The present invention claims priority of chinese patent application with application number 201910803936.0, entitled "touch feedback module and touch device" submitted by chinese office of acceptance of china on 28/08/2019, and some contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL
Therefore, it is necessary to provide a touch feedback module and a touch device to solve the problem that the touch feedback module easily causes the touch pad to have obvious downward movement feeling and even causes the touch pad to sink when being pressed, so as to improve user experience.
The utility model provides a touch-control feedback module, includes and hangs pterygoid lamina, transmission structure, touch pad, piezoelectric motor and has elastic buffering subassembly, transmission structure reaches piezoelectric motor set up in hang the pterygoid lamina, just piezoelectric motor is located transmission structure encloses into the region, the touch pad erects in transmission structure keeps away from hang one side of pterygoid lamina, still including having elastic buffering subassembly, the buffering subassembly sets up hang the pterygoid lamina and deviate from one side of transmission structure, and at least part the buffering subassembly is located hang the border position of pterygoid lamina.
In the touch control feedback module, the touch pad is erected on the suspension wing plate through the transmission structure, the piezoelectric motor is arranged on the suspension wing plate, when external force presses the touch pad, the force is transmitted to the suspension wing plate through the transmission structure, and the suspension wing plate and the buffer component are bent and deformed due to the elasticity of the buffer component, so that the piezoelectric motor is driven to generate voltage output through positive piezoelectric effect to realize pressure sensing; at the moment, the piezoelectric motor receives a voltage signal, and the action of force is generated through the inverse piezoelectric effect, so that the suspension wing plate and the buffer assembly are driven to be bent and deformed, and vibration is transmitted to the touch pad through the transmission structure, so that touch control feedback is realized; because the one side that hangs the pterygoid lamina and deviate from transmission structure is provided with the buffering subassembly to at least some buffering subassembly is located the border position of hanging the pterygoid lamina, and the buffering subassembly can hinder and hang the pterygoid lamina and warp downwards when pressing, reduces the range of hanging the pterygoid lamina and vibrating downwards, avoids causing the touch pad obvious sense that moves down to appear, improves user experience.
In one embodiment, the piezoelectric motor is disposed on a surface of the flap plate near the touch plate, and a support is disposed on a surface of the flap plate facing away from the piezoelectric motor, wherein:
the support part is provided with an abutting part and a plate body, the abutting part is connected with and abutted against the middle position of the suspended wing plate, the plate body is connected with the abutting part and extends towards the outer side of the abutting part along the stacking direction which is vertical to the abutting part and the suspended wing plate, and a gap is formed between the surface of the plate body facing the suspended wing plate and the suspended wing plate;
the buffer assembly is located in the gap and arranged on the surface, facing the suspension wing plate, of the plate body.
In the touch feedback module, the abutting part abuts against the middle position of the suspended wing plate so that the supporting part supports the suspended wing plate, a gap is formed between the plate body and the suspended wing plate, and the gap is a vibration space of the suspended wing plate and ensures that the suspended wing plate has a certain vibration amplitude; through set up the buffering subassembly on the surface of plate body orientation hanging pterygoid lamina, can prevent that the finger from pressing the touch pad when the clearance is too big and the obvious sense that moves down that appears, and this buffering subassembly has elasticity, can prevent that the clearance is too little to making the high and pressure sensing output signal undersize when pressing of requirement.
In one embodiment, the projections of the buffer component and the abutting part on the suspension wing plate completely cover the suspension wing plate, so that no matter the touch pad is pressed at different positions, the buffer component blocks the suspension wing plate from deforming downwards, the amplitude of downward vibration of the suspension wing plate is reduced, and the touch pad is prevented from generating obvious downward movement feeling.
In one embodiment, one side of the suspension wing plate facing the touch plate is provided with at least one limiting structure, the height of the limiting structure is not larger than that of the transfer structure, and the direction of the height is perpendicular to the surface of one side of the touch plate facing the suspension wing plate, so that the vibration amplitude of the touch plate is limited by the limiting structure, and the vibration amplitude of the touch plate relative to the suspension wing plate is reduced.
In one embodiment, the height of the limiting structure is smaller than that of the transmission structure, so that a certain distance is formed between the limiting structure and the touch pad, the touch pad is prevented from being mechanically damaged due to the fact that the touch pad touches the limiting structure in the downward vibration process, and meanwhile the downward vibration amplitude of the touch pad is increased.
In one embodiment, the limiting structure is an elastic piece, the height of the limiting structure is the same as that of the transmission structure, and in the process that the touch pad vibrates downwards, the limiting structure made of the elastic deformation material is pressed to deform, so that the touch pad is prevented from touching the limiting structure to cause mechanical damage.
In one embodiment, the stop structure comprises a first stop structure disposed on a surface of the piezoelectric motor facing the touch plate; and/or, limit structure is including setting up hang the pterygoid lamina and face second limit structure on the surface of touch pad, and limit structure's specific position has the multiple to be suitable for not unidimensional touch-control feedback module.
In one embodiment, the damping assembly is disposed on a surface of the suspension flap facing away from the transmission structure to enable the suspension flap to freely vibrate up and down under the action of the piezoelectric motor.
In one embodiment, the driving signal of the piezoelectric motor is a dc bias signal, and is used to control the suspension plate to vibrate in a direction toward the touch pad, so that the piezoelectric motor generates a force effect through an inverse piezoelectric effect after receiving the voltage signal, and drives the suspension plate and the buffer assembly to vibrate only upward, and the upward vibration is transmitted to the touch pad through the transmission structure, so as to reduce the downward movement sense of the touch pad during touch feedback.
Additionally, the utility model also provides a touch device, include as above any embodiment the touch-control feedback module.
In above-mentioned touch device, because the touch-control feedback module can hinder the hanging wing board and warp downwards when pressing the buffering subassembly, reduce the range of hanging wing board vibration downwards, avoid causing the touch pad obvious sense that moves down to appear, consequently, the user experience of the touch device who has this touch-control feedback module is better, and the product is pleasing to the eye, and life is longer.
Detailed Description
In order to make the above objects, features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein, as those skilled in the art will be able to make similar modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "secured to" another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may also be present.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
As shown in fig. 1, a touch feedback module 100 includes a suspension plate 110, a transmission structure 120, a touch pad 130, a piezoelectric motor 140, and a buffer assembly 150, wherein the suspension plate 110 is used for carrying the piezoelectric motor 140 and may be made of aluminum alloy, bakelite, glass, stainless steel, other alloy materials, and the specific material of the suspension plate 110 is determined according to the actual situation of the touch feedback module 100; the transmission structure 120 is used for transmitting the force, and may be made of elastic materials such as foam, rubber, and plastic, or made of rigid materials and connected with the suspension wing plate 110 through elastic glue, and the transmission structure 120 is arranged on the surface of the suspension wing plate 110 in a surrounding manner and forms a surrounding area 121; the piezoelectric motor 140 may be made of an organic piezoelectric material, an inorganic ceramic piezoelectric material, a single crystal piezoelectric material, a lead-free piezoelectric material, or the like, and is disposed on the surface of the suspended wing plate 110 by deposition, adhesion, snap connection, concave-convex fit connection, or the like, and is located in the enclosed region 121; the touch pad 130 is suspended above the suspension plate 110 by two sets of transmission structures 120, and a certain distance is formed between the touch pad 130 and the piezoelectric motor 140 to prevent the piezoelectric motor 140 from being damaged by pressure.
The buffer component 150 has elasticity and is made of an elastic deformation material, the elastic deformation material may be silica gel, elastic polyurethane, foam, or the like, and certainly is not limited to the above materials, and may also be other materials with elastic deformation characteristics, such as rubber, plastic, or the like, and the specific material of the buffer component 150 is determined according to the actual situation of the touch feedback module 100; the buffer assembly 150 is disposed on a side of the suspended wing plate 110 facing away from the transmission structure 120, and is used to block the downward vibration of the suspended wing plate 110, when the buffer assembly 150 is disposed at an edge position of the suspended wing plate 110, the buffer assembly 150 may be disposed only at the edge position of the suspended wing plate 110, and there may be a buffer assembly 150 disposed in a region other than the edge position of the suspended wing plate 110, so as to further reduce the downward vibration amplitude of the suspended wing plate 110.
In the touch feedback module 100, the touch pad 130 is suspended on the suspended wing plate 110 through the transmission structure 120, the piezoelectric motor 140 is disposed on the suspended wing plate 110, when an external force presses the touch pad 130, the force is transmitted to the suspended wing plate 110 through the transmission structure 120, and because the buffer assembly 150 has elasticity, the suspended wing plate 110 and the buffer assembly 150 are bent and deformed, and the piezoelectric motor 140 is driven to generate voltage output through a positive piezoelectric effect, so as to realize pressure sensing; at this time, the piezoelectric motor 140 receives the voltage signal, and generates a force effect through an inverse piezoelectric effect, so as to drive the suspension plate 110 and the buffer assembly 150 to generate bending deformation, so that vibration is transmitted to the touch pad 130 through the transmission structure 120, thereby implementing touch feedback; because the one side that the suspended wing plate 110 deviates from the transmission structure 120 is provided with the buffer assembly 150, and at least part of the buffer assembly 150 is located at the edge position of the suspended wing plate 110, the buffer assembly 150 can prevent the suspended wing plate 110 from deforming downwards when being pressed, so that the amplitude of the downward vibration of the suspended wing plate 110 is reduced, the touch pad 130 is prevented from obviously moving downwards, and the user experience is improved.
On the basis of the touch feedback module 100, in order to further reduce the downward vibration amplitude of the suspended wing plate 110, in a preferred embodiment, as shown in fig. 2, the piezoelectric motor 140 is disposed on a surface of the suspended wing plate 110 close to the touch pad 130, and a support 160 is disposed on a surface of the suspended wing plate 110 away from the piezoelectric motor 140, the support 160 provides a supporting function for the suspended wing plate 110, and the support 160 can also limit the vibration amplitude of the suspended wing plate 110, so as to increase the service life of the suspended wing plate 110, and when specifically disposed, the support 160 may be made of aluminum alloy, bakelite, glass, stainless steel, other alloy materials, and the like;
the support member 160 has an abutting portion 161 and a plate body 162, the abutting portion 161 is connected to the middle position of the suspended wing plate 110 by means of snap connection, concave-convex fit connection, screw connection, adhesion and the like, and the suspended wing plate 110 and the support member 160 are abutted by the abutting portion 161, so that the contact reliability of the support member 160 and the suspended wing plate 110 is increased; the plate 162 is connected to the abutting portion 161 and extends outward of the abutting portion 161 in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the abutting portion 161 and the suspended wing plate 110, and a gap is provided between the surface of the plate 162 facing the suspended wing plate 110 and the suspended wing plate 110;
the buffer assembly 150 is located in the gap, so that the movement space of the suspended wing plate 110 in the gap is small, and the up-and-down vibration amplitude of the suspended wing plate 110 is small; the buffer assembly 150 can be disposed in various ways in the gap, for example, one part of the buffer assembly 150 can be disposed on the surface of the plate 162 facing the suspension plate 110, the other part of the buffer assembly 150 can be disposed on the surface of the suspension plate 110 facing the plate 162, and even the buffer assembly 150 connects the plate 162 and the two opposite surfaces of the suspension plate 110, and in order to ensure that the suspension plate 110 can freely vibrate up and down under the action of the piezoelectric motor 140, the buffer assembly 150 is not disposed on the two opposite surfaces of the plate 162 and the suspension plate 110 at the same time, and in particular, the buffer assembly 150 can be disposed on the surface of the plate 162 facing the suspension plate 110, or the buffer assembly 150 can be disposed on the surface of the suspension plate 110 facing the plate 162.
In the touch feedback module 100, the abutting portion 161 abuts against the middle position of the suspended plate 110, so that the supporting member 160 supports the suspended plate 110; the surface of the plate 162 opposite to the suspended wing plate 110 may be a plane parallel to the suspended wing plate 110, or an inclined surface inclined toward the suspended wing plate 110, or an arc surface with a bending direction deviating from the suspended wing plate 110, a gap is formed between the plate 162 and the suspended wing plate 110, the gap is a space in which the suspended wing plate 110 vibrates up and down, a certain vibration amplitude of the suspended wing plate 110 is ensured in the gap, the size of the gap determines the vibration amplitude of the suspended wing plate 110, and the size of the specific gap is determined according to the actual condition of the touch feedback module 100; by providing the cushion member 150 on the surface of the plate 162 facing the suspended wing plate 110 or providing the cushion member 150 on the surface of the suspended wing plate 110 facing the plate 162, the gap between the suspended wing plate 110 and the plate 162 can be reduced, so that the vertical vibration amplitude of the suspended wing plate 110 is small; referring to fig. 2 and 3, when the buffer assembly 150 is disposed on the surface of the plate 162 facing the suspension plate 110, the user's hand is usedWhen the finger presses the touch panel 130, the touch panel 130 can generate vibration displacement Δ s uniformly in the stacking direction by the touch feedback action of the piezoelectric motor 1402Vibration displacement Δ s of touch panel 013 in the stacking direction in the related art1Compare comparatively obvious reduction, hang wing plate 110's upper and lower vibration range is less to be difficult for appearing obvious the sensation that moves down when making the finger press touch pad 130, simultaneously, this buffer unit 150 has elasticity, and hang wing plate 110 and buffer unit 150 and all can take place bending deformation when the finger presses touch pad 130, so that piezoelectric motor 140 perception pressure, so can prevent that the clearance is too little to the manufacturing requirement height and when pressing pressure-sensitive output signal undersize.
The specific structure of the buffer member 150 may be a certain length extending inward from the end position of the suspended wing plate 110, or may be other structures, and in order to further reduce the downward movement feeling of the touch pad 130 when pressed, specifically, the projection of the buffer member 150 and the abutting portion 161 on the suspended wing plate 110 completely covers the suspended wing plate 110; when the damping member 150 is disposed on the surface of the suspension plate 110 facing the plate 162, the damping member 150 completely covers the suspension plate 110 except for the contact area with the abutment portion 161; as shown in fig. 4, when the buffering assembly 150 may be disposed on a surface of the plate 162 facing the suspension plate 110, the buffering assembly 150 completely covers the plate 162.
In the touch feedback module 100, because the portion of the suspended wing plate 110 in contact with the abutting portion 161 does not vibrate up and down, the projections of the buffer assembly 150 and the abutting portion 161 on the suspended wing plate 110 completely cover the suspended wing plate 110, so that no matter where the touch pad 130 is pressed at different positions, the buffer assembly 150 blocks the suspended wing plate 110 from deforming downwards, the amplitude of the downward vibration of the suspended wing plate 110 is reduced, and the touch pad 130 is prevented from generating obvious downward movement. In a specific setting, the thickness of the buffer assembly 150 in the stacking direction may be smaller than the distance between the plate 162 and the suspended wing plate 110, the thickness of the buffer assembly 150 in the stacking direction may also be equal to the distance between the plate 162 and the suspended wing plate 110, and the specific thickness of the buffer assembly 150 in the stacking direction may be determined according to the actual situation of the touch feedback module 100.
Certainly, what can realize that the suspended wing plate 110 supports is not limited to the structural form of the supporting member 160, but may also be other supporting structures, for example, the supporting structure may be directly a host casing of the touch device, and the touch feedback module 100 is directly fixed to the host casing by glue adhesion, screw locking, and a male-female snap manner, at this time, the buffer assembly 150 is disposed on a surface of the suspended wing plate 110 facing away from the transmission structure 120, as shown in fig. 5, the buffer assembly 150 completely faces away from the surface of the suspended wing plate 110 facing away from the transmission structure 120, and of course, the buffer assembly 150 may also partially cover the surface of the suspended wing plate 110 facing away from the transmission structure 120.
The supporting structure may be a protrusion 111 on a side of the suspended wing plate 110 facing away from the piezoelectric motor 140, where the protrusion 111 is used to support the whole structure, and provide a fulcrum for vibration for the suspended wing plate 110, and the suspended wing plate is assembled in the host housing by glue bonding, screw locking, and male-female snap fastening, in a preferred embodiment, the buffer assembly 150 is disposed on a surface of the suspended wing plate 110 facing away from the transmission structure 120, as shown in fig. 6, the buffer assembly 150 completely suspends other areas of the surface of the suspended wing plate 110 facing away from the transmission structure 120 except for the protrusion 111, and of course, the buffer assembly 150 may also partially cover the surface of the suspended wing plate 110 facing away from the transmission structure 120.
In order to limit the vibration amplitude of the touch pad 130 relative to the suspension plate 110 on the basis of the touch feedback module 100, and further reduce the downward movement feeling of the touch pad 130 when pressed, in a preferred embodiment, as shown in fig. 7, at least one limit structure 170 is disposed on one side of the suspension plate 110 facing the touch pad 130, and the height of the limit structure 170 is not greater than the height of the transmission structure 120, and the height is in a direction from the suspension plate 110 to the touch pad 130. In a specific setting, in order to avoid mechanical damage when the touch pad 130 contacts the limiting structure 170, the limiting structure 170 is made of materials with elasticity, such as foam, rubber, and plastic, and the hardness is less than 80A, and the limiting structure may also be other materials capable of achieving a buffering performance, for example, the limiting structure 170 may be made of an EVA porous plate (ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer) with a hardness of 30A-50A.
In the touch feedback module 100, the existence of the limiting structure 170 enables the gap between the pendant plate 110 and the touch pad 130 to be small, so that the vibration amplitude of the touch pad 130 is limited by the limiting structure 170, and the vibration amplitude of the touch pad 130 relative to the pendant plate 110 is reduced. In a specific configuration, the shape of the limiting structure 170 may have various forms, such as a rectangular parallelepiped, a square, a cylinder, and a ring, and the specific shape of the limiting structure 170 is determined according to the actual conditions of the piezoelectric motor 140 and the touch feedback module 100.
It should be noted that, in the touch feedback module 100, in order to improve the uniformity of pressure sensing and the uniformity of touch feedback, the central lines X of the suspended wing plates 110, the transmission structures 120, the touch pad 130, the piezoelectric motor 140, the buffer assembly 150, and the limiting structures 170 are all distributed in a symmetrical structure, at this time, different positions of the touch pad 130 are pressed, the fluctuation range of the voltage signal output by the piezoelectric motor 140 is small, the uniformity of pressure sensing is high, the piezoelectric motor 140 receives the voltage signal, the touch pad 130 can generate uniform displacement along the stacking direction, and the uniformity of touch feedback is good.
In order to further avoid mechanical damage when the touch pad 130 contacts the position limiting structure 170, specifically, as shown in fig. 7, the height of the position limiting structure 170 is smaller than the height of the transmitting structure 120, and the height is perpendicular to the direction of the touch pad 130 toward the pendant plate 110; in the touch feedback module 100, the height of the limiting structure 170 is limited to be smaller than the height of the transmission structure 120, so that a certain distance is formed between the limiting structure 170 and the touch pad 130, and further, the touch pad 130 is prevented from being mechanically damaged due to the fact that the limiting structure 170 is touched in the downward vibration process, and meanwhile, the downward vibration amplitude of the touch pad 130 is increased.
In order to further reduce the amplitude of the downward vibration of the touch pad 130, as shown in fig. 7, specifically, the height of the limit structure 170 is the same as the height of the transmission structure 120, and the height direction is a direction from the suspension plate 110 to the touch pad 130, at this time, the touch pad 130 is in contact with the limit structure 170, so as to avoid mechanical damage when the touch pad 130 vibrates downward, the limit structure 170 is an elastic member, the material of the elastic member may be silicon rubber, elastic polyurethane, foam, and the like, and of course, the limit structure is not limited to the above materials, and may also be other materials with elastic deformation characteristics, such as rubber, plastic, and the like, and the specific material of the limit structure 170 is determined according to the actual situation of the touch feedback module 100. In the touch feedback module 100, in the process of downward vibration of the touch pad 130, the limit structure 170 made of an elastically deformed material is pressed to deform, so that the downward vibration amplitude of the touch pad 130 is small, and mechanical damage caused by the touch pad 130 touching the limit structure 170 can be avoided.
More specifically, the specific positions of the position limiting structure 170 are various, and in order to adapt to the touch feedback modules 100 with different sizes, the position of the position limiting structure 170 is set in the following manner:
first, as shown in fig. 7 and 8, the limiting structure 170 includes a first limiting structure 171 and a second limiting structure 172, the first limiting structure 171 is disposed on a surface of the piezoelectric motor 140 facing the touch pad 130, and the second limiting structure 172 is disposed on a surface of the pendant plate 110 facing the touch pad 130;
secondly, as shown in fig. 9 and 10, the limiting structure 170 only includes the first limiting structure 171, and the first limiting structure 171 is disposed on the surface of the piezoelectric motor 140 facing the touch panel 130;
third, as shown in fig. 11 and 12, the limiting structure 170 only includes the second limiting structure 172, and the second limiting structure 172 is disposed on the surface of the pendant plate 110 facing the touch pad 130;
it should be noted that the connection manner of the limiting structure 170 to the piezoelectric motor 140 may be a mechanical type, such as a snap connection, a male-female fit connection, or a threaded connection, or an adhesive type, such as an OCA optical adhesive, an OCR optical adhesive, a double-sided adhesive, or the like. Similarly, the connection manner of the limiting structure 170 to the suspended wing plate 110 may be a mechanical type, such as a snap connection, a male-female fit connection, or a threaded connection, or an adhesive type, such as an OCA optical adhesive, an OCR optical adhesive, a double-sided adhesive, or the like.
In order to further reduce the downward movement feeling of the touch pad 130 when pressed, in a preferred embodiment, the driving signal of the piezoelectric motor 140 is a dc bias signal for controlling the flap plate 110 to vibrate in a direction toward the touch pad 130.
In the touch feedback module 100, since the driving signal of the piezoelectric motor 140 is a dc offset signal, when the touch pad 130 is pressed by an external force, the piezoelectric motor 140 generates a force by an inverse piezoelectric effect after receiving the voltage signal, and drives the suspension plate 110 and the buffer assembly 150 to vibrate only upwards, so that the upward vibration is transmitted to the touch pad 130 through the transmission structure 120, and the touch pad 130 vibrates only upwards during touch feedback without moving downwards; because one side that the suspended wing plate 110 deviates from the transmission structure 120 is provided with the buffer assembly 150, and at least part of the buffer assembly 150 is located at the edge position of the suspended wing plate 110, the buffer assembly 150 can hinder the suspended wing plate 110 from deforming downwards when pressing, the amplitude of the downward vibration of the suspended wing plate 110 when reducing pressure sensing is reduced, and the touch pad 130 is prevented from being obviously moved downwards, so that the touch feedback module 100 cannot cause the touch pad 130 to be obviously moved downwards when performing touch feedback and pressure sensing, and the user experience is improved.
In addition, the present invention further provides a touch device, which includes the touch feedback module 100 according to any of the above embodiments. The touch device includes, but is not limited to, a notebook computer, a mobile phone, a vehicle-mounted device, and other devices requiring touch feedback and pressure sensing. For example, if the touch device is a notebook computer, the touch feedback module 100 is an input touch feedback module of the notebook computer, which is also called a PC touch feedback module.
In the above touch device, since the buffer component 150 can hinder the downward deformation of the suspension plate 110 when the touch feedback module 100 is pressed, the downward vibration amplitude of the suspension plate 110 is reduced, and the obvious downward movement of the touch pad 130 is avoided, the user experience of the touch device with the touch feedback module 100 is better, the product is beautiful, and the service life is longer.
The technical features of the embodiments described above may be arbitrarily combined, and for the sake of brevity, all possible combinations of the technical features in the embodiments described above are not described, but should be considered as being within the scope of the present specification as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of the technical features.
The above-mentioned embodiments only represent some embodiments of the present invention, and the description thereof is specific and detailed, but not to be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. It should be noted that, for those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the present invention, several variations and modifications can be made, which are within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be subject to the appended claims.