JPH0716796B2 - Manufacturing method of injection needle and manufacturing apparatus used therefor - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an injection needle and a manufacturing apparatus used therefor. More specifically, the present invention relates to a manufacturing method and a manufacturing apparatus for efficiently mass-producing an injection needle having a plurality of pores on its side wall.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, for example, when insulin is injected into the human body or an anesthetic is injected into the gums, the insulin is dispersed and injected somewhere in a region having a certain spread to accelerate absorption or to improve the living body. The burden on the patient may be lightened, but in such a case, if the needle is pierced many times, the patient suffers a lot. In order to solve such a problem, for example, in U.S. Pat.No. 4,411,657 and U.S. Pat.No. 3,530,492, it is possible to inject a drug solution into a plurality of places by only piercing once,
It has been proposed to use a needle with a closed tip and multiple holes in the sidewall.

Such an injection needle can be manufactured, for example, by boring the side wall of the capillary with an abrasive.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The thin tube used as the material of the injection needle is thin and difficult to handle, and in many cases, it is difficult to process the material such as stainless steel. Therefore, the conventional methods such as grinding have a problem that the efficiency of processing is low and the processing accuracy is low, so that the size and position of the holes vary greatly.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus capable of manufacturing an injection needle having a plurality of side wall holes with high accuracy and efficiency.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In the method for manufacturing an injection needle of the present invention, a plurality of thin tubes are arranged in an aligned state on the table of a laser beam machine equipped with a table that can be positioned in two axial directions, A method of manufacturing an injection needle that irradiates a laser on the side wall of a thin tube to make a hole while moving a table to focus the laser on
The method is characterized in that after the hole is formed at one location, the thin tube is rotated to form the hole at another location on the side wall of the thin tube.

Further, the manufacturing apparatus of the present invention includes a table that can be positioned in two axial directions for focusing a laser on a thin tube, a laser irradiator for forming a hole in the thin tube, and a plurality of tables provided on the table. A thin tube mounting base comprising a base portion having a plurality of grooves for arranging the thin tubes in an aligned state and a rubber-like elastic piece for holding a side wall of the thin tubes accommodated in the grooves of the base portion, and the elasticity. It is characterized by comprising drive means for moving the piece laterally and liquid supply means for injecting a liquid into the thin tube from one end of the thin tube.

[Operation] In the manufacturing method of the present invention, the entire plurality of thin tubes arranged on the table of the laser beam machine are treated as one set.
That is, all the thin tubes are fixed in the groove of the base using a rubber-like elastic piece, and each thin tube is irradiated with a laser in order. Therefore, many thin tubes can be perforated by a simple operation. The processing itself may be performed for each single thin tube, or a method in which a plurality of thin tubes are sequentially processed at the same portion and then different portions are sequentially processed may be employed.

With such a method, small holes can be efficiently drilled at accurate positions on the side surface of the thin tube. The irradiation position of the laser on each thin tube is almost accurate, and the pitch between the small holes can be accurately drilled.

[Examples] Next, the manufacturing method and apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a processing step in the manufacturing method of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are sectional views and perspective views of an essential part of the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. The front view of the main part of the apparatus shown in the figures, FIGS. 5 and 6 show the front view of the main part and the sectional view of the main parts, respectively, which show another embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention, and FIGS. It is a principal part front view and a principal part sectional view which show the use condition of the apparatus shown in FIGS.

In FIG. 1, (1) is a table of the laser beam machine, and the table (1) can be independently moved in the biaxial directions shown by the arrow (X) and the arrow (Y). The movement distance is controlled by numerical control, feedback control combined with a position detector, and the like. Further, a laser irradiator (2) having a condenser lens at the lower end is arranged above the table (1).

On the table (1), a thin tube mounting table (hereinafter referred to as mounting table) (3) having a U-shaped cross section is fixed. The mounting table (3) has a block-shaped base part (4) as shown in FIG.
The letter-shaped cover (6) is connected so that it can be opened and closed, and the screw (5
It is fixed to the base part (5) in a). Further, a holding plate (7) is interposed between the base portion (4) and the cover portion (6).

As shown in FIG. 3, three shallow grooves (8) are formed in the base part (4), and the remaining three thin convex parts (9) are as shown in FIGS. A large number of V-shaped or trapezoidal grooves (10) are formed in parallel with each other at an equal pitch.

As shown in FIG. 4, the depth of the groove (10) is such that when the thin tube (11) to be processed is accommodated, the upper portion of the thin tube (11) has a convex portion which is normally smaller than the radius of the thin tube. (9)
To the extent that it projects from the upper surface. The shape of the groove (10) is not particularly limited, and may be any shape as long as it can securely and easily support the thin tube (11) and is easily processed.

The lower end of the presser plate (7) has a rubber-like elastic piece (1) made of natural rubber, isoprene rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, or the like.
2) is fixed, so that a large number of thin tubes (11) can be surely pressed down as described later, and the thin plates (11) are grooved by the movement of the holding plate (7) in the direction of the arrow (P). It can be surely rotated in the direction of arrow (Q) within (10).

As shown in detail in FIG. 2, the cover portion (6) is provided with a plurality of adjusting members (13) for adjusting the pressing force and parallelism of the holding plate (7). As shown in FIG. 2, this is composed of a screw (15) screwed into a screw hole formed in the cover (6) and a lock nut (14). The tip of the screw (15) is in contact with the upper end of the holding plate (7).

The inner surface (6a) of the vertical wall of the cover (6) is a thin tube (11).
It is used for abutting the ends of the tube and aligning a large number of capillaries.

Further, one end of the pressing plate (7) is connected to a combination of a motor and a rack and pinion, or an actuator for reciprocating in the longitudinal direction using a solenoid actuator or an air cylinder. Further, normally, the actuator is provided with stroke adjusting means so that the stroke of the pressing plate (7) can be changed according to the diameter of the thin tube and the rotation angle of the thin tube can be changed.

Next, a method of manufacturing a large number of injection needles using a laser beam machine and a mounting table configured as described above will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the mounting table (3) is mounted and fixed on the table so that, for example, the groove is aligned with one moving direction (Y) of the table.

Next, in the groove (10) of the base portion (4), the thin tubes (11), which are raw materials of the injection needle, are arranged one by one.

The aligned thin tubes (11) are elastic pieces (1) of the holding plate (7).
It is clamped between 2) and the groove (10).

Next, by operating the XY table (1), the mounting table (3) moves the position of the first hole to be processed to a position passing through the focal point of the laser, and moves the table in the arrow (X) direction. The laser pulse is emitted while moving, and the continuous perforation processing is performed to finish the one-row processing. By adding high efficiency in this way, the characteristics of the laser can be fully utilized.

In processing, movement of the table does not have to be stopped,
Alternatively, it may be instantaneously stopped at the processing position. In order to make full use of the performance of the laser processing machine, it is preferable to use one pulse per hole, but irradiation may be performed a plurality of times at the time of stopping, depending on the conditions such as hole diameter, material, and thickness.

After finishing the processing of the first hole, move the table in the direction of arrow (Y) or move the holding plate (7) to bring the thin tube to a predetermined position in order to match the position where the second hole is to be processed. Rotate. The movement and the rotation may be performed at the same time.

Next, the second hole is machined for all the thin tubes while moving the table (1) in the direction of the arrow (X) as described above. The movement in the X-axis direction may be alternately processed in the forward path and the backward path, or may be returned to the original position each time with an emphasis on accuracy.

In order to improve the accuracy, it is effective in some cases, starting with the part without the thin tube (11).

The third, fourth, ... Holes are similarly processed. The processing order may be such that the processing is easy, but especially when flowing a liquid into the tube, it is preferable to start from the tip of the thin tube and proceed to the needle base in order.

In the example of FIG. 1, the table adopts a rectangular coordinate system in the directions of the arrows (X)-(Y), but the laser focus may be moved to perform the positioning operation.

Furthermore, the table can be rotated freely, and a laser irradiator (2)
It is also possible to use a so-called polar coordinate type two-axis positioning control in which is movable in the radial direction.

Although only one laser irradiator (2) is provided in FIG. 1, two or more laser irradiators (2) may be provided if necessary.

Next, a preferable processing method for manufacturing a thin injection needle will be described.

With a normal thin injection needle, the laser beam may damage the side wall on the opposite side (hereinafter, referred to as the rear wall) due to the reserve power formed by making a hole in the upper side wall (hereinafter referred to as the front wall) of the thin tube. In such a case, it is preferable that the liquid is circulated through the thin tube to scatter and absorb the laser light entering the thin tube, apart from the case where the site is also the site to be processed. Water is usually used as the liquid, but either an organic liquid or an inorganic liquid may be used. Further, it is more preferable to use a coloring liquid or an organic substance, or a liquid obtained by suspending, dispersing or emulsifying an inorganic substance in an organic liquid or an inorganic liquid, because the scattering and absorption of laser light can be sufficiently performed.

In order to allow the liquid to flow into the thin tube, for example, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 6, a soft rubber member (21) for holding the end (11a) of the thin tube (11) and a rubber member (21) are provided. A liquid supply structure composed of wall members (22) and (23) provided so as to surround the back surface side and a block (25) having a liquid supply port (24) sandwiched therein can be adopted. Incidentally, (26) in FIGS. 5 to 6 is a seal member.

In order to use the water supply liquid manufacturing shown in FIGS. 5 to 6, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 8, use a rubber member (21) to attach the end portion (11) of the thin tube (11).
It suffices to hold a) and pour a liquid such as water from the liquid supply port (24) of the block (25) into the space between the wall members (22) and (23) and the block (25).

When such a liquid supply structure is adopted, the leading end of the thin tube (11) is not sealed and left free so that the inflowing liquid can freely flow out. As a result, air discharge and liquid supply are ensured, and excellent cleaning and cooling effects are obtained. That is, the fine metal powder generated by the processing is washed away, and the deformation of the thin tube due to the heat of the laser is prevented.

As described above, the reason why the liquid flow path in the liquid supply structure is limited to the inside of the thin tube (11) is that laser processing is hindered if the liquid flows or adheres to the surface of the thin tube (11).

When the laser penetrates the side wall while the liquid is flowing in the thin tube, the liquid may eject the liquid from the hole due to the liquid pressure, or the liquid may come out as a gas by heating the laser. In such a case, a nozzle that ejects a gas such as air, preferably an inert gas such as nitrogen, is provided diagonally above the focal point of the laser, and the liquid or vaporized gas is the lens of the laser. It is preferable to prevent this.

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to specific examples.

Example 1 As a laser processing machine, LAY-601C manufactured by Toshiba Corp. was used. This is equipped with a YAG solid crystal oscillator.

A SUS 304 thin tube having a diameter of 0.4 mm and an inner diameter of 0.2 mm was cut into a length of 25 mm as a processing target.

The formed holes had a diameter of 100 μm, and three holes were formed at 120 ° intervals in the circumferential direction, three holes were formed at a 7.5 mm pitch in the axial direction, and a total of nine holes were formed for each thin tube.

The processing speed was 30 pulses per second and 1 pulse per hole.

During processing, a suspension of 500 mmHg was caused to flow in the capillaries at a supply pressure.

After drilling, the tip was polished, further washed and the tip was sealed to obtain an injection needle.

[Effects of the Invention] By the manufacturing method of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently manufacture an injection needle having a hole in a side wall. Moreover, the processing accuracy is high. Further, by processing while supplying liquid into the thin tube, it is possible to perform processing without damaging the rear wall while cooling.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a processing step in the manufacturing method of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are sectional views and perspective views of an essential part of the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. The front view of the main part of the apparatus shown in the figures, FIGS. 5 and 6 show the front view of the main part and the sectional view of the main parts, respectively, which show another embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention, and FIGS. It is a principal part front view and a principal part sectional view which show the use condition of the apparatus shown in FIGS. (Main symbols in the drawing) (1): Table (2): Laser irradiator (3): Mounting table (4): Base part (7): Holding plate (10): Groove (11): Capillary tube (12): Elastic piece

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Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of thin tubes are arranged in an aligned state on the table of a laser beam machine equipped with a table that can be positioned in two axial directions, and while moving the table to focus the laser on the thin tubes, A method for producing an injection needle in which a side wall of a thin tube is irradiated with a laser to make a hole, and after making a hole at one location, the thin tube is rotated to make a hole at another location on the side wall of the thin tube. 2. A means for focusing a laser on a thin tube.
A table that can be positioned in the axial direction, a laser irradiator for forming a hole in the thin tube, a base portion provided on the table, having a plurality of grooves for arranging a plurality of thin tubes in an aligned state, A thin tube mounting base made of an elastic piece on rubber for holding the side wall of the thin tube housed in the groove of the base portion, a driving means for laterally moving the elastic piece, and one end of the thin tube into the thin tube. An injection needle manufacturing apparatus comprising a liquid supply means for injecting a liquid. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a nozzle for blowing gas from the vicinity of the laser irradiator toward the perforated portion of the thin tube.