CN108092057B - Endoscope connector and endoscope device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses an endoscope connector, comprising: a main body member having a cavity for accommodating the electrical connection terminal, the main body member having a plurality of locking pieces penetrating through an outer periphery of the cavity; the rotary shell is sleeved outside the main body part and can rotate along the outer wall of the main body part, and a plurality of bulges are arranged on the inner periphery of the rotary shell at positions corresponding to a plurality of locking pieces on the main body part; when the rotary shell rotates relative to the main body part, a plurality of locking pieces on the main body part can move between a locking position abutting against the bulge on the rotary shell and a release position away from the bulge; the rotation limiting member is connected to the main body member and the rotation housing, respectively, to limit relative rotation between the rotation housing and the main body member. And accordingly provides an endoscope apparatus employing the connector. The scheme realizes reliable detachable connection and convenient operation, and is greatly convenient for users to use.

Description

Endoscope connector and endoscope device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to endoscope technology, and in particular to electrical connection technology between endoscope components.

Background technique

An endoscope system widely used in the medical field generally has a display screen and an endoscope device that allows a surgeon to observe an image of an observation object near his or her body while holding the device to operate it.

For a portable endoscope system, the connection structure between the display device and the endoscope device is extremely critical. On the one hand, it is related to the electrical connection between the two. On the other hand, it affects whether the display device is easy to disassemble, which in turn affects the cleaning and disinfection efficiency of the endoscope device (usually, the display device needs to be disassembled after use, and then the endoscope device needs to be covered with a waterproof cover before it can be cleaned and disinfected).

In the prior art, due to the increasing popularity of portable endoscope devices, some portable endoscopes have been commercialized, such as portable bronchoscopes and portable laryngoscopes. However, the connection structure between the display device and the endoscope device generally has problems such as being difficult to disassemble, being unable to accurately achieve electrical connection, or having a complex structure. The existence of these problems has led to a low penetration rate of portable endoscope systems.

Summary of the invention

In view of the problems existing in the connection structure between the display device and the endoscope device in the existing endoscope system, a new endoscope connector solution is needed.

To this end, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an endoscope connector to achieve efficient connection and disassembly between a display device and an endoscope device; and on this basis, further improve the endoscope device using the endoscope connector.

In order to solve the above problems, the endoscope connector provided by the present invention comprises:

A main body component, which has a cavity for accommodating the electrical connection terminal, and a plurality of locking members are provided through the periphery of the cavity;

a rotating shell, which is sleeved outside the main body component and can rotate along the outer wall of the main body component, and a plurality of protrusions are provided at positions on the inner circumference of the rotating shell corresponding to the plurality of locking members on the main body component; when the rotating shell rotates relative to the main body component, the plurality of locking members on the main body component can move between a locking position abutting against the protrusions on the rotating shell and a release position away from the protrusions;

The rotation limiting component is connected to the main body component and the rotating shell, respectively, so as to limit the relative rotation between the rotating shell and the main body component.

Furthermore, the peripheral edge of the rear end surface of the main body component extends radially inward to form a limiting flange portion, and the rotation limiting component is respectively connected to the main body component and the rotating shell along the tangent direction of the limiting flange portion.

Furthermore, the outer peripheral edge of the front end surface of the main body component extends radially outward to form a sealing flange portion, and the sealing flange portion can contact the front end surface of the rotating shell to form a sealing surface.

Furthermore, the endoscope connector also includes a driving component, which includes a sliding part and a fixed part. The side wall of the rotating shell is formed with a first sliding groove, the sliding part is fixedly connected to the side wall of the rotating shell, and the fixed part is inserted into the first sliding groove and fixedly connected to the main body part.

Furthermore, when the fixing component is inserted into the first sliding groove and fixedly connected with the main body component, the main body component needs to be rotated, and the main body component is kept in a certain tension and connected with the rotating shell through the rotation limiting component.

Furthermore, the endoscope connector also includes a protective shell, which is sleeved outside the rotating shell, and the side wall of the protective shell is formed with a second sliding groove corresponding to the first sliding groove on the rotating shell, and the second sliding groove can accommodate the sliding component and the fixed component to be inserted.

Furthermore, the second sliding groove includes a sliding area for the sliding component to move and a fixed area extending and connected to the sliding area, wherein the diameter of the fixed area is smaller than the sliding area; the diameter of the inserted part of the fixed component is smaller than the sliding areas of the first sliding groove and the second sliding groove, and larger than the fixed area of the second sliding groove.

Furthermore, the locking piece has a cylindrical portion that can penetrate the cavity and an end surface portion that limits the displacement of the locking piece, and the diameter of the end surface portion is larger than that of the cylindrical portion.

Furthermore, the electrical connection terminal can be electrically connected to an external device, the external device is a display device body, an electrical connection point that can be connected to the electrical connection terminal is provided in the display device body, and the display device body connection part is provided with a plurality of recesses that engage with the locking member.

In order to solve the above problems, the endoscope device provided by the present invention has an insertion part, an operating part connected to the base end side of the insertion part, and a display device body arranged on the base end side of the operating part, and the base end side of the operating part is provided with the above-mentioned endoscope electrical connector.

The endoscope connector solution provided by the present invention provides a reliable detachable connection and is easy to operate, which greatly facilitates the user to separate the display device from the endoscope device so as to clean and disinfect the endoscope device; and after cleaning and disinfection, it is easy to install, so that the user can use the endoscope system for diagnosis and treatment. Furthermore, the overall structure of the endoscope connector solution is compact, stable and reliable.

The endoscope connector solution can be well applied to portable endoscope systems, such as portable bronchoscopes, portable laryngoscopes, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

FIG1 is a diagram showing the overall structure of an endoscope device in an example of the present invention;

FIG2 is an overall structural diagram of a connector in an example of the present invention;

FIG3 is a structural diagram of the rotation limiting component of the connector in an example of the present invention in a natural state;

FIG4 is a structural diagram of a rotation limiting component of a connector in an example of the present invention in a stretched state;

FIG. 5 is an external front view of the connector in the example of the present invention.

Detailed ways

In order to make the technical means, creative features, objectives and effects achieved by the present invention easy to understand, the present invention is further explained below with reference to specific diagrams.

Referring to FIG. 1 , there is shown an example of the overall structure of the endoscope device involved in this example.

As can be seen from the figure, the endoscope device 1 comprises: an insertion portion 2 whose front end is inserted into the observation area; an operating portion 3 connected to the base end of the insertion portion 2 and used to bend the front end of the insertion portion 2; and a video display device 4 arranged at the upper end of the operating portion 3.

The insertion portion 2 in the endoscope device 1 is a flexible and elongated shape, connected to the front end of the operating portion 3, and includes: a hard front end portion located on the front end side; a bending portion connected to the front end portion; and a flexible portion connected to the bending portion and connected to the operating portion 3 at the base end side.

The operation part 3 in the endoscope device 1 has a grip and an operation part body provided at the base end of the grip. The operation part body has an angle hand wheel, an image taking button, etc. The angle hand wheel is used to bend the bending part in the insertion part 2 in a desired direction through an operation wire not shown in the insertion part 2.

At the same time, in this example, an endoscope connector 5 is provided above the operating portion body for quick and detachable connection with the video display device 4 .

Referring to Fig. 2, an exemplary structure of the endoscope connector 5 in this example is shown. The endoscope connector 5 of the illustrated structure mainly includes a main body component 6, a rotating housing 7 and a rotation limiting component 8 (see Fig. 3 or Fig. 4).

The main body part 6 in the connector 5 has a cavity 9 for accommodating an electrical connection terminal (not shown), and a plurality of through holes 10 are provided through the periphery of the cavity 9, and the through holes 10 accommodate a locking member 11. The locking member 11 in this example has a cylindrical portion that can penetrate the through hole 10 and an end surface portion that limits the locking member 11 from being inserted into the through hole 10. The diameter of the end surface portion is larger than that of the through hole 10.

The number of through holes 10 in this scheme is determined according to actual needs and can be evenly arranged along the circumference of the cavity 9. The specific arrangement scheme is not limited to this, and a non-uniform arrangement can also be adopted. Furthermore, the arrangement positions of multiple through holes 10 on the periphery of the cavity 9 can be on the same plane or not.

As an example, in the illustrated solution, three through holes 10 are preferably provided on the main body component 6, and three locking members 11 are correspondingly provided.

The rotating housing 7 in the connector 5 is sleeved outside the main body part 6 and can rotate along the outer wall of the main body part 6. A plurality of protrusions 19 are provided on the inner circumference of the rotating housing 7 at positions corresponding to the locking members 11 on the main body part 6. These plurality of protrusions 19 are used to cooperate with the locking members 11 on the main body part 6, and can drive the corresponding locking members 11 on the main body part to move between the locking position and the release position when the rotating housing 7 rotates relative to the main body part 6. When the protrusion 19 abuts against the locking member 11, the locking member 11 is driven to move in the through hole 10 to the locking position, and when the protrusion 19 is away from the locking member 11, the locking member 11 can move back in the through hole 10 to the release position.

The protrusion 19 is specifically formed in a circular arc shape in the middle part, and the two ends extend to the inner wall of the rotating housing 7 in the form of inclined surfaces. This special protrusion structure can ensure that the locking member 11 is reliably fixed when it abuts against the end face of the locking member 11. When the rotating housing 7 is rotated, the end face of the locking member 11 is in a released state due to the loss of abutment of the protruding part.

The number of the protrusions 19 corresponds to the number of the locking members 11. Taking the illustrated solution as an example, three protrusions 19 are arranged on the inner circumference of the rotating housing 7 relative to the locking members 11 on the main body 6.

The two ends of the rotation limiting component 8 in the connector 5 are respectively connected to the rotating housing 7 and the main body component 6 to limit the relative rotation displacement between the two and avoid excessive rotation.

In this example, the rotation limiting component 8 is preferably an elastic component, such as a spring, etc. One end of the spring is fixedly connected to the rotating housing 7, and the other end is fixedly connected to the main body component 6. The connecting end is preferably arranged at a position in the rotating housing 7 and the main body component 6 that is in the same plane (as shown in Figures 3 and 4).

If the rotating shell 7 is connected to the main part 6 only through a spring, the rotating shell 7 may not rotate on the same connection plane during rotation, which may cause deviation from the central axis. In this example, a limiting flange portion 12 is further extended radially inwardly at the periphery of the rear end face of the main part 6 (i.e., the end face on the side connected to the rotating shell 7), that is, the limiting flange portion 12 is arranged in the middle of the rear end face of the main part 6 and protrudes from the mating surface of the main part 6 and the rotating shell 7. On this basis, after one end of the spring 8 as a rotation limiting component is fixedly connected to the main part 6, the other end extends to the rotating shell 7 along the tangent of the limiting flange portion 12, thereby achieving connection. After the two are connected, the main part 6 is formed to be rotatable in the counterclockwise direction, and the rotating shell 7 is formed to be rotatable in the clockwise direction.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, a sealing flange portion 13 is formed on the periphery of the front end surface of the main body component 6 and extends radially outward. The sealing flange portion 13 contacts the front end surface of the rotating housing 7 to form a sealing surface.

On the basis of the above-mentioned endoscope connector solution, this example further adds a protective shell 14, a sliding component 15 and a fixing component 16 (as shown in FIG. 5 ), thereby improving the reliability and operability of the endoscope connector.

The protective shell 14 is integrally sleeved outside the rotating shell 7 to protect the main body component 6 and the rotating shell 7 constituting the endoscope connector body, so as to improve the reliability of the endoscope connector.

The sliding component 15 and the fixing component 16 cooperate with each other to form a corresponding driving assembly, which is used to conveniently drive the main body component 6 and the rotating shell 7 to perform reliable relative rotation.

3-5 , in order to achieve convenient reliability of the entire endoscope connector, a first sliding groove 17 is formed on the side wall of the rotating shell 7 , and a second sliding groove 18 is formed on the side wall of the protective shell 14 .

In coordination therewith, the sliding component 15 can be inserted into the second sliding groove 18, thereby being fixedly connected to the side wall of the rotating housing 7, and the fixed connection can adopt a conventional fixed connection structure such as bolts. After the sliding component 15 is fixedly connected to the rotating housing 7, it can slide along the second sliding groove 18, thereby driving the rotating housing 7 to rotate along the outer periphery of the main component 6.

Correspondingly, the fixing component 16 can pass through the second sliding groove 18 and the first sliding groove 17 in sequence and be fixedly connected with the main body component 6 .

In this example, when the main part 6 is connected to the rotating shell 7 through the spring, the spring is in a natural state. At this time, the position where the fixing part 16 is fixedly connected to the main part 6 is blocked by the rotating shell 7 and is in an invisible state (as shown in Figure 3).

Accordingly, in order to achieve the connection between the fixing part 16 and the main body part 6, it is necessary to rotate the main body part 6 so that the fixing position 20 thereon is in the sliding area of the first sliding groove 17 and the second sliding groove 18 (see Figures 4 and 5). The above structural design makes the end of the spring located on the main body part 6 in a counterclockwise tension state. When the rotating housing 7 rotates clockwise to connect the endoscope connector to the external device, there is a large tension force to cause the rotating housing 7 to quickly reset (as shown in Figure 4).

In specific implementation, the second sliding groove 18 on the protective housing 14 preferably includes a sliding area for the sliding component 15 to move and a fixed area extending and connected to the sliding area, wherein the diameter of the fixed area is smaller than the sliding area. The corresponding fixed component 16 is provided with a holding portion, an inserting portion and a connecting portion in sequence, wherein the holding portion is used for convenient operation, the connecting portion is fixedly connected to the main component 6, and the diameters thereof are smaller than the diameters of the first sliding groove 17, the sliding area and the fixed area of the second sliding groove 18, and the diameter of the inserting portion is smaller than the diameters of the sliding area of the first sliding groove 17 and the second sliding groove 18, but larger than the diameter of the fixed area of the second sliding groove 18.

Therefore, during installation, the sliding component 15 is first inserted into the second sliding groove 18 and fixedly connected to the rotating shell 7; then the main body component 6 is rotated counterclockwise so that the fixed position where the fixing component 16 is connected to the main body component 6 is located in the sliding area of the second sliding groove 18, and the fixing component 16 is sequentially inserted into the second sliding groove 18, the first sliding groove 17 and the fixed position 20 on the main body component 6 (this fixed position is blocked by the rotating shell 7 in Figure 3, and can be in the sliding area after the rotating main body component 6 in Figure 4) to be connected, and then the fixing component 16 is rotated clockwise so that its inserted portion is placed in the fixed area of the second sliding groove 18, thereby reliably fixing the connection.

The video display device 4 in the endoscope device 1 includes a display and a display support member, which is connected to and supports the display. The display support member can be detachably inserted into the endoscope connector 5, so that the display can be detachably connected to the operating unit.

The display support is provided with a plurality of electrical connection terminals that can be connected with the electrical connection terminals in the endoscope connector 5 in this example, and the electrical connection terminals are also provided with a plurality of recesses that can be engaged with the locking member 11 in the endoscope connector 5. The electrical connection terminals of the display support are powered by a power source such as a battery.

After the display support is connected to the endoscope connector 5 in this example, the two are reliably connected to ensure stable power transmission while the electrical connection terminals are connected to supply power to the operation part and the insertion part. The display can be a conventional display such as an LED display to display the image of the subject.

The detachable endoscope electrical connector provided in this example greatly facilitates the user to separate the display device from the endoscope device so as to clean and disinfect the endoscope device. After cleaning and disinfection, the connector is easy to install, thereby facilitating the user to use the endoscope system for diagnosis and treatment.

The endoscope system targeted by the solution in this example is a portable endoscope system, such as a portable bronchoscope, a portable laryngoscope, etc.

The above shows and describes the basic principles, main features and advantages of the present invention. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The above embodiments and descriptions are only for explaining the principles of the present invention. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, the present invention may have various changes and improvements, which fall within the scope of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention is defined by the attached claims and their equivalents.

Claims (9)

1. An endoscope connector, comprising:

a main body member having a cavity for accommodating the electrical connection terminal, the outer periphery of the cavity being provided with a plurality of locking pieces; the periphery of the rear end surface of the main body part extends inwards along the radial direction to form a limit flange part;

The rotating shell is sleeved outside the main body part and can rotate along the outer wall of the main body part, and a plurality of protrusions are arranged on the inner periphery of the rotating shell at positions corresponding to a plurality of locking pieces on the main body part; the rotary shell can enable a plurality of locking pieces on the main body part to move between a locking position abutting against the bulge on the rotary shell and a release position far away from the bulge when rotating relative to the main body part;

A rotation restricting member connected to the main body member and the rotation housing, respectively, to restrict relative rotation between the rotation housing and the main body member; the rotation limiting component is an elastic component and is respectively connected with the main body component and the rotating shell along the tangential direction of the limiting flange part.

2. An endoscope connector according to claim 1 and wherein an outer peripheral edge of said body member front end surface is formed with a sealing flange portion extending radially outwardly, said sealing flange portion being contactable with said rotary housing front end surface and forming a sealing surface.

3. The endoscope connector of claim 1, further comprising a drive assembly comprising a sliding member and a stationary member, wherein the side wall of the rotary housing is formed with a first sliding slot, wherein the sliding member is fixedly connected to the side wall of the rotary housing, and wherein the stationary member is inserted into the first sliding slot and fixedly connected to the body member.

4. An endoscope connector according to claim 3 and wherein said fixing member is fixedly coupled to said body member by inserting said fixing member into said first sliding groove, and wherein said body member is coupled to said rotary housing by rotating said body member with said rotation restricting member maintaining a tension.

5. The endoscope connector of claim 3 or 4, further comprising a protective housing, the protective housing being provided outside the rotary housing, a side wall of the protective housing being formed with a second sliding groove corresponding to the first sliding groove on the rotary housing, the second sliding groove being insertable with the sliding member and the fixing member.

6. The endoscope connector of claim 5, wherein the second sliding channel comprises a sliding region for movement of the sliding member and a fixed region in extended communication with the sliding region, wherein the fixed region has a smaller diameter than the sliding region; the diameter of the fixing member insertion portion is smaller than the sliding regions of the first and second sliding grooves and larger than the fixing region of the second sliding groove.

7. The endoscopic connector of claim 1 wherein the locking element has a cylindrical portion that is insertable through the cavity and an end surface portion that limits displacement of the locking element, the end surface portion having a larger diameter than the cylindrical portion.

8. The endoscope connector according to claim 1, wherein the electric connection terminal is electrically connectable to an external device, the external device is a display device body, an electric connection point connectable to the electric connection terminal is provided in the display device body, and the display device body connection portion is provided with a plurality of recesses engaged with the locking pieces.

9. An endoscope apparatus comprising an insertion portion, an operation portion connected to a proximal end side of the insertion portion, and a display device main body provided on a proximal end side of the operation portion, wherein the endoscope connector according to any one of claims 1 to 8 is provided on the proximal end side of the operation portion.