Assembly with integral digital identification encoding
The invention is a trackable protective sleeving, which include a filament, a digital identifier secured to the filament, and a hollow structure carrying the filament. The hollow structure may include a plurality of braided fibers, woven fibers, or knit fibers. The hollow structure may be extruded. In one embodiment, the filament and the plurality of fibers may be arranged in a braided configuration formatting a tube with a central void.
1 . A trackable protective sleeving comprising:
a filament;
a digital identifier secured to the filament; and
a hollow structure carrying the filament,
wherein the hollow structure is created by a crosshead extrusion process comprising introducing the filament coaxially to a finished extrusion orientation into an extrusion die while introducing polymer material melt from a heated zone into the extrusion die, such that the filament and the digital identifier are encapsulated within a wall of the hollow structure.
2 . The system of claim 1 wherein the hollow structure includes a plurality of braided fibers.
3 . The system of claim 2 further comprising an adhesive securing the filament to at least one of the other of the plurality of braided fibers.
4 . The system of claim 1 wherein the hollow structure includes a plurality of woven fibers.
5 . The system of claim 4 further comprising an adhesive securing the filament to at least one of the other of the plurality of woven fibers.
6 . The system of claim 1 wherein the hollow structure includes a plurality of knit fibers.
7 . The system of claim 1 wherein the filament and the digital identifier secured to the filament are encased in a polymer.
8 . The system of claim 1 wherein the hollow structure has a hollow interior adapted to carry an electrically conductive material.
9 . The system of claim 1 wherein the hollow structure has a hollow interior adapted to carry a fluid.
10 . A trackable protective sleeving comprising:
a filament;
a digital identifier secured to the filament; and
an extruded hollow structure carrying the filament;
wherein the extruded hollow structure is created by a crosshead extrusion process comprising introducing the filament coaxially to a finished extrusion orientation into an extrusion die while introducing polymer material melt from a heated zone into the extrusion die.
11 . The system according to claim 10 wherein the filament and the digital identifier are incorporated in the extruded hollow structure to form a monolithic unit.