Patent ID: 7135083

Claim:
A method for continuously supplying tape to an applicator, comprising: delivering a first tape to an applicator from a first spindle; positioning a free end of a second tape in a first stationary guide adjacent a path of the first tape; sensing the near exhaustion of the first tape; connecting the free end of the second tape to the first tape at a first connection point downstream from the first stationary guide; cutting the first tape at a first cutting point between the first connection point and the first spindle; delivering the second tape to the applicator from a second spindle; positioning a free end of a third tape in a second stationary guide adjacent a path of the second tape, wherein the second stationary guide is different than the first stationary guide; sensing the near exhaustion of the second tape; connecting the free end of the third tape to the second tape at a second connection point downstream from the second stationary guide; and cutting the second tape at a second cutting point between the second connection point and the second spindle.