Splayed Cable Guide Layout for Low-Friction Surgical Cable Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical instruments for minimally invasive surgery face challenges with complex and costly cable routing systems, which increase assembly time and material costs, while also requiring improved mechanisms for routing tension members between the backend and wrist mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A cable guide system with splayed guide grooves and bend portions is integrated into the medical instrument, allowing for efficient routing of cables through a shaft opening, reducing the likelihood of entanglement and facilitating low-friction operation by maintaining cables in specific positions within the shaft.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If pulleys and shafts are used to route control cables, then friction associated with cable movement is reduced, but cost, complexity, and assembly time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes pulleys and shafts from the cable routing system, extracting the problematic components that caused increased complexity and assembly time while maintaining the essential function of cable guidance through alternative means (cable guides with grooves)
Solution Approach 2:
The cable guide is divided into multiple segments including a body portion, a flange portion, and multiple guide grooves, allowing for simplified manufacturing and assembly while maintaining effective cable routing functionality
2Loss of energy
If pulleys and shafts are used to route control cables, then friction associated with cable movement is reduced, but cost and assembly time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cable guide integrates multiple functions into a single component: it provides cable guidance through grooves, structural support through the body portion, and mounting capability through the flange portion, thereby reducing assembly time and simplifying manufacturing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent eliminates pulleys and shafts from the system, removing the complex assembly steps required for installing these components while maintaining effective cable routing through the simplified cable guide structure
3Device complexity
If cables are routed through a shaft opening, then the structure is simplified, but cables may become entangled and friction increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cable guide introduces localized structural features (guide grooves) at specific locations where cables enter and pass through the shaft opening, providing targeted cable management that prevents entanglement without complicating the overall simple structure
Solution Approach 2:
The cable guide acts as an intermediary component between the shaft opening and the cables, mediating the interaction by providing guided pathways that prevent direct contact and potential entanglement between multiple cables
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 cable guide system simplifies cable routing, reduces assembly complexity and costs, and enhances the mechanical efficiency of medical instruments by minimizing friction and entanglement, thereby improving the operational reliability of minimally invasive surgical instruments.
Implementation Method 1
facilitating low-friction operation by maintaining cables in specific positions within the shaft
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus includes a housing, a cable guide, a first cable, and a second cable. The housing is coupled to a shaft of a medical instrument. The cable guide is coupled to the housing, and defines a shaft opening into a passageway defined by the shaft. A first guide groove and a second guide groove are defined by the cable guide, with each of the first guide groove and the second guide groove being splayed outward from the shaft opening. The first cable is routed within the first guide groove and through the shaft opening, and is configured to slide within the first guide groove. The second cable is routed within the second guide groove and through the shaft opening, and is configured to slide within the second guide groove.