Medical Gripping Tool Linear Guide Spar Coupling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical gripping tools, especially those based on the fin ray effect, face limitations in sensitivity and adaptability to varying mechanical properties of tissues and objects during microinvasive interventions, necessitating improved designs for gentle and non-traumatic gripping.
Innovation Solution
The development of a medical gripping tool with transverse connections between flexurally elastic spars via linear guides instead of hinges, allowing for more sensitive gripping by enabling parallel movement of the spars relative to a rib, and the use of various materials to enhance mechanical properties adaptation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If flexure bearings are used to connect spars to ribs, then the gripping tool can be miniaturized, but elastic forces are generated that reduce gripping sensitivity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the flexure bearing mechanism with a linear guide system. Instead of using elastic deformation in a flexure bearing to allow movement, the invention uses a linear guide with a guide rail and guide element that permits sliding movement without generating elastic forces. This substitution eliminates the harmful elastic forces while maintaining the miniaturized structure.
2Device complexity
If hinges are used to connect branches, then the structure is simple, but play and friction reduce gripping precision
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional hinge connections with linear guide connections. The linear guide system with its guide rail and guide element provides precise movement constraints with minimal play and friction, superior to conventional hinges. This substitution maintains structural simplicity while significantly improving gripping precision by eliminating the play and friction inherent in hinge mechanisms.
3Volume of moving object
If plastic materials are used for the gripping tool, then miniaturization is easier, but mechanical property adaptability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite material construction, combining metal components (spars, ribs, linear guides) that can be precisely manufactured with controlled mechanical properties. The use of metal materials with specific elastic moduli allows adaptation to different tissue types and mechanical requirements, overcoming the limitations of plastic materials while maintaining miniaturized dimensions.
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
This design enhances the sensitivity and adaptability of the gripping tool, allowing for more precise and gentle handling of tissues and objects during microinvasive procedures by minimizing play and friction, and enabling the use of diverse materials for optimal mechanical properties.
Implementation Method 1
the linear guide does not generate any elastic forces. The linear guide can therefore permit even more sensitive gripping by the medical gripping tool than is possible with a conventional flexure bearing between rib and spar
Implementation Method 2
each branch comprises a first flexurally elastic spar, a second flexurally elastic spar
Data Source
AI summary
In a medical gripping tool with several branches, one branch includes a first flexurally elastic spar, a second flexurally elastic spar, of which the distal end is connected to the distal end of the first flexurally elastic spar, a rib, which is spaced apart from the proximal ends and from the distal ends of the flexurally elastic spars, and a linear guide for coupling the second flexurally elastic spar to the rib, in such a way that a linear movement of the second flexurally elastic spar relative to the rib is possible.