Self-Wrapping Textile Sleeve With Impervious Coating for Tight Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multilayer protective sleeves for elongate members are bulky, heavy, and inflexible, making them unsuitable for applications requiring routing through tight spaces and weight restrictions, such as aircraft and aerospace, while also being costly.
Innovation Solution
A self-wrapping textile sleeve with an elongate wall constructed from interlaced yarns that are heat-formed to curl into a tubular configuration, featuring an impervious polymer coating on the outer surface to provide protection against abrasion, fluid, and thermal conditions, reducing weight and cost.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multilayer protective sleeves are used to provide protection against abrasion, fluid, and thermal conditions, then protection reliability is improved, but weight and bulk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining a textile substrate with a polymer coating layer. The textile wall provides structural integrity and abrasion resistance, while the polymer coating layer provides fluid and thermal protection. This composite structure achieves multi-protection functionality without requiring multiple separate layers, thereby reducing weight and bulk compared to traditional multilayer sleeves.
2Reliability
If multilayer protective sleeves are used to provide comprehensive protection, then protection reliability is improved, but flexibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a textile wall structure that inherently provides flexibility, combined with a polymer coating layer that forms a thin protective film. The textile construction allows the sleeve to bend and conform to tight routing paths while the coating layer maintains its protective function. This flexible shell approach eliminates the bulkiness of rigid multilayer constructions while maintaining protection reliability.
3Reliability
If multilayer protective sleeves are used to achieve desired protection levels, then protection reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple protective functions into a single integrated structure. The textile wall and polymer coating layer are combined in a single sleeve construction, where the textile provides mechanical strength and the coating provides environmental protection. This unified design eliminates the need for separate multilayer assemblies, reducing structural complexity while maintaining comprehensive protection.
4Reliability
If traditional multilayer sleeves are used to provide protection, then protection reliability is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite materials that can be manufactured in a single integrated process. The textile wall serves as the substrate, and the polymer coating is applied directly to it, creating a unified protective sleeve. This eliminates the need for separate manufacturing and assembly of multiple layers, reducing manufacturing complexity and cost while maintaining protection reliability.
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 sleeve offers enhanced protection against abrasion, heat, and fluid while being lightweight and economical, with reduced yarn denier and diameter, allowing for easier routing and reduced manufacturing costs.
Implementation Method 1
The cured layer is cured at the one temperature at which the yarns are heat formed into their self-wrapping configuration, wherein the cured layer fills the interstices between adjunct yarns to form an impervious layer to liquid on the wall
Implementation Method 2
heat forming the wall to take on a self-wrapping configuration at one temperature with the inner surface providing a tubular cavity
Data Source
Figure 1A~1C
Figure 2~3
AI summary
A self-wrapping, textile sleeve for routing and protecting elongate members from exposure to abrasion, thermal and other environmental conditions and method on construction thereof. The sleeve has an elongate wall constructed from interlaced yams having interstices between adjacent yarns. At least one of the yarns is heat formed at one temperature to form the wall as a self-wrapping wall curling about a longitudinal axis of the sleeve. The wall has an inner surface providing a generally tubular cavity in which the elongate members are received. The wall also has an outer surface with a cured layer thereon. The cured layer is cured at the one temperature at which the yams are heat formed into their self-wrapping configuration, wherein the cured layer fills the interstices between adjunct yarns to form an impervious layer on the wall.