JPH09325280A - Motor-driven microscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically switch objective lenses by an electric motor if only to manually switch the objective lens once without manually and individually switching the objective lenses, even in the case of mounting special objective lenses such as an oil-immersed objective lens and a high-power objective lens, etc., on a motor driven revolver. SOLUTION: The motor-driven microscope 10 is provided with the motor- driven revolver 21 capable of switching the objective lenses under the manual rotating operation, a driving means for rotary-driving the motor-driven revolver 21 under the control of a control means, a position detecting means for detecting the stop position of the objective lens in use of the motor-driven revolver 21, a storing means for storing information obtained when the motor-driven revolver 21 is manually rotated, and a reproduction control means for controlling the driving means so as to rotate the revolver 21 based on the information stored by the storing means.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a microscope, and more particularly to an electric microscope in which a revolver, a stage and the like are driven by an electric motor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Today, a microscope having a high function used for research is driven by an electric motor to rotate a revolver equipped with an objective lens, and the stage for fixing a sample or a sample is moved up and down. Also, there are those driven by an electric motor. Thus, as an example of the electric microscope in which the mechanical driving portion is driven by the electric motor, as shown in FIG. 9, the stage 11 is moved up and down by the rotation of the handle 17, and the electric revolver 21 is moved by the revolver rotation key 31. There is something to rotate.

That is, in this electric microscope 10, the handle
The rotation of 17 is detected by a rotary encoder 19 which serves as a handle rotation detecting means. Further, the rotation amount of the electric motor 13 serving as the stage driving means is detected by the rotary encoder 15 serving as the stage position detecting means. Then, the stage drive motor 13 is controlled by the control circuit 35 in accordance with the rotation amount of the handle 17.
It is supposed to be rotated by. Therefore, even with a large and heavy stage 11, the stage 11 can be moved without requiring a large force to rotate the handle 17. Therefore, the rotation of the handle 17 is made smooth, and
Since the handle 17 can be rotated with a small force,
When the position of the stage 11 is adjusted, fine adjustment of the stage position can be easily performed.

In addition, in the electric microscope 10, the revolver 21
The rotation of can also be driven by the revolver drive motor 23. When the revolver rotation key 31 is pressed, the revolver 21 is rotated so as to stop the desired objective lens at a predetermined position while detecting the revolver address by the Hall IC 27. Therefore, by operating the revolver rotary key 31, the electric revolver is capable of sequentially switching the objective lenses.

Further, as the electric microscope 10, there is one in which the turret condenser is also driven by an electric motor to rotate the turret in accordance with the rotation of the revolver 21 (for example, JP-A-6-222269). In this electric microscope, the switching of the condenser lens can be linked by automatic control in accordance with the switching of the objective lens in the electric revolver.

The large-sized motorized microscope 10 includes a revolver 21, a stage 11, a turret condenser (not shown), a diaphragm, and a filter, which can be changed and changed electrically so as to adjust the illumination. Some are controlled by the control circuit 35. These large motorized microscopes having high functions may be used in common by a plurality of researchers, and a microcomputer of the control circuit 35 may be combined with a removable IC card 39. in this case,
The IC card 39 can store control data and the like in accordance with the individual characteristics of the user in the adjustment setting when observing the sample.

[0007]

In the drive control of the electric revolver in the conventional electric microscope, the revolver is rotated at a constant speed to switch the objective lens. However, an oil immersion objective lens may be attached to the revolver as the objective lens. In this case, the oil immersion objective lens
Immediately before stopping at a predetermined position for observation, it is necessary to stop the rotation of the revolver once. That is, in the oil immersion objective lens, when observing the sample with the objective lens, it is necessary to apply oil to the tip. For this reason, the rotation of the revolver is temporarily stopped immediately before it is filled with oil at the stop position, and then the revolver is rotated at a low speed to a predetermined stop position for observation, being careful not to mix bubbles in the oil. It is a thing.

A high-magnification objective lens may be attached to the revolver. In this case, the distance between the tip of the objective lens and the sample is small, and it is necessary to slowly rotate the revolver when switching the objective lens. That is, even if the objective lens and the sample come into contact with each other, the sample or the like is not damaged significantly. However, in an electric revolver driven by an electric motor, conventionally, the revolver is rotated at a constant speed with standard switching of a general objective lens as a standard. Therefore, when an oil immersion objective lens or a high-magnification objective lens is attached to the electric revolver, there is a drawback that the objective lenses must be manually switched individually.

The present invention eliminates such drawbacks, and once the objective lens is switched manually, the objective lens can be switched by the electric motor by operating the revolver rotation key after the second time. The present invention provides a motorized microscope.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an electric revolver capable of switching objective lenses by a manual rotation operation.
Drive means for sequentially rotating the electric revolver by a predetermined angle under the control of the control means, position detecting means for detecting the stop position of the electric revolver using the objective lens, and rotation when the electric revolver is manually rotated. The electric microscope includes a storage unit that stores speed information and a reproduction control unit that causes the drive unit to reproduce and drive a manual rotation operation based on the rotation speed information stored in the storage unit.

As described above, since the revolver, which is an electric revolver, has the storage means for storing the rotation speed information when the revolver is manually rotated, it is possible to manually store the irregular rotation speed of the revolver. it can. Further, since the reproduction control means for performing the reproduction drive based on the rotation speed information is provided, once the objective lens is switched by the manual operation, the switching with the same rotation speed is automatically performed from the next time when the objective lens is switched. Can be reproduced.

Further, the storage means stores the amount of movement of the revolver per unit time when the revolver rotation key is not operated and when the position detecting means detects that the revolver is out of the predetermined stop position. Are sequentially stored. As described above, when the revolver rotation key is not operated and the revolver moves out of the predetermined stop position, the storage means that stores the rotational movement amount of the revolver automatically stores the movement of the revolver at the time of manual operation. be able to.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An electric microscope according to an embodiment of the present invention has a revolver rotary key 31 as shown in FIG. By operating the revolver rotation key 31, the control circuit 35 controls the revolver driving motor 23 to rotate the revolver 21.

To control the rotation of the electric revolver, a control circuit 35 using a microcomputer is used, and the Hall IC 27 detects the revolver address, which is the rotation position of the revolver 21, as in the conventional case. Further, the electric microscope 10 is provided with a position detecting means 29 and a revolver rotation detecting encoder 25. Further, in the electric revolver, each of the revolver 21, the revolver driving motor 23, the revolver rotation detection encoder 25, the hall IC 27, and the position detecting means 29 is provided in one unit,
The unit is removable from the microscope body.

The control circuit 35 is composed of a microcomputer, an appropriate random access memory, a read-only memory, a counter, a timer, and the like. The position detecting means 29 detects whether or not the revolver 21 is at a predetermined stop position, that is, whether the objective lens mounted on the revolver 21 is at a predetermined position for observing the sample. In addition, the encoder 25 for revolver rotation detection
Is for accurately detecting the amount of rotation of the revolver driving motor 23 in minute units. A DC motor is used as the revolver driving motor 23.

Further, in this electric revolver, when an external force is applied to the revolver 21, the revolver 21 rotates and the revolver driving motor 23 also rotates in accordance with the rotation of the revolver 21, and the objective lens can be manually switched. Encoder for detecting revolver rotation 25
Detects the rotation angle of the revolver drive motor 23 and detects the revolver.
The rotation amount of 21 can be detected.

When the revolver rotation key 31 is operated, the control circuit 35 detects the revolver address by the hall IC 27 and rotates the revolver drive motor 23 to rotate the revolver 21. Further, the control circuit 35, when the desired objective lens is located at a predetermined stop position, stops the rotation of the revolver driving motor 23 and stops the rotation of the electric revolver so that the sample can be observed by the desired objective lens. It is what

The control circuit 35 not only controls the rotation of the electric revolver 21, but is not shown in FIG.
It also controls the movement of the table, the switching of the turret condenser, the adjustment of the diaphragm, the adjustment of the light source voltage of the illumination device, and the like. Then, the rotation control of the revolver 21 in the electric microscope 10 first determines whether or not the revolver rotation key 31 is operated, as shown in FIG. 2 (S10).
1) The thing. When the revolver rotation key 31 is operated, the revolver address of the objective lens arranged by the rotation operation is detected (S102), and it is determined whether the control data table is formed for the revolver address. This is done (S103).

When the control data table is not formed, the standard drive control for sequentially switching the objective lenses at a constant speed is performed as in the conventional case (S110). or,
When the control data table is formed, the manual regeneration control process (S300) described later is performed. When the revolver rotation key 31 is not operated, the position detecting means 29 determines whether or not the revolver 21 is at the predetermined stop position (S105). That is, it is determined whether or not the objective lens is out of the position for observing the sample. Then, when the revolver 21 is located at the predetermined stop position, the control process of the electric revolver 21 ends. When the revolver 21 is out of the predetermined stop position without the revolver rotation key 31 being operated, the manual operation storing process (S200) is performed.

The manual operation storing process is a series of processes shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, first, the count value P of the pulse counter is reset to zero, and the read value of the pulse counter read by the microcomputer is also reset to zero (S2).
01). Furthermore, the frequency counter is also reset to zero (S2
02) Initial setting is performed.

Then, the timer is started (S20
3) It is determined whether a unit time such as 10 milliseconds or 50 milliseconds has elapsed (S204), and when the unit time has elapsed, the count value P of the pulse counter is read (S205). The pulse counter is a pulse counter that counts the number of pulses output by the rotary encoder attached to the revolver drive motor 23 as the revolver rotation detection encoder 25.

Then, the movement is the difference between the previous read value of the pulse counter, that is, the first read value P which is set to 0 by resetting, and the newly read count value P (0) of the pulse counter. The amount Q (0) is calculated, and the value of this movement amount Q (0) is stored in the control data table shown in FIG. 5 (S206). Further, 1 is added to the count value n of the frequency counter (S207), and the position detecting means 29 determines whether or not the revolver 21 is located at a predetermined stop position (S208).

Then, when the electric revolver 21 is not located at the predetermined stop position, it is judged again whether or not the unit time has elapsed (S204), and the count value of the pulse counter due to the passage of the unit time. Read P again (S
205). Then, the value of the movement amount Q (1) which is the difference between the previously read value P (0) of the pulse counter and the newly read count value P (1) of the pulse counter is calculated and stored.

In this way, the count value P of the pulse counter is read every unit time, and the previous read value P (n
-1) and the newly read count value P (n) are calculated, and the change in the number of pulses per unit time (P (n) -P (n-1)),
That is, the movement amount Q (n) of the revolver 21 in the electric revolver in each unit time is stored in the control data table repeatedly. The storage of the movement amount Q for each unit time is repeated until the revolver 21 is located at the predetermined stop position.

Then, when the position detecting means 29 detects that the revolver 21 has reached the predetermined stop position, the operation of the timer is stopped (S210), and as shown in FIG.
The count value P of the pulse counter is read again (S21
1). Then, compare with the previous count value (S21
2) When the count value does not match the previous count value, the difference between the count values P is further calculated to obtain the movement amount Q.
Is stored in the control data table (S213). Then, 1 is added to the count value n of the frequency counter (S21
4).

Further, the value obtained by adding 1 to the count value n of the frequency counter is stored in the control data table as the data number N (S220), and the count value of the frequency counter is cleared to zero (S221). After the timer stops, the count value of the pulse counter is read (S211) and compared with the previous count value after this reading (S211).
In 212), when the count values match, the value obtained by adding 1 to the count value n of the frequency counter is immediately stored in the control data table as the data number N (S22).
0). Then, the count value of the frequency counter is cleared to zero (S221).

In this way, after the movement amount Q (n) per unit time is stored in the control data table, the pulse duty ratio corresponding to each movement amount Q (n) is determined. This pulse duty ratio is determined by the count value n of the frequency counter.
The pulse duty ratio corresponding to the pulse number m which is the value of the movement amount Q (n) stored in the control data table of the number corresponding to the number is determined and stored in the control data table (S2
22). That is, when the value of the initial movement amount Q (0) is, for example, 5, a predetermined value d5 is stored as the value of the pulse duty ratio D (0) of No. 0 which is the first unit time. . Also, 1 is added to the count value of the number counter (S223), and it is determined whether the count value of the number counter has reached a predetermined value (S224). That is, it is determined whether or not the creation of the control data table is completed, depending on whether or not the count value of the number of times counter reaches the number of data N. Then, the pulse duty ratio corresponding to the value of the movement amount Q (n) corresponding to the count value is repeatedly stored in the control data table until the count value of the frequency counter reaches a predetermined value.

That is, the pulse duty ratio is determined by reading the value of the movement amount Q (n) stored in the number corresponding to the count value n of the number of times from the movement amount Q stored in the control data table. The duty ratio dm corresponding to the pulse number m which is the value of the movement amount Q (n) is read from the duty ratio table shown in FIG. 6 and stored in the control data table as the pulse duty ratio D (n). Then, the pulse duty ratio D corresponding to the movement amount Q of each unit time is sequentially repeated from the count value 0, that is, the number 0, N times which is the number of data.
Is stored and a control data table is created.

The duty ratio table shown in FIG. 6 is necessary for rotating the revolver drive motor 23 at a speed at which the revolver rotation detection encoder 25 outputs one pulse in the unit time t set in the timer. The duty ratio of the drive pulse at the DC applied voltage is d1. In addition, the revolver rotation detection encoder 25 at the unit time t
The duty ratio of the drive pulse at the DC applied voltage required to rotate the revolver drive motor 23 at the speed of outputting 2 pulses is d2. Similarly, the duty ratio required to rotate the revolver driving motor 23 at the speed of outputting m pulses per unit time t is dm
It is what it is.

In this way, the control amount is controlled by storing the movement amount Q per unit time and the duty ratio D of the drive current applied to the revolver drive motor 23 to move the movement amount Q per unit time in the control data table. After the data table is created, the revolver address is read by the Hall IC 27, the value X of this revolver address is recorded in the control data table (S225), and the manual operation storing process is ended.

Although the manual operation storing process shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is illustrated such that each operation is performed by continuous processing, a predetermined processing operation is sequentially performed by interrupt processing for each unit time, and this manual operation storage processing is performed. In addition to the operation storage process, other control operations of the microscope 10 may be processed in parallel by a microcomputer incorporated in the control circuit 35. As described above, when the control data table storing the movement amount Q and the pulse duty ratio D together with the revolver address is created, as described above, when the revolver rotation key 31 is operated, the objective lens is used. When the revolver 21 is rotated to the above position, the manual reproduction control process (S300) is performed based on the determination of the presence or absence of the control data table.

In this manual reproduction control process, as shown in FIG. 7, first, the pulse counter is reset to zero (S30).
1) Furthermore, the frequency counter is also reset to zero (S30).
2) It is. Then, the count value n of the frequency counter
Value of the movement amount Q (n) from the control data table according to
Is read as the target count value (S310). Further, the pulse duty ratio D (n) is read from the control data table in accordance with the count value of the frequency counter, and the duty ratio d of the drive current applied to the revolver drive motor 23 is determined. Then, the drive pulse based on the duty ratio d is applied to the revolver drive motor 23 (S311).

To set the target count value, first, the value of the movement amount Q (0) is read so as to be added to 0, and next time, the value of the first movement amount Q (0) is moved to the next unit time. The movement amount Q (1) is read so as to add the amount Q (1), and the value of the movement amount Q (n) is sequentially added to obtain the target count value. After the driving pulse output is started, the count value of the pulse counter is read (S
312). Further, it is determined whether or not this count value matches the target count value (S313), and the reading of the count value and the match determination with the target count value are repeated.

The pulse counter counts the number of pulses output by the revolver rotation detection encoder 25 which detects the rotation of the revolver drive motor 23.
When the count value of the pulse counter matches the target count value, the drive pulse output to the revolver drive motor 23 is stopped (S314). Further, 1 is added to the count value of the frequency counter (S315), and it is determined whether the processing is finished or not depending on whether the count value exceeds the number N of data (S316).

When the count value n is less than or equal to the number of data N, the next movement count Q (n) is read from the control data table and added to set the next target count value. Then, the duty ratio d of the drive pulse output to the revolver drive motor 23 is determined and the output of the drive pulse is started. Then, the output of the drive pulse is repeated until the count value reaches the target value.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, first, a predetermined duty ratio is set so that the electric revolver 21 is rotated at a speed at which the value of the predetermined movement amount Q (0) is 5 in the first unit time t. d5 is the pulse duty ratio of the driving pulse D (0)
Set as Then, this drive pulse is applied to the revolver drive motor 23. Then, when the revolver driving motor 23 rotates by a predetermined movement amount and the count value of the pulse counter reaches 5, which is a predetermined value, the desired movement amount Q (1) at the next unit time t. 8 is read, and the duty ratio d8 that sets the rotation speed for rotating the revolver 21 to the speed at which the revolver rotation detection encoder 25 outputs only eight pulses per unit time t is set as the pulse duty ratio D (1) of the drive pulse. To do. In this way, the rotational movement of the revolver 21 by the desired movement amount Q can be repeated to reproduce the motion of rotating the revolver 21 manually.

That is, a drive pulse having a predetermined duty ratio D (n) is driven by the revolver so as to rotate the electric revolver 21 at a speed that provides a desired movement amount Q (n) every unit time t. Of the duty ratio D (n + 1) that sets the rotation speed for rotating the revolver 21 by the desired amount of movement Q (n + 1) in the next unit time t when applied to the motor 23 and rotated by the amount of desired movement. The drive pulse is set and the revolver 21 is rotated and moved by a desired movement amount Q repeatedly to reproduce the motion of rotating the revolver 21 by hand.

Although the duty ratio of the drive pulse is determined by the duty ratio table shown in FIG. 6 in the above embodiment, a voltage table is provided in place of the duty ratio table, and only a predetermined angle is set at the unit time t. The relationship between the voltage required to rotate the revolver drive motor 23 and the number of pulses output by the revolver rotation detection encoder 25 due to the rotation of the revolver drive motor 23 at that voltage may be predetermined.

However, when the applied voltage is adjusted to control the speed of the revolver driving motor 23, the average voltage is adjusted by the duty ratio, and if a constant voltage is always applied to the revolver driving motor 23, When the reduction of the starting torque of the motor is reduced and the rotation of the revolver 21 is finely stopped, the desired amount of rotation can be reliably performed in a unit time.

When a pulse motor is used as the revolver driving motor 23, a pulse number table or a frequency table is set in place of the duty ratio table shown in FIG. The number of pulses for rotating the revolver drive motor 23, that is, the frequency of the drive pulse may be preset. In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the revolver rotary key 31 is used.
When the revolver 21, which is an electric revolver, is out of a predetermined stop position without being operated, the manual operation storing process is automatically started. That is, when the revolver 21 is manually removed from the predetermined stop position, it automatically starts storing and storing the moving amount of the revolver 21 every unit time, and the pulse duty for moving this moving amount in the unit time. The ratio is also selected to create the control data table. However, when starting the manual operation storage process, a storage start switch can be provided in the electric microscope 10. In this case, the manual operation storage process is started when the storage start switch is operated, and the rotation amount of the electric revolver 21, that is, the rotation amount of the revolver drive motor 23 is determined based on the pulse output from the revolver rotation detection encoder 25. It is stored for each unit time.

Also for the manual reproduction control process, a start switch may be provided separately from the revolver rotation key 31. In this case, the rotating operation of the electric revolver 21 that reproduces the manual operation when the start switch is operated is performed. Further, this control data table can be stored in a removable external storage memory such as an IC card.

The position detecting means 29 is the Hall IC 27.
The control circuit 35 may detect a predetermined position from the rotation position of the revolver 21 as a stop position, not only when the revolver rotation detection encoder 25 is provided separately. Thus, in this electric microscope 10, the revolver 21
Revolver drive motor as drive means for rotating
When the position detecting means 29 has a position 23 and the revolver 21 is out of the predetermined stop position without operating the revolver rotation key 31, the control data storing the rotation speed information which is the movement amount per unit time t. It creates a table.

Therefore, when the revolver 21 is manually rotated, the revolver 21 is disengaged from the predetermined position where the objective lens is used, so that the control data table can be automatically created. As described above, in the above-described embodiment, the random access memory incorporated in the control circuit 35 is provided with the storage means for storing and storing each movement amount Q (n) per unit time t which is the rotation speed information, and the control data table The pulse duty ratio based on the rotation speed information is read from the control circuit 35, and the control circuit 35 controls the revolver driving motor 23 that is the driving means. Since the control circuit 35 has a function as a reproduction control unit that reproduces the rotation of the revolver 21 by a manual operation, once the revolver 21 of the electric revolver is manually rotated, the revolver rotation is performed from the next time. By manipulating the key 31, a manual operation can be reproduced, oil can be applied to the oil immersion objective lens, and the electric revolver can be rotated so as to slowly move the high-magnification objective lens.

In this embodiment, the number of revolver rotary keys 31 is one and the direction of rotation of the revolver 21 is limited to a predetermined direction. However, there are two revolver rotary keys, one for normal rotation and the other for reverse rotation. Sometimes one key is used. In this case, the data stored in the control data table is
The revolver address before rotation (current address) and the revolver address after rotation are stored for each combination. Therefore, when storing a manual operation, it becomes necessary to store the address before rotation. Therefore, in the manual operation storing process, the process of resetting the pulse counter (S201)
Before, add the process to read the current revolver address. Further, detection of the revolver rotation key shown in FIG. 2 (S1
When the operation of the rotary key is detected in 01), the revolver address detection processing (S102) also determines whether the key operation is for forward rotation or reverse rotation, and the read revolver address and the rotation direction are matched. The presence or absence of the control data table is determined (S103).

[0045]

The electric microscope according to the present invention can store the rotation speed information of the revolver by manual operation by rotating the electric revolver by hand beforehand, and thereafter, this rotating operation can be reproduced. Is possible. Therefore, even in a microscope using an oil immersion objective lens or a microscope equipped with a high-magnification objective lens, when the oil immersion objective lens is used, oil can be easily poured while automatically rotating the electric revolver, and It is possible to prevent contamination and easily perform accurate observation of the sample. Further, even when a high-magnification objective lens is used, the electric revolver can be automatically rotated so as not to damage the sample or the like.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the storage means stores the movement amount of the revolver manually when the revolver rotation key is not operated and the revolver moves out of the predetermined stop position. When the revolver is rotated and removed from the predetermined stop position, the manual rotation speed information of the electric revolver can be automatically stored.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a main part of an electric microscope according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the entire revolver control of the electric microscope according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a manual operation storing process of the electric microscope according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a manual operation storing process of the electric microscope according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a control data table used in the electric microscope according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a duty ratio table used in the electric microscope according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of manual reproduction control processing of the electric microscope according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an output example of drive pulses of the electric microscope according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing an example of a conventional electric microscope.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Electric microscope 11 Stage 13 Stage drive motor 15 Stage position detection encoder 17 Handle 19 Handle rotation detection encoder 21 Electric revolver 23 Revolver drive motor 25 Revolver rotation detection encoder 27 Hall IC 29 Position detection means 31 Revolver rotation key 35 control circuit 39 IC card

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electric revolver capable of switching an objective lens by a manual rotation operation; and a drive means for sequentially rotating the electric revolver by a predetermined angle under the control of a control means when a revolver rotation key is operated. Position detection means for detecting a revolver stop position using an objective lens attached to the electric revolver, storage means for storing rotational speed information when the electric revolver is manually rotated, and storage means for storing the rotation speed information. And a reproduction control unit that causes the drive unit to reproduce the rotational operation manually based on the rotation speed information. 2. The storage means is provided when the revolver rotation key is not operated and when the position detecting means detects that the electric revolver is out of a predetermined stop position where an objective lens is used. The electric microscope according to claim 1, wherein the movement amount of each unit time of the electric revolver is sequentially stored.