JPH0263689A - Manufacture of injection needle and manufacturing device used therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To manufacture the title injection needles having plural sidewall holes with high accuracy and high efficiency by arranging plural fine tubes in a lined-up state on a table and irradiating a laser beam on the sidewalls of the fine tubes while moving the table so as to adjust the focus of the laser beam to bore a hole thereon. CONSTITUTION:The fine tubes 11 which are materials of the injection needles are arranged one by one in a groove 10 of a base part 4 and the fine tubes 11 is held between an elastic piece 12 of a press plate 7 and the groove 10. This placing base 3 is then moved to the position where the position on which a first hole is to be machined passes the focusing position of the laser beam by operation of an X - Y table and while moving the table in the arrow X direction, a laser pulse is projected to perform boring work continuously successively and machining of a line is finished. When machining of the first hole is finished, the table is moved in the arrow Y direction or the press plate 7 is moved to rotate the fine tubes up to the prescribed position, in order to conform to the position on which a second hold is to be machined. While moving the table 1 in the arrow X direction, the second hole is then machined on every fine tube.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a syringe needle and a manufacturing device used therefor. More specifically, the present invention relates to a manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus for efficiently mass-producing injection needles having a plurality of pores in their side walls.

[Prior Art] Traditionally, for example, when injecting insulin into the human body or anesthetic into the gums, the injection is dispersed in several locations over a certain area to speed up absorption and increase the However, in such cases, repeated needle sticks can cause great pain to the patient. To solve this problem, for example, US Patent No. 4.411. [
i57 specification and U.S. Patent No. 3,530,492 disclose an injection needle with a closed tip and a number of holes in the side wall so that drug solutions can be injected into multiple locations with just one piercing. It is proposed to use

Such a needle is manufactured, for example, by drilling a hole in the side wall of the capillary with an abrasive material.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The thin tubes from which injection needles are made are themselves thin and difficult to handle, and many of them are made of materials such as stainless steel that are difficult to process. Therefore, the conventional methods such as grinding have low machining efficiency and low machining accuracy, resulting in large variations in hole size and position.

The present invention has been made to solve this problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus that can manufacture injection needles having a plurality of side wall holes with high precision and efficiency.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The method for manufacturing a syringe needle of the present invention involves arranging a plurality of thin tubes in an aligned state on the table of a laser processing machine equipped with a table that can be positioned in two axes. This method is characterized by drilling a hole by irradiating a laser on the side wall of a thin tube while moving a table to focus the laser on the tube.

Furthermore, the manufacturing apparatus of the present invention includes a table that can be positioned in two axial directions for focusing a laser on the thin tube, a laser irradiator for forming a hole in the thin tube, and a plurality of laser beams provided on the table. It is composed of a base portion having a plurality of grooves for arranging the thin tubes in an aligned state, and a thin tube mounting table made of rubber-like elastic pieces for holding the side walls of the thin tubes accommodated in the grooves of the base portion. Ru.

[Function] In the manufacturing method of the present invention, the entire plurality of thin tubes arranged on the table of a laser processing machine are treated as one set.

That is, all the thin tubes are fixed in the groove of the base using a rubber-like elastic piece, and each thin tube is irradiated with a laser in turn. Therefore, a large number of thin tubes can be perforated with a simple operation. Note that the processing itself may be performed for each thin tube, and a method such as sequentially processing the same portion of a large number of thin tubes, and then sequentially processing different portions may be adopted.

By this method, small holes can be efficiently drilled at precise positions on the side surfaces of the tubules. Furthermore, the laser irradiation position in each thin tube is almost accurate, and the pitch between the small holes can also be accurately perforated.

[Example] Next, the manufacturing method and apparatus of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a processing step in the manufacturing method of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are a sectional view and a perspective view of a main part of the apparatus of the present invention, respectively, and FIGS. 5 and 6 The figures are a front view and a sectional view of main parts showing other embodiments of the device of the present invention, respectively, and Figs.
FIG. 7 is a front view and a sectional view of a main part showing the usage state of the device shown in FIG. 6;

In FIG. 1, (1) is a table of a laser processing machine, and the table (1) can be moved independently in two axial directions indicated by arrows (X) and arrows (Y). The distance traveled is controlled by numerical control and feedback control combined with a position detector.

Furthermore, a laser irradiator ('2J) equipped with a condensing lens at the lower end is arranged above the table (1).

A thin tube mounting table (hereinafter referred to as a mounting table) (3) having a U-shaped cross section is fixed on the table (1).

The mounting table (3) has a block-shaped base part (4) as shown in Fig. 2, and an L-shaped cover part (6) is connected to one end of the base part by a hinge (5) so that it can be opened and closed. and screw (
5a) is fixed to the base part (5). Furthermore, a presser plate (force) is interposed between the base portion (4) and the cover portion (6).

As shown in Figure 3, the base part (4) has three shallow grooves (
8) is formed, and the remaining three thin protrusions (9) are formed.
) are formed with a large number of 7-shaped or trapezoidal grooves parallel to each other at equal pitches as shown in Figures 3 and 4.

As shown in Figure 4, the depth of the groove is determined by the height of the convex portion (9), which is determined by the height of the upper part of the thin tube (O1l), which is usually smaller than the radius of the thin tube when it accommodates the thin tube to be processed. It protrudes from the top surface of the . Further, the shape of the groove (IQ) is not particularly limited, and may be of any shape as long as it can support the thin tube 01) reliably and easily in rotation and is easy to process.

The lower end of the holding plate (7) is made of rubber-like elastic piece (1) made of natural rubber, impregnated rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, etc.
2) is fixed, thereby making it possible to reliably press down a large number of thin tubes 01) as described later, and by moving the holding plate (7) in the direction of the arrow (P), the thin tubes 01) can be pushed into the grooves (10). ) can be reliably rotated in the direction of arrow (Q).

As shown in detail in FIG. 2, the cover part (6) is provided with a plurality of adjustment members for adjusting the pressing force and parallelism of the presser plate (7). As shown in FIG. 2, this is comprised of a screw 6 and a lock nut (141) that are screwed into a screw hole formed in a part (6) of the cover.

The tip of the screw 6 is in contact with the upper end of the holding plate (7).

The inner surface (6a) of the vertical wall of the cover part (6) is a thin tube)
It is used to align a large number of thin tubes by bringing their ends into contact with each other.

One end of the holding plate (7) is connected to an actuator for reciprocating the holding plate (7) in its longitudinal direction using a combination of a motor and a rack/binion, or a solenoid actuator or an air cylinder. Further, the actuator is usually provided with a stroke adjustment means that changes the stroke of the holding plate (knife) and changes the rotation angle of the thin tube in accordance with the diameter of the thin tube.

Next, a method for manufacturing a large number of injection needles using a laser processing machine and a mounting table configured in a diagonal manner will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the mounting table (3) is placed and fixed on the table, for example, so that the groove is along one direction of movement (Y) of the table.

Next, thin tubes, which are the raw materials for injection needles, are arranged one by one in the grooves of the base (4).

The aligned thin tubes 01) are connected to the elastic pieces 02 of the holding plate (7).
) and the groove (goods).

Next, by operating the x-y table (1), this mounting table (3) is moved to a position where the position where the first hole is to be processed passes through the focal point of the laser, and the table is moved in the direction of the arrow (X). While moving, laser pulses are irradiated to sequentially and continuously perform perforation processing, and the machining of - row is completed. By increasing efficiency in this way, the characteristics of lasers can be fully utilized.

During machining, table movement does not have to stop;
Alternatively, it may be made to stop instantaneously at the processing position. In order to fully utilize the performance of the laser processing machine, it is preferable to use one pulse per hole, but depending on the hole diameter, material, thickness, etc., irradiation may be performed multiple times during the above-mentioned stop.

After machining the first hole, move the table in the direction of the arrow (Y) to match the position where the second hole should be machined, or move the holding plate (7) to position the thin tube at the specified position. Rotate. Note that movement and rotation may be performed at the same time.

Next, as described above, while moving the table (1) in the direction of the arrow (X), the second holes are processed for all the thin tubes. The movement in the X-axis direction may be carried out alternately on the forward and return passes, or may be returned to the light position each time with emphasis on accuracy.

In order to improve accuracy, it may be effective in some cases to start shooting from a portion where there is no thin tube 61).

The third, fourth, etc. holes are processed in the same manner.

The order of machining can be arranged in a way that makes it easy to process, but especially when flowing liquid into a tube, it is best to start from the tip of the thin tube and work your way to the base of the needle.

In the example of FIG. 1, the table employs a rectangular coordinate system in the directions of arrows (X)-(Y), but the positioning operation may be performed by moving the laser focus.

Furthermore, the table is rotatable, and the laser irradiator (2)
It is also possible to perform two-axis positioning control in a so-called polar coordinate format, in which the radial direction is freely movable.

Further, although only one laser irradiator (2) is provided in FIG. 1, two or more laser irradiators (2) may be provided as necessary.

Next, a preferred processing method for manufacturing a thin injection needle will be explained.

With a normal thin injection needle, the laser beam is emitted from the upper side wall of the tubule (
The remaining force of making a hole in the front wall (hereinafter referred to as the front wall) is used to make a hole in the opposite side wall (
(hereinafter referred to as the rear wall) may also be damaged. In such a case, unless that part is also a part to be processed, it is preferable to flow a liquid through the capillary to scatter and absorb the laser light entering the capillary. Water is usually used as the liquid, but both organic and inorganic liquids can be used. Further, it is more preferable to use a colored liquid or a liquid obtained by suspending, dispersing, or emulsifying an organic substance or an inorganic substance in an organic liquid or an inorganic liquid because the laser light is sufficiently scattered and absorbed.

In order to cause the liquid to flow into the thin tube, for example, as shown in FIGS. A liquid supply structure is adopted, which is composed of a block 4 of wall material provided as shown in FIG.

Incidentally, the company in FIGS. 5 and 6 is a sealing member.

In order to use the water supply structure shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the end (l) of the thin tube 01) is
la) and from the liquid supply port Q4 of block 4 to the wall material o,
[A liquid such as water may be poured into the space between 23 and block 4.

In addition, when such a liquid supply structure is adopted, the tip of the thin tube 01) is left free without being sealed, so that the liquid that has flowed in can freely flow out.

This ensures air evacuation and liquid supply, as well as excellent cleaning and cooling effects.

In other words, fine metal powder generated during processing is washed away,
Deformation of the thin tube due to laser heat is prevented.

The reason why the liquid flow path in the liquid supply structure as shown above is limited to only inside the thin tube 01) is that if the liquid flows or adheres to the surface of the thin tube 01), laser processing will be hindered.

If a laser penetrates the side wall when liquid is flowing inside a capillary, the liquid may spurt out from the hole due to liquid pressure, or the liquid may turn into a gas due to laser heating. In such cases, a nozzle is installed diagonally above the focal point of the laser to eject a gas such as air, preferably an inert gas such as nitrogen, toward the area being processed, so that the liquid or its vaporized gas can flow into the laser lens. It is preferable to prevent this from occurring.

Next, the present invention will be explained by giving specific examples.

EXAMPLE As a loser processing machine, ① LAY-1301C manufactured by Toshiba was used. This one is equipped with a YAG solid crystal oscillator.

The processing target is S with a diameter of 0.4m+s and an inner diameter of 0.2mm.
A thin tube made of O8304 cut into a length of 25 m+s was used.

The holes formed had a diameter of 100 mm, and 3 holes were formed in each location at intervals of 120° in the circumferential direction, and 3 holes were formed in the axial direction at a pitch of 7.5 m+*, for a total of 9 holes per tube. .

The machining speed was 30 pulses per second, with one pulse per hole.

During processing, a suspension of 500 nvHg was flowed through the capillary at a supply pressure.

After machining, Komei polished the tip, washed it, and sealed the tip, which enabled him to make a syringe needle.

[Effects of the Invention] By the manufacturing method of the present invention, an injection needle having a hole in the side wall can be efficiently manufactured. Moreover, the machining accuracy is high. Furthermore, by processing while supplying liquid into the thin tube, processing can be performed while cooling the tube without damaging the rear wall.

(7) Two 〇〇)２ 01): (12).

Presser plate groove thin tube elastic piece

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a processing step in the manufacturing method of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are a sectional view and a perspective view of a main part of the apparatus of the present invention, respectively, and FIGS. 5 and 6 The figures are a front view and a sectional view of main parts showing other embodiments of the device of the present invention, respectively, and Figs.
FIG. 7 is a front view and a sectional view of a main part showing the usage state of the device shown in FIG. 6; (Main symbols in the drawing) (1): Table (2): Laser irradiator (3): Mounting table (4) Two base parts

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of thin tubes are arranged in an aligned state on the table of a laser processing machine equipped with a table that can be positioned in two axial directions, and the table is moved to focus a laser beam on the thin tubes. A method of manufacturing injection needles in which a hole is punched by irradiating the side wall of the tubule with a laser. 2. The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein after making the hole at one location, the thin tube is rotated to make holes at other locations on the side wall of the thin tube. 3. A table that can be positioned in two axes to focus a laser on a thin tube, a laser irradiator for forming a hole in the thin tube, and a plurality of thin tubes provided on the table to be arranged in an aligned state. A syringe needle manufacturing device comprising: a base portion having a plurality of grooves for use in the injection needle; and a thin tube mounting table made of rubber-like elastic pieces for holding the side walls of the thin tubes accommodated in the grooves of the base portion. 4. The device according to claim 1, further comprising drive means for moving said elastic piece laterally. 5. The device according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising liquid supply means for injecting liquid into the thin tube from one end of the thin tube. 6. The device according to claim 5, further comprising a nozzle for blowing gas from the vicinity of the laser irradiator toward the perforation site of the capillary.