Spiral unit, insertion apparatus, and manufacturing method of spiral unit
AssigneeOlympus Corporation
InventorsRobert E. Ailinger, James J. Frassica, Richard M. Andrews, Hiroaki Miyoshi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A spiral unit includes a base tube extended along a longitudinal axis and made of a first thermoplastic resin, and a fin disposed on an outer peripheral surface of the base tube along a fin axis spirally extended around the longitudinal axis and made of a second thermoplastic resin. The fin includes a strip portion provided in a state of being bonded to the outer peripheral surface of the base tube and spirally extended along the fin axis. The second resin being mixed with a magnetic material in the strip portion.
Claims6
A spiral unit comprising:
- a base tube which is extended along a longitudinal axis, and which is made of a first thermoplastic resin;
- a fin which is disposed on an outer peripheral surface of the base tube along a fin axis spirally extended around the longitudinal axis, and which is made of a second thermoplastic resin, the fin including a hollow portion in which a cavity portion is formed along the fin axis;
- a strip portion which is provided in a state of being bonded to the outer peripheral surface of the base tube in the fin, and which is spirally extended along the fin axis on an inner peripheral direction side of the cavity portion;
- and
- a magnetic material which is mixed with the second resin in the strip portion, and which is configured to generate heat when vibrated to fuse the second resin.
A manufacturing method of a spiral unit, comprising:
- forming a base tube along a longitudinal axis from a first thermoplastic resin;
- forming a fin along a fin axis from a second thermoplastic resin, the fin being formed in a state where a strip portion in which the second resin is mixed with a magnetic material is extended along the fin axis;
- winding the fin on an outer peripheral surface of the base tube in a state where the fin axis is spirally extended around the longitudinal axis, the fin being wound in a state where the strip portion abuts on the outer peripheral surface of the base tube;
- and
- generating heat in the strip portion by applying electromagnetic waves to vibrate the magnetic material, the heat performing at least one of fusing the second resin in the strip portion and fusing the first resin in an abutting portion of the base tube to the strip portion, and thereby bonding the strip portion to the outer peripheral surface of the base tube.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.