JPH0617944B2 - Television camera device for in-pipe inspection - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a television camera device for in-pipe inspection used for inspecting a water supply pipe, a sewer pipe, a gas pipe, etc., and particularly, an improvement of a portion for controlling the field of view. Related to.

[Technical Background of the Invention] In a conventional television camera apparatus for in-pipe inspection, a mechanism for controlling the field of view has a structure for switching the tilt angle of a reflecting mirror arranged in front of the television camera. When the reflecting mirror is at an angle parallel to the direction of the TV camera, it is in a direct-viewing state and the front can be imaged. Further, when the reflecting mirror is tilted at an angle of 45 degrees in front of the television camera, it is in a side-viewing state, and the inner wall of the tube can be imaged.

As another control mechanism, there is one that can change the orientation of the entire TV camera in the directions of the XY axes (horizontal and vertical axes).

[Problems of Background Art] According to the above-mentioned conventional visual field control device of the television camera device for in-pipe inspection, there is a problem that it is not suitable for miniaturization. Particularly in recent years, there is a demand for a small-sized inspection device capable of penetrating even a pipe having a small diameter. Further, the visual field control device using the reflecting mirror has a problem that it is difficult to understand the vertical relationship between the image on the monitor screen and the actual subject.
In addition, the field of view in the tube axis direction inside the tube captures from a close-up image to a distant image because the subject is a cylinder, so there is no reference for focusing on the monitor screen, and efficient inspection is possible. It is an obstacle. In other words, the field of view is narrow,
There is a problem that when focusing on a near portion, the far portion is blurred, and when focusing on the far portion, the neighboring portion is blurred. If a wide-angle lens is used to widen the field of view, there is a problem that the image is reduced and a clear image cannot be obtained.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a control mechanism for expanding the field of view of a camera can be realized with a simple configuration and can be downsized, and at the same time, a field of view for imaging is wide. It is an object of the present invention to provide a television camera device for in-pipe inspection capable of obtaining excellent images.

[Outline of the Invention] As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention is an optical lens 13 for guiding a subject image to an image pickup section 12 having an image pickup surface arranged perpendicular to a reference axis X1 (tube axis) of a tube 11 to be inspected. Are arranged as follows. That is, the means 14 for holding the optical lens 13 arranged so as to have the optical axis X3 inclined with respect to the axis X2 parallel to the reference axis X1 is configured to rotate about the reference axis X1. It is a thing.

Embodiments of the Invention Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the basic concept of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a concrete example, which will be described below with reference to these drawings. The television camera device to be inserted into the tube to be inspected 11 is housed in, for example, a cylindrical case 21. The front opening of the case 21 is closed by a holder 22. A glass plate 23 is provided at the center of the holder 22.
Is attached, and external light can be guided to the optical unit 24 of the case 21. Further, a plurality of illuminators 25A to 25N are provided on the outer peripheral portion of the holder 22 around the axis X1 of the case 21. Inside the holder 22, the optical unit 24
A housing 26 for rotatably holding is disposed and is closely attached to the inner circumference of the case 21. The optical portion 24 is composed of a lens holding portion 24a holding an optical lens and a shaft-shaped holding portion 24b further holding the lens holding portion 24a. The shaft-shaped holding portion 24b is a bearing portion provided in a housing 26. It is rotatably held. Further, an external gear 24c is attached to the rear end of the shaft-shaped holding portion 24b. The shaft-shaped holding portion 24b is rotatable about the axis X1, but the lens holding portion 24a is attached at an angle inclined with respect to the axis X1.

Therefore, the optical lens 13 in the lens holding portion 24a is arranged so as to have the optical axis X3 inclined with respect to the axis X2 parallel to the axis X1 as shown in FIG. 1, and holds the optical lens 13. The means is adapted to be rotated about the axis X1. Of course, in this case, the light that has passed through the optical section 24 is arranged at the rear portion of the external gear 24c and has the axis X1.
An opening is provided at the center of the external gear 24c so as to reach the imaging unit 12 having an image plane perpendicular to the.

The power to the external gear 24c is transmitted from the motor 27 via the gears 28 and 29, the shaft 30, and the gear 31.
The shaft 30 is supported by a housing 26 and a bearing portion formed on the partition wall 32. 33 is the case 21
It is a packing to improve the internal confidentiality. Again 3
Reference numeral 4 is a printed circuit board for mounting the image pickup unit 12. A lid 35 is attached to the rear end of the case 21, and a coupling device 36 is attached to the lid 35. A power supply to the image pickup unit 12 and a read signal from the image pickup unit 12 are transmitted by a cable introduced via the shaft 37.

According to the television camera apparatus for in-tube inspection of the present invention configured as described above, the inside of the tube can be grasped as shown in FIG. When the optical unit 24 is rotated by the motor 27, screens A, B, C and D can be obtained and the field of view can be expanded. Moreover, since the top and bottom of the screen and the top and bottom of the subject are always in agreement, it is easy for the monitor side to determine the abnormal part of the tube. Furthermore, in order to widen the field of view, a simple structure in which the motor 27 simply rotates the optical unit 24 is advantageous for miniaturization. According to this device, as shown in FIG. 1, the range indicated by ab is the visual field. Then, the focus of the near point b is set by the distance between c and e shown in the figure, and the focus of the far point a is set by the distance between c and d shown in the figure. In this case, as compared with the case where the image pickup unit 12 is arranged perpendicularly to the axis X3 like the axis Y1 shown in the figure, the near point b has an image pickup surface in a direction in which the focal point is further focused, and the far point a also. The imaging plane is located in the direction in which the focal point is more focused. In this case, the position where the optical axis X3 of the optical lens 13 intersects the axis X1 is set to be the center of the imaging unit 12. Therefore, when the optical unit 24 is rotated, the same field of view as that of the wide-angle lens is obtained, the image magnification is higher than that of the wide-angle lens, and a clear image can be obtained.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a control mechanism for expanding the field of view of a camera can be realized with a simple configuration and can be downsized, and at the same time, a wide field of view for capturing images and good imaging can be achieved. It is possible to provide the obtained television camera device for in-pipe inspection.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a basic outline of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an example of an image pickup surface by this apparatus. 11 ... Tube to be inspected, 12 ... Imaging section, 13 ... Optical lens, 24 ... Optical section, 26 ... Housing.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An in-pipe inspection television camera device for inserting a television camera device into an inside of a pipe to be inspected and imaging the inside of the pipe to be inspected, wherein an imaging surface is perpendicular to a reference axis of the pipe to be inspected, and An image pickup section arranged such that its center is located on a reference axis; and an optical lens for guiding a subject image to the image pickup surface, which has an optical axis inclined with respect to an axis parallel to the reference axis, and An optical unit that holds the optical axis so as to intersect the reference axis at the center, a unit that holds the optical unit rotatably about the reference axis, and a unit that rotationally drives the optical unit. A television camera device for in-pipe inspection, comprising: