Patent ID: 11877053
Assignee: OLYMPUS CORPORATION
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  A  G | IPC G  H

Claim 8:
9. An endoscope comprising:
an insertion portion to be inserted into a subject;
a booster apparatus that is arranged on a distal end portion of the insertion portion, the booster apparatus being configured to generate an image signal by capturing an image of the subject; and
a connector unit that is arranged on a proximal end side of the insertion portion and that is removably connected to a processor configured to supply ground voltage, first power supply voltage having higher voltage than the ground voltage, and a driving clock signal,
wherein the booster apparatus includes a voltage conversion control circuit configured to generate second power supply voltage having lower negative voltage than the ground voltage based on the first power supply voltage and the driving clock signal, and
the voltage conversion control circuit includes
a booster circuit configured to generate the second power supply voltage by boosting a predetermined level of voltage that is input from outside, at an absolute value level based on an input booster clock signal;
a clock buffer configured to maintain the second power supply voltage at a predetermined level, generate the booster clock signal based on the driving clock signal, and output the generated booster clock signal to the booster circuit; and
a voltage comparator that includes
a first voltage generation circuit configured to generate a first signal with a first voltage level based on the first power supply voltage and the second power supply voltage;
a second voltage generation circuit configured to generate a second signal with a second voltage level based on the first power supply voltage and the ground voltage; and
a comparison circuit configured to compare the first voltage level and the second voltage level and control input of the driving clock signal to be supplied to the clock buffer based on a comparison result.