Ink composition, pinning agent and print method

Abstract

The invention relates to an ink composition, the ink composition including a pinning agent. The pinning agent provides the ink composition with thermogelling behavior. The invention further relates to a pinning agent suitable for an ink composition. The invention further relates to a method for applying an image to a receiving medium using an ink composition including a pinning agent.

Claims

1. An ink composition comprising: a) an aqueous vehicle; b) a colorant; c) a water-dispersed resin; and d) a pinning agent, the pinning agent consisting essentially of a product of a coupling reaction between at least two polyether units and a linker, the linker comprising at least two linking groups, wherein a first one of the at least two polyether units comprises an ethylene oxide moiety ([CH.sub.2CH.sub.2O]) and wherein the second one of said at least two polyether units comprises a [R.sup.1O] moiety, wherein R.sup.1 is an alkyl group comprising 3-7 carbon atoms, and wherein each one of the at least two linking groups is capable of reacting with an endgroup of a polyether unit.

2. Ink composition according to claim 1, wherein the first polyether unit is a polyethyleneoxide unit.

3. Ink composition according to claim 1, wherein the second polyether unit is a polypropyleneoxide unit.

4. Ink composition according to claim 1, wherein the at least two polyether units are polyethyleneoxide/polypropyleneoxide block copolymers.

5. Ink composition according to claim 1, wherein the linker comprises at least three linking groups.

6. Ink composition according to claim 5, wherein the linker is cyanuric chloride.

7. Ink composition according to claim 1, wherein the linking groups are isocyanate groups.

8. Ink composition according to claim 1, wherein the colorant is a dispersed pigment.

9. Method for preparing an ink composition, the method comprising the steps of: a) providing water; b) providing a pinning agent, the pinning agent consisting essentially of a product of a coupling reaction between at least two polyether units and a linker, the linker comprising at least two linking groups, wherein a first one of the at least two polyether units comprises an ethylene oxide moiety ([CH.sub.2CH.sub.2O]) and wherein the second one of said at least two polyether units comprises a [R.sup.1O] moiety, wherein R.sup.1 is an alkyl group comprising 3-7 carbon atoms, and wherein each one of the at least two linking groups is capable of reacting with an endgroup of a polyether unit; c) providing a colorant; d) providing a water-dispersed resin; and e) mixing the water, the pinning agent, the water-dispersed resin and the colorant.

10. Method for applying an image onto a recording medium, the method comprising the steps of: a. providing an ink composition according to claim 1; b. keeping the ink composition at a temperature T1, T1 being a temperature below a pinning temperature; and c. jetting droplets of the ink composition onto a recording medium, the recording medium having a temperature T2, T2 being a temperature above the pinning temperature.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and accompanying schematic drawings which are given by way of illustration only and are not limitative of the invention, and wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of an inkjet printing system.

(3) FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of an inkjet marking device: A) and B) assembly of inkjet heads; C) detailed view of a part of the assembly of inkjet heads.

(4) FIG. 3A-3C show the viscosity of a number of solutions as a function of temperature.

(5) FIG. 4A-4E show a number of prints made using an ink according to the present invention and a number of prints made using ink not according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(6) In the drawings, same reference numerals refer to same elements.

(7) A printing process in which the inks according to the present invention may be suitably used is described with reference to the appended drawings shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2A-C. FIGS. 1 and 2A-C show schematic representations of an inkjet printing system and an inkjet marking device, respectively.

(8) FIG. 1 shows that a sheet of a receiving medium P. The image receiving medium P may be composed of e.g. paper, cardboard, label stock, coated paper, plastic, machine coated paper or textile. Alternatively, the receiving medium may be a medium in web form (not shown). The medium, P, is transported in a direction for conveyance as indicated by arrows 50 and 51 and with the aid of transportation mechanism 12. Transportation mechanism 12 may be a driven belt system comprising one (as shown in FIG. 1) or more belts. Alternatively, one or more of these belts may be exchanged for one or more drums. A transportation mechanism may be suitably configured depending on the requirements (e.g. sheet registration accuracy) of the sheet transportation in each step of the printing process and may hence comprise one or more driven belts and/or one or more drums. For a proper conveyance of the sheets of receiving medium, the sheets need to be fixed to the transportation mechanism. The way of fixation is not particularly limited and may be selected from electrostatic fixation, mechanical fixation (e.g. clamping) and vacuum fixation. Of these, vacuum fixation is preferred.

(9) The printing process as described below comprises of the following steps: media pre-treatment, image formation, drying and fixing and optionally post treatment.

(10) FIG. 1 shows that the sheet of receiving medium P may be conveyed to and passed through a first pre-treatment module 13, which module may comprise a preheater, for example a radiation heater, a corona/plasma treatment unit, a gaseous acid treatment unit or a combination of any of the above.

(11) Any suitable type of heater may be used as a preheater. By using a preheater, the temperature of the receiving medium P may be adjusted to a desired temperature. Preferably, the temperature of the receiving medium may be higher that the temperature of the ink in the inkjet marking device 111, 112, 113, 114. When the sheet of receiving medium P has a temperature higher than the temperature of the ink in the inkjet marking device 111, 112, 113, 114, then the temperature of the ink may increase when it is applied onto the sheet of receiving medium P. When using an ink according to the present invention, the increase in temperature may result in pinning of the respective droplets of ink, thereby preventing print artifacts, such as color bleeding. In addition, increasing the temperature of the sheet of receiving medium may increase the rate of evaporation of solvents, such as water, that may be present in the ink composition.

(12) Image Formation

(13) Image formation is performed in such a manner that, employing an inkjet printer loaded with inkjet inks, ink droplets are ejected from the inkjet heads based on the digital signals onto a print medium. The inkjet inks may be ink jet inks according to the present invention.

(14) Although both single pass inkjet printing and multi pass (i.e. scanning) inkjet printing may be used for image formation, single pass inkjet printing is preferably used since it is effective to perform high-speed printing. Single pass inkjet printing is an inkjet recording method with which ink droplets are deposited onto the receiving medium to form all pixels of the image by a single passage of a receiving medium underneath an inkjet marking module.

(15) In FIG. 1, 11 represents an inkjet marking module comprising four inkjet marking devices, indicated with 111, 112, 113 and 114, each arranged to eject an ink of a different color (e.g. Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and blacK). The nozzle pitch of each head is e.g. about 360 dpi. In the present invention, dpi indicates a dot number per 2.54 cm.

(16) An inkjet marking device for use in single pass inkjet printing, 111, 112, 113, 114, has a length, L, of at least the width of the desired printing range, indicated with double arrow 52, the printing range being perpendicular to the media transport direction, indicated with arrows 50 and 51. The inkjet marking device may comprise a single print head having a length of at least the width of said desired printing range. The inkjet marking device may also be constructed by combining two or more inkjet heads, such that the combined lengths of the individual inkjet heads cover the entire width of the printing range. Such a constructed inkjet marking device is also termed a page wide array (PWA) of print heads. FIG. 2A shows an inkjet marking device 111 (112, 113, 114 may be identical) comprising 7 individual inkjet heads (201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207) which are arranged in two parallel rows, a first row comprising four inkjet heads (201-204) and a second row comprising three inkjet heads (205-207) which are arranged in a staggered configuration with respect to the inkjet heads of the first row. The staggered arrangement provides a page wide array of nozzles which are substantially equidistant in the length direction of the inkjet marking device. The staggered configuration may also provide a redundancy of nozzles in the area where the inkjet heads of the first row and the second row overlap, see 70 in FIG. 2B. Staggering may further be used to decrease the nozzle pitch (hence increasing the print resolution) in the length direction of the inkjet marking device, e.g. by arranging the second row of inkjet heads such that the positions of the nozzles of the inkjet heads of the second row are shifted in the length direction of the inkjet marking device by half the nozzle pitch, the nozzle pitch being the distance between adjacent nozzles in an inkjet head, d.sub.nozzle (see FIG. 2C, which represents a detailed view of 80 in FIG. 2B). The resolution may be further increased by using more rows of inkjet heads, each of which are arranged such that the positions of the nozzles of each row are shifted in the length direction with respect to the positions of the nozzles of all other rows.

(17) In image formation by ejecting an ink, an inkjet head (i.e. print head) employed may be either an on-demand type or a continuous type inkjet head. As an ink ejection system, there may be usable either the electric-mechanical conversion system (e.g., a single-cavity type, a double-cavity type, a bender type, a piston type, a shear mode type, or a shared wall type), or an electric-thermal conversion system (e.g., a thermal inkjet type, or a Bubble Jet type (registered trade name)). Among them, it is preferable to use a piezo type inkjet recording head which has nozzles of a diameter of 30 m or less in the current image forming method.

(18) The inkjet marking devices 111, 112, 113, 114 may be provided with suitable temperature control means (not shown), such as cooling means. The temperature control means may suitably control the temperature of the inkjet making devices 111, 112, 113, 114, including the print heads, and the ink inside the inkjet marking devices 111, 112, 113, 114.

(19) FIG. 1 shows that after pre-treatment, the receiving medium P is conveyed to upstream part of the inkjet marking module 11. Then, image formation is carried out by each color ink ejecting from each inkjet marking device 111, 112, 113 and 114 arranged so that the whole width of the image receiving medium P is covered.

(20) Optionally, the image formation may be carried out while the receiving medium is temperature controlled. For this purpose a temperature control device 19 may be arranged to control the temperature of the surface of the transportation mechanism (e.g. belt or drum) underneath the inkjet marking module 11. The temperature control device 19 may be used to control the surface temperature of the receiving medium P, for example in the range of 10 C. to 100 C. The temperature control device 19 may comprise heaters, such as radiation heaters, and a cooling means, for example a cold blast, in order to control the surface temperature of the receiving medium within said range. Subsequently and while printing, the receiving medium P is conveyed to the downstream part of the inkjet marking module 11.

(21) Drying and Fixing

(22) After an image has been formed on the receiving medium, the prints have to be dried and the image has to be fixed onto the receiving medium. Drying comprises the evaporation of solvents, in particular those solvents that have poor absorption characteristics with respect to the selected receiving medium.

(23) FIG. 1 schematically shows a drying and fixing unit 20, which may comprise a heater, for example a radiation heater. After an image has been formed, the print is conveyed to and passed through the drying and fixing unit 20. The print is heated such that solvents present in the printed image, to a large extent water, evaporate. The speed of evaporation and hence drying may be enhanced by increasing the air refresh rate in the drying and fixing unit 20. Simultaneously, film formation of the ink occurs, because the prints are heated to a temperature above the minimum film formation temperature (MFFT). The residence time of the print in the drying and fixing unit 20 and the temperature at which the drying and fixing unit 20 operates are optimized, such that when the print leaves the drying and fixing unit 20 a dry and robust print has been obtained. As described above, the transportation mechanism 12 in the fixing and drying unit 20 may be separated from the transportation mechanism of the pre-treatment and printing section of the printing apparatus and may comprise a belt or a drum.

(24) Post Treatment

(25) To increase the print robustness or other properties of a print, such as gloss level, the print may be post treated, which is an optional step in the printing process. For example, the prints may be post treated by laminating the prints. Alternatively, the post-treatment step comprises a step of applying (e.g. by jetting) a post-treatment liquid onto the surface of the coating layer, onto which the inkjet ink has been applied, so as to form a transparent protective layer on the printed recording medium.

(26) Hitherto, the printing process was described such that the image formation step was performed in-line with the pre-treatment step (e.g. application of an (aqueous) pre-treatment liquid) and a drying and fixing step, all performed by the same apparatus (see FIG. 1). However, the printing process is not restricted to the above-mentioned embodiment. A method in which two or more machines are connected through a belt conveyor, drum conveyor or a roller, and the step of applying a pre-treatment liquid, the (optional) step of drying a coating solution, the step of ejecting an inkjet ink to form an image and the step or drying an fixing the printed image are performed. It is, however, preferable to carry out image formation with the above defined in-line image forming method.

EXPERIMENTS AND EXAMPLES

Materials

(27) Pluronic F127, Pluronic P103 and Pluronic P105 were obtained from BASF. Xylene, cyanuric chloride, 2-pyrrolidone, 1,2-hexanediol, potassium tert-butoxide and isophoronediisocyanate were obtained from Sigma Aldrich. Dynol 607 is obtained from Air products, BYK 348 is obtained from BYK and Tegowet 240 is obtained from Evonik. As pigment, Pro-Jet Cyan APD pigment was used. This pigment was obtained from Fujifilm as an aqueous dispersion. As water dispersible resin, Neocryl A-1127 was used. Neocryl A-1127 is an acrylic resin and is obtained from DSM Neoresins as an aqueous emulsion.

(28) All materials were used as obtained, unless stated otherwise.

(29) Methods

(30) Viscosity

(31) The viscosity is measured using a Haake Rheometer, type Haake Rheostress RS 600, with a flat plate geometry. The viscosity is measured at shear rates ({dot over ()}) of 10 s.sup.1.

(32) Single Line Printing

(33) Ink was deposited on a recording medium by jetting the ink using a Dimatix print head (Jet Powered, Model# DMC-11610/PN 700-10702-01). The print head was operated at 10 C. The recording medium was controlled to be at a temperature of 35 C. The image printed was a straight line. These lines were printed by depositing 0.43 pL m.sup.1 of ink onto the recording medium. After printing, it was judged for each experiment whether line bulging had taken place. Line bulging refers to the phenomenon of local line thickening, for example due to droplet displacement. A consequence of local thickening of a printed line is that the width of the printed line differs locally. In inkjet printing, the occurrence of line bulging is unwanted.

Experiment 1

(34) Production of Pinning Agent (1)

(35) 100 gr of Pluronic F127 was mixed with 50 mL of xylene in a round-bottom flask provided with a Dean-Stark setup. The mixture was refluxed under a nitrogen atmosphere at 180 C.-190 C. for four hours to remove traces of water. The mixture was allowed to cool to 70 C. Subsequently, 25 mL of xylene was removed via the Dean Stark setup. Afterwards, another 25 mL of xylene was added to facilitate stirring. 1.5 grams of isophorone diisocyanate was added to the mixture using a syringe. During the next 30 minutes, the temperature was increased stepwise to 120 C. Afterwards, the mixture was allowed to react for another 4 hours. Subsequently, xylene was removed by evaporation. The resin was transferred into an aluminum dish and dried overnight in an oven at a temperature of 120 C. and a pressure of 1*10.sup.1 mbar. The prepared resin 1 is a colorless microcrystalline solid.

(36) Production of Pinning Agent (2)

(37) 100 g of Pluronic F127 was dissolved in 50 mL xylene and dried under nitrogen by the Dean Stark method. After that, 50 mL of dry xylene was added and the resulted mixture was cooled to 70 C. Then 1.68 g of solid KOtBu was added and the mixture was stirred resulting in a slightly opaque solution. 0.92 g of cyanuric chloride was added together with 50 mL extra xylene and the mixture was then stirred overnight. After this, the reaction mixture was diluted with xylene to a volume of 1 L and precipitated at room temperature over the weekend. After filtration, the filtrate was evaporated to dryness with rotary evaporator and further dried in a vacuum oven at 120 C. 39 g of final product was collected. The prepared resin 2 is a white waxy solid.

EXAMPLES

Model Solution A

(38) An aqueous solution of resin 1 was prepared by dissolving 5 grams of resin 1 in 95 grams of water, yielding aqueous model solution A.

(39) Comparative model solution B and Comparative model Solution C were prepared analogously. Comparative model solution B comprises 5 grams of Pluronic P103, instead of resin 1; Comparative model solution C comprises 5 grams of Pluronic P105, instead of resin 1.

(40) Ink Compositions

(41) Several ink compositions were prepared. Ink compositions Ex 1 and Ex 2 comprise resin 1 as a pinning agent, ink composition Ex 3 comprises resin 2 as a pinning agent. Ink compositions Ex1, Ex 2 and Ex 3 are inks according to the present invention, whereas ink compositions CE 1 and CE 2 are not ink compositions according to the present invention.

Production Example Ex 1

(42) Ink composition Ex 1 was prepared by adding 12 gr of 2-pyrrolidone and 1.6 gr of 1,2-hexanediol to water (20 gr) upon stirring at room temperature. Subsequently, 4 gr of resin 1 was added upon stirring. Next, 0.6 gr of Dynol 607 and 0.3 gr of Tegowet 240 was added upon stirring.

(43) Then, 5.2 grams of an 14% aqueous dispersion of Pro-Jet Cyan APD pigment was added upon stirring, as well as an aqueous dispersion of Neocryl A-1127. Finally, water was added to until the total weight is 100 gr. The volume and concentrations of the dispersions was selected such that 1.6 gr of pigment and 1.6 gr of Neocryl A-1127 was present per 100 gr of ink composition.

(44) The obtained mixture was filtered and subsequently degassed, yielding ink composition Ex 1. Production examples Ex 2 and Ex 3 were prepared analogously.

(45) Comparative production examples CE 1 and CE 2 were prepared analogously to ink composition Ex 1, but no resin 1 or resin 2 was added to the mixture.

(46) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Ink compositions Component Ex 1 Ex 2 Ex 3 CE 1 CE 2 Latex 1.6% 0 0 0 0 Neocryl A-1127 Latex AB 0 5.2% 5.2% 11% 5.2% U9800 latex pigment 1.6% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2- 12% 15% 15% 15.5% 15% pyrrolidone 1,2- 1.6% 2% 2% 2% 2% hexanediol Dynol 607 0.6% 0 0 0.5% 0 Tegowet 240 0.3% 1% 1% 0 1% BYK 348 0 0 0 0.35% 0 Resin 1 4% 3.0% 0 0 0 Resin 2 0 0 2.2% 0 0 water remainder remainder remainder remainder remainder

(47) Comparison Experiments

(48) The viscosity of solution A and of Ex 1 was measured at several temperatures in between 15 C. and 50 C. The results are shown in FIG. 3A.

(49) At low temperatures, such as temperatures lower than about 20 C., the viscosity of the solutions is low. In FIG. 3A, it is shown that the viscosity of solution A in this temperature range is lower than 10 mPas. When increasing the temperature of the solution to about 40 C., a strong increase in viscosity occurs. Because of this increase in viscosity, the flowability of the ink will decrease when increasing the temperature, such as increasing the temperature from about 25 C. to about 40 C. When the temperature of the solution is increased further, the viscosity of the solution decreases. However, as is shown in FIG. 3A, the viscosity of the solution at 50 C. is still more than three times the viscosity of the solution at about 25 C.

(50) The viscosity of ink composition Ex 1 is lower than 15 mPa.Math.s at temperatures below 20 C. When increasing the temperature, the viscosity of the ink composition Ex 1 strongly increases. For example, at a temperature of 45 C., the viscosity of Ex 1 is 165 mPa.Math.s. Thus, both the viscosity of solution A and ink composition Ex 1 increase with temperature, at least in a certain temperature range. Hence, both solutions show pinning behavior. However, the increase in viscosity of the ink composition Ex 1 is stronger than the increase in viscosity of model solution A. Without wanting to be bound to any theory, this effect is believed to be caused by a synergistic effect between the pinning agent (resin) and the dispersed-resin particles.

(51) The viscosity of ink compositions Ex 2, Ex 3 and CE 2 was measured at several temperatures in between 5 C. and 55 C. The results are shown in FIG. 3B.

(52) The viscosity of ink composition CE 2 is about 5 mPa s at a temperature of 5 C. When increasing the temperature to 55 C., no viscosity increase is observed. Instead, the viscosity is decreases. Hence, in ink composition CE 2, which does not comprise a pinning agent, no pinning behavior is observed.

(53) The viscosity of ink compositions Ex 2 and Ex 3 is essentially the same at a temperature of 5 C. The viscosity of the two ink compositions does not change much when increasing the temperature from 5 C. to about 15 C. When further increasing the temperature to about 40 C., however, the viscosity of both ink compositions strongly increases. The viscosity of ink composition Ex 2 increases to about 50 mPa s. Hence, when increasing the temperature from 15 C. to 35 C., the viscosity of ink composition Ex 2 increases to about 3.3 times the initial value. When further increasing the temperature to about 55 C., the viscosity decreases. Hence, ink composition Ex 2 comprising resin 1 as a pinning agent, shows pinning behavior.

(54) Ink composition Ex 3 shows an increase in viscosity that is even stronger than the viscosity increase of ink composition Ex 2. When increasing the temperature to about 35 C., the viscosity of ink Ex 3 increases to about 470 mPa s. Hence, when increasing the temperature from 15 C. to 35 C., the viscosity of ink composition Ex 3 increases to about 16.7 times the initial value. When further increasing the temperature to about 55 C., the viscosity decreases. Hence, ink composition Ex 3 comprising resin 2 as a pinning agent, shows pinning behavior.

(55) At lower temperatures, e.g. around 20 C., the ink compositions have a low viscosity and are suitable for being ejected by an inkjet print head.

(56) The viscosity of model solution A and comparative model solutions B and C was measured at several temperatures in between 5 C. and 73 C. The results are shown in FIG. 3C.

(57) At low temperatures, such as temperatures lower than about 20 C., the viscosity of the solutions is low. In FIG. 3C, it is shown that the viscosity of solution A in this temperature range is lower than 10 mPas. When increasing the temperature of the solution to about 40 C., a strong increase in viscosity occurs. Because of this increase in viscosity, the flowability of the ink will decrease when increasing the temperature, such as increasing the temperature from about 25 C. to about 40 C. When the temperature of the solution is increased further, the viscosity of the solution decreases. However, as is shown in FIG. 3C, the viscosity of the solution at 50 C. is still more than three times the viscosity of the solution at about 25 C.

(58) In contrast, the viscosity of comparative solutions B and C shows much less increase with increasing temperature. When increasing the temperature to 45 C., no significant viscosity increase is observed for comparative solutions B and C. At a temperature of about 50 C., the viscosity of comparative model solution B slightly increases to about 10 mPas. When further heating the solution, the viscosity of model solution B decreases again and at a temperature of more 73 C., the viscosity increases again to about 11 mPas. The viscosity of comparative model solution C does not show significant increase in viscosity, until a temperature of about 55 C. is reached. At a temperature of about 55 C., the viscosity increases to about 16 mPas.

(59) Hence, the model solution A, comprising a pinning agent in accordance with the present invention shows improved pinning behavior compared to the comparative model solutions B and C. The comparative model solutions B and C comprise polyethylene-polypropylene-polyethylene block copolymers (commercially available as Pluronic). These block copolymers do comprise a polyalkylene unit but do not comprise a linker. Hence, the comparative model solutions B and C do not comprise a pinning agent in accordance with the present invention.

(60) Single line printing experiments were performed on two types of medium; UPM gloss, a machine coated paper and MPI 2000, a vinyl based recording medium. For the UPM gloss medium, single line printing experiments were performed using ink composition Ex 1 and ink composition CE 1. The results are shown in FIG. 4A-4B. For the MPI 200 recording medium, single line printing experiments were performed using ink compositions Ex 1, Ex 3 and CE 1. The results are shown in FIG. 4C-4E.

(61) FIG. 4A shows lines printed using CE 1 on UPM gloss medium. FIG. 4C shows two lines made with the same ink composition on vinyl. In both cases the lines are not perfectly straight. Instead, the lines are locally thickened and the width of the lines is not uniform. Hence, line bulging has taken place. Line bulging can be observed by the human eye and decreases the print quality. Hence, line bulging is an unwanted print artifact. FIG. 4B shows two straight lines that are printed on UPM gloss medium using an ink according to the present invention (Ex 1). In FIG. 4B, no line bulging is observed. FIG. 4D shows two lines printed with ink composition Ex 1; FIG. 4E shows one line printed with ink composition Ex 3. In FIGS. 4D and 4E, the lines were printed onto vinyl. In FIGS. 4D and 4E, like in FIG. 4B, no line bulging is observed. In FIG. 4C, like in FIG. 4A, line bulging is observed.

(62) Hence, no line bulging takes place in prints made using Ex 1 and Ex 3, which are inks according to the present invention. In prints made using CE 1, which is an ink composition not in accordance with the present invention, line bulging is observed. Hence, it is shown that the inks according to the present invention Ex 1 and Ex 3. provide improved print quality, at least with regard to line bulging, which is an example of a phenomenon based on coalescence, compared to CE 1, which is an ink not according to the present invention.

(63) Detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which can be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually and appropriately detailed structure. In particular, features presented and described in separate dependent claims may be applied in combination and any combination of such claims are herewith disclosed.

(64) Further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting; but rather, to provide an understandable description of the invention. The terms a or an, as used herein, are defined as one or more than one. The term plurality, as used herein, is defined as two or more than two. The term another, as used herein, is defined as at least a second or more. The terms including and/or having, as used herein, are defined as comprising (i.e., open language).