JPH06331903A - Television camera connecting lens barrel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a television camera connecting lens barrel which does not need positional adjustment to align the center and the focal point of an ocularly observed image with those of a televisionally observed image after the lens barrel is attached to a television camera and which can faithfully reproduce the color and the brightness of the ocularly observed image in the televisionally observed image. CONSTITUTION:This television camera connecting lens barrel 1 is provided with a prism 5 branching light from a sample to an ocular observation optical path 2 and a televisional observation optical path 3, an imaging device 6 installed on the televisional observation optical path, and an optical system 8 aligning the center and the focal point of the image formed on the imaging device 6 with those of the ocularly observed image; and the units are arranged in a previously integrally formed housing 10. By such constitution, the center and the focal point of the televisionally observed image are aligned with those of the ocularly observed image, and electric characteristics such as the color and the brightness thereof are made coincident. Then, the ocularly observed image is faithfully reproduced on a television monitor 18.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a television camera connection lens barrel of a microscope having an eyepiece observation optical path and a television observation optical path.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional microscope capable of eyepiece observation and television observation, a television camera connection lens barrel 31 as shown in FIG. 3 is assembled from a plurality of units. The television camera connection lens barrel 31 includes an eyepiece observation lens barrel 32, an adapter 34, a television camera attachment 36 such as a C mount, and a television camera image pickup unit 38. The image pickup unit 38 includes a cable 40. It is connected via a television monitor (not shown). The eyepiece observation lens barrel 32 has a prism 33 for splitting light from an objective lens (not shown) into an eyepiece observation optical path 42 and a television observation optical path 44, and the adapter 35 includes lenses 35a and 35b. An optical system 35 is provided. The television camera connection lens barrel 31 is configured by assembling the plurality of units so that their optical axes coincide with each other.

When performing television observation using the television-camera connecting lens barrel 31 constructed as described above, a user is required.
Is a TV camera connection lens barrel 31 from the above plurality of units.
Is assembled and attached to a microscope body (not shown). The light from the sample placed on the microscope is incident on the prism 33 through an objective lens (not shown) and is split into the eyepiece observation optical path 42 and the television observation optical path 44. The light incident on the eyepiece observation optical path 42 is transmitted through the optical system (not shown) to the eyepiece 32.
It is imaged on a and visually confirmed by the user. The light incident on the television observation optical path 44 is imaged on the image pickup section 38 of the television camera via the optical system 35, and is displayed on a television monitor (not shown) as a television observation image via the cable 40. Therefore, the image of the sample can be observed on the television monitor (not shown) while observing the image of the sample on the eyepiece 32a.

However, when the television camera connecting lens barrel 31 is assembled from a plurality of units as described above, the eyepiece observation is caused due to a mounting error between the units which occurs during assembly and a dimensional error in manufacturing each unit. Misalignment and defocus occur between the optical path 42 and the television observation optical path 44. Therefore, when the eyepiece observation is switched to the television observation, or when the eyepiece observation and the television observation are simultaneously performed, the stage of the microscope (not shown) is readjusted and the misalignment and focus between the eyepiece observation optical path 42 and the television observation optical path 44. There arises a problem that the deviation must be corrected.

As a device for solving this problem, a camera mounting device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 56-26716 is known. This device is equipped with a lens for optical axis correction, which is assembled from a plurality of units and is moved and held in a plane perpendicular to the television observation optical path, and the optical axis is moved by moving the lens in the plane. , The optical axis deviation that occurs when the camera is attached is corrected.

[0006]

According to the above device,
The optical axis shift between the eyepiece observation image and the television observation image can be corrected, but the focus shift cannot be corrected. Further, it is necessary to adjust the lens every time the camera is attached to adjust the center and focus of the eyepiece observation image and the television observation image, which is troublesome. Further, there arises a problem that the alignment accuracy of the optical axis correcting lens is unstable and the optical axis cannot be accurately corrected.

When a combination of an optical system that defines a television observation optical path and a television camera, which is composed of a plurality of units like a conventional television camera connection lens barrel, can be arbitrarily selected, the electrical characteristics A combination of different devices causes a difference in color and brightness between the eyepiece observation image and the television observation image. If there is a difference in color or brightness between the eyepiece observation image and the television observation image, it is necessary to faithfully reproduce the electrical characteristics such as the color or brightness of the eyepiece observation image in the television observation image. It is difficult to adjust. Further, when the color, brightness, etc. cannot be faithfully reproduced in this way, it becomes a particular problem when observing an organism using a stained specimen or the like.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to eliminate the necessity of adjusting the eyepiece observation image and the center and focus of the television observation image after the television camera is mounted. It is an object of the present invention to provide a television camera connection lens barrel capable of faithfully reproducing the color and brightness of an eyepiece observation image in a television observation image.

[0009]

According to the present invention, a television camera connection of a microscope provided with an eyepiece observation optical path for guiding an eyepiece observation image to an eyepiece part and a television observation optical path for guiding a television observation image to an image pickup device. The lens barrel has a housing integrally formed in advance, and the optical system for defining the television observation optical path and the image pickup device are pre-positioned so that the center and focus of the eyepiece observation image and the television observation image match. Then, a television camera connection lens barrel is provided which is incorporated in the housing.

[0010]

According to the present invention, the television camera connecting lens barrel for connecting the television camera to the microscope is an eyepiece observation system that guides light from the specimen to the eyepiece portion to form an eyepiece observation image in the eyepiece portion. It has an optical path and a television observation optical path that guides light from the sample to the image pickup element in order to form a television observation image on the image pickup element. The television camera connection lens barrel has a housing which is integrally formed in advance and constitutes an outer frame of the lens barrel. An image pickup element of a television camera and an optical system for guiding an image from a sample obtained via an objective lens to the image pickup element are provided on the television observation optical path. The image pickup element and the optical system are preliminarily adjusted in position and incorporated in the housing in order to match the center and focus of the eyepiece observation image and the television observation image.

As described above, the center and focus of the eyepiece observation image and the television observation image are matched at the time of manufacturing the television camera connection lens barrel, so that when the television camera is attached to the microscope, the eyepiece observation image and the television observation image are No alignment is required to match the center and focus.

Further, by integrally forming the optical system and the image pickup device in the lens barrel, electrical adjustment for faithfully reproducing the color and brightness of the eyepiece observation image in the television observation image is made at the time of manufacturing the lens barrel. It can be carried out.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a television camera connection lens barrel 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention splits light incident from a sample (not shown) via an objective lens into an eyepiece observation optical path 2 and a television observation optical path 3. Prism 5
Is equipped with. The eyepiece observation optical path 2 includes an optical system such as an eyepiece lens (not shown). The optical system guides the light incident from the prism 5 to the eyepiece portion 2a, and at the same time displays the image of the sample on the eyepiece portion 2a.
It is positioned and arranged so as to form an image on a. The television observation optical path 3 is equipped with a relay optical system 8 for guiding the light incident from the prism 5 to the image pickup device 6, scaling the image of the sample to an appropriate size and forming the image on the image pickup device 6. The relay optical system 8 is composed of lenses 8a and 8b. A housing 10 that surrounds the respective parts such as the prism 5, the image pickup device 6, the relay optical system 8 and the like and constitutes the tube portion of the television camera connection lens barrel 1 is integrally formed. The respective parts arranged in the housing 10 are arranged so that their optical axes coincide with each other.

The output end side of the image pickup device 6 is connected via a cable 12 to a camera control unit 14 (hereinafter,
CCU 14). CCU14
Is connected to the television monitor 18 via the cable 16, processes the image signal from the image sensor 6 to convert the image of the sample into an electric signal, and displays it on the television monitor-18.

The prism 5, the image pickup device 6, and the optical system 8
Is adjusted in advance so that the image center and focus of the eyepiece observation image observed by the eyepiece portion 2a of the television camera connection lens barrel 1 and the television observation image observed by the image pickup element 6 match. Are disposed in the housing 10. Therefore, unlike the conventional lens barrel assembled from a plurality of units, it is not necessary to correct the center shift and focus shift between the eyepiece observation image and the television observation image caused by the accumulation of the mounting error and the manufacturing error of each unit, and the television The setup work of the camera connection lens barrel 1 can be simplified.

Also, in consideration of the transmission characteristics of the prism 5 and the optical system 8 with respect to color and brightness, the electrical characteristics of the image pickup device 6 or the CCU 14 with respect to color and brightness are adjusted in advance, and the television camera connection lens barrel 1 is obtained. The color and brightness of the eyepiece observation image can be faithfully reproduced on the television monitor 18 by manufacturing the. However, even if the electrical characteristics are adjusted in this way, when observing different specimens or using different speculum methods, the TV monitor-1
In 8, the color and brightness may not be faithfully reproduced. Therefore, some representative samples or adjustment values suitable for the spectroscopic method may be set in advance, and the user may appropriately select the adjustment values during the speculum. Furthermore, by adjusting the magnification of the optical system 8 to the size of the image sensor 6,
Observation in a wider field of view becomes possible.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Since the basic configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, the same parts as those of the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. Only the parts different from the first embodiment will be described. explain.

As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the second
In addition to the eyepiece observation optical path 2 and the television observation optical path 3, the television camera connection lens barrel 21 in the embodiment of FIG.
Is equipped with. Light from an objective lens (not shown) is totally reflected by the total reflection prism 5a and guided to the eyepiece observation optical path 2.
Further, it is branched in two directions by the spectroscopic prism 5b to be guided to the eyepiece observation optical path 2 and the photographing optical path 4, and is also transmitted through the optical path length correction prism 5c to be guided to the photographing optical path 4, and each prism 5a to 5c is arbitrarily set. It can be switched. For example, when the light is switched to the spectral prism 5b, one of the branched lights is guided to the eyepiece observation optical path 2 and the other light is incident on the optical path length correction prism 11a or the spectral prism 11b. All the light incident on the optical path length correction prism 11a is transmitted and guided to the photographing optical path 4, and the spectral prism 11a
The light incident on b is guided to the television observation optical path 3 and the photography optical path 4, and both prisms 11a and 11b can be arbitrarily switched. A lens 9 is provided in the television observation optical path 3.
An optical system 9 including a, 9b, and 9c and a reflection mirror 7 are provided, and the optical system 9 and the reflection mirror 7 are arranged so that the center and the focus of the television observation image formed on the image sensor 6 match those of the eyepiece observation image. -7 is adjusted. The image sensor 6 is
It is connected to the CCU 14 via the cable 12. Further, in the photo-taking optical path 4, the photographic eyepiece 1 is arranged so that the center and focus of the photographic image coincide with those of the eyepiece observation image.
3 is adjusted in position, and the photographing device 15 can be arranged via the photographic eyepiece lens 13. Further, a user operation panel 17 is connected to the CCU 14 via a cable 19, and the amount of light, white balance and the like are adjusted here. Further, the CCU 14 is connected to a television monitor (not shown). Incidentally, the prisms 5 and 11, the optical system 9, the image pickup device 6, and the CCU 14 described above.
Is integrated in the housing 20 which is integrally formed with its position adjusted.

As described above, the eyepiece observation image, the television observation image,
It goes without saying that the TV camera connecting lens barrel 1 formed by matching the center and focus of the photographed image can obtain the same effect as the TV camera connecting lens barrel of the first embodiment. According to the television camera connection lens barrel 1 of the example, since the center and the focus of the eyepiece lens 13 for photography can be made to coincide with those of the image pickup device 6, at the time of taking a photograph while confirming the image of the sample on the television monitor-18. The framing of the camera can be performed accurately. Therefore, it is possible to reduce eye fatigue due to viewer observation during photography.

Further, since the CCU 14 is built in the housing 20, the space on the desk can be effectively utilized, the work space can be widened, the exterior parts for the CCU 14 are unnecessary, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. it can. Further, in the TV camera connection lens barrel 1, the amount of light and the white balance can be adjusted via the operation panel 17, so that the TV camera connection lens barrel with good operability can be provided. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be variously modified without changing the content of the invention.

[0021]

As described above, according to the television camera connecting lens barrel of the present invention, the relay optical system and the image pickup device are built in the housing which is integrally formed in advance. Since the optical system and the image pickup element that require position adjustment with each other are integrally formed in the housing, it is not necessary to match the center and focus of the eyepiece observation image and the television observation image when mounting the television camera, and Installation work becomes easy.

Further, since the optical system and the image pickup device are integrally incorporated in the housing, it is possible to electrically adjust the electric characteristics such as color and brightness in the TV observed image at the time of manufacturing the TV camera connection lens barrel. Therefore, the color and brightness in the eyepiece observation image can be faithfully reproduced in the television observation image.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a television camera connection lens barrel and its peripheral devices according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2A and 2B are cross-sectional views showing a television camera connection lens barrel according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional TV camera connection lens barrel.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... TV camera connection lens barrel, 2 ... Eyepiece observation optical path, 2a ...
Eyepiece, 3 ... Television observation light path, 4 ... Photography light path, 5 ...
Prism, 5a ... Total reflection prism, 5b ... Spectral prism, 5c ... Optical path length correction prism, 6 ... Image sensor, 8 ... Relay optical system, 10 ... Housing, 11a ... Optical path length correction prism, 11b ... Spectral prism, 14 ... Camera control unit, 18 ... TV monitor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An eyepiece observation optical path that guides an eyepiece observation image to an eyepiece section, and a television observation optical path that guides a television observation image to an image sensor.
An optical system for defining a television observation optical path so that the eyepiece observation image and the television observation image have the same center and focus in a television camera connection lens barrel of a microscope including And a television camera connection lens barrel, wherein the image pickup device is preliminarily adjusted in position and incorporated in the housing.