Patent Publication Number: US-9409734-B2

Title: Manual paper feeder that ensures stable paper feeding operation and image forming apparatus including the same

Description:
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE 
     This application is based upon, and claims the benefit of priority from, corresponding Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-170302 filed in the Japan Patent Office on Aug. 25, 2014, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Unless otherwise indicated herein, the description in this section is not prior art to the claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section. 
     Commonly, an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a printer, and a facsimile device includes a sheet feed cassette, which stores sheet-shaped recording mediums such as a paper sheet, and is attachable and removable. The image forming apparatus is constituted such that paper sheets are supplied from the sheet feed cassette and the image forming apparatus forms an image. However, when using a paper sheet with a different size from a paper sheet stored in the sheet feed cassette, in each case, a user needs to store a desired paper sheet in the sheet feed cassette again, thus causing a complicated operation. Thus, there is known an image forming apparatus that includes a manual paper feeder (bypass unit) to which a sheet-shaped recording medium can be supplied without via the sheet feed cassette. 
     A manual paper feeder that employs one technique includes a bypass tray on which paper sheets are to be placed, a sheet feed roller that sends the most upper paper sheet on the bypass tray, and a press member. The press member includes a paper sheet width guide, which is located on the bypass tray and restricts positional slippage in a width direction orthogonal to a paper feeding direction of a paper sheet, thus pressing a top surface of a paper sheet placed on the bypass tray in an upstream side in a paper feeding direction of the sheet feed roller. 
     The manual paper feeder includes a press member at an upstream side of a paper feeding direction of a sheet feed roller. This reduces a lift of a paper sheet center portion due to a press of the sheet feed roller, and prevents the skew and lateral slippage of a paper sheet. 
     SUMMARY 
     A manual paper feeder according to one aspect of the disclosure is installed at a side surface of a main body of an image forming apparatus. The manual paper feeder includes a side surface cover, a sheet loading tray, a separation conveying unit, and an elevating plate. The side surface cover is turnably supported by the side surface of the main body and selectively located at one of an open position and a close position. The open position is where the side surface cover is opened by a predetermined angle from the side surface of the main body. The close position is where the side surface cover is housed in a housing unit formed at the side surface of the main body. The sheet loading tray is located at a top surface of the side surface cover and capable of loading a sheet when the side surface cover is located at the open position. The separation conveying unit includes a feed member and a separation member. The feed member is located at a downstream side of the sheet loading tray in a feed direction for sending out a sheet to a feed direction. The separation member is located facing the feed member. The separation conveying unit separately conveys only one paper sheet at a most upper side of sheets loaded on the sheet loading tray. The elevating plate is located at the downstream side of the sheet loading tray in the feed direction so as to cause a downstream portion of the sheet to abut on the feed member. A first auxiliary tray and a second auxiliary tray are slidably disposed so as to overlap one another in a sheet loading direction at an upstream side of the seat loading tray in the feed direction of sheet. The first auxiliary tray is selectively located at a house position where the first auxiliary tray is housed to be overlapped between the side surface cover and the sheet loading tray or an extension position where the first auxiliary tray is extracted from the house position so as to extend a loading surface of the sheet loading tray. The second auxiliary tray extends the first auxiliary tray. When the first auxiliary tray is located at the extension position in a state where the second auxiliary tray is housed downwards, an abutment between an upstream side end edge of the side surface cover and an inferior surface of the second auxiliary tray supports the first auxiliary tray at a first angle. When the second auxiliary tray is extracted from the first auxiliary tray at the extension position, an abutment between the upstream side end edge of the side surface cover and the inferior surface of the first auxiliary tray supports the first auxiliary tray at a second angle. The second angle is smaller than the first angle. 
     These as well as other aspects, advantages, and alternatives will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reading the following detailed description with reference where appropriate to the accompanying drawings. Further, it should be understood that the description provided in this summary section and elsewhere in this document is intended to illustrate the claimed subject matter by way of example and not by way of limitation. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a side surface of an internal structure of an image forming apparatus that includes a manual paper feeder according to embodiments of the disclosure in a cross-sectional view. 
         FIG. 2  obliquely illustrates an inside state where a manual paper feeder according to a first embodiment of the disclosure is opened at a predetermined angle. 
         FIG. 3  obliquely illustrates an outside state where the manual paper feeder according to the first embodiment is opened at the predetermined angle. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a state in a side surface of a cross-sectional view where a first auxiliary tray and a second auxiliary tray are located at a first support position in the manual paper feeder according to the first embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates an enlarged abutting portion around and between the second auxiliary tray and a side surface cover in  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 6  obliquely illustrates a state where the second auxiliary tray is located at a second support position from a state illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 7  illustrates a state in a side surface of a cross-sectional view where the second auxiliary tray is located at the second support position from the state illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 8  illustrates an enlarged abutting portion around and between the first auxiliary tray and the side surface cover in  FIG. 7 . 
         FIG. 9  illustrates around an enlarged abutting portion of the side surface cover at the time when the first auxiliary tray, the second auxiliary tray, and a third auxiliary tray are located at the first support position in the manual paper feeder, which includes the first auxiliary tray, the second auxiliary tray, and the third auxiliary tray, according to the second embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 10  illustrates around an enlarged abutting portion of the side surface cover at the time when the second auxiliary tray and the third auxiliary tray are located at the second support position from a state illustrated in  FIG. 9 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Example apparatuses are described herein. Other example embodiments or features may further be utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented herein. In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof. 
     The example embodiments described herein are not meant to be limiting. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in the drawings, can be arranged, substituted, combined, separated, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated herein. 
     The following describes embodiments of the disclosure with reference to the drawings.  FIG. 1  illustrates a side surface in a cross-sectional view of an internal structure of an image forming apparatus  100  that includes a manual paper feeder  11  of the disclosure. In the image forming apparatus (for example, a monochrome printer)  100 , an image forming unit P is located. The image forming unit P forms a monochrome image through respective processes of charge, exposure, develop, and transfer. In the image forming unit P, along a rotation direction of a photoreceptor drum  5  (clockwise direction in  FIG. 1 ), a charging unit  4 , an exposure unit (for example, a laser scanning unit)  7 , a developer unit  8 , a transfer roller  14 , a cleaning device  19 , and a static eliminator (not illustrated) are located. 
     An image forming operation is performed as follows. The charging unit  4  evenly charges the photoreceptor drum  5 , which rotates in clockwise direction. A laser beam, which is based on document image data and from the exposure unit  7 , forms an electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor drum  5 . The developer unit  8  attaches developer (hereinafter referred to as toner) to the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image. 
     Toner is supplied from a toner container  9  to the developer unit  8 . Image data is transmitted from a personal computer (not illustrated) or similar apparatus. The static eliminator (not illustrated), which removes residual charge on the surface of the photoreceptor drum  5 , is located at a downstream of the cleaning device  19 . 
     As described above, toward the photoreceptor drum  5  where a toner image is formed, a paper sheet is conveyed from a sheet feed cassette  10  or the manual paper feeder  11  via a paper sheet conveyance passage  12  and a registration roller pair  13 . The transfer roller  14  (image transfer unit) transfers the toner image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor drum  5  on the paper sheet. The paper sheet, on which the toner image is transferred, is separated from the photoreceptor drum  5  and conveyed to a fixing unit  15 , and then the toner image is fixed on the paper sheet. The paper sheet having passed through the fixing unit  15  is conveyed by a paper sheet conveyance passage  16  to an upper portion of the image forming apparatus  100 . When the image is formed on only one surface of the paper sheet (for single-sided printing), a discharge roller pair  17  discharges the paper sheet to a discharge tray  18 . 
     On the other hand, when the images are formed on both surfaces of the paper sheet (for duplex printing), after a rear end of the paper sheet passes through a curving portion  20  of the paper sheet conveyance passage  16 , a conveyance direction of the paper sheet is reversed. This sends the paper sheet into an inverting conveyance path  21  branching from the curving portion  20 , and the paper sheet is conveyed again to the registration roller pair  13  in a state where a surface of the image is inverted. Then, the transfer roller  14  transfers a next toner image formed on the photoreceptor drum  5  on a surface of the paper sheet where any image is not formed. The paper sheet, on which the toner image has been transferred, is conveyed to the fixing unit  15  to fix the toner image and discharged by the discharge roller pair  17  to the discharge tray  18 . 
       FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3  obliquely illustrate an inside and an outside states where the manual paper feeder  11  according to the first embodiment of the disclosure is opened at a predetermined angle, respectively. The manual paper feeder  11  is constituted by a paper sheet stack unit  39   a,  a paper feeding unit, and a paper sheet detecting unit and similar units. The paper sheet stack unit  39   a  includes, for example, a side surface cover  30 , a paper sheet tray  31 , width adjustment guides  35 , a first auxiliary tray  37 , and a second auxiliary tray  38 . The paper sheet feeder includes a separation conveying unit  32  and a sheet feed clutch  49 , for example. The paper sheet detecting unit includes, for example, a bypass feed plate  40 . Manual paper feed paths are indicated by arrows in the drawings. 
     The side surface cover  30  is turnably supported by a side surface of the main body of the image forming apparatus  100 . The side surface cover  30  is selectively located at one of an open position and a close position. The open position is where the side surface cover  30  is opened at a predetermined angle from the side surface of the main body of the image forming apparatus  100 . The close position is where the side surface cover  30  is housed in a housing unit  80  (see  FIG. 1 ) formed at the side surface of the main body, and becomes a part of the main body. The paper sheet tray  31  (describe later) and the first auxiliary tray  37  individually slide with respect to a top surface of the side surface cover  30 . 
     The paper sheet tray  31  is connected to the main body of the image forming apparatus  100  by a link member (not illustrated). Specifically, one end portion and the other end portion of the link member are rotatably connected to the paper sheet tray  31  and the main body side surface of the image forming apparatus  100 , respectively, and an upstream-side end portion of the paper sheet tray  31  with respect to a paper feeding direction is engaged with a guide groove located at both ends in a width direction of the side surface cover  30 . This causes the paper sheet tray  31  to be slidable with respect to the side surface cover  30 . The paper sheet tray  31  accommodates a paper bundle, and a downstream-side end portion of the paper sheet tray  31  in a paper feeding direction is connected to an elevating plate  33 . Additionally, a pair of the width adjustment guides  35 , which is movable in a paper sheet width direction, is provided at the paper sheet tray  31 . A paper sheet detecting sensor (not illustrated), which is installed on the bypass feed plate  40 , detects a width of the paper sheet in the paper bundle stored on the paper sheet tray  31  and whether or not a paper sheet is on the paper sheet tray  31 . A paper sheet longitudinal size sensor (not illustrated), which is located at the paper sheet tray  31 , detects a longitudinal size of the paper bundle. A paper sheet width may be detected by a distance between the width adjustment guides  35 . 
     At an upstream-side end portion of the paper sheet tray  31  in the paper feeding direction, the first auxiliary tray  37  and the second auxiliary tray  38  are provided. The first auxiliary tray  37  includes a boss portion (not illustrated) engaged with a guide rail (not illustrated) located at a top surface of the side surface cover  30 . The first auxiliary tray  37  is slidable to the paper sheet tray  31  by a slide of a boss portion along a guide rail. Furthermore, at an upstream side of the guide rail in the paper feeding direction, an engaging hole (not illustrated), with which the boss portion can be engaged, is located. When the first auxiliary tray  37  is extracted to a position where the boss portion and the engaging hole are engaged, the first auxiliary tray  37  is secured to the paper sheet tray  31 . Thus, the first auxiliary tray  37  is selectively located at a house position or the first support position. The house position is where the first auxiliary tray  37  is overlapped with the paper sheet tray  31 . The first support position is where the first auxiliary tray  37  is extracted from the paper sheet tray  31  to support the paper bundle. 
     The second auxiliary tray  38  is slidably to the paper sheet tray  31  and the first auxiliary tray  37 . The second auxiliary tray  38  is selectively located at a house position, a first support position, or a second support position. The house position is where the second auxiliary tray  38  is overlapped with the paper sheet tray  31 . The first support position is where the second auxiliary tray  38  is extracted from the paper sheet tray  31  along with the first auxiliary tray  37  to support the paper bundle. The second support position is where the second auxiliary tray  38  is extracted from the first auxiliary tray  37  to support a large-size paper bundle. At the upstream-side end portion of the second auxiliary tray  38  in the paper feeding direction, an auxiliary plate  60  is turnably supported.  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3  illustrate a state where the first auxiliary tray  37  and the second auxiliary tray  38  are located at the first support position. 
     The following describes an up and down operation of the elevating plate  33  in detail. The paper sheet tray  31  pivotally supports the elevating plate  33  at an end portion side separated from the separation conveying unit  32 . A turn centered on this spindle causes the elevating plate  33  to be liftable. Unless from a cam  45  (describe later) and a cam actuator  47  provide the elevating plate  33  with an external force, the elevating plate  33  is in a state where the elevating plate  33  is moved down to an approximately identical position to a top surface of the paper sheet tray  31 . In this state, the paper bundle to be on the paper sheet tray  31  is supplemented and exchanged. 
     On the other hand, at a turn end portion of the elevating plate  33 , that is, near an end portion side that is close to the separation conveying unit  32 , the cam  45 , the cam actuator  47 , and a compression spring (not illustrated) are located. The cam  45  is rotated by a solenoid  43 . The cam actuator  47  is swung in a vertical direction by rotation of the cam  45 . The compression spring (not illustrated) is located between the elevating plate  33  and the side surface cover  30 , and biases the elevating plate  33  in an upward direction. The cam actuator  47  has a swing end located at a position where the elevating plate  33  can be depressed. When the cam  45  rotates in a predetermined direction by a predetermined amount, the cam actuator  47 , which depresses the elevating plate  33 , swings toward the upward direction by a predetermined amount, and the compression spring brings up a back surface of the elevating plate  33 . Consequently, the elevating plate  33  is located in a state where the most upper paper sheet among the paper bundle is brought into pressure contact with a paper feed roller  32   a.    
     Next, the following describes a paper feeding operation of the manual paper feeder  11 . When a user inputs a manual paper feed instruction into the manual paper feeder  11 , a control signal is transmitted from a control unit (not illustrated) in the image forming apparatus  100 . This causes the sheet feed clutch  49  to operate to cause the paper feed roller  32   a  to start rotating. Then, at a predetermined time point, the solenoid  43  operates to cause the cam  45  to rotate by a predetermined amount. This releases a depressing force that has been acting on the elevating plate  33  via the cam actuator  47 , the elevating plate  33  is pushed up by the biasing force of the compression spring, and the most upper paper sheet among the paper bundle is pushed against the paper feed roller  32   a.  This causes the paper feeding operation. 
     Then, at a nip area between the paper feed roller  32   a  and a separation pad  32   b,  only the most upper one paper sheet in contact with the paper feed roller  32   a  is separated, and conveyed to the paper sheet conveyance passage  16  (see  FIG. 1 ) in the image forming apparatus  100 . 
     An elevating plate position detection sensor  50  detects an operating state of the elevating plate  33 , and transmits the detection result to the control unit. Specifically, a reflective plate (not illustrated) is attached on a side surface of the cam  45  such that a light, which is irradiated from a light source (not illustrated), is reflected by the reflective plate to enter the elevating plate position detection sensor  50  when the elevating plate  33  is moved up to near the paper feed roller  32   a.  At this time, the elevating plate position detection sensor  50  transmits a detection signal to the control unit, and the control unit recognizes that the elevating plate  33  is moved up. 
     On the other hand, when the elevating plate  33  is moved down to a top surface of the paper sheet tray  31 , a position of the reflective plate is moved by rotation of the cam  45 , and then a light reflected by the reflective plate enters the elevating plate position detection sensor  50 . Thus, the elevating plate position detection sensor  50  does not transmit a detection signal, and the control unit recognizes that the elevating plate  33  has been moved down. As the elevating plate position detection sensor  50 , various kinds of light sensors such as a photodiode, a phototransistor, a photo IC may be used. Here, the above has described one example of how to detect a position of the elevating plate  33 . Another kind of sensors other than a light sensor may be used as the elevating plate position detection sensor  50 . 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a state in a side surface of a cross-sectional view where the first auxiliary tray  37  and the second auxiliary tray  38  are located at the first support position in the manual paper feeder  11  of the embodiment.  FIG. 5  illustrates an enlarged abutting portion around and between the second auxiliary tray  38  and the side surface cover  30  in  FIG. 4 . 
     When the manual paper feeder  11  feeds a paper sheet that has a small size (for example, A4 lateral size), as illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the first auxiliary tray  37  and the second auxiliary tray  38  are extracted from the paper sheet tray  31 , and located at the first support position. In this state, the second auxiliary tray  38  is overlapped with a back surface (the side surface cover  30  side) of the first auxiliary tray  37 , and as illustrated in  FIG. 5 , a distal end portion  30   a  of the side surface cover  30  is abutted on a back surface  38   a  of the second auxiliary tray  38 . 
     Thus, the side surface cover  30  supports the first auxiliary tray  37  and the second auxiliary tray  38  at a predetermined angle θ 1  that is an angle between the first auxiliary tray  37 , which is a paper sheet loading surface, and a horizontal surface (illustrated by dashed lines in the drawings). The predetermined angle θ 1  is one example of a first angle. 
       FIG. 6  obliquely illustrates a state where in the manual paper feeder  11  of the embodiment, the second auxiliary tray  38  is located at a second support position from the state illustrated in  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 7  illustrates a state in a side surface of a cross-sectional view where in the manual paper feeder  11  of the embodiment, the second auxiliary tray  38  is located at the second support position from the state illustrated in  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 8  illustrates an enlarged abutting portion around and between the first auxiliary tray  37  and the side surface cover  30  in  FIG. 7 . 
     When the manual paper feeder  11  feeds a large-size paper sheet (for example, A3 size), as illustrated in  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7 , the second auxiliary tray  38  is extracted further from the state illustrated in  FIG. 4 , and located at the second support position. The auxiliary plate  60 , which is housed to overlap with the second auxiliary tray  38 , is folded back on an opposite side from the second auxiliary tray  38  (upstream side in a paper feeding direction). At this time, this causes the second auxiliary tray  38 , which is located between the first auxiliary tray  37  and the side surface cover  30 , to be extracted upward. Consequently, as illustrated in  FIG. 8 , the distal end portion  30   a  of the side surface cover  30  is abutted on a back surface  37   a  of the first auxiliary tray  37 . 
     Thus, the side surface cover  30  supports the first auxiliary tray  37  and the second auxiliary tray  38  at a predetermined angle θ 2 , which is an angle between the first auxiliary tray  37 , which is the paper sheet loading surface, and the horizontal surface (illustrated by dashed lines in the drawings). The opening angle of the side surface cover  30  is not varied in the state illustrated in  FIG. 4  and a state illustrated in  FIG. 7 . Consequently, the abutting portion of the side surface cover  30  and the first auxiliary tray  37  illustrated in  FIG. 7  is lower than the abutting portion of the side surface cover  30  and the second auxiliary tray  38  illustrated in  FIG. 4 . Thus, the angle θ 2  becomes smaller than the angle θ 1 . The predetermined angle θ 2  is one example of a second angle. 
     According to the embodiment, when a paper sheet that has a small size is loaded, an angle of the first auxiliary tray  37  with respect to the horizontal surface increases. This prevents a paper sheet from retreating when a paper sheet with a lightweight and a small size is sent into a paper sheet feeder, thus ensuring reduction of non-feed of a paper sheet. 
     When a paper sheet with a large size is loaded, an angle of the first auxiliary tray  37  with respect to the horizontal surface decreases. This prevents a plurality of heavy paper sheets with a large size from being sent into the paper feed roller  32   a  at one time, thus ensuring reduction of multi feeding of paper sheets. That is, regardless of paper sheet size, this ensures a stable paper feeding operation without non-feeding and multi feeding. 
     The above has described the manual paper feeder  11  that includes the first auxiliary tray  37 , the second auxiliary tray  38 , and the paper sheet tray  31  that is extendable in two phases. However, the disclosure is similarly applicable to a manual paper feeder that includes three or more auxiliary trays, and is extendable in three phases or more. 
     The manual paper feeder  11  according to the second embodiment of the disclosure includes three auxiliary trays of the first auxiliary tray  37 , the second auxiliary tray  38 , and a third auxiliary tray  39 .  FIG. 9  illustrates around an enlarged abutting portion of the side surface cover  30  at the time when the first auxiliary tray  37 , the second auxiliary tray  38 , and the third auxiliary tray  39  are located at the first support position. When a paper sheet with a small size (for example, B5 size) is loaded on the manual paper feeder  11  of the embodiment, as illustrated in  FIG. 9 , the first auxiliary tray  37 , the second auxiliary tray  38 , and the third auxiliary tray  39  are located at the first support position. At the time, the distal end portion  30   a  of the side surface cover  30  is abutted on the third auxiliary tray  39 , and is supported at a predetermined angle θ 1  that is an angle between the first auxiliary tray  37 , which is the paper sheet loading surface, and the horizontal surface (illustrated by dashed lines in the drawings). 
     When a paper sheet with a middle size (for example, A4 size) is loaded on the manual paper feeder  11  of the embodiment, as illustrated in  FIG. 10 , the second auxiliary tray  38  and the third auxiliary tray  39  are extracted further from the state illustrated in  FIG. 9 , and then are located at the second support position. At the time, the distal end portion  30   a  of the side surface cover  30  is abutted on the first auxiliary tray  37 , and is supported at a predetermined angle θ 2  that is an angle between the first auxiliary tray  37 , which is the paper sheet loading surface, and the horizontal surface (illustrated by dashed lines in the drawings). The abutting portion of the distal end portion  30   a  of the side surface cover  30  and the first auxiliary tray  37  is lower than the abutting portion of the distal end portion  30   a  of the side surface cover  30  and the third auxiliary tray  39  illustrated in  FIG. 9 . Thus, the angle θ 2  becomes smaller than the angle the θ 1 . 
     When a large-size (for example, A3 size) paper sheet is loaded on the manual paper feeder  11  of the embodiment, the third auxiliary tray  39  is extracted further from the state illustrated in  FIG. 10 , and then is located at a third support position. At this time, the distal end portion  30   a  of the side surface cover  30  is abutted on the first auxiliary tray  37 , and the angle between the first auxiliary tray  37 , which is the paper sheet loading surface, and the horizontal surface (illustrated by dashed lines in the drawings) is maintained at θ 2  as illustrated in  FIG. 10 . 
     Consequently, similarly to the first embodiment, when a paper sheet with a lightweight and a small size is sent into the paper sheet feeder, a retreat of a paper sheet is reduced. This ensures reduction of non-feed of a paper sheet. Additionally, this reduces an occurrence of a phenomenon where a plurality of heavy paper sheets with a large size are sent into the paper feed roller  32   a  at one time. This ensures reduction of multi feeding of paper sheets. 
     The disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments and can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. While in the above-described embodiment, the paper feed roller  32   a  and the separation pad  32   b  constitute the separation conveying unit  32 , for example, a retard roller with a torque limiter may be located instead of the separation pad. 
     The disclosure is not limited to a monochrome printer illustrated in  FIG. 1 , and obviously applicable to another type of image forming apparatus such as a color printer, a monochrome and color copier, a digital multi-functional peripheral, and a facsimile device that include a manual paper feeder. 
     The disclosure is applicable to a manual paper feeder that feeds a sheet-shaped recording medium. Use of the disclosure ensures a provision of a manual paper feeder that ensures stable feed regardless of size of recording medium, and has a simple configuration and an image forming apparatus that includes the manual paper feeder. 
     While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.