Patent ID: 7327515

Claim:
A slide feeding unit for a microscope, comprising: a magazine for receiving slides; said magazine including: a base plate; two end walls; a side wall; an open side; a toothed rack secured externally to said side wall and being perpendicular to said base plate; and slide guiding elements oriented perpendicularly to said open side; a magazine moving mechanism including: a trough for receiving said magazine in a fitting relationship with said base plate and said end walls; said trough having opposite side plates, with one of said side plates being provided with openings; a first shaft disposed externally of one of the side plates, and extending therealong and parallel thereto; first drive means for rotating said first shaft; feeding gears rotatably supported in respective said openings of said side plate and being adapted to mesh with said toothed rack for advancing said magazine in a direction of advance; said first shaft including first driving worm gears adapted to mesh with said feeding gears; a pair of shafts rotatably supported by said trough and extending along said side plates respectively; second drive means for rotating said pair of shafts; lifting gears rotatably held in said side plates and having inner faces substantially coplanar with an inner surface of said side plates; each lifting gear having two pins arranged at opposite ends of the lifting gear diameter and oriented perpendicularly to said inner face of the respective lifting gear; and second driving worm gears rotated by said pair of shafts and meshing with said lifting gears; and a slide feeding device traversing said trough and including: a robot arm displaceable perpendicularly to said direction of advance of said magazine for removing a slide from said magazine; and third drive means for moving said robot arm.