Patent ID: 8777844

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: an outer articulated tube member having a distal portion and a proximal portion, the distal portion of the outer articulated tube member having a first tubular section and a second tubular section connected together by an outer joint member; and an inner articulated tube member having a distal portion and a proximal portion positioned within the outer articulated tube member, the distal portion of the inner articulated tube member having a first tubular section and a second tubular section connected together by an inner joint member, and wherein the first tubular section and the second tubular section of each of the outer articulated tube member and the inner articulated tube member pivot about the outer joint member and the inner joint member, respectively, to any position within a volume of a cone in a first configuration and are fixed with respect to one another in a second configuration, and wherein at least one of the outer joint member and the inner joint member comprises a spring and ball joint between the first tubular section and the second tubular section, the spring and ball joint having a first spring positioned between an end of the first tubular section and a ball, and a second spring positioned between an end of the second tubular section and the ball such that both the first tubular section and the second tubular section move around the ball.