Method of forming a woven textile

• US 6,164,339 A
• Filed: 11/10/1999
• Issued: 12/26/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: SECANT MEDICAL, LLC (Compagnie Generale DES Etablissements Michelin SCA)
• Original Assignee: Prodesco, Inc. (Compagnie Generale DES Etablissements Michelin SCA)
• Inventors: Greenhalgh, E. Skott
• Primary Examiner(s): FALIK, ANDREW M
• Application Number:
  US09/437,875
• Time in Patent Office: 412 Days
• Field of Search: 623/1.51, 139/1 R, 139/55.1, 139/425 R, 139/388, 139/DIG. 1
• US Class Current: 139/1.00R
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/07 Stent-grafts
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/89 the wire-like elements comprising two or more adjacent rings flexibly connected by separate members
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/90 characterised by a net-like or mesh-like structure
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/065 Y-shaped blood vessels
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/075 the stent being loosely attached to the graft material, e.g. by stitching
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2250/0039 differing in diameter
• CPC Class Codes: D03D 11/02 Fabrics formed with pockets, tubes, loops, folds, tucks or flaps fabrics consisting of a single tube D03D3/02
• CPC Class Codes: D03D 13/00 Woven fabrics characterised by the special disposition of the warp or weft threads, e.g. with curved weft threads, with discontinuous warp threads, with diagonal warp or weft
• CPC Class Codes: D03J 5/00 Shuttles swivel shuttles D03D31/00; shuttles for smallware looms D03D35/00; circular loom shuttles D03D37/00; selvedge shuttles D03D47/46
• CPC Class Codes: D10B 2401/046 Shape recovering or form memory
• CPC Class Codes: D10B 2509/06 Vascular grafts; stents
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 139/01 Bias fabric digest

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a woven textile having a structural member integrally woven therein. The structural member may be either straight or an undulating member which, although straight when secured to the textile, is trained to undergo a shape memory transformation back to its remembered undulating shape. The structural member is secured to the woven textile by displacing one or more given warp yarns in a first direction to create a structural member receiving gap, inserting the structural member into the gap by passing a structural member-insertion shuttle therethrough, and thereafter returning the displaced warp yarn or yarns to secure the structural member.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a woven textile having a structural member integrally woven therein, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a plurality of warp yarns;

(b) displacing a first group of said warp yarns in a first vertical direction relative to a second group of said warp yarns, to create a first shed between said first and second groups of warp yarns;

(c) passing a weft insertion shuttle through said first shed, in a first weft shuttle direction, to form a weft yarn;

(d) displacing a third group of said warp yarns in a second vertical direction relative to a fourth group of said warp yarns, to create a second shed between said third and fourth groups of warp yarns;

(e) passing said weft insertion shuttle through said second shed in a second weft shuttle direction, opposed to said first weft shuttle direction, to form an additional weft yarn;

(f) repeating steps (b)-(e) a predetermined number of times to obtain a predetermined number of weft yarns;

(g) subsequent to step (f), displacing at least a first single given warp yarn in one of said first and second vertical directions, relative to a remainder of said warp yarns, to create a structural member receiving gap;

(h) subsequent to step (g), passing a structural member insertion shuttle through said structural member receiving gap in a first horizontal direction to dispense a wire-like structural member into said receiving gap;

(i) subsequent to step (h), replacing said at least first single given warp yarn in the other of said first and second vertical directions relative to the remainder of said warp yarns, to secure said member;

(j) subsequent to step (i), displacing all said warp yarns in an identical vertical direction;

(k) subsequent to step (j), passing said structural member insertion shuttle past said warp yarns without interweaving therewith;

(l) again repeating steps (b)-(e) to obtain said predetermined number of weft yarns;

(m) repeating steps (g)-(k) with at least a second given single warp yarn which is spaced from said at least first given single warp yarn displaced in initially performing step (g) by a predetermined distance, said predetermined distance and said predetermined number of weft yarns together defining a non-orthogonal angle between said structural member and said warp yarns and a complimentary non-orthogonal angle between said structural member and said weft yarns.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) comprises providing a first number of ordinary warp yarns selected for base textile properties and a second number of securing warp yarns which are used to secure said member in step (i) and which are preselected for desirable structural securing properties.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein step (g) comprises displacing at least 2 adjacent warp yarns and step (i) comprises replacing both of said adjacent warp yarns such that said structural member is secured by both of said adjacent warp yarns.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein step (h) comprises dispensing said structural member as a substantially straight member.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein step (h) comprises displacing said structural member as an initially undulating member which is placed under sufficient tension to substantially straighten the undulations.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein step (k) further comprises the sub-step of at least partially recapturing an unused portion of said structural member.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

step (b) comprises displacing those of said warp yarns which are odd-numbered as said first group of warp yarns and those of said warp yarns which are even-numbered as said second group of warp yarns; and

in step (d), said third group is the same as said first group and said fourth group is the same as said second group.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of said warp yarns and said weft yarns is comprised at least in part of microdenier yarns.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein both said warp yarns and said weft yarns are comprised at least in part of microdenier yarns.

10. A method of manufacturing a woven textile having a structural member integrally woven therein, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a plurality of warp yarns;

(b) displacing a first group of said warp yarns in a first vertical direction relative to a second group of said warp yarns, to create a first shed between said first and second groups of warp yarns;

(c) passing a weft insertion shuttle through said first shed, in a first weft shuttle direction, to form a weft yarn;

(d) displacing a third group of said warp yarns in a second vertical direction relative to a fourth group of said warp yarns, to create a second shed between said third and fourth groups of warp yarns;

(e) passing said weft insertion shuttle through said second shed in a second weft shuttle direction, opposed to said first weft shuttle direction, to form an additional weft yarn;

(f) repeating steps (b)-(e) a predetermined number of times to obtain a predetermined number of weft yarns;

(g) subsequent to step (f), passing a structural member insertion shuttle across said warp and weft yarns in a first horizontal direction to dispense a wire-like structural member, said wire-like structural member having a plurality of recessed attachment points which are substantially parallel to said warp yarns and aligned with one of said first and second groups of warp yarns;

(h) subsequent to step (g), repeating one of step (g) and step (e) to secure said wire-like structural member, at a given one of said attachment points, with at least a given weft yarn;

(i) subsequent to step (h), displacing said structural member away from said warp and weft yarns so as to prevent interference with weaving;

(j) again repeating steps (b)-(e) to obtain said predetermined number of weft yarns; and

(k) repeating steps (g)-(i), as needed, with at least an additional given weft yarn which is spaced from said at least first given weft yarn used in initially performing step (h) by said predetermined number of weft yarns, at a location corresponding to a predetermined number of said warp yarns, said predetermined number of weft yarns and said predetermined number of said warp yarns together defining a non-orthogonal angle between a global axis of said structural member and said warp yarns and a complimentary non-orthogonal angle between said global axis of said structural member and said weft yarns.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein at least one of said warp yarns and said weft yarns is comprised at least in part of microdenier yarns.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein both said warp yarns and said weft yarns are comprised at least in part of microdenier yarns.