JPH02164332A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase the safety when power supply is stopped due to a power failure or an oscillatory wave motor gets out of order by curving a curved portion by driving means, putting the curved portion in the free state if desired and enabling the manual operation for the curved portion. CONSTITUTION:When an operation failure of a motor unit 23 occurs, a curving operation wire 49 is put in the lock state by the pressing of a rotor 31 and a stator 29. In such a case, a ring screw 25 is rotated to detach the ring screw 25 from an operating portion 2. Whereupon, a motor unit 23 is raised by the urging force of a spring 44 until a flange 25b of the ring screw 25 is brought into contact with a ring screw 28. At this time, a projection 26a of a base 26 is detached from a recess portion of the operating portion 2. A gear 40 is moved to the upper portion of a gear 47. Accordingly, a motor unit 23 is adjusted to freely turn to the operating portion 2. Further, when the entire motor unit 23 is rotated manually, the turning force is transmitted to a pulley 48, and a curving operating wire 49 is traced to enable manual operation for the curved portion.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an endoscope having a drive means for bending a bending portion.

[Prior Art] In recent years, by inserting an elongated insertion section into a body cavity, organs within the body cavity can be observed, and when necessary, various therapeutic procedures can be performed using a treatment instrument inserted into a treatment instrument channel. Endoscopes that can be used are widely used.

By the way, some of the endoscopes mentioned above are provided with a bendable curved section on the distal end side of the insertion section, and this curved section can be manipulated to bend. The means for operating the curved portion includes:
For example, as shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-26042, in addition to a device in which a bending operation knob is provided on the operating section and the bending operation knob is rotated, there is also a device that uses a driving means such as a motor.

For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 106126/1988 discloses an endoscope in which a vibration wave motor as a driving means is provided near a curved portion of an insertion portion.

In an endoscope that uses an imaging wave motor as a bending drive means, in addition to the bending operation, it is possible to make the bending section free by generating a fixed wave in the vibration wave motor. When the power supply is stopped due to a power outage or the like, or when the vibration wave motor breaks down, the curved portion becomes locked due to the large frictional force between the rotor and the stator. When the curved section is in a locked state, there is a risk of damaging the body cavity wall when the insertion section is moved within the body cavity.

To deal with this, the applicant filed the patent application filed earlier in 1983.
No. 3-3599 proposes an endoscope provided with means for switching between press contact and release of the rotor and stator. According to this, it is possible to free the curved portion in the event of a failure, etc., and this is sufficient in terms of safety.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, even in the event of a failure, there may be cases where it is desired to continue the bending operation, but the proposed endoscope has a problem in that the bending operation cannot be performed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and is capable of bending a bending part using a driving means, and also allows the bending part to be in a free state when desired, and also enables manual operation of the bending part. The purpose is to provide endoscopes.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The endoscope of the present invention is capable of bending the bending portion provided in the insertion section by moving the traction means forward and backward,
a drive means capable of pulling the traction means with a driving force;
The towing device includes a manual operation means that can manually operate the towing means, and a switching means that switches between the towing operation by the drive means and the towing operation by the manual operation means.

[Made by JTI] In the present invention, when the switching means selects the towing operation by the drive means, the towing means is driven to bend the bending part, and when the towing operation by the manual operation means is selected, the bending part becomes free. At the same time, the bending section can be bent by manually operating the traction means.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a half-sectional view of a motor unit, and FIG. 2 is a dimensional explanatory diagram of the entire vZ position of the endoscope.

As shown in FIG. 2, the endoscope 1 includes an elongated and flexible insertion section 3 and a large-diameter operation section 2 connected to the rear end of the insertion section 3. The insertion section 3 includes, in order from the distal end side, a hard distal end section 7. Bendable curved portion 6. It consists of a flexible tube section 5 having flexibility. At the rear end of the operating section 2,
An eyepiece section 8 is provided, and a flexible universal cord 4 extends laterally from the operation section 2, and a connector 15 is provided at the end of the universal cord 4. This connector 15 is connected to a light source device 16. Further, three branch cords 17, 18, and 19 extend from the connector 15, and these branch cords 17, 18, and 19 respectively connect to the ultrasonic motor control device 20. Curving angle detection device 21. Bending resistance detection device 2
It is designed to be connected to 2.

The operation section 2 also includes bending control switches 9, 10, 11, and 12 corresponding to up, down, right, and left.
, a suction switch 13 , and an air/water supply switch 14 .

The tip portion 7 is provided with an illumination window and an observation window. A light distribution lens (not shown) is located inside the illumination window.
A light guide made of a fiber bundle (not shown) is connected to the rear end of this light distribution lens.

This light guide is inserted into the insertion section 3. It is inserted through the operating section 2 and the universal cord 4 and connected to the connector 15. Illumination light emitted from the light source lamp in the light source device 16 is made incident on the entrance OA end of the light guide. Furthermore, an objective lens system (not shown) is installed inside the observation window, and the tip end surface of an image guide made of a fiber bundle (not shown) is arranged at the imaging position of the single-object lens system. This image guide is inserted into the insertion section 3, and its rear end extends to the eyepiece section 8. The object image formed by the objective lens system is guided to the eyepiece 8 by an image guide and is observed from the eyepiece 8.

The operation section 2 includes a motor unit 2 on the back side of the page.
3 is provided. This motor unit 23 has an ultrasonic motor as a driving means.
As shown in the figure, the housing 24 of the motor unit 23 is fixed to the operating section 2 with a ring screw 25. An O-ring 27 is interposed between the housing 24 and the operating section 2 to maintain watertightness. The lower part of the housing 24 is screwed to a base 26, and the base 26 is connected to the operating part 2 by a convex part 26a on the lower surface of the base 26 engaging with a recess provided in the operating part 2. It is designed not to rotate. A slot 25a is provided on the upper surface of the ring screw 25, so that the ring screw 25 can be rotated by a divider (not shown) or the like.

Further, a flange portion 25b is formed on the lower outer periphery of the ring screw 25, and the ring screw 28 screwed onto the operating portion 2 is positioned at a position where the flange portion 25b rises and comes into contact with the rotation of the ring screw 25. is provided. This ring screw 28 is provided with a slot 28a on its upper surface and is rotatable.

A stator 29 is placed on the upper center of the base 26 and fixed with a nut 30.

A rotor 31 is provided above the stator 29,
A square hole is provided in the center of the rotor 31, and the base 26. A corner portion of a shaft 32, which is provided so as to pass through the stator 29 and rotor 31, is fitted into the shaft 32. A snap ring 3 is attached to the upper part of the shaft 32.
3 is provided, and this snap ring 33 and the rotor 3
A disc spring 34 is provided between the top surface of the disc spring 3 and the top surface of the disc spring 3.
4 urges the rotor 31 toward the stator 29. Further, a snap ring 35 is provided in the middle of the shaft 32, and this snap ring 35 supports a thrust bearing 36 provided between the base 26 and the shaft 32. In addition, the shaft 32. base 2
6 are provided with reliefs 32b and 26b for the thrust bearing 36, respectively. Further, a gear 40 is fixed to the shaft 32 in its through hole in the operating portion 2 by shrink fitting or the like.

On the other hand, an annular projection 42 is provided on the frame 41 inside the operating section 2.
A cylindrical guide 43 is slidably inserted into this annular projection 42, and this guide 43 is fitted with a spring 4.
4 is biased upward. A thrust bearing 45 that rotatably directs the shaft 32 is fitted into the stepped portion formed on the guide 43, and is prevented from being removed by a snap ring 46 provided on the shaft 32.

Further, the gear 40 is a gear 4 provided in the operation section 2.
A bending operation wire 49 is wound around a pulley 48 which is in mesh with the gear 47 and is integrated with the gear 47. The gear 47 is wider than the gear 40, and can mesh with the gear 47 even when the gear 40 moves up and down.

By the way, the state shown in FIG. 1 is a state in which the bending operation wire 49 can be driven by the ultrasonic motor, and the disc spring 3
The rotor 31 is pressed against the stator 29 by, for example, 1yffi by the urging force of 4, and the rotor 31 is rotated by supplying the stator 29 with voltage sine waves and CO5 waves having different phases of 9011.

Although FIG. 1 shows, for example, a motor unit and a driving force transmission system for the up-down direction, a motor unit and a driving force transmission system for the right-left direction having a similar configuration are also provided.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

For example, when the up-bending switch 9 is pressed, driving power is supplied from the ultrasonic motor control device 20 to the motor unit 23, and a traveling wave is generated in the stator 29. Then, the rotor 31 rotates in the upward direction. This rotational force is applied to the shaft 32° gear 40.47. It is transmitted to the bending operation wire 49 via the pulley 48, and this bending operation wire 49 is pulled in the upward direction.

Similarly, when the down bending switch 10 is pressed, the pulley 48 rotates in the opposite direction and the bending operation wire 49 is pulled in the down direction. Further, when the right bending switch 11 or the left bending switch 12 is pressed, drive power is supplied from the ultrasonic motor control circuit 20 to a motor unit for the left right (not shown), and the bending is performed in the right direction or the left direction, respectively. The operating wire is towed.

Here, if the motor unit 23 malfunctions, for example, the rotor 31 and stator 29 are crimped together,
The bending operation wire 49 ends up in a locked state. In such a case, rotate the ring screw 25 and remove it from the operating section 2. Then, due to the urging force of the spring 44, the motor unit 23 rises until the flange 25b of the ring screw 25 comes into contact with the ring screw 28.

At this time, the convex portion 26a of the base 26 is removed from the concave portion of the operating portion 2. Moreover, the gear 40 moves to the upper part of the gear 47. Therefore, the motor unit 23 is rotatable relative to the operating section 2. Therefore, the curved lock state as described above is released.

Furthermore, if the entire motor unit 23 is rotated by hand, the rotational force is transmitted to the pulley 48 and the bending operation wire 4
Manual operation of the bending part 6 is possible by pulling the handle 9. That is, the housing 24 of the motor unit 23 also serves as a manual bending operation knob.

Incidentally, since the same applies to the left-right heptata unit (not shown), the explanation will be omitted.

As described above, according to this embodiment, motor units 1-2.
The bending part 6 can be bent using the ultrasonic Tanabata described in No. 3, and the bending part 6 can be brought into a free state at a desired time such as when the motor unit 23 breaks down, and the bending part 6 can be manually operated. become.

FIG. 3 is a half sectional view of a motor and a °L unit in a second embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the operating section 50 is provided with a heptad unit insertion recess 50a. The motor unit 51 is inserted into the motor unit insertion recess 50a in the housing 5.
It is screwed in by a screw 52a provided on the lower outer periphery of No.2. Note that an O-ring 53 is interposed between the operating portion 50 and the housing 52 to maintain watertightness.

A hole for inserting a shifter 59 is formed at the bottom of the insertion recess 50a of the operating section 50, and a stator 54 is mounted on the bottom of the insertion recess 50a at J3 on the outer periphery of this hole.
It is fixed by 5. On the upper surface of the stator 54,
A row 956 is mounted and urged toward the stator 54 by a disc spring 57, which will be described later. A clutch portion 58 having a pawl portion on the lower surface is screwed to the rotor 56. The disc spring 57 is prevented from being removed by a snap ring 60 provided on the upper part of the shaft 59, and biases the clutch portion 58. A corner portion 59a of the shaft 59, which is provided through the bottom of the insertion recess 50a, is fitted into the square hole provided in the clutch portion 58 and the rotor 56, and the rotational force of the rotor 56 is transmitted to the shaft 59. It is now possible to do so. A snap ring 61 is fitted into the lower part of the shaft 59, and this snap ring 6
1 supports a thrust bearing 62 provided between the bottom of the insertion recess 50a and the shaft 59 to prevent it from sliding. The biasing force of the disc spring 57 can be adjusted by adjusting the spacing between the snap rings 60 and 61.

1) At the bottom of the shaft 59 marked ff, there is a corner 5.
9b is provided, and this corner portion 59b is fitted into a square hole of the pulley 62. On the pulley 62 (for example,
A left-right bending operation wire 63 is wound.

Additionally, on the inner peripheral surface of the housing 52, there is a ring-shaped
A groove 52b is provided to the groove 52b, and a groove 520 t11 is continuously provided below, and furthermore, this vertical groove 52G
A lock F?52d is provided in the circumferential direction in series with the lock F?52d.

Further, an insertion recess 50a is provided above the clutch portion 58.
A rotor free knob 64 is provided so as to close the opening. The engagement pin 64a provided on the outer periphery of the knob 64 is normally engaged with the locking groove 526.
It is urged upward by a spring 65 installed between the lower surface of the housing 52 and a flange formed on the housing 52.

A knob 64b is provided at the top of the knob 64, and by rotating the knob 64b, the locking pin 64a can be moved from the locking groove 52d to the W1 groove 52G. Depending on the force, it is further moved into a ring-shaped ring 52b. Locking bottle 64
When a is located in this groove 52b, the knob 434 is freely rotatable. Further, a retaining ring 68 for preventing the locking pin 64a from popping out is screwed onto the housing 52. The method described above is such that the retaining ring 68 and the knob 64 are removed between the retaining ring 68 and the housing 52.
Between each is an O-ring 6 to maintain watertightness.
6.67 is interposed.

A clutch portion 70 is joined to the lower part of the knob 64 by, for example, welding. A pawl portion that engages with a pawl portion of the clutch portion 58 is provided on the upper surface of the clutch portion 70 . The locking pin 64a of the knob 64 is connected to the groove 52.
In the case of position b, both pawls engage and the knob 6
4, the clutch portion 58, and the rotor 56 can rotate together.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 3, the locking pin 64a of the knob 64 is
In the state where the motor unit 52 (j) is located, if driving power is supplied to the motor unit 51, a traveling wave is generated in the stator 54, rotating the rotor 56, and thereby rotating the shaft 59.
．． A bending and operating wire 63 is pulled and operated via a pulley 62 . Further, when a standing wave generation voltage is supplied to the motor unit 51 by a standing wave generation switch (not shown), a standing wave is generated in the stator 54, and the friction between the rotor 56 and the stator 54 is reduced. , the state is free of curvature.

On the other hand, if the motor unit 51 malfunctions or you want to perform manual bending operation, the knob 64
b is rotated to remove the locking pin 64a from the engagement groove 52d, pass it through the vertical groove 52c, and position it in the ring-shaped groove 52b. Note that the spring 65 is set to have a stronger urging force than the disc spring 57.

At this time, the clutch portion 70 and the clutch portion 58 are coupled, and the disk spring 57 is urged in the opposite direction to its own urging force, so that the pressing force between the stator 54 and the rotor 56 is released. It will be in a free state. Therefore, in this state, if the knob 64b is rotated, the clutch portion 70.58
．． The rotational force is transmitted to the shaft 59° pulley 62,
The bending operation wire 63 can be pulled and operated.

The same configuration applies to the up-down direction.

It is an effect.

The other functions and effects of Structure 2 are the same as those of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a half sectional view of a motor unit in a third embodiment of the present invention.

The motor unit 75 in this embodiment has substantially the same configuration as the motor unit 51 in the second embodiment, and only the different parts will be described.

The housing 72 of the motor unit 75 differs from the second embodiment in that the grooves 52b, 52c, and 52d are hollow. Instead, a spring 74 is interposed between the ring screw 68 and a collar 64q provided on the outer periphery of the knob 64 to bias the knob 64 downward.

Further, instead of the spring 65, a spring 73 made of a shape memory alloy is provided. This spring 73 has an electric wire 76
are electrically connected to each other, and when the electric wire 76 is energized and heated, the spring 73 is expanded. Also,
When this spring 73 cools down after stopping electrical heating, the spring 73
It is designed to shrink by 6 due to the urging force of 4.

The operation of this embodiment is exactly the same as that of the second embodiment under normal conditions.

On the other hand, when it is desired to switch to manual operation, the shape memory alloy spring 73 is expanded by, for example, turning on a manual changeover switch (not shown) provided on the operation unit 50. Then, the clutch parts 70 and 58 are engaged, and as in the second embodiment, the bending operation switch F63 is activated by operating the knob 64b.
The towing operation can be carried out.

Other functions and effects of the configuration 1 are the same as those of the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a half sectional view of a motor unit in a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

The motor unit 81 in this embodiment has substantially the same configuration as the motor unit 23 in the first embodiment, and only the different parts will be described.

A circular hole is formed in the operating portion 80, and a connecting tube 82 is screwed into this hole. Note that an O-ring 87 is interposed between the operating portion 80 and the connecting tube 82 to maintain watertightness. A motor unit 81 is provided within the connection tube 82 . The upper end surface of the housing 83 of this motor unit 81 is flush with the outer peripheral surface of the operating section 80.

An O-ring 88 is interposed between the housing 83 and the connecting tube 82 to maintain watertightness. Further, a base 89 is screwed to the lower part of the connecting tube 82. The base 89 is provided with a recess into which the projection 26a of the base 26 engages.

A collar 83a is provided on the lower outer periphery of the housing 83, and a spring 85 is provided between the upper surface of the collar 83'a and a step formed on the connecting tube 82.
a shape memory alloy spring 8 between the lower surface of the base 89 and the base 89
4 are provided.

An electrical heating wire 86 is electrically connected to the shape memory alloy spring 84 .

The operation of this embodiment is exactly the same as that of the first embodiment under normal conditions.

On the other hand, when it is desired to switch to manual operation, the shape memory alloy spring 84 is expanded by, for example, turning off the manual switching switch (not shown) installed in the ultrasonic motor control device 20, as in the third embodiment. , push the collar 83a upward against the spring 85.

Then, the positioning convex portion 26a provided on the base 26
is removed from the recess provided in the base 89, and the housing 83 becomes rotatable. Furthermore, the housing 83 protrudes from the outer circumferential surface of the operating portion 80 .

Therefore, when the housing 83 is rotated by hand, the rotational force is transmitted to the pulley 48 and pulls the bending operation wire 49, allowing manual operation of the bending portion 6.

Incidentally, if a knurling is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the housing 83, the operation becomes easier during manual operation.

According to this embodiment, the housing 83 of the motor unit 81 protrudes only during manual operation, providing good operability of the endoscope.

Other functions and effects of the configuration 1 are the same as those of the first embodiment.

6 to 9 relate to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, and the sixth embodiment
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the motor section during normal operation, FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the motor section during manual operation, FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the rotor and stator, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the sprocket.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, a stator 102 of an ultrasonic motor is fixed within an operating section 101. A rotor 103 is SOWed on the stator 102. A pulley 104 is fixed on this rotor 103. This pulley 104 has a bending operation wire 171.
05 is wound. On the upper surface of the pulley 104,
A sliding plate 106 is provided.

Further, the stator 102. Rotor 103. Sliding board 10
4, a shaft 108 is provided. This axis 10
At the bottom of 8, there is a sprocket 109 as shown in FIG.
is attached. A knob 110 is provided at the top of the shaft 108. A spring 111 is interposed between the knob 110 and the sliding plate 106, and the spring 111 biases the rotor 103 toward the stator 102. Further, the knob 110 is connected to the operating section 1
It is exposed to the outside through an opening 112 formed in the exterior of 01. A notch 112a is formed in the opening 112, and the notch 112a is formed in the outer peripheral portion of the knob 110.
A pawl 110a that can pass through 2a is provided.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the stator 102 has a hollow portion that can accommodate the sprocket 109, and the rotor 103 has a notch 103a that engages with the sprocket 109 from the bottom side. It is provided.

In normal times, as shown in FIG. 6, the knob 110
The pawl 110a is locked inside the exterior of the operating part 101, the sprocket 109 is located in the hollow part of the stator 102, and the rotor 103 is pressed against the stator 102 by the spring 111.

Therefore, in this state, drive power is supplied to drive the stator 10.
When a traveling wave is generated at 2, the rotor 103 rotates, and the bending operation wire 105 is pulled through the pulley 104.

On the other hand, when switching to manual operation, as shown in FIG. 7, rotate the knob 110 and pass the pawl 110a through the notch 112a. Then, the knob 110 projects to the outside of the operating section 101 due to the biasing force of the spring 111.

Further, the sprocket 109 is connected to the notch 10 of the rotor 103.
3a. In addition, the stator 102 and the rotor 103
The crimp is released.

Therefore, in this state, by rotating the knob 110, this rotation is caused by the rotation of the shaft 108. It is transmitted to the rotor 103 via the sprocket 109, rotates the pulley 104, and enables manual operation of the curved portion.

The other functions and effects of the configuration 9 are the same as those of the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the entirety of an endoscope apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

This embodiment is an example of an electronic scope rather than a fiber scope like the first embodiment.

The electronic scope 201 is not provided with an eyepiece 8, and a solid-state decoy image element 202 such as a COD is disposed at the imaging position of the objective lens system in the distal end 7 instead of an image guide. ing. The signal line connected to this solid-state R image element 202 is connected to the insertion section 3. Operation unit 2. It is inserted through the universal cord 4 and connected to the connector 15. Then, the solid-state decoy image element 202 is connected via this connector 15 to
It is connected to a video processor 204 provided within the light source device 16. Then, write 11 as solid R
The image sensor 202 is driven by the video processor 204, and the readout signal is sent to the video processor 20.
4, the video signal is processed by the video processor 2.
A video signal outputted from 04 is input to a monitor 205, and a subject image is displayed on this monitor 205.

In addition, a bending angle detection device 21 and a bending resistance detection device 22
, signals for displaying the bending angle and bending resistance value are input to the video processors 20 and 4, and the video processor 204 inputs the bending angle and bending resistance value into the video signal output to the monitor 205. The curvature angle and curvature resistance value are synthesized together with the subject image and displayed on the monitor 205.
It is designed to be displayed.

Other functions and effects of the configuration 1 are the same as those of the first embodiment.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and the endoscope includes:
It can be applied to endoscopes for medical, industrial, and all other uses, and can be applied to all types of endoscopes such as fiberscopes and electronic scopes as long as they have a curved part. .

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the case where the curve is curved in four directions;
Needless to say, it can also be applied to curves in different directions.

Moreover, instead of the bending operation wire, a wire for the treatment shell raising base may be attached, and it may be applied to the [-evening operation] on the processing shell raising.

Further, the driving means is not limited to the ultrasonic motor, but may be other types such as a stepping motor.

Further, the bending wire may be pulled by using a sprocket and a chain instead of a boolean.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to switch between the traction operation by the drive means and the traction operation by the manual operation means, so the bending portion can be bent using the drive means, and This has the effect that the bending section can be brought into a free state at a desired time, such as when the drive means fails, and that the bending section can be manually operated.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 relate to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a half-sectional view of the motor unit, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the entire endoscope device, and FIG. 3 is the invention of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a half-sectional view of a motor unit in a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a half-sectional view of a motor unit in a fourth embodiment of the present invention. , and FIGS. 6 to 9 relate to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the motor part during normal operation, and FIG. 7 does not show the motor part during manual operation. Explanatory drawings, FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the rotor and stator, FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the sprocket,
FIG. 10 is an overall explanatory diagram of an endoscope apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Endoscope 2... Operation part 3... Insertion part 6... Curved part 23... Motor unit 24... Housing 25... Ring screw
29... Rotor 31... Stator 49.
...Curving operation wire 2 Figure 3 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 8 Figure 7

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An endoscope capable of bending a bending portion provided in an insertion section by moving a traction means forward and backward, comprising: a drive means capable of pulling the traction means with a driving force; What is claimed is: 1. An endoscope comprising: a manual operating means capable of manually towing an endoscope; and a switching means switching between a towing operation by the drive means and a towing operation by the manual operating means.