Method for fabrication of flexible shaft
US4669172A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 20, 1985 |
| Grant date | Jun 2, 1987 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 20, 2005 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T29/49996
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Disclosed is a method for the fabrication of a flexible shaft comprising a spiral cut member having an essentially uniform inside diameter and a tapered linear profile coextensive with at least a portion of the spiral of sai d member. This flexible shaft is fabricated initially by progressively removing a portion of the exterior wall along a predetermined segment of a relatively rigid tube thereby forming a tapered profile along such segment. A series of cuts are thereafter made in the wall of the tapered segment of the tube resulting in a progressive and transition free increase in flexibility along itslongitudinal dimension; that portion of the tapered segment having the thinner wall being increasingly more flexible than that portion of the tapered segment having a comparatively thicker wall.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.