JPH02271817A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely curve a curved tube part in its two directions and other two directions by constituting a curved tube of an insertion part of a part formed by connecting a curving piece for curving it only in four directions, and a part formed by connecting a curving piece for curving it in two directions. CONSTITUTION:To a first part 14 of a curved tube 11, an up-and-down curving piece 16 and a left and right curving piece 17 are attached pivotally and alternately, and a second part 15 is constituted of many up-and-down curving pieces 18 for turning in the vertical direction. By operating an up-and-down angle knob 3 and bringing a pair of operating wires 21 in the vertical direction to push/pull operation, a curved tube part 8 can be curved in the vertical direction, and in the same way, by operating a left and right angle knob 4, the curved tube part 8 can be curved in the left and right directions. When the curved tube part 8 is curved in the vertical direction, it can be obstructed that the part 14 of the curved tube 11 is twisted in the left and right directions by a resistance of a thick part 13a. Also, the curved tube part 8 can obtain a curvature angle in four directions, for instance, 90 degree by the part 14, and can obtain a curvature angle in the vertical direction, for instance, >=180 degrees.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an endoscope having a curved tube section in its insertion section.

(Prior Art) Generally, an endoscope is composed of an operating section and an insertion section connected to the operating section.The insertion section is connected to the distal end of a flexible tube through a curved tube section. The bending tube part of the insertion part can be bent remotely by operating an angle knob provided on the operating part.

Furthermore, although some tubes in the insertion section can be curved in only two directions, up and down, they are generally curved in four directions, up, down, left and right. In a device that can be bent in four directions (up, down, left and right), bending pieces that curve in four directions are used in the part of the bending tube that makes up the bending tube section, and are arranged along the up, down, left and right directions within the bending tube. It is designed to bend in each direction by pushing and pulling using four operating wires. This curved tube that curves in four directions is constructed by alternately pivoting bending pieces that curve in the vertical direction and bending pieces that rotate in the left-right direction.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, in a curved pipe that curves in four directions, which is constructed by alternately pivoting a bending piece that curves in the vertical direction and a bending piece that rotates in the left-right direction, Or, when curving in the left and right direction, the two types of two curvature amounts are considered as one set.
By bending as nodes, the whole becomes curved. In other words, since it is not possible to bend for each amount of curvature,
There was a limit to reducing the radius of curvature at maximum curvature. Moreover, the curved pipe becomes longer to obtain the same maximum amount of curve.

In addition, if you want to observe the left and right parts of the proximal side, such as when observing the dorsal horn with a blue endoscope, bend the curved tube part upwards and downwards by 180 degrees or more and direct it toward the proximal side, and then An attempt is made to curve the pipe section in the left and right direction. However, since the entire curved tube section tends to curve uniformly in the left-right direction, the front end of the tube normally remains facing toward the user's hand, making it impossible to observe the left and right parts of the tube. be.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to minimize the radius of curvature when the curved pipe section is curved to its maximum, thereby making it possible to curve the curved pipe compactly. To provide an endoscope whose tube part can be reliably bent in either of these two directions or two other directions, and can be easily observed.

[Means and effects for solving the problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a curved tube in the curved tube section of the insertion section with a portion formed by connecting curved portions that curve only in four directions. , and a portion formed by connecting curved portions that are curved in two directions.

Thus, the portion of the curved pipe section that curves only in two directions can be maintained curved in those two directions and reliably curved in the other two directions. In addition, the radius of curvature when curved to its maximum can be reduced by reducing the bending pitch of the amount of curvature in the portion that curves only in two directions.

[Example] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The endoscope shown in FIG. 2 is composed of an operating section 1 and an insertion section 2. The endoscope shown in FIG. The operation section 1 is provided with a top and bottom angle knob 3, a left and right angle knob 4, an eyepiece section 5, an operation button 6 for air/water supply and suction, and a light guide cable 10 is connected thereto.

The insertion section 2 has a distal end forming section 9 provided at the distal end of a flexible tube section 7 via a curved tube section 8 . The bending tube section 8 is operated using the angle knobs 3.4 so as to be bent upward, downward, leftward and rightward, as will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 1, the curved tube section 8 is constructed by fitting a mesh tube 12 onto a curved tube 11, and covering the outer side of the mesh tube 12 with an outer skin 13 made of rubber or synthetic resin.

The curved tube 11 consists of a first portion 14 on the rear end side that curves in four directions (up, down, left and right), and a second portion 15 on the tip side that curves only in two directions, up and down. The first portion 14 is formed by alternately pivoting a vertically curved amount 16 that rotates in the vertical direction and a horizontally curved amount 17 that rotates in the left and right direction. The second portion 15 is comprised of a large number of vertically curved portions 18 that are pivotally connected to rotate only in the vertical direction.

Inside this curved pipe 11, each curve amount 16, 17.
A wire guide 19 is attached to each portion of the inner circumferential surface of 18 corresponding to the vertical and horizontal curvature directions,
An operating wire 21 is inserted through each set of wire guides 19 corresponding to each direction. The tips of these four operating wires 21 are fixed with silver solder 23A to a projecting piece 22 formed by protruding inward a part of the peripheral wall of the vertically curved amount 18 located at the most extreme end of the second portion 15. . -Operation wire 2
The proximal end of the insertion section 1 is guided to the operating section 1 through the flexible tube section 7 of the insertion section 2. A pair of operation wires 21 for vertical bending are connected to the vertical angle knob 3. A pair of left and right bending operation wires 21 are connected to the left and right angle knobs 4. By operating these angle knobs 3.4 and pushing and pulling each pair of operating wires 21, the bending tube portion 8 can be bent vertically or horizontally.

Further, the outer skin 13 has a thick wall portion 13a at a portion where it covers the first portion 14 of the curved tube 11, and a thin wall portion 13b at a portion where it covers the second portion 15 of the curve tube 11. . Therefore, the bending resistance of the first portion 14 is greater than the bending resistance of the second portion 15 due to the thick portion 13a of the outer skin 13.

The most extreme vertically curved corner 18 of the second portion 15 is attached to the main body 23 of the distal end component 9 . This tip component 9
A first mounting hole 24 and a second mounting hole 25 are bored in the main body 23 of the main body 23 . An objective lens 26 and a distal end portion of an image guide fiber 27 facing the objective lens 26 are attached to the first attachment hole 24 . A cover lens 28 and a distal end portion of a light guide fiber 29 facing the cover lens 28 are attached to the second attachment hole 25 . Each of these fibers 27 and 29 is inserted through the entire length of the insertion section 2, and the proximal end of the image guide fiber 27 is guided to the eyepiece section 5 of the operating section 1. The base end side of the light guide fiber 29 is guided to the light guide cable 10. Further, although not shown in the drawings, various built-in items such as a forceps channel tube and an air/water supply channel tube are inserted into the insertion section 2 .

According to the endoscope having such a configuration, the pair of operating wires 21 in the vertical direction can be connected by operating the vertical angle knob 3.
By pushing and pulling, the bending tube portion 8 can be bent in the vertical direction. By operating the left and right angle knobs 4 and pushing and pulling the pair of left and right operating wires 21, the bending tube section 8 is moved.
can be curved left and right.

Then, when the pair of vertical operation wires 21 are pushed and pulled to bend the bending tube section 8 in the vertical direction, the pair of left and right operation wires 21 are relaxed due to the vertical curvature. Then, the force generated by the unbalance of hardness of various internal components tends to curve the first portion 14 of the bending tube 11 in the left-right direction. However, since the outer skin 13 covering the first portion 14 is formed with a thick wall portion 13a having relatively high bending resistance, the first portion 14 is twisted in the left-right direction due to the resistance of the thick wall portion 13a. This will prevent the Therefore, the bending tube portion 8 can be accurately and reliably bent in the desired vertical direction.

Further, since the first portion 14 of the bending tube 11 is covered with the thick wall portion 13a, and the second portion 15 is covered with the thin wall portion 13b, the second portion 15 has low bending resistance when bending in the vertical direction. It begins to curve from then on and becomes compactly curved. In addition, even if the first portion 14 is slightly twisted in the left-right direction, it can be sufficiently curved in the vertical direction. Therefore, for example, in a blue endoscope, a distance can be maintained between the distal end component 9 and the stomach wall, making it easy to see the stomach wall from the front.

Further, the bending tube portion 8 can obtain a bending angle in four directions, for example, 90 degrees, by the first portion 14, and can obtain a bending angle, for example, 180 degrees or more in the vertical direction by the second portion 15.

In that case, in order to obtain a bending angle of 180 degrees or more in the vertical direction, the length of one set (bending pitch) of the entire bending tube 11 is Ll.
If the curved tube 11 is configured with the vertical curved angle 16 and the horizontal curved angle 17, the length of the curved tube 11 will become long, and for example, it will not be possible to maintain a sufficient distance from the stomach wall when observing the inside of the stomach. However, if the first portion 14 is made long enough to obtain a curving angle of 90 degrees in four directions, and the second portion 15 is made to have a longer curving angle, the upper and lower portions of the second portion 15 The dimension (refraction angle) L2 of the curved angle 18 is the dimension of the set of curved angles 16 and 17 of the first portion 14,
Since it is shorter than , the total length of the curved pipe 11 can be shortened accordingly.

Further, the length of the vertical curved angle 18 constituting the second portion 15 of the curved tube portion 8 having the above structure is short.

The distal end portion can be curved with a smaller radius of curvature as shown in FIG. 3(b) compared to the normal endoscope shown in FIG. 3(a). Therefore, in the same figure, the actual length of the tip portion indicated by L4 is shorter than the length 3 of the tip portion of a normal endoscope, so when observing blue color, for example, it can be curved compactly. You can easily observe the blue color by keeping a sufficient distance from it.

Furthermore, in the above configuration, the curved tube 11 in the curved tube section 8 of the insertion section 2 is curved in four directions by the curved section 16.
Since the first part 14 formed by connecting the curved parts 17 and the second part 15 formed by connected the curved parts 18 that curve only in two directions are connected, the following effects are also obtained. In other words, if the second portion 15 of the curved pipe portion 8 is kept curved in the vertical direction and the first portion 14 is directed in the left-right direction, the second portion 15 can be reliably swung left and right. . This is because only the first portion can be curved left and right without curving the second portion 15 left and right.

For this reason, when you want to observe the left and right parts of the proximal side, such as when observing the dorsal horn with a blue endoscope, the distal end portion of the curved tube part 8 is curved vertically by 180 degrees or more, and the proximal side is , and then try to bend the bending tube section 8 in the left-right direction, but even with this operation, the entire bending tube section 8 does not curve uniformly in the left-right direction, and the hand side Since only the first portion 14 of the device is curved left and right, the second portion 15 on the distal end side can be directed toward the left and right portions on the proximal side, and the left and right portions can be easily observed. Therefore, by this action, the front end of the end forming portion 9 can be directed in a desired direction without difficulty and reliably.

In the above embodiment, the second portion 15 of the curved tube 11 is curved in the vertical direction to prevent the curved tube 11 from curving in the left-right direction during the vertical bending operation. The portion 15 may be structured to curve in the left-right direction to prevent it from curving in the vertical direction when curving in the left-right direction.

Further, the thick portion 13a of the outer skin 13 may be formed to cover not only the first portion 14 of the curved pipe 11 but also a part of the portion that covers the second portion 15. It is also possible to make a part of the part 14 of 1 the thick part 13a instead of the whole part 14.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the curved tube in the curved tube portion of the insertion portion has a portion formed by connecting curved portions that curve only in four directions, and a curved portion that curves in two directions. Since the pipe is constructed by connecting the parts, the part of the curved pipe part that curves only in two directions can be reliably curved in the other two directions while maintaining the curved state in those two directions.

In addition, the bending pitch of the bending part of the part that is curved in two directions is smaller than the bending pitch of the bending part of the part that is curved only in four directions, and the total length of the bending pipe required to obtain the same maximum amount of bending is accordingly reduced. It can be shortened, and the portion that is curved in two directions can be curved compactly.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a curved part, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an endoscope, and FIGS. It is an explanatory view when a curved part with an endoscope is curved. 2... Insertion part, 8... Curved pipe part, 11... Curved pipe, 13... Outer skin, 13a... Thick wall part, 13b...
Thin wall portion, 14...first portion, 15...second portion, 16°17.18...curved portion, 21...operation wire. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Jun Tsuboi Figure 2b (b) Figure

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A part formed by connecting curved pieces that curve in 4 directions, and 2
What is claimed is: 1. An endoscope comprising: a bending tube formed by connecting sections formed by connecting bending pieces for curving in a direction; and a bending tube section having an outer skin covering the bending tube. (2) At least a part of the outer skin that covers the portions that curve in the four directions is made thicker than the outer skin that covers the portions that curve in two directions.
The endoscope described in section.