Endoscope and method for assembling components of an optical system

An endoscope, comprising:

• a tubular shaft having an interior and an inside face;
• an optical system including a plurality of components positioned in the interior of said shaft, the plurality of components comprising at least two of the following:
• a lens, a spacer, a diaphragm, a prism and a filter;
• a support piece comprising a shrunk material enclosing said optical system to fit into the interior of said tubular shaft and providing support for said optical system, said shrunk material directly surrounding said plurality of components;
• wherein said optical system is enclosed by and in contact with said shrunk material prior to insertion into said interior of said tubular shaft;
• and
• wherein said shrunk material is either transparent or translucent such that visual inspection of said plurality of components relative to each other may be conducted prior to insertion into said interior of said tubular shaft, and
• a gap located between an outside surface of said tube of shrunk material and said inside face of said tubular shaft.

An endoscope, comprising:

• a tubular shaft having an inside face;
• an optical system having several components contained in an interior of the tubular shaft;
• the components comprising at least two of the following:
• a lens, a spacer, a diaphragm, a prism, and a filter;
• the components directly surrounded by a shrunk material to form a shape of a tube;
• the tube containing the components shrunk prior to inserting the tube into the interior of the tubular shaft;
• the shrunk material adapted to permit a visual check of a position of the components relative to one another through the shrunk material;
• a gap located between an outside surface of the tube and the inside face of the tubular shaft to permit inserting the tube into the interior of the tubular shaft.

An endoscope, comprising:

• a tubular shaft having an interior and an inside face;
• an optical system including a plurality of components positioned in the interior of the tubular shaft, the plurality of components comprising at least two of the following:
• a lens, a spacer, a diaphragm, a prism, and a filter;
• a shrunk material enclosing the optical system and providing support for the optical system, the shrunk material directly surrounding the plurality of components to form a shape of a tube;
• the optical system enclosed by and in contact with the shrunk material prior to insertion into the interior of the tubular shaft;
• the shrunk material adapted to permit visual inspection of the plurality of components relative to each other through the shrunk material;
• a gap located between an outside surface of the tube and the inside face of the tubular shaft to permit inserting the tube into the interior of the tubular shaft.