JPS5915914A - Flexible pipe of endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To raise tensile yield strength, durability, etc. of a flexible pipe, by constituting so that both end superposed parts of a torsion preventing blade of a flexible pipe and a crush preventing flex are made to press-contact and are fixed by a thin metallic ring welded with pressure from the inside circumferential face and the outside circumferential face. CONSTITUTION:An inside ring 14 and an outside ring 15 which are formed by a thin metal, respectively are placed on the inside circumferential face and the outside circumferential face of both end superposed parts of a blade 8 constituted of a mix spinning braid of a metallic wire and a non-metallic fiber for preventing the torsion of a flexible pipe, and a flex 7 for preventing the crush of the flexible pipe. Subsequently, both rings 14, 15 are pressed from the inside and the outside and are subjected to plastic working, and both end superposed parts of the blade 8 and the flex 7 are welded with pressure from the inside circumferential face and the outside circumferential face, and are made to press-contact and are fixed. In this way, they are fixed by press-contact of two metallic rings without using a brazing metal such as solder, etc., therefore, the fixed part is not melted nor deteriorated.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a flexible tube for an endoscope.

Generally, as shown in FIG. 1, an endoscope has a distal end section 2 equipped with a light guide, an objective lens, an air/water supply port, a forceps outlet, etc., and an operating section main body 5 equipped with an eyepiece section 6, etc. and tip 2
It is comprised of a curved part 3 and a flexible tube 4 connected between the main body 5 of the operating part and the main body 5 of the operating part.

As shown in FIG. 2, the flexible tube 4, which is entirely in the shape of a flexible vibrator, has a 7-rex 7 formed of a spiral band-shaped plate arranged inside to prevent collapse. The outside is surrounded by a blade 8 formed into a net-like cylindrical body to prevent twisting, and furthermore, the entire outer periphery of this blade 8 is
Cover with the outer skin tube 9, heat weld the outer skin tube 9 to the blade 8, and melt a part of it into the narrow part of the blade to fix it, or apply adhesive between the blade 8 and the outer skin cheapp 90. The two are fixed together so that they do not separate. At both ends of the flexible tube 4, there is a third
As shown in the figure, there is a coil pipe 12 inside the flex 7, which has a ring shape and through which the operating wire is inserted.
is inserted through the rear cap 11 and fixed to the intermediate cap ]0 by brazing.

Conventionally, the blade 8 in the flexible tube 4 configured as described above was formed by weaving metal wire into a net-like cylindrical body. What is the outer skin tube 9?
Even if they are joined by welding or adhesive, the adhesive force or welding force is weak, and the blade 8 and the outer skin chip 9 tend to separate, and this separation has the disadvantage of causing buckling of the flexible tube. Ta. Therefore, in order to improve this drawback, increase the bonding strength with the outer skin tube, and prevent buckling due to peeling, the blades are made of metal wires, natural fibers such as silk, cotton, polyamide, polyester, polyurethane, etc. It has been constructed by knitting a blend with fibers, etc.

However, when the ends of the braid 8 and the flex 7, which are constructed of blended knitting, are fixed with solder or other brazing material, the intermediate cap 10 or Rear cap 11
When fixing with solder, etc., the non-metallic fibers of the braided braid 8 may melt due to heat such as soldering.
Or, due to oxidation, it is difficult to solder the metal wire of the blended knitted braid 8 to the flex 7, intermediate cap 10, rear cap 11, etc., and due to variations in work etc., the tensile strength specified by υ It will also be difficult to obtain. Furthermore, the blended knitted braid containing non-metallic fibers does not suffer from deterioration due to the heat associated with soldering, but also has poor durability against fluxes such as soldering, and is easily eroded by acids, alkalis, etc. There are various problems such as deterioration of the flexible tube, and the durability of the entire flexible tube is impaired.

The present invention has been made to solve the drawbacks of the prior art, and provides a flexible tube for an endoscope in which the blade is made of a blend of metal wire and non-metal fiber. As a means of fixing these to the intermediate cap or rear cap, a thin metal ring is pressed against the overlapping portion of the flex and the blade from the inside and outside, without using metal solder such as solder, and these are crimped and fixed. The object of the present invention is to provide a flexible tube for an endoscope, which prevents the non-metallic fibers constituting the blade from being melted by heat, oxidation, and deterioration by acids and alkalis, and which has improved tensile strength and durability.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to Examples.

FIG. 4 is a partially sectional side view of one implementation of the flexible tube of the endoscope according to the present invention. In the same figure, 14 is an inner ring, the inner circumferential surface of the overlapping part of both ends of the blade 8 and the flex 7,
That is, it is placed in contact with the flex 7 and has a thickness O,1~
15 is an outer ring, which is also arranged in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the overlapping portion of both ends, that is, the blade 8, and is formed with a thin metal ring of approximately the same thickness. ing. Both of these rings 14.15
is pressurized from the inside and outside and plastically worked to press and fix the overlapping portions at both ends, and is pressed into contact with the overlapping portions at both ends of the flex 7 and the blade 8.

Further, an intermediate cap 10 and a rear cap ] are fixed by crimping or the like to the overlapping portions of the flex 7 and the blade 8 at both ends, which are fixed together with the inner and outer metal rings 14 and 5 by crimping.

In this way, the flex 7 and the blade 8, or these and the caps 10 and 1, are fixed together by pressure bonding of two metal rings without using metal solder such as solder.
Even if the braid 8 is made of a blended fabric, the non-metallic fibers can be firmly attached to the flexible tube without melting or deteriorating the fibers, as in the case of soldering. It can provide sufficient tensile strength and durability.

In addition, when the overlapping portions of both ends of the flex and the blade are crimped and fixed using metal rings arranged on the inner and outer peripheries, they can be fixed even more firmly by using adhesive on both sides.

In addition, in the above embodiment, an example was shown in which the overlapping portions at both ends of the flex and the blade were clamped and fixed by plastic deformation due to pressurization of metal rings arranged on the inner and outer circumferential surfaces. However, if the outer metal ring is formed from a shape memory alloy whose outer diameter is shortened by heating at a low temperature than by soldering, and the inner metal ring is formed from a shape memory alloy whose outer diameter is increased by heating, It is also possible to press-bond the overlapping portions at both ends by simple low-temperature heating without requiring pressure plastic working or the like.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a partially omitted external view of a general endoscope, Fig. 2 is a partially cutaway side view of a flexible tube of a conventional endoscope, and Fig. 3 is a view of the structure shown in Fig. 2. FIG. 4 is an enlarged partially sectional side view of the flexible tube of the endoscope according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an endoscope, 2 is a distal end, 3 is a curved part, and 4 is an endoscope.
5 is a flexible tube, 5 is an operating part main body, 7 is a flex, 8 is a blade, 9 is an outer jacket tube, ] 0 is an intermediate cap, 11 is a rear cap, 12 is a coil pipe, ] 3 is a soldering part, ] 4 indicates an inner metal ring, and j5 indicates an outer metal ring. Patent applicant: Olympus Optical Engineering Shiba Co., Ltd. Figure 1 ζ Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] A flex to prevent the flexible tube from collapsing, a blade placed outside the flex to prevent the flexible tube from twisting, and an outer skin tube made of synthetic resin or the like fixed to the outer periphery of the blade. In a flexible tube for an endoscope, in which the blade is made of a blended knit of metal wire and non-metallic fiber, the overlapping portions of the blade and the flex at both ends are pressed together from the inner peripheral surface and the outer peripheral surface. Flexible endoscope tube 0 characterized by being crimped and fixed with a metal ring