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US 5,447,100 AGranted
Apparatus for calendering sutures in orthogonal directions
AssigneeUnited States Surgical Corporation
InventorsMichael P. Chesterfield, Mark P. Reale
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for calendering a suture includes passing the suture lengthwise between two pairs of calendering rollers each pair being oriented orthogonally to the other pair. The suture may be coated and/or filled by passing it through the contacting region of a suture filling applicator to which filling agent is supplied by a metering pump. The filling process may be computer controlled.
Claims4
An apparatus for calendering a multifilament suture, which comprises:
- a frame;
- a first pair of rollers including a first roller and a second roller, said first pair of rollers being rotatably mounted to said frame, said first and second rollers being substantially parallel to each other, and at least one of said first and second rollers being resiliently biased towards the other of said first and second rollers so as to apply a predetermined amount of compressive force to a suture located therebetween;
- a second pair of rollers including a third roller and a fourth roller, said second pair of rollers being rotatably mounted to said frame, said third and fourth rollers being substantially parallel to each other and substantially orthogonal to said first pair of rollers, at least one of said third and fourth rollers being resiliently biased towards the other of said third and fourth rollers so as to apply a predetermined amount of compressive force to a suture located therebetween;
- wherein each of said first, second, third and fourth rollers is substantially cylindrical and has a polished suture-contacting surface with a surface smoothness of from about 4 microinches to about 16 microinches.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.