JP4477332B2 - Portable endoscope device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention enables observation through an eyepiece and observation by displaying an image on a display device, and uses the driving force of a driving motor to move the pulling member forward and backward to cause the bending portion to bend. The present invention relates to a portable endoscope apparatus having an endoscope.

  In recent years, endoscopes have been widely used in the medical field and the industrial field. The inspection target parts of these endoscopes are inside living bodies, plants, and the like. For this reason, a light source device that supplies illumination light must be prepared as an external device in addition to the endoscope. The light source device generally emits a lamp inside the light source device using a power source supplied from a commercial power source. For these reasons, the endoscope is unsuitable for carrying, and when considering portability, at least the light source device needs to be battery-driven.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-280613 discloses a simple endoscope apparatus that can perform observation by connecting an illumination light supply unit using a dry battery or the like as a light source device to an endoscope. The endoscope to which this illumination light supply unit is attached is easy to carry and can be used in places where there is no power supply, so it can be used as a portable endoscope device for emergency use and visiting treatment. It is done.

Further, in an endoscope having an elongated insertion portion, it is common to provide a bending portion that can be bent in the vertical / left / right directions, for example, in the insertion portion. The bending portion is configured to perform a bending operation by operating a bending operation lever provided in the operation portion and moving the bending operation wire inserted through the insertion portion forward and backward. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-070727, an operation wire that is relatively simple in structure and is wound around a pulley with a slight operation amount with respect to a retraction operation of the bending operation wire by a bending operation lever. There is shown a tubular operating device that is advanced and retracted by the rotation of the pulley and enables a bending operation quickly and in a relatively wide range.
JP-A-8-280613 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-070727

  However, in the simple endoscope apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-280613, the inspection target site is observed through the eyepiece. For this reason, it was not possible to observe the inspection target region by a plurality of people at once.

  Moreover, in the tubular operation device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-070727, a pulley, a motor, and a bending lever are arranged in the operation unit. For this reason, the weight of the operation unit becomes heavy, and a heavy burden is placed on the user when working for a long time.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and enables observation through an eyepiece and selective display of an endoscopic image on a display device, and allows a user to perform a bending operation of the bending portion. It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable endoscope apparatus that is easy to use while reducing the burden on the user.

The portable endoscope apparatus according to the present invention transmits an optical element disposed at a distal end portion of an insertion portion having a bending portion, and an optical image of a region to be inspected that is inserted through the insertion portion and illuminated by the optical element. an image guide for, with the insertion portion of the provided grip portion disposed at the proximal end the image guide eyepiece for observing the transmitted optical images in, is arranged before Symbol the gripper A pulley that winds the middle part of the traction member that extends from the bending part, and a bending operation instruction lever that is erected on the grip part and that performs a traction / relaxation operation of the traction member that is wound and extended by the pulley And a driving force transmission part that is provided in the grip part and transmits a driving force for rotating the pulley, and an electrical connection part that is provided in the grip part and supplies electric power to the optical element. Removably attached to the mirror and the driving force transmission part of the endoscope A power transmission cable inserted with a flexible shaft for transmitting a rotational driving force, a power cable for supplying electric power that is detachably connected to an electrical connection portion of the endoscope, and a gripping portion Via a connecting portion to which the eyepiece provided is detachable, a power connector to which the power cable is detachably connected, a driving force supply connector to which the power transmission cable is detachably connected, and the flexible shaft A motor unit that includes a drive motor that supplies a rotational driving force for rotating the pulley, a camera device that generates a video signal from an optical image observed by the endoscope, the motor unit, and the camera device And a case body comprising a battery for supplying electric power to the optical element,
A display device attached to the case body and displaying the video signal;
The battery is used by being attached to the motor unit removed from the case body when the endoscope is used alone.

In addition, the bending operation instruction lever transmits the rotational force of the pulley to the operation wire by increasing the resistance of the pulling member to the pulley by changing the tilt direction and the tilt angle of the lever. The traction member is pulled.

According to this configuration, when a portable endoscope apparatus is brought into a place to be inspected and an inspection target part is observed, the endoscope is attached to the apparatus main body so that the endoscope is captured on the display device by the endoscope. Mirror images can be displayed for observation. On the other hand, observation through the eyepiece can be performed by using the endoscope alone without attaching the endoscope to the apparatus main body. In both types of usage, when the hand operation of the bending operation lever is performed, the pulling member wound around the pulley rotated by the driving force of the drive motor is moved, so the bending operation of the bending portion Can be done smoothly.

Further, since the power transmission cable, the power cable, and the battery are housed in the housing portion of the case body, it is possible to quickly observe the site to be inspected after bringing the portable endoscope apparatus to the place where the inspection is performed.

  According to the present invention, observation through an eyepiece and observation with an endoscope image displayed on a display device can be selectively performed, and the bending operation of the bending portion can be performed with a reduced burden on the user. It is possible to provide an endoscope apparatus excellent in the above.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
1 to 6 relate to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of an endoscope apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a camera apparatus, a motor unit, and a battery arranged in a case body constituting the apparatus main body. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the pulling member operating device, FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a state in which the endoscope and the device main body are connected and observation is performed on the LCD, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state in which observation is performed by an endoscope alone, and FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another configuration example of the operation unit.

As shown in FIG. 1, a portable endoscope apparatus 1 according to this embodiment includes, for example, an industrial endoscope (hereinafter abbreviated as an endoscope) 2 and a display device such as a liquid crystal monitor (hereinafter referred to as an LCD). 3 is mainly composed of an apparatus main body 5 integrally attached to the case body 4. The LCD 3 is rotatably disposed on the case body 4 via a rotation connecting member 31 such as a hinge. Reference numeral 6 denotes a belt used when the apparatus main body 5 is worn, and is attached to the case body 4 in advance.

  The endoscope 2 includes an LED illumination 11 that is an optical element as an illuminating unit that illuminates the inspection target region, and an image guide 12 that transmits an optical image of the inspection target region illuminated by the LED illumination. . The endoscope 2 is provided with an elongated and flexible insertion portion 20, an operation portion 21 that also serves as a grip portion that is connected to the proximal end portion of the insertion portion 20, and a proximal end portion of the operation portion 21. The eyepiece 22 is mainly configured.

  The insertion portion 20 is, in order from the distal end side, a rigid distal end portion 23, a bending portion 24 configured to bend in a vertical / left / right direction by continuously connecting a bending piece (not shown), and a flexible flexible. The pipe part 25 is connected and configured. The LED illumination 11 and the observation window 13 are provided on the distal end surface of the distal end portion 23.

  A bending operation instruction lever (hereinafter abbreviated as a bending lever) 26 is provided on the operation unit 21 so as to bend the bending portion 24. The bending lever 26 outputs a bending instruction by changing a tilt direction and a tilt angle. A pulling member operating device, which will be described later, interlocked with the tilting direction and tilting angle of the bending lever 26 is disposed inside the operation unit 21. The operation unit 21 is provided with a motor connector 27 as a driving force transmission unit and a power connector 28 as an electrical connection unit.

  Note that a power cable extending from the LED illumination 11 is connected to the power connector 28. The motor connector 27 is provided with a shaft portion of a pulley constituting the traction member operating device. Further, the bending lever 26 is configured such that the bending portion 24 of the insertion portion 20 is in a straight state when in an upright state.

  On the other hand, for example, on one side of the case body 4, a main switch 41, an eyepiece connector 42 serving as a connecting portion to which the eyepiece 22 of the endoscope 2 is detachably connected, and an image on the LCD 3 are displayed. A video output connector 43 for outputting a video signal as a signal, a first power connector 44 for supplying power to the LCD 3, and a second power connector 45 for supplying power to the power connector 28. Is provided. Reference numeral 46 denotes a driving force supply connector, which is detachably connected to a power transmission cable 54 (described later) for supplying a rotational driving force to the motor connector 27, and is provided in a motor unit (described later).

  One end of a video cable 51 is connected to the video output connector 43, and the other end of the video cable 51 is connected to a video connector 32 provided on the LCD 3. ing. One end of a first power cable 52 is connected to the first power connector 44, and the other end of the first power cable 52 is connected to a power connector 33 provided on the LCD 3. It has become so.

  One end of a second power cable 53 is connected to the second power connector 45, and the other end of the second power cable 53 is connected to the power connector 28. . One end of a power transmission cable 54 in which a flexible shaft for transmitting rotational driving force is inserted is connected to the driving force supply connector 46, and the other end of the power transmission cable 54 is connected to the motor. The connector 27 is connected.

  The case body 4 is provided with lids 47a, 47b, 48, 49 configured to be openable and closable. A main battery 55 is housed in the lid 47a when the endoscope 2 is used while being connected to the apparatus main body 5. The lid body 47b also serves as an auxiliary battery for the main battery 55, and stores a portable battery 56 that can be used by being attached to a motor unit described later when the endoscope 2 is used alone. . Various cables 51, 52, 53, and 54 are accommodated in the lid 48, and in the figure, each cable 51 is in a state of being taken out from the accommodating portion. An illumination battery 57 that also serves as an auxiliary battery is accommodated in the lid 49. In this figure, the illumination battery 57 is in a state of being taken out from the accommodation portion. The lighting battery 57 is provided with a connector 45a similar to the second power connector 45 to which the end of the second power cable 53 can be connected.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a camera device 61 for generating an optical image captured by the endoscope 2 into a video signal that is a video signal that can be displayed on the screen of the LCD 3, inside the case body 4. A motor unit 65 for generating a rotational driving force is provided. The motor unit 65 is configured to be detachable from the case body 4.

  The camera device 61 includes an image pickup device 62 for picking up an optical image transmitted to the eyepiece 22 attached to the eyepiece connector 42, driving of the image pickup device 62, and photoelectric conversion by the image pickup device 62. And an image processing unit 63 that generates a video signal from the output image signal. In the drawing, an image forming optical system for forming an optical image on the image pickup surface of the image pickup device 62 is omitted.

  The motor unit 65 includes a drive motor 67 that rotates a pulley (see reference numeral 72 in FIG. 3), which will be described later, with a predetermined torque in a predetermined direction during a bending operation in which a motor shaft 66 protrudes into the drive force supply connector 46; A housing 68 that integrally covers the drive motor 67 is mainly configured. The portable battery 56 can be electrically connected to the motor unit 65.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the traction member operating device 70 includes an operation wire 71 that is a traction member corresponding to a bending direction extending from the bending portion 24, and a circumference in which a middle portion of each operation wire 71 is wound. A pulley 72 having a directional groove, and a power transmission portion 73 that protrudes from the pulley 72 and has a recess 73a in which an end portion of the power transmission cable 54 that transmits the rotational driving force of the drive motor 67 is disposed. The operation wire 71 is mainly composed of a substantially cross-shaped arm member 74 interlocked with the bending lever 26 to which the proximal end portion of the operation wire 71 is fixed.

  The four operation wires 71 are inserted into the insertion portion side coil sheath 75 inserted and arranged in the insertion portion 20, extended into the operation portion 21, and wound around the pulley 72. The proximal end portion of the operation wire 71 wound around the pulley 72 is integrally fixed to an arm portion 74 a formed on the arm member 74 via a wire stopper 76.

  A midway portion of the operation wire 71 wound around the pulley 72 is wound around each circumferential groove formed in the pulley 72 in a predetermined relaxed state. The pulley 72 is rotated at a predetermined torque by transmitting the driving force of the driving motor 67 to the power transmission unit 73 via the power transmission cable 54.

The operation of the endoscope apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described.
First, observation with an endoscope image displayed on the LCD 3 will be described.
When performing observation while displaying an endoscopic image on the LCD 3, the eyepiece 22 of the endoscope 2 is connected and fixed to an eyepiece connector 42 as shown in FIG. The end portions of the second power cable 53 are connected and fixed to the power connector 28 and the second power connector 45, respectively. Further, the end portions of the power transmission cable 54 are connected and fixed to the motor connector 27 and the driving force supply connector 46, respectively. This completes the preparation for endoscopic observation. In the figure, the illumination battery 57 is stored in a storage portion in the lid 49.

  In this state, the main switch 41 is turned on. Then, power is supplied from the main battery 55 to the LCD 3, the LED illumination 11, the camera device 61, and the motor unit 65. Then, the LED illumination 11 is turned on and illumination light is emitted, and an optical image of the examination target portion captured through the observation window 13 is transmitted to the eyepiece 22 via the image guide 12. The optical image transmitted to the eyepiece 22 is formed on the imaging surface of the imaging device 62 of the camera device 61 and photoelectrically converted into an image signal. Thereafter, the image signal is converted into a video signal by the image processor 63. And output to the LCD 3. As a result, an endoscopic image captured by the endoscope 2 is displayed on the screen of the LCD 3.

  On the other hand, in the motor unit 65, the drive motor 67 is driven and the motor shaft 66 is rotated. Then, the rotational driving force of the motor shaft 66 is transmitted to the power transmission unit 73 disposed in the motor connector 27 via the power transmission cable 54, and the pulley 72 is rotated.

  At this time, if the bending lever 26 is in an upright state, all of the operation wires 71 wound around the pulley 72 are in a predetermined relaxed state. As a result, all the operation wires 71 are slid with respect to the pulley 72 in a rotating state, and the bending state of the bending portion 24 is maintained in a linear state.

  Here, in order to cause the bending portion 24 to bend upward, for example, the bending lever 26 is tilted by a predetermined angle in a predetermined direction. Then, the arm member 74 is tilted in conjunction with the tilting operation of the bending lever 26. As a result, the upward operation wire 71 located on the proximal side of the pulley 72 and fixed to the arm portion 74a corresponding to the tilting direction of the bending lever 26 is gradually pulled from the loosened state. Change to the state. On the other hand, the operation wire 71 corresponding to the downward direction further changes to a loosened state.

  Accordingly, only the drag force of the upward operation wire 71 against the pulley 72 among the operation wires 71 wound in the relaxed state in the circumferential groove of the pulley 72 is increased. Thus, when the resistance between the upward operation wire 71 and the pulley 72 increases, the rotational force of the pulley 72 is transmitted to the operation wire 71. Then, the operation wire 71 moves with respect to the rotation direction.

  That is, as the resistance between the upward operation wire 71 and the pulley 72 is increased, the upward operation wire 71 disposed on the distal end side of the pulley 72 is pulled and moved to the arm portion 74a side. Thus, an operation of bending the bending portion 24 upward is started. In this state, the bending lever 26 is continuously tilted in the same direction so as to increase the drag force of the operation wire 71 for the upper direction against the pulley 72, so that the operation arranged on the distal end side from the pulley 72 is performed. The wire 71 is further pulled and the bending portion 24 is further bent upward.

  In response to this operation, if the tilting position of the bending lever 26 continues to be maintained, the drag of the operation wire 71 against the pulley 72 gradually increases as the operation wire 71 disposed on the distal end side of the pulley 72 moves. The movement stops in a state where a tensile force is generated in the operation wire 71 arranged on the distal end side from the pulley 72. Then, by continuing to hold the bending lever 26 in this state, the state of the operation wire 71 is held in that state, and the bending state of the bending portion 24 is held.

  When the bending portion 24 is further bent in the same direction, bent in another direction, or returned to the original state, the bending lever 26 is tilted in a desired direction. As a result, the drag force of the operation wire 71 corresponding to the tilting operation on the pulley 72 changes, the corresponding operation wire 71 starts to move, and the bending portion 24 enters a bending state corresponding to the tilting operation of the bending lever 26. Change.

  Thus, by supplying the power of the main battery by integrating the endoscope and the apparatus main body, the image captured by the endoscope can be displayed on the LCD screen for observation, and By transmitting the rotational driving force of the motor unit driven by the power of the battery to the pulley and rotating it, when the bending lever is tilted, the bending unit can be smoothly bent in a desired direction.

Next, observation through the eyepiece 22 of the endoscope 1 will be described.
When performing observation through the eyepiece 22, the motor unit 65 housed in the case body 4 is removed from the case body 4 as shown in FIG. 5. Further, the illumination battery 57 housed in the lid 49 is taken out. Further, the portable battery 56 stored in the lid body 47b is taken out from the case body 4.

  Then, the power connector 28 and the second power connector 45 are connected via the second power cable 53. As a result, the LED illumination 11 is turned on and illumination light is emitted, and an optical image of the examination target portion captured through the observation window 13 is transmitted to the eyepiece 22 via the image guide 12. Therefore, the user can observe the inspection target site through the eyepiece.

  On the other hand, the portable battery 56 is disposed in the motor unit 65, and the motor connector 27 and the driving force supply connector 46 are connected via the power transmission cable 54. As a result, in the motor unit 65, the drive motor 67 is driven and the motor shaft 66 is rotated. Then, the rotational driving force of the motor shaft 66 is transmitted to the power transmission portion 73 in the motor connector 27 via the power transmission cable 54, and the pulley 72 is rotated.

  At this time, if the bending lever 26 is in the upright state as described above, all the operation wires 71 wound around the pulley 72 are in a predetermined relaxed state. For this reason, all the operation wires 71 are slid with respect to the pulley 72 in a rotating state, and the bending state of the bending portion 24 is maintained in a linear state. Then, by bending the bending lever 26 as described above, the bending portion 24 can be smoothly bent in a desired direction.

  The motor storage unit 80 appears by removing the motor unit 65 from the case body 4. Further, when the portable battery 56 is taken out from the case body 4, the second battery storage part 82 appears, and when the lighting battery 57 is taken out, the third battery storage part 83 appears. Furthermore, workability can be improved by attaching the motor unit 65 and the lighting battery 57 integrated with the portable battery 56 to the user.

  In this way, by configuring the endoscope apparatus 1 with the endoscope 2 and the apparatus main body 5, after bringing the endoscope apparatus 1 into the examination place, the situation of the place and the state of the examination target part are changed. Accordingly, it is possible to selectively perform observation while displaying an endoscopic image on the LCD, or observation through an eyepiece.

  Further, by providing the case body with a storage part for storing the battery and cables, it is possible to reliably bring the cables necessary for endoscopic observation to the inspection site.

  In the present embodiment, the operation portion 21 is formed in a tubular shape, and the eyepiece 22 is provided at the base end portion of the operation portion 21. However, the shape of the operation portion 21 and the arrangement of the eyepiece 22 are provided. The position is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. 6, the operation portion 21 </ b> A may be configured by a cylinder portion 91, a pulley arrangement portion 92, a rising portion 93, and an eyepiece portion 22. . Thus, the axis of the eyepiece 22 may be displaced with respect to the longitudinal axis of the insertion unit 20. This can be expected to improve operation performance and observation performance.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The figure explaining the structure of an endoscope apparatus The figure explaining the arrangement positional relationship of the camera apparatus arrange | positioned at the case body which comprises an apparatus main body, a motor part, and a battery. The figure explaining the structure of a traction member operating device The figure explaining the state which connects an endoscope and an apparatus body and observes with LCD The figure explaining the state of observing with an endoscope alone The figure explaining the structure of the figure endoscope apparatus explaining the other structural example of an operation part.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscope apparatus 2 ... Endoscope
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 4 ... Case body 5 ... Apparatus main body 11 ... LED illumination 12 ... Image guide 22 ... Eyepiece part 26 ... Curve lever 27 ... Motor connector 28 ... Electric connector 30 ... Traction member operating device
31 ... Operation wire
32 ... pulley
42 ... Connector for eyepiece 53 ... Second power cable 54 ... Power transmission cable 55 ... Main battery 56 ... Portable battery 57 ... Illumination battery 61 ... Camera device 65 ... Motor part Agent Patent attorney Susumu Ito

Claims (2)

An optical element disposed at a distal end portion of the insertion portion having a bending portion; an image guide that transmits an optical image of a region to be inspected that is inserted through the insertion portion and illuminated by the optical element; and a proximal end of the insertion portion and eyepiece for observing an optical image transmitted by the image guide is provided to the grip portion disposed in part, is arranged in front Symbol the gripper middle of pulling member extending from the curved portion A pulley that winds a part, a bending operation instruction lever that is erected on the gripping part and that is wound around the pulley and performs a traction / relaxation operation of the traction member, and a pulley provided on the gripping part. An endoscope provided with a driving force transmission unit that transmits a driving force to be rotated, and an electrical connection unit that is provided in the gripping unit and supplies power to the optical element;
A power transmission cable that is detachably connected to the driving force transmission portion of the endoscope, and in which a flexible shaft that transmits rotational driving force is inserted;
A power cable for supplying power, detachably connected to the electrical connection portion of the endoscope;
A connecting part to which the eyepiece provided on the grip part is detachable, a power connector to which the power cable is detachably connected, a driving force supply connector to which the power transmission cable is detachably connected, and A motor unit including a drive motor that supplies a rotational driving force for rotating the pulley via a flexible shaft; a camera device that generates a video signal from an optical image observed by the endoscope; and the motor unit A case body comprising a battery for supplying power to the camera device and the optical element;
A display device attached to the case body and displaying the video signal;
The portable endoscope apparatus is characterized in that the battery is used by being attached to the motor unit removed from the case body when the endoscope is used alone . The bending operation instruction lever increases the resistance of the pulling member to the pulley by changing a tilt direction and a tilt angle of the lever, thereby transmitting a rotational force of the pulley to the operation wire to increase the pulling force. The portable endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the member is pulled .

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