JP2003245330A - Tray - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tray which houses an endoscope to prevent the persistent bend of a slender and soft insertion tube of the endoscope completely otherwise which bend is caused by heat during the autoclave sterilization. <P>SOLUTION: When the endoscope 1 undergoes the autoclave sterilization after the use thereof, the endoscope is housed into the endoscope tray 35 before placed into an autoclave sterilizer to keep the insertion tube 2 of the endoscope 1 straight. This prevents the persistent bend of the insertion tube otherwise caused by heat during the autoclave sterilization. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tray for storing an endoscope to be put into an autoclave sterilizer. 2. Description of the Related Art An oblong insertion portion can be inserted into a body cavity or the like to observe a deep portion of the body cavity or the like, and a treatment can be performed by using a treatment tool if necessary. Endoscopes have become widely used in the medical field. In the case of a medical endoscope, it is essential to surely sterilize and sterilize the used endoscope in order to prevent infectious diseases and the like. Therefore, recently, autoclave sterilization (high-temperature, high-pressure steam sterilization) that can be used immediately after sterilization without a complicated operation and that has low running costs is becoming the mainstream in endoscope devices. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-63007 is an example of such prior art. [0003] When performing such autoclave sterilization (high-pressure steam sterilization), a negative pressure step is performed as a pre-process and a post-process, in which the inside of the sterilizer is set to a negative pressure. For this reason, the endoscope (also referred to as a scope) is provided with a check valve for preventing the rupture of the flexible portion of the elongated insertion portion and for preventing invasion of gas and vapor. Has a structure that allows gas to pass through, but does not allow gas to pass from outside to inside. In general, an endoscope includes a light guide as an illumination light transmitting unit formed by coating an optical fiber bundle obtained by bundling a large number of optical fibers with a flexible tube, an image guide as an optical image transmitting unit, and the like. Are placed. [0004] Generally, when an endoscope is subjected to autoclave sterilization (high-temperature and high-pressure steam sterilization) for the endoscope after use, when the endoscope is put into an autoclave sterilization apparatus, It is necessary to prevent the slender and flexible endoscope insertion portion from being bent by heat during autoclave sterilization. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a tray for storing an endoscope so that a slender and flexible insertion portion does not bend due to heat generated during autoclave sterilization. I do. [0006] In order to achieve the above object, a tray according to the present invention is provided with an autoclave sterilizing apparatus for performing autoclave sterilization on an endoscope provided with a flexible portion in an elongated insertion portion. It is characterized in that the endoscope is housed while the insertion section is kept straight when inserted into the endoscope. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 relate to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an endoscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a view showing a structure of a check valve cap of FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view for explaining the sterile sheath of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a tray used in place of the sterile sheath of FIG. [0008] As shown in FIG. 1, an endoscope 1 according to the present embodiment.
Is an elongated flexible insertion section 2 having a built-in image pickup device such as a CCD at the distal end thereof, and an operation section 3 connected to the base end side of the insertion section 2 and held by an observer to perform various operations. And a universal cord 4 extending from the operation unit 3 to form a watertight electronic endoscope. In the present embodiment, an endoscope (electronic endoscope) 1 having a built-in imaging device will be described at the distal end of the insertion section 2; however, an object captured from the distal end of the insertion section 2 by an inserted image guide will be described. An optical endoscope that guides an optical image in a sample and observes the image at an eyepiece may be used. At the end of the universal cord 4, a light source device and a camera control unit (not shown) (not shown)
The CCU) is provided with a connector portion 5 which is detachably connectable. The connector portion 5 is provided with a light guide connector 6 connected to the light source device and a camera connector 7 connected to the CCU. . The internal spaces of the insertion section 2, the operation section 3, the universal cord 4, and the connector section 5 communicate with each other. That is, one internal space is formed with respect to the endoscope exterior. The insertion section 2 has a flexible tube section 8 having flexibility, a bending section 9 provided on the distal end side of the flexible tube section 8 and capable of bending by operation of the operation section 3. It is provided at the distal end, and comprises a distal end portion 10 provided with an observation optical system, an illumination optical system, and the like (not shown). The operation section 3 includes a bending operation lever 11 for controlling the operation of the bending section 9.
And a treatment tool insertion port 12 for inserting a treatment tool such as forceps, and a plurality of switches 13 for freezing and releasing images. The bending operation lever 11 is rotatable, and is assembled in a watertight state by an O-ring (not shown). When the light guide connector 6 of the endoscope 2 is connected to the light source device and the camera connector 7 of the endoscope 2 is connected to the CCU, illumination light from the light source device is transmitted to the universal cord 4. The light is guided to the distal end via a light guide fiber to be described later inserted through the endoscope 2, and illuminates a subject such as an affected part from the distal end surface (FIG. 5).
reference). Then, the reflected light of the illuminated subject is transmitted to the endoscope 2.
The image is taken by the image pickup device inside and photoelectrically converted. The electric signal photoelectrically converted by the imaging device is a universal code 4
Is transmitted to the CCU via the CCU, and various signal processing is performed by the CCU to generate a video signal. Then, the video signal is transmitted to a monitor (not shown) to display an observation image on a monitor screen. ing. A vent hole 14 is formed in the camera connector 7 for communicating the internal space with the outside. The camera connector 7 has a waterproof cap 15
Can be attached detachably. The waterproof cap 15 is attached to the camera connector 7 when the used endoscope 1 is washed or immersed in a chemical solution. The camera connector 7 allows a gas to pass from the internal space of the endoscope to the outside, but also has a check valve cap 16 having a check valve function for preventing the gas from passing from the outside to the inside. Can be attached. Further, when performing autoclave sterilization (high-temperature and high-pressure steam sterilization) on the endoscope 1 after use, when inserting the endoscope 1 into an autoclave sterilizer (not shown), the insertion portion 2 is not bent. You need to do that. For this reason, the endoscope 1 has a sterile sheath 1
7, and the sterilization sheath 17 is fixed to the operation unit 3. Thereby, when the endoscope 1 is inserted into the autoclave sterilizing apparatus, the insertion section 2 is maintained in a straight state, and the insertion section 2 is heated by the autoclave sterilization.
The bend habit is not attached. The sterilization sheath 17 and the check valve cap 16 are connected to a chain 18.
Thus, the user can be encouraged not to forget to attach the check valve cap 16 during sterilization. Next, the check valve cap 16 and the sterilization sheath 17 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, the check valve cap 16 includes a metal check valve cap body 22 provided with a valve seat 21 and a rubber seal member 23.
And a metal valve body 24 integrally provided with the valve seat 21.
A valve spring 25 for urging the valve body 24 with respect to the camera connector 7;
6 and a rubber sealing member 27 for maintaining the watertightness between the mounting portion 26 and the outer peripheral surface of the camera connector 7. The check valve cap 16 is attached to the camera connector 7 instead of the waterproof cap 15 when the endoscope 1 is subjected to autoclave sterilization. By attaching the check valve cap 16, high-temperature and high-pressure steam during autoclave sterilization is prevented from entering through the vent hole 14. The valve element 24 is constantly pressed in the seating direction by the urging force of the valve spring 25, and the check valve cap 16
Is in a normal state in which the endoscope 1 is attached to the camera connector 7, the valve body 24 is pressed and adhered to the valve seat 21 via the seal member 23. When the pressure difference becomes relatively high and the pressure difference becomes equal to or greater than the urging force of the valve spring 25, the valve spring 25
Moves in the valve opening direction against the urging force of
4 is separated from the valve seat 21 to open the communication port 21a.
Then, the pressure inside the endoscope 1 is increased by the check valve cap 16.
Is released to the outside through the communication port 21a of the endoscope 1 so that the pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the endoscope 1 is eliminated. In addition, valve body 2
The opening timing of 4 can be set to an amount of force that can release the urging of the valve body 24 toward the valve seat 21 by the spring constant of the valve spring 25. The valve body 2 is provided on the cap body 22.
An on-off valve (not shown) protruding from the upper surface of the cap 4 to the outside of the cap may be provided so that the operation of the valve body 24 is not hindered even when the check valve cap 16 is in contact with another member. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the sterilization sheath 17 which covers the endoscope insertion portion 2 fixes a sheath body 31 formed of a hard resin or metal pipe and the sheath body 31 to the operation section 3. It is composed of a fixed part 32. The fixing portion 32 is provided with a plurality of convex members 33 inside,
The positional relationship between the sterilization sheath 17 and the operation unit 3 is defined, and sterilization between the sterilization sheath 17 and the operation unit 3 is performed reliably. As shown in FIG. 4, a tray 35 for storing the endoscope 1 with the insertion section 2 straight may be used instead of the sterilization sheath 17. The check valve cap 16
May be formed integrally with the tray 35. After attaching the above-described check valve cap 16 to the camera connector 7, the sterilization sheath 17 is put on the insertion portion 2 or the endoscope 1 is put in a tray and the endoscope 1 is inserted into the autoclave sterilizer. And autoclave sterilization is performed. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified without departing from the gist of the present invention. As described above, according to the present invention, there is an effect that a slender and flexible endoscope insertion portion can be prevented from being bent by heat during autoclave sterilization.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an endoscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of a check valve cap in FIG. Description of the sterilization sheath of FIG. 1 [FIG. 4] Description of a tray used in place of the sterilization sheath of FIG. 3 [Description of symbols] 1 ... Endoscope (electronic endoscope) 2 ... Insertion section 3 Operating part 4 Universal cord 5 Connector part 6 Light guide connector 16 Check valve cap 17 Sterilization sheath 35 Tray

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. When performing autoclave sterilization on an endoscope having a flexible portion provided in an elongated insertion portion, the insertion portion is maintained in a straight state when the endoscope is inserted into an autoclave sterilization apparatus. A tray for storing the endoscope.