JP2011215217A - Rotary optical connector and method for connecting the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rotary optical connector and a method for connecting the rotary optical connector, wherein rotation is locked during disjunction.SOLUTION: The rotary optical connector and the method for connecting the rotary optical connector can be safely attached/detached by including a male side optical rotary connector 24, a female side optical rotary connector 25, a rotation lock pin 10 for restricting rotation of the female side optical rotary connector 25, and a moving mechanism 9 which releases the female side optical rotary connector 25 from rotation restrictions by coming into contact with the male side optical rotary connector 24 to move the rotation lock pin 10.

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical connector for connecting an optical fiber, and more particularly to a rotary optical connector for detachably connecting a rotating optical fiber and a non-rotating optical fiber and a method for connecting the rotary optical connector.

  Conventionally, as an endoscope apparatus for observing the inside of a body cavity of a living body, an electronic endoscope apparatus that irradiates illumination light inside the body cavity of a living body, captures an image of reflected light reflected, and displays it on a monitor or the like is widely spread. And used in various fields. In addition, many endoscope apparatuses include a forceps port, and a biopsy or treatment of a tissue in the body cavity can be performed by a probe introduced into the body cavity via the forceps port.

On the other hand, in recent years, development of a tomographic image acquisition apparatus as a light observation apparatus that acquires a tomographic image of a living body without cutting a measurement target such as a biological tissue has been advanced. For example, light using interference by low-coherence light An optical tomographic imaging apparatus using an optical coherence tomography (OCT) measurement method is known (Patent Document 1).

  This OCT measurement is a measurement method that utilizes the fact that interference light is detected when the optical path lengths of the measurement light, reflected light, and reference light match. That is, in this method, the low coherent light emitted from the light source is divided into measurement light and reference light, the measurement light is irradiated onto the measurement object, and the reflected light from the measurement object is guided to the multiplexing means. On the other hand, the reference light is guided to the multiplexing means after the optical path length is changed in order to change the measurement depth in the measurement target. Then, the reflected light and the reference light are combined by the combining means, and the interference light resulting from the combination is measured by heterodyne detection or the like.

  In the OCT apparatus, by changing the optical path length of the reference light, the measurement position (measurement depth) with respect to the measurement object is changed and a tomographic image is acquired. This method is generally TD-OCT (Time Domain OCT) measurement.

  On the other hand, as an apparatus for acquiring a tomographic image at high speed without changing the optical path length of the reference light, an optical tomographic imaging apparatus based on SD-OCT (Spectral Domain OCT) measurement or SS-OCT (Swept source OCT) measurement is proposed. Has been.

  In the above-described tomographic image, a two-dimensional or three-dimensional optical tomographic image of a predetermined scanning region can be acquired by repeating the measurement while slightly shifting the irradiation position.

  Such an OCT apparatus (optical tomographic imaging apparatus) is capable of observing a measurement site with high precision (resolution of about 10 μm), and an OCT probe (optical probe) is inserted into the forceps opening of the endoscope apparatus. By guiding the signal light and the reflected light of the signal light and acquiring the optical tomographic image in the body cavity, for example, it is possible to diagnose the depth of invasion of the initial cancer.

  As a light scanning method in the OCT probe, a radial scan type in which scanning is performed by rotating a fiber is known. When performing radial scanning, it is necessary that the rotating optical fiber and the non-rotating optical fiber be detachably connected. As described above, a rotary optical connector is used as a method of detachably connecting one optical fiber and the other non-rotating and detachably connecting an optical fiber (Patent Document 2).

  A conventional example of a rotary optical connector will be described. In the female-side optical connector 100 shown in FIG. 8, a key 102 is provided in accordance with the position of the emission window 101 through which light emitted from a light source (not shown) and transmitted through a non-rotating optical fiber is emitted to the probe side. . In the conventional male side optical connector 110 shown in FIG. 9, a key groove 112 is provided in accordance with the position of the emission window 111 facing the emission window 101 when connected.

  The female-side optical connector 100 is provided with a fixing male screw portion 103 that engages with the fixing female screw portion 113 of the male-side optical connector 110. The key 102 and the key groove 112 are aligned and fitted by rotating the rotating portion 114 of the male side optical connector 110. Thereby, alignment in the axial direction is performed. Further, by tightening the fixing female screw portion 113 and the fixing male screw portion 103, the emission window 101 and the emission window 111 are contacted and fixed, and the positional accuracy in the axial direction is ensured. After the contact is fixed, the optical fiber is rotated by the rotation transmission gear 104 to perform radial scanning.

JP-A-6-165784 JP 2009-133630 A

  However, with such a rotary optical connector, even if the optical probe is removed for cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization, the connector on the main body side can rotate, which is critical for safety such as damage due to unexpected operation. There's a problem.

  The present invention has been made for such a problem, and can rotate when the optical probe is attached, and the connector provided on the main body can rotate when the optical probe is not attached. An object of the present invention is to provide a rotary optical connector to be locked and a method of connecting the rotary optical connector.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that a first connector for holding and rotating a first optical fiber, a second connector for holding a second optical fiber, and the first optical fiber. A second connector that removably joins and rotates with the first connector so that the optical fiber and the second optical fiber are oppositely joined, and the first connector and the second connector are not joined. The rotation lock pin for restricting the rotation operation of the second connector at the time of contact with the first connector when the first connector and the second connector are joined to each other. And a moving mechanism for releasing the rotation restriction of the second connector.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the first optical fiber and the second optical connector are formed by the first connector that holds and rotates the first optical fiber, and the second connector that holds and rotates the second optical fiber. These optical fibers are detachably opposed to each other.

  A rotation lock pin for restricting the rotation operation of the second connector is provided in the vicinity of the rotation portion of the second connector. The rotation lock pin is provided so as to be movable by a movement mechanism between a position for restricting the rotation operation of the second connector and a position for releasing the restriction.

  When the first connector and the second connector are not joined, the rotation lock pin approaches the rotating portion of the second connector by the moving mechanism and restricts the rotation. When the first connector is joined to the second connector, the first connector comes into contact with the moving mechanism and moves the rotation lock pin away from the rotating portion of the second connector.

  Accordingly, the first connector provided on the optical probe side can be rotated when attached to the second connector provided on the main body side, and the first connector provided when the optical probe is not attached. The rotation of the connector 2 is locked, enabling a safe attaching / detaching operation.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the moving mechanism is provided at a lever that moves the rotation lock pin, a support pin that rotatably supports the lever, and one end of the lever. Further, a contact portion that comes into contact with the first connector and a drive portion that moves the rotation lock pin are provided.

  According to the invention of claim 2, the moving mechanism includes a lever and a support pin for rotatably supporting the lever. The lever is formed with a drive unit that moves the rotation lock pin and a contact unit that contacts the first connector.

  Thereby, the force by the 1st connector which contacted the contact part of the lever is transmitted to a rotation lock pin via a lever, and the rotation lock pin is moved in the direction away from the rotation part of the 2nd connector.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the lever includes a first lever provided with the contact portion at one end and rotatably supported by a first support pin. And a second lever having one end moved by the first lever and the other end provided with the driving unit.

  According to claim 3, the lever includes a first lever and a second lever. The first lever is rotatably fixed by a first support pin, a contact portion is provided at one end, and a second lever is in contact with the other end. The second lever is rotatably fixed by a second support pin, has a drive portion at one end, and is in contact with the first lever at the other end.

  Thereby, the force by the 1st connector which contacted the contact part of the 1st lever is transmitted to the 2nd lever via the 1st lever. The second lever moves the rotation lock pin in a direction away from the rotating portion of the second connector by the transmitted force.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first to third aspects of the present invention, a sensor for detecting the position of the lever is provided.

  The invention described in claim 5 is characterized in that the sensor is a sensor that senses presence / absence of laser light, change in eddy current, and presence / absence of contact.

  According to the fourth and fifth aspects, a sensor for detecting the position of the lever is provided in the vicinity of the lever based on the presence or absence of laser light, change in eddy current, and presence or absence of contact. Thereby, it becomes possible to detect the joining state of the first connector and the second connector from the position of the lever.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the position of the lever is a position for moving the rotation lock pin to a position for restricting the rotation of the second connector. When detected by the sensor, the supply of the laser beam to the second optical fiber is stopped.

  According to the sixth aspect, when the position of the lever detected by the sensor provided in the vicinity of the lever is a position for moving the rotation lock pin to a position for restricting the rotation of the second connector, the first connector Since the second connector is not joined, the supply of laser light to the second optical fiber is stopped. Thereby, safe attachment / detachment operation is enabled.

  As described above, according to the rotary optical connector and the method of connecting the rotary optical connector of the present invention, when the optical probe is mounted by the rotation lock pin and the moving mechanism for restricting the rotation operation, the optical probe can be rotated. When the optical probe is not attached, a safe attaching / detaching operation in which the rotation of the connector provided in the main body is locked is enabled.

1 is an external view showing an image diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The schematic diagram of the optical probe and scanning unit which concern on embodiment of this invention. The front view which showed the state in which rotation of the 2nd optical connector was controlled. The front view which showed the state from which the rotation regulation of the 2nd optical connector was cancelled | released. The perspective view which showed the state in which the 1st connector and the 2nd connector were joined. The front view which showed the rotation control mechanism which concerns on another embodiment of this invention. The front view which showed the rotation control mechanism which concerns on another embodiment of this invention. The front view which showed the conventional female side optical connector. The front view which showed the conventional male side optical connector.

  Preferred embodiments of a rotary optical connector according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, the configuration of the rotary optical connector according to the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is an external view showing an image diagnostic apparatus in which a rotary optical connector according to the present invention is used. As shown in FIG. 1, the diagnostic imaging apparatus 1 mainly includes an endoscope 2, an endoscope processor 3, a light source device 4, an OCT processor 5, and a monitor device 6. The endoscope processor 3 may be configured to incorporate the light source device 4.

  The endoscope 2 includes a hand operation unit 11 and an insertion unit 12 provided continuously to the hand operation unit 11. The surgeon grasps and operates the hand operation unit 11 and performs observation by inserting the insertion unit 12 into the body of the subject.

  The hand operation part 11 is provided with a forceps insertion part 13, and the forceps insertion part 13 communicates with a forceps port 15 of the distal end part 14. In the diagnostic imaging apparatus 1, the OCT probe 7, which is an optical probe, is inserted from the forceps insertion portion 13, so that the OCT probe 7 is led out from the forceps port 15. The OCT probe 7 is inserted from the forceps insertion section 13 and led out from the forceps opening 15, the operation section 17 for the operator to operate the OCT probe 7, and the OCT processor 5 via the connector 18. It is comprised from the cable 19 connected.

  At the distal end portion 14 of the endoscope 2, an observation optical system 20, an illumination optical system 21, and a CCD (not shown) are disposed.

  The observation optical system 20 forms an image of a subject on a light receiving surface of a CCD (not shown), and the CCD converts the subject image formed on the light receiving surface into an electric signal by each light receiving element. The CCD of this embodiment is a color CCD in which three primary color red (R), green (G), and blue (B) color filters are arranged for each pixel in a predetermined arrangement (Bayer arrangement, honeycomb arrangement). is there.

  The light source device 4 causes visible light to enter a light guide (not shown). One end of the light guide is connected to the light source device 4 via the LG connector 22, and the other end of the light guide faces the illumination optical system 21. The light emitted from the light source device 4 is emitted from the illumination optical system 21 via the light guide, and illuminates the visual field range of the observation optical system 20.

  An image signal output from the CCD is input to the endoscope processor 3 via the electrical connector 23. The analog image signal is converted into a digital image signal in the endoscope processor 3 and necessary processing for displaying on the screen of the monitor device 6 is performed.

  In this way, observation image data obtained by the endoscope 2 is output to the endoscope processor 3, and an image is displayed on the monitor device 6 connected to the endoscope processor 3.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the OCT probe 7 and the operation unit 17 are composed of a male optical rotary connector 24 as a first connector and a female optical rotary connector 25 as a second connector. Connected by

  The male side optical rotary connector 24 includes a fixing female screw portion 27 in which a fixing male screw portion 26 provided on the female side optical rotary connector 25 is fitted and fixed. Inside the fixing female screw portion 27, a rotating portion 29 held by a non-rotating inner sleeve 28 is provided. The rotating unit 29 holds the first optical fiber 30 that is passed into the OCT probe 7 and makes the first optical fiber 30 rotatable.

  The female-side optical rotary connector 25 is provided with a non-rotating portion 34 that holds the second optical fiber 33 passing through the cable 19 in a non-rotating manner. A rotating portion 35 is attached to the opposite surface of the non-rotating portion 34 to which the cable 19 is attached. The rotation part 35 is provided with a rotation transmission gear 36 near the center and a fixing male screw part 26 at the end. A motor gear 37 is engaged with the rotation transmission gear 36, and the rotating portion 35 is rotated in the direction of arrow A by the motor 38.

  Near the female optical rotary connector 25 in the operation unit 17, a moving mechanism 9 that moves a rotation lock pin that restricts the rotation of the female optical rotary connector 25 is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the moving mechanism 9 includes a lever 39 that moves the rotation lock pin 10 that is engaged with the rotation transmission gear 36 and restricts the rotation of the female optical rotary connector 25.

  The lever 39 includes a first lever 41 that is rotatably supported by the first support pin 40 and a second lever 43 that is rotatably supported by the second support pin 42.

  The first lever 41 includes a contact portion 44 that is inclined at one end in the vicinity of the female optical rotary connector 25. The second lever 43 has one end that moves in contact with the end opposite to the contact portion 44 of the first lever 41 and the other end that contacts the slider 45 that supports the rotation lock pin 10. A portion 46 is provided.

  In the moving mechanism 9 having such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 4, when the male optical rotary connector 24 and the female optical rotary connector 25 are joined, a part of the male optical rotary connector 24 is attached to the contact portion 44. The first lever 41 is pressed down in the direction of arrow A by contact.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the first lever 41 whose contact portion 44 is pushed down is rotated in the direction of the arrow θ1 by the first support pin 40. Thereby, the opposite side of the contact portion 44 comes into contact with one end of the second lever 43 and pushes up one end of the second lever 43.

  The second lever 43 whose one end is pushed up is rotated in the direction of the arrow θ2 by the second support pin. As a result, the drive unit 46 moves the slider 45 in the direction of arrow B, and moves the rotation lock pin 10 away from the rotation transmission gear 36. When the rotation lock pin 10 is released, the female-side optical rotary connector 25 whose rotation restriction has been released can be rotated.

  When the male optical rotary connector 24 is pulled out of the female optical rotary connector 25 and the force acting on the contact portion 44 in the direction of arrow A is lost, the slider rail 47 shown in FIG. The slider 45 is pushed back in the direction of the arrow C by a spring mechanism or the like, and the rotation lock pin 10 is engaged with the rotation transmission gear 36 again to restrict the rotation of the female optical rotary connector 25 as shown in FIG.

  Thereby, when the OCT probe 7 is attached, the female optical rotary connector 25 can rotate, and when the OCT probe 7 is not attached, the rotation of the female optical rotary connector 25 is locked. The male side optical rotary connector 24 and the female side optical rotary connector 25 can be safely attached and detached.

  Further, a sensor 48 for detecting the position of the lever 39 is provided in the vicinity of the moving mechanism 9 as shown in FIG. The sensor 48 is, for example, a laser type, eddy current type, or contact type sensor, and detects the position of the lever 39 when the first lever 41 passes through the detection unit of the sensor 48 as shown in FIG.

  Thereby, it is determined from the position of the lever 39 whether the male side optical rotary connector 24 and the female side optical rotary connector 25 are joined or not joined. When the lever 39 is moved to a position where the rotation lock pin 10 engages with the rotation transmission gear 36, the male optical rotary connector 24 and the female optical rotary connector 25 are not joined. The supply of laser light to is stopped. Thereby, the safe attachment / detachment operation | movement with the male side optical rotary connector 24 and the female side optical rotary connector 25 is enabled.

  As described above, according to the rotary optical connector and the method of connecting the rotary optical connector according to the present invention, the moving mechanism provided in the vicinity of the female side optical rotary connector is adapted to the attachment / detachment operation of the male side optical rotary connector. The rotation lock pin moves to allow the female-side optical rotary connector to perform rotation regulation, deregulation, and supply of laser light.

  Thus, when the optical probe is attached, the rotary optical connector can be rotated and laser light is supplied. When the optical probe is not attached, the rotation of the rotary optical connector is locked and the laser light is supplied. Enables safe attachment / detachment operation when supply is stopped.

  In the present embodiment, the lever 39 is constituted by two levers of the first lever 41 and the second lever 43. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the lever 39 is not limited to the lever 39A shown in FIG. Even if it is comprised by the lever of a book, it can implement suitably.

  The lever 39A is rotatably supported by a support pin 49, has a contact portion 44A that is an inclined surface facing downward at one end, and a drive portion 46A at the other end.

  When the male side optical rotary connector 24 and the female side optical rotary connector 25 are joined to each other and the protrusion provided on the male side optical rotary connector 24 comes into contact with the contact portion 44A from below, a force is applied in the arrow D direction. As a result, the lever 39A rotates in the direction of the arrow θ3, and the drive unit 46A moves the slider 45 in the direction of the arrow B to move the rotation lock pin 10 away from the rotation transmission gear 36. When the rotation lock pin 10 is released, the female-side optical rotary connector 25 whose rotation restriction has been released can be rotated.

  Further, in the present invention, the member that moves the slider 45 on which the rotation lock pin 10 is supported is not limited to the lever 39, but a moving member 52 that moves along the rail 51 like the moving mechanism 50 shown in FIG. Even if it is a form, it can be suitably implemented.

  The moving member 52 includes a contact portion 44B having an inclined surface facing an insertion port (not shown) into which the male optical rotary connector 24 is inserted, and a driving portion 46B that moves the slider 45.

  When the male side optical rotary connector 24 and the female side optical rotary connector 25 are joined to each other and the protrusion provided on the male side optical rotary connector 24 comes into contact with the contact portion 44B from the front, a force is applied in the direction of arrow E. As a result, the moving member 52 moves along the rail 51 in the direction of arrow E, and the drive unit 46B moves the slider 45 in the direction of arrow B. When the slider 45 moves in the direction of arrow B, the rotation lock pin 10 is moved away from the rotation transmission gear 36. When the rotation lock pin 10 is released, the female-side optical rotary connector 25 whose rotation restriction has been released can be rotated.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image diagnostic apparatus, 2 ... Endoscope, 3 ... Endoscope processor, 4 ... Light source device, 5 ... OCT processor, 6 ... Monitor apparatus, 7 ... OCT probe, 8 ... Optical connector for OCT, 9, 9A, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 50 ... Movement mechanism, 10 ... Rotation lock pin, 11 ... Hand operation part, 12 ... Insertion part, 13 ... Forceps insertion part, 14 ... Tip part, 15 ... Forceps opening, 16 ... Probe insertion part, 17 ... Operation part, 18 ... Connector, 19 ... Cable, 20 ... Observation optical system, 21 ... Illumination optical system, 22 ... LG connector, 23 ... Electrical connector, 24 ... Male side optical rotary connector, 25 ... Female side optical rotary connector, 26 ... Male screw for fixing , 27 ... fixing female screw part, 28 ... inner sleeve, 29, 35 ... rotating part, 30 ... first optical fiber, 33 ... second optical fiber, 34 ... non-rotating part, 36 ... rotation transmission gear, 37 ... Motargi , 38 ... motor, 39, 39A ... lever, 40 ... first support pin, 41 ... first lever, 42 ... second support pin, 43 ... second lever, 44, 44A, 44B ... contact portion, 45 ... Slider, 46, 46A, 46B ... Driver, 47 ... Slider rail, 48, 48A, 48B ... Sensor, 49 ... Support pin, 51 ... Rail, 52 ... Moving member

Claims (8)

A first connector for holding and rotating the first optical fiber;
A second connector that holds the second optical fiber and removably joins and rotates with the first connector so that the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber are opposed to each other;
A rotation lock pin for restricting a rotation operation of the second connector when the first connector and the second connector are not joined;
A movement mechanism for releasing the rotation restriction of the second connector by moving the rotation lock pin by contacting the first connector when the first connector and the second connector are joined; A rotary optical connector comprising: The moving mechanism includes a lever for moving the rotation lock pin;
A support pin for rotatably supporting the lever;
A contact portion in contact with the first connector provided at one end of the lever;
The rotary optical connector according to claim 1, further comprising a drive unit that moves the rotation lock pin. The lever includes a first lever provided with the contact portion at one end and rotatably supported by a first support pin;
3. A second lever that is rotatably supported by a second support pin, has one end moved by the first lever, and has the drive unit at the other end. The rotary optical connector according to 1.   The rotary optical connector according to claim 1, further comprising a sensor that detects a position of the lever.   The rotary optical connector according to claim 4, wherein the sensor is a sensor that detects presence / absence of laser light, change in eddy current, and presence / absence of contact.   Stops supplying laser light to the second optical fiber when the sensor detects that the position of the lever is a position that moves the rotation lock pin to a position that restricts rotation of the second connector. The rotary optical connector according to claim 4 or 5, wherein: The first connector that holds and rotates the first optical fiber, and the second optical fiber, and the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber are oppositely joined to each other. A second connector that is detachably joined to the connector, rotates, a rotation lock pin that regulates a rotation operation of the second connector, and the rotation lock pin is moved by contact with the first connector to move the first connector; A rotary optical connector provided with a moving mechanism for releasing the rotation restriction of the connector 2;
When the first connector and the second connector are not joined, the rotational lock pin restricts the rotational movement of the second connector so that the first connector and the second connector are joined. In this case, the rotary optical connector is connected by moving the rotation lock pin by the moving mechanism to release the rotation restriction of the second connector. The moving mechanism includes a lever that moves the rotation lock pin, a support pin that rotatably supports the lever, a contact portion that contacts the first connector provided at one end of the lever, and the rotation lock pin. A drive unit that moves, and a sensor that detects the position of the lever,
Stops supplying laser light to the second optical fiber when the sensor detects that the position of the lever is a position that moves the rotation lock pin to a position that restricts rotation of the second connector. The connection method of the rotary optical connector of Claim 7.

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