KR100758837B1 - microscope possible for controlling auto focus - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a microscope that minimizes movement of the lens barrel in auto focusing, greatly shortens vibration and measurement time, and enables auto focusing to irradiate uniform illumination using a high brightness light emitting diode. Microscope according to the present invention comprises a lens barrel including a plurality of lenses; An imaging unit mounted at an upper end of the lens barrel to convert an image of the inspection object enlarged from the lens barrel into an electronic signal and supplying the image to an display device such as a monitor or a liquid crystal projector; A search unit installed at one side of the lens barrel and searching for an optimal focus position while rapidly moving a search section; A controller electrically connected to the lens barrel, the imager, and the searcher to move the lens barrel to the focal position by calculating the information collected by the searcher and to capture an image through the imager; And an illumination unit mounted on the other side of the lens barrel to make the image of the inspection object clearly captured.

Description

Microscope capable for controlling auto focus

1 is a view schematically showing a microscope capable of autofocus according to the present invention, and

2 is a view showing the lighting unit shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawing

100: auto focusing microscope

110: lens barrel 120: imaging unit

130: search unit 140: control unit

150: lighting unit

The present invention relates to a microscope capable of auto focusing, and more particularly, to minimize vibration and measurement time by minimizing the movement of the lens barrel during auto focusing, as well as irradiating uniform illumination using a high brightness light emitting diode. It's about a microscope that can do auto focus.

In general, industrial microscopes are used in various fields such as flat panel displays (FPDs), semiconductor wafers, printed circuit board (PCB) inspection, etc., and the industrial microscopes have a separate focus that automatically adjusts the focus. Devices are attached.

Conventional auto focusing apparatus, there is a method using the interference phenomenon of the first light, a method of calculating the distance by measuring the intensity of the second light, and third, a method using a separate distance measuring sensor.

The method of using the interference phenomenon of light uses a single wavelength of light such as a laser to make an interference fringe by comparing the light reflected from the object to be measured under the condition that the reflector is placed at the focal length, and then calculates the focus by analyzing it. As a result, the focus range is very short due to the high precision and the wavelength limit of the light used, and thus it is limited to a special place such as a semiconductor field.

In addition, the second method is to place the pinhole and photodiode in two places with different distances from the laser light source and calculate the distance by measuring the intensity of light passing through the pinhole. In this case, the measurable focal length is limited to the distance difference between the two pinholes, and the focusing accuracy may be slightly changed by the optical characteristics (nonlinearity of the distance) of the object to be focused.

In the third method, a separate sensor such as a general ultrasonic wave or a laser is attached to measure a focal length, and then the microscope is positioned at the focal point. The focusing precision depends on the accuracy of the distance measuring sensor.

However, the above-described conventional automatic focusing apparatus collects images at regular intervals by moving a preset focusing section and calculates the correct focus position by calculating a predetermined focus range, even if the current position is in focus. There was a problem moving to the focus position again after moving unconditionally.

In addition, continuous focusing is difficult because focusing requires image acquisition at the out-of-focus position, and it takes a long time to move and speeds up because the heavy microscope lens barrel needs to be moved to focus. Vibration occurred and there was a problem of falling precision.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, an object of the present invention, the image collecting unit for collecting the focus image while moving the search section quickly, and calculates the information collected from the image collecting unit lens By providing a control unit for driving the barrel portion, it is to provide a microscope capable of automatic focusing can minimize the movement of the lens barrel to significantly reduce the vibration and measurement time.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a microscope capable of auto focusing, further comprising an illumination unit improved to improve brightness at the same output without increasing the output of the light emitting diode.

In order to achieve the object of the present invention as described above, the present invention,

A lens barrel including a plurality of lenses;

An imaging unit mounted at an upper end of the lens barrel to convert an image of the inspection object enlarged from the lens barrel into an electronic signal and supplying the image to an display device such as a monitor or a liquid crystal projector;

A search unit installed at one side of the lens barrel and searching for an optimal focus position while rapidly moving a search section;

A controller electrically connected to the lens barrel, the imager, and the searcher to move the lens barrel to the focal position by calculating the information collected by the searcher and to capture an image through the imager; And

It is mounted to the other side of the lens barrel portion is made of an illumination unit for allowing the image of the inspection object to be clearly captured;
The search unit includes a first reflecting means for providing an image of the inspection object and a movement sensor arranged to move up and down and collecting an image provided by the first reflecting means for each position to find a focus position. A first half mirror disposed inside the lens barrel, and a first full mirror that totally reflects the image reflected by the first half mirror to the movement sensor; and the movement sensor smoothly reflects the image reflected by the first full mirror. The present invention provides a microscope which is disposed on the reflection path of the first full miller and can be automatically mounted to a conventional actuator and collects an optimal focus image while repeatedly moving up and down a predetermined section.

As described above, according to the present invention, the vibration and measurement time can be greatly reduced by minimizing the movement of the lens barrel during auto focusing, and uniform illumination can be irradiated using a high brightness light emitting diode.

Hereinafter, a microscope capable of auto focusing according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a view schematically showing a microscope capable of automatic focusing according to the present invention.

As shown, the auto-focusable microscope 100 according to the present invention is mounted on the lens barrel portion 110 and a lens barrel portion including a plurality of lenses (not shown), the lens barrel portion ( It is mounted on one side of the imaging unit 120 and the lens barrel 110 to convert the image of the inspection object (P) enlarged from the 110 to an electronic signal and to supply to a display device (not shown) such as a monitor or a liquid crystal projector And the search unit 130, the lens barrel unit 110, the image pickup unit 120, and the search unit 130, which are located in the search unit 130 to find the optimal focus position while moving quickly through the search section. After the information is calculated and moved to the focal position of the lens barrel 110, the control unit 140 for taking an image through the imaging unit 120, and similarly mounted on the other side of the lens barrel 110, the inspection object (P) To ensure that your images are captured clearly It comprises a portion (150).

The lens barrel 110 and the image capturing unit 120 may have a general configuration as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains, and the image capturing unit 120 may include a conventional magnetic image pickup device 122. Is made of.

The searcher 130 collects the image of the first reflecting means 132 that provides an image of the inspection object P and the image provided by the first reflecting means 132 so as to move up and down for each position, thereby providing an optimal focus. And a movement sensor 134 for locating the position.

The first reflecting means 132 totally reflects the first half mirror 136a disposed inside the lens barrel 110 and the image reflected by the first half mirror 136a toward the movement sensor 134. A first full mirror 136b is provided. Preferably, the first pull mirror 136b is disposed outside the lens barrel portion 110. The first half miller 136a guides the image of the inspection object P toward the first full miller 136b and the imaging unit 120. On the other hand, the movement sensor 134 is disposed on the reflection path of the first full mirror 136b to smoothly collect the image reflected by the first full mirror 136b. The movement sensor 134 is mounted on a normal actuator 138, and the movement sensor 134 mounted on the actuator 138 repeatedly moves a predetermined section and collects an optimal focus image. The information of the optimal focus image collected by the movement sensor 134 is calculated by the controller 140. By using the calculated information, the controller 140 moves the lens barrel 110 to the focus position. The image capturing unit 120 captures an image. Preferably, the movement sensor 134 employs a conventional CCD camera.

Meanwhile, the lighting unit 150 includes light emitting means 152 disposed outside the lens barrel 110 and second reflecting means 154 for guiding light emitted from the light emitting means 152 to the inspection target P side. do. The second reflecting means 154 is composed of a second half mirror 156a disposed inside the lens barrel portion 110 and a second pull mirror 156b disposed outside the lens barrel portion 110, the second puller. The mirror 156b totally reflects the light emitted from the light emitting means 152 toward the second half miller 156a, and the second half miller 156a again guides the guided light to the inspection object P and the movement sensor 134. And guides to the imaging unit 120.

Meanwhile, the light emitting unit 152 includes one high brightness light emitting diode 157, a first collimator 158a and a second collimator 158b that focus light emitted from the high brightness light emitting diode 157. The first collimator 158a and the second collimator 158b have symmetrical shapes to each other, and the first collimator 158a has a shape extending radially from one side to the other side adjacent to the high brightness light emitting diode 157. The second collimator 158b has a shape extending radially narrowly from one side to the other side adjacent to the first collimator 158a. The first collimator 158a makes the light emitted radially from the high brightness light emitting diode 157 in parallel, and relatively bright light passing near the optical axis passes through the second collimator 158b.

Hereinafter, the operating state of the microscope 100 formed as described above will be briefly described.

First, when light is irradiated onto the surface of the inspection object P along the optical path of the second reflecting means 154 in the illumination unit 150 disposed on the other side of the lens barrel 110, the object light from the inspection object P The image is transmitted to the searcher 130 along the optical path of the first reflecting means 132. When the image is transmitted through the first reflecting means 132 transmitted to the searcher 130, the movement sensor 134 mounted on the actuator 138 repeatedly moves up and down the section set by the actuator 138. While scanning the image at a certain distance, the optimal focus image position is collected.

When the movement sensor 134 collects the optimal focus image position, the control unit 140 calculates the optimal focus image position information collected and the position of the lens barrel part 110 by a conventional method, thereby obtaining the lens barrel part 110. After moving, the image capturing unit 120 is operated to capture a desired image. At this time, as anyone can see, the conventional lens barrel 110 is moved by a small motor with an encoder.
Meanwhile, the image photographed by the imaging unit 120 is converted into an electronic signal and transmitted to a display device such as a monitor screen or a liquid crystal projector.

As described above, the microscope 100 capable of automatic focusing according to the present invention needs to move the lens barrel portion 110 to a position that is not in focus as the conventional movement sensor 134 searches for the focus position in advance. There is no continuous focusing.

In addition, since the movement sensor 134 searches for the focus position, it is possible to control the unnecessary movement of the lens barrel portion 110, thereby minimizing the vibration during the movement of the lens barrel portion 110 and shortening the focusing time. There is an advantage to increase the work efficiency.

Although the above has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art can variously modify and change the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention described in the claims. You will understand.

Claims (5)

A lens barrel including a plurality of lenses; An imaging unit mounted at an upper end of the lens barrel to convert an image of the inspection object enlarged from the lens barrel into an electronic signal and supplying the image to an display device such as a monitor or a liquid crystal projector; A search unit installed at one side of the lens barrel part and searching for an optimal focus position while rapidly moving a search section; A controller electrically connected to the lens barrel, the imager, and the searcher to calculate information collected by the searcher to move the lens barrel to a focal position and to capture an image through the imager; And An illumination unit configured to be mounted on the other side of the lens barrel unit to clearly capture an image of the inspection object; The search unit includes a first reflecting means for providing an image of the inspection object and a moving sensor arranged to move up and down and collecting an image provided by the first reflecting means for each position to find a focus position. The reflecting means includes a first half mirror disposed inside the lens barrel and a first full mirror which totally reflects the image reflected by the first half mirror to the movement sensor, wherein the movement sensor comprises the first full mirror. It is disposed on the reflecting path of the first full miller so as to smoothly collect the image reflected by the and is mounted on a conventional actuator to collect the optimal focus image while repeatedly moving up and down the preset section Auto focusing microscope. delete The microscope of claim 1, wherein the movement sensor is a conventional CCD camera. According to claim 1, wherein the illumination unit is made of a light emitting means disposed outside the lens barrel portion and the second reflecting means for guiding the light emitted from the light emitting means toward the inspection object side, the second reflecting means is the lens And a second half mirror disposed inside the barrel portion, and a second full mirror disposed outside the lens barrel portion, wherein the light emitting means comprises: a high brightness light emitting diode and a light condensing light emitted from the high brightness light emitting diode; A microscope capable of automatic focusing, comprising a first collimator and a second collimator. The collimator of claim 4, wherein the first collimator has a shape extending radially from one side adjacent to the high brightness light emitting diode to the other side, and the second collimator extends radially narrowing from one side adjacent to the first collimator to the other side. And the first collimator makes the light emitted radially from the high brightness light emitting diode in parallel, and the second collimator passes relatively bright light passing near the optical axis.

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