GB2574396A

GB2574396A - Flexible tubing with embedded wire conductor

Info

Publication number: GB2574396A
Application number: GB1809032.4A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Su Lin Goh Carol; Lai Cheng Ho Helen; Todesco Pierre
Original assignee: Meiban International Pte Ltd
Current assignee: Meiban International Pte Ltd
Priority date: 2018-06-01
Filing date: 2018-06-01
Publication date: 2019-12-11
Also published as: WO2019231396A1; SG10201804703SA; GB201809032D0; SG11202000021UA

Abstract

A method for manufacturing flexible plastic tubing whereby it comprises of the following steps; extruding plastic ribbon 2, with the plastic ribbon helically wrapped around the winding rolls 7 such that its edges overlap and is simultaneously heat-bonded together to form the wall of the flexible tubing, with the winding rolls rotating in unison in a certain clockwise or anti-clockwise direction and advancing forward concurrently to form the base material for the flexible tubing; and concurrently, extruding plastic profile 3 whereby it consists of at least one or more electrically conductive wire (or heated conductor) being embedded inside, with the plastic profile being wrapped and heat-bonded around the plastic ribbon forming the flexible tubing; and wherein the electrically conductive wire (or heated conductor) is being fed through a wire insert via the back of the tool die directly connected to the extruder in order to ensure precise positioning of the wire in the plastic profile. Further embodiments include a groove or guide in the plastic ribbon and corresponding groove or guide in the profile (fig 3), the wire is a reinforcement or can serve to transmit data, and the tubing comprises a fabric-like material. It also aims to reduce and/or minimize the quality issues associated with those in the prior art since the electrically conductive wires are being introduced at the source of the extruder and not externally.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of flexible plastic tubing with a focus on the embedded wire conductor. More particularly, the invention relates to a new method of manufacturing of the flexible plastic tubing with the embedded wire conductor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

US5637168A disclosed an Apparatus and Method for making flexible tubing with helically wound heating conductor.

Flexible tubing with helically wound heating conductor method involves the ability to include at least one (1) electrically conductive wire on a plastic ribbon, where the ribbon is wound along an axis into a tube with one edge of each lap overlapping and heatbonded to an edge of the preceding lap. These tubings are commonly used in medical applications such as breathing equipment, where transparency and the ability to be heated using heating wires provide an easy solution to control not only the presence of moisture but also to harmoniously warm and adjust the device to the desired temperature. There have been various enhancements to the method of fabrication of these tubings, where unfortunately the cost of production still remains high due to the high rejection levels arising from highly complex technical processes in manufacturing and the high investment incurred due to the complexity of the equipment needed.

For simplicity, the word “conductor” here refers to “electrically conductive wire” and shall be used throughout this writeup to mean as such. Firstly, it is important to understand that the area available for the conductor to be located is very small, which is the main underlying reason that is affecting the quality issue. The requested conductors are integrated after extrusion of the ribbon and overlay onto the plastic ribbon, which includes some grooves to receive and maintain a certain distance between each wire,

i.e. the pitch size and then in the last operation, the conductors are to be covered by a profile. A typical profile in an extrusion process will generate grooves on the ribbon that is not particularly difficult to produce. However, the critical operation will be to make sure that the wires will never misalign out of these guides or grooves and have a small thin area being exposed. Another issue will be the possibility for the wire to shift on a groove already occupied by another conductor, which can be damaging to the tubing since this would affect the electrical insulation of each wire and thus shorten the lifespan of the tubing.

The last point concerning the final alignment with the upper profile is that the slightest variation of positioning is not acceptable. Hence to consider a multiplication of layers by adding an intermediate grooved profile, the result will be an amplification of problems inherent to the first layer, thus increasing the risk of failure in regards to misalignment.

Another aspect refers to the motor attached to the full system, where the speed of the unwinding of each conductor has to be combined with the extrusion flow from the extruder, which will also have to be proportional to the winding of the ribbon. In fact, the extruder is a major factor contributing to the thickness and quality of the ribbon. The next key point to take note is the rotating speed of the rolls during the winding of the ribbon, which has to be correlated to the speed of the extruder, whereby if it is too fast, it would result in the breakage of the ribbon and where it is too slow, it would jam. The last aspect will be to engage the conductors one by one into the grooves and of course, to control the speed of the unwinding of each conductor considering that if the feeding was too slow, the wire would break or damage the ribbon and if it is too fast, it would jam. The intervention of sensors to control the tension of each wire could be an acceptable solution to manage the unwinding speed of each spindle, but it would still be necessary to add brake motor to counter-act the inertia of the wire bobbins relative to their fluctuating weight.

The conclusion of this presentation of the Prior Art example is to convey the message that a new, innovative and simplified solution will help to reduce the cost of such tubing, which is what the present invention is going to propose. The solution described below will demonstrate the advantage of the present invention, where the most important difference will be to insert the requested conductive wires directly inside the extruder and not as it is done as per described in the prior art, which is after extrusion of the ribbon and during the winding of the flexible tube.

The embodiment of the present invention disclosed a method of manufacturing the flexible tubing whereby the electrical conductive wires are extruded directly inside the extruder together with the polymeric resin instead of having it done separately outside as described in the current prior art. The present invention employs a winding roll mechanism that facilitates the extrusion of the extruded flat plastic ribbon using an extruder and a die tool (for the plastic ribbon), an extruded profile using another extruder and another die tool (for the plastic profile), wherein the profile is overlapping the plastic ribbon with the profile consisting of at least one or more conductive wires. The plastic ribbon itself is helically wrapped such that its edges overlap and is simultaneously heatbonded together to form the wall of the flexible tubing. The die tool for the plastic ribbon includes an easy adjustable system to tweak the thickness of the plastic ribbon during the extrusion process, hence removing the need to stop the whole production in case of wear and tear or inconsistent parameters. Typically, the plastic used to make the flexible tubing has to be of a medical-grade and has to be compatible in terms of the ability to be heat-bonded with the extruded profile that is overlapping the plastic ribbon. The plastic resin for the ribbon and the profile is usually different and is extruded out by two (2) different extruders. Moreover, on the profile side, other than having the plastic resin to act as a “shield” for the embedded wire conductor, there is also an option or possibility to use plastic resin that is electrically insulating and yet is conductive enough to conduct away any heat generated from the embedded wire. There are grooves being formed onto the plastic ribbon being extruded out. These grooves are formed with the aid of the tooling die so as to align the plastic ribbon and the extruded profile together when being extruded out.

For this present invention, the electrically heated conductor consists of at least one or more conductive wires that can be extruded through a wire insert via the back of the tool die in order to ensure precise positioning of the wire in the profile. The design of the wire insert is interchangeable such that it can incorporate at least one (1) or more electrically conductive wire or wires i.e. multi-wires if more than one. This tool die is directly connected to the extruder. What happens here is that another plastic resin is then extruded at the concurrently together with the conductive wire/s. The end result is that the wire/s is/are then embedded inside within a layer of extruded plastic encapsulating it. This is termed as the extruded profile and is extruded out and overlaps onto the plastic ribbon with a heat-bonded adhesion.

Furthermore, for this present invention, the wire that is embedded inside the layer of extruded plastic (i.e. the extruded profile) may not necessary be restricted to just function as an electrically heating element. It has other purposes and functions too. One option or possibility would be that the wire serves to act as a form of added reinforcement for the flexible tubing since the profile with the embedded wire overlaps and heat-bonded onto the ribbon. Another option is that the wire can serve to transmit and exchange useful data between each end of the flexible tubing.

The present invention presented at least two (2) different possible arrangements of manufacturing the flexible tubing with embedded electrically conductive wire/s or conductor. As described previously, one involves having two (2) different and separate extruders and two (2) separate dies, i.e. one for the plastic ribbon and one for the plastic profile with the electrically conductive wire/s being extruded concurrently together. However, there can be another alternative way for this present invention to get the same end result. This involved having both the plastic ribbon and the plastic profile being coextruded from two separate extruders but via a single combined tool die, i.e. using coextrusion process. Instead of having two (2) separate tool dies, using a single combined tool die gives the added advantage of minimizing the factory floor area needed. However, using two (2) separate tool dies provides the possibility to update and to quick change each side independently, which will remove the need to redo a full die tool if, for example there is a request to increase the number of conductive wires from three to four.

The design and layout of the present invention differs from the Prior Art and has the following advantages:

1. Minimized Wire Misalignment.

The profile consists of the conductive wire/s encapsulated by a layer of extruded plastic resin, whereby the conductive wire/s is introduced directly at the extruder side (via the wire insert in the tool die in order to ensure precise positioning of the wire) and is extruded at the same time concurrently with a layer of plastic resin over it, thus encapsulating the wire/s. This is different from the Prior Art whereby the conductive wire/s is fed from a separate wire-feeding machine and overlay onto the grooves I guides of the plastic profile, followed by its corresponding plastic resin being extruded from another extruder, before the conductive wire/s is being encapsulated by the extruded plastic resin and heat-bond onto the plastic ribbon. Hence this means that there is a possibility of the conductive wire/s being misalign or shift out of alignment from the grooves I guides, thus affecting the performance of the electrical conductive wire since it would not be well insulated.

However, the above disadvantage will not exist in the present invention since these conductive wire/s are extruded concurrently with the plastic resin before it is heat-bonded to the plastic ribbon, thus ensuring alignment. The conductive wire/s are encapsulated within a layer of polymer plastic at the beginning of the extrusion process, which means that the wire/s are well insulated. By having the wire/s well insulated, the possibility of having the wire conductor to perform the function of heating or even transmitting data will not be compromised or affected. Moreover, the current design proposed is able to provide the flexibility of increasing the number of conductive wire/s (example from three to four wires) and yet able to be well-spaced and not easily misalign.

2. Minimized Quality Issues:

The concept proposed in the present invention is able to minimize the quality issues that is being faced by the current Prior Art. This is because the conductive wire/s is being extruded concurrently at the same time with the plastic resin directly at the extruder side, thus minimizing the potential problems faced by the Prior Art. Having less quality issues would result in savings in material costs and time.

3. Minimized Production Downtime·.

By minimizing the quality issues faced as mentioned above in point 2, there will be lesser production downtime since the rejects yield will be lower/reduced as well. By having lesser rejects, it would also mean that the productivity of the line increases since more useful parts can be produced within a certain period of time. Higher productivity would mean better costs savings per part for every flexible tubing that is being produced.

Next, the present invention serves to introduce a fabric-like material such as nylon onto flexible tubing for medical applications. Flexible tubing regularly comes into contact with the human skin. Having a fabric-like material serves to provide the required softness and comfort to the human skin which cannot be found on a hard plastic material. Hence the present invention discloses the following two (2) options to incorporate the fabriclike material onto the flexible tubing:

1. Instead of using electrically conductive wire/s, a fabric-like material such as nylon can be used to overlay directly onto the plastic ribbon and heat-bond onto it.

2. In addition, the fabric-like material can overlay or wrap around the plastic profile which has already incorporated the electrically conductive wire.

The fabric-like material chosen needs to have a certain level of stiffness and is heatresistant to a certain temperature such that it won’t easily degrade when it comes into contact with the extruded plastic ribbon prior to it being cool.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings attached here are to aid comprehension of the description of the invention here. The drawings are not to scale and they are to be used for merely illustrating the principles and concepts of the invention only.

To aid in comprehension of the invention, the drawings are separated into the various Figures as described below:

Figure 1 illustrates an overall perspective view of the various key components and functions for the embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 illustrates another view of the system described in Figure 1.

Figure 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the end product showing the placement of the plastic ribbon, the encapsulated conductive wire and the plastic profile.

Figure 4 illustrates an enlarged section of the plastic profile encapsulating at least one or more electrically conductive wire.

Figure 5 illustrates an enlarged section of the plastic ribbon with a formed groove.

Figure 6 illustrates another overall perspective view of the various key components of the functions for the embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 7 illustrates two (2) more options of incorporating fabric-like material.

Reference numbers

Apparatus

Ribbon

Profile

Die (for Ribbon)

Die (for Profile)

Flexible Tubing

Winding Rolls

Rotating Shaft

Wire Conductor / Electrically Conductive Wire

Groove I Guide

Combined Die (for both Ribbon and Profile)

Disc Coupling

Extruder (for Ribbon)

Extruder (for Profile)

Fabric-like material

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In the following description, details are provided to describe the embodiment of the application. It shall be apparent to the person skilled in the art, however, that the embodiments may be practiced without such details.

The present invention here relates to the field of flexible plastic tubing with a focus on the embedded wire conductor. More particularly, the invention relates to a new method of manufacturing of the flexible plastic tubing with the embedded wire conductor.

Figure 1 illustrates an overall perspective view of the various key components and functions for the embodiment of the present invention. It illustrates the apparatus 1 which includes the rotating shaft 8 having winding rolls 7 appropriately spaced about evenly for winding and rotationally advancing the helically wound flexible tubing 6. The winding rolls 7 typically consists of rollers or mandrels that are appropriately spaced evenly for rotation. The winding rolls 7 rotate in unison in a certain manner, i.e. clockwise or anti-clockwise direction depending on the requirement. The rotation of the winding rolls will help to rotationally advance or drive the helically wound flexible tubing 6 forward. The presence of the disc coupling 12 on the rotating shaft 8 helps to control the pitch size of the helically wound flexible tubing 6, which is formed from the plastic profile 3 which overlays onto the plastic ribbon 2 as illustrated in Figure 1 and 2.

The apparatus 1 in Figure 1 also illustrates die 4 connected to an extruder 20 which is extruding the plastic ribbon 2 which has a groove I guide 10 as shown in Figure 5 whereby Figure 5 illustrates an enlarged section of the plastic ribbon 2 with a formed groove / guide 10. The extruded plastic ribbon 2 is wrapped around the winding rolls 7 which are rotating in unison together (either clockwise or anti-clockwise depending on the requirement) and advancing forward concurrently to form the base material for the flexible tubing 6. The other extruder 30 extrudes out the plastic profile 3 via die 5 which when extruded out, it already incorporates one or more heated conductor or electrically conductive wires embedded within the plastic resin as well as groove / guide 10 (i.e. shown in Figure 4 which illustrates an enlarged section of the plastic profile 3 encapsulating at least one or more electrically conductive wire) to heat-bond nicely at a certain designated angle onto the groove I guide 10 in the plastic ribbon 2. The pitch size formed from the plastic profile 3 which overlays over the plastic ribbon 2 is controlled by the presence of the disc coupling 12 on the rotating shaft 8 as illustrated in Figure 1 and 2.

Although Figure 1 illustrates two (2) different and separate extruders 20 and 30 using two separate and independent die 4 and die 5, it should be understood that both the plastic ribbon 2 and the plastic profile 3 may be co-extruded from two separate extruders via a single combined tool die, i.e. using co-extrusion process. This will be described further in detail in the subsequent paragraphs using Figure 6.

Figure 2 illustrates another view of the system described in Figure 1. As illustrated in both Figure 1 and 2, plastic ribbon 2 is extruded out from extruder 20 via die 4 and is wrapped around the winding rolls 7 which are rotating in unison together (either clockwise or anti-clockwise depending on the requirement) and advancing forward concurrently to form the base material for the flexible tubing 6. The plastic ribbon 2 is wrapped around in successive layers to form a certain thickness as shown in the crosssectional view in Figure 3. The die 4 for the plastic ribbon 2 includes an easy adjust system to tweak the thickness of the plastic ribbon 2 during the extrusion process, hence removing the need to stop the whole production in case of wear and tear or inconsistent parameters. Meanwhile in the other extruder 30 connected via die 5, at least one (1) or more electrically conductive wire (or heated conductor) is being fed through a wire insert via the back of the tool die 5 in order to ensure precise positioning of the wire. The design of the wire insert is interchangeable such that it can incorporate at least one (1) or more electrically conductive wire or wires (i.e. multi-wires). This tool die 5 is directly connected to the extruder 30. What happens here is that another plastic resin is then extruded at the same time concurrently together with the conductive wire/s. The end result is that the wire/s are then embedded inside within a layer of extruded plastic encapsulating it. This is termed as the extruded profile 3 and is extruded out and overlaps onto the plastic ribbon 2 before it is heat-bonded onto the ribbon 2. The presence of the disc coupling 12 on the rotating shaft 8 helps to control the pitch size which is formed from the plastic profile 3 when it overlays over the plastic ribbon 2. By incorporating the thin electrically conductive wire/wires to be encapsulated within a layer of extruded plastic via the wire insert at the extruder end 30, any quality issues faced would be controlled at the source of the production rather than at the end of the whole manufacturing process, thus saving time and material costs as any issues faced would be rectified earlier and quickly.

Figure 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the end product flexible tubing showing the placement of the plastic ribbon 2 and the plastic profile 3 which encapsulates the conductive wire or heated conductor (hidden from this view). The design is such that the plastic polymer material encapsulating the conductive wire or heated conductor is of a certain thickness such that the heat generated from the conductive wire will not be easily lost to the ambient environment. Also, the placement of the conductive wire or heated conductor will be such that it is close to the flexible tubing side or plastic ribbon 2 side so as to facilitate effective heat-transfer. At least one (1) or more electrically conductive wire can be encapsulated within the plastic polymeric material forming the plastic profile

3. For two (2) or more conductive wires, these wires can be placed side-by-side close to each other, and yet not being able to touch each other. The plastic polymer material chosen for this process will need to be medical-grade and also able to be heat-bonded to each other. Moreover, the plastic material chosen when solidified, will need to be flexible enough and yet offer enough crush resistance for its daily usage.

The concept illustrated in Figure 1 and 2 is also applicable for fabric-like material such as nylon, etc. Figure 7A-7C illustrates the following two (2) options to incorporate the fabric-like material onto the flexible tubing:

(a) Figure 7B illustrates the possibility of using a fabric-like material 31 such as nylon to overlay directly onto the plastic ribbon 2 and heat-bond onto it.

(b) Figure 7C illustrates another possibility of having the fabric-like material 31 to overlay or wrap around the plastic profile 3 which has already incorporated the electrically conductive wire.

Figure 6 illustrates another alternative way for the present invention to get the same end result. This involved having both the plastic ribbon 2 and the plastic profile 3 being coextruded from two separate extruders 20 and 30 but via a single combined tool die 11,

i.e. using co-extrusion process. Instead of having two (2) separate tool dies, using a single combined tool die 11 gives the added advantage of minimizing the factory floor area needed. Essentially the single combined tool die 11 is able to first have the plastic ribbon 2 extrude out from one extruder 20 onto the winding rolls 7 which are rotating in unison together and advancing forward concurrently to form the base material for the flexible tubing 6. This is followed by the plastic profile 3 being extruded out from the other extruder 30 via the single combined tool die 11 and overlay onto the plastic ribbon

2. Similar to the operation described in Figure 1 and 2, the plastic profile 3 that is being extruded out already has conductive wire/s being embedded inside the layer of extruded plastic encapsulating it. The presence of the disc coupling 12 helps to control the pitch size formed from the plastic profile 3 when it overlays onto the plastic ribbon 2.

However, using two (2) separate tool dies as shown in Figure 1 and 2 provides the possibility to update and to quick change each side independently, which will remove the need to redo a full die tool if, for example there is a request to increase the number of conductive wire from three to four. Therefore, the present invention presented at least two (2) different possible arrangements of manufacturing the flexible tubing with embedded electrically conductive wire/s or conductor.

While what has been described hereinabove is the preferred embodiment of the invention, those skilled in the art will understand that numerous modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The embodiments described herein are meant to be illustrative only and should not be taken as limiting the invention, which can be expressly set forth in the following claims.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A method for manufacturing the flexible plastic tubing whereby it comprises of the following steps:

(a) extruding plastic ribbon, with the plastic ribbon helically wrapped around the winding rolls such that its edges overlap and is simultaneously heat-bonded together to form the wall of the flexible tubing, with the winding rolls rotating in unison in a certain clockwise or anti-clockwise direction and advancing forward concurrently to form the base material for the flexible tubing; and concurrently (b) extruding plastic profile whereby it consists of at least one (1) or more electrically conductive wire (or heated conductor) being embedded inside, with the plastic profile being wrapped and heat-bonded around the plastic ribbon forming the flexible tubing; and (c) wherein the electrically conductive wire (or heated conductor) is being fed through a wire insert via the back of the tool die directly connected to the extruder in order to ensure precise positioning of the wire in the plastic profile.

2. A method of Claim 1 for manufacturing the flexible plastic tubing whereby (a) the plastic resin for the plastic ribbon is different from the plastic profile, and where (b) both the resins are provided by two (2) different extruder.

3. A method of Claim 1 for manufacturing the flexible plastic tubing whereby (a) the plastic ribbon is extruded using at least an independent tool die and (b) the plastic profile is extruded using another separate independent tool die, wherein the plastic profile consists of at least one (1) or more electrically conductive wire (or heated conductor) being embedded inside.

4. A method of Claim 1 for manufacturing the flexible plastic tubing whereby (a) the plastic ribbon and the plastic profile are co-extruded separately from two separate extruders via a single combined tool die, wherein the plastic profile consists of at least one (1) or more electrically conductive wire (or heated conductor) being embedded inside.

5. A method for manufacturing the flexible plastic tubing whereby (a) the plastic ribbon consists of at least one (1) groove or guide; and (b) the plastic profile consists of corresponding groove or guide in order to ensure alignment of the plastic ribbon with the extruded profile together when being helically wrapped and heat bonded together.

6. A method for manufacturing the flexible plastic tubing involving the plastic profile whereby (a) the wire conductor embedded within the profile is able to act as a form of added reinforcement for the flexible tubing; OR (b) the wire itself can serve to transmit and exchange useful data between each end of the flexible plastic tubing.

7. A method of Claim 6 involving the plastic profile whereby (a) the wire conductor is able to perform other functions as per requirement other than those described in Claim 6.

8. A method of Claim 6 involving the plastic profile for manufacturing the flexible plastic tubing whereby the plastic resin for the profile is electrically insulating and yet is conductive to conduct away any heat generated from the embedded wire.

9. A method for manufacturing the flexible plastic tubing involving fabric-like material whereby it comprises of the following steps:

(a) extruding plastic ribbon which has at least one groove I guide wherein the plastic is a medical grade polymeric material, with the plastic ribbon helically wrapped around the winding rolls such that its edges overlap and is simultaneously heat-bonded together to form the wall of the flexible tubing, with the winding rolls rotating in unison in a certain clockwise or anticlockwise direction and advancing forward concurrently to form the base material for the flexible tubing; and concurrently (b) having at least one (1) type of fabric-like material being extruded and overlay onto the plastic ribbon and heat-bond onto it.

10. A method for manufacturing the flexible plastic tubing involving fabric-like material whereby it comprises of the following steps:

(a) extruding plastic ribbon which has at least one groove I guide wherein the plastic is a medical grade polymeric material, with the plastic ribbon helically wrapped around the winding rolls such that its edges overlap and is simultaneously heat-bonded together to form the wall of the flexible tubing, with the winding rolls rotating in unison in a certain clockwise or anticlockwise direction and advancing forward concurrently to form the base material for the flexible tubing; and concurrently (b) having at least one (1) type of fa brie-1 ike material and the plastic profile being extruded out at the same time with the fabric-like material being overlay onto the plastic profile;

whereby the plastic profile consists of at least one (1) or more electrically conductive wire (or heated conductor) being embedded inside, and whereby both fabric-like material and plastic profile are being wrapped and heat-bonded around the plastic ribbon forming the flexible tubing.

7 01 19

Amendments to the claims have been made as follows:

What is claimed is:

1 · A method for manufacturing of a flexible plastic tubing whereby it comprises of the foilowirig steps:

(a) extruding plastic ribbon, with the plastic ribbon heltoaliy wrapped around the winding roils such that its edges overlap and is simultaneously heat-bonded together to form the wall of the flexible tubirig, with the winding rolls rotating in unison in a certain clockwise or anti-clockwise direction and advancing forward concurrently to form the base material for the flexible tubing; and concurrently (b) extruding plastic profile whereby it consists of at least one (1) or more electrically conductive wire (or heated conductor) being embedded inside, with th® plastic profile being wrapped and heat-bonded around the plastic ribbon forming the flexible tubing; and (c) 'wherein the electrically conductive wire (or healed conductor) is being fed through a wire insert via the: back of the tool die directly connected to the extruder in order to ensure precise positioning of the wire in the plastic profile, whereby (d) the plastic resin lor the plastic, ribbon is different from the plastic profile, arid where (e) both the resins are provided by two (2) different ektriider, arid whereby (f) the plastic ribbon is extruded using at least an independent tool die and (g) the plastic profile is extruded using another separate independent tool die,

3 03 19 wherein the plastic profile consists of at least one (1) or more electrically conductive wire (or heated conductor) being embedded inside, and whereby (h) the plastic ribbon and the plastic profile are co-extruded separately from two separate extruders via a single combined tool die, and whereby (a) the plastic ribbon consists of at least one (1) guide; and (j) the plastic profile consists of corresponding guide in order to ensure alignment of the plastic ribbon with the extruded profile together when being helically wrapped and heat bonded together, and whereby (k) the wire conductor embedded within the profile is able to act as a form of added reinforcement for the flexible tubing; OR (l) the wire itself can serve to transmit and exchange useful data between each end of the flexible plastic tubing, and whereby the plastic resin for the profile is electrically insulating and yet is conductive to conduct away any heat generated from the embedded wire.