LED or Alarm to alert for warehouse printer

[unclejemima]

I've got no clue where else to ask this...so I'll ask it here!

I've got a small printer in our warehouse that we use when customer order need to be picked. Its very important that the warehouse grabs the paper the moment it comes out as the customer will be waiting if they do not.

Currently, our old printer was such and old boat you could hear it spool-up and print the document from miles away. We replaced it with a newer (but still old ) unit that is very quit and now our warehouse staff does not know when documents are sent there.

Can anyone think of a creative way of alerting them that a document was printed? I was thinking some sort of switch that I could rig into the printer output tray that would light up an LED or sound a buzzer when paper landed in the output tray...but I'm not sure where to find something like this. It would have to be some sort of light weight switch that would depress with just one piece of paper landing on it.

Kinda going out on a limb here, but any advice or idea's would be appreciated!

 

[friendly1uk]

If it drops a piece of paper on to a tray, the tray could have a car reversing sensor looking through it. I saw one on ebay for pennys recently. Just a matchbox sized thing. With a psu it could be a $15 project

 

[cal3thousand]

Yeah, as cheap goes, I would look for a little sensor that could do the trick. Maybe even a motion detector since the paper will come out hot and those things usually detect changes in IR

 

[friendly1uk]

break beam maybe too....

What does this printer look like. Have a model number? I'm surprised it does not make a beep already, but with so many options we can do better than shouting out ideas.

Pir based shed alarms are very cheap and loud. Battery or mains. Self contained. Might be the perfect solution to movement sensing.

 

[mark5]

Look up "infrared door alarm" at Amazon or eBay. Might work. Examples:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Store-Entry...CHIME-ALERT-IR-Activated-Sensor-/190776065012
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Infrared-De...rm-Barrier-Sensor-Home-Security-/111115576876

 

[unclejemima]

Hey, slick idea guys. I'll give that a try.

I've never seen a printer with an alarm or beep when it prints from the factory. It sure would be neat, but probably not that many people request it.

 

[mark5]

Automatic night light might also work. Search for "automatic night light circuit" Examples:

Automatic Night Light Circuit
http://www.stufinnis.co.uk/nightlight.html

Automatic Nightlight kit
http://www.abra-electronics.com/products/KIT%2dABRA%2d102-Automatic-Nightlight-kit.html

 

[Gregory]

Or possibly a bike vibration alarm.

Or diy current sensor on the power cord to detect when the fuser is warming up.

But the home PIR idea sounds like the easiest off the shelf solution. Might need a shroud so people walking nearby don't set it off.

 

[marty]

Printer Alarm Accessory - Notifies Users that Print Out is Waiting on Printer
http://www.creativemicrotech.com/

 

[unclejemima]

Printer Alarm Accessory - Notifies Users that Print Out is Waiting on Printer
http://www.creativemicrotech.com/

The boss really liked this one! Good job guys. Thanks for all the helpful tips. Never would have found them otherwise!

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