Patent ID: 7588438

Claim:
A precision mechanical fiber cutting apparatus comprising: a vertical blade moving mechanism that moves in a vertical plane; at least 3 substantially vertical parallel fixed cutting blades connected to the vertical blade moving mechanism to move in a vertical plane to punch out one or more cut fibers; a cutting stage positioned below the vertical blade moving mechanism to support a fiber sample against a downward cutting motion of the at least 3 substantially vertical parallel fixed cutting blades, wherein the cutting stage comprises a top and a bottom connected to 1 or more side walls having an inlet aperture and an outlet aperture, wherein the top comprises at least 3 slits to receive the at least 3 substantially vertical parallel fixed cutting blades to allow transport of the fiber sample into the cutting stage, wherein the top supports the fiber sample to allow the at least 3 substantially vertical parallel fixed cutting blades to punch out the fiber sample into one or more cut fibers having substantially uniformed lengths with substantially uniformed ends; a fiber chamber connected to the outlet aperture by a conduit to receive the one or more cut fibers; and a pressurized gas source connected to the inlet aperture to transfer the one or more cut fibers to the fiber chamber, wherein the one or more cut fibers are deposited in a random distribution onto a sample slide within the fiber chamber.