JP4490187B2 - Endoscope - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an endoscope provided with two bending portions, a first bending portion and a second bending portion.

  As an endoscope provided with two conventional bending portions, a first bending portion and a second bending portion configured by rotatably connecting a plurality of joint pieces to the distal end side of an elongated insertion portion, An endoscope is known that includes a grip portion having an operation portion that is connected to a proximal end side of an insertion portion and that can bend the first bending portion and the second bending portion (Patent Document). 1). In this endoscope, the first bending portion is disposed on the distal end side with respect to the second bending portion, and the axial dimension of the second bending portion is configured to be smaller than the axial dimension of the first bending portion. There is something.

  Further, in a conventional endoscope having two bending portions, a bending operation using only the first bending portion provided on the distal end side of the insertion portion is main during normal use. In the conventional endoscope, it is conceivable that the second bending portion provided on the base end side is used as an auxiliary. However, the conventional endoscope does not have the waist (hardness) of the bending portion when the two bending portions are compared with the flexible tube portion having the bending portions on the distal end side. For this reason, when the conventional endoscope uses only the first bending portion, each of the joint pieces constituting the second bending portion follows the bending operation of the first bending portion. It is difficult to use like the flexible tube portion. Therefore, the conventional endoscope having the two bending portions has a problem that the bending operability is deteriorated.

Accordingly, an endoscope has been developed that has good bending operability even when only the first bending portion is bent. The first bending portion is configured by rotatably connecting a plurality of bending or joint pieces at the distal end side, and is arranged on the proximal end side of the first bending portion to rotate the plurality of bending or joint pieces. In an endoscope provided with a second bending portion configured to be movably connected, and an insertion portion formed by coating the outer periphery of the first bending portion and the second bending portion with a bending rubber, the bending rubber includes: In this case, at least a part of the thickness of the portion covered with the first curved portion is formed thinner than the thickness of the portion covered with the second curved portion (see Patent Document 2).
JP 2002-177199 A (2nd page, FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-93330 (second page, FIG. 2)

  The first bending portion operation wire in the first bending portion in the conventional example is inserted into the first protection spring in the second bending portion. Since this spring has a level difference corresponding to at least the wire diameter of the spring, the spring is inclined with respect to the axial direction of the second bending portion. Since the amount of contents in the second bending portion is larger than that in the first bending portion, if the first protection spring is slanted in the second bending portion, the first protection spring becomes a light guide or image. Contact the optical fiber of the guide. For this reason, there is a possibility that the optical fiber may be disconnected, and the durability of the contents in the second bending portion may be deteriorated.

  Therefore, the present invention prevents the second bending portion from moving when the first bending portion is operated, improves the operability, and does not adversely affect the contents in the second bending portion. An object is to provide an endoscope.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the present invention includes a bending portion configured by rotatably connecting a plurality of joint pieces at two positions, that is, a distal end side and a proximal end side coupled to the distal end side. In the endoscope, the first bending portion operating wire fixed to the distal end joint piece of the first bending portion with the first bending portion as the first bending portion and the proximal end side as the second bending portion is set in both bending portions. A first protection spring that is arranged straight along the axial direction of the bending portion, cuts out the joint piece at the base end portion of the first bending portion, and the first bending portion operation wire is inserted into the cutout portion. It fixes so that it may not come out from the outer peripheral surface of a joint piece, and it has arrange | positioned so that this 1st protection spring may be extended straightly along the axial direction of a 2nd bending part .

According to the present invention, in an endoscope provided with two bending portions formed by rotatably connecting a plurality of joint pieces at a distal end side and a proximal end side coupled to the distal end side, With the first bending portion as the first bending portion and the proximal end side as the second bending portion, the first bending portion operation wire fixed to the distal end joint piece of the first bending portion is moved in the axial direction of both bending portions within the two bending portions. The first protection spring through which the first bending portion operating wire is inserted is cut off from the outer peripheral surface of the joint piece. Since the first protection spring is arranged so as to extend straight along the axial direction of the second bending portion , the following operations and effects are obtained.

That is, when the first bending portion operation wire is pulled, there is little possibility that the wire interferes with the contents arranged in the second bending portion, and therefore the second bending portion is not moved during the wire operation. An accurate bending portion operation can be performed, and the inner diameter of the joint piece at the base end portion of the first bending portion can be increased. Moreover, the burden with respect to a patient can be reduced by suppressing that the outer diameter of a joint piece becomes large.

  The first protection spring is a portion that extends straight in the second bending portion and is supported by the joint piece of the second bending portion at least at one or more locations, so that the operability of the first bending portion operation wire is improved. And interference with the contents in the second bending portion can be prevented.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  In FIG. 1, the distal end side of the flexible insertion portion of the endoscope is shown, and is inserted into a gastrointestinal or other body cavity, the inside of a machine, or the like, and includes two bending portions (first bending portion 1 and second bending portion 2). The degree of freedom on the distal end side of the insertion portion is increased and the bending operability is improved. The distal end portion 3 of the endoscope insertion unit is an imaging unit in which a solid-state imaging device (not shown) such as a CCD and a circuit board for driving the solid-state imaging device are incorporated as imaging means, or an observation target site in a body cavity. A light guide (not shown) that transmits illumination light for illuminating the light is incorporated. Although not shown, as in the prior art, a light source device that is detachably connected to the endoscope and supplies illumination light to the endoscope, and a detachably connected to the endoscope, the endoscope A video processor that processes the signal obtained from the imaging means and outputs a standard video signal, and displays an endoscopic image obtained by signal processing by the video processor An endoscope apparatus is configured from the monitor to be operated. The video processor can be connected to a VTR deck, a video printer, a video disk, an image file recording device, etc. (not shown).

  A first bending portion 1 is coupled to the distal end portion 3, a second bending portion 2 is coupled to the first bending portion 1 via a joint ring 4, and a soft portion is coupled to the second bending portion 2. It is. The 1st and 2nd bending parts 1 and 2 connect the several joint pieces 10 and 20 so that rotation is possible, and make the outer diameter of the joint piece 10 of the 1st bending part 1 (front end side) into a 2nd curve. It is smaller than the outer diameter of the joint piece 20 of the part 2 (base end side). In this embodiment, the joint piece 20 is formed smaller in thickness. On the contrary, the outer diameter of the joint piece 20 on the proximal end side is formed larger than the thickness of the joint piece 10 on the distal end side.

  The distal end of the first bending portion operation wire 5 (a pair of opposed members) is fixed to the distal end joint piece 10A located at the forefront of the distal end side joint piece 10, and the proximal end side proximal end joint piece 10B is A first protection spring 6 is fixed, and a first bending portion operation wire 5 is inserted into the first protection spring 6. The first protection spring 6 extends straight through the joint ring 4 and into the second bending portion 2. In FIG. 1, in order to show the tip of the second bending portion operation wire 7, an intermediate portion of one first protection spring 6 is omitted. The distal end of the second bending portion operation wire 7 is fixed to the distal end joint piece 20A of the second bending portion 2, and the second bending portion operation wire 7 is attached to the second protective spring 8 fixed to the proximal end joint piece 20B. It is inserted.

  As described above, the endoscope has the bending portions 1 and 2 formed by rotatably connecting the plurality of joint pieces 10 and 20 at two positions on the distal end side and the proximal end side coupled to the distal end side. The outer diameter of the plurality of joint pieces 20 on the proximal end side is formed larger than the outer diameter of the plurality of joint pieces 10 on the distal end side, and is fixed to the distal end joint piece 10A of the first bending portion 1 on the distal end side. Further, the first bending portion operating wire 5 is disposed straight in the second bending portion 2 on the proximal end side along the axial direction of both bending portions 1 and 2. Further, the second bending portion operation wire 7 fixed to the distal end joint piece 20A of the second bending portion 2 on the proximal end side is adjacent to the first bending portion operation wire 5 in the axial direction of the bending portions 1 and 2. It is arranged straight along. Further, the first bending portion 1 and the second bending portion 2 may be connected by a joint ring 4. The first protective spring 6 may be fixed to the joint ring 4. The joint ring 4 has a larger inner diameter on the side where the distal end joint piece 20A of the second bending portion 2 is fitted than on the side where the proximal end joint piece 10B of the first bending portion 1 is fitted.

  FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the connection portion between the first bending portion 1 and the second bending portion 2 and the vicinity thereof. The first protection spring 6 is exposed to the full outer peripheral surface of the base end joint piece 10B. And soldered to the base end joint piece 10B. The first and second protection springs 6 and 8 have a structure in which a thin wire is tightly wound in a pipe shape, but the entire length of the first and second protection springs 6 and 8 may be shortened due to a compressive load. Therefore, in the second bending portion 2 of the first protection spring 6, the ring portion 9 is fixed to the joint piece 20. Further, the diameter φA of the joint piece 10 and the diameter φB of the joint piece 20 are illustrated, and φA <φB.

  FIG. 3 shows a cross section of the first bending portion 1, in which a support portion 11 of the first bending portion operating wire 5 is formed on a predetermined joint piece 10 and an optical fiber 12 of an image guide (not shown) inside. Are covered with a covering portion 13, a light guide (not shown) optical fiber 14 is covered with a covering portion 15, and a forceps tube 16 is incorporated. The support part 11 is formed by making a cut parallel to a part of the cylindrical part of the joint piece 10 and narrowing this part inward. FIG. 2 shows a cut 11A. Further, the pair of upper and lower first bending portion operation wires 5 in FIG. 3 are positioned on diameters that are shifted from each other by an angle θ to the left and right with respect to the vertical diameter passing through the center of the joint piece 10.

  FIG. 4 shows a cross section of the second bending portion 2, and the support portion 17 of the second bending portion operating wire 7 is formed on a predetermined joint piece 20. Moreover, the 1st protection spring 6 in which the optical fibers 12 and 14 coat | covered with the coating | coated parts 13 and 15 and the 1st bending part operation wire 5 were penetrated is also incorporated. The support portion 17 is also cut and formed in the same manner as the previous support portion 11. The position of the support portion 17 is arranged next to the first protection spring 6 so that the first protection spring 6 extends straight along the axial direction of the second bending portion 2. The curved surface of the diaphragm that forms the support portion 17 follows the outer diameter of the first protective spring 6. Thanks to such an arrangement, the second bending portion operating wire 7 is disposed adjacent to the first bending portion operating wire 5 and pulls the first and second bending portions 1 and 2 by pulling in the same direction. It can be smoothly bent in the same direction.

  FIG. 5 is an enlarged view showing the relationship between the proximal end joint piece 10B of the first bending portion 1 and the first protection spring 6, and a part of the proximal end joint piece 10B is notched to form a notch 18. A part of the first protection spring 6 is fitted into the notch 18 so that the outer diameter of the first protection spring 6 does not protrude beyond the outer peripheral surface of the base end joint piece 10B. The notch 18 is formed by forming an H-shaped notch in the base end joint piece 10B and bending the portion inward to form a pair of support walls 19. The first protection spring 6 is disposed between the pair of support walls 19, and the bent portion of the support wall 19 and the first protection spring 6 are soldered and fixed.

6 and 7 show the proximal end joint piece 10 </ b> B and show the relationship between the notch 18 and the support wall 19. As shown in FIG. 8, the first protection spring 6 is fixed to the base end joint piece 10B. As a fixing method, the support wall 19 and the first protective spring 6 are soldered as described above. The support wall 19 serves to position the first protection spring 6 and to arrange the first bending portion operating wire 5 straightly in the second bending portion 2 along the axial direction. Further, when the first bending portion operating wire 5 is to be arranged straight, the first bending portion operating wire 5 is moved inward by an amount corresponding to the strand diameter of the first protective spring 6 in a portion through which the first protective spring 6 is passed. Get in. In order to prevent this, if the height of the cut diaphragm through which the first bending portion operation wire 5 is passed is increased, the inside of the first bending portion 1 becomes narrow as a whole. If you try to prevent it, the outer diameter will increase. Therefore, if a notch is provided at the attachment portion of the first protection spring 6 and the wire diameter of the first protection spring 6 is put into the plate thickness of the base end joint piece 10B, the first bending portion operation wire 5 is removed. Even when the cutting / squeezing is almost the diameter of the first bending portion operation wire 5, the first bending portion operation wire 5 enters the first protection spring 6 in a straight line. By doing so, the first bending portion 1 can maximize the inside while suppressing the size of the outer diameter.
If the 2nd bending part 2 connected to this is expanded in the radial direction by the wire diameter of the 1st protection spring 6, the 1st protection spring 6 and the 1st bending part operation wire 5 passing through it will become straight. By doing so, the second bending portion 2 can also suppress the size of the outer diameter to the limit.
In this way, the burden on the patient can be reduced by suppressing the size of the outer diameter of the first and second bending portions 1 and 2.

  9 to 12 show the bending operation patterns of the first and second bending portions 1 and 2, and FIG. 9 shows the case where one of the pair of first bending portion operation wires 5 of the first bending portion 1 is pulled and the other. It shows two patterns when towing. FIG. 10 shows a case where only the second bending portion 2 is operated, and shows two patterns when one of the pair of second bending portion operating wires 7 is pulled and when the other is pulled. FIG. 11 shows two patterns when the first bending portion 1 and the second bending portion 2 are bent in opposite directions. FIG. 12 shows two patterns when the first bending portion 1 and the second bending portion 2 are bent in the same direction.

  If the length of the first bending portion 1 is longer than that of the second bending portion 2, the bending operation can be easily performed without being affected by the state of the inserted lumen.

The front end side sectional view showing the embodiment of the present invention. The enlarged view of the connection part of a 1st and 2nd bending part. The cross-sectional view of a 1st bending part. The cross-sectional view of a 2nd bending part. The attachment part expanded sectional view of a 1st protection spring and a base end part joint piece. The front view of the base end part joint piece of a 1st bending part. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the proximal end joint piece of FIG. 6. The front view which fixed the 1st protection spring to the base end part joint piece. The figure which shows the pattern of bending operation | movement. The figure which shows the other pattern of bending operation | movement. The figure which shows another pattern of bending operation | movement. The figure which shows the pattern opposite to FIG.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 1st bending part 2 2nd bending part 3 Tip part 4 Joint ring 5 1st bending part operation wire 7 2nd bending part operation wire 10 Joint piece on the front end 20 Joint piece on the proximal end

Claims (2)

In an endoscope provided with a bending portion formed by rotatably connecting a plurality of joint pieces at two locations, a distal end side and a proximal end side connected to the distal end side,
With the distal end side as the first bending portion and the proximal end side as the second bending portion, the first bending portion operating wire fixed to the distal end joint piece of the first bending portion is moved in the axial direction of both bending portions within both bending portions. place in a straight line along the,
The joint piece at the base end of the first bending portion is cut out, and a first protection spring through which the first bending portion operation wire is inserted is fixed so as not to come out from the outer peripheral surface of the joint piece. The endoscope is characterized in that the first protection spring is disposed so as to extend straight along the axial direction of the second bending portion .   2. The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the first protection spring is a portion that extends straight in the second bending portion and is supported by at least one joint piece of the second bending portion. .

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