JPS61219922A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To position a solid-state image pickup element without enlarging the diameter of the tip part of an endoscope by placing a fitting member in a lost part of the solid-state image pickup element. CONSTITUTION:A solid-state image pickup element 8 is constituted by having a circular section in which two parts of the upper and the lower parts is lost against a circular opening shape of an insulating tube. Also, roughly semicircular positioning parts 31, 31 for interpolating lost parts 30, 30 of the element 8 are formed in a fitted member, and a space which can contain the element 8 is formed between the positioning parts 31, 31. When the element 8 is positioned between the positioning parts 31, 31, and inserted into an insulating tube from this state, a motion in the upper and the lower directions of the element 8 is controlled by the positioning parts 31, 31, a motion in the right and the left directions of the element 8 is controlled by the peripheral wall of the insulating tube, and the element 8 can be positioned. In this way, this endoscope consists of a circular shape formed by losing a part of the element 8, therefore, it can be positioned without thickening the diameter of a tip constituting part 1 of the endoscope.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field of the Invention) The present invention relates to an endoscope having a solid-state imaging device, and particularly to an endoscope with an improved mounting structure for a solid-state imaging device.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

As shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 58-69528, endoscopes contain solid materials such as COD and SID in the tip structure.
There is one that is equipped with an i-image element and extracts an image as a signal.

By the way, in order to install a solid-state image sensor in such an endoscope, it is possible to form a housing part with a circular cross section at the distal end of the endoscope, and arrange the solid-state image sensor in this housing part using a mounting member. It is being done. These installations require easy positioning of the solid-state imager;
For this reason, a solid V with a circular cross section as shown in FIG.
In addition to using the IL image sensor a, the mounting member is constructed into a cylindrical frame corresponding to the outer shape of the solid-state image sensor a, and the solid-state image sensor a is inserted into the rod-shaped mounting member to house it. Department (
(not shown).

However, such a structure in which a frame-shaped mounting member is arranged over the entire outer peripheral surface of the solid-state image sensor a has the problem of inadvertently increasing the diameter of the tip of the endoscope, which is required to be thin. be.

Therefore, it is conceivable to make the solid-state image sensor a into a rectangular shape and arrange it in the housing part using a mounting member having a positioning part that is shaped adjacent to the rectangular part. As shown in Figure 8, a part of the corner of the part e where the legs d of the chip C are attached protrudes, so the diagonal dimension of the solid-state image sensor a is correspondingly large, and the diameter of the tip is also increased. I have a problem with it.

[Purpose of the invention]

This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to enable easy positioning of the solid-state image sensor without increasing the diameter of the distal end of the endoscope.
A: To provide a mirror.

[Summary of the invention]

That is, the present invention uses at least one solid-state IIl image element.
In addition to having a circular cross-section with a missing portion, the mounting member is placed in the missing portion of the solid-state image sensor, and is placed in the housing portion together with the solid-state image sensor, so that the solid-state image sensor can be mounted in combination with the housing portion. By using a circular solid-state imaging device with a partially missing diagonal dimension, it is possible to reduce the diameter of the tip and improve the This is an attempt to achieve both simple positioning.

[Embodiment of the Invention] The present invention will be described below based on a first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Figure 1 shows the structure of the tip of this endoscope, where 1 is the tip component, 2 is the tip component 1
3 is an illumination system, and 4 is an objective system. The illumination system 3 is provided with an illumination optical lens system 5 facing the distal end face within the distal end component 1, and a distal end (output side end) of a light guide fiber 6 inserted into the outer skin 2.
is arranged after the illumination optical lens system 5. The tip end surface (output end surface) of the light guide fiber 6 is opposed to the illumination optical lens system 5, and a light source device (not shown) is provided.
The illumination light supplied from the distal end component 1 can be irradiated in front of the distal end component 1. Furthermore, the objective system 4 includes an objective assembly section 9 in which the illumination optical lens system connection section described above is made into a unit.
It is configured by providing.

Here, the objective assembly section 9 is composed of an objective lens system 7 and a solid-state image carrier 8 in the tip of an insulating tube 11 made of a heat-shrinkable tube with a shield 10 provided on the inner surface. In addition to winding the signal wire 12 in multiple strips in the rear part of the insulating tube 10, a shield wire 14 with a shield 13 on the outer periphery is arranged, and the shield wire 14 is connected to a plurality of transparent wires. A structure is adopted in which two similar adjusting plates 15a and 15b having holes 15C formed in the plate surfaces are connected to the solid-state image carrier 8 at the center of the insulating tube 11. For details, as for the objective section,
A fixed frame 19 is provided on the outer periphery of the front end of a lens frame 18 having an observation window 16 at the front end and a lens group 17 arranged inside, and a solid-state image sensor 8 is attached to the outer periphery of the rear end via a mounting member 20. A terminal 8a of the fixed illll element image 8 is provided and configured.
... are led out to the rear of the solid-state image sensor 8. Further, as the structure on the shield wire 14 side, the following structure is used. That is, the base 21 with a partially cut-out wall is inserted into the tip of the shielded wire 14, the shield 13 is exposed to the outside, and the signal wire 12 led out from the shielded wire 14 through the notch 21a of the base 21 is threaded. 22, and fix the signal wires 12... to the base 21. Here, a pipe 23 is provided on the outer periphery of the tip of the cap 21 in a double pipe structure, and the pipe 23 and the cap 21
In addition to inserting the previously exposed shield 13 between the pipe 23 and the outer periphery of the pipe 23, the outer frame 24 is inserted into the outer periphery of the pipe 23 where the shield 13 is arranged, and the shield 13 is fixed at the same time. The signal lines 12... are led out to the tip side. Note that 25 is a protective tube for the shielded wire 14 whose tip end side is connected to the rear part of the base 21 using a thread 26.

Then, the terminal 8a derived from the solid-state image device 8...
- and each signal line 12 of the shielded line 14 are connected using adjustment plates 15a, 15b. That is, for connection, the signal wires 12... are passed through the through holes 15C of the adjustment plate 15b and filled with holes 27 disposed in the through holes 15c of the adjustment plate 15a to connect the two. In general, the signal line 12 protruding from the adjustment plate 15a or 15b and the terminals 8a are connected to each other with solder 27, thereby connecting the solid-state image sensor 8 to the shielded wire 14. Then, the mounting member 20 of the objective section constructed in this way. A shield 10 is attached to the inner surface of the protective tube 25 at the connection part.
In addition to covering the heat-shrinkable tube, the heat-shrinkable tube is heated without damaging the solid-state Wi image element 8, so that the objective section and the shield wire 14 are connected in series using the insulating tube 11 as a connecting member. This constitutes an objective assembly section 9 which is connected to the .

The objective assembly 9 is located adjacent to the ends of the illumination optical lens system 5 and the light guide fiber 6 in the housing space 2B formed within the tip component 1, and the observation window 16 is located at the tip of the tip component 1. It is fixed so as to face the surface, so that an image can be captured from the front of the distal end component 1. Note that 29 is an O-ring for sealing between the fixed frame 19 and the tip component 1. The present invention is applied to the endoscope configured in this manner.

That is, the solid-state image carrier 8 has a circular cross-section with the opening of the insulating tube 11 cut out at two places, the upper and lower portions, as shown in FIG. on the other hand,
The mounting member 20 is formed into a cylindrical shape that can be fitted into the lens frame 18 on the front end side, and a solid ii on the rear end side as shown in FIG.
It is constructed by molding a positioning part 31.31 having a substantially half-moon shape to interpolate the missing part 30.30 of the image element 8,
The solid-state image sensor 8 is housed between the positioning part 31 and the 31 part.
.

We are creating a space where we can. However, the solid-state image sensor 8
When installing the solid AM element 8, place it in the positioning section 3.
1.31 and inserting it into the insulating tube 11 from this state, the solid-state m-image element 8
The vertical movement of the solid-state m-image element 8 is regulated, and the lateral movement of the solid-state image sensor 8 is regulated by the peripheral wall of the insulating tube 11, so that the solid-state m-image element 8 can be positioned.

Therefore, by simply disposing the solid-state image sensor 8 on the mounting member 20 and inserting it into the insulating tube 11, the positioning section 31.
31 and the insulating tube 11, the solid-state imaging device 8 can be easily positioned without damaging the solid-state imaging device 8. Moreover, since the solid-state image sensor 8 has a circular shape with a portion missing, the diagonal dimension can be made smaller than that of a conventional rectangular solid-state image sensor, so the diameter of the tip of the endoscope can be reduced unnecessarily. It is possible to perform positioning without increasing the thickness. Also, a positioning section 31.31 that interpolates such upper and lower missing portions 30 is provided.
The mounting member 20 having this has the advantage that when handling the solid-state image sensor 8 alone, there is no need to directly touch the solid-state image sensor.

Further, in the first embodiment described above, a fixed image pickup element was arranged at the tip component through an insulating tube, but in the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, The solid-state R image element 8 may be positioned and fixed in the housing space 28 having a circular cross section formed in the tip component 1 using the positioning portions 31 and 31 as shown in FIG. That is, in the second embodiment, with respect to the circular opening shape of the accommodation space 28,
The solid-state image carrier 8 is configured to have a circular cross section with two parts cut out at the top and bottom, while the positioning portion 31.3 of the mounting member 20
1 is formed into a substantially half-moon shape so as to interpolate the missing parts 30, 30, and as in the first embodiment, the solid-state Wi image element 8 is housed between the positioning parts 31 and 31, and the housing space 28 is
By inserting the solid-state image sensor 8 into the interior, the vertical movement of the solid-state image sensor 8 is restricted by the positioning portions 31.31, and the left-right movement of the solid-state image sensor 8 is restricted by the inner wall of the housing space 28. The image sensor 8 is positioned. Note that 35 is a pin screwed toward the mounting member 20 from the outside of the tip component 1 and for fixing the mounting member 20.

Furthermore, in both of the embodiments described above, a solid-state image sensor having two approximately half-moon-shaped defect portions was used. However, as shown in FIG. In addition to using a positioning section 31 shaped to interpolate the defective portion 30, and using a solid-state II image element 8 having a defective portion 31 consisting of a through hole as shown in FIG. The positioning portion 31 may have a columnar shape.

In both the first and second embodiments described above, all the missing parts are interpolated, but when there are multiple missing parts, at least one of them is interpolated. Furthermore, the positioning portion may also have a shape that allows positioning of the solid-state image sensor, such as a convex portion, instead of having a shape that interpolates the missing portion.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, a solid-state m-image element having a circular shape with a small diagonal dimension and a partially missing part is used to reduce the diameter of the tip and to perform solid-state imaging. This makes it possible to achieve both simple positioning of the element.

Therefore, the fixed m-image element can be easily positioned without increasing the diameter of the distal end of the endoscope.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 and 2 show a first embodiment of the invention,
FIG. 1 is a side cross-sectional view showing the structure of the distal end of the endoscope, FIG. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing the structure of the distal end of the endoscope, FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view showing the solid-state image sensor and the positioning section, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are Fig. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a solid-state image element and a positioning part in a conventional endoscope, and Fig. 8 shows a different solid-state image element. It is a front view. 8... Solid-state Ii image element, 11.28... Insulating tube. Accommodation space (accommodation part), 20... mounting member, 30...
Missing part, 31... positioning part,

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an endoscope in which a solid-state image sensor is disposed in a housing portion having a circular cross section using a mounting member, the solid-state image sensor is configured to have a circular cross section with at least one portion missing, and the mounting member is , characterized in that it is configured to include a positioning part that is disposed in the defective part of the solid-state image sensor and positions the solid-state image sensor in combination with the housing part by placing it together with the solid-state image sensor in the housing part. Endoscope.