Optical element alignment and retention for optical instruments

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9645345-B2
Application number	US-201514813890-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 30, 2015
Priority date	Jul 30, 2015
Publication date	May 9, 2017
Grant date	May 9, 2017

Abstract

An optical element holder includes receptacles for retaining optical elements, and is configured to move a selected optical element into an optical path whereby a light beam passes through the selected optical element. The optical element holder is configured to retain the optical elements in a manner that mitigates or avoids misalignment of the optical elements, thereby mitigating or avoiding unwanted deviations in the path of the light beam. The optical element holder may be part of a microscope or other optical instrument.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An optical element holder for an optical instrument, the optical element holder comprising:
a body comprising an optical input side, an optical output side, a thickness along a longitudinal axis between the optical input side and the optical output side, and a plurality of receptacles configured to retain respective optical elements and generally arranged in a transverse plane orthogonal to the longitudinal axis, wherein each receptacle is open to the optical input side and to the optical output side to define an optical path through the body parallel to the longitudinal axis; and
a plurality of pusher components extending from the body, each pusher component comprising a spring member and at least one contact element extending from or separate from the spring member and having a contact surface positioned to be biased by the spring member toward at least one of the receptacles and into contact with an optical element retained in the receptacle, a contact element extending from or separate from the spring member, and the contact element comprises the contact surface,
wherein each pusher component is configured to apply a biasing force against at least one optical element retained in a respective one of the receptacles to retain the at least one optical element in an aligned position at which the at least one optical element is parallel to the transverse plane.

2. The optical element holder of claim 1 , wherein the body comprises a plurality of receptacle surfaces, each receptacle is defined by at least one of the receptacle surfaces, and each pusher component is configured to apply the biasing force such that the at least one optical element in the aligned position is biased into contact with at least one of the receptacle surfaces.

3. The optical element holder of claim 2 , wherein the at least one receptacle surface with which the at least one optical element is biased into contact comprises a transverse receptacle surface generally parallel to the transverse plane.

4. The optical element holder of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of receptacle surfaces comprises a transverse receptacle surface generally parallel to the transverse plane, and each pusher component is configured to apply the biasing force such that the at least one optical element in the aligned position is biased into contact with the transverse receptacle surface.

5. The optical element holder of claim 1 , wherein the body comprises a plurality of cornering features, at least one cornering feature is positioned at each receptacle, and each pusher component is configured to apply the biasing force such that the at least one optical element in the aligned position is biased into contact with the at least one cornering feature.

6. The optical element holder of claim 1 , wherein the body is rotatable about the longitudinal axis, and the receptacles are positioned at a radial distance from the longitudinal axis and are circumferentially spaced from each other; and wherein the spring members extend in radial directions away from the longitudinal axis and between adjacent receptacles.

7. The optical element holder of claim 1 , wherein each pusher component is configured to apply the biasing force at an angle to the longitudinal axis and to the transverse plane.

8. The optical element holder of claim 1 , wherein the spring member is a planar structure comprising an elongated dimension and is deflectable in a direction generally orthogonal to the elongated dimension.

9. The optical element holder of claim 1 , wherein the spring members extend in radial directions away from the longitudinal axis.

10. The optical element holder of claim 1 , wherein:
each spring member comprises at least a first arm and a second arm;
at least one contact surface extends from each of the first arm and the second arm;
the first arm is positioned to bias the at least one contact surface extending therefrom toward a first one of the receptacles; and
the second arm is positioned to bias the at least one contact surface extending therefrom toward a second one of the receptacles adjacent to the first receptacle.

11. The optical element holder of claim 1 , wherein each pusher component comprises a single contact surface positioned to be biased by the spring member toward one of the receptacles.

12. The optical element holder of claim 1 , wherein each pusher component comprises at least two separate contact surfaces.

13. The optical element holder of claim 12 , wherein the at least two separate contact surfaces are positioned to be biased by the spring member toward at least two respective receptacles.

14. The optical element holder of claim 1 , wherein at least one contact surface of each pusher component comprises at least two portions positioned to be biased by the spring member toward at least two respective receptacles.

15. An optical instrument, comprising:
a light detector;
optics configured for establishing an optical path to the light detector; and
the optical element holder of claim 1 , wherein the optical element holder is configured for selectively moving each of the receptacles into the optical path.

16. The optical instrument of claim 15 , further comprising a sample stage for supporting a sample, wherein the optics comprise a light source, the optical path comprises an excitation light path directed from the light source to the sample stage, and the optical element holder is configured for selectively moving each of the receptacles into the excitation light path.

17. The optical instrument of claim 15 , further comprising a sample stage for supporting a sample, wherein the optical path comprises an emission light path directed from the sample stage to the light detector, and the optical element holder is configured for selectively moving each of the receptacles into the emission light path.

Assignees

• Molecular Devices Llc

Inventors

• Lee Lawrence

Classifications

• G02B21/361

  Optical details, e.g. image relay to the camera or image sensor (G02B21/364 takes precedence; illumination details G02B21/06 and subgroups) · CPC title

• G02B26/008

  in the form of devices for effecting sequential colour changes, e.g. colour wheels · CPC title

• G02B21/16

  adapted for ultraviolet illumination {; Fluorescence microscopes (G02B21/0076 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• G02B7/006 Primary

  Filter holders · CPC title

• G02B7/003

  Alignment of optical elements (G02B7/001, G02B7/002 take precedence; for mirrors G02B7/1822) · CPC title