JPH0633114U - Light intensity adjustment device for microscope - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To suppress the fluctuation of brightness in the visual field and enable quick observation. A light amount adjusting device adjusts a light amount when switching an objective lens in a microscope having a light source, a plurality of switchable objective lenses having different magnifications, and a light amount control device for controlling a light amount in a field of view by feedback control. It is a device to perform. This device includes a memory unit and a control unit. The memory unit stores standard setting values corresponding to the plurality of objective lenses. The control unit, when switching the objective lens,
The light quantity is adjusted according to the standard setting value corresponding to the new objective lens.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a light amount adjusting device, and more particularly to a light amount adjusting device for switching an objective lens in a microscope having a plurality of switchable objective lenses with different magnifications, a light source, and a light amount control device for controlling the light amount by feedback control. Regarding

[0002]

[Prior art]

 For example, in the medical field, cell diagnosis and pathological diagnosis are performed by observing a specimen taken out from a tissue with a microscope. As this type of microscope, there is a microscope equipped with a light quantity adjusting device for maintaining the brightness of the observation field of view of the microscope substantially constant. This light amount adjusting device is provided with a light amount detecting means for detecting the light amount in the field of view, and a light amount adjusting means for attenuating the light amount from the light source or changing the voltage of the light source according to the detection result.

In the light quantity adjusting means, the brightness of the observation visual field is maintained substantially constant by feedback control even when the magnification is changed. However, when the revolver of the objective lens rotates during magnification conversion, the optical path is interrupted and the field of view becomes darker during that time, and the feedback control causes the light amount to increase. Therefore, when the next objective lens is positioned on the optical path, an excessive amount of light enters the visual field and the visual field suddenly becomes bright. Then, the feedback control gradually controls the brightness to an appropriate level. That is, the brightness of the observation visual field fluctuates greatly, and it takes a long time to reach the appropriate brightness.

As a conventional technique for solving the above-mentioned problem, there is an apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 60-375395. This apparatus comprises a light amount detecting means, a switching detector for detecting switching of an objective lens, a first reference voltage power source for providing an appropriate light source light amount, and a second light source for providing a constant light source light amount at power-on and magnification switching. And a switching circuit for switching the connection to the second reference voltage power supply when switching the magnification and switching the power on. Here, since the second reference voltage power supply is used at the time of switching the magnification, the abrupt fluctuation of the brightness in the observation visual field is smaller than that in the case where the above feedback control is continued.

[0005]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 In the above-mentioned conventional configuration, since the light amount is only maintained at a certain level when the magnification is changed, the fluctuation of the brightness in the observation visual field immediately after the magnification is changed is not eliminated. For example, when the magnification is changed from high magnification to low magnification, the phenomenon that the field of view becomes brighter and then darker and the brightness becomes appropriate still occurs. Therefore, it takes time for the brightness to become appropriate at the time of switching and for observation to become possible.

An object of the present invention is to suppress the fluctuation of the brightness in the visual field when switching the objective lens and enable quick observation.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 A light quantity adjusting device according to the present invention is a microscope having a light source, a plurality of switchable object lenses having different magnifications, and a light quantity control device for sequentially controlling the light quantity incident on the visual field based on the light quantity in the microscope visual field. This is a device that adjusts the light amount when switching the objective lens. This device comprises a storage means and an adjustment means. The storage means stores standard setting values corresponding to a plurality of objective lenses. When the objective lens is switched, the adjusting means adjusts the amount of light incident on the visual field according to the standard setting value corresponding to the new objective lens.

[0008]

[Action]

 In the light quantity adjusting device according to the present invention, when the objective lens is switched, the standard setting value corresponding to the new objective lens is obtained from the standard setting values corresponding to the plurality of objective lenses stored in the storage means, and the standard setting value is obtained. The amount of light is adjusted by the adjusting means according to the value. Here, the amount of light incident on the visual field is adjusted by controlling according to the standard setting value of the new objective lens, so that an appropriate amount of light can be obtained within the visual field immediately after the lens is switched, and the brightness of the visual field after switching can be adjusted. There is little fluctuation. Therefore, the field of view can be observed quickly.

[0009]

【Example】

 FIG. 1 shows a microscope system 1 adopting an embodiment of the present invention. The microscope system 1 is mainly composed of an apparatus main body 1a and a keyboard 2. The apparatus main body 1a has a microscope 3 with a TV camera and a monitor 4 composed of a CRT display.

The microscope 3 includes a sample stage 6, a plurality of objective lenses 7, an attenuation filter 19 (FIG. 2) including a pair of polarization filters 19 a and 19 b, and a light source 28 (FIG. 2). The sample table 6 can be moved back and forth, right and left, and up and down, and a preparation (not shown) on which a sample is fixed is positionably mounted on the sample table 6. The upper polarization filter 19a is rotatable with respect to the lower polarization filter 19b, and the light attenuation amount of the light source 28 is controlled by this rotation position to adjust the light amount.

The keyboard 2 includes a joystick 10 for moving the sample table 6 back and forth and left and right, a joystick 11 for vertically moving and focusing, and a manual light amount adjustment. A light amount adjusting volume 15 and a magnification key 13 for selecting a magnification are arranged. As shown in FIG. 2, the microscope system 1 has a control unit 20 including a microcomputer and the like. The control unit 20 has a memory unit 27 including a ROM and a RAM. In the memory unit 27, the reference set value of the light amount within the field of view of the microscope 3 and the standard rotation position of the polarization filter 19a are written.

The S terminal of the TV camera 16 provided in the microscope 3 is connected to the control unit 20 via a light amount detection circuit 21 and an A / D converter 22. This S terminal is a terminal for outputting the luminance signal E _Y. The RGB terminals of the TV camera 16 are connected to the monitor 4. A monitor 4 and a keyboard 2 are connected to the control unit 20. Further, a motor 17 for rotating the objective lens 7 is connected via a motor driver 25, and a motor 18 for rotating the upper polarization filter 19a is connected via a motor driver 26. There is. The light amount detection circuit 21 averages the brightness signal E _Y for one screen to detect the light amount (brightness) in the visual field.

Next, the control operation of the control unit 20 will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG. First, initial setting is performed in step S1. Here, the magnification is set to the initial value, and the sample table 6 is set to the initial position. In step S3, it is determined whether or not the magnification key 13 of the keyboard 2 has been operated. If the magnification key 13 has not been operated, the process proceeds to step S4. In step S4, the digital average luminance signal AVD output from the AD converter 22 is read.

The average luminance signal AVD is a signal indicating the average of the light amount, and is obtained by averaging a signal obtained by removing the horizontal synchronizing signal H _S and the vertical synchronizing signal V _S from the luminance signal. In step S5, the light amount setting value LV, which is the reference value of the brightness in the field of view of the microscope 3 (that is, the brightness of the monitor 4), is read. In step S6, the average luminance signal AV D and the light amount setting value LV are compared. If the comparison results match, the process moves to step S7. In step S7, other processing is performed and the process returns to step S2. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S6 that the average luminance signal is different from the light amount setting value, the process proceeds to step S13. In step S13, the polarization filter 19a is rotated according to the difference between the average luminance signal AVD and the light amount setting value LV. This ensures that the brightness in the field of view is always optimal.

If it is determined in step S3 that the magnification key 13 has been operated, the process proceeds to step S9. In step S9, the standard rotation position corresponding to the magnification selected from the standard rotation positions stored in the memory unit 27 is read. In step S10, the polarization filter 19a starts moving from the current position to the standard rotation position corresponding to the new magnification. Succeedingly, in a step S11, the movement of the objective lens 7 is started so as to be positioned at the set magnification. In step S12, it is determined whether or not the setting of the objective lens 7 is completed. It waits until the lens is set, and when the lens is set, the process proceeds to step S4.

For a specific explanation, assume that the magnification changes from high magnification to low magnification as shown in FIG. 4, for example. In this case, the movement of the filter 19a to the standard position according to the new magnification is started in step S10, so that the light quantity attenuation amount of the attenuation filter 19 is changed to the lens switching start point as shown by the dotted line in FIG. It increases from and becomes almost equal to the target attenuation at the end of switching. Therefore, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 4, the level of the brightness signal of the TV camera 16 (light amount detection amount) is quickly and properly set to 0 level even while the optical path is blocked when the lens 7 is switched. Return to the light level. For this reason, the flicker of the screen immediately after switching the lens is reduced, and it is possible to quickly shift to the observation state. Also, the operator's eye strain is reduced.

[Other Embodiments] (a) In the above embodiment, the light amount is determined by the luminance signal of the TV camera, but other light receiving elements may be used to directly detect the light amount. (B) Although the amount of light transmitted through the sample table 6 is adjusted in the above-described embodiment, the amount of light reflected by the sample on the sample table 6 may be adjusted. (C) Although the light amount is adjusted by the pair of polarization filters in the above embodiment, the light amount may be adjusted by controlling the voltage of the ND filter or the light source. (D) In the above-described embodiment, the control by the open loop is performed when the objective lens is switched, but the same control may be performed when the objective lens is not in the optical path when the power is turned on.

[0018]

[Effect of device]

 In the light amount adjusting device according to the present invention, when the objective lens is switched, the standard setting value corresponding to the new objective lens is obtained from the standard setting value corresponding to the plurality of objective lenses, and the visual field is changed according to the standard setting value. Since the amount of incident light is adjusted, there is little fluctuation in the amount of light (brightness) within the field of view of the microscope. Therefore, quick observation becomes possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a microscope system adopting an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram thereof.

FIG. 3 is a control flowchart of a control unit.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing a relationship between a light amount detection amount and a light amount attenuation amount.

[Explanation of symbols]

 19 Attenuation filter 19a Polarization filter 20 Control unit 27 Memory unit

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A light source, a plurality of objective lenses which are switchable and have different magnifications, and a light quantity control device for sequentially controlling the quantity of light incident on the field of view based on the quantity of light within the field of view of the microscope. A light quantity adjusting device at the time of switching, storing means for storing standard setting values corresponding to the plurality of objective lenses; and, when switching the objective lenses, according to the standard setting values corresponding to a new objective lens. A light quantity adjusting device for a microscope, comprising: adjusting means for adjusting the quantity of light incident on the visual field.