| 摘要 |
<p>PURPOSE:To attain good durability of a flexible tube and improve the insertion property into a body cavity by forming the outermost layer outer surface of thermoplastic elastomer, and providing a transition part around the boundary on the forward end side and base end side where the material is gradually changed from soft elastomer to hard elastomer. CONSTITUTION:An insertion part 13 consists of flexible tube parts such as a forward end composing part 19, a curved part 20 connected with it, a flexible tube 21, etc. The flexible tube 21 is composed of a flex 22 consisting of a belt of metal material wound spirally, a braid 23 fabricated in mesh around it, and an outer surface 24 of thermoplastic elastomer around the braid 23 laminated with each other, with the outer surface 24 having a soft part 26 of soft elastomer at a forward end side 25, while an operation part 27 has a hard part 28 of hard elastomer. By changing the mixing ratio of soft elastomer to hard elastomer from the forward end at a transition part group 29 for a flexibility changing point of the soft part 26 and the hard part 28, the hardness is changed from the soft part 26 to the hard part 28.</p> |
