JP2012040202A - Manipulator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow intuitive comprehension of a curving direction on the tip side of a manipulator displayed in an observation screen regardless of a grip attitude of the manipulator.SOLUTION: A grip part 6 of this manipulator 1 is formed of a tubular member having a sectional shape of a rotationally symmetric figure, and is provided with an operation element 7 for performing curving operation of a curve part 3, at-hand side on the end face of the grip part 6. Thereby, even when changing gripping of the grip part 6 according to twisting operation of the manipulator 1, relation between an operation direction of the operation element 7 and the curving direction of the curve part 3 displayed in an observation image can be intuitively comprehended to improve operability.

Description

  The present invention relates to a manipulator capable of controlling the bending of the distal end side by an operation on the hand side.

  Manipulators that perform various tasks in place of human arms and hands are used in various industrial fields. For example, in the medical field, a manipulator equipped with a medical instrument such as a forceps or a balloon / catheter is known, and in the industrial field, grinding for cracks / scratches is performed. 2. Description of the Related Art A manipulator having a tool, a welding tool for welding, and the like at the tip is known.

  Some of these manipulators include a curved portion on the distal end side so that the distal end portion can be directed in a desired direction by an operator's hand operation, such as a medical endoscope that observes the inside of a body cavity or the like. Endoscopes that perform bending operations on the hand side with industrial endoscopes that observe flaws, corrosion, etc. in piping, automobile engines, etc. in boilers, gas turbine engines, chemical plants, etc. can also be regarded as manipulators it can. Since the bending operation on the distal end side of the manipulator is performed by an operator holding the operation unit, various proposals for improving operability have been conventionally made.

  For example, Patent Document 1 relates to a tubular operation device (endoscope) having an insertion portion in which a distal end portion and an operation portion are arranged on the distal end side and an operation portion provided on the proximal side of the insertion portion. An operation wire whose one end is fixed to the distal end side of the section, a pulley around which a part of the operation wire is wound, and a driving means for rotating the pulley. When the pulley is rotating, an operation instruction is given. Accordingly, the operating force for pulling the operating wire is reduced by reducing the operating force of the operating instruction when the operating wire is in close contact with the pulley and winding the operation wire and the pulley in a relaxed state. Techniques for making them disclosed are disclosed.

  In Patent Document 2, an operation unit body having a motor storage unit that stores a drive motor of an electric bending mechanism that performs a bending operation of the bending unit of an endoscope is formed in an inverted cone shape, and the bottom surface of the inverted cone shape is formed on the bottom surface. A technique is disclosed in which a joystick that operates an electric bending mechanism is disposed on a positioned end face, thereby making it easier to grip an operation unit and improving operability.

  Further, in Patent Document 3, the hand operating portion of the endoscope is formed in a cylindrical shape substantially orthogonal to the insertion portion, and the left and right sides of the cylindrical shape are formed as a pair of gripping portions, and are provided in the center. A technique for enabling operation buttons to be operated with either the left or right hand is disclosed.

  Further, Patent Document 4 discloses a control that a user can operate with one hand by using a guide tube including a main channel that receives an optical device such as an endoscope and a work channel that receives an articulating surgical tool. A system is disclosed that allows controlling at least two degrees of freedom through a vessel.

JP 2007-325958 A JP 2006-149878 A JP-A-6-217927 Special table 2010-511440 gazette

  Conventional manipulators such as those disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 4 have directivity in the gripping portion gripped by the operator. For this reason, if a twisting operation is performed when performing a hand operation while confirming the bending direction of the tip of the manipulator in the observation image, the relationship between the operation direction and the bending direction on the tip side displayed in the observation image is intuitive. However, it may be difficult to grasp and operability may be reduced.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 5, such a conventional manipulator includes a bending portion 101 that can be bent on the distal end side of the manipulator 100, and an operation is performed on the proximal end side of the shaft portion 102 to which the bending portion 101 is connected. An operation unit 105 including a gripping unit 103 held by a person and a joystick 104 for performing a bending operation of the bending unit 101 is provided in series. The joystick 104 is disposed so as to have a neutral position coaxially with the shaft portion 102, and the grip portion 103 is formed in a shape that prioritizes the ease of gripping of the operator.

  Therefore, the grip portion 103 gives a sense of direction to the operator. As shown in FIG. 6B, when the bending operation of the bending portion 101 is performed while viewing the observation screen 110 at the tip of the manipulator, as shown in FIG. When the manipulator is twisted in a state where the joystick 104 is tilted in the direction indicated by the arrow in a) and the bending portion 101 is bent, the gripping portion 103 moves in an oblique direction as shown in FIG. Being oriented, forced to operate in an unreasonable posture. Therefore, the operator operates the joystick 104 by holding the grip portion 103.

  At this time, as shown by a broken line in FIG. 7B, if the bending portion 101 is to be bent in the upper part of the observation screen 110, the gripping portion 103 is directed in the oblique direction, and therefore, is transmitted from the gripping portion 103. A difference between the sense of direction and the bending direction of the bending portion 101 displayed in the observation screen 110 causes a sense of incongruity, which hinders bending in a desired direction.

  That is, since the grip portion 103 has directionality, the bending direction of the bending portion 101 displayed on the observation screen 110 matches the tilting operation direction of the joystick 104 in the state of FIG. In the state shown in FIG. 7 after being performed, the bending direction of the bending portion 101 displayed on the observation screen 110 does not match the tilting operation direction of the joystick 104 based on the sense of direction from the grip portion 103.

  Accordingly, there is a possibility that the joystick 104 is operated in an oblique direction due to the influence of the direction sense of the grip portion 103, although it is desired to bend the bending portion 101 in the upper direction of the screen in FIG. In such a conventional manipulator, since the grip portion has directionality, it is necessary to make a complicated determination in order to perform the bending operation correctly in a desired direction without being influenced by the sense of direction due to the grip posture. However, workability may be reduced.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a manipulator capable of intuitively grasping the bending direction of the manipulator tip side displayed on the observation screen regardless of the gripping posture of the manipulator. .

  In order to achieve the above object, a manipulator according to the present invention is a manipulator that grips a gripping portion on a hand side and performs a bending operation on a bending portion provided on a distal end side, and the gripping portion has a rotationally symmetric shape in a transverse section. The operation member for performing the bending operation input of the bending portion is disposed on the proximal end surface of the cylindrical member.

  According to the present invention, the bending direction of the manipulator tip side displayed on the observation screen can be intuitively grasped regardless of the gripping posture of the manipulator, and workability can be improved.

Schematic diagram of the manipulator Explanatory drawing which shows the example of application to the endoscope apparatus of a manipulator Explanatory drawing which shows the operation part of a manipulator and the front-end | tip part displayed on a screen Explanatory drawing which shows the operation part after twisting operation of a manipulator, and the front-end | tip part displayed on the screen Schematic diagram of a conventional manipulator Explanatory drawing which shows the operation part and the front-end | tip part which displayed the screen of the conventional manipulator Explanatory drawing which shows the operation part after twisting operation of the conventional manipulator, and the front-end | tip part displayed on the screen

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, a manipulator 1 according to the present embodiment is a manipulator capable of controlling the bending of the distal end side by an operation on the hand side, and a treatment instrument such as a forceps or a scalpel attached to the distal end, or various structures. A tool 2 such as a grinding tool for grinding cracks and scratches and a welding tool for welding, a bending portion 3 for changing the direction of the tool 2, and a shaft portion 4 on which the bending portion 3 is connected. And an operation portion 5 provided on the base end side of the shaft portion 4.

  The bending portion 3 and the shaft portion 4 are formed in an elongated shape that can be inserted into a body cavity of a human body or a conduit of a structure, and a plurality of bending mechanisms that constitute a bending mechanism with multiple degrees of freedom are formed inside the bending portion 3. The joint is provided. The bending mechanism constituted by the plurality of joints includes, for example, a mechanism in which a plurality of bending pieces are connected by a wire and the wire is mechanically pulled or loosened, or a wire is wound by a pulley that is rotationally driven by a motor or the like. It is composed of a known bending mechanism such as a mechanism for turning and relaxing, and the bending portion 3 is bent in a desired direction by changing the joint angle of each bending piece, and the instrument 2 is directed in the desired direction.

  The operation unit 5 includes a gripping unit 6 that is gripped by an operator, and an operator 7 that is provided on a hand-side end surface of the gripping unit 6 and performs a bending operation of the bending unit 3. The grip portion 6 is formed of a cylindrical member having a cross-sectional shape of a rotationally symmetric figure, and has a rotational symmetry that prevents the operator from feeling the direction of the front surface, the back surface, or the like when rotated about the shaft portion 4. ing. In the present embodiment, the gripping portion 6 is formed in a cylindrical shape having a circular cross section in the transverse direction substantially orthogonal to the shaft portion 4 and a rectangular cross section in the longitudinal direction that is the longitudinal direction of the shaft portion 4.

  As will be described later, the shape of the gripping portion 6 is such that, even when the gripping portion 6 is changed in accordance with the twisting operation of the manipulator 1, the operating direction of the operator 7 and the curved portion displayed in the observation image are displayed. It is possible to intuitively grasp the relationship with the bending direction 3.

  The operation element 7 is a device that performs an operation input for bending the bending portion 3 in a desired direction, and can be configured by a pointing device such as a joystick, a trackball, and a touch pad, a plurality of switch groups, and the like. In the present embodiment, a joystick is used as the operation element 7, and the operation axis 7 of the joystick is centered on the neutral position with the central axis of the grip portion 6 base end surface as a neutral position (centered on the neutral position). The bending portion 3 can be bent in a desired direction and a displacement amount according to the tilt direction and the tilt amount of the operation lever 7a.

  The operation element (joystick) 7 has the bending portion 3 in a linear state when the operation lever 7a is in the neutral position, and maintains the tilted state of the operation lever 7a when the operation lever 7a is tilted. Although it can be rotated in a predetermined direction, the operation lever 7a may be tilted in a desired direction after being returned to the neutral position.

Below, the example which applies the manipulator 1 as a medical manipulator used together with an endoscope is demonstrated.
As shown in FIG. 2, an endoscope apparatus 10 to which the present manipulator 1 is applied includes an endoscope 11 including an imaging element (not shown) that images a predetermined part such as a body cavity, and the endoscope 11. A processor 20 that supplies illumination light to the signal processor for processing an imaging signal output from the endoscope 11, and receives an image signal from the processor 20, and displays an observation image (endoscopic image) by the endoscope 11. The monitor 21 is the main component.

  The endoscope 11 can be detachably mounted with the manipulator 1 in order to perform treatment of the target part under observation of the endoscopic image. When the manipulator 1 is provided with an electric bending mechanism using a motor or the like, the manipulator 1 is not illustrated, but the driving direction of the bending mechanism and the driving direction of the bending mechanism according to an operation input from the operation element 7 (joystick) of the manipulator 1 are described. A controller for controlling the driving force is connected.

  The endoscope 11 has an elongated flexible insertion portion 12 that is inserted into a body cavity or the like, and includes an operation portion 13 on the proximal end side of the insertion portion 12. A universal cord 14 extends from the side of the operation unit 13 and is detachably connected to the processor 20 via the universal cord 14. In the present embodiment, the insertion portion 12 has a distal end portion 12a formed of a relatively hard member, and a bendable bending portion 12b provided continuously with the distal end portion 12a. In addition, a treatment instrument channel as a conduit is provided in the insertion portion 12 and communicates with a channel base 15 provided on the base side of the operation portion 13.

  Although not shown in FIG. 2, the distal end surface of the distal end portion 12a has an objective optical system that forms an image of the subject, a treatment instrument protrusion that communicates with the distal end side of the treatment instrument channel, and is not shown. An illumination optical system for emitting illumination light supplied from a light source is provided, and an imaging element such as a CCD (charge coupled device) that outputs an image of a subject as an imaging signal is arranged at an imaging position of the objective optical system. It is installed.

  When performing a necessary treatment using the manipulator 1, the instrument 2 and the bending portion 3 on the distal end side of the manipulator 1 are inserted from the channel cap 15 of the endoscope 11, and from the distal end portion 12 a of the insertion portion 12 of the endoscope 11. Make it protrude. Then, in a state where the observation field of view by the endoscope 11 is fixed to the site to be treated, the operator 7 is operated by holding the grip 6 while monitoring the distal end side of the manipulator 1, and the bending portion 3 of the manipulator 1 is bent. Then, the instrument 2 at the tip is directed in a desired direction and necessary treatment is performed.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), the operation lever 7a of the operation element 7 is tilted in the direction of the arrow in the drawing, and is displayed on the observation screen 21a of the monitor 21 as shown in FIG. 3 (b). When it is necessary to twist the manipulator 1 while performing a treatment with the posture of the manipulator 1 as a basic posture, the gripping portion 6 has rotational symmetry, so that the manipulator 1 has a rotational symmetry. The operator can perform an intuitive and comfortable operation without feeling the direction of the front or back.

  That is, since the conventional manipulator has directionality in the shape of the gripping part, when the manipulator is twisted again and then the manipulator tip is bent again, the operator has an influence on the sense of direction resulting from the gripping part shape. Therefore, the operation direction of the bending operation must be determined correctly. In particular, when an unreasonable posture is imposed by the twisting operation of the manipulator and the gripping part is changed, the difference between the direction sense generated from the gripping part shape and the bending direction of the bending part displayed on the observation screen becomes large. In addition to an uncomfortable feeling, complicated judgments are required, and workability may be reduced.

  On the other hand, the manipulator 1 in the present embodiment is observed if the bending operation direction is the same because the gripping portion 6 has rotational symmetry even if the twisting operation is performed from the basic posture state shown in FIG. The movement of the bending portion 3 of the manipulator 1 displayed on the screen 21a is the same. As a result, regardless of the gripping posture of the manipulator 1, the operating direction of the operating element 7 (in this embodiment, the tilting direction of the operating lever 7a of the operating element 7 made of a joystick) and the bending direction of the bending part 3 in the observation screen It is possible to perform an intuitive and smooth operation.

  For example, in a state where the display state of the bending portion 3 in the observation screen shown in FIG. 3B is changed to the posture shown in FIG. 4B by the twisting operation, as shown by the broken line in FIG. When trying to do so, the operator is not aware of the top and bottom, and moves the operation lever 7a of the operation element 7 made of a joystick upward in the same direction as the direction on the screen as indicated by an arrow in FIG. It is only necessary to perform a tilting operation, and even when the gripping part 6 is changed, an intuitive operation can be performed without reconsidering the tilting direction of the operation lever 7a with respect to a change in the gripping posture.

  In particular, when the operation element 7 is constituted by a trackball instead of the joystick, the trackball itself does not have operational directivity, and therefore, the bending operation can be performed in the direction as viewed on the observation screen. This is a great advantage in reducing the burden on the operator. Furthermore, depending on the twisting angle of the manipulator 1, it is possible to operate the manipulator 1 so that the distal end side is directed in a desired direction without changing the grip portion 6.

  In this case, the gripping part 6 takes into account the ease of gripping, and the diameter of a rotationally symmetric figure having a transverse section (the diameter of a circumscribed circle when the transverse section of the gripping part 6 is a regular polygon) Is set in the range of 30 mm to 45 mm. As described above, in the present embodiment, the gripping portion 6 has a cylindrical shape, and the diameter d of the transverse cross section is set to about 30 mm ≦ d ≦ 45 mm. In addition, the gripping portion 6 only needs to have rotational symmetry such that the operator does not feel directionality such as the front or the back, a circular cross section, a regular polygon, or a transverse cross-section corresponding to these, a rectangle, a barrel It may be a three-dimensional shape having a shape, an isosceles trapezoidal shape, a drum shape, a drum shape, or a longitudinal section similar to these.

  In addition, when making the horizontal direction cross section of the holding part 6 into a regular polygon, it is preferable that the number n of sides is an even number, and it is desirable that it is ideally n> = 8. Moreover, when making the vertical direction cross section of the holding part 6 into an isosceles trapezoid, it is preferable to set it as the taper shape which becomes thin toward the front end side.

  Moreover, although the manipulator 1 in this Embodiment has shown the example by which the neutral part of the operation part 7 which consists of the axial part 4, the holding part 6, and a joystick is arrange | positioned on the same axis | shaft, in these arrangements, A slight offset that allows the operator to feel no directionality is allowed.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, since the grip portion of the manipulator is formed in a cross-sectional shape of a rotationally symmetric figure, the bending direction of the manipulator tip side displayed on the observation screen can be intuitively set regardless of the grip posture. I can grasp it. As a result, the manipulator can be operated intuitively and without a sense of incongruity, and the workability can be improved.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a medical manipulator has been described as an example of the manipulator. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the industrial one provided with a grinding tool, a welding tool, or the like. It is also possible to apply the present invention as an endoscope itself, or an endoscope used under observation by another endoscope.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Manipulator 2 Instrument 3 Bending part 4 Shaft part 5 Operation part 6 Gripping part 7 Operating element 11 Endoscope 12 Insertion part 15 Channel base

Claims (7)

A manipulator that grips the grip portion on the hand side and performs a bending operation on the bending portion provided on the distal end side,
The gripping portion is formed of a cylindrical member having a transverse cross-section formed of a rotationally symmetric figure, and an operation element for performing a bending operation input of the bending portion is disposed on a proximal side end surface of the cylindrical member. A characteristic manipulator.   The manipulator according to claim 1, wherein the rotationally symmetric figure is a circle or a regular polygon.   3. The manipulator according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical member is rectangular or isosceles trapezoidal in cross section in the vertical direction.   The manipulator according to claim 1, wherein a diameter of the rotationally symmetric figure is in a range of 30 mm to 45 mm.   The manipulator according to claim 1, wherein the operation element is a joystick.   The manipulator according to claim 1, wherein the operation element is a trackball.   The manipulator according to claim 1, wherein the manipulator is a medical manipulator that includes a medical instrument on a distal end side of the bending portion and is inserted through an insertion portion of an endoscope that is inserted into a body cavity.

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