JP3288570B2 - Electronic endoscope image sensor assembly - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image pickup device assembly for an electronic endoscope, and more particularly, to an image pickup device and a circuit board assembly structure capable of connecting the image pickup device upside down.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 shows a configuration of a distal end portion of an electronic endoscope in which a prism is used in an imaging optical system of a direct-view type. In the figure, a solid-state image pickup device CC is provided on the distal end surface of a distal end portion 1 through an objective lens system 3 including an observation window 2 and a prism 4.
A CCD package 5 containing a D (Charge Coupled Device) is attached, and the CCD package 5 also serves as a circuit board. An irradiation window (not shown) is arranged near the observation window 2, and a light guide 6 is connected to the irradiation window. A circuit member 7 such as a capacitor or a transistor is arranged in the CCD package 5 and a signal line 8 for transmitting a video signal and a CCD driving signal is connected to a rear end portion. Note that a forceps port 9 for introducing a treatment tool and the like and a treatment tool insertion channel 10 are provided on the lower side of the figure.

FIG. 7 shows a configuration of a distal end portion of an electronic endoscope which is of a side-view type and does not use a prism in an imaging optical system. In the figure, a CCD package 15 also serving as a circuit board is attached to a side surface of a distal end portion 12 via an objective lens system 14 including an observation window 13.
5, a circuit member 16 is provided, and a signal line 17 is arranged on the bottom side. In addition, a light guide 19 is connected to an irradiation window 18 arranged near the observation window 13.

[0006] According to the direct view type shown in FIG. 6 as described above, the inside of the object to be observed can be observed in the direction of insertion of the endoscope (axial direction of the endoscope). According to the side view type shown in FIG. The inside of the object to be observed can be observed in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction of the endoscope, and these types of electronic endoscopes are used according to the purpose of observation or treatment.

[0005]

In the above-mentioned direct-view type or side-view type electronic endoscope, the packages 5 and 15 can be mounted on the same CCD even if they are the same CCD, because the imaging state on the CCD is different. Manufactured separately for each type.

For example, the image forming state of the CCD (package 5) of FIG. 6 is as shown in FIG. 8, and the image forming state of the CCD (package 15) of FIG.
It becomes as shown in. That is, in FIG. 8, the image (F) captured by the observation window 2 is inverted by the objective lens system 3 and is reflected by the prism 4, whereas in FIG. Since the obtained image (F) is inverted by the objective lens system 14, the image is inverted upside down (1).
(Rotated by 80 degrees). Therefore, when extracting the image signal obtained by the CCD, it is necessary to ensure consistency in relation to the top and bottom of the CCD. For this reason, the CCD packages 5 and 15 as circuit boards are separately manufactured according to different types. That is being done.

[0007] However, even if the image forming state is different as described above, if there is a convertible structure capable of taking out the image signal from the CCD in a predetermined direction with one circuit board, simplification and cost reduction in manufacturing can be achieved. The reduction can be achieved.

By the way, the applicant of the present invention has proposed an imaging device assembly which does not use the above-mentioned CCD packages 5 and 15 in order to reduce the diameter and shorten the end portion of the endoscope (in the axial direction of the endoscope). are doing. That is, although this will be described in detail later, C
A flexible circuit board is directly mounted on the upper surface of the CD, and a circuit board made of a synthetic resin or the like for connecting signal lines is connected to the flexible board. Also, on the top of the CCD,
Place the cover glass at the required interval for terminal connection,
By making the space above the imaging surface of the CCD airtight, no package is required.

Therefore, if the above-described convertible structure can be adopted in such an assembled body, a product having a high utility value can be obtained.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to convert images in a predetermined direction by a convertible structure even in two types in which the imaging state of an image sensor is inverted upside down. Can take out the signal,
An object of the present invention is to provide an image pickup device assembly of an electronic endoscope that can be manufactured easily and at low cost.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image pickup device having a plurality of input / output terminals arranged at front and rear ends, and a front and rear end portion of the image pickup device. And a circuit board integrally formed with the front and rear terminals that are connected to each other over the input / output terminals. In this circuit board, a position where the front and rear directions of the circuit board and the imaging device coincide with each other, and a position 180 degrees from this position In order to be able to connect to the terminals at both ends of the image sensor,
Set each of the number of terminals before and after to the required maximum value .
The width of these terminals is changed . In addition, the front and rear correspond to the front-back direction of the endoscope in which the front end side is front, and the front and rear may be reversed. Invention of the second aspect, the upper SL circuit board includes a first circuit board for connecting the signal line for transmitting the output signal to the imaging device, a flexible substrate having an opening for disposing the imaging device And a second circuit board for connecting the imaging device and the first circuit board.

[0012] According to the action of the first claim, wherein, necessary when the number of terminals of both terminals of the front and rear ends of the circuit board is divided into the front end and rear end of the input and output terminals of the image sensor (column) Set to maximum value (number). That is, the number of both terminals is adjusted to the number of terminals having a larger number of terminals required for connection. Therefore, if the universal terminal sequence the point-to-front and rear ends of the image pickup device even if the number of terminals of front and rear ends are different in the imaging device, connected by matching the longitudinal direction of the image pickup device and the circuit board In this case, the terminals of the circuit board can be connected to the terminals of all the image sensors both when the connection is made by inverting the front and rear by 180 degrees. In addition,
Although some terminals are not connected to the terminals on the circuit board that are connected to the terminals at one end of the imaging device with the smaller number of terminals,
This may be removed.

Further, by increasing the width of the terminal as well as setting the number of terminals of the circuit board to the maximum value, in the imaging device terminal arrangement of the front and rear ends is not the sequence of the full Tentai referred circuit The substrate can be adapted. That is, if turned universal terminal sequence the point-to-front and rear ends of the imaging device, but it is possible to cope by adjusting the number of terminals of the circuit board as described above, the terminal arrangement is not in point-symmetric In some cases. Therefore, this case will be or should widen the width of the shift amount of the frequency only of the circuit board terminal from the terminal position a point symmetrical.

[0014] According to the configuration of the second aspect, wherein the first circuit board via the second circuit board is connected to the imaging device,
A signal line is connected to the first circuit board. According to this, there is an advantage that the second circuit board, which is a flexible board, can be bent, for example, in the vertical direction, and the left and right width of the assembled body can be reduced.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 to 5 show an image pickup device assembly provided at the distal end of an electronic endoscope according to an embodiment, and this assembly is a simultaneous type. It is used for. FIG. 1 shows the connection state of the image sensor and the circuit board in the front-rear direction, and FIG.
The connection state is shown in FIG. FIG. 3 shows an image sensor assembly using the assembly of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 shows an image sensor assembly using the assembly of FIG.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, on the upper surface of a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) 20, which is a solid-state image sensor,
An imaging surface S is formed, and an image of the object to be observed is captured on the imaging surface S, converted into an image signal, and output to a monitor or the like. Here, the upper and lower sides of the imaging surface S shown in the drawing correspond to the upper and lower sides of an image output to a monitor or the like.

The input / output terminals (group) H (front side: Nos. 1 to 8 in the figure) and I (rear side) Side: No. 9-1 in the figure
6) are provided (the terminals H and I are shown by solid lines in a see-through state). As is clear from the figure, the number of terminals H and I is eight in both cases. In this example, the terminals H of Nos. 5 and 6 are terminals that do not need to be connected, and the terminals I of Nos. 9 and 10 are connected to the same terminal (h or i).

In this example, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in order to connect and arrange a signal line (21) for transmitting an image signal to a monitor or the like, a first circuit board 22 (to be described later) made of a hard synthetic resin is used. ) Is used, and the first circuit board 22 and the CC
D20 is connected to the second circuit board 23.
That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the second circuit board 23 has an opening 24 at the center and is arranged so as to surround the outer periphery of the CCD 20. The second circuit board 23 is formed of a thin flexible board, and the terminals H,
I has a strip-shaped terminal (not necessarily a protruding terminal) h protruding toward the opening 24 on the front side, and a strip-shaped terminal protruding toward the opening 24 on the rear side. i, and the number of both terminals is seven.

In FIG. 1, the terminal h is a terminal H and a terminal i.
Are connected to the terminals I, respectively, so that the second circuit board 23 and the CCD 20 are connected in a state where their front and rear directions match. That is, at the front end of the CCD 20,
Since the terminals H of Nos. 5 and 6 are not connected, the second circuit board 2
The terminal h of No. 3 becomes one extra, and the terminals H of Nos. 5 and 6
The upper terminal h is cut off. On the other hand, at the rear end of the CCD 20, the number of terminals I is eight and the number of terminals i is seven.
The terminals I of Nos. 9 and 10 are connected to one terminal i.

In FIG. 2, the terminal h is a terminal I and a terminal i.
By connecting to the terminal H, the second circuit board 23 and the CCD 20 are connected in a state of being rotated 180 degrees from the state of FIG. That is, the CCD 20
Since the number of terminals of the terminal i on the side of the second circuit board 23 is seven at the front end, one terminal is cut off in the same manner as described above. On the other hand, at the rear end of the CCD 20, Nos.
0 terminal I is connected to one terminal h,
Terminals h are connected to eight terminals I.

In this example, the arrangement interval of the terminals (rows) H at the front end of the CCD 20 is slightly different from the arrangement interval of the terminals I at the rear end when the CCD 20 is inverted by 180 degrees. The arrangement of terminal H and terminal I is a complete point pair
It is not a title . Also, in FIG.
2, the terminal h on the front side of the second circuit board 23 connected to the terminal H must be connected to two rear terminals I of Nos. 9 and 10 of the CCD 20 in FIG. For this reason, in the present invention, the widths of the terminals h and i are increased to the required width, and all other than the terminals h and i which are connected to the terminal H of No. 3 and the terminal I of Nos. 12 and 14 are used. The width of the terminals h and i is increased to a required width.

A first circuit board side connection terminal J is provided at the rear end of the second circuit board 23, and the terminal J is formed so as to be exposed in the opening 25. In order to wire between the terminal J and the terminals h and i, the second
The conductor pattern 26 is formed on the surface of the circuit board 23.

The CCD 20 having such a configuration and the second circuit board 23 are connected by, for example, a TAB (Tape Automated Bonding) method. In the TAB method, the second circuit board 23 is continuously formed on a tape-shaped member (flexible board), and the individual second circuit boards 2 of the tape-shaped member are formed.
The CCDs 20 are sequentially connected to 3. In the case of this example, the terminals H and I on the CCD 20 and the terminals h and i on the side of the second circuit board 23 are overlapped and connected via bumps formed on them.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, the first circuit board 22 made of a hard synthetic resin material is attached to the second circuit board 2.
In addition, a terminal j to which the third terminal J is connected is provided, and a terminal K for connecting the signal line 21 is formed. A space between the terminal j and the terminal K is formed on the lower side via a through hole 27. The wiring is made by the provided conductor pattern.

According to the above configuration, the second circuit board 23 is connected to the first circuit board 22 disposed on the rear side of the endoscope by connecting the terminals J and j. In FIG. 3, since the front-back direction of the CCD 20 and the second circuit board 23 coincide as shown in FIG. 1, the front end of the CCD 20 is directed to the rear side of the endoscope, and the imaging surface S of the CCD 20
Of the endoscope is arranged toward the rear side of the endoscope.

On the other hand, in FIG. 4, the CCD 20 and the second
The front and rear direction of the circuit board 23 is 180 degrees as shown in FIG.
Since the CCD 20 is inverted, the front end of the CCD 20 is directed toward the front of the endoscope, and the upper side of the imaging surface S of the CCD 20 is positioned toward the front of the endoscope.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, C
A cover glass 28 is arranged on the upper surface of the CD 20 with an interval required for terminal connection, so that the space above the imaging surface S of the CCD 20 is air-tight, thereby eliminating the need for a package. These members are then assembled to the objective optical system member as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5, an objective optical system member 30 is connected to the upper surface of the cover glass 28 via a prism 29. As shown, a signal line 21 is connected to a terminal K of the first circuit board 22 by soldering or the like, and a circuit member 31 for driving the CCD 20 and the like are disposed on the back surface of the first circuit board 22. You. Then, finally, the second circuit board 2
The left and right portions of the endoscope 3 are bent upward (or downward, of course) in the left and right width of the CCD 20, and are disposed at the distal end of the endoscope in such a state.

The embodiment is configured as described above.
3 can be applied to, for example, a direct-view type endoscope, and the assembly of FIG. 4 can be applied to a side-view type endoscope. That is, in the direct-viewing endoscope, as shown in FIG. 3, the image F of the object to be observed is turned into an inverted image by the objective optical system member, and is turned into a reflected image by the prism. , The upper side of the image F comes behind. However, since the upper side of the imaging surface S of the CCD 20 is also arranged behind the endoscope as described above, the upper and lower sides of the image F formed on the imaging surface S and the upper and lower sides of the imaging surface S coincide with each other. And a normal image can be obtained.

In the side-view type endoscope, as shown in FIG. 4, the image F of the object to be observed is inverted by the objective optical system member, and the upper side of the image F is located in front of the endoscope. Will come. However, in this case, compared to FIG.
Is upside down, and the upper side of the imaging surface S of the CCD 20 is disposed in front of the endoscope. Therefore, the upper and lower sides of the image F formed on the imaging surface S and the upper and lower sides of the imaging surface S must match. In this case as well, a normal image in which the upper and lower portions match is obtained.
Note that the image formation state of the image F is reversed left and right in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, but this can be matched by changing the reading direction.

In the above example, the same number of terminals are formed at the front and rear ends of the CCD 20. For example, No. 1 shown in FIG.
In some cases, the number of terminals at the front end is larger than the number of terminals at the rear end, such as the terminals H at 7 and 18. In this case, as shown in FIG. 1, the number of terminals h and the number of terminals i on the second circuit board 23 are increased by two, and the number of terminals required to be connected may be set to the maximum value.

Since the terminal J on the second circuit board 23 is formed so as to be exposed in the opening 25, the first circuit board 22 can be connected from either the front surface or the back surface of the second circuit substrate 23. And the degree of freedom in design can be increased.

[0033]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the number of terminals at the front and rear of the circuit board is set to the required maximum value, so that the number of terminals at the front and rear ends of the image sensor is the same. The terminal of the circuit board can be connected to both the position where the front-back direction coincides and the position where the image sensor is reversed. Therefore, the present invention can be applied to both types in which the imaging state is inverted upside down, and it is possible to achieve easy manufacturing and low cost.

Further, by changing the width of the circuit board terminal, even if the terminal arrangement of the front and rear ends of the image pickup device is not in point symmetry with respect to both types of imaging state is upside down, convertible connection Becomes possible.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the circuit board comprises a first circuit board for connecting signal lines and a second circuit board made of a flexible board. Since it can be bent in the direction, the image pickup device can be connected to the circuit board without using a package, and there is an advantage that the left and right width of the assembled body can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an assembled body of an image sensor and a second circuit board according to an embodiment of the present invention in a state where front and rear directions thereof are aligned.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an assembly of an image sensor and a second circuit board in a state where the image pickup element is turned around 180 degrees from the state shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a configuration of an image pickup device assembly applied to an endoscope of a type using a prism in an objective optical system and an image formation state of an image.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of an image pickup device assembly applied to an endoscope of a type that does not use a prism in an objective optical system and an image forming state.

5A and 5B are views showing a state where the assembled body of FIGS. 3 and 4 is assembled to an objective optical system member, wherein FIG. 5A is a plan view, FIG. 5B is a side view, and FIG. Is a front view.

FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a conventional direct-view type electronic endoscope distal end portion using a prism in an objective optical system.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view showing a configuration of a distal end portion of a conventional electronic endoscope which does not use a prism in an objective optical system in a side view type.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an image formation state of an observation object image in FIG. 6 on a CCD.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an image formation state of an object to be observed in FIG. 7 on a CCD.

[Explanation of symbols]

 20: CCD, 21: signal line, 22: first circuit board, 23: second circuit board, 24, 25 ... opening, 26: conductor pattern, H, I, J, K, h, i, j ... terminals.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An image pickup device in which a plurality of input / output terminals are arranged at front and rear ends, and a circuit integrally formed with front and rear terminals connected to input / output terminals at front and rear ends of the image pickup device. In this circuit board, it is possible to connect to the terminals at both ends of the image sensor at both the position where the front and rear directions of the circuit board and the image sensor coincide with each other and the position which is inverted by 180 degrees from this position. For this purpose, set the number of terminals before and after both to the required maximum value, and change the width of those terminals.
An image pickup device assembly for an electronic endoscope, characterized in that: 2. The circuit board according to claim 1, wherein
First circuit board for connecting signal lines for transmitting input / output signals
Flexible with an opening for arranging the image sensor
A substrate, which connects the imaging device to the first circuit board.
And a continuous second circuit board.
The electronic endoscope image pickup device assembly according to claim 1.