JP3594072B2 - O-ring of operation button for endoscope - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an O-ring of operation buttons such as an air supply / water supply button, a suction button, and the like, which are detachably attached to a cylinder unit provided in an endoscope hand operation unit.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The air supply / water supply button and suction button of the endoscope hand operation unit are detachably attached to the cylinder unit provided in the hand operation unit, and are removed from the cylinder unit after use of the endoscope for cleaning and disinfection. .
An O-ring is attached to each of the buttons so as to be in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder section, and the buttons are inserted into and removed from the cylinder section by receiving the resistance of the O-ring. The O-ring has a large interference so that the button does not easily come off the cylinder.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the conventional operation button for an endoscope has a disadvantage that it is difficult to insert the operation button into the cylinder because the O-ring with a large interference is attached.
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an O-ring of an endoscope operation button that is easy to insert and hard to be removed from a cylinder portion of an endoscope hand operation unit. .
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an endoscope having an O-ring that is detachably attached to a cylinder portion provided in an endoscope hand operation portion and is closely attached to an inner peripheral surface of the cylinder portion. In the operation button for the endoscope, the O-ring of the operation button for the endoscope is characterized in that a thickness of an insertion side portion with respect to the cylinder portion is formed smaller than a thickness of a removal side portion.
[0005]
In the O-ring of the present invention, the insertion-side portion has a small thickness and the insertion-side portion has a low strength, so that the insertion-side portion is easily elastically deformed in the diameter-reducing direction with a small force. This makes it easier to insert the operation button into the cylinder. In the O-ring, since the thickness of the withdrawal side portion is large and the strength of the withdrawal side portion is high, the withdrawal side portion is not elastically deformed in the diameter-reducing direction with a small force. This makes it difficult for the operation button to come off the cylinder.
[0006]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of an O-ring of an operation button for an endoscope according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
An insertion section 14 to be inserted into the body is connected to the hand operation section 12 of the endoscope 10 shown in FIG. 1, and a distal end hard section 18 is provided at the distal end of the insertion section 14 via a curved section 16. Have been. The bending portion 16 is bent by rotating a pair of knobs 20 provided on the hand operation portion 12.
[0007]
An objective lens, an irradiation hole, an air supply / water supply hole, and a forceps channel (not shown) are formed on an end surface of the distal end hard portion 18, and a solid-state imaging device is provided inside the objective lens.
A suction button 22 and an air supply / water supply button 24 are arranged side by side on the hand operation unit 12, and when the suction button 22 is pressed, a liquid (a liquid such as a cleaning liquid, a chemical liquid, or blood) is suctioned from the forceps channel. When the air / water supply button 24 is pressed, air or a cleaning liquid is jetted from the air / water supply hole toward the affected part. Further, a shutter button 26 is provided on the hand operation unit 12, and when the shutter button 26 is pressed, an observation image is taken. Reference numeral 28 denotes a forceps hole, through which a treatment tool such as forceps is inserted. Reference numeral 30 denotes a forceps stopper. Further, reference numeral 32 denotes an LG (light guide) flexible portion. The LG flexible portion 32 includes a light guide for transmitting illumination light from a light source device (not shown) to an objective lens of the distal end hard portion 18 and the like.
[0008]
The suction button 22 is attached to the upper end of the piston 34 as shown in FIG. The suction button 22 is vertically movably attached to the knob 38 via a spring 36 and is urged upward by the spring 36.
The O-ring 40 of the present embodiment is mounted on the outer periphery of the lower portion of the knob 38, and the O-ring 40 is in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder portion 42 provided on the hand operation section 12. Thus, the button unit including the suction button 22, the piston 34, and the knob 38 is attached to the cylinder portion 42 so as to be freely inserted and removed. The O-ring 40 will be described later.
[0009]
The piston 34 is vertically slidably mounted on the cylinder portion 42 via a plurality of O-rings 44. A suction tube 46 is connected to a side surface of the cylinder portion 42, and the suction tube 46 is connected to the forceps channel of the distal end hard portion 18 shown in FIG. A suction tube 48 is connected to a lower portion of the cylinder portion 42 in FIG. 2, and the suction tube 48 is connected to a suction device (not shown).
[0010]
The piston 34 has an axial hole 34A and a radial hole 34B communicating with the hole 34A. An air leak hole 34C is formed between the piston 34 and the knob 38. Thereby, in the state of FIG. 2 in which the suction button 22 is not operated, the internal space of the cylinder portion 42 is opened to the outside via the holes 34A, 34B and the air leak hole 34C. On the other hand, when the suction button 22 is pressed against the urging force of the spring 36, the suction tube 48 and the suction tube 46 are communicated via the holes 34A and 34B formed in the piston 34. Then, liquid, dirt, and the like in the body cavity are suctioned from the forceps channel of the distal end hard portion 18 and discharged from the suction tube 46 to the outside of the endoscope 10 via the suction tube 48.
[0011]
As shown in FIG. 3, the air / water supply button 24 is attached to an upper end of a piston 50 formed in a cylindrical shape. The air / water button 24 is vertically movably attached to a knob 54 via a spring 52 and is urged upward by the spring 52.
The O-ring 40 of the present embodiment is mounted on the outer periphery of the lower portion of the knob 54, and the O-ring 40 is in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder portion 56 provided on the hand operation section 12. As a result, a button unit including the air / water supply button 24, the piston 50, and the knob 54 is attached to the cylinder portion 56 so as to be freely inserted and removed. The piston 50 is vertically slidably mounted on the cylinder portion 56 via a plurality of O-rings 58, 58.
[0012]
The cylinder 56 is connected to the distal ends of the air supply pipe 60 and the water supply pipe 62, and is connected to the base ends of the air supply pipe 64 and the water supply pipe 66. The base end of the air supply tube 60 is connected to an air supply device such as a blower (not shown). When the air supply device is driven, air is supplied into the cylinder portion 56 via the air supply tube 60. . The base end of the water pipe 66 is connected to a water supply tank (not shown).
[0013]
The air / water supply button 24 is provided with an air leak hole 68 communicating with the cavity of the piston 50. When the air leak hole 68 is closed, the air supplied from the air supply tube 60 to the cylinder portion 56 flows to the air supply tube 64, and is injected from the air supply / water supply hole of the distal end hard portion 18 through the air supply tube 64. You. On the other hand, when the air / water supply button 24 is pushed, the water supply pipe 62 and the water supply pipe 66 are communicated via the communication groove 70 formed on the outer periphery of the piston 50. Thereby, the water supplied from the water supply pipe 62 flows to the water supply pipe 66 through the communication groove 70, and is jetted from the air supply / water supply hole of the distal end hard portion 18 through the water supply pipe 66.
[0014]
As shown in FIG. 4, the O-ring 40 according to the present embodiment has a cross-sectional shape that is not circular but is formed in a shape in which a part 41 of the outer peripheral surface is cut obliquely inward. That is, in the O-ring 40, the thickness t1 of the insertion-side portion A is formed to be smaller than the thickness t2 of the removal-side portion B in the thickness perpendicular to the insertion / extraction direction of the buttons 22 and 24. The O-ring 40 is formed with the thicknesses t1 and t2 over the entire circumference.
[0015]
According to the O-ring 40 having such a shape, since the thickness t1 of the insertion-side portion A is small, the strength of the insertion-side portion A is reduced. Therefore, the insertion-side portion A is easily elastically deformed in the diameter reducing direction with a small force. In the O-ring 40, since the thickness t2 of the extraction side portion B is large, the strength of the extraction side portion B is high. Therefore, the withdrawal side portion B is not elastically deformed in the diameter reducing direction with a small force.
[0016]
Next, the operation of the O-ring 40 will be described.
When the O-ring 40 is attached to the knobs 38, 54 of the buttons 22, 24, and the buttons 22, 24 are inserted into the cylinders 42, 56, the thickness t1 of the insertion side portion A of the O-ring 40 becomes thin. Since the strength of the insertion-side portion A is weak, the insertion-side portion A is easily elastically deformed in the radial direction with a small force. This reduces the resistance received from the O-ring 40 when the buttons 22 and 24 are inserted, so that the buttons 22 and 24 can be inserted into the cylinder portions 42 and 56 with a small force. Therefore, the buttons 22 and 24 can be easily inserted into the cylinder portions 42 and 56.
[0017]
On the other hand, when a force in the withdrawal direction is applied to the buttons 22 and 24 mounted on the cylinder portions 42 and 56, the O-ring 40 has a thickness t2 of the withdrawal side portion B and a strength of the withdrawal side portion B. The removal side portion B is not elastically deformed in the diameter reducing direction with a small force. As a result, even if a force in the withdrawal direction acts on the buttons 22, 24, the buttons 22, 24 are unlikely to fall out of the cylinder portions 42, 56.
[0018]
In the O-ring 80 according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of cut portions 81 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the O-ring 80 at predetermined intervals. The cross-sectional shape of the cut portion 81 is formed to be the same as the cross-sectional shape of a part 41 of the outer peripheral surface of the O-ring 40 shown in FIG. Therefore, as with the O-ring 40, the O-ring 40 has a thinner thickness at the insertion side and a thicker thickness at the extraction side, so that the same effect as the O-ring 40 can be obtained.
[0019]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the O-ring of the operation button for an endoscope of the present invention, the thickness of the insertion side portion with respect to the cylinder portion is formed smaller than the thickness of the extraction side portion, so that the operation button is It becomes easy to insert into the part, and it is hard to come off from the cylinder part.
[Brief description of the drawings]
1 is a perspective view of an endoscope; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a suction button attached to an endoscope hand operation unit in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a feeder attached to the endoscope hand operation unit in FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an air / water supply button. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an O-ring attached to a suction button and an air / water supply button. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the O-ring.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Endoscope, 12 ... Hand operation part, 14 ... Insertion part, 22 ... Suction button, 24 ... Air / water supply button, 34, 50 ... Piston, 40, 80 ... O-ring, 42, 56 ... Cylinder part

Claims (1)

An endoscope operation button, which is attached to a cylinder portion provided in the endoscope hand operation portion so as to be able to be inserted and withdrawn and provided with an O-ring that is in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder portion,
The O-ring of the operation button for an endoscope is characterized in that an O-ring of the operation button for the endoscope is formed such that a thickness of an insertion side portion with respect to the cylinder portion is smaller than a thickness of a withdrawal side portion. ring.

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