JP3500736B2 - Endoscope operation means mounting case - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a case for mounting operation means of an endoscope used for medical purposes, industrial purposes and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An endoscope, whether for medical use or for industrial use, has a main body operation section connected to the proximal end of an insertion section and used for a light source device or the like. It is generally constructed by connecting detachably connected universal cords, but a person who operates the endoscope can operate the main body operating portion while holding it with one hand. For this purpose, the main body housing of the main body operation unit is provided with various operating means operated by the operator's fingers. As this kind of operation means, there is an angle operation knob for bending the angle portion provided on the distal end side of the insertion portion in a desired direction. Also, when the observation window provided at the tip of the insertion part becomes dirty, a so-called air / water supply button or a body cavity for operating a cleaning valve for supplying a cleaning fluid composed of cleaning liquid and pressurized air. There is a suction button for sucking dirt and the like inside. Furthermore, a switch for controlling the operation of an external device connected to the endoscope is provided. Therefore, in order to control the endoscope and external devices connected thereto more smoothly, it is necessary to provide as many operating means as possible.

By the way, as an observation mechanism in an endoscope, an optical system for guiding an image of an observation object portion obtained through an observation window to an eyepiece portion through an image guide and observing through the eyepiece portion. -Type endoscope and solid-state image sensor facing the observation window, this solid-state image sensor converts the image of the observation target part into an electric signal and transmits it to a processor, and this processor performs predetermined signal processing. And an electronic endoscope that displays a video image on a monitor device. In the optical endoscope, an eyepiece is provided, but this eyepiece is connected to the rear end side of the main body operation section, that is, the side opposite to the side where the insertion section is continuously provided. Has become.

Of course, it is not necessary to provide an eyepiece in an electronic endoscope, but it is necessary to increase the number of switches as compared with an optical endoscope because of the connection of a processor and a VTR (video tape recorder). is there. Therefore, in an electronic endoscope, in order to secure a space for providing operation means such as switches and various buttons, a rear end portion of a main body operation portion to which an eyepiece portion of an optical endoscope is attached is provided. A mounting case is provided in which operating means such as switches are mounted. The mounting case is provided with a plurality of operating means such as a VTR switch and a remote control switch. However, one operating means is provided in order to prevent the operating means from being mistakenly operated without visual inspection. The operating means is attached to the rear end surface of the mounting case, and the other operating means is attached to the side surface thereof.

[0005]

When the operating means is provided on the mounting case, the operating means provided on the mounting case is normally operated by the thumb of the hand holding the main body operating portion.
The operating means provided on the rear end surface of the mounting case is located at a fixed position, but the operating means provided on the side surface is directional to the mounting position of the operating means. A surgeon such as a doctor who uses an endoscope, when gripping the main body operation part, does not necessarily have the same grip position, and may grip a slightly different position depending on the surgeon's preference. The size of the operator's hand and the length of the fingers are also different. Therefore, the position where the thumb reaches and the position where the operation means is easy to operate vary with the operator's individuality, etc., while holding the main body operation part of the endoscope. If the means is provided, there is a problem that the operability is not good depending on the operator.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to set an operating means provided on a side surface of a mounting case at an optimum position in accordance with the personality of an operator or the like. An object is to provide an operation means mounting case for an endoscope that can be oriented in any direction.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is directed to a main body housing provided with an operating means which is connected to a proximal end portion of an insertion portion and which is operated by an operator for gripping and operating. A through hole is formed in the rear end portion, and a mounting case having one or a plurality of operating means mounted around the through hole is attached. Further, a holding plate is arranged inside the main body housing, and the mounting case and the holding plate are provided. A mounting case is connected by tightening with a bolt so that the main body housing is sandwiched between the mounting case and at least one of the operating means is provided on a side surface of the mounting case, and the mounting case is provided. The case is characterized in that the case is rotatable about the bolt by a predetermined angle.

[0008]

The mounting case provided with the operating means is fixed to the main body housing of the main body operating portion by using a bolt, and the bolt is used as a rotating shaft of the mounting case. It can be rotated as. Therefore, if the mounting case is rotated in a desired direction, the operating means provided on the side surface of the mounting case is operated by the operator when the operator grips and operates the main body operating part of the endoscope. It becomes possible to adjust to a position convenient to operate with the fingers of the hand that holds the. The position of the mounting case is maintained by the tightening force of the mounting case. However, if the positioning means is provided between the mounting case and the main body housing, when the mounting case is rotated, the positioning means performs a predetermined rotation. The fact that the moving position is reached can be detected by the feel of the hand, etc., and it will be locked at that position, so even if the operating force of the operating means is applied to the mounting case with your fingers, the mounting case will not be visible. It will not move and will be kept in a stable state.

Here, as the operation means mounted on the side surface of the mounting case, a hand for holding the operation portion of the main body and a finger for operating the operation means, for example, a thumb, are placed in an easily operable position. To be provided. In the normal case, since the finger operating the operating means is the thumb, when the main body operating part is gripped by the hand, it is the easiest to operate if it is directed diagonally downward on the side where the palm touches. It is preferable that, when the mounting case is rotated, the operating means is displaced rightward and leftward by a predetermined angle from a state in which the operating means faces downward. Then, at a plurality of positions at these turning positions, positioning means for locking the positions is provided. When a strong force is applied to the positioning means to some extent,
Since it is necessary to release the locking by the positioning means, a click mechanism or the like can be used as the positioning means.

Here, the mounting case is fixed by being pulled toward the holding plate side by a bolt,
For this reason, it is necessary to give the holding plate a large area to some extent to increase the contact area with the inner surface of the main body casing. For this reason, when the holding plate rotates together when the mounting case is rotated, there is a risk that it will hit the main body casing and deform the main body casing. In order to make it possible to repair and inspect various members provided inside the main body casing, one side surface of the main body casing is open, and a lid is fixed to this opening. Moreover, in order to keep the main body casing airtight so that the contaminants do not enter, a seal member is provided in the mounting portion of the lid. Therefore, as described above, when the main body casing is deformed by the rotation of the pressing plate, the sealing function is deteriorated. Therefore, to prevent such a situation from occurring,
The pressing plate may be brought into contact with the inner surface of the main body casing in advance over a predetermined length to prevent co-rotation of the pressing plate.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of the endoscope. In the figure, 1 is a main body operation part, 2 is an insertion part to be inserted into a body cavity or the like, and 3 is a universal cord. Here, the illustrated endoscope is an electronic endoscope in which a solid-state image sensor is provided at the imaging position of an objective lens provided in the observation window at the tip of the insertion section 2, and the signal from this solid-state image sensor is the insertion section. Two
To the universal cord 3 via the main body operation unit 1, the universal cord 3 is connected to the processor 4, and the processor 4 performs predetermined signal processing to display the image of the observation target portion on the monitor device 5. Can be displayed. Although not shown in the figure, a VTR is connected to the processor 4 so that a necessary image can be displayed on the VTR.
Can be recorded by. Further, a hard copy device is also connected to the processor 4, and an image of a shot with an observation target portion can be recorded as a still image by this hard copy device.

An operator or the like who operates the endoscope is operated by the main body operation unit 1
Can be operated by grasping with one hand. The main body operation unit 1 is provided with various operation members so that various operations can be performed with fingers of a hand holding the operation unit 1. An angle knob 6 for bending the distal end portion of the insertion portion 2 in a desired direction, an air / water supply button 7 for controlling the supply of cleaning liquid or pressurized air when the observation window is dirty, and a suction button. 8 is an example.
In addition to these, for example, a still switch 9 for operating a hard copy device to acquire a still image.
In order to enlarge the image displayed on the VTR switch 10 and the monitor device 5 for operating the VTR,
Switches such as a zooming switch 11 for performing electronic zooming are provided.

The switches are provided at appropriate positions in consideration of the frequency of use and the like. However, since they are electronic endoscopes, an eyepiece is continuously provided at the rear end of the main body operation unit 1. However, there is a space in this portion, and when the main body operation unit 1 is gripped, the fingers, specifically the thumb, reach this position, so this space is used for mounting switches as operation means. Here, the switch mounted on the rear end of the main body operation unit 1 is mounted on the mounting case 20, and the mounting case 20 is fixed to the main body housing 12. Here, the mounting case 20 has a substantially truncated cone shape or a quadrangular pyramid shape, and a switch is provided on the rear end surface and one side surface thereof. For example, the VTR switch 10 is provided on the rear end surface and the one side surface is provided. Each is provided with a zooming switch 11.

FIG. 2 shows a cross section of the mounting case 20. Here, since the VTR switch 10 and the zooming switch 11 provided in the mounting case 20 have exactly the same configuration, their components will be described using the same reference numerals. Thus, the VTR switch 10 and the zooming switch 11 have a cylindrical tubular body 30 having an external thread on the outer peripheral surface thereof, a switch substrate 31 made of a disc rotatably provided in the tubular body 30, and the switch. It is configured as a switch unit 34 including a switch portion 32 provided on the substrate 31 and an actuating portion 33 made of a flexible film body made of rubber or the like fitted to the tubular body 30 so as to cover the switch portion 32. . Two cables 35, 35 are connected to the switch board 31 of the switch unit 34. The cable 35 is accommodated in a cable accommodating portion 36, which is an empty space provided in the mounting case 20, with a predetermined extra length, and is then introduced into the main body operating portion 1.

In order to fixedly mount the switch unit 34 on the mounting case 20, a screw hole 21 is formed in the mounting case 20, and the tubular body 30 of the switch unit 34 is screwed into the screw hole 21. It is supposed to be. In order to seal the screw insertion portion of the switch unit 34, a large-diameter seal reservoir 22 is provided on the outer surface side so as to be continuous with the screw hole 21 provided in the switch unit 20, and the seal reservoir 22 is sealed. The material is filled.

Next, in order to connect the mounting case 20 to the main body housing 12 of the main body operating portion 1 and to guide the cable 35 extending from the mounting case 20 into the main body housing 12, an opening 13 is formed in the main body housing 12. Is provided. The mounting case 20 is provided with a fitting portion 20a, and the fitting portion 20a is fitted into the opening 13. Further, the holding plate 40 faces the inside of the main body housing 12, and the holding plate 40 and the mounting case 20
The wall surface of the main body housing 12 around the opening 13 of the main body housing 12 is fixed by being held. A bolt 41 is used to perform this fixing, and the pressing plate 40 and the mounting case 20 are provided with bolt insertion holes 42 and 23, respectively. The bolt insertion hole 23 on the mounting case 20 side accommodates a nut 43. The diameter portion 23a is formed. Therefore, the pressing plate 40 and the mounting case 20 are tightened so as to come into pressure contact with the main body housing 12 by the screw engagement between the bolt 41 and the nut 43. Also,
Cable insertion holes 24 and 44 are formed in the mounting case 20 and the holding plate 40 so that the cables 35 can be inserted therethrough. Here, as will be described later, the mounting case 20 is rotatable, and the cable 3 can be rotated at any position.
In order to allow 5 to pass through, the cable insertion hole 44 on the side of the holding plate 40 is formed in a large eyebrow shape. In addition,
A spacer 25 is interposed between the mounting case 20 and the pressing plate 40.

As shown in FIG. 3, the zooming switch 11 provided on the side surface of the mounting case 20 can be rotated about 45 ° to the left and right from the state in which it is facing downward, about 90 ° in total. Has become. As a result, the zooming switch 11 can be turned from the diagonal lower left direction shown by the solid line in the figure to the diagonal lower right direction shown by the virtual line. The rotation center O of the mounting case 20 is the mounting position of the bolt 41, and the rotation center O is also the center of the opening 13. Therefore,
The rotation of the mounting case 20 can be performed by screwing the mounting case 20 with fingers.

Thus, the cable 3 is attached to the mounting case 20.
Since the cable 5 is extended, it is necessary to hold the cable 35 so as not to be damaged when the mounting case 20 is rotated. Therefore, the rotation angle of the mounting case 20 is set to 90 ° described above. Although it is restricted, in order to strictly regulate the rotation angle of the mounting case 20, the opening 13 of the main body housing 12 is, as shown in FIG.
The rotation range restricting portion 14 is provided continuously. The rotation range restricting portion 14 is formed by expanding a part of the opening 13 in a fan shape, and the fitting portion 20a of the mounting case 20 into the opening 13 is provided with a convex portion 20b. The convex portion 20b is fitted into the rotation range restricting portion 14. Therefore, when the mounting case 20 is rotated, the convex portion 20b comes into contact with the wall portion of the rotation range restricting portion 14, whereby the rotation range of the mounting case 20 is restricted.

Further, in order to position the mounting case 20, the click ball 26 is biased by the spring 27 so as to project from the surface of the mounting case 20. The holding plate 40 is provided with three click recesses 45. The click concave portion 45 is positioned at three positions, namely, a state where the zooming switch 11 of the mounting case 20 is located at an end portion in the diagonally lower left direction, a state in which the zooming switch 11 is facing downward, and a state in which the zooming switch 11 is located at the diagonally lower right portion. It is for.

As shown in FIG. 5, a contact surface 40a for contacting the side wall 12a of the main body housing 12 is provided in order to hold the holding plate 40 so as not to rotate together when the mounting case 20 is rotated. Has been. Here, the side surface of the main body housing 12 opposite to the side wall 12a is opened for maintenance and the like, and a lid 12b is attached to this opening to keep airtightness. Therefore, when the holding plate 40 is pressed against the lid 12b side, the airtightness cannot be maintained. For this purpose, the contact surface 40a of the pressing plate 40 is attached to the side wall 12a of the main body housing 12.
By making it contact with the other side, the surface on the opposite side is kept in a non-contact state.

The present embodiment is configured as described above, and the operator or the like grasps the main body operating section 1 and inserts the insertion section 2 into the body cavity or the like to attach the main body operating section 1 to the main body operating section 1. Operates various operating means provided. The main body operation unit 1 has an angle knob 6, an air / water supply button 7, a suction button 8, a still switch 9 and the like, which are operation means provided on the main body housing 12, and the rear end portion of the main body operation unit 1 further. The VTR switch 10 and the zooming switch 11 are provided in the mounting case 20 provided in the VTR switch 10
The zooming switch 11 can be usually operated by the thumb of the hand holding the main body operation unit 1.

Aside from the VTR switch 10 provided at the rear end of the mounting case 20, the zooming switch 11 is provided on the side surface of the mounting case 20.
The position or direction of the zooming switch 11 changes depending on the direction of 0. Therefore, it may be easier to operate by changing the position and direction of the zooming switch 11 depending on the grip position of the main body operation unit 1 by the operator or the size and length of the operator's hand and fingers.

In order to change the position and direction of the zooming switch 11, the mounting case 20 is gripped and screwed. This changes the direction of the mounting case 20,
When the zooming switch 11 faces diagonally to the lower left,
It can be displaced obliquely to the lower right and downward, and can be held at an intermediate position between them. Therefore, if the mounting case 20 is rotated in a desired direction according to the personality of the operator or the like, the zooming switch 1
1 can be oriented to the position and direction where it can be operated most easily.
Then, at the above-mentioned three positions, the click ball 26 provided on the mounting case 20 engages with the click concave portion 45 of the pressing plate 40, so that the switching of the mounting case 20 can be detected by a click feeling. Moreover, since the mounting case 20 is positioned at the predetermined rotation position by this click mechanism, even if a certain amount of force is applied when operating the zooming switch 11 at these positions,
It is stably held in this position.

Even when the mounting case 20 is rotated in this manner, the cable 35 from the mounting case 20 extends through the cable insertion hole 44 of the holding plate 40 formed in a large eyebrow shape. Therefore, this cable 3
The 5 will not be pulled or pinched. Moreover, even if the click ball 26 tries to rotate to the position where the click balls 26 go over the click recesses 45 at both ends,
The convex portion 20b of the mounting case 20 is the main body housing 12
Since it does not rotate more than necessary because it comes into contact with the rotation restricting portion 14 provided on the mounting case 20, even if the mounting case 20 is forcibly rotated, the mounting case 20 and the cable 35
Will not be damaged.

Further, when the mounting case 20 is rotated, its turning power is also transmitted to the holding plate 40. The holding plate 40 has an abutting surface 40a which affects airtightness in the main body housing 12. Since it abuts against the side wall 12a which does not exist, it does not rotate together, and therefore the lid 1 on the side opposite to the side wall 12a in the main body housing 12
It is kept in a non-contact state with the portion where 2b is provided.

In the above embodiment, the mounting case is provided with two switches, and each of these switches is a VT.
Although the R switch and the zooming switch are used, the switches provided in the mounting case are not limited to these, and two or more switches may be provided on the side surface of the mounting case, or an operating means other than the switches may be provided. Is also possible. Also, in order to position the mounting case at a predetermined rotation position, three click parts are provided, but in order to prevent the displacement of the mounting case due to the pressure contact force of the mounting case with the main body housing, the displacement of the mounting case is prevented. If configured, it is not always necessary to provide a positioning portion,
In addition to the above-mentioned three positioning parts, more positioning parts may be provided in addition to these. Furthermore, as the positioning portion, for example, a set screw or other means can be used in addition to the click mechanism.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, the position and direction of the operating means provided on the side surface can be changed by making the mounting case mounted on the main body operating portion rotatable. Since it is configured, the operation means provided on the side surface of the mounting case can be directed to an optimum position and direction according to the individuality of the operator who operates the endoscope.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an endoscope including a main body operation unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a connecting portion between a main body operating portion and a mounting case.

FIG. 3 is an external view showing a rear end portion of a main body operation unit.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line YY of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Main body operation part 10 VTR switch 11 Zooming switch 12 body housing 12a side wall 12b lid 13 openings 14 Rotation restriction part 20 mounting case 20a fitting part 20b convex part 21 screw holes 23, 42 bolt insertion hole 24,44 Cable insertion hole 26 click balls 27 springs 30 cylinder 31 Switch board 32 Switch body 33 Actuator 34 switch unit 35 cable 40 Presser plate 41 bolts 43 nuts 45 click recess

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Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A through hole is formed in a rear end portion of a main body housing, which is connected to a base end portion of an insertion portion and is provided with an operating means for an operator to grip and operate, and a periphery of the through hole. Attach a mounting case equipped with one or a plurality of operating means, and dispose a holding plate inside the body housing, and tighten the body housing with a bolt so that the body housing is sandwiched between the mounting case and the holding plate. In which at least one of the operating means is provided on the side surface of the mounting case, and the mounting case is rotatable about the bolt by a predetermined angle. A case for attaching operation means of an endoscope. 2. The operation of the endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the mounting case is configured to be rotatable left and right by a predetermined angle from a state in which the operation means provided on the side surface faces directly downward. Means mounting case. 3. The endoscope operation means attachment according to claim 1, further comprising a positioning means for releasably locking the attachment case at each rotational position with respect to the main body housing. Case. 4. The holding plate is held in a state where one side of the holding plate is in contact with the inner side surface of the main body housing opposite to the mounting surface of the lid body, whereby the mounting case is rotated. The operation means mounting case for an endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the operation means mounting case is configured to restrict co-rotation.