Endoscope Image Pickup Unit with Integrated Substrate Housing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional image pickup units in endoscopes face challenges such as increased component count, assembly complexity, and cost due to high machining accuracy demands, which hinder miniaturization and affect image quality and transmission quality.
Innovation Solution
The image pickup unit integrates an image pickup optical system and device with a solid electric substrate formed in a quadrangular prism shape, using a second electric substrate as a housing and conductive circuit to connect components, reducing the number of parts and enabling efficient assembly and miniaturization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If conventional image pickup units use separate housing and electric substrate components, then assembly flexibility is maintained, but component count increases and assembly complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the housing and electric substrate into a single integrated component. The housing is formed as a solid electric substrate with built-in conductive circuits, eliminating the need for separate housing and electric substrate parts. This integration reduces component count and simplifies assembly while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through mold-based fabrication processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated housing serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides mechanical protection for optical components, electrical isolation, signal transmission pathways through built-in conductive circuits, and structural support. This multi-functionality reduces the overall component count and eliminates the need for separate specialized components.
2Manufacturing precision
If high machining accuracy is demanded for conventional image pickup units, then assembly precision is improved, but manufacturing cost increases and assembly time increases
Solution Approach 1:
By integrating the housing and electric substrate, the patent eliminates multiple assembly steps that would require high machining accuracy. The single integrated component is manufactured as one piece using mold-based processes, avoiding the need for precise alignment and assembly between separate parts, thereby reducing both manufacturing cost and assembly time while maintaining precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical assembly processes with a mold-based fabrication approach. Instead of assembling multiple precision-machined parts, the integrated housing is formed through molding processes that inherently provide precise geometries without requiring complex mechanical alignment procedures, thus reducing assembly time and cost.
3Volume of moving object
If conventional image pickup units use traditional electric substrate layouts, then electrical connectivity is maintained, but miniaturization is hindered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs three-dimensional integration by forming conductive circuits on the surface of the solid molded housing rather than using traditional planar PCB layouts. This allows electrical connectivity to be achieved through the housing structure itself, enabling miniaturization while maintaining electrical functionality through vertical and surface-level routing paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing structure and electrical connectivity are merged into a single integrated component. The conductive circuits are built into the housing material itself, eliminating the need for separate electric substrates and allowing for compact miniaturized designs while maintaining all necessary electrical functions.
4Ease of manufacture
If conventional image pickup units have multiple separate components, then ease of repair is maintained, but assembly complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates multiple functions into a single housing component that also serves as the electric substrate. This integration reduces assembly cost by eliminating multiple parts and simplifying manufacturing, though it may impact repairability. The modular nature of the integrated housing allows for selective replacement of the entire assembly if needed, balancing cost reduction with repair considerations.
Data Source
AI summary
An image pickup unit includes: an image pickup optical system including an optical axis; an image pickup device; a first electric substrate on which the image pickup device is mounted; a second electric substrate formed integrally with the first electric substrate and configured to surround peripheries of the image pickup optical system and the image pickup device and extend in a direction along the optical axis, the second electric substrate including a housing space for housing the image pickup optical system and the image pickup device, a part of the second electric substrate being formed in an arc shape when viewed in a cross section in a vertical direction with respect to the optical axis; and a conductive circuit connecting the first and second electric substrates, and provided from a first surface exposed outside of the second electric substrate to a second surface in the housing space.