Fiber placement machine with composite tape film removal

1 . A fiber placement head for applying a plurality of composite tape segments on a mold, comprising:

a supply roll, mounted on a spool carried by a creel frame of the fiber placement head, for storing and supplying composite tape having a backing film to the fiber placement head;

a film roll, mounted on another spool carried by the creel frame of the fiber placement head for receiving the backing film from the composite tape that is removed from the film roll;

an electric motor that rotates the supply roll or the film roll; and

a slip clutch, carried by the creel frame and coupled with the supply roll or the film roll, that permits the relative displacement of the angular position of the film roll with respect to the angular position of the supply roll in response to a changed diameter of the supply roll relative to a changed diameter of the film roll.

2 . The fiber placement head recited in claim 1 , further comprising a dancer roll that receives composite tape from the supply roll and communicates the tape over an outer surface of the film roll while maintaining tension on the composite tape.

3 . The fiber placement head recited in claim 1 , further comprising a film spindle, for carrying the film roll and receiving rotational input from the electric motor.

4 . The fiber placement head recited in claim 1 , further comprising a supply spindle, for carrying the supply roll and receiving rotational input from the electric motor.

5 . The fiber placement head recited in claim 1 , wherein a supply pulley is rotated relative to a film pulley at an angular velocity such that a 4:1 ratio is present so that regardless of the changing diameters of the supply spool and the film spool, the supply pulley can be overdriven.

6 . The fiber placement head recited in claim 5 , wherein the rotational drive comprises the supply pulley, the film pulley, and an endless loop.