Grooved insulating material

Claim 1

AN ANNULAR INSULATING LAYER FOR A PIPE COMPRISING A LAYER OF FLEXIBLE, BONDED FIBROUS INSULATING MATERIAL SURROUNDING SAID PIPE AND HAVING A PLURALITY OF PARALLEL CUTS FORMED THEREIN ADJACENT TO THE PIPE, A BACKING LAYER BONDED TO SAID INSULATING MATERIAL ON THE OUTER SURFACE THEREOF REMOTE FROM SAID CUTS, SAID CUTS BEING GROUPED IN PAIRS, EACH OF SAID CUTS BEING ANGULATED RELATIVE TO A PLANE NORMAL TO THE SURFACE OF SAID INSULATING MATERIAL, THE CUTS OF EACH PAIR BEING OPPOSITELY ORIENTED WITH RESPECT TO SAID NORMAL TO DEFINE A SELECTIVELY REMOVABLE WEDGE, EACH OF SAID CUTS TERMINATING IN AN INNER EDGE SPACED FROM THE OTHER CUT OF SAID PAIR, SO THAT EACH OF SAID WEDGES IS JOINED TO THE REMAINDER OF SAID INSULATING MATERIAL BY A THIN BAND, THE CUTS ADJACENT SAID PIPE BEING CLOSED, SAID WEDGES ASSUMING AN ARCUATE CONFIGURATION AND CLOSELY CONFORMING TO THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF A PIPE OF RELATIVELY LARGE DIAMETER AND WHEREBY UPON SELECTIVE REMOVAL OF A PLURALITY OF SAID WEDGES SAID INSULATING MATERIAL IS ADAPTED TO CLOSELY CONFORM TO THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF A PIPE OF ANY OF A WIDE RANGE OF SMALLER DIAMETERS.