Endoscope with an adjustable viewing direction

1. An endoscope with an adjustable viewing direction, comprising:

a shaft;

an image transmission device for transmitting an image from a distal end of the endoscope to a proximal end of the endoscope;

a hermetically tight sheath around the image transmission device, with a light admission window at the distal end of the endoscope and a light exit window at the proximal end of the endoscope, wherein the light admission window has an optically transparent window component that hermetically seals the light admission window, and the light exit window has an optically transparent window component that hermetically seals the light exit window;

a manipulating device at the proximal end of the endoscope;

a swivel actuation device on the manipulating device, for manual adjustment of an angle between the viewing direction and a longitudinal axis of the shaft;

a magnetic coupling device for magnetically transmitting a force, parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shaft, between the swivel actuation device and a force transmission device inside the hermetically tight sheath, in which the magnetic coupling device comprises an annular component with a rotationally symmetrical inner face, of which the diameter increases continuously in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shaft, inside the hermetically tight sheath; and

a rotation actuation device on the manipulating device, for manually rotating the viewing direction about the longitudinal axis of the shaft relative to the manipulating device;

wherein a first portion of the hermetically tight sheath disposed inside the manipulating device has a first cross-sectional area, a second portion of the hermetically tight sheath proximate the distal end of the endoscope has a second cross-sectional area, and the first cross-sectional area is larger than the second cross-sectional area.

2. The endoscope according to claim 1 , in which the magnetic coupling device is designed to transmit no torque.

3. The endoscope according to claim 1 , in which the rotation actuation device is arranged at the distal end of the manipulating device.

4. The endoscope according to claim 1 , in which the rotation actuation device is connected rigidly to a proximal area of an outer shaft tube.

5. The endoscope according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a gear for converting a first force and a first displacement on the swivel actuation device to a second force and a second displacement on the force transmission device, wherein the force transmission device is movable parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shaft and extends from the manipulating device to as far as the distal end of the endoscope.

6. The endoscope according to claim 1 , in which the annular component is movable parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shaft and is rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the shaft.

7. The endoscope according to claim 1 , in which the force transmission device is tubular and surrounds the image transmission device substantially in the form of a jacket.

8. The endoscope according to claim 7 , in which the force transmission device is prevented from rotating relative to the image transmission device by a device with a form fit.

9. The endoscope according to claim 8 , in which an outer shaft tube is coupled to the hermetically tight sheath.

10. The endoscope according to claim 8 , wherein the endoscope is designed such that an actuation of the rotation actuation device has no effect on the adjusted angle between the viewing direction and the longitudinal axis of the shaft.

11. An endoscope with an adjustable viewing direction, comprising:

a shaft;

an image transmission device for transmitting an image from a distal end of the endoscope to a proximal end of the endoscope;

a sheath around the image transmission device, with a light admission window at the distal end of the endoscope and a light exit window at the proximal end of the endoscope, wherein the light admission window has an optically transparent window component that seals the light admission window, and the light exit window has an optically transparent window component that seals the light exit window;

a manipulating device at the proximal end of the endoscope;

a swivel actuation device on the manipulating device, for manual adjustment of an angle between the viewing direction and a longitudinal axis of the shaft;

a magnetic coupling device for magnetically transmitting a force, parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shaft, between the swivel actuation device and a force transmission device inside the sheath, in which the magnetic coupling device comprises an annular component with a rotationally symmetrical inner face, of which the diameter increases continuously in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shaft, inside the hermetically tight sheath; and

a rotation actuation device on the manipulating device, for manually rotating the viewing direction about the longitudinal axis of the shaft relative to the manipulating device.

12. The endoscope according to claim 11 , wherein a first portion of the sheath disposed inside the manipulating device has a first cross-sectional area, a second portion of the sheath proximate the distal end of the endoscope has a second cross-sectional area, and the first cross-sectional area is gr qtly larger than the second cross-sectional area.

13. The endoscope according to claim 11 , wherein the sheath is a hermetically tight sheath.