JP2016002139A - Flare processing method for catheter and apparatus thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain flare-processed products of catheters having reliable quality.SOLUTION: A catheter 2 is passed through a widely opening hole 32 for flare molding of a molding tool 1; a tapered tip 35 of a pin for flare molding is heated; an end part of the catheter 2 is fit into the tip 35 of the pin 3 within the widely opening hole 32 of the molding tool 1; and the end part of the catheter 2 is more deeply fit into the pin 3 when it is detected that the end part of the catheter 2 is in a state of actual plastic flow due to conductive heat from the pin 3, thereby promoting flare processing on the end part.

Description

  The present invention relates to a catheter flare processing method and apparatus.

  In general, the end portion of a catheter is flared, and a connector for supplying a drug or the like is connected to the flared portion. An example of the flare processing method is described in Patent Document 1. It inserts a tapered taper at the tip of a flare expansion body into the end of a tube made of thermoplastic resin (hereinafter referred to as “catheter”), and rotates the catheter and flare expansion body coaxially. The hot air is applied to the end of the catheter, and the end is expanded in a trumpet shape (flared).

  Patent Document 2 describes another flare processing method. The flare expansion body with a built-in heater and temperature sensor is fitted into the outer mold, and flare processing is performed by forming a flare molding space between the flare molding surface at the tip of the flare expansion body and the flare molding surface of the outer mold. That's it. That is, the end of the catheter is pushed into the flare forming space in a state where the flare expansion body is heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater and the temperature sensor.

JP 2001-120664 A JP-A-8-322940

  One of the problems of flaring the catheter end is temperature control. That is, for flaring, it is necessary to heat the end of the catheter to a temperature suitable for flaring. On the other hand, in the above-described heating method using hot air, the temperature rise state of the catheter end changes depending on the atmospheric temperature, the temperature of the hot air, the air volume, the blowing time, etc., thereby determining the quality of the flare processing. It is difficult to control the temperature so that it does not vary. Further, in the method of controlling the temperature of the flare expansion body by the heater and the temperature sensor incorporated in the flare expansion body, the end of the catheter is heated and melted by heat transfer from the flare expansion body. Since it changes depending on the temperature of the outer mold, the quality of the obtained flared product varies, and it is difficult to stably obtain the desired quality.

  On the other hand, if only a desired part of a specific (elongated) shaped resin part such as a catheter is to be melted instantly with a device having a relatively simple configuration (structure), there are limited means for selection. One is induction heating. That is, induction heating is performed on the pin for forming the flare. However, when induction heating is adopted, temperature control is still a problem because the temperature of the flare molding pin is rapidly increased and decreased.

  Therefore, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problem of temperature management and makes it possible to obtain a flare processed product with stable quality.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention performs flare processing by utilizing the fact that the end of the catheter is actually plastically flowed by heating. This will be specifically described below.

The method of flaring the end of the catheter made of the thermoplastic resin presented here is:
A step of passing the catheter through an opening for flare molding which is opened by gradually expanding the inner diameter of the mold;
Heating the tapered tip of the flare molding pin;
Fitting the end of the catheter to the tip of the pin in the expansion hole of the mold; and
And a step of flaring the end portion of the catheter by detecting that the end portion of the catheter is actually in a state of plastic flow by conduction heat from the pin.

  Here, either of the step of heating the tip of the flare molding pin and the step of fitting the end of the catheter to the pin may be performed first, or may be performed simultaneously.

  According to the above method, it is detected that the end of the catheter is actually in a state of plastic flow due to conduction heat from the pin, in other words, a temperature that can be flared and a melted state are detected. This makes it easy to grasp the timing of advancing flare processing, which is advantageous in reliably obtaining a flare processed product having a desired quality.

  A preferred aspect of the flare processing method is that when it is detected that the end portion of the catheter is in a plastic flow state, the end portion of the catheter is further fitted into the pin and the end portion is flared. It is characterized by advancing. Thereby, the flare processed goods of expected quality can be obtained.

A preferred aspect of the flare processing method includes a non-contact type sensor that detects a surface temperature of a portion (wrinkle) at the time of a catheter fitting portion in the pin,
When the end of the catheter is softened and flowed by conduction heat from the pin and the edge portion is covered, the end of the catheter is plastically flowed by utilizing the sudden change in temperature detected by the sensor. It is characterized by determining that the state has been reached.

  According to this, since it is possible to accurately detect that the end portion of the catheter has reached a stable plastic processing, that is, a temperature at which the end portion can be flared and a molten state, the flaring processing of the end portion of the catheter ( For example, it becomes easy to grasp the timing of advancing pressure blow processing from the pin tip portion described later.

  In a preferred aspect of the flare processing method, when it is detected that the end of the catheter is in a plastic flow state, the end of the catheter is fitted more deeply into the pin, and the intermediate portion of the catheter is In order to prevent air from being squeezed out or to increase the air flow resistance, in this state, by supplying pressurized air from the tip of the pin into the catheter, the catheter is in a state of plastic flow. The hole diameter of the end portion is enlarged with pressurized air, and the end portion is brought into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the expansion hole of the mold.

  According to this, the end portion of the catheter that is in a plastic flow state is flared into a shape along the inner surface of the guide expansion hole, and further, a cooling effect of the flared portion by air is obtained. , Quality variation is reduced.

In addition, the device for flaring the end portion of the catheter made of the thermoplastic resin presented here is:
A mold having an expanded hole for flare molding in which the inner diameter through which the catheter is passed is gradually enlarged and opened;
A pin for flare molding having a tapered tip portion into which an end portion of the catheter is fitted, and being disposed toward an opening of the mold;
Heating means for heating the pin;
Drive means for moving the catheter and the mold relative to the pin;
Plastic flow detection means for detecting that the end of the catheter fitted to the tip of the pin is in a state of actual plastic flow due to conduction heat from the pin;
The end of the catheter fits into the tip of the pin heated by the heating means in the expansion hole of the mold, and the end of the catheter is plastically flowed by the plastic flow detecting means. And the control means for controlling the operation of the driving means and the heating means so that the heating of the pin by the heating means is stopped and the end of the catheter is flared. It is characterized by.

  According to this apparatus, the above-described flare processing method can be performed, and an intended flare processed product with little variation in quality can be obtained with certainty.

A preferred aspect of the flare processing apparatus is:
The control means is arranged so that the end of the catheter fits more deeply into the tip of the pin when the plastic flow detecting means detects that the end of the catheter is in a state of plastic flow. The operation of the driving means is controlled.

  Thereby, the flare processed goods of expected quality can be obtained.

A preferred aspect of the flare processing apparatus is:
The plastic flow detecting means includes a non-contact type sensor that detects a surface temperature of a portion (wrinkle) at the catheter fitting portion of the pin, and the end portion of the catheter is softened and flowed by conduction heat from the pin. Based on the phenomenon that the temperature detected by the sensor changes suddenly when the portion is covered, it is detected that the end of the catheter is in a state of plastic flow.

  Thereby, it is possible to accurately detect that the end of the catheter has reached a temperature and a molten state at which stable plastic processing, that is, flaring can be performed.

  As the plastic flow detecting means, a method of detecting by a displacement sensor that the end portion of the catheter has softened and flowed and covered the above-mentioned portion can be adopted.

A preferred aspect of the flare processing apparatus is:
The pin has an air passage opened at its tip inside,
Air supply means for supplying pressurized air to the catheter fitted to the pin through the air passage of the pin;
Catheter crushing means for flattening the middle part of the catheter so that air does not escape or the air flow resistance increases,
When the control means detects that the end portion of the catheter is in a plastic flow state by the plastic flow detection means, the intermediate portion of the catheter is crushed so as to be flat, Pressurized air is supplied to the catheter through the air passage of the pin, and the air supply means and the catheter pusher are expanded by the pressurized air so that the hole diameter of the end of the catheter in a state of plastic flow is expanded. The operation of the crushing means is controlled.

  As a result, the end of the catheter that is in a plastic flow state is flared into a shape along the inner peripheral surface of the guide expansion hole, and the cooling effect of the flared portion by air is also obtained. Variation is reduced.

  According to the present invention, since it is detected that the end portion of the catheter is actually in a plastic flow state due to heat conduction from the pin, it becomes easy to grasp the timing to advance the flare processing of the end portion of the catheter, This is advantageous in reliably obtaining a flare processed product of the desired quality.

By using a non-contact sensor to detect the surface temperature of the pin at the end of the catheter, it is ensured that the (synthetic) resin at the end of the catheter has melted and is in a state of plastic flow. Can be detected.
It is possible to detect reliably that it is in a flowing state

The whole block diagram of a flare processing apparatus. The top view of a high frequency current transformer. Sectional drawing which shows a shaping | molding die, a pin, and a non-contact-type sensor. Control flow diagram. Sectional drawing which shows the state which set the catheter to the shaping | molding die. Sectional drawing which shows the state which positioned the catheter in the origin. Sectional drawing which shows the state which a catheter advances with a shaping | molding die and a roller. Sectional drawing which shows the state detected that it was in the state which carried out the plastic flow of the catheter edge part. Sectional drawing which shows the state which the fitting with respect to the pin of a catheter end part became deep. Sectional drawing which shows the state which extended the catheter edge part which became the state which plastically flows with air blow. The graph which shows the time-dependent change of the detection temperature by a non-contact-type sensor.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The following description of the preferred embodiments is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the invention, its application, or its use.

<Overall configuration of flare processing device>
In the flaring apparatus for a catheter shown in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a molding die having a flaring molding expansion hole through which the catheter 2 is passed, and 3 denotes a flaring molding pin. 3 are coaxially arranged so as to face each other horizontally.

  The mold 1 is supported by a stage 4, and the stage 4 is supported by a rail 6 via a powered slider 5. The rail 6 is fixed to the base 7. The mold 1 moves forward and backward toward the pin 3 by the operation of the slider 5. In addition to the mold 1, upper and lower rollers 8 and 9 for moving the catheter 2 forward and backward with respect to the mold 1 are supported on the stage 4.

  The upper roller 8 is a driving roller that is rotated by a motor 11, and a circumferential groove 8 a into which the upper half circumference of the cross section of the catheter 2 is fitted is formed at the center of the circumferential surface. In order to support the upper roller 8 and the motor 11, a support plate 12 is erected on the stage 4, the motor 11 is attached to the support plate 12, and the upper roller 8 is supported by a bearing member 13 provided on the support plate 12. ing.

  The lower roller 9 is a driven roller and is rotatably supported by a bearing member 15 erected on the lifting table 14. The lift table 14 is lifted and lowered by the operation of the lift drive means 16 provided on the stage 4. In addition to the lower roller 9, the elevating table 14 supports a cradle 17 that receives the catheter 2.

  Here, the powered slider 5 and the upper and lower rollers 8 and 9 constitute a driving means for moving the mold 1 and the catheter 2 relative to the pin 3. That is, the relative position of the mold 1 and the catheter 2 with respect to the pin 3 is changed by the operation of the powered slider 5, and the relative position of the catheter 2 with respect to the mold 1 and the pin 3 is changed by the rotation of the upper roller 8.

  The flare molding pin 3 is fixed to a support plate 18 erected on the base 7. Further, a heating means 19 for heating the tip of the pin 3 is provided on the base 7. The heating means 19 is a high frequency induction heating system, and includes a self-excited oscillation circuit type high frequency generator 22 using a power source 21 and a vacuum tube, and a high frequency current transformer 23 and a heating coil 24 also shown in FIG. The heating coil 24 is provided around the tip of the pin 3.

  One of the features of the heating means 19 is that a toroidal core current transformer is employed as the current transformer 23. As shown in FIG. 2, the current transformer 23 includes four toroidal cores 41. That is, two toroidal cores 41 are directly connected coaxially to form one core set, and the two core sets are arranged side by side.

  The secondary side of the current transformer 23 is a pair of copper plates 42 and 42 provided on one side of each core set, and one copper plate provided on the opposite side of both core sets so as to straddle both core sets. 43 and two copper pipes 44 that pass through the two toroidal cores 41 of each core set and connect the copper plates 42 and the copper plates 43 to each other. The heating coil 24 is connected to the pair of copper plates 42 and 42. The primary side of the current transformer 23 is configured by winding the coil 44 through the copper pipes 43 and 43 twice.

  In the current transformer 23 configured as described above, a secondary current having twice the strength of the primary current can be obtained even when the coil turns ratio is 1: 1. In the example of FIG. 2, the turns ratio is 1: 2. Therefore, the secondary current is four times stronger than the primary current. As described above, the efficiency of the current transformer 23 is increased by using the toroidal core 41, thereby facilitating downsizing.

  Here, the flare processing apparatus is configured such that the end of the catheter 2 is fitted to the tip of the pin 3 heated by the heating coil 24, and the end of the catheter 2 is plastically flowed by the conduction heat from the tip of the pin 3. And flared by the mold 1 and the pin 3. Thus, the flare processing apparatus is provided with a non-contact temperature sensor 25 in order to detect that the end of the catheter 2 is actually in a plastic flow state. Further, an air passage 26 opened at the tip of the pin 3 is provided inside the pin 3, and an air supply means (air compressor and regulator) 27 for supplying pressurized air to the air passage 26 is connected. .

  Further, the flare processing apparatus includes a fixed stopper 28a for stopping the advancement of the stage 4 at a predetermined position, a movable stopper 28b for moving the stage 4 stopped by the fixed stopper 28a by a predetermined amount, and the stage 4 being a fixed stopper. And a shock absorber 28c for reducing the impact when hitting 28a. Further, the flare processing apparatus includes an air cylinder 29 that drives the movable stopper 28, and further controls the operations of the slider 5, the motor 11, the lift drive means 16, the heating means 18, the air supply means 27, and the air cylinder 29. The control means 30 using the microcomputer is provided.

<Configuration of mold 1 and pin 3, arrangement of sensor 25>
As shown in FIG. 3 (horizontal sectional view), the mold 1 is constituted by a pair of half-divided dies 1a that can be separated into left and right. A through hole 31 having a constant inner diameter extending in the longitudinal direction of the pin 3 for passing the catheter 2 is formed at the center of the mold 1. The through-hole 31 continues to a flare molding opening 32 which is opened with an inner diameter gradually expanding at the end of the mold 1 on the pin 3 side. A position sensor (photoelectric sensor) 33 for positioning the distal end of the catheter 2 at the processing origin in the mold 1 is provided in the vicinity of the widening hole 32 of the mold 1. That is, each half mold 1 a constituting the mold 1 is formed with a sensor mounting hole 34 that is orthogonal to and opposed to the through hole 31, and the light projecting portion 33 a that configures the position sensor 33 in the mounting hole 34. And the light receiving portion 33b are provided to face each other.

  The pin 3 has a tapered tip portion 35. The distal end portion 35 is, in order from the distal end, a first tapered portion 35a tapered at a certain angle, the same outer diameter portion 35b following the first tapered portion 35a, and the curved second taper following the aligned outer diameter portion 35b. A portion 35c is provided. The pin 3 is formed with a first step portion 36 having an outer diameter that is enlarged following the tapered tip portion 35, and the outer diameter is increased to a portion slightly away from the first step portion 36 in the axial direction. A stepped portion 37 is formed. When the mold 1 is advanced toward the pin 3, the end surface of the mold 1 comes into contact with the second step portion 37 of the pin 3.

  The temperature sensor 25 detects the fact that the end of the catheter 2 is softened and flown by conduction heat from the pin 3, that is, the end of the catheter 3 is actually plastically flowed. It is arrange | positioned so that the surface temperature of the part 35d in the case of a fitting part may be detected. The detection of the plastic flow state will be described in detail later.

<Flare processing>
The flare processing apparatus is activated by turning on a start button (not shown), and the control means 30 follows the predetermined control flow, the slider 5, the motor 11, the elevating drive means 16, the heating means 18, the air supply means 27, and the air cylinder. 29 is controlled. FIG. 4 shows a control flow.

  Hereinafter, the contents of the control means 30 and the flow of flare processing will be described with reference to FIG. 4 (control flow), FIG. 5 to FIG. 10 (showing the state of each process), and FIG. 11 (detected temperature change of the sensor 25). To do.

  In the initial state, the mold 1 is separated from the pin 3 as shown in FIG. 1, and the lower roller 9 is lowered (roller open state) as shown in FIG. First, the catheter 2 is supported through the through hole 31 of the mold 1. The end of the catheter 2 is positioned in front of the position sensor 33.

  When the start button is turned on, in step S1, as shown in FIG. 6, the lower roller 9 is raised and the roller is closed (the catheter 2 is advanced and retracted by the rotation of the upper roller 8). In subsequent step S2, the upper roller 8 rotates to retract the catheter 2. When the distal end of the catheter 2 passes through the position sensor 33 and the passage is detected by the position sensor 33, the backward movement of the catheter 2 by the upper roller 8 stops (step S3). Thereby, the catheter 2 is positioned at the origin for flare processing in the mold 1. This is called an end face alignment operation, and flare processing is performed based on this origin.

  The end of the catheter 2 may be positioned behind the position sensor 33, and the catheter 2 may be moved forward by the rotation of the upper roller 8 to be positioned at the origin.

  When the catheter 2 is positioned at the origin, in step S4, the heating means 19 is activated to heat the tip of the pin 3. In subsequent step S5, the slider 5 is operated to move forward until the stage 4 comes into contact with the fixed stopper 28a. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the catheter 2 positioned at the origin moves forward together with the mold 1 and the rollers 8 and 9, and thereafter the advance of the stage 4 is stopped by contact with the fixed stopper 28a. In a subsequent step S6, the movable stopper 28b moves to the stage 4 side, so that a predetermined gap is formed between the end surface of the mold 1 and the second step portion 37 of the pin 3 as shown in FIG. become.

  In subsequent step S7, the upper roller 8 rotates and the catheter 2 advances. The end portion of the catheter 2 is fitted into the tip portion 35 of the pin 3 and is softened by conduction heat from the pin 3 to be in a semi-flowing state, that is, in a state of plastic flow. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, the fitting of the end of the catheter 2 to the pin 3 becomes deeper. Then, the distal end of the catheter 2 is in a molten state, and the above-described edge portion 35 d of the pin 3 which is a surface temperature detection unit by the temperature sensor 25 is covered with the molten distal end of the catheter 2.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 11, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 25 increases rapidly. This is because the amount of infrared energy radiated by the resin in a state of plastic flow is larger than that of the pin 3. The control means 30 determines that the end of the catheter 2 is in a state of plastic flow when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 25 suddenly changes and reaches a predetermined temperature, and stops the advancement of the catheter 2 by the upper roller 8 ( Step S8).

  In step S9, the heating of the pin 3 by the heating means 19 is turned off, and the catheter 2 is slightly advanced by the upper roller 8 almost simultaneously (step S10). The reason is as follows. If the advancement of the catheter 2 is stopped at the plastic flow detection position, there is a possibility that the flare end surface after flare processing becomes uneven when there is variation in melting of the distal end portion of the catheter 2. Therefore, by slightly advancing the catheter 2 after detecting the plastic flow, the distal end of the catheter 2 is pressed against the first step portion 36 of the pin 3 over the entire circumference so that the flare end surface does not become uneven. To do.

  In subsequent step S11, the movable stopper 28b that has stopped the advance of the stage 4 is moved backward. As the movable stopper 28b moves backward, the stage 4 further advances, and as shown in FIG. 9, the fitting of the catheter 2 to the pin 3 is further deepened, that is, the flaring process proceeds and the end face of the mold 1 is the pin end. Abutting on the second step portion 37, there is no gap between the mold 1 and the pin 3. Note that step S10 (catheter advance) may be performed at the timing when the movable stopper 28b of step S11 moves backward.

  In subsequent step S12, the elevating drive means 16 operates to lower the lower roller 9 as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. That is, the roller is opened. In the subsequent step S13, the air supply means 27 is operated, and pressurized air is supplied from the tip of the pin 3 through the air passage 26 to the inside of the catheter 2 (air blow), whereby the catheter 2 is cooled for a predetermined time ( Step S14).

  In the subsequent step S15, the elevation drive means 16 is operated to raise the lower roller 9 as shown in FIG. 10, and the roller is closed. As a result, the catheter 2 is crushed so as to be flattened by the rollers 8 and 9, and the flow resistance of air passing through the hole of the catheter 2 is increased. When the roller 9 is raised, the catheter 2 may be completely crushed so that air cannot pass through.

  In subsequent step S16, the air supply means 27 is operated, and pressurized air is supplied from the tip of the pin 3 into the catheter 2 (air blow). This air blow is performed for a predetermined time (step S17). Since the air flow resistance of the catheter 2 is increased, and further, the gap between the mold 1 and the pin 3 is eliminated, so that pressurized air is applied to the end of the catheter 2 in a state of plastic flow. As shown in FIG. 10, the end portion in a state of plastic flow increases in diameter and comes into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the expansion hole 32 of the mold 1 (flaring process by air blow).

  In addition, after step S11 (movable stopper retreat), flare processing by air blow (steps S16, S17) may be performed first, and then cooling of the catheter 2 by air blow (steps S13, S14) may be performed. .

  If the explanation is continued along the flow of FIG. 4, the roller is opened by the operation of the elevating drive means 16 in step S18 following the flare processing by air blow (steps S16, S17). In subsequent steps S19 and S20, the air supply means 27 operates for a predetermined time, and the catheter 2 is cooled by air blowing.

  In the subsequent step S21, the roller is closed by the operation of the elevating drive means 16, and in the subsequent step S22, the air supply means 27 is operated to perform air blowing, and in this state, the stage 4 moves backward (step S23). Then, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor becomes equal to or lower than the predetermined value, the air blow is stopped (steps S24 and S25), and a series of flare processing ends.

  As described above, by retracting the stage 4 while performing air blowing, the pin 3 can be cooled, and it is possible to avoid variations in the quality of the flare processed product obtained by the heat accumulation of the pin 3. For example, it is preferable to continue air blowing until the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 25 reaches 35 ° C.

  Note that the pin 3 may be cooled by continuing the air blow without opening the roller in step S21 and keeping the roller open.

1 Mold 2 Catheter 3 Pin 5 Slider (Driving means)
8,9 roller (driving means, catheter crushing means))
19 Heating means 25 Non-contact sensor (plastic flow detecting means)
26 Air passage 27 Air supply means 30 Control means 35 Pin tip 35d

Claims (8)

A method of flaring an end portion of a catheter made of a thermoplastic resin,
A step of passing the catheter through an opening for flare molding which is opened by gradually expanding the inner diameter of the mold;
Heating the tapered tip of the flare molding pin;
Fitting the end of the catheter to the tip of the pin in the expansion hole of the mold; and
And a step of flaring the end of the catheter by detecting that the end of the catheter is in a state of actual plastic flow due to conduction heat from the pin. Processing method. In claim 1,
When it is detected that the end portion of the catheter is in a state of plastic flow, the end portion of the catheter is further fitted into the pin and the flare processing of the end portion is advanced. Flare processing method. In claim 1 or claim 2,
A non-contact type sensor for detecting the surface temperature of the portion (wrinkle) at the catheter fitting portion in the pin,
When the end of the catheter is softened and flowed by conduction heat from the pin and the marginal part is covered, the end of the catheter becomes in a state of plastic flow when the detected temperature of the sensor changes suddenly. A method for flaring a catheter, characterized by determining that In any one of Claim 1 thru | or 3,
When it is detected that the end of the catheter is in a state of plastic flow, the end of the catheter is fitted more deeply into the pin, and the intermediate portion of the catheter is crushed so that air does not escape. Alternatively, the air flow resistance is increased, and in this state, pressurized air is supplied from the tip of the pin into the catheter, so that the diameter of the end portion of the catheter that is in a state of plastic flow can be changed to pressurized air. A method for flaring a catheter, wherein the end is brought into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the expansion hole of the molding die. An apparatus for flaring a catheter end made of a thermoplastic resin,
A mold having an expanded hole for flare molding in which the inner diameter through which the catheter is passed is gradually enlarged and opened;
A pin for flare molding having a tapered tip portion into which an end portion of the catheter is fitted, and being disposed toward an opening of the mold;
Heating means for heating the pin;
Drive means for moving the catheter and the mold relative to the pin;
Plastic flow detection means for detecting that the end of the catheter fitted to the tip of the pin is in a state of actual plastic flow due to conduction heat from the pin;
The end of the catheter fits into the tip of the pin heated by the heating means in the expansion hole of the mold, and the end of the catheter is plastically flowed by the plastic flow detecting means. And the control means for controlling the operation of the driving means and the heating means so that the heating of the pin by the heating means is stopped and the end of the catheter is flared. A flaring apparatus for a catheter characterized by comprising: In claim 5,
The control means is arranged so that the end of the catheter fits more deeply into the tip of the pin when the plastic flow detecting means detects that the end of the catheter is in a state of plastic flow. A flare processing apparatus for a catheter characterized by controlling the operation of the driving means. In claim 5 or claim 6,
The plastic flow detecting means includes a non-contact type sensor that detects a surface temperature of a portion of the taper portion of the pin where the end of the catheter is fitted (wrinkle). Based on the phenomenon that the temperature detected by the sensor suddenly changes when the end of the catheter is softened and covered, the fact that the end of the catheter is in a state of plastic flow is detected. A catheter flaring apparatus characterized by the above. In any one of Claims 5 thru | or 7,
The pin has an air passage opened at its tip inside,
Air supply means for supplying pressurized air to the catheter fitted to the pin through the air passage of the pin;
Catheter crushing means for flattening the middle part of the catheter so that air does not escape or the air flow resistance increases,
When the control means detects that the end portion of the catheter is in a plastic flow state by the plastic flow detection means, the intermediate portion of the catheter is crushed so as to be flat, Pressurized air is supplied to the catheter through the air passage of the pin, whereby the end of the catheter that is in a state of plastic flow is expanded and brought into contact with the inner surface of the expansion hole of the mold. Further, the catheter flare processing apparatus is characterized in that the operation of the air supply means and the catheter crushing means is controlled.

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