JP3475523B2 - Endoscope angle device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope angle device for bending an end body of an insertion portion of an endoscope used for industrial or medical purposes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An endoscope is constructed by connecting an insertion portion to a main body operation portion, and the insertion portion is inserted into the human body, the engine of an aircraft, the inside of a nuclear reactor, or the like. It is used to observe and take necessary treatments. For this purpose, the insertion part has a tip body with an illumination window, an observation window, etc. at the tip, and an angle portion is connected to the tip body, and the angle portion is curved so that the tip portion is bent. It becomes possible to orient the part main body in a desired direction. Further, a flexible portion is connected to the angle portion, and the flexible portion is configured to bend in an arbitrary direction along the insertion path.

The bending operation at the angle portion is usually performed by remote operation at the main body operating portion which is continuously provided on the base end side of the insertion portion. For this reason, the operation wires are inserted into the angle portion at two locations above and below or four locations above and below and left and right, and one end of these operation wires is fixed to the angle ring at the tip of the angle portion or the tip end main body, and the other end. Is guided from the angle portion to the inside of the main body operating portion through the flexible portion, and is wound around the pulley provided in the main body operating portion. Then, this pulley is rotationally driven by an angle knob extending to the outside of the main body operating section.

By the way, the length of the insertion portion must be equal to or longer than the length of the insertion path. For example, a colonoscope needs to have a length of about 3 m, and an industrial endoscope has a length of 5 m.
Or even longer. Most of the entire length of the insertion portion is formed of a flexible portion, and the angle portion constitutes an extremely short portion on the tip side. When not in use, such a long insertion part is stored so that it can be wound in a loop in order to store it compactly, and when inserting it into the human body or machine, only this loop is required. Try to rewind. Therefore, the long insertion part is inserted along the insertion path from the state of being wound in a loop, but at this time, when passing through the curved path or the branch part, the bending operation of the angle part is performed. To The insertion portion is extremely long, and particularly when it is wound in a loop shape, it may not be possible to transmit the operating force to the angle portion even if the angle knob is operated.

Therefore, the operation wire of the angle portion is not extended to the operation portion of the main body, but is stopped up to the connecting portion of the flexible portion to the angle portion, a motor is provided at this portion, and a feed screw is connected to this motor. By attaching an operation wire to this feed screw and operating this motor, the operation wire can be pushed and pulled.
For example, it is known from Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-82529.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, since the motor and the feed screw must be used to operate one operating wire, four operating wires are required. 4 sets of ultra-compact motors and feed screws are required to operate, and not only this drive mechanism becomes very expensive, but also other insertion members such as a light guide are inserted in the insertion part. Therefore, in the mounting portion of this drive mechanism, there is a problem that the diameter of the insertion portion becomes large. Further, since the motor and the feed screw must be arranged in the axial direction, there is a drawback that the hard portion of the connecting portion between the soft portion and the angle portion becomes long.

By the way, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-62154 discloses a type of artificial muscle, which is not an endoscope, but has flexibility because it pushes and pulls an operating wire for driving a joint. A drive mechanism in which a net is attached to the bag is used, and the operation wire is connected to the bag, and the operation wire is pushed and pulled by expanding and contracting the bag. . According to this structure, the structure is simpler than that of the drive mechanism using the motor and the feed screw, and the size can be reduced. However, if the operation wire is pushed and pulled only by expanding and contracting the bag, the operation wire cannot always be stably operated.

Whether the drive system using a motor and a feed screw or the drive system using a flexible bag is adopted, it is sufficient that the operation wire is simply connected to the drive mechanism. Instead, for example, when it is necessary to adjust the length of the operation wire to the connecting portion to the drive mechanism, the operation wire is connected to the drive mechanism via the length adjustment mechanism. Is usually formed of a rigid body, and such a rigid body mechanism needs to be provided in the axial direction with respect to the drive mechanism. Thus, the rigid body mechanism such as the length adjusting mechanism is arranged in the axial direction in the drive mechanism. Then, there is a problem that the hard portion becomes longer. In short, it is not preferable to arrange the drive mechanism in the axial direction of the operation wire in the insertion portion of the endoscope in order to shorten the length of the hard portion in the insertion portion.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an operating wire provided at a connecting portion between an angle portion and a flexible portion of an insertion portion for bending the angle portion. An object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope angle device in which a mechanism for driving the endoscope is small and compact, and can be operated reliably.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is designed to bend a distal end body of an insertion portion of an endoscope, and the distal end body has a predetermined length. Minute angle portion is continuously provided, and further, a flexible portion that bends in an arbitrary direction along the insertion path is continuously provided at this angle portion, and one or a plurality of operation wires are mounted in the angle portion. The angle portion is bent by pushing and pulling the operation wire, and the driving means for the operation wire is provided in the connecting portion between the flexible portion and the angle portion or in the vicinity thereof, wherein the driving means comprises: An operating piece connected to the operating wire, a guide member for guiding the operating piece so as to slide in the axial direction of the insertion portion, and a pair of biasing means acting before and after the operating piece. Of the biasing means, One was composed of flexible containers bag Kutomo,
The feature is that the operating piece is driven by supplying and discharging the fluid to and from the flexible bag.

[0011]

Since the operating wire is connected to the operating piece that slides along the guide member, the driving means is provided in parallel with the operating wire, so that the length of the hard portion in the axial direction is shortened. be able to. Further, since the driving means is composed of biasing means provided on both sides of the operating piece,
The shape in the direction orthogonal to the axial direction can also be made compact. Since the operating piece is urged by the urging means from the front and rear, the operation wire is held in a stable state, and is kept in a stable state even when an external force is applied.
Moreover, since at least one of the biasing means uses the fluid pressure, the operation wire can be pushed and pulled by remotely adjusting the fluid pressure of the biasing means. Further, since the drive means is provided in parallel with the operation wire, even if the operation wire is connected to a rigid body mechanism such as a length adjusting means, the length of the drive means in the axial direction does not become long.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the entire endoscope. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body operation section, and an insertion section 2 is connected to the main body operation section 1. The insertion portion 2 is a flexible portion 2a that bends in an arbitrary direction along the insertion path from the connection portion to the main body operation portion 1, and an angle portion 2b is further formed at the tip of the flexible portion 2a. Part 2
A tip body 2c is connected to the tip of b. An illumination window and an illumination window that configure the endoscope observation mechanism are provided, and in addition to these, a channel through which a treatment tool or the like is inserted is also opened.

The angle portion 2b is designed so that it can be bent in any direction in order to orient the tip body 2c in a desired direction. For this reason, as shown in FIG. As is well known, the structure has a structure in which a large number of angle rings 3 are sequentially pivoted, and a protective net is covered on the structure, and a skin layer made of a soft resin is laminated on the protective net. To be done. In order to enable the bending operation of the angle portion 2a, the operation wires 4 provided at intervals of about 90 ° are provided inside the angle ring 3 which constitutes the structure. Each of these operation wires 4 is inserted into an insertion portion 5a formed on the pivot pin 5 of the angle ring 3. Further, the distal end portion of the operation wire 4 is fixedly provided to the distal end portion main body 2c or the most advanced angle ring connected to the distal end portion main body 2c. On the other hand, the other end of the operation wire 4 has an angle portion 2b.
Is extended to the inside of the connecting ring 6 that forms the connecting portion between the flexible portion 2a and the flexible portion 2a, and is connected to the drive mechanism portion 10 mounted inside the connecting ring 6.

Therefore, FIG. 2 shows the structure of the drive mechanism section 10. In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a casing, and an operating piece 12 is slidably mounted in the casing 11. Therefore, the casing 11 functions as a guide member for guiding the operating piece 12 in the axial direction. The operating piece 12 extends to the outside via a slit 11a formed in the casing 11 in the axial direction, and the portion led out to the outside is connected to the operating wire 4 via a length adjusting means 20. Has been done. A compression spring 13 is elastically mounted on one side of the operating piece 12 in the casing 11, and the operating piece 12 is urged by the compression spring 13 in a direction to push out the operation wire 4 connected thereto. There is.
On the other hand, on the side opposite to the biasing direction of the compression spring 13 of the operating piece 12, a flexible bag 14 made of a bellows, a rubber bag or the like as shown in FIG. Flexible bag 14
A fluid supply tube 15 is connected to the. Therefore,
By supplying a working fluid composed of a gas such as air or a liquid such as water from the fluid supply tube 15, the flexible bag 14 is bulged and the working piece 12 is pushed in a direction against the compression spring 13. The operation wire 4 can be moved and operated in a pulling direction.

The length adjusting means 20 has a connecting member 21 for connecting the ends of the operating wire 4, and the connecting member 21 is inserted into a hollow length adjusting screw 22.
The first flange portion 21 a is brought into contact with the end surface of the length adjusting screw 22. The length adjusting screw 22 and the connecting member 21 are connected to each other with a predetermined fitting length so as to be relatively slidable in the rotation direction and the axial direction. The operating piece 12 is formed with a notch 12a.
The length adjusting screw 22 is inserted into the inside of a, and a pair of fixing nuts 23a and 23b are screwed into the length adjusting screw 22, and the operating piece 12 has the fixing nuts 23a and 23b.
It is fixed by holding it between 23b. Therefore, the relative positional relationship between the operating piece 12 and the length adjusting screw 22 can be adjusted by removing the operating piece 12 from the notch 12a and screwing these two fixing nuts 23a and 23b in and out as appropriate. The length of the operation wire 4 can be adjusted.

The casing 11 is fixed to the connecting ring 6 in the direction of the paper surface of FIG. 2, and a mounting portion 11b is integrally provided in a direction along the inner surface of the connecting ring 6, and the mounting portion 11b is provided with the mounting portion 11b. A guide groove 16 for the operation wire 4 is provided. A portion of the operation wire 4 between the lead-out groove 16 and the insertion member 17 provided on the connecting ring 6 is inserted into the support coil 19 while being attached to the contact coil 18, and the support tube 19 is inserted into the support tube 19. The nut 19a is screwed so as to sandwich the lead-out groove 16.

The flexible bag 14 always contains a predetermined amount of working fluid, and the working piece 12 is arranged in a neutral position in a substantially central portion of the casing 11 in balance with the compression spring 13. At this time, the angle portion 2b is in a straight state, and the operation wire 4 is held in a loose state. This is the neutral state of the drive mechanism section 10. When the working fluid is supplied to or discharged from the flexible bag 14, either the push or pull operation state is set, the operation piece 12 moves, and the operation wire 4 is driven to push or pull,
Although the bending operation of the angle portion 2b is performed, the operation of controlling the supply / discharge of the working fluid to / from the flexible bag 14 can be performed by the remote operation of the main body operation portion 1. For this purpose, for example, the operating device 30 shown in FIG. 4 is provided in the main body operating section 1. Here, in order to bend the angle portion 2b upward, for example, a pair of vertically arranged operation wires 4 must be operated in conjunction with each other. That is, the upper operating wire must be pulled and the lower operating wire must be pushed out or at least free of force in the pulling direction. The same applies to the case where the operation wires are bent downward or left and right, and the operation wires operate as a pair.

Thus, the operating device 30 is composed of a pair of working fluid supply / discharge mechanisms which are associated with each other such as up and down or left and right, and the fluid supply tube 15 is provided.
a and 15b have expansion and contraction bodies 31a for supplying and discharging fluid,
31b is connected. The expansion / contraction bodies 31a, 31b are formed of a substantially conical bellows, and the expansion / contraction bodies 31a, 31b.
The pressing plates 32a and 32b are attached to b, and the springs 33a and 32b are attached to the pressing plates 32a and 32b in the protruding direction.
33b is working. Further, pushers 36a and 36b fixedly provided on an operating bar 35 which swings about a shaft 34 are in contact with the pressing plates 32a and 32b, and a lever 37 for swinging the operating bar 35 is further contacted. Is provided so as to project from the casing of the main body operation unit 1. Therefore, in the case where the angle portion 2b is curved only in the vertical direction, the lever 37 that constitutes the operating device 30 is used.
And other members are provided only one set, and if they can be bent vertically and horizontally, they are
A pair is provided. When two sets are provided, the levers 37 of the operating device 30 can also be operated at the same time. When operated in such a manner, the angle portion 2b performs a combined operation and the tip portion main body 2c moves. It can be oriented in any desired direction.

The present embodiment is constructed as described above, and the insertion portion 2 of the endoscope is inserted to a predetermined position along the insertion path inside the human body or inside the mechanical device or the like. However, the insertion operation is performed while observing the insertion path through the observation window provided at the tip of the insertion section 2.
In this insertion path, if there is a bent portion or a branched portion, the angle portion 2b is bent in a desired direction. Also,
Even when the observation field is changed when the insertion portion 2 is guided to the observation target portion, the angle portion 2b is also curved in that direction.

The angle portion 2b is bent by operating the operating device 30 provided in the main body operating portion 1. Here, in order to bend the angle portion 2b in the vertical direction, the operation wire on one side, for example, the operation wire on the upper side is pulled, and the operation wire on the other side, for example, the operation wire on the lower side is pushed out. And make it work. Therefore, in the following description, for convenience of distinction, one of the paired members has the suffix [a] and the other member has the suffix [b]. Shall be attached.

The lever 37 constituting the operating device 30 is always arranged at a position where the operating bar 35 is balanced by the action of the springs 33a and 33b. In this state, the angle portion 2b is straight. Moreover, all the operation wires 4 are in a state where they are not loosened. Then, when the lever 37 is rotated in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 4, the operation bar 35 is rotated, and the pusher 36a reduces the pressing plate 32a of the expansion / contraction body 31a, and the expansion / contraction body 31a.
And the working fluid in the expansion / contraction body 31a is supplied from the fluid supply tube 15a into the flexible bag 14a connected to the fluid supply tube 15a. As a result, the operating piece 12a slides in the casing 11a against the compression spring 13.
The operation wire 4a connected to 2a is pulled.

At the same time, the expansion / contraction body 31b is displaced in the extending direction by the urging force of the spring 33b acting on the pressing plate 32b due to the swing of the operation bar 35, and the pressure in the flexible bag 14b is released. As a result, the casing 11b
The operating piece 12b provided therein is displaced in the direction in which the compression spring 13b acts, and the pulling force on the operating wire 4b is released. Here, since the expansion / contraction bodies 31a and 31b have a substantially conical shape, the volume expansion rate of the expansion / contraction body 31b becomes larger than the volume reduction rate of the expansion / contraction body 31a according to the rotation stroke of the operation bar 35. Therefore, the working fluid in the flexible bag 14b is quickly discharged, and the working piece 12b is displaced toward the end portion of the casing 11b by the action of the compression spring 13b. Here, the length adjusting screw 22 constituting the length adjusting means 20 is connected to the actuating piece 12b, but the connecting member 21 connected to the operating wire 4b has a flange for the length adjusting screw 22. Since the portion 21a is slidable in the direction away from the end face of the length adjusting screw 22, the pulling force of the operation wire 4b is released, and the operation wire 4b becomes displaceable in the axial direction.

As a result, when the lever 37 is rotated in the direction of arrow A, for example, the upper operation wire is pulled and the lower operation wire is pushed out, so that the angle portion 2b is surely moved in one direction. It is curved. Moreover,
Since the degree of bending of the angle portion 2b also changes according to the amount of turning operation of the lever 37, the degree of bending of the angle portion 2b can be controlled. When the lever 37 is rotated in the opposite direction, the angle portion 2b is bent in the opposite direction. Here, since the drive mechanism portion 10 is provided at the position of the connecting ring 6 in the connecting portion between the angle portion 2b and the flexible portion 2a, no matter how long the flexible portion 2a in the insertion portion 2 is, Regardless of the posture of the flexible portion 2a, by operating the lever 37 to operate the drive mechanism portion 10 to push and pull the operation wire 4, the operation can be performed reliably and quickly. Angle part 2
b can be curved.

When the lever 36 is returned from any of the above-mentioned operating positions to the neutral position, the expansion / contraction bodies 31a, 3a.
As a result of 1b returning to the same volume state, a predetermined amount of working fluid is contained in all the flexible bags 14,
The operating piece 12 is returned to the neutral position, and the angle portion 2b is returned to the straight state.

Here, since the drive mechanism portion 10 is such that the flexible bag 14 and the compression spring 13 are provided in the casing 11, it can be made extremely small and compact. Further, in order to make the casing 11 as small as possible, the operating piece 12 that slides inside the angle portion 2b must be always arranged at a predetermined position when the angle portion 2b is straightened. Operation wire 4
Since the pulling force repeatedly acts on the operation wire 4, the operation wire 4 extends for a long period of time. When the operation wire 4 extends, the operation wire 4 is loosened when the angle portion 2b is straightened.
Even if is operated, an ineffective stroke is generated in which the operation wire 4 is not pushed or pulled by the amount of the looseness. Therefore,
If the length cannot be adjusted when the operation wire 4 extends, unless the casing 11 has a length in the axial direction that allows for this invalid stroke in advance, the angle portion 2b is required to have a necessary amount. You can't just bend. However, the operation wire 4 is provided with the length adjusting means 20. For this reason, the fixing bolts 23a and 23b in the length adjusting means 20 are screwed in and out, whereby the length adjusting screw 22 of the operating piece 12 is inserted. By adjusting the connecting position in the axial direction, it becomes possible to absorb the looseness due to the extension of the operation wire 4. Therefore, it is not necessary to give the casing 11 a length considering this invalid stroke, and the casing 11 can be downsized. Moreover, the operating piece 12 and the mounting portion 11b each have a notch 12
a, the lead-out groove 16 is formed so that the operating wire 4 and the length adjusting means 20 connected to the operating wire 4 can be separated from the drive mechanism portion 10 as shown in phantom in FIG. The length of the operating wire 4 can be adjusted extremely easily.

Moreover, since the length adjusting means 20 is formed of a rigid body, if the length adjusting means 20 is arranged side by side with the drive mechanism portion 10 in the axial direction, the length of the rigid body portion becomes extremely long. . However, since the length adjusting means 20 is provided in parallel with the driving mechanism portion 10, the lengthwise dimension of the rigid body portion can be reduced, and the length of the hard portion in the connecting portion between the flexible portion 2a and the angle portion 2b can be reduced. Can be shortened, and the insertion operability of the insertion section 2 is improved.

In the case where four drive mechanism parts 10 are provided, if they are all provided at the same position in the axial direction, the filling rate at that part becomes extremely high, and due to the relationship with other insertion members, the insertion part 2 It may not be possible to reduce the diameter. In such a case, each drive mechanism portion 10 may be attached to the connecting ring 6 so as to change the position in the axial direction of the insertion portion 2. As described above, the length adjusting means 2
By providing 0 in parallel with the drive mechanism unit 10, the length of the rigid body portion in the axial direction is extremely short. Therefore, even if the mounting position of each drive mechanism unit 10 to the connecting ring 6 is changed in the axial direction, The length of the hard portion between the flexible portion 2a and the angle portion 2b does not become so long.

Next, FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, as a means for guiding the operating piece 40 in the axial direction, it is oriented in the axial direction of the insertion portion 2. The pipe 41 is used. Both ends of this pipe 41 are provided with a pair of restriction plates 42 fixedly attached to the connecting ring 6.
It is attached to a and 42b. And the operating piece 40
An insertion hole 40a is formed in the through hole 40a, and the pipe 41 is inserted into the insertion hole 40a.

Between the one regulating plate 42a and the operating piece 40, a bellows 43 which is displaced in the axial direction by the supply and discharge of the working fluid.
The bellows 43 is formed by fixing rings 43b and 43c to the large-diameter portion and the small-diameter portion of the film body 43a, respectively. It can be displaced only in the axial direction of 41. On the other hand, a compression spring 44 is elastically mounted between the operating piece 40 and the other regulating plate 42b. And pipe 4
Reference numeral 1 is for slidingly guiding the operating piece 40 in the axial direction of the insertion portion and for supplying / discharging the working fluid into / from the bellows 43. For this purpose, the restriction plate 42b of the pipe 41 is provided.
A fluid supply tube 45 is connected to the portion projecting from, and a through hole 41a that opens into the bellows 43 is formed near the regulation plate 42a. Furthermore, the operating piece 4
A seal member 46 for preventing the working fluid from leaking from the inside of the bellows 43 is provided between the insertion hole 40a of 0 and the pipe 41. Reference numeral 46 in the drawing denotes a rotation preventing member for the operating piece 40 provided on the inner surface of the connecting ring.

With the above-described structure, the bending operation of the angle portion 2b can be performed more smoothly, surely and quickly, as in the first embodiment described above. Moreover, as compared with the above-described first embodiment, the drive mechanism portion can be further miniaturized and made compact because the casing is not provided.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, the driving means for pushing and pulling the operating wire is provided at the connecting portion between the angle portion and the flexible portion in the insertion portion of the endoscope, and the operating wire is provided. The operation piece is connected to the guide piece, and the operation piece is guided by the guide member so as to slide in the axial direction of the insertion section, and is urged by a pair of urging means before and after the operation piece. Since at least one of the pair of urging means is composed of a flexible bag and the working piece is driven by supplying and discharging the fluid to and from the flexible bag, the angle portion is curved. The mechanism for driving the operation wire provided for this purpose is not provided in parallel with the operation wire, and it is small and compact and can be operated reliably.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an endoscope.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a drive wire drive mechanism in the endoscope angle device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an external view of a flexible bag.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an operating device of a drive mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a drive wire drive mechanism in an endoscope angle device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Main body operation part 2 Insert 2a Soft part 2b Angle part 2c Tip hard part 4 operation wire 10 Drive mechanism section 11 casing 12,40 working piece 13,44 compression springs 14 Flexible bag 15,45 Fluid supply tube 20 Length adjustment means 21 Connection member 22 Length adjusting screw 30 Operating device 31a, 31b Expansion / contraction body 37 lever 41 pipes 42a, 42b regulation plate

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An end portion main body of an insertion portion of an endoscope is bent, and an angle portion of a predetermined length is continuously provided on the end portion main body. A flexible part that bends in an arbitrary direction along the path is continuously provided, and one or more operation wires are mounted in the angle part, and the angle part is curved by pushing and pulling these operation wires. A drive means for the operation wire is provided at or near the connecting portion between the flexible portion and the angle portion, wherein the drive means includes an operating piece connected to the operating wire and the operating piece in the axial direction of the insertion portion. It is composed of a guide member for guiding to slide and a pair of biasing means acting on the front and rear of the operating piece, and at least one of the pair of biasing means is a flexible bag. Fluid in a flexible bag An angle device for an endoscope, characterized in that an operating piece is driven by supplying and discharging. 2. The angle device for an endoscope according to claim 1, wherein when the fluid pressure is supplied into the flexible bag, the pressure acts in a direction in which the operation wire is pulled. 3. The structure according to claim 1, wherein length adjusting means is connected to the end portion of the operation wire, and the length adjusting means is arranged in parallel with the driving means. Angle device for endoscope. 4. The angle device for an endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the length adjusting means is detachably connected to the operation piece at the end of the operation wire.