Method of making expanded polytetrafluoroethylene products
US6203735A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 3, 1997 |
| Grant date | Mar 20, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 3, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB29L2031/7534
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method of shaping three-dimensional products by manipulating an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene tubular body into a desired three-dimensional conformation. The present invention entails radially expanding a longitudinally expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) tube to form a radially expanded ePTFE (rePTFE) tube, engaging the rePTFE tube circumferentially about a shaping mandrel, heating the assembly to a temperature below the crystalline melt point temperature, or sintering temperature, of polytetrafluoroethylene to radially shrink the diameter of the rePTFE tube into intimate contact with the shaping mandrel, and heating the assembly to a temperature above the crystalline melt point temperature of polytetrafluoroethylene to amorphously lock the microstructure of the shaped polytetrafluoroethylene body.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.