EP0451996A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Reinforced medico-surgical tubes
Assignee: Individual
•
Filing: 1991-03-27
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2011-03-27
Abstract
Abstract A reinforced medico-surgical tube comprises a tube (9) of flexible material, a filament helix (15) coaxial with the tube (9) and disposed between inner and outer peripheries of the tube (9), and a distal end (10) of the tube, the distal end (10) including a straight-cut or angle-cut axial end face disposed at an angle equal to or other than 90° with respect to a central axis of the tube (9). The filament helix (15) is separated into pieces at the distal end (10) if the tube (9) is angle-cut such that coils of the filament helix (15) are discontinuous with opposite ends of the coils adjacent the end face of the distal end (10). The cut filament end in the case of a straight-cut tube or the cut filament ends in the case of an angle-cut tube confront the axial end face and are separated therefrom by a thin layer of flexible material formed by melting the end face, melting a plastic piece (18) onto the end face or by any other suitable method.
Inventors
- 👤 David S. Sheridan
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 16:34
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61M; A61M16/00; A61M16/04; A61M16/0402; A61M16/0425; A61M25/00; A61M25/0043; A61M25/005; A61M2205/00; A61M2205/32; A61M25/0009; A61M25/0012
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 21
Claim 1
Independent Claim
144 words
A method of producing reinforced medico-surgical tubes each having a distal end and a proximal end joined by a central body portion which comprises: extruding a continuous flexible base tube, cooling the extruded tube, coiling a continuous rigid plastic filament helix about the cooled continuous tube, extruding an outer layer of flexible material onto the base tube and filament helix so as to form a continuous flexible final tube comprising at least one filament helix laminated between the base tube and the outer layer, cutting the final tube such that the filament helix is severed and at least one cut filament end is exposed on an end face of a distal end of the final tube, and forming a thin layer of material at the distal end such that the cut filament end is not exposed at the distal end of the final tube.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said cutting step is an angle cutting step such that the end face lies in a plane at an angle other than 90 ° to a central axis of the final tube.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 1, wherein said cutting step is a square-cutting step such that the end face lies in a plane at an angle of 90° to a central axis of the final tube.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
22 words
The method of any preceding claim, wherein the outer layer and the base tube are extruded from the same type of material.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
32 words
The method of any preceding claim, wherein the thin layer is formed by positioning the distal end in a mold and melting the end face of the distal end of the tube.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
30 words
The method of any of claims 1-4, wherein the thin layer of material at the distal end is formed by melting a washer-shaped piece of material onto the distal end.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
32 words
The method of any preceding claim, wherein the cutting step is performed by providing a single cut through the final tube such that the filament helix is separated in only one location.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
34 words
The method of any of claims 1-6, wherein the cutting step is performed by providing a single cut through the final tube such that the filament helix is separated at a plurality of locations.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
30 words
The method of any preceding claim, wherein the forming step includes shaping the end face so as to form a radiused edge at the distal end of the final tube.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
103 words
A reinforced medico-surgical tube comprising: a tube of flexible material; a filament helix coaxial with the tube and disposed between inner and outer peripheries of the tube and extending along the tube to a distal end thereof; and means comprising a plurality of coils of the filament helix at the distal end for providing increased compressive strength of the distal end, the distal end including a distal end face, the filament helix being separated from the distal end face by a thin layer of flexible material such that a cut filament end of the helix is not exposed at the distal end face.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
97 words
The tube of claim 10, wherein the end face lies in a plane at an angle of other than 90° to a central axis of the tube, the filament helix including a plurality of cut filament ends confronting said plane, at least some of the coils of the filament helix being discontinuous with each other and the circumferential length of the coils being shorter at positions located closer to the axial end face, at least some of the coils having opposite ends thereof confronting the axial end face and separated therefrom by said thin layer of material.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
29 words
The tube of claim 10 or claim 11, further comprising at least one eye extending between the inner and outer peripheries of the tube at the distal end thereof.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
33 words
The tube of claim 11 or claim 12, wherein said thin layer of material separating the opposite ends of the coils from the axial end face comprises a melted washer-shaped piece of material.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
24 words
The tube of any of claims 10-13, further comprising at least one secondary lumen disposed between the inner and outer peripheries of the tube.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
25 words
The tube of claim 14, wherein the at least one secondary lumen is disposed between the filament helix and the outer periphery of the tube.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
46 words
The tube of any of claims 10-15, wherein the coils of the filament helix are separated from each other in a direction parallel to a central axis of the tube such that the number of the winds of the helix per tube diameter is over 1.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
19 words
The tube of any of claims 10-16, wherein the filament has a diameter of about 0.1 to 0.5 mm.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
26 words
The tube of any of claims 10-17, wherein the end face comprises a smooth radiused edge extending between the inner and outer peripheries of the tube.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
40 words
The tube of any of claims 10-18, wherein the thin layer has a maximum thickness between the end face and a portion of the filament located closest thereto of about four times the thickness of the wall of the tube.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
26 words
The tube of claim 10, wherein the end face lies in a plane at an angle of 90 o to a central axis of the tube.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
23 words
The tube of any of claims 16-20, wherein the number of winds per tube diameter is in the range of 5 to 10.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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