Dual-Textile Retractable Hose With Inflatable Reinforcement Zones
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Solution Overview
Problem
Retractable pipes used in applications like underwater settings lack sufficient mechanical resistance and are not designed for repeated lengthening and retraction, limiting their use in high-stress environments.
Innovation Solution
A retractable pipe with a double fabric textile coating and inflatable zones, where the textile is woven to create separate inflatable areas and non-inflatable regions, providing enhanced mechanical resistance and flexibility, allowing for adjustable length based on inflation levels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional flexible PVC tape and metal wire are used to form retractable pipes, then the pipes can be adjusted in length and stored compactly, but the mechanical resistance is insufficient for high-stress applications like underwater use
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining double fabric textile with gas-permeable membrane and coating layers to create a multi-layered pipe wall structure. The textile provides mechanical strength through its woven construction with inflatable zones, while the coating layers (PVC, polyurethane, or silicone) provide fluid impermeability. This composite structure enables the pipe to withstand high stresses in underwater applications while maintaining retractability through the inflatable zone mechanism.
2Adaptability or versatility
If retractable pipes are designed for permanent positioning with fixed length, then they can be optimized for specific installations, but they cannot be repeatedly lengthened and retracted for dynamic applications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by incorporating inflatable zones that can be selectively inflated or deflated to change the pipe's length and structural rigidity. The double fabric textile construction allows certain zones to expand while maintaining overall structural integrity. This dynamic capability enables the pipe to be repeatedly extended and retracted for dynamic applications such as underwater sampling or flexible positioning, while the textile's woven structure maintains sufficient mechanical resistance during these transitions.
3Strength
If double fabric textile with inflatable zones is used to improve mechanical resistance, then the pipe can withstand high stresses, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the textile wall into distinct functional zones: inflatable zones that provide mechanical resistance when pressurized, and non-inflatable zones that maintain structural continuity. The weaving pattern separates warp and weft threads in inflatable zones while keeping them integrated in non-inflatable zones. This segmentation allows the complex double fabric structure to be manufactured in a single continuous process on industrial looms, reducing assembly complexity despite the sophisticated internal architecture.
4Strength
If the textile is woven with separate inflatable zones and non-inflatable regions, then intrinsic mechanical resistance is achieved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-establishing the inflatable and non-inflatable zone patterns during the weaving process itself, rather than adding these features later. The textile is woven with specific thread separation patterns that create inflatable zones where warp and weft threads are separated, and non-inflatable zones where they are integrated. This preliminary structuring during manufacturing ensures precise delimitation of functional zones and inherent mechanical resistance, eliminating the need for subsequent assembly operations that would compromise precision.
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 offers a retractable pipe with improved mechanical resistance and the ability to repeatedly lengthen or retract, maintaining fluid flow efficiency and minimizing pressure losses, suitable for applications like seawater pumping and fish cage filtration systems.
Implementation Method 1
said textile being covered with a coating layer of a gases and/or liquid-impermeable material
Implementation Method 2
the two fabrics work together to delimit at least one inflatable zone
Implementation Method 3
the possibility of precisely and repeatedly lengthening or retracting the pipe thanks to the adjustment of the inflation level of said inflatable zones
Implementation Method 4
This particular weaving gives an intrinsic mechanical resistance to pressure by the crossing of the warp threads and weft threads during weaving. This resistance to static pressure and to fatigue bears no comparison with the resistance of membranes obtained by gluing, welding or sewing
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a retractable pipe whose wall is formed of at least one flexible gas-impermeable and/or liquid-impermeable tape welded by its selvages in the form of a cylindrical helix and of at least one metal wire in the form of a cylindrical helix whose pitch is the same as the one formed by said band, characterized in that said tape is a double fabric textile comprising at least two regions where the two fabrics work together to delimit at least one inflatable zone, said textile being covered with a coating layer of a gas and/or liquid-impermeable material.