Back to results
US 8,012,291 B2Granted
Backing film removal system and method for fiber placement machine
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsRobert A. Kisch, Kyle Jeffries, Dustin Schmidt, Peter Vogeli
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention provides an apparatus and associated method for removing backing film from tape or tape during the fiber placement process. The present invention uses a passive (non-powered) take-up roller to wind up the backing film that has been separated from the tape.
Claims6
A method of removing backing film from a roll of tape used for tape laying or fiber placement comprising:
- unwinding tape from a spool while the backing film is still attached to the tape;
- extending a portion of the tape with the backing film still attached around a take-up roller;
- partially removing the backing film from the tape and attaching the backing film to the take-up roller;
- extending a portion of the tape with the backing film removed from the take-up roller to a dancer roller;
- and
- wrapping the backing film continuously around the take-up roller as the take-up roller is driven by movement of the tape around the take-up roller as the tape is moved from the spool to the dancer roller,
- wherein the take-up roller comprises a freely rotating take-up roller driven only by the movement of the tape around the take-up roller.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.