JP2002253476A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an endoscope which is capable of preventing an anti-break member from being erroneously operated. SOLUTION: This endoscope has the anti-break member 10 which covers the outer periphery near the rear end of a flexible portion 13 and of which at least a portion is formed of a soft resin coming into contact with the outside surface of the flexible portion 13 and a knob 34 which makes rotational operation near the anti-break member. The external diameter of at least a portion of the knob 34 is made greater than the external diameter of other portions.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope provided with a fold-preventing member for preventing a flexible portion of an insertion portion from being connected to an operation portion.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The specification and drawings attached to the unpublished application of Japanese Patent Application No. 10-1747 (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-197101) include a hardness adjusting device capable of adjusting the hardness of a flexible portion of an endoscope. The configuration provided with the means is shown. According to this, the hardness of the flexible portion of the endoscope can be changed by operating the hardness adjustment knob provided on the operation unit.
The hardness adjusting knob is provided near the buckling member.

[0003] A connecting portion between a flexible portion and an operating portion of a general endoscope is configured as shown in FIG. That is, the cylindrical tube 143 is fixed inside the exterior member 142 of the operation unit 141, and a flange portion 144 protruding inward is integrally formed at the tip of the cylindrical tube 143. A tubular rear end cap 146 is provided at a rear end portion of the flexible portion 145. The rear end of the rear end cap 146 has a flange portion 1 protruding outward.
47 are provided integrally, and the flange portion 147 is in contact with the end wall of the flange portion 144. A male screw 148 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the rear end cap 146 at a position slightly more distal than the flange portion 147 on the cylindrical tube 143 side. The male screw 148 is screwed with a nut 149 which is a ring-shaped member having a female screw thread on the inner peripheral surface. The nut 149 is screwed into the male screw 148 so that the nut 149 abuts against the flange 144 and the flange 144 is tightened between the nut 149 and the flange 147 of the rear end cap 146.
The rear end cap 146 of the flexible portion 145 is fixedly attached to the third member 3 without loosening.

[0004] On the other hand, the breaking preventing member 152 is provided with a soft portion 145.
A cylindrical rubber member 153 that covers the outer periphery of the rear end portion, and a support member 154 that is a cylindrical metal member provided integrally with the inner peripheral portion of the rear end of the rubber member 153 are provided. ing. The inner surface of the rear end of the support member 154 has a female screw 15
5 are formed. By screwing the female screw 155 to a male screw 151 formed on the outer periphery of the cylindrical tube 143, the bending preventing member 152 is connected to the cylindrical tube 14 of the operation unit 141.
3 and fixed. The above-mentioned fold-preventing member 15
In the rubber member 153 of No. 2, the inner surface on the distal end side is the soft portion 1.
The outer surface 45 is relatively strongly adhered to the outer surface.

[0005]

Since the hardness adjusting knob is provided near a buckling member provided at a connecting portion between the flexible portion and the operating portion of the general endoscope,
In some cases, the folding prevention member is erroneously grasped together with the hardness adjustment knob, and a rotational force is applied to the folding prevention member together with the hardness adjustment knob. When a rotational force is applied to the bending-preventing member having the above-described structure, the bending-preventing member rotates around its central axis, and thus has the following problem.

In the above structure, when a rotational force about the axis is applied to the folding preventing member 152 in one direction, the connection of the folding preventing member 152 is loosened. At this time, a strong shearing force is generated in a portion where the rubber member 153 and the soft portion 145 on the tip side of the buckling member 152 are in close contact with each other,
There is a possibility that the outer surface of the flexible portion 145 and the tip portion of the buckling member 152 may be damaged. In particular, in colonoscopy, since the twisting operation is performed quite frequently by grasping the flexible portion of the insertion portion, it is often the case that the buckling member is mistakenly gripped and twisted at this time. Such problems were easy to occur.

[0007] This is not limited to an endoscope that changes the hardness of the flexible portion, but is a problem common to endoscopes having an operation knob that rotates around the center axis near the buckling member. There is a similar problem when, for example, an operation knob for adjusting the optical zoom is provided in the vicinity of the buckling member.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope which can prevent a folding member from being operated by mistake.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A folding member covering the outer periphery near the rear end of the flexible portion, at least a part of which is formed of a flexible resin in contact with the outer surface of the flexible portion, provided near the folding member,
In an endoscope having an operation knob for performing a rotation operation, at least a part of the operation knob has an outer diameter larger than that of another part. The invention according to a second aspect is the endoscope according to the first aspect, wherein an outer diameter of a distal end side portion of the operation knob is increased. The invention according to claim 3 is the endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the outer diameter of the rear end side portion of the operation knob is increased. The invention according to claim 4 is a buckling member that covers the outer periphery near the rear end of the flexible portion and is formed at least in part from a flexible resin that is in contact with the outer surface of the flexible portion; An endoscope comprising: an operation knob provided to perform a rotation operation; and an anti-slip provided on at least a part of an outer surface of the operation knob.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is the endoscope according to the fourth aspect, wherein the non-slip is provided on a part of a periphery of the operation knob.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

(Structure) As shown in FIG.
Is an electronic endoscope 2 with built-in imaging means, a light source device 3 for supplying illumination light to the endoscope 2, and a signal processing device for signal-processing an imaging signal output from the endoscope 2. 4
And a color monitor 5 for displaying an image on a screen by a video signal output from the signal processing device 4.

The endoscope 2 has an elongated insertion portion 6, a large-diameter operation portion 7 connected to a rear end of the insertion portion 6, and a universal extending from a side surface of the operation portion 7. Cable 8
The universal cable 8 is provided with a connector 9 at the extending end thereof, which can be detachably connected to the light source device 3.

The insertion portion 6 has a rigid distal end 11 from the distal end side, a bendable tubular bending portion 12 connected to the rear end of the distal end portion 11, and a rear end of the bending portion 12. It is made of a long and flexible tubular flexible portion 13, and the front end of the operating portion 7 is connected to the rear end of the flexible portion 13. A folding member 10, which will be described later, is fitted on the outer periphery of the rear end of the flexible portion 13, and the folding member 10 is attached to a connection portion between the flexible portion 13 and the operation unit 7.

In the endoscope 2, a light guide 14 made of a fiber bundle having flexibility and having a function of transmitting illumination light is inserted through the insertion section 6, the operation section 7, and the universal cable 8. One end of the light guide 14 is connected to a light guide connector 15 fixed so as to protrude from the connector 9, and the other end of the light guide 14 is connected to an illumination window at the tip 11. Then, by connecting the connector 9 to the light source device 3, the light guide connector 15 faces the lamp 16 in the light source device 3,
The illumination light of the lamp 16 is condensed by the lens 17 and is incident on the incident end face of the light guide connector 15.

The illumination light transmitted by the light guide 14 is emitted forward from an illumination window of the distal end portion 11 to illuminate a subject such as an affected part. When an object is illuminated, a charge-coupled device (hereinafter abbreviated as CCD) serves as an imaging device having a function of performing photoelectric conversion by an objective lens 18 attached to an observation window provided at the distal end portion 11 adjacent to the illumination window. 19
The optical image is formed on the light receiving surface of the light emitting device. The CCD 19 converts the optical image into an electric signal.

One end of a signal cable 21 is connected to the CCD 19. The signal cable 21 is inserted through the insertion section 6, the operation section 7, and the universal cable 8, and the rear end thereof is connected to the electric connector 22 provided on the connector 9. An external cable 23 is connected to the electric connector 22, and the external cable 23 is connected to the signal processing device 4. The CCD drive signal generated by the drive circuit 24 of the signal processing device 4 is
9, the imaging signals photoelectrically converted by the CCD 19 are sequentially read. This imaging signal is input to a signal processing circuit 25 in the signal processing device 4,
A process of converting to a standard video signal is performed. This video signal is input to the color monitor 5, and the image formed on the CCD 19 is displayed in color in the display area 5a of the endoscope observation image.

In the insertion portion 6, the bending portion 12 provided adjacent to the distal end portion 11 has a plurality of ring-shaped bending pieces 26 which are rivets at positions corresponding to the adjacent bending pieces 26 in the vertical and horizontal directions. And the like so as to be rotatably connected to each other. The tip of a bending wire 27 is fixed to the bending piece 26 or the tip portion 11 at the forefront, and the rear end of the bending wire 27 is connected to a sprocket 28 in the operation section 7. A bending operation knob 29 for performing a bending operation is attached to a shaft of the sprocket 28. In FIG. 1, for the sake of simplicity, a schematic configuration of a bending mechanism only in the vertical and horizontal directions is shown.

By rotating the bending operation knob 29, one of the pair of bending wires 27 arranged vertically or horizontally is pulled, and the other is relaxed. The bending portion 12 can be bent to the 27 side.

A grip portion 31 is formed on the operation portion 7 at a position forward of a position where the bending operation knob 29 is provided. Then, the surgeon grips the grip portion 31 and operates the bending operation knob 29 or the like with one of the gripped hands using a finger such as a thumb not used for gripping.

A treatment tool insertion port 32 is provided at a portion on the front end side of the grip portion 31. When a treatment tool is inserted from the treatment tool insertion port 32, an internal treatment tool channel 33 is provided.
The distal end of the treatment tool is protruded from the channel outlet of the distal end portion 11 (see FIG. 3), and a treatment such as polyp resection can be performed.

In the present embodiment, for example, a cylindrical hardness adjusting knob 34 for performing a hardness adjusting operation is provided at a front end portion of the operating portion 7 adjacent to the bending preventing member 10. By performing an operation of rotating about the center, a hardness changing wire (hereinafter simply abbreviated as a wire) 35 and a hardness changing coil (hereinafter simply referred to as a wire) constituting hardness changing means arranged in the soft portion 13 of the insertion portion 6. A hardness adjusting mechanism capable of changing the hardness of the flexible portion 13 is constituted by a coil (abbreviated as abbreviated) 36.

FIG. 2 shows the insertion section 6 and the operation section 7 of the endoscope 2.
The following shows a more specific structure. The coil 36 and the coil 3 are placed in a soft tube 37 forming the outer skin of the soft portion 13.
6, and a wire 35 for transmitting a force when the hardness adjustment knob 34 is operated is provided. The coil 36 is formed by a close-wound or close-wound coil. Further, the tip of the coil 36 is firmly fixed to the wire 35 inserted into the coil 36 by brazing or the like. The distal end of the wire extending portion 30 extending from the distal end of the coil 36 and forming the coil rotation restricting member is brazed to a hard and ring-shaped connecting tube 38 for connecting the curved portion 12 and the flexible portion 13. And is firmly fixed.

The connecting pipe 38 connecting the bending portion 12 and the flexible portion 13 is fixed to the rearmost bending piece 26. May be configured. The bending piece 26 including the connection pipe 38 is covered with an elastic outer skin 39 such as a rubber tube.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the distal end of the coil 36 is fixed to the connecting pipe 38 via the wire extension 30 having a torsional rigidity stronger (greater) than the torsional rigidity of the coil 36 in the natural state. , And has a function of stopping or suppressing the rotation of the coil 36. The wire extension portion 30 has a flexible elasticity against bending and an appropriate elasticity against twisting.

The proximal end of the coil 36 abuts against a coil stopper 40 disposed inside the front end of the operating section 7,
It is fixed to the coil stopper 40 with solder, solder, adhesive, or the like, and the movement and the rotation to the rear side from this position are restricted (prevented). The wire 35 inserted into the coil 36 extends rearward through the hole of the coil stopper 40, and the wire 35 is movable in the axial direction with respect to the coil 36. Note that the coil 36 is in a state where it does not rotate greatly.

The coil stopper 40 is screwed and fixed to a rear end base 41 serving as a connection pipe provided for connecting and fixing the rear end of the flexible portion 13 to the operation portion 7. The rear end cap 41 is a cylindrical tube 43 arranged on the outer periphery thereof.
Is fixed using a nut 44 in the vicinity of the front end.

On the other hand, a ring-shaped wire stopper 45 is firmly fixed to the proximal end of the wire 35, that is, the rear end by brazing or the like. A traction member 46 that can move in the front-rear direction is disposed between the coil stopper 40 and the wire stopper 45.
It is fixed to a letter-shaped moving ring 47.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the pulling member 46 has a groove (hole) 48 which penetrates back and forth, and the wire 35 passes through the groove 48. That is, as shown in FIG. 3B, the groove 48 is formed long in the radial radial direction. Further, the traction member 46 is fixedly attached to the inner peripheral wall of the circular moving ring 47 by screws 49.

The moving ring 47 is fitted on the inner surface of the cylindrical tube 43 and is slidably contacted with the inner surface so as to be movable in the axial direction (front-back direction). When the traction member 46 moves rearward together with the moving ring 47, the traction member 46 shown in FIG.
By performing the operation of moving the traction member 46 further rearward, the wire 35 together with the wire stopper 45 can also be moved rearward.

When the wire stopper 45 is not moved to the rear side, the coil 36 whose movement to the rear side is restricted by the coil stopper 40 is in the state of the highest flexibility, that is, in the soft state of the lowest bending hardness. . In contrast,
When the coil stopper 40 moves to the rear side and the wire 35 also moves to the rear side at the same time, the rear end of the coil 36 hits the coil stopper 40, and a compressive force acts to press the coil 36 relatively forward. That is, by applying a force to move the rear end of the wire 35 rearward, the coil 3
6, a compressive force is applied to the coil 6, which makes it possible to set the flexibility of the coil 36 having elasticity to a low state, that is, a hard state in which bending is difficult (more precisely, hardness against bending) is high. In this case, the magnitude of the compressive force applied to the coil 36 is changed in accordance with the amount of backward movement of the wire stopper 45, and accordingly, the degree of flexibility (the degree of hardness) of the coil 36 is appropriately changed. be able to.

On the other hand, a cam cylinder 51 shown in FIGS. 2 and 6 is fitted outside the cylindrical tube 43. Cam grooves 52a and 52b are spirally provided in the cam cylinder 51 at two opposing positions of the cylinder. The cam cylinder 51 is a two-row cam, and the cam groove 52a and the cam groove 52b have the same shape, and are symmetric such that the other overlaps the position where one of the cam cylinders 51 is rotated by 180 degrees with respect to the axis of the cam cylinder 51. Each is provided at a location. The cam grooves 52a and 52b have a smooth spiral shape.

The cylindrical tube 43 is provided with a long hole 53 along the longitudinal direction. And the above-mentioned moving ring 47
The two pins 54 which move together with the moving ring 47
Is provided. Each pin 54 is disposed so as to penetrate the corresponding cam groove 52a, 52b and the elongated hole 53 located inside thereof, and is fixed to the innermost moving ring 47 by a screw portion 54a. The long hole 53 is set to a length that covers the rear end of the wire 35 or the moving range of the wire stopper 45.

As shown in FIG. 3 (C), a cylindrical hardness adjusting knob 34 is attached to the outer periphery of the cam cylinder 51. A plurality of keys 71 projecting outward are provided on the outer periphery of the rear end of the cam cylinder 51, and key grooves respectively engaging with the corresponding ones of the keys 71 are provided on the inner periphery of the rear end of the hardness adjusting knob 34. 72 are formed. Therefore,
When the hardness adjustment knob 34 rotates around the axis, the cam cylinder 51 also rotates via the key 71 and the key groove 72.

There is no key groove on the surface of the hardness adjusting knob 34 which contacts the regulating member 74 described later, and the cross section of that portion is formed to have a smooth circular shape. The outer diameter of the hardness adjusting knob 34 gradually increases from the distal end side to a certain position on the hand side, and the rear end side is thicker than the distal end side, so that the outer peripheral shape is easy to grasp.

Further, the outer shape of the hardness adjusting knob 34 is not limited to that of the above-described embodiment, and may be formed in another shape that is easy to grasp. For example, as shown in FIG. 7A, the outer diameter of a portion 116 having a certain width on the rear end side of the hardness adjusting knob 34 is set to a large diameter of the same size, and the outer diameter of the remaining portion 117 is set to the same size. Of smaller diameter.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C, a protruding portion (convex portion) 11 provided in parallel with the longitudinal axis direction.
8 or a groove (recess) 119 may be provided.

As shown in FIG. 7D, a convex portion or a concave portion may be provided on a part of the outer periphery of the hardness adjusting knob 34. Also, as shown in FIG. 7 (E), a knurl 120 is cut all around, or a resin 121 having a high coefficient of friction such as rubber is fitted around the outer periphery as shown in FIG. 7 (F).
This may be made non-slip. FIG.
As shown in (G), the flange 122 may be formed by increasing the outer diameter of only the distal end edge. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7 (H), the flange 122 serves as an abutting portion of the hand to be gripped.

Although the hardness adjusting knob 34 in the above-described embodiment has a symmetrical shape with respect to the center axis, it may have an asymmetrical shape. For example, the shape may be adapted to the shape of the gripping hand.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the front end of the hardness adjusting knob 34 abuts on the annular cover member 73, and the forward movement is restricted. This cover member 7
Reference numeral 3 denotes an elastic member, for example, made of rubber, which is disposed so as to be fitted on the outer periphery of the support member 58 of the buckling member 10, and is provided between the rubber member 110 of the buckling member 10 and the hardness adjusting knob 34. The outer peripheral area of the member 58 is covered. Therefore, the female screw hole 11 formed in the support member 58
1 is covered by the cover member 73 so as not to be exposed to the outside.

The rubber member 110 of the breaking preventing member 10 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and the outer periphery thereof is formed in a tapered conical shape having a thin front end. Then, the rubber member 110
Is pressed against and adhered to the outer peripheral surface of the rear end of the flexible portion 13 of the insertion portion 6.

The rear end portion of the rubber member 110 is fitted to the front end of the support member 58. A plurality of flanges 109 projecting outward are provided on the outer periphery of the distal end portion of the support member 58 to which the rear end portion of the rubber member 110 is fitted.
10 is hard to peel off from the support member 58. On the inner side of the rubber member 110, on the rear end side of the portion pressed against the outer periphery of the flexible portion 13, a portion surrounded by the rubber member 110, the soft portion 13, the rear end cap 41, and the support member 58 has An internal space 114 is formed.

As shown in FIG. 2, a cylindrical contact member 57 is disposed on the outer periphery near the front end of the cylindrical tube 43.
The contact member 57 is sandwiched and assembled between the support member 58 and the cam cylinder 51. This contact member 57
Is formed of a resin having good slipperiness, for example, polyacetal or the like.

A cylindrical regulating member 74 is fitted on the outer periphery of the cylindrical tube 43 at the rear end of the cam cylinder 51. An O-ring 76 is press-fitted and fitted in a groove 75 formed between a step formed on the outer periphery of the rear end portion of the regulating member 74 and the inner periphery of the front end portion of the gripping tube 61. The O-ring 76 ensures watertightness between the regulating member 74 and the holding portion cylinder 61.

A circumferential groove 77 is also formed on the outer periphery of the intermediate portion of the regulating member 74.
8 are closely mounted. The O-ring 78 is in pressure contact with the inner peripheral surface of the hardness adjusting knob 34 fitted on the outer periphery of the regulating member 74 to ensure watertightness at this position and to secure the hardness when the hardness adjusting knob 34 is rotated. A certain amount of frictional force is applied to the adjustment knob 34.

The outer peripheral surface of the front end of the grip portion cylinder 61 of the operating portion 7 is tightly fitted in a slidable state on an inner peripheral surface 64 formed by cutting out the rear end portion of the hardness adjusting knob 34. I have. In addition, the front end of the grip portion cylinder 61 is close to a state where the front end substantially abuts the rear end of the regulating member 74.

The hardness adjusting knob 34 is connected to the cover member 7.
Between the grip 3 and the grip portion cylinder 61, the cam 3 is fitted on the outer periphery of the cam cylinder 51 and the regulating member 74, and is attached in a state where the movement in the front-rear direction is regulated. The hardness adjustment knob 34 is rotatably disposed around the cylindrical tube 43 via the cam cylinder 51.

As described above, the hardness adjusting knob 34 can be rotated around the axis, but the regulating member 74 is fixed to the cylindrical tube 43 with screws 79 so as not to rotate. Further, an O-ring 62 is disposed between the inner peripheral surface of the front end portion of the hardness adjusting knob 34 and the outer peripheral surface of the support member 58 facing the inside thereof. Due to the O-ring 62 being pressed against the inner peripheral surface, when the hardness adjustment knob 34 is rotated, a certain amount of frictional force is applied to the hardness adjustment knob 34.

The cylindrical tube 43 has a rear end connected to a frame (not shown) to which a bending operation mechanism or the like of the operation section 7 is attached by a screw (not shown). The cylindrical tube 43 is mounted so that it does not rotate even when the hardness adjustment knob 34 is rotated.

As shown in FIG. 2, a flange portion 101 protruding inward is integrally provided on the inner peripheral surface of the distal end of the cylindrical tube 43. Further, a flange portion 102 protruding outward is integrally provided on the outer periphery of the rear end of the rear end cap 41. The end wall surfaces of the flange portion 101 and the flange portion 102 are in contact with each other from the axial direction. Further, on the outer peripheral surface of the rear end base 41, the flange 1
Male screw 10 on the outer peripheral surface slightly
A nut 44, which is a ring-shaped member having a female thread cut on the inner peripheral surface thereof, is screwed into the male screw 103. Between its part 102 and its flange part 1
01 is tightened and fixed. That is, the rear end base 41
Between the flange portion 102 and the nut 44 by sandwiching the flange portion 101 from both sides in the axial direction.
It is fixedly attached to the cylindrical tube 43 without slack.

A circumferential groove 80 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the rear end base 41 at a position closer to the distal end than the male screw 103, and the O-ring 10 is formed in the groove 80.
4 are provided. The O-ring 104 supports the support member 5
8 and is in pressure contact with the inner peripheral surface of the nozzle 8 to maintain watertightness at this portion.

In the rear end cap 41, the O-ring 1
FIG. 2 shows the outer surface located on the distal end side from the position where
As shown in FIG. 4, a groove 105 is formed around the entire circumference. A plurality of female screw holes 111 are formed in the support member 58 so as to face the groove 105 and to be radially arranged and penetrate therethrough. A screw 106 is screwed into the female screw hole 111 of the support member 58, and the tip of the screw 106 is fitted into the groove 105. That is,
The support member 58 is attached to the rear end cap 41 by a screw 106. Then, the groove 105 and the screw 10
The engaging portion 6 restricts the movement of the flexible portion 13 in the longitudinal direction with respect to the rear end thereof, and hardly restricts the movement in the rotating direction.

Further, as shown in FIG.
The circumferential groove 10 facing the female screw hole 111
A plurality of grooves 113 are provided which communicate the inner space 114 formed inside the rubber member 110 of the buckling prevention member 5 with the buckling member 5.

As described above, the support member 58 is connected to the rear end cap 4.
Although the screw 106 is fastened to the first groove 105 to assemble the rear end cap 41, the movement in the central axis direction can be restricted only by the engagement means by the groove 105 and the screw 106. The rotation around cannot be regulated sufficiently. Therefore, the following engagement means is provided. That is, as shown in FIG. 5 in which the rear end portion of the support member 58 is viewed from the side, a notch portion 107 that opens at the rear end is provided at the rear end side of the support member 58, and the cylindrical tube 43 is formed. Pin 108 is attached to the outer peripheral surface of
The pin 108 is fitted into and engaged with the notch 107. Thus, an engaging portion that restricts the movement of the folding member 10 in the rotation direction with respect to the operation portion 7 and does not restrict the movement in the longitudinal direction is formed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when connecting the cylindrical tube 43 and the buckling member 10, the movement in the rotation direction is controlled by the locking means by the pin 108, and the movement in the center axis direction is controlled by the screw. This is performed by locking means 106.

FIG. 3A shows the inside of the insertion portion 6 of the endoscope 2.
As shown in the figure, various built-in components are arranged. That is, four curved wires 27 arranged at positions corresponding to up, down, left and right, two signal cables 21 arranged near the center, two light guides 14 arranged at the upper part of the center, and the lower part. , A treatment instrument channel 33 disposed on the left side, a coil 36 and a wire 35 disposed on the left side, an air supply tube 69 for performing air supply disposed adjacent thereto, and a water supply tube 70 for supplying water are incorporated. Have been. Various built-in components are also arranged in the operation unit 7 as shown in FIG.

(Operation / Effect in Use) In the endoscope 2, when the hardness adjusting knob 34 is rotated, the cam cylinder 5
Since the pin 1 also rotates, the pin 54 moves in the cam grooves 52a and 52b, and the traction member 46 moves rearward. When the traction member 46 slightly moves in this way, the traction member 46 hits the wire stopper 45 and further moves rearward, thereby pulling the wire 35 and applying a compressive force to the coil 36 to harden the coil 36. . Thereby, the flexible portion 13 can be hardened.

(Operation / Effect on Holding Operation of Hardness Adjusting Knob) In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 7A, the rear end of the outer periphery is formed thicker than the front end. For this reason, the hardness adjustment knob 34 is easy to grasp. Since the portion having the larger outer diameter is located on the rear end side of the hardness adjusting knob 34 and is separated from the buckling member 10, erroneous grip of the buckling member 10 is reduced.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7B, 7C, 7E, and 7F, the hardness adjusting knob 34 is provided with irregularities on its outer periphery. There is a clear difference in the tactile sensation between the case where the fold-preventing member 10 is gripped. Therefore, erroneous operation can be avoided.

In the embodiment shown in FIG.
As shown in (H), the hardness adjustment knob 34 is gripped. At this time, since the little finger touches the side wall surface of the protruding portion of the flange 122 of the hardness adjustment knob 34, the tactile sensation when the gripping member 10 is gripped is also obtained. There is a clear difference, and erroneous operation can be avoided. Tsuba 1
The protruding portion 22 provides a finger resting function for preventing slippage.
Further, since the hand holding the hardness adjusting knob 34 tends to slide downward due to the weight of the arm, it is necessary to always hold the grip with a certain grip force or more, which has led to inspection fatigue, but FIG. 7 (G). As shown in FIG. 7 (H), since the protrusion supports the hand, the hand does not slide downward even if it is gently gripped, which has the effect of reducing inspection fatigue. .

The structure shown in FIG. 7D has the effect that the position of the hardness adjustment knob 34 can be confirmed by the tactile sensation by the position of the protrusion or groove without having to visually confirm the position.

[0062]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the operation knob is easier to grasp than the buckling member, it is less likely that the buckling member is erroneously gripped and rotated. There is little risk of breakage of the flexible part and the buckling member. According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, the large outer diameter portion of the operation knob supports the hand for gripping the operation knob, so that the hand can be held down even if it is lightly gripped. Without slipping, which leads to a reduction in inspection fatigue.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, since the portion of the operation knob having a large outer diameter is separated from the buckling member, the buckling member is erroneously gripped. Less.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, the knob is less likely to slide when the operation knob is operated, which leads to an improvement in operability.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to confirm by a tactile sensation to what position the operation knob has just been rotated without visually confirming the anti-slip position. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing an endoscope apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a configuration of a portion of the endoscope according to the first embodiment that extends over a flexible portion and an operation portion of an insertion portion.

FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of a portion taken along line AA of FIG. 2;
(B) is a sectional view of a portion along the line BB in FIG. 2, (C) is a sectional view of a portion along the line CC of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a portion along the line DD in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a connection state between a support member of the buckling member and the cylindrical tube in the endoscope.

FIG. 6 is a detailed explanatory view of a cam cylinder in the endoscope.

FIGS. 7A to 7H are explanatory views showing another example of a hardness adjustment knob.

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of a connection portion between a flexible portion and an operation portion of a general endoscope.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscope apparatus, 2 ... Endoscope, 6 ... Insertion part, 7 ... Operation part, 10 ... Bending prevention member, 11 ... Tip part, 12 ... Bending part, 13 ... Soft part, 37 ... Soft tube, 34 ... hardness adjusting knob, 41 ... rear end cap, 43 ... cylindrical tube, 58 ... support member,
109: flange, 110: rubber member, 116: constant width portion, 118: protrusion (convex portion), 119: groove (concave portion), 120: knurl, 121: resin having a high coefficient of friction.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A breaking member which covers an outer periphery near a rear end portion of a flexible portion and is formed at least in part of a flexible resin which is in contact with an outer surface of the flexible portion, and is provided near the breaking member. An endoscope having an operation knob for performing a rotation operation, wherein an outer diameter of at least a part of the operation knob is larger than an outer diameter of another part. 2. The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein an outer diameter of a distal end portion of the operation knob is increased. 3. The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein an outer diameter of a rear end portion of the operation knob is increased. 4. A buckling member which covers an outer periphery near a rear end of the flexible portion and at least a part of which is made of a flexible resin which is in contact with an outer surface of the flexible portion, and which is provided near the buckling member. An endoscope having an operation knob for performing a rotation operation, wherein at least a part of an outer surface of the operation knob is provided with a non-slip. 5. The endoscope according to claim 4, wherein the non-slip is provided on a part of a periphery of the operation knob.