JP2010005221A - Box for endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely secure the watertight state of the inside when a separation part is connected to a base part to be usable, and to surely execute washing and disinfection. <P>SOLUTION: A box-like body comprises a front support body 16 and a rear support body 17, the connection part of the support bodies 16 and 17 is provided with: a watertight structure for maintaining the inside of the body in the watertight state using an O-ring 35; and also a conductor contact point connecting structure wherein a cylindrical conducting body 28 is brought into contact with a spring-like contact piece 22c when the rear support body 17 is attached, so that a rotary switch body 29 is made effective. When a distance to a watertightness start position P<SB>2</SB>before a forward movement completion position P<SB>1</SB>at which the rear support body 17 is completely moved forward to the front support body 16 is denoted as D<SB>1</SB>and a distance to a contact point contact start position P<SB>3</SB>before the position P<SB>1</SB>is denoted as D<SB>2</SB>, D<SB>2</SB><D<SB>1</SB>is set, and the operation of the rotary switch body 29 does not become effective unless watertightness is secured. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an endoscope box, and more particularly, to a watertight structure of a functional box that protrudes from an operation unit of a portable endoscope or the like and houses a light source for illumination or a battery serving as a power source.

  An endoscope apparatus irradiates an object to be observed with illumination light from a distal end portion of an endoscope (scope) and optically observes the illuminated object to be observed or electronically using a solid-state imaging device or the like. To do. On the other hand, in recent years, in order to enable use in various places other than well-equipped facilities, bedside use, emergency use, etc., the use of endoscope devices has been promoted. In an endoscope for an endoscope, for example, an LED light source and a battery are arranged in a box provided in an operation unit of the endoscope.

  FIG. 6 shows a configuration of a conventional portable endoscope. As shown, the endoscope includes a distal end portion 1A, a bending portion and a flexible portion 1B, and an operation portion 1C. The operation unit 1C is provided with a forceps port 2 and an eyepiece unit (objective optical system) 3, and a light source box 4 containing a battery is attached in a direction perpendicular to the endoscope axis direction.

  The light source box 4 includes a front support (base) 4a and a rear support (separation part) 4b separated from the front support 4a. The rear support 4b is removed from the front support 4a. Thus, the battery can be replaced. In addition, a rotation switch 5 is disposed on the rear support 4b, and by rotating the rotation switch 5, the light source can be turned on using a battery as a power source.

Further, in such an endoscope, after use, the light source box 4 including the light source box 4 is cleaned and disinfected for the purpose of preventing infection, and the light source box 4 has a front support 4a and a rear support. A watertight structure using, for example, an O-ring is provided at the connecting and connecting portion of the body 4b, and thereby the inside is maintained in a watertight state.
JP 2003-169777 A

  However, in the conventional portable endoscope, the user (user) needs to replace the battery of the light source box 4, and the rear support (separation part) 4b with respect to the front support (base part) 4a at this time is required. If the mounting connection of the is incomplete, there is a problem that the internal watertight state cannot be secured. Conventionally, an indication of the tightening position of the rear support 4b at the time of coupling is displayed on the front support 4a to ensure a watertight state. However, even with such a method, the front support 4a and the rear support 4b can be secured. In some cases, the connection with the side support 4b may not be performed completely. In this case, moisture enters the light source box 4 and the cleaning and disinfection becomes insufficient, and the internal electric member is corroded. .

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to make sure that an internal water-tight state is ensured when the separating portion is connected to the base so that it can be used. It is an object of the present invention to provide an endoscope box capable of reliably performing the above.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that the box-shaped main body arranged in the endoscope operation section is composed of a base and a separation section, and the separation is performed in order to maintain the inside of the box-shaped main body in a watertight state. Water-tight structure provided at the joint between the base and the base, and when the separation part is attached to the base, two conductor contacts for securing a conductor path connected to the functional switch (enabling the functional switch) In the endoscope box provided with the conductor contact connection structure to be connected, the coupling portion is provided with connection means for the separation portion to advance and be fixed to the base portion. the separation section D ₁ the distance to the watertight starting position before the watertight from the forward end position which is fully advanced the _hand, to the contact point contact start position before the conductor connecting structure from the forward end position When the distance is referred to as _{D 2,} and wherein the set to _D 2 <D _1.

  According to the above configuration, the coupling portion between the base portion and the separation portion is provided with a watertight structure using, for example, an O-ring, and is provided with connection means for coupling by screwing of the male screw portion and the female screw portion, For example, when the male screw portion provided in the separation portion is screwed into the female screw portion provided in the base portion, the separation portion advances and is fixed to the base portion. Then, when the separating part moves forward during fixing, the watertight start position of the watertight structure is reached first, and then the contact contact start position of the conductor connection structure is reached, so that watertightness is ensured. Otherwise, the two conductor contacts are not connected. Therefore, when the user turns the function switch into an effective state, the watertight state is reliably ensured.

  According to the endoscope box of the present invention, when the separation unit is connected to the base and the function switch can be operated, an internal watertight state is always ensured, so that moisture is incompletely entered. Thus, there is no effect on the connection, the endoscope including the box can be reliably cleaned and disinfected, and the internal electric member is not corroded.

  1 to 5 show the configuration of an endoscope box according to the embodiment. The light source box 14 of the embodiment is similar to the endoscope described with reference to FIG. In (1C), it is arranged so as to protrude in the vertical direction from the endoscope axis. FIG. 1 shows a cross section of the coupling portion of the light source box 14, and FIG. 2 shows a cross section of the entire light source box 14. As shown in FIG. 2, the light source box 14 is an endoscope as a main body. A hollow front side (right side in the figure) support body (base part) 16 having a mounting part 15 for mounting on the operation part, and a hollow rear side support body (separation part) 17 having a battery storage part 17a are provided. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the male screw portion 17D provided on the outer periphery of the front end of the rear support 17 is screwed with the female screw portion 16C provided on the inner periphery of the rear end of the front support 16. In this way, both are connected and fixed.

  In the front support 16, there is provided an LED portion 21 for mounting an LED on the surface (front side) of the fixing plate, and a circuit board 22 having an LED drive circuit 22 a mounted on the front side for driving the LED. It is done. That is, the LED portion 21 and the light source drive circuit board 22 are attached to the holder 23 as a light source assembly, and the annular step 23D of the holder 23 is pressed by the presser ring 25 (the threaded engagement of the male screw portion 25D and the female screw portion 16C). The light source assembly is attached to the front support 16 at the coupling.

  Further, on the rear side surface of the light source driving circuit board 22, there is provided a battery connection contact piece 22b in contact with the positive (+) electrode of the battery 24 at the center thereof, and on the outside of the contact piece 22b, An arc-shaped spring-like contact piece 22c along the direction is provided, and this spring-like contact piece 22c is connected to the negative power line of the LED drive circuit 22a, and the light source switch of the embodiment (the rotation switch section 29 below). It becomes one contact of the conductor contact connection structure for ensuring the operation of.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, the cylindrical conductor 28 is in contact with the spring-shaped contact piece 22 c at a position outside the battery 24 in the battery housing portion 17 a of the rear support 17. The cylindrical conductor 28 is fixed and arranged, and constitutes the other contact of the conductor contact connection structure. A switch-off notch 28a is provided at the rear end of the cylindrical conductor 28, and the cylindrical outer surface of the portion where the notch 28a exists serves as a switch-on sliding terminal portion.

  Further, a rotation switch unit 29 as a light source switch (or a power-on switch) is rotatably attached to the rear side of the rear support member 17, and the negative (−−) of the battery 24 is attached to the rotation switch unit 29. ) A contact piece 32 formed integrally with a battery-connecting spring-like contact piece 30 for contact with an electrode and a movable contact piece for switch 31 is fixed by a screw 33. That is, the spring-shaped contact piece 30 is a contact piece obtained by bending a strip-shaped spring plate into a U-shape so that a protrusion toward the negative electrode of the battery 24 is formed, and the switch movable contact piece 31 is The spring-shaped contact piece 30 is arranged perpendicularly from the base end plate surface and is bent in an arc shape along the outer periphery of the cylindrical conductor 28, and the protrusion at the tip thereof can contact the outer surface of the cylindrical conductor 28. It is comprised so that it may become.

Further, a watertight structure using an O-ring 35 is provided at a joint portion between the front support body 16 and the rear support body 17, and the start of a watertight state by the watertight structure is a contact contact state by the conductor connection structure. It is set to be earlier than the start of. That is, the O-ring 35 is attached and fixed to a groove formed on the outer periphery of the rear support 17, and the O-ring 35 is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the front support 16 to maintain the inside of the main body in a watertight state. be able to. Here, as shown in FIG. 1, the advancing completion position where the rear support 17 is completely advanced by the screwing of the male screw portion 17D and the female screw portion 16C (the rear support member 17 contacts the front support member 16). contact the end position) D ₁ the distance from P ₁ to watertight start position P ₂ of the _front, at the contact contacting spring-like contact pieces 22c and the cylindrical conducting body 28 constituting the conductive connection structure, short of the forward end position P ₁ of and the distance to the contact point contact start position P ₃ and D _2, D 2 _<are set to D _1, thereby always after the obtained watertight, to enable the rotary switch 29 (conductor path Two conductor contact states for securing) are obtained.

The embodiment is configured as described above. In the light source box 14, as shown in FIG. 4A, after the battery 24 is placed in the rear support 17 (battery storage portion 17a), the male screw portion 17D is inserted. The rear support 17 is attached to the front support 16 as shown in FIG. 4B by being screwed into the female screw portion 16C. At the time of mounting, the distance _{D 1} of the from the forward end position _{P 1} to a watertight start position _{P 2} is greater _(D 2 _{<D 1)} setting than the distance _{D 2} from the position _{P 1} to the contact contact start position _{P 3} Therefore, when the switch operation by the rotation switch unit 29 becomes effective, a watertight state is always ensured. In other words, when the connection between the front support 16 and the rear support 17 is incomplete and the watertight state is not secured, the LED is not lit, so the operator is warned that the watertight state is not secured. It is possible to encourage a connection state that ensures a watertight state.

FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the watertight state and the contact contact state. In the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, the rear support 17 advances with respect to the front support 16, at the time it reaches the watertight start position P _2, not yet cylindrical conductive body 28 reaches the contact point contact start position P _3, as shown in FIG. 3 (B), when the further advanced beyond the watertight start position P ₂ , the cylindrical conductive member 28 is in contact with the spring-like contact pieces 22c to reach the contact point contact start position P _3, operation of the rotary switch 29 is enabled.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the rotation switch portion 29 is rotated in the ON direction, the movable contact piece 31 fixed to the rotation switch portion 29 is moved to the outer side surface (slider) of the cylindrical conductor 28. The power switch is turned on by contacting the moving terminal portion), and the LED portion 21 is turned on. Conversely, when the rotation switch unit 29 is rotated in the opposite OFF direction, the movable contact piece 31 moves to the position of the cut 28a of the cylindrical conductor 28, whereby the power switch is turned off and the LED unit 21 is turned off. Turns off.

  In this way, in the embodiment, when the user connects the rear support 17, the operation of the light source unit by the rotation switch unit 29 is enabled so that an internal watertight state is reliably ensured, Cleaning and disinfection after use can be carried out under good watertight conditions, and corrosion of internal electric members is also prevented.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the box is a light source box has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the case where the light source is driven by a battery, but the present invention is applied to a battery storage functional box that supplies battery power to other driving units. Is possible. Further, this box is not limited to the one protruding in the vertical direction from the endoscope axis, and can be applied to various boxes provided in the endoscope. Furthermore, in the embodiment, a screw thread type is used as the connection means between the base and the separation part, but other connection means that advance during attachment, such as those using a cam groove or a spring type, can be used.

It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the coupling | bond part of the box for endoscopes (light source box) which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the whole structure of the light source box of an Example. It is sectional drawing which shows the relationship between the watertight state of the watertight structure of an Example, and the contact contact state of a conductor contact connection structure. It is a perspective view which shows the isolation | separation state [figure (A)] and coupling | bonding state [figure (B)] of the light source box of an Example. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the main structures of the light source box of an Example. It is a perspective view which shows the whole structure of the conventional endoscope.

Explanation of symbols

1C: Endoscopic operation unit 4,14: Light source box,
4a, 16 ... front support, 4b, 17 ... rear support,
21 ... LED unit, 22 ... Light source drive circuit board,
22a ... LED drive circuit, 22c ... spring-shaped contact piece,
24 ... Battery, 16C ... Female thread,
17D, 25D ... male screw part, 28 ... cylindrical conductor,
35 ... O-ring, 29 ... Rotation switch part.

Claims (1)

A box-shaped main body arranged in the endoscope operation section is composed of a base portion and a separation portion, and a water-tight structure provided in a joint portion between the separation portion and the base portion to maintain the inside of the box-shaped main body in a water-tight state, and this separation In an endoscope box provided with a conductor contact connection structure for connecting two conductor contacts for securing a conductor path connected to a function switch when the portion is attached to the base,
The coupling portion is provided with connection means for the separation portion to advance and fix to the base portion,
The distance from the advance completion position where the separation part is completely advanced with respect to the base by the connection means to the watertight start position of the watertight structure before the advance is D ₁ , and the contact of the conductor connection structure before the advance completion position is D ₁ An endoscope box, wherein D ₂ <D ₁ is set, where D ₂ is a distance to the contact start position.

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