Patent ID: 6878873

Claim:
A damped sleeve for receiving and protecting elongated substrates, said sleeve comprising: a flexible damping layer positioned coaxially around an axis and radially spaced outwardly therefrom, thereby defining a central space for receiving said elongated substrates, said damping layer being a first elongated strip helically wound around said axis at a predetermined pitch and formed from an energy absorbing material; a flexible backing layer positioned in facing relationship with said damping layer, said backing layer being a second elongated strip helically wound around said axis at said predetermined pitch, said backing layer and said damping layer being attached to one another along a plurality of lines of attachment oriented lengthwise along said first and second strips and positioned in spaced relation to one another; and a resilient, flexible, elongated filamentary support member positioned between said damping and said backing layers and fixed in position by said lines of attachment, said filamentary support member being captured between two of said lines of attachment and resiliently set into a helical shape substantially conforming to said predetermined pitch so as to support said damping and backing layers in said spaced relation to said axis, thereby maintaining patency of said central space.