JP4241980B2 - Endoscope tip and index forming method on the tip - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a distal end portion of an endoscope in which a prism is included in an objective optical system.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, many endoscopes that use a side-view or perspective optical system as an observation optical system, such as an ultrasonic endoscope, have a distal end portion in a direction in which the objective lens accommodation hole and the prism accommodation hole differ. It is drilled in the main body.
[0003]
In such an endoscope, generally, the distal end portion of the objective lens accommodation hole drilled from the rear end side of the distal end portion main body in order to fit the objective frame in which the objective lens is arranged accommodates the prism. In order to fix, the tip end main body is formed so as to open in the back part of the prism accommodating hole formed from the side surface side.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The above-mentioned configuration is suitable for an endoscope that must be miniaturized as much as possible so that the pain of the patient undergoing the examination does not become great, but the objective lens and the prism are formed in different directions on the tip body. Therefore, the centering adjustment of the objective lens and the prism must be performed one by one at the time of assembly.
[0005]
Specifically, an objective frame in which an objective lens is incorporated is temporarily installed in the objective lens accommodation hole, and the prism is finely moved to adjust the position so that the optimum position is obtained. The prism is fixed.
[0006]
However, when performing such adjustments, there is no clear standard for positioning the prism with respect to the objective lens side, so work that relies on intuition must be performed, which is a very time-consuming and cumbersome task. It was. Further, during such work, the prism may be tinkered and damaged.
[0007]
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a distal end portion of an endoscope capable of easily and accurately positioning and fixing a prism with respect to an objective lens.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the distal end portion of the endoscope of the present invention has an objective lens receiving hole formed in the distal end portion body from the rear end side in order to insert an objective frame in which the objective lens is disposed. In the distal end portion of the endoscope formed so that the distal end portion opens into the prism accommodating hole formed on the side surface side in the distal end portion main body in order to accommodate and fix the prism, the inside of the prism accommodating hole An index is provided on the wall surface at a position overlapping the central axis of the objective lens accommodation hole or an extension thereof as viewed from the opening side of the prism accommodation hole.
[0009]
The index may be formed in a linear shape from the opening side of the prism accommodating hole, or the index may be formed in a dotted shape from the objective lens accommodating hole side.
[0010]
The endoscope may be an ultrasonic endoscope in which an optical observation unit and an ultrasonic tomographic image observation unit are provided.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Reference examples and embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 shows the overall configuration of the ultrasonic endoscope. The operation portion 2 is connected to the proximal end of the insertion portion flexible tube 1, and the bending portion 3 connected to the distal end of the insertion portion flexible tube 1 is shown in FIG. The operation knob 4 provided in the operation unit 2 can be arbitrarily bent by rotating the operation knob 4.
[0012]
The distal end portion 5 of the insertion portion includes a distal end portion main body 51 connected to the distal end of the bending portion 3 and an ultrasonic probe 52 connected to the front side of the distal end portion main body 51.
[0013]
The ultrasonic probe 52 of this reference example is a so-called sector scan type in which a side is scanned in a fan shape around the arrow A. Further, the observation optical system arranged in the tip body 51 is a front perspective type with the arrow B as the observation optical axis. 6 is an optical observation signal side connector connected to the video processor / light source device, and 7 is an ultrasonic signal side connector connected to the ultrasonic processor.
[0014]
FIG. 3 shows the distal end portion 5 of the insertion portion, and an observation window 54 for optical observation is provided on a slope 53 formed obliquely forward on the side surface portion of the distal end portion main body 51. Reference numerals 55 and 56 denote air / water supply nozzles.
[0015]
A cover lens 58 corresponding to the first lens of the objective optical system is installed in the cover lens accommodation hole 59 and bonded and fixed to the observation window 54. Further, at the back, the roof prism 60 is housed in the prism housing hole 61 and fixedly bonded thereto.
[0016]
The cover lens accommodation hole 59 and the prism accommodation hole 61 are formed from the inclined surface 53 side of the distal end portion main body 51, but the objective lens accommodation hole 63 extends from the rear end side of the distal end portion main body 51. The tip is opened in the prism accommodating hole 61.
[0017]
An objective frame 64 to which the objective lens 65 and the solid-state imaging element 66 are attached and fixed is fitted into the objective lens accommodation hole 63 and fixed to the distal end portion main body 51. The imaging surface of the solid-state imaging device 66 is disposed at the subject imaging position by the objective lens 65, and the signal cable 66 is pulled out rearward.
[0018]
The optical observation image may be transmitted by an image guide fiber, and the cross-sectional shape of the objective frame 64 and the objective lens accommodation hole 63 into which the objective frame 64 is inserted is rectangular or the like when the solid-state imaging device 66 is used. When a non-circular image guide fiber bundle is used, it is often formed in a circular shape.
[0019]
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a single component of the tip body 51, 68 is a hole for an illumination window, 69 is an outlet hole of a treatment instrument insertion channel, and 55a and 56a are air supply / water supply outlet holes.
[0020]
Both the cover lens accommodation hole 59 and the prism accommodation hole 61 are formed so that the central axis thereof coincides with the central axis 63a of the objective lens accommodation hole 63 in the plane perspective direction shown in FIG. Tolerance range.
[0021]
The cover lens accommodation hole 59 is formed to a size that allows the cover lens 58 to finely move inside, and the prism accommodation hole 61 is formed to a size that allows the prism 60 to finely move inside, and the amount of fine movement is any. Greater than the machining tolerances mentioned above.
[0022]
The inner wall surface of the prism accommodating hole 61 is thin at a position overlapping with the extension of the central axis of the objective lens accommodating hole 63 when viewed from the opening side of the prism accommodating hole 61 (that is, in the state shown in FIG. 1). A linear index 70 is formed. The index 70 can be precisely formed by, for example, laser beam machining or electric discharge machining when machining the objective lens accommodation hole 63.
[0023]
The operation of assembling the objective optical system to the tip body 51 configured in this way is performed by first inserting the objective frame 64 in which the objective lens 65 is incorporated into the objective lens accommodation hole 63 and temporarily installing it. In a state where the position of the prism 60 is finely adjusted so that the optimum position is obtained, the prism 60 is bonded and fixed in the prism accommodating hole 61.
[0024]
At this time, since the operator can visually check the index 70 from the outside, first, the prism 60 is set so that the ridge line of the prism 60 and the index 70 coincide with each other, so that the prism 60 is very close to the correct position. Set to state.
[0025]
Therefore, the work of finely moving the prism 60 and positioning and fixing it becomes very simple, the work can be performed in a short time, and the prism 60 is not tinkered and damaged.
[0026]
After the prism 60 is correctly installed and fixed in the prism accommodating hole 61, the cover lens 58 is similarly installed and fixed in the correct position in the cover lens accommodating hole 59, and finally the object frame 64 is finely moved in the axial direction to After the optimum focus position is adjusted, the tip body 51 is fixed.
[0027]
FIG. 4 shows a tip body 51 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and even if a point-like index 70 is formed on the inner wall surface of the prism housing hole 61 at the tip of a drill for processing the objective lens housing hole 63. In that case, the index 70 is formed on the center line of the objective lens accommodation hole 63. The index 70 may be formed in other shapes by other methods.
[0028]
The present invention is not limited to ultrasonic endoscopes, and can be widely applied to side-view and perspective-type general endoscopes.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, an index is provided on the inner wall surface of the prism housing hole, which overlaps with the central axis of the objective lens housing hole or its extension as viewed from the opening side of the prism housing hole, so that the prism can be used in the assembly operation. When installing the prism, the prism can be visually set at a position very close to the correct position, and the subsequent positioning and fixing of the prism can be performed easily and accurately in a short time. Therefore, the damage of the prism during the assembly operation is reduced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a tip body of a reference example of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an external view showing an overall configuration of an ultrasonic endoscope according to a reference example of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a side view showing a part of a distal end portion of an insertion portion of an ultrasonic endoscope according to a reference example of the present invention in cross section.
4 is a side sectional view of the distal end portion main body in the form of implementation of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
51 End Body 60 Prism 61 Prism Housing Hole 63 Objective Lens Housing Hole 63a Center Axis 64 Objective Frame 65 Objective Lens

Claims (4)

The front end portion of the objective lens receiving hole drilled from the rear end side to insert the objective frame on which the objective lens is disposed is side-faced to the front end portion main body to receive and fix the prism. In the distal end portion of the endoscope formed so as to open in the prism accommodating hole formed from the side,
An indicator is provided at a position overlapping the central axis of the objective lens accommodation hole or its extension line when viewed from the opening side of the prism accommodation hole on the inner wall surface of the prism accommodation hole,
The index is formed on the inner wall surface of the prism housing hole at the tip of a drill for processing the objective lens housing hole ,
An inner wall surface of the prism accommodation hole in which the index is formed is a slope inclined with respect to a central axis of the objective lens accommodation hole, and the index formed at the tip of the drill is the objective lens accommodation with respect to the index. A distal end portion of an endoscope, which is viewed through an opening portion of the prism accommodating hole from a direction that forms an obtuse angle with respect to the central axis direction of the hole . The distal end portion of the endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the index is perforated and formed in a dot shape from the objective lens accommodation hole side. The distal end portion of the endoscope according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the endoscope is an ultrasonic endoscope in which an optical observation unit and an ultrasonic tomographic image observation unit are provided. The front end portion of the objective lens receiving hole drilled from the rear end side to insert the objective frame on which the objective lens is disposed is side-faced to the front end portion main body to receive and fix the prism. A prism housing hole formed from the side, which is an inner wall surface of the prism housing hole and viewed from the opening side of the prism housing hole, and a central axis of the objective lens housing hole or an extension thereof A method of forming an index on a distal end portion of an endoscope in which an index is provided at an overlapping position,
The index is formed on the inner wall surface of the prism housing hole at the tip of a drill for processing the objective lens housing hole ,
An inner wall surface of the prism accommodation hole in which the index is formed is a slope inclined with respect to a central axis of the objective lens accommodation hole, and the index formed at the tip of the drill is the objective lens accommodation with respect to the index. A method of forming an index on a distal end portion of an endoscope, wherein the indicator is viewed through an opening of the prism accommodating hole from a direction that forms an obtuse angle with respect to the central axis direction of the hole .

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