JPH01124433A - Apparatus for washing endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To well wash an air feed pipeline and a liquid feed pipeline, by mounting the plug body engaged with an air and liquid feed cap in a liquidtight manner and having a washing liquid supply port provided thereto by drilling, the cap by engaged with the end part protruded from a cylinder of a piston in a liquidtight manner and the connection part connecting the plug body and the cap body. CONSTITUTION:In order to wash an air feed pipeline 4, a plug body 46 is mounted on an air and liquid feed cap 7 and a cap body 47 is mounted on the flange 32 provided to the upper end of a piston 24. A syringe 51 is connected to the supply hole 49 of the plug body 46 and the piston 24 is raised while the syringe 51 is operated to emit the washing liquid in the syringe 51. The upstream part 4a and downstream part 4b of the air feed pipeline 4 communicate with each other and the upstream part 5a of a liquid feed pipeline 5 is blocked from the downstream part 5b thereof and the washing liquid flows to the downstream part 4b of the air feed pipeline 4 to flow out from an air feed nozzle 8 and, therefore, the air feed pipeline 4 is washed over the entire length thereof. In order to wash the liquid feed pipeline 5, the piston 24 is pushed in to block the upstream part 4a of the air feed pipeline 4 from the downstream part 4b thereof, and the upstream part 5a and downstream part 5b of the liquid feed pipeline 5 are allowed to communicate with each other.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a cleaning device for cleaning pipes.

[Prior Art] Generally, an endoscope is provided with an air supply conduit and a liquid supply conduit for cleaning and draining an observation window provided at the distal end of an insertion section during an examination. These conduits are provided over the entire length of the insertion section and the operation section of the endoscope, and an operation valve for switching air and liquid supply in the operation section is interposed in the middle.

On the other hand, endoscopes inevitably become contaminated with use, so if they are not cleaned and disinfected after use, there is a risk of in-hospital infection. There, used endoscopes are cleaned and disinfected, but at that time, not only the outer surface of the endoscope is cleaned but also
Air and liquid pipelines also need to be cleaned and disinfected.

Conventionally, the present applicant has proposed a cleaning device for cleaning and disinfecting air supply pipes and liquid supply pipes as shown in Japanese Patent Application No. 58-93855. This prior art removes the piston from the cylinder of the operation valve during cleaning, closes the open end of the cylinder with a stopper, connects the upstream side, which is one end of the air supply pipe and the liquid supply pipe, and connects the piston from there with the syringe. According to such a cleaning means, when the cleaning liquid is supplied from the syringe, the cleaning liquid flows upstream of the air supply pipe and the liquid supply pipe, flows into the cylinder of the operating valve, and from there flows into the cylinder of the operating valve. It flows to the downstream side of each conduit and flows out from the nozzle on the distal end surface of the insertion portion where these conduits communicate.

However, according to such a cleaning means, the cleaning liquid is simultaneously sent to the air supply pipe line and the liquid supply pipe line, and it is not possible to selectively send the liquid to only one of the pipe lines. Therefore, the cleaning liquid tends to flow to the side with lower pipe resistance.
The cleaning liquid does not flow sufficiently through the conduit having a large resistance, resulting in poor cleaning performance. Furthermore, even if one of the pipes is clogged, the cleaning liquid will flow out from the nozzle that communicates with both pipes, so not only will it be impossible to detect the clog, but the cleaning liquid will not flow into the clogged pipe. Because the pipes do not flow properly, the pipes may not be able to be cleaned.The purpose of this is to
By making it possible to selectively flow cleaning liquid into the air supply pipe and the liquid supply pipe, both pipes can be cleaned well, and if the pipe is clogged, it can be discovered. An object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope cleaning device that enables cleaning of an endoscope.

[Means and effects for solving the problems] In order to solve the above problems, this invention has one end opened at the distal end of the insertion section and the other end communicated with an air/liquid feeding mouthpiece provided at the operating section. It has an air supply pipe line, a liquid supply pipe line, a cylinder and a piston formed with a leak hole and slidably inserted into the cylinder with one end protruding, and the air supply pipe line and the liquid supply pipe are inserted in the operation section. In an endoscope cleaning device equipped with an operation valve for switching between air supply and liquid supply, which is interposed midway with the air passage, the endoscope is fitted liquid-tightly into the air/liquid supply mouthpiece. and a plug body in which a cleaning liquid supply port is bored, a cap body that is fluid-tightly fitted to an end of the piston protruding from the cylinder, and a connecting portion connecting the plug body and the cap body. Be equipped. When the piston is not operated, the cleaning liquid can be sent from the supply hole to the air supply pipe, and when the piston is pushed in, the cleaning liquid can be sent from the supply hole to the liquid supply pipe.

I will clarify. The endoscope 1 shown in FIG. 2 includes an operating section 2 and an insertion section 3. This endoscope 1 is provided with an air supply conduit 4 and a liquid supply conduit 5 over the entire length of the operation section 2 and the insertion section 3. An operating valve 6 for switching air and liquid feeding in the operating section 2 is interposed in the middle of these pipes 4.5. By this operation valve 6, the air supply pipe line 4 and the liquid supply pipe line 5 are connected to the upstream side portions 4a, 5a and the downstream side portion 4, respectively.
b.

It is divided into 5b and 5b. The end of the upstream portion 48% 5a is connected to an air/liquid feeding mouthpiece 7 provided in the operating section 2. Further, the ends of the downstream parts 4b and 5b are connected to an air supply nozzle 8 and a liquid supply nozzle 9 provided on the distal end surface of the insertion part 3, respectively. The air supply nozzle 8 and the liquid supply nozzle 9 are connected to an observation window 11 formed on the distal end surface of the insertion section 3.
suitable for One end of an image guide fiber 12 faces this observation window 11 . The other end of this image guide fiber 12 is guided to the operating section 2, where it is connected to the eyepiece section 1.
It faces the eyepiece lens 14 provided at 3.

As shown in FIG. 3, the operating valve 6 has a cylinder 15 with one end (upper end) open. The upper part of this cylinder 15 is formed into a large diameter part 16.

The large diameter portion 16 has a male thread 17 formed on its outer peripheral surface, a female thread 18 formed on its inner peripheral surface, and a collar 19 formed at the lower end of its outer peripheral surface. The cylinder 15 has its large diameter portion 16 connected to a through hole 21 formed in the wall 21 of the operating section 2.
The flange 19 is caused to protrude from the wall 21, and the flange 19 is engaged with the inner surface of the wall 21, and a fixing ring 23 is screwed onto the male thread 17, thereby being attached and fixed to the operating portion 2.

A piston 24 is slidably inserted into the cylinder 15. This piston 24 has first and second ring portions 25 and 26 formed at its lower end and midway portion, respectively. A pair of first O-rings 27 are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the first ring portion 25 at a predetermined interval in the axial direction, and a second O-ring 27 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the second ring portion 26.
A ring 28 is provided.

A stopper ring 29 is screwed onto the female thread 18 of the large diameter portion 16 of the cylinder 1 . This stopper ring 29
A through hole 31 having a smaller diameter than the second ring portion 26 of the piston 24 is bored at the bottom of the piston 24, and the upper end portion of the piston 24 projects outward from the through hole 31. A flange 32 is screwed onto the protruding end of the piston 24.

A spring 33 is interposed between the flange 32 and the bottom of the stopper ring 29. The spring 33 urges the piston 24 in a direction to remove it from the cylinder 15, and its second ring portion 26 abuts against the bottom of the stopper ring 29, thereby restricting its upward position.

In the state where the piston 24 is raised, the upstream side portion 4a and the downstream side portion 4b of the air supply pipe line 4 are connected to the lower part of the peripheral wall of the cylinder 15 so as to communicate through the internal space of the cylinder 15. Further, the upstream side portion 5a and the downstream side portion 5b of the liquid feeding pipe line 5 are connected to the peripheral wall of the cylinder 15 so as to be blocked by the first ring portion 25 of the piston 24.

When the piston 24 is pushed in by the biasing force of the spring 33, the upstream side part 4a and the downstream side part 4b of the air supply line 4 are cut off by the first ring part 25 of the piston 25, as shown in FIG. At the same time, the upstream side portion 5a and the downstream side portion 5b of the liquid feeding pipe line 5 are connected to the first ring portion 25 of the piston 24.
and the second ring part 26 through a groove part 34.

A leak hole 35 is bored in the piston 24 in its axial direction. The upstream side portion 4a of the air supply pipe line 4 is always in communication with the outside air via the internal space of the cylinder 15 and the leak hole 35. Therefore, if the leak hole 35 is open when the piston 24 is raised as shown in FIG. If you close the leak hole 35 with your finger, the cylinder 15
The gas inside flows to the downstream side portion 4b and is ejected from the air supply nozzle 8. Further, when the piston 24 is pushed in as shown in FIG. Since the upstream side part 5a and the downstream side part 5b of 5 communicate with each other via the groove part 34, the liquid supplied to the liquid feeding pipe line 5 flows out from the liquid feeding nozzle 9.

The air/liquid feeding port 7 is provided on the wall 21 of the operating section 2, as shown in FIG. In other words, the wall 21 has through holes 3.
6 is bored, and an open end portion having a flange 38 of a bottomed cylindrical body 37 is inserted into this through hole 36 from inside the operating portion 2. A female thread 39 is formed on the inner periphery of this cylinder 37, and the air/liquid feeding port body 7 is attached to this female thread 39 by screwing together a male thread 41 formed on the outer periphery of one end thereof. There is. A flange 42 is formed at one end of the air/liquid feeding port 7, and the wall 21 is sandwiched between this flange 42 and the flange 38 of the cylindrical body 37. The cylindrical body 37 has a downstream side portion 4a%5 of the air supply pipe line 4 and the liquid supply pipe line 5.
a is connected. A connector (not shown) is connected to the air/liquid feeding mouthpiece 7 when the endoscope 1 is used for normal inspection or observation. An air supply source and a liquid supply source (not shown) are communicated with this connector, so that air can be supplied to the air supply pipe line 4 and liquid can be supplied to the liquid supply pipe line 5.

On the other hand, when cleaning the air supply line 4 and liquid supply line 5 of the endoscope 1, a cleaning device 45 shown in FIG. 1 is used. This cleaning device 45 is made of an elastic material such as rubber or synthetic resin, and includes a plug body 46 that is fluid-tightly attached to the air/liquid feeding cap 7 in place of a connector, and a protruding end of the piston 24. a cap body 47 that is fluid-tightly attached to the flange 32 in a state that closes the leak hole 35;
7 and a connecting portion 48 having one end connected to the stopper 46 and the other end connected to the stopper 46. A tapered supply hole 49 is bored in the plug body 46 . The cleaning liquid is supplied to the supply hole 49 at the upstream side portion 4a s 5 of the air supply pipe 4 and the liquid supply pipe 5.
The syringe 51 for supplying 'a can now be connected.

In order to clean the air supply pipe 4 and the liquid supply pipe 5 using such a cleaning device 45, as shown in FIG.
is attached to the air/liquid feeding mouthpiece 7, and the cap body 47 is attached to the flange 32 at the upper end of the piston 24. Then, a syringe 51 is connected to the supply hole 49 of the stopper 46, and as shown in FIG. 6, the syringe 51 is operated with the piston 24 raised to discharge the cleaning liquid inside. When the piston 24 is in a raised state, the upstream side portion 4a and the downstream side portion 4b of the air supply pipe line 4 are in communication with each other, and the upstream side portion 5a and the downstream side portion 5b of the liquid supply pipe line 5 are cut off. Therefore, the cleaning liquid flows to the downstream side 4b of the air supply pipe 4 and flows out from the air supply nozzle 8, so that the entire length of the air supply pipe 4 is cleaned. At this time, since the leak hole 35 of the piston 24 is closed by the cap body 47, the cleaning liquid is prevented from leaking therefrom.

Next, when cleaning the liquid supply pipe 5, as shown in FIG.
a and the downstream side part 4b, and the upstream side part 5 of the liquid feeding pipe line 5
a and the downstream side portion 5b are communicated with each other. In this state, the plug body 46
When the cleaning liquid inside the syringe 51 connected to the supply hole 49 is operated to flow out, the cleaning liquid flows into the liquid supply pipe 5.
Since the liquid flows to the downstream side 5b and is discharged from the liquid feeding nozzle 9, the entire length of the liquid feeding pipe 5 can be cleaned.

That is, by using the cleaning device 45, the air supply pipe line 4 and the liquid supply pipe line 5 can be cleaned separately. Therefore, even if there is a difference in flow resistance between these conduits 4.5, the cleaning solution will not flow sufficiently into the conduit with high flow resistance, which would be the case when the cleaning solution is flowed into both conduits at the same time, resulting in good cleaning. There is nothing that cannot be done. Furthermore, if one of the pipes is clogged, this can be easily detected by the flow condition of the cleaning liquid. Furthermore, since the pipe line 4.5 can be cleaned without removing the piston 24 from the cylinder 15, the work can be done easily and quickly. Moreover, the plug body 46 is made of rubber or synthetic resin.
Since the cap body 47 and the connecting part 49 are integrally molded, the plug body is fitted liquid-tightly into the safe liquid supply mouthpiece and has a cleaning liquid supply hole, and the plug body protrudes from the cylinder of the piston. The cap includes a cap part that is fluid-tightly fitted to the end of the plug, and a connecting part that connects the stopper and the cap part. Therefore, since the air supply pipe and the liquid supply pipe can be cleaned separately, even if there is a difference in flow resistance between these pipes, both pipes can be cleaned well. If one of the pipes is clogged, it can be detected immediately. Also,
Since the piston can be cleaned without removing it from the cylinder, work efficiency can be improved.

A schematic diagram of the state in which the purification device is attached, Figure 2 is a configuration diagram of the endoscope, Figure 3 is a sectional view of the operation valve in the air supply state, Figure 4 is a sectional view of the same in the liquid supply state, and Figure 5 The figure is a cross-sectional view of the air and liquid supply mouthpiece.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram when cleaning the air supply pipe, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram when cleaning the liquid supply pipe.

3... Insertion part, 4... Air supply pipe line, 5... Liquid supply pipe line, 6... Operation valve, 7... Air and liquid supply mouthpiece, 15...
Cylinder, 24... Piston, 46... Stopper, 47
...Cap body, 48...Connection part.

Applicant's agent: Patent attorney Atsushi Tsuboi 46- Trunk body 471-~Yasoa body 48-O introduction part Figure 1 Figure 3 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] An air supply line and a liquid supply line, one end of which opens at the distal end of the insertion section and the other end of which communicates with an air and liquid supply mouthpiece provided in the operating section, and a cylinder and a leak hole are drilled therein, with one end protruding into the cylinder. an operation valve for switching between air supply and liquid supply, the operation valve having a piston inserted so as to be freely slidable, and interposed in the middle part of the air supply pipe and the liquid supply pipe in the operation section; An endoscope cleaning device comprising: a plug that is fluid-tightly fitted to the air and liquid supply mouthpiece and has a cleaning fluid supply port; and an end of the piston that protrudes from the cylinder. 1. An endoscope cleaning device comprising: a cap body that is fluid-tightly fitted to the endoscope; and a connecting portion that connects the stopper and the cap body.