Patent ID: 8826791

Claim:
A mechanism for braiding, comprising: a circular array of filament guiding members generally defining a plane; a mandrel extending from a center of the circular array of filament guiding members and generally perpendicular to the plane of the circular array of filament guiding member defining an axis; a plurality of filaments extending from the mandrel in a radial array; and a plurality of actuator mechanisms disposed operably about the circular array of filament guiding members, wherein each actuator is adapted to engage one or more filaments and move the one or more filaments away from the mandrel in a generally radial direction; and a rotating mechanism configured to rotate one or more filaments about the axis of the mandrel; and wherein the actuator mechanisms and rotating mechanism are configured to move each of the one or more filaments about the mandrel axis in a path comprising a series of arcs and radial movements.