JPH0681Y2 - Bending operation device for inward vision - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial application] The present invention relates to a bending operation device of an endoscope for forcibly bending a bending portion of an insertion portion.

[Prior Art] Recently, in order to forcibly bend the bending portion in the insertion portion of the endoscope, an electric motor is incorporated in the operation portion of the endoscope,
It has been proposed to pull the bending member by using the power of the electric motor to remotely bend the bending portion. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-122
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 619 discloses a device in which a pulse motor is installed in the operation unit, and the wire drum is rotationally driven by the pulse motor to rotationally drive the wire drum (pulley) to wind the bending operation wire. There is. According to this electric bending operation device, the operability is remarkably improved as compared with the conventional manual operation device.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional electric type, since the electric motor is housed in the operating portion, the operating portion tends to be large in size, which impairs operability. There was a problem.

Therefore, it has been considered to attempt to downsize the operation unit by adopting a small ultrasonic motor capable of obtaining high torque. (Japanese Patent Application No. Sho 62-258 relating to the present applicant
279 application).

However, a considerably large driving force is required to bend and operate the bending portion of the insertion portion, and a considerably large ultrasonic motor must be used.

For this reason, the ultrasonic motor unit incorporated in the operation unit is inevitably upsized to some extent. In particular, since the ultrasonic motor must apply a strong pressing force between the stator and the rotor, the motor rotating shaft connected to the rotor needs a thrust bearing that receives the pressing force. Therefore, a dimension for the thrust bearing is added in the axial direction, and the length is increased in the axial direction. Furthermore, because the pulleys etc. are arranged in a stack in this axial direction,
Even if the size of the ultrasonic motor itself can be reduced, it becomes large in the axial direction, and the operability of the operating portion cannot be sufficiently improved.

Further, in a normal endoscope, it is necessary to install two bending operation device sections for performing an up-down bending operation and a left-right bending operation in the same operation section, so that the size of the bending operation apparatus should be particularly large. There was a problem that became.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a bending operation device for an endoscope that uses a vibration wave motor as a drive source, to reduce the size of the vibration wave motor, and to provide an operating portion. Is to improve the operability of.

[Means and Actions for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an endoscope bending apparatus that uses a vibration wave motor as a drive source for bending a bending portion of an insertion portion. A substantially cylindrical vibration wave motor that is housed in the operation portion of the mirror and that includes a rotor and a stator, a rotating shaft that is rotated by the vibration wave motor, and a bearing that supports the rotating shaft. It is arranged in the internal space of the motor.

According to this configuration, since the bearing that supports the rotary shaft of the vibration wave motor is arranged in the internal space of the vibration wave motor, these parts can be assembled compactly. Therefore, the operation unit itself incorporating the same can be made compact.

[Embodiment] FIGS. 1 to 5 show a first embodiment of the present invention. The endoscope 11 shown in FIG.
2, an operation portion 13, and a light guide universal cord 14. The insertion portion 12 is composed of a tip forming portion 15, a bending portion 16, and a flexible tube portion 17.
In addition to the eyepiece 18, the operation unit 13 is provided with an air / water supply switch button 19, a suction switch button 20, and a bending operation switch unit 21. Bending operation switch section 21
Includes an upward switch button 21 for use when bending the bending portion 16 of the insertion portion 12 as described later.
a, downward switch button 21b, leftward switch button 21
c and a right direction switch button 21d are provided.
Further, a connector 22 for connecting to an illumination light source (not shown) is attached to the extending tip of the light guide universal cord 14.

1 and 2 show the structure of a bending operation device incorporated in the operation portion 13 of the endoscope 11. This operation unit 13
In the case 25, two sets of frames 28 composed of a main frame 26 and a sub-frame 27, which are fixed integrally with each other with a certain space therebetween, are formed on the left and right surfaces with respect to the central axis l of the operation portion 13. They are arranged symmetrically. A bending operation device portion 29 for vertical bending operation is attached to the one frame 28, and a bending operation device (not shown) for left and right bending operation is attached to the other frame (not shown). Has been. In FIG. 1, only one of the bending operation device portions 29 for up and down bending operation is shown.

Since these have the same configuration, one of the bending operation device sections 29 will be specifically described. That is, the sub-frame 27 supported by the main frame 26
An ultrasonic motor unit 31 is incorporated in the. Ultrasonic motor 32 in this ultrasonic motor unit 31
Is composed of a circular stator 33 and a circular rotor 34 that is in close contact with the surface of the stator 33 facing the case 25 side. That is, the ultrasonic motor 32 has a cylindrical shape. A piezoelectric body 35 is adhered and fixed to the surface of the peripheral portion of the stator 33 located on the side opposite to the rotor 34. The rotor 34 is fitted and fixed to the tip of the rotary shaft 36. The rotating shaft 36 is a bearing, that is, a thrust bearing 37 and a first radial bearing 38.
It is supported by and. The thrust bearing 37 and the first radial bearing 38 are a bearing box 39.
It is stored and supported inside. The bearing box 39 is joined to the sub-frame 27 and fixed by screws 41. The stator 33 is fitted on the outer circumference of the bearing box 39,
The stator 33 is fastened and fixed by a nut 43 that is screwed into a screw 42 formed on the outer circumference of the bearing box 39. That is, the stator 33 is fixedly installed and cannot rotate.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the thrust bearing 37 for supporting the rotary shaft 36 and the first radial bearing 3 are provided.
8 and a bearing box 39 for holding the same are arranged in an internal space s formed inside the stator 33 and the rotor 34 of the ultrasonic motor 32. In this case, the assembly is arranged in the internal space s formed inside the stator 33 and the rotor 34 of the ultrasonic motor 32, and protrudes from the outer sub-frame 27 toward the inner main frame 26 as much as possible. Instead, it is provided so as to be stored in the internal space s.

The thrust bearing 37 is fixed at a fixed position on the rotary shaft 36 by a washer 45. The washer 45 is supported by a snap ring 47 fitted in a groove 46 provided on the peripheral surface of the rotating shaft. The inner end portion of the rotary shaft 36 is supported by the second radial bearing 48 attached to the main frame 26.

On the other hand, a disc spring 49 is attached by caulking to the outer end portion of the rotating shaft 36 supported in this manner, and the disc spring 49 strongly urges the rotor 34 against the stator 33. As a result, the stator 33 and the rotor 34 are strongly pressed against each other. The washer 45 described above
The pressure contact force can be set arbitrarily by changing the number of sheets and the thickness. The thrust bearing load at this time is received and supported by the thrust bearing 37.
A rubber sheet 44 is provided between the rotor 34 and the disc spring 49 to protect the rotor 34 from scratches and prevent slippage between the rotor 34 and the rotary shaft 36.

Further, the rotary shaft 36 of the ultrasonic motor unit 31 is located in the middle of the first radial bearing 38 and the second radial bearing 48, and the transmission gear mechanism, for example, the drive gear 51 of the transmission gear train 50 is burned. It is fixed by means such as a female. The drive gear 51 meshes with the driven gear 52. The driven gear 52 is rotatably supported by a shaft 53 provided between the main frame 26 and the sub frame 27. A washer 54 made of resin, for example, is interposed between the driven gear 52 and the sub-frame 27 so that the rotation thereof becomes smooth. Also,
Between the driven gear 52 and the main frame 26, a sprocket 55 as a pulling rotary member is supported so as to be freely rotatable with respect to the shaft 53 thereof. Further, the driven gear 52 and the sprocket 55 are coupled by, for example, a screw (not shown) so as to rotate integrally.

Further, a chain 56 is wound around the sprocket 55 as shown in FIG. 3, and bending operation wires 58, 58 are connected to respective ends of the chain 56 via connecting pieces 57, 57. The chain 56 and the bending operation wires 58, 58 form a pulling member. The bending operation wires 58, 58 are connected to the distal end of the bending portion 16 or the rear end of the distal end forming portion 15 through the insertion portion 12. When the sprocket 55 rotates, as will be described later, the bending operation wire 5 is rotated according to the direction of rotation.
The bending portion 16 is bent by pushing and pulling 8, 58. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a partition plate 59 is installed between the transmission gear train 50 and the chain 56 side to prevent the two from contacting each other.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the drive gear 51 and the sprocket 55 are arranged so as to be displaced in the axial direction of the operation portion 13. The width a between both ends of the chain 56 corresponding to the outer diameter of the sprocket 55 is larger than the outer diameter d of the bearing box 60 that holds the second bearing 48 that supports the rotating shaft 36. Therefore, since the bearing box 60 is arranged with a margin between both ends of the chain 56, the chain 56 does not contact the bearing box 60.

Next, the operation of the bending operation device section 29 will be described. First, insert the insertion portion 12 of the endoscope 11 into the body cavity,
At this time, for example, when it is desired to bend the bending portion 16 upward,
The operator presses the upward switch button 21a in the bending operation switch section 21. As a result, a controlled drive voltage is applied to the piezoelectric body 35 of the stator 33, and a traveling wave having a predetermined direction is generated in the stator 33. As a result,
The traveling wave causes the rotor 34 to rotate in a predetermined direction. The rotation of the rotor 34 is transmitted to the rotary shaft 36, and the drive gear 51 attached to the rotary shaft 36 is rotated. Further, the rotation of the drive gear 51 is transmitted to the driven gear 52 and rotationally drives the sprocket 55 integrated with the driven gear 52. Then, the chain 56 is rotated to pull the upper bending operation wire 58 connected to one end thereof, and the lower bending operation wire 58 is pulled.
Take out. As a result, the bending portion 16 is forcibly bent upward.

In this transmission gear train 50, since the diameter of the driven gear 52 is made sufficiently larger than the diameter of the drive gear 51, the driving force can be increased.

When the bending portion 16 is to be bent downward, the downward switch button 21b of the bending operation switch portion 21 is pressed, and when the bending portion 16 is to be bent leftward, the leftward switch button 21c of the bending operation switch portion 21 is pressed to bend the bending portion 16. When the user wants to bend 16 to the right, he pushes the right direction switch button 21d of the bending operation switch section 21 to bend it to the desired direction in the same manner as above. When the bending portion 16 is bent in the left-right direction, it is operated by the other bending operation device portion (not shown) symmetrically provided on the bending operation device portion 29.

Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the thrust bearing 37 and the first radial bearing 3 which support the rotary shaft 36.
Since the assembly including 8 and the bearing box 39 holding the same is disposed in the internal space s formed inside the stator 33 and the rotor 34 of the ultrasonic motor 32, the ultrasonic motor 32 including the assembly is It is possible to prevent the peripheral configuration from becoming large. Especially, the rotary shaft 36
It is possible to avoid becoming large in the axial direction.

FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment replaces the sprocket 55 of the first embodiment,
A pulley 61 is used and a pulling wire 62 is used instead of the chain 56. The other points are the same as those in the first embodiment.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various modifications can be considered within the scope of the invention. In each of the above-described embodiments, the ultrasonic motor has been described as an example of the ultrasonic motor, but a vibration wave motor of a method other than this may be used.

[Advantage of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, since the bearing for supporting the rotary shaft of the vibration wave motor is arranged in the internal space of the vibration wave motor incorporated in the operating portion, these parts can be assembled compactly. . Therefore, the operating portion itself can be made compact and the operability can be improved by reducing the diameter thereof.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a side sectional view of a bending operation device portion in a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1,
FIG. 3 is a layout explanatory view of the bending operation device portion in the same first embodiment, FIG. 4 is a side view showing the whole endoscope in the same first embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 6 is an arrangement configuration diagram of an ultrasonic motor according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is an arrangement explanatory view of a bending operation device portion according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 11: endoscope, 12 ... insertion part, 16 ... bending part, 21 ... bending operation switch part, 26 ... main frame, 29 ... bending operation device part, 31 ... ultrasonic motor unit, 32 ... ultrasonic motor, 36 ... Rotating shaft, 37 ... Thrust bearing,
38 ... 1st radial bearing, 39 ... Bearing box, 50 ... Transmission gear train, 55 ... Sprocket, 56
… Chains, 58… Bending operation wires, s …… Internal space.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A bending operation device for an endoscope using a vibration wave motor as a drive source for bending a bending portion of an insertion portion, wherein the operation portion of the endoscope has a substantially cylindrical shape and includes a rotor and a stator. An endoscope characterized by comprising a vibration wave motor, a rotary shaft rotated by the vibration wave motor, and a bearing supporting the rotation shaft, wherein the bearing is arranged in an internal space of the vibration wave motor. Bending operation device.