System and method for packaging an elongate medical device
AssigneeArgos Corporation
InventorPerry Cicalis
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of manufacturing a clipless package for an elongate medical device or other elongate device is provided. The subject invention utilizes adhesives and material surface characteristic modification to bond the tube surfaces together, which overcomes the deficiencies of currently utilized packaging methods. The bonds can be created by a singular application of adhesive or in plurality or combination with a surface modifier, coated surface and/or a surface treatment, or by selection of a singular polymer outer layer that is tacky when fully cooled, whose morphology changes post-extrusion.
Claims13
A method of manufacturing a package for an elongate device, comprising the steps of:
- forming a tube having a lumen extending through at least a portion of the tube, via an extrusion process, wherein the extruded tube has a tacky exterior surface;
- arranging the tube into a coiled configuration such that turns of the tube are placed in adjacent, spiral relationship;
- and
- contacting the tacky exterior surface of a first turn of the tube to a second turn of the tube to bond the first turn of the tube to the second turn of the tube, without applying heat or an adhesive, to maintain the coiled configuration of at least the first turn and the second turn of the tube.
A method of manufacturing a package for an elongate device, comprising the steps of:
- forming a tube having an inner layer and an outer layer, the inner layer defining a lumen extending through at least a portion of the tube, the outer layer being formed from a Thermoplastic Polyurethane;
- wherein forming the outer layer occurs via an extrusion process and provides the outer layer with a tacky exterior surface;
- arranging the tube into a coiled configuration such that turns of the tube are placed in adjacent, spiral relationship;
- and
- contacting a portion of the tacky exterior surface along the first turn of the tube to a portion of the outer layer along the second turn of the tube to bond the first turn of the tube to the second turn of the tube, without applying heat or an adhesive, to maintain the coiled configuration of at least the first turn and the second turn of the tube.
A method of manufacturing a package for an elongate device, comprising the steps of:
- extruding a Thermoplastic Polyurethane material to form a tube having a lumen extending through at least a portion of the tube;
- cooling the tube;
- while an outer surface of the tube remains tacky following the extruding, and after cooling the tube, arranging the tube into a coiled configuration such that turns of the tube are placed in adjacent, spiral relationship;
- and
- contacting adjacent turns of the tube to one another to non-thermally and non-adhesively bond the adjacent turns to one another via the tacky outer surface, to maintain the coiled configuration of at least the first turn and the second turn of the tube.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.