Hitachi High-Tech Science Corporation

Seiko Instruments Inc

Sii Nanotechnology Inc.

Hirohito Fujiwara

Shinya Nishimura

Kentaro Yamada

Tatsuya Miyatani

Tetsumasa Ito

Koji Fujimoto

Kengo Kobayashi

Toshihiko Nakamura

Nobuaki Okubo

Ryokuhei Yamazaki

Disclosed is an apparatus for acquiring polarized images attached to a thermal analysis apparatus including a pair of sample containers housing a measurement sample and a reference sample, respectively, and a heating furnace, configured to observe at least the measurement sample through a window or an opening of the heating furnace, and including an attachment section attached to the thermal analysis apparatus, a light source, a polarizer configured to polarize light emitted from the light source, a camera and an analyzer polarize light reflected from the measurement sample or the reference sample to enter the camera after the measurement sample or the reference sample is irradiated via the window or the opening with polarized light transmitted through the polarizer. A first optical path of the polarizer and a second optical path of the analyzer are not parallel, and both the polarizer and the analyzer are rotatable.

Apparatus for acquiring polarized images

Provided is a thermal analyzer, with which a sample can be observed even under a state in which a heat sink is cooled to a room temperature or lower. The thermal analyzer includes: the heat sink, in which a measurement sample container and a reference sample container are placed; a heat sink cover configured to cover the heat sink; a heat sink window provided in the heat sink; a heat sink cover window provided in the heat sink cover; an imaging device configured to image the sample in the heat sink through the heat sink window and the heat sink cover window; a purge gas introduction portion, through which a purge gas is introduced into the heat sink; and a discharge port, through which the purge gas is allowed to flow from one of the heat sink window and the heat sink to a space inside the heat sink cover.

Thermal analyzer

A thermal analyzer is provided with: a furnace tube; a sample holder; a heating furnace; a measurement chamber; and a measurement unit. The heating furnace comprises a fixing section to be fixed to the furnace tube. The furnace tube is configured to be attachable to and detachable from the heating furnace and provided with an engagement portion that is configured to be engaged with the fixing section at a variable position in the radial direction. A gap jig is configured to be detachable from the heating furnace and the furnace tube after inserting the furnace tube into the heating furnace and engaging the engagement portion of the furnace tube with the fixing section while the gap jig is interposed between the heating furnace and the furnace tube to maintain the gap between the heating furnace and the furnace tube in the radial direction to be in the predetermined distance.

An imaging apparatus for a thermal analyzer is configured to image a heated sample inside a thermal analyzer main body section from an observation window provided in the thermal analyzer main body section. The imaging apparatus is provided with: an imaging device that is provided with a lens housing and a main body section; a holding section configured to hold the imaging device to have an orientation in which the lens housing is oriented toward the observation window, and the main body section is positioned on the opposite side of the observation window across the lens housing; and a cooling fan configured to provide airflow inside the holding section. The holding section is provided with a cooling air passage having an intake portion and an exhaust portion. At least a portion of the lens housing is arranged in the cooling air passage to be cooled by the airflow provided by the cooling fan.

Imaging apparatus for thermal analyzer and thermal analyzer including the same

Thermogravimetric analyzer

Provided is a viscoelasticity measuring apparatus in which an undesirable sample shape change such as a buckle caused as a result of thermal expansion of a sample is eliminated so as to prevent a deformation in a displacement detector direction due to the thermal expansion and a bending of the sample between a sample grasping member and a chuck, to thereby improve accuracy of measurement. In the viscoelasticity measuring apparatus, a thin part is provided in a part of an elastic arm for holding the sample so as to be easily deformed by a thermal expansion force of the sample. Thus, an undesirable shape change such as the buckle generated when the sample is expanded thermally is effectively eliminated, and necessary stiffness is maintained with respect to a load of the sample and hence accuracy of measurement is improved.

Viscoelasticity measuring apparatus

A thermal analyzer heats and cools a sample placed inside a furnace for measuring a thermal characteristic of the sample during heating and cooling. The thermal analyzer has a multilayer structure for covering the furnace and its surroundings so as to isolate the furnace and its surroundings from an external environment. The multilayer structure includes a multilayer wall with two layers formed of a material having high thermal conductivity and heat dissipation property. The two layers are spaced apart from one another to provide therebetween an interlayer that contains a substance having a heat capacity substantially equal to a gas contained in the furnace so that heat transfer between the two layers is minimized.

The differential scanning calorimeter includes: a heat sink, which stores a measuring sample and a reference material; a heater, which heats the heat sink; a cooling block, which is separated away from the heat sink, and positioned below the heat sink; a thermal resistor, which is connected between the heat sink and the cooling block, and forms a heat flow path therebetween; a cooling head, which is detachably fitted to the cooling block, and is cooled by an external cooling device; and differential heat flow detectors, which output a temperature difference between the measuring sample and the reference material as a heat-flow-difference signal, in which: the cooling block forms a side wall to fit the bore of the cooling head outward from the joint of the thermal resistance body; the top surface of the cooling head is lower than the joint.

Differential scanning calorimeter

A manufacturing system for producing thin sections of a biological sample embedded in a block. The system includes, a blade holder disposed at a rake angle relative to the block, a mounting plane on which a plurality of cutting blades are mounted, an adsorptive member on the mounting plane that maintains the posture of the cutting blades, a pressing member that presses a selected cutting blade against the mounting plane, a conveyor unit that slides out the cutting blades by sequentially conveying the plurality of cutting blades to feed them one by one on the mounting plane, a transportation unit that moves the block relative to the holder, such that the cutting blade cuts out a thin section from the sample, and a control unit that operates the conveyor unit to exchange the selected cutting blade.

Automatic thin-section manufacturing system

A sectioning instrument fabricates a section having an accurate and uniform thickness to be carried to a next step automatically without deforming a surface of an embedded block and while observing the surface of the embedded block. The sectioning instrument includes a sample base for fixing an embedded block, a cutter for fabricating a section by sectioning the embedded block, a carrier for carrying the section, and a feed mechanism for moving the sample base in a predetermined feed direction. The carrier includes a belt, a direction switching portion provided on an upper side of the cutter, and a rear roller. The belt is inserted to between the cutter and the direction switching portion from a rear side of the cutter, folded back to an upper side by the direction switching portion and is reeled back to the rear side of the cutter by the rear roller substantially in parallel with the feed direction of the feed mechanism in a plane view.

Growing community of inventors

Chiba, Japan

Hirohito Fujiwara