FR2472370A1 - ARTICULATED OPTICAL, ESPECIALLY FOR ENDOSCOPE - Google Patents

Abstract

ARTICULATED OPTICAL, ESPECIALLY FOR ENDOSCOPE. IT IS CONSTITUTED OF TRUNCONS OF TUBES CONTAINING OPTICAL TRANSMISSION ELEMENTS, CONNECTED IN AN ARTICULATED MANNER, AT LEAST ONE OF THESE TRUNKS BEING DIVIDED, IN THE SENSE OF ITS LENGTH, INTO TWO PARTS 3A, 3B WHICH CAN SWIVEL ONE BY RELATION TO THE OTHER AROUND THE AXIS OF THE TUBE TRUNKS, THE ENDS OF THE ARTICULATION AXLES 1 BEING RIGID BRIDGED, WITH A TRIANGULAR PRISM 4 FIXED IN THE BRIDGE 2, SO THAT THE TWO SUCCESSIVE TUBE LINES SWIVEL OBLIQUE, AND LIMITED IN RELATION TO THE AREA OF REFRACTION OF THE PRISM. THIS DEVICE ALLOWS AUTOMATICALLY BALANCING AN IMAGE DROP DUE TO THE MOVEMENT OF TWO SUCCESSIVE TUBE TRUNKS.

Description

The present invention relates to a special articulated optic

It is also useful in endoscopic studies.

  In known articulated optics, an image drop

  from the movements of the elements is either made

  born by special landmarks, either compensated or balanced

  by a corresponding manual adaptation of an inversion prism

proximal pressure.

  It has also been proposed for articulated optics to automatically compensate for an image drop by coupling together the successive tube sections by a corresponding mechanism.

  and the use of special optical elements in

  tions (see patent application DE-OS 28 51 251). In these articulated optics, the end of each vertically folded member or section of pipe terminates in a connection on the adjacent pipe section, which has the configuration of a mechanism and which, thanks to reflectors and inversion prisms ,

  automatically compensates for a drop in image resulting from a

  two successive tube sections.

  The object of the invention is to automatically balance an image drop by a considerable simplification of the

  construction of articulated optics of the type mentioned above.

  The subject of the invention is basically an articulated optics

  1, especially for an endoscope, consisting of tube sections containing optical transmission members, connected in an articulated manner, such as lenses, among which at least one of the pipe sections is divided along its length and the parts are orientable together around of the axis of this tube section, characterized in that two sections of tubes abutting the ut on the other 3a, 3b can pivot symmetrically on their ends facing each other about two axes d rigidly hinged joint 1, with respect to the plane formed by the axes of articulation and in that either an isosceles roof prism or an isosceles triangular prism 4 is rigidly connected to the bridging 2, whereas in the latter case an inversion prism 5 is inserted before or after each triangular prism 4 and the two sections of tubes abutting one on the other can pivot against each other only in the direction of the edge from the angle of refraction of the oblique prism by

compared to the sections of tubes.

  Such articulated optics makes it possible to achieve the aforesaid purpose.

  Thus, two sections of tubes of the articulated optic are directly connected to each other by an articulated coupling and all the members in the extended position have their longitudinal axis in a straight line, thanks to which, at priori the double articulated connections perpendicular to the pipe sections in the known articulated optics, with at least

  double reflectors, are removed. The image drop is now

  offset by an isosceles "roof" prism or an isosceles triangular prism in each joint and in the latter case also by an inversion prism interposed before or after. The roof prism or the triangular prism is rigidly connected to the hinge pins of pipe sections coupled together, so that two successive pipe sections can pivot about their articulated axes, symmetrically with respect to a passing plane. by the axes of the joints. In order to obtain a mobility on all sides or in space of the articulated optic, at least one of the tube sections is thus shared in known manner and these parts are orientable together about the longitudinal axis of these sections.

sections of tubes.

  The invention is now described in detail with reference

  in the single figure of the annexed drawing on which

  schematically illustrated as an embodiment two successive sections of tubes, articulated, an articulated optic with any number of sections of tubes, in two positions

limit angle.

  The articulated optic consists of a series of successive sections of tubes, connected in an articulated manner, comprising optical elements a, b, c, etc., the image of an object being fed to the section of distal tube a , which image must be observed proximally in elevation and height by means of

of an eyepiece.

  To achieve this process in a simple manner, two sections of tubes located directly behind one another, b, are coupled together in an articulated manner so that they are symmetrically orientable about the two hinge axes 1 relative to the plane formed by the axes of articulation. The ends of these hinge pins 1 are rigidly bridged. The bridging 2 may, for example, consist of two plates or a U-shaped housing, in the amounts of which

  the axes of articulation 1 are maintained, whereas the

  The board of the U can be arranged on one side against the pipe sections a, b, when the pipe sections form a straight line with their longitudinal axes. The spacer of the U then forms a delimitation or abutment for the pivot angle of the two tube sections, that is to say that the tube sections can pivot relative to each other only one only side and symmetrically with respect to the plane formed by the hinge pins 1. The bridge housing 2 is advantageously, without restricting its mobility, a waterproof housing or a housing surrounded by a sealed envelope. To obtain a symmetrical obliquity, the ends of the pipe elements a, b, for example, facing towards each other, are coupled together by circular or circular cylindrical segments fitted into one another or toothed 3, in which case the axes of articulation 1 are the axes of the

  toothed segments 3 and advantageously cut the longitudinal axes

dinal sections of tubes.

  With the rigid bridge 2, a triangular prism 4 is rigidly connected between the adjacent ends of the

  sections of tubes a, b, and an inversion prism 5 is

  wedged before or after this triangular prism 4.

  In addition, at least one of the pipe sections, for example the pipe section b, is divided (in its length and the two parts b 1 and b 2 can pivot together around their

  axis by means of a pivoting pad 6. The optical

  abutment can move on all sides in space, thanks to the articulated connection of the pipe sections and the pad (s)

  of pivoting 6 of one or more sections of tubes.

  Articulated optics also consists of a whole series

4 2472370

  of identical constructional elements, and each building element consists of a triangular prism 4 with a

  inversion prism inserted before or after. Thanks to these

  For example, each image drop resulting from the obliquity of two successive tubes and the rotation about the longitudinal axis of one or more pipe sections is automatically balanced. The obliquity of two sections of tubes a, b, taken together, is then limited, for optical reasons, to about 450, for example, so that the

  area of global obliquity is between 45 and 1800. Natural-

  Instead of a rectangular triangular prism 4, it is also possible to use a triangular prism with a different refraction angle, but then the edge of the refraction angle is oblique with respect to the pivot plane and faces the spacer of the U-shaped case or at the base of the

triangular prism.

  The same result as that described with the aid of the above example is obtained according to the invention if we replace the triangular prism 4 and the inversion prism 5 inserted before or after, by a roof prism which occupies the place of the triangular prism according to the embodiment. Each image drop is also compensated for, when the obliquity of

  sections of tubes and their rotation about the longitudinal axis

  dinal, so that by means of the eyepiece one can also

  in this case observe an image in elevation and height.

  The toothed segments 3 can also be replaced by

  other coupling agents, for example parallels

  grams or the like to obtain the symmetrical obliquity of two successive pipe sections on one side with respect to the plane

  formed by the axes of articulation 1.

Claims (6)

  1. Articulated optics, especially for an endoscope, consisting of sections of tubes containing optical transmission members, connected in an articulated manner, such as lenses, among which at least one of the sections of   The tubes are divided along its length and the parts are oriented   together about the axis of this section of pipe,   in that two sections of tubes abutting each other (3 a, 3 b) can pivot symmetrically on their ends facing each other about two rigidly bridged hinge pins (1 ), relative to the plane formed by the axes of articulation and in that either an isosceles roof premium or an isosceles triangular prism (4) is rigidly connected to the bridge (2), whereas in the latter an inversion prism (5) is inserted before or after each triangular prism (4) and the two sections of tubes abutting each other can pivot against each other only in the direction of the edge of the refraction angle of the prism   oblique with respect to the sections of tubes.   2. Articulated optic according to claim 1, characterized   characterized in that the ends of two pipe sections (a, b) are coupled and meshing by symmetrically inverted circular or cylindrical circular segments (3) whose rigidly joined axes of rotation (1) form the axes of articulation. rotation elements (a, b) and cut   advantageously the axes of the sections of tubes.   3. Articulated optic according to claim 1, characterized   in that for the obliquity of two sections of tubes abutting one another (a, b), symmetrical with respect to the bridging   rigid (2), parallelograms are provided.   4. Articulated optic according to any one of the   1 to 3, characterized in that the pivot angle of two pipe sections (a, b) together is between 180 and About 450.   Articulated optic according to any of the claims   cations 1 to 4, characterized in that the rigid bridging (2) of the hinge pins (1) of two successive tube sections 62472370   (a, b) consists of a rigid U-shaped casing, in the two uprights of which are held the ends of the hinge pins: (1) and whose spacer forms a delimitation   the pivot angle of the two sections of tubes at 1800.