EP0078017A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Endoscope apparatus with motor-driven bending mechanism
Assignee: Olympus Corp
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Filing: 1982-10-20
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2002-10-20
Abstract
Abstract An endoscope (10) is disclosed which comprises: an insertion section (14) having a flexible tube (20) which is inserted into a body cavity and deflected or bent in the desired direction and a distal end portion (22) coupled to the flexible tube (20); and a control section (12) which is controlled by the operator such as a doctor. In the control section (12) are disposed a motor (28) which is reversible in response to switching operation of switches (40,42) manually pressed by the operator and a motor-driven bending mechanism including a drum (32) and an angulation wire (38) to angulate or deflect the flexible tube (20). The angulation wire (38) extends within the insertion section (14) such that the distal end of the angulation wire (38) is secured to a portion near the distal end portion (22) of the flexible tube (20). Since the motor (28) changes a rotational torque in accordance with the switching operation of the switch (44), the deflection speed of the flexible tube (20) is changed.
Inventors
- 👤 Syuichi Takayama
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-22 21:59
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B1/00; A61B1/00002; A61B1/00004; A61B1/00006; A61B1/00039; A61B1/00042; A61B1/00147; A61B1/0016; A61B1/005; A61B1/0051; A61B1/0052; A61B1/0057; A61M; A61M25/00; A61M25/01; A61M25/0105; A61M25/0133; A61M25/0136
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 18
Claim 1
Independent Claim
173 words
An endoscope apparatus (10, 200) having an elongated insertion section (14, 216) which is inserted into a body cavity and is freely bent in a desired direction, a main body (12, 202) coupled to said insertion section (14, 216), motor means (28, 204), provided in said main body (12, 202), for receiving electric power and for generating a torque to bend said insertion section (14, 216), characterized in that said endoscope apparatus (10, 200) comprises bending means (26, 201), mechanically connected to said motor means (28, 204) and said insertion section (14, 216), for bending or deflecting said insertion section (14, 216) in accordance with the torque transmitted from said motor means (28, 204), and motor controlling means (50, 77, 101, 241), electrically connected to said motor means (28, 204), for changing an amount of the electric power supplied to said motor means (28, 204) at a suitable time and for controlling the torque transmitted from said motor means (28, 204) so as to change bending operation of said insertion section (14, 216).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
173 words
An endoscope apparatus (10, 200) having an elongated insertion section (14, 216) which is inserted into a body cavity and is freely bent in a desired direction, a main body (12, 202) coupled to said insertion section (14, 216), motor means (28, 204), provided in said main body (12, 202), for receiving electric power and for generating a torque to bend said insertion section (14, 216), characterized in that said endoscope apparatus (10, 200) comprises bending means (26, 201), mechanically connected to said motor means (28, 204) and said insertion section (14, 216), for bending or deflecting said insertion section (14, 216) in accordance with the torque transmitted from said motor means (28, 204), and motor controlling means (50, 77, 101, 241), electrically connected to said motor means (28, 204), for changing an amount of the electric power supplied to said motor means (28, 204) at a suitable time and for controlling the torque transmitted from said motor means (28, 204) so as to change bending operation of said insertion section (14, 216).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
75 words
An endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an eyepiece section (13, 226) coupled to said main body (12, 202); and light-emitting means (46, 72, 74, 76, 124, 134, 231), provided in said eyepiece section (13, 226), for detecting a change in the electric power supplied to said motor means (28, 204) and for visually indicationg to an operator who observes a desired portion of the body cavity through said eyepiece section (13, 226).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
156 words
An endoscope apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said motor controlling means comprises: bending speed mode determining means (44, 84, 92, 96), provided outside said endoscope main body (12) so as to be manually operated by the operator, for determining the bending speed mode of said insertion section (14) in accordance with the operator; and motor current controlling means (50, 77, 101), connected to said bending speed mode determining means (44, 84, 92, 96), for electrically detecting the manual operation amount of said bending speed mode determining means (44, 84, 92, 96) by the operator and for changing a current flowing through said motor means (28) in accordance with the operation amount detected, whereby said motor means (28) changes the torque in accordance with the manual operation of said bending speed mode determining means (44, 84, 92, 96) so as to cause said insertion section (14) to change a bending speed thereof.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
32 words
An endoscope apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that said motor means includes an electric motor (28) selectively driven in forward and reverse directions in accordance with the current flowing therethrough.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
109 words
An endoscope apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that said bending mode determining means (40, 42) includes first switching means manually operated by the operator and connected to said electric motor (28) to designate a rotational mode of said electric motor (28), and second switching means (44) manually operated by the operator to designate a rotational speed of said electric motor (28); and said motor current controlling means (50) includes resistor means (54), connected to said second switching means (44) and said electric motor (28), for changing the current supplied to said electric motor (28) in response to a switching operation of said second switching means (44) .
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
62 words
An endoscope apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that said resistor means includes at least one resistor (54) connected in series with said electric motor (28); and said second switching means includes at least one switch (44) connected in parallel with said at least one resistor (54) to selectively allow flow of the current to said at least one resistor (54)
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
39 words
An endoscope apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that said light-emitting means includes a bridge circuit (58) connected in parallel with said at least one switch (44) and a light-emitting diode (46) connected to said bridge circuit (58).
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
93 words
An endoscope apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that said bending mode determining means includes a lever member (64) manually operated by the operator; and said motor controlling means includes lever displacement detecting means (66, 68, 70) disposed near said lever means (64), for detecting displacement of said lever member (64), and transistor circuit means (77) connected to said lever displacement detecting means (66, 68, 70) and said electric motor (28), for continuously increasing the current supplied to said electric motor (28) in accordance with the displacement of said lever member (64).
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
54 words
An endoscope apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that said light-emitting means is electrically connected to said lever displacement detecting means (66, 68, 70) and includes a plurality of light-emitting diodes (72, 74, 76) which increase an amount of light emitted thereby substantially in proportion to the displacement of said lever member (64).
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
112 words
An endoscope apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that said bending mode determining means includes at least one sliding body (90, 92) linearly and elastically sliding in a predetermined direction in accordance with an operation by the operator; and said motor controlling means includes potentiometer means (98, 100) mechanically coupled to said sliding body (90, 92), for changing a resistance thereof in accordance with a sliding amount of said sliding body (90, 92), and transistor circuit means (101) electrically connected to said potentiometer means (98, 100), for continuously increasing the current supplied to said electric motor (28) in accordance with a change in the resistance of said potentiometer means (98, 100).
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
86 words
ll. An endoscope apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that said light-emitting means includes: a resistance change detecting circuit (118, 128) electrically connected to said potentiometer means (98, 100) to electrically detect the change in the resistance of said potentiometer means (98, 100); and a plurality of light-emitting diodes (122, 132) electrically connected to said resistance change detecting circuit (118, 128) to emit visible light, an amount of which changes in accordance with a detected change in the resistance of said potentiometer means (98, 100).
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
154 words
An endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said bending means comprises: a drum (214) which is mechanically connected to said motor means (204) to receive the torque from said motor means (204) to be rotated, angulation wire means (220) which is looped around said drum (214), which has a terminal end connected to a predetermined portion of said insertion section (216), and which extends through said endoscope main body (202) and into said insertion section (216); and a clutch mechanism (213) which is interposed between said motor means (204) and said drum (214) to transmit the torque of said motor means (204) to said drum (214) and which has first and second friction plates (210, 212) which slip relative to each other when a load exceeding a first predetermined load is applied to said drum (214) by applying an external load exceeding a second predetermined load to said insertion section (216).
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
105 words
An endoscope apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that said motor controlling means (201) comprises: detecting means (242, 244) arranged near said first and second friction plates (210, 212), for detecting a change in rotation between said first and second friction plates (210, 212) due to slippage therebetween to generate an electrical detection signal; and motor current controlling means (290) connected to said detecting means (242, 244) and said motor means (204), for at least decreasing the current supplied to said motor means (204) in response to said electrical detection signal so as to temporarily decrease the torque generated by said motor means (204).
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
75 words
An endoscope apparatus according to claim 13, characterized by further comprising: an eyepiece section (226) coupled to said main body (202); and displaying means (231), disposed in said eyepiece section (226) and electrically connected to said detection means (242, 244), for changing an amount of light emitted thereby in response to said electrical detection signal so as to visually indicate slippage between said first and second friction plates (210, 212) of said clutch mechanism (213).
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
137 words
An endoscope apparatus according to claim 13, characterized in that said detection means includes a detection circuit for optically detecting a rotational difference between said first and second friction plates (210, 212) and for generating said electrical detection signal corresponding to the rotational difference; and said motor current controlling means (241) includes a comparing circuit (284, 288) electrically connected to said detection circuit to generate an electrical control signal when said electrical detection signal exceeds a predetermined level, and switching means (290), electrically connected to said comparing circuit (284, 288) and connected in series with said motor means (204), for receiving the current flowing through said motor means (204), said switching means (290) at least decreasing the current supplied to said motor means (204) in accordance with a switching operation in response to said electrical control signal.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
125 words
An endoscope apparatus according to claim 15, characterized in that said first and second friction plates (210, 212) respectively have disc-shaped plate portions (236, 238), each of said plate portions (236, 238) having a cut-off pattern including a plurality of open areas (236a, 238a) radially formed at the disc-shaped plate portion (236, 238) of each of said first and second friction plates (210, 212); and said detection circuit includes a pair of a light-emitting element (242) and a light-receiving element (244), which sandwich said cut-off patterns (236a, 238a) of said disc-shaped plate portions (236, 238) of said first and second friction plates (210, 212) therebetween, said light-receiving element (224) receiving light from said light-emitting element (242) to photoelectrically convert the light to an electric signal.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
24 words
An endoscope apparatus according to claim 15, characterized in that said switching means of said motor current controlling means includes a transistor (290) .
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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