JP2011245155A - Medical apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a medical apparatus miniaturizing a distal end by preventing to the utmost a rack gear from jumping out forward from a rotating member in configuration of turning an observation optical system held to the rotating member using the rack gear.SOLUTION: The medical apparatus includes an imaging part having at least the observation optical system 1; the rotating member 2 adjusting the visual field direction of the observation optical system 1 by being rotatable from 0° to 90° by a gear 2n while holding the imaging part; a first rack gear part 3 meshed with the gear 2n with forward movement to rotate the rotating member 2 in one direction R1 from 0° to 30°; and a second rack gear part 4 juxtaposed independently of the first rack gear part 3 and meshed with the gear 2n with forward movement to rotate the rotating member 2 in the one direction R1 from 30° to 90°.

Description

  The present invention relates to a medical instrument in which the observation direction of an observation optical system that performs observation inside a subject can be changed.

  In recent years, endoscopes are widely used in the medical field and the industrial field. An endoscope used in the medical field observes an organ to be a test site in a body cavity by inserting a long and narrow insertion portion into a body cavity to be a test object, and includes an endoscope as necessary. Various treatments can be performed using the treatment tool inserted into the insertion channel of the treatment tool.

  In addition, endoscopes used in the industrial field are designed to insert a long and narrow insertion portion of an endoscope into a jet engine or a subject such as a pipe of a factory. Observations such as corrosion and inspections such as various treatments can be performed.

  Further, the observation of the test site as described above is usually performed using an observation optical system provided in the distal end portion located on the distal end side in the insertion direction of the insertion portion (hereinafter simply referred to as the distal end side). As the types of endoscopes, the observation optical system is provided on the distal end surface of the distal end portion, so that the observation optical system observes the front in the insertion direction, and the observation optical system includes the distal end portion. A side-view type endoscope in which the observation optical system observes a direction different from the front in the insertion direction by being provided on the side surface is well known.

  Here, when using a direct-view type endoscope to observe a direction different from the front in the insertion direction in the subject, or using a side-view type endoscope to observe the front in the insertion direction in the subject Is performed by changing the observation direction of the observation optical system by curving a bending portion located on the proximal side in the insertion direction (hereinafter simply referred to as the proximal side) with respect to the distal end portion of the insertion portion. It is common.

  However, when the insertion portion is inserted into a subject having a small tube diameter, there is a problem that the bending portion cannot be sufficiently bent to a predetermined angle and it is difficult to observe a desired portion to be examined. Therefore, in such a case, it is necessary to use a side-view type endoscope and a direct-view type endoscope properly according to the position of the test site in the subject. Since two types of endoscopes and direct-view type endoscopes must be prepared, the inspection cost has increased.

  In view of such circumstances, Patent Document 1 discloses that a gear provided in an extending portion that extends from the imaging unit by disposing an imaging unit including an observation optical system and an imaging element in the distal end portion of the insertion portion. By moving the rack gear provided in the insertion portion that meshes with the front and rear in the insertion direction, and rotating the imaging unit due to the rotation of the gear as the rack gear moves, the viewing direction of the observation optical system A configuration that varies the above is disclosed.

  According to such a configuration, the viewing direction of the observation optical system can be easily changed by one endoscope, so that the observation property can be improved and the inspection cost can be reduced.

JP-T-2004-537362

  However, since the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1 is configured to rotate the imaging unit by moving the rack gear back and forth in the insertion direction, the imaging unit is rotated in one direction, for example, 90 °. Therefore, when the rack gear is moved from the rearmost position to the frontmost position in the insertion direction in the movable range of the rack gear, there is a problem that the front end side of the rack gear protrudes by a predetermined length forward in the insertion direction from the imaging unit. .

  Therefore, when considering that the front end side of the popped rack gear does not fly more than the front end surface of the insertion portion, it is necessary to separately secure a jump space on the front end side of the rack gear at the front end portion. Since the observation optical system of the image pickup unit is located rearward from the tip surface of the tip portion, there is a problem that not only the viewing angle is reduced but also the tip portion is enlarged in the insertion direction.

  The above is not limited to the image pickup unit including the observation optical system and the image pickup device, and the same applies to a configuration in which only the image pickup unit having the observation optical system and the prism is rotated. Specifically, FIG. 15 is a partial perspective view of the distal end portion of the conventional insertion portion when the observation direction of the observation optical system is the insertion direction front, and FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating the observation direction of the observation optical system. FIG. 17 is a partial perspective view of the distal end portion of the insertion portion when the observation optical system is rotated by 45 ° from FIG. 15, FIG. 17 is the observation direction of the observation optical system, and the observation optical system is rotated by 90 ° from FIG. It is a fragmentary perspective view of the front-end | tip part of an insertion part when it has become a direction. In FIGS. 16 and 17, the gear 102n is shown in a simplified manner.

  As shown in FIG. 15, when the rack gear 100 is located at the rearmost position in the insertion direction S in the movable range of the rack gear 100, that is, the rotating member 102 that holds the imaging unit 108 having the observation optical system 101 and the prism 109. Is 0 °, the viewing direction of the viewing optical system 101 is forward of the insertion direction.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 16, the rack gear 100 that meshes with the gear 102n of the rotating member 102 moves forward from the most rear position to the almost half of the most front position, and the rotating member 102 that holds the imaging unit 108 When the rotation is 45 °, the observation direction of the observation optical system 101 is 45 ° different from FIG.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 17, the rack gear 100 meshed with the gear 102n of the rotating member 102 moves forward from the most rear position to the most front position, and the rotation of the rotating member 102 holding the imaging unit 108 is 90 °. At this time, the observation direction of the observation optical system 101 is different from that of FIG.

  However, as shown in FIG. 17, when the rotating member 102 is rotated 90 ° from FIG. 15, there is a problem that the rack gear 100 jumps forward in the insertion direction by L <b> 1 from the tip of the rotating member 102.

  Therefore, in the same manner as in Patent Document 1, when considering that the portion where the rack gear 100 has protruded does not protrude from the rotating member 102, a protrusion space on the front end side of the rack gear 100 must be separately secured in the front end portion 110. In this case, since the observation optical system of the imaging unit is located rearward from the front end surface of the front end portion only in the protruding space, the viewing angle is reduced, and the front end surface and side surfaces of the front end portion, that is, the rotating member The cover glass covering the rotation range of 102 must also be formed larger in the 0 ° direction than in the case where there is no pop-out space in order to secure the pop-out space, and further, the tip end portion becomes larger in the insertion direction. There was a problem. This problem is the same even when the imaging unit 108 is configured only from the observation optical system 101.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in the configuration in which the observation optical system held by the rotating member is rotated using the rack gear, by preventing the rack gear from protruding forward from the rotating member as much as possible. An object of the present invention is to provide a medical device that realizes miniaturization of the tip.

  In order to achieve the above object, a medical device according to the present invention holds an imaging unit having at least an observation optical system for observing the inside of a subject, and holds the imaging unit, and is rotatable from a reference angle to a second angle by a gear. The rotating unit that changes the viewing direction of the observation optical system, and the rotation accompanying the movement of the observation optical system forward in the optical axis direction when the rotating unit is positioned at the reference angle. A first rack gear portion that rotates the rotating portion in one direction from the reference angle to the first angle by being engaged with the gear of a portion; and meshing with the gear by the first rack gear portion In the state after the end of the light, or among the plurality of teeth constituting the first rack gear portion, the tooth located most rearward in the optical axis direction is meshed with the gear. The first portion is rotated in the one direction from the first angle to the second angle by meshing with the gear of the rotating portion as it moves forward in the direction. And a second rack gear portion arranged separately from the rack gear portion.

  According to the present invention, in the configuration in which the observation optical system held by the rotating member is rotated using the rack gear, the tip portion is reduced in size by preventing the rack gear from protruding forward as far as possible. A medical device can be provided.

The perspective view which shows the outline of a structure of the endoscope which shows this Embodiment. The perspective view of a front-end | tip part when the observation direction of the observation optical system of the imaging unit provided in the front-end | tip part of the insertion part of FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the distal end portion when the observation optical system of FIG. 2 is rotated by 22.5 ° from FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the distal end portion when the observation optical system of FIG. 2 is rotated by 45 ° from FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the distal end portion when the observation optical system of FIG. 2 is rotated by 67.5 ° from FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the distal end portion when the observation optical system of FIG. 2 is rotated by 90 ° from FIG. Sectional drawing of the front-end | tip part in alignment with the VII-VII line in FIG. Sectional drawing of the front-end | tip part which shows the state which the rotation member of FIG. 7 rotated 15 degrees from FIG. Sectional drawing of the front-end | tip part which shows the state which the rotation member of FIG. 7 rotated 30 degrees from FIG. Sectional drawing of the front-end | tip part in alignment with the XX line in FIG. 4 which shows the state which the rotation member of FIG. 7 rotated 45 degrees from FIG. Sectional drawing of the front-end | tip part which shows the state which the rotation member of FIG. 7 rotated 60 degrees from FIG. Sectional drawing of the front-end | tip part which shows the state which the rotation member of FIG. 7 rotated 70 degrees from FIG. Sectional drawing of the front-end | tip part which shows the state which the rotation member of FIG. 7 rotated 75 degrees from FIG. Sectional drawing of the front-end | tip part in alignment with the XIV-XIV line | wire in FIG. 6 which shows the state which the rotation member of FIG. 7 rotated 90 degrees from FIG. Partial perspective view of the distal end portion of the conventional insertion portion when the observation direction of the observation optical system is the front in the insertion direction Partial perspective view of the distal end portion of the insertion portion when the observation optical system is in the direction rotated by 45 ° from FIG. The partial perspective view of the front-end | tip part of an insertion part when the observation direction of an observation optical system is the direction which the observation optical system rotated 90 degrees from FIG.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, the medical device will be described using an endoscope as an example.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outline of the configuration of an endoscope showing the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, an endoscope 20 that is a medical device includes an insertion section 14 that is inserted into a subject, an operation section 13 that is connected to the proximal end side of the insertion section 14, and the operation section. 13 includes a universal cord 16 extended from 13 and a connector 17 provided at an extended end of the universal cord 16 to constitute a main part. Note that the endoscope 20 is electrically connected to an external device such as a control device or a lighting device via the connector 17.

  The operation section 13 is provided with a bending operation knob 15 for performing a bending operation of the bending section 11 described later provided in the insertion section 14.

  The insertion portion 14 includes a distal end portion 10, a bending portion 11 positioned on the proximal end side of the distal end portion 10, and a flexible tube portion 12 positioned on the proximal end side of the bending portion 11. And is formed in an elongated shape along the insertion direction S of the insertion portion 14.

  The bending portion 11 can be bent in, for example, four directions, up and down, left and right, a direction that combines the four directions, and two directions, up and down, and left and right, by the operation of the bending operation knob 15 described above.

  In the distal end portion 10, an imaging unit 8 to be described later for observing the inside of the subject, an illumination unit for illuminating the inside of the subject, and the like are provided. Hereinafter, the configuration of the imaging unit 8 provided in the distal end portion 10 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  2 is a perspective view of the distal end portion when the observation direction of the observation optical system of the imaging unit provided in the distal end portion of the insertion portion in FIG. 1 is forward in the insertion direction, and FIG. 3 is an observation optical view of FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the distal end when the observation direction of the system is a direction rotated by 22.5 ° from the observation optical system from FIG. 2.

  4 is a perspective view of the tip when the observation direction of the observation optical system in FIG. 2 is the direction rotated by 45 ° from FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is the observation optical system in FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the tip when the observation optical system is rotated by 67.5 ° from FIG. 2, and FIG. 6 is an observation direction of the observation optical system of FIG. It is a perspective view of a front-end | tip part when the observation optical system is in the direction rotated 90 degrees.

  7 is a cross-sectional view of the tip portion taken along the line VII-VII in FIG. 2, and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the tip portion showing a state in which the rotating member of FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the distal end portion showing a state where the rotating member of FIG. 7 is rotated 30 ° from FIG. 7, and FIG. 10 is a state where the rotating member of FIG. 7 is rotated 45 ° from FIG. It is sectional drawing of the front-end | tip part in alignment with XX in the inside.

  11 is a cross-sectional view of the tip portion showing a state where the rotating member of FIG. 7 is rotated 60 ° from FIG. 7, and FIG. 12 is a state where the rotating member of FIG. 7 is rotated 70 ° from FIG. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the tip portion, FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the tip portion showing a state in which the rotating member of FIG. 7 is rotated 75 ° from FIG. 7, and FIG. It is sectional drawing of the front-end | tip part which follows the XIV-XIV line | wire in FIG. 4 to 6, the gear 2n is shown in a simplified manner.

  As shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 14, an imaging unit 8, which is an imaging unit having at least an observation optical system 1 for observing a test site serving as a subject in the subject and a prism 9 in the distal end portion 10. Is provided. 7 to 14, the prism 9 is omitted for the sake of simplicity.

  Moreover, as shown in FIGS. 2-14, in the front-end | tip part 10, the imaging unit 8 is hold | maintained by the rotating member 2 which is a rotation part.

  The rotating member 2 is a part of the outer peripheral surface, for example, a gear 2n composed of six teeth (2n1 to 2n6), and the observation optical system 1 that is a reference angle observes the front in the insertion direction S. FIG. 7, the observation optical system 1 that is the second angle from 0 ° shown in FIG. 7 observes a direction different from FIG. 2 and FIG. It is rotatable in one direction R1 and another direction R2 opposite to the one direction R1, and the viewing direction of the observation optical system 1 is variable between 0 ° and 90 °.

  2 and 7, the optical axis direction of the observation optical system 1 when the rotating member 2 is 0 ° coincides with the insertion direction S. Further, since the observation optical system 1 is fixed to the rotation member 2, the rotation angle of the rotation member 2 and the observation angle of the observation optical system 1 coincide with each other.

  In addition, in the distal end portion 10, a plurality of prisms (not shown) and an imaging element are provided in addition to the imaging unit 8, and the test site observed by the observation optical system 1 regardless of the rotation of the rotating member 2. The image is formed on the image sensor via the prism 9 or another prism.

  Further, a cover glass (not shown) is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the tip portion 10 so as to cover the observation optical system 1 rotated by the rotating member 2. That is, the cover glass is provided in a circular arc shape along the side surface from the front end surface of the front end portion 10 within the rotation range 0 ° to 90 ° of the rotary member 2 at the front end portion 10.

  In the insertion portion 14, a first rack gear portion 3 and a second rack gear portion 4 that are meshed with the gear 2 n of the rotation member 2 and rotate the rotation member 2 are provided along the insertion direction S. .

  Specifically, the first rack gear portion 3 is configured to be movable back and forth in the insertion direction S, and has two teeth 3a and 3b as shown in FIGS. 7 to 14, for example. As the teeth 3a and 3b are sequentially meshed with the gear 2n of the rotating member 2 as it moves forward in the insertion direction S (hereinafter simply referred to as the front), the rotating member 2 is moved from 0 ° to FIG. The teeth 3b and 3a are rotated in the one direction R1 up to 30 °, for example, the first angle shown in FIG. 3 and moved backward from 30 ° in the insertion direction S (hereinafter simply referred to as “rear”). By sequentially meshing with the gear 2n of the rotating member 2, the rotating member 2 is rotated in another direction R2 from 30 ° to 0 °.

  Note that when the tooth 3b is engaged with the gear 2n and the rotating member 2 is rotated to 70 ° shown in FIG. 12, for example, the forward movement of the first rack gear portion 3 is restricted by a stopper (not shown). Is done. That is, the rotational position of the rotating member 2 in one direction R1 is fixed by the stopper.

  Examples of the stopper include a wall against which the tip of the first rack gear portion 3 provided on the tip surface of the tip portion abuts, a stopper member provided at an intermediate position in the insertion direction of the first rack gear portion 3, and the like. It is done.

  The second rack gear portion 4 is configured to be movable forward and backward in the insertion direction S, and has, for example, three teeth 4a to 4c as shown in FIGS. In the direction N, the first rack gear unit 3 is arranged separately from the first rack gear unit 3.

  When the rotating member 2 is 0 °, the second rack gear portion 4 is located behind the first rack gear portion 3 although not shown.

  Further, when the rotating member 2 rotates in one direction R1 from 0 ° to 70 ° by the meshing of the first rack gear portion 3 with the gear 2n, or in the other direction R2 from 70 ° to 0 °. The first rack gear portion 3 and the second rack gear portion 4 are integrally moved forward and backward during the rotation.

  Further, the second rack gear portion 4 is either in a state after the meshing of the first rack gear portion 3 with the gear 3n by the teeth 3b or in a state where the teeth 3b are meshed with the gear 2n. The teeth 4a to 4c are sequentially meshed with the gear 2n as they move forward, thereby rotating the rotating member 2 in one direction R1 from 30 ° to 90 ° and moving backward from 90 °. Accordingly, the teeth 4c to 4a are sequentially meshed with the gear 2n to rotate the rotating member 2 in the other direction R2 from 90 ° to 30 °.

  The first rack gear unit 3 and the second rack gear unit 4 may be configured to be separately operated as described above by an operator by an operation member (not shown) provided in the operation unit 13, The cam mechanism using a cam or cam groove may be operated in conjunction with an operation member (not shown) provided in the operation unit 13.

Next, the effect | action of this Embodiment is demonstrated using FIGS.
First, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, when the observation optical system 1 observes the front at 0 °, the teeth 3a of the first rack gear portion 3 mesh with the teeth 2n1 of the gear 2n. Further, the tooth 3b starts to mesh with the tooth 2n2 of the gear 2n.

  Here, when the observation optical system 1 changes the observation direction of the observation optical system 1 from 0 ° where the front is observed, the first rack gear portion 3 and the second rack gear portion 4 are integrally moved forward. . As a result, as shown in FIG. 8, when the tooth 3b of the first rack gear portion 3 is engaged with the tooth 2n2, the rotating member 2 rotates in one direction R1 from 0 ° to 15 °. Therefore, the observation direction of the observation optical system 1 is different from the direction shown in FIG. 7 by 15 °. At this time, since the second rack gear portion 4 is located behind the first rack gear portion 3 in the state of 0 ° as described above, the second rack gear with respect to the gear 2n. Part 4 has not meshed yet.

  Subsequently, when the first rack gear portion 3 and the second rack gear portion 4 are integrally moved forward, as shown in FIG. 3, the rotating member 2 has one direction R1 from 15 ° to 22.5 °. Rotate to. Therefore, the observation direction of the observation optical system 1 is different from the direction shown in FIG. 2 by 22.5 °.

  Next, when the first rack gear portion 3 and the second rack gear portion 4 are moved further forward than in FIG. 3, the engagement of the teeth 3a with the teeth 2n1 is finished as shown in FIG. When the tooth 4b of the second rack gear portion 4 is engaged with the tooth 2n3 in a state where the tooth 3b is engaged, the rotating member 2 rotates in the one direction R1 from 22.5 ° to 30 °. Therefore, the observation direction of the observation optical system 1 is different from the direction shown in FIG. 7 by 30 °.

  Next, when the first rack gear portion 3 and the second rack gear portion 4 are moved integrally forward further than in FIG. 9, the engagement of the teeth 3b with the teeth 2n2 ends as shown in FIG. When the tooth 4b starts to mesh with the tooth 2n4 in a state where the gear 4a is meshed, the rotating member 2 rotates in one direction R1 from 30 ° to 45 °. Therefore, the observation direction of the observation optical system 1 is 45 ° different from the direction shown in FIG. 7, as shown in FIG.

  Next, when the first rack gear portion 3 and the second rack gear portion 4 are integrally moved further forward than in FIG. 10, the meshing of the first rack gear portion 3 with the gear 2n is completed as shown in FIG. Therefore, the first rack gear portion 3 moves forward without meshing with the gear 2n, and the teeth 4c mesh with the teeth 2n5 while the teeth 4a and 4b mesh with the teeth 2n2 and 2n3, respectively. By starting, the rotating member 2 rotates in one direction R1 from 45 ° to 60 °. Therefore, the observation direction of the observation optical system 1 is different from the direction shown in FIG. 7 by 60 °.

  Subsequently, when the first rack gear portion 3 and the second rack gear portion 4 are further moved forward integrally, as shown in FIG. , Rotate in one direction R1 from 60 ° to 67.5 °. Therefore, the observation direction of the observation optical system 1 is different from the direction shown in FIG. 2 by 67.5 °.

  Next, when the first rack gear portion 3 and the second rack gear portion 4 are integrally moved further forward than in FIG. 5, the advancement of the first rack gear portion 3 is ended by a stopper member (not shown), and FIG. As shown, the meshing of the tooth 4a with the tooth 2n3 is finished, and the meshing of the tooth 4c with the tooth 2n5 proceeds in a state where the tooth 4b meshes with the tooth 2n4. Rotate in one direction R1 up to °. Therefore, the observation direction of the observation optical system 1 is different from the direction shown in FIG. 7 by 70 °.

  Next, when the second rack gear portion 4 is moved further forward than in FIG. 12, as shown in FIG. 13, the engagement of the teeth 4c with the teeth 2n5 further proceeds while the teeth 4b are engaged with the teeth 2n4. Thus, the rotating member 2 rotates in one direction R1 from 70 ° to 75 °. Therefore, the observation direction of the observation optical system 1 is different from the direction shown in FIG. 7 by 75 °.

  Finally, when the second rack gear portion 4 is moved further forward than in FIG. 13, the engagement of the teeth 4b with the teeth 2n4 is completed as shown in FIG. 12, and the teeth 4c are completely engaged with the teeth 2n5. The rotating member 2 rotates in one direction R1 from 75 ° to 90 °. Accordingly, the observation direction of the observation optical system 1 is 90 ° different from the direction shown in FIG. 7, as shown in FIG. In other words, the rotation of the rotating member 2 from 30 ° to 90 ° is performed only by the second rack gear portion 4.

  At this time, the amount of protrusion of the first rack gear portion 3 from the rotating member 2 to the front is extremely smaller than the amount of protrusion L1 of the conventional one rack gear 100 as shown in FIG. 17 (L2). <L1).

  Further, the amount of protrusion of the second rack gear portion 4 from the rotating member 2 is smaller than the amount of protrusion L2 of the first rack gear portion 3 from the rotating member 2.

  Conversely, when rotating the rotating member 2 from 90 ° to 0 ° in the other direction R2, by moving only the second rack gear portion 4 backward, as shown in FIGS. The rotating member 2 rotates from 90 ° to 70 °, and the first rack gear portion 3 moves rearward integrally with the second rack gear portion 4 from 70 °, so that the rotating member 2 moves from 70 ° to 0 °. Rotate in the other direction R2 up to °.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the two rack gear portions 3 and 4 arranged in parallel in the direction N along the insertion direction S are used in the insertion portion 14 to rotate the rotating member 2 to zero. It was shown to be rotated up to 90 °. Specifically, the rotating member 2 is rotated from 0 ° to 30 ° by the meshing of the teeth 3a, 3b with the gear 2n accompanying the forward movement of the first rack gear portion 3, and the second rack gear portion 4 It has been shown that the rotating member 2 is rotated from 30 ° to 90 ° by the meshing of the teeth 4a to 4c with the gear 2n accompanying the forward movement.

  According to this, as shown in FIGS. 15 to 17 of the related art, the amount of the protrusion is less than the amount L1 of the rack gear 100 when the rotating member 102 is rotated from 0 ° to 90 ° with one rack gear 100. As shown in the embodiment, when the rack gear is rotated from 0 ° to 90 ° by the two rack gears, the pop-out amount L2 of the rack gear is much smaller (L1> L2).

  Therefore, in the configuration in which the observation optical system held by the rotating member is rotated using the rack gear, an endoscope that realizes downsizing of the distal end portion by preventing the rack gear from protruding forward as far as possible from the rotating member. Can be provided.

A modification will be described below.
In the present embodiment, the first rack gear portion 3 has two teeth and the second rack gear portion 4 has three teeth. However, the number of teeth is limited to these numbers. Of course, it is not done.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the number of rack gear portions is two has been described as an example. However, the number of rack gear portions is not limited to this and may be three or more.

  In addition, after the two teeth of the first rack gear portion 3 have been engaged with the gear 2n, the first rack gear portion 3 has been shown to finish biting into the gear 2n because there are only two teeth. However, even if two or more teeth are formed in the first rack gear portion 3, a gear that only the first rack gear portion 3 meshes with the gear 2n in the direction N and a gear that only the second rack gear portion 4 meshes. If the number of teeth of the gear that only the first rack gear portion 3 is engaged with is two, the same effect as in the present embodiment can be obtained.

  In the present embodiment, the rotation of the rotating member 2 from 0 ° to the second angle 90 ° has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the second angle is other than 90 °. Of course, it may be.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the imaging unit 8 has been described as including the observation optical system 1 and the prism 9, but not limited thereto, the imaging unit 8 includes only the observation optical system 1. It may also be configured to have up to the image sensor.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the medical device has been described by taking an endoscope as an example. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and any medical device having an observation optical system may be used. The configuration of this embodiment can be applied.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Observation optical system 2 ... Rotating member (rotating part)
2n ... Gear 3 ... First rack gear part 3a ... First rack gear part tooth 3b ... First rack gear part tooth 4 ... Second rack gear part 8 ... Imaging unit (imaging part)
20 ... Endoscope (medical equipment)
R1 ... One direction R2 ... Other directions

Claims (6)

An imaging unit having at least an observation optical system for observing the inside of the subject;
A rotating unit that holds the imaging unit and can change a visual field direction of the observation optical system by being rotatable from a reference angle to a second angle by a gear;
When the rotating part is moved forward in the optical axis direction of the observation optical system when the rotating part is positioned at the reference angle, the rotating part is engaged with the gear of the rotating part, whereby the rotating part is A first rack gear portion that rotates in one direction from an angle to a first angle;
A state after the first rack gear portion has finished meshing with the gear, or among the plurality of teeth constituting the first rack gear portion, the tooth positioned rearward in the optical axis direction meshes with the gear. In any of the above states, the rotation portion is engaged with the gear of the rotation portion as it moves forward in the optical axis direction, thereby moving the rotation portion from the first angle to the second angle. Rotating in the one direction until the second rack gear portion separately from the first rack gear portion,
A medical device characterized by comprising:  2. The medical device according to claim 1, wherein, at the reference angle, the second rack gear portion is positioned rearward in the optical axis direction with respect to the first rack gear portion.  When the rotating portion rotates in the one direction from the reference angle to the first angle, the first rack gear portion and the second rack gear portion integrally move forward in the optical axis direction. The medical device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein After the rotating part rotates in the one direction from the reference angle to the first angle, the position of the rotating part in the optical axis direction is fixed by a stopper,
The rotation of the rotating part in the one direction from the first angle to the second angle is performed only by moving the second rack gear part forward in the optical axis direction. The medical device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. At the second angle, due to the meshing of the rotating portion with the gear as the second rack gear portion moves rearward in the optical axis direction, the rotating portion is moved from the second angle to the first angle. Rotated in another direction opposite to the one direction up to an angle,
At the first angle, due to the meshing of the rotating portion with the gear as the first rack gear portion moves rearward in the optical axis direction, the rotating portion is moved from the first angle to the reference angle. The medical device according to claim 1, wherein the medical device is rotated in the other direction.  When the rotating part rotates in the other direction from the first angle to the reference angle, the first rack gear part and the second rack gear part integrally move backward in the optical axis direction. The medical device according to claim 5.

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