JP4470446B2 - Optical device stage and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a stage on which a sample for an optical apparatus such as a microscope or a measuring machine is placed, and a method for manufacturing the same.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a microscope stage on which a slide glass on which a sample is attached is configured to be movable on a plane orthogonal to the optical axis (Z direction) of an objective lens in order to observe each part of the sample. The microscope stage is generally attached to the upper plate of the lower plate fixed to the microscope body, the upper plate moving in the Y direction along the upper surface of the lower plate, and in the X direction along the upper surface of the upper plate. The slide glass can be moved on the XY plane by the moving specimen holder.

  The specimen holder holds the slide glass by pressing the side surface of the slide glass with a spring force so that the illumination light is not shielded during transmission observation. At this time, the lower surface of the slide glass is in direct contact with the upper surface of the upper plate. When the slide glass is set on the microscope stage, the upper surface of the upper plate is frequently rubbed with the edge of the slide glass, so the upper surface of the aluminum alloy is not damaged so that the upper surface of the upper plate is not damaged. A technique of providing a hard ceramic layer on the upper surface is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP-A-6-347702 (second page)

  In the technique of Patent Document 1, a hard ceramic layer is provided on the upper surface of the upper plate by thermal spraying of ceramic powder. Since the upper surface of the upper plate is required to have high flatness, finish polishing is necessary after thermal spraying of the ceramic powder. However, since the ceramic layer is hard, the finish polishing is technically difficult and requires a long time.

(1) The stage for an optical device according to claim 1 includes a lower plate and an upper plate movable along the upper surface of the lower plate, and the upper plate is a flat base material made of an Al-Mg die-cast alloy. It consists of an alumite layer formed on the surface of a flat base material. Al-Mg-based die-cast alloy is preferably ADC5 or ADC6 of J IS defined. The upper plate is provided with a rib on the lower surface side, and at least one of an opening and a protrusion is formed in the vicinity of the center, and the rib follows the flow of the die-cast molten metal in the peripheral region near the center. It can be configured to be provided.
(2) A method for manufacturing an optical device stage according to claim 4 is a method for manufacturing an optical device stage comprising a lower plate and an upper plate movable along the upper surface of the lower plate. , A step of forming a flat base material of an Al-Mg alloy as an upper plate, a cutting step or grinding step in which one surface of the flat base material is a smooth flat surface, and a thickness on the cut or ground surface And a step of forming an alumite layer in the range of 10 to 30 μm. In this manufacturing method, it is preferable to provide a blasting process for forming a fine uneven surface on a part or all of the smooth flat surface of the flat base material between the cutting process or grinding process and the alumite layer forming process.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an optical device stage having a hard surface and high wear resistance.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a microscope stage will be described.
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an outline of an optical microscope on which a microscope stage of the present invention is mounted, and directions are represented by orthogonal coordinates. The optical microscope 100 includes a light source unit 1, a base 2, an upright base 3, an arm 4, a vertical movement unit 5 generally called a substage, a stage 10, an illumination device 20, and an observation device 30. ing.

  The microscope main body includes a base 2, an upright base 3, and an arm 4. A lower portion of the upright base 3 is fixed to the base 2, and an arm 4 is fixed to the upper portion. The base 2 holds a part of the lighting device 20 and is connected to the light source unit 1. The upright base 3 supports the vertical movement portion 5. The arm 4 suspends the objective lens switching unit 12 and mounts an eyepiece tube 14 and a photographing lens tube 16. The objective lens switching unit 12 is configured to hold a plurality of objective lenses and to insert an arbitrary one (the objective lens 13 in the figure) into the observation optical system. An eyepiece lens 15 is attached to the tip of the eyepiece tube 14. A photographing device (not shown) such as a CCD camera is attached to the upper part of the photographing lens barrel 16. Note that the components from the objective lens 13 to the eyepiece 15 constitute the observation device 30.

  The vertical movement unit 5 holds a part of the lighting device 20 and places the stage 10 thereon. The stage 10 includes a lower plate 6, an upper plate 7, and a specimen holder 8, and the lower plate 6 is fixed to the vertical movement unit 5. The upper plate 7 is placed on the lower plate 6 and can move in the Y direction along the upper surface of the lower plate 6 via, for example, a roller race. As will be described in detail later, the specimen holder 8 is attached to the upper surface of the upper plate 7 and can move in the X direction along the upper surface of the upper plate 7. The movement of the upper plate 7 in the Y direction and the movement of the specimen holder 8 in the X direction are performed by rotating a rotary handle 9 attached to the lower plate 6. The rotary handle 9 includes two knobs for Y-direction movement and X-direction movement, and the two rotation axes are coaxial.

Next, the structure and operation of the stage 10 will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 2 is a top view showing a schematic configuration of the microscope stage according to the embodiment of the present invention. An elongated hole 71 for transmitting the illumination light irradiated in the + Z direction is provided in the approximate center of the upper plate 7 placed on the lower plate (not shown).

  The specimen holder 8 placed on the upper plate 7 includes a holder body 8a, a fixing member 8b, a lever 8c, and a bearing 8d. The holder main body 8a and the fixing member 8b are integrally manufactured, and the lever 8c can be rotated with respect to the holder main body 8a by a bearing 8d. The holder body 8a is an L-shaped flat plate member, and is provided with some grooves on two sides that are in contact with the two side surfaces of the slide glass S so that the slide glass S can be easily attached and detached. It has been. The fixing member 8b is fixed to the moving body 21 that moves in parallel with the side surface 7B of the upper plate 7 with screws. The lever 8c is urged in the direction of arrow H about the shaft 8e by a spring built in the bearing 8d. Thereby, the specimen holder 8 can hold the slide glass S at a fixed position.

  In such a configuration, when the slide glass S to which the specimen is attached is set on the stage 10, a finger is put on the lever operating portion 8f provided on the lever 8c, and the lever 8c is moved in the arrow R direction against the spring force. Rotate. While maintaining this state, the slide glass S is slid on the upper surface 7A of the upper plate 7 and applied to the holder body 8a. When the finger is released from the lever operating portion 8f, the lever 8c returns to the arrow H direction by the spring force and presses the slide glass S against the holder body 8a, so that the slide glass S can be held at a fixed position.

  When the slide glass S is removed from the stage 10, the finger is again applied to the lever operating portion 8f, the lever 8c is rotated in the direction of the arrow R against the spring force, and the slide glass S is maintained while maintaining this state. 7 is slid on the upper surface 7A and removed.

  Usually, in the microscopic observation, in order to observe a large number of specimens one after another, exchange of specimens, that is, exchange of slide glass is frequently performed. From the viewpoint of work efficiency, the slide glass is quickly replaced, and as a result of repeatedly rubbing the surface of the upper plate with the end portion of the slide glass, the surface of the upper plate is worn or scratched.

  By the way, the structural part of the optical microscope generally uses an aluminum alloy as a material from the viewpoint of weight reduction and rigidity maintenance. Further, from the viewpoint of mass productivity and manufacturing cost, aluminum alloys for die casting are often used, and the microscope stage is also made of the same material. Since the aluminum alloy is a soft material, it is necessary to form a thick aluminum oxide layer (hereinafter referred to as an alumite layer) on the surface of the aluminum alloy die cast as a measure for preventing wear and scratches.

  In the present embodiment, an aluminum alloy is used as the material of the upper plate 7 of the stage 10 and is manufactured by a die casting method. This aluminum alloy is Al-Mg based, and ADC5 or ADC6 specified in JIS is particularly suitable.

Further, in order to further reduce the weight while maintaining the rigidity, the upper plate 7 adopts a rib structure. The upper plate 7 is completed by forming a thick anodized layer on the upper surface 7A of the upper plate 7 having such a material and structure.
On the other hand, as the material of the lower plate 6 of the stage 10, ADC12 defined in JIS is used among aluminum alloys for die casting. The ADC 12 is an Al—Si—Cu system and has a feature of good castability.

Hereinafter, the material and structure of the upper plate 7 of the microscope stage 10 will be described in detail.
According to JIS regulations (JIS H5302), ADC5 is an aluminum alloy for die casting containing aluminum as a main component and 4.0 to 8.5% Mg, and also contains 0.3% or less of Si. The ADC 6 is a die-casting aluminum alloy containing aluminum as a main component and containing 2.5 to 4.0% Mg, and also contains 1.0% or less of Si. Advantages common to both include (1) a thick alumite layer is obtained, (2) an excellent appearance after the formation of the alumite layer (for example, less color unevenness), and (3) good corrosion resistance.

  In particular, the ability to form a thick alumite layer has a great effect of preventing the surface of the upper plate from being worn or scratched when the slide glass S is attached or detached. The alumite layer is a relatively hard material having a Vickers hardness Hv of 300 to 500, but when the thickness is small, the function of protecting the aluminum alloy as a base material is greatly deteriorated. In addition, when the thickness of the anodized layer is small, the influence of thickness unevenness becomes significant, so that the variation in surface hardness distribution becomes large. Therefore, in order to reduce the variation in the hardness distribution of the surface without greatly reducing the protective function of the base material, the upper plate 7 of the stage 10 needs to have an alumite layer having a thickness of at least about 10 μm.

  On the other hand, in the normal manufacturing process, both the ADC 5 and the ADC 6 can form an alumite layer having a maximum thickness of about 30 μm. Therefore, when the thickness of the alumite layer is in the range of 10 to 30 μm, an alumite layer having a sufficient protective function for the base material can be formed by a practical manufacturing process.

  Next, the rib structure of the upper plate 7 will be described. 3A is a bottom view of the upper plate 7, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II of FIG. 3A. Reference numeral 72 is a rib portion having a large thickness, and reference numeral 73 is a thin portion having a small thickness. The rib 72a is a rib on an extension of the tapered surface surrounding the elongated hole 71, and is similarly tapered in the thickness direction. In the upper plate 7 having such a rib structure, the upper surface 7A is a smooth surface, and the lower surface is an uneven surface due to the presence of ribs. By making the upper plate 7 have a rib structure, it is possible to further reduce the weight while maintaining the rigidity.

Hereinafter, the manufacturing process of the upper plate 7 will be described.
First, an aluminum alloy having a chemical component of ADC5 or ADC6 is used, and in this embodiment, it is molded by a die casting method. In this die casting method, molten aluminum alloy (molten metal) is poured into a mold at a high speed while pressurizing with an injection cylinder, the mold is cooled to a predetermined temperature, and then the product is removed from the mold by applying force with an extrusion pin. . In this embodiment, the die casting method is used, but a general casting method may be used. Further, a machining method may be used.

  In order not to generate bubbles or nests in the upper plate 7 having a rib structure, a non-porous die casting method for filling the mold with oxygen, a vacuum die casting method for extracting air from the mold before injecting the molten metal, A squeeze casting method in which molten metal is injected into the mold at a low speed can be employed. Further, in order to improve the flow of the molten metal, the radius of curvature r at the corner where the ribs intersect and the boundary between the ribs and the thinned portion is made as large as possible (for example, r> 3 mm).

  The upper plate 7 as a whole is provided with the longitudinal direction of the ribs along the flow of the molten metal. In particular, in the vicinity of the long hole 71, in order to suppress the generation of bubbles, it is highly necessary to provide the longitudinal direction of the ribs along the flow of the molten metal, and no ribs oblique to the molten metal flow are provided. In addition, even when there is a portion (projection) whose thickness is thicker than the peripheral portion near the center of the upper plate 7, ribs that are oblique to the flow of the molten metal are not provided. Furthermore, the device of manufacture is added also to the position of the pouring port into which the molten metal is poured and the draft when releasing. For example, in the ADC 12, the draft is 1 to 1.5 °, whereas in the ADC 5 or the ADC 6, it is increased to 3 to 5 ° to improve the mold release property.

  Thus, the upper surface 7A of the upper plate 7 produced by the die casting method is cut or ground. Since the flatness and surface roughness do not reach predetermined levels as they are in the die-cast product, the flatness is improved by cutting or grinding, and large irregularities on the surface are removed. In the present embodiment, grinding of about 0.2 to 0.5 mm was performed. With this amount of grinding, bubbles inherent in the die-cast product hardly appear on the surface.

  In addition, after the grinding process, a blasting process can be performed on a part or the entire surface of the upper surface 7A of the upper plate 7. A part of the upper surface 7A of the upper plate 7 is an area where the slide glass S comes into contact when the slide glass S is attached or detached. The blasting process is a process for forming a fine uneven surface by spraying iron powder or the like on the upper surface 7A at a high pressure. When performing the blasting process on only a part of the upper surface 7A of the upper plate 7, the other region may be shielded with a mask. By performing the blast treatment, the surface after the alumite treatment is finished in a beautiful appearance with no noticeable color unevenness, and the slipperiness is improved.

Finally, alumite treatment is performed on the upper plate 7. In the alumite treatment, the upper plate 7 was immersed in a sulfuric acid-based, acetic acid-based or oxalic acid-based solution and anodized. In the present embodiment, an alumite layer having a thickness of 20 μm is formed on the entire surface of the upper plate 7. The upper plate 7 is completed through the above steps.
Forming the alumite layer on the upper surface 7A of the upper plate 7 has an effect of preventing the slide glass S from being worn or damaged when the slide glass S is attached or detached.

  Since the alumite layer has a large number of fine holes elongated in the thickness direction, a black dye can be impregnated into the fine holes to form a so-called black alumite layer. Further, the fine pores can be impregnated with Teflon (registered trademark) to form an alumite layer having improved slipperiness and wear resistance. Usually, after impregnation, a sealing treatment is performed.

  As described above, since the ADC 5 or the ADC 6 is a die-cast product, it is rich in mass productivity and can form a relatively thick alumite layer, so that it has excellent scratch resistance and wear resistance. Therefore, if it is applied to a microscope stage, even if the slide glass is frequently exchanged, it is hardly damaged and can be used for a long time. Similarly, even if it is used as a stage of an optical apparatus other than a microscope, it can withstand long-term use. Moreover, since the process is simple, the cost reduction effect at the time of mass production is great.

In the above-described embodiment, the Al—Mg-based die cast alloy is used only for the upper plate 7 of the stage 10 and the alumite layer is formed on the surface thereof.
Further, a dye other than black may be impregnated in the fine pores of the alumite layer, and a coloring process other than black may be employed. Further, after forming the anodized layer, a solid lubricant or ceramic paint may be applied.

  Although the microscope stage has been described in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the present embodiment as long as the characteristics are not impaired, and can be used for various optical devices, for example.

It is a whole block diagram which shows the outline of the optical microscope with which the microscope stage which concerns on embodiment of this invention is mounted | worn. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the microscope stage which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 3A is a bottom view of the upper plate of the microscope stage according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II of FIG. 3A.

Explanation of symbols

1: Light source part 2: Base 3: Upright base 4: Arm 5: Vertical movement part 6: Lower plate 7: Upper plate 8: Specimen holder 10: Stage 71: Long hole 72: Rib 73: Meat removal part 100: Optical microscope

Claims (5)

A lower plate, and an upper plate movable along the upper surface of the lower plate,
The upper plate is composed of a flat base material made of an Al-Mg die cast alloy and an alumite layer formed on the surface of the flat base material. In the stage for optical devices according to claim 1,
The stage for an optical device, wherein the Al—Mg die-cast alloy is JIS-regulated ADC5 or ADC6 . In the stage for optical devices according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The upper plate is provided with ribs on the lower surface side, and at least one of an opening and a protrusion is formed near the center,
The stage for an optical device , wherein the rib is provided along a flow of a die-cast molten metal in a peripheral region near the center . A method of manufacturing a stage for an optical device comprising a lower plate and an upper plate movable along the upper surface of the lower plate,
A step of molding a flat base material of the Al-Mg alloy to be the upper plate by die casting,
A cutting process or a grinding process in which one surface of the flat base material is a smooth plane;
Method of manufacturing an optical device stage which comprises a step of forming a alumite layer thickness in the range of 10~30μm the cutting or grinding surface. In the manufacturing method of the stage for optical devices according to claim 4 ,
For an optical device, a blasting process is provided between the cutting process or grinding process and the alumite layer forming process to form a fine uneven surface on a part or all of the flat surface of the flat base material . Stage manufacturing method.

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