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US 2002/0002322 A1Published application
Endoscope
AssigneeOlympus Optical Co., Ltd.
InventorTatsuya Ishizuka
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AssigneeOlympus Optical Co., Ltd.
InventorTatsuya Ishizuka
Estimating the term…
An endoscope where problems due to a difference of deformation amount in the longitudinal direction generated between the flexible tube and the integrated object during autoclave sterilization are prevented, wherein the insertion part is comprised of a hard tip part and a flexible tube which is linked to the base of the hard tip part via a curving part, the tip of a treatment instrument tube is secured to a metal pipe disposed in a through hole of the hard tip part, the base part is secured to a branch pipe, and the treatment instrument tube has a shrinkage factor x having a characteristic x<1, that is, shrinking after a predetermined thermal load is applied, whereas the flexible tube 15 has shrinkage a factor y having a characteristic y<1, that is, shrinking after a predetermined thermal load is applied, in other words, the deforming directions of the flexible tube and the treatment instrument tube are set to the same direction with respect to the longitudinal direction, so that the flexible tube and the treatment instrument tube shrink in the same direction when the endoscope is exposed to such a thermal load environment as autoclave sterilization.
An endoscope comprising a flexible insertion part having an elongated flexible tube, and at least one elongated integrated object which is directly or indirectly secured to both ends of said flexible tube, wherein there is disposed deformation control means for controlling an increase of the absolute value of the difference between the deformation amounts in the longitudinal direction of said flexible tube and said at least one elongated integrated object with respect to a predetermined thermal load.
An endoscope comprising an insert part having an elongated flexible tube, and at least one elongated integrated object which is directly or indirectly secured to both ends of said flexible tube, wherein the shrinkage factors of said flexible tube and said integrated object in the longitudinal direction with respect to a predetermined thermal load are roughly the same.
An endoscope comprising an insertion part having an elongated flexible tube, and at least one elongated integrated object which is directly or indirectly secured to both ends of said flexible tube, wherein the deformation amount in the longitudinal direction and deforming directions of said flexible tube and said integrated object with respect to a predetermined thermal load are roughly the same.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.