CUTTING MECHANISM

There is disclosed a cutting mechanism (22) for severing elongate fibre reinforcement material (14) in composite material lay-up equipment (10), the cutting mechanism (22) comprising a cutting element (60) and a counteracting element (76) which cooperate to sever fibre reinforcement material (14) extending through the nip between them, the cutting element (60) being mounted on an elongate arm (44) which is pivotable about a pivot axis A spaced from the nip, to displace the cutting element (60) relatively to the counteracting element (76) to perform a cutting stroke, the mechanism (22) further comprising guide means (52) arranged to guide the fibre reinforcement material (14) through the nip in a feed direction transverse to the pivot axis A, and an actuation device (84) for driving the elongate arm (44) in a cutting stroke, the actuation device (84) acting on the elongate arm (44) at a position away from the cutting element (60). There is also provided composite material lay-up equipment (10) comprising the cutting mechanism (22).