JP2017209235A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an endoscope capable of appropriately preventing disconnection of an optical fiber even in bending without increasing an outer diameter.SOLUTION: An insertion part 2 includes a sheath tube 35 provided with a region A having a function as a bendable flexible part, an objective lens frame 21 brought into internal contact with the tip of the sheath tube 35, whose base end part is arranged on the inner peripheral side of the flexible part, an annular molded part 32 molded by the tips of a plurality of optical fibers 31 constituting a light guide 30, which is arranged around the objective lens frame 21, a second support part 42 arranged on the inner peripheral side of the flexible part, whose outer diameter is larger than the objective lens frame 21, and a connection part 43 which connects the objective lens frame 21 (first support part 41) and the second support part 42, and includes an opening 43b for guiding each of the optical fibers 31 to the inner peripheral side of the second support part 42.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an endoscope in which an optical fiber is inserted into an insertion portion.

  Conventionally, in order to observe a part that is difficult to perform direct visual observation, such as the inside of a living body or a structure, it is formed so that it can be inserted from the outside to the inside of the living body or structure, and forms an optical image. Alternatively, an endoscope having a configuration capable of capturing an optical image thereof is widely used in the medical field or the industrial field.

  The insertion portion of such an endoscope includes a flexible and slender flexible tube portion and a bending portion continuously provided at the distal end of the flexible tube portion. By being introduced into the structure, the inside of the luminal organ and the inside of the structure can be observed and treated.

  In this type of endoscope, constituent elements that can ensure the necessary minimum functions as an endoscope (for example, a constituent element for transmitting a subject image and a configuration for supplying illumination light to the subject) A technique for forming the outer diameter of the insertion portion to be extremely narrow has been proposed.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, the distal end of a bending tube constituting a bending portion is bonded and fixed to the outer periphery on the proximal end side of a body member formed in a tubular shape, and is formed into a ring shape in an inner hole (through hole) of the body member. A technique is disclosed in which the light guide is inserted and the objective lens frame is bonded and fixed in a hollow portion formed in the light guide in an inserted state.

  Further, for example, in an endoscope in which the bending portion is passively bent by an external force or the like, the bending tube is removed from the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, and the outer tube is directly covered on the outer periphery of the light guide. If such a configuration is adopted, it can be expected to further reduce the diameter of the insertion portion.

Japanese Patent No. 3850332

  However, as described above, when the curved tube is removed and the outer tube is directly covered with the outer tube, the light guide is moved by the elastically deformed outer tube when the curved portion is bent. There is a possibility that the optical fiber constituting the light guide may be broken in a portion of the optical fiber that is pressed against the base end side of the optical fiber.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an endoscope that can accurately prevent disconnection of an optical fiber even at the time of bending without increasing the outer diameter. .

  An endoscope according to an aspect of the present invention includes a tube having a flexible portion that can be bent, and a tubular tube that is provided at a distal end portion of the tube and has a proximal end portion disposed on an inner peripheral side of the flexible portion. A member, an optical fiber group disposed around the tubular member, a support portion disposed on an inner peripheral side of the flexible portion and having an outer diameter larger than that of the tubular member, the tubular member and the support And a connecting part having an opening for guiding the optical fiber group to the inner peripheral side of the support part.

  According to the endoscope of the present invention, it is possible to accurately prevent the disconnection of the optical fiber even during bending without increasing the outer diameter.

Appearance perspective view showing appearance of endoscope Sectional drawing which shows the principal part from the front-end | tip part of an insertion part to a curved part Sectional drawing which shows the principal part from the front-end | tip part of an insertion part to a bending part in the state which curved the bending part External perspective view showing the tip The exploded perspective view which shows the internal structure of the front-end | tip part which removed the outer skin The perspective view which shows the objective lens unit which concerns on the 1st modification and integrated the optical fiber protection member. The perspective view which shows the objective lens unit which concerns on the 2nd modification and integrated the optical fiber protection member.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings relate to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing the appearance of an endoscope, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the main part from the distal end portion of the insertion portion to the bending portion, and FIG. Sectional drawing which shows the principal part from the front-end | tip part of an insertion part to a bending part in the state which curved it, FIG. 4 is an external appearance perspective view which shows a front-end | tip part, FIG. 5 is decomposition | disassembly which shows the internal structure of the front-end | tip part which removed the outer skin It is a perspective view.

  An endoscope 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes an insertion unit 2, an operation unit 3, and an eyepiece unit 4. Note that the endoscope 1 of the present embodiment is a so-called fiberscope, and has a very small diameter (for example, an outer diameter of about 1 mm) by specializing in a function of observing a subject. It is.

  The insertion portion 2 includes a distal end portion 11, a passive bending portion 12 that can be passively bent by an external force, and a flexible tube portion 13 that is a flexible tube body in order from the distal end side. Configured.

  A proximal end side of the flexible tube portion 13 is connected to the operation portion 3 via a bend preventing portion 17 having a preset elastic force.

  The bend preventing portion 17 is provided so as to cover the proximal end portion of the flexible tube portion 13, thereby preventing buckling of the flexible tube portion 13 and the distal ends of the flexible tube portion 13 and the operation portion 3. It has the function of maintaining watertightness with the side.

  The operation unit 3 is provided with a water leakage detection base 18 and the like. A universal cable 16 through which a light guide 30 for transmitting illumination light and the like is inserted is extended from the side of the operation unit 3.

  The universal cable 16 includes an endoscope connector (not shown) that is detachably connected to a light source device (not shown) that is an external device.

  The eyepiece unit 4 is provided on the proximal end side of the operation unit 3. The eyepiece unit 4 is provided with an eyepiece optical system (not shown) for observing an optical endoscopic image.

  Next, the structure of the front-end | tip part 11 and the passive bending part 12 provided in the insertion part 2 is demonstrated with reference to FIG. 2 thru | or FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the distal end portion 11 has an objective lens unit 20 at the center of the longitudinal axis O.

  The objective lens unit 20 includes an objective lens frame 21 as a tubular member having a predetermined hardness, an objective optical system 22 provided on the distal end side in the objective lens frame 21, and a base end of the objective optical system 22. And an image guide 23 continuously provided on the side.

  The objective optical system 22 includes a plurality of optical lenses 22a, and these optical lenses 22a are fixed in the objective lens frame 21 via an adhesive.

  Further, the image guide 23 is configured by an optical fiber bundle in which a plurality of optical fibers are bundled in a predetermined manner. The distal end surface of the image guide 23 is optically connected to the proximal end surface of the objective optical system 22 in the objective lens frame 21. On the other hand, the base end surface of the image guide 23 is optically connected to the eyepiece optical system in the operation unit 3 (not shown). As a result, the image guide 23 can transmit the subject image formed by the objective optical system 22 to the eyepiece optical system.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the objective lens frame 21 is sealed with an adhesive 24, and the distal end side of the image guide 23 is held in the objective lens frame 21 by the adhesive 24. .

  The tip portion of the light guide 30 is disposed on the outer peripheral portion of the objective lens unit 20 configured as described above.

  Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the light guide 30 of the present embodiment is configured by an optical fiber group including a plurality of optical fibers 31. An annular molded portion 32 is formed at the tip portion of the light guide 30 by bonding the optical fibers 31 arranged in an annular shape to each other.

  In the present embodiment, the annular molding portion 32 is formed so that the inner diameter is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the objective lens frame 21, and the length in the optical axis O direction is shorter than the objective lens frame 21. ing. As described above, since the annular molded portion 32 of the present embodiment is molded using an adhesive, the annular molded portion 32 is provided by the amount of adhesive interposed between the optical fibers 31. The total cross-sectional area in the direction perpendicular to the axis is larger than the region (i.e., the region other than the annular molded portion 32).

  The objective lens unit 20 (objective lens frame 21) is inserted into the annular molded portion 32. The objective lens unit 20 is configured such that an adhesive is applied to the inner periphery of the annular molded portion 32 in a state where the distal end surface of the objective optical system 22 is positioned so as to be substantially flush with the end surface of the annular molded portion 32. It is fixed liquid-tightly.

  For example, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the outer peripheral portion of the annular molded portion 32 is covered with an outer tube 35.

  More specifically, the outer tube 35 according to the present embodiment has a region from the distal end portion 11 to the passive bending portion 12, or a region from the distal end portion 11 to the flexible tube portion 13 (that is, the entire insertion portion 2). It is comprised by a series of elongate tubes with the flexibility which can coat | cover integrally. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the distal end portion of the outer tube 35 is liquid-tightly bonded with an adhesive or the like in a state where the annular molded portion 32 of the light guide 30 is directly covered.

  In this way, the region in which the objective lens unit 20, the annular molded portion 32, and the outer tube 35 are sequentially laminated is configured as the hard tip portion 11.

  On the other hand, the outer tube 35 functions as a flexible part that can be bent in the region A on the proximal side of the annular molded part 32. That is, the outer tube 35 has an inner peripheral surface that is bonded to the objective lens frame 21 via the annular molding portion 32, and the distal end side region cannot be bent, while the outer tube 35 is not restricted by the objective lens frame 21 or the like. A region A closer to the base end than the molding portion 32 functions as a flexible portion that can be bent.

  And the passive bending part 12 provided in a line with the front-end | tip part 11 is set to at least one part of the area | region A which functions as a possible part of this outer skin tube 35.

  In the passive bending portion 12, the objective lens frame 21 is provided with a fiber protection member 40 for protecting each optical fiber 31 from the outer tube 35 during bending.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2.3.5, the fiber protection member 40 includes a first support portion 41 connected to the objective lens frame 21 and an inner portion of the passive bending portion 12 (that is, the outer tube 35). A second support portion 42 disposed on the inner peripheral side of the flexible portion, and a connecting portion 43 that connects the first support portion 41 and the second support portion 42. Yes.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the 1st support part 41 has a pair of support piece 41a which makes a partial cylindrical shape, and is comprised. The distal end of each support piece 41a is inserted into the base end side of the objective lens frame 21, and is fixed by laser welding or the like. Thereby, the first support portion 41 is connected to the objective lens frame 21.

  The second support portion 42 is configured by a cylindrical member having an outer diameter larger than that of the first support portion 41 and the objective lens frame 21. More specifically, the second support portion 42 is configured by a cylindrical member having an outer diameter equivalent to that of the annular molded portion 32. The light guide 30 (each optical fiber 31) and the image guide 23 can be inserted through the inner peripheral side of the second support portion 42. On the other hand, the outer peripheral surface of the second support portion 42 is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the outer tube 35 at a predetermined position near the tip of the region A (flexible portion).

  The connecting portion 43 includes a pair of connection pieces 43 a for connecting the base ends of the support pieces 41 a of the first support portion 41 and a part of the tip of the second support portion 42. Yes. The connecting portion 43 guides each optical fiber 31 to the inner peripheral side of the second support portion 42 by connecting each support piece 41a to a part of the second support portion 42 via each connection piece 43a. For this reason, the first support portion 41 can be connected to the second support portion 42 while forming the opening 43b.

  Each optical fiber 31 is inserted into the inner peripheral side of the second support portion 42 through the opening 43b formed in this way.

  According to such an embodiment, the outer tube 35 having the region A having a function as a bendable flexible portion and the distal end portion of the outer tube 35 are inscribed, and the proximal end portion is the inner portion of the flexible portion. An objective lens frame 21 arranged on the peripheral side, an annular molded part 32 formed around the objective lens frame 21 and molded around the distal ends of a plurality of optical fibers 31 constituting the light guide 30, and a flexible part The second support part 42, which is disposed on the inner peripheral side and has a larger outer diameter than the objective lens frame 21, connects the objective lens frame 21 (first support part 41) and the second support part 42. And the connecting portion 43 having the opening 43b that guides each optical fiber 31 to the inner peripheral side of the second support portion 42, and the insertion portion 2 is configured without increasing the outer diameter. Even when bent, the disconnection of the optical fiber 31 can be accurately prevented. .

  That is, the second support portion 42 disposed on the inner peripheral side of the flexible portion of the outer tube 35 where the passive bending portion 12 is set is connected to the proximal end side of the objective lens frame 21 via the connection portion 43. An opening in which a part of the passive bending portion 12 on the base end side of the objective lens frame 21 is restricted by the second support portion 42 and each optical fiber 31 constituting the light guide 30 is provided in the connecting portion 43. The outer tube 35 approaches the proximal end side of the objective lens frame 21 even when the passive bending portion 12 is bent by being inserted into the inner peripheral side of the second support portion 42 via the portion 43b. It is possible to accurately prevent the optical fiber 31 from being pressed against the edge or the like on the proximal end side of the objective lens frame 21 and being disconnected.

  In this case, the second support part 42 adopts a configuration in which the second support part 42 is connected to the proximal end side of the objective lens frame 21 via the connection part 43 (and the first support part 41), thereby providing the second support part. The portion 42 can be disposed in the insertion portion 2 without being disposed on the outer periphery of the annular molded portion 32 or the like. Therefore, if the outer diameter of the second support portion 42 is set to be equal to or smaller than the outer diameter of the annular molded portion 32, it is possible to accurately prevent the insertion portion 2 from becoming thicker due to the provision of the second support portion 42. it can.

  Further, an adhesive or the like is interposed in the annular molded portion 32, and the total cross-sectional area in the direction perpendicular to the axis of the annular molded portion 32 is the total in the direction perpendicular to the axis of each optical fiber 31 in the other part on the light guide 30. Since it is smaller than the cross-sectional area, each optical fiber 31 is easily inserted into the inner peripheral side of the second support portion 42 even when the outer diameter of the second support portion 42 is set to be equal to or smaller than the annular molded portion 32. be able to.

  In the present embodiment, when assembling the insertion portion 2, the optical fibers 31 constituting the light guide 30 are inserted in advance on the inner peripheral side of the second support portion 42, and then the optical fibers 31 are used to write light. By forming the annular molding portion 32 at the tip portion of the guide 30, each optical fiber 31 can be easily inserted into the inner peripheral side of the second support portion 42.

  Here, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, the second support portion 42 may be provided with a slit 50 for inserting the optical fiber 31 from the outer peripheral side to the inner peripheral side of the second support portion 42. Is possible. If comprised in this way, even after forming the cyclic | annular shaping | molding part 32, each optical fiber 31 can be easily penetrated to the inner peripheral side of the 2nd support part 42, and assembly property can be improved. . FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a configuration in which the fiber protection member 40 is integrally formed on the base end side of the objective lens frame 21.

  Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, it is possible to form the slit 50 with a predetermined angle with respect to the optical axis O direction. With this configuration, the optical fiber 31 jumps out of the slit 50 and is bent between the fiber protection member 40 and the outer tube 35 as the passive bending portion 12 is repeatedly bent. This can be prevented accurately.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to each embodiment described above, A various deformation | transformation and change are possible, and they are also in the technical scope of this invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, an endoscope having an eyepiece is described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is disposed at the distal end portion 11 of the insertion portion 2 or the like. The present invention can also be applied to an electronic endoscope that incorporates an image sensor including an image sensor such as a CCD or CMOS.

  Moreover, in the above-mentioned embodiment, although an example of the structure for protecting the optical fiber 31 which comprises the light guide 30 with the fiber protection member 40 was demonstrated, this invention is not limited to this, For example, In the scanning endoscope, it is possible to protect the light receiving fiber group whose tip is formed in an annular shape from disconnection.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscope 2 ... Insertion part 3 ... Operation part 4 ... Eyepiece part 11 ... Tip part 12 ... Passive bending part 13 ... Flexible pipe part 16 ... Universal cable 17 ... Breaking prevention part 18 ... Leak detection base 20 ... Objective Lens unit 21 ... Objective lens frame 22 ... Objective optical system 22a ... Optical lens 23 ... Image guide 24 ... Adhesive 30 ... Light guide 31 ... Optical fiber 32 ... Annular molded part 35 ... Outer tube 40 ... Fiber protection member 41 ... First Support part 41a ... Support piece 42 ... Second support part 43 ... Connection part 43a ... Connection piece 43b ... Opening part 50 ... Slit

Claims (3)

A tube with a bendable flexible part;
A tubular member provided at the distal end of the tube and having a proximal end disposed on the inner peripheral side of the flexible portion;
A group of optical fibers disposed around the tubular member;
A support portion disposed on the inner peripheral side of the flexible portion and having a larger outer diameter than the tubular member;
A connecting portion that connects the tubular member and the support portion, and has an opening that guides the optical fiber group to the inner peripheral side of the support portion;
An endoscope comprising:   The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the support portion has a slit for inserting the optical fiber group from the outer peripheral side to the inner peripheral side. The optical fiber group has an annular molded portion formed in an annular shape into which the tubular member can be inserted, and is provided at the tip.
The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the support portion has an outer diameter equivalent to that of the annular molded portion.

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