Endoscopic fluid passage changeover valve unit and endoscope

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9307890-B2
Application number	US-201414326162-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 8, 2014
Priority date	Nov 21, 2012
Publication date	Apr 12, 2016
Grant date	Apr 12, 2016

Abstract

In an endoscopic fluid passage changeover valve unit, a communication passage is formed in a shaft, the communication passage being opened to a hollow portion of a cylinder portion in an inside opening located on an outer peripheral surface of the shaft, and a seal member is provided at an angular position apart from the inside opening in circumferential directions of the cylinder portion. The shaft and the seal member are rotatable relative to the cylinder portion around a movement axis toward a position where a first upstream-side fluid passage is blocked by the seal member and toward a position where the inside opening of the communication passage faces the first upstream-side fluid passage.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An endoscopic fluid passage changeover valve unit comprising:
a cylinder portion having a hollow portion formed therein;
a first upstream-side fluid passage that has a downstream end thereof located on an inner peripheral surface of the cylinder portion, and that is configured to supply a first fluid to the hollow portion from the downstream end;
a shaft that extends along a movement axis to be inserted into the hollow portion, and inside of which a communication passage is formed, the communication passage being opened to an outside of the cylinder portion through an opening and being also opened to the hollow portion in an inside opening located on an outer peripheral surface of the shaft;
a first seal member that is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft rotatably around the movement axis, and that is located at an angular position apart from the inside opening in circumferential directions of the cylinder portion;
a connection cap that attaches the shaft to the cylinder portion so that the shaft and the first seal member are rotatable relative to the cylinder portion around the movement axis toward a position where the downstream end of the first upstream-side fluid passage is blocked by the first seal member and toward a position where the inside opening of the communication passage faces the downstream end of the first upstream-side fluid passage; and
a second seal member that is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft moveably and rotatably with respect to the cylinder portion and that is configured to keep airtight and watertight between the cylinder portion and the shaft.

2. The endoscopic fluid passage changeover valve unit according to claim 1 , wherein
the second seal member includes multiple second seal members,
the second seal members form space portions between the cylinder portion and the shaft in the hollow portion,
the shaft is configured to rotate a predetermined rotation angle together with the first seal member around the movement axis from a first input mode in which the first seal member is located at a position to block the downstream end of the first upstream-side fluid passage, and thereby the shaft is configured to be set in a second input mode in which the first seal member is located at a position where the first seal member does not block the downstream end of the first upstream-side fluid passage, and
the first upstream-side fluid passage is configured to allow the downstream end to be in communication with a first space portion which is one of the space portions in the second input mode of the shaft.

3. The endoscopic fluid passage changeover valve unit according to claim 2 , wherein
the space portions includes a second space portion configured to be allowed to be in communication with the first space portion, and
the endoscopic fluid passage changeover valve unit includes a first downstream-side fluid passage to which the first fluid that has passed through the first space portion and the second space portion is supplied from the downstream end of the first upstream-side fluid passage.

4. The endoscopic fluid passage changeover valve unit according to claim 3 , further comprising a first fluid passage open-or-close portion which is provided between the first space portion and the second space portion in the hollow portion, and which is configured to supply, to the second space portion, the first fluid that has been supplied to the first space portion through the first upstream-side fluid passage when the opening of the communication passage is blocked in the second input mode of the shaft.

5. The endoscopic fluid passage changeover valve unit according to claim 4 , wherein
the space portions includes a third space portion in which communication with the first space portion and the second space portion is blocked, and
the endoscopic fluid passage changeover valve unit further includes
a second upstream-side fluid passage which has a downstream end thereof in communication with the third space portion, and which is configured to supply a second fluid different from the first fluid to the third space portion, and
a second downstream-side fluid passage which has an upstream end thereof in communication with the third space portion, and to which the second fluid that has passed through the third space portion is supplied from the downstream end of the second upstream-side fluid passage.

6. The endoscopic fluid passage changeover valve unit according to claim 5 , wherein
the shaft and the first seal member are movable together relative to the cylinder portion along the movement axis,
the shaft is configured to move a predetermined distance together with the first seal member along the movement axis from the first input mode or the second input mode, and thereby configured to be set in a third input mode, and
the endoscopic fluid passage changeover valve unit further includes a second fluid passage open-or-close portion, the second fluid passage open-or-close portion being configured to block the communication between the second upstream-side fluid passage and the second downstream-side fluid passage in the third space portion in the first input mode and the second input mode of the shaft, the second fluid passage open-or-close portion being configured to allow the communication between the second upstream-side fluid passage and the second downstream-side fluid passage in the third space portion in the third input mode.

7. The endoscopic fluid passage changeover valve unit according to claim 6 , wherein the first fluid passage open-or-close portion is configured to block the communication between the first space portion and the second space portion in the third input mode regardless of whether the opening of the communication passage is blocked or not.

8. The endoscopic fluid passage changeover valve unit according to claim 4 , wherein the first fluid passage open-or-close portion includes a valve member which is configured to allow the communication between the first space portion and the second space portion by pressure of the first fluid that has been supplied to the first space portion through the first upstream-side fluid passage when the opening of the communication passage is blocked in the second input mode.

9. The endoscopic fluid passage changeover valve unit according to claim 2 , further comprising an attachment-and-detachment position setting portion which is configured to set an attachment-and-detachment position of the shaft relative to the cylinder portion so that the shaft is allowed to be attached to and detached from the cylinder portion only when the shaft is located at a reference position in the first input mode relative to the cylinder portion in the circumferential directions of the cylinder portion.

10. The endoscopic fluid passage changeover valve unit according to claim 9 , further comprising an intermediary member which is rotatable relative to the cylinder portion together with the shaft around the movement axis, wherein the attachment-and-detachment position setting portion includes
a cylinder side engagement portion extending in the cylinder portion along the movement axis, and
a member side engagement portion which is provided in the intermediary member, and which is configured to move in the cylinder side engagement portion along the movement axis while being engaged with the cylinder side engagement portion and thereby configured to attach and detach the shaft and the intermediary member to and from the cylinder portion together.

11. The endoscopic fluid passage changeover valve unit according to claim 10 , wherein the member side engagement portion is configured to be l

Assignees

• Olympus Corp

Inventors

• Ouchi Naoya

Classifications

• A61B1/00114

  Electrical cables in or with an endoscope · CPC title

• A61B1/07

  using light-conductive means, e.g. optical fibres · CPC title

• A61B1/00091

  Nozzles · CPC title

• A61B1/00128

  mechanical, e.g. for tubes or pipes · CPC title

• A61B1/00068 Primary

  Valve switch arrangements · CPC title