JPH06189898A - Channel tube for endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a channel tube for an endoscope which does not change the adhesiveness between a tube body and sheath material with the lapse of time, has excellent operability and safety and is inexpensive. CONSTITUTION:This channel tube 1 is constituted by winding a coil body 17 around at least a part of the outer periphery of the tube body 15 which is inserted into the insertion part 14 of the endoscope 13 and has flexibility and fixing the coil body 17 to the tube body 15 by the sheath material 18 having elasticity. The outer peripheral surface of at least either of the tube body 15 and the coil body 17 is roughened by a mechanical treatment.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope channel tube for forming a channel provided in an insertion portion of an endoscope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an endoscope used for medical treatment comprises an operation section for performing various operations at hand and a long and flexible insertion section to be inserted into a patient's body. ing. The operation section is provided with an eyepiece section, a bending operation knob, an insertion port for an affected part treatment instrument such as forceps, and the like. In addition, the insertion portion, in the flexible long flexible tube whose one end side is connected to the operation portion, a light transmission member such as an image guide fiber or a light guide fiber, a treatment instrument insertion tube,
It has a structure in which many built-in members such as an air / water feeding tube and operating members such as bending wires are inserted.

As described above, some channel tubes such as a treatment instrument insertion tube and an air / water feeding tube are provided in the insertion portion of the endoscope. A channel tube is known in which a spiral metal (coil body) is wound around the outer peripheral surface, and an outer skin agent is coated on the outer side thereof as an elastic body that is joined and integrated with the tube body (Actual Publication No. HEI 4-4740).
No. 2).

The outer peripheral surface of the tube body is chemically treated with a surface treatment liquid in which, for example, metallic sodium is dispersed in naphthalene, in order to improve the adhesion between the tube body and the outer coating agent. Has been applied.

[0005]

However, in the channel tube disclosed in the above publication, the surface treatment applied to the outer peripheral surface of the tube body in order to enhance the adhesiveness between the tube body and the coating agent. Since this is a chemical treatment, if the outer peripheral surface of the tube body is left without coating after coating, the treated layer on the outer peripheral surface of the tube body is deteriorated by oxygen in the air and the adhesiveness deteriorates. After that, even if the outer peripheral surface of the tube body is covered with the outer coating agent, the outer coating agent is immediately peeled off. Therefore, it was necessary to coat the tube body immediately after the surface treatment of the tube body, and the work efficiency was poor because it was not possible to make a so-called accumulating pool where a large amount of surface treatment was performed on the tube body at a time. Therefore, the worker's body may be adversely affected, and safety measures against chemicals such as wearing chemical resistant gloves must be taken, which is a problem in terms of work and safety. Further, there is a drawback that the manufacturing cost becomes high because equipments and the like for using chemicals must be installed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an inexpensive and excellent workability / safety in which the adhesiveness between the tube body and the outer coating agent does not change with time. It is to provide a channel tube for an endoscope.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has a coil body wound around at least a part of the outer circumference of a flexible tube body inserted into an insertion portion of an endoscope. In an endoscope channel tube in which the coil body is fixed to the tube body with an elastic skin agent, at least the outer peripheral surface of the tube body of the tube body and the coil body is mechanically treated. It is a roughened surface.

[0008]

[Function] The adhesiveness between the tube body and the coating agent does not change with time.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 1C schematically shows the insertion portion 14 of the endoscope 13. The base end of the insertion portion 14 is connected to an operation portion (not shown). The insertion portion 14 includes a flexible tube portion 2 located on the proximal end side, a bending tube portion 3 connected to the tip of the flexible tube portion 2, and a tip configuration connected to the tip of the bending tube portion 3. And part 4. Among these, the bending tube portion 3 is operated to bend by a means described later, and the flexible tube portion 2 has flexibility so that it can be bent by an external force.

The bending tube portion 3 is formed by covering the outer circumference of a bending core formed by pivotally connecting a plurality of bending pieces 5 with each other and coating a resin outer cover 7. And this bending tube portion 3
Is forcibly moved in the pulling direction by pulling the operation wires 8 which are inserted into the insertion portion 14 of the endoscope and whose distal ends are connected to the distal end forming portion 4 on the side of the operating portion. It is designed to be curved. In this case, the operation wires 8 and 8 are inserted into the wire receiving portion 20 of the bending piece 5 in the bending tube portion 3 to be connected to the bending piece 5 so that the bending piece 5 can be jointed. In other words, the bending pieces 3 that are pivotally supported and connected to each other can bend the bending portion 3 by performing a joint operation.

Further, the tip forming portion 4 is formed with a through hole 9 which opens to the outside. In addition to the above, the tip configuration unit 4 is provided with the objective lens system 11 and an illumination lens system (not shown), which are necessary for the endoscope.

A plurality of built-in objects are inserted and stored in the insertion portion 14 of the endoscope 13. That is, a plurality of built-in objects such as an observation optical system member 12 such as an image guide fiber, a channel tube 1 for inserting a treatment tool, and an illumination optical system member (not shown) such as a light guide fiber are inserted. The observation optical system member 12 and the illumination optical system member are formed by covering the fiber element bundle with an elastic tube.

The tip of the observation optical system member 12 is fixedly attached to the tip forming section 4 and is optically connected to the objective lens system 11. Further, the tip of the illumination optical system member is attached and fixed to the tip forming portion 4 and is optically connected to an illumination lens system (not shown). Further, the tip of the channel tube 1 is attached and fixed to the tip forming portion 4 so as to communicate with the through hole 9.

As shown in FIG. 1 (b), the channel tube 1 is composed of a flexible tube body 15 formed of a fluororesin material. A spiral groove 16 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the tube body 15. In addition, the wires 17 made of an elastic material are tightly wound around the spiral groove 16. Further, the outer circumference of the tube body 15 and the wire 17 (hereinafter referred to as the coil body 17) is covered with an outer coating material 18 made of an elastic material.

As shown in FIG. 1A, fine irregularities 19 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the tube body 15 by sandblasting.

In the above structure, since the tube main body 15 is subjected to sandblasting as a non-chemical mechanical process to form fine irregularities 19 on the outer peripheral surface of the tube main body 15, the irregularities 19 form the tube main body 15. The contact area between the outer coating agent 18 and the outer coating agent 18 increases, and the outer coating agent 18 enters each of the fine irregularities 19. Therefore, the adhesive strength between the tube body 15 and the outer coating agent 18 is increased.

Further, since the irregularities 19 are formed by mechanical treatment, the tube body 15 can be treated like chemical treatment.
The treatment layer on the outer peripheral surface of the does not change with time. Therefore, even if the outer peripheral surface of the tube body 15 is left as it is without coating the outer coating agent 18 after forming the unevenness 19, the adhesive action of the treatment layer (the outer peripheral surface of the tube body 15 having the unevenness 19) is deteriorated. There is no such thing. That is,
After a long time has passed since the unevenness 19 was formed, the outer coating agent 18
Even if the outer peripheral surface of the tube body 15 is covered with
Does not come off immediately.

Further, since the tube body 15 can be left for a long time after the unevenness 19 is formed, a so-called reservoir for making a large amount of surface treatment on the tube body at a time can be formed,
Work efficiency is improved.

Further, since it is not necessary to use chemicals, the operator's body is not adversely affected and it is safe, and the simple work of forming the unevenness 19 on the tube body 15 is sufficient. The manufacturing cost can be kept lower than when using chemicals.

The sandblast treatment may be performed before or after forming the spiral groove 16 on the outer circumference of the tube body 15, or after the coil body 17 is wound around the groove 16. good. That is, the process is not selected. Therefore, the process organization can be freely made, and the productivity can be improved.

When the irregularities 19 are formed on the tube body 15 by sandblasting, the size of the irregularities 19 on the tube body 15 can be changed by changing the sandblasting time depending on the location on the tube body 15. Can be different. Therefore, considering that the wire receiving portion 20 contacts the tube body 15, or the contact surface between the tube body 15 and another member including the wire receiving portion 20 is displaced in the axial direction due to the bending operation of the bending tube portion 3, etc. The adhesiveness can be partially improved by intensively sandblasting the outer surface portion of the tube body 15 with which the wire receiving portion 20 contacts and the end of the coil body 17 where the adhesiveness is most required. .

When sand blasting is performed with the coil body 17 wound around the tube body 15, since the irregularities 19 are formed not only on the outer peripheral surface of the tube body 15 but also on the outer surface of the coil body 17, the coil body 17 is formed. And skin agent 1
The adhesiveness with 8 improves. Therefore, the peeling of the outer skin agent 18 is less likely to occur, and as a result, the rigidity of the channel tube 1 is improved.

The sandblasted coil body 17 may be wound around the sandblasted tube body 15. In this case, since the unevenness 19 is formed on the entire surface of the coil body 17, not only the adhesiveness between the coil body 17 and the outer skin agent 18 is improved, but also the coil body 17 adhered to the tube body 15 with the adhesive agent. Also at the ends, the adhesiveness between the coil body 17 and the tube body 15 is improved.

In the above embodiment, the irregularities 19 are formed by sandblasting, but shot blasting,
The irregularities 19 may be formed by a process such as grit blasting or wet blasting.

By the way, in the large intestine scope 30 shown in FIG.
In many cases, the insertion portion 31 is twisted by hand when inserting. Since the cross-sectional shape of the insertion part of the conventional large intestine scope is circular, it was slippery and difficult to twist when twisting the insertion part by hand. However, such a problem can be solved if the cross-sectional shape of the insertion portion 31 is elliptical as shown in FIG.

That is, the insertion portion 31 shown in FIG. 3 is composed of a flex tube 32 having an elliptical cross section formed by spirally winding an elastic strip thin plate, and a thin metal wire covering the outer peripheral surface of the flex tube 32. A braided blade 33,
A plurality of interior members 36 are inserted through the inside of a flexible tube portion formed by an outer cover 34 made of thermoplastic elastomer or the like that covers the blade 33.

In this structure, since the outer skin 4 has an elliptical cross section rather than a circle, even if the insertion portion 31 is twisted and inserted into the large intestine 39, the hand does not slip, so that the operability of the operator is improved. , The work load is reduced. The cross-sectional shape of the insertion portion 31 is not limited to an ellipse, and may be any shape other than a circle. The point is that the cross-sectional shape is easy to grasp and twist.

The insertion portion 31 shown in FIG. 4 is composed of a flex tube 32 having a circular cross-section formed by spirally winding an elastic strip thin plate, and a thin metal wire covering the outer peripheral surface of the flex tube 32. A plurality of interior members 36 are inserted into the inside of a flexible tube portion formed by a braided blade 33 and an outer cover 34 formed on the blade 33 and made of a thermoplastic elastomer or the like having an elliptical cross section. Blade 33
In the gap between the outer cover 34 and the outer cover 34, a filler 40 made of an elastic material is provided.
Is filled.

In this structure, as in the structure shown in FIG. 3, the insertion portion 31 is easily twisted without slipping the hand, so that the operability of the operator is improved, the work load is reduced, and the flex tube 32 is provided. Since the cross-sectional shape of is circular, it has advantages that it is easy to manufacture and the cost can be reduced.

3 and 4, the cross-sectional shape of the insertion portion 31 may be formed into an ellipse over the entire length. However, a part of the insertion portion 31 in the axial direction, that is, the operator inserts the insertion portion 31. A portion where the insertion portion 31 is frequently grasped when it is inserted into the large intestine 39, for example, 40 to 60 from the tip of the insertion portion 31.
The cross-sectional shape may be an ellipse only in a portion near cm or around 80 to 100 cm from the tip of the insertion portion 31.

The observation optical system member 12 such as the channel tube 1 and the image guide fiber described in FIG.
Normally, as shown in FIG. 5B, it is fixed to the end face of the distal end forming portion 4 provided at the distal end of the insertion portion of the endoscope via the connecting pipe 21 and the like.

However, as shown in FIG. 5B, the channel tube 1 and the observation optical system member 12 which are formed in a tubular shape are fitted into the cylindrical through holes 9 and 50 formed in the tip forming portion 4. In the configuration, the length of the rigid leading-edge bending piece 5a connected to the tip forming portion 4 is increased so that the interior members such as the channel tube 1 and the observation optical system member 12 are not broken by the bending of the bending tube portion 3. Must be
In this case, after all, the length of the hard portion on the distal end side of the insertion portion 14 of the endoscope becomes long and the insertability of the insertion portion 14 is poor.

In order to solve such a drawback, in FIG. 5 (a), the areas of the through holes 9 and 50 formed in the tip forming portion 4 are made larger than the outer shapes of the channel tube 1 and the observation optical system member 12. The gaps 45, 46 are enlarged between the channel tube 1 and the observation optical system member 12 and the inner surfaces of the through holes 9, 50.
I tried to have. As a result, the degree of freedom of the channel tube 1 and the observation optical system member 12 increases, so that the channel tube 1 and the observation optical system member 12 can be prevented from being bent when the bending tube portion 3 is bent, and the channel tube 1 and the observation optical system member 12 are connected. The length of the bending piece 5a can be shortened.

[0034]

As described above, the channel tube for an endoscope of the present invention is excellent in workability and safety because the adhesiveness between the tube body and the outer coating agent does not change with time, and the manufacturing cost is high. Also cheaper.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 (a) is a schematic view showing a main configuration of a channel tube for an endoscope of the present invention, (b) is a partial sectional view of the channel tube of (a), and (c) is the channel of (a). FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of an endoscope including a tube.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a colonoscope inserted into the large intestine.

FIG. 3 (a) is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a colonoscope insertion part having a shape with excellent operability, and FIG. 3 (b) is AA of (a).
It is sectional drawing which follows the line.

4A is a schematic configuration diagram showing another example of a colonoscope insertion portion having a shape with excellent operability, and FIG. 4B is a B- of FIG.
It is sectional drawing which follows the B line.

5A and 5B are cross-sectional views showing a connection mode of each member in the vicinity of the distal end configuration portion of the endoscope, in which FIG. 5A shows a structure capable of preventing breakage of an interior member, and FIG. 5B shows a conventional structure. There is.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Channel tube (channel tube for endoscopes), 13 ... Endoscope, 14 ... Insertion part, 15 ... Tube main body (tube body), 17 ... Coil body, 18 ... Outer skin agent, 1
9 ... Unevenness (rough surface).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A coil body is wound around at least a part of an outer circumference of a flexible tube body inserted into an insertion portion of an endoscope, and the coil body is attached to the tube body by an elastic skin agent. An endoscope channel tube fixed to the endoscope, wherein at least the outer peripheral surface of the tube body of the tube body and the coil body is roughened by mechanical treatment. .