JPS62113123A - Endoscope containing solid-stage image pickup element - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the need for connecting a solid-state image pickup element and video circuit with a long electric wire and to monitor an image having good quality by dividely mounting the whole or part of the electronic parts of the video circuit to a long-sized belt-like flexible printed circuit board and disposing such circuit board in the flexible tube of an endoscope. CONSTITUTION:An optical fiber bundle for light transmission, wire for operating an angle part and others such as air and water conduit tube, forceps introducing tube, suction tube, etc., are contained in the flexible tube part 2 and further the flexible printed circuit board 10 mounted with the electronic parts is disposed in the twisted state in said part. The printed circuit board 10 disposed in the flexible tube part 2 can be bent in any directions without undue stress by such disposition when the flexible tube part is bent. The relatively long printed circuit board may be twisted together with the other parts contained in the flexible tube part as a method for twisting the same or the short printed circuit may be untwisted may be, therefore, provided with the permanent set for twisting by heating, etc.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an endoscope having a solid-state imaging device that can be used for industrial and medical purposes.

[Conventional technology]

Recently, endoscopes that have a built-in solid-state image sensor at their tip and can be observed on a monitor have begun to be used. FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of such an endoscope, in which 1 is the endoscope body, 2 is a flexible tube part, 3 is a rigid tip part, and an objective lens 4 and a solid-state image sensor 5 are installed at the inner tip. Built-in. 6 is the handle.

゛Although not shown in the drawings, the endoscope main body 1 further includes a bundle of optical fibers for light transmission, a forceps introduction tube, a water supply tube, an air supply tube, etc. as necessary.

7 is an electric wire passed through the endoscope body 1 and connects the solid-state image sensor 5 and the video circuit 8. 9 is a monitor connected to the video circuit 8.

According to such a configuration, images converted into electrical signals by the endoscope main body 1 inserted into an observation device or a body cavity are displayed on a monitor 9 via a video circuit 8, and can be viewed by a large number of people. Images can now be stored on video tapes, optical discs, etc.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Endoscopes based on the technology described above are expected to be widely used in the future because they operate as described above and have many advantages. The electric wire that connects the video circuit passes through the long flexible tube of the endoscope body, and even if it is pulled out from the handle, it is not immediately connected to the video circuit, and if it is not kept to a certain length, the endoscope will be damaged. The total length of the electric wire would be extremely long, which would impede operability.

However, when the electric wire drawn out from the solid-state image sensor is in such a long state, it is easily affected by surrounding noise ('S
There is a serious problem in that the N ratio deteriorates, significantly impairing the quality of the image displayed on the monitor, and in some cases making it impossible to reproduce the image.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention uses a flexible printed circuit board as a long strip, and mounts all or some of the electronic components of a video circuit on the flexible printed circuit board, electrically connects them, and views the flexible printed circuit board internally. It is twisted and placed inside the mirror body, but if the endoscope is angled in two directions, there is no need to twist it; in that case, the flat surface of the flexible printed circuit board is aligned in the same direction as the angle direction.

[Effect]

According to the above configuration, all or some of the electronic components of the video circuit are mounted on a flexible printed circuit board and housed in a flexible tube near the solid-state imaging device in the endoscope, which enables solid-state imaging. The electrical connection between the element and the video circuit can be shortened, and as a result, the deterioration of the S/N ratio can be reduced and a good image can be obtained.

〔Example〕

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

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view, and FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view showing an embodiment of a continuous board. In the figure, 10 is a long strip-shaped flexible printed board. Either all the electronic components 11 of the video circuit are mounted on the flexible printed circuit board 10 as shown in FIG. For video circuits that require a prefix to shorten the wires of circuits where time delays in signals such as clock pulses are a problem due to their length, or to amplify the signal to a sufficiently high signal level against noise. Some of the electronic components are mounted, and the remaining electronic components are stored in the handle, which will be described later, or in the rigid tip part, or in the case shown in Figure 3 (II).
As shown in I), it is connected to the outside of the endoscope body, which will be described later, by an electric wire.

When mounting the electronic component 11 on the flexible printed circuit board 10, the terminals are connected in the width direction of the flexible printed circuit board 10 as shown in the figure, and the longitudinal direction of the electronic component 11 is oriented in the width direction of the flexible printed circuit board 11. By mounting the flexible printed circuit board 11 side by side, when the flexible printed circuit board 11 is bent, it bends easily and sharply, the electronic components do not come into contact with each other, and the arrangement of the electronic components does not have to be long. become.

Further, for electronic components having a large longitudinal dimension such as a large capacitor or a resistor with a large power resistance value, it is preferable to arrange them as a plurality of small capacitance small components.

9 is a monitor, which is connected to the video circuit described above.

- 1 is an endoscope main body, which is composed of a rigid tip portion 3, a flexible tube portion 2 including an angle portion, and a handle portion 6.

The rigid tip portion 3 has an objective lens 4 and a solid-state image sensor 5 built-in, and is also equipped with air/water spouts, etc. as necessary.
The suction port, forceps port, etc. are open.

The flexible tube section 2 has a built-in optical fiber bundle for light transmission, an angle section operation wire, other air/water passage tubes, a forceps introduction tube, a suction tube, etc., and is further equipped with the above-mentioned electronic components, which are the main points of the present invention. The flexible printed circuit board 10 is arranged in a twisted state, and by arranging it in this way, when the flexible tube section 2 is bent, it is difficult to determine which direction the flexible printed circuit board 10 disposed inside is. If the flexible printed circuit board is arranged without twisting, the flexible printed circuit board 10 can be easily bent together with the flexible printed circuit board 10 as shown in FIG.
Wrinkles occur and there is resistance to bending, which impedes the bending operation and, in some cases, there is a possibility that the welding of the terminals of the shim element parts whose flexible printed circuit board is damaged may come undone. Therefore, by twisting the entire flexible printed circuit board, it was possible to cope with bending.

In addition, if it is relatively long, it can be twisted together with other internal organs, or if it is short, it can be twisted by heating, etc., since it will return to its original shape.

In addition, in the case of a two-way angled endoscope, the flexible printed circuit board does not necessarily need to be twisted.
The flexible printed circuit board 10 may be arranged with its surface direction aligned with the bending direction.

Next, the handle portion 6 has various operation knobs, a forceps introduction port, and guide tubes 12 such as the optical fiber bundle for light transmission, an air/water groove passage tube, and a suction tube extending therefrom. Further, in some cases, some electronic components of the video circuit are built in, and if electronic components are arranged outside the endoscope body 1, an electric wire 13 or an electric wire 14 to the monitor 9 is led out.

Furthermore, it is also possible to divide and arrange the electronic components in the above-mentioned rigid portion within the rigid tip portion within a range that does not interfere with the outer diameter and length of the local portion.

According to the above configuration, all or some of the electronic components of the video circuit are built into the endoscope body and the electrical distance from the solid-state image sensor is shortened, thereby reducing the influence of noise. This reduces the problem of time delays in signals such as clock pulses due to the length of wires and cables, prevents deterioration of the signal-to-noise ratio, and makes it possible to obtain high-quality images on the monitor. can.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention described in detail above, all or part of the electronic components of the video circuit are divided and mounted on a long strip-shaped flexible printed circuit board, and this flexible printed circuit board 7 is placed within the flexible tube of the endoscope. This eliminates the need to connect the solid-state image sensor and the video circuit with long wires, and as a result, it is possible to prevent the deterioration of the signal-to-noise ratio caused by conventional long wire connections, making it possible to obtain high-quality images on the monitor. It also has the effect of leaving a high-quality image record.

However, by twisting the flexible printed circuit board and placing it inside the flexible tube, the bendability of the flexible tube is not hindered.
Furthermore, by welding the electronic components in the width direction of the flexible printed circuit board, it is possible to shorten the mounting length of the shim component and obtain a small curvature when bending, and also has the effect that the electronic components do not come into contact with each other. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a side sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a partial plan view showing an embodiment of the flexible printed circuit board, Fig. 3 is a partial plan view showing the mounting state of electronic components, and Fig. 4 FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view showing a state in which the flexible printed circuit board is bent in the width direction, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a conventional example. 1... Endoscope main body 2... Flexible tube part 3... Rigid tip part 5... Solid-state image sensor 6... Handle part 9...
・Monitor 10...Flexible printed circuit board 11・
...Electronic parts patent Applicant: Machida Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Agent: Patent attorney: Takashi Kanakura 2 = 3 [i!

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An endoscope in which a solid-state image sensor is built into the rigid distal end of the endoscope, and an electronic image obtained by the solid-state image sensor is displayed on a monitor. An endoscope with a built-in solid-state image sensor, characterized in that all or some of the electronic components of a video circuit are mounted on a printed circuit board, and this flexible printed circuit board is placed inside the endoscope. 2. An endoscope with a built-in solid-state image sensor according to claim 1, characterized in that a flexible printed circuit board is twisted and placed inside the endoscope. 3. An endoscope with a built-in solid-state image sensor according to claim 1, characterized in that electronic components are mounted in the width direction of a flexible printed circuit board.