Patent ID: 8911361

Claim:
An endoscope apparatus comprising: an insertion part which has an imaging mechanism at a distal end portion and which is bendable and elongated; a display part which displays an image acquired by the imaging mechanism; a manipulating part which performs curving manipulation of the insertion part; and a housing provided with the display part and the manipulating part at a front face, and to which the insertion part is connected at a back face opposite to the front face, wherein the manipulating part has a swingable manipulating rod, wherein the housing includes (i) an upper portion provided with the display part, and (ii) a lower portion provided with the manipulating part and having the insertion part connected thereto at a position opposite from the manipulating part, wherein a back face of the lower portion of the housing includes a first finger grip portion having a first slope which extends downward and rearward toward a proximal end portion of the insertion part, and a second finger grip portion having a second slope that extends upwards and rearward toward the proximal end portion of the insertion part, wherein the first finger grip portion and the second finger grip portion are configured such that at least a portion of the back face of the lower portion has a fundamental shape that is convex toward the proximal end portion of the insertion part, and the convex portion of the back face is a grip face on which a user's fingers are arranged when the user holds the housing, wherein the insertion part is connected to the lower portion between the first finger grip portion and the second finger grip portion, and the housing is configured to be held by a single hand of a user, such that (i) a thumb of the single hand of the user is located at a distal end of the manipulating rod, (ii) other fingers in the single hand of the user are located on the first finger grip portion and the second finger grip portion above and below the proximal end portion of the insertion part on the grip face such that the insertion part extends between the other fingers of the single hand when the user holds the lower portion, and (iii) the thumb and the other fingers face each other, wherein the first finger grip portion comprises: a first extending section that extends rearward and downward toward the proximal end portion of the insertion part from a position of the back face of the housing where the upper portion of the housing meets the lower portion of the housing; and a second extending section that extends rearward and downward toward the proximal end portion of the insertion part from a distal end of the first extending section, wherein the first extending section forms a grip for one of the fingers of the user at the position of the back face of the housing where the upper portion of the housing meets the lower portion of the housing, and wherein the second extending section is curved to provide a grip for another one of the fingers of the user.