JP3497229B2 - Microscope system - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is based on a first optical unit which can be automatically controlled based on the magnification of a microscope optical system and various microscope methods, and on the basis of the magnification of a microscope optical system and various microscope methods. It relates to a microscope system with a second optical unit that requires manual selection or adjustment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a microscope, the optical performance of the objective lens itself is a major factor in determining the optical performance of the microscope. However, unless the illumination light incident on the objective lens is appropriate, the performance of the objective lens cannot be fully utilized. Therefore, it is necessary to set the optical member so that the illumination light is favorably incident on the objective lens. Similarly, when realizing a desired microscopic method, good microscopic observation cannot be performed unless various optical members are properly combined. Therefore, the conventional automated microscope apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 59-172617 and 63-133115.
It is well known in Japanese Patent Publication No.

[0003]

However, any of the known examples is directed only to the electrically controllable optical member, and cannot be adapted to the flexible microscope structure desired by the observer. That is, an electrically controllable optical member,
When an observer selects an optical member that cannot be electrically controlled according to the purpose and performs microscopic observation, the observer must determine necessary adjustments.

Further, centering adjustment of a plurality of optical members which cannot be completely automated due to mechanical eccentricity and error are not targets of automation, and the observer must also judge and adjust this work.

From the above description, in the known automatic microscope apparatus, the knowledge of the observer is indispensable for obtaining an appropriate observation state, and there is a possibility that an inappropriate observation may be performed due to an adjustment error.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and in addition to the centering adjustment, in a flexible microscope configuration desired by an observer, a microscope system that enables anyone to easily set an appropriate observation state is provided. The purpose is to provide.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention corresponding to claim 1 is provided with a plurality of optical units selected on the basis of the magnification of a microscope optical system and various spectroscopic methods. In the microscope system for automatically controlling the electrically controllable optical unit of the optical unit according to the magnification of the microscope optical system and various spectroscopic methods, a designating unit for designating the magnification of the microscope optical system and various spectroscopic methods is provided. , Operation items for manually selecting or adjusting an optical unit that cannot be electrically controlled among the plurality of optical units based on the magnification of the microscope optical system and various spectroscopic methods, and operation guide data of the operating method. The stored storage means and the optical unit that cannot be electrically controlled corresponding to the magnification of the microscope optical system designated by the designation means and various spectroscopic methods. Reading means for reading out the operation guide data from the storage means is a microscope system characterized by comprising a display means for displaying the operation guide data read by the reading unit. In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the display means automatically displays operation guide data of an optical unit that cannot be electrically controlled. Is.

[0008]

According to the present invention, which corresponds to claims 1 to 3 , the second optical unit is adapted to manually select or adjust by designating the magnification of the microscope optical system and various spectroscopic methods by the designating means. Since the operation guide data regarding the unit is read from the storage means and displayed on the display means, not only the centering adjustment but also the flexible microscope configuration desired by the observer can be easily set to an appropriate observation state by anyone. .

[0009]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a microscope system according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the optical system of the microscope.

The optical system in the microscope apparatus of this embodiment is
For example, the light from the transillumination light source 1 including a halogen lamp is condensed by the collector lens 2 and is incident on the transmissive filter unit 3.

The transmission filter unit 3 is composed of a plurality of ND filters for adjusting the brightness without changing the color temperature of the transmission illumination light source 1, and a plurality of correction filters for performing color correction. An arbitrary filter can be selectively inserted into and removed from the optical path of the illumination optical system.

The illumination light transmitted through the transmission filter unit 3 is observed from below the sample stage 8 through the transmission field stop 4, the transmission aperture stop 5, the condenser optical element unit 6, and the condenser top lens unit 7 on the stage. Illuminate the sample S.

The condenser optical element unit 6 comprises a plurality of units 6a to 6c selectively inserted in the optical path, and the condenser top lens unit 7 has a plurality of units 7a and 7b selectively inserted in the optical path. Consists of. Further, the sample stage 8 can move the observation sample S two-dimensionally in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis and can move in the optical axis direction for focusing. Transmission aperture stop 5,
The condenser optical element unit 6 and the condenser top lens unit 7 constitute a condenser 40.

A plurality of objective lenses 9a to 9c composed of a plurality of units are held by a revolver 10 above the sample stage 8. The revolver 10 is constructed so that the objective lens to be inserted on the optical axis in the observation optical path can be exchanged by its rotation. The revolver 10 is rotatably attached to, for example, the tip of an arm of a microscope, and a cube unit 11 is arranged on the observation optical path of the tip of the arm. The cube unit 11 is composed of a plurality of units 11a to 11c which are selectively inserted by various spectroscopic methods.
The light transmitted through the cube unit 11 is split into two directions by the beam splitter 12, and one light is guided to the eyepiece lens 14 via the beam splitter 13. The beam splitters 12 and 13 can be inserted into and removed from the optical path.

Further, the light from the epi-illumination light source 15 such as a mercury lamp is reflected by an epi-illumination filter unit 16, an epi-illumination shutter 17, an epi-illumination field stop 18, and an epi-illumination aperture stop 1.
The light enters the unit inserted into the optical path of the cube unit 11 via 9 and is reflected to the observation sample S side to perform epi-illumination.

The epi-illumination filter unit 16 is composed of a plurality of ND filters for adjusting brightness without changing the color temperature of the epi-illumination light source 15 and a plurality of correction filters for color correction. Composed.

On the other hand, the other light branched by the beam splitter 12 inserted on the observation light path is guided to the light path for photography. A beam splitter 20 is provided so as to be freely inserted into and removed from an optical path for photography, and one of the beams branched by the beam splitter 20 inserted in the optical path is incident on a light receiving element 21 for focus detection through an imaging lens. is doing. The focus detection light receiving element 21 is for measuring the amount of light for focus detection.

The other light split by the beam splitter 20 in the optical path for photography is incident on the beam splitter 23 inserted in the optical path via a zoom lens 22 for arbitrarily adjusting the magnification for photography. The beam splitter 23 is insertable into and removable from the optical path, and the light reflected by the beam splitter 23 inserted in the optical path is further incident on another beam splitter 24 and branched in two directions. The beam splitter 24 can also be inserted into and removed from the optical path. The light reflected by the beam splitter 24 inserted in the optical path is incident on the photographic light-receiving element 25. The photographic light-receiving element 25 is an element for measuring the exposure time of photography. Then, with the beam splitter 24 removed from the optical path, the beam splitter 2
The light reflected by 3 is incident on a camera 27 containing a film for photography through a photography shutter 26.

Next, the configuration of the control system in the microscope system of this embodiment will be described. A photography control section 32, an AF control section 33, a frame control section 34, a transmission filter control section 35, a transmission visual field diaphragm control section for an operation panel device 30 that manages the operation of the entire device via a dedicated serial bus 31. 36, condenser control unit 37, epi-illumination field stop control unit 38, epi-illumination filter control unit 3
9 are connected to each other.

The photography control section 32 drives and controls the beam splitters 12, 20, and 24 to be inserted into and removed from the optical path, and drives and controls the zoom lens 22.
The arithmetic processing for calculating the photo-taking time from the photometric value of the photo-receiving element 25, the opening / closing drive control of the photo-taking shutter, and the film winding and rewinding control of the camera 27 are performed.

The AF control unit 33 performs a predetermined focus calculation based on the data from the focus detection light receiving element 21, and drives the sample stage 8 according to the calculation result to perform automatic focus detection.

The frame controller 34 drives and controls the transillumination light source 1, the epi-illumination light source 15, the revolver 10, the cube unit 11, and the epi-illumination shutter 17.

The transmission filter control unit 35 drives and controls the transmission filter unit 3, and the transmission field stop control unit 36 drives and controls the transmission field stop 4. The condenser control unit 37 drives and controls the condenser optical element unit 6, the condenser top lens unit 7, and the transmission aperture stop 5. The epi-illumination field stop control unit 38 controls the epi-field stop 1
8. Drive and control the incident aperture stop 19. The epi-illumination filter controller 39 drives and controls the epi-illumination filter unit 16.

Each of the control units 32 to 39 has the circuit configuration shown in FIG. That is, each control unit includes the CPU circuit 41 and the CPU circuit 4
A drive circuit 42 for driving an optical unit to be controlled by a command from 1. a position detection circuit 43 that detects the position of the optical unit to be controlled and notifies the CPU circuit 41 of the position;
Dedicated silicon for connecting the circuit 41 and the dedicated serial bus 31
Al communication interface circuit (dedicated serial communication I /
F circuit) 44 and other peripheral circuits (not shown ) . In the CPU circuit 41, a CPU (central processing unit) 45 is connected to a ROM 46 and a RAM 47 via a CPU bus 48, a program describing each control content is stored in the ROM 46, and data for control calculation is stored in the RAM 47. It is stored. And each control section 32 ~
39 to the operation panel device 3 via the dedicated serial bus 31
A control instruction is sent from 0, and the CPU 45 causes the ROM 46 to
By operating in accordance with the above program, the control of the optical unit etc. that is in charge of each is performed.

FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of the operation panel device (corresponding to the designation means of the present invention) 30. Operation panel device 3
Reference numeral 0 denotes a ROM (corresponding to the storage means of the present invention) to a CPU (corresponding to the reading means of the present invention) 45 via an internal bus 48.
46, RAM 47, font data ROM 103, auxiliary storage device 104, display memory 105, etc. are connected.

The ROM 46 has operation items for an optical unit based on the magnification of the microscope optical system and various microscopic methods (which requires manual selection or adjustment based on the magnification of the microscopic optical system and various microscopic methods). , A memory management program that stores operation guide data such as an operation method, a program that describes control contents, and a procedure that configures and manages a control instruction memory, which will be described later, and the stored content of the control instruction memory. An editing program that describes the procedure for editing and an instruction reproducing program that reproduces the stored contents are stored. The RAM 47 stores various data for control calculation, and in particular, the control instruction storage memory is constructed. The font data ROM 103 stores font data such as English, Japanese, special figures and special characters. The auxiliary storage device 104 is configured to be able to write information in an information storage medium such as an IC card. The display memory 105 is a display device 1 such as an operation guide.
The guidance screen for outputting to 09 is stored.

The CPU 45 also uses the dedicated serial communication interface circuit 44 to provide the dedicated serial bus 31.
Is also connected to the remote control host device 108 including a personal computer or the like via the interface circuit 107.

On the other hand, the guidance screen stored in the display memory 105 is output to the display device 109 (corresponding to the display means of the present invention) to provide the observer with a screen for operation input. Instructions are input to the screen displayed on the display device 109 from an operation instruction member 110 including a touch panel, a jog dial, a dedicated switch and the like. The information instructed and input from the operation instructing member 110 is detected by the detection circuit 111 and input to the CPU 45. Also,
A sound source 112 that outputs a buzzer sound is connected to the CPU 45.

Next, a storage table for storing the characteristics of the optical member will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 shows an objective lens data table, which includes an objective identification number, objective name, objective magnification, objective attribute, numerical aperture, focal length [mm], working distance [mm], transmitted bright field observation condition,
Transmission dark field observation conditions, transmission differential interference observation conditions, transmission phase difference observation conditions, transmission polarization observation conditions, episcopic bright field observation conditions,
The epi-illumination dark-field observation conditions, epi-illumination differential interference observation conditions, and epi-illumination fluorescence observation conditions are stored.Transmission bright-field observation conditions, transmission dark-field observation conditions, transmission differential interference observation conditions, transmission phase-contrast observation conditions, transmission polarization observation conditions If the observation is possible / impossible and possible, the combination condition of the condenser is stored, and the episcopic bright-field observation condition, epi-illumination dark-field observation condition, epi-illumination differential interference observation condition, and epi-illumination fluorescence observation condition are If possible, the combination conditions of the cube are stored.

FIG. 6 shows an optical element table of the condenser 40, in which an optical element identification ID and an optical element name are stored. FIG. 7 shows a top lens table of the condenser 40, which stores a top lens identification ID, a top lens name, a focal length [mm], and a field stop projection magnification.

FIG. 8 shows a cube table in which a cube identification ID and a cube name are stored. FIG. 9 shows a filter table in which a filter identification ID, a filter name, and a transmittance are stored.

The storage tables described above are stored in the ROM 46 of the operation panel device 30 shown in FIG. 3 or the auxiliary storage device 10.
4 and is read out by the CPU 45 as needed at the time of data setting of the optical member and various controls.

10 to 12 are display examples of the display device 109 of the data setting screen of the objective lens 9 mounted at the mounting first hole position of the revolver 10 from the table of each optical member shown in FIGS. 5 to 9. Is shown. FIG. 10 is a main screen showing the data setting state of all optical members, which has the following areas. Upper layer selection switch (S
W) area 500, setting status display area 507, and SW group area 508 for designating an initial setting operation for each unit. The upper layer selection SW area 500 is provided with a main screen selection SW 501, a photography setting selection SW 502, an electric part operation selection SW 503, an auto focus setting operation selection SW 504, an initial setting selection SW 505, and other setting selection SW 506. All of these selection SWs are displayed on the screen and can be selected from the screens of any hierarchy. The main screen is provided with a basic setting switch for microscope observation, and in normal use, the microscope system can be controlled only by the main screen.

In the setting status display area 507, the current setting status of the microscope system, specifically, a cube (CUBE) is displayed.
Setting display 55a, revolver (REVO) setting display 55b, transmission filter unit (EPI-FC) setting display 55c, epi-filter unit (DIA-FC) setting display 55d, epi-filter Setting state display section 55 of control section (UCD)
e is displayed. This display content matches the arrangement position of each optical member in the unit and the optical name of the member selected and set from each optical member table shown in FIGS. 5 to 9.

In the SW group area 508, a cube setting selection SW 56a, a revolver setting selection SW 56b, an epi-illumination filter control section setting selection SW 56c, a transmission filter unit setting selection SW 56d, and an epi-illumination filter unit setting selection SW 56e are displayed.

Next, an example of the setting method will be described. First, the current setting state of the optical member indicates the setting state display portion 55a.
Since the data is displayed in ~ 55e, the data setting status of all optical members can be confirmed at a glance in FIG.

Next, when the setting selection SW 56a to 56e are pushed down, the display screen is switched as shown in FIG. In this case, the current objective lens data setting contents corresponding to the mounting position of the revolver 10 and the objective lens selection switches 57a to 57g corresponding to the mounting position of the revolver 10 are displayed. When the switch 57a is pressed down in the state of FIG. 11, the display switches to the objective lens data selection setting screen display as shown in FIG.

In this case, the list of objective lens tables and the line cursor shown in FIG. 5 are displayed on the scroll screen 59. The screen scrolling operation is performed by the operation instruction member 50 such as a jog dial. This scrolling brings the cursor to the target objective lens name position and depresses the selection confirmation switch 58a, whereby the objective lens data setting at the relevant revolver position is completed. In terms of processing, the objective identification number in FIG.
It will be stored in AM 47 .

By depressing the switch 57a in the state of FIG. 12, the display is switched to the display of FIG. 11 again, and the objective lens data setting of another revolver hole mounting position can be continued.

By performing the same data setting operation as in FIGS. 10 to 12 on other optical members, the data setting of the objective lens, the condenser optical element, the condenser top lens, the cube, and the transmission / reflection filter is completed. .
When the setting abandon switch 58b is pressed on the display screens of FIGS. 11 and 12, the setting operation is stopped and the screen moves to the upper screen.

The operation guide is described by a known ASCII code or JIS code or a unique unique font identification number, and the ROM 4 of the operation panel device 30.
6 or the auxiliary storage device 104.

By storing the storage table for storing the characteristics of the optical members and the operation guide in the auxiliary storage device 104, not only the addition of optical members and the polarization of the operation guide contents later become easy, but also various operations are possible. It can easily respond to the user's request.

Next, how the spectroscopic switching control is performed when all the optical members in the optical system shown in FIG. 1 can be electrically controlled will be described with reference to FIG. A case will be described as an example. As a general outline, it is realized by outputting a control instruction of the optical member from the operation panel device 30 to the control units 29 to 36.

In the process of S1, the observer selects the speculum method (transmission phase difference spectroscope) via the operation panel device 30. S
In the process of 2, the AF control unit 33 is instructed to control the AF operation to be temporarily stopped before the optical path shifts to the unstable state. In the process of S3, when the epi-illumination system observation is currently being performed, a control instruction for inserting the epi-illumination shutter into the optical path and cutting off the epi-illumination is output to the frame controller 34. Further, when the sample is irradiated with the transmitted illumination light, a light-shielding plate is attached to the transmission filter unit 3 for the purpose of not irradiating the sample with extra light except during observation. Is inserted into the optical path and a control instruction to cut off the transmitted illumination is transmitted to the transmission filter control unit
Output to.

In the processing of S4, when the objective lens is switched, the stage 8 is lowered because the objective lens does not come into contact with the sample due to the rotation of the revolver 10, so that a sufficient distance between the objective lens and the sample S is secured. In this way, a control instruction is output to the AF control unit 33 .

When it is necessary to switch the objective lens, when the objective lens currently located in the optical path is set to the transmission phase difference spectroscopic inspection disabled in the objective lens table of FIG. 5 (a phase plate is provided in the objective lens). Not) or the required optical element is not mounted in the capacitor.

The processes of S2 to S4 do not necessarily have to be executed sequentially, and they may be simultaneously controlled in order to shorten the control time. Next, in the processing of S5, when it is necessary to switch the objective lens, it is currently mounted on the revolver 10 and is set to be spectroscopically possible by the objective lens table of FIG. 5, and is defined as necessary. An objective lens that satisfies the condition that the optical element is mounted in the condenser optical element unit 6 is obtained, and a control instruction to insert the objective lens into the optical path is output to the frame control unit 34 by rotating the revolver 10.

In the processing of S6, an instruction to control insertion of the condenser top lens and the optical element (ring slit) into the optical path designated by the transmission phase difference observation condition of the objective lens table of FIG. To do. Further, the transmission aperture stop diameter das is a known calculation formula (1).
Obtained from the equation, and outputs the opening / closing control instruction of the aperture stop to the condenser control unit 37 in the same manner as described above.

Das = 2 × numerical aperture of objective lens × focal length of condenser top lens × Kas [mm] (1)
The numerical aperture of the objective lens in the equation (1) is obtained from the objective lens table of FIG. 5, and the focal length of the condenser top lens is obtained from the condenser top lens table of FIG.

The correction coefficient Kas is a correction coefficient for the pupil diameter obtained by the first to third terms on the right side of the equation (1), and generally the contrast is better when it is narrowed down slightly from the pupil diameter of the objective lens. It is said that an image can be obtained, but in any case, it often depends on the sample S.

In the processing of S7, the transmission field stop diameter dfs is obtained by the known calculation formula (2), and the opening / closing control instruction of the field stop of the transmission field stop control unit 36 is output. dfs = field number of eyepiece / (objective magnification × zoom magnification × projection magnification of field stop) × Kfs (2) The objective magnification in the formula (2) is calculated from the objective lens table of FIG. The projection magnification of the field stop is obtained from the condenser top lens table of FIG.

The field of view of the eyepiece lens is generally 2
It can be set to a variable value by setting 6.5 mm or a separate eyepiece lens table and setting data in the same format as the setting of other optical members.

Kfs is a coefficient for correcting the circumscribed diameter of the field of view which is logically obtained by the calculation of the first term on the right side of the equation (2) in the case where the field of view is applied due to eccentricity and error. By storing the correction coefficient Kfs in the RAM 47 corresponding to the objective lens, it is not necessary to adjust the field stop each time the objective lens is switched.

In the processing of S8, the illuminance L on the observation image plane of the observation light that has passed through the eyepiece lens 14 is obtained by the well-known calculation formula (3), and the ND that keeps the illuminance L constant is obtained.
The combination of filters is obtained, and an instruction to insert / remove the ND filter into / from the optical path is output to the transmission field stop control unit 36. The details are described in JP-A-59-172617.

L = LA × ND × AS × OB × ZOOM × Bi × KND [lx] (3) where LA: reference illuminance ND: brightness ratio when no ND filter is 1 AS: objective lens Brightness ratio OB depending on the aperture diameter when the numerical aperture of the pupil diameter is set to 1: OBOM: Zoom ratio 1 based on the numerical aperture and magnification of the objective lens when the brightness of the reference objective lens is set to 1 Brightness ratio by zoom magnification when 1 is set to 1: Bi: Brightness ratio when 1 when 100% of the observation light reaches the observation image plane KND: Coefficient for correcting the brightness manually In the processing of S9, a control instruction to insert the cube position (empty, cube) required for performing the transmission phase contrast microscopy into the optical path is output to the frame control unit 34.

The processing of S5 to S9 does not necessarily have to be executed sequentially. Next, in the process of S10, when the stage retract control is performed in the process of S4 described above, a control instruction for returning to the position before the retract is output to the AF control unit 33. Further, in the processing of S11, when the light blocking control of the transmitted illumination is performed by inserting the light path of the light blocking plate in the processing of S3 described above, the light blocking plate is removed from the optical path, and the sample S
A control instruction to irradiate the transmission illumination light is output to the transmission filter control unit 35.

The processing of S10 and S11 does not necessarily have to be executed sequentially. Finally, S1
By outputting a control instruction for restarting the AF operation interrupted in the process of 2 to the AF control unit 33, a series of transmission phase difference spectroscopic switching control is completed, and each optical member is controlled to an appropriate state, Good transmission phase difference observation can be performed. However, it is a prerequisite that the field stop and the retardation ring, which will be described later, are properly centered.

Next, as an embodiment of the present invention, an example of setting an appropriate observation state in the case where there is an optical member that cannot be electrically controlled without being electrically controlled as in the above-described embodiments, The case of switching the transmission phase difference microscope will be described as an example.

In the process of S1, the observer selects the speculum method (transmission phase difference spectroscope) via the operation panel device 30.
Next, if there is an electrically controllable optical member, the processing is executed according to the processing of S1 to S12 in FIG. Then, the operation guide of the optical member that cannot be electrically controlled is automatically displayed on the display device 109 and the operation guide is displayed to the observer, so that the observer can easily and interactively set the appropriate observation state.

For example, when the insertion / removal of the objective lens into / from the optical path cannot be electrically controlled, and the objective lens which is currently incapable of transmission phase contrast microscopy is located in the optical path, the display device 109 is shown in FIG. The operation guide is displayed, the operation guide is displayed to the observer, the revolver 10 is rotated to the observer, and the objective lens is positioned in the optical path. Then, when the work is completed, the confirmation switch 60 is pushed down to proceed to the next step. The AF controller 33 controls the stage 8
If it is possible to electrically control up and down, the retracting / returning control of the position of the stage 8 is automatically performed before and after this operation.

For example, when the optical member in the condenser cannot be electrically controlled, the operation guide shown in FIG. 15 is displayed on the display device 109 and the observer positions the optical member in the optical path. When the work is completed, the confirmation switch 60 is pushed down to proceed to the next step.

When the device can confirm that the current optical member is in the proper position, the operation guide is naturally not displayed on the display device 109. For example, when the transmission field diaphragm 4 cannot be electrically controlled, the operation guide shown in FIG. 16 is displayed on the display device 109, and the diaphragm diameter is adjusted to be suitable for the observer. When the work is completed, the confirmation switch 60 is pushed down to proceed to the next step. The appropriate aperture diameter is the diameter obtained by the equation (2) in the process of S7 described above.

For example, when the transmission filter cannot be electrically controlled and the ND filter is mounted, a combination of ND filters for keeping the brightness of the observation image plane constant is shown in FIG. Display device 1 in format
09, and the observer is controlled to insert and remove the N filter. Then, when the work is completed, the confirmation switch 60 is pushed down to proceed to the next step. If the device can confirm that the current optical member is present at an appropriate position, this operation guide is not displayed.

For example, the cube cannot be electrically controlled,
If it is not located in the proper optical path, the operation guide shown in FIG. 18 is displayed on the display device 109, and the observer positions the cube in the optical path. When the work is completed, the confirmation switch 60 is pushed down to proceed to the next step.

As described above, by performing the same processing as that of the typical operation guide example on other optical members which cannot be electrically controlled, the setting can be surely performed without erroneous target environmental conditions. Is possible. Also,
When the observer wants to know the optimum observation condition in the current observation state without switching the speculum method, the confirmation adjustment work by the operation guide display according to the processing flow of FIG. 13 and the confirmation adjustment such as the centering described below. It is realized by work.

Next, an embodiment applied to an example in which automatic adjustment is relatively difficult will be described. Typical examples that cannot be automatically adjusted include centering of the optical axis and centering of the phase difference ring slit. Also, in order to make full use of the performance of the objective lens, it is necessary to select an appropriate cover glass, spot immersion oil in the case of an oil immersion objective lens, and adjust the correction ring in the case of an objective lens with a correction ring. is there. This adjustment is an inconvenient operation for the observer, which is indispensable for proper observation, and the adjustment method is easy to forget.

Therefore, by displaying the following operation guide example, the adjustment item and the adjustment method are clarified, and an appropriate observation condition can be obtained. In addition, the centering of the phase difference ring slit is an adjustment item necessary only for observation of the transmission phase difference, and is an item requiring spotting of immersion oil only on the oil immersion objective lens. Only the adjustment items are displayed on the display device 109.
Therefore, the current microscopic method and objective lens position stored in the RAM 47, the objective lens table item in FIG. 5, and the like are used as necessary.

FIG. 19 shows a state in which adjustment items required in the current observation state (for example, transmission phase difference observation) are displayed on the display device 109 by the operation of the observer. This operation guide allows the observer to see at a glance which adjustment items must be performed by the observer. Further, by depressing the switches 61a to 61d, a detailed guide of how to adjust each item can be displayed.
9 is displayed.

FIG. 20 shows a display example of the optical axis centering adjustment by the transmission field stop. To explain this point, first, the field stop is narrowed down and adjusted so that the field stop image is located at the center of the field. Next, the field stop is opened / closed to about 80% of the field of view, and the field stop image is adjusted to be located at the center of the field. Finally, the field stop is opened / closed so as to circumscribe the field of view, the centering is completed, and the confirmation switch 60 is pushed down to end the operation guide display.

When the field diaphragm 4 can be electrically controlled to open and close, field opening and closing switches 62a to 62c are provided so that the opening and closing control of the field diaphragm can be automatically performed by pushing down the field opening and closing switches 62a to 62c. To do.

FIG. 21 shows a display example of an operation guide for centering adjustment of the phase difference field stop. Revolver 10
Switches 63a to 63f if the switch is electrically controllable
Is displayed, and the objective lens can be switched by pressing the switches 63a to 63f. In this case, of course, when the transmission phase difference cannot be observed, the objective lens is the switch 63a.
Even if I press ~ 63f, it does not switch. When the optical member in the condenser is electrically controllable, the display unit 64 displays a state in which an appropriate phase difference ring slit is inserted in the optical path in synchronization with the switching of the objective lens in the optical path.

FIG. 22 shows a display example of the immersion oil spotting operation guide, and FIG. 23 shows a display example of the correction ring adjustment guide. In adjusting the objective lens with correction ring,
As can be seen from FIG. 23, focusing must be performed frequently. Therefore, when the stage 8 can be electrically controlled by the AF control unit 33, the AF switch 65 is displayed on the screen of the display device 109 and the AF switch 65 is displayed. You can automatically focus by pressing down.

According to the above-described embodiment, the relatively difficult and easy-to-forget operation is displayed on the display device 109 as appropriate, so that anyone can exhibit the performance of the 100% microscope.

If the microscope can recognize and control the current state of the optical system, the microscope can assist the automatic setting during the operation according to the operation guide. The adjustment operation can be performed easily and accurately, and the effect is very large.

Further, when the current state of the optical system can be confirmed by the microscope side, it is possible to display an operation guide having the necessary contents according to the current state when needed, further improving the usability. .

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but may be configured as follows, for example. In the example above,
Although the phase-contrast spectroscopic method was mentioned as the spectroscopic method, the transmission spectroscopic method (bright field, dark field, Nomarski, polarization, phase difference, fluorescence),
The same method can be applied to the episcopy method (bright field, dark field, Nomarski, polarized light, phase difference, fluorescence).

[0077]

According to the present invention, in addition to the centering adjustment, in the flexible microscope structure desired by the observer,
It is possible to provide a microscope system that allows anyone to easily set an appropriate observation state.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a first embodiment of a microscope system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an optical system in the microscope system shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram common to each control unit in the microscope system shown in FIG.

4 is a functional block diagram of a main control unit in the microscope system of FIG.

5 is a diagram showing an objective lens data table stored in a memory 46 of FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG.

6 is a diagram showing an optical element table of a condenser stored in a memory 46 of FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG.

7 is a diagram showing a top lens table of capacitors stored in a memory 46 of FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG.

8 is a diagram showing a queue table stored in a memory 46 of FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG.

9 is a diagram showing a filter table stored in a memory 46 of FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG.

10 is a diagram showing a display example of the display device of FIG.

11 is a diagram showing a display example of the display device of FIG.

12 is a diagram showing a display example of the display device of FIG.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG.

14 is a diagram showing a display example of the display device of FIG. 4 and showing an operation guide at the time of switching the objective lens of FIG.

15 is a diagram showing a display example of the display device of FIG. 4, showing an operation guide when switching the optical members of the condenser of FIG. 1 and adjusting an aperture stop.

16 is a view showing a display example of the display device of FIG. 4 and showing an operation guide when adjusting the transmission field diaphragm of FIG.

17 is a diagram showing a display example of the display device of FIG. 4 and showing an operation guide when switching the transmission filter of FIG.

18 is a diagram showing a display example of the display device of FIG. 4 and showing an operation guide at the time of switching the cube of FIG. 1;

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a display example of the display device of FIG. 4 and showing an operation guide for item confirmation.

20 is a diagram showing a display example of the display device of FIG. 4 and showing an operation guide for optical axis centering of FIG. 1.

21 is a view showing a display example of the display device of FIG. 4 and showing an operation guide for centering the phase difference ring of FIG. 1. FIG.

22 is a view showing a display example of the display device of FIG. 4 and showing an operation guide for handling the oil immersion objective lens of FIG. 1;

23 is a diagram showing a display example of the display device of FIG. 4, showing an operation guide for handling the objective lens with a correction ring of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... collector lens, 3 ... transparent filter unit,
4 ... Transmission field stop, 5 ... Transmission aperture stop, 6 ... Condenser optical element unit, 7 ... Condenser top lens unit, 8 ... Stage, 9 ... Objective lens, 10 ... Revolver,
11 ... Cube unit, 12, 13, 20, 23, 2
4 ... Beam splitter, 16 ... Episcopic field diaphragm, 17 ...
Epi-illumination shutter, 18 ... Epi-illumination filter unit, 3
0 ... Operation panel device, 33 ... AF control unit, 34
... Frame control section, 40 ... Condenser, 45,
100 ... CPU, 46, 101 ... ROM, 47, 102
... RAM, 110 ... operation instruction member, 109 ... display device.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (56) Reference JP-A-5-119267 (JP, A) JP-A-59-172617 (JP, A) JP-A-59-71018 (JP, A) JP-A-59- 172634 (JP, A) (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 21/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A magnification of the microscope optical system, comprising a plurality of optical units selected based on a magnification of the microscope optical system and various spectroscopic methods, and an optical unit which can be electrically controlled among the plurality of optical units is a magnification of the microscope optical system. And a microscope system automatically controlled by various spectroscopic methods, in which a plurality of optical elements are specified based on the magnification of the microscope optical system and various spectroscopic methods, and the magnification of the microscope optical system and various spectroscopic methods. Among the units, an operation item for manually selecting or adjusting an optical unit that cannot be electrically controlled, a storage unit that stores operation guide data of an operation method, and a magnification and various values of the microscope optical system specified by the specifying unit. Reading means for reading from the storage means operation guide data relating to the optical unit that cannot be electrically controlled corresponding to the speculum method; Microscope system characterized by comprising a display means for displaying the operation guide data read out by the reading means. 2. The microscope system according to claim 1, wherein the display means automatically displays operation guide data of an optical unit that cannot be electrically controlled.