JPS6249060B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an air supply device for an endoscope that can selectively supply, for example, air and nonflammable gas as required.

When a high-frequency treatment instrument is introduced into the colon through the channel of an endoscope and the affected area in the colon is treated with high-frequency waves, explosive gases such as methane gas generated from food residue in the colon may ignite. , there is a risk of explosion. Therefore, it is necessary to replace the explosive gas that accumulates in the large intestine with nonflammable gas.

Therefore, in the case of conventional endoscopes, a passage for sending normal air and a passage for sending nonflammable gas are provided in the universal cord connected at one end to the operation part, and the operation part has a corresponding one for each passage. By selectively using each switching valve, normal air or nonflammable gas can be sent into the charcoal airway in the insertion section and selectively supplied into the body cavity. There is.

However, this conventional method has two relatively large switching valves in the operating section, which makes the operating section large and heavy, and it is necessary to select and operate one of the two switching valves each time. . Therefore, it was difficult to operate and there was a risk of operational errors. Furthermore, since the switching valve completely opens and closes the passage, it is not possible to finely adjust the amount of air supplied.

The present invention has been made focusing on the above circumstances,
The purpose of this is to improve the operator's operability by performing multiple gas supply operations using the same air supply operation button, and also to enable fine adjustment of the amount of air supplied. An object of the present invention is to provide an air supply device for an endoscope that can be simplified and miniaturized.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

In the figure, 1 is the main body of the endoscope, and this main body 1 is made up of an operating section 2 connected to a flexible insertion section 3, and further, one end of a universal cord 4 is connected to the operating section 2. . An objective lens 5 is provided at the tip of the insertion section 3, and the objective lens 5 is optically connected to the eyepiece section 7 of the operation section 2 via an image guide fiber 6 inserted into the insertion section 3 and the operation section 2. are connected. Although not shown, a light guide fiber is inserted through each of the insertion section 3, operation section 2, and universal cord 4, and is connected to a light source device (not shown) installed outside the endoscope body 1. It is designed to guide illumination light into the body cavity. In addition, a suction port 8 that also serves as a forceps port is formed at the tip of the insertion section 3, and this is connected to a forceps channel 9 formed inside each of the insertion section 3 and the operation section 2. It communicates with a suction path 11 consisting of a conduit 10 formed within the universal cord 4. This suction path 11 is connected to an externally installed suction device (not shown), and is configured to suction gas, liquid, etc. within the body cavity. Note that this suction operation can be performed when necessary by operating a suction operation button (not shown) provided on the operation section 2. Further, a cap 13 for closing is attached to a forceps insertion opening 12 formed at the proximal end of the forceps channel 9.

On the other hand, a nozzle 14 is provided at the tip of the insertion portion 3 and is directed toward the outer surface of the objective lens 5 described above.
This nozzle 14 is connected to an air supply path 15 formed inside the insertion section 3, the operating section 2, and the universal cord 4.
An air supply path 16 and a nonflammable gas supply path 17 are connected to the air supply path 15 in a branched manner, and an air supply device 18 consisting of, for example, an air pump is connected to the air supply path 16. Further, a nonflammable gas supply device 19 made of, for example, a gas cylinder is connected to the nonflammable gas supply path 17. moreover,
The nonflammable gas supply device 19 is provided with an on-off valve 20 inserted in the middle of the nonflammable gas supply path 17,
The on-off valve 20 shuts off the normal nonflammable gas supply path 17.

Further, the operation section 2 is provided with an air supply operation button 22 that communicates with the air supply path 15 and has a discharge hole 21 that opens to the outside. Further, the inner diameter of the discharge hole 21 is formed to be larger than that of the air supply passage 15, so that when gas is sent through the air supply passage 15, when the discharge hole 21 is opened, the tip side of the air supply passage 15 The water does not flow into the air, but instead is discharged to the outside through the discharge hole 21. Also,
If you close the open end of the discharge hole 21 with your fingertip, the air supply path 15
It is designed so that it can be fed to the tip side. In addition,
A check valve 23 is located on the distal side of the air supply operation button 22 and inserted in the middle of the air supply path 15 within the operation section 2 to prevent backflow from the distal side. .

Further, a reflective photoelectric sensor 26 consisting of a light emitter 24 and a light receiver 25 is provided at the open end of the discharge hole 21 of the air supply operation button 22, and this is connected to the air supply operation via lead wires 27, 27. switch 28
It is connected to the. That is, it constitutes a proximity switch that detects when a finger is placed on the discharge hole 21 of the air supply operation button 22. In addition to this switch 28, a changeover switch 29 for selecting the operation of the air supply device 18 and nonflammable gas supply device 19 is provided, for example, at a location on the operating section 2 that is easy to operate.

Then, the air supply device 18 is selectively operated by the selection circuit 30 which operates in response to signals from the switches 28 and 29, and the on-off valve 20 of the nonflammable gas supply device 19 is opened. There is.
The selection circuit 30 is configured as follows. That is, the output terminal of the switch 28 for supply operation is connected to the input terminals of the first and second AND circuits 31 and 32, respectively, and the output terminal of the switch 29 for switching is connected to the input terminals of the first AND circuit 31 and the second AND circuit 31 and 32, respectively. is connected to the input terminal of
The output terminal of 9 is connected to the second
It is connected to the other input terminal of the AND circuit 32.
Further, the output end of the first AND circuit 31 is connected to the air supply device 18, and the output end of the first AND circuit 31 is connected to the air supply device 18.
The output end of No. 2 is connected to an on-off valve 20 on the nonflammable gas supply device 19 side.

Next, the operation of the air supply device of the endoscope having the above configuration will be explained. First, when performing normal observation using an endoscope, the changeover switch 29 is switched to the "air" side. The signal from this switch 29 is input to the first AND circuit 31, but is not input to the second AND circuit 32 because it passes through the inverter 33. Here, when air is to be ejected from the nozzle 14 at the tip of the insertion section 3, the operator closes the opening of the discharge hole 21 of the air supply operation button 22 with his finger, but his finger does not come close to the air supply operation button 22. At this point, the light emitted from the light emitter 24 is reflected by the finger and enters the light receiver 25. Therefore, the supply operation switch 28 is operated by this detection signal and outputs a signal. This signal is transmitted to the first and second AND circuits 31 and 32.
Enter. The first AND circuit 31 receives and outputs both signals from the switches 28 and 29, and operates the air supply device 18. For this reason,
Air is fed into the air supply path 15 via the air supply path 16. This sent air is sent out to the nozzle 14 side by blocking the opening of the discharge hole 21 with a finger. Furthermore, by slightly adjusting the distance between the opening of the discharge hole 21 and the finger, the amount of air supplied can be finely adjusted in inverse proportion to the amount of air escaping to the outside through the discharge hole 21. Furthermore, if you move your finger away from the air supply operation button 22, the detection signal of the reflective photoelectric sensor 26 will not be output.
No signal is output from the switch 28, the output of the first AND circuit 31 disappears, and the operation of the air supply device 18 is stopped. In other words, the air supply immediately stops.

On the other hand, when treating an affected area in the large intestine with high frequency, for example, the switch 29 is first switched to the "nonflammable gas" side in order to replace the explosive gas accumulated in the large intestine with nonflammable gas. At this time, the second AND
Input it as a signal only to the circuit 32, and input it as a signal to the first AND
It is not input to the circuit 31. Here, nonflammable gas can be supplied by performing the same operation as in the case of supplying air. That is, if you bring your finger close to the opening of the discharge hole 21, the second AND circuit 32
Since both signals from the switches 28 and 29 are input to the switch, the second AND circuit 32 outputs an output and opens the on-off valve 20. Thus, nonflammable gas is sent from the nonflammable gas supply device 19 to the air supply path 15 via the nonflammable gas supply path 17. Then, by blocking the opening of the discharge hole 21 with your finger, the nozzle 1
Sent to the 4th side. Further, by slightly adjusting the distance between the opening of the discharge hole 21 and the finger, the amount of air supplied can be finely adjusted in inverse proportion to the amount of air escaping to the outside through the discharge hole 21. Also, if you move your finger away from the air supply operation button 22, no signal will be output from the switch 28,
Therefore, no output is output from the second AND circuit 32, the on-off valve 20 is closed, and the supply of nonflammable gas is stopped.

As explained above, the present invention allows the operator to perform the air supply operation for each of a plurality of gases simply by using the same air supply operation button and closing the opening of the discharge hole with a finger. Improves operability. Furthermore, by changing the amount by which the finger is brought close to the opening of the discharge hole, the amount of air being blown changes, allowing fine adjustment of the amount of gas being blown. Additionally, since there is no need to provide separate switching valves for each gas supply operation as in the past, the operation section of the endoscope can be made smaller and lighter, which also improves operability. can.

In addition, since the operation of each gas supply device is controlled by the proximity switch for supply operation that is operated when the air supply operation button is operated, the operation of each gas supply device is controlled. No gas is released from the release hole of the air supply operation button. Therefore, it is quiet with no emitted sound. In addition, air may be supplied naturally even though the surgeon does not perform it due to some reason (for example, the discharge hole is clogged).
Even if the discharge hole is open, there is a slight air resistance in the discharge hole, so a small amount of air is supplied to the distal end of the endoscope, causing the body cavity to expand more than necessary, a so-called natural air supply phenomenon. can be prevented.

Furthermore, since a proximity switch is used as the switch for the above-mentioned supply operation, the supply device can be activated immediately by simply bringing a finger close to the switch. In other words, the air supply operation can be performed with good responsiveness.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings are schematic structural explanatory diagrams showing one embodiment of the present invention. 2... Operation section, 3... Insertion section, 4... Universal cord, 15... Air supply path, 16... Air supply path, 17...
Nonflammable gas supply path, 18... Air supply device, 19...
Nonflammable gas supply device, 20... Opening/closing valve, 21... Discharge hole, 22... Air supply operation button, 26... Reflective photoelectric sensor, 28... Switch for supply operation, 29... Switch for switching, 30... Selection circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Each supply passage of a plurality of supply devices that supply different gases is communicated with the same air supply passage in the insertion section of the endoscope, and a part of the said air supply passage is communicated with the operation part of the endoscope. At the same time, an air supply operation button is provided, which has a discharge hole that opens to the outside, and which is configured to send the gas supplied from each supply device to the tip side of the air supply path by blocking this discharge hole. The operation button is provided with a proximity switch for supply operation that is operated when closing the discharge hole, and further,
Separately from this proximity switch, a switch for selecting the above-mentioned supply device is provided, and upon receiving operation signals from each switch, the above-mentioned supply device is selected and activated, and when the air supply operation button is operated, the supply operation is performed. An air supply device for an endoscope, characterized in that it is provided with a selection circuit for making the operation.