Braider and method of manufacturing flexible waveguide

A braider of forming an outer conductor of a flexible waveguide by braiding flat foil yarns that are obtained by slitting a composite film composed of a metal foil and a resin film with a constant cutting width, the braider comprising:

• a plurality of cylindrical bobbins around which the flat foil yarns are wound so as not to be inverted;
• a plurality of carriers to which the bobbins are rotatably attached, the plurality of carriers being configured to feed out the flat foil yarns from the bobbins;
• a core material supply mechanism configured to supply a core material to be placed inside the outer conductor;
• a waveguide take-out mechanism configured to take out the flexible waveguide after the outer conductor is formed;
• and
• a carrier movement determination mechanism configured to determine movement of the carriers so that there are always three or more cross points formed by the individual flat foil yarns with other ones of the flat foil yarns in an enlarged portion before the flat foil yarns form a braided shape.