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EP-4413912-B1 - ENDOSCOPE

EP4413912B1EP 4413912 B1EP4413912 B1EP 4413912B1EP-4413912-B1

Inventors

  • SUMI, TAKAHIRO
  • KATO, AKIHIRO

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240126

Claims (11)

  1. An endoscope (1) comprising: an insertion section (2) including a movable member; and an operation section (3) including a lever (10; 10A; 10B; 10C; 10D; 10E; 10F) and a stopper (3xd, 3xu), and provided on a proximal end side of the insertion section (2), wherein the movable member is configured to be movable in a first direction, the lever (10; 10A; 10B; 10C; 10D; 10E; 10F) is held to be turnable around a first rotation axis (Ax), the lever (10; 10A; 10B; 10C; 10D; 10E; 10F) being configured to turn to move the movable member, the stopper (3xd, 3xu) is configured to come into contact with the lever (10; 10A; 10B; 10C; 10D; 10E; 10F) when the lever (10; 10A; 10B; 10C; 10D; 10E; 10F) is located at a first position, further, the lever (10; 10A; 10B; 10C; 10D; 10E; 10F) is configured to be deformed between a first state and a second state, the first state is a state in which the lever (10; 10A; 10B; 10C; 10D; 10E; 10F) comes into contact with the stopper (3xd, 3xu) at the first position, and the second state is a state in which the lever (10; 10A; 10B; 10C; 10D; 10E; 10F) does not come into contact with the stopper (3xd, 3xu) at the first position, characterized in that a distance between the first rotation axis (Ax) and a distal end position of the lever (10; 10A; 10B; 10C; 10D; 10E; 10F) in the second state is longer than the distance between the first rotation axis (Ax) and the distal end position of the lever (10; 10A; 10B; 10C; 10D; 10E; 10F) in the first state.
  2. The endoscope (1) according to claim 1, wherein the lever (10; 10A; 10B; 10C; 10D; 10E; 10F) includes a projection (22b; 22Ab; 22Bb) formed in a second direction parallel to a direction in which the first rotation axis (Ax) extends, the first state is a state in which the projection (22b; 22Ab; 22Bb) comes into contact with the stopper (3xd, 3xu), and the second state is a state in which the projection (22b; 22Ab; 22Bb) does not come into contact with the stopper (3xd, 3xu).
  3. The endoscope (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein the lever (10C) has a bearing formed by joining a first hole (O1) and a second hole (O2), the first rotation axis (Ax) being inserted into the bearing, the first state is a state in which the first rotation axis (Ax) is inserted into the first hole (O1) and the lever (10C) is held to be turnable around the first rotation axis (Ax) in the first hole (O1), and the second state is a state in which the first rotation axis (Ax) is inserted into the second hole (O2) and the lever (10C) is held to be turnable around the first rotation axis (Ax) in the second hole (O2).
  4. The endoscope (1) according to claim 3, wherein the bearing is formed by joining the first hole (O1) and the second hole (O2) into an arc shape.
  5. The endoscope (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the movable member is a raising base (54) provided in the insertion section (2), the second rotation axis (Ax2) in particular being a rotation axis of the raising base (54).
  6. The endoscope (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the movable member is at least one optical element on which light from a subject is incident.
  7. The endoscope (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first position is a position at which the movable member is restricted from moving to the proximal end side; and/or wherein the first position is a position at which the movable member is restricted from moving to a distal end side.
  8. The endoscope (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the movable member and the lever are at least partially connected with a single-use member.
  9. The endoscope (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the operation section (3) includes a link mechanism, the link mechanism in particular including a link main body (35), a rod body (34), a coupling member (32), and a coupling member guide (37).
  10. The endoscope (1) according to claim 9, wherein: the rod body (34) has a first end coupled to the link main body (35) and a second end coupled to the coupling member (32); and/or the coupling member (32) is housed in the coupling member guide (37); and/or when the link main body (35) turns around the first rotation axis (Ax), the coupling member (32) is configured to slide inside the coupling member guide (37) to move forward and backward in a long axis direction of the insertion section (2).
  11. The endoscope (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein a portion of the first rotation axis (Ax) has a cross-section formed into a D-shape in a plane perpendicular to the second direction.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to an endoscope including, in an operation section, an operation lever as an operation member that operates a movable member provided in a distal end portion. 2. Description of Related Art Conventionally, endoscopes have been widely utilized in the medical field and the industrial field, for example. A medical endoscope used in the medical field is configured to include an insertion section formed into an elongated tubular shape and having an image pickup unit and the like in a distal end portion, and an operation section provided consecutively to a proximal end side of the insertion section and having various operation members and the like on an outer surface. Such a conventional endoscope has a function of inserting the insertion section into a body cavity of a living body to acquire, display, and record internal images of an organ or the like. A user observes and inspects a site of lesion or the like in an organ or the like based on images acquired and displayed by the endoscope. In some cases, such a conventional endoscope may be configured to include a conduit (called a treatment instrument insertion conduit) that allows insertion of a treatment instrument or the like in an insertion section, a forceps raising base (forceps elevator) that changes a protruding direction of the treatment instrument in a state allowed to be inserted through the conduit and caused to protrude to the outside of a distal end portion of the insertion section, and the like. Herein, the treatment instrument is an instrument including a forceps and the like at a distal end and used for performing various types of treatment such as a biopsy of collecting some living tissues in a body cavity and resection of a site of lesion in the body cavity. The forceps raising base has a structure to be driven in accordance with operation of a forceps lever which is a predetermined operation member and an operation lever provided in the operation section. An endoscope disclosed by Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2020-89598 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2011-136193, for example, has a form in which a forceps raising base is provided in a distal end portion of an insertion section of the endoscope. In the endoscope, an operation lever which is an operation member for operating the forceps raising base is provided in an operation section. A driving mechanism including a traction wire for driving the forceps raising base in accordance with operation of the operation lever is provided between the forceps raising base and the operation lever. Some conventional endoscopes include a bending portion obtained by configuring a portion of an insertion section to be bendable in an insertion axis direction. The bending portion in such a conventional endoscope has a configuration to be driven in a bending manner in accordance with operation of an operation lever which is a predetermined operation member provided in an operation section. An endoscope disclosed by Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-13320, for example, includes a bending portion obtained by configuring a partial region of an insertion section closer to a distal end to be bendable. An operation lever which is an operation member that performs a bending operation of the bending portion is provided in an operation section. A driving mechanism including a traction wire for driving the bending portion in a bending manner in accordance with operation of the operation lever is provided between the bending portion and the operation lever. Some other conventional endoscopes include a configuration in which an image pickup visual field and an image pickup magnification can be changed within predetermined ranges by moving in an optical axis direction some optical members of an image pickup optical system included in an image pickup unit provided in a distal end portion of an insertion section. The image pickup optical system in such a conventional endoscope has a configuration in which some optical members move in the optical axis direction in accordance with operation of an operation lever which is a predetermined operation member provided in an operation section. In this case, a driving mechanism including a traction wire for causing some optical members of the image pickup optical system to move forward and backward in accordance with operation of the operation lever is provided between the image pickup unit and the operation lever. As described above, among conventional endoscopes, various endoscopes having a configuration of driving and operating various movable members (such as a forceps raising base, a bending portion, and a portion of an image pickup optical system) provided in a distal end portion of an insertion section or an area closer to a distal end of the insertion section in accordance with operation of an operation lever which is a predetermi