JP2005065991A - Apparatus and method for washing and disinfecting medical treatment instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a washing and disinfecting apparatus capable of easily and certainly washing and disinfecting a medical treatment instrument to which blood, saliva or the like is easy to adhere like a handpiece for use in dental treatment and easy to handle. <P>SOLUTION: The medical treatment instrument 5 being an article to be treated is arranged in a hermetically closable washing tank 10 and, and after the washing tank 10 is evacuated, a washing liquid is ejected to the article to be treated arranged in the washing tank 10 by utilizing the negative pressure in the washing tank 10 to wash the article to be treated, and subsequently, the washing tank is evacuated and rinse water is ejected to the article to be treated to perform rinsing operation. In the washing and disinfection apparatus thus constituted, a compressed air source 40 and an ejector 42 provided so as to communicate with the washing tank 10 and operated by the compressed air source are provided as a vacuum exhaust mechanism for evacuating the washing tank 10 while an ultrasonic generator 20 and a heater 14 for sterilizing the article to be treated by high temperature steam in the washing tank 10 are provided to the washing tank 10. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning / disinfecting apparatus and a cleaning / disinfecting method for a treatment instrument used in dentistry and the like.

  In dental treatment, a treatment instrument called a hand piece for cutting teeth or the like is used. This handpiece is attached with a cutting blade that is driven to rotate at high speed by an air turbine. During treatment, blood adheres to the cutting blade, or saliva adheres to the head or handle portion. Therefore, when the patient is finished and the next patient is treated, the blood or saliva adhering to the handpiece is washed and used, but the handpiece is simply immersed in a sterilizing solution or washed with a cleaning solution. However, there is a problem that blood and saliva adhering to the handpiece cannot be disinfected to a safe level.

Therefore, as an apparatus for easily cleaning and disinfecting the handpiece, for example, as shown in Patent Document 1, the handpiece is housed in a sealed box, the inside of the box is decompressed, and the cleaning liquid is discharged into the box, thereby the handpiece. , And ultrasonically cleaned when the cleaning liquid is filled in the box, or an apparatus formed so that the box can be sterilized by supplying a disinfecting liquid, or a handpiece as shown in Patent Document 2 An apparatus formed to wash the handpiece by ultrasonic cleaning in the washing tank, or a patent document As shown in Fig. 3, a cleaning container for storing the handpiece is provided, and the handpiece is washed with warm water and a cleaning agent. Sterilization process, providing a protective agent to the handpiece using a heating compressed air device which includes a step of the washing container is ejected cold air dried by cooling the handpiece has been proposed.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-50897 JP 59-55248 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-20596

  The above-described cleaning / disinfecting apparatus has been proposed as an apparatus that can easily clean and sterilize a handpiece in a short time. Although there is a problem in that it is easy to handle, it is not possible to provide sufficient reliability in terms of safety. There are problems that the apparatus becomes complicated and expensive, and that cleaning and sterilization take time.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve these problems, and the object of the present invention is to clean and disinfect a treatment instrument to which blood or saliva easily adheres, such as a handpiece used for dental treatment. Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning / disinfecting apparatus and a cleaning / disinfecting method for a therapeutic instrument that can easily and reliably clean and disinfect a therapeutic instrument without complicating the configuration of the apparatus.

The present invention has the following configuration in order to achieve the above object.
That is, the treatment instrument as the object to be processed is placed in a cleaning tank provided to be hermetically sealed, and after the cleaning tank is evacuated to vacuum, the negative pressure of the cleaning tank is used from the cleaning liquid tank connected to the cleaning tank. The cleaning liquid is sprayed onto the processing object arranged in the cleaning tank to clean the processing object, and then the cleaning tank is evacuated to a vacuum, and the negative pressure of the cleaning tank is removed from the rinse water tank connected to the cleaning tank. In a cleaning / disinfecting apparatus for a treatment instrument that performs a rinsing operation by injecting rinse water onto an object to be processed disposed in the cleaning tank, compressed air is used as a vacuum exhaust mechanism for exhausting the cleaning tank to a vacuum. And an ejector that is operated by the compressed air source provided in communication with the cleaning tank, and in the cleaning tank, an ultrasonic generator for ultrasonically cleaning the article to be processed in the cleaning tank And the product to be treated in the washing tank with high-temperature steam. Heating the rinse water to sterilize Te is characterized by providing a heater for generating steam.
Further, as a mechanism for drying the article to be processed, a cleaning tank and a compressed air source are provided in communication with each other, and an air heating unit for heating air is provided between the cleaning tank and the compressed air source. It is characterized by.

Further, in the cleaning / disinfecting method for cleaning / disinfecting the processing object using the cleaning / disinfecting apparatus for the treatment instrument, the processing object is arranged in the cleaning tank, and the cleaning tank is evacuated to a vacuum, as a preliminary cleaning step, After cleaning the product to be processed by spraying the cleaning solution on the product to be processed in the cleaning tank, the cleaning liquid collected in the cleaning tank is discharged. Next, as the main cleaning process, the cleaning tank is evacuated to vacuum. After the cleaning liquid is sprayed on the product to be processed in the cleaning tank and a certain amount of cleaning liquid is accumulated in the cleaning tank, the processed product is ultrasonically cleaned using an ultrasonic generator. The rinsing step is characterized in that the cleaning tank is evacuated to a vacuum, and rinse water is sprayed onto the article to be processed disposed in the cleaning tank to wash away the cleaning liquid adhering to the article to be processed.
Further, in the rinsing step, as the high-temperature steam sterilization step, the rinse water supplied to the washing tank is heated by a heater, and the article to be treated is sterilized using high-temperature steam with the washing tank in a sealed container state. .
In addition, after the rinsing step, as a drying step, the product to be processed is dried by blowing compressed air of hot air onto the product to be processed arranged in the cleaning tank.

  The cleaning / disinfecting apparatus for a treatment instrument according to the present invention can simplify the overall configuration of the cleaning / disinfecting apparatus by using a compressed air source and an ejector as a vacuum exhaust mechanism for exhausting the cleaning tank to a vacuum. It becomes possible to form as a compact cleaning and disinfecting apparatus. In addition, by pre-cleaning the product to be processed as a cleaning / disinfecting step, the product to be processed can be easily and reliably cleaned and disinfected.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an embodiment configured as a cleaning / disinfecting apparatus for cleaning / disinfecting a handpiece used in dentistry as an example of a cleaning / disinfecting apparatus for a treatment instrument according to the present invention.
The cleaning / disinfecting apparatus of the present embodiment includes a cleaning tank 10 for storing and cleaning a handpiece that is an object to be processed, an ultrasonic generator 20 for cleaning the handpiece using ultrasonic waves, and a cleaning tank. 10 is provided with a cleaning liquid tank 30 for supplying a cleaning liquid, a rinsing water tank 32 for supplying rinsing water, and a vacuum generating mechanism including a compressed air source 40 and an ejector 42.

The washing tank 10 is formed in a size that can accommodate a plurality of handpieces 5 and is formed as a sealed container that can be evacuated, and is also formed as a container having a required strength that can be autoclaved. . Reference numeral 11 denotes an opening / closing lid of the cleaning tank 10, which is provided on the main body of the cleaning tank 10 so as to be air-sealed and attachable.
Reference numeral 12 denotes a set table on which the handpiece 5 is set. The setting table 12 is provided so that a plurality of handpieces 5 can be set.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a heater provided at the bottom of the cleaning tank 10. This heater is for heating the water stored in the washing tank 10 when the handpiece 5 accommodated in the washing tank 10 is sterilized with high-temperature steam.
The ultrasonic generator 20 is provided with an ultrasonic source attached to the bottom of the cleaning tank 10. The ultrasonic generator 20 is for ultrasonically cleaning the handpiece 5 in a state where a predetermined amount of cleaning liquid is stored in the cleaning tank 10.

The vacuum generating mechanism is for exhausting the inside of the cleaning tank 10 to a vacuum. In this embodiment, an ejector 42 is connected to a compressed air source 40 such as a compressed air generating device, and the ejector 42, the cleaning tank 10, The cleaning tank 10 is evacuated to a vacuum by connecting a pipe to the ejector 42 and allowing compressed air to flow into the ejector 42.
In the dental treatment, a compressed air generating device is always provided to drive the handpiece 5. Therefore, these compressed air generating devices can be easily used as the compressed air source 40. By using it, the apparatus configuration for exhausting the cleaning tank 10 to a vacuum can be simplified, and there is an advantage that the apparatus can be made compact.

Next, a cleaning / disinfecting method for cleaning the handpiece 5 using the cleaning / disinfecting apparatus of this embodiment will be described.
(Handpiece set)
First, the opening / closing lid 11 of the cleaning tank 10 is opened, the handpiece 5 is set inside the cleaning tank 10, and the opening / closing lid 11 is closed in an air-sealed state. When the handpiece 5 is set, the inside of the cleaning tank 10 is kept empty. This is because the cleaning tank 10 is evacuated to the vacuum in the next step, and the cleaning liquid is discharged into the cleaning tank 10 by utilizing the negative pressure inside the cleaning tank 10.

(Exhaust process of washing tank)
Next, the valve 44 is opened, the compressed air source 40 is operated, and the cleaning tank 10 is exhausted. During this exhaust operation, all the valves 31, 33, 34, 46, 49 provided in the pipe connected to the cleaning tank 10 are closed. By operating the compressed air source 40, the cleaning tank 10 is evacuated to a vacuum. Note that when the cleaning liquid or the rinsing water is discharged to the cleaning tank 10 after the next step, the operation of sucking the cleaning tank 10 to the vacuum may be continued until the cleaning liquid is accumulated in the cleaning tank 10 to a certain degree.

(Preliminary washing process)
When the cleaning tank 10 reaches a certain degree of vacuum, the valve 31 is opened and the cleaning liquid is discharged from the cleaning liquid tank 30 into the cleaning tank 10 to pre-clean the handpiece 5. The cleaning liquid is discharged into the cleaning tank 10 due to the negative pressure in the cleaning tank 10, and the handpiece 5 is cleaned. In the present embodiment, the nozzle 16 is arranged inside the cleaning tank 10 so that the cleaning liquid is sprayed toward the handpiece 5, and the nozzle 16 and the cleaning liquid tank 30 are connected by piping, and stored in the cleaning liquid tank 30. The cleaning liquid that is present is sprayed from the nozzle 16 onto the handpiece 5. When the cleaning liquid is sprayed from the nozzle 16 toward the handpiece 5, blood or saliva adhering to the handpiece 5 is washed away by the spraying pressure of the cleaning liquid, and the meat pieces adhering to the handpiece 5. Foreign matter is removed.

  When the cleaning liquid is sprayed from the nozzle 16 in a state where the cleaning tank 10 is evacuated, the cleaning liquid is cooled by the evaporative cooling action at the time of spraying, and the cleaning liquid is sprayed onto the handpiece 5 at a low temperature. In the case where blood is attached to the handpiece 5, it is advantageous to use a low-temperature cleaning liquid rather than a high-temperature cleaning liquid because the blood does not coagulate and can be suitably cleaned. As the cleaning liquid used in the preliminary cleaning process or the main cleaning process, a liquid having a disinfecting action or warm water heated to about 95 ° C. can be used. Even when warm water heated to about 95 ° C. is used as a cleaning liquid, the cleaning liquid is cooled when spraying the cleaning liquid into the cleaning tank 10 under a negative pressure in the cleaning tank 10, and thus an operation for pre-cleaning blood and the like It is suitable as.

  When the cleaning liquid is sprayed onto the handpiece 5 in the cleaning tank 10, the cleaning liquid gradually accumulates in the cleaning tank 10. Therefore, after spraying the cleaning liquid onto the handpiece 5 for a certain time, the valve 31 is closed to stop the spraying of the cleaning liquid, the valve 46 is opened, and the outside air is introduced into the cleaning tank 10 through the air filter 48. 49 is opened, and the cleaning liquid accumulated in the cleaning tank 10 is discharged from the discharge pipe 50. In addition, when washing the handpiece 5 by spraying the washing liquid, the washed liquid is drained before it accumulates to a height that contacts the set table 12 or the handpiece 5, so that the washed blood or the like reattaches to the handpiece or the like. Can be prevented.

(Main cleaning process)
After the cleaning liquid is discharged from the cleaning tank 10, the valve 49 and the valve 46 are closed, the valve 44 is opened, and the cleaning tank 10 is exhausted again by the vacuum exhaust mechanism.
When the cleaning tank 10 reaches a predetermined degree of vacuum, the valve 31 is opened and the cleaning liquid is sprayed from the nozzle 16 to the handpiece 5. While cleaning the handpiece 5 by spraying the cleaning liquid from the nozzle 16, the cleaning liquid is accumulated in the cleaning tank 10, and when the entire handpiece 5 has reached the depth of immersion, the valve 31 is closed to remove the cleaning liquid. Stop sending. Further, the valve 44 is closed to stop the exhaust operation by the vacuum exhaust mechanism. A sensor for detecting the liquid level in the cleaning tank 10 is provided, and when a predetermined amount of cleaning liquid has accumulated in the cleaning tank 10, the controller automatically stops the supply of the cleaning liquid and stops the vacuum exhaust. Can be.

When a predetermined amount of cleaning liquid has accumulated in the cleaning tank 10, the ultrasonic generator 20 is then operated to ultrasonically clean the handpiece 5 in the cleaning tank 10. The handpiece 5 is subjected to ultrasonic cleaning while being immersed in the cleaning liquid. When hot water heated to about 95 ° C. is used as the cleaning liquid, when the cleaning liquid is gradually accumulated in the cleaning tank 10, the temperature in the cleaning tank 10 is gradually warmed to perform a certain sterilizing action.
When the ultrasonic cleaning is completed, the valve 46 is opened, clean outside air is introduced into the cleaning tank 10 through the air filter 48, the valve 49 is opened, and the cleaning liquid is discharged from the discharge pipe 50.

(Rinsing process)
After the handpiece is fully cleaned, the rinsing operation is started.
The rinsing operation is performed by closing the valves 46 and 49, opening the valve 44 and evacuating the cleaning tank 10, then opening the valve 33 and feeding the rinse water from the rinse water tank 32 to the cleaning tank 10. In the cleaning tank 10, rinse water is sprayed from the nozzle 16 toward the handpiece 5, and the cleaning liquid adhering to the handpiece 5 is washed away.
After a certain amount of rinsing water is jetted onto the handpiece 5, outside air is introduced into the cleaning tank 10 through the air filter 48, and the rinsing water is discharged from the discharge pipe 50. Rinsing can be sufficiently performed by repeating the rinsing operation of evacuating the cleaning tank 10 and spraying the rinsing water onto the handpiece 5 several times.
In the rinsing operation, low-temperature rinsing water is sprayed onto the handpiece 5, so even if the handpiece 5 is heated to a high temperature in the main cleaning process, the handpiece 5 is cooled by the rinsing water and the handpiece 5 is cleaned. It can be used immediately after being taken out of the tank 10. When hot rinsing water is used, it can be used immediately by cooling with low temperature rinsing water.

(High-temperature steam sterilization process)
During the rinsing operation, it is also possible to perform an operation of sterilizing the handpiece 5 with high-temperature steam in the cleaning tank 10. That is, when rinsing water is sprayed onto the handpiece 5 in the cleaning tank 10, when a certain amount of rinsing water has accumulated at the bottom of the cleaning tank 10, the valve 33 is closed to stop the rinsing water from being fed. 44 is closed to bring the washing tank 10 into a sealed container state, and the heater 14 is energized to heat the rinse water accumulated at the bottom of the washing tank 10.
Since the washing tank 10 is in a sealed state, the inside of the washing tank 10 is pressurized by heating the rinse water and generating steam in this state, and the handpiece 5 is exposed to high-temperature steam. Sterilization with high-temperature steam is a highly reliable sterilization operation, and can be completely sterilized by exposing the handpiece 5 to high-temperature steam for a certain period of time in the washing tank 10. In addition, if the rinse water heated beforehand is used, the time until vapor generation can be shortened.
After the handpiece 5 is sterilized using high-temperature steam, the valve 33 is opened to send rinsing water into the washing tank 10, and the rinsing water is sprayed onto the handpiece 5, and the handpiece 5 is cooled along with the rinsing operation.

(Drying process)
After rinsing operation of the handpiece 5 using rinse water, the rinse water adhering to the handpiece 5 is dried and the handpiece 5 is taken out from the washing tank 10.
As an operation for drying the handpiece 5, as shown in FIG. 1, a compressed air source 40 and a cleaning tank 10 are connected in addition to a method of spraying compressed air onto the handpiece 5 to blow away rinse water. An air heating unit 35 for storing the heated air is provided in the middle of the pipe to be heated, and when the rinsing water adhering to the handpiece 5 is blown away by feeding compressed air, Rinse water can also be blown away. By using the heated air, the rinse water adhering to the handpiece 5 can be reliably dried.
Thus, by removing the rinse water in the drying step, the handpiece 5 can be taken out from the cleaning tank 10 and used immediately. In addition, by using together the exhaust action which evacuates the washing tank 10, moisture evaporation can be promoted and the drying effect can be enhanced.

In the above embodiment, all the operations performed in the cleaning / disinfecting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 have been described. However, when actually using the cleaning / disinfecting apparatus, it is not necessary to perform all the operations and the object to be cleaned / disinfected. Cleaning and disinfection may be performed by selecting an appropriate operation in consideration of the degree of product contamination, time available for cleaning and disinfection, and the like.
For example, instead of performing the pre-cleaning process and the main cleaning process separately, the cleaning liquid is sprayed and cleaned in the pre-cleaning process, and a certain amount of the cleaning liquid is stored in the cleaning tank as it is, and the process moves to ultrasonic cleaning. By doing so, it is also possible to perform the preliminary cleaning and the main cleaning as a series of steps.
Moreover, although the high temperature steam sterilization process is a reliable sterilization operation, since it takes about 10 minutes, it is possible to perform a high temperature steam sterilization process as needed.
Further, the cleaning process and the rinsing process can be repeated a plurality of times, and the number of times can be selected as appropriate, so that the number of times of processing can be selected in accordance with the processing time.

  As described above, the cleaning / disinfecting apparatus of the present embodiment can be performed by appropriately selecting the cleaning / disinfecting process, and the cleaning / disinfecting process is performed by the controller by the compressed air source 40, the ultrasonic generator 20, and the valve. The heater and the like can be configured to be program-controlled, and when the cleaning / disinfecting apparatus is used, the required cleaning / disinfecting can be automatically performed only by selecting a required processing step.

  In addition, you may provide a separate heating apparatus for heating of washing | cleaning liquid and rinse water, respectively. The heating unit 35 may be provided in the middle of the piping between the valves 31 and 33 and the nozzle 16. The compressed air may be provided so as to pressurize the cleaning liquid in the cleaning liquid tank 30 or the rinsing water in the rinsing water tank 32 so that the cleaning liquid and the rinsing water are jetted by the compressed air.

  In the above-described embodiment, the handpiece used in dentistry has been described as an article to be treated. However, this apparatus is not limited to cleaning and disinfecting the handpiece, but it can be used for cleaning and disinfecting various treatment instruments. Nor. Since the cleaning / disinfecting apparatus of the present embodiment is based on the assumption that a compressed air source is used, it is particularly suitable in an environment where compressed air can be easily used in an environment where compressed air is used as a driving source for various apparatuses. Can be used.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of whole structure of the washing | cleaning disinfection apparatus of the treatment instrument which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Washing tank 11 Opening and closing lid 12 Set stand 14 Heater 16 Nozzle 20 Ultrasonic generator 30 Cleaning liquid tank 32 Rinse water tank 40 Compressed air source 42 Ejector 48 Air filter 50 Discharge pipe

Claims (5)

Place the treatment instrument that is the product to be treated in a cleaning tank that can be sealed,
After evacuating the cleaning tank to a vacuum, the cleaning liquid is sprayed from the cleaning liquid tank connected to the cleaning tank to the processing target placed in the cleaning tank to clean the processing target. And
Next, the rinsing operation is performed by evacuating the washing tank to a vacuum and using the negative pressure of the washing tank from the rinsing water tank connected to the washing tank to inject the rinsing water onto the product to be processed disposed in the washing tank. In the cleaning / disinfecting device for the treatment instrument,
As a vacuum exhaust mechanism for exhausting the cleaning tank to a vacuum, a compressed air source and an ejector operated by the compressed air source provided in communication with the cleaning tank are provided.
In the cleaning tank, an ultrasonic generator for ultrasonically cleaning the article to be processed in the cleaning tank, and steam for heating the rinse water to sterilize the article to be processed in the cleaning tank with high-temperature steam. A cleaning / disinfecting apparatus for a therapeutic instrument, comprising a heater for generating the therapeutic instrument.   As a mechanism for drying the product to be processed, a cleaning tank and a compressed air source are provided in communication with each other, and an air heating unit for heating the air is provided between the cleaning tank and the compressed air source. The cleaning / disinfecting apparatus for a treatment instrument according to claim 1. In a cleaning / disinfecting method for cleaning / disinfecting an article to be processed using the treatment instrument cleaning / disinfecting apparatus according to claim 1
After disposing the product to be processed in the cleaning tank and evacuating the cleaning tank to a vacuum, as a preliminary cleaning process, after cleaning the product to be processed by spraying the cleaning liquid to the product to be processed disposed in the cleaning tank , Drain the cleaning liquid accumulated in the cleaning tank,
Next, as the main cleaning step, the cleaning tank is evacuated to a vacuum, the cleaning liquid is sprayed onto the article to be processed disposed in the cleaning tank, and after a certain amount of cleaning liquid has accumulated in the cleaning tank, the ultrasonic generator Ultrasonically clean the workpiece using
Next, as a rinsing process, the cleaning tank is evacuated to a vacuum, and rinse water is sprayed onto the article to be processed disposed in the washing tank to wash away the cleaning liquid adhering to the article to be processed. How to clean and disinfect instruments. In the rinsing step, as a high-temperature steam sterilization step,
4. The method for cleaning and disinfecting a treatment instrument according to claim 3, wherein the rinse water supplied to the cleaning tank is heated by a heater to sterilize the article to be processed using high-temperature steam with the cleaning tank in a sealed container state. After the rinsing step, as a drying step,
The method for cleaning and disinfecting a treatment instrument according to claim 3 or 4, wherein compressed air of hot air is blown onto the article to be treated arranged in the washing tank to dry the article to be treated.

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