JP5816465B2 - Endoscope device with lamp cooling mechanism - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an endoscope apparatus that observes and treats a subject such as an inner wall of an organ with a scope, and more particularly to cooling a lamp used as a light source.

  In an endoscope apparatus, a lamp for a light source such as a xenon lamp is provided inside a processor or a light source apparatus, and a cooling fan installed on the lamp side is rotated in order to suppress a temperature rise inside the apparatus due to lamp lighting. .

  When the main power supply is turned off while the lamp temperature is high, if the cooling fan is also stopped at the same time, the lamp temperature temporarily rises, affecting peripheral circuit boards and the like. For this reason, a standby power source such as a battery is built in, and when the main power source is turned off, the cooling fan is continuously operated by the standby power source, and the lamp cooling operation is continued until the temperature falls below a reference value (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2005-218465 A

  If the cooling fan is operated for a long time with a built-in power source such as a battery, the power consumption is severe. When an emergency such as turning off the lamp used due to the end of life or equipment failure occurs during endoscopic work, emergency processing operation using a standby power supply such as turning on the emergency lamp is required, but sufficient power is stored. If not, the standby power may be lost soon.

  Therefore, effective cooling is required while suppressing power consumption in the standby power supply.

  The endoscope apparatus of the present invention operates a cooling unit in accordance with lighting of a light source, a light source button operated to turn on and off the light source, a cooling unit that cools heat released from the light source, In addition, a cooling control unit is provided that continuously operates the cooling unit so that the ambient temperature of the light source is lowered to a predetermined temperature when the light source button is turned off by an operation on the light source button (herein, normally turned off). The predetermined temperature is appropriately set in consideration of lamp characteristics and the like.

  In addition, the endoscope apparatus supplies main power through a commercial power source to the cooling unit and the cooling control unit, and when the main power is turned off during the operation of the cooling unit, an internal battery, etc. A power supply unit that can be supplied with a standby power supply is provided.

  And the cooling control part of this invention monitors the operation | movement of the cooling part after a normal light extinction, and if a main power supply turns off after a normal light extinction, it will fall to predetermined temperature based on the cooling operation period until a main power supply turns off. The remaining operation of the cooling unit required until is continued after the main power is turned off.

  For example, if the main power supply is turned off during the cooling operation due to the main power button OFF operation, power failure, or power cord disconnection that is performed immediately after the normal power is turned off, etc., cooling performed after the normal power is turned off until the main power is turned off. The remaining necessary cooling fan operation is performed in view of the influence and effect of the operation by monitoring. Since the cooling operation is performed as much as necessary after the main power supply is turned off to lower the ambient temperature of the light source to a predetermined temperature, the power consumed by the standby power supply is minimized.

  Although various methods are possible for controlling the cooling operation, the cooling operation can be accurately controlled by controlling the cooling operation by time management. For example, when the cooling control unit is normally turned off, the cooling unit is continuously operated for a predetermined period. Then, the cooling control unit detects the cooling operation time of the cooling unit after the normal light is turned off, and when the main power is turned off after the normal light is turned off, the cooling control unit performs cooling for the remaining period excluding the cooling operation period from the fixed time to the main power supply OFF. What is necessary is just to operate a part.

  The fixed period during which the cooling operation is performed can be determined according to at least one of the lighting time and the cumulative lighting time until the light source is normally turned off. In this case, the cooling control unit can adjust the remaining period during which the cooling unit is operated based on a certain period that varies depending on the use situation.

  An endoscope cooling device according to another aspect of the present invention can be mounted in a processor or a light source device, and a light source button that is operated to turn on and off a light source and a cooling unit that cools heat released from the light source. Cooling control that operates the cooling unit in accordance with the operation of the light source, and continuously operates the cooling unit so that the ambient temperature of the light source decreases to a predetermined temperature when the light source button is turned off normally by the operation of the light source button Power supply that can supply power to the cooling unit and the cooling control unit when the main power is turned off during operation of the cooling unit and the main power supply is turned off during operation of the cooling unit The cooling control unit monitors the operation of the cooling unit after it is normally turned off, and when the main power is turned off after the normal turning off, until the main power is turned off Based on the cooling operation period, the remaining operation of the cooling unit required down to a predetermined temperature, and performing continued after the main power OFF.

  As described above, according to the present invention, even when the main power supply is turned off during the cooling operation, the heat radiation from the light source such as the lamp can be effectively cooled.

It is a block diagram of the electronic endoscope apparatus which is this embodiment. It is a timing chart of a lamp cooling operation control process.

  Hereinafter, the electronic endoscope apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic endoscope apparatus according to this embodiment.

  The electronic endoscope apparatus includes a video scope 10 whose insertion portion is inserted into the body, and a processor 20, and the video scope 10 is detachably connected to the processor 20. A monitor 50 is connected to the processor 20.

  The processor 20 includes a lamp 32 such as a xenon lamp. When the lamp button 54 for turning on / off the lamp 32 is operated, the lamp 32 is turned on / off by the lamp driving circuit 36. The illumination light from the lamp 32 is incident on the light guide 12 provided in the video scope 10 via the condenser lens 33. The light incident on the light guide 12 passes through the light guide 12 and is irradiated from the distal end portion 10T of the scope toward the subject (observation target).

  Illumination light reflected from the subject passes through an objective lens (not shown) provided at the scope tip 10T, whereby an object image is formed on the light receiving surface of an image sensor (CCD or the like) 14 located behind the objective lens. The In the image sensor 14, an image signal for one frame is read out at a predetermined frame time interval (for example, at an interval of 1/60 seconds). The image sensor 14 is provided with a complementary color filter in which color elements composed of Cy, Ye, G, Mg or R, G, B are arranged in a mosaic pattern, and a simultaneous single plate type is applied as a color imaging method.

  The read image signal is digitized by an AD conversion circuit (not shown) and then sent to the image processing circuit 22 of the processor 20. The image processing circuit 22 performs signal processing such as white balance processing and gamma correction processing on the image signal. Thus, R, G, and B video signals are generated. Then, by outputting the video signal to the monitor 50, the observation image is displayed on the monitor 50 as a real-time moving image.

  The cooling fan 34 disposed on the lamp 32 side is operated by a fan driving circuit 38 in order to cool the heat radiation from the lamp 32. The cooling fan 34 starts to operate in accordance with the lighting of the lamp 32, and suppresses a temperature rise around the lamp 32 while the lamp is on.

  The power supply unit 42 supplies power to the lamp drive circuit 36, the fan drive circuit 38, the system control circuit 40, and the like based on an external commercial power supply or a built-in battery 44. The main power source is a power source based on a commercial power source, and is switched ON / OFF by an operation on the main power button 52.

  The system control circuit 40 outputs control signals to the fan drive circuit 38, the lamp drive circuit 36, etc., and controls the operation of the entire processor 20. When the lamp button 54 is switched OFF, the system control circuit 40 controls the fan drive circuit 38 so that the cooling fan 34 continues to operate for a certain period.

  The battery 44, which is a standby power supply, supplies power to the timer operation when the main power is turned off, and supplies power to each circuit in the device when the main power is turned off due to an unexpected situation such as a device failure. In this embodiment, when the main power supply is turned off while the cooling fan 34 is operating after the lamp is turned off, the power is supplied to the system control circuit 40 and the fan drive circuit 38 through the battery 44 which is a standby power supply, and the cooling is performed. The fan 34 continues to operate.

  FIG. 2 is a timing chart of the lamp cooling operation process.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, when the operator turns off the lamp button 54 while the processor 20 is powered on (for example, due to the end of the endoscope operation), the lamp 32 is turned off while the cooling fan 34 continues to drive. . Then, the cooling fan 34 stops when a certain period T0 has elapsed. This fixed period T0 is a predetermined period, and is set empirically as a period during which the ambient temperature of the lamp 32 reaches a predetermined temperature C0 that does not affect peripheral devices, circuits, and the like inside the apparatus.

  Further, the predetermined period T0 is set to a different value depending on the lighting time from the start of lighting of the lamp 32 during the endoscopic work or the cumulative lighting time of the lamp 32. When the lamp 32 is lit continuously for a long time, the ambient temperature of the lamp is stabilized at a substantially constant temperature due to the interaction between the radiant heat from the lamp 32 and the cooling by the cooling fan 34. However, the ambient temperature of the lamp also changes depending on the usage environment such as when the lamp lighting time is short or when the heat radiation from the lamp decreases with time.

  For this reason, the memory provided in the system control circuit 40 has a series of cooling fan operation times corresponding to the lighting time from when the lamp is turned on until it is turned off, and the cumulative lighting time that has been used since the manufacture. It is stored as data. Then, when the lamp is extinguished, the adapted cooling fan operating time is read as a certain period T0. The lighting time and the cumulative lighting time are measured by a timer in the system control circuit 40.

  Thus, although the cooling fan 34 continues to operate even after the lamp is extinguished, unexpected power loss may occur in the middle of the fixed period T0 before passing. For example, if the operator mistakenly sets the main power button 52 immediately after the lamp is turned off, the main power cannot be supplied in a state where the ambient temperature of the lamp 32 has not yet sufficiently decreased.

  Further, even when a power failure occurs due to the influence of a major earthquake or the like, or when a commercial AC power cord is suddenly disconnected from the outlet, it becomes impossible to operate the cooling fan 34 by the main power source.

  Therefore, when the main power supply is turned off during the cooling operation after the lamp is turned off, power is supplied from the spare internal battery 44 to the cooling fan 34 and the system control circuit 40. As a result, even if the unexpected main power supply is turned off, the cooling operation by the cooling fan 34 is continued as it is.

  The cooling operation period after the main power supply is turned off is adjusted by the system control circuit 40. The system control circuit 40 monitors the driving state of the cooling fan 34 after the lamp is turned off, and detects the cooling period after the lamp is turned off. When the main power OFF occurs in the middle of the fixed period T0, the remaining period T2 obtained by subtracting the cooling period T1 up to that time from the fixed period T0 is calculated. Then, the cooling fan 34 is driven for a period T2 (FIG. 2B).

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, in the endoscope apparatus provided with the cooling fan 34 that cools the heat radiation from the lamp 32, the cooling fan 34 is continuously operated for a certain period T0 even after the lamp is turned off. When the main power supply is turned off during the cooling operation after the lamp is turned off, the cooling fan 34 is operated for the remaining period T2 excluding the previous cooling operation period T1.

  In this embodiment, the cooling operation from the lamp turn-off to the main power supply OFF is monitored, and the cooling period is measured. Then, the remaining operation period of the cooling fan necessary for lowering the lamp ambient temperature to the predetermined temperature is set based on the cooling operation period thus far. As a result, the cooling fan operates only during a period necessary for cooling, and the power consumption of the battery is suppressed as much as possible. Even when the period required for cooling differs depending on the lamp usage status, the remaining cooling period is accurately calculated each time by calculation.

  Instead of the internal battery, an internal capacitor or the like may be used as a standby power source. In addition, a blower mechanism other than the cooling fan may be applied, or a cooling device such as an electronic device may be applied. Alternatively, a plurality of cooling fans may be installed. Furthermore, instead of a processor with a built-in light source, the present invention can be applied to a light source device separated from the processor, or a light source device for fiberscope connection.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Videoscope 14 Image sensor 20 Processor 32 Lamp 34 Cooling fan 38 Fan drive circuit 40 System control circuit 42 Power supply part 44 Battery 54 Lamp button

Claims (6)

A light source;
A light source button operated to turn on and off the light source;
A cooling unit for cooling the heat radiation from the light source;
Cooling that operates the cooling unit in accordance with the lighting of the light source, and continuously operates the cooling unit so that the ambient temperature of the light source decreases to a predetermined temperature when the light source button is normally turned off by an operation on the light source button. A control unit;
When the main power is supplied to the cooling unit and the cooling control unit through a commercial power supply, and the main power is turned off during the operation of the cooling unit, the cooling unit and the cooling control unit can be supplied with a backup power source. Power supply and
The cooling control unit monitors the operation of the cooling unit after being normally turned off, and when the main power is turned off after the normal turning off, it is necessary until the temperature drops to a predetermined temperature based on the cooling operation period until the main power is turned off. the remaining operation of the cooling unit, rows that have continued after the main power OFF,
When the cooling control unit is normally turned off, the cooling unit is continuously operated for a certain period of time determined according to the lighting time and cumulative lighting time of the light source until it is normally turned off,
The cooling control unit detects the cooling operation time of the cooling unit after the normal turn-off, and when the main power supply is turned off after the normal turn-off, the remaining period excluding the cooling operation period from the fixed period to the main power supply OFF, An endoscope apparatus, wherein the cooling unit is operated . The endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a memory that stores a series of fixed periods as data corresponding to a lighting time and a cumulative lighting time of the light source until the light is normally turned off . The endoscope apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the cooling unit is a cooling fan .   The endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the standby power supply is a battery.   The endoscope apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the main power is turned off during the cooling operation by turning off the main power button, power failure, or pulling out the power cord. A cooling unit for cooling the heat radiation from the light source; and operating the cooling unit in accordance with the lighting of the light source based on an operation on the light source button operated to turn on and off the light source, and an operation on the light source button When the light is normally turned off, the cooling control unit that continuously operates the cooling unit so that the ambient temperature of the light source is lowered to a predetermined temperature;
When the main power is supplied to the cooling unit and the cooling control unit through a commercial power supply, and the main power is turned off during the operation of the cooling unit, the cooling unit and the cooling control unit can be supplied with a backup power source. Power supply and
The cooling control unit monitors the operation of the cooling unit after being normally turned off, and when the main power is turned off after the normal turning off, the cooling control unit is necessary until the temperature drops to a predetermined temperature based on the cooling period until the main power is turned off. the remaining operation of the cooling unit, rows that have continued after the main power OFF,
When the cooling control unit is normally turned off, the cooling unit is continuously operated for a certain period of time determined according to the lighting time and cumulative lighting time of the light source until it is normally turned off,
The cooling control unit detects the cooling operation time of the cooling unit after the normal turn-off, and when the main power supply is turned off after the normal turn-off, the remaining period excluding the cooling operation period from the fixed period to the main power supply OFF, An endoscope light source cooling device, wherein the cooling unit is operated .

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