Patent ID: 8778479

Claim:
A pre-form comprising a resin, an adhesive, and at least three layers of fibres, wherein: a plurality of said layers of fibres consist exclusively of unidirectionally oriented, continuous fibre tows, the resin is consisting essentially of a thermosetting material and contains no thermoplastic materials, the adhesive is applied in a non-continuous layer between adjacent layers of fibres to at least partially immobilize the fibres and to define a plurality of gas escape pathways having pathway outlets directed in at least two orthogonal directions, the at least two orthogonal directions being transverse to the longitudinal orientation of the fibre tows such that the at least two orthogonal directions include a primary orthogonal direction oriented through a thickness defined by the plurality of said layers of fibres in combination and a secondary orthogonal direction oriented parallel to the plurality of said layers of fibres, and such that the gas escape pathways promote gas escape during curing or pre-curing of the resin and adhesive in the at least two orthogonal directions through the pathway outlets, and a part of said pre-form being formed three-dimensionally so that said part of said pre-form is tapered.