Patent ID: 7381273

Claim:
In an apparatus of the dip coating type for coating elongated medical devices such as guidewires and catheters, the apparatus having a vertically movable mounting member to which one or more such medical devices may be releasably attached, a drive mechanism for raising and lowering the mounting member, and at least one coating tube filled with a desired coating solution and having a receiving end positioned below the mounting member to receive and coat each such medical device, the improvement comprising: One or more infrared heating tools mounted on the dip coating apparatus between the movable mounting member and the coating tubes, each heating tool having a heating head containing electrically energizable heating elements configured to define an opening constructed and arranged to movably receive an elongated medical device therethrough, whereby the drive mechanism may be actuated to lower the elongated medical devices into the coating tubes for coating and subsequently to raise the medical devices upwardly through the energized heating head openings to cure the coating.