JP2921362B2 - Flexible tube of endoscope - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope used for medical purposes and the like, and more particularly to a connection structure of a flexible tube constituting a flexible portion thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an endoscope has a structure in which an insertion portion for inserting into a body cavity or the like is connected to a main body operation portion, and a light guide flexible portion connected to a light source device is connected to the main body operation portion. ing. The insertion portion is formed by sequentially connecting a flexible portion, an angle portion, and a hard distal portion from the main body operation portion side, and the flexible portion has flexibility so as to bend smoothly along the insertion path. In addition, in order to exert a pushing thrust into the insertion path, the flexible tube portion has a certain degree of waist. In addition, since a light guide, a treatment tool insertion channel, an air / water supply pipe, an image guide (a signal cable in the case of an electronic endoscope having a solid-state imaging element at a hard end portion), and the like are inserted thereinto, these may be inserted. In order to protect each insertion member, it must be excellent in shape retention. In order to satisfy the above requirements, the flexible portion uses a flexible tube formed by spirally winding a metal strip having a spring property as a structure of the flexible portion. Is covered with a braid formed by knitting metal wires, and a skin layer made of a soft resin is laminated on the braid.

The flexible portion is connected to the main body operating portion and the angle portion, and the connecting portion has a structure shown in FIG. 4 conventionally. In the figure, 1 is a flexible portion, and 2 is a connecting ring. The flexible portion 1 is obtained by covering a flexible tube 3 with a blade 4, and furthermore, on the blade 4, a skin layer 5 made of a soft resin, for example, urethane resin is laminated. The end of the blade 4 is fitted with an enlarged-diameter portion 2a obtained by enlarging the inner diameter of the connection ring 2,
The connection ring 2 is fixed by pouring solder into a through hole 6 provided in a peripheral body of the connection ring 2. A concave groove 2b is formed on an outer peripheral side of a portion connected to the enlarged diameter portion 2a of the connecting ring 2, and an angle ring forming an angle portion and a connection pipe in a main body operation portion are formed on an outer surface of a front portion thereof. Is formed. And
In the soft portion 1, the outer skin layer 5 provided so as to cover the blade 4 has its tip extending from the enlarged diameter portion 2a of the connecting ring 2 to the concave groove 2b, and a thread such as a thread is wound in the concave groove 2b. Secured by means.

[0004]

By the way, the flexible tube 3 is formed by spirally winding a metal strip, and usually has two layers of spiral with the winding direction reversed. Formed of tubes. And after forming the spiral tube, by cutting the end in the direction perpendicular to the axis,
It is processed and processed so as not to protrude. When the end of the spiral tube is cut in this way, as shown in FIG. 5, the tip becomes a sharp point 3a. Here, since the flexible tube 3 constitutes the innermost peripheral portion of the flexible portion 1, the point 3 a is bent inward by a load at the time of cutting or by an external force applied to the flexible portion 1. When there is a light guide inserted inside,
The insertion member such as the treatment tool insertion channel, the air / water supply pipe, the image guide, the signal cable, and the like will be damaged. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent the point 3a of the flexible tube 3 from being bent. However, since the flexible tube 3 is located on the innermost peripheral side and has no regulating member inside, the point 3a Cannot be completely prevented.

[0005] In particular, the insertion portion is inserted into a body cavity or the like.
Since this insertion section needs to be as thin as possible,
The filling density of the above-mentioned insertion member is considerably high.
Since the point 3a is in a sharp state, for example, FIG.
However, even if it is deformed inward even if it is very slight, it will be immediately damaged if the insertion member comes into contact. In particular, among the insertion members,
If the air supply / water supply pipe or the treatment instrument insertion channel is damaged, water or the like may enter the insertion portion, thereby causing a fatal failure such as soiling of other members.

As described above, in order to protect the insertion member in the flexible portion 1 from being damaged, as shown in FIG. 6, the protection ring 7 is connected to the flexible tube 3 from the connection ring 2 side.
May be inserted to the inside of the point 3a so that the point 3a is not exposed to the inside. However, such a configuration has the following disadvantages. First, since the protection ring 7 must be inserted from the side of the connecting ring 2 and the protection ring 7 must be inserted almost in a tight fit, even if the tip 3a is slightly inwardly deformed. In this case, the protection ring 7 cannot be inserted into a predetermined position by colliding with the distal end portion. Also,
Since the protection ring 7 is also located in the connection ring 2, the thickness of the connection ring 2 must be reduced by the thickness of the protection ring 7. The connecting ring 2 has a thread 2
Since c and the like are formed, when the thickness is reduced, the strength is reduced accordingly.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the thickness of a connecting ring, prevent the pointed end of a flexible tube from projecting to the inner surface, and to reduce In order to protect the member inserted therein from being damaged.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention relates to a method of connecting a flexible tube main body formed by spirally winding a springy metal strip to a connecting ring. In order to connect with the other members through the flexible tube main body, a protection ring is inserted inside the end of the flexible tube body, and a connection ring is fitted outside, and the inner diameter of the protection ring is The flexible tube is formed to have substantially the same size as the inner diameter of the ring , and
Place the end face of the main unit and the end face of the protection ring almost at the same position.
The feature is that it is configured to be placed .

[0009]

A flexible tube is formed by spirally winding a metal strip. A core material is used for this purpose, and the metal strip is spirally wound around the core material. . At this time, a protection ring is connected to the core material, and the metal strip is wound around the protection ring. The helical tube thus formed is cut at a position where the protection ring is located inside, so that the end face of the flexible tube main body and the protection ring are cut .
A flexible tube is formed with the end face at substantially the same position .
The flexible tube is connected to, for example, an angle ring of an angle portion via a connection ring. Thus, the pointed end portion of the end portion of the flexible tube is covered, and even if the insertion member is inserted inside, it does not come into contact with these insertion members.

[0010] Here, the protective ring is disposed inside the spirally wound flexible tube main body, and is for covering and covering so that the sharp end is not exposed inward. There is no need to be particularly large. Therefore, the inner diameter of the protection ring is formed to be approximately the same size as the inner diameter of the connection ring, and when the connection ring is fitted to the flexible tube, the inner surface of the connection ring and the inner surface of the protection ring are substantially formed. Make it continuous. As a result, the site where the protection ring is mounted does not become a stenosis. Moreover, since the protection ring does not extend into the connecting ring, the connecting ring can have a thickness that maintains sufficient strength.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. First, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a flexible portion. The flexible portion 10 has a flexible tube 11, and a blade 12 is mounted on the flexible tube 11. Angle ring. In this respect, there is no difference from the prior art shown in FIG. Further, in order to fit to the flexible tube 11, the connecting ring 13 is fixed by a thread winding with an enlarged diameter portion 13 a whose inner diameter is enlarged and an outer skin layer 14 which constitutes the outermost peripheral portion of the flexible portion 10. 4 and a screw 13c for screwing an angle ring is also the same as that shown in FIG.

The flexible tube 11 has a flexible tube main body 15 formed by spirally winding a metal strip having spring properties into two layers (or a single layer) and cutting the end thereof. A protection ring 16 is inserted into the inner surface of the end of the flexible tube main body 15. The guard ring 16 are intended to cover so as not to expose the tip portion 15a of the flexible tube body 15 on the inner surface side, and enters the inside from the end portion of the flexible tube body 15 by a predetermined length fraction And the end face of the flexible tube body 15
The position is substantially the same as the end face of the protection ring 16 . The outer diameter of the protection ring 16 is substantially the same as the inner diameter of the flexible tube main body 15, and the inner diameter is formed substantially the same as the inner diameter of the connection ring 13. Therefore, the connecting ring 13
Is fitted in such a manner that the step forming the enlarged diameter portion 13a abuts against the ends of the flexible tube main body 15 and the protection ring 16, and the through hole 1 formed in the circumferential body of the enlarged diameter portion 13a
The two are connected by pouring solder into 7.

As described above, since the protective ring 16 is inserted into the flexible tube main body 15 at the end of the flexible tube 11, the sharp end 15 a of the flexible tube main body 15 is attached to the protective ring 16. It is covered and not exposed inside,
It is possible to reliably prevent the inconvenience of being damaged by contact with a light guide, a treatment tool insertion channel, an air / water supply pipe, an image guide, a signal cable, or other insertion members inserted into the inside of the flexible tube 11. In addition, since the inside diameter of the portion where the protection ring 16 is provided to cover the pointed end 15a is substantially the same as the inside diameter of the connection ring 13, the portion of the protection ring 16 becomes a constricted portion, and It does not impair penetration. The protection ring 16 is connected to the connection ring 1.
3, the connecting ring 13 is made thinner in order to secure a wide inner diameter, and there is no inconvenience such as a decrease in strength.

The protective ring 16 is attached to the flexible tube main body 15.
In order to mount the flexible tube main body 15, first, as shown in FIG. 2, the metal strip 20 is spirally wound (two layers or a single layer) to form the flexible tube main body 15. The metal strip 20 is wound around this core 21. At this time, a reduced diameter portion 21a is formed at the tip of the core member 21, and a protection ring forming pipe 22 for forming the protection ring 16 is fitted into the reduced diameter portion 21a. And the metal strip 20
Is wound up to the position of the protection ring constituting pipe 22.
In this state, as shown in FIG. 3, the portion where the protection ring component pipe 22 is located is cut using cutting means 23 such as a laser cutter. Thereby, the flexible tube main body 1
The flexible tube 11 is formed in a state in which the pointed end 15a of 5 is covered with the protective ring 16. In this way, when the flexible tube main body 11 is formed, the protection ring 16 is incorporated in advance, so that the pointed end portion 15a is covered and inserted without any work such as insertion and fitting of the ring body. The member can be protected.

In the above-described embodiment, the structure of the connecting portion of the flexible portion constituting the insertion portion to the angle portion has been described, but the connecting portion of the flexible portion constituting the insertion portion to the operation portion of the main body may have the same configuration. Further, as a flexible tube other than the flexible portion, a similar configuration can be employed for a connection portion of the light guide flexible portion connected to the light source device.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention , a sharp point is formed at an end of a flexible tube main body without forming a narrow portion in an insertion passage for inserting an insertion member such as a light guide therein. By projecting the part inside, there is no inconvenience of contacting and damaging the insertion member inserted inside, and the insertion member can be reliably protected and protected
A metal strip constituting the flexible tube main body is wound around the ring.
Protect the rings by cutting them in place
Since it can be incorporated into the flexible tube body,
It has effects such as easy assembly .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a connecting portion of a flexible tube showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a process explanatory view showing a winding process of a metal strip in a manufacturing process of a flexible tube.

FIG. 3 is a process explanatory view showing a cutting process for forming a flexible tube.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a connecting portion of a flexible tube according to the related art.

FIG. 5 is a configuration explanatory view showing an end portion of a flexible tube.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an example of a connecting portion of a flexible tube for explaining the problem of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Flexible part 11 Flexible tube 13 Connection ring 15 Flexible tube main body 15a Pointed end 16 Protective ring 20 Metal strip 21 Core material 22 Protective ring constituent pipe

Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) A61B 1/00-1/32

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A flexible tube which constitutes a flexible portion of an endoscope and through which an insertion member such as a light guide is inserted, is formed by spirally winding a metal strip having a spring property. In order to connect the end of the flexible tube main body to another member via a connection ring, a protection ring is inserted inside the end of the flexible tube main body, and the connection ring is connected to the outside. A ring is fitted, and the inner diameter of the protection ring is formed to be approximately the same as the inner diameter of the connecting ring , and the end face of the flexible tube main body.
A flexible tube for an endoscope, wherein the flexible tube and the end face of the protection ring are arranged at substantially the same position .