Pipeline Endoscope Probe With Upright Imaging and Integrated Lighting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pipeline endoscope probes rotate within pipelines, causing flipped images that are difficult to interpret, and lack sufficient illumination, especially in dark environments, making it hard to determine specific locations and understand the internal pipeline conditions.
Innovation Solution
A pipeline endoscope probe with an image capturing device oriented towards a through hole, equipped with a lighting device that matches its illumination direction, and an eccentric member allowing the device to rotate upright, along with a stable connection system and control boards for image and light management, ensuring clear and stable image capture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the pipeline endoscope probe rotates along with guide wires during insertion, then the probe can be inserted into the pipeline, but the images captured become flipped and difficult to interpret
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the inversion principle by making the housing rotate with the probe insertion while the image capturing device rotates in the opposite direction to maintain upright image orientation. The eccentric member creates counter-rotation where the housing rotates one way and the image capturing device rotates the other way, solving the image flipping problem during probe insertion.
2Illumination intensity
If external light sources are added to illuminate dark pipeline environments, then image clarity improves, but the device complexity and size increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the lighting function with the housing structure by integrating the lighting device into the housing itself. The lighting device is arranged on the housing adjacent to the through hole, combining illumination functionality with the existing structural components rather than adding separate external light sources.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the image capturing device is fixed without rotation capability, then the structure is simpler, but the device cannot adapt to different insertion orientations in pipelines
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses counter-rotation where the housing rotates with insertion but the image capturing device rotates in the opposite direction through the eccentric member mechanism. This allows the probe to adapt to different insertion orientations while maintaining consistent upright image capture, solving the adaptability problem without sacrificing image quality.
Data Source
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AI summary
A pipeline endoscope probe includes a housing, an image capturing device and a lighting device. The housing defines a housing chamber and a through hole communicated with the housing chamber. The image capturing device is arranged in the accommodating chamber and the image capturing device is oriented towards the through hole. The image capturing device includes a lens and a first control board. The lens is configured to capture images, and the first control board is configured to receive the images captured by the lens and converts the images into image signals. The lighting device is arranged on the housing adjacent to the through hole, and a lighting direction of the lighting device matches orientation of the image capturing device.