Patent ID: 7964520

Claim:
An integrally woven three-dimensional preform with at least one sidewall in at least one direction constructed from a woven base fabric, the base fabric comprising three or more layers, wherein: (a) the at least three layers comprise at least a top layer, a second layer that is below the top layer, and a third layer that is below the second layer; (b) the layers comprise fibers in a first direction and fibers in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; (c) there are a plurality of first interwoven regions, wherein each first interwoven region comprises fibers of the top layer in the first direction interwoven with fibers of the third layer in the first direction; (d) there are a plurality of first integral sidewalls in the second direction, wherein each first integral sidewall is at a different first interwoven region, wherein each first integral sidewall is formed by folding portions of the exposed top layer on each side of the first interwoven region towards each other to form the first integral sidewall, wherein each first integral sidewall is perpendicular to the base fabric and interwoven with the fibers of the third layer in the first direction, and wherein folding of the top layer exposes portions of the second layer; (e) there are a plurality of second interwoven regions, wherein each second interwoven region comprises fibers of the second layer in the second direction interwoven with fibers of the third layer in the second direction; (f) there are a plurality of second integral sidewalls in the first direction, wherein each second integral sidewall is at a different second interwoven region, wherein each second integral sidewall is perpendicular to the first integral sidewalls and is formed by folding the exposed portions of the second layer on each side of the second interwoven region towards each other to form the second integral sidewall, and wherein each second integral sidewall is perpendicular to the base fabric and interwoven with the fibers of the third layer in the second direction; and (g) the first and second integral sidewalls form at least one cell.