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US 7,766,050 B2Granted
Conduit and method of forming
AssigneeFisher & Paykel Healthcare Limited
InventorBhavna Patel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of forming a double film layered continuous conduit is disclosed. The method includes applying at least one film of ribbon spirally around a former where at least half of each turn of ribbon overlaps the next turn of the ribbon, such that the leading and trailing edges overlap. A bead of molten plastic is then applied between the overlap.
Claims20
A conduit comprising:
- a thin plastic ribbon having a consistent thickness over both length and width, said ribbon helically wound and contorted so that consecutive turns of the ribbon overlap, each turn of the ribbon partially overlapping a previous turn of the ribbon, a trailing lateral edge of each turn of the ribbon bonding with the previous turn of the ribbon at or near a centerline, the overlapping portions of the ribbon separated by an air gap, and
- a separate plastic reinforcing bead bonding consecutive turns of the ribbon together to form the conduit, each turn of the ribbon contacting two consecutive turns of the reinforcing bead, a first turn of said two consecutive turns of the reinforcing bead bonding with each turn of the ribbon at an inner face near the centerline and a second turn of said two consecutive turns of the reinforcing bead bonding with each turn of the ribbon at an outer face near a leading lateral edge.
A conduit comprising:
- a thin plastic ribbon having a consistent thickness over both length and width, said ribbon helically wound and contorted so that consecutive turns of the ribbon overlap, each turn of the ribbon partially overlapping a previous turn of the ribbon, a leading lateral edge of each turn of the ribbon bonding with the subsequent turn of the ribbon at or near a centerline, the overlapping portions of the ribbon separated by an air gap, and
- a separate plastic reinforcing bead bonding consecutive turns of the ribbon together to form the conduit, each turn of the ribbon contacting two consecutive turns of the reinforcing bead, a first turn of said two consecutive turns of the reinforcing bead bonding with each turn of the ribbon at an outer face near the centerline and a second turn of said two consecutive turns of the reinforcing bead bonding with each turn of the ribbon at an inner face near a trailing lateral edge.
A conduit comprising:
- a thin plastic ribbon having a consistent thickness over both length and width, said ribbon helically wound and contorted so that consecutive turns of the ribbon overlap to form consecutive layers of the conduit wall, a first and second lateral edge of each turn of the ribbon separated both along and transverse to a longitudinal axis of the conduit, and
- a separate plastic reinforcing bead bonding consecutive turns of the ribbon together to form the conduit, the reinforcing bead bonding with each turn of the ribbon at or near a centerline, each turn of the ribbon bonding with two consecutive turns of the reinforcing bead, the reinforcing bead separating the consecutive layers of the conduit wall to form an air gap.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.