JP2750160B2 - Endoscope - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an endoscope having an objective optical system, a light guide fiber, and a forceps channel tube in a distal end main body.

[Problems to be Solved by the Related Art and the Invention] The conventional endoscope, particularly the endoscope endoscope for bronchi,
As shown in JP-A-63-100003, an imaging unit, a light guide fiber, and tubes are bonded and fixed to a hole or a base provided in a tip end body. For this reason, if the light guide fiber or tube is damaged, only the damaged part cannot be replaced, and the entire insertion section must be discarded and replaced with a new insertion section, which makes repair work difficult and expensive. Since the image sensor and the like have to be discarded, the repair cost has also increased.

There is also a repair method in which the distal end is pulled out of the insertion portion from the curved portion or flexible portion (coil tube) together with the built-in object, and the tube or light guide fiber is replaced. In such a case, the distal end main body and the curved portion can be separated. It must be fixed detachably in advance by screwing, etc., the tip will be thickened by the space, and such disassembly and repair itself is poor in repairability. Repair costs were eventually high because they were not reused.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to easily replace components even when a light guide fiber or a tube is broken without increasing the diameter of the endoscope distal end portion, and repair cost is reduced. It is an object of the present invention to provide an endoscope that can reduce the cost.

[Means and Actions for Solving the Problems] In the endoscope of the present invention, the distal end of the light guide fiber and the distal end of the forceps channel tube are integrally formed and fixed to the distal end body with an elastic adhesive. Things.

In the present invention, the light guide fiber and the forceps channel tube with the integrated distal end are fixed to the distal end body with an adhesive having elasticity. When exchanging the light guide fiber and the forceps channel tube, the light guide fiber and the forceps channel tube are removed from the portion fixed with the adhesive.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 7 relate to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a front view of the distal end of the endoscope, Fig. 2 is an explanatory view of the distal end of the integrated light guide fiber and forceps channel tube, Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the distal end of the endoscope, and Fig. 4 is FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an endoscope, FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of exchanging a light guy fiber and a forceps channel tube, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing in the case of inserting a forceps channel tube.

In FIG. 5, the endoscope 1 has a large-diameter operation unit 2,
An insertion portion 3 is connected to a distal end portion of the operation portion 2.
The insertion portion 3 has a distal end portion 4, a curved portion 6, and a flexible tube 7 from the distal end side.
Are sequentially connected, and the operation unit 2 is connected to the rear end of the flexible tube 7.

The operation unit 2 has a grip 8 at a front part and an operation part body 9 at a rear part. A universal cord 11 extends from a side portion of the operation unit body 9, and a connector 12 is provided at a rear end of the universal cord 11. The connector section 12 is provided with a light guide connector 13 and an electric connector 14. A light source device (not shown) is connected to the light guide connector 13, and a signal processing device (not shown) is connected to the electric connector 14. Has become.

Further, a forceps insertion port 16 is provided in the grip 8 so that forceps (not shown) can be inserted.

In FIG. 3, the distal end portion 4 is provided with a cylindrical and rigid distal end main body 17, and the distal end main body 17 has an insertion portion 3.
A light guide through hole 18 and an observation through hole 19 are provided in the longitudinal direction.

An objective optical system 21 is adhered and fixed to the front part of the observation through hole 19 while keeping watertight, and behind the objective optical system 21, a solid-state imaging device 22 forms a subject image on an imaging surface. It is provided as follows. External leads 23, 23,... Protrude from the back surface of the solid-state imaging device 22, and the external leads 23, 23,.
Are soldered to a plurality of signal lines 24, 24,. The connecting portions between the external leads 23, 23, and the signal lines 24, 24,... Are fixed by an insulating adhesive 26.
26, the tip body 17, the solid-state imaging device 22, and the signal lines 24, 2
4, ... are integrally fixed.

The light guide through hole 18 has a substantially elliptical cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, a forceps channel tube is provided in the through hole 18 for the light guide.
27 and a molded part 28 composed of a light guide 31 are inserted. The light guide 31 surrounds the tip portion of the forceps channel tube 27 in the molded portion 28, and is integrally adhered and fixed in a substantially elliptical shape so as to be able to fit inside the light guide through hole 18. ing. The distal end surface of the molded portion 28 is flattened by polishing, and is kept watertight to the distal end body 17 by an elastic adhesive 29 such as a silicon-based adhesive so as to be substantially flush with the distal end surface of the distal end body 17. It is fixed by leaning.

Note that the distal end surface of the molded portion 28 does not necessarily need to be polished to a flat surface, and may be a gentle curved surface from the outer periphery of the distal end surface of the molded portion 28 of the light guide 31 toward the center of the forceps channel tube 27. By doing so, the tip end surface of the light guide 31 has an inclination, so that the irradiation direction changes and a wide light distribution angle can be obtained as a whole.

The forceps channel tube 27 is inserted through the insertion portion 3 and communicates with the forceps insertion port 16.
The light guide 31 is bundled into two at the rear of the molding part 28 and the outer periphery is protected by a protective tube 32. The light guides 31, 31 protected by the protection tube 32 reach the connector section 12 via the insertion section 3 and the universal cord 11, and are connected to the light guide connector 13.
Note that the light guides 31 do not necessarily have to be bundled in two, and may be bundled in one or, in some cases, three or more.

A curved portion 6 is formed on the outer peripheral wall at the rear end of the tip end body 17, and the foremost end of a plurality of curved pieces 33, 33,... Which are rotatably connected to each other by rivets 34, 34,. The piece 36 is externally fitted and fixed. Further, the bending piece 33 at the last end is bonded and fixed to the tip of the flexible tube 7. The outer circumference of each of the bending pieces 36, 33, 33,... Is covered with a braid 37 braided with a thin metal wire, and the outer circumference is further covered with an outer skin 38. The outer skin 38 is fixed to the distal end main body 17 and the flexible tube 7 in a water-tight manner by a thread 39, and an adhesive for preventing fraying is applied on the thread 39.

A method for exchanging the light guide 31 and the forceps channel tube 27 in the endoscope configured as described above will be described below.

First, the forceps channel tube 27 is removed from the forceps insertion port 16, and the grip 8 is removed from the operation unit 2. Also, the light guide 31 is detached from the light guide connector 13.

Next, the light guide 31 exposed in the universal cord 11 is pulled out as shown in FIG. At this time, the string 42 is tied to the base 41 on the incident end side of the light guide 31 for convenience when the new light guide 31 'is later pulled into the universal cord 11.

Next, the rear light guide 31 is pulled toward the hand side through the cored bar 43 into the forceps channel tube 27, and the distal end main body 17 and the molding section are pulled out.
The portion of the adhesive 29 that is fixed to the tip 28 is cut off, the molded portion 28 is removed from the distal end main body 17, and the forceps channel tube 27 and the light guide 31 are removed from the operation portion 2.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, a new forceps channel tube 27 'is put on the metal core 43 projecting from the distal end side of the insertion portion 3, and the base 41' of the new light guide 31 'is connected to the forceps channel tube 27' and the distal end. It is tied to a core bar 43 between the main body 17 and a thread 44.

Next, the mandrel 43 protruding from the operation unit 2 side is pulled, and the light guide 31 ′ and the forceps channel tube 27 ′ are connected to the flexible tube 7.
When the molded part 28 is drawn into the light guide through hole 18, the adhesive 29 is adhered and fixed so as to maintain watertightness.

Next, after removing the thread 44 and removing the cored bar 43 from the inside of the flexible tube 7,
A string 42 protruding from the operation unit 2 side is tied to the base 41 ′, the string 42 protruding from the light guide connector 13 side is pulled, and the light guide 31 ′ is drawn into the universal cord 11. It is fixed to the guide connector 13.

Next, the forceps channel tube 27 'is connected to the forceps insertion port 16, and the grip 8 is attached to the operation unit 2 to complete the repair.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, there is no need to disassemble the distal end portion 4 and the curved portion 6 in order to exchange the light guide 31 and the forceps channel tube 27.
And there is no need to screw. Therefore, since the distal end portion 4 and the curved portion 6 can be fixed by bonding, the diameter can be made smaller than when the distal end portion 4 is screwed.

Further, since only the forceps channel tube 27 and the light guide 13 which are easily damaged in the built-in component can be easily replaced, the insertion portion 3 can be diverted and compared with the case where the insertion portion 3 is discarded or disassembled and repaired. It can be repaired at a very low price and in a short time.

In the above embodiment, an electronic endoscope having a solid-state imaging device has been described. However, the present invention may be applied to a fiberscope having an image guide.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the light guide and the distal end of the forceps channel tube are integrally formed and fixed to the distal end body with an adhesive. Parts can be easily replaced even if the light guide fiber or tube is broken,
Repair costs can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 to 7 relate to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a front view of a distal end portion of an endoscope, and FIG. 2 is a description of a distal end portion of an integrated light guide fiber and forceps channel tube. FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the endoscope end portion, FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the endoscope,
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram when the light guide fiber and the forceps channel tube are replaced, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram when the light guide fiber and the forceps channel tube are inserted. 17 ... tip end body, 21 ... objective optical system 27 ... forceps channel tube 28 ... molded part, 29 ... adhesive 31 ... light guide

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An endoscope having an objective optical system, a light guide fiber, and a forceps channel tube in a body of a distal end portion of an insertion portion, wherein a tip portion of the light guide fiber and a tip portion of the forceps channel tube are integrally formed. An endoscope fixed to the distal end body with an adhesive having elasticity.