Rotary Microtome HM 355 S
MICROM International GmbH
Robert-Bosch-Str. 49
D- 69190 Walldorf
387841 - English
PART 2
INTRODUCTION
2-1
DESCRIPTION ROTARY MICROTOME HM 355 S
The Rotary Microtome HM 355 S from MICROM International GmbH is a universal heavy duty microtone for
especially sophisticated paraffin and hard sectioning techniques in biology, medicine, industry and research.
The HM 355 S sets new ergonomical standards concerning operation and comfort. The instrument is
equipped with a section waste tray with integrated arm rest. The waste tray is built around and under the
knife carrier for direct collection of section waste.
This model can be equipped with all specimen clamps and knife carriers of the Rotary Microtome series. In
addition, the stereomicroscope or the large field magnifier can be adapted.
The HM 355 S will cut sections in a range from 0,5 µm up to 100 µm. For the protection of knife and
specimen, the instrument retracts the specimen at the end of the cut. If desired, the function <retraction> can
be turned off.
A trimming function with defined steps from 5 µm to 500 µm permits the fine adjustment up to the first cuts
and results in larger section thicknesses when trimming.
The manual rotary movement of the handwheel of the Rotary Microtome HM 355 S is converted into a
vertical movement of the specimen clamping system.
Sectioning is carried out by knives or blades, which must be adjusted and fixed on the knife carrier.
The electronically controlled motor drive with precision tachogenerator guarantees an extremely fast
adjustment to section force variations and constant cutting speed. It also ensures optimal section quality in
each field of application. This results in a constant cutting speed over the entire cutting stroke.
The motorized coarse feed system allows the continuous specimen forward and backward travel with
variable speed settings. This way, specimen and knife edge distance can be adjusted quickly.
The operating panel is placed on the left side of the microtome. It can be removed and used separately, also
on the right side of the instrument. For this, the operating knobs can be removed and installed on the other
side of the operating panel. The touchpad keyboard is clearly arranged for easy and safe operation.
The selected section thickness, trimming thickness, section counter, sum of section thicknesses and
remaining travel to the front end position as well as speed of the cutting movement, the operating mode and
the current date and time are indicated on the display of the operating panel.
The number of the sections made can be shown on the section counter on the display. After each downward
movement of the specimen holder, the number on the section counter increases by 1. The sum of the
sections carried out can also be seen on the display. For this, trimming values and sectioning values are
added up. Section counter and sum of section thicknesses can be reset to zero at any time by means of the
RESET-button.
Moreover, the remaining travel to the front end position can also be shown on the display. The remaining
travel, which is still available for sectioning, is shown in microns. If the specimen holder is in the back end
position, the display shows 28 000 µm. This number decreases, the further the specimen holder is moved
towards the front.
The knife carriers are designed so the knives can be easily clamped in place and adjusted.
For the user's safety, the instrument is equipped with two emergency stop devices.
An electro-mechanical handwheel brake as well as a handwheel handle, which can be pushed in, are
installed for further safety.
The fast freezing unit K-34 allows frozen sectioning with the specimen temperature as low as -45°C.
