Patent ID: 8486216

Claim:
A process for placing fiber elements onto a surface, comprising the steps of: in a first deposition pass, simultaneously depositing a first group of two or more fiber elements onto the surface so as to form a first group of deposited fiber elements on at least one part of the surface, wherein a width of one or more of the deposited fiber elements of the first group varies longitudinally along the surface and adjacent deposited fiber elements of the first group have a empty space therebetween, wherein modification of the width of the one or more deposited fiber elements is performed without removing any portion of the one or more deposited fiber elements so as to maintain a constant number of filaments along a length of each of the one or more deposited fiber elements; and in a second deposition pass, the second deposition pass being subsequent to the first deposition pass, simultaneously depositing a second group of two or more fiber elements onto the surface so as to form a second group of deposited fiber elements on at least one part of the surface, wherein a width of one or more of the deposited fiber elements of the second group varies longitudinally along the surface and at least one gap-filling deposited fiber element of the second group is placed within at least one empty space between deposited fiber elements of the first group, wherein no space or void exists between said at least one gap-filling deposited fiber element of the second group and deposited fiber elements of the first group adjacent to said at least one gap-filling deposited fiber element.