def join_infile_path(*paths):
    """
    Join path components using '/' as separator.
    This method is defined as an alternative to os.path.join, which uses '\\'
    as separator in Windows environments and is therefore not valid to navigate
    within data files.

    Parameters
    ----------
    *paths: all strings with path components to join

    Returns
    -------
    A string with the complete path using '/' as separator.
    """
    path = '/'.join(paths)
    path = path.replace('//', '/')
    return path
