Patent Application
20100232827
The present patent application claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119 from Japanese Patent Application Nos. 2009-058996, filed on Mar. 12, 2009 and 2010-010432, filed on Jan. 20, 2010 in the Japan Patent Office, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
Illustrative embodiments of the present invention relate to a liquid container and an image forming apparatus employing the liquid container.
2. Description of the Background
Image forming apparatuses are used as printers, facsimile machines, copiers, plotters, or multi-functional peripherals having two or more of the foregoing capabilities. As one type of image forming apparatus employing a liquid-ejection recording method, an inkjet recording apparatus is known that ejects liquid droplets from a recording head. Another type of image forming apparatus is also known that forms images using an electrophotographic method.
Image forming apparatuses employing the liquid-ejection recording method ejects ink droplets from the recording head onto a recording material to form an image on the recording material. Such liquid-ejection-type image forming apparatuses fall into two main types: a serial-type image forming apparatus that forms an image by ejecting droplets while moving a recording head in a main scan direction, and a line-head-type image forming apparatus that forms an image by ejecting droplets from a linear recording head fixedly disposed in the image forming apparatus.
In a liquid-ejection-type image forming apparatus, both the recording head and a sub tank (also known as a buffer tank or head tank) may be mounted on a carriage. In such a case, a main ink cartridge (main tank) is detachably mounted in the image forming apparatus to supply ink to the sub tank.
Such an ink cartridge may consist of a divisible cartridge case that houses an ink-containing pack in which a holder with ink supply and refill ports is fused to a pack body. An elastic member is disposed within the ink supply port. A hollow needle provided in the image forming apparatus is inserted through the elastic member, connecting a hole (ink inlet) in the tip of the needle to an ink channel to supply ink to the ink-containing pack.
A problem with the above-described conventional ink cartridge is that ink may leak when the hollow needle is inserted to or extracted from the elastic member in the ink supply port in the holder of the ink-containing pack.
In one illustrative embodiment, a liquid container is detachably mountable in an image forming apparatus having a liquid introducing member. The liquid container includes a storage unit, a supply port assembly, and an elastic seal member. The storage unit is disposed in the liquid container to store a liquid usable for image formation. The supply port assembly is mounted in the storage unit and has a supply channel therein. The liquid introducing member of the image forming apparatus is inserted into the supply port assembly. The elastic seal member is disposed in the supply port assembly. When penetrated by the liquid introducing member, the elastic seal member moves together with the liquid introducing member relative to the supply port assembly to open and close the supply channel.
In another illustrative embodiment, an image forming apparatus includes a liquid introducing member, a protective member, a bias member, and a liquid container. The liquid introducing member has an inlet port in a front end portion thereof to introduce liquid from the inlet port. The protective member is movably mounted on the front end portion of the liquid introducing member to cover the inlet port of the liquid introducing member. The bias member is disposed at a rear side of the protective member and biases the protective member toward a front side of the protective member. The liquid container is detachably mounted in the image forming apparatus. The liquid container includes a storage unit, a supply port assembly, and an elastic seal member. The storage unit is disposed in the liquid container to store a liquid usable for image formation. The supply port assembly is mounted in the storage unit and has a supply channel therein. The liquid introducing member of the image forming apparatus is inserted into the supply port assembly. The elastic seal member is disposed in the supply port assembly. When penetrated by the liquid introducing member, the elastic seal member moves together with the liquid introducing member relative to the supply port assembly to open and close the supply channel. The liquid introducing member is inserted into the supply port assembly with the protective member fitted to a front end portion of the supply port assembly by the bias member in installation of the liquid container to the image forming apparatus. The liquid introducing member is extracted from the supply port assembly and retracted into the protective member with the protective member fitted to the front end portion of the supply port assembly by the bias member in detachment of the liquid container from the image forming apparatus.
A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily acquired as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The accompanying drawings are intended to depict illustrative 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.
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 operate in a similar manner and achieve similar results.
In this disclosure, the term “sheet” used herein is not limited to a sheet of paper and may be an OHP (overhead projector) sheet or any other material on which ink or other liquid is adhered. The term “sheet” may be referred to as a medium, a recording medium, a recorded medium, a sheet material, a transfer material, a recording sheet, a sheet of paper, or the like. The term “image formation” is used herein as a synonymous of recording, printing, or imaging.
Further, the term “image forming apparatus” refers to an apparatus (e.g., droplet ejection apparatus or liquid ejection apparatus) that ejects ink or any other liquid on a medium to form an image on the medium. The medium is made of, for example, paper, string, fiber, cloth, leather, metal, plastic, glass, timber, and ceramic. The term “image formation” used herein includes providing not only meaningful images such as characters and figures but meaningless images such as patterns to the medium. The term “ink” used herein is not limited to “ink” in a narrow sense and includes anything useable for image formation, such as a DNA sample, resist, pattern material, washing fluid, storing solution, and fixing solution.
Although the illustrative embodiments are described with technical limitations with reference to the attached drawings, such description is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention and all of the components or elements described in the illustrative embodiments of this disclosure are not necessarily indispensable to the present invention.
Below, illustrative embodiments according to the present disclosure are described with reference to attached drawings.
A liquid container according to a first illustrative embodiment is described with reference to
The ink cartridge 1 serving as the liquid container includes an ink pack 2, a supply port assembly 3, and a cartridge case 20. The ink pack 2 is a storage unit that stores ink or any other liquid useable for image formation. The supply port assembly 3 is mounted on the ink pack 2, and a hollow needle 101 serving as a liquid introducing member disposed in the image forming apparatus is inserted to the supply port assembly 3. The ink pack 2 is housed in the cartridge case 20 consisting of two case pieces 21 and 22.
The supply port assembly 3 includes a supply channel 4 and a seal member 5 made of an elastic material. As illustrated in
The ink pack 2 is formed of a flexible film member. For example, the flexible film member may be made of a single type of resin material or a plurality of types of resin materials with a layered structure. Alternatively, the flexible film member may have a metal thin-film layer as a surface layer or an intermediate layer of the layered structure. For the resin composition, a film of olefin resin composition, e.g., a polyethylene film may be preferable with respect to the liquid-contact properties with ink. The metal thin-film layer may be a layer, such as an aluminum thin layer, capable of reducing the moisture permeability of the film and/or enhancing the stiffness of the film.
At an outer surface of a front end portion of the supply port assembly 3 is formed a recessed portion 3a having a conical trapezoidal shape. The recessed portion 3a fits a protective member 102 covering an outer circumference of a hollow-needle hole 101a that is an ink inlet port of the hollow needle 101 of the image forming apparatus. In the supply port assembly 3, the supply channel 4 is formed in communication with the interior of the ink pack 2. As illustrated in
The seal member 5 is made of an elastic material, e.g., silicone rubber, fluorocarbon rubber, Butyl rubber, or EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) rubber and has a conical trapezoidal shape, specifically, a trapezoidal shape at a cross section in which the seal member 5 has a tapered face 5a that fits the tapered face 4a of the supply channel 4.
The relation between a diameter (or area) Da of a top face 5b of the seal member 5 and a diameter (or area) Db of a front end face 4b of the supply channel 4 or the relation between an angle θa of the tapered face 5a relative to the top face 5b of the seal member 5 and an angle θb of the tapered face 4a relative to the front end face 4b of the supply channel 4 preferably meets a relation in which, when the supply channel 4 is closed by the seal member 5, the front end face 4b closely fits the top face 5b so that sealing is formed from the top faces of the tapered faces 4a and 5a including a generating line. For such a relation, when the supply channel 4 is closed by the seal member 5, ink escapes inward, i.e., toward the rear end of the seal member 5, thus securely sealing without sandwiching ink.
On the rear end face of the seal member 5 is fixed a hard member 6, such as a metal plate, which is a stopper not pierced by the hollow needle 101. In such a configuration, when the hollow needle 101 is inserted to the seal member 5, the hard member 6 stops the hollow needle 101 and then the hard member 6 moves together with the hollow needle 101 (and the seal member 5 starts to detach from the front end portion of the supply channel 4).
Meanwhile, the hollow needle 101 in the image forming apparatus is connected to a pump, not illustrated, and the pump suctions ink from the ink cartridge 1 and feeds ink to a liquid ejection head. When the ink cartridge 1 is not mounted in the image forming apparatus, the hollow-needle hole 101a, which is the inlet port of the hollow needle 101, is held in the protective member 102 made of an elastic member to prevent drying and assure safety.
The protective member 102 is movably mounted on the hollow needle 101, and a spring 103 is provided between the protective member 102 and a fix portion, not illustrated. At the front end portion of the protective member 102, a fit portion 102a of a conical trapezoidal shape is formed with a tapered face 102b and a flat face 102c to fit a recessed portion 3a of a conical trapezoidal shape at the front end portion of the supply port assembly 3. The shapes of the fit portion 102a of the protective member 102 and the recessed portion 3a of the supply port assembly 3 are formed similar to the shapes of the seal member 5 and the fit portion of the supply channel 4. The term “front end” of the protective member 102 of the image forming apparatus refers to an end of the protective member 102 close to the ink cartridge 1.
At the exterior of the protective member 102 is disposed a hollow guide member 104.
Next, installation/detachment of the ink cartridge 1 to/from the image forming apparatus is described with reference to
By inserting the ink cartridge 1 into a cartridge mount portion of the image forming apparatus, as illustrated in
From this state, as the ink cartridge 1 is further inserted to the image forming apparatus, the hollow needle 101 is also inserted to the seal member 5 of the ink cartridge 1 as illustrated in
By contrast, when the ink cartridge 1 is detached from the image forming apparatus, the above-described operations are performed in the opposite order. For the detachment operation, the hollow needle 101 retreats relative to the ink cartridge 1 and the seal member 5 fits and seals the inner wall surface of the supply channel 4 again. Meanwhile, the protective member 102 of the image forming apparatus remains fitted to the recessed portion 3a of the supply port assembly 3 by a bias force of the spring 103 that is a bias member. Accordingly, when the hollow needle 101 is extracted from the supply port assembly 3, the hollow needle 101 is directly retracted into the protective member 102, thus preventing leakage of ink.
As described above, the ink cartridge according to the present illustrative embodiment includes the seal member made of an elastic material in the supply port assembly into which the liquid introducing member is inserted from the image forming apparatus. When inserted by the liquid introducing member, the seal member moves together with the liquid introducing member relative to the supply port assembly. In such a configuration, when the liquid introducing member in the image forming apparatus is extracted from the supply port assembly, sealing of the supply port assembly is secured, thus preventing leakage of liquid from the supply port assembly.
The image forming apparatus is provided with the bias member that biases the protective member forward (i.e., toward the ink cartridge (when the protective member is pushed inward (i.e., toward the image forming apparatus). In such a configuration, when the liquid container (ink cartridge) is installed to the image forming apparatus, the liquid introducing member is inserted to the supply port assembly with the protective member closely fitted to the front end portion of the supply port assembly of the liquid container by the bias force of the bias member. Alternatively, when the liquid container is detached from the image forming apparatus, the liquid introducing member is extracted from the supply port assembly and retracted into the protective member with the protective member closely fitted to the front end portion of the supply port assembly of the liquid container by the bias force of the bias member. Such a configuration allows insertion and extraction of the liquid introducing member with the liquid introducing member covered by the protective member, thus securely preventing leakage of liquid.
Next, a second illustrative embodiment is described with reference to
On an outer surface of a front end portion of the hollow needle 101 is mounted a protrusion 101b to increase the resistance against the hollow needle 101 when the hollow needle 101 is extracted from the seal member 5 rather than when the hollow needle 101 is inserted to the seal member 5. In such a configuration, when the hollow needle 101 is extracted from the seal member 5, the seal member 5 closely fits the front end portion of a supply channel 4, allowing secure sealing.
Next, a third illustrative embodiment is described with reference to
In the present illustrative embodiment, at the rear-end side of the seal member 5 is provided a resilient member 10 serving as a pressing member that biases the seal member 5 to close the supply channel 4. In such a configuration, when the hollow needle 101 is extracted from the seal member 5, the seal member 5 receives a bias force of the pressing member 10 and is pushed toward the front end portion of the supply channel 4, thus allowing the supply channel 4 to be more securely sealed with the seal member 5.
In the above-described illustrative embodiments, the front end portion of the seal member 5 of the ink cartridge 1 is formed in conical trapezoidal shape to have a linearly tapered face. However, it is to be noted that the shape of the front end portion is not limited to the above-described shape and may have, e.g., a curved tapered face (bell shape) illustrated in
Further, in the above-described illustrative embodiments, the hard member 6 is provided at the rear end face of the seal member 5 of the ink cartridge 1 to prevent the hollow needle 101 from piercing through the seal member 5. However, it is to be noted that, as illustrated in
Next, the fourth illustrative embodiment is described with reference to
In
Next, the fifth illustrative embodiment is described with reference to
In the present illustrative embodiment, a projection(s) 3e is(are) provided inside (at the inner surface of) the supply port assembly 3 behind the seal member 5 to hold (prevent accidental detachment of) the seal member 5. The number of the projection(s) may be any suitable number, and the height of the projection(s) is set to a height so that the seal member 5 smoothly moves and is firmly held by the projection(s) on installation/detachment of the ink cartridge 1 to/from the image forming apparatus.
In the present illustrative embodiment, as illustrated in
Next, operations of the coupling portion upon installation/detachment of the ink cartridge 1 to/from the image forming apparatus are described with reference to FIGS. 16A to 16D and 17.
By inserting the ink cartridge 1 to the cartridge mount portion of the image forming apparatus, as illustrated in
From the above-mentioned state, when the ink cartridge 1 is further inserted toward the image forming apparatus, as illustrated in
By contrast, when the ink cartridge 1 is detached from the image forming apparatus, the above-described operations are performed in the opposite order. For the detachment operation, when the hollow needle 101 retreats relative to the ink cartridge 1, the seal member 5, while elastically deforming, moves over the projections 3e to the front end portion of the supply port assembly 3. Accordingly, the seal member 5 closely fits the inner wall surface of the supply channel 4 and the rear end portion of the seal member 5 is held with the projections 3e.
The protective member 102 of the image forming apparatus is kept fitting the supply port assembly 3 by the bias force of the spring 103. Accordingly, when the hollow needle 101 is extracted from the supply port assembly 3, the hollow needle 101 is directly retracted into the protective member 102, thereby preventing leakage of ink.
Thus, the ink cartridge according to the present illustrative embodiment includes the seal member made of an elastic material at the supply port assembly into which the liquid introducing member of the image forming apparatus is inserted. When inserted by the liquid introducing member, the seal member moves together with the liquid introducing member relative to the supply port assembly. In such a configuration, when the liquid introducing member of the image forming apparatus is extracted from the supply port assembly, the supply port assembly is securely sealed, thus preventing leakage of liquid from the supply port assembly.
When the ink cartridge 1 is installed to and then detached from the image forming apparatus, in the interior of the ink cartridge 1, the supply channel 4 of the supply port assembly 3 is sealed with the seal member 5 and the seal member 5 is securely held with the projections 3e. Such a configuration prevents the sealing of the supply channel 4 with the seal member 5 from loosening by vibration during transportation of used cartridges and so forth, thus preventing leakage of ink.
At the image forming apparatus is provided the bias member that biases the protective member forward when the protective member is pushed inward. In such a configuration, when the liquid container (ink cartridge) is installed to the image forming apparatus, the liquid introducing member is inserted into the supply port assembly with the protective member closely fitted to the front end portion of the supply port assembly of the liquid container by the bias force of the bias member. Alternatively, when the liquid container is detached from the image forming apparatus, the liquid introducing member is extracted from the supply port assembly and retracted into the protective member with the protective member closely fitted to the front end portion of the supply port assembly of the liquid container by the bias force of the bias member. Such a configuration allows insertion and extraction of the liquid introducing member with the liquid introducing member covered by the protective member, thus securely preventing leakage of liquid.
Next, a sixth illustrative embodiment is described with reference to
In the present illustrative embodiment, projections 3e are disposed inside (at the inner surface of) the supply port assembly 3 at opposite positions with respect to the center of the hollow needle 101 and projections 3f are disposed on the outer surface of (outside) the supply port assembly 3 at opposite positions with respect to the center of the hollow needle 101. As illustrated in
In the image forming apparatus, projections 104a that engage the projections 3f on the outer surface are provided at opposite positions on the inner surface of the hollow guide member 104 of cylindrical shape.
Next, installing operation of the ink cartridge to the image forming apparatus in the present illustrative embodiment is described with reference to
By inserting the ink cartridge 1 into a cartridge mount portion of the image forming apparatus, as illustrated in
From this state, when the ink cartridge 1 is further inserted toward the image forming apparatus, the hollow needle 101 is also inserted into the seal member 5 of the ink cartridge 1 as illustrated in
When the ink cartridge 1 is further inserted toward the image forming apparatus, as illustrated in
Further, as illustrated in
Next, detachment operation of the ink cartridge from the image forming apparatus in the present illustrative embodiment is described with reference to
When the ink cartridge 1 is detached from the image forming apparatus, the above-described installing operations are performed in the opposite order. From the state illustrated in
Meanwhile, as illustrated in
Next, a seventh illustrative embodiment is described with reference to
In the present illustrative embodiment, a recessed portion 3g is formed at a front end portion of the supply port assembly 3 and the outer surface of the supply port assembly 3 tapers toward the front end thereof to form a cylindrical flange portion 3h. The projections 3f are provided on the outer surface of the cylindrical flange portion 3h. In the supply port assembly 3, when the cylindrical flange portion 3h deforms so as to approach the projections 3f to each other, the supply port assembly 3 deforms around a wall forming portion forming a wall 3i of the supply port assembly 3 so as to extend the distance between the internal projections 3e.
Meanwhile, the projections 104a that engage the projections 3f of the outer surface of the supply port assembly 3 are disposed at opposite positions on the inner surface of the hollow guide member 104 of cylindrical shape of the image forming apparatus. The projections 104a include a slope portion 104a1 inclined inward to deform the projection 3f toward the center of the supply port assembly 3, a horizontal portion 104a2 substantially horizontally extending from an end of the slope portion 104a1 rearward, and a second slope portion 104a3 inclined from the horizontal portion 104a2 outward.
Thus, when the supply port assembly 3 of the ink cartridge 1 is inserted into the guide member 104 of the image forming apparatus as illustrated in
From the above-described state, when the ink cartridge 1 is further inserted toward the image forming apparatus, as with the above-described illustrative embodiment, the seal member 5 is moved rearward by the hollow needle 101 to open the supply channel 4 as illustrated in
Next, an image forming apparatus employing a liquid container according to an illustrative embodiment is described with reference to
In the present illustrative embodiment, the image forming apparatus 200 is described as a serial-type inkjet recording apparatus. The image forming apparatus 200 includes a housing 201, a sheet feed cassette 202, and a sheet output tray 203. The sheet feed cassette 202 is mounted in the housing 201 so as to be extractable to a sheet refill position and stores sheets to be fed to a print section of the image forming apparatus. The sheet output tray 203 receives a sheet outputted after image recording (formation). The sheet output tray 203 is pivotably mounted on the housing so as to open and close an upper portion of the sheet feed cassette 202, thus acting as a cover member of the sheet feed cassette 202. Further, at one end portion of the front side of the housing 201 is disposed a cartridge mount portion 204 in which an ink cartridge(s) serving as the liquid container according to the present illustrative embodiment is(are) mounted. At the top face of the cartridge mount portion 204 is mounted an operation-and-display unit 205 including operation buttons and a display. In the present illustrative embodiment, the configuration of the image forming apparatus according to any of the above-described illustrative embodiments is implemented in the cartridge mount portion 204.
In the image forming apparatus, both a main guide rod 231 and a sub guide rod 232 extend between side plates 201A and 202A to hold a carriage 233 slidable in a main scan direction “MSD” indicated by a double arrow illustrated in
On the carriage 233 are mounted recording heads 234a and 234b (hereinafter, collectively referred to as “recording heads 234” unless colors are distinguished) that are the liquid ejection head according to the present illustrative embodiment to eject ink droplets of different colors, e.g., yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (K). In the recording heads 234, a plurality of nozzle rows including nozzles is arranged in a sub-scan direction perpendicular to the main scan direction so as to eject ink droplets downward.
Each of the recording heads 234 may include two nozzle rows. For example, the recording head 234a may eject black ink droplets from one of the nozzle rows and cyan ink droplets from the other, and the recording head 234b may eject magenta ink droplets from one of the nozzle rows and yellow ink droplets from the other.
On the carriage 233 are mounted head tanks 235a and 235b (hereinafter collectively referred to as “head tanks 235” unless colors are distinguished) that supply color inks corresponding to the respective nozzle rows of the recording heads 234. Color inks are supplied from the ink cartridges 1 having, e.g., the configuration described in the first illustrative embodiment to the head tanks 235 via supply tubes 236.
The image forming apparatus 200 further includes a sheet feed section that feeds sheets 242 stacked on a sheet stack portion (platen) 241 of the sheet feed tray 202. The sheet feed section further includes a sheet feed roller 243 that separates the sheets 242 from the sheet stack portion 241 and feeds the sheets 242 sheet by sheet and a separation pad 244 that is disposed facing the sheet feed roller 243. The separation pad 244 is made of a material of a high friction coefficient and biased toward the sheet feed roller 243.
To feed the sheets 242 from the sheet feed section to a portion below the recording heads 234, the image forming apparatus 200 includes a first guide member 245 that guides the sheets 242, a counter roller 246, a conveyance guide member 247, a press member 248 including a front-end press roller 249, and a conveyance belt 251 that conveys the sheets 242 to a position facing the recording heads 234 with the sheets 242 electrostatically attracted thereon.
The conveyance belt 251 is an endless belt that is looped between a conveyance roller 252 and a tension roller 253 so as to circulate in a belt conveyance direction “BCD”, that is, the sub-scan direction. A charge roller 256 is provided to charge the surface of the conveyance belt 251. The charge roller 256 is disposed to contact the surface of the conveyance belt 251 and rotate depending on the circulation of the conveyance belt 251. By rotating the conveyance roller 252 by a sub-scan motor, not illustrated, via a timing roller, the conveyance belt 251 circulates in the belt conveyance direction “BCD” illustrated in
The image forming apparatus 200 further includes a sheet output section that outputs the sheet 242 on which an image is formed by the recording heads 234. The sheet output section includes a separation claw 261 that separates the sheet 242 from the conveyance belt 251, a first output roller 262, a second output roller 263, and the sheet output tray 203 disposed below the first output roller 262.
A duplex unit 271 is detachably mounted on a rear portion of the image forming apparatus 200. When the conveyance belt 251 rotates in the reverse direction to return the sheet 242, the duplex unit 271 receives the sheet 242 and turns the sheet 242 upside down to feed the sheet 242 between the counter roller 246 and the conveyance belt 251. At the top face of the duplex unit 271 is formed a manual-feed tray 272.
In
In
In the image forming apparatus 200 having the above-described configuration, the sheet 242 is separated sheet by sheet from the sheet feed tray 202, fed in a substantially vertically upward direction, guided along the first guide member 245, and conveyed with sandwiched between the conveyance belt 251 and the counter roller 246. Further, the front tip of the sheet 242 is guided with a conveyance guide 237 and pressed with the front-end press roller 249 against the conveyance belt 251 so that the traveling direction of the sheet 242 is turned substantially 90 angle degrees. The sheet 242 is attracted on the charged conveyance belt 251 and conveyed in the sub scanning direction by circulation of the conveyance belt 251.
By driving the recording heads 234 in response to image signals while moving the carriage 233, ink droplets are ejected on the sheet 242 stopped below the recording heads 234 to form one band of a desired image. Then, the sheet 242 is fed by a certain distance to prepare for recording another band of the image. Receiving a signal indicating that the image has been recorded or the rear end of the sheet 242 has arrived at the recording area, the recording heads 234 finishes the recording operation and outputs the sheet 242 to the sheet output tray 203.
As described above, the liquid container (ink cartridge) according to the above-described illustrative embodiments is detachably mounted in the image forming apparatus, thus reducing or preventing ink leakage on installing/detaching the liquid container to/from the 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 appended claims, the disclosure of the present invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.
With some embodiments of the present invention having thus been described, it will be 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 invention, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.
For example, elements and/or features of different illustrative embodiments may be combined with each other and/or substituted for each other within the scope of this disclosure and appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-058996 | Mar 2009 | JP | national |
| 2010-010432 | Jan 2010 | JP | national |
