Apparatus for combining a plurality of ribbon-like filament bundles into a single sheet of filaments

Claim 1

AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY RECEIVING A PLURALITY OF SEPARATE MOVING FILAMENT BUNDLES PROCEEDING FROM A GIVEN SOURCE, GUIDING, AND DEFLECTING SAID BUNDLES TO FORM A SINGLE UNITARY TOW OF CONTROLLED UNIFORM WIDTH AND THICKNESS SUITABLE FOR CRIMPING, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION; A FIRST MEANS FOR ENGAGING AND SUPPORTING EACH MOVING FILAMENT BUNDLE AT SEPARATED POSITIONS SEQUENTIALLY STAGGERED IN THREE DIMENSIONS IN SPACE, SAID MEANS CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED TO ESTABLISH A RIBBON-LIKE CONFIGURATION FOR EACH BUNDLE AT EACH POSITION, AND A SECOND MEANS OPERATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH SAID FIRST MEANS FOR RECEIVING IN A GIVEN ZONE SPACED FROM SAID POSITIONS EACH OF SAID BUNDLES HAVING THE RIBBON-LIKE CONFIGURATIONS AND LATERALLY COMBINING SUCH BUNDLES INTO A SINGLE COHERENT MOVING SHEET OF FILAMENTS, SAID SHEET HAVING A CONTROLLED UNIFORM WIDTH AND THICKNESS, SAID SECOND MEANS ALSO SUPPORTING AND MAINTAINING SAID MOVING SHEET IN ITS CONTROLLED FORM IN SAID ZONE FOR FORWARDING TO A SUBSEQUENT TREATMENT; SAID APPARATUS FURTHER COMPRISING A SUPPORT STRUCTURE, SAID FIRST MEANS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF FIRST STAGE BUNDLE GUIDING AND SUPPORTING UNITS ADJUSTABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT STRUCTURE AT SAID SEPARATED SEQUENTIALLY STAGGERED POSITIONS IN SPACED AND POSITIONED SO THAT IN ANY THREE DIMENSIONAL COORDINATE SYSTEM EACH UNIT HAS DIFFERENT COORDINATES, EACH OF SAID UNITS ADJUSTABLY MOUNTED ON SAID STRUCTURE FOR LIMITED MOVEMENT ALONG THE LINE OF MOVEMENT OF THE MOVING BUNDLES AND IN TWO DIMENSIONS TRANSVERSE TO THE LINE OF BUNDLE MOVEMENT, EACH SAID UNIT COOPERATING WITH SAID OTHER UNITS TO LATERALLY ALIGN SAID BUNDLES IN ONE DIMENSION WHILE MAINTAINING SAID BUNDLES SEPARATED IN EACH OF THE TWO OTHER DIMENSIONS, SAID SECOND MEANS COMPRISING A SECOND STAGE BUNDLE GUIDING AND SUPPORTING UNIT ADJUSTABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT STRUCTURE TO COVERGE SAID BUNDLE IN SAID TWO OTHER DIMENSIONS, ENGAGE AND COMBINE SAID BUNDLES INTO THE SINGLE SHEET OF FILAMENTS, AND LATERALLY POSITION THE SINGLE RESULTANT SHEET OF FILAMENTS.