Endoscope Handle Frame Interface for Pre-Assembly Component Validation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing endoscope handles face challenges in inspecting, testing, and validating functional components prior to assembly, due to manufacturing tolerances and difficulty in accessing these components once enclosed within shell parts, leading to potential defects and the need for discarding the entire endoscope.
Innovation Solution
An endoscope handle design that allows the fluid handling device to be secured to a frame via an interface permitting movement within a predetermined boundary, enabling testing and validation before assembly, with features like a prismatic joint and tube guide passages to accommodate manufacturing tolerances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If functional components are enclosed within shell parts of the endoscope handle, then the structural integrity and ergonomics are improved, but the ability to inspect, test, and validate the functional components is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The endoscope handle is divided into modular components: shell parts that can be separated, a frame that can be removed, and functional components that can be accessed independently. This segmentation allows the shell parts to be assembled for ergonomic purposes while maintaining the ability to disassemble and inspect functional components through the fluid handling device interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The fluid handling device serves as an intermediary component with an interface that provides access to the working channel tube. This interface acts as a mediator between the external environment and the internal functional components, allowing inspection and validation procedures to be performed without complete disassembly of the handle.
2Reliability
If manufacturing tolerances are made tighter to ensure functional performance, then the reliability is improved, but the manufacturing cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The interface between the fluid handling device and the frame is designed with specific geometric parameters that accommodate dimensional variations. The interface geometry allows for controlled movement within a predetermined boundary, transforming strict tolerance requirements into acceptable range specifications that are easier to manufacture while maintaining functional reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The interface is designed to permit dynamic movement of the fluid handling device relative to the frame within a predetermined boundary. This dynamic capability allows the assembly to compensate for manufacturing tolerances and dimensional variations, reducing the need for tight tolerances in individual components while maintaining overall functional performance.
3Ease of manufacture
If the interface permits movement of the fluid handling device within a predetermined boundary, then the ease of assembly is improved by absorbing dimensional variations, but the positioning precision is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The interface is designed as a dynamic connection that permits controlled movement of the fluid handling device within a predetermined boundary. This dynamic capability allows the assembly to accommodate dimensional variations and simplifies assembly procedures, while the predetermined boundary ensures that positioning precision remains acceptable for functional performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The interface geometry is designed in advance to accommodate expected dimensional variations. By pre-configuring the interface with specific geometric constraints and movement boundaries, the design anticipates and absorbs dimensional variations before assembly, simplifying the assembly process while maintaining acceptable positioning precision.
Data Source
AI summary
An endoscope having a handle including a frame, a fluid handling device secured to the frame via an interface, the fluid handling device comprising a fluid passage having a first fluid opening, a tube in fluid communication with the fluid opening of the fluid handling device, and shell parts enclosing a cavity accommodating the frame, the tube, and at least partly the fluid handling device therein, wherein, at least prior to enclosing the frame, the tube, and at least partly the fluid handling device within the cavity of the shell parts, the interface and the tube are configured to permit movement of the fluid handling device relative to the frame within a pre-determined boundary comprising a first position and a second position separated by a distance.