JPH057548A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the fixing of a tube for an endoscope at a low cost and at a high efficiency. CONSTITUTION:In an endoscope having an end of a tube 1 for an endoscope fastened on a fixing member 2, the fixing member 2 is provided with a screw hole 2A with a screw formed on the inner circumferential surface of a lower hole with the inner diameter D thereof small than the outer diameter (d) of the tube 1 for the endoscope. On the other hand, with no screw formed at the end of the tube 1 for the endoscope, the end thereof is inserted into the hole 2A being turned toward the hole 2A. A gap part 3 is filled with an adhesive 4 between the outer circumferential surface of the end of the tube 1 for the endoscope and the inner circumferential surface of the screw hole 2A.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope for observing the inside of a body cavity of a living body, and particularly to a forceps channel and an air supply
The present invention relates to a technique for fixing an endoscope tube such as a water supply tube.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, endoscope tubes such as forceps channels and air / water supply tubes provided inside an endoscope are
It is fixed as shown in FIG. In the figure, 101
Is a tip structural member that is housed in the tip rigid portion (not shown) of the endoscope, and the tip end of the endoscope tube 102 is inserted into the screw hole 103 A formed in the fixing member 103. The fixing member 103 is attached to the tip structure material 101. A male screw 10 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the end of the tube 102.
2A is formed, and a female screw that fits this male screw 102A is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the screw hole 103A.

When fixing the tube 102, the male screw 102A of the tube is screwed into the screw hole 103A of the fixing member to be fitted, and the outer peripheral surface of the male screw 102A and the inner peripheral surface of the screw hole 103A are bonded with an adhesive. To do. Then, the fixing member 1 formed on the back side of the screw hole 103A
03 is inserted into the mounting hole 101A formed in the tip structural member 101, and the fixing member 10
The screw members 104A and 104B are screwed into the screw holes 103C and 103D formed in No. 3 and the screw holes 101B and 101C formed in the tip structure material 101, respectively, and the fixing member 103
Are fixed to the tip structure material 101 together with the end portion of the tube 102.

In addition to the fixing method described above, the end portion of the endoscope tube is fitted into the projection formed on the fixing member, and the end portion of the tube is fixed by winding a thread around the outer peripheral surface of the tube end portion. There is a fixing method to do. Also in this case, by using an adhesive together, sufficient strength is secured in the fixed portion of the tube. That is, stress (hereinafter referred to as removal force) is likely to be applied to the fixed portion of the end portion of the endoscope tube in the direction of removing the tube, but the fixed portion of the tube has sufficient resistance to this removal force. Is to have.

[0005]

However, in the case of the above-mentioned prior art, in addition to the bonding of the endoscope tube and the fixing member with the adhesive, the threading of the tube outer peripheral surface or the thread on the tube outer peripheral surface is performed. Since a complicated secondary work such as winding a thread is required and the secondary work and the tube assembling work depend largely on the skill of the operator, the work efficiency is poor and the cost is high.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope capable of fixing an endoscope tube at low cost and with high efficiency. To provide.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an endoscope in which an end portion of an endoscope tube is fixed to a fixing member,

The fixing member is provided with a screw hole in which a screw is formed on the inner peripheral surface of a prepared hole having an inner diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the endoscope tube, while the end portion of the endoscope tube is provided. A screw is not formed in the end portion, the end portion is inserted into the screw hole while rotating with respect to the screw hole, and the outer peripheral surface of the endoscope tube end portion and the inner peripheral surface of the screw hole are It is characterized in that the gap is filled with an adhesive.

[0009]

In the endoscope of the present invention having the above structure,
The end of the endoscope tube without a screw is self-tappingly screwed into the screw hole of the fixing member, and the gap between the outer peripheral surface of this tube and the inner peripheral surface of the screw hole is filled with adhesive. Since the tube is fixed by the screw, complicated secondary work such as screwing of the outer peripheral surface of the tube and thread winding is unnecessary, and the work of assembling the tube is simplified. In addition, the threaded portion of the screw hole cuts into the end of the tube, and the gap between the outer peripheral surface of the tube and the inner peripheral surface of the screw hole is filled with adhesive to create an adhesive reservoir, so the end of the tube The part is securely fixed in the screw hole, and the fixed part of the tube has high strength against the pulling force.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an end portion of an endoscope tube and an end portion of a fixing member in an endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the fixing member of the endoscope tube. It is sectional drawing which shows the state attached to. In these drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes an endoscope tube such as a forceps channel or an air / water feeding tube. The tube 1 is made of rubber,
It is made of a flexible elastic material such as resin. on the other hand,
Reference numeral 2 denotes a fixing member to which the tube 1 is fixed, and a screw hole 2A is formed at the end thereof.

When the screw hole 2A is formed, it is slightly smaller than the outer diameter d of the tube 1 (about 0.05 to 0.
After forming the prepared hole of the inner diameter D (smaller by 1 mm) in the fixing member 2, a female screw is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the prepared hole by a tap capable of threading the prepared hole. Then, by rotating the tube 1 or the fixing member 2, the end of the tube 1 is screwed into the screw hole 2A in a self-tapping manner while rotating the end of the tube 1 with respect to the screw hole 2A. At this time, the screw portion of the screw hole 2A serves as a guide to guide the tube 1, so that the end portion of the tube 1 can be easily inserted into the screw hole 2A.

An adhesive 4 is filled in a gap portion 3 formed between the outer peripheral surface of the tube 1 and the inner peripheral surface of the screw hole 2,
The outer peripheral surface of the end of the tube 1 and the inner peripheral surface of the screw hole 2A are bonded. In the fixed portion of the tube 1, the screw portion of the screw hole 2 bites into the end portion of the tube 1 to fix the end portion of the tube 1, and the outer peripheral surface of the tube 1 and the inner periphery of the screw hole 2A are fixed. Since the gap portion 3 with the surface serves as an adhesive reservoir and the end portion of the tube 1 is securely fixed in the screw hole 2A, high strength against the pulling force can be obtained at the fixed portion of the tube 1.

Inside the fixing member 2, air supply
A hole (not shown) for passing a fluid passing through the water supply tube or a treatment tool passing through the forceps channel is formed, and the end of the tube 1 screwed into the screw hole 2A and the air supply through the hole without any trouble. Water is supplied or a treatment tool is inserted.

The endoscope tube 1 and the fixing member 2 described above.
Is provided inside the endoscope 10 as shown in FIG. The endoscope 10 is connected to a main body 12 of an electronic endoscope apparatus by a universal cord 13 and has a tube-shaped insertion portion 14 that is introduced into a body cavity of a subject (living body).
And an operation unit 15 for operating the scope, which is connected to the base end of the insertion unit 14.

An image pickup device (not shown) such as a CCD device is provided in the tip hard portion 14A provided at the tip of the insertion portion 14.
Is installed, and an optical image of the examination site inside the body cavity is converted into an electric signal by the image pickup device. This electric signal is sent to an information processing unit (not shown) in the apparatus body 12, and this signal is converted into a video signal by the information processing unit and sent to the display unit 16 such as a CRT display. The display unit 16 displays an image of the surface state of the inspection site of the subject according to this video signal.

The insertion portion 14 and the operation portion 15 of this endoscope 10
Further, inside the universal cord 13, an air / water supply tube for supplying air / water into the body cavity is housed, and inside the insertion section 14 and the operation section 15, a treatment tool such as forceps in the body cavity. A tube-shaped forceps channel for inserting the tube is stored.

These air supply / water supply tubes and forceps channels correspond to the endoscope tube 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 above, and both ends of both tubes are shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, it is fixed to the fixing member 2. And in the case of an air / water supply tube, the tip rigid part 14
Inside A and the apparatus main body 12, each end of the tube is fixedly arranged together with a fixing member. In the case of the forceps channel, each end of the tube is fixedly arranged inside the distal end rigid portion 14A and the operating portion 15 together with the fixing member.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the end portion of the endoscope tube 1 having no screw is self-tap-threaded into the screw hole 2A of the fixing member to form the tube 1
Since the gap 3 between the outer peripheral surface of the tube and the inner peripheral surface of the screw hole 2A is filled with the adhesive 4 to fix the end portion of the tube 1, complicated secondary work such as screwing or thread winding on the outer peripheral surface of the tube 1 is performed. Is unnecessary, and the work of assembling the tube 1 is easy. Therefore,
The working time required for fixing the tube 1 is shortened, and the working efficiency is improved. As a result, the manufacturing process of the endoscope 10 is simplified and the manufacturing efficiency is improved. In addition, the present embodiment also has an advantage that the structure of the fixed portion of the tube 1 is simpler than that of the tube fixing method using the bobbin described above.

Further, as described above, in the fixed portion of the end portion of the tube 1, high strength against withdrawal force is obtained, and in this embodiment, it is a simple work without depending on the skill of the operator.
Since the end of the tube 1 can be securely fixed,
Uniform and stable strength can be obtained as compared with the method of threading a tube or the method of winding a thread as described above. Therefore, the quality and reliability of the endoscope 10 can be improved.

Furthermore, in the method of threading a tube, it is necessary to accurately fit the male screw portion of the tube outer peripheral surface and the female screw portion of the screw hole of the fixing member, and the relationship between the tube outer diameter and the screw hole inner diameter. It was necessary to strictly determine the size of taps and taps. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, if the inner diameter of the prepared hole of the screw hole 2A is made slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the tube 1, the tube 1 is self-tapping in the screw hole 2A.
The size of the screw is not limited to a particular size, as it is screwed into. That is, the size of the prepared hole is important for inserting the tube 1 into the screw hole 2A, and the size of the screw itself is not so important. Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is possible to efficiently perform screw processing. Further, any size tap can be used as long as it can be tapped into the prepared hole, and a standard size tap can be used, so that no special tool is required. Also in this respect, the cost can be reduced.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.
The present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made. For example, although the endoscope of the electronic endoscope apparatus is taken as an example in the above-mentioned embodiment, the present invention is also applicable to a fiberscope and the like. Further, in the above embodiment, the screw hole 2A
The inner diameter D of the prepared hole is about 0.05 than the outer diameter d of the tube 1.
Although it was set to be smaller by ~ 0.1mm, the relationship between the outer diameter of the tube and the inner diameter of the pilot hole is not limited to this, and the inner diameter of the pilot hole is smaller than the outer diameter of the tube, Depending on the flexibility and outer diameter of the tube, the inner diameter of the prepared hole and the outer diameter of the tube may be adjusted depending on the flexibility and outer diameter of the tube, as long as the biting is sufficient and the tube can be screwed into the screw hole in a self-tapping manner. The difference may be set to less than 0.05 mm or greater than 0.1 mm.

[0023]

EFFECT OF THE INVENTION The endoscope of the present invention has the above-mentioned structure and action, and when fixing the endoscope tube, complicated secondary work such as threading of the tube and thread winding becomes unnecessary,
The tube can be assembled and fixed in a fixing member in a short time by a simple operation. Therefore, the work efficiency required for fixing the tube and the manufacturing efficiency of the endoscope can be improved. In addition, the manufacturing cost of the endoscope can be reduced. Further, since the uniform and stable high strength can be obtained in the fixed portion of the endoscope tube, the quality and reliability of the endoscope can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an endoscope tube and a fixing member in an endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the endoscope tube is attached to a fixing member in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the endoscope of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of fixing a tube for an endoscope in a conventional endoscope.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Endoscope tube 2 Fixing member 2A Screw hole 3 Gap between outer peripheral surface of tube and inner peripheral surface of screw hole 4 Adhesive 10 Endoscope d Tube outer diameter D Inner hole inner diameter

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. An endoscope in which an end of an endoscope tube is fixed to a fixing member, wherein the fixing member has an inner diameter smaller than an outer diameter of the endoscope tube. A threaded hole having a thread is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the prepared hole, while the threaded portion is not formed at the end portion of the endoscope tube and the end portion is rotated with respect to the threaded hole. While being inserted into the screw hole, an adhesive is filled in a gap portion between the outer peripheral surface of the endoscope tube end portion and the inner peripheral surface of the screw hole.