JPH0244253Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] This invention relates to an endoscope equipped with a nozzle at its distal end for ejecting fluid to an objective lens.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

Generally, at the distal end of an endoscope, there is an illumination lens 1 that emits illumination light, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, and a region illuminated by the illumination light emitted from this illumination lens 1 is observed. An objective lens 2 is provided for this purpose. Furthermore, a nozzle 3 is provided at the tip with its tip opening facing the objective lens 2. This nozzle 3 can selectively eject cleaning liquid or gas.
If the objective lens 2 becomes contaminated with dirt in the body cavity and a sufficient field of view cannot be secured, cleaning fluid is jetted from the nozzle 3 to clean the dirt, and then gas is jetted out to remove the objective lens 2. Visual field is restored by removing the liquid that has adhered to the area.

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 10, the nozzle 3 is formed in a shape that includes an elongated, approximately rectangular opening 4 along the width direction of the objective lens 2.
The width of the liquid flow was increased. However, increasing the width of the nozzle 3 not only increases the size of the distal end of the endoscope, but also reduces the pressure of the fluid ejected from the opening 4 of the nozzle 3. A problem arises in that the ability also decreases. Therefore, for these reasons, the width of the opening 4 of the nozzle 3 must be made smaller than the width of the objective lens 2, as shown in FIG. Therefore, the fluid ejected from the nozzle 3 flows in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 8, making it impossible to reliably and properly clean the entire surface of the objective lens 2. Moreover, in this case, the pressure of the fluid ejected from the opening 4 is considerably lower at both ends in the width direction than at the center.
There was also the problem that the portions corresponding to both ends in the width direction of the opening 4 were not cleaned well.

[Purpose of the invention] The object of the invention is to provide an endoscope in which the objective lens can be reliably and well cleaned using a nozzle having an opening having a width smaller than that of the objective lens.

[Summary of the idea]

In this device, a nozzle whose opening is directed toward the objective lens is provided with a protrusion that protrudes into the aperture, and this protrusion spreads the fluid ejected from the aperture in the width direction. It is.

[Example of idea]

An embodiment of this invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. The endoscope shown in FIG. 1 includes an operating section 11. The endoscope shown in FIG. The operating section 11 is provided with an eyepiece section 12, an air/liquid switching valve 13, a suction switching valve 14, and a forceps plug 15, and an insertion section 16 and a light guide cable 18 having a connector 17 at its end. It is connected. Above insertion part 1
Reference numeral 6 includes a distal end portion 21 provided at the distal end of a flexible tube portion 19 via a curved tube portion 20 . As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a flat surface 23 is formed on this tip 21 via a slope 22, and an objective lens 24 and an illumination lens 25 are attached to this flat surface 23. They are arranged sequentially along the axial direction. Further, on the sides of these lenses 24 and 25, a forceps outlet hole 27 having a forceps raising base 26 is formed. Furthermore, a nozzle 28 is provided on the slope 22 of the tip 21 so as to project with its opening 29 facing the objective lens 24 . In order to avoid increasing the size of the tip 21, the nozzle 28 has a width smaller than the width of the objective lens 24, and the opening 29 has an elongated substantially oval shape along the width direction of the objective lens 24. It's summery. Furthermore, the nozzle 28 has a protrusion 3 that protrudes into the opening 29 at the center portion in the width direction.
0 is formed. In other words, the protrusion 30 is formed by recessing the upper wall of the nozzle 28 into a funnel shape. As a result, a semi-conical recess 31 is formed in the upper wall of the nozzle 28, which is sloped downward toward the tip surface.

According to the endoscope configured in this manner, when dirt or the like adheres to the objective lens 24 and a sufficient field of view cannot be secured, the opening 2 of the nozzle 28
Fluid is ejected from 9. Then, this fluid is directed to the nozzle 2 by the protrusion 30 protruding into the opening 29.
Since the liquid is ejected while being expanded in the width direction of the lens 8, the entire viewing range 32 of the objective lens 24 is cleaned. In other words, if the nozzle 28 does not have the protrusion 30, the fluid ejected from the nozzle 28 will hardly spread in the width direction of the nozzle 28 as shown by the chain line X in FIG. As a result, the visual field expands greatly as shown by the solid line Y in the figure, and the visual field range 32
Wash the entire area. Moreover, in the absence of the protrusion 30, the pressure of the fluid ejected from the nozzle 28 is extremely high at the center in the width direction of the field of view 32 of the objective lens 24, as shown by the chain line A in FIG. However, when the fluid spreads in the width direction due to the formation of the protrusion 30, it becomes almost uniform in the width direction of the viewing range 32 as shown by the solid line B in the figure, so the entire viewing range 32 is uniform. Cleans well with proper pressure.

Furthermore, since the recess 31 is formed on the upper surface of the nozzle 28, water droplets adhering to the upper surface of the nozzle 28 tend to flow down from the recess 31. Therefore, flare caused by the illumination light emitted from the illumination lens 25 being reflected by water droplets attached to the upper surface of the nozzle 28 can be prevented.

Note that the shape of the protrusion 30 formed on the nozzle 28 may be trapezoidal as shown in FIG. 6 or triangular as shown in FIG. 7, and the shape is not limited in any way.

Furthermore, the protrusion 30 may be provided not only on the upper wall of the nozzle 28 but also on the lower wall or both the upper and lower walls.

[Effect of idea]

As described above, this invention provides a nozzle whose opening faces the objective lens with a protrusion that protrudes into the aperture, and this protrusion directs the fluid ejected from the aperture to the nozzle. I made it expand in the width direction. Therefore, even if the width of the nozzle is smaller than the width of the objective lens, the objective lens can be cleaned well with a sufficient width without being limited by the width of the nozzle. The field of view can be ensured.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an endoscope showing an embodiment of this invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the distal end of the insertion section.
Fig. 3 is a perspective view, Fig. 4 is an illustration of the flow direction of the fluid ejected from the same nozzle, Fig. 5 is a pressure distribution diagram of the fluid ejected from the same nozzle, and Figs. 6 and 7 are 8 is a plan view of the tip of the insertion section of a conventional endoscope, FIG. 9 is a side view, and FIG. 10 is a front view of the nozzle, respectively, showing other embodiments of this invention. It is. 21...Tip portion, 24...Objective lens, 28...
...Nozzle, 30...protrusion.

Claims (1)

[Scope of claims for utility model registration] (1) At the tip of the endoscope equipped with an objective lens,
1. An endoscope in which a nozzle for ejecting fluid is provided with its opening facing the objective lens, wherein the nozzle is provided with a protrusion projecting into the opening. (2) The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion is formed by recessing a part of the peripheral wall of the nozzle into the opening. (3) Utility model registration claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the opening of the nozzle is formed into a substantially rectangular shape, and the protrusion is provided at approximately the center in the width direction of the opening. The endoscope described.