JPH0363054B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention relates to a camera used in conjunction with an endoscope, and the present invention relates to an endoscope that detects whether film is loaded or not and whether the back cover is open or closed, thereby preventing erroneous shooting when no film is loaded and making it possible to confirm the shooting function. Regarding mirror cameras. Conventional endoscopic cameras, which are attached to an endoscope and photograph objects inside the body cavity via an image guide fiber, can perform winding and release operations regardless of whether film is loaded or not. There are many cases where endoscopy and imaging are performed without realizing that the film has not been loaded, and the examination has to be repeated again, which not only impairs the speed required for endoscopy, but also places a burden on the operator. Not only will this be painful for the patient as well. As a countermeasure against this problem, endoscopic cameras have conventionally been provided which are equipped with means for detecting whether or not film is loaded, and when no film is loaded, the release operation is disabled and photography is not possible. However, with such an endoscope camera, when checking the functionality of the photographing device before an endoscopy, it is necessary to load the film and take a blank photograph, which wastes the film. There was a problem. Furthermore, if the above-mentioned function check is neglected, a malfunction of the photographing device will be noticed after the endoscopy has started, resulting in the above-mentioned inconveniences. The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned problems.
Based on a signal that detects whether or not film is loaded in the camera from the film sensitivity discrimination output and a signal that determines whether the back cover of the camera is open or closed, it is determined whether the film is loaded and the back cover is closed, that is, ready for shooting, or if the film is not loaded. and the shutter release operation is enabled only when the back cover is open, that is, when checking the shooting function before preparing for shooting, and under conditions other than the above, the shutter release is restrained to prevent shooting errors during endoscopy, The object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope camera that can perform quick inspections rationally and reliably by controlling the amount of light according to film sensitivity. Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 5. The endoscope 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes an operating section 3 that is connected to an insertion section 2 that is inserted into a body cavity and used by a surgeon to perform predetermined operations, and is connected to the operating section 3 via a universal cord 4. It consists of a light source device 5 and an eyepiece 6 for observation by the operator.
and an endoscope camera 7 (hereinafter simply referred to as the camera).
is connected to the camera 7 and observed through the eyepiece 6 of the endoscope 1 through the viewfinder 8 of the camera 7, while the shutter release button 9 of the camera 7 is operated to take pictures. The camera 7 has a back cover 10 opened and a film cassette 12, which will be described later, loaded into a cassette chamber 11 of the camera 7. Further, a winding claw shaft 14 facing inside the cassette chamber 11 engages and rotates with a spool (not shown) inside the film cassette 12 to wind up the film. In FIGS. 2 and 3, the camera 7 has an L-shaped hook 40 protruding from the back cover 10, and a push button 41 that can come into contact with this when closing the cover is disposed on the body side. This push button 41 is biased with an upward protruding force by a coil spring 42. The opening/closing button 13 is slidable in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the operating direction of the push button 41, and is biased by a spring 43 to apply a pressing force to the push button 41. 44 and push button 41
The top part of the back cover switch 46 can be freely engaged and detached, and the second projecting piece 45 can move the movable contact 47 of the back cover switch 46. On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
A conductive metal plate 50 with a pattern corresponding to the sensitivity of the film 49 is attached to the side of a cassette 48 made of plastic resin, and the metal plate 50 can be contacted within the cassette chamber 11 of the camera 7. The first, second and third contacts 51A, 51B, 51C
are installed in succession. Next, the electrical control system will be explained with reference to FIG. The first contact 51A is connected to the first and third comparators 52A, 52C, the second contact 51B is connected to the first and second comparators 52A, 52B, and the third contact 51A is connected to the first and third comparators 52A, 52C.
1C is the second and third comparator 52B, 52C
A set reference voltage is input from a DC power supply 53 to each of the first to third comparators 52A, 52B, and 52C via resistors 54 and 55 having predetermined values. Also, the output terminal of the first comparator 52A is
1AND gate 56A and the third AND gate 56C are connected directly, and the second AND gate 56B and the third AND gate 56C are directly connected.
4AND gate 56D and NOT gate 57A,
57B, and the second comparator 52B
The output ends of the first and second AND gates 56A, 56
B, and also connected to the third and fourth AND gates 56C, 56D via NOT gates 57C, 57D, and the output terminal of the third comparator 52C is connected to the first, second, and third AND gates 56A, 56D.
56B and 56C, and is connected to a fourth AND gate 56D via a NOT gate 57E. The output of the back cover switch 46 and the first AND
The output of the gate 56A via the second NOT gate 58 is both input to an exclusive OR gate 59, and the output of the release switch 9a and the third NOT of the exclusive OR gate 59 are input to the exclusive OR gate 59.
The outputs from the gate 60 are both input to the fifth AND gate 61.
The output end of No. 1 is connected to a shutter operating circuit (not shown) to a winder circuit. On the other hand, the second and third AND gates 56B and 56
The output terminals of C and 56D are connected to a fourth comparator 63 via a digital-to-analog conversion circuit 62,
Further, the output of the photoelectric conversion element 64 that performs photometry for automatic exposure is sent to the fourth comparator 6 via an integrating circuit 65.
3, and the output of this fourth comparator 63 is sent from the camera 7 to the endoscope 1 as an automatic exposure signal.
The signal is configured to be input to the light source device 5 connected to the. The operation of the above configuration will be explained below. First, when the back cover 10 is closed, the hook 40 depresses the top of the push button 41 to release the first switch of the open/close switch 13.
As a result of releasing the engagement with the protruding piece 44, the first protruding piece 44 engages with the hook 40, and the back cover switch 46 is closed by the second protruding piece 44. Conversely, when opening the back cover 10, the opening/closing switch 13 is slid in the opposite direction to release the engagement between the hook 40 and the first protruding piece 44, and at the same time, the back cover switch 46 is opened. are separated. That is, the opening and closing of the back cover 10 and the opening and closing of the back cover switch 46 are synchronized. Also, when the film cassette 12 is loaded into the cassette chamber 11 of the camera 7, the metal plate 5
0 and the first, second, and third contacts 51A, 51B, 51
As mentioned above, the pattern of this metal plate 50 is determined according to the sensitivity of the film 49.
Part or all of the third contacts 51A, 51B, and 51C are short-circuited. For example, () when the film cassette 12 is not loaded, the first, second, and third contacts 51A, 51B, and 51C are all open. () When the film sensitivity is ASA100, the first and second
Contacts 51A and 51B are short-circuited. () When the film sensitivity is ASA200, the second and third contacts 51B and 51C are short-circuited. () When the film sensitivity is ASA400, the first, second, and third contacts 51A, 51B, and 51C are all shorted. Set it so that If the film cassette 12 is not loaded now, the first to third comparators 52A, 52B,
52C, an output "1" is obtained at each output point (a, b, c in Fig. 5), and these first to
The OR outputs at the output points (d, e, f, g in FIG. 5) of the 4AND gates 56A to 56D are "1", "0", "0", and "0", respectively. As a result, the "1" output of the first AND gate 56A is inverted "0" output from the second NOT gate 58 and input to the exclusive OR gate 59.
When 0 is open (that is, the back cover switch 46 is open) (that is, "0" output), the exclusive
The output from the OR gate 59 becomes "0", which is inverted by the third NOT gate 60, becomes a "1" output, and is input to the fifth AND gate 61. Therefore, when the closing signal "1" of the release switch 9a is input to the fifth AND gate 61, this
The shutter operating circuit and winder circuit operate with the "1" output from the 5AND gate 61. In other words, if the back cover 10 is opened when the film cassette 12 is not loaded, it is possible to check the operation of the photographing function. Next, assuming that the film cassette 12 containing ASA100 film 49 is loaded, the first and second contacts 51A and 51B are short-circuited by the metal plate 50, and the potential becomes zero, and only the third contact 51C becomes the reference potential. Therefore, the first, second, and third comparators 52
Each output of A, 52B, 52C is "0", "1",
It becomes "1". Therefore, the first to fourth AND gates 56A, 56
The outputs of B, 56C, and 56D are "0", "1", "0",
becomes “0”, exclusive OR gate 59
As a result, the inverted output of the second NOT gate 58 and the closing signal of the camera back switch 46 are input to the 5th AND gate 61, and the ``1'' output is input to the 5th AND gate 61, while the closing signal ``1'' of the release switch 9a is also input. Therefore, the shutter can be operated in the same manner as described above. Also, in this case, the output of the second AND gate 56B is sent to the digital-to-analog conversion circuit 62.
It is converted into an analog signal according to the sensitivity of the ASA 100 and input to the second comparator 63. On the other hand, the photoelectric conversion element 64 measures the light and the integrating circuit 6
The output value integrated by 5 is also sent to the second comparator 6.
3, but if it is determined that the value corresponds to the ASA sensitivity, an automatic exposure signal is output and the light source device 5
input to control the illumination light. In addition, other film sensitivities (ASA200, ASA400)
In the case of , the input/output characteristics of each logic element at points a to g in the figure are shown in Table 1, and the release switch signal h, back cover switch signal i, and film Table 2 shows a function table of the interrelationship between the detection signal j and the shutter operation signal k.

【table】

[Table] As shown in this second table, for example, when the film cassette 12 is inserted (j = 1), the back cover 10 is closed (i = 1), and the release button 9 is pressed, the shutter operation signal k becomes "1", and the shutter etc. are set to operate normally. Of course, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and may be applied to, for example, an endoscope with a front-end camera, and the release signal may be transmitted electrically by the opening/closing signal of the back cover or the detection signal of the film. However, the release button may be mechanically restrained or the transmission of the release signal may be mechanically controlled, and in short, any changes can be made within the technical scope. As described above, according to the present invention, when a film is loaded and the back cover is closed, a means for detecting whether or not a film is loaded in the camera is detected using a film sensitivity discrimination output, and a back cover opening/closing detecting means. Since the shutter operates only when no film is loaded and the camera back is open, the film sensitivity determining means also serves as the film loading/unloading detection means, so there is no need for a separate film loading/unloading detection means. It can be constructed with a simple structure and has the following features. (1) Even if the camera back is closed, if no film is loaded, the shutter will not operate, making it possible to prevent aerial photography, and to prevent re-examination by aerial photography, which was common in the past. and reduce the burden on patients. (2) Even without loading film, you can check the operation of the shutter, etc. by opening the back cover, so you can perform preliminary inspections for endoscopic photography without wasting film, and avoid re-inspections due to malfunctions. The reliability of the endoscope can be improved. (3) Since the film sensitivity can be determined and the corresponding amount of light from the light source device can be automatically adjusted, appropriate exposure can be achieved during photographing, thereby increasing reliability.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a front explanatory view of an endoscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the general structure of an endoscope camera, and Fig. 3 is a configuration of an open/close switch and a back cover switch. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the film cassette, and FIG. 5 is a digital circuit diagram of the control system. 7... Camera, 9... Release button, 9a... Release switch, 10... Back cover, 12... Film cassette, 13... Open/close button, 41... Push button, 46... Back cover switch, 50... Conductor metal plate, 51A, 51B, 51
C...First, second, and third contacts, 62...Digital-to-analog conversion circuit, 64...Photoelectric conversion element for photometry.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A camera body connected to an endoscope is provided with a film sensitivity determining means that also serves as a film loading/unloading detecting means, and the film loading/unloading detecting means, back cover opening/closing detecting means, and release switch are logically connected; The shutter operating circuit is closed by outputting the logical sum of the film loading signal, the back cover closing signal, and the release signal, or the logical sum output of the film no loading signal, the back cover opening signal, and the release signal, and the film sensitivity determining means. An endoscope camera characterized in that the amount of light from a light source device of an endoscope is controlled by a comparison output between a film sensitivity discrimination output and a photoelectric conversion element output for subject photometry.