JPH0640910U - Objective lens exchange mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] An object of the present invention is to provide an objective lens exchange mechanism capable of switching the objective lens without interfering with various parts near the sample and suppressing vibration during positioning of the objective lens. In the objective lens exchange mechanism of the present invention, the objective lenses 0B1 and 0B2 are arranged and held in a linear or arc shape, and the objective lenses 0B1 and 0B2 are moved in the arrangement direction within a plane including the observation optical axis. The lens exchange member 38 supported so as to engage with the lens exchange member 38 to position the objective lens and to release the engagement independently of the operation of the lens exchange member 38. And.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to an objective lens replacement mechanism provided in an optical microscope and used for functions such as magnification switching.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 FIG. 8 shows the basic configuration of a transmission illumination type optical microscope.

In this optical microscope, an eyepiece tube 2 is provided on an upper surface of a tip of an arm 1 which is a microscope body, and a revolver 3 is supported on a lower surface of an arm tip opposite to the eyepiece tube 2. The revolver 3 is composed of a revolver body and a rotating ring, and holds a plurality of objective lenses 4 arranged in a circle by the rotating ring. The rotation axis L1 of the turning ring is inclined about 30 degrees with respect to the observation optical axis L2 of the microscope.

By rotating the turning ring of the revolver 3 about the rotation axis L1, the object lens 4 is selectively arranged on the observation optical axis L2, and the magnification can be switched.

By the way, some revolvers 3 of optical microscopes have a positioning mechanism for positioning the objective lens 4 on the optical axis. The structure of a revolver having such a positioning mechanism is shown in FIG. 9, and the details of the positioning mechanism are shown in FIG. The revolver and the positioning mechanism shown in the figure are those described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 51-70545.

As shown in the figure, the revolver body 11 is fixed to the microscope body, and the turning ring 12 is fitted to the revolver body 11. A retaining ring 13 engaged with the side of the revolving ring 12 is inserted between the outer peripheral portion of the revolver body 11 and the inner peripheral portion of the revolving ring 12, and the retaining ring 13 is attached to the revolving body 11 via the ball 14. Engages with the outer peripheral edge. A ball 14 is held at the center of rotation between the revolver body 11 and the turning ring 12, and the ball 14 is pressed with a predetermined amount of force by a holding screw 15 screwed from the back side of the revolver body 11. There is. With the above structure, the turning ring 12 is rotatably held by the revolver body 11 via the balls 13 and 14 without swinging.

In the positioning mechanism, as shown in FIG. 10, the click ball 16 is fixed to the tip of the click spring 16 whose base end is fixed to the revolver body 11 by means such as adhesion, and the click ball 16 is rotated. It is pressed against the circumference of the ring 12. A click groove 18 is formed on the circumference of the turning ring 12 in correspondence with the mounting position of the objective lens.

In the positioning mechanism, when the objective lens comes close to the optical axis as the turning ring 12 rotates, the click ball 16 is dropped into the click groove 18. As a result, the turning ring 12 is fixed without rocking by the pressing force of the click spring 16, and the objective lens is positioned on the optical axis.

On the other hand, recently, in addition to observing cells, various cell manipulations (grabbing, puncturing, injecting, cutting, etc.) have been performed by combining the above-described optical microscope and micromanipulator.

FIG. 11 shows an arrangement example of an experimental device in which an upright microscope and a micromanipulator are combined. In such an experimental apparatus, both the manipulator main body 22 equipped with the micropipette 21 and the objective lens held by the revolver must be placed close to the sample S placed on the stage 23.

A controller 24 is connected to the manipulator main body 22, and the rotation amounts of dials 25 a to 25 c provided on the controller 24 are converted into minute linear motions and transmitted to the manipulator main body 22.

[0012]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 By the way, in the above-mentioned experimental device, when the revolver is rotated and the objective lens is switched to obtain different magnifications, the already mounted micromanipulator interferes with the rotation of the revolver, or the revolver or objective is rotated. In some cases, the lens came into contact with a part of the micromanipulator and the position of the micropipette was displaced.

Further, in the positioning mechanism shown in FIG. 10, in order to obtain a restoring force for positioning, the click spring is always applied at the time of locking to exert a pressing force on the click groove of the turning ring. For this reason, a large vibration is generated when the click ball falls into the click groove. Due to this vibration, the pipette tip of the micropipette vibrates, and the cells to be manipulated may come off.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the objective lens can be switched without interfering with various parts arranged in the vicinity of the sample, and vibration at the time of objective lens positioning can be achieved. It is an object of the present invention to provide an objective lens replacement mechanism that has almost no problems.

[0015]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above object, in the objective lens exchange mechanism of the present invention, the objective lenses are arranged and held in a straight line shape or an arc shape, and the objective lenses are moved in the arrangement direction in a plane including the observation optical axis. A lens exchange member supported so that the objective lens is positioned by engaging with the lens exchange member, and a locking mechanism that releases the engagement independently of the operation of the lens exchange member. To do.

[0016]

[Action]

 In the objective lens exchanging mechanism of the present invention, a plurality of objective lenses arranged linearly or arcuately move in the arrangement direction in the plane including the observation optical axis as the lens exchanging member moves. Therefore, the space occupancy rate is significantly reduced compared to the case where the revolver is rotated, and the interference with various parts arranged near the sample is also reduced.

Further, the objective mechanism is positioned by engaging the locking mechanism with the lens replacement member, and the engagement is released independently of the operation of the lens replacement member. Therefore, in the locking mechanism, since it is not necessary to use the elastic force of the click spring for the reproducibility (restoring force) of the optical axis positioning of the objective lens, vibration due to the elastic force of the click spring does not occur.

[0018]

【Example】

 Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 shows the outline of a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an upright microscope, and FIGS. 2 to 4 show the configuration of the main part of this embodiment.

In the upright microscope shown in FIG. 1, an eyepiece lens barrel 31 is provided on the upper surface of the tip of an arm 30 that serves as the microscope body. Reference numerals 32a and 32b are eyepieces attached to the eyepiece tube 31.

A mounting member 33 for a revolver is removably fixed to the lower surface of the arm distal end facing the eyepiece tube 31, for example, with a screw. This mounting member 33 has an opening 34 for an optical path that penetrates vertically in the central portion, and a dovetail groove 35 formed in the lower surface. Further, the tip of the fixing screw 36 screwed from the side surface of the mounting member 33 can project from the side surface of the dovetail groove 35.

A fixing member 37 is detachably supported by the mounting member 33 via a dovetail groove 35, and a lens exchange member 38 is rotatably supported in a predetermined direction on the fixing member 37. ing. The fixing member 37 and the lens exchange member 38 constitute an objective lens exchange mechanism. FIG. 2 shows a side view of the fixing member 37 and the lens exchanging member 38, and FIG. 3 shows a sectional view taken along the line AA shown in FIG.

The fixing member 37 is a box-shaped member having a trapezoidal side surface. Openings 40a and 40b are provided at the central portions of the upper surface and the lower surface of the fixing member 37 at positions concentric with the opening 34 of the mounting member 33. As shown in FIG. 4, the upper surface of the fixing member 37 has a square outer shape, an opening circle is formed in the central portion, and a pair of opposing side surfaces are fitted in the dovetail groove 35. The formed engaging member 41 is arranged. The engagement member 41 is fixed to the upper surface of the fixing member by four screws 42a to 42d arranged in a square around the opening with the opening aligned with the opening 40a. By fitting the engaging member 41 into the dovetail groove 35 of the mounting member 33, the fixing member 37 is fixed to the microscope body side.

The lens exchange member 38 has a U-shape when viewed from the front, and two openings 43 for attaching the objective lenses OB1 and OB2 are formed on the bottom surface along the rotation direction. ing. A thread groove for attaching an objective lens is formed on the inner circumference of the opening 43.

Since the bottom surface of the lens exchange member 38 is bent at the center along the rotation direction, the two objective lenses OB1 and OB2 are held in an arc shape in the rotation direction. .

The fixing member 37 is inserted through the upper opening of the lens replacement member 38, and the lens replacement member 38 and the fixing member 37 are rotatably supported by fulcrums 44 and 45 between both side surfaces thereof. The fulcrums 44 and 45 are composed of ball receivers 46a and 46b on the fixed member 37 side, ball receivers 47a and 47b on the lens replacement member 38 side, and balls 48a and 48b. Each ball receiver 46a, 46b, 47a, 47b is made of a high hardness material such as stainless steel, for example, and each tip has a conical concave surface for holding a ball.

It should be noted that one ball receiver 47 b on the lens replacement member 38 side is externally screwed into a screw hole 49 formed on the side surface of the lens replacement member 38. By screwing the ball receiver 47b with a predetermined amount of force, the lens replacement member 38 is held by the fixing member 37 without shaking.

In addition, a through hole having a thread groove formed in the inner periphery is formed on one side surface below the lens exchange member 38, and a threading means such as a multiple thread is formed in the outer periphery of the through hole. The positioning shaft 52 is screwed in. A lever 53 is fixed to one end of the positioning shaft 52. A conical concave surface for holding a positioning ball, which will be described later, is formed on the end surface of the other end of the positioning shaft 52. The positioning shaft 52 and the lever 53 constitute a positioning member.

On the other hand, on the opposite side surfaces of the fixing member 37, the positioning balls 51a and 51b are respectively located at two positions on the arc through which the tip of the positioning shaft 52 passes and which face each other across the observation optical axis. Is held. As for the positional relationship between the positioning balls 51a and 51b and the positioning shaft 52, when the positioning ball 51a and the positioning shaft 52 face each other, the objective lens OB2 is positioned on the optical axis and the positioning ball 51b and the positioning shaft 52 face each other. At times, the objective lens OB1 is located on the optical axis. That is, a plurality of positioning balls are arranged at the same distance and the same angle from the fulcrums 44 and 45 according to the number of mountable objective lenses. The positioning shaft 52, the lever 53, the balls 51a, 51b, etc. constitute a locking mechanism.

At the lower end of the lens replacement member 38, a knob 56 for moving the replacement member is provided. Further, on the side surface of the fixing member 37, a pair of movement restricting members 54 and 55 are provided below the fulcrum of the lens exchange member 38 so as to sandwich the optical axis. The movement restricting members 54 and 55 are fixed to the positioning ball 51 at a position where the concave surface at the tip of the positioning shaft 52 is called in when the positioning member is tightened.

In the present embodiment configured as described above, when the objective lenses OB1 and OB2 are attached to the openings 43 of the lens exchange member 38, the objective lenses OB1 and OB2 are located at the same position from the fulcrum portion, that is, on an arc. Held in. The lens exchanging member 38 holding each objective lens moves in the plane including the observation optical axis in the array direction of the plurality of objective lenses (direction of arrow B shown in FIG. 2) around the fulcrums 44 and 45.

For example, when the objective lens to be arranged on the optical axis is switched from OB1 (state shown in FIG. 2) to OB2, the lever 53 of the positioning member is rotated in the fixing releasing direction. When the lever 53 is rotated in the fixing release direction, the positioning shaft 52 is screwed in a direction away from the ball 51, and when the ball 51 is completely removed from the concave surface at the tip of the positioning shaft, the lens replacement member 38 is fixed by the positioning member. It will be canceled.

Next, the knob 56 is grasped and the lens exchange member 38 is operated to move the objective lens OB2 to the observation optical axis side. When the objective lens OB2 slightly goes over the observation optical axis, the lens replacement member 38 contacts the movement restricting member 55. When the lever 53 is rotated in the tightening direction in this state, the positioning shaft 52 is screwed toward the ball 52a side, the conical concave surface at the tip of the positioning shaft 52 attracts the ball 52a, and the objective lens OB2 moves on the observation optical axis. Be positioned at. The same operation is performed when the objective lens arranged on the optical axis is switched from OB2 to OB1.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the lens exchange member 38 configured to hold a plurality of objective lenses is attached to the fixing member 37 attached to the mounting member 33 via the fulcrums 44 and 45. Since the objective lens is supported rotatably in the plane including the observation optical axis and a plurality of objective lenses are held on an arc along the direction of rotation, the space occupied when switching objective lenses is the same as that of the conventional revolver rotation type. Can be significantly smaller than. As a result, it is possible to greatly reduce the possibility that the objective lens will interfere with various parts arranged near the sample when the objective lens is switched.

In this embodiment, the position of the lens replacement member 38 is regulated without using the elastic force of the spring, and the engagement is released without interlocking with the rotational movement of the lens replacement member 38. There is an advantage that almost no vibration occurs when the lens replacement member 38 is moved.

Further, according to the present embodiment, since the positioning shaft 52 and the positioning balls 51a and 51b are provisionally positioned by the movement restricting members 54 and 55, the position of the objective lens deviated from the optical axis. There is no need to worry about positioning.

It should be noted that, in the above-described embodiment, if a material that does not easily transmit vibration, such as an elastic body, is used as the movement restricting member, the propagation of vibration to the micropipette or the like can be further suppressed. Note that an elastic body may be formed only on the surface of the movement restricting member. Next, a modified example of the locking mechanism that engages with the lens replacement member to position the objective lens will be described with reference to FIG.

The positioning member 60 according to the present modification includes a large-diameter portion 61 having a diameter of a size that allows easy rotational operation and a small-diameter portion 62 having the same diameter as the through screw formed on the side surface of the lens replacement member 38. Has been formed. A cylindrical space is formed along the central axis of the positioning member 60, and an opening 62a having a diameter smaller than the cylindrical space is formed on the end surface of the small diameter portion 62. In the cylindrical space, a ball receiving pin 63 having a conical concave surface for receiving the positioning ball 51 at its tip, an elastic body 64 for biasing the ball receiving pin 63 to the pin side, and this elastic body 64 setscrews 65 are arranged respectively.

A thread groove is formed on the outer periphery of the small diameter portion 62, and the small diameter portion 62 is screwed into the through hole on the side surface of the lens replacement member, as in the above-described embodiment. The tip end portion of the ball receiving pin 63 is projected from the tip end opening 62a of the small diameter portion 62.

Further, gaps a and b are provided between the outer periphery of the ball receiving pin 63 and the inner surface of the cylindrical space, and between the outer periphery of the tip end portion of the ball receiving pin 63 and the inner periphery of the opening 62a, respectively. There is. The gaps a and b are set to be larger than the positional deviation of the positioning ball 51.

The axial length of the small diameter portion 62 is set so that the ball receiving pin 63 does not push the positioning ball 51 with an excessively large pressing force. That is, the length is such that the end face of the large diameter portion 61 comes into contact with the side face 38a when the pressing force reaches a certain level.

In such a positioning member 60, when the large diameter portion 61 is rotated in the tightening direction when the lens replacement member 38 contacts the position regulating member, the positioning member 60 is screwed in the tightening direction. As a result, the concave end of the ball receiving pin 63 receives the positioning ball 51.

At this time, the positional deviation caused by the processing accuracy of the positioning ball 51 is absorbed by the centripetal force, which is moved by the amount by which the ball receiving pin 63 is displaced in the gaps a and b described above. Then, the ball receiving pin 63 is pushed in the tightening direction by the pressing force of the elastic body 64, the concave surface of the tip end of the ball receiving pin 63 engages with the positioning ball 51, and the objective lens is positioned on the optical axis. Since the end surface of the large-diameter portion 61 abuts against the side surface 38a and is regulated in position, a constant pressing force is always applied to the positioning ball 51.

According to the present modification, since excessive tightening can be prevented, the fixing member 37 can be prevented from being deformed by the positioning member, and the light of the objective lens caused by the deformation of the fixing member 37 can be prevented. No misalignment.

Further, since the structure has a structure for absorbing the positional deviation of each positioning ball 51 (variation of the distance from the fulcrum portion, etc.), it is possible to prevent problems such as the positioning member being twisted and the replacement member being deformed. You can Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. 6A and 6B show a second embodiment of the present invention, and this embodiment is applied to the upright microscope shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, a fixing member 70 attached to the mounting member 33 of the microscope shown in FIG. 1 and a lens exchanging member 71 supported by the fixing member 70 so as to be movable in a plane including the observation optical axis. I have it.

The fixing member 70 has a plate shape elongated in one direction. On the upper surface of the fixing member 70, the engaging member 72 that fits into the dovetail groove 35 of the mounting member 33 is attached to the upper surface of the fixing member 70 by a plurality of screws 73a to 73d (73c and 73d are not shown). It is fixed. Moreover, a dovetail groove 74 is formed in the lower surface of the fixing member 70 in the longitudinal direction thereof.

The lens replacement member 71 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape having a U-shaped cross section with an opening on the upper surface side. Engagement portions 75 having a shape to be fitted into the dovetail grooves 74 on the lower surface of the fixed member are formed on both side surfaces of the upper portion of the lens replacement member 71. Further, two openings are formed on the bottom surface of the lens exchange member 71 in the dovetail groove forming direction corresponding to the mounting position of the objective lens. On the inner peripheral surface of each opening on the bottom surface of the lens replacement member 71, a multiple thread screw with less play and eccentricity is formed. Retaining members 76 having the same shape are screwed into the respective openings.

A cylindrical optical path is formed in the center of each holding member 76, and a flange 77 is formed in the upper end thereof. A thread groove for mounting the objective lens is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the tip of the holding member 76. A turning ring 78 is fixed to the outer circumference of the tip of the holding member 76. Further, each holding member 76 has such a length that a predetermined space is provided between the lower surface 71b of the lens replacement member 71 and the turning ring 78 when the flange 77 is in contact with the bottom surface 71a of the lens replacement member 71. have.

Further, on the lower surface of the fixing member 70, when the objective lenses OB 1 and O 2 held by the lens exchange member 71 come to the positions on the observation optical axis, both end portions in the moving direction of the lens exchange member 71. Stopper pins 79 that come into contact with are provided respectively. Moreover, the lens exchanging member 71 is formed with positioning holes 81a, 81b having a V-shaped cross section on its side surface. Then, a positioning screw 82 is screwed in from the optical axis position on the side surface of the fixing member 70 so that it can be engaged with the V groove 81 at the optical axis position.

The objective lenses OB1 and OB2 are held in the openings on the bottom surface of the lens exchange member 71 via the holding members 76. The objective lenses OB1 and OB2 are arranged in a straight line, and can move in the arrangement direction in a plane including the observation optical axis. In this embodiment having such a configuration, the plurality of objective lenses OB1 and OB2 are linearly held by the lens exchange member 71 via the holding members 76. The lens exchange member 71 is guided by the dovetail groove 74 of the fixing member 70 to move in the arrangement direction of the objective lenses, and abuts the stopper pin 79 to stop.

When the positioning screw 82 is screwed into the side surface of the fixing member 70 while the lens replacement member 71 is in contact with the stopper pin 79, the tip end of the positioning screw 82 is inserted into the positioning hole 81a at the opposite position. The lens exchange member 71, that is, the objective lens OB1 is positioned on the optical axis.

When exchanging the objective lens, the rotating ring 78 of the objective lens OB1 arranged on the optical axis is rotated to move the holding member 76 upward (direction of arrow C in FIG. 6). As shown in FIG. 7, when observing the raw sample Sa put in the petri dish 90, the objective lens OB1 must be moved horizontally after raising the objective lens OB1 to a position higher than the depth of the petri dish 90. Is caught on the side wall 91 of the petri dish 90. If the stage is lowered, it will take time and effort to relocate the micromanipulators that have already been set up.

Next, the positioning screw 82 is loosened, the lens replacement member 71 is again moved in the opposite direction along the groove 74 of the fixing member 70, and stopped when it comes into contact with another stopper pin. Then, the positioning screw 82 is screwed into the side surface of the fixing member 70, the tip end of the positioning screw 82 is inserted into the positioning hole 81b at the opposite position, and the other objective lens OB2 is positioned on the optical axis.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the lens exchanging member 71 is movably supported in the linear direction by the fixing member 70, and the plurality of objective lenses are held by the lens exchanging member 71 in the moving direction. Therefore, as in the first embodiment, the space occupied when the objective lens is replaced can be reduced as compared with the conventional revolver rotation type. Further, since the lens replacement member 71 is fixed by the positioning screw 82 screwed from the fixing member 70, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of vibration at the time of positioning and at the time of canceling the positioning, as in the first embodiment. You can The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention.

[0055]

[Effect of device]

 As described in detail above, according to the present invention, an objective lens exchanging mechanism that can switch the objective lens without interfering with various parts arranged in the vicinity of the sample and that has almost no vibration when positioning the objective lens is provided. Can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an objective lens exchange mechanism according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the objective lens exchange mechanism shown in FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA shown in FIG.

4 is a top view of the objective lens exchange mechanism shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view of a positioning member according to a modification.

6A and 6B are a sectional view and a bottom view of an objective lens exchange mechanism according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory diagram when the objective lens is exchanged in the objective lens exchange mechanism according to the second example of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a conventional optical microscope.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a revolver included in a conventional optical microscope.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a positioning mechanism provided in a conventional optical microscope.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of an experimental device in which an optical microscope and a micromanipulator are combined.

[Explanation of symbols]

37, 70 ... Fixing member, 38, 71 ... Lens exchange member,
51a, 51b ... Positioning balls, 52 ... Positioning shafts,
53 ... Lever, 60 ... Positioning member, 76 ... Holding member.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An objective lens exchanging mechanism, which holds a plurality of objective lenses and is attached to a microscope main body, and selectively disposes each objective lens on an observation optical axis of a microscope. A lens replacement member that is arranged and held in an arc shape and is supported so as to move each of the objective lenses in a plane including the observation optical axis in an array direction, and the objective lens that engages with the lens replacement member And an engaging mechanism that positions the lens on the observation optical axis and releases the engagement independently of the operation of the lens exchanging member.