JPH10216074A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily and securely fix a tip cover on a tip part at a high localization precision to be detachable. SOLUTION: After an insertion cover 10 is inserted in an axial direction to a tip part main body 9 at a specified angle to put a cover side indicator to a scope side indicator 31, the insertion cover 10 is further pushed in axially while it is rotated, locking of a locking protrusion 38 of a hook 37 of the tip part main body 9 by a claw part 42 of a reinforcement member 34 is released, the locking protrusion 38 of the hook 37 is positioned to a locking groove 41 of the reinforcement member 34, and a head part of the hook 37 is energized by a tip cover main body 32 of elastic material and the claw part 42 in the axial direction, thereby the locking protrusion 38 is securely engaged with the locking groove 41.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope, and more particularly, to an endoscope having a detachable distal end cover at the distal end of an insertion portion.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, endoscopes having an elongated insertion portion have been widely used in the medical and industrial fields. The distal end of the insertion portion is formed of a hard distal member to which the illumination means and the observation means are fixed.

When the hard distal end is inserted into a bent body cavity such as a human body, an operation of pushing the insertion portion excessively strongly with the hard distal end in contact with the bent portion of the body cavity wall. Can damage the body cavity wall with the rigid tip.

For this reason, there is a front end portion of the distal end portion which is covered with an elastic distal end cover so as to prevent the distal end portion from damaging the body cavity wall at the time of insertion or the like.

[0005] In some cases, a storage portion for rotatably storing a raising table for raising the treatment tool is formed by a distal end cover.
In particular, when a raising table for raising the treatment tool is stored, it is necessary to sufficiently clean and disinfect after use, and the distal end cover is often configured to be detachable.

For example, in the conventional example of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-19509, a cap similar to the tip cover is screwed into a screw hole of the tip body with a fixing screw and fixed, and a sealing material is also adhered. Further, the cap is formed with a screw hole larger than the screw hole of the distal end body, and when removing the cap, after removing the fixing screw, the distal end body is pushed by the separating screw to be in an adhesive state by the sealing material. The cap can be separated (removed).

[0007]

However, in a structure in which the tip cover (cap) is fixed with screws (screw) as in the above-mentioned conventional example, a jig such as a driver is required when attaching the tip cover. If the jig is lost, the tip cover cannot be attached. Further, since the screw is screwed into the distal end main body and its size is naturally small, it is easily lost and if it is lost before the endoscope inspection, the distal end cover cannot be fixed and the inspection cannot be performed. In addition, since the screws are fixed, work becomes complicated. Further, a separating screw is required for removal.

[0008] On the other hand, as a simple detachable tip cover, one in which a hole of the tip cover made of an elastic member such as rubber is engaged with a projection provided on the tip body, is considered. There was a possibility that positioning could not be carried out due to insufficient fixation, deviation, or detachment during the inspection.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope having a fixing mechanism capable of easily detachably and securely fixing a tip cover to a tip portion with high positioning accuracy. The purpose is.

[0010]

An endoscope according to the present invention is an endoscope in which a distal end cover is detachably attached to a distal end body, and is detachably engaged by pushing the distal end cover in the axial direction and rotating the end cover. The distal end cover side locking portion and the distal end body side locking portion to be provided, the distal end cover side locking portion is provided on the distal end cover, and the distal end body side locking portion is provided on the distal end body, respectively. The distal end cover is provided with an urging means for urging the distal end surface of the distal end main body side locking portion in the axial direction in at least a part of the operation range.

In the endoscope according to the present invention, the distal end cover-side engaging portion and the distal end main body-side engaging portion which are detachably engaged by pushing and rotating the distal end cover in the axial direction are connected to the distal end cover. And the tip portion main body, respectively,
The urging means provided on the distal end cover axially urges the distal end surface of the distal end main body side locking portion in at least a part of the range of the rotation operation, so that the distal end cover is raised toward the distal end portion. With the positioning accuracy, it is possible to easily and detachably and securely fix.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 14 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an endoscope.
Is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a distal end body and a distal end cover of FIG. 1;
3 is a side view showing the side of the distal end body and the distal end cover of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of the hook of FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 explains the mounting of the distal end body and the distal end cover of FIG. FIG. 6 is a second explanatory view illustrating the mounting of the distal end body and the distal end cover of FIG. 2, and FIG. 7 is a second explanatory view illustrating the mounting of the distal end body and the distal end cover of FIG. 3 is an explanatory view, and FIG.
9 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section of the tip cover when the tip cover is attached to the tip body, FIG. 9 is an external view showing the appearance when the tip body and the tip cover of FIG. 2 are attached, and FIG. 10 is a tip body of FIG. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section of the distal end cover when the distal end cover is incompletely mounted on the distal end portion. FIG. FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram showing a main part configuration of a first modification of the main body and the tip cover, and FIG.
FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section taken along line XX and line YY of FIG.
FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram illustrating a main configuration of a second modification of the distal end body and the distal end cover in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, an endoscope 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention has an elongated insertion portion 2, an operation portion 3 provided at a rear end of the insertion portion 2, A universal cord 4 extending laterally from the operation unit 3. The insertion portion 2 includes a distal end portion 5 from the distal end side, a bendable bending portion 6, and a long flexible portion 7 having flexibility. The base end of the flexible portion 7 has a tapered shape. And the operating portion 3 is connected to a base end of the bending preventing portion 8.

A distal end cover 10 is detachably mounted on a rigid distal end body 9 constituting the distal end portion 5 (more specifically, formed of a rigid member such as stainless steel). ing. FIG. 2 shows an insertion section 2 of the endoscope 1.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the distal end portion 5 of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the distal end main body 9 has an objective lens 20 having a viewing direction on a side orthogonal to the axial direction (longitudinal direction) of the insertion section 2, and emits illumination light in this viewing direction. An illumination lens 21 for illuminating the object is provided adjacently in the longitudinal direction.
Of the cleaning liquid for cleaning 0, and the objective lens 2
An air / water nozzle that communicates with an air / water supply pipe (not shown) provided in the insertion portion 2 for performing air supply for removing water droplets attached to the air inlet or air supply into the body cavity. 22 is provided toward the objective lens 20. Here, the ridge line on the external appearance of the distal end portion main body 9 has a CO. 2 or RO. 2
Since the above chamfering is performed, not only is it easy to insert the tip cover 10 in the axial direction and to perform the rotation operation,
Even if the tip cover 10 falls into the body cavity during the examination, the inside of the body cavity will not be damaged by the twill line on the appearance.

On the other hand, although not shown, an image pickup device such as a CCD is arranged at an image forming position of the objective lens 20, photoelectrically converts the formed image, and a signal cable connected to the image pickup device. The photoelectrically converted image signal is transmitted to a video processor or a camera control unit connected via the universal cord 4 or the like.
Then, the video processor or the camera control unit performs signal processing, converts the signal into a standard video signal, and displays the endoscope image formed on the image sensor on a color monitor (not shown).

The illumination lens 2 in the tip body 9
A light guide fiber bundle (not shown) is disposed inside 1, and the light guide fiber bundle is inserted into the universal cord 4 through the insertion section 2 and the operation section 3, and a light guide connector at the end thereof is shown. By connecting to an unillustrated light source device, the illumination light supplied from the light source device is transmitted, and the illumination light is emitted from the distal end surface through the illumination lens 21 in the visual field direction of the objective lens 20.

Air supply / water supply nozzle 22, objective lens 20,
The distal end body 9 adjacent to the semi-cylindrical portion provided with the illumination lens 21 is cut out leaving a part 23 on the opposite side, and the distal end body 9 of the cut-out space portion 24 9
The treatment instrument raising table 25 is disposed at the base end side of the treatment instrument raising table 25 so as to be rotatably supported with respect to the distal end body 9. Is connected to the tip of the raising wire 26 inserted through the insertion section 2.

A raising wire 26 having one end connected to the treatment tool raising table 25 is inserted through the insertion section 2 and connected to a raising operation mechanism in the operation section 3. The raising lever 11 (see FIG. 1) is connected, and by performing an operation of rotating the treatment tool raising lever 11, the raising wire 26 is pulled to change the inclination angle of the treatment tool raising table 25, The direction in which the distal end side of the treatment tool protrudes can be variably controlled.

Returning to FIG. 1, a bending operation knob 13 for performing a bending operation of the bending portion 6 is provided on the base end side (upper side in FIG. 1) of the grip portion main body 12 which is gripped by the user. , A treatment instrument raising lever 11, an air supply / water supply button 14 for performing an air supply / water supply operation, a suction button 15 for performing a suction operation, a video processor or a camera control unit.
A plurality of operation switches 16 for performing an instruction operation of image control such as an instruction of a still image are provided.

The operation unit 3 is provided with a raising wire cleaning base 17 at a position adjacent to the suction button 15.
The raising wire cleaning base 17 communicates with the base end of a raising wire conduit (not shown) through which the raising wire 26 is inserted,
Used for cleaning the riser wire conduit. The proximal end of a treatment instrument channel (not shown) provided in the insertion section 2 communicates with a channel insertion port 18 so that a treatment instrument can be inserted through the channel insertion port 18.

As shown in FIG. 2, the proximal end of the distal end body 9 is connected to a bending tube (not shown) composed of a plurality of bending pieces (not shown) constituting the bending portion 6 and its exterior. Is covered with a curved covering member 27 formed of an electrically insulating material. The end of the curved covering member 27 is water-tightly fixed to the distal end main body 9 with an adhesive or the like, and the outer periphery of the distal end main body 9 on the distal end side of the curved covering member fixing portion 28 has P
Thermoplastic resin members such as SU, modified PPO, PEI,
An insulating portion 29 made of an electrically insulating material such as ceramics or silicon rubber is provided.

The base end of the front cover 10 is provided with an annular fastening portion 10a for elastically fastening the outer periphery of the insulating portion 29 over the entire periphery when the cover is mounted. As a result, the insulating portion 29 is firmly adhered to the base end portion of the distal end cover 10, so that the high-frequency current does not leak to the outer surface of the distal end portion of the endoscope even when performing treatment using high-frequency current. In addition, since the fastening portion 10a is also biased to rotate when the distal end cover 10 is removed, the fastening portion 10a does not come off accidentally and is safe.

The insulating portion 29 is formed by a convex curved surface, and a metal retaining pin 30 is fixed to the distal end of the insulating portion 29 by bonding or the like to the distal end body 9.
Further, an adhesive or the like is provided on the head so that the metal is not exposed (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 3, on the side surface of the insulating portion 29, there is provided a scope-side indicator 31 indicating the rotational position of the mounting of the distal end cover 10. This scope side index 3
1 is formed by filling an adhesive different in color from the surface of the insulating portion 29.

Returning to FIG. 2, the tip cover body 32 forming the tip cover 10 is formed in a cap shape so as to cover the tip body 9, and corresponds to the objective lens 20, the illumination lens 21, and the treatment instrument raising stand 25. An opening 33 is provided on the side.

A reinforcing member 34 is formed integrally with the distal end cover main body 32 on the inner surface of the distal end cover 10 so as to cover a part of the distal end main body 9 including the side piece 23. However, it is not exposed to the appearance of the tip cover 10. here,
As a method of integrally forming, either one may be performed by insert molding, or a method of separately forming an integrated material later using an adhesive or the like may be used.

The tip cover body 32 is made of a rubber material (specifically, silicon rubber or the like) or an elastomer made of an electrically insulating material, and has an external appearance as shown in FIG. A cover-side index 35 extending parallel to the direction is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the reinforcing member 34 is formed of a rigid material such as stainless steel, and has a shape having a bottom portion 36 on the front end side. To increase the rigidity. In addition, a shape for detachably fixing the distal end cover 10 to the distal end portion main body 9 is formed on the bottom portion 36 of the reinforcing member 34.

On the other hand, on the distal end surface of the distal end body 9, an L-shaped hard hook 37 serving as a distal end main body side locking portion for detachably fixing the distal end cover 10 is provided. 4A and 4B are enlarged views of the hook 37, wherein FIG. 4A is a front view and FIG. 4B is a side view. The shape of the hook may be arbitrary.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the head of the hook 37 has a chamfer 45 (or an R chamfer) over almost the entire circumference.
There is. On the back side of the hook 37, a locking projection 38 for engaging the distal end cover 10 is provided, and the hook 37 is provided so as to fit within a projection plane of the distal end body 9 in the axial direction. Also, the CO. 2
Or RO. There are two or more chamfers. Here, as shown in FIG. 4A, the center Z of the pillar 39 of the hook 37 is set.
Is shifted from the center O of the outer diameter of the distal end body 9. In addition,
The center O is also the center of rotation of the tip cover 10 and the tip body 9.

Since the hook 37 is located in the axial projection plane of the distal end body 9, the hook 37 does not protrude from the outer diameter of the distal end body 9, so that the distal end cover 10 should fall off and be inserted. Even when the part 2 is pulled out of the body cavity, the body wall is not damaged, and is safe. Also, the CO. 2 or RO. Since two or more chamfers are formed, it is easy to insert and rotate the tip cover 10 in the axial direction.

The hook 37 does not have to be integrally formed with the distal end body 9 as shown in FIG.
It may be fixed by bonding, welding, or the like.

Returning to FIG. 2, the bottom portion 36 of the reinforcing member 34 has a hook insertion portion 40 which can be inserted in the axial direction at a certain rotation angle with respect to the hook 37, and furthermore, a locking projection 38 of the hook 37 has a tip. A locking groove 41 is provided, which is engaged by a single-step pushing rotation operation of the cover 10.

Further, at the boundary between the hook insertion portion 40 and the locking groove 41 on the bottom portion 36 of the reinforcing member 34,
A protruding claw portion 42 is formed toward the 0 rotation center O side. The entire front end side of the bottom portion 36 of the reinforcing member 34 having the hook insertion portion 40 and the locking groove 41 is covered with the front end cover body 32.

Next, a method of attaching the tip cover 9 to the tip body 8 will be described. First, as shown in FIG.
The tip cover 10 is axially inserted into the tip body 9 at a certain rotation angle while the cover index 35 is aligned with the scope index 31. FIG. 5A is a view of the state after the insertion in the axial direction as viewed from the distal end side.

As shown in FIG. 5A, in this state,
The hook 37 is housed in the hook insertion section 40 (the tip cover body is not shown). The tip main body 9 and the reinforcing member 34 are fitted together, and the angle θ of the fitted circumferential portion is set to be larger than 180 ° (ideally, the angle θ is 190 ° or more). I have. At this time, the horizontal clearance that affects the play in the rotation direction between the hook 37 and the reinforcing member 34 is x1 + x2, where the left and right gaps in the drawing are x1 and x2, respectively.

The top cover body 32 is not molded on the upper surfaces of the regions P and Q surrounded by the two-dot broken line and the solid line, and is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. As can be seen from (b), a space exists between the reinforcing member 34 and the distal end cover body 32 in the area P and the area Q. 5B, when the head of the hook 37 is in contact with the tip cover body 32, the distance from the mounting surface 51 of the hook 37 (see FIG. 3) to the locking projection 38 is L1. Similarly, when a distance L2 from the mounting surface 51 to the claw-side contact surface 52 formed on the tip end side of the claw portion 42 is set, L1 <L2. Note that the bold arrow in FIG. 5B indicates a moving path of the claw portion 42 during the mounting.

That is, since L1 <L2 is set when the head of the hook 37 is in contact with the tip cover body 32, even if the tip cover 10 is rotated clockwise when viewed from the tip side in this state, The hook 3 is formed by the claw portion 42 serving as a stopper.
7 does not engage with the locking groove 41 of the reinforcing member 34.

FIG. 6A shows a state in which the distal end cover 10 is further pushed in the axial direction from the state shown in FIG. 5A, and is rotated clockwise as viewed from the distal end side to engage the locking convex portion 38 of the hook 36. The state at the time of completion of mounting, which has been engaged with the stop groove 41, is shown (the distal end cover main body is not shown).

That is, in the state shown in FIG. 6A, the positioning in the rotation direction and the axial direction is completed. Even in this state, there is a slight play in the rotation direction. The clearance in the horizontal direction that causes backlash is x3 + x4, where x3 and x4 are the left and right gaps in the figure, respectively, and is set as x1 + x2 ≧ x3 + x4. That is, the play in the rotation direction is set smaller after mounting than before mounting. Therefore, since the clearance is large before the rotation operation, the hook 37 can be easily inserted into the hook insertion portion 40. In addition, after the rotation operation, the clearance is small, so that the tip cover 10 can be precisely positioned on the tip cover 9.

As shown in FIG. 6B, which is a cross section taken along line BB of FIG. 6A, the distance from the claw-side contact surface 52 to the tip cover body 32 is M, and the hook-side contact is If the distance from the surface 53 to the hook head is m, M <m. That is, since M <m, when the mounting is completed, as shown in FIG. 6B, the hook head is urged in the axial direction by the distal end cover main body 32 and the claw portion 42 of the elastic material, and the locking projection of the hook 37 is formed. The portion 38 is firmly engaged with the locking groove 41, so that it does not come off accidentally and becomes safe. The bold arrow in FIG. 6B indicates the path along which the claw portion 42 moves when it is removed.

Returning to FIG. 5B, since the head of the hook 37 is chamfered over almost the entire circumference, for example, the hook 37 extends from the boundary 54 between the reinforcing member 34 and the tip cover body 32. Assuming that the distance to the front end surface of the head is e, the distance e can be increased over the entire circumference due to the large chamfer.

The distance e is set so as to have the following relationship with the axial pushing stroke max of the distal end cover 10, that is, the distance y in FIG. 5B.

E> y / 4 That is, by setting as described above, the boundary 54 between the reinforcing member 34 and the front cover body 32 is hardly peeled off. In addition, the reason why the space is provided on the upper surface of the region Q in FIG. 5A is to increase the distance to the pressing surface and to achieve the same effect as described above.

FIG. 7 shows a state in the middle of the state of FIG. 5B and the state of FIG. 6B, and shows a state in which the claw portion 42 has passed through the slit portion 55 on the back side of the hook 37. .

As shown in FIG. 7, the height h of the locking groove side wall 56 of the reinforcing member 34 is set so that h> L1. Since h> L1, the locking projection 38 of the hook 37 does not ride on the locking groove side wall 56, and serves as a rotation stopper.

As shown in FIG. 5A, a notch 58 is provided in a part of the hook insertion portion side wall 57 of the reinforcing member 34, and the end 59 of the notch 58 is Is located closer to the rotation center O than the column end 60, the end 59 hits the column 39 of the hook 37 first even if the end cover 10 is fully rotated in the counterclockwise direction as viewed from the front end. Has become.

Further, since the notch 58 is provided, the hook-side contact surface 53 does not run on the hook insertion portion side wall 57.

When removing the front cover 10, the above operation is reversed. Once the tip of the tip cover 10 is pushed in the axial direction to release the locking projection 38 of the hook 37 from the locking groove 41, the hook 37 is rotated counterclockwise as viewed from the tip side, and the hook 37 is inserted into the hook insertion portion 40. Move up to
Thereafter, the distal end cover 10 is pulled out in the axial direction toward the distal end side and removed.

The direction of rotation when removing the distal end cover 10 is counterclockwise as viewed from the distal end side. In the layout of the objective lens 21 of the present embodiment (see FIG. 2), the direction is the direction covering the field of view. It is. Therefore, when the tip cover 10 comes off, a part of the tip cover 10 always enters the field of view, so that even if the tip cover 10 comes off within the integral cavity, the surgeon immediately notices and is safe.

Since the annular fastening portion 10a on the base end side of the distal end cover 10 is fastened over the entire periphery of the insulating portion 29, as shown in FIG. In the cover 10, the distance from the proximal end surface 61 to the claw contact surface 52 is L11, and the distance from the insulating portion abutting surface 62 to which the proximal end surface 61 of the distal cover 10 abuts to the hook contact surface 53 is L. When the distance is L12, L11> L
It is set to 12. That is, since L11> L12 is set, the front cover 10 at the time of mounting is urged in the axial direction, and the front cover 10 is urged toward the front end. The protruding portion 38 is securely engaged with the locking groove 41, so that it does not come off accidentally and becomes safe.

Further, a convex elastically deforming portion 63 which is deformed when the front end cover 10 is pushed in the axial direction may be provided at the front end portion of the front end cover 10. In the mounted state, the distal end of the elastic deformation portion 63 and the distal end body 9 (that is, the hook 3
7) is almost in contact.

In this state, when the distal end cover 10 is pushed in the axial direction to remove it, as shown in FIG.
Although the locking projection 38 comes off the locking groove 41,
3 is deformed. At this time, a part of the tip cover body 32 is also deformed as shown in FIG. When the pushing in the axial direction is stopped in this state, the state returns to the state shown in FIG.

As described above, the tip cover body 32 is
It is made of an elastic material such as a rubber material (specifically, silicon rubber or the like) or an elastomer, and the hook head is urged by the elastic tip cover body 32 and the claw portion 42.
As shown in FIG.
1 is formed, but the raised portion dummy 72 is previously
The protrusion 71 can be made inconspicuous by providing it at the tip of 0.

Further, the inner surface of the proximal end 73 of the reinforcing member 34 is partially cut away, and the distal end cover body 32 covers the inner surface, so that the peeling of the proximal end 73 is prevented. ing.

Further, the side piece 23 on the treatment tool raising table 25 side
The extension 74, which is a part of the base end side of the reinforcing member 34, extends in the axial direction at the portion where
Side part 2 in the rotation operation when attaching or detaching
3 is longer in the axial direction to facilitate rotation. Also, there is an effect of reinforcing the distal end cover main body 32 on the treatment instrument raising stand 25 side.

Further, a relief 76 is provided on the side surface of the side piece 23 to avoid interference with the treatment instrument guide wall 75 provided on the inner surface of the distal end cover main body 32. It is easy to operate because it does not interfere with the rotation operation when attaching or detaching.

FIG. 10 is a view when the tip cover 10 is rotated in a state where the hook 37 does not fit into the hook insertion portion 40 at the time of incomplete mounting in FIG. 8, and the opening 33 is aligned with the surface of the objective lens 21. It is.

In this state, the gaps f and g of about 1 mm, which are clearly visible, are set between the front side and the rear side. Therefore, it is easy to determine whether or not it is securely attached.

FIG. 11 shows an example of an erroneous assembly structure in FIG. 8 so that the tip cover 10 of another model is not erroneously assembled.

As shown in FIG. 11, a convex portion 81 is provided on a part of the bottom 35 of the reinforcing member 34, and a concave portion 82 which can be engaged with and rotated on the distal end main body 9 side is formed all around. I have.

Other parts of FIG. 11 except for the above are shown in FIG.
If it is the same as the distal end body 9 of FIG. 10, the distal end cover 10 of FIG. 11 cannot be assembled because the distal end body 9 of FIG. The relationship between the concave and the convex is the same even if the relationship is reversed.

As another erroneous assembly structure, the hook 3
7 may be changed for each model to form an erroneous assembly, or the reinforcing member 34 may be erroneously assembled to the tip body 9 by changing the size of the diameter d of the part that fits circumferentially for each model. It may have a structure. Further, the shape of the hook 34 and the hook insertion portion 3
The shape of 9 may be changed for each model to make a misassembly structure,
The distance of L1 on the back side of the hook 36 may be changed for each model to make a wrong assembly structure.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the insertion cover 1 is adjusted while the cover-side index 35 is aligned with the scope-side index 31.
After inserting the insertion cover 10 into the distal end body 9 in the axial direction at a certain insertion angle, the insertion cover 10 is further rotated in the axial direction while being pushed in the axial direction, thereby releasing the hooks 37 from the hooks 37 by the claws 42. The locking projection 38 of the hook 37 is attached to the reinforcing member 34.
And the head of the hook 37 is urged in the axial direction by the distal end cover body 32 and the claw portion 42 made of the elastic material so that the locking projection 38 is securely engaged with the locking groove 41. Thus, the distal end cover 10 can be easily detachably and securely fixed to the distal end portion main body 9 with high positioning accuracy.

As a first modification of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, the relationship between the convex and concave portions is reversed, and a second concave portion 91 (see FIG. 13) is provided on the back side of the hook 37. ,
The second protrusion 92 may be provided on the reinforcing member 34 side.

In this case, the second concave portion 91 and the second convex portion 92 are moved from the state shown in FIG. 13A to the one-step pushing operation and rotation (from the distal end side) similarly to the case of this embodiment. (Clockwise when viewed) as shown in FIG. 13 (b). Therefore, in the first modified example, similarly to the first embodiment, the distal end cover 10 can be detachably fixed to the distal end portion main body 9 easily and reliably, and the rotation regulation and the axial regulation are also reliable and removed. At this time, since it is necessary to rotate the hook 37 once while pushing it into the root side, it is very difficult to fall off in the body cavity.

As a second modified example of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14A, a hook 37 (the outline is shown by a solid line) into which the distal end cover 10 is inserted in the axial direction is used. Further, it may be configured such that it is pushed in the axial direction and then rotated and mounted (the outline is indicated by a dotted line) (the distal end cover main body 32 is not shown). That is, as shown in FIG. 14B, which is a cross-sectional view taken along the line ZZ in FIG. 14A, the mouth portion 91 of the hook 37 has the third concave portion 9 provided on the reinforcing member 34 side.
The same operation and effect as in the present embodiment can be obtained even if the second embodiment is configured to be detachably engaged by the same operation as in the present embodiment.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory view for explaining the mounting of the distal end body and the distal end cover according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Since the second embodiment is almost the same as the first embodiment, only different points will be described, and the same components will be denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

In the first embodiment, the locking structure of the hook 37 is provided on the reinforcing member 34. However, in the present embodiment, the locking structure of the tip cover body 32 of the tip cover 10 is provided. As shown in FIG. 15, the hook 37 is provided with a fourth concave portion 102, and the fourth convex portion 101 is provided inside the tip cover body 32. A reinforcing plate 103 is provided on the back of the fourth protrusion 101 to reinforce the locking structure.

In the case of the present embodiment, since there is no reinforcing member 34 in the first embodiment, the tip cover body 32
Are in contact with the distal end body 9 over almost the entire length.
Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

With this configuration, the present embodiment can provide the same operation and effect as those of the first embodiment.

Since the shape of the fourth convex portion 101 is semicircular, it is possible to engage / disengage with the fourth concave portion 102 only by rotating operation without intentionally pushing further in the axial direction. Can be. Further, the shape may not be a semicircular shape but may be a slope.

[Appendix] (Appendix 1) In an endoscope in which the tip cover is detachable from the tip body, the tip cover is engaged detachably by pushing the tip cover in the axial direction and rotating the end cover. And a distal end body side engaging portion, the distal end cover side engaging portion is provided on the distal end cover, and the distal end body side engaging portion is provided on the distal end body, respectively. An endoscope, wherein a biasing means for biasing the distal end surface of the distal end portion main body side locking portion in the axial direction is provided on the distal end cover.

(Additional Item 2) A circumferential portion where the distal end cover and the distal end main body are fitted is set to be larger than 180 ° in a state before the rotation operation during mounting. 2. The endoscope according to claim 1.

(Appendix 3) The urging means urges the distal end surface of the distal end main body side locking portion in the axial direction in a state where the distal end cover is attached to the distal end main body. 2. The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein

(Additional Item 4) The clearance in the rotational direction between the distal end body side locking portion and the distal end cover side locking portion is smaller in the post-mounting state than in the pre-rotation state during the mounting of the front end cover. 2. The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein:

(Additional Item 5) The endoscope according to additional item 1, wherein the distal end main body side locking portion is accommodated within an axial projection area of the distal end main body.

(Additional Item 6) The additional device is characterized in that the urging means is a tip cover body made of an elastic material.
An endoscope according to claim 1.

[0082]

As described above, according to the endoscope of the present invention, the distal end cover side engaging portion and the distal end main body side engagement which are detachably engaged by pushing the distal end cover in the axial direction and rotating the end cover. A stopper is provided on each of the distal end cover and the distal end body, and the biasing means provided on the distal end cover axially urges the distal end surface of the distal end body side locking portion in at least a part of the range of the rotation operation. In addition, there is an effect that the tip cover can be easily detachably and securely fixed to the tip portion with high positioning accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of an endoscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a tip body and a tip cover of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a side surface of a tip body and a tip cover of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a hook in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a first explanatory view illustrating mounting of the distal end portion main body and the distal end cover of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a second explanatory view illustrating the mounting of the distal end portion main body and the distal end cover of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a third explanatory view for explaining the mounting of the distal end portion main body and the distal end cover of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section of the distal end cover when it is mounted on the distal end portion main body in FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is an external view showing the appearance when the distal end main body and the distal end cover of FIG. 2 are mounted.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section of the distal end cover when incompletely mounted on the distal end portion main body in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a view showing an example of an incorrectly assembled structure of a distal end cover when mounted on the distal end portion main body in FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram showing a main configuration of a first modified example of the distal end portion main body and the distal end cover of FIG. 1;

13 is a sectional view showing a section taken along line XX and a section taken along line YY of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a configuration diagram showing a main part configuration of a second modified example of the distal end portion main body and the distal end cover of FIG. 1;

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram for explaining mounting of the distal end body and the distal end cover according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscope 2 ... Insertion part 3 ... Operation part 4 ... Universal cord 5 ... Tip part 6 ... Bending part 7 ... Flexible part 8 ... Bend prevention part 9 ... Tip part main body 10 ... Tip cover 10a ... Tightening part 11 ... Treatment tool raising lever 12 ... Grip body 13 ... Bending operation knob 14 ... Air / water supply button 15 ... Suction button 16 ... Operation switch 17 ... Raising wire cleaning cap 18 ... Channel insertion port 20 ... Objective lens 21 ... Illumination lens Reference Signs List 22 air supply / water supply nozzle 23 side piece 24 space part 25 treatment tool erecting base 26 erecting wire 27 curved cover member 28 curved cover member fixing part 29 insulating part 30 retaining pin 31 Scope index 32 Reference tip cover body 33 Opening 34 Reinforcement member 35 Cover index 36 Bottom 37 Hook 38 Locking projection 39 Column 40 Hook insertion 41 Engagement groove 42 ... Claw part 45 ... Chamfer

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Oka ▲ Saki ▼ Tsugio 2-4-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Olympus Optical Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Haruhiko Kaiya 2-chome Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 43-2 Inside Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hisao Yabe 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An endoscope having a distal end cover detachably attached to a distal end main body, wherein the distal end cover side engaging portion and the distal end main body side which are detachably engaged by pushing the distal end cover in the axial direction and rotating the end cover. The locking portion is provided on the distal cover, the locking portion on the distal cover is provided on the distal cover, and the locking portion on the distal body is provided on the distal body, and the distal body is provided in at least a part of the range of the rotation operation. An endoscope wherein an urging means for urging the distal end surface of the side locking portion in the axial direction is provided on the distal end cover.