JPH05228113A - Washing and disinfecting for endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the subject which is constructed simply and small and is yet capable of rapidly, surely and sufficiently wash even the neighborhood of the front end of the insertion part of the endoscope. CONSTITUTION:A small washing tank 2 which can store and drain a treating liquid and houses the front end (f) of the endoscope (a) is provided within a washing tank 1 and a washing means, such as nozzle to be exclusively used for washing the front end (f) of the endoscope (a), housed in this small washing tank 2 is provided therein.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an endoscope cleaning / disinfecting apparatus for cleaning and disinfecting an endoscope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Endoscopes used for medical purposes such as examinations and treatments in body cavities must be cleaned and disinfected after use.
It is known from JP-A-6-34155 and JP-A-1-185235.

In this type of endoscope cleaning / disinfecting apparatus, after the entire endoscope is set in the cleaning tank, the cleaning liquid is directed from the injection nozzle provided in the cleaning tank to the entire endoscope as the object to be cleaned. The cleaning liquid is sprayed to clean.

[0004]

The conventional endoscope cleaning / disinfecting apparatus is a system for cleaning the entire endoscope set in the cleaning tank, so that the outer surface of the endoscope is roughly covered. Suitable for cleaning. However, the vicinity of the distal end portion of the insertion portion inserted into the body cavity has a complicated shape that is more likely to be contaminated than other portions and is likely to be a blind spot when viewed from the injection nozzle. For this reason, the part near the distal end of the insertion part cannot be intensively washed, and dirt remains and there is a possibility that bacteria will propagate, which is a drawback of an endoscope cleaning / disinfecting device. It was

Further, in order to improve the cleaning power of the entire endoscope including the insertion portion of the endoscope, it is also possible to heat the cleaning water or to combine the cleaning with ultrasonic waves. Since it targets all endoscopes set in, the ultrasonic transducer becomes large and the cost increases, and it takes a very long time to heat up all the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank. There was another big problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its object is to provide a simple and small structure of a device, and to secure a sufficient and short time near the distal end of the insertion portion of an endoscope. An object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope cleaning / disinfecting apparatus that can be thoroughly cleaned.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an endoscope cleaning / disinfecting apparatus for automatically cleaning and disinfecting an endoscope by putting it in a cleaning tank, and the processing liquid can be stored and drained in the cleaning tank. The 2nd which stores the tip part of an endoscope insertion part
The cleaning tank is provided, and the second cleaning tank is provided with a dedicated cleaning means for cleaning the distal end portion of the endoscope insertion portion housed therein. Therefore, it is possible to reliably clean the vicinity of the distal end portion of the endoscope insertion portion which is particularly likely to be soiled and hard to be removed.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 schematically shows the entire endoscope cleaning / disinfecting apparatus. In the figure, a is an endoscope, which is composed of an operating portion b, an insertion portion c, and a light guide cable d, and a connector e is provided at the tip of the light guide cable d. The endoscope a is suspended and housed in a cleaning tank 1 of the endoscope cleaning / disinfecting apparatus by a not-shown operation portion holding member and connector holding member. Further, the distal end portion f of the insertion portion c of the endoscope a is inserted and stored in a small cleaning tank 2 as a second cleaning tank, which will be described later, provided in the cleaning tank 1. ..

On the other hand, in this cleaning / disinfecting apparatus, a water supply system conduit 8, an outer surface cleaning conduit 9, and an endoscope conduit internal cleaning conduit 10 are provided.
Is provided. In this case, the water supply system pipeline 8 is a pipeline for receiving water supply from a water supply source 11a such as tap water via the water supply valve 11 and supplying it to the cleaning tank 1 side. In the middle of the water supply system pipeline 8, pipelines from the disinfectant solution tank 12 and the detergent tank 13 are connected via electromagnetic valves 14 and 15, respectively. Furthermore, the outer surface cleaning pipe 9,
Also, one end side of the endoscope conduit inside cleaning conduit 10 is connected to the circulating water discharge port of the cleaning tank 1, and the other end is connected to the outer surface cleaning pump 16 and the endoscope conduit inside cleaning, respectively. Is connected to the pump 17. External surface cleaning pump 1
From No. 6, a nozzle 18 is provided in the cleaning tank 1, and from the endoscope conduit cleaning pump 17, a conduit is formed at a channel connection port 19. The channel connection port 19 is connected to various channels of the endoscope a held by the endoscope operating portion holding member via a washing tube (not shown). The channel connection port 19 can be easily set by providing the channel connection port 19 near the inlet of the cleaning tank 1 as shown in FIG. 7, which will be described later.

In addition, the solenoid valve 2 is provided in the middle of the endoscope conduit cleaning pipe 10 connected to the channel connection port 19.
0 is provided. Further, an air pump 22 and an air supply line 21 are connected to the air solenoid valve 20.

Further, one end of the drainage pipe 23 is connected to the drainage port of the cleaning tank 1, and the other end of the drainage pipe 23 has a drainage valve 24.
Also, it is connected to an external drainage facility via a drainage pump 25. A heater 26 is provided at the bottom of the cleaning tank 1 to heat the cleaning water and the disinfectant solution. An exhaust port 27 a communicating with the exhaust tube 27 is provided in the upper part of the cleaning tank 1.

On the other hand, the small cleaning tank 2 as the above-mentioned second cleaning tank is installed inside the cleaning tank 1 which houses the endoscope a as a whole, and inside the insertion portion c of the endoscope a. The tip portion f is hung from above and stored. The small cleaning tank 2 is provided with a cleaning means for cleaning the tip portion f of the insertion portion c. That is, the bottom of the small cleaning tank 2 is provided with a plurality of nozzles 31 which are respectively directed to the tip portion f thereof. Each of the nozzles 31 communicates with a tip cleaning pipe 32 branched from the outer surface cleaning pipe 9. An electromagnetic valve 33 is inserted in the middle of the tip cleaning pipe 32. Further, an ultrasonic transducer 35 for promoting cleaning and disinfection is provided at the bottom of the small cleaning tank 2. Also,
The outlet 36 formed at the bottom of the small cleaning tank 2 has a solenoid valve 3
7 is provided. The small cleaning tank 2 can be moved up and down by an elevating operation means (not shown) according to the length of the insertion portion c of the endoscope a. That is, the height position of the small cleaning tank 2 can be adjusted according to the length of the insertion portion c of each endoscope a having various lengths.

Next, the operation of the endoscope cleaning / disinfecting apparatus having the above structure will be described. FIG. 3 shows the concept. To use, first set each part of the used endoscope a to its holding member, and regarding each channel,
Channel connection port 1 via a washing tube (not shown)
Connect to 9. Further, the front end portion f of the suspended insertion portion c is inserted into the small cleaning tank 2 as shown in FIG. Normal,
A plurality of nozzles 31 of the small cleaning tank 2 are opposed to the most fouled tip portion f.

Thereafter, the steps of cleaning, disinfecting, rinsing, and drying are performed in accordance with the operation of various operation switches (not shown). First, in the cleaning process, the water supply valve 11 is first opened, and the cleaning water from the water supply source 11 a is supplied to the cleaning tank 1 via the water supply system pipeline 8.
Is supplied to. After that, the heater 26 at the bottom of the cleaning tank 1 is energized, and the cleaning water supplied to the cleaning tank 1 by the heater 26 that generates heat continues to be heated. And
When a fixed amount of water is supplied to the bottom of the cleaning tank 1, the water supply valve 1
1, the outer surface cleaning pump 16 and the endoscope conduit cleaning pump 17 are turned on.

With the operation of these pumps 16 and 17, the cleaning water in the cleaning tank 1 is supplied to the nozzle 18 and the channel connection port 19 in the cleaning tank 1, respectively. Then, the cleaning water sprayed from the nozzle 18 in the cleaning tank 1 is sprayed onto the endoscope a set in the cleaning tank 1.

Further, the tip end portion f of the insertion portion c of the endoscope a is concentrated by the nozzle 31 provided in the small cleaning tank 2 and the washing water of hot water is sprayed to be strongly washed. In this step, even a relatively large amount of dirt on the surface of the tip portion f, which has a complicated shape where dirt easily sticks, is removed. And
After a certain time, the solenoid valve 15 is opened and the detergent in the detergent tank 13 is supplied into the cleaning liquid. Here, the detergent in the detergent tank 13 is a concentrated liquid, and is set to have an appropriate concentration when mixed in the wash water.

After a certain period of time, the electromagnetic valve 37 is closed and the small cleaning tank 2 containing the tip portion f is filled with the cleaning liquid. After this, the electromagnetic valve 37 is closed and the injection from the nozzle 31 is stopped.

At this time, the ultrasonic transducer 35 in the small cleaning tank 2 starts to operate and ultrasonic cleaning is started. In this step, for example, a blind spot portion that is particularly difficult to clean, such as the back side of the forceps raising base (not shown) of the tip portion f of the side-view endoscope a, can be cleaned and fine dirt can be removed.

Further, in the latter half of the cleaning process, the drain valve 24 is opened, and at the same time, the drain pump 25 is driven to discharge the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank 1 to the outside and the water supply valve 11 is opened so that new water is supplied in the cleaning tank 1. Is supplied to. That is, the cleaning tank 1
The washing, that is, the rinsing action is performed while the washing inside is sequentially replaced with fresh water. At this time, the electromagnetic valve 37 of the discharge port 36 of the small cleaning tank 2 is also opened, the cleaning liquid in the small cleaning tank 2 is discharged, and the electromagnetic valve 33 is opened, so that the nozzle 3
Rinsing water is spouted from 1.

At the final stage of this cleaning process, the endoscope conduit cleaning pump 17 is stopped, and the air solenoid valve 20 and the air pump 22 are driven so that air flows through the channel connection port 19. It is introduced into various channels of the endoscope a through the drainage of the endoscope a. After that, the water supply valve 11 is closed, the outer surface cleaning pump 16 is stopped, the liquid in the cleaning tank 1 is drained, and the drainage pump 25 is stopped after a certain period of time.

After the cleaning process is completed, the disinfection process is subsequently performed. In this disinfection process, the water supply valve 11 and the solenoid valve 14 are first opened. The disinfectant solution in the disinfectant solution tank 12 is supplied to the cleaning tank 1 through the water supply system pipeline 8 while being mixed in the water supply. In this case, the disinfecting liquid is also a concentrated liquid like the detergent, and is set to have an appropriate concentration when mixed in the water supply. After that, the water supply valve 11 and the electromagnetic valve 14 are closed when a predetermined amount of the disinfecting liquid is supplied.

Then, the outer surface cleaning pump 16 and the endoscope conduit cleaning pump 17 are turned on. As the pumps 16 and 17 are driven, the disinfectant solution in the cleaning tank 1 is changed to the nozzle 18 and the channel connection port 19 in the cleaning tank 1.
Is supplied to each. And the nozzle 1 in the cleaning tank 1
The disinfecting liquid jetted from 8 is sprayed onto the endoscope a set in the cleaning tank 1 and is sent into each channel to disinfect the endoscope a. In addition, the solenoid valve 37
Is closed and the solenoid valve 33 is closed for a certain time.
The disinfectant solution is stored in the small cleaning tank 2 and disinfects the tip portion f of the endoscope a. At this time, the ultrasonic transducer 35 may be operated.

When the predetermined time has passed, the drain valve 24
Is opened, and at the same time, the drainage pump 25 is driven to drain the disinfectant solution in the cleaning tank 1 to the outside through the drainage pipe 23, and the outer surface cleaning pump 16 and the pipe cleaning pump 17 are stopped. .. Further, the air solenoid valve 20 and the air pump 22 are driven to drain water from the endoscope conduit. Furthermore, the solenoid valve 37 can also be opened.

After the disinfection process is completed, a rinsing process is subsequently performed. In this rinsing step, first, the water supply valve 11 remains open, and new water is supplied into the cleaning tank 1.
After that, the drain valve 24 is opened and at the same time, the drain pump 25 is driven and the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank 1 is discharged to the outside. That is, rinsing is performed while the cleaning water in the cleaning tank 1 is sequentially replaced with new water. At this time, the solenoid valve 37 and the solenoid valve 33 at the bottom of the small cleaning tank 2 are left open, and the nozzle 3
Rinsing water is jetted from 1 to rinse the tip portion f of the endoscope a.

After a predetermined time has passed, the water supply valve 11
Is closed, and the outer surface cleaning pump 16 and the conduit cleaning pump 17 are stopped. Then, the air solenoid valve 20 and the air pump 22 are driven. At this time, the rinsing liquid in the cleaning tank 1 is discharged and the water in the endoscope channel is drained. The drainage pump 25 is stopped after a certain period of time.

After the rinsing process is completed, a drying process is subsequently performed. In this drying process, the air solenoid valve 20
Also, the air pump 22 is driven to send air into the endoscope channel, and the heater 26 raises the temperature in the cleaning tank 1. During this drying process, the vapor in the cleaning tank 1 is discharged from the exhaust port 27a to the outside through the exhaust tube 27, and the drying is promoted by lowering the humidity.

According to this construction, however, even in a particularly complicated shape such as the distal end portion f of the endoscope a, which is easily soiled, the so-called shower cleaning and ultrasonic cleaning are combined to ensure the reliability. Can be washed. Further, since the ultrasonic transducer 35 cleans only the distal end portion f of the endoscope a, it may be a very small object as compared with the case of cleaning the entire endoscope a, and the device part can be made into a compact part. It can be cheap.

4 to 5 show a second embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is a modification of the portion of the small cleaning tank 2, and the configuration and operation of the other portions are the same as those of the first embodiment described above. That is, in this embodiment, the liquid heating heater 38 forming a part of the cleaning means is provided inside the small cleaning tank 2.

The liquid heating heater 38 is the above-mentioned first heater.
In the operation of the above embodiment, when the cleaning liquid is stored in the small cleaning tank 2, the energization operation is performed to generate heat to heat the cleaning water. Therefore, the tip portion f of the insertion portion c of the endoscope a can be efficiently washed using the wash water of warm water.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the normal process, the heater 26 in the cleaning tank and the heater 38 of the small cleaning tank 2 are used.
It is also possible to set so that when only the heater 38 of the small cleaning tank 2 is started and only the part where the dirt is extremely dirty is washed with hot water, it is possible to start the cleaning process together.

Since the small cleaning tank 2 has a small volume, the temperature rising speed of the cleaning liquid is high, and warm water having a cleaning power significantly different from normal temperature water can be generated in a short time. Therefore, the process time can be extremely shortened and a sufficient cleaning effect can be obtained.

FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a brush 41 for cleaning the tip of an endoscope is provided as a cleaning means in the small cleaning tank 2. This brush 4
1 may be of a rotary drive type by a motor 42 as shown in (A), or may be of a vertical sliding type as shown in (B).

According to this, when the tip portion f of the endoscope a is washed in the small washing tank 2, it can be mechanically washed by rubbing with the brush 41, so that the tip portion f of the endoscope a is strongly washed. can do.

FIG. 7 shows an example of another type of cleaning tank 51.
The cleaning tank 51 has a table 53 having casters 52.
A pair of endoscope holding racks 54 is provided in the. Endoscope holding rack 54
The door 56 of the inlet 55 of the cleaning tank 51 can be pulled out by opening the door 56 toward you. In addition, the endoscope 5
The channel connection port 59 for connecting to the various channels of 7 through the cleaning tube 58 is provided near the mouth of the cleaning tank 51. Therefore, the cleaning tube 5
Since the length 8 is shortened, the cleaning tube 58 can be easily set and the cleaning tube 58 can be prevented from being broken. Further, by providing a fixed-side cleaning nozzle 60 inside the door 56, the endoscope portion near the tank inlet can be efficiently cleaned. In this case,
Since the table 53 can be pulled out to the front when the endoscope 57 is placed, it is easy to set the endoscope 57. The table 53 is used as a turntable and the endoscope 57 is used as the cleaning tank 51.
The cleaning effect may be enhanced by rotating the inside during cleaning.

[0035]

According to the present invention, the cleaning property of the tip portion of an endoscope, which is particularly heavily soiled, is improved, and the possibility of bacteria growing in the residue is reduced. Moreover, since the tip of the endoscope, which is the most difficult to remove dirt, is cleaned in a short time, the cleaning time of the entire endoscope can be shortened. At the same time, the device structure can be simplified and downsized, and the device can be provided at low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a schematic configuration of an entire endoscope cleaning / disinfecting apparatus showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view schematically showing the structure of a small cleaning tank according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is also an explanatory diagram of each step in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view schematically showing the structure of a small cleaning tank according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a cleaning process according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, and (A) and (B) are explanatory views showing the configurations of different small cleaning tanks.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a cleaning tank in which an endoscope is installed.

[Explanation of symbols]

a ... endoscope, c ... insertion part, f ... tip part, 1 ... cleaning tank, 2
... Small cleaning tank, 31 ... Nozzle, 33 ... Solenoid valve, 36 ... Discharge port, 37 ... Solenoid valve.

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] July 31, 1991

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0034

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

FIG. 7 shows an example of another type of cleaning tank 51.
The cleaning tank 51 has a table 53 having casters 52.
A pair of endoscope holding racks 54 is provided in the. Endoscope holding rack 54
The door 56 of the inlet 55 of the cleaning tank 51 can be pulled out by opening the door 56 toward you. In addition, the endoscope 5
The channel connection port 59 for connecting to the various channels of 7 through the cleaning tube 58 is provided near the mouth of the cleaning tank 51. Therefore, the cleaning tube 5
Since the length 8 is shortened, the cleaning tube 58 can be easily set and the cleaning tube 58 can be prevented from being broken. Also to be able to clean the endoscopic portion around the tank inlet efficiently by providing a washing nozzle 60 to the inside of the door 56. In this case, the endoscope 57
Since the carrying lutein Buru 53 draw the front, it is easy to set the endoscope 57. The table 53 may be a turntable that can be freely rotated.
Yes. That is, when setting the endoscope 57, it is easy to set.
The turntable to a new position and then
Can be easily set. In addition, wash the above turntable
During cleaning, the cleaning effect may be enhanced by rotating the cleaning device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An endoscope cleaning / disinfecting apparatus for automatically cleaning and disinfecting an endoscope by placing the endoscope in a cleaning tank, wherein a treatment liquid can be stored and drained in the cleaning tank, and a distal end portion of an endoscope insertion portion An endoscope comprising: a second cleaning tank for accommodating therein, and the second cleaning tank provided with a dedicated cleaning means for cleaning the distal end portion of the endoscope insertion portion accommodated therein. Cleaning and disinfecting equipment.