Microtome blade guard with integrated blade alignment device
AssigneeSakura Finetek U.S.A., Inc.
InventorLawrence H. Dirks
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A microtome blade guard including a first arm operable to be coupled to a first side of a cutting mechanism of a microtome; a second arm operable to be coupled to a second side of a cutting mechanism; a lateral support member disposed between the first arm and the second arm; and a staff coupled to the lateral support member and operable to extend therefrom to engage a blade positioned in the blade slot. A microtome including a blade guard and a method including placing a blade in a blade slot of a blade block of a microtome; engaging the blade with a staff coupled to a blade guard that is coupled to the blade block; and moving the blade with the staff.
Claims16
A microtome blade guard comprising:
- a first arm operable to be coupled to a first side of a cutting mechanism of a microtome;
- a second arm operable to be coupled to a second side of a cutting mechanism;
- a lateral support member disposed between the first arm and the second arm such that when the blade guard is coupled to a cutting mechanism, the lateral support member is operable to be positioned adjacent a blade slot of the cutting mechanism;
- and
- a staff comprising a head and an end, a distance between the head and the end defining a length coupled to the lateral support member between the first arm and the second arm and oriented with a length of the staff perpendicular to a length of the lateral support, the staff comprising a retracted position where the head of the staff is separated from the lateral support member by a first distance and being operable to be moved in a length direction from the retracted position to an engagement position where the head of the staff is separated from the lateral support member by a second distance that is less than the first distance by an application of a force to the head of the staff, wherein the staff is biased to the retracted position.
A microtome comprising:
- a blade block comprising a first side and an opposite second side and defining a blade slot between the first side and the second side that is operable to support a blade;
- a sample holder that is operable to hold a sample to be sliced by the blade;
- a drive system coupled to one of the blade block and the sample holder to drive a vertical movement of the one of the blade block and the sample holder relative to the other;
- and
- a blade guard comprising a first arm pivotally coupled to the first side of the blade block and a second arm pivotally coupled to the second side of the blade block and a lateral support member disposed between the first arm and the second arm and positioned such that the first side of the blade block is between the lateral support member and the second side of the blade block, the blade guard comprising a staff comprising a head and an end, a distance between the head and the end defining a length, wherein the staff is coupled to the lateral support member between the first arm and the second arm, the staff comprising a retracted position where the head of the staff is separated from the lateral support member by a first distance and being operable to be moved from the retracted position toward the blade slot to an engagement position where the head of the staff is separated from the lateral support member by a second distance that is less than the first distance by an application of a force to the head of the staff to engage a blade positioned in the blade slot at a point between the first side of the blade block and the second side of the blade block, wherein the staff is biased to the retracted position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.