JP3170421B2 - Endoscope Flexible Part Manufacturing Method and Flexible Part Member - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a flexible portion of an endoscope in which an outer jacket is covered with an extruder on the outer periphery of a flexible tube, particularly a flexible tube, and a member of the flexible portion.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In endoscopes and electronic endoscopes, an insertion portion for inserting a distal end portion into a narrow body cavity of a patient or the like is provided. A flexible portion having a flexible tube (spiral tube) is provided between the unit and the light source device or the external processor device. In the flexible portion, the image guide, the light guide, the signal cable, and the like are protected by the flexible tube, and can be bent by the flexibility of the flexible tube.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a part of a conventional flexible portion of an endoscope, and a flexible tube 2 is provided in a flexible portion 1 shown in FIG. The flexible tube 2 is formed such that the spiral members overlap at the ends. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the flexible tube 2 spirally protrudes on the outer periphery, a convex portion 4 having a movable space therein has an end, and an engaging protrusion 5 projecting helically on the outer periphery. It is provided at the other end, and is engaged by engaging the engagement projections 5 inside the projections 4 and overlapping them.
The engagement protrusion 5 is guided into the protrusion 4 and has a spiral interval t.
Therefore, the flexible tube 2 can be bent.

[0004] A jacket 7 made of a resin material is formed on the outer periphery of the flexible tube 2 by an extruder. Therefore, according to the soft portion 1, inside provided by the light guide of the flexible tube 2, an image guide, while protecting the signal cable or the like, the deflection of the flexible tube 2, bending the flexible portion 1 freely This makes it possible to ensure good operability of the endoscope.

[0005]

However, in the conventional flexible portion of the endoscope, the outer casing 7 is formed by the extrusion molding machine as described above. However, there is a problem that variation occurs. That is, at the time of extrusion molding of the jacket 7, an adhesive is applied in order to satisfactorily adhere the resin material to the flexible tube 2, and then the resin material is molded. In the adhesive application step and the molding step, as a result of an experiment in which the feeding direction of the flexible tube 2 to the extruder was changed, as shown in the extrusion direction 100 in FIG. When the adhesive and resin material are fed into the extruder in the opposite direction, the adhesive and the resin material flow as indicated by the arrow 200 and enter the interior from the joint (engagement gap) between the projection 4 and the engagement projection 5. There was found. Therefore, depending on the direction in which the flexible tube 2 is fed, that is, the feeding direction is different from the helical direction, the adhesive or the resin material may or may not flow into the engagement portion between the protrusion 4 and the engagement protrusion 5. However, in the former case, the soft part 1 becomes hard, and in the latter case, it becomes soft. For this reason, conventionally, the bending hardness (flexibility) of the flexible tube 2 (the flexible portion 1) cannot be made uniform.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a flexible portion of an endoscope capable of obtaining a flexible portion having sufficient flexibility and uniform bending hardness. It is to provide a manufacturing method and a flexible member.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is to provide a helical projection projecting from the outer periphery and an engagement projection engaged in the projection. Are connected in a helical manner, and the engaging projections are formed on a flexible portion member having a flexible tube movably arranged in the convex portion. In the method for manufacturing a flexible portion of a mirror, the connection between the projection and the engagement projection in the flexible tube is provided.
The side of the convex portion having the joint of the joint is formed by the extrusion molding machine.
This flexible tube faces the opposite side of the extrusion direction
The flexible portion member having, characterized in that the introduction into the extruder. Invention of the second aspect, even in the adhesive coating step provided in front of the extrusion process, the accessibility
When there is a seam between the joint between the projection and the engagement projection on the flexible tube
The side surface of the projection is opposite to the direction of extrusion to the extruder.
The flexible portion member having the flexible tube is introduced into the adhesive application portion so as to face the side . According to a third aspect of the present invention, an end of the flexible member is provided with a marking indicating a direction of introduction into the extruder . Succession
Extrusion into the extruder described above is the side of the projection with the seam
It is characterized in that it is set so as to face the opposite side to the set direction . According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a helical projection protruding from the outer periphery and an engagement projection engaged in the projection are spirally coupled, and the engagement projection is movably disposed in the projection. have a flexible tube, the flexible portion member of an endoscope to form an envelope by extrusion molding machine to the outer periphery of the flexible tube, contact with the flexible tube
Of the convex portion having a seam between the connecting portion of the convex portion and the engaging projection.
The side faces the opposite side of the extrusion direction to the extruder
In order to set the flexible member in such a manner, the end of the flexible member is provided with a marking indicating the introduction direction.

[0008]

According to the above construction, the seam appearing on the side surface of the convex portion of the flexible tube, that is, the gap of the engaging portion is arranged so as to face the rear side with respect to the feeding (progressing) direction of the flexible member. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the adhesive or the molding material from entering from the joint of the flexible tube. Therefore, the soft portion can be formed softly and uniform quality can be obtained. Further, it is preferable to form, for example, a slot on the distal end side as a marking indicating the introduction direction on the flexible portion member, whereby the flexible portion member can be easily set on the extruder.

[0009]

FIG. 1 shows an arrangement of an endoscope flexible section in an extruder according to an embodiment, FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of a state in which a jacket is formed, and FIG. Shows a state when the flexible member is connected by a joint jig. The flexible member 10 shown in the drawing has a flexible tube 12 as in the prior art, and this flexible tube 12 has a convex portion 14 formed on a spiral member and an engaging protrusion 1.
It is manufactured by stacking five. That is, this flexible tube 1
2, a protrusion 14 protruding to the outer periphery and an engagement protrusion 15 protruding to the outer periphery are provided in a spiral shape as shown in FIG. 2, and the engagement protrusion 15 is arranged in a movable space in the protrusion 14. And
A gap 16 having a helical interval t is set in the convex portion 14, and the flexible tube 12 can be flexed as a whole by the engaging projection 15 freely moving at the interval t.

A die 18 of the extruder shown in FIG. 1 is provided with a circular hole 19 for determining an outer peripheral shape of a jacket to be molded. A resin material in a molten state is fed into a molding material supply section 20. It is. In the embodiment, the flexible member 10 is fed through the die 18 in an extrusion direction 100 toward the right side of the drawing at an extrusion speed of, for example, about 1.5 m / min. 2 is formed.

The flexible member 10 is set so that the seam (engagement gap) C between the projection 14 and the engagement protrusion 15 faces the opposite side (rear side) of the extrusion direction 100. It is introduced into the die 18. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the resin material flows as indicated by arrow 200 and adheres to the convex portion 14 of the flexible tube 12, and the resin material enters from the seam C located on the back side. Never. According to this, a flexible portion having a predetermined softness (flexibility) can be formed, and the flexible portion member 10 always flows from the same direction, so that the molding state of the jacket 22 is constant and the quality is uniform. It becomes possible. In addition, such a flexible part is provided between the insertion part and the operation part, between the operation part and the light source device or the external processor device, or the like. For example, the right end of the flexible part member 10 in FIG. The left end of the operation unit is connected to the light source connector.

According to the above-described manufacturing method, the outer casing 22
There is an advantage that the surface formation state becomes uniform. That is, according to the extrusion molding, the thickness of the outer jacket 22 is limited to the spiral member 1.
Since the front portion P1 and the rear portion P2 of the third convex portion 14 are formed slightly differently, the bending of the flexible portion itself formed by the helical flexible tube 12 is different. However, in the present invention, the spiral direction of the flexible tube 12 and the above-described forming direction of the outer cover 22 always coincide with each other, so that the bending is constant, and the quality is improved in this respect as well.

Further, in the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, a slit 24 is provided on the flexible member 10 only on the leading end side as a marking indicating the direction of introduction into the extruder. Can be In actual manufacturing of the flexible part, a plurality of flexible part members 10 are connected and introduced into an extruder. For example, a joint jig 25 shown in FIG.
Thus, the flexible members 10A and 10B are connected. The joint jig 25 is provided with connection portions 26 and 27 at the front and rear, and a projection 28 that fits into the slit 24 is formed in one of the connection portions 27.

According to this, the rear end of the flexible member 10A is connected to the connecting portion 26 of the joint jig 25 by the flexible member 10A.
The leading end of B is attached to the connecting portion 27 by fitting the slit 24 and the projection 28. As a result, the protrusion 14
The plurality of flexible members 10 can be arranged so that the seam C of the engaging projections 15 always faces the opposite side to the extrusion direction 100, and there is an advantage that the setting of the flexible members 10 is easy and reliable. Instead of the slit 24, a mark of a predetermined color may be provided, or the marking may be provided only on the rear end portion opposite to the flexible member 10.

Further, in the extrusion molding machine of the above embodiment, an adhesive application step is provided before the above-mentioned molding step. In this step, the adhesive application section has the same configuration as that of FIG. Is applied to the surface of the flexible portion 12. Therefore, also in this case, the seam C on the surface of the spiral member 13 is arranged in the direction opposite to the direction in which the flexible member 10 is pushed out, and the flexible member 10 is introduced into the application section.
The penetration of the adhesive into the seam C is reduced and prevented.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In the method for manufacturing a flexible portion of an endoscope, when the flexible portion member is inserted into an extruder , a connection with an engaging projection on a flexible tube is required.
The side of the convex part where the joint (joint part gap) of the joint is pushed out
Since it is arranged so as to face the opposite side of the direction , the intrusion of the molding resin material into the spiral member seam is prevented, and it is possible to obtain a flexible part of uniform quality with bending hardness that ensures sufficient flexibility Becomes Also, the adhesive application step is performed in the same manner as the molding step, so that the penetration of the adhesive into the joint is reduced and prevented.

Further, in the flexible member of the endoscope applied to the above-mentioned manufacturing method, there is a joint at the joint portion with the engaging projection.
Set so that the side of the projection faces the opposite side of the extrusion direction.
For this reason, the end of the flexible member is provided with a marking indicating the direction of introduction, so that the flexible member can be easily set in the extruder, and the production efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a flexible member of an endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention is set in an extruder.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing a state in which a jacket is formed on the flexible member shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a state when connecting the flexible member of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a conventional flexible endoscope.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view showing a connection state of the flexible tube of FIG. 4;

[Description of Signs] 2,12 ... Flexible tube, 4,14 ... Convex part, 5,15 ... Engagement protrusion, 7,22 ... Jacket, 10 ... Soft member, 18 ... Dice, 24 ... Slit, 100: Extrusion direction, C: Seam (engagement gap).

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Naotake Mimori 1-324 Uetakecho, Omiya City, Saitama Prefecture Inside Fuji Photographic Equipment Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-63-277029 (JP, A) JP-A-61- 47918 (JP, A) JP-A-63-125232 (JP, A) JP-A-2-131738 (JP, A) JP-A-1-265933 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A61B 1/00-1/32 B29C 47/02 B29L 23:00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A flexible tube in which a helical projection projecting from the outer periphery and an engagement projection engaged in the projection are helically connected, and the engagement projection is movably arranged in the projection. per soft portion member having, at flexible portion manufacturing method of an endoscope to form an envelope by extrusion molding machine to the outer periphery of the flexible tube, the upper
The joint between the projection and the engagement projection of the flexible tube is not
The side surface of the convex portion in the direction of extrusion to the extrusion molding machine is
So as to face the opposite side, the flexible portion manufacturing method of an endoscope the flexible portion member having the flexible tube, characterized in that the introduction into the extruder. 2. Also in the adhesive coating step provided prior to said extrusion step, engaging the convex portion of the flexible tube
The side surface of the projection where the joint of the joint projection is
So that it faces the opposite side of the extrusion direction to the extrusion molding machine,
2. The method for manufacturing a flexible portion of an endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the flexible portion member having the flexible tube is introduced into an adhesive application portion. 3. An end of the flexible member is provided with a marking indicating a direction of introduction into the extruder, and the marking is used to connect a convex portion and an engaging projection of the flexible tube.
The side of the projection with the seam of
3. The method for manufacturing a flexible part of an endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the flexible part is set so as to face the side opposite to the extrusion direction . 4. A flexible tube in which a helical projection projecting from the outer periphery and an engagement projection engaged in the projection are spirally connected, and the engagement projection is movably arranged in the projection. have a, in the flexible portion member of an endoscope to form an envelope by extrusion molding machine to the outer periphery of the flexible tube, and the convex portion of the flexible tube
The side surface of the projection having the joint of the coupling portion of the engagement projection is
Set it to the opposite side of the extrusion direction to the extrusion machine.
A flexible member for an endoscope, wherein a marking indicating an introduction direction is attached to an end of the flexible member in order to perform the operation.