Patent ID: 8684293

Claim:
An apparatus for supporting and constraining one or more fibers moving slowly at first and then rapidly away from a source of the one or more fibers in a direction of the of a path of the one or more fibers towards an apparatus for manipulating the one or more fibers and a processing machine, the apparatus for manipulating the one or more fibers comprising the elements: a) a shoe having a surface, when in a first orientation, for supporting and constraining the one or more fibers, but not supporting or constraining the one or more fibers when said shoe is in a second orientation, b) a pivoting finger guide for guiding and pushing the one or more fibers generally perpendicularly to their moving direction of movement along said path, c) a first rotary actuator for moving the shoe between the first and the second orientations and between the second and the first orientations, d) a second rotary actuator for pivoting the finger guide, e) a first mechanism for moving the shoe and the finger guide forward and backward in directions generally perpendicular to said path of the moving one or more fibers, f) a second mechanism for moving the shoe backwards and forwards in directions parallel to said path of the one or more moving fibers, g) a frame for positioning and supporting elements a-e of the apparatus, and h) a controller for controlling the movable elements of the apparatus.