JPH087138B2 - Illumination mechanism for chromatographs - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of use) The present invention relates to an illumination mechanism that indicates the position of a light beam irradiated onto a sample in a thin layer chromatographic scanner or a spectrophotometer.

(Prior Art) A thin-layer chromatographic scanner scans a light beam emitted on a thin-layer plate to detect spots of a sample developed on the thin-layer plate. In this case, there is a case where the lid of the sample chamber is opened to check which position on the thin layer plate the light beam irradiates. However, when irradiating with a wavelength in the ultraviolet range, the position of the light flux on the thin plate cannot be seen,
I cannot visually check the scanning position.

Therefore, an illumination mechanism is provided so that the light flux position can be seen with the eyes.

In the illumination mechanism of the conventional thin-layer chromatographic scanner, the optical path from the tungsten lamp for the illumination mechanism is merged after the exit slit of the spectroscope, and the light from the tungsten lamp is irradiated onto the thin-layer plate.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In a conventional mechanism in which a light source and an optical system are separately provided for an illumination mechanism, an extra mechanism is required, resulting in high cost.

Since the illumination light flux and the measurement light flux are switched and used, a mechanism for confirming which light flux is used is also required. With such a mechanism,
There is also a problem of light shielding, and the structure becomes more complicated.

Further, since the light source for illumination is provided separately from the light source for measurement, the number of lamps of the light source increases and the replacement frequency when the lamps burn out increases.

An object of the present invention is to provide an illumination mechanism having the same function as a conventional illumination mechanism without using a complicated mechanism.

(Means for Solving the Problems) As shown in FIG. 1, the illumination mechanism of the present invention includes a switch (2) provided on a lid and a measuring spectroscope (6) based on an output signal of the switch (2). ) Wavelength is 0
And a spectroscope wavelength shifting means (4) for shifting to a next wavelength or a preset specific wavelength in the visible range.

(Function) In the present invention, the light source and the optical system for the illumination mechanism are not provided, and when the lid of the sample chamber is opened at the time of checking the irradiation position, the output wavelength of the spectroscope is used for illumination by using the measurement optical system. Switch to the wavelength of.

(Embodiment) FIG. 2 shows an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a thin layer chromatographic scanner.

Reference numeral 8 is a Tengsten lamp, 10 is a deuterium (D ₂ ) lamp, and 12 is a light source switching mirror that selects either the tungsten lamp 8 or the deuterium lamp 10 and makes it enter the spectroscope. Reference numeral 16 is an entrance slit of the spectroscope, 18 is a diffraction grating of the spectroscope, and 14 is a cut filter.The light from the light source selected by the mirror 12 passes through the filter 14 as necessary and is separated from the entrance slit 16. It is incident on the diffraction grating 18 of the vessel.

20 is a collimator mirror of the spectroscope, and 22 is an exit slit of the spectroscope. The light split by the diffraction grating 18 is reflected by the mirror 20 and emitted from the exit slit 22. Exit slit
The slit 22 has slits of a plurality of types, and a slit having an appropriate shape is selected and used according to the purpose.

24 is a concave mirror, 26 is a plane mirror, and 28 is a crystal window plate. The light emitted from the spectroscope is irradiated onto the sample plate 30 from the crystal window plate 28 via the mirrors 24 and 26. Crystal window 28
Then, a part of the incident light is reflected and the photomultiplier tube for monitoring
It is incident on 32, detected, and used as a monitor.
The measurement light enters the sample plate 30, the reflected light from the irradiation point enters the reflection photomultiplier tube 34 and is detected, and the light transmitted through the sample plate 30 enters the transmission photomultiplier tube 36. Then detected.

Reference numeral 38 is a lid of the sample chamber, and a switch 40 that operates in conjunction with the lid 38 is provided. The switch 40 turns on when the lid 38 is closed and turns off when the lid 38 is opened. The output signal of the switch 40 is captured by the control unit 42.

In the spectrometer, the diffraction grating 18 is rotated by the wavelength pulse motor 44. An origin detection unit 46 including a photocoupler is provided on the support of the diffraction grating 18 to detect the origin of rotation of the diffraction grating 18.

In the control unit 42, the CPU 48 is connected to the bus 50, and the ROM 52 and RAM 5
4 and various interfaces via the bus 50 CPU48
It is connected to the.

The ROM 52 stores a program for moving the stage holding the sample plate 30, driving the exit slit 22, calculating the area of the spot detected on the sample plate 30, calculating the peak, and scanning the spectroscope. There is. RAM54
Includes measurement data and various parameters (wavelength scanning range, etc.)
Are stored and used to store spectra and perform data processing.

The switch 40 is connected to the bus 50 via the sample chamber cover I / O interface 56. The wavelength pulse motor 44 is connected to the bus 50 via the wavelength motor I / O interface 58. 60 is an A / D converter that converts measurement data into a digital signal and imports it. 62 is a backup that stores parameters such as measurement conditions when the power is turned off.
RAM, 64 is a key control interface for connecting a keyboard, 66 is a light source control interface for controlling which of the light sources 8 and 10 is turned on, 68 is a clock interface for inputting a clock signal, 70 is a sample plate 30 Is an XY stage interface that controls the XY stage that holds the.

The spectroscope wavelength shifting means 4 is realized by the CPU 48, the ROM 52, and the RAM 54.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

When the lid 38 of the sample chamber is opened, the switch 40 is turned off.
The CPU 48 recognizes that the switch 40 has been turned off (step S1), and the CPU 48 turns on the deuterium lamp 10
In this case, the spectroscope is set so that the output wavelength is 0 nm (0th order light) (switches S2, S3). According to the setting in the CPU 48, the wavelength pulse motor 44 is driven through the interface 58 and the diffraction grating 18 is rotated to set the output wavelength to 0 nm.
To

When the light source turned on in step S2 is the tungsten lamp 8, the illumination wavelength is set to a specific wavelength around 500 nm, which has high visibility in the visible range (step S4). At this time also, the pulse motor 44 is driven via the interface 58, and this time the diffraction grating 18 is rotated so that the output wavelength becomes 500 nm.

Next, when the lid 38 of the sample chamber is closed, the switch 40 is turned on. The CPU 48 recognizes that the switch 40 is turned on, and moves the wavelength of the spectroscope to a predetermined wavelength for measurement input from the keyboard (step S5). After that, the XY stage is moved according to a normal program to scan the sample plate 30.

Although a tungsten lamp and a deuterium lamp are used as the light source in the embodiment, when a mercury lamp is used as the light source, the wavelength for illumination is 0 nm,
Alternatively, the ROM 52 is programmed so as to select either the emission line spectrum wavelength of 546 nm or 577 nm.

The above embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to a thin layer chromatographic scanner, but there are cases where it is desired to confirm the radiation position of the sample also in the spectrophotometer. The present invention can be applied to a spectrophotometer as well.

When the present invention is applied to a spectrophotometer, a zero wavelength (0
Next light), when using a halogen lamp or a tungsten lamp, can be provided with an illumination mode for setting the spectroscope to a wavelength having a high visible sensitivity. Then, it may be possible to input from the keyboard whether or not to use such an illumination mode.

(Advantages of the Invention) In the present invention, the wavelength of the measuring spectroscope is moved to the 0th order light or a preset specific wavelength in the visible range to perform the illumination. Is unnecessary and the cost is reduced.

 In addition, the failure rate is reduced because the structure is simple.

Then, when the lid of the sample chamber is opened, the measurement light irradiating the sample is automatically changed to visible light, so that the irradiation position on the sample can be immediately checked visually.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment. 2 ... Switch, 4 ... Spectroscope wavelength shifting means, 6 ... Spectroscope, 40 ... Switch, 42 ... Control section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A switch interlocking with opening and closing of a lid of a sample chamber,
The output signal of the switch when the lid is opened moves the wavelength of the measuring spectroscope to the 0th order light or a preset specific wavelength in the visible region, and the output of the switch when the lid is closed. An illumination mechanism such as a chromatographic scanner including a spectroscope wavelength shifting means for returning the wavelength of the measurement spectroscope to the measurement wavelength by a signal.