ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 13 -- United States Patent no. 12,522,461, issued on Jan. 13, was assigned to RICOH COMPANY LTD. (Tokyo).
"Sheet supply device and image forming apparatus" was invented by Katsumi Okada (Kanagawa, Japan) and Daiki Satoh (Kanagawa, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A sheet supply device includes a supporter, a rotation device, a guide, a support shaft, a biasing member, a sensor, a roller, and control circuitry. The sensor is disposed to protrude from the facing portion toward the roll and biased in a direction to contact the outer peripheral surface of the roll. The sensor outputs a detection signal at a level corresponding to an amount at which the sensor protrudes f...