The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 23, 2005
Filed:
Dec. 18, 2001
Kiyoshi Yamamoto, Tokyo, JP;
Kiyoshi Yamamoto, Tokyo, JP;
PENTAX Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An electronic endoscope comprises a housing and a flexible tube. A light-transmitting optic fiber and a light-receiving optic fiber are provided in the flexible tube. A light source and an imaging device are provided in the housing. The light source outputs a pulsed distance-measuring light beam, which is transmitted along the light-transmitting optic fiber, and irradiated to a subject. A reflected light beam generated by the subject due to the distance-measuring light beam is transmitted along the light-receiving optic fiber, to enter the imaging device, in which an electric charge corresponding to the subject image (i.e., an image signal of a three-dimensional image) is accumulated. A timing of the accumulating operation of the imaging device is delayed depending on the lengths of the fibers.