JP5046792B2 - End of the endoscope - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a distal end portion of an endoscope, and more particularly, to a distal end portion of an endoscope having a function of cleaning an optical element exposed from the distal end portion.

Some distal ends of conventional endoscopes are provided with an air / water supply nozzle for cleaning the surface of an objective lens or a cover glass. The air / water supply nozzle protrudes from the outer cylinder at the tip and faces the objective lens. The surface between the air / water supply nozzle and the objective lens had a flat shape (Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-254793 A

  However, since the outer cylinder surface between the air / water supply nozzle and the objective lens is a flat surface, the supplied cleaning water flows on the outer cylinder surface flat surface, the flow velocity becomes slow, and the momentum for washing the surface of the objective lens is scraped off. As a result, the ability to remove the attached matter on the surface of the objective lens is lowered, and the attached matter cannot be removed sufficiently.

  In view of the problems of the prior art, the present invention provides an endoscope that can efficiently clean a surface to be cleaned such as an objective lens at a distal end portion of the endoscope. The object is to provide a tip.

The present invention that achieves such an object includes a surface to be cleaned exposed from the outer cylinder of the tip portion, a fluid ejection nozzle that protrudes from the outer cylinder of the tip portion, and a jet outlet directed to the surface to be cleaned, and the surface to be cleaned And a forceps raising base provided on the side of the direction in which the fluid ejection nozzles are arranged, the distal end portion of the endoscope, and an outer cylinder between the ejection port of the fluid ejection nozzle and the surface to be cleaned A groove is formed along the fluid ejection direction; the groove is deepened in the vicinity of the ejection port, and is gradually shallowed toward the surface to be cleaned through a flat bottom in a side view. The flat bottom as viewed from the side is inclined so that the depth in the transverse direction perpendicular to the fluid ejection direction is deeper toward the side opposite to the side where the forceps raising base is provided, and the groove The width is widened from the jet port toward the surface to be cleaned. It is.

  In practice, the surface to be cleaned is the surface of an objective lens or a cover glass. Thus, the fluid ejection nozzle is oriented so that the fluid ejected from the ejection port hits the surface of the objective lens or the cover glass.

  An illumination window for emitting illumination light is provided on an extension line passing through the ejection port and the objective lens.

In the distal end portion of the side-view type endoscope of the present invention, a groove is formed in the outer cylinder between the ejection port of the fluid ejection nozzle and the surface to be cleaned along the fluid ejection direction. It deepens rapidly in the vicinity of the outlet, passes through the flat bottom in the side view, and gently shallows toward the surface to be cleaned.The flat bottom in the side view has a depth in the transverse direction perpendicular to the fluid ejection direction. Since the groove is inclined so as to become deeper toward the side opposite to the side on which the upper base is provided, and the width of the groove extends from the ejection port toward the surface to be cleaned, the fluid ejected from the fluid ejection nozzle Since it flies without touching the surface of the tip portion or coming into contact with the surface to be cleaned and hits the surface to be cleaned, the matter adhering to the surface to be cleaned can be removed vigorously and efficiently.

  The present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall view of a side-view type electronic endoscope to which the invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, a side-view electronic endoscope according to this embodiment includes an operation unit 10 for performing suction and bending, an insertion unit 30 inserted into a living body (object), and a universal tube. 70 and a connector portion 80 attached to the distal end of the universal tube 70. The connector unit 80 is provided with a signal connector 81 and a light guide connector 83 that are attached to and detached from a processor (not shown). The light guide (fiber bundle) is inserted into the light guide connector 83 on the incident side, and the light guide passes through the universal tube 70, the operation unit 10, and the insertion unit 30 and is guided to the tip 40. Yes. The signal connector 81 is connected to a video signal line connected to an image sensor of a video camera (not shown) built in the distal end portion 40 and a control signal line connected to an operation switch of the operation unit 10. These video and control signal lines are connected to a video signal processing circuit and a control circuit in the processor, respectively.

  2 is a front view of the distal end portion of the ipsilateral endoscope, and FIG. 3 is a front view showing a state in which water is supplied from the air / water supply nozzle at the distal end portion of the ipsilateral endoscope. The water basin discharged from the water supply nozzle is indicated by hatching.

  On the outer peripheral surface of the outer cylinder 41 of the distal end portion 40 of this side-view type endoscope, an illumination window 51 for irradiating the affected area with illumination light emitted from the exit end surface of the light guide in the longitudinal direction from the distal end side to the upper half, video An objective lens 53 of the camera and an air / water supply nozzle 55 are provided, and a forceps raising base 57 and a forceps channel 59 are provided in the lower half from the distal end side. An optical path bending prism 54 is provided behind the objective lens 53, and an image sensor is provided on the optical path bent by the prism 54. In addition, the surface part of the outer cylinder 41 provided with these members is flat and formed in a substantially D-shape on the front.

  The forceps channel 59 communicates with a forceps port 20 disposed between the insertion unit 30 and the operation unit 10 via a forceps channel tube (not shown), and biopsy forceps and brushes inserted from the forceps port 20 are The forceps channel tube is inserted and extends from the forceps channel 59 of the distal end portion 40 to the outside.

4 and 5 are cross-sectional views taken along cutting lines IV-IV and VV in FIG. The air / water supply nozzle 55 is directed so that the washing water ejected from the ejection port 55 a hits the surface 53 a of the objective lens 53. A groove 43 is formed in the outer cylinder 41 portion between the air / water supply nozzle 55 and the objective lens 53 along the ejection direction. The depth of the groove 43 changes from the air / water supply nozzle 55 toward the objective lens 53. In this embodiment, it falls from the lower part of the air / water supply nozzle 55 at the steep slope 43 a, gradually becomes shallow at the flat bottom ( flat bottom in a side view) 43 b and the gentle slope 43 c, and the contour of the outer cylinder 41 before the objective lens 53. (Fig. 4). The depth of the groove 43 differs from that of the flat bottom 43b in the transverse direction (FIG. 5). In the illustrated embodiment, when the cross section of the flat bottom 43b is viewed from the tip side, the right bottom is inclined so that the right side is deep. Further, the width of the groove 43 increases from the air / water supply nozzle 55 side toward the objective lens 53 side. In addition, the cleaning water that hits the surface 53 a of the objective lens 53 also cleans the illumination window 51 and spreads in the direction opposite to the forceps raising base 57.
Although the groove 43 in the figure is single, it may have a shape having a plurality of grooves extending in the ejection direction or a plurality of pleats.

  An air / water supply tube 56 is connected to the air / water supply nozzle 55. The air / water supply tube 56 is usually guided through the insertion part in the body and connected to an air / water supply apparatus arranged outside the endoscope directly or via a valve provided in the operation unit 10.

The air / water supply device or valve is controlled by an air / water supply button 11 provided in the operation unit 10. When the air / water supply button 11 is pushed in, for example, cleaning water is ejected from an outlet 55 a of the air / water supply nozzle 55. The The washing water ejected from the ejection port 55 a flows without being scraped or scattered, and the main flow portion directly hits the surface 53 a of the objective lens 53 to wash the surface 53 a, and the surface of the objective lens 55 is washed away. Remove adhering material.
Gas may be ejected from the air / water supply nozzle 55. It can also be used as a suction nozzle.

  In this specification, the embodiment applied to the side-viewing electronic endoscope has been described, but the present invention can also be applied to a direct-viewing electronic endoscope and an optical endoscope.

It is a figure which shows the general view of the perspective type endoscope to which this invention is applied. It is a figure which expands and shows the front-end | tip part of the same perspective type | mold endoscope. It is a figure which shows a mode that the front-end | tip part of the same perspective type endoscope was expanded and the washing water was jetted. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line IV-IV in FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line V-V in FIG. 2.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Operation part 11 Air / water supply button 30 Insertion part 40 Tip part 41 Outer cylinder 43 Groove 51 Illumination window 53 Objective lens 53a Surface 55 Air supply / water supply nozzle (fluid ejection nozzle)
55a Spout 56 Air / water supply tube

Claims (3)

The surface to be cleaned exposed from the outer cylinder of the tip ,
A fluid ejection nozzle that protrudes from the outer cylinder of the tip, and whose ejection port faces the surface to be cleaned;
A forceps raising base provided on the side of the surface to be cleaned and the direction of the fluid ejection nozzle;
A distal end portion of an endoscope comprising:
Grooves are formed along the fluid ejection direction in the outer cylinder between the ejection port of the fluid ejection nozzle and the surface to be cleaned .
The groove is deepened rapidly in the vicinity of the ejection port, and is gradually shallowed toward the surface to be cleaned through a flat bottom in a side view.
The flat bottom in side view is inclined such that the depth in the transverse direction perpendicular to the fluid ejection direction is deeper toward the side opposite to the side on which the forceps raising base is provided; and
The width of the groove extends from the jet port toward the surface to be cleaned ;
A distal end portion of an endoscope characterized by. The distal end portion of the endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the surface to be cleaned is a surface of an objective lens or a cover glass, and the fluid ejection nozzle is configured such that the fluid ejected from the ejection port is the objective lens or the cover glass. End of the endoscope that is oriented to hit the surface of the endoscope. The distal end portion of the endoscope according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein an illumination window for emitting illumination light is provided on an extension line passing through the ejection port and the objective lens.

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