JP2003339625A - Endoscope with outer sheath - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an endoscope with an outer sheath having excellent durability and operability hardly causing buckling and breaking near couplings of flexible insertion portions and a control section and to prevent a hardly bendable root section of the control section from being remarkably long in both of a use state that the endoscope is mounted with the outer sheath and a storage state that the endoscope is not mounted therewith. <P>SOLUTION: A first sharp bending prevention piece 11A formed of material having elasticity is disposed to enclose the proximal ends of the flexible insertion portions 11, 12, and 13 and a second sharp bending prevention piece 24 consisting of material having elasticity is disposed at the outer sheath 20 so as to enclose the first sharp bending prevention piece 11A when the insertion portions 11, 12, and 13 are mounted with the outer sheath 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope with an outer sheath, which is detachably provided with an outer sheath for preventing the insertion portion from directly contacting a body wall of a patient.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an endoscope with an outer sheath has an outer sheath that shields the flexible insertion portion of the endoscope from the outside so that the flexible insertion portion can be detachably covered. By replacing each time, the infection between patients by the endoscope can be completely prevented.

In such an endoscope with an outer sheath, a flexible outer diameter dimension is substantially constant so that the flexible insertion portion can be properly covered with the outer sheath up to the connecting end with the operating portion. The insertion portion is simply connected to the operation portion.

[0004]

However, in such a structure in which the flexible insertion portion is simply connected to the operating portion, the use state with the outer sheath attached and the storage state without the outer sheath attached. In any of the above cases, when the flexible insertion portion is abruptly bent in the vicinity of the connecting portion with the operation portion, it may be relatively easily buckled and damaged.

Therefore, it is conceivable to attach a so-called bending stopper made of an elastic member to the proximal end portion of the flexible insertion portion. However, if this is simply done, the hard portion is long to attach the outer sheath. Since the part that is difficult to bend at the base of the operating section becomes longer,
It becomes very difficult to use.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the flexible insertion portion is not easily buckled and damaged in the vicinity of the connecting portion with the operating portion in both the use state with the outer sheath attached and the storage state without the outer sheath attached. Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide an endoscope with an outer sheath having excellent durability and operability, in which the portion of the base portion of the operation portion that is difficult to bend does not become extremely long.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an endoscope with an outer sheath of the present invention has an outer sheath for shielding a flexible insertion portion whose proximal end is connected to an operating portion from the outside. In an endoscope with a sheath sheath provided so that the sheath is detachably covered by the flexible insertion portion, a first bending stopper made of an elastic material is used to fix the proximal end portion of the flexible insertion portion. A second enclosure made of an elastic material while being surrounded
Is provided on the outer sheath so as to surround the first fold when the outer sheath is attached to the flexible insertion portion.

One of the first bending stopper and the second bending stopper may be formed to have a constant thickness, and the other thickness may be gradually reduced toward the front side.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, 10 is an endoscope, and 20 is a flexible insert portion 11, 12, 13 for insulating the flexible insert portion 11, 12, 13 of the endoscope 10 from the external environment during use.
It is an outer sheath that is detachably covered.

Flexible inserts 11, 12, 1 of the endoscope 10
3, the bending portion 12 that is bent by remote control is connected to the tip of the elongated flexible tube portion 11, and the tip body 13 having the observation window 14 and the like arranged on the tip surface is connected to the tip of the bending portion 12. Has been done.

The operation portion 1 connected to the base end of the flexible tube portion 11.
A bending operation knob 16 for remotely bending the bending portion 12 and the like are arranged in the bending portion 5. The bending portion 12 is bent by rotating the bending operation knob 16.

A cylindrical first bending stopper 11A made of an elastic material so as to surround the base end portion of the flexible tube portion 11.
Is attached. 19 is the first folding stopper 11A.
Is a fixed ring for fixing the to the operating portion 15.

As shown in detail in FIG. 3, which will be described later, the first folding stopper 11A is formed in a cylindrical shape having a substantially constant wall thickness as a whole. Due to the presence of the first bending stopper 11A, even if the flexible tube portion 11 is bent when the endoscope 10 is stored, as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. Due to the action of 11A, the vicinity of the connecting portion with the operating portion 15 is not sharply bent, and buckling damage of the flexible tube portion 11 is prevented.

A guide pipe line 17 made of, for example, a flexible polyethylene resin tube or the like is arranged from the inside of the flexible insertion portions 11, 12, 13 to the inside of the operation portion 15, and the tip end opening 17a of the guide pipe line 17 is provided. Is formed on the tip surface of the tip body 13.

A guide line 17 arranged in the operating section 15.
A forceps opening member 30 is arranged at a position facing the base end opening of the forceps opening member 30, and a forceps plug 32 is attached to an insertion opening portion of the forceps opening member 30.

In the outer sheath 20, a covering tube 21 formed of a stretchable material such as a silicone rubber tube in a thin-walled cylindrical shape is attached to the flexible tube portion 11 and the bending portion 12 of the endoscope 10. A tip cap 22 is provided so as to be detachably covered, and a tip cap 22 formed of a transparent member and fitted in the tip portion main body 13 is watertightly attached to the tip.

At the base end of the covering tube 21, there is connected and fixed a second bending stopper 24 which is made of an elastic material and is formed in a tapered shape whose thickness is gradually reduced toward the front side.

A flexible channel tube 23 (here, a treatment instrument insertion channel) made of, for example, a flexible tetrafluoroethylene resin tube is inserted and disposed in the covering tube 21 over the entire length.

The distal end of the flexible channel tube 23 is fixed to the distal end cap 22 so that the distal end surface of the distal end cap 22 is open to the outer surface, and the proximal end portion 23a of the flexible channel tube 23 is the second end. It extends backward through the inside of the fold stop 24.

The flexible channel tube 23 can be inserted into and removed from the guide channel 17 of the endoscope 10 over its entire length, and as shown by the one-dot chain line arrow, the proximal end portion of the flexible channel tube 23. 23a can be inserted into the guide conduit 17 from the tip end opening 17a side and pulled out from the base end side opening.

FIG. 2 shows that the outer sheath 20 is covered by the flexible insertion portions 11, 12, 13 of the endoscope 10 until the distal end cap 22 comes into contact with the distal end surface of the distal end body 13. It shows the state.

In this state, the attachment mouth ring 24a of the outer sheath 20 is fixed to the fixed ring 19 of the endoscope 10, and the second bending stopper 24 of the covering tube 21 surrounds the first bending stopper 11A. ing.

FIG. 3 shows in detail the vicinity of the first and second folding stoppers 11A and 24 in this state, and illustration of the flexible channel tube 23 which is a built-in component is omitted. The flexible tube portion 11 is a frame 15 a of the operation portion 15.
The base end cap 11a is fixed to the frame 15a by a pressing ring 9 screwed to the end of the frame.

In the first folding stopper 11A, a flange-like projecting flange portion at the base end thereof is fixed to the frame 15a of the operating portion 15 by a fixed ring 19 which is screwed into the frame 15a.
The attachment base 24a of the second bending stopper 24 is fixed to the fixed ring 19 by tightening the manual fixing screw 25 toward the outer peripheral surface of the fixed ring 19. As a result, not only the surface of the flexible tube portion 11 but also the portion of the first bending stopper 11A is isolated from the contaminated area when the endoscope is used.

In this state, the second folding stopper 24
Is set at a position surrounding the first bending stopper 11A, and as a result, as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 2, even if the flexible tube portion 11 of the endoscope 10 is bent in the use state, Due to the action of the bending stopper 11A and the second bending stopper 24, the vicinity of the connecting portion with the operating portion 15 is not sharply bent, and buckling damage of the flexible tube portion 11 is prevented.

Further, since the first folding stopper 11A and the second folding stopper 24 are formed so as to be overlapped in the radial direction in a doubled manner, their length can be shortened, and As a result, the portion of the base portion of the operation portion 15 that is difficult to bend is not too long, and good operability can be ensured.

When the endoscope 10 is in use, the outer sheath 20 is covered by the flexible tube insertion portions 11, 12, 13 and at the same time, the flexible channel tube 23 is passed through the guide channel 17. However, FIG. 4 shows the guide line 1 in that state
7 shows the vicinity of the base end.

A portion of the forceps port member 30 near the tip is fitted in a cylinder hole 18 formed in a deep counterbore at the proximal end opening of the guide conduit 17 so as to be movable back and forth in the axial direction. Base end portion 23a of flexible channel tube 23
Is fixed to the forceps opening member 30 in a removably insertable state. Reference numeral 31 is a forceps insertion passage formed in the forceps opening member 30.

An O-ring 33 for sealing and click-fixing is attached to the side of the forceps port member 30 into which the proximal end portion 23a of the flexible channel tube 23 is inserted, and the base of the flexible channel tube 23 is attached. The proximal end portion 23a of the flexible channel tube 23 is fixed to the forceps opening member 30 by engaging the O-ring 33 with the circumferential groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of the end portion 23a.

The flexible channel tube 23 is movable in the guide line 17 in the axial direction over its entire length, and the forceps port member 30 is outwardly moved by a compression coil spring 40 arranged in the cylinder hole 18. (Fig. 4
In the left) is always urged. As a result, the flexible channel tube 23 is compressed by the compression coil spring 40.
It is in a state of being constantly pulled from the forceps port member 30 side by the urging force of.

With such a configuration, the bending operation knob 16
When the bending portion 12 is bent by the operation of and the compressive force in the axial direction acts on the flexible channel tube 23, the forceps port member 30 moves in a direction projecting outward from the cylinder hole 18, and the flexible channel The compressive force applied to the tube 23 is absorbed.

On the other hand, when a pulling force in the axial direction acts on the flexible channel tube 23, the forceps port member 30 moves in a direction to enter the cylinder hole 18, and the pulling force applied to the flexible channel tube 23 is absorbed. As a result, an unreasonable force does not act on the flexible tube portion 11, the bending portion 12, and the like.

When a so-called multi-lumen tube is used as the flexible channel tube 23, as shown in FIG.
It may be extended to the outside while being fixed to 0 and connected to an air / water supply device (not shown) or the like.

Reference numeral 34 is a detachable retaining O-ring for restricting the guide conduit 17 from coming out of the forceps opening member 30, and 23b is a forceps insertion hole (also a suction opening) in the flexible channel tube 23. And a side hole formed in the flexible channel tube 23 for passing through the forceps insertion passage 31.
23s is a plug for closing the end of the lumen used for suction, and 50 is a suction tube.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and for example, as shown in FIG. 6, the first folding stopper 11A is formed in a tapered shape in which the thickness gradually becomes smaller toward the front side. Then, the second bending stopper 24 may be formed to have a constant wall thickness, or both may be formed to have a shape in which the wall thickness gradually decreases toward the front side.

Further, both the first bending stopper 11A and the second bending stopper 24 may be formed to have a constant thickness by making the hardness of the material near the front side softer than the material near the base end side. Good.

[0037]

According to the present invention, the first folding stopper made of an elastic material is provided so as to surround the proximal end portion of the flexible insertion portion, and the second bending member made of an elastic material is provided. Since the fold stop is provided on the outer sheath so as to surround the first fold when the outer sheath is attached to the flexible insertion portion, the operation-resistant root portion of the operation portion is not lengthened significantly. The flexible insertion part does not buckle easily near the connecting part with the operating part, whether it is in use with the outer sheath attached or in storage without it, and it has excellent durability and operability. Can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial side sectional view showing an overall configuration of an endoscope with an outer sheath according to a first embodiment of the present invention in a stored state.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing the overall configuration of the endoscope with outer sheath according to the first embodiment of the present invention in use.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the vicinity of a bending stopper in the use state of the endoscope with an outer sheath according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the proximal end of the guide pipe in the use state of the endoscope with an outer sheath according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the proximal end of the guide pipe in the use state of the endoscope with a sheath according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of the vicinity of a bending stopper in a use state of the endoscope with an outer sheath according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 endoscope 11 Flexible tube part (flexible insertion part) 11A First break stop 12 Curved part (flexible insertion part) 13 Tip body (flexible insertion part) 15 Operation part 20 mantle sheath 21 coated tube 24 Second Break Stop

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An outer sheath with which a flexible sheath having a proximal end connected to an operating portion is shielded from the outside so as to be detachably covered by the flexible sheath. In the endoscope, a first bending stop made of an elastic material is provided so as to surround a proximal end portion of the flexible insertion portion, and a second bending stop made of an elastic material is When the outer sheath is attached to the flexible insertion portion, the first
An endoscope with an outer sheath, wherein the endoscope is provided on the outer sheath so as to surround a fold stop of the outer sheath. 2. The outer jacket according to claim 1, wherein one of the first fold stop and the second fold stop is formed to have a constant wall thickness, and the other wall thickness is gradually reduced toward the front side. Endoscope with sheath.