JPS6311925Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a curved tube for an endoscope with improved connection structure with the distal end or flexible tube.

[Prior art]

Generally, an endoscope consists of a distal end 10, a curved tube 11, a flexible tube 12, an operating section 13, and an eyepiece section 14, as shown in the perspective view shown in FIG. By rotating the knob 15, the curved tube 11 is bent via a bending operation wire (not shown in FIG. 1) inserted through the curved tube 11 and the flexible tube 12. Observe the patient inside the body cavity by pointing the observation window, illumination window, and forceps channel opening (not shown in Figure 1) in the desired direction.
It is used for diagnosis or treatment.

Figure 2 shows the curved tube 11 of the endoscope shown in Figure 1.
FIG. Curved pipe 1
1 is a connecting piece 17 formed on the end peripheral wall of each of the plurality of short tubular bodies 16, . . . , 16.
are fitted into connection holes 18, 18 formed in the peripheral walls of opposite ends of adjacent cylinders 16, and the cylinders 16,...,
16 are successively connected in a swingable manner to form a ring-shaped tube, and the outside of the ring-shaped tube is surrounded by a mesh tube 19 made of thin metal wire and a covering tube 2 made of synthetic resin.
It is coated with a 0 grade outer tube. Further, in FIG. 2, 21 is an observation window, 22 is an optical fiber bundle for observation, 23 is a channel for forceps insertion, and 24 is a curved operation wire.

In the conventional endoscope described above, the curved tube 11 and the distal end portion 10 are connected by providing a small diameter portion 25 on the distal end portion 10 with an outer diameter approximately equal to the inner diameter of the cylindrical body 16, and connecting the small diameter portion 25 to the cylindrical body 16. This is done by fitting, and the mesh tube 19 and the covering tube 20 are placed over the cylindrical body 16.

The connection between the curved pipe 11 and the flexible pipe 12 is made using the flexible pipe 1.
2 has a small diameter portion 2 having an outer diameter approximately equal to the inner diameter of the curved pipe 11.
6, and a large diameter portion 28 having an inner diameter approximately equal to the outer diameter of the spiral tube 27 constituting the flexible tube 12.
9 is attached, and the connection is made by fitting the small diameter portion 26 into the curved tube 11 in the same way as the connection with the tip portion 10 described above. be.

However, the connection between the curved tube 11 and the distal end portion 10 is made in such a way that the outer diameter of the endoscope body cavity insertion section, which is constituted by the distal end portion 10, the curved tube 11, and the flexible tube 12, is made as small as possible. This is done by gluing or soldering, without using mechanical means such as fastening bands, which would lead to an increase in diameter.

However, in the case of soldering, the contained objects such as the covered tube of the optical fiber bundle 22 or the forceps insertion channel 23 may be deformed or damaged by heat. Furthermore, it is difficult to completely remove paste or flux that has flowed into narrow spaces such as between the cylinders 16 during soldering. This residual paste or flux may corrode or damage the curved pipe 11. In addition, in the case of adhesion, for example, even if an epoxy resin adhesive is used, the adhesive strength is 0.25 kg/
It is only about mm ² and its strength is insufficient compared to the soldered strength of about 4 kg/mm ² . Therefore, if the curved tube 11 is repeatedly bent, the mesh tube 19 may peel off from the distal end portion 10 or the flexible tube 12, resulting in poor reliability.

[Purpose of invention]

The present invention was developed to solve the above-mentioned problems, and uses adhesive to provide sufficient connection strength, the outer diameter of the body cavity insertion part is the same as conventional ones, and it can be soldered. The objective is to obtain a curved tube for an endoscope that does not cause problems such as heat damage or corrosion.

[Explanation of Examples]

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail according to preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 3 is a partially longitudinal side view showing an embodiment of the curved tube of the endoscope according to the present invention.

In this embodiment, the curved pipe 11 has a cylindrical body 16,
. . , 16 are successively connected in a swingable manner, and the outside thereof is covered with a mesh tube 19 and a covering tube 20, which is the same as the conventional structure.

The connection between the curved tube 11 and the distal end 10 is through the distal end 1
0, a small diameter portion 25 having an outer diameter approximately equal to the inner diameter of the cylinder 16.
This is done by providing a small diameter portion 25 and fitting it into the cylinder body 16, and placing the mesh tube 1 on the cylinder body 16.
9 and a covering tube 20, but in this embodiment, unlike the conventional connection structure, the small diameter portion 2
5, the cylinder 16 is fitted to approximately the center of the small diameter portion 25 without completely fitting the cylinder 16, and the remaining portion of the small diameter portion 25 is extended beyond the cylinder 16 to cover the mesh tube 19. , the extended portion of the mesh tube 19 is glued to the small diameter portion 25 and tightened with a fastening ring 30. Therefore, the upper right side of the small diameter portion 25 in FIG.
6 and a mesh tube 19, and the upper left side in FIG. 3 is covered by the mesh tube 19 and a fastening ring 30. The fastening ring 30 has approximately the same thickness as the cylindrical body 16, and since the fastening ring 30 and the cylindrical body 16 do not overlap in the circumferential direction, the outer diameter of the body cavity insertion portion remains the same as the conventional one.

The connection between the curved pipe 11 and the flexible pipe 12 is made using the flexible pipe 1.
2 has a small diameter portion 2 having an outer diameter approximately equal to the inner diameter of the curved pipe 11.
6, and a large diameter portion 28 having an inner diameter approximately equal to the outer diameter of the spiral tube 27 constituting the flexible tube 12.
9 is attached, the small diameter part 26 is fitted into the curved pipe 11, and the reticulated tube 19 and the covering tube 20 are placed on top of the small diameter part 26. However, in this embodiment, unlike the conventional connection, Cylindrical body 16
The cylindrical body 16 is fitted to approximately the center of the small diameter portion 26 without being completely fitted, and the remaining portion of the small diameter portion 26 is extended beyond the cylindrical body 16 to cover the mesh tube 19. The extended portion is the small diameter portion 26
It is glued to and tightened with a tightening ring 31. Therefore, the upper left side of the small diameter portion 26 in FIG. Become. The fastening ring 31 has approximately the same thickness as the cylindrical body 16, and since the fastening ring 31 and the cylindrical body 16 do not overlap in the circumferential direction, the outer diameter of the body cavity insertion portion is the same as that of the conventional one.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, in order to simplify the explanation,
Although the connecting piece 17 and the connecting hole 18 are provided at the same position on the circumference of the cylinder 16, the connecting piece 17 and the connecting hole 1
8 are formed at both ends of each cylindrical body 16 at circumferential positions shifted by 90 degrees from each other, and each cylindrical body 16 is connected to the connecting piece 1, for example.
It is possible to swing up and down about 7, and the connection hole 18
It is also possible to make it swingable from side to side around . Further, the connecting piece 17 and the connecting hole 18 may be connected using a pin instead of fitting.

Further, in this embodiment, the covering tube 19 is tightened by the fastening rings 30 and 31, but the covering tube 19 may be tightened by winding a strong thread.

[Effect of idea]

According to the curved tube of the endoscope according to the present invention, since the connecting portion between the curved tube and the flexible tube or the distal end is mechanically tightened by the tightening ring, it has sufficient strength. Even if the tube is bent repeatedly, there is no risk that the mesh tube will peel off from the tip or the flexible tube, and the reliability is high.

In addition, since the fastening ring and the cylindrical body are shifted in position in the axial direction of the curved tube, there is no need to increase the outer diameter of the body cavity insertion portion of the endoscope.

Furthermore, since soldering is not used to connect the curved tube and the flexible tube or the tip, there is no possibility that the objects housed in the curved tube, such as the optical fiber bundle jacket tube or the forceps channel, will be deformed or damaged by heat. There will be no damage, and paste or flux that will cause corrosion or damage to the curved tubes will not flow into narrow spaces such as between the curved tubes.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a general endoscope, Fig. 2 is an enlarged partial longitudinal side view showing the curved tube of the endoscope shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is an internal view of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a partially longitudinal side view showing the curved tube of the endoscope. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10...Tip part, 11...Curved tube, 12...Flexible tube, 13...Operation part, 14...Eyepiece part, 16...
... Cylindrical body, 19 ... Reticulated tube, 20 ... Covered tube, 25, 26 ... Small diameter portion, 29 ... Connection fitting, 30, 31 ... Fastening ring.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) A plurality of short tubular bodies are successively connected in a swingable manner to form a ring-shaped tube, and the outside of the ring-shaped tube is covered with a mesh tube and a synthetic resin tube. A curved tube covered with an outer covering tube such as a covering tube, without completely fitting the cylindrical body into the small diameter portion of the curved tube, which is the distal end of an endoscope or the connecting portion of the flexible tube. , the remaining portion of the small diameter portion is covered with the mesh tube extending beyond the cylindrical body, the extended portion of the mesh tube is fastened to the small diameter portion with a fastening ring, and the curved tube is attached to the distal end portion. Alternatively, a curved tube of an endoscope is characterized in that it is connected to a flexible tube. (2) Utility model registration claim No. 1, in which the extended portion of the mesh tube is bonded to the small diameter portion and fastened to the small diameter portion with a fastening ring to connect the curved tube to the tip or flexible tube. The curved tube of the endoscope described in item 1).