JP2006081613A - Flexible tube for endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a flexible tube with high resiliency for an endoscope. <P>SOLUTION: This flexible tube 26 for the endoscope has a helical tube 36 formed of a helically wound strip member, a netted tube 32 arranged outside of the helical tube 30 and formed of a knitted thin wire member, and an outer skin 34 covering around the netted tube 32. The skin 34 of the flexible tube 26 for the endoscope has a foamed body layer 36 constituted by foaming. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a flexible tube for an endoscope that forms an insertion portion to be inserted into a body cavity.

  Conventionally, an insertion portion of an endoscope is inserted into a body cavity and the inside of the body cavity is observed. This insertion part is formed by a flexible tube having flexibility. As an example of such a flexible tube, there is a flexible tube of Patent Document 1. This flexible tube is formed by coating a spiral tube with a mesh tube and coating the outer peripheral surface of the mesh tube with an outer skin. The outer skin is formed by laminating a porous fluororesin layer, a fluororubber layer, and a fluorine coating layer in order from the inside. The porous fluororesin layer and the fluororubber layer are integrally formed tube bodies, and the fluororubber enters a wedge shape in the outer peripheral surface of the porous fluororesin layer.

The porous fluororesin layer is formed by sintering in a mold that is simultaneously biaxially centrifuged in the horizontal and vertical directions. At this time, voids are formed in the non-molten portion between the powder particles of the fluororesin, and these voids are continuous pores penetrating vertically and horizontally. That is, the porous fluororesin layer has air permeability.
JP 2000-107122 A

  In order to smoothly insert the insertion portion of the endoscope into the body cavity, the flexible tube preferably has sufficient elasticity. However, the flexible tube of Patent Document 1 uses a porous fluororesin layer, and the fluororesin does not have sufficient elasticity. The porous fluororesin layer is covered with a fluororubber layer, and the fluororubber enters a wedge shape in the outer peripheral surface of the porous fluororesin layer. However, such a configuration is sufficient in practice. It's difficult to get elasticity.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a flexible tube for an endoscope having high elasticity.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a spiral tube formed by a spirally wound belt-shaped member, a mesh tube formed by a thin wire member that is sheathed and braided on the spiral tube, and the mesh tube A flexible tube for an endoscope, wherein the outer skin has a foam layer that is foamed.

  In the invention of claim 1, the flexible layer for endoscope is given high elasticity by the foam layer of the outer skin.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the flexible tube for an endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the outer skin has a non-foamed non-foamed layer coated on an outer peripheral surface of the foamed layer. .

  In the second aspect of the present invention, the non-foamed layer covered with the foamed layer provides water vapor shielding to the flexible tube for endoscope.

  The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the non-foamed material layer includes at least one of polyester, polyurethane, polyolefine elastomer, styrene elastomer, fluorine elastomer, and silicon elastomer. This is a flexible tube for endoscope.

  In the invention of claim 3, the non-foamed layer is formed so as to include at least one of polyester, polyurethane, polyolefin resin, styrene elastomer, fluorine elastomer, and silicon elastomer.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the foam layer has open cells, and the open cells are impregnated with an impregnation material having a water vapor shielding property. Flexible tube.

  And in invention of this Claim 4, water vapor | steam shielding property is provided to the foam layer by impregnating the impregnating material which has water vapor | steam shielding property to an open cell.

  The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the impregnated material contains at least one of polyester, polyurethane, polyolefine elastomer, styrene elastomer, fluorine elastomer, and silicon elastomer. It is a flexible tube for endoscopes.

  In the invention of claim 5, the impregnation material impregnated in the open cells is formed so as to include at least one of polyester, polyurethane, polyolefin elastomer, styrene elastomer, fluorine elastomer, and silicon elastomer. ing.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the flexible tube for an endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer is heated and melted.

  And in invention of this Claim 6, water vapor | steam shielding property is provided to the flexible tube for endoscopes by heat-melting the outer peripheral surface of a foam layer, and crushing foaming shape.

  According to the present invention, high elasticity is imparted to the endoscope flexible tube.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows an overall schematic configuration of an endoscope 12 according to the present embodiment. The endoscope 12 has an elongated insertion portion 14 that is inserted into a body cavity. The insertion portion 14 is formed by connecting the distal end configuration portion 16, the bending portion 18, and the flexible tube portion 20 in order from the distal end side. An operation unit 22 that is grasped by an operator is disposed at the proximal end of the insertion unit 14. The operation portion 22 is provided with an operation lever 24 for bending the bending portion 18.

  A lens for an illumination optical system and an image pickup element for an observation optical system are disposed at the tip configuration unit 16, and a light guide and a transmission cable are extended from these. These light guides, transmission cables, and other internal organs are inserted into the operation unit 22 through the distal end component portion 16, the bending portion 18, and the flexible tube portion 20. The flexible tube portion 20 is formed by a flexible tube 26 having flexibility.

  Hereinafter, the manufacturing process of the flexible tube 26 will be described with reference to FIGS. In step 1, a spiral tube 30 is prepared as shown in FIG. The spiral tube 30 is formed by winding a belt-like member having elasticity in a spiral shape with a constant diameter. This strip-shaped member is made of, for example, stainless steel or copper alloy. The spiral tube 30 is covered with a mesh tube 32. The mesh tube 32 is formed by braiding metal fine wires or metal fine wires and non-metal fine wires. The fine metal wire is formed of, for example, stainless steel or a copper alloy, and the non-metallic thin wire is formed of, for example, a synthetic resin fiber such as polyester, polyamide, or polyvinyl chloride.

  Hereinafter, a manufacturing process for covering the mesh tube 32 with the outer skin 34 (see FIG. 6) will be described. In step 2, for example, a urethane-based adhesive 35 is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the mesh tube 32 as shown in FIG. In step 3, as shown in FIG. 4, the foam layer 36 is coated on the outer peripheral surface of the adhesive 35. The foam layer 36 is formed by covering the outer peripheral surface of the adhesive 35 by extrusion molding with a thermoplastic elastomer foam excellent in heat resistance, wear resistance, and adhesion to the adhesive 35. Such a foam layer 36 has high elasticity.

  The foam layer 36 may be either closed foam having closed cells or continuous foam having open cells. The foaming method may be either chemical foaming or mechanical foaming. Here, the chemical foaming means that a foaming agent is mixed in advance in a resin, and gas is generated by a chemical reaction of the foaming agent to form bubbles. Mechanical foaming is a method in which gas is forcibly mixed into a resin from the outside, and bubbles are mechanically split.

  As an apparatus for generating closed cells by mechanical foaming, for example, there is PENGUIN FOAM SYSTEM (registered trademark) marketed by Sunstar Giken. In this PENGUIN FOAM SYSTEM, a thermoplastic elastomer and atmospheric air are fed into a foaming apparatus to generate a gas-liquid two-layer flow, and then pumped, and the air is finely dispersed in the thermoplastic elastomer due to the flow characteristics at the time of pumping. That is, the thermoplastic elastomer is foamed while being transferred at a high pressure in the pipe.

  In step 4, as shown in FIG. 5, the non-foamed layer 38 is coated on the outer peripheral surface of the foamed layer 36. The non-foamed layer 38 is formed by integrally assembling a non-foamed thermoplastic elastomer on the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer 36. Such a non-foamed layer 38 has water vapor shielding properties. The non-foamed layer 38 preferably has a high elasticity. As a material for forming the non-foamed layer 38, for example, polyester, polyurethane, polyolefin elastomer, styrene elastomer, fluorine elastomer, or silicon elastomer is used.

  In step 5, as shown in FIG. 6, the outer peripheral surface of the non-foamed layer 38 is coated with a coat layer 40. The coat layer 40 is formed by coating the outer peripheral surface of the non-foamed layer 38 with a material excellent in chemical resistance and slipperiness, such as urethane resin or fluororesin, by dipping or extrusion molding. In this way, the flexible tube 26 shown in FIG. 6 is formed.

  Next, the effect of the endoscope 12 of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described. When the insertion portion 14 of the endoscope 12 is inserted into the body cavity, the flexible tube 26 exhibits high elasticity by the foam layer 36 of the thermoplastic elastomer foam.

  Also, the endoscope needs to be surely sterilized after use. As the disinfection and sterilization, autoclave sterilization using high-temperature and high-pressure steam may be used because of easy work and low running cost. When the endoscope 12 is sterilized by autoclave, the non-foamed layer 38 of thermoplastic elastomer exhibits water vapor shielding properties. That is, the high-temperature and high-pressure steam hardly enters the endoscope 12, and the internal components of the endoscope 12 are prevented from being deteriorated. For this reason, the endoscope 12 can cope with autoclave sterilization.

  An adhesive 35 is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the mesh tube 32, and a foam layer 36 is formed by covering the outer peripheral surface of the adhesive 35 by extrusion molding a thermoplastic elastomer foam. For this reason, the foam layer 36 can be reliably bonded to the mesh tube 32.

  Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Components having the same functions as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. Steps 1 to 3 of the manufacturing process of the flexible tube 26 of the present embodiment are the same as Steps 1 to 3 of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 to 4. That is, the mesh tube 32 is sheathed on the spiral tube 30, and the adhesive 35 is applied to the mesh tube 32 to further cover the foam layer 36. However, the foam layer 36 is continuous foaming.

  In step 4, the continuous cells of the foam layer 36 are impregnated with an impregnating material having a water vapor shielding property. As a result, the foam layer 36 is provided with water vapor shielding properties. The impregnating material preferably has a high elasticity, and in this case, the elasticity of the foam layer 36 is enhanced. As the impregnating material, for example, polyester, polyurethane, polyolefine elastomer, styrene elastomer, fluorine elastomer, or silicon elastomer is used.

  In step 5, as shown in FIG. 7, the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer 36 is covered with a coat layer 40. As in the first embodiment, the coat layer 40 is formed by covering the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer 36 with a material excellent in chemical resistance and slipperiness, such as urethane resin or fluororesin, by dipping or extrusion molding. Is. Here, the resin material of the coat layer 40 enters the pores on the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer 36. In this way, the flexible tube 26 shown in FIG. 7 is formed.

  Next, the effect of the endoscope 12 of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described. When the insertion portion 14 of the endoscope 12 is inserted into the body cavity, the flexible tube 26 exhibits high elasticity due to the high elasticity of the foam layer 36 as in the first embodiment.

  Further, since the continuous bubbles of the foam layer 36 are impregnated with an impregnating material having a water vapor shielding property, when the endoscope 12 is autoclaved, the foam layer 36 impregnated with the impregnating material is flexible. The tube 26 exhibits water vapor shielding properties. For this reason, the endoscope 12 can cope with autoclave sterilization.

  The outer peripheral surface of the foam layer 36 is coated with the coat layer 40 by dipping or extrusion molding, and the resin material of the coat layer 40 enters the pores on the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer 36. By setting it as such a structure, while the adhesiveness of the foam layer 36 and the coating layer 40 improves, water vapor | steam shielding property is increased.

  The third embodiment of the present invention will be described below. Components having the same functions as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. Steps 1 to 3 of the manufacturing process of the flexible tube 26 of the present embodiment are the same as Steps 1 to 3 of the second embodiment. That is, the mesh tube 32 is sheathed on the spiral tube 30, and the adhesive 35 is applied to the mesh tube 32 to further cover the foam layer 36. In step 4, the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer 36 is heated and melted, and the foam shape of the outer peripheral surface is crushed to form a substantially uniform curved surface. In step 5, as in step 5 of the second embodiment, the foam layer 36 is coated with the coat layer 40.

  Next, the effect of the endoscope 12 of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described. When the insertion portion 14 of the endoscope 12 is inserted into the body cavity, the flexible tube 26 exhibits high elasticity due to the high elasticity of the foam layer 36 as in the first embodiment. For this reason, the endoscope 12 can be smoothly inserted into the body cavity.

  Further, since the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer 36 is heated and melted to crush the foam shape of the outer peripheral surface to form a substantially uniform curved surface, when the endoscope 12 is sterilized by autoclave, The flexible tube 26 exhibits water vapor shielding properties due to the outer peripheral surface. For this reason, the endoscope 12 can cope with autoclave sterilization.

  In addition, the manufacturing process of the flexible tube 26 mentioned above is an example, and if the flexible tube 26 of the same structure is formed, various deformation | transformation are possible.

Next, other characteristic technical matters of the present application are appended as follows.
Record
(Additional Item 1) A flexible tube for an endoscope, wherein the outer skin is made of independent foam or open bubbles in the insertion portion of the endoscope in which a spiral tube, a mesh tube, an outer skin, and a coat layer are sequentially stacked.

(Additional Item 2) An endoscope having an outer surface in which the outer skin is made of independent foam or continuous foam in an insertion portion of the endoscope in which a spiral tube, a mesh tube, and an outer skin are sequentially stacked. Flexible tube.

(Additional Item 3) The flexible tube for an endoscope according to Additional Item 1 and 2, wherein a resin is impregnated into the open cell formed in the outer skin.

(Additional Item 4) The flexible tube for endoscope according to Additional Item 3, wherein the impregnated resin is a highly elastic member.

(Additional Item 5) The flexible tube for an endoscope according to Additional Item 3, wherein the impregnated resin is a water vapor impermeable material.

  The present invention provides a flexible tube for an endoscope that forms an insertion portion that is inserted into a body cavity and has high elasticity.

The side view which shows the endoscope of 1st Embodiment of this invention. The longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the process of preparing a helical tube and a mesh pipe | tube in the manufacturing process of the flexible tube of the endoscope of 1st Embodiment of this invention. The longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the process of apply | coating an adhesive agent in the manufacturing process of the flexible tube of the endoscope of 1st Embodiment of this invention. The longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the process of coat | covering a foam layer in the manufacturing process of the flexible tube of the endoscope of 1st Embodiment of this invention. The longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the process of coat | covering a non-foamed body layer in the manufacturing process of the flexible tube of the endoscope of 1st Embodiment of this invention. The longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the process which coat | covers the flexible tube of the endoscope of 1st Embodiment of this invention, and a coating layer in the manufacturing process of this flexible tube. The longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the process which coat | covers a coating layer in the flexible tube of the endoscope of 2nd Embodiment of this invention, and this flexible tube manufacturing process.

Explanation of symbols

  26 ... Flexible tube for endoscope, 30 ... Spiral tube, 32 ... Reticulated tube, 34 ... Outer skin, 36 ... Foam layer.

Claims (6)

A spiral tube formed by a strip-shaped member wound spirally;
A reticulated tube formed by a thin wire member that is sheathed and braided on the spiral tube;
An outer skin covered with the mesh tube,
The outer skin has a foam layer that is foamed,
A flexible tube for an endoscope.   The flexible tube for an endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the outer skin includes a non-foamed non-foamed layer coated on an outer peripheral surface of the foamed layer.   3. The flexible endoscope according to claim 2, wherein the non-foamed layer includes at least one of polyester, polyurethane, a polyolefin elastomer, a styrene elastomer, a fluorine elastomer, and a silicon elastomer. tube. The foam layer has open cells,
The open cell is impregnated with an impregnation material having a water vapor shielding property,
2. The flexible tube for an endoscope according to claim 1, wherein   The flexible tube for an endoscope according to claim 4, wherein the impregnating material includes at least one of polyester, polyurethane, a polyolefin resin, a styrene elastomer, a fluorine elastomer, and a silicon elastomer. The outer peripheral surface of the foam layer is heated and melted,
2. The flexible tube for an endoscope according to claim 1, wherein

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