Micro-cutting systems for forming cuts in products
First Claim
1. A micro-cutting system for forming cuts along a length of a catheter or guidewire stock material to form a catheter or guidewire product, the system comprising:
- a cutting apparatus configured to form a plurality of pairs of grooves substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the stock material, the cutting apparatus including;
a first cutting blade having a cutting edge aligned to be substantially parallel to a vertical axis;
a second cutting blade having a cutting edge aligned to be substantially parallel to the vertical axis; and
one or more motors operably coupled to the first and second cutting blades, the one or more motors configured to move the first and second cutting blades in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stock material to bring the first and second cutting blades into contact with the stock material to cut the stock material and form each pair of grooves, the one or more motors also being configured to control a relative gap distance between the first and second cutting blades along a lateral axis,wherein each pair of grooves extend in a direction substantially parallel to the vertical axis as a result of the one or more motors moving the first and second cutting members in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stock material, andwherein each pair of grooves are separated along the lateral axis so as to leave a resultant beam between the grooves of each pair of grooves formed in the stock material; and
a stock material controller configured to hold the stock material and feed the stock material along the longitudinal axis through the cutting apparatus to enable the formation of successive pairs of grooves along the longitudinal axis of the stock material, the stock material controller being further configured to selectively rotate the stock material by one or more predetermined angles around the longitudinal axis between cuts to form one or more rotated offsets between cuts.
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Accused Products
Abstract
This disclosure describes a micro-cutting machine for forming cuts in catheters, guidewires, and similar products. The micro-cutting machine can directly control the dimensions of the resultant beams being cut into these types of products, and can also capture images of each cut for feedback control and accuracy verification. The micro-cutting machine has two cutting blades each with cutting edges aligned with a vertical axis. Motors operate to move the cutting blades in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stock material being cut to form a pair of opposing grooves in the stock material with each cut.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A micro-cutting system for forming cuts along a length of a catheter or guidewire stock material to form a catheter or guidewire product, the system comprising:
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a cutting apparatus configured to form a plurality of pairs of grooves substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the stock material, the cutting apparatus including; a first cutting blade having a cutting edge aligned to be substantially parallel to a vertical axis; a second cutting blade having a cutting edge aligned to be substantially parallel to the vertical axis; and one or more motors operably coupled to the first and second cutting blades, the one or more motors configured to move the first and second cutting blades in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stock material to bring the first and second cutting blades into contact with the stock material to cut the stock material and form each pair of grooves, the one or more motors also being configured to control a relative gap distance between the first and second cutting blades along a lateral axis, wherein each pair of grooves extend in a direction substantially parallel to the vertical axis as a result of the one or more motors moving the first and second cutting members in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stock material, and wherein each pair of grooves are separated along the lateral axis so as to leave a resultant beam between the grooves of each pair of grooves formed in the stock material; and a stock material controller configured to hold the stock material and feed the stock material along the longitudinal axis through the cutting apparatus to enable the formation of successive pairs of grooves along the longitudinal axis of the stock material, the stock material controller being further configured to selectively rotate the stock material by one or more predetermined angles around the longitudinal axis between cuts to form one or more rotated offsets between cuts. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20)
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17. A micro-cutting system for forming cuts along a length of a catheter or guidewire stock material to form a catheter or guidewire product, the system comprising:
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a cutting apparatus configured to form a plurality of pairs of grooves substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the stock material, the cutting apparatus including; a first cutting blade having a cutting edge aligned to be substantially parallel to a vertical axis; a second cutting blade having a cutting edge aligned to be substantially parallel to the vertical axis; and a first spindle motor operatively coupled to the first cutting blade for driving the first cutting blade; a second spindle motor operatively coupled to the second cutting blade for driving the second cutting blade; a first stepper motor configured to move the first cutting blade along a lateral axis substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stock material; a second stepper motor configured to move the second cutting blade along the lateral axis substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stock material, the first and second stepper motors thereby controlling a relative gap distance between the first and second cutting blades along the lateral axis, wherein the first and second cutting blades are configured to move in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stock material to contact the stock material and to cut the stock material and form each pair of grooves, wherein each pair of grooves extend in a direction substantially parallel to the vertical axis as a result of the one or more motors moving the first and second cutting members in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stock material, and wherein each pair of grooves are separated along the lateral axis so as to leave a resultant beam between the grooves of each pair of grooves formed in the stock material; and a stock material controller configured to hold the stock material and feed the stock material along the longitudinal axis through the cutting apparatus to enable the formation of successive pairs of grooves along the longitudinal axis of the stock material, the stock material controller being further configured to selectively rotate the stock material by one or more predetermined angles around the longitudinal axis between cuts to form one or more rotated offsets between cuts. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification