JPH10115798A - Observation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To rotate a picture to be in an easily viewed state with a simple mechanism at low cost and to improve working efficiency by arranging a dope prism rotatably centering an optical axis on the optical axis between a monitor screen and an ocular, and rotating the picture on the monitor screen so that observation may be performed. SOLUTION: A flange 15 is fixed in a monitor main body 13 so as to be simultaneously aligned with the center axis of a liquid crystal display part 14. One end of a rotatable rotation part 21 is coaxially attached to the flange 15. The dope prism 22 is arranged inside the rotation part 21. Then, it is connected to the ocular 60 through a mirror box 30 so as to perform observation in a state where it is attached to a head mounting tool. By rotating the dope prism 22 centering the optical axis by 90 deg. in this mechanism, the picture of a subject is rotated by 180 deg.. As a result, even though the posture of a photographic camera inspecting the inside of a tube is rotated, the rotated picture is adjusted to the easily viewed rotating position by controlling the rotation part 21.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an observation apparatus effective for inspecting the inside of a pipe such as a sewer pipe, a water pipe, a gas pipe, and a wiring pipe.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An apparatus has been developed in which a television camera is connected to the end of a cable, the other end of the cable is connected to a television monitor and connected, and the television camera is inserted into the inside of a tube to image and inspect the inside of the tube. .

As an in-pipe inspection apparatus of this type, there is a type in which a television camera is mounted on a self-propelled vehicle and inserted when an inside of a pipe having a relatively large diameter is to be inspected. In the case of such a type of inspection apparatus, a vertical direction (posture) determination unit using, for example, a pendulum is attached to the self-propelled vehicle so that it is possible to determine what posture the imaging state is in. I have. On the other hand, on the television camera side, the image pickup device can be rotated by a motor in the rotation direction.

When the self-propelled vehicle is tilted, the output signal from the attitude discriminating means is monitored, the motor is controlled by remote control to rotate the image pickup device, and the output signal from the attitude discriminating means is viewed to monitor the monitor screen. However, the video is always stably projected vertically.

[0005] As means for always stably displaying the image in the up-down direction on the monitor screen, the user operates the image processing unit in response to the posture determination signal to electrically convert the image of the monitor screen itself. Means for correcting the rotation at a time have also been considered.

[0006]

However, recently, inspection of tubes having a very small diameter has been required. In order to meet such demands, the size of cameras themselves has been reduced. When the diameter of the tube to be inspected is small and a camera and a cable are inserted, there is a case where there is almost no gap around the tube. In the case of such an inspection device, naturally, a self-propelled vehicle or the like is not used. In this inspection method, a camera is attached to the end of the cable, and this structure is inserted into the tube as it is and observed.

For this reason, it is impossible to provide the mechanism for rotating the image pickup device described above in the television camera. Further, when rotating the image on the television monitor screen, the operator must look at the monitor screen, look at the port and its cable insertion state, and look at the operation unit of the image processing unit. However, the working efficiency becomes extremely poor. Also, the provision of the electric processing unit is expensive. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an observation apparatus which can obtain an image rotation in a low-cost and easy-to-view state with a simple mechanism and has high working efficiency.

[0008]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a dove prism is disposed on an optical axis between a monitor screen and an eyepiece so as to be rotatable about the optical axis. The image on the monitor screen is rotated and can be observed.

[0009] With this configuration, it is possible to check the operation state of the port and the cable with the other eye while looking at the screen with the eyepiece, and to move the screen vertically (up and down). By rotating the prism, the posture of the subject can be easily seen.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 11 denotes a signal cable, and a distal end of the signal cable 11 is connected to a video signal output terminal of a camera control unit (not shown). Further, a base end of an operation camera cable is connected to a signal input terminal of the camera control unit, and a small television camera (not shown) for imaging the inside of the tube is connected to a distal end of the camera cable. I have. The base end of the signal cable 11 is connected to one end of the monitor main body 13 via a connector 12. The monitor body 13 is attached to the bracket 100 and has a display signal conversion circuit inside. The circuit converts an imaging signal into a display signal by this circuit and supplies the display signal to the liquid crystal display unit 14.

A flange 15 is fixed to the monitor main body 13 so as to coincide with the central axis of the liquid crystal display unit 14 at the same time. One end of a rotating part 21 that is rotatable coaxially is attached to the flange 15. A dove prism 22 is arranged inside the rotating unit 21 and is fixed by a fixing screw 23. The other end of the rotating part 21 is rotatably attached to the flange 31 on the light entrance side of the mirror box 30.

The mirror box 30 includes the dove prism 2
2 has a total reflection mirror for changing the direction of the image of the liquid crystal display unit 14 passing through 2 in the direction of 90 degrees. The mirror box 30 is fixed to the bracket 100 and does not rotate.

One end of a master lens unit 40 is fixed to the light exit of the mirror box 30. The other end of the master lens unit 40 is further fixed to one end on the light entrance side of the mirror box 50. The mirror box 50 has a total reflection mirror for changing the direction of the image passing through the master lens unit 40 in the direction of 90 degrees. The light exit of the mirror box 50 has an eyepiece 6
0 is rotatably mounted. Eyepiece 60
Is rotatably mounted, and when rotated, the distance between the master lens unit 40 and the master lens can be adjusted, that is, the focus can be adjusted.

The above device is a mirror box 30,
Although it has the master lens unit 40 and the mirror box 50 and changes the direction change of the observation direction, these may be omitted and the eyepiece unit 60 may be directly connected to the rotating unit 21. The reason why the U-shaped outer shape is adopted as in this embodiment is that observation can be performed in a state where the outer shape is attached to a head-mounted device (for example, a helmet).

The observation device 300 configured as described above
When the dove prism 22 is rotated by 90 degrees about the optical axis, the subject image can be rotated by 180 degrees (see FIG. 1B). That is, 2 of rotation of the dove prism 22
The subject image can be rotated at double speed.

As a result, even if the posture of the imaging camera that inspects the inside of the tube is rotated, the rotation unit 21 can be controlled to adjust the rotation image to a rotation position where the rotation image can be easily viewed. FIG.
Shows an example of a state in which the above observation device 300 is used. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the user has inserted the television camera at the end of the cable 11 into the tube 200 to be inspected. The user wears the helmet 201, and the observation device 300 is mounted on the helmet 201, so that the eyepiece faces the right eye of the furnishing user. Thus, the user can perform a monitoring operation while watching the inside of the tube while watching the monitor image with the right eye, and watching the state of the insertion opening of the cable 11 and the cable 11 with the left eye.

As in the above embodiment, the image captured by using the dove prism and two mirrors is inverted left and right, but a normal image can be obtained by changing one mirror to a Petter prism. . Also, by optically creating parallel rays before and after the dove prism,
The dimension of one side of the observation device extending in a U-shape can be arbitrarily changed according to the application.

This observation device can be used not only for examining the inside of a tube but also for medical use. The end of the cable may be of a type that captures an image with an optical fiber even if it is not a television camera.

An example of the means for judging the vertical direction in a television camera is as follows. As shown in FIG. 3A, a tilt detector 71 based on the principle of a level gauge is provided horizontally below the front surface of a solid-state image sensor 70. When the camera is tilted left and right, bubbles 72 in the liquid of the tilt detector 71 move. Since the appearance of the bubble 72 is imaged and appears at the lower part of the imaging screen, the user can confirm it on the monitor screen.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, a method of providing a variable resistance function in a tubular container may be employed.
That is, an extraction electrode 82 is provided on the inner peripheral side of the insulating tube container 81, a resistor 83 is provided on the outer peripheral side, and, for example, mercury 84 is inserted into the container as a slide operator. By doing so, the tilt state of the camera can be determined by monitoring the change in the detection output from the slide operator.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A simple mechanism, low cost, good work efficiency, and accurate confirmation of camera imaging posture can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of use of the observation device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a posture detection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Signal cable 12 ... Connector 13 ... Monitor body 14 ... Liquid crystal display part 21 ... Rotating part 30, 50 ... Mirror box 40 ... Master lens part 60 ... Eyepiece part.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An optical system according to claim 1, wherein a dove prism is disposed on an optical axis between the monitor screen and the eyepiece so as to be rotatable about the optical axis so that an image on the monitor screen can be rotated for observation. Characteristic observation device. 2. The observation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an image pickup device is inserted into the tube so that a state inside the tube is displayed on the monitor screen. 3. The observation device according to claim 1, wherein the eyepiece and the dove prism are integrated and attached to a head-mounted device.