Centering support structure, mounting method and centering adjustment tool for cutter head
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of umbrella-shaped tool magazines, in particular to a centering support structure, an installation method and a centering adjustment tool of a cutter head.
Background
The tool magazine is a key component for realizing the storage and exchange functions of the tool magazine of a typical numerical control machine tool and a numerical control machining center, can realize the machining of a plurality of processes by clamping once, greatly improves the production efficiency of the machining center, and can hold large umbrella-shaped tool magazines with more than 30 cutters along with the multifunction of a machine tool of the numerical control machining center in recent years.
The cutter head supporting structure of the existing umbrella-shaped tool magazine supports the disk surface through the rotating shaft positioned at the center, the quantity of cutters clamped by the cutter head is increased along with the increase of the disk surface of the cutter head, the load at the edge of the whole disk surface is increased, the edge of the whole cutter head is bent and deformed downwards, in addition, the cutters on the cutter head generate overlarge moment relative to the rotating shaft under the influence of gravity, the concentricity and the planeness are difficult to ensure during rotation, the cutter head is inclined, the rotating speed of the cutter head is influenced, and the machining efficiency of a machine tool is low.
In view of the above problems, the inventor of the present invention has made active research and innovation based on the practical experience and professional knowledge that is abundant over many years in engineering application of such products, in order to create a centering support structure, an installation method and a centering adjustment tool for a cutter head, so that the centering support structure, the installation method and the centering adjustment tool are more practical.
Disclosure of Invention
The technical problem to be solved by the invention is as follows: the utility model provides a centering support structure, an installation method and a centering adjustment tool of a cutter head, which effectively solve the problems in the background technology.
In order to achieve the purpose, the technical scheme adopted by the invention is as follows: a centering support structure for a cutter head, comprising:
a supporting seat;
the centering support assembly is arranged above the supporting seat and comprises a plurality of supporting guide wheels which are uniformly distributed along the circumferential direction, the supporting guide wheels are rotatably arranged on the supporting seat, the rotating axis of the supporting guide wheels is vertically arranged, and an annular groove rail is arranged at the radial section of each supporting guide wheel;
the annular cutter disc is coaxially fixed above the gear disc, the gear disc is arranged above the supporting seat, and the inner annular edge of the gear disc is embedded into the annular groove rails of the supporting guide wheels;
the driving assembly is located the pinion drive of drive end the gear disc rotates, the annular grooved rail is with a plurality of it realizes synchronous rotation to support the guide pulley to drive the annular blade disc rotates.
Further, the annular groove rails of the plurality of support guide wheels are positioned on the same plane.
Furthermore, the number of the supporting guide wheels is at least 3, and two positioning holes and at least one adjusting hole are formed in the top end of the supporting seat;
the two positioning holes and the adjusting hole are uniformly distributed along the circumferential direction;
the supporting guide wheels in the adjusting holes move in the direction far away from the central axis of the supporting seat and are matched with the supporting guide wheels in the two positioning holes so as to clamp and center the inner ring edge of the gear disc.
Furthermore, the annular groove rail is of a V-shaped structure and comprises an upper abutting ring surface and a lower abutting ring surface;
a V-shaped convex block matched and positioned with the annular groove rail is arranged on the inner ring edge;
the tip of the V-shaped bump is embedded into the annular groove rail and is attached to the upper abutting annular surface and the lower abutting annular surface;
the root of the V-shaped bump protrudes out of the annular groove rail, so that a buffer gap is formed between the outer cylindrical surface of the supporting guide wheel and the inner annular edge.
The invention also provides a centering adjustment tool, which is used for adjusting the centering support structure of the cutter head, and comprises:
the positioning block is fixed at the top end of the supporting seat, and a sliding groove is formed in one side of the positioning block, which faces the supporting guide wheel;
the pushing block is arranged in the sliding groove, and the part of the pushing block, which protrudes out of the sliding groove, props against the supporting guide wheel;
and the force application assembly comprises a force application rod extending into the sliding groove, and the force application rod applies radial force to the pushing block to enable the supporting guide wheel to slide towards the inner ring edge along the radial direction so as to support and center the gear disc.
Furthermore, one end of the pushing block, which is close to the supporting guide wheel, is provided with a positioning clamping groove, and an opening of the positioning clamping groove faces to the direction of the supporting guide wheel and abuts against the outer cylindrical surface of the supporting guide wheel;
and a force application block is arranged at the horizontal section of the positioning clamping groove and is embedded into the annular groove rail of the supporting guide wheel.
Furthermore, sliding guide assemblies are arranged on the sliding groove and two sliding side walls of the pushing block, and each sliding guide assembly comprises track grooves arranged on two side walls of the sliding groove and guide wheels arranged on two side walls of the pushing block;
the guide wheel is rotatably arranged on the side wall of the pushing block and is embedded into the track groove;
when the force application rod pushes the pushing block to slide along the track of the track groove, the pushing block applies horizontal pushing force to the supporting guide wheel, so that the supporting guide wheel tightly pushes the gear disc along the radial direction.
Further, the track groove comprises a first straight thrust section, a second straight thrust section and a switching arc section, the first straight thrust section and the second straight thrust section are parallel to the force application direction of the force application rod, and the first straight thrust section is arranged above the second straight thrust section;
the switching arc section is arranged between the first thrust straight section and the second thrust straight section and is gradually concave downwards along the force application direction;
the initial end of the switching arc section is provided with a transition arc section, the first thrust straight section is tangent to the transition arc section, and the tail end of the switching arc section is tangent to the second thrust straight section.
Furthermore, one end of the force application rod, which extends into the sliding groove, is provided with an extrusion block, the extrusion block is connected with the pushing block through a dovetail groove structure, and the dovetail groove structure is obliquely arranged, so that the pushing block horizontally moves along the force application direction and applies vertical pressure to the pushing block.
The invention also provides an installation method of the centering support structure of the cutter head, which applies the centering adjustment tool and comprises the following steps:
fixedly mounting two supporting guide wheels in two positioning holes of the supporting seat, mounting the supporting guide wheels in the adjusting holes, and enabling the supporting guide wheels to be located at one end, close to the central axis of the supporting seat, of the adjusting holes;
installing a centering adjusting tool on the supporting seat corresponding to the adjusting hole, so that the opening of the sliding groove faces the supporting guide wheel;
placing the annular cutter disc above the supporting seat, and enabling the inner annular edge of the gear disc to be embedded into the annular groove rails of the two supporting guide wheels corresponding to the two positioning holes;
and applying horizontal thrust along the radial direction to the force application rod to enable the pushing block to push the supporting guide wheel to approach towards the inner ring edge until the inner ring edge is embedded into the annular groove rail, locking the supporting guide wheel, and finally dismantling the centering adjusting tool.
The invention has the beneficial effects that: according to the invention, the supporting seat is provided with the plurality of supporting guide wheels, so that the supporting diameter of the rotating shaft is increased, the phenomenon that the cutter head tilts when the load of the cutter head is uneven is prevented, the gear disc and the supporting guide wheels rotate synchronously, the rotating speed of the cutter head is increased, the cutter changing time is reduced, and the machining efficiency of a machine tool is improved.
According to the invention, through the arrangement of the centering adjustment tool, the supporting guide wheel can be quickly positioned and installed, the installation and debugging time is saved, the uniformity of the load on the supporting guide wheel is ensured, and the stability of the annular cutter head for changing the cutter in a rotating manner is improved.
Drawings
In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments described in the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without creative efforts.
FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a centering support structure of a cutter head according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a centering support structure of the cutterhead of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the installation of the supporting idler on the supporting base according to the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the positioning holes and the adjusting holes of the supporting base according to the present invention;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a portion A of FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the structure of the V-shaped protrusion embedded in the circular groove track;
FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the centering adjustment tool mounted on the support base according to the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a partial enlarged view of FIG. 7 at B;
FIG. 9 is a schematic structural view of a centering adjustment tool according to the present invention;
FIG. 10 is an exploded view of the centering adjustment tool of the present invention;
FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a centering adjustment fixture according to the present invention;
FIG. 12 is a schematic view of the track groove structure of the present invention;
FIG. 13 is a schematic view of the driving of the supporting guide wheel by the pushing block when the guide wheel slides in the first straight thrust section according to the present invention;
FIG. 14 is a schematic view of the driving of the supporting guide wheel by the pushing block when the guide wheel slides in the second straight thrust segment according to the present invention;
FIG. 15 is a schematic view of the present invention showing a plurality of adjustable supporting rollers mounted on a supporting base.
Reference numerals: 1. a supporting base; 11. positioning holes; 12. an adjustment hole; 2. supporting guide wheels; 21. an annular groove track; 21a, an upper abutment ring surface; 21b, a lower abutment ring surface; 3. an annular cutter head; 4. a gear plate; 31. a V-shaped bump; 31a, a tip portion; 32b, root; 5. a pinion gear; 100. positioning blocks; 110. a sliding groove; 200. pushing the pushing block; 210. positioning the clamping groove; 220. a force application block; 300. a force application assembly; 310. a force application rod; 320. extruding the block; 400. a sliding guide assembly; 410. a track groove; 411. switching arc sections; 412. a first thrust straight section; 413. a second thrust straight section; 414. a transition arc section; 420. a guide wheel.
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.
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. The terms "vertical," "horizontal," "left," "right," and the like as used herein are for illustrative purposes only and do not represent the only embodiments.
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.
The centering and supporting structure of the cutter head as shown in fig. 1 to 6 comprises: the centering support assembly is arranged above the support base 1 and comprises a plurality of support guide wheels 2 which are uniformly distributed along the circumferential direction, the support guide wheels 2 are rotatably arranged on the support base 1, the rotating axes of the support guide wheels are vertically arranged, and an annular groove rail 21 is arranged at the radial section of each support guide wheel 2; annular blade disc 3 coaxial fixation is in the top of toothed disc 4, and 1 top of supporting seat is located to toothed disc 4, and in the annular groove rail 21 of a plurality of support guide wheels 2 of the inner ring limit embedding of toothed disc 4, drive assembly is located the 5 drive toothed disc 4 rotations of pinion of drive end, and annular groove rail 21 realizes synchronous rotation with a plurality of support guide wheels 2 to drive annular blade disc 3 and rotate. Pinion 5 and gear disc 4's meshing transmission form can make the blade disc have higher slew velocity, improves tool changing efficiency, and annular groove rail 21 on a plurality of support guide wheels 2 when tight to the inner ring limit clamp, can realize synchronous rotation to play fine support effect to the load that the blade disc edge bore, guaranteed the stability of blade disc operation.
According to the invention, the supporting seat 1 is uniformly provided with the plurality of supporting guide wheels 2 along the circumference, so that the supporting diameter of the rotating shaft is increased, the phenomenon that the cutter head inclines when the load of the cutter head is uneven is prevented, the inner ring edge of the gear disc 4 is supported and centered through the annular groove rail 21, the gear disc 4 and the supporting guide wheels 2 rotate synchronously, the rotating speed of the cutter head is increased, the tool changing time is reduced, the machining efficiency of a machine tool is improved, the gear disc 4 and the supporting guide wheels 2 are in rolling friction, the service life of the tool magazine is prolonged, and the failure rate is reduced.
Install a plurality of support guide pulleys 2 on supporting seat 1, to the radial application of force in the inner ring border of toothed disc 4, make a plurality of annular groove rail 21 that support guide pulleys 2 be located the coplanar at the application of force in-process, effectively guarantee the plane degree of annular blade disc 3, further guaranteed the blade disc and rotated the stationarity.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, in order to ensure the centering precision of the annular cutter head 3, at least 3 supporting guide wheels 2 are arranged, and the annular groove rails 21 of the 3 supporting guide wheels 2 are tightly propped against the inner annular edge, in addition, the top end of the supporting seat 1 in the invention is of a disc structure, so that the centering of the annular cutter head 3 is conveniently and quickly realized when the annular cutter head is installed, the subsequent debugging time is reduced, two positioning holes 11 and at least one adjusting hole 12 are arranged above the supporting seat 1, the two positioning holes 11 and the one adjusting hole 12 are uniformly distributed along the circumferential direction, the annular cutter head 3 is preliminarily supported through the two positioning holes 11, then the supporting guide wheels 2 positioned in the adjusting holes 12 move along the direction far away from the circle center of the supporting seat 1 and are matched with the supporting guide wheels 2 in the two positioning holes 11 so as to clamp and center the inner annular edge of the gear disc 4.
Specifically, the adjustable holes 12 are located on a perpendicular bisector of a connecting line of circle centers of the two positioning holes 11, when the supporting guide wheels 2 in the two positioning holes 11 primarily support the annular cutter head 3, the supporting guide wheels 2 in the adjustable holes 12 move in the radial direction to center and clamp the annular cutter head 3, so that the circle center of the annular cutter head 3 is located on the perpendicular bisector, the installation accuracy of the annular cutter head 3 on the supporting seat 1 is effectively guaranteed, the number of cutters is increased along with the increase of the diameter of the annular cutter head 3, the load borne by the annular cutter head 3 is increased accordingly, and the number of the supporting guide wheels 2 can be properly increased to achieve the effect of balancing the load.
In the prior art, the supporting guide wheels 2 only position the cutter head in the circumferential direction, a pressure plate is required to be arranged in the axial direction to limit the axial position, and a diving gap is reserved between the pressure plate and the cutter head to ensure that the cutter head can normally rotate, but the accuracy requirement of the diving gap is high, the installation and debugging time is increased, and the difficulty of part processing is increased.
When a cutter on a main shaft is radially arranged in the cutter locking mechanism, and the next cutter in the annular cutter disc 3 rotates to a cutter changing point under the guiding action of the supporting guide wheel 2, the cutter positioned at the cutter changing point is radially extracted from the cutter locking mechanism, and the cutter locking mechanism adopts elastic clamping, so that the force applied during cutter pulling or cutter arrangement needs to overcome the elastic clamping force, and the cutter can smoothly enter or be taken out, however, the impact force generated during cutter pulling or arranging can shift the circle center of the annular cutter disc 3, so that the cutter disc cutter changing accuracy is influenced, therefore, in order to reduce the impact force on the positioning accuracy of the cutter disc during cutter changing, preferably, the height of the V-shaped lug 31 is greater than the depth of the annular groove rail 21, so that the tip part 31a of the V-shaped lug 31 is embedded in the annular groove rail 21 and is attached to the upper abutting annular ring surface 21a and the lower abutting annular ring surface 21b, the root part 32b of the V-shaped lug 31 protrudes out of the annular groove rail 21, the outer cylindrical surface of the supporting guide wheel 2 and the inner ring form a buffer gap, when the annular cutter disc 3 is impacted, the annular guide wheel gap can disperse the impact force, thereby preventing the supporting guide wheel 2 from generating centering displacement, further ensuring the stability of the annular support and further ensuring the stability of the annular cutter disc.
The invention also provides a centering adjustment tool, as shown in fig. 7-15, a centering support structure for adjusting the cutter head, comprising: the device comprises a positioning block 100, a pushing block 200 and a force application component 300, wherein the positioning block 100 is fixed at the top end of a supporting seat 1, and a sliding groove 110 is formed in one side of the positioning block facing a supporting guide wheel 2; the pushing block 200 is arranged in the sliding groove 110, and the part of the pushing block, which protrudes out of the sliding groove 110, is propped against the supporting guide wheel 2; the force application assembly 300 includes a force application rod 310 extending into the sliding groove 110, the force application rod 310 applies a force to the pushing block 200 in a radial direction, so that the support guide wheel 2 slides in a radial direction toward the inner ring edge to support and center the gear plate 4, wherein a force application direction of the force application rod 310 is located on a line connecting the center of the support guide wheel 2 and the center of the support seat 1.
According to the centering support structure, the centering support structure is correspondingly arranged in the adjustable hole 12, the positioning block 100 is firstly fixed in the reserved mounting hole of the support seat 1 through a bolt, the mounting precision of the positioning block 100 is guaranteed, the pushing block 200 is arranged in the sliding groove 110 of the positioning block 100 in a sliding mode, the part protruding out of the sliding groove 110 is abutted against the support guide wheel 2, the force application rod 310 penetrates through the pushing block 200 and extends into the sliding groove 110, the pushing block 200 is driven to slide in the radial direction, the support guide wheel 2 clamps the gear disc 4, errors of manual adjustment are reduced, the support guide wheel 2 is guaranteed to be capable of moving in place, and the centering precision is improved.
After the inner ring limit imbeds the annular grooved rail 21 that supports guide pulley 2 completely, when toothed disc 4 receives pinion 5 drive rotation, a plurality of support guide pulley 2 synchronous rotation for supporting centering toothed disc 4, but exist when toothed disc 4 is rotatory and support under the non-pivoted condition of guide pulley 2, then should support guide pulley 2 and do not play the supporting role, need carry out the secondary debugging to this support guide pulley 2, thereby guarantee all to realize synchronous rotation with a plurality of support guide pulley 2 of toothed disc 4 contact, the homogeneity that the load distributes has been guaranteed.
In order to ensure that the supporting guide wheel 2 moves along the sliding direction of the pushing block 200, one end of the pushing block 200 close to the supporting guide wheel 2 is provided with a positioning clamping groove 210, an opening of the positioning clamping groove 210 faces the direction of the supporting guide wheel 2 and abuts against the outer cylindrical surface of the supporting guide wheel 2, and in order to ensure that the pushing block 200 automatically centers when pushing the supporting guide wheel 2, so that the supporting guide wheel 2 is uniformly stressed, preferably, the positioning clamping groove 210 adopts a V-shaped structure, two inclined surfaces of the positioning clamping groove 210 are tangent to the outer cylindrical surface of the supporting guide wheel 2, so that the uniformity of stress of the supporting guide wheel 2 in the moving process is ensured, and in the force application process of the pushing block 200, in order to further ensure that the annular groove rails 21 of the plurality of supporting guide wheels 2 on the supporting seat 1 are positioned in the same horizontal plane, a force application block 220 is arranged at the horizontal section of the positioning clamping groove 210, and the force application block 220 is embedded into the annular groove rail 21 of the supporting guide wheel 2 and is attached to the lower abutting annular ring 21b and the upper abutting ring surface 21 a.
On the basis of the above embodiment, the sliding guide assemblies 400 are respectively disposed on the two sliding side walls of the sliding groove 110 and the pushing block 200, and specifically include track grooves 410 disposed on the two side walls of the sliding groove 110, and guide wheels 420 disposed on the two side walls of the pushing block 200; the guide wheel 420 is rotatably arranged on the side wall of the pushing block 200, the guide wheel 420 is embedded into the track groove 410, the roller surface of the guide wheel 420 is in rolling contact with the lower track surface of the track groove 410, wherein the guide wheel 420 slides along the track groove 410, the friction force between the pushing block 200 and the positioning block 100 is reduced, the control of the magnitude of the applied force is convenient, the adjustment stability of the supporting guide wheel 2 is ensured, and when the pushing block 200 slides along the track of the track groove 410, the force applying rod 310 pushes the pushing block 200 to apply a horizontal thrust to the supporting guide wheel 2, so that the supporting guide wheel 2 tightly pushes the gear disc 4 along the radial direction.
On the basis of the above embodiment, in order to adapt the centering adjustment tool to the support guide wheels 2 with different heights, preferably, the track groove 410 includes a first straight thrust section 412, a second straight thrust section 413 and a switching arc section 411, the first straight thrust section 412 and the second straight thrust section 413 are parallel to the force application direction of the force application rod 310, the first straight thrust section 412 is arranged above the second straight thrust section 413, the switching arc section 411 is arranged between the first straight thrust section 412 and the second straight thrust section 413, is gradually concave downwards along the force application direction, and is provided with a transition arc section 414 at the initial end of the switching arc section 411, the first straight thrust section 412 is tangent to the transition arc section 414, and the tail end of the switching arc section 411 is tangent to the second straight thrust section 413; when the pushing block 200 slides on the first thrust straight section 412 and the second thrust straight section 413, the supporting guide wheel 2 applies a horizontal thrust force so that the circular groove rails 21 of the supporting guide wheel 2 are located in the same horizontal plane, and the horizontal plane of the circular groove rail 21 corresponding to the first thrust straight section 412 is higher than the horizontal plane of the circular groove rail 21 corresponding to the second thrust straight section 413.
Specifically, as shown in fig. 13 to 14, when the guide wheel 420 slides along the first straight thrust section 412, the force application block 220 of the pushing block 200 contacts the upper abutment ring surface 21a of the circular groove rail 21, the horizontal cross section of the circular groove rail 21 is lower than that of the force application block 220, at this time, the guide wheel 420 enters the switching arc section 411 along the transition arc section 414, and slides to the second straight thrust section 413 along the switching arc section 411, the horizontal cross section of the circular groove rail 21 and the horizontal cross section of the force application block 220 are located in the same horizontal plane, and continues to apply a horizontal thrust to the support guide wheel 2, so that the support guide wheel 2 approaches the inner ring edge of the gear plate 4, at this time, the positioning slot 210 of the pushing block 200 contacts the outer cylindrical surface of the support guide wheel 2, the force application block 220 is inserted into the circular groove rail 21, and contacts the upper and lower abutment ring surfaces 21a and 21b, and the guide wheel 420 slides in the second straight thrust section 413 until the tip 31a of the V-shaped protrusion 31 is inserted into the circular groove rail 21, thereby completing centering support of the cutter plate 3.
Because the pushing block 200 slides in the switching arc segment 411, not only displacement in the horizontal direction but also displacement in the vertical direction is generated, therefore, the end of the force application rod 310 extending into the sliding groove 110 is provided with the extrusion block 320, the extrusion block 320 is connected with the pushing block 200 through a dovetail groove structure, and the dovetail groove structure is obliquely arranged and inclines towards the supporting guide wheel 2 in the vertical direction, so that the pushing block 200 horizontally moves in the force application direction, and applies pressure in the vertical direction to the pushing block 200, so that the pushing block 200 moves in the vertical direction, and the feasibility of conversion between the first straight thrust segment 412 and the second straight thrust segment 413 is ensured.
The invention also provides an installation method of the centering support structure of the cutter head, which comprises the following steps:
two supporting guide wheels 2 are fixedly arranged in two positioning holes 11 of the supporting seat 1, the supporting guide wheels 2 are arranged in the adjusting holes 12, and the supporting guide wheels 2 are positioned at one ends of the adjusting holes 12 close to the circle center of the supporting seat 1; installing the centering adjusting tool on the supporting seat 1 corresponding to the adjusting hole 12, so that the opening of the sliding groove 110 faces the supporting guide wheel 2; the annular cutter head 3 is placed above the supporting seat 1, so that the inner annular edge of the gear disc 4 is embedded into the annular groove rails 21 of the two supporting guide wheels 2 corresponding to the two positioning holes 11; and applying horizontal thrust along the radial direction to the force application rod 310 to enable the pushing block 200 to push the supporting guide wheel 2 to approach towards the inner ring edge until the inner ring edge is embedded into the annular groove rail 21, locking the supporting guide wheel 2, and finally removing the centering adjustment tool.
On the basis of the above embodiment, when the bearing capacity of the annular cutter disc 3 is increased, in order to ensure that the supporting guide wheel 2 meets the load requirement, the supporting guide wheel 2 is added on the supporting seat 1 as shown in fig. 15, and the above steps are repeated through the centering adjustment tool to complete centering clamping.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, which are described in the specification and illustrated only to illustrate the principle of the present invention, but that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, which fall within the scope of the invention as claimed. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.