JP3284043B2 - Tip structure of electronic endoscope - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention comprises an endoscope structure of an electronic endoscope, particularly an image pickup device assembly having an image pickup device and a flexible circuit board having a portion extending outside the side surface of the image pickup device. The present invention relates to a distal end structure of an electronic endoscope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 shows the structure of a distal end of a conventional electronic endoscope. In the figure, a fixing member 2 for fixing each member to the front end portion is provided in a front end portion 1 by an arrangement hole for disposing a predetermined member, and a jacket 3 is put on the fixing member 2. In this example, a light guide 4 for irradiating light to the object to be observed is fixed to the left and right arrangement holes on the upper side of the fixing member 2. In an arrangement hole 5 formed at the center between the left and right light guides 4, an image pickup element assembly 6 for capturing image light of the object to be observed, converting the image light into an image signal, and outputting the image signal is provided. .

[0003] A treatment instrument insertion channel 7 for guiding forceps and the like and an air supply / water supply pipe 8 for supplying air or water to an observation window are provided below the imaging device assembly 6. Arranged by

FIG. 6 shows the structure of the image pickup device assembly 6 without the objective optical system member, which is applied to a simultaneous electronic endoscope. In the figure, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) as an image pickup device
e) 11 is housed in a package 12 made of ceramics or the like (also a circuit board), and a cover glass 13 is arranged so as to cover the opening on the upper surface.

[0005] A color filter, a microlens, and the like are formed on an imaging surface on the upper surface of the CCD 11. A plurality of input / output terminals E are arranged at the front and rear ends on the outside of the imaging surface, and terminals F are also arranged and formed on a step portion inside the package 12 on one side, and these terminals E and F are bonded. They are connected by wires 14. The terminal F is connected to a conductor pattern (partly CC) in the package 12.
D11) is connected to the terminal G at the end, and a signal line 15 from an external circuit is connected to the terminal G.
Is connected.

In the image pickup device assembly having such a structure,
By storing the CCD 11 in an airtight state by the package 12 and the cover glass 13 serving as a lid,
The color filter on the imaging surface of the CCD 11 can be protected, and by providing a space between the upper surface of the CCD 11 and the cover glass 2, the function of the microlens on the imaging surface of the CCD 11 can be maintained. And this CCD
The video signal obtained at 11 is taken out to the outside through the signal line 15, whereby it becomes possible to display an image of the inside of the body to be observed on a monitor or the like.

[0007]

In the above-described structure of the conventional image pickup device assembly, since the package for accommodating the CCD 11 is provided, the size of the image pickup device cannot be reduced. There is a problem that the reduction and the shortening cannot be promoted. That is, the package 12 as shown in FIG.
Is made of a box body made of ceramic or the like that houses the CCD 11, so that the assembled body becomes large by at least the thickness of the box body wall. The thickness of the bottom wall or the side wall is an obstacle to reducing the diameter of the distal end of the endoscope, and the thickness of the front and rear walls is an obstacle to shortening the axial length of the distal end of the endoscope.

[0008] From the above, the details will be described later,
Instead of the package 12, a flexible circuit board is arranged on the upper surface side of the image sensor, and the flexible circuit board is provided with a portion extending outside the side surface of the image sensor, and an image forming device for forming a wiring pattern on the extended portion. An element assembly is proposed.

However, in such a flexible circuit board, there is a problem in the arrangement of the portion extending outside the side surface of the image pickup device, and the flexible circuit board is efficiently assembled into the endoscope end portion where the arrangement space is limited. For this reason, it is desirable to arrange the above-mentioned extended portion at an optimum determined position.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to arrange a flexible circuit board provided over the side surface of an image pickup device in a fixed and favorable state, and to extend an endoscope. An object of the present invention is to provide a distal end structure of an electronic endoscope that can contribute to a reduction in the diameter and length of a mirror.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, a distal end structure of an electronic endoscope according to the first aspect of the present invention includes an objective optical system member for capturing an object to be observed, and an objective optical system member for capturing the object. An image pickup device that is optically connected to the objective optical system member and has a terminal , and is disposed before , after, and on the side of the image pickup device ;
Part of the wiring pattern connected to the terminal passes through the side
A flexible circuit board formed inside in a sandwich-like manner, and an arrangement hole for disposing a predetermined member such as the objective optical system member, and a fixing for fixing each member to the distal end portion includes a member, the fixing member described above, since the inserting and fixing a side portion of the flexible circuit board, the full
A slit having a width slightly larger than the thickness of the flexible circuit board is provided. The invention according to a second aspect is characterized in that the flexible circuit board is provided with a cut in a predetermined bent portion for assisting the bending.

According to the above configuration, the image pickup device assembly is inserted and fixed in the arrangement hole of the fixing member while the side extending portion of the flexible circuit board is inserted into the slit. At this time, the side of the flexible circuit board is also fixed at the fixed position of the fixing member by the slit.

According to the configuration of the second aspect, the flexible circuit board is easily bent at a predetermined position due to the presence of the cut, so that the insertion into the slit and the attachment of the assembly are facilitated. This cut also serves as an index of bending.

[0014]

1 and 2 show a distal end structure of an electronic endoscope (simultaneous type) according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In the drawing, a fixing member 19 for fixing each member to the front end portion is provided at a front end portion 18 by an arrangement hole for disposing a predetermined member.
0 is overlaid. In this example, light guides 21 for irradiating the object to be observed with light are fixed to the right and left arrangement holes on the upper side of the fixing member 19.
An image pickup device assembly 23 for capturing the object to be observed is provided in the arrangement hole 22 formed in the central portion between the two.

That is, the image pickup element assembly 23 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG.
Under the prism 25, a CCD (Charge Coupled D) serving as an image pickup device is provided via a cover glass 26.
evice) 27, and a flexible circuit board 28 (to be described in detail later) is mounted on the upper surface of the CCD 27. On the other hand, the arrangement hole 22 has a circular hole 29 in the front part,
By attaching the objective optical system member 24 to the hole 29, the assembly 23 is fixed in the arrangement hole 22. Therefore, the CCD 27 provided on the rear side of the objective optical system member 24
In addition, the flexible circuit board 28 is arranged in a state of being floated in the arrangement hole 22.

FIG. 3 shows the C of the image pickup device assembly 23.
A detailed configuration of the CD 27 and the flexible circuit board 28 is shown, which is used simultaneously.
As shown in FIG. 3A, in the circuit board 28,
An opening 33 for disposing the CCD 27 is provided, and a strip-shaped terminal h is integrally formed from the front and rear ends of the opening 33 toward the inside. The terminal h is a thin metal plate, and is connected to the input / output terminal H at the front and rear ends of the CCD 27 by, for example, TAB.
(Tape Automated Bonding). That is, one of the terminals h or H is used as a protruding electrode, and both terminals are connected by crimping (bump connection) (the terminal H is shown in a see-through state). A terminal K for connecting a signal line is provided at the rear end of the flexible circuit board 28.
Is provided.

Extending portions 28A and 28B are provided on both left and right sides of the flexible circuit board 28, respectively.
A conductor pattern 34 is formed in the inside of each of 8A and 28B, for example, in a sandwich shape, and the conductor pattern 34 connects between the terminal h and the terminal K. Cuts 35 are formed at the front and rear ends of the extending portions 28A and 28B to assist in bending.
It is provided in accordance with the outer peripheral corner on the upper side of D27.

FIG. 3B shows a state in which FIG. 3A is viewed from the front side.
Reference numeral 8 connects the terminal h integrated with the terminal H to the terminal H on the upper surface of the CCD 27, so that the terminal 8 is disposed at the upper surface position of the CCD 27 as shown in the figure. And this CC
On the upper surface of D27, cover glass 26
Are bonded in an airtight state with an adhesive. Thereby, the above C
At least a gap corresponding to the thickness of the terminal h is generated between the imaging surface of the CD 27 and the cover glass 26, so that the function of the microlens formed on the imaging surface of the CCD 27 in the simultaneous type is not hindered, and The filter can be sufficiently protected.

Such an image pickup device assembly 23 is attached to the arrangement hole 22 shown in FIG. 1 as described above. At this time, since the extension portions 28A and 28B protrude to the side of the CCD 27, the fixing thereof is not performed. It becomes a problem. Therefore, in this example, two slits 36 for disposing the extension portions 28A and 28B are provided in the fixing member 19. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the slit 36 has a width slightly larger than the plate thickness of the extension portions 28A and 28B and is formed at a predetermined depth vertically from the bottom surface of the arrangement hole 22. .

In addition, below the image pickup element assembly 23 of the distal end portion 18, an air supply / supply for supplying air or water to a treatment instrument insertion channel 31 for guiding forceps and the like and an observation window.
The water pipe 32 and the like are fixed by the arrangement holes.

The first example of the embodiment has the above configuration.
In assembling the imaging element assembly 23, first, the left and right extending portions 28A and 28B of the circuit board 28 are vertically bent downward using the cuts 35. Then, while inserting the extension portions 28A and 28B into the slit 36, the objective optical system member 24 is moved from the arrangement hole 22 to the front hole 29.
And fixed with an adhesive or the like. At this time, the extending portions 28A and 28B are simultaneously fixed by the slit 36.

According to the first example, the flexible circuit board 28 is securely fixed by the slit 36, and the slit 36 is formed at an appropriate position avoiding the location of other members. The slit 36 does not affect the arrangement of other members. Further, since the assembled body 23 does not require a CCD package, the size of the image pickup device can be reduced, which contributes to the reduction in diameter and length of the endoscope.

This can also be understood by comparing FIG. 1 with the conventional FIG. That is, in the CCD 27 of FIG. 1, the thickness is reduced because the package is not used, and the arrangement hole portion of the CCD 27 in the arrangement hole 22 can be made smaller than that of FIG. It can be shortened.

FIG. 4 shows a second example of a fixing member having different slit positions. In the second example, a slit 38 is formed obliquely downward from the bottom surface in the arrangement hole 22 of the illustrated fixing member 37. Further, in this example, a notch 39 for facilitating this bending is added to a bent portion when the extending portions 28A and 28B of the flexible circuit board 28 are bent at the entrance of the slit 37.

According to the second example, the image pickup device assembly 2
The arrangement possible area R of the treatment tool insertion channel 31 and the like disposed below the third instrument 3 can be made larger than in the first example of FIG. For example, the treatment tool insertion channel 31 can be arranged on the left side as shown in the figure, and the degree of freedom of arrangement including the air / water supply pipe 32 can be increased.

Although the simultaneous electronic endoscope has been described in the above embodiment, the present invention can also be applied to a frame sequential type endoscope.

[0027]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a part of the wiring pattern connected to the terminal of the image sensor is sandwiched so as to pass through the side part.
With arranging the flexible circuit board formed in part, a fixed member provided with a placement hole for placement of Tokoro tough material
In addition, a slit having a width slightly larger than the thickness of the flexible circuit board is provided, and the side portion of the flexible circuit board is arranged and fixed in this slit. The endoscope can be arranged in a state where the endoscope is in a proper state, and it is possible to contribute to a reduction in the diameter and the length of the endoscope.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the flexible circuit board is provided with a cut in a predetermined bent portion, bending is facilitated, and the cut serves as an index of bending, thereby improving workability. Can be done.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a distal end structure of an electronic endoscope according to a first example of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the tip of the electronic endoscope shown in FIG.

3A and 3B are diagrams showing a configuration of a CCD and a flexible circuit board according to the embodiment, wherein FIG. 3A is a plan view and FIG. 3B is a view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a tip structure according to a second example of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a distal end structure of a conventional electronic endoscope.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing a conventional image pickup device assembly without an objective optical system member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,18 ... Tip, 2,19,37 ... Fixing member, 5,22 ... Arrangement hole, 6,23 ... Image sensor assembly, 11,27 ... CCD, 28 ... Flexible circuit board, 28A, 28B ... Outer part, 35, 39 ... notch, 36, 38 ... slit.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An objective optical system member for capturing an object to be observed, an imaging device optically connected to the objective optical system member and having a terminal ; Connect to terminal
Make sure that part of the wiring pattern
A flexible circuit board formed therein in a sandwich shape, comprising: an arrangement hole for arranging a predetermined member such as the objective optical system member; and a fixing member for fixing each member to a distal end portion. the fixing member, for fixing by inserting the lateral part <br/> of the flexible circuit board, the flexible circuit board
Tip structure of an electronic endoscope with slits slightly wider than the plate thickness . 2. The distal end structure of an electronic endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the flexible circuit board is provided with a notch at a predetermined bent portion for assisting the bending.