JPH0410805B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a small-diameter rigid fiberscope used for medical endoscopes and the like.

[Prior Art] Rigid fiberscopes as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 have conventionally been used to observe the inside of piping in industrial facilities, the human body, and other narrow areas. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken in the longitudinal direction of the objective section of this rigid fiberscope, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken in the radial direction. This rigid fiberscope has an image fiber 2 to which an objective lens system 1 for imaging is connected to the end, a plurality of light guide fibers 3 attached to the image fiber 2, and an object. A channel hole tube 4, which is a passage for inserting forceps, a small-diameter drill, etc. into the narrow part of the tube, is accommodated in a thin tube-shaped sleeve 5. The image fiber 2 is made by bundling a large number of silica-based optical fibers or is made of a waveguide for image transmission made of a quartz glass rod, etc., and the tip end on the objective side is made of a rod lens or the like. An objective lens system 1 is connected. An eyepiece system (not shown) is connected to the other end of the image fiber 2, so that the objective image formed by the objective lens system 1 can be observed.
Also, the light guide fiber 3... is formed by bundling a large number of silica-based optical fibers like the image fiber 2, and a light source (not shown) is connected to one end of the eyepiece. The irradiation light is transmitted to illuminate the object to enable observation with the image fiber 2. The channel tube 4 is a passage for inserting forceps, a small-diameter drill, or an optical fiber for transmitting laser light close to the object, and is made of a thin tube made of stainless steel or resin. The image fiber 2, the light guide fiber 3... and the channel hole tube 4 are attached together, and the outer diameter
Sleeve 5 made of about 10mm stainless steel pipe
are housed together inside.

Such a rigid fiberscope is manufactured by inserting the image fiber 2, the light guide fiber 3, and the channel hole tube 4 into the sleeve 5, filling it with adhesive, and curing the adhesive. Can be manufactured.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Incidentally, such rigid fiberscopes have been conventionally often used as medical endoscopes, and since they are used inside the human body, there is a strong desire to reduce their diameter. be.

However, when reducing the diameter of the rigid fiberscope, the image fiber 2 and the light guide fiber 3 housed in the sleeve 5 must be
..., it is necessary to reduce each diameter of the channel hole tube 4. Regarding the image fiber 2 and the light guide fiber 3..., it is possible to reduce the diameter by using fused-integrated quartz fiber, but since the channel hole tube 4 is a tubular body, its wall thickness should be reduced to more than 10 μm. It has been difficult to reduce the diameter of the rigid fiberscope because the size and shape are limited.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a rigid fiberscope that allows a rigid fiberscope with a small diameter to be obtained.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The method for manufacturing a rigid fiberscope of the present invention includes applying a mold release agent to the surface of a core material for channel hole formation, and then inserting it into a sleeve together with an image fiber and a light guide fiber. The solution was to fill with an adhesive, cure the adhesive, and then pull out the channel hole forming core material from the sleeve.

[Operation] After applying a release agent to the surface of the core material for forming channel holes, insert it into the sleeve together with adhesive, and after curing the adhesive, form channel holes by pulling out the core material for forming channel holes. Therefore, a channel hole having a desired diameter and shape can be formed.

[Example] This invention will be explained in detail below.

1 and 2 each show an embodiment of a small-diameter rigid fiberscope obtained by the method for manufacturing a rigid fiberscope of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken in the longitudinal direction of the objective section of the rigid fiberscope, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken in the radial direction. The rigid fiberscope shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 differs from the one shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 in that the rigid fiberscope shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is different from the one shown in FIGS. A cavity has been formed to form a channel hole 6.

Such a hard fiberscope can be manufactured through the following steps.

First, a channel hole forming core material made of a columnar body having the same shape as the channel hole 6 to be formed is prepared.
The core material for channel hole formation is not particularly limited as long as it matches the shape of the channel hole 6 to be formed, but it must have a high tensile strength so as not to break during the drawing process described later. It is preferable to use a material that exhibits strength, and for example, a wire made of metal or alloy such as stainless steel or copper, a wire made of fluorine resin or aramid resin, etc. can be suitably used.

Next, a mold release agent is applied to the surface of this channel hole forming core material. This mold release agent is used to improve the surface lubricity of the channel hole forming core material so that the channel hole forming core material can be easily pulled out in the drawing process described later. , polyvinyl alcohol, paraffin, waxes, polytetrafluoroethylene dispersed phases, stearic acid, etc. can be suitably used. In order to apply this mold release agent to the surface of the channel hole forming core material, in addition to the dipping method in which the channel hole forming core material is immersed in a tank filled with the mold release agent, spraying the mold release agent, etc. Conventional application methods can be used.

Next, the channel hole forming core material whose surface is coated with a mold release agent is inserted into the sleeve 5 together with the image fiber 2 to which the objective lens system 1 is connected to one end and the plurality of light guide fibers 3 . The objective lens system 1 is composed of one or a plurality of lens systems, and can use, for example, a quartz-based rod lens with a high refractive index. As the image fiber 2, a plurality of fused quartz fibers or a single quartz rod can be used. A fused-integrated quartz fiber or quartz rod is preferred because its diameter can be made extremely small. The sleeve 5 is a tube body, and since the hard fiberscope is used inside the human body, a stainless steel tube or the like having excellent corrosion resistance and mechanical strength is suitable.

Next, an adhesive is filled into the hollow part of the sleeve 5 in which the channel hole forming core material, the image fiber 2, the light guide fiber 3, etc. are accommodated, and the adhesive is cured to remove the channel hole forming core material. The image fiber 2, the light guide fiber 3, and so on are fixed at predetermined positions within the sleeve 5 and bonded to each other. As the adhesive filled in the sleeve 5, epoxy resin that exhibits sufficient strength after curing, sodium silicate, etc., which are widely used for bonding glass, etc., can be suitably used.
Solvent adhesives, pressure sensitive adhesives, heat sensitive adhesives, reactive adhesives, etc. can be used. After the adhesive has sufficiently hardened and each member within the sleeve 5 is fixed,
The channel hole forming core material is pulled out from the sleeve 5. Since the surface of the channel hole forming core material is coated with a mold release agent in advance, it can be easily pulled out. After the channel hole forming core material is pulled out, a channel hole 6 having a cavity having the same shape as the channel hole forming core material is formed in the sleeve 5.

The surface of the channel hole 6 formed in this way becomes extremely smooth due to the presence of the mold release agent, so forceps, a drill, and an optical fiber for laser irradiation can be easily inserted and removed. .

Further, the area around the channel hole 6 has a glass fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) structure in which the light guide fibers 3 are dispersed in the adhesive as a reinforcing material, so that it has extremely high strength.

Furthermore, in conventional rigid fiberscopes, the channel hole 6 was formed using a thin metal pipe, etc., so there was a limit to how small the channel hole 6 could be made to be. By reducing the diameter of the core material for forming the channel hole 6
can be easily reduced in diameter, and a rigid fiberscope with a small diameter, which has been desired in the past, can be obtained.

Furthermore, by changing the number of channel hole forming core materials inserted into the sleeve 5 and changing the shape and diameter of the channel hole forming core materials, a plurality of core materials having an elliptical cross section as shown in FIG. It is possible to obtain a rigid fiberscope with channel holes 6, 6.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the method for manufacturing a rigid fiberscope of the present invention includes applying a mold release agent to the surface of the channel hole forming core material, and then inserting the image fiber and the light guide fiber into the sleeve. After the adhesive is cured, the channel hole forming core material is pulled out from the sleeve, making it easy to form channel holes with the desired diameter and shape, which is different from the conventional method. It becomes possible to obtain a rigid fiberscope with a small diameter, which was previously impossible to manufacture.

Furthermore, according to the manufacturing method of the present invention, it is possible to form multiple channel holes in the sleeve, so objects can be observed and processed at the same time in narrow spaces such as medical endoscopes. A rigid fiberscope can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 and 2 are schematic cross-sectional views showing the objective part of a rigid fiberscope obtained by the manufacturing method of the present invention, and FIG. FIGS. 4 and 5, which are schematic sectional views showing other examples of fiberscopes, are schematic configuration diagrams showing the objective portion of a rigid fiberscope obtained by a conventional manufacturing method. 2... Image fiber, 3... Light guide fiber, 5... Sleeve, 6... Channel hole.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for manufacturing a rigid fiberscope in which an image fiber, a light guide fiber, and a channel hole are housed in a sleeve, the method comprising applying a mold release agent to the surface of a core material for forming the channel hole. After that, the hard fiber is inserted into the sleeve along with the image fiber and the light guide fiber, and filled with an adhesive, and after the adhesive is cured, the core material for forming the channel hole is pulled out from the sleeve. How the scope is manufactured.