Patent ID: 8534591

Claim:
An apparatus for loading a film cassette for a gaseous vapor deposition process comprising: a cassette mounting stand for supporting an unloaded film cassette, the unloaded cassette itself comprising a central shaft having an axis therethrough, the shaft having an axially extending slot therein; a first and a second end plate mounted to the shaft, each end plate having a spiral groove therein, the spiral grooves in each end plate being axially aligned, the end plate being spacing apart by a predetermined interspoke spacing; a supply roll mounting stand for supporting a supply roll of film, the supply roll having an axis therethrough, the axis of the supply roll being spaced a predetermined distance from the axis of the cassette, the supply roll of the film and the cassette each have a central reference plane defined therein; a tensioning device connected to the supply roll of film, wherein the tension applied to the supply roll coupled with (a) the axis of the supply roll and the axis of the unloaded cassette being parallel with each other to within 0.5 degrees, (b) the distance between the supply roll and the cassette being such that a predetermined allowable offset distance between the reference plane of the supply roll and the reference plane of the unloaded cassette is less than about three millimeters, and (c) the distance between the axis of the supply roll and the axis of the cassette being from 0.15 to three (3) times the interspoke spacing are such that the edges of the supply film remain captured within the spiral grooves in both end plates without producing creasing in the surface of the film as the film is wound onto the cassette.