JPH0346610A - Inversion microscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the operability and performance and to reduce the price by providing a parallel luminous flux formation optical system for forming a parallel optical path in the observation optical path of the inversion microscope and providing a detachable optical member which has an odd number of reflecting surfaces in the parallel optical path. CONSTITUTION:Light from a body a to be observed is converged by an objective 8a and passed through a half-mirror 6. The parallel luminous flux formation optical system consisting of a negative lens 10a and a positive lens 10b is arranged in the optical path behind the half-mirror 6. Then a wedgelike prism 11 is provided in the parallel optical path detachably and rotatably on the optical axis. Therefore, the wedgelike prism 11 is rotated by 90 deg. and then luminous flux perpendicular to the paper surface is inverted to rotate an inverted image which is observed by 180 deg. eventually, so the observed image becomes an erect image. Consequently, the operability and performance are improved and the high-performance microscope can be obtained at low cost.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an inverted microscope for magnifying observation of an object to be observed.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, an inverted microscope for magnifying observation of an object to be observed as shown in FIG. 6 has been known.

The stage 7 is movable two-dimensionally in the XY directions and is rotatably provided.

As shown in the figure, an object to be observed is placed on a stage 7, and above this there is a transmitted illumination system, and below it, an observation optical system and an epi-illumination system that share the objective lens 8a are installed in an inverted manner. It is provided in the microscope main body 1.

When transmitting illumination, the light beam emitted from the first light source 2 passes through the reflecting mirror 3 and the condenser lens 4 to the observed object a.
to illuminate.

On the other hand, when performing epi-illumination, the light beam emitted from the second light source 5 illuminates the observed object a via the half mirror 6 and the objective lens 8a.

After passing through the objective lens 8a, the light from the observed object a illuminated by either illumination method is split into two parts by a half mirror 12, and guided into a visual observation optical path and a photographing optical path, respectively. .

Then, in each optical path, a first intermediate image (A2
,A,) are formed. The first intermediate image (A2) formed in the photographing optical path is photographed by a camera 21 or the like through a lens 20.

On the other hand, the light beam reflected by the half mirror 12 is guided to the observation optical path, and then a first intermediate image A1 is formed.

The light is then guided to the overhead viewing prism 16 via the relay optical systems 13a and 13b. During this relaying process, a reflecting mirror 14 is used to reflect the light beam and bend the observation optical path.
．． 15 are provided.

The light beam passing through the overhead prism 16 is divided into two parts by the binocular optical system 17, and then a second intermediate image (B
, , B2) are formed. This second intermediate image (B, B2) can then be observed in an enlarged manner through the eyepiece.

Now, suppose that the object to be observed is a pattern of the English letter R, and when we try to observe this pattern image, due to the reflection action of the optical member placed in the observation optical path, images as shown in ■ to ■ in Fig. 5 are formed. is observed. Therefore, for convenience, the state of ■ is an erect reverse image, the state of ■ is an inverted reverse image, the state of ■ is an erect real image, and the state of ■ is an erect real image.
The state of is defined as an inverted back image.

Then, with the inverted microscope as shown in FIG. 6, the magnified observed and photographed images become erect real images like the upside-down English letter R as shown in ■ in FIG.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Conventionally, when observing an erect real image (an image of an object to be observed upside down), it is possible to move the observed image and photographed image in the same direction corresponding to the moving direction of a two-dimensionally moving stage. Although this has the advantage of being able to do so, both visual observation and images taken with a camera, etc., are reverse images, so characters or patterns formed on the object being observed are reversed, which is extremely inconvenient when observing or photographing. there were.

Furthermore, when attempting to rotate the photographed image and the film surface relative to each other in the composition for photographing, the camera itself or the stage must be rotated for adjustment.

Furthermore, even in visual observation, if the object to be observed is to be rotated, the stage must be rotated.

Therefore, if a mechanism for rotating the stage is provided, the structure of the inverted microscope will not only be complicated and large, but also the cost will increase and become expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to solve the above problems and to provide a high-performance inverted microscope that has a simple configuration but can significantly improve operability and performance at a low cost.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a parallel beam forming optical system for forming a parallel optical path in the observation optical path of an inverted microscope, as shown in FIG. An optical member having a reflective surface is detachably provided, and when this optical member is located in the parallel optical path, a back image of the object to be observed is observed, and when the optical member is withdrawn from the parallel optical path, a back image is observed. This makes it possible to switch.

Based on such a basic configuration, it is desirable to provide the optical member rotatably around the optical axis so that the rotation direction of the observed image or photographed image can be adjusted.

[For production]

In the present invention, when an optical member having an odd number of reflective surfaces is retracted out of the parallel optical path, an accurate While taking advantage of the conventional method of observing as an erect real image (image as shown in ■ in Figure 5), when an optical member is installed in the optical path, an erect back image (as shown in ■ in Figure 5) can be obtained. This makes it easier to observe objects by making it easier to observe them (images that look the same as when you actually see them). Furthermore, by simply rotating this optical member around the optical axis, it is possible to adjust the rotational direction of the observed image.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
Components that are the same as those in the figures are given the same reference numerals. An object to be observed a is placed on an XY stage 7 that moves two-dimensionally, and above this is a transmitted illumination system, and below it is an observation optical system and an epi-illumination system that share an objective lens. It is provided in the inverted microscope main body 1.

An objective lens 8a provided below the XY stage 7 is held by a revolver 9, and the revolver 9 holds a plurality of objective lenses 8b and the like having mutually different focal lengths. By rotating this revolver 9, the objective lens 8 having a certain focal length is retracted from the observation optical path, and the objective lens 8 having a different focal length is positioned in the observation optical path.

By rotating the revolver 9 in this manner, the magnification is changed.

Now, when transmitting illumination is performed, the light beam emitted from the first light source 2 (such as a tungsten lamp) illuminates the observed object a via the reflecting mirror 3 and the condenser lens 4. At this time, a light source image is formed approximately at the pupil position of the condenser lens 4, achieving so-called Koehler illumination.

On the other hand, when performing epi-illumination, the luminous flux emitted from the second light source 5 (such as a tungsten lamp) is transmitted to the half mirror 6,
The object to be observed a is illuminated through the objective lens 8a. Also at this time, a light source image is formed approximately at the pupil position of the objective lens 8a, and Koehler illumination is substantially achieved.

Here, for convenience, it is assumed that the English letter R as shown in ■ in Fig. 5 is drawn on the object to be observed a, and that the illumination light illuminates this English letter R in order to observe this letter. .

The light from the observed object a uniformly illuminated by either illumination method is converged by the objective lens 8a and passes through the half mirror 6. A negative lens 10a and a positive lens 10 are in the optical path behind this half mirror 6.
A parallel light beam forming optical system consisting of b and b is arranged.

The light beam passing through the half mirror 6 is transmitted through the negative lens 10.
It undergoes a diverging effect and becomes a parallel light beam through the lens 10a, and undergoes a converging effect through the positive lens 10b.

In this parallel optical path, a trapezoidal prism 11 is provided so as to be detachable and rotatable about the optical axis.

Note that the negative lens 10a in the parallel beam forming optical system may be arranged between the objective lens and the half mirror 6 so that the positional relationship between the two is reversed, or furthermore, the negative lens 10a and the objective lens may be integrated. It may be configured as follows.

A positive lens 10 that constitutes a part of this parallel beam forming optical system
The light beam converged by b is divided into two parts by a half mirror 12 and guided to a photographing optical path and an observation optical path, respectively.

The light beam transmitted through this half mirror 12 is guided to the photographing optical path, and after being reflected by the reflection mirror 19, an intermediate image A2 is formed. This intermediate image A2 is magnified by a lens 20 and focused on a film surface of a camera 21.

On the other hand, the light beam reflected by the half mirror 12 is guided to the observation optical path, and then a first intermediate image A1 is formed.

The light is then guided to the overhead viewing prism 16 via the relay optical systems 13a and 1.3b. In this relaying process, a reflecting mirror 1 is used to reflect the light beam and bend the observation optical path.
4.15 is provided.

Now, the light flux that has passed through the overhead viewing prism 16 is divided into two by the binocular optical system 17, and then a second intermediate image (Bl, B2) is formed in each observation optical path.

This second intermediate image (B, ,
B2) can be observed under magnification.

With the above configuration, as shown in the figure, when the trapezoidal prism 11 is retracted from the parallel optical path of the observation optical path, the observed image is a real image because the reflection in the observation optical path is an odd number of times, as in the conventional configuration. (An erect real image as shown in ■ in FIG. 5). At this time, the observation image is X where the observed object is placed.
It moves in accordance with the moving direction of the Y stage 7.

Therefore, while visually observing the observed image (an erect real image as shown in ◯ in Fig. 5), the XY stage 7 was moved two-dimensionally.
After the object to be observed a is set at the target position, the trapezoidal prism 11 is positioned in the parallel optical path of the observation optical path.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2(a), this parallel light beam is reflected once by the trapezoidal prism at the bottom surface 1], a, and becomes a parallel light beam with the plane direction reversed. Therefore, since the reflection at the bottom surface 11a of the trapezoidal prism 11 is added, and the entire observation optical path is reflected an even number of times, the observed image becomes a reverse image (an inverted front image as shown in (■) in FIG. 5). That is, by installing this trapezoidal prism 11 in the parallel optical path,
First, it is possible to visualize an observed image.

Further, when this trapezoidal prism 11 is rotated by a rotation angle θ around the optical axis of the observation optical path, the parallel light flux passing through it can be rotated by a rotation angle 2θ.

Therefore, if the trapezoidal prism 11 in the state shown in FIG. 2(a) is rotated by 90 degrees as shown in FIG. The inverted surface image (as shown in Figure 5) is 180
Since it can be rotated by a degree, the observed image becomes an erected surface image (as shown in ■ in FIG. 5). That is, by rotating the trapezoidal prism 11, the observed image can be erected. Incidentally, by slightly rotating the trapezoidal prism 11, it is also possible to finely adjust the observed image in the direction of rotation.

Also, the trapezoidal prism 11 shown in FIG.
If the configuration is such that it can be placed in the parallel optical path of FIG. 1 described above in the state b), an erected image (such as the image shown in ■ in FIG. 5) can be directly observed.

In this embodiment, a parallel optical path is formed in the optical path before branching into the photographing optical path and the observation optical path, and the trapezoidal prism 11 is rotatably provided, so that the photographed image formed in the photographing optical path is also the observation image. The result is an image that corresponds well to the image, making it extremely easy to decide on the composition.

Now, FIG. 3 shows the present invention applied to a simple inverted microscope without a photographing optical path, and the same members as in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals.

This allows the relay optical system (100a, 100b) to have the function of a parallel beam forming optical system, forms a parallel beam in the relay optical system (100a, 100b), and trapezoidal prism 1 11 in this parallel beam. The same effect as the above-mentioned embodiment is achieved by providing a removable and rotatable structure.

As described above, by providing the parallel light beam forming optical system at an appropriate position in the observation optical path and providing the trapezoidal prism 11 that can be attached and detached and rotated in this parallel optical path, the same effects as in the previously described embodiment can be achieved. be able to.

In the above, a parallel optical path is provided in the observation optical path, and the trapezoidal prism is installed so that it can be attached and detached, but as shown in FIG. A similar effect can be achieved by internal reflection.

In addition, the same effect can be achieved by arranging an odd number of reflecting members in this parallel optical path so that they can be attached and detached, but in order to simplify the device and manufacture it, it is necessary to It is more desirable to configure it with a prism.

2 [Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, in order to correspond to the movement direction of the two-dimensionally moving stage and the movement direction of the observation image, while taking advantage of the conventional method of observing as an erect real image, This is extremely effective because the back image can be observed and photographed when observing and determining the composition.

Further, by simply rotating the optical member placed in the parallel optical path around the optical axis, a complicated configuration for rotating the XY stage is not required, and the rotation direction of the observed image can be adjusted with a simple configuration.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the inverted microscope of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the function of the trapezoidal prism, Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the simplified inverted microscope of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the function of the trapezoidal prism. A diagram showing a prism having the same function. Figure 5 is a diagram showing how an observed pattern of the English letter R is observed in various states due to the reflection action of an optical member. Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a conventional inverted microscope. It is. [Description of symbols of main parts] ], Oa, 10b...Parallel beam forming optical system 11...
Trapezoidal prisms 100a, 100b...Relay optical system and parallel beam forming optical system

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) An optical member having a parallel beam forming optical system for forming a parallel optical path in an observation optical path for magnifying observation of an object to be observed, and having an odd number of reflective surfaces in the parallel optical path. is detachably provided, and when the optical member is located in the parallel optical path, a front image of the object to be observed is observed, and when the optical member is withdrawn from the parallel optical path, a back image is observed. Features an inverted microscope. 2) The inverted microscope according to claim 1, wherein an optical member is rotatably provided around the optical axis of the parallel optical path, and by rotating the optical member, the observation image can be rotated and adjusted.