JPH02213317A - Production of hard fiberscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a hard fiberscope having a fine diameter by coating the surface of a core material with a release agent and inserting the coated core material in a sleeve along with an image fiber and light guide fibers while filling the sleeve with adhesive and pulling out the core material after the curing of the adhesive to form a channel lumen. CONSTITUTION:The surface of a channel lumen forming core material such as a wire material composed of stainless steel or copper having the same shape as a channel lumen 6 to be formed is coated with a release agent. This core material is inserted in a sleeve 5 along with an image fiber 2 having an objective lens system 1 connected to one end thereof and a large number of light guide fibers 3 and, subsequently, an adhesive such as an epoxy resin is introduced into the sleeve 5 to fill the gap parts in the sleeve 5 and cured to fix and mutually bond the channel lumen forming core material, the image fiber 2 and the light guide fibers 3 in the sleeve 5 at a predetermined position. After the respective members are fixed in the sleeve 5, the channel lumen forming core material is pulled out of the sleeve to form the channel lumen 6 composed of a cavity part having the exactly identical shape as the channel lumen forming core material.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a small-diameter rigid fiberscope used for medical endoscopes and the like.

[Prior Art] Rigid fiberscopes as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 have been conventionally used to observe the inside of piping in industrial facilities, human bodies, and other narrow areas. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken in the longitudinal direction of the objective section of this rigid fiber scope, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken in the radial direction. This rigid fiberscope consists of an image fiber 2 to which an objective lens system l for imaging is connected to the end, a plurality of light guide fibers 3 attached to the image fiber 2, and a target object. A channel hole tube 4, which is a passage for inserting forceps, a small-diameter drill, etc., into a narrow portion where a hole exists is housed in a thin-walled tube-shaped sleeve 5. The image fiber 2 is made by bundling a large number of silica-based optical fibers, or is made of a waveguide for image transmission made of quartz glass lobed, etc., and the tip end facing the object has a rod lens, etc. An objective lens system I is connected. Further, an eyepiece system (not shown) is connected to the other end of the image fiber 2, so that the objective image formed by the objective lens system 1 can be observed.

The light guide fiber 3... is made by bundling a large number of silica-based optical fibers like the image fiber 2, and a light source (not shown) is connected to one end of the eyepiece. The illumination light from the image fiber 2 is transmitted to illuminate the object, making it possible to observe it with the image fiber 2. The channel tube 4 is a passage through which forceps, a small-diameter drill, or an optical fiber for transmitting laser light is inserted close to the object, and is made of a thin-walled tube made of stainless steel or resin. The image fiber 2, the light guide fiber 3, and the channel hole tube 4 are attached together and housed together in a sleeve 5 made of a stainless steel pipe with an outer diameter of about 10a+m.

Such a rigid fiberscope is manufactured by inserting the image fiber 2, the light guide fiber 3, and the channel hole tube 4 into the sleeve 5, filling it with adhesive, and curing the adhesive. Can be manufactured.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Incidentally, rigid fiberscopes have often been used as medical endoscopes, and since they are used inside the human body, there is a strong desire to reduce their diameter. be.

However, in order to reduce the diameter of the rigid fiberscope, it is necessary to reduce the outer diameters of the image fiber 2, light guide fiber 3, . . . channel hole tube 4 housed in the sleeve 5. Regarding the image fiber 2 and the light guide fiber 3..., it is possible to make the diameters smaller by using fused-integrated quartz fibers, but since the channel hole tube 4 is a tubular body, its wall thickness must be made sufficiently thin. It has been difficult to reduce the diameter of a rigid fiberscope because it cannot be made smaller than several μm and its size and shape are limited.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a rigid fiberscope that allows a rigid fiberscope with a small diameter to be obtained.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The method for manufacturing a rigid fiberscope of the present invention includes applying a mold release agent to the surface of a core material for forming a channel hole, and then inserting the image fiber and the light guide fiber into a sleeve. The solution was to fill the adhesive with adhesive, cure the adhesive, and then pull out the core material for forming channel holes from the sleeve.

[Operation] After applying a release agent to the surface of the channel hole forming core material, insert it into the sleeve together with adhesive, and after curing the adhesive, channel holes are formed by pulling out the channel hole forming core material. Therefore, a channel hole having a desired diameter and shape can be formed.

[Example code] The present invention will be described in detail below.

1 and 2 each show an embodiment of a small-diameter rigid fiber scope obtained by the method for manufacturing a rigid fiber scope of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken in the longitudinal direction of the objective section of the rigid fiberscope, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken in the radial direction. The rigid fiberscope shown in Figures 1 and 2 is the fourth
The difference from those shown in the figures to FIG. 5 is that a cavity is formed in the adhesive layer that fixes the image fiber 2 and the light guide fiber 3 in the sleeve 5 to form a channel hole 6.

Such a rigid fiber scope can be manufactured by the following steps.

First, a channel hole forming core material made of a columnar body having the same shape as the channel hole 6 to be formed is prepared.

This core material for channel hole formation is not particularly limited as long as it matches the shape of the channel hole 6 to be formed, but it must have a high tensile strength so as not to break during the drawing process described later. For example, wires made of metals or alloys such as stainless steel or copper, wires made of fluorine thread resin or aramid resin, etc. can be suitably used.

Next, a mold release agent is applied to the surface of this core material for forming channel holes. This mold release agent is for improving the surface lubricity of the channel hole forming core material so that the channel hole forming core material can be easily pulled out in the drawing process described later.
As a mold release agent, for example, silicone resin, polyvinyl alcohol, paraffin, waxes, dispersed phases of polytetrafluoroethylene, stearic acid, etc. can be suitably used. In order to apply this mold release agent to the surface of the channel hole forming core material, in addition to the dipping method in which the channel hole forming core material is immersed in a tank filled with the mold release agent, spraying the mold release agent, etc. Conventional application methods can be used.

Next, the channel hole forming core material whose surface is coated with a mold release agent is connected to an image fiber 2 to which an objective lens system 1 is connected to one end, and a plurality of light guide fibers 3...
and insert it into the sleeve 5.

The objective lens system 1 is composed of one or a plurality of lens systems, and can use, for example, a quartz rod lens with a high refractive index. As image fiber 2,
Multiple fused integral silica fibers or a single silica rod can be used. A fused-integrated quartz fiber or quartz rod is preferable because its diameter can be made extremely thin. The sleeve 5 is a tubular body, and since the rigid fiberscope is used inside the human body, a stainless steel tube or the like with excellent corrosion resistance and mechanical strength is suitable.

Next, an adhesive is filled into the gap in the sleeve 5 in which the core material for forming channel holes, the image fiber 2, the light guide fiber 3, etc. are accommodated, and the adhesive is cured to form the core for forming channel holes. material and image fiber 2
and the light guide fiber 3 are fixed at a predetermined position within the sleeve 5 and are bonded to each other. As the adhesive to be filled in the sleeve 5, epoxy resin that exhibits sufficient strength after curing, sodium silicate, which is widely used for bonding glass, etc., can be suitably used, as well as solvent adhesives, pressure-sensitive adhesives, Heat-sensitive adhesives, reactive adhesives, etc. can be used. After the adhesive has sufficiently hardened and each member within the sleeve 5 has been fixed, the channel hole forming core material is pulled out from the sleeve 5.

Since the surface of the channel hole forming core material is coated with a mold release agent in advance, it can be easily pulled out. After the channel hole forming core material is pulled out, a channel hole 6 consisting of a cavity having the exact same shape as the channel hole forming core material is formed in the sleeve 5.

The surface of the channel hole 6 thus formed becomes extremely smooth due to the presence of the mold release agent, so that forceps, a drill, and an optical fiber for laser irradiation can be easily inserted and removed.

Further, the area around the channel hole 6 has a glass fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) structure in which the light guide fibers 3 are dispersed in the adhesive as a reinforcing material, so that it has extremely high strength.

Furthermore, in conventional rigid fiberscopes, the channel hole 6 was formed using a thin metal pipe, etc., so there was a limit to how thin the channel hole 6 could be. By reducing the diameter of the core material, the channel hole 6 can be easily reduced in diameter, and a rigid fiberscope with a small diameter, which has been desired in the past, can be obtained.

Furthermore, by changing the number of channel hole forming core materials inserted into the sleeve 5 and changing the shape and diameter of the channel hole forming core materials, a plurality of elliptical cross sections can be formed as shown in FIG. It is possible to obtain a rigid fiberscope with several channel holes 6.6.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the method for manufacturing a rigid fiberscope of the present invention includes applying a mold release agent to the surface of the channel hole forming core material, and then inserting the image fiber and the light guide fiber into the sleeve. After the adhesive is cured, the channel hole forming core material is pulled out from the sleeve, making it possible to easily form channel holes of the desired diameter and shape. It becomes possible to obtain a rigid fiberscope with a small diameter, which was previously impossible to manufacture.

Furthermore, according to the manufacturing method of the present invention, it is possible to form multiple channel holes in the sleeve, so objects in narrow spaces, such as medical endoscopes, can be observed and processed at the same time. You can get a rigid fiberscope that can.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are schematic cross-sectional views showing the objective portion of a rigid fiber scope obtained by the manufacturing method of the present invention, and FIG. A schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of
FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are both schematic configuration diagrams showing the objective section of a rigid fiberscope obtained by a conventional manufacturing method. 2... Image fiber, 3... Light guide fiber, 5... Sleeve, 6... Channel hole.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A method for manufacturing a rigid fiber scope in which an image fiber, a light guide fiber, and a channel hole are housed in a sleeve, the method comprising applying a mold release agent to the surface of a core material for forming the channel hole. Afterwards, the core material for forming the channel hole is pulled out from the sleeve after being inserted into the sleeve together with the image fiber and the light guide fiber, filling the sleeve with adhesive, and curing the adhesive. manufacturing method