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
Estimating the term…
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.
Claims19
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 through a co-extrusion system;
- and
- concurrently tapering, through pulling, said inner layer and said outer layer of said hollow tubing while forming said hollow tubing.
A method of fabricating a tapered tubular shaft, comprising:
- forming a hollow tubing having a distal section and a proximal section through a co-extrusion system, wherein said distal section comprises a first material and said proximal section comprises a second material;
- and
- concurrently tapering, through pulling, said proximal section and said distal section of said hollow tubing to form a narrowing section therebetween while forming said hollow tubing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.