Braiding machine and methods of use
AssigneeInceptus Medical, LLC
InventorRichard Quick
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods for forming a tubular braid are disclosed herein. A braiding system configured in accordance with embodiments of the present technology can include, for example, an upper drive unit, a lower drive unit, a mandrel coaxial with the upper and lower drive units, and a plurality of tubes extending between the upper drive unit and the lower drive unit. Each tube can be configured to receive individual filaments for forming the tubular braid, and the upper drive unit and the lower drive unit can act against the tubes in synchronization to cross the filaments over and under one another to form the tubular braid on the mandrel.
Claims15
A braiding system for forming a braid, comprising:
- a braiding assembly having a longitudinal axis and including a drive unit constraining a plurality of elongate members, wherein individual ones of the elongate members are configured to receive individual filaments, and wherein the drive unit comprises:
- an outer assembly including outer slots, an outer cam, and an outer drive mechanism;
- and
- an inner assembly coaxially aligned with the outer assembly, wherein the inner assembly includes inner slots, an inner cam, and inner drive mechanism;
- wherein the outer drive mechanism is configured to rotate the outer cam to drive the subset of the elongate members from the outer slots to the inner slots;
- and
- wherein the inner drive mechanism is configured to rotate the inner cam to drive the subset of the elongate members from the inner slots to the outer slots
- a mandrel positioned along the longitudinal axis;
- an actuator configured to move the mandrel along the longitudinal axis;
- and
- a control system having a user interface, wherein the user interface is configured to receive a user input corresponding to a characteristic of the braid, and wherein the control system is configured to, based on the user input, control (a) the actuator to control movement of the mandrel along the longitudinal axis and (b) the drive unit to drive at least a subset of elongate members (i) radially inward toward the longitudinal axis, (ii) radially outward away from the longitudinal axis, and (iii) along an arcuate path relative to the longitudinal axis, thereby forming the filaments into the braid along the mandrel to have the characteristic.
A braiding system for forming a braid, comprising:
- a braiding assembly having a longitudinal axis and including a drive unit constraining a plurality of elongate members, wherein individual ones of the elongate members are configured to receive individual filaments;
- a mandrel positioned along the longitudinal axis;
- an actuator configured to move the mandrel along the longitudinal axis;
- and
- a control system having a user interface, wherein the user interface is configured to:
- display a user element;
- receive a user input selecting the user element;
- display a plurality of braid profiles in response to receiving the user input, wherein each of the braid profiles specifies one or more different characteristics for the braid;
- and
- receive a second user input to select one of the braid profiles;
- wherein the control system is configured to, based on the selected one of the braid profiles, control (a) the actuator to control movement of the mandrel along the longitudinal axis and (b) the drive unit to drive at least a subset of elongate members (i) radially inward toward the longitudinal axis, (ii) radially outward away from the longitudinal axis, and (iii) along an arcuate path relative to the longitudinal axis, thereby forming the filaments into the braid along the mandrel to have the characteristics of the selected braid profile.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.