WO2023025119A1

WO2023025119A1 - Self-adaptive bent tube, bent tube for endoscope, insertion portion and endoscope

Info

Publication number: WO2023025119A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/114094
Authority: WO
Inventors: 胡舜; 荆峰; 林守钢; 龚鹏程; 陈国富; 朱彦聪
Original assignee: 深圳开立生物医疗科技股份有限公司
Priority date: 2021-08-23
Filing date: 2022-08-23
Publication date: 2023-03-02
Also published as: CN115104996A

Abstract

A self-adaptive bent tube (1), a bent tube for an endoscope, an insertion portion (100) and an endoscope. The self-adaptive bent tube comprises several coaxially arranged bent rings (11), wherein two adjacent bent rings (11) are connected by means of a snap-fit structure (12), and a preset gap is formed between two adjacent bent rings (11) in a snap-fit state; and the snap-fit structure (12) comprises a raised portion (121) arranged on one of two adjacent bent rings (11), and a groove (122) provided in the other of the two adjacent bent rings (11), wherein a first hook (1211) is arranged at a free end of the raised portion (121), and a second hook (1221) is provided at a groove opening of the groove (122) and is used for matching the first hook (1211) so as to prevent the raised portion (121) from being separated from the groove (122); and the raised portion (121) is movably embedded in the groove (122) in an axial direction of the bent ring (11), and the raised portion (121) can rotate relative to the groove (122). The maximum bending angle of the self-adaptive bent tube (1) is controllable by means of rationally designing the size of the preset gap between two adjacent bent rings (11), the stroke of axial movement of the raised portion (121) relative to the groove (122), and the angle range of rotation of the raised portion (121) relative to the groove (122); and the self-adaptive bent tube (1) has a long fatigue life and is not prone to failing during bending.

Description

Self-adaptive curved tube, curved tube for endoscope, insertion part and endoscope

This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application submitted to the China Patent Office on August 23, 2021, with the application number 202110969088.8, and the title of the invention is "An Adaptive Curved Tube, a Curved Tube for Endoscopes, and an Endoscope", The entire contents of which are incorporated by reference in this application.

technical field

The present application relates to the technical field of medical devices, and more specifically, relates to an adaptive bending tube. In addition, the present application also relates to a curved tube for an endoscope including the self-adaptive curved tube, an insertion portion, and an endoscope.

Background technique

With the development of medical device technology, insertion tubes that can enter the cavity of the human body, such as the insertion part of an endoscope, are widely used to facilitate observation of target positions in the human body and assist minimally invasive or non-invasive treatment.

Due to the complexity of the channel bending in the human body cavity, especially for some continuous bending or severe bending of the human body cavity, in order to ensure the smooth entry of the insertion tube, it is usually required that the insertion tube has an adaptive bending part, and the adaptive bending The part can be adaptively and freely bent due to the restriction of the shape of the cavity of the human body, so that the insertion tube can smoothly enter the cavity of the human body.

In the case of an endoscope, it includes an insertion portion, which generally includes a front end portion, a curved portion, and a flexible portion. In the prior art, in order to make the insertion part of the endoscope smoothly enter the human body cavity, the rigidity of the section of the flexible part close to the bending part is usually reduced, so that the rigidity of the section of the flexible part close to the bending part is lower than that of the flexible part The rigidity of the other parts forms an adaptive bending section, so that a section of the flexible part close to the bending part can be adaptively bent due to the restriction of the cavity channel, so as to ensure the smoothness of the insertion part entering the human cavity.

However, the adaptive bending section is formed by reducing the rigidity of a section of the flexible part close to the bending section, so that the maximum bending angle of the adaptive bending section is not easy to control. Moreover, the bending fatigue life of this adaptive bending section is low, and when bending prone to failure.

In summary, how to provide an adaptive bending tube with a controllable maximum bending angle and a bend that is not prone to failure is an urgent problem to be solved by those skilled in the art.

Contents of the invention

In view of this, the purpose of the present application is to provide an adaptive bending pipe, the maximum bending angle of which is controllable, and the bending is not prone to failure.

Another object of the present application is to provide a curved tube for endoscope including the above-mentioned self-adaptive curved tube, which has both an active bending part and a passive bending part, and the maximum bending angle of the passive bending part is controllable, and It is not easy to fail when bent.

Another object of the present application is to provide an insertion part comprising the above-mentioned curved tube for an endoscope, which has better adaptability to human cavity.

Another object of the present application is to provide an endoscope comprising the above-mentioned insertion portion, which has better insertion performance.

In order to achieve the above object, the application provides the following technical solutions:

An adaptive bending tube, comprising several coaxially arranged bending rings, two adjacent bending rings are connected by a clamping structure, and there is a preset gap between two adjacent bending rings in the clamping state ; The clamping structure includes:

A protrusion provided on one of the two adjacent bending rings, the free end of the protrusion is provided with a first hook;

The groove provided on the other of the two adjacent bending rings, the notch of the groove is provided with a second hook, and the second hook is used to cooperate with the first hook to prevent the protrusion from disengaging from the groove;

Wherein, the protrusion is movably embedded in the groove along the axial direction of the bending ring, and the protrusion can rotate relative to the groove.

In some embodiments, any two adjacent curved rings are respectively connected by at least two snapping structures, and all the snapping structures between two adjacent curved rings are distributed in a spiral shape.

In some embodiments, the end surface of the curved ring is provided with at least two stepped surfaces staggered along its axial direction, and the two adjacent engaging structures along the circumferential direction of the curved ring are respectively located on different steps. face.

In some embodiments, the end surface of the curved ring is provided with at least two stepped surfaces staggered along its axial direction, and the engaging structure is arranged between two adjacent stepped surfaces along the circumferential direction.

In some embodiments, a sunken groove is provided at the junction of two circumferentially adjacent stepped surfaces, and the protrusion extends from the bottom of the sunken groove along the axial direction of the curved ring.

In some embodiments, the stepped surface is perpendicular to the axis of the curved ring.

In some embodiments, the two axially adjacent snapping structures of the curved ring are staggered along the circumferential direction of the curved ring.

In some embodiments, the protruding portion and the first hook form a T-shaped structure, and the second hooks are respectively provided on opposite sides of the notch.

In some embodiments, the protrusion and the first hook form an L-shaped structure, and one side of the notch is provided with the second hook.

In some embodiments, the engaging directions of any two adjacent first hooks along the helical travel direction of the engaging structure are opposite.

In some embodiments, directions of any two adjacent protrusions along the helical travel direction of the locking structure are opposite.

In some embodiments, the side of the protrusion facing the groove wall of the groove has a first arc-shaped surface; the side wall of the groove and the bottom wall of the groove pass through the second arc-shaped surface connected.

In some embodiments, the protruding part and the groove cooperate to limit in the circumferential direction of the bending ring, so as to prevent two adjacent bending rings from twisting relative to each other.

In some embodiments, the adaptive bend tube is cut from a one-piece tubular member.

A curved tube for an endoscope, comprising:

The active bending tube, the first end of which is used to connect with the traction rope passing through it, so that the active bending tube can be driven to bend by pulling the traction rope;

Any one of the above self-adaptive bending tubes, the first end of the self-adaptive bending tube is connected to the second end of the active bending tube, and the second end of the self-adaptive bending tube is used to connect with the flexible endoscope tube connected.

In some embodiments, the self-adaptive bending tube is connected to the active bending tube through an adapter ring.

In some embodiments, an elastic tube is pierced in the self-adaptive bending tube, which is used for the passage of the traction rope, one end of the elastic tube is connected with the adapter ring, and the other end of the elastic tube is connected with the It is connected with the end of the flexible tube away from the self-adaptive bending tube or the operating part of the endoscope.

An insertion part includes a front end part, a flexible tube and any one of the above-mentioned curved tubes for endoscope.

An endoscope includes the insertion portion as described above.

The self-adaptive bending pipe provided by the application is formed by several coaxially arranged bending rings, and two adjacent bending rings are connected by a snap-in structure, and the snap-in structure includes a protrusion and a groove, because the protrusion is in the groove The inner part can move along the axial direction of the bending ring and the protrusion can rotate relative to the groove. Therefore, when the bending ring of the self-adaptive bending tube is subjected to a force with a certain angle or perpendicular to its axis, if the initial state is adjacent If the preset gap between the two bending rings is not zero, the clamping structure between the bending rings on the force receiving side will be axially compressed, so that the free end and the groove of the protrusion on the force receiving side will The bottoms of the grooves are close to each other; at the same time, the snap-fit structure between the bending rings on the non-stressed side that is completely opposite to the stressed side is subjected to axial tension, that is, the protrusion of the non-stressed side The free end and the groove bottom of the groove are far away from each other; in addition, there will be a composite motion of axial movement and relative rotation along the bending ring between the protrusion and the groove in other directions, thus making the entire self-adaptive bending tube bending. When the free end of the protrusion on the stress side is in contact with the groove bottom of the groove, or when the first hook of the protrusion on the non-force side completely opposite to the stress side is in contact with the notch of the groove, When the second hooks of the two adjacent bending rings are in contact with each other, or when the preset gap between two adjacent bending rings is reduced to zero, so that the corresponding end faces of the adjacent two bending rings are in contact with each other, it indicates that the self-adaptive bending tube The maximum bending angle is reached, at which point the adaptive bending tube cannot continue to bend.

When the bending ring of the self-adaptive bending tube is subjected to a force with a certain angle or perpendicular to its axis, if the preset gap between two adjacent bending rings is zero in the initial state, that is, two adjacent bending rings When the rings are in a state of being close to each other, the clamping structure between the bending rings on the force-bearing side remains close to each other, as a rotation fulcrum, so that the bending rings on the non-force-bearing side that are completely opposite to the force-bearing side The clamping structure is subjected to axial tension, so that the free end of the protrusion on the non-stress side and the groove bottom of the groove are away from each other; between the protrusion and the groove in other directions, there will be an axis along the bending ring. The compound movement of direction movement and relative rotation, thus making the whole self-adaptive bending tube bend, until the first hook of the raised part on the non-forced side completely opposite to the force-bearing side and the second hook at the notch of the groove When the hook is in close contact, it indicates that the adaptive bending tube has reached the maximum bending angle, and at this time the adaptive bending tube cannot continue to bend.

It can be seen from this that the maximum bending angle of the self-adaptive bending tube and the stroke of the axial movement of the protrusion relative to the groove, the angular range of the rotation of the protrusion relative to the groove, and the size of the preset gap between two adjacent bending rings Therefore, by rationally designing the size of the preset gap between two adjacent bending rings, the stroke of the axial movement of the protrusion relative to the groove, and the angular range of the rotation of the protrusion relative to the groove, the self-adaptive The maximum bending angle of the bending tube makes the maximum bending angle of the adaptive bending tube controllable; in addition, using the preset gap between two adjacent bending rings, the axial movement of the protrusion relative to the groove and the relative The rotation of the groove realizes the bending of the self-adaptive bending tube. Compared with the prior art, the rigidity of the section of the flexible part close to the bending part is reduced to form the self-adaptive bending part, which avoids the elastic deformation of the self-adaptive bending tube itself. Bending occurs, thus improving the bending fatigue life of adaptive bending tubes and preventing bending failures.

The bending tube for endoscope provided by this application includes the active bending tube and the above-mentioned self-adaptive bending tube. invalidated.

The insertion part provided by the present application includes the above-mentioned curved tube for endoscope, which has better adaptability to the cavity of the human body.

The endoscope provided by the present application, including the above-mentioned insertion portion, has better insertion performance.

Description of drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings that need to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the accompanying drawings in the following description are only It is an embodiment of the present application, and those skilled in the art can also obtain other drawings according to the provided drawings without creative work.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an adaptive bending pipe provided by a specific embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the clamping structure in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an adaptive bending pipe provided by another specific embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 4 is a structural schematic diagram of an adaptive bending pipe provided by another specific embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural view of a curved tube for an endoscope provided in a specific embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 6 is the sectional view of Fig. 5;

7 is a schematic structural view of a curved tube for an endoscope provided in another specific embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of Fig. 7;

Figure 9 is a front view of the bending unit;

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of an endoscope provided by a specific embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the insertion part in Fig. 10 inserted into the cavity of the human body;

Fig. 12 is a left side view of Fig. 11 .

The reference signs among Fig. 1 to Fig. 12 are as follows:

11 is the bending ring, 111 is the preset gap, 112 is the step surface, 1121 is the sinking groove, 113 is the connection surface, 114 is the fifth mating end face, 115 is the sixth mating end face, 12 is the clamping structure, 121 is the protrusion 1211 is the first hook, 1212 is the first arc surface, 1213 is the first mating surface, 1214 is the third mating surface, 122 is the groove, 1221 is the second hook, 1222 is the second arc surface , 1223 is the second mating surface, 1224 is the fourth mating surface;

1 is the self-adaptive bending tube, 2 is the active bending tube, 21 is the traction rope, 22 is the bending unit, 23 is the rivet, 24 is the shaft axis, 25 is the guide ring, 3 is the flexible tube, 4 is the front end, 5 is the Adapter ring, 6 is an elastic tube;

100 is an insertion part, 200 is an operation part, 300 is a connector, and 400 is a connecting pipe.

Detailed ways

The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the application with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the application. Apparently, the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the application, not all of them. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by persons of ordinary skill in the art without making creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of this application.

The core of the present application is to provide an adaptive bending pipe, the maximum bending angle of which is controllable, and the bending is not prone to failure. Another core of the present application is to provide a curved tube for endoscope including the self-adaptive curved tube, which has both an active bending part and a passive bending part, and the maximum bending angle of the passive bending part is controllable, and It is not easy to fail when bent. Another core of the present application is to provide an insertion part comprising the above-mentioned curved tube for endoscope, which has better lumen adaptability. Another core of the present application is to provide an endoscope comprising the above-mentioned insertion portion, which has better insertion performance.

Please refer to FIG. 1-FIG. 12, which are the attached drawings of the specification of this application.

As shown in Figure 1, the present application provides an adaptive bending pipe, which includes several coaxially arranged bending rings 11, two adjacent bending rings 11 are connected by a snap-fit structure 12, and are adjacent in the snap-fit state There is a predetermined gap 111 between the two bending rings 11; wherein, the engaging structure 12 includes a protrusion 121 and a groove 122 fitted with concave and convex, and the protrusion 121 is arranged on one of the two adjacent bending rings 11 The groove 122 is arranged on the other of the two adjacent bending rings 11, the free end of the protrusion 121 is provided with a first hook 1211, and the notch of the groove 122 is provided with a second hook 1221, The first hook 1211 cooperates with the second hook 1221 to prevent the protrusion 121 from detaching from the groove 122 , so as to ensure the reliability of the connection between two adjacent bending rings 11 .

More importantly, as shown in FIG. 2 , the protruding portion 121 is embedded in the groove 122 so as to move along the axial direction of the bending ring 11 , and the protruding portion 121 can rotate relative to the groove 122 . That is to say, after the protrusion 121 is embedded in the groove 122, the dimension of the first hook 1211 along the axial direction of the bending ring 11 is smaller than the distance between the second hook 1221 and the groove 122 along the axial direction of the bending ring 11. The distance between the bottom of the groove, so that there is a certain gap between the first hook 1211 and the bottom of the groove 122 or the second hook 1221, so that the first hook 1211 moves along the curved ring 11 in the groove 122 There is a certain movable space in the axial direction to ensure that two adjacent curved rings 11 have axial movement towards or away from each other. In addition, the protrusion 121 and the groove 122 can rotate relative to each other, so as to ensure the relative rotation between two adjacent bending rings 11, so as to realize the bending of the self-adaptive bending pipe.

Wherein, it can be understood that the "several" mentioned in this application refers to more than two.

It should be noted that in this application, the specific size of the preset gap 111 between two adjacent bending rings 11 is not limited, and those skilled in the art can set it according to actual needs. For example, the preset gap 111 can be At this time, after the two adjacent curved rings 11 are connected by the snap-fit structure 12, the parts other than the snap-fit structure 12 on the adjacent two curved rings 11 are close to each other and face to face; of course , the preset gap 111 can also be any value greater than zero, as long as the self-adaptive bending tube formed by it has bending performance and its structural strength can be ensured.

Further, the present application does not limit the stroke size of the axial movement of the protrusion 121 relative to the groove 122, and the stroke of the axial movement of the protrusion 121 relative to the groove 122 may be equal to the predetermined distance between two adjacent bending rings 11. It is assumed that the gaps 111 are the same or different. When the stroke of the axial movement of the protrusion 121 relative to the groove 122 is the same as the preset gap 111 between two adjacent curved rings 11 , when the free end of the protrusion 121 contacts the bottom of the groove 122 , Then the preset gap 111 between two adjacent bending rings 11 is zero; The predetermined gap 111 between the bending rings 11 is the largest. When the preset gap 111 between two adjacent bending rings 11 is different from the stroke of the axial movement of the protrusion 121 relative to the groove 122, the maximum bending can be achieved as long as one matching surface of the corresponding feature is abutted during the movement. angle.

When the preset gap 111 between two adjacent bending rings 11 is not zero in the initial state, when the bending ring 11 of the self-adaptive bending tube is subjected to a force with a certain angle or perpendicular to its axis, the force will be The clamping structure 12 between the bending rings 11 on the side is subjected to axial compression, so that the free end of the protrusion 121 on the stress side and the groove bottom of the groove 122 are close to each other; at the same time, it is completely opposite to the stress side The snap-fit structure 12 between the bending rings 11 on the non-stressed side is axially stretched, that is, the free end of the protrusion 121 on the non-stressed side and the groove bottom of the groove 122 are away from each other; In addition, a composite motion of axial movement and relative rotation along the bending ring 11 will be generated between the protrusion 121 and the groove 122 in other directions, thereby causing the entire self-adaptive bending tube to bend.

As shown in Figure 2, when the first mating surface 1213 of the free end of the protruding portion 121 on the force receiving side is in contact with the second mating surface 1223 of the bottom of the groove 122, or when it is completely opposite to the force receiving side When the third mating surface 1214 of the first hook 1211 of the protrusion 121 on the non-stressed side is in contact with the fourth mating surface 1224 of the second hook 1221 at the notch of the groove 122, or when two adjacent The preset gap 111 between two bending rings 11 is reduced to zero, so that when the fifth matching end surface 114 and the sixth matching end surface 115 of two adjacent bending rings 11 are in contact with each other, it indicates that the self-adaptive bending tube reaches the maximum bending Angle, at this time the adaptive bending tube cannot continue to bend.

When the preset gap 111 between two adjacent bending rings 11 is zero in the initial state, when the bending ring 11 of the self-adaptive bending tube is subjected to a force with a certain angle or perpendicular to its axis, the force-bearing side The clamping structures 12 between the bending rings 11 are kept close to each other, as the fulcrum of rotation, so that the clamping structures 12 between the bending rings 11 on the non-stressed side completely opposite to the stressed side are axially stretched, Make the free end of the protrusion 121 on the non-stress side and the groove bottom of the groove 122 away from each other; the axial movement and relative movement along the bending ring 11 will occur between the protrusion 121 and the groove 122 in other directions. The compound movement of the rotation, thus making the whole self-adaptive bending tube bend until the first hook 1211 of the raised part 121 on the non-forced side completely opposite to the force-bearing side and the second hook 1211 at the notch of the groove 122 When the hook 1221 is in close contact, it indicates that the adaptive bending tube has reached the maximum bending angle, and at this time the adaptive bending tube cannot continue to bend.

It can be known from the above that the maximum bending angle of the adaptive bending tube is related to the stroke of the axial movement of the protrusion 121 relative to the groove 122, the angle range of the rotation of the protrusion 121 relative to the groove 122, and the distance between two adjacent bending rings 11. The size of the preset gap 111 is related, therefore, by rationally designing the size of the preset gap 111 between two adjacent curved rings 11, the stroke of the axial movement of the protrusion 121 relative to the groove 122 and the relative concave of the protrusion 121 The angle range of the rotation of the groove 122 can control the maximum bending angle of the self-adaptive bending tube, so that the maximum bending angle of the self-adaptive bending tube is controllable; in addition, using the preset gap 111 between two adjacent bending rings 11, the convex The axial movement of the raised part 121 relative to the groove 122 and the rotation of the raised part 121 relative to the groove 122 realize the bending of the self-adaptive bending tube. Compared with the prior art, the rigidity of a section of the flexible part close to the bending part is reduced. The self-adaptive bending part is formed to avoid bending due to the elastic deformation of the self-adaptive bending pipe itself, so the bending fatigue life of the self-adaptive bending pipe can be improved and bending failure can be prevented.

Considering the reliability of the connection between two adjacent bending rings 11, as an optional solution, on the basis of the above-mentioned embodiments, any two adjacent bending rings 11 are connected through at least two clamping structures respectively. 12 connections. That is to say, there are more than two engaging structures 12 distributed between two adjacent bending rings 11 along the circumferential direction of the bending rings 11, so that through the joint action of a plurality of engaging structures 12, two adjacent bending rings 11 to ensure the reliability of the connection between the bending rings 11.

Further, in order to make the self-adaptive bending tube have better structural strength, on the basis of the above embodiments, all the clamping structures 12 between two adjacent bending rings 11 are distributed in a spiral shape.

In addition, in order to ensure the consistency of the bending rigidity of the self-adaptive bending tube in all directions, in some embodiments, all the engaging structures 12 between two adjacent bending rings 11 are evenly distributed along the circumference of the bending ring 11, That is, the angles between two adjacent engaging structures 12 between adjacent two bending rings 11 are the same, which is beneficial to ensure the uniformity of the bending rigidity of the self-adaptive bending tube in all directions.

Further, in order to realize that the two adjacent engaging structures 12 in the circumferential direction of the bending ring 11 are mutually staggered along the axial direction of the bending ring 11, on the basis of the above-mentioned embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 , the end surface of the bending ring 11 There are at least two stepped surfaces 112 staggered along the axial direction thereof, and two engaging structures 12 adjacent to each other along the circumferential direction of the bending ring 11 are located on different stepped surfaces 112 . It can be understood that, since the different stepped surfaces 112 are staggered from each other along the axial direction of the curved ring 11, when the engaging structure 12 (such as the protrusion 121 or the groove 122) is provided on the different stepped surfaces 112, Then, the locking structures 12 on different stepped surfaces 112 can be staggered along the axial direction of the bending ring 11 .

It should be noted that the two adjacent engaging structures 12 along the circumferential direction of the bending ring 11 can be respectively provided on two adjacent step surfaces 112, or can be provided on two non-adjacent step surfaces 112, that is, There may be more than one stepped surface 112 not provided with a snapping structure 12 (such as a protrusion 121 or a groove 122 ) between two adjacent snapping structures 12 along the circumferential direction of the bending ring 11 .

In addition, this embodiment does not limit the connection between two adjacent step surfaces 112. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. The connection surface 113 of the axis is connected. It can be understood that, in order to prevent the connection between two adjacent step surfaces 112 from affecting the bending of the self-adaptive bending tube, the corresponding connection surfaces 113 of two adjacent bending rings 11 are arranged oppositely, and the corresponding two connection surfaces 113 There is a certain gap between them.

Alternatively, in order to realize that the two adjacent engaging structures 12 in the circumferential direction of the bending ring 11 are mutually staggered along the axial direction of the bending ring 11, on the basis of the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3 , the end surface of the bending ring 11 is provided with There are at least two stepped surfaces 112 staggered along its axial direction, and the engaging structure 12 is arranged between two adjacent stepped surfaces 112 along the circumferential direction, that is, two adjacent stepped surfaces 112 pass through the engaging structures 12 (such as Protrusion 121 or groove 122) transition.

Further, in order to minimize the width dimension of each bending ring 11 along its axial direction, it is convenient to arrange more clamping structures in the adaptive bending tube without increasing the axial length of the adaptive bending tube, so that The self-adaptive bending tube is more flexible as a whole. In some embodiments, a sunken groove 1121 is provided at the junction of two adjacent stepped surfaces 112 in the circumferential direction, and the protrusion 121 extends from the bottom of the sunken groove 1121 along the axial direction of the bending ring 11. . That is to say, the protrusion 121 protrudes from the sinker groove 1121, so that at least part of the dimension of the protrusion 121 along the axial direction of the bending ring 11 coincides with the partial dimension of the bending ring 11 itself along its axial direction, so that the bending ring The overall maximum width of 11 is reduced, which is equivalent to compressing the axial distance of the snap-fit structure 12 between different bending rings 11 along the bending ring 11, thus reducing the rigidity of the adaptive bending tube and improving the self-adaptive bending. Flexibility to accommodate curved pipe bends.

It should be noted that, in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the specific arrangement of the stepped surface 112 is not limited. For example, the stepped surface 112 can be an inclined surface with a certain inclination angle relative to the axis of the bending ring 11. Considering the convenience of processing As an optional solution, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 , on the basis of the above embodiments, the stepped surface 112 is perpendicular to the axis of the bending ring 11 . In other embodiments, the stepped surface 112 may also form a certain inclined angle with respect to the axis of the bending ring 11 .

It can be understood that, in order to make the rigidity of the self-adaptive bending tube as low as possible, it is necessary to minimize the axial distance between two adjacent snap-in structures 12 along the axial direction of the bending ring 11, while When the axial distance between the two axially adjacent snapping structures 12 of 11 is small, it will affect the structural strength of the self-adaptive bending pipe. Therefore, in order to ensure the structural strength of the self-adaptive bending pipe, based on the above embodiment Above, the two axially adjacent snapping structures 12 of the bending ring 11 are staggered along the circumferential direction of the bending ring 11 . That is to say, the two snap-in structures 12 that are adjacent to the bending ring 11 in the axial direction are not completely aligned, but are staggered from each other along the circumferential direction of the bending ring 11, which is beneficial to ensure that the bending ring 11 On the premise of strength, the axial dimension of the bending ring 11 can be reduced, thereby reducing the rigidity of the self-adaptive bending pipe and improving its bending flexibility.

In addition, in order to ensure that the protrusion 121 can rotate relative to the groove 122, on the basis of the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1212 ; the side wall of the groove 122 is connected to the bottom wall of the groove 122 through the second arc surface 1222 . That is to say, in this embodiment, through the cooperation between the first arc-shaped surface 1212 and the second arc-shaped surface 1222 , a rotating pair is formed, so that the protrusion 121 can rotate relative to the groove 122 .

In addition, in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the specific shapes of the first hook 1211 and the second hook 1221 are not limited, as long as the first hook 1211 and the second hook 1221 can cooperate with each other to prevent the protrusion 121 from Get out from the groove 122.

For example, such a solution may be adopted. As shown in FIGS. 1-3 , the protrusion 121 and the first hook 1211 form a T-shaped structure, and the two sides of the groove 122 opposite to the notch are respectively provided with second hooks 1221 . Wherein, in this solution, since the two ends of the first hook 1211 are engaged with the two second hooks 1221 on the opposite sides of the notch of the groove 122 respectively, therefore, no matter the adaptive bending tube is subjected to Whether the force in the left-handed direction or the force in the right-handed direction can achieve better anti-torsion performance through the hooking structure on both sides, that is, the torsional strength in the circumferential direction of the self-adaptive bending tube can be made regardless of whether it is smooth Both clockwise and counterclockwise directions are guaranteed.

Alternatively, such a solution is also possible. As shown in FIG. 4 , the protrusion 121 and the first hook 1211 form an L-shaped structure, and the second hook 1221 is provided on one side of the notch of the groove 122 . It can be seen that the latter scheme has a simpler structure and is easier to process than the former scheme. In particular, in this solution, the hooking directions of any two adjacent first hooks 1211 along the helical travel direction of the locking structure 12 are opposite, and they are positive and negative hooks. For example, as shown in Figure 4, if the axial direction of the self-adaptive bending tube is taken as the positive direction, then any two adjacent first hooks 1211 in the helical stroke direction and a second hook 1221 corresponding to the left hooked, and the other hooked to the right with the corresponding second hook 1221, so that the self-adaptive bending tube can have a better anti-torsion performance. Of course, in some other embodiments, in the case where the anti-torsion performance in a certain direction is not high, in order to facilitate processing, any two adjacent first hooks 1211 along the helical stroke direction of the locking structure 12 The hooking orientation of the can also be the same.

Among them, it can be understood that since there is a hooking structure on both sides of the T-shaped structure, under the premise of the same pipe diameter and the same hook size, the number of hooking structures is equivalent to the number of hooking structures with an L-shaped structure Therefore, in the case of the same hook size, the hooking structure of the T-shaped structure can lay more than the L-shaped structure, and then, when the T-shaped structure is used in the self-adaptive bending tube, a higher Structural strength.

It should be noted that, in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, there is no limitation on the specific way to realize the connection of the snap-fit structure 12 between adjacent curved rings 11, as long as the snap-fit structure 12 between adjacent curved rings 11 can be maintained. The clamped state is sufficient. As an optional solution, on the basis of the above embodiments, the self-adaptive bending tube is formed by cutting from an integral tubular member. That is to say, by cutting, the bending ring 11 with the predetermined gap 111 and the engaging structure 12 are formed integrally, the structure is simple, and the processing cost is low.

In addition, in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, in order to ensure that the self-adaptive bending tube has better anti-twist performance, on the basis of the above-mentioned embodiments, the protrusion 121 and the groove 122 cooperate to limit the circumferential direction of the bending ring 11 , so as to prevent two adjacent bending rings 11 from twisting relative to each other. That is to say, along the circumferential direction of the bending ring 11, the dimensions of the protrusion 121 and the groove 122 are the same or have a small gap, as long as the relative rotation of the protrusion 121 and the groove 122 can be ensured, so as to utilize the protrusion. The cooperative positioning of the rising portion 121 and the groove 122 along the circumference of the bending ring 11 prevents relative rotation between the bending rings 11 around their axes, so that the adaptive bending tube has better torsional rigidity.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the orientations of the protrusions 121 may be the same or different; correspondingly, the orientations of the grooves 122 may be the same or different. Specifically, for the convenience of processing, the directions of the protrusions 311 may be the same, that is, each bending ring 11 has a protrusion 121 at one end and a groove 122 at the other end. Alternatively, in order to make the self-adaptive bending tube receive more uniform force when subjected to axial tension, in other embodiments, any two adjacent The directions of the protrusions 121 are opposite, that is, each bending ring 11 is alternately provided with protrusions 121 and grooves 122 in the circumferential direction at both ends thereof.

As shown in Figure 5 and Figure 7, in addition to the self-adaptive curved tube, the present application also provides a curved tube for endoscope including the self-adaptive curved tube disclosed in the above embodiment, and the curved tube for endoscope also includes an active The bending tube 2, the first end of the active bending tube 2 is used to be connected with the traction rope 21 passing through it, so as to drive the active bending tube 2 to bend by pulling the traction rope 21; the second end of the active bending tube 2 is connected with the self-adaptive The first end of the curved tube is connected, and the second end of the self-adaptive curved tube is used to connect with the flexible tube 3 of the endoscope. The flexible tube 3 is mainly used to realize the connection between the insertion part of the endoscope and the operation part located outside the body cavity of the human body.

That is to say, the curved tube for endoscope provided in this embodiment has both an active bending part (ie, the active bending tube 2 ) and a passive bending part (ie, the self-adaptive bending tube). When the endoscope bending tube is applied to an endoscope, the end of the traction rope 21 away from the active bending tube 2 is connected to the angle control knob of the operating part 200 of the endoscope, so that the angle control knob can be operated to pull it The traction rope 21, and then the traction rope 21 drives the active bending tube 2 to bend, so that the active bending tube 2 passes through the human cavity smoothly. At the same time, under the limitation of the bending shape of the human cavity, the force generated by the adaptive bending tube function, so that the self-adaptive bending tube can be freely bent along the shape of the human body cavity. From the content recorded above, the maximum bending angle of the self-adaptive bending tube can be controlled. Therefore, the self-adaptive bending tube can be reasonably designed according to the shape of the human body cavity. Adapt to the maximum bending angle of the bending tube, so that the maximum bending angle of the adaptive bending tube can meet the shape requirements of the human cavity; in addition, the bending fatigue life of the adaptive bending tube is long, which can prevent bending failure. Therefore, the endoscope The curved tube can be applied not only to disposable endoscopes, but also to reusable endoscopes.

It should be noted that this embodiment does not limit the specific structure and bending principle of the active bending tube 2, as an optional solution, as shown in Figure 5 and Figure 7, on the basis of the above-mentioned embodiment The active bending part includes several coaxially arranged bending units 22, there is a certain interval between two adjacent bending units 22, and the adjacent bending units 22 are rotationally connected by rotating shafts (such as rivets 23), so that adjacent The two bending units 22 can rotate relative to each other around the shaft axis 24 . In some embodiments, two adjacent bending units 22 are connected by two rotating shafts (such as rivets 23) arranged symmetrically about the axis of the bending units 22, and one bending unit 22 is connected to the rotating shafts ( For example, the rivets 23) are arranged at a certain angle staggered along the circumferential direction of the bending unit 22. Further, in some embodiments, a bending unit 22 is arranged vertically to the rotating shafts (such as rivets 23) connected to the bending units 22 on both sides (as shown in FIG. 9 ), so that by operating the traction rope 21, the active The curved tube 2 rotates back and forth around two shaft axes 24 which are perpendicular to each other respectively. For example, when a bending unit 22 is respectively connected to the rotating shafts (such as rivets 23 ) of the bending units 22 on both sides respectively in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, The active bending tube 2 can be rotated in four directions, up, down, left, and right, and the active bending tube 2 can be bent in any direction of 360° through compound motion.

It can be understood that, in order to control the rotation of the active bending tube 2 in various directions, in some embodiments, the number of traction ropes 21 is the same as the number of rotating shafts (such as rivets 23 ) at different angles in the circumferential direction of the bending unit 22 . For example, as shown in Figure 9, when a bending unit 22 is respectively connected with four rotating shafts (such as rivets 23), the four rotating shafts (such as rivets 23) are symmetrically arranged in pairs with respect to the axis of the bending unit 22 respectively. The rotating shafts (such as rivets 23) are vertically arranged, and the four rotating shafts (such as rivets 23) of different bending units 22 are aligned one by one respectively, and are respectively located on four straight lines, then the number of traction ropes 21 is four, and the four traction ropes 21 are all set in the active bending tube 2, as shown in Figure 6 and Figure 8, the position corresponding to each rotating shaft (such as rivets 23) on the bending unit 22 is respectively provided with a guide ring 25, and the traction rope 21 is drawn from the guide ring 25 When the operator pulls the corresponding traction rope 21 through the angle control knob of the operation part 200, the traction force of the traction rope 21 is transmitted to the bending unit 22 through the guide ring 25, and then the bending unit 22 is rotated around the corresponding rotating shaft (such as a rivet) 23) axis rotates, so that the active bending tube 2 bends in a certain direction (such as up or down or left or right, etc.).

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the specific connection mode between the adaptive bending tube and the active bending tube 2 is not limited, as long as the connection between the two can be realized, considering the convenience of the connection between the two, as a As an optional solution, on the basis of the above embodiments, the self-adaptive bending pipe is connected to the active bending pipe 2 through an adapter ring 5 . As shown in Figures 6 and 8, in some embodiments, the adapter ring 5 includes a first socket portion for socketing with the active bending pipe 2 and a second socket portion for socketing with the self-adaptive bending pipe , between the active bending tube 2 and the first socket part and between the self-adaptive bending tube and the second socket part are respectively connected by fasteners or fixed by riveting or by other means such as welding.

It can be understood that the traction rope 21 penetrates from the flexible tube 3 of the endoscope, passes through the adaptive bending tube and the active bending tube 2 in sequence to the first end of the active bending tube 2, and connects with the first end of the active bending tube 2. Therefore, when the traction rope 21 is pulled to control the bending of the active bending pipe 2, the rigidity of the traction rope 21 will be enhanced, which will affect the performance of the adaptive bending pipe and the flexible pipe 3, in order to reduce the rigidity of the traction rope 21 For the influence of the self-adaptive bending tube and the flexible tube 3, in some embodiments, as shown in Figures 6 and 8, an elastic tube 6 is pierced in the self-adaptive bending tube and the flexible tube 3, and the elastic tube 6 is used for For the traction rope 21 to pass through, considering the convenience of fixing the elastic tube 6, in some embodiments, one end of the elastic tube 6 is connected to the adapter ring 5, and the other end of the elastic tube 6 is away from the flexible tube 3 for self-adaptive bending One end of the tube is connected to the operating part of the endoscope, so as to ensure the performance of the self-adaptive bending tube and the flexible tube 3 when the active bending tube 2 is bent.

It should be noted that there are multiple elastic tubes 6 , which are the same as the number of traction ropes 21 , and the two are provided in one-to-one correspondence, that is, each elastic tube 6 is threaded with a traction rope 21 . For example, when the quantity of traction rope 21 is four, the quantity of elastic tube 6 is also four, and the outer peripheral portion of each traction rope 21 is all sleeved with elastic tube 6, and at this moment, by four traction rope 21 control four bending directions to achieve multi-degree-of-freedom traction.

In addition to the self-adaptive curved tube and the curved tube for endoscope, the present application also provides an insertion part including the curved tube for endoscope disclosed in the above embodiments, and an endoscope including the insertion part. Please refer to the prior art for the structures of other parts of the endoscope.

As shown in Figure 10, the endoscope includes an insertion part 100, an operation part 200, a connector 300 and a connecting pipe 400, wherein the insertion part 100 is used to enter the human body for inspection, and it includes a front end part 4, a curved tube for an endoscope With the flexible tube 3, the front end 4 is connected to the first end of the active bending tube 2 of the bending tube for the endoscope, and the flexible tube 3 is connected to the second end of the self-adaptive bending tube of the bending tube for the endoscope; Part 4 is provided with structures such as a camera unit, an instrument channel, and a water-air channel, which are used for visually observing the target area of the human body and facilitating the use of instruments for auxiliary treatment. The end of the flexible tube 3 away from the self-adaptive bending tube is connected to the operating part 200. The operating part 200 is provided with an angle control knob for controlling the bending of the active bending tube 2 of the insertion part 100 and other various function buttons, so that the operator can adjust the bending angle according to the needs. Realize the corresponding functions. The operation part 200 is connected with the connector 300 through the connection pipe 400, and the connector 300 is used to connect with external devices such as the processor of the endoscope and the light source, and the connector 300 realizes signals, Transmission and connection of lighting or other functions.

Since the insertion part and the endoscope include the above-mentioned curved tube for endoscope, and the curved tube for endoscope includes the self-adaptive curved tube disclosed in the above embodiment, the maximum bending angle of the self-adaptive curved tube is controllable, and its bending is not easy. Failure, therefore, makes the insertion part have better lumen adaptability, and further, the endoscope has better insertion performance.

As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 , they are schematic views of inserting the insertion part 100 of the endoscope into the cavity of a human body.

It should also be noted that in this specification, relative terms such as first and second are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply that these entities or operations There is no such actual relationship or order between the operations.

Each embodiment in this specification is described in a progressive manner, each embodiment focuses on the difference from other embodiments, and the same and similar parts of each embodiment can be referred to each other.

The self-adaptive bending tube, the bending tube for endoscope and the endoscope provided by the present application have been introduced in detail above. In this paper, specific examples are used to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of the present application, and the descriptions of the above embodiments are only used to help understand the methods and core ideas of the present application. It should be pointed out that those skilled in the art can make some improvements and modifications to the application without departing from the principles of the application, and these improvements and modifications also fall within the protection scope of the claims of the application.

Claims

An adaptive bending pipe, characterized in that it includes several coaxially arranged bending rings (11), two adjacent bending rings (11) are connected by a snap-fit structure (12), and are connected to each other in a snap-fit state. There is a preset gap (111) between two adjacent bending rings (11); the engaging structure (12) includes:

The protrusion (121) provided on one of the two adjacent bending rings (11), the free end of the protrusion (121) is provided with a first hook (1211);

The groove (122) of the other one of the two adjacent bending rings (11) is arranged, and the notch of the groove (122) is provided with a second hook (1221), and the second The hook (1221) is used to cooperate with the first hook (1211) to prevent the protrusion (121) from detaching from the groove (122);

Wherein, the protruding part (121) is embedded in the groove (122) so as to be movable along the axial direction of the bending ring (11), and the protruding part (121) can move relative to the concave The slot (122) rotates.
The self-adaptive bending pipe according to claim 1, characterized in that any adjacent two bending rings (11) are respectively connected by at least two snapping structures (12), and two adjacent All the clamping structures (12) between the bending rings (11) are distributed in a spiral shape.
The self-adaptive bending pipe according to claim 2, characterized in that, the end surface of the bending ring (11) is provided with at least two stepped surfaces (112) staggered along its axial direction, along the bending ring (11 ) and two circumferentially adjacent snapping structures (12) are located on different stepped surfaces (112) respectively.
The self-adaptive bending pipe according to claim 2, characterized in that, the end surface of the bending ring (11) is provided with at least two stepped surfaces (112) that are staggered along its axial direction, and the clamping structure (12 ) is arranged between two adjacent step surfaces (112) along the circumferential direction.
The self-adaptive bending pipe according to claim 4, characterized in that, a sinking groove (1121) is provided at the junction of two adjacent step surfaces (112) along the circumferential direction, and the protrusion (121) is formed from the The bottom of the sinking groove (1121) extends along the axial direction of the bending ring (11).
The self-adaptive bending pipe according to any one of claims 3-5, characterized in that, the step surface (112) is perpendicular to the axis of the bending ring (11).
The self-adaptive bending pipe according to any one of claims 2-6, characterized in that, the two snap-in structures (12) adjacent to the axial direction of the bending ring (11) are (11) circumferentially staggers the setting.
The self-adaptive bending pipe according to any one of claims 2-7, characterized in that, the protrusion (121) and the first hook (1211) form a T-shaped structure, and the opposite side of the notch is The second hooks (1221) are respectively provided on both sides.
The self-adaptive bending pipe according to any one of claims 2-7, characterized in that, the protrusion (121) and the first hook (1211) form an L-shaped structure, and one of the notches The second hook (1221) is provided on the side.
The self-adaptive bending pipe according to claim 9, characterized in that the hooking directions of any two adjacent first hooks (1211) along the helical stroke direction of the locking structure (12) are opposite.
The self-adaptive bending pipe according to any one of claims 2-10, characterized in that the direction of any two adjacent protrusions (121) along the helical travel direction of the locking structure (12) is opposite .
The self-adaptive bending pipe according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that, the side of the protrusion (121) facing the groove wall of the groove (122) has a first arc-shaped surface ( 1212); the side wall of the groove (122) is connected with the bottom wall of the groove (122) through the second arc surface (1222).
The self-adaptive bending pipe according to any one of claims 1-12, characterized in that, the protrusion (121) and the groove (122) are limited in the circumferential direction of the bending ring (11). position, to prevent the two adjacent bending rings (11) from twisting relative to each other.
The self-adaptive bending pipe according to any one of claims 1-13, characterized in that, the self-adaptive bending pipe is formed by cutting an integral tubular member.
A curved tube for an endoscope, characterized in that it comprises:

The active bending pipe (2), the first end of which is used to connect with the traction rope (21) passing through it, so that the active bending pipe (2) can be driven to bend by pulling the traction rope (21);

The adaptive bending tube (1) according to any one of claims 1-14, wherein the first end of the adaptive bending tube (1) is connected to the second end of the active bending tube (2), and the self-adaptive bending tube (2) is connected to the second end of the active bending tube (2). The second end of the flexible tube (1) is adapted to be connected with the flexible tube (3) of the endoscope.
The bending tube for endoscope according to claim 15, characterized in that, the self-adaptive bending tube (1) is connected to the active bending tube (2) through an adapter ring (5).
The curved tube for endoscope according to claim 16, characterized in that, the self-adaptive curved tube (1) is pierced with an elastic tube (6), which is used for the passage of the traction rope (21), One end of the elastic tube (6) is connected to the adapter ring (5), and the other end of the elastic tube (6) is used to be away from the flexible tube (3) from the self-adaptive bending tube (1 ) or the operating part of the endoscope is connected.
An insertion part, characterized by comprising a front end part (4), a flexible tube (3) and the curved tube for an endoscope according to any one of claims 15-17.
An endoscope, characterized by comprising the insertion part (100) according to claim 18.