Optical: systems and elements – Compound lens system – Microscope
Patent
1997-03-20
1998-07-14
Nguyen, Thong
Optical: systems and elements
Compound lens system
Microscope
359393, 422 58, G02B 2126, G01N 3352
Patent
active
057813370
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND
The invention relates to an object holder for thin slides.
When a microscope is being used, slides produced from glass are used as support for the various objects to be investigated. The objects are moved under the microscope via the slide or the object holder, in order to bring the various object positions into the optical viewing axis. Special requirements are to be made of the slides when the latter are used in conjunction with the so-called inverse microscopes. In such microscopes, the object to be investigated lies on the slide. The microscope objective is arranged below the slide, with the result that the object is imaged through the slide, which is produced from glass. The optical quality of this image is, of course, largely dependent on the quality of the slide. For this reason, the slides must be produced to be completely transparent and extremely thin. Known slides have a thickness of only approximately 0.17 mm.
It becomes clear from these measures that such slides can no longer be fixed with the conventional object holders. With these holders, it is customary for the slide to be clamped into a frame via its edges and held there.
Since holding via the conventional object holders is excluded, the practice of fixing the thin slide on the microscope stage by means of a modeling clay or the like has been adopted.
However, this type of fixing is very troublesome, particularly when micromanipulators are used, since the space required for working between the condenser arranged above the slide and the slide is limited.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an object holder of as flat a design as possible and which reliably fixes the known thin slides.
This object is achieved according to the invention by means of the following features. The object holder includes a baseplate (8) as well as a lower lying supporting surface (9) as a receptacle for the slide (4). A spring steel (10) is arranged on the baseplate (8), the spring steel (10) having a knife edge (11), this knife edge (11) projecting beyond the baseplate (8) onto the lower lying supporting surface (9). The slide (4) is fixed via a clamp between the knife edge (11) and the supporting surface (9). Further advantageous developments of the invention are described below.
The thin slides are reliably held as a result of the invention. Owing to the flat design, the space between the slide and the condenser or the objective (depending on microscope type) is advantageously constricted only negligibly for the use of micromanipulators.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention is explained in more detail with reference to exemplary embodiments with the aid of the diagrammatic drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows a view of a known object stage in an inverse microscope (prior art);
FIG. 2 shows an exemplary embodiment of the object holder according to the invention with cams oriented towards the baseplate;
FIG. 3 shows the object holder with two webs arranged on the baseplate;
FIG. 4 shows the object holder with one web arranged on the baseplate;
FIG. 5 shows the object holder with a web arranged on the baseplate and two clamps, and
FIGS. 6a-6d show four different embodiments of the spring steel.
DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 (prior art) shows a known design in an inverse microscope, in which the object stage 3 is arranged between a condenser 1 situated thereabove, and a microscope objective 2 situated therebelow, in the optical axis 6 of the microscope. The object stage 3 serves as a support for a slide 4 on which an object (not represented) is arranged. This object is manipulated by means of two micromanipulators 5. It is clear from this representation that the free working distance between the slide 4 and the condenser 1 must be kept as large as possible in order thereby to have available a large working space for the micromanipulators.
FIG. 2 shows a view of the object holder 7 according to the invention, having a baseplate 8 and, integrally formed thereon, a lower lying
REFERENCES:
patent: 1882919 (1932-10-01), Robbins
patent: 3848963 (1974-11-01), Peck
patent: 4490025 (1984-12-01), Weber et al.
patent: 4620776 (1986-11-01), Ima
patent: 4717246 (1988-01-01), Fehr et al.
patent: 4812029 (1989-03-01), Onanhian
patent: 5076680 (1991-12-01), Arjarosumpu
patent: 5249077 (1993-09-01), Laronga et al.
patent: 5258163 (1993-11-01), Krause et al.
Leica Mikroskopie und Systeme GmbH
Nguyen Thong
LandOfFree
Object holder for thin slides does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Object holder for thin slides, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Object holder for thin slides will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1888252