JP2002369792A - Spiral groove processing device for channel tube of endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a spiral groove processing device for the channel tube of an endoscope capable of shortening a heating time, capable of determining a molding condition and facilitating the control of temperature to reduce the depth irregularity of a spiral groove. SOLUTION: A table 11, which is provided with a wire material feeder 7 of a wire material 6 and a tube pressing support member 13 having a tube pressing roller 14 for preventing the bending of a tube 2 attached thereto, is provided to a processing device, which rotates the tube 2 around the center axis thereof to wind the wire material 6 around the outer peripheral surface of the tube 6 to form the spiral groove, in a freely movable manner along the center axis of the tube 2 held by a chuck 2 and a centering fixture 5. A cylindrical heater 10 is provided to the table 11 through a heater arm 8 and the tube 2 is inserted into the heater 10 to equally heat the whole cuter periphery of the tube 2 immediately before the spiral groove is formed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope channel tube spiral groove processing apparatus for forming a spiral groove on the outer periphery of an endoscope channel tube.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a spiral groove processing apparatus for an endoscope channel tube for forming a groove serving as a guide portion when a hard wire is spirally wound around the outer periphery of the channel tube of an endoscope is disclosed in, for example, It is already known from JP-A-6-121771. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the spiral groove machining apparatus, and the configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

A channel tube (hereinafter, referred to as a tube) 1 through which a metal core 100 is inserted is provided in the spiral groove processing apparatus.
A rotating device 103 having a chuck 102 for holding one end of the core 01 and a centering jig (center push table) 104 for supporting the other end of the cored bar 100 are arranged on a straight line so as to face each other,
A guide member 111 is provided on a guide member 111 between the chuck 102 and the centering jig 104 and parallel to the central axis of the tube 101 and movable in the longitudinal direction of the tube 101. On the table 110, a wire feeder 106 for supplying a grooved wire 105 for forming a spiral groove on the outer circumference of the tube 1 and a tube holding supporting member 112 for preventing the tube 101 from bending during winding of the wire 105 are arranged. Have been. Tube holding support member 11
A tube holding roller 113 is provided at the tip of the tube 2 so as to be able to contact and separate from the outer peripheral surface of the tube 101. 114 is an adjusting screw for adjusting the position when the tube holding roller 113 and the tube 101 are brought into contact with each other;
A hot air heater 109 heats the tube 101.

When a spiral groove is formed in the tube 101 by the spiral groove processing apparatus having the above structure, the tube 101 is held by the chuck 102 and the centering jig 104, and then at the start of the groove processing, the tube holding support member 112 is connected to the tube. 1
The tube is moved in the direction of the tube 101 perpendicularly to the center axis of the tube 101, and the tube pressing roller 113 provided at the tip thereof is brought into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the tube 101. When the rotating device 103 rotates the tube 101 around its center axis and moves the table 110 toward the centering jig 104 at a predetermined speed, the tip of the tube
The wire 105 fixed to a hook pin (not shown) is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the tube 101 at a predetermined pitch while a constant tensile force is applied by a wire feeder 106,
A spiral groove is formed on the outer peripheral surface. During this winding process, the tube holding support member 112 on the table 110 is
Moves together with the wire rod supply device 106, and the tube holding roller 113 contacts along the outer peripheral surface of the tube 101 near the winding hole of the wire rod 105 to prevent the bending of the tube 101 caused by the tensile force applied to the wire rod 105. Move while moving. When the grooving of a predetermined length is completed for the tube 101, the tube holding roller 1
13 is moved away from the tube 101, the table 110 is moved in the direction of the chuck 102 while the tube 101 is rotated in the reverse direction by the rotating device 103, and the grooved wire 105 is fed into the tube 1 by the wire feeder 106.
We wind up from 01. The heater 109 is connected to the wire 105
Hot air is blown to the vicinity of the winding hole of the tube 101 to heat the tube 101.

[0005]

In the helical groove machining apparatus disclosed in the prior art, the heater 109 includes the tube 10.
Since it is a hot-air type that is away from 1 and only hits one surface of the tube 101 with hot air, there is a problem that the temperature of the tube 101 does not rise easily and the heating time cannot be shortened. In addition, the temperature of the hot air is often influenced by the surrounding environment, and it is not possible to determine molding conditions when the tube 101 is heated to a predetermined temperature to form a spiral groove having a predetermined depth. There was also.

Further, since hot air is applied to only one surface of the tube 101, it is difficult to control the temperature.
There is also a problem in that the heat distribution in the spiral groove forming portion 1 is not uniform, and the variation in the spiral groove depth is large.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and can shorten a heating time, determine molding conditions, facilitate temperature control, and reduce a variation in spiral groove depth. It is an object of the present invention to provide a helical groove heating device for an endoscope channel tube that can be used.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a spiral groove machining apparatus for an endoscope channel tube according to a first aspect of the present invention winds a wire around the outer periphery of the endoscope channel tube. In the device for processing a spiral groove of an endoscope channel tube for forming a spiral groove, a supply device for the wire and a bending presser for the channel tube are provided, and the device is moved relatively in parallel to a central axis of the channel tube. A heating unit for heating the channel tube is provided on the table so as to be in the vicinity of a wire winding hole for the channel tube.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a spiral groove machining apparatus for an endoscope channel tube according to the first aspect, wherein the heating section comprises a cylindrical heater capable of inserting the channel tube. Configured.

That is, according to the configuration of the first aspect,
By heating the channel tube by installing the heating unit on the table that moves relatively parallel to the center axis of the channel tube so as to be near the wire winding for the channel tube, the heating time is reduced, Molding conditions can be determined.

According to the second aspect of the present invention,
The heating section is a cylindrical heater, and the channel tube is inserted through the heater to heat the entire outer peripheral surface of the channel tube. This facilitates temperature control, makes the heating of the channel tube uniform, and reduces the variation in the spiral groove depth.

[0012]

(Embodiment 1) Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a spiral groove machining apparatus for an endoscope channel tube according to the present embodiment.

As shown in the figure, a helical groove machining apparatus according to the present embodiment has a chuck 3 for holding one end of a channel tube (hereinafter, referred to as a tube) 2 through which a metal core 1 is inserted.
And a centering jig (center push table) 5 for supporting the end of the cored bar 1 are linearly opposed to each other, and the space between the chuck 3 and the centering jig 5 is The guide member 12 is provided with a table 11 parallel to the central axis and movable in the longitudinal direction of the tube 2. The rotating device 4 can rotate the tube 2 forward and backward around its central axis.
A hook pin 9 for fixing an end of a grooved wire 6 forming a spiral groove is provided on the outer periphery of the wire. In the present embodiment, a Teflon (registered trademark) tube is used as the tube 2.

The table 11 is fed by a driving means (not shown) at a speed proportional to the rotation of the tube 2. A grooved wire (hereinafter referred to as a wire) 6 is placed on the table 11. A wire feeder 7 for feeding;
A heater arm 8 and a tube holding support member 13 as a bending holding means are arranged.

The wire feeder 7 can apply a constant tensile force to the wire 6 wound around the outer circumference of the tube 2 by rotating the tube 2, and can recover the wound wire 6 from the tube 2. It has become.

The tube holding support member 13 is provided movably so that it can approach and separate from the tube 2. The tube pressing support member 13 is wound around the tube 2 with respect to the traveling direction of the table 11 (moving direction when the wire 6 is wound around the tube 2 to form a spiral groove, the same applies hereinafter), that is, the wire 6 is wound around the tube 2. It is provided on the side that is not used. At the tip (tube 2 side) of the tube holding support member 13, when the wire 6 forms a helical groove in the tube 2, the tube 2 is attached to the wire 6 by a tensile force applied to the wire 6 by the wire supply device 7. A tube holding roller 14 is provided to prevent bending in seven directions.

The tube holding roller 14 is a tube 2
The wire 6 is provided so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from the outer peripheral surface of the tube 2 so that the wire 6 can come into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the tube 2 where the wire 6 is not wound while the wire 6 is wound around the tube 2. The tube holding support member 13 is moved by driving means (not shown) such as an air cylinder. Further, the tube pressing roller 14 is provided such that the center of rotation thereof and the center of the core 1 (the center of the tube 2) are at the same height, and a line connecting both centers is parallel to the wire 6. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 15 denotes an adjusting screw for adjusting the position when the tube holding roller 14 and the tube 2 are brought into contact with each other, and is capable of regulating the amount of movement of the tube holding support member 13 in the direction of the tube 2. .

The heater arm 8 is arranged between the wire feeder 7 and the tube holding support member 13. That is, on the table 11, the heater arm 8 is arranged next to the wire feeder 7, and the tube holding support member 13 is arranged next to the heater arm 8. At the tip of the heater arm 8 (on the tube 2 side), a cylindrical heater 10 as a heating unit is attached. The center axis of the heater 10 is disposed so as to coincide with the center axis of the tube 2 held by the chuck 2 and the centering jig 5, and the tube 2 passes through the heater 10 with the core 1 inserted. It is possible. The heater 10 does not interfere with the wire 6 supplied from the wire supply device 7 at a position where the wire 6 is not wound near the vicinity of the winding portion of the wire 6 supplied from the wire supply device 7 around the tube 2. So that the outer periphery of the tube 2 immediately before winding the wire 6 to form the spiral groove can be heated from all directions. The clearance between the inner diameter of the cylindrical heater 10 and the outer diameter of the tube 2 is set small, so that the heating section is not affected by the external environment. In addition, a tube pressing roller 14 is disposed in front of the heater 10 (in the direction of travel of the table 11), and is capable of contacting the outer periphery of the tube 2 that has not yet been heated. The structure of the cylindrical heater 10 of the present embodiment is such that a band heater is wound around the outer periphery of a cylindrical brass or iron material. The structure is not limited to this, and any cylindrical heater that surrounds the outer peripheral surface of the tube 2 and can uniformly heat the entire peripheral surface may be used.

Next, the operation of the helical groove machining apparatus having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. The tube 2 with the cored bar 1 inserted is held between the chuck 3 and the centering jig 5. Then, at the time of starting the groove processing in a state where the table 11 is positioned on the chuck 2 side, the tube pressing support member 13 is moved in the direction of the tube 2 perpendicularly to the center axis of the tube 2,
The tube pressing roller 14 provided at the tip is brought into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the tube 2. When the tube 2 is rotated by the rotating device 4 and the table 11 is moved in the direction of the centering jig 5 at a predetermined speed, the tip of the wire 6 is fixed to the hook pin 9 provided on the chuck 3.
The wire is spirally wound around the outer peripheral surface of the tube 2 at a predetermined pitch while applying a constant tensile force by the wire feeder 7, and a spiral groove is formed on the outer peripheral surface. During this winding process, the cylindrical heater 10 installed on the table 11 via the arm heater 8 moves together with the wire feeder 7 and the tube holding support member 13 with the tube 2 inserted, and the heater 10 Is located next to the winding hole of the wire 6 and heats a part of the tube 2 immediately before the groove processing on the entire peripheral surface. At this time, since the central axis of the tube 2 and the central axis of the heater 10 coincide, the entire peripheral surface of the tube 2 is uniformly heated. In addition, the clearance between the inner diameter of the cylindrical heater 10 and the outer diameter of the tube 2 is small, and the heating section is not affected by the external environment. Further, the tube pressing roller 14 comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the tube 2 which is not heated by the heater 10 on the side of the centering jig 5 opposite to the wire feeding device 7 with the heater 10 interposed therebetween, and is added to the wire 6. The tube 2 moves while preventing bending of the tube 2 caused by the applied tensile force.

When the predetermined grooving process is completed,
The tube holding roller 14 is separated from the tube 2 and the heating of the heater 10 is stopped.
, The rotating device 4 is rotated in the reverse direction (rotation in the opposite direction to the rotation at the time of forming the spiral groove), and the grooved wire 6 is wound up from the tube 2 by the wire feeder 7. Needless to say, the heating temperature of the tube 2 and the tensile force of the wire feeder 7 may be adjusted according to the depth of the groove formed during processing.

According to the present embodiment, the heating time can be reduced by inserting the tube 2 into the cylindrical heater 10 and heating the tube 2 from the entire peripheral surface.
Since the clearance between the inner diameter of the tube 2 and the outer diameter of the tube 2 is small, the heating conditions of the tube 2 are not affected by the external environment, and the molding conditions can be determined. Further, since the clearance is small, the heat from the heater 10 does not easily leak to the outside, and the tube 2 can be heated immediately and can be maintained at a constant temperature. A helical groove with small variation in height can be formed in the tube 2.

The technical idea having the following configuration is derived from the above-described specific embodiment. (Supplementary Note) (1) In a spiral groove processing apparatus for an endoscope channel tube, which forms a spiral groove by winding a wire around the outer circumference of the endoscope channel tube, the spiral tube is parallel to a center axis of the channel tube. The table is provided with a wire feeding device and a tube pressing member for suppressing the bending of the channel tube, so that a heating unit for heating the channel tube is positioned near a wire winding hole for the channel tube. A spiral groove processing apparatus for an endoscope channel tube, the apparatus comprising:

(2) The heating section is formed in a cylindrical shape through which the channel tube can be inserted, and the heating section is arranged so that the center axis of its inner diameter and the center axis of the channel tube coincide with each other. A device for processing a spiral groove of a channel tube for an endoscope according to the above.

(3) The apparatus for processing a spiral groove of an endoscope channel tube according to (1), wherein the heating section is disposed between the wire winding hole and the tube pressing member.

According to the apparatus for processing a spiral groove of an endoscope channel tube described in the appendix (1), the heating time of the channel tube can be reduced as compared with the conventional one, and the molding conditions for forming the spiral groove can be reduced without being influenced by the external environment. Can be determined.

According to the spiral groove machining apparatus for the endoscope channel tube described in the appendix (2), the entire peripheral surface of the channel tube in the portion where the wire is wound is uniformly heated, and the spiral groove having a small depth variation is machined. can do.

According to the spiral groove machining apparatus for the endoscope channel tube described in the appendix (3), it is possible to heat the portion of the channel tube immediately before winding the wire and wind the wire around the outer circumference of the channel tube. The tube pressing member is brought into contact with the outer periphery of the channel tube that has not been heated, so that the channel tube can be prevented from bending properly.

[0028]

As described above, according to the helical groove processing apparatus for a channel tube for an endoscope according to the first aspect of the present invention, the heating time of the channel tube can be shortened as compared with the conventional case, and the environment for an external environment can be reduced. The molding conditions of the spiral groove can be determined without being affected.

According to the spiral groove machining apparatus for an endoscope channel tube according to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, it is easy to maintain a constant temperature and easily manage the heating temperature of the channel tube. Thus, a spiral groove with a small depth variation can be machined.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Core metal 2 Channel tube 4 Rotation device 6 Wire rod 7 Wire rod supply unit 8 Heater arm 10 Heater 11 Table 13 Tube holding support member 14 Tube holding roller

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An endoscope channel tube helical groove processing device for forming a helical groove by winding a wire around an outer periphery of an endoscope channel tube. And a heating unit for heating the channel tube is provided near a wire winding hole for the channel tube on a table that moves relatively parallel to the center axis of the channel tube. Spiral groove processing device for endoscope channel tube. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heating section comprises a cylindrical heater through which the channel tube can be inserted.