection 7 are in contact with the microscope main body 2, and the cylindrical portion 51 and the flange 22 are not in contact with the microscope main body 2. Thus, when a biological sample in culture is observed by immersion, unnecessary temperature drop of the medium due to heat outflow through the immersion objective lens 1 can be prevented. In other words, it suppresses the significant flow of heat through the objective lens, which is a problem when observing a biological sample in a culture state by an incubator using an immersion objective lens. To achieve stable and easy temperature adjustment of biological samples and culture media using an incubator.

  Further, each side contact surface 9 aligns the belt-like region in a direction parallel to the central axis 17 of the screw portion 5 and suppresses backlash in a direction inclined with respect to the central axis 17, while suppressing the backlash of the virtual cylindrical surface 10. The backlash in the diameter direction can also be suppressed. Similarly, each vertical receiving surface 11 is disposed on the mounting surface 13 so as to surround the screw portion 5, and suppresses backlash in a direction inclined with respect to the central axis 17, while the direction along the central axis 17. Can be determined. Therefore, as described above, the objective lens 1 can be fixed with high accuracy while preventing temperature drop, and the fixing accuracy of the objective lens 1 necessary as an optical device can be maintained with high accuracy, and long-term culture can be continued stably and easily. However, the microscope can be observed without positional deviation.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of an optical component fixing mechanism according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing only the receiving member 4 extracted from the optical component fixing mechanism according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a view of the receiving member 4 in FIG. 6 as viewed from above, in the optical component fixing mechanism according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. 5, 6, and 7, the same components as those in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

  The receiving member 4 shown in FIG. 5 has substantially the same configuration as the receiving member 4 of the optical component fixing mechanism described in the first embodiment of the present invention, but the vertical receiving surface on the upper portion of the vertical receiving protrusion 7. 11 is different from the structure of the side contact surface 9 on the outer side of the side protrusion 6. That is, the vertical receiving surface 11 at the upper part of the vertical receiving protrusion 7 is replaced with a divided vertical receiving surface 20 that is divided into a plurality of portions in the circumferential direction by providing a notch 25 (unevenness) in the contact surface portion. The difference is that the outer side contact surface 9 of the side projection 6 is replaced by a divided side contact surface 21 that is divided into a plurality of portions in the axial direction by providing a notch 26 (unevenness) in the contact surface portion. It is. Specifically, notches 25 having the same width are formed at predetermined intervals along the circumferential direction on each vertical receiving surface 11 to form a divided vertical receiving surface 20, and the divided vertical receiving surface 20 has an uneven shape. I am doing so. In addition, a notch 26 is formed in the longitudinal intermediate portion of each side contact surface 9 to form a divided side contact surface 21, and the divided side contact surface 21 has an uneven shape.

  As in the case of the first embodiment of the present invention, all of the plurality of divided vertical contact surfaces 20 are arranged in the virtual plane 12, and the virtual plane 12 is attached to the mounting surface when the receiving member 4 is fitted into the mounting hole 3. 13, all of the plurality of divided side contact surfaces 21 are arranged in the virtual cylindrical surface 10, and the virtual cylindrical surface 10 is attached to the mounting cylindrical surface 14 when the receiving member 4 is fitted into the mounting hole 3. It comes to hit.

  At this time, the direct contact between the receiving member 4 and the microscope main body 2 is made only by the screw hole 18 through the split side portion contact surface 21, the split vertical support surface 20, the washer 19, and the screw 16. Yes, the contact member 4 has a very small contact area as compared with the area of the portion facing the mounting cylindrical surface 14 and the mounting surface 13. Further, compared to the side contact surface 9 and the vertical contact surface 11 in the first embodiment of the present invention, the divided side contact surface 21 and the divided vertical contact surface 20 are further separated by the notches 26 and 25. While reducing the contact area, the area supported by the entire contact surfaces 21 and 20 arranged in a plurality is approximately the same. For this reason, compared with the configuration shown in the first embodiment of the present invention, heat is more difficult to be transferred from the immersion objective lens 1 to the microscope main body 2, and heat is unnecessarily deprived from the culture medium. At the same time, the mechanical support performance obtained by being applied to the mounting surface 13 and the mounting cylindrical surface 14 is maintained, and the mounting and fixing of the immersion objective lens 1 to the microscope body 2 can be performed. It can be realized with a position accuracy as high as that of the first embodiment.

  As described above, according to the configuration of the second embodiment, the receiving member 4 and the receiving member 4 are provided with a function of fixing the immersion objective lens 1 to the microscope main body 2 realized in the first embodiment with high accuracy. The contact portion with the microscope main body 2 is divided by notches 25 and 26 to further reduce the contact area, thereby further improving the performance of suppressing heat outflow from the immersion objective lens 1 to the microscope main body 2. An objective lens fixing mechanism can be realized.

  The side contact surface 9 and the vertical contact surface 11 are not limited to the examples where the contact surfaces 21 and 20 are used, but the side contact surface 9 and the vertical contact surface 11 according to the first embodiment are not limited. Only one of them may be the contact surface 21 or 20.

(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of an optical component fixing mechanism according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing only the receiving member 4 extracted from the optical component fixing mechanism according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a view of the receiving member 4 in FIG. 6 as viewed from above in the optical component fixing mechanism according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the AA cross section shown in FIG. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view regarding the BB cross section shown in FIG. In FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, structures that are not included in the same plane are also shown by broken lines for easy understanding of the positional relationship.

  8 to 12, the same components as those in FIGS. 1 to 7 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  The receiving member 4 shown in FIG. 8 has substantially the same configuration as the receiving member 4 of the optical component fixing mechanism described in the second embodiment of the present invention. However, as shown in FIGS. A structure in which the position of the receiving projection 7 is coaxial with the through hole 8 is changed to an arrangement in the middle portion between the plurality of through holes 8, and the shape of the vertical receiving projection 7 is changed. The difference is that the area of the vertical receiving surface 11 on the upper surface of the vertical receiving projection 7 is changed to be smaller than that in the first embodiment of the present invention due to the change from the cylindrical shape to the columnar shape. .

  8, the left half of the center axis 17 in FIG. 8 shows the vicinity of the AA cross section in FIG. 10, and the right half of the center axis 17 in FIG. 8 shows the vicinity of the BB cross section in FIG. Show. Further, although the side protrusions 6 are shown on both the left and right sides in FIG. 8, the side protrusions 6 are actually formed in the through holes 8 and the vertical receiving protrusions 7 as can be seen in comparison with FIGS. 8 is not shown in the vertical cross section including the cylindrical axis of the receiving member 4, but is shown by a broken line in FIG.

  As in the case of the second embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of vertical contact surfaces 11 are arranged in the virtual plane 12, and the virtual plane 12 hits the mounting surface 13 when the receiving member 4 is fitted into the mounting hole 3. The plurality of divided side contact surfaces 21 are arranged in the virtual cylindrical surface 10 so that the virtual cylindrical surface 10 contacts the mounting cylindrical surface 14 when the receiving member 4 is fitted into the mounting hole 3. It has become.

  In FIG. 11, the vertical receiving protrusion 7 and the side protrusion 6 are not included in the same cross section including the through hole 8 and the central axis 17 of the receiving member 4. As shown on the left side of 12, the one-side cross section including the side protrusions 6 does not include the vertical receiving protrusion 7, and the cross section including the vertical receiving protrusions 7 as illustrated on the right side of FIG. The protrusion 6 is not included. That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the through hole 8, the side protrusion 6, and the vertical receiving protrusion 7 arranged in the receiving member 4 have a rotational phase relative to the central axis 17 of the receiving member 4. The receiving members 4 are arranged so as to be shifted and distributed on the circumference around the central axis 17 of the receiving member 4.

  Compared to the case of the second embodiment of the present invention, the through hole 8 and the vertical receiving projection 7 have different structures, so that the area of the vertical contact surface 11 is reduced, but a plurality of them are arranged. Since the area supported by the entire vertical contact surface 11 is approximately the same, the structure is such that heat is not easily transmitted from the immersion objective lens 1 to the microscope body 2 as compared with the configuration shown in the second embodiment of the present invention. . In addition, the arrangement positions of the through holes 8, the vertical receiving projections 7, and the side projections 6 are distributed on the circumference around the central axis 17 of the member 4. By constructing in this way, even in the circumferential direction around the central axis 17 of the receiving member 4 by not concentrating and arranging the places that conduct heat from those contact parts to the microscope body 2 in a specific place, Even in the direction of the central axis 17, heat is evenly propagated so that temperature unevenness does not occur in the microscope body 2. As a result, it is possible to suppress the unnecessary removal of heat from the culture medium during the immersion observation of the sample, and at the same time, the mounting is performed while minimizing the influence of the thermal distortion of the receiving member 4 and the microscope body 2. The mechanical support performance obtained by contacting the surface 13 and the mounting cylindrical surface 14 is also maintained, and the fixing of the immersion objective lens 1 to the microscope body 2 is as high as that of the second embodiment of the present invention. It can be realized with positional accuracy.

  As described above, in the case of this configuration, the influence of thermal strain is achieved by dispersing the support position while providing the function of highly accurately fixing the immersion objective lens 1 to the microscope main body realized in the second embodiment. In addition, the contact area between the receiving member 4 and the microscope main body 2 is divided by a notch, and the contact area is further reduced by using a separate support structure. An objective lens fixing mechanism with improved heat outflow suppression performance from the lens 1 to the microscope body 2 can be realized.

  According to the above first to third embodiments, the plurality of side protrusions arranged in one virtual cylindrical surface 10 while the fixing cylinder 51 and the collar portion 22 of the lens fixing member are not in contact with the microscope main body 2. The curved surface 9 of the outer surface 6 is positioned in contact with the inner peripheral surface 14 of the mounting hole 3 of the microscope body 2, and the flat surface 11 of the end surfaces of the plurality of vertical protrusions 7 arranged in one virtual plane 12 is formed. Then, the microscope body 2 is positioned in contact with the surface 13 intersecting the inner peripheral surface of the mounting hole 3 of the microscope body 2. As a result, it is possible to stably and easily adjust the temperature of the biological sample and the culture medium in the incubator by suppressing heat outflow from the objective lens 1 without reducing the fixing accuracy of the objective lens 1.

  It is to be noted that, by appropriately combining any of the various embodiments or modifications, the effects possessed by them can be produced. In addition, combinations of embodiments, combinations of examples, or combinations of embodiments and examples are possible, and combinations of features in different embodiments or examples are also possible.

  The lens fixing member and the microscope according to the above aspect of the present invention are used to mount the objective lens to the microscope main body when observing the sample with the immersion objective lens while culturing the biological sample with the microscope incubator. By devising, the heat flow from the medium liquid in which the biological sample is immersed to the microscope body through the objective lens in contact with the medium liquid is suppressed, and the temperature of the biological sample and medium in the culture environment is adjusted. It makes it easy to maintain the culture well during observation of the biological sample, and the temperature of the heating heater provided in the incubator can be adjusted with a relatively small capacity, so that the biological sample can be widely immersed in the immersion state. It can be applied as an objective lens fixing mechanism of an optical instrument that performs observation while culturing.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Immersion objective lens 1a Thread part 2 Microscope main body 3 Mounting hole 4 Receiving member 5 Thread part 6 Side projection part 7 Vertical receiving projection part 8 Through hole 9 Side contact surface 10 Virtual cylindrical surface 11 Side contact surface 12 Per vertical support Surface 13 Mounting surface 14 Mounting cylindrical surface 15 Cylindrical central axis 16 Screw 17 Central axis 18 Screw hole 19 Washer 20 Divided vertical receiving surface 21 Divided side contact surface 22 Gutter 25 First notch 26 Second notch 30 Objective lens 31 Medium 32 Sample 33 Dish 34 Heating heater 40 Incubator 51 Cylindrical part 53 Recessed part

Claims (7)

A lens fixing member for mechanically coupling the lens to the microscope body,
A fixed cylinder for fixing the lens;
A plurality of side protrusions which are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the fixed cylinder at equal intervals in at least three locations, and whose outer surface is a curved surface disposed in one virtual cylindrical surface;
A collar provided at an end of the fixed cylinder;
A plurality of at least three positions that are equidistant in the circumferential direction of the fixed cylinder and project in the axial direction of the fixed cylinder, are provided on the flange portion, and whose end surfaces are planes arranged in one virtual plane A lens fixing member comprising a vertical protrusion.   The lens fixing member according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of side protrusions and the plurality of vertical protrusions are provided so as not to overlap in a plan view from a direction along the axial direction of the fixed cylinder.   The lens fixing member according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of side surface protrusions has an uneven shape having a notch on the surface.   4. The lens fixing member according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of vertical protrusions has an uneven shape having a notch on a surface thereof.   The lens fixing member according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a central axis of the fixed cylinder and an optical axis of the lens coincide with each other.   The lens fixing member according to claim 1, wherein the fixing cylinder, the flange portion, the side surface protruding portion, and the vertical protruding portion are made of metal. The lens fixing member according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The lens fixed to the lens fixing member;
A microscope main body having a mounting hole for fixing the lens fixing member,
Each curved surface of all the side protrusions of the lens fixing member is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the mounting hole of the microscope main body, which corresponds to the virtual cylindrical surface, and all the vertical of the lens fixing member. Each plane of the protrusion is in contact with a surface corresponding to the virtual plane, intersecting the inner peripheral surface of the mounting hole of the microscope body, and the lens fixing member is fixed to the mounting hole.
The microscope, wherein the fixed cylinder and the flange of the lens fixing member are not in contact with the microscope main body.

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