Water-Based Coated Textile Sleeve for Fluid-Tight Flexible Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing textile sleeves for protecting elongate members face challenges in meeting stringent performance requirements, such as nuclear, biological, and chemical contamination survivability, due to the use of solvent-based coatings that are environmentally unfriendly and unreliable in preventing fluid leakage, and heat-shrink wrapping materials that are costly and rigid, making them difficult to route around sharp corners and bends.
Innovation Solution
A textile sleeve with a flexible, tubular wall made of tightly braided high-temperature yarns coated with a water-based, two-layer impervious coating system, where the first layer includes a dielectric enhancing additive and thickening agent, and the second layer does not, applied in a method that involves heat-treating the yarns to enhance adhesion and decontamination, and post-curing at 200 degrees Celsius for 12 hours.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If solvent-based coatings are applied to provide enhanced abrasion resistance and imperviousness, then the coating provides better protection, but the coating process is environmentally unfriendly and unreliable in preventing fluid leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameter of the coating from solvent-based to water-based formulation. This substitution maintains the protective functions (abrasion resistance and imperviousness) while eliminating the harmful solvent components, thereby resolving the contradiction between reliability and environmental harm.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a composite coating system consisting of multiple layers with different formulations. The first layer contains dielectric enhancing additive and thickening agent, while the second layer has similar formulation without thickening agent. This composite structure achieves reliable fluid leakage prevention while using environmentally friendly water-based materials.
2Reliability
If heat-shrink wrap materials are used to provide fluid tight protection, then the protection is effective, but the materials are costly and rigid, making them difficult to route around sharp corners and bends
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible textile sleeve as the base structure, which is inherently more compliant than rigid heat-shrink wrap materials. The sleeve can be easily routed around sharp corners and bends while maintaining its protective function, resolving the contradiction between fluid tight protection and routing flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The textile sleeve structure allows for dynamic deformation and adaptation to various geometries. Unlike rigid heat-shrink materials, the flexible braid construction enables the sleeve to conform to complex shapes and movements, maintaining ease of operation while ensuring protection.
3Reliability
If a separate outer covering layer of impervious sheet is applied about textile sleeves, then the sleeve meets stringent performance requirements, but the manufacture cost increases and weight is added
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the protective coating function directly into the textile sleeve structure through applied coating layers, rather than using a separate outer covering layer. This integration eliminates the need for additional weight-bearing components while maintaining compliance with stringent performance requirements, thereby reducing the overall sleeve assembly weight.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and reliable fluid-tight protection with enhanced abrasion resistance and dielectric properties, suitable for military and commercial aircraft applications, while allowing for easy routing around complex geometries.
Implementation Method 1
The coating is a water-based coating applied in two distinct, first and second layers
Implementation Method 2
The first, underlying layer includes a dielectric enhancing additive to enhance the impermeability of the wall
Implementation Method 3
The first, underlying layer includes a dielectric enhancing additive and a thickening agent to enhance the impermeability of the wall
Implementation Method 4
heat-treating the yarns to enhance adhesion and decontamination
Implementation Method 5
post-curing at 200 degrees Celsius for 12 hours
Data Source
AI summary
A textile sleeve and method of construction thereof is provided. The textile sleeve has a water-based, impervious coating for protecting elongate members contained within the sleeve. The sleeve has a flexible, tubular wall of tightly braided yarns with a coating applied thereto to render the wall impervious to fluid. The coating is a water-based coating applied as two distinct, first and second layers. The first, underlying layer includes a dielectric enhancing additive and a thickening agent to enhance the impermeability of the wall. The second, outer layer contains a similar formulation as the underlying first layer, however, it is free of the thickening agent.