Filament guiding and maintenance machine and method of use

A guiding and maintenance machine (100) for positioning filaments (50, 50′) at a predetermined pitch during a calendering cycle that performs manufacture of plies using the filaments, the guidance and maintenance machine comprising:

• a cylinder group that includes a group of guide rollers with an upper guide roller (102) and a lower guide roller (104), each guide roller (102, 104) having a predetermined diameter and a longitudinal axis about which the respective guide roller rotates, each guide roller (102, 104) also having a plurality of circumferential grooves (102a, 104a) defined on a respective circumferential surface (102b, 104b) in correspondence with the number of filaments to be aligned during a guiding and maintenance process, the cylinder group also comprising an application roller (106) having a predetermined diameter and a longitudinal axis about which the application roller rotates, the application roller having a plurality of circumferential grooves (106a) defined on a circumferential surface (106b) of the application roller in correspondence with the cumulative number of grooves of the guide rollers (102, 104);
• and
• at least one preparation comb (200) provided in correspondence with each guide roller (102, 104), each preparation comb comprising a support (202) having a predetermined length between two opposite ends (202a, 202b) and a predetermined width between a front surface (202c) and a top surface (202d) from which a plurality of teeth (204) extend, the teeth (204) having a predetermined uniform height and being parallel to each other along the length of the support (202), the teeth of a preparation comb attributed to the upper guide roller (102) being positioned at a predetermined pitch in correspondence with the grooves (102a) of the upper guide roller, and the teeth of a comb attributed to the lower guide roller (104) being positioned at a predetermined pitch in correspondence with the grooves (104a) of the lower guide roller,
• wherein each guide roller (102, 104) is movable relative to the application roller (106) between an open position, in which the filaments (50, 50′) are introduced into the guide rollers, and a closed position, in which each guide roller approaches the application roller to capture the filaments between the respective grooves (102a, 104a) of the guide rollers (102, 104) and the grooves (106a) of the application roller (106), so that the preparation combs (200) accompany the filaments (50, 50′) from a corresponding supply creel (304, 304′) to the guide rollers (102, 104) at a predetermined pitch positioning outside the guide rollers (102, 104).