JPH0697304B2 - microscope - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an improvement in the structure of a microscope, particularly an inverted microscope.

Prior Art FIG. 7 shows the basic configuration and optical system of a conventional inverted microscope. As is clear from this figure, an inverted microscope generally has an imaging optical system IF arranged inside a U-shaped body. And an illumination device for illuminating the specimen on one side of the rising part from the main body
The ID is attached, and the observation lens barrel OT including an eyepiece for observing the specimen is attached to the other. A stage for placing a sample is horizontally mounted between these compatible ascending parts, and a revolver unit including an objective lens is arranged below the stage. The image forming optical system IF extending from the objective lens to the eyepiece lens is integrally formed over the inside of the U-shaped body and the inside of the observation lens barrel OT. There is also a structure in which only the observation lens barrel OT is detachable and can be replaced with a three-lens type observation lens barrel including an optical path switching mechanism for taking a picture. These interchangeable observation lens barrels are generally attached to and detached from the main body at a position near the stage surface that does not include the projected image of the exit pupil of the objective lens. That is, since the position and size of the exit pupil of the eyepiece lens have certain restrictions, the position of the projected image of the exit pupil of the objective lens cannot be extremely moved to the eyepiece side, and the vicinity of the rising portion A of the main body is almost impossible. Often located in.

Therefore, when designing a microscope observing apparatus that uses the projection image of the exit pupil of the objective lens under such restrictions, an optical layout is adopted that guides the optical path laterally within the microscope body. As a result, the microscope is enlarged in the lateral direction to reduce the available desk space, and the light path is divided laterally, so the amount of observation light is reduced, and the overall optical path switching mechanism etc. There was a problem of consent such as complicated structure. In addition, since the system is constructed by adding a microscope observation module that is guided to the side, it is often inconvenient for the user because the system cannot be adopted as a dedicated microscope suitable for specific observation.

Aim of the Invention In view of the above circumstances, the present invention is to provide a microscope having excellent system property in microscope observation using an exit pupil projection image of an objective lens.

According to the present invention, the above object is to provide a microscope having an observation optical system for observing a sample from an objective lens to an eyepiece lens, in which the exit pupil of the objective lens is located outside the microscope main body, This is achieved by disposing an observation lens barrel including a pupil detachably on the microscope main body and arranging optical elements constituting various speculums at or near the projection pupil projection position of the objective lens.

EXAMPLE Next, an example in which the present invention is applied to an inverted microscope will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
1 is a microscope main body, 2 is a support for supporting an illumination system on the microscope main body, 3 is a lamp house which is supported by the support 2 and includes an illumination lamp and a collector lens, and 4 is a holder attached to the support 2. Condenser lens for collecting the supported illumination light, 5 and 5 are a pair of legs integrally formed on the microscope body 1 and having supporting surfaces 5a and 5a, and 6 is a leg having both end edges. Stages mounted on the supporting surfaces 5a, 5a of 5, 5 respectively, 7 is a sample mounted on the stage 6 for observation, 8 is an objective lens arranged below the stage 6 via a revolver, Reference numerals 9 and 10 denote image-forming lenses forming an afocal optical system, 11 denotes an optical element configured to reflect a part of the light passing through the image-forming lens 10 and allow the rest to pass therethrough, and 12 denotes an optical element 11 to reflect the light. The attached light is not attached to the microscope body. A photographing lens for forming an image on the film surface of the camera, 13 is a reflecting mirror for reflecting the light transmitted through the optical element 11 and guiding it in the horizontal direction, and 14 is the light of the light reflected by the reflecting mirror 13. A focusing mirror installed on the road, 15 is a relay lens, 16 is a reflecting mirror for guiding the light passing through the relay lens 15 to the observation optical path, and 17 is the microscope body 1
An annular groove 17 formed integrally with the outer peripheral surface and having a V-shaped cross section.
A lens frame having a, 18 and 19 are relay lenses held by the lens frame 17, and 20 is mounted on the microscope body 1 in a detachably fitted state on the lens frame 17 and the objective lens 5 is emitted inside. A prism group 21 and an eyepiece lens 22 for bending the light passing through the pupil projection image position A and the relay lens 19 obliquely upward
An observation lens barrel including and 23 is a clamp screw screwed into the observation lens barrel 20 so that the conical portion of the tip for fixing the observation lens barrel 20 to the lens frame 17 can enter the annular groove 17a. .

Since this inverted microscope is constructed as described above,
When the illumination lamp is turned on in the state shown in the figure, an intermediate image of the sample 7 is formed on the focusing mirror 14 through the objective lens 8, the imaging lenses 9 and 10, the optical element 11 and the reflecting mirror 13, and this intermediate image is formed. Is a relay lens 15, a reflector 16, relay lenses 18 and 19,
A virtual image is observed by the eyepiece lens 22 by re-imaging the image through the prism group 21 to a position B in the observation lens barrel 20, that is, a little behind the front focus position of the eyepiece lens 22.

As is clear from this description, since the observation lens barrel 20 is detachably arranged on the microscope main body 1 independently of the leg portion 5, the attachment / detachment of the observation lens barrel 20 affects the support state of the stage 6. It has no effect. Fig. 2 shows clamp screw 23
The state where the observation lens barrel 20 is detached from the microscope main body 1 by slackening is shown. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,
Since the observation lens barrel 20 is an ordinary lens barrel, it is possible to perform phase difference observation, differential interference observation, and fluorescence observation simply by attaching various modules at predetermined positions of the condenser lens portion and the microscope main body portion. Needless to say. The observation lens barrel 20 can be applied in the form of a stereoscopic lens barrel instead of the ordinary lens barrel as described above.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the case where a stereoscopic lens barrel is used as the observation lens barrel. In the drawings, 24 is selectively in the optical path in the vicinity of the exit pupil projection image position A of the objective lens 5. The total reflection surface portion 24 is mounted on the observation lens barrel 20 so that it can be inserted.
A light beam splitting prism having a surface 24a including a'and a total transmission surface portion 24a ", 25 and 25 'are relay prisms, 26 and 26' are imaging lenses, 27 and 27 'are eye width adjusting prisms, and 28 and 28. ′ Is an eyepiece.The stereoscopic lens barrel 20 thus constructed is mounted on the microscope main body 1 by using the clamp screw 23 as described above, and the light beam splitting prism 24 is set to the position shown in the figure to turn on the illumination lamp. When turned on, the light illuminating the sample 7 proceeds as described above, passes through the relay lens 19, and then enters the light beam splitting prism 24. The light beam R of the right eye system of the sample 7 is a total reflection surface.
After being reflected by 24a ', an image is formed through a prism 25', an imaging lens 26 'and a prism 27', and an eyepiece 28 '.
Observations are made via. On the other hand, the light flux L of the left-eye visual system of the sample 7 is transmitted through the total transmission surface 24a ″, then is imaged through the prism 25, the imaging lens 26, and the prism 27, and is observed through the eyepiece lens 28. Thus, the left eye visual system light flux L is observed by the observer's left eye as shown in the exit pupil 29, while
The right-eye visual system luminous flux R is observed by the observer's right eye as shown in the exit pupil 29 ', and a stereoscopic image is observed. In the observation using this stereoscopic lens barrel, it is possible to obtain not only the two-dimensional information of the sample 7 but also the information in the depth direction thereof. For example, in Golgi specimens that are often used in the field of nerve tissue, it is necessary to recognize the overlap of nerve cells, but conventionally, this is done by observing while shifting the focus position in the thickness direction of the specimen for this recognition. It was the actual situation. However, by using this stereoscopic lens barrel, the degree of overlap of nerve cells can be seen in detail, and it is extremely convenient because it is not necessary to perform a sample image sketch while shifting the focus as in the conventional case. It should be noted that stereoscopic viewing at the time of fluorescence observation is also possible, and new information that cannot be obtained by the conventional method can be obtained.

Further, FIGS. 5 and 6 show the case where a phase contrast lens barrel is used as the observation lens barrel. In the figure, 30 is a phase difference slider slidably mounted on the observation lens barrel 20 so that the selected phase plate 30a can be inserted into the optical path at the exit pupil projection image position A of the objective lens 5. . Generally, in a phase difference microscope, the phase information of the sample 7 is shaded by the interaction between the ring slit arranged at the entrance pupil position of the condenser lens 4 and the phase plate arranged at the exit pupil position of the objective lens 8. Although it is detected as an image,
In this phase-difference microscope, an objective lens dedicated to the phase-difference mirror in which a phase plate is incorporated in the objective lens system is required. On the other hand, in the case of the bright field microscope as described above, if the objective lens dedicated to the phase difference microscope as described above is used as it is, the image is deteriorated by the phase plate, so that an objective lens without a phase plate may be used. It became necessary, and eventually at least two types of objective lenses had to be used properly. On the other hand, according to the phase difference lens barrel of the present invention, by operating the phase difference slider 30, the phase plate 30a can be arranged at the exit pupil projected image position A of the objective lens 8. Therefore, the bright-field objective lens can be used for phase-difference microscopy, and if the phase-difference slider 30 is operated to align the through hole 30b with the optical path, the bright-field microscopy can be performed immediately as described above. You can
As described above, the use of the present phase difference lens barrel makes it possible to provide a very economical and practical system without the need to prepare a plurality of objective lenses for each magnification.

Further, the entrance pupil position of the condenser lens 4 and the objective lens 5
If the observation lens barrel 20 is configured so that the aperture slits corresponding to the exit pupil projected image position A can be arranged, the observation lens barrel 20 can be used as a modulated contrast lens barrel (Hoffman lens barrel) and simple observation of a phase object can be performed. Is possible.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described above, according to the present invention, various observation lens barrels are prepared and selectively attached to the microscope main body, so that various microscope methods can be immediately coped with, and the system property can be improved. And it is possible to provide a microscope excellent in cost performance. Further, unlike the conventional structure, a method of directly fixing one end of the stage to a detachable lens barrel is not adopted, and a dedicated stage supporting leg portion is provided, so there is no problem when attaching or detaching the lens barrel. The stage can always be held correctly. In addition, although the case where the present invention is applied to the inverted microscope has been described in the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to this.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a microscope according to the present invention,
2 is a configuration diagram similar to FIG. 1 showing a state in which the observation lens barrel is removed, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an internal configuration of the stereoscopic lens barrel.
4 is an enlarged perspective view of the light splitting prism used in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway front view of the phase difference lens barrel according to the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a schematic view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing an example of the structure of a conventional microscope. 1 ... Microscope body, 8 ... Objective lens, 9,10 ... Imaging lens, 11 ... Light splitting optical element, 13,16 ... Reflecting mirror, 15,1
8, 19 …… Relay lens, 20 …… Lens barrel, 22 …… Eyepiece lens, 23 …… Clamp screw, A …… Position of projected image of exit pupil of objective lens.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A microscope having an observation optical system for observing a sample from an objective lens to an eyepiece lens, wherein an exit pupil of the objective lens is located outside a microscope main body, and an observation lens barrel including the exit pupil is provided. A microscope, wherein the microscope is detachably provided, and at the same time, an optical element constituting various speculums can be arranged at or near an exit pupil projection position of the objective lens.