JP2010055023A - Industrial endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an industrial endoscope which has an economically advantageous configuration and is capable of easily making a camera head smaller in size and diameter. <P>SOLUTION: The industrial endoscope includes: a camera body 1 which is attached to the tip end of a pushed cable; an imaging lens 2 which is provided in the front portion of the camera body 1; an illumination unit which is provided with a plurality of light emitting elements 7 around the imaging lens 2 and illuminates an object to be photographed by the respective light emitting elements 7; and an illumination cover 8 which transmits irradiation light of the illumination unit, protects the illumination unit and has a reflecting surface totally reflecting a part of the irradiation light of the illumination unit and guiding it to the outside. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an industrial endoscope suitable for application to inspection in a dark place such as various pipes and structures having a dark space.

  As an in-pipe inspection camera device for inspection of water pipes, gas pipes, etc., a camera head is attached to the tip of the hard cable, the camera head is inserted into the pipe to be inspected with the hard cable, and the inside of the pipe is photographed with the camera head. There is an in-pipe inspection camera device called a hard cable camera. This type of camera device can be applied not only to the inside of the pipe but also to various structures having a dark space such as a cavity, a narrow path, or a culvert that require illumination. Is called an industrial endoscope.

  In this type of industrial endoscope, it is required to reduce the diameter of the camera head and to expand the application range accompanying the reduction of the diameter. However, if the diameter (diameter) of the camera head is reduced, for example, if the diameter is set to 20 mm or less, the desired angle cannot be given to the illumination. However, there is a problem that this causes deterioration of the image. This problem becomes more conspicuous as the pipe diameter becomes larger, for example, in the piping to be inspected. As a result, there is a problem that the inspection target range becomes narrow.

  As this type of conventional apparatus, there is an in-pipe inspection camera in which an optical axis is set to be diffused in a radial direction so that irradiation light is uniformly diffused laterally or forwardly in the inspection target pipe.

In this in-tube inspection camera, since the LED light source is disposed so that the optical axis is directed in the radial direction, the tube diameter of the housing portion of the illumination mechanism must be larger than the tube diameter of the image sensor housing portion, and the camera head The outer diameter of the light source is restricted by the tube diameter of the housing portion of the illumination mechanism, which has been a problem in reducing the size and diameter.
JP 2008-028722 A

  As described above, conventionally, the outer diameter of the camera head is restricted by the tube diameter of the housing portion of the illumination mechanism, which has been a problem in reducing the size and diameter. Moreover, if the outer diameter of the camera head is reduced to, for example, a diameter of 20 mm or less, the desired angle cannot be given to the illumination. As a result, there is a problem in that the video is deteriorated.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an industrial endoscope and an in-pipe inspection camera device that can solve the above-described problems and can easily reduce the size and diameter of a camera head with an economically advantageous configuration.

  The present invention provides a camera body attached to the tip of a push-in cable, an imaging lens provided at a front portion of the camera body, a plurality of light emitting elements around the imaging lens, and a subject to be photographed by each of the light emitting elements. And an illumination cover having a reflecting surface that transmits the illumination light of the illumination unit, protects the illumination unit, totally reflects the partial illumination light of the illumination unit, and guides the illumination light to the outside. An industrial endoscope including the above is provided.

  The present invention also provides a camera body that is movable back and forth with respect to the inside of the inspection target tube, an imaging lens provided at the front of the camera body, and an image of the inspection target tube that is provided on the optical axis of the imaging lens. An imaging device, a plurality of light emitting elements around the imaging lens, an illumination unit that illuminates the inside of the inspection target tube by each of the light emitting elements, and transmits illumination light of the illumination unit to protect the illumination unit An in-pipe inspection camera device comprising an illumination cover having a reflection surface that totally reflects the partially irradiated light of the illumination unit and guides it to the outside.

  According to the present invention, in an industrial endoscope provided with an illumination mechanism, the camera head can be easily reduced in size and diameter with an economically advantageous configuration.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Here, an embodiment will be described taking an in-tube inspection camera device as an example of an industrial endoscope.

  A configuration of an in-pipe inspection camera device (hereinafter referred to as a camera head) according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 is a side sectional view of the camera head taken along line AA in FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a front view of the camera head, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion A shown in FIG. The camera head according to the embodiment of the present invention is attached to the tip of the hard cable 01, is pushed into the inspection target tube by the operation of the hard cable 01, and is pulled out from the inspection target tube after the inspection.

  A hard cable 01 connected to the camera body 1 via a cable connection connector (not shown) has rigidity and bending elasticity, and includes a plurality of core wires. The hard cable 01 is wound around a cable drum (not shown), and is used by being unwound from the cable drum according to the required amount for in-tube inspection.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the camera head according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a camera body 1, an imaging lens 2 provided at the front of the camera body 1, and an optical axis of the imaging lens 2. An imaging device 3 provided for imaging the inside of the inspection target tube, an imaging circuit board 4 on which the imaging device 3 is mounted, and light emitting elements 6 and 7 are provided around the imaging lens 2 with an illumination circuit board 5 interposed therebetween. The illumination unit that illuminates the inside of the inspection target tube by the light emitting elements 6 and 7 and the irradiation light (indicated by an arrow in the drawing) of the illumination unit are transmitted to protect the illumination unit and The illumination cover 8 having a reflection surface Rf that totally reflects the partial irradiation light and guides it to the outside, and the lens cover 9 provided so as to cover the front surface of the imaging lens 2 are configured.

  The camera body 1 has a lens cover 9 and an imaging lens 2 attached at the center of the front surface, and an illumination cover 8 provided integrally with the camera body 1 around the lens cover 9 and the imaging lens 2. The camera body 1 constitutes a waterproof camera head case with a sealed structure together with the illumination cover 8 and the lens cover 9.

  An imaging device 3 using, for example, a color CCD is provided at an imaging position on the optical axis of the imaging lens 2. The image pickup device 3 is mounted on the image pickup circuit board 4 with the image pickup surface facing the mounting direction of the image pickup lens 2.

  A total of four circuit boards for illumination 5 are provided around the imaging lens 2 at regular intervals in the circumferential direction. A light emitting element 6 is attached to one (outside) surface of the circuit board 5 for illumination, and a light emitting element 7 is attached to the other (inside) surface of the circuit board 5. The light emitting elements 6 and 7 attached to the circuit board 5 for illumination are each an LED light source, for example, are comprised using white LED.

  The illumination cover 8 has a reflection surface Rf that totally reflects outward the light emitted from the light emitting element (white LED) 7 attached to the inner surface of the circuit board 5 for illumination and guides the light outward. Is formed in an annular shape around

  In the above configuration, among the light emitting elements 6 and 7 attached to the illumination circuit board 5, the light emitted from the light emitting element (white LED) 6 attached to the outer surface of the illumination circuit board 5 is enlarged as shown in FIG. As indicated by the arrows in the figure, the light is transmitted through the illumination cover 8 and guided forward. On the other hand, the irradiation light of the light emitting element (white LED) 7 attached to the inner surface of the illumination circuit board 5 is totally reflected by the reflection surface Rf formed on the illumination cover 8 and guided outward.

  As a result, the light emitted from the light source can be guided to the front and side of the camera head without causing the light emitting element of the illumination unit to have an angle toward the outside. Deterioration of the projected image can be avoided.

  In the above-described embodiment, the reflection surface Rf that totally reflects the light emitted from the light emitting element (white LED) 7 outwardly is formed in an annular shape around the imaging lens 2. For example, as shown in FIG. The light source may be individually formed around the imaging lens 2 so as to correspond to the light emitting element (white LED) 7.

  In the above-described embodiment, the camera head including the image pickup device 3 is targeted. However, for example, the irradiation light shown in the above embodiment is applied to a direct-view industrial endoscope having no image pickup device. An illumination unit having a reflection surface Rf that totally reflects outward can be applied.

1 is a side sectional view showing the configuration of an industrial endoscope (in-tube inspection camera device) according to an embodiment of the present invention. The front view which shows the structure of the industrial endoscope which concerns on the said embodiment. The enlarged view of the A section shown in the said FIG. The front view which shows the other example of reflective surface formation of the industrial endoscope which concerns on the said embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Camera body, 2 ... Imaging lens, 3 ... Imaging device (color CCD), 4 ... Imaging circuit board, 5 ... Circuit board for illumination, 6, 7 ... Light emitting element (white LED), 8 ... Illumination cover, Rf ... reflective surface, 01 ... hard cable.

Claims (9)

The camera body attached to the end of the push-in cable;
An imaging lens provided at the front of the camera body;
A plurality of light emitting elements provided around the imaging lens, and an illumination unit that illuminates a subject to be photographed by each of the light emitting elements;
An illumination cover having a reflective surface that transmits the illumination light of the illumination unit, protects the illumination unit, totally reflects the illumination light of the illumination unit, and guides the illumination unit to the outside;
An industrial endoscope characterized by comprising:   The industrial endoscope according to claim 1, wherein an imaging element is provided on an optical axis of the imaging lens.   The industrial endoscope according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of light emitting elements is an LED light source, and a plurality of the light emitting elements are provided around the imaging element at regular intervals in a circumferential direction. .   The industrial endoscope according to claim 2, wherein at least one LED light source is provided inside and outside the circuit board of the illumination unit.   The industrial endoscope according to claim 3, wherein the irradiation light of the inner LED light source is totally reflected by the reflecting surface.   The industrial endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the reflecting surface is formed in an annular shape around the imaging lens.   The industrial endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the reflecting surface is formed corresponding to the light emitting element.   The industrial body according to claim 1, wherein the camera body has a cylindrical portion in which an outer diameter of a portion that houses the light emitting element is equal to an outer diameter of a portion that houses the imaging element. Endoscope. A camera body that can be moved back and forth with respect to the inspection target pipe;
An imaging lens provided at the front of the camera body;
An image sensor provided on the optical axis of the imaging lens for photographing the inside of the inspection target tube;
A plurality of light emitting elements provided around the imaging lens, and an illumination unit that illuminates the inside of the inspection target tube with each of the light emitting elements;
An illumination cover having a reflective surface that transmits the illumination light of the illumination unit, protects the illumination unit, totally reflects the illumination light of the illumination unit, and guides the illumination unit to the outside;
An in-pipe inspection camera device comprising:

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