阅读说明：本技术 一种新型复合型水泥基人造石材及制备方法 (Novel composite cement-based artificial stone and preparation method thereof ) 是由 夏善轩 谢妮 于 2021-09-03 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开了一种新型复合型水泥基人造石材及制备方法,涉及建筑石材技术领域。本发明人造石材包括表层和基底层；基底层以重量百分比包括水泥10-25％、骨料组合物A70-85％、外加剂A1-10％以及水0-0.3％；骨料组合物A以重量百分比计包括石英砂50-70％、碎玻璃15-30％、改性石灰石颗粒5-10％、不饱和树脂5-10％；表层以重量百分比计包括水泥20-35％、骨料组合物B60-75％、外加剂B1-10％以及水0-0.3％；骨料组合物B以重量百分比计包括石英砂50-70％、河砂15-30％、改性石灰石颗粒5-10％、不饱和树脂5-10％和玻璃纤维5-10％。本发明采用改性石灰石颗粒替换传统的普通石灰石颗粒,可以有效的降低加工后的产品的吸油值,同时增强了强度,降低了吸水性。(The invention discloses a novel composite cement-based artificial stone and a preparation method thereof, and relates to the technical field of building stones. The artificial stone comprises a surface layer and a substrate layer; the base layer comprises 10-25% of cement, 78-85% of aggregate composition A70, 1-10% of admixture A and 0-0.3% of water in percentage by weight; the aggregate composition A comprises 50-70% of quartz sand, 15-30% of cullet, 5-10% of modified limestone particles and 5-10% of unsaturated resin by weight percentage; the surface layer comprises 20-35% of cement, 78-75% of aggregate composition B60, 1-10% of admixture B and 0-0.3% of water in percentage by weight; the aggregate composition B comprises 50-70% of quartz sand, 15-30% of river sand, 5-10% of modified limestone particles, 5-10% of unsaturated resin and 5-10% of glass fibers in percentage by weight. The modified limestone particles are adopted to replace the conventional common limestone particles, so that the oil absorption value of the processed product can be effectively reduced, the strength is enhanced, and the water absorption is reduced.)

1. The utility model provides a novel compound cement base artificial stone which characterized in that: the artificial stone comprises a surface layer and a base layer;

wherein, the base layer comprises 10 to 25 weight percent of cement, 70 to 85 weight percent of aggregate composition A, 1 to 10 weight percent of admixture A and 0 to 0.3 weight percent of water;

the aggregate composition A comprises 50-70% of quartz sand, 15-30% of cullet, 5-10% of modified limestone particles and 5-10% of unsaturated resin by weight percentage;

wherein the surface layer comprises 20-35% of cement, 20-75% of aggregate composition B60, 1-10% of admixture B and 0-0.3% of water in percentage by weight;

the aggregate composition B comprises, by weight, 50-70% of quartz sand, 15-30% of river sand, 5-10% of modified limestone particles, 5-10% of unsaturated resin and 5-10% of glass fibers.

2. The novel composite cement-based artificial stone as claimed in claim 1, wherein the admixture A comprises, by weight, 20-30% of a cement water reducing agent, 10-20% of an antioxidant, 10-20% of styrene, 10-20% of triethanolamine, and 10-20% of nano graphene oxide;

the admixture B comprises, by weight, 20-30% of a cement water reducing agent, 10-20% of an antioxidant, 10-20% of styrene, 10-20% of triethanolamine, 10-20% of a pigment, 10-20% of nano zinc oxide and 10-20% of nano graphene oxide;

the pigment includes Qinzhou white powder, red iron oxide, red lead, ultramarine, yellow iron oxide and manganese dioxide.

3. A novel composite cement-based artificial stone as claimed in claim 1, wherein 85-90% of the quartz sand in said aggregate composition a has a particle size distribution in the range of 1.5-2 mm; 40-60% of quartz sand in the aggregate composition B has a particle size distribution within a range of 1.5-2mm, and 30-50% of quartz sand has a particle size distribution within a range of 1-1.5 mm.

4. A novel composite cement-based artificial stone as claimed in claim 1, wherein said modified limestone particles are prepared by: putting limestone particles into the mixed solution of the surface modifier, heating to 75-85 ℃, uniformly stirring, taking out, draining and drying to obtain modified limestone particles;

the weight ratio of the surface modifier component in the modified limestone particles is 1-3%;

the surface modifier mixed solution is a mixed solution of polyethylene glycol-200, triethanolamine and water in a weight ratio of 1:1: 20.

5. The novel composite cement-based artificial stone as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cement is magnesium oxychloride cement or high alumina cement;

the unsaturated resin is unsaturated polyester resin;

the content of ferric trioxide in the quartz sand is 0.01-0.05%, the content of silicon dioxide is 98.5-99%, and the size of the quartz sand is 80-110 meshes;

the antioxidant is hindered phenol antioxidant or phosphite antioxidant.

6. The novel composite cement-based artificial stone as claimed in claim 1, wherein the admixture A and the admixture B each further comprise an anti-cracking slow release agent and cellulose; the dosage of the cellulose and the anti-cracking slow release agent in the additive A respectively accounts for 1-3% and 10-30% of the total weight of the additive A; the dosage of the cellulose and the anti-cracking slow release agent in the additive B respectively accounts for 1-3% and 20-40% of the total weight of the additive B;

the anti-cracking slow release agent comprises sodium gluconate and aluminum silicate, wherein the weight ratio of the sodium gluconate to the aluminum silicate is 1: 1;

the viscosity of the cellulose is 300-.

7. The method for preparing the novel composite cement-based artificial stone as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized by comprising the steps of:

step 1, uniformly mixing the aggregate composition A, cement, a cement water reducing agent and an antioxidant in a weight ratio to obtain a dry-mixed mixture A; taking the aggregate composition B, cement, a cement water reducing agent and an antioxidant according to the weight ratio, and dry-mixing uniformly to obtain a dry-mixed mixture B;

step 2, uniformly stirring and mixing water, styrene, triethanolamine and nano graphene oxide according to the weight ratio to obtain a suspension A; uniformly stirring and mixing water, styrene, pigment, triethanolamine and nano graphene oxide according to the weight ratio to obtain a turbid liquid B;

step 3, mixing the dry-mixed mixture A and the suspension A and uniformly stirring to obtain a substrate mixture; mixing the dry-mixed mixture B with the suspension B and uniformly stirring to obtain a surface layer mixture;

step 4, pouring the base mixture into a mold, and vibrating the mold until the upper surfaces of the base mixture in the mold are in the same horizontal plane; drying until the water content in the base mixture is lower than 2%, pouring the surface layer mixture onto the upper surface of the base mixture in a mold, vibrating the mold until the upper surface of the surface layer mixture in the mold is in the same horizontal plane, and leveling the upper surface of the surface layer mixture;

and 5, taking the artificial stone out of the mold, and drying until the water content is lower than 0.1%.

8. The method for preparing a novel composite cement-based artificial stone as claimed in claim 7, wherein the suspension B and the suspension A are prepared in the same way; uniformly mixing and stirring styrene, triethanolamine and water; then adding the rest components and performing ultrasonic dispersion.

9. The method for preparing a novel composite cement-based artificial stone as claimed in claim 7, wherein in the step 5, the mold is first placed in an environment with a humidity of 30% and a temperature of 40 ℃ and dried until the surface mixture is less than 2%; then taking the artificial stone out of the mold, and drying the artificial stone in an environment with the humidity of 80% and the temperature of 50 ℃ until the water content of the artificial stone is lower than 0.2%;

and finally, cooling and drying the mixture in a natural environment until the water content is lower than 0.1 percent.

10. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein in step 4, a layer of cement is applied to the upper surface of the base mix, and then the surface mix is poured.

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of building stones, and particularly relates to a novel composite cement-based artificial stone and a preparation method thereof.

Background

As the most original building material, stone can be used for building a building which is heavy, safe and reliable, so that modern people have a strong dependence on stone buildings. Although the existing buildings are rarely directly built by using stone as a structural material, the existing buildings are widely used in the decoration of inner and outer walls. Then, natural stones are difficult to mine and process and have high specific gravity, so that the natural stones have certain defects and shortcomings as external hanging stones. In recent years, there have been many artificial stones, most typically artificial marble countertops and the like, which have been developed and used. However, the existing artificial stone often has the problems of insufficient structural strength and high water absorption.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a novel composite cement-based artificial stone and a preparation method thereof, and solves the problems of insufficient structural strength and higher water absorption of the existing artificial stone by adding modified limestone particles.

In order to solve the technical problems, the invention is realized by the following technical scheme:

the invention relates to a novel composite cement-based artificial stone, which comprises a surface layer and a basal layer; the base layer comprises 10-25% of cement, 78-85% of aggregate composition A70, 1-10% of additive A and 0-0.3% of water in percentage by weight; the aggregate composition A comprises 50-70% of quartz sand, 15-30% of cullet, 5-10% of modified limestone particles and 5-10% of unsaturated resin by weight percentage; the surface layer comprises 20-35% of cement, 78-75% of aggregate composition B60, 1-10% of admixture B and 0-0.3% of water in percentage by weight; the aggregate composition B comprises, by weight, 50-70% of quartz sand, 15-30% of river sand, 5-10% of modified limestone particles, 5-10% of unsaturated resin and 5-10% of glass fibers.

Further, the admixture A comprises, by weight, 20-30% of a cement water reducing agent, 10-20% of an antioxidant, 10-20% of styrene, 10-20% of triethanolamine and 10-20% of nano graphene oxide; the admixture B comprises, by weight, 20-30% of a cement water reducing agent, 10-20% of an antioxidant, 10-20% of styrene, 10-20% of triethanolamine, 10-20% of a pigment, 10-20% of nano zinc oxide and 10-20% of nano graphene oxide; the pigment includes Qinzhou white powder, red iron oxide, red lead, ultramarine, yellow iron oxide and manganese dioxide.

Further, 85-90% of the quartz sand in the aggregate composition A has a particle size distribution in the range of 1.5-2 mm; 40-60% of quartz sand in the aggregate composition B has a particle size distribution within a range of 1.5-2mm, and 30-50% of quartz sand has a particle size distribution within a range of 1-1.5 mm.

Further, the preparation of the modified limestone particles comprises: putting limestone particles into the mixed solution of the surface modifier, heating to 75-85 ℃, uniformly stirring, taking out, draining and drying to obtain modified limestone particles; the weight ratio of the surface modifier component in the modified limestone particles is 1-3%; the surface modifier mixed solution is a mixed solution of polyethylene glycol-200, triethanolamine and water in a weight ratio of 1:1: 20.

Further, the cement is magnesium oxychloride cement or high alumina cement; the unsaturated resin is unsaturated polyester resin; the content of ferric trioxide in the quartz sand is 0.01-0.05%, the content of silicon dioxide is 98.5-99%, and the size of the quartz sand is 80-110 meshes; the antioxidant is hindered phenol antioxidant or phosphite antioxidant.

Further, the admixture A and the admixture B both comprise an anti-cracking slow release agent and cellulose; the dosage of the cellulose and the anti-cracking slow release agent in the additive A respectively accounts for 1-3% and 10-30% of the total weight of the additive A; the dosage of the cellulose and the anti-cracking slow release agent in the additive B respectively accounts for 1-3% and 20-40% of the total weight of the additive B; the anti-cracking slow release agent comprises sodium gluconate and aluminum silicate, wherein the weight ratio of the sodium gluconate to the aluminum silicate is 1: 1; the viscosity of the cellulose is 300-.

A preparation method of a novel composite cement-based artificial stone comprises the following steps:

step 1, uniformly mixing the aggregate composition A, cement, a cement water reducing agent and an antioxidant in a weight ratio to obtain a dry-mixed mixture A; taking the aggregate composition B, cement, a cement water reducing agent and an antioxidant according to the weight ratio, and dry-mixing uniformly to obtain a dry-mixed mixture B;

step 2, uniformly stirring and mixing water, styrene, triethanolamine and nano graphene oxide according to the weight ratio to obtain a suspension A; uniformly stirring and mixing water, styrene, pigment, triethanolamine and nano graphene oxide according to the weight ratio to obtain a turbid liquid B;

step 3, mixing the dry-mixed mixture A and the suspension A and uniformly stirring to obtain a substrate mixture; mixing the dry-mixed mixture B with the suspension B and uniformly stirring to obtain a surface layer mixture;

step 4, pouring the base mixture into a mold, and vibrating the mold until the upper surfaces of the base mixture in the mold are in the same horizontal plane; drying until the water content in the base mixture is lower than 2%, pouring the surface layer mixture onto the upper surface of the base mixture in a mold, vibrating the mold until the upper surface of the surface layer mixture in the mold is in the same horizontal plane, and leveling the upper surface of the surface layer mixture;

and 5, taking the artificial stone out of the mold, and drying until the water content is lower than 0.1%.

Further, the preparation method of the suspension B is the same as that of the suspension A; uniformly mixing and stirring styrene, triethanolamine and water; then adding the rest components and performing ultrasonic dispersion.

Further, in the step 5, the mold is firstly placed in an environment with the humidity of 30% and the temperature of 40 ℃ and dried until the surface layer mixture is lower than 2%; then taking the artificial stone out of the mold, and drying the artificial stone in an environment with the humidity of 80% and the temperature of 50 ℃ until the water content of the artificial stone is lower than 0.2%; and finally, cooling and drying the mixture in a natural environment until the water content is lower than 0.1 percent.

Further, in step 4, after a layer of cement is dry-scattered on the upper surface of the base mix, the surface mix is poured in.

The invention has the following beneficial effects:

the modified limestone particles are adopted to replace the conventional common limestone particles, so that the oil absorption value of the processed product can be effectively reduced, the strength is enhanced, and the water absorption is reduced.

Of course, it is not necessary for any product in which the invention is practiced to achieve all of the above-described advantages at the same time.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced 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 that other drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the preparation method of the present invention.

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 the description of the present invention, it is to be understood that the terms "opening," "upper," "lower," "thickness," "top," "middle," "length," "inner," "peripheral," and the like are used in an orientation or positional relationship that is merely for convenience in describing and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the referenced component or element must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and thus should not be considered as limiting the present invention.

Preparation method

A preparation method of a novel composite cement-based artificial stone comprises the following steps:

step 1, uniformly mixing the aggregate composition A, cement, a cement water reducing agent and an antioxidant in a weight ratio to obtain a dry-mixed mixture A; taking the aggregate composition B, cement, a cement water reducing agent and an antioxidant according to the weight ratio, and dry-mixing uniformly to obtain a dry-mixed mixture B;

step 2, uniformly stirring and mixing water, styrene, triethanolamine and nano graphene oxide according to the weight ratio to obtain a suspension A; uniformly stirring and mixing water, styrene, pigment, triethanolamine and nano graphene oxide according to the weight ratio to obtain a turbid liquid B;

step 3, mixing the dry-mixed mixture A and the suspension A and uniformly stirring to obtain a substrate mixture; mixing the dry-mixed mixture B with the suspension B and uniformly stirring to obtain a surface layer mixture;

step 4, pouring the base mixture into a mold, and vibrating the mold until the upper surfaces of the base mixture in the mold are in the same horizontal plane; drying until the water content in the base mixture is lower than 2%, pouring the surface layer mixture onto the upper surface of the base mixture in a mold, vibrating the mold until the upper surface of the surface layer mixture in the mold is in the same horizontal plane, and leveling the upper surface of the surface layer mixture;

and 5, taking the artificial stone out of the mold, and drying until the water content is lower than 0.1%.

The preparation methods of the suspension B and the suspension A are the same; uniformly mixing and stirring styrene, triethanolamine and water; then adding the rest components and performing ultrasonic dispersion.

In step 5, the mold is put into an environment with the humidity of 30% and the temperature of 40 ℃ and dried until the surface layer mixture is lower than 2%; then taking the artificial stone out of the mold, and drying the artificial stone in an environment with the humidity of 80% and the temperature of 50 ℃ until the water content of the artificial stone is lower than 0.2%; and finally, cooling and drying the mixture in a natural environment until the water content is lower than 0.1 percent.

In step 4, a layer of cement is required to be spread on the upper surface of the base mixture in a dry mode, then the surface layer mixture is poured, and the purpose of the spread layer of cement is to enable the surface layer mixture to absorb the Zhe water of the surface layer and prevent the surface of the product from whitening.

Example 1

A novel composite cement-based artificial stone comprises a surface layer and a basal layer; the base layer comprises 20 percent of cement, 76 percent of aggregate composition A, 4.8 percent of admixture A and 0.2 percent of water in percentage by weight; the aggregate composition A comprises 60 percent of quartz sand, 25 percent of cullet, 8 percent of modified limestone particles and 7 percent of unsaturated resin in percentage by weight; the surface layer comprises 22 percent of cement, 72 percent of aggregate composition B, 5.8 percent of admixture B and 0.2 percent of water in percentage by weight; the aggregate composition B comprises 68 percent of quartz sand, 10 percent of river sand, 8 percent of modified limestone particles, 7 percent of unsaturated resin and 7 percent of glass fiber in percentage by weight.

Example 2

A novel composite cement-based artificial stone comprises a surface layer and a basal layer; the base layer comprises 15 percent of cement, 80 percent of aggregate composition A, 4.9 percent of admixture A and 0.1 percent of water in percentage by weight; the aggregate composition A comprises 60 percent of quartz sand, 25 percent of cullet, 10 percent of modified limestone particles and 5 percent of unsaturated resin in percentage by weight; the surface layer comprises 30 percent of cement, 65 percent of aggregate composition B, 4.9 percent of admixture B and 0.1 percent of water in percentage by weight; the aggregate composition B comprises 68 percent of quartz sand, 10 percent of river sand, 8 percent of modified limestone particles, 7 percent of unsaturated resin and 7 percent of glass fiber in percentage by weight.

Example 3

A novel composite cement-based artificial stone comprises a surface layer and a basal layer; the base layer comprises 15 percent of cement, 80 percent of aggregate composition A, 4.8 percent of admixture A and 0.2 percent of water in percentage by weight; the aggregate composition A comprises 60 percent of quartz sand, 25 percent of cullet, 10 percent of modified limestone particles and 5 percent of unsaturated resin in percentage by weight; the surface layer comprises 30 percent of cement, 62 percent of aggregate composition B, 7.8 percent of admixture B and 0.2 percent of water in percentage by weight; the aggregate composition B comprises, by weight, 70% of quartz sand, 10% of river sand, 7% of modified limestone particles, 7% of unsaturated resin and 6% of glass fibers.

Comparative example 1

A novel composite cement-based artificial stone comprises a surface layer and a basal layer; the base layer comprises 15 percent of cement, 80 percent of aggregate composition A, 4.8 percent of admixture A and 0.2 percent of water in percentage by weight; the aggregate composition A comprises 60 percent of quartz sand, 25 percent of cullet and 15 percent of common limestone particles in percentage by weight; the surface layer comprises 30 percent of cement, 62 percent of aggregate composition B, 7.8 percent of admixture B and 0.2 percent of water in percentage by weight; the aggregate composition B comprises 75% of quartz sand, 12% of river sand, 7% of common limestone particles and 6% of glass fibers in percentage by weight.

Comparative example 2

A novel composite cement-based artificial stone comprises a surface layer and a basal layer; the base layer comprises 15 percent of cement, 80 percent of aggregate composition A, 4.8 percent of admixture A and 0.2 percent of water in percentage by weight; the aggregate composition A comprises 60 percent of quartz sand, 25 percent of cullet, 10 percent of modified limestone particles and 5 percent of unsaturated resin in percentage by weight; the surface layer comprises 30 percent of cement, 62 percent of aggregate composition B, 7.8 percent of admixture B and 0.2 percent of water in percentage by weight; the aggregate composition B comprises, by weight, 70% of quartz sand, 10% of river sand, 7% of modified limestone particles, 7% of unsaturated resin and 6% of glass fibers.

For the materials in examples 1-3 and comparative examples 1-2 above;

the admixture A comprises, by weight, 20% of a cement water reducing agent, 20% of an antioxidant, 10% of styrene, 15% of triethanolamine, 14% of an anti-cracking slow release agent, 1% of cellulose and 20% of nano graphene oxide; the admixture B comprises 13% of a cement water reducing agent, 13% of an antioxidant, 10% of styrene, 12% of triethanolamine, 12% of a pigment, 14% of an anti-cracking slow release agent, 1% of cellulose, 10% of nano zinc oxide and 15% of nano graphene oxide in percentage by weight; the pigment is Qinzhou white powder; the anti-cracking slow release agent comprises sodium gluconate and aluminum silicate, wherein the weight ratio of the sodium gluconate to the aluminum silicate is 1: 1; the viscosity of the cellulose was 300-1000 cPs.

85-90% of the quartz sand in the aggregate composition A has a particle size distribution within the range of 1.5-2 mm; 40-60% of the quartz sand in the aggregate composition B has a particle size distribution within a range of 1.5-2mm, and 30-50% of the quartz sand has a particle size distribution within a range of 1-1.5 mm.

The preparation of the modified limestone particles comprises the following steps: putting limestone particles into the mixed solution of the surface modifier, heating to 75-85 ℃, uniformly stirring, taking out, draining and drying to obtain modified limestone particles; the weight ratio of the surface modifier component in the modified limestone particles is 2 percent; the surface modifier mixed solution is a mixed solution of polyethylene glycol-200, triethanolamine and water in a weight ratio of 1:1: 20; the surface modification agent and the functional group hydroxyl on the surface of the heavy calcium carbonate powder are subjected to chemical bonding, so that the surface of the powder is organized, and the purpose of surface modification is achieved.

The cement is magnesium oxychloride cement or high alumina cement; the unsaturated resin is unsaturated polyester resin; the content of ferric trioxide in the quartz sand is 0.01-0.05%, the content of silicon dioxide is more than 98.5%, and the size of the quartz sand is 80-110 meshes; the antioxidant is antioxidant 3010.

The properties of the materials of examples 1 to 3 and comparative examples 1 to 2 were examined as follows:

by adopting the modified limestone particles to replace the conventional common limestone particles, the oil absorption value of the processed product can be effectively reduced, the strength is enhanced, and the water absorption is reduced; meanwhile, the processed product is damaged, whether the surface layer and the basal layer are separated or not is judged, and the addition of the unsaturated resin is known to enhance the bonding property between the surface layer and the basal layer.

Meanwhile, due to the addition of the nano graphene oxide, the surface of the nano graphene oxide is provided with a large number of oxygen-containing functional groups, and the water requirement of the slurry is increased after the nano graphene oxide is doped into cement, so that the consistency of the slurry is rapidly increased, the setting time of the neat slurry is reduced, but the setting and hardening time of the cement neat slurry can be remarkably delayed when the nano graphene oxide is doped. Meanwhile, the mechanical strength and the chloride ion permeability resistance of the cement mortar can be remarkably improved by the nano graphene oxide, the drying shrinkage is increased by the doping of the nano graphene oxide, but the self-shrinkage of the cement paste can be remarkably reduced when the doping amount is proper, namely, the effect of inhibiting the early cracking of the concrete can be generated under the condition of full maintenance.

Meanwhile, the viscosity of the unsaturated polyester is adjusted by adopting styrene, so that the powder can be fully wetted. Styrene improves the wetting state of powder and the dispersion state of the powder in resin; the styrene is doped to adjust the viscosity of the resin, so that the breaking strength of the artificial stone can be improved. The triethanolamine can accelerate the generation of free radicals by the methyl ethyl ketone peroxide, improve the curing performance of the unsaturated polyester and improve the strength of a cured product.

The production process of the artificial stone of the invention adopts the nano zinc oxide, so that the artificial stone product has double functions of anti-virus, anti-bacteria and anti-aging, and the artificial stone is kept not to mildew, fade and crack for 20 years. In addition, the added nano material can effectively eliminate the peculiar smell generated by unsaturated resin in the production of the artificial stone, thereby greatly improving the environmental protection function and the product grade of the artificial stone.

In the description herein, references to the description of "one embodiment," "an example," "a specific example" or the like are intended to mean that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the invention. In this specification, the schematic representations of the terms used above do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

The preferred embodiments of the invention disclosed above are intended to be illustrative only. The preferred embodiments are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise embodiments disclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention. The invention is limited only by the claims and their full scope and equivalents.