JP6170862B2 - Endoscope insertion part and endoscope - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an endoscope insertion portion and an endoscope provided with a joining member that joins a liquid supply pipe and a gas supply pipe to communicate with an air / liquid feeding pipe.

  The endoscope includes an insertion portion that is inserted into the body of a subject, and a hand operation portion that is connected to the proximal end of the insertion portion. The insertion portion includes a distal end portion, a bending portion, and a flexible portion in order from the distal end. The bending portion has a structure in which a plurality of bending pieces are connected to each other, and a bending operation is performed by pushing and pulling a bending operation wire provided inside the bending piece, and the tip portion changes its direction.

  The distal end portion of the insertion portion includes an observation window, an illumination window, and a fluid ejection nozzle. An imaging element for in-vivo imaging of the subject is provided in the back of the observation window. The illumination window emits illumination light. The fluid ejection nozzle has an ejection port at the tip, and selectively ejects a liquid such as cleaning water or a gas such as air or carbon dioxide. The liquid ejected from the fluid ejection nozzle flushes dirt on the observation window, and the gas blows off the droplets remaining on the surface of the observation window.

  The fluid ejection nozzle is connected to an air / liquid feeding pipe arranged inside the insertion portion. The air / liquid supply pipe communicates with a liquid supply pipe and a gas supply pipe through which a liquid and a gas are supplied via a merging member. In the endoscope described in Patent Document 1, a merging member is arranged in the insertion portion.

  Inside the insertion section, multiple built-in items such as a signal cable connected to the circuit board of the image sensor, a light guide for guiding illumination light to the illumination window, and a bending operation wire for bending the bending section are inserted. The filling rate is high. Therefore, in the endoscope described in Patent Document 2, the air / liquid feeding solution is arranged so that the air / liquid feeding tube, the liquid supply tube, and the gas supply tube can be arranged in the insertion portion where the filling rate is high and it is difficult to reduce the diameter. A merging tube in which a pipe, a liquid supply pipe and a gas supply pipe are integrated is used. In this merging tube, a part of the parallel tubes is cut out, and the distal end portion is thermoformed to form a merging portion.

JP-A-11-28186 JP 58-86131 A

  However, the required physical properties may differ between the air supply / liquid supply pipe, the liquid supply pipe, and the gas supply pipe. In the endoscope described in Patent Document 2, a confluence tube is formed from one parallel tube. The air supply pipe, the liquid supply pipe, and the gas supply pipe all have the same physical properties. As physical properties required for the air / liquid feeding pipe, the liquid supply pipe and the gas supply pipe, for example, to increase the flexibility of the air / liquid feeding pipe arranged in the bending portion so as not to disturb the bending operation of the bending portion. Is required. Further, when both the gas supply pipe and the liquid supply pipe arranged in the insertion portion are large in flexibility, the position adjustment is performed by pulling one of the gas supply pipe and the liquid supply pipe during the assembly process of the joining tube. The other may also be pulled and interfere with other built-in objects.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide an endoscope insertion portion and an endoscope having appropriate flexibility depending on the position where the merging tube is disposed. .

The endoscope insertion portion of the present invention has a distal end portion, a bending portion, and a flexible portion in order from the distal end. The insertion portion for an endoscope includes a fluid ejection nozzle and a merging tube . The merging tube includes a first flexible tube and a second flexible tube, and is in the middle of the first flexible tube. One end of the second flexible tube is coupled to the first and second flexible tubes . The fluid ejection nozzle is provided at the tip and ejects gas and liquid. In the merge tube, in order to supply gas and liquid from an external air / liquid feeding device to the fluid ejection nozzle, a gas supply pipe and a liquid supply pipe, and an air / liquid feed pipe formed by merging these are integrally formed. . The merging tube has two types of flexible tubes having different physical properties. The first flexible tube forms a gas supply pipe and an air supply / liquid supply pipe. The second flexible tube forms a liquid supply tube. The first flexible tube is less flexible than the second flexible tube.

The first flexible tube is preferably formed to be thicker or larger in diameter than the second flexible tube.

  It is preferable that the coupling | bond part of the 1st and 2nd flexible tube is coat | covered with the heat contraction tube. Moreover, it is preferable that the coupling | bond part of the 1st and 2nd flexible tube is coat | covered with the metal coil.

  It has an air / liquid feeding button for switching between gas and liquid ejection, one end of the first flexible tube is connected to the fluid ejection nozzle, and the other ends of the first flexible tube and the second flexible tube are It is preferable to be connected to a cylinder constituting the air / liquid feeding button.

  Confluence tube is polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), porous polytetrafluoroethylene, tetrafluoroethylene / perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer (PFA), polyethylene, polypropylene, polyetherimide, urethane rubber, silicone rubber, fluoro rubber It is preferable to form from any of these.

  The endoscope of the present invention includes an endoscope insertion portion, a hand operation portion, and a bending operation member. The hand operation unit is connected to the endoscope insertion unit. The bending operation member performs a bending operation of the bending portion.

In the present invention, the merging tube has a first flexible tube that forms a gas supply pipe and an air / liquid feeding pipe, and a second flexible tube that forms a liquid supply pipe, and the first flexible tube The tube is less flexible than the second flexible tube, and one end of the second flexible tube is coupled to the middle of the first flexible tube, so depending on the position where the merging tube is arranged The flexibility can be made different.

It is a perspective view showing one embodiment of an endoscope system. FIG. 2 is a conduit diagram showing conduits inside the electronic endoscope shown in FIG. 1. It is principal part sectional drawing of a front-end | tip part and a curved part. It is a perspective view which shows the front-end | tip part of an electronic endoscope. It is principal part sectional drawing of a curved part and a soft part. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the structure of the junction part of a curved part and a soft part. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows the structure of a merging tube. It is a perspective view which shows the core material and resin tape which manufacture a merging tube. It is a perspective view explaining the state which wound the resin tape around the core material. It is sectional drawing orthogonal to the cylinder center direction in the position of the base end piece of a curved part. It is a perspective view which shows embodiment which changed the number to which a resin tape is wound up. It is a perspective view which shows embodiment using the core material which has a part from which an outer diameter differs. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows the structure of the confluence | merging tube of 2nd Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows embodiment which joins a 1st and 2nd flexible tube and forms a confluence | merging tube. It is a perspective view which shows the state which coat | covered the heat contraction tube in the connection part of the 1st and 2nd flexible tube. It is a perspective view which shows the state which heated the heat contraction tube and contact | adhered to the 1st and 2nd flexible tube. It is a perspective view which shows embodiment which coat | covered the metal coil in the coupling | bond part of the 1st and 2nd flexible tube.

<First Embodiment>
As shown in FIG. 1, the endoscope system 2 includes an electronic endoscope 10, a processor device 11, a light source device 12, an air / liquid feeding device 13, and a suction device 14. The air / liquid feeding device 13 is built in the light source device 12 and includes a well-known air feeding device (pump or the like) 13a that feeds gas, and a liquid tank 13b that is provided outside the light source device 12 and stores liquid. Have The electronic endoscope 10 includes a flexible endoscope insertion portion 16 (hereinafter, referred to as an insertion portion 16) to be inserted into the body, and a hand operating portion that is connected to the proximal end portion of the insertion portion 16. 17 and a universal cord 18 connected to the processor device 11 and the light source device 12. The liquid to be fed by the air / liquid feeding device 13 is washing water, and the gas to be fed is air or carbon dioxide.

  The insertion portion 16 includes a distal end portion 16a, a bending portion 16b, and a flexible portion 16c in order from the distal end. A camera unit 43 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) for in-vivo photographing of the subject is built in the distal end portion 16a. The bending portion 16b is connected to the proximal end of the distal end portion 16a and is configured to be freely bent. The flexible portion 16c is connected to the proximal end of the bending portion 16b and has flexibility.

  The hand operating unit 17 includes a treatment instrument inlet 19, an air / liquid feeding button 20, a suction button 21, and bending operation knobs 22 and 23 as bending operation members. A connector 24 is attached to the other end of the universal cord 18. The connector 24 is a composite type connector to which the processor device 11, the light source device 12, and the air / liquid feeding device 13 are connected. The suction device 14 is connected to the connector 24 via a connecting tube 25.

  The processor device 11 is electrically connected to the light source device 12 and comprehensively controls the operation of the endoscope system 2. The processor device 11 supplies power to the electronic endoscope 10 via the universal cord 18 and a transmission cable inserted into the insertion portion 16, and controls the driving of the camera unit 43. In addition, the processor device 11 acquires an imaging signal output from the camera unit 43 via the signal cable 45 (see FIG. 3), and performs various image processing to generate image data. The image data generated by the processor device 11 is displayed as an observation image on a monitor 26 connected to the processor device 11 by a cable.

  As shown in FIG. 2, an air / liquid feeding nozzle 27 as a fluid ejecting nozzle is provided at the distal end portion 16a. Inside the insertion section 16 and the hand operation section 17, an air / liquid feeding pipe 28 and a treatment instrument insertion pipe 29 are arranged. One end of the air / liquid feeding tube 28 communicates with the air / liquid feeding nozzle 27. The other end of the air / liquid supply pipe 28 is branched into an air supply line 28a and a liquid supply line 28b. The air supply conduit 28 a and the liquid supply conduit 28 b are connected to the cylinder 20 a of the air supply / liquid supply button 20 provided in the hand operation unit 17.

The air / liquid feeding button 20 includes a cylinder 20a, a piston 20b, and an operation cap 20c. The cylinder 20a is connected to the other end of a gas supply pipe 73 (see FIG. 5) having an air supply line 28a and the other end of a liquid supply pipe 74 (see FIG. 5) having a liquid supply line 28b. One end of an air supply source line 30 that communicates with the air supply device 13a and one end of a liquid supply source line 31 that communicates with the liquid tank 13b are connected to the cylinder 20a. The air supply device 13 a supplies gas when performing an endoscopic inspection by the electronic endoscope 10. The piston 20b is slidable with respect to the cylinder 20a, and an operation cap 20c is connected to one end protruding from the cylinder 20a. A leak hole (not shown) is formed in the operation cap 20c.

  When the operator's finger or the like is not in contact with the operation cap 20c, the air supply source line 30 and the external atmosphere communicate with each other through the leak hole. When the air supply operation is performed with the leak hole closed, the air supply line 28a and the air supply source line 30 communicate with each other via the first communication path in the piston 20b. As a result, the gas generated by the air supply device 13a is sent to the air / liquid supply pipe 28 via the air supply source line 30, the air / liquid supply button 20, and the air supply line 28a. Further, when the liquid feeding operation is performed by pushing the operation cap 20c, the outer peripheral surface of the piston 20b blocks the communication between the air feeding conduit 28a and the air feeding source conduit 30, and via the second communicating passage in the piston 20b. The liquid supply source line 31 and the liquid supply line 28b communicate with each other. As a result, the wash water is supplied from the liquid tank 13b to the air / liquid supply tube 28 via the liquid supply source line 31, the air / liquid supply button 20, and the liquid supply line 28b by the pressure of the gas generated by the air supply device 13a. Sent. The air / liquid feeding nozzle 27 selectively injects the gas and the cleaning water supplied via the air / liquid feeding pipe 28 by the switching operation of the air / liquid feeding button 20.

  The treatment instrument insertion tube 29 has one end communicating with the treatment instrument outlet 32 and the other end connected to the treatment instrument inlet 19. The treatment instrument inlet 19 is inserted with various treatment instruments having an injection needle, a high-frequency knife or the like disposed at the tip, and is closed by a plug (not shown) except when the treatment instrument is inserted. Further, a suction pipe 33 is branched from the treatment instrument insertion pipe 29, and the suction pipe 33 is connected to the cylinder 21 a of the suction button 21.

  The suction button 21 includes a cylinder 21a, a piston 21b, and an operation cap 21c. The cylinder 21 a is connected to the other end of the suction source line 34 in addition to the suction line 33. The suction device 14 always operates during the examination by the electronic endoscope 10. The piston 21b is slidable with respect to the cylinder 21a, and an operation cap 21c is connected to one end protruding from the cylinder 21a. When the operation cap 21c is pushed in and a suction operation is performed, the suction conduit 33 and the suction source conduit 34 communicate with each other through the communication passage in the piston 21b. As a result, the negative pressure suction force of the suction conduit 33 and the treatment instrument insertion tube 29 is increased, and suction is performed from the treatment instrument outlet 32. Further, when a blocking operation for releasing the pushing of the operation cap 21c is performed, the outer peripheral surface of the piston 21b blocks the communication between the suction pipe 33 and the suction source pipe 34, and the suction from the treatment instrument outlet 32 is stopped.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the distal end portion 16a includes a distal end portion main body 35, a cap-shaped distal end cap 36 attached to the distal end side of the distal end portion main body 35, an observation window 37, and two illumination windows 38a and 38b (FIG. 4). A gas supply / liquid supply nozzle 27 and a treatment instrument outlet 32 (see FIG. 4). The distal end portion body 35 includes insertion holes 16 having through-holes 35a and 35b for holding components such as the objective lens unit 41, the air / liquid feeding nozzle 27, the connection pipe 48, and the light guides 46a and 46b (see FIG. 9). It is formed along the axial direction. The proximal end of the distal end body 35 is connected to a bending piece (hereinafter referred to as a distal piece) 50A located on the most distal side constituting the bending portion 16b. In FIGS. 3 and 5, the treatment instrument insertion tube 29, the light guides 46a and 46b, etc. are omitted in order to prevent complication of the drawings.

  The distal end cap 36 includes a distal end plate portion 36 a that covers the distal end side of the distal end portion main body 35, and a cylindrical portion 36 b that covers the outer peripheral surface of the distal end portion main body 35. An angle rubber 58 that covers the outer peripheral surface of the curved portion 16b extends to the distal end body 35, the distal end of the angle rubber 58 and the base end of the cylindrical portion 36b are abutted, and the ends are fixed with an adhesive or the like. .

  As shown in FIG. 4, the distal end plate portion 36 a is formed with an observation window 37, illumination windows 38 a and 38 b, through holes 36 d to 36 g that expose the air / liquid feeding nozzle 27, and a treatment instrument outlet 32. As shown in FIG. 3, the observation window 37 also serves as a cover glass of the camera unit 43, and is an objective lens on the most distal side of the objective lens unit 41. The optical system of the objective lens unit 41 including the observation window 37 is held by the lens barrel 42. The lens barrel 42 holds the proximal end side of the outer peripheral surface of the observation window 37. The observation window 37 is fitted in the through hole 36 d of the distal end cap 36 at the distal end side of the outer peripheral surface.

  The lens barrel 42 is fitted into the through hole 35a of the distal end body 35, and the distal end surface abuts against the distal end plate portion 36a of the distal end cap 36, so that the observation window 37 is exposed from the distal end side of the distal end plate portion 36a. Arranged. The observation window 37 may be a cover glass that is positioned on the most distal side of the objective lens unit 41 and has no lens effect. Further, the observation window 37 does not have to constitute the objective lens unit 41, and may be fitted and fixed to the through hole 36d of the tip cap 36 as a simple cover glass.

  The objective lens unit 41 includes an objective lens and a prism 41a, and the optical axis of the optical system is bent 90 degrees by the prism 41a. The imaging element 43a is disposed horizontally so that the exit surface from which image light is emitted from the prism 41a and the imaging surface face each other. The circuit board 44 mounts the imaging element 43a and also mounts a drive circuit that drives the imaging element 43a. A signal cable 45 made of a multi-core cable is connected to the circuit board 44. The signal cable 45 extends from the insertion unit 16 through the hand operation unit 17 to the universal cord 18 and is connected to the processor device 11. The image sensor 43a is composed of, for example, an interline transfer type CCD, and a subject image captured by the optical system of the objective lens unit 41 is formed on the imaging surface. The imaging element 43a is not limited to the CCD, but may be a CMOS or other device.

  The illumination windows 38a and 38b also serve as irradiation lenses, and irradiate illumination light from the light source device 12 to an observation site in the body. The illumination windows 38a and 38b face the light emission ends of the light guides 46a and 46b (see FIG. 9). The light guides 46a and 46b are formed by bundling a large number of optical fibers. The light guides 46a and 46b pass through the insertion portion 16, the hand operating portion 17, the universal cord 18, and the connector 24, and guide the illumination light from the light source device 12 to the illumination windows 38a and 38b. The light guided from the light source device 12 may be excitation light such as laser light, for example. In this case, it is preferable to use a system in which excitation light from the light source device 12 is guided by a single-line optical fiber, and the fluorescent material disposed at the tip end portion 16a emits light to irradiate illumination light.

  The air / liquid feeding nozzle 27 is connected to an air / liquid feeding pipe 28 via a connection pipe 48. The connection pipe 48 is fitted and held in the through hole 35 b of the tip end body 35. A base end portion of the air / liquid feeding nozzle 27 is fitted on one end portion of the connection pipe 48, and an end portion of the air / liquid feeding tube 28 is fitted on the other end portion. An injection cylinder portion 27 a is formed on the distal end side of the air / liquid feeding nozzle 27. The injection cylinder portion 27a is formed in a cylindrical shape protruding from the proximal end portion of the air / liquid supply nozzle 27, for example, in a direction that bends at 90 degrees, and has an injection port 27b at the tip.

  The bending portion 16b has a plurality of (for example, 16) bending pieces 50 connected in series. For convenience of explanation, among the plurality of bending pieces 50, the one located closest to the distal end of the bending portion 16b is referred to as a distal piece 50A, and the one located closest to the proximal end of the bending portion 16b is referred to as a proximal end piece 50B. The distal piece 50A is fixed to the distal end body 35, and the proximal piece 50B is fixed to the flexible portion 16c. A bending operation wire 51 (see FIGS. 3 and 5) is connected to the bending piece 50 and extends from the hand operating portion 17 through the flexible portion 16c to the bending portion 16b.

  The bending operation wire 51 is provided in two sets for up and down and left and right, and the proximal end side of each bending operation wire 51 is the up and down bending operation knob 22 and the left and right bending operation knob 23 provided on the hand operation unit 17. It is hung on a pulley that rotates in conjunction with the operation. When the up / down bending operation knob 22 is rotated, the up / down bending operation wire 51 is pushed and pulled to bend the bending portion 16b in the up / down direction, and when the left / right bending operation knob 23 is rotated, the bending operation wire is operated. 51 is pushed and pulled, and the bending portion 16b is bent in the left-right direction. Thereby, the front-end | tip part 16a can be orient | assigned to the desired direction in a body.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the bending pieces 50 are made of metal, and the plurality of bending pieces 50 are connected by a connecting pin 52 that serves as a rotation center of each bending piece 50. The proximal piece 50B is connected to the connection ring 63 of the flexible portion 16c. Each bending piece 50 is provided with a pair of tongue pieces 53 into which the connecting pin 52 is inserted, respectively, on the distal end side and the rear end side except for the distal end piece 50A and the proximal end piece 50B. When the tongue pieces 53 are provided vertically on the distal end side, they are provided alternately on the upper and lower sides and on the left and right sides so that they are provided on the left and right sides on the proximal end side. Adjacent bending pieces 50 are connected to each other by means of connecting pins 52 between upper and lower or left and right tongue pieces 53.

  Further, on the inner peripheral surface of the bending piece 50 excluding the base piece 50B, wire guides 54 for guiding the two sets of bending operation wires 51 for up and down and left and right within the bending portion 16b are formed. A coil pipe 55 as a guide member for guiding the bending operation wire 51 is provided in the soft portion 16c.

  The bending operation wire 51 is slidably inserted into the wire guide 54. The distal end of the bending operation wire 51 is fixed to the distal end piece 50A by brazing or the like, and the proximal end side is extended to the hand operation unit 17 and attached to the pulley. When the up / down bending operation knob 22 is rotated, a pair of up / down bending operation wires 51 are pushed and pulled, and each bending piece 50 rotates around a connecting pin 52 attached to the left and right tongue pieces 53. The bending portion 16b is bent in the vertical direction. When the left / right bending operation knob 23 is rotated, a pair of left / right bending operation wires 51 are pushed and pulled, and each bending piece 50 rotates about a connecting pin 52 attached to the upper and lower tongue pieces 53. Then, the bending portion 16b is bent in the left-right direction.

  In the bending piece 50, a signal cable 45, light guides 46a and 46b, a treatment instrument insertion tube 29, and an air / liquid feeding tube 28 are inserted. The outer periphery of the bending piece 50 is covered with a blade 56. A metal ring 57 is fitted to the outer peripheral surface of the end portion of the blade 56. 3 and 5, the metal ring 57 is provided only at the base end portion of the blade 56, but may be provided at the tip end portion of the blade 56. The outer periphery of the blade 56 is covered with an angle rubber 58 that is a rubber outer skin formed in a cylindrical shape. The blade 56 is a net-like body formed by braiding a plurality of metal wires. The blade 56 covers the plurality of connected bending pieces 50 to stabilize the posture of each bending piece 50. Further, the angle rubber 58 has its inner peripheral surface in contact with the blade 56, whereby the adhesion is improved.

  The distal end side of the angle rubber 58 also covers the distal end portion main body 35 of the distal end portion 16a. For example, a thread (not shown) is wound around the tip of the angle rubber 58 and is fixed to the tip portion 16a. A portion around which the yarn is wound is hardened by applying a sealing material or an adhesive. Further, the base end side of the angle rubber 58 is covered up to the tip end side of the soft portion 16c.

  The base piece 50B is provided with a fixing portion 60 therein. The fixing portion 60 is a bent portion formed by bending a part of the cylindrical portion of the base end piece 50B inward, and fixes the base end piece 50B with the outer peripheral surface of the coil pipe 55 interposed therebetween.

  The flexible portion 16c is a spiral tube 61 formed by spirally winding a metallic strip such as stainless steel, and a net-like shape formed by braiding a metal strand such as stainless steel into a net shape, covering the outer periphery of the spiral tube 61. A blade 62 which is a body, a connection ring 63 which is made of metal such as stainless steel and is fixed to the outer peripheral surfaces of both ends of the blade 62, and a resin outer skin 64 which is coated on the outer periphery of the blade 62 by extrusion molding. . The connection ring 63 is located on the distal end side and the proximal end side of the flexible portion 16c. The distal end side connection ring 63 is connected to the bending portion 16 b, and the proximal end side connection ring 63 is connected to the hand operation portion 17. The connection ring 63 is fitted on the outer periphery of the blade 62, and a part thereof is covered with the outer skin 64 together with the blade 62. In addition, as a structure of the soft part 16c, the blade 62 may be eliminated and the outer skin 64 may be covered directly on the outer peripheral surface of the spiral tube 61.

  The outer peripheral surface of the base piece 50B is fitted to the inner peripheral surface of the connecting ring 63 on the distal end side. In the assembly process for connecting the bending portion 16b and the flexible portion 16c, the outer peripheral surface of the base piece 50B is fitted to the inner peripheral surface of the connection ring 63, and the base piece 50B and the connection ring 63 are joined by soldering or the like. I am letting. The joining method of the base piece 50B and the connecting ring 63 is not limited to soldering, and may be a joining method such as screwing or engaging a metal part.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the merging tube 70 is formed integrally with a gas supply pipe 73 and a liquid supply pipe 74, and an air / liquid feeding pipe 28 that merges them. The supplied gas and liquid are supplied to the air / liquid feeding nozzle 27. The merging tube 70 is disposed in the insertion portion 16, and the air / liquid feeding tube 28 is located in the curved portion 16b, and the gas supply tube 73 and the liquid supply tube 74 are located in the flexible portion 16c.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the merging tube 70 includes first and second flexible tubes 71 and 72. The first flexible tube 71 forms the air / liquid feeding pipe 28 and the gas supply pipe 73, and the second flexible tube 72 forms the liquid supply pipe 74. As shown in FIG. 7, the second flexible tube 72 is integrally formed in the middle of the first flexible tube 71. One end 72a of the second flexible tube 72 is coupled to the position where the portion forming the gas supply tube 73 is in contact with the base end of the portion forming the air / liquid feeding tube 28 in the first flexible tube 71. Yes. The second flexible tube 72 is bent 90 degrees from the one end 72 a, and the base end portion of the liquid supply pipe 74 is arranged in parallel with the air / liquid supply pipe 28 and the gas supply pipe 73.

  The first and second flexible tubes 71 and 72 are flexible tubes having different physical properties. Specifically, the first flexible tube 71 is a flexible tube having different flexibility at one end side and the other end side, and the second flexible tube 72 is the same from one end to the other end. This is a flexible tube having flexibility.

  The first flexible tube 71 is formed such that the thickness of the portion that forms the air / liquid feeding tube 28 is smaller (thin) than the thickness of the portion that forms the gas supply tube 73. Thereby, the flexibility of the part which forms the air / liquid feeding pipe 28 is higher than the flexibility of the part which forms the gas supply pipe 73. On the other hand, the second flexible tube 72 is formed to have the same thickness as that of the portion of the first flexible tube 71 that forms the gas supply pipe 73. Accordingly, the second flexible tube 72 is less flexible than the portion that forms the air / liquid feeding tube 28 and has the same flexibility as the portion that forms the gas supply tube 73.

  The junction tube 70 is formed as follows, for example. First, as shown in FIG. 8A, a resin tape 76 having a constant width and thickness is wound around the core member 75 while being stacked in the width direction. As the resin tape 76, for example, an unfired polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tape is used. The core member 75 has first and second cylindrical portions 75a and 75b, and the second cylindrical portion 75b is integrally provided in the middle of the first cylindrical portion 75a. By using this core material 75, the resin tape 76 wound around the first cylindrical part 75a becomes a part forming the air / liquid feeding pipe 28 and the gas supply pipe 73, and the resin wound around the second cylindrical part 75b. The tape 76 becomes a part that forms the liquid supply pipe 74. The first cylindrical part 75a is formed in accordance with the total length of the air / liquid feeding pipe 28 and the gas supply pipe 73 and the inner diameter of the air / liquid feeding pipe 28 and the gas supply pipe 73, and the second cylindrical part. 75 b is formed in accordance with the length and inner diameter of the liquid supply pipe 74. Further, by using the core member 75 in which the vicinity of the one end 75c of the second cylindrical portion 75b is bent, the vicinity of the one end 72a of the second flexible tube 72 can be bent.

  As shown in FIG. 8B, when the resin tape 76 is wound around the core member 75, the winding pitch P2 of the part forming the gas supply pipe 73 is set to be larger than the winding pitch P1 of the part forming the air / liquid feeding pipe 28. Make it smaller. Further, the portion where the liquid supply pipe 74 is formed has the same winding pitch P2 as the portion where the gas supply pipe 73 is formed. Thereby, the thickness of the part which forms the air / liquid feeding pipe 28 becomes smaller than the thickness of the part which forms the gas supply pipe 73 and the liquid supply pipe 74. Next, the resin tape 76 wound around the core 75 is baked, and the overlapping resin tapes 76 are bonded to form a tube shape. And the core material 75 is extracted, the excess resin tape 76 located in both ends is cut off, and the merge tube 70 is formed integrally. In addition, in order to make it easy to extract from the merging tube 70, the core member 75 may be configured to be splittable.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the signal cable 45, the light guides 46a and 46b, the treatment instrument insertion tube 29, the coil pipe 55 through which the bending operation wire 51 is inserted, and the fixed body as the built-in objects inserted into the proximal end piece 50B. Part 60 and air / liquid supply pipe 28. In the proximal piece 50B, one of the merging tubes 70 is provided with the air / liquid feeding pipe 28, and the filling rate in the proximal piece 50B is not increased.

  The operation of the above configuration will be described. After the preparation for the inspection of the endoscope system 2 is completed, the camera unit 43 is operated, and air supply by the air supply device 13a and suction by the suction device 14 are always performed. Then, after the preparation is completed, the insertion portion 16 is inserted into the body, for example, the digestive tract. The light from the light source device 12 is irradiated to the observation site in the digestive tract through the universal cord 18, the light guides 46a and 46b in the insertion portion 16, and the illumination windows 38a and 38b in the distal end portion 16a. The camera unit 43 in the distal end portion 16a captures the inside of the digestive tract and outputs an imaging signal. The imaging signal is input to the processor device 11 via the signal cable 45 and the universal cord 18 in the insertion unit 16 and displayed on the monitor 26.

  When dirt adheres to the observation window 37, the observation window 37 is cleaned by ejecting cleaning water from the ejection port 27 b by the liquid feeding operation of the air / liquid feeding button. After the observation window 37 is cleaned, the cleaning water remaining in the observation window 37 is blown away by injecting air from the injection port 27b by the air supply operation of the air supply / liquid supply button 20.

  On the other hand, when the inside of the body is observed with the endoscope system 2, the bending portion 16b may be bent to change the direction of the distal end portion 16a. As described above, when the bending portion 16b is in the bending state, the air supply / liquid supply tube 28 disposed in the bending portion 16b is formed with high flexibility, and thus the bending operation of the bending portion 16b is hindered. There is nothing. Moreover, since the confluence tube 70 forms the air / liquid feeding pipe 28 and the gas supply pipe 73 from the single first flexible tube 71, it is possible to carry out air feeding smoothly. It is suitable for the electronic endoscope 10 for the upper gastrointestinal tract that frequently performs air supply operations.

  In the first embodiment, the air / liquid feeding tube 28 is formed in order to form different thicknesses in the portion where the air / liquid feeding tube 28 is formed and the portion where the gas supply tube 73 and the liquid supply tube 74 are formed. The winding pitch of the resin tape 76 is changed between the part to be formed and the part to form the gas supply pipe 73 and the liquid supply pipe 74, but not limited thereto, for example, the part to form the air / liquid supply pipe 28 is When the resin tape 76 is wound around the core material 75, the resin tape 76 may be wound with the end portions being faced without overlapping the resin tape 76 in the width direction. Thereby, since the edge part of the abutted resin tape 76 is adhere | attached by a baking process, the part which forms the air / liquid feeding pipe | tube 28 can be formed thinner. In this case, the portions forming the gas supply pipe 73 and the liquid supply pipe 74 may be wound while the resin tape 76 is stacked on the core material 75 in the width direction, as in the first embodiment.

  Moreover, in the said 1st Embodiment, although the winding pitch of the resin tape 76 is changed and the thickness of the confluence | merging tube 70 is changed, it is not restricted to this, For example, as shown in FIG. May be changed to change the thickness of the merging tube 70. In this case, when the resin tape 76 is wound around the core material 75, for example, the portion for forming the air / liquid feeding tube 28 is a single winding 76a, and the portion for forming the gas supply tube 73 and the liquid supply tube 74 is two. A heavy winding 76b is used. The single winding 76a and the double winding 76b may have the same winding pitch or different winding pitches.

  In the first embodiment, the portion for forming the air / liquid feeding tube 28 and the portion for forming the gas supply tube 73 and the liquid supply tube 74 have different flexibility, so that they are formed to have different thicknesses. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the outer diameter and inner diameter of the portion that forms the air / liquid feeding pipe 28 are smaller than the outer diameter and inner diameter of the portion that forms the gas supply pipe 73 and the liquid supply pipe 74 (small diameter). To). In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 11, the core material 77 around which the resin tape 76 is wound has first and second cylindrical portions 77a and 77b, and the second cylindrical portion 77b is provided in the middle of the first cylindrical portion 77a. It is integrally formed. In the first cylindrical portion 77 a, the outer diameter R <b> 1 of the portion that forms the air / liquid feeding tube 28 is smaller than the outer diameter R <b> 2 of the portion that forms the gas supply tube 73. The second cylindrical portion 77 b that is a portion that forms the liquid supply pipe 74 has the same outer diameter R <b> 2 as the portion that forms the gas supply pipe 73. Similarly to the first embodiment, the joining tube 70 is integrally formed by firing the resin tape 76 wound around the core material 77.

  In the first embodiment, since the portion that forms the air / liquid feeding tube 28 and the portion that forms the gas supply tube 73 and the liquid supply tube 74 have different flexibility, they have different thicknesses or different outer diameters. Although it is formed at the inner diameter, the present invention is not limited to this, and materials having different flexibility are used for the portion for forming the air / liquid feeding tube 28 and the portion for forming the gas supply tube 73 and the liquid supply tube 74. May be. In this case, the core material 75 similar to that of the first embodiment is used as the core material around which the resin tape is wound. And as a resin tape wound around the part which forms the air / liquid feeding pipe | tube 28, the unsintered and porous structure PTFE tape is used, for example. On the other hand, as a resin tape to be wound around the portion where the gas supply pipe 73 and the liquid supply pipe 74 are formed, a material harder than the portion where the air supply / liquid supply pipe 28 is formed, for example, an unfired and solid structure PTFE tape is used.

Second Embodiment
In the first embodiment, as the flexible tube having different physical properties, the first flexible tube 71 having different flexibility on one end side and the other end side, and the first flexible tube having the same flexibility from one end to the other end are provided. 2 An example in which a merging tube 70 combined with a flexible tube 72 is used is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the flexibility of the first flexible tube 81 and the second possibility, such as the junction tube 80 constituting the endoscope insertion portion of the second embodiment shown in FIG. The flexibility of the flexible tube 82 may be different. As in the merging tube 70 of the first embodiment, the merging tube 80 includes a gas supply pipe 73, a liquid supply pipe 74, and an air / liquid feeding pipe 28 that are integrally formed, and the first flexible tube. 81 forms the air / liquid feeding pipe 28 and the gas supply pipe 73, and the second flexible tube 82 forms the liquid supply pipe 74. In addition, one end 82 a of the second flexible tube 82 is coupled to the middle of the first flexible tube 81.

  The first flexible tube 81 is formed to have a uniform thickness from one end to the other end and is thicker (thicker) than the second flexible tube 82. The second flexible tube 82 is also formed with a uniform thickness from one end to the other end. Thereby, the flexibility of the first flexible tube 81 is lower than the flexibility of the second flexible tube 82. As a method of forming the merge tube 80, for example, when the resin tape is wound around the core material 75 described in the first embodiment, the winding pitch of the portion forming the first flexible tube 81 is set to the second. The winding pitch is made smaller than the winding pitch of the portion forming the flexible tube 82. Moreover, as a resin tape, an unbaked PTFE tape is used, for example. And the resin tape in the state wound around the core material 75 is baked, the core material 75 is extracted, the excess resin tape located at both ends is cut off, and the junction tube 80 is integrally formed.

  The gas supply pipe 73 and the liquid supply pipe disposed in the flexible part 16c during the assembly process of the junction tube 80 or when the insertion part 16 is removed from the hand operating part 17 in the maintenance operation of the electronic endoscope 10. When the position adjustment is performed by pulling one of 74, the flexibility of the first flexible tube 81 is lower than the flexibility of the second flexible tube 82. The other side of the supply pipe 74 is not pulled and does not interfere with other built-in objects. Further, when both the first and second flexible tubes are highly flexible, when the bending portion 16b is in a bending state, the bending portion 16b may not be returned to the bending portion side. Since the flexibility of the first flexible tube 81 is lowered, this is not the case.

  Moreover, in the said 2nd Embodiment, in order to form in the thickness from which the 1st flexible tube 81 and the 2nd flexible tube 82 differ, the winding pitch of the resin tape is changed, but not only this, For example, when the resin tape is wound around the core member 75, the portion that forms the second flexible tube 82 may be wound with the end portion butted without overlapping the resin tape in the width direction. In this case, the portion that forms the first flexible tube 81 may be wound around the core material 75 while overlapping the resin tape in the width direction, as in the second embodiment. Moreover, in the said 2nd Embodiment, although the winding pitch of the resin tape was changed and thickness was changed with the 1st flexible tube 81 and the 2nd flexible tube 82, it is not restricted to this, Resin tape is wound. The thickness may be changed by changing the number of layers.

  In the second embodiment, the first flexible tube 81 and the second flexible tube 82 are formed to have different thicknesses in order to have different flexibility, but the present invention is not limited to this. The outer diameter and inner diameter of the first flexible tube 81 may be larger (larger than) the outer diameter and inner diameter of the second flexible tube 82. Moreover, you may use the material from which flexibility differs in the part which forms the 1st flexible tube 81, and the part which forms the 2nd flexible tube 82. FIG. In this case, for example, an unsintered and porous PTFE tape is used as the resin tape wound around the portion where the second flexible tube 82 is formed. On the other hand, a material harder than the portion forming the second flexible tube 82, for example, an unfired and solid structure PTFE tape, is used as the resin tape wound around the portion forming the first flexible tube 81.

  Moreover, in each said embodiment, it demonstrated by the example using the merge tubes 70 and 80 which formed the 1st flexible tubes 71 and 81 and the 2nd flexible tubes 72 and 82 integrally. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. 13, the first flexible tube 91 and the second flexible tube 92 are separately formed, and the second flexible tube 91 is provided in the middle of the first flexible tube 91. The tube 92 may be joined to form the junction tube 90. The first flexible tube 91 has a through-hole 91a penetrating from the outer peripheral surface to the inner peripheral surface at a position where a portion forming the gas supply tube 73 is in contact with a base end portion of a portion forming the air / liquid supply tube 28. The second flexible tube 92 is joined to one end 92a by closing the through hole 91a. As a method of joining the first flexible tube 91 and the second flexible tube 92, for example, by ultrasonic welding or the like, the periphery of the through hole 91a of the first flexible tube 91 and the second flexible tube 92 are One end 92a is welded. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and for example, the first flexible tube 91 and the second flexible tube 92 may be joined by bonding using an adhesive.

  In addition, as a method for reinforcing the junction tube of each of the above embodiments, first, as shown in FIG. 14A, the second flexibility, which is a coupling portion between the first flexible tube 71 and the second flexible tube 72. The periphery of one end 72 a of the tube 72 is covered with a heat shrinkable tube 95. Next, as shown in FIG. 14B, the heat shrinkable tube 95 is brought into close contact with the first flexible tube 71 and the second flexible tube 72 by heating. Thereby, the coupling | bond part of the 1st flexible tube 71 and the 2nd flexible tube 72 is reinforced, and it can prevent separating. As the material of the heat shrinkable tube 95, for example, tetrafluoroethylene / perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer (PFA) or tetrafluoroethylene / hexafluoropropylene copolymer (FEP) is used.

  Further, as a reinforcement of the coupling portion, as shown in FIG. 15, the periphery of one end 72 a of the second flexible tube 72 may be covered with a metal coil 96. Furthermore, an adhesive may be applied to the surface and gaps of the coated metal coil 96 to adhere to the first flexible tube 71 and the second flexible tube 72.

  In each of the above embodiments, the first flexible tubes 71, 81, 91 form the air / liquid feeding pipe 28 and the gas supply pipe 73, and the second flexible tubes 72, 82, 92 are the liquid supply pipe 74. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the first flexible tube forms the air / liquid feeding tube 28 and the liquid supply tube 74, and the second flexible tube serves as the gas supply tube 73. May be formed. In this case, since the merging tube forms the air / liquid feeding pipe 28 and the liquid supply pipe 74 from the single first flexible tube 71, it is possible to smoothly feed the liquid. It is suitable for endoscopes for the large intestine that frequently perform liquid feeding operations. In each of the above embodiments, the first and second flexible tubes are directly connected to the cylinder 20a. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the first and second flexible tubes are interposed between the cylinder 20a. You may connect via another tube.

  In each of the above embodiments, it is preferable to use any of polytetrafluoroethylene, porous polytetrafluoroethylene, and tetrafluoroethylene / perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer as the material of the first and second flexible tubes. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is formed from any of polyethylene, polypropylene, polyetherimide, urethane rubber, silicon rubber, and fluorine rubber, for example.

  Moreover, in each said embodiment, although the example which has the 1st and 2nd flexible tube from which a physical property differs as a confluence | merging tube is demonstrated, this invention is not restricted to this, Three pieces from which a physical property differs The structure which has the above flexible tubes may be sufficient. In this case, for example, the gas supply pipe 73, the liquid supply pipe 74, and the air / liquid supply pipe 28 may be formed of flexible tubes having different physical properties, and these may be joined to form a merged tube.

  In each of the above embodiments, an electronic endoscope that observes an image obtained by imaging a state of the body of a subject using a camera unit is described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can also be applied to an endoscope that employs an optical image guide to observe the state of the body of a subject.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above. However, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims. It can be modified and changed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Electronic endoscope 16 Insertion part 16a Tip part 16b Bending part 16c Flexible part 17 Hand operation part 27 Air supply liquid supply nozzle 28 Air supply liquid supply pipe 37 Observation window 51 Bending operation wire 70, 80, 90 Junction tubes 71, 81 , 91 First flexible tube 72, 82, 92 Second flexible tube 73 Gas supply pipe 74 Liquid supply pipe

Claims (7)

In order from the distal end, an endoscope insertion portion having a distal end portion, a bending portion, and a flexible portion,
A fluid ejection nozzle provided at the tip, for ejecting gas and liquid;
In order to supply gas and liquid from the external air / liquid feeding device to the fluid jet nozzle, a gas supply pipe, a liquid supply pipe, and an air / liquid feeding pipe formed by merging these are integrally formed and have physical properties. A merging tube having two different types of flexible tubes;
Equipped with a,
The merging tube has a first flexible tube that forms the gas supply pipe and the air / liquid feeding pipe, and a second flexible tube that forms the liquid supply pipe,
The first flexible tube is less flexible than the second flexible tube,
An endoscope insertion portion in which one end of the second flexible tube is coupled to the middle of the first flexible tube . The endoscope insertion portion according to claim 1, wherein the first flexible tube is formed to be thicker or larger in diameter than the second flexible tube . The insertion portion for an endoscope according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a joint portion of the first and second flexible tubes is covered with a heat shrinkable tube . The insertion portion for an endoscope according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a coupling portion between the first and second flexible tubes is covered with a metal coil . Equipped with an air / liquid button that switches between gas and liquid injection,
One end of the first flexible tube is connected to the fluid ejection nozzle,
The endoscope insertion according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the other ends of the first flexible tube and the second flexible tube are connected to a cylinder constituting an air / liquid feeding button. Department. The junction tube is formed of any of polytetrafluoroethylene, porous polytetrafluoroethylene, tetrafluoroethylene / perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyetherimide, urethane rubber, silicon rubber, and fluororubber. The insertion part for endoscopes according to any one of claims 1 to 5 .   The endoscope insertion portion according to any one of claims 1 to 6, a hand operation portion connected to the endoscope insertion portion, and a bending operation member for performing a bending operation of the bending portion. Endoscope equipped.

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