JPH05199986A - Suction mechanism for endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the easy operation of a selector valve provided in the position of a connector for connecting a universal cord to a light source device in order to wash a suction route while holding an endoscope set on a hanger. CONSTITUTION:A valve changeover operating part is provided in a body operating part 1. The changeover valve is changed over from a non-operation state to a suction state by this valve changeover operating part, by which the filth in the body is sucked from a suction port 4 and is sent through a suction passage 5, the selector valve and a suction piping' into a suction container 8. This body operating part 1 is set on the hanger 50 and while an insertion part 2 is held hung down, the insertion part 2 is immersed into a washing liquid container 52. The selector valve 20 is changed over from the non-operation state to the suction state if an operating ring constituting the changeover means provided in the connector 3a for connecting the universal cord 3 connected to the light source device is operated. As a result, the suction route is washed by sucking the washing liquid from the washing liquid container 52.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a suction mechanism for an endoscope used for medical purposes for sucking bodily fluids and other contaminants from the inside of a body cavity or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an endoscope, as shown in FIG. 1, an insertion portion 2 to be inserted into a body cavity or the like is connected to a main body operation portion 1 and a light source device (in the case of an electronic endoscope). Universal cord 3 for connecting to the light source device and processor)
It is composed of and. Here, the medical endoscope is provided with a suction mechanism for sucking the body fluid in the body cavity and other dirt and discharging it to the outside of the body. As shown in FIG. 2, this suction mechanism has a suction port 4 at the tip of the insertion section 2.
At the same time, the suction passage 5 is connected to the suction port 4 to make the inside of the suction passage 5 a negative pressure and suck from the body cavity. Here, a suction valve 6 is inserted in the middle of the suction passage 5 so that the main body operation portion 1 of the endoscope can be operated by a finger of a hand, and the suction passage 5 is sucked by the suction valve 6. The first suction passage 5a on the port 4 side and the second suction passage 5b on the negative pressure source side are divided and these suction passages 5a, 5b are connected by a suction valve 6. The second suction passage 5b extends to the connection connector 3a of the universal cord 3, and the connection connector 3a is connected to a suction pipe 9 connected to a suction container 8 leading to a negative pressure source 7 such as an air pump. It

When the suction valve 6 is not operated, the first
Communication between the suction passage 5a and the second suction passage 5b is blocked, and the suction valve 6 is provided continuously.
The negative pressure source 7 is operated in an unloaded state by opening the second suction passage 5b to the atmosphere through the atmosphere opening port 11 formed in the operation button 10 protruding from the casing. Then, in order to perform the suction work, the atmosphere opening port 11 is closed by a finger operation to cut off the communication between the second suction passage 5b and the atmosphere, and then the second suction passage 5b is sucked into the first suction passage. The body fluid or the like is suctioned by the action of the negative pressure generated in the second suction passage 5a by communicating with the passage 5a, and is collected in the suction container 8 via the suction pipe 9.

[0004]

By the way, the suction path must be cleaned after the endoscope is used. The cleaning of the suction passage is usually performed by immersing the tip of the insertion portion in the cleaning liquid and switching the suction valve 6 to the suction state so that the cleaning liquid is circulated in the suction passage. However, after using the endoscope, in order to prevent the insertion portion 2 from touching the floor surface or the like, the main body operation portion 1 is hung on the hanger, and the insertion portion 2 is suspended and does not touch the floor surface after use. Since it is stored in such a state, it is preferable that the suction passage can be washed while being hung on a hanger. However, in order to perform this cleaning, it is necessary to operate the suction valve, and the suction valve 6 provided in the main body operation unit 1 is
Since the suction valve 6 is in a relatively high position when it is hung on a hanger, there is a drawback that the operability of the suction valve 6 is poor.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems in the prior art, and an object thereof is to make it possible to easily clean the suction passage even when the endoscope is mounted on a hanger. To do.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a switching valve in a connector to a light source device in a universal cord of an endoscope, and the switching valve is provided with a suction port connected to a suction port. The passage is connected to the suction pipe from the suction container, the suction pipe and the suction passage are disconnected from each other, and the suction pipe is in communication with the atmosphere. A switching operation is performed between the atmosphere and a suctioning state in which the switching operation is performed.The main body operation portion of the endoscope is provided with a valve switching operation portion for performing the switching operation of the switching valve, and the connection connector has the switching valve. It is characterized in that a switching means for switching to the suction state is provided.

[0007]

[Operation] When the valve switching operation section provided in the main body operation section is operated, the switching valve in the inoperative state is switched to the suction state, and the body dirt is sucked from the suction port, and the suction passage, the switching valve and the suction valve are sucked. It is sent to the suction container via piping. Here, the valve switching operation unit provided in the main body operation unit is operated by the finger of the hand holding the main body operation unit, and since the valve switching operation unit does not have a distribution route of the internal body waste, Does not touch the fingers. Further, after using the endoscope, the main body operation part is hung on the hanger and the insertion part is hung in a state where the insertion part is suspended, and the insertion part is immersed in the cleaning liquid container and is connected to the light source device. By operating the switching means attached to the switching valve provided on the connector of the universal cord, the switching valve can be switched from the non-operating state to the suction state, whereby the cleaning liquid is sucked from the cleaning liquid container and the suction passage is cleaned. Is done.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. In the following description, the same or equivalent members as those in the above-described conventional technique are designated by the same reference numerals.

In the figure, reference numeral 20 denotes a switching valve, and a casing 21 of the switching valve 20 is attached to a connecting connector 3a of a universal cord 3 and a main body 2
1a, the connecting portion 21b, and the pipe connecting portion 21c. The pipe connecting portion 21c is screwed into the connecting portion 21b, the connecting portion 21b is fitted into the cap nut 22 screwed to the main body portion 21a, and is brought into a connected state by the O-ring 23 housed inside the cap nut 22. It is held and the connecting portion 21b can be detached from the main body portion 21a by bending the O-ring 23.

A first valve body 24a is slidably mounted in the main body portion 21a, and a second valve body 24b is provided in the connecting portion 21b.
Is slidably installed, and the valve member 24 is configured by the first valve body 24a and the second valve body 24b. A communication passage 25 is provided in the valve member 24, and the tubular partition wall 2 is provided in the pipe connection portion 21c so as to face the communication passage 25.
6 are integrally connected to each other, and a communication hole 27 is formed in a side portion of the cylindrical partition wall 26. Therefore, the suction passage 5 and the suction pipe 9 communicate with each other through the communication passage 25 and the communication hole 27. Further, an atmosphere opening port 28 is formed in the connecting portion 21b.

The valve member 24 connects the suction pipe 9 to the atmosphere opening port 2
A non-operating state (state of FIG. 4) that communicates with the atmosphere through 8 and does not communicate with the suction passage 5 and a suction state in which this suction pipe 9 is blocked from the atmosphere opening port 28 and communicates with the suction passage 5. This is for performing switching between (state of FIG. 5). For this reason, an inward annular protrusion 29 is continuously provided on the second valve body 24b, and the annular protrusion 29 is slidable along the cylindrical partition wall 26. Therefore, FIG.
In this state, the annular projection 29 of the second valve body 24b is located inside the communication hole 27 in the cylindrical partition wall 26, the communication passage 25 and the communication hole 27 are isolated from each other, and the suction pipe 9 is It does not communicate with the suction passage 5, and the communication hole 27 has an atmosphere opening port 28.
Communicate with. As a result, when the negative pressure source 7 makes the suction pipe 9 have a negative pressure, the atmosphere is sucked from the atmosphere opening port 28. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, when the second valve body 24b is slid along the cylindrical partition wall 26 to a position beyond the communication hole 27, the atmosphere opening port 28 is closed by the second valve body 24b. Further, the communication hole 27 communicates with the communication passage 25, and the suction pipe 9 is displaced to communicate with the suction passage 5. At this time, an elastic seal member 30 is attached to the tip of the annular projection 29 in order to securely close the atmosphere opening port 28.

In normal times, the return spring 31 acting on the first valve body 24a and the return spring 32 acting on the second valve body 24b are urged to the non-actuated state of FIG. A valve switching operation unit 33 is provided in the main body operation unit 1 in order to switch from the non-operation state to the suction state shown in FIG. This valve switching operation part 33
Mounts a piston 35 slidably in the housing 34, partitions the oil chamber 36 in the housing 34 by this piston 35, and when the piston 35 is pushed down, the oil chamber 3
6 through the hydraulic pipe 37, the main body 2 of the casing 21
1a and the 1st valve body 24a the hydraulic working chamber 3 which is formed
By supplying the pressure oil to 8, the first valve body 24a slides in the direction against the return spring 31, and in conjunction with this, the second valve body 24a
The valve body 24b is also slidably displaced in the direction against the return spring 32, and the valve member 24 is switched from the inoperative state to the suction state. Then, in order to allow the piston 35 to be operated by the fingers of the hand holding the main body operation unit 1, the piston 35
A push operation section 39 is connected to the. Further, the pushing operation portion 39 is always held in the projected position by the action of the return spring 40.

The switching valve 20 includes a second valve member 24.
The valve body 24b is provided with a switching means that can be manually switched. This manual switching means has the following configuration. That is, the peripheral body portion of the second valve body 24b is provided with a plurality of pins 41 projecting therefrom, and the connecting portion 21b of the casing 21 is formed with a long groove 42 through which the pins 41 pass. Therefore, the pin 41
Is projected from the side surface of the connecting portion 21b to the outside. An operating ring 43 is loosely fitted in the connecting portion 21b, and inward restricting wall portions 43a and 43b are provided at both ends of the operating ring 43. By positioning the pin 41 between the restriction walls 43a and 43b, the operating ring 43 is held so as not to deviate from the connecting portion 21b, and the operating ring 43 is moved from the base end side to the distal end side in the axial direction of the connecting portion 21b. If you move toward the control wall 4
3a engages with the pin 41 to move the pin 41 along the long groove 42, and as a result, the second valve body 24b can be switched from the non-operating state to the suction state. Therefore, the long groove 4
The length of 2 is at least longer than the entire length of the displacement stroke of the second valve body 24b.

This embodiment has the above-mentioned structure. When the pushing operation portion 39 is opened, the pushing operation portion 39 is projected by the action of the return spring 40. The oil chamber 36 is expanded,
The hydraulic working chamber 38 is contracted, and the valve member 24 is held in the non-operating state. Therefore, the suction pipe 9 is held in the inoperative state and communicates with the atmosphere opening port 28 through the communication hole 27. As a result, even if the negative pressure source 7 is held in the activated state, it is operated in a no-load state by sucking air from the atmosphere. Here, if the distance from the atmosphere opening port 28 to the negative pressure source 7 becomes longer, the conduit resistance becomes larger and the load of the negative pressure source 7 becomes larger, but the suction path from the atmosphere becomes the suction pipe 9 Since it is only the full length,
The route is shortened. Therefore, the negative pressure source 7 can be operated almost completely under no load. Further, since the atmosphere opening port 28 is provided on the side surface of the connecting portion 21c,
By providing a plurality of atmosphere opening ports 28, it becomes possible to sufficiently suck in from the atmosphere, and the suction pipe 9
There is no inconvenience that the inside becomes negative pressure and the pressure on the suction passage 5 side decreases.

When the push operation portion 39 of the valve switching operation portion 33 is pushed down against the return spring 40 with the finger of the hand holding the main body operation portion 1, the piston 35 descends in the housing 34,
The hydraulic working chamber 38 shrinks. As a result, pressure oil is supplied into the oil chamber 36 through the hydraulic pipe 37, and this pressure causes the first valve body 24a to be displaced in the direction against the return spring 31,
Following this, the second valve body 24b is slidably displaced, the annular projection 29 passes over the communication hole 27, and the elastic seal member 29 is formed on the step portion between the pipe connection portion 21c and the tubular partition wall 26. It comes into contact and switches to the suction state of FIG. 5 in which the atmosphere opening port 28 is closed. As a result, a negative pressure acts on the suction passage 5 to suck the body waste from the suction port 4, and the body waste is discharged to the suction container 8 via the suction passage 5 and the suction pipe 9. Then, the suction state continues as long as the pushing operation unit 39 is continuously pushed, and when the pushing force on the pushing operation unit 39 is released, the piston 25 returns to the original position by the action of the return spring 40, and Return spring 31,
By the action of 32, the valve member 24 including the first valve body 24a and the second valve body 24b is switched to the inoperative state. During this operation, the valve switching operation part 33 provided in the main body operation part 1
Since the body dirt does not enter the body, there is no possibility that the body dirt adheres to the fingers of the operator, which is extremely preferable from the viewpoint of hygiene.

By the way, if the suction operation is performed while the endoscope is in use, the entire suction path must be washed. To perform this cleaning, position the suction port 4 in the cleaning liquid container,
By switching the switching valve 20 to the suction state so that the cleaning liquid is sucked from the suction port 4 and discharged through the suction passage 5, the switching valve 20 and the suction pipe 9 into the suction container 8, the cleaning liquid can be spread over the entire suction path. ..

Usually, after the use of the endoscope is finished, the endoscope is stored in a state in which it is hung on a hanger 50 as shown in FIG. That is, the main body operation part 1 of the endoscope is supported by the hook part 50a, and the connection connector 3a of the universal cord 3 is held while being connected to the light source device 51.
The insertion portion 2 is in a suspended state. Then, in order to clean the suction passage, the suction pipe 9 is connected to the casing 21 of the switching valve 20.
And the negative pressure source 7 is kept in an operating state. In this state, the cleaning liquid can be supplied to the suction path by inserting the tip of the insertion portion 2 into the cleaning liquid container 52 and switching the switching valve 20 from the inoperative state to the suction state. However, in order to prevent the insertion portion 2 from coming into contact with the floor surface when the endoscope is hung on the hanger 50, the column portion 50b is at least longer than the length of the insertion portion 2. For this reason, the main body operating portion 1 hung on the hook portion 50a is at a considerably high position, and the valve switching operating portion 33 is
It is extremely difficult to operate directly.

However, at the position of the connector 3a where the switching valve 20 is provided, there is provided an operating ring 43 for manually switching the switching valve 20 from the inoperative state to the suction state. The ring 43 is manually displaced to be pulled out. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, the pin 41 that engages with the restriction wall 43a follows the displacement of the operation ring 43 and moves along the long groove 42, and the second valve to which the pin 41 is connected. Body 24b
The annular protrusions 29 of the above-mentioned pass over the communication hole 27, and the elastic seal member 29 comes into contact with the step portion between the pipe connecting portion 21c and the cylindrical partition wall 26 to switch to the state in which the atmosphere opening port 28 is closed. Then, the cleaning liquid in the cleaning liquid container 52 is sucked. However, at this time, the first valve body 24a does not move. Therefore, for example, while holding the tip of the insertion portion 2 so as to be surely immersed in the cleaning liquid container 52 with one hand, the operation ring 43 can be operated with the other hand to switch the switching valve 20 to the suction state. The operability of the operation of cleaning the suction path is significantly improved.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the switching means is constructed so that it can be manually operated.
For example, switching means having the same mechanism as the switching operation portion 33 provided in the main body operation portion 1 may be provided, and this switching means may be connected to the hydraulic pipe 37. Further, although the one in which the switching operation of the switching valve 20 is performed by the action of hydraulic pressure is shown, for example, this switching valve is formed by an electromagnetic valve,
It is also possible to configure the valve switching operation section provided in the main body operation section so as to control the operation of the solenoid of this solenoid valve. Further, although the valve member 24 is composed of the first valve body 24a and the second valve body 24b, it is sufficient to move only the second valve body 24b as the switching means, and thus the manually operated switching is performed. The operation of the means can be easily performed. However, the first valve body 24a and the second valve body 24b may be integrally formed, and in this case, the entire valve member 24 is slidably displaced by the switching means.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, the connector for connecting the light source device in the universal cord is provided with the switching valve for switching the suction path between the non-operating state and the suction state, and the main body operating portion is provided. Since the valve switching operation section for performing the switching operation of the switching valve is provided and the connecting connector is provided with the switching means for switching the switching valve to the suction state, the switching is performed even when the endoscope is hung on the hanger. By operating the means, the switching valve can be switched to the suction state, and the suction path can be cleaned extremely easily.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an endoscope.

FIG. 2 is a structural explanatory view of a suction mechanism according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 3 is a structural explanatory view of a suction mechanism showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the suction switching mechanism showing the first embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a cross-sectional view showing a suction operation state of a switching valve in the suction switching mechanism of FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the endoscope is hung on a hanger.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the suction switching mechanism showing a state in which the switching valve is switched to the suction state by the switching means.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Main body operation part 2 Insertion part 5 Suction passage 7 Negative pressure source 8 Suction container 9 Suction pipe 20 Switching valve 21 Casing 21a Main body part 21b Connecting part 21c Pipe connecting part 24 Valve member 24a First valve body 24b Second valve body 25 Connection Passage 26 Cylindrical bulkhead 27 Communication hole 28 Atmosphere opening 29 Annular ridge 33 Valve switching operation part 35 Piston 36 Oil chamber 37 Hydraulic piping 38 Hydraulic operation chamber 39 Pushing operation part 41 Pin 42 Long groove 43 Operation ring 43a, 43b Regulation wall

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A switching valve is provided in a connector for connecting to a light source device in a universal cord of an endoscope, and a suction passage connected to a suction port and a suction pipe from a suction container are connected to the switching valve, and the suction pipe and the suction pipe are connected. It is designed to switch between a non-operating state in which the suction pipe is in communication with the atmosphere and the suction pipe in which the suction pipe is in communication with the suction passage and blocks the suction pipe from the atmosphere. The main body operation portion of the mirror is provided with a valve switching operation portion for performing the switching operation of the switching valve, and the connection connector is provided with switching means for switching the switching valve to the suction state. The suction mechanism of the endoscope.