JP3166271B2 - Endoscope angle operating device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope used for medical treatment, industrial use, and the like, and to an angle operating device of the endoscope for bending an angle portion thereof by remote control.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An endoscope is provided with an illumination window, an observation window, and the like at a distal end hard portion of an insertion portion. In order to direct the rigid end portion in a desired direction, an angle portion extending over a predetermined length range is provided. Is provided. This angle part has a multi-joint structure by connecting a plurality of angle rings adjacent to each other with a pivot pin as a structure,
An operation wire for an angle operation is inserted into the angle portion, a distal end portion of the angle operation wire is fixed to an angle ring at a distal end, and a base end portion is extended into the main body operation portion. It is adapted to be connected to the provided angle operating means. The angle operating means has a pulley around which an operation wire is wound, and a rotary shaft of the pulley is led out of the casing of the main body operation unit, and an angle knob is mounted. When the angle knob is rotated by a finger or the like, the operation wire is wound on or pulled out from the pulley, and the operation wire is pushed and pulled, so that the angle portion is bent.

Here, in order to fix the distal end portion of the angle operating wire, conventionally, a pair of cuts are provided in the circumferential direction in the distal end ring located at the foremost end of the angle ring in the angle portion, and this cut portion is formed. An inwardly bent cut and drawn portion is formed by drawing, and the tip of the wire is passed through this cut and drawn portion, and the tip is turned back and fixed by means such as soldering. Was.

[0004]

By the way, the operation wire is formed by twisting thin strands of wire, and when the wire is cut and inserted into the narrowed portion and fixed in a folded state, the operation wire is formed at the folded portion. There are inconveniences, such as an excessive force acting and the element wire breaking, and the pulling force of the operation wire is concentrated on a part of the cutting and drawing part,
There are problems such as deformation of the cut-and-drawn portion and, if severe, cracks.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks and problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to firmly fix an operation wire for angle operation to a tip ring. It is another object of the present invention to reliably prevent disconnection of an operation wire, damage to a cut-down portion, and the like.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention relates to a method in which a locking piece is connected to the tip of an operation wire.
And the locking piece is substantially tightly
A main body having an outer shape fitted into a fitting shape;
The rising edge of the end of the throttle
The notch is joined over substantially the entire length including
And a joining step portion for preventing it from coming off .

[0007]

The base end of the operation wire is passed through the cut-and-squeezed portion of the distal ring, extended to the body operating portion, the main body of the locking piece is inserted into the drawn-and-squeezed portion, and the joint step is cut and narrowed. Abut against the end face of the part. In this state, the operation wire is mounted by winding and fixing the base end of the operation wire to the pulley constituting the angle operation means. Therefore, the locking piece can be fixed so as not to come out of the cut-down portion by the contacting step portion being in contact with the end surface portion of the cut-down portion.

That is, in the present invention, the angle ring constituting the angle portion has a predetermined thickness, and the surface in the thickness direction of the angle ring is used as a mechanism for preventing the operation wire from coming out of the cutting and drawing portion. ing. For this purpose, a locking piece is fixedly provided at the distal end of the operation wire, and a joining step is formed on the locking piece so as to abut on the end face portion of the cut-down portion of the tip ring. I have.

Generally, in the cut-and-squeezed portion, the strength at the beginning of rising on both sides is high, and the strength decreases toward the middle. Therefore, in order to effectively receive the pulling force of the operating wire on the end face of the tip ring,
In particular, the joining step portion must surely abut on the above-described rising start portion, and also abut against the rising start portion on both sides with uniform pressing force. By the way, at the time of the angle operation, a large pulling force acts on the operation wire, but this pulling force does not always act in a straight direction, and sometimes a pulling force acts obliquely. Even if such a diagonal force is applied to the operation wire, the cutting and narrowing portion is required to ensure that the joining step portion of the locking piece is in contact with the entire surface including the portion where the narrowing portion starts to rise. Because it has a certain width, by inserting the main body of the locking piece into the internal space of this cut-and-squeezed part almost closely,
This main body is used as a guide and regulating mechanism. As a result, even if a pulling force and a force in the bending direction act on the operation wire, the locking piece itself is held in a stable state in the cut-down portion, and the joining step portion is almost at the end face portion of the cut-down portion. The load caused by the pulling of the operating wire is substantially uniform over the entire area of the joint step and the end face of the cut-down portion. As a result, the load is dispersed, and the load can be reliably received at the start portion, which has particularly high strength, and even at the start portion on both sides. Even if a force is applied, there is no inconvenience such as damage to not only the operation wire, but also the locking piece and the cut-down portion to which the operation wire is fixed.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 shows the entire configuration of the angle operating device. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an angle portion of an insertion portion, and four operation wires 10 for angle operation are inserted into the angle portion 1. The operation wire 1 includes a pair of operation wires in a vertical direction and a pair of operation wires in a left and right direction. When the pair of vertical operation wires are pushed and pulled, the angle portion 1 is bent in the vertical direction, and when the pair of left and right operation wires is pushed and pulled, the angle portion 1 is bent in the left and right direction. In order to make the angle portion 1 bendable, the angle portion 1 has a plurality of angle rings 2 pivotally connected at respective vertical and horizontal positions by pivot pins. The distal end of each of the operation wires 10 described above is fixed to the distal end ring 2 a located at the most distal end of the angle ring 2. Each of these operation wires 10 extends to a main body operation section (not shown) of the endoscope, and is connected to an angle operation mechanism 20 provided in this main body operation section. This angle operation mechanism 20
As shown in FIG. 2, a pulley 21 provided in the main body operation unit is provided.
a, 21b, a pair of operation wires in the up-down direction is on the pulley 21a, and a pair of operation wires in the left-right direction is on the pulley 21b.
After being wound by a predetermined angle, the base ends are fixedly provided. The pulleys 21a and 21b are respectively connected to an inner shaft and an outer shaft that constitute a coaxial rotation shaft 22, and the rotation shaft 22 is led to the outside of the main body operation unit and has an angle at its distal end. Knobs 23a, 23b
Is attached. These angle knobs 23a, 23
“b” is rotatable by a finger of a hand holding the main body operation unit. The above-described angle operation mechanism 20 is conventionally known.

In order to fix the distal end portion of the operation wire 10, a cutting and narrowing portion 3 for fixing the operation wire 10 is provided on the distal end ring 2a. As shown in FIG. 3, the cut-and-squeezed portion 3 is provided with four cuts in the distal end ring 2a with a predetermined width by a predetermined length in the circumferential direction, and the cuts are formed inwardly in an arc shape. It is made to protrude so as to narrow down. The operation wire 10 is inserted into a space formed by the cut-down portion 3. A locking piece 11 is connected to the distal end of the operation wire 10 so that the distal end of the operation wire 10 does not come out of the cut-and-squeeze section 3. The locking piece 11 is formed of a cylindrical member into which the operation wire 10 is inserted, and has a shape shown in FIG. That is, as is apparent from this figure, the main body 11a has an outer shape substantially corresponding to the space defined and formed by the cut-down and squeezed portion 3, and a joining step portion is provided at a front end side of the main body 11a. 11b is formed.
The joining step portion 11b is formed by cutting the throttle portion 3 with the tip ring 2
The edge portion 3a is formed in a ridge shape corresponding to almost the entire area of the end face portion 3a rising from the surface of FIG.

Next, a method of attaching and fixing the locking piece 11 to the distal end of the operation wire 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, the locking piece forming body 12 formed in a cylindrical shape.
The engaging piece forming body 12 is fitted to the distal end portion of the operation wire 10 and formed by pressing means. The pressing die of the pressing means includes an arc-shaped lower die along the inner surface shape of the tip ring 2a, and an upper die having a main body portion forming portion and a joining step forming portion along the inner surface shape of the cutting and drawing portion 3,
The locking piece forming body 12 is press-formed by this press die. Here, the distal end portion of the operation wire 10 must be fixed to the locking piece 11, but this fixing is performed before or after the locking piece 11 is press-molded by loosening the wire at the distal end portion of the operation wire 10. The operation wire 1 is fixed to the locking piece 11 by soldering, welding, or the like.
Fix so that 0 does not come out.

When the locking piece 11 having a step is press-formed from the cylindrical locking piece forming body 12, the main body portion 1 is formed.
The pressing force at the portion 1a is strong, and the pressing force at the joining step portion 11b is weaker than that at the main body portion 11a. Therefore, the stress of the locking piece 11 is sharply increased at the boundary between the main body portion 11a and the joining step portion 11b. Change. For this reason, there may be a case where the relevant portion of the operation wire 10 is weakened, and the strands constituting the operation wire 10 may be compressed and damaged. In order to prevent such a situation, the step forming portion in the upper die of the press die is formed in a tapered shape, or as shown in FIG. The truncated conical member is used. Thus, the transition between the main body 11a and the joining step 11b serves as a gradually decreasing portion of stress, so that a sudden change in stress can be alleviated, and the wire of the operation wire 10 can be protected from breaking.

The present embodiment is constructed as described above. To mount the operation wire 10, the operation wire 10 is inserted into the cut-and-squeezed portion 3 provided on the distal ring 2a, and the base end is removed. Pulleys 21a and 21b constituting the angle operating mechanism 20
And fix it. At this time, the locking piece 11 connected and fixed to the distal end of the operation wire 10 is attached to the main body 11.
a is located in the cut-down portion 3, and the joining step portion 2a is brought into contact with the end surface portion 3a of the cut-down portion 3.

In bending the angle portion 1, the angle knobs 23a, 23 constituting the angle operating mechanism 20 are used.
By operating the pulleys 21a and 21b by operating 3b, one of the pair of operation wires 10 and 10 is pulled and the other operation wire is pushed out. As a result, the plurality of angle rings 2 rotate around the adjacent pivot portions, and bend so that the attached portion of the operation wire on the side where the pulling force acts is located inside. At this time, a force acts in a direction in which the operation wire is pulled out of the cut-and-squeezed portion 3.
1b is locked by the cut-and-squeezed portion 3, and there is no risk of departure from the cut-and-squeezed portion 3.

The locking piece 11 has a main body 11a.
Are fitted in the cut-and-squeezed portion 3 so as to be substantially tightly fitted, so that the locking piece 11 does not move in the cut-and-squeezed portion 3 and is held in an extremely stable state. Accordingly, the joining step portion 11b is always kept in contact with the end surface portion 3a of the cut-down portion 3 over the entire surface, and a uniform pressing force acts on the entire portion. Even if a pulling force is applied, an excessive load does not act on a part of the joint between the joint step 11b and the end surface portion 3a of the cut-down portion 3.

In general, the cut-down portion 3 has a relatively high strength at the beginning of rising at both ends thereof, and becomes weaker toward the middle portion. As a result, for example, if a force is applied intensively to a vertex portion farthest from the inner surface of the distal end ring 2a, the cut and narrowed portion 3 is deformed or cracked. However, since the joining step portion 11b is in contact with substantially the entire area of the end face portion 3a of the cutting and drawing portion 3 with a substantially uniform force, even if a considerably large pulling force is applied, this pulling force is applied to the end face of the cutting and drawing portion 3. Since it is dispersed throughout the portion 3a and is effectively received particularly at the portion where the portion 3a starts rising, the cutting and narrowing portion 3 is deformed,
There are no cracks. Operation wire 1
Compared with the prior art in which the reference numeral 0 is inserted through the cut-and-squeezed portion 3 and turned back, no excessive force is applied to the operation wire 10, and the wire constituting the operation wire 10 is disconnected. There is no fear.

Further, since the operation wire 10 can be mounted simply by cutting the locking piece 11 and inserting it into the squeezing portion 3, the operation wire 10 can be attached and detached very easily, and the operation wire 10 can be easily replaced and other maintenance can be performed. Etc. are also good.
However, it is also possible to fix the locking piece 11 to the cut-down portion 3 by means such as laser welding. Thus, the locking piece 1
When the operation wire 10 is fixed, as shown in FIG.
It is preferable to form the welded portion W at a position avoiding the insertion portion from the viewpoint of protecting the wires constituting the operation wire 10 and the like. When the locking piece 11 is fixed, the joining step 11b of the locking piece 11 is cut off and the end face portion 3a of the narrowed portion 3 is cut.
It is necessary to perform welding in a state where it is brought into contact with a certain pressing force. As a result, the joining step 11b and the end face portion 3a
Since the tensile force can be received not only at the joint surface with the steel but also at the welded portion, the strength is further improved.

Further, the joining step portion 1 of the locking piece 11
1b can be reduced in size and shape of the distal end fixing portion of the operation wire 10 because it only needs to have a step corresponding to the thickness of the end surface portion 3a of the cut-down portion 3 with which the cutting contact portion 1b substantially contacts. In addition, the space in the angle portion 12 can be saved, and the filling rate can be suppressed low, so that protection of other built-in components can be achieved.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the operation wire is fixed to the cutting and narrowing portion formed on the distal end ring, the cutting portion is formed on the main body having the outer shape corresponding to the internal space of the cutting and narrowing portion. Using a locking piece formed by connecting an arc-shaped end face portion of the narrowed portion and a joining step portion to be joined over substantially the entire length thereof, a tip ring is connected and fixed to the locking piece, and the locking piece is fixed. The main body is inserted into the cut and drawn part, and the joining step is joined to the end face of the cut and drawn part to prevent the main wire from coming off. The load can be effectively received between the joining step of the locking piece and the end face of the cutting and drawing part.
Almost including the beginning of rising with high strength
Because it comes into contact over the entire length,
Load is distributed, and cracks occur
No fear such that raw, an effect such equal to its strength degree is extremely improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of an angle section.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of an angle operation mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the tip ring.

FIG. 4 is an external view of a locking piece.

FIG. 5 is an external view of a locking piece forming body.

FIG. 6 is an external view showing another example of the locking piece forming body.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a fitting portion of the locking piece fitted to the cutting and drawing portion, showing a state where the locking piece is welded to the cutting and drawing portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Angle part 2 Angle ring 2a Tip ring 3 Cutting and narrowing part 3a End face part 10 Operation wire 11 Locking piece 11a Main body part 11b Joining stepped part 12, 12 'Locking piece forming body 20 Angle operating mechanism

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Shinichi Koshitaka 700, Konakacho, Sano City, Tochigi Prefecture Inside Sano Fuji Optical Machine Co., Ltd. (72) Mitsuo Kondo 1-324 Uetakecho, Omiya City, Saitama Prefecture Inside Koki Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Mitsunori Machida 1-324 Uetakecho, Omiya City, Saitama Prefecture Fuji Photo Koki Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-59-228620 (JP, A) -5802 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A61B 1/00-1/32 G02B 23/24

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An insertion part comprising a soft part, an angle part and a hard distal part is connected to a main body operation part, and a base part is connected to an angle operation means provided on the main body operation part. A device for performing an angle operation by pushing and pulling an operation wire fixed to a cutting and narrowing portion formed in a tip ring of an angle portion, wherein a locking piece is connected to a tip of the operation wire and provided. And a main body having an outer shape that is fitted to the cut-and-drawn portion substantially tightly, and is joined to an end surface portion on the distal end side of the cut-and-drawn portion over substantially the entire length including a rising portion thereof. This cut
An angle operating device for an endoscope, comprising: a joining step portion for preventing the end portion from falling off from the narrowing portion . 2. The angle operating device for an endoscope according to claim 1, wherein said connecting piece is fixed to said cut-down portion by welding means. 3. An endoscope angle device according to claim 1, wherein said connecting piece is integrated with said operating wire by a pressing means. 4. The angle device for an endoscope according to claim 3, wherein a transition portion between the main body portion and the joining step portion serves as a stress gradual decrease portion during molding by the pressing means. .