JPH03264037A - Protecting device for endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the incidence of illumination light to an observation window through its reflection between the inner and outer surfaces of a protecting tube so as to dissolve the halation due to the reflection light by installing a light extinction part for absorbing, scattering, or reflecting light on the surface positioned between an illumination light window in a top edge constitution part and an observation window and closely attaching the light extinction part on the protecting tube. CONSTITUTION:A part of the illumination light emitted from an illumination light window 14 is incident on the inside of the bottom part 24 of a protecting tube 22, and transmitted toward an observation window 15 side through its reflection between the inner and outer surfaces 24a and 24b of the bottom part 24. When the reflection light like this reaches the inner surface 24a opposed to a light extinction part 25, the reflection light passes through the inner surface 24a and is directed to the light extinction part 25 without being reflected on the inner surface 24a, since the inner surface 24a is closely attached optically to the light extinction part 25. Since the light extinction part 25 is colored dark, almost all the part of the light which reaches the light extinction part 25 is absorbed. Accordingly, only an extremely small part of the reflected light can reach an observation window 15, and the halation due to the reflection light can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an endoscope protection device for preventing the insertion portion and tip component of an endoscope from being contaminated by bodily fluids or the like.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in endoscopes used for observing the inside of the human body, a protective device has been used to prevent body fluids from adhering to the distal end component and insertion portion inserted into the human body. It is being An example of such a protection device is shown in FIG. 13. In the protection device shown in FIG. 13, an insertion section 1 and a distal end component 2 of an endoscope are inserted into a transparent protection tube 3 having a bottom section 3a. It is fixed to the component 2. Note that numeral 5 is a window for illumination light, and numeral 6 is a window for illumination light.
is an observation window.

According to such a protection device, the protection tube 3 can prevent body fluid from adhering to the distal end component 2 and the insertion section 1 of the endoscope. Moreover, by removing the protective tube 3 and replacing it with a new protective tube after using the endoscope, it is possible to save the effort of cleaning the insertion section 1 and the distal end component 3.

However, in a protection device using such a protection tube 3, there is a problem in that observation becomes very difficult because halation occurs.

Therefore, when we investigated the causes of halation, we found that there are the following two factors.

One factor is that the illumination light emitted from the illumination light window 5 is
Halation is generated by reflection between the inner surface 3b of the bottom 3a of the protective tube 3 and the tip surface of the tip component 2 and entering the observation window 6. Another factor is the illumination. Illumination light emitted from the service window 5 first enters the inside of the protective tube 3, is reflected between the inner surface 3b and the outer surface 3C of the bottom portion 3a, and enters the observation window 6, thereby generating halation. It is something.

The former factor has been well known for a long time, and in order to deal with such a point, in the protection device shown in FIG. 13, a protrusion 7 is formed between the illumination light window 5 and the observation window 6. (Refer to Utility Model Publication No. 63-33209). When such a protrusion 7 is formed, as shown in FIG.
Illumination light reflected from the inner surface 3b and directed toward the observation window 6 is blocked by the protrusion 7. Therefore, protective tube 3
Halation caused by illumination light reflected on the inner surface 3b can be prevented.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the latter factor, that is, the illumination light emitted from the illumination light window 5 enters the inside of the protective tube 3,
The observation window 6 is then reflected between the inner surface 3b and the outer surface 3c (hereinafter, the illumination light reflected in this way is referred to as reflected light).
There was no recognition that such a factor existed, and no countermeasures had been taken at all for the fact that this causes halation. For this reason, conventional protection devices have been unable to prevent halation caused by reflected light at all.

For example, even if the protrusion 7 is formed as in the conventional protection device described above, the reflected light is not blocked by the protrusion 7. Therefore, it was not possible to prevent halation caused by reflected light at all.

This invention was made based on the above pursuit, and prevents illumination light from being reflected between the inner and outer surfaces of the protective tube and entering the observation window, thereby reducing halation caused by such reflected light. An object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope protection device that can solve the problem.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a protective tube having a bottom, a distal end component in which an illumination light window and an observation window are formed adjacent to each other, and the distal end. In an endoscope protection device in which an insertion section following the component is inserted, a light absorbing, scattering or reflecting light absorbing device is provided on a surface located between the illumination light window and the observation window of the distal end component. It is characterized in that a light part is provided, and this light attenuation part is brought into close contact with the protection tube.

In the above configuration, the light attenuating portion is formed by coloring the surface of the tip component in a dark color by printing or applying paint, or by making it a rough surface like the surface of frosted glass.
Furthermore, it can be formed by using a reflective surface that reflects incident light from the illumination light window side toward the illumination light window side.

[Operation] Of the illumination light emitted from the illumination light window, most of the reflected light that enters the inside of the protective tube and is reflected off its surface while heading toward the observation window is absorbed, scattered, or reflected. Therefore, only a small portion of the reflected light reaches the observation window.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 12.

1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention. In these figures, reference numeral 11 is the insertion section of the endoscope. This insertion part 11 may be made of a hard material, but for boat fishing, it is formed into a flexible cylindrical shape, and its base end is attached to an operating base (not shown). There is.

On the other hand, a distal end component 12 is attached to the distal end of the insertion section 11.

An illumination light window 14 and an observation window 15 that open in the distal end surface 13 of the distal end component 12 are formed spaced apart from each other.

The illumination light window I4 is connected to a light source device (not shown) via a light guide 16 made of a bundle of optical fibers, and the illumination light supplied from the light source device via the light guide 16 is used for illumination light. The light is emitted forward from the window 14. Note that the reference numeral 17 is a cover glass for protecting the light guide 16. Regarding the cover glass 17, a condensing or diffusing lens may be used instead, or it may be omitted.

The observation window 15 is optically connected to an eyepiece (not shown) provided on the operation base via an objective lens 18.19 and an image guide 2° consisting of a bundle of optical fibers. The image incident through the window 15 can be observed through the eyepiece. Note that the reference numeral 21 is a cover glass for protecting the objective lens 18. This cover glass 21 may also be omitted.

The insertion portion 11 and the tip structure portion 12 described above are inserted into the protection tube 22. The protective tube 22 is
It is made of flexible transparent resin, and the cylindrical part 2
3 and a bottom portion 24 that closes one end of the cylindrical portion 23. Usually, the cylindrical part 23 has an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the insertion part 11 and the tip component 12, and has a thin wall thickness of 0.1 mm or less. If 23 is made of a stretchable material,
It may be formed to have a diameter equal to or smaller than the diameter of the insertion portion 11 and the tip forming portion 12, and the thickness may also be 0.1 mm or more. The same applies to the bottom portion 24 in terms of thickness.

The distal end portion 12 and the insertion portion 11 are inserted into the protective tube 22 configured in this manner until the distal end surface 13 of the distal end portion 12 abuts the bottom portion 24 . After insertion, the protective tube 2 is inserted from the open end of the cylindrical portion 23
2, the insertion section 11 inserted therein, and the tip component 12 are vacuum-suctioned, and this causes the distal end surface 13 of the tip component 12 and the inner surface 24a of the bottom 24 of the protective tube 22 to are closely attached.

Note that after vacuum suction, the end of the protective tube 22 on the opening side is fixed to the proximal end of the insertion section 11 or the operation base using a fastening band (not shown) or the like. , sealed.

Further, of the illumination light emitted from the illumination light window 14, reflected light that is reflected between the inner surface 24a and the outer surface 24b of the bottom portion 24 and directed toward the observation window 15 is prevented from reaching the observation window 15. In order to achieve the object of the present invention, in the protection device of the present invention, an illumination light window 14 and an observation window 15 are provided on the distal end surface 13 of the distal end component I2 from one side of the distal end surface 13.
A light attenuating portion 25 is formed that passes between the two ends and extends to the other side of the distal end surface 13. This light attenuating portion 25 is formed to absorb the light incident thereon, and in this embodiment, it is formed by coloring the tip surface 13 by means such as printing or coating with paint. There is. In this case, it is colored dark, especially black, in order to increase the light absorption efficiency.

Further, the light attenuating portion 25 is brought into close contact with the bottom portion 24 of the protective tube 22 by the distal end surface 13 being brought into close contact with the bottom portion 24 of the protection tube 22 by vacuum suction.
It is optically brought into close contact with a.

In the endoscope protection device configured as described above, a part of the illumination light emitted from the illumination light window 14 enters the bottom part 24 of the protection tube 22, as shown in FIG.
It moves toward the observation window 15 while reflecting the gap between the inner surface 24a and the outer surface 24b of the bottom portion 24. When such reflected light reaches the inner surface 24a facing the light attenuation section 25, it passes through the inner surface 24a without being reflected at the inner surface 24a because the inner surface 24a and the light attenuation section 25 are in close optical contact. and head toward the light reduction section 25. Then, the light that reaches the light attenuation section 25 is
Since it is darkly colored, most of it is absorbed. Therefore, only a small portion of the reflected light reaches the observation window 15, and halation caused by the reflected light can be prevented.

Note that by using this invention in combination with those described in the above-mentioned publications, halation can be more reliably and sufficiently eliminated.

Next, other embodiments of the invention will be described.

Note that the same reference numerals are given to the same components as in the above embodiment, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

In the protection device shown in FIG. 4, instead of the light attenuation part 25 of the above embodiment, which is formed by coloring the distal end surface 13, a sheet-like thin plate (light attenuation part) having at least the surface of a dark color such as black is used. 26 is fixed to the distal end surface 13. In this embodiment, the thickness of the central portion of the thin plate 26 is increased in order to achieve tighter contact with the bottom portion 24.

The protection device shown in FIG. 5 has a recess 27 formed in the distal end surface 13, and a light attenuation member 28 having at least a dark color such as black on the surface is fitted and fixed in the recess 27.
The outer surface of the light attenuation member 28 is flush with the tip surface 13. Of course, similarly to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the central portion of the light attenuation member 28 may be made centrally high.

In the above embodiments, halation is prevented by absorbing reflected light, but halation can also be prevented by scattering or reflecting reflected light.

The protection device shown in FIG. 6 includes an illumination light window 14 and an observation window 1.
The light reduction part 29 is formed by making the tip surface 13 located between the light reduction part 29 and the bottom part 24 into a rough surface like polished glass. A liquid material is interposed between the bottom part 24 and the light attenuation part 29. In this case, the liquid used has a refractive index greater than l, which is the refractive index of air, and preferably has a refractive index equal to or higher than the refractive index of the protective tube 22.

In this protection device, since the inner surface 24a of the bottom portion 24 is in contact with a liquid having a refractive index greater than the refractive index of air (refractive index = 1), if air is in contact with the inner surface 24a, the reduction will occur. Even if all of the reflected light that reaches the inner surface 24a facing the light section 29 is totally reflected on the inner surface 24a, a part of the reflected light passes through the inner surface 24a and passes through the liquid to the light reduction section 29. Head to. In this case, the larger the liquid material with a thicker refractive index is used, the greater the amount of reflected light that passes through the inner surface 24a without being totally reflected. In particular, if a liquid material having a refractive index greater than that of the protective tube 22 is used, almost all of the reflected light will be reflected from the inner surface 22.
It can be made to pass through a. The light reaching the light attenuating portion 29 is scattered there because the light attenuating portion 29 has a rough surface.

Therefore, only a part of the reflected light goes toward the observation window 15, and most of the other light goes in a direction different from the observation window 15 side. Therefore, halation can be prevented.

Note that the liquid material may also be used in the embodiments described above and in the embodiments described below to bring the protection tube 22 and the light attenuation part into optical contact.

The protection device shown in FIG.
One or more protrusions 30 are formed extending between the illumination window 14 and the observation window 15, and the side surface (reflecting surface) 30a of each protrusion 30 facing the illumination light window 14 allows the illumination light to be The reflected light traveling from the viewing window 14 side to the observation window 15 side is returned to the illumination light window 14 side. Of course, the inner surface 24a and the light attenuating portion 31 are optically brought into close contact via the same liquid material as described above so that the reflected light passes through the inner surface 24a of the bottom portion 24 and reaches the side surface 30a.

In the protection device of this embodiment, most of the reflected light is reflected by the side surface 30a toward the illumination light window 14 and does not reach the observation window 1'5. Therefore, halation can be prevented.

Note that a recess may be formed in place of the protrusion 30, and the reflected light may be returned to the illumination light window 14 side by the side surface of the recess.

In each of the above embodiments, the light attenuation portion is formed in a band shape, but as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, annular light attenuation portions 32 and 33 surrounding the observation window 15 are formed. Good too. In this case, in the case shown in FIG. 8, the illumination light window 14 and the observation window 15 are arranged in the same manner as in the above embodiment.
In the one shown in FIG. 9, the observation window 15 is
3, and an illumination light window 14 is arranged so as to surround the outside thereof, and a light attenuation part 33 is formed in a portion between the observation window 15 and the illumination light window 14. There is. Of course, the light attenuation section 33 may be one that absorbs, scatters, or reflects reflected light.

Furthermore, the present invention can be applied not only to the direct viewing endoscope in each of the above embodiments, but also to a side viewing endoscope.

For example, the protection device shown in FIG. 10 has an illumination light window 14 and an observation window 15 spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction of the tip structure 1 on the side surface of the tip structure 1. window 1
A light attenuating portion 34 is formed between the observation window 15 and the observation window 15 .

Further, the protection device shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 has an illumination light window 14 and an observation window 15 spaced apart from each other in the width direction of the tip component 12.

Of course, a light attenuating portion 35 is formed in a portion between them.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit thereof.

For example, when forming a rough surface or a reflective surface as the light reduction portion, the rough surface or reflective surface may be colored dark.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, a forceps channel is not formed in the endoscope, but it goes without saying that a forceps channel or other appendages may be formed.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the endoscope protection device of the present invention, the surface of the tip component located between the illumination light window and the observation window absorbs, scatters, or Since it is equipped with a reflective light attenuation section, it absorbs, scatters, or reflects most of the reflected light that is reflected between the inner and outer surfaces of the protective tube toward the observation window, making it easier to observe the reflected light. It is possible to prevent the halation from reaching the window, thereby achieving the effect of preventing the occurrence of halation.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 3 show one embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a partially omitted vertical sectional side view, FIG. 2 is a view taken along the ■-■ arrow in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIGS. 4, 5, 6, and 7 are enlarged sectional views of essential parts, respectively, are sectional views similar to FIG. 3 showing other embodiments of the present invention, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are FIG. 10 is a diagram similar to FIG. 2 showing still another embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is a longitudinal sectional side view showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a side-viewing endoscope, and Figures 11 and 12 show other embodiments in which the present invention is applied to a side-viewing endoscope. The 11th
The figure is a vertical side view, Figure 12 is a cross-sectional view taken in the direction of arrows - in Figure 11, Figures 13 and 14 are examples of conventional protection devices, and Figure 13 is a partially omitted vertical view. Side view, 1st
FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Insertion part, 12... Tip structure part, 14... Window for illumination light, 15... Window for observation, 22... Protection tube, 24... Bottom, 25, 26, 28, 29, 32.
33, 34. 35... Attenuation part, 30a... Reflective surface.

Claims (8)

[Claims] (1) In an endoscope protection device in which a distal end component in which an illumination light window and an observation window are formed adjacent to each other and an insertion section following the distal end component are inserted into a protective tube having a bottom. , a light attenuation part that absorbs, scatters or reflects light is provided on a surface located between the illumination light window and the observation window of the tip component, and this light attenuation part is optically brought into close contact with the protection tube. A protective device for an endoscope, which is characterized by: (2) The light attenuating portion is formed by coloring the surface of the tip forming portion in a dark color.
The endoscope protection device described in . (3) Claim 1, wherein the dark color is black.
Or the endoscope protection device according to 2. (4) The protective tube and the light attenuation section are optically brought into close contact by vacuum suctioning the space between the protection tube and the endoscope to bring the protection tube and the light attenuation section into close contact. The endoscope protection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: (5) The endoscope protection device according to claim 1, wherein the light attenuation portion is formed by roughening the surface of the distal end component. (6) The light attenuation portion is a reflective surface that reflects light incident from the illumination light window side toward the illumination light window side on the surface of the tip component located between the illumination light window and the observation window. The endoscope protection device according to claim 1, wherein the endoscope protection device is formed as a. (7) The endoscope protection device according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the protection tube and the light attenuation portion are optically brought into close contact via a liquid material. (8) The endoscope protection device according to claim 7, wherein the liquid has a refractive index equal to or higher than that of the protection tube.