Snake bone bending brake mechanism, insertion assembly and endoscope

Abstract

The present invention provides a serpentine bending brake mechanism, an insertion assembly and an endoscope, wherein the serpentine bending brake mechanism comprises a connecting tube, an angle steel wire and a protective sleeve, wherein the protective sleeve is arranged in the connecting tube, the angle steel wire is arranged in the protective sleeve and can move along the extension direction of the protective sleeve, the serpentine bending brake mechanism also comprises a fixing buckle, a fixing buckle mounting hole is arranged on the connecting tube, the fixing buckle mounting hole penetrates the peripheral wall of the connecting tube and is connected with the inside of the connecting tube, the first end of the fixing buckle is fixedly connected to the peripheral wall of the connecting tube, the second end of the fixing buckle is arranged in the connecting tube through the fixing buckle mounting hole, and the protective sleeve is arranged on the second end of the fixing buckle; the insertion assembly comprises an insertion tube, a serpentine bending brake mechanism, a serpentine tube and a tip end connected in sequence; the endoscope comprises an endoscope handle and an insertion assembly. The present invention has the advantages that the fixing method using hard welding will not affect the performance of the protective sleeve and does not require subsequent precise manual trimming.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of medical endoscopes and industrial endoscopes, and in particular to a snake-bone bending braking mechanism, an insertion component and an endoscope. Background Art

[0002] An endoscope is an electronic instrument commonly used in medical examinations and industrial flaw detection. An endoscope includes an insertion component that extends into the human body or equipment and an endoscope handle that controls the movement of the insertion component, video recording, lighting and other operations. The insertion component includes an insertion tube, a serpentine bending brake mechanism and a tip. The serpentine bending brake mechanism is connected between the insertion tube and the tip, and a camera, an instrument channel and a light source are installed on the tip.

[0003] The serpentine bending brake mechanism generally includes a connecting tube, an angle steel wire and a protective sleeve. The angle steel wire is arranged in the protective sleeve to protect the angle steel wire from being affected by external factors in its traction movement. The traditional protective sleeve is fixed inside the connecting tube made of metal material by hard welding. During the hard welding process, the high temperature changes the characteristics of the parent material (i.e., the protective sleeve). A special process is required to treat the protective sleeve in the future, otherwise the performance and service life of the material of the protective sleeve itself will be reduced. The hard welding process itself has a certain instability. After the protective sleeve is directly welded to the connecting tube, it is necessary to rely on experienced welding technicians to perform precise manual trimming of the position of the welding point to ensure that the protective sleeve can be aligned with the angle steel wire installation groove on the connecting tube to ensure the manufacturability and consistency of the product. In addition, fixing the protective sleeve to the connecting tube by hard welding also requires that the connecting tube must be made of metal material, and cannot be made of other materials other than metal materials, which greatly limits the diversity of the connecting tube material. Summary of the invention

[0004] The first object of the present invention is to provide a serpentine bending brake mechanism which will not affect the performance of the protective sleeve even if a hard welding fixing method is adopted and does not require subsequent precise manual trimming.

[0005] A second object of the present invention is to provide an insertion assembly comprising the above-mentioned snake-bone bending braking mechanism.

[0006] The third object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope comprising the above-mentioned snake-bone bending braking mechanism.

[0007] In order to achieve the above-mentioned first purpose, the present invention provides a serpentine bending brake mechanism, including a connecting tube, an angle steel wire and a protective sleeve, the protective sleeve is arranged in the connecting tube, the angle steel wire is arranged in the protective sleeve, the angle steel wire can move along the extension direction of the protective sleeve, the serpentine bending brake mechanism also includes a fixing buckle, a fixing buckle mounting hole is arranged on the connecting tube, the fixing buckle mounting hole passes through the peripheral wall of the connecting tube and is connected with the interior of the connecting tube, the first end of the fixing buckle is fixedly connected to the peripheral wall of the connecting tube, the second end of the fixing buckle is arranged in the connecting tube through the fixing buckle mounting hole, and the protective sleeve is arranged on the second end of the fixing buckle.

[0008] It can be seen from the above scheme that by setting a fixing buckle, the protective sleeve is set on the fixing buckle to avoid direct contact between the protective sleeve and the connecting pipe. Even if the fixing buckle and the connecting pipe are fixed together by hard welding, the high temperature generated by the welding process will only affect the fixing buckle, but will not affect the protective sleeve itself, which is beneficial to ensuring the performance and service life of the protective sleeve; since the protective sleeve itself is not affected by hard welding, there is naturally no need for experienced welding technicians to perform precise manual trimming of the welding points of the protective sleeve, which is beneficial to improving production efficiency.

[0009] A further solution is that the fixing buckle includes a fixing seat and two wings, the fixing seat is arranged between the two wings, the wings are arranged to be an arc shape matching the peripheral wall of the connecting pipe, the fixing seat is provided with a mounting hole, the mounting hole extends along the axial direction of the connecting pipe, and the protective sleeve is arranged in the mounting hole.

[0010] It can be seen from the above scheme that by providing an arc-shaped wing portion that matches the peripheral wall of the connecting pipe, the wing portion is convenient for close fitting with the peripheral wall of the connecting pipe, which is conducive to fixation by soft welding, hard welding or glue bonding; by providing a mounting hole, the protective sleeve is fixed in the mounting hole by bonding or welding with engineering glue, which not only facilitates the installation of the protective sleeve, but also improves the installation efficiency.

[0011] A further solution is that the wing portion is fixedly connected to the peripheral wall of the connecting pipe by soft welding, hard welding or glue.

[0012] It can be seen from the above solutions that the fixing buckle of the present invention can be fixed on the connecting pipe by a variety of different fixing methods, so that the fixing method of the protective sleeve is no longer limited to hard welding.

[0013] A further solution is that the number of fixing buckle mounting holes is equal to the number of fixing buckles, each protective sleeve corresponds to at least one fixing buckle, and the number of protective sleeves is equal to the number of angle steel wires.

[0014] A further solution is that the connecting tube is provided with at least one group of fixing buckle mounting holes, each group of fixing buckle mounting holes contains at least two fixing buckle mounting holes, and the fixing buckle mounting holes in the same group are arranged along the axial direction of the connecting tube; in the circumferential direction of the connecting tube, two adjacent groups of fixing buckle mounting holes are spaced apart by a first preset angle.

[0015] It can be seen from the above scheme that by setting at least two fixing buckle installation holes in the same group, it is convenient to group at least two fixing buckles for subsequent installation, so that the same protective sleeve can be set in the fixing buckles in the same group at the same time, which is beneficial to improve the installation stability of the protective sleeve.

[0016] A further solution is that a convex bridge is provided on the inner wall of the connecting pipe, the convex bridge and the connecting pipe are integrally formed, an angle steel wire installation groove is provided in the convex bridge, and the angle steel wire installation groove extends along the axial direction of the connecting pipe.

[0017] A further solution is that the number of protrusions is set to at least two, and on the axis of the connecting tube, two adjacent protrusion bridges are spaced apart by a second preset angle; one end of the protective sleeve passes through the fixing buckle and is adjacent to the side wall of the protrusion bridge, and the protective sleeve is connected to the angle wire installation groove.

[0018] In order to achieve the above-mentioned second purpose, the insertion assembly provided by the present invention includes an insertion tube, a serpentine bending brake mechanism, a serpentine tube and a tip end connected in sequence, the serpentine bending brake mechanism is the above-mentioned serpentine bending brake mechanism, and the insertion tube, the serpentine bending brake mechanism, the serpentine tube and the tip end are interconnected.

[0019] A further solution is that the connecting tube of the serpentine bending brake mechanism is an independent component fixedly arranged at the front end of the insertion tube, or the connecting tube and the end of the serpentine tube are integrally designed.

[0020] In order to achieve the third purpose mentioned above, the endoscope provided by the present invention includes an endoscope handle and an insertion component, the endoscope handle is connected to the insertion component, and the insertion component includes the above-mentioned snake-bone bending braking mechanism. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 It is a structural diagram of an embodiment of the snake-bone bending brake mechanism of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 2 It is an exploded view of an embodiment of the snake-bone bending brake mechanism of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 3 It is a side view of an embodiment of the snake-bone bending brake mechanism of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 4 It is a structural diagram of a fixing buckle in an embodiment of the snake-bone bending brake mechanism of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 5Schematic diagram of an insert assembly embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] The present invention is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Snake-bone bending brake mechanism embodiment

[0028] See also Figures 1 to 4 The snake-bone bending brake mechanism includes a connecting tube 1, four angle steel wires 2, four protective sleeves 3 and eight fixing buckles 4.

[0029] The two ends of the connecting tube 1 are provided with openings that are interconnected, and the middle part of the connecting tube 1 is provided with four convex bridges 10 and eight fixing buckle mounting holes 12. The four convex bridges 10 are arranged along the circumference of the connecting tube 1, and the eight fixing buckle mounting holes 12 are grouped in pairs, and each group of fixing buckle mounting holes is arranged along the circumference of the connecting tube 1. In the circumference of the connecting tube 1, the interval between two adjacent groups of fixing buckle mounting holes is a first preset angle, which is greater than 0° and less than 360°, and is preferably 90° in this embodiment. The interval between two adjacent convex bridges 10 is a second preset angle, which is greater than 0° and less than 360°. In the same embodiment, the first preset angle is equal to the second preset angle, so the second preset angle in this embodiment is 90°. The two fixing buckle mounting holes 12 in the same group are arranged along the axial direction of the connecting tube 1 with one of the convex bridges 10 at the same time. The convex bridge 10 is formed integrally with the connecting tube 1 by stamping from the outside to the inside. An angle wire installation groove 11 is provided in the convex bridge 10, and the angle wire installation groove 11 extends along the axial direction of the connecting tube 1. The fixing buckle installation hole 12 passes through the peripheral wall of the connecting tube 1 and is connected to the inside of the connecting tube 1. In order to ensure the accurate position of each fixing buckle installation hole 12, it is preferred to use laser cutting to make the fixing buckle installation hole 12. The middle parts of the two fixing buckle installation holes 12 in the same group are connected to each other. The laser can pass along the connection between the two fixing buckle installation holes 12, so that the two fixing buckle installation holes 12 are cut at the same time to improve the cutting efficiency. A fixing boss 13 protruding toward the connecting center of the two fixing buckle installation holes 12 in the same group is formed between the two fixing buckle installation holes 12. The side wall of the fixing boss 13 is adjacent to the side wall of the fixing buckle 4, so as to fix the fixing buckle 4 in the axial direction of the connecting tube 1.

[0030] The fixing buckle 4 extends from the outside of the connecting tube 1 through the fixing buckle mounting hole 12 into the interior of the connecting tube 1. A mounting hole 43 is provided at the portion where the fixing buckle 4 extends into the interior of the connecting tube 1. The mounting hole 43 extends along the axial direction of the connecting tube 1. The mounting hole 43 is arranged corresponding to the angle wire mounting groove 11, and is preferably coaxially arranged.

[0031] One end of the protective sleeve 3 passes through the mounting hole 43 and fits with the side wall of the convex bridge 10, that is, the protective sleeve 3 fits with the side of the angle wire mounting groove 11, which plays a role in limiting the axial movement of the protective sleeve 3 in the mounting hole 43. The protective sleeve 3 is arranged in the mounting hole 43, and the protective sleeve 3 and the mounting hole 43 are fixed together by glue or welding, which plays a role in fixing the protective sleeve 3. Since the contact area between the protective sleeve 3 and the mounting hole 43 is small, even if the protective sleeve 3 is fixed by hard welding, only a small area of ​​welding surface will be formed on the surface of the protective sleeve 3, which has a slight effect on the characteristics of the protective sleeve 3 itself, which can be ignored, and no subsequent precise manual finishing is required. The protective sleeve 3 and the angle wire mounting groove 11 are coaxially arranged and connected to each other. The other end of the protective sleeve 3 extends to the outside of the connecting tube 1 along the axial direction of the connecting tube 1, and is used to connect with the insertion tube. The protective sleeve 3 is a spring tube or a capillary tube, which is used to ensure that when the snake tube is bent, the angle wire 2 is not affected by external factors in its traction movement during the forward and backward movement.

[0032] The angle steel wire 2 is arranged in the protective sleeve 3 and runs through the entire connecting tube 1. There is a large gap between the angle steel wire 2 and the inner wall of the protective sleeve 3, and the angle steel wire 2 can move along the extension direction of the protective sleeve 3. The two ends of the angle steel wire 2 are respectively connected to the snake tube and the endoscope handle. The endoscope handle controls the forward and backward movement of the angle steel wire 2 to achieve the bending and turning of the snake tube.

[0033] The number of the fixing buckle mounting holes 12 is equal to the number of the fixing buckles 4. Each protective sleeve 3 corresponds to at least one fixing buckle 4. The number of the protective sleeves 3 is equal to the number of the angle steel wires 2. Generally, one angle steel wire 2 can control the snake-bone tube to rotate back and forth in one direction. The number of angle steel wires 2 can be set according to the actual needs of the endoscope. In this embodiment, four angle steel wires 2 are provided to control the snake-bone tube to bend and turn in four directions: up, down, left, and right. The bending and turning in a free direction can be achieved through the cooperation of multiple directions.

[0034] exist Figure 4 In the figure, the fixing buckle 4 includes a fixing seat 41 and two wings 42, and the fixing seat 41 is arranged between the two wings 42. The mounting hole 43 is arranged on the fixing seat 41, and the two wings 42 are symmetrically arranged on the upper and lower sides of the fixing seat 41 with the axis of the mounting hole 43 as the axis of symmetry. The wings 42 are set to an arc shape that matches the outer peripheral wall of the connecting pipe 1. In the arc length direction, the length of the wings 42 is greater than the length of the fixing buckle mounting hole 12, and the width of the wings 42 is equal to the width of the fixing seat 41, so that the inner surface of the wings 42 overlaps the outer peripheral wall of the connecting pipe 1. The wings 42 and the outer peripheral wall of the connecting pipe 1 can be fixedly connected by soft welding, hard welding or engineering glue. When the engineering glue is used for fixed connection, the connecting pipe 1 and the fixing buckle 4 can be made of metal materials or other materials other than metal materials, such as plastic.

[0035] Insert assembly embodiment

[0036] See also Figure 5 , and combined with Figure 1 The insertion assembly includes an insertion tube 200, a snake-bone bending brake mechanism 100, a snake-bone tube 300 and a tip 400 which are connected in sequence, and the insertion tube 200, the snake-bone bending brake mechanism 100, the snake-bone tube 300 and the tip 400 are connected to each other. The traction movement of the angle wire 2 can drive the snake-bone tube 300 and the tip 400 to bend and turn in four directions, namely, upward, downward, leftward, rightward and in a free direction. The connecting tube 1 in the snake-bone bending brake mechanism 100 can be set as an independent component fixedly arranged at the front end of the insertion tube 200, that is, close to one end of the snake-bone tube 300; or, the connecting tube 1 can also be set at the end of the snake-bone tube 300 and become an integral design component with the snake-bone tube 300.

[0037] Endoscope Embodiment

[0038] The endoscope comprises an endoscope handle and an insertion component. The endoscope handle is connected to the insertion component, and the insertion component comprises a snake-bone bending braking mechanism.

[0039] In summary, it can be seen that the present invention arranges a fixing buckle, and the protective sleeve is arranged on the fixing buckle to avoid direct contact between the protective sleeve and the connecting pipe. Even if the fixing buckle and the connecting pipe are fixed together by hard welding, the high temperature generated during the welding process will only affect the fixing buckle but not the protective sleeve itself, which is beneficial to ensuring the performance and service life of the protective sleeve. Since the protective sleeve itself is not affected by hard welding, there is naturally no need for experienced welding technicians to perform precise manual trimming of the welding points of the protective sleeve, which is beneficial to improving production efficiency.

[0040] Finally, it should be emphasized that the above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. For those skilled in the art, the present invention may have various changes and modifications. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A snake-bone bending brake mechanism, comprising a connecting tube, an angle steel wire and a protective sleeve, wherein the protective sleeve is arranged in the connecting tube, the angle steel wire is arranged in the protective sleeve, and the angle steel wire can move along the extension direction of the protective sleeve, characterized in that: The snake-bone bending brake mechanism also includes a fixing buckle, a fixing buckle mounting hole is provided on the connecting tube, the fixing buckle mounting hole passes through the peripheral wall of the connecting tube and communicates with the interior of the connecting tube, the first end of the fixing buckle is fixedly connected to the peripheral wall of the connecting tube, the second end of the fixing buckle passes through the fixing buckle mounting hole and is arranged in the connecting tube, and the protective sleeve is arranged on the second end of the fixing buckle; The fixing buckle includes a fixing seat and two wings, wherein the fixing seat is arranged between the two wings, and the wings are arranged to be in an arc shape matching the peripheral wall of the connecting tube. The fixing seat is provided with a mounting hole, and the mounting hole extends along the axial direction of the connecting tube. The protective sleeve is arranged in the mounting hole, the wings are fixedly connected to the peripheral wall of the connecting tube, and the fixing seat is arranged in the connecting tube.

2. The snake-bone bending brake mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: The wing portion is fixedly connected to the peripheral wall of the connecting pipe by soft welding, hard welding or glue.

3. The snake-bone bending brake mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of the fixing buckle mounting holes is equal to the number of the fixing buckles, each of the protective sleeves corresponds to at least one fixing buckle, and the number of the protective sleeves is equal to the number of the angle steel wires.

4. The snake-bone bending brake mechanism according to claim 3, characterized in that: The connecting tube is provided with at least one group of fixing buckle mounting holes, each of which contains at least two fixing buckle mounting holes, and the fixing buckle mounting holes in the same group are arranged along the axial direction of the connecting tube; in the circumferential direction of the connecting tube, two adjacent groups of fixing buckle mounting holes are spaced apart by a first preset angle.

5. The snake-bone bending brake mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: The inner wall of the connecting pipe is provided with a convex bridge, the convex bridge and the connecting pipe are integrally formed, an angle steel wire installation groove is provided in the convex bridge, and the angle steel wire installation groove extends along the axial direction of the connecting pipe.

6. The snake-bone bending brake mechanism according to claim 5, characterized in that: The number of the convex bridges is set to be at least two, and in the circumferential direction of the connecting pipe, two adjacent convex bridges are spaced apart by a second preset angle; One end of the protective sleeve passes through the fixing buckle and is adjacent to the side wall of the convex bridge, and the protective sleeve is connected to the angle wire installation groove.

7. Insertion assembly, characterized in that: It comprises an insertion tube, a serpentine bending brake mechanism, a serpentine tube and a tip end connected in sequence, wherein the serpentine bending brake mechanism is the serpentine bending brake mechanism as described in any one of claims 1 to 6 above, and the insertion tube, the serpentine bending brake mechanism, the serpentine tube and the tip end are connected to each other.

8. The insert assembly according to claim 7, characterized in that: The connecting tube of the snake-bone bending brake mechanism is an independent component fixedly arranged at the front end of the insertion tube, or the connecting tube is integrally designed with the end of the snake-bone tube.

9. An endoscope, characterized in that: It comprises an endoscope handle and an insertion component, wherein the endoscope handle is connected to the insertion component, and the insertion component comprises the snake-bone bending braking mechanism as described in any one of claims 1 to 6 above.

Images