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US5400769A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Electrically bendable endoscope apparatus having controlled fixed bending speed

Assignee: Olympus Corp
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Filing: 1992-12-10
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Granted: 1995-03-28
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Expires: 2012-12-10
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Abstract

Abstract In response to the operation of a bending operation switch, a controlling circuit switches on/off a plurality of transistors of a driving circuit, controls the polarity of a voltage applied to a motor or does not apply the voltage and, on the other hand, controls the voltage applied to the motor to be on/off while monitoring the rotating speed of the motor through an encoder to thereby drive and control the motor at a predetermined speed which can be variably set steppedly so that an endoscope bendable part may be bent at a fixed speed.

Inventors

  • 👤 Yoshiyuki Tanii
  • 👤 Hiroki Hibino

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-24 13:36
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B1/00; A61B1/005; A61B1/0051; A61B1/0052; A61B1/00147; A61B1/0016; A61B1/009

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 2
Claim 1
Independent Claim 160 words
An electrically bendable endoscope apparatus including an endoscope having an insertable portion comprising: a bending mechanism for bending a bendable part of said insertable portion of said endoscope; driving means for driving said bending mechanism, said driving means including a variable voltage power source for producing an output voltage value for driving said bending mechanism; operating means for providing an instruction for bendably operating said bendable part; bending angle detecting means for detecting the bending angle of said bendable part; memorizing means for memorizing the relation between the output voltage value of said variable voltage power source and the bending angle detected by said bending angle detecting means; and controlling means for controlling said driving means to drive said bending mechanism so as to maintain a fixed predetermined speed, said controlling means selecting the output voltage value of said variable voltage power source stored in said memorizing means corresponding to the bending angle detected by said bending angle detecting means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 160 words
An electrically bendable endoscope apparatus including an endoscope having an insertable portion comprising: a bending mechanism for bending a bendable part of said insertable portion of said endoscope; driving means for driving said bending mechanism, said driving means including a variable voltage power source for producing an output voltage value for driving said bending mechanism; operating means for providing an instruction for bendably operating said bendable part; bending angle detecting means for detecting the bending angle of said bendable part; memorizing means for memorizing the relation between the output voltage value of said variable voltage power source and the bending angle detected by said bending angle detecting means; and controlling means for controlling said driving means to drive said bending mechanism so as to maintain a fixed predetermined speed, said controlling means selecting the output voltage value of said variable voltage power source stored in said memorizing means corresponding to the bending angle detected by said bending angle detecting means.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

JPS5869523A Cited
US4559928A Cited
JPS6359329A Cited
US4930494A Cited
JPH01317423A Cited
JPH0212571A Cited
US4982725A Cited
US5060632A Cited
US4941454A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1998-03-27 1998-09-26 1999-03-28 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2002-03-27 2002-09-26 2003-03-28 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2006-03-27 2006-09-26 2007-03-28 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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