JPH0694627A - Illuminating device of tv camera for inspection inside pipe - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To determine automatically a voltage being necessary for illuminating appliances fitted and to make it possible to supply an optimum voltage without necessitating an increase in the number of lines of a cable. CONSTITUTION:In the case when a supply voltage and a current are set for illuminating appliances 25a and 25b of a camera head 20 by a current switching part 31, a voltage control part 33 and an illuminating power source 34 through a wire 26, an illumination discriminating part 32 makes setting, by controlling the current switching part 31, so that a prescribed current being smaller than a rated current be outputted to the illuminating appliance out of the ones to be used, of which the rated current is the smaller. A resistance of the illuminating appliances used currently is measured from the current flowing through the wire 26, the kind of the illuminating appliances being used is determined on the basis of this resistance, and based on the result of this determination, outputs of the voltage control part 31 and the current switching part 33 are set.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an in-pipe inspection television camera for inspecting the inside of various pipes such as gas pipes, water pipes, and sewer pipes, and more particularly to an illuminating device therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A television camera system for in-service inspection is shown in FIG.
As shown in (A), a camera head 11 using a solid-state image sensor is provided at the tip of the cable 12. Camera head 11
A solid-state image sensor and an optical system for guiding a front optical image to the solid-state image sensor are provided in the interior of the. In order to further illuminate the front, a plurality of illumination units are provided around the central optical system. The power supplied to the solid-state imaging device and the lighting fixture is supplied from the outside via the electric wire inside the cable 12. In addition, the video signal derived from the solid-state image sensor is transmitted through the electric wire inside the cable 12 to the camera control unit 14
And then to an external monitor 13 for projection. By pushing in the cable 12, the camera head 11 can enter the inside of the pipe to be inspected 15 and display the inside of the pipe on the monitor 13. Here, the inspected tube 15 has various diameters, but the amount of light required for illumination differs depending on this size. That is, in order to obtain an optimum image, it is necessary to increase or decrease the amount of light depending on the size of the tube.

As a countermeasure against this, conventionally, the luminaire of the camera head 11 is exchanged in advance with one having a large output or one having a small output according to the tube diameter. Then, a method is adopted in which the voltage applied to each lighting fixture is manually changed to optimally adjust the light amount.

At the time of adjusting the light quantity, as shown in FIG. 2B, a plurality of lighting fixtures 11a, 11b, ... Are connected to the lighting control section of the camera control section 14 via electric wires, and the variable power source 14a of the lighting control section is connected. The voltage is changed by adjusting the light amount. However, with this method, the user makes adjustments while looking at the monitor 13, so that the voltage may be erroneously adjusted excessively and the lighting fixture may be destroyed. In addition, there is a problem in that, especially when the luminaire is exchanged from one having a large power to one having a small power, if the electric power is supplied in the current voltage setting state, the luminaire is surely destroyed. When the luminaire is replaced, a method of automatically identifying the luminaire and automatically setting the voltage may be considered. As the identifying means, an identification signal is sent from the luminaire side to the camera control unit 14 side. A transmission line is required. The greater the number of lighting fixtures, the greater the number of lines. Then, the number of electric wires inside the cable 12 must be increased, which requires a large-scale improvement, which is disadvantageous.

[0005]

As described above, according to the conventional lighting device for a television camera for in-tube inspection, when the voltage supplied to the lighting device is changed and the light amount is set manually, the lighting device is manually operated. Could be destroyed.
It is also possible to automatically identify the type of lighting equipment and automatically supply the optimum voltage when the lighting equipment is replaced, but this is disadvantageous because the number of cable lines must be increased. .

Therefore, the present invention does not require an increase in the number of cable lines, automatically determines the voltage required for the attached lighting fixture, and can supply the optimum voltage. The purpose is to provide.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a lighting power supply, a voltage control unit for adjusting the output voltage of the lighting power supply and supplying it to a lighting device in use via an electric wire, and a current switching capable of switching the output current. Section, the luminaire used, to which the output of the current switching section is supplied via the electric wire, and the current switching section are controlled so that the rated current of the luminaire used is less than the smallest rated current. Set to output a predetermined current, measure the resistance of the currently used lighting fixtures from the current flowing through the wire,
An illumination discriminating means for discriminating the type of the luminaire to be used from this resistance and setting the outputs of the voltage control section and the current switching section based on the result of the discrimination.

[0008]

With the above-mentioned means, even if there is only one electric wire on the camera control unit side and the camera head unit side, the rating of the luminaire being used can be automatically judged and an optimum voltage can be given. .

[0009]

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

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which 20 is a camera head, 21 is a cable, and 23 is a camera controller. The camera control section 23 shows a configuration related to the main part of the present invention. Inside the camera head 20, a solid-state image sensor 24 facing forward and a plurality of lighting fixtures 25a, 25b, ... The image pickup signal from the solid-state image pickup device 24 is guided to the camera control unit 23 via an electric wire (not shown) inside the cable 21. Power for the solid-state image sensor 24 is also supplied from the camera control unit 23 through an electric wire (not shown) inside the cable 21. Next, the power supply voltage for the lighting fixtures 25a and 25b is determined as follows.

That is, first, the output of the current switching unit 31 is
It is set so as to have a predetermined current. This predetermined current value is
The current value of the luminaire used is smaller than the smallest rated current. Further, this setting is first set by the illumination discriminating unit 32 when the system is powered on. The output of the current switching unit 31 is given to the lighting fixtures 25a and 25b via the electric wire 26. Here, the actual current value flowing through the electric wire 26 varies depending on the resistance of the lighting fixtures 25a and 25b (varies depending on the type).

The illumination discriminating section 32 measures the actual current flowing through the electric wire 26 to obtain the illumination fixtures 25a and 25b.
The resistance component of can be determined. That is, the type of the lighting fixtures 25a and 25b can be discriminated from this resistance. When the types of the lighting fixtures 25a and 25b are determined,
Since the rated voltage and current are known in advance, the illumination discriminating unit 32 controls the voltage control unit 33 and the current control unit 31 to apply the desired voltage and current to the lighting fixtures 25a and 25b. The lighting power supply 34 is designed to obtain the maximum rated voltage of the luminaire used.

As a result, even if the luminaire is replaced depending on the tube to be inspected, the user can use it with peace of mind without giving any consideration to the electric power supplied to the luminaire. Even if a means for automatically switching and setting the electric power to be applied to the lighting equipment is provided as described above, it is not necessary to increase the number of electric wires in the cable in this system.

[0014]

According to the present invention described above, it is not necessary to increase the number of cable lines, and it is possible to automatically determine the voltage required for the attached lighting fixture and supply the optimum voltage.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural explanatory view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a conventional illumination device of a television camera for inspection inside a tube.

[Explanation of symbols]

20 ... Camera head, 24 ... Solid-state image sensor, 25a, 2
5b ... Lighting equipment, 21 ... Cable, 23 ... Camera control section, 26 ... Electric wire, 31 ... Current switching section, 32 ... Illumination discrimination section, 33 ... Voltage control section, 34 ... Lighting power supply.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A lighting power source, a voltage control unit that adjusts an output voltage of the lighting power source and supplies the lighting device to be used through an electric wire, a current switching unit that can switch an output current, and a current switching unit of the current switching unit. The luminaire to be used whose output is supplied through the electric wire and the current switching unit are controlled so that a predetermined current smaller than the rated current with the smallest rated current among the luminaires used is output. Setting, measuring the resistance of the currently used lighting fixture from the current flowing through the electric wire, determining the type of the lighting fixture used from this resistance, and based on this determination result, the voltage control unit and the current switching unit And an illumination discriminating means for setting the output of 1.