Patent ID: 7165591

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a first tool and a second tool for trapping a masking material with a tail of the masking material extending beyond the second tool; an air stream for urging the tail to lay across a face of the second tool; the tail laying across the face of the second tool with an adhesive side of the tail facing away from the face of the second tool; an end of the tail being disposed proximate the second tool; and a motion control mechanism configured (a) to position the first and second tools at a first location at which the tail is trapped between the second tool and a work piece, (b) to then position the first tool at a second location away from the work piece while the second tool remains proximate the work piece, (c) to move the second tool linearly along the work piece to a third location to apply the masking material to the work piece while keeping the first tool stationary at the second location, and (d) to then position the second tool at the second location to trap the masking material between the first tool and the second tool in preparation for applying additional masking material to the work piece.