JPH0716477B2 - Scope objective swing structure - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a scope objective swing structure.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a scope objective swing structure a as illustrated in FIG. 10 has been used. That is, the connecting tools f and g are fixed to the image guide e at both fulcrums b and c of the swinging portion length l, the tip of the swinging wire h is fixed to the leading end connecting tool f, and the other connecting tool g is fixed. The wire h is slidably inserted into the eccentric small hole and the outer tube i is covered.

Here, the operation and necessity of the outer tube i will be described. In FIG. 11, if the wire h is pulled from the right side outside the drawing,
Since the oscillating portion length l of the image guide e is constant,
As shown in the figure, the image guide e is bent. In this way, the wire h is stretched like a bowstring and the image guide e
There is a part far away from. By preventing this, the parallel distance between the image guide e and the wire h is limited, and
The outer tube i is required to bend as shown. Further, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 15, a pair of wires h ₁ , h ₂
A swing structure a having a is also known.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

In such a conventional scope objective swing structure a, when the outer tube i, the image guide e, and other light guides have a large resistance to bending (swing), the wires h, h ₁ and h ₂ are The tension must be increased. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, FIG. 13 and FIG.
However, there was a problem in that the outer tube i was deformed-pulling deformation-when it tried to stretch it in a straight line like a bowstring, resulting in an unnatural bending (pivoting). There is also a problem that the outer tube i is damaged.

Further, the above-mentioned problem similarly occurs in the structure of swinging in two directions shown in FIG. 15 (I). Moreover, as shown in FIG. 15 (I), first, when one wire h ₁ is pulled in the direction of the arrow F ₁ and the head is swayed to the other, the other wire h ₂ (becomes a straight line) is indicated by the arrow G 1. When the other wire h ₂ is pulled in the direction of arrow F ₂ as shown in FIG. 15 (II) while trying to swing the neck in the opposite direction, the above-mentioned movement is performed. Since tensile force is applied to the wire h ₂ at the eccentric position,
As shown in (II) of the same figure, it may be in a meandering state and normal swinging may not be possible.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to prevent such a meandering swinging failure, to surely realize swinging in two directions, and to prevent damage to the outer tube.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to achieve such an object, in the scope objective swing structure according to the present invention, a short tubular first connector is provided at the tip of a spirally deformable spiral tube formed by spirally winding a band-shaped body. While connecting, a short tubular second connector is connected to the proximal end of the spiral tube to form a distal tubular body, and
A pair of swing wires arranged at symmetrical positions of about 180 ° in the cross section are inserted into the tip tubular body, and the tip of the swing wire is fixed to the short tubular first connector. ,
Further, a wire eccentricity prevention ring having a pair of guide holes at symmetrical positions of about 180 ° is slidably inserted into the spiral tube, and the swinging motion occurs between the first connecting tool and the second connecting tool. The wire for use was slidably inserted into the guide hole of the eccentricity prevention ring.

[Action]

If one of the swing wires is free and the other swing wire is pulled toward the base end, the above-mentioned freedom of the pair of swing wires arranged at symmetrical positions of about 180 ° in the cross section will be obtained. Pulling the wire in the state, it tries to eccentric to the inside of the swing curve. However, since the wire is inserted through the guide hole of the wire eccentricity prevention ring, the pair of the wires always maintain a symmetrical position of about 180 ° in the cross section of the scope,
Eccentricity is prevented. The eccentricity prevention ring is slidably inserted into the spiral tube, and the wire is slidably inserted through the eccentricity prevention ring, so that it does not interfere with the swinging operation.

On the contrary, when the other swing wire is set in a free state and one swing wire is pulled, the swing smoothly swings in the opposite direction. That is, since both wires are always maintained on opposite sides of the cross section of the scope by about 180 ° by the eccentricity prevention ring, the one wire to which tension is applied is the normal neck in the opposite direction. It can give vibrating power.

The spiral tube is highly flexible and can swing the tip cylindrical body in two directions of 180 ° symmetry.

Although the spiral tube has a predetermined gap in the straight state, when the wire is pulled, the tube is bent and deformed until the gap on the wire side disappears, and the spiral tube does not bend further. Moreover, since the wire is inserted into the distal end tubular body, it does not come into contact with the outer tube immediately after.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings illustrating examples.

FIG. 1 shows a fiberscope used for observation such as insertion into a small diameter tube such as a blood vessel, ureter, or lung for medical use, or inside a pipe or various devices for industrial use. 1 shows an objective swing structure, which is a distal end tubular body 4 including a short tubular first connecting tool 1, a short tubular second connecting tool 2, and a spiral tube 3 interposed therebetween. Is equipped with. Then, two image guides 5, 5 and two swinging wires 6, 6 are inserted in the distal end tubular body 4. Although not shown in FIG. 1, light guides 7 ... And various channels 8, 9, 10 are inserted into the distal end tubular body 4 as shown in FIG.

Then, the first connecting member 1 is made of a short-sized metal (for example, stainless steel) cylindrical body, and as shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 5 and FIG. Image guide pipes 12 and 12 and wires 6 and 6 are alternately fixed to each other at a 90 ° pitch. The pipes 12 and 12 are made of stainless steel or the like like the first connector 1, and the pipe 12 and the wire 6 are fixed to the inner peripheral surface 11 of the first connector 1 by soldering or the like.

The second connecting member 2 is the first connecting member 1 whose length dimension is slightly lengthened, and its configuration is the same as that of the first connecting member 1. That is, the image guide pipes 15 and 15 and the wire pipes 16 and 16 are fixed to the inner peripheral surface 14 alternately at a 90 ° pitch along the circumferential direction.

Next, the spiral tube 3 is formed by winding a strip-shaped body made of metal such as stainless steel in a spiral shape as shown in FIG. 1, and has a predetermined pitch at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction. The gaps 17 ... Are formed and can be curved and deformed. The tip 3a of the spiral tube 3 is connected to the first connector 1, and the base 3b is connected to the second connector 2. That is, the tip end 3a is externally fitted to the first connector 1 and fixed by an adhesive or the like, and the base end 3b is externally fitted to the second connector 2 and fixed by an adhesive or the like. The outer diameter of the spiral tube 3 can be changed by tightening or loosening the spiral tube 3 around its axis.

The tip of the swing wire 6 is fixed to the connector 1 by soldering or the like, and the spiral tube 3
And is inserted into the wire pipe 16 of the second connector 2.
That is, the wire 6 can slide in the spiral tube 3 and the wire pipe 16.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the wire pipe 16 of the second connector 2 has a wire outer 18 inserted and fixed to the base end thereof, and a distal end of which the tip of the wire outer 18 abuts. The pipe 19 is fitted inside. Here, the wire outer 18 is formed by closely winding a linear body such as a steel wire in a coil shape. The wire outer 18 and the pipe 19 are fixed to the wire pipe 16 with an adhesive or the like.

As shown in FIG. 6, the tip of the image guide 5 is inserted and fixed (fixed with an adhesive or the like) to the image guide pipe 12 of the first connector 1, and the spiral tube 3 and the second connector are fixed. 2 image guide pipe 15
Insert into. In the image guide pipe 15, the image guide 5 is fixed to the pipe 15 with an adhesive or the like.

Here, the image guide 5 is composed of a glass portion composed of a large number of pixels including a core and a clad, and a precoat layer, and an objective lens 20 is attached to the tip thereof. Also, an image guide 5 between the first and second connecting tools 1 and 2
A tube 21 made of polyimide or the like is externally fitted to the inside in a loose fit manner. That is, the tube 21 prevents the precoat layer from being damaged by "rubbing" in the spiral tube 3. And this tube 21 is the first and second connecting tools 1,
The distance between the two is kept constant, and the first connector 1 is connected to the wire 6
Reinforce the reaction force in the swinging state pulled by.

Therefore, in the tip cylindrical body 4, about 180 ° in the cross section.
A pair of image guides 5, 5 arranged symmetrically, and
A pair of swing wires 6, 6 are inserted at symmetrical positions of about 180 ° in a plane substantially orthogonal to the plane including the axes of the image guides 5, 5.

The channels 8, 9 and 10 are each made of a urethane tube or the like, and the light guides 7 are inserted in tubes 22 or the like made of a urethane tube or the like. Here, the light guide 7 is composed of a plurality of fiber strands. The light guides 7 ... Are adhered and fixed to the tube 22 only at the tips. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the epoxy resin adhesive S is filled in the short tubular first connector 1.

Then, in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 5 and FIG.
23 is an outer tube, and this tube 23 is the first
The tip portion 23a includes a tip portion 23a corresponding to the coupling tool 1 to the second coupling tool 2 and a body portion 23b coupled to the tip portion 23a.
The a is made of a urethane tube or the like, and the main body 23b is made of a polyethylene tube with a liner. Further, a ring body 26 made of stainless steel or the like is fixed to the first connector 1 in an externally fitted shape.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 27 denotes a wire eccentricity prevention ring, and between the first connecting tool 1 and the second connecting tool 2, one to several pieces, preferably about 2 to 4 pieces. -Is provided. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, a short circular tube body 27a in the shape of a circular metal tube is cut into pieces, and a wire insert fixed to the inner peripheral surface by soldering at a position symmetrical about 180 °. General-purpose pipe 27
b, 27b and about 90 ° offset to this, about 180 °
The image guide insertion pipes 27c and 27c are fixed to the inner peripheral surface by soldering or the like at symmetrical positions.

The outer peripheral surface of the wire eccentricity prevention ring 27 ... Slidably contacts the inner peripheral surface of the spiral tube 3, and
The wires 6 and 6 are slidably inserted into the guide holes 28 and 28 of the pipes 27b and 27b at symmetrical positions of about 180 °. Furthermore, the sixth
In the figure, the tubes 21, 21 of the image guides 5, 5 are inserted into the pipes 27c, 27c of the eccentricity prevention ring 27 ... And fixed by an adhesive or the like to determine the longitudinal position. That is, the pitch of the eccentricity prevention rings 27 can be set by this.

Next, a swinging operation of the structure configured as described above will be described.

To swing the head in the direction of arrow A shown in FIG. 7, it is sufficient to pull the wire 6 on the side of arrow A toward the proximal end side, and to swing the head in the direction of arrow B, the side of arrow B is shown. The wire 6 may be pulled toward the base end side. That is, when the wire 6 on the arrow A side is pulled toward the base end side as shown by the arrow, the pair of image guides 5, 5
Since it is fixed to the first connecting tool 1 and the second connecting tool 2, the image guides 5, 5 between them act as struts,
As shown in FIG. 8 (I), it is bent toward the wire 6 side (direction of arrow A) along the direction orthogonal to the plane including the axis of both image guides 5, 5. In this case, although the other wire 6 is left in a free state, even if the other wire 6 tries to be eccentric in the direction of arrow G as described in FIG. 15 (I), the present invention prevents eccentricity. In the free holes 6,6 in the guide holes 28,28 of the pipes 27b, 27b of the ring 27.
Since it is inserted, eccentricity can be prevented. On the contrary, the wire 6 on the arrow A side is set to a free state and the wire 6 on the arrow B side is set.
When is pulled toward the base end side, as shown in FIG. 8 (II), the wire 6 bends toward the wire 6 side (arrow B direction). At this time, the eccentricity prevention rings 27 ... Have the same function.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 8 (I) and (II), the spiral tube 3 can be deformed until the gap 17 on the pulling wire 6 side disappears. In other words, this spiral tube 3 regulates the limit of the bending deformation, and the image guide 5,
It is possible to prevent damage such as 5. Further, the wire 6 does not come into contact with the outer tube 23, and the outer tube 23 is not deformed as in the conventional case.

According to the above-mentioned embodiment, since the first connecting tool 1 and the second connecting tool 2 are different only in the length dimension, there is an advantage that they can be mass-produced at low cost when manufacturing. , First and second connectors 1, 2 and spiral tube 3
Are made of metal such as stainless steel, the wire 6
In the pulling operation, the frictional resistance is small, the operation is easy, and the pulling force applied to the wire 6 is small, so that the durable life of the wire 6 is extended. In order to fix the pipes 12 to the inner peripheral surfaces 11 and 14 of the connectors 1 and 2, slits may be provided in the connectors 1 and 2, and solder may be poured into the slits.

Further, in FIG. 9, the wire outer 18 is directly soldered to the distal end tubular body 4 (that is, the short tubular second connector 2) without using the wire pipe 16. That is, solder is poured into the slits 24 provided in the second connecting tool 2 to fix the wire outer 18 to the inner peripheral surface 14 of the second connecting tool 2. In this case, if the wire outer 18 corresponding to the second connector 2 is soldered in advance, the wire outer 18 can be easily soldered to the inner peripheral surface 14.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the design can be freely changed without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, a laser fiber or the like other than the one shown in the drawings is inserted into the distal end tubular body 4. It is also possible to do so, and it is also possible to omit or increase the various channels 8, 9, and 10.
Further, the light guide 7 can be directly arranged on the distal end tubular body 4 without being inserted into the tube 22.

Further, the image guide 5 may be one, but in that case, the eccentricity prevention ring 27 has only one pipe 27c or the pipe 27c is eliminated. In the latter case, in order to determine the position of the eccentricity prevention ring 27 in the longitudinal direction, it may be fixed to any one of the other channels 8, 9, 10, ... Or fixed by another member.

[Effects of the Invention] Since the present invention is configured as described above, the following significant effects are achieved.

It is possible to surely swing in two directions 180 ° opposite to each other, and furthermore, due to the eccentricity prevention ring 27 ... Fig. 15 (II)
Prevents the conventional deformed shape shown in (2), and makes it possible to reliably swing in two directions alternately. Further, when the head is swung, the spiral tube 3 is not deformed beyond a predetermined shape, so that the image guides 5 and 5 can be prevented from being damaged, and the swing wires 6 and 6 can be prevented from being eccentric. 27 ... and the spiral tube 3, the outer tube 23 does not come into direct contact with the outer tube 23, and the outer tube 23 does not undergo deformation-slip deformation-as in the conventional case shown in FIG. I can't pretend. Moreover, since the swinging wire 6 does not come into direct contact with the outer tube 23 as described above, the frictional resistance generated during the pulling operation of the wire 6 is reduced, and the pulling force can be reduced, which is easy to operate. And
The life of the wires 6,6 is extended. In addition, the spiral tube 3 can be changed in outer diameter by twisting around the axis and tightening or loosening it.
There is also an advantage that various sizes of the second connecting tools 1 and 2 can be accommodated.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a simplified perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of an eccentricity prevention ring, and FIG. A plan view, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional plan view of a main part, FIG. 6 is a front cross-sectional view of a main part, FIGS. 7 and 8 are explanatory views of a swinging operation, and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional side view of a main part of a modified example. Is. 10 to 15 are explanatory views showing the problems of the conventional example. 1 ... First connection tool, 2 ... Second connection tool, 3 ... Spiral tube, 4 ... Tip cylindrical body, 5 ... Image guide, 6 ... Swing wire, 27 ... Wire eccentricity prevention Ring, 28 ... Guide hole.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A short tubular first connecting member is connected to the distal end of a spirally deformable spiral tube formed by winding a band-shaped body in a spiral shape, and a short tubular second connector is connected to the base end of the spiral tube. A pair of swing wires, which are connected to each other to form a distal end tubular body and are arranged at symmetrical positions of about 180 ° in a transverse section, are inserted into the distal end tubular body, and A wire eccentricity prevention ring having a pair of guide holes at symmetrical positions of about 180 ° is slidably inserted into the spiral tube, and the distal end of the work wire is fixed to the short tubular first connector. A scope objective swing structure, wherein the swing wire is slidably inserted into the guide hole of the eccentricity prevention ring between the first connecting tool and the second connecting tool.