Microtome having a motorized feed drive system

A microtome that is capable of automatically aligning the frontal surface of an object to be cut with the cutting plane of the microtome, comprising:

• a cutting knife and an object holder that are movable in a first direction relative to one another, wherein the cutting knife defines a cutting plane;
• a motorized feed drive system for generating a relative movement in the first direction between the cutting knife and the object holder for holding an object, wherein the object holder is adapted for holding an object which is to be cut and which has a frontal surface facing in the first direction;
• a cutting drive system for generating relative movement between the object holder and the cutting knife in the cutting plane, the feed drive system including a control circuit and a pressure-sensitive sensor for determining a relative position between the cutting knife and the object, wherein the sensor comprises a generally planar sensor surface that is at least as large as the frontal surface of the object, and the sensor surface is fixed in the first direction with respect to the cutting plane and is in an orientation that is parallel to the cutting plane, wherein the feed drive system and the cutting drive system are configured to selectively pre-position the object in front of said sensor and to provide relative movement between the object holder and said sensor until a leading edge of said object contacts said sensor, whereby said sensor generates a signal to said control circuit;
• and a motorized device, operatively connected to the control circuit, for adjusting an orientation angle of the object holder relative to the cutting plane in response to signals received from the sensor to automatically align the frontal surface of an object to be cut with the cutting plane of the microtome.