Electronic endoscope apparatus

• US 4,869,237 A
• Filed: 03/01/1988
• Issued: 09/26/1989
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/1987
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Olympus Optical Corporation Limited (Olympus Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Olympus Optical Corporation Limited (Olympus Corporation)
• Inventors: Eino, Teruo, Toda, Masato, Amano, Atsushi
• Primary Examiner(s): Picard, Leo P.
• Application Number:
  US07/162,778
• Time in Patent Office: 574 Days
• Field of Search: 128/6, 358/98
• US Class Current: 600/109
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/555 for picking-up images in sites, inaccessible due to their dimensions or hazardous conditions, e.g. endoscopes or borescopes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/2628 Alteration of picture size, shape, position or orientation, e.g. zooming, rotation, rolling, perspective, translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 600/921 Manipulating image characteristics

Abstract

This electronic endoscope apparatus having an insertable part inserted into an observation object and provided with a solid state imaging device imaging the observed image, an image forming optical system forming the observed image on said solid state imaging device and a displaying apparatus displaying an electric signal transmitted from said solid state imaging device, characterized by having a plurality of 1-field memories which can electrically invert the observed image obtained by the image forming optical system.

Claims

1. An electronic endoscope apparatus to be inserted into an observed object part to image the observed image comprising:

an imaging means imaging said observed image to be converted to an electric signal;

a signal processing means producing a video signal from said electric signal;

a plurality of memory means each having at least 2 memory areas in which said video signal can be memorized by at least 1 field part in the scanning line number order, can be written at least every field and can be read out in the scanning line number order reverse to that at the time of writing in; and

a displaying means displaying the video signal read out of said memory means.

2. An electronic endoscope apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a writing in and reading out control means controlling the writing in and reading out of said video signal.

3. An electronic endoscope apparatus according to claim 2 herein said writing in and reading out control means comprises an address control means generating an address number corresponding to the scanning line number and a selecting means selecting said memory area corresponding to said address number and writing in and reading out the video signal.

4. An electronic endoscope apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said address control means comprises a pulse generating means selectively generating increase pulses controlling the increase of the address number and decrease pulses controlling the decrease of the address number and an address generating means counted up or counted down by the input of said increase pulses or decrease pulses, generating an address number and inputting it into said selecting means.

5. An electronic endoscope apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said pulse generating means further comprises a switching means generating a control signal selecting whether the generated pulse is made said increase pulse or said decrease pulse.

6. An electronic endoscope apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said memory means comprises a mark generating means generating a mark showing the state of reading out in the case of reading out in the scanning line number order reverse to that at the time of writing in and superposable on the read out video signal.

7. An electronic endoscope apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a connecting means which can electrically connect said imaging means and signal processing means with each other.

8. An electronic endoscope apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said connecting means comprises contacts mechanically connecting and disconnecting the circuits and a switch electrically connecting the circuits after they are mechanically connected and electrically breaking the circuits before they are mechanically disconnected.