JP3312480B2 - Light guide connector for endoscope - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a light guide connector mounted on an endoscope used in the field of medicine and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An endoscope is inserted into a human body or the like to perform inspections and diagnoses. However, since no external light is obtained inside the body, illumination light is directed toward an observation target portion. Need to be irradiated. For this purpose, a light source device having a built-in light source lamp is provided, and the endoscope is detachably connected to the light source device. That is, a light guide flexible portion is continuously provided on the main body operation portion of the endoscope provided with the insertion portion into the body cavity, and a distal end of the light guide flexible portion is detachably attached to the light source device. Light source connector is provided. An illumination window is provided at the distal end of the insertion section into the body cavity of the endoscope, and is provided at the distal end of the insertion section from the light source connector to transmit illumination light from the light source device to the illumination window. A light guide made of an optical fiber bundle is inserted between the illumination window and the light window. The light source connector has a light guide rod with a light guide mounted inside a hard pipe as a light guide insertion member, and when the light source connector is connected to the light source device, the light guide rod is inserted into the light source device. Inserted until

Incidentally, since the endoscope is inserted into a human body or the like, it is necessary to clean the endoscope each time it is used. Moreover, in order to perform the cleaning more completely from the viewpoint of hygiene, disinfection and sterilization are performed. Then, in order to improve the efficiency of the cleaning operation, the entire endoscope including not only the insertion part directly inserted into the body but also the main body operation part and the light guide flexible part is immersed in the disinfectant for a predetermined time. Perform cleaning and disinfection. If the light guide rod of the light source connector directly exposes the incident end face of the light guide, the incident end face may be damaged by contact with the disinfectant.

In order to protect the incident end face of the light guide, an opening having a diameter larger than that of the light guide insertion portion is formed in the light guide rod at a position in front of the light guide insertion portion of the hard pipe. Conventionally, a glass member is attached to the part, and the glass member covers the light-receiving end face of the light guide to ensure airtightness, thereby protecting the light-receiving end face from being directly exposed to disinfecting liquid. Used from. For fixing the glass member, an adhesive is usually used, and the glass member is fitted with the adhesive applied to the peripheral wall of the opening.

[0005]

By the way, in order to improve the airtightness of the glass member, it is necessary to increase the thickness of the glass member and increase the bonding area of the opening to the peripheral wall. However, when a thick glass member is attached, the amount of light decreases after the illumination light is incident on the glass member and is guided into the light guide. As a cause thereof, depending on the angle of light incident on the glass member from the light source side, the light is reflected on the peripheral wall portion of the opening where the glass member is attached before reaching the light guide, but the glass member is fixed at the time of this reflection. Is absorbed and absorbed by the adhesive inside and around the peripheral wall.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to guide light incident on a glass member to a light guide without attenuating the light. .

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is to provide a light guide at a tip end of a pipe member on which an incident end face of a light guide is mounted. An opening for receiving a glass member is formed, an inner peripheral wall of the opening is formed as a reflection surface, and the glass member is fixed in the opening with a transparent adhesive. Is what you do.

[0008]

[Function] To increase the airtightness of the light guide mounting part,
A thick glass member is attached to the opening. by this,
Even if the light guide flexible part is immersed in the disinfectant, the adhesive area can be widened,
The vapors do not enter the light guide mounting area, and the light guide is effectively protected, the light guide is degraded, and the adhesive used to bundle the many optical fibers that make up the light guide is used. Deterioration of the agent can be suppressed, and the life of the agent can be prolonged.

In order to illuminate the inside of a body cavity or the like over a wide range, the light source section is provided with a condensing member so that the illumination light is efficiently taken into the light guide. Light is incident on the glass member. Of the light incident on the glass member in this manner, the light incident on the optical axis direction, that is, the direction orthogonal to the glass member or at a small angle with respect to this optical axis, directly passes through the glass member and is directly written. Since the light is guided into the guide, the light is hardly attenuated when passing through the glass member, and the light is efficiently taken into the light guide with almost no loss. On the other hand, depending on the angle and direction of the incident light, the light may travel in the direction of the peripheral body surface in the glass member. The light traveling in this direction passes through an adhesive provided for fixing the glass member to the opening in the pipe member, and is reflected on the inner peripheral wall of the opening.
Here, since a transparent adhesive is used, attenuation of light when passing through the adhesive can be suppressed to a minimum. Also, since the inner peripheral wall of the opening is a reflective surface,
Light will be almost totally reflected by this reflecting surface. Therefore,
Even if it is repeatedly reflected inside the glass member,
Light can be efficiently incident on the light guide with low loss.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration diagram of an endoscope,
FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of a connection portion to the light source device,
FIG. 3 shows a cross section of a main part of the light source connector.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an endoscope, 2 denotes a light source device, and the endoscope 1 comprises a main body operation section 10 and an insertion section 11 inserted into a body cavity. Main unit operation unit 1
A light guide flexible portion 12 is continuously provided at 0. The insertion portion 11 has a flexible portion 11a for most of the length from the side connected to the main body operation portion 10, and an angle portion 11b is provided at the tip of the flexible portion 11a, and a hard portion is provided at the tip of the angle portion 11b. The parts 11c are sequentially connected.

As is well known, the observation mechanism of the endoscope 1 includes an illumination window and an observation window (both not shown) provided in the distal end hard portion 11c. It is possible to observe the inside of the body cavity through the observation window in a state where the illumination window is irradiated with the illumination light toward the inside of the body cavity. In the case of an electronic endoscope, the observation of the inside of the body cavity through the observation window is performed by disposing a solid-state imaging device at an imaging position of an objective lens attached to the observation window, and performing observation with the solid-state imaging device. The image of the target portion is converted into an electric signal, extracted, and subjected to predetermined signal processing, so that the image is displayed on the monitor device M as a color image. In the case of an optical endoscope, the image guide faces the image forming position of the objective lens, and the image in the body cavity is transmitted to the eyepiece connected to the main body operation unit via the image guide. Then, an operator or the like operating the endoscope can observe by looking at the eyepiece.

The light source device 2 supplies illumination light to an observation target portion. In order to efficiently transmit the illumination light with low loss, a light guide 13 is provided on the endoscope 1.
(See FIG. 2). This light guide 13
Is composed of an optical fiber bundle in which a large number of ultrafine optical fibers are bundled in order to have flexibility, and the emission end of the illumination light faces the illumination window.
, And extends to the light guide flexible portion 12, and the incident end 13a thereof faces the light guide connector 12a. The light guide connector 12a is detachably connected to a socket section 20 provided on the light source device 2.

FIG. 2 shows a structure of a connecting portion of the light guide connector 12a to the light source device 2. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 21 denotes a light source lamp formed of a halogen lamp or the like, and reference numeral 22 denotes a concave mirror 12 as a light collecting member. Light guide connector 12
The light guide rod 30 has a hard pipe 31 made of, for example, metal or the like as a pipe member, and the light pipe 13 has an insertion passage for the light guide 13. 32 are formed.
The distal end side of the insertion passage 32 is expanded in diameter, so that the hard pipe 31
It is open at the tip. In the opening 33 on the tip side,
In order to hermetically protect the light guide 13, a transparent glass member 34 is mounted. For example, in the case of an electronic endoscope in which the solid-state imaging device is driven by a plane sequential method, a rotating color filter or the like is mounted between the light source lamp 21 and the light guide bar 30.

The glass member 34 is, as shown in FIG.
It is fixed to the opening 33 using an adhesive 35, and the peripheral wall 33 a in the opening 33 is coated with a reflective film 36. Here, the adhesive 35 having an extremely high transparency is used, for example, KE-41T one-pack type R
TV rubber (trade name: manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) is preferably used. This adhesive functions not only for fixing the glass member 34 but also as a sealing member for keeping the light guide 13 airtight. In order to improve the sealing function, the glass member 3
Numeral 4 is formed in a thick rod shape, and is made longer in the axial direction so as to make the bonding area as large as possible. Further, a chamfered portion 34 a is provided on the side of the glass member 34 facing the light guide 13, and even if the difference between the outer diameter of the glass member 34 and the diameter of the opening 33 is small, the glass member 34 a 34 openings 3
3 can be mounted very easily. Moreover,
An adhesive reservoir is formed between the chamfered portion 34a and the inner wall of the opening 33, and when the glass member 34 is fitted into the opening 33, excess adhesive 35 is stored in the adhesive reservoir. Thus, the adhesive 35 can be reliably wrapped around the peripheral body of the glass member 34 and the entire peripheral wall 33a of the opening 33, and the airtightness therebetween can be more reliably maintained.

The present embodiment is configured as described above. To perform inspection and diagnosis using the endoscope 1, the light guide connector 12 a at the distal end of the light guide flexible portion 12 is connected to the light source device 2. The light source lamp 21 incorporated in the light source device 2 is turned on. As a result, the illumination light from the light source lamp 21 is
Is collected by Since the light guide bar 30 faces the condensing position of the concave mirror 22, the illumination light is taken into the incident end face of the light guide 13 built in the light guide bar 30, and transmitted through the light guide 13 to be transmitted to the illumination window. Illuminating light is emitted toward the inside of the body cavity.

Here, in order to improve the accuracy of inspection / diagnosis by the endoscope 1, it is necessary to illuminate with sufficient brightness over a wide range as much as possible. Since the glass member 34 is mounted at a position in front of the incident end face 13a of the light guide 13, the light passing through the glass member 34 and entering the light guide 13 is not attenuated in the glass member 34 as much as possible. Must be held in such a way. If a thin glass member is used, attenuation of light in the glass member can be suppressed. However, when a thin glass member is used, the function of maintaining the hermeticity of the inside is reduced, and as a result, intrusion of a disinfecting solution or the like at the time of cleaning and disinfection is allowed. Therefore, in the present invention, in order to keep the mounting portion of the light guide 13 airtight,
4 is a thick one. As a result, a large sealing area can be obtained, the airtightness is improved, and the light guide 13 can be effectively protected.

The thickness of the glass member 34 is increased,
When light is taken in from a wider angle, the light incident on the glass member 34 completely passes through the glass member 34 as shown by a solid line in FIG. The light guide 13a is not only incident on the light guide 13a but also reflected one or more times within the glass member 34 as shown by a virtual line in FIG.
Some of them go toward the incident end face 13a. However,
Since the adhesive 35 interposed between the glass member 34 and the peripheral wall 33a of the opening 33 has a high degree of transparency, light traveling toward the peripheral wall 33a passes through the adhesive 35 almost completely. The light is reflected by the peripheral wall portion 33a. Since the peripheral wall portion 33a is coated with the reflective film 36, the light is substantially totally reflected by the reflective film 36, and the layer of the adhesive 35 is again formed. Through the glass member 3
4 will be returned. Therefore, the light that passes while being reflected in the glass member 34 enters the light guide 13 with almost no loss. As a result, even when the thick glass member 34 is used, light attenuation can be suppressed to a minimum,
Illumination light is transmitted efficiently with low loss, and illumination of a sufficient amount of light can be performed over a wide range in a body cavity or the like. As a result, inspection / diagnosis with the endoscope can be performed with high accuracy.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the pipe member, the inner peripheral wall of the opening in which the glass member for hermetically protecting the light guide is mounted is a reflecting surface, and the glass member is transparent. The glass member is thickened to improve the air-tightness of the light guide, thereby protecting the light guide, and being incident on the glass member. This has the effect of efficiently leading the light to the light guide with low loss without attenuating the light.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a connection portion of a light source connector of the endoscope to a light source device.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Endoscope 2 Light source device 12 Light guide flexible part 12a Light guide connector 13 Light guide 13a Incident end 21 Light source lamp 30 Light guide rod 31 Hard pipe 32 Insertion path 33 Opening 33a Peripheral wall part 34 Glass member 34a Chamfer part 35 Adhesive 36 Reflective surface

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-58-105202 (JP, A) JP-A-56-20428 (JP, A) JP-A-4-326318 (JP, A) Jpn. , U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A61B 1/00-1/32

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A light guide connector in which an incident end face side of a light guide is mounted in a pipe member and is detachably connected to a light source device of an endoscope. In order to make the mounting portion airtight, an opening for mounting a glass member is formed, an inner peripheral wall of the opening is formed as a reflection surface, and the glass member is fixed in the opening with a transparent adhesive. A light guide connector for an endoscope, comprising: