JPH0242241Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention is a connecting structure of segmental rings for forming a curved tube in an endoscope mainly used for observation, examination, diagnosis, treatment, etc. inside a living body cavity. It is related to.

[Conventional technology]

As is well known, endoscopes that are widely used for medical purposes these days have a manual operation part A, a distal end part B, and an optical system that connects the various parts of these parts, as shown in Fig. 4. Outside the fiber bundle or forceps channel,
It is composed of a flexible tube section C that also incorporates and protects various connecting members such as air and water supply tubes and suction tubes, and the vicinity of the connecting section with the distal end section B of the flexible tube section C is particularly called the curved tube section D. has been done.

As shown in Fig. 5, this curved pipe portion D consists of a large number of segmented rings 1 of approximately the same shape and size connected in a line at appropriate intervals, as shown in Fig. 5, as its main constituent members. , is bent by at least a pair of upper and lower, left and right operating wires 2, 2, 3, 3 attached to the connecting part between the curved tube part D and the tip part B,
The tip portion B can be directed in a desired direction. Most of the articulation rings 1, . 7
are provided alternately in a protruding manner, and one of the connecting protrusions 5, 5 is bent at its base side so as to be at a lower position in consideration of its thickness. The joint rings 1, . . . are arranged on the connecting protrusion 5 of one joint ring 1 of the other joint ring 1 so that the through holes 4 and 6 are concentric. The connecting protrusions 7 are overlapped, and the connecting shaft 8 is fitted into this overlapping portion from the inside, and the shaft ends protruding from the outer connecting protrusions 7 are caulked and connected. Each of the connecting shafts 8, 8, . . . usually has a bending operation wire 2, 2,
A wire insertion hole 9 is provided for specifying the position of any one of the bending operation wires 3, 3, and the bending operation wires 2, 2, 3 are provided in each node ring 1, 1, ... itself. , 3, the difficulty of applying special molding to specify the positions is avoided.

[The problem that the idea aims to solve]

However, in order to form the wire insertion hole 9 in each connecting shaft 8, each connecting shaft 8 has to be extended inward, and moreover, the node ring 1, which is the original function of each connecting shaft 8, has to be extended inward. , 1, . . . , large diameter portions larger in diameter than the holes 4 and 6 of each of the connecting protrusions 5 and 7 were required on both the inner and outer sides.

That is, as shown in FIG. 7, each connecting shaft 8 has a wire insertion hole 9 and a large diameter portion 10 that prevents the connecting protrusion 5 from slipping off inside.
, a medium diameter portion 11 that is fitted into the through hole 4 of the inner connecting protrusion 5 , a small diameter portion 12 that is fitted into the through hole 6 of the outer connecting protrusion 7 , and the small diameter portion 12 is formed by caulking or the like.
It consists of a large diameter part 13 that is deformed to a larger diameter to prevent it from coming off the connecting protrusion 7, and the articulated ring 1
The degree of inward protrusion was not small.
For this reason, a dead space X as shown in Fig. 6 is created, which is the limit for reducing the diameter of each node ring 1. If the diameter is intentionally reduced, it may lead to breakage of the image guide etc. during bending operation. Since the connecting protrusion 5 has a complicated shape, the manufacturing cost is high, and the degree of caulking is too tight, making the movement of the segment rings 1, 1... unsmooth. However, the problem was that a defect occurred at a very important point.

[Means to solve the problem]

In view of the current situation, the present invention overlaps the connecting protrusions provided on each node ring for forming the curved tube portion of the endoscope, and inserts the connecting protrusions into the through holes of the concentric connecting protrusions. In a connecting structure of joint rings for forming a curved pipe portion, in which a connecting shaft is fitted and inserted, and each joint ring is rotatable about the connecting shaft by pulling a bending operation wire, the connecting shaft is inserted. The large diameter part is formed of a large diameter part and a small diameter part, and the large diameter part disposed inside the joint ring has an insertion hole for the bending operation wire near the inner end, and the large diameter part of the connecting shaft is inserted into the overlapping part. The connecting shaft is loosely fitted into the through hole of the overlapping inner connecting protrusion, and the small diameter portion of the connecting shaft is fitted and fixed into the through hole of the overlapping outer connecting protrusion. be.

[Effect]

Since the present invention has the above-described configuration, it maintains the conventional advantage of facilitating the molding of the segment ring itself by providing an insertion hole for the bending operation wire near the inner end of the connecting shaft. Furthermore, the connecting shaft has a simple shape consisting of two parts, a large diameter part and a small diameter part, which makes it possible to reduce manufacturing costs.
In addition, the large diameter portion of the connecting shaft is loosely fitted into the through hole of the overlapping inner connecting protrusion, and the deviation of the inner connecting protrusion is prevented by a bending operation wire inserted into the insertion hole of the connecting shaft. This makes it possible to shorten the length of the conventional connecting shaft by the length l in FIG. 7, thereby increasing the effective volume within the joint ring and making it possible to reduce the diameter. Furthermore, the connecting shaft allows free rotation without constricting the overlapping portions of the connecting protrusions, making it possible to facilitate the bending operation.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, which illustrate embodiments of the present invention.

In the figure, 21, . . . are segmental rings of approximately the same shape and size, and these segmental rings 21, . An annular main body 21', connecting protrusions 25 that alternately protrude from both end faces of the annular main body 21' with a phase difference of 90 degrees, and are provided with through holes 24 and 26, 27 mag. Each of the above-mentioned articulating rings 21 is arranged so that the connecting protrusion 25 of one articulating ring 21 is placed on top of the other articulating ring 21 so that the through hole 26 is concentric with the through hole 24. The connecting protrusions 27 are placed one on top of the other, and as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 3, a connecting shaft 28 is inserted and connected from the inside. The connecting shaft 28 is made up of a large diameter part 31 and a small diameter part 32. The large diameter part 31 is arranged inside the node ring 21, and near its end there is an insertion hole 29 for the bending operation wire 22 or 23. The base side of the large diameter portion 31 has a slightly smaller diameter than the through hole 24 of the inner protrusion 25 of the overlapping connecting protrusions 25 and 27, and is loosely fitted into the through hole 24. There is. Then, the large diameter portion 31 is shortened by the reinforcing portion l (see FIG. 7) required for sandwiching the connecting protrusions 5 and 7 as in the conventional case,
The inner connecting protrusion 25 is prevented from coming off by the bending operation wire 22 or 23 inserted through the insertion hole 29. The small diameter portion 32 of the connecting shaft 28 is fitted into the through hole 26 of the outer protrusion 27 of the overlapping connecting protrusions 25 and 27, and the shaft end 33 of the small diameter portion 32 is attached for connection by caulking, welding, etc. Projection piece 2
It is fixed to 7. In this way, the connecting shaft 28
can be made shorter by 1 compared to the conventional case by using the bending operation wire that is essential to the bending tube part, so as shown in FIG. It can be easily built into the curved pipe portion without causing any problems, and there is no adverse effect on other built-in objects such as the image guide.

[Effect of idea]

As is clear from the above description, the present invention eliminates the difficulty of forming the articulating ring itself by providing an insertion hole for the bending operation wire near the inner end of the connecting shaft. In addition, the connecting shaft can be made into a simple shape, making it easier to manufacture and reducing manufacturing costs. By fitting loosely into the hole and preventing the connecting protrusion from deviating from the inside using a bending operation wire, it is possible to shorten the connecting shaft, eliminate dead space within the joint ring, and increase the effective volume. ,
Damage to built-in components due to bending operations is prevented, the diameter of the joint ring can be made smaller, and since there is no tightening against the overlapping connecting protrusions, free rotation is possible, making bending operations easier. It has now become possible to provide a connecting structure for a segment ring for forming a curved tube portion of an endoscope, which can achieve excellent practical effects such as:

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the connecting structure of the joint ring for forming a curved pipe portion according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing an example of the state of the built-in parts, and Fig. 3 is a schematic view of the main parts. 4 is a schematic diagram of a conventional endoscope, FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a conventional coupling structure, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional explanatory diagram showing the state of built-in components in the conventional coupling structure. , FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the main part of a conventional connection structure. 21... node ring, 21'... annular main body part, 22,
23... Curved operation wire, 24, 26... Through hole, 25, 27... Connecting protrusion, 28... Connecting shaft, 29... Insertion hole, 31... Large diameter portion, 32...
Small diameter portion, 33... shaft end, 34... forceps channel.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] The connection protrusions provided on each segment ring for forming the curved tube portion of the endoscope are overlapped, and the connection shaft is inserted into the through hole of each concentric connection protrusion, and the connection is made. In a connecting structure of joint rings for forming a curved pipe portion, in which each joint ring can be rotated around the working shaft by the index of a bending operation wire, the connecting shaft is formed of a large diameter part and a small diameter part. The large diameter portion marked on the inside of the joint ring is provided with an insertion hole for the bending operation wire near the inner end, and the large diameter portion of the connecting shaft is inserted through the overlapped inner connecting protrusion. A node ring for forming a curved tube portion of an endoscope, which is loosely fitted into the hole, and the small diameter portion of the connecting shaft is inserted and fixed into the through hole of the overlapping outer connecting protrusion. Connected structure.