JP2017099485A - Imaging device with illumination device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate assembly of an imaging device with an illumination device and achieve illumination with uniform light volume while reducing loss of illumination light volume.SOLUTION: A round-shaped camera body 11 is covered with a round metal protective pipe 13 in the outer periphery with a space 12. An illumination end 14a formed by deforming the tip of one synthetic resin optical fiber 14 is disposed in the space 12. The tip of the optical fiber 14 is formed into the illumination end 14a consisting of an arc-shaped flat part, and the illumination end 14a is inserted into the space 12. An incident end at the rear end of the optical fiber 14 is drawn from the rear part of the protective pipe 13 together with a signal line, and connected to a light source disposed at a separate position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging device with an illumination device used for industrial use, medical use, and the like.

  In a video camera or the like used in a narrow place, an ultra-small camera having a diameter of about 1.0 mm may be used. And in order to use this camera in a dark part, illumination light is required.

  Since it is convenient to attach an illumination end to the camera itself, a light emitting element such as an LED is attached to the tip of the camera, or light is transmitted using an optical fiber for illumination.

  However, attaching an illumination light source such as an LED to the tip requires a space at the tip of the camera, which hinders downsizing, and further, when imaging a subject at a short distance in the immediate vicinity of the camera, The amount of irradiation light will be offset.

  In order to avoid such harmful effects, an optical fiber is often used as an illumination end in a micro camera. In this case, as shown in FIG. 11, in a round camera, a large number of synthetic optical fibers 2 are arranged in a line around the camera body 1, and illumination light is emitted by these optical fibers 2. Transmission is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1. The periphery of these optical fibers 2 is covered with a protective tube 3 for use.

  As shown in FIG. 12, even when a rectangular camera is used, the camera body 4 is covered with a circular protective tube 5 and optical fibers 6 are stacked in four gaps around the camera body 4. And the lighting end.

JP-A-5-27120

  In the micro camera shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, as described above, a large number of optical fibers are separated and arranged on the camera side, and light beams from the light source are incident on the light source side by bundling these optical fibers. . However, even if the optical fibers are bundled, there is a gap between the optical fibers, so that the total light amount from the light source is not transmitted to the optical fiber, and a part of the light source light amount is lost. The light loss due to this gap reaches about 10%.

  In addition, since the light source light quantity is reduced to a small diameter by the condenser lens and condensed on the optical fiber bundle, the light quantity to the optical fiber arranged at the center of the optical fiber bundle and the light quantity to the optical fiber arranged at the peripheral part Unlike the above, the amount of light emitted from each optical fiber arranged on the camera side is different. For this reason, the illumination with respect to the subject close to the camera is particularly uneven, and a good image cannot be obtained.

  Further, it is difficult to order a large number of ultrafine optical fibers in an orderly manner around the camera body during assembly, and skill is required.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an imaging device with an illumination device that solves the above-described problems, facilitates assembly, reduces the loss of the amount of illumination light, and can illuminate with a uniform amount of light.

  In order to achieve the above object, an imaging apparatus with an illumination device according to the present invention has one or more illumination ends arranged in a gap between the periphery of a camera body or an image guide and a protective tube on the outer periphery thereof. In the imaging apparatus, the illumination end is formed by inserting the front end of the light transmission member made of synthetic resin in accordance with the shape of the gap and inserted into the gap, and the light beam from the incident end at the rear end of the light transmission member Is incident.

  According to the imaging device with an illumination device according to the present invention, it is possible to easily assemble the illumination end of the single light transmission member according to the shape of the gap between the camera and the protective tube, and The loss can be reduced and the subject can be illuminated with a uniform amount of light.

1 is an exploded perspective view of a round camera according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a front view of a camera. It is a perspective view of the optical fiber which formed the illumination end. It is explanatory drawing of the state which injects the light beam from a light source into an optical fiber. It is a perspective view of the modification of an illumination end. 6 is a front view of a camera according to Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a perspective view of the optical fiber which formed the illumination end. FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a square camera according to a third embodiment. It is a front view of a camera. It is a perspective view of the optical fiber which formed the illumination end. It is explanatory drawing of the illumination end of the conventional round small camera. It is explanatory drawing of the illumination end of the conventional square-shaped small camera.

  The present invention will be described in detail based on the embodiment shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a round camera body 11 according to the first embodiment. The camera body 11 includes, for example, a cylindrical camera case 11a having an outer diameter of 1.0 mm. Inside the camera case 11a, a glass cover 11b, a frame portion 11c, a lens 11d, an inner case 11e, a CMOS 11f, and a camera control unit are arranged from the front. 11 g are arranged. A signal line 11h is drawn from the camera control unit 11g to the outside.

  FIG. 2 is a front view of a state in which an illumination end is attached around the camera body 11. A camera body 11 incorporating the components shown in FIG. 1 is covered with a metal circular protective tube 13 on the outer periphery with a gap 12 provided. In the gap 12, an illumination end 14a in which the tip of one synthetic resin optical fiber 14 as a light transmission member of the illumination device is deformed is disposed.

  The distal end of the optical fiber 14 is formed into an illumination end 14 a made up of an arcuate flat portion, and the illumination end 14 a is inserted into the gap 12. The incident end 14b at the rear end of the optical fiber 14 is pulled out from the rear portion of the protective tube 13 together with the signal line 11h, and is connected to a light source disposed at another position.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a state in which the optical fiber 14 is molded. The optical fiber 14 is an off-the-shelf optical fiber, and the tip of the optical fiber 14 is molded while being heated using a mold, and is processed into an arc shape so as to wrap around the camera body 11. It is used as it is.

  At the time of illumination, as shown in FIG. As the light beam incident on the incident end 14b travels through the optical fiber 14 toward the illumination end 14a at the tip, the light beam is dispersed in the optical fiber 14, and a uniform amount of light is emitted from the illumination end 14a.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the illumination end 14a 'by the modified optical fiber 14'. The illumination end 14 a ′ may be branched into two and formed into a semicircular arc shape, and these may be combined and arranged in an arc shape surrounding the camera body 11.

  Further, using two optical fibers 14, the tip of each optical fiber 14 is formed into an illumination end 14a, and on the light source side, the incident ends 14b of the two optical fibers 14 are melted and formed into one. It is good also as the single incident end 14b. Alternatively, a light source can be arranged at each incident end 14b of the optical fiber 14 having two illumination ends 14a.

When the outer shape of the camera body 11 is 1.0 mm and the inner diameter of the protective tube 13 is 1.25 mm, the area of the gap 12 is 0.44 mm ² . On the other hand, in the gap 12 having such a size, 28 optical fibers of 0.15 mm having the same size as the gap 12 can be arranged, and the total area of the illumination ends of these optical fibers is 0.34 mm ^2. It is.

  From this, the illumination end 14a shaped as in the first embodiment is 0.77 times the area of the gap 12 if the cross-sectional area is the same as that of the optical fiber 2 of the conventional example. The end 14a can be inserted into the gap 12 with a margin.

  Further, if the intermediate portion of the optical fiber 14 is coated with a reflecting member except for the exit surface of the illumination end 14a, light is not leaked from the side of the processed illumination end 14a, and the light flux from the light source is effectively illuminated. Can be used as light.

  FIG. 6 is a front view of the camera of the second embodiment. The camera body 11 has a rectangular protective tube 21 arranged on the outer periphery of a round camera case 11a similar to the first embodiment, and the camera case 11a and the protective tube 21 are arranged. The illumination ends 23a of the optical fibers 23 are arranged in the four gaps 22 between them. The camera using the rectangular protective tube 21 is effectively used when positioning by inserting into a square groove or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 7, each illumination end 23a is formed by processing one optical fiber 23 made of synthetic resin, and each illumination end 23a is substantially triangular so as to match the shape of the gap 22. The case 11 a is surrounded with the protective tube 21.

  Further, the incident end 23b at the rear end of the optical fiber 23 is used as it is, and the light source light beam is incident from the incident end 23b and the subject is illuminated from the illumination end 23a as in the first embodiment.

  Even in this case, since the illumination end 22a is formed in accordance with the shape of the gap 22, compared to the case where a large number of optical fibers are inserted into these gaps 22, the irradiation light quantity, irradiation unevenness, and assemblability are improved. There are advantages in terms.

  FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the camera body 31 of the rectangular camera according to the third embodiment. The camera body 31 is, for example, a square having a side of 1 mm, and a rectangular glass cover 31a, a lens 31b, a CMOS 31c, and a camera control unit 31d are sequentially stacked and bonded. A signal line 31e is drawn from the camera control unit 31d.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the camera body 31 is covered with a cylindrical protective tube 32, and four optical fibers 34 made of synthetic resin are disposed in four gaps 33 between the camera body 31 and the protective tube 32. An illumination end 34a is arranged.

  As shown in FIG. 10, each illumination end 34 a has a substantially half-moon shape that matches the shape of the gap 33. In this illumination end 34 a, four illumination ends 34 a obtained by processing the tip of one synthetic resin optical fiber 34 in a substantially half moon shape are inserted into the gaps 33, respectively. Further, the incident end 34b of the optical fiber 34 is left in its original shape.

  In addition, the substantially half-moon shaped illumination end 34a is formed for each optical fiber 34, or two illumination ends 34a are formed at the end of one optical fiber 34, and the two optical fibers 34 are combined. You can also. In these cases, the incident end 34b may be provided with a light source for each optical fiber 34, and one light source is used for one incident end formed by melting and forming a plurality of optical fibers 34. May be.

  In the first to third embodiments, the illumination end is arranged around the camera body. However, instead of the camera body, an image guide in which a large number of optical fibers are bundled may be used. An illumination end may be disposed on the screen. In this case, an image sensor can be arranged on the other end of the image guide to provide a camera.

11, 31 Camera body 12, 23, 33 Gap 13, 21, 32 Protective tube 14, 23, 34 Optical fiber 14a, 23a, 34a Illumination end 14b, 23b, 34b Incident end 15 Light source 16 Condensing lens

Claims (8)

  In an imaging apparatus in which one or a plurality of illumination ends are arranged in the gap between the periphery of the camera body or the image guide and the protective tubes on the outer periphery thereof, the illumination end is the tip of a light transmission member made of synthetic resin An imaging device with an illuminating device, wherein a light beam from a light source is incident from an incident end of a rear end of the light transmission member.   The imaging device with an illumination device according to claim 1, wherein the light transmission member is an optical fiber, and the illumination end is formed by processing an end of the optical fiber.   The imaging apparatus with an illumination device according to claim 2, wherein a light beam from the light source is incident on an incident end of the optical fiber via a condenser lens.   The imaging apparatus with an illumination device according to claim 2, wherein one illumination end is provided in the one optical fiber.   The imaging device with an illumination device according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of illumination ends are provided on the one optical fiber.   6. The imaging device with an illumination device according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of incident ends of the optical fiber are collectively melted into one incident end.   The illumination according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the camera body or the image guide and the protective tube have a round cross section, and the illumination end is inserted into the gap as a circular arc shape. An imaging device with a device.   The camera body or the image guide has a round cross section, the protection tube has a rectangular shape, and the four illumination ends are inserted into four intervals between the camera body or the image guide and the protection tube, respectively. The imaging apparatus with an illumination device according to claim 1.

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