JPH0257229A - Curving apparatus of endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the relaxation removing function of a curving operation wire without especially making the moving mechanism of the curving operation wire in large-scale by loosely moving a moving member by connecting the curving operation wire to the moving member loosely moving along the moving direction of the rotor of a vibration wave motor within said rotor. CONSTITUTION:A moving member 32 loosely moving along the moving direction of the rotor 25 of a vibration wave motor 24 is provided in said rotor 25 and a slackening absorbing mechanism 33, which is constituted so that a curving operation wire 2 is connected to said moving member 32 to allow the moving member 32 to loosely move in the rotor 25 and the slackening of a curving operation wire 22 is absorbed, is provided. When the slackening of the curving operation wire 22 is generated with the push/pull operation of the curving operation wire 22 at the time of the curving operation of a curved part 7, the moving member 32 is allowed to loosely move along the moving direction of the rotor of the vibration wave motor 24 in said rotor with the movement of the curving operation wire 22 on the slackening side to absorb the slackening of the curving operation wire 22 and the generation of the bending or buckling of the curving operation wire 22 is prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an improvement of an endoscope bending device that bends a bending portion using a vibration wave motor.

[Prior Art] As a conventional bending operation structure for bending a bending portion of an endoscope body, there is a structure as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 106126/1983. This is equipped with a small, high-torque vibration wave motor such as a linear ultrasonic motor as a drive motor that pulls a bending operation wire that bends the bending portion of the endoscope body. In this case, the vibration wave motor for driving the bending operation wire has a substantially U-shaped fitting member made of an elastic vibrator disposed inside the cylindrical exterior part, and the bending operation wire is mounted inside the fitting member. A large number of electrostrictive elements are arranged in parallel at predetermined intervals along the axial direction on each of the three planes formed on the outer periphery of the fitting member, and the electrostrictive elements are inserted into the fitting member. The bending operation wire, which is held in frictional contact with the fitting member, is driven in the axial direction by generating a so-called traveling vibration wave, which is a surface wave accompanied by a longitudinal wave and a transverse wave, in the fitting member.

Further, during bending operation of the bending portion, the bending operation wire may loosen as the bending operation wire is pushed and pulled, and there is a risk that the bending operation wire may be bent or buckled within the wire insertion channel. Therefore, Jikoko Sho 51-4303
No. 0 discloses a device in which a wire slack remover is provided and the slack in the bending operation wire is removed by the slack remover.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] A bending portion is bent by pushing and pulling a bending operation wire using a vibration wave motor such as a linear ultrasonic motor as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 106126/1982. When the slack remover shown in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 51-43030 is attached to the bending device of this configuration, it is conceivable to arrange the slack remover between the linear ultrasonic motor and the bending operation wire. . However, if a separate slack remover is attached to a linear ultrasonic motor in parallel to form a drive mechanism that drives the bending operation wire, the non-flexible portion becomes long. However, when the drive mechanism for the bending operation wire is disposed within the insertion section of the endoscope, for example, at the rear end of the bending section, there is a problem that the insertability of the insertion section becomes poor.

Further, when the drive mechanism for the bending operation wire is disposed within the operating section of the endoscope, the length of the entire operating section becomes large, resulting in a problem that the operability of the operating section is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and provides an endoscope bending device that can provide a function for removing loosening of a bending operation wire without particularly increasing the size of a drive mechanism for the bending operation wire. The purpose is to

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a moving member 32 that moves freely along the moving direction of the rotor 25 inside the rotor 25 of the vibration wave motor 24, and a bending operation wire 22 is connected to the moving member 32. A slack absorbing mechanism 33 is provided which absorbs the slack of the bending operation wire 22 by connecting the movable member 32 within the rotor 25.

[Function] When the bending operation wire 22 is loosened due to the push and pull operation of the bending operation wire 22 during the bending operation of the bending portion 7, the rotor 25 of the vibration wave motor 24 is moved as the bending operation wire 22 on the slack side moves. By freely moving the moving member 32 inside the rotor 25 along the moving direction of the rotor 25, the slack of the bending operation wire 22 is absorbed and the bending or buckling of the bending operation wire 22 is prevented. be.

[Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of the entire endoscope, and 1 is the endoscope main body.

An operating section 3 is connected to the proximal end of the insertion section 2 in the endoscope main body 1 . Further, a base end portion of a universal cord 4 is connected to this operating portion 3.

A connector 5 is provided at the tip of this universal cord 4. In addition, the insertion portion 2 includes a distal end portion 6 and a curved portion 7.
and a flexible tube section 8 are provided, respectively. moreover,
The operation unit 3 is provided with an eyepiece 9 at the rear end, and an air/water supply switch 10 and a suction switch 11 at the side.
, bending operation switch 12 (DOWN), 13 (UP
) 14 (LEFT'), 15 (RIGHT),
Selection switch 16 for switching angle lock/free
is provided.

Further, the distal end portion 6 of the insertion portion 2 is provided with an objective lens system and a light distribution lens (not shown). A light guide (not shown) is connected to the rear end side of this light distribution lens.

This light guide is inserted into the insertion portion 2 and the universal cord 4 and connected to the connector 5. By connecting this connector 5 to a light source device (not shown), illumination light from this light source device is made to enter the incident end of the light guide. This illumination light is guided to the tip 6 by a light guide, and is emitted from the tip of the light guide, passes through a light distribution lens, and is irradiated onto the subject. Further, the tip end surface of an image guide 17 shown in FIG. 4 is arranged at the image forming position of the objective lens system. The image guide 17 is inserted into the insertion section 2 and extends to the eyepiece section 9 side. The object image formed on the distal end surface of the image guide 17 by the objective lens system is transmitted to the eyepiece 9 side by the image guide 17 and is observed from the eyepiece 9.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, the curved portion 7 has a large number of short cylindrical joint pieces 18 that can be rotated upward and downward as indicated by arrow a, and in the left and right directions as indicated by arrows. connected. In this case, each pair of connecting pieces 19 is offset by 180° in the circumferential direction from both end faces of each joint piece 18, and each pair of connecting pieces 19 is provided protruding from both end faces with an offset of 90° in the circumferential direction. Each pair of connecting pieces 19 of adjacent joint pieces 18
are each pivotally connected by a support shaft 20. In addition,
Joint pieces 18a at the most and rearmost ends of the curved portion 7.

18b has a connecting piece 19 protruding from only one end surface. Therefore, the curved portion 7 to which the joint pieces 18 are connected in this manner is rotatable upward, downward, leftward, and rightward, respectively.

Further, on the inner circumferential surface of the most advanced joint piece 18a, cylindrical wire fixing parts 21 are provided at four locations shifted by 90'' in the circumferential direction corresponding to the bending direction of the bending part 7. One end of the bending operation wire 22 is inserted into each through hole 21a of the fixed part 21, and is firmly fixed by brazing or other means. , a pair of bending operation wires 22.22 for upward and downward bending operations, and a pair of bending operation wires 22.22 for left and right operations, respectively, for bending the bending portion 7 in the left and right directions. Further, the other end of each bending operation wire 22 is provided with four wires serving as bending drive means provided at four locations offset by 90' in the circumferential direction on the inner peripheral surface of the rearmost joint piece 18b. Drive parts 23a, 23b, 2
3c.

23d (wire drive section 23b is not shown in FIG. 4)
It is inserted inside. In this case, the wire drive section 23a,
23b, 23c, and 23d are formed by a linear ultrasonic motor (vibration wave motor) 24 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

This linear ultrasonic motor 24 is provided with a rotor 25, a stator 26, and a casing 27, respectively. In this case, the stator 26 is formed of an elastic vibrating body 28 made of, for example, stainless steel, and a piezoelectric element 29 made of, for example, piezoelectric ceramic, disposed on the outer surface of the elastic vibrating body 28. Furthermore, the stator 26 is held in a state in which it is strongly pressed by a casing 27, sandwiching the rotor 25 from two directions. In this case, the axial length of the stator 26 is larger than the axial length of the rotor 25, and when the ultrasonic motor 24 is in operation, the stator 26 has an axial length that is larger than that of the rotor 25. Rotor 25
is designed to move in the axial direction. Note that stoppers may be provided protruding from both ends of the stator 26 to restrict the operating range of the rotor 25.

Further, the rotor 25 of the ultrasonic motor 24 is formed into a substantially cylindrical shape, and at both ends of the rotor 25 there are closed plates 30.3.
1 are formed respectively. Furthermore, this rotor 25
A moving member 32 that freely moves along the moving direction of the rotor 25 is provided inside the rotor 25 . Further, a wire insertion hole 30a is formed in the closing plate 30 at one end of the rotor 25.

Further, the rear end of the bending operation wire 22 is inserted into the rotor 25 through the wire insertion hole 30a, and the insertion end of the bending operation wire 22 is adhesively fixed to the moving member 32. When the bending operation wire 22 is loosened due to the pushing and pulling operation of the bending operation wire 22 during the bending operation of the bending portion 7, the rotor 2 of the ultrasonic motor 24 is moved as the bending operation wire 22 on the slack side moves.
A slack absorbing mechanism 33 that absorbs the slack of the bending operation wire 22 by moving the movable member 32 freely along the moving direction of the rotor 25 inside the rotor 25 is integrally formed with the rotor 25 itself.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained.

First, when operating the bending section 7, for example, upward when using the endoscope, the upward bending operation switch 13 of the operating section 3 is used.
Turn on. In this case, voltage is supplied to the piezoelectric element 29 of the linear ultrasonic motor 24 in the wire drive section 23a. Therefore, this piezoelectric element 29 expands and contracts, and the bending operation wire 22 is attached to the stator 26 of the ultrasonic motor 24.
Since a traveling wave is generated in the direction of pulling the bending operation wire 22, the rotor 25 of the ultrasonic motor 24 moves in the direction of pulling the bending operation wire 22. At this time, the moving part t)i'3 in the rotor 25
2 comes into contact with the closing plate 30 as the rotor 25 moves,
Since the rotor 25 moves in the same direction, the bending operation wire 22 fixed to the moving member 32 is also pulled at the same time, and the bending portion 7 is operated to bend upward.

Furthermore, during the upward bending operation of the bending section 7, the bending operation wire 22 on the wire drive section 23C side, which is disposed opposite to the wire drive section 23a, moves in the opposite direction to the bending operation wire 22 on the wire drive section 23a side, that is, in the extrusion direction. move in the direction. Therefore, the ultrasonic motor 24 in the wire drive section 23c
The rotor 25 moves in the direction of pushing out the bending operation wire 22.

At this time, since the movable member 32 within the rotor 25 can be freely moved in the axial direction within the rotor 25, it is possible to prevent excessive force from acting on the bending operation wire 22. Deflection and buckling can be prevented.

Therefore, in the case of the above structure, when the bending operation wire 22 is loosened due to the push/pull operation of the bending operation wire 22 during the bending operation of the bending portion 7, as the bending operation wire 22 on the slack side moves, the bending operation wire 22 is moved. By freely moving the moving member 32 inside the rotor 25 of the ultrasonic motor 24 along the moving direction of the rotor 25, the bending operation wire 22
The slack absorption mechanism 33 that absorbs the slack of the ultrasonic motor 24
Since it is formed integrally with the rotor 25 itself, it is possible to provide a function for removing slack in the bending operation wire 22 without making the drive mechanism for the bending operation wire 22 particularly large. Therefore, the length of the non-flexible portion in the insertion section 2 of the endoscope can be made relatively short, and a decrease in the insertability of the insertion section 2 of the endoscope can be prevented.

Further, FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the invention. This includes four wire drive units 23a and 23 as bending drive means for bending the bending unit 7 upward, downward, left, and right.
b, 23c, and 23d are arranged inside the operating section 3. Therefore, in this case, it is possible to prevent the overall length of the operating section 3 from increasing, and it is possible to prevent the operability of the operating section 3 from deteriorating. Furthermore, in this case, the wire drive parts 23a and 23b are inserted from inside the insertion part 2.

Since 23c and 23d can be omitted, the insertion portion 2 can be made smaller in diameter.

Note that this invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the above embodiment, the axial length of the stator 26 is formed to be larger than the axial length of the rotor 25, and when the ultrasonic motor 24 is operated, the axial length of the stator 26 is within the range of the axial length of the stator 26. 6 shows a structure in which the rotor 25 moves in the axial direction, but as in the third embodiment shown in FIG. The rotor 25 may also be formed large in size and have stoppers 41 protruding from both ends of the rotor 25 to restrict the operating range of the rotor 25. In this case, the entire inner surface of the stator 26 can be kept in contact with the rotor 25 at all times, so that the durability of the stator 26 can be improved.

Furthermore, it goes without saying that various other modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, a function for removing loosening of the bending operation wire can be provided without particularly increasing the size of the drive mechanism for the bending operation wire.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the main part, FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the same, and FIG. 3 is a diagram of the entire endoscope. 4 is a perspective view showing a schematic structure of a curved portion, FIG. 5 is a schematic structure diagram of a main part showing a second embodiment of this invention, and FIG. 6 is a third embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a main part showing an example. 2... Insertion part, 7... Curving part, 22... Wire for bending operation, 24... Linear type ultrasonic motor (vibration wave motor) 25... Rotor, 2... Movement Members: 3... slack absorption mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A bending device for an endoscope in which a bending operation wire is fixed to the tip of a bending section provided in an insertion section of an endoscope, and the bending operation wire is pushed and pulled by a vibration wave motor to bend the bending section. , by providing a moving member that moves freely along the moving direction of the rotor inside the rotor of the vibration wave motor, and connecting the bending operation wire to the moving member to allow the moving member to move freely within the rotor. A bending device for an endoscope, comprising a slack absorption mechanism for absorbing slack in the bending operation wire.