JP3176729B2 - Industrial endoscope device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an industrial endoscope having a rotary treatment tool at its tip and capable of grinding a blade or the like of a jet engine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in the industrial field, industrial endoscopes capable of nondestructively inspecting the inside of a chemical plant or an engine have been widely used.

[0003] Incidentally, in a jet engine, there is a case where damage such as chipping of a blade edge of a turbine blade that is rotationally driven occurs. In this case, if the damaged portion is left as it is even if the damaged portion is left as it is, stress concentrates on the damaged portion, the damaged portion becomes large, and it is necessary to replace the entire blade.

Therefore, conventionally, even when replacement is not required, if a damaged portion is found, the engine is disassembled and the problem is solved by grinding the periphery of the chipped portion. However, this method has a drawback that it takes time for repair.

For this reason, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-16292
As shown in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 4 (1999) -2004, a rotating grindstone (rotary treatment tool) is attached to the distal end of an endoscope, and the chipped portion is ground by the grindstone without disassembling the engine.

However, in the endoscope disclosed in the above publication, since the length of the distal end hard portion of the endoscope insertion portion is constant, for example, when treating a turbine blade at various distances from the access port, a portion where the treatment cannot be performed is performed. was there. Also,
By changing the length of the rotating shaft having a rotating treatment tool having a grindstone fixed at one end, and trying to perform treatment at a desired site,
The objective distance in the objective optical system changed, and the observation state could not be kept constant.

Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-16095 proposes an industrial endoscope apparatus capable of performing a treatment on a desired part while keeping the observation state constant.

In the industrial endoscope disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-162924 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-1609, a rotary treatment tool is detachably fixed to a distal end portion with a screw, a collet chuck or the like. It had been.

When performing a grinding operation with an endoscope having such a rotating treatment tool detachably provided at the distal end portion, the detachable portion of the rotating treatment tool may erroneously come into contact with a non-grinding member during the work. At this time, the fixation of the rotary treatment tool may be loosened, and the rotary treatment tool may fall off the endoscope.

Further, even if the fixing ring for fixing the rotary treatment tool is loosened toward the main body of the endoscope due to the influence of vibration or the like, and the danger (the treatment member is likely to fall off), the observer may not be able to do so. Could not know.

[0011]

In the endoscope of the prior art, when the rotary treatment tool is not properly mounted, the rotary treatment tool is loosened due to vibration or other factors, and the endoscope is not noticed by the user. There is a possibility that the rotating treatment tool may fall off when the mirror is continuously used, and there is room for improvement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an industrial endoscope which can notify a user of the loosening of a rotary treatment tool when it is loosened and prevent the rotation treatment tool from falling off.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an industrial endoscope apparatus in which a rotary treatment instrument is detachably provided at a distal end of an insertion section. In addition to having a member, a color is applied to a member constituting the fixing member, and the colored member is urged in a certain direction.
Fixing the rotation treatment tool and the fixing member
When the state becomes loose, the urging force of the urging member
Enter or exit the field of view of the endoscope.
Characterized in that the colored member moves to a position
I do.

[0014]

According to the present invention, a color is applied to a position of a member constituting a fixing member and located within an endoscope field of view. For this reason, the fixing member, that is, the colored member moves, and the color of the member can be seen or not seen in the endoscope field of view, thereby notifying the user of the danger of the rotary treatment tool falling off. .

For example, when the color is visible, the rotation treatment tool is firmly fixed by the fixing member. When the color is not visible, the fastening of the fixing member is loosened, and there is a risk of the rotation treatment tool falling off. Let them know. Alternatively, the configuration may be reversed.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the distal end side of an endoscope insertion portion, FIG. 2 is a side view showing the entire endoscope apparatus, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a side view of the distal end side of the mirror insertion portion, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the rotary treatment tool, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the endoscope visual field and the position of the color index ring.

As shown in FIG. 2, the industrial endoscope apparatus comprises:
The endoscope 1 includes a light source device 41 and a rotation drive unit 42 connected to the endoscope 1, and a controller 44 connected to the rotation drive unit 42 via a cord 43.

The endoscope 1 includes an elongated insertion section 2, an operation section 3 connected to a rear end of the insertion section 2, and an operation section 3.
And a universal cord 4 extending laterally from the main body. The end of the universal cord 4 is provided with a connector 5 detachably connected to the light source device 41. A connecting portion 6 is connected to a rear end of the operation portion 3. The rotation drive unit 42 having a motor (not shown) is connected to the rear end of the eyepiece unit 6. An eyepiece 7 is provided on the side of the connection 6. The rotation of the motor of the rotation drive unit 42 is controlled by a controller 44.

The insertion portion 2 is composed of a hard tip 8, a bendable bending portion 9 and a hard portion 10 in this order from the tip.

The operating section 3 is provided with a bending operation knob 11 for bending the bending section 9. The distal end portion 8 includes the rotary treatment tool 3 having a grindstone.
1 is provided detachably.

The bending portion 3 has a plurality of ring-shaped bending pieces (not shown) which are rotatably connected to each other, and the outer circumference of the bending piece is covered with a skin (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 1, the distal end portion 8 has a columnar distal end body 13. The tip body 1
An observation window, an illumination window, and an opening for a rotary treatment tool are provided on the distal end surface of the third instrument. An objective optical system 14 including a plurality of lenses is provided inside the observation window, and a distal end surface of an image guide 15 is disposed at an image forming position of the objective optical system 14. The image guide 15 includes the insertion section 2,
The inside of the operation unit 3 and the connection unit 6 is inserted, and the rear end face faces an eyepiece lens (not shown) in the eyepiece unit 7. And
The subject image formed by the objective optical system 14 is transmitted to the eyepiece 7 by the image guide 15 and is observed from the eyepiece 7.

An illumination optical system 16 is provided inside the illumination window. A light guide 17 is connected to the rear end of the illumination optical system 16. The light guide 17 is inserted through the insertion section 2, the operation section 3, the connection section 6, and the universal cord 4, and the incident end is connected to the connector 5. The light source device 4 is connected to the incident end.
Illumination light emitted from 1 is incident.

A flexible shaft 18 covered with a protection tube (not shown) is inserted into the insertion section 2. At the front end of the flexible shaft 18,
The rotating shaft 19 is fitted. The rear end of the flexible shaft 18 passes through the operation section 3 and the connection section 6, and is connected to a rotation shaft of a motor (not shown) arranged in a rotation drive section 42 connected to the connection section 6. .

The flexible shaft 18 and the rotating shaft 19 are connected so that the torque of the motor can be transmitted.

The rotary shaft 19 penetrates the distal end body 13, the distal end of which protrudes to the outside from the opening for the rotary treatment instrument, and has two distal bearings 21, 21 at the rear end side. It is rotatably supported by the unit body 13. The two bearings 21,
A spacer 22 is interposed between 21. Further, a bearing 21 on the rear end side is provided on an outer peripheral portion of the rotating shaft 19.
A fixing ring 23 is fixed at a rear position of the fixing ring 23. The bearings 21 and 21 and the spacer 22 are held between the fixing ring 23 and the stepped portion of the rotary shaft 19 formed on the front side of the bearing 21 on the front end side. The outer peripheries of the bearings 21 and 21 are fixed in the distal end body 13. Thus, the rotating shaft 1
9 is rotatably supported by the distal end body 13.

The outer diameter of the central portion of the rotary shaft 19 on the tip side from the step is larger than the outer diameter on the rear end side from the step. The tip of the rotating shaft 19 is
It is formed larger than the outer diameter of the central part. further,
The distal end of the rotating shaft 19 has an external thread 1 on its outer periphery.
9a is provided, and a fitting hole 19b is formed in the distal end surface side in the axial direction. The stopper 24, which is, for example, a C-ring, is fitted around the rotation shaft 19 in the vicinity of the distal end body 13.

A female thread formed in the fixing ring 25 is screwed into the female thread 19a of the rotary shaft 19. A color index ring 26 and a spring 27 are arranged between the rear end of the female screw 19 a of the rotating shaft 19 and the stopper 24 in order from the front end. The color index ring 26 is colored on the rear end face side. The portion where the color is applied may not be the entire rear end surface of the color index ring 26, and may be applied only to the inner peripheral side of the surface except for the outer peripheral side. In any case, as described later, the position of the color index ring 26 in the axial direction, that is, the portion colored by the fastening condition of the fixing ring 25,
Any position of the color index ring 26 may be used as long as the position enters the endoscope visual field or goes out of the visual field. This color is an eye-catching color different from the color of the inspection target, for example, a color having a complementary color relationship.

The color may be applied to the rear end face of the fixing ring 25 or the rear end of the outer circumference. In this case, the color index ring 26 is excluded, while the spring 27 is in contact with the rear end face of the fixing ring 25. It is good.

The color index ring 26 is urged in the axial direction by the spring 27 whose one end abuts against the stopper 24, and abuts against the rear end of the fixing ring 25 screwed into the female screw portion 19a. It comes into contact. The rotating shaft 19, the stopper 24, the fixing ring 25, the color index ring 26, and the spring 27 constitute a fixing member.

The male screw portion 19a of the rotary shaft 19 is provided with a pair of L-shaped grooves 19c. In FIG.
Only one of the L-shaped grooves 19c is shown.

On the other hand, the rotary treatment tool 31 has a large diameter grinding stone portion 3.
1a, and a shaft 31b protruding rearward of the grindstone portion 31a. As shown in FIG. 4, a pin 32 is press-fitted and fixed in the middle of the shaft 31b.
b protrudes from the outer peripheral surface as two pins.

The pin 32 of the rotary treatment tool 31 is guided to a pair of L-shaped grooves 19c of the rotary shaft 19, and the shaft 31b of the rotary treatment tool 31 is fitted into the fitting hole 19b of the rotary shaft 19.
Is to be inserted into. The rotation treatment tool 31 includes:
The fixing ring 25 is fixed to the rotating shaft 19 by tightening in the distal direction.

When the fixing ring 25 is tightened, the color index ring 26 is located within the field of view of the objective optical system 14. When the fixed ring 25 is located on the endoscope side, that is, in a loosened state, the color index ring 26 is located outside the field of view of the objective optical system 14.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
First, while the color index ring 26 is urged toward the objective optical system 14, the fixing ring 25 is retracted toward the endoscope, and the L-shaped groove 1 is retracted.
9c is completely visible. That is, the fixing ring 25 is retracted until the distal end surface of the fixing ring 25 is located at the position B shown in FIG.

Next, the pins 32 projecting from the rotary treatment tool 19
Along the pair of L-shaped grooves 19c,
1 a is inserted into the fitting hole 19 b of the rotating shaft 19. At this time, the rotary treatment tool 31 is moved until the pin 32 is located at the final point 19d of the L-shaped groove 19c.

The fixing ring 25 is turned to the side of the rotary treatment tool 31 and tightened until the pin 32 does not move in the axial direction. That is, the fixing ring 25 is tightened until the distal end surface of the fixing ring 25 is located up to the position A shown in FIG.

The color index ring 26 is an elastic force of a spring 27,
It moves to the rotation treatment tool 31 side and is in a state of being urged by the fixing ring 25. This state is a state in which the rotary treatment tool 31 is securely fixed to the rotary shaft 19. The spring 27 urges the fixing ring 25 together with the color index ring 26 in the tightening direction, and has a role of preventing falling off.

When the power of the controller 44 is turned on, the motor rotates, and at the same time, the rotary treatment tool 31 also rotates. And the turbine blade 4 of the jet engine
The work of grinding the chipped portion of 5 can be performed.

The rotating treatment tool 31 is properly rotated.
5A, it can be seen that the color index ring 26 is visible in the endoscope field of view as shown in FIG.

If the rotating treatment tool 31 is not properly fixed, or if the fixing ring 25 is
Is loose, the color index ring 26 becomes invisible from the endoscope field of view. In other words, since it has moved to the position B side shown in FIG. 3, there is a high risk that the rotary treatment tool 31 will fall off.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the user can be notified of the possibility that the rotary treatment tool 31 will fall off by viewing the endoscope image.

The color applied to the color index ring 26 differs from the color to be inspected and is a prominent color.
In this embodiment, the user can easily recognize whether or not this color is visible in the endoscope visual field.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the distal end side of the insertion portion according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment, a protective cover 33 is disposed between the fixing ring 25 and the color index ring 26. In addition, the same configurations and operations as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

In the above configuration, when the rotary treatment tool 31 is attached or detached, the protective cover 33 is urged (closed) toward the endoscope.
This is performed by rotating the fixing ring 25.

In the second embodiment, the fixing ring 25 is covered with a protective cover 33. Therefore, since the blade 45 or the like of the object to be ground does not directly contact the fixing ring 25, the fixing ring 25 can be prevented from loosening due to the contact, and the safety can be further improved as compared with the first embodiment. still,
In the second embodiment, the protective cover 33 may be colored.

As a modification of the first and second embodiments, the outer periphery of the distal end side of the male screw portion 19a of the rotating shaft 19 is colored,
When the fixing ring 25 moves toward the objective optical system 14, the color may be made visible. In the case of this modification, when the color is seen, it indicates that the state is dangerous.

In each embodiment, the endoscope is not limited to the fiber type optical endoscope, but may be an electronic endoscope, and it may be determined whether or not the color of the color index ring 26 can be confirmed on a monitor.

[0050]

According to the present invention, depending on the fixed state of the rotary treatment tool, the color of the member constituting the fixing member is visible or invisible in the visual field of the endoscope, so that the user can use the rotary treatment tool. There is an effect that the danger of falling can be notified, and the rotating treatment tool can be prevented from falling off.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a distal end side of an endoscope insertion section according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the entire endoscope apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the distal end side of the endoscope insertion portion.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a rotary treatment tool.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a relationship between an endoscope visual field and a position of a color index ring.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the distal end side of an endoscope insertion section according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscope 2 ... Insertion part 8 ... Tip part 19 ... Rotation shaft 24 ... Stopper 25 ... Fixing ring 26 ... Color index ring 27 ... Spring 31 ... Rotation treatment tool

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 23/24

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An industrial endoscope apparatus in which a rotary treatment tool is detachably provided at a distal end of an insertion section, comprising: a fixing member for fixing the rotary treatment tool to a distal end of the insertion section; The members that make up the color are given this color
A biasing member for biasing the member in a certain direction;
When the fixed state between the treatment tool and the fixing member is loose,
The endoscope enters the field of view by the biasing force of the biasing member or
Is a part where the color is applied at a position protruding from the visual field of the endoscope.
An industrial endoscope apparatus wherein a material moves .