Disclosure of Invention
The invention discloses a pivoting unit, an active bending section and a processing method of the active bending section, which are used for solving the technical problem of poor stability of the active bending section integrally cut in the related art.
In order to solve the problems, the invention adopts the following technical scheme:
In a first aspect, the present application provides a pivoting unit comprising a tubular base body, a first end of the tubular base body being provided with an arcuate lug protruding axially from the tubular base body, the arcuate lug having a first reinforcing portion protruding radially inwardly, a second end of the tubular base body being provided with a lug protruding axially from the tubular base body, the lug having a second reinforcing portion protruding radially inwardly;
the two arc-shaped lugs are oppositely arranged to define a first accommodating area between the two arc-shaped lugs, and the lugs of the adjacent pivoting units are in rotary fit in the first accommodating area;
a second accommodating area is formed between the two sides of the lug and the tubular base body, and the arc-shaped lugs of the adjacent pivoting units are in sliding fit in the second accommodating area.
Further, the opening size of the first receiving area gradually decreases in a radially inward direction of the tubular base body, or the opening size of the first receiving area gradually increases in a radially inward direction of the tubular base body.
Further, the opening size of the second receiving area gradually decreases in a radially inward direction of the tubular base body, or the opening size of the second receiving area gradually increases in a radially inward direction of the tubular base body.
Further, the arc lugs and the lugs adjacent to the arc lugs form radial inward convex arc bulges.
Further, the center position of the lug is located in the extending direction of the arc-shaped lug sliding path.
In a second aspect, the present application further provides an active bending section, including a plurality of the foregoing pivot units, where the pivot units are connected end to end in sequence, and two adjacent pivot units are rotationally connected.
In a third aspect, the present application further provides a method for processing an active bending section, for the processing and forming of the active bending section, where the processing method includes:
stamping the tubular member to form a plurality of recessed areas on the tubular member along the axial direction of the tubular member;
Filling solder in the recessed area and welding and fixing the solder with the tubular member to form a thickened portion at the recessed area;
The tubular member is cut to form a plurality of mutually separated pivoting units, each pivoting unit comprises a tubular base body, an arc-shaped supporting lug and a lug, the arc-shaped supporting lugs and the lugs are positioned at two ends of the tubular base body, and the arc-shaped supporting lugs and the lugs are formed in the thickening parts.
Further, the step of stamping the tubular member to form a plurality of recessed areas distributed along the axial direction of the tubular member comprises the steps of filling a columnar die into a tubular substrate, wherein the columnar die is provided with stamping recesses which are concavely curved, and stamping and pushing the area of the tubular substrate corresponding to the stamping recesses by using a pushing piece so as to form the recessed areas on the tubular substrate.
Further, before filling the solder in the recessed area and welding and fixing the solder with the tubular member to form a thickened portion at the recessed area, the processing method further comprises heating and preheating the tubular member.
After filling the solder in the concave area and welding and fixing the solder with the tubular member to form a thickened portion at the concave area, the processing method further comprises polishing the outer wall of the thickened portion to smoothly transition the outer wall of the thickened portion and the outer wall of the tubular substrate.
The technical scheme adopted by the invention can achieve the following beneficial effects:
According to the pivoting unit, the active bending section and the processing method of the active bending section, the first radial inward protruding reinforcing part is arranged on the arc-shaped supporting lugs, the second radial inward protruding reinforcing part is arranged on the lugs, and the structural stability of the whole active bending section is improved based on the thickening effect of the first reinforcing part on the arc-shaped supporting lugs in the radial direction and the thickening effect of the second reinforcing part on the arc-shaped supporting lugs in the radial direction, so that when two adjacent pivoting units are in rotary fit, the two adjacent pivoting units have larger contact width in the radial direction of the tubular base body, and simultaneously have larger rotary contact area, even if the active bending section has larger bending amplitude, the contact width of the two adjacent pivoting units in the radial direction is far smaller than that of the two adjacent pivoting units, the radial separation is difficult to occur, the active bending section formed by integrally cutting the tubular member has simple processing and low manufacturing cost, and simultaneously has the stability of the active bending section in riveting, and the safety in use is ensured.
Detailed Description
In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the technical solutions of the present invention will be described in detail below. It will be apparent that the described embodiments are only some, but not all, embodiments of the invention. All other embodiments, based on the examples herein, which are within the scope of the invention as defined by the claims, will be within the scope of the invention as defined by the claims.
The terms first, second and the like in the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used may be interchanged, as appropriate, such that embodiments of the present application may be implemented in sequences other than those illustrated or described herein, and that the objects identified by "first," "second," etc. are generally of a type, and are not limited to the number of objects, such as the first object may be one or more. Furthermore, in the description and claims, "and/or" means at least one of the connected objects, and the character "/", generally means that the associated object is an "or" relationship.
In the related art, an active bending section of an endoscope is usually formed by riveting a plurality of pivoting units or integrally cutting a tubular member, the active bending section formed by riveting has the characteristics of high connection strength and strong structural stability, but has higher production and manufacturing cost, and complicated tooling, and the active bending section integrally cutting a tubular structure optimizes the production and manufacturing and tooling processes of the active bending section, but because the tubular structure is a thin-wall structural member, effective radial limitation is lacking, when the active bending section has larger bending amplitude, two adjacent pivoting units are easy to be misplaced in the radial direction, so that the loosening of the whole active bending section is caused, and the situation that the pivoting units fall off each other occurs, so that the use safety of the endoscope is difficult to be ensured.
In view of the above, the embodiment of the present application discloses a pivoting unit, an active bending section and a method for processing the active bending section, and the following details of the pivoting unit, the active bending section and the method for processing the active bending section provided by the embodiment of the present application are described in detail by specific embodiments and application scenarios thereof with reference to fig. 1 to 5.
Referring to fig. 1,2, 3 and 4, an embodiment of the present application discloses a pivoting unit applied to an active bending section of an endoscope, specifically, the active bending section includes a plurality of pivoting units connected end to end and rotatably connected. In an embodiment of the present application, the disclosed pivot unit includes a tubular base 100, an arc-shaped lug 200 and a lug 300, wherein the tubular base 100 has a first end and a second end opposite to each other, the tubular base 100, the arc-shaped lug 200 and the lug 300 are integrally formed, the arc-shaped lug 200 axially protrudes from the first end of the tubular base 100, and the lug 300 axially protrudes from the second end of the tubular base 100.
In the embodiment of the present application, the first end of the tubular base 100 has two diametrically opposite pivoting portions, each pivoting portion includes two arc-shaped supporting lugs 200 with opposite arc-shaped bends, a first accommodating area 400 is defined between the two arc-shaped supporting lugs 200 of the same pivoting portion, the first accommodating area 400 is matched with the shape of the lug 300, in two adjacent pivoting units, the lug 300 of one pivoting unit can be rotatably accommodated in the first accommodating area 400 of the other pivoting unit, and the two arc-shaped supporting lugs 200 of the same pivoting portion form a clamping and holding structure for the lug 300, so that the two arc-shaped supporting lugs can rotate in the first accommodating area 400 and can prevent the lug 300 from being axially separated from the first accommodating area 400, thereby ensuring the stability of the connection of the two adjacent pivoting units in the axial direction.
In the embodiment of the present application, the second end of the tubular base 100 has two diametrically opposite lugs 300, and the outer edge of the lug 300 may be an arc-shaped outer edge, so that the lug 300 can be rotatably fitted in the first receiving area 400, and the lug 300 forms a second receiving area 500 between the two sides of the lug 300 opposite to the extending direction of the tubular base 100 and the tubular base 100, and the shape of the second receiving area 500 matches the shape of the arc-shaped lug 200, and the arc-shaped lug 200 can slide in the second receiving area 500.
Based on the above technical solution, in two adjacent pivoting units of the active bending section, the arc-shaped supporting lug 200 of one pivoting unit is slidably matched in the second accommodating area 500 of the other pivoting unit, and the lug 300 of the other pivoting unit is rotatably matched in the first accommodating area 400 of the pivoting unit, so as to form a pivoting structure of the two pivoting units, and the two pivoting units can realize limiting matching of the two pivoting units in the axial direction while realizing rotational connection through the pivoting structure. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the pivoting units are a plurality of tubular structures formed after cutting, and the plurality of pivoting units are separated from each other and are rotationally connected through the foregoing pivoting structure.
In the embodiment of the present application, the arc-shaped lug 200 has a radially inwardly protruding first reinforcement 210, such that the wall thickness of the pivoting unit at the arc-shaped lug 200 is greater than the wall thickness of the pivoting unit at the tubular base 100 based on the arrangement of the first reinforcement 210, and the lug 300 has a radially inwardly protruding second reinforcement 310, such that the wall thickness of the pivoting unit at the second reinforcement 310 is greater than the wall thickness of the pivoting unit at the tubular base 100 based on the arrangement of the second reinforcement 310. That is, by the provision of the first reinforcement 210 and the second reinforcement 310, the wall thickness of the pivoting unit at the arc-shaped lugs 200 and at the lugs 300 is increased.
In order to facilitate understanding of the radial thickening effect of the first reinforcing portion 210 on the arc-shaped support lug 200 and the radial thickening effect of the second reinforcing portion 310 on the lug 300, please refer to fig. 1 and 2, a first auxiliary line a and a second auxiliary line b are led out, wherein a portion of the arc-shaped support lug 200 radially outside the first auxiliary line a is a portion of the same wall thickness as the tubular base 100, a portion of the arc-shaped support lug 200 radially inside the first auxiliary line a is the radially thickened first reinforcing portion 210, and similarly, a portion of the lug 300 radially outside the second auxiliary line b is a portion of the same wall thickness as the tubular base 100, and a portion of the lug 300 radially inside the second auxiliary line b is the radially thickened second reinforcing portion 310.
As can be seen from the foregoing, the two arc-shaped lugs 200 form a clamp for the lugs 300 to enable the two adjacent pivot units to be in running fit, the end wall surfaces of the arc-shaped lugs 200 are in sliding fit with the end wall surfaces of the lugs 300, and the two adjacent pivot units have a larger contact width in the radial direction of the tubular base 100 during running fit due to the thickening effect of the first reinforcing part 210 on the arc-shaped lugs 200 in the radial direction and the thickening effect of the second reinforcing part 310 on the lugs 300 in the radial direction, so that the two adjacent pivot units have a larger contact width in the radial direction during running fit, and have a larger running contact area, and even if the active bending section has a larger bending amplitude, the radial dislocation amplitude is also far smaller than the contact width of the two adjacent pivot units in the radial direction, so that the radial dislocation is difficult to occur, and the structural stability of the whole active bending section formed by integrally cutting the tubular member is improved, and the active bending section formed by the integral cutting has simple processing and low manufacturing cost, and the safety of the active bending section is ensured during running.
It will be appreciated that the first receiving area 400 defined by two arcuate lugs 200 in the same pivot location matches the shape of the lugs 300 of an adjacent pivot unit to ensure tightness of the plurality of pivot units when connected in series to form an active bending section.
In some embodiments of the present application, for the same pivoting unit, two diametrically opposed pivot locations define two diametrically opposed first receiving areas 400, and the opening sizes of the first receiving areas 400 decrease gradually in the radially inward direction of the tubular base body 100, so that the opening sizes of the two first receiving areas 400 defined by the diametrically opposed pivot locations change in opposite directions. In this arrangement, when the active bending section is subjected to larger bending deformation, even if one of the two radially opposite lugs 300 of the adjacent pivoting unit can move along a certain direction, the other lug 300 is blocked and limited by the arc-shaped supporting lug 200 in the direction, so that larger radial displacement of the adjacent pivoting unit in the radial direction is avoided, and the rotation abutting relationship between the arc-shaped supporting lug 200 and the lug 300 of the adjacent pivoting unit is maintained, namely, the structural stability of the active bending section is ensured.
In some embodiments of the present application, the opening size of the first receiving area 400 is gradually reduced in a radially outward direction of the tubular base body 100, and similarly, the opening sizes of the two first receiving areas 400 defined by the radially opposite pivot points are inversely variable in size. The two radially opposite pivot portions can respectively apply opposite radial limits to the two lugs 300 of the adjacent pivot units, so as to avoid the situation that the adjacent pivot units are radially separated when moving in a certain direction, and ensure the structural stability of the active bending section.
Of course, in other embodiments of the application, the reinforcement of the connection stability of two adjacent pivoting units can also be achieved by dimensioning the second receiving area 500. Illustratively, the opening of the second receiving area 500 tapers in a radially inward direction of the tubular base body 100. Alternatively, the opening size of the second receiving area 500 is gradually reduced in the radially inward direction of the tubular base body 100 and in the radially outward direction of the tubular base body 100, which will not be described in detail herein.
In some embodiments of the present application, the size of the opening dimension of the first receiving area 400 varies in the radially inward direction of the tubular base body in the same manner as the size of the opening dimension of the second receiving area 500. Illustratively, the size of the opening dimension of the first receiving area 400 is gradually reduced, and the trend of the size change of the opening dimension of the second receiving area 500 is gradually reduced along the radial inward direction of the tubular base 100, so that the first receiving area 400 and the second receiving area 500 are respectively arranged on the pivoting units and the pivoting units adjacent to the pivoting units based on the engagement relationship between the pivoting units and the adjacent pivoting units, and the two adjacent pivoting units can realize bidirectional limiting at one pivoting position, thereby further improving the structural stability and the rotation stability of the active bending section.
In some embodiments of the present application, the arc-shaped supporting lugs 200 and the lugs 300 adjacent thereto form a radially inward convex arc-shaped protrusion, the arc-shaped supporting lugs 200 and the lugs 300 adjacent thereto are formed by cutting the arc-shaped protrusion, and in specific applications, the arc-shaped protrusion can avoid the active bending section from scratching other parts (such as a wire harness, an instrument tube, etc.) placed therein, ensure the use safety of the active bending section, and form the radially inward arc-shaped protrusion by punching, thereby having the characteristic of convenient processing.
The inventors have found during the course of the study that the arc lugs 200 and the lugs 300 adjacent thereto together form a radially inwardly convex arc-shaped projection having a maximum thickness at the center in the radial direction of the tubular base body 100. Based on this circumstance, in a further technical solution, the central position of the arc-shaped protrusion is located in the extending direction of the sliding path of the arc-shaped support lug 200, when two adjacent pivoting units relatively rotate to the limit position, the arc-shaped support lug 200 can be abutted against the region where the wall thickness of the lug 300 is thickest, that is, the root region of the lug 300, that is, the central region of the arc-shaped protrusion, so that the arc-shaped support lug 200 and the adjacent pivoting units can be ensured to have a larger abutting contact area, so that the abutting stability is better, and the radial dislocation and detachment caused by the deformation of the arc-shaped support lug 200 or the lug 300 due to the excessively concentrated abutting stress are avoided.
Referring to fig. 4 to 5, the embodiment of the application further discloses an active bending section, which comprises a plurality of the pivot units, wherein the pivot units are connected end to end in sequence, and two adjacent pivot units are rotationally connected.
In an alternative embodiment of the present application, the arc lugs 200 and the lugs 300 may be distributed in the same circumferential direction of the tubular base 100, so arranged, referring to fig. 4, that the active bending section is capable of bi-directional bending when the plurality of pivoting units are connected end to form the active bending section.
In an alternative embodiment of the present application, the distribution direction of the arc lugs 200 and the distribution direction of the lugs 300 are perpendicular to each other along the circumferential direction of the tubular base 100, so configured, referring to fig. 5, when the plurality of pivoting units are connected end to form an active bending section, the active bending section can bend in four directions.
The embodiment of the application also discloses an endoscope, which comprises the active bending section, specifically comprises an operating handle and an inserting part, wherein the proximal end of the inserting part is connected with the operating handle, and the active bending section is arranged at the distal end of the inserting part so that the distal end of the inserting part has an active bending function.
The embodiment of the application also discloses a processing method of the active bending section, referring to fig. 6, the disclosed processing method of the active bending section comprises the following steps:
Step S100, stamping the tubular member to form a plurality of recessed areas distributed along the axial direction of the tubular member.
In step S100, the tubular member is a thin-walled member having a certain ductility in the radial direction, and the aforementioned recessed region is formed when a radially inward force is applied to the outside of the tubular member. For example, a columnar die may be abutted against the inner wall of the tubular member, where the columnar die has a stamping recess with an arc-shaped indent, and the pushing member is used to push the region of the stamping tubular substrate corresponding to the stamping recess, where the portion of the tubular member corresponding to the stamping recess is deformed in the indent, and the recessed region is formed.
Step S200, filling solder in the recessed area and welding and fixing with the tubular member to form a thickened portion at the recessed area.
In step S200, the concave region is filled with solder, and the solder is welded to the tubular member, so that the portion of the tubular member where the concave occurs is thickened, and the outer wall surface of the portion of the tubular member where the concave occurs is flush with the outer wall surface of the tubular base body.
Step S300, cutting the tubular member to form a plurality of mutually separated pivoting units, wherein each pivoting unit comprises a tubular base body, an arc-shaped supporting lug and a lug, the arc-shaped supporting lugs and the lugs are positioned at two ends of the tubular base body, and the arc-shaped supporting lugs and the lugs are formed on the thickened parts.
In step S200, the tubular member 10 may be cut by laser cutting to form a plurality of end-to-end pivot units. Specifically, two radially opposite pivot portions are cut at the first end of the tubular base 100, each pivot portion includes two arc-shaped lugs 200 with opposite arc-shaped bending directions, a first accommodating area 400 is defined between the two arc-shaped lugs 200 of the same pivot portion, the first accommodating area 400 is matched with the shape of the lug 300, the lug 300 is rotatably accommodated in the first accommodating area 400, and the two arc-shaped lugs 200 of the same pivot portion form a clamping type for the lug 300 so as to avoid axial detachment of two adjacent pivot units.
Two diametrically opposed lugs 300 are cut into the second end of the tubular base body 100, a second receiving area 500 is formed between the two sides of the lugs 300 and the tubular base body 100, the shape of the second receiving area 500 matches the shape of the arc-shaped lugs 200, and the arc-shaped lugs 200 are slidably received in the second receiving area 500.
In two adjacent pivoting units of the active bending section, the arc-shaped lugs 200 of one pivoting unit are in sliding fit in the second receiving areas 500 of the other pivoting unit, and the lugs 300 of the other pivoting unit are in rotating fit in the first receiving areas 400 of the pivoting units, so that a pivoting structure of the two pivoting units is formed.
The method of machining the active bending section further comprises, prior to step S200, heating the tubular member to a temperature. On the one hand, the heating can eliminate the thermal stress generated in the welding process, prevent the tubular member from deforming or cracking after welding, and on the other hand, the heating can improve the fluidity of the solder, so that the solder is better combined with the tubular substrate, thereby improving the welding quality.
After step S200, the method for machining the active bending section further includes polishing the outer wall of the thickened portion to smoothly transition the outer wall of the thickened portion and the outer wall of the tubular substrate. When applied to an endoscope, the outer side of the active bending section is generally coated with a skin, and the outer wall of the part thickened part filled by polishing and welding is in smooth transition with the outer wall of the tubular matrix, so that the skin is prevented from being scratched by the part thickened by welding.
It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element. Furthermore, it should be noted that the scope of the methods and apparatus in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to performing the functions in the order shown or discussed, but may also include performing the functions in a substantially simultaneous manner or in an opposite order depending on the functions involved, e.g., the described methods may be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Additionally, features described with reference to certain examples may be combined in other examples.
The foregoing is merely illustrative of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art will readily recognize that variations or substitutions are within the scope of the present invention.