阅读说明：本技术 一种移载稳定的软包锂电池生产用绝缘胶纸连续粘贴装置 (Move and carry stable soft packet of lithium cell production with insulating adhesive tape device of pasting in succession ) 是由 桑成涛 周杰 朱一虎 于 2021-06-21 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开了一种移载稳定的软包锂电池生产用绝缘胶纸连续粘贴装置机架,水平摆放于生产车间地面上方,所述机架上表面两侧对称设置有2组输送带,用来对软包锂电池进行连续输送,且所述机架的上端侧面轴连接有放卷辊；3组支柱,等距固定安装于所述机架的上表面；第三齿轮,作用胶纸裁切传动机构轴连接于顶板的上表面；2组胶纸切断机构,固定安装于机架的上表面。该移载稳定的软包锂电池生产用绝缘胶纸连续粘贴装置可以对软包锂电池进行连续稳定移载,且可以在移载过程中对电池侧壁进行自动连续粘贴胶纸和折边、整平,同时可以在裁切过程中对刀头进行自动清理、降温,避免胶纸粘附在刀头外侧而影响其后续的裁切工作。(The invention discloses a stable-transfer insulating gummed paper continuous pasting device frame for production of a soft package lithium battery, which is horizontally placed above the ground of a production workshop, wherein 2 groups of conveying belts are symmetrically arranged on two sides of the upper surface of the frame and used for continuously conveying the soft package lithium battery, and the side surface of the upper end of the frame is connected with a unreeling roller through a shaft; 3 groups of supporting columns which are fixedly arranged on the upper surface of the rack at equal intervals; the third gear is used for connecting the gummed paper cutting transmission mechanism to the upper surface of the top plate; and the 2 groups of gummed paper cutting mechanisms are fixedly arranged on the upper surface of the rack. This move and carry stable soft packet of lithium cell production with insulating adhesive tape and paste device in succession can carry out the continuous stable transfer to moving and carrying to soft packet of lithium cell, and can carry out automatic continuous pasting adhesive tape and hem, flattening to the battery lateral wall at the transfer in-process, can carry out automatic clearance, cooling to the cutter head at the in-process that cuts simultaneously, avoids the adhesive tape to adhere in the cutter head outside and influence its subsequent work of cutting.)

1. The utility model provides a move and carry stable soft packet of lithium cell production with insulating adhesive tape device of pasting in succession which characterized in that includes:

the device comprises a rack, a conveying belt and a winding-off roller, wherein the rack is horizontally placed above the ground of a production workshop, 2 groups of conveying belts are symmetrically arranged on two sides of the upper surface of the rack and used for continuously conveying soft-package lithium batteries, and the side surface of the upper end of the rack is connected with the winding-off roller through a shaft;

the device comprises a rack, 3 groups of supporting columns, a first gear, a top plate, a servo motor and a fan-shaped gear, wherein the supporting columns are fixedly arranged on the upper surface of the rack at equal intervals, the upper end shafts of the supporting columns are connected with a transfer disc, the outer side of the upper end of the transfer disc is fixedly provided with the first gear, the upper end of each supporting column is fixedly provided with the top plate, the servo motor is arranged above the top plate and used for driving the transfer disc to rotate, and the output end of the servo motor is in keyed connection with the fan-shaped gear and the second gear and used for realizing transmission;

the third gear is used for connecting the gummed paper cutting transmission mechanism to the upper surface of the top plate;

and the 2 groups of gummed paper cutting mechanisms are fixedly arranged on the upper surface of the rack and are used for cutting the gummed paper.

2. The transfer stable soft package lithium battery production insulation gummed paper continuous pasting device of claim 1, characterized in that: the transferring disc is of a multi-prismatic structure, the side wall of the transferring disc is provided with accommodating grooves at equal angles and used for filling the soft package lithium batteries, and the accommodating grooves correspond to the upper end of the conveying belt.

3. The transfer stable soft package lithium battery production insulation gummed paper continuous pasting device of claim 1, characterized in that: the inner side of the transfer disc is provided with a push rod, the end of the push rod is embedded with a second magnetic block, the outer side of a support column connected with the inner side of the transfer disc through a shaft is integrally provided with a mounting seat, and meanwhile, 2 groups of first magnetic blocks are symmetrically embedded into the inner side of the side face of the mounting seat.

4. The transfer stable soft package lithium battery production insulation gummed paper continuous pasting device of claim 3, characterized in that: the magnetic poles of 2 groups of first magnetic blocks embedded and installed on the side wall of the installation base are opposite, the positions of the first magnetic blocks and the positions of the second magnetic blocks embedded and installed at the end of the push rod correspond, and the push rod and the transfer tray form a telescopic structure.

5. The transfer stable soft package lithium battery production insulation gummed paper continuous pasting device of claim 2, characterized in that: the inner side of the containing groove is provided with a movable block, a buffer spring for providing a buffer effect is connected between the movable block and the inner wall of the containing groove, and the lower end shaft of the movable block is connected with a pressure roller.

6. The transfer stable soft package lithium battery production insulation gummed paper continuous pasting device of claim 1, characterized in that: the first gear is meshed with the second gear, the rotating directions of the adjacent first gears are opposite, and the shifting discs fixedly connected to the outer sides of the first gears of all groups are not in contact with each other.

7. The transfer stable soft package lithium battery production insulation gummed paper continuous pasting device of claim 1, characterized in that: the gummed paper cutting mechanism comprises a fixed seat and a telescopic rod;

the fixed seat is fixedly arranged on the upper surface of the rack;

the telescopic rod penetrates through the fixed seat, a return spring for providing return elasticity is connected between the telescopic rod and one side of the fixed seat, a pull rope is connected between the telescopic rod and the shaft end of the third gear, and the third gear is meshed with the sector gear.

8. The transfer stable soft package lithium battery production insulation gummed paper continuous pasting device of claim 1, characterized in that: the adhesive tape cutting mechanism further comprises a paper cutter arranged at one end of the telescopic rod, and the position of the paper cutter corresponds to the position of the edge of the carrying disc.

9. The transfer stable soft package lithium battery production insulation gummed paper continuous pasting device of claim 7, characterized in that: an air bag is connected between the other end face of the telescopic rod and the other end face of the fixed seat, the air bag is sleeved on the outer side of the telescopic rod in a cylindrical shape, the outer side of the air bag is connected with an air inlet and a spray head of a one-way circulation structure, and the spray head corresponds to the position of the paper cutter.

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of soft package lithium battery production, in particular to a stable-transfer continuous pasting device for insulating gummed paper for soft package lithium battery production.

Background

Traditional battery is compared to soft packet of lithium cell, it has high voltage, energy density is big, characteristics such as high-efficient environmental protection and long service life, by multiple fields such as wide application in electric automobile, electric tool and portable power source, and then soft packet of lithium cell's production scale liquid is constantly expanding, in soft packet of lithium cell production process, need use to paste the device and come to paste the insulated adhesive tape to the battery side, but current soft packet of lithium cell production is with insulated adhesive tape paste the device and still has some not enoughly.

1. Most of the existing insulated gummed paper sticking devices for producing soft package lithium batteries adopt suckers to adsorb and transfer the batteries, and meanwhile, gummed paper cut one by one is transferred and bonded in a sucker mode, so that the transfer stability of the lithium batteries cannot be guaranteed while the bonding efficiency is low;

2. because when cutting the adhesive tape, there is some sticker to take place easily to glue glutinous phenomenon, but current soft packet of for lithium cell production insulating adhesive tape paste device is inconvenient carries out automatic clearance and desuperheating to the tool bit that cuts to lead to its surface to glue the adhesive tape piece and influence normal cutting work, there is certain use defect.

Therefore, the insulating gummed paper continuous pasting device for producing the soft package lithium battery with stable transferring is provided so as to solve the problems.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a stable-transferring continuous pasting device for insulating gummed paper for producing a soft package lithium battery, which solves the problems that the existing insulating gummed paper pasting device for producing the soft package lithium battery in the market adopts a sucking disc mode to transfer and bond the gummed paper cut one by one, so that the bonding efficiency is low, the transferring stability of the lithium battery cannot be guaranteed, the cutting tool bit is inconvenient to automatically clean and reduce the temperature, and the normal cutting work is influenced due to the fact that gummed paper fragments are adhered to the surface of the lithium battery.

In order to achieve the purpose, the invention provides the following technical scheme: the utility model provides a move and carry stable soft packet of lithium cell production with insulating adhesive tape device of pasting in succession, includes:

the device comprises a rack, a conveying belt and a winding-off roller, wherein the rack is horizontally placed above the ground of a production workshop, 2 groups of conveying belts are symmetrically arranged on two sides of the upper surface of the rack and used for continuously conveying soft-package lithium batteries, and the side surface of the upper end of the rack is connected with the winding-off roller through a shaft;

the device comprises a rack, 3 groups of supporting columns, a first gear, a top plate, a servo motor and a fan-shaped gear, wherein the supporting columns are fixedly arranged on the upper surface of the rack at equal intervals, the upper end shafts of the supporting columns are connected with a transfer disc, the outer side of the upper end of the transfer disc is fixedly provided with the first gear, the upper end of each supporting column is fixedly provided with the top plate, the servo motor is arranged above the top plate and used for driving the transfer disc to rotate, and the output end of the servo motor is in keyed connection with the fan-shaped gear and the second gear and used for realizing transmission;

the third gear is used for connecting the gummed paper cutting transmission mechanism to the upper surface of the top plate;

and the 2 groups of gummed paper cutting mechanisms are fixedly arranged on the upper surface of the rack and are used for cutting the gummed paper.

Preferably, the transfer disc is of a multi-prismatic structure, the side wall of the transfer disc is provided with a containing groove at an equal angle for filling the soft package lithium battery, and the containing groove corresponds to the upper end of the conveying belt.

Through adopting above-mentioned technical scheme for when the conveyer belt carries out continuous transport to soft packet of lithium cell, can directly send into the storage tank with soft packet of lithium cell at the end, and then be convenient for follow-up sticker operation to soft packet of lithium cell, and the form of accomodating when wrapping up, the year that has effectively improved soft packet of lithium cell moves and carries stability.

Preferably, a push rod is arranged on the inner side of the transfer disc, a second magnetic block is embedded in the end of the push rod, an installation seat is integrally arranged on the outer side of a support column connected with the inner side of the transfer disc through a shaft, and 2 groups of first magnetic blocks are symmetrically embedded in the inner side of the side face of the installation seat.

By adopting the technical scheme, when the transfer disc rotates, the relative position of the second magnetic block and the first magnetic block can be changed, and conditions are provided for continuous transfer of subsequent soft-package lithium batteries.

Preferably, the magnetic poles of the 2 groups of first magnetic blocks embedded in the side wall of the mounting base are opposite, the positions of the first magnetic blocks and the second magnetic blocks embedded in the end of the push rod correspond, and the push rod and the transfer tray form a telescopic structure.

Through adopting above-mentioned technical scheme for after the dish of carrying is rotatory 180, can change the magnetic force direction between first magnetic path and the second magnetic path, realize the flexible regulation to the push rod, make the push rod can be under magnetic force action with the automatic release of the inboard soft packet of lithium cell of storage tank, realize the regulation to soft packet of lithium cell position, the pasting of the soft packet of lithium cell opposite side adhesive tape of being convenient for.

Preferably, a movable block is arranged on the inner side of the accommodating groove, a buffer spring for providing a buffer effect is connected between the movable block and the inner wall of the accommodating groove, and the lower end shaft of the movable block is connected with the pressure roller.

Through adopting above-mentioned technical scheme for when pasting the lithium cell that has the adhesive tape and get into the storage tank, the compression roller can be laminated and roll in the surface of lithium cell, and then carries out the hem to the adhesive tape that the lithium cell side was pasted, and then has the fastness of pasting that has improved the adhesive tape.

Preferably, the first gear and the second gear are engaged with each other, the rotation directions of the adjacent first gears are opposite, and the transfer trays fixedly connected to the outer sides of the first gears of each group are not in contact with each other.

Through adopting above-mentioned technical scheme for the second gear meshes with the second gear under servo motor's drive effect, and then through the transmission effect, drives 3 groups and moves the dish and carry out synchronous rotation.

Preferably, the gummed paper cutting mechanism comprises a fixed seat and a telescopic rod;

the fixed seat is fixedly arranged on the upper surface of the rack;

the telescopic rod penetrates through the fixed seat, a return spring for providing return elasticity is connected between the telescopic rod and one side of the fixed seat, a pull rope is connected between the telescopic rod and the shaft end of the third gear, and the third gear is meshed with the sector gear.

Through adopting above-mentioned technical scheme for the rotatory in-process of dish of carrying, can drive the telescopic link through the meshing effect of third gear and sector gear and reset spring's elasticity effect and carry out synchronous reciprocating motion, provide the condition for cutting of follow-up adhesive tape.

Preferably, the adhesive tape cutting mechanism further comprises a paper cutter arranged at one end of the telescopic rod, and the position of the paper cutter corresponds to the position of the edge of the transfer disc.

Through adopting above-mentioned technical scheme for when the telescopic link removed, can utilize the paper cutter to decide automatically the insulating adhesive tape that adjacent two sets of lithium cell lateral walls pasted, the hem of the follow-up adhesive tape of being convenient for, paste.

Preferably, an air bag is connected between the other end face of the telescopic rod and the other end face of the fixed seat, the air bag is sleeved on the outer side of the telescopic rod in a cylindrical shape, an air inlet and a spray head of a one-way circulation structure are connected to the outer side of the air bag, and the spray head corresponds to the position of the paper cutter.

Through adopting above-mentioned technical scheme, after cutting for when the telescopic link resets, the extrusion gasbag, the gasbag can blow off the adhesive tape that the cutting knife end bonded through the shower nozzle this moment, avoids the adhesive tape to glue and decides work next time in the influence of cutting knife end.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the beneficial effects that: the insulating gummed paper continuous pasting device for producing the soft package lithium battery with stable transferring can continuously and stably transfer the soft package lithium battery, automatically and continuously paste gummed paper on the side wall of the battery, fold and level the side wall of the battery in the transferring process, and automatically clean and cool the cutter head in the cutting process, so that the situation that the subsequent cutting work is influenced because the gummed paper is adhered to the outer side of the cutter head is avoided;

1. the transfer tray is arranged, the soft-packaged lithium batteries can be continuously transferred through a containing groove formed in the side wall of the transfer tray, and the transfer tray can continuously stick gummed paper to one side of each soft-packaged lithium battery through rotation in the transfer process, so that efficient pasting and stable transfer are realized;

2. the first magnetic block and the transfer disc are arranged, through the rotation of the transfer disc, a push rod on the inner side of the transfer disc can automatically stretch out and draw back under the magnetic force action of the first magnetic block and the second magnetic block, a lithium battery transferred by one transfer disc is automatically pushed into the inner side of the accommodating groove of the adjacent transfer disc, the edge folding work of gummed paper pasted on the side wall of the lithium battery can be completed in the process, the edge replacement of the lithium battery is realized, the subsequent pasting operation on the other side of the lithium battery is facilitated, and the use convenience of the device is improved;

3. be provided with gasbag and paper cutter, move and carry the rotation in-process of circle, can make the third gear stretch out and draw back through stay cord pulling telescopic link for the paper cutter cuts the unnecessary adhesive tape in the lithium cell outside, and the drawing of gasbag, compression simultaneously can make it breathe in and discharge through the shower nozzle through the inlet port, realize the automatic clearance and the cooling to the paper cutter, avoid paper cutter outside adhesion adhesive tape waste material and influence its normal work of cutting.

Drawings

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

FIG. 2 is a schematic top sectional view of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a mounting structure of a transfer tray according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic main sectional view of the transfer tray of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the connection structure of the sector gear and the third gear of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a mounting structure of the paper cutter of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the structure at A in FIG. 2 according to the present invention.

In the figure: 1. a frame; 2. a conveyor belt; 3. unwinding rollers; 4. a pillar; 401. a mounting seat; 402. a first magnetic block; 5. a transfer tray; 501. a containing groove; 502. a movable block; 503. a buffer spring; 504. a compression roller; 505. a push rod; 506. a second magnetic block; 6. a first gear; 7. a top plate; 8. a servo motor; 9. a sector gear; 10. a second gear; 11. a third gear; 12. a fixed seat; 13. a telescopic rod; 14. a return spring; 15. pulling a rope; 16. an air bag; 1601. an air inlet; 1602. a spray head; 17. a paper cutter.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 1-7, the present invention provides a technical solution: the utility model provides a move and carry stable soft packet of lithium cell production with continuous device of pasting of insulated adhesive tape, which comprises a frame 1, conveyer belt 2, unreel roller 3, pillar 4, mount pad 401, first magnetic path 402, move and carry dish 5, storage tank 501, movable block 502, buffer spring 503, compression roller 504, push rod 505, second magnetic path 506, first gear 6, roof 7, servo motor 8, sector gear 9, second gear 10, third gear 11, fixing base 12, telescopic link 13, reset spring 14, stay cord 15, gasbag 16, inlet port 1601, shower nozzle 1602 and cut paper sword 17.

The device comprises a rack 1, a conveying belt and a unwinding roller 3, wherein the rack 1 is horizontally placed above the ground of a production workshop, 2 groups of conveying belts 2 are symmetrically arranged on two sides of the upper surface of the rack 1 and used for continuously conveying soft-package lithium batteries, and the side surface of the upper end of the rack 1 is in shaft connection with the unwinding roller 3;

the device comprises 3 groups of supporting columns 4, wherein the supporting columns 4 are fixedly arranged on the upper surface of a rack 1 at equal intervals, the upper end shafts of the supporting columns 4 are connected with a transfer disc 5, a first gear 6 is fixedly arranged on the outer side of the upper end of the transfer disc 5, a top plate 7 is fixedly arranged on the upper end of each supporting column 4, a servo motor 8 is arranged above the top plate 7 and used for driving the transfer disc 5 to rotate, and the output end of the servo motor 8 is in keyed connection with a sector gear 9 and a second gear 10 and used for realizing transmission;

the third gear 11 is used for connecting the gummed paper cutting transmission mechanism shaft with the upper surface of the top plate 7;

and the 2 groups of gummed paper cutting mechanisms are fixedly arranged on the upper surface of the rack 1 and are used for cutting the gummed paper.

The transferring disc 5 is in a multi-prismatic structure, the side wall of the transferring disc 5 is provided with a containing groove 501 with equal angles for filling the soft package lithium battery, and the containing groove 501 corresponds to the upper end of the conveying belt 2.

A push rod 505 is arranged on the inner side of the load moving disk 5, a second magnetic block 506 is embedded and mounted at the end head of the push rod 505, a mounting seat 401 is integrally arranged on the outer side of the support column 4 connected with the inner side of the load moving disk 5 through a shaft, and 2 groups of first magnetic blocks 402 are symmetrically embedded and mounted in the side surface of the mounting seat 401.

The magnetic poles of the 2 groups of first magnetic blocks 402 embedded in the side wall of the mounting seat 401 are opposite, the positions of the first magnetic blocks 402 and the second magnetic blocks 506 embedded in the end of the push rod 505 correspond, and the push rod 505 and the transfer tray 5 form a telescopic structure.

A movable block 502 is arranged inside the accommodating groove 501, a buffer spring 503 for providing a buffer effect is connected between the movable block 502 and the inner wall of the accommodating groove 501, and a pressure roller 504 is connected to a lower end shaft of the movable block 502.

The first gears 6 are meshed with the second gears 10, the rotating directions of the adjacent first gears 6 are opposite, and the transfer trays 5 fixedly connected to the outer sides of the first gears 6 of each group are not contacted with each other.

As shown in fig. 1-4, carry out the continuous transport to soft packet of lithium cell through conveyer belt 2, conveyer belt 2 can send soft packet of lithium cell into the storage tank 501 that leftmost year dish 5 lateral wall was seted up this moment, start servo motor 8, make servo motor 8 can drive second gear 10 and rotate, second gear 10 can mesh with first gear 6 and be connected this moment, thereby drive first gear 6 and year dish 5 and rotate, this time year dish 5 can carry out batch continuous year to soft packet of lithium cell, then the adhesive tape that will unreel the roller 3 outside can laminate in the outside of carrying dish 5, along with the rotation of carrying dish 5, can laminate the adhesive tape in each lithium cell outside in succession, and then realize the continuous sticker of multiunit lithium cell.

The gummed paper cutting mechanism comprises a fixed seat 12 and a telescopic rod 13;

the fixed seat 12 is fixedly arranged on the upper surface of the frame 1;

the telescopic rod 13 penetrates through the fixed seat 12, a return spring 14 for providing return elastic force is connected between the telescopic rod 13 and one side of the fixed seat 12, a pull rope 15 is connected between the telescopic rod 13 and the shaft end of the third gear 11, and the third gear 11 is meshed with the sector gear 9.

The adhesive tape cutting mechanism further comprises a paper cutter 17 mounted at one end of the telescopic rod 13, and the paper cutter 17 corresponds to the edge position of the transfer tray 5.

An air bag 16 is connected between the other end faces of the telescopic rod 13 and the fixed seat 12, the air bag 16 is sleeved on the outer side of the telescopic rod 13 in a cylindrical shape, an air inlet 1601 and a spray head 1602 of a one-way flow structure are connected to the outer side of the air bag 16, and the spray head 1602 corresponds to the position of the paper cutter 17.

As shown in fig. 2 and fig. 4-7, the servo motor 8 can drive the sector gear 9 to be meshed with the third gear 11 for connection, thereby driving the third gear 11 to rotate synchronously, the third gear 11 can pull the telescopic rod 13 to elastically stretch through the pull rope 15 in the rotating process, so that the paper cutter 17 at the end of the telescopic rod 13 can cut the redundant gummed paper attached to the outer side of the adjacent lithium battery, when the telescopic rod 13 is reset, the gas inside the air bag 16 can be blown to the paper cutter 17 through the spray head 1602, thereby automatically cleaning and cooling the end of the paper cutter 17, and avoiding the end of the paper cutter from being adhered with the gummed paper scraps to influence subsequent cutting.

As shown in fig. 2-4, with the rotation of the transfer tray 5, when the transfer tray 5 containing the lithium batteries faces the transfer tray 5 at the middle position, the push rod 505 can automatically extend and retract under the magnetic force of the first magnetic block 402 and the second magnetic block 506, and then the lithium batteries with adhesive tapes attached to one side are pushed into the accommodating groove 501 of the transfer tray 5 at the middle position, at this time, the press roller 504 can press and hem the upper and lower sides of the adhesive tapes, so as to improve the attachment degree of the adhesive tapes, and at the same time, the side of the lithium batteries without adhesive tapes faces the outer side of the transfer tray 5, and then the first paper pasting operation is repeated, so that the double-side walls of the lithium batteries can be completed, and the hem of the other side is completed in the rightmost right transfer tray 5, and finally the paper can be automatically pushed to the right conveyor belt 2 under the action of the push rod 505 in the rightmost right transfer tray 5, so as to realize continuous conveying and paper pasting.

The working principle is as follows: when the device for continuously pasting the insulating gummed paper for producing the soft package lithium battery with stable transfer is used, firstly, as shown in fig. 1-7, the conveying belt 2 is used for sequentially inputting the lithium batteries into the storage tank 501 in the leftmost side transfer carrying disc 5, the transfer carrying disc 5 can be used for continuously and stably transferring the lithium batteries, the single side can be automatically and continuously pasted with paper in the transfer carrying process, meanwhile, the paper cutter 17 can be used for automatically cutting redundant pasted paper between adjacent lithium batteries, the cutter head can be automatically cleaned and cooled after the cutting is finished, scrap adhesion is avoided, when the lithium batteries are transferred to the middle transfer carrying disc 5, the folding edge and the edge changing of the placing position of the gummed paper can be finished, pasting paper on the other side is facilitated, after the gummed paper is pasted on the two sides, the gummed paper can be automatically conveyed to the conveying belt 2 on the right side, finished product conveying is carried out, and a series of work is finished.

Those not described in detail in this specification are within the skill of the art.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in the embodiments and/or modifications of the invention can be made, and equivalents and modifications of some features of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.