Method for covering an article with a recoverable sleeve

Abstract

A recoverable tubular article comprising an elastomeric sleeve held in a radially expanded or extended condition and capable of recovering to its pre-expanded condition of smaller diameter upon the removal of an outer restraint, an outer restraint, essentially tubular in configuration, bonded to said elastomeric sleeve, said bond between the sleeve and the restraint being sufficiently strong to retain the elastomeric sleeve in its expanded condition under ordinary conditions of storage and susceptible to attack by solvents weakening the bond sufficiently to allow the elastomeric sleeve to peel away from the restraint and recover to its original state. The article may be made by injection molding a rigid plastic material around an elastomeric sleeve, insuring that a suitable bond is formed between the sleeve and restraint, expanding said elastomeric sleeve when the plastic material is heated to softness and is formable and allowing the plastic material to cool and harden while the sleeve is held in the expanded state.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.