Appeal No. 2002-0963
Application No. 08/122,344
temperature of the matrix resin. This nip point
heating is extremely fast (that is, 1 to 2 seconds).
Closed loop control is achieved by monitoring the
temperature of the composite on the mandrel 22 with
infrared temperature censor [sic, sensor] 15. The
temperature, along with fiber speed, as determined by
tachometer 16, is processed by controlled computer 10.
In addition to the above-mentioned parameters of fiber
temperature and speed, the computer determines the
amount of air flow and air temperature which is
required by assessing requirements of the process as
input from the main fiber placement machine controlled
computer 11.
According to Evans, before fiber placement, tape laying and
filament winding were the only widely used automatic processes
for applying unidirectional composite materials to a lay-up mold
or mandrel. Page 1, col. 2. Filament winding is the guiding of
a continuous fiber band onto the surface of a mandrel in order to
achieve a desired fiber path. Page 5, col. 2. A tape laying
machine removes prepreg tape from a roll and compacts it onto the
surface of a mold. A tape laying machine can also cut the
prepreg tape at different angles as it is laying down tape. Page
10, col. 1.
The demand arose for a single process which had the features
of both filament winding and tape laying for producing complex
shapes automatically. Page 2, col. 1. The fiber placement
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