JPS6332450B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an air and water supply device for an endoscope that is capable of supplying water to an air supply tube to clean it.

An endoscope generally consists of a tip, an insertion tube, an operating section, and an eyepiece.The tip has an observation window, an objective lens, and an opening for air and water supply, and the insertion tube has an optical fiber. It houses tubes for air and water supply, etc.

When observing the inside of a body cavity with an endoscope, an image of the area to be examined is formed by the objective lens through the observation window onto the end face of the optical fiber bundle, and this image is transmitted to the eyepiece by the optical fiber bundle. The examiner observes the transmitted image through an eyepiece provided in the eyepiece. If the organ position of the examined part is narrow and the examined part and the observation window are too close to each other, which hinders observation, air is supplied using an air supply tube, and an air supply opening provided at the tip of the examination part is used. Then, this is ejected into the organ, causing the organ to expand and ensuring the distance necessary for observation between the test area and the observation window.

In addition to the above-mentioned functions, the air supply tube and the air supply opening are also provided with the function of cleaning the observation window by removing mucus, dirt, etc. adhering to the observation window with the air jetted from the air supply opening. . Furthermore, if the observation window cannot be completely cleaned by this air supply, water is jetted onto the observation window from a water supply opening provided alongside the air supply opening to clean the observation window. In this way, the air supply opening is generally provided to protrude from the front end surface of the tip for the purpose of blowing air onto the observation window. However, such a protruding air supply opening sometimes scrapes the mucous membrane when the tip is inserted, and the scraped mucous membrane sometimes blocks the air supply opening. In addition, as mentioned above, when an organ is inflated by air supply and observed, the pressure inside the body cavity increases due to the expansion, but when air supply is stopped, mucus in the body cavity such as gastric juice flows into the air supply tube. It may flow back into the body. Further, when the pressure inside the body cavity is equal to atmospheric pressure, such a backflow phenomenon does not occur, but the mucus may infiltrate into the air supply tube due to capillary action. Although it is possible to discharge some of the mucus that has entered in this way through the air supply opening after the examination, it is not possible to completely discharge the mucus that has adhered to the inner wall of the air supply tube, and the endoscope If the product is hung and stored on a hanger or the like, residual mucus may gradually accumulate in the air supply opening, solidify in that state, and block the air supply opening.

In addition, endoscopes used for patients with infectious diseases such as HB antigen-positive patients or patients with syphilis may have pathogens attached to them along with the mucus, and the same endoscope may be used for other subjects without completely cleaning and removing the pathogens. If used, it is dangerous as there is a risk of infecting other patients with the pathogen.

Furthermore, when disinfecting the endoscope after an examination, if the disinfectant that has adhered to the air tube is not completely removed, the remaining disinfectant may solidify in the air supply opening and block the opening. Sometimes.

The present invention was made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides an air and water supply device for an endoscope that allows easy switching of air and water supply and also makes it easy to supply and clean the inside of the air tube. This is what we provide.

The invention will now be described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an operating section of the endoscope, 2 is an insertion tube section inserted into a body cavity, 3 is a distal end section, and 4 is an eyepiece section for observing a subject. An optical fiber bundle 5 (partially omitted from the illustration) is housed in the insertion tube section 2, and an image of the test area formed by an observation window 6 provided at the distal end 3 and an objective lens 7 is formed by the optical fiber bundle 5. The signal is then transmitted to the eyepiece section 4. There is also an observation window 6 on the tip 3.
An air supply opening 8 and a water supply opening 9 are provided which open toward the air supply opening 8 and a water supply opening 9, and the insertion tube section 2 has an air supply tube 1 for supplying air and water to the air supply opening 8 and the water supply opening 9, respectively.
0 and a water supply tube 11 are housed therein. The insertion tube section 2 also houses other forceps channels, but they are not shown because they are not necessary for explaining the present invention.

A pump 12 and a tank 13 for air and water supply are separate from the endoscope, and the tank 13 is of a closed type, and water is stored with an air layer left at the top. The air supply tube 10a, the water supply tube 11a, and the air supply pipe 14 from the pump 12 are connected to the tank 13, and the end of the water supply tube 11a is opened in the water stored in the tank 13, and the air supply tube The end of the air supply pipe 10a and the end of the air supply pipe 14 are opened into the air layer. The other ends of the air supply tube 10a and the water supply tube 11a are connected to the air and water supply operating section A, respectively. The air/water supply operating section A consists of a cylinder 15 and a piston 16 fitted into the cylinder 15. The cylinder 15 has an air supply tube 10a from the tank 13.
In addition to the water supply tube 11a, an air supply tube 10b and a water supply tube 11b, which connect the air and water supply operating section A and the water supply switching operation section B, are connected. The piston 16 is constructed by screwing a fastening fitting 17 attached to the shaft portion 16a onto the cylinder 15, and by abutting the fastening fitting 17 and the corner portion 16b, the piston 16 is tightened.
The piston 16 is prevented from coming out of the cylinder 15, and the piston 16 is urged upward in FIG. 1 by a coil spring 18. The piston 16 is provided with a through hole 19 in its axial direction, and a wide communication groove 20 is bored as a communication portion on the circumferential surface of the piston 16 approximately at the center thereof. Each tube and piston 16 in the above configuration
To explain the positional relationship with the tank 13, when the piston 16 is urged by the spring 18 and is in contact with the fastening fitting 17 (hereinafter referred to as the piston raised state), the piston 16 is connected to the tank 13. Air supply tube 1
0a to the lower space of the cylinder 15 below the piston 16, and the water supply tube 11a to the cylinder 1
Furthermore, the air supply tube 10b is connected to the lower space of the cylinder 15 at a position slightly higher in FIG. 1 than the connection position of the air supply tube 10a. It's connected. The water supply tube 11b is connected to the lower part of the piston 16 in a closed position. As a result, when the piston 16 is completely pushed down (hereinafter referred to as the piston-down state), the air supply tube 10a is closed by the piston 16, and the air supply tube 10b is located at the bottom of the piston 16. Although it is closed, the water supply tube 11a
The upper part of the communication groove 20 is still kept open, and the water supply tube 11b is now opened at the lower part of the communication groove 20.

The water supply switching operation unit B consists of a cylinder 21 and a piston 22, and the piston 22 is connected to the piston 16.
Similarly, a tightening fitting 23 is attached to the shaft portion 22a.
The piston 22 is screwed onto the cylinder 21 to prevent the piston 22 from coming out of the cylinder 21. This piston 22 is also urged upward in FIG. 1 by a coil spring 24. Further, a wide communication groove 25 is provided on the circumferential surface of the piston 22 as a communication portion.
An air supply tube 10b is connected to the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder 21 near the bottom at a position higher than the connection position of the air supply tube 10b.
Air supply tubes 10 communicating with the air supply openings 8 of the tip portion 3 are connected to positions lower than the bottom surface of the pistons 22 when the pistons 22 are raised. In addition, the cylinder 21 is connected to the cylinder 21 so that the water supply tubes 11 and 11b are connected to the upper and lower parts of the communication groove 20, respectively, when the piston 22 is raised. The connection position between the cylinder 21 and the cylinder 21 is also set at an intermediate height between the connection position of the water supply tube 11 and the connection position of the air supply tube 10 to the cylinder 21. A check valve 26 is provided in the middle of the air supply tube 10b to prevent mucus, dirt, etc. from flowing back from the air supply opening 8 of the tip 3. An O-ring 27 is appropriately fitted to prevent water or air from leaking.

According to the first embodiment of the present invention, the piston 1
6 and 22 are raised, the water supply tube 11
b is closed by the piston 16, water is not supplied to the water supply opening 9, and the air sent by the pump 12 is passed through the air supply tubes 10, 10.
Although a and 10b are in communication, the air flows out through the through hole 19, which has lower air flow resistance than the air supply tubes 10 and 10b.
Air is not supplied to the air supply opening 8. In this state, if the examiner closes the external opening of the through hole 19 with his finger, the air sent by the pump 12 will be transferred to the air supply tube 1.
0, 10b and is ejected from the air supply opening 8. Next, when the piston 16 is pushed down, the air sent by the pump 12 is blocked by the piston 16, so that the internal pressure of the tank 13 increases and the water in the tank 13 is pushed out. In this way, the water sent from the water supply tube 11a is transferred to the communication groove 20,
The water is discharged from the water supply opening 9 through the water supply tube 11b, the communication groove 25, and the water supply tube 11. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, when the piston 22 is pushed down while the piston 16 is pushed down, the communication groove 2
5 to the water supply tube 11b and the air supply tube 1
0 is in communication with the pump 12 so that the water pumped by the pump 12 is discharged through the air delivery tube 10 and out of the air delivery opening 8.

In the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the piston of the air/water supply operating section A is different from that in the first embodiment. The piston in this embodiment has an upper piston 28 and a lower piston 29 coaxially formed. The upper piston 28 is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment, and the lower piston 29 has its shaft portion 29a penetrated through the through hole 30 of the upper piston 28 and protruded outward from the upper part. Therefore, the lower piston 29 is urged so that the lower surface of the upper piston 28 and the upper surface of the lower piston 29 come into close contact with each other in the axial direction. A through hole 32 is formed in the lower piston 29, and a communication hole 33 is formed in the base of the shaft portion 29a.

In the second embodiment, when both the pistons 28 and 29 are raised as shown in FIG.
Since the air supply tube 10b and the water supply tube 11b are closed by the piston 29 and the piston 28, respectively, the air compressed by the pump 12 is discharged to the outside through the through hole 32. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, when the shaft portion 29a is pressed against the weak urging force of the spring 31, the lower piston 2
Only 9 moves downward in the figure. Thereby, through the space formed between the lower surface of the piston 28 and the upper surface of the piston 29 and the through hole 33,
2 and the air supply tube 10b, air is sent to the air supply tube 10 by the pump 12. Other than the above operation, this embodiment is the same as the first embodiment.

The third embodiment shown in FIG. 5 differs from the first embodiment in that the other end of the water supply tube 11, one end of which is connected to the water supply opening 9 of the endoscope distal end 3, is connected to the air and water supply operating section A. This is the point where it is connected to the cylinder 15. That is, in this embodiment, cylinder 1
5 and the water supply tubes 11 and 11b, in the first embodiment, the water supply tube 11 is connected to the position where the water supply tube 11b was connected, and the water supply tube 11b is the same as the water supply tube 1 of the first embodiment.
It is connected at the same height as 1a. With this configuration, in this embodiment, the water supply tube 11a and the communication groove 25 of the piston 22 are in communication regardless of the state of the piston 16, so the piston 1
Regardless of the state of the air supply opening 8 through the air supply tube 10, simply by pushing down the piston 22.
The water in the tank 13 can be sent out from the tank 13.

In the fourth embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the water tube system is similar to that of the third embodiment, but
As shown in the figure, with both pistons 16 and 22 raised, the cylinder 15 and water supply tube 11
The connection position with one end of water tube 11b corresponds to the upper part of the communication groove 20, and the connection position between the other end of the water tube 11b and the cylinder 21 corresponds to the lower part of the piston 22 and is lower than the communication groove 25. The difference is that Regarding the air supply tube system, in the above state, the air supply tube 10a from the tank 13 is connected to the lowest part of the cylinder 21, and the air supply tube 10c is connected to the cylinder 21 at a position slightly above the bottom surface of the piston 22. , cylinder 1
5 is connected to the air supply tube 10b at the bottom of the cylinder 15, and the cylinder 15 is connected to the piston 1.
6, the air supply tube 10 is connected to the cylinder 21 at a position corresponding to the upper part of the communication groove 25 of the piston 22, and the air supply tube 10 is connected to the cylinder 21 at a position corresponding to the lower part of the communication groove 25 of the piston 22. It's connected. In this embodiment, by lowering the piston 22 when the piston 16 is in the raised position, water can be supplied to the air supply tube 10 as shown in FIG. 7.

A major feature of the fifth embodiment shown in FIGS. 8 to 10 is that, unlike the previously described embodiments, the device is formed of only one set of piston and cylinder. For this reason, in this embodiment, a communicating portion is formed in the piston 34. That is, not only is a wide communication groove 35 provided on the outer periphery of the piston 34, but the communication groove 35 is connected to a narrow communication groove 36 that goes around the piston below the communication groove 35, and is connected above the communication groove 35. A communication hole 37 is formed which is continuous with the groove 36 and opens. As biasing members for this piston 34, there are two types of coil springs 38, strong and weak.
39 are wound around the shaft portion 34a of the piston 34 in series. With the piston 34 fully raised,
The air supply tube 10a from the tank 13 is connected to the cylinder 40 at a position corresponding to the middle of the space formed by the bottom surface of the piston 34 and the cylinder 40, and the delivery tube 10 is connected to the position corresponding to the vicinity of the bottom surface of the piston 34 in the space. The water supply tube 11a is connected to the cylinder 40 at a position corresponding to the lower part of the communication groove 35, and the water supply tube 11 is connected to the cylinder 40 at a position corresponding to the communication groove 36. According to this embodiment, when the piston 34 is raised as shown in FIG. It is discharged to the outside through the few through holes 19. In this state, if the through hole 19 is closed with a finger, air passes through the air supply tube 10 and blows out from the air supply opening 8. Next, weak spring 39
When the piston 34 is pushed down one step against the urging force of , the air supply tube 10 is closed by the piston 34 and the water supply tube 11
The water supply tube 11a communicates with the water supply tube 11a through a communication groove 35, and water from the tank 13 is sent to the water supply tube 11. Furthermore, the piston 34 is
8, the water supply tube 11a and the air supply tube 10 communicate with each other through the communication hole 37 and the communication groove 36, and the tank 13
water is sent to the air tube 10.

According to the air and water supply device for an endoscope according to the present invention,
It is possible to switch between air and water supply by simply pushing the piston. Moreover, since water can be supplied to the air tube with the same simple operation, it is easy to remove mucus, pathogens, etc. that have adhered to the air tube during endoscopy, as well as disinfectant that has adhered to the air tube during post-examination disinfection. It is possible to wash and remove it. Therefore, there is no possibility that the air supply opening will be blocked due to the solidification of the mucus or the like, or that the remaining pathogenic bacteria will infect other patients.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal side view showing the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal side view showing the water supply switching operation section of the same embodiment, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are the operation section of the second embodiment. FIG. 5 is a longitudinal side view showing the third embodiment with the insertion tube portion and tip portion omitted; FIG.
7 and 7 are longitudinal sectional side views showing the fourth embodiment with the insertion tube portion and the distal end portion omitted, and FIGS. 8 to 10 are longitudinal sectional side views showing the operating portion of the fifth embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Operation part, 2... Insertion tube part, 3... Tip part, 4... Eyepiece part, 8... Air supply opening, 9... Water supply opening, 10, 10a, 10b, 10c... Air supply Tube, 11, 11a, 11b... Water supply tube, 12... Pump, 13... Tank, 15, 2
1,40...Cylinder, 16,22,34...Piston, 19,30,32...Through hole, 20,2
5, 35, 36... Communication groove, 33... Communication hole.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An air supply channel system from a pressurized water storage tank to an air supply opening at the distal end of the endoscope via an air supply tube, and an air supply passage system from the tank to the water supply opening at the distal end via a water supply tube. In an endoscope having a flow path switching member that is a combination of a piston and a cylinder that alternately communicates and blocks the respective flow path systems with respect to the individual flow path systems, By pressing down the piston, which is different from the communication and shutoff operation for switching air supply and water supply of the path switching member, a part of the air supply flow path from the tank to the air supply opening is shut off, and at least the insertion tube is In order to connect the water supply tube connected via the flow path switching member to the air supply tube accommodated in the section, the piston is provided with a communication groove, and the cylinder is provided with a corresponding communication groove and the An air and water supply device that forms a pressurized water outlet connected to an air supply tube on the air supply opening side.