JP3117870B2 - microscope - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lens which is used in contact with or close to a minute subject to be observed, irradiates the subject with lamp light, and allows an image captured by a CCD camera to be observed on a monitor screen. Through a microscope configured to be magnified through.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a microscope of this type has been disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-6984.
2. Description of the Related Art A magnifying observation apparatus (microscope) is known in which a CCD as a solid-state imaging device, a control circuit board for processing image signals of the CCD, and a light source for irradiating a subject are integrated into a main body case.

[0003] In the conventional microscope as described above, a lamp unit using several lamps having a rated voltage of about 2.5 V is incorporated as a light source. However, it is difficult to illuminate the subject with a sufficient amount of light, and it is difficult to display a clear image on a monitor. Therefore, conventionally, a voltage about 20% higher than the rated voltage is applied to the lamp so that the brightness is about twice as high.

However, in the case of the above-mentioned prior art, even if the above-mentioned contrivances are added, the capacity of the lamp itself is limited, and the number of lamps must be increased in order to be able to be incorporated compactly in the main body case. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain a good and clear monitor image.
As another prior art, Japanese Patent Application No. 5-266179 proposes a device using an LED as a light source. However, in this case as well, there remains a problem in the amount of light as in the above-described prior art.

Therefore, as a result of the inventor's intensive studies, it has been found that the light source for illuminating an object has a sufficient amount of light necessary and yet can be easily incorporated into a main body case formed in a small and compact size. He has come to recall the use of a halogen lamp as a light source.

[0006]

However, the halogen lamp is a conventional incandescent bulb or L-shaped lamp employed in the prior art.
The calorific value is much larger than that of an ED or the like, and the temperature inside the lamp rises to around 200 ° C. during lighting. For this reason,
When the halogen lamp is integrated into the main body case in order to reduce the size and weight of the product, a new problem arises in that the temperature inside the main body case is significantly increased.

The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and uses a halogen lamp as a light source in order to minimize the size of the main body case, and further transfers heat generated by the halogen lamp to the outside of the main body case. It is an object of the present invention to provide a microscope having a structure for effectively discharging.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a microscope in which a solid-state imaging device, a control circuit board thereof, and a light source for illuminating a subject are integrally provided in a main body case. While being constituted by a halogen lamp, a cooling fan for discharging heat generated from the halogen lamp to the outside is provided in the main body case,
An exhaust port is formed at a main body case portion downstream of the cooling fan in the wind direction. In this case, the cooling fan is preferably arranged near the halogen lamp.

When the solid-state image pickup device, the control circuit board, the halogen lamp and the cooling fan are integrally housed in the main body case as described above, the main body case is handy and has excellent handleability. It is necessary to reduce the size of the cooling fan and enhance the heat dissipation effect in the main body case.However, in order to maintain a necessary and sufficient heat dissipation, for example, when a propeller fan is used as the cooling fan, a certain size is required. Is required.

When the main body case is provided with air inlets for smoothing the flow of the cooling air flow generated by the cooling fan, the air inlets and the air outlets are used to enhance the appearance and commerciality of the product. It is necessary to make the design as small as possible in relation to the strength of the body case constituting the outer shell of the microscope.

Therefore, in the present invention, a shielding rib for preventing a backflow of the cooling air flow is formed in the main body case so as to surround the cooling fan. In addition, the periphery of the halogen lamp is surrounded by a heat shield plate, and a rectifying plate for rectifying a cooling air flow from a portion of the heat shield plate near the halogen lamp toward the cooling fan, that is, a so-called air guide is extended. .

[0012]

According to the above configuration, since a halogen lamp is used, it is possible to achieve a reduction in size and weight even with a large amount of light. Further, since the cooling fan is housed in the main body case, the heat of the halogen lamp is effectively discharged to the outside, and the temperature rise inside the main body can be suppressed as much as possible.

Further, according to the configuration in which the cooling fan is surrounded by the shielding rib, sufficient cooling performance can be obtained without using a cooling fan having a large blast capacity, and a constant air volume can be reduced. Can be kept. Moreover, the diameter of the exhaust port can be made smaller than the diameter of the cooling fan.

Further, in a configuration in which the periphery of the halogen lamp is surrounded by a heat shield plate, the transfer of heat of the halogen lamp to the main body case generally made of resin is largely suppressed. By providing the rectifier plate in the halogen lamp unit, heat generated in the halogen lamp unit can be effectively guided to the cooling fan, and heat stagnation in the lamp unit can be eliminated.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show the mechanical configuration of the microscope according to the present embodiment. In these figures,
1 is a main body case made of synthetic resin, which is configured to be large enough to be grasped with one hand and handled without difficulty. In the main body case, a solid-state imaging device, a CCD camera 2 as a control circuit board for the solid-state imaging device, a halogen lamp unit 3 as a light source for subject illumination, and a cooling fan 4 are integrally provided.

The CCD camera 2 is disposed along the axis of the main body case 1, and is connected to a monitor via a cable (both not shown). The halogen lamp unit 3 has a halogen lamp 3a, a heat-insulating filter 3b, a condenser lens 3c, and an optical fiber cable 3d arranged in that order coaxially from the rear end of the main body case 1 to the front, and is arranged in the upper half of the main body case 1. Have been. Further, the upper surface of the halogen lamp 3a is in close proximity to the top surface 1a of the main body case 1 due to such an arrangement.

The light of the halogen lamp 3a is condensed by the condenser lens 3c via the heat-insulating filter 2b, and irradiates the CCD camera 2 through the optical fiber cable 3d. The subject captured by the CCD camera 2 is enlarged through the lens and can be observed on a monitor.

The cooling fan 4 comprises a propeller fan,
This is provided to discharge heat generated from the halogen lamp 3a to the outside, and is disposed at a rear end of the main body case 1 at an oblique rear portion of the halogen lamp 3a. Further, an exhaust port 5 is formed in a rear wall 1b of the main body case 1, which is located forward of the cooling fan 1 in the air blowing direction.

FIG. 3 shows the top surface 1a of the main body case after the cooling fan 4 is attached to the position facing the exhaust port 5 and before the improvement where the cooling fan 4 is not attached (the portion indicated by the hatched cross in FIG. 1). The result of measuring the temperature rise over time is shown in the graph. Table 1 below shows FIG.
And the corresponding numerical results.

When the cooling fan 4 arranged at the above position is driven, a cooling air flow is generated in the main body case 1 as shown by an arrow A, and the heat generated by the halogen lamp 3a is discharged to the outside. Is done. Then, as is clear from the graph of FIG. 3, it was found that the provision of the cooling fan 4 can reduce the temperature rise of the top surface 1a of the main body case by approximately 5 ° C. as compared with before the improvement.

[0021]

[Table 1]

Returning to FIGS. 1 and 2, the exhaust port 5 is formed to have a smaller diameter than the cooling fan 4. In addition, a suction port 6 for the cooling airflow generated by the cooling fan 4 is formed on the front end side of the main case lower wall 1c. Further, shielding ribs 7 are provided around the cooling fan 4, specifically, on the upper and both sides (cross-hatched portions in FIG. 2). The cooling air flow is prevented from flowing backward.

By providing the shielding ribs 7 as described above, the external air sucked into the main body case 1 from the suction port 6 is discharged from the cooling fan 4 through the lower part in the main body case as shown by an arrow B. Form a wind current. In this case, the shielding rib 7 prevents wind from flowing into the side walls 8a of the support plate 8 supporting the cooling fan 4 from a lower portion in the main body case due to a negative pressure generated when the cooling fan 4 is driven, and
The airflow is effectively guided to the cooling fan 4.

The above-mentioned halogen lamp unit 3 is provided with a cover 9 as a heat shielding plate surrounding the periphery of the halogen lamp 3a. The temperature rise due to the surface 1a being heated by the halogen lamp 3a is minimized.

A rectifying plate 10 that extends downward toward the cooling fan 4 extends from an opposing portion near the halogen lamp at the lower end of the lower side of the cover 9. A cooling airflow indicated by C is formed, and the heat of the halogen lamp 3a is discharged by this airflow to prevent the heat from staying inside the halogen lamp unit 3.

FIG. 4 shows the top surface 1a of the main body case after the improvement in which the cover 9 is provided on the halogen lamp 3a and the rectifying plate 10 is provided and before the improvement is not provided.
The result of measuring the temperature rise over time is shown in the graph. Table 2 below shows numerical results corresponding to the graph shown in FIG.

[0027]

[Table 2]

In this case, as is apparent from the graph of FIG. 4, it has been found that the temperature rise of the top surface 1a of the main body case can be reduced by about 10 to 12 ° C. as compared with before the improvement.

FIG. 5 shows the temperature rise of the top surface 1a of the main body case 1 after the improvement by providing the above-described shielding ribs 7 and before the improvement without these components, in addition to the provision of the cover 9 and the rectifying plate 10. Is shown in the form of a graph. Table 3 below shows numerical results corresponding to the graph shown in FIG.

[0030]

[Table 3]

In this case, as is apparent from the graph of FIG. 5, it has been found that the temperature rise of the top surface 1a of the main body case can be reduced by about 18 to 20 ° C. as compared with before the improvement.

[0032]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the light source is constituted by a halogen lamp, it is possible to achieve a reduction in size and weight while having a large amount of light. In addition, a cooling fan for discharging heat generated from the halogen lamp to the outside
In addition, since the exhaust port is provided downstream of the cooling fan in the wind direction, the heat of the halogen lamp is effectively discharged to the outside, and the rise in the temperature inside the main body can be suppressed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the main body case is provided with an inlet for the cooling air flow generated by the cooling fan, and the cooling fan is provided in the main body case with a shielding rib for preventing the backflow of the cooling air flow. Since it is formed so as to surround it, it is possible to achieve sufficient cooling performance without using a cooling fan having a large draft capacity.
In addition, by forming the diameter of the exhaust port smaller than the diameter of the cooling fan, it is possible to maintain a constant air volume and enhance the cooling effect without impairing the appearance.

According to the third aspect, the periphery of the halogen lamp is surrounded by a heat shield plate, that is, the halogen lamp is used in a lamp unit, and a cooling air flow is directed from a portion of the heat shield plate near the halogen lamp toward the cooling fan. Since the rectifying plate for rectifying is extended,
The heat generated in the halogen lamp unit can be effectively guided to the cooling fan, and the heat stagnation in the lamp unit can be eliminated.

By combining the features of claims 2 and 3, the transfer of heat of the halogen lamp to the main body case generally made of resin can be further suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of a main part showing the inside of a main body case of a microscope according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a portion corresponding to a cutting line AA in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a result of measuring a temperature rise of a top surface of a main body case over time after the cooling fan is installed and before the improvement.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the results of measuring the temperature rise of the top surface of the main body case over time before and after the improvement provided with the cover and the current plate;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the results of measuring the temperature rise of the top surface of the main body case over time after the improvement in which the cover, the current plate, and the shielding rib are provided, and before the improvement.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body case 1a Top surface 2 CCD camera 3 Halogen lamp unit 3a Halogen lamp 3b Heat insulation filter 3c Condenser lens 3d Optical fiber cable 4 Cooling fan 5 Exhaust port 6 Suction port 7 Shielding rib 8a Side wall section 9 Cover 10 Rectifying plate

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A microscope in which a solid-state imaging device, a control circuit board thereof, and a light source for illuminating an object are integrally provided in a main body case, wherein the light source is constituted by a halogen lamp, and the main body case is provided with the halogen lamp. A cooling fan for discharging heat generated from the cooling device to the outside, and an exhaust port formed in a main body case downstream of the cooling fan in the direction of blast. 2. A microscope in which a solid-state imaging device, a control circuit board thereof, and a light source for illuminating a subject are integrally provided in a main body case, wherein the light source is constituted by a halogen lamp, and the main body case is provided with the halogen lamp. A cooling fan for discharging heat generated from the outside to the outside, and a suction port of a cooling air flow generated by the cooling fan in the main body case, and a diameter of the cooling fan is formed smaller than a diameter of the cooling fan. And an exhaust port, and
A microscope, wherein a shielding rib for preventing a backflow of a cooling air flow is formed in the main body case so as to surround the cooling fan. 3. A microscope in which a solid-state imaging device, a control circuit board thereof, and a light source for illuminating a subject are integrally provided in a main body case, wherein the light source is constituted by a halogen lamp, and the main body case is provided with the halogen lamp. A cooling fan for discharging heat generated from the outside to the outside is provided, an exhaust port is formed in a main body case portion on the downstream side in the direction of blast of the cooling fan, and the periphery of the halogen lamp is surrounded by a heat shield plate. And a rectifying plate for rectifying the cooling air flow from a portion of the heat shield plate near the halogen lamp toward the cooling fan.