Document processing system with configurable graphic display of print consumable level

Document processing systems and methods are presented in which the remaining amount of toner, replenisher, or other print consumable in a multi-dispenser bottle consumable supply system is determined, and a user can configure a user interface to graphically display the remaining print consumable supply levels for one or more colors in one or more print engines.

BACKGROUND

The present exemplary embodiment relates to document processing systems such as printers, copiers, multi-function devices, etc., and more particularly to configurable graphical display of print consumable levels in document processing systems having one or more print or marking engines that are supplied with consumable materials such as toner, ink, replenisher, paper, etc. Conventionally, these systems include some form of warning system to alert the user when the consumable material supply is depleted. In many printers and copiers, the print engine must be stopped to refill the consumables, although some systems may allow toner or other consumable to be refilled without interrupting the operation of the print engine. Often, however, the user is only notified when the system can no longer function without replenishment of the consumable material, such as when the print engine is out of toner. Thus, replacement of toner cartridges, paper, and other print system consumable supplies generally contributes to system down-time, and improved techniques and systems are desirable to facilitate the timely provision of replenishable consumables to document processing systems while mitigating system down-time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure provides document processing systems and methods that may be employed to allow a user to easily view a graphical indication of the current status of consumable supplies at any time. The particular form of the graphical rendering, moreover, can be set by the user in certain embodiments. The various aspects of the disclosure thus facilitate the intelligent scheduling of consumable replenishment without having to wait for the system to run out of toner or other supplies.

In accordance with one or more exemplary aspects of the disclosure, a document processing system is provided that includes one or more print engines as well as a print consumable supply system that supplies toner, ink, paper, replenisher, or other print consumable from one or more print consumable dispensers to the print engine. The system further includes a controller operative to determine the amount of remaining print consumable and a user interface (UI) with a graphic display. The user interface may be integral with the printing system, or may be provided remotely, such as application software running on a computer networked to the printing system. The interface displays a graphical print consumable supply view on the graphic display that graphically indicates the remaining amount of the consumable(s). The system may support multi-color printing, with the supply system including consumables specific to a number of different source colors, such as cyan, magenta, yellow, and black toner, where the supply view in certain embodiments may provide individual graphical indications of remaining supply levels for each color. Where the supply system provides multiple dispensers for a given color, moreover, the view can be configured to indicate the remaining amount of the consumable in terms of remaining dispensers, including partially full dispensers by color.

In certain implementations, moreover, the graphical print consumable supply view is user-configurable, allowing selection from a number of different view styles for display on the user interface. Thus, for example, the user may be able to select a percentage view that graphically illustrates the percentage of consumable remaining for each of the plurality of colors, a bottle count view graphically illustrating the number of dispensers currently having remaining printing consumable by color, a number of pages view indicating a number of remaining pages that can be printed by color, and a time view indicating the amount of printing time remaining by color. In one implementation, moreover, the interface may allow the user to selectively view or hide the print consumable supply view.

Further aspects of the disclosure provide a method of indicating the amount of remaining printer consumable in a document processing system. The method includes determining the amount of remaining print consumable in one or more print consumable dispensers in a print consumable supply system that supplies print consumable to a print engine, and displaying a graphical print consumable supply view on a user interface of the system to graphically indicates the amount of remaining print consumable. The method may further include allowing a user to select from a plurality of display views for rendering on the user interface, as well as allowing the user to selectively view or hide the print consumable supply view.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the drawing figures, several embodiments or implementations of the present disclosure are hereinafter described in conjunction with the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout, and wherein the various features, structures, and graphical renderings are not necessarily drawn to scale. The disclosure relates to automatic graphical presentation of print system consumable material supply levels via a user interface. The various aspects of the disclosure are hereinafter illustrated and described in the context of exemplary graphical user interface display screens which can be rendered to a user or operator at a user interface integral with a document processing (printing) system, and/or which can be provided as a display on a user's personal computer or other device operatively connected to the document processing system, such as by one or more wired and/or wireless networks, wherein any such implementations and variations thereof are contemplated as falling within the scope of the present disclosure. Moreover, while the various aspects of the disclosure are described in the context of providing user-friendly graphical indications of toner levels in multi-color printing systems, the various concepts and aspects of the disclosure are also applicable to other forms of printing system consumables, including without limitation toner, replenisher, ink, paper, etc., wherein the disclosure is not limited to the illustrated embodiments. As shown in the examples below, the disclosure presents a user interface (UI) dialogue via graphical display screens and visual indicia thereon that facilitates choice or selection by a user of a style of view for toner level display to accommodate visual monitoring of system toner levels for the user's specific work environment, for example, percentage of toner remaining per color, the number of bottles (toner dispensers) remaining per color, the number of pages that can be printed per color, and the number of hours/minutes of usage remaining per color.

FIGS. 1 and 2illustrate one exemplary document processing or printing system2and a user interface10thereof in which one or more exemplary aspects of the disclosure may be implemented.FIG. 3illustrates another exemplary document processing system102having multiple print engines in which the various aspects of the present disclosure may also be advantageously implemented. The system2ofFIG. 1can be any form of commercial printing apparatus, copier, printer, facsimile machine, or other system which may include a scanner or other input device4that scans an original document text and/or images to create an image comprising pixel values indicative of the colors and/or brightness of areas of the scanned original, or receives images such as in a print job, and which has a marking engine or print engine6by which visual images, graphics, text, etc. are printed on a page or other printable medium, including xerographic, electro photographic, and other types of printing technology, wherein such components are not specifically illustrated inFIG. 1to avoid obscuring the various aspects of the present disclosure.

As shown inFIG. 1, the exemplary document processing system2includes a print engine6, which may be any device or marking apparatus for applying an image from a digital front end (DFE) printer job controller8to printable media (print media) such as a physical sheet of paper, plastic, or other suitable physical media substrate for images, whether precut or web fed, where the input device4, print engine6, and controller8are interconnected by wired and/or wireless links for transfer of electronic data therebetween, including but not limited to telephone lines, computer cables, ISDN lines, etc. The printing system2, moreover, includes an integral user interface10with a display and suitable operator/user controls such as buttons, touch screen, etc. The print engine6generally includes hardware and software elements employed in the creation of desired images by electrophotographic processes wherein suitable print engines6may also include ink-jet printers, such as solid ink printers, thermal head printers that are used in conjunction with heat sensitive paper, and other devices capable of printing or marking an image on a printable media.

The image input device4may include or be operatively coupled with conversion components for converting the image-bearing documents to image signals or pixels or such function may be assumed by the printing engine6. In the illustrated document processor2, the printer controller8provides the output pixel data from memory to a print engine6that is fed with a print media sheets12from a feeding source14such as a paper feeder which can have one or more print media sources or paper trays16,18,20,22, each storing sheets of the same or different types of print media12on which the marking engine6can print. The exemplary print engine6includes an imaging component44and an associated fuser48, which may be of any suitable form or type, and may include further components which are omitted from the figure so as not to obscure the various aspects of the present disclosure. In one example, the print engine6may include a photoconductive insulating member or photoreceptor which is charged to a uniform potential via a corotron and exposed to a light image of an original document to be reproduced via an imaging laser under control of a controller of the DFE8, where the exposure discharges the photoconductive insulating surface of the photoreceptor in exposed or background areas and creates an electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor corresponding to image areas of the original document. The electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor is made visible by developing the image with an imaging material such as a developing powder comprising toner particles via a development unit, and the customer image is then transferred to the print media12and permanently affixed thereto in the fusing process.

In a multicolor electrophotographic process, successive latent images corresponding to different colors can be formed on the photoreceptor and developed with a respective toner of a complementary color, with each color toner image being successively transferred to the paper sheet12in superimposed registration with the prior toner image to create a multi-layered toner image on the printed media12, and where the superimposed images may be fused contemporaneously, in a single fusing process. The fuser48receives the imaged print media from the image-forming component and fixes the toner image transferred to the surface of the print media12, where the fuser48can be of any suitable type, and may include fusers which apply heat or both heat and pressure to an image. Printed media from the printing engine6is delivered to a finisher30including one or more finishing output destinations32,34,36such as trays, stackers, pans, etc.

The document processing system2is operative to perform these scanning and printing tasks in the execution of print jobs, which can include printing selected text, line graphics, images, machine ink character recognition (MICR) notation, etc., on either or both of the front and back sides or pages of one or more media sheets12. An original document or image or print job or jobs can be supplied to the printing system2in various ways. In one example, the built-in optical scanner4may be used to scan an original document such as book pages, a stack of printed pages, or so forth, to create a digital image of the scanned document that is reproduced by printing operations performed by the printing system2via the print engine6. Alternatively, the print jobs can be electronically delivered to the system controller8via a network or other means, for instance, whereby a network user can print a document from word processing software running on a network computer as illustrated and described in further detail with respect toFIG. 3below, thereby generating an input print job.

A print media transporting system or network or highway40of the document processing system2links the print media source14, the print engine6, and the finisher30via a network of flexible automatically feeding and collecting drive members, such as pairs of rollers42, spherical nips, air jets, or the like, along with various motors for the drive members, belts, guide rods, frames, etc. (not shown), which, in combination with the drive members, serve to convey the print media12along selected pathways at selected speeds. Print media12is thus delivered from the source14to the print engine6via a pathway46common to the input trays16,18,20,22, and is printed by the imaging component44and fused by the fuser48, with a pathway46from the print engine6merging into a pathway70which conveys the printed media12to the finisher30, where the pathways46,48,70of the network40may include inverters, reverters, interposers, bypass pathways, and the like as known in the art. In addition, the print engine6may be configured for duplex or simplex printing and a single sheet of paper12may be marked by two or more print engines6or may be marked a plurality of times by the same marking engine6, for instance, using internal duplex pathways.

Referring also toFIG. 2, the exemplary document processing system2provides an advanced printer consumable dispensing apparatus assembly or supply system in which each color toner is provided via a plurality of toner bottles or dispensers, including Cyan (C), Magenta (M), Yellow (Y), and Black (K). As shown inFIG. 2, for example, the Cyan color is supplied via five Cyan toner dispensers80a-80e, with each dispenser being adjacent to the previous dispenser80. Similarly, five bottle dispensers82a-82eare provided for Magenta toner, bottles84a-84esupply Yellow toner, and bottles86a-86esupply black toner to the print engine6. Moreover, as depicted inFIG. 2, the document processing system2may include multiple print engines with associated multi-bottle toner supply systems, wherein the simplified illustration inFIG. 2depicts a first such print engine6aand a second engine6b, each operatively coupled with the DFE controller8. In this regard, the system2provides multiple dispensers80,82,84, and86for each of four toner colors Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black, respectively, for each of the print engines6aand6b. As further illustrated inFIG. 2, the print controller8is operatively coupled with the print engines6a,6b, the user interface10, and the multi-bottle toner supply systems providing toner to the print engines6a,6bso as to provide user configurable graphical indications of the remaining toner supply for each of the print engines6a,6bin accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

In the exemplary toner supply systems ofFIG. 2, the toner dispenser bottles are stacked so that the toner/replenisher will empty throughout the top bottle into the bottom bottle through the flow of gravity or some other mechanical means, with successive dispensers providing consumable to the next lower dispenser. The printing consumable inside each bottle80,82,84,86can be toner, replenisher, etc., depending on the print engine needs and/or requirements. The user interface10is operatively coupled with the first print engine6a, the second print engine6b, and the DFE controller8that provides job print scheduling and other functionality. The controller8gathers information from one or more sensing mechanisms associated with each of the toner consumable supply systems. In one possible implementation, a sensing mechanism is provided for each set of printing consumable dispenser bottles, wherein the sensing mechanism preferably operates to discern the level of toner within partially empty dispensers, in order to provide an indication on the user interface10as to which bottles are full, which are empty, and which are partially full. In this regard, any suitable consumable level sensing technology may be employed within the scope of the present disclosure, including without limitation sensing based on opacity, infrared, weight measurement, pressure measurement, or any other known means. The controller8receives the signals from the toner level sensors and determines on a regular basis an amount of remaining print consumable for each color C, M, Y, and K. The controller8may further perform certain calculations to estimate remaining number of pages that can be printed using the remaining consumables, the remaining printing time that the system can operate using the remaining consumables, etc. The user interface10operates under control of the controller8according to the determined amounts of remaining toner consumable to render the remaining consumable levels to the user or operator. In particular, the interface10includes a graphic display and operates to display a graphical print consumable supply view on the graphic display that graphically indicates the amount of remaining print consumable, in this case, for each of multiple colors, where the display can be set to display the remaining toner level for either of the print engines6aor6b.

The exemplary user-configurable interface10and the graphical renderings provided by this disclosure facilitate the usage of the multi-bottle supply system in order to reduce or minimize the system down-time while allowing the user or operator to refill the bottles or otherwise replenish the toner consumable supply in the system2. For instance, a user may advantageously implement a top-off strategy for each color that is not at its maximum. As depicted inFIG. 2, for example, the Cyan supply currently has two remaining full toner bottles, with the upper three bottles being currently empty for the first print engine6a. In this example, the same is true of the Magenta and Yellow toner in the first engine, with the Black toner supply having three remaining full toner dispensers in the first engine6aand with the dispensers of the second engine6ball being full. The user may advantageously monitor this situation via a selected one of a plurality of graphical supply level views on the graphic display of the user interface10to facilitate implementation of a replenishment regimen for the system2. Thus, at the point in time illustrated inFIG. 2, the user can see from the interface graphic display that toner is needed for the first engine6a, whereas the second engine supplies are full.

Referring also toFIG. 3, an exemplary multi-print engine printing or document processing system102is shown with a graphical user interface110in accordance with the present disclosure. The system102inFIG. 3includes a plurality of printing or marking systems150,160, and199, each of which includes an associated marking or print engine152,162,172along with corresponding entry and exit inverter/bypasses190,192, and194, respectively. The print engines152,162,172, moreover, may be removable, for example, wherein the system inFIG. 3illustrates a currently empty marking unit area198capable of being outfitted with a fourth print engine (not shown), and wherein one or more of the illustrated print engines152,162,172may optionally be removed from the system110(e.g., for repair, etc.), whereby the system110provides a modular approach to multiple-engine system architecture. The provision of multiple print engines enhances the system110with respect to features and capabilities as various marking tasks for a given print job118may advantageously be distributed among the print engines152,162,172. In this regard, some or all of the print engines152,162,172may be identical or functionally equivalent in order to provide redundancy or improved productivity through parallel printing. Alternatively or in combination, some or all of the print engines may be different to provide different capabilities, for example, where the marking engines162,172may be color marking engines, while the marking engine152may be a black (K) marking engine.

As further shown inFIG. 3, the system102includes a system controller122includes digital front end (DFE) functionality as in the example ofFIG. 1above, and is operatively coupled with the user interface110and the toner supply systems of each print engine152,162,172for graphically rendering a toner supply view on the interface110in accordance with the various aspects of the present disclosure. The controller122, moreover, may implement image quality control functions to modify one or more target colors via actuators154,164, and170. The illustrated print engines152,162,172employ xerographic printing technology wherein an electrostatic image is formed and coated with a toner material, and then transferred and fused to paper or another print medium by application of heat and pressure. Alternatively, print engines employing other printing technologies can be provided in the system102, such as ink jet printing, thermal impact printing, etc.

The system102further includes a print media feeding source or feeder140with associated media conveying components138, as well as a finisher184implementing various finishing functions such as collation, stapling, folding, stacking, hole-punching, binding, postage stamping, etc. The source140includes input trays142,144,146,148connected with the print media conveying components138to provide selected types of print media to the print engine(s)152,162, and/or172. Each of the print media sources142,144,146, and/or148can store sheets of the same type of print media, or can store different types of print media. For example, the print media sources144,146may store the same type of large-size paper sheets, print media source142may store company letterhead paper, and the print media source148may store letter-size paper. The print media can be substantially any type of media upon which one or more of the marking engines152,162,172can print, such as high quality bond paper, lower quality “copy” paper, overhead transparency sheets, high gloss paper, etc. The finisher184includes two or more print media finishing destinations or stackers180,182,186for collecting sequential pages of each print job that is being contemporaneously printed by the printing system102to accommodate multiple jobs arriving at the finisher184concurrently. Once processed, the finisher184deposits each sheet in one of the print media finishing destinations180,182,186, which may be trays, pans, stackers and so forth. In addition, bypass routes in each print engine152,162, and172allow certain sheets to pass through the processing unit without interacting with the print engine. Also, branch paths are provided to take the sheet into the associated marking engine152,162,172and to deliver the sheet back to the upper or forward paper paths196,197of the associated processing unit.

As further illustrated inFIG. 3, the document processing system102is operative to execute print jobs118delivered to the controller122from an external source, such as one or more computers114,116connected to the system102via one or more networks124and associated cabling120, or from wireless sources, or alternatively print jobs may be created by the system102based on documents scanned at an input scanner136. The print job execution may include printing selected text, line graphics, images, machine ink character recognition (MICR) notation, etc., on the front and/or back sides or pages of one or more sheets of paper or other printable media. In this regard, some sheets may be left completely blank in accordance with a particular print job118, and some sheets may have mixed color and black-and-white printing. Execution of the print job118, moreover, may include collating the sheets in a certain order, along with specified folding, stapling, punching holes into, or otherwise physically manipulating or binding the sheets at the finisher184. Print jobs118can also be provided to the controller122of the system102via an integral optical disk reader (not illustrated), and/or from a dedicated computer that is connected only to the printing system102. In certain embodiments the system102may be a stand-alone printer or a cluster of networked or otherwise logically interconnected printers, with each printer having its own associated print media source and finishing components including a plurality of final media destinations, print consumable supply systems and graphical user interface. Moreover, the user interface110may be integral with the system102and/or may be implemented on one or more external devices, such as printer management application software running on one or more networked computers114,116, etc.

Referring now toFIGS. 4-10,FIGS. 4 and 5illustrate partial view of the exemplary graphical display of the user interfaces10,110in the systems2and102ofFIGS. 1 and 3, respectively.FIG. 4shows exemplary prompting for user configuration of machine settings as part of a menu-driven graphical print system screen flow. In the illustrated embodiment, the user or operator is presented with a selectable “Machine Settings” indicia202. The indicia202and other illustrated indicia in the illustrated embodiments preferable comprise a user-selectable “button” type indicia which the user can select using a keyboard, mouse, vocal command responsive system, etc., and/or the interface10,110may be a touch-screen type interface allowing the user to touch the screen location of the indicia202to set one or more machine settings for the system2,102. In other embodiments, one or more buttons or other navigation features may be provided as part of the user interface10,110.

Upon selecting “Machine Settings” indicia202inFIG. 4, the user interface10,110presents the user with one or more options including a “Set Toner Level Display View” indicia204as shown inFIG. 5for user selection of toner consumable level display views as further illustrated inFIGS. 6-10below. When the user selects this indicia204ofFIG. 5, the exemplary user interface10,110presents (FIG. 6) a graphical listing210of possible toner level displays from which the user can select the desired rendering of toner supply level in the system2,102. In the example ofFIG. 6, the user interface10,110prompts the user for selection among four exemplary toner level graphical display views, where the listing210presents selectable “button” type indicia212,214,216, and218for “Toner Percentage”, “Toner Bottle Count”, “Number of Pages”, and “Hours/Minutes” views, respectively. In addition, the user interface10,110inFIG. 6presents the user with the possibility of selecting other views via a selectable indicia220, and further renders the currently selected toner level display view in the upper right-hand corner of the graphic display, in this case a Toner Bottle Count view240as illustrated and described further below with respect toFIG. 8. The user can select any of the indicia212-218inFIG. 6, by which the current display view is changed to the selected view for graphically indicating the current toner supply level(s) to the user via the user interface10,110. In certain embodiments, moreover, the user may be prompted to selectively view or hide the print consumable supply view.

FIG. 7illustrates the graphical display of the user interface10,110on which an exemplary toner percentage view230is rendered that graphically illustrates the percentage of toner remaining for each color C, M, Y, and K in the systems2,102. In this example, the user has selected to graphically view the percentage of remaining toner by color, for instance, by selecting the indicia212inFIG. 6above. As shown inFIG. 7, the exemplary toner percentage view230includes vertical bar graph type indicia231-234including open portions231a,232a,233a, and234aand colored or shaded portions231b,232b,233b, and234b, respectively. The colored or shaded portions231b-234bare indicative of the amount of remaining toner of the corresponding color C, M, Y, or K as a percentage of the total toner capacity for that color, and the non-shaded or open portions231a-234arepresent empty bottles or portions thereof in the systems2,102. In certain embodiments, if the graphic display is color capable, the shaded or colored portions231b-234bmay advantageously be colored with the corresponding Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black colors, respectively, thereby aiding the user in determining which colors need replenishment. The illustrated view230, moreover, includes numeric indicia235-238for the colors C, M, Y, and K showing numeric percentage values representing the amount of remaining toner relative to the total capacity per color. Thus, in the example situation shown inFIG. 2above, the first print engine6ain the system2,102has 40% remaining Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow toner, as well as 70% remaining black toner.

FIG. 8illustrates another view of the exemplary graphical display in the systems2,102ofFIGS. 1 and 3, showing an exemplary bottle count view240that graphically illustrates the number of toner dispensers80,82,84, and86that have remaining toner for each color C, M, Y, and K, respectively. The view240includes circular open or unshaded indicia241and full and partial shaded or colored indicia242and243, respectively. Like the above percentage view230inFIG. 7, the bottle view240ofFIG. 8may advantageously provide for color coding of the indicia242and243(e.g., if the graphic display is a color display), with the shaded or colored portions242and243be in colored Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black corresponding to the color of toner they represent. As noted inFIG. 8, moreover, the view240provides for indicia243of partially full toner dispenser bottles, which may indicate half-full, quarter-full, or other fractionally full levels for a particular sensing capability of the supply system. In the example ofFIG. 8, moreover, the Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow toner supplies for the first print engine6aare each at 40% capacity, where the five-bottle per color implementation ofFIG. 2corresponds to two full bottles and three empty bottles for each of these colors in the bottle view240ofFIG. 8, whereas the 70% full condition for Black toner corresponds to three completely full bottles, one half-filled bottle, and one empty bottle as shown in the “K” column of the bottle count view240. In this regard, the bottle view240generally will include the same number of total indicia for a given color as there are bottle dispensers in the corresponding consumable supply system, and the granularity of the sensor capabilities in the toner supply system and the corresponding rendering of partially filled bottles (e.g., indicia243) may be correlated in the bottle view240, although not a strict requirement of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9shows the interface10,110rendering an exemplary graphical number of pages view250indicating the number of remaining pages that can be printed for each color in the system2,102. In this view250, page icons251,252,253, and254are displayed for each of the colors C, M, Y, and K, respectively, where the icons251-254may be rendered in the corresponding Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black colors if the graphic display of the user interface10,110permits, although not a strict requirement of the disclosure. The view250also provides corresponding numeric toner capacity values256,257,258, and259in terms of the number of pages that the system can print using the remaining toner for the Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black colors, respectively. The controller8,122in this regard computes the number of remaining pages for each color using stored or obtained information regarding the number of pages per unit of toner for the system2,102, based on the remaining toner supply levels sensed in the toner supply system.

FIG. 10illustrates another view of the exemplary graphic display in the systems2,102, in which a time view (e.g., hours and minutes) is presented graphically indicating the amount of printing time remaining for each color. The graphical view260includes circular clock-face type indicia261,262,263, and264for the colors C, M, Y, and K, respectively, each of which having a corresponding position indicator266,267,268, and269showing the amount of time remaining during which printing can continue for printed pages using the corresponding color. The controller8,122in this example computes the remaining time in hours and minutes for each color using stored or obtained information regarding the temporal usage rates for each toner color for the system2,102, based on the remaining toner supply levels sensed in the toner supply system.

The above examples are merely illustrative of several possible embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein equivalent alterations and/or modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon reading and understanding this specification and the annexed drawings. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described components (assemblies, devices, systems, circuits, and the like), the terms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component, such as hardware, software, or combinations thereof, which performs the specified function of the described component (i.e., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the illustrated implementations of the disclosure. In addition, although a particular feature of the disclosure may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application. Also, to the extent that the terms “including”, “includes”, “having”, “has”, “with”, or variants thereof are used in the detailed description and/or in the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising”. It will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications, and further that various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.