JP2005287581A - Endoscope washing and disinfecting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an endoscope washing and disinfecting apparatus for preventing recontamination by city water or the like used in rinsing after a disinfecting process in the endoscope washing and disinfecting apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: A filtering means is provided in the flow path of the city water used in rinsing and sterilization is performed. Also, a switching means capable of arbitrarily selecting a water supply connection port and the connection port of disinfectant liquid supply is provided, disinfectant liquid is supplied into a water supply pipeline at appropriate time and contamination by bacteria is prevented. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention relates to a medical instrument endoscope cleaning / disinfecting device for biopsy of various internal organs of a patient, and more particularly to a disinfecting means for a water supply line.

Many endoscope cleaning / disinfecting apparatuses are performed based on the following processes A to E.
A Cleaning process using detergent B Rinsing process using water C Disinfecting process using disinfecting solution D Rinsing process using water E Drying process using air supply etc. Water used in the rinsing process using water in the above B and D processes General tap water is used in terms of economy and convenience, but there are rare cases where groundwater pumped by private pumping facilities is used. However, even if these waters are all suitable for drinking, they cannot be aseptic. Therefore, even if corner sterilization is performed in step C, there is a concern that recontamination will occur in the next rinsing step.

In order to solve these problems, the present applicant has previously filed Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-026550. This is because not only the outer surface of the endoscope and the internal conduits are added by adding an appropriate amount of neutral electrolyzed water directly to the tap water used in the rinsing process after the disinfection process described above, and sterilizing the tap water. This is to prevent re-contamination in the water supply pipe of the main unit. However, since the inner and outer surfaces of the endoscope are in an anhydrous state due to the residual moisture being removed in the drying process by the air supply of E, as will be described later, there is little concern about recontamination due to the growth of various bacteria. Therefore, as a countermeasure against recontamination with water, it is only necessary to prevent recontamination of the water supply system pipe incorporated in the main body apparatus to which neither the disinfectant nor the dry air is supplied. In addition, the prior application requires many relatively expensive parts such as a neutral electrolyzed water generator.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-026550

  The present invention is intended to effectively and appropriately eliminate the problem of recontamination in the water supply pipe of the main unit by means extremely economically advantageous from the above viewpoint.

  The endoscope cleaning / disinfecting apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a means for storing a disinfectant solution on the upper panel, a means for supplying the stored disinfectant liquid, and a connection port provided at the end of the liquid supply line. A switching means that can arbitrarily select a connection between the water supply connection port and a filtering means attached downstream of the water supply connection port. The connection destination of the switching means is connected to the disinfectant solution from the water supply connection port. By switching to the liquid connection port side, the disinfecting liquid is circulated in the water supply pipe for a predetermined time.

  According to the endoscope cleaning / disinfecting apparatus according to claim 1 above, a switching means using an inexpensive one-touch coupler, which is a general commercially available product, and a filtering means using a commercially available water filter are newly added to the conventional apparatus. In addition to reducing bacteria in tap water used in the rinsing process, it is possible to expect sterilization of the water supply pipeline, which is not only advantageous in terms of cost, but also has the advantage that it can be easily attached later.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 indicated by a thick solid line is a top panel of a tank body made of a molded product such as FRP, and an endoscope (not shown) provided for biopsy is appropriately mounted on this panel. . The panel 1 is provided with an air / water coupler 2, a suction coupler 3, a forceps coupler 4, a water supply nozzle 5, a disinfectant tap 6 and an injection nozzle 7, and a drain port 8, an overflow port 9 and the like. It is attached. Then, by connecting the couplers 2, 3, 4 and the air / water supply port, suction port, and forceps port of an endoscope (not shown) using a soft resin tube or the like, the above-described A to E The process is performed as follows.

A Cleaning process using detergent In this process, the liquid detergent in the detergent tank 14 is pumped by the pump P3 through the solenoid valve S1, the manifolds 10, 11 and the solenoid valves S2, S3, S4, and then air / water feed, suction, forceps A path for supplying to each of the couplers 2, 3 and 4 and a path for supplying to the injection nozzle 7 through the electromagnetic valve S5 are formed. Therefore, the outer surface of the endoscope is also cleaned simultaneously with the internal conduit of the endoscope. At this time, if the water level of the detergent exceeds a predetermined amount, it is automatically discharged from the overflow port 9 to the external drainage port 15. Then, after a predetermined time has elapsed, the pump P3 is stopped, and the stored detergent is forcibly drained to outside through the motor valves V1, V2 and V3 by the pump P2.

B Rinsing process with water In this process, the water supplied from the water supply port 12 is supplied to the water supply nozzle 5 through the electromagnetic valve S6 after passing through the filtering means 13 having a filter of about 2 μm which has not been used conventionally. And a path for feeding the couplers 2, 3 and 4 through the manifolds 10 and 11 and the solenoid valves S2, S3 and S4 and a path for feeding to the injection nozzle 7 via the solenoid valve S5. And the piping system of the main unit as well as the internal pipe line and the outer surface of the endoscope are washed with water using filtered clean water to remove the detergent. The drainage in this step is performed in the same manner as in the above step A.

C Disinfecting Step This step is performed through the path for supplying the disinfecting liquid in the disinfecting liquid tank 16 to the disinfecting liquid faucet 6 by the pump P1, the electromagnetic valves S7, the manifolds 10, 11, and the electromagnetic valves S2, S3, S4. Since a path for supplying to the couplers 2, 3 and 4 is formed, disinfection of the inner and outer surfaces of the endoscope is performed. Then, when the predetermined amount of time has passed and the supply amount of the disinfectant solution reaches a predetermined level, the pump P2 is operated. The disinfecting liquid accumulated on the upper panel 1 by driving the pump P2 is returned to the disinfecting liquid tank 16 through the drain port 8 and the motor valves V1 and V2, so that a circulation path for the disinfecting liquid is formed. Therefore, in this process, the inner and outer surfaces of the endoscope and the inside of the pipe of the main unit are also sterilized by the disinfectant.

D Rinsing process after disinfection This process at normal time is a process of washing off the disinfecting solution, and is performed under the same mode as the B rinsing process described above, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

E Drying process This process operates the air pump AP to supply pressure air to the couplers 2, 3, 4 via the electromagnetic valve S9, the manifolds 10, 11, and the electromagnetic valves S2, S3, S4, A path through the solenoid valve S5 and ejected from the ejection nozzle 7 is formed, and the residual moisture and the outer surface in the inner pipe of the endoscope are dried.

  The above is the explanation for each process of the normal cycle. However, the present invention is a menu different from the above process. For example, when the filter of the filtering means 13 is replaced or when it is not used for a long time, This is intended for sterilization and sterilization in the water supply line of the main unit at a desired or arbitrary desired time. That is, in the present invention, when disinfecting the water supply pipe, first, as shown in FIG. 2, the water supply (water tap) 12 of the hose 17 connecting the water supply (water tap) 12 and the filtering means 13 is connected. The connection coupler 18 on the side is removed and connected to a connection port 19 provided on the main body side as indicated by a broken line. When this state is described with reference to FIG. 1, the pipe line end of the pipe line 20 and the downstream side of the water supply port 12 are connected by a hose 17 indicated by a broken line.

  In this state, the disinfecting liquid is stored from the disinfecting liquid tank 16 by the pump P1 by the pump P1 and stored in a predetermined amount on the upper panel 1, and then the pump P2 is driven, and the drain port 8, motor It feeds into the pipe line 20 through the valves V1, V2, and V3. The disinfecting liquid thus led to the pipe line 20 passes through the filtering means 13 through the hose 17 and is fed to the water supply path described in the above-described rinsing step, thereby forming a circulation path for the disinfecting liquid. Thus, sterilization of the entire water supply system including the filtering means 13 can be achieved by circulating the disinfectant for a predetermined time, for example, about 10 to 20 minutes.

  Next, after a predetermined time has elapsed, the motor valves V2 and V3 are returned to their original positions, and the disinfectant on the upper panel 1 is returned to the tank 16 by the pump P2 through the drain port 8 and the motor valves V1 and V2. If the disinfectant on the upper panel disappears and the pump P2 is stopped in this way, the connection destination of the hose 17 is connected again to the water supply port 12 side, and then tap water or the like is introduced to perform the rinsing process described above. As a result, the disinfectant remaining in the water supply pipe is discharged from the external drain port 15 together with water.

  As described above, according to the present description, since the rinsing water flow path is provided with the filtering means, the sterilization of the supplied water itself can be performed while the disinfecting liquid is appropriately introduced into the water supply line. Since it can be sent in, anxiety about recontamination by various bacteria is surely eliminated. In addition, the introduction of the disinfectant solution into the water supply pipe line only requires changing the connection destination with a hose coupler, so that it is inexpensive and can be easily performed by anyone. Furthermore, according to the present invention, it has many practical values such that it can be easily attached to an existing apparatus.

1 is a piping system diagram of an endoscope cleaning / disinfecting apparatus according to the present invention. It is a rear view of the endoscope cleaning / disinfecting apparatus according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Top panel 2, 3, 4 Air supply / water supply, suction, forceps coupler 5 Water supply nozzle 6 Disinfection liquid faucet 7 Injection nozzle 8 Drainage port 9 Overflow port 10,11 Manifold 12 Water supply port 13 Filtration means 15 Drainage port 16 Disinfection liquid tank 17 Hose 18 Connection coupler 19 Connection port 20 Pipe line P1, P2, P3 Pump S1-S9 Solenoid valve V1, V2, V3 Motor valve

Claims (1)

  Means for storing the disinfectant solution on the upper panel, means for sending the stored disinfectant solution, and switching means for arbitrarily selecting the connection between the connection port provided at the end of the liquid supply line and the water supply connection port And a filtering means attached downstream of the water supply connection port, the connection destination of the switching means is switched from the water supply connection port to the connection port side of the disinfectant liquid feed, and the disinfectant liquid is supplied to the water supply pipe line. An endoscope cleaning / disinfecting apparatus characterized by circulating for a predetermined time.