Detailed Description
In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the technical solutions of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to specific embodiments of the present application and corresponding drawings. It will be apparent that the described embodiments are only some, but not all, embodiments of the application. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the application without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the application.
In various embodiments of the present application, "proximal" and "distal" refer to the endoscope and its accessories in the environment of use, relative to the user's proximal-distal position, wherein the end closer to the user is designated as the "proximal end" and the end farther from the user is designated as the "distal end".
The technical scheme disclosed by each embodiment of the application is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the related art, the inventor applies a traction force to the front end seat through the instrument tube by means of pretensioning the instrument tube, thereby pretensioning the front end seat against the distal end of the active bending section to improve the assembly efficiency of the insertion portion. However, in practical use of the endoscope based on the above technology, it is found that the front end component and the distal end of the active bending section are prone to relative deflection, which is at least manifested by poor coaxiality of the insertion portion, and meanwhile, there is relatively obvious mechanical damage at the junction between the front end seat and the distal end of the active bending section.
As a result of further research, the inventors have found that the above-described problem is caused by the offset arrangement of the instrument tube at the front end seat. Specifically, in view of the structural layout of the front end assembly, the instrument tube needs to be arranged offset from the central axis of the insertion portion, i.e., offset in the front end seat, and the instrument tube needs to apply a traction force to the front end seat, wherein the traction force is an offset force relative to the front end seat, and when the front end seat is pulled to be fastened and fixed at the distal end of the active bending section in advance, the stress distribution of the front end seat and the front end seat at the abutting position is uneven, so that relative deflection is caused, and meanwhile, because of uneven stress distribution between the front end seat and the front end seat, mechanical damage is easily caused at the position with larger stress due to stress concentration.
In this regard, some embodiments of the present application provide an insertion portion for an endoscope.
Referring to fig. 1 to 10, the insertion portion disclosed in the embodiment of the application includes a front end seat 110, an instrument tube 400 and an active bending section 200, wherein a distal end of the instrument tube 400 is fixedly mounted on the front end seat 110, the instrument tube 400 applies traction force to the front end seat 110, and the front end seat 110 is preloaded against a distal end of the active bending section 200 by traction of the instrument tube 400.
Specifically, the insert includes a front end assembly 100, and the front end mount 110 is the basic structure of the front end assembly 100, which provides a mounting base for the camera 120, the light source 130, the circuit board 140, etc., and of course, also protects these structures. Of course, the front end housing 110 is also the mounting base for the distal end of the instrument tube 400.
The camera 120 may be provided at a front end surface side of the front end seat 110 to photograph a target site (e.g., a lesion) in case that the insertion portion enters a human body cavity. The light source 130 is also provided on the front end face side of the front end group, and is capable of illuminating the area toward which the front end module 100 is directed. The circuit board 140 can power the camera 120 and the light source 130, and also be used to implement signal interaction. The instrument tube 400 is used to deliver a treatment instrument into a body lumen and to aspirate tissue fluid.
The front end assembly 100 may be assembled by various methods, as shown in fig. 2, the front end base 110 includes a main body 111 and a partition 112, the partition 112 may isolate an installation space inside the main body 111, the distal ends of the camera 120, the light source 130, the circuit board 140 and the instrument tube 400 may be disposed in the installation space, and the integral formation of the structures such as the main body 111, the partition 112, the camera 120, the light source 130, the circuit board 140 and the distal end of the instrument tube 400 may be achieved by injecting glue into the installation space. In further embodiments, the front end assembly 100 and the distal end of the instrument tube 400 may be integrally injection molded to provide a machined assembly.
As for the active bending section 200, as the bending action body 111 of the insertion portion, a snake bone structure may be adopted, or an integral cutting structure may be adopted, and the type thereof is not limited by the embodiment of the present application.
In the embodiment of the active bending section 200 with a snake bone structure, the front seat 110 is pre-pressed against the distal end side of the distal snake bone 210, and the active bending section 200 further includes a plurality of connecting snake bones 220 rotatably connected in sequence, wherein the connecting snake bone 220 at the forefront end is rotatably connected with the distal snake bone 210 and rotates along with the distal snake bone 210. Specifically, the active bending section 200 is pulled by the traction rope R to perform the bending operation.
It will be appreciated that since the instrument tube 400 is fixedly coupled to the front end housing 110, the instrument tube 400 may transmit forces to the front end housing 110. In an embodiment of the present application, the instrument tube 400 is adapted to withstand a traction force F (see dashed arrows in the drawings) and by conducting the traction force F to the front end socket 110, during assembly of the front end assembly 100 and the active bending section 200, the front end socket 110 and the distal end of the active bending section 200 are brought closer to each other and the proximal side of the front end socket 110 is pulled against the distal end of the active bending section 200. Of course, during the process of transmitting the traction force F to the front end seat 110, there may be a loss of the traction force F, that is, the front end seat 110 is stressed less than the traction force F or approximately the traction force F, but for convenience of the travel, the front end seat 110 is still subjected to the traction force F.
It should be noted that, the device tube 400 according to the embodiment of the present application is adapted to bear a traction force F, which can make the front end seat 110 pre-tightly abut against the distal end of the active bending section 200, specifically, can achieve the effect of pre-tightly fixing the proximal end side of the front end seat 110 and the distal end of the active bending section 200, so that the proximal end side of the front end seat 110 and the distal end of the active bending section 200 can bear a certain external force at the abutting joint without detachment, that is, the traction force F makes a certain connection reliability between the proximal end side of the front end seat 110 and the distal end of the active bending section 200. Of course, the instrument tube 400 may be pre-tensioned on its proximal side to maintain the instrument tube 400 in a more tensioned state while ensuring that it is always capable of pulling the front end mount 110 pre-tensioned against the distal end of the active bending section 200.
Based on the above analysis, when the front end assembly 100 of the embodiment of the application is assembled with the active bending section 200, the pulling force F can be applied to the front end seat 110 by pulling the instrument tube 400 when the instrument tube 400 is inserted into the active bending section 200, and the front end seat 110 is pretensioned against the distal end of the active bending section 200, which can, of course, adjust the alignment of the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200 in good time during the pulling process.
Meanwhile, in the embodiment of the present application, the insertion part further includes at least one elastic member (including the first elastic member 300a and/or the second elastic member 300b shown in the drawings), the first abutment surface of the front end seat 110 and/or the second abutment surface 212 of the active bending section 200 are provided with elastic members, and the elastic members are located at the offset side of the instrument tube 400 in the circumferential direction of the insertion part.
It will be appreciated that the insert portion may include a plurality of elastic members, or may include only one elastic member, and that only one of the abutment surface of the front end seat 110 and the abutment surface of the active bending section 200 may be provided with an elastic member, or both may be provided with an elastic member, as shown in fig. 2, provided on the second abutment surface 212 of the active bending section 200. The first abutment surface of the front end seat 110 refers to an abutment surface that is in pre-tightening abutment with the active bending section 200, and the second abutment surface 212 of the active bending section 200 refers to an abutment surface that is in pre-tightening abutment with the front end seat 110.
With this arrangement, the elastic member can provide elastic support between the front end seat 110 and the opposite abutment surface of the active bending section 200.
Specifically, during the process of pulling the front end seat 110 by the instrument tube 400, the elastic member is pressed by the biased side of the instrument tube 400 on the front end seat 110, along with the continuous increase of the traction force F of the instrument tube 400, the elastic member is compressed, and absorbs part of the traction force F of the front end seat 110 on the biased side of the instrument tube 400 through elastic deformation to store energy, so that the elastic member can consume part of the acting force of the front end seat 110 on the biased side of the instrument tube 400, and the problem of uneven stress distribution between the front end seat 110 and the distal end of the active bending section 200 is relieved to a certain extent, thereby avoiding the situation of relative deflection between the front end seat and the active bending section 200.
Meanwhile, since the elastic member is compressed between the front end seat 110 and the distal end of the active bending section 200 to store energy, the elastic property of the elastic member determines that the elastic member can exert a resilience force on the front end seat 110 or the distal end of the active bending section 200 through energy release, and in the case that the front end seat is in pre-tightening abutment with the active bending section, the pre-tightening effect between the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200 includes the traction force exerted by the instrument tube 400 to the front end seat 110, and the resilience force of the elastic member is superimposed, so that the abutment stability between the front end seat 110 and the distal end of the active bending section 200 can be significantly improved.
Compared with the related art, the insertion part disclosed by the embodiment of the application has the advantages that the elastic piece is arranged between the abutting surfaces of the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200, the elastic piece plays a role in elastic support between the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200 and is positioned at one offset side of the instrument tube 400, so that the problem of uneven stress between the front end seat 110 and the active bending section can be relieved, the coaxiality of the insertion part is improved, mechanical damage caused by stress concentration can be prevented, and meanwhile, the rebound characteristic of the elastic piece can further strengthen the pre-tightening effect between the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200, so that the abutting stability between the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200 is improved, namely the assembly reliability between the front end seat and the active bending section is improved.
In embodiments of the present application, the type of resilient member may be varied, for example, it may be a separate member such as a spring.
In another embodiment, as shown in fig. 2 and 3, the elastic member is integrally formed on the front end seat 110 or the active bending section 200, so that the number of components of the insertion portion can be reduced, the machining assembly process can be reduced, and meanwhile, the installation strength of the elastic member integrally formed with the front end seat 110 or the active bending section 200 is better.
Further, as shown in fig. 2 and 3, a deformation gap C is provided between the elastic member and the front end seat 110 or the active bending section 200. It can be appreciated that the deformation gap C can reduce the rigidity of the elastic member, and avoid the elastic member from making rigid contact with the abutment surface of the front end seat 110 or the active bending section 200, so that the elastic member is easier to elastically deform and plays a role in elastically supporting during the pre-tightening installation process of the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200.
Optionally, the deformation gap C can be formed by laser cutting, so that the processing efficiency can be remarkably improved, and the cost is reduced.
As shown in fig. 4, 5 and 7, in some embodiments of the present application, the elastic member is provided with a notch 310, and the notch 310 communicates with the deformation gap C. With this arrangement, the notch 310 allows the elastic member to be in an open configuration, which further reduces the stiffness of the elastic member to make it easier to elastically deform. Of course, as shown in fig. 3, the elastic member is of a closed structure.
In the open elastic member, the structural characteristics of the elastic member may be different according to the different arrangement positions of the notch 310. As shown in fig. 4, the notch 310 is disposed adjacent to the second abutment surface 212 of the active bending section 200, such that the elastic member includes one arm 320, and as shown in fig. 5, the notch 310 is disposed in the middle of the elastic member, and the notch 310 and the deformation slit C define two oppositely disposed arms 320 of the elastic member.
In the embodiments of the present application, there are various arrangements of elastic members, as shown in fig. 3 to 5, at least one of the elastic members includes a first elastic member 300a disposed on a first radial line l of the insertion portion, and the first radial line l of the insertion portion passes through the axis of the insertion portion and the axis of the instrument tube 400, so that the elastic member can perform an elastic supporting function at a maximum biasing force component of the traction force F applied by the instrument tube 400, as shown in fig. 6 and 7, at least one of the elastic members includes a plurality of second elastic members 300b disposed at both sides of the first radial line l of the insertion portion, so that the plurality of second elastic members 300b disposed at both sides of the first radial line l together perform an elastic supporting function, reducing stress loss of a single second elastic member 300b, and as shown in fig. 8, the first elastic member 300a and the second elastic member 300b are simultaneously disposed at the circumference of the insertion portion.
It should be noted that, the second elastic member 300b can share the pre-tightening and pressing action of the first elastic member 300a, so as to avoid the first elastic member 300a from being damaged due to stress concentration.
As shown in fig. 5, in some embodiments of the present application, the two arms 320 of the first elastic member 300a are symmetrically arranged with respect to the first radial line l. Under such a layout, the two support arms 320 can also share the stress uniformly under the condition of playing a role of elastic support together, so that the problem of relative deflection at the first elastic element 300a can be avoided when the front end seat 110 is in pre-tightening abutting with the active bending section 200.
And/or, as shown in fig. 10, in some embodiments of the application, in the same second resilient member 300b, the arm 320 closer to the first radial line l is higher than the arm 320 farther from the first radial line l, which passes through the axis of the insertion portion and the axis of the instrument tube 400.
It should be noted that fig. 10 is a schematic layout view of the elastic member in the insertion portion, and the elastic member is shown in the circumferential direction of the front end seat 110 or the active bending section 200, so as to facilitate the display of the difference between different elastic members.
It will be appreciated that in the circumferential direction of the insertion portion and in the direction away from the first radial line l, the biasing force component of the traction force of the instrument tube 400 pulling the front end seat 110 will gradually decrease, that is, in the same second elastic member 300b, the arm 320 closer to the first radial line l is subjected to a larger pre-tightening pressure, and the arm 320 further from the first radial line l is subjected to a smaller pre-tightening pressure, so that the heights of the two arms 320 in the second elastic member 300b of this embodiment have a height difference, the arm 320 closer to the first radial line l can achieve an elastic supporting effect between the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200 earlier, the arm 320 further from the first radial line l can achieve an elastic supporting effect between the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200 later through a larger elastic deformation, and the arm 320 further from the first radial line l can significantly help to avoid the problem of uniformly biasing the two arms 320 b in the pre-tightening of the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200 at the second elastic member 300 b.
As shown in fig. 8 and 9, the elastic member is plural, and the number or cross-sectional area of the deformation slits C in the elastic member gradually decreases in the circumferential direction of the insertion portion and in the direction away from the first radial line l of the insertion portion.
It should be noted that fig. 9 is a schematic layout view of the elastic member in the insertion portion, and the elastic member is shown in the circumferential direction of the front end seat 110 or the active bending section 200, so as to facilitate the display of the difference between different elastic members.
It will be appreciated that, in the elastic member integrally formed with the front end seat 110 or the active bending section 200, the size of the deformation slits C directly correlates with the rigidity of the elastic member, and the number of the deformation slits C and the cross-sectional area are larger in the elastic member closer to the first radial line l, so that the overall rigidity thereof is smaller, which is beneficial to consuming a larger biasing force component in traction force through larger-amplitude elastic deformation, while the number of the deformation slits C and the cross-sectional area are smaller in the elastic member farther from the first radial line l, the overall rigidity thereof is larger, which can be used to consume a smaller biasing force component in traction force, which is beneficial to improving the uniformity of the stress distribution of different elastic members in the circumferential direction of the insertion portion, so as to prevent the occurrence of relative deflection between the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200.
As shown in fig. 4, 5 and 7, in some embodiments of the application, the deformation slit C is at least partially provided under the respective abutment surface of the front end seat 110 or the active bending section 200 in the axial direction of the insertion portion. It can be understood that under such a structural layout, when the front end seat 110 is in pre-tightening abutment with the active bending section 200, the elastic member is under the abutment surface when being pressed into the deformation gap C, as shown in fig. 4, 5 and 7, the arm 320 is pressed beyond the second abutment surface 212, so that the elastic member can be prevented from forming a protrusion between the first abutment surface of the front end seat 110 and the second abutment surface 212 of the active bending section 200, thereby ensuring that the abutment surfaces therebetween achieve smooth abutment, and improving the stability and reliability of the abutment therebetween.
As shown in fig. 2, in some embodiments of the present application, a first step 111a is provided at a proximal end of the front end seat 110, a second step 211 is provided at a distal end of the active bending section 200, and a step surface of the first step 111a and/or a step surface of the second step 211 is provided with an elastic member.
It is understood that only one of the first step portion 111a and the second step portion 211 may be provided with an elastic member, as shown in fig. 2, the elastic member is provided on the step surface of the second step portion 211, and of course, both the first step portion 111a and the second step portion 211 may be provided with an elastic member.
With this arrangement, the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200 can be axially abutted by the first step portion 111a and the second step portion 211 to achieve an abutting fit relationship that the front end seat 110 is preloaded and abutted against the distal end of the active bending section 200, that is, the first abutting surface of the front end seat 110 includes the step surface of the first step portion 111a, and the second abutting surface 212 of the active bending section 200 includes the step surface of the second step portion 211. Meanwhile, the matching of the first step portion 111a and the second step portion 211 ensures that the front end seat 110 and the distal end of the active bending section 200 are in a sleeved matching relationship, so that the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200 are prevented from being separated radially. Of course, in other embodiments, the distal end of the active bending section 200 may be directly inserted into the front end housing 110 to achieve a socket fit.
As shown in fig. 8, in some embodiments of the present application, the number of elastic members is plural, and the height of the elastic members gradually decreases in a direction of the circumference of the insertion portion and away from a first radial line l of the insertion portion, which passes through the axis of the insertion portion and the axis of the instrument tube 400. For example, in the embodiment shown in fig. 8, the first elastic member 300a located on the first radial line l has a height h1, and the second elastic members 300b on both sides thereof have a height h2, where h2 is smaller than h1.
It will be appreciated that the biasing force component of the traction force F of the instrument tube 400 pulling the front end seat 110 in the circumferential direction of the insertion portion and away from the first radial line l will be gradually reduced, in which embodiment there is a height difference between the resilient members distributed in the circumferential direction of the insertion portion, the resilient members closer to the first radial line l of the insertion portion can achieve a resilient supporting effect between the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200 earlier, which may consume the biasing force component of the traction force F by a larger resilient deformation, and the resilient supporting effect between the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200 can achieve a resilient supporting effect between the resilient members farther from the first radial line l later, which may consume the biasing force component of the traction force F by a smaller resilient deformation, which obviously helps to uniformly share the stress of the different resilient members during the pre-tightening abutment of the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200, thereby avoiding the occurrence of a relative deflection problem in the circumferential direction of the insertion portion.
In this embodiment, the elastic member may be a separate member such as a spring.
And/or in some embodiments of the application, the number of elastic members is plural, the rigidity of the elastic members gradually increasing in a direction of the circumference of the insertion portion and away from a first radial line l of the insertion portion, the first radial line l passing through the axis of the insertion portion and the axis of the instrument tube 400.
It will be appreciated that the biasing force component of the traction force F of the instrument tube 400 pulling the front end seat 110 in the circumferential direction of the insertion portion and away from the first radial line l will gradually decrease, and in this embodiment, with such an arrangement, the spring closer to the first radial line l will have a smaller stiffness, which may consume a larger biasing force component of the traction force F by a larger magnitude of elastic deformation, while the spring farther from the first radial line l will have a larger stiffness, which is used to consume a smaller biasing force component of the traction force F, which is beneficial for improving the balance of the force distribution of the different spring members in the circumferential direction of the insertion portion, thereby preventing the occurrence of relative deflection between the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200.
In this embodiment, the elastic member may be a separate member such as a spring.
As shown in fig. 3 to 8, in some embodiments of the present application, at least one elastic member includes a first elastic member 300a disposed on a first radial line l of the insertion portion, and/or at least one elastic member includes a plurality of second elastic members 300b disposed on both sides of the first radial line l of the insertion portion, the plurality of second elastic members 300b being symmetrically distributed with respect to the first radial line l, and an axis of the first radial line l passing through the insertion portion and an axis of the instrument tube 400.
It can be appreciated that in the embodiment in which the plurality of second elastic members 300b are symmetrically distributed with respect to the first radial line l, the second elastic members 300b can uniformly share the pre-tightening and pressing action between the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200 on both sides of the first radial line l, which is beneficial to optimizing the stress distribution balance of the insertion portion in the circumferential direction, so as to prevent the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200 from being relatively deflected.
Referring to fig. 1 to 10, an embodiment of the present application further provides an endoscope, which includes a handle and an insertion portion according to any one of the above-mentioned aspects, so that the endoscope has the beneficial effects of the insertion portion, which are not described herein.
Wherein the handle is connected with the insertion portion, during a specific installation process, by pulling the instrument tube 400, a traction force F can be applied to the front end seat 110 to pull the front end seat 110 to be pre-tightened against the distal end of the active bending section 200, meanwhile, the instrument tube 400 is arranged in the insertion portion in an extending manner, and the proximal end of the instrument tube 400 extends into the handle.
Of course, it should be noted that the endoscope instrument tube 400 is made of a flexible material and is capable of accommodating bending movements of the insertion portion even if a traction force F is applied to the front end seat 110 in the embodiment of the present application.
Under the condition that the front end seat 110 is in pre-tightening abutting connection with the active bending section 200, the elastic element can play a role in elastic support between the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200 and positioned on the offset side of the instrument tube 400, so that relative deflection of the front end seat 110 and the active bending section 200 is effectively avoided, and the assembly reliability between the front end seat and the active bending section is improved.
The endoscope of the embodiment of the application can be a bronchoscope, a nephroscope, an esophagoscope, a gastroscope, a enteroscope, an otoscope, a nasoscope, a stomatoscope, a laryngoscope, a colposcope, a laparoscope, an arthroscope and the like, and the embodiment of the application does not limit the type of the endoscope.
The foregoing embodiments of the present application mainly describe differences between the embodiments, and as long as there is no contradiction between different optimization features of the embodiments, the embodiments may be combined to form a better embodiment, and in view of brevity of line text, no further description is provided herein.
The foregoing is merely exemplary of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. Various modifications and variations of the present application will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. which come within the spirit and principles of the application are to be included in the scope of the claims of the present application.