JPH08112283A - Ultrasonic probe adhering apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To uniformly keep the thickness of an adhesvie for adhering a sheet material constituting an ultrasonic probe. CONSTITUTION: An ultrasonic probe 25 constituted of four layers is placed on a pallet 17 and a press sheet 16 is arranged freely up and down above the ultrasonic probe 25. An elastic press membrane 23 is provided on a press sheet 16 so as to face the ultrasonic probe 25 and a press room is formed. The press sheet 16 is lowered by driving a cylinder 19 and when the press membrane 23 is brought into contact with the ultrasonic probe 25, a hydraulic fluid is introduced into a press room 22 from a hydraulic pipeline 24 to press the whole press membrane 23. The whole press membrane 23 is deformed thereby in accordance with the pressure of the fluid and an equally distributed load is applied on the ultrasonic probe 25 to make the thickness of an adhesive layer of the ultrasonic probe 25 uniform.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe adhering device, and more particularly to an ultrasonic probe suitable for adhering a plurality of plate materials constituting an ultrasonic probe used in a medical diagnostic device or the like. The present invention relates to a tentacle adhesive device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ultrasonic probe shown in FIG. 2 is known. This ultrasonic probe is composed of four layers of a back surface addition plate 1a, a piezoelectric ceramics 1b, a first matching plate 1c, and a second matching plate d, and the plate material of each layer is bonded by a thermosetting epoxy resin. ing.

When bonding the plate material of each layer of the ultrasonic probe shown in FIG. 2, the ultrasonic probe bonding apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is used. This device comprises a pressure plate 101, a rubber bush 102, a pressure screw 103, and a base 104. In this device, after placing the ultrasonic probe 1 on the base 104, the pressure screw 103 is rotated to move the pressure plate 101 downward, and the pressure applied by the rotation of the pressure screw 103 is applied. The ultrasonic probe 1 is pressed from the pressure plate 101 in addition to the ultrasonic probe 1.

As described above, in the conventional ultrasonic probe bonding apparatus, the ultrasonic probe 1 can be fixed by applying a load by the tightening force between the pressure plate 101 and the base 104. , Ultrasonic probe 1 by heating means
The plate material of each layer of the ultrasonic probe 1 can be adhered by applying heat to the plate.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional ultrasonic probe bonding apparatus, as shown in FIG. 4, when the pressure screw 103 is rotated, the rubber bush 102 is rotated.
May be deformed, and the pressure plate 101 may fall down. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, when the tightening force P1 accompanying the rotation of the pressure screw 103 acts on the pressure plate 101,
An uneven load P2 may be generated due to insufficient rigidity of the pressure plate 101, and the adhesive layer 10 that affects the characteristics of the ultrasonic probe 1 may be generated.
It may not be possible to keep the thickness of No. 5 uniform.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an ultrasonic probe bonding apparatus capable of maintaining a uniform thickness of an adhesive layer for bonding a plurality of plate members constituting an ultrasonic probe. It is intended to provide.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a probe mounting means for mounting an ultrasonic probe in which a plurality of plate materials including at least a piezoelectric plate and a matching plate are stacked. And a pressure plate arranged to be movable up and down so as to face the ultrasonic probe mounted on the probe mounting means, and a pressure means for pressing the pressure plate to press the ultrasonic probe. And a fluid feed means for feeding a fluid to the pressure plate, wherein the pressure plate is provided with an elastic pressure film facing the ultrasonic probe, and the fluid feed means. This is an ultrasonic probe adhering device in which a pressure chamber for guiding the fluid from (3) to the entire pressure film is formed.

In constructing the ultrasonic probe bonding apparatus, it is desirable that the probe placement means be provided with heating means for heating the ultrasonic probe. Further, it is desirable to provide a support means for supporting the four corners of the pressure plate so as to be able to move up and down.

[0009]

Therefore, according to the present invention, when the ultrasonic probe is mounted on the probe mounting means and the pressure from the pressure applying means is applied to the probe through the pressure plate. The fluid from the fluid feeding means is fed to the pressure chamber of the pressure plate. The elastic pressure film is pressed according to the pressure of this fluid, and the pressure of the pressure film acts on the entire ultrasonic probe. Each plate material can be bonded in a state in which the thickness of the adhesive layer for bonding the plurality of plate materials forming the touch element is kept uniform. In this case, if the ultrasonic probe is heated by the heating means, the bonding time can be shortened.

[0010]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the ultrasonic probe bonding apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the base 10
A box-shaped casing 11 and a motor 12 are fixed on the top,
A heat insulating material 13 is attached to the outer peripheral side of the housing 11. A ball screw 14 is connected to the rotating shaft of the motor 12, and the ball screw 14 is arranged from inside the housing 11 to outside the housing 11. This ball screw 14
It is rotatably supported by an end portion of a linear guide 15 arranged along the ball screw 14. A pressure plate 16, a pallet 17, a movable table 18, and the like are arranged in the housing 11, and a cylinder 19 fixed to the housing 11 is connected to the upper portion of the pressure plate 16 so that the pressure plate 16 is connected to the cylinder 19. It is supported by up and down. 4 of this pressure plate 16
Four pressure plate guides 20 are arranged at the corners, and each pressure plate guide 20 is inserted into the pressure plate 16 via a sleeve 21. One end of each pressure plate guide 20 is the base 10.
And the other end is fixed to the upper side of the housing 11. That is, the pressure plate 16 can move up and down along each pressure plate guide 16. And cylinder 1
9 and each pressure plate guide 20 constitute a support means for supporting the four corners of the pressure plate 16 so as to be able to move up and down. A pressure chamber 22 is formed in the center of the pressure plate 16.
2 is partitioned by an elastic film, for example, a pressure film 23 using a heat insulating rubber or the like. That is, the pressurizing film 23 constitutes the wall surface on the bottom side of the pressure chamber 22. A pressurized fluid is supplied to the pressure chamber 22 via a hydraulic pipe 24.

On the other hand, the pallet 17 is arranged so as to face the bottom side of the pressure plate 16, and the pallet 1
An ultrasonic probe 25 is placed on the upper part of the device 7. This pallet 17 is fixed to a movable table 18. The movable table 18 moves along with the linear guide 15 as the ball screw 14 rotates as the motor 12 is driven.
It is possible to move between the work pressing position A and the work supplying position B via the door 26 in a state of being guided by.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. First, move the movable table 18 to the work supply position B.
Go to Here, the ultrasonic probe 2 is placed on the pallet 17.
The plate material constituting 5 is placed. For example, the ultrasonic probe 25
When is made up of a four-layer plate material including a back surface addition plate, a piezoelectric ceramics (piezoelectric plate), a first matching plate, and a second matching plate, an epoxy curing resin is applied between each plate material, and an adhesive is applied between each plate material To form an adhesive layer. When the ultrasonic probe 25 subjected to these processes is set on the movable table 18 together with the pallet 17, the door 26 is opened and the motor 12 is rotated to move the movable table 18 to the work pressurizing position A.

Next, the door 26 is closed and the cylinder 19 is driven to lower the pressure plate 16. Then, the descent is stopped at the position where the pressure film 23 of the pressure plate 16 contacts the ultrasonic probe 25. In this state, the pressurized fluid from the hydraulic pipe 24 is fed to the pressure chamber 22, and a predetermined pressure is applied to the entire pressurized film 23.
The pressure film 23 is deformed according to the pressure of the fluid, and a uniform load is applied to the pressure film 23. For this reason, the respective plate materials can be bonded while the thickness of the bonding layer of the ultrasonic probe 25 is kept uniform. At this time, the ambient temperature in the apparatus is kept at the curing temperature of the epoxy resin, and by keeping this state for a predetermined time, the bonding of the ultrasonic probe 1 is completed. Then, when the cylinder 19 is driven to rise, the pressure plate 16 rises, and the pressure film 23 separates from the ultrasonic probe 25. When the door 26 is further opened and the motor 12 is rotated, the movable table 18 is moved to the work supply position B, and the ultrasonic probe 25 is taken out.

Thus, according to this embodiment, the pressure plate 1
Since 6 is supported at 4 points, it is possible to prevent the pressure plate 16 from falling down and to apply pressure fluid to the entire pressure film 23 to press the ultrasonic probe 25. An evenly distributed load can be applied to the ultrasonic probe 25, and the respective plate materials can be bonded in a state where the thickness of the adhesive layer of the ultrasonic probe 25 is kept uniform.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the curing of the epoxy resin is carried out by the ambient temperature in the apparatus.
A heating means such as a heating wire is provided inside the ultrasonic probe 2
When 5 is heated, the heat of the heating wire is directly transmitted to the ultrasonic probe 1, so that the time required for curing is shortened and the bonding time can be shortened.

[0016]

The present invention has the following effects, as is apparent from the above-mentioned embodiments. (1) Since the pressure of the fluid is applied to the entire pressure film to press the ultrasonic probe, a uniform load is applied to the ultrasonic probe and the thickness of the adhesive layer can be kept uniform. . (2) Bonding time can be shortened by providing the probe mounting means for mounting the ultrasonic probe with a means for heating the ultrasonic probe.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an ultrasonic probe bonding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an ultrasonic probe according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a conventional ultrasonic probe bonding apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a conventional ultrasonic probe bonding apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a pressure plate of a conventional ultrasonic probe bonding apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Base 11 Housing 12 Motor 14 Ball Screw 15 Linear Guide 16 Pressure Plate 17 Pallet 18 Movable Table 19 Cylinder 20 Pressure Plate Guide 22 Pressure Chamber 23 Pressure Membrane 24 Hydraulic Pipe 25 Ultrasonic Transducer

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A probe mounting means for mounting an ultrasonic probe on which a plurality of plate materials including at least a piezoelectric plate and a matching plate are stacked, and an ultrasonic probe mounted on the probe mounting means. A pressure plate arranged so as to be movable up and down so as to face the acoustic probe, a pressure means for pressing the pressure plate to press the ultrasonic probe, and a fluid supply means for supplying a fluid to the pressure plate. The pressure plate is provided with an elastic pressure film facing the ultrasonic probe, and a pressure chamber for guiding the fluid from the fluid supply means to the entire pressure film is formed. Ultrasonic probe bonding equipment. 2. The ultrasonic probe bonding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the probe mounting means is provided with heating means for heating the ultrasonic probe. 3. The ultrasonic probe bonding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising support means for supporting the four corners of the pressure plate so as to be able to move up and down.