JPH0242244Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] This invention relates to an endoscope curvature operating device that controls the curvature of the distal end of an insertion section inserted into an observation target.

[Conventional technology]

As is well known, endoscopes are widely used to observe the inside of an object to be observed, such as the inside of a body cavity such as the stomach or intestines, or the inside of an equipment cavity such as an aircraft engine. One form of such an endoscope is to freely direct the tip of the insertion section inserted into the observation target area in a desired direction so that the inside of the observation target area can be seen everywhere. Some are known that are configured to be curved. In addition, the bending operation device in this type of endoscope includes an operation knob attached to a rotation shaft provided in a protruding manner from the operation section at the hand, which is connected to the proximal end side of the insertion section. This is done by rotating the . In other words, known bending operation devices include the device described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 49-25505 and the device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 54-45988 filed by the applicant of this patent. Are known. The endoscope bending operation device described in each of these publications has a locking state in which the distal end of the insertion section can be held in a desired curved shape when controlling the bending, and a locking state in which the distal end of the insertion section can be held in a desired curved shape, and a locking state in which this state can be released to freely control the bending. It is configured so that it can be switched to a free state. The above-mentioned locked state is necessary, for example, when a camera is attached to the eyepiece of an endoscope to perform operations such as recording a photograph or cleaning an observation site. In addition, it is well known that the free state is necessary in order for the tip of the insertion tube to freely curve along the winding insertion path when the insertion tube is extracted from the observation target area, and is necessary for practical use. has been made into

[Problem to be solved]

By the way, the locked state of the bending operation device in the endoscope known so far is due to frictional engagement, as shown in the above-mentioned publications, and the operation knob is rotated against the frictional engagement force. It is in a state where it can be rotated.

Therefore, with the bending operation devices known so far, if you want to maintain the bending shape at that point when you release your hand from the operation knob, you must operate it in a locked state. It has the disadvantage of being heavy. Now, if we consider the case of performing a bending operation in a free state, it is true that there is an advantage of being able to operate easily, but the operation knob can be adjusted depending on the elasticity of the tip of the operation section or the external force applied to the tip of the insertion section, such as the internal abutment force within the observation target. There is a drawback that the curvature state changes when the hand is removed, and the actual situation is that it is insufficient as an endoscope curvature operating device that is particularly desired to be able to be operated with one hand.

Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks and difficulties, this invention has been developed to restrain the rotation of the operation knob that curves the tip of the insertion section inserted into the observation target area when the rotation operation is stopped. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bending operation device for an endoscope that can be freely rotated.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, this invention has a rotating shaft as a driving source for bending the tip of the insertion section, which is connected to the proximal side of the insertion section that is inserted into the observation target part and whose tip is curved. A lock means is provided to be rotatable through a cylindrical body, and an operating knob is attached to the rotating shaft so as to be rotatable and movable up and down. The bending operation device for an endoscope is provided with a release means for releasing the device, and the rotating shaft is provided with a transmission member that rotates integrally with the shaft and has a hole formed in a portion extending in the radial direction of the shaft, A transmission shaft that is loosely inserted into the hole of the transmission member is fixed to the inner surface of the operation knob, and one side is in surface contact with the circumferential surface of the cylinder inside the cylinder, and the other side is connected to the circumferential side of the transmission member via a spring member. A lock member is provided, and a release member is provided on the inner surface of the operation knob to release the contact between the lock member and the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder when the insertion knob is operated.

[Effect]

In this invention, when the operation knob is rotated in either direction, the transmission shaft fixed to the inner surface of the operation knob collides with the inner peripheral surface of the hole in the transmission member, thereby rotating the transmission member in one direction. At this time, a release member provided on the inner surface of the operating knob releases the surface contact between the lock member and the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder. By releasing the contact between one surface of the locking member and the inner circumferential surface of the cylinder, the transmission member can be rotated in a desired direction with a light operating force. When the transmission member is rotated, the rotating shaft is rotated and the distal end of the insertion portion is curved. Furthermore, when the rotation of the operating knob is stopped, one surface of the locking member again comes into surface contact with the inner circumferential surface of the cylinder due to the force of the spring member, and this frictional force keeps the rotating shaft in the locked state.

〔Example〕

Preferred embodiments of this invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

A rotating shaft 4 serving as a driving source for bending the tip of the insertion portion 1 is connected to the operating portion 2 connected to the proximal end side of the insertion portion 1 (see FIG. 5), which is inserted into the observation target region and whose tip is curved. It is rotatably provided via a cylindrical body 5. The rotating shaft 4 is a cylindrical body 5 fixed to the operating section 2.
The distal end side of the cylindrical body 5 is fixed to the fixed machine frame 3. A pulley 4A is provided at the lower end of the rotating shaft 4, and a bending operation wire (not shown) is wound around this pulley 4A. The rotating shaft 4 is provided with a transmission member 6 that rotates together with the shaft 4 and has a hole 6A formed in a portion extending in the radial direction of the shaft 4. This transmission member 6 is provided so as to be located within the large-diameter upper end portion 5A of the cylindrical body 5. The planar shape of the transmission member 6 is, as shown in FIG. 2, shaped like an equilateral triangle with the corners cut off, and a square hole 6B is formed in the center thereof. An operating knob 7 is attached to the upper end of the rotating shaft 4 so as to be rotatable and movable up and down relative to the rotating shaft 4. A transmission shaft 8 is provided on the inner surface of the operation knob 7, and is inserted loosely into the hole 6A of the transmission member 6. When the operation knob 7 is operated, a lock member 10 and a large-diameter upper end portion 5A of the cylinder 5 are connected to each other. A release member 9 is provided for releasing contact with the peripheral surface 5B. A locking member 10 is provided within the large-diameter upper end 5A of the cylindrical body 5. The locking member 10 has one surface in surface contact with the inner peripheral surface 5B and the other surface connected to the peripheral surface of the transmission member 6 via a spring member 11. In addition,
A click shaft 12 is interposed at the location where the operating knob 7 and the rotation shaft 4 are attached. This click shaft 12 is attached to the rotating shaft 4, and balls 13 built into the insertion knob 7 are locked into a plurality of grooves 12A formed in the click shaft 12 by the force of a spring 14. It's becoming like that. The operating knob 7 is movable up and down with respect to the click shaft 12. Further, the operating knob 7 is configured to be rotatable with respect to the click shaft 12. The engagement between the ball 13 and the groove 12A serves as a positioning means at each position when the operating knob 7 is moved up and down.
A retaining member 15 is fixed to the upper end of the rotating shaft 4 to prevent the operating knob 7 from coming off.

To attach the locking member 10 and the transmission member 6, as shown in FIGS. Both ends of a spring member 11 made of a leaf spring are fastened to both ends of the other side of the lock member 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the locking member 10 has a planar shape approximately in the shape of an inverted trapezoid when the inner circumferential surface 5B side of the cylinder 5 is the base, and one surface on the short base side is formed in an arc shape. It has been done. This arcuate surface, that is, one surface 10A of the locking member 10, is configured to frictionally engage with the inner circumferential surface 5B of the large diameter upper end portion 5A of the cylinder body 5. Therefore, a member having a high coefficient of friction (for example, cork, etc.) may be attached to this arcuate surface 10A. Both sides 10B and 10C of lock member 10
are formed in a tapered shape that becomes spaced apart from each other as the distance from the inner circumferential surface 5B increases. One arcuate surface 10A of the lock member 10 is constantly pressed against the inner circumferential surface 5B by the spring force of the spring member 11. The release member 9 of the locking member 10 configured in this manner is in contact with both tapered side surfaces 10B and 10C, respectively. In this embodiment, the lock member 1
0 was used, and the release members 9 were provided so as to contact both side surfaces 10B and 10C, so a total of 6
A book release member 9 is provided to protrude downward from the inner surface of the operating knob 7. As shown in FIG. 1, the release member 9 has a truncated conical shape on the side closer to the inner surface of the operating knob 7, and the distal end thereof has a cylindrical shape with the same diameter.

The rotating shaft 4 has a cylindrical shape as a whole, but only the portion into which the transmission member 6 fits is formed into a prismatic shape. Therefore, the rotation of the rotating shaft 4 and the rotation of the transmission member 6 are performed integrally.

The state shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is that of the lock member 1.
This shows a state in which the arcuate surface 10A of the cylinder 5 is frictionally engaged with the inner circumferential surface 5B of the cylinder 5, that is, a locked state, but in order to release this locked state and rotate the rotating shaft 4, a special No operation is necessary, and this can be done by rotating the operating knob 7 in either direction. That is, when the operation knob 7 is rotated in either direction, the release member 9 provided on the operation knob 7 is released.
moves, and as shown in FIG.
The arc-shaped one surface 10A of is separated from the inner circumferential surface 5B against the spring force of the spring member 11. At this time, the transmission shaft 8 collides with the inner peripheral surface of the hole 6A, and if the transmission shaft 8 is further rotated together with the operation knob 7, the transmission member 6
rotates, and this transmission member 6 rotates the rotating shaft 4. The example shown in FIG. 3 shows a state in which the operating knob 7 is rotated counterclockwise in the drawing. Even when the operating knob 7 is rotated in the opposite direction to that shown in FIG. 3, the release member 9 can release the lock member 10 from the locked state.

The operating knob 7 can also be pushed downward as well as rotated in either direction. That is, when the operating knob 7 is lowered relative to the click shaft 12 as shown in FIG. It is possible to release the contact with the inner circumferential surface 5B and bring the rotating shaft 4 into a free state. In this state, it becomes easy to extract the insertion section 1 from within the observation target section.

In this invention, the operating knob 7 is attached to the rotating shaft 4 so as to be rotatable and movable up and down, and the locking means for keeping the rotating shaft 4 and the operating knob 7 in an immovable state and the locking means for releasing the lock when an operating force is applied to the operating knob 7 are provided. A lock member 10 and a leaf spring 11 are provided as the lock means, and a release member 9 is provided as the release means. It goes without saying that the shapes of the locking member 10 and the spring member 11 serving as the locking means are not limited to those in the embodiment described above, and the number of them is not limited to the number in the embodiment. Although a leaf spring is used as the spring member 11, it is of course possible to use a spring member other than the leaf spring. In addition, as a release means, a release member 9 made of a rod whose base end has a truncated conical shape and whose distal end has a cylindrical shape is provided, but the release member 9 is not limited to such a shape. Of course. This release member 9 has both sides 10B and 1 of the lock member 10.
0C and by sliding this tapered surface, the locking state (frictional engagement) between the locking member 10 and the cylinder 5 is released against the spring force of the spring member 11. It is also possible to form a guide groove or the like in the locking member 10 so that the release member 9 moves along the guide groove.

〔effect〕

As explained above, according to this invention, a transmission member that rotates integrally with the rotating shaft and has a hole formed in a portion extending in the radial direction of the shaft is provided on the rotating shaft, and the transmission member is provided on the inner surface of the operation knob. A transmission shaft that is loosely inserted into the hole is fixed, and a locking member is provided in the cylinder, one surface of which is in surface contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder, and the other surface of which is connected to the peripheral surface of the transmission member via a spring member,
A release member is provided on the inner surface of the operation knob to release the contact between the lock member and the inner circumferential surface of the cylinder when the operation knob is operated, so the lock is automatically locked when the operation is stopped, and the lock is released during the operation. When the hand is released, the curved shape of the tip is reliably maintained, and during operation, the tip can be freely bent with minimal rotational force, making it light and easy to operate with one hand. Furthermore, since the operating knob can be pushed down to a completely free state, the insertion section can be safely extracted from the observation target region.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a sectional view including the operating knob along the line of Figure 2, Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view not including the operating knob, Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the operating knob in a rotated state, and Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the operating knob in a rotated state. This figure is a sectional view similar to FIG. 1 with the operation knob lowered, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view schematically showing the entire endoscope. 1... Insertion section, 2... Operation section, 4... Rotation shaft,
5... Cylindrical body, 6... Transmission member, 6A... Hole, 7...
...Operation knob, 8...Transmission member, 9...Release member,
10... Lock member, 11... Spring member.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A rotary shaft as a driving source for bending the tip of the insertion portion is connected to the operating portion connected to the proximal end side of the insertion portion inserted into the observation target part and the tip of the insertion portion is bent through the cylindrical body. a locking means for immobilizing the rotating shaft and the operating knob, and a release for releasing the lock when an operating force is applied to the operating knob; The bending operation device for an endoscope is provided with a means for controlling the bending of an endoscope, and a transmission member is provided on the rotating shaft and rotates integrally with the shaft and has a hole formed in a portion extending in the radial direction of the shaft, and the transmission member is provided on the inner surface of the operating knob. A transmission shaft that is loosely inserted into the hole of the transmission member is fixed, and a locking member is provided in the cylinder, one surface of which is in surface contact with the peripheral surface of the cylinder, and the other surface of which is connected to the peripheral surface of the transmission member via a spring member. A bending operation device for an endoscope, characterized in that a release member is provided on the inner surface of the operation knob to release the contact between the lock member and the inner circumferential surface of the cylinder when the operation knob is operated.