JP2004113579A - Conduit washing brush for endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a brush which is made clearly visible even in washing water during the washing of the conduit of an endoscope into which the brush is inserted to wash. <P>SOLUTION: In the conduit washing brush for the endoscopes which is inserted into the conduit of the endoscope to wash, at least the insertion-ward front end part is colored black or brilliant. The washing bush is of a pull out type with the brush body at the rear end part thereof and the colored part of the insertion-ward front end thereof is the shaft. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
【Technical field】
The present invention relates to a cleaning brush that is inserted into a conduit of an endoscope to clean the conduit.
[0002]
[Prior art and its problems]
It is indispensable to wash a conduit such as a treatment tool insertion channel of the endoscope after the end of the examination. This cleaning is performed by immersing the entire endoscope in water (cleaning liquid) or by flowing water through a pipe, but the brush itself is transparent or white and is inconspicuous. In particular, in running water, the brush has already protruded from the end of the pipe line, but the user did not notice that the brush was unnecessarily fed out, and the brush and the surroundings were sometimes damaged. In addition, there are various types of brushes, and it is desired to make it easy to determine the type.
[0003]
[Object of the invention]
An object of the present invention is to obtain a brush that is conspicuous even in running water at the time of pipe washing based on the above problem awareness. Another object of the present invention is to provide a brush for cleaning a pipeline, which can easily determine the type.
[0004]
Summary of the Invention
The present invention relates to a brush for cleaning a pipe by inserting it into a pipe of an endoscope, wherein at least a front end in the insertion direction is colored black or chromatic.
[0005]
When the cleaning brush to which the present invention is applied is a pull-out type having a brush at the rear end, the gripping shaft at the front end in the insertion direction may be a colored portion.
[0006]
It is preferable to make the shape of the colored portion at the front end of the shaft different according to the type of the brush, since the shape can be easily determined.
[0007]
The colored portion at the front end of the shaft may be constituted by a cylindrical member formed separately from the shaft of the shaft and fixed to the shaft main body.
[0008]
When the cleaning brush to which the present invention is applied is a reciprocating type having a brush at the front end and a handle at the rear end, the brush at the front end in the insertion direction may be a colored portion.
[0009]
In both the pull-out type and reciprocating type brushes, the colored portion at the front end in the brush insertion direction can be easily distinguished by changing the color according to the type of the brush.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A medical endoscope 10 shown in FIG. 1 has an insertion section 11 inserted into a body cavity and an operation section 12 connected to a base side thereof. A universal tube 13 extends from the operation unit 12, and a connector (not shown) provided at the end of the universal tube 13 is detachable from a processor (not shown) that is separate from the endoscope main body. I have.
[0011]
A treatment tool insertion channel (pipe) 15 having a circular cross section is provided inside the endoscope 10, and an entrance portion of the treatment tool insertion channel 15 is opened to a treatment tool insertion port 17 provided on the operation section 12 side. The outlet is open at the tip of the insertion portion 11. Note that, in addition to the treatment tool insertion channel 15, an image signal transmission cable, a light guide fiber for illumination, an air supply channel, a water supply channel, and the like are provided inside the endoscope 10. Absent. A long element having a treatment tool such as forceps at the distal end can be inserted into the treatment tool insertion channel 15.
[0012]
When the endoscope 10 is to be washed, a pipe such as the treatment instrument insertion channel 15 is particularly washed by immersing the entire endoscope in a cleaning liquid or by inserting a brush while flowing water into the pipe. The cleaning brush 20 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is a triple-type brush having three brush portions 21, a brush mounting portion 22 having the brush portions 21 at predetermined intervals, an intermediate sheath portion 23, and A grip shaft portion 24 is located on the opposite side of the brush attachment portion 22 with the sheath portion 23 interposed therebetween. As an example, the brush mounting portion 22 is formed by twisting a fine wire made of stainless steel, and the sheath portion 23 and the grip shaft portion 24 are formed of polytetrafluoroethylene (tetrafluoroethylene resin).
[0013]
When the cleaning is performed using the cleaning brush 20, the cleaning brush 20 is inserted into the treatment tool insertion channel 15 from the entrance on the side of the treatment tool insertion port 17 with the grip shaft portion 24 at the top, and the distal end side of the insertion portion 11 When the grip shaft portion 24 protrudes from the outlet portion, the grip shaft portion 24 is gripped and pulled. Then, the three brush portions 21 continuously move in the treatment tool insertion channel 15, and the inside is brushed. Since three brush portions 21 are provided, a single pulling-out operation of the cleaning brush 20 can provide a cleaning effect equivalent to three normal brushing operations.
[0014]
Conventionally, since the shaft portion of this type of cleaning brush is entirely transparent or white, it is inconspicuous in water or running water, and it is difficult to determine whether or not the tip of the shaft portion protrudes from a pipe. On the other hand, the cleaning brush 20 according to the present embodiment applies a coloring that is conspicuous even in water or running water to the gripping shaft portion 24 (the cross-hatched portion in FIGS. 2 to 4) which is the front end portion in the insertion direction. This makes it possible to reliably recognize that the gripping shaft portion 24 has protruded even in a situation in which the cleaning water W is ejected from the treatment instrument insertion channel 15 as shown in FIG. In addition, the number of times of use can be determined by fading of the colored portion, and can be used as a guide for brush replacement time.
[0015]
The color of the grip shaft portion 24 may be black or a conspicuous chromatic color such as red, blue, or yellow. In particular, it is preferable to change the color of the gripping shaft portion 24 according to the type of the cleaning brush because the determination becomes easy. The types of cleaning brushes to be determined include, for example, the number of brush parts (triple brushes, quadruple brushes, etc.), corresponding pipe diameters (for large-diameter pipes, small-diameter pipes, etc.), shaft lengths, and the like. It is.
[0016]
The grip shaft portion of the cleaning brush 20 may be configured as shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, the shaft portion 24 'of the gripping shaft is not particularly colored, and an identification member 25 formed as a separate member is fixed to an end of the shaft shaft portion 24'. The identification member 25 is a cylindrical member made of, for example, metal or resin, and the identification member 25 is colored. As in the case where the grip shaft portion 24 is colored (FIG. 3), the color of the identification member 25 can be changed according to the type of the brush to improve the discrimination.
[0017]
Further, like the identification member 26 shown in FIG. 6, the identification member provided at the end of the shaft shaft portion 24 'may have a different shape depending on the type of the brush. Thereby, the discrimination regarding the type of the brush is further improved. From the viewpoint of facilitating the discrimination, the shape of the shaft portion of the gripping shaft (the gripping shaft portion 24 in FIG. 3) itself is changed instead of the separate identification members 25 and 26 as shown in FIGS. It is also possible to attach.
[0018]
The present invention can also be applied to a reciprocating type cleaning brush 30 having a brush portion 31 at the front end in the insertion direction as shown in FIGS. The cleaning brush 30 has a brush portion 31 at a front end portion in the insertion direction, a grip ring (handle) 33 at a rear end portion with an intermediate shaft portion 32 interposed therebetween, and the brush portion 31 side is at the top. Thus, it is inserted into the treatment instrument insertion channel 15. When the grip ring 33 is pushed in to continue the insertion, the brush portion 31 projects from the outlet of the treatment instrument insertion channel 15 as shown in FIG. 7, so that the grip ring 33 is pulled in reverse and the brush portion 31 is treated again. It is inserted into the tool insertion channel 15 and moved to the treatment tool insertion port 17 side. The inside of the treatment tool insertion channel 15 is brushed by the reciprocation of the brush portion 31.
[0019]
Conventionally, this type of reciprocating type cleaning brush has a transparent or white brush portion, so that the brush portion is inconspicuous because it is mixed with cleaning water, and it is sometimes difficult to recognize even if the brush portion has already protruded from the pipeline. On the other hand, in the cleaning brush 30 of the present embodiment, similarly to the above-described cleaning brush 20, the brush portion 31 at the front end in the insertion direction is colored black or chromatic so as to be conspicuous even in water or running water. ing. Therefore, it is possible to reliably recognize that the brush portion 31 has protruded from the outlet of the treatment instrument insertion channel 15, and to perform reciprocating brushing quickly. As in the case of the pull-out type cleaning brush 20 shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the cleaning brush 30 can improve the discriminability by changing the color of the brush portion 31 according to the type of the brush.
[0020]
Although the conduit to be cleaned in each of the above embodiments is a treatment instrument insertion channel, the cleaning brush of the present invention is not limited to cleaning the treatment instrument insertion channel, and includes an air supply channel, a water supply channel, and the like. However, the present invention can be applied to cleaning of another type of pipeline. Some of the treatment tool insertion channels also have a function as a suction pipe, and the cleaning brush to which the present invention is applied may be a pipe having such a complex function. .
[0021]
Further, the cleaning brush of the present invention can obtain the effect by coloring at least the front end portion in the insertion direction, but it may be colored at other locations. For example, by coloring the front end in the insertion direction, the visibility at the time of cleaning can be increased, and at the same time, other parts can be colored, and the color fading of the latter colored part can be used as a guide for determining the brush replacement time. It is.
[0022]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a brush which is conspicuous even in flowing water at the time of cleaning the pipeline and which can be surely brushed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overall view of an endoscope showing a use state of a pull-out type cleaning brush to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a single view of the pull-out type cleaning brush of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of a grip shaft of the cleaning brush of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing a state in which a grip shaft portion of the cleaning brush of FIG. 2 protrudes from a treatment instrument insertion channel in running water.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of a gripping shaft portion showing a different embodiment of a pull-out type cleaning brush.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of a grip shaft portion, showing still another embodiment of a pull-out type cleaning brush.
FIG. 7 is an overall view of an endoscope showing a use state of a reciprocating type cleaning brush to which the present invention is applied.
8 is a single view of the reciprocating type cleaning brush of FIG. 7;
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 10 Endoscope 11 Insertion section 12 Operation section 15 Treatment instrument insertion channel (pipe)
17 treatment tool insertion port 20 30 cleaning brush 21 31 brush part 22 brush attachment part 23 sheath part 24 gripping shaft part 24 'shaft shaft part 25 26 identification member (tubular member)
32 Shaft 33 Grip ring (handle)

Claims (6)

A brush inserted into a conduit of an endoscope to clean the conduit,
An endoscope conduit cleaning brush characterized in that at least a front end in an insertion direction is colored black or chromatic. 2. The endoscope tube cleaning brush according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning brush is a pull-out type cleaning brush having a brush at a rear end, and a colored portion at a front end portion in an insertion direction is a shaft. Road cleaning brush. 3. The endoscope conduit cleaning brush according to claim 2, wherein the colored portion at the front end of the shaft has a different shape depending on the type of the brush. 4. The endoscope conduit cleaning brush according to claim 2, wherein the colored portion at the front end of the shaft is formed separately from the shaft of the shaft, and is formed of a tubular member fixed to the shaft. 5. Pipe cleaning brush. 2. The endoscope conduit cleaning brush according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning brush is a reciprocating type cleaning brush having a brush at a front end portion and a handle at a rear end portion, and a colored portion at a front end portion in the insertion direction is provided. Endoscope conduit cleaning brush that is a brush. The endoscope conduit cleaning brush according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the colored portion at the front end in the insertion direction of the brush has a different color depending on the type of the brush. .

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