JPS6041206Y2 - Endoscope - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the idea] The present invention relates to an endoscope with an improved curved portion.

In general, an endoscope has a distal end equipped with an observation window, an illumination window, a forceps port, etc., and a flexible tube in order to enable timely observation and treatment of the required area within the body cavity. A curved portion is provided between them, and this curved portion can be operated by an operating section outside the body cavity.

The radius of curvature of the curved portion needs to be changed depending on the region to be observed or treated within the body cavity.

For example, in a narrow region within a body cavity, the tip of the endoscope cannot be opposed to a desired region within the body cavity unless the radius of curvature of the curved portion at maximum curvature is made small.

By the way, the curved portion of a conventional endoscope rotatably connects a plurality of joint rings, and the wire guide through which the operating wire is inserted through these joint rings is placed at an equal distance radially outward from the axis of the joint rings. The bending portion is curved by operating the operating wire using the operating section.

However, when a bending section having such a configuration is operated to bend, the bending starts from a portion of the bending section near the flexible tube, and the portion near the tip tends not to bend easily.

Therefore, when performing a bending operation with such an endoscope,
The end of the distal end progresses in its bending motion while drawing a large arc using the part close to the flexible tube of the bending part as a fulcrum, so when the endoscope is introduced into the body cavity and the bending operation is performed, In narrow portions, problems arise such as the distal end hitting the inner wall of the body cavity, making it impossible to bend or damaging the inner wall of the body cavity.

The present invention was developed based on the above circumstances, and its purpose is to enable the tip side of a curved section formed by rotatably connecting a plurality of joint rings to be curved with a particularly small radius of curvature. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an endoscope that can reliably perform observation, treatment, etc. in a narrow region within a body cavity.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 indicates a flexible tube of an endoscope, and an operating section 2 is provided at the rear end of the flexible tube 1.
is provided.

The curved portion 3 has a plurality of node rings 5a, 5b, 5c,...
. . , 5n are arranged in parallel, and tongue pieces 6 .

The end faces of the nodal rings 5a, 5b, 5c, .
A gap 7a is formed between the end faces of the nodes a, 5b, 5c, . . . , 5n, in which each node ring can rotate within a certain range.

In addition, each node ring 5 a, 5 b, 5 Ct...
5n, a pair of hollow wire guides 8 are provided at positions shifted by 180 degrees.

That is, 22 node rings 5a located on the tip side of the curved portion 3
, 5b, the wire guide 8... is fixed to the outer surface of the circumferential wall of these joint rings 5a, 5b, and the other joint rings 5ct
5dt..., 5n, the wire guides 8... are fixed to the inner surfaces of these peripheral walls.

Therefore, the two nodal rings 5a on the tip side of the curved portion 3.

The wire guide 8 fixed to 5b has a smaller diameter of the curved portion 3 than the wire guide 8 fixed to the other node rings 5ct5dt, 5n. Located on the outside.

The upper and lower parts of the wire guide 8 shown in FIG. 2 have a first operating wire 9 and a second operating wire connected to the operating section 2, respectively. A wire 10 is inserted, and the ends of these operating wires 9, 10 are fixed by brazing or the like to wire guides 8, 8 provided on the most advanced node ring 5a.

Therefore, the eleventh and second operating wires 9.10 inserted through the wire guides 8... and expands radially outward.

According to the above configuration, each node ring 5a, 5b, 5c
, . . . , 5n wire guides 8 . can be curved upward or downward, but in this case, conventionally, the bending section 3 starts curving from a region close to the flexible tube 1, and the region close to the tip 4 does not easily curve, resulting in an overall It tended to curve with a large radius of curvature.

However, in the present invention, the tip side 2 of the curved portion 3
Wire guides 8 were provided on the nodal rings 5a, 5b so that the operating wires 9.10 spread radially outward at the two nodal rings 5a, 5b.

Therefore, when one of the operating wires 9, 10 is pulled on the operating section 2, the two nodal rings 5a, 5b on the tip side of the curved section 3
Since a rotational moment larger than that of the other nodal rings 5c, 5d, .

Therefore, since the curved portion 3 can be bent with a small radius of curvature from its distal end side, observation and treatment can be performed satisfactorily even in a narrow region within the body cavity.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 4 to 6.

First, FIGS. 4 and 5 show a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the other nodes 5b, 5c, . . ., except the most advanced node 5a, A mounting plate 11 along the entire length in the radial direction is provided on the mounting plate 11.
A pair of wire guides 8, 8 are fixed to each of the curved portions 3 so as to be positioned radially outward toward the tip of the curved portion 3. A pair of wire guides 8, 8 are fixed to the peripheral wall.

Even in such a configuration, by operating the operating wires 9 and 10, a larger rotational moment is applied to the plurality of node rings 5a, 5b on the tip side of the bending portion 3 than to other parts. can be generated.

Further, FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, and in this embodiment, wire guides 8 are attached to the peripheral walls of the three nodal rings 5a, 5b, and 5c on the distal end side. The other joint rings 5d, 5e, . . . have a pair of wire guides 8 on the mounting plate 11, similar to the second embodiment.
, 8 are fixed so as to be successively positioned radially outward toward the tip of the curved portion 3, and in this embodiment, the same effects as in each of the above-described embodiments can be obtained.

In addition, as in the second and third embodiments, the mounting plate 11 is attached to the node ring.
By providing ..., the inside of the nodal ring is divided into two parts, so built-in objects such as various fiber bundles and tubes to be inserted into the curved part 3 can be sorted and inserted. This will prevent things like twisting or rubbing against each other.

It should be noted that the same parts in the second embodiment and the third embodiment as those in the first embodiment are given the same symbols, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

As described above, in the present invention, the wire guide provided in the nodal ring at least near the tip of the curved portion is positioned radially outward of the nodal ring as it goes toward the tip side of the curved portion. By manipulating the operating wire inserted through the curved portion, a larger rotational moment can be generated in the nodal ring on the tip side of the curved portion than in the other portions.

Therefore, since this curved portion can be bent with a small radius of curvature from the tip, this has a great practical effect of enabling good observation and treatment even in narrow areas within the body cavity.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an endoscope showing an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a sectional view of the curved part, Figures 3a and b are perspective views showing the nodal ring on the tip side of the curved part, and Figure 4 is a sectional view of the curved part showing the second embodiment of the present invention. , FIGS. 5'a and 5'b are perspective views similarly showing the node ring, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the curved portion showing the third embodiment of the present invention. 3...) curved part, 5 a, 5 bt 5
ct..., 5n...nodal ring, 8...
Wire guide, 9, 10... operation wire.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A plurality of joint rings are rotatably connected to form a curved portion, and an operating wire is inserted through a wire guide provided in each of the joint rings, and the bending portion is bent by operating the operating wire. An endoscope characterized in that a wire guide provided in the nodal ring at least near the distal end of the curved part is positioned on the longitudinally outer side of the nodal ring as it goes toward the distal end of the curved part.