Patent ID: 6928686

Claim:
A washing apparatus for an endoscope comprising a wire brush equipped with a wire component having front and rear end portions and a brush component provided along said front end portion, a region for housing said wire brush therein and a drive means adapted to advance/retract said wire brush from said housing toward a conduit of said endoscope and vice versa wherein: said region including a pipe section adapted to receive a substantially full length of said wire brush inserted into and withdrawn from said region; said region having a front end portion thereof being opened so as to be connected to said conduit; said region having a rear end portion thereof adapted to be selectively opened and closed so that said wire brush is inserted/withdrawn into and from said pipe section when said rear end portion is opened; said drive means being provided in the vicinity of said front end portion and functioning to advance/retract said wire brush toward and from said conduit respectively; a water supply means being provided in the vicinity of said rear end portion to supply said pipe section with water; and said pipe section being provided at front and rear end portions thereof with at least one sensor to detect a position of said wire component respectively.