JPH063496B2 - Electronic endoscope - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an electronic endoscope used for medical and industrial purposes.

[Prior Art] In an electronic endoscope, a solid-state image sensor is attached to the tip of its insertion portion, an image of an observation target portion is formed on the solid-state image sensor, and this information is converted into an electrical signal. It is designed to be taken out and processed by a processor for predetermined signal processing, and then played back by a display device such as a cathode ray tube. It can be observed by a large number of people at the same time, image processing is possible, and it is excellent in recordability and storability. Therefore, it has been rapidly spreading in recent years.

Here, in the above-mentioned electronic endoscope, an object mounted on the solid-state image sensor and the observation window is dependent on the position of the object to be observed because of the relationship of forming the image of the observation target portion on the solid-state image sensor. It is necessary to focus on the lens. Conventionally, this focusing is generally performed by moving the objective lens in the optical axis direction.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, when focusing is performed by moving the objective lens, a mechanism for moving the objective lens must be provided on its side portion, For this reason, there is a drawback that the tip portion of the insertion portion has a large diameter.

In order to solve such a defect, the applicant has fixed the objective lens so as to move the solid-state image sensor in the optical axis direction, and the movement of the solid-state image sensor is connected to the operation wire on the back surface thereof, There has been proposed one in which the solid-state image pickup device is pushed and pulled in the optical axis direction by the operation wire.

With the configuration described above, a mechanism for moving the solid-state image sensor can be mounted behind the solid-state image sensor, and the diameter of the insertion portion can be reduced. Even if such a configuration is adopted, there is still no problem. That is, a plurality of (usually 6) lead wires are connected to the solid-state image pickup element, but if the solid-state image pickup element is movable in the optical axis direction, at least the length of the lead wire is increased. It is necessary to have a margin for this moving stroke. Therefore, if you allow the lead wires in this way, they may become entangled with each other, a large pulling force may be applied, or they may hit other built-in objects and damage the lead wires. , There is a risk of disconnection. In order to prevent such entanglement of the lead wires, it is possible to leave a large space for the housing portion of this lead wire, but this makes the hard part at the tip of the insertion part thicker than necessary, There will be problems such as poor insertability.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to allow a lead wire to be housed compactly without being entangled with each other due to a simple configuration. To provide an electronic endoscope that does.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention fixedly mounts an objective lens on an observation window formed at the distal end of the insertion portion, and mounts the solid-state imaging device in the optical axis direction The solid-state image sensor is connected to an operation wire, and the operation wire is pushed and pulled to displace the solid-state image sensor in the direction in which the solid-state image sensor approaches and separates from the objective lens for focusing. In this case, a lead wire winding member is attached to the operation wire, and the lead wire connected to the solid-state imaging device is wound around the lead wire winding member. is there.

[Operation] By winding the lead wire around the lead wire winding member in a relatively loosely wound state, the lead wire can be accommodated compactly. Then, when the solid-state image sensor is moved in the optical axis direction, the lead wire changes its winding diameter in the outer peripheral portion of the lead wire winding member, so that when the solid-state image sensor moves, the lead wire is moved to the mutual direction. It is protected from being entangled with, or exerting a large pulling force or compressive force, or hitting other members.
There is no risk of damage or disconnection.

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

FIG. 1 shows a cross section of the distal end portion of the insertion portion of the endoscope. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a distal end hard portion of the insertion portion, and the distal end hard portion 1 has an outer tube 1a and a tip main body 1b which is fitted into the outer tube 1a. An illumination window 2 for irradiating the observation target portion with illumination light, an observation window 3 for observing the observation target portion, and the like are formed in 1b.
An illumination lens 4 is inserted into the illumination window 2 and an objective lens 5 is inserted into the observation window 3.

A light guide insertion portion 6 which is continuous with the illumination window 2 is formed on the tip end main body 1b, and the ride guide insertion portion 6 includes:
As shown in FIG. 2, the light guides 7 made of optical fiber bundles are inserted, and the emission ends 7a of these light guides 7 are opened at positions facing the illumination lens 4. As is well known, the light guide 7 is connected to the light source device through the universal cord and the insertion portion, the operation portion of the main body, and the like.

On the other hand, an observation mechanism mounting portion 8 is provided so as to be continuous with the observation window 3, and in the observation mechanism mounting portion 8, a solid-state imaging device 10 composed of a CCD or the like on which protective glass 9 is laminated is provided. The lens 5 is mounted so that it can be displaced in the optical axis direction so as to face the lens 5. A slide block 11 is connected and fixed to the back surface side of the substrate portion of the solid-state imaging device 10. This slide block 11 has an operation wire
12 is attached, and the operation wire 12 is inserted into a guide pipe 14 inserted into a partition wall 13 of the outer tube 1a and extended from the insertion portion to a main body operation portion (not shown).

A spring receiver 15 is fixedly provided on the operation wire 12, and a spring 16 for urging the solid-state imaging device 10 in a direction approaching the objective lens 5 is mounted between the spring receiver 15 and the partition wall 13. There is. In addition, the slide block 11 has guide pins 17 projectingly provided on its upper portion and both left and right side portions. Then, each of these guide pins 17 is inserted into a guide groove 18 formed in the distal end portion main body 1b so as to be long in the optical axis direction, and the solid-state image pickup device 10 is normally operated by the spring 16 to cause the slide block 11 to slide. The guide pin 17 protruding from the guide groove 18 is held at a position where it abuts the groove end 18a of the guide groove 18, that is, the position closest to the objective lens 5. Further, when the operation wire 12 is pulled from this state, the solid-state imaging device 10 is displaced along the optical axis of the objective lens 5 in the direction away from the optical axis, whereby the objective lens 5 and the solid-state imaging device 10 are displaced. The distance between and is adjusted,
Focusing is performed.

Here, in the solid-state imaging device 12, terminal pins 19 (usually six terminal pins) are provided on the back side in the axial direction of the distal end hard portion 1 in order to drive the circuit and exchange signals. The lead wires 20 are connected to the respective terminal pins 19 so as to project. This lead wire 20 is a coaxial cable from the base end side of the insertion part to the position facing the partition wall 13.
It is covered with 21, and in the tip hard part 1,
The core wire is exposed. As is clear from FIG. 3, the lead wires 20 are wound around a spring winding cylinder 22 made of a resin material or the like having good electrical insulation fitted and fixed to the spring receiver 15. . Thus, when the solid-state imaging device 10 is at the closest position to the objective lens 5, the lead wire 20 is wound around the cylindrical body 22 to a certain degree, and the solid-state imaging device 10 is also wound. When the lead wire 20 is displaced in the optical axis direction, the lead wire 20 is displaced in the winding direction with respect to the tubular body 22 accordingly.

This embodiment is configured as described above, and the insertion portion is inserted into the patient's body or the like, and the distal end hard portion 1 is guided to a predetermined observation target portion. Therefore, when the illumination light is emitted from the illumination window 2 toward the observation target portion via the light guide 7, the image of the observation target portion passes through the objective lens 5 and the solid-state image sensor.
An image is formed on 10, and photoelectric conversion is performed by the solid-state imaging device 10, and a signal relating to the image is transmitted to a processor via a lead wire 20. As is well known, the processor processes the signal. Then, it is displayed by a display device such as a cathode ray tube.

Therefore, in order to obtain a clear image of the observation target portion, it is necessary to perform focusing so that the solid-state imaging device 10 is accurately arranged at the image forming position with respect to the objective lens 5. In the present invention, this focusing is performed by fixing the objective lens 5 and moving the solid-state imaging device 10 on the focal plane side in the optical axis direction. Therefore, in order to move the solid-state image sensor 10, the operation wire 12 is remotely operated by the spring 16
It can be performed by pulling in a direction against the urging force of.

In this way, when the operation wire 12 is pulled, the coaxial cable 21 and the terminal pin 19 are displaced in the direction in which they approach and separate, but when the operation wire 12 is pulled in the direction of arrow A in FIG. The lead wire 20 wound around the wire 22 is wound on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 22 in the unwinding direction, and the arrow B
When it is pushed out in the direction, it is displaced in the direction in which it is wound into the tubular body 22, but since the lead wire 20 is wound around the tubular body 22, it does not become entangled with each other or collide with other members. There is no risk of accidents such as wire breakage due to protection. Thus, as shown in FIG. 1, when the solid-state image pickup device 10 is at the position closest to the objective lens 5, the lead wire 20 may be loosely wound around the tubular body 22 to some extent. At the time of focusing, the pulling force is not applied to the lead wire 20.

As described above, according to the present invention, the lead wire winding member is attached to the operation wire for displacing the solid-state imaging device in the direction of approaching and separating from the objective lens, and the lead wire winding member is attached. Since the lead wire connected to the solid-state image sensor is wound around the wire winding member, the lead wire can be accommodated in a compact manner, and the lead wires can be mutually moved when the solid-state image sensor moves. The protection can be surely performed without being entangled with each other, hitting another member, being damaged by a pulling force, or being broken.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a distal end portion of an insertion portion, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a solid-state image sensor and its moving member. 1: tip hard part, 1a: tip part body, 3: observation window, 5: objective lens, 8: observation mechanism mounting part, 10: solid-state image sensor, 1
1: slide block, 12: operation wire, 15: spring bearing, 16: spring, 17: guide pin, 18: guide groove, 19: terminal pin, 20: lead wire, 21: coaxial cable, 22: tubular body.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An objective lens is fixedly mounted on an observation window formed at the tip of an insertion portion, and a solid-state image pickup device is provided so as to be displaceable in the optical axis direction, and the solid-state image pickup device is connected to an operation wire. By displacing the solid-state imaging device in the direction of approaching / distinguishing from the objective lens by pushing / pulling the operation wire, it is configured to perform focusing, and a lead wire winding member is attached to the operation wire. An electronic endoscope in which a lead wire connected to the solid-state imaging device is wound around the lead wire winding member.