JPS5815156A - Ultrasonic probe - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To array an ultrasonic vibrator with high accuracy without being bent by applying stress from the outside, by flatly finishing an adhesion surface to an absorber, of the ultrasonic vibrator constituted by making the absorber flow into a fitting frame, and molding it. CONSTITUTION:An absorber 2 is made to flow into a framelike fitting base 5, is solidified and is constituted in one body. When an ultrasonic vibrator 3 is placed on this fitting base 5 and is made to adhere, the ultrasonic vibrator 3 can be fixed flatly onto the fitting base 5. In this state, when the ultrasonic vibrator 3 is cut to prescribed width, an element can be arrayed with high accuracy on the fitting base 5. A packing material is made to flow into a cut groove, and after a prescribed time has passed, the packing material existing on the surface of the ultrasonic vibrator 3 is washed. Subsequently, a spacer 6 having prescribed thickness is fixed to both end parts of the fitting base 5 by means of adhesion. On the upper part of the space 6, a holding plate 7 is provided, and after hardening, into a space (l), that which has mixed a substance such as tungsten powder, etc. to an adhesive agent such as epoxy resin, etc., which becomes a matching layer having an acoustic characteristic is made to flow, and after its hardening, the holding plate 7 is removed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an ultrasonic absorber that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves.

An ultrasonic probe conventionally used in ultrasonic diagnostic equipment and the like is shown in FIG. 1 along with its manufacturing method.

That is, as shown in FIG. 1 (!I), an ultrasonic absorber 2 called a backing material is bonded onto a mounting plate 1, and electrodes are formed on both sides of the mounting plate 1, such as PZT or PbTl.
0. In order to bond a piezoelectric vibrator 3 such as
As shown in b), the piezoelectric vibrator 3 is cut into a predetermined width d,
Arrange in an array. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1(C), a matching layer 4 is adhered to the surface of the piezoelectric vibrator 3 to a desired thickness.

In this way, the ultrasonic probe is constructed.

Although this is not shown in the figure, it is completed by storing it in a case for easy handling.

When examining the performance of such a probe, there may be temporal variations in the detection of transmitted and received signals between each element. This variation accuracy X is ±6μ (
8), and when converted into the arrangement accuracy of the vibrator 3, it must be within ±5 μm.

When we investigated the cause of this, we found that the vibrators 3 arranged on the surface of the absorber 2 were not aligned in a straight line, and there were unevenness between the elements as shown in Figure 2 (a). This is a case in which they are arranged with a certain curvature as shown in Φ).

It was found that this was affected by the finishing accuracy at the processing stage of the mounting plate and absorber. In other words, the mounting plate 1 may be curved, or the mounting plate 1 may be tightened depending on the degree of tightening when installing the probe in the case.
If the surface of the absorber 2 is bent, the result will be as shown in Figure 2 (b), and if the vibrator 3 is glued onto the uneven surface of the absorber 2, the result will be as shown in Figure 2 (1). It's like K.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims to provide a probe suitable for arranging vibrators with high accuracy in view of the fact that it requires a lot of effort.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The ultrasonic probe according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, together with its manufacturing method.

As shown in FIG. 3(a), a frame-shaped mounting base 5 is created. The attachment surface of the mount 5 for the ultrasonic transducer 3 is finished with high accuracy and flatness.

When the absorbent body 2 is poured into the mount 5 and solidified as shown in FIG. 3(b), the mount 5 and the absorbent body 2 form an integrated structure.

When the ultrasonic transducer 3 is placed on the mounting base 5 as shown in FIG. 3(C) and bonded, the ultrasonic transducer 3 can be flatly fixed on the mounting base 5. If the ultrasonic transducer 3 is cut to a predetermined width in this state, the elements can be precisely arranged in a play shape on the mounting base 5.

In this case, both ends of the band sonic vibrator 3 are supported by the frame of the mounting base 50, and the accuracy during bonding is maintained without being affected by the deformation of the absorber 2 made of a soft material. be able to.

In this case, the structure of the mounting base 5 is a frame type, and the structure is strong against bending stress, so that the mounting base 5 will not be bent.

The method for arranging the ultrasonic transducers 3 with high precision has been described above. Next, the method for attaching the matching layer 4 to the top surface of the ultrasonic transducers 3 completed in this manner will be described.

A method of forming a matching layer by placing reference planes for determining the thickness of the matching layer 4 at both ends of the mounting base 50 and fixing spacers to these parts will be described.

After the cutting is completed, a filler is poured between the cutting grooves of the ultrasonic vibrator 3, and after a predetermined period of time, the filler on the surface of the ultrasonic vibrator 3 is cleaned. (The filler material is omitted in the figure.) Next, as shown in FIG. 4(a), spacers 6 of a predetermined thickness are adhesively fixed to both ends of the KIIR mount 50.

Furthermore, if a presser plate 7 is provided on the top of this spacer 6,
A space t for forming the matching layer 4 is created between the vibrator 3 and the holding plate 7. After hardening, a substance such as tungsten powder is mixed with an adhesive such as epoxy resin that will become a matching layer with predetermined acoustic characteristics, and after it has hardened, the presser plate 7 is removed. As shown in FIG. 4(b), a matching layer 4 of a desired thickness can be placed on the surface of the ultrasonic transducer 3.

As is clear from the diagram, the completed probe has 30 transducers.
Since the spacers 6 are fixed at both ends, they serve to protect the transducer 3, and as a result, it is possible to prevent accidents such as damage to the ends of the probe due to external shocks. Became.

Furthermore, since the spacers 6 are provided at both ends of the matching layer 4, this also helps to prevent the matching layer 4 from peeling off.

As described above, the adhesive surface of the ultrasonic transducer constructed by pouring the absorbing material into the mounting frame and molding it to the absorbing material can be finished flat, and the adhesive surface of the ultrasonic transducer constructed by pouring the absorbing material into the mounting frame can be finished flat. There is no bending of the mounting base, and the ultrasonic transducers can be arranged with high precision.

Furthermore, since the end of the mounting frame can be used as a reference surface for creating the matching layer, the thickness of the matching layer can be finished with high accuracy. Furthermore, since the spacer protects the probe end from being damaged by mechanical shock, the probe made by the above method has stable performance and is resistant to mechanical shock. I can make things happen.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1(a) to 1(C) are diagrams explaining the configuration of conventional probes, and Figures 2(a) to 2(b) are factors contributing to variations in performance of conventional probes. Figures 3(a) to 3(C) are diagrams showing the configuration of an embodiment of the probe according to the present invention, and Figure 4 is Figures 3(a) to 1@3. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a probe of the present invention in which a matching layer is attached to the probe shown in FIG. Figure 1 (Phantom 2 Figure 1 (b) ¥Jz Figure (Phantom! ¥Jz Figure (b) ¥14 B Body 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] An ultrasonic probe characterized in that transducers are arranged on the top surface of a mounting base that is formed by pouring a predetermined backing material into the mounting frame, and the frame and backing material are integrated.