Radially collapsible and expandable textile sleeve and method of construction thereof

摘要

A textile sleeve for routing and protecting elongate members and method of construction thereof are provided. The sleeve has a wall of interlaced monofilament and/or multifilament yarns. Opposite edges of the wall extend along a central axis of the sleeve. The opposite edges are biased into a self-wrapping, overlapping relation with one another to bound a tubular cavity in an in-use first configuration. A plurality of elongate hinges formed with the interlaced yarns extend along the length of the sleeve in substantially parallel relation with the central axis, with the hinges separating relatively rigid, arcuate regions of the wall from one another. The hinges allow the arcuate regions to be moved from the expanded in-use tubular first configuration to a collapsed, second configuration nested with one another to allow significantly increased numbers of the sleeves to be shipped and stowed in a significantly reduced volume of space.

主权项

1. A textile sleeve, comprising:
a wall constructed of interlaced yarns, said wall having opposite edges extending parallel to a central axis along a length of said wall, said opposite edges being biased into overlapping relation with one another; and said wall having a plurality of hinges extending substantially parallel to said central axis, said hinges separating heat-set arcuate regions of said wall from one another, each of said heat-set arcuate regions maintaining an arcuate shape absent some externally applied force, said hinges having an increased flexibility relative to said heat-set arcuate regions and extending along the length of said wall between said heat-set arcuate regions, said hinges facilitate movement of said wall between an in-use tubular, substantially cylindrical first configuration and a collapsed, crescent shaped second configuration, said heat-set arcuate regions being nested with one another when in said second configuration, wherein said wall remains in each of said first and second configurations absent some externally applied force.