JP2001231750A - Illumination system for endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an illumination system for an endoscope which is capable of charging a charging type battery even during the observation of the endoscope. SOLUTION: The endoscope 1 comprises a endoscope body 2, a lamp house 3 which is freely attachably and detachably mountable to and from this endoscope body 2 and is disposed with a lamp as the illumination system 10 for the endoscope for supplying illumination light to the endoscope body 2, a charging type battery unit 4 which is attachably and detachably mountable to and from this lamp house 3 and supplies electric power to the lamp 31 and a charger 5 which is freely attachably and detachably mountable to and from this charging type battery unit 4 and charges the charging type battery of the charging type battery unit 4. An AC code 6 for supplying a commercial power source is freely attachably and detachably connected to the charger 5 and is connected via an AC receptacle 7 disposed at the rear end of the AC cord 6 to the commercial power source.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an illumination system for an endoscope, which allows a light source to be turned on by a rechargeable rechargeable battery to perform endoscopic observation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An endoscope which has been widely used in the medical field and the industrial field requires a means for illuminating since a diagnosis or examination target is inside a living body, a plant or the like.

For this reason, in a general endoscope, a light source device is prepared as an external device of the endoscope, and light emitted from a lamp in the light source device is guided to a light guide provided in the endoscope body. The illumination light guided by the light guide is emitted from the illumination window on the distal end side of the insertion portion to illuminate the inspection site. The light source device generally emits a lamp inside the light source device using a power supply supplied from a commercial power supply.

On the other hand, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-431
In the illumination system for an endoscope used in the endoscope described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 33, there is an endoscope illumination system in which a battery-type light source device using a dry battery or the like as a power source is detachably attached to an endoscope main body operation unit. An endoscope to which such a battery-type light source device is attached is easy to carry and can be used in a place without a power source, and thus is suitable for emergency use.

[0005]

However, the illumination system for an endoscope described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-43133 does an endoscope inspection using an endoscope equipped with the battery-type light source. In such a case, there is a possibility that the battery built in the battery-type light source may run out of battery. In order to prepare for this case, it is conceivable that an auxiliary power supply is detachably attached to the battery-type light source device. In this case, however, if the endoscopic inspection is performed for a long time, the battery built in the auxiliary power supply becomes There is a risk of cutting.

The present invention has been made in view of these circumstances, and has as its object to provide an illumination system for an endoscope that can charge a rechargeable battery even during observation of the endoscope. .

[0007]

To achieve the above object, an illumination system for an endoscope according to the present invention is attached to an endoscope body having an elongated insertion portion, and supplies illumination light to the endoscope body. A lamp house having a light source, a rechargeable battery unit having a rechargeable battery that is detachably attachable to the lamp house and supplying power to the light source, and a rechargeable battery unit that is detachably attachable to the rechargeable battery unit; And a charger for charging the rechargeable battery. Further, the charger is detachably attachable to the rechargeable battery unit, and is also detachably attached directly to the lamp house to supply power to the light source. With this configuration, an illumination system for an endoscope that can charge the rechargeable battery even during observation of the endoscope is realized.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) FIGS. 1 and 2 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is an external configuration illustrating an entire configuration of an endoscope according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, an endoscope 1 having the present embodiment has an elongated insertion section 11, an operation section 12 formed at the rear end of the insertion section 11, and an operation section 12 of the operation section 12. An endoscope main body 2 including an eyepiece 13 provided at a rear end;
As an endoscope illumination system 10 for supplying illumination light to the endoscope main body 2, a lamp house 3 detachably attached to the endoscope main body 2 and provided with a lamp described below, A rechargeable battery unit 4 having a rechargeable battery, which will be described later, which is removably attachable to the lamp and supplies power to the lamp; and a rechargeable battery unit 4 And a charger 5 for charging the rechargeable battery.

The insertion portion 11 is formed from a distal end side with a hard distal end portion 21, formed adjacent to the rear end of the distal end portion 21, and capable of bending a curved portion 22, and a rear end of the curved portion 22. , And a flexible tube portion 23 having flexibility, and a bending knob provided on the operation portion 12 can be rotated to bend the bending portion 22 in a desired direction. It is configured as follows.

An image guide (not shown) for transmitting an endoscope image is inserted into the insertion section 11. The distal end portion of the image guide is fixed to the distal end portion 21 together with an objective lens (not shown). The rear end portion of the image guide is fixed to an image forming position of an eyepiece (not shown) built in the eyepiece 13 so that an endoscope image can be observed from the eyepiece. A light guide (not shown) for guiding illumination light is inserted into the insertion portion 11. The light guide is bent in the operation portion 12, and a rear end thereof is fixed in the connection socket 25.
Illumination light from a lamp provided in the lamp house 3 is emitted from an illumination window (not shown) of the distal end component 21 via the light guide via a condenser lens (not shown).

The lamp house 3 and the rechargeable battery unit 4 constituting the endoscope illumination system 10 for supplying illumination light to the endoscope main body 2 can be detachably connected by a connector portion 3a. ing. The charger 5 can be detachably connected to the rear end of the rechargeable battery unit 4 by a connector 4a.

The charger 5 supplies a commercial power supply A
The C cord 6 is detachably connected via a connector section 5a, and is connected to a commercial power supply via an AC outlet 7 provided at the rear end of the AC cord 6. When the AC outlet 7 is connected to a commercial power supply, the rechargeable battery provided in the rechargeable battery unit 4 is charged. The charger 5 and the A
The C code 6 may have an integrated configuration.

Next, the internal structure of the charger 5 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the charger 5
AC power from the commercial power supplied from C code 6 is D
An AC / DC conversion circuit 51 for converting to AC power,
The rechargeable battery 41 is charged by the DC power source converted by the / DC conversion circuit 51, and the rechargeable battery 41 is charged.
And a charging circuit 52 for supplying power to the lamp 31 via the charging circuit 52. The charging circuit 52 includes a determination unit (not shown) that detects the voltage or current from the rechargeable battery 41 and determines whether the charging is completed.

An endoscope observation is performed using the endoscope 1 configured as described above. When the power of the rechargeable battery 41 decreases while observing the inside of the body cavity, the charger 5
AC outlet 7 is connected to a commercial power supply. Then, the AC power from the commercial power supply is converted to the DC power, and the converted DC power is supplied to the lamp 31 of the lamp house 3 via the rechargeable battery house 4 and the rechargeable battery of the rechargeable battery house 4 41, and charges the rechargeable battery 41.

As a result, even if the power of the rechargeable battery 41 decreases while the endoscope body 2 is observing the inside of the body cavity,
Since the commercial power is supplied by the charger 5, the endoscope observation can be continuously performed for a long time without making the observation impossible. In order to further improve portability, it is possible to reduce the weight by removing the charger 5. Further, since the charger 5 and the charging battery 41 are directly connected, the power drop in this portion is extremely small, and the charging battery 41 can be charged efficiently.

Although not shown, as a modification of the above-described embodiment, a connection cord is extended from the rear end of the battery house 3 and a charger 5 is provided at the rear end to hold the endoscope main body 2. When the operation is performed by the user, the weight of the load may be limited to only the lamp house 3 and the battery unit 4 so that the operation of the endoscope can be facilitated.

(Second Embodiment) FIGS. 3 and 4 relate to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is provided with an endoscope illumination system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an external configuration diagram illustrating the entire configuration of the endoscope, and FIG. 4 is a circuit block diagram of FIG. In the second embodiment, an auxiliary rechargeable battery unit is provided in addition to the endoscope illumination system of the first embodiment. The other configurations are the same as those in FIG. 1, and thus the description thereof will be omitted, and the same configurations will be described with the same reference numerals.

That is, the charger 5 used in the endoscope 60 having the endoscope illumination system 10a of the second embodiment is provided at the rear end of the rechargeable battery unit 4 described in FIG. The rechargeable battery unit 70 can be detachably attached via the connector portion 4a, and the auxiliary rechargeable battery unit 70 can be detachably attached via the connector portion 70a. The charger 5 can charge the rechargeable battery 41 and the auxiliary rechargeable battery 71.

As shown in FIG. 4, the charger 5 has an AC /
A DC power supply converted from a commercial power supply by the DC conversion circuit 51 is supplied to the lamp 31 via the rechargeable battery 41, and is also supplied to the auxiliary rechargeable battery unit 70 via the charging circuit 51. Rechargeable battery 71
Is configured to be charged.

In the second embodiment, the rechargeable battery 41 is charged without passing through the charging circuit 51. Note that, similarly to FIG.
May be configured to be performed via the charging circuit 51. Further, the auxiliary rechargeable battery unit 70
Can supply electric power to the lamp 31 via the charger 5 and the rechargeable battery 41 by an electric wire (not shown).

Endoscope observation is performed using the endoscope 60 configured as described above. When the power of the rechargeable battery 41 decreases while observing the inside of the body cavity, the power of the rechargeable battery 71 of the auxiliary rechargeable battery unit 70 causes the charger 5 and the rechargeable battery 41 to operate. The lamp is supplied to the lamp 31 via the lamp. Further, when the endoscope observation continues and the power of the auxiliary rechargeable battery 71 decreases, the charger 5
AC outlet 7 is connected to a commercial power supply. Then, the AC power from the commercial power supply is converted to the DC power, and the converted DC power is supplied to the lamp 31 of the lamp house 3 via the rechargeable battery house 4 and the rechargeable battery of the rechargeable battery unit 70 The rechargeable battery 71 is supplied to the rechargeable battery 71. Then, at the time of endoscopic observation, the rechargeable battery unit 70 having the charged rechargeable battery 71 is replaced with the rechargeable battery house 4 to prepare for a case where commercial power cannot be used.

As a result, even when the commercial power source cannot be used in the place where the endoscope body 2 is used, when the rechargeable battery 41 is exhausted, the auxiliary rechargeable battery 7 is used.
By using No. 1, long-term endoscopic observation becomes possible. Further, since the charger 5 is provided with the connector portions 4a and 70a to which at least two rechargeable battery units can be attached, a rechargeable auxiliary battery for gripping and operating the endoscope body 2 is provided. Whether or not the battery unit 70 is attached can always be checked, and it can be prevented that the auxiliary rechargeable battery unit 70 is not carried.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 5 shows a third embodiment of the present invention.
1 is an external configuration diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an endoscope including an endoscope illumination system according to an embodiment. In the third embodiment, the connector section 3a and the rechargeable battery unit 4 for removably attaching the lamp house 3 and the rechargeable battery unit 4 described in the endoscope illumination system of the first embodiment are used. And a connector portion 4a for detachably attaching the charger 5 and the charger 5 to have the same shape. The other configurations are the same as those in FIG. 1, and thus the description thereof will be omitted, and the same configurations will be described with the same reference numerals.

That is, the endoscope 80 including the endoscope illumination system 10b of the third embodiment is
The connector 3a for attaching the rechargeable battery unit 4 and the rechargeable battery unit 4 and the connector 4a for attaching the rechargeable battery unit 4 and the charger 5 have the same shape. FIG.
Then, the charger 5 is connected to the lamp house 3 by the connector 3a (4
It is in the state connected in a).

With such a configuration, for example, when the user forgets to carry the rechargeable battery 41 or
The endoscope 80 can be used as soon as possible when it cannot be used due to breakage and the end of its life. At this time, the electric power from the commercial power supply is directly supplied to the lamp 31 disposed in the lamp house 3 so that the endoscope 80 can be used temporarily.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[Supplementary note] (Supplementary note 1) A lamp house having a light source attached to an endoscope main body having an elongated insertion portion and supplying illumination light to the endoscope main body, and being detachably attached to the lamp house. A rechargeable battery unit having a rechargeable battery that is attachable and supplies power to the light source; and a charger that is removably attachable to the rechargeable battery unit and charges the rechargeable battery. An illumination system for an endoscope, comprising:

(Appendix 2) The charger can be detachably attached to the rechargeable battery unit, and can also be detachably attached directly to the lamp house to supply power to the light source. The illumination system for an endoscope according to additional item 1, characterized in that:

(Additional Item 3) A lamp house which is attached to an endoscope body having an elongated insertion portion and has a light source for supplying illumination light to the endoscope body, and which can be detachably attached to the lamp house. A first rechargeable battery unit having a first rechargeable battery for supplying power to the light source; and a rechargeable battery unit removably attachable to the first rechargeable battery unit for charging the first rechargeable battery. And a second rechargeable battery unit having a second rechargeable battery removably attachable to the charger and charged by the charger. Endoscope lighting system.

(Supplementary Note 4) The connector portion for attaching the lamp house and the rechargeable battery unit and the connector portion for attaching the rechargeable battery unit and the charger are formed in the same shape. 3. The illumination system for an endoscope according to claim 1 or 2.

(Additional Item 5) The illumination system for an endoscope according to Additional Item 1 or 2, wherein the rechargeable battery unit and the charger are connected by a connection cord.

(Additional Item 6) The endoscope illumination system according to Additional Item 1 or 2, wherein an auxiliary rechargeable battery unit is detachably provided in the charger.

(Additional Item 7) The power source can be supplied from the second rechargeable battery unit to the light source via the charger and the first rechargeable battery unit. The illumination system for an endoscope according to claim 1.

(Additional Item 8) The endoscope according to additional item 3, wherein the second rechargeable battery unit is an auxiliary rechargeable battery unit detachably attachable to the charger. Lighting system.

(Supplementary Note 9) A connector portion for attaching the lamp house to the first and second rechargeable battery units, and a connector portion for attaching the first and second rechargeable battery units to the charger. , Each of which has the same shape.

(Additional Item 10) The illumination system for an endoscope according to Additional Item 3, wherein the first rechargeable battery unit and the charger are connected by a connection cord.

(Additional Item 11) The illumination system for an endoscope according to additional items 1 to 3, wherein the charger supplies the commercial power by AC / DC conversion.

(Appendix 12) The length of an AC cord for supplying commercial power to the charger is longer than the length of a connection cord for supplying power from the charger to the rechargeable battery unit. An illumination system for an endoscope according to Additional Item 5.

(Supplementary Item 13) The length of the AC cord for supplying commercial power to the charger is defined by the first
13. The endoscope lighting system according to claim 11, wherein the length of the connection cord for supplying power to the rechargeable battery unit is longer than the length of the connection cord.

[0041]

As described above, by using the illumination system for an endoscope of the present invention, the power of the rechargeable battery is reduced while observing the inside of the body cavity with the endoscope, and the observation becomes impossible. Observation can be continuously performed for a long time without making it possible. In addition, there is an effect that the weight can be reduced by removing the charger to improve portability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external configuration diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an endoscope including an endoscope illumination system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an external configuration diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an endoscope including an endoscope illumination system according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a circuit block diagram of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an external configuration diagram illustrating an entire configuration of an endoscope including an endoscope illumination system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscope 2 ... Endoscope 3 ... Lamp house 4 ... Rechargeable battery house 5 ... Charger 6 ... AC cord 7 ... AC outlet 31 ... Lamp 41 ... Rechargeable battery 51 ... AC / DC conversion circuit 52 ... Charging circuit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Katsuji Watanabe 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Olympus Optical Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toshi Osaki 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo No. Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takeaki Nakamura 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Hiroshi Takahashi 2-43, Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo No. 2 F-term in Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (Reference) 2H040 BA00 CA04 CA08 CA09 CA11 CA12 CA22 CA27 DA03 DA14 DA15 DA21 DA51 4C061 GG01 QQ09 RR30

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A lamp house having a light source attached to an endoscope body having an elongated insertion portion and supplying illumination light to the endoscope body; and the light source being detachably attachable to the lamp house. A rechargeable battery unit having a rechargeable battery for supplying power to the rechargeable battery unit, and a charger removably attachable to the rechargeable battery unit and charging the rechargeable battery. Mirror lighting system. 2. The rechargeable battery unit is detachably attachable to the rechargeable battery unit, and is directly detachably attached to the lamp house to supply power to the light source. The illumination system for an endoscope according to claim 1. 3. A lamp house which is attached to an endoscope main body having an elongated insertion portion and has a light source for supplying illumination light to the endoscope main body; and wherein the light source is detachably attachable to the lamp house. Having a first rechargeable battery for powering the
A rechargeable battery unit, a charger removably attachable to the first rechargeable battery unit, and capable of charging the first rechargeable battery; a rechargeable battery unit removably attachable to the charger, A second rechargeable battery unit having a second rechargeable battery charged by the charger. An illumination system for an endoscope, comprising: