A bore cleaning device

Abstract

The present application relates to a kind of inner hole cleaning device, it is characterized in that, including longitudinal rod and sheath, sheath is hollow tubular, longitudinal rod has proximal end and distal end, the distal end is equipped with scraper, the scraper includes flexible fin layer and flexible disc, flexible fin layer is closer to the distal end of longitudinal rod than flexible disc, flexible fin layer includes two or more flexible fins, edge opening is formed between adjacent two flexible fins of flexible fin layer, the flexible fin and flexible disc are made of non-water-absorbing material, longitudinal rod passes through the sheath, longitudinal rod and sheath can be moved back and forth along the axis relative, to make the scraper extend or retract the sheath, when the scraper is outside the sheath, the top edge of the flexible fin and flexible disc is outside the inner surface of the sheath.The present application cleans without damaging inner surface, and cleaning effect is good, can be repeatedly used multiple times, easy to operate and simple structure.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of cleaning devices, and in particular to an inner bore cleaning device. BACKGROUND

[0002] For the sake of simplicity in disclosure, the term hollow shape will be used to refer to a bore, pipe, conduit, tube, cannula, lumen or trocar and is represented in the drawings as a simple cylinder. Cleaning the inner surface of a hollow shape is a form of maintenance required for cleanliness. The prior art has many devices for cleaning the inner surface of a hollow shape.

[0003] In the oil, gas, sewer and water industries, pipes or conduits are often cleaned by autonomous devices to clean the inner surface by mechanical scraping or abrasion. Such remotely controlled or autonomous devices can be driven or moved by fluid pressure to travel from one end of the pipe or conduit to the other, thereby completing the required cleaning area.

[0004] For firearms and weaponry, it is common to clean bores with a wire brush shaped to conform to the bore, having brass bristles radially emanating from a common shaft, pushed or pulled through the bore to remove contaminants from the inner surface. After the inner surface has been brushed, a shape of absorbent material such as a cloth patch is pushed and / or pulled to deposit a compatible lubricant and remove any fine particles left behind from the brushing.

[0005] In the medical field, the prior art prohibits the use of disposable devices for cleaning and reuse after cleaning the cannula portion of an inner bore or trocar, as they become saturated with biological material using initially dry absorbent material. For minimally invasive surgery, various types of hollow shapes such as bores, tubes, cannulae, lumens or trocars are used as ports through which instruments and endoscopes enter the abdominal or pelvic cavity of a living being to access the interior. Endoscopes with cameras and light sources at the distal end must enter a clean hollow shape to prevent contaminants from obstructing the surgeon's clear camera view of the surgical site.

[0006] Prior art devices and methods for cleaning a hollow shape are not reusable, for example: 1) a thin rod-like member attached to a distal end with a sufficiently soft dry material, usually made of synthetic foam shape, organic spun fiber or wrapped gauze; 2) a larger rod-like member with a size that closely fits the hollow shape, with a series of dry absorbent rings spaced apart at the distal end of the rod-like member. The prior art cleaning devices use linear reciprocating motion combined with rotation as the cleaning technique inside the hollow shape. The disposable device, which uses a dry medium to absorb liquids, collect contaminants and become saturated, leaves debris or smudges on the inner surface when it is returned through the hollow shape. Since the equipment is prohibited for cleaning, additional cleaning is required to remove smudges and residual debris before the endoscope is inserted into the hollow shape, requiring the use of a second or third disposable device. In the prior art, the saturated absorbent material cannot obtain a contamination-free scraping surface when passing through the hollow shape.

[0007] In the medical field of minimally invasive surgery such as laparoscopy, surgeons primarily use a trocar with a hollow shape cannula or hole to pass an endoscope through the biological abdominal wall to view the internal biological abdominal pelvic cavity. The hollow shape has a seal at the proximal end to retain the insufflation gas to distend the biological abdominal pelvic cavity and prevent the insufflation gas from escaping the distended biological abdominal pelvic cavity when no instruments and devices are inserted. The endoscope includes a camera lens and a light source for viewing and illuminating the dark internal cavity of the biological abdominal pelvic cavity. The hollow shape is inserted through a small incision in the skin into the abdominal wall.

[0008] The hollow shape incorporates an internal removable sharp piercing component to push through the skin incision and beyond the fat layer and muscle tissue until piercing the internal peritoneum, the lining found inside the biological abdominal pelvic cavity. The piercing of the tissue causes minor damage to the tissue and blood vessels, producing an amount of blood ejection; therefore, when the removable sharp piercing component is contaminated with blood and withdrawn through the hollow shape, an amount of blood is transferred onto the inner surface of the hollow shape.

[0009] The inner surface must be cleaned before the endoscope is inserted to clearly view the inside of the biological abdominal pelvic cavity; otherwise, the blood contamination hinders the surgeon's camera view and light emission. After the inner surface of the hollow shape is sufficiently cleaned, the endoscope can be inserted to view the biological abdominal pelvic cavity.

[0010] A second surgical condition exists where the inner surface of the hollow shape is contaminated when biological material such as blood, irrigation saline, dissected tissue, and mucus material contaminates the endoscope during the surgical procedure.

[0011] During a surgical procedure, the endoscope is susceptible to contamination from debris and accumulated spatter near the surgical site. As a result, the distal end of the endoscope becomes contaminated and obstructs the surgeon's camera view. Cleaning the camera lens and light source requires removal of the endoscope from the hollow shape and wiping the distal end of the endoscope with a cleaning medium outside the body. Removal of the contaminated endoscope through the hollow shape contaminates the interior walls of the hollow shape. The hollow shape remains in place until the endoscope is reinserted for surgery, and the interior surface must be cleaned thoroughly in an efficient manner. Prior art disposable devices use absorbent material that becomes saturated and soils the interior surface of the hollow shape during removal. SUMMARY

[0012] To solve the above problems, the present application provides an inner hole cleaning device to improve the cleaning effect and operation convenience, and is designed to be repeatedly used.

[0013] To achieve the above purpose, the inner hole cleaning device provided by the present application is characterized by comprising a longitudinal rod and a sheath, the sheath being a hollow tube, the longitudinal rod having a proximal end and a distal end, the distal end being provided with a scraper, the scraper comprising a flexible fin layer and a flexible disc, the flexible fin layer being closer to the distal end of the longitudinal rod than the flexible disc, the flexible fin layer comprising two or more flexible fins, an edge opening being formed between adjacent two flexible fins of the flexible fin layer, the flexible fins and the flexible disc being made of a non-water-absorbing material, the longitudinal rod passing through the sheath, the longitudinal rod and the sheath being movable back and forth along the axis relative to each other to extend or retract the scraper out of or into the sheath, the top edges of the flexible fins and the flexible disc being outside the inner surface of the sheath when the scraper is outside the sheath.

[0014] The inner hole cleaning device provided by the present application, when the scraper is outside the sheath, the longitudinal rod and the sheath are inserted into and pass through the inner hole of the hollow shape, the contaminants on the inner surface of the hollow shape are scraped onto the scraper, the inner surface of the hollow shape is cleaned, then the scraper collecting the contaminants is retracted into the sheath, the longitudinal rod and the sheath are withdrawn from the hollow shape, the contaminants are isolated in the sheath during the withdrawal process, the contaminants do not cause secondary contamination to the inner surface of the hollow shape, the inner surface of the hollow shape is thoroughly cleaned, the cleaning effect is good, then the scraper is extended out of the sheath, in this process, the inner surface of the sliding sleeve is cleaned, finally the scraper is washed clean and can be repeatedly used. The present application cleans without damaging the inner surface, has good cleaning effect, can be repeatedly used, is simple to operate and has simple structure.

[0015] Further, the flexible fin layers are multiple, and are arranged axially apart along the longitudinal rod, from the distal end of the longitudinal rod to the flexible disc, the edge openings on different flexible fin layers gradually decrease. The contaminants collected by the scraper during cleaning are dispersed on the flexible disc and the multiple flexible fin layers, which can prevent the contaminants from overflowing and leaking, and further improves the cleaning effect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 is a perspective view of the inner hole cleaning device and the cannula needle;

[0017] Figure 2 is a perspective view of the inner hole cleaning device and the hollow shape;

[0018] Figure 3 is an end view of the inner hole cleaning device and the hollow shape;

[0019] Figure 4 is a structural schematic view of the longitudinal rod and the scraper;

[0020] Figure 5 is a view of the inner hole cleaning device in a state of not being inserted into the hollow shape;

[0021] Figure 6 is an A-A sectional view of Figure 5 ;

[0022] Figure 7 is a view of the inner hole cleaning device in a state of being inserted into the hollow shape;

[0023] Figure 8 is a B-B sectional view of Figure 7 ;

[0024] Figure 9 is a view of the scraper and the sheath after passing through the hollow shape;

[0025] Figure 10 is a view of the scraper being retracted into the sheath;

[0026] Figure 11 is a view of the inner hole cleaning device in a state of being withdrawn from the hollow shape;

[0027] Figure 12 is a D-D sectional view of Figure 11 ;

[0028] Figure 13 is a structural schematic view of the sheath;

[0029] Figure 14 is a C-C sectional view of Figure 13 ;

[0030] Figure 15 is a structural schematic view of the integrated longitudinal rod;

[0031] Figure 16 Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a sheath according to the present application; Figure 15 Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line E-E of Fig. 1;

[0032] Figure 17 Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a sheath according to the present application;

[0033] Figure 18 Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line F-F of Fig. 3. Figure 17 Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line G-G of Fig. 3. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] In order to describe the preferred embodiments of the present application, the following description will refer to medical procedures, in particular laparoscopic procedures as previously described. In the drawings, preferred embodiments for laparoscopic surgery are shown and described; however, although the present application is described in the preferred embodiments, it is not limited to the preferred embodiments and can be used to clean various types of hollow shapes.

[0035] Figure 1 A bore cleaning device and a trocar 60 used in conjunction with the bore cleaning device are shown. The bore cleaning device includes a longitudinal rod 50 having a proximal end and a distal end 58, the proximal end provided with a first proximal end structure 52, and the distal end 58 provided with a scraper 10. A sheath 30 is a hollow tube that is fitted over the outside of the longitudinal rod 50 coaxially with the longitudinal rod 50. The longitudinal rod 50 passes through the sheath 30, and the longitudinal rod 50 and the sheath 30 are movable back and forth relative to each other along their axes to extend or retract the scraper 10 from the sheath 30. The longitudinal rod 50 and the sheath 30 have a travel distance 66 from a first position 62 to a second position 64, as shown in Fig. 2. Figure 5 The trocar 60 includes a hollow shape 40 that is a hollow tube having an internal bore that extends through along an axis, the hollow shape 40 having a hollow shape proximal end 41 and a hollow shape distal end 49, the hollow shape proximal end 41 provided with an attachment structure as shown in phantom in the figure.

[0036] Referring to Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 4The scraper 10 includes a plurality of flexible fin layers and a plurality of flexible disks 16. The flexible fin layers are disposed proximate to the distal end 58 of the longitudinal rod 50 closer to the distal end 58 of the longitudinal rod than the flexible disks 16. Each flexible fin layer includes four flexible fins 14 with edge openings 12 formed between adjacent two flexible fins 14. The flexible fins 14 of each flexible fin layer are identical in shape and equally spaced apart with a 90 degree included angle 19 formed between adjacent two flexible fins 14. The included angle 19 formed between adjacent two flexible fins is related to the number of flexible fins, the more the number of flexible fins, the smaller the included angle 19. The plurality of flexible fin layers are spaced apart along the axial direction of the longitudinal rod 50 with a certain distance between adjacent two flexible fin layers. The edge openings 12 of different flexible fin layers gradually decrease from the distal end 58 of the longitudinal rod 50 to the flexible disks 16 with the area of the flexible fins 14 gradually increasing. The number of flexible fins 14 of all flexible fin layers is identical, the flexible fins 14 of different flexible fin layers are axially opposite to each other, and the side edges of the lower flexible fins 14 are spaced apart from the side edges of the adjacent upper flexible fins 14 with a certain edge distance 15. The number of flexible fins of a flexible fin layer is not limited to four in the embodiment, and can be two or more. The flexible fins of the same flexible fin layer can also be different in shape and equally spaced apart. The flexible disks 16 are in the shape of a circular disk, but are not limited to a circular disk, have an uninterrupted periphery and no surface openings, and the number is not limited to four. The flexible disks 16 are spaced apart with a certain distance between adjacent two flexible disks 16. When the scraper 10 is outside the sheath 30, the top edges of the flexible fins 14 and the flexible disks 16 are outside the inner surface of the sheath 30, i.e., the diameter of the flexible fins 14 and the flexible disks 16 is slightly larger than the inner diameter of the sheath 30, as shown in Figure 6 and Figure 8 . The flexible fins 14 and the flexible disks 16 have a certain softness and elasticity, which can not only scrape and clean the wall surface without damaging the wall surface, but also be retracted into the sheath 30 by deformation, as shown in Figure 10 and Figure 12 . The flexible fins 14 and the flexible disks 16 are made of a non-water-absorbing material and can be washed and repeatedly used.

[0037] Referring to Figure 4 and Figure 6A jacket support disk 18 is provided on the longitudinal rod 50 for supporting the jacket 30 and maintaining the longitudinal rod 50 coaxial with the jacket 30 to reduce the friction between the scraper 10 and the inner surface of the jacket 30 when the scraper 10 moves within the jacket 30. The longitudinal rod 50 has a small rod portion 51 with a smaller diameter near the distal end 58 of the longitudinal rod 50, between the proximal end step 57 and the distal end step 59 of the longitudinal rod 50. The flexible fins 14, the flexible disk 16 and the jacket support disk 18 are collectively provided on a sleeve 11, which is sleeved on the small rod portion 51 of the longitudinal rod 50, and is confined between the proximal end step 57 and the distal end step 59 to prevent the sleeve 11 from falling off the longitudinal rod 50. The flexible fins 14, the flexible disk 16 and the jacket support disk 18 can be collectively provided on the sleeve 11 or separately provided on different sleeves. The flexible fins 14, the flexible disk 16 and the jacket support disk 18 can be integrally formed with the sleeve or separately formed and connected together.

[0038] Referring to Figure 2 and Figure 6 , the jacket 30 has an outer surface 32, an inner surface 34 and a distal end 36, and the thickness between the outer surface 32 and the inner surface 34 should be as thin as possible. The hollow shape 40 has a hollow shape outer surface 48, a hollow shape proximal end 41, a hollow shape distal end 49 and a hollow shape inner surface 42, and the hollow shape inner surface 42 has debris 44 shown as a contoured shape and smudges 46 shown as parallel dashes. Referring to Figure 8 , the jacket outer surface 32 has a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the hollow shape inner surface 42, and the jacket 30 can be inserted into the hollow shape 40 and can move back and forth in the hollow shape 40. The wall thickness between the inner surface 34 and the outer surface 32 of the jacket 30 is as thin as possible to minimize friction on the flexible fins 14 and the flexible disk 16. The flexible fins 14 and the flexible disk 16 have a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the hollow shape inner surface 42, and the flexible fins 14 and the flexible disk 16 can be inserted into the hollow shape 40 by deformation and can move back and forth in the hollow shape 40 to scrape the debris 44 and smudges 46 on the hollow shape inner surface 42, while not damaging the hollow shape inner surface 42 during cleaning.

[0039] Referring to Figure 1 , the proximal end of the longitudinal rod 50 is provided with a first proximal end structure 52 for a person or a machine to operate the longitudinal rod 50 to move the longitudinal rod 50. The proximal end of the jacket 30 is provided with a second proximal end structure 54 for a person or a machine to operate the jacket 30 to move the jacket 30. Referring to Figure 13 and Figure 14The sheath 30 has a proximal end forming a ring 39, but not limited to a ring, to allow the sheath 30 to be mounted to the second proximal structure 54. The proximal end of the sheath 30 also has a central passage 38 for the longitudinal rod 50 to pass therethrough. The first proximal structure 52 and the second proximal structure 54 are collectively referred to as the proximal structure, which is kept outside the living organism. Figure 11 The specific proximal structure is not described, only the area of the proximal structure is described.

[0040] The longitudinal rod is made of various organic or thermoplastic materials using manufacturing or injection molding techniques, respectively; the sheath is preferably made of polyolefin, but not limited to extruded polyolefin thermoplastic material with thin walls and transparent color; depending on the application, the scraper is made of elastomeric materials such as thermosetting or thermoplastic plastics by casting or injection molding, respectively.

[0041] The working process of the present application is briefly described below in conjunction with the drawings. When the cleaning work starts, the scraper 10 is outside the sheath 30, see Figure 5 and Figure 6 The sheath 30 and the longitudinal rod 50 are inserted together from the hollow shape proximal end 41 into the inside of the hollow shape 14, and continue to move towards the hollow shape distal end 49, the flexible fin 14 and the flexible disc 16 scrape the inside surface 42 of the hollow shape, the debris 44 and the stains 46 on the inside surface 42 of the hollow shape are scraped onto the flexible fin 14 and the flexible disc 16, the debris 44 and the stains 46 scraped onto the flexible fin 14 and the flexible disc 16 are referred to as the contaminants 45 collected by the scraper, as shown in Figure 8 The sheath 30 and the longitudinal rod 50 continue to move together until the distal end 36 of the sheath 30, the flexible fin 14 and the flexible disc 16 extend outside the hollow shape distal end 49, as shown in Figure 9 The top edge area of the flexible fin 14 closest to the distal end 58 is covered with contaminants 45, while the subsequent flexible fin 14 side edge area is covered with contaminants 43 due to the contaminants passing through the edge opening 12, and finally, the flexible disc 16 collects and scrapes off any remaining contaminants 47. The debris 44 and the stains 46 on the inside surface 42 of the hollow shape are collected on the flexible fin 14 and the flexible disc 16 in a progressive manner, thereby cleaning the inside surface 42 of the hollow shape completely and preventing the accumulation of collected contaminants. Then the sheath 30 and the longitudinal rod 50 are relatively moved so that the flexible fin 14 and the flexible disc 16 are retracted inside the sheath 30, the contaminants accumulated on the flexible fin 14 and the flexible disc 16 are isolated inside the sheath 30, as shown in Figure 10 Then the sheath 30 and the longitudinal rod 50 are withdrawn together from the hollow shape 40, as shown in Figure 12As shown, since the collected contaminants are isolated inside the sheath 30, the collected contaminants do not contact the inner surface 42 of the hollow shape during the withdrawal process, and the inner surface 42 of the hollow shape is not re-contaminated. After the sheath 30 and the longitudinal rod 50 are withdrawn from the hollow shape 40, the sheath 30 and the longitudinal rod 50 are relatively moved, the flexible fins 14 and the flexible disc 16 extend out of the distal end 36 of the sheath 30, clean the inner surface 34 of the sheath 30, and carry the collected contaminants out of the sheath 30, and the contaminants are flushed away. The present application can be used repeatedly, and can be flushed and reused multiple times for each surgery.

[0042] Referring to Figure 15 and Figure 16 , the longitudinal rod 50, the first proximal end structure 52, the flexible fins 14, the flexible disc 16, and the sheath support disc are integrally formed, forming an integrated longitudinal rod 53.

[0043] Referring to Figure 17 and Figure 18 , the sheath 30 and the second proximal end structure 54 are integrally formed, forming an integrated sheath 30.

[0044] The scraper of the present application is inserted into and through the inner hole of the hollow shape together with the sheath, scrapes the contaminants on the inner surface of the hollow shape onto the scraper, cleans the inner surface of the hollow shape, and then the scraper collecting the contaminants is retracted into the sheath, and the longitudinal rod is withdrawn from the hollow shape together with the sheath. During the withdrawal process, the contaminants are isolated inside the sheath, and the contaminants do not cause secondary contamination to the inner surface of the hollow shape. The inner surface of the hollow shape is thoroughly cleaned, and the cleaning effect is good. After that, the scraper extends out of the sheath, and in this process, the inner surface of the sliding sleeve is cleaned. Finally, the scraper is flushed clean and can be reused multiple times. The contaminants collected by the scraper are dispersed on the flexible disc and the plurality of flexible fin layers, which can prevent the contaminants from overflowing and leaking, and further improve the cleaning effect. The present application cleans without damaging the inner surface, has good cleaning effect, can be reused multiple times, is easy to operate, and has a simple structure.

[0045] As can be understood by those skilled in the art, the present application is suitable for cleaning the inner surface of various sizes of hollow shapes, and is mainly used for but not limited to medical purposes, and can also be used in other industries that have hollow shapes and use non-abrasive cleaning devices for scraping the inner surface.

Claims

1. An internal bore cleaning device, characterized in that, The scraping device comprises a longitudinal rod and a sheath, the sheath is a hollow tube, the longitudinal rod has a proximal end and a distal end, the distal end is provided with a scraper, the scraper comprises a flexible fin layer and a flexible disc, the flexible fin layer is closer to the distal end of the longitudinal rod than the flexible disc, the flexible fin layer comprises two or more flexible fins, an edge opening is formed between two adjacent flexible fins of the flexible fin layer, the flexible fins and the flexible disc are made of a non-water-absorbing material, the longitudinal rod passes through the sheath, the longitudinal rod and the sheath can move back and forth relative to each other along the axis to extend or retract the scraper from or into the sheath, when the scraper is outside the sheath, the top edges of the flexible fins and the flexible disc are outside the inner surface of the sheath, the flexible fin layer is multiple, and is arranged axially apart along the longitudinal rod, from the distal end of the longitudinal rod to the flexible disc, the edge openings on different flexible fin layers gradually decrease.

2. The bore cleaning device of claim 1, wherein, The longitudinal rod is provided with a sheath supporting disc for supporting the sheath and keeping the longitudinal rod coaxial with the sheath.

3. The bore cleaning device of claim 2, wherein, The flexible fins of the same flexible fin layer are the same in shape and are arranged at equal intervals along the circumferential direction of the longitudinal rod.

4. The bore cleaning device of claim 3, wherein, The number of flexible fins of all flexible fin layers is the same, and the flexible fins on different flexible fin layers are opposite in the axial direction of the longitudinal rod.

5. The bore cleaning device of claim 4, wherein, The longitudinal rod has a small rod part with a smaller diameter near the distal end thereof, the flexible fins and the flexible disc are arranged on a sleeve, and the sleeve is sleeved on the small rod part.

6. The bore cleaning device of claim 5, wherein, The sheath supporting disc is arranged on the sleeve.

7. The bore cleaning device of claim 2, wherein, The flexible fins, the flexible disc, the sheath supporting disc and the sleeve are integrally formed.

8. The bore cleaning device of claim 2, wherein, The longitudinal rod, the flexible fins, the flexible disc and the sheath supporting disc are integrally formed.

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