hopper

hopper definition - computer

A tray, or chute, that accepts input to a mechanical device, such as a disk duplicator or printer. In the days of punch cards, millions of cards were numerically or alphabetically organized by placing them into the hopper of a card sorter, taking them out of all the stackers and putting them back into the hopper for the next card column.


_SORTHOP.GIF


Sorter Hopper

In the 1940s and 1950s, millions of punch cards were placed into hoppers on IBM sorters such as this one. The hoppers were also fitted with two-foot extensions that held more cards. (Image courtesy of The Computer History Museum, www.computerhistory.org)





_HOPPER.GIF


Paper Hoppers

This Dataproducts laser printer holds 250 sheets of paper in the top hopper and 2,000 in the bottom. (Image courtesy of Hitachi Koki Imaging Solutions, Inc.)






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