Endoscope

Abstract

The invention provides an endoscope provided with a built-in element protection means capable of protecting a built-in element and locally regulating a bend to protect it easily as well. A light guide fiber bundle 31 as a thin and long flexible built-in element is inserted in the state of being covered with an exterior tube 32 inside a curved part 6 and inside a flexible tube part 5 on the distal end side in an insertion part, and the outer side is covered with a coil member 34 for protection. Since large external force acts on the light guide fiber bundle 31 arranged at a part where the curved part 6 is largely curved, a hard part 38 is formed by adhering the adjacent strands with each other with an adhesive material 36a at the coil member 34 for the protection covering the part, the bend more than needed is regulated, and the built-in element is protected effectively over a long period of time.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to an endoscope, which is provided with a protection unit for protecting built-in objects in an insertion portion. Background technique [0002] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-306404 discloses an endoscope having a built-in object covered with a spiral tube. In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-306404 describes a spiral tube whose pitch is changed according to the axial pressure applied to the built-in material. [0003] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-214337 describes an endoscope in which a built-in part is covered with a spiral tube, and the spiral tube is filled with a soft adhesive. [0004] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-306404 [0005] Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-214337 [0006] In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-306404, the part to be protected in particular is in a tightly wound state. As a result, in the sparsely wound portion, since a larg...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

In addition, an endoscope has also been conceived in which the flexibility of the protective coil can be changed by filling a part of the protective coil with a filler, but in this case, since the sparsely wound portion of the filler is not filled exposed, therefore, does not have the effect of preventing the snagging of the elevation difference

[0008] In addition, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-306404 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-214337 may be combined to fill the sparsely wound part of Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-306404 with a filler, but in this case, There is the following double trouble: not only to make a protection coil with a mixture of tightly wound and sparsely wound, but also, it must be filled with filler

[0009] In addition, the position of the built-in to be protected is determined by the arrangement of the built-in, the structure of the curved part, the bending angle, etc., so the position is different according to the model, and the sparse winding and Tightly wound mixed coils at higher cost

In addition, although the flexibility in the axial direction can be adjusted by providing the closely wound part, there is also a disadvantage that the flexibility cannot be changed corresponding to the circumferential direction.

Images