Patent ID: 7312922

Claim:
A confocal microscope comprising: an independent disk unit, which includes: a rotary disk, having many confocal openings, which is located at a position conjugate with a sample surface and is rotated to scan a specimen, a rotary drive portion, which rotates the rotary disk, a holding member, which holds the rotary disk and the rotary drive portion, a drive portion, which is operable to insert the rotary disk into and to remove the rotary disk from an optical axis of the confocal microscope, and a disk replacement mechanism, via which the rotary disk is coupled with the rotary drive portion, such that the rotary disk is removable from the rotary drive portion; an illumination optical system, which applies illumination light to a sample through the confocal openings of the rotary disk; an image formation optical system, which focuses the light from the sample through the confocal openings of the rotary disk; and an imaging device, which images a confocal image formed by the image formation optical system.