Control apparatus for use with different types of endoscopes
First Claim
1. An endoscope apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of kinds of endoscopes each havingan elongate insertable part having an illuminating window and observing window in a tip part,an illuminating light transmitting means for leading illuminating light to said illuminating window,an imaging means for receiving returning light from an object, said returning light entering from said observing window and imaging the object,a signal transmitting means connected at one end to said imaging means,an illumination connector provided at an entrance side end of said illuminating light transmitting means, anda signal connector provided at another end of said signal transmitting means, each endoscope being different in at least one of illuminating method and signal processing system;
an illuminating means, having an illumination connector receptacle removably connectable with respective illumination connectors of said plurality of endoscopes, for feeding illuminating light to said plurality of endoscopes; and
a signal processing means, having a signal connector receptacle removably connectable with respective signal connectors of said plurality of endoscopes, for processing signals for said plurality of endoscopes;
at least one of said illumination connector receptacle and said signal connector receptacle being plural.
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Accused Products
Abstract
This endoscope apparatus is provided with a plurality of kinds of endoscopes each having an elongate insertable part having an illuminating window and observing window in the tip part. An illuminating light transmitting system leads an illuminating light to the illuminating window. An imaging apparatus receives the returning light from an object entering from the observing window and imaging the object. A signal transmitting system is connected at one end to the imaging apparatus. An illumination connector is provided at the entrance side end of the illuminating light transmitting system and is different in at least one of the illuminating method and signal processing system. The endoscope apparatus is further provided with an illuminating apparatus having an illumination connector receptacle removably connectable with respective illumination connectors of the plurality of endoscopes and feeding illuminating light to the plurality of endoscopes. A signal processing apparatus has a signal connector receptacle removably connectable with respective signal connectors of the plurality of endoscopes and processing signals for the plurality of endoscopes. At least one of the illumination connector receptacle and signal connector receptacle is plural.
36 Citations
34 Claims
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1. An endoscope apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of kinds of endoscopes each having an elongate insertable part having an illuminating window and observing window in a tip part, an illuminating light transmitting means for leading illuminating light to said illuminating window, an imaging means for receiving returning light from an object, said returning light entering from said observing window and imaging the object, a signal transmitting means connected at one end to said imaging means, an illumination connector provided at an entrance side end of said illuminating light transmitting means, and a signal connector provided at another end of said signal transmitting means, each endoscope being different in at least one of illuminating method and signal processing system; an illuminating means, having an illumination connector receptacle removably connectable with respective illumination connectors of said plurality of endoscopes, for feeding illuminating light to said plurality of endoscopes; and a signal processing means, having a signal connector receptacle removably connectable with respective signal connectors of said plurality of endoscopes, for processing signals for said plurality of endoscopes; at least one of said illumination connector receptacle and said signal connector receptacle being plural. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An endoscope apparatus comprising:
a plurality of kinds of endoscopes each having, an elongated insertable part having an illuminating window and an observing window in a tip part, an illuminating light transmitting means for leading an illuminating light to said illuminating window, an imaging means for receiving returning light from an object, said returning light entering from said observing window and imaging the object, a signal transmitting means connected at one end to said imaging means, an illumination connector provided at an entrance side of said illuminating light transmitting means, and a signal connector provided at another end of said signal transmitting means, each endoscope being different in at least one of illuminating method and signal processing system; an illuminating means, having an illumination connector receptacle removably connectable with respective illumination connectors of said plurality of endoscopes, for feeding illuminating light to said plurality of endoscopes; and a signal processing means, having a signal connector receptacle connectable with respective signal connectors of said plurality of endoscopes, for processing signals for said plurality of endoscopes; at least one of said illumination connector receptacle and said signal connector receptacle being plural; said illumination connector and said signal connector of one endoscope being made integral; and said illumination connector receptacle and said signal connector receptacle being provided adjacent to each other so as to be connectable to respective connectors of said endoscope. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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30. An endoscope apparatus comprising:
a plurality of kinds of endoscopes each having, an elongated insertable part having an illuminating window and an observing window in a tip part, an illuminating light transmitting means for leading an illuminating light to said illuminating window, an imaging means for receiving returning light from an object, said returning light entering from said observing window and imaging the object, a signal transmitting means connected at one end to said imaging means, an illumination connector provided at an entrance side of said illuminating light transmitting means, and a signal connector provided at another end of said signal transmitting means, each endoscope being different in at least one of illuminating method and signal processing system; an illumination means, having an illumination connector receptacle removably connectable with respective illumination connectors of said plurality of endoscopes, and a signal connector receptacle removably connectable with respective signal connectors, for feeding illuminating light to said plurality of endoscopes; and a signal processing means for processing signals for said plurality of endoscopes; said illumination means being provided with an electrical connecting means for connecting said illuminating means with said signal processing means, for feeding signals from said signal connector receptacle to said signal processing means located in a separate unit; at least one of said illumination connector receptacle and said signal connector receptacle being plural. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34)
Specification