JP2005245785A - Ultrasonic probe - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ultrasonic probe where the waterproofness of a cable draw-out port of a casing is secured and which is easy to disassemble. <P>SOLUTION: On the outer periphery side of a bush 4, outer peripheral protrusions 4a compressed and deformed by being pressurized respectively from an outer peripheral side and an inner peripheral side by the casing 2 and an reinforcing ring 5 are formed at one or more places integrally. On the inner peripheral side of the bush, inner peripheral protrusions 4b compressed and deformed by being pressurized respectively from the outer peripheral side and the inner peripheral side by the casing and a cable 3 are formed at one or more places integrally. Thus, the cable draw-out port of the casing is waterproofed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe of a medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that obtains an in-vivo image using ultrasonic waves, and more particularly to a waterproof structure of a hole (hereinafter referred to as a cable outlet) through which a cable of the ultrasonic probe is drawn.

  The ultrasound diagnostic device consists of an ultrasound probe that sends and receives ultrasound waves against a living body, and an observation device that consists of ultrasound signal transmission / reception circuits, signal processing circuits, monitors, etc., and protects signal lines between them. It is connected with a cable. Since the ultrasonic probe is pressed against a living body, it must be sterilized with a disinfectant such as a disinfectant and must be securely waterproof including the cable outlet.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a main part of a conventional ultrasonic probe. In FIG. 5, the casing 102 of the ultrasonic probe is provided so as to protect the ultrasonic elements and signal lines (both not shown). The cable 103 covers the outside of a signal line (not shown) with a cover, and the bush 104 protects the cable 103 so that the signal line is not disconnected at the cable outlet of the housing 102. The ring 105 is inserted into one end of the bush 104 so that the bush 104 is firmly fixed to the housing 102. In order to waterproof the inside of the housing 102, the space between the housing 102 and the bush 104 and the space between the cable 103 and the bush 104 are filled with an adhesive 106. A method for ensuring waterproofness by filling the gap that inhibits airtightness in the housing 102 with the adhesive 106 in this manner is disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 below.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-109607 (FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-146878 (FIG. 1)

  However, in the conventional ultrasonic probe, since the gap between the cable 103 and the bush 104 and the gap between the bush 104 and the housing 102 are filled with an adhesive 106 to be waterproof, the product is repaired. When disassembling, there is a problem that it takes a lot of man-hours to disassemble the parts solidified with the adhesive 106. Further, when the adhesive 106 is sticky, the fixed component is damaged, and a component disposal loss occurs.

  The present invention has been made to solve the conventional problems, and provides an ultrasonic probe that can ensure waterproofness of a cable outlet of a housing and can be easily disassembled. Objective.

To achieve the above object, an ultrasonic probe of the present invention includes an ultrasonic element that transmits and receives an ultrasonic signal,
A casing covering the outside of the ultrasonic element;
A cable that bundles signal lines of the ultrasonic element and is pulled out from the housing;
A cylindrical bush that protects the cable in the hole of the housing that pulls out the cable;
A ring interposed between the bush and the cable in the hole,
The housing and the ring are integrally formed with one or more outer peripheral projections that are pressed and deformed from the outer peripheral side and the inner peripheral side on the outer peripheral side of the bush, and the housing and the inner peripheral side of the bush. The cable has a configuration in which one or more inner peripheral protrusions that are compressed by being compressed from the outer peripheral side and the inner peripheral side are integrally formed.
With this configuration, the parts can be waterproofed without being bonded with an adhesive or the like, and can be easily disassembled without damaging the parts during repair or the like.

Furthermore, the ultrasonic probe of the present invention has a configuration in which a positioning groove is formed on the outer peripheral side of the ring, and a protrusion that engages with the positioning groove is provided on the inner peripheral side of the bush.
With this configuration, the positional relationship between the bush and the ring can be determined with only two parts, and positioning can be performed simply by fitting the ring into the bush without using jigs or other positioning parts during assembly. Can be made easier.

Furthermore, the ultrasonic probe of the present invention fixes an annular rigid body to the outer peripheral side of the cable, and the annular rigid body and the housing cooperate to press the inner peripheral protrusion of the bush. It was set as the structure made to compress-deform.
With this configuration, it can be easily disassembled and can be reliably waterproofed between the bush and the cable without considering the deformation of the cable. In addition, reliable waterproofing is possible even if the type of cable is changed.

Furthermore, the ultrasonic probe of the present invention has a configuration in which the annular rigid body is formed integrally with the ring.
With this configuration, it is possible to cope with cable changes at low cost without adding parts.

  In the present invention, one or more outer peripheral protrusions are integrally formed on the outer peripheral side of the bush so that the casing and the reinforcing ring are pressed and compressed from the outer peripheral side and the inner peripheral side, respectively. Since the cable is integrally formed with one or more inner peripheral projections that are pressed and deformed by pressing from the outer peripheral side and the inner peripheral side, the cables can be waterproofed without being bonded with an adhesive or the like. Therefore, there is an effect that parts can be easily disassembled without being damaged during repair, and there is no loss of parts due to disassembly.

Hereinafter, an ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of the ultrasonic probe according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a signal line 1 transmits an electrical signal from an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body (not shown) to an ultrasonic element (not shown), mechanically vibrates the ultrasonic element, and transmits an ultrasonic wave. During reception, the ultrasonic element transmits an electrical signal converted from mechanical vibration to the main body. The housing 2 is an insulating rigid body that protects the ultrasonic element and the signal line 1 and is electrically insulated from the human body to ensure safety. Moreover, the housing | casing 2 has the intensity | strength which can be fully endured to be hold | gripped with a human hand at the time of operation. In the present embodiment, the housing 2 is formed by resin molding.

  The cable 3 is made of an insulating material that covers the signal line 1 and its periphery, and protects the signal line 1 outside the housing 2. The bush 4 is made of a cylindrical rubber material that protects the cable 3 at the cable outlet of the housing 2 and prevents a sudden increase in curvature at the cable outlet of the housing 2 when the cable 3 is bent. Stress concentration of the signal line 1 at the cable outlet of the housing 2 can be prevented. A ring (reinforcing ring) 5 for reinforcement is interposed between the bush 4 and the cable 3 at one end of the bush 4 on the housing 2 side, and increases the rigidity of one end of the bush 4 so that it can be firmly fixed to the housing 2. ing.

  FIG. 2 shows an enlarged schematic cross-sectional view of the main part of the ultrasonic probe according to the first embodiment. An outer peripheral protrusion 4a is integrally formed on the outer peripheral side of the bush 4, the housing 2 is disposed on the outer peripheral side of the outer peripheral protrusion 4a, and the reinforcing ring 5 is disposed on the inner peripheral side. Further, the radial gap between the casing 2 and the reinforcing ring 5 is set smaller than the radial thickness of the outer peripheral projection 4a. Therefore, the outer peripheral projection 4a is compressed in the radial direction (corresponding portions are shown overlapping in the drawing), and the space between the housing 2 and the bush 4 is filled without any gap by the compressed outer peripheral projection 4a. In the present embodiment, the dimensions are determined so that the outer peripheral protrusion 4a is compressed by 20%.

  On the other hand, an inner peripheral protrusion 4b is integrally formed on the inner peripheral side of the bush 4, and the inner peripheral protrusion 4b is compressed and deformed in the radial direction by the inner peripheral cable 3 and the outer peripheral casing 2. Here, the amount of compressive deformation in the radial direction of the inner peripheral protrusion 4b is 20% compression based on the difference between the radius of the cable 3 and the radius of the housing 2 when the cross-sectional area of the cable 3 is sufficiently constricted. Set to be. By setting in this way, the gap between the bush 4 and the cable 3 can be filled with the inner peripheral projection 4b without any gap. The state in which the cross-sectional area of the cable 3 is sufficiently constricted is determined by the space factor of the cable 3 and the thickness and material of the coating.

  According to the ultrasonic probe of the first embodiment of the present invention as described above, an adhesive is used for the cable outlet of the housing 2 by providing the bush 4 with the outer peripheral protrusion 4a and the inner peripheral protrusion 4b. Can be waterproofed without having to. Accordingly, there is an effect that parts can be easily disassembled without being damaged during repair, and there is no loss of parts due to disassembly.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, FIG. 3 shows an enlarged schematic cross-sectional view of the main part of the ultrasonic probe according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, in order to position the longitudinal direction of the bush 4, a positioning groove 5a is formed in the reinforcing ring 5, and a positioning protrusion 4c is formed in the bush 4. The positioning protrusion 4c is formed in the positioning groove 5a. Is engaged.

  Thus, by providing the engaging projection 4c and the positioning groove 5a in the bush 4 and the reinforcing ring 5 respectively, the longitudinal positional relationship between the bush 4 and the reinforcing ring 5 can be determined by only two parts. Sometimes, longitudinal positioning can be achieved by simply fitting the reinforcing ring 5 into the bush 4 without using jigs or other positioning components.

<Third Embodiment>
Next, FIG. 4 shows an enlarged schematic cross-sectional view of the main part of an ultrasonic probe according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, an annular rigid body 5 b is formed integrally with the reinforcing ring 5. The adhesive 6 adheres and fixes the annular rigid body 5b and the cable 3. The inner peripheral side projection 4b of the bush 4 is sandwiched between the annular rigid body 5b and the housing 2 and is compressed and deformed to waterproof between the bush 4 and the cable 3.

  With this configuration, the cable can be easily disassembled and can be reliably waterproofed between the bush 4 and the cable 3 without considering the deformation of the cable 3. That is, reliable waterproofing is possible even if the type of the cable 3 is changed. Here, the annular rigid body 5b is bonded and fixed to the cable 3. However, there is no problem because the annular rigid body 5b and the cable 3 do not need to be disassembled at the time of repair and disassembly. Further, in the present embodiment, since the annular rigid body 5b and the reinforcing ring 5 are integrally formed, reliable waterproofing can be realized at low cost without adding parts. In the present embodiment, the annular rigid body 5b and the reinforcing ring 5 are integrally formed, but may be separate parts.

  As described above, since the ultrasonic probe according to the present invention can be waterproofed by compressive deformation of the bush without adhering the parts with an adhesive or the like, it is easy to repair without damaging the parts. It has the effect that it can be disassembled and there is no part damage loss due to disassembly, and is useful as an ultrasonic probe of a medical ultrasonic device that obtains an in-vivo image using ultrasonic waves.

Configuration diagram of the ultrasonic probe of the first embodiment of the present invention The principal part expansion schematic sectional drawing of the ultrasonic probe of the 1st Embodiment of this invention The principal part expansion schematic sectional drawing of the ultrasonic probe of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention The principal part expansion schematic sectional drawing of the ultrasonic probe of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention Main section enlarged sectional view of a conventional ultrasonic probe

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Signal line 2,102 Case 3,103 Cable 4,104 Bush 4a Outer peripheral protrusion 4b Inner peripheral protrusion 4c Positioning protrusion 5,105 Reinforcement ring 5a Positioning groove 5b Toroidal rigid body 6,106 Adhesive

Claims (4)

An ultrasonic element for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals;
A casing covering the outside of the ultrasonic element;
A cable that bundles signal lines of the ultrasonic element and is pulled out from the housing;
A cylindrical bush that protects the cable in the hole of the housing that pulls out the cable;
A ring interposed between the bush and the cable in the hole,
The housing and the ring are integrally formed with one or more outer peripheral protrusions that are compressed from the outer peripheral side and the inner peripheral side on the outer peripheral side of the bush, and the casing and the ring are formed on the inner peripheral side of the bush. An ultrasonic probe in which the cable is integrally formed with one or more inner peripheral projections that are pressed and deformed by pressing from the outer peripheral side and the inner peripheral side.   The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein a positioning groove is formed on the outer peripheral side of the ring, and a protrusion that engages with the positioning groove is provided on the inner peripheral side of the bush.   The annular rigid body is fixed to the outer peripheral side of the cable, and the annular rigid body and the casing cooperate to press and compress the inner peripheral protrusion of the bush. The ultrasonic probe described in 1. The ultrasonic probe according to claim 3, wherein the annular rigid body is formed integrally with the ring.