| 摘要 |
PURPOSE:To prevent the breakage of optical fibers and to reduce the outside diameter by covering an optical fiber bundle in a curved part directly with a protective tube which is highly slippery and flexible and covering the other part with a flexible tube. CONSTITUTION:A soft endoscope 21 consists of a slender insertion part 22 covered with a flexible tube, an operation part 23 of a large diameter and an eyepiece part 24. A curved part 28 is formed in the rear part adjacent to the forward end part 27 of the part 22, and the part 28 is vertically and laterally curved by the operation of a curving lever 29. The light guide fiber 30 in the forward end 27 is fixed with a hard pipe member 31 and the curved part 28 is covered with a protective tube 32 of, for example, a stretched foamable polytetrachloroethylene resin or the like which is highly flexible and slippery. The flexible part behind the part 28 is covered with a flexible tube 33 (for example made of urethane resin or the like). The tubes 32 and 33 having the same diameter are adhered and connected by a connection tube 34. The breakage of the fibers is thus prevented and the outside diameter is reduced. |
