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:
Nov. 12, 1996
Filed:
Aug. 05, 1994
Ermanno C Petocchi, Rochester, NY (US);
Norman D Robinson, Jr, Rochester, NY (US);
Thomas Acquaviva, Penfield, NY (US);
David E Damouth, Rochester, NY (US);
Xerox Corporation, Stamford, CT (US);
Abstract
An apparatus for determining the dimensions of a stack of sheets in the tray. An optical sensor is arranged so that movement of the sheet guides in a paper tray causes a variably graduated scale to be moved past the sensor. The sensor may either be a transmissive or reflective type analog sensor in which the strength of the signal generated by the sensor is converted into a position of the side guides and as the analog scale is continuously variable, there is no need for separate discrete sensors or switches and sheet sizes of any dimension can be accommodated. A recalibration process is used to prevent contamination of the gauge and the associated change in signal strength by this sensor from causing the size determinations to be inaccurate. Alternatively, a digital sensor in cooperation with a digital bar code or other digital scale can be utilized to determine the variable sheet size, which digital sensor and variable scale are insensitive to contamination by dirt or paper particles, etc. The sensor system herein is very robust and provides a simple device for determining the size of a stack of sheets in a paper tray.