JP2001008888A - Endoscope with variable power function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a variable power operating member easy to operate in relation to angle operating knobs. SOLUTION: This endoscope is provided with an angle drive mechanism bend-driving a tip section and a variable power drive mechanism for changing the observation distance. A rotor 27A and a variable power knob 27B are rotatably fitted to a main spindle 22 rotatably supporting angle knobs 21A, 21B to drive a rotation angle. The rotor 27A is locked at the intermediate position of the rotation angle by a click ball 33, the CW direction or CCW direction and rotation angle when this intermediate position is set as an off position are detected by a potentiometer 31, and a variable power drive section 2 is driven by a CPU 38 receiving this detection values. The variable power direction and variable power speed are operated by the CW or CCW rotation of the variable power knob 27B.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope having a zooming function, and more particularly, to a structure of a zooming operation member for driving a lens for changing an observation distance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an endoscope, an operation section having a thickness that can be gripped by hand is disposed at a base end side of an insertion section, and an angle operation knob (rotating member) for bending a distal end portion and a feed section are provided on the operation section. Ki /
Operation switches such as a water supply switch and a photographing switch are arranged. The operator operates the angle operation knob and various operation switches with his / her finger while holding the operation unit with, for example, the left hand.

Recently, it has been proposed to incorporate a variable power driving mechanism for changing, for example, the observation distance at the insertion tip, and an endoscope provided with this variable power driving mechanism is shown in FIG.
Is shown in In FIG. 6A, inside the operation unit 1,
A variable power drive 2 having a drive motor, a transmission gear, and the like is arranged, and a linear transmission member 3 composed of a multiple coil spring or the like is connected to the variable power drive 2, and the linear transmission member 3 is a soft protective tube 4. Passed through.

[0006] In FIG. 6 (B), an objective lens 6, a movable lens 7 for performing a variable power operation, and a prism 8 are arranged at the distal end portion 5 of the endoscope.
The CCD 10, which is a solid-state image sensor, is optically connected via the. The holding member 12 of the movable lens 7 has a female screw portion on an upper portion thereof, and a rotation driver 13 for screwing a male screw portion to the female screw portion is arranged. The member 3 is connected.

Accordingly, when the linear transmission member 3 is rotationally driven by the driving unit 2, the rotation driving body 13 and the holding member 12 are rotated.
The movable lens 7 is moved forward and backward by the screw connection of the lens, and the observation distance (focal length) is increased by moving the lens forward (far).
The direction can be set to the near direction by moving to the rear side. In this case, the optical system is a varifocal optical system, but another variable power driving mechanism such as a zoom optical system that is not a varifocal may be used. Note that FIG.
The operation unit 1 is provided with an air supply / water supply button 15, a suction button 16, a freeze shooting button 17, and the like, and the angle operation knob is attached to the back side of the operation unit 1 in the drawing.

[0006]

By the way, an operation member is also required in the above-mentioned variable power drive mechanism, but there is a problem in how to attach it to the operation section of the endoscope. That is, the operation for changing the magnification is often performed in connection with the operation of the above-described angle operation knob, for example, projecting the target observation portion while bending the end portion of the endoscope with the angle operation knob, An operation of enlarging or reducing this observation unit is performed. Therefore, it is required that the operator can easily operate the variable magnification operation member with the finger (for example, the thumb) while the operator reciprocates between the angle operation knob and the variable magnification operation member.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope having a zoom function in which a zoom operation member can be easily operated in relation to an angle operation knob. It is in.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an endoscope having a zooming function, wherein an angle driving mechanism for bending a distal end portion and a zooming driving mechanism for changing an observation distance are provided. An angle operating knob for operating the angle drive mechanism, and a rotatable member rotatably mounted on the main shaft of the angle operating knob. And a variable magnification rotation operation member for operating the double driving mechanism. In the invention according to claim 2, the variable-magnification turning operation member sets a magnification change direction by a clockwise or counterclockwise turning operation from a center position of the rotation, and sets a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. The variable speed is set by the amount of rotation.

According to the above configuration, since the variable-magnification turning operation member is mounted so as to rotate about the main axis at, for example, the base side (operation portion side) of the angle operation knob, the distance from the angle operation knob is reduced. The zooming operation can be performed close to and by a rotation operation similar to the angle operation. Therefore, the resizing operation itself and the reciprocating operation between the resizing operation and the angle operation become smooth. Further, there is an advantage that the speed of zooming can be easily controlled by the rotation amount (rotation angle) of the rotation operation member.

[0010]

1 to 5 show the configuration of an operation section of an endoscope according to an embodiment. The endoscope is provided with an angle drive mechanism which has been conventionally known. The variable magnification drive mechanism as described in FIG. 6 is provided. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view in which the back side of the operation unit 1 of FIG. 6 (A) is arranged on the upper side and viewed from the end side. The right and left angle knobs 21A and the upper and lower angles The knob 21B is rotatably arranged.

That is, a main shaft 22 is attached to a support portion in the operation portion 20, and a first connecting tube 23A and a second connecting tube 23B are arranged so as to rotate about the main shaft 22, and the first connecting tube 23B is provided. The left and right angle knobs 21A are attached to 23A, and the upper and lower angle knobs 21B are attached to the other second connecting cylinder 23B. The first connecting cylinder 2
3A, a winding wheel 24A for winding a wire for bending the distal end portion to the left and right, and a winding wheel 24B for winding the wire for bending the distal end portion up and down to the other second connecting cylinder 23B.
Is connected. Each of these wires is disposed from the operation unit 20 to a predetermined position at the end of the endoscope.

Therefore, when the right and left or right and left angle knobs 21A and 21B are rotated, the take-up wheel 24A or 24B is rotated via the first or second connecting cylinders 23A and 23B. The tip is bent right or left according to the turning direction and amount, and in the case of the vertical angle knob 21B, the tip is bent up or down according to the turning direction and amount.

[0013] Then, such an angle knob 21
A, 21B with respect to the above-mentioned main shaft 22,
7 is rotatably arranged. That is, the support portions 28A and 28B outside the connection cylinders 23A and 23B on the angle operation side.
O-ring 29A, 2 for airtightness (waterproof) between
A rotating body (upper and lower two stages) 27A is rotatably mounted via 9B. As shown in FIG. 2, a variable power (operation) knob 27B is attached to an outer peripheral portion on the upper side of a rotating body 27A rotatable around the main shaft 22.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a gear 27C is formed on a part of the lower disk of the rotating body 27A, and a potentiometer 31 is disposed on the gear 27C via an intermediate gear 30. The potentiometer 31 detects the rotation angle of the intermediate gear 30. For example, the gear 27C has an angle α of about 30 degrees (± 15 degrees),
This rotation angle is 200 degrees (± 10
The rotation angle of the intermediate gear 30 is detected by the potentiometer 31.

Further, a click ball stopping mechanism is provided to stop the rotating body 27A at the intermediate position of the rotation angle, and as shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. The ball 33 is attached by being urged upward by a coil (compression) spring 34, and a ball holding portion 27D is formed above the click ball 33 to hold the click ball 33 out. It is pressed by the pressing plate 35 on the ball arrangement portion 32 side.

The ball holding portion 27D includes a rotating body 27.
A locking hole 36 for locking the click ball 33 at the center position of the rotation angle of A is provided. Potentiometer 31
In this case, the position where the click ball 33 is locked in the locking hole 36 is the zero point position of the operation angle, that is, the operation off position.
The state and angle of clockwise or counterclockwise operation from the off position, in this example, ± 100 degrees are detected.

As shown in FIG. 1, the potentiometer 31 is connected to a CPU 38 in the operation unit 20, and the CPU 38 controls the driving of the variable magnification driving unit 2.
The zoom knob 27B (rotating body 27)
The zooming direction is determined based on the rotation direction of A), and the zooming speed is determined based on the magnitude of the rotation angle.

The above-described variable-power driving section 2 and other variable-power mechanisms driven by the driving section 2 are constructed, for example, in the same manner as in FIG. That is, the variable power drive unit 2 includes a drive motor, a speed change gear, and the like, and moves the movable lens disposed at the distal end portion through the linear transmission member back and forth. This movable lens constitutes a part of the objective optical system, and moves forward and backward to change the observation distance (focal length) in the far (Far) direction and the short distance (N).
By setting the direction of (ear) and changing the moving speed of the movable lens, the speed of zooming changes.
This variable speed may be a speed that changes continuously or a speed that changes stepwise in a plurality of stages.

FIG. 5 shows that the operation unit 20 has a zoom knob 27B.
The view from the arrangement side of FIG.
7B is bent in the middle (FIG. 1) so as to approach the side surface 20A side of the operation unit 20. As shown in FIG. 6, the side surface 20A is provided with the air supply / water supply switch 15, the suction switch 1
6. On the opposite side of the surface on which the freeze shooting button 17 is disposed, and assuming that the thickness of the operation unit 20 is a, the zoom knob 2
The protruding amount b of the distal end position of 7B is set to about (1/4) a, thereby facilitating the operation with the thumb of the hand holding the operation unit 20.

In this embodiment, the focal length is set to a short distance (enlargement) when the zoom knob 27B is turned clockwise, for example, when the zooming knob 27B is turned clockwise. Turning to, the lens is set to a long distance (reduction) (the movable lens moves to the front side), and at the same time, the zoom speed according to the angle at which the zoom knob 27B is turned is set. In this example, one click clockwise or counterclockwise from the off position (intermediate position) where the click ball 33 is locked in the locking hole 36.
The operation can be performed about 5 degrees. For example, a slight rotation in the clockwise direction enlarges the image at a low speed, and a large rotation increases the image at a high speed. On the other hand, in the operation in the counterclockwise direction, the image is set to be reduced at a higher speed as it is turned more.

The zoom knob 27B is
The main spindle 2 which is arranged near the lower side of the angle knobs 21A, 21B and is the same as the angle knobs 21A, 21B.
Since the rotation is performed around 2, the zooming operation related to the angle operation can be performed smoothly, and since the operation angle and the zooming speed correspond, the setting and grasping of the zooming speed become easy. In addition, the click position of the click ball 33 in the lock hole 36 allows the off position to be easily grasped only by the feel of the hand.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In an endoscope provided with an angle drive mechanism and a variable power drive mechanism, a variable power rotary operation member for operating the variable power drive mechanism together with an angle operation knob including a rotary member rotatably disposed with respect to a main shaft. Is attached to the main shaft so as to be freely rotatable, so that the focal length can be easily set to a short distance or a long distance by a rotation operation of the variable magnification rotation operation member in a predetermined direction, and the magnification operation is performed with the angle operation knob. It becomes easy to operate in relation.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the variable-magnification rotating operation member, the center position of the rotation is set to the off position, and the variable-magnification speed is changed according to the amount of clockwise or counterclockwise operation. Is variably set, there is an advantage that the operation of the zooming speed can be easily performed together with the operation in the zooming direction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of an operation unit of an endoscope having a zooming function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view of a portion of a variable-magnification turning operation member in the operation section of FIG. 1 as viewed from above.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration for detecting a rotation angle of a variable-magnification rotation operation member according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a click ball locking mechanism for stopping the variable-magnification turning operation member of the embodiment at an intermediate position of the turning angle.

FIG. 5 is a view of the endoscope operation unit according to the embodiment as viewed from the right side in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an endoscope having a zoom function according to the related art or the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,20 ... endoscope operation unit, 2 ... variable magnification drive unit,
7: movable lens, 21A, 21B: angle knob, 22: spindle, 23A, 23B: connecting tube, 27A: rotating body, 27B: variable power knob,
27C: gear, 27D: ball holding part, 2
9A, 29B: O-ring, 30: Intermediate gear, 3
1 ... Potentiometer, 33 ... Click ball, 35 ... Holding plate, 36 ... Locking hole.

Claims (2)

[Claims] An angle drive mechanism for bending and driving a distal end portion and a variable magnification drive mechanism for changing an observation distance, comprising a rotating member rotatably arranged with respect to a main shaft, for operating the angle drive mechanism. An endoscope having a variable magnification function, comprising: an angle operation knob; and a variable magnification rotation operation member that is rotatably attached to a main shaft of the angle operation knob and operates the variable magnification drive mechanism. 2. The zooming operation member sets a zooming direction by a clockwise or counterclockwise rotation operation from a center position of the rotation, and sets a rotation amount in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. 2. The endoscope having a zooming function according to claim 1, wherein the zooming speed is set.