Patent ID: 8168029

Claim:
An apparatus for manufacturing composite preforms from composite tape comprising: a tape supply unit from which tape material is dispensed; a tape feed unit that receives tape from the tape supply unit; a cutter unit that cuts tape fed from the tape feed unit; a tape section guide that receives a tape section fed from the tape feed unit and cut by the cutter unit; a tooling surface; and a tape tacking device that tacks the tape section to other like tape sections, wherein the tape section guide suspends the tape section across the tooling surface, wherein at least one of the tape section guide and the tooling surface moves to position the tape section to a desired location and angle relative to the tooling surface, wherein at least one of the tape section guide and the tooling surface move to position the tape section near the tooling surface, and wherein the tape tacking device presses a portion of the tape section unsupported by the tape section guide and tacks the unsupported portion of the tape section to another like tape section disposed on the tooling surface.