JPS61259165A - Ultrasonic microscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify a structure, by constituting a specimen stand driving apparatus as a common drive part consisting of a writing drive part and a feed drive part and providing a clutch means for making both drive parts selectively connectable and disconnectable. CONSTITUTION:When a specimen is arranged on a specimen stand and an ultrasonic acoustic lens is reciprocally moved to an X-direction at a high speed by an exciting apparatus, the rotation of a geared motor 46 is transmitted to the writing driving shaft 38 of a gear box 36 through an electromagnetic clutch 45 and an output shaft 37 is rotated through bevel gears 42a, 41. This rotation is transmitted to a ball screw 34 for driving in a Y-direction and the specimen stand slowly moves to the Y-direction. When the specimen is moved to a necessary place, a clutch 45 is disengaged and a pulse motor 48 for a Y-direction is rotated and the feed drive shaft 39 of the gear box 36 is driven through a clutch 47 to enable Y-direction feed. Further, a pulse motor 35 for an X-direction is rotated and this rotation is transmitted to a ball screw 23 for driving in the X-direction to enable the feed of the specimen stand to the X-direction.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides a method in which a write drive unit and a feed drive unit that move a sample stage in a direction perpendicular to the vibration direction of an ultrasonic acoustic lens are arranged in the same drive system. This invention relates to an ultrasonic microscope whose structure can be simplified.

[Problems to be solved by conventional techniques and ideas] In recent years, methods have been developed in which an ultrasonic beam is collected and irradiated onto a sample while scanning in two dimensions, and the reflected or transmitted waves are converted into electrical signals. Ultrasonic microscopes that display information on plan tubes, etc. have been put into practical use, and the acoustic information that is removed is now being used in various fields.

To this end, the scanning mechanism of the ultrasonic microscope described above, for example, causes an ultrasonic acoustic lens to reciprocate at high speed in the X direction using an excitation device, and at the same time slowly moves a sample stage on which a sample is placed in the Y direction.

Incidentally, the present application proposes this type of ultrasonic microscope in Japanese Patent Application No. 58-204722.

By the way, in order to obtain a two-dimensional ultrasonic image of a sample, a sample stage driving device is required that is capable of moving in the X and Y directions over a wide range and also capable of writing drive that moves slowly.

However, in the conventional sample stage driving device, there is no one in which the write drive unit and the feed drive unit in the write drive direction are a common drive system.

In addition, the configuration has become complicated in order to allow manual feed adjustment at the same time.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and includes a writing drive unit and a feed drive unit that move the sample stage in a direction perpendicular to the vibration direction of the ultrasonic acoustic lens in the same drive system. The object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic microscope that can be easily arranged and constructed.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention vibrates an ultrasonic acoustic lens with an excitation device, and vibrates the sample in a direction perpendicular to the vibration direction of the ultrasonic acoustic lens. In an ultrasonic microscope equipped with a sample stage driving device that makes the stage movable, the specimen stage driving device is a common driving section consisting of at least a writing driving section and a feeding driving section, and the writing driving section and the feeding driving section Clutch means that can selectively connect and disconnect is provided.

Embodiments] Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

Figures 1 to 4 relate to one embodiment of the present invention, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the sample stage drive part of an ultrasound microscope, Figure 2 is a front view of the ultrasound microscope, and Figure 3 is an ultrasound microscope. FIG. 4, a side view of the microscope, is a system diagram of the sample stage driving portion of FIG. 1.

In these figures, reference numeral 1 denotes an ultrasonic microscope, and the ultrasonic microscope 1 has a base plate 3 supported on a movable pedestal 2 with wheels via a vibration isolator (not shown). On this base plate 3, there is a sample stand driving device 5 that moves the sample stand 4 integrated with the goniometer in the X direction and the Y direction, and a cross-shaped shape that straddles the sample stand 4, the sample stand driving device 5, etc. An arm 6 formed in the above is fixed. At the center of this arm 6 is a slide holder 7.
is attached, and a slide plate 8 is attached to this slide holder 7.
is attached so that it can slide freely in seven directions. Further, a lens slide holder 9 is attached to the slide plate 8. A lens slide plate 10 is attached to the lower part of the lens slide holder 9 at a position facing the upper surface of the sample stage 4 so as to be slidable in the X direction. An ultrasonic acoustic lens 13 is installed along the X direction at a predetermined distance via an observation objective lens 11 and a vibrating device 12. A lens barrel 14 and a lens barrel 14 are disposed on the upper part of the lens slide holder 9.
A light source device 16 connected via an optical transmission body 15 is attached to the light source device 16 . Further, the lens barrel 14 is equipped with binocular eyepiece lenses 17 for observing optical images. That is, by manually sliding the head slide plate 10, the ultrasonic image and the optical image can be easily switched. Note that the sample stage drive device 5 on the base plate 3
is covered with a cover 18. On the other hand, the sample stage 4 integrally provided with the goniometer is attached to the upper surface of the X-direction stage 19.

The X-direction stage 19 is mounted on an X-direction guide rail section 20 in which two guide rails are formed in the X-direction so as to be slidable in the X-direction.

The X-direction stage 19 is attached to the guide rail portion 20 in the X-direction by dovetail groove coupling. The X-direction kite rail section 20 also includes a Y-direction stage 21.
It is attached to the top surface. The Y-direction stage 21 is mounted on a Y-direction guide rail section 22 in which two guide rails are formed in the Y-direction so as to be slidable in the Y-direction by a dovetail groove connection as described above. Further, the Y-direction guide rail section 22 is attached on the base plate 3.

An X-direction drive ball screw 23 is provided between the two guide rails of the X-direction guide rail section 20. This X-direction drive ball screw 23 has its movable portion fixed to the X-direction stage 19, and both ends are pivotally supported by support plates 24a and 24b formed on the X-direction guide rail section 20. A dual-wheel type X-direction pulse motor 25 is attached to the support plate 24a, and one output shaft thereof is connected to the shaft end of the X-direction drive ball screw 23 via a coupling or the like. , the other output shaft has a bevel gear 26 attached to its shaft end. This bevel gear 26 is mated with a bevel gear 28 which is pivotally attached to the manual shaft 27. Both ends of the manual shaft 27 are supported along the Y-axis direction by bearings 30a and 30b provided on a support member 29 fixed to the base plate 3. Further, the manual shaft 27 has a spline portion on which the bevel gear 28 can freely slide in the Y direction.
In addition, it is pivotally attached so as to rotate together with this manual shaft 27. A bevel gear 28 slidably attached to the manual shaft 27 is rotatably supported by a bearing 32 provided on a bracket 31 fixed to the support plate 24a.

An X-direction manual knob 33 is provided on the shaft end of the manual shaft 27 on the operating section side.

A Y-direction drive ball screw 34 is provided between the two guide rails of the Y-direction guide rail portion 22.

This Y-direction drive ball screw 34 moves its moving portion in the Y direction.
It is fixed to the direction stage 21, and both ends are supported by bearings.

Then, the shaft end of the Y-direction driving ball screw 34 on the scanning unit side is connected to the base plate 3 via the coupling 35.
It is connected to an output shaft 37 of a gear box 36 fixed to.

The gear box 36 is provided with a write drive shaft 38 and a feed drive shaft 39 that project in opposite directions at right angles to the output shaft 37, and is also provided with a drive shaft 40. Then, the output shaft 3 in the gear box
7, a bevel gear 41 is pivotally mounted, and this bevel gear 41 is mated with bevel gears 42a and 42b that are pivotally mounted on the write drive shaft 38 and the feed drive shaft 39, respectively. Another bevel gear 43 is mounted on the output shaft 37, and this bevel gear 43 is mated with the bevel gear 44 that is mounted on the drive shaft 40. A geared motor 46 fixed to the base plate 3 is connected to the write drive shaft 38 via an N magnetic latch 45 .

Further, a Y-direction pulse motor 48 fixed to the base plate 3 is connected to the feed drive shaft 39 via an electromagnetic clutch 47. On the other hand, the drive shaft 40 is connected to a manual gear box 49.

This manual gear box 49 is provided with an input shaft 50 that is perpendicular to the manual shaft 27 in the horizontal direction, and the rotation of this input shaft 50 is controlled by gears 51a and 51b provided inside.
, 51c to the drive shaft 40. A bevel gear 52 is pivotally attached to the shaft end of the input shaft 50. The bevel gear 52 is mated with a Y-direction bevel gear 54 that is supported via a bearing 53 on the shaft end of the manual shaft 27 on the side where the X-direction manual knob 33 is provided. . The Y-direction bevel gear 54 is formed with an X-direction manual knob portion 55 that covers the X-direction manual knob 33 in a cylindrical shape with a slight portion left on the end side. Incidentally, encoders 56 and 57 for detecting movement are attached to the shaft ends of the ball screws 23 and 34 for driving in the X direction and in the Y direction, respectively.

In such a configuration, by placing a sample on the sample stage 4, the optical image and the ultrasonic image can be easily switched using the optical observation objective lens 11 and the ultrasonic acoustic lens 13. When obtaining an ultrasonic image, the ultrasonic acoustic lens 13 is reciprocated at high speed in the X7j'' direction by the excitation device @12. In this reciprocating state, the rotation of the geared motor 46 engages the electromagnetic clutch 45. It is transmitted to the writing drive shaft 38 of the gear box 36 via the bevel gear 4.
The output shaft 37 rotates via 2a and 41. This rotation of the output shaft 370 is transmitted to the Y-direction driving ball screw 34, and the sample stage 4 slowly moves in the Y-direction.

Therefore, an ultrasonic image can be obtained by scanning a sample over a predetermined range. When the geared motor 46 is rotating, the electromagnetic clutch 47 is disengaged.

Next, when moving to the required part of the sample and observing it,
By disengaging the electromagnetic clutch 45 on the geared motor 46 side, rotating the Y-direction pulse motor 48, and driving the feed drive shaft 39 of the gear box 36 via the electromagnetic clutch 47, feeding in the Y direction can be performed. Furthermore, by rotating the X-direction pulse motor 25, this rotation can be transmitted to the X-direction driving ball screw 23 to move the sample stage 4 in the X-direction. Next, when adjusting the movement in the XY directions manually, by turning the manual knob 33 for the X direction, the manual shaft 27 is rotated, and the
By manually rotating the direction pulse motor 25, the X direction can be moved, and by turning the X direction manual knob 55, the manual gear box 49 is rotated via the bevel gears 54 and 52. Further, the drive shaft 40 is rotated, and the output rotation 37 of the gear box 43 is rotated via the bevel wheels 44 and 43, allowing movement in the Y direction. At this time, the electromagnetic clutches 45 and 47 are disengaged, so the geared motor 4
6 or the Y direction pulse motor 48 is not rotated.

Therefore, with the above-described configuration, the writing drive that moves in a direction perpendicular to the vibration direction of the ultrasonic acoustic lens and the feeding drive in that direction are performed by the same drive system, and the electromagnetic clutch 4
By switching 5.47, the selection can be made easily and the structure can be simplified.

In the above embodiment, the vibration direction of the ultrasonic acoustic lens 13 is set to the X direction, but it may also be set to the Y direction. In this case, if the write drive section and the feed drive section that move in the X direction are made into the same drive system, good. Further, the electromagnetic clutches 45, 47 may be any other clutch means that can selectively connect and disconnect the write drive section and the feed drive section.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the sample stage driving device that moves in a direction perpendicular to the vibration direction of the ultrasonic acoustic lens is driven by a common driving section that includes at least a writing driving section and a feeding driving section. In addition, since a clutch means that can selectively connect and disconnect the write drive section and the feed drive section is provided, it is possible to use the same drive system.
This has the effect of simplifying the structure.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 4 relate to one embodiment of the present invention, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the sample stage drive part of an ultrasound microscope, Figure 2 is a front view of the ultrasound microscope, and Figure 3 is an ultrasound microscope. FIG. 4, a side view of the microscope, is a system diagram of the sample stage driving portion of FIG. 1. 1... Ultrasonic microscope 3... Base plate 4
...Sample stand 5...Sample stand drive device 12
... Vibration device 13 ... Ultrasonic acoustic lens 19 ... X direction stage 20 ... X direction guide rail section 21 ... Y direction stage 22 ... Y direction guide rail section 23 ... X-direction drive ball screw 25...X-direction pulse motor 34...Y-direction drive ball screw 36...Gear hook 38...Write drive section 39...Feed drive section

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In an ultrasonic microscope equipped with a sample stage driving device that vibrates an ultrasonic acoustic lens using an excitation device and allows the sample stage to move in a direction perpendicular to the vibration direction of the ultrasonic acoustic lens, The sample stage drive device is a common drive unit consisting of at least a write drive unit and a feed drive unit, and a clutch means is provided that can selectively connect and disconnect the write drive unit and the feed drive unit. Ultrasonic microscope. (2) The ultrasonic microscope according to claim 1, wherein the common drive section is a gear box having a write drive shaft and a feed drive shaft. (3) The ultrasonic microscope according to claim 1, wherein the clutch means is an electromagnetic clutch provided in each of the write drive section and the feed drive section.