JP2003084212A - Endoscope device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an endoscope device which can grasp a trouble state and remove a curved state in case of the trouble that a curved part stops while curved. SOLUTION: The endoscope device 1 is equipped with an endoscope 2 which has the curved part 12 at its insert part 2a, a drum part 3 which is wound with the insert part 2a of the endoscope 2, a motor-driven curving mechanism part 16 which is provided in the drum part 3 and tows and slackens wires 32a and 32b for curving the curved part 12, and a remote controller 6 which remotely control the motor part 71 to curve the curved part 12 into a desired curved state; and a window part 44 which communicates with the motor-driven curving mechanism part 16 is formed in a 1st side plate 42 which isolates the internal space from the outer side of the drum part 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope apparatus in which an insertion portion is wound around a drum portion, and a bending portion constituting an insertion portion of an endoscope is bent by a remote control device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, endoscopes have been widely used in industrial fields. This endoscope inserts a slender insertion portion into a jet engine or a pipe of a power plant to observe a site to be inspected and perform various repairs. In addition, this endoscope is housed by winding an elongated insertion portion around a rotatable drum portion.

Generally, the insertion portion of the endoscope is provided with a bendable bendable portion. The bending portion is formed by rotatably connecting a plurality of bending pieces, and the bending portion is bent by pulling / relaxing a bending operation wire which is a pulling member inserted through the insertion portion. It has become.

As a method of bending the bending portion, a bending operation knob provided on an operation portion of the endoscope is manually operated by a user to manually pull the bending operation wire and loosen the bending operation wire. For example, a push button switch, which is a member, is operated to drive an electric motor to pull / bend the bending operation wire.
There is an electric bending to relax.

Among the endoscope devices for bending the bending portion by using the driving force of the electric motor, in the type in which the insertion portion is wound around the drum portion, in addition to the electric motor, in the drum portion, A member such as a transmission chain for transmitting the driving force of the electric motor to the bending operation wire and a member for transmitting the driving force is arranged. The bending control of the bending portion is performed by controlling an electric motor by a joystick, which is a remote operation device provided at the hand portion.

Therefore, in the endoscope apparatus, for example, when the insertion portion is inserted into the object to be observed, if a problem occurs such that the bending portion is in a bent state and is in a stopped state, The bending state of the bending section is returned to the initial state by preliminarily providing an electrical response such as reverse rotation of the electric motor by the power source of the battery, and the insertion section is removed from the observation object. It was

[0007]

However, when the problem of the bending portion cannot be solved electrically, the insertion portion in which the bending portion is bent remains inside the object to be observed. It was necessary to disassemble the drum side to find out the defective part and take measures such as repairing after removing it over a period of time or with the insertion part left in the observation object.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when a problem occurs such that the bending portion is in a stopped state while the bending portion remains curved, the defective state is promptly grasped and the bending state is released. It is an object of the present invention to provide an endoscope device capable of performing the above.

[0009]

The endoscope apparatus of the present invention comprises:
An endoscope having a bending portion in the insertion portion, a rotatable drum portion that winds the insertion portion of the endoscope, and a bending wire that is provided in the drum portion and bends the bending portion. An endoscope apparatus comprising: an electric bending mechanism section having an electric motor for performing a loosening operation; and a remote control device for remotely controlling the electric motor to bend the bending section to a desired state, the drum comprising: A window portion communicating with the electric bending mechanism portion is formed in a partition wall member that separates the outside of the portion from the internal space.

The electric bending mechanism is composed of a motor unit having an electric motor, a transmission chain, and a transmission wire, and the window portion is formed at least in the vicinity of the transmission wire.

Then, the opening size of the window is formed so that a tool can be inserted therethrough.

According to this structure, when a problem occurs in the driving operation of the bending portion, the movement of the electric bending mechanism is confirmed through the window formed in the partition member, and the electric bending mechanism portion has a problem. You can grasp whether or not. If there is a problem, the tool is guided to the transmission wire through the window to release the connection state between the transmission wire and the bending wire, and the insertion portion can be removed from the observation object.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 7 relate to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an endoscope device, and FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a first side plate and an internal component housed in a drum portion, 3 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the drum portion, the frame portion, and the box body, FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the electric bending mechanism portion, FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining from the motor unit to the vicinity of the direction changing portion, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a view for explaining from the vicinity of the base to the vicinity of the direction changing portion, and FIG.

FIG. 4A is a view of the electric bending mechanism section viewed from above, FIG. 4B is a sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 4A, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the device-side wire and the insertion portion-side wire, and FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating the details of the connecting member.

As shown in FIG. 1, the endoscope apparatus 1 of the present invention.
Is an industrial endoscope (hereinafter referred to as an endoscope) 2 having a slender insertion portion 2a having flexibility, and a cylinder that winds the insertion portion 2a of the endoscope 2 around an outer peripheral surface portion 3a. A drum part 3 having a shape, a frame part 4 rotatably holding the drum part 3, and a front panel 5 provided on the upper end of the frame part 4 and provided with various switches, connectors, and an air supply / exhaust duct. , A remote controller (hereinafter, abbreviated as a remote controller) 6 which is a remote operation device removably connected to the front panel 5 via a cable, and a monitor which is an observation device rotatably supported by a telescopic pole. 7, an accommodating case 8 having a cushioning material or the like for suppressing impact force applied to the accommodated device, and an AC cable 5a connected to the front panel 5 and capable of supplying commercial power. . The storage case 8 is composed of a box body 8a and a lid body 8b that form a case body.

The insertion portion 2a is provided with the front panel 5
It extends through a buckling prevention rubber member 5b disposed in the. The insertion portion 2a is provided with a rigid distal end main body portion 11 in this order from the distal end side, and a bendable bending portion 12 provided on the proximal end side of the distal end main body portion 11 so as to orient the distal end main body portion 11 in a desired direction. , An elongated flexible tube portion 1 having flexibility
3 and 3 are connected in series. Various optical adapters 18 that convert optical characteristics such as a viewing direction and a viewing angle can be detachably attached to the tip body 11.

The remote controller 6 is for remotely controlling the bending operation of the bending portion 12, and is provided with, for example, a joystick 6a as an operation member for performing bending control. Reference numeral 6b is a bending ON button provided on the remote controller 6.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the drum portion 3
Is a tubular drum body 41 that is a partition wall member that separates the inner space and the outer side of the drum portion 3 from each other, and the insertion portion 2a is wound around the outer peripheral surface 3a. A pair of thin disk-shaped side plates, first
It is composed of a side plate 42 and a second side plate 43.

An internal space formed by the drum body 41 and the side plates 42 and 43 of the drum portion 3 is illuminated by a light guide (not shown) inserted through the insertion portion 2a of the endoscope 2. A light source unit 14 that supplies light, a CCU 15 that performs signal processing for an image pickup device (not shown) provided in the distal end main body unit 11, and a bending mechanism unit that electrically bends and drives the bending unit 12 of the insertion unit 2a, which will be described later. Unit, a transmission chain for transmitting the driving force of the motor unit, which will be described later, and an electric bending mechanism section 16 including a transmission wire, and based on an operation instruction signal from the remote controller 6, the motor unit is drive-controlled to perform the bending. An electric bending circuit unit 17 for controlling the bending state of the portion 12 to a desired state is housed.

The first side plate 42 is formed with a window portion 44 facing the transmission wire of the electric bending mechanism portion 16, for example. A lid member 44a having a substantially convex cross section is detachably attached to the window portion 44 via a screw member 44b. Then, the opening size of the window portion 44 is set to a size through which a predetermined tool passes.

The light source section 14 comprises a lamp section 14a and a lighting device 14b, and supplies illumination light to the base end surface of the light guide. The electric bending mechanism section 16 and the electric bending circuit section 17 are connected by a drive cable (not shown). The electric bending circuit section 17 drives and controls the motor unit of the electric bending mechanism section 16 based on an operation instruction signal obtained by operating the joystick 6a of the remote controller 6 to bend the bending section 12 in a desired direction. It is designed to let you.

The signal line (not shown) extending from the tip body 11 through the insertion portion 2a is connected to the CC.
It is connected to U15. The CCU 15 converts the image signal transmitted from the image pickup device provided at the tip of the insertion portion 2a by a signal line into a TV signal, and then transmits the TV signal to the monitor 7.

The drum body 41 includes the insertion portion 2a.
An opening 3b is formed to guide the electric bending mechanism portion 16 to the electric bending mechanism portion 16, and the insertion portion 2a extending from the opening 3b is wound around the outer peripheral surface 3a of the drum portion 3.

As shown in FIG. 3, the first frame member 4a of the frame portion 4 which rotatably supports the drum portion 3 is formed with an opening 4b through which the first side plate 42 is seen. Further, an opening 8c desired to the opening 4b is formed in the box body 8a, and a handle cover 10 provided with a handle 9 is detachably arranged in the opening 8c through a fixing screw 10a. ing. That is, by removing the handle cover 10 from the box body 8a, the drum portion 3 is passed through the opening 4b of the first frame member 4a.
The first side plate 42 can be desired.

Reference numeral 5d is a spiral cable for electrically connecting the electric boards inside the drum section 4 and the electric boards outside the drum section 4, and the reference numeral 5c is wound by the rotation of the drum section 4. It is a cable housing portion for housing the spiral cable 5d. Further, reference numeral 8d is a watertight holding member made of, for example, rubber for holding the watertightness between the box body 8a and the handle cover 10, and reference numeral 10b is a handle storage recess for storing the handle 9.

The electric bending mechanism 16 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 (a) to 6 (b). A base end portion of the insertion portion 2a is fixed to one end side of a base body 46 on which the electric bending mechanism portion 16 formed of a plate material of aluminum or stainless steel is installed via the opening 3b and the base 45. A motor unit 47 constituting the electric bending mechanism 16 is attached to the other end of the base body 46.

The motor unit 47 includes the bending portion 1
Two are provided corresponding to the two bending operation directions, one is a bending vertical direction motor unit 47a, and the other is a bending horizontal direction motor unit 47b.

These motor units 47a and 47b are
A motor unit 71 having an electric motor as a drive source for generating a driving force, and a reduction gear unit 72 including a gear train such as a spur gear that transmits the driving force of the motor unit 71 to the output shaft 48, The potentiometer 73 detects the rotation amount of the output shaft 48. A sprocket 49 is fixed to the output shaft 48.

The sprocket 49 meshes with a transmission chain 50 that transmits the driving force that forms the electric bending mechanism portion 16, and the transmission chain 50 has a transmission chain that forms the electric bending mechanism portion 16 at the end thereof. The electric device side wire 32b is connected and fixed. An insertion portion side wire 32a, which is a bending operation wire inserted through the insertion portion 2a, is connected and fixed to the electric device side wire 32b. The insertion portion side wire 32a is guided to the inner space of the drum portion 3 through a guide tube 33 formed of a coil member having one end fixed to a support portion 51 provided on the base body 46. There is.

The sprocket 49 is provided with a cover member 56 for preventing the meshing state with the transmission chain 50 from being disengaged. Further, guards 57 for laterally restricting the traveling of the transmission chain 50 are provided on both sides of the transmission chain 50. Further, a guide 58 for similarly regulating the position in the lateral direction is provided at a traveling position near the end of the transmission chain 50.

At the end of the transmission chain 50, there is provided a female portion 59b which engages with a male portion 59a provided at the end of the electric device side wire 32b. The male portion 59a and the female portion 59b are provided. The transmission chain 50 and the electric device side wire 32b are integrally connected and fixed by engaging and fixing the. On the other hand, the insertion portion side wire 32 a and the electric device side wire 32 b are connected and fixed on the base body 46 via a connecting member 52.

The connecting member 52 is composed of a male screw side member 52a fixed to the insertion portion side wire 32a and a female screw side member 52b fixed to the electric device side wire 32b. The female screw side member 52b is rotatably supported by the female screw side member 52b by a mouthpiece 52c provided at the end of the electric device side wire 32b.

The electric device side wire 32b is converted by the direction changing portion 60 provided in the base body 46 after securing the extending direction thereof by about 90 degrees. The direction changing portion 60 is mainly composed of a wire holding portion 60a and a wire detachment preventing portion 60b. The wire holding portion 60a is fixed to the base body 46, a supporting plate 61, two shafts 62 fixed to the supporting plate 61, and a stacking structure of the shafts 62. The roller portion 63 rotatably supports the side wire 32b.

Two roller portions 63 are respectively laminated on one shaft body 62 so as to correspond to the upper and lower and left and right electric device side wires 32b, and are rotatably supported. The upper roller portion 63, which is laminated, is
The electric device side wire 32b which is curved in the left-right direction is supported. On the other hand, the roller portion 63 on the lower side supports the electric device side wire 32b which is vertically curved.

The shaft body 62 is integrally fixed to the support plate 61 by screws (not shown). The roller portion 63 is mainly formed by a ball bearing.

The wire detachment preventing portion 60b prevents the electric device side wire 32b from coming off.
The wire detachment preventing portion 60b is a pipe member 65 made of a cylindrical member, and is fixed to the support plate 61 by a screw (not shown).

The male screw side member 52a and the female screw side member 52b are provided with a chemical loosening prevention means such as a screw lock, and the female screw side member 52b and the male screw side member 52a. A heat-shrinkable tube 53 may be provided so as to cover the.

The operation of the endoscope apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described. In the endoscope apparatus 1, the insertion portion 2a is wound around the outer peripheral surface 3a of the drum portion 3 when not in use, such as during storage or transportation. At the time of use, first, the AC cable 5a is connected to an outlet or the like, the lid 8b of the storage case 8 is opened, and the remote controller 6 is taken out. After that, the insertion part 2
Hold the vicinity of the tip body 11 of a and slowly pull it out. Then, the pulling force causes the drum portion 3 to rotate,
The insertion portion 2a for use is pulled out, and the preparation is completed.

Next, the operator selects the optical adapter 18 required for the inspection before starting the observation, attaches it to the tip body 11, and turns on the switch (not shown) provided on the front panel 5. . Then, turn on the remote control 6
The button 6b is turned on so that it can be bent.

Then, the insertion portion 2a is pushed toward the site to be examined. On the way, the bending portion 12 is bent while operating the remote controller 6. In the bending portion 12, when the remote controller 6 is operated, the motor portion 71 of the motor unit 47 operates to rotate the sprocket 49.
Then, as the transmission chain 50 meshed with the sprocket 49 is pulled and loosened, the transmission chain 50
By pulling and loosening the electric device side wire 32b and the insertion part side wire 32a connected to each other and performing a bending motion, the distal end main body part 11 can be observed in a desired direction to observe an object.

During the pulling / relaxing operation, the insertion portion side wire 32a is pulled / relaxed in the guide tube 33, and the electric device side wire 32b is pulled mainly around the roller portion 63 of the direction changing portion 60. The relaxation operation is performed.

During the examination, the bending portion 12 may not be driven while being bent, and the endoscopic image displayed on the monitor 7 may not change. In such a case, first, an operation for returning the bending state of the bending portion to the initial state is performed by taking an electrical response such as reverse rotation of an electric motor by a power source of a battery provided in advance. When the electrical correspondence cannot be obtained, the handle cover 10 is removed from the box body 8a, and the lid attached to the first side plate 42 of the drum portion 3 desired through the opening 4b of the first frame member 4a. The member 44a is removed.

Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the electric device side wire 32b positioned on the base body 46 through the window portion 44.
And the insertion part side wire 32a and these wires 32a
Observation with the connecting member 52 that connects and fixes a and 32b can be performed.

Here, if the connecting member 52 does not move due to an electrical response such as the reverse rotation of the electric motor again, the connecting state by the connecting member 52 is released by using a tool to drive the electric motor. The apparatus side wire 32b and the insertion section side wire 32a are separated, the defective state of the bending section 12 is released, and the insertion section 2a is promptly removed from the site to be inspected, and then repaired.

As described above, by providing the window portion at a predetermined position of the side plate so as to face the member forming the electric bending mechanism portion, when the bending portion is defective, whether the electric bending mechanism portion is defective or not is determined. When there is a problem with this electric bending mechanism, the connection state of the connecting member is released to separate the electric device side wire and the insertion section side wire and The curved state of the part can be released. As a result, the insertion portion can be promptly removed from the test site.

Further, since the window portion is closed with the lid member, it is ensured that if a screw or other component is dropped off, it will fall into the internal space of the drum portion and cause a problem in the electric bending mechanism portion. Can be prevented.

The form of the window portion 44 is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but the window portion 44 may be formed in the second side plate 4.
3 or the drum body 41 may be formed. Further, for example, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B for explaining the relationship between the modification of the position of the window portion and the action on the electric bending mechanism portion, in addition to the window portion 44, a second The window portion 44A is provided, or instead of providing the second window portion 44A, the window portion 44 is formed in a substantially L-shape as shown in the modification of the window portion shape in FIG. 8C. May be. By these things, the electric device side wire 3 in the direction changing part 60
2b for the derailment, the connection between the transmission chain 50 and the electric device side wire 32b, and the guide tube 3
3 and the insertion portion side wire 32a can be checked.

Further, through the windows 44 and 44A,
Observation of the loosened state of the insertion portion side wire 32a and confirmation of deterioration of the insertion portion side wire 32a and the electric device side wire 32b,
The degree of wear of the roller portion 63, the pipe member 65, etc. can be easily confirmed at the time of maintenance. That is, adjustment, inspection, confirmation of a defect state, etc. of the electric bending mechanism section can be performed through the window section.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, but various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[Additional Notes] According to the above-described embodiment of the present invention as described in detail above, the following configuration can be obtained.

(1) An endoscope having a curved portion at the insertion portion,
An electric bending mechanism portion including a rotatable drum portion that winds around the insertion portion of the endoscope, and an electric motor that is provided inside the drum portion and that pulls and relaxes a bending wire that bends the bending portion. And a remote control device for remotely controlling the electric motor to bend the bending portion to a desired state, which is a partition member that separates an outer space of the drum portion from an inner space. An endoscope apparatus having a window portion communicating with the electric bending mechanism portion.

(2) The electric bending mechanism is composed of a motor unit equipped with an electric motor, a transmission chain, and a transmission wire, and the window is formed at least in the vicinity of the transmission wire. The endoscopic device described.

(3) The endoscope apparatus according to appendix 2, wherein at least one window portion is provided between the tip end side and the base end side of the electric bending mechanism portion.

(4) The endoscope device according to appendix 2, wherein the opening size of the window is formed so that a tool can be inserted therethrough.

(5) The endoscope apparatus according to appendix 1, wherein the window portion is provided with a detachable lid member.

[0056]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a problem occurs such that the bending portion is stopped while the bending portion is still bent, it is possible to promptly grasp the defect state and release the bending state. It is possible to provide an endoscopic device that can be used.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 7 relate to an embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an endoscope device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a first side plate and an internal component housed in a drum portion.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a drum unit, a frame unit, and a box body.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an electric bending mechanism section.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining from the motor unit to the vicinity of the direction changing portion.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining from the vicinity of the mouthpiece to the vicinity of the direction changing portion.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the window portion.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the position or shape of a window and its action.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 ... drum part 16 ... Electric bending mechanism 32a ... Wire on insertion side 32b ... Electric device side wire 42 ... First side plate 44 ... Window 44a ... Lid member 47 ... Motor unit 50 ... Transmission chain

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An endoscope having a curved portion at an insertion portion, and a rotatable drum portion around the insertion portion of the endoscope,
An electric bending mechanism portion provided in the drum portion and provided with an electric motor for pulling and loosening a bending wire for bending the bending portion, and the electric motor is remotely controlled to bend the bending portion to a desired state. In an endoscope apparatus including a remote control device for operating, in a partition member that separates an outer space of the drum portion and an internal space,
An endoscopic device having a window portion communicating with the electric bending mechanism portion. 2. The electric bending mechanism includes a motor unit having an electric motor, a transmission chain, and a transmission wire, and the window portion is formed to face at least the vicinity of the transmission wire. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an opening size of the window portion is formed so that a tool can be inserted therethrough.