Combined bright field-dark field incident light illumination apparatus
First Claim
1. A combined bright field-dark field incident light illumination apparatus suitable for microscope instruments having an object plane, comprising:
- means, including a light source, for producing an illuminating beam including a bright field ray bundle and a generally annular dark field ray bundle, said illuminating beam having a uniformly illuminated area at a point along its axis;
means for selectively suppressing the bright field ray bundle; and
means for projecting the uniformly illuminated area into the object plane via at least one intermediate image formed in the dark field ray bundle, said projecting means comprising at least three annular optical elements positioned in the dark field ray bundle.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A combined bright field-dark field incident light apparatus 10 for a microscope instrument is described, in which in the dark field illumination the plane of the field diaphragm LF is projected into the object plane 25 via at least one intermediate image LF'"'"'. This comprises providing in the beam path at least three annular optical elements (19, 28, 29), arranged so that illuminating rays incident from a skew direction are also projected into the object plane 25. The form of the annular optical elements 19, 27 allows them to be assigned different optical properties at the same time.
35 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A combined bright field-dark field incident light illumination apparatus suitable for microscope instruments having an object plane, comprising:
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means, including a light source, for producing an illuminating beam including a bright field ray bundle and a generally annular dark field ray bundle, said illuminating beam having a uniformly illuminated area at a point along its axis; means for selectively suppressing the bright field ray bundle; and means for projecting the uniformly illuminated area into the object plane via at least one intermediate image formed in the dark field ray bundle, said projecting means comprising at least three annular optical elements positioned in the dark field ray bundle. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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- 2. An apparatus as claimed in claim wherein said uniformly illuminated area comprises the plane of a field diaphragm.
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17. A combined bright field-dark field incident light illumination apparatus suitable for microscope instruments having an object plane, comprising:
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means, including a light source, for producing an illuminating beam including a bright field ray bundle and a generally annular dark field ray bundle, said illuminating beam having a uniformly illuminated area at a point along its axis; means for selectively suppressing the bright field ray bundle; means for projecting the uniformly illuminated area into the object plane via at least one intermediate image, said projecting means comprising at least three annular optical elements positioned in the dark field ray bundle; and wherein a number of the annular optical elements equal to at least one comprises a lens drum having individual curved areas arranged side by side. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A combined bright field-dark field incident light illumination apparatus suitable for microscope instruments having an object plane, comprising:
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means, including a light source, for producing an illuminating beam including a bright field ray bundle and a generally annular dark field ray bundle, said illuminating beam having a uniformly illuminated area at a point along its axis; means for selectively suppressing the bright field ray bundle; means for projecting the uniformly illuminated area into the object plane via at least one intermediate image, said projecting means comprising at least three annular optical elements positioned in the dark field ray bundle; and wherein at least two annular optical elements have an identification marker in the form of a protrusion.
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Specification