Angle portion of an endoscope

Details Angle portion of an endoscope Angle portion of an endoscope

2000-09-29

2002-09-24

Esquivel, Denise L. (Department: 3744)

Surgery

Endoscope

Having flexible tube structure

C600S146000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06454703

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Art
This invention relates generally to endoscopic insertion instruments for medical use, and more particularly to a flexibly bendable, angling joint tube for use as an angle portion of endoscopic insertion instruments.
2. Prior Art
Firstly, illustrated in
FIG. 8
is a general layout of a typical endoscopic insertion instrument in use in medical fields. The endoscopic insertion instrument is largely constituted by a manipulating head assembly
1
, a rod-like insert member
2
which is extended out on the front side of the manipulating head assembly
1
for insertion into a body cavity, and a universal cable
3
which is led out on the rear side of the manipulating head assembly
1
for connection to a light source. The insert member
2
comprises at least a rigid tip end section
2
a
which is internally provided with an observation means, an angle section
2
b
which is connected to the proximal end of the rigid tip end section
2
a
, and a lengthy flexible body section
2
c
which extends from the manipulating head assembly
1
to the proximal end of the angle section. In the case of optical or directly viewing type endoscopes in general, an illumination window or windows
4
and an observation window
5
are provided in a distal end face of the rigid tip end section
2
a
as shown in
FIG. 9
as an endoscopic observation means. The illumination windows
4
are provided for the purpose of projecting illumination light on intracavitary areas under observation, while the observation window
5
is provided for the purpose of observing intracavitary portions of interest therethrough. In addition, endoscopes of this sort are generally arranged to permit insertion of a surgical or therapeutic instrument such as forceps through the insertion instrument as soon as a disorder or a diseased portion is spotted in an intracavitary portion under observation through the observation window. For this purpose, an outlet
6
of a biopsy channel is opened in the distal end face of the rigid tip end section
2
a
side by side with the illumination and observation windows
4
and
5
. Further, a wash nozzle
7
is provided on the rigid tip end section to supply a wash liquid toward the observation window to wash away body fluids or other contaminant liquids therefrom, and then to supply compressed air to dissipate liquid droplets which may remain on the surfaces of the observation window after washing.
The angle section
2
b
is generally arranged as shown in FIG.
10
. Namely, the angle section
2
b
is in the form of a flexible tube
11
of a jointed ring structure consisting of a series of pivotally connected angle rings
10
. The flexible tube
11
is wrapped in metal wire mesh
12
which is in turn encased in an outer tube forming an outer skin layer
13
. The angle rings
10
of the flexible tube
11
includes end rings at the fore and proximal ends to be connected to the rigid tip end section
2
a
and the flexible body section
2
c
, respectively, and angle rings which are connected in intermediate positions between the two end rings.
FIG. 10
shows a fore end portion of the anglr section
2
b.
Indicated at
10
a
is a front end ring
10
a
which is fitted in a rigid casing
9
a
of the rigid tip end section
2
a
. An insulating cap
9
b
is fitted on a fore end face of the rigid casing
9
a
. Accordingly, the fore end
10
a
constitutes part of a distal rigid section of the insert portion
2
. At a proximal end away from the rigid casing
9
, the front end ring
10
a
is provided with a pair of ear portions at the opposite right and left sides thereof, in overlapped relations with ear portions of a first angle ring
10
1
. The overlapped ear portions of the front end ring
10
and the first angle ring
10
1
are pivotally connected with each other by a pivoting pin
14
. These ear portions are formed in a flat plane. At the opposite end away from the front end ring
10
a
, the first angle ring
10
1
is provided with axial extensions at the upper and lower sides thereof, in overlapping relations with axial extensions of a second angle ring
10
2
. These overlapped axial extensions are pivotally connected with each other by a pivoting pin
14
. In the same manner, the second angle ring
10
2
, third angle ring
10
3
, fourth angle ring
10
4
and so forth are pivotally connected one after another by means of pivoting pins
14
alternately by way of right and left ear portions and upper and lower axial extensions. Accordingly, two adjacent angle rings which are connected by way of the right and left ear portions are flexible toward and away from each other through a predetermined angle in vertical directions, while two adjacent angle rings which are connected by way of the upper and lower axial extensions are flexible toward and away from each other through a predetermined angle in lateral or rightward and leftward directions. Thus, the flexible tube
11
, which is formed by successively connecting a large number of angle rings
10
in the above-described manner, is flexible in upward and downward directions and in rightward and leftward directions as well. Since both of the metal wire mesh
12
and outer skin layer
13
which wrap in the flexible tube
11
are flexible, the angle section
2
b
can be turned arbitrarily in upward, downward, rightward and leftward directions.
For bending the angle section
2
b
into a desired direction, an angling knob
8
is provided on the manipulating head assembly
1
. For this purpose, a number of operating wires
15
are employed to transmit an operating force from the angling knobs
8
to the angle section
2
b
. Since the angle section
2
b
are flexibly bent in four directions, namely, in upward, downward, rightward and leftward directions as mentioned hereinbefore, the operating wires
15
are constituted by four operating wires or two pairs of operating wires, including a first pair of upper and lower operating wires and a second pair of right and left operating wires. At the time of bending the angle section
2
b
in an upward or downward direction, an operator manipulates the angling knob
8
in such a way as to pull one of the upper and lower operating wires while pushing out the other wire. When bending the angle section
2
b
rightward or leftward, an operator manipulates the angling knob
8
in such a way as to pull one of the right and left operating wires while pushing out the other wire. By so doing, the angle section
2
b
is bent in a direction in which a tensile operating force prevails. Further, the upper and lower operating wires can be manipulated in combination with the right and left operating wires to turn the angle section
2
b
in a twisted form.
Accordingly, within the flexible tube
11
, the four operating wires are located strictly in predetermined four separate positions which are shifted from each other by 90 degrees in phase or in the circumferential direction and which are in the close proximity of inner surfaces of the flexible tube
11
. Besides, the operating wires
15
should be arranged to be movable smoothly in pushing and pulling directions or in axially in forward and backward directions but should be retained in the respective positions without deviations in radial and circumferential directions. For this purpose, the operating wires
15
are associated with guide means utilizing pivoting pins
14
as shown in FIG.
10
.
More specifically, the pivoting pins
14
, which function to pivotally connect preceding and succeeding angle rings
10
, are each provided with a bulged head portion which is projected radially inward within the flexible tube
11
to serve as a wire guide
16
. Each wire guide
16
is bulged in a dome-like shape and provided with a through hole or a wire passage
16
a
which is bored axially through its dome-like body. The operating wires
14
are slidably threaded respectively through the wire passages of the wire guides
16
. In this regard, it has also been known in the art to employ flat-head pivoting pins and to pass the operating wires
14

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