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:
Jul. 10, 2001
Filed:
Jun. 11, 1996
Dale Allen Christiansen, Tucson, AZ (US);
Kenneth Dean Cummings, Tucson, AZ (US);
David Conrad Graves, Tucson, AZ (US);
James Lee Lentz, Tucson, AZ (US);
Donald Ernest Lockett, Tucson, AZ (US);
Guillermo Santamaria Robles, Tucson, AZ (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
An automatic cartridge feeder includes a magazine slot that receives a cartridge magazine and includes a priority slot that directly receives single cartridges. The automatic cartridge feeder can receive a cartridge through the priority slot regardless of the condition of the cartridge magazine. In an automatic mode, cartridges are taken sequentially from the magazine and are processed. Any cartridge placed in the priority slot by an operator will be processed immediately after any in-progress cartridge processing. In an accumulate mode, cartridges are received through the priority slot for processing and are returned in sequence to an empty cartridge magazine.