The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 14, 2000
Filed:
Nov. 13, 1997
Applicant:
Inventors:
Nobuyuki Motoki, Hino, JP;
Yutaka Konomura, Tachikawa, JP;
Assignee:
Olympus Optical Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
A61B / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
600146 ; 600151 ; 600141 ;
Abstract
In an endoscope, an elastic member made of a super elastic alloy, for instance, bridges the distal end portion of an insertion portion and the proximal end portion of a tip portion so that a space portion having a given interval is formed in between. A curving mechanism advances or retreats a manipulation wire that extends from the tip portion to the proximal side of the insertion portion, whereby curving or bending occurs at the space portion between the tip portion and the insertion portion.