JPH05309069A - Electronic endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the electronic endoscope which can prevent a fact that S/N is deteriorated due to a temperature rise, etc., of a solid-state image pickup element. CONSTITUTION:A CCD 24 and a hybrid IC 44 being a peripheral circuit of the CCD 24 are mounted in the tip, a heat sink 51 in which at least the surface has electric insulation is provided in a package of the hybrid IC 44, and a connecting part of a lead terminal of the CCD 24 and a signal line 48 is arranged between fins of the heat sink 51.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic endoscope provided with a heat sink in a package of a peripheral circuit of a solid-state image pickup device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, endoscopes have been widely used in the medical field and industrial field. Recently, an electronic endoscope in which a solid-state image pickup device such as a CCD is arranged on the focal plane of an objective lens has come to be used without using an image guide. The use of this solid-state image pickup device has an advantage that an endoscopic image can be easily recorded and reproduced. For this reason, even in the case of an optical endoscope, when a TV camera is attached to the eyepiece and used as an electronic endoscope of a TV camera external type having a function equivalent to that of an electronic endoscope. There is.

For example, US Patent No. 4,491,8
In the conventional example of the electronic endoscope disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 65, an electronic component including an image sensor is sealed with a synthetic resin.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned conventional example, since the electric component is sealed with the synthetic resin, the electric component is warmed up and the temperature rises, which deteriorates the S / N of the image sensor. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic endoscope capable of preventing the S / N from deteriorating due to a temperature rise of the solid-state image pickup device.

[0006]

In an electronic endoscope having a solid-state image pickup device and a peripheral circuit of the solid-state image pickup device mounted on a tip thereof, a package of the peripheral circuit is provided with a heat sink having at least an electrically insulating surface. At the same time, by arranging the connection portion between the lead terminal of the solid-state image sensor and the signal line between the fins of the heat sink, it is possible to prevent the temperature of the peripheral circuit or the solid-state image sensor from rising.
The deterioration of / N is also prevented.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 relate to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 shows a structure of a tip portion of the embodiment, FIG. 2 shows an entire configuration of an electronic endoscope of the embodiment, and FIG. A of 1
Fig. 4 shows a cross section taken along line A, Fig. 4 shows a cross section of the insertion portion, and Fig. 5 shows C.
The structure of a control system for driving the CD is shown. As shown in FIG. 2, the electronic endoscope 1 according to the first embodiment has an elongated insertion portion 2, an operation portion 3 formed at a rear end of the insertion portion 2, and a side portion of the operation portion 3. Has a universal cable 4
A connector (not shown) is provided at the end of the universal cable 4, and the connector can be connected to the video processor 5 shown in FIG.

The insertion portion 2 has a distal end portion 6 in which the image pickup means is housed, and a curved portion 7 formed adjacent to the distal end portion 6.
And a flexible portion 8 formed from the rear end of the curved portion 7 to the front end of the operating portion 3. A bending operation knob 11 is provided on the side portion of the operation portion 3, and by operating the bending operation knob 11 by gripping the lower grip portion 12,
The bending portion 7 can be bent. A forceps insertion opening 13 is provided below the grip portion 12.

An air / water supply control button 14 for controlling air / water supply and a suction control button 15 for controlling suction are provided near the bending operation knob 11. Further, a remote switch 1 for performing remote control is provided on the top side of the operation unit 3.
6 is provided. Conductive patterns 17 and 18 are provided inside the grip portion 12, and a grip 19 made of conductive rubber is provided on the outer periphery thereof. Therefore, when the grip 19 is held, a switch mechanism is formed in which the conductive patterns 17 and 18 are electrically connected.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the conductive patterns 17 and 18 are made conductive by the gripping operation of the grip 19 represented by a switch, the control circuit 21 detects this and the switch 22 is turned on.
N When the switch 22 is turned on, the CCD drive circuit 23 outputs a drive signal to the CCD 24 of the electronic endoscope 1. The output signal of the CCD 24 is the video signal processing circuit 2
5, the video signal is generated and displayed on a monitor (not shown).

On the other hand, when the grip 19 is released, the conductive patterns 17 and 18 are turned off, and when the control circuit 21 detects this off, the switch 22 is turned off.
Therefore, the CCD 24 is driven only during the inspection so that the life of the CCD 24 can be extended. Although the CCD driving is controlled in this embodiment, the invention is not limited to this, and the ON / OFF of the lamp of the light source or the ON / OFF of the air supply pump may be controlled.

FIG. 1 shows the structure of the tip portion 6. A through-hole is formed in the axial direction in the metal tip body 31 forming the tip 6, and an image pickup unit 32 is attached. An air / water channel 33 adjacent to the imaging unit 32,
And a suction channel 34.

An electrically insulating tip cover 35 is provided at the front end of the tip body 31. On the rear end (hand side) side of the tip portion main body 31, a frontmost bending piece 36 that forms the bending portion 7 is fixed with a screw (not shown), and the entire bending portion 7 is covered with an outer tube 37.

The objective lens 38 forming the image pickup unit 32 is attached to the through hole of the tip end main body 31 via a lens frame 39. At the image forming position of the objective lens 38, C
The CD 24 is arranged, and is bonded and fixed to the lens frame 39 by the CCD frame 41. External lead terminal groups 42 and 43 are linearly projected on the back surface of the CCD 24 in a direction parallel to the optical axis. One of the external lead terminal groups 42 has a hybrid integrated circuit (IC and IC) as a peripheral circuit of the CCD 24. 44 is soldered.

The hybrid IC 44 has an I
A C46 and an electronic component 47 are mounted, and a signal line 48 is soldered to the back surface of the substrate 45, for example. or,
A signal line 48 is also soldered to the external lead terminal group 43.

The hybrid IC 44 forms a preamplifier or the like for amplifying the output signal of the CCD 24. The IC 46 forming the hybrid IC 44 is the sealing resin 4
It is sealed with 9. Then, the image pickup unit 32 is formed with an electric component section in which the CCD 24 and the hybrid IC 44 are integrated.

A heat sink 51 is provided on the sealing resin 49 as a heat radiating means for radiating heat. The heat sink 51 is made of a metal such as aluminum having a high heat dissipation function, and is coated with an insulating coating such as an insulating paint. The surface of the heat sink 51 should not be electrically conducted even if it comes into contact with the surface. ing. In other words, hybrid IC
Heatsink 5 with insulated surface in 44 package
1 is attached integrally.

This heat sink 51 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the heat sink 51 has heat radiating fins 5 at substantially the same pitch as the pitch of the external lead terminal group 43.
2, 52 ... 52 are formed and adjacent fins 52,
Each external lead terminal of the external lead terminal group 43 is arranged between 52. This adjacent fin 52,
In the space between 52, the external lead terminals of the external lead terminal group 43 and the soldering portions of the signal lines 48 are arranged, and high-density mounting is performed and the tip portion 6 is miniaturized. Then, the whole is sealed with the synthetic resin 53.

The ends of the fins 52, 52 ... 52 are exposed from the synthetic resin 53 and exposed to the air so that the heat can be sufficiently radiated without lowering the heat radiation function. Since the heat sink 51 is insulation-coated, even if an electrical connection portion is formed between the adjacent fins 52, 52 by soldering the external lead terminal and the signal line 48, the connection portions are electrically connected to each other. We are making sure to prevent short circuits.

As shown in FIG. 1, a nozzle 55 is not shown on the tip side of the through hole 54 which is formed adjacent to the through hole of the image pickup unit 32 formed in the tip end main body 31 and which forms the air / water supply channel 33. It is fixed with screws. A base 56 is provided on the proximal side of the through hole 54, and the tip of a tube 57 is fixed to form an air / water supply channel 33.

The suction channel 34 is formed adjacent to the through hole of the image pickup unit 32 formed in the tip end main body 31.
A base 59 and a tube 61 are bonded to a through hole 58 that forms a watertight adhesive bond. A tapered wide mouth portion 62 is provided on the proximal side of the through hole 58, and an elastic adhesive 63 is packed between the tube 61 and the wide opening portion 62.

Therefore, since the tube 61 freely rotates around the rear end of the tip body 31, the length from the rear end of the tip body 31 to the curved portion 7 can be shortened, and the tip 6 can be made compact. In addition, when forceps or the like is inserted in a bent state, the forceps has a hard portion, so that the tube 6
1 is deformed and inserted, but the tapered wide-mouth portion 62
Since this is provided, the taper is guided by this taper and inserted. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the forceps from being caught at the rear end of the tip portion main body 31.

A coating layer 64 made of a material having a high surface hardness such as an ultraviolet curable epoxy resin or a highly transparent fluororesin is formed on the surface of the tip cover 35. As a result, the surface of the tip cover 35 is less likely to be damaged, so that it is possible to prevent defective drainage due to water being accumulated on the surface of the tip cover 35 during water supply.

The periphery of the image pickup unit 32 may be covered with lead particles bound with an elastic adhesive. Further, a strip of lead may be wound around the image pickup unit 32. This will prevent X-ray noise.

FIG. 4 shows a cross section of the flexible part 8 of the insertion part 2.
The soft part 8 is formed on the outer surface of the spiral tube 65 at the first end on the first side.
The blade 66 is covered with a second blade 67 on the hand side, and a resin outer cover 68 is covered on the outside thereof. The first blade 66 is made of a thick metal wire, and the second blade 67 is made of a thin metal wire. For example, the blade 66 has φ0, 12 and the blade 67 has φ0, 06.

According to the electronic endoscope 1 of the first embodiment configured as described above, the heat sink 51 has the fin 52 exposed to the outside of the synthetic resin 53 for sealing the image pickup unit 32. Is sufficiently held, and the temperature of the image pickup unit 32 can be effectively prevented from rising. Therefore,
It is possible to prevent the temperature of the CCD 24 or the hybrid IC 44 constituting the image pickup unit 32 from rising,
It is possible to effectively prevent the deterioration of the S / N due to the temperature rise of the CD 24.

Further, since the soldering portions of the external lead terminal group 43 and the signal line 48 are arranged between the fins 52 of the heat sink 51 having an insulative surface, it is possible to prevent adjacent soldering portions from contacting each other. Therefore, it is possible to surely prevent the occurrence of a short circuit or the like.

In the first embodiment, the electronic endoscope 1 having the image pickup means built in at the distal end thereof has been described. However, a TV camera external system in which a TV camera having the image pickup means built in is attached to the eyepiece of the fiberscope. It can also be applied to the case of an endoscope. Also, the hybrid I as a peripheral circuit of the CCD 24
C44 may be a circuit that generates a drive signal for the CCD 24.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, the connection portion between the lead terminal of the solid-state image pickup device and the signal line is arranged between the fins of the heat sink whose surface is insulative.
It is possible to prevent the S / N from deteriorating due to the temperature rise of the solid-state imaging device, and it is possible to surely prevent adjacent connecting portions from contacting each other.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a structure of a tip portion of an electronic endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall view of an electronic endoscope of one embodiment.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an insertion portion.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control system that controls CCD driving.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electronic endoscope 2 ... Insertion part 3 ... Operation part 4 ... Universal cable 5 ... Video processor 6 ... Tip part 7 ... Bending part 11 ... Bending operation knob 12 ... Gripping part 24 ... CCD 31 ... Tip part body 32 ... Imaging Unit 33 ... Air supply / water supply channel 34 ... Suction channel 32 ... Objective lens 35 ... Tip cover 36 ... Curved piece 38 ... Objective lens 39 ... Lens frame 41 ... CCD frame 42, 43 ... External lead terminal group 44 ... Hybrid IC 45 ... Substrate 46 ... IC 47 ... Electronic component 48 ... Signal line 49 ... Sealing resin 51 ... Heat sink 52 ... Fin 53 ... Synthetic resin

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electronic endoscope having a solid-state image sensor and a peripheral circuit of the solid-state image sensor mounted on a tip thereof, wherein a package of the peripheral circuit is provided with a heat sink having at least an electrically insulating surface, and a fin of the heat sink is provided. An electronic endoscope comprising a lead terminal of the solid-state image pickup device and a connection portion of a signal line disposed therebetween.