JPH02277017A - Fiberscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the external diameter size of the whole body including the connection part between a scope main body and an attachment by incorporating an optical fiber for photodetection, a photodetection sensor, a motor, a battery, etc., in the attachment equipped with a mirror for sideward viewing. CONSTITUTION:In a state that the attachment 2 is coupled with the scope main body 1, light L1 emitted from a light guide 5 is reflected by the mirror 12 to irradiate the external periphery, and its reflected light L3 is photodetected to an image guide 6. When a sideward viewing position is changed and an observation is made, light signal L4 for driving control over the motor 11 which is guided from the side of the scope main body 1 is passed through the optical fiber 20 for reception, and photodetected by the photodetection sensor 19. The photodetection sensor 19 converts the light signal into an electric signal, which is inputted to a control circuit 15 to perform necessary driving control operation; and consequently the motor 11 is driven with the electric power of the battery 14 and the mirror 12 for sideward viewing 12 rotates.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Field of Industrial Application> The present invention relates to a fiber scope used for inspecting the inside of pipes such as water pipes and gas pipes.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, there is one shown in FIG. 2 as this type of fiberscope described above.

This conventional fiberscope has a 3° scope main body equipped with a 1° light guide that guides illumination light and an image guide 2° that guides imaging light, and an attachment 4 for side viewing at the tip of the scope body.
It has a structure that allows it to be detachably attached. There is a light guide at the tip of the 3° scope body! . The sending end of the image guide 2° and the light receiving end of the image guide 2° are exposed. and,
As shown in Fig. 2 (A), when the attachment 4° is not attached, the reflected light from the subject of the forward irradiation light L1 from the light guide 1° is received by the image guide 2°. , it is possible to observe the front of the scope body 3o, that is, to see directly.

On the other hand, the attachment 4° has a built-in side viewing mirror 5° and a motor 6° that rotates it, and furthermore, the scope body 3° and the attachment 4.
A connector (not shown) is provided at each of the two to electrically connect or separate the two. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 2 (B), if the attachment 4° is attached to the tip of the scope body 3°,
light guide l. The irradiated light is reflected laterally by the 5° mirror, and the reflected light from the subject on the side is guided to the image guide 10 by the 5° mirror. Observation, ie, side view, can be performed. In addition, if you want to observe the subject by changing the side view position, you can output the drive power and control signals for the motor 6° from the 3° side of the scope body, and this will be transmitted to the attachment 4° via the connector. 6D is controlled to change the angle of the side viewing mirror 5o.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> As described above, the conventional device adopts a configuration in which the scope body 3D and the attachment 4° are electrically connected in order to supply power to the motor 6° and control its rotation. Therefore, the diameter of the connecting portion between the scope main body 3° and the attachment 4° becomes large due to the provision of the above-mentioned connector, and it is difficult to reduce the diameter.

That is, since this type of fiberscope may generally be used for internal inspection of a wide variety of pipes, it is desirable that the outer diameter of the fiberscope be as small as possible. However, since the conventional configuration requires a connector, there is a limit to how small the diameter of the fiberscope can be made.

Means for Solving the Problems> The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and eliminates the need for transmitting power and control signals through conductive wires at the connection between the scope body and the attachment. , the overall outer diameter including the connecting portion can be made as small as possible.

Therefore, in the present invention, an attachment including a side-viewing mirror that is rotationally driven by a motor is detachably attached to a scope body that includes a light guide that guides illumination light and an image guide that guides imaging light. In the fiber scope, a transmitting optical fiber that emits an optical signal for drive control of the motor toward the attachment is disposed in the scope body, and the attachment receives the optical signal from the transmitting optical fiber. A receiving optical fiber, a light receiving sensor that photoelectrically converts the optical signal incident on the receiving optical fiber, a battery for driving the motor, and controlling the drive of the motor based on the control signal output from the light receiving sensor. The light receiving sensor is disposed between the motor and the battery, and one end of the receiving optical fiber is opened facing the transmitting optical fiber, and the light receiving sensor is disposed between the motor and the battery. The other end of the fiber passed through the side of the motor and was connected to the light receiving sensor.

<Operation> In the above configuration, drive control of the motor is performed by an optical signal transmitted from the scope body to the attachment. Further, power for the motor is not supplied from the scope body side, but from a battery built into the attachment side. Moreover, the optical signal emitted from the transmitting optical fiber on the scope body side is not directly received by the light receiving sensor installed on the attachment side, but is first received by the receiving optical fiber and then sent to the motor. The light passes through the side and is photoelectrically converted by the light receiving sensor.

Therefore, at the connection part on the scope body side, the light guide, image guide, and transmission optical fiber extend toward the attachment, and at the connection part on the attachment side, the side viewing mirror and the reception optical fiber are connected to the scope body. It is a simple configuration that just appears for the event.

Therefore, it is possible to reduce the overall outer diameter dimension including the connecting portion as much as possible.

<Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a fiberscope according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The fiber scope of this embodiment includes a scope body l,
Attachment 2 that can be detachably attached to the tip
It consists of.

The scope body l includes a flexible tube 3 and a tip holder 4 connected to the tip of the tube 3, and inside these is a light guide that guides illumination light and is made of a bundle of optical fibers or the like. 5 and an image guide 6 that guides imaging light are inserted, and a transmission optical fiber 7 that transmits an optical signal as a drive control signal for a motor 11, which will be described later, is arranged along both guides 5 and 6. There is. A sending end of the light guide 5, a light receiving end of the image guide 6, and a sending end of the transmitting optical fiber 7 are respectively exposed on the end face of the tip holder 4. Further, an objective lens 8.8 is provided at the light-receiving end of the image guide 6, and a detachable portion IO for the attachment 2 is formed on the outer periphery of the tip holder 4.

On the other hand, the attachment 2 includes a side viewing mirror 12 that is rotationally driven by a motor 11 . This side view mirror 1
2 is covered with a transparent cylindrical body 17, and this cylindrical body I
7 is fixed to the cover 13. At the rear end of the transparent barrel I7 is a detachable part for the scope main body l side! A cylindrical connecting portion 18 that connects to 0 is provided. The above-mentioned cover 13 includes a tip cover 13a and an intermediate cover 13b along the elongated direction.
and a rear end cover 13c.

A battery 14 for driving the motor II is built inside the tip cover 13a. Intermediate cover 13b
A control circuit 15, a light receiving sensor 19, and a motor 11 are sequentially arranged inside the rear end cover 13c.
A reduction gear 16 is built inside. The control circuit I5 controls forward rotation, reverse rotation, stopping, etc. of the motor 11 in response to a control signal photoelectrically converted by the light receiving sensor 19. Further, one end of a receiving optical fiber 20 is connected to the light receiving sensor 19, and the other end of this receiving optical fiber 20 is connected to the motor l! and the side of the reducer 16, respectively, and open facing the sending end of the transmission optical fiber 7.

In the above configuration, when the attachment 2 is removed from the tip of the scope body I, the light emitted from the light guide 5 is irradiated to the front of the scope body 1, and the light reflected from the subject in front is the image guide. The light is received at 6. This allows the user to directly view the front of the scope body l.

Next, connect the coupling part 18 on the attachment 2 side to the attachment/detachment part 10 on the scope main body l side, and attach the attachment 2 to the scope main body! When the light guide 5 is attached to the tip of the light guide 5, the light emitted from the light guide 5 is reflected by the mirror 12 and irradiated outward through the transparent cylinder 17. Then, the reflected light from surrounding objects is reflected again by the mirror 12 and received by the image guide 6. Thereby, the periphery of the distal end portion of the scope body 1 can be seen from the side.

If it is desired to observe a subject by changing the side viewing position, it is necessary to rotate the side viewing mirror 12 to change its angle.

In this case, an optical signal for drive control of the motor 11 is sent from the base end side of the scope body 2. This optical signal L4 is
The light is emitted from the tip of the transmitting optical fiber 7 toward the attachment 2 , passes through the space within the transparent cylinder 17 , and enters the receiving optical fiber 20 of the attachment 2 . The optical signal 4 incident on the receiving optical fiber 20 is transmitted to the receiving optical fiber 20.
The light passes through the side of the reducer 16 and the motor II, and is received by the light receiving sensor 19. The light receiving sensor 19 converts this optical signal into an electrical signal, and this signal is input to the control circuit 15. The control circuit 15 performs the required drive control operation in response to this electric signal, so that the motor 1
1 is driven by electric power from a battery 14, and the side viewing mirror 12 rotates.

In this way, the drive control of the motor lK is controlled by the scope body l.
This is done by an optical signal transmitted from the to the attachment 2. Further, the electric power for the motor 11 is not supplied from the scope main body l side but from a battery 14 built in the attachment side 2. Moreover, the scope body 1
The optical signal emitted from the transmitting optical fiber 7 on the side is not directly received by the light receiving sensor 19 provided on the attachment 2 side, but is first received by the receiving optical fiber 20 and then sent to the motor 11. The light passes through the side and is photoelectrically converted by the light receiving sensor 19.

Therefore, if you pay attention to the connection part between the scope body l and the attachment 2, there is no light receiving sensor 19 or conventional electrical connector in this part. The guide 6 and the transmission optical fiber 7 are also located on the attachment 2 side.
The structure is simple, with only the side viewing mirror 12 and the receiving optical fiber 20 protruding toward the scope body l.

<Effects of the Invention> According to the present invention, the angle of the side viewing mirror can be changed by driving and controlling the motor without providing a light receiving sensor or a conventional electrical connector at the connection between the scope body and the attachment. Ru. This simplifies the configuration of the connecting portion, and as a result, the overall outer diameter of the fiberscope can be further reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 (A) and (B) are both side views of the conventional example, with Figure 2 (A) showing the attachment removed from the scope body, and Figure 2 (B) showing the attachment attached to the scope body. Indicates the status of each. l...scope body, 2... attachment, 5 light guide, 6... image guide, 7... optical fiber for transmission, 11... motor, 12... side viewing mirror 14/battery, 15--Control circuit, 19--Light receiving sensor, 20--Receiving optical fiber. Applicant: Mitsubishi Cable Industries, Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a fiber scope in which an attachment equipped with a side viewing mirror that is rotationally driven by a motor is detachably attached to a scope body equipped with a light guide that guides illumination light and an image guide that guides imaging light. , a transmitting optical fiber that emits an optical signal for drive control of the motor toward the attachment is disposed in the scope body, and the attachment receives the optical signal from the transmitting optical fiber. A receiving optical fiber that receives light, a light receiving sensor that photoelectrically converts the optical signal incident on the receiving optical fiber,
A battery for driving the motor and a control circuit for controlling the drive of the motor based on a control signal output from the light receiving sensor are each built in, and the light receiving sensor is connected between the motor and the battery. While the receiving optical fiber is arranged, one end thereof is open facing the transmitting optical fiber, and the other end of the optical fiber passes through the side of the motor and is connected to the light receiving sensor. Features fiber scope.