4
COMPONENTS OF THE MICROSCOPE
ARM
– the vertical column (attached to the base) which supports the
stage, and contains the coarse and fine adjusting knobs and mechanism.
BASE
– the housing and platform of the instrument to which the arm is
attached. The base stands on rubber feet and contains the illuminator
assembly.
COARSE FOCUS
– the larger, outside knob of the focus control which
facilitates rapid and heavy movement of the focusing mechanism. In order
to prevent gear damage, the focus control is equipped with an upper limit
stopper that protects the high magnification objectives and slides.
COAXIAL CONTROLS
– the focusing mechanism moves the stage up
and down to bring the specimen
into focus. The coaxial focusing system
combines both the coarse and fine focus into one knob located on both
sides of the microscope. The control is designed for a continuous
operation over the range of the stage movement. The system is also
furnished with a tensio
n control to prevent “stage drift”.
CONDENSER
– the function of the condenser is to provide full
illumination to the specimen plane and to enhance the resolution and
contrast of the object being viewed. The standard condenser of the M10D
Series has a numerical aperture of 1.25 with filter carrier and iris
diaphragm. It is mounted in a sub
–stage focusing assembly that can be
raised or lowered for precise light control.
DIOPTER ADJUSTMENT
– located on the left eyepiece of the binocular
head and is designed to help compensate the difference between the
user’s eyes.
EYEPIECES
– the upper optical element that further magnifies the
primary image of the specimen and brings the light rays in focus at the
eyepoint.
FINE FOCUS
– the smaller inner knobs of the focus control which allows
for slow and
subtle focusing movement to bring the specimen into sharp
focus.
HEAD
– the upper portion of the microscope
which contains the refracting
prisms and the eyepiece tubes which hold the eyepieces.
ILLUMINATION
– the built-in light source which provides the optical
system with light. The M10D Series uses a variable intensity 3 volt Light
Emitting Diode (LED).
