JPH0366887B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an endoscope, and more particularly to a distal end portion of an endoscope in which a cover glass is fixed to a distal end component of the distal end portion of an endoscope insertion portion into a body cavity using an adhesive or the like.

Figure 1 shows a flexible endoscope 1 used for medical purposes.
It is.

This endoscope 1 consists of an operating section main body 2 for performing various operations at hand, and a flexible long body cavity insertion section 3 inserted into a patient's body cavity.The operating section main body 2 includes a light source device. A flexible cord 5 having a joint 4 connected to the eyepiece 6 and a focus adjustment knob 7 are provided. Further, a distal end component 8 is provided at the distal end of the insertion section 3, and the distal end component 8 is formed with an air and water supply port 9, an observation window 10, and an illumination window 11.

As shown in FIG. 2, the endoscope tip 8 includes an illumination optical system 13 consisting of an optical fiber bundle 12 and a tip cover glass 18, an optical fiber bundle 12 and an objective lens system 1, and an optical fiber bundle 12 and an objective lens system 1.
4 and an observation optical system 15 and an air/water supply system 16 are provided.

The objective lens system 14 includes a prism 17
It consists of a cover glass 18 provided at the front and a rear lens 19 consisting of a lens group provided at the rear.

Further, the cover glass 18 is adhesively fixed to a housing seat 21 provided on the upper surface of the tip component 20 with an epoxy adhesive 22.

When the endoscope tip 8 configured as described above is sterilized by conventional methods, high pressure steam sterilization, dry heat sterilization, etc. are performed, but according to these methods,
Since the temperature is as high as 120° C. to 130° C., deterioration such as cracking may occur in the adhesive 22 in some cases.

Furthermore, when the tip 8 is disinfected, a formalin-based, iodine-based, alcohol-based, or aldehyde-based disinfectant is used for disinfection, and the adhesive 22 is melted by these chemical solutions, resulting in corrosion resistance. This will cause a bad effect on the cover glass 18 and the like.

By repeating the disinfection work and other operations as described above many times, the brittleness of the adhesive 22 increases.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and to provide a bond between a cover glass and a tip component that has high chemical resistance, is not affected by heat during disinfection, and can be easily applied in place of ordinary adhesives. The aim is to provide endoscopes using agents.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, by the present invention,
A ceramic coating agent is used to securely bond between the tip component and the cover glass.

By filling the adhesive with a ceramic coating agent instead of an ordinary adhesive and baking it at a low temperature, a highly durable adhesive with high heat and chemical resistance can be obtained.

Embodiments and drawings illustrating the present invention will be described.

FIG. 3 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the same components as those shown in the second diagram are designated by the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted. Therefore, in order to specifically fix the cover glass 18, a ceramic coating agent 23 is used instead of the epoxy adhesive 22 to fix the cover glass 18.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment, in which 20 is a tip constituent member, 24 is a tip cover glass, and both are fixed by being filled with a ceramic coating agent 23. In this embodiment, in order to further increase the adhesive force, both the tip component 20 and the tip cover glass 24 are provided with thread-like unevenness 20a, 24a as shown in FIG.

As the ceramic coating agent 23 used in the first and second embodiments described above, "Ceramica" (trade name) manufactured by Nichiban Research Institute Co., Ltd. is used. "Ceramica" has B type,
There are three types, C type and P type, but in particular, C type has a heat resistance temperature of 1300℃ or more, and B type has a heat resistance temperature of 1300℃ or more, has better chemical resistance, and has strong adhesive strength. It has a high viscosity and is suitable for thick coating.

In addition, in the case of P type, the heat resistance temperature is low at 300°C to 500°C, but it has excellent chemical resistance and water resistance. In addition, since the temperature at the adhesive part of the cover glass does not reach 300°C or higher even during the disinfection and sterilization stages, it can also be used in the P type.

Next, the process will be explained with reference to FIG. First, the prism 1 of the objective lens system 14 is attached to the tip component 20.
7. A state in which the rear lens 19 and the optical fiber bundle 12 are not inserted, and a state in which the optical fiber bundle 12 of the illumination optical system 13 is not inserted, that is, the distal end cover glass 18 is placed in the accommodating seat 21 in the accommodating portion 21a recessed in the distal end component member 20. With the cover glass 18
A ceramic coating agent 23 is filled into the gap between the tip component 20 and the ceramic coating agent 23, and heated at 100° C. for 20 to 30 minutes. (Since the construction time for "ceramica" is about 20 minutes at 100°C), the tip cover glass 18 can be fixed to the housing seat 21 by this.

Thereafter, the aforementioned objective lens system 14 and illumination optical system 13 are inserted and fixed. Other steps can be performed by conventional methods.

Note that the tip cover glasses 18 and 24 described in the above embodiments can be implemented by using, for example, a concave lens with a lens function other than plate-shaped glass, and are limited to the illustrated embodiments. It is not something that will be done.

Now, as shown in the above embodiments, the present invention uses an adhesive method using a ceramic coating agent 23 to produce a tip cover glass 18 that has excellent chemical resistance even in disinfection using the above-mentioned chemical solution. It also shows excellent heat resistance even when the above sterilization method is used.

Furthermore, in terms of adhesion strength, it is 60 kg/cm ² for iron, stainless steel, etc., and 40 kg/cm 2 for aluminum and glass.
Kg/cm ² , it is possible to strongly bond the tip cover glass and the tip component 20.

In particular, as shown in the second embodiment, when the structure is formed by providing irregularities on either or both of the outer circumferential surface of the tip cover glass and the inner circumferential surface of the cover glass accommodating part of the tip component, the adhesion with the ceramic coating agent is difficult. Since the area becomes larger, stronger adhesion is possible, and therefore excellent effects on fatigue resistance can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a normal flexible endoscope, Figure 2 is an enlarged partial sectional view of the distal end of the endoscope in Figure 1, and Figure 3 is an enlarged partial sectional view of the tip of the endoscope in Figure 1.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the distal end of an endoscope according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the cover glass attachment portion according to the second embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Endoscope, 3...Intrabody cavity insertion part, 8...Tip component, 10, 11...Window, 12...Optical fiber bundle, 18, 24...Cover glass, 20...Tip component , 21... Accommodating seat, 21a... Cover glass accommodating part, 23... Ceramic coating agent.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An endoscope in which a cover glass is provided at the distal end of the body cavity insertion portion, characterized in that the cover glass is fixed to the distal end component of the distal end with a ceramic coating agent. endoscope. 2. The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the inner circumferential surface of the cover glass accommodating portion of the distal end component of the distal end portion and/or the outer circumferential surface of the cover glass are provided with irregularities. 3. The ceramic coating agent is filled between an accommodating part recessed in the tip constituent member of the distal end and a cover glass housed in a accommodating seat in this accommodating part, and then heat-treated. Endoscope as described in section.