JPS6111086B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an endoscope cleaning nozzle that sprays cleaning water and air onto the surface of an observation objective cover glass of an endoscope, and a method for manufacturing the nozzle.

Generally, when the insertion section of an endoscope is inserted into a patient's body cavity, foreign substances such as blood and mucus adhere to the surface of the objective cover glass for observation, which prevents clear observation. Therefore, the surface of the objective cover glass must be cleaned. There is a need to. Conventionally, the method for cleaning the surface of an objective cover glass is to provide a cleaning nozzle that opens toward the surface of the objective cover glass, first spray cleaning water through this cleaning nozzle, and then blow air through the same cleaning nozzle. This is done by spraying to remove moisture remaining on the surface of the objective cover glass and drying it.

However, since the cleaning nozzle is installed in a narrow space on the distal end surface of the insertion section of the endoscope, its flow path must be formed by sharply bending it at an angle of 90 degrees or more in a short section. Conventionally, they have been formed into special shapes as shown in FIGS. 1, 4, and 6, respectively. In other words, the one in Fig. 1 is made by cutting off a part of the pipe 1 as shown in Fig. 3, bending it at the notch 2, aligning the cut surfaces, and joining them by brazing or the like. . The pipes shown in FIGS. 4 and 6 are formed by forming a circular hole 4 or a groove-like hole 5 on the side surface of the tip of a pipe 3 whose tip is closed.

Therefore, each of the above-mentioned cleaning nozzles has a second
As shown in FIGS. 5, 5, and 7, the flow paths 6, 7, and 8 are configured to sharply bend at an angle of 90 degrees or more in a short section. Therefore, each of the flow channels 6, 7, and 8 has a corner A where the flow direction suddenly changes, and a vortex is generated in the flow at this corner, making it difficult for water to flow smoothly. For this reason, after water supply,
Even when air is sent, the water accumulates in part A and remains without being discharged all at once, and is gradually mixed with the air and discharged. In other words, when air should be blown to remove moisture remaining on the surface of the objective cover glass and dry it,
New water droplets will be sprayed one after another again, which will have a negative effect on the observation field of view, and it will take a longer time to completely remove and dry the remaining moisture on the surface of the objective cover glass. This has the drawback of prolonging the examination time and placing a burden on both the operator and the patient.

In addition, at the brazed part of the notch shown in Figure 2, the brazing material may seep into the pipe and create resistance in the flow path, or the brazed part may come off and the bent part of the pipe may fall off, causing cleaning of the objective cover glass. Not only was this impossible, but the edge of the pipe remaining at the end of the endoscope could damage the body cavity wall.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to clean the surface of an objective cover glass by using the same nozzle for water supply and air supply, but after water supply, To provide a cleaning nozzle for an endoscope capable of quickly discharging moisture remaining inside when air is supplied, and a method for manufacturing the same.

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

Reference numeral 11 in FIG. 8 is the tip of a direct-viewing endoscope using the cleaning nozzle 12 of the present invention. A hood 1 is provided on the outer periphery of the endoscope tip 11.
3 is detachably attached, and the hood 13 protrudes around the distal end surface 14.
On the distal end surface 14 of the endoscope distal end section 11, an observation objective cover glass 15 and an illumination cover glass 16 are installed side by side. The objective lens 18 of the observation optical system 17 is installed inside the observation objective cover glass 15, and is configured to form an image on the end face of the optical fiber bundle 19 for transmitting observation light. Furthermore, an end face of an optical fiber bundle 20 for transmitting illumination light is installed inside the cover glass 16 for illumination.

On the other hand, the cleaning nozzle 12 is installed on the side of the observation objective cover glass 15, with the nozzle opening 21 facing the outer surface thereof. The cleaning nozzle 12 is communicated with a water supply pipe 23 and an air supply pipe 24 in the endoscope tip 11, and selectively receives the supply of cleaning water and air therefrom to clean the observation objective cover glass. It is designed to spray onto the surface of 15. Note that water supply and air supply are performed by valve switching operations at the proximal operation section of the endoscope. That is, during water supply, the cleaning water sent through the water supply pipe 23 is sprayed toward the surface of the observation objective cover glass 15 to remove foreign substances such as blood and mucus adhering to the surface of the objective cover glass 15. Wash. After this water supply is stopped, air sent through the air supply pipe 24 is blown onto the surface of the observation objective cover glass 15 to remove moisture remaining on the surface and dry it.

Next, to explain the cleaning nozzle 12 in detail, as shown in FIGS. 9 to 13, one end of the pipe 25 is formed flat, and the tip thereof serves as the nozzle opening 21. It is formed by smoothly curving. In other words, the flow path 26 formed within the pipe 25
is bent at an angle of 90° or more so that its nozzle opening 21 faces the surface of the observation objective cover glass 15 when attached to the endoscope tip 11. Furthermore, since this cleaning nozzle 12 is bent by smoothly curving the flat end of the pipe 25 sideways, the inner surface of the flow path 26 is formed by a connected smooth curved surface. be done. Therefore, the cleaning water and air flowing through the flow path 26 can flow smoothly and quickly without swirling.

In addition, there is no resistance such as brazing material in the flow path.
Since the curved flow path is integrated, there are no parts that fall off, and there is no chance of damaging the body cavity wall.

Therefore, even if the cleaning water remains in the cleaning nozzle 12 after water supply, it can be discharged at once during the subsequent air supply. Therefore, water droplets will not be removed and blown out little by little over a long period of time during air supply, and water droplets will not adhere again to the surface of the objective cover glass 15 after drying. In other words, the surface of the objective cover glass 15 can be completely dried in a short time.

Next, a method for manufacturing the cleaning nozzle 12 will be explained based on FIGS. 14 to 19.

First, a cylindrical pipe 25 of equal diameter as shown in FIG. 14 is formed from a material that softens when heated, such as metal or resin. One end of this pipe 25 is heated by a burner 27 to soften it.

Then, as shown in FIG. 15, in order to secure a flow path 26 with a necessary inner diameter, that is, a constant cross-sectional area, a plurality of relatively thin wires 28 are inserted and filled. Furthermore, while heating the end portion as necessary, crush the end portion as shown in FIG. 16,
By arranging the wires 28 in a row, the wires 28 are formed into a flat shape. Thus, an elongated opening having a width equal to the outer diameter of each wire 28 is formed in the crushed tip portion. Then, the flattened end is curved sideways, that is, in a direction perpendicular to the long axis direction of the elongated opening, into a smooth circular arc. Note that it may be flattened and at the same time curved in a smooth circular arc. Further, it is preferable to fit a mold or the like into a portion of the pipe 25 that does not need to be deformed at this time to prevent deformation.

After the pipe 25 is hardened after the deformation process, all of the filled wires 28 are removed, resulting in the state shown in FIG. 18. Next, the 19th
It is completed by cutting both ends to a predetermined size as shown in the figure.

In the above embodiment, the end of the pipe 25 was heated before inserting the wires 28...
The heating may be performed only after the wires 28 are filled. However, if the pipe 25 is made of metal, the wires 28 will be oxidized by the heat, making it difficult to remove the wires 28 after that. It is desirable to fill with 28...

However, according to the above manufacturing method, since the pipe 25 is deformed by being filled with a plurality of wires 28..., the ends of the pipe 25 are crushed and flattened, and even if the pipe 25 is curved sideways, the pipe 25 remains constant over its entire length. A flow path with a cross-sectional area can be secured. Moreover, since the inside of the flow path 26 is formed by a smooth curved surface, the cleaning water and air can flow smoothly and quickly without causing any vortices or the like. Therefore, even if the cleaning water remains in the cleaning nozzle 22 after water supply, it can be discharged at once during subsequent air supply.

As explained above, according to the cleaning nozzle of the present invention, when air is supplied after water is supplied, the moisture remaining inside can be discharged all at once. Therefore,
It is possible to prevent moisture remaining inside the nozzle from being easily removed during air supply and being blown out little by little over a long period of time. In other words, water droplets are not allowed to adhere to the surface of the objective cover glass again during drying. Since the surface of the objective cover glass can be completely dried in a short time, the examination time can be shortened, and the burden on the operator and patient can be reduced accordingly.

Further, according to the manufacturing method of the present invention, the above-mentioned cleaning nozzle can be easily manufactured. That is, since the above-mentioned endoscope cleaning nozzle has small absolute dimensions, it cannot be manufactured by cutting or molding, but according to the manufacturing method of the present invention, a nozzle with the above-mentioned configuration can be easily manufactured. You will be able to do that. In addition, the number of sharply protruding corners can be relatively small, and the structure can be such that it does not damage the mucous membrane in the body cavity.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional washing nozzle, Fig. 2 is a side sectional view of the washing nozzle, Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a manufacturing method of the washing nozzle, and Fig. 4 is a different one. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional cleaning nozzle, and FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of the cleaning nozzle.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing another conventional cleaning nozzle, FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of the same cleaning nozzle, and FIG. 8 is a view showing the tip of an endoscope using the cleaning nozzle of the present invention. 9 is a side sectional view of the cleaning nozzle of the present invention, FIG. 10 is a bottom view of the cleaning nozzle, and FIG. 11 is the inside of FIG. 9.
A cross-sectional view along line XI-XI, Figure 12 is XII-XI in Figure 9.
Cross-sectional view along line XII, Figure 13 is in Figure 9 -
Cross-sectional view along the line, 14th, 15th, 16th, 18th,
FIG. 19 is a perspective view showing the manufacturing process of the cleaning nozzle, and FIG. 17 is a top view of FIG. 16. 11... Endoscope tip, 12... Cleaning nozzle, 14... Tip surface, 15... Objective cover glass, 17... Observation optical system, 18... Objective lens,
21...Nozzle port, 23...Water pipeline, 24...
Air supply pipe line, 25...pipe, 26...flow path, 28
...Wire.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a cleaning nozzle for an endoscope that sprays cleaning water and air with the nozzle opening directed toward the outer surface of an observation objective cover glass, the base end of the pipe is formed in a substantially circular shape, The tip is formed flat while continuously maintaining a substantially constant cross-sectional area toward the opening, and the tip is curved into a smooth arc in a direction substantially perpendicular to the long axis direction of the flat opening. 1. A nozzle for cleaning an endoscope, characterized by having a part. 2. In the manufacturing method of a cleaning nozzle for an endoscope, in which cleaning water and air are sprayed with the nozzle opening directed toward the outer surface of the observation objective cover glass, at least the tip of a pipe made of a heat-softening material is softened by heating. and filling the pipe with a plurality of wires, thereby deforming the tip into a flattened shape while ensuring a constant cross-sectional area,
A method for manufacturing an endoscope cleaning nozzle, characterized in that the tip is curved into a smooth arc substantially perpendicular to the long axis direction of the flat opening, and the wire is removed after hardening.