Method of making an elongated enclosed pathway

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12344966-B2
Application number	US-202418670130-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 21, 2024
Priority date	Jun 1, 2023
Publication date	Jul 1, 2025
Grant date	Jul 1, 2025

Abstract

A process of forming an elongated enclosed pathway containing the steps of forming an inner structure containing at least one inflatable tube and forming an outer structure comprising a narrow woven cylinder. The narrow woven cylinder contains a plurality of warp yarns, a plurality of weft yarns, and at least one catch yarn. The weft yarns have a repeating stitch pattern containing a knit stitch with a catch yarn, stitching with the warp yarns in a counterclockwise direction around the circumference, a knit stitch with a catch yarn, and stitching with the warp yarns in a clockwise direction around the circumference. The forming of the narrow woven cylinder is concurrent with inserting the at least one inflatable tube into the narrow woven cylinder and wherein the narrow woven cylinder is woven around the at least one inflatable tube.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A process of forming an elongated enclosed pathway comprising:
forming an inner structure comprising at least one inflatable tube, wherein the inflatable tube has a wall thickness of less than about 0.5 mm;
forming an outer structure comprising a narrow woven cylinder, wherein the narrow woven cylinder comprises a circumference, a diameter, and a length and comprises a plurality of warp yarns, a plurality of weft yarns, and at least one catch yarn, wherein the narrow woven cylinder comprises a knitted catch area running along the length of the tube, wherein the weft yarns have a repeating stitch pattern comprising a knit stitch with a catch yarn, stitching with the warp yarns in a counterclockwise direction around the circumference, a knit stitch with a catch yarn, and stitching with the warp yarns in a clockwise direction around the circumference;
wherein the forming of the narrow woven cylinder is concurrent with inserting the at least one inflatable tube into the narrow woven cylinder and wherein the narrow woven cylinder is woven around the at least one inflatable tube;
wherein the inflatable tube alone has an air permeability of less than about 1 cfm, wherein the inflatable tube alone has an air permeability of greater than about 100 cfm, and the narrow woven cylinder together with an inflatable tube located inside the narrow woven cylinder has an air permeability of less than about 1 cfm.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the process further comprises inserting the elongated enclosed pathway into a conduit.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the outer structure has a diameter of less than 30 mm.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the inner structure has a diameter, wherein the diameter of the inner structure is between about 90 and 110% of the diameter of the outer structure.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the weft yarns stitching with the warp yarns in the clockwise and counterclockwise directions are plain weave stitches.

6. The process of claim 1 , wherein the narrow woven cylinder together with an inflatable tube located inside the narrow woven cylinder has a burst strength of greater than about 60 psi.

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the inflatable tube is movable within the narrow woven cylinder.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the warp yarns are monofilament yarns and the weft and catch yarns are multifilament yarns.

9. The process of claim 1 , further comprising forming an additional outer structure, each outer structure comprising at least one inner structure and attaching the at least two outer structures are attached together.

10. The process of claim 1 , wherein the at least two outer structures are attached using an attachment selected from the group consisting of staples, stitches, grommets, and adhesive.

11. The process of claim 1 , wherein the elongated enclosed pathway is a blowable elongated enclosed pathway for cables.

12. The process of claim 1 , wherein the elongated enclosed pathway is a hose for water.

13. The process of claim 1 , further comprising the step of inserting a cable or pull cord into the inner structure.

Assignees

• Milliken & Co

Inventors

• Brown Stacey
• Bedingfield Steven L

Classifications

• F16L2011/047

  with a diffusion barrier layer · CPC title

• F16L11/085

  comprising one or more braided layers (in combination with layers of a helically wound core or wire F16L11/088) · CPC title

• D03D15/49

  textured (chenille D03D27/18); curled; crimped · CPC title

• D03D3/02

  Tubular fabrics · CPC title

• B32B2323/04

  Polyethylene · CPC title