CN116891166A

CN116891166A - External rotary joint and surgical robot

Info

Publication number: CN116891166A
Application number: CN202310809588.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 请求不公布姓名
Original assignee: Shenzhen Konuositeng Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Konuositeng Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2023-06-30
Filing date: 2023-06-30
Publication date: 2023-10-17

Abstract

The application discloses an external rotary joint and a surgical robot, which comprise a fixed outer ring, a rotary inner ring and a cable set, wherein the rotary inner ring rotates around a rotation axis relative to the fixed outer ring; the cable set comprises a plurality of flexible flat cables which are circumferentially arranged in an annular space formed by the rotating inner ring and the fixed outer ring in a winding and unwinding mode, wherein each of first end parts of the plurality of flexible flat cables is fixedly arranged relative to the rotating inner ring, each of second end parts of the plurality of flexible flat cables is fixedly arranged relative to the fixed outer ring, and the plurality of flexible flat cables have the same winding direction and bending direction. According to the application, the structural strength of the external rotary joint can be greatly improved to a higher level, the wiring mechanism can rotate along with the rotating inner ring relative to the fixed outer ring, an additional driving rotating mechanism is not needed, the structure is simplified, the space utilization rate is greatly improved, and more design freedom can be provided for the functional and appearance integrity.

Description

External rotary joint and surgical robot

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of surgical instruments, in particular to an external rotary joint and a surgical robot.

Background

The surgical robot typically has three or four linear motion modules at its distal end, with the linear motion modules typically being provided with drive modules for the endoscope and surgical instruments. Meanwhile, in order to facilitate different angle demands of an endoscope and surgical instruments in the surgical process, an external rotary joint (ORJ for short) is usually added at the tail end, so as to realize the rotation of three or four linear motion modules.

Because each linear motion module and endoscope or surgical instrument drive module require cables for power and communication, multiple cables are always in motion within the annular region between the outer stationary portion and the inner rotating portion of the outer rotary joint. Existing ways of placing these cables have many limitations in terms of functional and appearance integrity.

Accordingly, there is a need for an external rotary joint and surgical robot to at least partially address the above issues.

Disclosure of Invention

A series of concepts in a simplified form are introduced in the summary of the invention, which will be described in further detail in the detailed description. The summary of the invention is not intended to limit the critical and essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter.

To at least partially solve the above problems, the present application provides an external rotary joint for a surgical robot, comprising:

fixing the outer ring;

a rotating inner ring that rotates about an axis of rotation relative to the stationary outer ring; and

a cable set including a plurality of flexible flat cables circumferentially disposed in an annular space formed by the rotating inner ring and the fixed outer ring in a winding and unwinding manner,

each of the plurality of flexible flat cables comprises a first end and a second end, each of the first ends of the plurality of flexible flat cables is fixedly arranged relative to the rotating inner ring, each of the second ends of the plurality of flexible flat cables is fixedly arranged relative to the fixed outer ring, and the plurality of flexible flat cables have the same winding direction and bending direction.

The present application also provides a surgical robot comprising:

a plurality of motion modules; and

and the first end part of at least one part of the plurality of flexible flat cables is connected with the corresponding motion module.

According to the external rotary joint and the surgical robot, the rotary inner ring and the fixed outer ring are used as the inner and outer supports of the wiring mechanism, so that the structural strength can be greatly improved, and the structural strength can be higher. The wiring mechanism can rotate along with the rotating inner ring relative to the fixed outer ring without depending on an additional driving rotating mechanism, so that the structure is simplified, and the space utilization rate is greatly improved. The flexible flat cable is used for forming the wiring mechanism, so that more design freedom can be provided in terms of functions and appearance integrity, for example, the wiring mechanism is mostly hidden between the rotating inner ring and the fixed outer ring, the appearance integrity is not affected, the external size of the external rotating joint can be reduced, the flexible flat cable is easy to arrange and short in length, and the rotation and the non-mess of the shape of the flexible flat cable can be well maintained. When the different numbers of the motion modules are mounted, the corresponding numbers of flexible flat cables are required to be uniformly distributed along the circumferential direction again according to the numbers of the motion modules, so that the flexible flat cables can meet various mounting requirements.

Drawings

The following drawings are included to provide an understanding of the application and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. Embodiments of the present application and their description are shown in the drawings to explain the principles of the application.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an external rotary joint according to a first embodiment of the present application, showing a motion module;

fig. 2 is a perspective view of the rotating part shown in fig. 1;

fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the fixing portion shown in fig. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the outer rotary joint shown in FIG. 1 taken along a plane perpendicular to the axial direction;

FIG. 4A is an enlarged view of portion A of FIG. 4;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the external rotary joint shown in FIG. 1, with the motion module not shown;

FIG. 5A is an enlarged view of portion B of FIG. 5;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of an external rotary joint according to a second embodiment of the present application, showing a motion module;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the wire pressing structure and differential structure shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the wire pressing structure shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the outer rotary joint shown in FIG. 6 taken along a plane perpendicular to the axial direction;

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of an external rotary joint according to a third embodiment of the present application, showing a motion module;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the wire pressing structure and differential structure shown in FIG. 10;

fig. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the external rotary joint shown in fig. 10 taken along a plane perpendicular to the axial direction.

Reference numerals illustrate:

1 first motion module 1a

1b second movement module 1c third movement module

2/100/200 external rotation joint 20 rotation part

21 rotating inner ring 22 driven member

23 inner side opening 30 fixing portion

31 fixed outer ring 32 driving module

33 drive 34 active component

35 outside opening 36 bearing end cover

41 first bearing 42 second bearing

43 fixing pressing piece 50 cable group

51 Flexible Flat Cable 51a first Flexible Flat Cable

51b second flexible flat cable 51c third flexible flat cable

52 first end 53 second end

54 inner peripheral portion 55 bending portion

55a first bending part 55b second bending part

55c third bending portion 56 outer peripheral portion

57 connecting plate 60 line pressing structure

61 support portion 61a first support portion

61b second support portion 61c third support portion

62 flexible strip 62a first flexible strip

62b second flexible strip 62c third flexible strip

63 inner end 64 outer end

110 roller assembly 111 roller

112 mounting bracket 113 support bearing

114 roller shaft 115 first frame portion

116 second carrier portion 121 inner ring gear

122 outer ring gear 123 planetary gear

124 connecting shaft 210 annular flexible gear

211 interface 220 supports the inner ring

221 first tooth 222 inside outlet

230 support the second teeth of the outer ring 231

232 outer side outlet 233 first outer ring portion

234 second outer ring portion 235 snap fit groove

236 locating projection 237 locating groove

241 rotation stop 242 first plug interface

243 second interface 244 supports the outer race snap-in

Detailed Description

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the present application. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the application may be practiced without one or more of these details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in detail in order to avoid obscuring the application.

In the following description, a detailed description will be given for the purpose of thoroughly understanding the present application. It will be apparent that embodiments of the application may be practiced without limitation to the specific details that are familiar to those skilled in the art. Preferred embodiments of the present application are described in detail below, however, the present application may have other embodiments in addition to these detailed descriptions.

It is noted that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of exemplary embodiments according to the present application. As used herein, the singular is intended to include the plural unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, it will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" cited in the present application are merely identifiers and do not have any other meaning, such as a particular order or the like. Also, for example, the term "first component" does not itself connote the presence of "second component" and the term "second component" does not itself connote the presence of "first component".

It should be noted that the terms "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "inner", "outer", and the like are used herein for illustrative purposes only and are not limiting.

Exemplary embodiments according to the present application will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. These exemplary embodiments may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. It should be appreciated that these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of these exemplary embodiments to those skilled in the art.

Surgical robots are widely used in the surgical field, and they can manipulate endoscopes and surgical instruments. For this purpose, the end of the movement module is usually provided with a plurality of movement modules, which can be, for example, linear movement modules for performing a linear movement. Each motion module can be connected with a drive module of an endoscope and a surgical instrument. In order to facilitate the different angular demands of the endoscope and surgical instruments during the surgical procedure, external rotary joints are often provided at the distal end. The external rotary joint can be connected with each motion module to realize rotation of the plurality of motion modules at different angles.

It should be noted that "a plurality of" as used herein means two or more, for example, the number of the plurality of exercise modules may be two, three, four, five, etc.

The rotating wiring structure in the external rotating joint has certain design difficulty. For example, the external rotary joint takes up the load of the surgical robot tip, so that the structural strength of the external rotary joint needs to be maintained at a high level. The accuracy of control and feedback of the external rotary joint rotation directly affects the operational accuracy of the end surgical instrument, and each rotary component is in high-accuracy mating relationship. The external rotary joint generally comprises a rotating inner ring and a fixed outer ring which are sleeved and arranged, and a cable arranged between the rotating inner ring and the fixed outer ring, wherein the rotating inner ring is hung with a plurality of motion modules, so that the diameter of the rotating inner ring and the diameter of the fixed outer ring are larger, the length of the cable is longer, and the difficulty of maintaining the rotating and non-messy shape of the cable is higher.

The application provides an external rotary joint, which not only can solve the problems that the existing cable placement mode has a plurality of limitations on functions and appearance integrity, but also can overcome the design difficulty. The external rotary joint of the present application is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First embodiment

Fig. 1 to 5A schematically show an external rotary joint 2 according to a first embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the external rotary joint 2 may include a rotating portion 20 and a stationary portion 30. The rotating portion 20 is rotatable relative to the fixed portion 30 about a rotation axis that is positioned at a central axis of the outer rotary joint 2 extending in the axial direction, in other words, the central axis of the outer rotary joint 2 is the rotation axis. The rotation direction can be clockwise rotation or anticlockwise rotation, and the rotation angle can be any expected value between-360 degrees and +360 degrees.

The outer rotary joint 2 may further comprise bearings arranged between the rotating part 20 and the stationary part 30 to support and effect rotation by means of bearing connections. For example, fig. 1 schematically shows two bearings, namely a first bearing 41 and a second bearing 42, which are arranged at a distance in the axial direction. The bearing is adopted to realize transmission, so that the matching precision between the rotating parts can be greatly improved. Of course, the number of bearings is not limited, and may be arbitrarily set as needed.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 2, the rotating portion 20 includes a rotating inner ring 21 and a driven member 22. The rotating inner ring 21 is configured in a ring shape, for example, a circular ring shape. A plurality of movement modules 1 are accommodated inside the rotating inner ring 21 and fixed to different positions of the rotating inner ring 21. The rotating inner ring 21 acts as a basic skeleton support and is able to carry the movement module 1. The driven member 22 can be circumferentially provided outside the rotating inner ring 21 for receiving a driving force to rotate the entire rotating portion 20.

As shown in fig. 3, the fixed part 30 includes a fixed outer ring 31 and a driving module 32. The stationary outer ring 31 is also configured in a ring shape, for example, a circular ring shape. The fixed outer ring 31 is sleeved on the radial outer side of the rotating inner ring 21 as a basic skeleton support, and can bear the rotating part 20 and the moving module 1 thereon. The bearing is disposed between the fixed outer ring 31 and the rotating inner ring 21 and is fixed by a bearing cap 36 connected to an end of the fixed outer ring 31. The rotating inner ring 21 is rotatable about an axis of rotation with respect to the stationary outer ring 31. The drive module 32 comprises a drive device 33 and an active member 34. The active member 34 can be connected to the output of the drive 33 and can rotate about its own axis relative to the drive 33. The driving means 33 are arranged to drive the driving member 34 in rotation, which is for example an electric motor, but any other suitable driving means 33 are possible.

At least one of the rotating inner ring 21 and the stationary outer ring 31 may be made of a metal material. Thereby, structural strength and reliability can be improved. Of course, at least one of the rotating inner ring 21 and the stationary outer ring 31 may be made of other suitable hard materials such as hard plastic, if needed and/or desired.

At least a portion of the driving member 34 extends into the stationary outer ring 31 and is in driving connection with the driven member 22. The rotation of the driving member 34 can rotate the driven member 22, so that the entire rotating portion 20 and the movement module 1 rotate together. The stationary outer ring 31 is provided with a mounting opening through which at least a part of both the driving member 34 and the output end of the driving device 33 protrude into the interior of the stationary outer ring 31. For example, the active member 34 extends entirely into the interior of the stationary outer ring 31.

The driving member 34 and the driven member 22 may be driven by any of a gear drive, a chain drive, and a belt drive. In the illustrated embodiment, the driving member 34 and the driven member 22 are gears, i.e., a driving gear and a driven gear, and both are directly engaged, wherein the driven gear may be a separate member that is sleeved on the rotating inner ring 21 and connected to the rotating inner ring 21, or the driven gear may be a tooth structure integrally formed on the rotating inner ring 21. The driven gear is directly meshed with the driving gear. The gear is adopted to realize transmission, so that the matching precision between the rotating parts can be greatly improved. The driving member 34 may be drivingly connected to the driven member 22 by a chain or belt, if needed and/or desired.

The outer rotary joint 2 further comprises a cable set 50. The cable set 50 includes a plurality of flexible flat cables 51 (FFC for short, flexible Flat Cable), and the flexible flat cables 51 have the advantages of softness, random bending and folding, thin thickness, small volume, simple connection, convenient disassembly, easy resolution of electromagnetic shielding, and the like, and are very suitable for the application environment of the external rotary joint 2 wiring.

A plurality of flexible flat cables 51 can be circumferentially disposed in an annular space formed by the rotating inner ring 21 and the fixed outer ring 31 in a winding and unwinding manner to form a wiring mechanism. As shown in fig. 2, the rotating inner ring 21 is provided with a plurality of inner openings 23 at intervals in the circumferential direction. At least one of the inner side surface and the outer side surface of the rotating inner ring 21 may be provided with a guide surface inclined in the circumferential direction at the inner side opening 23 to form a contoured inner side opening 23. As shown in fig. 3, the stationary outer ring 31 is provided with an outer opening 35. At least one of the inner side surface and the outer side surface of the stationary outer ring 31 is provided with a guide surface inclined in the circumferential direction at the outer side opening 35 to form a contoured outer side opening 35. The inclined direction of the guide surface coincides with the running direction of the flexible flat cable 51.

As shown in fig. 4, each of the plurality of flexible flat cables 51 includes at least a first end 52 and a second end 53. Each of the first end portions 52 of the plurality of flexible flat cables 51 is fixedly disposed with respect to the rotating inner ring 21, specifically, is fixedly disposed so as to protrude inward from the different inner openings 23, respectively, to be connected to the corresponding movement module 1, and each of the second end portions 53 is fixedly disposed with respect to the fixed outer ring 31, specifically, is fixedly disposed so as to protrude outward from the outer openings 35, respectively. The second ends 53 of all flexible flat cables 51 protrude from the same outer opening 35, that is to say the stationary outer ring 31 is provided with one outer opening 35 for the second ends 53 to protrude. It should be noted that the above-mentioned "at least one first end portion" means that one flexible flat cable 51 has one first end portion for electrically connecting with one movement module 1, alternatively, one flexible flat cable 51 has two or more first end portions for electrically connecting with different movement modules 1.

Preferably, as in the illustrated embodiment, each flexible flat cable 51 includes a first end 52 and a second end 53, the first end 52 of each flexible flat cable 51 extending inwardly from the corresponding inner opening 23 and the second end 53 extending outwardly from the outer opening 35 being sequentially disposed in the winding order of the flexible flat cable 51. In this embodiment, the plurality of flexible flat cables 51 are partially laminated in the radial direction, and by the arrangement of lamination in the radial direction, the cable set 50 can be made smaller in size in the axial direction, which is advantageous in miniaturizing the external rotary joint 2.

Of course, each of the more than one flexible flat cable 51 may include more than two first ends 52 and one second end 53, if needed and/or desired. For example, a part of the flexible flat cable 51 includes two first end portions 52 and one second end portion 53, the two first end portions 52 being offset in the axial direction and being spaced apart in the circumferential direction, further, the flexible flat cable 51 being different in length at the two first end portions 52, having different lengths and different widths. With the provision of the plurality of first end portions 52, the number of flexible flat cables 51 can be reduced, which is advantageous in simplifying the structure of the external rotary joint 2.

According to the application, the rotating inner ring 21 and the fixed outer ring 31 are used as the inner and outer supports of the wiring mechanism, so that the structural strength can be greatly improved to a higher level. The wiring mechanism can rotate along with the rotating inner ring 21 relative to the fixed outer ring 31 without depending on an additional driving rotating mechanism, so that the structure is simplified, and the space utilization rate is greatly improved. The use of the flexible flat cable 51 to form the cabling mechanism allows more freedom of design in terms of function and appearance integrity, for example, the cabling mechanism is mostly hidden between the rotating inner ring 21 and the fixed outer ring 31, the appearance integrity is not affected, the external dimensions of the external rotary joint 2 can be made smaller, the flexible flat cable 51 is easy to arrange and has a short length, and the rotation and the shape of the flexible flat cable can be well maintained. When different numbers of the motion modules 1 are mounted, the corresponding numbers of the flexible flat cables 51 need to be uniformly distributed along the circumferential direction again according to the numbers of the motion modules 1, so that the flexible flat cables can meet various mounting requirements.

The plurality of flexible flat cables 51 have the same winding direction and bending direction. In fig. 4, a plurality of flexible flat cables 51 are schematically shown, each wound in a counterclockwise direction, wound to a certain position, bent reversely, and then continued to be wound. Of course, the plurality of flexible flat cables 51 are wound clockwise, and then wound to a certain position and bent reversely, and then continue to be wound. Thereby, each of the plurality of flexible flat cables 51 is bent to form an inner peripheral portion 54, a bent portion 55, and an outer peripheral portion 56. As an example, the number of the movement modules 1 is the same as the number of the first ends 52 of the flexible flat cable 51.

The number of the movement modules 1 in the illustrated embodiment is the same as the number of the flexible flat cables 51, and may be, for example, two, three, four, five, or the like, and the number of the flexible flat cables 51 may be increased or decreased as needed according to the number of the movement modules 1, and the bending portions 55 of the plurality of flexible flat cables 51 may be uniformly distributed in the circumferential direction. Thereby, the stress of the plurality of flexible flat cables 51 in the circumferential direction can be kept balanced.

The flexible flat cable 51 whose bent portion 55 is closest to the outer opening 35 in the winding direction, for example, counterclockwise, has a shortest length not less than half the circumference of the fixed outer ring 31; the flexible flat cable 51 having the bending portion 55 farthest from the outer opening 35 has the longest length not less than 1 to 1.5 times the circumference of the fixed outer ring 31.

Taking the illustrated embodiment as an example, the number of the motion modules 1 is three, namely a first motion module 1a, a second motion module 1b and a third motion module 1c; the rotating inner ring 21 is provided with three inner openings 23. The cable set 50 includes three flexible flat cables 51, which are a first flexible flat cable 51a, a second flexible flat cable 51b, and a third flexible flat cable 51c, respectively, which are reversely bent to form a first bent portion 55a, a second bent portion 55b, and a third bent portion 55c, respectively. For the first flexible flat cable 51a, the first end portions 52 thereof extend from the corresponding inner side openings 23 to connect with the first movement module 1a, the inner peripheral portions 54 thereof extend to a predetermined position along the rotating inner ring 21, the first bent portions 55a span in the radial direction, the outer peripheral portions 56 thereof extend to the outer side openings 35 along the stationary outer ring 31, and the second end portions 53 thereof extend from the outer side openings 35. The second flexible flat cable 51b and the third flexible flat cable 51c are wound in the same manner as the first flexible flat cable 51a, and for brevity, will not be described again, except that the first end 52 of the second flexible flat cable 51b is connected to the second movement module 1b, and the first end 52 of the third flexible flat cable 51c is connected to the third movement module 1 c.

The outer rotary joint 2 further comprises a crimping structure 60 for radially crimping the flexible flat cable 51. The wire pressing structure 60 is disposed at least one of the plurality of flexible flat cables 51 so that the corresponding inner peripheral portion 54 is abutted against the rotating inner ring 21, specifically against the outer side surface of the rotating inner ring 21, and the corresponding outer peripheral portion 56 is abutted against the fixed outer ring 31, specifically against the inner side surface of the fixed outer ring 31. By the wire pressing structure 60, the flexible flat cable 51 can be pressed in the radial direction, so that the flexible flat cable 51 is ensured not to be tilted, wound and position disturbed in the rotary reciprocating motion, and the shape is kept stable.

The term "abutting" as used herein includes not only direct abutting but also indirect abutting, for example, the inner peripheral portion 54 of one flexible flat cable 51 is laminated in the radial direction with the inner peripheral portion 54 of the other flexible flat cable 51, the inner peripheral portion 54 of one of the two flexible flat cables 51 is directly abutted against the rotating inner ring 21, and the inner peripheral portion 54 of the other flexible flat cable 51 is indirectly abutted against the rotating inner ring 21; the same applies to the outer peripheral portion 56 of the flexible flat cable 51.

Alternatively, the crimping structures 60 are provided to two, three, or the like of the plurality of flexible flat cables 51. Preferably, a crimping structure 60 is provided at each flexible flat cable 51.

The crimping structure 60 includes a support portion 61. The support portion 61 abuts against at least one of the inner peripheral portion 54 and the outer peripheral portion 56 of the flexible flat cable 51. As shown in fig. 4, for the flexible flat cable in an extreme position, for example, the shortest length of the flexible flat cable 51 is in an extreme position where the rotating inner ring cannot rotate in one direction, otherwise damage to the flexible flat cable may occur. In this limit position, the support portion 61 of the wire pressing structure 60 can only abut against the inner peripheral portion 54 or the outer peripheral portion 56 of the shortest length flexible flat cable 51, and if the shortest length flexible flat cable 51 is in the non-limit position, the support portion 61 pressing the flexible flat cable 51 can abut against both the inner peripheral portion 54 and the outer peripheral portion 56. With other flexible flat cables 51, if the crimping structure 60 is provided thereto, the supporting portion 61 abuts against both the inner peripheral portion 54 and the outer peripheral portion 56 thereof. The support portion 61 can apply a pressing force in the radial direction to the inner peripheral portion 54 and/or the outer peripheral portion 56 of the flexible flat cable 51 to improve the adhesion effect, and further ensure that the flexible flat cable 51 does not lift, twist, and become positionally disturbed during the rotational reciprocation, and the shape is kept stable.

Thus, even if the diameters of the rotary inner ring 21 and the fixed outer ring 31 are set to be large, the flexible flat cable 51 can maintain a stable shape during movement by various means such as providing the wire pressing structure 60, and can be widely applied to rotary mechanisms with different diameters.

A predetermined distance exists between the support portion 61 and the bending portion 55 to avoid interference between the rotating inner ring 21 and the support portion when the latter rotates. The outer rotary joint 2 is configured such that the position of the supporting portion 61 can be rotated in synchronization with the bending portion 55 when the rotating inner ring 21 rotates, and it is understood that the distance between the two is substantially unchanged when rotated in synchronization, however, the position of the supporting portion 61 can be rotated together with the bending portion 55, in which case the distance between the two may become larger or smaller when rotated reciprocally.

The number of the supporting portions 61 may be smaller, equal to, or larger than the number of the plurality of flexible flat cables 51. Alternatively, each of the plurality of flexible flat cables 51 corresponds to at least one support portion 61, for example, to one support portion 61, two support portions 61, three support portions 61, or the like. Each of the plurality of flexible flat cables 51 corresponds to the same number of the supporting portions 61, and the supporting portions 61 are uniformly distributed in the circumferential direction, whereby the same number of the supporting portions 61 exist between the adjacent bending portions 55 in the circumferential direction. Thereby, the stress of the plurality of flexible flat cables 51 in the circumferential direction can be kept balanced. Of course, each of the plurality of flexible flat cables 51 may also correspond to a different number of support portions 61, if needed and/or desired.

The crimping structure 60 in this embodiment includes a flexible strip 62. The flexible strip 62 has the advantages of softness, random bending and folding, thin thickness, small volume, simple connection, convenient disassembly, etc. The flexible strip 62 may be made of any suitable flexible material, such as plastic. The flexible strip 62 is bent to form the above-described support portion 61 at the bending portion, that is, the support portion 61 is a bending portion of the flexible strip 62. The flexible tape 62 is wound in parallel with the corresponding flexible flat cable 51 and is provided between the adjacent flexible flat cables 51. Further, the winding direction of the flexible tape 62 is the same as that of the flexible flat cable 51, and the flexible tape 62 is bent in the same bending direction as that of the bending portion 55. For example, as schematically shown in fig. 4, the flexible strip 62 is first wound in a counter-clockwise direction, wound to a position and reverse bent, and then wound continuously. Of course, the flexible band 62 may be wound clockwise, bent reversely to a certain position, and then continued to be wound.

The flexible ribbon 62 is used for supporting the flexible flat cable 51, and the flexible flat cable 51 can be well supported not only at the bending position of the flexible ribbon 62 but also at the parallel abutting position with the flexible flat cable 51. The routing of different rotary mechanisms, such as linear rotary mechanisms, can be accomplished by adjusting the number of flexible straps 62, and can be widely used in similar rotary mechanisms. When different numbers of the motion modules 1 are mounted, the corresponding numbers of the flexible strip-shaped pieces 62 are required to be uniformly distributed along the circumferential direction again according to the numbers of the motion modules 1, so that the flexible strip-shaped pieces can meet various mounting requirements.

The number of flexible strips 62 may be at least one, such as one, two, three, etc. The number of flexible tape pieces 62 may be less than or equal to the number of flexible flat cables 51. Each flexible strip 62 is bent to form a support 61. Preferably, the number of the flexible ribbon pieces 62 is equal to the number of the flexible flat cables 51, so that each flexible flat cable 51 corresponds to one flexible ribbon piece 62 and one supporting portion 61, and the number of the supporting portions 61 is equal to the number of the bending portions 55. In the circumferential direction, one support portion 61 is present between adjacent bent portions 55.

As shown in fig. 4 and 4A, the inner end 63 of the flexible tape 62 protrudes at the same inner opening 23 as the first end 52 of the corresponding flexible flat cable 51 and the first end 52 is located radially outward of the inner end 63. The outer ends 64 of all flexible strips 62 project out of the same outer opening 35 as the second ends 53 of all flexible flat cables 51.

In the illustrated embodiment, the wire pressing structure 60 includes three flexible strips 62, which are a first flexible strip 62a, a second flexible strip 62b, and a third flexible strip 62c, respectively, and are reversely bent to form a first support portion 61a, a second support portion 61b, and a third support portion 61c, respectively. For the first flexible tape 62a, the inner end 63 thereof protrudes from the corresponding inner opening 23 together with the first end 52 of the first flexible flat cable 51a, which extends to a predetermined position along the rotating inner ring 21, the first support portion 61a spans in the radial direction and then extends to the outer opening 35 along the stationary outer ring 31, and the outer end 64 thereof protrudes from the outer opening 35. The second flexible strip member 62b and the third flexible strip member 62c are wound in the same manner as the first flexible strip member 62a, and for brevity, will not be described in detail, except that the inner end 63 of the second flexible strip member 62b protrudes together with the first end 52 of the second flexible flat cable 51b, and the inner end 63 of the third flexible strip member 62c protrudes together with the first end 52 of the third flexible flat cable 51 c.

As shown in fig. 4, the first supporting portion 61a is located between the first bending portion 55a and the second bending portion 55b, the second supporting portion 61b is located between the second bending portion 55b and the third bending portion 55c, and the third supporting portion 61c is located between the third bending portion 55c and the first bending portion 55 a.

As shown in fig. 5 and 5A, the first end 52 of the flexible flat cable 51 is fixed to the inner side surface of the rotating inner ring 21, and the second end 53 is fixed to the outer side surface of the stationary outer ring 31. The inner end 63 of the flexible strip 62 is fixed with the first end 52 of the corresponding flexible flat cable 51, for example the inner end 63 is located radially outside the first end 52 and can be clamped between the first end 52 and the rotating inner ring 21. Specifically, the first end 52 of the flexible flat cable 51 is integrally provided with a connection plate 57, the connection plate 57 being connected to the rotating inner ring 21; for example, the connection plate 57 is provided with a through hole through which a screw (not shown) passes to connect the connection plate 57 to the rotating inner ring 21. The number of the connection plates 57 may be one, two, three, etc., and may protrude from the side surface of the first end portion 52 in width or protrude from the end surface of the first end portion 52 in length; fig. 5A schematically shows two connection plates 57 protruding from opposite sides for better fixation. The inner end 63 of the flexible band 62 is clamped between the first end 52 and the rotating inner ring 21. Of course, the manner of fixing the inner end 63 to the first end 52 is not limited thereto, and may be fixed to the rotating inner ring 21 by any suitable means such as bonding, screw fastening, or the like.

The outer ends 64 of all flexible strips 62 are secured together with the second ends 53 of all flexible flat cables 51, e.g. the outer ends 64 and the second ends 53 are clamped between each other. Specifically, a fixing presser 43 may be provided, the fixing presser 43 being connected to the fixing outer ring 31; for example, the fixing presser 43 is fixed to the fixing outer ring 31 using a plurality of screws (not shown), and the outer side end 64 and the second end 53 are clamped between the fixing presser 43 and the fixing outer ring 31. The fixing presser 43 is provided with a guide surface inclined in the circumferential direction, which cooperates with a guide surface on the outer side of the fixing outer ring 31 so as to form the contoured outer side opening 35. Of course, the manner of fixing the outer end portion 64 to the second end portion 53 is not limited thereto, and may be fixed to the fixed outer ring 31 by any suitable means such as bonding, screw fastening, or the like.

Second embodiment

The external rotary joint 100 according to the second embodiment will be described below with reference to fig. 6 to 9. The outer rotary joint 100 of the second embodiment has the same structure and/or configuration as the outer rotary joint 2 of the first embodiment except for the wire pressing structure 60 and the addition of a differential structure. Accordingly, elements having substantially the same functions as those in the first embodiment will be identically numbered herein, and will not be described and/or illustrated in detail for the sake of brevity.

The rotating portion 20 and the fixed portion 30 of the present embodiment are substantially the same as those of the first embodiment, and the crimping structure 60 is different from those of the first embodiment. Specifically, as shown in fig. 6 and 7, the wire pressing structure 60 includes a roller assembly 110, and the roller assembly 110 is disposed between the rotating inner ring 21 and the fixed outer ring 31 and includes a plurality of rollers 111 disposed at intervals along the circumferential direction. The plurality of rollers 111 rotate about their own axially extending central axes.

The number of the rollers 111 may be set as required, and for example, three, four, five … …, twelve, thirteen, etc., and the illustrated embodiment schematically shows twelve rollers 111. The diameter of the roller 111 is set to abut against the inner peripheral portion 54 and/or the outer peripheral portion 56 of the flexible flat cable 51. Each flexible flat cable 51 corresponds to two or more and the same number of rollers 111. Thus, the number of the rollers 111 may be twice or more the number of the flexible flat cables 51.

As shown in fig. 9, a plurality of rollers 111 can be used as the supporting portion 61. Each roller 111 can press against the inner peripheral portion 54 and/or the outer peripheral portion 56 of the flexible flat cable 51, and apply a pressing force in the radial direction to the inner peripheral portion 54 and/or the outer peripheral portion 56 of the flexible flat cable 51, so that the adhesion effect is improved, and further, it is ensured that the flexible flat cable 51 does not turn up, twist, and become positionally disturbed during the rotational reciprocation, and the shape is kept stable.

By means of mechanical connection and transmission of the roller 111, wiring support of the flexible flat cable 51 is achieved, when the rotating inner ring 21 rotates to drive the flexible flat cable 51 to rotate together, the flexible flat cable 51 can move relatively on the roller 111, free rotation of the roller 111 can facilitate rotation of the flexible flat cable 51, and the wiring mechanism is extremely high in stability and reliability. The number of the rollers 111 can be adjusted to realize the wiring of different rotating mechanisms, such as a linear rotating mechanism, and the wiring device can be widely applied to similar rotating mechanisms. When different numbers of the motion modules 1 are mounted, the flexible flat cables 51 and the corresponding number of the rollers 111 are required to be uniformly distributed along the circumferential direction again according to the number of the motion modules 1, so that the flexible flat cables can meet various mounting requirements.

The roller assembly 110 further includes an annular mounting bracket 112 and a support bearing 113. A plurality of rollers 111 are rotatably mounted to the mounting bracket 112. Specifically, the mounting frame 112 is provided with a plurality of roller 111 shafts along the axial direction, the plurality of roller 111 shafts are disposed at intervals along the axial direction, for example, uniformly distributed along the circumferential direction, and a part of the rollers 111 shafts are inserted into the mounting frame 112 to be fixedly connected. The roller 111 is rotatably sleeved on the roller 111 shaft and rotates freely relative to the roller 111 shaft. The support bearing 113 is provided inside the mounting bracket 112 and is movably connected with the rotating inner ring 21. Thus, the roller 111 frame is connected with the rotating inner ring 21 through the support bearing 113, so that the transmission is very stable, and the friction force of the motion is greatly reduced. For example, as shown in fig. 8, the mounting bracket 112 may be provided with a mounting groove open toward the inside, in which the support bearing 113 is received and positioned. And the support bearing 113 can protrude from a mounting groove (see fig. 7) so as to be connected to the rotating inner ring 21, whereby the rotation of the roller assembly 110 with respect to the rotating inner ring 21 can be achieved.

The number of the shafts of the rollers 111 is the same as that of the rollers 111, the number of the rollers is not limited, the number of the rollers can be increased or decreased according to application requirements, and the flexible flat cable 51 can be compressed after being uniformly distributed along the circumferential direction depending on the number of the motion modules 1 and the diameters of the rotating inner ring 21 and the fixed outer ring 31, so that the flexible flat cable 51 does not tilt during rotation. The number of the roller 111 shafts may be, for example, three, four, five … … twelve, thirteen, or the like, and the illustrated embodiment schematically shows twelve roller 111 shafts.

The mounting bracket 112 includes a first bracket portion 115 and a second bracket portion 116 that combine to form a complete ring-shaped mounting bracket 112. In the illustrated embodiment, the first shelf portion 115 and the second shelf portion 116 are configured in a semi-annular shape, such as a semi-annular shape. The first frame portion 115 and the second frame portion 116 are butted together, the butted joint being fixed, for example, by a screw connection. Each of the frame portions is provided with a mounting groove for receiving a support bearing 113. In an embodiment not shown, the first frame portion 115 and the second frame portion 116 are configured in a complete ring shape and are connected in an axial direction, and the connection manner is not limited, and may be at least one of a fastening means such as a clamping connection, a screw connection, and a suitable fixing manner such as plugging.

The outer rotary joint 100 further includes a differential structure for providing differential transmission between the rotating inner ring 21 and the flexible flat cable 51. When the rotating inner ring 21 rotates, the rotating inner ring 21 drives the flexible flat cable 51 to rotate differentially. Therefore, the transmission precision of the external rotary joint 100 can be improved, the transmission precision is higher, the precision of control and feedback of rotation of the external rotary joint 100 is correspondingly improved, the operation precision of the terminal surgical instrument can be improved, and high-precision matching of all rotating parts is realized. And the reliability is strong, and the device can be suitable for long-life operation.

As shown in fig. 7, the differential structure of the present embodiment includes an inner ring gear 121, an outer ring gear 122, and a plurality of planetary gears 123. The inner ring gear 121 is fixed to the rotating inner ring 21, and the outer ring gear 122 is located radially outside the inner ring gear 121 and fixed to the stationary outer ring 31. The fixing means of the inner ring gear 121 and the outer ring gear 122 is not limited, and may be any suitable fixing means such as bonding, pressing, inserting, fastening means such as screws, etc., and bonding is preferably used herein to overcome the space limitation. There is a space between the outer ring gear 122 and the inner ring gear 121, and a plurality of planetary gears 123 are provided between and meshed with the inner ring gear 121 and the outer ring gear 122. The inner ring gear 121 can drive the planetary gears 123 to rotate together with respect to the outer ring gear 122.

The plurality of planetary gears 123 are uniformly distributed in the circumferential direction. The number of planetary gears 123 is not limited, and may be increased or decreased depending on the diameters of the rotating inner ring 21 and the stationary outer ring 31, as required by the application. The number of the planetary gears 123 may be, for example, three, four, five, six, etc., and the illustrated embodiment schematically shows four planetary gears 123.

Referring to fig. 8, the planetary gears 123 are rotatably mounted to the mounting bracket 112 by a connection shaft 124. In the illustrated embodiment, the connecting shaft 124 can be connected, for example integrally connected, with the roller 111. The plurality of rollers 111 are provided with connecting shafts 124 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, so that the planetary gears 123 fixedly fitted on the connecting shafts 124 are uniformly distributed in the circumferential direction.

Third embodiment

The external rotary joint 200 according to the third embodiment will be described below with reference to fig. 10 to 12. The outer rotary joint 200 of the third embodiment has the same structure and/or configuration as the outer rotary joint 2 of the first embodiment, except for the wire pressing structure 60 and the addition of a differential structure. Accordingly, elements having substantially the same functions as those in the first embodiment will be identically numbered herein, and will not be described and/or illustrated in detail for the sake of brevity.

The rotating portion 20 and the fixed portion 30 of the present embodiment are substantially the same as those of the first embodiment, and the crimping structure 60 is different from those of the first embodiment. Specifically, as shown in fig. 11 and 12, the wire pressing structure 60 includes a plurality of annular flexible gears 210, where the annular flexible gears 210 are made of soft rubber, and have good elasticity and large deformation, and are annular when not acted by external force, and are installed between the rotating inner ring 21 and the fixed outer ring 31, and then are changed into long annular by extrusion forces from two sides.

The number of the annular flexible gears 210 is not limited, and can be increased or decreased according to application requirements, and the flexible flat cables 51 can be compressed after being uniformly distributed along the circumferential direction depending on the number of the motion modules 1 and the diameters of the rotating inner ring 21 and the fixed outer ring 31, so that the flexible flat cables 51 do not tilt during rotation. For example, three, four, five, six, or the like are possible, and in the illustrated embodiment, three annular flexible gears 210 are provided, namely, a first annular flexible gear 210a, a second annular flexible gear 210b, and a third annular flexible gear 210c, respectively. The first annular flexible gear 210a is disposed at the first flexible flat cable 51a, the second annular flexible gear 210b is disposed at the second flexible flat cable 51b, and the third annular flexible gear 210c is disposed at the third flexible flat cable 51 c. Each flexible flat cable 51 corresponds to more than one and the same number of annular flexible gears 210. Thus, the number of the annular flexible wires 210 may be one or more times the number of the flexible flat cables 51.

The annular flexible gear 210 serves as the support portion 61. Each annular flexible gear 210 can apply a pressing force in the radial direction to the inner peripheral portion 54 and/or the outer peripheral portion 56 of the flexible flat cable 51 against the inner peripheral portion 54 and/or the outer peripheral portion 56 of the flexible flat cable 51 to make the adhesion effect better, and further ensure that the flexible flat cable 51 does not turn up, twist, and become positionally disturbed during the rotational reciprocation, and the shape is kept stable.

The wiring support of the flexible flat cable 51 is realized by using the annular flexible gear 210, and when the rotating inner ring 21 rotates to drive the flexible flat cable 51 to rotate together, the annular flexible gear 210 synchronously rotates along with the flexible flat cable 51 without depending on an additional driving rotating mechanism, so that the structure is simplified, and the space utilization rate is greatly improved. The wiring mechanism has extremely high stability and reliability. The number of the annular flexible gears 210 can be adjusted to realize the wiring of different rotating mechanisms, such as a linear rotating mechanism, and the annular flexible gears can be widely applied to similar rotating mechanisms. When different numbers of the movement modules 1 are mounted, the flexible flat cables 51 and the corresponding numbers of the annular flexible gears 210 need to be uniformly distributed along the circumferential direction again according to the number of the movement modules 1, so that the flexible flat cables can meet various mounting requirements.

The outer rotary joint 200 further includes a support inner ring 220 and a support outer ring 230, the support inner ring 220 being fixed to the rotating inner ring 21, the support outer ring 230 being located radially outward of the support inner ring 220 and being fixed to the stationary outer ring 31. The fixing manner of the support inner ring 220 and the support outer ring 230 is not limited, and may be any suitable fixing manner such as bonding, pressing, fixing with a jackscrew in a radial direction, fixing with a fastener such as a screw in an axial direction, or the like. In the illustrated embodiment, the differential structure further includes a rotation stop 241. The rotating inner ring 21 is provided with a first socket 242 (see fig. 10) and the supporting inner ring 220 is provided with a second socket 243 (see fig. 11). The rotation stopper 241 can be inserted into the first insertion opening 242 and the second insertion opening 243, whereby the rotation stopper 241 can restrict the relative movement of the rotating inner ring 21 and the supporting inner ring 220, so that the supporting inner ring 220 rotates together with the rotating inner ring 21.

Referring to fig. 12, a plurality of flexible flat cables 51 are disposed between the support inner ring 220 and the support outer ring 230, and an annular flexible gear 210 is disposed at the flexible flat cables 51 and is in driving connection with the support inner ring 220 and the support outer ring 230. The drive connection may be a gear drive. Specifically, at least one end portion of the annular flexible gear 210 in the axial direction is provided with a plurality of engagement openings 211 at intervals, and the plurality of engagement openings 211 are uniform in size and uniformly distributed. The support inner ring 220 is provided with a plurality of first teeth 221 at intervals in the circumferential direction, and the first teeth 221 are extended radially outwards, uniformly sized and uniformly distributed. The support outer ring 230 is provided with a plurality of second teeth 231 at intervals in the circumferential direction, and the second teeth 231 are extended radially inward, uniformly sized and uniformly distributed. The number of first teeth 221 is the same as the number of second teeth 231. Thus, the toothed support inner ring 220, the toothed support outer ring 230, and the annular flexspline 210 with the engagement openings 211 constitute the differential structure of the present embodiment.

The plurality of first teeth 221 are engageable with an inner one 211 of the plurality of engagement openings 211, and the plurality of second teeth 231 are engageable with an outer one 211 of the plurality of engagement openings 211. When the support inner ring 220 rotates, the annular flexible gear 210 may rotate with it by the transmission between the first teeth 221 and the engagement port 211. Therefore, the movement track and movement speed of the annular flexible gear 210 can be limited, so that the annular flexible gear rotates synchronously with the flexible flat cable 51, and compared with a traditional transmission mode, the structure is greatly simplified, and the manufacturing cost is reduced.

As shown in the illustrated embodiment, both ends of the annular flexible gear 210 in the axial direction may be provided with a plurality of engagement ports 211, and accordingly, both ends of the support inner ring 220 in the axial direction are provided with a plurality of first teeth 221, and both ends of the support outer ring 230 in the axial direction are provided with a plurality of second teeth 231. The engagement ports 211 corresponding to the end positions are engaged with the first teeth 221 and the second teeth 231. The engagement opening 211 may be configured to be open on one side in the axial direction, which forms a spline. Alternatively, the engagement port 211 may be configured as a circumferential closure.

The support inner ring 220 is provided with a plurality of inner side outlets 222 at intervals in the circumferential direction, and the inner side outlets 222 correspond to the positions of the inner side openings 23 so that the first ends 52 of the flexible flat cables 51 are routed. The number of the inside outlets 222 is the same as the number of the inside openings 23. The support outer ring 230 is provided with an outer outlet 232, the outer outlet 232 corresponding in position to the outer opening 35 for routing the second end 53 of the flexible flat cable 51. The support outer ring 230 forms an inwardly opening receiving groove that receives and is positioned therein, whereby the annular flexspline 210 and the cable set 50 are both received therein, thereby making the wiring assembly modular, greatly facilitating installation, debugging and maintenance.

The support outer ring 230 comprises a first outer ring portion 233 and a second outer ring portion 234, which, in combination, form a complete ring-shaped support outer ring 230. The support inner ring 220 is sandwiched between the first outer ring portion 233 and the second outer ring portion 234 to be brought together.

In the illustrated embodiment, the first outer ring portion 233 and the second outer ring portion 234 are configured in a complete ring shape and are connected in the axial direction, and the connection manner is not limited, and may be at least one of a fastening means such as a clamping connection, a screw connection, and a suitable fixing manner such as plugging. For example, a plurality of support outer ring catches 244 are provided, the support outer ring catches 244 extending axially and being provided with radially inwardly extending projecting arms. The arms are located at both axial ends of the support outer ring clasp 244. The first outer ring portion 233 and the second outer ring portion 234 are sandwiched between the projecting arms that support the ends of the outer ring clasp 244. The male arms are connected to the two outer ring portions, for example by suitable fastening means such as snap-in, screw-in or the like, which is shown here by screw-in connection.

Optionally, the first outer ring portion 233 and the second outer ring portion 234 are provided with snap detents 235 at positions corresponding to the arms, the arms being located within the snap detents 235.

In an embodiment not shown, the first outer ring portion 233 and the second outer ring portion 234 are configured as semi-rings, such as semi-rings. The first outer ring portion 233 and the second outer ring portion 234 are butted together, the butted joint being fixed, for example, by a screw connection.

For convenience in apposition of the first outer ring portion 233 and the second outer ring portion 234, one of the first outer ring portion 233 and the second outer ring portion 234 is provided with a positioning projection 236 protruding in the axial direction, and the other of the first outer ring portion 233 and the second outer ring portion 234 is provided with a positioning groove 237 recessed in the axial direction. The positioning boss 236 can abut within the positioning recess 237. The positioning protrusion 236 is inserted into the positioning groove 237 correspondingly when being aligned, so that the relative positions of the first outer ring portion 233 and the second outer ring portion 234 can be ensured to be correct. The first outer ring portion 233 and the second outer ring portion 234 each have second teeth

231, the tooth shape of the second teeth 231 completely matches the motion track of the annular flexible gear 210, and the width of each second tooth 231 corresponds to the width of the joint 211 of the annular flexible gear 210. In addition, for the illustrated embodiment, the first outer ring portion 233 and the second outer ring portion 234 each form a portion of the outer opening 35 for the exit of the flexible flat cable 51.

Unless defined otherwise, technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application pertains. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular implementations only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. Features described herein in one embodiment may be applied to another embodiment alone or in combination with other features unless the features are not applicable or otherwise indicated in the other embodiment.

The present application has been described by way of the above embodiments, but it should be understood that the above embodiments are for illustrative and explanatory purposes only and that the application is not limited to the above embodiments, but is capable of numerous variations and modifications in accordance with the teachings of the application, all of which fall within the scope of the application as claimed.

Claims

1. An external rotary joint for a surgical robot, comprising:

fixing the outer ring;

2. The external rotary joint according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of flexible flat cables is bent to form an inner peripheral portion, a bent portion, and an outer peripheral portion, the external rotary joint further comprising a crimping structure provided at least one of the plurality of flexible flat cables to bring the corresponding inner peripheral portion into close contact with the rotating inner ring and the corresponding outer peripheral portion into close contact with the stationary outer ring.

3. The external rotary joint of claim 2, wherein the crimping structure includes a support portion that abuts at least one of the inner and outer peripheral portions.

4. The external rotary joint according to claim 3, wherein the external rotary joint is configured such that the position of the support portion rotates in synchronization with the bending portion when the rotating inner ring rotates.

5. The external rotary joint according to claim 3, wherein the number of the supporting portions is smaller than the number of the plurality of flexible flat cables, or each of the plurality of flexible flat cables corresponds to at least one of the supporting portions.

6. The external rotary joint according to claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of flexible flat cables corresponds to the same number of the supporting portions, and the supporting portions are uniformly distributed in a circumferential direction.

7. An external rotary joint according to claim 3, wherein a predetermined distance exists between the support portion and the bending portion to avoid interference between the support portion and the bending portion when the rotating inner ring rotates.

8. An external rotary joint according to claim 3, wherein the crimping structure comprises a flexible strap which is bent to form the support at the bend.

9. The external rotary joint according to claim 8, wherein the flexible ribbon is wound in parallel with the corresponding flexible flat cable and is disposed between adjacent flexible flat cables.

10. The external rotary joint according to claim 8, wherein the flexible band is bent in the same bending direction as the bending portion.

11. The external rotary joint according to claim 8, wherein an inner end of the flexible strip is fixed with a corresponding first end of the flexible flat cable and an outer end of the flexible strip is fixed with a second end of the flexible flat cable.

12. The external rotary joint according to claim 11, wherein a first end of the flexible flat cable is provided with a connection plate connected to the rotating inner ring, an inner end of the flexible ribbon being clamped between the first end and the rotating inner ring.

13. The external rotary joint according to claim 3, wherein the wire pressing structure includes a roller assembly disposed between the rotating inner ring and the fixed outer ring and including a plurality of rollers disposed at intervals in a circumferential direction, the plurality of rollers rotating about their own central axes extending in an axial direction and serving as the supporting portion.

14. The external swivel joint of claim 13, wherein the roller assembly further comprises an annular mounting frame to which the plurality of rollers are rotatably mounted, and a support bearing disposed inside the mounting frame and movably coupled to the rotating inner ring.

15. The external swivel joint of claim 14, wherein the mount comprises a first and a second mount portion configured in a semi-annular shape and abutting the two, or configured in a full annular shape and axially connected the two.

16. The external rotary joint of claim 3 further comprising a differential structure for providing differential drive between said rotating inner ring and said flexible flat cable.

17. The external rotary joint according to claim 16, wherein the differential structure includes an inner ring gear fixed to the rotating inner ring, an outer ring gear located radially outward of the inner ring gear and fixed to the fixed outer ring, and a plurality of planetary gears provided between and meshed with the inner ring gear and the outer ring gear.

18. The external rotary joint of claim 17, further comprising an annular mounting bracket, the planetary gear rotatably mounted to the mounting bracket by a connecting shaft.

19. The external rotary joint according to claim 3, wherein the crimping structure includes a plurality of annular flexwheels serving as the support portion.

20. The external rotary joint according to claim 16, wherein the differential structure includes a support inner ring fixed to the rotating inner ring, a support outer ring radially outward of the support inner ring and fixed to the fixed outer ring, and a plurality of annular flexspline disposed between the support inner ring and the support outer ring, the annular flexspline being disposed at the flexspline and in driving connection with the support inner ring and the support outer ring.

21. The external rotary joint according to claim 20, wherein at least one end portion of the annular flexible gear in the axial direction is provided with a plurality of engagement openings at intervals, the support inner ring is provided with a plurality of first teeth at intervals in the circumferential direction, the support outer ring is provided with a plurality of second teeth at intervals in the circumferential direction, the plurality of first teeth are engaged with an engagement opening near an inner side of the plurality of engagement openings, and the plurality of second teeth are engaged with an engagement opening near an outer side of the plurality of engagement openings.

22. The external rotary joint according to claim 21, wherein both ends of the annular flexspline in the axial direction are provided with the plurality of engagement openings, both ends of the support inner ring in the axial direction are provided with the plurality of first teeth, both ends of the support outer ring in the axial direction are provided with the plurality of second teeth, and the engagement openings corresponding in end positions are engaged with the first teeth and the second teeth.

23. The external rotary joint according to claim 21, wherein the engagement port is configured to be open on one side or closed on the circumferential side in the axial direction.

24. The external rotary joint according to claim 20, wherein the rotating inner ring is provided with a plurality of inner side openings at intervals in the circumferential direction, the stationary outer ring is provided with an outer side opening, each of the first ends of the plurality of flexible flat cables respectively protrudes from a different one of the inner side openings, the second ends protrude from the outer side opening, the supporting inner ring is provided with a plurality of inner side outlets at intervals in the circumferential direction, the inner side outlets corresponding to the inner side opening positions for routing the flexible flat cables; the support outer ring is provided with an outer outlet which corresponds to the outer opening in position so that the flexible flat cable can be routed.

25. The external rotary joint of claim 21, wherein the support outer ring comprises a first outer ring portion and a second outer ring portion, the first outer ring portion and the second outer ring portion being configured as semi-rings and the two are in butt joint, or the first outer ring portion and the second outer ring portion being configured as full rings and the two being connected in an axial direction.

26. The external rotary joint according to claim 25, wherein one of the first outer ring portion and the second outer ring portion is provided with a positioning projection protruding in an axial direction, and the other of the first outer ring portion and the second outer ring portion is provided with a positioning groove recessed in the axial direction, the positioning projection being butted within the positioning groove.

27. The external rotary joint according to claim 20, wherein the differential structure further comprises a rotation stop, the rotating inner ring being provided with a first socket, the supporting inner ring being provided with a second socket, the rotation stop being inserted into the first and second sockets.

28. The external rotary joint according to any one of claims 1 to 27, wherein the rotating inner ring is provided with a plurality of inner side openings at intervals in the circumferential direction, the stationary outer ring is provided with outer side openings, each of the first ends of the plurality of flexible flat cables respectively protrudes from a different one of the inner side openings, and the second ends protrude from the outer side openings.

29. The external rotary joint according to claim 28, wherein,

the first end is fixed to an inner side face of the rotating inner ring, and the second end is fixed to an outer side face of the fixed outer ring; and/or

The second ends of all of the flexible flat cables extend from the same outside opening.

30. The external rotary joint according to claim 28, wherein the rotating inner ring is provided with a guide slope conforming to the direction of extension of the first end portion at the inner side opening, and the stationary outer ring is provided with a guide slope conforming to the direction of extension of the second end portion at the outer side opening.

31. The external rotary joint according to any one of claims 1 to 27, further comprising a driven member disposed circumferentially outside the rotating inner ring and a drive module comprising a driving member rotatable about its own axis, at least a portion of the driving member extending into the stationary outer ring and in driving connection with the driven member.

32. The external rotary joint according to claim 31, wherein the driving member and the driven member are gears and are directly engaged; or the driving component is in transmission connection with the driven component through a chain or a belt.

33. The external rotary joint according to any one of claims 1 to 27, wherein at least one of the rotating inner ring and the stationary outer ring is made of a metallic material.

34. A surgical robot, comprising:

a plurality of motion modules; and

the external rotary joint according to any one of claims 1 to 33, a first end of at least a portion of the plurality of flexible flat cables being connected with the corresponding motion module.