JPH0340607B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an endoscope in which a bending operation at a curved portion of an insertion portion can be performed easily and reliably.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

In general, the curved portion of the insertion section of an endoscope is configured to be forcibly bent by remote control using an operating section at hand. That is, the insertion section has a distal end section provided at the distal end of the flexible tube via a curved section, and by bending the curved section, the distal end section can be opposed to a desired site. Therefore, the bending section is provided with a bending tube in which a plurality of bending pieces are rotatably connected with pins, and an operating wire is inserted into the inside of this bending tube. Further, the outside of the curved pipe is covered with an outer skin via a blade. Wire receivers through which the operating wires are inserted are provided on the inner surfaces of the plurality of bending pieces, and these wire receivers guide the forward and backward movements of the operating wires.

On the other hand, one end of the operating wire is connected to the bending piece at the tip, and the other end is inserted through the flexible tube and connected to an operating knob provided on the operating section at hand. Therefore, by rotating the operating knob, the operating wire moves forward and backward, allowing the bending tube to bend in the vertical and horizontal directions.

However, since the operating wire that passes through the bending tube passes through the wire receiver of each bending piece, the operating wire slides on the wire receiver when moving forward and backward, and this sliding resistance increases as the bending angle increases. . Therefore, even if a predetermined bending angle is set by rotating the operating knob in the operating section, the bending tube may not bend to the predetermined bending angle. This phenomenon is called angle down, and it is caused by the frictional resistance between the operating wire and the wire holder, which prevents the operating wire from moving forward and backward smoothly and increases the force of the operating knob. . Further, when the operating wire is worn out due to friction with the wire holder, elongation occurs, resulting in a disadvantage that the angle down becomes large.

[Purpose of the invention]

This invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to reduce the frictional resistance at the sliding part of the operating wire that bends the bending pipe, so that the bending operation of the bending pipe can be performed easily and reliably. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an endoscope that can be used for various purposes.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, a lubricant made of powder is put into a bending tube into which an operating wire is inserted from the outside of the blade, and the lubricant is applied to the operating wire when the bending tube is bent. The objective is to reduce frictional resistance by dispersing the material over the entire area.

[Embodiments of the invention]

The present invention will be described below based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the entire endoscope, where 1 is an insertion section and 2 is an operation section. The insertion section 1 is composed of a flexible section 3, a curved section 4, and a distal end section 5.
Further, the operation section 2 is provided with an eyepiece section 6 and an operation knob 7 for bending the bending tube 4.

The curved portion 4 is constructed as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. That is, 8 is a bending tube configured by rotatably connecting a plurality of bending pieces 9 with pins 10, and this bending tube 8 is configured to be rotatable in vertical and horizontal directions. ing. Annular wire receivers 11 are fixed to the inner surfaces of the bending pieces 9, and operating wires 12 are inserted through these wire receivers 11.
One end of these operating wires 12 is connected to a bending piece 9 at the tip that is integrally fixed to the tip 5, and the other end is connected to the operating knob 7 of the operating section 6. Further, although not shown, built-in members such as an image guide, a light guide, a forceps channel, an air/water supply channel, etc. are inserted into the curved tube 8, and an outer skin 14 is inserted through a blade 13 on the outside of the curved tube 8. is fitted. A fixed amount of a powdered lubricant (Molycoat) 15 made of molybdenum disulfide, for example, is stored in the bending tube 8 by means described later, and this lubricant 15 causes the operation wire to
The frictional resistance between the sliding parts 2, eg, the operating wire 12 and the wire receiver 11 is reduced.

That is, the lubricant 15 is applied to the curved portion 4 of the endoscope.
The distal end of the built-in member is attached to the distal end portion 5, and the operating wires 12... are inserted into the wire receiver 11 in a curved tube 8.
are fitted so as to wrap around the built-in member. Then, the tip of the bending piece 9 constituting the bending tube 8 is fixed to the tip 5, and the end is fixed to the flexible portion 3.
Connect to. Next, a blade 13 is fitted on the outside of the curved tube 8, a lubricant 15 made of powder is put in from the outside of this blade 13, and then the blade 13 is
The outside is covered with an outer skin 14.

In this way, by housing the lubricant 15 in the bending tube 8, when the bending tube 8 is bent, an appropriate amount of the lubricant 15 is delivered to the sliding portion between the operation wires 12 and the wire receivers 11. As a result, the frictional resistance at the sliding portion can be reduced. As a result, the bending operation becomes smoother, and the operation knob 7
In addition to reducing the amount of operating force required, angle-down can be prevented and reliable bending operations can be performed.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the bending operation at the insertion section of the endoscope can be performed easily and reliably, and the amount of force required to operate the operation knob can be reduced and wear of the operation wire can be prevented. play.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the invention.
The figure is an overall view of the endoscope, and Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the curved part.
FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway side view showing the curved state of the curved portion. 1... Insertion part, 8... Curving tube, 9... Curving piece,
10...Pin, 12...Operation wire, 13...Blade, 14...Sheath, 15...Lubricant.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. The insertion part has a bending tube in which a plurality of bending pieces are connected with pins, and the operation wire for bending the bending tube is placed inside the bending tube with a wire receiver provided on the inner surface of the bending piece. In this endoscope, a lubricant made of powder is stored on the outside of the blade, and when the blade is bent, the lubricant is passed through the operating wire. An endoscope characterized in that the liquid is sprayed onto the sliding part of the wire receiver.