Patent ID: 8393181

Claim:
A device for guiding a delicate fiber into a machine, said device comprising a bottom guide and a top guide, the bottom guide and top guide being joined by a connecting means which allows both guides to move together as one unit; the top guide comprising a top support with a means for attaching to the machine and at least two pairs of freely rotating rollers attached to the top support, one roller pair being lowermost and having rollers narrowly spaced apart to aligned the delicate fiber with the bottom guide and for orienting the delicate fiber in a front-to-back position relative to the bottom guide and a second roller pair being uppermost and orienting the delicate fiber in a side-to-side position, and the second roller pair having rollers sufficiently spaced apart to allow for an overhead access of the delicate fiber from a plurality of angles, wherein the device moves back and forth as one unit in a side-to-side orientation relative to the overhead access while guiding the delicate fiber into a machine, wherein movement of the freely rotating rollers is generated by dynamic friction of the delicate fiber passim through the device, the lengths of the freely rotating rollers are long enough to allow for maintenance of alignment of the delicate fiber while passing through the device, and wherein the delicate fiber is unaltered while passing through the device.