JPH10234658A - Duct structure of endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily execute washing work through the use of a washing brush by enabling passing through the washing brush from an endoscope operating part to whole ducts. SOLUTION: In an operating part 10C, a front side water supply tube 22A and a rear side water supply tube 22B, for example, are provided so as to permit their openings 22E and 22F to be exposure possible and the duct openings 22E and 22F are provided with the support part 18A of a duct unit in a state where the return part 23 of a flow path is secured. A rear side duct is arranged in the duct unit 18 concerning an inhaling tube. Therefore, the duct unit 18 is removed and the washing brush is inserted from the openings 22E and 22F, etc., to the front side duct at a tip side and the rear side duct at a cable side so as to execute brushing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pipe structure of an endoscope,
Particularly, the present invention relates to a structure of a pipe in an operation section of an endoscope apparatus, which facilitates cleaning of a pipe such as an air supply / water supply pipe and a suction pipe provided in an endoscope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 9 shows a schematic configuration of a conventional electronic endoscope (scope).
Comprises a tip 1A having a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), an insertion section 1B, an operation section 1C, and a cable 1D. The end of the cable 1D is connected to a light source device and a processor device for image processing. The operation unit 1C is provided with an angle knob 3 for bending the distal end 1A, a suction button (mechanical opening / closing valve) 4A, and an air / water supply button 4B, and a forceps port for inserting a treatment instrument on the distal end side. 5 are arranged.

[0003] Inside such an endoscope, a treatment instrument insertion channel communicating with the forceps port 5 and a suction tube serving as a suction member, an air supply tube for supplying air / water at the distal end portion 1A, and A water pipe and the like are arranged.

According to the above configuration, the light from the light source device is emitted from the distal end portion 1A via the light guide, and the inside of the object to be observed is imaged and observed by the CCD based on the light. At this time, by operating the suction button 4A and the air / water supply button 4B, air can be supplied and water can be supplied from the distal end portion 1A to the observation window or the like using the air supply pipe and the water supply pipe. It becomes possible to insert the treatment tool and to suck and discharge dirt and the like in the body to be observed.

[0005]

However, since the above-mentioned endoscope apparatus is used in a medical field, it is necessary to clean and sterilize the above-mentioned conduits, and the cleaning and disinfection are performed efficiently. There was a problem that it was not possible. That is, although the above-mentioned conduit is cleaned using a brush, it is difficult to pass the cleaning brush from the distal end 1A to the conduit connector at the end of the cable 1D at one time. This is because the entire length of the endoscope is long, there is a strong part in the internal conduit, particularly in the operation section 1C, and the suction button 4A and the air / water supply button 4B have a mechanical structure. This is because, when a valve for controlling the opening and closing is used, there is a reason that the pipe becomes complicated (partially cut off) at that portion, and it is difficult to advance the cleaning brush to the back.

Therefore, conventionally, it is necessary to carry out a work such as flowing washing water for a long time, and measures such as improving the opening / closing valve portion so that the washing brush can reach as much as possible are taken. However, the structure of each part for cleaning is complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to enable a cleaning brush to be passed from an endoscope operating section to all the channels, and to perform a cleaning operation using the cleaning brush. It is an object of the present invention to provide an endoscope tube structure that facilitates the operation.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an endoscope conduit structure comprising: a front conduit disposed from a distal end portion to an operation section; A rear pipe arranged in the pipeline control unit via a cable from the section, an opening of the front and rear pipes arranged to be exposed on an outer peripheral portion of the operation section, and connected to the openings of these front and rear pipes. ,
A folded portion that forms a folded space for the flow path, and the opening of the operating portion or the detached portion can be freely attached to and detached from the folded portion. And an attachment. According to the second aspect of the present invention, the air supply pipe and the water supply pipe are arranged as the front and rear pipes, and the suction pipe, which also serves as the treatment instrument insertion channel, guides the pipe to the pipe control unit through a separate path from the cable. In which the function of the attachment is added to the pipeline unit.

According to the above construction, since the opening of the front and rear pipes is exposed to the outside by removing the attachment of the operation section, the cleaning brush can be used as the insertion section and the cleaning brush can be used as the front pipe on the distal end side of the endoscope. In addition, the cleaning can be performed separately through the cleaning brush to the rear side conduit on the cable side. After this washing is completed, if the opening is closed with an attachment,
A folded portion is formed, and the circulation function of each pipeline for air / water supply, a suction pipe, and the like can be maintained through the folded portion.

In addition, a suction pipe also serving as a treatment instrument insertion channel can be arranged in a pipe unit separately from an air supply / water supply pipe or the like. According to this, a suction pipe for sucking dirty liquid or the like is provided. Has the advantage that it can be handled separately from other tubes that are not.

[0011]

1 to 8 show a pipe structure of an endoscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
Will describe the overall configuration of the endoscope. In FIG. 6, an electronic endoscope 10 as an endoscope includes a distal end portion 10A having a CCD, an insertion portion 10B, an operation portion 10C, a first cable 1
0D, and the connector 11 of the first cable 10D.
Are connected to the light source device 12, and the signal cable 13 branched from the middle is connected to the processor (image processing) device 14.

That is, in the endoscope 10, the distal end portion 10A
A light guide is provided from the light source device 12 to the light source device 12, and a signal line for controlling the CCD and reading an image signal is provided from the distal end portion 10A to the processor device 14, whereby the light from the distal end portion 10A is provided. Irradiation and C above
It becomes possible to read an image signal from a CD or the like.

A pipe cable 15 branched from the connector 11 is connected to an electromagnetic valve unit (pipe control unit) 16 having a pump and the like, and is connected to the pipe cable 15 and the first cable 10D. Is provided with an air supply / water supply pipe described later. Further, the operation unit 10C includes:
The detachable pipe unit 18 (support portion 18A)
And the second cable 18B), and the suction pipe is connected to the electromagnetic valve unit 16 by the pipe unit 18.
Led to. The solenoid valve unit 16 is electrically connected to the processor device 14.

The operation unit 10C is provided with a suction button (operation switch) 20A, an air supply / water supply button (two-stage switch) 20B, and a hard copy button 21 which are electrical switches. The control signal is transmitted to the electromagnetic unit 16. That is, in this example, the opening / closing control of the pipeline is not performed by the mechanical opening / closing valve as shown in FIG. 9 but by the opening / closing (electromagnetic) valve of the electromagnetic valve unit 16 operated by the electric switch. Is to be implemented.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II of FIG. 2 and shows a structure relating to a water supply pipe. As shown in FIG. 1, in the operation unit 10C, a front water pipe 22A arranged from the front end side to the rear end face E, and a rear water pipe 22B arranged from the rear end face E to the second cable side. Separated.
Then, the openings 22 of the water pipes 22A, 22B before and after these are provided.
E and 22F are disposed on a folded portion 23 formed on the rear end face E (this folded portion 23 may be formed on the pipeline unit side).

That is, a support portion (attachment) 18A of the conduit unit 18 is detachably connected to the rear end face of the operation portion 10C. A cylindrical portion having an external thread formed on the outer periphery is used as a receiving side of the connection portion. 2A, the openings 22E and 22F of the water supply pipe 22 are attached, and the folded portion 23 of a predetermined space is formed inside the receiving portion 24 as shown in FIG. Is done.

On the other hand, on the side of the support portion 18A, a female screw is formed on the inner periphery and a rotatable operation ring 25 is provided. The operation ring 25 is screwed and connected to the receiving portion 24. The pipeline unit 18 is attached to the operation unit 10C. Then, as shown in FIG. 2 (B), on the inner portion of the operation ring 25 of the support portion 18A,
A plug member (convex portion) 26 having a shape fitted to a part of the folded portion 23 is provided, and packing or the like is attached to the plug member 26.

As shown in FIG. 1, the supporting portion 18A is provided with a lens surface cleaning port 29 via a connection pipe 27 and a check valve 28. This is a supply port for jetting water for jetting water or the like to the observation window lens surface of the portion 10A.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 2 and shows a structure related to the air supply pipe. In this case, too, the air supply pipe is separated into a front air supply pipe 31A and a rear air supply pipe 31B. 31E and 31 are arranged in the folded portion 32. And
A plug member 33 that fits in the folded portion 32 while securing the folded space of the flow path is disposed on the support portion 18A side.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 2 and shows a configuration related to the suction pipe. In the first example, the suction pipe is provided in another path. That is, the operation unit 10
A front suction tube 35A is provided in C, and an opening 35E thereof is disposed at the center of the receiving portion 24, while the rear suction tube 35B is disposed on the conduit unit 18 side. In the support portion 18A of the conduit unit 18, a forceps port 37 is arranged via a branch pipe 36, and a cap for cap (not shown) is attached to the forceps port 37. In this way,
The suction tube 35 (A) serves to suction water or the like in the body to be observed and to function as a treatment tool insertion channel for introducing a treatment tool such as forceps.

The first example is constructed as described above. When using an endoscope, as shown in FIG.
The pipe unit 18 is connected to the receiving unit 24.
Are connected to the operation unit 10C. In this state,
The suction operation and the air / water supply operation can be performed based on the operation of the suction button 20A and the air / water supply button 20B. That is, the operation control signal of the suction button 18A or the like is transmitted to the processor device 1 of FIG.
When transmitted to the solenoid valve unit 16 via the control unit 4, the control circuit in the solenoid valve unit 16 operates the pump and controls opening and closing of the corresponding solenoid valve.

Therefore, in the case of the suction operation, the suction tube 35
A, 35B sucks sewage and the like in the body to be observed, is stored in a tank or the like from the pipeline unit 18, and in the case of air supply / water supply operation, air is supplied to the distal end portion 10A to the rear air supply pipe 31B. The water is supplied through the turning part 32 and the front air supply pipe 31A, and then through the rear water pipe 22B, the turning part 23, and the front water pipe A. In addition, the injection window is injected with a syringe or the like from the lens surface cleaning port 29 on the conduit unit 18 side, so that the observation window lens can be washed during use of the endoscope.
In addition, in the front suction tube 35A, a treatment tool can be inserted from the forceps port 37, whereby various treatments can be performed.

On the other hand, when cleaning is performed after the use of the endoscope, the operation ring 25 is turned to remove the conduit unit 18 from the receiving portion 24 of the operation portion 10C, and FIG.
As shown in (1), the cleaning brush can be inserted from the rear end face E side of the operation unit 10C. In this case, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the front and rear water supply pipes 22A and 22B are opened through the openings 22E and 22F.
With respect to 31B, the suction pipe 35 is opened through the openings 31E and 31F.
By applying a cleaning brush to A in order from the opening 35E, it is possible to brush the entire conduit of the endoscope. Note that the pipeline unit 18 shown in FIG.
Brushing of the connection pipe 27 on the side, the suction pipe 35B, the branch pipe 36, and the like is also performed.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a second example of the pipe structure without the above-mentioned pipe unit. In this second example, as shown, the water pipes 22A, 22A
B, the air supply pipes have the same arrangement, but the suction pipes 40A, 40
B is connected by a branch pipe 41. At the rear end face of the operation unit 10C, an attachment 43 that rotates about a shaft 42 is provided. The attachment 43 is provided with a folded portion 44 of the water supply pipes 22A and 22B, and a forceps port 46 is provided through a connection pipe 45. Deploy.

According to the second example, as shown in FIG. 8, by rotating the attachment 43 about the shaft 42, the openings 22 of the water pipes 22A and 22B are formed.
E, 22F, opening 31E, 31F of air supply pipe, suction pipe 40
Opening 41E can be easily exposed. Then, cleaning can be performed by inserting a cleaning brush through the openings 22E and the like.

In the above embodiment, the suction pipes 35, 40 have a structure different from the air / water supply pipes 22, 31, but this suction pipe also has the same configuration as the air / water supply pipes 22, 31. It is also possible to arrange.

[0027]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the pipeline in the operation section is divided into a front pipeline and a rear pipeline, and the openings of these front and rear pipelines are exposed to the outside. Place as possible,
Attachments were removably attached to these conduit openings while securing the folded part of the flow path. By removing these attachments, the front conduits on the distal end side of the endoscope and the rear of the cable side were removed from the openings. Brushing can be performed on the side pipes, and the cleaning operation using the cleaning brush for all the pipes becomes easy.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the suction pipe also serving as the treatment instrument insertion channel is disposed in the pipe unit separately from the air / water pipe, etc., the suction for sucking dirty liquid and the like is provided. Tubes can be handled separately from other tubes. For example, the pipe unit can be subjected to a sterilization treatment using an autoclave or the like, and the washing operation can be performed efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a pipe structure (water supply pipe) of an endoscope (operation unit) according to a first example of an embodiment of the present invention, which is cut along a line II in FIG. 2;

2A and 2B show a connecting portion when the operating unit and the pipeline unit of FIG. 1 are separated, and FIG. 2A is a configuration diagram of a connecting unit on the operating unit side, and FIG. It is a block diagram.

FIG. 3 shows a pipe structure of an air supply pipe of a first example, and FIG.
It is sectional drawing cut | disconnected by the II line.

FIG. 4 shows a pipe structure of the suction pipe of the first example, and is indicated by III in FIG.
It is sectional drawing cut | disconnected by the III line.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the operation unit [FIG. 1 (A)] and the support unit [FIG. 2 (B)] of the operation unit when the pipeline unit is removed from the operation unit in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a structure of a second example of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a view of the operation unit of FIG. 7 viewed from a rear end side.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a conventional electronic endoscope.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 10: electronic endoscope, 1C, 10C: operation unit, 14: processor device, 16: solenoid valve unit, 18: conduit unit, 20A: suction button, 20B: air / water supply button, 22A, 22B ...
Water pipe, 31A, 31B ... Air pipe, 35A, 35
B, 40A, 40B ... suction tube, 22E, 22F, 3
1E, 31F, 35E, 41E ... opening, 24 ...
Receiving part, 25 ... Operation ring, 26, 33 ... Plug member, 43 ... Attachment.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A front pipeline disposed from a distal end to an operation unit, a rear pipeline disposed from the operation unit to a pipeline control unit via a cable, and an outer peripheral portion of the operation unit can be exposed. The opening of the front and rear conduits arranged in the, the folded portion connected to the opening of these front and rear conduits, forming a folded space of the flow path, detachable with respect to the opening of the operating portion or the folded portion, Attachment to secure the folded part at the time of installation, and to expose the opening of the front and rear pipes at the time of removal,
A pipe structure for an endoscope, comprising: 2. An air supply pipe and a water supply pipe are arranged as the front and rear pipes, and a suction pipe also serving as a treatment tool insertion channel is provided with a pipe for guiding the pipe to a pipe control unit through a separate path from the cable. 2. The conduit structure for an endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the conduit structure is provided in a unit, and the function of the attachment is added to the conduit unit.