JPS59166128A - Dryer for endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an endoscope drying device for drying the inside of a waterproof endoscope.

Recently, an entirely waterproof device has been developed, and it is being considered that the entire device can be cleaned, disinfected, sterilized, etc. using liquid. However, even with this type of endoscope, if it is immersed in a chemical solution for a long period of time, water vapor may enter the endoscope from the tube made of 9.1 fat at the insertion site, etc. It turns out that there is a reason to gradually increase the humidity in the air. This phenomenon causes problems in the internal components of the internal bone, especially in the optical fiber bundle. In other words, each fiber element in the optical fiber bundle is tightened, and a solid lubricant is applied to one pile of each fiber element, thereby preventing its sliding action. However, if the insertion section is curved, there is a drawback that the fiber element may break (ω). It is necessary to dehumidify it.When dehumidifying with a drying device 6% (previous example that has been applied for) for this purpose, the degree of dehumidification is not known, so it is necessary to carry out the dehumidification regularly! However, each drying process takes a long time, and the dehumidification results lack reliability.

The present invention focuses on the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to automatically control the amount of drying processing necessary to dry the inside of an endoscope, and to easily and reliably perform appropriate dehumidification. An object of the present invention is to provide a drying device for an endoscope that can perform the treatment.

Hereinafter, each embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

1 to 7 show a first embodiment of the invention.

1 in Figure 1 is an endoscope body of a waterproof endoscope, which consists of an endoscope body 2, an ID operation part 2, a long insertion part 3 to be inserted into a body cavity, and a light guide cord 4. ing. The entire internal lock main body l is made of waterproof wood. Furthermore, the insertion section 3 has a curved tube 6 at the tip of the flexible tube 5.
The bending tube 6 is connected to the tip member 7 via the bending tube 6, and the bending tube 6 can be bent remotely by operating the operating section 2. The operation part 2 has an air/water supply switching device 8, a suction switching device 9, and a holder 1+torage insertion port 1.
O is provided.

A connector portion 11 is provided at the extending end of the light guide cord 4 (4), and the connector portion 11 is detachably connected to the socket of the light source device M12. As shown, a tube connection port 13 is provided on the circumferential surface of the connector portion 11 so as to communicate with the internal mirror body 1.This tube connection port 1
3 is provided with a cock 15 having a communication hole 14, and the cock 15 is rotated by an operating knob 16, and by selecting the direction of the communication hole 14, the tube connection port 13 is rotated. Open and close. In other words, in the direction shown in Figure 4 (
is closed and opened in the orientation shown in FIG. In addition, an opening 19 is formed in one side wall of the operating section 2 as shown in FIGS.
This opening 19 is hermetically closed by screwing and attaching the lid 22 having the 01J ring 21. Note that a groove 23 is formed on the outer surface of the lid 22 to insert a screwdriver or the like when attaching or removing the lid. ing.

Further, when dehumidifying, as shown in FIG. 2, the lid 22 is removed and the housing 24 incorporating the humidity sensing section is removed instead. That is, this housing 24 is made of a cylindrical member that is screwed into and detachably attached to the opening 19, and a plate-shaped porous filter 25 is attached to the outer open end of the housing 24. Ventilation with the outside is provided only through this porous filter 25. For the porous filter 25, a material having air permeability such as porous tetrafluoroethylene resin is selected. Further, a humidity sensor 26 as a humidity sensing section is attached to the inner open end of the housing 24,
The sensitive surface of the humidity sensor 26 faces the internal space of the endoscope body l. When the housing 24 is attached, the housing 24 protrudes into the internal space of the endoscope body 1.
A plurality of ventilation holes 27 are formed in the side wall portion of the housing 24, and the inside of the housing 24 and the internal space of the endoscope body 1 are communicated through these ventilation holes 27. Therefore, the inside of the endoscope main body l has its ventilation holes 2.
7... allows ventilation with the outside through the inside of the housing 24 and the porous filter 25.

On the other hand, the dehumidification drive device 17 has the ventilation tube 18
An air supply pump 28 communicating with the air supply pump 28 and a pump body i, iit control unit 29 for driving and controlling the air supply pump 28 are provided. The pump drive control section 29 is connected to the humidity sensor 26 via a cable 31, and receives a humidity detection signal from the humidity sensor 26.

FIG. 7 shows the electrical system in the above-mentioned endoscope drying device. That is, numeral 32 in FIG. 7 is an oscillation circuit, and the output of this oscillation circuit 32 is supplied to the humidity sensor 26 via a capacitor CI and a resistor R8. The resistance value is changed depending on the humidity surrounding the humidity sensor 261-iFfd. The humidity sensor 2 changes depending on the resistance value of this humidity sensor 26.
6 and resistor R8 is applied via an operational amplifier 33 to a rectifier circuit consisting of a diode D and a capacitor c2, and the output of this rectifier 1iJ1 path is applied to a comparator 3
It can be applied to one input terminal of 4. On the other hand, DC voltage ■. C
A resistor R4°R2 is connected in series. Resistance R1, R
The reference voltage V obtained at the connection point of z. 0 is compared with the output comparator 34 of the second rectifier circuit. Then, the output of this comparator 34 is received by the pump drive part 35, and when the inside of the endoscope main body J reaches a safe humidity, The operation of the air pump 28 is stopped.

Next, the operation of the endoscope drying device will be explained. Even if a waterproof endoscope is immersed in a chemical solution or water for cleaning, disinfection, or sterilization, steam will penetrate through the outer skin of the insertion section 3 and light kite cord 4 during the immersion, causing the endoscope to become damaged. The inside of the main body l becomes in a high humidity state. Therefore, this endoscope drying device is used. Instead, remove the body 22 that was blocking the aperture 19 on the endoscope main body l side, and attach the 7X housing 24 in its place as shown in FIG. Also,
Connect the ventilation tube 18 to the tube connection port 13 of the mirror (11), and open the cock 15. When these preparations are completed, operate the dehumidification drive device 17 and remove the air from the air supply pump 28. Follow the ventilation tube 18 to connect the connector part ll.
send it inside. This fed air further passes through the light guide cord 4 and reaches each interior of the endoscope main body J, and then the humid air inside the endoscope main body L is pumped through the ventilation holes 27. It passes through the housing 24 and the porous filter 25 and escapes to the outside. On the other hand, the humidity sensor 26 faces inside the endoscope body 1 and detects the humidity inside the endoscope body 1. Note that the air inside the endoscope is exhausted to the outside from time to time, but the problem with this is that the inside of the endoscope is pressurized and force is exerted, and the outside air is at atmospheric pressure and air flow is limited. Since the amount of humidity is small, outside air cannot flow back through the porous filter 25 and enter the interior, so the humidity sensor 26 does not measure the humidity of the outside air.

Thus, the oscillation circuit 32 drives the humidity sensor 26 with a short pulse voltage. Then, the output of the humidity sensor 26 is sent to the operational amplifier 33, and this output is rectified by the diode D and the core C2. This output is compared with the standard pressure (humidity) corresponding to the reference (humidity) value set in advance by the comparator 34. Then, when the above output exceeds the reference voltage Vcc, the pump drive gυ1 part is 35 to stop the operation of the air pump 28. Note that at this time, a display (not shown) may be operated.

In this way, the humidity inside the endoscope is sufficiently reduced to dry the inside, and the operation of the sharp drying device 6 can be automatically stopped.

8 and 9 show a second embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 8, the dehumidifying drive device 17 of this embodiment uses the ventilation tube 18 of the previous embodiment for suction and supply of air, and is connected to the ventilation tube 18 via a suction and air supply switching device 4. Suction pump 42 and air supply pump 43
These suction air supply switching device 4, suction pump 42, and air supply pump 43 can be controlled by a drive control section 44. In addition, the discharge of the air pump 43 (i
The iIH is provided with a heater 45 to heat the air to be discharged. As in the embodiment described above, each of the above sections is controlled by a drive control section 44 that operates using information detected by the humidity sensor 26. That is, after the suction pump 42 is operated to suction 4 Mm of high-humidity air inside, the suction air supply switching device wrinkle 41 is switched to the air supply pump 43 side. Then, the air pump 43 is actuated to send air heated by the heater 45 into the endoscope. By repeating this operation, the humidity inside the endoscope can be reduced.

On the other hand, in this method, the housing 28 is
When used, a certain amount of outside air is sucked in from the porous filter 25 during suction, so the humidity sensor 26 is
If the detection signal of It is preferable to perform the detection operation when the air is at rest. Although it is possible to perform the detection operation even when no air is being supplied, the most accurate measurement is possible when the air is at rest.

However, if there is no air permeability, such as by replacing the porous filter 250 portion of the housing 24 with an airtight member, there is no need to use the sand removal method. Of course, the measurement may be performed while the suction air supply is stopped. This point is also concentric in the case of the first embodiment.

FIGS. 10 and 11 (d) show a third embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment has a different connection method between the humidity sensing section and the dehumidification drive device 17, that is, the humidity sensing section is A humidity sensor 26 is always installed inside the endoscope, for example, inside the operation part z, and it is connected to the contact 51 provided in the tube connection port 13 via the cable 31 inserted into the light guide cord 4. Further, another cable 52 is inserted into the ventilation tube 18, and this cable 52 is connected to the pump E-section control section 29 of the dehumidification drive device 17, and is also connected to the tube connection port 1.
The ventilation tube for connecting the part 13 is connected to a contact 54 provided on the cap 53. The above nayubu connection port 13
The cap 53 is formed as shown in FIG. -f
The cap 53 is fitted onto the outer end fJl+ of the tube connection port 13, and the feeding is tightened by the link 55 [-, :1]. Maruko, OIJ for base 53
A song 6 is provided to ensure airtightness between the tube connection L part 13 and the cap 53. Furthermore, 57
is a holder made of an elastic material that holds the cock 15.

The contacts 51 and 5 are connected to the tube connection port 13 and the cap 53 so that they come into contact with each other when they are connected.
4 is provided. However, in this embodiment, each cable 91, 52 is connected by simply connecting the base 53 of the ventilation tube 718 to the tube connection port 13 of the connector 11 on the endoscope 1, and the humidity sensor 26 is dehumidified. It can be connected to the drive device 17. Note that other operations are similar to those in the previous embodiment. [Also, in this embodiment, the opening 19 may be made larger as in the first embodiment ψ1.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, the humidity sensing section may be provided in a portion other than the operating section. The dehumidifying drive device is used as an endoscope drying device 1.
'9 may be provided, and the removed TI() b'h operating device may be of other types.

1. In the third embodiment, in addition to the endoscope body, the opening 19 is not provided as in the case of the first embodiment, but this may be provided. Furthermore, in the case of the second embodiment, a desiccant material 11 may be incorporated instead of or in addition to the heater.

As explained above, according to the present invention, the humidity inside the endoscope is sufficiently reduced by operating the endoscope 9A drying device, and when the endoscope has been dried, the endoscope drying device detects this. automatically stops working. This avoids the inconvenience of drying, unnecessarily drying, or stopping when you want it to be completely dry.Moreover, the reliability of the dehumidification results increases, so you can use it with confidence. In addition, the operation is simple and appropriate dehumidification can be performed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the main parts, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the connection state between the light source device and the connector section, FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway side sectional view of the connection state, and FIG.
The figure also shows a partially cutaway side sectional view of 15U in the connected state indicated by L, No. 61 shows a cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the endoscope opening, and Fig. 7 shows the electrical system [gl]. A block diagram of the dehumidifying drive device according to the second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 9 is a time chart of its operation, and FIG. 10 is a block diagram of the third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. It is a side cross-sectional view showing a portion of the tube connection port and the cap. 1... Endoscope main body, 17... Dehumidification drive device-118
...Vent tube, 26...Humidity sensor, 28...
・Air supply pump, 29...Pump drive control unit, 31...
- Cable, 33... operational amplifier, 34... comparator 1/-, 35... pump drive section, 42... suction pump, 43... air supply pump, 44... drive control section, 5
2... Cable. Applicant's representative Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 4j 45 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11 R Procedural amendment, gゎ罎8.・-9゜Mr. Kazuo Wakasugi, Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office 1, Indication of the case, Patent Application No. 58-40500 2, Title of the invention: Endoscope drying device 3 Person making the amendment Patent applicant related to the case (037) Olympus Optical Industry Co., Ltd. 4, Agent 6 Contents of the amendment to the specification 7 subject to amendment (1) "I want to do it" in the third line from the bottom of page 13 of the specification is amended to "I don't want to do it". (2) Correct "humidity" on page 8, line 15 of the same page to "humidity." (3) "Automatically stop" on page 9, line 12 of the same page is corrected to "automatically stop."

Claims (1)

[Claims] An endoscope drying device that dries the inside of a waterproof endoscope, including a temperature removal drive device that ventilates and dehumidifies the inside of the endoscope, and a humidity detection device that detects the humidity inside the endoscope. a means for comparing the humidity detected by the humidity detecting means with a reference value; and a means for comparing the humidity detected by the humidity detecting means with a reference value, and a drying operation of the dehumidifying driving device when the humidity inside the endoscope reaches a certain humidity or less by the means for comparing. What is claimed is: 1. A drying device for an endoscope, comprising a control means for stopping the drying device.