JP3335202B2 - Flexible tube for insertion part 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 a rubber part used for an endoscope and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An endoscope includes various portions such as a curved portion outer cover of an insertion portion, a flexible tube outer cover, a buckle attached to a base portion of a flexible tube, and an O-ring for obtaining airtight and watertightness. Rubber parts are used.

[0003] A rubber component used for such an endoscope is used as a component by forming a shape by a rubber mold, extrusion molding, coating or dipping and then vulcanizing the rubber.

[0004]

However, as described above, a rubber part simply formed into a shape and vulcanized has a poor surface slippage and a sticky surface. The use of hard rubber improves such a point, but the rubber parts become harder, and the use of rubber is lost.

[0005] Therefore, for example, if the outer cover of the bending portion of the endoscope insertion portion or the outer cover of the flexible tube is made of rubber, it is difficult to insert into the body cavity due to poor slippage, or the surface has stickiness. The endoscope was contaminated significantly due to the large amount of adherence of body dirt and the like.

Further, when a rubber O-ring is attached to the operating portion, the O-ring is stuck to the operating portion and becomes inoperable due to repeated adhesion of dirt and repeated disinfection and sterilization.

[0007] In order to prevent such development, there has been a rubber component in which the outer surface of a rubber component is coated with a material having good slip and non-stickiness. However, such a coating loses the inherent flexibility of the rubber material and hardens the rubber, requiring a large amount of operating force for the bending operation, resulting in reduced operability and durability. However, there has been a disadvantage that the flexibility of the flexible tube is impaired and the insertability is reduced.

Further, if the coating film is deteriorated due to the adhesion, disinfection, sterilization, or the like of frequent dirt, not only is it peeled off from the rubber surface, so that the insertability is deteriorated, but also when it is used for a watertight O-ring. In some cases, water leaks from the endoscope and the endoscope becomes unusable.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a rubber part used for an endoscope which can maintain the original flexibility of rubber, and has a good outer surface with good slippage and small adhesiveness, and a method of manufacturing the same. With the goal.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a rubber part used in an endoscope according to the present invention comprises:
The vulcanization degree of the outer surface part is higher than the vulcanization degree of parts other than the outer surface part.

The method of manufacturing a rubber part used for the endoscope is such that when the rubber part is in an unvulcanized state or a half-cured state, the rubber part is vulcanized on the surface of the rubber part. Vulcanizing by applying a substance that increases the degree of sulfuration, or vulcanizing the rubber part after irradiating the surface of the rubber part with radiation, or the vulcanized rubber part It is characterized in that a substance for increasing the degree of vulcanization of the rubber part is applied to the surface and then re-vulcanized, or radiation is applied to re-vulcanize the outer surface part of the rubber part.

[0012]

An embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 shows an endoscope. The insertion portion is formed by forming a bendable bending portion 2 on the distal end side portion of a flexible tube 1 by remote operation and connecting a distal end portion main body 3 to the distal end thereof. Have been.

The proximal end of the flexible tube 1 is connected to an operation unit 4, and a joint 5 is provided with a buckle 5 for preventing the flexible tube from bending sharply. In addition to the bending operation knob 6, an air supply / water supply / suction operation button 7 and the like are provided on the side of the operation unit 4, and an eyepiece 8 is protruded from the head of the operation unit 4.

FIG. 1 shows a flexible tube 1 for covering an insertion portion, and illustration of an optical fiber bundle, tubes, and the like inserted therein is omitted. At the innermost portion of the flexible tube 1, there are arranged double spiral tubes 11, 12 in which a metal strip is wound in a spiral shape with a uniform diameter, respectively, with the winding direction reversed. Alternatively, a braided tube 13 braided with a non-metallic thin wire is provided in close contact with the sheath.

The impregnated layer 21 made of a rubber material is formed on the mesh tube 13 by dipping, coating, extrusion or the like. The impregnated layer 21 is formed by a plurality of portions 21a and 21b having different flexibility in the tube axis direction.

On the outer surface of the reticulated tube 13 impregnated with the impregnating layer 21, an inner and outer double intermediate coating layer 2 made of a rubber material is formed by dipping, coating or extrusion molding.
2, 23 are formed. These intermediate coating layers 22 and 2
3 is formed by a plurality of portions 22a, 22b and 23a, 23b having different flexibility in the tube axis direction.

The reason why the rubber material having different flexibility in the axial direction of the tube is used is to change the flexibility of the flexible tube depending on the portion in order to improve the insertability into the body cavity. Therefore, both the impregnation layer 21 and the intermediate coating layers 22 and 23
The intermediate coating layers 22 and 23 may be formed in multiple layers.

Then, on the outer surface of the outer intermediate coating layer 23,
Further, an outer surface coating layer 25 made of a rubber material is formed by dipping, coating, extrusion molding, or the like.
In addition, an index may be attached to the outer surface of the intermediate coating layer 23, and the outer surface coating layer 25 may be formed of a transparent rubber material.

Such flexible tube coating layers 22, 23, 25
As the rubber material to be formed, fluorine rubber, silicon rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, acrylic rubber, urethane rubber, or the like can be used.

The coating layers 22, 23, 25
Since raw rubber is dissolved in a solvent and applied in a cylindrical shape by dipping, coating or extrusion molding, it has not received much heat history and is in an unvulcanized or half-cured state.

In this state, a vulcanizing agent, a vulcanization accelerator or a vulcanization aid for increasing the degree of vulcanization of the outer surface coating layer 25 is applied to the outer surface of the outer surface coating layer 25 at least. When a solid material is used, it may be dissolved in a solvent and applied.

Next, the vulcanized product is placed in a constant temperature bath, oven, steam pot or the like to perform the main vulcanization. As a result, the outer surface of the outer surface coating layer 25 has a higher degree of vulcanization only in a very shallow portion of about several μm from the outer surface due to the effect of the applied substance for increasing the degree of vulcanization, and the crosslinking density of the rubber molecules is increased. Will be higher. Only the usual vulcanization acts on the deeper parts.

As a result, in the flexible tube 1, only an extremely thin layer on the outer surface is slippery and non-adhesive is enhanced, and the same flexibility as a whole is obtained as a whole, and excellent insertion and non-staining properties are obtained. Can be obtained.

In addition, instead of applying a substance for increasing the degree of vulcanization to the outer surface of the outer coating layer 25, radiation (electron beam, gamma ray) or the like is applied to the outer surface of the outer coating layer 25 to re-vulcanize. However, the same effect as described above can be obtained.

In the case where a very soft rubber material is used, the degree of vulcanization increases from the outer surface to a deep portion in the above-described manufacturing method, and the whole may be too hard.

In such a case, the intermediate coating layers 22 and 2
After coating the outer surface coating layer 25 on the outer surface 3, first, a normal vulcanization treatment or a treatment with a slightly lower degree of vulcanization than the normal vulcanization is performed.
Then, in that state, a substance for increasing the degree of vulcanization as described above is applied and re-vulcanized, or radiation is applied to re-vulcanize the outer surface layer.

Then, the unvulcanized molecules near the outer surface are vulcanized, and vulcanization does not progress to the inner layer. The improvement of the property can be obtained.

[0028]

[0029]

According to the rubber part used for the endoscope and the method of manufacturing the same according to the present invention, only the degree of vulcanization of the outer surface part of the rubber part used for the endoscope is determined. Since the degree of vulcanization can be made higher than that of the part, the rubber has an excellent effect of maintaining the original flexibility of the rubber as a whole and having a good outer surface with a good slip and a small tackiness.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a half sectional side view of a flexible tube of an endoscope according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the external appearance of an endoscope according to an embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Flexible tube 25 Outer surface coating layer (rubber part)

Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-63-291930 (JP, A) JP-A-4-20502 (JP, A) JP-A-1-193325 (JP, A) JP-A-59-46931 (JP) JP-A-63-89138 (JP, A) JP-A-1-204638 (JP, A) JP-A-4-49938 (JP, A) JP-A-61-253031 (JP, A) 55-141228 (JP, A) JP-A-3-141920 (JP, A) JP-A-62-139626 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A61B 1/00 -1/32 C08J 7/12 C08J 3/28

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An outer surface of a spiral tube formed by spirally winding a metal strip in a uniform diameter is covered with a mesh tube formed by braiding a thin wire made of metal or non-metal. In the flexible tube of the insertion portion of the endoscope in which the outer surface of the endoscope is coated with a coating layer made of a rubber material , the flexibility of the mesh tube is changed discontinuously in the tube axis direction.
An impregnated rubber layer made of the impregnated rubber material is formed by impregnation, and the coating layer is incompatible with the flexible portion of the impregnated rubber layer.
By changing the flexibility discontinuously in the tube axis direction at different positions
Intermediate coating made of rubber material coated on the impregnated rubber layer
Rubber layer and the above intermediate without changing the flexibility in the middle
Outer coating rubber made of rubber material coated on coating rubber layer
And the outer surface-covered rubber layer is provided only in a portion near the outer surface.
Vulcanized to a higher degree of vulcanization, and the high degree of vulcanization
An insertion section flexible tube for an endoscope, which is exposed to the outer surface as a layer .