JPH0342896B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a flexible tube for an endoscope that can prevent buckling.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, as shown in FIG. 1, an endoscope 1 includes a distal end portion 2 equipped with a light guide, an objective lens, an air/water supply port, a forceps outlet, etc., and an operating section main body 5 equipped with an eyepiece section 6, etc. , a bending portion 3 and a flexible tube 4 connected between the tip portion 2 and the operating portion main body 5.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the flexible tube 4, which is entirely in the shape of a flexible pipe, has the following features to prevent collapse:
A flex 7, which is a strip-shaped plate formed into a spiral shape, is arranged inside, and the outside of this flex 7 is surrounded by a braid 8 formed into a net-like cylindrical body made of metal wire or the like to prevent twisting. The entire outer periphery of the blade 8 is covered with an outer skin tube 9 made of synthetic resin or the like, and the outer skin tube 9 is fixed to the blade 8 by heating and melting, or an adhesive 13 is applied between the blade 8 and the outer skin tube 9. The two are fixed together so that they do not separate.

Further, at both ends of the flexible tube 4, a ring-shaped intermediate cap 10 and a rear cap 11 are integrally fixed to the flex 7 and the blade 8 by soldering. , the coil pipe 12 through which the operating wire is inserted is connected to the rear base 11.
It is inserted into the intermediate cap 10 and fixed to the intermediate cap 10 by brazing. The outer surface of the skin tube 9 is coated with a top coat layer 9' to improve slipperiness and relieve patient pain during insertion.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the flexible tube 4 of the conventional endoscope configured in this way, the mesh blade 8 is made of metal wire such as stainless steel or brass, so it is necessary to prevent water leakage. ,
Even if the skin tube 9, which is generally made of synthetic resin or the like, is bonded to the blade 8 with an adhesive, the adhesive force is weak and the two easily separate, resulting in buckling of the flexible tube. It was hot.

Conventionally, in order to eliminate this drawback, a structure as shown in FIG. 4 has been considered. That is,
The outer periphery of the reticulated blade 8 placed outside the flex 7 is surrounded by an outer skin tube material made of molten synthetic resin or the like using a tube extrusion molding machine or the like.
It is filled through the mesh portion of the mesh blade 8 to the extent that it reaches the outer surface of the flex 7 or the inner surface of the mesh braid 8, and wraps the mesh braid 8 so that the mesh braid 8 and the melt-molded outer skin tube 9 are integrated. It was considered to form a skin tube 9.

In the flexible tube constructed in this manner, the outer skin material filled through the mesh portion of the mesh braid acts as an anchor, and improves the bonding force between the outer skin tube and the mesh braid than in the conventional structure.

However, even if the flexible tube is configured in this way, the anchoring effect of the outer skin tube is small, and the bonding force between the outer skin tube and the mesh braid is still insufficient, and there is a risk that the flexible tube may buckle due to peeling. There was a problem.

The present invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems with the conventional flexible tube of an endoscope, and it can strengthen the bonding force between the outer skin tube and the mesh blade, and effectively prevent buckling due to peeling. An object of the present invention is to provide a flexible tube for an endoscope.

[Means and actions to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a spiral flex to prevent the flexible tube from collapsing;
In a flexible tube for an endoscope, the flexible tube is composed of a net-like blade placed outside the flexible tube to prevent twisting of the flexible tube, and an outer skin tube made of synthetic resin or the like that is fixed to the outer periphery of the blade. The net-like braid is composed of multi-layered blade elements each having a different weaving angle, and the outer skin material constituting the outer skin tube is filled through the mesh portion of the mesh braid, and the outer skin tube is formed of at least a portion of the mesh braid. It is formed by wrapping and integrating.

By constructing the net-like blade with multilayer blade elements each having a different weaving angle, the outer skin tube material is filled into the mesh part of each blade element, increasing the anchoring action and reducing the shrinkage of the flexible tube. This can increase the peel strength between the outer skin tube and the mesh blade, and can effectively prevent buckling.

〔Example〕

Next, an example will be described. FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway side view showing an embodiment of the flexible tube of the endoscope according to the present invention, and the same or equivalent members as those of the conventional example shown in FIG. It is shown with . In the figure, 7 is a flex made of metal ribbon material placed on the inside surface, and the outside is
A multilayer net-like blade is arranged, which is made of metal wire such as SUS or brass material, and consists of an inner blade element 8' and an outer blade element 8'', which have different weaving angles. The outer periphery is similar to that shown in Fig. 4,
Using a tube extrusion molding machine or the like, the mesh portion of each blade element 8', 8'' is formed by surrounding it with an outer skin tube material made of molten synthetic resin, etc., to the extent that it reaches the outer surface of the flex 7 or the inner surface of the inner blade element 8'. The reticulated blade elements 8', 8'' are filled with the resin, and the reticulated blade consisting of the blade elements 8', 8'' and the melt-molded outer skin tube 9 are formed to form a flexible tube. .The above outer skin materials include polyurethane, polyester,
Polyvinyl chloride, other thermoplastic synthetic resins, synthetic rubber, etc. are used.

By constructing the reticulated blade with multiple layers of the inner blade element 8' and the outer blade element 8'', the outer skin tube material is filled into the mesh portion of each blade element 8', 8'', and has an anchoring effect on each. , it is possible to strengthen the peel strength between the outer skin tube and the reticulated blade.

Furthermore, by configuring the mesh blade with multilayer blade elements, it is possible to prevent the flexible tube from shrinking, thereby further increasing the peel strength between the outer skin tube and the mesh blade and preventing buckling of the flexible tube. be able to.

In a reticular braid composed of multi-layered blade elements, the weaving angle of the wire with respect to the longitudinal direction of each blade element is, for example, in the case of two layers, 45° ± 10° for the inner blade element 8' and 45° ± 10° for the outer blade element 8''.
It was experimentally confirmed that setting the angle to about 65°±10° is more effective.

Furthermore, the same effect can be obtained even if the skin tube 9 is formed so as to wrap around a part of the net-like blade instead of being formed so as to wrap around the entire surface of the net-like blade.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above based on the embodiments, according to the present invention, the net-like braid is constructed of multilayer blade elements each having a different weaving angle, and the outer skin tube is integrally formed so as to wrap at least a part of the net-like braid. Since the flexible tube and the reticulated blade are formed with a flexible tube, the bonding force between the outer skin tube and the reticulated blade is strengthened by the anchoring effect of the integration of the outer skin tube and each blade element constituting the reticulated blade. shrinkage of the flexible tube is prevented, thereby further increasing the peel strength between the outer skin tube and the blade, thereby effectively preventing buckling of the flexible tube due to peeling. Furthermore, since no adhesive is used as in the past, an adhesive application process is not required, and the manufacturing process can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an external view of a general endoscope with some parts omitted, Fig. 2 is a side view showing a partially broken flexible tube of a conventional endoscope, and Fig. 3 is a partially cutaway side view of a conventional endoscope. FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part of the flexible tube shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part of the flexible tube of the conventional endoscope, and FIG.
FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view showing an embodiment of a flexible tube of an endoscope according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an endoscope, 2 is a distal end, 3 is a curved part, 4 is a flexible tube, 5 is an operating section main body, 7 is a flex, 8 is a blade, 8', 8'' are blade elements,
9 is a skin tube, 9' is a top coat layer, 13
indicates adhesive.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A spiral flex to prevent the flexible tube from collapsing, a net-like blade placed on the outside of the flex to prevent the flexible tube from twisting, and a synthetic resin etc. fixed to the outer periphery of the blade. In the flexible tube of the endoscope, the reticulated braid is composed of multilayer blade elements each having a different weaving angle, and the outer skin material constituting the outer skin tube is What is claimed is: 1. A flexible tube for an endoscope, characterized in that the flexible tube is filled through a mesh portion, and an outer skin tube is formed so as to wrap and integrate at least a portion of the mesh blade.