Apparatus and method of extruding tubing having a variable wall thickness
An extruder apparatus and method for producing an extruded tubing having varying inner dimensions without changing the outer dimensions. The tubing is forced from the die face of an extrusion head having an extruder die and an internal mandrel determining the outer and inner dimensions, respectively, of the extruded tubing. The outer dimensions of the mandrel varied by the user to change the inner dimensions of the extruded tubing. A pressure is maintained in the extruded tubing to prevent its collapse and that pressure is changed based upon the change of the external dimensions of the mandrel and the wall thickness of the tubing. In one embodiment, the mandrel is comprised of a core and a plurality of telescoping sleeves. Each sleeve is movable between a retracted position where the sleeve is displaced away from the die face and an extended position where sleeve is at the die face. There may be multiple mandrels in the case of multi-lumen catheters.
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for the extrusion of tubing, and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for extruding a tubing having an variable wall thickness by varying its inner dimensions.
There are, of course, many well known and established methods and apparatus used in the extrusion of tubing, particularly plastic tubing, many of which are utilized for extruding such tubing that is to be used for medical purposes, such as in the production of catheters and the like.
Typical of such extrusions include the production of multi-lumen catheters and special purpose catheters that are custom extruded for a particular medical purpose. One need, however, is for the production by the extrusion process of a catheter having a relatively constant outer dimension but where the inner dimension can be varied so that such inner dimension can be selectively designed and manufactured by the extruder to have a varying, but predetermined dimension.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,965 of Batdorf et al, there is disclosed an apparatus for the production of an extruded tubing where the inner diameter is kept relatively constant but where the outer diameter can be varied. In that patent, extrudable material is forced around a mandrel having a constant diameter, thereby establishing a constant inner diameter, but the outer die aperture is varied as desired in order to vary the outer diameter between a minimum outer diameter and a maximum outer diameter as desired by the operator.
While useful for the intended purpose, the apparatus of Batdorf et al is not applicable to the production of extruded tubing where the outer dimension is held to be relatively constant while the inner dimension is selectively varied in a predetermined manner as the extruded tubing is formed.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have an apparatus that could produce an extruded tubing having relatively constant outer dimensions while having the ability to vary the inner dimensions as desired by the operator in order to produce a particular specialized tubing, especially manufactured for medical use, but which is certainly also applicable to non-medical uses.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccordingly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method of extruding a tubing of a thermoplastic or thermosetting material. The present apparatus and method is applicable to a wide variety of tubing, including those having an outer peripheral surface in the configuration of a circle, square, rectangle, hexagon or any other of a wide variety of such configurations that can be extruded for a myriad of purposes. Thus by “tubing” as used herein, the term is intended to cover any of the foregoing external peripheral surfaces as well as other surfaces that can be extruded using the present invention. Tubing, can, as used herein, also describe not only the foregoing variety of external surfaces but also is applicable as well to single lumen tubing and multi-lumen tubing where the individual lumens of a multi-lumen catheter may, themselves, have differing configurations.
Accordingly, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided an apparatus and a method for extruding a tubing where the exterior dimension or dimensions of the tubing remain constant while the internal dimension or dimensions can be varied, thereby creating a tubing having a selectively varying wall thickness.
In carrying out the present invention, there is an extruder that has a specially constructed extrusion head that allows the user to vary the internal dimensions of the tubing as that tubing is extruded and formed. The internal dimensions of the tubing are basically established by a mandrel over which the material to be extruded flows and the distal end of the mandrel is located at or near the die face where the material emerges from the extrusion head during the formation of the tubing, that is, the die face is in plane generally at a right angle to the flow of the material, or to the longitudinal axis of the mandrel, and is at the very end of the extrusion head. As such, the material flowing outwardly through the die face assumes the dimensions of the mandrel for its internal dimensions and the die for its external dimensions.
Thus, with the present invention, the exterior dimensions of the mandrel can be varied by the user in accordance with the desired internal dimensions of the extruded tubing such that the user can predetermine those internal dimensions and still change such dimensions during the course of the extrusion process itself. Since, with the present invention, the outer dimensions or dimension are not variable, it can be seen that the wall thickness of the tubing can be varied by the user to produce a varying wall thickness of the tubing.
In the preferred embodiment, the mandrel comprises a core which basically establishes the maximum wall thickness, or smallest internal dimensions of the extruded tubing and there is at least one sleeve, and preferably a plurality of sleeves that are mounted coaxial and exterior of the core and those sleeves are telescoped together such that each sleeve can be moved from a retracted position where the sleeve is displaced away from the die face and therefore does not have an effect on the inner dimensions of the extruded tubing and an extended position where the sleeve is located at the die face of the extrusion head and therefore does control the inner dimensions of the extruded tubing.
When a plurality of sleeves are employed, the sleeves are progressively movable to the extended position starting with the smaller of the sleeves and working outwardly to the larger of the sleeves. Thus, by moving a sleeve from its retracted position to its extended position at the die face, the inner dimensions of the tubing can be varied and that is true with respect to the other sleeves.
The present invention can also readily be employed in the extrusion of multiple lumen tubing and catheters and, with such embodiment, the extruder can have an extrusion head having a plurality of mandrels interfitted therein and where one or more of such mandrels is constructed so as to be capable of varying the external dimension as will be hereinafter explained and described. As such, a multilumen catheter can be extruded where any one or more of the lumens can utilize the present invention so as to have the internal dimensions of any particular lumen or lumens vary as desired by the user by changing the external dimensions of one or more mandrels.
In the preferred embodiment, there is also a motive system that can automatically move the sleeves between the retracted and the extended positions so that the user can automatically or manually select and vary the position of one or more of the sleeves by some remote control system to vary the wall thickness as desired, and, more preferably, in accordance with a pre-programmed control scheme.
As a further feature of the present invention, there may be a gas pressure that is established and maintained at the die face so that the tubing extruded therefrom does not immediately collapse while the tubing is being cooled and has the time to set. The set gas pressure can, with the use of the present invention, be varied in accordance with particular dimension of the mandrel, that is, as the mandrel is enlarged to greater dimensions, the pressure established within the tubing is increased to maintain that tubing inflated and to prevent it from collapsing since the tubing wall is thinner and additional pressure is required to maintain the tubing in the desired condition and to prevent its collapse.
Thus, the control system for the pressure controls the pressure in accordance with the dimensions of the mandrel or, in the preferred embodiment, the position of each of the sleeves. It is noted that an alternative to the presence of a positive pressure provided to the interior of the tubing, there may be a vacuum tank that produces a negative pressure that is applicable to the exterior of the tubing and either method can be used to prevent the collapse of the tubing These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent during the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings herein.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring now to
Depending upon the particular material being extruded, the material may be heated to flowing temperatures if the material is a thermoplastic material or, alternatively, if a thermosetting material, the material can be cooled as extruded.
In any event, after the tubing has been extruded from the extrusion head 26, there is a water bath 30 through which the extruded tubing is drawn by means of a puller 32 so that the extruded tubing is cooled to achieve a permanent set. Finally, the extruded tubing passes by a cutter 33 that cuts the length of tubing desired by the user.
As will be later explained, there is also present a pressure system to establish and maintain a pressure in the interior of the extruded tubing so that the tubing does not collapse during the progress of the tubing as it passes through the water bath 30 until the tubing is sufficiently rigid to maintain itself. There also may be a laser 34 or other measuring device to measure the outside dimensions of the tubing.
Turning now to
Accordingly, the relative location of the die 44 and the mandrel 42, governs the inner and outer surfaces of the extruded material. If the material is being extruded into, for example, a hollow, cylindrical tube, the outer diameter of the tubing is established by the inner surface of the die 44 and the inner diameter of the tubing is determined by the outer diameter of the mandrel 42. Obviously, by having the mandrel 42 or the die 44 of differing configurations, the outer peripheral configuration of the tubing can be square, rectangular, oval, hexagonal or other desired peripheral configuration. In addition, the wall thickness of the extruded tubing is determined by the space between the die 44 and mandrel 42 at the die face 46.
Turning now to
As such, in
As will also be seen, however, in
In any event, the inner sleeve 58 slides along the outer surface of the core 56 and, correspondingly, the outer sleeve 60 slides along the outer surface of the inner sleeve 58 in a telescoping arrangement. As shown in
In
As can be understood, by moving the inner sleeve 58 from its retracted position of
Thus, the slope of the changes in the wall thickness can be controlled by the user in accordance with the desired end product tubing profile by controlling the speed of movement of the inner sleeve 58 between its retracted and extended positions and the reverse is equally true, when the inner sleeve 58 is moved back from its extended position to its retracted position of
Taking now
In the movement of the inner and outer sleeves 58, 60, it should be noted that the movement of the sleeves 58, 60 should be carried out in a sequential manner, that is, the inner sleeve 58 is advanced to the extended position first and then as it is desired to further narrow the wall thickness of the extruded tubing, the outer sleeve 60 can then be advanced and the same is true of the withdrawal of the sleeves 58, 60 back to their retracted positions, i,e, the outer sleeve 60 is retracted first and then the inner sleeve 58 is retracted so that the sleeves 58, 60 are moved in a sequential order determined by the outer dimensions of the particular sleeve with the smaller of the sleeves being first moved from the retracted to the extended position and the larger sleeve being moved first from the extended position to the retracted position.
The sequence of motion is carried out even if there are more than two sleeves and would be applicable to any number of multiple sleeves used with the present invention.
Turning now to
Next, in
Turning next to
Turning finally to
In a similar manner, there is a second motive means 88 that moves the inner sleeve 58 in the same manner as the first motive means 82 and, again, may comprise a linear motor 90 that acts through a lead screw 92 to move the inner sleeve 58 by moving bracket 94 affixed to the inner sleeve 58 by a clamp 96. Therefore, as can be seen, the first motive means 82 and the second motive means 88 serve to move, individually, the inner and outer sleeves 58, 60 and each can be operated independently of the other and can move at different speeds depending upon the desired internal profile of an extruded tubing.
As noted, there is also a control system to establish and maintain a predetermined pressure within the tubing being extruded and that pressure is controlled by the gas pressure controller 78. The purpose of the gas pressure is to prevent the newly extruded tubing from collapsing while it is being cooled and eventually set and thereby strengthened. In the preferred embodiment, the gas pressure is established and then changed in accordance with the wall thickness of the extruded tubing, thus, as the mandrel dimensions get larger, the wall thickness becomes smaller and additional pressure is needed to maintain the wall tubing and prevent its collapse. The reverse is, of course, also true for the wall thickness as it gets larger, that is, less gas pressure is required within the larger wall thickness extruded tubing.
Therefore, there may be a feedback system that changes the set gas pressure established by the gas pressure controller 78 based upon the outer dimensions of the mandrel 54 (
As an example, when the inner sleeve 58 is moved to its extended position, the position sensor 98 can sense that the inner sleeve 58 has reached its extended position and therefore recognizes that the wall thickness of the extruded tubing has been narrowed. That information is provided to the gas pressure controller via the communication line 104 so that the pressure is then raised.
Obviously, the pressure can be lowered if the wall thickness is again thickened or increased by the reverse process. In the event some mechanism other than sleeves is used to change the dimensions of the mandrel 54 (
Those skilled in the art will readily recognize numerous adaptations and modifications which can be made to the extruder and method of extruding tubing of the present invention which will result in an improvement, yet all of which will fall within the scope and spirit of the present as defined in the following claims.
Accordingly, the invention is to be limited only by the following claims and their equivalents.
Claims
1-20. (canceled)
21. A method of extruding a length of hollow plastic tubing-through an extrusion head having an inner mandrel and an outer die surrounding the mandrel and forming a space between the mandrel and the outer die, with the outer die and mandrel terminating at a die face, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing a quantity of a material to be extruded,
- introducing the material into the space between the mandrel and the outer die and forcing the material outwardly from the die face to form a hollow tubing having inner dimensions determined by the outer dimensions of the mandrel,
- varying the outer dimensions of the mandrel while forcing the material outwardly from the extrusion head to selective vary the internal dimensions of a plastic tubing, and
- providing and controlling the pressure within the plastic tubing as it is forced outwardly from the extrusion head to maintain the inner dimension of the tubing and to prevent the tubing from collapsing.
22. A method of extruding a plastic tubing as defined in claim 21 wherein said step of varying the outer dimensions of the mandrel comprise the steps of:
- providing a mandrel comprised of a core and at least one sleeve coaxial with the core and adapted to slide over the exterior of the core,
- moving the at least one sleeve between a retracted position where the at least one sleeve is displaced with respect to the die face and a extended position wherein the sleeve is located at the die face.
23. (canceled)
24. A method of extruding a plastic tubing as defined in claim 22 wherein the step of providing and controlling the pressure comprises controlling the pressure based upon the outer dimensions of the mandrel.
25. A method of extruding a plastic tubing as defined in claim 24 wherein the step of providing and controlling the pressure comprises increasing the pressure when the outer dimensions of the mandrel are increased.
26-31. (canceled)
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 26, 2005
Publication Date: Nov 17, 2005
Inventors: Scott Nicora (Petersburg, FL), Geary Havran (Tampa, FL)
Application Number: 11/189,392