Patent ID: 7070730

Claim:
A method of fabricating an item of manufacture of a type in which a sleeve encompasses and firmly surrounds polymeric foam material, said method comprising the steps of: (a) forming a sleeve having a shape and size that corresponds to the item of manufacture, said sleeve having an interior for receiving said polymeric foam material and having an opening that allows placement of said polymeric foam in said interior of said sleeve; (b) fabricating one or more inserts for placement in said interior of said sleeve, said one or more inserts being formed of compressible polymeric foam, having a shape that corresponds to the shape defined by said interior of said sleeve and being oversized relative to said interior of said sleeve; (c) compressing said one or more foam inserts to a size less than the size of said interior of said sleeve; (d) placing the compressed foam inserts in said interior of said sleeve; (e) closing said opening of said sleeve; and (f) expanding the compressed polymeric foam inserts so that the expanded foam inserts bear firmly against at least the majority of said interior of said sleeve to cause said sleeve to fully encompass and firmly surround the polymeric foam; wherein said step of compressing said one or more foam inserts includes the steps of inserting said inserts in a hyperbaric chamber and increasing the atmospheric pressure in the hyperbaric chamber until the size of said one or more inserts is less than the size of said interior of said sleeve and are small enough to allow placement in said interior of said sleeve.