Metal working – Method of mechanical manufacture – Obtaining plural product pieces from unitary workpiece
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-11
2001-02-27
Silbaugh, Jan H. (Department: 1732)
Metal working
Method of mechanical manufacture
Obtaining plural product pieces from unitary workpiece
C029S428000, C029S430000, C264S078000, C264S157000, C264S159000, C264S288400, C264S291000, C264S296000, C264S297300, C264S297500, C264S328100, C264S328800, C264S328110
Reexamination Certificate
active
06192568
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1). Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of making a combination hub and catheter, and to an intravenous catheter assembly.
2). Discussion of Related Art
Catheter assemblies are frequently used for passing fluids between a device such as a syringe or a drip to or from body lumens such as veins or arteries, or other internal target sites. Such an assembly usually includes a hub, a catheter, and a needle. An eyelet ring is usually inserted into the catheter. The catheter, together with the eyelet ring, is then inserted into an opening in a nose of the hub and is secured to the hub by press fitting the eyelet ring within the nose of the hub. A needle is then inserted into the catheter. A sharp tip of the needle is used for piercing a body lumen so that access can be gained into the body lumen by the catheter and the needle. Once the catheter and the needle are located within the body lumen, the needle is removed. A syringe or a pipe of a drip is then attached to the hub so that fluids can be passed through the hub and the catheter between the drip or the syringe and the body lumen.
The hub is usually made of a material providing sufficient rigidity thereto and the catheter is usually made of a material which is flexible, at least when inserted into a body lumen and when exposed to moisture within the body lumen.
The above described method by which the catheter is attached to the hub is cumbersome and expensive and requires complex assembly machines.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the invention a method is provided for making a combination hub and catheter. A material is molded into a body having at least a first hub, and at least a first nose extending from the first hub. The first nose is then elongated into a catheter.
The hub may have a luer lock formation thereon.
The catheter may have a length of at least 12 mm, more preferably at least 18 mm, and more preferably at least 30 mm.
The catheter may have an outer diameter of between 0.37 mm and 3.7 mm.
The catheter is preferably sufficiently flexible so as to substantially conform to a curved body lumen when inserted into the body lumen.
The material may be a polyamide such as a nylon, a blend of acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene and polyurethane, polyetheramide, polypropylene, ethylene propylene copolymers, polyurethane or a blend of a polyamide and a polyetheramide.
The nose is preferably elongated at a temperature wherein the material is malleable.
The catheter is preferably rigid at room temperature and flexible when exposed to moisture and body temperature.
The body preferably has a second hub, and a second nose extending from the second hub, wherein an end of the first nose distant from the first hub is joined with an end of the second nose distant from the second hub, and both the first nose and the second nose are elongated, respectively, into a first catheter and a second catheter. The method may further include the step of severing the first and second catheters from one another.
A plurality of the bodies may be molded simultaneously and the first nose and the second nose of each of the plurality of bodies may simultaneously be elongated.
The bodies may be molded in a mold which is mounted to a turntable and the turntable is rotated so that the mold is at a first station. The method may include the step of rotating the turntable so that the mold is moved to a second station where the first nose and the second nose of each of the plurality of bodies are elongated.
The method may include the steps of rotating the turntable so that the mold is moved to a third station, and ejected the bodies from the mold while the mold is at the third station.
The invention also provides a mold for making a combination hub and catheter, the mold including a first component, and a second component. The first and second components define a volume into which a material can be injected so that the material takes the shape of a hub and nose. The hub may be connected to the first component and the nose connected to the second component so that the nose is elongated into a catheter when the first and second components are moved away from one another.
The volume may include a first hub volume in the first component, a second hub volume in the second component, and a nose passage from the first hub volume to the second hub volume. The material in the nose passage may be elongated when the first and second components are moved away from one another.
The first and second components may define a plurality of these volumes.
The invention further provides an intravenous catheter assembly which includes a hollow hub, a catheter, and a needle. The catheter has a length of at least 12 mm, a first end which is secured to the hub in a unitary construction, a second end distant from the hub, and a passage extending from the hub out of the second end. The needle is removably located within the passage and has a sharp tip in proximity to the second end of the catheter.
The hub and the catheter are preferably made of the same material.
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European Search Report Mailed Jul. 13, 2000.
Kafrawy Adel
Onwumere Fidelis C.
Blakely & Sokoloff, Taylor & Zafman
Ethicon Inc.
Poe Michael I.
Silbaugh Jan H.
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