JPH02114929A - Curving operation device of endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the operability of curving operation by a method wherein a part of the main body of an operation part is constituted in a freely bendable manner and the bending part of the operation part is bent by hand grasping said operation part to push and pull an operation wire and the curved part of an insert part is bent in the direction corresponding to the operating wire. CONSTITUTION:The curved part 7 of an insert part 3 is curved by operating the operation wires 11, 12 inserted in the insert part 3 and at least a part of the main body 3 of the operation part 2 is constituted in a freely bendable manner. The guide means 21, 22 for guiding the corresponding operation wires 11, 12 along the inner surface of said curved part are provided. The end parts of the operation wires 11, 12 guided by the guide means 21, 22 are fixed to the fixing jigs 24, 25 of the part on this side of said curved part. That is, the curved part can be curved while said curved part is grasped by the hand of an operator grasping the main body 4 of the operation part 2. Therefore, curving operation is simple and easy.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an endoscope bending operation device that remotely bends a bending section provided in an insertion section.

[Prior Art] As known from Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-192134, a general bending operation device for an endoscope has a mechanism for pushing and pulling the bending operation wire installed in the operation section, and an operation knob or a mechanism for driving the bending operation wire. A control lever is provided to protrude outside the control section, and by operating the control knob or the control lever, a drive mechanism within the control section is moved to push and pull the bending operation wire, thereby bending the bending section of the insertion section. There is.

Furthermore, as known from Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 57-123101, a flexible operation bar is provided on the operation section of the endoscope, and a bending operation wire is connected to this operation bar to bend the operation bar. A method of pushing and pulling the bending operation wire has also been proposed.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, when handling medical equipment, cleaning and disinfecting the equipment is fundamental to preventing infection.

As known from Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-192134, a general endoscope bending operation device is provided with an operation knob or an operation lever protruding from the operation section thereof. In this type of device, it is necessary to make the rotating shaft of the operating knob or operating lever and its bearing part waterproof, but this structure requires a complicated structure. Furthermore, the surface of the operating part that rotates the operating knob or operating lever and the back side of the operating knob or operating lever have relatively complex unevenness and grooves, making it difficult to clean the operating part that has been contaminated with the subject's body fluids. Not to mention, it is difficult to even clean it easily.

Furthermore, as known from Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 57-123101, a flexible operation bar is provided on the operation section of the endoscope, and by bending this operation bar, the bending operation wire can be bent.
Push/pull operation methods have solved the above problems to some extent, but it is difficult to simultaneously operate the operation bar with the hand holding the endoscope's operation section, and the bending operation must be performed with another hand. It was necessary and the operability was poor.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and aims to provide an endoscope bending operation device that is easy to clean and disinfect, has a hygienic structure, and is easy to bend and has good operability. Our goal is to provide the following.

[Means and Effects for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an endoscope bending operation device for bending a bending portion of an insertion portion using an operation wire inserted through the insertion portion. At least a part of the main body of the is configured to be bendable, and guide means for guiding the corresponding operating wire is provided along the inner surface of the bent portion, and the end of the operating wire guided by the guide means is It is fixed at the proximal side of the bent part.

When bending the curved section of the insertion section of this endoscope, by bending the curved section with the hand holding the operating section, the operating wire is pushed and pulled, and can be bent in a corresponding direction.

[Embodiment] FIGS. 1 and 2 show a first embodiment of the present invention. This endoscope 1 includes an operating section 2 and an insertion section 3 connected thereto. The operation unit 2 has a cylindrical main body 4 that can be grasped.
An eyepiece 5 is provided at the rear end of the main body 4. In addition, the insertion section 2 includes, from the distal end side, a distal constituting section 6,
It is constructed by sequentially connecting a curved part 7 and a flexible part 8. A pair of bending operation wires 11 and 12 are arranged vertically and vertically and are inserted into the insertion portion 3. Each of the bending operation wires 11 and 12 is guided by guide tubes 13 and 14 made of tightly wound coils disposed over the flexible portion 8 and the distal end portion of the operation portion 2, respectively. Furthermore, this upper and lower bending operation wire 11
．． The distal end side of the cylindrical member 12 is guided within the curved portion 7 along the top and bottom of its inner surface by means not shown, and each distal end thereof is separately attached and fixed to the top and bottom of the distal end of the curved portion 7, respectively. By pulling one of the operating wires 11, 12, the bending portion 7 can be bent in that direction.

At this time, the other operating wire 11, 12 is let out.

The main body 4 of the operating section 2 is configured to be bendable. That is, a plurality of curved parts 15 are arranged in the longitudinal axis direction of the operating part 2, and adjacent curved parts 15 are connected to each other by pins 16 so as to rotate in the vertical direction. An elastic tube 18 is provided on the outer periphery of the core material 17 made up of the plurality of curved portions 15.
is fitted in a watertight manner. As a result, the main body 4 of the operating section 2 can be bent in the vertical direction,
In this embodiment, the entire portion is constructed as a bent portion.

Moreover, the guide tube 13 mentioned above is attached to the most advanced curved portion 15.
A support frame 19 for fixing the proximal end of 14 is attached. Further, guide ring portions 21 and 22 are formed on the upper and lower portions of the inner surface of each curved portion 15, and these guide ring portions 21 and 22 allow the main body 4 of the operating portion 2 to be
It constitutes a guide means for separately guiding the operating wires 11, 12 along the inner surfaces of the upper and lower valleys. Further, the proximal ends of the operating wires 11 and 12 guided by this guide means are fixed at the proximal portion of the operating section 2. In this embodiment, it is fixed to fixtures 24, 25 attached to the inner surface of the proximal-most curved portion 15.

Therefore, in this endoscope 1, the curved portion 7 of the insertion section 3
When bending, use the hand holding the main body 4 of the operation section 2 to bend the main body 4 itself so that, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, both ends are on the lower side and the center is on the upper side. This causes the upper side to bend outward and stretch. Therefore, this bending operation wire 11 is pulled. Further, the lower side becomes the bent inner side and the operating wire 12 is fed out. Then, by pushing and pulling the operating wires 11 and 12, the curved section 7 of the insertion section 3 is curved so that its distal end side faces downward.

Furthermore, when the main body 4 of the operating section 2 is bent in the opposite direction to that shown in FIG. 2, the curved section 7 of the insertion section 3 is curved so that its distal end side faces upward.

According to such a configuration, the operator can directly perform a bending operation while holding the main body 4 of the operating section 2 with his/her hand. Therefore, the bending operability is good. Further, since the curved operating member does not have a shape that protrudes from the main body 4 of the operating section 2, cleaning and disinfection can be performed reliably and sufficiently.

Further, it is easy to provide waterproofing means for the operating section 2, and sufficient watertightness can be achieved.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the invention. This embodiment does not differ from the first embodiment in its basic configuration, but differs only in the following points. That is, the positions of the bending operation wires 11 and 12 are vertically switched between the operation section 2 and the insertion section 3. The operating wire 11, which is arranged on the upper side inside the insertion section 3, is arranged on the lower side in the operating section 2. Furthermore, the operating wire 12, which is arranged biased toward the lower side inside the insertion section 3, is arranged at the upper side in the operating section 2.

In this case, the direction in which the main body 4 of the operating section 2 is bent is the same as the direction in which the bending section 7 of the insertion section 3 is bent. Therefore, the bending operation direction and the bending direction of the bending portion 7 match, making it easy to operate. The rest is the same as that of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the main body 4 of the operating section 2 is configured to be bendable vertically and horizontally, and is provided with operating wires 11, 12 for vertically bending operations, and operating wires 31, 32 for horizontally bending operations.

In other words, when the plurality of curved parts 15 constituting the core material 17 of the main body 4 of the operating section 2 are connected in parallel in the longitudinal axis direction of the operating section 2, it is possible to not only rotate in the vertical direction but also to rotate in the horizontal direction. are also connected so that they can rotate. Thus, the core material 17 made up of the plurality of curved portions 15 can be bent vertically and horizontally. Note that an elastic tube 18 is fitted around the outer periphery of the core material 17 in the same manner as described above, so that the core material 17 is configured to be watertight.

The main body 4 in this embodiment is configured as a bending portion that can be bent in vertical and horizontal directions.

In addition, in the same manner as in the first embodiment, four operating wires 11, 12 on the upper, lower, left and right sides are connected to the operating section 2 and the insertion section 3.
, 31, 32 are inserted and arranged, and each operation wire 11,
12, 31, and 32 are guided separately within the main body 4 of the operating section 2 by respective guide ring sections 21, 22, and 33. 34 formed on the upper, lower, left, and right portions of the inner surface of each curved section 15 . In other words, each guide ring part 21.22, 33.34 is connected to each operating wire 11°12.3
1.32. Also,
Operating wires 11, 1 guided by this guide means
The proximal ends of 2, 31, and 32 are fixed at the proximal side of the operating section 2, respectively.

Therefore, in this endoscope 1, the curved portion 7 of the insertion section 3
When bending the main body 4 of the operation part 2, use the hand holding the main body 4 to bend the main body 4 itself. However, if you bend the main body 4 itself in the vertical and horizontal directions instead of the two directions up and down, it will follow the direction as described above. It can be bent.

5 and 6 show a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the core material 1 in the main body 4 of the operating section 2 is
The configuration of the curved portion 15 forming part 7 is different from that of the above embodiment. That is, the curved portion 15 of this embodiment has a spherical protrusion 41 on one side of each of the adjacent ends, and a support recess 4 having a spherical inner surface for receiving the protrusion 41 on the other side.
2, which are coupled together and rotatably connected. The protrusion 41 and the support recess 42 are provided on a disk 43 as shown in FIG. 6, and the disk 43 has three holes 44 through which the three operating wires 11, 12, 31 are inserted separately. has been done.

According to this configuration, the main body 4 can be curved in any direction such as up, down, right, left, etc., and can be applied to a device similar to the third embodiment.

7 to 9 show a fifth embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment shows a configuration in which the image of the endoscope 1 is observed with a television camera. A flexible tube 51 for inserting and guiding the image guide is connected to the proximal end of the operating section 2 in the endoscope 1, and the extending end of the flexible tube 51 is connected to a camera control unit 52 containing a television camera. A connector 53 is provided for this purpose. Further, a light guide cable 54 branches off from the connector 53.

This light guide cable 54 is connected to a light source unit 55. In addition, the camera control unit 5
A monitor 56 is connected to 2.

Further, the configuration of the bending operation device in the endoscope 1 is configured similarly to that of the above embodiment. That is, when the main body 4 of the operating section 2 is bent, the curved section 7 of the insertion section 3 follows this bending.
can be curved.

Furthermore, in the case of this embodiment, since the user can view the monitor 56 which is separate from the operating section 2, the problem of the eyepiece section 5 moving is eliminated. The rest is the same as that of the above embodiment.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the third embodiment, the bending operation can be performed similarly even if four operating wires are used, instead of three operating wires. Further, the operating wire may be different in the operating portion and in the insertion portion, and may be connected to each other.

Furthermore, the bent portion formed on the main body of the operating section is not limited to the entire main body, but may be a part thereof.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform a bending operation while holding the main body of the operating portion with the operator's hand. Therefore, it is possible to provide an endoscope bending operation device whose bending operation is simple and has good operability. Further, since the curved operating member does not have a shape that protrudes from the main body of the operating section, cleaning and disinfection of the operating section can be easily, reliably and thoroughly performed. Also,
The waterproof structure of the operating section can also be simplified, simplifying the configuration and improving its waterproof performance.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of an endoscope according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the endoscope according to the first embodiment of the present invention in a state where a bending operation is performed. FIG. 3 is a sectional side view of an endoscope according to a second embodiment of the present invention in a state in which a bending operation is performed, and FIG. 4 is a core material of an operating section in an endoscope according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing the configuration of the operating section in the endoscope according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a side view showing the configuration of the operating section of the endoscope according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a core component of an operating section in a mirror; FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a system of an endoscope according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention;
FIGS. 8 and 9 are respectively explanatory diagrams of the bending operation of the endoscope according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. 1... Endoscope, 2... Operation section, 3... Insertion section, 4
... Main body, 7... Curved part, 11.12... Operation wire, 15... Curved part, 21.22... Guide ring part, 24.25... Fixture, 31.32 ...Operation wire.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a bending operation device for an endoscope that bends a bending portion of an insertion portion using an operation wire inserted through the insertion portion, at least a portion of the main body of the operation portion is configured to be bendable, and an inner surface of the bending portion is configured to bend. A bending operation device for an endoscope, characterized in that a guide means is provided for guiding the corresponding operation wire along the guide means, and an end portion of the operation wire guided by the guide means is fixed at a proximal portion of the bending portion. .