JPH11244224A - Angle ring connecting structure of endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily connect front/rear angle rings, and hold high strength in a connecting state by constituting the structure so as to pivotally movably connect the front/rear angle rings by fitting a projection to a through hole by superposing the connecting part having the through hole and the connecting part having the projection. SOLUTION: First of all, the connecting part 32 extending from the ring part 31 of a front angle ring 30 by rotating a rear angle 30 by 90 deg. to the front angle ring 30 and the connecting part 33 extending from the ring part 31 of the rear angle ring 30, are oppositely arranged as Fig. (a). Next, when the connecting parts 32, 33 are joined together as Fig. (b), the tip of the connecting part 33 collides with a projection 34 formed in the connecting part 32, but is deformed in the outward warping direction by running on the taper surface of the cutout part 34a among the projection 34, and the connecting part 32 is deformed inward. When the projection 34 is put in a position corresponding to a position of a through hole 35 of the connecting part 33, it is fitting in the through hole 35 as Fig. (c).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connecting structure of an angle ring constituting an angle portion of an insertion portion of an endoscope used for medical use or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An endoscope used for medical purposes or the like is configured as schematically shown in FIG. As is clear from the figure, an insertion section 2 inserted into a body cavity or the like is continuously provided on a main body operation section 1, and a universal cord 3 detachably connected to a light source device or the like from the main body operation section 1 is provided. Has been extended.

[0003] The insertion portion 2 has a flexible portion 2a for most of the length from the side connected to the main body operating portion 1, an angle portion 2b at a tip of the flexible portion 2a, and a flexible portion 2b at a tip of the angle portion 2b. Is provided with a distal end hard portion 2c. Tip hard part 2
c is provided with at least an illumination unit and an observation unit,
The angle portion 2b is for turning the distal end hard portion 2c in a desired direction. The main body operation portion 1 is provided with an angle knob 4, and by operating the angle knob 4, the angle portion 2b Can be operated to bend. As the bending direction of the angle portion 2b,
There are a type configured to bend only in the vertical direction, and a type configured to bend vertically and horizontally.

[0004] As shown in FIG. 8, the angle portion 2b has a cylindrical angle ring 1 having a short width.
The angle ring 10 has a pair of connecting portions 11, 11 and 12, 12 extending from front and rear ends thereof, respectively. The pair of connecting portions extending from the same side are formed at positions shifted by 180 ° in the circumferential direction. Here, when the angle portion 2b is configured to bend only in the vertical direction, the connecting portions 11, 11 extending from one side and the connecting portions 12, 1 extending from the other side.
2 is located at the same position in the circumferential direction. However, in order to be able to bend the angle portion 2b up and down and left and right, the connecting portions 11 and 11 and the connecting portions 12 and 12 are located at positions shifted by 90 ° in phase. It is formed. FIG. 8 shows a pair of connecting portions 11 and 1.
Numeral 2 denotes an arrangement which extends from the same position in the circumferential direction and is curved only in the vertical direction.

Although the angle ring 10 has a curved surface shape, as shown in FIG. 9, both connecting portions 11 and 12 extending from the angle ring 10 have a planar shape. 11 and 12 have through holes 11 respectively.
a, 12a are drilled. The interval between the connecting portions 11 on one side is smaller than the interval between the connecting portions 12 on the other side by the width of the connecting portion 12. Therefore, the front and rear angle rings 10 are connected to the connection portions 11 of the other angle ring 10 on the one side.
The connecting portions 11 and 11 are caused to enter between the connecting portions 12 and 12 of the other party so as to face the connecting portions 11 and 12, respectively.
Are superimposed on each other to make the two through holes 11a and 12a coincide with each other. In this state, the pivot pin 13 is inserted into both the through holes 11a and 12a.
Is inserted and the end of the pivot pin 13 is swaged, so that the front and rear angle rings 10, 10
Are connected so as to be rotatable around each other.

The angle portion 2b is assembled so as to have a required length by sequentially connecting a predetermined number of the angle rings 10 described above. As shown in FIG. 8, a net 14 is attached to the connected body of the angle ring 10, and an angle portion 2 b is formed by laminating a skin layer 15 outside the net 14. . Then, by connecting the angle rings at both ends to the soft portion 2a and the distal end hard portion 2c, respectively,
The insertion section 2 is configured. An optical fiber bundle and a cable including a light guide and the like, a treatment tool insertion channel, an air supply / water supply pipe, and the like are inserted into the insertion section 2 formed in this manner.

Although the angle portion is formed as described above, when connecting a large number of angle rings, it is necessary to insert the pivot pins into the through holes in the connection portions of the front and rear angle rings, and then caulk. is there. As described above, the use of the pivot pin not only increases the number of parts but also requires that the pivot pin be swaged after being inserted into the connecting portions of both connecting rings. Because of this, the angle ring may be deformed, and if the swaging force is weak, the pivot pin may fall off, so the work of assembling the angle part is extremely troublesome,
It also required skill.

In view of the above, an arrangement in which the angle rings are connected without using a pivot pin is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-299317. As shown in FIG. 10, the connection structure of the known angle ring includes connection portions 21 and 22 formed on the angle ring 20.
One of the connecting portions 21 is provided with a columnar projection 23, and the other connecting portion 22 is provided with an L in which the projection 23 is inserted.
The groove 24 is formed in the shape of a letter.
The width of the groove 24 is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the projection 23, and an end of the groove 24 is provided with a stopper 24 a that is opened so as to have a shape corresponding to the outer diameter of the projection 23. ing. With this configuration, the front and rear angle rings 20 are pivotally connected only by positioning the protrusion 23 in the stopper portion 24a by fitting the protrusion 23 into the groove 24 and rotating the protrusion 23 by a predetermined angle. Become like

An operation wire is used to bend the angle portion. When the operation wire is configured to bend only in the vertical direction, a pair of upper and lower operation wires is provided. It is inserted. The operation wire is inserted through the angle ring or the member connecting the front and rear angle rings in order to be able to move only in the axial direction inside the angle part, and is configured to be inserted into the close contact coil inside the flexible part. I do. And
The operation wire extends into the main body operation section, and is pushed and pulled by an angle operation knob provided on the main body operation section.

[0010]

By the way, when performing the bending operation of the angle portion by pushing and pulling the operation wire,
A large force repeatedly acts in the tension and compression directions between the front and rear angle rings. Moreover, in order to widen the observation field of view, some angle portions are configured to be bent at an angle of 180 ° or more. As described above, when the angle portion is largely bent, a large force acts in a direction in which the front and rear angle rings are separated from each other and in a direction in which they are pressed against each other. The front and rear angle rings are connected by a groove and a protrusion, the groove is L-shaped, and a stopper portion is formed at an end portion, so stress is concentrated at this portion, cracks are generated, There are problems such as damage.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a structure capable of easily connecting front and rear angle rings and maintaining high strength in a connected state. To provide an angle ring connection structure.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention relates to an endoscope in which angle rings constituting an angle portion in an insertion portion of an endoscope are pivotally connected to each other. The angle ring is provided with a pair of front and rear connecting portions extending in a planar shape, a circular through hole is formed in one connecting portion, and a substantially cylindrical protrusion is formed in the other connecting portion. Is formed, and the connecting portion provided with the through hole and the connecting portion formed with the projection are overlapped, and the front and rear angle rings are pivoted by fitting the projection into the through hole. It is characterized in that it is configured to be movably connected.

Here, in order to facilitate the connection between the projection and the through hole, a tapered surface is formed on the distal end side of the outer peripheral surface of the projection, or the distal end of the connection portion on the side where the through hole is formed is formed. What is necessary is just to form the taper surface which inclines inward. And
Since the connection portion having the through hole is engaged with the projection while being deformed so as to be warped, it is preferable that the angle ring is made of a plastic having good resilience to deformation.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the connected state of the angle ring, FIGS. 2 and 3 show the shape of the angle ring, FIG. 4 shows the appearance of the projection, and FIG.
Shows the connection method between the front and rear angle rings. FIG. 6 shows another embodiment. In the following description, a configuration in which the angle portion can be bent vertically and horizontally will be described.
It is needless to say that by setting the extending direction of the connecting portion to be the same as that in FIG. 8, the connecting portion can be curved only in the vertical direction.

1 to 3, reference numeral 30 denotes an angle ring, and the angle ring 30 has a ring portion 31 formed of a narrow annular member, and a pair of the ring portion 31 is provided from both front and rear ends of the ring portion 31. Connecting portions 32, 32 and 33, 33 are extended, and these connecting portions 32, 32,
The tip of 33 has an arc shape. The connecting portions 32 and 32 and the connecting portions 33 and 33 are arranged at a positional relationship of 180 ° in the circumferential direction, and the connecting portions 32 and 33 are out of phase by 90 °. Further, these connecting portions 32, 33 have a planar shape, and the interval between the connecting portions 32, 32 on one side is equal to the interval between the other connecting portions 33, 33 by the thickness of the two connecting portions 33. It is getting wider. Therefore, when the front and rear angle rings 30 are connected, the connecting portion 32 on one side and the connecting portion 33 on the other side are joined to each other with the connecting portion 33 outside.

Since the ring portion 31 has a cylindrical shape and the connecting portions 32, 33 have a planar shape, the outer surfaces of the connecting portions 32, 33 are larger than the outer diameter of the ring portion 31. It is configured to be located inside. Therefore, steps 32a and 33a are formed at the transition from the connecting portions 32 and 33 to the ring portion 31. Since the connecting portions 32 and 33 rotate relatively, the step 32 is formed.
a and 33a are substantially the same as the arc shapes at the tips of the connecting portions 32 and 33, or are arc shapes having a slightly larger radius of curvature.

When the front and rear angle rings 30 and 30 are connected to each other, an outwardly projecting projection 34 is formed on an inner connecting portion 33, and a transparent portion is formed on an outer connecting portion 33. A hole 35 is formed. The outer diameter of the projection 34 is substantially the same as or slightly smaller than the opening diameter of the through hole 35. The height of the projection 34 is preferably substantially the same as the thickness of the connecting portion 33. However, as long as the height is equal to or less than the height of the step 33a, it may protrude slightly from the outer surface of the connecting portion 33.
Can be made slightly lower than the wall thickness. Therefore,
When pivotally connecting the front and rear angle rings 30, the projections 34 provided on the connecting portion 32 are fitted into through holes 35 formed in the connecting portion 33. Here, the projection 34 provided on the connecting portion 32 has a cylindrical shape.
As shown in FIG. 4, a tapered notch 34 a is formed at the tip side of the side surface, that is, the front side in the extending direction from the angle ring 30, instead of a perfect cylinder.

Furthermore, the inner surface of the ring portion 31 of the angle ring 30 is provided at two locations in the circumferential direction at the same position as the portion where the connecting portion 32 extends, or the connecting portion 33 is extended. A wire insertion portion 36 for inserting an operation wire (not shown) into any one of the same positions as the existing portion is formed. The wire insertion portion 36 is formed by forming a ridge in the axial direction on a part of the inner periphery of the ring portion 331 and forming a through hole in the protrusion.

Next, a method of connecting the front and rear angle rings 30, 30 will be described with reference to FIG. First,
As shown in FIG.
The connecting portion 32 extending from the ring portion 31 of the front angle ring 30F by rotating the rear angle ring 30R by 90 ° with respect to the front angle ring 30F and the rear angle ring 30R.
The connecting portion 33 extending from the R ring portion 31 is disposed to face the connecting portion 33. In this state, the connecting portion 32 and the connecting portion 33 are joined as shown in FIG. Then, the distal end of the connecting portion 33 abuts on the projection 34 formed on the connecting portion 32, but comes into contact with the notch 34a of the projection 34, so that the connecting portion 33 rides on the tapered surface of the notch 34a. As a result, the connecting portion 32 is deformed in the direction of warping outward, and the connecting portion 32 is deformed inward.
Then, when the projection 34 comes to a position corresponding to the position of the through hole 35 of the connecting portion 33, as shown in FIG.
As a result, the warpage of the connecting portions 32 and 33 is eliminated, and the connecting portions 32 and 33 are restored to a state where they abut. Thus, the front and rear angle rings 30, 30
Are connected by a snap action. As described above, a required number of the angle rings 30 are sequentially connected to form an angle portion structure having a predetermined length.

As described above, the angle rings 30 are sequentially connected. However, since this connection is performed by a snap action, there is no need to use other parts such as a pivot pin or the like, and it is not necessary to perform caulking. From that
The connection operation can be performed easily and smoothly, and there is no fear that the angle ring 30 is deformed at the time of connection.

As described above, since the connecting portions 32 and 33 are once deformed so as to be warped, the material of the angle ring 30 is formed of a member having a good restoring force so as to surely restore the original state. There is a need to. Further, since the angle ring 30 functions as a structure of the angle portion, it is necessary to increase the strength in the direction in which the ring portion 31 is compressed. From the above, the angle ring 30
Is preferably made of a plastic material such as polycarbonate, which has high strength and good restoring force against deformation. Especially,
A projection 34 is formed on the connecting portion 32 side, and the ring portion 3
A wire insertion portion 36 is formed on the inner surface of the wire 1. However, it is preferable that these are integrally formed. Therefore, by using the above-described plastic material, the angle ring 30 can be formed by the molding means so that the projection 34 and the wire insertion portion can be formed. It can be integrally formed with the part 36.

As described above, by connecting the required number of angle rings 30, a structure of an angle portion is formed, and a net and a skin layer are further provided on the outer periphery thereof. The angle part thus formed is
The proximal end is connected to the flexible portion, and the distal end is connected to the distal hard portion to form an insertion portion.

When the angle portion of the insertion portion is bent, a large force acts on the connecting portion between the angle rings 30, 30. The force acting during this bending operation acts on the connecting portion between the projection 34 and the through hole 35. The projection 34 is inserted into the through hole 35 and the projection 3
No matter in which direction the force is applied to 4, there is no place where stress concentrates in the through-hole 35, so the connection strength is extremely high and there is no possibility that cracks or the like will occur. Further, since the projection 34 is fitted to the through hole 35 with a predetermined fitting depth, even if an external force acts in a direction in which the front and rear angle rings 30, 30 are separated, there is no danger of separation therebetween. . However, since the notch 34a is formed in order to allow the connecting portion 33 to smoothly pass over the projection 34, when an external force acts in a direction in which the front and rear angle rings 30, 30 mutually press, the through-holes are formed. There is a possibility that the inner wall of 35 may get over the notch 34a. However, since an arc-shaped step 33a is formed in the extending portion of the connecting portion 33 from the ring portion 31, the distal end of the connecting portion 32 is pressed against the step 33a. Riding on the notch 34a can be reliably prevented.
Therefore, despite the fact that the front and rear angle rings 30, 30 are connected by the snap action, they become extremely stable after the connection, and there is no possibility that they will be separated suddenly by the action of an external force.

In the above-described embodiment, in order to allow the connecting portion 33 to ride on the projection 34,
Although the notch 34a is formed in the projection 34, as shown in FIG. 6, the projection 34 'provided on the connecting portion 32' is formed in a complete columnar shape, and is formed on the inner surface of the distal end portion of the connecting portion 33 '. Even if the tapered surface 33a 'is formed, similarly, the connection portion 33' can easily ride on the projection 34 '.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, the front and rear angle rings are overlapped with the connecting portion having the through hole and the connecting portion having the projection, and the projection is fitted into the through hole. Thus, since it is configured to be pivotally connected, it is possible to easily connect a plurality of angle rings forming the angle portion, and to maintain high strength in a connected state.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration explanatory view showing a configuration of a connected state of an angle ring.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration of an angle ring, in which a central figure is a sectional view, left and right figures are left side views,
It is a right side view.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an external view showing a shape of a projection formed on a connecting portion.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a connection method between front and rear angle rings.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3, showing another form of the angle ring.

FIG. 7 is an overall configuration diagram of an endoscope.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of an angle ring according to the related art.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a configuration of an angle portion formed by using the angle ring of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing a connection structure of an angle ring according to another related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

30 angle ring 31 ring part 32,32 ', 33,33' connecting part 33a '
Tapered surface 34, 34 'Projection 34a Notch 35 Through hole 36 Wire insertion part

Claims (4)

[Claims] An angle ring constituting an angle portion in an insertion portion of an endoscope is connected to each other so as to be pivotable with each other. The connecting portion on one side has a circular through-hole formed in the connecting portion on one side, and the other connecting portion has a substantially cylindrical projection formed thereon, and the front and rear angle rings are connected to the connecting portion provided with the through-hole. And an angle ring of an endoscope, wherein the angle ring of the front and rear is pivotally connected by superimposing the connection portion having the protrusion thereon and fitting the protrusion into the through hole. Connection structure. 2. The projection according to claim 1, wherein a tapered surface is formed on a side surface on a tip end side of the projection.
The angle ring connection structure of the endoscope according to the above. 3. The angle ring connection of an endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the connection portion having the through hole is formed with a tapered surface inclined inward at a distal end surface thereof. Construction. 4. The angle ring connecting structure of an endoscope according to claim 1, wherein said angle ring is formed of plastic.