Endoscope apparatus
First Claim
1. An endoscope apparatus comprising:
- an optical system for forming an image of an object;
a solid-state image sensor for receiving the image formed by said optical system;
illuminating means for irradiating the object with illuminating light;
light control means for changing brightness of the illuminating light;
stop means whose aperture is variable, disposed in said optical system;
detecting means for detecting brightness of the image of the object; and
control means for controlling said stop means and said light control means so that an intensity of a signal output from said solid-state image sensor is kept substantially constant in accordance with brightness information derived from said detecting means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An endoscope apparatus includes an optical system for forming an image of an object; a solid-state image sensor for receiving the image formed by the optical system; an illuminating device for irradiating the object with illuminating light; a light control device for changing the brightness of the illuminating light; a stop device whose aperture is variable, disposed in the optical system; a detecting device for detecting the brightness of the image of the object; and a control device for controlling the stop device and the light control device so that the intensity of a signal output from the solid-state image sensor is kept nearly constant in accordance with brightness information derived from the detecting device. In this way, the endoscope apparatus always maintains the optimum brightness of the image and ensures a practical pan-focus state in which a user'"'"'s operation load is reduced.
107 Citations
29 Claims
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1. An endoscope apparatus comprising:
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an optical system for forming an image of an object; a solid-state image sensor for receiving the image formed by said optical system; illuminating means for irradiating the object with illuminating light; light control means for changing brightness of the illuminating light; stop means whose aperture is variable, disposed in said optical system; detecting means for detecting brightness of the image of the object; and control means for controlling said stop means and said light control means so that an intensity of a signal output from said solid-state image sensor is kept substantially constant in accordance with brightness information derived from said detecting means. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 21, 26, 27)
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2. An endoscope apparatus comprising:
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an optical system for forming an image of an object; a solid-state image sensor for receiving the image formed by said optical system; electric light control means for controlling an amount of electric charges stored in said solid-state image sensor; stop means whose aperture is variable, disposed in said optical system; and control means for controlling said stop means and said electric light control means so that an intensity of a signal output from said solid-state image sensor is kept substantially constant. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 28, 29)
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3. An endoscope apparatus comprising:
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an optical system for forming an image of an object; a solid-state image sensor for receiving the image formed by said optical system; illuminating means for irradiating the object with illuminating light; detecting means for detecting brightness of the image of the object; and driving means for changing an optical path length between said optical system and said solid-state image sensor in accordance with brightness information derived from said detecting means. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 22)
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6. An endoscope apparatus comprising:
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an optical system for forming an image of an object; a solid-state image sensor for receiving the image formed by said optical system; illuminating means for irradiating the object with illuminating light; light control means for changing brightness of the illuminating light; stop means whose aperture is variable, disposed in said optical system; detecting means for detecting brightness of the image of the object; and control means for controlling said stop means and said light control means so that an intensity of a signal output from said solid-state image sensor is kept substantially constant in accordance with brightness information derived from said detecting means, said control means having a first operation mode for controlling only said stop means in a state in which an amount of light irradiated from said illuminating means is kept constant and a second operation mode for controlling only said light control means in a state in which the aperture of said stop means is kept constant.
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12. An endoscope apparatus comprising:
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an imaging optical system for forming an image of an object; a solid-state image sensor for receiving the image formed by said imaging optical system; a light source device for supplying illuminating light with which the object is illuminated, having light control means for adjusting an amount of light; an illuminating optical system for irradiating the object with light from said light source device; stop means whose aperture is variable, disposed in said imaging optical system; and control means for controlling said light control means and said stop means so that an intensity of a signal output from said solid-state image sensor is kept substantially constant. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 23)
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Specification