JP3441558B2 - Endoscope conduit switching device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an operation for switching a communication state between a source side fluid line connected to an external device and a leading side fluid line opened at a tip of an insertion portion of an endoscope. The present invention relates to a conduit switching device for an endoscope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An air supply line to which air is sent from an external air supply pump, a water supply line to which water is sent from an external water supply tank, and a suction / exhaust device for an external suction device. The three source side fluid pipelines of the suction pipeline and a plurality of front fluid pipelines that open at the tip of the insertion portion of the endoscope are connected to a cylinder, and a piston-like operation valve is operated to move forward and backward in the cylinder. Therefore, there is a conduit switching device for an endoscope in which the connection state between the source fluid conduit and the leading fluid conduit is switched.

In such a conduit switching device for an endoscope, each conduit is connected to the side wall of the cylinder while shifting its position in order to reliably switch between the communicating state and the closed state of each conduit. There are many things.

However, if the pipes are connected to the side wall of the cylinder in such a manner that the positions thereof are sequentially displaced, the length of the cylinder becomes long. Therefore, when it is necessary to downsize the device, a pair of pipes is required. Each of the connection openings of the source fluid line and the front fluid line is formed at a position facing each other between the side walls of the cylinder, that is, on the same circumference perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder.

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION In a conduit switching device for an endoscope, in order to close a space between connection openings of a fluid conduit,
An elastic seal member such as an O-ring is used by being attached to the outer peripheral surface of a piston-shaped operation valve.

However, as described above, when the connection openings of the two fluid pipes are formed at the positions facing each other on the side wall of the cylinder, the O-rings are parallel to the openings, so that the openings between the openings are completely closed. Cannot be blocked. Therefore, various inconveniences have occurred, for example, some leakage occurs even in a state where air supply or water supply should not be performed.

There is also an O-ring obliquely attached to the outer periphery of the operation valve in order to seal between such two connection openings, but this is not realistic because the O-ring is immediately damaged. Absent.

The O-ring also seals between the adjacent connection openings that are connected by shifting the positions in the axial direction of the cylinder, but the O-ring does not touch either of the connection openings on both sides. Since it is necessary to form them so that they are sufficiently separated from each other, the operation stroke of the operation valve has become long.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an endoscope conduit switching device which is small in size, has no fluid leakage, and has excellent operability and durability.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the conduit switching device for an endoscope according to the present invention has first, second and third elements connected to an external device for driving a fluid. In the cylinder in which the side fluid conduit and the first and second front fluid conduits that open at the distal end of the insertion portion of the endoscope are connected, the piston-like operation valve is moved forward and backward in the axial direction, A conduit switching device for an endoscope adapted to switch the connection state between the three source side fluid conduits and the two leading side fluid conduits, wherein the connection opening of the first source side fluid conduit is provided. The connection opening of the first front side fluid pipeline and the connection opening of the second source side fluid pipeline are formed on the side wall surface of the cylinder on substantially the same circumference perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder. The connection opening of the second front side fluid pipe is substantially the same as the side wall surface of the cylinder perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder. Formed on the circumference, the third stage-side fluid line is connected to the bottom of the cylinder, the above-mentioned operating valve, connection openings and surrounding said first of said first source-side fluid lines
Elastic first closing member that comes into close contact with the periphery of the connection opening of the front side fluid pipeline in the standby state, the periphery of the connection opening of the second source side fluid pipeline and the second front side fluid pipe A resilient second closing member that is in close contact with the periphery of the connection opening of the passage in the standby state is provided, and a communication hole that communicates the bottom portion of the cylinder with the first front side fluid pipeline in the standby state. When the operation valve is pushed halfway into the cylinder, the connection opening of the second source side fluid line and the connection opening of the second front side fluid line are communicated with each other, and the operation valve is Further, a communication passage is formed to connect the connection opening of the first source side fluid pipeline and the connection opening of the first front side fluid pipeline when the cylinder is pushed deep into the cylinder. To do.

It should be noted that in the standby state, the first instrument is inserted so that the treatment tool can be inserted from the first source side fluid conduit side to the first front side fluid conduit side through the first closing member.
A slit may be formed in the closing member.

[0012]

Embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 1
1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention, in which an air supply conduit 2 for sending air into a body cavity is provided at a tip 1 of an insertion portion of an endoscope.
The tip of the (first front side fluid pipeline) and the tip of the water supply pipeline 3 (second front side fluid pipeline) for sending out water are open. The air supply conduit 2 also serves as a suction channel and a treatment instrument insertion channel.

The operation portion 4 to which the base end of the insertion portion is connected,
Cylinder-shaped hole 5 (hereinafter simply referred to as "cylinder 5")
Is formed so as to pass through the operation portion 4 in the front-rear direction, and a piston-like operation valve 6 made of plastic is fitted in the cylinder 5 thereof so as to be movable back and forth in the axial direction. A through hole 9 is formed at the axial position of the operation valve 6.

The front end portion of the operation valve 6 projects forward from the cylinder 5 and has a rubber cap 7 having elasticity.
At the same time as covering the mouth of the cylinder 5, the operation valve 6 is biased forward.

One end of the cap 7 is fitted into and fixed to a groove 6a formed in the front end portion of the operation valve 6, and the other end thereof is provided with a flange portion 8 projecting from the mouth portion of the cylinder 5.
Is removably engaged with.

A notch 8a is formed in the flange portion 8, and a projection formed on the cap 7 side engages with the notch 8a to prevent the cap 7 from rotating. Therefore, the operation valve 6 does not rotate around the axis in the cylinder 5.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 which are perspective views of the rear half of the operation valve 6 and sectional views of the rear end thereof, the rear end of the operation valve 6 is divided into four by a large cross-shaped slit. Is cut out.

The protrusions 6b remaining at the four positions have spring properties and can be elastically deformed and bent. The protruding end portion of the protruding piece 6b is formed to have a large outer diameter, and the rear end portion 5a of the cylinder 5 is similarly formed in a thick hole.
Is engaged with the stepped portion of.

Therefore, in the standby state shown in FIG. 1, the operation valve 6 is urged forward by the cap 7, and the protruding piece 6b at the rear end serves as a stopper for the cylinder 5
Are positioned in the state of FIG. And the operation valve 6
When is strongly pulled forward, the projecting piece 6b is elastically deformed and the operation valve 6 can be pulled out from the cylinder 5.

At the bottom of the cylinder 5, an air supply tube 12 (third source fluid line) is provided on an extension of the axis of the cylinder 5.
Are connected and communicate with the inside of the cylinder 5. The base end of the air supply tube 12 is connected to an external air supply pump (not shown) to send pressurized air.

However, between the bottom of the cylinder 5 and the air supply tube 12, for example, a filter 16 filled with activated carbon 16a or the like and arranged so as to be movable in the axial direction is inserted from the rear side by a compression coil spring 17. It is arranged so as to be urged toward.

Further, a water supply tube 13a is connected to a water supply tube 13 (second main fluid tube) which is open-connected to the side wall surface of the cylinder 5, and the base end of the water supply tube 13a is an external water tank. It is connected to (not shown) and pressurized water is sent.

The base end of the water supply conduit 3 is also open-connected to the side wall surface of the cylinder 5, and the connection opening 1 of the water supply conduit 13 is connected.
3c and the connection opening 3c of the water supply pipe 3 are formed at 180 ° symmetrical positions facing each other on substantially the same circumference perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder 5. The connection opening 2c of the air supply conduit 2 is
It is formed on the side wall surface of the cylinder 5 at a position deeper than the connection opening 3c of the water supply conduit 3.

Further, a suction tube 10a is connected to the suction pipe line 10 (first source side fluid pipe line) open-connected to the side wall surface of the cylinder 5, and the base end of the suction tube 10a is an external suction device. The suction pipe 10 connected to the suction pipe 10 is sucked and discharged.

Then, the connection opening 10 of the suction pipe line 10
c and a connection opening 2c of the air supply conduit 2 are formed at 180 ° symmetrical positions facing each other on substantially the same circumference perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder 5.

Further, a pipe line formed inward from the treatment instrument insertion opening 18 formed above the operation portion 4 is
It is connected in the middle of the suction pipeline 10 and communicates with the connection opening 10c of the suction pipeline 10 in a substantially straight line. A stopper 19 is detachably attached to the mouth of the treatment instrument insertion port 18.

A pair of rubber valves 15a and 15b are fitted to the operation valve 6 at the portions facing the connection opening 10c of the suction conduit 10 and the connection opening 2c of the air supply conduit 2 in the standby state. .

As shown in FIG. 4, which is a front sectional view of the rubber valves 15a and 15b, the rubber valves 15a and 15b are fitted in a large hole formed in the operation valve 6 so as not to rotate, and both rubber valves The boundary surface between 15a and 15b is set to be located at the center of the connection opening 2c of the air supply conduit 2 in the standby state.

A communication hole 20 for communicating the through hole 9 with the air supply conduit 2 is formed at the boundary between the rubber valves 15a and 15b, and the tip end opening 9a of the through hole 9 is provided with a fingertip. By closing the air, the air that has lost its outlet to the outside is sent through the communication hole 20 to the air supply pipe line 2 and enters the air supply state. It should be noted that the air sent in is clean air that has passed through the filter 16.

One rubber valve 15b of the two rubber valves 15a and 15b is formed so as to extend forward in the axial direction.
It is arranged so as to face both connection openings 13c, 3c of the water supply conduit 13 and the water supply conduit 3 in the standby state so as to close both connection openings 13c, 3c. However, a sealing material facing both connection openings 13c, 3c of the water supply conduit 13 and the water supply conduit 3 may be attached to the operation valve 6 separately from the rubber valve 15b.

A communication groove 21 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the operation valve 6 on the circumference of the front side of the rubber valve 15b.
When is pushed into the cylinder 5 to the intermediate position, the water supply pipe line 13 and the water feed pipe line 3 communicate with each other through the communication groove 21, and when the operation valve 6 is pushed further into the cylinder 5,
The suction pipe line 10 and the air supply pipe line 2 communicate with each other via the communication groove 21. Reference numeral 22 is an annular seal member attached to the operation valve 6.

According to the endoscope line switching device having the above-described structure, as shown in FIG. 1, in the standby state, the air sent from the air supply tube 12 is supplied from the inside of the cylinder 5. It is released to the outside atmosphere through the through hole 9 of the operation valve 6.

When the tip end opening 9a of the through hole 9 is closed with a fingertip, clean air having lost its outlet is sent from the communication hole 20 to the air supply conduit 2 and is sent out to the tip 1 of the insertion portion to supply air. become. Since the respective connection openings 13c, 3c of the water supply conduit 13 and the water supply conduit 3 are completely closed by the rubber valve 15b, no water leakage occurs.

Then, as shown in FIG.
When the operation valve 6 is pushed to an intermediate position in the cylinder 5 while the front end opening 9a of the is closed with a fingertip, the communication groove 21 is connected to the connection opening 13c of the water supply conduit 13 and the connection opening 3c of the water supply conduit 3.
Are opposed to each other, and water is sent from the water supply conduit 13 into the water supply conduit 3 through the communication groove 21 and is sent to the tip 1 of the insertion portion to be in a water supply state.

At the intermediate position, the operation valve 6 is the filter 16
Since the spring force of the compression coil spring 17 acts as a resistance against the pushing operation of the operation valve 6, the operator can detect it. Since each of the connection openings 10c and 2c of the suction pipe line 10 and the air supply pipe line 2 is completely closed by the rubber valve 15b, no water leaks to the air supply pipe line 2 side.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the through hole 9
When the operation valve 6 is pushed into the inside of the cylinder 5 against the biasing force of the compression coil spring 17 while the tip opening 9a of the above is closed with a fingertip, the connection opening 10c of the suction conduit 10 and the air supply conduit 2 are connected. The communication groove 21 faces the opening 2c, and the air supply conduit 2 and the suction conduit 10 communicate with each other through the communication groove 21.
A suction state is reached in which fluid or the like is sucked from the tip side of the insertion portion.
At that time, each connection opening 13 of the water supply line 13 and the water supply line 3
Since c and 3c are completely closed by the sealing material 22, no water leakage occurs.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, if the plug 19 is removed and the treatment instrument 100 is inserted from the treatment instrument insertion port 18, the treatment instrument 100 will have two rubber valves 15a and 15a.
While pushing the boundary part of b, it is inserted from the suction conduit 10 into the air supply conduit 2, and the distal end of the treatment tool 100 is inserted into the insertion part distal end 1.
Can be projected from.

After the endoscope is used, the inside of the cylinder 5 and the operation valve 6 can be easily cleaned by pulling the operation valve 6 forward and pulling it out from the inside of the cylinder 5. In addition to being able to brush, the brushing in the water supply conduit 3 to the water supply conduit 3 can be performed with a single brush, and the brushing in the suction conduit 10 to the air supply conduit 2 can also be performed with a single brush. .

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and for example, instead of the rubber cap 7, a mechanism in which two coil springs are combined so that the intermediate position can be sensed may be used. Good.

[0040]

According to the present invention, the connection opening of the first source side fluid conduit and the connection opening of the first front side fluid conduit are substantially the same circle perpendicular to the cylinder axis on the side wall surface of the cylinder. In addition to being formed on the circumference, the connection opening of the second source side fluid pipeline and the connection opening of the second front side fluid pipeline are formed on the side wall surface of the cylinder on substantially the same circumference perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder. However, by connecting the third source side fluid conduit to the bottom of the cylinder, the length of the cylinder can be made very short and the device can be miniaturized.

Moreover, the operation valve has a first elastic blockage which is in close contact with the periphery of the connection opening of the first source side fluid line and the periphery of the connection opening of the first front side fluid line in the standby state. Since the member and the elastic second closing member that comes into close contact with each other around the connection opening of the second source side fluid pipeline and the connection opening of the second front side fluid pipeline in the standby state are provided, In each operating state, the connection opening of the pipeline to be closed is surely closed, no leakage occurs, the operation stroke can be shortened, and the operability is good. In addition, the O-ring does not need to be obliquely attached, and the durability is good.

Also, by removing the operation valve from the cylinder,
Brushing cleaning can be easily performed in any of the conduits.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the latter half of the operation valve according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a rear cross-sectional view of the rear end portion of the operation valve according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front sectional view of a rubber valve portion according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view of the water supply state of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing a suction state according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of the treatment tool insertion state of the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Insertion tip 2 Air supply line 3 water supply lines 5 cylinders 6 control valve 9 through holes 10 Suction line 12 Air supply tube 13 water pipeline 15a, 15b rubber valve 20 communication holes 21 communication groove

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. First, second and third source side fluid pipes connected to an external device for driving a fluid and first and second front side fluid pipes opened at the tip of an insertion portion of an endoscope. The piston-like operation valve is moved forward and backward in the axial direction in the cylinder connected to the passage to switch the connection state between the three source side fluid pipelines and the two destination side fluid pipelines. A conduit switching device for an endoscope, wherein the connection opening of the first source side fluid conduit and the connection opening of the first front side fluid conduit are connected to the cylinder axis of the side wall surface of the cylinder. They are formed on substantially the same vertical circumference, and the connection opening of the second source side fluid conduit and the connection opening of the second front side fluid conduit are aligned with the axis of the cylinder on the side wall surface of the cylinder. Formed on substantially the same vertical circumference, the third source fluid line is connected to the bottom of the cylinder, The operation valve includes a first elastic closing member that is in close contact with the periphery of the connection opening of the first source side fluid conduit and the periphery of the connection opening of the first front side fluid conduit in a standby state. A second closing member having elasticity, which is in close contact with each other around the connection opening of the second source side fluid line and the connection opening of the second front side fluid line in a standby state, Connection between the bottom portion of the cylinder and the first front side fluid conduit in a state, and the second source side fluid conduit when the operation valve is pushed halfway into the cylinder. The opening and the connection opening of the second front fluid conduit are communicated with each other, and when the operation valve is pushed further into the cylinder, the connection opening of the first source fluid conduit and the first opening. And a communication passage for communicating with the connection opening of the front side fluid pipeline of Conduit switching apparatus of an endoscope according to claim. 2. In the standby state, the treatment tool can be inserted from the first source side fluid conduit side to the first tip side fluid conduit side through the first closing member. The conduit switching device for an endoscope according to claim 1, wherein a slit is formed in the closing member.