A fiber endoscope eyepiece system and a fiber endoscope comprising the same

Abstract

The application discloses a fiber endoscope eyepiece system and a fiber endoscope eyepiece comprising the system, and the system comprises an eyepiece inner tube, an eyepiece outer tube and a focusing ring, the eyepiece inner tube is internally provided with a lens group, and the surface is provided with a positioning hole; the barrel of the eyepiece outer tube is provided with a clamping groove, a guide rail and a connecting groove communicated with the clamping groove and the guide rail, the clamping groove is open along the front end of the barrel, the guide rail is closed along the front end of the barrel, and the bottom ends of the clamping groove and the guide rail are communicated through the connecting groove; the inner wall of the focusing ring is provided with an inwardly protruding buckle; the eyepiece inner tube is arranged in the eyepiece outer tube, the focusing ring is sleeved on the outer wall of the eyepiece outer tube, the buckle is located in the guide rail and is inserted into the positioning hole, and the focusing ring can drive the eyepiece inner tube to move in the eyepiece outer tube. The system is detachable, and repeated disinfection and sterilization is avoided. The split barrel avoids deformation of a partition ring, and the limiting barrel reduces the assembly difficulty of a process. The buckle type focusing ring is simple in assembly, can fix the adjusting position and distance of the barrel, can reduce deviation through quantitative movement, and can accurately and quickly adjust an image.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of fiber endoscopes, and in particular relates to a fiber endoscope eyepiece system and a fiber endoscope comprising the system. Background Art

[0002] The eyepiece structure of a reusable fiberscope generally includes an eyepiece cover, focusing ring, and eyepiece assembly. Most of the finished products on the market have an integrated design of the eyepiece and insert. Due to the electrical insulation requirements of medical endoscopes, the eyepiece covers of most listed medical endoscopes are made of insulating plastic. Endoscopes are repeatedly cleaned and disinfected (referred to as "decontamination") after clinical use, which makes the plastic eyepiece cover prone to mechanical damage and unusable. Therefore, it is necessary to design a detachable endoscope eyepiece system to avoid repeated decontamination of the eyepiece part.

[0003] Fiberscope imaging involves the reflected light from an object being focused by the objective lens, then transmitted by the imaging fiber bundle, amplified by the eyepiece, and then photoelectrically converted by the CCD before being displayed on a computer or monitor. The fiberscope eyepiece magnifies the image for easier observation, and its design typically requires correction of aberrations.

[0004] Parameters such as lens magnification, pupil distance, resolution, and optical transfer function require distances between lens groups to be as precise as 0.005mm, with some spacers being less than 1mm wide. Furthermore, concentricity and flatness are also required for the spacers within the same group. Traditionally, lens groups are separated by spacers. However, due to their large diameter and small width, these spacers are difficult to manufacture and prone to deformation during assembly. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of eyepieces using these spacers is prohibitive.

[0005] The lens group is fixed inside the lens barrel. The current focusing method of the eyepiece is generally to lock the lens barrel with a locking screw, move the lens barrel to observe the image quality, and tighten the screw after it is clear to complete the focusing process. Among them, the locking screw relies on manual movement, the focusing time is long, and it is not necessarily possible to find the best focusing position.

[0006] Therefore, it is necessary to develop a fiber endoscope that can eliminate aberrations, has high product precision, is easy to assemble and has high production efficiency, and can accurately and quickly adjust the image. Summary of the Invention

[0007] Purpose of the invention: In order to solve the problems existing in the prior art, the present invention provides a fiber endoscope eyepiece system and a fiber endoscope comprising the system, which can eliminate aberrations, have high product precision, are easy to assemble and have high production efficiency, and can adjust images accurately and quickly.

[0008] Technical solution: In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

[0009] A fiber endoscope eyepiece system comprises an eyepiece inner tube, an eyepiece outer tube and a focusing ring, wherein a lens group is installed inside the eyepiece inner tube and a positioning hole is provided on the surface; the barrel of the eyepiece outer tube is provided with a card slot, a guide rail and a connecting groove connecting the two, the card slot is open along the front end of the barrel, the guide rail is closed along the front end of the barrel, and the bottom ends of the card slot and the guide rail are connected through the connecting groove; an inwardly protruding buckle is provided on the inner wall of the focusing ring; the eyepiece inner tube is arranged inside the eyepiece outer tube, the focusing ring is sleeved on the outer wall of the eyepiece outer tube, the buckle is located in the guide rail and inserted into the positioning hole, and the focusing ring can drive the eyepiece inner tube to move inside the eyepiece outer tube.

[0010] As a preferred or improved solution:

[0011] The eyepiece inner barrel includes an upper barrel and a lower barrel. The inner walls of the upper barrel and the lower barrel are provided with corresponding grooves for placing lenses in the lens group. The upper barrel and the lower barrel are sealed and fixed together to form the eyepiece inner barrel.

[0012] The lens group in the eyepiece inner tube includes a first combined lens, a first lens, a second lens, a second combined lens, a third combined lens, a third lens and a fourth lens arranged in sequence.

[0013] Further preferably, the first combined lens, the second combined lens and the third combined lens are all composed of a combination of positive and negative lenses. The other lenses are all plano lenses; in particular, the fourth lens is located at the front end of the inner tube of the eyepiece.

[0014] The clamping slot and the guide rail are both parallel to the central axis of the eyepiece outer tube, and the connecting groove is perpendicular to the clamping slot and the guide rail.

[0015] The buckle is an inverted cone-shaped buckle.

[0016] The materials of the lens inner tube, eyepiece outer tube and focusing ring are all metal.

[0017] The buckle is made by cutting a focus ring to form a groove and then bending a portion of the cut section.

[0018] The present invention also provides a fiber endoscope eyepiece, comprising the above-mentioned fiber endoscope eyepiece system.

[0019] As an implementation scheme, the fiber endoscope eyepiece includes an eyepiece tube, an eyepiece cover, a focusing handwheel, a buckle and a buckle handwheel. The eyepiece tube is connected to one end of the fiber endoscope eyepiece system, the outer end of the eyepiece tube is connected to the eyepiece cover, and a buckle is provided at the other end of the fiber endoscope eyepiece system, and the buckle handwheel is connected to the buckle; the focusing handwheel is sleeved on the outer wall of the focusing ring, and drives the movement of the focusing ring through its own rotation; further, it also includes an eyepiece fixing rod.

[0020] The "front end" and "bottom end" of the eyepiece outer tube, the card slot and the guide rail described in the present invention are based on the assembly direction of the eyepiece outer tube inserted into the focusing ring, with the starting position being the "front end" and the opposite direction being the "bottom end". The position description of the eyepiece inner tube and its components is similar, with the assembly direction of the eyepiece inner tube inserted into the eyepiece outer tube as the standard, with the starting position being the "front end" and the opposite direction being the "bottom end".

[0021] Beneficial effects: Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0022] 1. The detachable endoscope eyepiece system is a split eyepiece when used to avoid repeated cleaning and disinfection of the eyepiece part and avoid damage to the components during repeated cleaning and disinfection.

[0023] 2. The split lens barrel with a limit function avoids deformation during the spacer processing and assembly process. The limit lens barrel reduces the processing of finished products, reduces the difficulty of the assembly process, and improves production efficiency.

[0024] 3. The built-in snap-on focusing ring simplifies the assembly process and improves production efficiency compared to the general screw type.

[0025] 4. Fixed lens barrel adjusts position and distance, quantitative movement reduces deviation, and adjusts image accurately and quickly. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 1 is a component diagram of the fiber endoscope eyepiece system of the present invention, which includes: an eyepiece inner tube 1, a positioning hole 11; an eyepiece outer tube 2, a card slot 21, a guide rail 22, a connecting slot 23; a focusing ring 3, a buckle 31, and a groove 32.

[0027] Figure 2 This is a structural diagram of the inner barrel of the eyepiece in the fiber endoscope eyepiece system of the present invention, which includes: an upper barrel 12, a lower barrel 13, a first combined lens 1-1, a first lens 1-2, a second lens 1-3, a second combined lens 1-4, a third combined lens 1-5, a third lens 1-6 and a fourth lens 1-7.

[0028] Figure 3 This is an arrangement diagram of the lens group in the inner tube of the eyepiece of the fiber endoscope eyepiece system of the present invention, which includes: a first combined lens 1-1, a first lens 1-2, a second lens 1-3, a second combined lens 1-4, a third combined lens 1-5, a third lens 1-6, a fourth lens 1-7, an eyepiece flat plate 1-8, an image fiber protection plate 1-9 and a quartz image fiber 1-10.

[0029] Figure 4 This is a structural diagram of a fiber endoscope eyepiece, which includes: an eyepiece outer tube 2, an eyepiece tube 4, an eyepiece cover 5, a focusing handwheel 6, a buckle 7, a buckle handwheel 8, an eyepiece fixing rod 9, a tee 10 and an insertion part 11. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The application will be described in detail below by examples. It is necessary to point out here that the examples are only used to further illustrate the application and cannot be understood as limiting the protection scope of the application. Those skilled in the art can make some non-essential improvements and adjustments according to the above content of the application.

[0031] Example 1

[0032] A fiber endoscope eyepiece system, as shown in the drawings, comprises an eyepiece inner tube 1, an eyepiece outer tube 2 and a focusing ring 3, all of which are made of metal. Figure 1

[0033] The eyepiece inner tube 1 is internally provided with a lens group and externally provided with a positioning hole 11. As shown in the drawings, the eyepiece inner tube 1 comprises an upper mirror tube 12 and a lower mirror tube 13, the inner walls of the upper mirror tube 12 and the lower mirror tube 13 are provided with corresponding clamping grooves for placing lenses in the lens group, and the upper and lower mirror tubes are fixed together to form the eyepiece inner tube 1. Figure 2 3 The lens group in the eyepiece inner tube 1 comprises a first combined lens 1-1, a first lens 1-2, a second lens 1-3, a second combined lens 1-4, a third combined lens 1-5, a third lens 1-6 and a fourth lens 1-7 arranged in sequence. The first combined lens 1-1, the second combined lens 1-4 and the third combined lens 1-5 are all composed of positive and negative lenses, and the other lenses are all flat mirrors, and the fourth lens 1-7 is located at the front end of the eyepiece inner tube 1.

[0034] The barrel of the eyepiece outer tube 2 is provided with a clamping groove 21 and a guide rail 22 (the guide rail is also a groove on the outer tube plane), the clamping groove 21 is open at the front end of the barrel, the bottom end of the clamping groove 21 is communicated with the guide rail 22 through a connecting groove 23, the front end of the guide rail 22 is closed, the bottom end is communicated with the clamping groove 21, and the connecting groove 23 is perpendicular to the clamping groove 21 and the guide rail 22.

[0035] The inner wall of the focusing ring 3 is provided with an inwardly protruding buckle 31, which is preferably a bendable inverted conical protrusion formed by cutting the focusing ring 3.

[0036] The eyepiece inner tube 1 is arranged inside the eyepiece outer tube 2, the focusing ring 3 is sleeved on the outer wall of the eyepiece outer tube 2, the buckle 31 is located in the guide rail 22 and is inserted into the positioning hole 11, and the focusing ring 3 can drive the eyepiece inner tube 1 to move inside the eyepiece outer tube 2.

[0037] A groove 32 is left on the surface of the focusing ring 3, when the buckle 31 is made, the groove 32 is formed by cutting the focusing ring 3, and the remaining cutting section is bent to form the buckle 31. Therefore, the buckle 31 is made by the manufacturing method of forming the groove 32, which is convenient, fast and low in cost.

[0038] ​​The design and principle of the above-mentioned fiber endoscope eyepiece system are as follows:

[0039] I. Eyepiece lens group design

[0040] 1.1. Lens materials: H-K9L, H-ZK4, H-ZK6, H-ZF7LA, H-F2, H-ZF2, H-BAK7, and H-ZF3.

[0041] 1.2. The lens is coated with an antireflection film, and the average reflectance after coating is less than or equal to 0.5%.

[0042] 1.3. Generally, a positive lens produces negative chromatic aberration, and a negative lens produces positive chromatic aberration. Therefore, an achromatic optical system is usually a combination of positive and negative lenses to compensate for their chromatic aberrations, so the eyepiece part is designed as a cemented group.

[0043] 1.4. The lens group is as follows: the first combined lens 1-1 has a curvature radius of 19.41, -5.76, and -16.96; the first lens 1-2 has a curvature radius of 40.82, 29; the second lens 1-3 has a curvature radius of 39.37, 13.7; the second combined lens 1-4 has a curvature radius of 62.23, -3.133, and -13.7; the third combined lens 1-5 has a curvature radius of 13.7, -3.133, and -13.7; the third lens 1-6 has a curvature radius of 7.06, -13.7; and the fourth lens 1-7 has a curvature radius of 3.133, 13.7.

[0044] 1.5. The lens arrangement and parameters are as shown in Figure 3 , which further includes an eye contact flat sheet 1-8, an image fiber protection sheet 1-9, and a quartz image fiber 1-10. The eye contact flat sheet 1-8 is located at the rear end of the eyepiece inner barrel, the image fiber protection sheet 1-9 and the quartz image fiber 1-10 are arranged at the front end of the eyepiece inner barrel, and the above-mentioned lens group is located between the eye contact flat sheet 1-8 and the image fiber protection sheet 1-9.

[0045] II. Design of eyepiece inner barrel of eyepiece group

[0046] 2.1. Traditional barrels are mostly made of metal, and lenses are separated by spacers of different thicknesses. The requirements for the concentricity and surface quality of lenses and spacers result in low product yield. Some manufacturers use plastic injection molding to make integrated barrels. The plastic barrel has high requirements for material shrinkage, and the requirements for lens fixation and distance are difficult to meet due to the reverse buckle design of the plastic mold, which causes difficulty in core pulling. Therefore, a combined barrel made of metal is designed to meet the product precision while being easy to assemble and having high production efficiency. The structure of the eyepiece inner barrel 1 is as shown in Figure 2 .

[0047] 2.2 Assembly process:

[0048] 1) The barrel 12 is fixed horizontally on the horizontal operation table with a clamp.

[0049] 2) The edges of each lens in the lens group that contact the upper lens barrel 12 are coated with epoxy glue, and then the lenses are sequentially placed in the upper lens barrel 12. The excess glue is wiped off with degreasing cotton, and the glue is cured by heating at 65°C for 4 hours.

[0050] 3) Each lens in the lens group is aligned with the corresponding clamping slot on the lower lens barrel 13. Epoxy glue is applied inside the lens barrel, and the lower lens barrel 13 is inserted into the upper lens barrel 12 with lenses. The clamping slots between the upper and lower lens barrels are coated with glue, and the upper and lower lens barrels are clamped with a clamp. The glue is cured by heating at 65°C for 4 hours.

[0051] 4) A fiber laser welding machine is set up, with energy 0.15J, power 2W, and spot size 1mm. The cured lens barrel is sealed by laser welding along the edge, which is light-tight.

[0052] III. Adjustment device assembly method design

[0053] The traditional adjustment device uses screws to lock the focusing ring and the lens barrel. When the design requirements of the eyepiece are fine and light, in addition to reducing the diameter of the lens, it is also necessary to reduce the wall thickness of each part. At this time, the use of M0.5 fine screw locking method requires fine operation skills and vision of production workers, so a guide rail buckle type fixing structure is designed as shown in Figure 1 .

[0054] 3.1 The buckle 31 on the focusing ring is designed as an inverted taper buckle 31 on the focusing ring, as shown in Figure 1 A, and a positioning hole 11 is designed on the corresponding eyepiece barrel. The buckle 31 and the positioning hole 11 are fixedly connected by the tapering buckle 31 in the positioning hole 11.

[0055] 3.2 The clamping slot 21 on the eyepiece outer barrel 2 is convenient for assembling the focusing ring 3 with the buckle 31 to the eyepiece outer barrel 2. The length of the guide rail 22 is the length of the focusing ring 3 that can be adjusted. The buckle 31 of the focusing ring 3 passes through the connecting slot 23 into the guide rail 22 along the clamping slot 21 for focusing.

[0056] 3.3 Assembly method

[0057] The eyepiece inner barrel 1 is placed in the eyepiece outer barrel 2 (the end where the fourth lens 1-7 is located is the front end of the eyepiece inner barrel 1, and the eyepiece inner barrel 1 is inserted into the eyepiece outer barrel 2 from the end of the clamping slot 21), and the positioning hole 11 of the eyepiece inner barrel 1 is located at the position corresponding to the guide rail 22. When the focusing ring 3 is sleeved on the eyepiece outer barrel 2 through the clamping slot 21, and the buckle 31 reaches the bottom of the clamping slot 21, the focusing ring is rotated, the buckle 31 passes through the connecting slot 23 into the guide rail 22, the position of the focusing ring 3 is finely adjusted, and the buckle 31 is clamped into the positioning hole 11.

[0058] Example 2

[0059] like Figure 4 As shown, a fiber endoscope eyepiece includes the fiber endoscope eyepiece system described in Example 1, specifically including an eyepiece tube 4, an eyepiece cover 5, a focusing handwheel 6, a buckle 7, a buckle handwheel 8, an eyepiece fixing rod 9, a tee 10 and an insertion portion 11. The eyepiece tube 4 is connected to one end of the fiber endoscope eyepiece system (the end where the first combined lens 1-1 is located), and the outer end of the eyepiece tube 4 is connected to the eyepiece cover 5. The other end of the fiber endoscope eyepiece system (the end where the fourth lens 1-7 is located) is provided with a buckle 7, which is connected to the tee 10 through the buckle handwheel 8, and one of the other two openings of the tee 10 is connected to the insertion portion 11; the focusing handwheel 6 is sleeved on the outer wall of the focusing ring 3, and drives the focusing ring 3 and the buckle 31 to move along the guide rail 22 through its own rotation, thereby driving the eyepiece inner tube 1 to move inside the eyepiece outer tube 2 to achieve the focusing purpose.

[0060] The eyepiece generally includes an eyepiece cover, a focusing hand wheel, an ACMI interface, etc., wherein the eyepiece cover is generally made of polymer materials, and the other structural parts are generally made of metal. The disinfection methods of fiber endoscopes generally include chemical reagent immersion, ethylene oxide sterilization, low-temperature plasma sterilization, etc. During disinfection and sterilization, the integrated eyepiece is placed in a solution for cleaning before sterilization. The cleaning solution includes glutaraldehyde, peracetic acid, sodium hypochlorite, etc. The surface of the plastic eyepiece cover will turn white after soaking, and it will become brittle after repeated soaking. Therefore, a split eyepiece is designed, such as Figure 4 Connect the insertion portion 11 that enters the body to the ACMI interface and the adjustment portion to the eyepiece cover 5 (as described in the previous paragraph). For disinfection, simply separate the insertion portion 11 from the eyepiece using the buckle 7 and the buckle handwheel 8. Then remove the eyepiece cover 5 and the focusing handwheel 6. Disinfect the remaining metal parts: the eyepiece inner tube 1, the eyepiece outer tube 2, and the focusing ring 3.

[0061] The above-described embodiments merely illustrate several implementations of the present invention, and while their descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the patent. It should be noted that a person skilled in the art would be able to make numerous variations and improvements without departing from the spirit of the present invention, all of which fall within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the patent for this invention shall be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A fiber endoscope eyepiece system, characterized in that: The invention comprises an eyepiece inner tube (1), an eyepiece outer tube (2) and a focusing ring (3), wherein a lens group is installed inside the eyepiece inner tube (1) and a positioning hole (11) is provided on the surface of the eyepiece outer tube (2); the barrel of the eyepiece outer tube (2) is provided with a clamping groove (21), a guide rail (22) and a connecting groove (23) connecting the two, the clamping groove (21) is open along the front end of the barrel, the guide rail (22) is closed along the front end of the barrel, and the bottom ends of the clamping groove (21) and the guide rail (22) are connected through the connecting groove (23); the inner wall of the focusing ring (3) is provided with a first clamping buckle (31) protruding inwardly; the eyepiece inner tube (1) is arranged inside the eyepiece outer tube (2), the focusing ring (3) is sleeved on the outer wall of the eyepiece outer tube (2), the first clamping buckle (31) is located in the guide rail (22) and is inserted into the positioning hole (11), and the focusing ring (3) can drive the eyepiece inner tube (1) to move inside the eyepiece outer tube (2); The eyepiece inner barrel (1) comprises an upper lens barrel (12) and a lower lens barrel (13); inner walls of the upper lens barrel (12) and the lower lens barrel (13) are provided with corresponding slots for accommodating lenses in a lens group; the upper lens barrel (12) and the lower lens barrel (13) are sealed and fixed together to form the eyepiece inner barrel (1); and the first buckle (31) is an inverted cone-shaped buckle.

2. The fiber endoscope eyepiece system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lens group in the eyepiece inner tube (1) comprises a first combined lens (1-1), a first lens (1-2), a second lens (1-3), a second combined lens (1-4), a third combined lens (1-5), a third lens (1-6) and a fourth lens (1-7) arranged in sequence.

3. The fiber endoscope eyepiece system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first combined lens (1-1), the second combined lens (1-4) and the third combined lens (1-5) are all composed of a combination of positive and negative lenses, and the other lenses are all flat lenses.

4. The fiber endoscope eyepiece system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The fourth lens (1-7) is located at the front end of the eyepiece inner tube (1).

5. The fiber endoscope eyepiece system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The clamping slot (21) and the guide rail (22) are both parallel to the central axis of the eyepiece outer tube (2), and the connecting slot (23) is perpendicular to the clamping slot (21) and the guide rail (22).

6. The fiber endoscope eyepiece system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The eyepiece inner tube (1), the eyepiece outer tube (2) and the focusing ring (3) are all made of metal.

7. The fiber endoscope eyepiece system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first buckle (31) is manufactured by cutting the focus ring (3) to form a groove (32), and then bending a portion of the cut section.

8. A fiber endoscope eyepiece, comprising the fiber endoscope eyepiece system according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. The fiber endoscope eyepiece according to claim 8, characterized in that The invention comprises an eyepiece tube (4), an eyepiece cover (5), a focusing handwheel (6), a second buckle (7) and a buckle handwheel (8), wherein the eyepiece tube (4) is connected to one end of the fiber endoscope eyepiece system, the outer end of the eyepiece tube (4) is connected to the eyepiece cover (5), the other end of the fiber endoscope eyepiece system is provided with a second buckle (7), and the buckle handwheel (8) is connected to the second buckle (7); the focusing handwheel (6) is sleeved on the outer wall of the focusing ring (3), and drives the focusing ring (3) to move by rotating itself.

10. The fiber endoscope eyepiece according to claim 9, characterized in that: The fiber endoscope eyepiece also includes an eyepiece fixing rod (9).

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