JPS61253031A - Production of flexible tube 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] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope, and more particularly, to a method for peeling off a jacket tube of a tube-type flexible tube for an endoscope. The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope that prevents this.

[Conventional technology]

In general, an endoscope A is made up of a flexible tube connecting a manual operating section B and a rigid distal end C, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7. The shell 1 includes a spiral tube 2 in which an elastic ribbon made of metal or non-metal is spirally wound from the inside, and a thin metal wire or a thin non-metal wire woven around the tube 2, or a combination of both. It is composed of a mesh pipe 3 made of mixed fibers, and an outer jacket pipe 4 formed of a smooth and flexible surface such as rubber or soft synthetic resin at the outermost part. In the case where the outer periphery of the mesh pipe 3 is simply directly covered with the jacket pipe, when the jacket pipe 4 is wiped off for disinfection or the like, the jacket pipe 4 may shift from the mesh pipe 3. This does not harm the aesthetic appearance of the jacket tube, that is, the flexible tube, by causing expanded and contracted portions in the jacket tube 4, but rather weakens the rigidity of the flexible tube itself in the torsional direction. Therefore, when the operation part B is rotated, the rotational response performance of the rigid tip part C, which is rotated via this flexible pipe, is
In other words, there were times when the followability was significantly deteriorated.

To avoid this, conventionally, an adhesive is applied to the mesh pipe 3 to form an adhesive layer, and then the jacket pipe 4 is fitted around the outer periphery of the mesh pipe 3 having the adhesive layer. However, there was a problem in that the adhesive force between the mesh pipe 3 and the jacket pipes 4 and 1 was weak and they easily peeled off.

One of the causes of this problem of easy peeling is thought to be a problem with the adhesion between the mesh pipe 3 and the jacket pipe 4.
This adhesion condition is considered to be the biggest cause of the weakening of the adhesion force, which is no more than a point adhesion as shown in FIG.

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope in which separation of the mesh tube and the jacket tube is prevented by increasing the bonding area by changing from conventional point bonding to surface bonding.

[Failure to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention covers the outer periphery of a helical pipe with a mesh pipe, forms an adhesive layer on the surface of the mesh pipe, and then fits an outer jacket pipe on the outer periphery of the mesh pipe to form a spiral pipe. A pipe shell consisting of a mesh pipe and a jacket pipe is formed, and then the pressure inside the pipe shell is maintained lower than the internal force outside the pipe shell, so that the bond between the mesh pipe and the jacket pipe is made into a surface adhesive. This is a method of manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope. [Function] According to the method for manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope of the present invention, the pressure inside the tube shell consisting of the spiral tube, mesh tube, and jacket tube constituting the flexible tube is reduced to the pressure outside the tube shell. As a result, the outermost jacket tube of the pipe shell is in a contracted or suppressed state with respect to the mesh pipe, and the mesh pipe bites into the jacket pipe, causing the outer jacket pipe to Since the adhesive area with the mesh pipe is narrow, the adhesive state is good and there is no possibility of peeling.

[Example] The present invention will be explained with reference to the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 4, and the same or equivalent members as those of the conventional device shown in Figs. 5 to 7 will be described with the same reference numerals. shall be.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a tube shell constituting the flexible tube of the endoscope A, and the tube shell 1 is composed of a spiral tube 2, a mesh tube 3, and a jacket tube 4 in this order from the inside.

In order to manufacture the pipe shell 1, a metallic or non-metallic elastic ribbon is wound spirally, and this itself has appropriate elasticity, smooth bending, and rigidity against twisting. After covering the spiral tube 2 with a mesh tube 3 woven with thin metal wires or thin non-metallic wires, or mixed with these thin wires to form a mesh, adhesive is applied to the mesh tube 3. Next, the jacket tube 4 made of rubber or soft synthetic resin and having appropriate flexibility is inflated, and the mesh tube 3 is covered with the helical tube 2, and the mesh tube is The shell body 3 coated with adhesive is inserted into the inflated jacket tube 4, and after insertion, the jacket tube 4 is returned to its normal state.
is fitted onto the outer periphery of the mesh pipe 3.

As described above, the pipe shell 1 is constructed by the spiral pipe 2, the mesh pipe 3, and the jacket pipe 4 in this order, and the connecting pipe 5 is connected to one end of the jacket pipe 4 on the outermost periphery of the pipe shell 1. and screw the lid 6 onto the connecting pipe 5 to seal one side of the pipe shell 1.
A connecting tube 5 is fitted into the jacket tube 4 at the other end of the connecting tube 5, and a cylindrical connecting fitting 7 is screwed onto the other end of the connecting tube 5.
The other end of the cylindrical connection fitting 7 is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown).
A vibrator 8 made of rubber or the like that communicates with is fitted. When the vacuum pump is operated to maintain the inside of the tube shell 1 in a negative pressure state in this way, the jacket tube 4 constituting the tube shell 1 will be in a contracted state, and the mesh tube 3 will be inserted into the jacket tube 4. Before the vacuum pump was activated, the mesh pipe 3 and the jacket pipe 4 were bonded at points, but as described above, the mesh pipe 3 bites into the jacket pipe 4, and the bonding state changes. It is a surface adhesive and the adhesive area is large. It is more effective to heat and soften the jacket tube when suctioning.

Note that suction may be performed from both ends of the tube shell 1.

In order to keep the inside of the pipe shell 1 at a negative pressure as described above, it is best to use, for example, a check valve to maintain the inside of the pipe shell 1 at a negative pressure as shown in FIG. The one shown in b) is the connecting pipe 5.
By using the end 5' as a valve seat and pressing the valve body 9 with a spring 10, the inside of the tube shell 1 is maintained at negative pressure. 1, Figure 3 1I
The check valve device shown in O) has a recessed portion on the inner periphery of a cylindrical connecting fitting 7 that is screwed onto a connecting pipe 5, and has a stepped portion 7' that serves as a valve seat and a stepped portion 7'' that serves as a spring receiving portion. A valve body 9 is brought into contact with the stepped portion 7', and a spring 10 is interposed between the valve body 9 and the stepped portion 7'' serving as a spring receiving portion. In this way, the cylindrical connecting fitting 7 is equipped with a check valve device, the cylindrical connecting fitting 7 is screwed onto the connecting pipe 5, and the other end of the cylindrical connecting fitting 7 is connected to a pipe 8 that communicates with a vacuum pump or the like. When the vacuum pump is activated and the inside of the pipe shell 1 reaches a predetermined negative pressure, the vacuum pump is stopped and the check valve device is used to maintain a constant negative pressure inside the pipe shell 1. It is something to keep.

In another example shown in FIG. 4, both ends of the tube shell 1 are closed with lids 6, 6 via connecting pipes 5, 5, and the tube shell 1 with both ends sealed is placed in a container 11. By charging the container 11 and pressurizing the inside of the container 11 to a predetermined pressure, the jacket tube 4 is pressed against the mesh pipe 3, and the adhesive state between the jacket tube 4 and the mesh pipe 3 is made into a surface bond.

As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, the pipe shell body 1 is constructed by covering the spiral pipe 2 with the mesh pipe 3, further applying an adhesive to the mesh pipe 3, and then fitting the jacket pipe 4 around the outer periphery of the mesh pipe 3. And this pipe shell 1
The jacket tube 4 is brought into a contracted state by applying suction from one end or both ends to create a negative pressure inside the tube shell 1, so that the mesh tube 3 is bitten into the jacket tube 4, or the above-mentioned method is used. Both ends of the pipe shell body 1 are closed, and this is inserted into a sealed container, and by pressurizing the inside of the sealed container, the jacket tube 4 is pressed against the mesh pipe 3, and the mesh pipe 3 is attached to the jacket pipe 4. Since the outer jacket tube 4 and the mesh pipe 3 are bonded surface-bonded to each other so as to have an appropriate size, peeling of the outer jacket tube 4 and the mesh pipe 3 is completely prevented.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention forms a pipe shell consisting of a spiral pipe, a mesh pipe, and a jacket pipe, and maintains the pressure inside the pipe shell lower than the pressure outside the pipe shell. The outermost jacket tube of the body is pressed against the mesh pipe, and the mesh pipe is bitten into the jacket pipe, completely preventing the adhesive layer provided on the outer periphery of the mesh pipe from peeling off.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a partial vertical sectional view of a device that creates negative pressure inside the pipe shell;
Fig. 2 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view showing the state of adhesion between the jacket pipe and the mesh pipe of the flexible pipe obtained by the method of the present invention, and Figs. 3 (a) and (b) show that the inside of the pipe shell is maintained at negative pressure. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of the present invention in which a tube shell is inserted into a closed container and the inside of the closed container is pressurized; FIG.
The figure is a schematic diagram showing an example of an endoscope, FIG. 6 is a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view of the main part of a flexible tube of a conventional endoscope, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the state of adhesion between the jacket tube and the mesh tube. A: Endoscope 1: Tube shell 2: Spiral tube 3: Mesh tube 4: Jacket tube 5: Connection tube 6: Lid body ・7: Cylindrical connection fitting Fig. 3 (B) 7' Fig. 4 Figure 5 Δ Figure 6 Figure 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] After covering the outer periphery of the helical pipe with a mesh pipe and forming an adhesive layer on the surface thereof, a jacket pipe is fitted over the outer periphery of the mesh pipe to form a pipe shell consisting of the spiral pipe, the mesh pipe, and the jacket pipe. Then, the pressure inside the tube shell is maintained lower than the pressure outside the tube shell, so that the bond between the mesh tube and the jacket tube is made into a surface adhesive type. Production method.