JP2001070234A - Manufacture of flexible tube for endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope to be assembled very easily. SOLUTION: In manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope, a core bar 5 for winding a helical tube, a core bar for soldering the helical tube 2 and a net tube 3 and a core bar for inserting an outer tube into the outer periphery of the net tube 3 are separately formed. The outer diameters of these core bars are tapered in the order of manufacturing processes and the core bars are exchanged at appropriate time in the manufacturing processes. The core bar for soldering is made of aluminum.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope, and more particularly, to a method of coating a spiral tube made of a metal elastic strip with an outer tube, and an outer tube around the outer tube of the spiral tube. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope that covers a target.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, a flexible tube of an endoscope generally used for medical and industrial purposes is manufactured as shown in FIG. That is, the flexible tube 1 for an endoscope is
A spiral tube 2 is formed by spirally winding a metal elastic thin plate around the periphery of a single metal core 5 made of stainless steel or the like, and the mesh tube 3 is fitted over the outer periphery of the spiral tube 2. Further, after coating the outer tube 4 on the mesh tube 3, the core 5 is finally pulled out to manufacture a desired flexible tube 1.

[0003]

However, in the conventional manufacturing method as described above, since the core metal 5 is made of stainless steel, when the spiral tube 2 and the mesh tube 3 are fixed by soldering, they exude. The spiral tube 2 and the core metal 5 are adhered to each other by the solder, and the core metal 5 cannot be pulled out. Forcibly pulling out the core metal 5 may damage the spiral tube 2 and the mesh tube. Further, since the spiral tube 2 is wound around the core metal 5 in close contact, and the mesh tube 3 is fitted thereon, once the core metal 5 is pulled out, the mesh tube 3 is removed.
As a result, the inner diameter of the helical tube 2 tightened is slightly reduced, and there is also a problem that the core metal 5 cannot be inserted even if it is inserted again. For this reason, even when it is easier to assemble the core bar 5 when the core bar 5 is pulled out, the assembling operation is performed with the core bar as it is. Therefore, there is a problem in that the assembling is very difficult and troublesome.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned problems in the conventional method for manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope, and to provide a method for manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope which is extremely easy to assemble. Is to provide.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a flexible tube for an endoscope in which a helical tube made of a metal elastic thin strip is covered with a mesh tube, and the outer tube is covered with an outer tube. About the manufacturing method, a metal elastic thin strip plate is wound at the same pitch around the outer peripheral surface of a metal or synthetic resin spiral tube winding core having a diameter equal to or slightly larger than the inner diameter of the spiral tube. A step of forming a spiral tube, a first temporary fixing step of performing a first temporary fixing of an end of the spiral tube to the spiral tube winding core with a temporary fixing member such as a tape, A mesh tube coating step of coating the mesh tube on the outer periphery, fixing the end of the mesh tube, and tightening the mesh tube to closely contact the spiral tube, and then soldering the both ends of the mesh tube and the spiral tube, etc. A second temporary fixing step of performing a second temporary fixing by the brazing means, and fixing the end of the mesh pipe. Open, remove the above-mentioned first temporary stop,
The above spiral tube winding core is pulled out, has an outer diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the spiral tube winding core, and is made of a metal such as aluminum or titanium, which has a high releasability from solder such as solder or A first metal core replacement step of replacing the metal core with a brazing core made of synthetic resin, and after the first metal core replacement step, both ends of the mesh tube are pulled and twisted to make the mesh tube slack. A third temporary fixing step of performing a third temporary fixing with a brazing means such as solder to a twisted portion aimed at prevention, and a mesh having a width of 5 to 10 mm at predetermined positions at both ends of the mesh tube. A main fixing step in which the pipe and the helical pipe are permanently fixed by a brazing means such as soldering, a core metal withdrawing step in which the part fixed in the third temporary fixing step is removed, and a core for soldering is withdrawn; The brazing core is fixed to a vise, etc., and the base of the flexible tube is inserted through the core in advance. Placing the brazing portion on the side where the base member of the fixed spiral tube and the braided tube is fixed to a predetermined size, and removing the spiral tube and the braided tube from the cut portion for the brazing. Inserting into the core, fitting with the die member, fixing to the die, extracting the brazing core from the spiral tube with the braided net, smaller than the outer diameter of the brazing core A second metal core replacement step of replacing a metal or synthetic resin tube insertion core having an outer diameter that is not easily bent, and a spiral tube in which the tube insertion core is inserted from the base member side And one end of the outer tube is pressed against the mesh tube, air is supplied from the other end of the outer tube, and the outer tube is inflated to cover the outer periphery of the mesh tube, and one end is positioned at a predetermined position of the base member. Cover the outer tube until it comes to And instrumentation tube coating step, a manufacturing method of the flexible tube, characterized in that it comprises a.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A method for manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope according to the present invention will be described below with reference to one embodiment shown in the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a process of manufacturing the spiral tube 2 in the method of manufacturing the flexible tube 1 for an endoscope according to one embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the spiral tube 2 is formed by winding a metal elastic thin plate around a spiral tube winding core 5 (step of forming a spiral tube). The core 5 is made of brass or the like, and has an outer diameter equal to or slightly larger than the inner diameter of the spiral tube 2. The spiral tube 2 is formed by sandwiching one end of the ribbon plate and winding it around the concentric metal 5 at the same pitch.

The other end of the spiral tube 2 wound around the concentric metal 5 is temporarily fixed on the concentric metal 5 with a temporary fixing member, for example, a tape 7 (see FIG. 3). 1 temporary fixing step).

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the spiral tube 2 is wound from one end of the spiral tube 2 wound around the cored bar 5 as described above.
Then, the mesh tube 3 is covered to the other end of the spiral tube 2 fixed by the tape 7, and the other end of the mesh tube 3 is fixed with a vise 8 or the like (mesh tube covering step).

Thereafter, the mesh pipe 3 is pressed tightly to the spiral pipe 2 and then close to the both ends of the mesh pipe 3.
Are respectively spotted by soldering means such as solder, and temporarily fixed at the solder spotting section 9 (second temporary fixing step).

Next, the fixing of the end of the mesh tube is released,
The spiral tube 2 with the first temporary fixing removed and the net tube 3 covered
From above, the core 5 for winding the spiral tube is pulled out, and instead, a core 10 for soldering (see FIG. 3) is inserted.
(First core metal replacement step). The soldering core 10 is made of a metal such as aluminum or titanium or a synthetic resin, such as aluminum or titanium, which has high releasability to which solder such as solder is difficult to adhere. Is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of

After replacing the core metal in this manner, as shown in FIG. 4, both ends of the net tube 3 are pulled and twisted to prevent the net tube 3 from sagging (third temporary fixing step). Both ends are fixed in the vicinity of both ends of the helical tube 2 with a width of 5 to 10 mm by brazing means such as solder to form an adhesive portion 11 (final fixing step).

Next, one end of the mesh tube 3 is cut off, and the core 10 for soldering is pulled out from the end (core bar pulling step). Then, the middle part of the solder bonding part 11 at one end is cut at a right angle as a cutting part 12 (cutting step).

After that, the pulled-out soldering core 10 is fixed to a vise 8 as shown in FIG. 5, and the distal end of the soldering core 10 is previously provided with a base member of a flexible tube. 13, the cut portion 12 of the mesh tube 3 and the cut portion 12 of the spiral tube 2 are inserted into the core 10 for soldering, and the base member 13 previously passed through the core 10 is cut into the cut portion. 12 and fixed by soldering while rotating the base member 13 (step of fixing to the base).

Next, the soldering core 10 is connected to the mesh tube 3.
Is extracted from the spiral tube 2 having the sheath, and the tube insert core 14 is inserted into the spiral tube 2 having the mesh tube 3 as shown in FIG. That is, the tube insertion core 14 is fixed to the vise 8 and inserted into the tube insertion core 14 from the base member 13 side into the spiral tube 2 on which the mesh tube 3 is mounted (second core metal replacement step). .

The tube insertion core 14 is made of stainless steel, and its outer diameter is equal to that of the soldering core 1.
0 is smaller than the outer diameter.

As shown in FIG. 6, an outer tube 4 is placed over the tip (left end in FIG. 6) of the spiral tube 2 having the mesh tube 3, and the outer tube 4 is pressed down while holding the tip 15. Air is supplied into the outer tube 4 from the rear end 16 of the base member 4, and is inflated to cover the outer periphery of the mesh tube 3 provided on the spiral tube 2. (The outer tube coating step).

Next, the tube 14 is pulled out to complete the flexible tube 1 for an endoscope.

[0020]

As described above, according to the manufacturing method of the present invention, (1) when soldering a braided tube to a spiral tube, brazing of an aluminum material to which a solder such as solder is difficult to adhere to a cored bar; Since the core metal is used, the spiral tube and the core metal are not easily bonded to each other even if solder such as solder is exuded to the core metal. The disadvantage that the helical tube with the net tube is damaged when the core is removed is eliminated.

(2) The diameter of each metal core is such that the diameter of the metal core for spiral tube winding> the diameter of the metal core for brazing> the diameter of the metal core for tube insertion. Since the core used in the next process has a smaller diameter, the problem that the core cannot be inserted during the manufacturing process of the flexible tube is solved.
The manufacturing process becomes smooth, and assembly can be facilitated.

It is possible to provide a method of manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope in which the problems in the conventional method of manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope of the type described above are solved satisfactorily and the assembling operation is extremely easy. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part showing an example of a configuration of a flexible tube for an endoscope.

FIG. 2 is a main part side view showing a manufacturing process of a spiral tube in a method of manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing a step of coating a helical tube with a mesh tube in a method of manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing a step of coating a helical tube with a net tube in the method of manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing a step of coating a helical tube with a mesh tube in a method of manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing a step of coating an outer tube in a method of manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Flexible tube for endoscopes 2 ... Helical tube 3 ... Net tube 4 ... Outer tube 5 ... Core metal for spiral tube winding 10 ... Core metal for soldering 14 ... Core metal for tube insertion

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope in which a helical tube made of a metal elastic ribbon plate is covered with a mesh tube and an outer tube is coated on the outer periphery of the mesh tube. A step of forming a spiral tube by winding a metal elastic ribbon plate at the same pitch on the outer peripheral surface of a metal or synthetic resin spiral tube winding core having a diameter equal to or slightly larger than the inner diameter, A first temporary fixing step in which an end of the spiral tube is first temporarily fixed to the core metal for winding the spiral tube with a temporary fixing member such as a tape; and a mesh covering the outer periphery of the spiral tube with a mesh tube. A pipe coating step, fixing the end of the mesh pipe, and squeezing the mesh pipe into close contact with the helical pipe, and then bonding both ends of the mesh pipe and the helical pipe to the second end by brazing means such as solder. A second temporary fixing step of performing temporary fixing, and releasing the end of the mesh tube from the first temporary fixing step; Helical tube winding core metal is pulled out and has an outer diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the helical tube winding core metal. A first metal core replacement step of replacing with a high metal or synthetic resin brazing core metal, and after this first metal core replacement step, both ends of the mesh tube are pulled and twisted, A third temporary fixing step of performing a third temporary fixing with a brazing means such as solder to a twisted portion aimed at preventing sagging of the mesh tube; 5-10 mm at predetermined positions at both ends of the mesh tube; A main fixing step of performing main fixing to the mesh tube and the spiral tube with a width of by soldering or the like, and a core metal pulling step of removing a part fixed in the third temporary fixing step and extracting a brazing core metal And fixing the extracted brazing core to a vise or the like, and connecting the opening of the flexible tube to the core in advance. A step of inserting a member, a step of cutting a brazed portion of the permanently fixed spiral tube and the braided tube on a side on which the base member is to be mounted, to a predetermined size, and a step of cutting the spiral tube and the braided tube by the cutting portion. Inserting the brazing core into the brazing core, fitting the ferrule into the brazing member, and fixing the brazing core to the brazing core. Has an outer diameter smaller than the outer diameter of
A second core metal replacement step of replacing a metal or synthetic resin tube insertion core that is difficult to bend; and a spiral tube and a mesh tube in which the tube insertion core is inserted from the base member side. Press one end of
Air is supplied from the other end of the outer tube, and the outer tube is covered with the outer tube while expanding the outer tube, and the outer tube is covered with the outer tube until one end comes to a predetermined position of the base member. A method for manufacturing a flexible tube for an endoscope, comprising: