Ernst Leitz Wetzlar Gmbh

Artur Reichel

Winfried Kraft

Kurt Richter

Gerhard Pfeifer

Gunter Holmok

The microtome has a specimen slide moved periodically by a drive shaft, and a blade bracket comprising a blade slide and a blade holder. A threaded spindle serves to advance the blade bracket and thus the blade. The blade is retracted from the specimen after each cutting process, independently of the advance of the blade slide. For this purpose, the blade holder is merely tilted slightly by being raised around an axis, which forms an acute angle with the cutting edge of the blade. The blade holder is raised by a lever arrangement, coupled through a shaft and a pivot bearing with the drive shaft of the specimen slide.

Microtome

A microtome actuable both manually and by a motor, with a single coupling element, whereby rotation of the hand wheel when the motor drive is engaged and thus the risk of injury by the manual grip are excluded. The coupling element is located in the hand wheel and is capable of locking in two positions by means of pulling and rotating, the respective positions establishing the manual or motor drive mode. The drive mode is made readily apparent from the outside by means of symbols. In the hand wheel, an equalizing weight for the object carriage is provided.

Microtome drive

Disclosed is a traversing microtome having a base (10) and a movable carriage (13). A blade holder (12) with a blade (16) is mounted on the base (10), and an object holder (14) is mounted on the carriage (13). To carry out the cutting process, the carriage (13), together with the object holder (14) and the object (15), is moved against the stationary blade (16). Between the guide rails (18,18') of the base (10) and the carriage (13) a bearing gap (30) with a width of a few microns is created by means of air bearing elements (21,21'), and consequently only a minimal force is required to move the slide (13). Between the air bearing elements (21,21'), magnets (22,22') are arranged so that their attracting forces act against the air pressure of the air bearing elements. In this manner, the force needed to arrest the motion of the carriage (13) at any given location of the guide rails (18,18') is extremely low. The carriage (13) cannot be moved when the supply of air is interrupted. The air bearing elements are suspended in the manner of a pendulum and are adjustable in height; the latter is true for the magnets (22,22') also. In view of the air bearings, no lubrication is required for the guide rails (18,18').

Traversing microtome with air bearings

Disclosed is a comparator viewing device for simultaneously viewing objects to be compared, either macroscopically or microscopically, comprising a comparator bridge member, a pair of individual optical viewing members attached to the bridge member, each of the viewing members comprising at least one objective, a binocular tube mounted on the bridge member, the binocular tube including two eyepieces and a beam splitter interposed in a beam path between the objects to be viewed and the eyepieces, and a marking device comprising a light-emitting surface for producing a luminous spot on the objects to be viewed, this marking device being located in the beam path on the side of the beam splitter opposite the objects to be viewed, whereby the same beam path serves for viewing of the objects and also for producing the luminous spot on the objects to be viewed, and the luminous spot is always produced on the location of the object which appears in the center of the field of vision. The viewing device optionally includes a phototube mounted on the bridge member for simultaneously photographing the objects to be viewed.

Comparator macroscope or microscope

Disclosed is a handle adapted for grasping by the hand of an operator for operating a pivotable machine part, comprising a thumb supporting member attached to the machine part for supporting the operator's thumb and a grip part connected to the machine part for gripping by the rest of the fingers of the operator's hand. Also disclosed is a microtome embodying this handle.

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Wetzlar, Germany

Artur Reichel