阅读说明：本技术 一种肛肠外科手术扩张器 (Anorectal surgery operation expander ) 是由 刘建峰 于 2020-06-20 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明属于肛肠扩张器技术领域,公开了一种肛肠外科手术扩张器,包括固定环、及安装于固定环上的四个可移动的弧形扩张片；其中：所述固定环的顶部安装有环形结构的第一驱动装置,驱动四个所述扩张片同时沿径向往复移动；所述第一驱动装置上环形阵列设置有至少六个第二驱动装置,每相邻两个所述第二驱动装置之间均互不干扰,并用于驱动四个所述扩张片独立沿径向往复移动；所述固定环内环形阵列的开设有四个可锁定限位的弧形滑槽,且四个所述扩张片分别沿四个弧形滑槽独立移动；整体扩张器能在不与患者肛门内壁产生摩擦的情况下,有效完成其相邻间隙的调节,既满足了灵活使用的需求,又避免了引起患者不适的问题。(The invention belongs to the technical field of anorectal dilators and discloses an anorectal surgical dilator which comprises a fixing ring and four movable arc-shaped dilating slices arranged on the fixing ring; wherein: the top of the fixing ring is provided with a first driving device with an annular structure, and the first driving device drives the four expansion pieces to simultaneously reciprocate along the radial direction; at least six second driving devices are arranged on the first driving device in an annular array mode, every two adjacent second driving devices are not interfered with each other, and the first driving devices are used for driving the four expansion pieces to independently reciprocate along the radial direction; the annular array in the fixed ring is provided with four arc-shaped sliding grooves capable of being locked and limited, and the four expansion pieces independently move along the four arc-shaped sliding grooves respectively; the whole dilator can effectively finish the adjustment of the adjacent gap of the dilator under the condition of not generating friction with the inner wall of the anus of a patient, thereby not only meeting the requirement of flexible use, but also avoiding the problem of causing discomfort of the patient.)

1. An anorectal surgical dilator, comprising: the device comprises a fixing ring (1) and four movable arc-shaped expansion pieces (4) arranged on the fixing ring (1), wherein the four arc-shaped expansion pieces (4) are combined to form a cylindrical structure, the cylindrical structure is positioned below the fixing ring (1), and a hemispherical guide part is arranged at the bottom end of the cylindrical structure; wherein:

a handle is fixedly arranged on the outer wall of the fixing ring (1) at one side of the expansion sheet (4);

the top of the fixed ring (1) is provided with a first driving device (2) with an annular structure, and the first driving device drives the four expansion pieces (4) to simultaneously reciprocate along the radial direction;

at least six second driving devices (3) are arranged on the first driving device (2) in an annular array, every two adjacent second driving devices (3) are not interfered with each other, and the four expansion pieces (4) are driven to independently reciprocate along the radial direction;

annular array offers four spacing arc spout (11) of lockable in solid fixed ring (1), and four expansion piece (4) are independently removed along four arc spout (11) respectively.

2. The anorectal surgical dilator of claim 1 wherein: four all be fixed with on the outer wall of expansion piece (4) and remove guider (5), just including threaded rod (52), four in removing guider (5) at least there are four slide (12) sliding connection respectively in arc spout (11), and four the top of slide (12) is all rotated and is connected with thread bush (13), four threaded rod (52) run through four thread bush (13) respectively, and the top of four thread bush (13) all with a drive arrangement (2) cooperation.

3. The anorectal surgical dilator of claim 1 wherein: the moving guide device (5) further comprises a guide rod (51), the guide rod (51) is located on one side of the threaded rod (52), and the guide rod (51) penetrates through the sliding seat (12).

4. An anorectal surgical dilator according to claim 2 or claim 3 wherein: the second driving device (3) is of an arc-shaped structure, the second driving device (3) is composed of a fixed shell and a plurality of balls (31) embedded in the fixed shell, every two adjacent balls (31) are mutually transmitted, and the bottoms of at least two balls (31) are matched with the top of the threaded sleeve (13).

5. An anorectal surgical dilator according to claim 2 or 3 wherein the structure to achieve a locking limit of the curved chute (11) comprises: the elastic limiting device (14) is arranged at the bottom of the sliding seat (12), and the elastic limiting device (14) is matched with the arc-shaped sliding groove (11) to limit the longitudinal position and the horizontal position of the sliding seat (12).

6. The anorectal surgical dilator of claim 5 wherein: elasticity stop device (14) are including embedding in locking piece (19) of slide (12) bottom, and symmetry embedding in stopper (17) of locking piece (19) both sides, just stopper (17) but horizontal reciprocating motion, tooth's socket (18) have all been seted up on the both sides inner wall of arc spout (11), and one side of two stopper (17) meshes the location with two tooth's sockets (18) respectively.

7. The anorectal surgical dilator as claimed in claim 6, wherein a lifting gap is reserved between the top of the locking block (19) and the sliding seat (12), a guide inclined plane (173) is formed on the outer wall of one side of the limiting block (17), and the guide inclined plane (173) is matched with the bottom of the sliding seat (12) to drive the limiting block (17) to move in a horizontal direction and separate from the tooth grooves (18).

8. The anorectal surgical dilator as claimed in claim 7, wherein both sides of the locking block (19) are provided with mounting grooves (16), a spring (15) is fixed in each mounting groove (16), the spring (15) is connected with a limiting block (17), and drives the limiting block (17) to move towards the other horizontal direction and to be engaged with the tooth grooves (18).

9. The anorectal surgical dilator of claim 8 wherein: one side of keeping away from spring (15) on stopper (17) is equipped with horizontal bulge (172) that can stretch into in tooth's socket (18), just horizontal bulge (172) are located the below of direction inclined plane (173), one side of horizontal bulge (172) is equipped with engaging flank (171), just engaging flank (171) and tooth's socket (18) meshing.

10. The anorectal surgical dilator of claim 1 wherein: the cylindrical structure formed by the combination of the four expansion pieces (4) is a hollow cylinder, and a through hole is formed in the hemispherical guide part at the front end of the cylindrical structure.

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of anorectal expanders, and particularly relates to an anorectal surgical operation expander.

Background

The anorectal dilator is used for anorectal examination, operation or an anal dilating process during postoperative recovery so as to prevent anal stenosis from being incapable of corresponding examination or operation.

In the prior Chinese invention patents with patent numbers CN1052888830A and CN110354368A, anorectal dilators with movable windows are mentioned, so that different requirements in the operation process can be flexibly met. However, in both of the above-mentioned patents, when the adjustment of the active window is performed, there are problems as follows:

the movable window is adjusted by the movement or rotation of the movable sliding sheet, when in actual use, the sliding sheet is positioned in the anus of a patient, the surface wall of the sliding sheet is contacted with the inner wall of the anus of the patient, if the sliding sheet moves or rotates, friction is formed between the sliding sheet and the inner wall of the anus, and even if the whole dilator is coated with a lubricant, the patient discomfort can be caused by the friction formed during the movement or rotation of the whole dilator; especially in the case of multi-site surgery, the movement or rotation of the slide may also touch the surgical wound, increasing the pain of the patient.

In conclusion, if the discomfort caused by the adjustment of the movable window in the dilator is effectively solved, the problem to be solved is urgently needed.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, the present invention is directed to an anorectal surgical dilator to solve the above problems.

In order to achieve the purpose, the invention provides the following technical scheme: an anorectal surgery operation dilator comprises a fixing ring and four movable arc-shaped dilating slices arranged on the fixing ring, wherein the four arc-shaped dilating slices are combined to form a cylindrical structure, the cylindrical structure is positioned below the fixing ring, and a hemispherical guide part is arranged at the bottom end of the cylindrical structure; wherein:

a handle is fixedly arranged on the outer wall of the fixing ring at one side of the expansion sheet;

the top of the fixing ring is provided with a first driving device with an annular structure, and the first driving device drives the four expansion pieces to simultaneously reciprocate along the radial direction;

at least six second driving devices are arranged on the first driving device in an annular array mode, every two adjacent second driving devices are not interfered with each other, and the first driving devices are used for driving the four expansion pieces to independently reciprocate along the radial direction;

annular array in the fixed ring sets up four lockable spacing arc spouts, and four the expansion piece independently removes along four arc spouts respectively.

In the invention, optionally, the outer walls of the four expansion pieces are all fixed with a movable guide device, the movable guide device at least comprises a threaded rod, four sliding seats are respectively connected in the four arc-shaped sliding grooves in a sliding manner, the tops of the four sliding seats are respectively connected with threaded sleeves in a rotating manner, the four threaded rods respectively penetrate through the four threaded sleeves, and the tops of the four threaded sleeves are all matched with the first driving device.

In the present invention, optionally, the movement guide device further includes a guide rod, the guide rod is located on one side of the threaded rod, and the guide rod penetrates through the sliding seat.

In the present invention, optionally, the second driving device is of an arc structure, and the second driving device is composed of a fixed shell and a plurality of balls embedded in the fixed shell, every two adjacent balls are mutually driven, and the bottoms of at least two balls are matched with the top of the thread sleeve.

In the present invention, optionally, the structure for realizing the locking and limiting of the arc chute includes: the bottom of the sliding seat is provided with an elastic limiting device, and the elastic limiting device is matched with the arc-shaped sliding groove to limit the longitudinal position and the horizontal position of the sliding seat.

In the invention, optionally, the elastic limiting device comprises a locking block embedded in the bottom of the sliding seat and limiting blocks symmetrically embedded in two sides of the locking block, the limiting blocks can horizontally reciprocate, tooth grooves are formed in inner walls of two sides of the arc-shaped sliding groove, and one side of each of the two limiting blocks is respectively meshed with the two tooth grooves for positioning.

In the invention, optionally, a lifting gap is reserved between the top of the locking block and the sliding seat, a guide inclined plane is arranged on the outer wall of one side of the limiting block, and the guide inclined plane is matched with the bottom of the sliding seat to drive the limiting block to move in a horizontal direction and separate from the tooth socket.

In the invention, optionally, a horizontal protrusion which can extend into the tooth socket is arranged on one side of the limiting block, which is far away from the spring, and the horizontal protrusion is positioned below the guide inclined plane, and an engaging tooth surface is arranged on one side of the horizontal protrusion and engaged with the tooth socket.

In the invention, optionally, the cylindrical structure formed by combining the four expansion pieces is a hollow cylinder, and a hemispherical guide part at the front end of the cylindrical structure is provided with a through hole.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following beneficial effects:

(1) in the invention, the fixing ring and the four expansion pieces arranged on the fixing ring are arranged, and the four expansion pieces can move along the radial direction of the fixing ring, so that the expansion operation of the whole expander is effectively realized; the four expansion pieces can also move along the circumferential direction of the fixing ring, so that the gap between every two adjacent expansion pieces is effectively changed, and the operation requirements under different conditions are met;

in addition, when the circumferential movement of the expansion pieces is realized, the single expansion piece can independently perform radial movement and circumferential movement, and under the expansion support of the other expansion pieces, the single expansion piece does not generate movement friction with the inner wall of the body of the patient when moving;

in conclusion, not only can the flexible use of the whole dilator be realized, but also the pain of the patient can be reduced in the use process.

(2) Aiming at the fixed ring, a first driving device with an annular structure is correspondingly arranged; to above-mentioned expansion piece, correspond and be equipped with rotatable thread bush and fixed threaded rod, and threaded rod and thread bush combination form spiral drive disk assembly, specifically: first drive arrangement is when rotating, can drive four threaded sleeves simultaneously and carry out synchronous rotation, and then drive four threaded rods and carry out synchronous motion, effectively realize the synchronous drive expansion of four expansion pieces from this to the expansion operation that makes whole expander is very convenient.

(3) Aiming at the first driving device, the second driving devices are correspondingly arranged, the number of the second driving devices is at least six, and the second driving devices are not interfered with each other, so that when the expansion pieces are located at any positions, the corresponding threaded sleeves can be matched with one of the second driving devices, and the independent driving of each expansion piece can be effectively realized.

(4) Aiming at the fixed ring, four arc-shaped sliding grooves are formed in the fixed ring, thread sleeves corresponding to the four expansion pieces are arranged on the sliding seat, and the sliding seat slides in the arc-shaped sliding grooves so as to independently execute circumferential movement of the four expansion pieces; in addition, the bottom of the sliding seat is provided with an elastic limiting device matched with the arc-shaped sliding groove, so that the stability of positioning after the expansion piece moves in the circumferential direction is effectively ensured.

(5) To above-mentioned elasticity stop device, but mainly including reciprocating motion's stopper, set up engaging tooth face and direction inclined plane on the stopper, make the stopper can not only inject the relative position of slide and arc spout from this, can also effectively inject the relative position of thread bush and first drive arrangement or second drive arrangement, and then guarantee overall structure complex stable.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a front view of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the first and second driving devices of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an exemplary second driving device according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the stent of the present invention as it is deployed;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the stent of the present invention as it is deployed;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the first driving device, the slide and the moving guide device in a first view;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the first driving device, the slide and the movement guide device in a second view;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view taken at A in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a limiting block according to the present invention;

in the figure: 1-fixed ring, 11-arc chute, 12-slide seat, 13-thread bushing, 14-elastic limiting device, 15-spring, 16-mounting groove, 17-limiting block, 171-engaging tooth surface, 172-horizontal projection, 173-guide inclined plane, 18-tooth space, 19-locking block, 2-first driving device, 3-second driving device, 31-ball, 4-expanding piece, 5-moving guiding device, 51-guiding rod and 52-threaded rod.

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.

In an embodiment of the present invention, an anorectal surgery dilator is provided, and specifically, referring to fig. 1 to 10, the dilator mainly includes a fixing ring 1 and four movable arc-shaped dilating blades 4 mounted on the fixing ring 1, the four arc-shaped dilating blades 4 are combined to form a cylindrical structure, the cylindrical structure is located below the fixing ring 1, and a hemispherical guide portion is disposed at a bottom end of the cylindrical structure; wherein:

a handle is fixedly arranged on the outer wall of the fixing ring 1 at one side of the expansion sheet 4;

the top of the fixed ring 1 is provided with a first driving device 2 with an annular structure, and the first driving device drives the four expansion pieces 4 to simultaneously reciprocate along the radial direction;

at least six second driving devices 3 are arranged on the first driving device 2 in an annular array, every two adjacent second driving devices 3 are not interfered with each other and are used for driving the four expansion pieces 4 to independently reciprocate along the radial direction;

annular array offers four lockable spacing arc spout 11 in solid fixed ring 1, and four expansion pieces 4 independently remove along four arc spout 11 respectively.

Based on the main structure disclosed above, the use principle of the whole dilator is as follows:

in the state shown in fig. 1 and 2, the four arc-shaped expansion pieces 4 are retracted to form a cylindrical structure, which is placed into the anus of the patient (before lubricating oil is applied to the cylindrical structure), after the placement is completed, the first driving device 2 is rotated in the forward direction to drive the four expansion pieces 4 to move outwards along the radial direction of the fixing ring 1 at the same time, so that the outward expansion operation changed from fig. 2 to fig. 5 is realized, and at this time, along with the outward expansion of the four expansion pieces 4, the expansion of the anus of the patient is correspondingly realized; and when specifically using, the external expansion degree of four expansion pieces 4 should carry out actual adjustment according to specific patient to the danger that makes the patient appear the anal fissure, and specific adjustment, just, the reverse rotation based on first drive arrangement 2 can realize convenient operation.

After the external expansion shown in fig. 5 is completed, an examination or an operation can be performed, wherein for example, in the operation (hemorrhoid excision) operation, the position of the expansion piece 4 can be adjusted, so that the hemorrhoid to be excised is positioned between the two adjacent expansion pieces 4, and the operation of the operation is more convenient; when the position of the expansion piece 4 is specifically adjusted, the operation mode is as follows: one of the expansion pieces 4 (for shielding hemorrhoids) is selected, and the second driving device 3 corresponding to the expansion piece 4 is rotated in the opposite direction, so that the expansion piece 4 can be retracted inwards along the radial direction of the fixing ring 1, and in this state, the other three expansion pieces 4 still keep the expansion support for the anus of the patient, so that the anus of the patient keeps in an expanded state, and the retracted expansion pieces 4 are not in contact with the inner wall of the anus of the patient; then the circumferential limit of the expansion piece 4 is unlocked, so that the expansion piece 4 can move circumferentially along the corresponding arc-shaped sliding groove 11, the position of the expansion piece 4 is effectively changed, and the left and right vacant gaps are correspondingly changed, so that the hemorrhoid to be excised can be effectively placed in one of the vacant gaps; after the above operation is completed, the locking and resetting expansion of the movable expansion piece 4 are performed.

Above-mentioned, in the whole adjustment process, the expansion piece 4 that removes can not produce the friction with patient's anus inner wall at the removal in-process to effectively reduced the patient discomfort that whole expander arouses in nimble use.

As described above, the forward rotation and the reverse rotation are represented as two opposite directions of rotation, and the forward rotation corresponds to outward expansion of the expansion piece 4, and the reverse rotation corresponds to inward retraction of the expansion piece 4, and is not particularly limited to clockwise or counterclockwise rotation.

In addition, the cylindrical structure formed by combining the four expansion pieces 4 is a hollow cylinder, and a hemispherical guide part at the front end of the cylindrical structure is provided with a through hole, so that the through hole can effectively realize the exhaust operation when the whole expander is put in.

For the above main structure, the following specific structure is also provided in the embodiment of the present invention:

in the embodiment of the present invention, referring to fig. 2 and fig. 5-7, with regard to the four expansion pieces 4, the moving guide device 5 is fixed on the outer walls of the four expansion pieces 4, and the moving guide device 5 at least includes a threaded rod 52, four sliding seats 12 are slidably connected in the four arc-shaped sliding grooves 11, respectively, the tops of the four sliding seats 12 are rotatably connected with threaded sleeves 13, the four threaded rods 52 respectively penetrate through the four threaded sleeves 13, and the tops of the four threaded sleeves 13 are matched with the first driving device 2.

As described above, the first driving device 2 is only a rotatable ring embedded in the top of the fixed ring 1, and the bottom of the rotatable ring contacts the threaded sleeve 13 to drive the threaded sleeve 13 to rotate by friction. Specifically, a friction pad and other structures can be additionally arranged at the bottom of the first driving device 2 to increase the friction force between the first driving device 2 and the threaded sleeves 13, so that the four threaded sleeves 13 can be effectively driven.

As will be easily explained, taking the outward expansion movement of the expansion piece 4 as an example, the threaded sleeve 13 is driven by the first driving device 2 to rotate correspondingly, so that a screw drive is generated between the threaded rod 52 and the threaded sleeve to convert the rotation drive into a movement drive, thereby realizing the movement of the threaded rod 52, and the threaded rod 52 drives the expansion piece 4 fixed thereto to move, thereby completing the outward expansion of the expansion piece 4.

In the embodiment of the present invention, referring to fig. 2 and fig. 5-7, the movement guide device 5 further includes a guide rod 51, the guide rod 51 is located at one side of the threaded rod 52, and the guide rod 51 penetrates through the sliding seat 12.

As described above, the guide rod 51 is used to improve the stability of the engagement of the expansion piece 4 with the fixed ring 1, and to prevent the threaded rod 52 from rotating with the threaded sleeve 13, so that the stability of the threaded sleeve 13 and the threaded rod 52 can be effectively improved when the screw driving is performed.

In the embodiment of the present invention, referring to the second driving devices 3, please refer to fig. 2-5, wherein each second driving device 3 is an arc-shaped structure, each second driving device 3 is composed of a fixed shell and a plurality of balls 31 embedded in the fixed shell, every two adjacent balls 31 in each second driving device 3 are mutually driven, and the bottom of at least two balls 31 in each second driving device 3 is matched with the top of the threaded sleeve 13.

As can be seen, the driving method of the second driving device 3 for the threaded sleeve 13 is: any one of the balls 31 in the second driving device 3 corresponding to the threaded sleeve 13 to be driven is shifted, at this time, all the balls 31 in the second driving device 3 are rotated based on mutual transmission among the balls 31, and the balls 31 can drive the corresponding threaded sleeve 13 to rotate when rotating, so that the threaded sleeve 13 to be driven is driven to rotate.

In addition, as can be seen from the above, since at least six second driving devices 3 do not interfere with each other, when the screw sleeve 13 is driven by the balls 31, it is effectively ensured that only one screw sleeve 13 can be driven, and thus the independent driving of the corresponding expansion piece 4 can be effectively realized.

In the embodiment of the present invention, referring to fig. 6 to 10, the structure for realizing the locking and limiting of the arc chute 11 includes: an elastic limiting device 14 is arranged at the bottom of the sliding seat 12, and the elastic limiting device 14 is matched with the arc-shaped sliding groove 11 to limit the longitudinal position and the horizontal position of the sliding seat 12.

Specifically, as for the elastic limiting device 14, please refer to fig. 7-10, the elastic limiting device 14 includes a locking block 19 embedded in the bottom of the sliding seat 12 and limiting blocks 17 symmetrically embedded in two sides of the locking block 19, the limiting blocks 17 can horizontally reciprocate, tooth grooves 18 are formed on inner walls of two sides of the arc-shaped sliding groove 11, and one side of each of the two limiting blocks 17 is engaged with the two tooth grooves 18 for positioning.

Furthermore, mounting grooves 16 are formed in two sides of the locking piece 19, a spring 15 is fixed in each mounting groove 16, the spring 15 is connected with the limiting block 17, and the limiting block 17 is driven to move towards the other horizontal direction and is meshed with the tooth grooves 18.

Preferably, a horizontal protrusion 172 capable of extending into the tooth slot 18 is disposed on a side of the stopper 17 away from the spring 15, the horizontal protrusion 172 is located below the guiding inclined plane 173, an engaging tooth surface 171 is disposed on a side of the horizontal protrusion 172, and the engaging tooth surface 171 is engaged with the tooth slot 18.

Based on the above structure, the principle of the expansion piece 4 when performing circumferential movement and limiting is as follows:

unlocking: manually pressing down the mobile guide 5, so as to drive the slide 12 to move downwards, and then separating the top of the threaded sleeve 13 from the first driving device 2 and the second driving device 3; and the bottom of the sliding seat 12 drives the limit block 17 to move towards the inside of the mounting groove 16 based on the cooperation with the guide inclined plane 173, at this time, the engaging tooth surface 171 of the limit block 17 is separated from the tooth groove 18, the spring 15 is compressed, and the locking block 19 is also retracted to the bottom of the sliding seat 12, so that the unlocking is completed.

In between the unlocking operations, the corresponding expansion piece 4 should have been retracted inwards by the second driving device 3, so that no friction will occur between the corresponding expansion piece 4 and the inner wall of the anus of the patient when the unlocking operations are performed.

Circumferential movement: the downward pressing state of the movable guide device 5 is kept, and the manual movement is carried out along the direction of the arc-shaped sliding chute 11, so that the circumferential movement of the corresponding expansion piece 4 can be realized.

In the process of executing the above-mentioned circumferential movement, since the top of the threaded sleeve 13 is in a separated state from the first driving device 2 and the second driving device 3, the passive rotation of the first driving device 2 and the second driving device 3 is not caused, and the stable positioning of the remaining three expansion pieces 4 is further ensured.

Resetting and locking: after the circumferential movement is completed, the depression of the movable guide 5 is released, and at this time, the limit block 17 is driven to extend out of the mounting groove 16 to be reset due to the resilience of the spring 15, and is limited by the engagement tooth surface 171 being engaged with the tooth groove 18 again, and the slide 12 is driven to be lifted up by the guide slope 173, so that the threaded sleeve 13 is contacted with the first driving device 2 and the second driving device 3 again, thereby effectively completing the reset locking of the integral structure.

Thereafter, the corresponding expansion piece 4 can be driven by the second driving device 3 to expand outward again.

In conclusion, the whole dilator can effectively complete the adjustment of the adjacent gap (movable window) under the condition of not generating friction with the inner wall of the anus of the patient, thereby not only meeting the requirement of flexible use, but also avoiding the problem of discomfort of the patient.

It is noted that, herein, relational terms such as first and second, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Also, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

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.