Blow molding nozzle and blow molding machine
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of blow molding machines, in particular to a blow molding nozzle and a blow molding machine.
Background
After the liquid plastic is sprayed out, the plastic body is blown to a mould cavity with a certain shape by utilizing the wind force blown out by the machine, so that the product is made, the machine is called a blow moulding machine, the plastic is melted and extruded quantitatively in a screw extruder, then the plastic is formed by passing through a mouth film, then the air ring is blown for cooling, then the plastic body is drawn by a drawing machine at a certain speed, the plastic body is wound into a coil by a winding machine, the blow moulding is also called hollow blow moulding, and a rapidly developed plastic processing method is characterized in that a tubular plastic parison obtained by extruding or injection moulding of thermoplastic resin is placed in a split mould when the plastic parison is hot, compressed air is immediately introduced into the parison after the mould is closed, so that the plastic parison is blown to be attached to the inner wall of the mould, and various hollow products are obtained after cooling and.
In current blowing machine, need cool off the operation to the plastic products after the shaping, cool off through the air that blows off mostly, the air that blows off is the cold air of high-speed flow, consequently can play fine cooling effect to the product after the heat is moulded, because seal the product of blowing when cooling and too the loss time, so all directly adopt the cold air to spray, nevertheless because the cold air that blows off will be overflowed in the air very fast, the utilization efficiency is low, consequently, the huge consume of the energy has been caused.
Disclosure of Invention
Aiming at the defects of the prior art, the invention provides a blow molding nozzle and a blow molding machine, which solve the problem that the blown product is directly sprayed by cold air because the time for sealing the blow molding product is too long during cooling, but the blown cold air is quickly scattered in the air, so that the utilization efficiency is low, and the huge loss of energy is caused.
In order to achieve the purpose, the invention is realized by the following technical scheme: a blow molding nozzle and a blow molding forming machine comprise a base, wherein a fixed plate and a driving motor are fixedly connected with the top of the base from left to right in sequence, separating frames are fixedly connected with the front side and the rear side of the top of the base, a top plate is fixedly connected with the top of the base through a supporting frame, one sides of the two separating frames, far away from the base, are fixedly connected with the bottom of the top plate, supporting plates are fixedly connected with the surfaces of the two separating frames, a rotating motor is fixedly connected with the top of each supporting plate, the bottom end of an output shaft of the rotating motor penetrates through the top of each supporting plate and extends to the lower side of each supporting plate, the surface of the output shaft of the rotating motor is rotatably connected with an inner cavity of each supporting plate, a connecting cylinder is fixedly connected with the surface of the output shaft of the rotating motor, which, one side of the partition plate penetrates through the inner cavity of the partition frame and extends to the outer side of the partition frame, a sealing plate clamped with the surface of the partition plate is fixedly connected to the surface of the partition frame, and one end, far away from the connecting cylinder, of the connecting rod is rotatably connected with the surface of the partition plate.
Preferably, the top of the top plate is fixedly connected with a hydraulic cylinder, a blow molding machine, a gas collecting cavity and a fan in sequence from left to right, the top of the gas collecting cavity is fixedly connected with a semiconductor refrigerator, the bottom of the semiconductor refrigerator penetrates through the top of the gas collecting cavity and extends to the inner cavity of the gas collecting cavity, one end of an air outlet of the fan is communicated with an air blowing pipeline, and one end, far away from the fan, of the air blowing pipeline is communicated with the surface of the gas collecting cavity.
Preferably, the surface of the gas collecting cavity is communicated with a cold gas conveying pipeline, one end of the cold gas conveying pipeline, which is far away from the gas collecting cavity, is communicated with the surface of the partition plate, the inner cavity of the partition plate is provided with a plurality of dispersing and cooling ports communicated with the cold gas conveying pipeline, and the dispersing and cooling ports are uniformly distributed in the inner cavity of the partition plate.
Preferably, the top of the base is respectively and fixedly connected with an injection molding barrel and a feeding barrel through a support frame, the left side of the feeding barrel is fixedly connected with a feeding power mechanism, the right end of the injection molding barrel is communicated with a storage cavity, the bottom of the storage cavity is communicated with the top of the feeding barrel through a pipeline, and the surface of the injection molding barrel is communicated with a feeding hopper.
Preferably, the left end fixedly connected with motor case of a section of thick bamboo of moulding plastics to the inner chamber fixedly connected with pay-off motor of motor case, the right-hand member of pay-off motor output shaft passes through shaft coupling fixedly connected with drive shaft, the right-hand member of drive shaft from left to right runs through the motor case in proper order and moulds plastics a section of thick bamboo and extend to the inner chamber of a section of thick bamboo of moulding plastics, the surface of drive shaft rotates with the inner chamber of motor case and a section of thick bamboo of moulding plastics respectively and is connected, the drive shaft is located the fixed surface.
Preferably, the top sliding connection of base has the screw thread seat, the one end that the driving motor output shaft is close to the fixed plate passes through shaft coupling fixedly connected with threaded rod, the left end of threaded rod runs through the right side of screw thread seat and extends to the left side of screw thread seat, the surface of threaded rod and the inner chamber threaded connection of screw thread seat to the left end of threaded rod is rotated with the right side of fixed plate and is connected.
Preferably, the top of the threaded seat is fixedly connected with a lower die holder, the top of the lower die holder is connected with an upper die holder in a sealing manner, the left side of the lower die holder is communicated with a feed inlet, the right side of the feed barrel is communicated with a feed pipeline, the right end of the feed pipeline is communicated with a feed nozzle, the surface of the feed nozzle is fixedly connected with a first sealing washer, the surface of the feed nozzle is movably connected with a second sealing washer, a pressure spring is sleeved on the surface of the feed nozzle, the left end of the pressure spring is fixedly connected with the right side of the first sealing washer, one end, away from the first sealing washer, of the pressure spring is fixedly connected with the left side of the second sealing washer, and the right side of the second sealing.
Preferably, the bottom end of the hydraulic cylinder piston rod penetrates through the top of the top plate and extends to the lower portion of the top plate, the surface of the hydraulic cylinder piston rod is connected with the inner cavity of the top plate in a sliding mode, the bottom end of the hydraulic cylinder piston rod is fixedly connected with an air blowing cavity through a connecting plate, the surface of the blow molding machine is communicated with the surface of the air blowing cavity through a blow molding pipeline, the bottom of the air blowing cavity is communicated with an air blowing nozzle, the surface of the air blowing nozzle is fixedly connected with a first sleeve, and a first tensioning ring is fixedly connected between the air blowing nozzle and the first sleeve.
Preferably, the top of the upper die holder is communicated with an air inlet nozzle, the surface of the air inlet nozzle is fixedly connected with a second sleeve, and a second tensioning ring is fixedly connected to the surface between the air inlet nozzle and the second sleeve.
Preferably, the outer diameter of the blowing nozzle is the same as the inner diameter of the air inlet nozzle.
Advantageous effects
The invention provides a blow nozzle and a blow molding machine. Compared with the prior art, the method has the following beneficial effects:
(1) the blow molding nozzle and the blow molding forming machine are fixedly connected with the bottom of a top plate on one side of two separating frames far away from a base, supporting plates are fixedly connected with the surfaces of the two separating frames, rotating motors are fixedly connected with the tops of the supporting plates, the bottom ends of rotating motor output shafts penetrate through the tops of the supporting plates and extend to the lower portions of the supporting plates, the surfaces of the rotating motor output shafts are rotatably connected with inner cavities of the supporting plates, connecting cylinders are fixedly connected with the surfaces of the rotating motor output shafts below the supporting plates, connecting rods are fixedly connected with the surfaces of the connecting cylinders, partition plates are slidably connected with the inner cavities of the two separating frames, one sides of the partition plates penetrate through the inner cavities of the separating frames and extend to the outer sides of the separating frames, sealing plates clamped with the surfaces of the partition plates are fixedly connected with the surfaces of the partition, when the lower bolster that the blowing was accomplished need seal up, start to rotate the motor and drive the connecting rod and rotate for the division board is along separating the frame roll-off, carries out preliminary sealing with the closing plate, and seal lower bolster and upper die base, the cold air that blows off is along the even blowout of dispersion cooling mouth, can be quick cools down the lower bolster, and the cold air forms the circulation between separating the frame, can prolong the time that the cold air stops greatly, and the utilization ratio of the energy is higher.
(2) This blow molding nozzle and blow molding forming machine, through from left to right fixedly connected with pneumatic cylinder in proper order at the top of roof, the blowing machine, gas collection chamber and fan, the top fixedly connected with semiconductor cooler in gas collection chamber, semiconductor cooler's bottom runs through the top in gas collection chamber and extends to the inner chamber in gas collection chamber, the one end intercommunication of fan air outlet has the gas blow pipeline, and the gas blow pipeline keeps away from the one end of fan and the surface intercommunication in gas collection chamber, when cooling, refrigerate at the gas collection intracavity always through semiconductor cooler, through blowing of fan, air conditioning pipeline blows off the cold wind in the gas collection chamber along the dispersion cooling mouth on division board surface and cools down, can be quick prepare the cold air, and can keep having sufficient cold air to use always, it is more quick to use.
(3) The blow molding nozzle and the blow molding forming machine are characterized in that a lower die holder is fixedly connected to the top of a threaded seat, an upper die holder is connected to the top of the lower die holder in a sealing mode, a feed port is communicated to the left side of the lower die holder, a feed pipe is communicated to the right side of a feed barrel, a feed nozzle is communicated to the right end of the feed pipe, a first sealing washer is fixedly connected to the surface of the feed nozzle, a second sealing washer is movably connected to the surface of the feed nozzle, a pressure spring is sleeved on the surface of the feed nozzle, the left end of the pressure spring is fixedly connected with the right side of the first sealing washer, one end, away from the first sealing washer, of the pressure spring is fixedly connected with the left side of the second sealing washer, the right side of the second sealing washer is an inclined plane, the feed nozzle is driven to be inserted into the feed port through the threaded seat during blow, then make the second seal ring rise tightly to hug closely at the inner wall of feed inlet under the resilience of pressure spring, can accomplish sealed fast, convenient operation is swift, and sealing performance is good, greatly reduced the required time of processing.
(4) The blow molding nozzle and the blow molding forming machine are characterized in that the bottom end of a hydraulic cylinder piston rod penetrates through the top of a top plate and extends to the lower portion of the top plate, the surface of the hydraulic cylinder piston rod is in sliding connection with an inner cavity of the top plate, the bottom end of the hydraulic cylinder piston rod is fixedly connected with a blow cavity through a connecting plate, the surface of the blow molding machine is communicated with the surface of the blow cavity through a blow molding pipeline, the bottom of the blow cavity is communicated with a blow nozzle, the surface of the blow nozzle is fixedly connected with a first sleeve, the surface between the blow nozzle and the first sleeve is fixedly connected with a first tensioning ring, when blowing is carried out, the blow cavity is driven by a hydraulic cylinder to move downwards to drive the blow nozzle to be inserted into the air nozzle, the first sleeve is inserted into a gap between the air nozzle and a second sleeve, double sealing is carried out through the matching of the first tensioning ring and the second tensioning ring, the, air leakage can be effectively prevented.
(5) This blow molding nozzle and blow molding forming machine, there is the screw thread seat through the top sliding connection at the base, the one end that the driving motor output shaft is close to the fixed plate passes through shaft coupling fixedly connected with threaded rod, the left end of threaded rod runs through the right side of screw thread seat and extends to the left side of screw thread seat, the surface of threaded rod and the inner chamber threaded connection of screw thread seat, and the left end of threaded rod rotates with the right side of fixed plate to be connected, add man-hour, drive the screw thread seat motion through driving motor, the motion of drive die holder that can be quick, carry out the processing between each process, the required time of transportation has been practiced thrift between each process, the processing speed has been increased.
(6) This blow molding nozzle and blow molding machine, through including the base, the top of base from left to right fixedly connected with fixed plate and driving motor in proper order, the equal fixedly connected with in both sides divides the frame around the base top, and support frame fixedly connected with roof is passed through at the top of base, adds man-hour, carries out the extrusion molding in proper order, moulds plastics, blow molding and refrigerated operation, concentrates on each process flow together, carries out the processing of each process in step, and processing is faster.
(7) This blow molding nozzle and blow molding machine, a section of thick bamboo and a pay-off section of thick bamboo of moulding plastics through the support frame difference fixedly connected with at the top of base, the left side fixedly connected with pay-off power unit of a pay-off section of thick bamboo, the right-hand member intercommunication of a section of thick bamboo of moulding plastics has the storage chamber, and the top intercommunication of pipeline and a pay-off section of thick bamboo is passed through to the bottom in storage chamber, the surface intercommunication of a section of thick bamboo of moulding plastics has the feeder hopper, when carrying out the melting to the raw materials, the molten liquid circulation is advanced in the storage intracavity, place for a moment a little, make the air come-up in the melt, reduce the bubble volume in.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a front view of the structure of the present invention
FIG. 2 is a top view of the spacer structure of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the support plate structure of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a side view of the spacer structure of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a feedwell configuration of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a front view of the blowing chamber configuration of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the blowing nozzle configuration of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a top view of the nozzle structure of the present invention.
In the figure: 1-base, 2-fixed plate, 3-driving motor, 4-separation frame, 5-top plate, 6-support plate, 7-rotating motor, 8-connecting cylinder, 9-connecting rod, 10-separation plate, 11-sealing plate, 12-hydraulic cylinder, 13-blow molding machine, 14-gas collecting cavity, 15-fan, 16-semiconductor refrigerator, 17-blowing pipeline, 18-cold gas conveying pipeline, 19-dispersing cooling port, 20-injection molding cylinder, 21-feeding cylinder, 22-material storage cavity, 23-motor box, 24-feeding motor, 25-driving shaft, 26-screw seat, 27-threaded rod, 28-lower die seat, 29-upper die seat, 30-feeding port, 31-feeding pipeline, 32-feeding nozzle, 33-first sealing washer, 34-second sealing washer, 35-pressure spring, 36-blowing cavity, 37-blowing nozzle, 38-first sleeve, 39-air inlet nozzle and 40-second sleeve.
Detailed Description
The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.
Referring to fig. 1-8, the present invention provides a technical solution: a blow molding nozzle and a blow molding machine comprise a base 1, wherein the top of the base 1 is slidably connected with a threaded seat 26, the top of the threaded seat 26 is fixedly connected with a lower die seat 28, the top of the lower die seat 28 is hermetically connected with an upper die seat 29, when the lower die seat 28 after blow molding is required to be sealed, a rotating motor 7 is started to drive a connecting rod 9 to rotate, so that a partition plate 10 slides out along a partition frame 4 to be preliminarily sealed with a sealing plate 11, the lower die seat 28 and the upper die seat 29 are sealed, blown cold air is uniformly sprayed out along a dispersing cooling port 19, the lower die seat 28 can be rapidly cooled, the cold air forms circulation between the partition frame 4, the retention time of the cold air can be greatly prolonged, the utilization rate of energy is higher, the top of the upper die seat 29 is communicated with an air inlet nozzle 39, the surface of the air inlet nozzle 39 is fixedly connected with a second sleeve 40, and a second tensioning ring is fixedly connected between the air inlet nozzle 39 and the, the left side of the lower die holder 28 is communicated with a feed port 30, the right side of the feed cylinder 21 is communicated with a feed pipeline 31, the right end of the feed pipeline 31 is communicated with a feed nozzle 32, the surface of the feed nozzle 32 is fixedly connected with a first sealing washer 33, the surface of the feed nozzle 32 is movably connected with a second sealing washer 34, the surface of the feed nozzle 32 is sleeved with a pressure spring 35, the left end of the pressure spring 35 is fixedly connected with the right side of the first sealing washer 33, one end, far away from the first sealing washer 33, of the pressure spring 35 is fixedly connected with the left side of the second sealing washer 34, the right side of the second sealing washer 34 is an inclined plane, when blow molding is carried out, the feed nozzle 32 is driven by a screw seat 26 to be inserted into the feed port 30, the second sealing washer 34 is extruded and compressed by the inner wall of the feed port 30 to move leftwards, and then the second sealing washer 34, can accomplish the sealing fast, convenient and fast to operate, the sealing performance is good, the time required for processing is greatly reduced, one end of an output shaft of a driving motor 3 close to a fixed plate 2 is fixedly connected with a threaded rod 27 through a coupler, the left end of the threaded rod 27 penetrates through the right side of a threaded seat 26 and extends to the left side of the threaded seat 26, the surface of the threaded rod 27 is in threaded connection with an inner cavity of the threaded seat 26, the left end of the threaded rod 27 is rotatably connected with the right side of the fixed plate 2, during processing, the threaded seat 26 is driven to move through the driving motor 3, a lower die seat 28 can be driven to move fast, processing among various processes is carried out, the time required for transportation among various processes is saved, the processing speed is increased, the top of a base 1 is fixedly connected with an injection molding barrel 20 and a feeding barrel 21 through a supporting frame respectively, the left end of the injection barrel 20 is fixedly connected with, the feeding motor 24 is communicated with a power supply, the right end of an output shaft of the feeding motor 24 is fixedly connected with a driving shaft 25 through a coupler, the right end of the driving shaft 25 sequentially penetrates through the motor box 23 and the injection molding barrel 20 from left to right and extends to the inner cavity of the injection molding barrel 20, the surface of the driving shaft 25 is respectively and rotatably connected with the motor box 23 and the inner cavity of the injection molding barrel 20, the surface of the driving shaft 25 positioned in the inner cavity of the injection molding barrel 20 is fixedly connected with a feeding auger, the left side of the feeding barrel 21 is fixedly connected with a feeding power mechanism, the right end of the injection molding barrel 20 is communicated with a storage cavity 22, when raw materials are melted, molten liquid flows into the storage cavity 22 and is slightly placed for a while, so that air in molten liquid floats upwards, the amount of bubbles in the molten liquid is reduced, the performance of products obtained by blow molding is better, the surface of the injection molding cylinder 20 is communicated with a feed hopper, the top of the base 1 is fixedly connected with a fixed plate 2 and a driving motor 3 sequentially from left to right, the driving motor 3 is communicated with a power supply, the front side and the rear side of the top of the base 1 are fixedly connected with separating frames 4, the top of the base 1 is fixedly connected with a top plate 5 through a supporting frame, one side of each separating frame 4 far away from the base 1 is fixedly connected with the bottom of the top plate 5, the top of the top plate 5 is fixedly connected with a hydraulic cylinder 12, a blow molding machine 13, a gas collecting cavity 14 and a fan 15 sequentially from left to right, the hydraulic cylinder 12 is communicated with the power supply, the bottom end of a piston rod of the hydraulic cylinder 12 penetrates through the top of the top plate 5 and extends to the lower part of the top plate 5, the surface of the piston rod of the hydraulic cylinder 12 is slidably connected with, when blowing, the pneumatic cylinder 12 drives the blowing cavity 36 to move downwards to drive the blowing nozzle 37 to be inserted into the blowing nozzle 39, the first sleeve 38 is inserted into a gap between the blowing nozzle 39 and the second sleeve 40, double sealing is performed through the matching of the first tensioning ring and the second tensioning ring, effective sealing can be performed, the sealing effect is good, and air leakage can be effectively prevented, the bottom of the blowing cavity 36 is communicated with the blowing nozzle 37, the outer diameter of the blowing nozzle 37 is the same as the inner diameter of the blowing nozzle 39, the surface of the blowing nozzle 37 is fixedly connected with the first sleeve 38, the surface between the blowing nozzle 37 and the first sleeve 38 is fixedly connected with the first tensioning ring, the surface of the gas collecting cavity 14 is communicated with the cold air conveying pipeline 18, one end of the cold air conveying pipeline 18, far away from the gas collecting cavity 14, is communicated with the surface of the partition plate 10, the inner cavity of the partition plate 10 is provided with the dispersive cooling port 19 communicated with the cold air conveying pipeline 18, the plurality of dispersing cooling ports 19 are uniformly distributed in the inner cavity of the partition plate 10, the top of the gas collecting cavity 14 is fixedly connected with a semiconductor refrigerator 16, when the semiconductor refrigerator 16 cools in the gas collecting cavity 14 all the time, the cold air is blown out by the fan 15, the cold air conveying pipeline 18 blows out the cold air in the gas collecting cavity 14 along the dispersing cooling ports 19 on the surface of the partition plate 10 for cooling, the cold air can be rapidly prepared, sufficient cold air can be kept for use all the time, the cold air is more rapidly used, the bottom of the semiconductor refrigerator 16 penetrates through the top of the gas collecting cavity 14 and extends to the inner cavity of the gas collecting cavity 14, one end of an air outlet of the fan 15 is communicated with the air blowing pipeline 17, one end of the air blowing pipeline 17, which is far away from the fan 15, is communicated with the surface of the gas collecting cavity 14, the surfaces of the two partition frames 4 are fixedly connected with the, the rotary motor 7 is communicated with a power supply, the bottom end of an output shaft of the rotary motor 7 penetrates through the top of the support plate 6 and extends to the lower part of the support plate 6, the surface of the output shaft of the rotary motor 7 is rotatably connected with the inner cavity of the support plate 6, the surface of the output shaft of the rotary motor 7, which is positioned below the support plate 6, is fixedly connected with a connecting cylinder 8, the surface of the connecting cylinder 8 is fixedly connected with a connecting rod 9, the inner cavities of the two separation frames 4 are both slidably connected with a separation plate 10, one side of the separation plate 10 penetrates through the inner cavity of the separation frame 4 and extends to the outer side of the separation frame 4, the surface of the separation frame 4 is fixedly connected with a sealing plate 11 clamped with the surface of the separation plate 10, one end, far away from the connecting cylinder 8, of the connecting rod 9 is rotatably connected with the surface of the separation plate, the processing is faster.
When the device is used, the driving motor 3 is started to drive the threaded rod 27 to rotate, the lower die holder 28 is driven to move leftwards through the threaded seat 26, so that the feeding pipeline 31 of the feeding barrel 21 drives the feeding nozzle 32 to be inserted into the feeding hole 30, the second sealing washer 34 is extruded and compressed by the inner wall of the feeding hole 30 to move leftwards, then the second sealing washer 34 is tightly and tightly attached to the inner wall of the feeding hole 30 under the resilience of the pressure spring 35, sealing is completed, the hydraulic cylinder 12 is started to drive the blowing cavity 36 to move downwards after the sealing is finished, the blowing nozzle 37 is driven to be inserted into the feeding nozzle 39, the first sleeve 38 is inserted into a gap between the feeding nozzle 39 and the second sleeve 40, double sealing is performed through the matching of the first tensioning ring and the second tensioning ring, at the time, raw materials are added through the feeding hopper, the feeding motor 24 is driven, molten melt liquid which is melted through the driving, slightly cooling, pumping through a feeding barrel 21, introducing into the inner cavity of the lower die holder 28 along a feeding hole 30, starting the blow molding machine 13, blowing air through an air blowing nozzle 37 by the blow molding machine 13, performing blow molding, withdrawing the hydraulic cylinder 12 after the blow molding is completed, driving an air blowing cavity 36 to move upwards, starting the driving motor 3 to drive the lower die holder 28 to move into the separation frame 4, starting the rotating motor 7 to drive the connecting rod 9 to rotate through the connecting barrel 8, driving the partition plate 10 to slide and extend out of the separation frame 4 by the rotation of the connecting rod 9, performing primary sealing with the sealing plate 11, sealing the lower die holder 28 and the upper die holder 29, after the sealing is completed, refrigerating the semiconductor refrigerator 16 in the air collection cavity 14 all the time, blowing air through a fan 15, blowing out the dispersed cooling holes 19 on the surface of the partition plate 10 in the air collection cavity 14 through a cold air conveying pipeline 18 to cool, and, and (3) retracting the partition plate 10, demolding between the upper die holder 29 and the lower die holder 28, and taking out the blow molding piece to finish the processing.
It is noted that, herein, relational terms such as first and second, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Also, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.
Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.