JPH0724085Y2 - Endoscope - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to an endoscope, and more particularly to improvement of a structure inside a bending portion thereof.

[Prior Art] It is necessary to leave some space between each built-in object such as an optical fiber bundle and a tube in the portion where the built-in object is attached to the tip body, that is, near the rear end part of the tip body. this is,
There are various causes such as that the built-in component is apt to be thick only in that portion due to the attachment mouthpiece or the bobbin, the workability at the time of assembly or the need for a space for accommodating the protruding adhesive.

Therefore, in the curved portion connected after the tip body,
A space is created between the built-in objects, and as the operation of bending the bending part is repeated, the arrangement of the built-in objects is disturbed and entangles with each other, and the optical fibers and tubes are bent or buckled. .

Therefore, conventionally, in order to prevent the arrangement of the built-in objects from being disturbed, the built-in objects are bound to each other in the curved portion or a forceps channel, which has a large influence on the arrangement disorder, is inserted into the guide ring fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the node ring. Was there.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] However, when the built-in objects are bound together or inserted into the guide ring, the movement of the built-in objects is locally restricted within the curved portion. In other words, since the movement of the built-in object is restricted only by the united portion or the portion inserted into the guide ring, the resistance generated when the bending portion is bent becomes extremely uneven, and the bending shape is disturbed. It sometimes hindered the guidance and observation of the mirror. Further, due to the stress concentration caused by the local movement regulation, a large break or the like may suddenly occur in the built-in object.

An object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope that solves the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, uniformly regulates the movement of the built-in objects within the curved portion, and prevents the arrangement of the built-in objects from being disturbed. And

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the endoscope of the present invention has a bendable portion that is bendable by remote control at a distal end portion of a flexible tube that covers an insertion portion, In an endoscope in which one end of various elongated built-in objects is attached to the tip of an insertion portion and the built-in objects are inserted into the flexible tube, a gap portion formed between the built-in objects at least in the curved portion In addition, a flexible movement restricting tube for restricting the movement of these internal components in a direction perpendicular to the tube axis is arranged along the tube axis direction.

[Operation] The gap generated between the internal components in the bending portion is reduced by the movement restricting tube, and free movement of each internal component in the bending portion in the direction perpendicular to the tube axis is regulated.

[Example] An example will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an endoscope. In the figure, 1 is a flexible tube 2.
The insertion part covered by. A bending portion 3 is formed at the tip of the flexible tube 2 and is bendable by remote control. Numeral 4 is a tip body with a built-in objective optical system. 5 is an operation unit. 6
Is the eyepiece. Reference numeral 7 denotes an operation knob rotatably provided on the operation unit 5. By rotating the operation knob 7,
The operation wire having one end attached to the tip of the bending portion 3 is pulled to bend the bending portion 3.

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of the bending portion 3. 8 is the bending portion 3
A well-known node ring that constitutes a. Reference numeral 9 is a wire guide that is provided inside the node ring 8 at approximately 90 degrees so as to guide the travel of the operation wire. Although the outer side of the node ring 8 is covered with an elastic outer tube, its illustration is omitted.

In the space inside the node ring 8, in addition to various elongated internal components such as the image transmission optical fiber bundle 10, the air / water supply tubes 11 and 12, the illumination optical fiber bundles 13 and 14, and the forceps channel 15, these various internal components are also included. Movement restriction tubes (20) for restricting the movement of objects are inserted and arranged with a clearance so as to barely contact each other or not to contact each other.

A tube made of a synthetic resin that is flexible and not stiff is used as the movement restriction tube 20.

FIG. 2 schematically shows the tip portion of the insertion portion 1. Reference numeral 4 is a tip body, and 8 is a node ring. In this embodiment, a hole 21 is formed at the tip of the movement restriction tube 20, and a thread 22 tied to the hole 21 is adhesively fixed between the tip portion 4 and the node ring 8. Therefore, the distal end side of the movement restriction tube 20 is attached to the distal end portion main body 4 with some flexibility. Also, the rear end of the movement restriction tube 20
Although not shown, it is located in the vicinity of the rear end of the bending portion 3 and regulates the movement of the internal components within the bending portion 3.

The tip portions of various built-in objects are all connected and fixed to the tip portion main body 4, but they are not shown in FIG.

According to the above-described embodiment configured as described above, the gap between the built-in objects generated in the bending section 3 is filled with the movement restricting tube 20, and even if the bending section 3 is repeatedly bent, The arrangement of the built-in objects is not disturbed.

The movement restriction tube 20 has at least the curved portion 3.
It is only necessary to be provided inside, and a plurality of movement restriction tubes 20 may be provided.

[Advantage of the Invention] According to the endoscope of the present invention, the presence of the movement restricting tube restricts the free movement of various internal components in the bending portion in the direction perpendicular to the tube axis, so that the bending operation is repeated. The arrangement of the built-in items is not disturbed. Moreover, the regulation of the movement of the built-in object is
The movement-regulating tube allows uniform movement within the curved portion.
Therefore, it is possible to prevent disturbances such as meandering and declination of the curved shape, and even if the bending operation of the bending portion is repeated, unreasonable force is not locally applied to the built-in object,
It does not break or buckle, and has excellent durability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of a bending portion of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an endoscope of the embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Insertion part, 3 ... Bending part, 4 ... Tip part main body, 8 ... Node ring,
20… Movement restriction tube.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A flexible tube that covers the insertion portion is formed with a bendable portion by a remote operation at the tip portion of the flexible tube, and one end of various elongated built-in objects is attached to the tip of the insertion section. In an endoscope inserted into a flexible tube, in order to regulate the movement of the built-in objects in the direction perpendicular to the tube axis in the gap portion formed between the built-in objects in at least the curved portion described above. The flexible movement restricting tube is arranged along the tube axis direction, and the distal end of the movement restricting tube is locked to the distal end portion of the curved portion with flexibility through a thread. Endoscope.