Patent ID: 7124797

Claim:
A filament winding apparatus for winding at least two fiber bundles onto a structure, comprising: a fiber bundle application section, wherein the fiber bundle application section further comprises: a spool section comprising at least two fiber bundle spools; and a winding head comprising at least two winding eyes to receive a fiber bundle from one of the at least two fiber bundle spools, wherein the at least two winding eyes are oriented such that each fiber bundle exits a winding eye in substantially the same plane as each other fiber bundle and at a specified distance from each other fiber bundle; and a spreading assembly, wherein the spreading assembly comprises at least two curved rods to spread each fiber bundle exiting each winding eye, wherein the winding eyes and curved rods are oriented such that as the fiber bundles spread, the distance between the fiber bundles decreases forming a substantially continuous band of fiber bundles; a transport to move the fiber bundle application section; and a controller for applying the substantially continuous band of fiber bundles on the structure.