JP2664224B2 - Endoscope bending operation device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an endoscope bending operation device for remotely bending a bending portion provided in an insertion portion.

2. Description of the Related Art As is known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-192134, a general bending operation device of an endoscope is provided with a mechanism for pushing and pulling the bending operation wire in an operation section, and an operation knob or a drive mechanism. An operation lever is provided to protrude outside the operation unit, and by operating the operation knob or the operation lever, a driving mechanism in the operation unit is moved to push and pull the bending operation wire, thereby bending the bending portion of the insertion unit. I have.

Also, as known from Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 57-123101, a flexible operation bar is provided in the operation section of the endoscope, and a bending operation wire is connected to this operation bar and the operation bar is bent. A system in which a bending operation wire is pushed and pulled has been proposed.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, in the case of handling medical equipment, cleaning and disinfection of the equipment is basically the first step to prevent infection.

As is known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-192134, a general bending operation device for an endoscope is provided with an operation knob or an operation lever protruding outside an operation portion thereof. In this type, it is necessary to make the rotating shaft of the operation knob or the operation lever and the bearing thereof have a waterproof structure, but this structure complicates the configuration. In addition, the surface of the operation unit that rotates the operation knob or the operation lever and the back side of the operation knob or the operation lever are formed with relatively complicated irregularities and grooves, and the operation unit that is contaminated with the body fluid of the subject cannot be cleaned. Needless to say, even wiping is difficult.

In addition, as known from Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 57-123101, a flexible operation bar is provided on an operation section of an endoscope, and a bending operation wire is pushed and pulled by bending the operation bar. Although the above problems have been solved to some extent,
It is difficult to simultaneously operate the operation bar with the hand holding the operation unit of the endoscope, and it is necessary to perform a bending operation with another hand, and the operability is poor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problem, and has as its object the configuration of an endoscope bending operation device which is easy to clean and disinfect and has a sanitary configuration, and whose bending operation is simple and easy to operate. Is to provide.

[Means and Actions for Solving the Problems] A bending operation device for an endoscope according to the present invention is a bending operation device for an endoscope including an insertion portion having a bending portion and an operation portion having a grip portion. At least a part of the grip portion is bendable, and the bending portion is operated to bend in accordance with the bending operation of the grip portion.

When bending the bending portion of the insertion portion in the endoscope,
While holding the grip portion of the operation portion, the bending portion of the bending portion of the insertion portion can be bent by bending the grip portion having a flexible structure at the same time with the same hand as the gripping hand.

Embodiment FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show a first embodiment of the present invention. The endoscope 1 includes an operation section 2 and an insertion section 3 connected thereto. The operation section 2 has a tubular main body 4 that can be gripped, and an eyepiece section 5 is provided at a rear end of the main body 4. Further, the insertion section 2 is configured by sequentially connecting a distal end forming section 6, a bending section 7, and a flexible section 8 from the distal end side. A pair of bending operation wires 11 and 12 that are arranged to be deviated vertically are inserted through the insertion portion 3. Each of the bending operation wires 11 and 12 is guided by guide tubes 13 and 14 composed of closely wound coils disposed over the flexible portion 8 and the distal end portion of the operation portion 2, respectively. Further, the distal ends of the upper and lower bending operation wires 11 and 12 are guided by means (not shown) along the upper and lower surfaces of the inner surface of the bending portion 7, and the respective distal ends are separately separated vertically at the distal end of the bending portion 7. Attachment is fixed. When one of the operation wires 11 and 12 is pulled, the bending portion 7 can be bent in that direction. At this time, the other operation wires 11, 12 are paid out.

The main body 4 of the operation unit 2 is configured to be bendable. That is, the plurality of bending pieces 15 are arranged in the longitudinal axis direction of the operation unit 2, and the adjacent bending pieces 15 are connected by the pins 16 so as to rotate vertically. This multiple curved pieces
An elastic tube 18 is fitted on the outer periphery of a core member 17 made of 15, and is configured to be watertight. Then, this operation unit 2
The main body 4 can be bent up and down, and in this embodiment, the whole is configured as a bent portion.

Also, the guide pipes 13, 14 described above are provided at the most advanced bending piece 15.
A support frame 19 for fixing the base end of the camera is attached. further,
Guide ring portions 21 and 22 are formed in the upper and lower portions on the inner surface of each bending piece 15, respectively. The guide ring portions 21 and 22 extend along the upper and lower inner surfaces in the main body 4 of the operation unit 2 to operate the operation wires 11 and 22, respectively. , 12 are separately provided. Further, the base ends of the operation wires 11 and 12 guided by the guide means are fixed at a hand side portion of the operation unit 2. In this embodiment, the most proximal bending piece 15
Are fixed to fixtures 24, 25 attached to the inner surface of the.

In the endoscope 1, when the bending portion 7 of the insertion portion 3 is bent, the body 4 itself is gripped by the hand holding the body 4 of the operation portion 2, for example, as shown in FIG. Bend so that the center is on the upper side at the lower side. This causes the upper side to bend outward and extend. Therefore, the bending operation wire 11 is pulled. Further, the lower side is bent inside and the operation wire 12 is extended. And this operation wire
The bending portion 7 of the insertion portion 3 is bent by the push-pull operation of 11, 11 so that the tip side faces downward.

When the main body 4 of the operation section 2 is bent in the opposite direction to that shown in FIG. 2, the bending section 7 of the insertion section 3 bends so that the distal end thereof is directed upward.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to directly perform the bending operation while holding the main body 4 of the operation unit 2 with the hand of the operator holding the main unit 4. Therefore, bending operability is good. In addition, since the curved operation member does not have a shape that protrudes from the main body 4 of the operation portion 2, cleaning and disinfection can be performed reliably and sufficiently. In addition, it is easy to provide a waterproof means in the operation unit 2, and sufficient watertightness can be achieved.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment has the same basic configuration as that of the first embodiment, except for the following points. That is, the positions of the bending operation wires 11 and 12 are switched up and down between the operation unit 2 and the insertion unit 3. The operation wire 11 eccentrically arranged upward inside the insertion section 3 is arranged below the operation section 2. In addition, the operation wire 12 that is arranged to be deviated downward inside the insertion section 3 is disposed above the operation section 2.

In this case, the direction in which the main body 4 of the operation section 2 is bent is the same as the direction in which the bending section 7 of the insertion section 3 bends. For this reason, the bending operation direction and the bending direction of the bending section 7 coincide with each other, which facilitates the operation. Others are the same as those of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the main body 4 of the operation unit 2 is configured to be able to bend up and down and right and left, and operation wires 11 and 12 for up and down bending operation and operation wires 31 and 32 for left and right bending operation are provided.

That is, when a plurality of bending pieces 15 constituting the core material 17 of the main body 4 of the operation unit 2 are connected side by side in the longitudinal axis direction of the operation unit 2, not only the vertical rotation but also the horizontal direction Are also connected to rotate. Thus, the core member 17 including the plurality of bending pieces 15 can be bent in the up, down, left, and right directions. The elastic tube 18 is fitted around the outer periphery of the core member 17 in the same manner as described above, and is configured to be watertight. The main body 4 in this embodiment is configured as a bent portion that can be bent in the vertical and horizontal directions.

Also, in the same manner as in the first embodiment, four operation wires 11, 12, 3
The base ends of the operation wires 11, 12, 31, 32 are respectively formed on the inner and lower portions of the bending piece 15 in the main body 4 of the operation section 2 by respective guide ring portions. Guided separately by 21,22,33,34. That is, each guide ring portion 21, 22, 33, 34 is connected to each operation wire 11, 1
Guide means for guiding 2, 31, 32 is configured. Also,
Operation wires 11, 12, 3 guided by this guide means
The base ends of the reference numerals 1 and 32 are fixed at the proximal portion of the operation unit 2.

In the endoscope 1, when the bending portion 7 of the insertion portion 3 is bent, the main body 4 itself is bent with the hand holding the main body 4 of the operation portion 2, but not in the upper and lower directions but in the upper, lower, left and right directions. If it bends in the direction, it can be bent following the direction by the action as described above.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the core material of the main body 4 of the operation unit 2 is used.
The configuration of the bending piece 15 constituting 17 is different from that of the above embodiment. That is, the bending piece 15 of this embodiment is provided with a spherical projection 41 on one of the ends adjacent to each other, and has an inner surface for receiving the projection 41 on the other side having a spherical supporting recess 42, and these are coupled. And are connected rotatably.
As shown in FIG. 6, the projection 41 and the supporting recess 42 are provided on a disk 43, and the disk 43 has three holes 44 through which the three operation wires 11, 12, 31 are respectively inserted. Have been.

According to this configuration, the main body 4 can be bent in any direction, such as up, down, left, or right, and can be applied to those similar to the third embodiment.

7 to 9 show a fifth embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment shows a configuration for observing an image of the endoscope 1 with a television camera. A flexible tube 51 for inserting and guiding an image guide is connected to the proximal end of the operation unit 2 of the endoscope 1 and connected to a camera control unit 52 having a built-in television camera at the extending end of the flexible tube 51. Connector 53 is provided. A light guide cable 54 is branched from the connector 53. The light guide cable 54 is connected to the light source unit 55. The camera control unit 52 has a monitor 56
Is connected.

The configuration of the bending operation device in the endoscope 1 is the same as that of the above embodiment. That is, as shown in FIG. 8 or FIG. 9, the main body 4 of the operation section 2 of the endoscope 1 is provided.
Is bent, the bending portion 7 of the insertion portion 3 can be bent.

Further, in the case of this embodiment, since the observation can be performed by looking at the monitor 56 remote from the operation unit 2, the problem of the shake of the eyepiece unit 5 can be eliminated. Others are the same as those of the above embodiment.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the third embodiment, three operation wires are used.
The bending operation can be performed in the same manner even when four books are used instead of books. The operation wires may be different from each other in the operation section and in the insertion section and may be connected to each other. Further, the bent portion formed on the main body of the operation unit is not limited to the entire main body, but may be a part thereof.

[Effect of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform a bending operation while grasping the main body of the operation unit with the hand of an operator grasping the main body. Therefore, it is possible to provide a bending operation device of an endoscope whose bending operation is simple and has good operability. Further, since the bending operation member does not have a shape that protrudes from the main body of the operation portion, the operation portion can be easily cleaned and disinfected, and can be reliably and sufficiently performed. In addition, the waterproof structure of the operation unit can be simplified, the structure can be simplified, and the waterproof property can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of an endoscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the endoscope according to the first embodiment of the present invention in a state where a bending operation is performed. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the endoscope according to the second embodiment of the present invention in a state where a bending operation is performed, and FIG. 4 is a core material of an operation unit in the endoscope according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing a configuration of an operation unit in an endoscope according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is an endoscope similarly showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a core component of an operation unit in a mirror, FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an endoscope system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are explanatory views of the bending operation of the endoscope according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscope, 2 ... Operation part, 3 ... Insertion part, 4 ... Body, 7 ... Bending part, 11, 12 ... Operation wire, 15 ... Bending piece, 21, 22 ... Guide Ring part, 24, 25 …… Fixing tool, 31,3
2 ... Operation wire.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An endoscope bending operation device including an insertion portion having a bending portion and an operation portion having a grip portion, wherein at least a part of the grip portion is configured to be bendable. A bending operation device for an endoscope, wherein the bending portion is operated to bend in response to a bending operation.