STOPCOCK, HOUSING OF A STOPCOCK, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A HOUSING OF A STOPCOCK

Abstract

A medical endoscope is an instrument having an elongate, tubular shaft. The instrument is commonly provided with a flushing device. The flushing liquid can be guided through corresponding separate liquid channels. In order to be able to control the flow of the liquid, the liquid channels have a stopcock. The stopcocks here are of complex construction, and for this reason both the production thereof and the cleaning thereof are complicated. The invention includes a stopcock and also a housing and a method for producing the housing, by way of which the production and the cleaning of the housing are simplified. This is achieved in that a housing and at least one spring element for form-fitting fixing of a plug in a position in the interior space of the housing are manufactured integrally from a single part, that is to say in one part.

Claims

1. A housing of a stopcock for producing and breaking a fluidic connection between at least two connection parts, the housing having at least one spring element, and having an interior space in which a plug of the stopcock can be mounted in a rotatable manner, wherein the at least one spring element is provided for form-fitting fixing of a position of the plug in the interior space of the housing, wherein the housing and the at least one spring element are manufactured integrally from one part.

2. The housing of a stopcock according to claim 1, comprising at least two, three, four, five, six or more spring elements.

3. The housing of a stopcock according to claim 1, wherein the housing is produced from an amorphous metal.

4. The housing of a stopcock according to claim 1, wherein the at least one spring element is oriented parallel or perpendicularly or transversely to a longitudinal axis which extends perpendicularly through the housing, or in that the at least one spring element includes an angle with the longitudinal axis.

5. The housing of a stopcock according to claim 1, wherein the at least one spring element is formed from a housing wall of the housing wherein the at least one spring element is formed parallel to the longitudinal axis and forms a spring load perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.

6. The housing of a stopcock according to claim 5, wherein a thickness of the at least one spring element differs from, that is to say is larger than or smaller than, a wall thickness of the housing wall.

7. The housing of a stopcock according to claim 5, wherein at least two spring elements are formed in a tab-like manner from the housing wall, and a recess is formed in the housing wall between the two tab-like spring elements.

8. The housing of a stopcock according to claim 5, wherein at least three or four or more tab-like, oppositely situated spring elements are formed from the housing wall, between which spring elements a recess is formed in the housing wall in each case.

9. The housing of a stopcock according to claim 5, wherein the recesses between two spring elements are of wedge-like form, wherein openings of the wedge-like recesses are oriented towards a bottom side of the housing.

10. The housing of a stopcock according to claim 1, wherein the at least one spring element has at least one web-like latching means which serves for form-fitting fixing of the plug.

11. The housing of a stopcock according to claim 1, wherein the interior space is of conical form, wherein the housing wall converges towards a bottom side of the housing, and wherein the at least one spring element follows the conical shape in this case or is formed in a cylindrical manner around the longitudinal axis, wherein the housing wall transitions into the cylindrical shape from the conical shape towards the bottom end of the housing.

12. A stopcock for producing and breaking a fluidic connection between at least two connection parts having a housing according to claim 1.

13. A method for producing a housing according to claim 1, wherein the housing and at least one spring element are produced in one part.

14. A method for producing a housing according to claim 11, wherein the housing and the at least one spring element are injection-moulded in one part from an amorphous metal.

Description

[0019] One possible exemplary embodiment of the invention is illustrated schematically in the drawings. In the drawings:

[0020] FIG. 1 shows a schematic side view of an endoscope with a stopcock,

[0021] FIG. 2 shows a schematic side view of a stopcock according to the invention, and

[0022] FIG. 3 shows a schematic side view of a housing according to the invention.

[0023] FIG. 1 highly schematically illustrates an endoscope 10. Said endoscope 10 has a stopcock 11. A liquid channel (not visible here) runs within a shaft part 12 of the endoscope 10 and passes, angled, by way of a main body 13, to an inlet connector 14. The stopcock 11 is arranged on the inlet connector 14 for the purpose of regulating the liquid flow through the liquid channel. A pump for feeding liquid into the liquid channel, for example, may be connected to the inlet connector 14.

[0024] The side view illustrated here shows the medical endoscope 10 in the orientation in which it is normally used during an operation. The endoscope 10 has at its proximal end an eyepiece 15 for observation of the operation area. In order for the operator to be able to securely hold the endoscope 10 during the operation, two grip pieces 16, 17 are fastened to the endoscope 10. The grip pieces 16, 17 are normally formed ergonomically in such a way that the operator can hold the endoscope 10 in one hand with the aid of the grip pieces 16, 17. The operator correspondingly has the other hand free in order, for example, to introduce passage instruments into a work channel of the instrument and to operate them.

[0025] FIG. 2 highly schematically illustrates one possible exemplary embodiment of the stopcock 11 according to the invention. Said stopcock 11 has a housing 18 and a plug 19, the cone part 20 (not visible here) of which plug is received in the housing 18. The housing 18 has two connection parts 21, 22, by way of which it can be coupled to the inlet connector 14 of the endoscope 10. It is also possible for connecting parts, such as further valves or the like, to be assigned to said two connection parts 21, 22.

[0026] As can be seen in FIG. 2, the plug 19 has a grip 23 which comprises a grip part 24. The grip part 24 may, for this purpose, be ergonomically formed, so as to facilitate holding and movement by the user.

[0027] According to the invention, the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the housing 18 is formed in one part. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the housing 18 may be subdivided into two sections, specifically into an upper section 25 and into a lower section 26. The upper section 25 has a conical cross section, and the lower section 26 has a cylindrical cross section. As illustrated in the figures, these two sections 25 and 26 merge into one another in a transition-free manner. It should however be expressly pointed out that this represents merely one of many possible embodiments of the housing 18. Equally, it is also conceivable for the entire housing 18 to be of conical form or for there to be a shoulder between the upper section 25 and the lower section 26. In this case, the form-fitting connection of the plug 19 and the housing 18 exists only in the upper section 25, while the fixing of the plug 19 in the housing 18 is realized by way of the lower section 26 or the spring elements 27.

[0028] In the exemplary embodiment illustrated here, multiple spring elements 27 are assigned to the lower section 26 of the housing 18. Said multiple spring elements 27 are formed integrally by the wall 28 of the housing 18. In this case, the spring elements 27, which are of tab-like form here, are separated from one another by recesses 29. Said recesses may, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, be of triangular form. Equally, it is however also conceivable for the recesses 29 to be of rectangular or round form. However, it is also conceivable for said recesses 29 to be different from one another, so that also the spring elements 27 are not identical in terms of their shape. By way of said recesses 29, which ultimately form the spring elements 27, the spring elements 27 acquire their resilient action. Specifically, the spring elements 27 can be moved transversely or perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis 30 of the housing 19, wherein, by virtue of the reversibility of the material, the spring elements 27 always revert back into their initial position.

[0029] The spring force or the preload can be regulated by way of the length of the tab-like spring elements 27 parallel to the longitudinal axis 30 and by way of a width of the spring elements 27 transverse to the longitudinal axis 30. It is conceivable for the housing 18 to have merely two spring elements 27 or a multiplicity, which are formed in the wall 28 of the housing 18.

[0030] The sectional illustration of the housing 18 in FIG. 3 shows that a wall thickness of the upper section 25 and a wall thickness of the lower section 26, or a wall thickness of the housing 18 and a wall thickness of the spring elements 27, are equal. Equally, it is however also provided according to the invention that the wall thickness varies between the upper section 25 and the lower section 26. Furthermore, it is also conceivable that the wall thickness of the lower section 26 varies, and decreases in the downward direction, too. In this way, it is possible in particular for the resilient action of the spring elements 27 to be varied further.

[0031] The spring elements illustrated in FIG. 3 have web-like latching means 31 towards the open end of the housing 18. Said latching means 31 are situated on an inner side 32 of the wall 28 and are oriented transversely to the longitudinal axis 30. Equally, it is however also conceivable for said latching means 31 to be oriented so as to be slightly inclined in relation to the longitudinal axis 30. Said latching means engage into corresponding recesses in the cone part 20 of the plug 19. This engagement of the multiple latching means 31 into the recesses of the plug 19 results in the plug 19 being fixed in the interior space of the housing 18. This first connection thus ensures that the plug 19 is connected in a form-fitting or fluid-tight manner to the housing 18. By rotation of the grip 23, the fluidic connection between the connection parts 21 and 22 can be produced or broken. For a more detailed description of the configuration of the plug 19, reference is made to the relevant prior art.

[0032] An essential feature of the invention is that the housing 18 and the spring elements 27 are produced in one part from an amorphous metal. By virtue of the specific material properties, an amorphous metal is particularly highly suitable for manufacture of the housing 18 or of the upper section 25 and for manufacture of the spring elements 27. At the same time, an amorphous metal exhibits a high degree of stability or strength and a high degree of flexibility. Thus, an amorphous metal combines the properties of high-grade steel and plastic. Whereas provision of sufficient stability is of great importance for the upper section 25, the material for the above-described fixed connection between the housing 18 and the plug 19 has to be sufficiently flexible. An amorphous metal satisfies precisely these requirements.

[0033] Furthermore, the housing 18 described here can be produced particularly easily and inexpensively. This is because, by virtue of the selection of an amorphous metal, the housing 18 can be produced by means of injection-moulding processes. Injection-moulding processes are known to constitute, on the one hand, a very convenient process and, on the other hand, a very precise process for manufacturing for example housing parts. However, only through the selection of an amorphous metal is it possible to produce the presently described housings 18 for stopcocks 11 for hand-held medical instruments.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0034] 10 Endoscope [0035] 11 Stopcock [0036] 12 Shaft part [0037] 13 Main body [0038] 14 Inlet connector [0039] 15 Eyepiece [0040] 16 Grip piece [0041] 17 Grip piece [0042] 18 Housing [0043] 19 Plug [0044] 20 Cone part [0045] 21 Connection part [0046] 22 Connection part [0047] 23 Grip [0048] 24 Grip part [0049] 25 Upper section [0050] 26 Lower section [0051] 27 Spring element [0052] 28 Wall [0053] 29 Recess [0054] 30 Longitudinal axis [0055] 31 Latching means [0056] 32 Inner side