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:
Aug. 02, 2005
Filed:
May. 22, 2002
Masanao Abe, Saitama, JP;
Kazuhiko Gonda, Saitama, JP;
Masanao Abe, Saitama, JP;
Kazuhiko Gonda, Saitama, JP;
PENTAX Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An endoscope which has small bending resistance and is hard to be damaged or broken even when it is repeatedly used is disclosed. The endoscope includes a flexible insertion sectionand an operation sectionprovided on the proximal end of the insertion section. The insertion sectionhas a sheath constructed from an outer layerand the like, and elongated members such as an image guideand light guidesand the like are housed in lumens in the sheath. Further, each light guidehas an optical fiber bundle and a protective sheathfor protecting the optical fiber bundle. In the interior space of the protective sheath, a lubricantcontaining a silicone oil and a solid lubricant is provided. The solid lubricant contains at least one of boron nitride, poly tetrafluoroethylene, and molybdenum disulfide. The solid lubricant is preferably formed into powder having an average grain size of 0.1 to 15 μm. By providing the lubricantin the interior space of the lumen, bending resistance of the insertion section is reduced so that damage, breakage, or the like is hard to occur in the elongated members.