JPH06169889A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an endoscope having a plurality of switches accurately operable by the thumb of a hand holding the body of an operation section. CONSTITUTION:In an endoscope having an operation section body 11 as a holding section 12 in common, and a lumen insertion section 5 extended in the axial direction of the body 11, two electrical switches 28 and 29 are laid on the body 11 at such positions as opposite to the section 5 and operable via the slide of the thumb of a hand holding the body 11 for operating curvature operation knobs 21 and 22, along a direction approximately vertical to the axial direction of the body 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of an endoscope having a switch on a main body of an operating portion.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 9, an operation section main body 11 of a conventional electronic endoscope has a grip section 12 and an operation section on the near side (upper side in the figure) of the operation section. Buttons such as a suction button 16, an air / water supply button 15, and bending operation knobs 21 and 22 are arranged in the portion. Further, a plurality of electronic switches 17, 18, 7 are provided near the end portion thereof.
It is a general arrangement that 1, 72 are provided.

It is desirable to operate these with only the left hand. In other words, it is necessary for the right hand to grasp and guide the intraluminal insertion portion, and when the bending operation knobs 21, 22 or the electronic switches 17, 18, 71, 72 are operated, remove the right hand from the intraluminal insertion portion. Touching the operation portion was not preferable in terms of hygiene as well as the operation of guiding the insertion was reduced.

However, the electronic switches 17, 18,
When 71 and 72 are operated only with the left finger, the left hand needs to be largely slid toward the operation part because they are located away from the grip portion 12, and it is unstable because the grip portion 12 cannot be firmly gripped. However, there are problems such as various gripping states and difficulty in performing other operations such as the air / water supply button 15, the suction button 16, or the bending operation knobs 21 and 22.

As a technical means for solving such a problem, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-5401 discloses an operation portion main body 1
Two buttons 73, 7 in a direction substantially orthogonal to the axis of 1
4 side by side (see FIG. 10), these buttons 73,74
It is disclosed that the device is configured to be operated with the index finger.

[0006]

However, the parallel buttons for the index finger disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-5401 have to be held in the circumferential direction in order to be operated, as shown in FIG. Since it is necessary, the influence on the operation of the other parts such as the air / water supply button 15 and the suction button 16 or the bending operation knobs 21 and 22 which have already been pointed out still remains, and there is a possibility of a new operation error. It had happened.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope including a plurality of switches that can be reliably operated by the thumb of the hand holding the operation portion main body.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, an endoscope according to the present invention comprises an operating portion main body which also serves as a grip portion and an insertion portion extending in the axial direction of the operating portion main body. In a position opposite to the insertion portion on the operation portion main body and operable by a thumb of a hand holding the operation portion main body with respect to the axial direction of the operation portion main body. A plurality of switches are arranged in a substantially vertical direction.

[0009]

The plurality of switches arranged in a direction substantially vertical to the axial direction of the operating portion main body are operated by sliding the thumb of the hand holding the operating portion main body.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a front view showing the arrangement of switches in a main body of an operation portion of an endoscope, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an endoscope system, and FIG. It is a front view which shows the state which holds and operates an endoscope. Figure 2
As shown in FIG. 1, the endoscope 1 of the first embodiment is an electronic endoscope and has an elongated intraluminal insertion portion 5 that is an insertion portion. From the tip side, it is configured by a tip forming portion 6, a bending portion 7, and a flexible tube portion 8. An emission end of a light guide for illuminating an observation object and an observation optical system for forming an optical image of the observation object illuminated by the light guide are exposed on the end surface of the tip end forming portion 6.
An image pickup device such as a CCD (not shown) is provided on the image forming plane of the observation optical system in the tip structure section 6.
The image pickup device photoelectrically converts the observed image and transmits it to the hand side.

An operating section main body 11 is provided on the proximal side of the intraluminal insertion section 5. The operation portion main body 11 has a grasping portion 12 on the distal end side for the operator to hold by hand, and a treatment instrument such as forceps is attached on the distal end side of the grasping portion 12 to the distal end of the endoscope 1. A treatment tool insertion port 13 which is an opening of a channel for inserting the component 6 is provided. Further, a plurality of operation switches are provided on the hand side of the operation portion main body 11, and one side surface thereof is provided with an air / water supply button 15 and a suction button 16 from the grip portion 12 side toward the hand side. An electric switch 17 is provided, and another electric switch 18 is provided on the near side. A bending operation knob for operating the bending direction of the bending portion 7 is provided on the other side surface, and the bending operation knob is a UD direction operation knob 21 for operating the up and down (UD) direction.
And an RL direction operation knob 22 for operating the left and right (RL) directions.

From a further side surface of the operation portion main body 11 as described above, a universal cord 24 is extended substantially vertically to the axis of the operation portion main body 11.

The universal cord 24 is bifurcated in the middle, and one end is a light guide cable 25 for inserting a light guide provided up to the tip forming portion 6, and the tip thereof is provided. A light guide connector 25a is provided in the portion, and the light guide connector 25a is adapted to be inserted and connected to the connector receiver 2a of the light source device 2. The other end of the fork is a video cable 26 in which a signal line extending from the image pickup device of the distal end forming portion 6 of the intraluminal insertion portion 5 is provided, and one end of the video cable 26 is provided. Connector provided on the
By connecting a to the video connector receiver 2b of the light source device 2, an image is transmitted to the video processor provided in the light source device 2.

The video processor converts the input signal into a standard TV signal and outputs the standard TV signal for observation on an external monitor 3 connected to the video processor.

FIG. 1 is an enlarged front view of the operation section main body 11 of the endoscope 1 configured as described above. This figure shows the surface of the operation section main body 11 opposite to the surface on which the air / water supply button 15 and the like are provided. As shown in the figure, two electric switches 28, 29 are arranged in parallel on the hand side (upper side in the figure) of the grip portion 12 of the operation portion main body 11 in a substantially vertical direction in the axial direction of the operation portion main body 11. . The air / water supply button 15, the suction button 16, the electric switches 17, 18 and the like are operated by the index finger or middle finger of the hand holding the operation portion main body 11, while the electric switches 28, 29 are operated. It is standard to operate with the thumb.

The operation of the first embodiment having such a configuration will be described. The endoscope 1 configured as described above is designed to be gripped as shown in FIG. That is, by holding the grip portion 12 so that it can be held by the palm, the thumb is placed at a position where the bending operation knobs 21 and 22 can be operated, and further, the thumb is slid to the left and right as shown by arrow A. , Electrical switches 28, 29 can be operated.

According to this structure, there is no influence on the fingers operating the air / water supply button 15 and the suction button 16,
Further, the bending operation knobs 21 and 22 will not be mistakenly operated. By arranging the plurality of electric switches 21 and 22 in the direction in which the thumb slides to the left and right, these switches 21 and 22 can be used properly. As described above, according to the present embodiment, the endoscope has no erroneous operation and has high operability even though a plurality of switches are arranged.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the arrangement of switches in the operation portion of the endoscope according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
Since the configuration of the second embodiment is almost the same as that of the first embodiment, the description of the same parts will be omitted and only different parts will be described.

In the second embodiment, three electric switches 31, 32, 33 are arranged at positions substantially the same as the positions of the two electric switches 28, 29 of the first embodiment described above. Moreover, the switches 31, 32, and 33 are arranged such that they are slightly tilted with respect to the axis of the operation section body 11. That is, in response to the sliding motion of the thumb being slightly tilted with respect to the axis of the operation section main body 11 rather than the vertical direction, the switch 33 arranged at a position close to the bending operation knobs 21 and 22 is moved to the grip section 12. On the other hand, the switch 31 arranged at a position closer to the universal cord 24 is arranged at a position slightly distant from the grip portion 12. Along with this, the upper end of the surface on which the switches 31, 32, 33 are arranged also
It is formed with a slight inclination.

The operation of the second embodiment is almost the same as that of the first embodiment.

According to the second embodiment, more switches are arranged to increase versatility, and the plurality of switches are arranged in a direction that matches the moving direction of the thumb. improves.

The number of switches to be arranged is the above-mentioned two.
The number of switches is not limited to one or three, and more switches can be arranged. Further, the switches may be arranged on the same plane, or may be arranged on a surface provided with a step for each switch. That is, the peripheral shape of the portion where the switch is arranged is not limited to the above. Further, the type of the electric switch is not limited to the above-mentioned one, but may be a seesaw type or a lever type other than the pressing type.

5 to 8 relate to the third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a front view showing the arrangement of switches in the operation section of the endoscope, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the bending operation mechanism in the operation section. FIG. 7 is a front view showing another example of the bending operation mechanism in the operation section shown in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a configuration for attaching the base plate to the operation section constituent members. This third
In the embodiment, description of the same parts as those of the first and second embodiments will be omitted, and only different parts will be described. In the third embodiment, seesaw type switches are used in place of the push type electric switches used in the first and second embodiments, and these switches are U-type.
The engagement switch 41 for the D-direction operation knob and the engagement switch 42 for the RL-direction operation knob are arranged in parallel on the axis vertical to the axis of the operation section body 11. An electric switch 43 is arranged near the near side (the upper side in the figure) of these switches 41 and 42.

FIG. 6 shows the inside of the operation portion main body 11 as described above. The UD direction knob shaft 46 having a cylindrical shape is provided perpendicular to the base plate 45, and the RL direction knob shaft 47 having a cylindrical shape is provided inside thereof.
And are coaxially attached, and the UD direction knob shaft 46 is provided up to just before the upper end surface of the base plate 45,
On the other hand, the RL direction knob shaft 47 extends through the through hole 45a of the base plate 45 to the lower surface side.

At the end of the UD direction knob shaft 46 near the upper surface of the base plate 45, a UD direction sprocket 48 is rotatably integrated with the knob shaft 46, and the RL direction knob shaft 47 has a base plate 45. A RL-direction sprocket 49 is also attached to the vicinity of the lower surface side so as to rotate integrally, and chains 51 and 52 are wound around these sprockets 48 and 49, respectively, and the curved portion is provided via these chains 51 and 52. 7 is driven to bend.

Further, the UD direction knob shaft 46 has the UD
A UD direction knob shaft disk 53 is provided in parallel with the base plate 45 with the direction sprocket 48 interposed therebetween.
The direction knob shaft 47 is also provided with the RL direction knob shaft disk 54 parallel to the base plate 45 with the RL direction sprocket 49 interposed therebetween.

Then, there are a state where the discs 53 and 54 are sandwiched by the pressing members 57 and 58 which are movable by the motors 55 and 56 fixed on the base plate 45, and the rotation thereof is restricted, and a state where they are not regulated. so,
The presence or absence of engagement of each shaft 46, 47 can be generated. Then, the presence or absence of this engagement is selected by the engagement switches 41 and 42.

Such an internal mechanism is not limited to the one described above. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a motor 62 is provided in the middle of the chains 51, 52 via a sprocket 61, and the motor 62 is opened and closed. It may be configured to obtain the presence or absence of the engagement.

As shown in FIG. 8, the base plate 45 to which the above-mentioned knob shafts 46 and 47 are attached is provided, for example, in its four attachment holes 45b so as to project from the inner surface of the operation portion constituting member 63. Projection 6 having a closed fitting head
It may be fixed by being fitted into 3a. As a result, the UD direction knob shaft 46 and the RL direction knob shaft 47 are
The operation portion constituting member 63 is reliably arranged in position, and the fixing is also made reliable.

According to the third embodiment as described above, the operation and effect are substantially the same as those of the first and second embodiments, and the presence or absence of engagement of the bending operation mechanism can be confirmed, so that the bending operation mechanism can be fixed at a certain position. The endoscope may have a base plate that is formed.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an endoscope having a plurality of switches that can be reliably operated by the thumb of the hand holding the operation portion main body.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 3 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 1 is a front view showing the arrangement of switches in the operation section body of the endoscope.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an endoscope system.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a state in which the endoscope is gripped and operated.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the arrangement of switches in the operation unit of the endoscope according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

5 to 8 relate to a third embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 5 is a front view showing the arrangement of switches in the operation unit of the endoscope.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a bending operation mechanism in an operation section.

7 is a front view showing another example of the bending operation mechanism in the operation section shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a configuration in which a base plate is attached to an operation unit constituting member.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing the arrangement of switches of the conventional endoscope.

FIG. 10 is a plan view illustrating a switch arrangement of another conventional endoscope and a method of operating the switch.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscope 5 ... Intraluminal insertion part 11 ... Gripping part 12 ... Operation part main body 28,29 ... Electric switch

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An endoscope having an operation section main body that also serves as a grip section and an insertion section extending in the axial direction of the operation section main body, wherein the operation section main body is provided on the opposite side of the insertion section. A plurality of switches are arranged in a position substantially vertical to the axial direction of the operation part main body at a position where it can be operated by the thumb of the hand holding the operation part main body. Endoscope.