Patent Publication Number: US-11650539-B2

Title: Image forming apparatus including a cabinet with a positioning part configured to form a space between a side plate having an exhaust port and the cabinet

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This patent application is based on and claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-224682, filed on Nov. 30, 2018 in the Japan Patent Office, the entire disclosures of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Technical Field 
     An aspect of the present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus. 
     Related Art 
     An image forming apparatus includes an exhaust port. 
     Specifically, the image forming apparatus includes a vertical exhaust duct serving as the exhaust port outside the image forming apparatus in a lateral direction of an apparatus body of the image forming apparatus. A printer is one example of the image forming apparatus. 
     SUMMARY 
     In an aspect of this disclosure, an image forming apparatus includes an image forming device configured to form an image on a sheet, and a cabinet configured to house the image forming device. The image forming device includes a side plate in which an exhaust port is formed, and the cabinet includes an outer side plate facing the side plate of the image forming device, and a positioning part configured to position the image forming device in the cabinet, the positioning part configured to form a space between the side plate of the image forming device and the outer side plate of the cabinet. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The aforementioned and other aspects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG.  1    is a front view of a cabinet according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure in which an interior of a cabinet is opened; 
         FIG.  2    is a front view of the cabinet in which the doors of the cabinet are closed in  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  3 A  is a top view of the cabinet illustrated in  FIG.  1   , and  FIG.  3 B  is a cross-sectional view of the cabinet along a line A-A in  FIG.  3 A ; 
         FIG.  4    is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the cabinet illustrated in  FIG.  1    along a line B-B in  FIG.  3 A ; 
         FIG.  5    is a side view of the cabinet in use in  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  6    is a front view of the cabinet illustrating a variation of the cabinet in  FIG.  1   ; and 
         FIG.  7 A  is a top view of the cabinet illustrated in  FIG.  6   , and  FIG.  7 B  is a cross-sectional view of the cabinet along a line C-C in  FIG.  7 A . 
     
    
    
     The accompanying drawings are intended to depict embodiments of the present disclosure and should not be interpreted to limit the scope thereof. The accompanying drawings are not to be considered as drawn to scale unless explicitly noted. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In describing embodiments illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology is employed for the sake of clarity. However, the disclosure of this patent specification is not intended to be limited to the specific terminology so selected and it is to be understood that each specific element includes all technical equivalents that have the same function, operate in a similar manner, and achieve similar results. 
     Although the embodiments are described with technical limitations with reference to the attached drawings, such description is not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure and all of the components or elements described in the embodiments of this disclosure are not necessarily indispensable. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure are described below with reference to the attached drawings. Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views thereof, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is described below. 
       FIG.  1    is a front view of a cabinet  1  in which doors of the cabinet  1  are opened to open an interior of the cabinet  1  according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure.  FIG.  2    is a front view of the cabinet  1  in which the doors of the cabinet  1  illustrated in  FIG.  1    are closed. 
     The cabinet  1  is an example of a cabinet-integrated-type image forming apparatus that houses an image forming device  100  that forms an image on a sheet. Thus, the cabinet  1  is one example of the image forming apparatus. An X-axis direction indicated by arrow “X” in  FIG.  1    is a width direction of the cabinet  1  and the image forming device  100 . A Y-axis direction is a height direction of the cabinet  1  and the image forming device  100 . A Z-axis direction is a depth direction of the cabinet  1  and the image forming device  100 . A size of the cabinet  1  is 900 mm in the X-axis direction and 450 mm in the Z-axis direction. A general cabinet to store things can be arranged in parallel with the cabinet  1  in which the image forming device  100  is hosed. 
     The cabinet  1  includes a top plate  200 , and a right door  10 R, a handle  11 R, the image forming device  100 , a control panel  4 , and a right upper space  300 R on a right-side in the X-axis direction of the cabinet  1 . The right door  10 R is an example of an inner opening-and-closing cover to open an inner space of the cabinet  1  on the right-side in the X-axis direciton. The handle  11 R is provided on the right door  10 R. The control panel  4  is disposed at substantially the same height with a height of the top plate  200  and receives an operational input to the image forming device  100 . The right upper space is a space formed between the top plate  200  and the image forming device  100 . 
     Thus, the control panel  4  receives an operational input to the image forming device  100 . The control panel  4  is disposed in a vicinity of the top plate  200  not overlapping with the opening  240 . 
     A top surface of the top plate  200  is made flat so that a thing can be placed on the top plate  200 , and the top plate  200  may be used as a work table. 
     The cabinet  1  further includes a left door  10 L, a handle  11 L, a shelf  16 , a scanner  2 , a document feeder  3 , and a left upper space  300 L on a left-side in the X-axis direciton of the cabinet  1 . The left door  10 L is an example of an inner opening-and-closing cover that opens the inner space of the cabinet  1 . The handle  11 L is provided on the left door  10 L. The scanner  2  is disposed above the shelf  16  and reads an image on a document and sends image information to the image forming device  100 . The document feeder  3  is disposed above the scanner  2 . The document feeder  3  conveys the document, reads the image on the document, and sends the image information to the image forming device  100 . The left upper space  300 L is a space formed between the top plate  200  and the document feeder  3 . Supplies such as toner and sheets may be placed in the left upper space  300 L. The top plate  200  has an opening  240  formed above the left upper space  300 L. 
     The cabinet  1  further includes a right side-plate  210 R and a left side-plate  210 L, a support plate  12 , a positioning part  14 , and a partition plate  310 . The right side-plate  210 R is arranged a right end, and the left side-plate  210 L is arranged at a left end in the X-axis direction of the cabinet  1 . The support plate  12  is an example of a support that supports the image forming device  100  and the shelf  16 . The positioning part  14  positions the image forming device  100  to the support plate  12  with a screw or the like. The partition plate  310  partitions the right upper space  300 R and the left upper space  300 L. The partition plate  310  includes opening in a front side and rear side in the Z-axis direction of the cabinet  1 . The right upper space  300 R and the left upper space  300 L communicate with each other through the opening in the partition plate  310 . 
     The image forming device  100  includes a front side-plate  110 F, a right side-plate  110 R, a left side-plate  110 L, a right exhaust port  120 R, a left exhaust port  120 L, an upper plate  110 U, an ejection unit  5 , and sheet feeders  9 A and  9 B. The front side-plate  110 F is disposed at a front end in the Z-axis direction of the image forming device  100  and is an example of an inner opening-and-closing cover to open an interior of the image forming device  100 . The right side-plate  110 R is disposed at right end and a left side-plate  110 L is disposed at a left end in the X-axis direction of the image forming device  100 . The right exhaust port  120 R is disposed on the right side-plate  110 R, and the left exhaust port  120 L is disposed on the right side-plate  110 R. The upper plate  110 U is disposed on an upper end in the Y-axis direction of the image forming device  100 . The ejection unit  5  is disposed above the upper plate  110 U and ejects the sheet on which an image is formed. Each of the sheet feeders  9 A and  9 B feeds sheets for image formation. 
     The ejection unit  5  is covered with the top plate  200  through the right upper space  300 R. The right upper space  300 R between the ejection unit  5  and the top plate  200  has a sufficient space to easily take out ejected sheets stacked on the ejection unit  5 . The sheet feeders  9 A and  9 B serve as sheet trays on which sheets are stacked. The sheet feeders  9 A and  9 B are pulled toward a front direction of the image forming device  100 , and at least a part of the sheet feeders  9 A and  9 B is of the image forming device  100  is drawn from an interior of the image forming device  100 . 
     The shelf  16  includes a middle side-plate  210 M disposed at a right end in the X-axis direction of the shelf  16 . The left end of the shelf  16  in the X-axis direction is attached to (contact with) the left side-plate  210 L of the cabinet  1 . The shelf  16  may accommodate supplies such as toner and sheets. 
     The image forming device  100  as described-above includes the right exhaust port  120 R on the right side-plate  110 R, and the left exhaust port  120 L on the left side-plate  110 L. When the image forming device  100  integrated with the cabinet  1  is directly installed in an office, other equipment and devices installed at a side of the image forming device may directly receive exhaust discharged from the image forming device  100 . Thus, the user of other equipment and devices may feel uncomfortable by the exhaust discharged from the image forming device  100 . 
     To prevent the above-described problems, an image forming device may include a jam processing space outside a printer (image forming device  100 ) and a vertical exhaust duct in the jam processing space. 
     However, the image forming device including the jam processing space and the vertical exhaust duct is a so-called custom-made product. Thus, a configuration of the image forming device including the jam processing space and the vertical exhaust duct may not be applied to the image forming device  100  including an exhaust port on the side plates (left side-plate  110 L and right side-plate  110 R) of the image forming device  100 . Thus, the above-described configuration of the image forming device including the jam processing space and the vertical exhaust duct may not solve a problem of utilizing the image forming device  100  that discharges exhaust from the side plates of the image forming device  100  during a desk work. 
     Further, a volume of the jam processing space of the image forming device that includes the vertical exhaust duct in the jam processing space has to be larger than a volume of a space necessary for jam processing. Thus, the image forming device including the jam processing space and the vertical exhaust duct may not effectively use the space in the image forming device. Further, the vertical exhaust duct is arranged vertically from a lower side to an upper side of the printer (image forming device). Thus, the vertical exhaust duct increase a number of parts of the image forming device compared to a configuration in which a duct is arranged in a horizontal direction (lateral direction) of the image forming device. 
     The cabinet  1  according to the present disclosure is made to solve the above-described problems. Thus, other equipment and devices installed on the side of the image forming device  100  do not directly receive the exhaust even when the image forming device  100  including an exhaust port on the side surface is installed next to the other equipment and devices. Thus, the user of other equipment and devices does not feel uncomfortable with the exhaust during the desk work in the cabinet  1  according to the present disclosure. 
     The right side-plate  210 R (outer side plate) of the cabinet  1  faces the right side-plate  110 R and the right exhaust port  120 R of the image forming device  100 . Further, the positioning part  14  positions the image forming device  100  in the cabinet  1  to the support plate  12  so that a space is formed between the right side-plate  110 R of the image forming device  100  and the right side-plate  210 R of the cabinet  1 . 
     The positioning part  14  prevents the exhaust discharged from the right exhaust port  120 R to be directly discharged outside the cabinet  1 . Thus, other equipment and devices installed on the side of the cabinet  1  do not directly receive the exhaust discharged from the image forming device  100 . Thus, it becomes easier to install other equipment and devices on the side of the image forming device  100  and the cabinet  1 . 
     Further, the cabinet  1  covers (houses) the image forming device  100  so that the cabinet  1  can reduce joints of an exterior of an image forming apparatus and improve design aesthetics of image forming device  100 . The cabinet  1  can reduce noise so that the user during the desk work may not feel uncomfortable even if the image forming device  100  and the cabinet  1  are placed near the user during the desk work. Thus, the cabinet  1  according to the present disclosure enables comfortable desk work while fully using the image forming device  100  including the exhaust port on the side surface. 
     A middle side-plate  210 M of the shelf  16  faces the left side-plate  110 L and the left exhaust port  120 L of the image forming device  100 . The positioning part  14  positions the image forming device  100  to the support plate  12  to form a space between the left side-plate  110 L and the middle side-plate  210 M. 
     The right side-plate  210 R of the cabinet  1  does not include an exhaust port. The opening  240  formed on a left side of the top plate  200  communicates with the space between the right side-plate  110 R of the image forming device  100  and the right side-plate  210 R of the cabinet  1 . 
     Specifically, in a state in which the right door  10 R and the left door  10 L are closed, the exhaust discharged from the right exhaust port  120 R passes through a space between the right side-plate  110 R and the right side-plate  210 R, a space between an upper plate  100 U and the top plate  200 , an opening in a partition plate  310 , and is discharged outside the cabinet  1  from the opening  240  of the top plate  200  by natural convection. The exhaust discharged from the left exhaust port  120 L passes through the space between the left side-plate  110 L and the middle side-plate  210 M, reaches to the opening  240 , and is discharged outside the cabinet  1  by the natural convection. The upper plate  100 U configures a top surface of the image forming device  100 . 
     Thus, the heat in the image forming device  100  is discharged from the opening  240 . Therefore, the cabinet  1  can reduce an increase in a temperature in the space between the image forming device  100  and the cabinet  1  while making it easier to install other equipment and devices on the sides of the image forming device  100  and the cabinet  1 . 
     The control panel  4  is disposed on a right side of the top plate  200  and is arranged not to overlap the opening  240  disposed left side of the top plate  200 . Thus, the exhaust is not directly discharged to the user operating the control panel  4 . 
     Even when the right door  10 R and the left door  10 L are opened, the image forming device  100  can form an image on a sheet and discharge the sheet on which the image is formed to the ejection unit  5 . Thus, the cabinet  1  can prevent the image forming device  100  from stopping image forming process every time the right door  10 R or the left door  10 L is opened. Thus, the cabinet  1  can prevent deterioration of workability such as supplying the sheet to the image forming device  100 . 
     Thus, the image forming device  100  is operable in a state in which the opening-and-closing cover (at least one of the right door  10 R and the left door  10 L) is opened. 
     Even when the image forming device  100  is in printing (image forming process), the user can open the right door  10 R and the left door  10 L to replenish or remove stored items such as toner and supplies stored in the shelf  16 . 
     Conversely, the image forming device  100  does not (stops to) form an image on the sheet when the front side-plate  110 F is opened. Thus, the image forming device can ensure safety. The front side-plate  110 F is an example of the inner opening and closing cover to open and close an inner space of the image forming device  100 . 
     Thus, the image forming device  100  includes an inner opening-and-closing cover (front side-plate  110 F) to open and close an inner space of the image forming device  100 , and the image forming device  100  stops forming an image on a sheet when the inner opening-and-closing cover (front side-plate  110 F) is opened. 
       FIG.  3 A  is a top view of the cabinet  1  illustrated in  FIG.  1   , and  FIG.  3 B  is a cross-sectional view of the cabinet along a line A-A in  FIG.  3 A . 
     The image forming device  100  includes feeding rollers  71 A and  71 B, a conveyance path  70 , a registration roller  72 , image forming unit  73 , an intermediate transfer belt  74 B, a transfer unit  74 , a fixing unit  76 , and an ejection roller  78 . The feeding rollers  71 A and  71 B feed sheets from the sheet feeders  9 A and  9 B. The conveyance path  70  conveys the sheets. The registration roller  72  adjusts timing of conveyance of the sheet fed from the feeding rollers  71 A and  71 B. 
     The image forming unit  73  forms an image of each color of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow on the sheet. The intermediate transfer belt  74 B intermediately transfers an image of each color formed by the image forming unit  73 . The transfer unit  74  secondary-transfers the image intermediately transferred to the sheet conveyed through the conveyance path  70 . The fixing unit  76  fixes the secondary-transferred image on the sheet. The ejection roller  78  ejects the sheet, on which the image is formed, in a depth direction in the Z-axis direction to the ejection unit  5 . 
     In the above-described embodiment, the image forming device  100  of a so-called full-color electrophotographic system illustrated in  FIG.  3    has been described as an example of the image forming device  100 . Note that the system of the image forming device is not limited to such a full-color electrophotographic system. For example, the image forming device  100  may be a monochrome electrophotographic type to form a monochrome image on the sheet using only black toner. Alternatively, the image forming device  100  may be an inkjet type image forming apparatus in which an inkjet head forms an image on a sheet conveyed from each of the sheet feeders  9 A and  9 B. 
       FIG.  4    is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the cabinet  1  illustrated in  FIG.  1    along a line B-B in  FIG.  3 A . A cross-section of the cabinet  1  along the line B-B corresponds to the opening  240  in the partition plate  310 . The partition plate  310  is illustrated in  FIG.  1   . 
     A right fan  124 R is disposed inside the right side-plate  110 R of the image forming device  100 . A right louver  122 R is provided at the right exhaust port  120 R of the right side-plate  110 R. Further, a left fan  124 L is disposed inside the left side-plate  110 L of the image forming device  100 . A left louver  122 L is provided at the left exhaust port  120 L of the left side-plate  110 L. 
     The right fan  124 R and the left fan  124 L discharges heat generated by the fixing unit  76  and the like from the right exhaust port  120 R and the left exhaust port  120 L. 
     The exhaust discharged from the right exhaust port  120 R passes through the space between the right side-plate  110 R and the right side-plate  210 R, passes through the space between the upper plate  100 U of the image forming device  100  and the top plate  200  of the cabinet  1 , reaches to the opening  240  of the partition plate  310 , and is discharged outside the cabinet  1  by the natural convection. 
     Specifically, an internal temperature in the image forming device  100  increases due to heat generated by the fixing unit  76  and the like when the image forming device  100  is operated. Since the exhaust discharged from the right exhaust port  120 R is higher than the temperature inside the cabinet  1  (and outside the image forming device  100 ) as well as the outside of the cabinet  1 , the exhaust travels upward through the space between the right side-plate  110 R and the right side-plate  210 R by natural convection. 
     The exhaust discharged from the left exhaust port  120 L passes through the space between the left side-plate  110 L and the middle side-plate  210 M, reaches to the opening  240 , and is discharged outside the cabinet  1  by the natural convection in the same manner as the exhaust discharged from the right exhaust port  120 R outside the cabinet  1 . 
     Here, a gap Gu between the upper plate  100 U (upper surface) of the image forming device  100  and the top plate  200  of the cabinet  1  is larger than each of a gap GR between the right side-plate  110 R and the right side-plate  210 R and a gap GL between the left side-plate  110 L and the middle side-plate  210 M. 
     Thus, even if the sheets ejected on the upper plate  100 U of the image forming device  100  are stacked, a large space can be secured between the upper plate  100 U and the top plate  200 . Thus, the heat in the image forming device  100  can be effectively discharged from the opening  240 . 
       FIG.  5    is a side view of the cabinet  1  in use in  FIG.  1   . The image forming device  100  includes, on the right side-plate  110 R, a manual sheet tray  9 C that feeds a sheet for image formation.  FIG.  5    illustrates a usage condition in which the image forming device  100  is drawn from the cabinet  1  in order to use the manual sheet tray  9 C. In order to pull out the image forming device  100 , the right door  10 R and the left door  10 L are opened. The right door  10 R is illustrated in  FIGS.  1  and  2   . 
     The support plate  12  includes a pair of guide rails  12 R provided on the support plate  12  and a support plate  12 B provided on the pair of guide rails  12 R. The support plate  12 B supports the image forming device  100 , and the support plate  12 B and the pair of guide rails  12 R can be drawn from the cabinet  1  so that the image forming device  100  on the support plate  12 B can be pulled out of (drawable from) the cabinet  1 . The positioning part  14  positions the image forming device  100  on the support plate  12 B so that the image forming device  100  is positioned on the support plate  12  in the X-axis direction. The image forming device  100  and the scanner  2  and the like are electrically connected to the cabinet  1  by wiring  102 . Thus, the electrical connection is maintained even if the image forming device  100  is drawn from the cabinet  1  as illustrated in  FIG.  5   . Thus, the image forming device  100  can form an image on a sheet using the manual sheet tray  9 C. The support plate  12 B has an enough length to support the image forming device  100  in the X-axis direction. 
     Thus, the image forming device  100  is electrically connected to the cabinet  1  in a state in which the support (support plate  12 B) is drawn from the inner space of the cabinet  1  outside the cabinet  1 . 
     The support plate  12 B can move forward in the Z-axis direction (leftward in  FIG.  5   ), and can be drawn from the internal space to an external space of the cabinet  1 . Therefore, the image forming device  100  positioned by the support plate  12 B can also be drawn from the internal space to the external space of the cabinet  1 . Thus, the manual sheet tray  9 C can be drawn from the cabinet  1 , and a workability of paper feeding from the manual sheet tray  9 C is improved. 
     The image forming device  100  can form an image on a sheet and eject the sheet on which the image is formed even when the support plate  12 B is drawn from the cabinet  1 . Thus, the image forming device  100  does not stop image formation when the support plate  12 B is drawn from the cabinet  1 . Thus, the cabinet  1  can prevent decrease in a workability of paper feeding from the manual sheet tray  9 C and the like. 
       FIG.  6    is a front view of the cabinet  1  illustrating a variation of the cabinet  1  in  FIG.  1   . 
     The cabinet  1  in  FIG.  6    is different from the cabinet in  FIG.  1    such that the cabinet  1  in  FIG.  6    includes a left upper space  300 L that is a space formed by the image forming device  100 , the control panel  4 , the top plate  200 , and the left side-plate  210 L on a left side in the X-axis direction of the cabinet  1 . 
     Unlike the cabinet  1  illustrated in  FIG.  1   , the cabinet  1  in  FIG.  6    includes a shelf  16 , a scanner  2  disposed above the shelf  16 , a document feeder  3  disposed above the scanner  2 , a right upper space  300 R that is a space formed between the top plate  200  and the document feeder  3  on a right side of the cabinet  1  in the X-axis direction. The opening  240  is formed in the top plate  200  above the right upper space  300 R. 
     A conveyance path  70  of the image forming device  100  is indicated by a dotted line in  FIG.  6   . Unlike the cabinet  1  in  FIG.  1   , the cabinet  1  in  FIG.  6    ejects the sheet, onto which the image is formed, leftward in the X-axis direction. 
       FIG.  7 A  is a top view of the cabinet  1  in  FIG.  6   .  FIG.  7 B  is a cross-sectional side view of the cabinet  1  along a line C-C in  FIG.  7 A . 
     The cabinet  1  includes a rear side-plate  210 E disposed at a rear end in the Z-axis direction. The image forming device  100  includes a rear side-plate  110 E disposed at the rear end in the Z-axis direction and a rear exhaust port  120 E disposed in the rear side-plate  110 E. 
     The image forming device  100  includes a rear fan  124 E inside the rear side-plate  110 E and a rear louver  122 E in the rear exhaust port  120 E. The rear fan  124 E discharges the heat generated by the fixing unit  76  and the like from the rear exhaust port  120 E. 
     The rear side-plate  210 E (outer side-plate) of the cabinet  1  faces the rear side-plate  110 E and the rear exhaust port  120 E of the image forming device  100 . Further, the positioning part  14  positions the image forming device  100  to the support plate  12  so that a space is formed between the rear side-plate  110 E of the image forming device  100  and the rear side-plate  210 E of the cabinet  1 . 
     The positioning part  14  prevents the exhaust discharged from the rear exhaust port  120 E to be directly discharged outside the cabinet  1 . Thus, other equipment and devices installed on the rear side of the cabinet  1  do not directly receive the exhaust discharged from the image forming device  100 . Thus, it becomes easier to install other equipment and devices on the rear side of the image forming device  100  and the cabinet  1 . 
     The exhaust discharged from the rear exhaust port  120 E passes through the space between the rear side-plate  110 E and the rear side-plate  210 E, passes through the space between the upper plate  100 U of the image forming device  100  and the top plate  200  of the cabinet  1 , reaches to the opening  240 , and is discharged outside the cabinet  1  by the natural convection. 
     Here, a gap Gu between the upper plate  100 U of the image forming device  100  and the top plate  200  of the cabinet  1  is larger than a gap Ge between the rear side-plate  110 E and the rear side-plate  210 E. 
     Thus, even if the sheets ejected on the upper plate  100 U of the image forming device  100  are stacked, a large space can be secured between the upper plate  100 U and the top plate  200 . Thus, the heat in the image forming device  100  can be effectively discharged from the opening  240 . 
     The above-described embodiments describes the cabinet  1  that houses an image forming device  100  that forms an image on a sheet. However, the image forming device  100  that forms an image on a sheet may be referred to as an apparatus body, and the cabinet  1  may be referred to as an image forming apparatus. 
     Numerous additional modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the above teachings, the present disclosure may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. With some embodiments having thus been described, it is obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the scope of the present disclosure and appended claims, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure and appended claims.