JPH09239581A - Mechanism of apparatus for machining endscopic bending tube node ring - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To unnecessitate the following process for removing dross without sticking the dross on the inner surface of a node ring. SOLUTION: A bar-like member 2 having the smaller diameter than the inner diameter of a pipe 1 as a base material of the node ring is arranged so as to be freely inserted in the pipe 1. On the other outer periphery of the bar-like member 3, a spiral groove 27 is arranged and also, an air spouting hole 30 communicated with an air introducing hole 29 formed in the inner part is arranged in the groove 27 part. Then, the air is spouted from the air spouting hole 30 while rotating and advancing/retreating the bar-like member 1 and the dross 28 generated at the time of cutting off the pipe 1 with the laser beam 8, is discharged to out of the pipe 1 with the spouted air from the air spouting hole 30.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope bending tube node ring manufactured by cutting a node ring, which constitutes an endoscope bending tube that bends freely by operating an operation portion of the endoscope, with a laser. The mechanism of the processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a mechanism of a laser processing apparatus for an endoscopic curved tube nodal ring, there is an invention described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-49884, and the prior art will be described with reference to this invention.
In the above invention, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the long pipe 40 is attached to the rotatable rotary jig 44. Inside the long pipe 40, there is provided a light shield 41 which is coaxial and rotates in synchronization with the long pipe 40. The light shield 41 is made of a metal tube or rod having a relatively good thermal conductivity, such as copper or aluminum.

A long pipe 40 using the apparatus having the above structure
The method of cutting is as follows:
It is a method of cutting the long pipe 40 by irradiating the laser beam 45 from the outer peripheral side of the long pipe 40 while supplying 0 and jetting the assist gas 50 from the lower end of the transmission pipe 46. Then, the dross 48 generated at the time of cutting is attached to the light shield 41 so that the dross 48 does not attach to the inner diameter side of the node ring 51, as shown in FIG. 7.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned prior art has the following drawbacks. That is, JP-A-60
In the invention described in JP-A-49884, due to the shape of the tubular or rod-shaped light shielding body 41, the dross 48 at the time of laser cutting hits the light shielding body 41 and rebounds, and the long pipe 4
There was a problem that it adhered to the 0 inner surface. That is, the shape of the light shield 41 had a great influence. As a result, the dross 48 attached to the inner surface on the opposite side of the processing point is caught by the fiber or wire inserted through the bending tube, which makes it difficult to operate.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. The common object of claims 1 and 2 is that dross does not adhere to the inner surface of the node ring and a post-process for removing dross is required. It is to provide a mechanism of a processing device for an endoscopic curved tube nodal ring.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows. According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mechanism of a processing device for an endoscopic curved tube nodal ring manufactured by cutting a nodal ring of the endoscopic curved tube with a laser, the diameter being smaller than a pipe inner diameter which is a base material of the nodal ring. , A metallic rod-shaped member having a spiral groove on the outer periphery thereof, and an air ejection port communicating with an air introduction port formed inside the outer peripheral portion, and the rod-shaped member disposed inside the pipe. ,
A means for ejecting air from the air ejection port while rotating and moving back and forth the rod-shaped member is provided.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the rod-shaped member according to the first aspect has a plurality of V-shaped grooves on the outer circumference.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be described. In the mechanism of the endoscope bending tube node ring processing apparatus of the present invention, the dross generated when the pipe is cut by the laser is immediately cooled by the air ejected from the air ejection port provided on the outer periphery of the rod-shaped member, It solidifies below the temperature at which it sticks to the inside diameter of the pipe and sticks to it, and is efficiently discharged outside the pipe by the air ejected from the air ejection port.

Further, the laser light which has passed through the pipe at the time of cutting hits the spiral groove surface or the V-shaped groove surface of the rod-shaped member, and the laser beam is rotated and moved forward and backward by the rotation and the forward-backward movement of the rod-shaped member. Diffuse reflection due to movement prevents the laser light from hitting a certain position and damaging the rod-shaped member and the inner surface of the pipe.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[First Embodiment of the Invention] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a mechanism of the processing apparatus according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 1, a pipe 1
Is held by the chuck claw 3 and is connected to the spindle 6 via the chuck 5. The spindle 6 is configured to be rotatable in the Q direction by the bearing 4 fastened to the table 7. A motor 16 is attached to the bearing 4, and a pulley 17 is attached to the rotating shaft of the motor 16. A pulley 13 is attached to the spindle 6, and the pulley 13 is connected to a pulley 17 by a belt 15. In addition, the pipe 1 is driven by a table 7 driven by a motor and a ball screw (not shown).
It is movable in the X direction, which is the axial direction of the pipe 1.

A rod-shaped member 2 inserted inside the pipe 1.
Is provided with a spiral groove 27 on the outer periphery of its tip (left side in the drawing), and the diameter of the outer periphery is made smaller than the inner diameter of the pipe 1. The rod-shaped member 2 can be rotated in the P direction by a rotation device (not shown), and can be moved by a movement device (not shown) in the Y direction (front-back direction) that is the axial direction of the rod-shaped member 2. In the present embodiment, the Q direction of rotation of the pipe 1 and the direction P of rotation of the rod-shaped member 2 are opposite directions, but the mutual rotation directions are not limited.

Next, the rod member 2 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 2, an air ejection port 30 is provided in the portion of the spiral groove 27 on the outer periphery of the rod-shaped member 2. As shown in FIG. 3, the air ejection ports 30 are radially provided at a plurality of locations on the outer periphery of the rod-shaped member 2 and communicate with the air introduction ports 29 provided inside the rod-shaped member 2, respectively. Each air jet 30 has an air inlet 2
It is formed to incline toward the opening side of 9 (right side in the figure). Therefore, in FIG. 2, the air 19 is ejected from the air ejection port 30 via the air introduction port 29, and the ejected air 19 is emitted from the end of the pipe 1 into which the rod-shaped member 2 is inserted to the outside of the pipe 1. It has become.

On the other hand, the laser 8 for cutting the pipe 1 is provided with a lens 11 so as to focus on the cut surface of the pipe 1, and the center of the optical axis of the laser 8 intersects the central axis of the pipe 1. It is located in. Further, when the pipe 1 is cut by the laser 8, the assist gas 10 is ejected from the nozzle 12 through the assist gas pipe 9 toward the outer peripheral surface of the pipe 1.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. After positioning the pipe 1 at a predetermined cut portion, the shutter of the laser 8 is opened. At this time, when the table 7 is moved in the X direction while the pipe 1 is rotated by the power of the motor 16 transmitted through the pulley 13, the belt 15 and the pulley 17, the laser 8 is sequentially irradiated to the outer periphery of the upper surface of the pipe 1. The cutting process of the node ring having a desired shape is performed. At this time, the rod-shaped member 2 having the spiral groove 27 on the outer circumference is rotated in the P direction by a rotation device (not shown) and moved in the Y direction (front-back direction).

Further, in FIG. 2, the air 19 is ejected from the air ejection port 30 via the air introduction port 29. At this time, the dross 28 generated when cutting with the laser 8
Means that the air 19 ejected from the air ejection port 30 provided on the outer periphery of the rod-shaped member 2 is ejected toward the outside (R direction) of the pipe due to the inclination of the air ejection port 30, so that the air is efficiently flowed according to the flow of air. It is discharged outside the pipe 1 (direction R). Further, the laser light passing through the pipe at the time of cutting hits the surface of the spiral groove 27 and is diffusely reflected by the rotation and the forward and backward movement of the groove 27.

According to the first embodiment of the present invention, the dross 28 is cooled and solidified by the air jetted from the air jet port 30, and the solidified dross 28 is discharged to the outside of the pipe 1 by the flow of air. As a result, the dross 28 does not adhere to the inner surface of the pipe 1, and a node ring that does not require the dross removing work in the subsequent step is obtained. Further, it is possible to prevent the laser light passing through the pipe at the time of cutting from being diffusely reflected by the surface of the groove 27 of the rod-shaped member 2 and hitting a certain position of the laser light to damage the rod-shaped member or the inner surface of the pipe. Therefore, it is possible to provide a high-quality bending tube nodal ring and to provide a high-performance endoscope having no risk of cutting fibers or wires inserted into the bending tube.

[Second Embodiment of the Invention] A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 shows the second embodiment.
It is a schematic block diagram which shows the mechanism of this processing apparatus. In the second embodiment of the present invention, the shape of the groove provided on the outer periphery of the rod-shaped member 2B is replaced with the spiral groove 27 of the first embodiment, and a plurality of V-shaped members are formed.
It is characterized in that it is formed in the groove 27B. Other configurations are similar to those of the first embodiment, and the same components as those of the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

The operation of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and therefore its explanation is omitted.

The effects of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
While the groove on the outer periphery of the rod-shaped member 2B is the spiral groove 27 in the first embodiment, the second embodiment has a plurality of V-shaped grooves 27B, so that the air ejection port 30 can be opened. The positioning is easy, and the work is easy. Other effects are similar to those of the first embodiment.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. According to the invention of claim 1, since the dross generated at the time of cutting the pipe is discharged from the pipe in a solidified state by the air ejected from the air ejection port of the rod-shaped member inserted into the inner diameter portion of the pipe, A dross does not adhere to the inner surface, and it is possible to obtain a high-quality curved tube node ring that does not require a dross removing operation in a subsequent step. Therefore, it is possible to provide a high-performance endoscope without any risk of cutting the fiber or wire inserted into the bending tube.

According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the effect of claim 1, the rod-shaped member can be easily manufactured.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed view showing an enlarged main part of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged detailed view showing a rod-shaped member according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 (A) is a vertical sectional view, and FIG. 3 (B) is a horizontal sectional view.

FIG. 4 is a partial detailed view showing the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 pipe 2, 2B rod-shaped member 8 laser 19 air 27 spiral groove 27B V-shaped groove 29 air inlet port 30 air jet port P pipe rotation direction Y pipe longitudinal direction

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A mechanism of a processing device for an endoscopic bending tube node ring manufactured by cutting a node ring of an endoscopic bending tube with a laser,
A metal rod-shaped member having a diameter smaller than the pipe inner diameter, which is the base material of the node ring, and provided with a spiral groove on the outer periphery thereof, and an air ejection port communicating with the air introduction port formed therein, provided on the outer periphery. , A means for ejecting air from the air ejecting port while arranging the rod-shaped member in the pipe and rotating and moving the rod-shaped member back and forth Mechanism of processing equipment. 2. The shape of the rod-shaped member is such that a plurality of V-shaped members are provided on the outer circumference.
The mechanism of the processing device for an endoscopic curved tube nodal ring according to claim 1, wherein the mechanism has a groove.