JP2005055720A - Microscopic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem that present observation environment is not always efficient observation environment because a user must perform operation to switch operational sensitivity though the user need not finely move a stage. <P>SOLUTION: A motor-driven XY stage for a microscope has a stage on which a sample is fixed, a stage control means for controlling the XY directions of the stage, a stage operation means, and a state discrimination means for discriminating whether the sample is in a state of observation. The stage control means controls the stage operation means to switch the operational sensitivity of the stage to input in accordance with a result by the state discrimination means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

 The present invention relates to an electric XY stage for a microscope driven by a motor.

The XY electric stage for a microscope can be moved to an arbitrary position by a user by stage operation means such as a trackball. The operation sensitivity of the stage with respect to the stage operation means is such that the user can arbitrarily switch the magnitude of the stage operation sensitivity by a switch such as coarse movement and fine movement.
JP-A-8-86965 JP 2000-105342 A

  However, if the specimen is not observed with a microscope, the operation sensitivity must be switched by the user even though the stage is not moved by fine movement, which is not always an efficient observation environment. . The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an electric XY stage for a microscope that provides an efficient observation environment without requiring a user to perform another operation.

  To achieve the above object, an electric XY stage for a microscope according to claim 1, wherein a stage to which a specimen is fixed, stage control means for controlling the stage in the XY directions, stage operating means, and the specimen are arranged. State determining means for determining whether the state is being observed, and the stage control means switches the operation sensitivity of the stage with respect to the input to the stage operating means in accordance with the result of the state determining means It is characterized by things. The first embodiment, the second embodiment, and the third embodiment correspond to the embodiments relating to the present invention.

 The electric XY stage for a microscope according to claim 2 is the electric XY stage for a microscope according to claim 1, wherein when the state determining unit is in a state of observing the specimen, the stage control unit is The operation sensitivity of the stage is reduced. The first embodiment, the second embodiment, and the third embodiment correspond to the embodiments relating to the present invention.

  The microscope electric XY stage according to claim 3 is the microscope electric XY stage according to claims 1 and 2, further comprising focusing means for focusing the sample, and the state determination means is the focusing means. From this result, it is determined whether or not the specimen is being observed. The embodiment relating to the present invention corresponds to the first embodiment.

  The electric XY stage for a microscope according to claim 4 is the electric XY stage for a microscope according to claim 1, further comprising coordinate detection means for detecting coordinates in the optical axis direction of the stage, and the state determination means includes: It is characterized in that it is determined from the result of the coordinate detection means whether the specimen is being observed. The second embodiment corresponds to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The electric XY stage for a microscope according to claim 5 is the electric XY stage for a microscope according to claim 1, further comprising voltage detection means for a lamp light source for illuminating the specimen, wherein the state determination means is the lamp voltage. It is characterized in that it is determined whether or not the specimen is being observed from the result of the detection means. The third embodiment corresponds to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The electric XY stage for a microscope according to claim 6, further comprising means for detecting an observation magnification of the specimen, wherein the stage control means is configured to input the stage to the operation means of the stage according to the observation magnification of the specimen. 6. The electric XY stage for microscopes according to claim 1, wherein the operation sensitivity is switched. The first embodiment, the second embodiment, and the third embodiment correspond to the embodiments relating to the present invention.

  The electric XY stage for a microscope according to claim 7 is the electric XY stage for a microscope according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, after a predetermined time has elapsed since the input of the operating means is lost. It is characterized by shifting the operation to a power saving state. The third embodiment corresponds to the embodiment of the present invention.

  As described above, the microscope apparatus of the present invention automatically switches the moving speed and the power saving mode in accordance with the observation state, so that the user's operation can be reduced and the power can be saved. Is also possible.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on the illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention. The stage controller corresponds to the stage controller 2 that controls the stage 1 in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, and the stage operation means corresponds to the trackball 4.

  The stage 1 on which the specimen 6 mounted on the microscope apparatus 5 is placed is moved in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction by the X-axis motor 7 and the Y-axis motor 8, respectively, as shown in FIG. And is controlled by the stage controller 2. The trackball 4 is used by the user to input the moving direction and moving speed of the stage 1 and is disposed on the hand switch 16 described later.

  A revolver 9 is disposed in the microscope body 5. The revolver 9 is equipped with an objective lens 10. The revolver 9 is rotatable so that the desired objective lens 10 can be selectively switched on the optical axis by the rotation of the motor 11. Further, a sensor 12 is disposed in the vicinity of the revolver 9 so that the magnification of the objective lens 10 can be recognized. In addition, the electric stage 1 can be moved in the optical axis direction by a motor 13 so that the in-focus position of the sample 6 on the electric stage 1 can be adjusted. These motors 11 and 13 are controlled by the microscope control unit 15 via the drive circuit 14.

  A hand switch 16 is connected to the microscope control unit 15. The hand switch 16 includes an objective selection switch 17 corresponding to each objective lens 10, an encoder dial 18 that outputs a pulse for moving the electric stage 1 up and down in the optical axis direction according to a rotation operation, and the electric stage 1. And a stage operation trackball 4 that is moved in the XY directions.

  The optical system in the microscope main body 1 reflects light from the illumination light source 19 for incident light reflection on the cube unit through the illumination system lens 20, irradiates the sample 6 through the objective lens 10, and reflects it from the sample 6. The light is magnified by the objective lens 10, transmitted through the cube unit 21, and an enlarged image is formed at the image position via the beam spiriter 23, and can be visually observed by the lens barrel binocular unit 24. In addition, the illumination light source 19 is dimmed by adjusting the supply voltage via the microscope control unit 15 by operating the dimming dial 25 of the hand switch 16.

  As described above, the microscope control unit 15 has a function of controlling the entire operation of the microscope 1, receives instructions from the hand switch 16, performs light control of the illumination light source 19, and via the drive circuit unit 14. The objective lens can be switched, the epi-illumination aperture stop 26 can be opened and closed, and the epi-illumination filter 27 can be selected. Further, it has a function of sending current observation information such as objective lens magnification, lamp voltage, opening / closing of the epi-illumination aperture stop, and the selected epi-illumination filter to the state discriminating unit 3 as the state discriminating means.

  The microscope apparatus 5 is equipped with an autofocus unit 28 that automatically adjusts the in-focus position of the specimen 6 on the electric stage 1. The autofocus unit 28 is for focusing the sample based on the contrast of the input image, and is generally called passive AF. The auto focus (AF) function is switched between valid and invalid by an AF switch 29 disposed on the hand switch 16, and whether the AF function is currently valid or invalid. Information is output to the state determination unit 3 via the microscope control unit 15.

  Next, the operation of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of the present invention. First, the case where the AF function of the autofocus unit 28 is enabled will be described. It is assumed that the objective lens 6 is selected to be 1 × on the optical path.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the trackball on which the user operates the stage 1 generates a pulse corresponding to the rotation direction and the rotation amount with respect to each X axis and Y axis. The stage controller 2 receives this signal via the microscope control unit 15 and controls the movement of the stage 1 in proportion to the rotation direction and the rotation amount of the trackball. It is assumed that the trackball 4 is rotated so that n pulses are generated in the X direction per 1 msec. In response to this, the stage control unit 2 sets sx, which is the distance to advance the stage 1 in the X direction by 1 msec as follows.

ここで、Ｓは定数、ｆｃはトラックボールの操作に対するステージ１の操作感度の切り換えを行うための、ステージ操作感度係数となっている。 また、ｏｂは対物レンズの倍率の値であり、対物の変換を行っても、トラックボールの操作に対して、観察視野上、ステージの移動量が同一となるようにするためのものである。

Here, S is a constant, and fc is a stage operation sensitivity coefficient for switching the operation sensitivity of the stage 1 to the operation of the trackball. Further, ob is a value of the magnification of the objective lens, so that even if the objective is converted, the amount of movement of the stage becomes the same in the observation field for the operation of the trackball.

  The state determination unit 3 determines whether the current state of the microscope is the observation state of the sample 6 or the observation state. If the sample 6 is not observed, fc = 1.0 is set. Fc = 0.1 is set in the state of observing. In this embodiment, the determination is made based on whether AF is enabled / disabled. Here, since AF is enabled, the state determination unit 3 sets fc = 0.1. Therefore, the moving distance of the stage per 1 msec is

となり、トラックボール４の操作に対して細かくステージが動く、いわゆる微動動作となる。

Thus, the stage moves finely in response to the operation of the trackball 4, which is a so-called fine movement operation.

Next, a case where the AF function is disabled will be described. When the observation of the sample 6 is finished and the AF function is turned off by a user operation, the state determination unit 3 sets fc = 1.0.
Therefore, the moving distance of the stage per 1msec is

となり、ステージ１は、同一のトラックボール４の操作であっても、ＡＦが有効と時より１０倍の距離を移動することになる、いわゆる粗動動作となる。なお、ここではＸ方向の動作のみについて説明したが、Ｙ方向についても同様である。

Thus, the stage 1 is a so-called coarse motion in which even when the same trackball 4 is operated, the AF moves 10 times as long as the AF is effective. Although only the operation in the X direction has been described here, the same applies to the Y direction.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, when the specimen 6 is observed with the AF operation enabled, the stage operation is a fine movement operation, and the AF function is disabled at the end of the observation or the like. The stage operation is automatically switched to coarse movement. Therefore, the user can quickly move in the XY directions for exchanging specimens without switching the sensitivity. In the present embodiment, the specimen passively AF is performed on the in-focus determination unit, but other types of focusing means may be used.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention. Components identical to those of the first embodiment are denoted by reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. In the microscope apparatus 5, means for detecting the coordinates of the stage 1 in the optical axis direction correspond to the Z coordinate detection unit 30. The Z-coordinate detection unit can detect coordinates in the optical axis direction of the stage 1 and is composed of an upper limit sensor, a lower limit sensor, an encoder, and a counter that counts the output thereof, and can detect coordinates by counting from the lower limit position. It has a configuration.

  FIG. 6 shows a positional relationship of coordinates in the optical axis direction of the stage 1. The stage 1 can be driven in the range from the upper limit a to the lower limit b, where W is the stage operating range and w1 is the range in which the normal specimen is observed. If the sample is not within the range, it is determined that the sample is not being observed while the stage is retracted due to the exchange of the sample or the end of observation. Further, w1 changes depending on the thickness of the sample and can be set arbitrarily.

  Next, the operation of the present invention will be described. FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of the present invention.

First, a case where the coordinates in the optical axis direction of the stage 1 are within the range of w1 will be described.
When the coordinates of the optical axis direction of the stage 1 are within the range of w1, the state determination unit 3 determines that the stage 1 is observing the sample based on the output of the Z coordinate output unit 30. If it is determined that the sample is being observed, the state determination unit 3 sets fc = 0.1 as the operation sensitivity coefficient of the stage 1. Therefore, the moving distance of the stage per 1 msec is

となる。よって、トラックボール４の操作に対して細かくステージが動く、微動動作となる。

It becomes. Therefore, the stage moves finely in response to the operation of the trackball 4 and becomes a fine movement operation.

  Next, a case where the coordinates of the stage 1 are out of the range of w1 due to sample exchange or observation end will be described. The state determination unit 3 determines that the stage 1 is in the retracted state, that is, the state in which the sample is being observed, based on the output of the Z coordinate output unit 30 via the microscope control unit 10. If it is determined that the sample is not being observed, the state determination unit 3 sets fc = 1.0 as the operation sensitivity coefficient of the stage 1. For this reason, the moving distance of the stage per 1 msec is

となり、ステージ１は、同一のトラックボール４の操作であってもステージ１の座標がｗ１の範囲内の時より１ｍｓｅｃあたり１０倍の距離を移動することになる、いわゆる粗動動作となる。その後、ステージ１の座標がｗ１の範囲となった場合、判定部３はステージ１の操作感度係数にｆｃ＝０．１を設定し、トラックボール４の操作に対して細かくステージが動く、微動動作となる。従って、観察を終了して、ステージの退避等を行うだけで、自動的に粗微動の切り換りるため標本交換等の作業を迅速に行うことが可能となる。

Thus, the stage 1 is a so-called coarse motion operation in which even when the same trackball 4 is operated, the stage 1 moves a distance 10 times per msec from the time when the coordinates of the stage 1 are within the range of w1. Thereafter, when the coordinates of the stage 1 fall within the range of w1, the determination unit 3 sets fc = 0.1 as the operation sensitivity coefficient of the stage 1, and the fine movement operation in which the stage moves finely with respect to the operation of the trackball 4 It becomes. Therefore, since the coarse / fine movement is automatically switched by simply ending the observation and retracting the stage, it is possible to quickly perform operations such as sample replacement.

  In this embodiment, the stage range in which it is determined that the sample is not in the observation state is set to w1 and a fixed value, but it may of course be variable according to information such as the objective lens.

  Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of the third embodiment of the invention. Components identical to those of the first embodiment are denoted by reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. In the microscope apparatus 5, lamp voltage detection means for detecting the lamp voltage corresponds to the lamp voltage detection unit 31. The lamp voltage detector 31 detects the lamp voltage of the illumination light source 19, and dimming is performed by operating the dimming dial 25 of the hand switch 16.

  FIG. 9 shows the relationship between the lamp voltage and the observation state. The lamp voltage can be varied in the range from the upper limit a to the lower limit b. Here, L is a variable range of the lamp voltage, and L1 is a range in which the normal specimen is observed. If the sample is not within the range, it is determined that the sample is not being observed by exchanging the sample or ending the observation.

  Next, the operation of the present invention will be described. FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of the present invention. First, the case where the lamp voltage of the illumination light source 19 is in the range of L1 will be described. When the lamp voltage of the illumination light source 19 is within the range of L1, the state determination unit 3 determines that the stage 1 is in the state of observing the sample. If it is determined that the sample is being observed, the state determination unit 3 sets fc = 0.1 as the operation sensitivity coefficient of the stage 1. Therefore, the moving distance of the stage per 1 msec is

となる。よって、トラックボール４の操作に対して細かくステージが動く、微動動作となる。

It becomes. Therefore, the stage moves finely in response to the operation of the trackball 4 and becomes a fine movement operation.

  Next, a case where the lamp voltage of the illumination light source 19 of the stage 1 is out of the range of L1 due to sample exchange or observation end will be described. The state determination unit 3 determines that the sample is not being observed through the microscope control unit 10. If it is determined that the sample is not being observed, the state determination unit 3 sets fc = 1.0 as the operation sensitivity coefficient of the stage 1. For this reason, the moving distance of the stage per 1 msec is

となり、ステージ１は、同一のトラックボール４の操作であっても、照明光源１９のランプ電圧がＬ１の範囲内の時の１０倍の距離を移動することになる、いわゆる粗動動作となる。さらに、ランプ電圧がＬ１の範囲から外れた後、一定時間トラックボール４によるステージ操作がない場合、ステージコントロール部３は、モータ７，８の励磁をＯＦＦし、省電力モードに移行する。

Thus, the stage 1 performs a so-called coarse motion operation in which the lamp voltage of the illumination light source 19 moves a distance 10 times as long as the lamp voltage of the illumination light source 19 is within the range L1 even when the same trackball 4 is operated. Further, when the stage voltage is not operated by the trackball 4 for a certain time after the lamp voltage is out of the range of L1, the stage controller 3 turns off the excitation of the motors 7 and 8 and shifts to the power saving mode.

  Therefore, by simply ending the observation and lowering the lamp voltage, the stage can be automatically switched between coarse and fine movements in the XY directions, and the user's operation can be reduced. Furthermore, in conjunction with the lamp voltage, the motor of the electric stage is also automatically turned off, so that useless power consumption can be suppressed.

  In this embodiment, the stage operating means has been described as a trackball. However, a so-called joystick may be used in which the direction and speed are instructed by tilting the stick.

  Further, although the microscope apparatus has been described in the present embodiment, it can be applied to various systems such as a line apparatus incorporating the microscope apparatus from the viewpoint of the electric stage although the specimen is observed. .

It is a figure which shows the structure of the 1st Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows that it is controlled by the stage controller 2, and can be moved to the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, respectively. It is a figure which shows that it is a thing which produces | generates a pulse by the direction which rotated with respect to each X-axis and a Y-axis. It is a figure which shows the flowchart of the 1st Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the 2nd Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of the coordinate of a stage 1 optical axis direction. It is a figure which shows the flowchart of the 2nd Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the 3rd Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows a lamp voltage and an observation state relationship. It is a figure which shows the flowchart of the 3rd Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Stage 2 Stage controller 3 State discrimination | determination part 4 Trackball 5 Microscope apparatus 6 Sample 7 X-axis motor 8 Y-axis motor 9 Revolver 10 Objective lens 11 Motor 12 Sensor 13 Motor 14 Drive circuit 15 Microscope control part 16 Hand switch 17 Objective Selection switch 18 Encoder dial 19 Illumination light source 20 Illumination system lens 21 Cube unit 22 Beam spiriter 23 Beam spiriter 24 Lens binocular part 25 Dimming dial 26 Epi-illumination aperture stop 27 Diaphragm filter 28 Auto-focus unit 29 AF switch 30 Z Coordinate detector 31 Lamp voltage detector

Claims (7)

A stage on which the specimen is fixed; stage control means for controlling the stage in the X and Y directions; operating means for the stage; and state determination means for determining whether the specimen is being observed. The stage control means switches the operation sensitivity of the stage in response to an input to the operation means of the stage according to the result of the state determination means. 2. The electric XY stage for a microscope according to claim 1, wherein when the state determination unit determines that the specimen is being observed, the stage control unit reduces the operation sensitivity of the stage. The focusing means for focusing the sample, wherein the state determining means determines whether or not the sample is being observed based on a result of the focusing means. The electric XY stage for a microscope according to any one of 2 above. Coordinate detection means for detecting coordinates in the optical axis direction of the stage is provided, and the state determination means determines whether or not the specimen is being observed from the result of the coordinate detection means. The electric XY stage for a microscope according to any one of claims 1 and 2. A voltage detection unit for a lamp light source for illuminating the sample is provided, and the state determination unit determines whether the sample is being observed based on a result of the lamp voltage detection unit. Item 3. The electric XY stage for a microscope according to any one of Items 1 or 2. Means for detecting an observation magnification of the specimen, wherein the stage control means switches the operation sensitivity of the stage with respect to input to the operation means of the stage according to the observation magnification of the specimen. The electric XY stage for a microscope according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The stage control means, in addition to switching the operation sensitivity of the stage, shifts the stage operation to a power saving state after a lapse of a certain time from the absence of input from the operation means. The electric XY stage for microscopes as described in any one of these.

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