JPH01126947A - Apparatus for washing and disinfecting endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily wash a water feed system and to prevent the re- contamination of an endoscope washed and disinfected with the washing of said water feed system, by injecting a detergent solution in the water feed system having a water feed tank storing a washing solution only by opening and closing the opening and closing valve of a cleaning means and a water feed pipeline for guiding the liquid in said tank to a washing tank. CONSTITUTION:Since an opening and closing valve 27 is opened by the closing operation of a washing switch, the detergent solution in a detergent tank 25 is automatically injected in a water feed tank 6 through a pipeline 26 to be mixed with the washing solution in the water feed tank 6. The automatic injection amount of the detergent solution is detected by a flow rate sensor 28 and a proper amount of said solution is injected in the water feed tank 6 and, at the point of time when the washing solution shows a proper concn., the opening and closing valve 27 is automatically closed on the basis of the output of the sensor 28. The washing solution in the water feed tank 6 mixed with the detergent solution is guided to a washing tank 2 by a water feed pump 13 and recirculated for a definite time by a recirculation pump 22 and subsequently discharged out of the apparatus main body 1 by operating a drain pump 21.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an endoscope cleaning and disinfecting device for cleaning and disinfecting endoscopes after use.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, when cleaning and disinfecting an endoscope after use, the endoscope is placed in a cleaning tank of a washer-disinfector and cleaned with a cleaning solution, and then the cleaning tank is filled with disinfectant waves and the endoscope is immersed. The equipment is disinfected and rinsed after disinfection.

By the way, tap water is generally used as the cleaning solution mentioned above.
After this water is temporarily stored in the water tank inside the device,
The tank is led to the cleaning tank through the water supply pipe, and the tap water stored in the water tank is also used as rinsing water, and this rinsing water is also led to the washing tank through the water supply pipe.

For this reason, bacteria that enter the tap water can grow in the water supply tank and water supply pipes where tap water is temporarily stored, and limescale etc. can adhere to the water supply tank and water supply pipes due to long-term use. It may become a hotbed for breeding.

If such a situation occurs, the endoscope will be recontaminated by the rinsing water, so there is no point in disinfecting it, and the purpose of the washer/disinfector cannot be achieved.

Under these circumstances, a technique is known, for example, from Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-32435, which makes it possible to disinfect the water supply system through which the cleaning liquid passes. This conventional technology includes an injection port that also serves as an air vent for the water supply tank at the top of the cleaning tank that houses the endoscope, and a disinfectant supply system that communicates this with the water tank via a communication pipe. It is.

In such a configuration, the inlet, which is normally closed by a cap, is blocked, and then the disinfectant wave is injected into it using a suitable container and supplied to the water tank through the communication pipe, and then the washer-disinfector is By operating the water supply tank and guiding the waves inside the water supply tank to the cleaning tank, the water supply tank and water supply pipes can be disinfected and kept sanitary. and,
Normally, the disinfectant liquid is a disinfectant wave stored in a disinfectant tank built into the device itself. For this reason, after cleaning and disinfecting the endoscope, the disinfectant wave discharged outside the device body is collected from the drain port into a container such as a bucket, and then used by injecting it into the disinfectant supply system as described above. It has become.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

However, according to the conventional technology described above, each time a water supply pipe, etc. is disinfected, it is necessary to manually secure an appropriate container for the disinfectant, secure the disinfectant, and apply the disinfectant wave to the injection port, which is a small opening. There is a problem in that it requires troublesome injection and therefore cannot be handled easily and is inconvenient.

An object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope washer/disinfector that can easily clean a water supply system that has a water supply tank that stores cleaning waves and a water supply pipe that guides the waves in the tank to the cleaning tank. It is about providing.

[Means for solving problems]

Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, the present invention has a cleaning agent tank that stores cleaning agent waves, a water supply tank that stores cleaning waves, and a water supply pipe that leads the waves in this tank to the cleaning tank. The present invention is characterized in that an internal cleaning means is provided in the main body of the apparatus, which comprises a pipe line that communicates the water supply system with the above-mentioned cleaning agent tank, and an on-off valve provided in the pipe line.

[Effect]

The device internal cleaning means built into the device main body is used by opening its on-off valve after cleaning and disinfection of the endoscope is completed.

This opening/closing valve is opened and closed automatically or manually, and by its opening operation, the internal cleaning means injects the cleaning agent wave in the cleaning agent tank into the water supply system through the pipe. For this injection, it is only necessary to operate the above-mentioned on-off valve. After the cleaning agent is injected, the cleaning/disinfecting device is operated. Then, the cleaning agent flows through the water supply system, disinfecting the water supply system, removing scale, etc., so that the water supply system can be kept clean.

〔Example〕

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

A cleaning tank 2 is provided within the main body 1 of the apparatus.

In the cleaning tank 2, a spray nozzle 3 having a large number of nozzle holes arranged in a line is rotatably provided.

Further, in the cleaning tank 2, a heater 4 is provided below the injection nozzle 3 to heat and evaporate the cleaning water remaining in the cleaning tank 2, and an endoscope A is mounted above the injection nozzle 3. A mounting table 5 on which the device is placed is provided. Furthermore, inside the device main body 1, a water supply tank 6, a detergent tank 7,
and a disinfectant tank 8 are provided, respectively.

The water tank 6 is connected to a water faucet 10 via a solenoid valve 9, and a water supply pipe 1 is connected to the bottom of the water tank 6.
1 is connected. The water supply pipe 11 is designed to guide the cleaning liquid (tap water) in the water supply tank 6 into the cleaning tank 2 through the injection nozzle 3, and includes the water supply tank 6 and the water supply system. 12 are formed. A water supply pump 13 is provided in the water supply pipe 11, and a water supply electromagnetic valve 14 is installed at an upstream side thereof. Therefore, the water supply system 12 transfers the cleaning waves supplied from the water faucet 10 to the water supply tank 6.
After being stored once, this cleaning wave is pressurized by a water supply pump 13 through a solenoid valve 14 in each process of cleaning, disinfection, and rinsing, guided through a water supply pipe 11, and injected into the cleaning tank 2 from an injection nozzle 3. It looks like this.

The detergent tank 7 includes a detergent solenoid valve 15 and a detergent pump 1.
It is connected to the water supply pipe 11 via a pipe 17 provided with a pipe 6. During the cleaning process, the detergent liquid in the detergent tank 7 is pressurized by the detergent pump 16 through the solenoid valve 15, guided through the water supply pipe 11, and sprayed together with the cleaning liquid from the spray nozzle 3 into the cleaning tank 2. ing.

Further, the disinfectant tank 8 is connected to the water supply pipe 11 via a pipe 20 provided with a disinfectant electromagnetic valve 18 and a disinfectant pump 19. During the disinfection process, the disinfectant in the disinfectant tank 7 is pressurized by the disinfectant pump 19 through the solenoid valve 18, guided through the water supply pipe 11, and sprayed together with the cleaning fluid from the spray nozzle 3 into the cleaning tank 2. It has become.

Furthermore, a drainage pump 21 and a circulation pump 22 are provided within the apparatus main body 1. These pumps 21 and 22 have their suction ports communicating with a drain port 2a provided at the bottom of the cleaning tank 2 via a three-way switching valve 23. The discharge port of the drain pump 21 is communicated with the outside of the apparatus main body 1, and the discharge port of the circulation pump 22 is joined to the water supply pipe 11 and communicated with the injection nozzle 3. The three-way switching valve 23 is configured to be able to switch between a state in which cleaning liquid, disinfectant, etc. are discharged to the outside of the apparatus body 1 by means of a drain pump 21, and a state in which they are circulated by a circulation pump 22.

Inside the apparatus body 1, an apparatus internal cleaning means 24 is provided. This cleaning means 24 includes a cleaning agent tank 25 that stores concentrated cleaning agent waves, a pipe line 26 that communicates this tank 25 with the water supply system 12, and an on-off valve 27 provided in this pipe line 26. It is formed with the following. As the cleaning agent solution, a disinfectant solution suitable for disinfecting bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a scale remover solution suitable for removing limescale, or a solution effective for both disinfecting germs and removing limescale are used. In this embodiment, the cleaning agent tank 25 is arranged above the water supply tank 6 so that the internal cleaning agent wave can be injected into the water supply tank 6 by a drop, but the pipe line 26
If a pump is provided in the device body 1, it can be installed anywhere within the device main body 1. Further, in this embodiment, the on-off valve 27 uses a solenoid valve that is linked to a clean switch on an operation panel (not shown) of the main body 1 of the apparatus. Furthermore, in this embodiment, a flow rate sensor 28 is attached to the pipe line 26, and the on-off valve 27 is closed based on the detection output from this sensor 28.

Note that 29 in the figure is a protective case provided on the inner wall of the cleaning tank 2, and a germicidal lamp 30 is housed inside this case. The endoscope A is sterilized by ultraviolet irradiation by this germicidal lamp 30,
Moreover, the breeding of various bacteria in the cleaning tank 2 is prevented. The protective case 29 is made of a material with high ultraviolet transmittance.

Further, reference numeral 31 denotes a washing door for taking the endoscope in and out of the washing tank 2, and is attached to the side surface of the apparatus body 1 so as to be openable and closable.

In the configuration of the first embodiment, when the cleaning switch on the operation panel is operated after the cleaning, disinfection, and rinsing processes for the endoscope A are completed, the cleaning process for the water supply system 12 is executed. be done. That is, since the on-off valve 27 is opened by turning on the purifier switch, the purifier solution in the purifier tank 25 is automatically injected into the water supply tank 6 through the pipe line 26, and the purifier solution is poured into the water supply tank 6. Can be mixed with the cleaning solution inside. The amount of such automatic injection of cleaning agent solution is detected by a flow sensor 28;
When an appropriate amount is injected into the water supply tank 6 to reach an appropriate concentration, the on-off valve 27 is controlled to automatically close based on the output of the sensor 28. It should be noted that when the apparatus internal cleaning means 24 is operating as described above, the solenoid valve 9 is closed and water supply from the water faucet 10 is stopped.

After such a state is obtained, the same operation as in the water washing mode in the washing process is performed. In other words, the cleaning wave in the water supply tank 6 mixed with the cleaning agent solution is transferred to the water supply pump 13.
At the same time, the guided cleaning wave is circulated for a certain period of time by a circulation pump 22, and then the drainage pump 21 is operated to discharge it to the outside of the main body 1 of the apparatus.

By frequently passing the detergent solution through each part of the water supply system 12 as described above, it is possible to disinfect the inside of the water supply system 12 and remove limescale inside the water supply system 12, while also keeping the water supply system 12 sanitary. can. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the cleaned and sterilized endoscope A from being recontaminated with bacteria, limescale, etc. during the rinsing process.

As described above, the on-off valve 27 can be opened and the cleaning agent solution can be injected into the water supply system 12 by simply turning on the cleaning switch, so the effort required for injection is minimal and the cleaning agent solution can be easily injected into the water supply system 12. can be cleaned.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, an electromagnetic switching valve 32 is connected to the discharge port of the drain pump 21, and one outlet of the valve 32 is connected to the water supply tank 6 via a circulation pipe 33. ing. The other outlet of the switching valve 32 is communicated with the drain port, and the switching valve 32 normally maintains the state in which the discharge port of the drain pump 21 and the drain port are communicated to carry out the cleaning process. At the same time, the discharge port of the drain pump 21 is switched to communicate with the circulation pipe 33, and at the end of this cleaning process, the discharge port of the drain pump 21 and the drain port are switched to communicate with each other. There is. Note that the configuration other than the above points is the same as that of the first embodiment.

Therefore, in the second embodiment, in the cleaning process, the cleaning wave mixed with the cleaning agent solution can be circulated to the water supply system 12 via the switching valve 32 and the circulation pipe 33, so that the cleaning effect can be further enhanced. can.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments.

For example, the present invention may be implemented by selecting and using an internal germ cleaning means provided with a tank for storing a cleaning agent solution for disinfecting germs, and water.

Furthermore, the clean water supply system 12 may be rinsed by opening the electromagnetic valve 9 at the end of the cleaning process and performing an operation similar to a normal rinsing process.

Further, the on-off valve 27 may be a manual cock type on-off valve. In this case as well, the cleaning agent solution can be injected into the water supply system 12 by simply opening and closing the opening/closing valve 27 manually, so it goes without saying that the injection work can be carried out easily. -Moreover, when a solenoid valve is used as the on-off valve 27, this valve 27 may be automatically controlled. In other words, the program may be controlled so that the on-off valve 27 is automatically opened and the cleaning process is executed every time the normal cleaning and disinfection process is executed a certain number of times. Since cleaning is possible, it is possible to prevent users from forgetting to clean.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention provides an internal cleaning means in the main body of the apparatus, and by simply opening and closing the on-off valve provided in this cleaning means, the water supply tank for storing cleaning waves and the cleaning wave inside the tank can be cleaned. It is said that cleaning of the water supply system can be made easier by injecting the detergent wave into the water supply system, which has a water supply pipe that leads to the cleaning tank. can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an endoscope cleaning and disinfecting device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an endoscope cleaning and disinfecting device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Equipment body, 2... Cleaning tank, 6... Water supply tank, 11... Water supply pipe, 12... Water supply system, 24...
・Device interior cleaning means, 25... Cleaner tank, 26...
・Pipeline, 27...Opening/closing valve. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Atsushi Tsuboi

Claims (1)

[Claims] A water supply tank for storing cleaning liquid and a water supply system having a water supply pipe that guides the waves in this tank to the cleaning tank are installed inside the device main body, which has a cleaning tank inside, and a disinfectant tank is installed inside the device main body. A cleaning agent tank for storing a cleaning agent solution, and a pipe line communicating this tank with the water supply system, in the case where the endoscopes housed in the cleaning tank are cleaned and disinfected. and an on-off valve provided in the conduit, the device is provided with an internal cleaning means in the device main body.