阅读说明：本技术 井道内施工升降机 (Construction elevator in shaft ) 是由 孙桂新 李文岩 刘俊陶 李义宁 于 2021-09-02 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明属于井道内施工设备技术领域,尤其涉及一种井道内施工升降机,包括吊笼、承重梁、曳引机、钢丝绳和对重框；吊笼设置于井道内并与井道内壁上的导轨滑动连接,承重梁安装于井道内并位于吊笼的上方,曳引机安装于井道外,钢丝绳包括有使用段和待用段,使用段绕设于对重框、承重梁、曳引机和吊笼之间,绳头组件安装于承重梁上并用于锁紧使用段和待用段的连接处,将待用段的钢丝绳设置于吊笼的上方,减少了吊笼的负荷,提高了吊笼运行过程中的实际载荷,并且将曳引机安装于井道之外,既能满足驱动使用段工作,在对承重梁进行升层的时候无需将曳引机同步进行升层,从而降低了升层的难度,缩短了升层的安装时间。(The invention belongs to the technical field of construction equipment in a shaft, and particularly relates to a construction elevator in a shaft, which comprises a suspension cage, a bearing beam, a traction machine, a steel wire rope and a counterweight frame; the cage sets up in the well and with guide rail sliding connection on the well inner wall, the spandrel girder is installed in the well and is located the top of cage, the hauler is installed outside the well, wire rope is including using section and standby section, use the section around locating to heavy frame, the spandrel girder, between hauler and the cage, rope end subassembly is installed on the spandrel girder and is used for locking the junction of using section and standby section, set up the wire rope of standby section in the top of cage, the load of cage has been reduced, the actual load in the cage operation process has been improved, and install the hauler outside the well, can satisfy drive use section work, need not to carry out the lift bed with the hauler in step when carrying out the lift bed to the spandrel girder, thereby the degree of difficulty of lift bed has been reduced, the installation time of lift bed has been shortened.)

1. A construction elevator in a well is characterized by comprising a suspension cage, a bearing beam, a traction machine, a steel wire rope, a counterweight frame and a rope head assembly; the cage sets up in the well and with guide rail sliding connection on the well inner wall, the spandrel girder install in the well and be located the top of cage, the hauler install in outside the well, wire rope is including using the section and for use the section, use the section around locating to heavy frame the spandrel girder the hauler with between the cage, rope end subassembly install in be used for locking on the spandrel girder use the section with the junction of section for use.

2. The in-hoistway construction elevator of claim 1 further comprising a tray for storing said standby sections, said tray being mounted in or out of said hoistway.

3. The construction elevator in the hoistway according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a support portion is provided at a side portion of the bearing beam, the using section is wound around the bearing beam and the traction machine, a first end of the using section is wound around the counterweight frame and then fixed to the support portion, a second end of the using section is wound around the cage and then connected to the rope end assembly, and the standby section is connected to a second end of the using section.

4. The in-shaft construction elevator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the hoisting machine is installed on a ground floor of any one of floors outside the shaft, and the hoisting machine is connected to a part of the use section to drive the use section to operate.

5. The construction elevator in the shaft according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the bearing beam comprises a fixed portion, a telescopic portion and a guiding wheel set, the fixed portion and the telescopic portion are detachably connected, one end of the fixed portion is fixed to the inner wall of the shaft, the free end of the telescopic portion extends out of the floor surface outside the shaft, and the guiding wheel set is mounted on the fixed portion.

6. The construction elevator in the shaft according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a guide wheel set is provided on the bearing beam, a first movable pulley is connected above the counterweight frame, and a second movable pulley is connected above the cage; the first end of the using section is connected to the bearing beam, the second end of the using section is sequentially wound on the first movable pulley, the guide wheel set and the second movable pulley and then is connected with the rope head assembly, and the traction machine is used for drawing and winding part of the using section arranged on the guide wheel set.

7. The in-hoistway construction elevator according to claim 6, wherein a plane perpendicular to a horizontal plane on which an axis of the first movable sheave is located is defined as a first plane, and a plane perpendicular to a horizontal plane on which an axis of the second movable sheave is located is defined as a second plane, the second plane being perpendicular to the first plane.

8. The in-hoistway construction elevator according to claim 6, wherein the guide pulley group includes a first guide pulley, a second guide pulley, a third guide pulley, and a fourth guide pulley; the first guide wheel, the second guide wheel and the third guide wheel are arranged on the bearing beam from bottom to top along the vertical direction and close to the inner wall of the hoistway, the fourth guide wheel is installed on the bearing beam and located on the side of the second guide wheel, and the using section sequentially passes through the first movable pulley, the first guide wheel, the second guide wheel, the traction machine, the third guide wheel, the fourth guide wheel and the second movable pulley.

9. The in-hoistway construction elevator of claim 8, wherein a distance between the second guide sheave and the inner hoistway wall is less than a distance between the counterweight frame and the inner hoistway wall.

10. The in-hoistway construction elevator according to claim 8, wherein the hoisting machine includes a frame, and a traction sheave, a fifth guide sheave, and a sixth guide sheave mounted on the frame, the traction sheave is disposed outside the hoistway, the fifth guide sheave and the sixth guide sheave partially extend into the hoistway and are located below and to the side of the guide sheave group, the sixth guide sheave and the fifth guide sheave are disposed vertically from top to bottom, and the use section sequentially passes around the first movable sheave, the first guide sheave, the second guide sheave, the fifth guide sheave, the traction sheave, the sixth guide sheave, the third guide sheave, the fourth guide sheave, and the second movable sheave.

11. The in-hoistway construction elevator according to claim 10, wherein a traction machine is defined on a left side of the load beam, a left quadrant of the second guide wheel is located on a same vertical line as a right quadrant of the fifth guide wheel, and a left quadrant of the third guide wheel is located on a same vertical line as a right quadrant of the sixth guide wheel.

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of construction equipment in a shaft, and particularly relates to a construction elevator in a shaft.

Background

The existing building enterprises want to improve competitiveness, firstly, on the premise of ensuring construction safety and building quality, construction efficiency is improved, and accordingly continuous improvement of construction equipment is required. Along with the development of present building trade, the building of floor increases gradually, current lift setting is in order to improve the security in the well of building, the lift in the well risees along with the increase of building, need longer wire rope, however well inner space is narrower and smaller, remaining wire rope is deposited inconveniently, lead to appearing the problem that remaining wire rope settled easily, construction lift generally deposits unnecessary wire rope in the cage top in current well, but this is so led to the cage actual load and has reduced greatly, and current hauler is installed on the spandrel girder, lead to rising the layer degree of difficulty height.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a construction elevator in a shaft, and aims to solve the technical problems that in the prior art, the actual load of a suspension cage is reduced due to the fact that a steel wire rope is stored on the suspension cage, and a traction machine is installed on a bearing beam to cause difficulty in lifting.

In order to achieve the purpose, the construction elevator in the well provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises a suspension cage, a bearing beam, a traction machine, a steel wire rope, a counterweight frame and a rope head assembly; the cage sets up in the well and with guide rail sliding connection on the well inner wall, the spandrel girder install in the well and be located the top of cage, the hauler install in outside the well, wire rope is including using the section and for use the section, use the section around locating to heavy frame the spandrel girder the hauler with between the cage, rope end subassembly install in be used for locking on the spandrel girder use the section with the junction of section for use.

Optionally, a bracket for storing the standby section is further included, and the bracket is mounted in or out of the hoistway.

Optionally, the lateral part of spandrel girder is provided with the supporting part, use the section around locating on the spandrel girder with the hauler, the first end of use section is around establishing to be fixed in behind the counter-weight frame on the supporting part, the second end of use section around establishing behind the cage with the fag end subassembly is connected, for use the section with the second end of use section is connected.

Optionally, the traction machine is mounted on a ground floor of any floor outside the hoistway, and the traction machine is connected to a part of the service section and used for driving the service section to work.

Optionally, the spandrel girder is including fixed part, pars contractilis and direction wheelset, the fixed part with the connection can be dismantled to the pars contractilis, the one end of fixed part fixed with in the well inner wall, the free end of pars contractilis stretches out on the outer floor face of well, the direction wheelset install in on the fixed part.

Optionally, a guide wheel set is arranged on the bearing beam, a first movable pulley is connected above the counterweight frame, and a second movable pulley is connected above the suspension cage; the first end of the using section is connected to the bearing beam, the second end of the using section is sequentially wound on the first movable pulley, the guide wheel set and the second movable pulley and then is connected with the rope head assembly, and the traction machine is used for drawing and winding part of the using section arranged on the guide wheel set.

Optionally, a plane perpendicular to the horizontal plane where the axis of the first movable pulley is located is defined as a first plane, and a plane perpendicular to the horizontal plane where the axis of the second movable pulley is located is defined as a second plane, where the second plane is perpendicular to the first plane.

Optionally, the guide wheel group includes a first guide wheel, a second guide wheel, a third guide wheel and a fourth guide wheel; the first guide wheel, the second guide wheel and the third guide wheel are arranged on the bearing beam from bottom to top along the vertical direction and close to the inner wall of the hoistway, the fourth guide wheel is installed on the bearing beam and located on the side of the second guide wheel, and the using section sequentially passes through the first movable pulley, the first guide wheel, the second guide wheel, the traction machine, the third guide wheel, the fourth guide wheel and the second movable pulley.

Optionally, a distance between the second guide pulley and the inner wall of the hoistway is smaller than a distance between the counterweight frame and the inner wall of the hoistway.

Optionally, the traction machine includes a frame, and a traction sheave, a fifth guide wheel, and a sixth guide wheel installed on the frame, the traction sheave is disposed outside the hoistway, the fifth guide wheel and the sixth guide wheel partially extend into the hoistway and are located below the side of the guide wheel set, the sixth guide wheel and the fifth guide wheel are arranged from top to bottom along the vertical direction, and the use section sequentially passes around the first movable pulley, the first guide wheel, the second guide wheel, the fifth guide wheel, the traction sheave, the sixth guide wheel, the third guide wheel, the fourth guide wheel, and the second movable pulley.

Optionally, it is defined that the traction machine is located on the left side of the bearing beam, the left quadrant point of the second guide wheel and the right quadrant point of the fifth guide wheel are located on the same vertical line, and the left quadrant point of the third guide wheel and the right quadrant point of the sixth guide wheel are located on the same vertical line.

One or more technical schemes in the construction elevator in the shaft provided by the embodiment of the invention at least have one of the following technical effects: along with the rising of floor, when promoting the spandrel girder, loosen the fag end subassembly, release the section of will using for use in order to convert the use section, thereby make the length of use section elongated, satisfy the lift of cage, use a wire rope can satisfy work, and set up the wire rope of section of using for use in the top of cage, the load of cage has been reduced, the actual load in the cage operation process has been improved, and install the hauler outside the well, can satisfy the work of drive use section, need not to carry out the lift with the hauler in step when carrying out the lift to the spandrel girder, namely, only need carry out the lift to the spandrel girder, thereby the degree of difficulty of lift has been reduced, the installation time of lift has been shortened.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments or the prior art descriptions will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without inventive exercise.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a construction elevator in a hoistway according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural view of a counterweight frame portion of the construction elevator in the hoistway according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a bracket in a construction elevator in a hoistway according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic structural view of a load-bearing beam in the construction elevator in the hoistway according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged schematic view of a portion of a second guide wheel of the construction elevator in the hoistway according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Wherein, in the figures, the respective reference numerals:

10-cage 11-second movable pulley 12-first side

20 bearing beam 21 supporting part 22 fixing part

23-expansion part 24-guide wheel group 241-first guide wheel

242-second guide wheel 243-third guide wheel 244-fourth guide wheel

30-traction machine 31-frame 32-traction sheave

33-fifth leading wheel 34-sixth leading wheel 40-steel wire rope

41-usage segment 41 a-first usage segment 41 b-second usage segment

42-standby section 50-counterweight frame 51-first movable pulley

60-rope end assembly 70-bracket 71-winding part

72-position-limiting part 81-first inner wall H1-first distance

H2 — second spacing.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in fig. 1-4, wherein like or similar reference numerals refer to like or similar elements or elements having like or similar functionality throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the drawings are exemplary and intended to be illustrative of the embodiments of the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the invention.

In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "length", "width", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc. indicate orientations or positional relationships based on those shown in the drawings, and are only for convenience in describing the embodiments of the present invention and simplifying the description, but do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and thus, should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

Furthermore, the terms "first", "second" and "first" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, "a plurality" means two or more unless specifically limited otherwise.

In the embodiments of the present invention, unless otherwise explicitly specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," "fixed," and the like are to be construed broadly, e.g., as being fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrated; can be mechanically or electrically connected; either directly or indirectly through intervening media, either internally or in any other relationship. Specific meanings of the above terms in the embodiments of the present invention can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art according to specific situations.

In an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1 to 4, there is provided an elevator for construction in a hoistway, including a cage 10, a load beam 20, a traction machine 30, a wire rope 40, a counterweight frame 50, and a rope end assembly 60; the cage 10 sets up in the well and with guide rail sliding connection on the well inner wall, spandrel girder 20 install in the well and be located the top of cage 10, hauler 30 install in outside the well, wire rope 40 is including using section 41 and for use section 42, use section 41 around locating to counter weight frame 50 the spandrel girder 20 the hauler 30 with between the cage 10, rope head subassembly 60 install in on the spandrel girder 20 and be used for locking use section 41 with for use section 42's junction.

Specifically, along with the rise of the floor, the bearing beam 20 is lifted, the rope head assembly 60 is loosened, the standby section 42 is released to be converted into the using section 41, so that the length of the using section 41 is increased, the lifting of the cage 10 is met, the work can be met by using one steel wire rope 40, the steel wire rope 40 of the standby section 42 is arranged above the cage 10, the load of the cage 10 is reduced, the actual load of the cage 10 in the running process is improved, the traction machine 30 is installed outside a hoistway, the work of the using section 41 can be driven, the traction machine 30 does not need to be synchronously lifted when the bearing beam 20 is lifted, namely, the bearing beam 20 only needs to be lifted, the difficulty of lifting the floor is reduced, and the mounting time of lifting the floor is shortened.

In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1 and 3, the construction hoist in the hoistway further includes a bracket 70, and the bracket 70 is installed in the hoistway to store the standby section 42. Specifically, the standby segment 42 is stored by using the bracket 70, and the standby segment 42 is stored in order, so that the standby segment 42 is prevented from being messy.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the bracket 70 is mounted on the inner wall of the hoistway above the load beam 20; specifically, in the raising of the floor, the bracket 70 is first removed from the inner wall of the hoistway, and then raised together with the load beam 20.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the bracket 70 is mounted to the load beam 20. Specifically, the floor is raised together with the load beam 20.

In another embodiment of the invention, the carriage 70 is mounted outside the hoistway for storing the standby segments 42. Specifically, the carriage 70 disposed outside the hoistway facilitates maintenance thereof by workers.

In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 3, the bracket 70 includes a winding portion 71 and a position-limiting portion 72 disposed at two ends of the winding portion 71. Specifically, the limiting portion 72 is provided to prevent the standby segment 42 from falling off from the winding portion 71.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the lowest point of the stopper portion 72 is higher than the lowest point of the standby portion wound on the winding portion 71. In this way, the standby section 42 is always kept separated from the ground, so that the phenomenon of friction between the standby section 42 and the ground is avoided, and the storage stability of the standby section 42 is improved.

In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1 to 2, the using section 41 is wound around the bearing beam 20 and the traction machine 30, a first end of the using section 41 is wound around the counterweight frame 50 and then fixed to the bearing beam 20, a second end of the using section 41 is wound around the cage 10 and then connected to the rope head assembly 60, and the standby section 42 is connected to a second end of the using section 41. Specifically, a winding mode of a double winding type 2:1 traction ratio is adopted, so that the compound borne by the using section 41 is half of the actual compound of the cage 10, and the stability of the cage 10 during working is further improved.

In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2, the side portion of the bearing beam 20 is provided with a supporting portion 21, and the first end of the using section 41 is fixed on the supporting portion 21. Specifically, the first end of the using section 41 is fixed to the support portion 21 after passing downward from the bearing beam 20 around the counterweight frame 50 and upward, so that the using section 41 of the section is in a "U" shape.

In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1, the traction machine 30 is installed on a ground floor of any floor outside the hoistway, and the traction machine 30 is connected to a part of the use section 41 to drive the use section 41 to operate. Specifically, since the hoisting machine 30 is disposed on the ground floor, the hoisting machine 30 does not need to be hoisted during the hoisting process, which reduces the difficulty of hoisting, and the hoisting machine 30 disposed on the ground floor facilitates maintenance of workers.

In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 4, the load-bearing beam 20 includes a fixing portion 22, an expansion portion 23, and a guide wheel set 24, the fixing portion 22 is detachably connected to the expansion portion 23, one end of the fixing portion 22 is fixed to an inner wall of the hoistway, a free end of the expansion portion 23 extends out of a floor surface outside the hoistway, the guide wheel set 24 is mounted on the fixing portion 22, and the support portion 21 is disposed at a side portion of the fixing portion 22. Specifically, when the layer needs to rise, with the expansion part 23 towards the 22 direction removal of fixed part, make the holistic length of spandrel girder 20 shorten the width that is less than the well, thereby be convenient for rise the layer, it removes the 22 direction of fixed part to keep away from expansion part 23 after the layer, make the holistic length of spandrel girder 20 be greater than the width of well, thereby support in the well upper end, through the expansion of expansion part 23 and fixed part 22 with shorten, be convenient for promote, the degree of difficulty of rising the layer has been reduced.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a guide wheel set 24 is disposed on the bearing beam 20, a first movable pulley 51 is connected above the counterweight frame 50, and a second movable pulley 11 is connected above the cage 10; a first end of the using section 41 is connected to the load beam 20, a second end of the using section 41 is sequentially wound around the first movable pulley 51, the guide pulley set 24 and the second movable pulley 11 and then connected to the rope head assembly 60, and the traction machine 30 is drawn and wound around a part of the using section 41 of the guide pulley set 24. Specifically, the first movable pulley 51 is arranged on the counterweight frame 50, and the second movable pulley 11 is arranged on the suspension cage 10, so that the traction ratio is 1:2, the load bearing of the using section 41 can be reduced to half, and the safety of the using section 41 with the same thickness is greatly improved.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a plane perpendicular to the horizontal plane on which the axis of the first movable sheave 51 is located is defined as a first plane, and a plane perpendicular to the horizontal plane on which the axis of the second movable sheave 11 is located is defined as a second plane, which is perpendicular to the first plane. Specifically, a side surface of the cage 10 facing the second movable pulley 11 is defined as a first side surface 12, a side wall of the hoistway inner wall facing the second movable pulley 11 is defined as a first inner wall 81, axes of the second movable pulley 11 are perpendicular to the first side surface 12 and the first inner wall 81, when the first plane is perpendicular to the second plane, a distance between the first side surface 12 and the first inner wall 81 is small, that is, when the first plane is perpendicular to the second plane, the first movable pulley 51 occupies a small space in the hoistway, so that the hoistway can accommodate the cage 10 with a large space, and thus the cage 10 with a sufficient space in the hoistway can be accommodated in a narrow space, so as to improve transportation efficiency.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the guide wheel set 24 includes a first guide wheel 241, a second guide wheel 242, a third guide wheel 243 and a fourth guide wheel 244; the first guide wheel 241, the second guide wheel 242, and the third guide wheel 243 are disposed on the load beam from bottom to top in the vertical direction and close to the first inner wall 81, the fourth guide wheel 244 is mounted on the load beam 20 and located at the right side of the second guide wheel 242, and the user 41 passes through the first movable pulley 51, the first guide wheel 241, the second guide wheel 242, the traction machine 30, the third guide wheel 243, the fourth guide wheel 244, and the second movable pulley 11 in sequence. Specifically, the first leading wheel 241 that sets up the second leading wheel 242 with the third leading wheel 243 takes turns along the vertical direction from lower to upper and is close to first inner wall 81 arranges in 20 on the spandrel girder to satisfy the wire winding mode of using section 41, arrange along the vertical direction of well simultaneously and can reduce first leading wheel 241 the second leading wheel 242 with the space in the well is occupied to third leading wheel 243, thereby can satisfy cage 10 and normally work in narrow and small well space.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the distance between the second guide wheel 242 and the first inner wall 81 is smaller than the distance between the counterweight frame 50 and the first inner wall 81. Specifically, the shortest distance between the second guide wheel 242 and the first inner wall 81 is defined as a first distance H1, and the shortest distance between the counterweight frame 50 and the first inner wall 81 is defined as a second distance H2, since the first distance H1 is smaller than the second distance H2, that is, when the using section 41 vertically passes through the traction machine 30 downwards along the left extreme point of the second guide wheel 242, the using section 41 does not contact with the counterweight frame 50, so that the counterweight frame 30 is ensured to be more stable in the lifting process, and the running safety is improved.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the traction machine 30 includes a frame 31, and a traction sheave 32, a fifth guide sheave 33, and a sixth guide sheave 34 mounted on the frame 31, the traction sheave 32 is disposed outside the hoistway, the fifth guide sheave 33 and the sixth guide sheave 34 partially extend into the hoistway and are located below and to the side of the guide sheave group 24, the sixth guide sheave 34 and the fifth guide sheave 33 are disposed from top to bottom in the vertical direction, and the service section 41 sequentially passes around the first movable sheave 51, the first guide sheave 241, the second guide sheave 242, the fifth guide sheave 33, the traction sheave 32, the sixth guide sheave 34, the third guide sheave 243, the fourth guide sheave 244, and the second movable sheave 11. Specifically, the fifth guide pulley 33 and the sixth guide pulley 34 are vertically arranged, so that the occupied space of the hoistway can be reduced and the operation stability of the suspension cage 10 can be improved while the using section 41 is guided to pass through the traction sheave 32.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the traction machine 30 is defined to be located on the left side of the load beam 20, the left quadrant point of the second guide wheel 242 and the right quadrant point of the fifth guide wheel 33 are located on the same vertical line, the left quadrant point of the third guide wheel 243 is located on the same vertical line as the right quadrant point of the sixth guide wheel 34, specifically, the partial using segment 41 passing through the second guide wheel 242 and the fifth guide wheel 33 is defined as a first using segment 41a, the partial using segment 41 passing through the third guide wheel 243 and the sixth guide wheel 34 is defined as a second using segment 41b, the first using segment 41a and the second using segment 41b are vertically disposed and parallel to each other, therefore, the space occupied by the first using section 41a and the second using section 41b in the hoistway can be reduced, the collision can not occur in the process of passing around, and the stability and the safety of use are improved.

The above description is only for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting the invention, and any modifications, equivalents and improvements made within the spirit and principle of the present invention are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.