Method and apparatus for maintaining wire lead protection of components on a storage reel

A method of protecting the predetermined lead wire orientation of electrical components having known thickness dimensions wound onto a reel including the steps of:

• providing a tape reel with a pair of opposing planar rigid wheels separated by a predetermined distance and a central axle joining the wheels;
• attaching the lead wires of each component in a predetermined orientation to a first flexible tape material having a width dimension that is less than said predetermined distance;
• providing a second flexible tape having a spacer portion in which the spacer portion runs in the length direction of the tap end has a thickness dimension that is at least equal to the thickness dimension of the components attached to the first tape;
• attaching said component bearing first tape to said central axle;
• aligning said spacer portion of said second tape to overlay only the lead wires of said components;
• and
• winding said first tape bearing said components, and said overlaying second tape onto said reel to thereby provide each wound layer of components separated each from the other by said second tape.