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:
Jan. 30, 2007
Filed:
Apr. 13, 2004
Kikuo Iwasaka, Tokyo, JP;
Tadashi Kasai, Tokyo, JP;
Hideo Nanba, Tokyo, JP;
Masaru Takeshige, Tokyo, JP;
Akira Sugiyama, Tokyo, JP;
Keiji Kunii, Tokyo, JP;
Masanao Abe, Tokyo, JP;
Kikuo Iwasaka, Tokyo, JP;
Tadashi Kasai, Tokyo, JP;
Hideo Nanba, Tokyo, JP;
Masaru Takeshige, Tokyo, JP;
Akira Sugiyama, Tokyo, JP;
Keiji Kunii, Tokyo, JP;
Masanao Abe, Tokyo, JP;
PENTAX Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A flexible tube for an endoscope has an elongated tubular core body, and an outer cover which is provided over the core body. The outer cover is composed of an inner layer, an outer layer and at least one intermediate layer. In this flexible tube, any one of the layers is different from one of the other layers in its property. Further, at least one of the layers has a thickness-varying region where the thickness of the layer varies in its longitudinal direction. In addition, the inner layer of the outer cover has projections which are integrally formed on the inner layer so that the projections project into holes and/or the recesses formed on the core body. This structure makes it possible to produce a flexible tube for an endoscope that has high durability, high flexibility and high chemical resistance as well as excellent operationability.