JPH06285010A - Endoscope device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the endoscope device provided wtih a curved tube, which can be manufactured easily, has high precision, and also, the diameter of the tube can be thinned. CONSTITUTION:In the endoscope device for executing a bending operation of a curved part 5 by an operation of a wire inserted into a guide hole 14, an annular joint is formed to one piece of plastic tube 12 having high bendability and elasticity, and also, the guide hole 14 is formed by one piece of plastic thin diameter pipe 13 being small in a coefficient of friction and easily slidable, and this thin diameter pipe is provided integrally in the plastic tube for forming an annular joint.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope apparatus used for diagnosing or treating a disease by inserting a scope into a body cavity of a patient, the distal end side of which is a digestive tract, an operation hole or a bronchus. It is related to the improvement of the curved part of the scope that enables smooth movement of the.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Endoscope devices include fiberscope type and electronic endoscopes, which will be briefly described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, the endoscope apparatus includes a main body 2 including a monitor 1 for displaying an endoscopic image and an operation control switch.
And a scope 3 used by being inserted into a body cavity of a patient. Then, on the distal end side of the flexible portion 4 of the scope 3, a curved portion 5 for guiding the scope itself to the affected portion in the body cavity.
Is provided, and a rigid portion 6 equipped with a video camera, forceps, a cleaning nozzle, etc. is provided at the tip of the curved portion 5. On the other hand, on the rear end side of the flexible portion 4, an operating portion 7 for performing an angle operation or the like which is a bending operation of the bending portion 5 of the scope 3,
The main body 2 is provided with a universal cord 8 for transmitting a video camera signal. Though not shown, a light guide fiber, an air supply tube, a water supply tube, a conductor, and the like are incorporated inside the flexible portion 4. Conventionally,
As shown in FIG. 4, the outer skin of the curved portion 5 of the scope 3 and the inner side of the mesh-shaped blade are provided with a large number of annular joints (angle coma) 9 and a plurality of these joints 9 (usually 4 or more). Wire guide hole 10 and this wire guide hole 10
The curved tube is formed by the wire 11 inserted into and communicating with each other. Then, the wire 11 is wound up by the operation unit 7 for performing an angle operation or the like to bend the bending portion 5 to guide the distal end portion of the scope to the affected area in the body cavity, and the portion to be viewed is displayed on the monitor 1. Project.

Usually, the annular joint 9 is made of a flat plate and is welded to each other at one end. In this case, one joint 9 is manufactured by welding in advance a pipe serving as a guide hole 10 which is a passage for the wire 11 when the plate is flat, and a plurality of bendable annular joints 9 are connected to each other.
Are configured. As described above, in the manufacture of the annular joint 9, it is very difficult to stabilize the quality of manufacture due to the complicated process, and the integrated shaving method is also taken into consideration. Difficulties are presented. That is, there is a limit to the reduction of the diameter of the annular joint 9 and the wire is broken due to the occurrence of burrs because it is metal. On the other hand, in recent years, attempts have been made to manufacture a curved tube having an annular joint function with a single plastic tube having a guide hole that serves as a wire passage. As a proposal regarding this, Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-8436 (Japanese Patent Application No. 60-246)
107). It is an elongated flexible plastic tube that forms a chain of spinal elements along its entire length, the tube having multiple lumens (guides for passage of wires) extending longitudinally in the wall of the tube. It is made of a plastic extruded or injection-molded material having a plurality of cutouts which have holes) and which intersect the pipe wall over the entire length.

[0004]

However, in the conventional curved pipe of this kind, a series of a plurality of cutouts intersecting the pipe wall of the plastic tube are provided over the entire length, and these cutouts form the pipe wall. There is also a manufacturing defect that the internal cavity extending in the longitudinal direction is also cut, and it is difficult to insert the wire. Also, if a web etc. is arranged in the tube, it is necessary to protect the internal components in the curved tube. Although there is a partitioning effect, there is a problem in that the internal cross-sectional area inside the tube is reduced and a sufficient internal accommodation area is secured, and it is difficult to reduce the tube diameter. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an endoscope apparatus having a bending tube that is easy to manufacture, has high accuracy, and enables the tube diameter to be reduced. It is in.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following structure of the endoscope apparatus.
That is, a scope having a monitor for displaying an endoscopic image, a main body equipped with operation control switches and the like, and a rigid portion having an optical system and the like disposed at the distal end and used in a body cavity of a patient. And a bending portion having a large number of annular joints provided with a plurality of wire guide holes on the distal end side of the scope, and the bending operation of the bending portion is performed by operating the wire inserted in the guide hole. In the endoscopic device which is performed by
The annular joint is formed in one flexible plastic tube having good flexibility, and the wire guide hole is formed in one slippery plastic small-diameter pipe having a small friction coefficient. The thin pipe is integrally arranged in a plastic tube forming an annular joint. In this endoscopic device, the material of the plastic tube with good flexibility and elasticity is polypropylene or polyarylate, and the material of the slender plastic small diameter pipe with a small friction coefficient is nylon, polyacetal, or Teflon. It is characterized by being. Further, in this endoscope device, when a curved pipe is manufactured, when the thin pipe is integrally molded in a plastic tube forming an annular joint, it is manufactured by ultrasonic welding. .

[0006]

According to the above construction, since one plastic tube and one plastic small-diameter pipe are separately molded and integrated, the diameter of the curved pipe can be reduced. As this plastic tube uses a flexible and elastic material such as polypropylene or polyarylate, the flexibility of the curved tube is improved, and as a plastic small-diameter pipe, nylon, polyacetal, or Since a slippery material having a small coefficient of friction such as Teflon is used, the accuracy of the bending tube is improved such that the wire inserted in the small-diameter pipe moves smoothly. Moreover, since the bending tube is manufactured by ultrasonic welding, the manufacturing becomes easy.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of a bending tube used in a bending portion of the endoscope device of the present invention. Figure 1 (a)
It is the perspective view and FIG.1 (b) is the sectional view.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 12 is a single plastic tube (hereinafter simply referred to as “tube”), and reference numeral 13
Is a single small-diameter pipe made of plastic (hereinafter, simply referred to as a small-diameter pipe), and the small-diameter pipe 13 is provided with a guide hole 14 which is a wire passage. In FIG. 1, four thin pipes 13 are arranged on the inner surface of the tube 12. The tube 12 has a prior art annular joint 9 which increases flexibility.
The cutting process as shown in FIG. 1A is performed so as to fulfill the function (see FIG. 4). In this case, the four thin pipes 13 are not cut. By doing so, it becomes easier to insert the wire when manufacturing the bending portion, and manufacturing becomes easier and faster. The bending tube configured as described above is bent in the vertical direction by operating the pair of wires at symmetrical positions by the operation unit 7 shown in FIG. 3, and operates the wires at positions orthogonal to those wires. It bends to the left and right. That is, when one wire is tightened, the bending tube bends in this direction and the other wire relaxes. Therefore,
It is preferable that the tube 12 has good flexibility and elasticity, and that the thin pipe 13 has little friction with the wire and is slippery. Examples of the material of the tube 12 include polypropylene and polyarylate, and examples of the material of the small diameter pipe 13 include nylon, polyacetal, and Teflon. Basically, the material of the tube 12 and the material of the small-diameter pipe 13 may be the same, but it is preferable to use the different materials. Figure 2
Is for explaining the manufacturing method of this bending tube,
2A to 2D show the process. This curved tube is manufactured by the ultrasonic vibration welding method. First, FIG.
A tube 12 as shown in FIG. 2A and a small diameter pipe 13 as shown in FIG. 2B are continuously molded by an extrusion method. The tube 12 shown in FIG. 2A has an outer diameter of 8 mm to 1
It is a plastic tube using polypropylene of about 1 mm. The tube is formed to have a thickness of about 0.3 mm to 0.6 mm. Further, the small-diameter pipe 13 shown in FIG.
Outer diameter is about 0.6mm-1.0mm and inner diameter is 0.4mm-
It is a thin tube made of plastic using nylon of about 0.6 mm. Although the length of the tube 12 depends on the length of the scope and the purpose of use, it is generally about 8 cm to 15 cm. Next, as shown in FIG. 2C, the small diameter pipes 13 are easily combined and fixed to the four welding jig 15 by utilizing the elasticity of plastic. This combination is inserted and set in the tube 12 so that the small-diameter pipe 13 comes into contact therewith. Ultrasonic vibration is applied to the thus-set material to rub the respective contact portions to molecularly bond them. When the welding jig 15 is pulled out from the tube 12 after the joining is completed and the integration of the tube 12 and the small diameter pipe 13 is completed, as shown in FIG. Good curved tube material is obtained. The bending tube material thus obtained is cut into a joint shape as shown in FIG. 1, or is cut as appropriate to manufacture the bending tube. The reason why the curved tube is in the shape of a joint is to increase the flexibility of the curved tube, and the shape of cutting is determined in that sense. Therefore, the small diameter pipe 13 is not damaged by cutting though it may be spotted or may be a simple notch. According to the method as described above, it is possible to provide a curved tube which is easy to manufacture and has excellent characteristics. Further, since the curved tube obtained by this method does not have a partition such as a web inside, the inner area of the tube 12 can be effectively utilized and the tube diameter can be reduced.

[0008]

As described above, according to the endoscope apparatus of the present invention, since the bending tube of the bending portion is manufactured by the ultrasonic vibration welding method, the manufacturing is facilitated. Further, since one plastic tube and one plastic small-diameter pipe are separately molded and integrated, the diameter of the curved pipe can be reduced. Since the tube and the thin pipe are made of different materials according to their respective characteristics, the bendability of the bending pipe is improved and the movement of the wire inserted in the thin pipe is improved. There is also an effect that the accuracy as is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an example of a bending tube used in a bending portion of an endoscope device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is for explaining a method of manufacturing this bending tube.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the endoscope apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 monitor 2 main body 3 scope 4 soft part 5 curved part 6 rigid part 7 operating part 8 universal cord 9 joint (angle coma) 10 wire guide hole 11 wire 12 one plastic tube 13 one plastic small diameter Pipe 14 Guide hole that is a wire passage 15 Welding jig

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A monitor for displaying an endoscopic image,
A main body having an operation control switch, and a scope having a rigid portion having at least an optical system at the tip and used by being inserted into a body cavity of a patient, and a guide hole for a wire on the tip side of the scope. In the endoscopic device having a curved portion formed with a plurality of annular joints provided with a plurality of curved joints and bending the curved portion by operating a wire inserted into the guide hole, Is formed into a single flexible plastic tube having good flexibility, and the guide holes of the wire are formed into a single slender plastic small-diameter pipe having a small friction coefficient. An endoscope apparatus in which a small-diameter pipe is integrally arranged in a plastic tube forming an annular joint. 2. The material according to claim 1, wherein the material of the flexible plastic tube is polypropylene or polyarylate, and the material of the slender plastic small-diameter pipe having a small friction coefficient is nylon, polyacetal, Alternatively, an endoscopic device characterized by being Teflon. 3. The endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the small diameter pipe is integrally molded in a plastic tube forming an annular joint, it is manufactured by ultrasonic welding. .