Replay unit for waste liquid container and image forming apparatus incorporating the relay unit

#This patent application is based on and claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119(a) to Japanese Patent Application Nos. 2014-207727, filed on Oct. 9, 2014, and 2015-023516, filed on Feb. 9, 2015, in the Japan Patent Office, the entire disclosure of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

#1. Technical Field

#Aspects of this disclosure relate to a relay unit for a waste liquid container and an image forming apparatus incorporating the relay unit.

#The aforementioned and other aspects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure would be better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

#FIG. 1 is an outer perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of this disclosure, in which a second waste liquid container is not mounted;

#FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a mechanical section of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1;

#The accompanying drawings are intended to depict embodiments of the present disclosure and should not be interpreted to limit the scope thereof. The accompanying drawings are not to be considered as drawn to scale unless explicitly noted.

#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.

#Although the embodiments are described with technical limitations with reference to the attached drawings, such description is not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure and all of the components or elements described in the embodiments of this disclosure are not necessarily indispensable.