JPS58159719A - Cleaning apparatus for endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a curved member forming a curved portion of an endoscope.

As shown in Figure 1, an endoscope generally has a distal end 1 with an observation lens and an illumination window open, a curved section 2 connected to the distal end, a flexible tube section connected to the curved section, and a flexible tube section connected to the curved section. It is equipped with a connected operating section 4 and an eyepiece section 5 provided on the end surface of the operating section, and built-in objects such as optical fiber bundles from the distal end section 1 to the operating section 4 are located within the curved section 2 and the flexible tube section. A light guide flexible pipe section 6 connected to an illumination light source is connected to the operation section, and by turning the operation nozzle 7, the curved section 2 is rotated and the tip section 1 is made to swing. As shown in FIG. 2, the curved portion 2 is constructed by attaching a plate "9" (generally made of thin metal wire woven into a cylindrical shape) on a curved member 8 having a diameter sufficient to accommodate built-in items such as optical fiber bundles. ), and is further covered with an outer skin 10 (generally made of synthetic resin), which is curved with a predetermined degree of curvature so as to define the swing angle of the tip or the observation field of view. The part that does this is the curved member 8, which is a member that is bent to a predetermined degree of curvature to form a curved portion.

Conventionally, as such a curved member, one having the configuration shown in FIGS. The curved member shown in FIG. 6 has a large number of joint rings a connected in the longitudinal direction,
In order to be able to bend, the number of curved support shaft parts increases, resulting in an expensive product, and as the diameter of the curved part becomes narrower, it becomes difficult to connect using pin b, and furthermore, the condition of the caulking of pin b may vary. There was also a manufacturing defect that made it difficult to bend. Therefore, in order to connect the joint rings without caulking them with pins, as shown in Fig. 4, the apexes C of each joint ring are brought into contact with each other, and the curved wire is inserted through the hole d through this abutting part. A structure was considered. However, in a curved member with this structure, if the abutment part does not have a certain thickness, there is a risk that the abutment part will slip during assembly, resulting in defective products. There is also a manufacturing constraint that the wall thickness of the transition part e to the part shown in FIG. 6 is thicker than the plate thickness, and the outer diameter of the curved part tends to become thicker. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, a flex body was devised in which a metal strip f was spirally wound without using a node ring. However, when the curved member of this flex body is bent in one direction to form a degree of curvature, the tip end fixed to the curved member tends to move in the winding direction of the flex, such as untwisting. This repulsion effect makes it difficult to obtain or adjust the desired degree of curvature, and in order to overcome this, stacking flexes wound in opposite directions increases the wall thickness of the curved member, and eventually the curved part becomes thicker. A problem occurred in that the outer diameter became thicker.

In general, these conventional curved members have the disadvantage that they require a large number of parts and assembly man-hours, and also have the disadvantage of increasing the outer diameter of the curved part.
was.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a curved member for an endoscope that can reduce the number of parts and the number of assembly steps, and reduce the outer diameter of the curved portion.

This invention focuses on a superelastic alloy, and by utilizing it, eliminates the nodal ring curved support shaft and flex required for conventional curved members. Superelastic alloys are metals that, like rubber, return to their original shape after being stretched or bent when the force is removed; this phenomenon occurs due to stress-induced transformation (changes in the structure of the metal that occur within the metal due to external forces). It is said that. The elasticity of metal is usually around 0.5%.
Although the modulus is 1 at most, the elasticity of superelastic alloys is generally 4 to 6%, and some have a medium V of about 10%.

Superelastic alloys include Ni (nickel)-Ti (titanium) system,
(4 (copper) - AA (aluminum) - Ni (= Tsukel)
system, Pb (lead)-ZyL (zinc) system, A7 (silver)-Cd
(Cabimium) type and ■rL (Indium)-Tα (Tantalum) type have been discovered.

According to this invention, a tube material made of a superelastic alloy is used, wedge-shaped grooves are cut into the tube material from both sides at right angles to the tube axis, close to the tube axis, and a guide hole for inserting a curved wire is bored in the tube wall. By forming such grooves and holes at several locations along the length of the pipe material, a curved member that does not use a joint curved support shaft can be superior.

The present invention will be explained in detail below. In FIG. 6 showing the first embodiment, the curved member is a tube material 1 made of a superelastic alloy.
1, wedge-shaped grooves 12 and 15 are cut from both sides of the tube (in the vertical direction in the figure) along its length at right angles to the tube axis. It is carved down until it reaches the vicinity of , and then formed at several places at equal pitches so that both sides are continuous. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, a recess is formed between the grooves 12 and 12 and between the grooves 12 and 15 in the tube wall portion where both sides are continuous, and the groove 12 is formed in the wall of this recess in the tube axis direction. , 15 are bored for guiding curved wires (not shown). On the other hand, holes 16 and 17 are provided at both ends of the tube material 110, respectively.
As shown in FIG. 2, screws, pins, etc.
It is now possible to connect with a.

Using such a curved member, one end of the curved member is fixed to the distal end 1, and the end of the curved wire is fixed to the distal end 1, and the curved wire is inserted into the guide holes 14 and 15, respectively. The curved portion 2 is constructed by covering the blade 9 and the outer skin 10.

Thus, when the curved member is bent in either the upper or lower direction as shown in FIG. 7, a part of the portion 19 between the two vertices of the wedge-shaped groove where one of the curved wires is pulled is stretched, so that the curved member becomes curved. , a curved portion 2 having a predetermined curved portion is formed.

The second practical example shown in FIG. 8 is a tube material 2 made of a superelastic alloy.
1 shows a curved member having a shape in which the width and pitch of a wedge-shaped groove 21 cut from the lower side of 0 to the vicinity of the tube axis are changed along the length of the tube material. As a result, the bending angle b is large in a portion where the groove width and pitch are large, and the bending angle b is small in a portion where the groove width and pitch are small. Therefore, in general, in an endoscope, the distal end of the curved section is difficult to curve, and the flexible tube section is easy to curve, so the second practical example is effective in dealing with such cases.

In the fifth practical example shown in FIG. 9, a U-shaped groove 22 is bored instead of the wedge-shaped groove in the embodiment
""j'"oIoL" 1 and 1 bending: The tIL4 actual example shown in Figure 10, which is probably aimed at the difficulty of straightening, has the machining depth of the U-shaped groove along the length of the pipe material. As a result, the smaller the remaining thickness near the tube axis, the easier it is to bend, so we created a pipe with difficulty in bending depending on the size of the remaining thickness along the length of the tube, and the Effects similar to those of the embodiment can be obtained.

The fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 11 has a configuration in which wedge-shaped grooves are cut from the top and bottom directions and curved in two directions in the previous embodiment, whereas wedge-shaped grooves 25 are further cut from the left and right directions, and the grooves are curved in two directions. A guide hole 24 is formed in the pipe wall between 26 and 26 in the same manner as shown in FIG.
This figure shows a curved member having a structure in which four curved wires are inserted through the curved member, and the curved member can be curved in four directions: up, down, left, and right. The curved member of this fifth practical elliptical example is also similar to the second to fourth practical elliptical examples by incorporating the configurations shown in FIGS. 8 to 10 regarding the groove width, pitch, groove shape, and groove depth. effect can be obtained.

In the embodiments described above, bendability and bendability can be varied by changing the wall thickness of the tube made of superelastic alloy. The grooves cut into the pipe material are not limited to wedge-shaped or U-shaped, but can also be slit-shaped, half-moon shaped,
Any other shape may be used. In addition, the groove for cutting is
As shown in FIG. 12 as a sixth embodiment, adjacent grooves may be staggered so that the apexes of the grooves reach the tube axis or beyond, or so that they are not vertically symmetrical. Although it has been explained that the curved wire is fixed to the distal end 1, it is also possible to fix the curved wire to the end of the distal end of the curved member. It is also possible to provide guide holes for the curved wire by recessing a part of the tube wall. If the curved member is inserted freely into the tube wall, a guide hole is required, or the outer surface of the curved member is recessed as shown in FIG. 16 as the seventh embodiment, and the curved member is inserted into this guide recess. It is also possible to insert the wire and press it with a plaid. Instead of making the curved member a one-piece structure from the tip joint to the flexible pipe connecting member, a joining method as shown in Fig. 5 is used in the middle, A plurality of tubes made of a superelastic alloy may be connected and used, or a curved member other than a superelastic alloy may be connected in the middle.The curved member may be formed by rolling a plate material into a tubular i'vt. Alternatively, after forming grooves or the like by pressing or the like on a sheet material, it can be manufactured into a tubular shape.

As is clear from the above description, the present invention provides the following special effects as a curved member constituting the curved portion of an endoscope.

(1) Since the main component is a tube made of a superelastic alloy, the number of parts is reduced and the cost can be reduced.

(2) Since there is no need to connect the joint rings, the number of assembly steps is greatly reduced.

(3) The outer diameter of the curved member is not particularly restricted;
Since it is determined by the tube material made of a superelastic alloy, the outer diameter of the curved portion can be made thinner by minimizing the wall thickness and diameter of the tube material, if desired.

(4) Since bendability can be maintained along the length of the curved member, a predetermined curved portion can be formed at the tip.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the external appearance of the endoscope, Figure 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the upper half of the endoscope to illustrate the configuration of the curved part, and Figure 2 is a conventional curved member. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a conventional curved member, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional curved member, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a conventional curved member. is a sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG. 6, FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a second embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a fifth embodiment of the invention. 10th
11 is a partial perspective view showing a fifth embodiment of the invention, FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a sixth embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the invention. FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view showing a seventh embodiment of the present invention. 1... Tip part 2... Curved part 8... Curved member 9... Plate 10... Outer skin
11... Pipe material 12, 15... Groove 14.1
5...Guide hole 16.17...Connecting hole agent Patent attorney Shoji Watanabe 2, curtain 3, ′ hair 6, bottom 7 (2) entry a [21, If, figure 2, enemy 4, Lq, figure L /2 (21 ?? 2f-, to (21 襄′3 fig.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A curved member for an endoscope, characterized in that a tubular superelastic alloy is used for the curved member forming the curved portion of the endoscope. 2. The curved member according to claim 1, wherein the tube material made of a superelastic alloy is provided with grooves from at least both sides of the tube. 3. The curved member according to claim 2, wherein the apex of the groove on the tube circumference reaches near or beyond the tube axis. 4. Claim 2, characterized in that the groove widths of the grooves provided at several locations along the length of the pipe material are varied.
The curved member described in section. 5. Claim 2, characterized in that the depth of the grooves provided at several locations along the length of the pipe material is varied.
The curved member described in section. 6. The curved member according to claim 2, wherein the pitch of the grooves provided at several locations along the length of the tube material is varied. 7. The curved member according to claim 1, characterized in that the wall thickness of the tube material made of a superelastic alloy is changed. 8. The curved member according to any one of claims 2 to 77, characterized in that a guide hole or a guide recess for inserting a curved wire is provided in the wall of the tube material. 9. Any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein wedge-shaped grooves are formed in the tube material from the top and bottom directions, and are also formed from the left and right directions, and are provided with insertion points for four curved wires. The curved member described in .