JPH09197293A - Endoscopic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the deterioration of the outer peripheral wall part of the soft part of an inseftion part by heat in spite of use at a higher temp. and to obtain desired flexibility by constituting the outer peripheral wall part of the soft part by space assuring members formed of materials having heat resistance and filamentary bodies fixed to these space assuring members. SOLUTION: The space assuring members 51 which are made of the materials having the heat resistance and are hardly collapsible are disposed over the entire length of the soft part 3. The filamentary bodies 53 which are made of the materials having the heat resistance and have adequate flexibility in the diametral direction of the soft part 3 are fixed to the space assuring members 5 by a fixing method having the resistance, by which the outer peripheral wall part 55 of the soft part 3 is constituted. The respective space assuring rings 51 are bored vertically and laterally with four through-holes 52 at 90 deg. intervals respectively along the axial direction. The filamentary bodies 53, such as piano wires or metallic pipes, which are made of the materials having the heat resistance, do not shrink so much in the axial direction and have some flexibility in the diametral direction of the soft part 3 are inserted into these through-holes 52. Fixing parts 54 are formed between the respective space assuring rings 51 and the filamentary bodies 53.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an industrial endoscope apparatus for inspecting, for example, an operating state of a boiler and a jet engine immediately after use.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, for example, the operating condition of a boiler,
Industrial endoscopes are known for inspecting jet engines immediately after use. In this type of endoscope, an elongated soft portion is provided in an insertion portion to be inserted into a lumen to be inspected. The outer peripheral wall of the flexible portion is configured such that an outer side of an inner structure formed by spirally winding a metal strip plate is covered with a braid in which metal fine wires are woven in a cylindrical shape, and further a resin tube is covered.

Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 60-150022 discloses a structure in which an outer peripheral wall portion of a soft portion is formed by covering a resin coil with a close-wound coil as an insertion portion of an industrial endoscope. Has been done.

[0004]

In the case of using an industrial endoscope to inspect the operating condition of the boiler or the jet engine immediately after use, 200 to 300 is required.
The insertion portion of the endoscope is inserted in a high temperature atmosphere of about ℃.

However, in the above-described conventional endoscope, when the insertion portion is subjected to such high temperature, the resin material forming the outer peripheral wall of the flexible portion of the insertion portion is easily deteriorated by heat. In such a case, there is a problem that the insertion portion may buckle from the outer peripheral wall portion of the flexible portion even if a slight external force is applied from the lateral direction.

Further, even if the resin tube is removed from the structure of the outer peripheral wall portion of the flexible portion disposed in the insertion portion of the endoscope disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-150022, the flexible portion of the flexible portion is not removed. If a force in the bending direction is applied to a part of the coil, the close-wound coil is likely to buckle. Here, when the tightly wound coil is hardened so as not to buckle, the flexibility of the entire insertion portion of the endoscope is impaired, and there is a problem that the insertion portion of the endoscope is hardly bent.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to prevent the outer peripheral wall portion of the flexible portion of the insertion portion from being deteriorated by heat even when used at high temperature. An object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope device that can obtain desired flexibility.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an endoscope apparatus having an elongated soft portion in an insertion portion to be inserted into a lumen, which is made of a heat-resistant material and secures a space that is hard to be crushed. The member is disposed over the entire length of the flexible portion, and a strip made of a heat-resistant material and having an appropriate flexibility in the radial direction of the flexible portion is formed between the space securing member and the heat-resistant material. It is fixed by a certain fixing method to form the outer peripheral wall portion of the flexible portion.

Since the space securing member made of a heat resistant material and the strip fixed to the space securing member constitute the outer peripheral wall portion of the flexible portion, the flexible portion can be used even at high temperature. The outer peripheral wall is not deteriorated by heat and desired flexibility is obtained.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a main part of an industrial endoscope 1 according to the present embodiment. The endoscope 1 is provided with an elongated soft insertion portion 2 which is inserted into the lumen to be inspected. The elongated soft portion 3 shown in FIG. 2 is provided in the insertion portion 2, the distal end constituent portion 4 shown in FIG. 1 disposed at the distal end portion of the insertion portion 2, and between the distal end of the flexible portion 3 and the distal end constituent portion 4. And a bending portion 5 disposed on the.

Further, the main body 6 of the tip forming section 4 is provided with an objective optical system mounting hole 7 and an illumination optical system mounting hole 8. Here, the objective optical system mounting hole 7 is formed with an observation window 8 for the objective optical system having the smallest diameter on the front end side. Further, behind the observation window 8, a lens unit mounting hole 9 having a diameter larger than that of the observation window 8, and this lens unit mounting hole 9 is formed.
A large-diameter hole portion 10 having a diameter larger than that of the lens unit mounting hole portion 9 is formed at the rear of each.

The lens unit mounting hole 9 has a pair of front and rear lenses 11a and 11b and both lenses 11a and 11b.
A lens unit 14 including a spacing ring 12 serving as a spacer interposed between b and a brightness diaphragm 13 arranged in front of the front lens 11a, and a coil spring 15 arranged in front of the brightness diaphragm 13. And are installed respectively.
Here, the rear end portion of the rear lens 11b extends into the large diameter hole portion 10 and abuts on a lens fixing ring 16 which will be described later and is locked in the large diameter hole portion 10.

Further, a pair of front and rear screw holes 17a, 17 penetrating up to the large diameter hole portion 10 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the tip forming portion main body 6.
b is formed. In addition, these screw holes 17a, 1
A plurality of 7b are arranged side by side in the circumferential direction of the outer peripheral surface of the tip constituting body 6.

Further, a first fixing screw (NU screw) 18a is screwed into the screw hole 17a on the front side. A conical contact portion 19 is formed at the tip of the fixing screw 18a.

A large chamfer 20 is formed at the outer peripheral corner of the rear end of the lens fixing ring 16. A fixing screw 18a is attached to the chamfered portion 20 of the lens fixing ring 16.
The contact portion 19 of is abutted. Then, the lens unit 14 is pressed against the lens fixing ring 16 by the coil spring 15 in the lens unit mounting hole 9, and the lens fixing ring 16 is pressed against the contact portion 19 of the fixing screw 18a, whereby the lens unit 14 is pressed. Is fixed in the lens unit mounting hole 9.

Further, in the large-diameter hole 10, the tip of the image guide 21 is fixed in the inserted state by a second fixing screw (NU screw) 18b screwed into the screw hole 17b on the rear side. In this case, the base 22 is fixed to the tip of the image guide 21. A ring-shaped V-shaped groove 23 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the base 22 over the entire circumference. Further, like the first fixing screw 18a, a conical contact portion 19 having a conical shape is formed at the tip of the fixing screw 18b. Then, the abutting portion 19 of the fixing screw 18b is connected to the base 2
The tip end of the image guide 21 is fixed to the tip component body 6 by abutting against the second V groove portion 23.

Further, the assembling work for assembling the objective optical system to the body 6 of the tip forming section is carried out as follows. First, the coil spring 15, the aperture stop 13, the front lens 11a, the spacing ring 12, and the rear lens 11b are sequentially inserted into the lens unit mounting hole 9 from the rear, and then the lens is fixed in the large-diameter hole 10. With the ring 16 inserted, it is temporarily fixed by the first fixing screw 18a that is screwed into the plurality of screw holes 17a on the front side.

At this time, since the contact portion 19 of the first fixing screw 18a is in contact with the chamfered portion 20 of the lens fixing ring 16, the lens fixing lens 18 is adjusted by adjusting the screwing amount of the first fixing screw 18a. The distance between the unit 14 and the image guide 21 can be adjusted. That is, the first
1 is loosened (moved upward in FIG. 1), the lens unit 14 is moved in the direction of the lens fixing ring 16 (rightward in FIG. 1) by the spring force of the coil spring 15 to guide the image. The distance between the lens unit 14 and the image guide 21 can be widened by performing the reverse operation.

Therefore, after the tip of the image guide 21 is fixed to the body 6 of the tip forming portion by the second fixing screw 18b, the lens fixing ring 16 is pressed while observing the end surface of the image guide 21 on the eyepiece side. By adjusting the screwing amount of the first fixing screw 18a, the distance between the lens unit 14 of the objective lens and the image guide 21 can be adjusted, and appropriate focus adjustment can be performed.

In this embodiment, the lens unit 14 in the lens unit mounting hole 9 is attached to the lens fixing ring 1.
Although the configuration in which the coil spring 15 is used as the pressing means for pressing to the 6 side is shown, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a spring washer or an O ring may be used, and the lens unit 14 may be attached to the lens fixing ring 16. Anything that can be biased to the side may be used.

Further, an illumination window 24 for illumination is formed in the illumination optical system mounting hole 8 of the body 6 of the tip forming section. Further, a light guide mounting hole 25 having a diameter larger than that of the illumination window 24 is formed behind the illumination window 24. A tip portion of a light guide 26 is fixed in the light guide mounting hole portion 25 in an inserted state. In this case, the light guide 2
A base 27 is fixed to the tip portion of 6. This base 2
A ring-shaped V groove portion 28 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of 7 over the entire circumference.

Further, a screw hole 29 for fixing the light guide is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the body 6 of the tip forming portion. Then, the third fixing screw (NU is screwed into the screw hole 29).
A conical contact portion 31 having a conical shape is formed at the tip of the screw 30 like the first fixing screw 18a. Then, the abutting portion 31 of the fixing screw 30 is abutted against the V groove portion 28 of the base 27, whereby the tip end portion of the light guide 26 is fixed to the tip forming portion main body 6.

Further, the optical fiber bundle 3 is provided in the optical fiber bundle unit 32 such as the image guide 21 and the light guide 26.
Around the circumference of 3, there is disposed a braid 34, which is braided in a tubular shape with a heat-resistant elemental wire such as metal. Further, a tip mouthpiece 35 made of a heat-resistant material such as metal is arranged at the tip of the optical fiber bundle unit 32. The tip of the blade 34 is fixed to the tip cap 35 by a ring-shaped swaging cap 36 made of a heat-resistant material such as metal.

A rear end cap 37 shown in FIG. 3F is fixed to the rear end of the optical fiber bundle unit 32. The rear end cap 37 is provided with a flange portion 38 at the rear end. A male screw portion 39 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the flange portion 38.
Are formed. Further, the rear end cap 37 is formed with a tapered taper surface 40 on the front side of the flange portion 38.

Further, a taper ring 41 is screwed onto the male screw portion 39 of the flange portion 38 of the rear end cap 37. The taper ring 41 is formed with a screw hole portion 42 that is screwed into the male screw portion 39 of the rear end cap 37 and an engagement hole portion 43 having a shape corresponding to the tapered surface 40 of the rear end cap 37. The rear end of the blade 34 is fixed to the rear end cap 37 while the rear end of the blade 34 is held between the tapered surface 40 of the rear end cap 37 and the engagement hole 43 of the taper ring 41. ing.

Next, the assembling procedure of the optical fiber bundle unit 32 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the blade 34 and the tip base 35
And the swaging base 36 are prepared. And
As shown in FIG. 3B, with the tip of the blade 34 placed on the rear end of the tip mouthpiece 35 in an overlapping manner, the swaging mouthpiece 36 is attached to the tip of the blade 34 and the rear end of the tip mouthpiece 35. It is arranged at the position of the overlapping part with the part.

Then, in that state, the swaging base 3
The outer circumference of 6 is tapped to reduce the diameter (swaging), and FIG.
As shown in (C), the swaging mouthpiece 36 forms a first assembly member 44 in which the tip end side of the blade 34 is fixed to the rear end portion of the tip mouthpiece 35.

The tip side of the blade 34 is attached to the tip base 3
The method of fixing to the rear end of No. 5 is not limited to this method. For example, the swaging die 36 may be made of a shape memory alloy, and the swaging die 36 may be heated and reduced in diameter to be fixed, or may be fixed by a method such as laser welding, ultrasonic fusion, or soldering. As shown in FIG. 3 (F), the taper ring 41 and the taper surface 4 of the rear end cap 38 are formed.
A method of sandwiching and fixing it with 0 may be used. That is, any means can be used as long as it has heat resistance.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3D, a second assembly member 45 having a rear end cap 37 fixed to the rear end portion of the optical fiber bundle 33 is formed. In this case, even if the distal end side of the insertion portion 2 of the endoscope 1 is exposed to a high temperature, the rear end portion of the optical fiber bundle 33 does not reach a high temperature, so that the rear end portion of the optical fiber bundle 33 and the rear end cap 37 are The fixing method may be a method using an ordinary adhesive.

Then, the blade 34 of the first assembly member 44 shown in FIG. 3C is inserted into the blade 34 from the rear end side of FIG. 3D.
The optical fiber bundle 33 of the second assembly member 45 shown in FIG. 3 is inserted, and the optical fiber bundle 33 and the tip base 35 are fixed as shown in FIG. As the fixing method, a heat-resistant adhesive may be used, or the tip end side of the optical fiber bundle 33 may be heated and partially melted and fixed. Further, the tip cap 35 may be made of a shape memory alloy, and the tip cap 35 may be fixed to the optical fiber bundle 33 by heating and deforming to reduce the diameter.

At this time, the blade 34 is squeezed to eliminate slack, and the excess portion on the rear end side is cut, and then the rear end portion of the blade 34 is tapered to the tapered surface 40 of the rear end cap 37.
Coated.

Subsequently, the taper ring 41 is passed through the tip cap 35 and moved to the rear as shown in FIG. 3 (F).
At this time, the screw hole portion 42 of the taper ring 41 and the rear end cap 3
7 is screwed into the male screw portion 39, and the rear end cap 3
The rear end portion of the blade 34 is fixed to the rear end cap 37 in a state where the rear end portion of the blade 34 is held between the tapered surface 40 of No. 7 and the engagement hole portion 43 of the tapered ring 41.

The blade 34 for protecting the optical fiber bundle 33 does not necessarily have to be attached to all of the image guide 21 and the light guide 26, and any one of them may not be covered. For example, when one image guide 21 and two light guides 26 are provided in the endoscope 1, the image guide 21 is not covered with the blade 34, and the remaining two light guides 26 are provided. The light guide 21 and the image guide 21 may be covered with the blade 34, and the remaining one light guide 21 may be covered with the blade 34. May be.

Further, the bending portion 5 of the endoscope 1 is provided with a plurality of bending pieces 46 arranged in parallel in the axial direction of the insertion portion 2. Here, the front end portion of the most distal bending piece 46a is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the rear end portion main body 6 of the tip forming portion by a plurality of flat head screws 47 arranged in the circumferential direction. Further, the adjacent bending pieces 46 are rotatably connected to each other via a rotating pin 48.

Further, the tip end of the bending wire 49 is brazed to the bending piece 46a of the bending portion 5 for soldering such as soldering, laser welding, ultrasonic welding, or other heat-resistant fixing method. It is fixed at. The number of the wires 49 is set according to the bending direction of the bending portion 5. For example, when the bending direction of the bending portion 5 is four directions of up, down, left and right, four wires 49 are arranged at 90 ° intervals in the circumferential direction of the bending portion 5,
As in the present embodiment, the bending direction of the bending portion 5 is the vertical direction,
Alternatively, in the case of two lateral directions, the two wires 49 are arranged at 180 ° intervals in the circumferential direction of the bending portion 5.

Further, the outer peripheral surface of each bending piece 46 of the bending portion 5 is covered with a metal blade 50 which is knitted in a tubular shape with a fine metal wire. Both ends of the metal blade 50 are fixed to the outer peripheral surfaces of the frontmost bending piece 46a and the final piece 46b by brazing such as soldering, laser welding, ultrasonic welding, or other heat-resistant fixing method. There is.

Further, the flexible portion 3 of the endoscope 1 has a number of space securing rings (space securing members) made of, for example, a metal material, which has a certain degree of strength against crushing and heat resistance.
51 are juxtaposed over the entire length of the flexible portion 3 in a state where they are aligned at appropriate intervals. In each space securing ring 51, a plurality of holes, that is, four upper, lower, left and right through holes 52 in the present embodiment are provided at 90 ° intervals along the axial direction, respectively, as shown in FIG.

Further, each through hole 5 of the space securing ring 51
2 is made of a heat-resistant material, does not shrink much in the axial direction, and has a certain degree of flexibility in the radial direction of the soft part 3, for example, a piano wire or a metal strip 53 such as a metal pipe. It has been inserted. Here, each space securing ring 51 and strip 53
A fixing portion 54 fixed by a heat-resistant fixing method such as soldering, laser welding, or ultrasonic fusion is formed between and. The space securing ring 51 made of a heat resistant material and the strip 53 fixed to the space securing ring 51 constitute the outer peripheral wall 55 of the flexible portion 3. The base end of each strip 53 extends to the base end of the flexible portion 3.

The tip of the flexible portion 3 has a flexible portion base 5
6 is fixed. The front end portion of the flexible portion mouthpiece 56 is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the final piece 46b of the bending portion 5 by a plurality of countersunk screws 57 arranged side by side in the circumferential direction.

Further, the tip of the wire guide 58, which is made of a metal pipe or a coil pipe, is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the flexible portion base 56 with heat resistance such as soldering, laser welding, ultrasonic welding, or the like. It is fixed by a certain fixing method.

The bending wire 49 is inserted into the wire guide 58. The proximal end portion of the bending operation wire 49 extends to an operation portion (not shown). Furthermore, the image guide 21 and the light guide 2
6 and other built-in objects (such as electronic scope cables) extend through the space securing rings 51 of the flexible portion 3 to an operating portion on the near side (not shown).

The outer peripheral wall portion 55 of the flexible portion 3 is a strip 53.
It is possible to obtain a desired flexibility by appropriately selecting the number of, the thickness of itself, and the material. Also,
When it is desired to change the flexibility of the flexible portion 3 along the axial direction, the soft portion may use the soft strip 53, or the number may decrease, and the hard portion may use the hard strip 53 or increase the number. It becomes possible by doing.

Therefore, the following effects can be obtained with the above structure. That is, since the outer peripheral wall portion 55 of the flexible portion 3 is configured by the large number of space securing rings 51 and the strip body 53 fixed to the space securing ring 51, even when the flexible portion 3 is used at high temperature, it is not affected by heat. There is no portion where the outer peripheral wall portion 55 of the soft portion 3 is destroyed. Therefore, the flexible portion 3 can secure necessary flexibility and can be used even at high temperature.

Further, in this embodiment, the lens unit 1
4 is biased toward the lens fixing ring 16 side by the coil spring 15, so that even if the structure around the lens unit 14 thermally expands and contracts due to temperature change, the coil spring 15
The stress applied to the lens unit 14 can be reduced due to the dimensional change. Therefore, when there is a temperature change as in the prior art, there is no risk of the lens being damaged due to stress applied to the lens due to dimensional changes such as thermal expansion and thermal contraction of the structure that fixes the lens of the objective optical system. Even if the temperature changes, the lens unit 14 can be prevented from being damaged.

Further, the image guide 21 including the optical fiber bundle 33 and the optical fiber bundle 33 of the optical fiber bundle unit 32 forming the light guide 26 are knitted in a tubular shape with a heat resistant elemental wire such as metal. Blade 34 is provided, and the blade 3 is attached to the tip cap 35 made of a heat-resistant material such as metal provided at the tip of the optical fiber bundle unit 32.
Since the tip of 4 was fixed by a ring-shaped swaging base 36 made of a heat-resistant material such as metal,
Even when exposed to a high temperature, the image guide 21 including the optical fiber bundle 33, the components of the optical fiber bundle unit 32 forming the light guide 26, and the connecting portion are not destroyed. for that reason,
For example, a tube protecting the optical fiber bundles 33 at a high temperature of about 200 ° C. or a synthetic resin film is destroyed by heat as in the prior art, and the optical fiber bundles 33 are mutually separated in the insertion portion 2, particularly in the curved portion 5. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of strand breakage caused by entanglement. Further, since the blade 34 of the optical fiber bundle unit 32 does not break, the optical fiber bundle 33 is protected, and in particular, the strand breakage caused by the mutual entanglement of the optical fiber bundles 33 in the curved portion 5 can be prevented.

FIG. 5 shows a modification of the first embodiment. This is a modification of the configuration of the outer peripheral wall portion 55 of the flexible portion 3 as follows. That is, in the present modification, two new space is provided between the left through hole 52 and the lower through hole 52 of the large number of space securing rings 51 of the first embodiment.
By forming two through holes 52 at equal intervals and similarly forming two new through holes 52 at equal intervals between the right through hole 52 and the lower through hole 52, a total of 8 holes can be formed.
One through hole 52 is provided. The strips 53 are inserted into the through holes 52 of the space securing ring 51.

Therefore, in this modified example having the above structure, the flexible portion 3
Since the eight strips 53 arranged on the outer peripheral wall portion 55 of each of the space securing rings 51 are unevenly distributed in a state in which the number of the lower portions of the space securing ring 51 is increased, the upper portion of the outer peripheral wall portion 55 of the flexible portion 3 is disposed. The hardness of the lower side can be increased compared to. Similarly, by arranging the plurality of strips 53 in the upper, lower, left, and right sides of each space securing ring 51 in an arbitrarily distributed manner, the flexibility of the flexible portion 3 in the upper, lower, left, and right directions can be made different.

6 and 7 show a second embodiment of the present invention. This is a modification of the configuration of the outer peripheral wall portion 55 of the flexible portion 3 in the endoscope 1 of the first embodiment as follows. That is, in the present embodiment, a large number of space securing rings 61 made of, for example, a metal material, which have a certain degree of strength against crushing and have heat resistance, are arranged at appropriate intervals as shown in FIG. In the state, they are arranged side by side over the entire length of the flexible portion 3. On the outer peripheral surface of each space securing ring 61, a blade 62 woven into a tubular shape with a heat-resistant element wire such as metal is attached. Further, a plurality of wire guides 63 are provided on the inner peripheral surface of each space securing ring 61, that is, four upper, lower, left and right in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, heat resistance such as soldering, laser welding, ultrasonic welding, etc. It is fixed by a certain fixing method.

Here, when fixing the four wire guides 63 to the inner peripheral surface of each space securing ring 61, a jig 64 having a substantially circular cross section as shown in FIG. 7 is used. The outer diameter of the jig 64 is set to be slightly smaller than the inner diameter of each space securing ring 61. Further, four wire guide accommodating grooves 65 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the jig 64 in the upper, lower, left and right directions over the entire length of the flexible portion 3.

When the jig 64 is used, the wire guides 63 are housed in the four wire guide housing grooves 65, and in this state, the wire guide 63, each space securing ring 61, and the blade 62 are properly spaced. It is fixed at. In this case, they are fixed by a heat-resistant fixing method such as soldering, laser welding, or ultrasonic fusion.

Further, at the tip of the outer peripheral wall 55 of the flexible portion 3, a flexible portion base 56 similar to that of the first embodiment is provided. The tip of the wire guide 63 is fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the soft part mouthpiece 56 by a heat-resistant fixing method such as soldering, laser welding, or ultrasonic welding. A wire 49 for bending operation is inserted inside the wire guide 63.

Therefore, in the above structure, a large number of space securing rings 61, blades 62 mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the space securing ring 61, and wires fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the space securing ring 61. Since the outer peripheral wall portion 55 of the flexible portion 3 is constituted by the guide 63, even when the flexible portion 3 is used under high temperature, the outer peripheral wall portion 55 of the flexible portion 3 is heated by the heat as in the first embodiment. There is no part to be destroyed. Therefore, the flexible portion 3 can secure necessary flexibility and can be used even at high temperature.

Further, in addition to the effect similar to that of the first embodiment, in this embodiment, the wire guide 63 fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the space securing ring 61 also serves as the strip 53 of the first embodiment. Therefore, the strip 53 of the first embodiment can be omitted. for that reason,
The outer peripheral wall portion 55 of the flexible portion 3 can be made cheaper than that of the first embodiment, and the internal components of the outer peripheral wall portion 55 of the flexible portion 3 can be made by the outer diameter dimension of the strip 53 of the first embodiment. A large space can be taken.

FIG. 8 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. This is the endoscope 1 according to the first embodiment.
The configuration of the outer peripheral wall portion 55 of the flexible portion 3 is modified as follows. That is, in the present embodiment, the space securing member of the outer peripheral wall portion 55 of the flexible portion 3 is configured by the close-wound coil 71 made of a metal material or the like. A plurality of strips 72 are mounted on the outer peripheral surface side of the close-wound coil 71 in the same arrangement as in the first embodiment, and a blade 73 is further covered on the outer peripheral surface side.

In this state, the close-wound coil 71, the strip 72, and the blade 73 are appropriately spaced along the axial direction of the flexible portion 3 by soldering, laser welding, ultrasonic welding, or the like. A fixing portion (hatched portion in FIG. 8) 74 fixed by the fixing method is formed.

Therefore, in the above-described structure, the close-wound coil 71 constitutes a space securing member for the outer peripheral wall 55 of the flexible portion 3, and the close-wound coil 71 and the close-wound coil 71 are provided.
Of the plurality of strips 72 mounted on the outer peripheral surface side of the flexible body 3 and the blade 73 further covering the outer peripheral surface side thereof.
Since the outer peripheral wall portion 55 is formed, even when the flexible portion 3 is used under high temperature as in the first embodiment, there is no portion where the outer peripheral wall portion 55 of the flexible portion 3 is destroyed by heat.
Therefore, the flexible portion 3 can secure necessary flexibility and can be used even at high temperature.

Further, in addition to the same effect as the first embodiment, in this embodiment, the space securing member of the outer peripheral wall portion 55 of the flexible portion 3 is constituted by the close-wound coil 71, so that the first and second embodiments are made. As compared with the case of arranging a large number of space securing rings 51, 61 at appropriate intervals as in each of the above embodiments, the assembling work can be facilitated, and the cost of the constituent members of the outer peripheral wall 55 of the flexible part 3 can be reduced. Can also be reduced.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Next, other characteristic technical matters of the present application will be additionally described as follows.

(Additional Item 1) A space securing member that is made of a heat-resistant material, is hard to be crushed, and is provided over the entire length, and is fixed to the space securing member by a heat-resistant fixing method. The flexible part of the endoscope, which is made of a flexible material, does not expand or contract in the axial direction so much, and has a moderate flexibility in the radial direction.

(Purpose of Additional Item 1) To provide a soft portion which does not break even when used at high temperature and can obtain desired flexibility.

(Effect of Supplementary Note 1) Even when the soft part is under high temperature, there is no part to be broken, and the soft part can secure necessary flexibility, and can be used under high temperature.

(Additional Item 2) The space securing member is a metal, the strip is a piano wire or a metal pipe, and the heat-resistant fixing method is soldering, brazing, laser welding, ultrasonic welding. The flexible part of the endoscope according to appendix 1.

(Appendix 3) An optical path in which an optical fiber bundle such as an image guide or a light guide is covered with a blade made of a heat-resistant material (preferably metal), and its front end is fixed by a heat-resistant method. Construct.

[0065]

According to the present invention, since the outer peripheral wall portion of the flexible portion is constituted by the space securing member made of a heat resistant material and the strip fixed to the space securing member, it can be used at high temperature. Even if the outer peripheral wall of the flexible portion of the insertion portion is prevented from being deteriorated by heat, the desired flexibility can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a distal end portion of an insertion portion of an endoscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a main portion showing a connecting portion between a bending portion and a flexible portion of the endoscope according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view for explaining a procedure for assembling the optical fiber bundle unit of the endoscope according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the flexible portion of the endoscope according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a transverse cross-sectional view showing a modified example of the flexible portion of the endoscope according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a main configuration of a flexible part of an endoscope according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a sectional view taken along line L ₁ -L _{1 of} FIG.

FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the main configuration of a flexible part of an endoscope according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Insertion Part 3 Soft Part 51 Space Securing Ring (Space Securing Member) 53 Article 55 Peripheral Wall Part 61 Space Securing Ring (Space Securing Member) 63 Wire Guide (Article) 71 Close-wound Coil (Space Securing Member) 72 Article

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An endoscope apparatus having a slender soft portion in an insertion portion to be inserted into a lumen, wherein a space securing member made of a heat resistant material and hard to be crushed is provided over the entire length of the soft portion. And is made of a heat-resistant material, and is fixed to the space securing member with a heat-resistant fixing method in the radial direction of the soft part, which has appropriate flexibility. An endoscope apparatus comprising an outer peripheral wall portion of the flexible portion.