The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 16, 1999
Filed:
Dec. 22, 1995
Tsutomu Ishiguro, Hachioji, JP;
Masaaki Nakazawa, Hino, JP;
Hisao Yabe, Hachioji, JP;
Hideo Ito, Akishima, JP;
Olympus Optical Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An endoscope has a channel switching device for use in switching over a suction channel. The channel switching device consists broadly of a cylinder unit and valve unit. The valve unit can be disassembled into three component parts; a button assembly, piston assembly, and mount assembly. The button assembly has a cap, which is made of a rigid resin such as polyether ketone (PEEK) or polysulfone (PSU), as the uppermost part thereof. Since the cap is made of a rigid resin durable to autoclaving; such as, PSU or PEEK, the valve unit will not be damaged due to autoclaving. Even when the autoclaved valve unit is put to use though it is not yet cooled down, an operator will not perceive heat very much but can manipulate the endoscope as he/she intends.