JP4916160B2 - Endoscope device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an endoscope apparatus that inspects an inspection object with a plurality of types of illumination light.

  Generally, in an endoscope apparatus, a light source device is often provided separately from an endoscope conventionally. Furthermore, a light guide such as an optical fiber is disposed inside the endoscope. The base end of the light guide is connected to the light source device, and the illumination light from the light source device is guided to the distal end of the insertion portion of the endoscope through the light guide. To illuminate the observation site.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-225952 discloses an imaging unit such as a CCD at the tip of an endoscope insertion unit that is inserted into a tube, and a light source unit that includes a plurality of white LEDs in the vicinity of the imaging unit. An endoscopic device for in-tube inspection is proposed that includes an endoscope and a camera control unit that adjusts the amount of light of a plurality of white LEDs of the light source unit and processes an output signal from the imaging unit. .

On the other hand, there is a fluorescent flaw detection as one of industrial nondestructive inspections using the endoscope apparatus for in-tube inspection as described above. This fluorescent flaw detection is an inspection for finding defects such as fine cracks which are difficult to find by visual observation with normal observation light, which are formed on the surface of an inspection object such as an engine blade of an aircraft. Specifically, in fluorescent flaw detection, a fluorescent agent is applied to the surface of the inspection object, and the fluorescent agent that has penetrated into the defective portion of the surface is irradiated with ultraviolet light, thereby being excited by the ultraviolet light from the fluorescent agent. Observe light (fluorescence) and inspect for defects.
JP-A-11-225952

  However, when performing conventional fluorescence flaw detection using an endoscopic device for in-tube inspection, normal light observation images that can grasp the state of the entire inspection object and fluorescence observation that can clearly determine problem areas such as defects It is necessary to capture images separately and display the normal light observation image and the fluorescence observation image separately captured, for example, on a monitor or the like in a spatially synchronized manner. That is, by displaying such a spatially synchronized image made up of the normal light observation image and the fluorescence observation image, it is possible to grasp the situation and position of the problem location such as a defect.

  However, in order to display a spatially synchronized image composed of a normal light observation image and a fluorescence observation image, an image memory for storing each image and a matching processing circuit for performing a matching process for each image are required. The configuration of the endoscope apparatus becomes complicated, and it is necessary to capture the normal light observation image and the fluorescence observation image at different timings. Therefore, the state of the problem part such as a defect and the position of the problem part on the inspection target are real-time. There is a problem that it cannot be inspected.

  Furthermore, in order to obtain a normal light observation image and a fluorescence observation image, a light source device with different wavelength characteristics is required, and not only the inspection process becomes complicated, such as the need to replace the light source device during inspection, but also an expensive operation. There is also a problem that it is necessary to prepare a plurality of light source devices according to wavelength characteristics.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described points, and provides an endoscope apparatus that can easily and reliably inspect the state of a problem location such as a defect and the position of the problem location on an inspection target in real time. The purpose is that.

An endoscope apparatus according to the present invention is an endoscope apparatus that generates observation image data of an inspection object from an observation image picked up by an image pickup unit, and illuminates the inspection object , and includes visible light. For each system when simultaneously illuminating at least the visible light and the invisible light, and at least two systems of LED light source means including a visible LED light source that emits invisible light and an invisible LED light source that emits invisible light. A light amount adjusting unit that independently adjusts the amount of light emitted from the LED light source, adjustment value information indicating an adjustment value that the light amount adjusting unit adjusts for each system of the LED light source, and the observation image data. Display means.

  According to the present invention, there is an effect that the state of a problem part such as a defect and the position of the problem part on the inspection object can be inspected in real time easily and reliably.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 9 relate to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of the endoscope apparatus, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the arrangement of the visible light LED light source and the ultraviolet LED light source of FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a first display example of the monitor for explaining the operation of the endoscope apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a second display example of the monitor for explaining the action of the endoscope apparatus of FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a third display example of the monitor for explaining the operation of the endoscope apparatus of FIG. 1, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a modification of the monitor display of FIG. 4, and FIG. FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a second modification of the endoscope apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 9 is a configuration of a visible light LED light source of FIG. The figure which shows arrangement | positioning of an ultraviolet light LED light source, FIG. 10: is a block diagram which shows the structure of the 3rd modification of the endoscope apparatus of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an endoscope apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is inserted into a tube that reaches an inspection target 3 such as a blade of a jet engine and serves as LED light source means for irradiating the inspection target 3 with illumination light. An endoscope 2 having an imaging unit 8 for imaging the light source unit 5 and the inspection object 3 at the distal end of the insertion unit, light amount adjustment of the light source unit 5 of the endoscope 2 and an output signal from the imaging unit 8 as signal processing The apparatus main body unit 4 is configured.

  The light source unit 5 of the endoscope 2 includes a visible light LED light source 6 that emits visible light and an ultraviolet light source 7 that emits ultraviolet light, and an insertion portion of the endoscope 2 as shown in FIG. Located in the tip.

  The light source unit 5 is not limited to being inserted into the distal end of the insertion section of the endoscope 2 but may be formed integrally with an optical adapter (not shown) that is detachably provided at the distal end of the insertion section of the endoscope 2.

  For example, although not shown, the visible light LED light source 6 is composed of a plurality of visible light LED elements having the same configuration, and the ultraviolet light LED light source 7 is composed of a plurality of ultraviolet light LED elements having the same configuration.

  The apparatus body 4 performs signal processing on an output signal from the imaging unit 8 of the endoscope 2 to generate an endoscope image, and an endoscope image generated by the signal processing unit 18 into, for example, an after-mentioned image. A superimposing unit 19 that superimposes a superimposed image such as an indicator image, and a display unit 20 that displays an endoscopic image in which the superimposed image is superimposed by the superimposing unit 19. The The display unit 20 may be configured separately from the apparatus main body unit 4.

  In addition, the apparatus main body 4 includes a CPU 13 having the memory 14 as a work space. The CPU 13 is controlled by the signal processing unit 18 and outputs a superimposed image such as an indicator image to the superimpose unit 19. Note that a superimposed image such as an indicator image is stored in the memory 14 in advance.

  Furthermore, the apparatus main body unit 4 includes a visible light amount adjusting unit 11 and an ultraviolet light amount adjusting unit 12 that independently adjust the light amounts of the visible light LED light source 6 and the ultraviolet light source 7 of the light source unit 5 of the endoscope 2. is doing. The visible light amount adjusting unit 11 and the ultraviolet light amount adjusting unit 12 correspond to the operation states of the visible light amount adjusting button unit 15, the ultraviolet light amount adjusting button unit 16, and the mode switching button unit 17 provided on the front panel of the apparatus body 4, for example. And controlled by the CPU 13.

  In this embodiment, for example, the CPU 13, the visible light amount adjusting unit 11 and the ultraviolet light amount adjusting unit 12 constitute a light amount adjusting unit, and the visible light amount adjusting button unit 15 and the ultraviolet light amount adjusting button unit 16 constitute an adjustment value setting unit. The

  The visible light amount adjustment button unit 15, the ultraviolet light adjustment button unit 16, and the mode switching button unit 17 are provided on the front panel or the like of the apparatus body 4, but are provided on the proximal end side of the endoscope 2. It may be provided in a gripping portion (not shown) that grips the endoscope 2, or the display unit 20 may have a touch panel function, and each button function may be realized by the touch panel function of the display unit 20. Further, the visible light amount adjustment button unit 15, the ultraviolet light adjustment button unit 16, and the mode switching button unit are not limited to buttons, but can be controlled by a pointing device including a keyboard, a mouse, a joystick, or the like, or a dimming knob including a volume. The 17 button functions may be realized.

  The visible light amount adjustment button unit 15 includes buttons for instructing increase / decrease of the light emission amount of the visible light LED light source 6, and the ultraviolet light amount adjustment button unit 16 includes buttons for instructing increase / decrease of the light emission amount of the ultraviolet light LED light source 7.

  The mode switching button unit 17 includes an object setting button for setting an inspection object, and a mode setting button for setting the control mode of the CPU 13 to the normal observation mode and the fluorescence observation mode. The object setting button is a default setting of the visible light amount adjusting unit 11 and the ultraviolet light amount adjusting unit 12 according to the inspection environment, for example, the inspection object 3 is based on the inspection target such as a jet engine blade, a generator blade, or an automobile engine. Set the adjustment value.

  Further, the apparatus main body 4 is supplied with power by, for example, a battery 21, and the power source unit 9 and the light source power source unit 10 are connected to the battery 21. In the power supply unit 9, the circuit voltage Vcc 1 is supplied into the apparatus main body unit 4 and the circuit voltage Vcc 2 is supplied into the endoscope 2 by supplying power from the battery 21. The light source power supply unit 10 supplies driving power to the visible light amount adjusting unit 11 and the ultraviolet light amount adjusting unit 12, and the visible light amount adjusting unit 11 and the ultraviolet light amount adjusting unit 12 are made visible by varying the drive voltage by the CPU 13. The light amounts of the light LED light source 6 and the ultraviolet LED light source 7 are adjusted.

  The operation of the endoscope apparatus 1 of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described by taking a fluorescent flaw detection using the inspection object 3 as a blade of a jet engine as an example. The jet engine blade is preliminarily coated with a fluorescent agent, and then the fluorescent agent is washed away with water or the like, so that the fluorescent agent permeates only the scratches on the blade.

  First, in the mode switching button unit 17, the inspection target is set to the jet engine blade inspection by the object setting button, and the control mode of the CPU 13 is set to the normal observation mode by the mode setting button. The CPU 13 controls the driving voltage of the visible light amount adjusting unit 11 and the ultraviolet light amount adjusting unit 12 according to the setting in the mode switching button unit 17 and drives only the visible light LED light source 6 with a predetermined light amount optimum for jet engine blade inspection. To do. In this state, that is, by inserting the insertion portion of the endoscope 2 into the duct extending from the exterior of the jet engine to the inside by normal observation using only the visible light LED light source 6, a normal observation image using visible light is displayed as shown in FIG. By displaying on the unit 20, the distal end of the insertion portion of the endoscope 2 is arranged at the observation position of the blade 24 of the jet engine.

  FIG. 3 shows a state in which it is difficult to confirm the scratch 25 of the blade 24 of the jet engine under visible light. At this time, the superimpose unit 19 superimposes the indicator image 26 as a superimposed image on the endoscopic image. The indicator image 26 shows the light amounts of the visible LED light source 6 and the ultraviolet LED light source 7 in an analog level display.

  Then, in order to start the fluorescent flaw inspection with the distal end of the insertion portion of the endoscope 2 placed at the observation position of the blade 24 of the jet engine, the control mode of the CPU 13 is normally set by the mode setting button in the mode switching button portion 17. Change / set from observation mode to fluorescence observation mode. In this fluorescence observation mode, the CPU 13 controls the visible light amount adjusting unit 11 and the ultraviolet light amount adjusting unit 12 with predetermined driving voltages, respectively, and as shown in FIG. The normal observation image of the blade 24 and the fluorescence observation image from the flaw 25 as a flaw detection target on the blade 24 excited by the predetermined amount of ultraviolet light are displayed on the same screen of the display unit 20 in real time.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the indicator image 26 at this time displays the level of the default light amounts of the visible light LED light source 6 and the ultraviolet light LED light source 7 in an analog manner in the jet engine blade inspection in the fluorescence observation mode. The default light amounts of the visible light LED light source 6 and the ultraviolet light LED light source 7 can be arbitrarily increased or decreased individually by operating the visible light amount adjustment button unit 15 and the ultraviolet light adjustment button unit 16, respectively. FIG. 5 shows a state in which the light amount of the visible light LED light source 6 is minimized by the visible light amount adjustment button portion 15 and the light amount of the ultraviolet light LED light source 7 is maximized by the ultraviolet light adjustment button portion 16. Becomes unclear, but the scratch 25 can be highlighted and displayed.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the distal end of the insertion portion of the endoscope 2 is guided to the inspection target 3 under observation with visible light, and the distal end of the insertion portion of the endoscope 2 is set at a predetermined position of the inspection target 3. Since the fluorescence flaw inspection can be performed in real time with two images of the normal observation image by visible light and the fluorescence image by ultraviolet light, the state of the scratch 25 which is a problem part such as a defect and The position on the blade 24 that is the inspection object 3 of the scratch 25 can be inspected in real time. Further, since visible light and ultraviolet light can be arbitrarily increased or decreased, it is possible to perform a fluorescence flaw inspection with a normal observation image and a fluorescence image having a desired brightness. Furthermore, by setting the inspection target with the target setting button of the mode switching button unit 17, the default adjustment values of the visible light amount adjusting unit 11 and the ultraviolet light amount adjusting unit 12 according to the inspection environment can be set. There is also an effect that the device setting becomes easy.

  Although the light amounts of the visible light LED light source 6 and the ultraviolet light LED light source 7 are displayed in an analog manner by the indicator image 26, the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. 6, the visible light LED light source 6 and the ultraviolet light LED light source. 7 may be displayed at a digital level by the numerical image 27. In addition, the indicator image 26 is displayed so as to be superimposed on the image of the inspection object 3. However, the display is not limited to this, and a display unit dedicated to the display of the indicator image 26 such as an LCD, An LED indicator corresponding to the indicator image 26 may be provided.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the visible light LED light source 6 and the ultraviolet light LED light source 7 are arranged in the distal end of the insertion portion of the endoscope 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this, as shown in FIG. A light guide 30 is disposed in the insertion portion of the endoscope 2, and a visible light LED light source 6 and an ultraviolet light LED light source 7 are provided in the apparatus main body 4, and light from the visible light LED light source 6 and the ultraviolet light LED light source 7 is written. Even if it is configured to irradiate the inspection object 3 via the guide 30, similarly to the configuration of FIG. 1, by controlling the light amounts of the visible LED light source 6 and the ultraviolet LED light source 7, Needless to say, an effect can be obtained.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the visible LED light source 6 and the ultraviolet LED light source 7 are each composed of one, but the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. 8, for example, visible LED light sources 6a and 6b and ultraviolet light Two LED light sources 7a and 7b may be provided, respectively, and arranged separately on the left and right as shown in FIG.

  In this case, by independently controlling the light amounts of the four LED light sources 6a, 6b and 7a, 7b, the visible light whose light amounts are independently adjusted by the visible light LED light sources 6a, 6b are irradiated from the left and right sides. As a result, a whole image that is not affected by halation or shadow is obtained as a normal observation image, and the fluorescence image from the flaw 25 is irradiated by irradiating from the left and right ultraviolet lights whose light amounts are adjusted independently by the ultraviolet LED light sources 7a and 7b. Can be obtained as a three-dimensional image.

  In addition, it becomes possible to change the fluorescent agent apply | coated to the test target object 3 according to a test | inspection environment by making the ultraviolet light which ultraviolet light LED light sources 7a and 7b light-emit into a different wavelength, and based on the apply | coated fluorescent agent. By driving only the ultraviolet LED light source, the same actions and effects as in the present embodiment can be obtained.

  Moreover, the number of visible light LED light sources and ultraviolet light LED light sources is not limited to FIG.1 and FIG.8, You may comprise visible light LED light sources and ultraviolet light LED light sources arbitrarily, respectively.

  Moreover, in the Example, although comprised from the visible light LED light source 6 and the ultraviolet light LED light source 7, it is not restricted to this, In addition to the visible light LED light source 6 and the ultraviolet light LED light source 7, as shown in FIG. An external light LED light source 50 may be provided so that the light amount of the infrared LED light source 50 can be adjusted independently by the infrared light amount adjusting unit 51 of the apparatus body 4.

  In this embodiment, the light amounts of the visible light LED light source and the ultraviolet light LED light source are set to increase / decrease by the visible light amount adjustment button unit 15 and the ultraviolet light amount adjustment button unit 16, but the present invention is not limited to this. A plurality of sets of the ratios of the light amounts of the LED light source and the ultraviolet LED light source, a set light amount ratio setting table are stored in the memory 14, and the light amounts of the visible light LED light source and the ultraviolet LED light source are set according to the light amount ratio setting table. You may do it.

  An example of the ratio set of the light amounts of a plurality of sets of visible LED light sources and ultraviolet LED light sources is shown below.

Ratio group 1: Visible LED light source light quantity, UV light LED light source light quantity) = (100%, 0%)
Ratio group 2: Visible light LED light source light quantity, UV light LED light source light quantity) = (70%, 20%)
Ratio group 3: Visible light LED light source light quantity, UV light LED light source light quantity) = (50%, 50%)
Ratio group 4: Visible light LED light source light quantity, UV light LED light source light quantity) = (30%, 80%)
Ratio group 5: Visible LED light source light amount, UV light LED light source light amount) = (0%, 100%)
Each ratio set is stored as a light quantity ratio setting table, and a ratio set is selected using a light quantity selection button (not shown) instead of the visible light quantity adjustment button section 15 and the ultraviolet light quantity adjustment button section 16, and visible light is selected according to the ratio set. You may make it set the light quantity of a LED light source and an ultraviolet-light LED light source.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of an endoscope apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The figure which shows arrangement | positioning of the visible light LED light source and ultraviolet light LED light source of FIG. The figure which shows the 1st example of a display of the monitor explaining the effect | action of the endoscope apparatus of FIG. The figure which shows the 2nd example of a display of the monitor explaining the effect | action of the endoscope apparatus of FIG. The figure which shows the 3rd example of a display of the monitor explaining the effect | action of the endoscope apparatus of FIG. The figure which shows the modification of the monitor display of FIG. The block diagram which shows the structure of the 1st modification of the endoscope apparatus of FIG. The block diagram which shows the structure of the 2nd modification of the endoscope apparatus of FIG. The figure which shows arrangement | positioning of the visible light LED light source and ultraviolet light LED light source of FIG. The block diagram which shows the structure of the 3rd modification of the endoscope apparatus of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscope apparatus 2 ... Endoscope 3 ... Test object 4 ... Apparatus body part 5 ... Light source unit 6 ... Visible light LED light source 7 ... Ultraviolet light LED light source 8 ... Imaging part 9 ... Power supply part 10 ... Power supply for light sources Unit 11 ... Visible light amount adjusting unit 12 ... Ultraviolet light amount adjusting unit 13 ... CPU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 ... Memory 15 ... Visible light quantity adjustment button part 16 ... Ultraviolet light quantity adjustment button part 17 ... Mode switching button part 18 ... Signal processing part 19 ... Superimpose part 20 ... Display part 21 ... Battery

Claims (7)

In an endoscope apparatus that generates observation image data of an inspection object based on an observation image captured by an imaging unit,
At least two LED light source means for illuminating the inspection object and including a visible LED light source that emits visible light and an invisible LED light source that emits invisible light ;
A light amount adjusting means for independently adjusting the emitted light amount of the LED light source for each system when simultaneously illuminating at least the visible light and the invisible light ;
An endoscope apparatus comprising: adjustment value information indicating an adjustment value to be adjusted for each system of the LED light source by the light amount adjustment means; and display means for displaying the observation image data. Adjustment value setting means for indicating the adjustment value ;
The light amount adjusting means adjusts the emitted light amount of the LED light source for each system based on the adjustment value instructed by the adjustment value setting means ,
The display means includes the adjustment value information indicating the adjustment value instructed by the adjustment value setting means , and the observation image data imaged with the emitted light quantity adjusted by the light quantity adjustment means based on the adjustment value. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: is displayed on the same screen. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the adjustment value setting unit is provided in the display unit. The display means, claims and displaying the adjustment value information that includes the adjustment value of the light emission amount of the invisible light LED light source indicated by the adjusting value setting means, and the emission light intensity of the visible light LED light source The endoscope apparatus according to claim 2 or claim 3. The internal vision according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , further comprising switching means for switching the adjustment value of the LED light source for each system predetermined according to the inspection object. Mirror device. The endoscope apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the invisible LED light source is an ultraviolet LED light source that emits ultraviolet light. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the invisible LED light source is an infrared LED light source that emits infrared light.

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