JP3181672B2 - Electronic endoscope tip - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a distal end of a so-called electronic endoscope in which a solid-state image pickup device is built in the distal end of an insertion portion of the endoscope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional electronic endoscope, a solid-state imaging device and a circuit board are integrally connected and connected within a distal end of an insertion portion, and the solid-state imaging device is joined to an objective optical system.
Connect the signal cable to the circuit board by soldering, etc.
All of these were configured as one unit.

[0003]

Since the signal cable is inserted through the entire length of the insertion portion of the endoscope, the signal cable may be broken by mistake during a bending operation test or the like during assembly.

In such a case, at the distal end of the conventional electronic endoscope as described above, even if the solid-state imaging device has no abnormality,
The unit including the expensive solid-state imaging device must be replaced, which is very uneconomical. In addition, since the entire unit including the objective optical system must be removed from the tip of the insertion portion and replaced, the repair time is long.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a distal end portion of an electronic endoscope which can easily and inexpensively repair a broken signal cable.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the distal end of the electronic endoscope according to the present invention is provided with an observation image forming position of an objective optical system provided in the distal end of the insertion section of the endoscope. The solid-state imaging device is disposed at the distal end of an electronic endoscope in which a circuit board to which a signal cable is connected and the solid-state imaging device are connected and connected within the distal end of the insertion portion. And are connected in a separable manner.

The solid-state imaging device may be fixed to a mounting substrate for mounting the solid-state imaging device, and the mounting substrate and the circuit board may be connected to and separated from each other by a connector. It may be arranged in a space formed around the mounting board and the circuit board in the tip of the unit.

[0008]

An embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a front view of a distal end portion of the electronic endoscope, and FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line II.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a curved portion formed at the distal end of an elongated flexible tube forming an insertion portion, and a plurality of node rings 2 are rotatably connected by rivets. The outer periphery is covered with a mesh tube 4 made of a thin metal wire and a jacket tube 5 made of rubber.

A bending operation wire 7 which is remotely pulled and operated.
Are inserted in a wire guide 8 projecting inward from each node ring 2 so as to be able to advance and retreat. The distal end of each bending operation wire 7 is fixed to the most advanced wire guide 8 by silver brazing. Reference numeral 9 denotes a stopper pipe for securing the wire guide 8, which is fixed to the end of the leading-edge wire guide 8 by silver brazing or the like.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a distal end main body connected to the distal end of the curved portion 1 via a connecting tube 12;
And a head 11a made of an electrically insulating plastic and joined to a tip portion thereof.

The tip body 11 is located on the tip side (left side in FIG. 1).
It has a circular cross-sectional shape as viewed from above, and the objective optical system 13 is built therein. The objective optical system 13 includes an objective lens group 13a including a plurality of lenses, a color correction filter 13b, a low-pass filter 13c, and a right-angle prism 1
3d.

The axial direction of the objective lens group 13a coincides with the axial direction of the distal end main body 11, and the object ahead is the subject. The observation window 14 is formed by the most advanced lens of the objective optical system 13.

Reference numerals 15 and 16 denote mirror frames into which an objective lens group 13a including a cemented lens is fitted and adhered. 17 is the aperture stop. Reference numeral 18 denotes an O-ring for sealing. Reference numeral 20 shown in FIG. 2 denotes an illumination window, from which illumination light transmitted through the illumination light guide fiber bundle is radiated outward to illuminate a subject in front of the distal end body 11.
21 and 22 are air / water nozzles. 23 is an outlet of the forceps channel.

As shown in FIG. 1, a solid-state image pickup device 31 is disposed in the body 11b of the distal end main body 11. As the solid-state imaging device 31, for example, a CCD (charge coupled device) is used.

The image receiving surface 31a of the solid-state image sensor 31 is formed in a square or rectangular shape, and is arranged parallel to the optical axis of the objective lens group 13a.

The right-angle prism 13d disposed between the objective lens group 13a and the solid-state image sensor 31 causes the optical axis of the objective optical system 13 to intersect perpendicularly with the center of the image receiving surface 31a of the solid-state image sensor 31. At right angles.

Right angle prism 13d and objective lens group 13a
And a connecting cylinder 19 connected to the rear half of the lens frame 16.
Inside, the light shielding mask 25, the color correction filter 13b, and the low-pass filter 13c are joined and interposed, and the right-angle prism 13d and the low-pass filter 13c are also joined to each other.

With such an arrangement, the image of the subject on the left side in FIG.
Is formed on the image receiving surface 31a. The solid-state imaging device 31 is fixed to a flexible mounting substrate 41 and has an image receiving surface 3.
The side 1a is joined to the right-angle prism 13d.

On the other hand, a flexible circuit board 42 to which electronic components (not shown) for performing signal processing of the solid-state imaging device 31 are attached is fixedly connected to the distal end of the signal cable 43 by soldering. I have.

As shown in FIG. 5, the circuit board 42 is bent in a U-shape, and its periphery is covered with a shield tape 44 and an insulating tape 45. An epoxy adhesive 60 is provided in the internal space. Filled and hardened to prevent deformation.

In this way, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the objective optical system 13 and the solid-state image sensor 31 are integrally formed as one unit including the mounting board 41, and the signal cable 43 and the circuit board 42 are integrally formed as one unit.

At the rear end of the mounting board 41, a terminal row 47 for transmitting electric signals is provided to project rearward, and at the front end of the circuit board 42, the terminal row 4 of the mounting board 41 is provided.
The connector 48 detachably engaged with the connector 7 is disposed facing forward.

Therefore, the terminal row 4
7, the solid-state imaging device 31 and the circuit board 42 are connected and connected, and the connector 48
If you pull out, each unit is separated.

The objective optical system 13 and the solid-state imaging device 3
The unit on the first side is fixed to the distal end body 11 by an objective fixing screw 51 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, and the unit on the circuit board 42 and the signal cable 43 side is shown in FIGS. As described above, the board is fixed to the connecting cylinder 12 by the board fixing screw 52 via the pair of upper and lower holding plates 46.

Therefore, when the distal end portion of the electronic endoscope is manufactured, if the signal cable 43 is disconnected in the assembled state as shown in FIG. Signal cable 43 and circuit board 42
By pulling the unit back, the connector 4
The terminal row 47 comes off from 8, and only the signal cable 43 and the unit of the circuit board 42 can be removed and replaced.

The body of the tip body 11 and the connecting cylinder 12
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the connecting cylinder 12 and the leading end node ring 2 are connected by flat head screws, respectively. When repairing or the like, the flat head screws 2 are loosened. ,
These can be easily disassembled.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show the second embodiment of the present invention before and after connector connection. The mounting substrate 41 is bent substantially along the slope of the prism 13d to form a terminal row 47. Is projected obliquely forward, and the circuit board 42
The connector 48 on the side also extends obliquely forward from the front end of the circuit board 42 and is arranged accordingly.

In this way, the connector 48 is connected to the mounting board 41 and the circuit board 42 at the distal end of the insertion portion of the endoscope.
And the circuit board 42 can be reduced in size.

[0030]

According to the tip of the electronic endoscope of the present invention,
Since the circuit board to which the signal cable is connected and the solid-state image sensor are detachably connected, when the signal cable is disconnected, etc., only the circuit board and the signal cable are replaced without touching the solid-state image sensor. can do.

Therefore, the replacement parts are very inexpensive and economical, and there is no need to remove the objective optical system, so that the time required for repair is greatly reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view (II sectional view) of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a front sectional view (III-III sectional view) of the first embodiment.
It is.

FIG. 4 is a front sectional view (IV-IV sectional view) of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a partial front sectional view (VV sectional view) of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a partial side view of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a partial bottom view of the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a partial side sectional view of the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a partial side sectional view of the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Front-end | tip main body 12 Connecting tube 13 Objective optical system 31 Solid-state image sensor 41 Mounting board 42 Circuit board 43 Signal cable 47 Terminal row 48 Connector

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A solid-state imaging device is arranged at an observation image forming position of an objective optical system provided in the distal end of an insertion portion of an endoscope, and a circuit board to which a signal cable is connected and the solid-state imaging device are connected. At the distal end of the electronic endoscope connected and connected within the distal end of the insertion portion, the solid-state imaging device is fixed to a mounting board, and
The terminal row protruding from the mounting board is mounted on the circuit board.
Into the attached connector so that it can be
Between the body image pickup device and the circuit board is connected in a freely separated
Tip of the electronic endoscope, characterized by that. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the terminal row is formed at an acute angle from the mounting board.
It is projected in the direction in which it was bent back.
The connector is disposed obliquely forward from the circuit board.
Tip of the electronic endoscope according to claim 1 wherein is.