JP2002336969A - Lead wire attaching method, electrode and spot welding machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electrode that has low toxicity, that causes no dermatitis, poisoning or allergic reaction, and that is safe and easy to manufacture. SOLUTION: A copper sheet 2 is attached to a titanium-made electrode element 1 by spot welding, and a lead wire 3 is soldered by solder 4 to the copper sheet 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrode having an electrode element made of titanium, a method for attaching a lead wire to the electrode element made of titanium, and a spot welding machine used for manufacturing the electrode. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, stainless steel has been used as an electrode element for a living body electrode used to electrically stimulate a living body from the body surface.

[0003]

However, if stainless steel is used for the electrode element for electrical stimulation, the following problems may occur. (1) Corrosion occurs in the electrode element due to energization, and ions such as iron, nickel, and chromium are eluted. As a result, a reduction in strength, a deterioration in appearance, and the like occur. (2) The eluted ions (especially nickel ions and chromium ions) induce contact dermatitis and allergic reactions.

On the other hand, if a noble metal such as gold or platinum is used for the electrode element, ion elution can be suppressed. However, since these substances are expensive, high purity materials are not suitable for general uses such as biological electrodes.

[0005] In view of this, a method of plating the stainless steel electrode element with gold or the like to prevent ion elution from the surface and at the same time to reduce the cost can be considered. The stainless steel may be exposed due to loss of iron, and ion elution may occur due to galvanic current.

It is known that these problems can be solved by using titanium as the material of the electrode element (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-501816, WO84 / 012).
No. 98).

[0007] Titanium is resistant to corrosion, and the elution of ions is extremely small even when a current is applied in a saline solution. For this reason, even if titanium is used for the electrode element of the biological electrode for electrical stimulation, the strength does not decrease and the surface does not deteriorate.

[0008] Titanium has low toxicity, and even if ions are eluted, it does not induce contact dermatitis, poisoning, or allergic reactions, and is safe.

Further, titanium is inexpensive as compared with noble metals such as gold and platinum, and thus can be used as a high-purity material for a living body electrode.

However, unlike titanium or gold, titanium cannot be soldered, so that it is difficult to attach lead wires when used as an electrode element. Therefore, conventionally, there has been no structure in which a lead wire is easily attached to a titanium electrode element, and the attaching method has been complicated (Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-45622, U.S. Pat. No. 3,749,101).

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for attaching a lead wire which can easily attach a lead wire to an electrode element made of titanium, and to provide an electrode to which a lead wire is attached by the method. It is an object of the present invention to provide a spot welding machine used for manufacturing the electrode.

[0012]

According to the present invention, there is provided a lead wire attaching method for attaching a lead wire to a titanium electrode element.
A member made of a material that can be soldered is attached to the electrode element by spot welding, and the lead wire is attached to the member by soldering. Thus, the attachment of the lead wire has sufficient strength, and an electrode with less elution of ions can be manufactured at low cost.

One of a pair of welding electrodes used in the spot welding is in contact with the electrode element, and a contact surface thereof is formed to be larger than a contact surface between the electrode element and the member. It is characterized by having. According to this, no erosion occurs on the contact surface of the electrode element with the welding electrode.

[0014] Further, if the electrode element is an electrode element for an electrode for bioelectric stimulation, an electrode safe for a living body can be obtained.

The electrode for bioelectric stimulation is preferably an electrode for electric anesthesia, urinary incontinence treatment, defibrillation or percutaneous nerve stimulation.

In the case of treating urinary incontinence, the electrode element is formed in a ring shape, and the member is mounted on the inner peripheral surface thereof.

The electrode according to the present invention comprises: an electrode element made of titanium;
A member made of a solderable material attached to the electrode element by spot welding; and a lead wire attached at one end to the member by soldering. According to this, the attachment of the lead wire has sufficient strength, less elution of ions, and is inexpensive.

Further, if the electrode element is an electrode element for an electrode for bioelectric stimulation, an electrode safe for a living body can be obtained.

It is preferable that the electrode for bioelectric stimulation is an electrode for electric anesthesia, treatment for urinary incontinence, defibrillation or percutaneous nerve stimulation.

In the case of urinary incontinence treatment, the electrode element is formed in a ring shape, and the member is attached to an inner peripheral surface thereof.

In the spot welding machine used for manufacturing the electrode of the present invention, a second member is brought into contact with a part of the surface of the first member, and one of the pair of welding electrodes is connected to the first member. 1
In the spot welding machine that performs welding by bringing the other member into contact with the second member, a contact surface of the one welding electrode with the first member is formed by the first member and the second member.
It is characterized in that it is formed in a size larger than the contact surface with the member. As a result, the current does not flow intensively in a narrow range on the surface of the first member, so that no erosion occurs on the surface of the first member.

[0022]

FIG. 1 shows a basic type of bioelectric stimulation electrode according to the present invention. This example is an electrode for electric anesthesia. The electrode element 1 used here is made of titanium and has a disk shape, and a copper plate 2 is attached to its upper surface by spot welding. One end of a conductor 3 a of the lead wire 3 is soldered to the upper surface of the copper plate 2 by solder 4. The ends of the solder 4, the copper plate 2, and the lead wires 3 are covered with an insulating portion 5. For the insulating portion 5, for example, an epoxy resin, a silicon resin, or the like is used.

In order to obtain such an electrode, first, a copper plate 2 is attached to the electrode element 1 by spot welding, and then one end of the conductor 3a of the lead wire 3 is soldered to the copper plate 2. Next, the insulating portion 5 is formed by covering the solder 4, the copper plate 2, and the ends of the lead wires 3 with an insulator.

A description will be given of a welding machine used when spot welding the copper plate 2 to the electrode element 1 in the production of the present electrode. FIG. 2A is a simplified diagram of the welding machine. As shown in this figure, the welding machine comprises a pair of welding electrodes 7A, 7B.
, And a current supplied from the power supply circuit 6 flows between them. Electrode element 1 of welding electrode 7A
The surface in contact with is approximately the same size as the bottom surface of the electrode element 1, and is formed to have a size equal to or larger than the surface in which the electrode element 1 contacts the copper plate 2. The contact surface of the welding electrode 7 </ b> B that contacts the copper plate 2 is small, so that the current flows intensively at the point of contact with the copper plate 2.

For comparison, FIG. 2B schematically shows a conventional spot welding machine. As shown in this figure, since the welding electrodes 7A0 and 7B0 both have small tip areas, erosion occurred on the surface of the electrode element 1 in contact with the welding electrode 7A0. However, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2A, the contact area of one of the welding electrodes 7A with the electrode element 1 is increased, so that current flows through the entire contact surface. For this reason,
Since the current does not flow intensively in one place and no erosion occurs, the outer surface of the electrode element 1 is not damaged. Therefore, even if the electrode element 1 is mounted on a living body, the contact surface does not damage the mounting part of the living body.

According to this electrode for electric anesthesia, allergy is hardly induced due to little ion elution.

Next, FIG. 3 shows an insertion type bioelectric stimulation electrode according to the present invention. This example is an electrode for urinary incontinence treatment. FIG. 3A is a diagram showing the appearance of the entire electrode.
3B is a cross-sectional view thereof, and FIG. 3C is an enlarged view of a part of FIG.

As shown in these figures, the present electrode includes two annular electrode elements 10A and 10B. These electrode elements 10A and 10B are made of titanium. Electrode element 1
0A and 10B are attached to the housing 11. The housing 11 has small-diameter portions 11a and 11b in which a predetermined length portion is formed with a small outer diameter from both ends,
The electrode elements 10A and 10B have small diameter portions 11a and 11B.
b. Cap portions 12A and 12B are fitted to the respective distal end portions of the small diameter portions 11a and 11b.

A through hole is provided at the center of one cap portion 12A, and a lead wire 13 is inserted therethrough. As shown in FIG. 4, the electrode elements 10 </ b> A and 10 </ b> B have a groove 15 formed in the inner surface in a circumferential direction, and a part of a pair of walls 16 forming the groove 15 is cut out, and the cutout 1 is formed.
7 are formed. Groove 15 near the notch 17
A copper plate 18 is attached to the bottom surface of the substrate by spot welding.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the lead 13 is composed of two leads, one of which is the lead 13.
One end of “a” is soldered and attached to the copper plate 18 of the electrode element 10A, and one end of the other lead wire 13b is soldered and attached to the copper plate 18 of the electrode element 10B. FIG. 3C shows the electrode element 10 </ b> A and the lead wire 1.
It is an enlarged view which shows the attachment structure with 3a. As shown in this figure, one end of the lead wire 13 a is attached to a copper plate 18 by solder 19.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of this electrode. As shown in FIG.
11b is provided with slits 110a and 110b, respectively. By these slits 110a, 110b, the electrode elements 10A, 10B are connected to the small-diameter portions 11a, 11b.
b, the lead wires 13a and 13b are easily guided into the housing 11.

The electrode element 10 with respect to the housing 11
The connecting portions of A, 10B and cap portions 12A, 12B are shielded by epoxy resin, silicon resin, or the like. The lead wire 13 is inserted through the through hole of the cap portion 12A, and this through hole is shielded by the two sealing members 20 and 21 through which the lead wire 13 is inserted. The sealing member 20 includes a tubular portion 20a provided with a screw on the peripheral surface and a flange portion 20b provided at one end of the tubular portion 20a. Sealing member 21
Is formed of a material having elasticity. When the tubular portion 20a of the sealing member 20 is screwed into the through hole of the cap portion 12A, the tubular portion 20a is pressed and deformed by the flange portion 20b to close the gap between the through holes. Thus, the inside of the housing 11 is shielded.

Here, the lead wire 13a is connected to the electrode element 10A.
The method of attaching the will be described in more detail.

As shown in FIG. 4, a copper plate 18 is attached by spot welding to one portion of the bottom surface of the groove 15 of the electrode element 10A. This attachment location is near the notch 17 so that the work of attaching the lead wire 13a to the copper plate 18 later is easy.

For this spot welding, a welding machine shown in FIG. 6A is used. The welding machine includes a main body 24 and a pair of welding electrodes 25 and 26 protruding from the main body 24. These are the same as a conventional spot welding machine.
However, one welding electrode 25 has its tip member 25a.
A conductive plate 28 having a substantially cylindrical shape is attached via a conductive wire 27. Further, with the conductive plate 28 covering the outer peripheral surface of the electrode element 10A,
A mounting tool 29 is attached from above to squeeze and attach the conductive plate 28 to the outer peripheral surface of the electrode element 10A. The attachment 29 has a knob 29a, and the diameter of the diaphragm can be changed by rotating the knob 29a. The attachment 29 is also formed of a conductive member. FIG. 6B shows a state where these parts are disassembled. In addition, as shown in FIG.
The electrode 25 is fixed to the main body 24, while the other electrode 26 moves up and down by a switch operation.

FIG. 7 is a simplified diagram of the entire configuration including the circuit of the spot welding machine. 7A is a front sectional view, and FIG. 7B is a side sectional view. Electrodes 25, 26
The current between them is supplied from the power supply circuit 6. As shown in this figure, the electrode 25 includes a conductive plate 28 connected to the distal end member 25a, and the electrode element 10A and the conductive plate 28 are in close contact with each other. It is large (the fitting 29 is omitted in FIG. 7).

According to the spot welding, since the electrode 25 has a very large contact area with the electrode element 10A, the current does not concentrate on a narrow area on the outer peripheral surface of the electrode element 10A. The copper plate 18 can be attached to the electrode element 10A without causing erosion on the surface.

When the conductor 13a of the lead 13 is soldered to the copper plate 18 thus attached, the lead 13 is attached to the electrode element 10A. Although the above description is of the method of attaching the lead wire 13a to the electrode element 10A, the same applies to the case of attaching the lead wire 13b to the electrode element 10B.

It is extremely important for the above-described insertion type bioelectric stimulation electrode that there is no unevenness such as erosion on the outer surface of the electrode element so as not to damage the living body. According to this method, unevenness due to erosion does not occur in the electrode element at the time of spot welding, so that a step of treating the unevenness is not required, and the production becomes extremely easy.

According to the insertion type electrode for bioelectric stimulation, since all ions are not eluted, it is difficult to induce allergy.

Next, FIG. 8 shows an electrode for defibrillation according to the present invention. 8A is a plan view, FIG. 8B is a longitudinal sectional view, and FIG. 8C is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 8A. The electrode element 30 made of titanium includes a disk-shaped electrode part 30a and a rod-shaped handle part 30b. The upper end of the rear end of the handle 30b is notched, and the copper plate 31 is attached thereto by spot welding. This spot welding machine is also similar to the above two examples in that the contact area of the welding electrode in contact with the electrode element 30 is larger than the contact area between the copper plate 31 and the electrode element 30. Used.

One end of a lead wire 32 is soldered to the copper plate 31 by solder 33. The ends of the solder 33, the copper plate 31, and the lead wires 32 are covered with an insulating portion 34. For the insulating portion 34, for example, an epoxy resin, a silicon resin, or the like is used.

The entire handle 30b of the electrode element 30 is covered with a handle 35 made of an insulating material.

According to the defibrillation electrode, allergy is hardly induced due to little ion elution.

Next, FIG. 9 shows an electrode for transcutaneous nerve stimulation of the present invention. FIG. 9A is an external view thereof, and FIG. 9B is a partial cross-sectional view thereof.

The housing 40 has a handle 41 on the top surface, a through hole 42 for a band on the side surface, and a pair of cylindrical projections 43 on the bottom surface. Cylindrical projection 4
The disk-shaped electrode elements 44 are inserted and fitted into the respective elements 3. The electrode element 44 is made of titanium.

A copper plate 45 is attached to the upper surface of the electrode element 44 by spot welding. This spot welder is also similar to the above three examples in that the size of the contact area of the welding electrode in contact with the electrode element 44 is equal to or larger than the contact area between the copper plate 45 and the electrode element 44. Used.

One end of a lead wire 46 is soldered to the copper plate 45 by a solder 47. The ends of the solder 47, the copper plate 46, and the lead wires 46 are covered with an insulating portion 48. For the insulating portion 48, for example, an epoxy resin, a silicon resin, or the like is used.

A carrier 49 capable of holding an electrolyte such as salt and moisture is provided inside the distal end of the cylindrical projection 43 of the housing 40.
Is inserted. As a material of the carrier 49, sponge, felt, polymer gel, or the like can be used.

According to this electrode for transcutaneous nerve stimulation, allergy is hardly induced due to little ion elution.

In the above example, a copper plate is used, and the material of the solderable member is made of copper.
Phosphor bronze and bronze may be used.

In addition to the above uses, the present invention can be applied to biological electrical stimulation such as electrical stimulation for promoting bone remodeling and functional electrical stimulation, and is not limited to the above-mentioned applications.

Although the above description has been made with reference to a living body electrode, the present invention can be generally applied to an electrode having an electrode element made of titanium.

[0054]

According to the present invention, since titanium is used for the electrode element, it has sufficient strength, is inexpensive, has low toxicity, and has little ion elution. A safe electrode can be provided without inducing toxicosis or allergic reaction. Also, since a solderable member was attached to the electrode element by spot welding,
Lead wires can be easily attached, and manufacturing is easy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing the structure of an electrode for electric anesthesia according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the production of the electrode shown in FIG.

3A and 3B are views showing an insertion type electrode for treating incontinence according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 3A is an external view, FIG.
(C) shows an enlarged view.

FIG. 4 is a view showing an electrode element of the electrode shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the electrode shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining a welding machine used for manufacturing the electrode shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining a welding machine used for manufacturing the electrode shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a structure of a defibrillation electrode according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a view showing a structure of an electrode for transcutaneous nerve stimulation according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 10A, 10B, 30, 44 Electrode element 2, 18, 31, 45 Copper plate 3, 13, 32, 46 Lead wire 4, 19, 33, 47 Solder

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) B23K 1/20 B23K 1/20 Z 11/30 11/30 // B23K 101: 38 101: 38

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A lead wire attaching method for attaching a lead wire to a titanium electrode element, wherein a member made of a solderable material is attached to the electrode element by spot welding, and the lead wire is soldered to the member. A lead wire attaching method characterized by attaching. 2. One of a pair of welding electrodes used in the spot welding is in contact with the electrode element, and a contact surface thereof is formed to have a size larger than a contact surface between the electrode element and the member. The lead wire attaching method according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The lead wire attaching method according to claim 1, wherein the electrode element is an electrode element of an electrode for bioelectric stimulation. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the bioelectric stimulation electrode is an electrode for electric anesthesia. 5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the electrode for bioelectric stimulation is an electrode for treating urinary incontinence. 6. The electrode element according to claim 5, wherein said electrode element is annular, and said member is attached to an inner peripheral surface thereof.
The lead wire mounting method described in 1. 7. The lead wire mounting method according to claim 3, wherein the electrode for bioelectric stimulation is an electrode for defibrillation. 8. The method according to claim 3, wherein the electrode for bioelectric stimulation is an electrode for percutaneous nerve stimulation. 9. An electrode comprising: an electrode element made of titanium; a member made of a solderable material attached to the electrode element by spot welding; and a lead wire attached at one end to the member by soldering. . 10. The electrode according to claim 9, wherein the electrode element is an electrode element of an electrode for bioelectric stimulation. 11. The electrode according to claim 10, wherein the electrode for bioelectric stimulation is an electrode for electric anesthesia. 12. The electrode according to claim 10, wherein the electrode for bioelectric stimulation is an electrode for treating urinary incontinence. 13. The electrode according to claim 12, wherein the electrode element is annular, and the member is attached to an inner peripheral surface thereof. 14. The electrode according to claim 10, wherein the electrode for bioelectric stimulation is an electrode for defibrillation. 15. The electrode according to claim 10, wherein the electrode for bioelectric stimulation is an electrode for percutaneous nerve stimulation. 16. A second member is brought into contact with a part of the surface of the first member, and one of the pair of welding electrodes is connected to the first member.
In a spot welding machine that performs welding by bringing the other member into contact with the second member, a contact surface of the one welding electrode with the first member is:
A spot welding machine having a size equal to or larger than a contact surface between the first member and the second member.