Patent Application
20070023132
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method, and more particularly to a method for making tubings or tubular members having suitable resilience for allowing the tubings or tubular members to be enlarged or expanded to suitable or required dimensions or diameters or shapes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical tubings or tubular members or shafts may be made of composite materials or graphite fiber reinforced resin materials, and may comprise an oblong sheet or gore cut from a sheet of unidirectional graphite fibers impregnated with a plastic resin, which will be subjected with a hot-pressing process, to have the unidirectional graphite fibers and the impregnated plastic resin to be hardened or cured to form the tubings or tubular members or shafts.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,819 to Van Auken discloses one of the typical golf club shafts made of unidirectional graphite fibers and the impregnated plastic resin. However, due to the impregnated plastic resin, and after the hot-pressing process, the shaft will include a great hardness or stiffness that is non-flexible, and that may not be bent, and that may not be deformed or shaped to the other shapes or configurations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,623 to Bevan et al. discloses one of the typical rubber tubing made or produced or formed from extruding latex, and a number of complicated molding devices and valve devices and water jackets are required for forming or making the typical rubber tubings. Similarly, after the molding or mold injection process, the rubber tubing will also include a great hardness or stiffness that is non-flexible, and that may not be bent, and that may not be deformed or shaped to the other shapes or configurations.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional methods for making or forming tubings or tubular members.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a method for making tubings or tubular members having suitable resilience for allowing the tubings or tubular members to be enlarged or expanded to suitable or required dimensions or diameters or shapes.
The other objective of the present invention is to provide a method for making tubings or tubular members having suitable resilience for allowing the tubings or tubular members to be used as auxiliary or artificial blood vessels, trachea, or other bioengineering uses, or the like.
The further objective of the present invention is to provide a method for making tubings or tubular members having a number of orifices or perforations formed therein, for allowing the tubings or tubular members to be used as a filter device.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for forming a tubular member, the method comprising preparing a longitudinal Teflon strap, winding the Teflon strap around a longitudinal core, to form a tubular prototype having at least two layers, and welding the two layers together to form the tubular member. The two layers may also be secured together with such as hot-pressing processes, or adhering processes, or the like.
The Teflon membrane or strap may include a number of orifices or perforations formed therein, for allowing air to flow through the Teflon membrane or strap, and for allowing the Teflon membrane or strap 11 to be used as a filter member.
The layers of the Teflon strap are arranged at different angles or inclined relative to each other, or arranged at different angles with respect to the longitudinal axis of the core or of the elongate tubular member.
The tubular member may further be shaped to various shapes or configurations or structures or dimensions or outer diameters. For example, the tubular member may be extended, stretched, expanded, enlarged, or shaped into various shapes or configurations or structures or dimensions or outer diameters.
The core may be removed or disengaged from the tubing or tubular member before or after the welding process, or the hot-pressing process, or the adhering process, to allow the tubular member to be extended, stretched, expanded, enlarged, or shaped into various shapes or configurations or structures or dimensions or outer diameters.
Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description provided hereinbelow, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to the drawings, and initially to
For example, as shown in
For example, the first layer 12 of the tetrafluoro-ethylene or Teflon membrane or strap 11 may be arranged at about 15 degrees with respect to the longitudinal axis 22 of the core 20 and/or of the elongate tubular member 10, and the second layer 12 of the Teflon or tetrafluoro-ethylene membrane or strap 11 may then be arranged at about 60 degrees with respect to the longitudinal axis 22 of the core 20 and/or of the elongate tubular member 10, or about 45 degrees with respect to the first layer 12, and the third layer 12 may also be arranged at different angles with respect to the longitudinal axis 22 of the core 20 and/or of the elongate tubular member 10 and the other layers 12.
After the multi-layered prototype or tubular member 10 as shown in
The layers 12 of the tetrafluoro-ethylene or Teflon membrane or strap 11 may thus be secured together to form the tubing or tubular member 10 having a resilient and flexible characteristic. The core 20 may be removed or disengaged from the thus formed tubing or tubular member 10 before or after the welding process, or the hot-pressing process, or the adhering process, in order to form a bore 14 within the tubing or tubular member 10, best shown in
The Teflon membrane or strap 11, when viewed with a microscope, will include or will be formed with a number of fibers each having a number of nodes formed therein, and the nodes may be reduced when the Teflon membrane or strap 11 is stretched or extended, to allow the fibers to be lengthened, such that the Teflon membrane or strap 11 may include a suitable stretchability for allowing the Teflon membrane or strap 11 to further be suitably stretched or extended or lengthened.
It is to be noted that, when also viewed with a microscope, the Teflon membrane or strap 11 will include a number of orifices or perforations formed therein, for allowing air to flow through the Teflon membrane or strap 11, and for allowing some smaller fluid elements to flow through the Teflon membrane or strap 11, such that the Teflon membrane or strap 11 may be used as a filter member, and may also be used to allow only pure water to flow through the Teflon membrane or strap 11.
As shown in
The resilient and flexible tubing or tubular member 10 may also be engaged onto various objects, such as electric parts or members, to form a protective outer covering for the objects, for example. In addition, the resilient and flexible tubing or tubular member 10 may include a suitable air permeability and may include a suitable resilience or stretchability, such that the resilient and flexible tubing or tubular member 10 may be used as auxiliary or artificial blood vessels, trachea, or other bioengineering uses, or the like.
Accordingly, the method in accordance with the present invention may be provided for making tubings or tubular members having suitable resilience for allowing the tubings or tubular members to be enlarged or expanded to suitable or required dimensions or diameters or shapes.
Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example only and that numerous changes in the detailed construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
