JP5740180B2 - Imaging apparatus and endoscope apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus and an endoscope apparatus.

  An endoscope having a general configuration includes an elongated endoscope insertion portion that is inserted into a subject, and an illumination optical system that illuminates an observation region at a distal end portion of the endoscope insertion portion, and An imaging optical system for imaging the observation area is provided. In the illumination optical system, a light guide formed by an optical fiber bundle is extended in the endoscope insertion portion, and the proximal end side of the light guide is connected to the light source device, and the light from the light source device is transmitted to the distal end of the endoscope. The light is guided to the portion and emitted as illumination light from the distal end portion of the endoscope. In addition, the imaging optical system arranges an objective lens at the distal end portion of the endoscope, and arranges an imaging element in the distal end portion of the endoscope that is an imaging position of the objective lens, thereby generating an observation image of the observation region. .

  An example of the endoscope includes an imaging device in which a triangular prism is disposed on an imaging surface of an imaging element via a translucent protective substrate (see Patent Document 1). This Patent Document 1 describes that a heater is attached to a triangular prism so that condensation does not occur on the translucent protective substrate when the image pickup device is powered on. In this configuration, a dew condensation prevention heater that is not directly related to imaging is provided from the peripheral circuit board through dedicated wiring, so there is a disadvantage in the manufacturing process of adding new parts and extra installation space is required. In addition, the configuration of the entire imaging apparatus is complicated, such as controlling the lighting timing of the heater. In addition, there are those that bend a large number of flexible boards (see Patent Document 2) and those that bend a circuit board along a line in the same direction as the axis of the distal end of the insertion portion (see Patent Document 3). There was a disadvantage in layout flexibility, and there were concerns about radiation noise from other electronic components, heat dissipation, and insulation. In addition, a reinforcing member is required, and the strength of the flexible substrate is lowered, which is disadvantageous for downsizing.

Japanese Patent No. 2007-260190 JP 2009-123984 A Japanese Patent No. 2842687

The present invention provides an imaging device and an endoscope device that have high strength and flexibility in layout, are less susceptible to radiation noise and heat dissipation from other electronic components, and are excellent in insulation. With the goal.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an imaging apparatus and an endoscope apparatus that do not require a reinforcing member and can be miniaturized while maintaining high connection strength of a flexible substrate.

The present invention has the following configuration.
(1) An imaging device that includes an imaging device that captures an image of a subject and a flexible substrate on which a plurality of electronic components including the imaging device are mounted, and that folds the flexible substrate at a plurality of locations on the substrate and accommodates the flexible substrate in a housing. There,
A triangular prism that changes the light taken in from the objective lens group to a right angle and forms an image on the image sensor,
The flexible substrate includes a first substrate portion on which the imaging element is mounted, a second substrate portion connected to the first substrate portion via a first bending axis, and a second substrate portion parallel to the first bending axis. A third substrate portion connected via a second bending axis, and a fourth substrate portion connected to the second substrate portion via a third bending axis in a direction different from the first and second bending axes. And
The flexible substrate is folded at the first folding axis and the third folding axis, and the first substrate portion, the second substrate portion, and the fourth substrate portion are stacked on top of each other,
The electronic component mounted on the second board part faces the non-mounting surface of the electronic part of the first board part,
The image pickup apparatus, wherein the third substrate portion is bent along the second bending axis and arranged along the slope of the triangular prism.
(2) An endoscope apparatus in which the endoscope imaging apparatus is mounted on the distal end portion of an endoscope that is inserted into a subject.

  According to the imaging apparatus and the endoscope apparatus of the present invention, since the flexible substrate is folded twice or less in the same direction, there is no accumulation of internal stress, which is advantageous in terms of strength, and a reinforcing member is not required and is laid out. The degree of freedom increases. When the flexible substrate is bent, the electronic component faces the non-mounting region, so that the electronic component is not affected by radiation noise or heat radiation from other electronic components and has an excellent insulating property.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure for describing embodiment of this invention, and is a whole block diagram of an endoscope apparatus. It is a schematic external view in the front-end | tip part of an endoscope insertion part. It is an AA cross-section block diagram of FIG. It is a top view which shows the unfolded state of the circuit board of FIG. It is a C direction arrow directional view of the imaging device shown in FIG. It is a perspective view of an imaging device.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention, and is an overall configuration diagram of an endoscope apparatus.
The endoscope apparatus 200 includes a main body operation unit 11 and an endoscope insertion unit 13 that is connected to the main body operation unit 11 and is inserted into a body cavity. A universal cord 15 is connected to the main body operation unit 11, and a connector (not shown) is provided at the tip of the universal cord 15. The connector is detachably connected to a light source device (not shown), whereby illumination light is sent to the illumination optical system of the distal end portion 17 of the endoscope insertion portion 13. In addition, a video connector is also connected to this connector, and this video connector is detachably coupled to a processor that performs image signal processing and the like.

  The endoscope insertion portion 13 is composed of a flexible portion 19, a bending portion 21, and a distal end portion 17 in order from the main body operation portion 11 side, and the bending portion 21 rotates angle knobs 23 and 25 of the main body operation portion 11. The bending operation is performed remotely. Thereby, the front-end | tip part 17 can be orient | assigned to a desired direction.

  In addition to the angle knobs 23 and 25 described above, the main body operation unit 11 is provided with various buttons 27 such as an air / water supply button, a suction button, and a shutter button. Further, the continuous portion 29 extended to the endoscope insertion portion 13 side has a forceps insertion portion 31. The forceps insertion portion 31 guides the treatment tool such as the inserted forceps from a forceps port 33 (see FIG. 2) formed at the distal end portion 17 of the endoscope insertion portion 13.

FIG. 2 is a schematic external view of the distal end portion of the endoscope insertion portion, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional configuration view taken along line AA of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a distal end portion (hereinafter also referred to as an endoscope distal end portion) 17 that is a distal end portion of the endoscope insertion portion 13 is provided with an observation window 37 and an observation window of an imaging optical system on the distal end surface 35 thereof. Irradiation ports 39A and 39B of the illumination optical system are disposed on both sides of 37, and a forceps port 33 is disposed in the vicinity thereof. Further, a nozzle 41 that supplies air and supplies water to the observation window 37 is arranged with the ejection port facing the observation window 37.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the endoscope distal end portion 17 is fixed by inserting a lens barrel 45 into a distal end hard portion 43 made of a metal material such as a stainless steel material and a hole 43 a formed in the distal end hard portion 43. An imaging unit 47, a metal forceps pipe 49 disposed in the other perforation hole 43b, an air / water supply pipe 51 connected to the nozzle 41, and a light guide (not shown) connected to the illumination optical system. Various members such as a light guide are accommodated.

  The imaging unit 47 mounts light taken from an objective lens group including a plurality of objective lenses housed in a lens barrel 45 on a circuit board 57 by changing the optical path to a right angle by a triangular prism 55 that is an optical component. An image signal based on the image information captured by the image sensor 59 is output through the circuit board 57. An imaging optical system including the objective lens group, the triangular prism 55, and the imaging element 59 is disposed at the endoscope distal end portion 17 and functions as an imaging device. Further, an optical member such as a lens disposed at the irradiation ports 39A and 39B (see FIG. 2) and a light guide connected to the optical member constitute an illumination optical system. These are also arranged in the internal space of the endoscope distal end portion 17. Image information output from the image sensor 59 is transmitted to a processor (not shown) through the signal cable 61 and processed into a display image.

  A metal sleeve (not shown) is connected to the outer periphery of the distal end hard portion 43, and a node ring (not shown) disposed on the bending portion 21 (see FIG. 1) is connected to the metal sleeve so as to be freely bent. Yes. The outer periphery of the metal sleeve is covered with an outer tube 50. The distal end side of the distal end hard portion 43 is covered with a distal end cover 63. The outer tube 50 and the tip cover 63 are joined in close contact with each other so that there is no water immersion inside.

  The lens barrel 45 is connected to the incident side end face 55a of the triangular prism 55, and a cover glass 65, which is a translucent protective substrate, is bonded to the emission side end face 55b of the triangular prism 55. On the opposite side of the cover glass 65 from the triangular prism 55, an image sensor 59 is disposed via an air gap 67. The air gap 67 is set to a predetermined volume by the frame body 60 arranged around the image sensor 59.

  Then, the circuit board 57 on which the image sensor 59 is mounted is folded back by the first bending axis B1 in FIG. 3, and further, the total reflection inclined surface of the prism outer surface that becomes the total reflection surface of the triangular prism 55 by the second bending axis B2. (Hereinafter, simply referred to as a slope) is bent upward from the horizontal plane in the drawing to press the slope of the triangular prism 55. Here, a triangular prism is illustrated as an optical member that guides light to the image sensor 59, but the present invention is not limited to this, and an optical path changing member of another shape or another method may be used. Moreover, the cover glass 65 should just have translucency with respect to observation light, and may be other materials, such as not only a glass material but transparent resin.

  The folded circuit board 57 is accommodated together with the image sensor 59 in a casing covered with the outer tube 50 of the endoscope distal end portion 17.

Here, the circuit board 57 will be described in more detail.
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a state in which the circuit board 57 has been developed, and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the circuit board 57 is a flexible printed circuit (FPC), and includes an imaging element mounting part (first board part) 69 on which the imaging element 59 is mounted, and an imaging element mounting part 69. A component mounting portion 71 on which various electronic components connected in series via the first bending shaft B1 and the second bending shaft B2 are mounted, and a cable connected in series through the component mounting portion 71 and the third bending shaft B3. And a connection part (fourth substrate part) 73. The component mounting portion 71 is divided into a first component mounting portion (second substrate portion) 71a and a second component mounting portion (third substrate portion) 71b with the second bending axis B2 as a boundary.

  In the image sensor mounting portion 69, the image sensor 59 is mounted on the upper surface side of the circuit board 57 shown in FIG. On the upper surface of the image sensor 59, the frame body 60 and the cover glass 65 (not shown) are arranged.

  The component mounting unit 71 is mounted with various electronic components 79 and 80 for driving and controlling the image sensor 59, and a regulator 77 described later is mounted on the second component mounting unit 71b.

  Further, in the cable connecting portion 73, each lead wire of the signal cable 61 is connected to a land 81 which is a terminal connecting portion formed on the back side of FIG. 4 by soldering or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the electronic component 79 mounted on the first component mounting portion 71 a is replaced with the component mounting portion 71 in the image sensor mounting portion 69 by bending the circuit board 57 with the first bending axis B <b> 1. It faces the region W from the edge on the side to the first bending axis B1. At this time, since the surface including the non-mounting region W of the circuit board 57 is covered with the insulating layer, even if the electronic component 79 is disposed close to the image sensor mounting portion 69, the electronic component 79 is ensured to be insulated. It is possible to prevent radiant heat from being received from other electronic components close to the electronic component 79 and the influence of radiation noise.

  Then, the circuit board 57 bends the second component mounting portion 71b with the bending axis B2 and arranges the second component mounting portion 71b along the slope of the triangular prism 55. Thereby, among the electronic components mounted on the second component mounting portion 71 b, the regulator 77 that generates particularly large heat comes into contact with the inclined surface of the triangular prism 55.

  At this time, the regulator 77 and the other electronic component 80 mounted on the second component mounting portion 71b are bent on the inclined surface of the triangular prism 55 by the elastic repulsive force of the circuit board 57 itself by bending the circuit board 57 with the bending axis B2. Pressed. In order to maintain the contact between the regulator 77 and the other electronic component 80 and the inclined surface of the triangular prism 55 between the second component mounting portion 71b and the inclined surface of the triangular prism 55, the adhesive is filled with an adhesive. Layer 89 is formed. As a result, the regulator 77 and other electronic components 80 are fixed in close contact with the triangular prism 55 without a gap, and do not leave the slope of the triangular prism 55.

  Further, the regulator 77, which is one of the electronic components, is in contact with the triangular prism 55 side rather than the circuit board side on which the other electronic components 79 are mounted, so that insulation is maintained and the electronic component 77 is maintained. 79, the influence of radiation noise, heat dissipation, etc. can be reduced.

  Further, the bending rigidity at the second bending axis B2 at the boundary between the first component mounting portion 71a and the second component mounting portion 71b is made relatively higher than other portions by densely arranging the wiring patterns of the circuit board 57. ing. Thereby, the 2nd component mounting part 71b can press the triangular prism 55 more strongly, and the adhesiveness of the triangular prism 55 and the electronic components 77 and 80 improves. Therefore, until the adhesive is solidified, the adhesion between the two can be reliably maintained, and the occurrence of displacement can be prevented.

  And the circuit board 57 bends the cable connection part 73 by the bending axis | shaft B3 as shown in FIG. 5, and connects the connection end part of the signal cable 61 between the cable connection part 73 and the 1st component mounting part 71a. Sandwich. At this time, since the non-component mounting surface (the back surface of the component mounting surface) of the first component mounting portion 71a facing the cable connecting portion 73 is covered with the insulating layer, the insulation of the land 81 to which the signal cable 61 is connected is provided. Can be improved.

  In the circuit board 57, the connection end portions of the electronic components 77, 79, 80 and the signal cable 61 are accommodated in the board inner space 83 shown in FIG. 5 formed by folding the folding axes B1, B2, B3. It will be.

  The cable connecting portion 73 includes the land 81 shown in FIG. 3 connected to the signal cable 61, and the connection end portion of the signal cable 61 is narrowed between the first component mounting portion 71a with the circuit board 57 folded. Hold it. Since the connection end portion of the signal cable 61 is held by the circuit board 57, the signal cable 61 is securely fixed and the insulation of the lands 81 and the like around the connection end portion of the signal cable 61 is improved.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the circuit board 57 has a multilayer structure in which the image sensor mounting portion 69 (see FIG. 4) is provided in the lowermost layer, the component mounting portions 71a and 71b are provided in the intermediate layer, and the cable connecting portion 73 is provided in the uppermost layer. The image sensor 59 and the triangular prism 55 are fixed in a bent state. Further, the circuit board 57 has a bending axis B2 and a cable on the image pickup element 59 side (lower side in FIG. 3) of the second component mounting portion 71b fixed to the triangular prism 55 from the distal end P with respect to the image pickup element 59. A connecting portion 73 is arranged. By folding the circuit board 57 until this arrangement relationship is established, the elastic repulsive force of the second component mounting portion 71b on the bending axis B2 can be increased, and the installation space can be reduced.

The bending axis B3 of the circuit board 57 is defined as an intermediate between the first component mounting portion 71 and the cable connecting portion 73, but is not limited thereto, and may be two bending axes. That is, the narrow side hinge region connecting the first component mounting part 71 and the cable connecting part 73, the boundary side (first boundary side) L 1 with the first component mounting part 71, and the boundary side with the cable connecting part 73 (Second boundary side) L2 may be a bending axis. That is, it is set as the structure which has at least two pairs of bending axes (a pair of the first boundary side and the second boundary side, and the bending axes B1 and B2) in two different bending directions up to two places which are parallel to each other.
According to the above configuration, the circuit board 57 is folded at least three sides, and the folded sides are not folded at least three times in parallel. In addition, the folded electronic component, the signal cable 61, and the land 81 serving as a connection terminal portion with the signal cable 61 are accommodated inside the circuit board 57.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the imaging apparatus.
In the imaging device 100 in which the circuit board 57 is bent in this way, the direction of the third bending axis B3 is perpendicular to the first and second bending axes B1 and B2. That is, the third bending axis B3 between the first component mounting portion 71a and the cable connecting portion 73 is the image sensor mounting portion 69, the first component mounting portion 71a, and the second component mounting portion 71b (first, second, and third). Since the first folding axis B1 and the second folding axis B2 that divide the board portion are perpendicular to each other, the second component mounting portion 71b (third board portion) and the cable connecting portion 73 (fourth board portion) Relative displacement is possible, and the degree of freedom of arrangement of the cable connection portion 73 can be increased. Thereby, the freedom degree of arrangement of circuit board 57 itself is raised. Further, since the hinge-like bent portion including the third bending axis B3 is flexible, the cable connecting portion 73 is allowed to be twisted in the F direction in the drawing by an external force acting on the signal cable 61 in the assembly process. The For this reason, it can prevent that the influence by the displacement of the signal cable 61 reaches the 1st component mounting part 71a and the 2nd component mounting part 71b.

  The folded circuit board 57 is sealed with a gap between the boards by an insulating resin material. For this reason, in the imaging device 100, the shape of the circuit board 57 is fixed by the insulating resin material, and the lands 81 serving as the connection terminals of the electronic components 77, 79, and 80 and the signal cable 61 are not exposed to the outside. Securely insulated.

  According to the endoscope apparatus 200 having the above-described configuration, the imaging unit after the power is turned on is heated by the electronic components 79 and 80 including the imaging element 59 and the regulator 77, and the heat from the regulator 77 that generates particularly large heat is triangular. Heat is transferred from the slope of the prism toward the periphery of the cover glass 65 or the like. Then, the heat generation from the image sensor 59 and the heat generation from the regulator 77 are evenly transmitted at the same time on the front and back surfaces of the cover glass 65, and as a result, a temperature difference hardly occurs between the front and back surfaces of the cover glass 65. Occurrence is prevented.

  Further, the inclined surface of the triangular prism 55 and the regulator 77 and other electronic components 80 are joined with almost no gap, and heat transfer is performed as compared with the case of joining via an adhesive layer having a predetermined thickness. Sexually can be improved.

  Further, the endoscope apparatus 200 may send liquid from the nozzle 41 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 toward the observation window 37 during actual use after power is turned on. At that time, the amount of heat taken away from the observation window 37 by liquid feeding is compensated by heat generated from the regulator 77 and the electronic component 80 (see FIG. 4), and heat is released from the cover glass 65 toward the observation window 37. Absent. Therefore, condensation does not occur even when the liquid is fed during the procedure.

  In addition, since the regulator 77 and the second component mounting portion 71b of the circuit board 57 are disposed on the inclined surface of the triangular prism 55, the space on the back side of the triangular prism 55, which has been a dead space, is effectively used. Contributes to downsizing. That is, the electronic components 77, 79, and 80 can be collectively arranged on the back side of the triangular prism 55, and space efficiency is improved. The signal cable 61 connected to the cable connection portion 73 is disposed on the back side of the triangular prism 55 and can be installed with the shortest length without detouring the signal cable 61.

  Furthermore, since a part of the inclined surface of the triangular prism 55 is covered with the regulator 77 and the electronic component 80, the filling amount of the adhesive can be reduced. In addition, the material cost is reduced, and the adhesive solidification time during the manufacturing process is also shortened. In addition, since the area of the adhesive layer 89 having low thermal conductivity can be reduced, the heat of the image pickup apparatus after the temperature rise is not confined in the triangular prism 55, and the increase in the environmental temperature of the image pickup element 59 can be avoided. . Also, it is possible to acquire high quality image data with less noise components.

  Further, since the circuit board 57 can be assembled by a simple operation of attaching one end of the circuit board 57, which is a flexible printed circuit board, to the slope of the triangular prism 55, the manufacturing process can be simplified.

In the imaging device 100, the circuit board 57 has bending axes B1 and B2 that are parallel to each other only in two places, and further has a bending axis B3 in a direction different from the bending axes B1 and B2.
After the circuit board 57 is bent at the respective bending axes B1, B2, and B3, the electronic components 77 and 79 are arranged such that the surface of the circuit board 57 that the electronic component 79 faces becomes a non-mounting surface (non-mounting region W) of the electronic component. , 80 are arranged on the circuit board 57. When the circuit board 57 is bent, the electronic component 79 mounted on the circuit board 57 faces the non-mounting area W. For this reason, the electronic component 79 is prevented from being affected by radiation noise and heat dissipation from other electronic components 77. Further, since folding the circuit board 57 in the same direction is performed twice or less, the circuit board 57 is not made into a frame shape that is disadvantageous in strength compared with the case of folding in the same direction three or more times. Since it is laminated in a direction perpendicular to the substrate surface, there is no need to provide a reinforcing member or the like. Therefore, the manufacturing of the imaging device 100 can be simplified, and the state after bending is a configuration with excellent insulation of the electronic components 77, 79, and 80.

  As described above, according to this configuration, folding the circuit board 57 in the same direction is performed twice or less, so there is no accumulation of internal stress, which is advantageous in terms of strength, and no reinforcing member is required, so that the layout can be freely set. The degree increases. When the circuit board 57 is bent, the electronic component 79 faces the non-mounting region W, so that the electronic component 79 is not affected by radiation noise or heat radiation from the other electronic components 77 and 80 and has excellent insulation. It becomes composition.

  In addition, according to this configuration, when the circuit board 57 is folded, the connection end of the electronic component and the signal cable 61 is accommodated in the board inner space 83 surrounded by the circuit board 57, so that the electronic parts 77 and 79 are accommodated. , 80 and the connection end of the signal cable 61 are protected by the circuit board 57. In addition, the electronic components 77, 79, and 80 and the connection end portions of the signal cable 61 can be arranged with high density, the image pickup apparatus 100 can be downsized, and the signal cable 61 can be held on the circuit board 57 with high connection strength.

  Further, according to the endoscope apparatus 200 in which the imaging apparatus 100 is mounted on the distal end portion 17 of the endoscope insertion portion 13 for inserting the imaging apparatus 100 into the subject, the imaging apparatus 100 can be configured to be advantageous for downsizing. The diameter of the endoscope insertion portion 13 can be reduced.

As described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and modifications and applications by those skilled in the art based on the description of the specification and well-known techniques are also intended to be performed by the present invention. Included in the scope of seeking protection. Further, the following items are disclosed in this specification.
(1) An imaging device that includes an imaging device that captures an image of a subject and a flexible substrate on which a plurality of electronic components including the imaging device are mounted, and that folds the flexible substrate at a plurality of locations on the substrate and accommodates it in a housing. There,
The flexible substrate has only two folding axes parallel to each other, and further has a folding axis in a direction different from the folding axis,
The imaging apparatus in which the flexible substrate surface that the electronic component faces after the flexible substrate is bent by the bending axes is a non-mounting surface of the electronic component.
According to this imaging apparatus, the electronic component mounted on the flexible substrate does not face each other after the flexible substrate is bent, and the non-mounting surface of the electronic component faces the electronic component. The electronic components are prevented from being affected by radiation noise and heat dissipation.
In addition, since folding the flexible substrate in the same direction is performed twice or less, the flexible substrate can be formed on the substrate surface without making a frame shape that is disadvantageous in strength compared to the case of folding in the same direction three or more times. On the other hand, since it is laminated in the vertical direction, there is no need to provide a reinforcing member or the like. Therefore, the manufacturing of the imaging device can be simplified, and the state after the bending is a configuration with excellent insulation of the electronic component.

(2) The imaging apparatus according to (1),
An imaging apparatus in which an insulating layer is formed on a flexible substrate surface facing the electronic component.
According to this imaging apparatus, since the flexible substrate surface facing the electronic component mounted on the flexible substrate has the insulating layer, the insulation of the electronic component is more reliable.

(3) The imaging device according to (1) or (2),
The flexible substrate includes a first substrate portion on which the imaging element is mounted, a second substrate portion connected to the first substrate portion via a first bending axis, and the first bending axis to the second substrate portion. A third substrate portion connected via a second bending axis parallel to the second bending portion, and a fourth substrate connected to the second substrate portion via a third bending axis in a direction different from the first and second bending axes. A substrate portion,
The second substrate unit mounts an electronic component, and faces the non-mounting area of the electronic component of the first substrate unit in a state where the flexible substrate is folded.
According to this imaging apparatus, since the area adjacent to the imaging element of the first substrate unit, which is the non-mounting surface of the electronic component, faces the electronic component of the second substrate unit after the flexible substrate is bent, the insulating property of the electronic component Is increased.

(4) The imaging device according to (3),
An imaging apparatus in which a direction of the third bending axis is perpendicular to the first and second bending axes.
According to this imaging apparatus, since the second substrate portion and the fourth substrate portion are orthogonal to the bending directions of the first, second, and third substrate portions, the third substrate portion, the fourth substrate portion, Can be given a degree of freedom, and the degree of freedom of arrangement of the fourth substrate portion can be increased. Thereby, the arrangement | positioning freedom degree of a flexible substrate is raised.

(5) The imaging device according to (3) or (4),
An imaging apparatus in which the first substrate portion, the second substrate portion, and the fourth substrate portion of the flexible substrate are stacked so as to overlap each other.
According to this imaging apparatus, the first, second, and fourth substrate portions overlap, so that the installation space for the flexible substrate can be reduced.

(6) The imaging apparatus according to any one of (1) to (5),
An optical member for introducing light from a subject into the image sensor;
An imaging apparatus in which at least one of the electronic components is in contact with the optical member.
According to this imaging apparatus, a part of the electronic component is in contact with the optical member side, not the flexible substrate side on which the other electronic component is mounted, so that insulation is maintained and the electronic components are Not affected by radiation noise, heat dissipation, etc.

(7) The imaging apparatus according to any one of (1) to (6),
An imaging apparatus in which the flexible substrate has at least two pairs of bending axes in mutually different bending directions up to two places which are parallel to each other.
According to this imaging apparatus, by having at least two pairs of parallel bending axes in two different directions, there are few factors that affect electronic parts such as insulation by folding in different directions. Thus, the degree of freedom of installation of electronic components is increased.

(8) The imaging apparatus according to any one of (1) to (7),
A signal cable for inputting and outputting electrical signals is connected to the flexible substrate,
An imaging apparatus in which a connecting end portion of the electronic component and the signal cable is accommodated in a substrate inner space portion formed by folding the flexible substrate with the folding axes.
According to this imaging apparatus, when the flexible substrate is folded, the electronic component and the connection end of the signal cable are accommodated in the space inside the substrate surrounded by the flexible substrate, so that the connection end of the electronic component and the signal cable is accommodated. The part is protected by the flexible 57. In addition, the electronic parts and the connection end portions of the signal cable can be arranged with high density, the image pickup apparatus can be downsized, and the signal cable can be held on the flexible substrate with high connection strength.

(9) The imaging device according to (8),
The image pickup apparatus, wherein the fourth substrate portion includes a connection terminal portion connected to the signal cable, and the connection end portion of the signal cable is sandwiched between the second substrate and the flexible substrate is folded.
According to this imaging apparatus, since the connection end portion of the signal cable is held between the flexible substrates, the signal cable is securely fixed and the insulation around the connection end portion of the signal cable is improved.

(10) The imaging device according to (8) or (9),
An imaging apparatus in which the folded flexible substrate is sealed with an insulating resin material.
According to this imaging apparatus, according to this imaging apparatus, the shape of the flexible substrate is fixed by the insulating resin material, and the connection parts of the electronic component and the signal cable are reliably insulated.

(11) An endoscope apparatus in which any one of the imaging apparatuses (1) to (10) is mounted at the distal end of an endoscope that is inserted into a subject.
According to this endoscope apparatus, since the imaging device at the distal end of the endoscope insertion portion can be configured to be advantageous for downsizing, it is possible to contribute to reducing the diameter of the endoscope insertion portion.

55 Triangular prism (optical member)
57 Circuit board (flexible board)
59 Image sensor 61 Signal cable 69 Image sensor mounting part (first substrate part)
71a 1st component mounting part (2nd board | substrate part)
71b Second component mounting part (third board part)
73 Cable connection part (4th board part)
77, 80 Electronic parts 81 Land (connection terminal part)
83 Board | substrate inner side space part 100 Imaging device 200 Endoscope apparatus B1 1st bending axis | shaft B1
B2 2nd bending axis B3 3rd bending axis W Non-mounting area

Claims (7)

An imaging device comprising: an imaging device that images a subject; and a flexible substrate on which a plurality of electronic components including the imaging device are mounted, the flexible substrate being folded at a plurality of locations on the substrate and housed in a housing,
A triangular prism that changes the light taken in from the objective lens group to a right angle and forms an image on the image sensor,
The flexible substrate includes a first substrate portion on which the imaging element is mounted, a second substrate portion connected to the first substrate portion via a first bending shaft, and the first bending shaft to the second substrate portion. A third substrate portion connected via a second bending axis parallel to the second bending portion, and a fourth substrate connected to the second substrate portion via a third bending axis in a direction different from the first and second bending axes. A substrate portion,
The flexible substrate is folded at the first folding axis and the third folding axis, and the first substrate portion, the second substrate portion, and the fourth substrate portion are stacked on top of each other,
The electronic component mounted on the second board part faces the non-mounting surface of the electronic part of the first board part,
The third substrate portion, an imaging device disposed along the slope of the folded by the triangular prism in the second bending axis. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1,
An imaging apparatus in which an insulating layer is formed on a substrate surface of the first substrate unit facing the electronic component. The imaging device according to claim 1 or 2,
An imaging apparatus in which a direction of the third bending axis is perpendicular to the first and second bending axes. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An imaging apparatus in which at least one of the electronic components is in contact with the triangular prism . The imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein:
Equipped with a cable for inputting and outputting electrical signals,
The cable is an imaging device connected to a side of the fourth substrate unit facing the second substrate unit. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
An imaging apparatus in which the folded flexible substrate is sealed with an insulating resin material.   An endoscope apparatus in which the imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is mounted at a distal end of an endoscope that is inserted into a subject.