JPH0630891A - Endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the structure of a grip section and make it small-sized and lightweight by connecting a branch section provided between the grip section and an insertion section and a main body provided with air feed/liquid feed devices with a universal cord. CONSTITUTION:A branch section 9 is provided at the lower section of a grip section 8, and a universal cord 3 is connected to the branch section 9. Pipes or wires such as a light guide 16, a suction channel 17, an air feed channel 18, a liquid feed channel 19 can be sent to a main body 1 not through the grip section 8, and the structure of the grip section 8 can be simplified. The grip section 8 of an endoscope can be made slender in shape, and the endoscope is made easy to grip for operation. The fatigue of an operator can be reduced when the endoscope is operated for a long time. The pipes 17, 18, 19 for suction, air feed, and liquid feed do not pass through the grip section 8, the grip section 8 is not required to be disassembled when the pipes are replaced or repaired, and the endoscope having a good maintenance property can be provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to improvement of a universal cord mounting position for an endoscope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An endoscope is for diagnosing and inspecting organs in a body cavity by inserting an elongated insertion portion into the body cavity. FIG. 3 shows a configuration diagram of a conventional endoscope. Body 101
Is an air / liquid feeding device 112, a suction device 113, and a light source 11.
It has 4 etc.

The insertion portion 110 is composed of a flexible tube, and is partially provided with a bending portion 111 which can be freely bent by operating the handle 104. Further, at the tip of the insertion section 110,
A nozzle (not shown) for performing suction, an illumination window (not shown) for illuminating the inside of the body cavity, an image pickup device (not shown) for photographing the inside of the body cavity, and the like are provided. The grip portion 108 is connected to the insertion portion 110, and the insertion portion 110
A handle 104 for operating the bending of the camera, and an imaging switch 105 for performing imaging, suction, and air / liquid feeding operations.
A suction switch 106 and an air / liquid feeding switch 107 are provided. The universal cord 103 is a collection of air supply, liquid supply, a suction channel and a light guide (optical fiber), and connects the main body 101 and the grip 108. The connector 102 is for connecting the universal cord 103 to the main body 101.

When actually making a diagnosis with an endoscope, the gripping portion 108 is held by holding two fingers that support the gripping portion 108 with the ring finger and the little finger of the left hand, or by holding three fingers that support the gripping portion 108 with the middle finger, the ring finger, and the little finger. While supporting, the photographing finger 105, the suction switch 106, and the air / liquid feeding switch 107 provided on the grip portion 108 of the endoscope are operated by the forefinger or middle finger to photograph the inside of the body cavity.

At this time, the air / liquid feeding device 112 of the main body 101
The gas and the liquid sent from are sent to the air supply and liquid supply nozzles at the tip of the insertion portion through the air supply channel and the liquid supply channel, respectively. The suction device 113 of the main body and the suction nozzle at the tip of the insertion portion are connected by a suction channel. Further, the light generated by the light source 114 of the main body is sent to the tip of the insertion portion by the light guide (optical fiber) and is emitted from the illumination window.

[0006]

In the conventional endoscope, the universal cord 103 is connected to the upper portion of the grip portion 108, and the insertion portion 110 is connected to the lower portion of the grip portion 108. Therefore, the channels for air supply, liquid supply, and suction and the light guide are connected to the tip of the insertion portion through the inside of the grip portion 108. Therefore, the contents inside the grip 108 increase and the structure becomes complicated, and the width of the grip 108 is about 50 mm.
There was a problem of getting bigger.

When the width of the grip portion 108 becomes large, it becomes difficult to grip it with the ring finger and the little finger, and when the insertion portion 110 is inserted into the body cavity, the position of the gripped hand is displaced and the operability deteriorates. . In order to prevent the position of the hand from shifting as described above, it is necessary to put a strong force on the hand to be gripped, so that there is a problem that fatigue increases when used for a long time.

Further, when the pipe or wiring inside the insertion section 110 is cut, it is necessary to replace all the cut pipe or wiring. For this reason, when repairing the piping or wiring, the gripper 108, which is the passage, must be disassembled, and the maintainability is poor. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an endoscope which has a small size and a light weight and has good operability and maintainability.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a grip portion for gripping and operating by an operator's hand, an insertion portion formed of a flexible elongated tube, and the insertion portion. A main body provided with an air / liquid feeding device for feeding air and liquid, and a branching portion for connecting a universal cord connected to the main body between the grip portion and the insertion portion. Providing an endoscope.

[0010]

The structure inside the grip portion can be simplified by providing a branch portion between the grip portion and the insertion portion and connecting the branch portion and the main body having the air / liquid feeding device with a universal cord. This makes it possible to reduce the size and weight of the grip portion.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an endoscope according to the present invention. Further, FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the endoscope shown in FIG.
The main body 1 includes an air / liquid feeding device 12, a suction device 13, and a light source 1.
It has 4 etc.

The insertion portion 10 is composed of a flexible elongated tube, and a part thereof has a bending portion 11 which can be freely bent by operating the handle 4. Further, at the tip of the insertion portion 10, air supply, liquid supply,
It is provided with a nozzle (not shown) for performing suction, an illumination window (not shown) for illuminating the inside of the body cavity, an image sensor (not shown), and the like. The grip portion 8 is connected to the insertion portion 10 and has a handle 4 for operating the bent portion 11 and a photographing switch 5, a suction switch 6, and a gas feeding switch for performing photographing, air feeding, liquid feeding, and suction operations. A liquid switch 7 is provided. The universal cord 3 is a combination of a light guide 16 (optical fiber), a suction channel 17, an air supply channel 18, a liquid supply channel 19 and a signal line 15, and one end of the universal cord 3 is connected to a lower portion of the gripping portion 8. 9 and the other end is connected to the main body 1 by the connector 2. A separating unit 26 is provided between the gripping unit 8 and the branching unit 9.

The signal processing board 25 processes signals sent through the image signal line 20 from the imaging switch 5, the suction switch 6, the air / liquid feeding switch 7 and the image pickup device provided at the tip of the insertion portion 10, The switch information and the video signal are sent to the main body 1 through the signal line 15. The signal line 15 and a part of the video signal line 20 are connected by a connector 23 so that they can be easily attached and detached.

Air supply channel 18 and liquid supply channel 1
Reference numeral 9 connects an air / liquid feeding device 12 in the main body 1 and an air / liquid feeding nozzle provided at the tip of the insertion portion 10 through a branch portion 9. The suction channel 17 connects the suction device 13 in the main body 1 and the suction nozzle provided at the tip of the insertion portion 10 through the branch portion 9. Light guide 1
Reference numeral 6 guides the light of the light source 14 provided in the main body 1 to the tip of the insertion portion 10 through the branching portion 9 and irradiates it from the irradiation window.

One end of the wire 21 is connected to the pulley 2 in the grip portion 8.
4 and the other end is connected to the bent portion 11. The pulley 24 is connected to the handle 4, and the wire 21 connected to the pulley 24 can be moved by rotating the handle 4. By rotating the handle 4 and moving the wire 21, the bending portion 11 can be bent vertically and horizontally. The wire 21
A part of is connected by a connector 22 so that it can be easily attached and detached.

As described above, when the branch portion 9 is provided under the grip portion 8 and the universal cord 3 is connected to the branch portion 9, the light guide 16, the suction channel 17,
It is possible to send piping or wiring such as the air supply channel 18 and the liquid supply channel 19 to the main body 1 without passing through the grip portion 8. Therefore, the structure inside the grip portion 8 can be simplified.

By thus simplifying the structure inside the grip portion 6, the width of the grip portion 6 can be set to about 30 mm, which is a size that is easy to grip. Therefore, the hand is less likely to move during insertion of the insertion portion 10, and the operability of the endoscope is improved. Further, since the gripping force of the ring finger or the little finger can be reduced, the operator's fatigue when used for a long time can be reduced.

Further, the separating portion 2 is provided between the grip portion 8 and the branch portion 9.
The provision of 6 allows the grip portion 9 to be removed from the branch portion 9. At this time, since the pipes of the suction channel 17, the air supply channel 18, and the liquid supply channel 19 are sent to the main body 1 through the branch portion 9, the piping and wiring of the separation portion can be reduced and the structure of the separation portion can be simplified. .
In particular, in the above-mentioned embodiment, since all the pipes are sent from the branch portion 9 to the main body 1, it is not necessary to connect the pipes with a connector or the like, and liquid or gas does not leak on the way.

In addition, according to the endoscope in which the grips are detachable as described above, a plurality of grips are prepared in advance, and the grip of an operator's hand or a shape that is easy to use according to the contents of diagnosis or inspection is used. It can also be exchanged with the department for diagnosis. In addition, since the pipe does not pass through the inside of the grip, it is not necessary to disassemble the grip when repairing or replacing the pipe, which improves maintainability.

It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the present embodiment, the grip portion and the branch portion are separable, but the grip portion and the branch portion may be integrated to further simplify the structure of the grip portion. Further, the image signal and the information of the switches for photographing, suctioning, air feeding, and liquid feeding may be directly sent to the main body without providing the signal processing board. Further, the suction device may be provided outside the main body. In addition, a forceps port for inserting forceps may be provided in the grip portion 8 or a part of the branch portion 9. Further, the present invention can be easily applied to an endoscope in which an image is transmitted by an optical fiber bundle.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, the shape of the grip portion of the endoscope can be made thin, and the endoscope can be easily gripped when operating. This can reduce operator fatigue when operating the endoscope for a long time.
Further, since the pipes for suction, air supply, and liquid feeding do not pass through the grip portion, it is not necessary to disassemble the grip portion when replacing or repairing the pipe, and it is possible to provide an endoscope with good maintainability. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an endoscope according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a branch portion 9 of the endoscope according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a conventional endoscope.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 101 Main body 2, 22, 23, 102 Connector 3, 103 Universal cord 4, 104 Handle 5, 105 Shooting switch 6, 106 Suction switch 7, 107 Air supply / liquid supply switch 8, 108 Grip part 9 Branch part 10, 110 Insertion part 11,111 Bent part 12,112 Air supply / liquid supply device 13,113 Suction device 14,114 Light source 15 Signal line 16 Light guide 17 Suction channel 18 Air supply channel 19 Liquid supply channel 20 Image signal line 21 Wire 24 Pulley 25 signal processing board 26 separation unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A gripping part for gripping and operating by an operator's hand, an insertion part made of a flexible elongated tube, and an air supply / liquid supply device for supplying air and liquid to the insertion part. An endoscope comprising: a main body including the main body; and a branch portion connecting a universal cord connected to the main body between the grip portion and the insertion portion. 2. The endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the grip portion is removable.