CN112773303A - Endoscope snake bone and endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses an endoscope snake bone and an endoscope. The endoscope snake bone comprises a plurality of joints, at least part of the joints are basic joints, and the basic joints are connected in sequence; the basic joint comprises a ring body and a sleeve, the sleeve is connected to the inner wall of the ring body, and the sleeve is provided with a through hole capable of being sleeved with a traction rope.

Description

Endoscope snake bone and endoscope

Technical Field

The specification relates to the field of endoscopes, in particular to an endoscope snake bone and an endoscope.

Background

The electronic endoscope is an image medical instrument which can be used for observing the tissue morphology of organs in vivo, identifying focuses and carrying out minimally invasive surgery. At present, the minimally invasive technology taking an endoscope system as a core is applied to a plurality of clinical departments such as general surgery, orthopedics, obstetrics and gynecology, urology surgery, thoracic surgery, otorhinolaryngology and the like, and operations from simple polyp removal to high-difficulty heart bypass and the like can be realized through an electronic endoscope. The electronic endoscope can be divided into an optical system and a mechanical system. The mechanical portion generally includes a head end portion, a bending portion, an insertion portion, a traction cable, an operation portion, and the like. The performance of the endoscope is greatly related to the performance of the bending part. To accommodate more application scenarios, the bending portion is often required to have a larger bending angle and a smaller bending radius.

Disclosure of Invention

One embodiment of the present specification provides an endoscope snake bone and an endoscope. The endoscope snake bone comprises: the plurality of joints are at least partially basic joints, the basic joints are sequentially connected, and adjacent basic joints are rotatably connected through a rivet-free anti-falling connecting assembly; the basic joint comprises a ring body and a sleeve, the sleeve is connected to the inner wall of the ring body, and the sleeve is provided with a through hole capable of being sleeved with a traction rope.

In some embodiments, the sleeve is fixed to the inner wall of the ring body along the length of the snake bone; on a snake bone longitudinal section passing through the sleeve, the end spacing K1 of the adjacent ring bodies is larger than or equal to the end spacing K2 of the adjacent sleeve.

In some embodiments, a wall thickness of the ferrule is less than or equal to a diameter of the via.

In some embodiments, the ring body has a first thickness portion and a second thickness portion having a wall thickness value greater than a wall thickness value of the first thickness portion; the anti-falling connecting assembly is arranged between the second wall thickness parts of the adjacent foundation joints.

In some embodiments, the base joint has a first end and a second end, the first end of the base joint and the adjacent base joint rotate relatively around a first rotation axis, the second end of the base joint and the adjacent base joint rotate relatively around a second rotation axis, and a distance value D between the first rotation axis and the second rotation axis ranges from 1mm to 11 mm.

In some embodiments, the anti-separation connecting assembly comprises a male head and a female head, which are mutually matched to realize rotary connection, wherein the male head is arranged on one of two ends adjacent to the basic joint, and the female head is arranged on the other of two ends adjacent to the basic joint.

In some embodiments, the male head has a convex outer arc surface and the female head has an inner arc surface that matches the outer arc surface; the value range of the central angle alpha 1 of the inner arc surface is 190-280 degrees; the central angle alpha 2 of the outer arc surface is larger than the central angle alpha 1, and the difference range between the central angle alpha 2 and the central angle alpha 1 is 5-60 degrees.

In some embodiments, the anti-disengagement connection assembly further comprises an arc-shaped guide groove arranged on the periphery of the male head and a sliding claw arranged on the periphery of the female head.

In some embodiments, two arc-shaped guide grooves are arranged on the periphery of the male head, and two sliding claws matched with and corresponding to the arc-shaped guide grooves are arranged on the periphery of the female head; and at the rotation stop point adjacent to the basic joint, the sliding claw on one side of the female head is separated from the arc-shaped guide groove.

One of the embodiments herein provides an endoscope comprising an endoscope snake according to any of the embodiments herein.

Drawings

The present description will be further explained by way of exemplary embodiments, which will be described in detail by way of the accompanying drawings. These embodiments are not intended to be limiting, and in these embodiments like numerals are used to indicate like structures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an endoscope snake bone shown in a straightened state according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of several base joints shown connected in series in a straightened condition according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural view of an endoscope snake bone shown in a bent state according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a basic joint according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

figures 5 and 6 are top plan views of a base joint according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a left side view of a base joint shown in accordance with some embodiments of the present description;

figures 8 and 9 are schematic views of adjacent base joints connected by an anti-slip connection assembly according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is an elevation view of a base joint according to some embodiments of the present description;

in the figure, 100-base joint; 200-end joint; 300a, 300 b-a pull-cord; 110-ring body; 120-a cannula; 130-a via; 110 a-a first thickness portion; 110 b-a second thickness portion; 111-male; 112-female head; 111 a-outer arc surface; 112 a-inner arc surface; 113-an arc-shaped guide slot; 114-sliding jaw.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments or implementations, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, like numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with the present application. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with certain aspects of the present application, as detailed in the appended claims.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. As used in this application and the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

It should be understood that the terms "first," "second," and the like as used in the description and in the claims, do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another. Also, the use of the terms "a" or "an" and the like do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one. Unless otherwise indicated, "front", "rear", "lower" and/or "upper" and the like are for convenience of description and are not limited to one position or one spatial orientation. The word "comprising" or "comprises", and the like, means that the element or item listed as preceding "comprising" or "includes" covers the element or item listed as following "comprising" or "includes" and its equivalents, and does not exclude other elements or items.

In general, the mechanical portion of the endoscope includes a head end portion, a bending portion, an insertion portion, a traction wire, an operation portion, and the like. Specifically, the head end of the bending portion is connected to the head end portion, and the proximal end of the bending portion is connected to the insertion portion and the operation portion in this order. The snake bone is arranged in the bending part, the traction steel wire rope penetrates through the snake bone, the two ends of the steel wire rope are respectively connected with the head end of the bending part and the operating part, and a user adjusts the relaxation of the traction steel wire rope by controlling the operating part so as to realize the bending and steering of the snake bone. The observation angle and the observation range of the endoscope in the detection area mainly depend on the bending angle and the bending radius of the bending part, and the application range of the endoscope is influenced by the size of the outer diameter of the bending part. When the endoscope is applied to the narrow detection environment, the bending part external diameter must satisfy the restriction requirement on the one hand, and higher requirement has been proposed to the bending part performance on the other hand, compares with conventional endoscope promptly, and the bending part needs bigger bending angle and less bending radius to satisfy many angle observation in the narrow detection environment, eliminate the demand of blind area.

The present specification provides an endoscope snake bone, wherein the basic joints 100 are connected in sequence in a rivet-free manner, a sleeve 120 capable of being penetrated by a pulling rope is arranged in the ring body 110 of the basic joint 100, and the sleeve 120 attached in the ring body 110 can limit and guide the pulling rope. The length of the ring body 110 is not limited by the length of the corresponding sleeve 120, and the length of the ring body 110 can be set according to an application scene in the manufacturing process, so that the requirement of further reducing the bending radius can be met on the premise of obtaining a required bending angle. Similarly, the length of the sleeve 120 is not limited by the length of the corresponding ring 110, and on the premise of not influencing the curvature of the snake bone, the gap between the adjacent sleeves 120 in the length direction of the snake bone can be further reduced, that is, the length of the unconstrained segment of the pulling rope can be shortened, so that the pulling rope can assist in limiting the basic joint 100 and can constrain the relative dislocation motion of the adjacent basic joints 100 by the strength of the pulling rope. It should be noted that, in addition to rotation about the corresponding axes of rotation, adjacent foundation joints 100 may undergo relative misaligned motion in a plane perpendicular or intersecting the axis of the foundation joint 100.

It should be understood that the application scenarios of the endoscopic snake bone of the present application are only examples or embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious for a person skilled in the art that the present application can also be applied to other similar scenarios according to the drawings without inventive effort.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an endoscope snake bone in a straightened state according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 1, an endoscope snake bone provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure includes a plurality of joints, wherein the plurality of joints at least includes a base joint 100 and an end joint 200, the plurality of base joints 100 are sequentially connected to form a snake bone main body portion, and two ends of the snake bone main body portion are respectively connected to the end joints 200. Specifically, the main snake bone part can be bent and steered under the action of the traction rope, the end joint 200 at the base end of the main snake bone part can be used for connecting with an endoscope insertion part, and the end joint 200 at the head end of the main snake bone part can be used for connecting with the end part of an endoscope head. In some embodiments, adjacent foundation joints 100 may be rotatably connected by a rivetless anti-slip connection assembly. Similarly, the end of the main portion of the snake bone and the end joint 200 may be rotatably connected by a rivetless anti-slip connection assembly. Specifically, the basic joints 100 and the snake bone main body part and the end part joints 200 are connected in a rivet-free connection mode, so that the outer surface of the snake bone is relatively smooth, and the problem that the outer surface of the snake bone is uneven due to a rivet connection structure is solved.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of several basic joints 100 shown connected in series in a straightened state according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 2, the basic joint 100 may include a ring body 110 and a sleeve 120, the sleeve 120 is connected to an inner wall of the ring body 110, and the sleeve 120 has a through hole 130 for receiving a traction rope. Specifically, the ring body 110 is a base body of the basic joint 100, and an inner cavity formed by surrounding the inner wall of the ring body 110 can accommodate optical elements such as an endoscope light guide beam and an image guide beam; the sleeve 120 can be used for limiting, restraining and guiding the traction rope, and the acting force of the traction rope is ensured to be transmitted in the snake bone along the preset direction, so that the aim of controlling the bending and turning of the snake bone through the relaxation of the traction rope is fulfilled. Compared with the case that the wall of the ring body 110 is compressed to form the pull rope through hole 130, the length of the sleeve 120 and the length of the ring body 110 are not limited to each other, the length of the sleeve 120 can be substantially consistent with the length of the wall of the connection part of the sleeve 120 of the ring body 110, and the ring body 110 without the compressed hole has a larger adjusting space in length setting, that is, the length of the ring body 110 without the compressed hole can be further shortened. In some embodiments, ring 110 is integrally formed with sleeve 120. For example, the ring body 110 is integrally formed with the sleeve 120 by a powder metallurgy process. In alternative embodiments, ring body 110 is welded or adhesively secured to sleeve 120. Specifically, the sleeve 120 is provided with a cut surface in the length direction, and the cut surface can be used for connecting the inner wall of the ring body 110, so that the effective space in the snake bone occupied by the sleeve 120 is further reduced.

In some embodiments, the base joint 100 may have a first end and a second end, the first end and the second end are opposite to each other in the length direction of the base joint 100, the first end and the second end of the base joint 100 may both rotate relative to the respective adjacent base joint 100, and the distance between the two rotation points is the length of the base joint 100. Specifically, the first end is a head end of the basic joint 100, the second end is a base end of the basic joint 100, the first end and the adjacent basic joint 100 rotate relatively around the first rotation axis, the second end and the adjacent basic joint 100 rotate relatively around the second rotation axis, the rotation pivots at the two ends of the basic joint 100 are respectively located on two rotation axes, and the distance between the two rotation axes is the length of the basic joint 100. In some embodiments, further, as shown in FIG. 2, the distance value D of the first axis of rotation from the second axis of rotation may range from 1mm to 11mm, i.e., the length value of the basic joint 100 may range from 1mm to 11 mm. For example, the distance value D may be 1mm, 2mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm, 7mm, 8mm, 9mm, 10mm or 11 mm. In some embodiments, the distance value D may range from 1-4 mm. For example, the distance value D may be 1mm, 1.5mm, 2mm, 2.5mm, 3mm, 3.5mm, or 4 mm.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an endoscope snake bone shown in a bent state according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The radius of curvature of the serpentine bone can be further reduced on the basis that the length of the single basic joint 100 can be further shortened. In some embodiments, the minimum bend radius R of the main snake bone portion can range from 2mm to 10 mm. It should be noted that, when the rotation angles of the adjacent basic joints 100 are the maximum rotation angle θ, the radius of curvature of the snake bone main body portion is the minimum radius of curvature R. For example, the serially connected foundation joints 100 form a serpentine body portion, which may have a minimum bend radius R of 2mm, 4mm, 6mm, 8mm, or 10 mm. In some embodiments, the minimum bend radius R ranges from 3 to 5 mm. For example, the minimum bend radius R may be 3mm, 4mm, or 5 mm.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the basic joint 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, and fig. 5 and 6 are front views of the basic joint 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the sleeve 120 is secured to the inner wall of the ring body 110 along the length of the snake. The number of sleeves 120 provided for a single foundation joint 100 may include, but is not limited to, 2, 3, 4, etc. Further, two sleeves 120 may be disposed on the inner wall of the ring body 110 of the basic joint 100, and in cross section, the two sleeves 120 are arranged along the radial direction of the ring body 110. For example, the endoscope snake bone is a bidirectional snake bone, the lumen of the endoscope snake bone is provided with two pull cords for controlling steering bending, as shown in fig. 4 and 5, two sleeves 120 are provided on the inner wall of the ring body 110, the two sleeves 120 are arranged in the radial direction of the ring body 110, and the two sleeves 120 are axisymmetric with respect to the rotation axis X1 of the ring body 110. In some alternative embodiments, to increase the effective space of the local position within the ring body 110, two sleeves 120 may be provided on the inner wall of the ring body 110 of the basic joint 100, the two sleeves 120 being arranged in a non-centrosymmetric manner in the circumferential direction of the ring body 110. For example, the snake bone of the endoscope is a two-way snake bone, and the inner cavity of the snake bone of the endoscope is provided with two traction ropes for controlling steering bending. As shown in fig. 6, two sleeves 120 are provided on the inner wall of the ring body 110 in a front view of the basic joint 100, a line connecting the two sleeves 120 is deviated from a radial direction of the ring body 110, and is arranged in a direction parallel to the radial direction of the ring body 110, and the two sleeves 120 are axisymmetrical with respect to the rotation axis X2 of the ring body 110. In some alternative embodiments, four sleeves 120 may be disposed on the inner wall of the ring body 110 of the basic joint 100, and in cross section, the four sleeves 120 are respectively disposed at the four halves of the inner wall of the ring body 110 in the circumferential direction. For example, the snake bone of the endoscope is a four-way snake bone, the lumen of the snake bone of the endoscope is provided with four pulling ropes for controlling steering bending, correspondingly, the quartering positions on the circumferential direction of the inner wall of the ring body 110 are respectively provided with a sleeve 120 for sleeving the corresponding pulling ropes, and any two of the sleeves 120 which are oppositely arranged are axisymmetrical with respect to one of the rotating shafts of the ring body 110.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2, to shorten the unconstrained length of the pull-cord, the end-to-end spacing K1 of adjacent loops 110 may be greater than or equal to the end-to-end spacing K2 of adjacent sleeves 120 in a serpentine longitudinal section through the sleeves 120. It should be noted that, a partial section of the traction rope, on which the sleeve 120 is sleeved, is a traction rope restraining section, and a partial section of the traction rope, on which the sleeve 120 is not sleeved, is a traction rope non-restraining section. Fig. 7 is a left side view of the basic joint 100 shown according to some embodiments of the present description. For example, as shown in fig. 7, the both ends of the sleeve 120 are protruded out of the sleeve 120 connection position of the ring 110 such that the end interval K1 of the adjacent ring 110 is larger than the end interval K2 of the adjacent sleeve 120. As another example, the ends of the sleeves 120 are flush with the sleeve 120 connection locations of the rings 110 such that the end spacing K1 of adjacent rings 110 is equal to the end spacing K2 of adjacent sleeves 120 in the straightened serpentine state. In alternative embodiments, the ends of sleeves 120 are retracted within the sleeve 120 connection location of rings 110 such that the end spacing K1 of adjacent rings 110 is less than the end spacing K2 of adjacent sleeves 120.

During the snake bone bending steering process, the end spacing K2 between the adjacent sleeves 120 is a dynamic value, and the end spacing K2 is equal to the length of the corresponding unconstrained segment of the traction rope. In some embodiments, the end spacing K2 between adjacent cannulas 120 in a serpentine state is in the range of 0-0.5 mm. For example, the end spacing K2 of adjacent cannulae 120 in a serpentine state may be 0mm, 0.1mm, 0.2mm, 0.3mm, 0.4mm, or 0.5 mm. Further, in some embodiments, the end spacing K2 between adjacent cannulas 120 in the serpentine state is in the range of 0-0.45 mm. For example, the end spacing K2 of adjacent cannulae 120 in a serpentine state may be 0mm, 0.15mm, 0.3mm, or 0.45 mm. Specifically, as shown in fig. 3, the pulling rope 300a is loosened and the pulling rope 300b is tightened to bend and turn the snake bone; wherein at least part of the sleeves 120 in the sleeves 120 corresponding to the tensioning side of the hauling rope in sequence are abutted end to end, the end spacing K2 is 0mm, the end spacing K2 of the rest of the sleeves 120 at the tensioning side of the hauling rope is smaller than the maximum value, and the length of the unconstrained section of the hauling rope is far smaller than the length of the constrained section of the hauling rope. The difficulty of relative dislocation of adjacent rings 110 is mainly determined by the deformation resistance of the non-constrained segment of the corresponding pulling rope, and the shorter the length of the non-constrained segment of the pulling rope is, the closer the deformation resistance is to the shear strength thereof, thereby improving the dislocation and falling resistance of the snake bone.

In some embodiments, to further improve the tensile strength and the anti-run-off performance of the snake bone, ring body 110 has a first thickness portion 110a and a second thickness portion 110b, the thickness value of the second thickness portion 110b is greater than that of the first thickness portion 110a, and the anti-run-off connecting assembly is disposed between the second thickness portions 110b of the adjacent foundation joints 100. Specifically, the wall thickness of the joint of the adjacent basic joints 100 is greater than that of the non-joint, so that the axial tensile strength of the snake bone is improved; also, the difficulty of relative misalignment movement between adjacent base joints 100 increases, particularly in the direction perpendicular to the corresponding rotational axis, thereby improving the anti-separation performance.

The effective volume of ring 110 is affected by the wall thickness of ring 110 and sleeve 120. In some embodiments, the wall thickness of ferrule body 110 is less than or equal to the diameter of via 130. Specifically, the effective volume of the ring body 110 can be enlarged by further reducing the wall thickness of the ring body 110, or, compared with the method of forming the pull rope through hole 130 on the inner wall of the ring body 110, the outer diameter of the ring body 110 can be further reduced by independently forming the ring body 110 and the sleeve 120 on the premise of having the same effective volume, so as to meet the application requirements of a stricter application environment.

In some embodiments, the anti-separation connection assembly includes a male head 111 and a female head 112 coupled to each other to realize a rotation connection, the male head 111 is disposed on one of two ends of the base joint 100 adjacent to each other, and the female head 112 is disposed on the other of two ends of the base joint 100 adjacent to each other. Specifically, the anti-slip connection assembly is used to pivotally connect the adjacent base joints 100 to form a revolute pair, and to provide the snake bone with tensile properties. In some embodiments, the base joint 100 may be integrally formed with the corresponding male and female members 111, 112 to improve the strength and tensile properties of the connection.

In some embodiments, two anti-slip connection assemblies are provided between adjacent base joints 100, wherein, as shown in fig. 1, the male heads 111 of the two anti-slip connection assemblies are both provided on one of the two ends of the adjacent base joints 100 that are interconnected, and the female heads 112 of the two anti-slip connection assemblies are both provided on the other of the two ends of the adjacent base joints 100 that are interconnected. Specifically, the snake bone of the endoscope is a two-way snake bone, the two anti-falling connecting components are symmetrically arranged, so that the basic joint 100 has a structure as shown in fig. 4, one end of the basic joint 100 is provided with two male heads 111, and the other end of the basic joint 100 is provided with two female heads 112; in the cross section of the basic joint 100, the male heads 111 of the two anti-drop connecting components are centrosymmetric with respect to the axis of the basic joint 100, and the female heads 112 of the two anti-drop connecting components are centrosymmetric with respect to the axis of the basic joint 100, as shown in fig. 7, the two anti-drop connecting components are arranged in a plane-symmetric manner. In some alternative embodiments, two anti-separation connecting assemblies are disposed between adjacent base joints 100, wherein the male heads 111 of the two anti-separation connecting assemblies are disposed on two ends of the adjacent base joints 100 connected to each other separately, and the female heads 112 of the two anti-separation connecting assemblies are disposed on two ends of the adjacent base joints 100 connected to each other separately. Specifically, the snake bone of the endoscope is a two-way snake bone, and the two anti-falling connecting components are arranged in a non-plane symmetrical mode, so that a male head 111 and a female head 112 are arranged at two ends of the basic joint 100 at the same time; on the cross section of the basic joint 100, the male heads 111 of the two anti-falling-off connecting components are centrosymmetric with respect to the axis of the basic joint 100, the female heads 112 of the two anti-falling-off components are centrosymmetric with respect to the axis of the basic joint 100, and on the longitudinal section, the male head 111 and the female head 112 of each anti-falling-off component are arranged along the length direction of the basic joint 100. In some embodiments, further, the endoscope snake bone is a four-way snake bone, one end of the basic joint 100 is provided with two male heads 111, the other end of the basic joint 100 is provided with two female heads 112, and the two male heads 111 and the two female heads 112 are arranged in a staggered manner in the circumferential direction of the basic joint 100 when viewed from the top. In some embodiments, further, the endoscope snake bone is a four-way snake bone, one male head 111 and one female head 112 are simultaneously disposed at both ends of the basic joint 100, and the two male heads 111 and the two female heads 112 are arranged in a staggered manner in the circumferential direction of the basic joint 100 when viewed from the top.

In some embodiments, the anti-separation connection assembly further includes an arc-shaped guide groove 113 disposed on the periphery of the male head 111 and a sliding claw 114 disposed on the periphery of the female head 112. Specifically, the arc-shaped guide groove 113 and the sliding claw 114 are used for guiding the adjacent basic joints 100 to rotate relatively, so as to prevent relative dislocation movement in the rotating process; under the state that the snake bone is bent, the arc-shaped guide groove 113 and the sliding claw 114 can assist in improving the anti-falling performance of the snake bone. In some embodiments, further, the anti-slip connection assembly includes a single arcuate runner and a single cooperating runner 114. For example, as shown in fig. 8, the anti-slip connection assembly disposed between adjacent base joints 100 includes a single arcuate runner that engages with the slip jaw 114 and a single slip jaw 114 that wraps around to form a portion of the female head 112. In some embodiments, further, the anti-slip connection assembly includes two arcs and two slip pawls 114; two arc-shaped guide grooves 113 are respectively arranged at two sides of the male head 111, and two sliding claws 114 are respectively arranged at two sides of the female head 112. For example, as shown in fig. 2, two arc-shaped guide grooves 113 are symmetrically formed on both sides of the male portion 111, and two sliding pawls 114 are symmetrically formed on both sides of the female portion 112, and during the rotation of the adjacent basic joint 100, the sliding pawls 114 are inserted into the corresponding arc-shaped guide grooves 113 and slidably engaged therewith to guide the rotation of the adjacent basic joint 100 in a predetermined direction. For another example, as shown in fig. 9, two arc-shaped guide grooves 113 are asymmetrically formed on both sides of the male portion 111, and correspondingly, two sliding pawls 114 are asymmetrically formed on both sides of the female portion 112.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 3, at the rotation stop point of the adjacent basic joint 100, the sliding jaw 114 on the side of the female head 112 is disengaged from the arc-shaped guide groove 113. It should be noted that the anti-drop connection assembly limits the relative rotation of the adjacent basic joints 100, and the relative position where the adjacent basic joints 100 stop rotating due to the limiting action of the anti-drop connection assembly is the rotation stop point. Specifically, the sliding claw 114 can be separated from the arc-shaped guide groove 113 in the rotating process, the sliding claw 114 separated from the arc-shaped guide groove 113 and the corresponding arc-shaped guide groove 113 can not be influenced by the tensile force borne by the snake bone, when the snake bone bears large tensile force, the sliding claw 114 and the arc-shaped guide groove 113 have no hidden danger of deformation and damage, and the problem of deformation and damage can prevent the normal bending and steering of the snake bone; and the rotational angle of the adjacent basic joint 100 can be further increased.

In some embodiments, the mating surface between the male head 111 and the corresponding female head 112 is a circular arc surface. Specifically, the male joint 111 has a convex outer arc surface 111a, the female joint 112 has an inner arc surface 112a matching the outer arc surface 111a, and during the rotation of the adjacent basic joint 100, the outer arc surface 111a of the male joint 111 is in sliding fit with the inner arc surface 112a of the corresponding female joint 112, so as to realize the rotatable connection of the adjacent basic joint 100. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 10, the central angle α 1 of the inner arc surface 112a ranges from 190 to 280. For example, the central angle α 1 of the inner arcuate surface 112a may be 190 °, 200 °, 210 °, 220 °, 230 °, 240 °, 250 °, 260 °, 270 °, or 280 °. In some embodiments, the central angle α 1 of the inner arc surface 112a ranges from 210 ° to 260 °. For example, the central angle α 1 of the inner arcuate surface 112a may be 210 °, 235 °, or 260 °. In some embodiments, the central angle α 2 of the outer arc surface 111a is greater than the central angle α 1 of the inner arc surface 112a, and the central angle α 2 differs from the central angle α 1 by 5-60 °. Specifically, as shown in fig. 3, the difference between the central angle α 2 and the central angle α 1 may be equal to the maximum rotation angle θ of the adjacent basic joint 100, and the adjacent basic joint 100 may rotate within the allowable range of the maximum rotation angle θ. For example, the difference between the central angle α 2 and the central angle α 1 may be 5 °, 15 °, 25 °, 35 °, 45 °, 55 °, or 60 °. In some embodiments, central angle α 2 differs from central angle α 1 by an amount in the range of 40-60 °. For example, the difference between the central angle α 2 and the central angle α 1 may be 40 °, 45 °, 50 °, 55 °, or 60 °. In some embodiments, the difference between central angle α 2 and central angle α 1 may be greater than or less than the maximum rotational angle θ of the adjacent base joint 100.

The present application also discloses an endoscope which may include an endoscope snake as described in any of the embodiments of the present application and which is particularly as described above. Specifically, the endoscope snake bone is arranged in the bending part, the base end of the bending part is sequentially connected with the insertion part and the operation part, and the head end of the bending part is connected with the head end part; the haulage rope that can drive the crooked turning of flexion arranges in flexion inner chamber and insert portion inner chamber, and haulage rope one end is fixed on the head end of flexion, and the operation portion is connected to the haulage rope other end, and the relaxation of the steerable haulage rope of operation portion.

The beneficial effects that may be brought by the embodiments of the present application include, but are not limited to: (1) under the condition of ensuring the connection strength and the anti-dropping performance, the joint length can be further shortened, and the bending radius of the snake bone is reduced, so that the endoscope is better suitable for the surgical application of a narrow human body cavity; (2) under the condition of having the same effective space inside the snake bone, the external diameter of the snake bone can be further reduced so as to be used for a thinner endoscope application scene; (3) the problem that the snake bone surface is uneven caused by riveting of the snake bone of the traditional rivet is solved; (4) the problem of traditional rivet snake bone assembly process complicacy, with high costs is solved. It is to be noted that different embodiments may produce different advantages, and in different embodiments, any one or combination of the above advantages may be produced, or any other advantages may be obtained.

Having thus described the basic concept, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the foregoing detailed disclosure is to be regarded as illustrative only and not as limiting the present specification. Various modifications, improvements and adaptations to the present description may occur to those skilled in the art, although not explicitly described herein. Such modifications, improvements and adaptations are proposed in the present specification and thus fall within the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of the present specification.

Also, the description uses specific words to describe embodiments of the description. Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," and/or "some embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with at least one embodiment of the specification is included. Therefore, it is emphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to "an embodiment" or "one embodiment" or "an alternative embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, some features, structures, or characteristics of one or more embodiments of the specification may be combined as appropriate.

Claims (10)

1. An endoscope snake bone, which comprises a plurality of joints, wherein at least part of the joints are basic joints, and the basic joints are connected in sequence; the basic joint comprises a ring body and a sleeve, the sleeve is connected to the inner wall of the ring body, and the sleeve is provided with a through hole capable of being sleeved with a traction rope.

2. The endoscopic snake bone according to claim 1, wherein said sleeve is fixed to the inner wall of said ring along the length of the snake bone; on a snake bone longitudinal section passing through the sleeve, the end spacing K1 of the adjacent ring bodies is larger than or equal to the end spacing K2 of the adjacent sleeve.

3. The endoscope snake bone of claim 1, wherein the wall thickness of the ring body is less than or equal to the diameter of the through hole.

4. The endoscopic snake bone of claim 1, wherein the ring body has a first thickness portion and a second thickness portion, the second thickness portion having a wall thickness value greater than a wall thickness value of the first thickness portion; the anti-falling connecting assembly is arranged between the second wall thickness parts of the adjacent foundation joints.

5. The endoscopic snake bone according to claim 1, wherein said base joint has a first end and a second end, said first end of said base joint and said adjacent base joint rotate relative to each other about a first axis of rotation, said second end of said base joint and said adjacent base joint rotate relative to each other about a second axis of rotation, and the distance D between said first axis of rotation and said second axis of rotation ranges from 1mm to 11 mm.

6. The endoscope snake bone of claim 1 wherein the anti-slip connection assembly comprises a male head and a female head mated to one another to effect a rotational connection, the male head being disposed on one of the two ends of the interconnection adjacent the base joint and the female head being disposed on the other of the two ends of the interconnection adjacent the base joint.

7. The endoscopic snake bone according to claim 6, wherein said male head has a convex extrados and said female head has an intrados matching said extrados; the value range of the central angle alpha 1 of the inner arc surface is 190-280 degrees; the central angle alpha 2 of the outer arc surface is larger than the central angle alpha 1, and the difference range between the central angle alpha 2 and the central angle alpha 1 is 5-60 degrees.

8. The endoscopic snake bone according to claim 6, wherein the anti-slip connection assembly further comprises an arcuate guide channel disposed on the periphery of the male head and a sliding jaw disposed on the periphery of the female head.

9. The endoscopic snake bone according to claim 8, wherein said male periphery is provided with two arcuate channels and said female periphery is provided with two sliding jaws matching corresponding said arcuate channels; and at the rotation stop point adjacent to the basic joint, the sliding claw on one side of the female head is separated from the arc-shaped guide groove.

10. An endoscope, comprising a snake bone according to any of claims 1 to 9.

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