Braiding mechanism and methods of use

Abstract

A device and method for forming a tubular braid comprising a plurality of filaments. The braiding machine comprises a disc with a mandrel extending from the center in a perpendicular direction and a plurality of catch mechanisms arranged circumferentially around the edge of the disc. A plurality of filaments are temporarily affixed to the mandrel, each filament extending from the mandrel toward the edge of the disc and engaging the edge of the disc at a discrete point of engagement. The plurality of catch mechanisms are attached to actuators adapted to move the catch mechanisms in a generally radial direction relative to the edge of the disc to allow the catch mechanism to engage a subset of the filaments and move the engaged filaments beyond the circumferential edge of the disc.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13 / 275,264, filed Oct. 17, 2001, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The invention relates to an apparatus and methods for making a tubular braid comprising a plurality of filaments, particularly small diameter wires.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Braiding machines have long been used in industry, for example, to braid metallic wire into electrical or electronic cable as a protective armor or into hydraulic hose and cordage as a load bearing structure or into rope, either metallic or non-metallic.[0004]The two main kinds of braiding machines presently used are maypole-type braiding machines and internal cam rotary-type braiding machines. The maypole-type machine uses a plurality of spool carriers to carry filament bobbins in serpentine-like paths about a track plate. The track plate consists of two separate paths: each...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The braiding apparatus described in this patent improves the way small diameter filaments are braided, which is useful for making high wire-count tubular braids for medical applications. It is particularly useful for producing fine wire metallic alloys like nitinol, cobalt-chrome, and platinum-tungsten.

Problems solved by technology

The speed of these machines is limited by the inertia of the carriers and / or changes in tension on the filaments resulting from the continuously changing radial movement towards and away from the point of braid formation.

These types of braiding machines, however, are generally limited to production of braids using lower filament count and / or generally large filaments.

These Megabraiders, however, are generally used for large structures and are not suitable for most medical applications that require construction with fine wires that have low tensile strength.

The Wardwell Braider, however, becomes unreliable when trying to braid strands or filaments of material, particularly very fine wire materials, having extremely small diameters.

The rotary technique used therein produces so much tension on the very small diameter materials, particularly at one stage of the braiding process, that such extremely fine filaments tend to break, requiring that the machine be stopped.

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