US-12624775-B2 - Tube

Abstract

A long tube formed of an elastic material includes: an upper portion including a printable upper surface; a lower portion facing the upper portion; a first side wall connecting the upper portion and the lower portion; a second side wall connecting the upper portion and the lower portion and facing the first side wall; a first upper joint portion located at a connection portion between the upper portion and the first side wall and configured to bend the first side wall with respect to the upper portion; a first lower joint portion located at a connection portion between the lower portion and the first side wall and configured to bend the first side wall with respect to the lower portion; and a first side wall joint portion configured to bend the first side wall.

Inventors

• Hiroaki Takahashi
• Akihiro Kogure

Assignees

• MAX CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20221129

Priority Date

20211130

Claims (5)

1. 1 . A long tube formed of an elastic material and including inner wall surfaces capable of supporting an inserted linear body, comprising: an upper portion including a printable upper surface; a lower portion facing the upper portion and including a lower surface; a first side wall connecting the upper portion and the lower portion; a second side wall connecting the upper portion and the lower portion and facing the first side wall; a first upper joint portion located at a connection portion between the upper portion and the first side wall and configured to bend the first side wall inward with respect to the upper portion; a first lower joint portion located at a connection portion between the lower portion and the first side wall and configured to bend the first side wall inward with respect to the lower portion; a second upper joint portion located at a connection portion between the upper portion and the second side wall and configured to bend the second side wall inward with respect to the upper portion; and a second lower joint portion located at a connection portion between the lower portion and the second side wall and configured to bend the second side wall inward with respect to the lower portion, wherein the first side wall includes: a first joint portion; a third joint portion; a first side wall upper portion provided between the first upper joint portion and the first joint portion; a first side wall lower portion provided between the first lower joint portion and the third joint portion; and a first side wall middle portion provided between the first joint portion and the third joint portion, and including an inner wall surface extending vertically with respect to the upper surface and the lower surface, wherein the second side wall includes: a second joint portion; a fourth joint portion; a second side wall upper portion provided between the second upper joint portion and the second joint portion; a second side wall lower portion provided between the second lower joint portion and the fourth joint portion; and a second side wall middle portion provided between the second joint portion and the fourth joint portion, and including an inner wall surface extending vertically with respect to the upper surface and the lower surface, wherein the first joint portion is formed to be thinner than a thickness of the first side wall upper portion and a thickness of the first side wall middle portion, wherein the third joint portion is formed to be thinner than a thickness of the first side wall lower portion and a thickness of the first side wall middle portion, wherein the second joint portion is formed to be thinner than a thickness of the second side wall upper portion and a thickness of the second side wall middle portion, wherein the fourth joint portion is formed to be thinner than a thickness of the second side wall lower portion and a thickness of the second side wall middle portion, wherein the upper portion includes a convex portion protruding downward on a center of a lower surface thereof, wherein the lower portion includes a convex portion protruding upward on a center of an upper surface thereof, and wherein, in a cross-sectional view, portions including the first side wall upper portion, the first upper joint portion, the upper portion, the second upper joint portion, and the second side wall upper portion are configured to be vertically symmetrical to portions including the first side wall lower portion, the first lower joint portion, the lower portion, the second lower joint portion, and the second side wall lower portion, respectively.
2. 2 . The tube according to claim 1 , wherein in the cross-sectional view, the portions including the first side wall upper portion, the first upper joint portion, the upper portion, the second upper joint portion, and the second side wall upper portion are configured to be laterally symmetrical to the portions including the first side wall lower portion, the first lower joint portion, the lower portion, the second lower joint portion, and the second side wall lower portion, respectively.
3. 3 . The tube according to claim 1 , wherein in the cross-sectional view, a value obtained by subtracting, from a distance between the first upper joint portion and the second upper joint portion, a sum of a distance between the first joint portion and the first upper joint portion and a distance between the second joint portion and the second upper joint portion is the same as a value obtained by subtracting, from a distance between the first lower joint portion and the second lower joint portion, a sum of a distance between the third joint portion and the first lower joint portion and a distance between the fourth joint portion and the second lower joint portion.
4. 4 . The tube according to claim 1 , wherein the upper portion has a thickness equal to or greater than thicknesses of the first side wall and the second side wall in the cross-sectional view.
5. 5 . The tube according to claim 2 , wherein in the cross-sectional view, a distance between the first upper joint portion and the second upper joint portion is equal to a distance between the first lower joint portion and the second lower joint portion, a distance between the first joint portion and the first upper joint portion, a distance between second joint portion and the second upper joint portion, a distance between the third joint portion and the first lower joint portion, and a distance between the fourth joint portion and the second lower joint portion are the same, and the distance between the first joint portion and the first upper joint portion is 50% or less of the distance between the first upper joint portion and the second upper joint portion.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-194845 filed on Nov. 30, 2021, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a tube. BACKGROUND A sleeve (an example of a “tube”; hereinafter, the “sleeve” may be referred to as a “tube”) for distinguishing a linear body (hereinafter, cables or other objects that are elongated are referred to as “linear bodies”) such as a cable or an electric wire from other linear bodies is known. By printing identification information such as a character, a symbol, or a figure on a surface of the tube and inserting the linear body through the tube, the linear body can be distinguished from the other linear bodies. International Publication No. WO87/05740 (hereinafter, referred to as PTL 1) describes a tube including an upper portion and a lower portion and provided with a surface having a wave shape in a cross section below a printed surface. However, the inventors of the present application have noticed that the tube described in PTL 1 is not a tube that is originally required to be crushed in a direction in which the upper portion approaches the lower portion for printing, and even if the tube is crushed, a position of the upper portion cannot be uniquely determined with respect to a position of the lower portion. The tube described in PTL 1 has a uniform thickness and the wave shape in the cross section, and when the tube is crushed in the direction in which the upper portion approaches the lower portion, the position of the upper portion cannot uniquely determined with respect to the position of the lower portion. Further, such a problem may be caused by unevenness of winding when a long tube is wound around a drum or the like, dimensional variation during molding of the long tube, temperature unevenness during cooling after the molding, or the like. When the upper portion of the tube is crushed in the direction approaching the lower portion and printed, if the position of the upper portion cannot uniquely determined with respect to the position of the lower portion, a printing position is shifted or a character is blurred, so that the printing cannot be performed well. For example, when a tube of another production lot is used, the printing position may be shifted, or when wound positions are different in the same drum, the printing position may be shifted. Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a long tube in which a position of an upper portion when the long tube is crushed is uniquely determined with respect to a position of a lower portion (a shift to left and right is small). SUMMARY The present application discloses, for example, a closed type long tube formed of an elastic material. The tube includes: an upper portion including a printable upper surface; a lower portion facing the upper portion; a first side wall connecting the upper portion and the lower portion; a second side wall connecting the upper portion and the lower portion and facing the first side wall; a first upper joint portion located at a connection portion between the upper portion and the first side wall and configured to bend the first side wall with respect to the upper portion; a first lower joint portion located at a connection portion between the lower portion and the first side wall and configured to bend the first side wall with respect to the lower portion; and a first side wall joint portion configured to bend the first side wall. The tube may be configured such that the first upper joint portion bends the first side wall inward with respect to the upper portion, the first lower joint portion bends the first side wall inward with respect to the lower portion, and the first side wall joint portion is located inside the first upper joint portion and the first lower joint portion, and bends the first side wall inward. Here, the term “inward” refers to a direction toward an inside of a region surrounded by an inner wall surface of the tube, “inward with respect to the first side wall” includes a direction approaching the second side wall, and “inward with respect to the second side wall” includes a direction approaching the first side wall. In the tube, the first upper joint portion may be formed to be thinner than a thickness of the upper portion, the first lower joint portion may be formed to be thinner than a thickness of the lower portion, and the first side wall joint portion may be formed to be thinner than a thickness of the first side wall. The tube may include a second upper joint portion located at a connection portion between the upper portion and the second side wall and configured to bend the second side wall inward with respect to the upper portion. The tube may include a second lower joint portion located at a connection portion between the lower portion and the second side wall and configured