Patent ID: 7537116

Claim:
A zero-clearance packaging for elongate objects, said packaging comprising a packaging sleeve having: an internal part having an interior wall; an external part that receives said internal part in the direction of a longitudinal axis, said external part also having an interior wall; a closure that is disposed between said internal part and said external part, said closure being capable of pushing said internal part and said external part together in a telescopic fashion in the direction of the longitudinal axis with the internal part being received in the external part and holding said internal part and said external part in a closed position; and at least one elastic tension structure that is disposed over an axial length of said external part, over an axial length of said internal part, or over an axial length of both, wherein said at least one elastic tension structure has a length that is variable in the direction of the longitudinal axis such that the elastic tension structure elongates in the direction of the longitudinal axis at times when said closure urges said internal part and said external part together in a telescopic fashion while the interior wall of said internal part contacts one end of said elongate object and the interior wall of said exterior part contacts another end of said elongate object such that the interior walls of said internal part and said external part are placed in tension across said elongate object wherein said elastic tension structure comprises a wall of said internal part, a wall of said external part, or a wall of said internal part and said external part, said wall being constructed as bellows over at least a particular axial length.