JP3144559B2 - Electric bending endoscope device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric bending endoscope apparatus having at least one of air supply, water supply, and suction together with an electric bending drive unit.

[Prior art] In recent years, by inserting an elongated insertion portion into a body cavity,
2. Description of the Related Art Endoscopes capable of observing organs in a body cavity and the like and performing various treatments using a treatment tool inserted into a treatment tool channel as necessary are widely used.

The insertion section of the endoscope is provided with a bending section. Conventionally, the bending section is often manually operated, but there is also a proposal to electrically operate the bending section. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-22574
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H11-139,086 discloses an endoscope apparatus in which a bending drive unit is provided in an external device. Further, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 59-33402 discloses a device in which a motor for bending drive is provided in a connector for a light source device, and a drive circuit for controlling the motor is provided in an operation section of an endoscope. ing. In addition, actual Kaihei 2
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. -25201 discloses a device in which a motor for bending drive is provided in an operation unit, and a drive circuit for controlling the motor is provided in a connector.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, the endoscope is provided with air supply / water supply means and suction means as needed. However, no particular consideration was given to the arrangement of the air / water supply means and the suction means. Therefore,
It is conceivable to provide a bending drive motor in the operation unit instead of the bending operation mechanism in the conventional manual bending type endoscope, and to provide a switching valve for air supply, water supply, and suction in the operation unit. However, there is a problem that the operation unit becomes large and heavy.

Further, as disclosed in JP-A-62-277931, it is conceivable to provide a switching valve for air supply, water supply, and suction in an external device. However, in this case, there is a problem that the responsiveness of air supply, water supply, and suction deteriorates.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has at least one of air supply, water supply, and suction together with an electric bending drive unit, and has a responsiveness of air supply, water supply, and suction. It is an object of the present invention to provide a well-operated electric bending endoscope apparatus with good operability.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The invention according to claim 1 includes an insertion section having a bendable portion formed at a distal end thereof, and an operation section connected to the insertion section for performing various operations. An endoscope body having an external control device that controls the endoscope body by connecting the endoscope body,
A connector for connecting the endoscope main body and the external device, and a drive force for bending the bending portion of the endoscope main body transmitted to the bending portion, provided in the endoscope main body. Transmission means, for instructing the bending direction of the bending portion of the endoscope body, a bending instruction means provided in the operation unit of the endoscope body, based on an instruction from the bending instruction means, An electric driving means for generating a driving force for bending the bending portion and transmitting the driving force to the transmission means; an attaching means for attaching the electric driving means to a housing of the external control device; An electric bending endoscope apparatus, comprising: a replacement window provided near the drive means for replacing the electric drive means; and an openable / closable door for closing the exchange window.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the electric bending endoscope apparatus according to the first aspect, a notifying unit for notifying a use time of the electric driving unit is provided in the external control device.

[Operation] In the present invention, the bending section of the insertion section is driven to bend by the electric control means provided in the external control device or the connector section. Further, a switching means provided in the endoscope body opens and closes a conduit for performing at least one of air supply, water supply, and suction, and controls at least one function of air supply, water supply, and suction. You.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 5 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a configuration of an electric bending endoscope apparatus, FIG. 2 is a front view of a control device, and FIG. Top view of device, fourth
The figure is a plan view of the control device with the motor replacement door opened, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the disinfecting cap.

As shown in FIG. 1, the electric bending endoscope apparatus includes an endoscope 1 as an endoscope body, a control device 40 as an external device to which the endoscope 1 is connected, and a control device 40. And a monitor 80 to be connected.

The endoscope 1 has an elongated and flexible insertion portion 2,
An operating portion 3 connected to the rear end of the insertion portion 2, a universal cord 4 extending from a side portion of the operating portion 3, and an end portion of the universal cord 4. And a cocker 5 which is detachably connected.
The insertion section 2 has a hard distal end 6 on the distal end side, and a bendable bending section 7 is provided behind the distal end 6.

An illumination window (not shown) and an observation window 11
Air / water supply nozzle 12 opening toward the observation window 11
And a suction port 13 are provided. A front end surface of a light guide (not shown) is disposed inside the illumination window, and the light guide is inserted through the insertion portion 2, the operation portion 3, and the universal cord 4, and the incident end portion 14 is connected to the connector 5. Have been. An objective lens 15 is provided inside the observation window 11, and a CCD is formed at an image forming position of the objective lens 15.
And the like are provided. The signal line 17 connected to the solid-state imaging device 16 is inserted through the insertion portion 2, the operation portion 3, and the universal cord 4, and is connected to the connector 5.

A tube (not shown) is connected to the air / water supply nozzle 12. This tube is bifurcated behind the curved portion 7, and serves as an air supply tube 18 and a water supply tube 19, respectively, at a side opening of an air supply / water supply cylinder 21 as a switching means provided in the operation section 3. It is connected. A piston 22 is removably inserted into the cylinder 21. An air supply line 23 and a water supply line 24 are connected to the side of the cylinder 21. These two pipelines 23 and 24
It is inserted through the universal cord 4 and connected to an air / water suction block 25 provided in the connector 5.
The piston 22 has a leak hole 26 and is urged in a protruding direction by a spring (not shown). And usually, the air supply line 23, the leak hole 26 and the air supply tube 1
8 are in communication. In the middle of the air supply tube 18,
A check valve (not shown) for preventing backflow from the nozzle 12 is provided. In a normal state, the gas flowing from the air supply pipe 23 leaks through the leak hole 26 due to a difference in pipe resistance. Further, when the leak hole 26 is closed, the gas flowing from the air supply pipe 23 side is ejected from the nozzle 12 toward the observation window 11 through the air supply tube 18. When the piston 22 is pressed down against the urging force of the spring, the water supply pipe 24 and the water supply tube 19 communicate with each other, and the liquid flowing from the water supply pipe 24 side passes through the water supply tube 19 through the nozzle 12 to the observation window 11.
Spouted towards.

Further, the operation section 3 is provided with a suction cylinder 27. A suction piston 28 is removably inserted into the suction cylinder 27. A suction tube 29 and a suction conduit 30 are provided on the side of the suction cylinder 28. The suction tube 29 is inserted through the insertion section 2 and communicates with a suction port 13 provided at the distal end portion 6. The suction line 30 is inserted through the universal cord 4 and connected to the block 25. The suction piston 28 is urged in a protruding direction by a spring (not shown), and the suction tube 29 and the suction conduit 30 are normally shut off. When the suction piston 28 is pushed down against the urging force of the spring, the suction tube 29 and the suction line 30 communicate with each other.

When the connector 5 is connected to the control device 40, the air / water / suction block 25 is also fixed at a predetermined position of the control device 40, and the air / water / suction pipes 23, 24 and 30 are The air supply passage 41, the water supply passage 42, and the suction passage 43 in the control device 40, respectively.
, And via these, it is connected to pumps 44, 45, 46 for air supply, water supply, and suction. A water supply tank 47 is provided in the middle of the water supply passage 42, and a suction bin 48 is provided in the middle of the suction passage 43.

Further, in the control device 40, a lamp 51 for generating the illumination light and a lens 52 for condensing light from the lamp 51 and making the light incident on the incident end portion 14 of the light guide are provided. Then, the illumination light emitted from the lamp 51 enters the incident end 14 of the light guide via the lens 52, and is emitted from the illumination window via this light guide. In the control device 40, a signal processing circuit 53 to which the signal line 17 connected to the solid-state imaging device 16 is connected is provided. The solid-state imaging device 16 is driven by a yellow signal processing circuit 53, and a signal read from the solid-state imaging device 16 is converted into a video signal by the signal processing circuit 53. To be entered.

Further, a motor 55 for up-down bending and a motor 56 for left-right bending are provided in the control device 40 as electric driving means for driving the bending section 7 to bend. The motor 55,5
Gears 57 and 58 are respectively attached to the shafts 6. As shown in FIG. 2, the gears 57 and 58 are exposed to the outside from a socket 59 to which the connector 5 is connected.

On the other hand, in the connector 5, there are provided connection gears 31, 32 which are engaged with the gears 57, 58 in a detachable manner. Pulleys 33 and 34 are fixed to the shafts of the connection gears 31 and 32, respectively. A bending wire 35 for up / down bending and a bending wire 36 for left / right bending are wound around the pulleys 33 and 34, respectively. The bending wires 35 and 36 are inserted through the universal cord 4, the operation unit 3, and the insertion unit 2, and the distal ends thereof are fixed to the front end of the bending unit 7.

With such a configuration, when the motor 55 rotates in the upward or downward direction, the pulley 33 rotates through the gear 57 and the connection gear 31 to push and pull the bending wire 35, and the bending portion 7 bends in the upward or downward direction. I do. Similarly, when the motor 56 rotates in the right or left direction, the pulley 34 rotates through the gear 58 and the connection gear 32 to push and pull the bending wire 36, and
Bends right or left.

The operation unit 3 is provided with a bending switch 38 composed of a joystick. The bending switch 38 is connected to a control circuit (not shown) that controls the motors 55 and 56. The motors 55 and 56 rotate in predetermined directions in accordance with the tilt direction of the bending switch 38, and the bending portion 7 bends in the operation direction of the bending switch 38.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 40 includes speed control switches 61 and 62 for setting the number of rotations of the motors 55 and 56, and a life meter 63 for notifying the use time of the motors 55 and 56. Are provided. The life meter 63 makes it easy to know when the motors 55 and 56 need to be replaced.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the housing of the control device 40 includes a motor 55, 56 at a position near the motor 55, 56.
And a door 65 that closes the replacement window 64. Incidentally, in FIG.
Indicates mounts for the motors 55 and 56, respectively. With such a configuration, the motors 55 and 56 can be easily exchanged from the exchange window 64 by opening the door 65.

Further, in the endoscope 1 in the present embodiment, since the connection gears 31 and 32 are exposed from the connector 5, when the endoscope 1 is disinfected, the connector 5 is connected to the connector 5 as shown in FIG. The disinfecting cap 71 is attached. This disinfecting cap
71 has a cylindrical main body 72 whose one end side is closed, a circular groove 73 is provided on the opening side of the inner peripheral part of the main body 72, and an O-ring 74 is fitted in this groove 73. ing. And
By covering the connector 5 with the disinfecting cap 71 from the opening side, the end side of the connector 5 is protected by ensuring watertightness.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the bending portion 7 is driven to bend by the motors 55 and 56 provided in the control device 40. In addition, air, water, and suction switching means including an air / water cylinder 21, a piston 22, a suction cylinder 27, and a piston 28 provided in the operation unit 3 of the endoscope 1 are provided. Each pipeline is opened and closed, and each function of air supply, water supply, and suction is controlled.

As described above, the switching means for air supply, water supply, and suction is provided in the middle part of the endoscope 1 near the distal end portion 6, that is, in the operation unit 3, so that when this switching means is provided in the control device 40, In comparison, the responsiveness of each function of air supply, water supply, and suction is better. Also,
Since the motors 55 and 56 for bending drive are provided in the control device 40,
Even if the switching means is provided in the operation unit 3 of the endoscope 1,
The operation section 3 of the endoscope 1 does not increase in size and weight, and the operability of the endoscope 1 is good.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing an endoscope according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, an air supply / water supply electromagnetic valve 81 is provided in the operation unit 3 instead of the air supply / water supply cylinder 21 and the piston 22 of the first embodiment, and a suction electromagnetic valve 82 is provided instead of the suction cylinder 27 and the piston 28.
Is provided. An air supply tube 18, a water supply tube 19, an air supply line 23 and a water supply line 24 are connected to the air supply / water supply electromagnetic valve 81, and a suction tube 29 and a suction line 30 are connected to the suction electromagnetic valve 82. Have been. Further, a push button switch 83 for opening and closing the air / water electromagnetic valve 81 and a push button switch 84 for opening / closing the suction electromagnetic valve 82 are provided in the operation unit 3. The push button switch 83 is constituted by a two-stage switch, and outputs a gas supply signal when pressed one step. In response to this, the gas supply tube 18 and the gas supply line 23 are communicated by the gas supply / water supply solenoid valve 81. When pressed two steps, a water supply signal is output, and in response to this, the water supply tube 19 and the water supply conduit 24 are communicated by the air supply / water supply electromagnetic valve 81. The push button switch 84 is turned on / off.
The switch is an off switch. When the switch is turned on, the suction tube 29 and the suction line 30 are communicated by the suction electromagnetic valve 82. When the switch is turned off, the suction tube 29 and the suction line 30 are shut off.

In the present embodiment, the control device 40 in the first embodiment is used.
Are separated into a bending driving device 101, a light source unit 103, and a video processor 105. The connector 5 of the endoscope 1 is connected to the bending driving device 101, and cables 102 and 104 extending from the connector 5 are connected to the light source unit 103 and the video processor 105, respectively. A monitor 80 is connected to the video processor 105.

The bending driving device 101 is a motor 5 according to the first embodiment.
5, 56 and gears 57, 58 are provided. Light source unit 1
03 is an air supply, water supply, and suction pipe 2 of the endoscope 1.
Air, water, and suction passages communicating with 3,24,30 41,42,43
And the air, water, and suction pumps connected to these
4, 45, 46, a lamp 51 and a lens 52. As in the first embodiment, a water supply tank 47 is provided in the middle of the water supply passage 42, and a suction bin 48 is provided in the middle of the suction passage 43. Also video processor 10
5 includes the signal processing circuit 53 in the first embodiment.

In this embodiment, usually, each pipe 18, 19, 29
23,24,30 are shut off. When the air / water switch 83 is pressed one step, the air / water supply solenoid valve 81 connects the air supply tube 18 and the air supply line 23 to perform air supply. And water supply is performed. Further, when the suction switch 84 is turned on, the suction tube 29 and the suction conduit 30 are communicated by the suction electromagnetic valve 82 to perform suction.

According to the present embodiment, the solenoid valves 81 and 82 do not necessarily need to be disposed immediately below the switches 83 and 84. Therefore, compared to the first embodiment, the arrangement of the air supply, water supply, and suction switching means is more flexible. More often.

Other configurations, operations and effects are the same as those of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing an endoscope according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

In the present embodiment, an intermediate section 86 is provided in the middle of the insertion section 2 instead of the operation section 3 in the first embodiment. An electromagnetic valve 87 for air supply, an electromagnetic valve 88 for water supply, and an electromagnetic valve 82 for suction are provided in the middle part 86. An air supply tube 18 and an air supply line 23 are connected to the electromagnetic valve 87, and a water supply tube 19 and a water supply line 24 are connected to the electromagnetic valve 88.
Is connected. Further, a switch for operating each of the electromagnetic valves and the bending switch 38 are provided in another operation unit (not shown).

The solenoid valves 87 and 88 are of an on / off type and are normally off, and each of the tubes 18 and 19 and each of the pipes 23 and
24 is blocked. When the switch for operating the air supply is turned on, the electromagnetic valve 87 is turned on, the air supply tube 18 communicates with the air supply line 23, and when the switch for operating the water supply is turned on, the electromagnetic valve 88 is turned on. When turned on, the water supply tube 19 and the water supply conduit 24 communicate with each other.

Other configurations, operations and effects are the same as those of the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a connection portion between an endoscope and a control device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the motors 55 and 56 for bending drive are connected to the connector 5.
It is provided inside. And, without providing the gears 57, 58 and the connecting gears 31, 32 in the first embodiment, the motors 55, 5
Pulleys 33 and 34 are attached to each shaft 6.

Other configurations, operations and effects are the same as those of the first embodiment.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and includes those having at least one of each means of air supply, water supply, and suction.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the electric drive device is provided with an exchange window for exchanging the electric drive means for generating the driving force for bending the bending portion. The effect that replacement work becomes easy can be obtained.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, by providing the notifying means for notifying the use time of the electric drive device, it is possible to easily obtain a replacement time from the use time of the electric drive device. Can be.

Further, according to the present invention, by providing the electric drive unit in the connector or the external control device, the weight and size of the operation unit can be reduced, and the switch instruction unit for instructing the switching of the opening and closing of the pipeline, and the bending unit The operability of the operating unit by the operator is improved by providing both the bending instruction means for indicating the bending direction of the endoscope and the operating unit of the endoscope.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 to 5 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the configuration of the electric bending endoscope apparatus, FIG. 2 is a front view of the control apparatus, FIG. 3 is a plan view of the control apparatus, and FIG. 4 is a control in a state where a motor replacement door is opened. Plan view of the device,
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a disinfecting cap, FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing an endoscope according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing an endoscope according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a connection portion between an endoscope and a control device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Endoscope, 2 ... Insertion part 3 ... Operation part 7, ... Bending part 18 ... Air supply tube, 19 ... Water supply tube 21 ... Air supply / water supply cylinder 23 ... Air supply conduit, 24 …… Water supply line 27 …… Suction cylinder, 29 …… Suction tube 30 …… Suction line, 40 …… Control device 55,56 …… Motor

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An endoscope body having an insertion portion having a bendable bending portion formed at a distal end thereof, and an operation portion connected to the insertion portion for performing various operations, and the endoscope body. An external control device for connecting the endoscope main body to control the endoscope main body; a connector for connecting the endoscope main body to the external device; and a drive for bending the bending portion of the endoscope main body. Transmitting means for transmitting force to the bending portion, provided on the endoscope main body; and provided on the operation portion of the endoscope main body for indicating a bending direction of the bending portion of the endoscope body. A bending instructing unit, an electric driving unit that generates a driving force for bending the bending portion based on an instruction from the bending instructing unit, and transmits the driving force to the transmission unit, and the external control device controls the electric driving unit. Mounting means for mounting inside the housing, and in front of the housing An electric bending endoscope device, comprising: an exchange window provided near the electric drive means for exchanging the electric drive means; and an openable / closable door for closing the exchange window. 2. An electric bending endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said external control device is provided with a notifying means for notifying a use time of said electric driving means.