JP2002341258A - Joy stick type swinging operation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a joy stick type swinging operation device which has superior operability and can freely and easily change the direction of a head. SOLUTION: A hand operation part 10 of an industrial endoscope device is fitted to an end part of a pipe guide 5 run through a camera cable, etc. The operation part 10 is constituted by fitting a terminal member 12 to the end part of the pipe guide 5, fitting a 1st frame member 20c to the terminal member 12 rotatably through a pin 14, fitting a 2nd frame member 20b to the terminal member 12 rotatably through a pin 15 so that the member 20b is 90 deg. out of phase with the frame member 20c, and fitting a terminal member 18 to the frame member 20a through a pin 17. When the operation member 10 is curved by gripping a grip 34, a wire 11 outside the curvature is drawn in and the camera head fitted atop of the pipe guide 5 is directed as desired.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a joystick type swing operation device used as a hand operation unit of an industrial endoscope device or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to inspect the inside of a pipe leading to a special environment such as a nuclear reactor, an industrial endoscope apparatus is used. Also, when inspecting the inside of a narrow pipe, such as a water pipe and a gas pipe, observation with an industrial endoscope apparatus is possible.

[0003] This type of industrial endoscope apparatus has a camera head at the distal end, and has an operation unit for manipulating the direction of the camera head at hand. The camera head and the operation unit are connected by an operation wire and a camera cable.

In order to turn the camera head up, down, left and right, two dials provided on the operation unit at hand are rotated to control the direction. By rotating the first dial, the direction of the camera head can be changed vertically, and by rotating the second dial, the direction of the camera head can be changed left and right.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the conventional dial-operated industrial endoscope apparatus described above, for example, to change the direction of a camera head in an oblique direction, first and second
Had to be operated simultaneously. For this reason,
The operation is inconvenient, and the operation is complicated even when it is desired to change the direction quickly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a joystick type swing operation device which is excellent in operability and can freely and easily change the direction of a head.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a joystick type swing operation device according to the present invention comprises a first rotation axis orthogonal to a center axis, and a first rotation axis along the center axis. A second axis extending in a direction perpendicular to the center axis and substantially perpendicular to the first rotation axis at a position separated from the axis;
A plurality of top members having a plurality of top members each having a rotation axis, and a plurality of top members connected side by side to share the first or second rotation axis between adjacent top members; First and second terminal members rotatably connected via one rotation shaft to one of the two top members at both ends of the plurality of connected top members, and one end of the first and second terminal members are respectively connected to the first terminal member. A plurality of operation wires fixedly provided and extending through the plurality of top members and the second terminal member at positions away from the central axis.

According to the present invention, by bending the plurality of top members so as to bend the central axis, the wire outside the curve is pulled, and the direction of the head attached to the tip of the wire is changed. That is, the head direction can be easily and freely changed in a desired direction only by changing the bending directions of the plurality of top members. For this reason, for example, after the head is directed in a certain direction, a complicated operation in which the head is rotated in an arbitrary direction from that state can be performed.

Further, according to the invention described above, the plurality of wires are provided so as to penetrate through the positions of each of the plurality of top members which are shifted from the first and second rotation axes by 45 °. It is characterized by having. As described above, when the four wires are provided so as to penetrate through the positions of each of the top members that are offset by 45 ° from the first and second rotation axes, the wire pull amount with respect to the bending displacement of the plurality of top members is relatively small. It is possible to increase the amount of deflection of the head with respect to the amount of bending of the plurality of top members.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an industrial endoscope apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The industrial endoscope apparatus 1 is used for, for example, inspecting the inside of a pipe that leads to a special environment such as a nuclear reactor, and inspecting the inside of a thin pipe such as a water and sewage pipe and a gas pipe.

The industrial endoscope apparatus 1 has an elongated appearance, and has a camera head 2 at the tip. The camera head 2 has members (not shown) such as a camera and a lens. Further, on the end face of the camera head 2, the tips of a plurality of optical fiber cables (not shown) for illumination are exposed.

The camera head 2 is attached to one end of a bendable portion 3 covered with a clothing member made of a bellows-like elastic body. The bendable portion 3 is operated by four operation wires 11 to be described later, and functions to freely change the direction of the camera head 2 in up and down, left and right, and diagonal directions (arrow directions in the drawing). For example, in the bendable section 3, four wires 11 are passed through a flexible cylinder, and each wire 1
The tip of the camera head 2 is fixed to a plurality of locations around the camera head 2 and the orientation of the camera head 2 is changed by pulling or relaxing the plurality of locations around the camera head 2. Alternatively, the bendable portion 3 may have the same structure as the operation portion 10 described later.

The other end of the flexible portion 3 is connected to one end of a connecting portion 4 surrounded by a rigid cylinder. The other end of the connecting portion 4 is connected to one end of the pipe guide 5. That is, the flexible portion 3 is connected to the pipe guide 5 via the connecting portion 4.
Attached to one end.

The pipe guide 5 has a hollow pipe shape, and includes cables and the like extending between the operation unit 10 and the camera head 2, such as four operation wires 11, a camera cable, and an optical fiber cable to be described later. To guide through.

At the other end of the pipe guide 5, an operation unit 1 functioning as a joystick type swing operation device of the present invention is provided.
0 is linked. The operation unit 10 has the base ends of the four wires 11 extending from the camera head 2 fixed thereto, and functions similarly to the above-described bendable unit 3. That is, by bending the operation unit 10 in a desired direction (the direction of the arrow in the figure), the wire 11 outside the bend is pulled, the corresponding portion of the camera head 2 is pulled, and the camera head 2 is directed in the desired direction. You.

A signal processing device or the like (not shown) is connected to the base end of the camera cable extending through the pipe guide 5, and a lighting end (not shown) is connected to the base end of the optical fiber cable extending through the pipe guide 5. Of light sources are provided.

Hereinafter, the operation unit 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.
0 will be described in detail. FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the internal structure of the operation unit 10, and FIG. 3 illustrates a top member 20 as a component of the operation unit 10. FIG.
3B shows a view of the top member 20 of FIG. 3A viewed from the direction of arrow B. FIG. 3C shows a view of the top member 20 of FIG. The view seen is shown.

As shown in FIG. 2, the operation unit 10 has three frame members 20a, 20b, and 20c coaxially arranged along a central axis (not shown). Since the three top members 20a, 20b, and 20c have exactly the same structure, they will be described below as top members 20.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the top member 20
Has a substantially circular plate-like portion 21 which is obtained by cutting the upper and lower portions straight in the figure. A circular through-hole 22 is formed in the center of the plate-shaped portion 21, through which the above-mentioned cables and the like pass as necessary, and through which an imaginary central axis passes.
The plate-like portion 21 is located at a position vertically adjacent to the through hole 22 in the drawing.
Are provided with two substantially rectangular block-shaped projections 23a and 23b protruding from the one surface 21a side. Two substantially rectangular plate-shaped bearing portions 24a and 24b projecting from the one surface 21a of the plate portion 21 are provided on the left and right sides of the through hole 22 in the drawing. A circular hole 25 (FIG. 3) through which an imaginary rotating shaft (first rotating shaft) passes is formed in the two bearing portions 24a and 24b.
a) are respectively formed. Further, the plate-like portion 21 has an operation wire 11 around the through hole 22 (FIG. 2).
Four holes 26a for slidably passing through
26b, 26c and 26d are formed.

The hole 26a is formed between the left bearing 24a and the upper protrusion 23a, and the hole 26b is formed between the upper protrusion 23a and the right bearing 24b.
c is formed between the right bearing 24b and the lower projection 23b, and the hole 26d is formed between the lower projection 23b and the left bearing 24a.

As shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (c), opposite sides of the above-mentioned upper and lower projections 23a, 23b are provided with:
Two substantially rectangular plate-shaped bearing portions 27a and 27b protruding from the other surface 21b of the plate portion 21 are provided. The two bearing portions 27a and 27b are respectively formed with circular holes 28 through which an imaginary rotating shaft (second rotating shaft) passes.

The plurality of holes 2 of the top member 20 described above
5, 25, 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d, 28, 2
The positional relationship of 8 is as follows. That is, an imaginary first rotation axis orthogonal to an imaginary center axis passing through the center of the through hole 22 of the top member 20 passes through the centers of the two holes 25, 25, and is orthogonal to the imaginary center axis and the imaginary center axis. First
Holes 25 formed in the four bearing portions 24a, 24b, 27a, 27b, respectively, such that an imaginary second rotation shaft extending in a direction orthogonal to the rotation shaft of Positions 25, 28 and 28 are set. Also, four wires 11 for operation extend parallel to the imaginary center axis at a position separated from the imaginary center axis, and each wire 1
1 is 4 from the imaginary first rotation axis and the second rotation axis.
Four holes 26a, 26b, 26c, and 26d are positioned so as to penetrate the plate-shaped portion 21 at positions shifted by 5 °. The four holes 26a, 26 formed in the plate-like portion 21
The inner diameters of b, 26c and 26d are set slightly larger than the outer diameter of the operation wire 11.

The operation unit 10 is assembled by incorporating the three frame members 20a, 20b, and 20c having the above structure as follows.

First, a substantially cylindrical end member 12 (second end member) is attached to the other end of the pipe guide 5. The terminal member 12 has an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the pipe guide 5, and is inserted into the pipe guide 5 such that one end thereof partially projects from the other end of the pipe guide 5. Then, the terminal member 12 is fixed to the pipe guide 5 by a screw (not shown) inserted from the outside of the pipe guide 5. The terminal member 12 has four holes 26a, 26b, 26c,
At a position corresponding to 6d, four holes (not shown) for passing the wire 11 are provided.

A first piece member 20c is rotatably attached to one end of the terminal member 12 remote from the pipe guide 5. For attachment of the top member 20c, one end 2 of the plate member 21 of the top member 20 is attached to one end of the terminal member 12.
A member having the same structure as the structure provided on the side 1a is provided. That is, the two protrusions 2 are provided at one end of the terminal member 12.
3a, 23b and two bearing portions 24a, 24b are protruded.

When the top member 20c is attached to one end of the terminal member 12, the two bearing portions 27a and 27b of the top member 20c are fitted inside the two bearing portions 24a and 24b projecting from one end of the terminal member 12. You. Then, the four coaxial holes, namely, the bearing portions 24a, 2
The pin 14 is inserted through the two holes 25, 25 formed in the base member 4b and the two holes 28, 28 formed in the bearing portions 27a, 27b of the top member 20c. Thus, the top member 20c is rotatably connected to the terminal member 12 about the pin 14.

Next, the two bearing portions 27a and 27b of the second top member 20b are fitted between the two bearing portions 24a and 24b protruding from the opposite side of the top member 20c to be coaxial. The pin 15 is inserted through the four holes. Thus, the second top member 20b is rotatably connected to the first top member 20c about the pin 15. At this time, since the pin 15 extends in the direction orthogonal to the pin 14, the rotation direction of the top member 20b with respect to the top member 20c is different from the rotation direction of the top member 20c with respect to the terminal member 12 by 90 °. .

Further, the third top member 20a is provided inside the two bearing portions 24a, 24b of the second top member 20b.
Are inserted, and the pin 16 is inserted through four coaxial holes. As a result, the third frame member 20a becomes the second frame member 20b.
Are rotatably connected to each other about a pin 16. At this time, since the pin 16 extends in a direction orthogonal to the pin 15, the rotation direction of the top member 20a with respect to the top member 20b is different from the rotation direction of the top member 20b by 90 ° with respect to the top direction of the top member 20c. .

The four wires 11 extending from the camera head 2 through the pipe guide 5 are respectively connected to four holes of the terminal member 12 and four corresponding holes 26a, 26b, 26c and 26d. At this time, the four holes of the terminal member 12 and the four holes of each top member 20 are coaxially arranged.
Then, the base end of each wire 11 is embedded and fixed in the terminal member 18 (first terminal member). At this time, the two bearing portions 19 protruding from the terminal member 18 are fitted between the two bearing portions 24a and 24b of the third piece member 20a,
Holes formed in the two bearing portions 19, 19, and holes 2 in the two bearing portions 24a, 24b of the top member 20a.
Pins 17 are inserted through 5, 25, and terminal member 18 is rotatably connected to top member 20a.

Further, an annular ring 31 is attached to the outside of the connecting portion between the other end of the pipe guide 5 and the terminal member 12. On the outer periphery of the ring 31, an annular groove 31a for attaching one end of a dust-proof covering member 32 made of a bellows-like elastic member is formed. The ring 31 is
1a with one end of the covering member 32 attached thereto.
It is attached to the connection between the pipe guide 5 and the pipe guide 5, and is screwed to the pipe guide 5 and the end member 12 by screws 33 from outside.

Then, an aluminum grip 34 is integrally attached to the rear end side of the terminal member 18. Grip 34
Is screwed to the terminal member 18 by a screw 35 inserted from the outside. An annular groove 34a for attaching the other end of the covering member 32 described above is formed on the outer periphery near the end on the attachment side of the grip 34. In other words, the covering member 32 extends between the two terminal members 12 and 18 and is provided so as to cover the three top members 20.

When the camera head 2 is pointed in a desired direction by operating the operation unit 10 configured as described above,
The operator holds the grip 34 of the operation unit 10 and curves the operation unit 10 at the position of the bellows-shaped covering member 32.
At this time, since the grip 34 is integrally fixed to the terminal member 18, the tilt angle of the grip 34 is directly reflected on the tilt angle of the terminal member 18, and the operability by the operator can be improved. Further, since the curved portion is covered with the bellows-shaped covering member 32, the operator can perform the operation while visually determining the curved portion, and the operating unit 10 can be more effectively curved. .

Furthermore, by penetrating the four wires 11 for operation through the top members 20 at the positions described above,
The amount of deviation of the camera head 2 with respect to the amount of bending of the operation unit 10 can be made relatively large, and the camera head 2 can be largely shaken with a small amount of operation. That is, as in the present invention, the wire 1 is shifted 45 ° from the rotation axis of each of the plurality of top members 20 connected with the phases being different by 90 °.
When the operating portion 10 is bent obliquely with respect to the above-mentioned imaginary first and second rotation axes, the wire 11 outside the curve can be pulled more, and The amount of pull-in can be increased.

According to the operation unit 10 of the present invention, the structure can be simplified as compared with the conventional dial operation type operation unit described above. For this reason, it is possible to easily assemble the operation unit 10 and make the structure difficult to break. Operation unit 1
Since the structure of No. 0 can be simplified, the manufacturing cost of the device can also be reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the operation unit 10 of the present invention is applied to the industrial endoscope apparatus 1 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is applied to an operation unit at hand such as a fiberscope. You may.

The two rotation axes of each top member 20 need not necessarily be orthogonal with high precision, but may be approximately orthogonal. Further, in this embodiment, three top members 20 are connected, but four or more top members 20 may be connected. However, the effect of the present invention can be sufficiently exhibited by the structure in which the three top members 20 are connected. The operation wire 1
1 may be provided five or more. However, it is effective to reduce the number of wires 11 to four in order to simplify the structure as much as possible and to sufficiently exert the effects of the present invention.

[0038]

As described above, the joystick type swing operation device of the present invention has the above-described structure and operation, so that it is excellent in operability and can freely and easily change the direction of the head. Can be done.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an industrial endoscope apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a structure of an operation unit of the industrial endoscope apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view showing a frame member constituting the operation unit of FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Industrial endoscope apparatus, 2 ... Camera head, 3 ... Flexible part, 5 ... Pipe guide, 10 ... Operation part, 11 ... Wire, 12, 18 ... Terminal member, 14, 15, 16, 17 ... Pin Reference numeral 20: Coma member, 21: Plate portion, 23a, 23b: Projection, 24a, 24b, 27a, 27b: Bearing portion, 25, 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d, 28: Hole, 32: Coating member, 34: grip.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2H040 AA01 BA21 DA15 DA19 DA21 FA01 FA10 4C061 AA29 BB01 CC04 DD03 FF11 FF46 HH32 HH33 5C022 AA03 AB62 AB65 AC75 5C054 AA01 AA05 CA04 CG08 HA02

Claims (5)

[Claims] A first rotation axis orthogonal to the center axis; and a direction orthogonal to the center axis and substantially orthogonal to the first rotation axis at a position along the center axis and away from the first rotation axis. A plurality of top members having a second rotation axis extending in the direction in which the first or second rotation axes are shared between adjacent top members are arranged along the central axis. A plurality of top members; first and second terminal members rotatably connected to two top members at both ends of the plurality of connected top members via one of the rotation shafts; A plurality of operation wires fixed to the first terminal member and extending through the plurality of top members and the second terminal member at positions away from the central axis, respectively. A joystick-type swing operation device, characterized in that: 2. The joystick-type swing operation device according to claim 1, further comprising an elastic member provided between the first and second terminal members and surrounding the plurality of top members. . 3. The joystick-type swing operation device according to claim 1, further comprising an operation grip protruding from the first terminal member. 4. The joystick-type swinging operation device according to claim 1, wherein the number of the top members is three. 5. The plurality of wires are at 45 ° from the first and second rotation axes of each of the plurality of top members.
The joystick type swing operation device according to claim 1 or 4, wherein four joystick type swing operation devices are provided so as to penetrate the shifted position.