Patent ID: 7687000

Claim:
A method for the production of a product made from product materials which change their state from a liquid to a solid state or from a particulate to a bonded state, said method comprising the steps of: providing a mold having a mold cavity defining at least a portion of a shape of the product; positioning a plurality of elastic, closeable balloons in the mold cavity; filling the elastic balloons through their respective openings with a desired liquid or gas; closing the openings of the balloons; closing the mold cavity to compress the elastic balloons within the mold cavity; injecting a liquid thermosetting material into the mold cavity so that the liquid thermosetting material fills spaces between the mold cavity and the elastic balloons in the mold cavity; hardening the thermosetting material; emptying and removing the elastic balloons from the mold cavity while allowing the hardened thermosetting material to remain in the mold cavity, so that the hardened thermosetting material in the mold cavity includes spaces created by the removal of the balloons from the hardened thermosetting material and the mold cavity; adding a desired product material to the mold cavity to fill or line the spaces in the hardened thermosetting material within the mold cavity; hardening the desired product material to form the product; and removing the product from the hardened thermosetting material and the mold cavity.