JPH0463314A - Sample holding tool for microscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to observe the whole surface of a sample to be observed without unnecessarily increasing the inner capacity of a sample room by fixing XY guide rails to be a parallel moving mechanism between a sample holding frame and an XY table. CONSTITUTION:The sample holding tool 1 consists of the sample holding frame 3 having a fastener 4, the XY guide rails 5 to be the 2nd parallel moving mechanism fixed to the lower part of the frame 3 and a fixing board 2 and the frame 3 can be moved in the X and Y directions on the fixing board 2. Since X-axis movement and the rotation/inclination/parallel movement of a sample to be observed are respectively executed by the XY guide rails 5 and the holding board 17 in the holding tool 1, the holding tool 1 and the sample 6 to be observed are moved in the sample room 15 so that a dead angle due to the limit of the moving range at the time of using only the XY table (i.e., at the time of using no XY guide rails 5) is removed and a visual field range is applied to the whole range of the upper surface of the sample 6. When Y axis movement is executed by the guide rails 5, the whole range of the sample 6 can be similarly observed also in the Y axis direction.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a sample holder for a microscope, and in particular, it is attached to a sterile box of an electron microscope or a high-temperature microscope house, and is used in a closed sample chamber with a constant volume of a microscope, etc. , put a large flat sample,
The present invention relates to a sample holder for a microscope, which allows observation by moving the field of view of the microscope over the entire surface or a wide portion of the surface to be observed of the sample.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, this type of microscope sample holder consists of a sample tilting mechanism 12, a rotation mechanism 13, and an XY table 11 at the bottom of a box-shaped sample holding frame 3, as shown in FIG. 4(b). Sample holder 4 that can be detached from the sample holder 17
It consists of 3. In the figure, a sample 6 to be observed is placed in a sample holder 43, stored in a sample chamber 15 through its intake port 10, and observed using light from a light source (objective lens of a microscope) 16.

FIG. 4(a) is a diagram in which a sample holder 41 is attached to the sample holder 17 in place of the sample holder 43 of the sample holder frame 3.

FIG. 4(c) is a diagram in which the sample holding table and sample holding frame 3 shown in FIG. 4(b) are tilted by the sample tilting mechanism 12.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the above-mentioned conventional microscope sample holder, the observable portion of the sample inside the sample chamber 15 is limited to the movement range 42 of the XY child table 1 due to the size of the sample holder 41, as shown in FIG. 4(a). If the dimensions are within the range, it is possible to observe the entire surface of the sample holder 41 (the width of the sample chamber 15 is twice the movement range 42), but as shown in FIG.
If the dimension 3 is greater than or equal to the movement range 42 of the XY child table 1, the length and breadth of the sample chamber 15 minus the size of the sample holder 43 is the movement of the XY child table 1 holding the sample holder 43. The range is 44, which is the original XY child table 1.
A problem arises in that the movement range becomes narrower than the movement range 42 of When using the sample holder 43 shown in FIG. 4(b),
An XY child table 1 having a moving distance equal to the X-axis length and Y-axis length of the sample holder 43, and a sample chamber 1 having a size twice or more each of the X-axis length and Y-axis length of the sample holder 43.
There is a drawback that it requires 5.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A sample holder for a microscope according to the present invention includes a sample chamber in which an objective lens of a microscope is provided approximately in the center of the ceiling, an XY child table provided in the sample chamber, and an XY child table provided in the sample chamber. It has a fixed base that can be moved in two axes perpendicular to the table, and a sample holding frame that can be moved in two axes perpendicular to the fixed base by a guide rail and that holds the sample to be observed. There is.

〔Example〕

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are a perspective view and a vertical cross-sectional view, respectively, showing an embodiment of the present invention. °A sample consisting of a sample holding frame 3 having a stopper 4 as shown in FIG. A holder 1 is shown. The sample holding frame 3 is movable relative to the fixed table 2 in the X and Y directions.

The sample 6 to be observed shown in FIG. 1(C) is placed in the sample holding frame 3 with the stopper 4 as shown in FIG. 1(b) with its surface 7 to be observed facing upward. The XY guide rail 5 consists of a rod-shaped part and its supporting part, and is attached so that the fixed base 2 can move in two directions that are relatively parallel to the observed surface 7 and orthogonal to each other.

As shown in FIG. 2, a sample tilting mechanism 12 is provided in the sample chamber 15, and a sample rotation mechanism 13 is attached to the sample tilting mechanism 12. is rotated, and the adapter 14 is moved in the X and Y directions by the XY child table 1.

The sample holder 1 is placed with the sample 6 to be observed and stored in the sample chamber 15 shown in FIG. 2 through the intake port 10 by engaging the fixing base 2 at the bottom of the sample holder 1 with the adapter 14. The light source 16 of the microscope is located in the upper part of the sample chamber 15, and irradiates the observed portion 7 of the observed sample 6 with light for observation.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of this embodiment in the Y-axis direction. At this time, the viewing range 20 inside the sample chamber 15 is the light source 1
6 to the observed surface 7 of the observed sample 6. A sample chamber 1 having such a viewing range 20
5 has a movement range 44 when the XY table 11 is used alone on the surface 7 of the sample 6 to be observed (see FIG. 4(b)).
The movement of the sample holding frame 3 by the XY guide rail 5 is determined by the observation position on the sample 6 so that the entire surface of the observation surface 7 including the observation surface 7 can be observed.

The sample holder 1 moves on the X axis using the XY guide rail 5 and rotates, tilts, and translates the sample to be observed using the sample holder 17 as shown in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b). It is possible to eliminate blind spots due to the limit of the movement range 44 when the XY table 11 is used alone (when the XY guide rail 5 is not used), and to make it possible to extend the viewing range 20 to the entire upper surface of the sample 6 to be observed. The holder 1 and the sample to be observed 6 are being moved inside the sample chamber 15. By moving the XY guide rail 5 along the Y axis, it is possible to observe the entire range of the sample 6 to be observed in the Y axis direction as well.

This example can be similarly applied to devices in which the sample chamber is sealed and the observation point is fixed, such as electron microscopes, high-temperature microscopes, and microscopes installed in sterile boxes. be.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the sample holding frame and the
By installing an XY guide rail, which is a parallel movement mechanism, between the child tables, it is possible to observe the entire surface of the sample without increasing the internal volume of the sample chamber more than necessary, making it possible to observe large samples. The entire surface of the sample can be observed while maintaining the atmosphere inside the sample chamber, which has the effect of realizing a compact and efficient microscope.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1(a) to 1(d) are exploded perspective views of one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1(a) is a perspective view of a sample holder 1, and FIG.
) is a perspective view of the sample holding frame 3, FIG. 1(c) is a perspective view of the sample to be observed 6, FIG. 1(d) is a perspective view of the sample holding stand, and FIG. 2 is shown in FIG. Cross-sectional view of the embodiment, FIG. 3(a)
and (b) are a sectional view of the fixing table 2 moved by the XY table 11 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and a sectional view of the sample holder tilted, respectively, and FIG. 4(a)
is a sectional view of a conventional microscope sample holder with a small sample holder, Figure 4(b) is a sectional view of a conventional microscope sample holder with a large sample holder, and Figure 4(C) is a sectional view of a conventional microscope sample holder with a large sample holder. 4
It is a sectional view of a state in which the sample holder 43 of the conventional microscope sample holder shown in Figure (b) is tilted. 1.41.43...Sample holder, 2...Fixing stand, 3
... Sample holding frame, 4... Stopper, 5... XY guide rail, 6... Sample to be observed, 7... Surface to be observed, 1
1... XY child table 12... Sample tilting mechanism, 13
...Sample rotation mechanism, 14...Adapter 15...
- Sample chamber, 16... light source, 17... sample holding stand.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sample chamber in which a microscope objective lens is provided approximately in the center of the ceiling, and an XY table provided within this sample chamber;
It includes a fixed base that can be moved in the directions of two orthogonal axes by the XY table, and a sample holding frame that can be moved in the directions of the two axes orthogonal to the fixed base by a guide rail and that holds the sample to be observed. A specimen holder for a microscope characterized by the following. 2. The microscope sample holder according to claim 1, further comprising a sample tilting mechanism capable of tilting the XY table.