JPH0650018U - Micro manipulator - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] In a micromanipulator, a multi-axis manipulator can be easily configured, and an electric and manual micromanipulator can be easily configured. [Structure] The manipulator unit includes a pedestal 21, a table 24, and a drive unit 25. The base 211 of the gantry and the table 24 are respectively provided with blind holes 21b for mounting the base at positions that match when rotated 90 degrees.
And a screw hole 24b for connection is formed. Stand 2
An electric drive unit 25 is connected to the first end wall 217. A manual manipulator unit can be constructed by replacing the drive unit 25 with a manual drive unit composed of a micrometer head. In addition, each unit
By using these blind holes 21b and screw holes 24b and connecting them in multiple stages, a multi-axis manipulator can be constructed.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a micromanipulator used for manipulating a sample such as cells observed in a microscope or the like.

[0002]

[Prior art and problems to be solved]

 The mainstream of this type of micromanipulator is a manually operated type that uses hydraulic or hydraulic pressure as a drive medium. In such a drive-type micromanipulator, the general micromanipulator is preconfigured as a 1-axis, 2-axis or 3-axis type, and the number of axes can be easily changed according to the user's request. It is inconvenient because it cannot be done. In addition, the micromanipulator is required to be improved in terms of drift and responsiveness during operation.

An object of the present invention is to realize a micromanipulator capable of solving such problems.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The basic structure of the micromanipulator of the present invention is the same as a general one. A table, a pedestal that supports the table in a linearly movable manner through a pair of linear guides, and the table are linear. It is composed of a drive unit for moving. Here, a lead screw is arranged along the central axis of the pair of guides on the gantry side, and a lead screw nut screwed to the lead screw is fixed on the table side. Further, the lead screw is always urged by elastic force from its tip end side toward its base end side, and the actuation rod of the drive unit is connected to or abuts on the base end side of the lead screw. . The drive unit is either an electric drive unit composed of a motor and a speed reducer, or a manual drive unit composed of a micrometer head.

If the drive unit is a unit type that can be attached to and detached from the gantry, the electric and manual micromanipulators can be easily configured by exchanging only the drive unit. can do.

[0006] Further, by forming a connecting portion that can be connected to a base and a table of another micromanipulator, respectively, on the table and the base of the micromanipulator, by connecting the single-axis type micromanipulators in multiple stages. A multi-axis micromanipulator such as a biaxial or triaxial can be easily configured.

Here, in the case of multi-axis, only the electric type can be connected, but both the electric type and the manual type can be connected. Furthermore, by connecting the electric type table to the manual type table in the coaxial state, it is possible to construct a composite micromanipulator capable of performing the coarse movement manually and the fine movement electrically.

[0008]

【Example】

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1, 2, and 3 show an example of a three-axis micromanipulator to which the present invention is applied. As shown in these figures, the micromanipulator 1 of this example is configured by connecting three unit type manipulators 2, 3, 4 having the same structure. That is, the base side of the Y-axis manipulator 2 is horizontally attached to the upper side portion of the support column 5b in the base 5 including the horizontal base 5a and the support column 5b. A Z-axis manipulator 3 is vertically connected to the table side of the Y-axis manipulator 2. Further, on the table side of the Z-axis manipulator 3, an X-axis manipulator 4 is horizontally supported via an L-shaped bracket 6 in a direction perpendicular to the Y-axis manipulator 2. A pipette holder 8 is attached to the table side of the X-axis manipulator 4 via a ball joint 7, and a glass tube 9 is attached to the tip of the pipette holder 8. By driving each manipulator, the tip of the glass tube 9 can be moved to an arbitrary position in a predetermined space.

Each manipulator is a manipulator unit having the same structure, and its details will be described below.

4, 5 and 6 show the appearance of the manipulator unit. As shown in these figures, the manipulator unit is composed of a pedestal 21, a table 24 movably supported on the pedestal via a pair of linear guides 22 and 23, and a drive unit 25 of the table. Has been done. As can be seen from FIG. 4, the gantry 21 and the table 24 have a rectangular shape of the same length and width, and four base mounting holes (blind holes) 21b and four connecting holes are provided at each of these four corners. Screw holes 24b are formed. The positions of these holes are formed so as to coincide with each other when rotated 90 degrees.

7, 8 and 9 show the internal structure of the manipulator unit. The gantry 21 has a rectangular base 211 and a U-shaped frame plate 212 attached to the upper surface thereof. Linear guides 22 and 23 are attached to the outer surfaces of both side walls 213 and 214 of the frame plate 212. An end wall 219 is integrally formed on one end surface (base end surface) side of the frame plate 212, and an end plate 218 is attached on the other end surface (tip end surface) side. The base mounting screw holes 21b are formed at the four corners of the base 211.

The table 24 includes an upper wall portion 241 and side wall portions 242 and 243 extending downward from both sides of the upper wall portion 241. On the inner side surfaces of the side wall portions 242 and 243, sliding portions 244 and 245 that slide along these guides are attached at positions facing the linear guides 22 and 23 on the pedestal 2 side, respectively. There is.

In the partition chamber 217 having a rectangular cross section defined by the pedestal 21 and the upper wall portion 241 on the side of the table 24, the table support plate 246 is located at a middle position in the direction of the central axis 2 a. Are arranged so as to be orthogonal to the central axis, and the support plate 246 is fixed to the upper wall portion 214 of the table. A lead screw hole 247 is formed at the center of the table support plate 246, and a lead screw 248 arranged in the central axis direction is threaded therethrough. The base end side of the lead screw 248 is connected to a rotation output shaft on the side of the table drive unit 25, which will be described later.

Here, a top hat type spring receiving member 249 is attached to the end surface of the table support plate 246, and a coil spring in a compressed state is provided between the spring receiving member 249 and the end plate 218. 250 are arranged. Therefore, the table support plate 246 is always urged by the spring force of the coil spring 250. Further, a bellows-shaped lead screw cover 251 is arranged between the table support plate 246 and the other end wall 219, and encloses the lead screw 248.

Next, the table drive unit 25 is attached to the outer end surface of the pedestal side wall 217. The table drive unit 25 has an elongated rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole and extends in the central axis direction. An actuator 255 including a motor 253 and a speed reducer 254 is incorporated in the drive unit 25, and its rotation output shaft 255 a extends into the compartment 217 through an opening formed in the gantry end wall 217. And is connected to the base end of the lead screw 248. A connector 256 is attached to the base end of the drive unit 25, and drive power or the like is externally supplied to the actuator 255 via the connector 256.

The manipulator unit thus configured is used as each of the manipulators 2, 3, and 4 to form the three-dimensional manipulator 1 shown in FIGS. That is, the base 211 of the Y-axis manipulator 2 is attached to the side surface of the support column 5b of the base 5 by the attachment bolts, and the table 24 of the manipulator 2 is provided with the base 211 of the Z-axis manipulator 3 side. It is also mounted with mounting bolts. Further, the vertical arm 61 of the L-shaped bracket 6 is attached to the table 24 of the Z-axis manipulator 3, and the base 21 of the X-axis manipulator 4 is attached to the upper surface of the horizontal arm 62 of the bracket by attaching bolts. ing.

In the three-dimensional manipulator 1 having this configuration, the tip of the glass tube 9 can be positioned at an arbitrary position in a predetermined space by individually driving the driving unit 25 of each manipulator. Here, in each manipulator of this example, since the lead screw 248 is arranged on the central axis 2a of the linear guides 22 and 23, a bending moment due to the driving force acting when the stage moves is not generated. Therefore, it is possible to suppress yawing and pitching when the stage moves. Further, since the table support plate 246 on which the lead screw nut 247 is formed is constantly urged by the coil spring 250, it is possible to eliminate the backlash in the engagement between the lead screw 248 and the lead screw nut 247. Therefore, lost motion can be suppressed.

Further, in the present example, as described above, a three-dimensional manipulator is configured by connecting manipulator units having the same structure in multiple stages. Therefore, the use of the manipulator unit of the present example has an advantage in that it is possible to easily configure not only one axis but also two-axis and three-axis manipulators.

Here, it is preferable to use a wave gear device as the speed reducer built in the drive unit 25 of the manipulator unit because the manipulator can have high resolution. This wave gear device generally has a ring-shaped rigid internal gear, a flexible external gear that is arranged inside the rigid internal gear and can mesh with the rigid internal gear, and the external gear is bent in the radial direction to provide rigidity. It is composed of a wave generator that partially meshes with the internal gear and that moves these meshing positions in the circumferential direction. Generally, the wave generator has an elliptical contour. In this case, the rigid inner teeth and the flexible outer teeth are engaged with each other at two positions located at both ends of the ellipse in the long axis direction. Become.

Next, as each manipulator of the three-dimensional manipulator 1 of the present embodiment, a manual manipulator can be adopted instead of the above-mentioned electric manipulator.

FIGS. 10, 11, 12 and 13 show the external form of this manual manipulator unit. As shown in these figures, the shapes of the gantry and table of the manual type manipulator unit are the same as those of the above-mentioned electric type. The description is omitted. In the manual manipulator unit, instead of the electric drive unit 25, a drive unit 125 including a manual micrometer head is attached.

14, 15 and 16 show the internal structure of the manual manipulator unit. As can be seen from these figures, the internal structure of the pedestal and the table portion is the same as that of the electric manipulator unit described above. Therefore, the corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted. In the manual manipulator unit, a driving unit 125 composed of a micrometer head 126 is connected to a pedestal side wall 217. The tip of the actuating rod 128 of this micrometer head penetrates the opening of the side wall 219, extends into the compartment 217, and is in contact with the base end of the lead screw 248. Here, the lead screw 248 is in a state of being pressed by the coil screw 250 toward the base end side. Therefore, the base end of the lead screw 248 is pressed against the tip of the working rod 128 of the micrometer head by a predetermined spring force. Therefore, by turning the micrometer head 127, the lead screw 248 moves linearly back and forth in the direction of the central axis 2a. That is, the table 21 to which the table support plate 246 to which the lead screw 248 is screwed is fixed moves linearly back and forth.

By replacing the manipulator unit having the above-mentioned configuration with any or all of the manipulators 2, 3, 4 shown in FIGS. Alternatively, an all-manual three-dimensional manipulator can be easily constructed. That is, even in the manual type manipulator unit, the base mounting table and the table have the blind hole for mounting the base and the screw hole for connecting at the same position, so there is no need to change the specifications. Alternatively, the same manipulator as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 can be constructed without using separate parts.

Further, in the case of combining the electric type and the manual type in this way, if the coarse movement is performed by the manual type and the fine movement adjustment is performed by the electric type, the position is adjusted. The predetermined operation can be performed quickly with a simple operation.

Further, in the above-described electric and manual manipulator units, since the specifications of the mount and the table are the same, the electric drive unit 25 and the manual drive unit 125 with respect to the mount side wall 217. There is also the advantage that it is convenient because it is possible to configure the electric and manual type myipulator units simply by mounting either of them.

[0027]

[Effect of device]

 As described above, in the micromanipulator of the present invention, a multi-axis manipulator is configured by connecting manipulator units having the same structure in multiple stages. Therefore, the uniaxial and multiaxial manipulators can be easily configured.

Further, in the manipulator unit of the present invention, an electric manipulator and an electric manipulator can be simply configured by connecting only the driving unit to either the electric type or the manual type. You can

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of a three-dimensional manipulator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the manipulator of FIG.

3 is a side view of the manipulator of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a manipulator unit applicable to the manipulator of FIG.

5 is an end view showing the tip of the manipulator unit in FIG. 4. FIG.

6 is an end view showing a base end of the manipulator unit in FIG. 4. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a half cross-sectional plan view showing the internal structure of the manipulator unit in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a side view, partly in section, to show the internal structure of the manipulator unit of FIG.

9 is a cross-sectional view of a portion cut along line AA in FIG.

10 is a plan view showing a manual manipulator unit applicable to the manipulator of FIG. 1. FIG.

11 is a side view of the unit of FIG.

12 is an end view showing the tip of the unit of FIG.

13 is an end view showing the base end of the unit of FIG.

14 is a half cross-sectional plan view showing the internal structure of the unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a side view, partially cut away, to show the internal structure of the unit of FIG.

16 is a cross-sectional view of a portion cut along line BB in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Three-dimensional micro manipulator 2, 3, 4 ... Manipulator 21 ... Stand 211 ... Base 21b ... Blind hole for base mounting 22, 23 ... Linear guide 24 ... Table 24b ... Connection screw hole 246 ... Base support plate 247 ... Lead screw nut 248 ... Lead screw 250 ... Coil spring 25 ... Electric drive unit 125 ... Manual type Drive of

Claims (3)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A table, a pedestal supporting the table in a linearly movable state through a pair of linear guides, and a drive unit for linearly moving the table. , A lead screw is arranged along the central axis of the pair of guides, and a lead screw nut screwed to the lead screw is fixed to the table side. It is constantly urged by elastic force toward the base end side, and the drive rod of the drive unit is connected or abutted to the base end side of the lead screw, and the drive unit is connected to the motor and the speed reducer. A micromanipulator unit, characterized in that it is either one of a motorized drive unit and a manual drive unit composed of a micrometer head. 2. The micromanipulator according to claim 1, wherein the drive unit is a unit-type drive unit detachably attached to the gantry. 3. The table and the mount of the micromanipulator according to claim 1, each of which is provided with a connecting portion that can be connected to a mount and a table of the other micromanipulator, and includes an electric drive unit. A multi-axis micromanipulator, wherein at least one of the electric micromanipulator and the manual micromanipulator provided with a manual drive is configured by being connected in multiple stages.