JPH0910172A - Electrically bendable endoscope apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an electrically bendable endoscope which enables indicating of a large angle of bending and facilitates fine adjustment of bending. CONSTITUTION: An operating part of an endoscope 1 is provided with a joystick 18 indicating an angle of bending of a bending part. A shaft 19 thereof can be tilted in a first area X and in a second area Y outside of it and a voltage is outputted correspondingly to an angle of tilting thereof. When the shaft 19 is tilted upto the second area Y, the tilting is detected by a comparator circuit to switch a bending indicated area corresponding to the first area X so that an angle of bending of the bending part is covered widely several times as large as the range of an actual angle of tilting in the first area X. Moreover, by the switching, the degree of tilting when the shaft is tilted actually in the first area X set to correspond to the respective bending indicated areas is turned almost the same in scale as that indicated to bend thereby facilitating fine adjustment.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric bending endoscope apparatus having an endoscope that bends a bending portion by electric driving means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an endoscope has been widely used in which a slender endoscope is inserted into a body cavity or the like to observe a region to be examined and perform various treatments. Generally, an endoscope having a flexible insertion portion is provided with a bending portion in the insertion portion, and a bending device that bends the bending portion by advancing and retracting a pulling member such as a bending wire inserted in the bending portion. The bending device bends the bending portion to a desired angle by the bending operation means provided in the bending device, so that, for example, the observation optical system provided at the distal end of the insertion portion is observed in a desired direction. It is designed to be easily inserted into the test site.

Recently, an electric motor is provided in the operation portion of the endoscope, and the power of the electric motor is used to pull the pulling member provided in the bending portion to remotely bend the bending portion. There is an electric bending type bending device or an endoscope equipped with the electric bending device.

As described above, by using the electric bending device utilizing the power of the electric motor as the bending operation means, the operability is remarkably improved as compared with the conventional manual bending operation. As a conventional example provided with such an electric bending type bending device, there is JP-A-6-304126.

In general, the bending angle of the bending portion of an endoscope for medical use, industrial use, etc. is often 90 degrees or more in each of the vertical and horizontal directions.
For example, in an endoscope for the large intestine, 180 degrees above and below (combined 3
A bending angle of 60 degrees (160 degrees) and 160 degrees to the left and right (320 degrees in total) is required.

[0006]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
In the conventional example of Japanese Patent No. 126, the tilting angle of the joystick can only achieve about 60 degrees in each of the vertical and horizontal directions (120 degrees in total) due to its structure.

Therefore, when the bending is controlled by using the joystick, the tilt angle of the joystick is 12
At 0 degrees, the curving angle of 360 degrees had to be controlled. That is, the control of the required bending angle must be performed by controlling the bending angle that is several times smaller than the bending angle. Therefore, it is difficult to finely adjust the bending portion, and it becomes difficult to perform the fine adjustment when performing an operation that requires fine adjustment of the bending angle, such as biopsy of a diseased tissue, and it is desired to improve operability.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to provide an electric bending endoscope apparatus capable of instructing a large bending angle and facilitating fine adjustment of bending.

[0009]

[Means and Actions for Solving the Problems] An electric bending apparatus having a joystick for instructing a bending angle of a bending portion of an endoscope and a control means for controlling the bending angle of the bending portion in response to an instruction of the joystick. In the endoscope apparatus, the joystick is provided in a first region for instructing a bending angle smaller than the maximum bending angle of the bending portion, and in a region other than the first region, and for bending the bending portion instructed by the first region. And a second area for instructing to change the angle. Then, by using the second area to change the bending angle instructed by the first area, for example, by changing the bending angle, it becomes possible to instruct a bending angle larger than that in the first area, and fine adjustment of the bending can be easily performed. I am able to do it.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) FIGS. 1 to 6 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows the overall construction of the electric bending endoscope apparatus of the first embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows a vertical drive control circuit. 4 shows a specific configuration, FIG. 3 shows a specific configuration of the left-right drive control circuit, and FIG.
Shows the vertical tilt angle of the joystick and the state of the generated voltage, and FIGS. 5 and 6 show the characteristics of the output voltage generated with respect to the input voltage of the function generating circuit.

As shown in FIG. 1, the electric bending endoscope apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention has an electric bending type endoscope 1, and this endoscope 1 has a flexible elongated insertion. The portion 2, the operation portion 91 formed at the rear end of the insertion portion 2, and the operation portion 9
It has a universal cord extended from 1, and a connector provided at an end of the universal cord. This connector is detachably connected to the control device 92.

The insertion portion 2 is composed of an elongated flexible tube portion 3 having flexibility, a bendable bending portion 4, and a tip portion 5 provided at the tip. A vertical bending motor 6 and a horizontal bending motor 7 for bending the bending portion 4 in the operation portion 91.
(Each of them consists of a DC motor, for example).
The bending motors 6 and 7 are coaxially provided with potentiometers 8 and 9 and pulleys 10 and 11 for detecting a rotation angle, respectively.

Curved wires 12, 1 are attached to the pulleys 10, 11.
3 is wound. By pushing and pulling the wires 12 and 13, it is possible to bend the bending portion 4 in any direction of up, down, left and right. The bending angle is, for example (for an endoscope) for the large intestine, 180 degrees above and below (combined 360 degrees).
), Each 160 degrees on the left and right (320 degrees in total), 210 degrees above, 90 degrees below (300 degrees in total) for the gastroduodenum, 120 degrees each (240 degrees in total).

An image pickup device and an illumination device (not shown) are built in the tip portion 5. By connecting the connector to the control device 92, a signal processing unit (not shown) inside the control device 92 performs signal processing for the image pickup device. Then, the image of the subject is displayed on the monitor connected to the signal processor.

The motors 6 and 7 are connected to the vertical and horizontal drive control circuits 16 and 17 inside the control device 92, and are driven under the control of the vertical and horizontal drive control circuits 16 and 17. The output signals of the potentiometers 8 and 9 are input to the vertical and horizontal drive control circuits 16 and 17.

A bending switch for instructing the bending angle of the bending portion 4, specifically, a joystick 18 is provided in the operation portion 91, and among the output signals of the joystick 18, the output signal for the vertical direction is the vertical drive control. The output signals for the left and right directions are input to the circuit 16 and the left and right drive control circuit 17, respectively. The joystick 18 has two shafts 19 and 20 that project vertically from the main body and can be interlocked with each other.
The finger contact portions 21 and 22 are respectively provided at the ends, and the one finger contact portion 21 is provided with the reset switch 23. The joystick 18 is a so-called neutral return type, and when the fingers are released from the finger contact portions 21 and 22, the joystick 18 is returned to the neutral position by an urging force such as a spring.

FIG. 4 shows the tilt angle of the joystick 18 in the vertical direction and the state of the generated voltage. That is, at the neutral position where the tilt is not generated, the central value of the voltage generated by the tilt is 2.5V.
Is output, the generated voltage up to 3V is output when tilted upward, and up to 2V is output when tilted downward. Here, it is larger than 2.1 V shown in the region X and is 2.9.
A voltage smaller than V corresponds to a first region described later, and a region Y
The voltage of 2.1 V or less (up to 2 V) or 2.9 V or more (up to 3 V) shown in 1 corresponds to the second region described later.
The tilt angle of the shaft 19 (area X + area Y) is, for example, 60 degrees in the upward direction and 60 degrees in the downward direction, which is a total of 120 degrees.

Although not shown in the left-right direction, 2.5 V is output in the neutral position, 3 V in the right direction, and 2 V in the left direction. The tilt angle of the shaft 19 is, for example, 60 in the right direction.
And 60 degrees in the lower left direction, for a total of 120 degrees.

Next, the configuration of the vertical and horizontal drive control circuits 16 and 17 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, the vertical drive control circuit 16 includes an adder circuit 31 and a comparison circuit 3.
2, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, an integrating circuit 38, and switch parts 39a, 40a, 41a of the relays K0 to K3.
42a and solenoid parts 39b, 40b, 41b, 42
b, diodes D0 to D3, subtraction circuit 51, absolute value circuit 52, function generation circuit 53, addition circuit 54, variable constant voltage power supply 55, pull-up resistor R1, pull-down resistor R2, AND circuits 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, OR circuits 64, 65, open collector type inverter 6
It consists of 6, 67, 68 and 69.

As shown in FIG. 3, the left / right drive control circuit 17 includes a comparison circuit 36 ', switch portions 41a', 42a 'of the relays K2', K3 'and solenoid portions 41b', 4 '.
2b ', diodes D2', D3 ', subtraction circuit 51',
Absolute value circuit 52 ', function generating circuit 53', adder circuit 5
4 ', variable constant voltage power supply 55', AND circuits 62 ', 6
3 ', open collector type inverter 68', 6
It consists of 9 '.

As shown in FIG. 2, the joystick 18 is provided with up / down and left / right variable resistors 70 and 71.
The variable resistors 70 and 71 output a voltage of 2 to 3 V according to the tilting angle of the shafts 19 and 20 in the vertical direction (2.5 V at the center in the neutral position).

That is, both ends of the variable resistor 70 are + V
It is also connected to the ground (potential 0) and outputs a voltage according to the tilt angle from the variable end. This voltage is added to the adder circuit 31,
It is input to the comparison circuits 32 and 33, respectively. Comparison circuit 3
The reference input terminals of 2, 33 are 2.9V and 2.1, respectively.
A reference voltage of V is applied, the voltage from the variable end is compared with the reference voltage, and the region X or the region Y of FIG. 4 is detected.

The comparator circuit 32 outputs a signal of "H (= 5V)" level (hereinafter, level is omitted) when the voltage is 2.9V or higher, and "L" when the voltage is lower than 2.9V. The signal of is output. The comparison circuit 33 outputs an "H" signal when the voltage is 2.1 V or less, and outputs an "L" signal when the voltage is 2.1 V or more.

The outputs of the comparison circuits 32 and 33 are passed through AND circuits 60 and 61, respectively, and then OR circuits 64 and 6 are further provided.
5, respectively. The outputs of the OR circuits 64 and 65 are passed through open collector inverters 66 and 67, respectively, and the solenoids 39 of the relays K0 and K1 are respectively supplied.
b, 40b, and their switch parts 39a, 40a
ON / OFF control respectively.

It should be noted that the inverter 66 and the like are open collector inverters, which are indicated by the symbol * in FIG. 2 and the like. Diodes D0 and D1 are connected in parallel to the solenoid portions 39b and 40b, respectively, and are turned on for a negative voltage generated when switching from non-energized to energized to prevent destruction of circuit elements.

Pull-up resistor R1 and pull-down resistor R
One end of 2 is connected to the power supply terminal + V and the other one is connected to the negative power supply terminal -V, and the other end is input to the common integrating circuit 38 via the switch units 39a and 40a, respectively. The integrating circuit 38 is controlled as described below, and the value that the integrated output voltage can take is -1V to 1V. The initial value is 0V.
The integrating circuit 38 has a voltage converting means for setting the upper limit value of the integrated value to +1 and a lower limit value to -1, or a means for dividing the input voltage at the power source terminal + V or -V with a resistor. The power supply terminal + V, the negative power supply terminal -V voltage is +1, -1V
If you do not need. The output of the integrating circuit 38 is input to the adding circuit 31 and the comparing circuit 37.

A reference voltage of 0V is applied to the reference input terminal of the comparison circuit 37 (that is, it is connected to the ground), and this comparison circuit 37 outputs a signal of "L (= 0V)" when the voltage is 0V or more. . The output of the comparison circuit 37 passes through an AND circuit 58 and an AND circuit 59 (which is input after being inverted),
It is input to each of the OR circuits 64 and 65.

The pull-up resistor of the joystick 18 has one end connected to the power supply terminal + V and the other end connected to the ground via the reset switch 23, and also connected to the input terminals of the AND circuits 58 and 59, respectively. ing. The reset switch 23 outputs a signal of "H" when not pressed and a signal of "L" when pressed.

The output of the adder circuit 31 is the subtractor circuit 51.
And to the comparison circuits 34 and 35. 4V is applied to the reference input terminals of the comparison circuits 34 and 35, respectively.
And a reference voltage of 1V are applied, the voltage from the adder circuit 31 is compared with the reference voltage, and the comparison circuit 34 outputs a signal of "H" when the voltage is 4V or less and "L" when the voltage is higher than 4V. The signal of is output. The comparator circuit 35 outputs a signal of "H" when the voltage is 1V or more, and outputs a signal of "L" when the voltage is less than 1V.

The outputs of the comparison circuits 34 and 35 are passed through AND circuits 60 and 61, respectively, and then OR circuits 64 and 6 are further provided.
5, respectively. The output of the subtraction circuit 51 that subtracts the voltage of the variable resistor 72 from the voltage from the addition circuit 31 is input to the comparison circuit 36 and the absolute value circuit 52 that calculates the absolute value. The comparison circuit 36 has two reference voltage input terminals, to which reference voltages of 0.1 V and -0.1 V are applied, respectively. When the input voltage input from the subtraction circuit 51 is −0.1 V or less, the first and second output terminals Q
The signals "L" and "H" are output from a and Qb, respectively.

Further, when the input voltage is -0.1V to 0.1V, "L" from the first and second output terminals Qa and Qb,
The signals of "L" are output respectively. When the input voltage is 0.1 V or more, the first and second output terminals Qa and Q
The signals "H" and "L" are output from b.

The outputs from the first and second output terminals Qa and Qb are input to AND circuits 62 and 63, respectively.
The outputs of 2 and 63 are passed through inverters 68 and 69, respectively, and the solenoid portions 41b of the relays K2 and K3,
It is applied to 42b, and ON / OFF-controls the switch parts 41a and 42a, respectively. The solenoid unit 40
Diodes D2 and D3 are connected in parallel to b and 42b, respectively, and are turned on for a negative voltage generated when switching from non-energized to energized to prevent destruction of circuit elements.

The potentiometers 8 and 9 are variable resistors 7 which output voltages according to the rotation angles of the motors 6 and 7, respectively.
Built-in 2, 73. The variable resistor 72 is 1 to 4V, 73
Outputs 2-3V respectively. That is, when the vertical bending angle is 0 degree, the central voltage value is 2.5 V, and the maximum upward bending (for example, 180 degrees upward for the large intestine) is 4
V is the maximum bending downward (for example, for the large intestine,
0 degree outputs 1V. Further, when the bending angle in the left-right direction is 0 degree, the central voltage value is 2.5V, and when the maximum bending in the right direction (for example, 160 degrees in the right direction for large intestine) is 3V,
Maximum bending to the left (for example, 160 degrees to the left for large intestine)
Outputs 2V.

The output from the variable end of the variable resistor 72 incorporated in the potentiometer 8 is input to the subtraction circuit 51 and the function generation circuit 53. The function generating circuit 53 outputs the voltage V53 shown in FIG. 5 (for the vertical direction shown in FIG. 2) according to the voltage V72 input from the variable resistor 72 and input to the function generating circuit 53.

The absolute value of the voltage of the absolute value circuit 52 and the output of the function generating circuit 53 are added by the adding circuit 54 and then input to the variable constant voltage power supply 55, which is then supplied to the variable constant voltage power supply 55.
Output of the relays K2 and K3 are switch parts 41a and 42a.
The motor 6 is driven via. The variable constant voltage power supply 55 outputs a voltage according to the output voltage of the adding circuit 54.

Both ends of the variable resistor 71 of the joystick 18 are connected to a power source terminal + V and ground (potential 0), and a voltage corresponding to the tilt angle is output from the variable terminal. This voltage is input to the subtraction circuit 51 'shown in FIG.

The output from the variable end of the variable resistor 73 incorporated in the potentiometer 9 is input to the subtraction circuit 51 'and the function generation circuit 53'. This function generating circuit 53 'is output from the variable resistor 73, and in accordance with the voltage V73 input to this function generating circuit 53', the voltage V53 'shown in FIG. 6 (for the vertical direction shown in FIG. 3) is output. To do.

The subtraction circuit 51 'subtracts the voltage on the potentiometer 8 side from the voltage from the joystick 18 side,
The subtracted output is input to the comparison circuit 36 'and the absolute value circuit 52' as in FIG. This comparison circuit 36 'is 2
It has two reference voltage input terminals, to which reference voltages of 0.1 V and −0.1 V are applied, respectively. When the input voltage input from the subtraction circuit 51 'is less than -0.1V, the first and second output terminals A and B output "L" and "H".
The respective signals of are output.

Further, when the input voltage is -0.1V to 0.1V, "L" from the first and second output terminals Qa and Qb,
The signals of "L" are output respectively. When the input voltage is 0.1 V or more, the first and second output terminals Qa and Q
The signals "H" and "L" are output from b.

The outputs of the first and second output terminals Qa and Qb are input to AND circuits 62 'and 63', and the outputs of the AND circuits 62 'and 63' are inverters 68 'and 63', respectively.
It is applied to the solenoid portions 41b 'and 42b' of the relays K2 'and K3' through 69 'to control ON / OFF of the switch portions 41a' and 42a ', respectively. Diodes D2 'and D3' are connected in parallel to the solenoid portions 41b 'and 42b', respectively, to prevent the destruction of circuit elements such as the inverter 68 '.

The absolute value of the voltage of the absolute value circuit 52 'and the output of the function generating circuit 53' are added by the adding circuit 54 'and input to the variable constant voltage power supply 55', and the output of the variable constant voltage power supply 55 '. Drives the motor 7 via the switch portions 41a 'and 42a' of the relays K2 'and K3'.

The variable constant voltage power supply 55 'outputs a voltage according to the output voltage of the adding circuit 54'.

As described above, the inverters 66, 6
Reference numerals 7, 68 to 69 'are so-called open collector type inverters, which control the energization of the solenoids 39b to 42b' of the relays K0, K1, K2 to K3 '. That is,
When the input end is "H", relays K0, K1, K2-K3 '
Energize the solenoids 39a to 42a 'of the switch 3
9a, 40a, 41a to 42a 'are turned on to "L"
At this time, the switch parts 39a to 42a 'are turned off.

In the first embodiment having such a configuration, the vertical drive control circuit 16 controls the output voltage V31 of the adder circuit 31 so that the output voltage V72 of the variable resistor 72 is always substantially equal. Therefore, the vertical bending angle θ of the bending portion 4
UD is expressed by the following equation as a function of the voltage V31 of the adder circuit 31.

ΘUD = ((180 + 180) / (4-
1)) x (V31-2.5). However, the upward bending angle is a positive value, and the downward bending angle is a negative value. Therefore, the joystick 18
The tilt angle of the shaft 19 in the vertical direction is about 1 degree in terms of the vertical bending angle.

The output of the integrating circuit 38 is V38, and the variable resistor 7
When the voltage of 0 is V70, 2 ≦ V70 ≦ 3, V31 =
Since V70 + V38, 2 + V38 <V31 <3 + V3
8 Therefore, 120 × (V38−0.5) <θU
D <120 × (V38 + 0.5). Then, as will be described later, −1 ≦ V38 ≦ 1, so −180 ≦ θUD ≦ 1
It can be bent up to 80 degrees, that is, up to 80 degrees both in the downward and upward directions.

The left / right drive control circuit 17 having the above-described configuration controls the output voltage V71 of the variable resistor 71 so that the output voltage 73 of the variable resistor 73 is always substantially equal. Therefore, the bending angle θRL of the bending portion 4 in the left-right direction is
It is expressed by the following equation as a function of the voltage V71 of the variable resistor 71.

ΘRL = ((160 + 160) / (3-
2)) × (V71−2.5) However, the bending angle in the right direction is a positive value, and the left direction is a negative value. Therefore, the tilt angle of the axis 20 of the joystick 18 in the left-right direction is about 2.67 degrees in terms of the bending angle in the left-right direction. Since 2 ≦ V71 ≦ 3, −1
60 <θRL <160. That is, it is possible to bend up to 160 degrees in both left and right directions.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In the initial state (when the power is turned on and the joystick 18 is not operated even once), the reset switch 23 is OFF, and the variable resistors 70, 71, 72, 73 all output 2.5V.

For simplification, description will be made separately in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. First, the vertical direction will be described. a) The finger contact portions 21 and 22 of the joystick 18 are pressed by, for example, the thumb and the index finger of the left hand, and the reset switches 23 are simultaneously pressed by the thumbs at the same time.
Tilt up and down (left and right) in the desired direction and angle. Since the reset switch 23 is turned on, the AND circuits 58, 5
Both 9 are always "L".

When the output of the variable resistor 70 is larger than 2.1 V and smaller than 2.9 V, that is, in the region X of FIG. 4,
(Because the output of the integrating circuit 38 is 0V, the output of the adding circuit 31 has the same value as the output of the variable resistor 70.)
The outputs of 35 are "L", "L", "H", and "H". Therefore, the inputs of the inverters 66 and 67 both become "L", and the switch portions 39a and 40a are both off. Therefore, the output of the integrating circuit 38 remains 0V.

On the other hand, the output of the adder circuit 31 and the variable resistor 72
Is subtracted and compared by the comparison circuit 36. −
When the voltage is higher than 0.1 V and lower than 0.1 V, the inputs of the inverters 68 and 69 both become "L", and therefore the switch portions 41a and 42a are both off, so that the electric power is not supplied to the motor 6. Therefore, since the motor 6 does not rotate, the bending portion 4 does not bend.

When the output of the subtraction circuit 51 is 0.1 V or higher,
That is, when "the output of the adder 31 and the output of the variable resistor 72" is "0.1 V" or more, the inputs of the inverters 68 and 69 are "H" and "L". Therefore, the switch parts 41a and 42a
Are turned on and off, respectively, and the motor 6 rotates so as to bend upward and at a speed and torque according to the voltage value of the variable constant voltage power supply 55 described later.

When the output of the subtraction circuit 51 is -0.1 V or less, that is, when "the output of the adder circuit 31 and the output variable resistor 72" is "-0.1 V" or less, the inputs of the inverters 68 and 69 are "L". It becomes "H". Therefore, the switch parts 41a, 42
a is turned OFF and ON, respectively, and the motor 6 is rotated so as to bend downward and at a speed and torque according to the voltage value of the variable constant voltage power supply 55 described later.

That is, the motor 6 rotates so that the output of the adder circuit 31, that is, the value of the variable resistor 70 (because the output of the integrating circuit 38 is currently 0 V) always matches the value of the variable resistor 72. In other words, the vertical tilting angle of the shaft 19 of the joystick 18 and the vertical bending angle of the bending portion 4 are controlled so as to always match.

Here, when the output of the integrating circuit 38 is 0V,
The output value of the adder circuit 31 and the output value of the variable resistor 70 match. That is, when the vertical direction of the shaft 19 of the joystick 18 is in the neutral state (the output value of the variable resistor 70 is 2.5 V), the bending angle of the bending portion 4 is 0 degree in the vertical direction. Therefore, 2.1
<V31 = V70 <2.9 is −48 <θUD <48. Up to this point, the operation has been performed in the area X, and fine adjustment can be easily performed in this area X.

B) Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the shaft 19 of the joystick 18 is fully tilted in the upward direction so that it is shown in the area Y2.
The operation in the case of tilting the variable resistance 70 of 9 V or more to the output will be described.

Inclining to the upward region Y in this way,
Since the output of the integrating circuit 38 is currently "0V", the comparing circuit 3
The outputs of 2 to 35 are "H", "L", "H", and "H". Therefore, the switch parts 39a and 40a are turned on and off.

When the switch section 39a is turned on, the output of the integrating circuit 38 gradually approaches 1V from 0V, and eventually becomes 1V. Then, the output of the adding circuit 31 is 3 + 1 = 4V
Next, instruct 4V. At this time, the comparison circuits 32 to 35 become "H", "L", "H", "H", and the switch unit 3
9a and 40a are turned on and off.

On the other hand, until the output 4V of the adder circuit 31 and the output of the variable resistor 72 are subtracted and the output of the variable resistor 72 becomes 4V, the switches 41a and 42a are turned on and off, and the motor 6 moves up the bending portion 4. Rotate to bend in the direction. When the output of the adder circuit 31 exceeds 4V, the outputs of the comparator circuits 32 to 35 become "H", "L", "L", "H", and the switch parts 39a, 40a are both turned off.
Therefore, the integrating circuit 38 never exceeds 1V. Here, when V31 = 4V, θUD = 180. Therefore, when tilted from the region X to the region Y side, it is possible to quickly make a large curve.

C) Next, the axis 19 of the joystick 18
Is returned downward, the variable resistor 70 approaches 2V. When it is larger than 2.1V, the output of the adder circuit 31 is larger than 3.1V because the output of the integrating circuit 38 is still 1V. Therefore, the comparison circuits 32 to 35 are "L", "L",
Outputs "H" and "H". Therefore, the switch unit 39
a and 40a are turned on and off, and the integration circuit remains at 1V.

On the other hand, the output of the adder circuit 31 and the variable resistor 72
Is subtracted, and the output of the variable resistor 72 is added to the adder circuit 31.
Switch units 41a and 42a are OF until the output of
When F and ON, the motor 6 rotates so as to bend the bending portion 4 downward.

Here, when the output of the integrating circuit 38 is 1V, when the shaft 19 of the joystick 18 is in the neutral state (the output value of the variable resistor 70; V70 = 2.5), the adding circuit 31 is used.
Has an output value of 3.5 V, and the bending angle of the bending portion 4 is 120 degrees in the upward direction. Therefore, 2.1 <V70 <2.9
Corresponds to 3.1 <V31 <3.9, and 72 <θUD <
168.

Therefore, as in the above b), the areas X to Y are
A large bending angle can be quickly set in the process of transitioning to, and conversely, it is difficult to make fine adjustment at a large bending angle in this process, but if an operation is performed to return to the region X as in c), Since the area X is set to the tilting area on the large angle side, fine adjustment can be easily performed.

D) Further, the shaft 19 of the joystick 18
Is returned downward, the variable resistance 70 becomes 2.1 V or less.
Then, the comparison circuits 32 to 35 are "L", "H",
"H" and "H", and the switch parts 39a and 40a are O
FF, ON. Therefore, the integration circuit 38 is gradually -1
Approaching V. Here, for example, when the shaft 19 of the joystick 18 is returned so that the output of the variable resistor 70 becomes larger than 2.1 V when the output of the integrating circuit 38 is 0 V, as described above, 2.1 <V31 = V70 <2. 9 is -48 <θ
UD <48.

E) Further, the shaft 19 of the joystick 18
Is returned downward, the variable resistance 70 becomes 2.1 V or less.
Then, the comparison circuits 32 to 35 are "L", "H",
"H" and "H", and the switch parts 39a and 40a are O
FF, ON. Therefore, the integration circuit 38 is gradually -1
Approaching V. When it becomes -1V (when the output of the variable resistor 70 is 2V), the adder circuit 31 becomes 1V. Thus, the bending portion 4 bends at -180 degrees, that is, 180 degrees downward.

F) Here, the output of the integrating circuit 38 is -1V.
When the shaft 19 of the joystick 18 is set to the neutral state at this time, at this time (the output value of the variable resistor 70; V70 = 2.
In 5), the output value of the adding circuit 31 is 1.5 V, and the bending angle of the bending portion 4 is 120 degrees in the downward direction. Therefore, 2.1
<V70 <2.9 corresponds to 1.1 <V31 <1.9,
-168 <θUD <72.

G) Next, the shaft 19 of the joystick 18
When the output of the variable resistor 70 becomes 2.9 V or more by tilting upward, the comparison circuits 32 to 35 are set to "H", "L",
"H" and "H", switches 39 and 40 are ON and O
It becomes FF, and the output of the integrating circuit 38 gradually approaches the positive direction from -1V. Therefore, the output of the adder circuit 31 is also 2V.
The bending portion 4 also bends upward so as to follow this.

By performing the above-mentioned operations, it is bent in a desired direction, and observation, treatment and the like are performed. When the curved portion 4 is desired to be returned straight, the finger is released from the finger contact portions 21 and 22 of the joystick 18. Then, the reset switch 23 is turned off, and the shafts 19 and 20 are automatically returned to the neutral position by the biasing force. Therefore, the variable resistor 7
The voltage of 0 becomes V70 = 2.5V.

On the other hand, when the voltage V38 <0 of the integrating circuit 38, the switch portions 39a and 40a are turned on and off,
Eventually V38 = 0. Further, when the voltage V38> 0 of the integrating circuit 38, the switch parts 39a and 40a are OF
F and ON, and finally V38 = 0. That is, the addition circuit voltage V31 = 2.5, and the bending portion 4 becomes 0 degrees in the vertical direction.

By the way, at this time, the output V of the variable resistor 73
73 = 2.5, and the bending portion 4 also becomes 0 ° in the left-right direction. Therefore, the curved portion 4 becomes straight.

The voltage applied to the motor 6 will be described below with reference to FIG. Voltage V51 of subtraction circuit 51
Is V51 = V31-V72. When the shaft 19 of the joystick 18 is quickly tilted, the bending response time of the bending portion 4 momentarily increases the difference between V31 and V72.
That is, the output voltage of the absolute value circuit 52 increases.

Therefore, the larger or faster the tilting angle of the shaft 19 is, the larger the input voltage of the variable constant voltage power supply 55 is, and accordingly the larger the voltage applied to the motor 6 is. That is, the rotation speed and torque of the motor 6 increase.
Therefore, even when the shaft 19 is tilted rapidly and largely, the bending portion 4 bends quickly and the response is very good.

On the other hand, the function generating circuit 53 generates the output voltage shown in FIG. 5 according to the output voltage V72 of the variable resistor 72 of the potentiometer 8. That is, as the bending angle of the bending portion 4 increases in the upward or downward direction, the function generating circuit 53 generates a larger voltage and the input of the variable constant voltage power supply 55 also increases, so that the rotation speed and torque of the motor 6 are increased. Grows larger. However, since the load applied to the motor 6 increases as the bending angle increases, the motor 6 actually rotates at substantially the same speed.

Next, the control in the horizontal direction will be described. Only parts different from the vertical direction will be described. In the vertical direction, the voltage of the variable resistor 70 of the joystick 18 and the voltage of the integrating circuit 38 are added to compare the voltage of the adding circuit 31 with the voltage of the variable resistor 72 of the potentiometer 8.
1, the output voltage of the variable resistor 72 is 1 to 4V, while the variable resistor 71 of the joystick 18 is in the left-right direction.
Is directly compared with the voltage of the variable resistor 73 of the potentiometer 9, and the voltage that can be taken is 2-3V.
Further, the function generating circuit 53 'outputs the voltage shown in FIG.

Therefore, the axis 19 of the joystick 18,
The bending portion 4 bends so that the voltage of the variable resistor 73 of the potentiometer 9 matches the voltage of the variable resistor 71 of the joystick 18, depending on the tilt angle of the left and right direction of 20.
The outputs of the function generating circuits 53 and 53 'may be generated only in the direction in which the bending angle increases. Further, the amplification factor in the direction in which the bending angle increases may be larger than the amplification factor in the direction in which the bending angle decreases.

The tilting angle of the joystick 18,
The output voltage value of the variable resistors 70, 71, 72, 73, the voltage value that the integrating circuit 38 can take, and the voltage characteristics of the function generating circuits 53, 53a can be arbitrarily changed. The wires 12, 1
A frictional force may be reduced by providing means for slightly vibrating at least one of the wire insertion guide coil 3 and a wire insertion guide coil (not shown). Alternatively, the frictional force may be reduced by providing a means for finely vibrating the wires 12, 13 in the axial direction by finely rotating the motors 6, 7 in the forward and reverse directions.

The motor drive voltage in the direction of increasing the bending angle may be larger than the voltage in the direction of decreasing the bending angle. Further, the motor drive time in the direction of increasing the bending angle may be set longer than the time in the direction of decreasing the bending angle. In this way, the uncomfortable feeling of the bending drive operation during the bending operation may be reduced.

The first embodiment has the following effects. With respect to the vertical tilting operation of the joystick 18, it is detected whether the tilting angle is in the region X or the region Y,
In addition, according to the transition from one area to the other area, the content of the bending control is changed or switched so that the bending instruction area of the bending instruction corresponding to the tilt operation area of the joystick 18 is switched. Therefore, it is possible to perform bending control that is much wider than the tilting operation area of the joystick 18, and it is possible to make each tilting instruction area correspond to a wide tilting operation area, which facilitates fine adjustment work.

That is, the vertical direction can be finely adjusted from the horizontal direction, and the fine adjustment function (also referred to as fine adjustability) can be improved. Also, the left-right direction has better responsiveness than the up-down direction.

Therefore, when the responsiveness is required, the bending operation in the left and right directions is frequently used when the insertion section 2 is rotated to adjust the direction, and when the fine adjustment is required, the up and down bending operation is performed. By frequently using it, it is possible to realize an electric bending endoscope apparatus having excellent responsiveness and fine adjustment. By performing different control in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, the contradictory characteristics can be achieved in the entire device.

The voltage applied to the motors 6 and 7 was changed as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 according to the bending angle. Without this control, for example, if the bending angle becomes large, the load applied to the motors 6 and 7 also becomes large, so that the variable resistance 7 of the joystick 18 is increased.
0, 71 voltage and potentiometers 8, 9 variable resistance 7
The motors 6 and 7 were stopped before the voltages of 2 and 73 were matched, and the actual bending angle tended to be small. However, the bending instruction value by the joystick 18 does not depend on the bending angle due to the control of the present embodiment. Then, the actual bending angle can be accurately matched.

Since the above control is performed in the vertical direction, the bending portion 4 with respect to the tilting angle of the shaft 19 of the joystick 18 is bent.
Since the ratio of the bending angle of can be made small, it is very easy to make fine adjustments. Specifically, the tilting angle of the joystick 18 in the vertical direction of 120 degrees can control the bending angle of 120 degrees, and the bending angle can be controlled in the vertical direction of 360 degrees. On the other hand, in the left-right direction, the tilt angle of the joystick 18 is 120 degrees and the bending angle is 32 degrees.
Because it can be controlled at 0 degrees, the response is very good.

Since the reset switch 23 is provided on the joystick 18 that returns to the neutral position, the joystick 18
The curved portion 4 can be easily returned to a straight shape by simply removing the finger from. If the reset switch 23 was not provided, the joystick 18 had to be fully tilted to the opposite side when the bending portion 4 was returned to the straight state, and the joystick 18 had to be operated until the output of the integrating circuit 38 became zero.

Since a plurality of bending (operation) switch portions, more specifically, finger contact portions 21 and 22 of the joystick 18, are provided, fine adjustment of the levers (shafts 19 and 20) is very easy. The background and the like of the fact that the plurality of finger contact portions 21 and 22 are formed in this way will be described below.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 of the above-mentioned prior art (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-304126), there is only one finger contact portion for both the joystick and the joypad. Therefore, since the operation is performed with only one thumb, it is difficult to perform fine adjustment, and it is difficult to improve the operability because the thumb suddenly comes off.

Therefore, for the purpose of facilitating fine adjustment and improving operability, as described above, the joystick 1
8 is provided with a plurality of finger rests 21 and 22 to achieve this purpose. In the joystick 18 in this embodiment, tiltable shafts 19 and 20 are interlocked with each other in opposite directions from an operation portion 91 as shown in FIG. 9 to be described later, and finger contact portions 21 and 22 are formed at respective end portions. .

Therefore, for example, the thumb is reset switch 2
3 is provided on the finger rest 21, and the middle finger other than the thumb, for example, is placed on the other finger rest 22, and the shafts 19 and 2 are respectively attached.
Holds 0. When performing a bending operation, only one finger is used for operation, and both fingers are used as needed for fine adjustment.

For example, the shaft 19 is usually operated only by the thumb, and both fingers are operated at the time of fine adjustment. When operating with both fingers in this way, hold the tilting operation so that it does not tilt too much with one finger and hold the tilting operation with a small amount with the other finger. Will be easier.
Further, even if the thumb comes off unexpectedly, since it is held by the other finger, it is possible to prevent a large tilt due to the fact that the thumb comes off, so that the operability can be improved.

On the other hand, if the tilting operation can be performed only with one finger, the tilting operation is greatly tilted even if the tilting operation is performed finely. For example, the tilting operation can be suppressed and the tilting operation can be performed little by little. It is difficult to remove. In other words, it is difficult to make fine adjustments.

In addition, as described above, by adopting different bending drive controls (systems) in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, the backgrounds related to the fact that the apparatus can totally achieve contradictory characteristics will be described below. Explained.

In the endoscopy, fine adjustment is required when observing in close proximity to the object, and bending response in the distant view is required. Generally, the larger the bending angle of the endoscope, the larger the load on the bending motor.

In the above-mentioned conventional technique (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-304126), the bending control method in the vertical direction and the bending control method in the horizontal direction are the same. Therefore, for example, if the setting that emphasizes the fine adjustment is poor, the responsiveness becomes poor, and if the setting that emphasizes the responsiveness is made, the fine adjustment becomes poor.

When the same electric power is applied to the motor when the bending angle is increased and when the bending angle is decreased, the bending responsiveness in the direction with a large load, that is, the direction with a large bending angle, deteriorates, and conversely, in the direction with a small load. That is, the fine adjustment of bending in the direction of decreasing the bending angle becomes poor.

In consideration of these drawbacks, it is an object of the invention to provide an electric bending endoscope apparatus in which the fine adjustment of the bending is easy and the bending responsiveness is good. The different bending drive control (method) is adopted to achieve this purpose.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The overall configuration of the second embodiment is similar to that of FIG. 1, but a joystick 118 shown in FIG. 7 is used instead of the joystick 18 of the first embodiment. In addition, the vertical and horizontal drive control circuits 16 and 17 in FIG.
It is configured by U as software. Therefore, the first
Only parts different from the embodiment will be described.

Functions by operating the joystick 118 shown in FIG. 7 will be described. For simplicity, only the vertical direction will be described. Since the left and right directions are the same, the description is omitted. The joystick 118 is in the neutral position in both the up and down (and left and right) directions.
Outputs 5V. The output voltage of the joystick 118 with respect to the tilting range is 1.5V to 3.5V. It has a region X of 2V to 3V and a region Y other than that. The output voltage of the joystick 18 is input to the vertical and horizontal drive control circuits 16 and 17.

The control of the vertical and horizontal drive control circuits 16 and 17 is different from that of the first embodiment. The operation of the vertical and horizontal drive control circuits 16 and 17 will be described below. Since the operation in the vertical direction is the same as that in the horizontal direction, only the vertical direction will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

Basically, the vertical control of the first embodiment is performed by software. The output V38 of the integrating circuit 38 of the first embodiment is shown by the shift amount A. This shift amount A can take -1≤A≤1. First, the shift amount A is set to 0 in the initial setting of step S1.

In the next step S2, the joystick 18
Is read by the CPU via the A / D converter and stored in, for example, the vertical voltage storage area (hereinafter abbreviated as JSUD) of the joystick 18 of the RAM. The value that JSUD can take is 1.5V to 3.5V.
It is.

In the next step S3, the CPU reads the output voltage of the potentiometer 8 via the A / D converter and stores it in the voltage storage area (hereinafter abbreviated as PMUD) of the potentiometer 8 of the RAM, for example. FIG.
Then, the potentiometer 8 is abbreviated as PM. PMU
Possible values of D are 1V to 4V.

In the next step S4, which voltage region is JSUD? Make a judgment. That is, the CPU is JSUD
Voltage value of 1.5 ≦ JSUD <1.8, 1.8 ≦ JSU
D <2, 2 ≦ JSUD ≦ 3, 3 <JSUD ≦ 3.2,
3.2 Compare in which voltage region of <JSUD ≦ 3.5.

The voltage value of JSUD is 1.5 ≦ JS.
If UD <1.8, as shown in step S5, a value obtained by subtracting 0.2 from the shift amount A is set as the shift amount A, and the process proceeds to step S9. When the voltage value of JSUD is 1.8 ≦ JSUD <2, the CPU subtracts 0.1 from the shift amount A as the shift amount A as shown in step S6, and determines the value of JSUD in step S9. To 2. Also, C
When the voltage value of JSUD is 2 ≦ JSUD ≦ 3, the PU directly proceeds to step S11.

Further, in the CPU, the voltage value of JSUD is 3 <J
If SUD ≦ 3.2, the value obtained by adding 0.1 to the shift amount A is set as the shift amount A as shown in step S7, and the process proceeds to step S10. If the JSUD voltage value is 3.2 <JSUD ≦ 3.5, the CPU proceeds to step S8.
The value obtained by adding 0.2 to the shift amount A is set as the shift amount A, and the value of JSUD is set to 3 in step S10.
By such a process, the value that JSUD can take is set to 2V to 3V before proceeding to step S11.

In step S11, the CPU determines in which voltage region the shift amount A is. Make a judgment. That is, the CPU determines in which voltage region the voltage value of the shift amount A is A <−1, −1 ≦ A ≦ 1, 1 <A.

Then, the CPU determines that the voltage value of the shift amount A is A <
In the case of -1, as shown in step S12, the shift amount A
Set to -1. If -1≤A≤1, the process proceeds to step S14. If 1 <A, step S
As shown in 13, the shift amount A is set to 1.

In step S14, a value obtained by adding the shift amount A to the voltage value of JSUD is newly defined as JUD.
This value JUD is the output value V of the adder circuit 31 of the first embodiment.
It is equivalent to 31, and the possible value of this value JUD is 1V to 4V.
It is.

In the next step S15, PMUD and this value J
Determine the magnitude relationship with UD. In other words, CPU is PMU
It is determined whether D> JUD, PMUD = JUD, PMUD <JUD.

If PMUD> JUD, as shown in step S16, the curve is made in the DOWN direction at a speed corresponding to the magnitude of | JUD-PMUD |. Also,
When JUD = PMUD, the bending is stopped as shown in step S17. If PMUD <JUD, as shown in step S18, | JUD-PMUD
Bend in the UP direction at a speed according to the size of |.
Then, after the processing of steps S16-18, step S2
Return to

By controlling in this way, the value of JSUD is changed by tilting the joystick 118, and the motor 6 is rotated so as to match the variable JUD to which the shift amount A is added. Therefore, the joystick 11
The bending portion 4 follows the tilting movement of 8 and bends.

Vertical bending angle of bending portion 4; θUD = 1
Bend according to 20x (JUD-2.5). That is, as in the vertical direction of the first embodiment, the joystick 118
This corresponds to 1 degree of bending angle of the bending portion 4 per 1 degree of tilting angle.

Unlike the first embodiment, the JS of step S4
Which voltage range is UD? In the above judgment, the area Y is evaluated in two stages. That is, the shift amount A is changed by 0.1,
It is determined whether the value is changed by 0.2. Note that the joystick may or may not be returned to the neutral position.

The second embodiment has the following effects. Since the switching of whether the value of the shift amount A is changed by 0.1 or 0.2 is switched depending on the tilt angle of the joystick 118, the operability is good. Besides, it has almost the same effect as the effect for the vertical control of the first embodiment.

(Third Embodiment) Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The overall structure of this embodiment is similar to that shown in FIG. However, the joystick 218 shown in FIG. 9 is adopted instead of the joystick 18 of FIG. This joystick 218 is similar to the joystick 18 of the first embodiment in that it has two shafts 21 from the operation section 91.
9 and 220 are integrally provided on the upper and lower sides of the joystick body, and finger contact portions 221 and 222 are provided at each end.

In this embodiment, the joystick 2 is further added.
In order to be able to detect the vicinity of the maximum tilt angle by 18, for example, a pressure sensitive element near the maximum tilt angle in the upward and downward directions, more specifically, pressure sensitive rubbers 201, 20 as pressure sensitive resistance elements.
2 are arranged respectively. Therefore, when the shaft 219 is tilted upward or downward to the vicinity of the maximum tilt angle, the pressure-sensitive rubber 2
01 or 202 is pressed, and the pressed pressure sensitive rubber 201 or 202 changes the resistance value or the like due to the pressing so that tilting of the shaft 219 to that angle can be detected.

FIG. 9 shows only the pressure sensitive rubbers 201 and 202 for detecting the maximum vertical tilting angle by the shaft 219, and although not shown, the pressure sensitive rubbers 201 and 202 are also provided on the shaft 220 in the same manner. A pressure sensitive element for detecting the maximum tilting angle of the direction is provided.

The area X is detected by the output of the joystick 218, but in the area Yu near 3V and the area Yd near 2V, the outputs detected by the pressure sensitive rubbers 201 and 202 are the boundary between the area X and its both sides. It is used to judge the regions Yu and Yd.

The vertical and horizontal drive control circuit 1 shown in FIG.
6 and 17 are configured by software as in the second embodiment. The control contents of the bending drive of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The left-right direction is the same as the up-down direction, so only the up-down direction will be described.

Steps S21 to S23 are steps S in FIG.
The same as 1 to 3. The value that JSUD can take is 2
V to 3V. PMUD is 1 to 4V.

What is the output of the pressure sensitive rubber in the next step S24?
To judge. That is, the CPU uses the pressure sensitive rubbers 201 and 202.
Output Yu ', Yd' of the output of the output Yu ', Yd'
It is judged from the voltage of which area it is.

Then, the judgment result is Yd '> 0.5 & Y.
When u '= 0, the same process as step S5 is performed as shown in step S25, and the process proceeds to step S29. If the determination result is 0.5 ≧ Yd ′> 0.2 & Yu ′ = 0, the same process as step S6 is performed as shown in step S26, and the process proceeds to step S29. Also, Yd '
If ≤0.2 & Yu '≤0.2, the process proceeds to step S29. When 0.5 ≧ Yu ′> 0.2 & Yd ′ = 0, the same process as step S7 is performed as shown in step S27, and the process proceeds to step S29. Also, Yu '>
If 0.5 & Yd '= 0, the same process as step S8 is performed as shown in step S28, and step S29 is performed.
Move on to

In step S29, which voltage region is the shift amount A similar to step S11? According to the determination result, the process proceeds to step S30 if A <−1, step S32 if −1 ≦≦ 1, and step S31 if 1 <A. Steps S30 and S31 are the same as steps S12 and S13 of FIG.

In step S32, the value obtained by adding the shift amount A to JSUD is set as JUD as in step S14. Similar to the second embodiment, the values that JUD can take are 1 to 4
V. In the next step S33, the same judgment as in step S15 is made.

If PMUD> JUD, as shown in step S34, the curve is made in the DOWN direction at a speed corresponding to the magnitude of | JUD-PMUD |, and the process returns to step S22. If JUD = PMUD, the process returns to step S22.

If PMUD <JUD, as shown in step S35, it is curved in the UP direction at a speed corresponding to the magnitude of | JUD-PMUD |, and then step S22.
Return to

By controlling in this way, by tilting the shafts 219 and 220 of the joystick 218, the value of JSUD changes, and the value JU to which the shift amount A is added is changed.
The motor 6 is rotated so as to coincide with D, so that the bending portion 4 bends following the tilting of the joystick 218.
And the vertical bending angle of the bending portion 4; θUD = 120 ×
Bends according to (JUD-2.5).

Similar to the second embodiment, the area Y is evaluated in two stages. That is, the shift amount A is changed by 0.1,
It is determined whether to change by 0.2. However, the judgment is made by the output of the pressure sensitive rubbers 201 and 202 which are pressure sensitive elements. It is determined by whether the output of the upward pressure sensitive rubber 201 or the downward pressure sensitive rubber 202 is larger than 0.2V.

This embodiment has the following effects. By providing a bending switch that combines a tilt detection element that changes its output depending on the position change, and a pressure-sensitive element that changes its output depending on the pressing force, the feel during bending shift differs from that during non-shifting. Therefore, the operation feeling is good.

(Modification of Third Embodiment) In the third embodiment, a joystick 318 as shown in FIG. 11 may be adopted instead of the joystick 218 as the bending switch section. The joystick 318 has a shaft 319.
, Trackball 322, finger rest 331 and shaft 31
It consists of strain gauges 301 and 302 adhered to 9.

The trackball 322 is exposed in the direction opposite to the shaft 319 from the operation portion 91 so as to form the second finger contact portion. Also, instead of pressure sensitive rubber, strain gauge 30
Two reference numerals 1 and 302 are provided for vertical and horizontal detection (not shown for horizontal detection in FIG. 11).
Similarly to the above, it is adopted to detect the regions Yu and Yd.

(Fourth Embodiment) Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 12, the bending switch unit 418 includes a ring member 421a for instructing the finger rest 421 to bend in the vertical direction and an ON / OFF switch unit 421b for instructing bending / stopping in the horizontal direction. When the vertical direction is rotated in the direction of the arrow, the resistance value of a variable resistor (not shown) coaxially connected to the center of the ring member 421a changes, and the resistance value is input to the vertical drive control circuit 416. The vertical drive control circuit 416 is similar to the vertical drive control circuit 16, and the subsequent steps are the same as in the first embodiment.

When the finger rest 421b in the left / right direction is pressed, the ON / OFF signal is output to the left / right drive control circuit 41.
7 is input. This left / right drive control circuit 417 is turned on.
When the right signal of the / OFF switch portion 421b is pressed to input an ON signal for instructing the rightward bending, the left / right bending motor 7 is bent to the right, and when the ON signal for instructing the leftward bending is input, the left / right bending The motor 7 is bent to the left. When the pressing is stopped and turned off, an instruction to stop bending is given, and the left and right bending motor 7 is stopped. It operates like a so-called joystick with a large stroke in the up-down direction and a so-called joypad in the left-right direction.

According to this embodiment, by using the bending switch section in which the element that changes the output in accordance with the position change, specifically the tilt angle, and the switch section that outputs the ON / OFF signal are combined, one switch section is used. , With different characteristics. Therefore, it is possible to provide a switch unit having characteristics suitable for the vertical direction and the horizontal direction.

(Modification of Fourth Embodiment) FIG. 13 shows a modification of the fourth embodiment. As shown in FIG. 13, the bending switch unit 518 includes a ring member 521a for instructing the finger rest 521 to bend in the vertical direction, and a strain gauge 5 attached to the shaft 519.
01.

When the finger rest 521a is rotated, the shaft 519 is rotated.
The potentiometer 70 rotates via. This signal is input to the vertical drive control circuit 16 in FIG.

The strain gauge 501 is input to the left / right drive control circuit 17 in FIG. The left-right drive control circuit 17 controls the rotation of the bending motor 7 in the left-right direction according to the output of the strain gauge 501.

It operates like a so-called joystick having a large stroke in the vertical direction. Also, the stroke in the left-right direction is small, and the bending angle can be controlled according to the magnitude of the force applied to the shaft 519 in the left-right direction. The strain gauge 501 may be provided in the circumferential direction of the shaft 519.

According to this modification, by using the bending switch section in which the element that changes the output in accordance with the change in position, more specifically, the output change depending on the tilt angle, and the switch section that outputs the signal according to the magnitude of the applied force are combined, One switch unit has different characteristics. Therefore, it is possible to provide a switch unit having characteristics suitable for the vertical direction and the horizontal direction.

(Fifth Embodiment) FIG. 14 shows the vicinity of an operating portion 602 of an endoscope 601 according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. The bending switch portion provided on the operation unit 602, more specifically, the joystick 618 is a main body 603, and the main body 603.
Has a shaft 619 protruding therefrom, and a finger contact portion 621 is provided on the top of the shaft 619. The joystick 618 has a structure that can be rotated around the main body 603 as shown by the arrow.

That is, the base end side of the main body 603 is A in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 15 showing a cross section taken along the line A, a cylindrical portion 604 having, for example, a cylindrical shape is provided, and an O-ring 605 is interposed so as to be rotatable in a watertight state.

As shown in FIG. 14, when the operator grips the operating portion 602 with his / her hand, the axial directions O of the thumbs are different, so that the main body 603 can be turned to an angular position most easily operated by the operator. It is set so that the bending operation can be performed.

Generally, the movable range of the thumb is wide in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction O of the thumb, and the operation is easy.
Therefore, if the operator sets the direction perpendicular to the axial direction O of the thumb when gripped by the hand to be, for example, the up-down bending instruction direction, the operator can give the up-down bending instruction that is frequently operated. It will be easy to do.

If the bending instruction operation in the left-right direction is frequently used, or if the user wants to make fine adjustments in the left-right direction in particular, if the state is rotated by approximately 90 degrees from the state shown in FIG. The bending becomes easy, and the fine adjustment operation becomes easy. In this way, it can be set in a state where it is easy for the operator to operate.

In this embodiment, the bending control may be performed as in the second embodiment, for example, and the finger contact portion 62 may be used.
It is also possible to provide a reset switch (not shown) in FIG. 1 to perform bending control as in the first embodiment. Further, the bending control may be performed as in the other embodiments.

(Sixth Embodiment) By the way, an electric bending endoscope apparatus 700 having a structure as shown in FIG. 16 may be used. This device 700 has an endoscope 701 and a motor box 726 as a bending drive control device provided at the end of a universal cord 724 of the endoscope 701.

The movable parts of the slide type potentiometers 708a and 708b are attached to the upward bending and downward bending wires 712a and 712b in the endoscope 701, respectively, in the operating portion 791, and the bending wires 712a and 712 are bent.
Along with the movement of b, the movable portion is moved to change the resistance values of the variable ends of the potentiometers 708a and 708b, and thus the output voltage.

The wires 712a and 712b are further inserted through the universal cord 724 from the operating portion 791, and the rear end thereof is the pulley 710 in the motor box 726.
The pulley 710 is attached to the rotating shaft of the motor 706, and rotates with the rotation of the motor 706. Further, the rotation direction of the motor 706 is detected by the motor rotation direction detection unit 731, and the detected signal is a potentiometer switching unit (Fig. 16) to which the detection signals of the slide potentiometers 708a and 708b are input.
Then, it will be referred to as a PM switching section) 732 as a switching control signal for switching.

The output of the slide potentiometer 708a or 708b selected by the potentiometer switching unit 732 is input to the bending angle detection unit 733. The output signal of the bending angle detection unit 733 and the output signal of the joystick 718 as the bending switch unit together with the drive control circuit 71.
6 is input. This drive control circuit 716 is, for example, the second
It is configured by using a CPU as in the embodiment. The joystick 718 may be provided with a reset switch to apply the first embodiment.

The drive control circuit 716 controls the rotation drive of the motor 706 according to the output signals from the joystick side and the potentiometer side. For simplification, the wire for left and right bending and its drive control means are not shown in FIG. 16, but the same structure as that for up and down bending may be used, and different drive control may be performed. .

In this embodiment, the motor rotation direction detector 73
1 output, that is, the detection output in the rotation direction of the motor 706 is the potentiometer 708a or 708 attached to the wire 712a (or 712b) on the pulled side.
A switching control signal is output to the potentiometer switching unit 732 so as to select b.

Therefore, for example, when the upward bending wire 712a is pulled to the motor box 726 side, the output of the potentiometer 708a is selected and this output is input to the bending angle detection unit 733 to detect the bending angle. Conversely, when the lower bending wire 712b is pulled toward the motor box 726, the output of the potentiometer 708b is selected and this output is input to the bending angle detection unit 733 to detect the bending angle. Try to do it.

The bending angle detector 733 detects the bending angle in response to the output signal of the selected potentiometer 708a or 708b, and outputs the voltage value corresponding to the detected bending angle to the bending driving circuit 716. The motor 716 is rotationally driven so as to match the bending instruction voltage instructed by the tilting operation of the joystick 718.

According to this embodiment, since the bending angle is detected by the wire 712a (or 712b) on the pulled or extended side, there is an effect that the accuracy of detecting the bending angle can be improved.

[Additional Notes] 2. The joystick is a neutral return type.
The electric bending endoscope apparatus described. 3. The electric bending endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bending angle of the bending portion designated by the first region includes a case where the straight portion of the bending portion is centered. 4. 2. The electric bending endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a reset switch portion so that the first region is centered on a straight portion of a bending portion. 5. The electric bending endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a speed at which the bending angle is changed is variable in the second region.

6. The electric bending endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the second region, the bending angle is changed at a plurality of stages. 7. The electric bending endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bending angle indicated by the first region changed by the second region includes the maximum bending angle. 8. The electric bending endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the range of the bending angle indicated by the first region changed by the second region continuously moves. 9. The electric bending endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the joystick is capable of instructing up / down / left / right and a combination direction thereof.

10. The maximum angle of the bending part is 180 for each up and down
The electric bending endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the left and right sides is 160 degrees. 11. The electric bending endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the range of the bending angle designated by the first region is 60 degrees in each of the vertical and horizontal directions. 12. The first area is instructed by a first switch section composed of a joystick, and the second area is controlled by a second switch section other than the first switch section.
The electric bending endoscope apparatus described. 13. 13. The electric bending endoscope apparatus according to appendix 12, wherein the second switch section is a pressure-sensitive resistance element.

14. 13. The electric bending endoscope apparatus according to appendix 12, wherein the second switch section is a strain gauge attached to the first switch section. 15. An electric bending endoscope apparatus provided with a bending switch unit having a plurality of finger rests. 16. Bend switch part is a joystick Note 1
The electric bending endoscope apparatus according to item 5. 17． 16. The electric bending endoscope apparatus according to attachment 15, wherein the bending switch portion is a joypad.

18. An electric bending endoscope apparatus having different driving control systems for different bending directions. 19. 19. The electric bending endoscope apparatus according to appendix 18, wherein the different bending directions are a vertical direction and a horizontal direction. 20. 19. The electric bending endoscope apparatus according to appendix 18, wherein the different driving method is set such that one of the up-down direction and the left-right direction has a better bending response than the other. 21. 19. The electric bending endoscope apparatus according to appendix 18, wherein one of the up-down method and the left-right method is set to have better fine adjustment of bending than the other of the different driving methods.

22. Note that the different bending methods are a direction of increasing a bending angle and a direction of decreasing a bending angle.
The electric bending endoscope apparatus described. 23. 19. The electric bending endoscope apparatus according to appendix 18, wherein the different driving method controls the driving voltage in the direction of increasing the bending angle to be higher than the driving voltage in the direction of decreasing the bending angle. Note that the subordinate relationships described above are merely suitable examples, and any combination is possible.

[0160]

As described above, according to the present invention, the joystick for instructing the bending angle of the bending portion of the endoscope and the control means for controlling the bending angle of the bending portion in response to the instruction of the joystick. In the electric bending endoscope apparatus having, the joystick is provided in a first region for instructing a bending angle smaller than the maximum bending angle of the bending portion, and is provided in a region other than the first region, and instructed by the first region. Since the second region for instructing to change the bending angle of the bending portion is provided, the first region can be changed by changing the bending angle instructed by the first region using the second region. It is possible to instruct a bending angle larger than the area of, and it is possible to easily finely adjust the bending.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an electric bending endoscope apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing a specific configuration of a vertical drive control circuit.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing a specific configuration of a left / right drive control circuit.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a vertical tilt angle of the joystick and a generated voltage.

FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram showing characteristics of an output voltage generated with respect to an input voltage of the function generating circuit.

FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram showing characteristics of an output voltage generated with respect to an input voltage of a function generating circuit.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a tilt angle of a joystick in a vertical direction and a generated voltage in a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the details of vertical bending control in the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a tilt angle of a joystick in a vertical direction and a generated voltage according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the contents of vertical bending control in the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a vertical tilt angle of a joystick and a generated voltage in a modified example of the third embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing an outline of a bending switch section in a fourth embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing an outline of a bending switch section in a modified example of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing the vicinity of an operation unit in the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

15 is a view showing a cross section taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 16 is an overall configuration diagram of an electric bending endoscope apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscope 2 ... Insertion part 3 ... Flexible tube part 4 ... Bending part 5 ... Tip part 6 ... (Bending for up-down direction) Motor 7 ... (Bending for left-right direction) Motor 8, 9 ... Potentiometers 10, 11 ... Pulleys 12, 13 ... Curved wires 16 ... Vertical drive control circuit 17 ... Horizontal drive control circuit 18 ... Joystick 19, 20 ... Shafts 21, 22 ... Finger rest 23 ... Reset switches 32-37 ... Comparison circuit 38 ... Integration circuit 39a, 40a, 41a to 42a '... Switch section 39b, 40b, 41b to 42b' ... Solenoid section 53, 53 '... Function generating circuit 55, 55' ... Variable constant voltage power source 58-63 ... AND circuit 64-65 '... OR circuit K0, K1, K2-K3 '... Relay

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electric bending endoscope apparatus having a joystick for instructing a bending angle of a bending portion of an endoscope and a control means for controlling the bending angle of the bending portion according to an instruction of the joystick, The joystick is provided in a first area for instructing a bending angle smaller than the maximum bending angle of the bending portion and for instructing to change the bending angle of the bending portion instructed by the first area other than the first area. An electric bending endoscope device having a second region that