Autoclavable endoscope
AssigneePrecision Optics Corporation
InventorsRichard E. Forkey, Robert N. Ross, Sheri A. Cruz
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A rigid endoscope includes an outer housing subassembly that supports an optics subassembly. The outer body subassembly includes concentric tubes with optical fiber for providing object illumination. The optics subassembly includes a tubular sheath sealed at both ends. A compression spring is positioned between a proximal most relay lens element and a distal most eyepiece element. The spring exerts a distally acting force on the elements of an optical objective and relay lens system. It also produces a proximally directed force on optical elements in the eyepiece. This minimizes differential thermal expansion stresses during autoclaving operations.
Claims20
An optics subassembly for an endoscope having a distal end and a proximal end comprising:
- A) a tubular sheath,
- B) a first optical element set forming an optical objective in said tubular sheath at the distal end thereof,
- C) a second optical element set forming an eyepiece in said tubular sheath at the proximal end thereof,
- D) a third optical element set forming a relay lens system in said tubular sheath intermediate said first and second optical element sets, each of said optical elements in a set being axially displaceable with respect to said sheath, and
- E) expansible means in said tubular sheath between said second and third optical element set for biasing said first and third optical element set toward the distal end and said second optical element set toward the proximal end of said sheath.
An endoscope having distal and proximal ends and comprising:
- A) an outer housing subassembly having a central lumen therethrough, and
- B) an optics subassembly in said lumen including:
- i) a tubular sheath extending through the central lumen and having sealed windows at each of the distal and proximal ends,
- ii) an optical objective slidably mounted in the distal end of said tubular sheath for forming an image of an object,
- iii) an eyepiece slidably mounted in said tubular sheath at the proximal end thereof for presenting an image for viewing,
- iv) a relay lens system slidably mounted in said tubular sheath intermediate said optical objective and eyepiece for conveying an image from said optical objective to said eyepiece, and
- v) expansible means in said tubular sheath between said relay lens system and said eyepiece for biasing said optical objective and said relay lens system toward the distal end and said eyepiece toward the proximal end of said sheath,
- C) means for capturing said optics subassembly in said outer housing subassembly.
An endoscope having distal and proximal ends lying along an optical axis and comprising:
- A) inner and outer radially spaced concentric tubes extending along the optical axis and including light-transferring optical fiber distributed between said tubes, said optical fiber being adapted for receiving light from a source and projecting light from the distal end of said endoscope to illuminate an object,
- B) a tubular sheath extending along the optical axis,
- C) distal and proximal windows sealed across the distal and proximal ends of said tubular sheath thereby to seal the interior of said sheath,
- D) an optical objective slidably mounted within said tubular sheath near said distal window, said optical objective producing an image of an object illuminated by light from said fiber,
- E) a relay lens system including a plurality of optical elements slidably mounted within said tubular sheath for transferring the image produced by said optical objective to the proximal end of said tubular sheath,
- F) an axially expandable cylindrical structure having one end abutting the proximal most optical element in said relay lens system,
- G) an aperture spacer slidably mounted within said tubular sheath proximally of said axially expandable structure,
- H) an eyepiece doublet lens slidably mounted within said tubular sheath proximally of said aperture spacer, and
- I) an axially adjustable end stop for axially adjusting the position of said doublet lens and said aperture spacer relative to said relay lens system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.