Patent Grant
11868074
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, such as a copier, a printer, a fax machine, and a multifunction printer with these plurality of functions, which include a plurality of electrical components.
Conventionally, in large image forming apparatuses, there are image forming apparatuses, which are constituted so that the image forming apparatuses are divided into separate units for each image forming process and provided in separate casings, and the respective casings are connected, in consideration of easiness of transportation and maintainability during installation. For example, an image forming apparatus is separately constituted of a first casing which is provided with a developing unit which forms toner image on an image bearing member and a transfer unit which transfers the toner image on the image bearing member to a recording material, and a second casing which is provided with a fixing unit which fixes the unfixed toner image on the recording material. And a single image forming apparatus, which is formed by installing the first casing and the second casing at a site where they are connected each other and installed, has been known (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application (JP-A) 2011-107221). By separating the casings of the image forming apparatus for each image forming process in this way, it is possible to significantly remedy difficulties of transportation and carrying it into an elevator due to its large weight and size when the image forming apparatus is installed and carried.
As for this type of image forming apparatuses, a plurality of models of the apparatuses are existing so that, for example, different types of units are provided according to required specifications such as printing speed and type of recording material which is possible to print, depending on the models. For example, suppose that the second casing of a second image forming apparatus, which is different from a first image forming apparatus, is provided with a fixing device which applies a greater amount of heat to the recording material than a fixing device of the first image forming apparatus. In this case, the second image forming apparatus is possible to fix a toner image on a recording material with a large basis weight which is not possible to print with the first image forming apparatus due to insufficient heat. In recent years, there is a demand for products which are possible to selectively connect each of casings and corresponding to high-mix, small-lot production, in different image forming apparatuses according to required specifications.
However, in an image forming apparatus which is described in JP-A 2011-107221, for example, heights at which the recording material is fed between the first casing and the second casing may be different between the first image forming apparatus and the second image forming apparatus. In this case, a height of the recording material which is discharged from the first casing of the first image forming apparatus and a height of the recording material which is received by the second casing of the second image forming apparatus are misaligned in a vertical direction, so it is not possible to connect them as they are.
An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus which is possible to feed the recording material by connecting both of casings, in an image forming apparatus which includes two casings whose heights at which the recording material is fed are different.
An image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material, the image forming apparatus comprising: a first casing including a transfer unit constituted to transfer a toner image formed on an image bearing member to the recording material and a first discharging port constituted to discharge the recording material, on which the toner image is formed by the transfer unit, from the first casing; a second casing including a first receiving port constituted to receive the recording material on which the toner image is formed by the transfer unit and a fixing unit constituted to fix the toner image onto the recording material, a height from an installing surface on which the image forming apparatus is installed to the first receiving port in a vertical direction being different from a height from the installing surface to the first discharging port in the vertical direction; and a third casing provided between the first casing and the second casing, and including a second receiving port constituted to receive the recording material discharged from the first discharging port, a second discharging port constituted to discharge the recording material from the third casing and to deliver the recording material received from the second receiving port to the first receiving port, and an intermediary feeding member provided obliquely in the vertical direction from the second receiving port to the second discharging port.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
Parts (a) and (b) of
Part (a) of
Parts (a) and (b) of
In the following, a first embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to
[Image Forming Apparatus]
First of all, in a first image forming apparatus 100 of a general constitution which is shown in
The first casing 10 and the second casing 20 store each of mechanisms for constituting an engine portion, and an unshown control board accommodating portion which accommodates an engine control portion which controls each of image forming process treatments by each of the mechanisms and a printer controller. As for each of the mechanisms which constitute the engine portion, an electrostatic latent image forming mechanism which forms an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive drum 105 by scanning of laser light and executes the exposing process, and a developing mechanism which develops the electrostatic latent image as a toner image and executes the developing process, are provided. Further, a transfer treatment mechanism which executes the transfer process which multiply transfers the toner image to an intermediary transfer member 106 and furthermore transfers the multiply transferred color image to the sheet S, and a fixing treatment mechanism which executes the fixing process which fixes the transferred toner image on the sheet S, are provided. Furthermore, a feeding treatment mechanism of the sheet S is provided. Here, the electrostatic latent image forming mechanism, the developing mechanism, and the transfer treatment mechanism are mounted in the first casing 10, while the fixing treatment mechanism is mounted in the second casing 20. The feeding treatment mechanism is mounted in both the first casing 10 and the second casing 20.
[Exposing Process]
A laser scanner portion 107 as an electrostatic latent image forming mechanism includes a laser driver which turns on and off the laser light which is emitted from an unshown semiconductor laser according to image data which is supplied from the unshown printer controller. The laser light which is emitted from the semiconductor laser is reflected in a scanning direction by a rotatable polygon mirror. Here, the laser light which is reflected in a main scanning direction is led to the photosensitive drum 105 via an unshown reflecting mirror, and is exposed on the photosensitive drum 105 in the main scanning direction.
[Developing Process]
On the other hand, the electrostatic latent image which is charged with a primary charging device 111 and formed on the photosensitive drum 105 by the scanning exposure with the laser light, is developed into a toner image by toner which is supplied from a developing device 112 as the developing mechanism. And the developed toner image on the photosensitive drum 105 is transferred (primary transferred) onto the intermediary transfer member 106 to which a voltage with an opposite polarity of the toner image is applied. During forming the color image, each color is sequentially transferred from Y (yellow) station PY, M (magenta) station PM, C (cyan) station PC, and K (black) station PK to the intermediary transfer member 10. As a result, the full color toner image is formed on the intermediary transfer member 106. Incidentally, the photosensitive drum 105 and the developing device 112 are dismountable.
[Transfer Process]
Next, the sheet S which is supplied from a cassette 113 of the sheet S is fed. A transfer unit 108, which is a transfer treatment mechanism, includes the intermediary transfer member 106 which is an example of an image bearing member, a transfer roller 114, etc. The transfer roller 114 presses the sheet S onto the intermediary transfer member 106. At a same time, by applying a bias of an opposite polarity to the toner to the transfer roller 114, the toner image which formed on the intermediary transfer member 106 is transferred to the sheet S, which is fed synchronously in a sub scanning direction by a feeding mechanism (secondary transfer).
The sheet S, on which the toner image is transferred, is fed to the fixing treatment mechanism by a sheet feeding portion 51 as a feeding treatment mechanism. The sheet feeding portion 51 includes a driving roller 45, a driven roller 41, and a belt 46 which are stretched over these rollers. The belt 46 is a suction belt which sucks air from a back side, and the sheet S, on which an unfixed toner image is transferred, is absorbed to the belt 46 and fed.
The first casing 10 includes a frame 11 which supports the electrostatic latent image forming mechanism, the developing mechanism, the transfer treatment mechanism, and the feeding treatment mechanism, which are described above. The first casing 10 includes the frame 11 which serves as its framework, a cassette 113 which accommodates the sheet S, an image reading device 90, a device operation panel 80, and an unshown outer cover, etc. Incidentally, the first casing 10 includes a reverse feeding passage 55 as a second reverse feeding passage which feeds the sheet S which is received from the second casing 20 toward the transfer unit 108.
[Fixing Process]
The fixing treatment mechanism includes a fixing device 150 which fixes the toner image which is transferred onto the sheet S by heat pressure. The fixing device 150 includes the fixing roller 151 which applies heat to the sheet S and a pressing roller 152 which presses the sheet S against the fixing roller 151, and is constituted to feed the sheet S at a same time when they are rotationally driven.
In a case that image forming is done on only one side of the sheet S, the sheet S is fed from the feeding passage 130 to a discharging path 131, and then stacked on a tray 140. On the other hand, in a case that image forming is done on a back side of the sheet S, the sheet S is guided by a switching device 132 to the feeding passage 135, and a leading edge of the sheet S is replaced by being switched back in a reverse passage 136, after a position of the sheet S is detected by a reverse sensor. A transfer material in which its leading edge is replaced passes through a reverse path 138, is fed again to the transfer roller 114, and the toner image is transferred onto the back side, and then after the image forming process which is described above, it passes through the discharging path 131 and is stacked on the tray 140. In the embodiment, a reverse portion 53 is constituted of the feeding passage 135, the reverse passage 136, and the reverse path 138. That is, the second casing 20 includes the reverse portion 53 which is an example of a first reverse feeding passage which feeds the reversed sheet S toward the first casing 10 side, in order to transfer onto a second surface of the sheet S where the toner image is fixed onto a first surface.
[Rearrangement of the Second Casing]
Here, by using
The fixing device 250 of the second casing 120 includes a fixing roller 251 and a fixing belt 252 which are an example of a pair of rotating members which form a fixing nip portion 254, and it is possible to shorten a time required for a fixing temperature to achieve a target temperature. The fixing roller 251 and the fixing belt 252 form the fixing nip portion 254. The fixing device 250 includes a guide portion 253 which guides a lower surface of the sheet S which is fed from the first casing 10, to the fixing nip portion 254. Incidentally, detailed descriptions of the fixing device 250 are omitted since it is possible to apply it in same way as existing fixing devices.
Further, the second casing 120 includes a cooling device 260 which cools the sheet S after fixing, in a downstream of the fixing device 250. Thus, by connecting the second casing 120 to the first casing 10 which described above, a user is able to shorten a time to make copies and it is also possible to prevent the sheet S from being adhered each other due to heat when it is stacked after fixing.
As for the cooling device 260, for example, as shown in
The sheet S, on which the toner image is fixed, is nipped between the first belt 263 and the second belt 265 and is fed in a sheet feeding direction D1 according to rotation of these belts. The first belt 263, of which the cooling nip portion is formed, is cooled by the heat sink 264. The heat sink 264 is made of, for example, aluminum and includes a heat absorption portion 264a as a cooling surface which cools it by contacting the first belt 263, a heat radiating portion 264b which radiates heat, and a fin base 264c which conducts heat from the heat absorption portion 264a to the radiating portion 264b. The heat radiating portion 264b is formed by a number of heat radiating fins in order to promote efficient heat radiation by increasing a contact area with air which is taken from outside by the cooling fan 266.
Here, it is preferable that the second casing 120 is able to be connected to the first casing 10, since it is possible to use the second casing 120 whose function is different from the second casing 20. However, as shown in
In the following, the image forming apparatus 1 in the embodiment will be described by using
[First Casing]
The first casing 10 includes a transfer unit 108 which transfers the toner image formed on the intermediary transfer member 106 to the sheet S, and a discharging port 10a as a first discharging port which discharge the sheet S after transferring. The first casing 10 includes a belt 46 which is an example of a discharging belt which protrudes from the discharging port 10a, and enters a receiving port 30a of the third casing 30 as a second receiving port which will be described below. Further, the first casing 10 includes a reverse receiving port 10b as a first reverse receiving port which receives the sheet S which is received from the second casing 120, and a reverse feeding passage 55 which feeds the sheet S which is received from the reverse receiving port 10b toward the transfer unit 108.
[Second Casing]
The second casing 120 includes a receiving port 120a which is provided at a different height from a mounting surface than the discharging port 10a and is a first receiving port which receives the sheet S, and a fixing device 250 which fixes the toner image to the sheet S which is received from the receiving port 120a. Further, the second casing 120 includes a reverse discharging port 120b as a first reverse discharging port in which the sheet S fed from the reverse portion 53 is discharged from the second casing 120 at an end portion on a side of the third casing 30 in the reverse path 1138 of the reverse portion 53.
[Third Casing]
The third casing 30 includes a feeding portion 52 in which the sheet S is fed from the first casing 10 to the second casing 120, and a reverse feeding unit 54 which returns the sheet S, which is reversed by the reverse portion 53 of the second casing 120, to the first casing 10. The third casing 30 will be described in detail by using
[Frame of Casing]
As shown in
The reverse feeding unit 54 is arranged below the feeding portion 52. The connecting portion 22 of the reverse feeding unit 54 is connected to the middle front stay 18, and an unshown supporting shaft which is protruded toward the rear side plate 15 of the reverse feeding unit 54 is engaged with the rear side plate 15. On a bottom surface of the bottom plate frame 14, casters 21 are arranged at four corners. The third casing 30 is possible to move when the casters 21 are attached. Incidentally, the first casing 10 and the second casing 120 are also provided with the casters 21 and are possible to move (see
The third casing 30 includes the receiving port 30a which receives the sheet S from the discharging port 10a (see
The feeding portion 52 includes a driving roller 42, a driven roller 43, and a belt 47 as a feeding belt which is stretched over the driving roller 42 and the driven roller 43. The belt 47 is a suction belt which sucks air from a back side, and the sheet S, on which an unfixed toner image is transferred, is absorbed to the belt 47 and fed. An upper end of the driven roller 43 which is an example of a second end portion of the feeding portion 52 in the second casing 120 side, is provided by protruding from the discharging port 30b and entering into the receiving port 120a. That is, an end portion of the belt 47 in a downstream side with respect to a sheet feeding direction of a feeding surface, enters into the receiving port 120a of the second casing 120.
The reverse feeding unit 54 is an example of a third reverse feeding passage which delivers the sheet S which is received from the reverse portion 53 of the second casing 120, to the reverse feeding passage 55. The third casing 30 includes the reverse receiving port 30c as a second reverse receiving port which receives the sheet S which is discharged from the reverse discharging port 120b, and a reverse discharging port 30d as a second reverse discharging port which delivers the sheet S which is received from the reverse receiving port 30c to the reverse receiving port 10b. The reverse feeding unit 54 feeds the sheet S from the reverse receiving port 30c to the reverse discharge port 30d.
[Sheet Delivery]
As shown in
Height positions of the driving roller 42 in an upstream side and the driven roller 43 in a downstream side with respect to the sheet feeding direction of the feeding portion 52 will be described by using
When the driven roller 41 is lower than the driving roller 42, the sheet S is abutted with the driving roller 42, and the sheet S may be damaged or jammed. On the other hand, when the driven roller 41 is too higher than the driving roller 42, it is difficult to deliver the sheet S which is curled in a downward direction. There is an appropriate range for a difference in the height direction between the driven roller 41 and the driving roller 42, and in the embodiment, an acceptable tolerance range is, for example, up to ±3.0 mm for a design value (for example, 3 mm).
Next, a position with respect to a height of the driven roller 43 in a downstream side of the feed portion 52 will be described. An unfixed toner image is transferred to the sheet S which is delivered from the feeding portion 52 to the guide portion 253, so roller pairs may not be used. Therefore, when the sheet S is delivered to the fixing nip portion 254, as for a relationship between a height of the driven roller 43 of the feeding portion 52 and a height of the guide portion 253 of the fixing device 250, the upper end of the driven roller 43 is arranged higher than the end portion of the guide portion 253 in the third casing 30 side. That is, the end portion of the guide portion 253 in an upstream side with respect to a feeding direction is arranged at lower position than the end portion of the belt 47 of the feeding portion 52 in the downstream side with respect to the feeding direction of the sheet feeding surface. Further, in order to do so, the sheet feeding portion 52 protrudes from the discharging port 30b and is arranged so as to enter the receiving port 120a. In this way, it is possible to feed the sheet S smoothly, on which an unfixed image is transferred, from the third casing 30 to the second casing 120.
The guide portion 253 is provided with a guide function to stably guide a leading edge of the sheet S to the fixing nip portion 254. When a height of the leading edge of the sheet S is too high, the sheet S is not guided to the fixing nip portion 254, so wrinkles may occur on sheet S or an unfixed image may scatter and stain the sheet S. Further, when the height of the leading edge of the sheet S is too low, the leading edge of the sheet S is abutted with the guide portion 253, and the sheet S may be damaged or jammed. There is an appropriate range for a difference in the height direction between the driven roller 43 and the guide portion 253, and in the embodiment, an acceptable tolerance range is, for example, up to ±0.7 mm for a design value (for example, 3 mm).
As described above for delivery portions, high position accuracies are required for entrance positions of each other. In particular, high position accuracies for heights of the second casing 120 which includes the guide portion 253 which guides the sheet S to the fixing nip portion 254 and the third casing 30 which includes the feeding portion 52, are required.
[Connecting Casings and Adjustment of Height]
Constitutions of connecting the casings to each other, will be described by using from
Incidentally, in the image forming apparatus 1 of the embodiment, the third casing 30 is designed to adjust a gap between the first casing 10 and the second casing 120 in an up-and-down direction, and does not include an adjustment unit for a front-and-back direction. This is because the fixing device 250 is formed slightly wider than the sheet S after transfer, and it does not require much adjustment as in the up-and-down direction. However, in some cases, it may include the adjustment unit which adjusts positions in the front-back direction.
Here, a reason why the coupling hole 301a and the coupling hole 301b are long holes whose longitudinal directions are the height direction. The first casing 10 is relatively heavier than the third casing 30 and the second casing 120. Specifically, a total weight of the first casing 10 is for example 700 kg, a weight of the third casing 30 is for example 55 kg, and a weight of the second casing 120 is for example 200 kg. When the casings are constituted separately according to imaging processes, there are differences in total weights of the casings and functional component ports which are connected to the casings, and the weights of the casings may cause the casings to sink to an underside D on the mounting floor. In the embodiment, the first casing 10 is more likely to sink deeper than the third casing 30 and the second casing 120. Thus, when the coupling hole 301a and the coupling hole 301b are designed to be long holes whose longitudinal directions are the height direction, it is possible to connect the casings each other while the positioning shaft 19a and the positioning shaft 19b are not interfered with the support 302a and the support 302b of the first casing 10.
Next, a constitution for adjusting a height of a sheet delivering portion of the first casing 10 and the third casing 30 will be described. Adjustments of the first casing 10, the third casing 30 and the second casing 120 in a height direction are carried out by the casters 21 which are examples of a first adjustment unit or a second adjustment unit. Incidentally, in the embodiment, casters 21, which are provided at a bottom portion of the first casing 10 and capable of adjusting a mounting height of the first casing 10, are defined as the first adjustment unit. Further, casters 21, which are provided at bottom portions of the second casing 10 and the third casing 30 and capable of adjusting mounting heights of the second casing 120 and the third casing 30, are defined as the second adjustment unit.
Here, a constitution of the casters 21 will be described by using
In a case that the caster 21 is adjusted in the height direction, when the nut 21e is loosen and rotated in a clockwise direction, the wheel 21a approaches the pedestal portion 21c by moving the screw portion 21f and the screw portion 21g relatively with respect to the bottom plate frame 14. That is, the third casing 30 is relatively lower than the first casing 10. On the other hand, when the nut 21e is rotated in a counterclockwise direction, the third casing 30 is relatively higher than the first casing 10. Thus, in a case that the first casing 10 is sunken compared to the third casing 30 and the second casing 120, it is possible to adjust the height by rotating the casters 21 in the counterclockwise direction.
In the embodiment, the casters 21 are also attached to the second casing 120. Thus, even when the third casing 30 and the second casing 120 are positioned in the height direction, it is possible to optimize delivery of the sheet S by matching the casters 21 of the third casing 30 and the second casing 120 to a height of the first casing 10.
As shown in
As described above, according to the embodiment of the image forming apparatus 1, the third casing 30 includes the feeding portion 52 which feeds the sheet S from the first casing 10 to the second casing 120 at different heights. Thus, in the image forming apparatus 1 which includes the first casing 10 of the first image forming apparatus 100 and the second casing 120 of the second image forming apparatus whose feeding heights of the sheet S are different, it is possible to feed a recording material by connecting the first casing 10 and the second casing 120.
According to the image forming apparatus 1 in the embodiment, it is possible to connect two casings whose positions for delivering the sheet S are different each other, along with that the image forming process are different, while a casing, which is provided with the feeding portion 52, are arranged between the two casings and their heights of delivering are optimized.
Further, according to the image forming apparatus 1 in the embodiment, an upper end of the driven roller 42 in the first casing 10 side of the feeding portion 52 is arranged at a lower position than an upper end of the driven roller 41 which is an end portion of the sheet feeding portion 51 in the third casing 30 side. Further, an upper end of an end portion of the guide portion 253 in the third casing 30 side is arranged at a lower position than an upper end of the driven roller 43 of the feeding portion 52. Thus, it is possible to deliver the sheet S smoothly between the casings even when it is not possible to apply any roller pairs in such a case of the sheet S in which unfixed toner image is transferred.
Further, according to the image forming apparatus 1 in the embodiment, it is possible to adjust relative heights of the casings by the casters 21, so it is possible to adjust the heights even in a case that, for example, the first casing 10 is sunken due to weight. Further, by adjusting relative heights of the first casing 10 and the third casing 30, it is also possible to adjust relative heights of the sheet feeding portion 51 and the feeding portion 52.
Incidentally, in the image forming apparatus 1 of the embodiment, the third casing 30 and the second casing 120 are connected and positioned in a front-and-back direction and an up-and-down direction between the third casing 30 and the second casing 120, however, the positioning may be adjusted only in the front-and-back direction between the third casing 30 and the second casing 120, as in the first casing 10 and the third casing 30. In a case that a relationship of weights between the casings is opposite, a height may be adjusted to the second casing 120.
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to
For example, the first coupling portion 161, which is integrated and provided with the feeding portion 52, is attached to the left pillar 13. Along hole 23 is formed in the first coupling portion 161. A boss 24, which is an example of a second shaft portion which engages the long hole 23, is formed in the left pillar 13. The long hole 23 is an example of a second long hole whose longitudinal direction is an up-and-down direction, and adjusted by aligning a mark portion 25 which is provided with the first coupling portion 161 and a scale portion 26 which is provided with the left pillar 13. After aligning the scale, the first coupling portion 161 is fixed by a screw 27 which is an example of a second fixing portion which fixes a relative position of the long hole 23 and the boss 24. Incidentally, in the embodiment, a case, in which the second long hole is formed in the feeding portion 52 and the second shaft portion is formed in the left pillar 13, is described, however, it is not limited to this, the second shaft portion may be formed in the feeding portion 52 and the second long hole may be formed in the left pillar 13. That is, the first coupling portion 161 may be provided with one of the frame 31 and the feeding portion 52, and may include the second long hole whose longitudinal direction is the up-and-down direction and the second shaft portion which is provided with the other of the frame 31 and the feeding portion 52 and engages the second long hole.
Similarly, in the second coupling portion 162 side, a long hole 29, which is an example of the second long hole which is formed to be movable in a height direction (Z), is arranged to be engaged with a boss 34 which is an example of the second shaft portion which is provided with the rear side plate 15. A mark portion 37 is aligned with a scale portion 32 which is provided with the rear side plate 15, and fixed by a screw 33 which is an example of the second fixing portion after adjustment. Further, although it is not shown, a front-and-back coupling portion of the third casing 230 in a first casing 10 side is also a constitution which is able to adjust in an up-and-down direction, as well. An amount of height adjustment of the feeding portion 52 may be adjusted as described above, after measuring a height difference between the casings by reading a scale which is provided with pillars of the casings, for example.
As described above, according to the third casing 230 in the embodiment, it is possible to adjust the height of the feeding portion 52 without using the casters 212.
Incidentally, in the second embodiment described above, the constitution which adjusts the third casing 230 of the feeding portion 52 in the up-and-down direction is described, however, it is not limited to this. For example, an adjustment portion may also be provided with the reverse feeding unit 54, or feeding units of the first casing 10 and the second casing 120 may be adjusted with respect to the feeding portion 52.
Further, in each of the embodiments described above, a process of forming an unfixed image on the sheet S is indicated by the first casing 10, and a process of fixing the unfixed image is indicated by the third casing 30 and the third case 230, however, it is not limited to this. That is, arrangements of casings of image forming units for these image forming processes (exposing, developing, transferring, and fixing) are not specified.
Further, in each of the embodiments described above, the image forming process is performed by electrophotographic method, however, it is not limited to this. For example, it is possible to apply the present invention for an inkjet printer and a dye sublimation printer, etc. which provide similar image forming processes such as ink droplet landing, vapor deposition, and an image fixing process by thermal drying method.
According to the invention, in an image forming apparatus which includes two casings whose feeding heights of a recording material are different, it is possible to feed the recording material by connecting both of casings.
While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-118033 filed on Jul. 16, 2021, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-118033 | Jul 2021 | JP | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6308026 | Kouchi | Oct 2001 | B1 |
| 11124374 | Ogasawara | Sep 2021 | B2 |
| 20060067757 | Anderson | Mar 2006 | A1 |
| 20100244354 | Suh | Sep 2010 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2011-107221 | Jun 2011 | JP |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20230012959 A1 | Jan 2023 | US |
