JP5286755B2 - Microscope stage and microscope - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a microscope stage and a microscope, and more particularly to a microscope stage and a microscope that can clearly display the amount of movement of the stage.

  For industrial microscopes and the like, a so-called three-plate stage has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  The three-plate stage has a lower plate fixed to the microscope, a middle plate movable in the Y direction with respect to the lower plate, and an upper plate movable in the X direction with respect to the middle plate. Yes.

JP 2003-241106 A

  However, the conventional three-plate stage has not been provided with a scale for displaying the movement amount.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and provides a microscope stage and a microscope that can clearly display the amount of movement of the stage.

The microscope stage of the present invention is provided on a lower plate fixed to a microscope, an intermediate plate provided on the lower plate, movable in a first direction with respect to the lower plate, and the intermediate plate. An upper plate that is movable in a second direction with respect to the middle plate; and an upper surface end portion of the middle plate that is provided along the first direction, and that the middle plate is relative to the lower plate. A first scale for displaying a general movement amount, and an upper surface portion of the upper plate, which is provided along the second direction, and displays a relative movement amount of the upper plate with respect to the middle plate. A second scale, and each of the first scale and the second scale includes an index indicating a scale of each scale, and each of the indices includes the first scale and the second scale. The position indicating scale scale 0 is the reference position, and the index of the first scale is the front The second scale is attached to the upper surface of the lower plate, and the second scale is attached to the upper surface of the middle plate. The first scale is visible from above the upper plate when the upper plate moves in the second direction toward the first scale in the second direction. The upper plate is configured to stop at a possible position, and the sample mounting portion of the upper plate includes a guide portion indicating a position where the sample is to be mounted, and the upper plate and the middle plate are In the state where the guide portion is disposed at the reference position, the guide portion is provided at a position where the center thereof coincides with the optical axis of the objective lens at the observation position .

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the microscope stage which can display the moving amount | distance of a stage clearly, and a microscope can be provided.

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

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example according to an embodiment of a microscope 10 to which the present invention is applied. This microscope 10 is configured as a so-called inverted microscope, and is used for observing, for example, industrial samples.

  The microscope 10 shown in FIG. 1 irradiates the sample placed on the stage 20 with the illumination 11 from the lower side in the drawing, and reflects the light reflected by the sample on the lower side in the drawing of the stage 20. The objective lens 13 is used for observation.

  As will be described later, the stage 20 is a so-called three-plate stage composed of an upper plate, a middle plate, and a lower plate. The observer operates the handle of the handle unit 14 to move the middle plate relative to the lower plate fixed to the microscope 10, and also moves the upper plate relative to the middle plate to move the sample in the XY direction. The position of can be moved.

  FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the stage 20 of FIG. As shown in the figure, the stage 20 includes a lower plate 21, an intermediate plate 22, and an upper plate 23, and a holder 41 for placing and holding the sample 60 is placed on the upper plate 23. It is attached. The sample 60 is held in the holder 41 by being dropped into a guide 41 a provided as a circular hole in the holder 41.

  FIG. 3 is a view of the stage 20 of FIG. 1 as viewed from the direction of the arrow on the upper side in the drawing. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the stage 20 as viewed from the center of the objective lens in the right direction in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a holder 41 is attached near the center of the upper plate 23 so that the bottom surface of the sample is observed by the objective lens 13 in an opening 41 b concentric with the guide 41 a of the holder 41. Has been made. The center of the opening 41b is positioned on the optical axis of the objective lens 13 in a state where the middle plate 22 and the upper plate 23 are arranged at the centers of the respective movement ranges.

  The lower plate 21 is fixed to the microscope 10 and cannot move. The middle plate 22 is configured to be movable by a predetermined amount with respect to the lower plate 21 in the Y direction which is the vertical direction in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, roller races 22a-1 and 22a-2 are provided at a portion where the lower plate 21 and the middle plate 22 are joined. For example, the Y-axis handle 14a of the handle unit 14 is rotated. Thus, the middle plate 22 is moved in the Y direction with respect to the lower plate 21. That is, the handle unit 14 is fixed to the intermediate plate 22, and when the Y-axis handle 14 a is rotated, the pinion 31 is rotated, and the intermediate plate 22 is connected to the intermediate plate 22 via the rack 32 fixed to the lower plate 21. It is made to move in the Y direction (second direction) in FIG. At this time, in this embodiment, the handle unit 14 also moves together with the middle plate 22. However, depending on the configuration of the handle 14 and the stage 20, the movement of the handle 14 accompanying the movement of the stage may be limited. Is possible.

  The upper plate 23 is configured to be movable by a predetermined amount in the X direction (first direction) which is the left-right direction in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, roller races 23a-1 and 23a-2 are provided at a portion where the upper plate 23 and the middle plate 22 are joined. For example, the X-axis handle 14b of the handle unit 14 of FIG. Is rotated so that the upper plate 23 moves in the X direction with respect to the middle plate 22. That is, the handle unit 14 is fixed to the middle plate 22, and when the X-axis handle 14 b of FIG. 2 is rotated, the pinion 33 rotates, and the rack 34 fixed to the upper plate 23 is moved together with the upper plate 23. It is made to move in the left-right direction in FIG. 2 and in the X direction in FIG.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, an X-direction scale 51 (second scale) is attached on the upper plate 23 of the stage 20 at a position that can be viewed by an observer. The indicator 52 is fixed to the middle plate 22 and attached so as to be visible from above the upper plate 23. By referring to the scale of the X-direction scale 51 indicated by the indicator 52, the observer can hold the holder 41. It is possible to confirm how much the sample held in the X direction has moved in the X direction.

  In this example, the scale of the X direction scale 51 is “−20” to “20”, and the unit is, for example, millimeters. That is, the upper plate 23 has a stroke in the X direction that can move 20 millimeters in the left direction and 20 millimeters in the right direction in FIG. 3, and the index 52 is in the X direction at the stroke center position. The scale 51 is set so as to indicate the scale “0”.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a Y-direction scale 53 (first scale) is attached on the middle plate 22 of the stage 20 at a position where it can be viewed by an observer. The indicator 54 is fixed to the lower plate 21 and attached so as to be visible from above the middle plate 22. By referring to the scale of the Y-direction scale 53 indicated by the indicator 54, the observer can hold the holder 41. It is possible to confirm how much the sample held in the Y direction has moved in the Y direction.

  In this example, the scale of the Y-direction scale 53 is “−20” to “20”, and the unit is, for example, millimeters. That is, the intermediate plate 22 has a stroke in the Y direction that can move 20 millimeters in the downward direction and 20 millimeters in the upward direction in FIG. The scale 53 is set to indicate the scale “0”.

  In the state of FIG. 3, the index 52 indicates the scale “0” of the X direction scale 51, and the index 54 indicates the scale “0” of the Y direction scale 53. In this state, the center point 41c of the guide 41a is set to coincide with the optical axis of the objective lens 13, and the observer observes the center of the sample in the state shown in FIG. Become.

  Note that the sample 60 is formed in a cylindrical shape as shown in FIG. 5, for example. The sample 60 is manufactured by putting the observation object 61 in a dedicated cup or the like, injecting the resin 62 into the cup and curing it, and then removing it from the cup and polishing the cross section 60a. The cross section 60a of the sample 60 also includes the cross section 61a of the observation object 61, and the observer observes the cross section 61a of the observation object 61 through the objective lens 13.

  Moreover, the cup used when producing the sample 60 is generally a cylindrical cup having a diameter of 1 inch, 1.25 inch, 1.5 inch, 2 inch or the like. Accordingly, the diameter of the cross section 60a of the sample 60 is also usually 1 inch, 1.25 inch, 1.5 inch, or 2 inch.

  In the present invention, a plurality of types of holders 41 can be selected according to the diameter of the sample 60. For example, four types of holders 41 are prepared in which the diameter of the guide 41a is slightly larger than 1 inch, 1.25 inches, 1.5 inches, or 2 inches, and these holders are placed on the stage 20. 41 is configured to be detachable. By doing in this way, it can always be mounted so that the center of the sample 60 may coincide with the center of the guide 41a.

  FIG. 6 shows a state where the upper plate 23 is moved in the X direction with respect to the middle plate 22 by rotating the X-axis handle 14b from the state shown in FIG. FIG. In FIG. 6, the position of the sample 60 is moved to the left in the drawing with respect to the objective lens 13 as compared with the case of FIG. 2.

  FIG. 7 is a view of FIG. 6 as viewed from the direction of the arrow in the upward direction in the drawing, and corresponds to FIG. As shown in the figure, when the upper plate 23 of the stage 20 is moved in the X direction and moved to the left in the figure by a full stroke (20 millimeters), the index 52 is stored in the memory “20 of the X direction scale 51. ". In the case of FIG. 7, the upper plate 23 has been moved by a full stroke in the left direction in the figure, and therefore the upper plate 23 cannot be moved further leftward from this state. This is achieved by an X-direction moving member (not shown) provided between the upper plate 23 and the middle plate 22.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the Y-direction scale 53 and the indicator 54 attached to the middle plate 22 of the stage 20 can be used even when the upper plate 23 is moved in the full stroke in the left direction in the drawing. It is attached so as to be visible from the upper side of 23.

  That is, the observer can always visually recognize the X-direction scale 51 attached to the upper plate located on the uppermost side of the stage 20 together with the index 52, and on the middle plate 22 located below the upper plate 23 on the stage 20. The attached Y-direction scale 53 is always visible together with the indicator 54.

  By doing in this way, the observer can always confirm how much and in what direction the sample has been moved.

  For example, the conventional three-plate stage has not been provided with a scale for displaying the movement amount. In addition, a measurement microscope that can measure the size of a sample is provided with an encoder for displaying the amount of stage movement based on a counter value, etc., but a microscope equipped with an encoder is expensive. End up.

  For this reason, an observer using a conventional three-plate stage microscope cannot confirm how much the sample is moved in which direction. In particular, in an inverted microscope, the objective lens is located on the lower side of the stage, so that it is difficult for the observer to confirm which position of the sample is being observed.

  In the microscope 10 of the present invention, the X-direction scale 51 can always be visually recognized together with the index 52 from above the stage 20, and the Y-direction scale 53 attached to the middle plate 22 positioned below the upper plate 23 is also an index. Since it is always visible together with 54, the observer can easily confirm which position of the sample is being observed.

  In the above, an example in which the present invention is applied to an inverted microscope has been described. However, for example, the present invention can also be applied to an upright microscope.

It is a figure which shows the structural example which concerns on one Embodiment of the microscope to which this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the stage of FIG. It is the figure of the stage seen from the upper direction in the figure of FIG. It is the figure of the stage seen from the left direction in the figure of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structural example of a sample. It is a figure which shows the state which moved the upper board 23 to the full stroke X direction from the state shown by FIG. It is the figure of the stage seen from the upper direction in the figure of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

10 microscope,
13 objective lens,
14 handle unit,
14a Y-axis handle,
14b X-axis handle,
20 stages,
21 Lower plate,
22 middle plate,
23 Upper plate,
31 pinion,
32 racks,
33 Pinion,
34 racks,
41 holder,
41a guide,
41b opening,
51 X direction scale,
52 indicators,
53 Y-direction scale,
54 indicators,
60 samples

Claims (2)

A lower plate fixed to a microscope;
An intermediate plate provided on the lower plate and movable in a first direction relative to the lower plate;
An upper plate provided on the middle plate and movable in a second direction relative to the middle plate;
A first scale for displaying a relative movement amount of the intermediate plate with respect to the lower plate, provided on the upper surface end of the intermediate plate along the first direction;
A second scale for displaying a relative movement amount of the upper plate with respect to the middle plate, provided on the upper surface portion of the upper plate along the second direction;
Each of the first scale and the second scale includes an index indicating a scale of each scale,
A position where each of the indices indicates the scale 0 of the first scale and the second scale is a reference position,
The indicator of the first scale is attached to the upper surface portion of the lower plate, the indicator of the second scale is attached to the upper surface portion of the middle plate, and both indicators are the middle plate and the upper plate. Even if it moves, it is arranged so that it can be seen from above the upper plate,
When the upper plate moves in the second direction toward the first scale toward the first scale, the upper plate stops at a position where the first scale becomes visible from above the upper plate. Configured as
The sample mounting portion of the upper plate includes a guide portion indicating a position where the sample is to be mounted,
In the state where the upper plate and the middle plate are arranged at the reference position, the guide portion is provided at a position where the center thereof coincides with the optical axis of the objective lens at the observation position. . A microscope comprising the microscope stage according to claim 1 .

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