JPH05323203A - Micromanipulator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable highly secure operation which is superior in response and removes unnecessary vibration to be conducted and to make a device small in size and silent. CONSTITUTION:The micromanipulator consists of moving plates 12 and 16, guide means 4 and 8 which support the moving plates 12 and 16 movably and guide them in orthogonal X and Y directions, and plural piezoelectric elements which are arranged having their expansion/contraction directions in three orthogonal directions including the X and Y directions, and is equipped with a vibrator 17 which has a free end in contact with one of the surfaces of the moving plates 12 and 16 and an operation part which controls voltages applied to the respective piezoelectric elements to command the elliptic motion direction and momentum of the free end.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a micromanipulator for performing various fine operations on an object to be observed by a microscope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a microscope equipped with a micromanipulator has been considered because a fine operation is required for an object to be observed of the microscope. Conventionally existing micromanipulators employ a hydraulic system or a drive system such as a mechanical system using screws, gears, and cams.

For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 61-194417 discloses a hydraulic microscope with a micromanipulator. In this manipulator, the driving force applied from the operating section is transmitted to the kneading holder or the like via the oil passage, so that the oil passage blocks vibrations caused by shaking of the hand during operation. This prevents the vibration generated during the operation from being transmitted to the glass needle held by the needle holder.

In the mechanical type micromanipulator, the movement of the operating portion can be accurately transmitted by improving the processing precision and the assembly precision of each mechanical component.

Recently, a micromanipulator using a piezoelectric element is commercially available. This type of micromanipulator is capable of rapid acceleration and deceleration, so that the operation can be speeded up. Therefore, when observing cells and the like, there is an advantage that fine manipulation can be performed without causing large damage to the cells and the like.

[0006]

However, the above-mentioned driving type micromanipulators have the following drawbacks.

In the case of the above-mentioned mechanical system, since the force is basically transmitted between the rigid bodies, the vibration is easily transmitted to the needle tip or the like. Also, if there is looseness between the parts, the force will not be transmitted accurately. Therefore, extremely high processing accuracy and assembly accuracy are required, and the apparatus itself becomes expensive.

Further, in the case of the hydraulic type, although the vibration having a relatively high frequency is not transmitted, there is a drawback that the agile movement of the operating portion cannot be followed. Moreover, since the oil (silicon oil) enclosed in the oil passage has a large temperature dependency, the operating needle moves with the change of the environmental temperature and moves the object to be observed, and the object to be observed is kept at a fixed position. There is a problem that can not hold. The temperature dependency can be reduced by replacing the silicon oil in the oil passage with water, but since water easily evaporates, troublesome maintenance is required.

Further, the conventional micromanipulator using the above piezoelectric element is driven by mass balance,
Since it is necessary to attach a weight corresponding to the weight of the moving body, there is a drawback that the occupied space per drive shaft is large. Therefore, there is a disadvantage that a large number of manipulators cannot be installed in applications where the installation space is limited, such as the stage of a microscope. Moreover, by driving the piezoelectric element, the moving body is moved by repeating contact and separation between the piezoelectric element and the moving body, so that the contact sound becomes noise and there is a problem in quietness.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has excellent responsiveness, unnecessary vibrations can be removed, highly reliable operation is possible, and the apparatus can be downsized and quietened. An object is to provide a micromanipulator that can be designed.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, a micromanipulator of the present invention comprises a plate, guide means for movably supporting the plate, and guide means in X and Y directions orthogonal to each other. The piezoelectric element is composed of a plurality of piezoelectric elements arranged so that the expansion and contraction directions are directed in three orthogonal directions including the X and Y directions, and the free end is in contact with one surface of the plate, and the free end is elliptical by voltage application. A vibrating oscillator, an operating section for instructing the elliptic motion direction and momentum of the free end of the oscillator, and generating a voltage to be applied to each piezoelectric element of the oscillator in response to an instruction from the operating section. A voltage applying means is provided.

[0012]

In the micromanipulator of the present invention, the operating section gives the voltage applying means an instruction of the elliptic movement direction and momentum of the free end of the oscillator, and the voltage applying means receiving the instruction gives each piezoelectric element of the oscillator. A predetermined voltage is applied.
The vibrator generates a bending force in the X and Y directions and a stretching force in the Z direction orthogonal to each other due to the applied voltage. By combining the forces in the three directions, the free end of the oscillator can be caused to make an elliptical motion in the X direction or the Y direction.

When the free end of the oscillator makes the above elliptic motion in the X direction or the Y direction, the elliptical vibration of the oscillator is transmitted by friction to the plate which is in contact with the free end, and is guided by the guide means. Move in X or Y direction. Further, the moving distance of the plate is controlled by adjusting the elliptical movement.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show the plane and sectional structure of a micromanipulator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The micromanipulator of this embodiment is provided with a fixed frame 1 having a box shape as a whole and an open upper end surface, and a pair of Y side fixed guides 2a and 2b are provided on two parallel side walls of the fixed frame 1. Are provided to face each other, and a pair of X-side fixed guides 3a and 3b are provided to face the other two side walls.

The Y-side fixed guides 2a and 2b are provided at the uppermost portion of the inner surface of the side wall of the fixed frame 1, and ball grooves are formed in the longitudinal direction thereof. A Y-side movable guide 4 is slidably mounted in the Y direction between the pair of Y-side fixed guides 2a and 2b. The Y-side movable guide 4 is provided orthogonal to the X rod 5 and both ends of the X rod 5.
The side fixed guides 2a and 2b are formed with ball sliding portions 6a and 6b having ball grooves corresponding to the ball grooves. Between the ball grooves of the Y-side fixed guides 2a and 2b and the ball sliding portions 6a and 6b of the Y-side movable guide 4, the balls 7a and 7b are formed.
By sandwiching b, the Y-side movable guide 4 is slidably supported in the Y direction by the Y-side fixed guides 2a and 2b.

The X-side fixed guides 3a and 3b are provided on the inner surface of the side wall of the fixed frame 1 and below the Y-side fixed guides 2a and 2b, and ball grooves are formed in the longitudinal direction thereof. There is. This pair of X side fixed guides 3a,
An X side movable guide 8 is attached between 3b so as to be slidable in the X direction. The X-side movable guide 8 is the Y-side movable guide 4.
It has the same configuration as. That is, the Y rod 9 and the ball sliding portions 10a and 10b provided orthogonally to both ends of the Y rod 9 are provided, and the X side fixed guides 3a and 3b.
The balls 11a and 11b are sandwiched between the ball groove and the ball sliding portions 10a and 10b, and the X side fixed guide 3a,
An X-side movable guide 9 is slidably supported in the X direction by 3b.

A moving plate 12 is arranged in the center of the fixed frame 1, and the X rod 5 and the Y rod 9 pass through the moving plate 12 respectively. X
A bush 13 is fitted on the inner peripheral surface of the through hole of the moving plate 12 through which the rod 5 penetrates, and the moving plate 12 slides on the X rod 5 together with the bush 13. Further, a bush 14 is fitted on the inner peripheral surface of the through hole of the moving plate 12 through which the Y rod 9 penetrates, so that the moving plate 12 slides on the Y rod 9 together with the bush 14.

A pressure plate 16 is supported on the lower surface of the moving plate 12 via a spring 15 whose deformation in the X and Y directions is completely restricted. That is,
The movement of the pressure plate 16 by the spring 15 in a direction other than the vertical direction is completely restricted.

The free end of the vibrator 17 fixed to the bottom surface of the fixed frame 1 is in contact with the lower surface of the pressure plate 16. The vibrator 17 is composed of a plurality of piezoelectric elements, and a pressure plate 16 biased downward by a spring 15 is in point contact with its free end with a predetermined pressing force. A fixed member 18 is attached to the upper surface of the moving plate 12, and a tip member 19 such as a compensating tube, an injection needle, and a microelectrode is attached to the fixed member 18.

FIG. 3 shows a configuration in which the above micromanipulator is installed in an inverted microscope. Reference numeral 20 is the above-mentioned micromanipulator, which is arranged in the vicinity of the stage 22 provided in the inverted microscope 11. Then, the tip member 1 is placed in the dish 26 placed on the stage 22.
The tip of 9 is put in.

An objective lens 23 is arranged below the stage 22. The observation light that has passed through the objective lens 23 is converted into an electric signal by the TV camera 24, and the monitor device 2
5, and is displayed there.

A joystick 27 is provided as an operating portion of the micromanipulator 20. The tilt direction and tilt angle of the joystick 27 are input to the CPU 28 as an electric signal. The CPU 28 has a function of operating the oscillator 29 according to a signal from the joystick 27 and applying a voltage having a resonance frequency of the vibrator 17 to a predetermined piezoelectric element of the vibrator 17 via the power amplifier 30. A concrete configuration of the vibrator 17 is shown in FIG.
And FIG. 5 will be described.

The vibrator 17 has a Z-axis drive section 31 in which thin plate piezoelectric elements are laminated in the direction of expansion and contraction thereof, and a holding member 32 having a hemispherical projection 33 is attached to the upper end surface thereof. The resonance member 34 is attached to the lower part. The resonance member 14 has four side surfaces facing the X direction and the Y direction. Piezoelectric elements 35 and 37 having expansion and contraction directions in the X direction are attached to two side surfaces of the resonance member 14 facing the X direction. In addition, the resonance member 14 facing the Y direction 2
On the side surface, the piezoelectric elements 36, 3 with the expansion / contraction direction oriented in the Y direction
8 is attached.

As shown in FIG. 6, each piezoelectric element of the Z-axis drive unit 31 and each piezoelectric element 35 to 38 of the resonance member 34 are provided with resonance frequencies independently from a high frequency power source including an oscillator 29 and a power amplifier 30. The voltage that they have is applied. Here, the principle that the protrusion 33, which is the free end of the oscillator 17, makes an elliptical motion will be described.

A pair of piezoelectric elements 3 provided on two side faces in the X direction
When a voltage is applied to only one of the piezoelectric elements 37, 37, a bending force for tilting the resonance member 34 in the direction shown in FIG. 7A is generated. Moreover, when a voltage is applied only to the other piezoelectric element 35, the resonance member 34 moves to the position shown in FIG.
A bending force that tilts in the direction shown in (b) is generated. That is, a bending force in the X direction can be generated.

When a voltage is applied to each piezoelectric element of the Z-axis drive section 31 with the bending of the resonance member 34 released, the voltage is extended in the Z-axis direction and the voltage application is stopped as shown in FIG. 7C. Then, the state returns to the original state as shown in FIG.

That is, by continuously generating the states shown in FIGS. 7A to 7D, the protrusion 33 of the vibrator 17 makes an elliptical motion in the X direction in the clockwise or counterclockwise direction. ..

Even if the voltage applied to the pair of piezoelectric elements 35 and 37 provided on the two side surfaces of the resonance member 34 in the Y direction is controlled in the same manner as described above, the protrusion 33 of the vibrator 17 is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise in the Y direction. You can make an elliptical motion clockwise.

Therefore, the CPU 28 uses the joystick 2
The direction of rotation of the elliptical motion is determined according to the inclination direction of 7,
In addition, the voltage application period is determined according to the tilt angle of the joystick 27. Then, the oscillator 28 is set so that the elliptical motion in the determined rotation direction is generated for the same determined time.
To control.

In the micromanipulator of this embodiment,
The movable plate 12 is supported by the Y-side movable guide 4 and the X-side movable guide 8, and the pressure plate 16 provided integrally with the movable plate 12 is pressed against the protrusion 33 of the vibrator 17.

Then, in response to the operation of the joystick 27, the vibrator 17 oscillates in the X direction or the Y direction for a predetermined period. When the protrusion 33 of the vibrator 17 makes an elliptical motion, the driving force is transmitted to the pressure plate 16 which is pressed by the spring 15 and is in contact with the protrusion 33. Since the spring 15 interposed between the moving plate 12 supporting the pressure plate 16 is completely restrained in the X direction and the Y direction, the driving force transmitted to the pressure plate 16 is All will be transmitted to the moving plate 12. Further, the displacement of the Z-axis drive unit 31 in the Z direction during the elliptical movement is absorbed by the spring 15.

When the driving force in the X direction is transmitted to the moving plate 12, the X side movable guide 8 which allows the Y rod 9 to pass through the moving plate 12 is moved to the X side fixed guide 3a.
It is guided in the X direction by 3b. At the same time, the moving plate 12 is guided by the X rod 5 which slidably penetrates through the moving plate 12 via the X bush 13 to move the moving plate 12 to the X direction.
Move linearly in the direction.

When the vibrator 17 is caused to generate an elliptic motion in the Y direction, the moving plate 12 is moved to the pressing plate 1.
The driving force in the Y direction is transmitted from 6. As a result, the moving plate 12 is linearly moved in the Y direction by being guided by the Y rod 9 via the Y bush 14 inserted in the moving plate 12. At that time, the X-side movable guide 8 in which the Y rod 9 penetrates the moving plate 12 is also moved to the Y-side fixed guide 2a,
It is guided by 2b and moves in the Y direction together with the moving plate 12.

Since the tip end member 19 attached to the fixed member 18 moves together with the moving plate 12, the fine operation by the joystick 27 is transmitted to the tip end member 19 so that various fine work can be performed by the tip end member 19. become.

As described above, according to this embodiment, a single plate composed of the moving plate 12 and the pressure plate 16 is
Since it is driven by the single oscillator 17, a large load is not applied to the drive system of the stage arranged on the lower side as seen in a normal XY stage. Further, in the structure in which the X stage and the Y stage are overlapped, the displacement characteristic per one cycle of the vibrator changes between the X axis and the Y axis, but in the structure of this embodiment, the X axis and the Y stage are changed.
There is an advantage that the displacement characteristics of the shaft do not change.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the temperature dependence, which has been a problem in the conventional hydraulic system, is reduced, so that the operation target can be held at a fixed position for a long time.
Further, since it has high acceleration / deceleration performance, the operation time can be shortened and damage to cells and the like can be reduced. Further, in this embodiment, the high assembly and processing accuracy required in the case of the mechanical type is not required, so that an inexpensive micromanipulator can be provided.

The pressure plate 1 is attached to the free end of the vibrator 17.
Since 6 is constantly pressed by the spring 15 and an elliptical motion is generated at the free end, the vibrator 17 and the pressure plate 16 are always in contact with each other. Therefore, unlike the conventional micromanipulator using the piezoelectric element, the end portion of the piezoelectric element does not poke the plate, so that a very unpleasant contact sound is not generated and quietness is achieved. Further, in this embodiment, since it is not necessary to attach a balance weight, there is an advantage that the device can be downsized and the degree of freedom in mounting the micromanipulator can be improved.

[0039]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, excellent responsiveness, unnecessary vibrations can be removed, highly reliable operation is possible, and the apparatus can be downsized and quiet. A micromanipulator can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a micromanipulator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of the micromanipulator shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram when a micromanipulator according to an embodiment is applied to an inverted microscope.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a vibrator provided in the micromanipulator of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the vibrator shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a drive circuit of the vibrator.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the elliptical motion of the oscillator.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Fixed frame, 2a, 2b ... Y side fixed guide, 3a, 3b
... X-side fixed guide, 4 ... Y-side movable guide, 8 ... X-side movable guide, 12 ... Moving plate, 15 ... Pressure spring, 16 ...
Pressure plate, 17 ... Oscillator.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plate, a guide means for movably supporting the plate, and a guide means for guiding in the X and Y directions orthogonal to each other, and an expansion and contraction direction directed in three orthogonal directions including the X and Y directions. Consisting of a plurality of piezoelectric elements arranged, having a free end in contact with one surface of the plate,
An oscillator in which the free end makes an elliptical motion when a voltage is applied, an operating unit for instructing the elliptic motion direction and momentum of the free end of the oscillator, and each piezoelectric element of the oscillator in response to an instruction from the operating unit. A micromanipulator comprising: a voltage applying unit that generates a voltage applied to the element. 2. The plate is supported by the moving plate through a moving play supported by the guide means and a spring whose displacement in the X and Y directions is restricted, and the vibrator is supported by the spring. The micromanipulator according to claim 1, wherein the micromanipulator comprises a pressure plate pressed against the free end of the micromanipulator.