Co-extruded taper shaft
AssigneeAdvanced Cardiovascular Systems, Inc.
InventorsStephen J. Tiernan, Jeong S. Lee, Mina W.B. Chow, Stephen G. Schaible
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for providing a co-extruded, tapered multi-layer shaft. A co-extruded, tapered multi-layer shaft may be fabricated by selecting a first material for the inner layer of the shaft and a second material for the outer layer of the shaft. The first and second materials are then co-extruded by a co-extrusion system including a puller with programmable tapering capabilities. The system forms a hollow tubing having an inner layer and an outer layer, wherein the tubing has the desired tapered characteristics. The result is a tapered tubular shaft having an inner layer and an outer layer.
Claims31
A method of fabricating a tapered tubular shaft, comprising:
- forming a hollow tubing having an inner layer comprising a first material and an outer layer comprising a second material;
- and
- tapering said hollow tubing while forming said hollow tubing.
A tubular shaft comprising:
- an inner layer comprising a first material;
- an outer layer comprising a second material;
- wherein said outer layer and said inner layer are concurrently extruded to form a hollow tapered multi-layer tubing having a first diameter smaller than a second diameter.
A method of fabricating a tapered tubular shaft, comprising:
- forming a hollow tubing having a distal section and a proximal section, wherein said distal section comprises a first material and said proximal section comprises a second material;
- and
- tapering said hollow tubing while forming said hollow tubing.
A hollow tubular shaft, comprising:
- a co-extruded hollow tube having a distal section comprising a first material and a proximal section comprising a second material;
- wherein said co-extruded hollow tube is tapered such that a first diameter of said hollow tube is smaller than a second diameter of said hollow tube.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.