JPS6041945A - Curved tube part of 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 provides for hand-operating an operating wire connected to a distal end component that is passed through a curved tube portion of an endoscope, more specifically, through an insertion portion that is inserted into a subject. The present invention relates to a curved tube portion of an endoscope in which the curved tube portion on the insertion portion is curved.

As is well known, medical endoscopes such as the Gust four-fiberscope and the bronchial fiberscope are used to observe and treat affected areas by inserting the endoscope's flexible intracorporeal insertion section into the patient's body cavity. etc.

As shown in FIG. 1, the endoscope consists of an operating section main body 2 for performing various operations at hand, and a flexible long body cavity insertion section 6 that is inserted into the patient's body cavity. It has become. The operation section main body 2 of this endoscope 1 includes an eyepiece section 4, a bending operation knob 5, an insertion opening 6 for a treatment tool such as forceps, an operation knob 7 for raising and lowering the treatment, an air supply/liquid supply button 8, A suction button 9 and the like are provided, and a light guide cord 10 connected to a light source/equipment (not shown) for illumination is connected. The body cavity insertion section 3 includes the operation section main body 2
and a bendable long flexible tube section 11 connected to the.

The operating section main body 2 is connected to the flexible tube section 11.
A curved tube section 12 that displaces the distal end component 13 in any direction using a curved operation knob 5 is connected to the curved tube section 12, and includes an illumination window, observation window, treatment instrument entrance and exit, air supply and liquid supply. It consists of a tip component 13 provided with a mouth (none of which is shown) and a mouth.

As is well known, light transmission members such as image guide fibers and light guide fibers, and treatment instruments are inserted into the flexible tube consisting of the flexible tube section 11 and the curved tube section 12 of the body cavity insertion section 6. Many built-in members such as tubes, air/liquid feeding tubes, and operation members of the treatment instrument lifting device are passed through, and the distal ends of these built-in members are connected to the distal end component 1.
It is fixed at 3.

Incidentally, in the body cavity insertion section 3 of the endoscope 10, the curved tube section 12 is bent and deformed most greatly by the rotation operation of the bending operation knob 5, and its conventional configuration is a well-known ring-shaped tube section 12. A blade (wire mesh) is fitted around the outer periphery of a tubular body formed by connecting a large number of joint fittings in a flexible manner, and an elastic covering member such as synthetic resin or synthetic rubber is applied to the outer periphery. However, in the conventional curved pipe section, the elastic sheathing member and the blade are in direct contact, so when the curved pipe section is bent, the frictional resistance between the elastic sheathing member and the blade is large, and the two smoothly move against each other. Since it does not shift, the operability of the bending operation knob 5 is poor, and the operation force is large and heavy. Also,
The inner surface of the elastic covering member in contact with the blade wears down due to friction, resulting in poor durability.

In view of the above-mentioned points, an object of the present invention is to provide a lubricant on the inner surface of the elastic coating member forming the outer cover of the curved tube portion of a flexible endoscope. To provide a curved tube portion of an endoscope that reduces frictional resistance with other members.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained with reference to illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of the body cavity insertion section 3 of an endoscope having a curved tube section, showing an embodiment of the present invention.

The tip structure portion 13 includes two upper and lower operation wires 15a,
Each tip of the wire 15b is fixed, and the wires 15a, 15b are drawn through the curved tube section 12, and are further passed through the flexible tube section 11 while being inserted through the guide coils 16a, 16b. In addition, this operation wire 1
The base end portions of 5a and 15b are connected to the bending operation knob 5 on the operation section main body 2 (see FIG. 1). Flexible tube part 1
1, a blade (
In the curved tube section 12 formed at the tip of the flexible tube section 11, a plurality of well-known ring-shaped joint fittings 19 are connected by connecting pins 20 so as to be flexible. Similarly, a blade 2 is placed on the outer periphery of the tubular body.
1 is fitted. The blade 18 in the flexible tube section 11 and the blade 21 in the curved tube section 12 are connected by a joint ring 22, and the tip of the tubular body consisting of a plurality of joint fittings 19 into which the blades 21 are fitted has a tip end. It is fitted into the rear end of the component 13.

Blade 1 on the tubular body connected by the joint ring 22
An elastic covering member 23 made of polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, or synthetic rubber such as silicone rubber is applied as an outer covering to the outer circumferential surfaces of 8 and 21 by dipping and spreading or by chaping. This elastic covering member 2
3, a lubricant 24 such as molycord is interposed between the covering member 23 and the blade 21 of the curved tube portion 12. That is, in the illustrated embodiment, the lubricant 24 is applied to a portion of the inner peripheral surface of the tubular elastic covering member 23 that faces and comes into contact with the blade 21 .

By applying the elastic covering member 23, the flexible tube section 11 and the curved tube section 12 are continuously formed integrally.

After the elastic covering member 26 is attached, at the connecting position between the flexible tube section 11 and the curved tube section 12 where the joint ring 22 is present,
A fixing thread 25 is wound around the outer periphery of the elastic covering member 25, and the flexible tube section 11 and the curved tube section 12 are fixed in such a manner that no bending occurs at this connected position. Also, at the distal end of the curved tube section 12 fitted to the rear end of the distal end forming section 13, the fixing thread 26 is wound around the outer periphery of the elastic covering member 23.
The curved tube portion 12 and the tip forming portion 13 are fixed.

In an endoscope having a curved tube section 12 configured as described above, when the curve operation knob 5 (see Fig. 1) provided on the operation section main body 2 is rotated clockwise, for example, At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the upper operating wire 158 is pulled in the direction indicated by the arrow a, and the lower operating wire 15b is pushed in the direction already indicated by the arrow. Then, the joint fittings 19 of the curved pipe portion 12 are connected to the connecting pins 2, respectively.
0 by an appropriate angle, thereby bending the curved tube portion 12 so that the distal end portion 13 is displaced upward in a desired direction. When the curved pipe portion 12 curves upward, the elastic covering member 26 in the portion close to the upper operating wire 153 becomes slack, and conversely, the elastic covering member 23 in the portion near the lower operating wire 15b loosens. However, since the lubricant 24 is applied to the inner circumferential surface of the elastic covering member 26 at the part facing and in contact with the blade 21, the frictional resistance with the blade 21 is reduced, so the slack does not loosen. The elastic covering member 25ii of the upper part that caused this: As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 4, the elastic covering member 25ii smoothly slides on the blade 21. Similarly, the elastic covering member 23 moves smoothly on the blade 21 even in the tense lower part. In this way, since the elastic covering member 26 can move smoothly on the blade 21, when the bending operation knob 5 is operated to bend the curved tube section 12, the curved tube section 12
The force applied to the elastic covering member 23 is evenly distributed over the entire length of the curved tube section 12. Therefore, the light weight of the bending operation knob 5 allows the curved tube section 12 to curve smoothly due to the turning operation force. It is formed. Further, since strong force is not applied to only a part of the elastic covering member 26 when the elastic covering member 26 is bent, the elastic covering member 23 is not cut or damaged due to friction with the blade 21.

In the above embodiment, the lubricant 24 is applied only to the portion of the inner peripheral surface of the elastic coating member 23 that faces the blade 21 of the curved tube portion 12.
The lubricant 24 may be applied to the entire inner circumferential surface of the elastic covering member 23, including the portion facing the elastic covering member 1. In addition, the lubricant 24
It may be formed on the blade 21 side.

Moreover, although the endoscope in the above embodiment has been described as a medical endoscope, it goes without saying that the present invention is applicable not only to medical endoscopes but also to industrial endoscopes.

As described above, according to the present invention, since the lubricant is disposed inside the elastic coating member that forms the outer covering of the curved pipe section, friction is caused by contact between the inner surface of the elastic coating member and other members. The resistance is reduced, and therefore the curved pipe section can be smoothly curved with a light operating force, and the elastic covering member is prevented from being worn out, thereby improving durability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an endoscope to which the present invention is applied; FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a curved tube portion of an endoscope showing an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. , a sectional view of the curved tube section shown in FIG. 2 above in a curved state; FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a part of the curved tube section shown in FIG. 3 above. 1... Endoscope 2... Operation section main body 3... Body cavity insertion section 11... Possible Flexible tube section 12... Curved tube section 13... Tip structure parts 15a, 15b... Operation wire 23... Elastic covering member 24... ...Lubricant patent applicant Olympus Optical Industry Co., Ltd. Agent
Shichibe Fujikawa

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An operating wire that is drawn through an insertion section consisting of a tip component, a curved tube section, and a flexible tube section and has one end fixed to the tip component is operated by hand on the operation section main body side. Accordingly, in an endoscope that bends the curved tube section, on the inside of the elastic covering member forming the outer cover of the curved tube section,
A curved tube portion of an endoscope characterized by disposing a lubricant.