Conduit bundles including first-type and second-type conduits with disparate properties
First Claim
1. A conduit bundle comprising:
- an inner bundle of plural elongated first-type conduits, each of the first-type conduits having first and second ends coinciding with inner-bundle first and second ends, wherein (a) the first-type conduits are mutually and adjacently bonded along coinciding portions of the lengths of the first-type conduits such that at least a region of the length of the inner bundle is rigid, (b) at least the inner-bundle rigid region (i) extends for a length along an inner-bundle axis along which the adjacently bonded portions of the constituent first-type conduits extend and (ii) is defined by at least one inner-bundle side such that, as viewed into a cross-sectional plane oriented orthogonally to the inner-bundle axis, the inner bundle exhibits a cross-sectional geometry defined by an inner-bundle periphery, and (c) each constituent first-type conduit of a selected set of first-type conduits exhibits, at least within the inner-bundle rigid region, a first cross-sectional geometry and a first diameter consistent, to within a predetermined tolerance, with a first set of pre-established dimensional parameters;
a rigid separation structure including a structure wall having structure-wall inside and outside surfaces, the structure-wall inside surface being peripherally bonded to at least one of the at least one sides of the inner-bundle rigid region; and
a plurality of elongated second-type conduits, each second-type conduit including a rigidly bonded region along at least a portion of the length thereof that is bonded to at least one of (i) the structure-wall outside surface and (ii) the bonded region of another second-type conduit of the plurality of second-type conduits;
wherein (i) at least the bonded regions of the second-type conduits are axially aligned with the inner-bundle axis, (ii) each second-type conduit of a selected set of first-type conduits exhibits a second cross-sectional geometry and a second diameter consistent, to within a predetermined tolerance, with a second set of pre-established dimensional parameters, and (iii) the separation structure is interposed between first-type conduits and second-type conduits.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A conduit bundle includes an inner bundle of first-type conduits extending between inner-bundle first and second ends. The first-type conduits are mutually and adjacently bonded along coinciding portions of their lengths in order to define an inner-bundle rigid region that, as view into a plane orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the inner-bundle rigid region, exhibits an inner-bundle periphery. A separation structure including a structure wall having structure-wall inside and outside surfaces is provided and the inside surface thereof is bonded to the periphery of the inner-bundle rigid region. The conduit bundle further includes a plurality of second-type conduits. Each second-type conduit includes a rigidly bonded region along at least a portion of the length thereof that is bonded to at least one of (i) the structure-wall outside surface and (ii) the bonded region of another second-type conduit of the plurality of second-type conduits.
-
Citations
18 Claims
-
1. A conduit bundle comprising:
-
an inner bundle of plural elongated first-type conduits, each of the first-type conduits having first and second ends coinciding with inner-bundle first and second ends, wherein (a) the first-type conduits are mutually and adjacently bonded along coinciding portions of the lengths of the first-type conduits such that at least a region of the length of the inner bundle is rigid, (b) at least the inner-bundle rigid region (i) extends for a length along an inner-bundle axis along which the adjacently bonded portions of the constituent first-type conduits extend and (ii) is defined by at least one inner-bundle side such that, as viewed into a cross-sectional plane oriented orthogonally to the inner-bundle axis, the inner bundle exhibits a cross-sectional geometry defined by an inner-bundle periphery, and (c) each constituent first-type conduit of a selected set of first-type conduits exhibits, at least within the inner-bundle rigid region, a first cross-sectional geometry and a first diameter consistent, to within a predetermined tolerance, with a first set of pre-established dimensional parameters; a rigid separation structure including a structure wall having structure-wall inside and outside surfaces, the structure-wall inside surface being peripherally bonded to at least one of the at least one sides of the inner-bundle rigid region; and a plurality of elongated second-type conduits, each second-type conduit including a rigidly bonded region along at least a portion of the length thereof that is bonded to at least one of (i) the structure-wall outside surface and (ii) the bonded region of another second-type conduit of the plurality of second-type conduits; wherein (i) at least the bonded regions of the second-type conduits are axially aligned with the inner-bundle axis, (ii) each second-type conduit of a selected set of first-type conduits exhibits a second cross-sectional geometry and a second diameter consistent, to within a predetermined tolerance, with a second set of pre-established dimensional parameters, and (iii) the separation structure is interposed between first-type conduits and second-type conduits. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A conduit bundle comprising:
-
an inner bundle of plural elongated first-type conduits, each of the first-type conduits having first and second ends coinciding with inner-bundle first and second ends, wherein (a) the first-type conduits are mutually and adjacently bonded along coinciding portions of the lengths of the first-type conduits such that at least a region of the length of the inner bundle is rigid, (b) at least the inner-bundle rigid region (i) extends for a length along an inner-bundle axis along which the adjacently bonded portions of the constituent first-type conduits extend and (ii) is defined by at least one inner-bundle side such that, as viewed into a cross-sectional plane oriented orthogonally to the inner-bundle axis, the inner bundle exhibits a cross-sectional geometry defined by an inner-bundle periphery, and (c) each constituent first-type conduit of a selected set of first-type conduits exhibits, at least within the inner-bundle rigid region, a first cross-sectional geometry and a first diameter consistent, to within a predetermined tolerance, with a first set of pre-established dimensional parameters; and a plurality of elongated second-type conduits, each second-type conduit including a rigidly bonded region along at least a portion of the length thereof that is bonded to at least one of (i) the periphery of the inner-bundle rigid region and (ii) the bonded region of another second-type conduit of the plurality of second-type conduits;
wherein(a) each conduit of one of the first-type conduits and the second-type conduits is a light-conductive conduit comprising an optically transmissive core having a first refractive index surrounded by a cladding material having a second refractive index lower than the first refractive index; and (b) each conduit of the other of the first-type conduits and the second-type conduits is a capillary including a hollow channel extending therethrough from a first end to a longitudinally opposed second end. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
Specification