Wrappable Textile Sleeve With Heat and Water Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing textile sleeves for protecting elongate members are bulky, heavy, and lack flexibility, making them unsuitable for applications requiring space efficiency and weight restrictions, such as aircraft and aerospace, and they often require multiple layers that complicate routing through tight spaces.
Innovation Solution
A wrappable textile sleeve with a flexible, abrasion-resistant, water-repellent wall formed from interlaced heat-resistant yarns, featuring hook and loop fasteners made of aramid for enhanced heat resistance, and a silicone coating for water repellency, allowing easy assembly and disassembly around elongate members.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple layers are used to provide comprehensive protection against abrasion, thermal conditions, and water ingress, then protection effectiveness is improved, but the sleeve becomes bulky, heavy, and less flexible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining heat-resistant yarn (such as aramid or fiberglass) with water-resistant coating (such as silicone or Teflon) to create a single-layer fabric that simultaneously provides thermal protection and water repellency. This eliminates the need for multiple separate layers while maintaining comprehensive protection against abrasion, heat, and water ingress, thereby reducing weight and improving flexibility
2Reliability
If multiple layers are used to provide comprehensive protection, then protection effectiveness is improved, but the sleeve requires increased volume of space
Solution Approach 1:
The single-layer composite fabric integrates multiple protective functions (heat resistance, water repellency, abrasion resistance) into one structure, eliminating the need for multiple concentric layers that would increase volume. The heat-resistant yarn provides thermal protection while the water-resistant coating applied to the yarn surface provides water repellency, achieving comprehensive protection in a compact form factor
3Reliability
If multiple layers are used to provide comprehensive protection, then protection effectiveness is improved, but flexibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The composite fabric structure with heat-resistant yarn and water-resistant coating maintains the flexibility of a single-layer construction while providing comprehensive protection. The coating is applied in a manner that does not significantly stiffen the fabric, and the yarn structure allows for bending and flexing, enabling the sleeve to be routed through tight spaces and winding areas
4Device complexity
If a fixed cavity size sleeve is used, then protection structure is simplified, but assembly about elongate members becomes challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a wrappable construction where the sleeve is formed from a flat or folded configuration that can be dynamically adjusted and wrapped around elongate members of varying sizes. The fabric structure allows for flexibility during assembly, enabling the sleeve to conform to different member diameters, and once wrapped, maintains its protective function
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 provides effective protection against abrasion, high heat, fire, and water ingress while maintaining flexibility and compactness, enabling easy routing through tight spaces without additional fixation mechanisms.
Implementation Method 1
The wall is formed of interlaced heat-resistant yarn and has at least one hook-type fastener member along one of the opposite edges and at least one loop-type fastener member along the other of the opposite edges. The at least one hook-type fastener member and the at least one loop-type fastener member are configured to attach with one another to maintain the opposite edges of the wall in overlapping relation with one another.
Implementation Method 2
The at least one hook-type fastener and the at least one loop-type fastener are formed of aramid, thereby further enhance the heat-resistance of the sleeve.
Data Source
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AI summary
A textile sleeve for routing and protecting an elongate member and method of construction thereof are provided. The sleeve has a wall with opposite edges extending lengthwise between opposite ends. The edges are configured to be wrapped about a central longitudinal axis to bound the elongate member within an enclosed cavity. The wall is formed of interlaced heat-resistant yam with at least one hook-type fastener member along one of the edges and at least one loop-type fastener member along the other of the edges. The hook-type fastener member and the loop-type fastener member are configured to attach with one another to maintain the opposite edges in releasably fixed, overlapping relation with one another.