Endoscope, circuit board, and endoscope system

Abstract

The utility model provides an endoscope, a circuit substrate and an endoscope system, a hard part of the endoscope comprises the circuit substrate and an image sensor, the circuit substrate is provided with a front face and a back face which are oppositely arranged, and the image sensor is fixed and electrically connected to the front face of the circuit substrate. And electronic components in a driving circuit of the image sensor are arranged in the operating part and / or the connecting part. According to the endoscope, the circuit substrate and the endoscope system provided by the utility model, the electronic components in the driving circuit of the image sensor are arranged on the operation part and / or the connecting part, so that the space occupation of the circuit substrate can be reduced, the size of the circuit substrate can be further reduced, and even the size of the circuit substrate is extremely close to that of the image sensor; the size of a circuit board does not become the bottleneck of miniaturization of the outer diameter of an endoscope insertion part.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model belongs to the field of medical device technology, and more specifically, relates to an endoscope, a circuit board, and an endoscope system. Background Technology

[0002] A flexible endoscope (hereinafter referred to as an endoscope) is a medical device that enters the human body through natural cavities to observe the internal condition of those cavities. Common examples include colonoscopes, gastroscopes, and bronchoscopes. An endoscope has an insertion section for insertion into a patient's natural cavity. This insertion section includes an insertion tube, a curved section, and a rigid section. The rigid section contains, in sequence: a circuit board, an image sensor for imaging the natural cavity, and an optical lens assembly for transmitting reflected light from the natural cavity to the image sensor assembly.

[0003] The image sensor and circuit board together form the sensor assembly. Depending on the type of endoscope, the diameter of the rigid section is generally between several millimeters and tens of millimeters. Therefore, the size of the sensor assembly has a significant impact on the size of the rigid section. Generally, the size of the sensor assembly is minimized as much as possible to reduce the load on the rigid section and reduce patient discomfort during endoscopic examinations. Utility Model Content

[0004] The purpose of this utility model embodiment is to provide an endoscope, circuit board, and endoscope system that can effectively reduce the size of the circuit board, thereby reducing the size of the sensor assembly and facilitating the miniaturization of the rigid part of the endoscope.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution adopted by this utility model is: to provide an endoscope insertion section circuit structure, comprising:

[0006] Insertion section, operating section, hose, and connecting section;

[0007] The insertion part has a rigid part, a curved part and an insertion tube in sequence from the front end side;

[0008] The operating part is connected to the insertion tube;

[0009] One end of the hose is connected to the operating part, and the other end is connected to the connecting part;

[0010] The rigid part includes a circuit board, an image sensor, and an optical lens assembly. The optical lens assembly is disposed on one side of the image sensor, and the circuit board is disposed on the other side of the image sensor.

[0011] The circuit board has a front side and a back side arranged opposite to each other, and the image sensor is fixed to the front side and electrically connected to the front side.

[0012] The operating part and / or the connecting part are provided with electronic components of the image sensor driving circuit.

[0013] Optionally, the electronic components provided in the operation section and / or the connection section include a second electronic component, which is electrically connected to the back side via a third cable. The second electronic component is an active device in the image sensor driving circuit.

[0014] Optionally, some electronic components of the image sensor driving circuit are disposed on the back side.

[0015] Optionally, some of the electronic components disposed on the back side are first electronic components, and the first electronic components are passive components in the image sensor driving circuit.

[0016] Optionally, the thickness of the circuit board is 0.8 mm to 1.2 mm.

[0017] Optionally, the circuit board is provided with a cable channel for the first cable to pass through, or for the first cable and the second cable to be soldered, or for a preset cable passing through the bend to be soldered.

[0018] When the cable channel is used for the first cable to pass through, one end of the first cable is electrically connected to the electric drive structure; when the cable channel is used for welding the first cable and the second cable, the end of the second cable away from the cable channel is electrically connected to the electric drive structure; the electric drive structure and the optical lens assembly are disposed on the same side of the image sensor, and the electric drive structure is used to drive the optical lens assembly inside the endoscope to move, so as to change the imaging focal length of the optical lens assembly.

[0019] Optionally, the cable channel includes a groove or hole structure, and the sidewall of the circuit board is provided with the groove or hole structure.

[0020] Optionally, the sidewall of the circuit board is provided with the groove, which extends through the sidewall of the circuit board.

[0021] Optionally, the groove is disposed in a straight line through the sidewall of the circuit board; or

[0022] The groove is disposed through the sidewall of the circuit board in a predetermined non-linear manner.

[0023] Optionally, the circuit board has a first sidewall along a first direction and a second sidewall along a second direction, wherein the first direction and the second direction are not parallel.

[0024] The back side of the circuit board is provided with multiple soldering areas, each of which contains multiple solder pads, and the boundary of each soldering area is the minimum circumscribed rectangle boundary of all the solder pads contained therein.

[0025] The groove is located on the second sidewall, and in the projection along the first direction, the projection of the groove does not overlap with the projection of the welding area outside the target area; in the projection along the second direction, the target area is the area with the smallest projection width in the welding area.

[0026] Optionally, the welding area includes the target area and other areas outside the target area, the other areas include a first pad, and the target area includes a second pad; the first pad is used to weld objects in the image sensor driving circuit other than the first electronic component, and the second pad is used to weld the first electronic component, which is an electronic component in the image sensor driving circuit;

[0027] The other regions are located on opposite sides of the second direction, and the target region is located in the middle of the second direction, or the other regions and the target region are located on opposite sides of the second direction, respectively.

[0028] Optionally, the back side of the circuit board has an extended pad, which is disposed on the back side near the second sidewall and is connected to a metal layer in the groove.

[0029] On the projection in the first direction, the projection of the extended pad does not overlap with the projection of the welding area outside the target area.

[0030] Optionally, at least one of the second sidewalls is provided with the groove, the grooves corresponding one-to-one with the number of the first cables, and the total number of the grooves is 2, 4, 6 or 8.

[0031] Optionally, when the second electronic component is provided in the operating part, an electromagnetic shielding structure is provided in the operating part and the insertion part, and the first cable is partially or completely passed through the electromagnetic shielding structure.

[0032] When the second electronic component is provided in the connecting part, the electromagnetic shielding structure is provided in the connecting part, the flexible tube, the operating part and the insertion part, and the first cable is partially or completely passed through the electromagnetic shielding structure.

[0033] Optionally, the operation unit includes a motor drive chip, which is electrically connected to one end of the first cable and is used to control the electric drive structure.

[0034] Optionally, the orthographic projection of the groove in the thickness direction of the circuit board is arc-shaped.

[0035] Optionally, the orthographic projection of the image sensor along the thickness direction of the circuit board is a reference area, and the orthographic projection of the groove along the thickness direction of the circuit board is at least partially located within the reference area.

[0036] Optionally, the orthographic projection of the image sensor along the thickness direction of the circuit board is a reference area, and the orthographic projection of the groove along the thickness direction of the circuit board is entirely located outside the reference area.

[0037] Optionally, the depth of the groove is 0.1 mm to 0.15 mm.

[0038] Optionally, the circuit board has a first sidewall parallel to a first direction and a second sidewall parallel to a second direction.

[0039] The first direction is not parallel to the second direction, and both the first direction and the second direction are perpendicular to the thickness direction;

[0040] The length of the first sidewall is less than the length of the second sidewall.

[0041] Optionally, the circuit board is provided with a cable channel for the first cable to pass through, or for the first cable and the second cable to be soldered, or for a preset cable passing through the bend to be soldered.

[0042] The circuit board has a first sidewall along a first direction and a second sidewall along a second direction, wherein the first direction and the second direction are not parallel.

[0043] The image sensor has a side length of 3mm × 3mm, the length of the first sidewall is 3mm to 3.5mm, and the length of the second sidewall is 3.3mm to 3.8mm; or,

[0044] The image sensor has a side length of 2mm × 2mm, the length of the first sidewall is 2mm to 2.8mm, and the length of the second sidewall is 2.5mm to 3.2mm.

[0045] Optionally, the image sensor has a side length of 3mm × 3mm, the length of the first sidewall is 3mm to 3.4mm, and the length of the second sidewall is 3.4mm to 3.7mm; or,

[0046] The image sensor has a side length of 2mm × 2mm, the length of the first sidewall is 2.3mm to 2.8mm, and the length of the second sidewall is 2.8mm to 3.1mm.

[0047] Optionally, the circuit board has a first sidewall along a first direction and a second sidewall along a second direction, wherein the first direction and the second direction are not parallel.

[0048] The image sensor has a side length of 3.5mm × 3.5mm, the length of the first sidewall is 3.5mm to 3.8mm, and the length of the second sidewall is 3.8mm to 4mm; or,

[0049] The image sensor has a side length of 3mm × 3mm, the length of the first sidewall is 3mm to 3.3mm, and the length of the second sidewall is 3.1mm to 3.6mm; or,

[0050] The image sensor has a side length of 2mm × 2mm, the length of the first sidewall is 2mm to 2.6mm, and the length of the second sidewall is 2.3mm to 2.6mm; or,

[0051] The image sensor has a side length of less than or equal to 1 mm, the length of the first sidewall is 1 mm to 1.6 mm, and the length of the second sidewall is 1.3 mm to 1.8 mm.

[0052] Optionally, the image sensor has a side length of 3.5mm × 3.5mm, the length of the first sidewall is 3.5mm to 3.7mm, and the length of the second sidewall is 3.8mm to 3.9mm; or,

[0053] The image sensor has a side length of 3mm × 3mm, the length of the first sidewall is 3mm to 3.2mm, and the length of the second sidewall is 3.2mm to 3.5mm; or,

[0054] The image sensor has a side length of 2mm × 2mm, the length of the first sidewall is 2.3mm to 2.6mm, and the length of the second sidewall is 2.4mm to 2.6mm; or,

[0055] The image sensor has a side length of less than or equal to 1mm × 1mm, the length of the first sidewall is 1.2mm to 1.6mm, and the length of the second sidewall is 1.5mm to 1.7mm.

[0056] Optionally, the endoscope is an ultrasonic endoscope, which further includes an ultrasonic connector, and the ultrasonic connector is connected to the connection part via an ultrasonic hose.

[0057] This utility model also provides a circuit board for use in the endoscope insertion part;

[0058] The circuit board has a front side and a back side arranged opposite to each other, the front side being used to fix and electrically connect to the image sensor;

[0059] The back side is used to mount a first electronic component, which is a passive component in the image sensor driving circuit.

[0060] The back side is also used for electrical connection to a second electronic component via a connecting cable, the second electronic component being an active device in the image sensor driving circuit.

[0061] Optionally, the circuit board is provided with a cable channel for the first cable to pass through, or for the first cable and the second cable to be soldered, or for a preset cable to be soldered from the bend.

[0062] When the cable channel is used for the first cable to pass through, one end of the first cable is used to be electrically connected to the electric drive structure; when the cable channel is used for welding the first cable and the second cable, the end of the second cable away from the cable channel is used to be electrically connected to the electric drive structure; the electric drive structure is used to drive the optical lens assembly inside the endoscope to move, so as to change the imaging focal length of the optical lens assembly.

[0063] Optionally, the cable channel includes a groove, and the sidewall of the circuit board is provided with the groove;

[0064] The groove is disposed in a straight line through the sidewall of the circuit board; or

[0065] The groove is disposed through the sidewall of the circuit board in a predetermined non-linear manner.

[0066] This utility model also provides an endoscope system, including the endoscope described above, or the circuit board described above.

[0067] The beneficial effects of the endoscope, circuit board, and endoscope system provided by this utility model are as follows: Compared with the prior art, the rigid part of the endoscope of this utility model includes a circuit board and an image sensor. The image sensor is fixed on the front side of the circuit board. The electronic components in the driving chip of the image sensor are disposed in the operation part and / or the connection part. At least some of the electronic components in the driving chip of the image sensor will not occupy the space of the circuit board. The size of the circuit board can be further reduced, or even approached the size of the image sensor, so that the size of the circuit board will not become a bottleneck for miniaturizing the outer diameter of the endoscope insertion part. Attached Figure Description

[0068] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this utility model, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this utility model. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0069] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an endoscope provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0070] Figure 2 A three-dimensional structural diagram of the first type of circuit board provided for an embodiment of this utility model;

[0071] Figure 3 Rear view and side view of a first type of circuit board provided for an embodiment of this utility model;

[0072] Figure 4 A three-dimensional structural diagram of the circuit board provided in the embodiment of this utility model;

[0073] Figure 5 A rear view structural schematic diagram of the circuit board provided in an embodiment of this utility model;

[0074] Figure 6 A front view of the circuit board provided in an embodiment of this utility model;

[0075] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the optical lens assembly provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0076] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the optical lens assembly provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0077] The following are the labeling elements in the figure:

[0078] 100 - Insertion part; 101 - Rigid part; 102 - Bending part; 103 - Insertion tube; 200 - Operating part; 300 - Flexible tube; 400 - Connecting part;

[0079] 10-Circuit board; 11-Front side; 12-Back side; 131-First pad; 132-Second pad; 14-First electronic component; 15-First sidewall; 16-Second sidewall; 17-Groove; 18-Extended pad; 20-Image sensor; 30-Optical lens assembly; 41-First cable; 43-Connecting cable; 50-Electrically driven structure; 61-Power chip; 62-Clock chip; 63-Motor drive chip. Detailed Implementation

[0080] To make the technical problem to be solved, the technical solution, and the beneficial effects of this utility model clearer, the present utility model will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the present utility model and are not intended to limit the present utility model.

[0081] It should be noted that when a component is referred to as being "fixed to" or "set on" another component, it can be directly on or indirectly on that other component. When a component is referred to as being "connected to" another component, it can be directly connected to or indirectly connected to that other component.

[0082] It should be understood that the terms "length", "width", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", and "outer" indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this utility model and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this utility model.

[0083] Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of this utility model, "a plurality of" means two or more, unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0084] A flexible endoscope (hereinafter referred to as an endoscope) is a medical device that enters the human body through natural cavities to observe the internal condition of those cavities. Common examples include colonoscopes, gastroscopes, and bronchoscopes. An endoscope has an insertion section for insertion into a patient's natural cavity. This insertion section includes an insertion tube, a curved section, and a rigid section. The rigid section contains, in sequence: a circuit board, an image sensor for imaging the natural cavity, and an optical lens assembly for transmitting reflected light from the natural cavity to the image sensor assembly.

[0085] The image sensor and circuit board together form the sensor assembly. Depending on the type of endoscope, the diameter of the rigid section is generally between several millimeters and tens of millimeters. Therefore, the size of the sensor assembly has a significant impact on the size of the rigid section. Generally, the size of the sensor assembly is minimized as much as possible to reduce the load on the rigid section and reduce patient discomfort during endoscopic examinations.

[0086] To alleviate or solve the above problems, this utility model provides an endoscope. The rigid part 101 of the endoscope includes a circuit board 10 and an image sensor 20 fixed on the front side 11 of the circuit board 10. At least some of the electronic components in the driving chip of the image sensor 20 are disposed in the operation part 200 and / or the connection part 400. The active devices do not occupy the space of the circuit board 10, which allows the size of the circuit board 10 to be designed to be smaller, with the limit close to the size of the image sensor 20, which is beneficial to the miniaturization of the cross-sectional size of the endoscope.

[0087] The endoscope provided in the embodiments of this utility model will now be described.

[0088] Please refer to the following: Figures 1 to 3 The endoscope includes an insertion part 100, an operating part 200, a flexible tube 300, and a connecting part 400;

[0089] The insertion part 100 has, from the front end side, a rigid part 101, a curved part 102 and an insertion tube 103 in sequence;

[0090] The operating unit 200 is connected to the insertion tube 103;

[0091] One end of the hose 300 is connected to the operating part 200, and the other end is connected to the connecting part 400;

[0092] The rigid part 101 includes a circuit board 10, an image sensor 20 and an optical lens assembly 30. The optical lens assembly 30 is disposed on one side of the image sensor 20 and the circuit board 10 is disposed on the other side of the image sensor 20.

[0093] The circuit board 10 has a front side 11 and a back side 12 disposed opposite to each other, and the image sensor 20 is fixed to the front side 11 and electrically connected to the front side 11.

[0094] The operation unit 200 and / or connection unit 400 are equipped with electronic components in the image sensor 20 drive circuit.

[0095] The operating unit 200 is a key structure for controlling the operation of the endoscope. It can precisely control the degree and direction of bending of the bending part 102, as well as control water supply, air supply, etc. It also has functions such as controlling image freezing, taking pictures, and recording videos.

[0096] The insertion section 100 is a key structure of the endoscope. It is a long and slender structure primarily used to insert into natural human cavities (such as the digestive tract and respiratory tract). The front end of the insertion section 100 refers to the side furthest from the operating section 200. From the front end, the insertion section 100 sequentially comprises a rigid section 101, a curved section 102, and an insertion tube 103. The rigid section 101 is the very front end of the insertion section 100 and typically houses an imaging module for imaging. The curved section 102 connects the rigid section 101 and the insertion tube 103. The curved section 102 is flexible and deformable, and its bending angle can be controlled by an internal traction system, allowing doctors to flexibly adjust the observation direction during examination. The insertion tube 103 connects the operating section 200 and the curved section 102. During insertion, the insertion tube 103 adapts well to the natural physiological curvature of the human body, making the insertion process smoother.

[0097] The imaging module of the rigid part 101 includes, from the front end side, an optical lens assembly 30, an image sensor 20, and a circuit board 10.

[0098] Image sensor 20 is a device that converts optical images into electronic signals. Its working principle is based on the photoelectric effect, converting information such as light intensity into easily processed electrical signals. These signals are then converted into digital images through analog-to-digital conversion. This embodiment of the invention does not impose excessive limitations on the type of image sensor 20; for example, it can be a CCD image sensor or a CMOS image sensor. Image sensor 20 is fixedly and electrically connected to the front side 11 of the circuit board 10.

[0099] The circuit board 10 has a front side 11 and a back side 12 disposed opposite to each other. The image sensor 20 is fixed and electrically connected to the front side 11 of the circuit board 10. The circuit board 10 is the circuit board 10 corresponding to the optical lens assembly 30. The front side 11 and the back side 12 of the circuit board 10 are the two larger surfaces of the circuit board 10, and the side connecting the front side 11 and the back side 12 is the sidewall of the circuit board 10. The image sensor 20 is fixed and electrically connected to the front side 11 of the circuit board 10, but the driving circuit for driving the image sensor 20 is located in the operation part 200 and / or the connection part 400, specifically in the circuit board of the operation part 200 and / or the connection part 400.

[0100] The operation section 200 and / or connection section 400 are equipped with electronic components from the image sensor 20 driving circuit. Some or all of the electronic components from the image sensor 20 driving circuit can be placed at the rear of the endoscope's operation section 200 or connection section 400, or distributed across both the operation section 200 and connection section 400. This reduces the number of electronic components required on the circuit board 10, allowing for further size reduction. For example, some electronic components from the driving circuit can be placed in the operation section 200 or connection section 400, or all electronic components can be placed in either the operation section 200 or connection section 400. Correspondingly, the circuit board 10 can contain active and / or passive devices, or even none at all; that is, cables are soldered to the pads on the back of the circuit board 10 and connected to the electronic components in the operation section 200 and / or connection section 400 via these cables. The rear-placed electronic components can be active, passive, or a combination of both.

[0101] It should be specifically noted that in this embodiment of the present invention, an active device refers specifically to an electronic component that requires a power source to perform its specific function. When some electronic components of a certain type require a power source to perform their specific function, while others can perform their function in the circuit without a power source, making it difficult to directly distinguish whether they are active devices, they can be classified as active or passive devices based on their actual power requirements in the image sensor 20 driving circuit of the present invention. For example, regarding ESD components, if the image sensor 20 driving circuit includes ESD components, then for each ESD component, it can be classified as an active or passive device based on whether it requires a power source to perform its specific function, rather than simply being directly classified as an active or passive device.

[0102] By transferring at least some of the electronic components in the driving circuit of the image sensor 20 to the operation section 200 and / or the connection section 400, the space occupied on the circuit board 10 can be reduced, further reducing the size of the circuit board 10 in the first and second directions. This allows the size of the circuit board 10 to be closer to the size of the image sensor 20, minimizing the size of the circuit board 10 and thus limiting the size of the entire sensor assembly (image sensor 20 + circuit board 10). Specifically, the size of the circuit board 10 in the radial direction is extremely close to or even the same as that of the image sensor 20. As an optional embodiment of this invention, active devices can be disposed in the connection section 400, thereby reducing circuit relays, improving anti-interference capabilities, and ultimately enhancing the imaging quality of the image sensor 20.

[0103] In the endoscope of the above embodiment, the rigid part 101 includes a circuit board 10 and an image sensor 20. The image sensor 20 is fixed on the front side 11 of the circuit board 10. The electronic components in the driving circuit of the image sensor 20 are disposed in the operation part 200 and / or the connection part 400. The active device does not occupy the space of the circuit board 10. The size of the circuit board 10 can be further reduced, or even approached the size of the image sensor 20, so that the size of the circuit board 10 will not become a bottleneck for miniaturizing the outer diameter of the endoscope insertion part 100.

[0104] In some embodiments of this utility model, the circuit board 10 is a single board, not an irregularly shaped board formed by bridging and combining multiple circuit boards, so the size of the circuit board 10 is very small.

[0105] In some embodiments of this utility model, the thickness of the circuit board 10 is 0.8 mm to 1.2 mm, which is relatively thin. In this embodiment, the thickness of the circuit board 10 is much smaller than that of flexible boards, irregularly shaped boards, etc. Therefore, the axial dimension occupied by the circuit board 10 is only the sum of the thickness of the image sensor 20 and the thickness of the circuit board 10, which is significantly smaller than that of the prior art.

[0106] In some embodiments of this utility model, the electronic components provided in the operation part 200 and / or connection part 400 include a second electronic component. The second electronic component is electrically connected to the back side 12 via a third cable 43. The second electronic component is an active device in the image sensor 20 driving circuit.

[0107] In this embodiment of the invention, considering that active devices are generally large in size and require a large area for placement, some or all of the active devices are placed at the rear. This significantly reduces the area required for the electronic components on the circuit board 10, thereby greatly reducing the radial dimension of the circuit board 10. As an optional embodiment of the invention, all active devices can be placed at the rear of the operation section 200 and / or the connection section 400. In this case, only passive devices need to be placed on the back of the circuit board 10, thus significantly reducing the radial dimension of the circuit board 10. It should be understood that, even with all active devices placed at the rear, some passive devices can still be placed at the rear of the operation section 200 and / or the connection section 400, or all passive devices can be placed on the circuit board 10. For example, in some embodiments, all active circuits can be placed at the rear of the operation section 200 and / or the connection section 400. In this case, each active circuit includes at least one active device, as well as passive devices in the peripheral circuits of that active device.

[0108] As an optional embodiment of this utility model, the active device can be set only in the connection part 400, thereby reducing circuit relays, improving anti-interference ability, and thus improving the imaging quality of the image sensor.

[0109] As an embodiment of this utility model, the back side 12 of the circuit board 10 is provided with some electronic components of the image sensor 20 driving circuit.

[0110] In this embodiment of the invention, some electronic components are placed on the back side 12 of the circuit board 10, thus avoiding placing all electronic components in the driving circuit at the rear. This has the advantage of reducing the impact of rear-placed electronic components on the imaging module's electromagnetic interference resistance. In other words, compared to placing all electronic components at the rear, the imaging module of this embodiment has stronger electromagnetic interference resistance, resulting in better image quality. It should be understood that this embodiment can be combined with the aforementioned embodiments where some electronic components are placed at the rear, for example, with embodiments where some active and / or passive components are placed at the rear of the operation section 200 and / or connection section 400. In this case, some electronic components from the driving circuit are provided in both the back side 12 of the circuit board 10 and the rearward components (operation section 200 and / or connection section 400).

[0111] In one embodiment of this utility model, some of the electronic components disposed on the back side 12 are first electronic components 14, which are passive components in the driving circuit of the image sensor 20. In this embodiment of the utility model, some or all of the passive components are placed on the back side 12 of the circuit board 10, while all active components are placed on the rear side. This allows the circuit board 10 to complete the arrangement of electronic components without exceeding the size of the image sensor 20. That is, without considering the cable channel 17 described below, the size of the circuit board 10 can be designed to the extreme (less than or equal to the size of the image sensor 20). Based on this, even if there is a need for cable arrangement, the size of the circuit board 10 can be designed to the extreme as much as possible with the cable channel 17, thereby significantly reducing the radial dimension of the circuit board 10.

[0112] By transferring the active devices on the circuit board 10 to the operation section 200 and / or the connection section 400, the space occupied on the circuit board 10 can be reduced, further reducing the size of the circuit board 10 in the first and second directions. Simultaneously, since the circuit board 10 only needs to hold passive devices, the placement of electronic devices can be completed on its back side, eliminating the need for complex designs to increase the placement space for electronic devices. Compared to complex designs such as increasing the total circuit board area by increasing the number of circuit boards 10, increasing the area of ​​a single circuit board by designing irregularly shaped circuit boards, or increasing the placement space for electronic devices by setting pads for mounting electronic components on the circuit board 10, the rear placement of active devices can effectively simplify the design of the circuit board itself and reduce the axial length of the imaging module, allowing a single rigid circuit board to meet design requirements. Compared to the existing technology where the diameter of the zoom end lens is about 10mm and the length of the rigid part at the head end is about 20mm, the present invention can save about 2-3mm of the overall size of the imaging module in the radial direction and about 3-5mm in the axial direction, thus significantly enhancing the miniaturization design advantage of the zoom end lens.

[0113] In some embodiments of the present invention, please refer to Figure 2 and Figure 5 The back side 12 has multiple second pads 132, on which first electronic components 14 are soldered. One end of a third cable 43 is electrically connected to the second electronic components, and the other end is soldered to a pad other than the second pads 132. The second pads 132 are used to solder the first electronic components 14, and the third cable 43 is used to connect the second electronic components to the pads on the back side 12 of the circuit board 10 (the pads other than the second pads 132 can be the first pads 131 or other pads). The back side 12 of the circuit board 10 needs to be provided with first pads 131, second pads 132, etc., and the number of pads is relatively large. The size of the circuit board 10 is relatively small, so the layout is very crowded.

[0114] Please refer to some embodiments of this utility model. Figure 6 When a second electronic component is installed in the operating section 200, an electromagnetic shielding structure is installed in both the operating section 200 and the insertion section 100, and the first cable 41 is partially or completely passed through the electromagnetic shielding structure. When an active device is located in the operating section 200, its performance will be affected to some extent due to electromagnetic interference and other factors. By installing the aforementioned electromagnetic shielding structure, performance can be improved, ensuring the normal operation of the active device.

[0115] Please refer to some embodiments of this utility model. Figure 7 and Figure 8When a second electronic component is installed within the connecting part 400, an electromagnetic shielding structure is installed within the connecting part 400, the flexible hose 300, the operating part 200, and the insertion part 100. The first cable 41 is partially or entirely passed through this electromagnetic shielding structure. When an active device is located within the connecting part 400, its performance may be affected by electromagnetic interference. The electromagnetic shielding structure described above can improve performance and ensure the normal operation of the active device.

[0116] A zoom endoscope is an endoscope whose imaging focal length can be adjusted, such as a bifocal endoscope and a magnifying endoscope. To achieve zoom functionality, an electrically driven structure is required on the optical lens assembly side. This structure is connected to the electrically driven structure at the front end via a multi-core cable on the back of the circuit board, driving the moving lens group on the optical lens assembly side to achieve zoom. To power the electrically driven structure, the image sensor drive circuit design must be compatible with the electrical interface design of the electrically driven structure. The multi-core cable needs to be soldered to the circuit board, requiring more pads on the circuit board. This results in an increased cross-sectional size at the circuit board, which is detrimental to the miniaturization of the endoscope's rigid components.

[0117] Please refer to some embodiments of this utility model. Figures 4 to 7 The circuit board 10 is provided with a cable channel 17, which is used for the first cable 41 to pass through, or for the first cable 41 and the second cable to be soldered, or for the preset cable to be soldered from the bend 102.

[0118] When the cable channel 17 is used for the first cable 41 to pass through, one end of the first cable 41 is electrically connected to the electric drive structure 50; when the cable channel 17 is used for welding the first cable 41 and the second cable, the end of the second cable away from the cable channel 17 is electrically connected to the electric drive structure 50; the electric drive structure 50 and the optical lens assembly 30 are disposed on the same side of the image sensor 20, and the electric drive structure 50 is used to drive the optical lens assembly 30 inside the endoscope to move, so as to change the imaging focal length of the optical lens assembly 30.

[0119] The electric drive structure 50 is used to drive the optical lens assembly 30 to zoom. Its structural type is not described here, but it can be driven by a conventional motor or a voice coil motor (VCM). The electric drive structure 50 can also be referred to as a drive motor.

[0120] In the first embodiment, the cable channel 17 is used for the first cable 41 to pass through, that is, the first cable 41 passes through the cable channel 17 of the circuit board 10. The first cable 41 can be a cable connected to the electric drive structure 50. Specifically, one or more core wires inside the first cable 41 can be bundled together and passed through the cable channel 17 to connect with the electric drive structure 50. The advantage is that it can reduce the exposure of the soldered section of the first cable 41. The first cable 41 needs to be soldered to one end of the electric drive structure 50 or one end of the operating part 200 before passing through the cable channel 17. Therefore, the first cable 41 is relatively long and thin. During the soldering and passing process, the first cable 41 is prone to shaking, which may lead to desoldering. Therefore, a fixing fixture is needed to fix the first cable 41 to assist in the soldering process.

[0121] In the second scheme: the cable channel 17 is also used for soldering the first cable 41 and the second cable. One end of the second cable is connected to the electric drive structure 50, and the other end of the second cable is soldered to the metal layer inside the cable channel 17. One end of the first cable 41 is soldered to the metal layer inside the cable channel 17 or to a metal layer adjacent to the cable channel 17, and the other end of the first cable 41 can be connected to the motor drive chip 63. The electric drive structure 50 and the motor drive chip 63 are connected through the combined action of the first cable 41 and the second cable. The advantage of soldering the first cable 41 and the second cable separately in the cable channel 17 is that one end of the cable can be soldered to the cable channel 17 first to fix it, and then the other end of the cable can be soldered to the cable channel 17. This can shorten the length of a single cable segment, greatly reduce the difficulty of soldering, and thus improve assembly efficiency. It should be understood that the optical lens assembly 30 contains multiple lenses. During zooming, it mainly drives some of the lenses in the optical lens assembly 30 to move, thereby realizing the focal length adjustment. In this application embodiment, no specific metal material is limited to the metal layer. Any metal material that can be welded is acceptable, such as copper or solder.

[0122] In the third embodiment: some or all of the cable channels 17 in the circuit board 10 are used for soldering preset cables passing through the bend 102, or some or all of the cable channels 17 in the circuit board 10 and the extended pads 18 connected to these cable channels 17 are used for soldering preset cables passing through the bend 102. The preset cable may be a ground wire or a cable shielding layer (i.e., shielding wire).

[0123] In clinical applications, endoscopes frequently involve bending of the curved section 102, resulting in repeated stretching of the cable. If the welding strength between the cable and the circuit board 10 is insufficient, the cable may break off. To address this, in this embodiment, a portion of the cable channel 17 is used as a reinforcing welding point. By welding some pre-set cables onto the cable channel 17, a larger welding area in the thickness direction is achieved, effectively increasing the welding area and thus improving the overall welding strength between the cable and the circuit board 10. This makes the cable less likely to detach from the circuit board 10, better mitigating the risk of cable detachment due to repeated bending at the tip. Furthermore, when an extension pad 18 connected to the cable channel 17 is provided on the back side, pre-set cables can be welded simultaneously onto both the extension pad 18 and the cable channel 17, further enhancing the welding strength.

[0124] The cable of the electric drive structure 50 can pass through the cable channel 17 or be soldered inside the cable channel 17. This reduces the number of pads on the circuit board 10, improves the utilization of the board space, and thus reduces the size of the circuit board 10, making it more miniaturized. By setting the drive cable and active device together through the cable channel 17, the size of the circuit board 10 can be made closer to the size of the image sensor 20. This minimizes the size of the circuit board 10 of the zoom endoscope, thereby achieving the limit of the size of the entire sensor assembly (image sensor 20 + circuit board 10), that is, the size of the circuit board 10 is extremely close to or even the same as that of the image sensor 20 in the radial direction.

[0125] In some embodiments of this utility model, the cable channel 17 includes a groove or hole structure. The circuit board 10 has a groove on its sidewall, or a hole structure near its sidewall. In these embodiments, the cable channel 17 can be implemented by creating a groove on the sidewall of the circuit board 10 or drilling a hole near the sidewall, for the cable of the power drive structure 50 to pass through. The diameter of the cable of the power drive structure 50 passing through the circuit board 10 is less than 1 mm, and in some cases less than 0.5 mm. Assembling the rigid part 101 in this area is extremely difficult and prone to errors. Therefore, compared to a planar structure, the cable channel 17 also facilitates cable fixation. When assembling the rigid part 101 at the head end, it effectively reduces the difficulty of assembling and soldering the cable, thereby improving assembly efficiency and reducing the probability of errors. Regarding the hole structure, when used to pass through the first cable 41, its size only needs to be larger than the size of the first cable 41, thus the size requirement is smaller than the area requirement of traditional pad settings. However, when the hole structure is used to solder the first cable 41 and the second cable, since a metal layer can be set inside the hole structure for cable soldering, the space occupied on the front and back sides of the circuit board 10 will be less than the area requirement of the traditional pad setting. Therefore, the hole structure can reduce the area requirement of the circuit board 10 to a certain extent, improve the area utilization of the circuit board 10, and thus facilitate the miniaturization of the circuit board 10.

[0126] In some embodiments, the cable channel 17 is a groove. A groove can be formed in the sidewall, thus significantly reducing the area required for the circuit board 10 to accommodate the cable channel 17. Whether for insertion or soldering, the area required for the substrate by a groove is much smaller than that of a hole structure (generally only half or even less). Furthermore, compared to hole structures, grooves are easier to manufacture, more feasible, and less expensive. Therefore, by providing grooves for drive motor cables, the area requirement for the circuit board 10 can be significantly reduced, resulting in higher space utilization and greater advantages in miniaturization of the circuit board 10. The groove can be either fully inserted into the circuit board 10 or partially inserted.

[0127] In one embodiment of this utility model, a groove is provided on the side wall of the circuit board 10, and the groove is disposed through the side wall of the circuit board 10. In this embodiment of the utility model, the groove is disposed through the side wall, which can facilitate the passage of cables or provide a larger area for soldering. The through groove also facilitates the cable to be stored in the groove during the process of going to the electric drive structure 50, thereby reducing the load on the rigid part 101 in the radial dimension and facilitating the miniaturization of the rigid part 101.

[0128] The following examples use a groove as an example of cable channel 17. For ease of explanation in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the number of cable channel 17 is retained as groove 17.

[0129] As one embodiment of the present invention, the groove 17 is disposed through the side wall of the circuit board 10 in a straight line; or the groove 17 is disposed through the side wall of the circuit board 10 in a predetermined non-straight line manner.

[0130] In this embodiment of the invention, the groove 17 has at least two penetration methods: it can penetrate the sidewall directly in a straight line, for example, perpendicularly penetrating the sidewall along the thickness direction of the circuit board 10, or it can penetrate the sidewall in a straight line at a certain angle to the thickness direction, such as penetrating the sidewall directly in the direction between the sidewall's side length direction and the vertical direction (i.e., at a 45-degree angle to the vertical direction). Alternatively, it can penetrate the sidewall in a non-straight line, such as by the groove 17 penetrating the sidewall in a curved manner (e.g., an S-shaped curve or other shaped curve), Z-shaped, L-shaped, etc. Therefore, those skilled in the art can select the penetration method of the groove 17 according to actual needs. In some embodiments, the groove 17 can penetrate the sidewall perpendicularly along the thickness direction of the sidewall. Where the thickness direction of the circuit board 10 is the direction of its smallest dimension, the groove 17 can extend to the front side 11 and back side 12 of the circuit board 10 at both ends in the thickness direction of the circuit board 10, respectively.

[0131] It should be noted that, in this embodiment of the present invention, the sidewall also includes the junction between different sidewalls, such as the intersection of adjacent sidewalls. Based on this, the groove 17 can also be provided at the junction of the sidewalls. For example, when the circuit board 10 is quadrilateral, the groove 17 can be provided at one or more of the four corners of the circuit board 10.

[0132] In some embodiments of this utility model, the circuit board 10 is a single board, that is, the circuit board 10 contains only a single circuit board, rather than multiple circuit boards formed by bridging, spatial overlapping, or interlocking to form irregularly shaped combination boards such as T-shaped boards, L-shaped boards, stacked boards, parallel boards, etc. (hereinafter referred to as irregularly shaped boards). Therefore, the size of the circuit board 10 is very small. In some embodiments, the circuit board 10 is a rigid circuit board (hereinafter referred to as a rigid board), that is, a circuit board with a certain rigidity, rather than a foldable flexible circuit board (hereinafter referred to as a flexible board).

[0133] In some embodiments of this utility model, the thickness of the circuit board 10 is 0.8 mm to 1.2 mm, which is relatively thin. In this embodiment, the thickness of the circuit board 10 is much smaller than that of flexible boards, irregularly shaped boards, etc. Therefore, the axial dimension occupied by the circuit board 10 is only the sum of the thickness of the image sensor 20 and the thickness of the circuit board 10, which is significantly smaller than that of the prior art.

[0134] As one embodiment of this utility model, please refer to Figure 2 and Figure 3 In practical applications, the back surface 12 of the circuit board 10 is extremely small, typically with a side length of only 1-5 mm. Given this extremely small size, a large number of solder pads need to be arranged, making the space on the back surface 12 of the circuit board 10 extremely compact. Therefore, to maximize the reuse of the space on the back surface 12 and improve space utilization, thereby reducing the size of the circuit board 10, please refer to the embodiments of this utility model. Figures 2 to 5 :

[0135] The circuit board 10 has a first sidewall 15 along a first direction and a second sidewall 16 along a second direction, wherein the first direction and the second direction are not parallel.

[0136] The back side 12 of the circuit board 10 is provided with multiple soldering areas, each soldering area contains multiple solder pads, and the boundary of each soldering area is the minimum bounding rectangle boundary of all the solder pads contained therein.

[0137] The groove is located on the second sidewall 16, and in the projection along the first direction, the projection of the groove does not overlap with the projection of the welding area outside the target area; in the projection along the second direction, the target area is the area with the smallest projection width in the welding area.

[0138] Both the first and second directions are perpendicular to the thickness direction. The first and second directions can be perpendicular to each other, form an obtuse angle, or form an acute angle. Thus, the circuit board 10 can be a plate-like structure such as a parallelogram (e.g., a rectangle), a trapezoid, or a polygon (e.g., a pentagon, hexagon, octagon, etc.).

[0139] In this embodiment of the invention, the area of ​​the circuit board containing the pads is divided into multiple different soldering areas according to the pad layout. Each area is the smallest bounding rectangle of all the pads contained therein. Based on this, the soldering area with the smallest projected width along the second direction (i.e., the target area) can be determined, and grooves 17 are arranged on both sides of the target area on the second sidewall 16, thereby making full use of the remaining space of the narrowest soldering area. At the same time, the grooves 17 are staggered from the soldering areas outside the target area, that is, the projection of the grooves and the projection of the soldering areas outside the target area do not overlap along the first direction, so that the setting of the grooves 17 will not squeeze the space of non-target areas. Thus, this embodiment of the invention can make full use of the space on the back side 12, improve the space utilization rate, and greatly reduce the dimensional load on the circuit board 10 caused by setting the grooves 17, thereby facilitating the miniaturization of the circuit board 10.

[0140] As an embodiment of the present invention, the welding area includes a target area and other areas outside the target area. The other areas include a first pad 131, and the target area includes a second pad 132. The first pad 131 is used to weld objects in the image sensor 20 driving circuit other than the first electronic component 14, and the second pad 132 is used to weld the first electronic component 14, which is an electronic component in the image sensor 20 driving circuit.

[0141] Other areas are located on opposite sides of the second direction, and the target area is located in the middle of the second direction. This can be understood as follows: in the second direction, a portion of the first pad 131, the first electronic component 14 (second pad 132), and another portion of the first pad 131 are arranged sequentially. Alternatively, the other areas and the target area are respectively located on opposite sides of the second direction. This can also be understood as follows: in the second direction, the first pad 131 and the first electronic component 14 (second pad 132) are arranged sequentially.

[0142] In this embodiment of the invention, a large number of electronic components are placed at the rear, so that the electronic components on the back side 12 only need to occupy less space. Therefore, they can be placed in a narrower target area, while pads for soldering cables or other objects are placed in other areas. Based on this, the target area and the rest are arranged on both sides or staggered, which can achieve an orderly arrangement of the electronic components and pads on the back side. This is beneficial for the assembly of the imaging module and subsequent maintenance operations, improves the yield of the imaging module, and reduces the difficulty of maintenance.

[0143] In one embodiment of this utility model, both the first cable 41 and the second cable are welded to the groove wall of the groove 17.

[0144] As an optional embodiment of this utility model, in order to reduce the risks that may arise from the exposure of the groove 17, in this embodiment of the utility model, when the groove 17 is welded with the first cable 41 and the second cable, the groove 17 is also covered with an insulating layer. This insulating layer can be a dot of adhesive or other materials, and is not limited in detail here.

[0145] As one embodiment of this utility model

[0146] The back surface 12 of the circuit board 10 has an extended pad 18, which is disposed on the back surface 12 near the second sidewall 16 and is connected to the metal layer in the groove.

[0147] On the projection in the first direction, the projection of the extended pad 18 does not overlap with the projection of the welding area outside the target area.

[0148] The extended pad 18 and the metal layer within the groove 17 are connected to form a conductor. Part or all of the first cable 41 is soldered to the extended pad 18, and the second cable is soldered to the groove wall of the groove 17, thus achieving the soldering of the first cable 41 and the second cable. Furthermore, the projection of the extended pad 18 along the first direction and the projection of the first pad 131 along the first direction are spaced apart and do not overlap. Specifically, when part of the first cable 41 is soldered to the extended pad 18 and the second cable is soldered to the groove wall of the groove 17, the remaining first cable 41 is still soldered to the groove wall of the groove 17.

[0149] Partial or complete soldering of the first cable 41 to the extended pad 18 and the second cable to the groove wall of the groove 17 can reduce the soldering difficulty and improve the situation of solder joint protrusion caused by welding cables in the groove 17, thereby reducing the risk of increased overall size of the sensor module due to solder joint protrusion. Moreover, in the projection of the extended pad 18 and the first pad 131 in the first direction, the projections do not overlap, allowing the extended pad 18 to be recessed to a certain depth along the first direction without affecting the space occupied by the first pad 131 or its layout, thus effectively improving the utilization rate of the pad space. In addition, as an embodiment of this utility model, since the extended pad 18 only needs to solder a single-sided cable instead of a double-sided cable, the area of ​​the pad can be set relatively small, that is, the extended pad 18 can be a narrow-sided pad, thereby reducing the space occupied on the back side 12.

[0150] As an optional embodiment of this utility model, a portion of the groove 17 in the circuit board 10 is used for soldering a preset cable passing through the bend 102, or a portion of the groove 17 in the circuit board 10 and the connected extended pad 18 are used for soldering a preset cable passing through the bend 102. The preset cable may be a ground wire or a cable shielding layer (i.e., shielding wire).

[0151] In clinical applications, endoscopes frequently involve bending of the curved section 102, resulting in repeated stretching of the cable. If the welding strength between the cable and the circuit board 10 is insufficient, the cable may break off. To address this, in this embodiment, some grooves 17 are used as reinforcing welding points. By welding some pre-set cables onto the grooves 17, a larger welding area in the thickness direction is achieved, effectively increasing the welding area and thus improving the overall welding strength between the cable and the circuit board 10. This makes the cable less likely to detach from the circuit board 10, better mitigating the risk of cable detachment due to repeated bending at the tip. Furthermore, when the back side also has corresponding extended pads 18 for the grooves 17, pre-set cables can be welded simultaneously onto both the extended pads 18 and the grooves 17, further enhancing the welding strength.

[0152] In some embodiments of this utility model, the operation unit 200 includes a motor drive chip 63, which is electrically connected to one end of the first cable 41 and is used to control the electric drive structure 50. The motor drive chip 63 is used to control the start / stop, speed, etc. of the electric drive structure 50, thereby realizing the adjustment of the focal length of the optical lens assembly 30. The motor drive chip 63, the first cable 41, the circuit board 10 (the inner wall of the groove 17 or the extended pad 18), the second cable, and the electric drive structure 50 are connected in sequence to realize the electrical connection between the motor drive chip 63 and the electric drive structure 50, thereby realizing the control of the electric drive structure 50.

[0153] In some embodiments, the operation unit 200 includes a motor drive chip 63, which is electrically connected to one end of the first cable 41 and is used to control the electric drive structure 50. The motor drive chip 63 is used to control the start / stop, speed, etc. of the electric drive structure 50, thereby adjusting the focal length of the optical lens assembly 30. The motor drive chip 63, the first cable 41, the circuit board 10 (the inner wall of the groove 17 or the extended pad 18), the second cable, and the electric drive structure 50 are connected in sequence to realize the electrical connection between the motor drive chip 63 and the electric drive structure 50, thereby realizing the control of the electric drive structure 50.

[0154] As an optional embodiment of this utility model, considering the extremely small size of the circuit board 10 (generally with a side length between 1-5 mm) and the high precision requirements and difficulty in processing, in order to improve the yield rate of the circuit board 10 during manufacturing, the circuit board 10 can be designed as a rectangle or a quadrilateral similar in shape to a rectangle, such as a trapezoid. Based on this, one of the first sidewall 15 and the second sidewall 16 is parallel to the length direction of the circuit board 10, and the other is parallel to the width direction of the circuit board 10. Both the first sidewall 15 and the second sidewall 16 are parallel to the thickness direction. Specifically, there are two first sidewalls 15 arranged opposite each other, such as in a parallel or nearly parallel manner, and there are two second sidewalls 16 arranged opposite each other, such as in a parallel or nearly parallel manner.

[0155] Please refer to some embodiments of this utility model. Figure 4 and Figure 5 The orthographic projection of the groove 17 onto the thickness direction of the circuit board 10 is arc-shaped. The groove 17, after being orthographically projected onto the thickness direction of the circuit board 10, appears as a line, which is arc-shaped. An arc can be understood as a portion of a perfect circle or an ellipse, such as a 1 / 2 arc, a 1 / 4 arc, or a 1 / 6 arc.

[0156] Since the groove 17 is generally formed by rotating a drill bit, it is more convenient to rotate the drill bit when the orthographic projection of the groove 17 in the thickness direction of the circuit board 10 is arc-shaped.

[0157] In some embodiments of this utility model, the orthographic projection of the groove 17 in the thickness direction of the circuit board 10 is a parabolic shape or the like.

[0158] Please refer to some embodiments of this utility model. Figure 5 The depth of the groove 17 is 0.1mm to 0.15mm. The sidewall of the groove 17 is the second sidewall 16. The distance between the second sidewall 16 and the bottom (deepest point) of the groove 17 is the depth of the groove 17, which can also be understood as the dimension of the deepest point of the groove 17 in the first direction.

[0159] If the depth of the groove 17 is too large, it will extend into the image sensor 20, meaning the edge of the image sensor 20 will be exposed inside and outside the groove 17. This could easily cause the image sensor 20 to break when the cable is soldered or passes through the groove 17. If the depth of the groove 17 is too small, the thickness of the solder joint when the cable is soldered to the groove wall may be greater than the depth of the groove 17, causing the cable solder joint to protrude from the second sidewall 16. When the cable passes through the groove 17, the core wire may also be exposed outside the groove 17 and onto the second sidewall 16. In other words, if the depth of the groove 17 is too small, the actual occupied size of the circuit board cross-section will increase (greater than the actual size of the circuit board side length), which is not conducive to the miniaturization of the insertion part 100 cross-section. Therefore, setting the depth of the groove 17 to 0.1mm to 0.15mm will prevent the image sensor 20 from being exposed while ensuring that the cable is completely embedded inside the groove 17 when it is passed through or soldered, thus avoiding an increase in the actual occupied size of the circuit board 10 cross-section.

[0160] In some embodiments, the depth of the groove 17 is 0.1 mm, 0.12 mm, 0.14 mm, 0.15 mm, etc.

[0161] In some embodiments of this invention, the orthographic projection of the image sensor 20 along the thickness direction of the circuit board 10 is a reference area, and the orthographic projection of the groove 17 along the thickness direction of the circuit board 10 is at least partially located within the reference area, or entirely located outside the reference area. This embodiment includes two cases:

[0162] First, the orthographic projection of the groove 17 along the thickness direction of the circuit board 10 is partially or entirely located within the reference area. In other words, in the rear view of the circuit board 10, the setting of the groove 17 will expose the edge of the image sensor 20.

[0163] Second, the orthographic projection of the recess 17 along the thickness direction of the circuit board 10 is entirely outside the reference area. In other words, in the rear view of the inner circuit board, the recess 17 does not expose the edge of the image sensor 20 (see [reference]). Figure 3 The welding or passing of cables will not affect the image sensor 20.

[0164] It should be noted that, apart from the sidewall with the groove 17, the sidewalls of the circuit board 10 along its thickness direction can be referred to as flat sidewalls. The flat sidewalls may be located outside the reference area or not. That is to say, the size of the circuit board 10 in the first direction may be greater than, equal to or smaller than the size of the image sensor 20 in the first direction, and the size of the circuit board 10 in the second direction may be greater than, equal to or smaller than the size of the image sensor 20 in the second direction.

[0165] In some embodiments of this invention, the circuit board 10 has a first sidewall 15 parallel to a first direction and a second sidewall 16 parallel to a second direction. The first and second directions are not parallel, and both the first and second directions are perpendicular to the thickness direction. The length of the first sidewall 15 is less than the length of the second sidewall 16. The circuit board 10 is not a square structure, and the length of one sidewall is less than the length of the other sidewall.

[0166] When processing the circuit board 10, multiple circuit boards 10 are arranged in a rectangular array on a large board. The first sidewall 15 of the circuit board 10 has a pre-cut line. The second sidewall 16 of the circuit board 10 is cascaded with the second sidewall 16 of the adjacent circuit board 10. After the image sensor 20 is attached to the corresponding circuit board 10, each circuit board 10 is then cut. Due to the cascading effect, the cutting precision of the second sidewall 16 of the circuit board 10 is not set too high in order to improve the yield of the circuit board 10. Therefore, the length of the second sidewall 16 is slightly longer to facilitate the cutting of the circuit board 10.

[0167] Optionally, the length of the first sidewall 15 is greater than the length of the image sensor 20 in the first direction, and the length of the second sidewall 16 is greater than the length of the image sensor 20 in the second direction. This way, the image sensor 20 will not be touched when the circuit board 10 is cut, thus preventing the image sensor 20 from breaking.

[0168] As an embodiment of this utility model, by setting the groove 17 on the longer side with a larger usable space: the second sidewall 16, more design space can be provided for the groove 17, which is beneficial to improving the space utilization of the circuit board 10, while reducing the design and processing difficulty of the groove 17.

[0169] Please refer to some embodiments of this utility model. Figure 5 and Figure 6The circuit board 10 is provided with a cable channel 17, which is used for the passage of the first cable 41, or for soldering the first cable 41 and the second cable, or for soldering a preset cable passing through the bend 102. The image sensor 20 has a side length of 3mm × 3mm, the length of the first sidewall 15 is 3mm to 3.5mm, and the length of the second sidewall 16 is 3.3mm to 3.8mm. The projection of the image sensor 20 in its thickness direction is square; therefore, the dimensions of the image sensor 20 parallel to the first direction and parallel to the second direction are both 3mm. The length of the first sidewall 15 is the dimension of the first sidewall 15 in the first direction, and the length of the second sidewall 16 is the dimension of the second sidewall 16 in the second direction. This embodiment can be applied to a zoom endoscope, which has an electrically driven structure 50 for driving the movement of the optical lens assembly 30.

[0170] When the length of the first sidewall 15 is too long, the length of the circuit board 10 in the first direction will be too large, affecting the miniaturization of the endoscope insertion part 100 in the first direction. When the length of the first sidewall 15 is too small, especially when it is smaller than the side length of the image sensor 20, it may cause damage to the image sensor 20 when cutting the circuit board 10. Therefore, the length of the first sidewall 15 is set to 3mm to 3.5mm. When the length of the second sidewall 16 is too long, the length of the circuit board 10 in the second direction will be too large, affecting the miniaturization of the endoscope insertion part 100 in the second direction. When the length of the second sidewall 16 is too small, especially when it is smaller than the side length of the image sensor 20, it may cause damage to the image sensor 20 when cutting the circuit board 10, or the cutting precision requirements may be too high, making it difficult to meet the reliability and yield of production. Therefore, the length of the second sidewall 16 is set to 3.3mm to 3.8mm, so that the size of the circuit board 10 is as small as possible and as close as possible to the size of the image sensor 20 while maintaining the production reliability and a certain production yield of the circuit board 10.

[0171] In some embodiments, the image sensor 20 has a side length of 3mm × 3mm, the first sidewall 15 has a length of 3mm to 3.4mm, and the second sidewall 16 has a length of 3.4mm to 3.7mm. In this embodiment, the circuit board 10 is easier to process, has higher production reliability, and does not excessively increase the dimensions of the circuit board 10 in the first and second directions.

[0172] Optionally, the length of the first sidewall 15 is 3.1mm, 3.2mm, 3.3mm, 3.4mm, etc., and the length of the second sidewall 16 is 3.4mm, 3.5mm, 3.6mm, 3.7mm, etc.

[0173] Please refer to some embodiments of this utility model. Figure 5 and Figure 6 The image sensor 20 has a side length of 2mm × 2mm, the length of the first sidewall 15 is 2mm to 2.8mm, and the length of the second sidewall 16 is 2.5mm to 3.2mm. The projection of the image sensor 20 in its thickness direction is square; therefore, the dimensions of the image sensor 20 parallel to the first direction and parallel to the second direction are both 2mm. The length of the first sidewall 15 is its dimension in the first direction, and the length of the second sidewall 16 is its dimension in the second direction.

[0174] When the length of the first sidewall 15 is too long, the length of the circuit board 10 in the first direction will be too large, affecting the miniaturization of the endoscope insertion part 100 in the first direction. When the length of the first sidewall 15 is too small, especially when it is smaller than the side length of the image sensor 20, it may cause damage to the image sensor 20 when cutting the circuit board 10. Therefore, the length of the first sidewall 15 is set to 2 mm to 2.8 mm. When the length of the second sidewall 16 is too long, the length of the circuit board 10 in the second direction will be too large, affecting the miniaturization of the endoscope insertion part 100 in the second direction. When the length of the second sidewall 16 is too small, especially when it is smaller than the side length of the image sensor 20, it may cause damage to the image sensor 20 when cutting the circuit board 10, or the cutting precision requirements may be too high, making it difficult to meet the reliability and yield of production. Therefore, the length of the second sidewall 16 is set to 2.5 mm to 3.2 mm, so that the size of the circuit board 10 is as small as possible and as close as possible to the size of the image sensor 20 while maintaining the production reliability and a certain production yield of the circuit board 10.

[0175] In some embodiments, the image sensor 20 has a side length of 2mm × 2mm, the first sidewall 15 has a length of 2.3mm to 2.8mm, and the second sidewall 16 has a length of 2.8mm to 3.1mm. In this embodiment, the circuit board 10 is easier to process, has higher production reliability, and does not excessively increase the dimensions of the circuit board 10 in the first and second directions.

[0176] Optionally, the length of the first sidewall 15 is 2.4mm, 2.6mm, 2.7mm, 2.8mm, etc., and the length of the second sidewall 16 is 2.8mm, 2.9mm, 3mm, 3.1mm, etc.

[0177] Please refer to some embodiments of this utility model. Figure 5 At least one second sidewall 16 has a groove 17, and the number of grooves 17 corresponds one-to-one with the number of first cables 41, and the total number of grooves 17 is 2, 4, 6 or 8. Each first cable 41 passes through a corresponding groove 17 or is soldered to a corresponding groove 17. The total number of grooves 17 can also be other numbers, which are not specifically limited here.

[0178] In some embodiments, the grooves 17 are all distributed on one of the second sidewalls 16, which reduces the space occupied by the circuit board 10 in the first direction and reduces the size burden caused by the grooves 17, thereby further reducing the size of the circuit board 10.

[0179] In some embodiments, a portion of the groove 17 is located on one of the second sidewalls 16, and another portion of the groove 17 is located on the other second sidewall 16. The number of grooves 17 on the two second sidewalls 16 is the same and they are symmetrically distributed; or, the number of grooves 17 on the two second sidewalls 16 may be the same and they may be asymmetrically distributed; or, the number of grooves 17 on the two second sidewalls 16 may be different.

[0180] For example, each of the two second sidewalls 16 has two grooves 17, which are symmetrically distributed.

[0181] Please refer to some embodiments of this utility model. Figure 2 and Figure 3 The image sensor 20 has a side length of 3.5mm × 3.5mm, the length of the first sidewall 15 is 3.5mm to 3.8mm, and the length of the second sidewall 16 is 3.8mm to 4mm. The projection of the image sensor 20 in its thickness direction is square; therefore, the dimensions of the image sensor 20 parallel to the first direction and parallel to the second direction are both 3.5mm. The length of the first sidewall 15 is its dimension in the first direction, and the length of the second sidewall 16 is its dimension in the second direction.

[0182] When the length of the first sidewall 15 is too long, the length of the circuit board 10 in the first direction will be too large, affecting the miniaturization of the endoscope insertion part in the first direction. When the length of the first sidewall 15 is too small, especially when it is smaller than the side length of the image sensor 20, it may cause damage to the image sensor 20 when cutting the circuit board 10. Therefore, the length of the first sidewall 15 is set to 3.5 mm to 3.8 mm. When the length of the second sidewall 16 is too long, the length of the circuit board 10 in the second direction will be too large, affecting the miniaturization of the endoscope insertion part in the second direction. When the length of the second sidewall 16 is too small, especially when it is smaller than the side length of the image sensor 20, it may cause damage to the image sensor 20 when cutting the circuit board 10, or the cutting precision requirements may be too high, making it difficult to meet the reliability and yield of production. Therefore, the length of the second sidewall 16 is set to 3.8 mm to 4 mm, so that the size of the circuit board 10 is as small as possible and as close as possible to the size of the image sensor 20 while maintaining the production reliability and a certain production yield of the circuit board 10.

[0183] In some embodiments, the image sensor 20 has a side length of 3.5mm × 3.5mm, the first sidewall 15 has a length of 3.5mm to 3.7mm, and the second sidewall 16 has a length of 3.8mm to 3.9mm. In this embodiment, the circuit board 10 is easier to process, has higher production reliability, and does not excessively increase the dimensions of the circuit board 10 in the first and second directions.

[0184] Optionally, the length of the first sidewall 15 is 3.5mm, 3.6mm, 3.7mm, etc., and the length of the second sidewall 16 is 3.8mm, 3.85mm, 3.9mm, etc.

[0185] Please refer to some embodiments of this utility model. Figure 2 and Figure 3 The image sensor 20 has a side length of 3mm × 3mm, the length of the first sidewall 15 is 3mm to 3.3mm, and the length of the second sidewall 16 is 3.1mm to 3.6mm. The projection of the image sensor 20 in its thickness direction is square; therefore, the dimensions of the image sensor 20 parallel to the first direction and parallel to the second direction are both 3mm. The length of the first sidewall 15 is its dimension in the first direction, and the length of the second sidewall 16 is its dimension in the second direction.

[0186] When the length of the first sidewall 15 is too long, the length of the circuit board 10 in the first direction will be too large, affecting the miniaturization of the endoscope insertion part in the first direction. When the length of the first sidewall 15 is too small, especially when it is smaller than the side length of the image sensor 20, it may cause damage to the image sensor 20 when cutting the circuit board 10. Therefore, the length of the first sidewall 15 is set to 3mm to 3.3mm. When the length of the second sidewall 16 is too long, the length of the circuit board 10 in the second direction will be too large, affecting the miniaturization of the endoscope insertion part in the second direction. When the length of the second sidewall 16 is too small, especially when it is smaller than the side length of the image sensor 20, it may cause damage to the image sensor 20 when cutting the circuit board 10, or the cutting precision requirements may be too high, making it difficult to meet the reliability and yield of production. Therefore, the length of the second sidewall 16 is set to 3.1mm to 3.6mm, so that the size of the circuit board 10 is as small as possible and as close as possible to the size of the image sensor 20 while maintaining the production reliability and a certain production yield of the circuit board 10.

[0187] In some embodiments, the image sensor 20 has a side length of 3mm × 3mm, the first sidewall 15 has a length of 3mm to 3.2mm, and the second sidewall 16 has a length of 3.2mm to 3.5mm. In this embodiment, the circuit board 10 is easier to process, has higher production reliability, and does not excessively increase the dimensions of the circuit board 10 in the first and second directions.

[0188] Optionally, the length of the first sidewall 15 is 3mm, 3.1mm, 3.2mm, etc., and the length of the second sidewall 16 is 3.3mm, 3.4mm, 3.5mm, etc.

[0189] Please refer to some embodiments of this utility model. Figure 2 and Figure 3 The image sensor 20 has a side length of 2mm × 2mm, the length of the first sidewall 15 is 2mm to 2.6mm, and the length of the second sidewall 16 is 2.3mm to 2.6mm. The projection of the image sensor 20 in its thickness direction is square; therefore, the dimensions of the image sensor 20 parallel to the first direction and parallel to the second direction are both 2mm. The length of the first sidewall 15 is its dimension in the first direction, and the length of the second sidewall 16 is its dimension in the second direction.

[0190] When the length of the first sidewall 15 is too long, the length of the circuit board 10 in the first direction will be too large, affecting the miniaturization of the endoscope insertion part in the first direction. When the length of the first sidewall 15 is too small, especially when it is smaller than the side length of the image sensor 20, it may cause damage to the image sensor 20 when cutting the circuit board 10. Therefore, the length of the first sidewall 15 is set to 2 mm to 2.6 mm. When the length of the second sidewall 16 is too long, the length of the circuit board 10 in the second direction will be too large, affecting the miniaturization of the endoscope insertion part in the second direction. When the length of the second sidewall 16 is too small, especially when it is smaller than the side length of the image sensor 20, it may cause damage to the image sensor 20 when cutting the circuit board 10, or the cutting precision requirements may be too high, making it difficult to meet the reliability and yield of production. Therefore, the length of the second sidewall 16 is set to 2.3 mm to 2.6 mm, so that the size of the circuit board 10 is as small as possible and as close as possible to the size of the image sensor 20 while maintaining the production reliability and a certain production yield of the circuit board 10.

[0191] In some embodiments, the image sensor 20 has a side length of 2mm × 2mm, the first sidewall 15 has a length of 2.3mm to 2.6mm, and the second sidewall 16 has a length of 2.4mm to 2.6mm. In this embodiment, the circuit board 10 is easier to process, has higher production reliability, and does not excessively increase the dimensions of the circuit board 10 in the first and second directions.

[0192] Optionally, the length of the first sidewall 15 is 2.3mm, 2.4mm, 2.6mm, etc., and the length of the second sidewall 16 is 2.4mm, 2.5mm, 2.6mm, etc.

[0193] Please refer to some embodiments of this utility model. Figure 2 and Figure 3 The image sensor 20 has a side length of less than or equal to 1mm × 1mm, the length of the first sidewall 15 is 1mm to 1.6mm, and the length of the second sidewall 16 is 1.3mm to 1.8mm. The projection of the image sensor 20 in its thickness direction is square; therefore, the dimensions of the image sensor 20 parallel to the first direction and parallel to the second direction are both 1mm. The length of the first sidewall 15 is its dimension in the first direction, and the length of the second sidewall 16 is its dimension in the second direction.

[0194] When the length of the first sidewall 15 is too long, the length of the circuit board 10 in the first direction will be too large, affecting the miniaturization of the endoscope insertion part in the first direction. When the length of the first sidewall 15 is too small, especially when it is smaller than the side length of the image sensor 20, it may cause damage to the image sensor 20 when cutting the circuit board 10. Therefore, the length of the first sidewall 15 is set to 1 mm to 1.6 mm. When the length of the second sidewall 16 is too long, the length of the circuit board 10 in the second direction will be too large, affecting the miniaturization of the endoscope insertion part in the second direction. When the length of the second sidewall 16 is too small, especially when it is smaller than the side length of the image sensor 20, it may cause damage to the image sensor 20 when cutting the circuit board 10, or the cutting precision requirements may be too high, making it difficult to meet the reliability and yield of production. Therefore, the length of the second sidewall 16 is set to 1.3 mm to 1.8 mm, so that the size of the circuit board 10 is as small as possible and as close as possible to the size of the image sensor 20 while maintaining the production reliability and a certain production yield of the circuit board 10.

[0195] In some embodiments, the image sensor 20 has a side length of less than or equal to 1 mm × 1 mm, the first sidewall 15 has a length of 1.2 mm to 1.6 mm, and the second sidewall 16 has a length of 1.5 mm to 1.7 mm. In this embodiment, the circuit board 10 is easier to process, has higher production reliability, and does not excessively increase the dimensions of the circuit board 10 in the first and second directions.

[0196] Optionally, the length of the first sidewall 15 is 1.2mm, 1.4mm, 1.6mm, etc., and the length of the second sidewall 16 is 1.5mm, 1.6mm, 1.7mm, etc.

[0197] It should be noted that, Figure 2 and Figure 3 The circuit board 10 in the middle can be used in a fixed-focus endoscope.

[0198] In some embodiments of this invention, the endoscope is an ultrasonic endoscope, which also includes an ultrasonic connector. The ultrasonic connector and the connecting part 400 are connected via an ultrasonic flexible tube 300. The ultrasonic endoscope can directly observe the mucosal surface inside body cavities like a regular endoscope, and can also utilize ultrasound to perform ultrasonic scanning of internal human tissues.

[0199] Please see Figures 2 to 4 The present invention also provides a circuit board 10, which is applied to the insertion part 100 of an endoscope. The circuit board 10 has a front side 11 and a back side 12 disposed opposite to each other. The front side 11 is used to fix and electrically connect to the image sensor 20. The back side 12 is used to house a first electronic component 14, which is a passive component in the driving circuit of the image sensor 20. The back side 12 is also used to electrically connect to a second electronic component via a connecting cable 43, which is an active component in the driving circuit of the image sensor 20.

[0200] The fact that the first electronic component 14 is located on the back side 12 means that the first electronic component 14 is fixedly and electrically connected to the back side 12 of the circuit board 10. The image sensor 20 is fixedly and electrically connected to the front side 11 of the circuit board 10, but the driving circuit for driving the image sensor 20 is located in the operation section 200 and / or the connection section 400, specifically in the circuit board of the operation section 200 and / or the connection section 400. Passive devices refer to devices without power supply, such as capacitors, inductors, resistors, etc., while active devices refer to devices with power supply, such as power chip 61, clock chip 62, etc.

[0201] By transferring the active devices on the circuit board 10 to the operation section 200 and / or the connection section 400, the space occupied on the circuit board 10 can be reduced, further reducing the size of the circuit board 10 in the first and second directions, allowing the size of the circuit board 10 to be closer to the size of the image sensor 20. As an optional embodiment of this invention, the active devices can be disposed in the connection section 400, thereby reducing circuit relays, improving anti-interference capabilities, and ultimately enhancing the imaging quality of the image sensor 20.

[0202] In the endoscope of the above embodiments, the active device is disposed in the operation part 200 and / or the connection part 400. The active device does not occupy the space of the circuit board 10, and the size of the circuit board 10 can be further reduced, even to the point of being close to the size of the image sensor 20, so that the size of the circuit board 10 will not become a bottleneck for miniaturizing the outer diameter of the endoscope insertion part 100.

[0203] Please refer to some embodiments of this utility model. Figures 4 to 6 ,

[0204] The circuit board 10 is provided with a cable channel 17, which is used for the first cable 41 to pass through, or for the first cable 41 and the second cable to be soldered, or for the preset cable to be soldered out from the bend 102.

[0205] When the cable channel 17 is used for the first cable 41 to pass through, one end of the first cable 41 is used to be electrically connected to the electric drive structure 50; when the cable channel 17 is used for welding the first cable 41 and the second cable, the end of the second cable away from the cable channel 17 is used to be electrically connected to the electric drive structure 50; the electric drive structure 50 is used to drive the optical lens assembly 30 inside the endoscope to move, so as to change the imaging focal length of the optical lens assembly 30.

[0206] In the first embodiment, the cable channel 17 is used for the first cable 41 to pass through, that is, the first cable 41 passes through the cable channel 17 of the circuit board 10. The first cable 41 can be a cable connected to the electric drive structure 50. Specifically, one or more core wires inside the first cable 41 can be bundled together and passed through the cable channel 17 to connect with the electric drive structure 50. The advantage is that it can reduce the exposure of the soldered section of the first cable 41. The first cable 41 needs to be soldered to one end of the electric drive structure 50 or one end of the operating part 200 before passing through the cable channel 17. Therefore, the first cable 41 is relatively long and thin. During the soldering and passing process, the first cable 41 is prone to shaking, which may lead to desoldering. Therefore, a fixing fixture is needed to fix the first cable 41 to assist in the soldering process.

[0207] In the second scheme: the cable channel 17 is also used for soldering the first cable 41 and the second cable. One end of the second cable is connected to the electric drive structure 50, and the other end of the second cable is soldered to the metal layer inside the cable channel 17. One end of the first cable 41 is soldered to the metal layer inside the cable channel 17 or to a metal layer adjacent to the cable channel 17, and the other end of the first cable 41 can be connected to the motor drive chip 63. The electric drive structure 50 and the motor drive chip 63 are connected through the combined action of the first cable 41 and the second cable. The advantage of soldering the first cable 41 and the second cable separately in the cable channel 17 is that one end of the cable can be soldered to the cable channel 17 first to fix it, and then the other end of the cable can be soldered to the cable channel 17. This can shorten the length of a single cable segment, greatly reduce the difficulty of soldering, and thus improve assembly efficiency. It should be understood that the optical lens assembly 30 contains multiple lenses. During zooming, it mainly drives some of the lenses in the optical lens assembly 30 to move, thereby realizing the focal length adjustment.

[0208] In the third embodiment: some or all of the cable channels 17 in the circuit board 10 are used for soldering preset cables passing through the bend 102, or some or all of the cable channels 17 in the circuit board 10 and the extended pads 18 connected to these cable channels 17 are used for soldering preset cables passing through the bend 102. The preset cable may be a ground wire or a cable shielding layer (i.e., shielding wire).

[0209] In clinical applications, endoscopes frequently involve bending of the curved section 102, resulting in repeated stretching of the cable. If the welding strength between the cable and the circuit board 10 is insufficient, the cable may break off. To address this, in this embodiment, a portion of the cable channel 17 is used as a reinforcing welding point. By welding some pre-set cables onto the cable channel 17, a larger welding area in the thickness direction is achieved, effectively increasing the welding area and thus improving the overall welding strength between the cable and the circuit board 10. This makes the cable less likely to detach from the circuit board 10, better mitigating the risk of cable detachment due to repeated bending at the tip. Furthermore, when an extension pad 18 connected to the cable channel 17 is provided on the back side, pre-set cables can be welded simultaneously onto both the extension pad 18 and the cable channel 17, further enhancing the welding strength.

[0210] The cable of the electric drive structure 50 can pass through the cable channel 17 or be soldered inside the cable channel 17. This reduces the number of pads on the circuit board 10, improves the utilization of the board space, and thus reduces the size of the circuit board 10, making it more miniaturized. By setting the drive cable and active device together through the cable channel 17, the size of the circuit board 10 can be made closer to the size of the image sensor 20. This minimizes the size of the circuit board 10 of the zoom endoscope, thereby achieving the limit of the size of the entire sensor assembly (image sensor 20 + circuit board 10), that is, the size of the circuit board 10 is extremely close to or even the same as that of the image sensor 20 in the radial direction.

[0211] Please refer to some embodiments of this utility model. Figure 2 and Figure 3 The cable channel 17 includes a groove, and the side wall of the circuit board 10 is provided with a groove;

[0212] The groove is provided in a straight line through the side wall of the circuit board 10; or

[0213] The groove is disposed through the side wall of the circuit board 10 in a predetermined non-linear manner.

[0214] In this embodiment of the invention, the groove 17 has at least two penetration methods: it can penetrate the sidewall directly in a straight line, for example, perpendicularly penetrating the sidewall along the thickness direction of the circuit board 10, or it can penetrate the sidewall in a straight line at a certain angle to the thickness direction, such as penetrating the sidewall directly in the direction between the sidewall's side length direction and the vertical direction (i.e., at a 45-degree angle to the vertical direction). Alternatively, it can penetrate the sidewall in a non-straight line, such as by the groove 17 penetrating the sidewall in a curved manner (e.g., an S-shaped curve or other shaped curve), Z-shaped, L-shaped, etc. Therefore, those skilled in the art can select the penetration method of the groove 17 according to actual needs. In some embodiments, the groove 17 can penetrate the sidewall perpendicularly along the thickness direction of the sidewall. Where the thickness direction of the circuit board 10 is the direction of its smallest dimension, the groove 17 can extend to the front side 11 and back side 12 of the circuit board 10 at both ends in the thickness direction of the circuit board 10, respectively.

[0215] It should be noted that, in this embodiment of the invention, the sidewalls also include junctions between different sidewalls, such as the intersections of adjacent sidewalls. Based on this, the groove 17 can also be disposed at the junctions of the sidewalls; for example, when the circuit board 10 is quadrilateral, the groove 17 can be disposed at one or more of the four corners of the circuit board 10.

[0216] The features, principles, and beneficial effects of the circuit board 10 of this utility model can also be described in the above description. Figures 1 to 6 The descriptions of the various endoscope embodiments shown are not repeated here.

[0217] This invention also provides an endoscope system, which includes the endoscope in any of the above embodiments, or the circuit board in any of the above embodiments. The endoscope system may also include a light source device, an image processing device, etc.

[0218] The endoscope system provided by this utility model uses the endoscope described above or the circuit board described above. The cable of the electric drive structure 50 can pass through the groove 17 to the lens assembly 30 or be soldered inside the groove 17. This can reduce the number of solder pads on the circuit board 10, thereby reducing the size of the circuit board 10 and making the size of the circuit board 10 more miniaturized.

[0219] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present utility model and is not intended to limit the present utility model. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present utility model should be included within the protection scope of the present utility model.

Claims

1. An endoscope, characterized in that, include: Insertion part (100), operation part (200), hose (300) and connection part (400); The insertion part (100) has, from the front end side, a rigid part (101), a curved part (102) and an insertion tube (103); The operating part (200) is connected to the insertion tube (103); One end of the hose (300) is connected to the operating part (200), and the other end is connected to the connecting part (400); The rigid part (101) includes a circuit board (10), an image sensor (20) and an optical lens assembly (30). The optical lens assembly (30) is disposed on one side of the image sensor (20), and the circuit board (10) is disposed on the other side of the image sensor (20). The circuit board (10) has a front side (11) and a back side (12) arranged opposite to each other, and the image sensor (20) is fixed to the front side (11) and electrically connected to the front side (11); The operation unit (200) and / or the connection unit (400) are provided with electronic components of the image sensor (20) driving circuit.

2. The endoscope as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The electronic components provided in the operation part (200) and / or the connection part (400) include a second electronic component, which is electrically connected to the back side (12) via a third cable (43). The second electronic component is an active device in the image sensor (20) driving circuit.

3. The endoscope as described in claim 2, characterized in that: The back side (12) is provided with some electronic components of the image sensor (20) driving circuit.

4. The endoscope as described in claim 3, characterized in that: The electronic components on the back side (12) are the first electronic components (14), which are passive components in the driving circuit of the image sensor (20).

5. The endoscope as described in any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that: The circuit board (10) is provided with a cable channel (17), which is used for the first cable (41) to pass through, or for the first cable (41) and the second cable to be soldered, or for the preset cable to be soldered out from the bend (102). When the cable channel (17) is used for the first cable (41) to pass through, one end of the first cable (41) is electrically connected to the electric drive structure (50); when the cable channel (17) is used for welding the first cable (41) and the second cable, one end of the second cable away from the cable channel (17) is electrically connected to the electric drive structure (50); the electric drive structure (50) and the optical lens assembly (30) are disposed on the same side of the image sensor (20), and the electric drive structure (50) is used to drive the optical lens assembly (30) inside the endoscope to move, so as to change the imaging focal length of the optical lens assembly (30).

6. The endoscope as described in claim 5, characterized in that: The cable channel (17) includes a groove or hole structure, and the sidewall of the circuit board (10) is provided with the groove or hole structure.

7. The endoscope as described in claim 6, characterized in that: The circuit board (10) has a groove on its side wall, and the groove extends through the side wall of the circuit board (10).

8. The endoscope as described in claim 7, characterized in that: The groove is disposed in a straight line through the side wall of the circuit board (10); or The groove is disposed through the side wall of the circuit board (10) in a predetermined non-linear manner.

9. The endoscope as described in claim 6, characterized in that: The circuit board (10) has a first sidewall (15) along a first direction and a second sidewall (16) along a second direction, wherein the first direction and the second direction are not parallel. The back side (12) of the circuit board (10) is provided with a plurality of soldering areas, each of the soldering areas contains a plurality of solder pads, and the boundary of each soldering area is the minimum circumscribed rectangle boundary of all the solder pads contained therein. The groove is located on the second sidewall (16), and the projection of the groove along the first direction does not overlap with the projection of the welding area outside the target area; the target area is the area with the smallest projection width in the welding area along the second direction.

10. The endoscope as described in claim 9, characterized in that: The welding area includes the target area and other areas outside the target area. The other areas include a first pad (131), and the target area includes a second pad (132). The first pad (131) is used to weld objects in the image sensor (20) driving circuit other than the first electronic component (14), and the second pad (132) is used to weld the first electronic component (14), which is an electronic component in the image sensor (20) driving circuit. The other regions are located on opposite sides of the second direction, and the target region is located in the middle of the second direction, or the other regions and the target region are located on opposite sides of the second direction, respectively.

11. The endoscope as described in claim 9 or 10, characterized in that: The back surface (12) of the circuit board (10) has an extended pad (18), which is disposed on the back surface (12) near the second sidewall (16) and is connected to the metal layer in the groove. On the projection in the first direction, the projection of the extended pad (18) does not overlap with the projection of the welding area outside the target area.

12. The endoscope of claim 7 or 8, wherein: The orthographic projection of the image sensor (20) along the thickness direction of the circuit board (10) is a reference area, and the orthographic projection of the groove along the thickness direction of the circuit board (10) is at least partially located within the reference area.

13. The endoscope of claim 7 or 8, wherein: The orthographic projection of the image sensor (20) along the thickness direction of the circuit board (10) is a reference area, and the orthographic projection of the groove along the thickness direction of the circuit board (10) is entirely located outside the reference area.

14. The endoscope as described in any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that: The circuit board (10) is provided with a cable channel (17), which is used for the first cable (41) to pass through, or for the first cable (41) and the second cable to be soldered, or for the preset cable to be soldered out from the bend (102). The circuit board (10) has a first sidewall (15) along a first direction and a second sidewall (16) along a second direction, wherein the first direction and the second direction are not parallel. The image sensor (20) has a side length of 3mm × 3mm, the first sidewall (15) has a length of 3mm to 3.5mm, and the second sidewall (16) has a length of 3.3mm to 3.8mm; or, The image sensor (20) has a side length of 2mm × 2mm, the first sidewall (15) has a length of 2mm to 2.8mm, and the second sidewall (16) has a length of 2.5mm to 3.2mm.

15. The endoscope as described in any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that: The circuit board (10) has a first sidewall (15) along a first direction and a second sidewall (16) along a second direction, wherein the first direction and the second direction are not parallel. The image sensor (20) has a side length of 3.5mm × 3.5mm, the first sidewall (15) has a length of 3.5mm to 3.8mm, and the second sidewall (16) has a length of 3.8mm to 4mm; or, The image sensor (20) has a side length of 3mm × 3mm, the first sidewall (15) has a length of 3mm to 3.3mm, and the second sidewall (16) has a length of 3.1mm to 3.6mm; or, The image sensor (20) has a side length of 2mm × 2mm, the first sidewall (15) has a length of 2mm to 2.6mm, and the second sidewall (16) has a length of 2.3mm to 2.6mm; or, The image sensor (20) has a side length of less than or equal to 1 mm × 1 mm, the length of the first sidewall (15) is 1 mm to 1.6 mm, and the length of the second sidewall (16) is 1.3 mm to 1.8 mm.

16. A circuit substrate, characterized by: Applied to the endoscope insertion section (100); The circuit board (10) has a front side (11) and a back side (12) disposed opposite to each other, the front side (11) being used to fix and electrically connect the image sensor (20); The back side (12) is used to set the first electronic component (14), which is a passive device in the driving circuit of the image sensor (20); The back side (12) is also used for electrical connection to a second electronic component via a connecting cable (43), the second electronic component including an active device in the image sensor (20) driving circuit.

17. The circuit board as described in claim 16, characterized in that: The circuit board (10) is provided with a cable channel (17), which is used for the first cable (41) to pass through, or for the first cable (41) and the second cable to be soldered, or for the preset cable to be soldered out from the bend (102). When the cable channel (17) is used for the first cable (41) to pass through, one end of the first cable (41) is used to be electrically connected to the electric drive structure (50); when the cable channel (17) is used for welding the first cable (41) and the second cable, the end of the second cable away from the cable channel (17) is used to be electrically connected to the electric drive structure (50); the electric drive structure (50) is used to drive the optical lens assembly (30) inside the endoscope to move, so as to change the imaging focal length of the optical lens assembly (30).

18. The circuit board as claimed in claim 17, characterized in that: The cable channel (17) includes a groove, and the sidewall of the circuit board (10) is provided with the groove; The groove is disposed in a straight line through the side wall of the circuit board (10); or The groove is disposed through the side wall of the circuit board (10) in a predetermined non-linear manner.

19. An endoscope system characterized by comprising: The device includes the endoscope as described in any one of claims 1-15 or the circuit board (10) as described in any one of claims 16-18, and also includes a light source device and an image processing device.

Images