WO2023163161A1

WO2023163161A1 - Gripping tool

Info

Publication number: WO2023163161A1
Application number: PCT/JP2023/007001
Authority: WO
Inventors: 昇本村; 洋介三林; 光博中谷; 浩一弓庭
Original assignee: 株式会社産業情報総合研究所; 学校法人東邦大学; 学校法人玉川学園
Priority date: 2022-02-25
Filing date: 2023-02-27
Publication date: 2023-08-31
Also published as: JP2023124330A

Abstract

This gripping tool (100) is for gripping an object, the gripping tool (100) comprising: a gripping tool body (10) having a casing (11) and a protective pipe (22) that extends in a first direction (X); a gripping part (20) that is connected to the tip of the protective pipe (22) and that has a clamping arm member (21) for clamping the object; and a clamping operation part (30) that is fixed to the gripping tool body (10) so as to be capable of rotating about a second direction (Y), the clamping operation part performing a clamping operation on the gripping part (20). The gripping tool body (10) is provided with a slider (51) that moves with the operation of the clamping operation part (30), a spring (52) that extends/contracts with the movement of the slider (51), and a gripping drive mechanism (53) for transmitting a gripping operation to the gripping part (20) with the movement of the slider (51).

Description

gripper

The present invention relates to grippers.
This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-028033 filed in Japan on February 25, 2022, the content of which is incorporated herein.

As is well known, surgical techniques such as grasping, perforating, and suturing the living body are performed under various environmental conditions. Therefore, various graspers and needle holders including forceps are used. In recent years, there has been an increase in minimally invasive surgery in confined spaces using arthroscopic surgery, and in minimally invasive surgery in confined spaces, there is an increasing need to efficiently grasp and handle suture needles, etc., in a narrow field of view. ing.

For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a substantially pistol-shaped gripper. In this grasper, a clamping portion provided at the tip of the grasper clamps an object (suture needle) by performing a clamping operation of the clamping operation lever. Patent Literature 1 describes that an object can be clamped with an appropriate clamping force, enabling an operator to easily and efficiently operate a gripper.

WO2020/040295

In the gripper described in Patent Document 1, when the gripping operation lever is gripped, the elastic spring connected to the gripping portion expands and contracts, and the pair of gripping arm members of the gripping portion opens and closes. The object is clamped by opening and closing the pair of clamping arm members. Patent Literature 1 discloses that the expansion spring is formed in a generally circular shape in a side view by winding (for example, one or more turns) a linear member made of a titanium alloy, for example. In the case of the expansion spring having such a structure, as the number of times of opening and closing of the pair of holding arm members increases, the expansion spring deteriorates and there is a possibility that the expansion spring may be broken or otherwise damaged. If the expansion spring is damaged, it becomes impossible to open and close the pair of clamping arm members. Increased failure of the expansion spring increases the cost of the expansion spring. Moreover, when the expansion spring is damaged, it is necessary to disassemble the casing and replace the damaged expansion spring, which requires time and effort.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a gripper that is excellent in durability and operability.

The gist of the present invention employs the following means.
(1) A gripper according to an aspect of the present invention is a gripper that grips an object, the gripper main body having a casing and a protective pipe extending in a first direction; a gripping portion having a gripping arm member connected to grip the object, and a gripping operation portion fixed to the gripper main body so as to be rotatable in a second direction and performing a gripping operation of the gripping portion. The gripper main body includes a slider that moves in accordance with the operation of the gripping operation portion, a spring that expands and contracts in accordance with the movement of the slider, and a grip that transmits a gripping operation to the gripping portion in accordance with the movement of the slider. and a drive mechanism.
(2) The gripper according to (1) above is a rotating operation portion fixed to the gripping portion side of the clamping operation portion so as to be rotatable around the second direction, and transmitting a rotating operation to the gripping portion. may be provided.
(3) The gripper described in (1) or (2) above includes a grip portion integrally formed on the base end side of the gripper main body, and the intersection angle between the protective pipe and the grip portion is It may be 10° to 40°.
(4) In the gripper according to any one of (1) to (3) above, the slider may move along the first direction.
(5) In the gripper according to any one of (1) to (4) above, when the clamping operation part is operated and the slider moves, the spring is compressed, and the clamping operation part is operated. The spring may extend when is released and the slider moves.
(6) In the gripper described in (5) above, a guide rod may be arranged inside the spring, the slider may be cylindrical, and the slider and the spring may be guided by the guide rod.

According to the present invention, a gripper with excellent durability and operability can be provided.

1 is a longitudinal sectional view seen from a side for explaining a schematic configuration of a gripper according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an outline of the operation procedure of the gripper according to the present embodiment, and is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state before the start of operation in which the main part of the gripper is enlarged. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the operation procedure of the gripper according to the present embodiment, and is a schematic configuration diagram showing the state of the first operation in which the main part of the gripper is enlarged. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the operating procedure of the gripper according to the present embodiment, and is a schematic configuration diagram showing the state of the second operation in which the main part of the gripper is enlarged. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the operation procedure of the gripper according to the present embodiment, and is a schematic configuration diagram showing the state of the third operation in which the main part of the gripper is enlarged.

A gripper according to each embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals may be given to components common to each embodiment, and redundant description thereof may be omitted.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below.
FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the main part of the gripper according to the present embodiment, viewed from the side. As shown in FIG. 1 , the gripper 100 includes a gripper main body 10 , a gripping section 20 and a clamping operation section 30 . In the grasper 100, the distal end side (grasping portion 20 side) is denoted by F, and the base end side (operator side) is denoted by R. As shown in FIG.

The gripper body 10 has a casing 11 and a protective pipe 22 extending in the first direction X. The first direction X is the direction along the axis O22 of the protective pipe 22 . The axis O22 is an axis that passes through the center of the protective pipe 22 and is the same direction as the first direction X in FIG.

The casing 11 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped casing main body portion 111 elongated in the first direction X and a grip portion 112 integrally formed on the base end side R of the casing main body portion 111 .

The casing 11 is made of stainless steel with a substantially constant thickness. The casing 11 may be made of plastic resin. The casing 11 is configured, for example, so that it can be divided into two parts with the cross section shown in FIG. The casing 11 may be provided with a cleaning port 113 on the base end side R of the casing main body 111, for example.
The casing 11 has an internal space in which the casing body 111 and the grip 112 are integrally connected. A part of the clamping operation part 30, a part of the rotation operation part 40, and the like are arranged in this internal space.

The grip portion 112 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The intersection angle θ (°) between the protection pipe 22 and the grip portion 112 is 10° to 40°. The grip portion 112 is formed such that the intersection angle θ between the protection pipe 22 and the grip portion 112 is 20° in FIG. The operator grips the grip portion 112 and operates the clamping operation portion 30 and the rotating operation portion 40 described later.
The intersection angle θ is preferably 35° or less, more preferably 30° or less, which is suitable for stably gripping the gripper 100 . Also, the intersection angle θ is preferably 15° or more, more preferably 20° or more, which is suitable for stably gripping the gripper 100 .
The crossing angle θ (°) is the crossing angle (°) between the axis O112 of the grip portion 112 and the axis O22 of the protective pipe 22 . The axis O112 of the grip portion 112 is the central axis of the grip portion 112 in the longitudinal direction. The axis O112 of the grip portion 112 is, for example, a line connecting the center of the tip surface of the grip portion 112 and the cross-sectional center of the proximal end of the grip portion 112 .

The grasper 100 has a relatively small crossing angle θ (°) between the protective pipe 22 and the grip portion 112 compared to a substantially pistol-shaped grasper. The crossing angle between the protective pipe and the grip of the substantially pistol-shaped gripper is, for example, 60° to 75°.
Since the gripper 100 has the grip portion 112 having the crossing angle θ (°) as described above, the operator can easily grip the gripper 100 in a shake-hand style. The grasper 100 is generally shaped like a shakehand. When a substantially pistol-shaped gripper is operated, the palm of the operator faces the operator's side and the object (gripper) is placed on the hand. In this case, since the center of gravity of the gripper is located above the hand, the operation may be relatively unstable. On the other hand, when gripping the shake-hand type gripper 100, the gripper 100 is gripped with the back of the hand on the operator side or upper side, so the object (gripper 100) is on the lower side of the hand. In this case, since the center of gravity of the gripper 100 is located under the hand, the gripper 100 can be operated relatively stably. Thus, the gripper 100 according to this embodiment is excellent in operability.

The protection pipe 22 is made of a cylindrical stainless steel pipe, and is configured to accommodate a portion of the clamping operation portion 30 and a portion of the rotation operation portion 40 to be described later. The protective pipe 22 is configured to be guided from the casing 11 to the distal end side F of the gripper 100 . Inside the protective pipe 22, for example, a guide member (not shown) such as a rod holder may be arranged.
The protective pipe 22 prevents the clamping operation part 30 and the rotation operation part 40 from coming into contact with living tissue, and suppresses malfunction or breakage of these parts due to external force.
The protective pipe 22 has a length of 200 mm to 300 mm and a diameter of 5 mm to 10 mm.

The gripping part 20 has a clamping arm member 21 that is connected to the tip (front end side F) of the protective pipe 22 and clamps the object.

The clamping arm member 21 includes, for example, a left clamping arm member 21L and a right clamping arm member 21R. By operating the clamping operation part 30, the left clamping arm member 21L and the right clamping arm member 21R come close to clamp the object, and the left clamping arm member 21L and the right clamping arm member 21R are separated to separate the object. release. The left clamping arm member 21L and the right clamping arm member 21R can be opened at an angle of 90° from the closed state. That is, the left clamping arm member 21L and the right clamping arm member 21R can be opened at an angle of 180°. The shake-hand type gripper 100 according to this embodiment can obtain an equivalent gripping force at any angle within the range of 180°.

An object is, for example, a living tissue (including a part), a punching instrument, or an incision instrument.

The clamping operation part 30 is fixed to the gripper main body 10 so as to be rotatable around the second direction Y, and clamps the gripping part 20 . A second direction Y is a direction perpendicular to a plane including the first direction X and the clamping operation portion 30 . In FIG. 1, the second direction Y is the depth direction of the paper.
The pinching operation portion 30 includes a pinching operation lever 31 for pinching the pinching arm member 21 , a pinching operation transmission portion 60 for transmitting the pinching operation from the pinching operation lever 31 to the pinching arm member 21 , and a pinching operation return spring 58 . , has The clamping operation part 30 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The holding operation lever 31 is formed in a substantially L shape.
When the clamping operation portion 30 is rotated in the arrow T11 direction, a clamping operation is input. The clamping operation unit 30 is configured to perform a clamping operation (opening/closing operation) of the clamping arm member 21 by a clamping operation input to the clamping operation lever 31 via the clamping operation transmission unit 60 . The clamping operation return spring 58 is composed of, for example, a coil spring, a spiral spring, or a torsion spring. The clamping operation return spring 58 biases the clamping operation lever 31 in the direction opposite to the arrow T11 direction. It should be noted that a known configuration can be appropriately adopted as the clamping operation transmission section 60 .
The clamping operation section 30 may have a ratchet mechanism 57 . The ratchet mechanism 57 controls the gripping force of the gripping portion 20 as the gripping operation portion 30 is operated.

The rotating operation section 40 is fixed to the grasping section 20 side of the pinching operating section 30 so as to be rotatable around the second direction Y, and transmits a rotating operation to the grasping section 20 . The rotation operation section 40 has a rotation operation wheel 41 and a rotation operation transmission section 61 . A finger receiving portion (concave portion) is formed on the outer circumference of the rotating operation wheel 41 so that a finger can be easily caught. A rotation operation is input by rotating the rotation operation unit 40 in the directions of arrows T11 and T22. The rotating operation portion 40 is configured to rotate the grip portion 20 around the first direction X by a rotating operation input to the rotating operation wheel 41 via the rotating operation transmitting portion 61 . It should be noted that a known configuration can be appropriately adopted as the rotation operation transmitting portion 61 .

The gripper main body 10 includes a slider 51, a spring 52, and a gripping drive mechanism 53.

The slider 51 moves along with the operation of the clamping operation section 30 . The slider 51 moves along the first direction X. As shown in FIG. The slider 51 has a tubular shape and a central axis extending in the first direction X. As shown in FIG. The slider 51 is a composite of, for example, stainless steel and self-lubricating resin material.

The spring 52 expands and contracts along the first direction X. As shown in FIG. The direction of expansion and contraction of the spring 52 coincides with the direction of movement of the slider 51 . The spring 52 is configured by an elastic member such as a coil spring. In FIG. 1, the spring 52 comprises a coil spring. The material of the spring 52 is, for example, piano wire, stainless steel, hard steel wire, or titanium alloy. The diameter of the spring 52 is, for example, a wire diameter of 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm and a diameter of 6 mm to 8 mm. The cross-sectional shape of the spring 52 is, for example, a quadrangular deformed wire compression spring. Such a spring 52 is compact and provides a strong elastic force. Also, the spring 52 may be, for example, a round wire coil spring made of a special stainless material (Hercury, manufactured by Nippon Seisen Co., Ltd.), and it is possible to obtain the same size and elastic force as an irregular wire spring.
Spring 52 expands and contracts as slider 51 moves along guide rod 56 . One end of the spring 52 is in contact with the end surface of the slider 51 . The spring 52 expands and contracts along the first direction X. Both spring 52 and slider 51 are engaged with guide rod 56 . The other end of the spring 52 is fixed to a spring seat (flange) provided at the end of the guide rod 56 . The elastic force generated by the movement of the slider 51 compressing the spring 52 is received by the spring seat and transmitted to the grip drive mechanism 53 via the guide rod 56 and the connecting arm 54 .
It is configured such that the spring 52 is compressed when the clamping operation portion 30 is operated and the slider 51 is moved. The configuration is such that the spring 52 expands when the operation of the clamping operation portion 30 is released and the slider 51 moves.

The grip drive mechanism 53 transmits a grip operation to the grip part 20 as the slider 51 moves. The grip drive mechanism 53 has, for example, a connecting arm 54 and an opening/closing drive rod 55 .

As shown in FIG. 1 , the connecting arm 54 is, for example, substantially L-shaped, and has one end that contacts the slider 51 and the other end that is connected to the opening/closing drive rod 55 . The connecting arm 54 and the slider 51 are only in contact and are not joined together.
The spring 52 is compressed when the clamping operation part 30 is operated and the slider 51 is moved. The spring 52 expands when the operation of the holding operation portion 30 is released and the slider 51 moves.
When the operation of the gripping operation unit 30 is released, that is, when the gripping operation is not input (default state), the spring 52 is stretched, so the connecting arm 54 and the slider 51 do not contact each other. ing. When a grasping operation is input to the clamping operation portion 30, the slider 51 also moves to the proximal side R, and the spring 52 compresses to the proximal side R. As shown in FIG. As the slider 51 moves toward the proximal side R, a gap is created between the slider 51 and the connecting arm 54 .
The connecting arm 54 and the opening/closing drive rod 55 are connected with screws, for example. The connecting arm 54 is made of stainless steel, for example.

The opening/closing drive rod 55 is a long rod member and a hard member. The opening/closing drive rod 55 is made of stainless steel, for example. The opening/closing drive rod 55 penetrates the inside of the protection pipe 22 and connects the connecting arm 54 and the grip portion 20 .

As described above, the slider 51, the spring 52, and the grip drive mechanism 53 are arranged along the first direction X and move or expand and contract along the first direction X. By providing the slider 51 , the spring 52 , and the gripping drive mechanism 53 , it is possible to transmit the gripping operation to the gripping portion 20 when the gripping operation portion 30 is gripped. Thereby, the object can be gripped by holding the gripping portion 20 . The gripper 100 having such a mechanism has excellent operability.

A guide rod 56 is arranged inside the spring 52 along the axial direction of the spring 52 . Slider 51 and spring 52 are guided by guide rod 56 . One end of the guide rod 56 is screwed to one end of the connecting arm 54 . The other end of the guide rod 56 is fixed to the spring fixing surface.

The spring 52 has the shape of a coil spring and is made of piano wire, stainless steel, hard steel wire, titanium alloy, or the like. The spring 52 made of an appropriate material can be adopted in consideration of frequency of use, cost, and the like.
Also, the spring 52 can be easily removed from the guide rod 56 . Specifically, the guide rod 56 is rotated counterclockwise toward the connecting arm 54 and removed from the connecting arm 54 . By extracting the guide rod 56 from the slider 51 and the spring 52, the spring 52 can be taken out. Note that the end of the guide rod 56 is threaded to the right.
The spring 52 can withstand at least 100,000 times of expansion and contraction if it is used within the allowable amount of deflection of the spring 52 .
As described above, the spring 52 of the gripper 100 according to the present embodiment has excellent durability and can be easily replaced even if it is damaged.

Next, the operating procedure of the gripper 100 will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5. FIG. 2 to 5 are diagrams for explaining the outline of the operation procedure of the gripper 100 according to this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an outline of the operation procedure of the gripper 100 according to the present embodiment, and is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state (default state) before the start of operation in which the main part of the gripper 100 is enlarged. be. In the default state, no gripping operation is input, and the left gripping arm member 21L and the right gripping arm member 21R of the gripping arm member 21 are open as shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the operation procedure of the gripper 100 according to the present embodiment, and is a schematic configuration diagram showing the state of the first operation in which the main part of the gripper 100 is enlarged. In the first operation, the holding operation portion 30 is slightly rotated in the arrow T11 direction.
When the clamping operation portion 30 is slightly rotated in the direction of the arrow T11, the opening/closing drive rod 55 is pulled toward the base end side R along the first direction X, closing the left clamping arm member 21L and the right clamping arm member 21R. At this time, the spring 52 is not acting.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the operation procedure of the gripper 100 according to the present embodiment, and is a schematic configuration diagram showing the state of the second operation in which the main part of the gripper 100 is enlarged. In the second operation, the clamping operation portion 30 is further rotated in the arrow T11 direction. When the holding operation portion 30 is further rotated in the arrow T11 direction after the first operation, the spring 52 is compressed and elastic force is generated in the spring 52 . The elastic force is transmitted to the gripping portion 20 via the connecting arm 54 and the opening/closing drive rod 55 and becomes a gripping force. In the second operation, the ratchet mechanism 57 works at a specific position, and the clamping operation portion 30 is locked. At this time, the left pinching arm member 21L and the right pinching arm member 21R of the grasping portion 20 are kept closed.
Further, by operating the rotation operation section 40, the grip section 20 can be rotated around the first direction X to change the posture of the object.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the operation procedure of the gripper 100 according to the present embodiment, and is a schematic configuration diagram showing the state of the third operation in which the main part of the gripper 100 is enlarged. In the third operation, the holding operation portion 30 is further rotated in the arrow T11 direction. When the holding operation portion 30 is further rotated in the arrow T11 direction from the second operation, the spring 52 is further compressed and the gripping force of the gripping portion 20 increases. After a while, the ratchet mechanism 57 works, and release of the ratchet mechanism 57 begins. Then, the clamping operation portion 30 returns to the default position shown in FIG. 2, and the left clamping arm member 21L and the right clamping arm member 21R are opened accordingly.

The gripper 100 according to the present embodiment includes a gripper main body 10 that includes a slider 51 that moves as the gripping operation section 30 is operated, a spring 52 that expands and contracts as the slider 51 moves, and a spring 52 that expands and contracts as the slider 51 moves. and a gripping drive mechanism 53 that transmits a gripping operation to the gripping portion 20 . Therefore, for example, by aligning the direction of expansion and contraction of the spring 52 with the direction of movement of the slider 51, the spring 52 can be stably expanded and contracted easily. As a result, it is excellent in durability and operability.
Further, by setting the crossing angle θ (°) between the protection pipe 22 and the grip portion 112 to be 10° to 40°, the gripper 100 can be gripped in a shake-hand style, and The operability of the gripper 100 is further improved by having the slider 51 that moves along the first direction X and the spring 52 that expands and contracts along the first direction X.

The present invention is not limited to the configurations disclosed in the above embodiments, and various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention.

In the above embodiment, the object to be gripped by the gripper 100 is a biological tissue (including a part thereof), a punching instrument, an incision instrument, etc., but it is not limited to these. For example, the object to be grasped by the grasper 100 can be a suture needle, and the grasper 100 can be used as a needle holder.

The gripper according to the present invention has excellent durability and high quality. Therefore, industrial applicability is great.

10 gripper body 11 casing 20 gripping portion 21 gripping arm member 21L left gripping arm member 21R right gripping arm member 22 protection pipe 30 gripping operation portion 31 gripping operation lever 40 rotation operation portion 41 rotation operation wheel 51 slider 52 spring 53 gripping Drive Mechanism 54 Connection Arm 55 Opening/Closing Drive Rod 56 Guide Rod 57 Ratchet Mechanism 60 Clamping Operation Transmitting Part 61 Rotating Operation Transmitting Part 100 Gripper 111 Casing Body 112 Grip 113 Cleaning Port

Claims

A gripper for gripping an object,
a gripper body having a casing and a protective pipe extending in a first direction;
a gripping portion connected to the tip of the protection pipe and having a gripping arm member that grips the object;
a clamping operation part fixed to the gripper main body so as to be rotatable in a second direction and configured to clamp the gripping part;
with
The gripper body is
a slider that moves along with the operation of the clamping operation section;
a spring that expands and contracts as the slider moves;
a gripping drive mechanism that transmits a gripping operation to the gripping portion as the slider moves;
a gripper.
The gripper according to claim 1, further comprising a rotating operation part fixed to the gripping part side of the clamping operation part so as to be rotatable in the second direction and transmitting a rotating operation to the gripping part.
A grip part integrally formed on the base end side of the gripper main body,
The intersection angle between the protection pipe and the grip is 10° to 40°.
3. A gripper according to claim 1 or 2.
The gripper according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the slider moves along the first direction.
5. The spring according to claim 1, wherein the spring is compressed when the clamping operation portion is operated to move the slider, and the spring is expanded when the clamping operation portion is released to move the slider. A grasper according to any one of the preceding claims.
A guide rod is arranged inside the spring,
the slider is cylindrical, and the slider and the spring are guided by the guide rod;
A gripper according to claim 5 .