Endoscope Cap Segmentation for Cleaning and Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing endoscopes with elevators have complex structures that complicate cleaning and require significant trouble during maintenance, making the process of attaching and detaching the endoscope cap cumbersome.
Innovation Solution
An endoscope cap design featuring a bottomed cylindrical cover with a flexible part and a pivotally fixed elevator, allowing easy attachment and detachment by leveraging a lever pivotally connected to the endoscope's insertion part, simplifying the process and reducing cleaning complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a complex structure with wall between elevator and elevating wire is used, then the elevator can be stably supported, but the cleaning process becomes troublesome and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The endoscope cap is divided into separable components: the cap body, the elevator assembly, and the elevating wire. This segmentation allows the elevator and wire to be easily removed from the cap body for cleaning, eliminating the need to disassemble complex internal structures while maintaining stable support during operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The elevator and elevating wire are extracted as removable components from the cap body. The elevator can be detached from the elevating wire, and both can be removed from the cap body for cleaning, while the cap body maintains its structural integrity and support function during use.
2Reliability
If a complex structure with wall between elevator and elevating wire is used, then the elevator can be stably supported, but the attachment and detachment process becomes cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The endoscope cap is divided into separable components: the cap body, the elevator assembly, and the elevating wire. This segmentation allows the elevator and wire to be easily removed from the cap body for cleaning, eliminating the need to disassemble complex internal structures while maintaining stable support during operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The elevator and elevating wire are extracted as removable components from the cap body. The elevator can be detached from the elevating wire, and both can be removed from the cap body for cleaning, while the cap body maintains its structural integrity and support function during use.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design facilitates quick and efficient attachment and detachment of the endoscope cap, reducing maintenance time and eliminating the need for complex cleaning procedures around the elevator and elevating wire, thereby enhancing operational efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a flexible part provided at the cylindrical part of the cover and more flexible by an external force compared to the other parts along the circumferential direction of the cylindrical part
Data Source
AI summary
An example endoscope cap, attachable to and detachable from an endoscope including a lever pivotally provided at a distal end of an insertion part of an endoscope and a pivot part causing the lever to pivot, includes: a bottomed cylindrical cover that has an opening end and is capable of attaching and detaching the opening end to and from the distal end of the insertion part of the endoscope; a first engagement part located at an inner surface of a cylindrical part of the cover; an elevator that has a lever connection part connected to the lever and that is pivotally fixed to an inside of the cover; and a flexible part provided at the cylindrical part of the cover and more flexible by an external force compared to another part along a circumferential direction of the cylindrical part.