JPH09130664A - Image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make every direction of an object the same as every direction of the picked-up object without changing a mount direction of the image pickup device. SOLUTION: A video micro scope is made up of a camera section being an image pickup means picking up an object and a main body case 1 incorporating a control section controlling a video signal from the camera section, and a tripod fix screw section 4 is provided to a lower face of the main body case 1 to fix the video micro scope to a hole metallic fixture 26 of a frame 3. Then an image inversion switch 5 being an image pickup switch and a video signal inverting switch to make image pickup is provided onto an upper part of a side face of the main body case 1 and a video output terminal 6 outputting a video signal is provided to a rear end of the main body case 1. A cable connecting to a TV monitor 7 being a display means such as a monitor screen is inserted and connected to a video output terminal 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention comprises an image pickup means for enlarging a subject to a desired magnification and picking it up in a main body of the apparatus, and a control section for converting a video signal picked up by the image pickup means into a video signal. The present invention relates to an image pickup device which is provided with a tripod fixing screw portion for fixing a tripod to a bottom portion of an apparatus main body, and which is used for observing a subject under image pickup by the image pickup device as a magnified image on display means such as a monitor screen.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image pickup apparatus of this type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1074/1992.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 10, it comprises a display means and an object for taking an image of the object by bringing it into contact with or close to the surface of the object and enlarging and displaying the image on the display means. Is divided into a front block and a rear block which can be freely contacted and separated from each other, an optical system for subject expansion and a light source for subject illumination are built in the front block, and an imaging means for capturing a magnified image from the optical system in the rear block, There has been built-in signal processing means for processing the signal processing from the image pickup means and outputting it to the display means.

As disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 6-81506, a magnifying optical system consisting of a lens and a lens barrel is disposed between the inner circumference of the main body of the probe and the outer circumference of the lens barrel. A glass column is connected to the tip of the probe having a fixed optical fiber, and the tip end face of the glass column is brought into close contact with the subject to prevent the illumination light emitted from the optical fiber from being reflected from the subject, and the probe is brought into contact with the subject. The deviation of the focal plane when it was turned on was improved.

In such a case, an observer holds the front block with his / her hand to bring the subject into contact with or close to the subject to image the subject, but when the subject is observed at a certain distance from the subject, or when the observation magnification is If it is large, camera shake will occur and it will not be possible to observe the subject accurately.Therefore, it was necessary to fix the image pickup device to the pedestal to observe the subject.Therefore, the tripod fixing screw provided on the bottom surface of the image pickup device main body A screw of a holding metal fitting slidably provided on a column of a pedestal is screwed to the section, and the holding metal fitting is slid to move the imaging device main body to adjust the distance between the imaging device main body and the subject.

However, an observer in this state, an image pickup device,
Since the positional relationship of the gantry is that of the observer, the imaging device (subject), and the gantry from the near side, the image of the object imaged by the imaging device and displayed on the display means is displayed on the pillar side of the gantry. The bottom of the projected image is on the other hand, while the subject viewed from the observer is the pillar side of the gantry on the upper side, so the observer tries to observe the upper side of the subject projected on the display means such as the monitor screen. When the subject moves downward with respect to the gantry, the subject moves upward on the display means, and when the observer moves the subject rightward, the display means moves the subject leftward and the display means Since the moving direction of the actual subject is reversed, it is not possible to smoothly display the observation location of the subject on the display means.

Therefore, in order to match the vertical and horizontal directions of the subject seen by the observer with the vertical and horizontal directions of the subject imaged by the image pickup device and displayed on the display means, a tripod fixing screw is provided on the upper surface of the image pickup device main body. It is conceivable to provide a section, and the mounting bracket of the gantry may be formed so that the lower side of the image pickup device (tripod fixing screw part) is located on the observer side when the image pickup device main body is attached. Conceivable.

[0007]

However, providing the tripod fixing screw portion on the upper surface of the image pickup apparatus body as described above is very problematic in terms of appearance and the necessity of providing other portions such as an operating portion. Also, in order to change the structure of the holding metal fittings of the gantry, the structure of the holding metal fittings becomes complicated, and
There is a problem that it is necessary to extend the screw of the holding metal fitting to a position apart from the column of the pedestal, and the strength of the holding metal fitting is reduced.

The image pickup apparatus of the present invention has been made in view of the above problems. When the apparatus main body is attached to the pedestal by the tripod fixing screw portion and the subject is observed, the image signal picked up by the image pickup means is inverted upside down. By providing a video signal inversion circuit that outputs the inverted image as a video signal,
An object of the present invention is to make the vertical and horizontal directions of a subject viewed by an observer and the vertical and horizontal directions of the subject displayed on the display means the same direction without changing the mounting direction of the imaging device.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the image pickup apparatus of the present invention according to claim 1 is provided with an image pickup section for enlarging an image of a subject to a desired magnification in the apparatus main body, and the image pickup section. A control unit is provided for converting the video signal imaged in to a video signal, and a tripod fixing screw part for fixing the tripod to the bottom of the apparatus body is provided. In an imaging device for observing with a display means such as a monitor screen, when observing a subject while holding the device body by hand, an erect image is output as a video signal, and the device body is attached to a pedestal with a tripod fixing screw part and the subject is attached. When observing, the video signal inverting circuit is provided which outputs an inverted image obtained by inverting the top and bottom of the video signal captured by the image capturing means as a video signal.

When the apparatus main body is attached to a pedestal by a tripod fixing screw and a subject is imaged and observed, an inverted image obtained by inverting the up and down direction of a video signal captured by the image capturing means by a video signal inverting circuit is output as a video signal. However, the up, down, left, and right directions of the subject displayed on the display means and the up, down, left, and right directions of the subject seen by the observer are set to be the same direction, so that the observation location of the subject can be easily observed.

According to another aspect of the image pickup apparatus, the apparatus main body is provided with a video signal inverting switch for inverting the video signal by the video signal inverting circuit. By operating this video signal inversion switch, it becomes possible to invert the vertical and horizontal directions of the image of the subject displayed on the display means when necessary.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a detecting means for detecting that the main body of the apparatus is attached to the mount on the tripod fixing screw portion and inverting the video signal by the video signal inverting circuit. When the apparatus main body is attached to the pedestal by the tripod fixing screw portion, the detection means automatically reverses the vertical and horizontal directions of the image of the subject displayed on the display means.

According to another aspect of the image pickup apparatus of the present invention, an inversion display circuit is provided for displaying the fact on a display means such as a monitor screen in order to inform an observer that the video signal has been inverted by the video signal inversion circuit. ing. The inversion display circuit displays on the display means that the image of the subject displayed on the display means is the image inverted by the image signal inversion circuit, and the observer is informed that the image on the display means is inverted. Inform.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a video microscope which is an image pickup apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in the figure, the video microscope of the present invention comprises a camera section which is an image pickup means for picking up an object, and a main body case 1 having a control section for controlling a video signal from the camera section built therein. The side surface of the body case 1 is provided with a holding recess 2 for an observer to hold the body case 1 by hand, and the lower surface of the body case 1 is fixed on a tripod for mounting a video microscope on a mount 3. A screw portion 4 is provided.

An image pickup switch for picking up an image and an image inversion switch 5 which is a video signal inversion switch are provided on the upper side surface of the body case 1, and a video signal is output to the rear end of the body case 1. Video output terminal 6
Is provided. A connection cable for connecting to a TV monitor 7 which is a display means for a monitor screen or the like is inserted and connected to the video output terminal 6.

The above-mentioned camera section outputs the output signal from the CCD 11 as a video signal to the control section, and the video processing signal section 1
2 and a lens portion 13 provided in front of the main body case 1
And an illumination light source (not shown) necessary for capturing an image of the subject, and a light guide section for guiding the illumination light of the illumination light source to the subject.

The control unit is a CPU 1 which is a central processing unit.
4 and a digital circuit 15 for lowering the video signal,
It is composed of a memory circuit 16, an analog circuit 17, a SW input circuit 18, and a video output circuit 19. Further, the control unit controls driving of the camera unit and the illumination light source.

Next, the main signal flow in the block diagram of the control unit shown in FIG. 3 will be described. The video signal processing unit 12 picked up by the CCD 11 via the lens unit 13 is described.
The video signal of the subject processed in (4) is sent to the digital circuit 15 through the analog circuit 17.

Y, R- sent to the digital circuit 15
The Y and BY signals are respectively input to the IC, the Y signal is A / D converted as it is, and the RY and BY signals are switched S.
After being A / D-converted alternately by W, the memory circuit 16
Stored in the D-RAM.

When a memory image is displayed, of the data read from the D-RAM, Y data in the digital circuit 15 is input to the RGB matrix through the luminance data counting circuit. The RY and BY data are input to the RGB matrix. Each signal data of RGB is created from each signal input to the RGB matrix, is output as an analog signal through D / A conversion, and is sent to the analog circuit 17.

The signal input from the external switch (micro switch 31) enters the SW input circuit 18. With that as a trigger, the signals once stored in the D-RAM are sequentially scanned from the position corresponding to the lower right of the screen of the CCD element to the position corresponding to the upper left of the screen in order to invert the vertical direction on the screen of the TV monitor 7. Then, the CPU 14 controls to read out again and output as a video signal on the screen of the TV monitor 7.

Each time a trigger signal is sent, OSD (on-screen display) characters (for example, "normal mode (upright image)" and "reverse mode (inverted image)") indicating the screen display state are displayed on the screen. The composite image is output from the video output circuit 19 to the TV monitor 7.

Next, a state in which the video microscope is attached to the mount will be described with reference to FIGS.

The gantry 3 has a gantry body 22 having a stage 21 on which an object is placed, a pillar 23 fixed to the rear part of the gantry body 22, and a vertically movable slide on the pillar 23. And a support fixture screw 25 for fixing the fixture 24 to the support 23.
And a holding metal fitting 26 provided on the fixing metal fitting 24 so as to be vertically movable, a vertical moving knob 27 for vertically moving the holding metal fitting 26, and the tripod fixing screw portion 4 of the main body case 1 by screwing the same. The main body case 1 is composed of a main body fixing screw 28 for attaching the main body case 1 to the holding metal fitting 26.

A pin 29 is provided on the mounting side of the body case 1 of the holding metal fitting 26 at a predetermined distance from the center of rotation of the body fixing screw 28. Also,
The pin 29 is attached to the tripod fixing screw portion 4 of the body case 1.
Is provided with a cylindrical recess 4a into which a pin 30 is inserted, and a contact 30 is provided on the inner side of the recess 4a for pressing the pin 29 in contact therewith. A switch 31 is provided.

When the body case 1 is attached to the holding metal fitting 26, the tripod fixing screw portion 4 of the body case 1 and the body fixing screw 28 are screwed together, and the pin 2 is attached.
9 is engaged with the concave portion 4a at two positions, rotation in the circumferential direction around the body fixing screw 28 is restricted, and the mounting position of the body case 1 is fixed. .

Next, a method of using the video microscope of the present invention will be described.

First, when the subject is a person's skin or the like, an observer holds the holding concave portion 2 of the main body case 1 and points the lens portion 13 toward the subject, and the subject is imaged and the image of the subject is displayed on the TV monitor 7. It is designed to observe the subject. At this time, since the observer and the subject are facing each other (in the same direction), the screen on the TV monitor 7 starts from the position where the signal once stored in the memory corresponds to the upper left of the screen of the CCD 11 element and corresponds to the lower right of the screen. It scans in sequence up to the point to be read, reads again, and displays the output video.

Next, when the subject is observed at a certain distance, or when the observation magnification is large, there is a problem of camera shake.
The main body case 1 is fixed to the gantry 3 and an image of a subject is captured.

In this case, the body fixing screw 28 of the holding metal fitting 26 is screwed onto the tripod fixing screw portion 4 of the body case 1. At this time, since the pin 29 of the holding metal fitting 26 is fitted into the recess 4a of the tripod fixing screw portion 4, the body case 1 is prevented from rotating due to the tightening of the body fixing screw 28, and the body case 1 is prevented from rotating. Case 1 has lens 13
Is fixed to the holding metal fitting 26 by screwing the main body fixing screw 28 while facing downward.

Then, the column fixing screw 25 of the fixing metal fitting 24
Is loosened, the fixing metal fitting 24 is slid up and down to determine the distance between the lens portion 13 of the main body case 1 and the subject, and the pillar fixing screw 25 is screwed (tightened) to fix the fixing metal fitting 24. Fix the position of.

Since the pin 29 is fitted into the recess 4a, the contact 30 of the micro switch 31 is contacted when the contact 30 in the recess 4a is pushed by the pin 29 and the displacement of the contact 30 exceeds a certain amount. It is turned on.

Therefore, on the screen of the TV monitor 7, the signal once stored in the memory is read from the part corresponding to the lower right part of the screen of the element of the CCD 11 to the part corresponding to the upper left part of the screen in order and read again to read the signal. Since it is output as a video signal on the screen of the TV monitor, the video image of the captured subject is displayed as an inverted image on the TV monitor 7, and the vertical direction of the subject actually viewed by the observer and the T
The vertical direction of the image of the subject displayed on the V monitor 7 is the same direction.

Then, the above-mentioned subject is displayed on the TV monitor 7, and at the same time, O is displayed on the screen of the TV monitor 7.
The "inversion mode" is displayed as an SD character for several seconds to inform the observer that the image of the subject currently being projected is an inverted image. Further, the OSD characters may be displayed not only for a few seconds but also on the screen of the TV monitor 7 at all times.

After operating the vertically moving knob 26 of the fixing metal fitting 24 to adjust the holding metal fitting 6 up and down to adjust the focus, the object on the stage 21 of the gantry body 22 is observed.

When observing a subject, the vertical direction of the subject directly seen by the observer and the vertical direction of the image of the subject displayed on the screen of the TV monitor 7 are the same. Since the moving direction in which the subject is moved to find the portion to be observed of the subject and the moving direction of the image on the TV monitor 7 are the same, the observer can easily move the subject in the necessary direction without making a mistake. It can be carried out.

Further, as described above, the main body case 1 is attached to the mount 3
If you want to invert the image displayed on the TV monitor 7 when it is not fixed to the TV monitor 7, you can manually operate the TV monitor 7 by operating the image inversion switch 5 provided on the main body case 1. The projected image of the subject can be reversed.

[0039]

According to the image pickup apparatus of the present invention as set forth in claim 1, an erect image is output as a video signal when a subject is held while holding the apparatus body by hand, and the apparatus body is attached to a mount by a tripod fixing screw portion. When observing a subject with a video signal, a video signal inversion circuit that outputs an inverted image obtained by inverting the video signal captured by the imaging means as a video signal is provided, so the device body is attached to the pedestal with the tripod fixing screw part. When a subject is imaged and observed, an inverted image obtained by reversing the upside down of the image signal picked up by the image pickup means by the image signal inversion circuit is output as a video signal, and the upside down and leftward and rightward directions of the object projected on the display means are displayed. The up, down, left, and right directions of the subject seen by the observer can be the same direction, and the moving direction of the subject and the moving direction of the image displayed on the display unit match, The viewing position of Utsushitai can begin reflects easily display means, it is possible to observe the object better.

In the image pickup device according to the second aspect, since the video signal inversion switch for inverting the video signal by the video signal inversion circuit is provided in the main body of the device, it is necessary to operate the video signal inversion switch. At any time, it is possible to reverse the vertical and horizontal directions of the image of the subject displayed on the display means, and the versatility can be improved.

In the image pickup device according to the third aspect of the present invention, the tripod fixing screw part is provided with a detecting means for detecting that the device body is attached to the frame and for inverting the video signal by the video signal inverting circuit. When the device main body is attached to the pedestal with the tripod fixing screw portion, it is possible to automatically reverse the vertical and horizontal directions of the image of the subject displayed on the display means by the detection means, and the imaging device is attached to the pedestal. In this case, usability can be improved.

The image pickup device according to claim 4 is provided with an inversion display circuit for displaying the fact on a display means such as a monitor screen to inform an observer that the image signal has been inverted by the image signal inversion circuit. Therefore, the inversion display circuit displays on the display means that the image of the subject displayed on the display means is the image inverted by the image signal inversion circuit, and the image on the display means is inverted by the observer. That is, the subject can be observed without error.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of a video microscope of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing an embodiment of a video microscope of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control unit of the video microscope of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a use state explanatory view showing a state in which the video microscope of the present invention is attached to a frame.

5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 main body case 2 holding recess 3 mount 4 tripod fixing screw 5 image reversing switch 6 video output terminal 7 TV monitor 11 CCD 12 video signal processing circuit 13 lens part 19 video output circuit 22 mount main body 23 pillar 24 fixing metal fitting 26 holding metal fitting 27 Vertical movement knob 28 Body fixing screw 29 Pin 30 Contactor 31 Micro switch

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus main body is provided with an image pickup means for picking up an image of a subject at a desired magnification, a control section for converting a video signal picked up by the image pickup means into a video signal is provided, and a tripod is attached to the bottom of the apparatus main body. An image pickup device provided with a tripod fixing screw part for fixing, and observing an object under image pickup by the image pickup device as a magnified image on a display device such as a monitor screen by observing the object by holding the device body by hand. When this is done, the erect image is output as a video signal, and when the device main body is attached to the pedestal by the tripod fixing screw part and the subject is observed, the inverted image obtained by inverting the image signal captured by the image capturing means is output as a video signal. An image pickup device comprising a video signal inverting circuit. 2. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus body is provided with a video signal inverting switch for inverting a video signal by the video signal inverting circuit. 3. The detecting means for inverting the video signal by the video signal inverting circuit for detecting that the device body is attached to the mount on the tripod fixing screw portion. Imaging device. 4. An inversion display circuit is provided on a display means such as a monitor screen to inform an observer that the image signal has been inverted by the image signal inversion circuit. Item 1. The imaging device according to item 1.