Braided textile sleeve with hot-melt adhesive yarn and method of construction thereof

1. A protective braided sleeve, comprising:

a seamless, circumferentially continuous, tubular braided wall having a cavity extending lengthwise along a central longitudinal axis between opposite ends, said wall having a plurality of ends of yarn braided with one another, with at least one or more of said yarns including a bicomponent yarn including a core and an outer sheath, said outer sheath being adapted to be selectively melted, without melting the core, to bond the wall to an elongate member extending through the cavity, wherein the outer sheath has a thickness between about 0.3-0.8 mm.

2. The protective braided sleeve of claim 1 , wherein said core is a monofilament having a diameter between about 0.20-0.30 mm.

3. The protective braided sleeve of claim 2 , wherein said outer sheath is at least two times thicker than the diameter of said core.

4. The protective braided sleeve of claim 3 , wherein said outer sheath is at least three times thicker than the diameter of said core.

5. The protective braided sleeve of claim 4 , wherein said outer sheath is at least four times thicker than the diameter of said core.

6. The protective braided sleeve of claim 1 , wherein said core is a multifilament having a denier between about 800-1250.

7. The protective braided sleeve of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of ends of yarns includes said bicomponent yarn and non-bicomponent yarn in a respective ratio of about 1:4.

8. The protective braided sleeve of claim 7 , wherein the number of ends of said bicomponent yarn relative to the number of ends of said non-bicomponent yarn is no greater than a ratio of 1:4.

9. The protective braided sleeve of claim 7 , wherein said non-bicomponent yarn is a monofilament having a melt temperature greater than a melt temperature of said outer sheath.

10. The protective braided sleeve of claim 7 , wherein said non-bicomponent yarn is a multifilament having a melt temperature greater than a melt temperature of said outer sheath.

11. The protective braided sleeve of claim 1 , wherein said outer sheath is melted and solidified over at least one bond joint having an axial length between about 20-40 mm.

12. The protective braided sleeve of claim 11 , wherein said outer sheath is melted and solidified over at least one bond joint having an axial length between about 20-30 mm.

13. The protective braided sleeve of claim 11 , wherein said at least one bond joint includes a plurality of bonds joints, with a separate one of said plurality of bond joints extending adjacent said opposite ends.

14. The protective braided sleeve of claim 13 , wherein said plurality of bond joints includes only a pair of bond joints, with the entire region of said wall extending axially between said pair of bond joints remaining free of bond joints.

15. A method of constructing a protective sleeve, comprising:

braiding a seamless, circumferentially continuous, tubular wall having a cavity extending lengthwise along a central longitudinal axis between opposite ends with a plurality of ends of yarn, with at least one or more of the ends of yarn including a bicomponent yarn including a core and an outer sheath, with the outer sheath being adapted to be selectively melted, without melting the core, to bond the wall to an elongate member extending through the cavity, wherein the outer sheath has a thickness between about 0.3-0.8 mm.

16. The method of claim 15 , further including providing the core as a monofilament having a diameter between about 0.20-0.30 mm.

17. The method of claim 16 , further including providing the outer sheath being at least two times thicker than the diameter of the core.

18. The method of claim 17 , further including providing the outer sheath being at least three times thicker than the diameter of the core.

19. The method of claim 18 , further including providing the outer sheath being at least four times thicker than the diameter of the core.

20. The method of claim 15 , further including providing the core as a multifilament having a denier between about 800-1250.

21. The method of claim 15 , further including providing the plurality of ends of yarns including the bicomponent yarn and non-bicomponent yarn in a respective ratio of about 1:4.

22. The method of claim 21 , further including providing the number of ends of the bicomponent yarn relative to the number of ends of the non-bicomponent yarn in no greater than a ratio of 1:4.

23. The method of claim 21 , further including providing the non-bicomponent yarn as a monofilament having a melt temperature greater than a melt temperature of the outer sheath.

24. The method of claim 21 , further including providing the non-bicomponent yarn as a multifilament having a melt temperature greater than a melt temperature of the outer sheath.

25. The method of claim 15 , further including providing the wall having at least one bond joint formed of melted and solidified material of the outer sheath, with the at least one bond joint having an axial length extending between about 20-40 mm.

26. The method of claim 15 , further including providing the wall having at least one bond joint formed of melted and solidified material of the outer sheath, with the at least one bond joint having an axial length extending between about 20-30 mm.

27. The method of claim 25 , further including providing the wall having a plurality of the bonds joints, with a separate one of the bond joints extending adjacent the opposite ends of the sleeve.

28. The method of claim 27 , further including providing the plurality of bond joints including only a pair of bond joints, and providing the entire region of the wall extending axially between the pair of bond joints remaining free of bond joints.