JP2849029B2 - Lighting equipment for optical measuring machines - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an illumination device for an optical measuring instrument. More specifically, the present invention relates to an illumination device for obtaining an optical image for measurement and observation in an optical measuring device such as a microscope and an image measuring and measuring device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As illumination devices for optical measuring instruments such as microscopes and image measuring / measuring instruments, those having transmission illumination 2 and oblique illumination 3 in addition to vertical epi-illumination 1 are widely used as shown in FIG. Have been. This is because the transmitted illumination 2 and the oblique illumination 3 are very important to be able to cope with measurement and observation of various measurement objects, or for more appropriate measurement and observation. .

Normally, light from the vertical epi-illumination 1 is reflected by a beam splitter 4 provided on the optical axis toward an object to be measured W, and then parallel to the optical axis via an objective lens 5 from above. Irradiation is performed on the measurement object W. Further, the light from the transmitted illumination 2 is emitted from below the stage 6 toward the measurement object W. Also,
The light from the oblique illumination 3 is emitted, for example, from each point on the same circumference centered on the optical axis, obliquely to the optical axis and toward the workpiece W. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 7 denotes an image forming unit such as a video camera or an eyepiece.

In general, the field of view of an optical measuring instrument is very narrow compared to the size of a measured object, and only a small part of the measured object can be seen at a time. For this reason, when using the optical measuring device, it is difficult to know which position of the measured object is currently being viewed. In addition, as the objective lens 5 is enlarged, the field of view is further reduced in order to perform measurement and observation with higher accuracy, and if an objective lens 5 having a long working distance is used, the observation position on the measurement object becomes more difficult to understand.

Conventionally, the following two methods are known as methods for solving these problems. The first method is a method of projecting light from a laser, a light-emitting diode, or the like, as guide light indicating an observation position, onto a measurement object, separately from the illuminations 1, 2, and 3. The second method is a method in which vertical epi-illumination usually provided in an optical measuring instrument is used as guide light.

[0006]

However, the first conventional method described above has the following problems. In other words, an unnecessary guide light projection device is required for the original measurement and observation, which increases the cost. The incorporation of these guide light projection devices increases the size of the entire optical measuring device. There is a problem.

In the second method, when the vertical epi-illumination is used as the guide light in the state where the oblique illumination is illuminated, the operation is performed according to the procedure shown in FIG.
There are the following problems. That is, it is difficult to recognize the irradiation range of the vertical epi-illumination in the state where the oblique illumination is being illuminated. Therefore, it is necessary to once turn off the oblique illumination and increase the light amount of the vertical epi-illumination (ST2, ST3). reference). After the vertical epi-illumination is used as the guide light, and the observation position is roughly positioned by moving the stage, the final epi-illumination is reduced while observing the observation image. Operation is required (see ST4 to ST7). In the above, in order to return each light to the original state, the user needs to remember the state of each light in advance (see ST1). There is a problem that the burden on the user is large.

[0008] It is an object of the present invention to provide an illumination device for an optical measuring instrument which solves such conventional problems, is inexpensive, and can reduce the burden on the user.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a vertical epi-illumination originally provided in an optical measuring instrument is used as a guide light without using a special guide light projecting device.
This is to reduce the burden on the user by simplifying the procedure in the conventional optical measuring device.

[0010] More specifically, an illumination system having a plurality of types of illumination including vertical epi-illumination, a light intensity adjustment unit for converting the light intensity adjustment for each of these illuminations into a light intensity command value, and using the vertical epi-illumination as guide light A light amount command value generating unit for generating a light amount command value for each illumination, and a selection instructing unit for selecting and instructing one of the light amount adjusting unit and the light amount command value generating unit; And a power converter for converting one of the light amount command values selected by the means into electric power and applying the electric power to each of the illuminations.

The selection instructing means includes a selection instructing unit for generating a selection instructing signal for instructing selection of one of the light intensity adjusting unit and the light intensity instruction value generating unit. And a light amount command value switching unit that switches the light amount adjustment unit and the light amount command value generation unit and supplies the light amount command value to the power conversion unit. I do.

[0012]

The observation is performed in a state where the power corresponding to the light amount command value adjusted by the light amount adjustment unit is supplied to each illumination. Now, when the guide light is needed to change the observation position, and the selection instruction means selects and instructs the light intensity command value of the light intensity command value generator, the light intensity command value of the selected light intensity command value generator is selected. Is converted into electric power by the power conversion unit, and is supplied to each lighting. Therefore, in the light amount command value generating unit, for example, if the vertical incident illumination is set to 100% and the other illuminations are set to 0%, the vertical incident illumination is switched to the guide light illumination only. Since irradiation is performed, it can be used as guide light.

Here, after the rough positioning is performed, when the light amount command value of the light amount adjusting unit is selected and instructed by the selection instructing means, the light amount command value of the selected light amount adjusting unit is converted by the power converting unit. After being converted into electric power, it is given to each lighting. That is, the state is returned to the original state at the time of observation. Therefore, final positioning can be performed while viewing the actual optical image.

[0014]

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show an embodiment of the present invention. Here, the configuration of the optical measuring instrument described with reference to FIG. 1 is assumed. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an illumination device of the optical measuring device according to the present invention. The illumination device includes an illumination system 11 having the plurality of types of illuminations 1, 2, and 3.
And a light amount adjustment unit 21 for converting light amount adjustment for each of the illuminations 1, 2, 3 based on a user's operation into a light amount instruction value, and each illumination 1, when the vertical epi-illumination 1 is used as guide light.
Light amount command value generating unit 22 for generating a few light amount command values
And the light amount adjustment unit 21 and the light amount command value generation unit 2
2; a selection instructing means 24 for selecting any one of the light amount command values; and a light amount command value selected by the selection instructing means 24, which is converted into electric power, and each of the illuminations 1, 2, 2 3 is provided with a power converter 25.

The selection instructing means 24 includes a selection instructing section 2 for generating a selection instructing signal for selecting one of the light intensity command values of the light intensity adjusting section 21 and the light intensity command value generating section 22.
4A and a light amount command value switch which switches the light amount command value of one of the light amount adjustment unit 21 and the light amount command value generation unit 22 to the power conversion unit 25 in response to a selection instruction signal from the selection instruction unit 24A. 24B. For example, when the stage 6 is driven by a joystick or the like, the selection instructing unit 24A may be provided at the top of the operating rod of the joystick. In addition, as a method of giving the light amount command value,
Any form of signal may be used as long as it contains information on how much the final light quantity is to be, such as an analog value based on current or voltage, a numerical value obtained by converting the value into digital, or various modulation signals such as PWM.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In the state where the light amount command value corresponding to the light amount adjusted by the light amount adjustment unit 21 is given to the power conversion unit 25 through the selection instructing unit 24 and the corresponding power is supplied to each of the illuminations 1, 2, and 3, I do.

Therefore, when guide light is required to change the observation position, first, as shown in FIG. 4, illumination for guide light is selected. That is, the selection instruction means 24 instructs the selection of the light intensity command value of the light intensity command value generation section 22 (ST11). Then, the selected light amount command value of the light amount command value generation unit 22 is converted into electric power by the power conversion unit 25, and is then given to each of the illuminations 1, 2, and 3. Now, in the light amount command value generation unit 22, for example, the vertical epi-illumination 1
Is 100%, and the other transmitted illumination 2 and oblique illumination 3 are 0% light intensity command values, respectively, so that only the vertical epi-illumination 1 is illuminated, which can be used as guide light.

Here, after the positioning is performed roughly by moving the stage 6 (ST12), the selection of the illumination for the guide light is canceled (ST13). That is, the light amount command value of the light amount adjustment unit 21 is selected by the selection instruction means 24. Then, the selected light intensity command value of the light intensity adjustment unit 21 is converted into electric power by the power conversion unit 25, and is then applied to each of the illuminations 1, 2, and 3. That is, the state is returned to the original state at the time of observation. Therefore, while viewing the actual optical image, the stage 6
The final positioning can be performed by moving
14).

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, in addition to the light amount adjusting unit 21 used at the time of observation, the light amount command values of the illuminations 1, 2, and 3 when the vertical incident illumination 1 is used as the guide light are generated. A light amount command value generating unit 22 for performing the operation, a selection instructing unit 24 for selecting one of the light amount command values of the light amount adjusting unit 21 and the light amount command value generating unit 22, and one selected by the selection instructing unit 24. And a power converter 25 that converts the light amount command value of the light into electric power and supplies the power to the illumination system 11. If each of the illuminations 3 is set to a light intensity command value of 0%, when the light intensity command value of the light intensity command value generation unit 22 is selected by the selection instruction means 24, only the vertical epi-illumination 1 is irradiated. It is possible to use this in. That is,
Since the vertical epi-illumination 1 originally provided in the optical measuring machine is used as the guide light, a conventional guide light projecting device is not required, so that the cost can be reduced.

When switching from the illumination for observation to the illumination for guide light in order to change the observation position, or when switching from the illumination for guide light to the illumination for observation, either one of the light amounts is selected by the selection instruction means 24. Since it is only necessary to select the command value, the operation procedure is extremely simple. In other words, there is no need to turn off the oblique illumination once and increase the amount of vertical epi-illumination, or to reduce the amount of vertical epi-illumination and return the oblique illumination to the original state. The operating procedure is extremely simple. Therefore, the burden on the user can be reduced.

Further, when switching from the illumination for guide light to the illumination for observation, if the light intensity command value of the light intensity adjustment unit 21 is selected by the selection instructing means 24, the light intensity command value of the selected light intensity adjustment unit 21 becomes electric power. After being converted into electric power by the conversion unit 25, the electric power is supplied to each of the illuminations 1, 2, and 3. That is,
Since the state is returned to the state at the time of the original observation, the user does not need to memorize the state of each illumination every time switching is performed.

The present invention is not limited to the configuration described in the above embodiment, but includes the following modified examples. For example, in the above embodiment, when the vertical epi-illumination 1 is used as the guide light, the light quantity command values of the illuminations 1, 2, 3 are set such that the vertical epi-illumination 1 is 100%, the other transmission illumination 2 and the oblique illumination 3 Each of the light intensity command values is set to 0%, but is not necessarily limited to this percentage. In short, it is sufficient if the irradiation position of the vertical epi-illumination 1 can be recognized.

A light intensity command value change detecting unit 31 (see a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3) for detecting a change in the light intensity command value of the light intensity adjusting unit 21 is provided. Can be automatically switched from the guide light to the light amount adjustment unit 21 by the selection instructing means 24 when a change in the light amount is detected. With this configuration, if the user adjusts the light amount of the light amount adjustment unit 21 in a state where the guide light side is selected, the selection is automatically switched to the light amount adjustment unit 21 side, and the selection of the guide light is canceled. Operation can be made unnecessary.

The light amount command value is not limited to an absolute value as in the above embodiment, but may be a value using a relative value to a reference light amount. In the above embodiment, each function is configured by a block. However, these functions can be realized by software such as a microprocessor. Further, the optical measuring device is not limited to the configuration described in the above embodiment, but includes a measuring device having a video probe attached to the lower end of the final axis (Z axis) of the three-dimensional measuring device.

[0025]

As described above, according to the optical measuring instrument of the present invention, the vertical falling illumination originally provided in the optical measuring instrument is used as the guide light without using a special guide light projecting device. In addition, the operation procedure in the conventional optical measuring instrument can be simplified, and the burden on the user can be reduced because it is not necessary to store each illumination state.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an optical measuring device.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a conventional operation procedure at the time of illumination switching in a device using vertical epi-illumination as guide light.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure at the time of switching lights in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 vertical epi-illumination 2 transmitted illumination 3 oblique illumination 11 illumination system 21 light intensity adjustment unit 22 light intensity command value generation unit 24 selection instruction means 24A selection instruction unit 24B light intensity command value switching unit 25 power amplification unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G02B 21/00-21/36 G01N 21/84

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An illumination system having a plurality of types of illumination including vertical epi-illumination, a light intensity adjustment unit for converting the light intensity adjustment for each of these illuminations into a light intensity command value, and using the vertical epi-illumination as guide light. A light amount command value generating unit for generating a light amount command value for each illumination; a selection instructing unit for selecting and instructing one of the light amount adjusting unit and the light amount command value generating unit; And a power conversion unit for converting any one of the light amount command values into electric power and applying the electric power to each of the illuminations. 2. A lighting device for an optical measuring device according to claim 1, wherein said selection instructing means selects and instructs one of said light intensity adjusting unit and said light intensity command value generating unit. And a light amount command that is switched in response to a selection instruction signal from the selection instruction unit and that supplies a light amount command value of one of the light amount adjustment unit and the light amount command value generation unit to the power conversion unit. And a value switching unit.