Tubular Medical Instrument Coupling Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tubular medical instruments face challenges in achieving a play-free and easily manufacturable coupling mechanism between the push-pull rod and the handle, particularly in configurations that require disassembly for thorough cleansing and sterilization.
Innovation Solution
A coupling mechanism featuring clamping claws mounted in a guide track, which can rotate between closed and open positions, ensuring a play-free connection and accommodating variations in length, with oblique contact elements for easy insertion and a spring element for pre-tensioning to facilitate simple release.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a joint ball coupling mechanism is used to connect the push-pull rod with the handle, then the coupling can accommodate variations in length of the push-pull rod, but the coupling requires very exact manufacturing of the push-pull rod
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling mechanism is divided into separate functional elements: a connecting member with a guide track and clamping claws that can be independently manufactured and assembled. This segmentation allows the push-pull rod to be manufactured with standard tolerances while the coupling mechanism provides the necessary adaptability through its modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The clamping claws are designed to be movable along the guide track, transitioning between open and closed positions. This dynamic capability allows the coupling to adapt to length variations of the push-pull rod while maintaining a secure connection, eliminating the need for extremely precise manufacturing of the rod itself.
2Ease of manufacture
If a clamping device with clamping claws is used to connect the push-pull rod with the handle, then the coupling can be easily manufactured, but the coupling may have play or looseness
Solution Approach 1:
The guide track serves as an intermediary element that guides the clamping claws during their movement. This ensures that the claws engage precisely with the push-pull rod, eliminating play while maintaining ease of manufacture. The guide track translates simple linear motion into reliable clamping action.
Solution Approach 2:
The clamping claws are designed to automatically engage and secure the push-pull rod when inserted into the guide track. The geometry of the claws and track creates a self-centering and self-locking mechanism that eliminates play without requiring complex adjustment mechanisms, maintaining ease of manufacture while ensuring reliability.
3Ease of operation
If the clamping claw is mounted in a guide track, then the rotation between closed and open positions is facilitated, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling mechanism is segmented into the guide track and the clamping claws as separate components. This allows the claws to be mounted on the track in a straightforward manner, facilitating easy rotation between open and closed positions while keeping the overall structural complexity manageable through modular design.
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 solution provides a reliable, space-efficient, and force-transmitting coupling mechanism that allows for easy disassembly and reassembly, ensuring effective cleansing and sterilization while preventing accidental release or damage during operation.
Implementation Method 1
at least one of the clamping claws should be configured as a spring element, so that the spring elasticity of this at least one clamping claw can be realized not only through the elasticity of the clamping claw material itself, but also through the spring-loading of this at least one clamping claw
Implementation Method 2
the clamping claws of the clamping device surround the proximal end of the push-pull rod at least partially in form-fitting connection, so that the proximal end of the push-pull rod is configured as a coupling element that can be surrounded at least partially by the clamping claws
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a tubular medical instrument having a hollow shaft, a handle positioned on the proximal end of the shaft and equipped with at least two gripping members, and at least one push-pull rod that is positioned in the hollow shaft and has on its distal end a tool consisting of at least two jaw members, wherein for opening and closing at least one jaw member of the tool, the push-pull rod can be coupled with at least one rotatable gripping member of the handle and wherein the push-pull rod and the handle can be detachably connected to one another by a coupling mechanism that is configured as at least one clamping device comprising at least one clamping claw characterized in that the at least one clamping claw can rotate in a guide track mounted between a closed position and an open installation position. To create a coupling mechanism that is easy to handle, it is proposed according to the invention that the at least one clamping claw is mounted in a guide track so that it can rotate between a closed clamping position and an open installation position.