Bent tube, insertion part, and endoscope

Abstract

The invention discloses a bent tube, an insertion part and an endoscope, and relates to the technical field of medical instruments. The bent tube disclosed by the invention is used for an endoscope. The bent pipe comprises a plurality of pipe joints arranged in the axial direction of the bent pipe, and the pipe joints are rotationally connected so that the bending action of the bent pipe can be achieved. The bent pipe is provided with restraining pieces correspondingly arranged on the pipe joints, the restraining pieces are arranged in a sunken mode through pressing bending, guide grooves are defined between the restraining pieces and the side walls of the adjacent pipe joints, and traction ropes are arranged in the guide grooves in a penetrating mode. In the extending direction of the restraint piece, the rigidity of the middle of the restraint piece is smaller than that of the adjacent portion. The scheme at least can be used for improving the bending precision of the active bending section.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of medical devices, and particularly to a bending tube, an insertion part and an endoscope. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous development of medical technology, endoscopes have been widely used in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. When using an endoscope, the insertion part of the endoscope needs to be inserted into the patient's body, and the distal part of the insertion part is pulled by a traction rope to make the active bending section perform a bending action, so as to adjust the orientation of the distal end of the insertion part and obtain image information of the target part (such as a lesion).

[0003] In the related art, the bending tube of the active bending section usually constructs a pressing piece on the side wall, and a guiding groove for restricting the traction rope is formed at the pressing piece to guide the traction rope to extend and distribute on a preset linear path, so as to make the active bending section perform a bending action with higher precision. However, in practice, after adopting the above related technology, the active bending section still has a poor bending precision. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present application provides a bending tube, an insertion part and an endoscope, which can at least be used to improve the bending precision of the active bending section.

[0005] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a bending tube for an endoscope.

[0006] The bending tube includes a plurality of tube sections arranged along its axial direction, and the tube sections are rotatably connected to realize the bending action of the bending tube. The bending tube has restraint pieces correspondingly arranged on the tube sections, and the restraint pieces are recessed by pressing and bending, so as to define a guiding groove between the side walls of adjacent tube sections for threading a traction rope. Along the extending direction of the restraint piece, the stiffness of the middle part of the restraint piece is less than that of its adjacent parts.

[0007] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an insertion part, which includes the bending tube described in the first aspect of the present application.

[0008] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an endoscope, which includes the insertion part described in the second aspect of the present application.

[0009] The technical solution adopted by the present application can achieve the following beneficial effects: In the embodiment of the present application, the stiffness of the middle part of the constraint piece is set to be less than that of its adjacent parts in the bending pipe, so as to achieve a stiffness gradient design in the extending direction of the constraint piece. During the tooling pressing process, the tooling can be adjusted adaptively to accurately apply force to the middle part of the constraint piece, avoiding alignment errors, thereby ensuring that each guiding groove is distributed on a linear path parallel to the axial direction of the bending pipe. In this way, the traction rope can be prevented from deviating from the preset linear path, effectively improving the bending accuracy of the active bending section.

[0010] In addition, based on the function of the above-mentioned constraint piece that enables the tooling to be adaptively centered and aligned during the stamping process, there is no need to insert a mandrel into the bending pipe to guide the stamping position of the tooling during the processing, which not only simplifies the processing process but also avoids the operation of pulling out the mandrel from the bending pipe, thus effectively preventing the wear or damage of the constraint piece and optimizing the operation quality of the active bending section to achieve the bending action to a certain extent. Description of the Drawings

[0011] The drawings described herein are used to provide a further understanding of the present application and constitute a part of the present application. The schematic embodiments of the present application and their descriptions are used to explain the present application and do not constitute an improper limitation to the present application.

[0012] In the drawings: Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of the bending pipe disclosed in the first embodiment of the present application; Figure 2 is Figure 1 a partial enlarged view of part A in Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the cooperation between the bending pipe and the traction rope disclosed in the first embodiment of the present application; Figure 4 is a schematic structural diagram of the constraint piece disclosed in the first embodiment of the present application; Figure 5 is a schematic structural diagram of the bending pipe from another perspective disclosed in the first embodiment of the present application; Figure 6 is a schematic structural diagram of the constraint piece disclosed in the second embodiment of the present application; Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the cooperation relationship between the bending pipe and the traction rope disclosed in the second embodiment of the present application; Figure 8 is a schematic structural diagram of the constraint piece disclosed in the third embodiment of the present application.

[0013] Description of the Reference Numerals: 100 - Bending tube, 110 - Pipe section, 120 - Gap, 130 - Constraint piece, 130a - Guide groove, 130b - First groove, 130c - Protrusion, 130d - Third groove, 130e - Bending convex part, 130f - Limiting space, 200 - Traction rope. Detailed implementation manners

[0014] To make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the technical solutions of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the specific embodiments of the present application and the corresponding drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments in the present application without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

[0015] In the embodiments of the present application, "proximal end" and "distal end" refer to the relative distances of the endoscope and its accessories from the user in the usage environment. Among them, 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".

[0016] To facilitate the understanding of the bending tube, insertion part and endoscope provided by the embodiments of the present application, the related technologies thereof will be introduced below in conjunction with the application scenarios.

[0017] Regarding the active bending section of the bending tube with a pressing piece, there is still a problem of poor bending accuracy. After research, the inventor found that the above problem is mainly caused by the easy existence of alignment errors of the tooling during the stamping process of some pressing pieces.

[0018] Specifically speaking, in the related technology, the pressing piece of the bending tube is formed on the side wall of the bending tube and is recessed into the bending tube by stamping. However, during the stamping process, the tooling may not be able to accurately align with the middle area of the pressing piece. Therefore, after each pressing piece is stamped, the corresponding guide grooves are not all distributed on a linear path parallel to the axis of the bending tube. That is to say, some guide grooves deviate from the preset guide positions. In this way, when pulling the traction rope to realize the bending action of the active bending section, some pressing pieces do not constrain and position the traction rope on the preset linear path, and cannot form a constraint force point for the traction rope. Then, the corresponding pipe sections of the bending tube cannot quickly respond to the relative rotation action, thus affecting the bending accuracy of the entire active bending section.

[0019] In addition, it is worth noting that if the stamping is not performed in the middle area of ​​the lower pressing plate, many guide grooves that deviate from the preset guide position will be formed. In the process of pulling the traction rope, some sections of the traction rope will be constrained and positioned by these guide grooves, causing part of the traction rope to deviate from the preset linear path, that is, causing the bias of part of the fulcrum of the bending tube, which directly causes the incorrect bending of the active bending section, resulting in a significant deterioration in its bending accuracy.

[0020] In view of this, some embodiments of the present application provide a curved tube for use in an endoscope.

[0021] See also Figures 1 to 8 The bending tube 100 disclosed in the embodiment of the present application includes a plurality of tube sections 110 arranged along its axial direction, and the tube sections 110 are rotatably connected to realize the bending action of the bending tube 100. It should be understood that the active bending section refers to the section in the insertion part of the endoscope that can realize the active bending action, and the bending tube 100 is the main part of the active bending tube 100. Exemplarily, the bending tube 100 can constitute the active bending section together with the heat shrink film coated on the outside. Of course, the composition of the active bending section is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the active bending section can include the bending tube 100, the woven mesh layer and the heat shrink film arranged in sequence from the inside to the outside.

[0022] In the embodiments of the present application, the curved tube 100 may have various structural forms, which are not limited thereto.

[0023] For example, Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the bending tube 100 has a plurality of slits 120 arranged along its axial direction, and these slits 120 divide the bending tube 100 into a plurality of tube sections 110 along its axial direction, wherein the slits 120 form a deformation space on the bending tube 100, through which the adjacent tube sections 110 can approach each other, thereby realizing the relative rotation between the tube sections 110, and in the entire axial direction of the bending tube 100, the cooperation of the plurality of tube sections 110 can realize the bending action of the bending tube 100. More specifically, the bending tube 100 is an integrated bending tube 100 structure, and the slits 120 can be formed by cutting, etching and other processes. Among them, the cutting process can preferably be laser cutting technology, which can optimize the processing efficiency and processing accuracy, and the formed bending tube 100 has a higher overall strength.

[0024] For example, the pipe sections 110 may be separated from each other, and the pipe sections 110 are rotationally coupled to each other via a riveting structure.

[0025] Meanwhile, the bending pipe 100 is provided with a restraint piece 130 correspondingly arranged on the pipe section 110. The restraint piece 130 is recessed by pressing and bending, so as to define a guiding groove 130a between the restraint piece 130 and the side wall of the adjacent pipe section 110. The guiding groove 130a is used for threading the towing rope 200. Reference can be made to Figure 2 and Figure 3 for understanding.

[0026] It should be understood that the guiding groove 130a formed on the restraint piece 130 can play a role in restraining and positioning the towing rope 200. Especially when pulling the towing rope 200 to drive the bending of the bending pipe 100 to realize the bending action of the active bending section, the towing rope 200 and the restraint piece 130 will exert force on each other, forming a force-bearing part. Of course, it is precisely because of the restraining and positioning effect of the guiding groove 130a on the restraint piece 130 on the towing rope 200 that the entire towing rope 200 extends and is distributed along the preset linear path.

[0027] Regarding the specific configuration of the restraint piece 130, the embodiments of the present application do not make any restrictions.

[0028] Exemplarily, as Figure 1 and Figure 2 shown, the restraint piece 130 can be a structural form that is recessed towards the inside of the bending pipe 100, that is, in the form of a "down-pressing piece". Of course, the restraint piece 130 can also be recessed towards the outside of the bending pipe 100; further, the restraint piece 130 can protrude to the outside of the side wall of the bending pipe 100, so that it will not occupy the internal space of the bending pipe 100 and can provide a larger installation space for devices such as instrument pipes and wire harnesses.

[0029] In Figure 1 and Figure 2 the embodiments shown, the recessed direction of the restraint piece 130 is distributed along the radial direction of the bending pipe 100. Of course, the recessed direction of the restraint piece 130 can also be distributed deviating from the radial direction of the bending pipe 100, as long as the guiding groove 130a is formed.

[0030] In the embodiments of the present application, along the extending direction of the restraint piece 130, the stiffness of the middle part of the restraint piece 130 is less than the stiffness of its adjacent parts. It should be understood that the extending direction of the restraint piece 130 refers to the extending direction of the path distributed at both ends of the head and tail connection between the restraint piece 130 and the side wall of the bending pipe 100.

[0031] In such a layout, the stiffness of the middle part of the constraint piece 130 is relatively low, while the parts adjacent to the middle part of the constraint piece 130 have higher stiffness. Thus, a gradient design of stiffness is achieved in the extending direction of the constraint piece 130. Then, during the pressing process of the constraint piece 130, due to the lower stiffness of the middle part of the constraint piece 130, it is more likely to deform under force, which is beneficial for the tooling to quickly align and position, and quickly bend to form the guiding groove 130a. It should be noted that when the middle part of the constraint piece 130 starts to deform, a concave part will be generated, forming a shape difference from other parts, which is equivalent to providing a guiding effect for force-applying parts such as tooling. It can guide these force-applying parts to slide into the concave part to achieve the centering and positioning effect, which is further beneficial for the subsequent formation of the guiding groove 130a.

[0032] Compared with the related art, in the bent tube 100 of the embodiment of the present application, by setting the stiffness of the middle part of the constraint piece 130 to be relatively lower, during the pressing process of the tooling, the tooling can adaptively adjust to accurately apply force to the middle part of the constraint piece 130, avoiding alignment errors, so as to ensure that each guiding groove 130a is distributed on a linear path parallel to the axial direction of the bent tube 100. In this way, during the process of pulling the traction rope 200 to achieve the bending of the active bending section, the situation that part of the traction rope 200 deviates from the preset linear path is completely avoided, so that the active bending section always has excellent bending accuracy when performing the bending action.

[0033] In the related art, during the stamping process of the constraint piece 130, a mandrel needs to be pre-arranged in the bent tube 100 to provide support for the constraint piece 130 through the surface of the mandrel to limit the stamping part of the tooling. For example, a groove (such as an arc groove) corresponding to the middle part of the constraint piece 130 is arranged on the surface of the mandrel to match the punch of the tooling. In this way, by stamping the constraint piece 130 inward to fit on the surface of the mandrel, the bending process of the constraint piece 130 is realized, and thus the guiding groove 130a for the traction rope 200 to pass through is formed. However, in practice, when the constraint piece 130 is stamped in place, it fits tightly with the surface of the mandrel, making it difficult to pull out the mandrel. During the process of forcibly pulling out the mandrel, the constraint piece 130 is easily worn, and even bent or damaged due to friction, resulting in the failure of the constraint piece 130.

[0034] For this defect of the related art, in the bent tube 100 of the embodiment of the present application, since the constraint piece 130 with a smaller middle stiffness is set, the tooling can adaptively align with the middle part of the constraint piece 130 during the stamping process. In this way, there is no need to insert a mandrel into the bent tube 100 during the processing to guide the stamping position of the tooling, which not only simplifies the processing process but also avoids the operation of pulling out the mandrel from the bent tube 100, thus effectively preventing the situation of wear or damage of the constraint piece 130.

[0035] In some embodiments, such asFigure 2 and Figure 4 As shown in Figure 4 , along the extending direction of the constraint piece 130, the width of the middle part of the constraint piece 130 is smaller than the width of its adjacent part. It should be understood that in this example, by reducing the width of the middle part of the constraint piece 130, the purpose of making the stiffness of the middle part of the constraint piece 130 smaller than that of its adjacent part is achieved, which is beneficial for the accurate alignment of the tooling during the pressing process.

[0036] It is worth mentioning that the essence of this example is to perform a gradient design on the width dimension of the constraint piece 130 in its extending direction, so as to achieve the gradient design of the stiffness. And the adjustment of the width dimension of the constraint piece 130 is relatively easy to process and the processing cost is also relatively low. Exemplarily, in this example, for the structural form of the constraint piece 130, during the process of cutting out the constraint piece 130 on the side wall of the bent pipe 100, by cutting a certain size more into the axial side surface of the constraint piece 130, the width dimension of the middle part of the constraint piece 130 can be reduced. The axial direction of the constraint piece 130 here can be considered as the direction parallel to the axial direction of the bent pipe 100.

[0037] Certainly, the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific manner of the gradient design of the stiffness of the constraint piece 130. Exemplarily, along the extending direction of the constraint piece 130, the thickness of the middle part of the constraint piece 130 is smaller than the thickness of its adjacent part. Exemplarily, along the extending direction of the constraint piece 130, perforations are provided in the middle part of the constraint piece 130. In the above-mentioned multiple exemplary technical solutions, the size of the solid structure in the middle part of the constraint piece 130 in its extending direction is relatively reduced, achieving the purpose of making the stiffness of the middle part of the constraint piece 130 smaller than that of its adjacent part, thus realizing the gradient design of the stiffness, which is beneficial for the accurate alignment of the tooling during the pressing process.

[0038] In some embodiments, the constraint piece 130 has a first groove 130b provided on at least one side surface in its axial direction. In the extending direction of the constraint piece 130, the first groove 130b is correspondingly provided in the middle part of the constraint piece 130, so that the width of the middle part of the constraint piece 130 is smaller than the width of its adjacent part. Exemplarily, as Figure 4 shown, first grooves 130b are provided on both side surfaces in the axial direction of the constraint piece 130. Certainly, the constraint piece 130 may have a first groove 130b provided only on one side surface in the axial direction. And in the embodiments where first grooves 130b are provided on both side surfaces in the axial direction of the constraint piece 130, it is helpful to balance the stiffness of both side surfaces in the axial direction of the constraint piece 130 and avoid asymmetric deformation during the pressing process.

[0039] In some embodiments, the restraint piece 130 has a second groove provided on at least one side in its radial direction. In the extending direction of the restraint piece 130, the second groove corresponds to the middle part of the restraint piece 130, so that the thickness of the middle part of the restraint piece 130 is smaller than the thickness of its adjacent parts. In an embodiment where the second groove is provided only on one side in the radial direction of the restraint piece 130, the second groove can be provided on the outer side in the radial direction of the restraint piece 130, which is convenient for processing the restraint piece 130 outside the bending tube 100 and provides a larger working space.

[0040] In some embodiments, the first groove edge of the first groove 130b has a smooth transition. The first groove edge is the edge of the first groove 130b close to the guiding groove 130a. Reference can be made to Figures 1 to 3 for combined understanding.

[0041] It should be understood that in some scenarios where the active bending section is driven to perform a bending action by pulling the traction rope 200, especially during the process of pulling the active bending section to bend towards the other side when the active bending section is in a one-sided bending state, the traction rope 200 will press against the restraint piece 130, which results in friction between the two. Especially at the edge of the restraint piece 130 close to its axial side, this is a part where the shape changes suddenly (for example, there are sharp corners, such as Figure 2 in this case, there is a sharp corner with a right-angle feature at this place), so it will cause obvious wear between the traction rope 200 and the restraint piece 130, and the traction rope 200 is likely to be damaged after long-term use.

[0042] In this example, the first groove edge of the first groove 130b is the edge where the restraint piece 130 and the traction rope 200 are prone to wear. By setting the first groove edge with a smooth transition in this example, a relatively sharp contact surface can be avoided on the surface of the restraint piece 130, thereby effectively avoiding the wear between the traction rope 200 and the restraint piece 130 and prolonging the service life of the traction rope 200, the restraint piece 130, and the bending tube 100.

[0043] In addition, such a setting can reduce the friction between the traction rope 200 and the restraint piece 130 at the first groove edge, avoid the concentration of force at this place, and further prevent damage to each component.

[0044] In some embodiments, the width of the middle part of the restraint piece 130 is smaller than that of other parts through the first groove 130b. Reference can be made to Figure 4 and Figure 6 . Under such a layout, the stiffness of the middle part of the restraint piece 130 will be greatly reduced, and there is a stiffness gap with other regions of the restraint piece 130. In this way, the middle part of the restraint piece 130 will be extremely easy to deform due to force, thereby improving the efficiency of the guiding tooling for quick centering and alignment, optimizing the forming quality of the restraint piece 130, and thus being able to optimize the bending accuracy of the active bending tube 100.

[0045] In some embodiments, first grooves 130b are provided on both axial sides of the constraint piece 130. The connection line of the lowest points of the first grooves 130b on both sides of the constraint piece 130 is parallel to the axis of the bent tube 100, and the constraint piece 130 is symmetrically distributed with respect to the first plane. The connection line and the axis of the bent tube 100 are both distributed in the first plane.

[0046] It should be understood that such a setting can ensure that the stiffness of the constraint piece 130 is approximately symmetrically distributed with respect to the first plane. In this way, when a force is applied to press the middle part of the constraint piece 130, the stiffness on both sides of the middle part of the constraint piece 130 is approximately the same, which is beneficial to forcing the constraint piece 130 to bend and sink in the middle to smoothly form the guiding groove 130a, thereby improving the processing efficiency and quality.

[0047] In some embodiments, the bent tube 100 has a combination of a plurality of constraint pieces 130 distributed along its axial direction. The combination of constraint pieces 130 includes constraint pieces 130 distributed on both radial sides of the bent tube 100. In the same combination of constraint pieces 130, the constraint pieces 130 distributed on both radial sides of the bent tube 100 are arranged in one-to-one correspondence, and the two constraint pieces 130 corresponding to each other on both radial sides of the bent tube 100 are provided on the same pipe section 110 or respectively provided on two adjacent pipe sections 110. Exemplarily, as Figure 5 shown, the two constraint pieces 130 in a combination of constraint pieces 130 are distributed on two adjacent pipe sections 110. Again, if Figure 5 the slit corresponding to the upper-side constraint piece 130 in is changed to a constraint piece 130, the technical solution of arranging the constraint pieces 130 on different sides in the combination of constraint pieces 130 on the same pipe section 110 is achieved.

[0048] It should be understood that in some scenarios where the pulling traction rope 200 drives the active bending section to perform a bending action, the traction rope 200 will press against the constraint piece 130, thereby forming a force application point at the position of the bent tube 100 corresponding to the constraint piece 130. In this example, through the above structural layout, the constraint pieces 130 belonging to the same constraint piece 130 assembly are arranged on the same or adjacent pipe sections 110 of the bent tube 100, so that the different force application points corresponding to the combination of constraint pieces 130 are in a radially corresponding or approximately radially corresponding state on the bent tube 100. In this way, during the reverse bending process of the bent tube 100, the force application points on both radial sides thereof are approximately symmetrically distributed, thereby balancing the force on the bent tube 100 and avoiding the situation of torsional deformation of the bent tube 100 due to unilateral force, so as to facilitate maintaining the original tubular shape of the bent tube 100.

[0049] In some embodiments, the constraint piece 130 has a stiffness weak area corresponding to its middle part. Along the extending direction of the constraint piece 130, the constraint piece 130 also has stiffness strengthening areas adjacent to both sides of the stiffness weak area.

[0050] It should be understood that in this example, due to the addition of stiffness strengthening regions on both sides of the weak stiffness region, the stiffness difference between the weak stiffness region and its adjacent parts becomes larger. In such a layout, during the process of the tooling pressing the restraint piece 130, when the tooling is misaligned and pressed against the stiffness strengthening region, due to the greater stiffness of the stiffness strengthening region, it can to a certain extent prevent the restraint piece 130 from being indented under pressure in the stiffness strengthening region to form a deviated guiding groove 130a; when the tooling is blocked by pressing against the stiffness strengthening region, it will be forced to slide into the weak stiffness region with a smaller stiffness, so as to ensure that the guiding groove 130a at the expected position is accurately pressed by pressing the weak stiffness region. That is to say, precisely because of the large stiffness difference between the weak stiffness region and the stiffness strengthening region, the tooling can be guided to correctly align with the weak stiffness region, further optimizing the accuracy of positioning and pressing.

[0051] Meanwhile, it is worth noting that during the process of the tooling accurately aligning with the weak stiffness region for pressing, the stiffness strengthening regions on both sides of the weak stiffness region on the restraint piece 130 can also play a certain limiting role on the tooling, preventing the situation that the tooling shakes and accidentally disengages from the weak stiffness region, which is also beneficial to improving the processing quality of the restraint piece 130.

[0052] Of course, the stiffness strengthening region in the embodiment of the present application relatively improves the stiffness of the corresponding part of the restraint piece 130, but the degree of stiffness improvement still needs to ensure that a certain amount of deformation can be achieved.

[0053] In a specific embodiment, as Figure 6 shown, when the restraint piece 130 forms a weak stiffness region through the first groove 130b on its axial side surface, the restraint piece 130 also has a protrusion 130c provided on its axial side surface. Along the extending direction of the restraint piece 130, the protrusion 130c is arranged adjacent to the first groove 130b to form a stiffness strengthening region.

[0054] It should be understood that in this example, both the weak stiffness region and the stiffness strengthening region are achieved by adjusting the width dimension of the restraint piece 130 in the axial direction, and the adjustment of the width dimension of the restraint piece 130 is relatively easy to process and the processing cost is also low. Exemplarily, in the structural form of the restraint piece 130 in this example, during the process of cutting out the restraint piece 130 on the side wall of the bent pipe 100, a certain dimension can be cut more into the corresponding axial side surface of the restraint piece 130 to form a weak stiffness region, and a certain dimension can be cut less into the corresponding axial side surface to form a stiffness strengthening region.

[0055] Of course, in other embodiments, the weak stiffness region and the stiffness strengthening region can also be constructed by means of changing the thickness of the corresponding part of the restraint piece 130.

[0056] In some embodiments, as Figure 6As shown, the area of the constraint piece 130 corresponding to the first groove 130b is larger than the area of the constraint piece 130 corresponding to the protrusion 130c. With such a setting, during the process of processing the constraint piece 130 by inserting a mandrel into the bending tube 100, the contact area between the constraint piece 130 and the surface of the mandrel can be reduced, thereby reducing the frictional resistance between the two, which is conducive to pulling out the mandrel and reducing the risk of damage to the constraint piece 130.

[0057] In the embodiment where the constraint piece 130 has a stiffness strengthening area, further, as Figure 7 shown, at the position of the constraint piece 130 corresponding to the stiffness strengthening area, the constraint piece 130 has a bending convex portion 130e protruding radially along the surface due to bending, and a limiting space 130f is defined between the bending convex portions 130e on both sides of the middle of the constraint piece 130.

[0058] It should be understood that since the constraint piece 130 of this example has a stiffness strengthening area and a stiffness weak area, and there is a relatively obvious stiffness difference between the two, during the process of stamping by a tooling, it is more difficult for the stiffness strengthening area to deform, and the tooling punch is guided to slide into the middle area of the constraint piece 130 corresponding to the stiffness weak area, and a large amount of deformation occurs in this area, so as to form a relatively obvious bending mutation shape between the stiffness weak area and the stiffness strengthening area, and then the bending convex portion 130e is constructed, and the limiting space 130f is defined between the bending convex portions 130e. Thus, the bending convex portion 130e can play a circumferential limiting role on the traction rope 200 in the limiting space 130f, ensuring that the traction rope 200 is constrained in the limiting space 130f to prevent the traction rope 200 from moving relative to the bending tube 100 to the gap between the constraint piece 130 and the side wall of the bending tube 100 due to pulling, thereby effectively avoiding the wear of the traction rope 200 at this gap.

[0059] In some embodiments, the constraint piece 130 has a second stiffness weak area provided between its connection end and the stiffness strengthening area, and the connection end of the constraint piece 130 is the end where it is connected to the side wall of the corresponding pipe section 110. As Figure 8 shown, a third groove 130d is provided between the connection end of the constraint piece 130 and the stiffness strengthening area formed by the protrusion 130c, and the third groove 130d forms the second stiffness weak area. Of course, the specific configuration of the second stiffness weak area in the embodiments of the present application is not limited, for example, it can also be formed by thinning the thickness of the corresponding part of the constraint piece 130.

[0060] It should be understood that in the case where the part of the constraint piece 130 close to its connection end has a large stiffness, if the stamping position of the tooling is not centered, it is easy to stamp the part close to the connection end of the constraint piece 130, and since this part has a large stiffness, it is not easy to deform, which will cause the corresponding side wall of the bending tube 100 to deform together, resulting in the bending tube 100 being unusable.

[0061] In this regard, in this example, a second stiffness weak zone is set to reduce the stiffness of the portion of the constraint piece 130 near one side of its connection end. When the tooling stamping position is misaligned or offset, the second stiffness weak zone can be inclined through deformation, so as to facilitate guiding the tooling punch to slide towards the middle of the constraint piece 130 to enter the normal stamping process, and avoid deforming the side wall of the entire bent tube 100.

[0062] Furthermore, in the embodiment where the third groove 130d is used to form the second stiffness weak zone, the third groove 130d can be set to extend to the joint portion of the constraint piece 130 and the side wall of the bent tube 100, so as to reduce the stiffness of this joint portion to a certain extent. Thus, when directly stamping without using a mandrel support, the tooling can punch a larger gap between the end of the constraint piece 130 and the side wall of the bent tube 100, avoiding excessive wear caused by cutting the inserted traction rope 200 due to too small a gap.

[0063] Please refer to Figures 1 to 8 , some embodiments of the present application provide an insertion part, which includes the bent tube 100 involved in any of the foregoing solutions, and thus has the beneficial effects of the foregoing bent tube 100, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0064] Please refer to Figures 1 to 8 , some embodiments of the present application provide an endoscope, which includes the insertion part mentioned above, and thus has the beneficial effects of the foregoing insertion part, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0065] The endoscope involved in the embodiments of the present application can be a bronchoscope, a pyeloscope, an esophagoscope, a gastroscope, a colonoscope, an otoscope, a nasal endoscope, an oral endoscope, a laryngoscope, a vaginoscope, a laparoscope, an arthroscope, etc. The present application does not specifically limit the types of endoscopes.

[0066] In the foregoing embodiments of the present application, the differences between the various embodiments are mainly described. As long as the different optimization features between the various embodiments are not contradictory, they can be combined to form a more optimal embodiment. Considering the simplicity of the text, it will not be elaborated herein.

[0067] The above are only the embodiments of the present application and are not intended to limit the present application. For those skilled in the art, the present application can have various changes and modifications. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included within the scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A bent tube for an endoscope, characterized in that, The bent pipe includes a plurality of pipe sections arranged along its axial direction, and the pipe sections are rotatably connected to achieve the bending action of the bent pipe; The bent pipe has restraint pieces correspondingly arranged on the pipe sections. The restraint pieces are recessed by pressing and bending, so as to define a guiding groove between the restraint pieces and the side walls of adjacent pipe sections, and the guiding groove is used for threading a traction rope; Along the extending direction of the restraint piece, the stiffness of the middle part of the restraint piece is less than that of its adjacent parts.

2. The bent tube according to claim 1, characterized in that, Along the extending direction of the restraint piece, the width of the middle part of the restraint piece is less than that of its adjacent parts; And / or, along the extending direction of the restraint piece, the thickness of the middle part of the restraint piece is less than that of its adjacent parts; And / or, along the extending direction of the restraint piece, a perforation is provided in the middle part of the restraint piece.

3. The bent tube according to claim 2, wherein The restraint piece has a first groove provided on at least one side surface in its axial direction. Along the extending direction of the restraint piece, the first groove is correspondingly provided in the middle part of the restraint piece, so that the width of the middle part of the restraint piece is less than that of its adjacent parts; And / or, the restraint piece has a second groove provided on at least one side surface in its radial direction. Along the extending direction of the restraint piece, the second groove corresponds to the middle part of the restraint piece, so that the thickness of the middle part of the restraint piece is less than that of its adjacent parts.

4. The bent tube according to claim 3, characterized in that, The first groove edge of the first groove has a smooth transition, and the first groove edge is the edge of the first groove close to the guiding groove; And / or, the width of the middle part of the restraint piece is less than that of other parts through the first groove.

5. The bent tube according to claim 3, characterized in that, The first grooves are provided on both axial sides of the restraint piece. The connection line of the lowest points of the first grooves on both sides of the restraint piece is parallel to the axis of the bent pipe, and the restraint piece is symmetrically distributed with respect to a first plane. Both the connection line and the axis of the bent pipe are distributed in the first plane.

6. The bent tube according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The bent pipe has a plurality of restraint piece combinations distributed along its axial direction. The restraint piece combination includes the restraint pieces distributed on both radial sides of the bent pipe. In the same restraint piece combination, the restraint pieces distributed on both radial sides of the bent pipe are arranged in one-to-one correspondence, and two corresponding restraint pieces on both radial sides of the bent pipe are arranged on the same pipe section or respectively arranged on two adjacent pipe sections; And / or, the restraint piece has a first stiffness weak area correspondingly arranged in the middle part thereof. Along the extending direction of the restraint piece, the restraint piece also has stiffness strengthening areas adjacent to both sides of the first stiffness weak area.

7. The bent tube according to claim 6, characterized in that, In the case where the first stiffness weak area is formed by the first groove on the axial side surface of the restraint piece, the restraint piece also has a protrusion provided on its axial side surface. Along the extending direction of the restraint piece, the protrusion is adjacent to the first groove to form the stiffness strengthening area; And / or, at the part of the restraint piece corresponding to the stiffness strengthening area, the restraint piece has a bending convex part protruding along the radial surface due to bending, and a limiting space is defined between the bending convex parts on both sides of the middle part of the restraint piece; And / or, the constraint sheet has a second stiffness-weakening area provided between its connection end and the stiffness strengthening area, and the connection end of the constraint sheet is the end where it is connected to the side wall of the corresponding pipe joint.

8. The bent tube according to claim 7, wherein, The area of the constraint sheet corresponding to the first groove is larger than the area of the constraint sheet corresponding to the protrusion.

9. An insertion part, characterized in that, Comprising the bent pipe according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. An endoscope, characterized in that, Comprising the insertion part according to claim 9.

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