JPH0440011B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an endoscope in which a main channel tube provided over the entire length of the insertion section serves both as a suction passage and a treatment instrument insertion passage.

[Conventional technology]

Some endoscopes have a main channel tube provided along the entire length of the insertion section that serves both as a suction passage and a treatment instrument insertion passage.

Incidentally, in the structure of such an endoscope, techniques such as those disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 118678/1982 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 19221/1982 have been adopted. In this case, the treatment instrument insertion port body of the treatment instrument insertion section is provided on the distal side of the grip section provided on the operation section, and is inclined toward the rear end side with respect to the longitudinal axis direction of the operation section;
A suction control device is arranged on the rear end side of the gripping part,
Further, a connecting member having a plurality of passages, for example, branches branching in three directions, is provided within the operation section. and,
A first passage opening of the connecting member is connected to the main channel pipe, a second passage opening is connected to the treatment instrument insertion port body, and a third passage opening is communicated with the suction control device. Connection with the sub-channel pipe is being carried out. Therefore, by operating the suction control device, the sub-channel pipe;
In addition to being able to use the main channel tube as a suction passage through the connecting member, by inserting and removing a treatment instrument such as forceps from the treatment instrument insertion port body of the treatment instrument insertion portion, the main channel tube can be used as a suction passage through the connecting member. The main channel tube can be used as a treatment instrument passage.

Incidentally, in such a conventional endoscope, the center of the first passage opening connected to the main channel pipe in the connecting member and the third passage opening connected to the sub-channel pipe The axis connecting the center of the operating section is located on the side where the treatment instrument insertion port body is attached with respect to the central axis of the operating section.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 56-118678, in order to downsize the operating section, a means is taken to increase the angle of inclination of the treatment instrument insertion port body with respect to the central axis of the operating section (the above-mentioned inclination If the angle is made larger, the hand holding the grip part and the treatment instrument will be less likely to interfere with each other, and the operation part can be shortened accordingly. Particularly in the case of a treatment instrument having a hard tip, there is a problem in that it is difficult to insert the instrument.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and provides an endoscope that allows for improved insertion of a treatment instrument even if the angle of inclination of the treatment instrument insertion port body with respect to the central axis of the operating section is increased. The purpose is to provide

[Means and actions for solving problems]

In this endoscope, the axis connecting the center of the first passage opening connected to the main channel tube and the center of the third passage opening connected to the auxiliary channel tube is the central axis of the operating section. On the other hand, by making the instrument eccentric to the side opposite to the treatment instrument insertion port body, when inserting and removing the treatment instrument from the treatment instrument insertion port body, even if the inclination angle of the treatment instrument insertion port body with respect to the central axis of the operation part is increased, The insertion of the treatment instrument is improved.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be explained below based on an embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration of an endoscope, in which 1 is an operation part having a grip part 2, 3
is connected to the distal end of the operating section 1, and is an insertion section formed by connecting the distal end of the flexible tube 4 with a curved section and a distal end component (not shown) in series, and 5 is provided at the rear end of the operating section 1. This is the eyepiece. As is well known, the curved portion of the insertion section 3 is bent by rotating an operation knob (not shown) provided on the operation section 1. Further, the operation section 1 is provided with a treatment instrument insertion section 6 located on the distal end side of the grip section 2, and a suction control device 7 and a universal cord (not shown) located on the rear end side of the grip section 2. is provided. The treatment instrument insertion opening body 8 of the treatment instrument insertion section 6 is provided so as to be inclined toward the rear end side with respect to the longitudinal axis direction of the operating section 1 . That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the treatment instrument insertion port body 8
is inclined such that its central axis a forms an angle α with respect to the central axis b of the operating section 1. In this case, the above α is set to 40°. An objective lens (not shown) is provided at the distal end component of the insertion section 3, and an image formed by this objective lens is transmitted through an image transmission optical fiber bundle provided inside the insertion section 3 and the operation section 1. It is designed so that it can be observed through the eyepiece section 5. In addition, inside the insertion section 3 and the operation section 1,
Other optical fiber bundles (not shown) for guiding illumination light via light guide cables (not shown), air/water supply tubes (not shown) for supplying air/water by operating air/water supply buttons (not shown), main channel Internal components such as a pipe 9 are provided.

The main channel tube 9 is provided over the entire length inside the insertion section 3, and its distal end opens into the distal end component of the insertion section 3. Further, the rear end of this main channel pipe 9 is provided in the operation section 1 and connected to a connecting member 1 such as a three-way pipe joint having passages branched in three directions.
It is connected to the first passage opening 11 of the example. The connecting member 10 includes a cylindrical body 29 that constitutes the operating section 1.
It is fixed with screws etc. Further, to explain in detail the connection structure between the main channel pipe 9 and the first passage opening 11, a tapered part 9a is provided at the rear end of the main channel pipe 9, and this tapered part 9a is connected to the first passage opening 11. The taper cap 11a provided in the passage opening 11 of No. 1 is fitted onto the outside. Further, a tapered pipe 12 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the tapered portion 9a.
is slidably provided, and by pressing this tapered pipe 12 with a presser member 13 screwed into the first passage opening 11, the rear end portion of the main channel pipe 9 is moved into the first passage opening 11. Passage opening 1
1 in a fluid-tight manner.

Further, the second passage opening 1 of the connecting member 10
4, the treatment instrument insertion port body 8 is connected by a bayonet structure to form one branch passage 31. To explain in detail the connection structure between the second passage opening 14 and the treatment instrument insertion port body 8, a claw portion 15 is provided at one end of the treatment instrument insertion port body 8. It is configured to removably engage with a plurality of locking pieces (not shown) provided on the outer peripheral surface of the second passage opening 14. The insertion hole 1 provided in the grip part cover 16 of the grip part 2
By inserting one end of the treatment instrument insertion port body 8 from 7 and engaging the claw portion 15 with the locking piece, the one end of the treatment instrument insertion port body 8 is inserted into the second passage opening 14. Connected. Further, a positioning nut 18 is screwed onto the outer peripheral surface of the other end of the treatment instrument insertion port body 8, and between one end surface of the positioning nut 18 and a groove portion 19 provided in the treatment instrument insertion port body 8. A positioning member 20 is provided. and,
By screwing in the positioning nut 18 and pressing the positioning member 20, one side of the positioning member 20 is pressed against the abutment surface 21 formed on the outer circumferential surface of the grip part cover 16, thereby opening the treatment instrument insertion port. The body 8 is prevented from rotating relative to the grip cover 16. Further, a flange 22 is provided at the other end of the treatment instrument insertion port body 8, and a forceps plug 23 is detachably fitted into the flange 22. This forceps plug 23 is provided with a slit 23a for inserting and removing a treatment tool 24 such as forceps. Note that 25 is a sealing member that maintains liquid tightness between the treatment instrument insertion port body 8 and the second passage opening 14, and 26 is a seal member that maintains liquid tightness between the treatment instrument insertion port body 8 and the grip portion cover 1.
This is an O-ring that maintains liquid tightness between the

Furthermore, the other branch passage 32 is formed by connecting the tip of the sub-channel pipe 28 to the third passage opening 27 of the connecting member 10 by soldering or the like. In this case, the main channel pipe 9,
The first passage opening 11, the other branch passage 32, the third passage opening 27, and the sub-channel pipe 28 are provided linearly. Further, a tube 30 is connected to the rear end of the sub-channel pipe 28, and this tube 30 is led to a suction cap (not shown) provided on the universal cord via the suction control device 7. .

Therefore, by operating the suction control device 7, the sub-channel pipe 28 and the connecting member 1
In addition to being able to use the main channel tube 9 as a suction passage through the connecting member 10 by inserting and removing the treatment instrument 24 from the treatment instrument insertion opening body 8 of the treatment instrument insertion section 6, This allows the main channel tube 9 to be used as a treatment instrument insertion path.

Then, the other branch passage 3 of the connecting member 10
2 is eccentric to the side opposite to the side where the treatment instrument insertion port body 8 is provided with respect to the central axis b of the operating section 1. That is, the axis c connecting the center of the first passage opening 11 and the center of the third passage opening 27
is eccentric to the side opposite to the side where the treatment instrument insertion port body 8 is provided with respect to the central axis b of the operating section 1. Therefore, the space from the central axis b of the operating section 1 to the outer portion 34 of one branch passage 31 in the curved direction is large.

Therefore, the treatment instrument insertion port body 8 of the treatment instrument insertion section 6
A treatment instrument 24 having a hard part 24a inserted from
is adapted to pass through one branch passage 31 of the connecting member 10 and be guided to the main channel pipe 9. When the hard part 24a passes through one of the branch passages 31, since the space from the central axis b of the operating part 1 to the outer part 34 in the curved direction of one of the branch passages 31 is large, the above-mentioned The hard portion 24a comes into contact only with the outer portion 34 of one of the branch passages 31 in the curved direction without contacting the inner portion 33, so that the insertion of the treatment instrument 24 can be prevented from being obstructed.

Thus, the treatment instrument insertion port body 8 of the treatment instrument insertion section 6
When inserting and removing the treatment instrument 24 having the hard part 24a from the body, although the inclination angle α of the treatment instrument insertion port body 8 with respect to the central axis b of the operating section 1 is set to a large value of 40°, the insertion of the treatment instrument 24 is difficult. can be improved. Therefore, the length of the gripping portion 2 can be shortened by the amount that the inclination angle α is increased to 40°, and the endoscope as a whole can be made smaller. Further, since the insertion property of the treatment instrument 24 can be improved, the operation of inserting and removing the treatment instrument 24 can be performed with less force. Furthermore, since the main channel pipe 9, the first passage opening 11, the other branch passage 32, the third passage opening 27, and the sub-channel pipe 28 are provided in a straight line, it is impossible for dirt or the like to accumulate inside them. It can be made difficult to accumulate. In addition, in the conventional technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 61-275398, a bent part is formed at the end of the main channel tube, and the treatment instrument insertion port body is directly connected to this bent part. However, this poses a problem in that repeated insertion and removal of the treatment instrument may damage the inner and outer portions of the bent portion in the direction of curvature, resulting in water leakage. Therefore, in the present invention, since the insertion direction of the treatment instrument 24 inserted from the treatment instrument insertion port body 8 is changed in one branch passage 31 of the connecting member 10, the insertion direction of the treatment instrument 24 can be changed by repeatedly inserting and removing the treatment instrument 24 into the main channel tube. 9, and therefore problems such as water leakage can be prevented.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show essential parts of other embodiments of the present invention. In this example, in the above example,
The other branch passage 32 of the connecting member 10 is made eccentric to the side opposite to the side where the treatment instrument insertion port body 8 is provided with respect to the central axis b of the operating section 1 as much as possible, and both sides of the connecting member 10 in the width direction are 10a and 10b are cut away.

According to such a configuration, in addition to being able to achieve the intended purpose of the present invention, the central axis b of the operating section 1 can be
The distance from the bottom of the other branch passage 32 can be made larger, and image guide fibers, light guide fibers, etc. (not shown) constituting the insertion part 3 can be provided between the connecting member 10 and the cylindrical body 29. I can do it.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, even though the inclination angle of the treatment instrument insertion port body with respect to the central axis of the operating section is increased, the insertion property of the treatment instrument can be improved, and therefore the above-mentioned The length of the grip can be shortened by increasing the inclination angle.
As a result, the entire endoscope can be downsized.
Furthermore, since the insertion property of the treatment instrument can be improved, the operation of inserting and removing the treatment instrument can be performed with less strength. Furthermore, since the insertion direction of the treatment instrument inserted from the treatment instrument insertion port body is changed at one branch passage of the connecting member, the main channel tube is not burdened by repeated insertion and removal of the treatment instrument. Therefore, problems such as water leakage can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 4 show one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the connecting member and its surroundings together with the treatment instrument, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the structure of the connecting member and its surroundings, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the schematic structure of the entire endoscope, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are views showing other aspects of the present invention. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the connecting member and its surrounding area, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line -- in FIG. 5. 1... Operating section, 2... Gripping section, 3... Insertion section,
7...Suction control device, 8...Treatment instrument insertion port body, 9
...Main channel pipe, 10...Connecting member, 11...
...first passage opening, 14...second passage opening, 27...third passage opening, 28...subchannel pipe.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 a grip provided on the operating section, a treatment instrument insertion port body disposed on the distal side of the grip, a suction control device disposed on the rear end of the grip; 3
The first passage opening is connected to the main channel pipe provided over the entire length inside the insertion section, the second passage opening is connected to the treatment instrument insertion port body, and the third passage opening is connected to the main channel tube provided over the entire length inside the insertion section. In the endoscope, the passage opening includes a connecting member connected to a sub-channel pipe that communicates with the suction control device, wherein the center of the first passage opening and the center of the third passage opening are connected to each other. An endoscope characterized in that a connecting axis is offset from the central axis of the operation section to the side opposite to the treatment instrument insertion port body.