Endoscope

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9565993-B2
Application number	US-201314401567-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 10, 2013
Priority date	May 17, 2012
Publication date	Feb 14, 2017
Grant date	Feb 14, 2017

Abstract

The object lens 21 and the ocular lens 22 are disposed in the lens barrel unit 11 and the relay lens system 23 is disposed therebetween. The image sensor 31 is disposed in the camera unit 12 and the coaxial illumination unit 32 is disposed therearound. The focus position shift member 25 is disposed at the image formation position L 1 in the lens barrel unit 11 . The light from the coaxial illumination unit 32 is imaged at the image formation position L 1 and is shifted to a position L 2 by the focus position shift member 25 . Since the position L 2 positions at a position closer than a focus position, light through the object lens 21 diffuses to illuminate the object 51.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An endoscope comprising:
a lens barrel unit that has a relay lens system;
a camera unit that is connected to a base end side of the lens barrel unit and has an imaging device imaging an object through the relay lens system;
a coaxial illumination unit that is disposed coaxially with the imaging device to surround the imaging device and illuminates the object through the relay lens system; and
a focus position shift member that is disposed at one of a plurality of image formation positions in the relay lens system and shifts a focus position of illumination light from the coaxial illumination unit.

2. The endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the lens barrel unit further has an object lens ahead of the relay lens system, and the focus position shift member is disposed between a most-advanced lens unit and the object lens to include a space in front of a backward focus position of the object lens.

3. The endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the focus position shift member has a bundle fiber in a cross-sectional shape corresponding to a light-emitting surface of the coaxial illumination unit.

4. The endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the focus position shift member has a light guide in a cross-sectional shape corresponding to a light-emitting surface of the coaxial illumination unit, and of which refractive index is more than 1.

5. The endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the coaxial illumination unit has a ring-shaped light-emitting diode array having a plurality of light-emitting diodes mixed with at least three primary colors.

Assignees

• Pioneer Corp
• Nat Center For Child Health & Dev
• Nat Center For Child Health And Dev

Inventors

• Okuda Yoshiyuki
• Yokota Hiroshi
• Chiba Toshio
• Yamashita Hiromasa

Classifications

• A61B1/04

  combined with photographic or television appliances · CPC title

• A61B1/00197 Primary

  characterised by multiple eyepieces · CPC title

• A61B1/00096 Primary

  Optical elements · CPC title

• A61B1/07

  using light-conductive means, e.g. optical fibres · CPC title

• G02B23/2446

  of the image relay (G02B23/26 takes precedence) · CPC title