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. 24, 2001
Filed:
Apr. 07, 1999
Tim M. Hoberock, Boise, ID (US);
Angela K. DiFronzo, Meridian, ID (US);
Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
An adjustable tray for holding a supply of sheet material is provided. The tray includes a selectively movable backstop, and a selectively movable slide plate. An adjustment mechanism is provided that is selectively movable between an automatic position in which adjustment of the backstop affects adjustment of the slide plate, and a custom position in which adjustment of the backstop is independent of adjustment of the slide plate. The adjustment mechanism can be provided as a rod element. The backstop can be movable within a predetermined range of motion, in which case the adjustment mechanism can be adapted to move the slide plate to a position outside the range of motion of backstop. In an embodiment, the rod element is adapted to move the slide plate forward of backstop's range of motion. The tray can further include a plurality of levers, mounted on the tray, corresponding to respective sheet material sizes. The slide plate can include a plate member including a plurality of holes, with the slide plate being movable to selectively expose the levers. An actuation mechanism can be mounted on the tray. The actuation mechanism can be adapted to move the adjustment mechanism between its automatic and custom positions. In an embodiment, the actuation mechanism is provided as a switch disposed on an outside surface of the tray. A method for adjusting a sheet material tray to accommodate different sheet material sizes in an imaging system is also provided.