Mechanism for controlling flexure of endoscope

Claim 2

Mechanism for controlling the flexure of an endoscope, comprising a controllably flexible portion, a set of tension wires being fixed with their one ends to the forward end of said controllably flexible portion at the peripheral portion thereof and extending therethrough so as to be connected with their other ends to a control means housed in a control portion connected To said controllably flexible portion, thereby permitting said controllably flexible portion to be bent in a desired direction by pulling selected ones of the wires in said set by operating said control means, wherein the improvement comprises the fact that said controllably flexible portion comprises at least two sections each adapted to be bent in a desired direction separately from each other by pulling selected ones of the wires in the set which are fixed with their one ends to the forward end of each of said sections and which extend through said controllably flexible portion so as to be connected with their other ends to said control means so that each of said sets of wires are actuated separately, and said control means comprises a stationary control lever on said control portion, and a plurality of rotatable control levers in gear relationship with control drums about which the other ends of said set of tension wires are wound, to place the control levers in a substantially parallel relationship with their respective controlled portions.

Claim 3

Mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said control means comprises drum means for operating said sets of wires, respectively.

Claim 4

Mechanism according to claim 2, wherein said control means comprises brake means adapted to releasably apply braking force to said control means thereby permitting the bent state of the controllable flexible portion given by the operation of said control means to be positively maintained.

Claim 5

Mechanism according to claim 1, wherein closely wound noncontractable flexible helical springs are provided around the respective wires of said sets of wires, each of said springs extends from the rear end of the section in the controllably flexible portion to which the wire extending through said each spring belongs to an abutment surface in said control portion thereby permitting the relative movement of each of the wires with respect to the spring therearound occurring at the abutment surface by the operation of the control means to be exactly transmitted to the forward portion of the wire at the forward end of the spring so that the controllably flexible portion is bent in accordance with the operation of the control means.

Claim 6

Mechanism for controlling the flexure of an endoscope comprising a controllably flexible portion, a pair of tensioning wires fixed with their one ends to the forward end of said controllably flexible portion at substantially diametrically opposite peripheral positions adjacent to the center line normal to the neutral plane of bending of said controllably flexible portion and extending therealong so as to be connected with their other ends to a control means housed in a control portion of the endoscope thereby permitting said controllably flexible portion to be bent in desired direction by pulling a selected one of said wires in said pair by the operation of said control means, wherein the improvement comprises closely wound noncontractable flexible helical springs provided around the respective wires of said pair, each of said springs extending from the rearward end of said controllably flexible portion to an abutment surface stationarily provided in said control portion thereby permitting the relative movement of each of the wires with respect to the spring therearound which occurs at said abutment surface, by the operation of said control means, to be exactly transmitted to the forward portion of the wire at the forward end of the spring so that said controllably flexible portion is bent exactly in correspondence to the operation of said control means.

Claim 7

Mechanism for controlling the flexure of an endoscope comprising a controllably flexible portion, a pair of tensioning wires fixed with their one ends to the forward end of said controllably flexible portion at substantially diametrically opposite peripheral positions adjacent to the center line normal to the neutral plane of bending of said controllably flexible portion and extending therealong so as to be connected with their other ends to a control means housed in a control portion of the endoscope thereby permitting said controllably flexible portion to be bent in desired direction by pulling a selected one of said wires in said pair by the operation of said control means, wherein the improvement comprises closely wound noncontractable flexible helical springs provided around the respective wires of said pair, each of said springs extending from the rearward end of said controllably flexible portion to an abutment surface stationarily provided in said control portion thereby permitting the relative movement of each of the wires with respect to the spring therearound which occurs at said abutment surface, by the operation of said control means, to be exactly transmitted to the forward portion of the wire at the forward end of the spring so that said controllably flexible portion is bent exactly in correspondence to the operation of said control means.

Claim 8

Mechanism for controlling the flexure of an endoscope including a controllably flexible portion, a pair of tensioning wires fixed with their one ends to the forward end of said controllably flexible portion at substantially diametrically opposite peripheral positions adjacent to the center line normal to the neutral plane of bending of said controllably flexible portion and extending therealong so as to be connected with their other ends to a control means housed in a control portion of the endoscope, thereby permitting said controllably flexible portion to be bent in desired direction by pulling selected one of said wires in said pair by the operation of said control means, wherein the improvement comprises the fact that said controllably flexible portion comprises at least two sections of which a first section is located at the foremost end of said controllably flexible portion while a second section is connected to the rearward end of said first section, said first and second sections having respectively a pair of tensioning wires with their one ends securely fixed to the respective ends of said first and second sections and extending therealong so as to be connected with their other ends to a first and second control means housed in said control portion, respectively, thereby permitting each of said first and second sections to be bent in desired direction separately from each other by the operation of the control means corresponding to the section to be bent, a first lever rotatably mounted on a rotatable disc rotatably mounted in said control portion at a position radially offset from the center of rotation of said disc and operably coupled to said first control means such that said first section is bent by the operation of said first lever in the same direction, and substantially by the same angle, as those of the rotation of said first lever, and a second lever fixedly secured to said rotatable disc so as to be rotated therewith and operably connected to said second control means such that said second section is bent by the operation of said second lever in the same direction, and substantially by the same angle, as those of the rotation of said second lever, the direction of said first lever being made parallel to the longitudinal direction of said first section with said first lever being located forwardly of said second lever when both said first and second sections are held in the straight state while the direction of said second lever is made parallel to the longitudinal direction of said second section when said second section is held in the straight state, thereby permitting said first lever to be always parallel to said first section regardless of the flexure of said first and second sections by virtue of the mounting of said first lever on said rotatable disc the rotation of which also causes the actuation of said first control means together with said second control means when rotated by the operation of said second lever, while said second lever is made always parallel to said second section regardless of the flexure thereof, so that the state of flexure of said first and second sections is directly indicated by the directions of said first and second levers, respectively.

Claim 9

Mechanism for controlling the flexure of an endoscope including a controllably flexible portion, a pair of tensioning wires fixed with their one ends to the forward end of said controllably flexible portion at substantially diametrically opposite peripheral positions adjacent to the center line normal to the neutral plane of bending of said controllably flexible portion and extending therealong so as to be connected with their other ends to a control means housed in a control portion of the endoscope, thereby permitting said controllably flexible portion to be bent in desired direction by pulling selected one of said wires in said pair by the operation of said control means, wherein the improvement comprises the fact that said controllably flexible portion comprises at least two sections of which a first section is located at the foremost end of said controllably flexible portion while a second section is connected to the rearward end of said first section, said first and second sections having respectively a pair of tensioning wires with their one ends securely fixed to the respective ends of said first and second sections and extending therealong so as to be connected with their other ends to a first and second control means housed in said control portion, respectively, thereby permitting each of said first and second sections to be bent in desired direction separately from each other by the operation of the control means corresponding to the section to be bent, a first lever rotatably mounted on a rotatable disc rotatably mounted in said control portion at a position radially offset from the center of rotation of said disc and operably coupled to said first control means such that said first section is bent by the operation of said first lever in the same direction, and substantially by the same angle, as those of the rotation of said first lever, and a second lever fixedly secured to said rotatable disc so as to be rotated therewith and operably connected to said second control means such that said second section is bent by the operation of said second lever in the same direction, and substantially by the same angle, as those of the rotation of said second lever, the direction of said first lever being made parallel to the longitudinal direction of said first section with said first lever being located forwardly of said second lever when both said first and second sections are held in the straight state while the direction of said second lever is made parallel to the longitudinal direction of said second section when said second section is held in the straight state, thereby permitting said first lever to be always parallel to said first section regardless of the flexure of said first and second sections by virtue of the mounting of said first lever on said rotatable disc the rotation of which also causes the actuation of said first control means together with said second control means when rotated by the operation of said second lever, while said second lever is made always parallel to said second section regardless of the flexure thereof, so that the state of flexure of said first and second sections is directly indicated by the directions of said first and second levers, respectively.

Claim 10

Mechanism according to claim 6, wherein a stationary lever is fixedly secured to said control portion, the direction of said stationary lever being made parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rearward end of said controllably flexible portion connected to said control portion, thereby permitting the state of flexure of the entire length of said controllably flexible portion to be directly indicated by the directions of said stationary lever, said first and second levers, respectively.

Claim 11

Mechanism according to claim 6, wherein each of said first and second control means comprises a drum on which the pair of tensioning wires are secured, the drum of said first control means being provided with a coaxial gear integral therewith and rotatably mounted on a shaft secured to said rotatable disc and extending along the axis of rotation thereof, said coaxial gear being coupled with a gear integrally secured to said first lever by the interposition of an idle gear rotatably mounted on said disc, the drum of said second control means being fixedly secured to said shaft secured to said disc, so that the drum of said first control means is rotated by either of the operation of said first lever and the rotaTion of said disc by the operation of said second lever which also causes the rotation of the drum of said second control means.

Claim 12

Mechanism according to claim 6, wherein each of said first and second control means is comprised of pinion-rack means having a pair of parallely located racks adapted to be moved oppositely to each other by a pinion interposed therebetween and engaging therewith with the pair of tensioning wires being secured to said pair of racks, respectively, so as to be actuated thereby, the pinion of said first control means being rotatably mounted on a stationary shaft provided in said control portion and having a coaxial gear integral therewith, said coaxial gear being coupled with a gear integral with said first lever through the interposition of an idle gear rotatably mounted on a center shaft fixedly secured to said rotatable disc along the axis of rotation thereof while the pinion of said second control means is fixedly secured to said center shaft so as to be rotated together with said second lever, so that the pinion of said first control means is rotated by either of the operation of said first lever and the rotation of said disc by the operation of said second lever which also causes the rotation of the pinion of said second control means.

Claim 13

Mechanism according to claim 6, wherein said first and second control means are provided with brake means adapted to releasably apply braking force thereto thereby permitting the bent state of said first and second sections to be positively maintained.