JP2008246114A - Connector for ultrasonic medical device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector for an ultrasonic medical device connecting an ultrasonic endoscope and an ultrasonic observation device which are the ultrasonic medical devices having connectors of different multipolar plug shapes with each other. <P>SOLUTION: The connector 6 for the ultrasonic medical device can electrically connect the ultrasonic medical device 3 having a different connector, and includes a connector body 31, a first ultrasonic connector part 35 (39) provided on one surface of the connector body and constituting a pair with the connector of one ultrasonic medical device and a second ultrasonic connector part 39 (35) provided on the other surface opposite to one surface of the connector body and constituting a pair with the connector of the other ultrasonic medical device, wherein the center axis of the first ultrasonic connector part and the center axis of the second ultrasonic connector part are positioned on different axes. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector for an ultrasonic medical device having different multipolar plugs, and in particular, enabling connection between an ultrasonic endoscope and an ultrasonic observation device.

  In recent years, an ultrasonic diagnostic method in which an ultrasonic wave is irradiated into a body cavity and an internal state is imaged from the echo signal to make a diagnosis is widely used. A medical device used for such an ultrasonic diagnostic method includes, for example, an ultrasonic echo device that can image the state of the body from the body surface, an ultrasonic vibration unit that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves at the tip, and is provided in the body cavity. There are ultrasound endoscopes that can be inserted to image the state of the body.

  In particular, the ultrasonic endoscope is connected to an ultrasonic observation apparatus for imaging an echo signal. As described above, the ultrasonic endoscope and the ultrasonic observation apparatus have a pair of multipolar plug connectors for connecting the multipolar signal lines from the ultrasonic vibration unit on the endoscope side to the apparatus side at a time. Is provided.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a connector for connecting an ultrasonic endoscope and an ultrasonic observation apparatus at a time to prevent bending of a plurality of pins due to multipolarity.
JP-A-2005-349122

  However, depending on the product, the shape of the endoscope-side multipolar plug connector and the apparatus-side multipolar plug connector may be different. Therefore, an ultrasonic endoscope provided with different multipolar plugs cannot be connected to an ultrasonic observation apparatus.

  As a result, there is a problem that the user can use only the ultrasonic endoscope and the ultrasonic observation apparatus having the same connector shape as a set. Also, when a user purchases an ultrasonic endoscope or an ultrasonic observation apparatus having a new desired function, the user must select one that matches the connector of the existing product. There is a problem of being forced to be constrained.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic endoscope and an ultrasonic observation apparatus, which are ultrasonic medical apparatuses having different multipolar plug-shaped connectors. Is to realize an ultrasonic medical device connector.

  In order to achieve the above object, the ultrasonic medical device connector of the present invention can electrically connect ultrasonic medical devices having different connectors, and is provided on one surface of the connector main body and the connector main body. A first ultrasonic connector part that forms a pair with the connector of the ultrasonic medical device, and a pair with the connector of the other ultrasonic medical device that are provided on the other surface of the connector body that is separated from the one surface A second ultrasonic connector portion, wherein the central axis of the first ultrasonic connector portion and the central axis of the second ultrasonic connector portion are located on different axes. To do.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the connector for ultrasonic medical devices which can connect the ultrasonic endoscope which is an ultrasonic medical device provided with the connector of a different multipolar plug shape, and ultrasonic observation apparatuses can be provided. .

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, an ultrasonic endoscope apparatus that is an ultrasonic medical apparatus will be described as an example.

  1 to 11 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a schematic configuration of an ultrasonic endoscope, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an ultrasonic medical device connector as viewed from the front upper side. 3 is a perspective view of the ultrasonic medical device connector as viewed from the rear and upper side, FIG. 4 is a front view of the ultrasonic observation device, and FIG. 5 is an ultrasonic observation device showing a state where the ultrasonic medical device connector is attached. FIG. 6 is a top view showing a state where an ultrasonic medical device connector is connected to the ultrasonic observation apparatus, and FIG. 7 is an upper view showing a state where the ultrasonic medical device connector is connected to the ultrasonic observation apparatus. 8 is a top view of the ultrasonic medical device connector, FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a state where the ultrasonic medical device connector of the ultrasonic endoscope is connected to the ultrasonic medical device connector, and FIG. Ultrasound medical treatment with a lock lever on the side 11 is a perspective view of the mounting connector, FIG. 11 is a view showing the inside of the connector for the ultrasonic medical device of FIG. 10, FIG. 12 is a view showing a second modification, and for the ultrasonic medical device of FIG. FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a connector, and FIG. 13 is a top view of a connector for an ultrasonic medical device having a third modification and having three ultrasonic connector portions.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an ultrasonic endoscope apparatus 1 that is an ultrasonic medical apparatus of the present embodiment includes an ultrasonic endoscope 2, an ultrasonic observation apparatus 3, and a camera control unit (hereinafter abbreviated as CCU). ) 4, a light source device 5, and an ultrasonic medical device connector (hereinafter simply referred to as a connector) 6. The ultrasonic observation device 3 and the CCU 4 are connected to a monitor (not shown) for displaying an ultrasonic observation image and an endoscopic image imaged by the ultrasonic endoscope 2.

  The ultrasonic endoscope 2 includes an elongated insertion portion 8 to be inserted into a body cavity, an operation portion 7 located at the proximal end of the insertion portion 8, and a universal cord 10 extending from a side portion of the operation portion 7. And is mainly composed.

  An endoscope connector 9 connected to the light source device 5 is provided at the proximal end portion of the universal cord 10. From the endoscope connector 9, the electric cable 11 is detachably connected to the CCU 4 via the electric connector 12, and the ultrasonic observation device 3 is detachably connected via the endoscope side ultrasonic connector portion 14. The ultrasonic cable 13 is extended. The ultrasonic endoscope 2 and the ultrasonic observation apparatus 3 according to the present embodiment are provided with ultrasonic connectors (14, 53: see FIG. 4) having different shapes. Connected to each other.

  The insertion portion 8 of the ultrasonic endoscope 2 includes a distal end rigid portion 21 formed of a hard resin member in order from the distal end side, a bendable bending portion 19 located at the rear end of the distal end rigid portion 21, and the bending portion 19. A flexible tube 18 having a small diameter, a long diameter, and a flexibility that is positioned at the rear end and reaching the tip of the operation unit 7 is provided. An ultrasonic transducer unit 22 in which a plurality of electronic scanning ultrasonic transducers for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves is arranged is provided on the distal end side of the distal rigid portion 21.

  Further, an angle knob 16 for controlling the bending portion 19 to bend in a desired direction, various buttons 15 for performing air supply, water supply, suction operation, and the like are introduced into the operation portion 7 of the ultrasonic endoscope 2 and into the body cavity. A treatment instrument insertion port 17 or the like serving as an entrance of the treatment instrument to be performed is provided.

  Although not shown, an illumination lens cover that constitutes the illumination optical system, an observation lens cover that constitutes the observation optical system, and a suction port are provided on the distal end surface of the distal rigid portion 21 provided with the ultrasonic transducer portion 22. A forceps port that doubles as well as an air / water supply nozzle are arranged. Further, the distal end rigid portion 21 incorporates an imaging unit (not shown) which is an image sensor such as a CCD or CMOS that collects and photoelectrically converts photographing light guided from the observation lens cover.

Next, the structure of the connector 6 of this Embodiment is demonstrated mainly using FIG. 2 and FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the connector 6 according to the present embodiment includes a box-shaped connector body 31 and an endoscope side disposed on a front connector placement surface 34 which is one surface of the connector body 31. It is mainly configured to have a round connector portion 35 that is a connector and a square connector portion 39 that is disposed on a rear connector arrangement surface 38 that is the other surface opposite to the one surface of the connector body 31. Yes. In addition, although each connector part 35 and 39 of this Embodiment is made into the shape from which a round shape and a square shape differ, of course, it may be the same shape and a different size simply, In the same shape and size, There are no different connectors configured.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the circular connector portion 35 is disposed on the right side of the front surface of the connector 6 in the present embodiment. The circular connector portion 35 is configured to be connected to the endoscope-side ultrasonic connector portion 14 of the ultrasonic endoscope 2 and has a plurality of pin holes into which endoscope-side multipolar pins are inserted. The multipolar connector portion 36 is exposed. In addition, the outer peripheral portion of the round connector portion 35 protrudes to lock the connection between the connectors by rotating the locking ring of the endoscope-side ultrasonic connector portion 14, in this case two (FIG. 2 (Only one is shown) is provided with a lock pin 37. The round connector portion 35 has been conventionally used in the ultrasonic endoscope 2 and the like, and thus detailed description of the configuration is omitted.

  In the present embodiment, the connector 6 has a lever arrangement on the left side facing the front surface that faces substantially the same direction as the front connector arrangement surface 34 and is substantially parallel to the one surface having a step on the rear side. It has a surface 32. The lever arrangement surface 32 is provided with a lock lever 33 that is rotatable about an axis in a direction substantially orthogonal to the surface.

  In this embodiment, the rectangular connector portion 39 is, for example, a 96-core type plug connector, and is disposed on the right side facing the back side of the connector 6. That is, the connector 6 is not located on the coaxial line connecting the front surface and the back surface of the central connector 39 of each of the square connector portion 39 on the back surface and the circular connector portion 35 disposed on the front surface described above. The configuration is staggered.

  Further, the rectangular connector part 39 has a lock shaft 41 that is rotated by a lock lever 33 disposed on the front surface of the connector 6. The lock shaft 41 is engaged with a first device-side ultrasonic connector portion 53 on the ultrasonic observation device 3 side, which will be described later, by the rotation of the lock shaft 41 to lock the connection between the lock shafts 41. For this purpose, a protruding lock pin 42 is provided.

  Further, on the left side of the rear connector arrangement surface 38 of the connector 6, for example, a cylindrical receiving member 43 formed of a synthetic resin or an elastic member is provided. The receiving member 43 is preferably arranged at the position of the rear connector arrangement surface 38 that is separated from the center position of the round connector portion 35 provided on the front connector arrangement surface 34.

  In the connector 6 of the present embodiment configured as described above, the round connector portion 35 and the square connector portion 39 are electrically connected inside the connector main body 31 by multipolar wiring.

Next, the configuration of the front panel of the ultrasonic observation apparatus 3 to which the connector 6 described above is connected will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.
As shown in FIG. 4, the ultrasonic observation apparatus 3 includes a power switch 52 disposed on the front panel 51 and two different types arranged in parallel on a device-side connector arrangement surface 55 formed on the front panel 51. The apparatus side ultrasonic connector parts 53 and 54 are provided.

  The first apparatus-side ultrasonic connector portion 53 of the present embodiment disposed on the left side of the apparatus-side connector arrangement surface 55 is a 96-core type that forms a pair with the above-described rectangular connector portion 39 of the connector 6. Plug connector.

  On the other hand, the second apparatus-side ultrasonic connector portion 54 of the present embodiment disposed on the right side of the apparatus-side connector arrangement surface 55 constitutes a pair with an ultrasonic connector of another ultrasonic medical device, for example, , 260-core type plug connector.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the ultrasonic observation apparatus 3 according to the present embodiment configured as described above has a rectangular connector part 39 of the connector 6 connected to the first apparatus-side ultrasonic connector part 53, and the connector 6 lock lever 33 is rotated from the release (RELESE) side to the lock (LOCK) side, so that the corresponding multi-polar (96-core) plugs on the device side and the connector side are locked to each other, so that electrical Connection is made.

Next, the operation of connecting the ultrasonic observation apparatus 3, the connector 6, and the ultrasonic endoscope 2 described above will be described with reference to FIGS.
The connector 6 is connected from the back side toward the front panel 51 of the ultrasonic observation apparatus 3 along the arrow shown in FIG. At this time, the rectangular connector part 39 of the connector 6 is engaged with the first apparatus-side ultrasonic connector part 53 of the ultrasonic observation apparatus 3 as shown in FIG.

  In this state, the receiving member 43 of the connector 6 abuts on the device-side connector arrangement surface 55 of the front panel 51 of the ultrasonic observation device 3 as shown in FIG.

  That is, the connector 6 is further moved to the ultrasonic observation apparatus 3 side even though the square connector section 39 and the first apparatus-side ultrasonic connector section 53 are engaged and the electrical connection is established by the user. May be pushed in. At this time, since the rectangular connector portion 39 of the connector 6 is in a position eccentric from the center of the back surface of the connector 6 in the side surface direction, the rectangular connector portion 39 and the first apparatus-side ultrasonic connector portion 53 include: An excessive load is applied in an oblique direction with respect to the pushing direction by the square connector portion 39 and the user, and damage may occur.

  Therefore, in the connector 6 according to the present embodiment, the receiving member 43 abuts on the apparatus-side connector arrangement surface 55 and a contact pressure only in the direction of arrow F in the figure is applied, Since the useless load other than the pushing direction is not applied to the engagement with the first apparatus side ultrasonic connector part 53, the rectangular connector part 39 and the first apparatus side ultrasonic connector part 53 are damaged by this load. Can be prevented.

  Further, when the endoscope-side ultrasonic connector portion 14 of the ultrasonic endoscope 2 is connected to the circular connector portion 35 of the connector 6, as described above, the receiving member 43 is connected to the device-side connector arrangement surface. In the same way, the contact pressure only in the direction of arrow F in the drawing is applied to prevent damage to the rectangular connector portion 39 and the first apparatus-side ultrasonic connector portion 53. it can.

  The contact surface of the receiving member 43 may be provided with an uneven surface that engages with the uneven shape formed on the device-side connector arrangement surface 55.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the connector 6 has a step d between a lever arrangement surface 32 on which a lock lever 33 as a lever member is arranged and a front connector arrangement surface 34 on which a round connector portion 35 is arranged. Not in the same plane as you have. In the present embodiment, the step d between the lever arrangement surface 32 and the front connector arrangement surface 34 is set to be shorter than the protruding amount of the lock lever 33 from the lever arrangement surface 32. That is, the lock lever 33 of the present embodiment protrudes slightly from the front connector arrangement surface 34, although it is slightly. The lock lever 33 may be protruded to the front side with a length that fits within the step d.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, the connector 6 rotates the lock lever 33 by the user and ultrasonic waves in a state where the round connector portion 35 and the endoscope side ultrasonic connector portion 14 are connected. A configuration in which the locking lever 33 or the endoscope-side ultrasonic connector portion 14 can be easily rotated when the endoscope-side ultrasonic connector portion 14 of the endoscope 2 is rotated for locking. It has become. That is, the user may interfere with the lock lever 33 or the endoscope-side ultrasonic connector portion 14 that is not operated when the lock lever 33 or the endoscope-side ultrasonic connector portion 14 is rotated. Therefore, each connector can be locked and released smoothly.

  As described above, the connector 6 of the present embodiment configured as described above can connect the ultrasound endoscope 2 including the connector portions 14 and 53 having different multipolar plug shapes and the ultrasound observation apparatus 3. can do. Further, the connectors 6 are arranged on the surfaces where the respective connector portions 35 and 39 having different multipolar plug shapes are separated so as to be eccentric due to the configuration of the lock mechanism. By providing the receiving member 43 so that an unnecessary load at the time of connection is not applied to the rectangular connector portion 39 that forms a pair with the sonic connector portion 53, the first apparatus-side ultrasonic connector portion 53 and the rectangular connector portion are provided. It is the structure which can prevent 39 damage.

  In addition, although each connector part 35 and 39 can also be arrange | positioned coaxially at the connector 6, the length of the direction in which the connector 6 connects each connector part 35 and 39 becomes long. With this configuration, the ultrasonic cable 13 (see FIG. 1) is swung up and down and left and right along with the movement of the ultrasonic endoscope 2 at the time of inspection, and each of the connector portions 35 and 36 of the connector 6 and ultrasonic observation. An unreasonable load is applied to each of the connection portions of the first device-side ultrasonic connector portion 53 of the device 3 and the endoscope-side ultrasonic connector portion 14 of the ultrasonic endoscope 2, and the connectors 35, 36, This causes connection failure and damage of 53 and 14. Therefore, the connector 6 has a configuration in which the two connector portions 35 and 36 are disposed on different axes in the direction connecting the two connector portions 35 and 39, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the connector 6 may have a configuration in which the lock lever 44 is led out from the side surface and a hole 45 corresponding to the movable range of the lock lever 44 is formed on the side surface. The lock lever 44 is rotatably held by a rotation shaft 47 having an active gear 48 on the front side of the rectangular connector portion 39 in the connector 6.

  The lock shaft 41 of the square connector part 39 is led out from the front surface of the square connector part 39, and a passive gear 49 is provided in the lead part.

  The passive gear 48 and the active gear 49 are meshed with each other. Then, the passive gear 48 interlocked with the rotation operation of the lock lever 44 rotates the active gear 49. In this way, the lock shaft 41 is transmitted with the rotation operation in conjunction with the rotated active gear 49. That is, the lock lever 44 and the lock shaft 41 are configured so that their rotations are interlocked by the gears 48 and 49 rows.

  Furthermore, when the lock lever 44 is provided so as to be led out from the side as in the configuration of FIG. 10, a display unit 46 such as a monitor or LED may be provided on the lever arrangement surface 32 as shown in FIG. good. For example, the display unit 46 lights and displays a state in which the circular connector unit 35 of the connector 6 is connected to the first device-side ultrasonic connector unit 53 of the ultrasonic observation device 3 and is locked by the lock lever 44. Or a dot display.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 13, the connector 6 may have a configuration including two round connectors 35 and 35 a having two different sizes so as to sandwich the lock lever 33. In the connector 6 having such a configuration, the two receiving members 43 are disposed on both sides of the rear connector arrangement surface 38 so as to sandwich the rectangular connector portion 39 so as to be separated from the two round connectors 35 and 35a. Provided.

  In addition, the round or square connector disposed in the connector 6 described above is an example, and of course, as long as the two connectors are different in shape, size, number of multipoles, and the like. The same effect as described in the embodiment can be obtained.

  The invention described in the above embodiment is not limited to the embodiment and modifications, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Further, the above embodiments include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent elements.

  For example, even if some constituent elements are deleted from all the constituent elements shown in the embodiment, the problems described in the column of problems to be solved by the invention can be solved, and the effects described in the effects of the invention can be achieved. In the case of being obtained, a configuration from which this configuration requirement is deleted can be extracted as an invention.

The figure explaining schematic structure of the ultrasonic endoscope based on one embodiment of this invention The perspective view which looked at the connector for ultrasonic medical devices from the front upper direction The perspective view which looked at the connector for ultrasonic medical devices from the back upper part same Same as above, front view of ultrasonic observation equipment The front view of the ultrasonic observation apparatus showing the state where the connector for the ultrasonic medical apparatus is attached The top view showing the state where the connector for an ultrasonic medical device is connected to the ultrasonic observation apparatus The top view which shows the state by which the connector for ultrasonic medical devices was connected to the ultrasonic observation apparatus Same top view of connector for ultrasonic medical device The perspective view which shows the state by which the connector for ultrasonic medical devices of the ultrasonic endoscope was connected to the connector for ultrasonic medical devices The perspective view of the connector for ultrasonic medical devices which showed the 1st modification and the lock lever was distribute | arranged to the side surface same as the above The figure which shows the inside of the connector for ultrasonic medical devices of FIG. The perspective view of the connector for ultrasonic medical devices of FIG. 10 which showed the 2nd modified example and was equipped with the display part in the front. The top view of the connector for ultrasonic medical devices which shows a 3rd modification and has three ultrasonic connector parts similarly

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ultrasound endoscope apparatus 2 ... Ultrasound endoscope 3 ... Ultrasound observation apparatus 6 ... Connector for ultrasonic medical apparatus 13 ... Ultrasonic cable 14 ... Ultrasound Connector portion 22 ... Ultrasonic transducer portion 31 ... Connector body 32 ... Lever arrangement surface 33 ... Lock lever 34 ... Front connector arrangement surface 35 ... Round connector portion 36 ... Multipolar connector portions 37, 42 ... lock pin 38 ... rear connector placement surface 39 ... square connector portion 41 ... lock shaft 43 ... receiving member 51 ... front panel 52 ... Power switch 53... First device side ultrasonic connector portion 54... Second device side ultrasonic connector portion 55.

Claims (3)

An ultrasonic medical device connector for electrically connecting ultrasonic medical devices having different connectors,
A connector body;
A first ultrasonic connector part which is provided on one surface of the connector body and forms a pair with the connector of one of the ultrasonic medical devices;
A second ultrasonic connector portion that is provided on the other surface of the connector body that is separated from the one surface, and forms a pair with the connector of the other ultrasonic medical device;
Have
The ultrasonic medical device connector, wherein a central axis of the first ultrasonic connector portion and a central axis of the second ultrasonic connector portion are located on different axes.   A receiving member that comes into contact with the ultrasonic medical device in which the connector to which the first or second ultrasonic connector portion is connected oppositely is disposed on the one surface or the other surface of the connector main body. The connector for an ultrasonic medical device according to claim 1, wherein the connector is provided. The first or second connector portion has a lever member for locking and fixing the connection with the connector of the ultrasonic medical device, and releasing the locking,
2. The lock lever is disposed on the connector main body on a surface different from the one surface on which the first and second connector portions are disposed and the other surface. Or the connector for ultrasonic medical devices of Claim 2.

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