JP2001154117A - Endoscope device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an endoscope device which does not generate a noise in image, etc., by the deterioration in sliding contact points, is simple in structure and is light in weight, and inexpensive. SOLUTION: This endoscope device is constituted by providing the inside of a rotary drum 3 in which an insertion part 2 is wound and housed with a junction substrate 13 for carrying out the transmission and reception of a power source and signals with the insertion part 2, providing a guide plate 25 for rotatably supporting the rotary drum with a junction substrate 6 and connecting these junction substrates 6 and 13 by a cable 30. The cable 30 is wound on a shaft 29 revolving together with the rotary drum 3 and a cover member 31 for regulating the size of the maximum diameter when the cable 30 is unwound on the shaft 29 is fixed to the guide plate 25 on a stationary side.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drum winding type endoscope apparatus which winds and stores a long insertion portion on a rotary drum.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A drum rewind type endoscope apparatus which facilitates handling of an endoscope having a long insertion portion such as an industrial endoscope, for example, is a rotating device for rewinding the insertion portion. The drum has an electric circuit such as a light source and a signal processing circuit, and exchanges electric power and signals with devices provided on a non-rotating portion independent of the rotating drum. Various means have been developed for electrically connecting between an electric circuit in such a rotating drum and a device provided in a non-rotating portion.

[0003] The endoscope device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-75315 electrically connects an electric circuit in a rotating drum to devices provided in a non-rotating portion by using a curl cord. I do. However, in this endoscope apparatus, since the curl cord is entangled when the rotating drum rotates, only a few rotations, such as about a few rotations, can be performed, and therefore, a long endoscope cannot be wound. .

The endoscope devices described in JP-A-2-16518 and JP-A-63-194307 make electrical connection using a slip ring. Such a slip ring is expensive, heavy, and generates noise in an image or the like due to deterioration of a sliding contact.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-114416 discloses an apparatus using an electric / optical converter, an optical / electrical converter, and an optical rotary connector for transmitting an image. In this case, the circuit becomes complicated and expensive.

Further, US Pat. No. 5,754,220 discloses a dielectric connection, but such a connection is complicated and extremely expensive. .

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is possible to secure a sufficient number of rotations to wind up a long insertion portion, and to reduce noise in an image or the like due to deterioration of a sliding contact. It is an object of the present invention to provide a light-weight and inexpensive endoscope device with a simple structure that does not occur.

[0008]

An endoscope apparatus according to the present invention, which achieves the above object, has a power supply and a signal between the endoscope insertion section and a rotating drum which winds and stores the insertion section. A first electric circuit for transmitting / receiving the first and second electric circuits, and a second electric circuit at a fixed portion separate from the rotary drum;
And a second electric circuit connected by a cable, wherein the cable is wound on a shaft that rotates together with the rotating drum, and the maximum diameter when the cable is unwound on the shaft. A cover member for regulating the height is fixed to the fixed portion.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment (Configuration) FIG. 1 shows a system configuration of an endoscope apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. This endoscope device includes a storage case 1,
A rotary drum 3 for winding the insertion section 2
, A power supply unit 4, input / output terminals 5 for various signals, and a relay board 6. It acts as a power supply or an electrical circuit for transmitting signals. In addition, the input / output terminal 5 has a monitor 7 arranged outside the storage case 1 for displaying an image.
And an operation unit 8 for operating the size or direction of the bending so as to turn the distal end in a required direction, and an outlet 9 for supplying power. Furthermore, the rotating drum 3
, A light source 10, a CCU 11, and a bending mechanism 12
And a relay board 13 are provided.

[0010] The endoscope insertion section 2 has a bending mechanism 1 on the proximal end side.
2 and is fixed to the rotating drum 3. The insertion portion 2 is drawn out of the rotary drum 3 from the outer peripheral surface of the rotary drum 3 along the tangential direction, and when not used,
It is wound on the outer peripheral surface of the rotating drum 3. An imaging unit 1 for photographing a required part is provided at a tip of the insertion unit 2.
4 and a bending section 15 for bending the imaging section 14 in a required direction. The fixed portion side relay board 6 in the housing case 1 and the relay board 13 in the rotating drum 3 are
6 is electrically connected to the rotating drum 3
Necessary information such as power, a control signal, and a video signal is exchanged between an electric circuit of an internal device and an electric circuit of an external device.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show the rotating drum 3.
Is schematically shown. The rotary drum 3 is formed by two disk-shaped side plates 21 and 22 and a cylindrical member 23. The insertion portion 2 is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical member 23, and the side plates 21 and 22 prevent the cylindrical member 23 from falling off from the outer peripheral surface.

Guide plates 2 are provided on both sides of the rotating drum 3.
4, 25 are arranged. Bosses 26 are provided on the guide plates 24 and 25, and are supported by the side surfaces of the rotary drum 3, that is, the side plates 21 and 22 via these bosses 26. Further, pulleys 27 are rotatably mounted between the guide plates 24 and 25 at three locations along the outer periphery of the rotary drum 3. The pulleys 27 provided at these three positions support the outer peripheral edges of the side plates 21 and 22. Therefore, the rotating drum 3 can be rotated by the three pulleys 27 arranged along the peripheral portion. Supported.

A handle 28 for rotating the rotary drum 3 is attached to one side plate 21 of the rotary drum 3, and the handle 28 projects from an opening formed in the guide plate 24. A hollow shaft 29 is attached to the other side plate 22, and projects outward from an opening formed in the guide plate 25. This shaft 29 has a cable 30
Is fixed, one end of the cable 30 is drawn into the inside of the rotating drum 3 through a hollow portion, and is connected to the relay board 13.

As best shown in FIG. 2B, in the illustrated embodiment, the cables 30 are spirally wound or spiraled along the sides of the guide plate 25 and stacked one after the other around a shaft 29. Or it is spirally wound. The cable 30 has a spiral inner radial end portion on the shaft 29.
Fixed to Preferably, the cable 30 has a flat structure, and the cable itself has a strong elasticity. Such a cable 30 includes a flat cable, a ribbon cable, an FFC, and the like.

Incidentally, the number of such cables 30 is not limited to one, and a plurality of cables can be used. When there are two or more cables, the cables are overlapped and spirally wound.

A cover member 31 is arranged outside the spirally wound cable 30. The cover member 31 of the present embodiment is formed in a cylindrical shape having a short axial length, the open end side is attached to the guide plate 25, and the opposite end is closed. Accordingly, the cable 30 is prevented from expanding to a state where the diameter is larger than a certain diameter, and the size of the maximum diameter when the cable 30 is rewound on the shaft 29 is regulated. Further, the movement of the cable 30 in the axial direction is regulated by the cover member 31, thereby preventing the spiral shape from being collapsed. Then, through a slit 32 formed on the outer peripheral portion of the cover member 31,
The radially outer end side of the cable 30 is
And is connected to the relay board 6.

The cable 30 pulled out from the cover member 31 is pinched between the fixed member 33 and the cover member 31 by the fixed member 33 fixed to the cover member 31 in the vicinity of the slit 32 so as not to move. Fixed.

The cable 30 is provided with a shield member on the cable sheath to prevent noise interference that affects the signal between the vertically stacked cables when wound around the shaft 29 and superposed. Is also good.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show the cable 3
0 shows the configuration of the embodiment. Cable 30 of the present embodiment
As shown in FIG. 3A, a plurality of flat rectangular conductors 34 made of tin-plated copper are arranged and formed into a cable structure called an FFC cable sandwiched between polyester resin insulating materials 35. . This cable 30 has strong elasticity. Further, since the surface of the cable 30 is smooth, even when the winding diameter of the cable 30 wound around the shaft 29 changes to be small or large, the contact friction of the cable 30 is extremely small, and the cable 30 is smooth. Move to Further, since the cable 30 is thin, the cable 30 is lightweight and can be formed at a narrow pitch, so that the width of the cable 30 can be reduced. Thereby, the space required for arranging the winding portion of the cable 30 can be reduced. Therefore, it is extremely preferable that the cable 30 has such an FFC cable structure.

FIG. 3B shows an embodiment in which the cable 30 is formed from a plurality of cables. This cable 3
Numeral 0 has a power cable 36, a video signal cable 37, and a control signal cable 38, and is formed by stacking a plurality of dedicated cables 36, 37, 38 different for each type of signal. In this case, the winding portion of the cable 30 can be reduced in size by reducing the width of the cable 30.

In particular, when the number of signals exchanged between the inside and the outside of the rotary drum 3 increases, the width increases when a cable formed of only one cable is used. A large space for winding is required. On the other hand, by forming the cable 30 from a plurality of dedicated cables 36, 37, and 38 as shown in FIG. 3B, not only such inconveniences are solved, but also the power cable 36 becomes large. When a current flows, it is possible to change the pitch of the conductor, that is, the core wire, or to increase the diameter of the conductor.

In addition, a cable that is easily affected by noise, such as the control signal cable 38 or the video signal cable 37, is separated from the power supply cable 36, and collected into a single cable having a shield member on the outer cover. In addition, it is possible to prevent noise from being mixed in these control signals or video signals.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show an embodiment of a cable having a shield member. The cable 30 shown in FIG. 4A has a shield member 39 on one of a pair of wide side surfaces. The cable 30 shown in FIG. 4B has a shield member 40 covering the entire circumference. It is preferable that these shield members 39 and 40 are formed in a thin foil structure with a metal such as copper or aluminum and do not hinder the movement of the cable 30.

FIG. 5 shows a method of fixing the cable 30 to the shaft 29 described above. First, after the cable 30 is inserted between the cable fixing members 41, the fixing members 41 are fixed to the shaft 29 with screws. One end of the cable 30 is a hollow shaft 2
9 into the rotating drum 3. The other end is spirally wound on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft 29 in order as shown in the figure. In this case, the direction in which the cable 30 is wound is
The direction is the same as the winding direction of the insertion section 2 on the rotating drum 3 described above.

(Operation) FIGS. 6A to 6C show the operation of the spirally wound cable 30. FIG. In a state where the insertion portion 2 is wound and housed, the cable 30 is wound tightly on the shaft 29 as shown in FIG. When the insertion portion 2 is pulled out, the rotary drum 3 supported by the pulley 27 at three places rotates as described above.
At this time, the shaft 29 attached to the side plate 22 of the rotating drum 3 and fixing and winding the cable 30 also rotates with the rotating drum 3.

Since the cable 30 is fixed to the shaft 29 and the cover member 31, the cable 30 is rewound on the shaft 29 with the rotation of the shaft 29, and as shown in FIG. The diameter of the spiral gradually increases. When the entire insertion portion 2 is pulled out from the rotating drum 3, the outer diameter of the spiral of the cable 30 comes into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cover member 31 as shown in FIG.

When the insertion section 2 is stored on the rotating drum 3, the rotating drum 3 is rotated in reverse through the handle 28, and the insertion section 2 is wound on the outer peripheral surface of the rotating drum 2. At this time, the cable 30 performs an operation reverse to the above, and is rewound onto the shaft 29 as the shaft 29 rotates. When the winding of the insertion section 2 is completed, the state returns to the state shown in FIG.

Here, assuming that the outer diameter of the shaft 20 is φ40 mm, the inner diameter of the cover member 31 is φ200 mm, and the length of the spirally wound cable 30 is 2000 mm, FIGS. Until the state is reached, the rotating drum 3 can be rotated about 10 times. in this case,
The outer diameter of the rotating drum 3 for winding the insertion section 2 is φ300 mm
In this case, the insertion portion 2 having a length of approximately less than 10 m can be wound on the rotating drum 3 by rotating 10 times.

(Effect) According to the endoscope apparatus of this embodiment, a special cable is not required, and each device inside and outside the rotary drum 3 is electrically connected using a general cable 30. The operation between the shaft 29 of the cable 30 and the cover member 31 allows the rotation of the rotary drum 3 even when the rotary drum 3 rotates. Since the electrical connection is ensured, it is possible to form an endoscope device that is inexpensive, lightweight, has no noise, and has a simple structure capable of electrical connection.
In particular, when an FFC cable is used as the cable 30, the coating of the FFC cable is thin, so that the cable 30 can be formed into an extremely lightweight structure.

Further, since the cable is not entangled unlike the cable curl cord, the rotating drum can be rotated about 10 times or more, and a sufficient number of rotations for winding the scope can be secured. Further, since there is no sliding contact portion as in the case of using the conventional slip ring, no noise is generated in the image due to the deterioration of the contact, and the operation reliability can be improved.

<Second Embodiment> (Configuration) FIG. 7 schematically shows a state in which a cable 30 according to a second embodiment is fixed to a shaft 29. The cable 30 according to the second embodiment is spirally wound together with the elastic member 42 on the shaft 29 in a state where the belt-like elastic member 42 is overlapped. As in the first embodiment, the cable 30 and the elastic member 42 have their ends sandwiched by the fixing member 41 and are fixed to the shaft 29 in a state of being overlapped with each other. The belt-shaped elastic member 42 can be formed of a suitable material into a proper structure as long as it has a thin plate-like structure and has elasticity to return to a flat state. For example, it may be a thin metal plate such as stainless steel or phosphor bronze, or may be formed in a strip shape with a resin such as PET, polyester, or polyimide. A shield member may be provided on the elastic member 42 in order to prevent interference of noise between the cables wound in a spiral shape and stacked vertically.

FIG. 8 shows that the shield member 43 is
The structure provided with is shown. The shield member 43 preferably has a thin foil-like structure formed of a conductive material such as copper or aluminum, and preferably does not hinder the movement of the elastic member 42.

(Operation) When the elastic member 42 is wound in a spiral shape, the elastic member 42 has a resilient force to return from the spiral shape to a flat shape. It is biased in the direction in which it can be spread. Therefore, when the insertion portion 2 is pulled out from the rotary drum 3, the shaft 29 rotates together with the rotary drum 3 and the fixing member 41 is rotated.
When the cable 30 is rewound from the end side fixed by the above, the elastic member 42 acts to press the cable 30 against the inner peripheral surface of the outer cover member 31. Conversely, when the rotating drum 3 is rotated in the opposite direction and the insertion portion 2 is wound on the rotating drum 3, the cable 30 is urged radially outward in a spiral shape and is placed on the shaft 29 together with the cable 30. It is wound up. The operation of the spirally wound cable 30 is as follows.
This is the same as in the first embodiment described above.

(Effects) Therefore, according to the second embodiment, when the rotary drum 3 rotates, the cable 30 wound on the shaft 29 is moved in the outer circumferential direction by the elastic force of the elastic member 42. Unfolded and thus the cable 3
Even when the elasticity of 0 is small, the cable 30 can be used similarly to the cable 30 having a large elasticity. The material of the cable 30 is not limited to a material having a large resilience, and an appropriate material can be used.

In addition, since a special cable is not required, and an ordinary cable can be used to electrically connect each device inside and outside the rotary drum 3,
The entire endoscope apparatus can be formed at low cost by using an inexpensive cable. Furthermore, since a cable that is lighter in weight than the conventional slip ring is used for the colleague in the first embodiment and the colleague, the entire endoscope apparatus can be reduced in weight, and in particular, the FFC When a cable is used, the weight can be further reduced because the coating is thin.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and at least the following features can be obtained. <Supplementary notes> An endoscope device that winds and stores an endoscope insertion section on a rotating drum, and electrically connects an electric circuit provided in the rotating drum and an electric circuit provided in a non-rotating part independent of the drum. In the connecting structure, at least one cable for electrical connection is wound around the side of the drum, and a cover member for limiting the spread of the cable is provided outside the at least one cable.

2. 2. The endoscope apparatus according to the above item 1, wherein a cable for making an electrical connection is wound around the drum side in a spiral manner.

3. Use a flat cable (flat cable, ribbon cable, FFC)
3) The endoscope apparatus according to the above 1 or 2, wherein

4. The endoscope apparatus according to any one of the above items 1 to 3, wherein the cable is shielded.

5. The endoscope apparatus according to any one of the above items 1 to 4, wherein a biasing means is provided so as to extend a cable for making an electrical connection to an outer peripheral side.

6. 2. The endoscope apparatus according to the above item 1, wherein a band-shaped elastic member is overlapped and wound in a spiral shape together with a flat cable for making an electrical connection.

7. 7. The endoscope apparatus according to any one of 1 to 6, wherein a shield is provided on the elastic member.

In the endoscope apparatus described in this supplementary item, the cable wound in a spiral manner tends to spread in the radial direction due to the elastic force of the cable itself, and the rotating drum rotates in a certain direction. When this is done, the winding diameter of the cable wound in a spiral form becomes smaller. When the rotating drum is rotated in the opposite direction, the winding diameter of the cable increases. By reducing or increasing the winding diameter of the cable wound in a spiral manner in accordance with the rotation of the rotary drum, electrical connection is ensured even when the rotary drum is rotated.

[0044]

As is apparent from the above, the endoscope apparatus according to the present invention provides a cable for connecting the electric circuit in the rotary drum and the second electric circuit on the fixed portion side on the shaft rotating with the rotary drum. When the cable is unwound on a shaft, a cover member for regulating the size of the maximum diameter is fixed to the fixed portion, so that a contact portion such as a conventional slip ring and other methods can be used. As described above, it is possible to form a light-weight and inexpensive endoscope apparatus with a simple structure that does not require a signal conversion circuit, is electrically connected securely, and does not generate noise.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a system configuration of an endoscope apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a peripheral portion of a rotary drum in the endoscope apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an FFC cable illustrating a configuration of the cable.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a cable having a shield member.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a fixing portion between a cable and a shaft.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the movement of the rotating drum and the cable.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a cable according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of an elastic member having a shield member.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Storage case, 2 ... Insertion part, 3 ... Rotary drum, 4 ... Power supply part, 5 ... Input / output terminal, 6, 13 ... Relay board, 7 ... Monitor, 8 ... Operation part, 9 ... Outlet, 10 ... Light source, 11
... CCU, 12 ... Bending mechanism, 14 ... Imaging unit, 15 ... Bending unit, 16, 30, 36, 37, 38 ... Cable, 21
22 ... side plate, 23 ... cylindrical member, 24, 25 ... guide plate,
26 ... boss, 27 ... pulley, 28 ... handle, 29 ...
Shaft, 31 ... cover member, 32 ... slit, 33, 41 ...
Fixing member, 34: conductor, 35: insulating material, 39, 40, 4
3 shield member, 42 ... elastic member.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Seiji Kimura 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo F-term in Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (reference) 2H040 AA01 BA00 DA00 DA17 GA02 4C061 AA29 BB00 CC06 DD03 GG01 LL00 MM00 NN03 UU09

Claims (1)

[Claims] A first electric circuit for transmitting and receiving a power supply and a signal between the endoscope insertion portion and a rotating drum for winding and storing the insertion portion; In an endoscope apparatus provided with a second electric circuit in a portion and connecting the first and second electric circuits by a cable, the cable is wound on a shaft that rotates together with the drum, and the cable is mounted on the shaft. An endoscope apparatus, wherein a cover member for regulating the size of the maximum diameter when rewinding is fixed to the fixed portion.