Patents by Inventor Todd D. Higgins

Todd D. Higgins has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Carrier tape recycling apparatus and method of recycling carrier tape
    Patent number: 6502783
    Abstract: A carrier tape recycling apparatus for receiving bare carrier tape from a manufacturing system and for winding the carrier tape onto a plurality of tape reels for reuse. The carrier tape recycling apparatus includes a reel drive mechanism configured to support and rotationally drive a plurality of tape reels such that bare carrier tape dispensed from the manufacturing system may be wound onto the tape reels. The reel drive mechanism provides a slip drive allowing each tape reel disposed in the recycling apparatus to rotate and receive carrier tape independent of other tape reels disposed in the recycling apparatus, so as to compensate for variation in the rate at which carrier tape is supplied to each tape reel disposed in the carrier tape recycling apparatus. The present invention also includes a method of using the recycling apparatus to recycle bare carrier tape dispensed from a manufacturing system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2003
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Derek T. Smith, Tony T. Ibarra, Merle Bicknell, Todd D. Higgins