Patent Application
20160270635
The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-058347, filed on Mar. 20, 2015. Each of the above application(s) is hereby expressly incorporated by reference, in their entirety, into the present application.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope and particularly to a structure of a distal end portion of an endoscope provided with an elevator (forceps elevator) for a treatment tool and an elevating mechanism (elevator erecting mechanism) for the elevator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Regarding an endoscope, various treatment tools are inserted into a treatment-tool entry port provided on an operation portion and they are led out of the treatment-tool exit port opened in the distal end portion and used for treatment. The treatment tools such as a guide wire, a contrast medium tube and the like are used for a duodenoscopy, puncture needles for an ultrasonic endoscope, and forceps, snares and the like for a direct-viewing endoscope or a side-viewing endoscope, for example. These treatment tools need to change a derivation direction at the distal end portion in order to treat a desired position in a subject, and thus, a treatment-tool elevating mechanism (forceps elevator, hereinafter referred to as “elevator”) is provided on the distal end portion.
As such the treatment-tool elevating mechanisms, a mechanism in which a wire is attached to the elevator and extended to a proximal end side of the endoscope, is known. In the mechanism, the elevator is rotated around a rotating shaft by pushing and pulling operation of the wire with an operation lever provided on the operation portion so as to change a position of the elevator between an erecting position and a reclining position. Moreover, a mechanism (lever type) in which the rotating shaft of the elevator is coupled with a housed lever through a partition wall, and the wire is attached to the lever is also known. In the mechanism, the elevator is rotated around the rotating shaft by means of the pushing and pulling operation of the wire with the operation lever provided on the operation portion so as to change the position of the elevator between the erecting position and the reclining position.
The distal end portion provided with such a treatment-tool elevating mechanism has a complicated shape and structure and thus, improvement of cleaning performances such as wraparound of a disinfectant, insertion of a washing brush (reachability of a tip end of the brush) or drainage and ease of a cleaning work are in demand.
Conventionally, an endoscope having a detachable cap on the distal end portion is known (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-141315, for example). In this type of endoscope, the cap is removed after treatment, and then the distal end portion is cleaned.
However, with the conventional endoscope as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-141315, the distal end portion itself is originally small-sized and moreover, since the elevator is housed in an elevator housing groove (a slit which houses the elevator), an exposed portion is small. In addition, since a gap between the elevator and the elevator housing groove is narrow, cleaning using a brush or the like takes time.
The present invention was made in view of such circumstances and aims to provide an endoscope whose distal end portion can be cleaned rapidly and easily.
In order to achieve the aforementioned object, an endoscope according to a first aspect of the present invention includes: an insertion portion which includes a distal end and a proximal end; an operation portion which is provided on a proximal end side of the insertion portion and includes an operating member; a distal end portion body which is provided on a distal end side of the insertion portion, and has a front surface, an upper surface, and a lower surface; an elevator which has a rotation center and is configured to be rotatable with respect to the distal end portion body; an elevator erecting mechanism configured to rotate the elevator around the rotation center; an operation wire which includes a proximal-end-side coupling portion coupled with the operating member and a distal-end-side coupling portion coupled with the elevator erecting mechanism, the operation wire configured to rotate the elevator by being pushed or pulled by an operation of the operating member, and displace the elevator between an erecting position and a reclining position; an elevator housing slit which is provided on the distal end portion body and forms a space portion housing the elevator, the elevator housing slit being extended and opened from the upper surface to the lower surface through the front surface of the distal end portion body; and a cap detachably provided on the distal end portion body, the cap including an opening window which opens the opening portion on a side of the upper surface of the elevator housing slit and a partition wall portion which closes the opening portion on a side of the lower surface in a state in which the cap is attached to the distal end portion body.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the cap is detachably attached to the distal end portion body, by removing the cap, the elevator is exposed from the opening of the elevator housing slit. Further, since the elevator housing slit is extended from the upper surface to the lower surface of the distal end portion body and opened, an exposed range of the elevator is large, and the distal end portion can be cleaned rapidly and easily. In the first aspect, the endoscope may be configured such that the rotating shaft is fixed to the elevator and the rotating shaft is rotated integrally with the elevator. Alternately, the endoscope may be configured such that the rotating shaft is fixed to the distal end portion body and the elevator is rotated around the fixed rotating shaft. Here, in the present invention, the term “rotation center” of the elevator refers to a virtual rotation center line of the elevator.
An endoscope according to a second aspect is so constituted that, in the first aspect, the elevator has: a forceps action region which has a first width and is configured to receive forceps; a rotation center region which has a second width narrower than the first width and includes the rotation center of the elevator; and an elevator width transition region which is disposed between the forceps action region and the rotation center region, and whose width changes from the second width to the first width, and the elevator housing slit has: a distal-end-side region which has a third width wider than the first width and is configured to house the forceps action region; a proximal-end-side region which has a fourth width narrower than the third width and wider than the second width, and is configured to house the rotation center region; and a forceps housing slit width transition region which is disposed between the distal-end-side region and the proximal-end-side region, and whose width changes from the fourth width to the third width, wherein a distance from the rotation center to the forceps housing slit width transition region is shorter than a distance from the rotation center to the elevator width transition region. The second aspect defines a shape that houses the elevator in the elevator housing slit.
An endoscope according to a third aspect is so constituted that, in the first or second aspect, the elevator erecting mechanism has an elevator erecting lever coupled with the elevator, the distal-end-side coupling portion of the operation wire is coupled with the elevator erecting lever, and the operation wire is pushed or pulled by an operation of the operating member so as to rotate the elevator through the elevator erecting lever and displace the elevator.
The third aspect illustrates an aspect of the elevator erecting mechanism.
An endoscope according to a fourth aspect is so constituted that, in the third aspect, the elevator erecting lever is coupled with the elevator in an unrotatable manner, and the elevator erecting lever is configured to be inclined larger than the elevator toward the proximal end side with respect to the rotation center when the elevator is erected, and a side surface of the elevator is exposed from an opening portion on a side of the front surface of the elevator housing slit or the opening portion on the side of the lower surface of the elevator housing slit, before the elevator erecting lever abuts on the distal end portion body and further rotation of the elevator erecting lever and the elevator is restricted, when the erecting of the elevator is cancelled. By setting such erecting relation between the elevator erecting lever and the elevator, a rotating space of the elevator erecting lever is reduced, and the distal end portion of the endoscope can be downsized.
An endoscope according to a fifth aspect is so constituted that, in one of the first to fourth aspects, the distal end portion body has a pair of side wall portions facing each other having the elevator housing slit therebetween, and at least one side wall portion of the pair of side wall portions has a notch portion which is formed by notching a corner portion on the side of the lower surface, the corner portion being on the side of the front surface, and the notch portion is configured to allow the side surface of the elevator to be exposed when the elevator is displaced to the reclining position. In the fifth aspect, when the elevator is displaced to the reclining position, the notch portion allows the side surface of the elevator to be exposed and thus, the distal end portion can be cleaned more rapidly and easily.
An endoscope according to a sixth aspect is so constituted that, in one of the first to fourth aspects, the distal end portion body has a pair of side wall portions facing each other having the elevator housing slit therebetween, and at least one side wall portion of the pair of side wall portions has a first thick portion which is provided on the side of the upper surface rather than the lower surface and has a first thickness, and a second thick portion which is provided between the first thick portion and the lower surface and has a second thickness smaller than the first thickness. In the sixth aspect, at least one side wall portion of the pair of the side wall portions has the second thick portion, and thus, a gap corresponding to a difference between the first thickness and the second thickness is generated between the elevator and the side wall portion. Therefore, cleaning using a tool such as a brush can be performed easily.
An endoscope according to a seventh aspect is so constituted that, in one of the first to fourth aspects, the distal end portion body has a pair of side wall portions facing each other having the elevator housing slit therebetween, one side wall portion of the pair of side wall portions has a notch portion which is formed by notching a corner portion on the side of the front surface, the corner portion being on the side of the lower surface, the notch portion is configured to allow the side surface of the elevator to be exposed when the elevator is displaced to the reclining position, and another side wall portion of the pair of side wall portions has a first thick portion which is provided on the side of the upper surface rather than the lower surface and has a first thickness, and a second thick portion which is provided between the first thick portion and the lower surface and has a second thickness smaller than the first thickness. In the seventh aspect, the side surface of the elevator is exposed by the notch portion, and moreover, since a gap corresponding to the difference between the first thickness and the second thickness is generated between the elevator and the side wall portion, the distal end portion can be cleaned more rapidly and easily.
An endoscope according to an eighth aspect is so constituted that, in one of the first to fourth aspects, the distal end portion body has a pair of side wall portions facing each other having the elevator housing slit therebetween, and the elevator has a recess portion on a surface facing any one side wall portion of the pair of side wall portions. In the eighth aspect, since the elevator has the recess portion, a gap is generated by this recess portion between the elevator and the side wall portion, cleaning using a tool such as a brush can be performed more rapidly and easily.
An endoscope according to a ninth aspect is so constituted that, in one of the first to eighth aspects, when a position where the elevator abuts on the partition wall portion of the cap is assumed to be a first reclining position in a state in which the cap is attached to the distal end portion body, and a position where the elevator is displaced from the first reclining position toward a side opposite to the erecting position is assumed to be a second reclining position in a state in which the cap is removed from the distal end portion body, the operating member displaces the elevator to the first reclining position when a first operation is performed and displaces the elevator to the second reclining position when a second operation is performed.
In the ninth aspect, the operation which displaces the elevator to the first and second reclining positions can be performed by the first and second operations of the operating member, respectively. When the elevator is at the second reclining position, it is exposed from the distal end portion body more largely than at the first reclining position, and thus, cleaning of the distal end portion can be performed more rapidly and easily.
An endoscope according to a tenth aspect is so constituted that, in the ninth aspect, the operation portion has a locking portion provided on the operating member and a stopper which is configured to restrict one end of a rotation range of the elevator to the first reclining position by engaging with the locking portion when the first operation is performed, and when the second operation is performed, the locking portion rides over the stopper and the engagement between the locking portion and the stopper is unlocked so as to allow movement of the elevator toward the second reclining position. In the tenth aspect, when the first operation is performed, the one end of the rotation range of the elevator is restricted to the first reclining position by the locking portion and the stopper, and thus, unintended reclining of the elevator can be prevented. When the elevator is to be further reclined beyond the first reclining position, by performing the second operation, the elevator is reclined to the second reclining position and is largely exposed from the distal end portion body. As a result, in the tenth aspect, cleaning of the distal end portion can be performed more rapidly and easily.
As described above, according to the endoscope of the present invention, the distal end portion can be cleaned rapidly and easily.
An endoscope according to the present invention will be described below by referring to the attached drawings.
As illustrated in
The insertion portion 12 is constituted by sequentially connecting a distal end portion 12a, a bending portion 12b, and a flexible portion 12c from the distal end side toward the proximal end side (operation portion 14 side). On a farthest proximal end side of the flexible portion 12c, a boot (boot member) for the insertion portion 12 is provided.
In the operation portion 14, an angle knob 18 which performs a bending operation of the bending portion 12b, an operation lever 20 which displaces (erects or reclines) the elevator 46 (see
Moreover, in accordance with the operation of the air/water supply button 21a, air or water is supplied from an air/water supplying device built in the light source device, not shown, and is injected from the air/water supply nozzle toward an observation window 36 (see
The flexible portion 12c has a configuration in which: the innermost side is a spiral tube formed by spirally braiding a thin band-shaped plate with elasticity on the innermost side, the spiral tube is then covered with a net-like body that is woven from a metal wire and fitted with a metal cap at both ends thereof to form a tubular body; the outer peripheral surface of the tubular body is laminated with an outer skin formed of resin.
The bending portion 12b has a configuration in which: a structural body is constituted by rotatably coupling angle rings, not shown, with each other; an outer periphery of this structural body is covered by a mesh body obtained by braiding a metal wire; and the mesh body is further covered by an outer skin made of rubber. Moreover, a plurality of wires, not shown, are extended from the angle knob 18 of the operation portion 14 to the bending portion 12b, and distal end portions of these wires are fixed to the distal end portions of the angle rings constituting the bending portion 12b. As a result, in accordance with the operation of the angle knob 18, the bending portion 12b is bent vertically and horizontally.
The distal end portion body 30 is constituted by a metal with good erosion resistance such as stainless steel, and the elevator housing slit 38 (see
In
As described above, in the endoscope 10 according to this embodiment, since the opening portions 38a, 38b, and 38c extending from the upper surface to the lower surface through the front surface are formed in the elevator housing slit 38, the exposed range of the elevator 46 is large, and the elevator 46 can be cleaned rapidly and easily.
Moreover, a treatment-tool insertion channel, not shown, communicates with the elevator housing slit 38. This treatment-tool insertion channel is inserted into the insertion portion 12 of the endoscope 10 and is connected to the treatment-tool entry port 22 of the operation portion 14. As a result, when the treatment tool is inserted into the treatment-tool insertion channel from the treatment-tool entry port 22, the treatment tool is guided to the elevator housing slit 38. The guided treatment tool is erected by the elevator 46 and is led out upward from the opening window 32A.
In one side wall portion 41a of the elevator housing slit 38, on a surface on a side opposite to the elevator 46, an erecting-lever housing chamber 40 is provided, and inside this erecting-lever housing chamber 40, an elevator erecting lever 42 which causes the elevator 46 to swing is housed. Moreover, on the side wall portion 41b on the side opposite to the erecting-lever housing chamber 40 having the elevator housing slit 38 between them, an optical-system housing chamber 47 is provided.
The optical-system housing chamber 47 is closed by attaching a protective cover, not shown, to the distal end portion body 30. A joint surface between the distal end portion body 30 and the protective cover is joined through a sealing agent, whereby a gap between the distal end portion body 30 and the protective cover is sealed, and airtightness of the optical-system housing chamber 47 is held.
On the upper part of the optical-system housing chamber 47, an illumination window 34 and the observation window 36 are disposed, and an air/water supply port, not shown, is provided toward the observation window 36. The air/water supply port is connected to an external device through an air/water supply tube (not shown) inserted into the insertion portion 12. Compressed air or water is injected from the air/water supply port toward the observation window 36 by operating the air/water supply button 21a of the operation portion 14, and the observation window 36 is cleaned. The illumination window 34, the observation window 36, and the air/water supply port are provided at a position facing the opening window 32A when the cap 32 is placed over the distal end portion body 30. Hereinafter, a surface on which the observation window 36 is disposed is referred to as an upper surface, and an observation direction observed from the observation window 36 is referred to as an upward. Moreover, the surface on a side opposite to the upper surface or upward is referred to as a lower surface or downward, and the surface on the distal end side of the distal end portion 12a is referred to as a front surface or forward as a front part.
Inside the optical-system housing chamber 47, an imaging optical system and an illumination optical system, not shown, are housed. The illumination optical system includes an illumination lens (not shown) which is installed on an inner side of the illumination window 34 and a light guide which is arranged so that a distal end the light guide faces this illumination lens. The light guide is inserted into the insertion portion 12 of the endoscope 10 and the proximal end portion thereof is connected to the light source device, not shown. As a result, an illumination light from the light source device is transmitted through the light guide and is projected upward from the illumination window 34.
The imaging optical system includes an objective lens disposed on an inner side of the observation window 36 and a CCD unit (Charge Coupled Device unit), not shown, disposed in the rear of this objective lens through a prism. The CCD unit is connected to an image processing device, not shown, through a cable. By means of this imaging optical system, a subject image taken in from the observation window 36 is converted to an electric signal and transmitted to the image processing device (processor) connected to the endoscope 10 and the subject image is displayed on a monitor through the image processing device.
On the other hand, the erecting-lever housing chamber 40 is closed by placing a protective plate, not shown, over the distal end portion body 30. The protective plate is screwed to the distal end portion body 30 at a plurality of spots (not shown), and a gap between the protective plate and the distal end portion body 30 is filled with a sealing agent. As a result, airtightness of the erecting-lever housing chamber 40 is maintained.
On the other hand,
Therefore, in the endoscope 10 according to this embodiment, even if the elevator 46 is housed in the elevator housing slit 38, the elevator 46 and the elevator housing slit 38 are not brought into contact with each other as illustrated in
Inside the erecting-lever housing chamber 40, the elevator erecting lever 42 is provided (see
In this embodiment, as the elevator erecting mechanism, the case in which the elevator erecting lever 42 is provided in order to rotate the elevator 46, and the elevator 46 and the rotating shaft 42a are fixed is described, but the elevator erecting mechanism in the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. In addition to the embodiment above, the elevator erecting mechanism may be so constituted that a shaft-shaped member constituting the rotating shaft is fixed to the distal end portion body and the elevator is rotated around the fixed member directly by the operation wire without through the elevator erecting lever (similarly in the second embodiment which will be described later).
On the other hand,
As illustrated in
Moreover, assuming that the reclining angle satisfies θ1≦θ2, in order to largely recline the elevator 46 (to the second reclining position illustrated in
Subsequently, a stopper mechanism (locking mechanism) of the elevator will be described.
The stopper 68a is provided at a position PMAX corresponding to the first reclining position of the elevator 46. This stopper 68a is an example of a stopper in the present invention. Therefore, by rotating the operation lever 20 so as to allow the projection 64a to engage with the stopper 68a, one end of the rotation range of the elevator 46 is restricted (locked) to the first reclining position. Such operation of the operation lever 20 is referred to as the “first operation” hereinafter.
Therefore, in order to make the elevator 46 further recline over the first reclining position, an operation different from the rotating operation in the normal use of the operation lever 20 (an operation to intentionally apply a force larger than the normal use to further recline the elevator 46: hereinafter referred to as the “second operation”) needs to be performed to the operation lever 20, and thus, the reclining from the first reclining position toward the second reclining position (position further displaced to a side opposite to the erecting position from the first reclining position; the state illustrated in
In the stopper mechanism 60, the number and size of the projection 64a or the stopper 68a may be determined in accordance with intensity of a required locking force.
Subsequently, a second embodiment of an endoscope according to the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, the configuration similar to that in the first embodiment is given the same reference numeral and detailed description will be omitted.
Basic configuration of the endoscope according to the second embodiment is similar to that of the endoscope 10 according to the first embodiment, but in the second embodiment, a structure of the distal end portion is different from that in the first embodiment.
As illustrated in
On the other hand, in the side wall portion 75 (side wall portion on the optical-system housing chamber 47 side), the upper surface side is a first thick portion 75A having a first thickness and a portion between the first thick portion 75A and the lower surface is a second thick portion 75B having a second thickness smaller than the first thickness. As a result, as illustrated in
In the second embodiment, also, similarly to the first embodiment (see
In the second embodiment, the case in which the notch portion 74A is provided on the side wall portion 74 on the erecting-lever housing chamber 40 side, and the first thick portion 75A and the second thick portion 75B are provided on the side wall portion 75 on the optical-system housing chamber 47 side is described, but the configuration of the notch portion and the first and second thick portions in the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. Only the notch portion or one of the first and second thick portions may be provided on one of the side wall portions. Or, to the contrary to the second embodiment, the first and second thick portions may be provided on the side wall portion 74, while the notch portion is provided on the side wall portion 75.
Moreover, in the second embodiment, also, the shapes and the dimensions of the elevator 46 and the elevator housing slit 38 are in the relationship similar to that of the first embodiment (see
Subsequently, a variation of the elevator in the present invention will be described. In the aforementioned second embodiment, by providing the notch portion or thin portion (second thick portion) on the side wall portions 74 and 75, a gap is formed between the elevator 46 and the side wall portions 74 and 75, whereby cleaning is facilitated. However, the shape of the elevator may be changed for forming the gap.
The narrow portion 81 and the notch portions 82 and 83 are examples of a recess portion (concave portion) of the elevator in the present invention. Moreover, the shape of the elevator illustrated in this variation may be employed in either of the first and second embodiments.
The present invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodiments but is capable of various variations within a range not departing from the spirit of each invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-058347 | Mar 2015 | JP | national |
