JPH0268026A - Inserting channel for treating equipment of endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To miniaturize the axial directional dimension and the radial directional dimension of a tip hard part by compressing at least a porous layer in a connecting part at the tip side of a flexible tube and thinning the layer. CONSTITUTION:Since an angle part 4 is to be bent at 180 deg. or a larger angle, a flexible tube 23 positioned at the position of the angle part 4 in a treating equipment inserting channel 19 is composed of a porous layer 26 composed of a thick porous fluorine contained resin, etc., and an airtight layer 27 such as fluorine contained rubber to be covered over the above-mentioned porous layer 26 so that the flexible tube 23 can have excellent flexibility and is never made into a flat shape or a buckled state when it is bent. However, in the connecting parts of this flexible tube 23 to a connecting tube 21 and a soft tube 25 at both edges of the flexible tube 23, the flexible tube 23 is made into thin parts 23a and 23b in which respective outer diameter sides are reduced by compressing the porous layer 26 in the connecting parts. Thus, the outer diameter dimensions can be shortened. As the result, a tip hard part 5 can be miniaturized in both the axial direction and the radial direction, and satisfactory operability can be obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a treatment tool insertion channel for inserting a treatment tool such as forceps in an endoscope used for medical or industrial purposes. [Prior Art] An endoscope is provided with a treatment instrument insertion section into which a treatment instrument such as forceps is inserted into its main body operation section, and a treatment instrument outlet is formed at the distal end of the insertion section, and the treatment instrument is inserted into the endoscope. A treatment instrument insertion channel is provided between the insertion portion and the treatment instrument outlet. Here, most of the insertion section of the endoscope is a flexible section that bends in any direction along the insertion path, and an angled section that is curved at a large angle is connected to the tip of this flexible section. Further, at the tip of the angle portion, a hard tip portion with a treatment instrument outlet is provided in series with an illumination window, an observation window, etc. Therefore, the treatment instrument insertion channel to be inserted into the insertion section configured as described above must be made entirely of a material with good sliding properties, maintain good airtightness, and have a large inner diameter. It goes without saying that the part located within the flexible part must be flexible so that it can be bent freely following the bending of the flexible part, and the part located within the ankle part must be must have shape retention to the extent that it does not flatten or buckle when bent at a large curvature. In addition, especially in electronic endoscopes where members such as CCD boards and prisms are built into the rigid distal end and the storage space is smaller than other parts, it is necessary to insert the treatment instrument located inside the rigid distal end. It is necessary to make the outer diameter of the channel as small as possible. For this reason, the section of the treatment instrument insertion channel located inside the flexible part of the insertion section is made of a flexible tube made of fluororesin, etc., and the part located inside the angle part is made of a thick-walled tube made of fluororesin, etc. Conventionally, the porous layer is made of a flexible tube covered with an airtight layer made of fluororubber, etc., and the hard tip part is made of a thin stainless steel pipe. . [Problem to be Solved by the Invention 1] By the way, as mentioned above, when the flexible tube is configured to be directly connected to the stainless steel pipe, the connection between the two can be made using a built-in hard end part such as a COD board. This has to be done at a position closer to the proximal end than the position at which the object is disposed, which increases the length of the rigid distal end portion in the axial direction, resulting in disadvantages such as poor operability of the insertion operation of the insertion section. On the other hand, in order to shorten the length of this rigid tip, if the flexible tube is extended to the location where the CCD board, etc. is located within the rigid tip, the rigid tip will be extended by the thickness of the flexible tube. To avoid this, the outer diameter of
There is a problem in that the inner diameter of the treatment instrument insertion channel must be made small. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope having a structure capable of reducing the axial and radial dimensions of the rigid distal end portion. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a treatment instrument insertion channel. [Means for Solving the Problems 1] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides at least a portion of the surgical instrument insertion channel located within the angle portion of the insertion portion with a porous layer; It is characterized by being made of a flexible tube with an airtight layer covering the flexible tube, and made thinner by compressing the porous layer at least at the connection portion on the distal end side of the flexible tube. It is. [Action 1] By making the porous layer thinner in this way, its outer diameter can be reduced, so CC
There is no need to increase the diameter of the hard tip part even if it extends to the distal position of the D board or beyond it, and therefore the dimensions of the hard tip part in the axial and radial directions can be reduced. Become. In addition, when the porous JIA layer is made thinner, the density of the relevant part becomes higher and the hardness increases, so when it is connected to other members, it is difficult to make the connection strong. This makes the connection extremely stable and improves the airtightness of the connection. If the wall thickness of the porous layer is made thinner, this part will become harder, but it will still maintain its flexibility, so even if this thinner part is located inside the angle part, it will not be easy to operate the angle. There is no problem and the connection part of the flexible tube can be bent gently.
When a treatment tool such as forceps is inserted, it can be guided smoothly without getting caught. [Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings. First, as shown in FIG.
The insertion section 2 is arranged in series with the insertion section 2. Most of the insertion section 2 is a flexible section 3 that can be smoothly bent along the insertion path, and an angled section 4 is connected to the tip of the flexible section 3. A rigid tip portion 5 is connected to the angle portion 4, and the rigid tip portion 5 has an illumination window 10, as described later. Observation window 11. A treatment instrument outlet 12 and the like are provided. In order to orient the rigid distal end portion 5 in a desired direction within the body cavity, the angle portion 4 has an angle of 180 mm.
It can be curved at an angle of @ or more. Next, FIG. 1 shows a cross section of the distal end portion of the insertion portion 2. As shown in FIG. As is clear from the figure, the main body portion 5a of the rigid tip portion 5 has an illumination window 10. An observation window 11 and a treatment instrument outlet 12 are provided, and in addition to these, although not shown, an air/water supply port and the like are provided. An output end 13a of the light guide 13 faces the illumination window 10. Furthermore, an objective lens assembly 1 is provided in the observation window 11.
A prism 15 for bending the optical path by 90 degrees is disposed opposite to the objective lens assembly 14, and a CCD 17 mounted on a substrate 16 is provided at the imaging position of the objective lens. A cable 18 for driving the CCD and transmitting and receiving signals is connected to the CCD 7. In this way, the CCD 17 and its substrate 16
The part where it is installed has more built-in parts than other parts, leaving only a narrow space. Further, one end of a treatment instrument insertion channel 19 is connected to the opening position of the treatment instrument outlet 12 in the main body 5a of the rigid tip portion 5, and the treatment instrument insertion channel 19 is connected from the insertion section 2 to the main body operation section 1. It is connected to a treatment instrument introduction section 6 provided in the main body operation section 1. As shown in FIG. 2, this treatment instrument insertion channel 19 has a stainless steel pipe 20 at its tip that is inserted into the treatment instrument outlet 12 of the rigid distal end portion 5, and a stainless steel pipe 20 that is fitted into the stainless steel biniar 20. A connecting tube 21 made of a slippery material such as fluororesin, and the connecting tube 21
The flexible tube 23 is connected to the flexible tube 23 through a connecting ring 22 made of a metal material such as stainless steel, and the flexible tube 25 is connected to the flexible tube 23 by an F1C ring 24. Similarly to the flexible tube 21 described above, the tube 25 is made of a smooth material such as fluororesin. In the insertion portion 2, the tip end rigid portion 5 to the most extreme angle ring 4a in the angle portion 4, and the angle ring 4
The space between the pivot point and the second angle ring 4b connected to the angle ring 4b is a hard part that does not bend, and the connecting tube 21 extends to the part where this hard part connects to the angle part 4. The flexible tube 23 is
is connected to. Further, the connecting portion between the flexible tube 23 and the soft tube 25 is a continuous portion between the angle portion 4 and the soft portion. Here, since the angle portion 4 is curved at an angle of 180° or more, the treatment instrument insertion channel 1
The flexible tube 23 located in this part of 9 is
In order to be highly flexible and not to flatten or buckle when curved, a porous layer 26 made of a thick porous fluororesin or the like and a porous layer 26 covered with the porous layer 26 are provided. The airtight layer 27 is made of fluororubber or the like. As is clear from FIG. 3, the diameter of the outer diameter side of the flexible tube 23 is reduced by compressing the porous layer 26 at the connecting portions of both ends of the flexible tube 23 to the connecting tube 21 and the flexible tube 25. Thin part 2: la, 2
It is 3b. Moreover, these thin parts 23a, 23
An adhesive 28 is filled in the joints between the connecting tube 21 and the flexible tube 25, and these are connected to the connecting ring 2.
2° and 24, and the interior can be kept airtight. As mentioned above, the portion of the treatment instrument insertion channel 19 located inside the angle portion 4 is connected to the porous layer 26 and the airtight layer 2.
However, by making the connecting portion to the connecting tube 21 thinner, the outer diameter of the connecting portion can be shortened. It can be accommodated in a narrow space. Therefore, by extending this connecting portion to a position close to the built-in contents of the hard tip portion 5, even if the length of the hard tip portion 5 in the axial direction is shortened, there is no need to increase its outer diameter dimension. . As a result, the tip hard part 5
The device can be downsized in both the axial and radial directions, and the operability when inserted into the body is improved. Moreover, the thin parts 23a and 23b of the flexible tube 23
has been compressed and has increased hardness, so the connecting link 22,
24 can be firmly fitted in a tight-fitting state, the stability of this connecting part is improved, and even if a tensile force is applied to the treatment instrument insertion channel 19 during use, etc. There is no possibility that the flexible tube 23 will come off unnecessarily. Moreover, this thin part 2:l
Since the density of the portions a and 23b is high, and the inner surface thereof and the outer surface of the connecting ring 22, 24 come into close contact, the airtightness in these portions is extremely good. Incidentally, although the thin wall portions 23a and 2:1b have greater resistance to bending, they do not lose their flexibility, so when the angle operation is performed, the thin wall portions 23a and 23b also bend. It becomes possible to curve it to some extent by following the curve. When a portion of the flexible tube 23 is bent by the ankle operation, the greatest force is applied to the connection between it and other members, that is, the connection links 22 and 24; By doing so, the resistance to bending increases, allowing the part to bend smoothly. Therefore, when the treatment instrument is inserted into the treatment instrument insertion channel 23,
This means that the treatment tool can be guided smoothly without getting caught. As shown in FIG. 4, if the thickness of the porous layer 26' is varied so that it becomes thicker continuously in the axial direction from the connecting portion to the connecting ring 22, 24, the above-mentioned effect can be achieved. This makes it possible to make the curve even smoother. Here, a structure is shown in which the connecting tube 21 is interposed between the flexible tube 23 and the stainless steel pipe 20 inserted into the treatment instrument outlet 12 formed in the main body part 5a of the rigid tip part 5. This means that the hard stainless steel vibrator 20 hits the substrate 16 of the CCD 17.
This is to protect the substrate 16 from damage, and as shown in FIG. By using the sex tube 3o, there is no need to use such a connecting tube 21. If the flexible tube 30 is directly connected to the stainless steel pipe 20 in this way, the number of connecting parts in the treatment instrument insertion channel 19' is reduced, so that the guideability of the treatment instrument is further improved. Furthermore, in the case of an optical endoscope in which a substrate or the like is not provided at the tip end, the stainless steel vibrator may be configured to protrude by the length of the connecting tube. Further, although the flexible tube 23 is shown as a double tube consisting of a porous layer 25 and an airtight layer 27, it may also be configured such that this airtight layer is covered with a porous layer or the like. Good too. [Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention reduces the thickness of a flexible tube consisting of a porous layer and an airtight layer by compressing the porous layer at least at the connection portion on the distal end side.
Even if this flexible tube is extended into the rigid tip part, the outer diameter of the treatment instrument insertion channel does not increase, and therefore the axial and radial dimensions of the rigid tip part can be shortened. This makes it easy to insert into the body, etc., and by making the porous layer thinner, it can be made stiffer to some extent, making the connection between it and other members that make up the treatment instrument insertion channel extremely stable. At the same time, there are various effects such as improved airtightness of the end face portion of the flexible tube.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the distal end portion of the insertion section of the endoscope, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the treatment instrument insertion channel, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a flexible tube, FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a flexible tube showing another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an insertion portion showing yet another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the distal end portion, and is a diagram of the overall configuration of the endoscope. 1: Main body operation section, 2: Insertion section, 3: Flexible section, 4: Angle section, 5: Hard tip section, 6: Treatment instrument outlet, 12: Treatment instrument outlet, 19.19': Treatment instrument insertion channel ,
20: stainless steel pipe, 21: connecting tube, 22° 24: connecting ring, 23.23', 30: flexible tube, 2: la, 23b, 30a: thin wall part, 25: flexible tube, 26: porous layer , 27: Airtight layer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In the treatment instrument insertion channel provided between the treatment instrument insertion section provided in the main body operation section of the endoscope and the treatment instrument outlet formed at the distal end of the insertion section, at least the portion located within the angle section of the insertion section is formed of a flexible tube including a porous layer and an airtight layer covering the porous layer,
A treatment tool insertion channel for an endoscope, characterized in that the thickness of the flexible tube is reduced by compressing a porous layer at least at a connecting portion on the distal end side.