JPS63281617A - Curved pipe for endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate assembling and to reduce the number of parts, by constituting a curved tube by providing recessed parts or the protruding parts engaging with the recessed parts to both ends of a nodal ring at an equal interval in the peripheral direction and engaging the recessed or protruding parts with the protruding or recessed parts of the other nodal ring to connect a large number of the nodal rings so as to shift them by 180 deg. in the peripheral direction to each other. CONSTITUTION:In a curved tube 1, the first and second notch parts 3a, 3b having a diamond shape are formed to a short tubular like nodal ring 2 composed of an elastomer in the peripheral direction thereof so that the acute angle parts 4, 4 thereof are close to each other. At least four recessed parts 5 or the protruding parts 6 engaging with said recessed parts 5 are provided to both ends of the nodal ring 2 at an equal interval in the peripheral direction and the protruding parts 6 or recessed parts 5 of the other nodal ring 2 are engaged with the recessed parts 5 or protruding parts 6 to connect a large number of the nodal rings 2 so as to shift them by 180 deg. in the peripheral direction to each other. As a result, since it is unnecessary to connect a large number of the nodal rings in a freely revolvable manner by pins as is conventional, assembling becomes easy and the number of parts can be reduced.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a curved tube used in an endoscope.

(Prior Art) Generally, an endoscope consists of an insertion section and an operation section, and the insertion section is constructed by sequentially connecting a flexible tube section, a curved section, and a distal end section from the operation section side.The above-mentioned curved section consists of a blade (mesh pipe) and outer skin covering the outer periphery of a bending tube, and can be bent vertically and horizontally by pushing and pulling the bending operation wire using the bending operation knob provided on the operation section. .

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, conventional curved tubes used in such endoscopes are formed by rotatably connecting a plurality of short tube-like joint rings with pins. Because of this, there were problems in that it took time and effort to assemble and there were a large number of parts.

The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and its purpose is to provide a curved tube for an endoscope that is easy to assemble and has a small number of parts.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention forms first and second rhombic notches in the circumferential direction of a short tubular node ring made of an elastic body so that their acute angles are close to each other, and At least four concave portions or convex portions that fit into the concave portions are provided at both ends of the nodal ring at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and the convex portions or concave portions of other nodal rings are fitted into the concave portions or convex portions to form a plurality of concave portions. It is characterized in that the joint rings are connected to each other so as to be offset by 180 degrees in the circumferential direction.

[For production]

According to the above configuration, since the tube wall portion formed between the first and second notches is curved, there is no need to rotatably connect a plurality of node rings with pins as in the conventional case. Assembly becomes easier and the number of parts can be reduced.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention.
is a curved pipe. This curved tube 1 has first and second notches 3a forming a rhombus in the circumferential direction of a short tube-shaped node ring 2 made of an elastic material (for example, a superelastic alloy or a synthetic resin such as polybrene).
, 3b are formed so that their acute angle portions 4.4 are close to each other, and at least four recesses 5 or convex portions 6 that fit into the recesses 5 are provided at both ends of the node ring 2 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. The concave portion 5 or convex portion 6 is fitted with the convex portion 6 or the concave portion 5 of another node ring 2, and a plurality of node rings 2 are connected by shifting each other by 180 degrees in the circumferential direction. It is. As shown in FIG. 3, wire insertion holes 7 for guiding the bending operation wire are provided inside each node ring 2 at approximately 90 degree intervals in the circumferential direction.

When bending the bending pipe 1 configured as described above,
The tip of the endoscope is fixed to one end of the bending tube 1, and one end of the bending operation wire is fixed to this tip, and the other end is inserted into the wire insertion hole 7 provided in each node ring 2 for operation. By pushing and pulling the bending operation wire with the bending operation knob provided on the part side, the first and second notches 3a are opened.
, 3b, the curved tube 1 can be bent vertically and horizontally around the tube wall portion 8 formed between the tube wall portions 8 and 3b. Therefore, in this embodiment, unlike the conventional art, there is no need to rotatably connect a plurality of node rings with pins, so assembly is facilitated and the number of parts can be reduced.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a tubular connecting member 9 may be interposed between the node rings 2.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the first and second cut portions forming a rhombus in the circumferential direction of a short tubular node ring made of an elastic body are formed such that their acute angle portions are close to each other, and At least four concave portions or convex portions that fit into the concave portions are provided at both ends of the nodal ring at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and the convex portions or concave portions of other nodal rings are fitted into the concave portions or convex portions to form a plurality of concave portions. Since the bending tube is constructed by connecting the joint rings of the tubes while being shifted from each other by 180 degrees in the circumferential direction, it is possible to provide a bending tube for an endoscope that is easy to assemble and has a small number of parts.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a side view of a curved pipe, FIG. 2 is a view taken along the arrow n-■ in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a side view of a curved pipe showing a second embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Curved pipe, 2... Nodal ring, 3a, 3b... Notch part, 4... Acute angle part, 5... Concave part, 6... Convex part. Applicant's representative Patent attorney Jun Tsuboi Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] First and second notches forming a rhombus in the circumferential direction of a short tubular node ring made of an elastic body are formed such that their acute angle portions are close to each other, and at least four recesses or Convex portions that fit into the concave portions are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and the convex portions or concave portions of other nodal rings are fitted into the concave portions or convex portions, so that the plurality of nodal rings are shifted 180 degrees from each other in the circumferential direction. A curved tube for an endoscope, characterized in that the tubes are connected together.