JP2918171B2 - Endoscope bending operation device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a bending operation device for an endoscope.

[Conventional technology]

In order to stop the bending state of the bending portion of the endoscope in a state suitable for observation, a bending holding mechanism capable of adding and removing a load resistance for preventing the rotation of the bending operation handle from returning is used.

In the past, this bending holding mechanism was basically attached to all endoscopes. However, in recent years, there has been a demand for endoscopes that do not have a bending holding mechanism because there are demands for the operation handle that can always be held down with the thumb of the hand holding the operation unit and that the operation unit is reduced in weight and cost. The number of bending operation devices is increasing.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, even in an endoscope which is not provided with a bending holding mechanism by design, there are cases where some users require attachment of the bending holding mechanism. In such a case, conventionally, as a special order, a bending holding mechanism is conventionally provided. It responded to the demands of users by changing to a bending operation device with a handle.

However, for this purpose, all the bending operation devices have to be rearranged, so that a large cost is required for assembling and parts management for the bending operation device, and there is a disadvantage that a large economic burden is imposed on the user.

The present invention solves such a conventional drawback, and provides a bending operation device for an endoscope that can supply a bending operation device with a bending holding device at a factory at low cost in response to a user's request. The purpose is to provide.

[Means for solving the problem]

To achieve the above object, the bending operation device for an endoscope according to the present invention draws an operation wire from a bendable bending portion formed at the distal end of the insertion portion to an operation portion connected to a base end of the insertion portion. In the bending operation device of the endoscope, the operation wire is pulled by rotating the bending operation handle protruded from the operation unit to bend the bending portion.
A bending holding mechanism capable of adding and removing a load resistance for preventing the rotation of the bending operation handle from returning is configured as an independent unit, and the bending holding mechanism unit is mounted on the projecting portion of the operation unit. In addition to the above, in any state of the state where the bending holding mechanism unit is mounted on the projecting portion and the state where the bending holding mechanism unit is not mounted,
The rotation of the bending operation handle pulls the operation wire to bend the bending portion.

[Action]

The bending operation device can perform a bending operation for bending the bending portion in both a state in which the bending holding mechanism is mounted and a state in which the bending holding mechanism is not mounted. The bending holding mechanism is configured as an independent unit, and can be mounted on the bending operation device as a unit when assembling, if necessary.

〔Example〕

 Embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows the entire configuration of the endoscope. An insertion portion 1 made of a flexible tube has a bendable bending portion 2 formed at the distal end, and an operation portion 3 is provided at the base end of the insertion portion 1. Are linked. Then, a pair of bending operation wires 4 for up and down bending and a pair of bending operation wires 5 for left and right bending are respectively provided in the bending section 2.
, Is passed through the insertion section 1 and into the operation section 3, and rotates an up / down bending operation knob (curving operation handle) 6 and a left / right bending operation knob 7 which are projected and superposed on the operation section 3. As a result, the bending operation wires 4 and 5 are pulled, and the bending portion 2 can be bent in a desired direction by a desired angle.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the bending operation device. However,
Actually, any of the units shown in FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 is further mounted on the configuration shown in FIG. Therefore, it is not assembled and used in the state shown in FIG.
The configuration of FIG. 3 showing a state where the unit of FIG. 7 or FIG. 7 is not attached will be described.

A bearing body 14 serving as a bearing for up-down bending operation is provided on the operation unit body 11.
And a shaft 15 serving as an axis of the left-right bending operation are fixed with screws and project outward. Further, the frame 16 of the operation unit is fixed to the operation unit main body 11 by screwing.

The lower portion of the bearing body 14 is
A circular chamber in which a is formed is formed, in which a pulley 18 for bending up and down and a pulley 19 for bending left and right are rotatably accommodated. Reference numeral 17 denotes a spacer made of a material having good slippage and disposed between the pulleys 18 and 19.

Circular grooves 20 are formed in two rows on the outer periphery of each pulley 18, 19, and the bending operation wires 4, 5 are wound in the grooves 20, and end portions of the bending operation wires 4, 5 are formed. Are fixed to pulleys 18 and 19.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a bending operation shaft (hereinafter, referred to as an “up / down bending operation shaft”) protruding outward from the operation unit main body 11, and the up / down bending operation knob 6 is screwed to the protruding end thereof. Fixed. The operation shaft 22 for bending up and down is mounted on the bearing body 14.
The lower end is formed on the square shaft 23 and is engaged with the square hole formed on the pulley 18 for vertical bending without play. Therefore, the pulley 18 for bending up and down rotates integrally with the operation shaft 22 for bending up and down.

A waterproof O is provided inside the vertical bending operation shaft 22.
A bending operation shaft (hereinafter, referred to as “lateral bending operation shaft”) 25 for left and right bending operation is rotatably fitted to the shaft body 15 with the ring 24 interposed therebetween. The square shaft 26 connected and fixed and formed at the other end is engaged with a square hole formed in the pulley 19 for bending right and left without play. 12 is a ring for retaining.

With the above configuration, when the up / down bending operation knob 6 is rotated, the up / down bending pulley 18 is rotated via the up / down bending operation shaft 22, and one of the bending operation wires 4 is pulled, and the bending section 2 is pulled. Bends upward or downward. Similarly,
When the left / right bending operation knob 7 is rotated, the bending portion 2 bends leftward or rightward.

Numeral 30 denotes a vertical bending stopper for restricting the maximum rotation angle of the vertical bending operation knob 6, which will be described with reference to FIG. The stopper 30 includes a pair of fixing members 31 fixed to the bearing body 14 by screws 40, a protrusion 33 protruding from the pulley 18 for bending up and down, and the protrusion 33 and the fixing member.
The floating rotation member 34 is provided rotatably around the operation shaft 22 for bending up and down so as to float with the rotation shaft 31.

The fixing member 31 is fixed by screws 40 via an auxiliary plate 36 with a long hole formed in the bearing body 14 interposed therebetween, and the fixing position of the fixing member 31 is arbitrarily adjusted within the range of the length of the long hole. can do. In addition, a projecting piece 38 that contacts the protrusion 33 of the pulley 18 and a projecting piece 39 that contacts the fixing member 31 are formed in the floating rotating member 34 in opposite directions.
Reference numeral 37 denotes an interval tube for keeping a predetermined interval between the idle rotation member 34 and the pulley 18 for bending up and down.

By rotating the up / down bending operation knob 6 of the stopper 30 configured as described above, the pulley 18 and its projection 33 rotate through the up / down bending operation shaft 22. Then, the projection 33 pushes the protruding piece 38 of the floating rotating member 34, the projection 33 and the floating rotating member 34 rotate integrally, and the protruding piece 39 of the floating rotating member 34 collides with the fixed member 31. Stop by the way.

In this way, the maximum rotation angle of the up-down bending pulley 18 is regulated, and by adjusting the fixing position of the fixing member 31,
The maximum bending angle in the vertical direction of the bending portion 2 can be adjusted arbitrarily.

A rotating plate 45 is connected to the upper end of the left-right bending operation shaft 25 by a square axis, and a sliding body 46 is connected to the shaft body 15 by a square axis. Therefore, the rotating plate 45 is rotated by the left / right bending operation knob 7 integrally with the left / right bending operation shaft 25. The sliding body 46 can slide in the axial direction, but cannot rotate.

A rotating cylinder 47 is rotatably provided outside the rotating plate 45. Projections 45a and 47a are respectively provided on the outer edge of the rotating plate 45 and the lower end of the rotating cylinder 47 so that the projections 45a and 47a come into contact with each other by relatively rotating. Has become.

Also, a pair of stoppers 48 are provided on the sliding body 46 with screws 50, respectively.
It is fixed at. The fixing position of each stopper 48 can be adjusted by loosening the screw 50. When the rotary cylinder 47 is rotated, the projection 47b on the upper end side comes into contact with the protruding end portion 48b on the outer edge side of the stopper 48.

Therefore, when the right and left bending operation knob 7 is rotated, the rotary plate 45 rotates together with the knob, and the projection 47a of the rotary cylinder 47 hits the projection 45a of the rotary plate 45, whereby the rotary cylinder 47 is also pressed and rotated. Then, when the rotating cylinder 47 hits the protrusion 48b of the stopper 48, all the rotation is stopped at that position. If the left / right bending operation knob 7 is rotated in the reverse direction, it hits the other stopper 48 in the same manner. This determines the maximum rotation angle of the left / right bending operation knob 7.

Therefore, as described above, if the screw 50 is loosened to change the fixing position of the stopper 48, the maximum rotation angle of the left / right bending operation knob 7 can be adjusted.

A donut-shaped friction plate 42 made of, for example, cork or felt is tightly fitted between the sliding body 46 and the rotary plate 45. Therefore, if the friction plate 42 is pressed by the sliding body 46, a load resistance is applied to the rotation of the left / right bending operation knob 7, and the bending operation knob 7 can be held at an arbitrary position in a rotated state. it can.

Reference numeral 60 denotes a left-right bending holding mechanism for adding or subtracting such load resistance, and a driving ring 63 is integrally connected to the operation knob 61 via a joint cover 62 by screws in succession. A screw ring 64 is fixed with screws. Of these, the drive ring 63 is screwed (left-handed screw) with the shaft body 15, so by rotating the operation knob 61,
These move in the axial direction while rotating together.

Further, the screw ring 64 is screwed with the sliding body 64, and the screw portion thereof is a screw (right-hand screw) in a direction opposite to the screw portion (left-hand screw) of the screwing portion between the drive ring 63 and the shaft body 15. It has become. Therefore, the sliding body 46 moves in the axial direction by a rotation operation of the operation knob 61 even more than the moving amount of the screw ring 64. Therefore, when the operation knob 61 is rotated, the sliding body 46 moves in the axial direction, and the friction plate 42 is moved to the rotating plate 45.
Can be pressed.

A click pin 66 protrudes from the sliding member 46. As shown in FIG. 5, a click pin is attached to both ends of the click spring 67 loaded in the recess of the screw ring 64.
66 are engaged.

Therefore, when the operation knob 61 is rotated, a click is made at two places where the click spring 67 and the click pin 66 are engaged, and at one of the positions, the friction plate 42 is strongly pressed against the rotation plate 45 and the curved state is obtained. At the other position, the friction plate 42 is not pressed at all, and when the hand is released from the left / right bending operation knob 7, the bending portion 2 naturally returns to a state close to straight.

In this manner, the bending holding mechanism 60 capable of adding and removing the load resistance for preventing the rotation of the left / right bending operation knob 7 from returning is provided at the protruding end of the bending operation device. Reference numeral 70 denotes a sealing cover that is pressed into contact with O-rings 71 and 72 for sealing on the inner and outer surfaces. 73 and 74 are O for sealing respectively
It is a ring.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 show a waterproof seal unit which can be installed on the device shown in FIG.
100 and a vertical bending holding mechanism unit 200 are shown. Each of these units 100 and 200 can be assembled as a unit and can be mounted on the bending operation device in the unit state.

As described above, the bending operation device is not actually assembled in the state shown in FIG. 3, but is generally assembled in a state where the waterproof seal unit 100 shown in FIG. 6 is mounted.
When the user has previously requested the mounting of the vertical bending holding mechanism, the user assembles with the vertical bending holding mechanism unit 200 shown in FIG. 7 mounted. The specific structure of each unit 100, 200 will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 1.

FIG. 8 shows a bending operation device assembled by attaching the waterproof seal unit 100 to the projecting portion.

In the figure, reference numeral 101 denotes a large ring inscribed in a hole 11a formed in the operation section main body 11. 102 is a small ring circumscribing the vertical bending operation shaft 22. Reference numeral 103 denotes an intermediate ring provided so as to be in contact with the large ring 101 and the small ring 102. O-rings 13, 111, 112, and 113 for sealing are mounted between the respective parts, and are externally inserted into the operation unit main body 11. To prevent water from entering.

In addition, the large ring 101 and the small ring 102
By fixing the small ring 102 and the intermediate ring 103 with screws 105, the three rings 101, 1
02 and 103 are fixed.

FIG. 1 shows a bending operation device assembled by mounting a vertical bending holding mechanism 200 on a projecting portion. As described above, when assembling the bending operation device, the up-down bending holding mechanism 200 can be assembled as a unit in advance, and can be mounted in that state.

A rotating plate 245 is connected to the up / down bending operation shaft 22 by a square axis, and a sliding body 246 is connected to the bearing body 14 by a square axis. Therefore, the rotating plate 245 is rotated by the up / down bending operation knob 6 integrally with the up / down bending operation shaft 22. The sliding body 246 can slide in the axial direction, but cannot rotate.

A donut-shaped friction plate 242 made of, for example, cork or felt is sandwiched between the sliding body 246 and the rotating plate 245. Accordingly, if the friction plate 242 is pressed by the sliding body 246, a load resistance is applied to the rotation of the up / down bending operation knob 6, and the bending operation knob 6 can be held at an arbitrary position in the rotated state. it can.

Reference numeral 261 denotes an operation lever for holding the vertical bending, and a drive ring 263 is integrally connected to the drive ring 263 via a joint cover 262 by screws, and a screw ring 264 is fixed to the drive ring 263 by screws.

The screw ring 264 is screwed with the sliding body 246. When the operation lever 261 is rotated, the sliding body 246 moves in the axial direction, and the friction plate 242 can be pressed against the rotating plate 245.

The drive ring 263 has a click pin 266 protruding therefrom. Then, as shown in FIG.
The click pins 266 engage with both ends of the click spring 267 loaded in the concave portion. Reference numeral 268 denotes a holding plate fixed to the bottom of the sliding body 246 with screws so that the click spring 267 does not fall off, and an arc-shaped long hole through which the click pin 266 passes is formed so that the click pin 266 can move freely. Have been.

Therefore, when the operation lever 261 is rotated, clicks are made at two places where the click spring 267 and the click pin 266 are engaged, and at one of the positions, the friction plate 242 is strongly pressed against the rotation plate 245 and the curved state is obtained. In the other position, the friction plate 242 is not pressed at all, and when the hand is released from the up / down bending operation knob 6, the bending portion 2 naturally returns to a state close to straight.

Reference numerals 270 and 271 denote sealing covers for pressing the sealing O-rings 273 and 274 to prevent water from entering the operation section main body 11 from the outside.
These parts are also water-tightly sealed by other O-rings 275, 276, 13 and the like, so that water does not enter the operation part body 11 from the outside.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the present invention may be applied to a bending operation device for the left-right direction.

〔The invention's effect〕

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to the bending operation device of the endoscope of this invention, the bending operation can be performed in both the state where the bending holding mechanism is mounted and the state where it is not mounted, and the bending holding mechanism is assembled as a unit in advance. It can be mounted in that state, so according to the user's request,
It has an excellent effect that a bending operation device with a bending holding mechanism can be supplied at a low cost only when necessary.

In addition, in both the state where the bending holding device is mounted and the state where the bending holding device is not mounted, intrusion of water from the outside into the operation unit is prevented, and the operation unit can be washed and disinfected without any trouble.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment in which a bending holding mechanism unit is mounted, FIG. 2 is an external view of an endoscope in the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is mounting both a bending holding mechanism unit and a waterproof seal unit. 4 is a partially exploded perspective view of the embodiment, FIG. 5 is a partial plan view of the embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the waterproof seal unit of the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a half-sectional view of the bending and holding mechanism unit of the embodiment, FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment with a waterproof seal unit mounted, and FIG. 9 is a partial plan view of the embodiment. FIG. 1 ... insertion part, 2 ... bending part, 3 ... operation part, 4,5 ...
Operation wire, 6 ... Bending operation knob (bending operation handle), 11 ... Operation unit body, 200 ... Bending holding mechanism unit.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An operation wire is drawn from a bendable bending portion formed at a distal end of an insertion portion to an operation portion connected to a base end of the insertion portion, and a bending operation handle protruding from the operation portion is rotated. By doing so, in the bending operation device of the endoscope configured to bend the bending portion by pulling the operation wire, it is possible to add or subtract a load resistance for preventing the rotation of the bending operation handle from returning. The bending and holding mechanism is configured as an independent unit so that the bending and holding mechanism unit can be mounted on the protruding portion of the operation section, and the bending and holding mechanism unit is mounted on and not mounted on the protruding portion. In either state, the operation wire is pulled by the rotation of the bending operation handle so that the bending portion is bent, and the bending holding mechanism unit is bent. First sealing means for preventing water from entering the operation unit from the outside when the projection is mounted on the projecting portion of the operation unit; One of the second sealing means and the second sealing means for preventing water from intruding from the outside into the operating section when the operating section is not mounted on the projecting section can be selectively mounted. A bending operation device for an endoscope, characterized in that: