Optical waveguides – With optical coupler – Switch
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-30
2003-01-07
Ullah, Akm E. (Department: 2874)
Optical waveguides
With optical coupler
Switch
C385S147000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06504964
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Applications No. 11-247911, Sep. 1, 1999; and No. 2000-253926, Aug. 24, 2000, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an optical member switching apparatus for selecting a desired one of a plurality of optical members in correspondence with the object to be observed, and aligning the selected optical member on an observation optical path in an optical apparatus such as a microscope.
Optical member switching apparatuses include an object lens switching apparatus, i.e., a so-called revolver, which selects an objective lens with a desired magnification in correspondence with the object to be observed, and aligns the selected lens on the observation optical path, a cube switching apparatus which locates a plurality of cubes (filter blocks) at a branch point between the observation optical path and illumination optical path in correspondence with the characteristics of a fluorescence reagent in epi-fluorescence observation, and the like. Conventionally, in an apparatus of this type, rotation of a revolver is stopped by providing a mechanical engaging mechanism between movable and stationary portions of the revolver. The engaging mechanism mechanically engages the movable and stationary portions of the revolver every time the optical axis of each objective lens attached to the revolver reaches a position where it matches the observation optical axis of an optical apparatus such as a microscope or the like, thus aligning and holding the lens.
As a first example of such optical member switching apparatuses, a technique disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 5-281457 is known (prior art 1). This objective lens switching apparatus has a revolver
102
to which a plurality of objective lenses
101
are attached, a motor
103
for rotating and braking the revolver
102
, and a transmission mechanism
104
for transmitting the rotation of the motor
103
to the revolver
102
, as shown in
FIG. 1. A
mark plate
105
which has two index portions that give the deceleration and stop timings of the motor
103
is provided to the rotation shaft of the motor
103
or transmission mechanism
104
, and a reflection sensor
106
and transmission sensor
107
corresponding to the two indices are provided to an apparatus stationary portion
109
. A click ball
108
is fixed to the upper surface on the outer periphery of the revolver
102
, and a desired objective lens
101
is aligned to an observation optical axis m when the click ball
108
engages with a distal end hole (not shown) of a leaf spring
111
fixed to a stationary member
110
in which the revolver
102
pivotally fits.
The motor
103
begins to decelerate when the desired objective lens
101
has reached a given position before the observation optical axis m. After the motor
103
has sufficiently been decelerated, it is stopped when the lens
101
has reached a position near the position of the observation optical axis m. At this time, the reflection sensor
106
detects a reflection pattern of the mark plate
105
before the click ball
108
falls within the engaging range of the distal end hole (not shown) of the leaf spring
111
biased by an elastic force, and an electronic control circuit sufficiently decelerates the rotation of the motor
103
in response to this detection signal. When the click ball
108
falls within the engaging range of the leaf spring
111
, the transmission sensor
107
detects a notched portion of the mark plate
105
, and the electronic control circuit completely stops the motor
103
in response to this detection signal. As a result, the click ball
108
fits in the engaging range of the distal end hole of the leaf spring
111
, and the desired objective lens
101
is aligned to the observation optical axis m. In this way, the objective lens can be accurately and quickly aligned to the optical axis of the optical apparatus.
As a second example of the optical member switching apparatus, a technique disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 7-311343 is known (prior art 2). This objective lens switching apparatus has a revolver
112
for holding an objective lens (not shown), a motor
113
for rotating and braking the revolver
112
, an alignment portion
114
for mechanically stopping the revolver
112
decelerated by braking the motor
113
at a predetermined position, and a constant amount rotation detector
116
for detecting a predetermined amount of rotation of the revolver
112
, as shown in
FIGS. 2 and 3
. The revolver control circuit
115
begins to brake the motor
113
a pre-set delay time after it receives the detection result from the constant amount rotation detector
116
.
The braking timing of the motor
113
for aligning a desired objective lens to the observation optical axis is adjusted by an electrical means. As the detection means
116
that detects a predetermined amount of rotation after the revolver
112
begins to rotate, for example, a photointerrupter
117
and light-shielding plate
118
are provided, and the photointerrupter
117
detects a notch
118
a
of the light-shielding plate
118
, thus generating a detection output. The revolver control circuit
115
generates a delay output the pre-set delay time after it receives the detection output, and brakes the motor
113
at that timing. Since adjustment for accurately aligning a desired objective lens can be done by electrical delay time adjustment, the adjustment process can be facilitated.
Furthermore, as a third example of the optical member switching apparatus, a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2,539,903 (Leica) is known (prior art 3). This objective lens switching apparatus has a motor driving device
122
for rotating a revolver, a code device
123
for detecting the rotation position of the revolver, a selection means
124
for pre-selecting a revolver hole as a target position, a control circuit
125
for controlling rotation of the motor driving device
122
, and an engaging means (not shown) for fixing the selected revolver hole at the target position, as shown in FIG.
4
. Deceleration marks
128
which are used to begin to brake the revolver and correspond in number to that of objective lenses are formed on a code disk
127
of the code device
123
, and the rotational speed of the motor driving device
122
is decreased by collaboration of the deceleration marks
128
and a sensor
129
before the revolver reaches the target position, thus accurately and quickly aligning a desired objective lens to the target position.
These prior arts suffer the following problems. That is, in any prior art mentioned above, since the way objective lenses are attached (the number, types, and attachment positions of lenses) varies depending on apparatus users, and the load on the motor that rotates the revolver changes, it is difficult to attain optimal stop control of the motor.
In prior art 1, as shown in
FIG. 1
, the positional relationship between the reflection sensor
106
and the reflection pattern of the mark plate
105
, and that between the transmission sensor
107
and the notch of the mark plate
105
are accurately adjusted in assembly, and are optimized to allow successful engagement between the click ball
108
and the leaf spring
111
. However, in this prior art, since the mark plate
105
having two indices that give the deceleration and stop timings of the motor
103
are provided not to the revolver
1102
but to the rotation shaft of the motor
103
or transmission mechanism
104
, if clattering (backlash) of the transmission mechanism
104
is large or varies in units of objective lens switching apparatuses, it is hard to adjust the positional relationships between the sensors
106
and
107
and the mark plate
105
.
Also, since both the reflection sensor
106
and transmission sensor
107
must be accurately adjusted, a long adjustment time is required. Fu
Frishauf Holtz Goodman & Chick P.C.
Olympus Optical Co,. Ltd.
Ullah Akm E.
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