JPH0418562Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an insertion portion of an endoscope used for medical purposes, etc., which is inserted into the body.

[Prior Art] As shown in Fig. 2, an endoscope includes an operating section 1 for operating the endoscope at hand, an insertion section 2 to be inserted into the body, and a light source device (see Fig. 2). (not shown)
The universal cord 3 is connected to the universal cord 3. Here, the insertion section 2 is a flexible section 4 made of a soft tube material for the most part, and an angle section 5 and a distal end forming section 6 are sequentially provided at the distal end of the flexible section 4. A light guide, an image guide (in the case of an electronic endoscope, a signal cable is used in place of the image guide), a processing tool insertion channel, etc. are inserted into the insertion section 2, and there is also a guide for bending the angle section. ni, 2
There are one to four operating wires inside.

Here, since the operating section 2 is inserted into a narrow and complicatedly curved body, the entire insertion section 2 can be bent in any direction in order to improve its insertability. At the same time, the diameter must be made as small as possible.

However, since the tip component 6 is provided with an illumination window and an observation window each equipped with a lens,
A certain diameter must be secured. Also,
The angle section 5 is provided with an angle ring, and this angle ring is curved at a large angle, so that excessive force is not applied to built-in components such as the light guide and image guide mentioned above. Therefore, it is necessary to secure a certain amount of space, and therefore there is a limit to how small the diameter of the angle portion 5 can be. On the other hand, the soft part 4
The above-mentioned tip structure part 6 and the angle part 5 are made of a soft tube material and are not bent at a large angle like the angle part 5.
It is possible to make the diameter smaller.

Here, the insertion section 2 is inserted through the oral cavity, nasal cavity, etc. for observation, treatment, etc., and when the insertion section 2 is inserted, it passes through a constricted region such as the throat. Therefore, the tip component part 6 and the angle part 5
Although there is some resistance when passing through the relevant part, after the tip component 6 and the angle part 5 have passed, the thickness of these members will not directly act on the constricted part such as the throat. . However, since the soft part 4 will be located in this narrowed area while the insertion part 2 is inserted, the soft part 4 should be made as small in diameter as possible in order to reduce patient pain. is preferred. For this reason, endoscopes in which the flexible portion 4 of the insertion portion has a smaller diameter than the distal end portion 6 and the angle portion 5 have been known.

Therefore, FIG. 3 shows a cross section of a connecting portion between the flexible portion 4 and the angle portion 5 of the insertion portion 2 according to the prior art. As is clear from the figure, the angle portion 5 and the flexible portion 4 are connected to the angle ring 5a of the angle portion 5.
They are connected by fitting together a joint ring 10 fixed to the flexible portion 4 and a connecting ring 11 fixed to the flexible portion 4 side. In order to bend the angle portion 5, the operating wire 12 is inserted into a mantle member 13 made of a tightly coiled spring or the like within the flexible part 4, and the tip of the mantle member 13 is connected to a fixture 14. Fixed by means such as brazing,
It is fixed to the coupling ring 10 by a caulking pin 15. Thus, the mantle member 13 and the fixture 14 form a passage member for the operating wire 12, and the operating wire 12 is further led out from this passage member and extended to the tip portion of the angle portion 5. There is. Thereby, by operating the angle knob 16 provided on the operating section 1 and pushing or pulling the operating wire 12, the angle section 5 can be bent in a desired direction.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] By the way, as mentioned above, when the flexible part 4 is made small in diameter, the inner diameter D1 of the flexible part 4 becomes smaller than the inner diameter D2 of the angle part, and the flexible part 4 is made smaller by this diameter difference. A step will be created at the connecting portion between the angle portion 5 and the angle portion 5. As a result, the mantle member 13 through which the operating wire 12 is inserted becomes an inclined passage section that is bent inwardly from the part where it is fixed to the fixture 14 to the flexible part 4; The passage has a structure in which there is no guide in the direction of inclination. For this reason, when tension is applied by pushing and pulling the operating wire 12, the operating wire 12 is pressed against the mantle member 13, which increases the burden on the operating wire 12, resulting in poor operability. In addition, there is a disadvantage that the operating wire 12 is prematurely worn out.

Therefore, in the prior art, in order to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages, the length of the coupling ring 10 in the axial direction is increased, so that the mantle member 1
I tried to make the angle of inclination of 3 smaller. However, since the coupling ring 10 and the coupling ring 11 are made of hard members, as described above, when the coupling ring 10 is lengthened, the soft part 4
There is a disadvantage that the hard part at the connecting part between the outer mantle member 13 and the angle part 5 becomes long as shown in FIG. Even if the angle is made smaller, since there is no member to guide this inclined portion, the operation wire 12 is still pressed against the mantle member, and there is a drawback that the burden on the operation wire 12 cannot be sufficiently reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its purpose is to provide an endoscope with an insertion section that has a step between the flexible part and the angled part. The purpose is to improve the insertion operability and the push/pull operation of the operating wire.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an angle at the end position on the angle part side of the coupling ring provided for connecting the flexible part and the angle part. The end of the passage member through which the operating wire for operation is inserted is fixed, and the inner circumferential surface of the joint ring is an inclined surface that slopes inward from the fixed position of the passage member toward the soft part side. This is a characteristic feature.

[Function] By configuring as described above, in the passage member through which the operating wire is inserted, the inclined passage portion at the connecting portion between the flexible portion and the angle portion is arranged in an oblique direction along the inclined surface of the coupling ring. When the operating wire is pushed or pulled, tension is applied in the direction of the inclination of the passage member. As a result, even if the angle of the inclined portion of the passage member is large, the operation wire can be pushed and pulled smoothly with a light operation force, the load on the operation wire is small, and the wear of the operation wire is significantly reduced. can be reduced and its durability improved. By making it possible to increase the inclination angle of the passage member in this way, it becomes possible to shorten the length of the coupling ring in the axial direction, and as a result, the length of the hard part of the insertion section can be reduced. Since the length of the insertion portion is shortened, the inserting portion can be easily inserted into the body, and the patient's pain is alleviated.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail based on FIG. 1.

As shown in the figure, the soft part 21 in the insertion part 20 has a smaller diameter than the angle part 22,
There is no particular difference from the prior art described above in that the flexible portion 21 and the angle portion 22 are connected by fitting a joint ring 23 and a connecting ring 24. Further, an operation wire 25 for controlling the angle portion 22 is also provided.
is inserted into the flexible portion 21 through a mantle member 26 made of a tightly coiled spring or the like, and the tip of the mantle member 26 is fixed to a fixture 27 by means of brazing or the like, and is connected to the joint by a caulking pin 28. ring 2
Regarding the point that it is now fixed at 3,
This is similar to the prior art described above.

However, the inner surface of the joint ring 23 has an inclined surface 23a that slopes inward over a predetermined length from the end of the angle portion 22 connected to the angle ring 22a toward the flexible portion 21 side. Therefore, the thickness of the joint ring 23 increases continuously from the angle portion 22 side toward the flexible portion 21 side. Further, the caulking pin 28 is tilted from the direction perpendicular to the axis of the insertion portion 20 by an angle θ corresponding to the tilt angle of the slope surface 23a described above at the end of the joint ring 23 on the angle portion 22 side. It is adapted to be fixed to the coupling ring 23.

By configuring as described above, the flexible portion 21 of the passage member through which the operating wire 25 is inserted.
The inclined passage part, which is arranged obliquely based on the diameter difference between the fixing tool 27 and the angle part 22, becomes the tip part of the mantle member 26, and this inclined passage part extends along the inclined surface 23a of the coupling ring 23. Since the operating wire 25 is guided by the wire, even if the inclination angle is large, the pushing and pulling operation of the operating wire 25 can be performed smoothly, and the operating wire 25 can be easily operated with a light load. At the same time, it becomes possible to reduce wear.

In this way, when the inclination angle of the inclined passage portion can be increased, the length of the coupling ring 23 in the axial direction can be shortened. Moreover, this inclined passage section is connected to the caulking pin 28.
The length of the fixture 27 is from the end position on the angle part 22 side to the tip of the flexible part 21, so compared to the prior art described above, the length of the fixture 27 is reduced by the length of the fixture 27. Joint ring 23
This also reduces the axial length of the joint ring 23, which forms the hard part, so that the total length in the axial direction of the coupling ring 23, which forms the hard part, can be significantly shortened as shown by L2 in FIG. The insertion operability of the endoscope is improved, and the burden on the patient can be reduced.

Note that, as described above, since the portion accommodated in the fixture 27 can also be formed as an inclined passage, the fixture 27 can be accommodated without increasing the length of the hard part of the insertion portion. This makes it possible to increase the length of the mantle member 25, and thereby improve the fixation of the mantle member 25. In addition, the inclined surface 23 of the joint ring 23
a should be formed with a length sufficient to guide the mantle member 25 in the inclined direction, but
It may also be formed over the entire axial direction of the joint ring 23.

[Effects of the invention] As explained above, the present invention has the inner surface of the joint ring provided between the flexible part and the angle part as an inclined surface, and the passage member through which the operating wire is inserted is arranged along the inclined surface. Since it is configured to be guided, even if the angle of the inclined portion of this passage member is increased, the operation wire can be pushed and pulled smoothly with a light load, and the operability of angle operation is improved. The durability of the operating wire can be improved, and the axial length of the coupling ring can be shortened, so the length of the hard part of the insertion part can be shortened, and the length of the insertion part can be reduced. This provides excellent effects such as improved operability for insertion into the body and the ability to reduce the burden on the patient.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of the main part of an insertion section showing one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an external view showing the overall configuration of the endoscope, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the main part of the insertion part according to the prior art. be. 20... Insertion part, 21... Soft part, 22... Angled part, 23... Joint ring, 23a... Inclined surface, 24... Connection ring, 25... Operation wire,
26... Mantle member, 27... Fixing tool.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] It has a distal end component, an angled section connected to the distal end component, and a flexible section having a smaller diameter than the angled section, and a part of the flexible section is connected to the operating section, and the other end is connected to the operating section by means of a coupling ring. In the device that is connected to the angle part, the end of the passage member through which the operation wire for operating the angle is inserted is fixed to the end position of the joint ring on the angle part side, and the inner circumferential surface of the joint ring is fixed. An insertion portion of an endoscope, characterized in that the insertion portion has an inclined surface that slopes inward from a fixed position of the passage member toward the flexible portion.