Patent Application
20230067547
The present invention relates to an image capturing assembly and a related endoscope, and more specifically, to an image capturing assembly with compact structure and small size, and a related endoscope.
An endoscopy is a medical procedure in which an endoscope is inserted into a patient's body to allow a surgeon to inspect an interior of the patient's body. The endoscopy has gained broad acceptance because it only needs a small incision for insertion of the endoscope. However, since the conventional endoscope still has a bulky image capturing assembly, a size of the incision cannot be further reduced in order for insertion of the endoscope with such a bulky image capturing assembly. Therefore, an improvement is required.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide an image capturing assembly with compact structure and small size, and a related endoscope for solving the aforementioned problem.
In order to achieve the aforementioned objective, the present invention discloses an image capturing assembly used in an endoscope. The image capturing assembly includes a fixture, a lens assembly, an image sensing device and a circuit board. The fixture includes a fixture body and at least one first contact. An accommodating space is formed on the fixture body. The at least one first contact is disposed on the fixture body. The lens assembly is engaged with the fixture body. The image sensing device is disposed inside the accommodating space. The image sensing device includes at least one second contact electrically connected to the at least one first contact. The circuit board includes a board body and at least one third contact. The board body is perpendicular to and affixed with the fixture body. The at least one third contact is disposed on the board body and electrically connected to the at least one first contact.
In order to achieve the aforementioned objective, the present invention further discloses an endoscope. The endoscope includes an insertion tube and the aforementioned image capturing assembly. The image capturing assembly is connected to the insertion tube.
In summary, in the present invention, the fixture body of the fixture is perpendicular to and affixed with the board body of the circuit board. Furthermore, the image sensing device is disposed inside the accommodating space formed on the fixture body, and the second contact of the image sensing device is electrically connected to the third contact of circuit board by the first contact of the fixture. The aforementioned configuration of the present invention has a space-saving arrangement. Therefore, the present invention has advantages of compact structure and small size.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. In this regard, directional terminology, such as “top”, “bottom”, “front”, “back”, etc., is used with reference to the orientation of the Figure (s) being described. The components of the present invention can be positioned in a number of different orientations. As such, the directional terminology is used for purposes of illustration and is in no way limiting. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive. Also, the term “connect” is intended to mean either an indirect or direct electrical/mechanical connection. Thus, if a first device is connected to a second device, that connection may be through a direct electrical/mechanical connection, or through an indirect electrical/mechanical connection via other devices and connections.
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The image sensing device 111, the circuit board 112, the lens assembly 113 and the fixture 114 are disposed inside the housing 115. The circuit board 112 can be electrically connected to the control console of the handle 13 by at least one cable, which is not shown in the figures. The fixture 114 is configured to position the lens assembly 113 and includes a fixture body 1141 and four first contacts 1142. An accommodating space 1143 is formed on the fixture body 1141. The four first contacts 1142 are disposed on the fixture body 1141. The lens assembly 113 is engaged with the fixture body 1141 and can be a fixed focal length lens assembly or a zoom lens assembly configured to zoom in or zoom out a view of the image sensing device 111. The image sensing device 111 is disposed inside the accommodating space 1143 and can be, e.g., a CMOS sensor. The image sensing device 111 includes four second contacts 1111 electrically connected to the four first contacts 1142 respectively.
The circuit board 112 includes a board body 1121 and four third contacts 1122. The board body 1121 is perpendicular to and affixed with the fixture body 1141. The four third contacts 1122 are disposed on the board body 1121 and electrically connected to the four first contacts 1142, so that the four second contacts 1111 can be electrically connected to the four third contacts 1122 by the four first contacts 1142 respectively.
However, the numbers of the first contact, the second contact and the third contact are not limited to this embodiment. For example, in another embodiment, there can be only two first contacts, two second contacts and two third contacts.
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However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. For example, in anther embodiment, there can be no passive electronic component or two passive electronic components located at a same side or two opposite sides of the circuit board.
Specifically, as shown in
Each of the first contacts 1142 includes a first portion 1142A and a second portion 1142B electrically connected to the first portion 1142A. Each of the first portions 1142A is disposed on a wall of the fixture body 1141 adjacent to the accommodating space 1143 and electrically connected to the corresponding second contact 1111, and each of the second portions 1142B is disposed on a wall of the fixture body 1141 adjacent to the outer periphery of the notch 1123 and electrically connected to the corresponding third contact 1122.
More specifically, as shown in
The notch 1123 includes a first lateral portion 1123A and a second lateral portion 1123B located at two opposite lateral sides of the circuit board 112 respectively. When the fixture body 1141 is engaged with the notch 1123, the first lateral portion 1123A is located adjacent to the first lateral side 1141C of the fixture body 1141 and between the second portions 1142B of the two of the first contacts 1142 located at the first lateral side 1141C of the fixture body 1141, and the second lateral portion 1123B is located adjacent to the second lateral side 1141D of the fixture body 1141D and between the other two second portions 1142B of the other two of the first contacts 1142 located at the second lateral side 1141D of the fixture body 1141.
Two of the third contacts 1122 are disposed on a top side and a bottom side of the first lateral portion 1123A respectively, and the other two of the third contacts 1122 are disposed on a top side and a bottom side of the second lateral portion 1123B respectively. Along the up-down direction perpendicular to the circuit board 112, the projections of the third contacts 1122 disposed on the top side respectively overlap with the projections of the third contacts 1122 disposed on the bottom side.
Each of the third contacts 1122 is perpendicular to the second portion 1142B of the corresponding first contact 1142 and can be affixed with and electrically connected to the second portion 1142B of the corresponding first contact 1142 by a corresponding solder structure, which is not shown in the figures. Each of the second contacts 1111 is a soldering ball electrically connected to the corresponding first portion 1142A of the corresponding first contact 1142 by wire bonding technology with a corresponding wire 1112. That is, each of the second contacts 1111 is electrically connected to the corresponding third contact 1122 via the corresponding first contact 1142.
However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. For example, in another embodiment, each of the second contacts can be a protruding pin or a flat pad electrically connected to the corresponding first contact by a soldering structure. Alternatively, in another embodiment, each of the third contacts can be electrically connected to the second portion of the corresponding first contact by a wire.
The aforementioned configuration of the first embodiment the present invention has a space-saving arrangement. Therefore, the present invention has advantages of compact structure and small size.
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The second portions 1142B″ of two of the first contacts 1142″ are located adjacent to a top side of the abutting portion 1121A″ and arranged in a first arranging direction parallel to the circuit board 112″ and the fixture 114″ at an interval. The other two second portions 1142B″ of the other two of the first contacts 1142″ are located adjacent to a bottom side of the abutting portion 1121A″ and arranged in the first arranging direction at an interval. Furthermore, along a direction perpendicular to the circuit board 112″, the two second portions 1142B″ located adjacent to the top side of the abutting portion 1121A″ are spaced apart from and aligned with the other two second portions 1142B″ located adjacent to the bottom side of the abutting portion 1121A″ respectively, and an distance between the two corresponding second portions 1142B′ along the direction perpendicular to the circuit board 112″ is substantially equal to a thickness of the circuit board 112″. Two of third contacts 1122″ are disposed on the top side of the abutting portion 1121A″ at an interval, and the other two of the third contacts 1122″ are disposed on the bottom side of the abutting portion 1121A″ at an interval. Furthermore, the two third contacts 1122″ located adjacent disposed on the top side of the abutting portion 1121A″ are aligned with the two third contacts 1122″ disposed on the bottom side of the abutting portion 1121A″ along the direction perpendicular to the circuit board 112″, respectively. Each of the third contacts 1122″ is affixed with and electrically connected to the corresponding second portion 1142B″ of the corresponding first contact 1142″ by a corresponding soldering structure, which is not shown in the figures. Other details of this embodiment are similar to the ones of the second embodiment. Detailed description is omitted herein for simplicity.
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Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodiments. In another embodiment, there can be two first contacts, two second contacts and two third contacts, wherein only one of the first contacts is electrically connected to a corresponding one of the third contacts by a corresponding one of the second contacts using one of the aforementioned configurations of the aforementioned embodiments, and the other of the first contacts is electrically connected to the other of the third contacts by the other of the second contacts using another configuration.
In contrast to the prior art, in the present invention, the fixture body of the fixture is perpendicular to and affixed with the board body of the circuit board. Furthermore, the image sensing device is disposed inside the accommodating space formed on the fixture body, and the second contact of the image sensing device is electrically connected to the third contact of circuit board by the first contact of the fixture. The aforementioned configuration of the present invention has a space-saving arrangement. Therefore, the present invention has advantages of compact structure and small size.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.
