JPS6165225A - Camera for endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To check on the operation of each individual part by providing an endoscope camera with communication function and operating individual parts according to external check commands. CONSTITUTION:The camera body 10 has an imprinting unit 11 as an object of inspection, a mirror 16, and a film winding-up motor 18. The imprinting unit 11 has an LED for displaying data to be imprinted and a driver. Control signals from a control circuit 12 are supplied to a mirror-up driver 14, mirror- down driver 15, and film winding-up driver 17. When switches 23-26 provided to a checker 20 are turned on, a mirror-up command, mirror-down command, film winding command, and LED turn-on command are generated respectively and supplied to the communicating circuit 19 in the camera body 11 through a control circuit 12 and a communication circuit 21.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to an endoscope camera that is connected to an eyepiece of an endoscope and takes images of the inside of a body cavity.

[Subject skill]

Conventionally, in such an endoscope camera, a product inspection has been carried out by an inspector pressing a release button and actually performing a photographing operation before the product is shipped. Normal or abnormal operation was determined based on the auditory sense of the examiner based on the sound of the operation. Here, 1. In a normal endoscope camera, when the release switch is turned on, operations such as mirror up, data imprinting, mirror down, and film winding are performed continuously, so abnormal operation sounds may occur. Even when a failure occurred, it was difficult to determine which part was at fault.

In addition, in order to inspect data imprinting, it is necessary to light up the LED in the data imprinting unit, but since the mirror is up when imprinting, the LED light emission cannot be confirmed from the viewfinder. Inspection of the imprint could only be done by actually loading the film and taking a picture. For this reason, the test result cannot be known until the film is developed, which has the disadvantage that the test takes a long time.

〔the purpose〕

This invention was made to deal with the above-mentioned circumstances,
The purpose is to provide an endoscope camera that can check the operation of each individual part.

〔overview〕

This purpose is achieved by equipping the endoscope camera with a communication function, inputting check commands for each part from the outside, and operating the individual parts in response to the check commands.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of an endoscope camera according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of this embodiment. Here, the camera body 1O is connected to a checker 20 provided on an inspection line in a manufacturing factory. The camera body 10 is connected to the eyepiece of the endoscope body, and the same checker 20 as the eyepiece of the endoscope body is also provided. The camera body 10 includes an imprint unit 11, a mirror 16, and a mirror 16 to be inspected. It has a film winding motor 18. The imprinting unit 11 has an LED and a driver for displaying the data to be imprinted.
A display data image of D is formed on the film surface. A control circuit 12 is provided for overall control, and control signals from there are sent to the mirror up driver 14,
It is supplied to a mirror down driver 15 and a film winding driver 17. A mirror up driver 14 and a mirror down driver 15 control the up/down operation of the mirror 16. A film winding driver 17 drives a film winding motor 18. A release switch 13 and a communication circuit 19 are also connected to the control circuit 12 .

The checker 20 is provided with a mirror up switch 23, a mirror down switch 24, a film advance switch 25, and an LED lighting switch 26 for generating various check commands. These sweets 23.2
4.25.26 is turned on, mirror up command, mirror down command, film advance command,
Each LED lighting command is generated, and these commands are supplied to the control circuit 22, and further to the 5 communication circuit 21.
The signal is supplied to the communication circuit 19 in the camera body 11 via the communication line.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control circuit 12 within the camera body 10. When the control circuit 12 is powered on and starts operating, it performs step 1.
As shown at 00, it is determined whether the release switch 13 is turned on. When the release switch 13 is turned on, it is a normal photo shooting operation, so the checker 20
To disable the check command from.

As shown in step 105, interrupts supplied from the chain 20 via the communication circuit 19 are prohibited. And below, step 110.115°120.125,1
As shown at 30, a series of photographic operations are performed including mirror up, timer operation (corresponding to shutter operation), data imprinting, mirror down, and film winding. Then, in step 135, the interrupt prohibition from the 4 communication circuit 19 is canceled in order to enable the check command from the checker 20.

If it is determined in step 100 that the release switch 13 is off, it is determined whether a check command has been input from the checker 20 via the communication circuit 19. Specifically, first, in step 140, it is determined whether or not a mirror-up command has been input. If a mirror up command has been input, the mirror up driver 14 will move the mirror 16 as shown in step 145.
is mirrored. The inspector determines whether the mirror has actually been raised based on the sound of the mirror being raised. After this, the operation steps are step 100
Return to If a mirror up command has not been input, as shown in step 150, it is determined whether a mirror down command has been input. If a mirror down command has been entered, as shown in step 155,
The mirror 16 is brought down by the mirror down driver 15. The inspector determines whether the mirror has actually been lowered based on the sound of the mirror being lowered. After this, the operational steps return to step 100. If a mirror down command has not been input, as shown in step 1130, it is determined whether a film wind up command has been input. If a film advance command has been entered, as shown in step 165,
A film winding motor 18 is driven by a film winding driver 17, and the film is wound. The inspector determines whether the film has actually been wound by the sound of the motor as it is being wound. After this, the operational steps return to step 100. If no film advance command has been entered, step 17
As shown in 0, it is determined whether an LED lighting command in the imprinting unit 11 has been input.

If the LED lighting command has been input, as shown in step 175, the LED in the imprint unit ll is
is lit. At this time, the mirror 16 is not raised, so the inspector looks through the finder and
It is determined whether the imprint LED is actually lit. After this, the operational steps return to step 100.

As explained above, according to this embodiment, the camera body l
Since each part in O operates in response to a check command, an operation check is performed for each part, making it easy to determine which part is at fault.

Furthermore, inspection of the imprint unit, which conventionally was impossible without actually imprinting on the film, can be done by looking through the finder, leading to a reduction in inspection time.

This invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be modified in various ways. In the above explanation, the check command was generated manually by turning on the switch inside the checker, but a means to detect that an endoscope camera is attached to the checker is provided, and the detection output is used to generate the check command for each checker. The commands may be automatically generated in sequence, which has the advantage of automating product inspection. Further, the part to be inspected is not limited to the above example.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, there is provided an endoscope camera capable of inspecting the operation of each individual part.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of an endoscope camera according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing its operation. lO... Camera body 11... Imprint unit 12... Control circuit 13... Release switch 16... Mirror 18... Film winding motor 19... Communication circuit 20... 2 chains

Claims (1)

[Claims] An endoscope camera that has a communication function and operates individual parts in response to various check commands input from the outside via a communication line to check the operation of each part.