CN109673115B - Terminal equipment - Google Patents

The embodiment of the invention discloses terminal equipment, which comprises a first cover plate and a second cover plate arranged opposite to the first cover plate, wherein an elastic device is arranged on the first cover plate, a supporting mechanism is arranged on the second cover plate, and the supporting mechanism can support a feeder line, so that the heights of one end and the other end of the feeder line relative to the second cover plate are different; when the first cover plate slides relative to the second cover plate, the elastic device is driven to move along the feeder line, and the contact head is kept in electrical connection with the feeder line through the extension and retraction of the extension and retraction mechanism. In the embodiment of the invention, the support device enables one section of the feeder to be higher than the other end of the feeder, so that the elastic device can move along the inclined feeder, and friction between the elastic device and the feeder can be reduced; and the telescopic mechanism on the elastic device can be lengthened or shortened, so that the electric connection between the contact head and the feeder can be ensured, and the communication between the first cover plate and the second cover plate is realized.

Terminal equipment

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of terminal circuits, in particular to terminal equipment.

Background

With the development of technology, terminal devices are increasingly widely used, and functional components on the terminal devices are also increasingly more. In one example, the terminal device may include at least two cover plates, and the at least two cover plates may slide relatively between each other, for example, in a terminal device including two cover plates (a first cover plate and a second cover plate), the first cover plate may slide up and down with respect to the second cover plate, or the first cover plate may slide left and right with respect to the second cover plate. By the method, more functional components can be arranged on the terminal equipment, so that the application scene of the terminal equipment can be increased. However, in the design of such a terminal device, the way in which at least two cover plates are electrically connected has been a difficulty in development.

In one possible application scenario, if the friction between the parts electrically connected between the first cover plate and the second cover plate is larger in the sliding process of the first cover plate relative to the second cover plate, the abrasion of the electrically connected parts of the terminal device may be larger, so that the communication between the first cover plate and the second cover plate is worse, and the user experience is worse.

In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a terminal device that reduces friction between electrical connection components in the terminal device and improves user experience.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides terminal equipment, which is used for reducing friction of an electric connection part in the terminal equipment and improving user experience.

The terminal equipment provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises a first cover plate and a second cover plate which is arranged opposite to the first cover plate;

an elastic device is arranged on the first cover plate and comprises a telescopic mechanism and a contact head;

the second cover plate is provided with a supporting mechanism which is used for supporting the feeder line, and the heights of one end and the other end of the feeder line relative to the second cover plate are different;

when the first cover plate slides relative to the second cover plate, the elastic device is driven to move along the feeder line; during the process that the elastic device moves along the feeder line, the elastic device stretches through the stretching mechanism, so that the contact head is electrically connected with the feeder line.

Optionally, the supporting mechanism comprises a first lifting mechanism and a second lifting mechanism, the first lifting mechanism is connected with one end of a feeder line, and the second lifting mechanism is connected with the other end of the feeder line;

the feeder has one end and the other end having different heights with respect to the second cover plate, comprising:

the first cover plate slides to a first position relative to the second cover plate, the elastic device moves to one end of the power supply line, the first lifting mechanism controls one end of the power supply line to be lifted from a first height to a second height, and the second lifting mechanism controls the other end of the power supply line to be lowered from the second height to the first height;

the elastic device moves to the other end of the feeder when the first cover plate slides to a second position relative to the second cover plate, the second lifting mechanism controls the other end of the feeder to rise from the first height to the second height, and the first lifting mechanism controls the one end of the feeder to fall from the second height to the first height;

wherein the first height is less than the second height.

Optionally, a first limiting device and a second limiting device are further arranged on the first cover plate;

the first limiting device is used for limiting the elastic device to one end of the feeder when the elastic device moves from any position on the feeder to one end of the feeder;

the second limiting device is used for limiting the elastic device to the other end of the feeder line when the elastic device moves from any position on the feeder line to the other end of the feeder line.

Optionally, a locking key and a buckle are arranged on the first cover plate, a fixing hole is arranged on the second cover plate, and the locking key is connected with the buckle through a lever;

when the locking key slides from a first preset position to a second preset position, the lever drives the clamping piece to move into the fixing hole, so that the first cover plate and the second cover plate are fixedly connected;

when the locking key slides from the second preset position to the first preset position, the lever drives the clamping piece to move out of the fixing hole, so that the first cover plate is movably connected with the second cover plate.

Optionally, a side of the first cover plate facing the second cover plate includes a first region, a second region, and a third region; the side surface of the second cover plate facing the first cover plate comprises a fourth area, a fifth area and a sixth area;

when the first cover plate slides to a first position relative to the second cover plate, the second area, the third area and the fourth area and the fifth area of the first cover plate are overlapped;

when the first cover plate slides to a second position relative to the second cover plate, the first area and the second area of the first cover plate are overlapped with the fifth area and the sixth area of the second cover plate;

when the first cover plate slides to a third position relative to the second cover plate, the first area, the second area and the third area of the first cover plate and the fourth area, the fifth area and the sixth area of the second cover plate are overlapped.

Optionally, the elastic device is located in the second region; the support structure is located in the fifth region.

Optionally, the first area is further provided with a first application component; the first application component includes at least one of: front camera, earphone, optical fiber sensor, pilot lamp.

Optionally, a second application component is further provided on the second cover plate, and the second application component includes at least one of the following: fingerprint identification device, be used for laying the accommodation space of battery, preset interface.

Optionally, a display screen is disposed on a side surface of the first cover plate facing away from the second cover plate.

In the above embodiment of the present invention, the first cover plate may be provided with the elastic means, the second cover plate may be provided with the supporting mechanism, and the supporting mechanism may support the power feeding line such that one end and the other end of the power feeding line are different in height with respect to the second cover plate; the first cover plate slides relative to the second cover plate, so that the elastic device can be driven to move along the feeder line, and further the elastic device can keep the electric connection between the contact head and the feeder line through the extension and retraction of the extension mechanism. In the embodiment of the invention, one end of the feeder is higher than the other end of the feeder (namely, the feeder is in an inclined state) through the supporting device, so that the elastic device can move along the inclined feeder when the first cover plate slides relative to the second cover plate, thereby achieving the purposes of reducing friction between the elastic device and the feeder and prolonging the service life of the feeder; and the telescopic mechanism on the elastic device can be extended or shortened, so that the electric connection between the contact head and the feeder can be ensured, that is, the first cover plate and the second cover plate can be kept in an electric connection state in the sliding process of the first cover plate relative to the second cover plate, and the communication between the first cover plate and the second cover plate is realized.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings that are needed in the description of the embodiments will be briefly described below, it will be apparent that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and that other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2a is a schematic structural diagram of a first cover plate in a first position according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2b is a schematic structural diagram of the first cover plate in the second position according to the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2c is a schematic structural diagram of the first cover plate in the third position according to the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device when a first cover plate slides and locks relative to a second cover plate according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an electrical connection between a first cover plate and a second cover plate according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5a is a schematic structural diagram of an electrical connection between a first cover plate and a second cover plate when the first cover plate and the second cover plate are located at an initial position according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5b is a schematic structural diagram of an electrical connection when the first cover plate slides to a first position relative to the second cover plate according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5c is a schematic structural diagram of an electrical connection during a sliding process of a first cover plate from a first position to a second position relative to a second cover plate according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5d is a schematic structural diagram of an electrical connection when the first cover plate slides to the second position relative to the second cover plate according to the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5e is a schematic structural diagram of electrical connection during a process of sliding the first cover plate from the second position to the first position relative to the second cover plate according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the invention without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the terminal device may be a terminal device with a display screen, such as a mobile phone, ipad, a notebook computer, etc. As shown in fig. 1, the terminal device may include a first cover plate 100 and a second cover plate 200 disposed opposite to the first cover plate 100. The side surface of the second cover plate 200 facing away from the first cover plate 100 may be provided with a display screen, where the size of the display screen may be equal to or slightly smaller than the area of the side surface of the second cover plate 200; the side of the first cover plate 100 facing away from the second cover plate 200 may be provided with a rear camera 101, a flash 102, and a receiving space for receiving a standby battery.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the first cover plate 100 may slide relative to the second cover plate 200, for example, the first cover plate 100 may slide up and down relative to the second cover plate 200, or the first cover plate 100 may slide left and right relative to the second cover plate 200, or the first cover plate 100 may also slide rotationally relative to the second cover plate 200, which is not limited in particular.

In one example, the first cover plate 100 may slide up and down relative to the second cover plate 200, and in the embodiment of the present invention, when the first cover plate 100 slides to the uppermost position relative to the second cover plate 200, the position of the first cover plate 100 is referred to as a first position; when the first cover plate 100 slides to the lowermost position with respect to the second cover plate 200, the position of the first cover plate 100 is referred to as a second position; when the first cover plate 100 slides with respect to the second cover plate 200 to overlap with the second cover plate 200, the position of the first cover plate 100 is referred to as a third position.

Fig. 2a is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention when the first cover plate 100 is located at the first position, fig. 2b is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention when the first cover plate 100 is located at the second position, and fig. 2c is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention when the first cover plate 100 is located at the third position. In an embodiment of the present invention, the side of the first cover plate 100 facing the second cover plate 200 may include a first region, a second region, and a third region, and the side of the second cover plate 200 facing the first cover plate 100 may include a fourth region, a fifth region, and a sixth region.

As shown in fig. 2a, when the first cover plate 100 slides to the first position relative to the second cover plate 200, the second region of the first cover plate 100 and the fourth region of the second cover plate 200, the third region of the first cover plate 100 and the fifth region of the second cover plate 200 may be respectively in an overlapped state. At this time, a first application component may be disposed on the first area of the first cover plate 100, and the first application component may include at least one of the following: front camera 103, earphone 104, optical fiber sensor 105, pilot lamp 106. As shown in fig. 2b, when the first cover plate 100 slides to the second position relative to the second cover plate 200, the first region of the first cover plate 100 and the fifth region of the second cover plate 200, and the second region of the first cover plate 100 and the sixth region of the second cover plate 200 may be respectively in an overlapped state. At this time, the speaker hole 107 may be provided on the third region of the first cover plate 100. As shown in fig. 2c, when the first cover plate 100 slides to the third position relative to the second cover plate 200, the first region of the first cover plate 100 and the fourth region of the second cover plate 200, the second region of the first cover plate 100 and the fifth region of the second cover plate 200, and the third region of the first cover plate 100 and the sixth region of the second cover plate 200 may be in an overlapped state, respectively.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a second application component may be disposed on the second cover 200, where the second application component may include at least one of the following: fingerprint identification device 201, preset button, preset interface and the accommodation space that is used for laying the battery. The preset key may include any one or any combination of a power key 202, a volume key 203, and a slide locking key 204, and the preset interface may be any one or any combination of an earphone hole and a USB hole, or may also be an earphone and USB two-in-one universal hole 205, which is not specifically limited.

In the embodiment of the invention, the first cover plate can be positioned at any one of the first position, the second position and the third position relative to the second cover plate, that is, a user can select which position the first cover plate is positioned for use according to actual needs, so that the device has strong flexibility and wide application range; and, through setting up the application subassembly that influences the screen ratio in first region and the third region of first apron to will not influence the part of screen ratio and set up on the second apron, can be under the prerequisite that does not influence the device function, increase the screen ratio of second apron, increase user's experience.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the sliding and locking of the first cover plate 100 relative to the second cover plate 200 may be implemented in various manners, in one example, a hook may be disposed on the first cover plate 100, a slideway screw may be disposed on the second cover plate 200, and the sliding and locking of the first cover plate 100 relative to the second cover plate 200 may be implemented through the hook and the screw. In another example, the first cover plate 100 may be provided with an i-pin, the second cover plate 200 may be provided with a slide, and the first cover plate 100 and the second cover plate 200 may slide relatively through the slide and the i-pin. In still another example (for convenience of description, simply referred to as example one), the first cover plate 100 may be provided with a buckle, the second cover plate 200 may be provided with a fixing hole, and the first cover plate 100 and the second cover plate 200 may be relatively slid through the buckle and the fixing hole.

The following describes an example of the sliding and locking of the first cover plate 100 with respect to the second cover plate 200, and in other possible examples, the sliding and locking of the first cover plate 100 with respect to the second cover plate 200 may be implemented in other manners, which are not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device when the first cover plate 100 slides and locks relative to the second cover plate 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 3, a buckle 108 may be disposed on the first cover plate 100, and a slide locking key 204 and a fixing hole 206 may be disposed on the second cover plate 200. In particular, the slide locking key 204 and the buckle 108 may be connected through the lever 300, and when the slide locking key 204 slides from the first preset position to the second preset position, the lever 300 may drive the buckle 108 to move into the fixing hole 206, so that the first cover plate 100 and the second cover plate 200 are fixedly connected, and at this time, the first cover plate 100 is in a locking state relative to the second cover plate 200. Correspondingly, when the sliding cover locking key 204 slides from the second preset position to the first preset position, the lever 300 can drive the buckle 108 to move out of the fixing hole 206, so that the first cover plate 100 and the second cover plate 200 are movably connected, and at this time, the first cover plate 100 is in a sliding state relative to the second cover plate 200.

In the embodiment of the invention, the sliding cover locking key is arranged on the second cover plate, so that a user can conveniently slide and lock the first cover plate relative to the second cover plate by sliding the sliding cover locking key, the operation is simple and convenient, and the user experience can be increased.

Fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an electrical connection between the first cover plate 100 and the second cover plate 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 4, the first cover plate 100 may be provided with an elastic device, which may include a telescopic mechanism 110 and a contact 120; the second cover plate 200 may be provided thereon with a supporting mechanism that may be used to support the power feeding line 400 such that one end and the other end of the power feeding line 400 are different in height with respect to the second cover plate 200. When the first cover plate 100 slides relative to the second cover plate 200, the elastic device can be driven to move along the feeder 400, and in the process that the elastic device moves along the feeder 400, the elastic device can be stretched by the stretching mechanism 110, so that the contact 120 is electrically connected with the feeder 400.

In the embodiment of the invention, one end of the feeder is higher than the other end of the feeder (namely, the feeder is in an inclined state) through the supporting device, so that the elastic device can move along the inclined feeder when the first cover plate slides relative to the second cover plate, thereby achieving the purposes of reducing friction between the elastic device and the feeder and prolonging the service life of the feeder; and the telescopic mechanism on the elastic device can be extended or shortened, so that the electric connection between the contact head and the feeder can be ensured, that is, the first cover plate and the second cover plate can be kept in an electric connection state in the sliding process of the first cover plate relative to the second cover plate, and the communication between the first cover plate and the second cover plate is realized.

In particular implementations, the support mechanism can include a first lift mechanism 211 and a second lift mechanism 212, the first lift mechanism 211 being coupled to one end of the feeder 400 and the second lift mechanism 212 being coupled to the other end of the feeder 400. Preferably, the first cover plate 100 may further be provided with a first limiting device 131 and a second limiting device 132, where the first limiting device 131 and the second limiting device 132 may be used to limit the movement of the contact head 120 on the first cover plate 100 during the movement of the first cover plate 100 relative to the second cover plate 200, and may trigger the lifting and/or lowering of the first lifting mechanism 211 and the second lifting mechanism 212 after contacting the contact head 120.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the highest height reached by the first lifting mechanism 211 and the highest height reached by the second lifting mechanism 212 may be the same, or may be different, and the lowest height reached by the first lifting mechanism 211 and the lowest height reached by the second lifting mechanism 212 may be the same, or may be different, which is not limited in particular. The process of implementing the electrical connection between the first cover plate 100 and the second cover plate 200 is described below by taking the example that the lowest height that can be achieved by the first lifting mechanism 211 and the lowest height that can be achieved by the second lifting mechanism 212 are both the first height, and the highest height that can be achieved by the first lifting mechanism 211 and the highest height that can be achieved by the second lifting mechanism 212 are both the second height, and in other possible examples, the electrical connection between the first cover plate 100 and the second cover plate 200 can also be implemented by referring to this method, which is not limited in particular. It should be noted that the first height may be smaller than the second height.

Fig. 5a to 5d are schematic structural views of the first cover plate 100 and the second cover plate 200 electrically connected during the sliding process of the first cover plate 100 relative to the second cover plate 200 according to the embodiment of the invention. Fig. 5a is a schematic structural diagram of an electrical connection when the first cover plate 100 and the second cover plate 200 are located at the initial position, fig. 5b is a schematic structural diagram of an electrical connection when the first cover plate 100 slides to the first position relative to the second cover plate 200, fig. 5c is a schematic structural diagram of an electrical connection when the first cover plate 100 slides to the second position relative to the second cover plate 200, fig. 5d is a schematic structural diagram of an electrical connection when the first cover plate 100 slides to the second position relative to the second cover plate 200, and fig. 5e is a schematic structural diagram of an electrical connection when the first cover plate 100 slides to the first position relative to the second cover plate 200. In the embodiment of the present invention, the process of electrically connecting the first cover plate 100 and the second cover plate 200 when the first cover plate 100 slides relative to the second cover plate 200 may be implemented by referring to the following steps a to e.

In step a, the first lifting mechanism 211 and the second lifting mechanism 212 are located at the same height in the process of sliding the first cover plate 100 from the initial position to the first position relative to the second cover plate 200.

Here, the initial position of the first cover plate 100 with respect to the second cover plate 200 may refer to a position of the first cover plate 100 with respect to the second cover plate 200 in an initial state of the device, and the initial state may be a state set when the device leaves the factory.

In the embodiment of the present invention, in the process of sliding the first cover plate 100 from the initial position to the first position relative to the second cover plate 200, the first lifting mechanism 211 and the second lifting mechanism 212 may be located at a first height, or may also be located at a second height, or may also be located at any height between a height greater than the first height and a height less than the second height, which is not particularly limited.

In one example, as shown in fig. 5a, during the sliding of the first cover plate 100 from the initial position to the first position with respect to the second cover plate 200, the first elevating mechanism 211 and the second elevating mechanism 212 may be located at the first height h1, that is, one end of the power feeding line 400 and the other end of the power feeding line 400 are both located at the first height h1. At this time, the feeder 400 is in a vertical state, and the telescopic device 110 is in a maximally extended state and does not extend or contract during movement, so that the contact 120 can always contact the feeder 400 and move along the vertical feeder 400.

In step b, when the first cover plate 100 slides to the first position relative to the second cover plate 200, the first lifting mechanism 211 is lifted from the first height h1 to the second height h2.

In one example, as shown in fig. 5b, when the first cover plate 100 slides to the first position relative to the second cover plate 200, the contact 120 contacts the first limiting device 131, at which time the first limiting device 131 may control the first lifting mechanism 211 to rise from the first height h1 to the second height h2, so that one end of the feeder line rises from the first height h1 to the second height h2. At this time, the second elevating mechanism 212 is located at the first height h1, that is, the other end of the power feeding line 400 is located at the first height h1, and therefore, one end of the power feeding line 400 is higher than the other end, the power feeding line 400 is in an inclined state, and the inclined direction of the power feeding line 400 is the first inclined direction.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the first limiting device 131 may further fix the contact 120 when detecting that the contact 120 contacts with the first limiting device, that is, the first limiting device 131 may limit the movement of the contact 120, so as to further limit the movement of the first cover plate 100. Accordingly, the second limiting device 132 can also achieve the same function, which is not described herein.

In step c, during the process of sliding the first cover plate 100 from the first position to the second position relative to the second cover plate 200, the first lifting mechanism 211 is located at the second height h2, and the second lifting mechanism 212 is located at the first height h1.

As shown in fig. 5c, in the process of sliding the first cover plate 100 from the first position to the second position, the heights of the first limiting device 131 and the second limiting device 132 are unchanged, that is, one end of the power supply line 400 is always located at the second height h2, and the other end of the power supply line 400 is always located at the first height h1. At this time, the contact 120 slides along the inclined feeder 400, and the sliding direction of the contact 120 coincides with the first inclination direction of the feeder 400 during the sliding.

In the embodiment of the invention, the heights of the first lifting device and the second lifting device are limited to be different in the sliding process of the first cover plate relative to the second cover plate, so that the inclination direction of the feeder line is consistent with the sliding direction of the first cover plate, the sliding of the first cover plate relative to the second cover plate is smoother, and a user can slide the first cover plate through smaller force. And the contact head is contacted with the inclined feeder line, so that friction loss between the contact head and the feeder line can be reduced, and the service life of the terminal equipment is prolonged.

In step d, when the first cover plate 100 slides to the second position relative to the second cover plate 200, the first lifting mechanism 211 is lowered from the second height h2 to the first height h1, and the second lifting mechanism 212 is raised from the first height h1 to the second height h2.

As shown in fig. 5d, when the first cover plate 100 slides to the second position relative to the second cover plate 200, the contact head 120 contacts the second limiting device 132, at this time, the second limiting device 132 may control the first lifting mechanism 211 to be lowered from the second height h2 to the first height h1, so that one end of the feeder is lowered from the second height h2 to the first height h1; meanwhile, the second limiting device 132 can also control the second lifting mechanism 212 to be lifted from the first height h1 to the second height h2, so that the other end of the feeder 400 is lifted from the first height h1 to the second height h2. At this time, one end of the feeder 400 is lower than the other end, the feeder 400 is in an inclined state, and the inclination direction of the feeder 400 is the second inclination direction.

In step e, during the process of sliding the first cover plate 100 from the second position to the first position relative to the second cover plate 200, the first lifting mechanism 211 is located at the first height h1, and the second lifting mechanism 212 is located at the second height h2.

As shown in fig. 5e, in the process of sliding the first cover plate 100 from the second position to the first position, the heights of the first limiting device 131 and the second limiting device 132 are unchanged, that is, one end of the feeder 400 is always located at the first height h1, and the other end of the feeder 400 is always located at the second height h2. At this time, the contact 120 slides along the inclined feeder 400, and the sliding direction of the contact 120 coincides with the second inclination direction of the feeder 400 during the sliding.

From the above, it can be seen that: in the above embodiment of the present invention, the first cover plate may be provided with the elastic means, the second cover plate may be provided with the supporting mechanism, and the supporting mechanism may support the power feeding line such that one end and the other end of the power feeding line are different in height with respect to the second cover plate; the first cover plate slides relative to the second cover plate, so that the elastic device can be driven to move along the feeder line, and further the elastic device can keep the electric connection between the contact head and the feeder line through the extension and retraction of the extension mechanism. In the embodiment of the invention, one end of the feeder is higher than the other end of the feeder (namely, the feeder is in an inclined state) through the supporting device, so that the elastic device can move along the inclined feeder when the first cover plate slides relative to the second cover plate, thereby achieving the purposes of reducing friction between the elastic device and the feeder and prolonging the service life of the feeder; and the telescopic mechanism on the elastic device can be extended or shortened, so that the electric connection between the contact head and the feeder can be ensured, that is, the first cover plate and the second cover plate can be kept in an electric connection state in the sliding process of the first cover plate relative to the second cover plate, and the communication between the first cover plate and the second cover plate is realized.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, additional variations and modifications in those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. It is therefore intended that the following claims be interpreted as including the preferred embodiments and all such alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention also include such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.