A hybrid optoelectronic medical connector

Abstract

This invention relates to a hybrid optoelectronic medical connector, comprising a connector housing, pins, a chip, a connector shaft, a pin contact tube, a flexible socket tube, an arc groove, a guide groove, and an inclined groove, and also includes a positioning plate. The connector shaft contains an optical fiber core and a fiber core guide sleeve. The fiber core guide sleeve has a guide opening on its side. In this application, through the guide groove and inclined groove, when the pin contact tube is inserted, the port of the flexible socket tube can elastically open along the guide groove, guiding and accommodating the entry of the pin contact tube, ultimately forming a large-area, tight, and close contact between the two tube walls, effectively reducing contact resistance and improving the stability and conductivity of the electrical connection. Simultaneously, the guide opening on the side of the fiber core guide sleeve, and the insertion action of the flexible socket tube and the pin contact tube, ensure that the optical fiber core can be smoothly inserted into the fiber core guide sleeve, enabling precise end-to-end contact between the two optical fiber cores, ensuring high-quality, low-loss transmission of optical signals.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of optoelectronic connector technology, specifically to an optoelectronic hybrid medical connector. Background Technology

[0002] Existing optoelectronic hybrid medical connectors typically achieve mating through simple insertion of pins into the connector housing. However, this method has limitations: due to the multiple degrees of freedom in the insertion position and orientation of the pins and internal connector channels (such as the mating of pin contact tubes and flexible socket tubes, and the mating of fiber optic cores), relying solely on operator experience and alignment cannot guarantee a precise and tight fit between electrical connectors (such as conductive connecting tubes) and optical connectors (such as fiber optic cores) every time. Especially in scenarios involving frequent connections to medical devices, if the connecting components are not precisely aligned or improperly inserted, it can easily lead to increased contact resistance, unstable signal transmission, or even damage to fragile connection ports, affecting the reliability of medical devices and the quality of data transmission.

[0003] Therefore, an optoelectronic hybrid medical connector is proposed to address the above problems. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this invention is to provide an optoelectronic hybrid medical connector.

[0005] The objective of this invention is achieved through the following technical solution: a photoelectric hybrid medical connector, comprising a connector housing, pins inserted at both ends of the connector housing, a chip provided at the end of the pins extending into the connector housing, and a connector core shaft spliced ​​together inside the connector housing, with multiple sets of conductive connection components that are movably inserted and mated on the connector core shaft; The connection assembly includes a pin contact tube and a flexible socket tube. The outer ends of both the pin contact tube and the flexible socket tube are provided with arc-shaped grooves that cooperate with chip insertion. The inner end of the flexible socket tube is provided with guide grooves distributed along the length direction and inclined grooves communicating with the guide grooves. The inner end of the pin contact tube is inserted into the inner end of the flexible socket tube. The end of the connector shaft is fixedly connected with a positioning plate that cooperates with multiple connection structures. The connector shaft is also provided with an optical fiber core. The connector shaft is connected to the optical fiber core through an elastic element. The two sets of optical fiber cores are interlocked. A fiber core guide sleeve is provided between the two sets of optical fiber cores, and a guide opening is provided on the side of the fiber core guide sleeve.

[0006] As a further description of the above technical solution: The connector housing consists of two coupling tubes, an external threaded connecting sleeve, and a mating sleeve. One end of the external threaded connecting sleeve is connected to one of the coupling tubes, and the other end of the external threaded connecting sleeve is connected to the other end of the mating sleeve. The pin is inserted into the coupling tube.

[0007] As a further description of the above technical solution: A sealing ring is rotatably connected at the connection between the external threaded connecting sleeve and the mating sleeve. The external threaded connecting sleeve is connected to a sealing tube that presses against the sealing ring, ensuring the connection stability of the connector while ensuring its sealing performance.

[0008] As a further description of the above technical solution: The number of the connector shafts is two, with the pin contact tube and the flexible socket tube located in the two connector shafts respectively. The two connector shafts are connected by a guide sleeve. The pin contact tube passes through the guide sleeve. The guide sleeve ensures the connection of the two connector shafts (due to the limited position distribution and number of guide sleeves, the relative direction of the connection alignment of the two connector shafts is unique) and ensures the connection of the pin contact tube and the second connector.

[0009] As a further description of the above technical solution: The connector housing has a protective cylinder on one end of its inner wall via a snap-fit ​​mechanism. The other end of the connector housing is rotatably connected to the protective tube. Two limiting plates are fixedly connected to the inner wall of the protective cylinder. Limiting planes that press against the limiting plates are provided on both sides of the connector core shaft to ensure accurate insertion of the two connector core shafts.

[0010] As a further description of the above technical solution: The positioning plate includes a U-shaped plate and an H-shaped plate. The U-shaped plate and the H-shaped plate are respectively engaged with multiple pin contact tubes and flexible socket tubes. The U-shaped plate and the H-shaped plate restrict the position and gap of the multiple pin contact tubes and flexible socket tubes, which facilitates precise docking.

[0011] As a further description of the above technical solution: The arc-shaped slots located on the outer side and the corresponding inclined slots are both oriented outwards to facilitate precise insertion of the chip into the arc-shaped slots.

[0012] As a further description of the above technical solution: The connector core shaft and one of the coupling tubes are rotatably fitted with a floating connecting sleeve. The floating connecting sleeve is located inside the protective cylinder, which makes the space compact and ensures the position of the connector core shaft, thereby ensuring accurate connector mating.

[0013] Compared with the prior art, the advantages of the present invention are as follows: 1. The flexible socket tube in this application is made of conductive elastic material. Its inner end is designed with a guide groove and an inclined groove connected to it. When the ferrule contact tube is inserted, the port of the flexible socket tube can elastically open along the guide groove to guide and accommodate the entry of the ferrule contact tube. Ultimately, a large-area tight and close contact is formed between the two tube walls, which effectively reduces the contact resistance and improves the stability and conductivity of the electrical connection. At the same time, a guide opening is opened on the side of the fiber core guide sleeve, and the insertion action of the flexible socket tube and the ferrule contact tube transmits pressure through the elastic element in the connector shaft, which together ensures that the fiber core can be smoothly inserted into the fiber core guide sleeve. The presence of the fiber core guide sleeve plays a role in aligning and correcting the position of the fiber core, so that the two fiber cores can make precise end-to-end contact, ensuring high-quality and low-loss transmission of optical signals.

[0014] 2. By using guide sleeves with specific position and quantity restrictions between the two connector cores, it is ensured that the two connector cores can only be aligned and inserted in the only correct relative direction. A protective sleeve with a limit plate is set inside the connector housing, and a limiting plane is opened on the side of the connector core to press against the limit plate. The positioning plates (including U-shaped plates and H-shaped plates) are used to position the pin contact tube and the flexible socket tube, which significantly reduces the degree of freedom of each connecting component during the insertion process. Attached Figure Description

[0015] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a cross-sectional structural diagram of the connector housing of the present invention; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the disassembled structure of the connector housing of the present invention; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram showing the disassembled structure of the protective cylinder, the floating connecting sleeve, and the connecting core shaft of the present invention; Figure 5 This is a cross-sectional structural diagram of the protective cylinder of the present invention; Figure 6 This is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the disassembled structure of the protective cylinder and the connecting mandrel of the present invention; Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the disassembled structure of the floating connecting sleeve and the connecting core shaft of the present invention; Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the disassembled structure of the two connecting mandrels of the present invention; Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram showing the disassembled structure of the connector shaft and the flexible socket tube of the present invention; Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram showing the disassembled structure of the two connecting cores, the pin contact tube, and the flexible socket tube of the present invention; Figure 11This is a schematic diagram of the disassembled structure of the two optical fiber cores, the ferrule contact tube, and the flexible socket tube of the present invention.

[0016] Labeling Explanation: 1. Connector Housing; 101. Coupling Tube; 102. External Threaded Connecting Sleeve; 103. Butt Sleeve; 2. Pin; 3. Chip; 4. Connecting Core; 5. Pin Contact Tube; 6. Flexible Receptacle Tube; 7. Arc Groove; 8. Guide Slide Groove; 9. Inclined Groove; 10. Positioning Plate; 1001. U-shaped Plate; 1002. H-shaped Plate; 11. Fiber Optic Core; 12. Core Guide Sleeve; 13. Guide Opening; 14. Sealing Ring; 15. Sealing Tube; 16. Guide Sleeve; 17. Protective Cylinder; 18. Limiting Plate; 19. Limiting Plane; 20. Floating Connecting Sleeve; 21. Compression Spring. Detailed Implementation

[0017] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments: like Figures 1-11 The figure shown is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a photoelectric hybrid medical connector provided by the present invention, including a connector housing 1, pins 2 inserted at both ends of the connector housing 1, a chip 3 provided at the end of the pins 2 that penetrates into the connector housing 1, and a connector core 4 spliced ​​together inside the connector housing 1, with multiple sets of conductive connecting components that are movably inserted into the connector core 4. The connection assembly includes a pin contact tube 5 and a flexible socket tube 6. The outer ends of the pin contact tube 5 and the flexible socket tube 6 are provided with arc-shaped grooves 7 that are used to insert and cooperate with the chip 3. The inner end of the flexible socket tube 6 is provided with guide grooves 8 distributed along the length direction and inclined grooves 9 that communicate with the guide grooves 8. The inner end of the pin contact tube 5 is inserted into the inner end of the flexible socket tube 6. The end of the connector core 4 is fixedly connected with a positioning plate 10 that cooperates with multiple connection structures. The connector core 4 is also provided with an optical fiber core 11. The core shaft 4 is connected to the optical fiber core 11 through an elastic element. The two sets of optical fiber cores 11 are interlocked. A core guide sleeve 12 is provided between the two sets of optical fiber cores 11. A guide opening 13 is provided on the side of the core guide sleeve 12.

[0018] The connector housing 1 is composed of two coupling tubes 101, an external threaded connecting sleeve 102, and a mating sleeve 103. One end of the external threaded connecting sleeve 102 is connected to one of the coupling tubes 101, and the other end of the external threaded connecting sleeve 102 is connected to the other end of the mating sleeve 103. The pin 2 is inserted into the coupling tube 101.

[0019] A sealing ring 14 is rotatably connected at the connection between the external threaded connecting sleeve 102 and the mating sleeve 103. The external thread of the connecting sleeve 102 is connected to a sealing tube 15 that presses against the sealing ring 14. This structure provides a sealing mechanism to prevent dust and liquid ingress. When the external threaded connecting sleeve 102 is mated and tightened with the mating sleeve 103, the sealing ring 14 deforms or adheres under pressure at both ends, filling the gap. The sealing tube 15, through screwing, further compresses the sealing ring 14, enhancing the sealing effect.

[0020] It is worth noting that there are two connector spindles 4. The pin contact tube 5 and the flexible socket tube 6 are located in the two connector spindles 4 respectively. The two connector spindles 4 are connected by a guide sleeve 16. The pin contact tube 5 passes through the guide sleeve 16, so that the two connector spindles 4 can only be fully inserted in one correct relative direction and angle. This method eliminates the rotational degree of freedom during assembly and forcibly achieves precise axial and circumferential alignment between the two connector spindles 4, and even between the pin contact tube 5, the flexible socket tube 6 and the optical fiber core 11.

[0021] The connector housing 1 has a protective cylinder 17 on one end of its inner wall via a snap-fit ​​mechanism. The other end of the connector housing 1 is rotatably connected to a protective tube. Two limiting plates 18 are fixedly connected to the inner wall of the protective cylinder 17. Limiting planes 19 are provided on both sides of the connector spindle 4 to press against the limiting plates 18, further restricting the degree of freedom of the connector spindle 4 to rotate along its central axis. When the connector spindle 4 attempts to tilt or rotate, the pressing between the limiting plates 18 and the limiting planes 19 will cause interference, forcing the connector spindle 4 to return to its preset correct position.

[0022] The positioning plate 10 includes a U-shaped plate 1001 and an H-shaped plate 1002. The U-shaped plate 1001 and the H-shaped plate 1002 are respectively engaged with multiple pin contact tubes 5 and elastic socket tubes 6. Through the clamping of the U-shaped plate 1001 and the H-shaped plate 1002, the relative positions and spacing of multiple connecting tubes (whether the first or the elastic socket tube 6) are fixed in advance to ensure accurate insertion.

[0023] It is worth noting that the arc-shaped groove 7 and the corresponding inclined groove 9 located on the outer side are both oriented outwards, which facilitates quick insertion and automatic position correction, thereby ensuring a tight contact point.

[0024] In this application, a floating connecting sleeve 20 is rotatably fitted between the connector spindle 4 and one of the coupling tubes 101. The floating connecting sleeve 20 is located inside the protective cylinder 17. That is, one of the connector spindles 4 is not directly fixed to the coupling tube 101, but is rotatably connected through a floating connecting sleeve 20. This is mainly used to compensate for errors and adjust the posture. When the two connector housings 1 are mated, there may be a slight angular deviation. At this time, the connector spindle 4 can rotate or swing slightly relative to its end coupling tube 101 within the floating connecting sleeve 20 to adapt to the posture of the opposite connector spindle 4. This floating fit characteristic can absorb the axial error and torsional deviation during the assembly process, making it easier to align the connector spindle 4 and its internal mating core components (connecting tube, optical fiber core 11), avoiding internal jamming caused by slight misalignment of the housings, increasing the fault tolerance of the entire mating system, and further ensuring the smooth progress of precision mating.

[0025] Working principle: Insert the end of the external threaded connecting sleeve 102 into the end of the mating sleeve 103, so that the connecting mandrel 4 located inside the external threaded connecting sleeve 102 and the connecting mandrel 4 located inside the mating sleeve 103 can be inserted and mated together. The flexible socket tube 6 and the pin contact tube 5 are brought close together for insertion. The flexible socket tube 6 (and the fiber core guide sleeve 12) is a conductive flexible tube, such as a conductive silicone tube (made of silicone rubber matrix + conductive fillers such as carbon black, metal particles, carbon nanotubes, etc., used in medical devices, baby bottle vent tubes, peristaltic pump tubes, LED waterproof strips, etc.). During the insertion process of the flexible socket tube 6 and the pin contact tube 5, due to the setting of the inclined groove 9 and the guide slide 8, the end of the flexible socket tube 6 undergoes a certain elastic strain along the guide slide 8, so that the pin contact tube 5 can be smoothly inserted into the flexible socket tube 6, and the outer wall of the pin contact tube 5 is tightly fitted with the flexible socket tube 6 to ensure conductivity. It is worth noting that during the mutual insertion of the flexible socket tube 6 and the pin contact tube 5, the flexible element, preferably the compression spring 21, is used to insert the optical fiber core 11 into the fiber core guide sleeve 12. Due to the action of the guide opening 13, the optical fiber core 11 is smoothly inserted, and under the action of the elastic fiber core guide sleeve 12, the position of the optical fiber core 11 is corrected, so that the two optical fiber cores 11 (the outer end of the optical fiber core 11 is a non-contact optical fiber core 11, and the inner end is a contact optical fiber core 11) come into contact with each other, ensuring the transmission effect of the connector.

Claims

1. A hybrid optoelectronic medical connector, characterized in that: The connector includes a connector housing (1), with pins (2) inserted at both ends of the connector housing (1), and a chip (3) provided at the end of the pins (2) that penetrates into the connector housing (1). The connector housing (1) is provided with interconnected core shafts (4), and multiple sets of interconnected conductive connection components are movably inserted into the core shafts (4). The connection assembly includes a pin contact tube (5) and a flexible socket tube (6). The outer ends of the pin contact tube (5) and the flexible socket tube (6) are provided with arc-shaped grooves (7) that are connected to the chip (3). The inner end of the flexible socket tube (6) is provided with guide grooves (8) distributed along the length direction and inclined grooves (9) connected to the guide grooves (8). The inner end of the pin contact tube (5) is inserted into the inner end of the flexible socket tube (6). The end of the connector shaft (4) is fixedly connected with a positioning plate (10) that cooperates with multiple connection assemblies. The connector shaft (4) is also provided with an optical fiber core (11). The core shaft (4) is connected to the fiber core (11) through an elastic element. The two sets of fiber cores (11) are inserted into each other. A fiber core guide sleeve (12) is provided between the two sets of fiber cores (11). A guide opening (13) is provided on the side of the fiber core guide sleeve (12). The connector housing (1) consists of two coupling tubes (101), an external threaded connecting sleeve (102), and a mating sleeve (103). One end of the external threaded connecting sleeve (102) is connected to one of the coupling tubes (101), and the other end of the external threaded connecting sleeve (102) is connected to the other end of the mating sleeve (103). The pin (2) is inserted into the coupling tube (101). A sealing ring (14) is rotatably connected at the connection between the external threaded connecting sleeve (102) and the mating sleeve (103), and a sealing tube (15) that presses against the sealing ring (14) is connected to the external thread of the external threaded connecting sleeve (102). The inner wall of one end of the connector housing (1) is provided with a protective cylinder (17) through a snap-fit ​​mechanism. The inner wall of the other end of the connector housing (1) is rotatably connected to the protective cylinder (17). Two limiting plates (18) are fixedly connected to the inner wall of the protective cylinder (17). Limiting planes (19) that abut against the limiting plates (18) are opened on both sides of the connector core shaft (4). The connecting shaft (4) is rotatably fitted with a floating connecting sleeve (20) between it and one of the coupling tubes (101), and the floating connecting sleeve (20) is located inside the protective cylinder (17).

2. The optoelectronic hybrid medical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that: There are two connecting shafts (4). The pin contact tube (5) and the flexible socket tube (6) are located in the two connecting shafts (4) respectively. The two connecting shafts (4) are connected by a guide sleeve (16). The pin contact tube (5) passes through the guide sleeve (16).

3. The optoelectronic hybrid medical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that: The positioning plate (10) includes a U-shaped plate (1001) and an H-shaped plate (1002), which are respectively engaged with a plurality of pin contact tubes (5) and elastic socket tubes (6).

4. The optoelectronic hybrid medical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that: The arc-shaped groove (7) located on the outer side and the corresponding inclined groove (9) are both oriented outwards.

Images