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US 7,313,993 B2Granted
Feeding mechanism for a microtome
AssigneeLeica Microsystems Nussloch GmbH
InventorKlaus Foerderer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A feed device (1) for a microtome, in particular for a cryostat microtome, for setting the cut thickness of the specimen (2) to be sectioned, is described. In order to set the cut thickness, either the cutting knife or the specimen holder (3) is mounted on a slide (8) in a slide guide (4) and is connected non-positively to a drive motor (5). The drive motor (5) is connected either to an eccentric cam (6) or to a helical cam (7), and the nonpositive connection between the motor (5) and the slide is accomplished via the eccentric cam (6) or the helical cam (7).
Claims7
A cryostat microtome comprising:
- a stationary microtome part;
- a microtome knife;
- a slide guide defining a linear travel path toward and away from said microtome knife to adjust thickness of cut;
- a slide element guided by said slide guide for movement relative to said slide guide along said linear travel path;
- a specimen holder mounted on said slide element for holding a specimen to be cut by said microtome knife;
- a drive motor;
- a cam driven by said drive motor and engaged by said slide element, wherein said slide element includes a roller arranged to engage an outer periphery of said cam;
- and
- at least one spring having a first end connected to said stationary microtome part and a second end connected to said slide element, said at least one spring acting to bias said slide element toward engagement with said cam to maintain a non-positive connection between said slide element and said cam;
- wherein said cam is located between said slide element and a location where said at least one spring is connected to said stationary microtome part.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.