Endoscope

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12022993-B2
Application number	US-202016941978-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 29, 2020
Priority date	Feb 5, 2018
Publication date	Jul 2, 2024
Grant date	Jul 2, 2024

Abstract

An endoscope includes: a coil spring which is helically wound around an outer periphery of a treatment instrument channel disposed in an insertion section, the coil spring including a distal end which is fixed to the insertion section on a distal end portion side with respect to a bending portion; and a slide member disposed on a proximal end side of the coil spring, the slide member provided for applying an operation force for deforming the coil spring so as to increase a bending strength of at least a portion of the coil spring corresponding to the inside of the bending portion.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An endoscope comprising:
an insertion section including:
a flexible tube portion configured to be passively bent;
a bending portion configured to be actively bent, the bending portion being arranged distally relative to the flexible tube portion; and
a distal end rigid piece arranged distally relative to the bending portion;

a tube disposed in the insertion section;
a coil helically wound around an outer periphery of the tube, the coil including a first portion fixed to the tube only at a longitudinal position corresponding to the distal end rigid piece, the coil further including a second portion provided proximally to the first portion; and
an operation lever configured to move the second portion of the coil relative to the first portion and relative to the tube, the operation lever being configured to deform the coil so as to change a bending strength of at least the second portion of the coil.

2. The endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the second portion of the coil is configured to move in an extending direction of the coil so as to radially compress the tube.

3. The endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the second portion of the coil is configured to move in a winding direction of the coil so as to radially compress the tube.

4. The endoscope according to claim 1 , further comprising a transmission member connected to the operation lever and to the coil, and configured to transmit an operation force applied to the operation lever to the second portion of the coil.

5. The endoscope according to claim 4 , wherein the transmission member is a closely wound coil integrally formed with the coil in a state where the closely wound coil is wound around the outer periphery of the tube.

6. The endoscope according to claim 4 , wherein the transmission member is an operation wire disposed along the tube.

7. The endoscope according to claim 4 , wherein the transmission member is a transmission tube disposed so as to cover the outer periphery of the tube.

8. The endoscope according to claim 1 , further comprising
an operation section connected to the insertion section,
wherein the operation lever is provided at the operation section so that a part of the operation lever protrudes from an outer surface of the operation section.

9. The endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the coil is configured to be deformed so as to change from a first bending strength with a first length to a second bending strength with a second length in at least the second portion of the coil.

10. The endoscope according to claim 9 , wherein the first bending strength is smaller than the second bending strength.

11. The endoscope according to claim 10 , wherein the first length is shorter than the second length.

12. The endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the operation lever is configured to one of slide in the axial direction of the insertion portion or rotate around a longitudinal direction of the tube so as to compress the second portion of the coil in the longitudinal direction of the tube.

13. The endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the operation lever is configured to one of slide in a longitudinal direction of the tube or rotate around the longitudinal direction of the tube so as to radially compress the tube.

14. The endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the coil including a third portion fixed to the operation lever, the third portion being configured to move relative to the tube.

15. The endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the operation lever includes a first lever portion and a second lever portion, and
when the coil is deformed by sliding of the first lever portion and rotation of the second lever portion.

16. The endoscope according to claim 1 , wherein the first portion has a first density of turns per unit length and the second portion has a second density of turns per unit length, the second density being lower than the first density.

17. The endoscope according to claim 16 , wherein the coil includes a third portion provided proximally to the second portion, the third portion has a third density of turns per unit length, the third density being higher than the second density, and the third portion is configured to move in an extending direction of the coil relative to the tube.

18. The endoscope according to claim 16 , wherein the first portion has a first length, and the second portion has a second length, the second length being longer than the first length, and
the first portion has a first number of turns, and the second portion has a second number of turns, the second number of turns being larger than the first number of turns.

19. An endoscope comprising:
an insertion section including:
a bending portion configured to bend; and
a distal end rigid piece arranged distally relative to the bending portion;

a tube disposed in the insertion section;
a coil helically wound around an outer periphery of the tube, the coil including a first portion fixed to the tube only at a longitudinal position corresponding to the distal end rigid piece, the coil further including a second portion provided proximally to the first portion, and the first portion has a first density of turns per unit length and the second portion has a second density of turns per unit length, the second density being lower than the first density; and
an operation lever configured to move the second portion of the coil relative to the first portion and relative to the tube, the operation lever being configured to deform the coil so as to change a bending strength of at least the second portion of the coil.

Assignees

• Olympus Corp

Inventors

• Saito Hidetoshi

Classifications

• A61B1/0051

  with controlled bending of insertion part · CPC title

• A61B1/00042

  for mechanical operation · CPC title

• G02B23/24

  Instruments {or systems} for viewing the inside of hollow bodies, e.g. fibrescopes · CPC title

• A61B1/018

  for receiving instruments · CPC title

• A61B1/00078 Primary

  with stiffening means · CPC title