Electronic endoscope system allowing accurate delay time to be set

• US 6,903,761 B1
• Filed: 06/21/2000
• Issued: 06/07/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fujinon Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Photo Optical Co. Ltd (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Abe, Kazunori, Higuchi, Mitsuru
• Primary Examiner(s): WONG, ALLEN C
• Application Number:
  US09/599,022
• Time in Patent Office: 1,812 Days
• Field of Search: 348/65, 348/61, 348/72, 348/77, 348/615, 396/17, 600/436
• US Class Current: 348/65
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/045 Control thereof
• 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 23/66 Remote control of cameras or camera parts, e.g. by remote control devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/663 for controlling interchangeable camera parts based on electronic image sensor signals

Abstract

This application provides an electronic endoscope system allowing an accurate delay time corresponding to a length of an electronic scope to be set and allowing a configuration to be simplified. The electronic endoscope system is configured by connecting electronic endoscopes different in length to a processor unit and provided with a reference-delay-time generation circuit for generating a signal having a rough reference delay time and a short-delay-time generation circuit for generating a signal having a delay time shorter than the reference delay time by using a gate delay device or the like. A microcomputer in the processor unit reads delay-time-designation control data D₁ and D₂ from a ROM in an electronic scope, generates a delay drive clock signal by the two delay-time generation circuits in accordance with the control data D₁ and D₂, and executes preferable image processing in accordance with the delay signal.

Claims

1. An electronic endoscope system comprising:

an electronic endoscope to whose front end an imaging device is set;

a processor unit connected with the electronic endoscope to apply a predetermined signal processing to a video signal output from the imaging device;

a reference-delay-time generation circuit for generating a signal having a rough reference delay time;

a short-delay-time generation circuit for generating a signal having a delay time shorter than a reference delay time of the reference-delay-time generation circuit; and

a control circuit for generating a delay signal corresponding to a length of the electronic endoscope in cooperation with these delay-time generation circuits and controlling image processing in accordance with the delay signal.

2. The electronic endoscope system according to claim 1, wherein

the short-delay-time generation circuit is provided with a plurality of gate delay devices to set a short delay time according to a delay of a signal passing through the gate delay devices.

3. The electronic endoscope system according to claim 1, wherein

the control circuit has a first multiplexer for selecting any one of a plurality of drive clock signals generated by the reference-delay-time generation circuit and respectively having a reference delay time and a second multiplexer for selecting any one of a plurality of drive clock signals respectively generated by the short-delay-time generation circuit and respectively having a short delay time, and

a delay time corresponding to the length of the electronic endoscope is obtained by controlling the first and second multiplexers.

4. The electronic endoscope system according to claim 1, wherein

the control circuit is set to a processor unit, reads delay-time data for a connected electronic endoscope from the electronic endoscope, and generates a necessary delay signal in accordance with the delay-time data.