JP2010022758A - Endoscope device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an endoscope device which has a simple system to allow a small-scaled diameter and a reduced cost, and has a wiper that can be rotated to remove sticked substances from the end surface of its tip. <P>SOLUTION: The endoscope device having the end surface of a tip part at least one part of which is transparent, comprises a wiper, a liquid feeding system, and a turbine system, wherein the wiper is made into pressure-contact with the end surface of the tip and can be freely displacable on the end surface of the tip for remove stains stuck thereto; the liquid feeding system uses predetermined hydraulic pressure to feed a cleaning liquid onto the end surface of the tip; and the turbine system is disposed near the tip and uses the hydraulic pressure of the liquid feeding system to generate rotative force; and the rotative force generated by the turbine system displaces the wiper. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an endoscope apparatus having a wiper member for wiping off an attachment attached to a tip end face of an endoscope insertion portion.

  Conventionally, endoscope apparatuses have been widely used in the medical field and the industrial field. Endoscopic devices used in the medical field can be used to observe organs deep inside the body cavity by inserting an elongated insertion section into the body cavity, or into a treatment instrument insertion channel provided in the insertion section. Various treatments and treatments can be performed as necessary in the deep part of the body cavity by inserting the treatment tool.

  Endoscopic devices used in the industrial field can be used to observe wounds, corrosion, etc. of a test site by inserting a long and thin insertion portion of the endoscope device into a jet engine or piping in a factory. Treatment can be performed.

  When performing endoscopic inspection or treatment in a body cavity or lumen using such an endoscope apparatus, if it is a medical endoscope apparatus, fat or body fluid in the body cavity or bleeding or water during the treatment Smoke, mist, etc. generated by splashing or using an energy treatment device should be attached to the outer surface of the observation objective lens or cover glass provided on the distal end surface of the endoscope, or the outer surface of the illumination light irradiation window. There is.

  Also, in the case of an industrial endoscope apparatus, dirt such as factory piping may be contaminated by an outer surface of an observation objective lens or cover glass provided on the distal end surface of the endoscope, illumination light irradiation, etc. May be attached to the outer surface of the window.

  Such attachments cause distortion of the observation image and halation (irregular reflection) of the illumination light. In other words, these attachments and the like allow observations in a body cavity or a lumen such as deteriorating an observation image such as blurring an observation image obtained by an endoscope apparatus or obstructing the visual field of an objective lens. It can be an impeding factor.

  Therefore, a method is known in which the outer surface is washed to remove attachments by supplying water or the like to the outer surface of the objective lens, cover glass, illumination light irradiation window, or the like at the tip. However, with this technique, particularly for greasy stains and the like, it may not be possible to reliably clean the endoscope tip by simply flowing water or the like.

  Therefore, in such a case, for example, the endoscope device is once removed from the body cavity or the lumen, and the distal end portion of the endoscope is washed with hot water or the like outside the body cavity or outside the lumen. The attachments at the distal end of the endoscope are removed and washed by wiping or the like.

  However, in such a means, after removing the endoscope device inserted into the body cavity or lumen and removing or washing the attachment at the distal end of the endoscope, the examination or treatment is performed again. In order to do this, an operation of inserting the endoscope device into the body cavity or the lumen again is necessary, which is complicated.

In view of this point, many proposals have been made conventionally. For example, a conventional endoscope apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional endoscope apparatus.

  The sheath 1 for endoscope has a cover glass 3b at a distal end portion 3a, and a sheath insertion portion 3A that can rotate relative to the rigid endoscope 2 in a state where the rigid endoscope 2 is inserted, and a sheath insertion portion. Driving force for transmitting the driving force generated by the rotation operation unit 3C by connecting the rotation operation unit 3C provided on the proximal end side of 3A, the rotation operation unit 3C, and the sheath insertion unit 3A to the sheath insertion unit 3A. A cover glass sheath 3 having a transmission mechanism (not shown), a wiper sheath 4 for inserting a sheath insertion portion 3A of the cover glass sheath 3, and a distal end portion 4a of the wiper sheath 4 are fixed, and the sheath insertion portion 3A is inserted. And a wiper member 9 disposed so as to be in pressure contact with the outer surface of the cover glass 3b.

  Moreover, in this patent document 1, fluids, such as a washing | cleaning liquid supplied through the water supply nozzle | cap | die 4C and the clearance gap 4c which is not illustrated in FIG. 9, are ejected toward the outer surface of the cover glass 3b from the substantially perimeter direction. Then water. Thus, the outer surface of the cover glass 3b is cleaned with a fluid such as a cleaning liquid for the nozzle 4d.

  According to the endoscope apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is possible to provide an endoscope apparatus that can obtain a good observation field of view by cleaning the outer surface with the cleaning liquid or the like and wiping with a wiper member.

JP 2007-130084 A

  However, in the endoscope apparatus described in Patent Document 1, since a cleaning liquid supply mechanism and a mechanism for rotating the wiper member are separately required, the mechanism becomes complicated and further endoscopes are provided. There is a limit to reducing the diameter of equipment and reducing costs.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and is a simple mechanism that can reduce the diameter and cost of an endoscope device, and rotates the wiper member to remove the deposit on the end surface of the distal end portion. An object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope apparatus for removal.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides an endoscope apparatus having a tip end face that is at least partially transparent, and is brought into contact with the tip end face and placed on the tip end face. A wiper member for removing dirt adhering to the displaceable tip end surface, a liquid feeding mechanism for sending the cleaning liquid to the tip end surface with a predetermined water pressure, and a water pressure of the liquid feeding mechanism disposed near the tip portion. An endoscope apparatus characterized in that the wiper member is displaced by the rotational force generated by the turbine mechanism.

  Moreover, according to the preferable aspect of this invention, it is desirable for the water flow which displaced the wiper member with the turbine mechanism to flow out to the front-end | tip part end surface and the contact pressure surface of a wiper member.

  In the endoscope apparatus according to the present invention, a turbine mechanism that generates a rotational force by the water pressure of the liquid feeding mechanism is provided, and the wiper member is displaced on the end surface of the tip portion by the rotational force generated by the turbine mechanism to remove the attached dirt. . Therefore, there is no need to separately provide a cleaning liquid supply mechanism and a mechanism for rotating the wiper member. As a result, the mechanism of the endoscope apparatus can be simplified, and the effects of reducing the diameter of the endoscope apparatus and reducing the cost can be achieved.

  Embodiments of an endoscope apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited by this embodiment.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a part of the distal end portion 101 of the endoscope apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a top view of the distal end portion 101 of the endoscope apparatus 100 of FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an outline of a cross-sectional configuration along the line AA in FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an outline of a cross-sectional configuration along the line BB in FIG.

  The distal end portion 101 of the endoscope apparatus 100 constitutes a stereoscopic scope having two imaging systems, and a glass member 102 is disposed at the distal end. Two objective lenses 103 and two illumination light emitting portions 104 are arranged inside the tip portion 101. An opening 105 is formed in the glass member 102, and a rotating shaft 106 (not shown in FIG. 1) and a disk-shaped eaves member 107 assembled to the tip of the rotating shaft 106 protrude from the opening 105. A wiper blade (wiper member) 108 is formed on the rotating shaft 106.

  In the endoscope apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, water is ejected from the opening 105, and the ejected water strikes the eaves member 107 and flows out in the surface direction of the glass member 102. At the same time, the wiper blade 108 rotates to scrape off dirt deposited on the glass member 102.

  Furthermore, the endoscope apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. A water flow turbine (turbine mechanism) 111 is disposed immediately below an opening 105 provided substantially at the center of the glass member 102. The water flow turbine 111 is configured to rotate the rotation shaft 106 by receiving the water flow from the water supply tube (water supply mechanism) 112 by the turbine 113 attached to the rotation shaft 106.

  The water supply tube 112 is connected to a water supply device (not shown) arranged outside the scope (tip portion 101), and is configured to supply water at a predetermined pressure by a predetermined operation of the operator. The rotating shaft 106 protrudes from the opening 105 of the glass member 102, and an eaves member 107 is assembled to the tip of the rotating shaft 106.

  Further, a wiper blade 108 is assembled to a portion of the rotating shaft 106 that protrudes from the glass member 102, and the wiper blade 108 is in pressure contact with the end surface (end surface end surface) 102 a of the glass member 102. Have A pair of imaging modules 109 are arranged with the water turbine 111 interposed therebetween. These images capture an image formed by the objective lens 103, and the video signal is transmitted to an image processor (not shown) disposed outside the scope (tip portion 101) by the cable 110, and the captured image is It is displayed on a monitor device (not shown).

  Next, the endoscope apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. A pair of illumination optical fibers 114 are arranged with the water turbine 111 interposed therebetween, and the illumination light is irradiated in front of the glass member 102 via the illumination light emitting unit 104 provided with a lens. The illumination optical fiber 114 is connected to a light source device (not shown) arranged outside the scope (tip portion 101).

  Here, the deposit removal step in the present embodiment will be described. When dirt adheres to the glass member 102, water of a predetermined pressure is sent from the water supply device to the water turbine 111 through the water supply tube 112 by a predetermined operation of the operator. In the water turbine 111, the rotating shaft 106 and the wiper blade 108 connected thereto are rotated by receiving the pressure of the cleaning liquid by the turbine 113. At this time, the water in which the rotational force is applied to the turbine 113 is ejected from the opening 105, hits the eaves member 107, and flows out in the surface direction of the glass member 102. Dirt adhered to the glass member 102 can be removed by the action of this water flow and the rotating wiper blade 108.

In the above description, the cleaning liquid is water, but it can be replaced with physiological saline or a detergent depending on the application. In general, water or physiological saline is used in a medical endoscope apparatus. As described above, in the method of the present embodiment, since the rotational force of the wiper blade 108 is obtained by feeding the cleaning liquid, an electric motor is arranged at the distal end of the scope to move the wiper blade 108, or a wire or the like is pulled out. Therefore, there is no need to provide a mechanism for transmitting force to the wiper blade 108 from the outside of the scope. For this reason, the configuration is simple, which is excellent in terms of cost reduction and scope diameter reduction.
Furthermore, the water supply for obtaining the driving force is converted to the direction of the water supply by eaves and used for cleaning, so that the cleaning power is excellent.

(Second Embodiment)
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a part of the distal end portion 201 of the endoscope apparatus 200 of the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a part of the distal end portion 201 of the endoscope apparatus 200 in a state where the cover member 209 of FIG. 5 is removed. FIG. 7 is a top view of the distal end portion 201 of the endoscope apparatus 200 of FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an outline of a cross-sectional configuration along the line CC in FIG.

  A glass member 202 is disposed at the distal end of the scope constituting the distal end portion 201 of the endoscope apparatus 200, and an objective lens 203 and an illumination light emitting portion 204 (see FIG. 8) are disposed inside the distal end portion 201. An opening 205 (see FIG. 8) is formed in the glass member 201, and a rotating shaft 206 (see FIG. 8) and a disk-shaped eaves member 207 assembled at the tip of the rotating shaft 206 protrude from the opening 205. Further, the contact surface 208 a of the wiper blade (wiper member) 208 is in contact with the end surface (end surface end surface) 202 a of the glass member 202. A cover member 209 is attached to the distal end portion of the scope.

  Next, the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. On the upper part of the glass member 202, a ring-shaped member 210 having an inner peripheral portion 210a having a gear shape is disposed. Here, the outer peripheral portion 207a of the eaves member 207 is also gear-shaped and meshes with the inner peripheral portion 210a of the ring-shaped member 210, and when the eaves member 207 rotates, the ring-shaped member 210 also rotates. . The wiper blade 208 is fixed to the ring-shaped member 210 and rotates on the glass member 202 when the ring-shaped member 210 rotates.

  Furthermore, this embodiment is described based on FIG.7 and FIG.8. A water turbine (turbine mechanism) 211 is disposed immediately below the opening 205 provided near the outer periphery of the glass member 202. The water flow turbine 211 is configured to rotate the rotation shaft 206 by receiving the water flow from the water supply tube (water supply mechanism) 212 by the turbine 213 attached to the rotation shaft 206. The water supply tube 212 is connected to a water supply device (not shown) arranged outside the scope (tip portion 201), and a cleaning liquid having a predetermined pressure is supplied by a predetermined operation by an operator.

  The rotating shaft 206 protrudes from the opening 205 of the glass member 202, and an eaves member 207 is assembled at the tip thereof. As described above, the outer peripheral portion 207a of the eaves member 207 has a gear shape, and the inner peripheral portion 210a is engaged with the ring-shaped member 210 having a gear shape. Further, the cover member 209 is disposed so as to prevent the ring-shaped member 210 from being removed as shown in the figure.

  The wiper blade 208 is fixed to the ring-shaped member 210 and extends inward. As shown in the figure, the wiper blade 208 has a bent portion 208 a that is crank-shaped in the vicinity of the ring-shaped member 210, and when the wiper blade 210 rotates on the glass member 202 as the ring-shaped member 210 rotates. In addition, the wiper blade 210 does not come into contact with the eaves member 207 protruding from the glass member 201.

 In addition, an imaging module 213 is disposed immediately below the objective lens 203. These images capture an image formed by the objective lens 203, and the video signal is transmitted to an image processor (not shown) disposed outside the scope 201 via a cable 214, and the captured image is displayed on a monitor device (see FIG. (Not shown). Further, an illumination optical fiber 215 is disposed in the vicinity of the imaging module 213, and illuminates illumination light in front of the glass member 202 via an illumination light emitting unit 204 provided with a lens. The illumination optical fiber 215 is connected to a light source device (not shown) arranged outside the scope 201.

 The deposit removal process in this embodiment is basically the same as that in the first embodiment. In this embodiment, since the opening 205 from which the rotating shaft 206 of the water turbine 211 protrudes can be disposed in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the glass member 202, the diameter of the objective lens 203 is compared with the outer diameter of the scope (tip portion 201). It is applicable even when the target is large.

  In the first and second embodiments, a mechanism for removing attached dirt is incorporated in the scope. However, as a sheath for an endoscope in which a transparent member is arranged on the front surface, a wiper is provided on the transparent member. It is also possible to apply as a sheath for removing dirt with a blade. In this case, it is possible to take measures such as covering the sheath only at the time of an inspection that is particularly likely to be contaminated.

 In the first and second embodiments, the distal end portion of the endoscope apparatus has a shape extending substantially linearly in the longitudinal direction, for example, a rigid endoscope. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. Since the cam mechanism is not used to rotate the wiper member, it can be bent as the shape of the tip. For example, it goes without saying that a curved shape and a bent shape can be appropriately employed.

  As described above, the endoscope apparatus according to the present invention is useful for an endoscope apparatus that supplies a cleaning liquid to the end surface of the distal end portion and rotates the wiper member to clean the deposits attached to the end surface of the distal end portion. Yes, it can be applied to both rigid and flexible mirrors.

It is a perspective view which shows a part of front-end | tip part of the endoscope apparatus of 1st Embodiment. It is a top view of the front-end | tip part of the endoscope apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the outline of a cross-sectional structure along line AA of FIG. It is a figure which shows the outline of a cross-sectional structure along line BB of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows a part of front-end | tip part of the endoscope apparatus of 2nd Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows a part of front-end | tip part of the endoscope apparatus which is the state which removed the cover member of FIG. It is a top view of the front-end | tip part of the endoscope apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the outline of a cross-sectional structure along line CC of FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows schematic structure of the conventional endoscope apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Endoscope apparatus 101 End part 102 Glass member 102a End part end surface 103 Objective lens 104 Illumination light emission part 105 Opening 106 Rotating shaft 107 Elongation member 108 Wiper blade 108a Contact surface 111 Water turbine 112 Water supply tube 113 Turbine 114 Illumination optical fiber 200 Inside Endoscope 201 Scope 202 Glass member 202a Tip end face 203 Objective lens 204 Illumination light emitting part 205 Opening 206 Rotating shaft 207 Elongation member 208 Wiper blade 208a Pressure contact surface 209 Cover member 210 Ring-shaped member 211 Water turbine 212 Water supply tube 213 Turbine 1 Endoscope sheath 2 Rigid mirror 3 Cover glass sheath 4 Wiper sheath 9 Wiper member

Claims (2)

In an endoscope apparatus having a tip end face that is at least partially transparent,
A wiper member for removing dirt adhered to the tip end face that is displaceable on the tip end face by contacting the tip end face,
A liquid feeding mechanism for sending the cleaning liquid onto the end face of the tip with a predetermined water pressure;
A turbine mechanism that is arranged near the tip and generates a rotational force by the water pressure of the liquid feeding mechanism,
An endoscope apparatus, wherein the wiper member is displaced by a rotational force generated by the turbine mechanism.   The endoscope apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a water flow in which the wiper member is displaced by the turbine mechanism flows out to an end surface of the tip end portion and a pressure contact surface of the wiper member.

Images