JPH0328213B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a switching device that makes it possible to clean the inside of an air supply pipe disposed within an insertion section of an endoscope.

In an endoscope for observing the inside of a body cavity, when the endoscope is inserted into the body cavity, the observation window provided at the tip of the insertion part becomes dirty with mucus, dirt, etc., and a clear field of view cannot be secured. Therefore, a nozzle facing the observation window is installed near the observation window, and a cleaning liquid is sprayed onto the observation window through this nozzle to clean it. After that, air is supplied from another pipe to remove water droplets remaining on the surface of the observation window. Ensures a clear field of vision. The air supply pipe is also used to supply air when inflating the inside of the body cavity to ensure a distance between the tip of the tube for insertion into the body cavity and the wall of the body cavity during observation. For this reason, the pressure inside the body cavity is slightly higher than the outside air, so there is a risk that contrast medium, gastric juice, filth, etc. leaked into the body cavity may enter each pipe through each nozzle and cause contamination. Water pipes can be cleaned to some extent by supplying water, but air supply pipes cannot be sufficiently cleaned by supplying air alone, so if they are left unwashed after use, dirt will dry and adhere to the inner walls of the pipes. Not only is this extremely unsanitary, but if this situation is repeated continuously, dirt may accumulate in the pipes, reducing the air flow rate and clogging the pipes, which may impede future inspections. happen. Therefore, there has been a strong desire for a means for easily cleaning the air pipe by flowing a cleaning liquid or a disinfectant into the air pipe.

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to easily clean the inside of the pipe by suctioning cleaning liquid, disinfectant, etc. from the air nozzle at the tip of the air pipe. The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that allows endoscopy to be performed in a clean state.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings. 1 to 5 are cross-sectional views of an air/water supply operation section 41 and a suction operation section 42 provided in an operation section of an endoscope (not shown). FIG. 1 shows a normal state, and FIG. 2 shows a state when suction is performed through the forceps port. Further, FIG. 3 shows the air supply state, FIG. 4 shows the water supply state, and FIG. 5 shows the state of cleaning and disinfection of the air supply pipe by suction.

First, the configurations of the air/water supply operation section 41 and the suction operation section 42 in the apparatus of the present invention will be explained based on FIG. 1. The air/water supply operation section 41 has a cylinder section 1 and a piston 2. The open end of the cylinder section 1 is screwed and fixed to the outer wall 3 of the endoscope via a fixed ring 4, and serves as a communication switching means 43. also works. On one side of the body of the cylinder section 1, an air supply pipe 5, a water supply pipe 6, which communicate with a well-known air and water supply mechanism (not shown), a water suction pump (suction mechanism), also not shown, and a suction operation section 42, which will be described later, are connected. Communication path 7
is piped. On the other hand, on the other side of the body of the cylinder section 1, an air pipe 10 and a water pipe 11 extending to the distal end 9 of the body cavity insertion tube, an air pipe 12 communicating with the air pipe 10, and a water pipe 11 are provided. A water pipe 13 communicating with the pipe 11 and a ventilation pipe 14 open to the outside of the operating section are installed. The piston part 2 is slidably inserted into the cylinder part 1.
One end flange portion of the piston portion 2 and the fixed ring 4
The spring 1 provided between the fixed tube 15 screwed into the
The biasing ring 18, which is slidably disposed between the spring 16 and the fixed cylinder 15, normally causes the flange side to protrude due to the biasing force of the spring 17.
A part of the fixing tube 15 is caused to protrude from the fixed tube 15 by the urging force of the fixing tube 15. Further, a ventilation passage 19 passes through the piston portion 2 in the axial direction, and an annular groove 20 for water supply and an annular groove 21 for cleaning the air pipe are formed on the circumferential surface, and an annular groove 22 for air supply is formed in the lower part. are formed respectively.
Further, a flange portion 23 that narrows the air passage connecting the air supply pipe 5 and the air supply pipe 12 via the air supply annular groove 22 is formed at the lower end of the piston portion 2 .

The suction operation section 42 has a cylinder section 24 and a piston section 25, and the open end of the cylinder section 24 is screwed and fixed to the outer wall 3 of the endoscope via the fixing ring 4. The body of the cylinder section 24 has a communication passage 7 whose one end opens to the cylinder section 1 of the air/water supply operation section 41 and a suction pipe 8 that communicates with a suction pump (not shown), and the bottom thereof communicates with a forceps channel (not shown). A suction pipe 29 is installed in each case.
A piston portion 25 that is slidable on the cylinder portion 24
is biased in a direction in which the flange side protrudes by a spring 26 provided between the one end flange portion of the piston portion 25 and the fixed cylinder 27 screwed into the fixed ring 4, and the piston An annular groove 28 for suction is formed at the lower end of the portion 25 .

Next, the air and water supply operation section 41 and the suction operation section 4
The second operation method will be explained.

In a normal state as shown in FIG. 1, most of the air sent into the cylinder section 1 through the air supply pipe 5 is discharged to the outside through the air passage 19 of the piston section 2. In the state shown in FIG.
However, the inside of the cylinder portion 1 and the annular groove 22 for air supply are narrowed by a flange 23, and the air supply pipe 10 communicated with the air supply pipe 12 is Since it is disposed over the entire length of the body cavity and is a thin tube, it has a large resistance, and for the above reasons, even if air from the air supply pipe 5 flows, only a small amount flows into the body cavity. On the other hand, the air flow to the suction pump (not shown) passes through the ventilation pipe 14 whose one end is open outside the operating section of the endoscope, the annular groove 21 for cleaning the air supply pipe, and the communication path 7. It flows through a suction cleaning annular groove 28 into a suction pipe 8 that communicates with a suction pump.

Next, a case will be described in which a suction operation is performed via a forceps channel (not shown) that is normally opened at the insertion tube distal end 9 and disposed over the entire length of the insertion tube.
As shown in FIG. 2, when one end of the piston section 25 is pushed a certain amount into the cylinder section 24 against the spring 26, the air passage 7 is closed, and the suction tube 8 and the proximal end of the forceps channel (not shown) are closed. A pipe 29 is connected to the insertion tube, and suction is performed from the forceps port at the tip 9 of the insertion tube.

When air is supplied from the insertion tube tip 9, by blocking the open end of the ventilation passage 19 with your finger as shown in FIG. It is no longer possible to escape to the outside via the air supply pipe 19, and the air is sent into the air supply pipe 12 via the annular groove 22 for air supply, and
It is released from the insertion tube tip 9 via. At this time, since the water supply pipe 6 is closed by the peripheral wall of the piston portion 2, water is not supplied to the water supply pipe 1.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which water is supplied from the insertion tube tip 9, and shows the piston 2 at a position where the flange of the piston 2 contacts one end of the urging ring 18 against the urging force of the spring 16. When it is pushed in, the water supply annular groove 20 formed on the circumferential surface of the piston portion 2 faces the water supply pipe 6 and the water supply pipe 13, respectively, so that the water sent from the water supply pipe 6 is transferred to the water supply pipe 13.
The water is sent to the water pipe 11 through the water supply pipe 11 and is discharged from the tip 9 of the insertion pipe.

Next, a case will be described in which the suction cleaning operation of the air supply pipe according to the present invention is performed.

Insert tube tip 9 into pre-prepared cleaning disinfectant solution.
The piston portion 2 is further pushed from the push-in position shown in FIG. 4 to the position shown in FIG. 5 against the biasing forces of the springs 16 and 17, and the communication switching means 43 is activated. Then, the communication between the air supply pipe 5 and the air supply pipe 12 is cut off by the peripheral wall of the piston part 2, and the cleaning annular groove 21 formed on the circumferential surface of the piston part 2 faces the communication passage 7 and the air supply pipe 12, respectively. Since the communication path 7 and the air pipe 12 are communicated with each other, the cleaning disinfectant is applied to the air pipe 10, the air pipe 12, the cleaning annular groove 21, the communication path 7, the suction annular groove 28, and the suction pipe 8.
The air is sucked into the suction pump through
Cleaning and disinfection of the inside is carried out.

FIG. 6 shows the suction cleaning state of another embodiment of the device according to the present invention. In the above embodiment, the suction cleaning operation of the air pipe is performed by the communication switching means 43 provided in the air/water supply operation section 41. However, in this embodiment, a suction cleaning operating section 44 having the communication switching means 43 is newly provided, and is made independent of the air/water supply operating section 41. Note that the air and water supply operation and the suction operation mechanism via the forceps channel are the same mechanisms as those shown in the description of the above embodiment, so the same reference numerals will be given here and the explanation will be omitted.

In FIG. 6, a suction cleaning operation section 44, which is provided separately from the air and water supply operation section 41, has a cylinder section 31 that is screwed and fixed to the outer wall of the endoscope via a fixing ring 4, and a cylinder section 31 that slides onto the cylinder section 31. It consists of a piston part 30 that is movably inserted and urged in the protruding direction by a spring 32, and the piston part 30 is formed with a ventilation passage 33 and an annular groove 21a for suction cleaning. Also,
The cylinder part 31 includes an air pipe 12 that communicates with the air pipe 10 , a communication passage 7 that opens one end to the cylinder 24 of the suction operation part 42 , and a communication passage that opens one end to the cylinder part 1 of the air and water supply operation part 41 . 34 are piped. Therefore, when the piton part 30 of the suction cleaning operation part 44 is pushed in while closing the ventilation passage 33 as shown in FIG. 6, the annular groove 21a for suction cleaning
faces the communication path 7 that communicates with a suction pump (not shown) via the air supply pipe 12 and the suction operation section 42, and communicates the air supply pipe 12 with the communication path 7, so that cleaning and disinfection can be performed by the suction force of the suction pump. A liquid or the like flows through the air pipe 10, and the air pipe 10 is cleaned and disinfected.

In addition, in the normal state, the piston portion 30 is in the position shown by the dotted line, so the air supply pipe 12 communicates with the communication path 34 via the suction cleaning annular groove 21a.
On the other hand, the communication path 7 communicates with the ventilation path 33.

Since the switching device of the present invention is configured as described above, selective air supply, water supply, suction, and cleaning and disinfection are possible. Normally, air supply can be carried out quickly through the air supply pipe, and suction can be carried out quickly through the suction pipe, but simply by operating the communication switching means, the air supply pipe The intake pump can be easily communicated. By simply soaking the tip of the endoscope's insertion tube in a cleaning liquid or disinfectant and operating the communication switching means, cleaning liquid, etc. can easily enter the air pipe, removing body fluids that adhere to the air pipe. Dirt, etc. can be easily cleaned and disinfected. Therefore, infection due to residual filth and clogging of pipes due to accumulation of filth can be prevented without using any special equipment.

In addition, in the embodiment, only the case where the air supply pipe and the water supply pipe are separately installed has been described, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and the air supply pipe and the water supply pipe are arranged with 11 pipes. Those skilled in the art can easily guess that it is applicable when used in combination.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 5 are cross-sectional views of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention. 1, 24, 31...Cylinder part, 2, 25, 30
... Piston part, 7... Communication path, 8... Suction pipe, 9... Insertion tube tip, 10... Air supply pipe, 29... Suction pipe (intake pipe), 41... Air and water supply operation section (air supply operation section), 42... Suction operation section, 43... Communication switching means.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Switching of an endoscope having a suction operation unit that operates suction by a suction mechanism, an air supply operation unit that operates air supply by an air supply mechanism, and an insertion tube inserted into a body cavity. In the apparatus, an intake pipe that opens at the distal end of the insertion tube is communicated with the suction mechanism when the suction operation section is operated; and an intake pipe of the insertion tube is communicated with the air supply mechanism when the air supply operation section is operated. an air supply pipe that opens at a distal end; a communication passage that communicates the air supply pipe with the suction mechanism; and a communication passage that connects the suction operation section with the intake pipe through the communication passage. A switching device for an endoscope, comprising: communication switching means communicating with a suction mechanism. 2. The endoscope switching device according to claim 1, wherein the communication switching means is provided in the air supply operation section.