Patent ID: 8165702

Claim:
A process for manufacturing an article, the process comprising: modeling a substrate having a surface based upon the geometric shape of the article; serially defining a plurality of paths for placing tape strips upon the substrate, the first path being defined by first starting coordinates and a first initial angle such that the first path follows a natural path along the surface of the modeled substrate, and subsequent paths being defined by respective starting coordinates and initial angles, wherein for each subsequent path: the starting coordinates are disposed adjacent an adjacent path; the initial angle is selected such that the subsequent path follows a natural path along the surface of the modeled substrate without overlapping the adjacent path, the starting coordinates are adjusted to minimize a minimum gap between the subsequent path and the adjacent path without overlapping the adjacent path, and the initial angle is adjusted to minimize an average gap between the subsequent path and the adjacent path without overlapping the adjacent path; and laying tape strips on the substrate according to the defined paths to form the article.