JPH0646264B2 - Protective tube for insertion part of industrial endoscope - Google Patents

Description

Description: [Industrial application] The present invention relates to an insertion tube protection tube for an industrial endoscope that can improve the insertability of the insertion tube and change the flexibility.

[Prior Art] In recent years, by inserting an elongated insertion portion into a body cavity, an organ in the body cavity or the like is observed, and in-vivo tissue is collected by using forceps inserted through a forceps channel as necessary to obtain an affected part. Medical endoscopes capable of making detailed diagnoses are widely used. Further, in the industrial field, industrial endoscopes are also used for maintenance such as observing the condition inside pipes of boilers, chemical plants, etc. or collecting and inspecting the deposits on the pipe inner surface.

The endoscope includes a flexible endoscope having a flexible insertion portion and a bendable structure, and a rigid endoscope having a substantially straight insertion portion.

In these endoscopes, when the insertion portion is inserted, an illumination optical system that transmits the illumination light supplied to the hand side and emits the illumination light toward the object side on the distal end side of the insertion portion, and the illumination optical system. An observation optical system is provided which is capable of forming an image of the illuminated object and observing it from the rear of the eyepiece on the hand side.

The above-mentioned industrial endoscope insertion portion, when repeatedly used for insertion and removal of the subject, because the outer peripheral surface of the insertion portion is damaged or damaged,
The outer peripheral surface of the insertion portion is generally protected by a mesh tube in which fine wires of metal or the like are braided in a mesh shape (to form a jacket).

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In a conventional industrial endoscope insertion portion, the outer sheath can be replaced as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-37322 by the present applicant. However, in order to improve the insertability of the insertion portion and the bending performance of the bending portion, the bending portion side and the flexible portion side of the insertion portion are Therefore, the flexibility cannot be changed.

By the way, it is also considered that the flexibility of the protective tube is changed between the bending portion side and the flexible portion side by changing the tension of the jacket protection tube between the bending portion side and the flexible portion side of the insertion portion. To be However, with this method of changing the tension of the tube, the degree of flexibility change between the bending portion side and the soft portion side cannot be increased so much, and in the end, the insertability of the insertion portion and the bending performance of the bending portion cannot be improved. I won't.

The present invention has been made in view of these circumstances, at least by forming the tube of the outer circumference of the curved portion and the tube of the outer circumference of the flexible portion by changing the size of the wire diameter, respectively.
We provide an insertion tube protection tube for industrial endoscopes that changes the flexibility characteristics of the tube on the bending section side and the tube on the insertion section side to improve the insertability and further provide flexibility as needed. The purpose is to do.

[Means for Solving the Problem and Its Action] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides at least an insertion portion having a bendable bending portion and a flexible soft portion, and at least an outer periphery of the insertion portion. In a protective tube for an insertion portion of an industrial endoscope, which is divided into a curved portion and a flexible portion outer periphery, and the curved portion outer peripheral portion is formed to be more flexible than the flexible portion outer peripheral portion, the protective tube is a thin wire made of metal or the like. Is formed by braiding in a net shape, and the wire diameter of the protective tube on the outer circumference of the curved portion is smaller than the wire diameter of the protective tube on the outer circumference of the flexible portion.

Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows A of FIG.
The -A 'line sectional view is shown.

In these figures, the insertion portion 11 in the industrial endoscope using one embodiment of the present invention is (insertion portion) tip portion 12
And a flexible soft portion (flexible portion) 14 connected to the tip portion 12 with a curved portion 13 interposed therebetween.

A hole is formed in the axial direction of the insertion portion 11 on the upper side of the hard tip member 15 made of metal or the like in the tip portion 12, and the objective lenses 16 and 16 are arranged via the lens frame 17. There is. Further, the tip side of the light guide fiber 19 for emitting the illumination light forward from the tip surface of the tip member 15 to the front side through the cover glass 18 is fixed to one of the two holes on the lower side. Is covered with a flexible tube member 21, and illumination light is supplied from the hand side through the flexible portion 14.

The other hole on the lower side of the tip member 15 is used, for example, as a treatment instrument insertion channel.

An image guide fiber 22 having a high flexibility is provided as an image transmitting means so that the front end surface is located at a position where an optical image of an object is formed by the objective lenses 16 and 16. The image guide fiber 22 is housed in a flexible tube member 23 and is inserted to the rear operation portion side, and the objective lenses 16 and 1 are inserted from the rear of the eyepiece lens (not shown).
An observation optical system capable of observing the optical image formed at 6 is configured.

The tip end side of the image guide fiber 22 is the cylindrical member 2
4 is fitted and housed in and is fixed to the inner wall of the tip member 15 by the interposition member 25.

A plurality of substantially tubular joint pieces 26, 26, ..., 26 are rotatable in the bending portion 13 adjacent to the distal end portion 12 and can be inserted into the insertion portion 1.
These joint pieces 26, 26, 26 are arranged in series in one direction.
, 26 are operation wires 2 inserted through the insertion portion 11.
By pulling and loosening the proximal portions of 7, 27, 27, 27 by operating the bending operation lever, it is possible to bend up, down, left and right.

The joint pieces 26, 26, ..., 26 are housed in a (flexible) soft inner net tube (blade) 28 in which fine wires made of metal or the like are braided in a net shape, and the joints at the most distal end (the foremost end). The piece 26 is fixed to the rear end of the housing 30 which is fixed to the tip member 15 by a substantially ring-shaped locking piece 29.

Further, the joint piece 26 at the rearmost end, together with the rear end of the mesh tube 28, is disposed on the front end side of the substantially tubular insertion portion main body 31 formed in a stepped shape provided at the boundary between the bending portion 13 and the flexible portion 14. It is fixed.

The outer periphery of the mesh tube 28 that covers the joint pieces 26, 26, ..., 26 is further covered with a tube member 33 having sufficient flexibility such as rubber so as to be easily bent.
Both ends of the are pressed and fixed by a ring-shaped member so as to maintain liquid tightness.

On the inner periphery of the rear end portion of the (insertion portion) main body portion 31, a flexible tube 3 formed of a resin or the like in which the mesh tube 34 and the mesh tube 34 are fitted and housed
The front end side of 5 is fixed with an adhesive or the like, and a flexible spiral tube 36 formed by spirally winding a long thin plate-like member is inserted into the inner periphery of the mesh tube 34, and the image is formed inside this. A transmission image guide fiber 22, a light guide fiber 19 for transmitting illumination light, and the like are inserted.

The outer circumference of the flexible tube 35 made of the above resin or the like is further covered with an outer mesh tube 37 for protection. The front end of the mesh tube 37 covering the flexible portion 14 is pressed and held from inside and outside by both tubular inner tube 38 and outer tube 39 members, and caulking, soldering,
(Silver) The inner peripheral side of the rear end side of the annular or tubular fixing member 40 is thinned in a state where it is fixed by spot welding such as brazing or the like and cut after fixing with an adhesive or the like so as not to loosen the end portion of the mesh tube 37. It is fitted to the base part, and is fixed with solder, (silver) braze, adhesive or the like. In this case, the inner pipe 38 is longer than the outer pipe 39 and extends rearward, and the mesh pipe 37 in a portion adjacent to the portion compressed and held by the outer pipe 39 bulges in the (outside) radial direction and the outer diameter of this portion. The outer diameter of the thin outer tube 39 has almost the same diameter, and when the insertion portion 11 is inserted and then taken out, a step portion exists on the inner circumference of the insertion portion, and even if the end portion of the outer tube 39 contacts the step portion, It is formed so as not to get caught.

When the mesh pipe 37 is fixed by both inner and outer pipes 38 and 39, for example, the inner pipe 38 is fitted inside the steel pipe 37, and then the outer pipe 39 is passed from the outside (the order may be reversed). Thus, even if the end portion of the mesh tube 37 is loosened, it can be carried out more easily than when it is directly inserted between the inner and outer tubes 38, 39. Then, by caulking the outer pipe 39 (in this case, the inner pipe 38 or both the inner and outer pipes 38, 39 may be plastically worked), the net pipe 37 can be fixed by being pressed and held (further fixed with an adhesive or the like). The fixed one may be aligned with the ends of the inner and outer tubes 38, 39 with a predetermined length, or may be cut together with the inner and outer tubes 38, 39.

The end portion side of the one formed as described above is fixed to the fixing member 40.
It is fitted so as to be covered by the thin base portion on the rear end side, and the hole or the like formed in the thin base portion leading to the outer circumference of the outer tube 39 is filled with an adhesive and fixed, or is welded with solder, silver solder or the like. You can Since the outer tube 39 is covered with the thin mouthpiece portion in this manner, the appearance of the outer tube 39 can be improved by substantially covering the scratches for caulking.

The base of the fixing member 40 fixed to the outer pipe 39 is shorter than the outer pipe 39, and the rear end of the base is shaved on the outer peripheral side, and the rear end is tapered smoothly and has a small diameter. It is formed so that no stepped portion is caught.
Further, since the base portion is formed to be shorter than the outer pipe 39, when adhesively fixing it to the outer pipe 39 with solder or the like, even if solder, silver solder or the like seeps out from the rear end of the base portion, it is directly on the side of the net pipe 37. It is possible to check whether or not soldering or the like is sufficient (by confirming seepage from the end portion). or,
The leached solder reduces the step difference at the rear end of the base portion, so that it is less likely to get caught.

The inner peripheral side of the front end of the fixing member 40 has a plurality of engaging concavo-convex portions 42 (the latter half of a plurality of engaging concavo-convex portions 42 formed by outer teeth such as a plurality of splines or serrations formed on the outer periphery of an annular member 41 integrated with the main body 31 by adhesion or the like. ), An engaging portion 43 having internal teeth for engaging with the concave-convex portion 42 is formed. Similarly, as shown by an arrow B, a substantially annular connecting member 45, which has an engaging portion 44 having inner teeth for engaging with (the front half portion of) the concave-convex portion 42 formed on the inner periphery of the rear end, is moved from the front to the rear. With this, the concavo-convex portions of the concavo-convex portion 42 and the interlocking portion 44 are engaged and locked, and the connecting member 45 is configured not to rotate (rotate) in the circumferential direction.

The engagement by the unevenness does not require rotation such as twisting for alignment with the circumferential direction in the case of a single engaging means by forming a large number of uneven parts 42 in the circumferential direction, and which rotation does not occur. Since the engagement can be performed even at the position, the disadvantage that the engagement cannot be performed unless the screw is twisted due to variations in processing accuracy or the like is eliminated.

The annular member 4 having the outer diameter of the concave portion of the concave-convex portion 42 is separated from the annular member 41 provided on the outer periphery of the concave-convex portion 42.
6 is fixed to the outer periphery of the main body 31 and both annular members 41, 46
Thus, a groove 47 or a recess in the circumferential direction is formed on the outer circumference of the main body 31 between them, and as shown in FIG. 2, for example, two grooves (not two but one or three or more may be provided in the groove 47. .) Arc-shaped leaf springs 48, 48 are accommodated. Movement of these leaf springs 48, 48 in the circumferential direction is restricted by a protrusion provided in the groove 47.

The leaf springs 48, 48 are always formed so as to have a biasing force having a radius of curvature smaller than the outer diameter of the outer periphery of the main body 31. Then, a part of the arc-shaped center protrudes outward in the radial direction, presses the concave portion formed on the inner circumference of the connecting member 45, and is fixed to the annular member 41 so that the connecting member 45 does not move in the axial direction of the insertion portion 11. Is configured. on the other hand,
Holes 49 and 49 are formed on the outer circumferences of the portions of the connecting member 45 where the leaf springs 48 and 48 project, and the leaf springs 48 and 48 are formed from the outside of the holes 49 and 49 with a pin or the like.
Is pressed inward, the connecting member 45 is moved forward in the direction opposite to the arrow B, so that the fitting due to the unevenness is released and the engagement with the annular member 41 can be released. There is.

As described above, by the plurality of (preferably a large number of) concave and convex engaging means, for example, even if there is a deviation (relative to the circumferential direction) between the concave and convex portion 42 and the engaging portion 44, the alignment in the circumferential direction is almost twisted. It is formed so that it can be detachably engaged without the need. Therefore, it has an advantage that it can be easily maintained and repaired, and there is no risk of dropping when the screw is used.

The inner periphery of the front end of the connecting member 45 is cut out to form a thin mouthpiece portion, and like the rear end side of the fixing member 40, the inner pipe 51 and the outer pipe 52 cover the outer periphery of the curved portion 13 with rubber or the like. The rear end portion of the protective net tube 53 that further covers the formed tube member 33 is pressed and held, and the fixed one is fitted and accommodated in the thin base portion and fixed with solder, silver solder or the like.

Also in this case, the inner pipe 51 is longer than the outer pipe 52 and protrudes forward, and the outer pipe 52 has the outer periphery of the fixing member 40.
It is designed to project forward from the thin base part of the.

The inner diameter of the inner pipe 51 is the mesh pipe 28 fixed inside.
Since the outer diameter of the rear end portion is formed to be slightly larger than the outer diameter and a gap is provided, the leaf springs 48, 48 can be pressed inward to move the connecting member 45 to the front opposite to the arrow B. It is constructed so that it can be disengaged.

Therefore, the front end portion of the mesh pipe 53 also has an inner pipe 54 and an outer pipe 55.
Press and hold with to fix it, cut the front end side of the loosened net tube 53, fit the outer circumference of the outer tube 55 to the thin base part of the rear end of the annular or tubular fixing member 56, solder, silver solder, etc. It is stuck in. In this case, the fixing member 56 is fixed to the outer pipe 55 in a state in which a protrusion formed on the front end thereof and protruding inward in the radial direction is in contact with a protrusion formed on the outer periphery of the tip member 15. Also in this case, the inner tube 54 projects rearward from the outer tube 55, and the outer tube 55 projects rearward from the thin base portion of the fixing member 56 so that the insertion portion 11 can be smoothly inserted and removed. It is formed on.

A fixing ring 57 having a male screw formed on the outer circumference on the front end side and a knurl provided on the outer circumference on the rear end side is externally fitted to the outer circumference of the tip member 15 adjacent to the fixing member 56, and the front end surface of the fixing ring 57 has the front end surface of the tip member 15. A ring 58 fitted with a notch that is detachable (in the circumferential direction) in a recess formed in the outer periphery.
It comes into contact with and is prevented from coming off and its position is regulated. In this fixing ring 57, a cylindrical cover member 59 that covers the front end side of the front end portion 12 is screwed into a male screw of the fixing ring 57 so that the cylindrical cover member 59 is attached or unfastened. It is configured so that it can be removed.

The portions of the cylindrical cover member 59 facing the observation objective window portion and the illumination window portion are formed so as to be open.

If the tubular cover member 59 is removed and the ring 58 is removed as described above, the fixing ring 57 can be removed. However, if the engaging means due to the unevenness described above is released, the protective steel pipe 53 having the outer periphery of the curved portion 13 protected, that is, the fixing member 56 attached to the front end and the connecting member 45 attached to the rear end. Since it can be removed by moving it in the direction opposite to the arrow B, it is formed so that the mesh tube 53 or its rear part, that is, the outer cover of the flexible part 14 can be replaced. Therefore, even if the outer cover covering the bending portion 13 or the flexible portion 14 is damaged, only that portion can be replaced.

Further, the mesh tube 53 that covers the curved portion 13 and the mesh tube 37 that covers the flexible portion 14 can be formed to have different characteristics.

For example, if the diameter of the wire of the mesh tube 53 that covers the curved portion 13 is small,
In other words, by making it thin, it is formed with good flexibility and easy to bend, while on the flexible portion 14 side, the diameter of the strands can be increased or the thickness can be increased to increase the durability. Has been formed.

Not only the above-mentioned protective mesh tubes 53 and 37 but also the inner tube member 33 and the flexible member 35 can be formed to have similar characteristics if they are made of different materials and different thicknesses. The same applies to the net tubes 28 and 34.

According to the embodiment configured in this way, in the insertion portion main body portion 31 provided at the boundary between the bending portion 13 and the flexible portion 14,
Formed so that the connecting member 45 and the fixing member 40, in which the ends of the mesh tubes 53 and 37 as the outer coverings respectively covering the bending portion 13 and the flexible portion 14 are separated and fixed, can be detachably attached and detached. I am doing it.

Therefore, when the insertion portion 11 is inserted into and removed from the insertion path such as in a pipe for industrial use and the outer covering portion of the bending portion 13 or the outer covering portion of the flexible portion 14 is damaged, the outer covering portion on the damaged side is replaced. Therefore, it is not necessary to replace the entire outer cover of the insertion portion as in the conventional example. Therefore, it can be repaired efficiently and economically. Further, by dividing into the bending portion 13 side and the flexible portion 14 side, the outer covering on the bending portion 13 side is formed so as to be rich in flexibility (flexibility), which is easy to bend,
On the other hand, the flexible portion 14 side is made to have flexibility (somewhat) to be sacrificial so that it can be formed to be strong against external force and durable.

In the above, for example, when the jacket of the bending portion 13 is damaged, the work of removing the jacket portion of the bending portion 13 can be performed as follows. The fixing ring 57 can be also removed by rotating the fixing ring 57 of the tip portion 12 to remove the cover member 59 and further removing the ring 58 having the cutout portion.

In this state, if the leaf springs 48, 48 in the groove 47 of the detachable engaging means formed on the outer periphery of the insertion portion main body 31 are pressed inward and the connecting member 45 is moved forward, Since the engaging portion 44 of the connecting member 45 engaged with the engaging concave-convex portion 42 of the member 41 is disengaged,
The mesh tube 53 having the fixing member 56 attached to the front end side and the connecting member 45 attached to the rear end side can be removed from the insertion portion 11 by moving forward.

Therefore, the fixed member 56 and the outer pipe 55 in the removed mesh pipe 53 are unfixed, and the connecting member 45 and the outer pipe 52 are removed.
The damaged mesh tube 53 can be replaced with a new one by releasing the adhesion between the mesh tube 53 and the wire. Further, it can be fixed at a predetermined site by a process reverse to the above.

When the flexible portion 14 is damaged, the bending portion 13 is formed as described above.
After removing the mesh tube 53 on the outer periphery, the mesh tube 37 on the outer periphery of the flexible portion 14 can be removed and repaired in substantially the same manner.

In the above description, the structure is such that it can be divided into the curved portion 13 side and the flexible portion 14, but the flexible portion 14 may be further divided, for example.

Further, in the above description, as the means for detachably dividing, the means for engaging the unevenness and fixing by the biasing force of the leaf springs 48, 48 is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the members to be divided may be detachably fixed with screws.

Further, as a means for attaching and detaching and fixing, a thread member is wound around the outer periphery of the end portion of the outer cover to fix the outer peripheral portion of the predetermined insertion portion 11 and, if necessary, an adhesive from the outer side. You can also do it.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the tubular outer jacket on the outer circumference of the curved portion and the tubular outer jacket on the outer circumference of the flexible portion are divided to form the protective tube in which the size of the wire is changed. The flexibility characteristics of the protective tube can be changed at least on the outer circumference of the curved portion and the outer circumference of the flexible portion, so that the insertability and the bending performance can be improved.

Furthermore, because the outer circumference of the curved section and the outer circumference of the flexible section are made of different members, the tension of the protective tube must be changed to change the flexibility of one tube compared to one continuous protective tube. The protective tube is formed by changing the size of the strand of wire as compared with the conventional method, so that it is possible to obtain an effect that the change in flexibility can be changed largely and freely.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 and 2 relate to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an industrial endoscope insertion portion using the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. 11 ... insertion part, 12 ... tip part, 13 ... curved part, 1
4 ... Flexible part, 31 ... Insertion part body part, 37,53 ...
Net tubes, 38, 51, 54 ... Inner tubes, 39, 52, 55 ...
… Outer tube, 40, 56 …… Fixing member, 41 …… Ring member,
42 ... uneven portion, 43, 44 ... engaging portion, 45 ... connecting member, 46 ... hole, 47 ... groove portion, 48 ... leaf spring.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An insertion part having a bendable bending part and a flexible soft part, and a flexible part at the outer circumference of the bending part, which is provided on the outer circumference of the insertion part and is divided at least by the bending part and the outer circumference of the soft part. In the insertion portion protection tube of the industrial endoscope formed to be more flexible than the outer peripheral portion, the protection tube is formed by braiding a wire made of a thin wire such as metal into a net shape, An insertion tube protection tube for an industrial endoscope, characterized in that the wire diameter of the protection tube is made smaller than the wire diameter of the protection tube on the outer circumference of the flexible part.