JP4187977B2 - Microscope equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a microscope apparatus suitable for illuminating and observing an object to be measured, in particular, an end face portion of a ferrule as a fiber connecting jig.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a microscope apparatus that irradiates illumination light onto an end face portion of a measurement target object and observes the measurement target object is known. As the object to be measured, for example, there is a ferrule. This ferrule has a function as a fiber connection jig for interconnecting optical fibers.
[0003]
FIG. 8 shows a state where optical fibers are interconnected using the ferrule. In FIG. 8, 1 is a connecting tube, 2 and 3 are ferrules, and 4 and 5 are optical fibers. The ferrules 2 and 3 are formed with small-diameter insertion holes 2a and 3a through which the optical fibers 4 and 5 pass. The center O1 of the insertion holes 2a and 3a must coincide with the center O2 of the circle that describes the outer peripheral surfaces 2b and 3b of the ferrules 2 and 3.
[0004]
This is because when the optical fibers 4 and 5 are positioned and connected with reference to the outer peripheral surfaces 2b and 3b of the ferrules 2 and 3, the center O1 of the insertion hole 2a and the center O2 of the circle describing the outer peripheral surfaces 2b and 3b are determined. 9, when the end faces 4a and 5a of the optical fibers 4 and 5 are overlapped and connected as shown in FIG. 9, the end faces of the optical fibers 4 and 5 are overlapped with each other. This is because a light quantity propagation loss occurs. In FIG. 9, the shaded portion indicates the light amount loss portion.
[0005]
Therefore, in the ferrule manufacturing / inspection process, observation whether or not the center O1 of the insertion holes 2a and 3a formed in the ferrules 2 and 3 is eccentric with respect to the center O2 of the circle that describes the outer peripheral surfaces 2b and 3b, Measuring.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional microscope apparatus, illumination light is irradiated from the optical axis direction of the objective lens of the microscope barrel section to illuminate the end surfaces 2c and 3c of the ferrules 2 and 3, or the optical axis of the objective lens of the microscope barrel section Since the end surfaces 2c and 3c are illuminated by illuminating light from an oblique direction, the end surfaces of the ferrules 2 and 3 are difficult to observe with appropriate brightness and appropriate contrast. , 3 has a problem that it is difficult to accurately measure the contour shapes of the outer peripheral surfaces 2b and 3b and the insertion holes 2a and 3a.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its object is end face portion of the proper brightness of the object to be measured, can be illuminated with proper contrast, the contour of the end face of the object to be measured There is a need to provide a microscope apparatus that can accurately measure.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The microscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a tapered surface is formed between an outer peripheral surface and an end surface, and a through hole penetrating the end surface is formed at the center thereof, and a ring-shaped tapered surface is formed on the peripheral wall of the through hole. An annular holding member that is attached to an objective lens barrel that includes an observation measurement optical system that observes and measures an image of the end surface portion of the measurement target object facing the end surface portion of the measurement target object formed with annular holding member, said surrounds the object to be measured from the periphery and the observation measurement optical system of the optical axis illumination directly the tapered surface from a direction substantially orthogonal to the optical axis is arranged on the circumference around the A plurality of light-emitting illumination light sources, and a ring-shape that is formed in a ring shape on the upper surface side of the annular holding member and reflects a part of the illumination light directed upward of the light-emitting illumination light source toward the end surface located below and a reflective surface, the annular retaining member is the Wherein the reflected light from the strip-shaped tapered surface is vertically movable in association with the vertical movement of the objective lens barrel portion to be incident on the observation measurement optical system.
The microscope apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the annular holding member has an annular inner peripheral wall and an annular outer peripheral wall, each light emitting illumination light source is disposed on the annular inner peripheral wall, and the annular inner peripheral wall and the annular outer peripheral wall. An annular air chamber into which cooling air for cooling the heat generated by each of the illumination light sources is introduced is formed.
The microscope apparatus according to claim 3 is characterized in that each of the light emitting illumination light sources can be selectively turned on and off.
The microscope apparatus according to claim 4 is characterized in that each of the light emitting illumination light sources can be selectively turned on and off in units of one block.
[0015]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an illumination device used in a tool microscope apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, 10 is a table, 11 is an illumination device, and 12 is an objective lens barrel of the tool microscope apparatus. A holder 14 that holds a ferrule 13 as an object to be measured is fixed to the table 10. The objective lens barrel 12 is provided with an objective lens 15 facing the end face 13a of the ferrule 13 as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. The objective lens 15 constitutes a part of an observation measurement optical system for observing and measuring an image of the end face 13 a of the ferrule 13. The ferrule 13 has a tapered surface 13c between the outer peripheral surface 13b and the end surface 13a. The ferrule 13 is formed with a through hole 13d through which the optical fiber 4 is inserted. A ring-shaped tapered surface 13e exists on the outer periphery of the insertion hole 13d as shown in an enlarged view in FIG.
[0016]
The illumination device 11 has an annular holding member 16 that surrounds the ferrule 13 from the periphery. This annular holding member 16 has an annular inner peripheral wall 17 and an annular outer peripheral wall 18 as shown in FIGS. A large number of light emitting illumination light sources (LEDs) 19 are arranged on the annular inner peripheral wall 17 around the optical axis (optical axis of the objective lens 15) O of the observation measurement optical system.
[0017]
An annular air chamber 20 is formed between the annular inner peripheral wall 17 and the annular outer peripheral wall 18 as shown in FIGS. The annular outer peripheral wall 18 is formed with a pair of attachment ports 22 to which a hose 21 connected to a suction device (not shown) is attached, and a pair of outside air introduction ports 23 for introducing outside air into the annular air chamber 20.
[0018]
The light emitting / illuminating light source 19 is controlled to be turned on / off by the on / off controller 24 shown in FIG. The lighting / extinguishing control device 24 can be configured to turn on / off each light-emitting illumination light source 19 one by one, or one block of a plurality of light-emitting illumination light sources 19 continuous in the circumferential direction of the annular holding member 16. As described above, the light emitting / illuminating light sources 19 can be controlled to be turned on / off in units of one block.
[0019]
Here, the objective lens barrel 12 is provided with a holding arm 25. The annular holding member 16 is supported by the holding arm 25. The annular holding member 16 is moved up and down with respect to the end surface 13 a as the objective lens barrel 12 moves up and down. Here, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, ring-shaped reflecting surfaces 26 and 27 are provided on the upper surface side and the lower surface side of the annular holding member 16.
[0020]
As shown in FIG. 2, the light emitting illumination light source 19 directly illuminates the end surface 13a from a substantially parallel direction around the end surface 13a. In FIG. 2, reference numeral P <b> 1 is an illumination light beam emitted from the light emitting illumination light source 19 and directly illuminating the end surface 13 a portion. Reference numeral P2 denotes an illumination light beam that is emitted upward from the light-emitting illumination light source 19 and is directed toward the annular reflection surface 26 and reflected downward by the annular reflection surface 26 to illuminate the lower end surface 13a. is there. Further, symbol P3 is emitted downward from the light emitting illumination light source 19 and is directed to the annular reflecting surface 27 and reflected upward by the annular reflecting surface 27 to illuminate the upper end face 13a portion from obliquely below. Illumination luminous flux.
[0021]
Here, the ring-shaped reflection surface 26 and the ring-shaped reflection surface 27 are provided on the upper side and the lower side of the ring-shaped holding member 16, but only the ring-shaped reflection surface 26 is formed on the ring-shaped holding member as shown in FIG. 16, the annular holding member 16 is detachably attached to the holding arm 25, and the annular holding member 16 is attached to the holding arm 25 upside down. The light is emitted downward from the light emitting illumination light source 19 and the annular reflecting surface 26 is emitted. It is good also as a structure which reflects upward the illumination light P3 which went to.
[0022]
According to the illuminating device 11, the illumination light P1 that has arrived directly toward the tapered surface 13c is reflected upward and guided to the objective lens 15. Therefore, when the portion of the end surface 13a of the ferrule 13 is observed, A tapered surface image 13c ′ corresponding to the tapered surface 13c is observed brightest as shown in FIG. The illumination light beam P2 reflected by the annular reflecting surface 26 enters the end surface 13a with a small inclination angle with respect to the end surface 13a, and is hardly reflected toward the objective lens 15. Therefore, the end surface image 13a ′ corresponding to the end surface 13a is tapered. It is observed darker than the tapered surface image 13c ′ corresponding to the surface 13c. Since the reflected light from the inside of the insertion hole 13d hardly reaches the objective lens 15, the hole image 13d ′ corresponding to the insertion hole 13d is observed dark, and the annular taper surface 13e on the outer periphery of the insertion hole 13d is observed. Since the illumination light flux P2 reflected by the annular reflecting surface 26 is illuminated and a part thereof is incident on the objective lens 15, it is brighter than the end surface image 13a ′ of the end surface 13a and from the tapered surface image 13c ′ of the tapered surface 13c. Is also observed as a dark annular image 13e '.
[0023]
A part of the light beam forming the image of the ferrule 13 passes through the observation measurement optical system, and a part thereof is guided to an eyepiece lens (not shown), and the remaining part is guided to the image sensor 28. An image of the part is formed.
[0024]
The image of the image sensor 28 is converted from an end face image into a video signal. The video signal is input to the image processing / arithmetic processing circuit 29, and the end face image is stored in the frame memory 30, and the end face image is displayed on the screen 31 a of the monitor device 31.
[0025]
The luminance level K of the scanning line N passing through the center of the image of the end face portion is as shown in FIG. 6, and therefore, from the rise of the luminance level K1 corresponding to the tapered surface 13c using the image processing / arithmetic processing circuit 29. The center position O2 is obtained by dividing the distance L1 until the falling of the luminance level K2 corresponding to the tapered surface 13c by 2, and the luminance level K4 corresponding to the tapered surface 13e from the falling of the luminance level K3 corresponding to the tapered surface 13e. The center position O1 is obtained by dividing the distance L2 until the rise of 2 by 2, and the difference between these center positions O1 and O2 is obtained to obtain the eccentric amount ΔW of the center O1 of the insertion hole 13d with respect to the center O2 of the outer peripheral surface 13b. be able to.
[0026]
【The invention's effect】
Since the present invention is constituted as described above, end face portion proper brightness of the object to be measured, can be illuminated with proper contrast, the effect of the contour shape of the end surface portion of the object to be measured can be accurately measured There is.
In particular, an object to be measured in which a tapered surface is formed between the outer peripheral surface and the end surface, and a through hole penetrating the end surface is formed at the center, and an annular taper surface is formed on the peripheral wall of the through hole. It is possible to accurately measure the shape of the ring-shaped tapered surface and the shape of the through hole.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a state in which an illumination device is attached to a microscope apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing an internal configuration of the illumination device shown in FIG.
3 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of an end surface portion of the ferrule shown in FIG. 2. FIG.
4 is a plan view of the annular holding member shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the annular holding member shown in FIG.
6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the relationship between the image of the end face portion of the ferrule illuminated by the illumination device shown in FIG. 2 and the luminance level thereof. FIG.
7 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view showing another configuration example of the illumination device shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state in which optical fibers are connected to each other using a ferrule.
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating the reason why a light amount loss occurs when the insertion hole formed in the ferrule is eccentric.
[Explanation of symbols]
13 Ferrule (object to be measured)
13a End face (surface to be measured)
16 annular holding member 19 light-emitting illumination light source 26 annular reflection surface O optical axis P2 illumination light

Claims (4)

An end surface of the object to be measured, in which a tapered surface is formed between the outer peripheral surface and the end surface, and a through hole penetrating the end surface is formed at the center, and a ring-shaped tapered surface is formed on the peripheral wall of the through hole. An annular holding member that is attached to an objective lens barrel portion that includes an observation measurement optical system that observes and measures an image of an end face portion of the measurement target object facing the portion ;
Annular holding member, said surrounds the object to be measured from the periphery and the observation measurement optical system of the optical axis illumination directly the tapered surface from a direction substantially orthogonal to the optical axis is arranged on the circumference around the A plurality of light-emitting illumination light sources, and a ring-shape that is formed in a ring shape on the upper surface side of the annular holding member and reflects a part of the illumination light directed upward of the light-emitting illumination light source toward the end surface located below The annular holding member is movable up and down with the vertical movement of the objective lens barrel so that the reflected light from the annular taper surface enters the observation and measurement optical system. A microscope apparatus characterized by that . The annular holding member has an annular inner peripheral wall and an annular outer peripheral wall, each light emitting illumination light source is disposed on the annular inner peripheral wall, and each of the illumination light sources is generated between the annular inner peripheral wall and the annular outer peripheral wall. The microscope apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein an annular air chamber into which cooling air for cooling the heat to be introduced is introduced. 3. The microscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the light emitting illumination light sources can be selectively turned on and off. The microscope apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein each of the light emitting illumination light sources can be selectively turned on and off in units of one block.

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