Disclosure of Invention
In view of the above, it is necessary to provide a positive and negative electrode arc welding device for a battery pack to solve the problems in the prior art.
In order to solve the problems of the prior art, the invention adopts the technical scheme that:
an arc welding device for positive and negative electrodes of a battery pack comprises a duplex rotary table, a first conveying line and a second conveying line, wherein the duplex rotary table comprises a first rotary table and a second rotary table which rotate coaxially, the first rotary table and the second rotary table are respectively provided with a feeding station and a welding station, and the first conveying line is arranged on the outer side of the feeding station along the radial direction of the first rotary table; the second conveying line is arranged on the outer side of the feeding station of the second rotary table in the radial direction of the second rotary table; the welding stations of the first rotating disc and the second rotating disc are tangent, the first rotating disc and the second rotating disc rotate in opposite directions, and a blanking port located at the downstream of the welding stations is further arranged on the duplex workbench; the welding equipment further comprises a material presenting mechanism, a welding mechanism, a turnover mechanism and a material pushing mechanism, wherein the material presenting mechanism is arranged on the duplex workbench and is used for conveying horizontal electrode connecting strips to a welding station; the welding mechanism is arranged on the duplex workbench and is provided with a moving part which can move at the tops of the material presenting mechanism and the welding station, a first welding head and a second welding head which are arranged on the moving part, and a magnet arranged between the first welding head and the second welding head; the turnover mechanism is arranged on one side of the duplex workbench, is positioned outside the feeding station of the second turntable and is provided with a first clamping part and a second clamping part which are used for clamping the battery on the second conveying line and exchanging positions; the pushing mechanism is arranged on the outer side of the feeding station of the second rotary table and can push the battery turned by the turning mechanism to the feeding station of the second rotary table.
Preferably, the turnover mechanism further comprises a rotary cylinder, a vertical frame and a bidirectional cylinder, the rotary cylinder is arranged on the duplex rotary table and is positioned at the bottom of the outer side of the feeding station of the second rotary table, and a rotary shaft of the rotary cylinder extends in the horizontal direction; the vertical frame is arranged at the working end of the rotary cylinder, extends in the vertical direction and is positioned between the feeding station of the second rotary table and the discharging end of the second conveying line; the bidirectional cylinder is arranged on one side of the vertical frame and extends along the vertical direction; the first clamping part comprises a polished rod, a first movable block, a second movable block, a first clamping jaw, a second clamping jaw, a first connecting pin, a second connecting pin, a connecting rod and a first spring, the polished rod is arranged at the top of the rotary cylinder, and the polished rod extends along the horizontal direction; the first movable block and the second movable block are arranged on the polish rod in an opposite or back-to-back sliding manner; the first clamping jaw and the second clamping jaw are arranged on the polished rod in an opposite or back-to-back sliding manner, and both the first clamping jaw and the second clamping jaw are positioned between the first movable block and the second movable block; the first connecting pin is arranged on one side, facing the first clamping jaw, of the first movable block, and penetrates through the first clamping jaw and is in sliding fit with the first clamping jaw; the second connecting pin is arranged on one side, facing the second clamping jaw, of the second movable block, and penetrates through the second clamping jaw and is in sliding fit with the second clamping jaw; the two connecting rods are respectively and rotatably connected with the first movable block and the working end of the bidirectional cylinder, and are rotatably connected with the second movable block and the working end of the bidirectional cylinder; two first springs are sleeved on the polish rod, two ends of one first spring are respectively abutted to the opposite sides of the first movable block and the first clamping jaw, and two ends of the other first spring are respectively abutted to the opposite sides of the second movable block and the second clamping jaw.
Preferably, the second clamping part has the same structure as the first clamping part and is arranged at the bottom end of the stand.
Preferably, the pushing mechanism comprises a first push rod and a push block, the first push rod is arranged on the outer side of the feeding station of the second rotary table, the first push rod extends along the radial direction of the second rotary table, the push block is arranged at the end part of the output shaft of the first push rod, and a push groove embedded with the battery shell is formed in one side, facing the second rotary table, of the push block.
Preferably, it includes conveyer belt and storage box to be material mechanism, the conveyer belt sets up on the duplex revolving platform along the horizontal direction, the discharge end level of conveyer belt is towards the welding station of duplex revolving platform and first transfer chain, the storage box sets up on the conveyer belt, the cavity that piles up electrode connection piece along vertical direction has in the storage box, cavity bottom is equipped with the notch with external intercommunication towards one side of welding station, the length direction of electrode connection piece is followed to the notch extends, the notch top is greater than the thickness of a slice electrode connection piece with the distance of conveyer belt top surface, and be less than the thickness of two electrode connection pieces.
Preferably, the welding mechanism further comprises a side plate, a mounting plate, a sliding plate and a second push rod, the side plate is arranged at the tops of two sides of a welding station of the first rotating disc and the second rotating disc in the horizontal direction, a horizontal groove extending from the welding station to the material presenting mechanism is arranged on the side plate, a first inclined groove and a second inclined groove which incline downwards are arranged at two sides of the horizontal groove, the first inclined groove is located at the tops of the welding station of the first rotating disc and the second rotating disc, and the lower end of the second inclined groove is located at the top of the electrode presenting connecting strip of the material presenting mechanism; the mounting plate is arranged between the two side plates in a sliding mode, slides along the extending direction of the side plates, a positioning rod extending along the vertical direction is arranged at the top end of the mounting plate, positioning rods extending along the horizontal direction are arranged on two sides of the mounting plate, and the positioning rods are in sliding fit with the horizontal groove, the first chute and the second chute; the sliding plates are arranged at the tops of the two side plates in a sliding manner, and the positioning rods penetrate through the sliding plates along the vertical direction and are in sliding fit with the sliding plates; the second push rod is arranged on one side of the side plate, extends along the sliding direction of the sliding plate, and the output shaft of the second push rod is fixedly connected with the sliding plate.
Preferably, the welding mechanism further comprises a second spring, the second spring is sleeved on the positioning rod, and two ends of the second spring abut against the top end of the mounting plate and the bottom end of the sliding plate respectively.
Preferably, the fixing rod is further provided with a limiting ring coaxial with the fixing rod, and the limiting ring is located on the outer side of the side plate.
Preferably, the welding mechanism further comprises a guide rail, the guide rail is horizontally arranged on the outer side of the side plate, the guide rail extends along the sliding direction of the sliding plate, and the guide rail is in sliding fit with the sliding plate.
Preferably, a first arc groove is formed in the circumferential surface of the first rotating disc along the circumferential direction, a second arc groove is formed in the circumferential surface of the second rotating disc along the circumferential direction, a first limiting ring is arranged on the periphery of the first rotating disc, and a second limiting ring is arranged on the periphery of the second rotating disc; the first limiting ring is provided with a first feeding hole positioned on the outer side of the feeding station of the first rotary disc, and the second limiting ring is provided with a second feeding hole positioned on the outer side of the feeding station of the second rotary disc.
Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effect of this application is:
1. according to the battery welding device, the first rotating disc and the second rotating disc which are tangent to the welding stations can guide the tangency of the two batteries with opposite positive and negative poles, so that the electrode connecting sheet can be conveniently welded on the positive and negative poles of the two batteries by the welding mechanism, and the efficiency and the precision are high;
2. the battery clamping device has the advantages that the first clamping jaw and the second clamping jaw can be guided to elastically clamp the battery through the bidirectional cylinder to prevent the battery from being damaged, the second clamping part is identical to the first clamping part in structure, and the posture of the battery on the second conveying line clamped by the first clamping part or the second clamping part can be changed through rotation by starting the rotary cylinder;
3. the sliding plate is pushed to move through the second push rod, so that the magnet which is connected with the sliding plate in a sliding mode can be guided to absorb the electrode connecting sheet, and welding is further carried out;
4. this application is through starting first push rod, makes its output shaft along the radial ejector pad that promotes of second carousel, and pushes away groove and battery case gomphosis, and the battery is by elasticity centre gripping in first clamping part and second clamping part for the battery can overcome elasticity and is pushed out from first clamping part or second clamping part by the ejector pad, and then can be with the battery propelling movement to the feeding station of second carousel in.
Detailed Description
For a better understanding of the features and technical solutions of the present invention, as well as the specific objects and functions attained by the present invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and detailed description of the invention.
As shown in fig. 1-10, the present application provides a battery pack positive and negative electrode arc welding device, which includes a duplex rotary table, a first conveying line 2 and a second conveying line 3, wherein the duplex rotary table includes a first rotary table 1a and a second rotary table 1b that rotate coaxially, each of the first rotary table 1a and the second rotary table 1b has a feeding station and a welding station, and the first conveying line 2 is disposed outside the feeding station of the first rotary table 1a along the radial direction thereof; the second conveying line 3 is arranged outside the feeding station of the second rotary table 1b along the radial direction of the second rotary table; the welding stations of the first rotating disc 1a and the second rotating disc 1b are tangent, the first rotating disc 1a and the second rotating disc 1b rotate reversely, and a blanking port 1e located at the downstream of the welding stations is further arranged on the duplex workbench;
the welding equipment further comprises a material presenting mechanism 4, a welding mechanism 5, a turnover mechanism 6 and a material pushing mechanism 7, wherein the material presenting mechanism 4 is arranged on the duplex workbench, and the material presenting mechanism 4 is used for conveying horizontal electrode connecting strips to a welding station;
the welding mechanism 5 is arranged on the duplex workbench, and the welding mechanism 5 is provided with a moving part 5a which can move at the top of the material presenting mechanism 4 and the welding station, a first welding head 5b and a second welding head 5c which are arranged on the moving part 5a, and a magnet 5d which is arranged between the first welding head 5b and the second welding head 5 c;
the turnover mechanism 6 is arranged on one side of the duplex workbench, the turnover mechanism 6 is positioned outside the feeding station of the second turntable 1b, and the turnover mechanism 6 is provided with a first clamping part 6a and a second clamping part 6b which are used for clamping the battery on the second conveying line 3 and exchanging positions;
the pushing mechanism 7 is arranged on the outer side of the feeding station of the second rotating disc 1b, and the pushing mechanism 7 can push the battery turned over by the turning mechanism 6 to the feeding station of the second rotating disc 1 b.
According to the welding mechanism, the first rotating disc 1a and the second rotating disc 1b with tangent welding stations can guide the tangency of the two batteries with opposite positive and negative poles, so that the welding mechanism 5 can conveniently weld the electrode connecting sheet on the positive and negative poles of the two batteries, and the efficiency and the precision are high;
specifically, the first conveyor line 2 conveys the cylindrical battery with the anode facing upwards to the first rotary table 1a outside the duplex rotary table, and the second conveyor line 3 conveys the cylindrical battery with the anode facing upwards to the second rotary table 1b outside the duplex rotary table;
the battery with the upward anode on the first conveying line 2 enters a feeding station of a first rotating disc 1a, and the first rotating disc 1a drives the battery to rotate until the battery moves to a welding station of the battery;
the battery with the upward anode on the second conveying line 3 moves to the discharge end of the battery, the turnover mechanism 6 is started, and the first clamping part 6a and the second clamping part 6b exchange positions, so that the battery with the upward anode is clamped by the first clamping part 6a and rotates to the outer side of the feeding station of the second turntable 1b, and the battery with the upward anode is changed into the battery with the upward cathode;
starting the material pushing mechanism 7, enabling the material pushing mechanism 7 to push the battery with the upward negative electrode on the first clamping portion 6a to a feeding station of the second rotary table 1b, enabling the second rotary table 1b to rotate, enabling the second rotary table 1b to drive the battery with the upward negative electrode to move to a welding station of the second rotary table 1b, enabling the battery with the upward positive electrode on the welding station to be tangent to the battery with the upward negative electrode on the welding station due to the fact that the welding station of the first rotary table 1a and the welding station of the second rotary table 1b are tangent, starting the welding mechanism 5, enabling the moving portion 5a to drive the second welding head 5c to move to the top of the discharge end of the material forming mechanism 4, enabling the magnet 5d to adsorb one electrode connecting sheet, enabling the moving portion 5a to reset the electrode connecting sheet to move and abut against the positive and negative electrodes of the two batteries, and enabling the first welding head 5b and the first welding head 5b to abut against the electrode connecting sheet and the positive and negative electrodes of the two batteries, so that the electrode connecting sheet is welded at the top ends of the two batteries;
after the welding is finished, the first rotary table 1a and the second rotary table 1b continue to rotate reversely, so that the battery pack is separated from the welding station and moves to the blanking port 1e, and the battery pack is discharged to facilitate continuous welding.
As shown in fig. 6 and 7, the turnover mechanism 6 further includes a revolving cylinder 6c, a stand 6d and a bidirectional cylinder 6e,
the rotary cylinder 6c is arranged on the duplex rotary table, the rotary cylinder 6c is positioned at the bottom of the outer side of the feeding station of the second rotary table 1b, and a rotary shaft of the rotary cylinder 6c extends in the horizontal direction;
the vertical frame 6d is arranged at the working end of the rotary cylinder 6c, the vertical frame 6d extends in the vertical direction, and the vertical frame 6d is positioned between the feeding station of the second rotary table 1b and the discharging end of the second conveying line 3;
the bidirectional cylinder 6e is arranged on one side of the vertical frame 6d, and the bidirectional cylinder 6e extends in the vertical direction;
the first clamping part 6a comprises a polished rod 6a1, a first movable block 6a2, a second movable block 6a3, a first clamping jaw 6a4, a second clamping jaw 6a5, a first connecting pin 6a6, a second connecting pin 6a7, a connecting rod 6a8 and a first spring 6a9,
the polish rod 6a1 is arranged at the top of the rotary cylinder 6c, and the polish rod 6a1 extends along the horizontal direction;
the first movable block 6a2 and the second movable block 6a3 are arranged on the polished rod 6a1 in a sliding manner in an opposite direction or in a back-to-back direction;
the first clamping jaw 6a4 and the second clamping jaw 6a5 are arranged on the polished rod 6a1 in a sliding mode in an opposite or back mode, and the first clamping jaw 6a4 and the second clamping jaw 6a5 are located between the first movable block 6a2 and the second movable block 6a 3;
the first connecting pin 6a6 is arranged on one side of the first movable block 6a2 facing the first clamping jaw 6a4, and the first connecting pin 6a6 penetrates through the first clamping jaw 6a4 and is in sliding fit with the first clamping jaw;
the second connecting pin 6a7 is arranged on one side of the second movable block 6a3 facing the second clamping jaw 6a5, and the second connecting pin 6a7 penetrates through the second clamping jaw 6a5 and is in sliding fit with the second clamping jaw;
the two connecting rods 6a8 are respectively and rotatably connected with the working ends of the first movable block 6a2 and the bidirectional cylinder 6e, and rotatably connected with the working ends of the second movable block 6a3 and the bidirectional cylinder 6 e;
two first springs 6a9 are sleeved on the polish rod 6a1, wherein two ends of one first spring 6a9 respectively abut against opposite sides of the first movable block 6a2 and the first clamping jaw 6a4, and two ends of the other first spring 6a9 respectively abut against opposite sides of the second movable block 6a3 and the second clamping jaw 6a 5.
The battery clamping device has the advantages that the first clamping jaw 6a4 and the second clamping jaw 6a5 can be guided to elastically clamp the battery through the bidirectional cylinder 6e to prevent damage to the battery, the second clamping part 6b is identical to the first clamping part 6a in structure, and the posture of the battery on the second conveying line 3 can be changed through rotation after the first clamping part 6a or the second clamping part 6b clamps the battery through starting the rotary cylinder 6 c;
specifically, when the bidirectional cylinder 6e is actuated to move the working portions at the two ends thereof toward each other, the working portion thereof drives the first movable block 6a2 and the second movable block 6a3 to slide toward each other on the polished rod 6a1 through the connecting rod 6a8, the first movable block 6a2 is in sliding fit with the first clamping jaw 6a4 through the first connecting pin 6a6, the second movable block 6a3 is in sliding fit with the second clamping jaw 6a5 through the second connecting pin 6a7, and simultaneously, under the guidance of the two first springs 6a9, the first clamping jaw 6a4 and the second clamping jaw 6a5 can slide toward each other on the polished rod 6a1 to elastically clamp the battery, so as to prevent the battery from being clamped by the first clamping jaw 6a4 and the second clamping jaw 6a5 when the battery is rotated.
As shown in fig. 6 and 7, the second clamping portion 6b has the same structure as the first clamping portion 6a and is disposed at the bottom end of the stand 6 d.
The second clamping portion 6b can clamp the battery to exchange positions with the first clamping portion 6a by enabling the second clamping portion 6b to be identical in structure with the first clamping portion 6 a.
As shown in fig. 2, the pushing mechanism 7 includes a first push rod 7a and a push block 7b, the first push rod 7a is disposed outside the feeding station of the second rotary table 1b, the first push rod 7a extends along the radial direction of the second rotary table 1b, the push block 7b is disposed at the end of the output shaft of the first push rod 7a, and a push slot 7b1 engaged with the battery case is disposed on one side of the push block 7b facing the second rotary table 1 b.
According to the battery feeding device, the first push rod 7a is started, the output shaft of the first push rod pushes the push block 7b along the radial direction of the second rotary table 1b, the push groove 7b1 is embedded with the battery shell, the battery is elastically clamped in the first clamping portion 6a and the second clamping portion 6b, the battery can overcome the elastic force and is pushed out from the first clamping portion 6a or the second clamping portion 6b by the push block 7b, and then the battery can be pushed to the feeding station of the second rotary table 1 b.
As shown in fig. 5, it includes conveyer belt 4a and storage box 4b to be material mechanism 4, conveyer belt 4a sets up on the duplex revolving platform along the horizontal direction, the discharge end level of conveyer belt 4a is towards the welding station of duplex revolving platform and first transfer chain 2, storage box 4b sets up on conveyer belt 4a, cavity along vertical direction stack electrode connection piece has in the storage box 4b, the cavity bottom is equipped with notch 4b1 with external intercommunication towards one side of welding station, notch 4b1 extends along the length direction of electrode connection piece, the distance of notch 4b1 top and conveyer belt 4a top surface is greater than the thickness of a slice electrode connection piece, and is less than the thickness of two electrode connection pieces.
This application is through stacking the electrode connection piece in storage case 4b, under the action of gravity, the electrode connection piece butt is on storage case 4 b's the transport face, and the direction of delivery level of conveyer belt 4a is towards the welding station of first carousel 1a and second carousel 1b, notch 4b 1's height just in time can make the electrode connection piece of bottom be taken out by the conveyer belt 4a that removes, thereby pile the separation with the electrode connection piece, so that welding mechanism 5 adsorbs the electrode connection piece on the 4a discharge end of conveyer belt, again with the top of its butt two batteries on welding station.
As shown in fig. 8 and 9, the welding mechanism 5 further includes a side plate 5e, a mounting plate 5f, a sliding plate 5g and a second push rod 5h,
the side plate 5e is arranged at the tops of two sides of a welding station of the first rotary table 1a and the second rotary table 1b along the horizontal direction, a horizontal groove 5e1 extending from the welding station towards the direction of the material presenting mechanism 4 is arranged on the side plate 5e, a first inclined groove 5e2 and a second inclined groove 5e3 inclining downwards are arranged at two sides of the horizontal groove 5e1, the first inclined groove 5e2 is positioned at the top of the welding station of the first rotary table 1a and the second rotary table 1b, and the lower end of the second inclined groove 5e3 is positioned at the top of the electrode presenting connecting strip of the material presenting mechanism 4;
the mounting plate 5f is arranged between the two side plates 5e in a sliding mode, the mounting plate 5f slides along the extending direction of the side plates 5e, the top end of the mounting plate 5f is provided with a positioning rod 5f1 extending along the vertical direction, two sides of the mounting plate 5f are provided with positioning rods 5f1 extending along the horizontal direction, and the positioning rods 5f1 are in sliding fit with the horizontal groove 5e1, the first chute 5e2 and the second chute 5e 3;
the sliding plates 5g are arranged at the tops of the two side plates 5e in a sliding mode, and the positioning rods 5f1 penetrate through the sliding plates 5g in the vertical direction and are in sliding fit with the sliding plates;
the second push rod 5h is arranged on one side of the side plate 5e, the second push rod 5h extends along the sliding direction of the sliding plate 5g, and the output shaft of the second push rod 5h is fixedly connected with the sliding plate 5 g.
According to the electrode connecting piece welding device, the sliding plate 5g is pushed to move by the second push rod 5h, so that the magnet 5d can be guided by the magnet 5e in sliding connection with the sliding plate 5g to absorb the electrode connecting piece, and then welding is carried out;
specifically, the second push rod 5h is started, so that the mounting plate 5f slides on the side plate 5e in the horizontal direction, the mounting plate 5f is arranged at the bottom of the sliding plate 5g in the vertical direction through the positioning rod 5f1 in a sliding manner, the fixing rod 5f2 is in sliding fit with the horizontal groove 5e1, the first chute 5e2 and the first chute 5e2, the sliding plate 5g slides along the horizontal groove 5e1, the first chute 5e2 and the second chute 5e3 under the action of gravity, when the mounting plate 5f moves to the top of the discharge end of the first conveying line 2, the magnet 5d abuts against the discharge end of the first conveying line 2, so that the metal connecting strips on the metal connecting strips are adsorbed, then the output shaft of the second push rod 5h resets, the mounting plate 5f slides to the first chute 5e2, so that the electrodes are abutted against the top ends of the two batteries, and meanwhile, the welding heads of the first welding head 5b and the second welding head 5c are welded on the electrode connecting strips and abut against the top ends of the two batteries.
As shown in fig. 9, the welding mechanism 5 further includes a second spring 5i, the second spring 5i is sleeved on the positioning rod 5f1, and two ends of the second spring 5i respectively abut against the top end of the mounting plate 5f and the bottom end of the sliding plate 5 g.
Based on the above-described embodiment, the technical problem that the present application intends to solve is how to make the fixing lever 5f2 elastically abut on the horizontal groove 5e1, the first slanting groove 5e2, and the second slanting groove 5e3 to adjust the stability. For this reason, the present application is provided with the second spring 5i sleeved on the positioning rod 5f1, so that the mounting plate 5f and the sliding plate 5g are elastically connected, that is, the fixing rod 5f2 needs to overcome the elastic force to elastically abut on the horizontal slot 5e1, the first inclined slot 5e2 and the second inclined slot 5e 3.
As shown in fig. 9, the fixing rod 5f2 is further provided with a stop collar 5f3 coaxial therewith, and the stop collar 5f3 is located outside the side plate 5 e.
This application is through setting up the spacing ring 5f3 that is located the curb plate 5e outside on dead lever 5f2 to spacing dead lever 5f2 carries out spacingly, slides on horizontal slot 5e1, first chute 5e2 and second chute 5e3 with preventing that fixed lever 5f2 from following its axial.
As shown in fig. 9, the welding mechanism 5 further includes a guide rail 5j, the guide rail 5j is horizontally disposed outside the side plate 5e, the guide rail 5j extends along the sliding direction of the sliding plate 5g, and the guide rail 5j is slidably engaged with the sliding plate 5 g.
The present application is configured by arranging the guide rail 5j on the side plate 5e in the horizontal direction, and making both sides of the slide plate 5g slide-fit with the guide rail 5 j.
As shown in fig. 2 and 3, a first arc groove 1a1 is circumferentially arranged on the circumferential surface of the first rotary table 1a, a second arc groove 1b1 is circumferentially arranged on the circumferential surface of the second rotary table 1b, a first limit ring 1c is arranged on the periphery of the first rotary table 1a, and a second limit ring 1d is arranged on the periphery of the second rotary table 1 b; the first limiting ring 1c is provided with a first feeding hole 1c1 located on the outer side of the feeding station of the first rotary disc 1a, and the second limiting ring 1d is provided with a second feeding hole 1d1 located on the outer side of the feeding station of the second rotary disc 1 b.
This application is equipped with first carousel 1a of first arc groove 1a1 on through the periphery, and be equipped with second carousel 1b of second arc groove 1b1 on the periphery, make first carousel 1a revolve in first spacing ring 1c, and second carousel 1b is at the internal rotation of second spacing ring 1d, make anodal battery up promote the feeding station to first carousel 1a from first feed inlet 1c1, when first carousel 1a gyration, anodal battery up revolves to the welding station at the internal periphery of first spacing ring 1c, the battery that the negative pole is up promotes the feeding station to second carousel 1b from second feed inlet 1d1, when second carousel 1b gyration, the battery that the negative pole is up revolves to the welding station at the internal periphery of second spacing ring 1d, thereby tangent and butt with anodal battery up, thereby weld it.
The above examples only show one or more embodiments of the present invention, and the description is specific and detailed, but not construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. It should be noted that, for a person skilled in the art, several variations and modifications can be made without departing from the inventive concept, which falls within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present patent should be subject to the appended claims.