The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 15, 1991
Filed:
Apr. 13, 1988
Yoshikazu Ikenoue, Osaka, JP;
Ikunori Yamaguchi, Osaka, JP;
Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha, Osaka, JP;
Abstract
A sheet supplying apparatus comprising a plurality of sheet supply stages each for storing a stack of sheets therein, each of the sheet supply stages comprising a vertically movable sheet support member capable of supporting a stack of sheets thereon, the sheet supply stages having a predetermined order of priority, wherein the sheet support member associated with each of the sheet supply stages is driven for movement to a position in which the uppermost one of the sheets supported thereon reaches a predetermined level and wherein, out of the sheet supply stages, a particular sheet supply stage is selected which has a stock of sheets stored therein and which is higher in the order of priority than a sheet supply stage also having a stock of sheets stored therein, the movement of the sheet support member being enabled after the particular sheet supply stage is selected through detection of the presence or absence of a sheet stored in each of the sheet supply stage.