Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide a stalk removing device and a stalk removing method for hovenia dulcis thunb for brewing wine, and aims to solve the problems of low production efficiency and high labor cost in the background technology.
In order to achieve the purpose, the invention provides the following technical scheme:
a stalk removing device for hovenia dulcis for brewing wine comprises:
the processing machine is used for coding the hovenaia dulcis into bundles in advance;
the conveying device is used for uniformly conveying the bunched hovenia dulcis bundles from left to right at a fixed speed, and clamping the hovenia dulcis bundles in the conveying process to prevent the hovenia dulcis bundles from loosening;
the dropping device is used for dropping hovenia dulcis fruits on the hovenia dulcis bundles in the transmission process of the transmission device so as to realize the separation of hovenia dulcis stems from hovenia dulcis fruits;
the turnover box is used for receiving the hovenaia dulcis fruits fallen by the falling device;
and the supporting structure is used for assisting the transmission device to clamp the hovenia dulcis bundle so as to continuously transport the hovenia dulcis bundle rightwards.
Preferably, the processing board includes the board panel of U type structure, the fluting has been seted up towards one side of hitting the device to the board panel, fixedly connected with two barrier plates that distribute from top to bottom on the board panel of fluting position, the end angle department fixedly connected with supporting leg of board panel lower surface, the dead gyro wheel of lower extreme fixedly connected with lock of supporting leg.
Preferably, transmission device includes two conveying assemblies that distribute from top to bottom, conveying assembly includes two parallel distribution's drive roll and driven voller, be connected through the conveyer belt transmission between drive roll and the driven voller, the drive roll on board panel and the downside conveying assembly rotates with the driven voller and is connected, the surface symmetry is fixed with two sets of adjustable supports on the front side of board panel, and is two sets of adjustable support rotates with the drive roll on the upside conveying assembly respectively and is connected, the upside fixedly connected with driven gear on the front side one end outer wall of drive roll, downside fixedly connected with driving gear on the front side one end outer wall of drive roll, the driving gear meshes with driven gear mutually.
Preferably, fixed mounting has a drive mechanism who is used for driving two conveying assembly relative motion on the board panel, drive mechanism includes the fixing base, fixed mounting has first motor and the motor speed regulator one of being connected with first motor electricity on the fixing base, the output fixedly connected with rim plate of first motor, the rim plate passes through belt drive with the drive roll on the downside conveying assembly and is connected.
Preferably, the device of hitting includes the protection dustcoat, protection dustcoat and board panel fixed connection, the top fixed mounting of protection dustcoat has the second motor and the motor speed regulator two of being connected with the second motor electricity, the output fixedly connected with cylinder of second motor, a plurality of evenly distributed's of fixedly connected with iron wire on the outer wall of cylinder.
Preferably, the iron wires are distributed in a shape like a Chinese character 'pin' from top to bottom, and the iron wires are in an I-shaped structure or a U-shaped structure.
Preferably, a first notch used for the inlet of the hovenia dulcis bundle is formed in the outer wall of the left side of the protective outer cover, and a second notch used for the outlet of the hovenia dulcis handle is formed in the outer wall of the right side of the protective outer cover.
Preferably, the conveyor belt is made of composite materials, the inner layer of the conveyor belt is a fiber wire layer and a rubber layer, and the outer layer of the conveyor belt is a high-elasticity sponge layer.
Preferably, bearing structure includes supporter and under bracing body, go up the inboard that two conveyer belts were arranged in respectively to supporter and under bracing body, go up the both ends leading flank fixedly connected with connecting rod of supporter and under bracing body, connecting rod and board panel fixed connection.
A stalk removing method of hovenia dulcis for brewing wine comprises the following steps:
the method comprises the following steps: bundling the hovenaia dulcis into bundles, wherein the diameter of the handle part of the hovenaia dulcis bundle is about 1-10cm, the diameter of each bundle is approximately the same, starting a first motor through a first motor speed regulator of a transmission device, feeding the hovenaia dulcis bundle into the middle position of an upper conveyor belt and a lower conveyor belt to be clamped, enabling the fruit part of the hovenaia dulcis bundle to be inward and the handle part of the hovenaia dulcis to be outward, and regulating the speed of the conveyor belts for transmitting from left to right through the first motor speed regulator to be 0.2-2 m/s;
step two: and opening a motor speed regulator II on the knocking-down device, starting a second motor, controlling the rotating speed to be 30-500r/min, knocking down the hovenia dulcis fruits into a turnover box through a roller in the process of conveying the hovenia dulcis bundles from left to right, and continuously conveying the hovenia dulcis handles until the hovenia dulcis fruits fall to the ground at the rightmost side.
Compared with the prior art of removing the stems of the hovenaia dulcis, the invention provides a device for removing the stems of the hovenaia dulcis for brewing wine, which has the following beneficial effects:
1. according to the invention, the outer wall of the roller is fixedly connected with the plurality of iron wires which are uniformly distributed, the iron wires are of an I-shaped structure and a U-shaped structure, the iron wires of the I-shaped structure or the U-shaped structure are distributed in a delta shape from top to bottom, and the handles of the hovenia dulcis bundle are thin, so that the hovenia dulcis fruits can pass through the iron wires, but are thick and cannot pass through the hovenia dulcis fruits;
2. the conveying belt is made of composite materials, the inner layer of the conveying belt is a fiber wire layer and a rubber layer, the outer layer of the conveying belt is a high-elasticity sponge layer, the upper conveying belt and the lower conveying belt clamp the hovenia dulcis bundles in the transmission process, the composite structure used by the conveying belt can adapt to the hovenia dulcis bundles with different diameters, and the supporting structure is additionally arranged in the conveying belt, so that the deformation of the conveying belt in the transmission process can be prevented, and the hovenia dulcis handles can be always clamped;
3. the adjustable support is arranged on the processing machine table, so that the distance between the upper-layer conveyor belt and the lower-layer conveyor belt can be adjusted, the adjustable support is suitable for different sizes of raisin tree bundles, and the same-speed transmission of the two groups of conveyor belts is realized by matching with gears with proper sizes.
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 to 6, the present invention provides a device for removing stems of hovenaia dulcis for brewing wine, comprising:
processing board 1 for sign indicating number becomes the beam form with turning jujube in advance, processing board 1 includes the board panel 11 of U type structure, board panel 11 has seted up the fluting towards one side of hitting device 3, two barrier plates 14 that distribute from top to bottom of fixedly connected with on the board panel 11 of fluting position, upside barrier plate 14 is used for blocking and goes up conveyer belt 21, the barrier plate 14 of below is used for blocking conveyer belt 21 down, the turning jujube handle passes from between two barrier plates 14, barrier plate 14 can protect transmission device 2, prevent simultaneously that the turning jujube fruit from droing from the side and causing the waste, the end corner department fixedly connected with supporting leg 12 of board panel 11 lower surface, the dead gyro wheel 13 of lower extreme fixedly connected with locking of supporting leg 12, can make the equipment everywhere remove, be convenient for the locking in a certain position simultaneously.
The conveying device 2 is used for conveying the bunch-shaped hovenia dulcis bundles at a constant speed from left to right, the hovenia dulcis bundles are clamped in the conveying process to prevent the hovenia dulcis bundles from loosening, the conveying device 2 comprises two conveying assemblies which are distributed up and down, each conveying assembly comprises two driving rollers 23 and two driven rollers 22 which are distributed in parallel, the driving rollers 23 and the driven rollers 22 are in transmission connection through a conveying belt 21, the conveying belt 21 is made of composite materials, the inner layer of the conveying belt 21 is a fiber line layer and a rubber layer, the outer layer of the conveying belt 21 is a high-elasticity sponge layer, the conveying belt 21 has two functions, one is conveying, and the other is clamping the hovenia dulcis bundles in the conveying process.
Bearing structure 5, be used for the tight turning jujube of supplementary transmission device 2 clamp to restraint, make the continuous transportation of turning jujube bundle right, bearing structure 5 includes supporter 51 and under bracing body 52, the inboard of two conveyer belts 21 is arranged respectively in to last supporter 51 and under bracing body 52, go up both ends leading flank fixedly connected with connecting rod 53 of supporter 51 and under bracing body 52, connecting rod 53 and board panel 11 fixed connection, because conveyer belt 21 is soft, so install bearing structure 5 additional in conveyer belt 21, can prevent that conveyer belt 21 warp in the transmission course, make it can press from both sides tight turning jujube handle always, conveyer belt 21 uses is that composite construction can adapt to the turning jujube bundle of different diameters.
The machine table panel 11 is rotatably connected with a driving roller 23 and a driven roller 22 on a lower side conveying assembly, two groups of adjustable supports 15 are symmetrically fixed on the upper surface of the front side of the machine table panel 11, the two groups of adjustable supports 15 are respectively rotatably connected with one ends of the driving roller 23 and the driven roller 22 on the upper side conveying assembly, a driven gear 25 is fixedly connected to the outer wall of one end of the front side of the upper side driving roller 23, a driving gear 26 is fixedly connected to the outer wall of one end of the front side of the lower side driving roller 23, the driving gear 26 is meshed with the driven gear 25, the driving gear 26 and the driven gear 25 can be replaced according to the height of the adjustable supports 15, a U-shaped structure is formed between the driving roller 23 and the adjustable supports, and when the driving roller 23 and the driven roller 22 are supported, a turning jujube bundle can conveniently enter from the other side and is transmitted.
The machine table panel 11 is fixedly provided with a transmission mechanism 24 for driving the two conveying assemblies to move relatively, the transmission mechanism 24 comprises a fixed seat 241, the fixed seat 241 is fixedly provided with a first motor 244 and a first motor speed regulator 243 electrically connected with the first motor 244, the output end of the first motor 244 is fixedly connected with a wheel disc 242, the wheel disc 242 is in transmission connection with the driving roller 23 on the lower side conveying assembly through a belt 245, the first motor 244 is controlled to be switched on and switched off and rotated through the first motor speed regulator 243, so that the wheel disc 242 is driven to rotate, the driving gear 26 is driven to rotate under the transmission action of the belt 245, and the driving gear 26 is meshed with the driven gear 25, so that the driving roller 23 and the driven roller 22 rotate at the same speed in different directions, and the hovenia dulcis bundles between the extrusion are further transmitted to the right.
The dropping device 3 is used for dropping the hovenia dulcis fruits on the hovenia dulcis bundles in the transmission process of the transmission device 2 to separate the hovenia dulcis handles from the hovenia dulcis fruits, the dropping device 3 comprises a protective outer cover 31, the protective outer cover 31 is fixedly connected with the machine panel 11, a first notch 33 used for the hovenia dulcis bundles to enter is arranged on the outer wall of the left side of the protective outer cover 31, a second notch 32 used for the hovenia dulcis handles to discharge is arranged on the outer wall of the right side of the protective outer cover 31, the bottom of the protective outer cover 31 is hollowed out to facilitate the dropping of the hovenia dulcis fruits, a second motor 34 and a second motor speed regulator 35 electrically connected with the second motor 34 are fixedly arranged at the top of the protective outer cover 31, a roller 36 is fixedly connected with the output end of the second motor 34, a plurality of uniformly distributed iron wires 37 are fixedly connected on the outer wall of the roller 36, the iron wires 37 are distributed in a shape like a Chinese character ' from top to bottom ', the iron wires 37 are in an ' I ' shaped structure or a ' U ' shaped ' structure, the raisin tree bundle has thin handle, so that it can pass through the iron wire 37, while the raisin tree fruit is relatively thick and can not pass through, when the drum 36 is rotated clockwise, the raisin tree handle and raisin tree fruit can be separated by means of inertial force, the length of the iron wire 37 is 5-25cm, the number of I-shaped is 30-200, and the number of U-shaped is 20-150.
And the turnover box 4 is used for receiving the hovenaia dulcis fruits fallen by the falling device 3 and collecting the hovenaia dulcis fruits in a centralized manner.
The working principle and the using process of the invention are as follows:
the method comprises the following steps: bundling the hovenia dulcis into bundles, wherein the diameter of the handle of the hovenia dulcis bundle is about 1-10cm, and the diameter of each bundle is approximately the same. Starting a first motor 244 through a motor speed regulator I243 of the transmission device 2, feeding the hovenaia dulcis bundle into the middle position of the upper and lower conveyor belts 21 for blocking, wherein the fruit part of the hovenaia dulcis bundle is outward, the handle part of the hovenaia dulcis is inward, and adjusting the speed of the conveyor belts 21 for transmitting from left to right through the motor speed regulator I243, wherein the speed is 0.2-2 m/s;
step two: and opening a second motor speed regulator 35 on the knocking-down device 3, starting a second motor 34, controlling the rotating speed to be 30-500r/min, knocking down the hovenia dulcis fruits into the turnover box 4 through a roller 36 in the process of transmitting the hovenia dulcis bundles from left to right, and continuously transmitting the hovenia dulcis stalks until the hovenia dulcis fruits fall to the ground at the rightmost side.
Counting the number of the hovenaia dulcis which can be processed per hour under different parameters, and recording the number as the stalk removing efficiency; the quality of the removed stalk is judged by visual inspection and is marked as excellent, good, medium and poor. The hovenaia dulcis bundle is free of hovenaia dulcis fruit residues, the hovenaia dulcis fruit part is free of hovenaia dulcis stems, the hovenaia dulcis fruit shape is well kept and recorded as excellent, a little of hovenaia dulcis fruit residues are left on the hovenaia dulcis bundle, a little of hovenaia dulcis stems are left on the hovenaia dulcis fruit part, the hovenaia dulcis fruit shape is well kept and recorded as good, a lot of hovenaia dulcis fruit residues are left on the hovenaia dulcis bundle, a lot of hovenaia dulcis stems are left on the hovenaia dulcis fruit part, and poor recording is carried out. Based on the above structure, the present invention has the following embodiments:
example 1
(1) The honey raisin tree is piled into bundles, the diameter of the handle part of the honey raisin tree is about 6cm, and the diameter of each bundle is approximately the same. Turning on a switch through a motor speed regulator I243 of the transmission device 2, feeding the hovenaia dulcis bundle into the middle position of the upper and lower conveyor belts 21 for clamping, enabling the fruit part of the hovenaia dulcis bundle to be outward and the handle part of the hovenaia dulcis bundle to be inward, adjusting the speed of the conveyor belts 21 for transmission from left to right through the motor speed regulator I243, wherein the speed is 0.5m/s, and adjusting the distance between the upper and lower conveyor belts 21 through the adjustable support 15, wherein the distance is 4 cm;
(2) turning on a second motor speed regulator 35 on the dropping device 3, controlling the rotating speed to be 120r/min, during the transmission process of the hovenaia dulcis bundles from left to right, through cylinder 36, the raisin tree fruit is beaten and falls into turnover case 4, the raisin tree handle continues the transmission, fall on ground right-most, raisin tree restraints and splashes easily at the in-process of beating, cause extravagant or injury operating personnel, protection dustcoat 31 can play the effect of collecting raisin tree fruit and protection, the bottom of protection dustcoat 31 is the fretwork, the design on the left side has first breach 33, supply raisin tree to restraint to get into, the design on the right has second breach 32, supply the raisin tree handle to go out, what protection dustcoat 31 designed is quick detach structure, the convenient dismantlement is washd, cylinder 36 diameter is 10cm, highly be 30cm, iron wire 37 on the cylinder 36 is "I" type, be "article font" evenly distributed, iron wire 37 length is 15cm, quantity is 130.
Under the above conditions, the stalk removing efficiency is 480kg/h, and the stalk removing quality is excellent.
Example 2
(1) The honey raisin tree is piled into bundles, the diameter of the handle part of the honey raisin tree is about 6cm, and the diameter of each bundle is approximately the same. Turning on a switch through a motor speed regulator I243 of the transmission device 2, feeding the hovenaia dulcis bundle into the middle position of the upper and lower conveyor belts 21 for clamping, enabling the fruit part of the hovenaia dulcis bundle to be outward and the handle part of the hovenaia dulcis bundle to be inward, adjusting the speed of the conveyor belts 21 for transmission from left to right through the motor speed regulator I243, wherein the speed is 0.5m/s, and adjusting the distance between the upper and lower conveyor belts 21 through the adjustable support 15, wherein the distance is 4 cm;
(2) open and beat 3 motor speed regulator II 35 of device that falls, the control rotational speed is 120r/min, turning date bundle from left to right in the transmission process, through cylinder 36, turning date fruit is beaten and falls into turnover case 4, the turning date handle continues to transmit, drop to the rightmost ground, turning date bundle splashes easily at the in-process of beating down, cause extravagant or injury operating personnel, protective housing 31 can play the effect of collecting the turning date fruit and protection, protective housing 31's bottom is the fretwork, the design of the left side has first breach 33, supply turning date to restraint to get into, the design of the right has second breach 32, supply turning date handle to go out, protective housing 31 designs is the quick detach structure, the convenient dismantlement is washd, cylinder 36 diameter is 10cm, highly is 30 cm. Iron wires 37 on the roller 36 are U-shaped and evenly distributed in a triangular shape, and the length of the iron wires 37 is 15cm, and the number of the iron wires is 60.
Under the above conditions, the stalk removing efficiency is 480kg/h, and the stalk removing quality is excellent.
Example 3
(1) The honey raisin tree is piled into bundles, the diameter of the handle part of the honey raisin tree is about 6cm, and the diameter of each bundle is approximately the same. Turning on a switch through a motor speed regulator I243 of the transmission device 2, feeding the hovenaia dulcis bundle into the middle position of the upper and lower conveyor belts 21 for clamping, enabling the fruit part of the hovenaia dulcis bundle to be outward and the handle part of the hovenaia dulcis bundle to be inward, adjusting the speed of the conveyor belts 21 for transmission from left to right through the motor speed regulator I243, wherein the speed is 0.5m/s, and adjusting the distance between the upper and lower conveyor belts 21 through the adjustable support 15, wherein the distance is 4 cm;
(2) open and beat 3 motor speed regulator II 35 of device that falls, the control rotational speed is 300r/min, turning date bundle from left to right in the transmission process, through cylinder 36, turning date fruit is beaten and falls into turnover case 4, turning date handle continues to transmit, drop to the rightmost ground, turning date bundle splashes easily at the in-process of beating down, cause extravagant or injury operating personnel, protective housing 31 can play the effect of collecting turning date fruit and protection, protective housing 31's bottom is the fretwork, the design on the left side has first breach 33, supply turning date to restraint to get into, the design on the right has second breach 32, supply turning date handle to go out, protective housing 31 designs is the quick detach structure, the convenient washing of dismantling. The drum 36 has a diameter of 10cm and a height of 30 cm. Iron wires 37 on the roller 36 are U-shaped and evenly distributed in a triangular shape, and the length of the iron wires 37 is 15cm, and the number of the iron wires is 60.
Under the above conditions, the depiolization efficiency was 480kg/h, and the depiolization quality was good.
Example 4
(1) The honey raisin tree is piled into bundles, the diameter of the handle part of the honey raisin tree is about 6cm, and the diameter of each bundle is approximately the same. Turning on a switch through a motor speed regulator I243 of the transmission device 2, feeding the hovenaia dulcis bundle into the middle position of the upper and lower conveyor belts 21 for clamping, enabling the fruit part of the hovenaia dulcis bundle to be outward and the handle part of the hovenaia dulcis bundle to be inward, adjusting the speed of the conveyor belts 21 for transmission from left to right through the motor speed regulator I243, wherein the speed is 2m/s, and adjusting the distance between the upper and lower conveyor belts 21 through the adjustable support 15, wherein the distance is 4 cm;
(2) open and beat 3 motor speed regulator II 35 of device that falls, the control rotational speed is 120r/min, turning date bundle from left to right in the transmission process, through cylinder 36, turning date fruit is beaten and falls into turnover case 4, the turning date handle continues to transmit, drop to the rightmost ground, turning date bundle splashes easily at the in-process of beating down, cause extravagant or injury operating personnel, protective housing 31 can play the effect of collecting the turning date fruit and protection, protective housing 31's bottom is the fretwork, the design of the left side has first breach 33, supply turning date to restraint to get into, the design of the right has second breach 32, supply turning date handle to go out, protective housing 31 designs is the quick detach structure, the convenient dismantlement is washd, cylinder 36 diameter is 10cm, highly is 30 cm. Iron wires 37 on the roller 36 are U-shaped and evenly distributed in a triangular shape, and the length of the iron wires 37 is 15cm, and the number of the iron wires is 60.
Under the above conditions, the stalk removing efficiency was 1000kg/h, and the stalk removing mass was medium.
Example 5
(1) The honey raisin tree is piled into bundles, the diameter of the handle part of the honey raisin tree is about 6cm, and the diameter of each bundle is approximately the same. Turning on a switch through a motor speed regulator I243 of the transmission device 2, feeding the hovenaia dulcis bundle into the middle position of the upper and lower conveyor belts 21 for clamping, enabling fruit parts of the hovenaia dulcis bundle to be outward and handle parts of the hovenaia dulcis to be inward, adjusting the speed of the conveyor belts 21 for transmission from left to right through the motor speed regulator I243 to be 0.5m/s, adjusting the distance between the upper and lower conveyor belts 21 through the adjustable support 15 to be 6cm, and replacing a driving gear 26 and a driven gear 25 which are matched with the adjustable height of the adjustable support 15 by the transmission device 2 and enabling the driving gear 26 and the driven gear to be meshed;
(2) open and beat 3 motor speed regulator II 35 of device that falls, the control rotational speed is 120r/min, turning date bundle from left to right in the transmission course, through cylinder 36, turning date fruit is beaten and falls into turnover case 4, turning date handle continues to transmit, drop to the rightmost ground, turning date bundle splashes easily at the in-process of beating down, cause extravagant or injury operating personnel, protective housing 31 can play the effect of collecting turning date fruit and protection, protective housing 31's bottom is the fretwork, the design on the left side has first breach 33, supply turning date to restraint to get into, the design on the right has second breach 32, supply turning date handle to go out, protective housing 31 designs is the quick detach structure, the convenient washing of dismantling. The drum 36 has a diameter of 10cm and a height of 30 cm. Iron wires 37 on the roller 36 are U-shaped and evenly distributed in a triangular shape, and the length of the iron wires 37 is 15cm, and the number of the iron wires is 60.
Under the above conditions, the depulping efficiency was 480kg/h, and the depulping quality was poor.
Example 6
(1) The honey raisin tree is piled into bundles, the diameter of the handle part of the honey raisin tree is about 3cm, and the diameter of each bundle is approximately the same. Turning on a switch through a motor speed regulator I243 of the transmission device 2, feeding the raisin tree bundle into the middle position of the upper and lower conveyor belts 21 for clamping, enabling the fruit part of the raisin tree bundle to be outward and the handle part of the raisin tree bundle to be inward, adjusting the speed of the conveyor belts 21 for transmission from left to right through the motor speed regulator I243, wherein the speed is 0.5m/s, and adjusting the distance between the upper and lower conveyor belts 21 through the adjustable support 15, wherein the distance is 2 cm;
(2) open and beat 3 motor speed regulator II 35 of device that falls, the control rotational speed is 120r/min, turning date bundle from left to right in the transmission course, through cylinder 36, turning date fruit is beaten and falls into turnover case 4, turning date handle continues to transmit, drop to the rightmost ground, turning date bundle splashes easily at the in-process of beating down, cause extravagant or injury operating personnel, protective housing 31 can play the effect of collecting turning date fruit and protection, protective housing 31's bottom is the fretwork, the design on the left side has first breach 33, supply turning date to restraint to get into, the design on the right has second breach 32, supply turning date handle to go out, protective housing 31 designs is the quick detach structure, the convenient washing of dismantling. The drum 36 has a diameter of 10cm and a height of 30 cm. Iron wires 37 on the roller 36 are U-shaped and evenly distributed in a triangular shape, and the length of the iron wires 37 is 15cm, and the number of the iron wires is 60.
Under the above conditions, the stalk removing efficiency is 300kg/h, and the stalk removing quality is excellent.
Example 7
The raisin tree fruits are picked off from the raisin tree bundle in a manual mode, the stalk removing efficiency is 30kg/h, and the stalk removing quality is excellent.
The following table is a statistical table 1 of the stalk removal efficiency and stalk removal quality of hovenaia dulcis under different stalk removal conditions (i.e., examples 1-6) compared to manual stalk removal (example 7) using the present device:
TABLE 1 Calligonum mongolicum Stem-removing efficiency, Stem-removing quality statistics
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.