JPH0719442Y2 - Endoscope - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to an endoscope in which a lubricant is contained in an endoscope insertion portion.

[Prior Art] In general, an insertion portion of an endoscope is composed of a bending tube and a flexible tube from the distal end side, and an operation wire for bending the bending tube is inserted into the insertion section so that the operation section at the proximal side is inserted. It is configured to bend the bending tube by remote control. In the case of a fiberscope, an image guide,
A light guide and various channels are provided, and a signal transmission line or the like is inserted in the case of an electronic scope. In particular, in the bending tube, a plurality of bending pieces are rotatably connected with a pin, an operation wire is inserted inside, one end of the bending wire is connected to the tip bending piece, and the other end is inserted through the flexible tube to keep the hand. It is connected to an operation knob provided on the operation unit. Therefore, by rotating the operation knob, the operation wire advances and retreats to bend the bending tube vertically and horizontally.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] A fixed lubricant is enclosed in the endoscope insertion portion like this.
The movement of the built-in object accompanying the bending of the bending tube and the flexible tube is performed smoothly. However, there is a problem that the built-in objects in the curved tube move so much that the relative movement between the optical fiber bundles such as the image guide and the light guide and the other built-in objects becomes poor, and the optical fiber bundles are easily broken. It was

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an endoscope in which the frictional resistance of the internal body in the insertion portion is reduced and the durability of the internal body is improved. And

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention is characterized in that the amount of the lubricant in the insertion portion per unit volume is increased in the curved pipe as compared with the flexible pipe.

[Operation] In the present invention, the frictional resistance of the built-in object is reduced in the bent tube by placing a large amount of lubricant in the bent tube in which the built-in object moves the most.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 show a first embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is a view showing the entire endoscope, and the endoscope 1 includes an operation unit 2
The insertion section 3 is composed of a flexible tube 4, a bending tube 5, and a tip forming section 6, and the operation section 2 is provided with an operation knob 7 and an eyepiece section 8. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in the middle of the manufacturing process of the endoscope insertion portion. In FIG. 2, the image guide 9, the light guide 10, the forceps channel 11, the air supply tube 12, and the water supply tube 13 which are built-in components are fixed to the distal end constituting section 6. Since the optical fiber bundles such as the image guide 9 and the light guide 10 have flexibility at the position of the insertion portion 3, the respective fibers are formed into pieces,
The outside is covered with an outer tube. The optical fiber bundle in the outer tube has a solid lubricant applied to each fiber before covering the outer tube. After fixing such a built-in material to the tip forming portion 6, a solid lubricant of fine powder such as molybdenum disulfide is uniformly applied over the entire length of the built-in material. To apply this solid lubricant uniformly,
You may apply separately to each of the built-in components. Then, after the endoscope is assembled, a solid lubricant is added to the range A corresponding to the bending tube 5. The amount to be added varies depending on the length of the bending tube, the outer diameter, etc., but is preferably about 0.1 to 1 g. After that, the bending tube 5 and the flexible tube 4 are assembled to the built-in object. The lubricant added to the built-in parts of the curved tube 5 causes the curved tube 5
The friction resistance of the internal components is reduced to improve the durability of the internal components.

Here, the reason why the lubricant is set in the range of the curved tube 5 is that it is difficult to apply a large amount of the lubricant evenly to the entire area, and the lubricant drops when the insertion part is assembled. Only with the addition. In addition, the range of the curved tube 5 has a higher filling rate of the built-in object as compared with the flexible tube 4, and if the built-in object moves smoothly in the range of the curved tube 5, there are few problems in the flexible tube 4 part. It depends also on the matter. Further, if a large amount of lubricant is enclosed as a whole, the lubricant absorbs moisture and becomes a ball shape, which increases friction resistance, which is not preferable.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. This second
In the embodiment, the bending pipe 5 and the flexible pipe are assembled after the lubricant is uniformly applied to the built-in components in the state shown in FIG. At that time, in the portion of the bending tube 5, a plurality of bending pieces 14 are connected, the front end is fixed to the tip forming portion 6, and the rear end is connected to the flexible tube 4. Blades 15 are fitted on the outer surface of the bending piece 14 to fix both ends. The solid lubricant is added so that it rubs in through the gap of the blade 15. After that, the outer surface of the blade 15 is covered with the outer skin 16.

In the second embodiment, all of the added lubricant can be retained inside the endoscope. In the case of the first embodiment, the lubricant may be dispersed when the bending tube 5 is assembled.

It should be noted that the addition of the lubricant is performed by adding the bending tube 5 to the built-in object in the state shown in FIG.
It is also possible to cover and fix the tip forming part 6 and insert it from the rear end of the bending tube 5 or the gap of the blade. After this, the flexible tube 4 is put over the built-in object and connected and fixed to the bending tube.

Regarding the optical fiber bundle of the built-in components, even if a protective tube having a length corresponding to at least a curved tube is further covered on the outer tube, and a lubricant is applied between the protective tube and the outer tube. Good. Further, the built-in object is not limited to the optical fiber bundle, but may be a signal transmission line like an electronic scope.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the amount of the lubricant in the bending tube per unit volume is made larger than that in the flexible tube, so that the frictional resistance of the built-in object is reduced when the bending tube is bent, Since it moves smoothly, the durability of built-in objects can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the entire endoscope, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscope, 3 ... Insertion part, 4 ... Flexible tube, 5 ... Bending tube

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Michio Sato 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Fumiaki Ishii 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Within Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Tatsuya Yamaguchi 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (72) Takeaki Nakamura 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo No. Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. Examiner Shiro Wada (56) References JP-A 61-122620 (JP, A) JP-A 58-86132 (JP, A) JP-A 59-87410 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A bending tube and a flexible tube, which are sequentially connected from a tip forming portion, constitute an insertion portion, one end is fixed to the tip forming portion, and various built-in objects are inserted into the insertion portion to form the various built-in portions. In an endoscope in which a lubricant that reduces frictional resistance between objects is contained in the insertion portion, the amount of the lubricant contained in the curved tube is larger than the amount of the lubricant contained in the flexible tube per unit volume. An endoscope characterized by increasing the amount per unit volume.