TWI589260B - Endoscopic camera tube assembly with dark-state enhancement - Google Patents

Description

Endoscope tube assembly with dark state enhancement

The present invention relates to endoscopes, and more particularly to an endoscope tube assembly having a dark state enhancement function.

Currently known endoscope devices, whether for medical or industrial specifications, when subjected to endoscopic photography, in the dark environment where light is insufficient, the captured image will appear due to insufficient exposure. It is dark or unclear.

Fig. 4 shows a state in which the endoscope lens 81 is far from the object 89 to be inspected. In the figure, the light emitted by the endoscope lens 81 itself is insufficient in illumination due to the distance problem, so that the image appears extremely dark. In turn, the user cannot clearly recognize the captured image. Although the problem in FIG. 4 can be solved by moving the endoscope lens 81 closer to the object, the length of the endoscope tube body cannot be moved closer to the object. The above problem of insufficient illumination will still occur.

As shown in Fig. 5, in an object 89' with a large internal space, such as a septic tank or a water storage tank, after the endoscope enters, since the internal space is large, an endoscope that can swing the head is used. When the lens 81' is yawed to one side, the distance between the entrance and the side wall is too far to be close to the side wall, and there is also a problem that the illuminance caused by the distance is too long.

In addition, if the surface of the object to be inspected has a thick black non-reflective substance, such as coal ash, even if the distance is not very long, the user may feel that the illuminance is insufficient and the image is dark.

Under the existing endoscope architecture, most of the current image enhancement functions are not in the dark environment (referred to as dark state enhancement technology in this case). Therefore, if the internal mirror architecture is not changed, let The endoscope has a dark state enhancement function that will make the user more convenient to use.

Most of the known endoscopes do not have the function of dark state enhancement. Therefore, the present invention provides an endoscope photographic tube assembly with a dark state enhancement function, which can be directly provided for selective operation by the user when connected to an endoscope main body which does not have a dark state enhancement function. Dark state enhancements enhance user convenience.

Therefore, the endoscope camera tube assembly with the dark state enhancement function provided by the present invention is coupled to an endoscope main body, and transmits the captured image to the endoscope host for display. The photographic tube assembly comprises: a tube body, one end of which is provided with a photographic module; a handle is disposed on the tube body, the handle has an reinforced button; the handle is provided with a micro control unit (MCU) for Providing a control and computing function, the micro control unit is electrically connected to the enhanced button and the camera module; and a connecting port is disposed on the combination of the pipe body and the handle, and is physically detachably Connected to the corresponding connection port on the host of the endoscope; wherein the image signal captured by the camera module is transmitted to the host of the endoscope through the port; further, the enhanced button is When pressed, the micro control unit controls the frame per second (FPS) of the camera module to a first value; when the enhanced button is not pressed, the micro control unit controls the Photography module per second Taken a number of sheets in a second value; wherein the second value is smaller than the first value.

Thereby, when the invention is connected to an endoscope main body, that is, it is combined into a complete endoscope device, and has a dark state enhancement effect.

10‧‧‧Endoscope tube assembly with dark state enhancement

11‧‧‧Body

12‧‧‧Photography module

17‧‧‧Image channel

18‧‧‧Control channel

21‧‧‧handle

22‧‧‧Enhanced buttons

24‧‧‧Micro Control Unit

26‧‧‧Image conversion device

31‧‧‧Connected

91‧‧‧Endoscope host

92‧‧‧Corresponding link埠

10'‧‧‧ Endoscope tube assembly with dark state enhancement

11’‧‧‧ Body

111’‧‧‧ a section of pipe

112’‧‧‧ another section of pipe

21’‧‧‧Handle

31’‧‧‧Links

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a block diagram showing a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing the state of use of a conventional endoscope.

Fig. 5 is another use state diagram of a conventional endoscope.

In order to explain in detail the technical features of the present invention, the following preferred implementations are presented. The following is a description of the following, in which: as shown in the first to second embodiments, an endoscope photographic tube assembly 10 having a dark state enhancement function according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention is coupled. The endoscope main unit 91 transmits the captured image to the endoscope main unit 91 for display. The endoscope photo tube assembly 10 is mainly composed of a tube body 11, a handle 21 and a connecting port 31. The tube body 11 is provided with a camera module 12 at one end.

The handle 21 is disposed on the tube body 11. The handle 21 has an enhanced button 22; the handle 21 is provided with a micro control unit 24 for providing control and operation functions, and the micro control unit 24 is electrically Connected to the enhanced button 22 and the camera module 12.

The connecting port 31 is disposed on the combination of the tube body 11 and the handlebar 21, and is physically detachably connected to a corresponding connecting port 92 of the endoscope main body 91. In the embodiment, the handle 11 is disposed on the other end of the camera module 11 , and the connection 31 is disposed at one end of the handle 21 .

The image signal captured by the camera module 12 is transmitted to the endoscope host 91 via the port 31.

The micro control unit 24 controls the frame per second (FPS) of the camera module 12 to be at a first value when the enhanced button 22 is pressed by the user; When not pressed, the micro control unit 24 controls the number of shots per second of the camera module 12 to a second value. Wherein the first value is less than the second value. In this embodiment, the first value is between 2.5 and 22.5 FPS. In this embodiment, 5FPS is taken as an example; the second value is 22.5 FPS or more, and in this embodiment, 24 FPS is used. example.

In the prior art, since a general photographic module uses a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), the image transmitted after the shooting is usually an LVDS (Low Voltage Differential Signaling) format. The display screen of the currently known endoscope mainframe can be directly transmitted to the endoscope host for display if it can accept the LVDS format; however, if it is an endoscope The display screen on the host computer cannot accept the LVDS format and can only accept the CVBS (Composite Video Broadcast Signal) format. Then, an image conversion device is needed. In this embodiment, an image conversion device 26 is additionally provided in the handle 21, and Electrically connected to the camera module 12 and the port 31; the image signal captured by the camera module 12 is converted into a converted image signal by the image conversion device 26, and then transmitted to the endoscope host. 91. The endoscope host 91 displays the converted image signal, that is, displays the captured image.

In order to prevent the image signal and the control signal from interfering with each other, the signal transmission can be separated as necessary. In this embodiment, when the port 31 is physically connected to the endoscope host 91, the camera module 12 passes the captured image signal through the port via an image channel 17. 31 is transmitted to the endoscope host 91; the micro control unit 24 is electrically connected to the camera module 12 via a control channel 18 and is electrically connected to the endoscope via the port 31 Host 91.

The architecture of the first embodiment has been described above, and the operational state of the first embodiment will be described next.

Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 2 again. Before use, the endoscope tube assembly 10 having the dark state enhancement function of the present invention is first connected to an endoscope main unit 91, and the assembly method thereof is The port 31 is physically connected to a corresponding port 92 on the endoscope host 91. Thereby, it is combined into a complete endoscope device. Then, in use, it can be used according to the general endoscope architecture. If the dark state enhancement function of the present invention is to be used, only the user needs to press the enhanced button 22, and the micro control unit 24 detects the pressing. Performing a dark state enhancement operation by controlling the number of shots per second (FPS) of the photographing module 12 to be reduced to 5 FPS, thereby increasing the exposure of each screen, thereby making the The image displayed by the endoscope main unit 91 is brighter, providing the user with the convenience of viewing and achieving the dark state enhancement effect. After the user no longer presses the enhanced button 22, the micro control unit 24 detects that the pressing action is released, thereby canceling the dark state enhancing action, by controlling the camera module 12 to take the number of shots per second. Increase to 24FPS and return to normal photography.

As can be seen from the above, the endoscope tube assembly 10 of the present invention has an independent dark state enhancement function, so that it can be used with any endoscope host 91, which of course includes an endoscope host that does not have a dark state enhancement function. Therefore, the combined complete endoscope has a dark state enhancement function for the user to selectively operate, thereby improving the convenience of operation. In addition, by using the micro control unit 24 in the handle 21, the effect of independently controlling the dark state enhancement function can be achieved without The control function of the endoscope main body 91 itself further saves the computational burden of the endoscope main unit 91.

Referring to FIG. 3, an endoscope photographic tube assembly 10' having a dark state enhancement function according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention is mainly similar to the first embodiment disclosed above, except that: The tube body 11' is divided into two sections of tubes 111', 112' which are respectively disposed at two ends of the handle 21'; the camera module 12' is located at a free end of a section of the tube body 111', the connection The 埠31' is disposed at the free end of the other length of the tube 112'.

Thereby, the connection position of the connection port 31' is at the other length of the pipe body 112', and is different from that of the first embodiment disclosed on the handlebar 21', thereby providing a connection different from the first embodiment. The method can be applied to different use occasions.

The remaining structure of the second embodiment and the achievable functions are the same as those of the first embodiment, and will not be further described.

10‧‧‧Endoscope tube assembly with dark state enhancement

12‧‧‧Photography module

17‧‧‧Image channel

18‧‧‧Control channel

21‧‧‧handle

22‧‧‧Enhanced buttons

24‧‧‧Micro Control Unit

26‧‧‧Image conversion device

91‧‧‧Endoscope host

Claims (6)

An endoscope photographic tube assembly with a dark state enhancement function is coupled to an endoscope main unit and transmits the captured image to the endoscope main unit for display. The endoscope photographic tube assembly comprises: a tube body having a photographic module at one end; a handle, disposed on the tube body, the handle has an enhanced button; the handle is provided with a micro control unit (MCU) for providing control and computing functions, The micro control unit is electrically connected to the enhanced button and the camera module; and a connecting port is disposed on the combination of the tube body and the handle, and is physically connected to the endoscope host in a detachable manner a corresponding connection port; the image signal captured by the camera module is transmitted to the endoscope host by the connection port; wherein, when the enhanced button is pressed, the micro control The unit controls the frame per second (FPS) of the camera module to a first value; when the enhanced button is not pressed, the micro control unit controls the shooting of the camera module per second. The number of sheets is a second value; In the first value is less than the second value. An endoscope camera tube assembly having a dark state enhancement function according to the first aspect of the patent application, wherein: the handle is further provided with an image conversion device electrically connected to the camera module and the connection port; The image signal obtained by the group is converted into a converted image signal by the image conversion device, and then transmitted to the host of the endoscope, and the host computer displays the converted image signal. The endoscope camera tube assembly with dark state enhancement according to claim 1 of the patent application, wherein: when the connection port is physically connected to the endoscope host, the camera module is provided by an image channel (image channel) Transmitting the captured image signal to the image via the port The micro-control unit is electrically connected to the photographic module via a control channel and electrically connected to the endoscope host via the connection port. An endoscope tube assembly having a dark state enhancement function according to claim 1 wherein: the first value is between 2.5 and 22.5 FPS; and the second value is above 22.5 FPS. An endoscope photographic tube assembly having a dark state enhancement function according to claim 1, wherein the tube body is provided with respect to the other end of the photographic module, and the connection raft is disposed on the handle One end. An endoscope photographic tube assembly having a dark state enhancement function according to claim 1 wherein: the tube system is divided into two segments and respectively disposed at both ends of the handle; the photographic device is located in one of the tubes The free end of the connection is set at the free end of the other tube.