Patent ID: 9162434
Filing Date: 2015-10-20
Classification: B29C,B32B,B65H,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method for manufacturing a composite preform from tape material, the method comprising: feeding a tape section into a tape section guide that suspends the tape section across a tooling surface so that a first end of the tape section is initially disposed at a first position in the tape section guide and a second end of the tape section is initially disposed at a second position in the tape section guide; providing relative movement between the tape section guide and the tooling surface to position the tape section at a desired location and orientation relative to the tooling surface; after the tape section is fed into the tape section guide, moving the tape section relative to the tape section guide so that the first end is moved from the first position to a third position in the tape section guide and the second end is moved from the second position to a fourth position in the tape section guide; and securing the tape section to at least one of the tooling surface and a pre-existing tape section.