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US 9,541,473 B2Granted
Microtome having a piezoelectric linear actuator
AssigneeLeica Biosystems Nussloch GmbH
InventorRoland Walter
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a microtome (10) for cutting thin sections, including a sample holder (12), a cutting unit (16), and a drive unit (16) for producing a feed movement between the sample holder (12) and the cutting unit (16) for setting the thickness of the sample sections. The drive unit (22) includes a piezoelectric linear actuator (50) for producing the feed movement.
Claims16
A microtome for cutting thin sections, comprising:
- a sample holder (12) for receiving a sample to be microtomed,
- a cutting unit (16) for cutting the sample, and
- a piezoelectric linear actuator (50) for producing a feed movement between the sample holder (12) and the cutting unit (16) for setting the thickness of the sample sections,
- wherein the piezoelectric linear actuator (50) includes a stator (52) and a runner (56) which is connected to the stator (52) via at least one piezoelectric element (54) and is movable relative to the at least one piezoelectric element (54);
- the at least one piezoelectric element (54) is attached to the stator (52);
- and
- the at least one piezoelectric element (54) changes shape when energized such that the runner (56) is linearly moved by contact of the runner (56) with the at least one piezoelectric element (54) relative to the stator (52).
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.