JP2008011221A - Camera head - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera head capable of stabilizing the posture of a camera for its self-weight direction. <P>SOLUTION: A grip member 21 of the camera 30 is freely rotatably held on a bearing portion 16. A weight 40 is attached on the camera 30 and/or the grip member 21. An external cable 14 from the outside is connected to a camera connection line 31 via a slip ring 151. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a camera head device that is effective when used in an in-pipe inspection apparatus for inspecting water pipes, sewer pipes, gas pipes, and the like.

  Conventionally, a camera head device used for an in-pipe inspection apparatus has a camera built in a case. This camera is usually fixed in the case.

  The camera head device is used by being inserted into a tube, but its posture is not constant, and it is not possible to grasp the vertical relationship of the site from the captured image.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a camera head device in which the posture of the camera is stabilized in the direction of its own weight.

  The present invention includes a camera, a gripping member that grips the outer periphery of the camera, a bearing that rotatably holds the gripping member around a rotation axis in the same direction as the imaging direction of the camera, the camera, Alternatively, the weight attached to the gripping part, the bearing part, the gripping part, and the camera are accommodated integrally, and a case having a window part in front of the camera, the connection line of the camera, and the case A slip ring that is attached to the rear part and electrically connects an external cable from the outside and the camera connection line is provided.

  With the above-described means, since the posture of the camera with respect to its own weight direction is stabilized, it is easy to determine the vertical direction from the captured image. For this reason, it is possible to appropriately cope with the inspection / inspection for the photographing site.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1A and 1B show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view taken along a plane orthogonal to the axis, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along a plane parallel to the axis.

  The case 11 has, for example, a cylindrical shape and has an opening in the front, and this opening is closed with glass 12. The rear opening of the case 11 is closed by a lid member 13. The lid member 13 has a cable attachment portion 15 for attaching an end portion of the external cable 14 from the outside to the central axis. The lid member 13 has a bearing portion 16 that protrudes toward the inner surface side of the case 11.

  The tip of the bearing portion 16 is inserted into a shaft hole 211 formed in the gripping member 21. As a result, the gripping member 21 is rotatable about the rotation axis of the bearing portion 16. The gripping member 21 also has a camera attachment portion 212 on the axial center side, and the camera 30 is coaxially attached thereto. The front of the camera 30 faces the glass 12. A camera cable 31 having camera connection lines for power supply, control signal, and image pickup signal extraction is drawn from the rear of the camera 30. The camera connection line of the camera cable 13 is connected to a terminal of a slip ring mechanism 151 built in the cable attachment portion 15. The fixed terminal of the slip ring mechanism 151 is connected to a corresponding core wire of the external cable 14.

  Here, since the camera 30 and the gripping member 21 are integrally supported by the bearing 16, the camera 30 and the gripping member 21 are rotatable about the axis Y. However, this rotation is always controlled in a constant weight direction by the weight 40.

  FIG. 2 shows a state in which the inside of the tube 900 is inspected by the camera head device 500 of the present invention. An imaging signal captured by the camera head device 500 is guided to the control unit 700 via the cable 14 and subjected to image processing. The image signal subjected to the image processing is displayed on the monitor 800. The cable 14 is wound around the drum 600. When the camera head device 500 enters the tube, the cable is unwound, and when the camera head device 500 is pulled out of the tube, the cable is wound. The image showing the inside of the tube displayed on the monitor 800 matches the actual vertical relationship in the tube.

  FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In the previous embodiment, the weight 40 is attached to the camera 30 and / or the gripping member 21. However, in the embodiment of FIG. 3, an electromagnet 401 is attached instead of the weight 40. Further, in the case, a permanent magnet 402 is fixed at one place so as to face the position through which the electromagnet 401 passes.

  When electricity is supplied to the electromagnet 401, the electromagnet 401 is locked at the position of the permanent magnet 402. Thereby, the camera 30 which is free of rotation is fixed at a predetermined rotational position. This is to prevent the camera 30 from rotating unnecessarily during the insertion or withdrawal of the camera 30 into the tube.

The figure which shows one embodiment of this invention. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of use for the apparatus of this invention. The figure which shows other embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Case, 12 ... Glass, 13 ... Cover member, 14 ... External cable, 16 ... Cable attaching part, 16 ... Bearing part, 21 ... Gripping part, 30 ... Camera, 40 ... Weight

Claims (2)

A camera,
A gripping member gripping the outer periphery of the camera;
A bearing unit that rotatably holds the gripping member around a rotation axis in the same direction as the imaging direction of the camera;
A weight attached to the camera and / or the gripping part;
The bearing part, the gripping member, and the camera are accommodated together, and a case having a window part in front of the camera;
A connection line of the camera;
A camera head device comprising a slip ring attached to a rear portion of the case and electrically connecting an external cable from the outside and the camera connection line.   The camera head device according to claim 1, wherein an electromagnet mechanism is provided between the camera and / or the grip portion and the case for stabilizing the posture of the camera.

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