Media level state indicator

A media tray of an image forming apparatus, comprising:

• a housing;
• a lift plate disposed in the housing, the lift plate to store media;
• a torque generator to produce torque;
• a shaft to transfer torque from the torque generator;
• a winder pulley coupled to the shaft to transfer torque and rotatably accommodate a lift cable, the lift cable coupled to the lift plate to vertically move the lift plate;
• a gear assembly of interconnected gears including a first gear, a second gear coupled to the shaft, and a cam disposed on the first gear;
• a cam follower moveable in response to contact with the cam;
• and
• a signal device coupled to the cam follower to selectively indicate one of multiple media level states.

A method to indicate a media level state in a media tray of an image forming apparatus, the method comprising:

• positioning a lift plate of a media tray having a stack of sheet media at a lowered state;
• selectively removing sheet media from the media tray;
• transferring torque from a torque generator to a shaft in response to the selectively removed sheet media;
• rotating a first gear of a set of interconnecting gears with the shaft, the first gear disposed on the shaft;
• rotatably moving a cam attached to a second gear of the set of interconnecting gears;
• contacting a cam follower with the cam in an initial contact position;
• moving a signal device from a sufficient media state to a low media state with the cam follower;
• and
• indicating the low media state at the media tray.