Claims
- 1. An insertable part of an industrial endoscope having a curvable portion formed near the top of the insertable portion, a flexible proximal portion and means interconnecting and joining said curvable insertable portion and said flexible proximal portion in axial alignment characterized in that a tubular protective cover is fitted to and extends axially along the outer periphery of said curvable insertable portion and that a tubular protective cover is fitted to and extends axially along the outer periphery of said flexible proximal portion, said insertable portion protective cover and said proximal portion protective cover abutting at one of their ends and being interconnected and joined at said abutting ends in axial alignment, one with the other, and joined to said means interconnecting and joining said insertable portion and said proximal portion by means at said abutting ends, said insertable portion protective cover being connected at its opposite end to the distal end of said curvable insertable portion and said flexible portion protective cover being connected at its opposite end to the proximal end of said flexible proximal portion.
- 2. An insertable part of an industrial endoscope according to claim 1, characterized in that said tubular protective cover on the outer periphery of said curvable insertable portion is more flexible than said tubular protective cover on the outer periphery of said flexible proximal portion.
- 3. An insertable part of an industrial endoscope according to claim 1, characterized in that said tubular protective covers are tubular members of knitted fine wires.
- 4. An insertable part of an industrial endoscope according to claim 3, characterized in that the diameter of said knitted fine wires in said tubular protective cover on the outer periphery of said insertable portion are smaller than said knitted fine wires in said tubular protective cover on the outer periphery of said proximal portion.
- 5. An insertable part of an industrial endoscope according to claim 1, characterized in that said means at said abutting ends of said protective covers includes a connecting means on the abutting end of each of said covers, said connecting means each including said plurality of concavoconvex parts on the connecting means of one of said abutting ends of one of said protective covers mating with and being axially movable with respect to said plurality of concavoconvex parts on the connecting means of the other of said abutting ends of said protective cover for connecting and disconnecting said abutting ends.
- 6. An insertable part of an industrial endoscope according to claim 5, characterized in that said concavoconvex parts on said connecting means include radially aligned grooves formed in said concavoconvex parts, the aligned groove in one of said connecting means having plate springs projecting into the aligned groove on the other of said connecting means and guide holes in one of said connecting means extending through said groove and forming an opening for pressing said plate springs radially inward for releasing said plate springs from one of said grooves and compressing said plate springs into the other of said grooves for separating the abutting ends of said protective covers.
Priority Claims (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
57-136018 |
Aug 1982 |
JPX |
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57-118604[U] |
Aug 1982 |
JPX |
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Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 904,760, filed Sept. 5, 1986, now abandoned, in turn a continuation of Ser. No. 797,799, filed Nov. 15, 1985, now abandoned, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 520,312, filed Aug. 4, 1983, now abandoned, and relates to industrial endoscopes or fiberscopes having an insertion tube with a curvable leading section and a following trailing section and, more particularly, to an outer replacable cover for such insertion tubes.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
1227327 |
Aug 1960 |
FRX |
784740 |
Oct 1957 |
GBX |
Continuations (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
797799 |
Nov 1985 |
|
Parent |
520312 |
Aug 1983 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
904760 |
Sep 1986 |
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