Measuring endoscope
First Claim
1. A measuring endoscope for measuring an object, comprising:
- an endoscope body having a foremost end portion;
illumination light supply means housed within said body of said endoscope and having a number of regularly arranged fine light-emitting sectors, for supplying illumination, said illumination light supply means comprising a light guide including a bundle of a plurality of optical fibers, said bundle having two light-incidence end portions, said plurality of optical fibers being arranged at a light-emission end of said light guide to form a plurality of alternate rows of fibers in such a manner that those optical fibers included within one of the two light-incidence end portions and those optical fibers included within the other light-incidence end portion are arranged in alternate rows relative to each other at the light-emission end portion of the light guide;
image focusing means, housed in said foremost end portions of said endoscope body, for forming an image of said object from illumination reflected from said object;
image pickup means, housed within said endoscope body and having a number of picture elements disposed regularly at a position at which said image of the object is formed by said image focusing optical means, for picking up said object image;
controlling means, associated with said illumination light supply means, for controlling the illumination supplied to said fine light-emitting sectors to cause said illumination light supply means to emit light in lattice form;
image processing means, connected to said image pickup means, for performing a three-dimensional measurement of said object; and
display means, connected to said image processing means, for displaying information corresponding to the said three-dimensional measurement.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A measuring endoscope for making three-dimensional measurements of a object without using a special lattice and without hampering direct observation of the object. The measuring endoscope includes a light supply source for supplying illumination, and an illumination variation device for providing a plurality of particular illuminations, and illumination transmission means including a plurality of fiber optic cables. The fiber optic cables have a first input section separated from a second input section. The second section receives one particular illumination which the first section does not. At the output end of the fiber optic cables, fiber optic cables from the first section are interlaced, row-by-row with the fiber optic cables from the second section. An illumination lens then directs the light from the fiber optic cables onto the object. A lattice-shaped light pattern then appears on the object. Light reflected from the object is received by an objective lens system and is directed to an imaged sensor. The image sensor includes a large number of regularly arranged picture elements. Image processing devices then convert the received image into electrical signals. The image processing means process selected electrical signals from among all electrical signals received. These selected electrical signals are obtained from picture elements from positions where the lattice of the object image is formed on the light receiving surface. These selected electrical signals may then be processed to provide a three-dimensional measurement of the object. A control device controls the supply of light to the fiber optic cables to ensure that the light is emitted from the fiber optic cables in a lattice form. Finally, a display device connected to the image processor provides a display according to the three-dimensional image of the object.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A measuring endoscope for measuring an object, comprising:
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an endoscope body having a foremost end portion; illumination light supply means housed within said body of said endoscope and having a number of regularly arranged fine light-emitting sectors, for supplying illumination, said illumination light supply means comprising a light guide including a bundle of a plurality of optical fibers, said bundle having two light-incidence end portions, said plurality of optical fibers being arranged at a light-emission end of said light guide to form a plurality of alternate rows of fibers in such a manner that those optical fibers included within one of the two light-incidence end portions and those optical fibers included within the other light-incidence end portion are arranged in alternate rows relative to each other at the light-emission end portion of the light guide; image focusing means, housed in said foremost end portions of said endoscope body, for forming an image of said object from illumination reflected from said object; image pickup means, housed within said endoscope body and having a number of picture elements disposed regularly at a position at which said image of the object is formed by said image focusing optical means, for picking up said object image; controlling means, associated with said illumination light supply means, for controlling the illumination supplied to said fine light-emitting sectors to cause said illumination light supply means to emit light in lattice form; image processing means, connected to said image pickup means, for performing a three-dimensional measurement of said object; and display means, connected to said image processing means, for displaying information corresponding to the said three-dimensional measurement. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. Endoscope apparatus for forming a three-dimensional image of an object, comprising:
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illumination supply means for providing a plurality of distinct illuminations including infrared illumination; illumination transmission means, having an illumination input end and an illumination output end, for receiving and transmitting said plurality of illuminations, said illumination transmission means having a first group of light channels separated from a second group of light channels at said illumination input end, said light channels being arranged in alternating rows of said first and second groups, respectively, at said illumination output end, said first group of light channels transmitting said infrared illumination; projecting means adapted for projecting illumination from said illumination output end onto said object; objective means for focusing illumination reflected from said object; image sensor means for receiving the focused illumination reflected from said object and providing electrical signals corresponding thereto; and processing means for receiving said electrical signals and providing output signals having information corresponding to said three-dimensional image of said object. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A measuring endoscope for measuring an object, comprising:
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a main body for holding said endoscope, said main body having proximal and distal end portions; light supply means for supplying a plurality of distinct illuminations; illumination light emitting means, arranged within said distal end portion of said main body and including a plurality of fine light emitting sections, for emitting said plurality of distinct illuminations, only one part of said light emitting sections emitting one of said distinct illuminations to form a lattice-shaped light emitting pattern; image forming means arranged within said distal end portion of said main body, for forming an image of said lattice-shaped light emitting pattern on said object when said illumination light emitting means forms said lattice-shaped light emitting pattern; objective means arranged within said distal end portion of said main body, for forming an image of said object from illumination reflected from said object, said image being formed at an image forming position of said objective means; image pickup means disposed at said image forming position of said objective means and having a light receiving surface comprising a plurality of picture elements arranged in columns and rows, for receiving said image from said objective means and converting it into electrical signals; image processing means, connected to said image pickup means, for processing selected electrical signals from among said electrical signals provided by said image pickup means, said selected electrical signals being obtained from picture elements corresponding to a position where said image of said lattice-shaped light emitting pattern is formed on said light receiving surface, said image processing means forming a three-dimensional measurement of said object; control means disposed adjacent said light supply means, for controlling said distinct illuminations provided to said fine light emitting section so that said illumination light emitting means emits a lattice-shaped light pattern; and display means coupled to said image processing means, for displaying information corresponding to said three-dimensional measurement. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification