JP4681940B2 - Endoscope light source device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an endoscope light source device for supplying light to an endoscope.

  One type of endoscope light source device uses a discharge lamp that generates an arc between a cathode and an anode. If the arc trajectory between the cathode and anode of the discharge lamp is not stable, the light generated will be bright and dark, and as a result, the body cavity and the inside of the machine cannot be illuminated uniformly. For this reason, when a discharge lamp is used in an endoscope light source device, a magnet that stabilizes the locus of the arc by applying a Lorentz force to the arc in the vicinity of the discharge lamp is generally provided.

When the magnet is disposed in the vicinity of the discharge lamp in this manner, the heat generated from the discharge lamp reaches the magnet, and the magnet becomes high temperature. When the magnet is heated to a high temperature, the magnetic force of the magnet decreases, and the arc trajectory cannot be stabilized.
Therefore, in the idea of Patent Document 1, a fan is disposed in the vicinity of the magnet, and cooling air generated by the fan is blown onto the magnet to prevent the magnet from becoming hot.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-10617

  According to the idea of Patent Document 1, the temperature of the magnet can be prevented to some extent, but it is not sufficient as a countermeasure for preventing the temperature from increasing, and there is much room for improvement.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a light source device for an endoscope which can obtain a high temperature prevention effect of a magnet higher than the conventional one with a very simple configuration.

An endoscope light source device according to the present invention includes a discharge lamp that supplies light to a distal end of an insertion portion of the endoscope via a light guide fiber disposed in the endoscope, a cathode of the discharge lamp, exerts a Lorentz force on the arc formed between the anode, the light source device for an endoscope comprising a magnet to stabilize the trajectory of the arc, and to the magnet, radiating magnet internal heat to the outside For this purpose, the heat dissipating fin is integrally formed as a part of the magnet .

  A heat sink made of a material having higher heat conductivity than the case and magnet of the discharge lamp is provided, the case and the magnet are fixed to the heat sink in contact with each other, and the heat of the discharge lamp and the magnet is discharged from the heat sink to the outside. Is preferred.

  It is preferable to dispose a fan that can rotate about a horizontal rotation axis, to form the radiating fin horizontally, and to be positioned immediately in front of the fan.

  A pair of heat sinks are provided at intervals, the magnet is fixed to the surface of one heat sink facing the other heat sink, and the fan is disposed behind the gap between the heat sinks where the magnet is located. It is preferable that the gap be a flow path for cooling air generated by the fan.

  It is preferable to form a plurality of radiating fins at intervals in the magnet.

According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a high temperature prevention effect of a magnet higher than that of a conventional magnet with an extremely simple configuration.
If the magnet is brought into contact with a heat sink having higher thermal conductivity than the magnet, the heat of the magnet is also dissipated from the heat sink, so the effect of preventing the magnet from becoming hot is increased.
If a fan that rotates about a horizontal rotation axis is disposed behind the heat radiating fins of the magnet, the cooling effect generated by the fan cools the magnet, further enhancing the cooling effect. Furthermore, if the rotating fins of the radiating fin and the fan are made horizontal, the flow of the cooling air of the fan is not hindered by the radiating fin, so that the magnet can be effectively cooled by the cooling air.
If a plurality of heat dissipating fins are used, the cooling effect increases.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the front, rear, left, and right directions are based on the arrow direction in the figure.
An electronic endoscope (endoscope) 10 shown in FIG. 1 has an operation unit 11 and an insertion unit 12, and the distal end portion of the insertion unit 12 corresponds to an operation of a bending operation device 13 provided in the operation unit 11. A bending portion 12a that is bent in the vertical and horizontal directions is provided. An observation window (object window) and an illumination optical system (not shown) are provided on the distal end surface of the bending portion 12a.

  A universal tube 14 extends from the operation portion 11, and a light carrying bundle sleeve 14 b projects from a connector portion 14 a provided at the tip of the universal tube 14. Furthermore, a light guiding fiber 15 is disposed inside the light carrying bundle sleeve 14b, the connector portion 14a, the universal tube 14, the operation portion 11 and the insertion portion 12, and the light emitting end face formed at the tip thereof is inserted. It is connected to the illumination optical system inside the tip of the section 11.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the processor (light source device for endoscope) 20 is provided with an insertion port 22 for inserting the light carrying bundle sleeve 14 b of the connector portion 14 a into the front surface 21 a of the casing 21. Yes. On the upper surface of the bottom plate 21 b of the casing 21, an upright member 23 is provided immediately after the insertion port 22, and a support hole 23 a is formed at a position facing the insertion port 22 of the upright member 23. ing.

Further, a housing 25 is fixed to the upper surface of the bottom plate 21 b of the casing 21, and a housing portion 26 that penetrates the housing 25 in the left-right direction is formed in the housing 25. A pair of front and rear heat sinks 27 and 28 are disposed in the housing portion 26 in a stationary state with a space in the front and rear direction.
The heat sinks 27 and 28 shown in an enlarged manner in FIGS. 3 to 5 are formed from a material having good thermal conductivity such as metal (having higher thermal conductivity than the case C of the lamp ML and the plastic magnet MG). . Horizontal plate-like heat radiation fins 27a are formed vertically on the front part of the front heat sink 27, and horizontal plate-shaped heat radiation fins 28a are formed on the rear part of the rear heat sink 28. Has been.

  The rear surface (opposing surface) of the front heat sink 27 and the front surface (opposing surface) of the rear heat sink 28 are provided with fitting holes 27b and fitting recesses 28b, respectively. A front end portion and a rear end portion of a substantially cylindrical metal case C of a lamp (discharge lamp) ML are fitted and fixed to the fitting hole portion 27b and the fitting concave portion 28b, respectively. The lamp ML is a discharge lamp such as a xenon lamp, and is opposed to the support hole 23a and the insertion port 22 in the front-rear direction through a daylighting hole 25b (see FIG. 2) formed in the front wall 25a of the housing 25. (Concentric with the support hole 23a and the insertion port 22). The lamp ML is turned on when a switch SW (see FIG. 1) provided on the outer surface of the casing 21 is turned on and turned off when turned off. When the insertion portion 12 is inserted into a body cavity or a machine, the lamp ML is always turned on. It is something to be made.

The rear surface of the front heat sink 27 is a flat mounting surface (opposing surface) 27c, and two screw holes 27d (see FIGS. 3 and 5) are formed in the upper portion of the mounting surface 27c. Two through holes MG2 (see FIGS. 3 to 5) are formed in the prismatic plastic magnet (magnet) MG formed by injection molding at the time of injection molding. The flat surface MG1 that forms the front surface of the plastic magnet MG is in contact with the portion of the mounting surface 27c where the screw hole 27d is formed. The screw portions B1 of the two fixing screws B are inserted into the through holes MG2, and the screw portions B1 are screwed into the screw holes 27d, respectively, and the head B2 and the heat sink larger in diameter than the through holes MG2. The plastic magnet MG is sandwiched between the 27 mounting surfaces 27c.
The plastic magnet MG acts to stabilize the locus of the arc by applying a Lorentz force to the arc formed between the anode ML1 and the cathode ML2 (see FIG. 5) in the lamp ML. The distance from the plastic magnet MG to the lamp ML and the strength of the magnetic force required for the plastic magnet MG are determined in consideration of the characteristics of the lamp ML.

The lower portion of the plastic magnet MG is a narrow-width portion MG3 having a rectangular cross section that is smaller in width from the upper portion. (The heat dissipating fin MG4 is also a part of the magnet). The heat radiating fins MG4 are two on the upper and lower sides, and a gap is formed between the upper and lower heat radiating fins MG4.
As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the fan FN is fixed to the upper surface of the bottom plate 21 b in such a manner that it is located on the left side of the housing 25 (left side of the heat sinks 27 and 28). The rotation axis FA of the fan FN faces in the left-right direction (horizontal direction), and the rotation axis FA overlaps with the gap S in a side view. The fan FN rotates when the switch SW is turned on and stops when the switch SW is turned off, and always rotates while the lamp ML is lit. When the fan FN rotates, the cooling air generated by the fan FN flows to the right side of the housing 25 through a gap (flow path) S (housing portion 26 of the housing 25) formed between the front and rear heat sinks 27, 28. During this time, the lamp ML, the plastic magnet MG, and the heat sinks 27 and 28 are cooled. At this time, the cooling air passes between the adjacent radiation fins 27a, the radiation fins 28a, and the radiation fins MG4, and further between the upper radiation fin MG4 and the head B2 of the fixing screw B.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the lens holder 30 is fixed on the upper surface of the bottom plate 21 b of the casing 21 so as to be positioned between the upright member 23 and the housing 25. A lens support hole 30a is formed as a through hole in the lens holder 30, and two condenser lenses L1 and L2 are fitted and fixed side by side in the lens support hole 30a. The optical axes of both condenser lenses L1 and L2 are located on a straight line connecting the centers of the lamp ML, the insertion port 22, and the support hole 23a.

Next, the operation of the endoscope system having such a configuration will be described.
When the light carrying bundle sleeve 14b is inserted into the insertion port 22 and the support hole 23a of the processor 20 in the state where the switch SW is OFF, the incident end face 15a of the light guide fiber 15 disposed therein becomes a condensing lens. It faces the lamp ML in the front-rear direction through L1, L2 and the daylighting hole 25b. When the switch SW is turned on in this state, the lamp ML is turned on and the fan FN rotates. The light beam O emitted from the lamp ML is guided to the incident end face 15a of the light guide fiber 15 through the light collection hole 25b and the condenser lenses L1 and L2, and further sent to the illumination optical system through the light guide fiber 15. When the subject illuminated by the illumination optical system is observed through the observation window at the distal end of the insertion portion 12, an image of the subject is displayed on a television monitor (not shown) connected to the processor 20.

Since the plastic magnet MG always exerts a predetermined Lorentz force on the arc of the lamp ML, the arc trajectory of the lamp ML that is lit maintains a stable state, and uniform light is emitted from the lamp ML. Although the lamp ML that is lit emits a large amount of heat, since the heat sinks 27 and 28 are formed of a material having higher thermal conductivity than the case C of the lamp ML, this heat is easily transferred from the case C to the heat sinks 27 and 28. The heat transmitted to the heat sinks 27 and 28 is efficiently radiated to the outside mainly from the heat radiation fins 27a and 28a.
Further, the heat of the lamp ML reaches the plastic magnet MG, but the heat of the plastic magnet MG is efficiently exhausted to the outside from the upper and lower heat radiation fins MG4. Further, since the heat sink 27 has higher thermal conductivity than the plastic magnet MG, part of the heat of the plastic magnet MG is transmitted from the plastic magnet MG to the heat sink 27 and is radiated from the heat radiation fins 27a.

Further, the cooling air generated by the fan FN cools the lamp ML, the heat sinks 27 and 28, and the plastic magnet MG. Since the heat dissipating fins 27a and 28a and the heat dissipating fin MG4 are horizontal, they do not hinder the flow of cooling air from the fan FN, and the fan FN effectively cools the lamp ML, the heat sinks 27 and 28, and the plastic magnet MG. Since the cooling air cools the surfaces of the heat radiation fins 27a and 28a and the heat radiation fin MG4, the heat radiation fins 27a and 28a and the heat radiation fin MG4 maintain an efficient cooling effect.
If the switch S2 of the processor 20 is turned off after the insertion portion 12 is completely pulled out from the body cavity or the machine, the lamp ML is turned off and the fan FN is stopped.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the heat of the plastic magnet MG can be efficiently radiated by an extremely simple configuration in which the two heat radiation fins MG4 are formed in the plastic magnet MG. Furthermore, since the plastic magnet MG is radiated from the heat radiating fins 27a and the plastic magnet MG is cooled by the fan FN, it is possible to effectively prevent the plastic magnet MG from becoming hot. For this reason, the magnetic force of the plastic magnet MG does not decrease during the lighting of the lamp ML, and the arc locus does not become unstable.

In the present embodiment, the plastic magnet MG is fixed to the heat sink 27, but the plastic magnet MG may be fixed to the front surface of the heat sink 28.
The number of radiating fins MG4 is not limited to that of the present embodiment, and the number of radiating fins MG4 can be changed as appropriate according to the type of lamp ML, the distance between the lamp ML and the plastic magnet MG, etc. (The more the number of heat dissipating fins MG4, the greater the heat dissipating effect). The shape of the heat radiation fin MG4 can be changed in the same manner.
Furthermore, although a xenon lamp is used as the lamp ML, other discharge lamps may be used.

It is an external view which shows the whole structure of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a side view which fractures | ruptures and shows a part of processor. It is an enlarged plan view of a lamp, a heat sink, and a magnet. It is the expanded rear view which fractured | ruptured the lamp | ramp, the heat sink, and a part of magnet. It is an enlarged side view of a lamp | ramp, a heat sink, and a magnet.

Explanation of symbols

10 Electronic endoscope (endoscope)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Operation part 12 Insertion part 12a Bending part 13 Bending operation apparatus 14 Universal tube 14a Connector part 14b Light carrying bundle sleeve 15 Light guide fiber 15a Incident end face 20 Processor (light source device for endoscope)
21 Casing 22 Insertion port 23 Standing member 23a Support hole 25 Housing 25a Front wall 25b Daylight hole 26 Housing part 27 Heat sink 27a Heat radiation fin 27b Fitting hole part 27c Mounting surface (opposing surface)
27d Screw hole 28 Heat sink 28a Heat radiation fin 28b Fitting recess 30 Lens holder 30a Lens support hole B Fixing screw B1 Screw part B2 Head C Case FN Fan FA Fan rotation axis L1 L2 Condensing lens MG Plastic magnet (magnet)
MG1 Flat plane MG2 Through-hole MG3 Narrow width part MG4 Radiation fin ML Lamp (discharge lamp)
ML1 Anode ML2 Cathode S Gap (Flow path)

Claims (5)

A discharge lamp for supplying light to the distal end of the insertion portion of the endoscope via a light guide fiber disposed in the endoscope;
In an endoscope light source device, comprising: a magnet that applies Lorentz force to an arc formed between a cathode and an anode of the discharge lamp and stabilizes the locus of the arc.
A light source device for an endoscope, wherein heat radiation fins for radiating heat inside the magnet to the outside are integrally formed on the magnet as a part of the magnet. In the endoscope light source device according to claim 1,
A heat sink made of a material having higher thermal conductivity than the case of the discharge lamp and the magnet,
An endoscope light source device for fixing the case and the magnet in contact with the heat sink and exhausting heat of the discharge lamp and the magnet from the heat sink to the outside. The endoscope light source device according to claim 1 or 2,
A fan that can rotate around a horizontal rotation axis is installed.
An endoscope light source device in which the heat dissipating fins are horizontally formed and positioned immediately before the fan. In the endoscope light source device according to claim 3,
A pair of heat sinks are provided at intervals,
The magnet is fixed to the surface of one heat sink facing the other heat sink,
An endoscope light source device in which the fan is disposed behind a gap between the heat sinks where the magnet is located, and the gap is used as a flow path for cooling air generated by the fan. The endoscope light source device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An endoscope light source device in which a plurality of heat dissipating fins are formed at intervals in the magnet.

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