阅读说明：本技术 一种新能源汽车变速器检测的车速传感器 (Speed sensor for detecting new energy automobile transmission ) 是由 杨玲 于 2021-09-15 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及新能源汽车相关技术领域,且公开了一种新能源汽车变速器检测的车速传感器,包括壳体和驱动轴,所述壳体的一端螺纹连接有壳盖,且壳体的内壁一侧固定安装有接收板,所述接收板的表面固定安装有插针,且插针的一端位于壳体的外侧。本发明通过传动轴与驱动轴之间使用传动管连接,同时,通过轴承使得传动轴安装在壳盖上,因而通过其驱动轴的转动使得多股传动管拧至绳状,进而为传动提供动力,并克服了的因振动导致驱动轴与传动轴之间不同轴的现象,还由于传动管拧入时,使得传动轴有向外运动的力趋势,进而通过轴承增强传动轴的定心,降低磁轮与接收板之间的运动偏差,最终实现检测精准度及低振动传动的目的。(The invention relates to the technical field of new energy automobiles, and discloses a vehicle speed sensor for detecting a new energy automobile transmission. According to the invention, the transmission shaft is connected with the driving shaft through the transmission pipe, and meanwhile, the transmission shaft is arranged on the shell cover through the bearing, so that the multi-strand transmission pipe is screwed to a rope shape through the rotation of the driving shaft, further, power is provided for transmission, the phenomenon of non-coaxial between the driving shaft and the transmission shaft caused by vibration is overcome, and the transmission shaft has a force trend of moving outwards when the transmission pipe is screwed, so that the centering of the transmission shaft is enhanced through the bearing, the movement deviation between the magnetic wheel and the receiving plate is reduced, and the purposes of detection accuracy and low-vibration transmission are finally realized.)

1. The utility model provides a speed sensor that new energy automobile derailleur detected, includes casing (1) and drive shaft (11), the one end threaded connection of casing (1) has cap (4), and the inner wall one side fixed mounting of casing (1) has dash receiver (2), the fixed surface of dash receiver (2) installs contact pin (3), and the one end of contact pin (3) is located the outside of casing (1), the inner wall middle part fixed mounting of cap (4) has sealed sleeve pipe (15), the inner wall movable mounting of sealed sleeve pipe (15) has transmission shaft (6), and the one end fixed mounting of transmission shaft (6) has magnetic wheel (7) that are located casing (1) inner chamber, its characterized in that: the utility model discloses a bearing, including transmission shaft (6), lateral wall fixed mounting of transmission shaft (6) has bearing (5) that are located sealed sleeve (15) one side, and the lateral wall of bearing (5) and the inner wall movable mounting of cap (4), bearing (5) are located the inner chamber of casing (1), the one end threaded connection of transmission shaft (6) has inner chamber axle cap (8) that are located cap (4), and the one end of axle cap (8) has mount pad (9) through bolt fixed mounting, the surface mounting of mount pad (9) has driving tube (10), and the terminal surface bolted connection of drive shaft (11) has and is used for mounting pad (9) fixed with driving tube (10) other end.

2. The vehicle speed sensor for detecting the transmission of the new energy automobile according to claim 1, characterized in that: the number of the transmission pipes (10) is three, and the three transmission pipes (10) are installed at equal angles by taking the center line axis of the installation seat (9) as the center.

3. The vehicle speed sensor for detecting the transmission of the new energy automobile according to claim 1, characterized in that: the inner wall movable mounting of transmission shaft (6) has regulating block (12), and the one end fixed mounting of regulating block (12) has reset spring (13) that are located transmission shaft (6) inner chamber, the one end and the shaft cap (8) fixed mounting of reset spring (13), establish to hollow rubber tube transmission pipe (10), mount pad (9) terminal surface fixed mounting on drive shaft (11) has stay cord (14) that are located transmission pipe (10) inner chamber, and the one end of stay cord (14) run through shaft cap (8) and with regulating block (12) fixed mounting.

4. The vehicle speed sensor for detecting the transmission of the new energy automobile according to claim 3, characterized in that: one end of the transmission shaft (6) is provided with an air transmission groove (60) which is used for communicating the inner cavity of the transmission shaft (6) with the inner cavity of the shell (1), and the side wall of the transmission shaft (6) is provided with an air release groove (61) which is used for communicating the inner cavity of the transmission shaft (6) with the inner cavity of the shell (1), the inner wall of the adjusting block (12) is provided with an air release channel (120), one end of the air discharge passage (120) is positioned on the end surface of the adjusting block (12), the other end of the air discharge passage (120) is positioned on the side wall of the adjusting block (12), the inner wall of the shaft cover (8) is movably provided with a blocking balloon (16), and the inner wall of the shaft cover (8) is provided with a ball groove (80) for storing the blocking ball (16), the side wall of the shaft cover (8) is provided with an air escape channel (81) communicated with the inner cavity of the shaft cover (8), and the air blocking balloon (16) can block the air escape channel (81).

5. The vehicle speed sensor for detecting the transmission of the new energy automobile according to claim 1, characterized in that: the three pull ropes (14) are arranged, one ends of the three pull ropes (14) are fixedly mounted with the adjusting block (12), the other ends of the three pull ropes (14) are respectively located in the inner cavity of the transmission pipe (10), and the three pull ropes (14) are all made of steel products.

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of new energy automobiles, in particular to a vehicle speed sensor for detecting a new energy automobile transmission.

Background

The speed sensor detects the speed of the electrically controlled automobile, and the control computer uses the input signal to control the idling of the engine, the locking of the torque converter of the dynamic transmission, the gear shifting of the automatic transmission, the opening and closing of the cooling fan of the engine, the cruising and speed-fixing and other functions.

In the application process of the vehicle speed sensor, such as a magnetoelectric vehicle speed sensor, a magnetic wheel is usually connected with a rotating shaft of a vehicle transmission, and when the magnetic wheel rotates and passes through a receiving plate, an alternating current signal is generated by a coil on the receiving plate and is output to a control computer from a contact pin, so that moving parts such as an engine, a transmission and the like are detected and adjusted by the control computer.

In the actual working process, because the vehicle speed sensor is connected with the wheel shaft of the gearbox through the pin shaft group and is in rigid connection, when the vehicle body vibrates, the connecting part of the vehicle body is stressed to generate clamping stagnation and fracture, the speed feedback is inaccurate due to the deflection between the receiving plate and the magnetic wheel caused by the vibration, meanwhile, when the connecting part of the vehicle body generates clamping stagnation and fracture, the vehicle speed sensor can not normally detect the vehicle speed sensor, and according to analysis in the actual process of driving, in the connecting process of the vehicle speed sensor and the wheel shaft of the gearbox, the greater factors generated by the vehicle speed sensor mainly come from the vibration generated in the rotating process of the wheel shaft of the gearbox and the deflection generated in the position of the wheel shaft of the gearbox and the vehicle body during the vibration, so that the power output process of the wheel shaft of the gearbox is different from the position of the vehicle speed sensor, finally, the phenomenon of pin shaft clamping stagnation and fracture occurs.

Meanwhile, because the traditional vehicle speed sensor adopts a glue filling mode for packaging, the high-temperature and high-pressure phenomenon occurs in the vehicle speed sensor due to the expansion caused by heat and the contraction caused by cold in the vehicle speed sensor, so that the vehicle speed sensor can transmit signals unstably or cannot transmit signals, and the main reason is that the detection components and parts are damaged by the temperature and the pressure.

Disclosure of Invention

Aiming at the defects of the existing vehicle speed sensor in the use process in the background technology, the invention provides the vehicle speed sensor for detecting the new energy automobile transmission, which has the advantages of detection accuracy and low-vibration transmission, enhancement of detection accuracy and transmission strength, self-adaption to the change of temperature and pressure, and solves the technical problems in the background technology.

The invention provides the following technical scheme: a vehicle speed sensor for detecting a new energy automobile transmission comprises a shell and a driving shaft, wherein one end of the shell is in threaded connection with a shell cover, a receiving plate is fixedly mounted on one side of the inner wall of the shell, a contact pin is fixedly mounted on the surface of the receiving plate, one end of the contact pin is located on the outer side of the shell, a sealing sleeve is fixedly mounted in the middle of the inner wall of the shell cover, a transmission shaft is movably mounted on the inner wall of the sealing sleeve, a magnetic wheel located in the inner cavity of the shell is fixedly mounted on one end of the transmission shaft, a bearing located on one side of the sealing sleeve is fixedly mounted on the side wall of the transmission shaft, the outer side wall of the bearing is movably mounted on the inner wall of the shell cover, the bearing is located in the inner cavity of the shell, one end of the transmission shaft is in threaded connection with an inner cavity shaft cover located on the shell cover, a mounting seat fixedly mounted through a bolt is arranged on one end of the shaft cover, and a transmission tube is mounted on the surface of the mounting seat, and the end face of the driving shaft is connected with a mounting seat which is used for fixing the other end of the transmission pipe through a bolt.

Preferably, the number of the transmission pipes is three, and the three transmission pipes are all installed at equal angles by taking the center line axis of the installation seat as the center.

Preferably, the inner wall movable mounting of transmission shaft has the regulating block, and the one end fixed mounting of regulating block has the reset spring who is located the transmission shaft inner chamber, reset spring's one end and shaft cover fixed mounting, the transmission pipe is established to hollow rubber tube, the epaxial mount pad terminal surface fixed mounting of drive has the stay cord that is located the transmission pipe inner chamber, and the one end of stay cord run through the shaft cover and with regulating block fixed mounting.

Preferably, the one end of transmission shaft is offered and is used for transmission shaft inner chamber and the communicating gas transmission groove of casing inner chamber, and the lateral wall of transmission shaft offers and is used for transmission shaft inner chamber and the communicating groove of disappointing of casing inner chamber, the air release way has been seted up to the inner wall of regulating block, and the one end that loses the air release way is located the terminal surface of regulating block, the other end that lets out the air release way is located the lateral wall of regulating block, the inner wall movable mounting of shaft cover has stifled balloon, and the inner wall of shaft cover offers and is used for carrying out the ball groove of depositing to stifled balloon, the lateral wall of shaft cover offers and is used for the communicating ease gas way of inner chamber with the shaft cover, and stifled balloon can realize the shutoff to the ease gas way.

Preferably, the stay cord is provided with three, and the one end of three stay cord all with regulating block fixed mounting, three the other end of stay cord is located the inner chamber of driving tube respectively, and the material of three stay cord is steel product.

The invention has the following beneficial effects:

1. according to the invention, the transmission shaft is connected with the driving shaft through the transmission pipe, and meanwhile, the transmission shaft is arranged on the shell cover through the bearing, so that the multi-strand transmission pipe is screwed to a rope shape through the rotation of the driving shaft, further, power is provided for transmission, the phenomenon of non-coaxial between the driving shaft and the transmission shaft caused by vibration is overcome, and the transmission shaft has a force trend of moving outwards when the transmission pipe is screwed, so that the centering of the transmission shaft is enhanced through the bearing, the movement deviation between the magnetic wheel and the receiving plate is reduced, and the purposes of detection accuracy and low-vibration transmission are finally realized.

2. The adjusting block is movably arranged on the inner wall of the transmission shaft, the pull rope is connected with the adjusting block and the driving shaft, and the pull rope is arranged in the transmission pipe, so that the adjusting block presses the reset spring and simultaneously urges the transmission shaft to have a force trend of outward movement by screwing the adjusting block in the transmission pipe and the pull rope synchronously in the transmission process of the driving shaft, the centering capacity of the transmission shaft in the working process is further enhanced, the detection accuracy is ensured, meanwhile, the adjusting block presses airflow into the transmission pipe, the transmission pipe has a bulging trend by the airflow, the curling degree is reduced by the transmission pipe, the transmission strength is enhanced, and the purposes of enhancing the detection accuracy and the transmission strength are finally achieved.

3. According to the invention, the air transmission groove and the air release groove are formed in the transmission shaft, and meanwhile, the air release passage is formed in the shaft cover, so that after components in the inner cavity of the shell expand due to heating, the expanded pressure acts on the end face of the adjusting block, the pressure of the adjusting block pushing the transmission shaft outwards is enhanced, the detection accuracy of the transmission shaft is enhanced, meanwhile, when the pressure of the transmission shaft is increased to the limit, the transmission shaft can be discharged through the air release passage to carry out pressure relief and temperature output.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of the overall assembly of the structure of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the point A in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the point B in FIG. 1;

fig. 4 is a schematic view of the structural mount of the present invention.

In the figure: 1. a housing; 2. receiving a plate; 3. inserting a pin; 4. a shell cover; 5. a bearing; 6. a drive shaft; 60. a gas transmission groove; 61. a gas release groove; 7. a magnetic wheel; 8. a shaft cover; 80. a ball groove; 81. an escape passage; 9. a mounting seat; 10. a drive tube; 11. a drive shaft; 12. an adjusting block; 120. a gas discharge passage; 13. a return spring; 14. pulling a rope; 15. sealing the sleeve; 16. and (6) blocking the balloon.

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. 1-4, a vehicle speed sensor for detecting a new energy automobile transmission comprises a housing 1 and a driving shaft 11, wherein a housing cover 4 is connected to one end of the housing 1 through a screw thread, a receiving plate 2 is fixedly mounted on one side of the inner wall of the housing 1, a pin 3 is fixedly mounted on the surface of the receiving plate 2, one end of the pin 3 is located on the outer side of the housing 1, a sealing sleeve 15 is fixedly mounted in the middle of the inner wall of the housing cover 4 and is sealed and positioned through the sealing sleeve 15, a transmission shaft 6 is movably mounted on the inner wall of the sealing sleeve 15, a magnetic wheel 7 located in the inner cavity of the housing 1 is fixedly mounted at one end of the transmission shaft 6, so that the components necessary for the existing vehicle speed sensor are formed, a bearing 5 located on one side of the sealing sleeve 15 is fixedly mounted on the side wall of the transmission shaft 6, and the outer side wall of the bearing 5 is movably mounted on the inner wall of the housing cover 4, meanwhile, its bearing 5 is located in the cavity of the body 1, there is a shaft cover 8 located in the cavity of the cap 4 in one end threaded connection of the drive shaft 6, and there is a mount pad 9 through bolt fixed mounting in one end of the shaft cover 8, meanwhile, there is a drive tube 10 on the surface of the mount pad 9, there is a mount pad 9 used for fixing with the other end of the drive tube 10 in the end surface bolted connection of the drive shaft 11, therefore in the course of working, through the flexible transmission of its drive tube 10, thus while the drive shaft 11 transmits the torque, still make the non-coaxial motion appear between drive shaft 11 and the drive shaft 6, and then can prevent because of the pivoted in-process of the drive shaft 11, because of the factor of self-vibration, make the cracked phenomenon of jamming appear in the drive position.

Wherein, in order to strengthen the transmission torque dynamics of its driving pipe 10, therefore establish to threely through the quantity with its driving pipe 10, and three driving pipe 10 all uses the central line axis of mount pad 9 to be angle installation such as center, therefore make the dynamics of torque strengthen through setting up a plurality of driving pipes 10, meanwhile, through between the three driving pipe 10, when driven axle 11 rotates, twist into rope form with its three strands of driving pipes 10, not only strengthen the transmission dynamics of its torque, simultaneously, twist together through its driving pipe 10 and make transmission shaft 6 have the power trend of outside motion, and then under the state that driving pipe 10 drags, can make transmission shaft 6 pull to the outside, and then center through bearing 5, and then make between magnetic wheel 7 and receiving plate 2 at the in-process of work, the phenomenon that the electromagnetic reception weakens can not appear because of the deviation of magnetic wheel 7.

Wherein, in order to enhance the centering strength of the transmission shaft 6 and enhance the transmission torque of the transmission tube 10, the inner wall of the transmission shaft 6 is movably provided with an adjusting block 12, one end of the adjusting block 12 is fixedly provided with a return spring 13 positioned in the inner cavity of the transmission shaft 6, one end of the return spring 13 is fixedly arranged with the shaft cover 8, meanwhile, the transmission tube 10 is made into a hollow rubber tube, the end surface of a mounting seat 9 on the driving shaft 11 is fixedly provided with a pull rope 14 positioned in the inner cavity of the transmission tube 10, and one end of the pull rope 14 penetrates through the shaft cover 8 and is fixedly arranged with the adjusting block 12, so that in the process of driving the transmission tube 10 to be screwed by the driving shaft 11, the pull rope 14 is simultaneously screwed up, the rotating torque of the transmission tube is enhanced by the pull rope 14, meanwhile, the adjusting block 12 is pulled by the pull rope 14, so that the adjusting block 12 has the trend of moving towards the shaft cover 8, and further, the air flow on one side of the adjusting block 12 is squeezed into the transmission tube 10 by the shaft cover 8, cause transmission pipe 10 to take place the inflation, thereby reduce the circle quantity of twisting of transmission pipe 10, and then the air current that has pressure is gone into to the drum in through transmission pipe 10, thereby strengthen its transmission torque of transmission pipe 10, and simultaneously, moulding material through transmission pipe 10, can effectual protection stay cord 14 not receive the damage at the in-process of twisting the moving, and then play certain guard action to stay cord 14, and finally, it causes reset spring 13 to extrude the shaft cover 8 to suppress reset spring 13 through its regulating block 12, thereby drive the power trend of the outside motion of transmission shaft 6 through the shaft cover 8, and then strengthen its transmission shaft 6 extrusion bearing 5's intensity, thereby strengthen its bearing 5 to transmission shaft 6's centering intensity.

Wherein, in order to prevent the phenomenon of too high or too low temperature and pressure in the sealed inner cavity of the shell 1, one end of the transmission shaft 6 is provided with an air transmission groove 60 for communicating the inner cavity of the transmission shaft 6 with the inner cavity of the shell 1, the side wall of the transmission shaft 6 is provided with an air release groove 61 for communicating the inner cavity of the transmission shaft 6 with the inner cavity of the shell 1, the inner wall of the adjusting block 12 is provided with an air release passage 120, one end of the air release passage 120 is positioned on the end surface of the adjusting block 12, the other end of the air release passage 120 is positioned on the side wall of the adjusting block 12, meanwhile, the inner wall of the shaft cover 8 is movably provided with the blocking balloon 16, the inner wall of the shaft cover 8 is provided with a ball groove 80 for storing the blocking balloon 16, the side wall of the shaft cover 8 is provided with an air release passage 81 for communicating with the inner cavity of the shaft cover 8, meanwhile, the blocking of the air release passage 81 can be blocked through the blocking balloon 16, therefore, in the using process thereof, when high-pressure high-temperature air flow is generated in the inner cavity of the shell 1 due to thermal expansion, the adjusting block 12 is pushed to move towards the shaft cover 8, the centering strength of the transmission shaft 6 is enhanced by enhancing the thrust of the adjusting block 12, meanwhile, after the temperature and the pressure in the shell 1 rise to the limit, the return spring 13 is completely compressed, the adjusting block 12 is enabled to contact with the air blocking ball 16, the air blocking ball 16 is pushed back into the ball groove 80, the air escape channel 81 is communicated with the air escape channel 120, the high-temperature high-pressure air flow in the inner cavity of the shell 1 is released, meanwhile, after the adjusting block 12 is far away from the air blocking ball 16, the air flow in the inner cavity of the shaft cover 8 can be supplemented through the air escape channel 81, meanwhile, in the rotating process of the shaft cover 8, the air blocking ball 16 is affected by the outward throwing-out force, and the air blocking ball 16 is enabled to be always sealed by the air escape channel 81, then, when the temperature and pressure in the inner cavity of the shell 1 are reduced due to cold contraction, the air is moved to the air delivery groove 60 through the adjusting block 12, so that the air release groove 61 is communicated with the inner cavity of the transmission shaft 6, and the air flow is sucked.

Wherein, in order to make stay cord 14 at driven in-process, guarantee the intensity of moment, therefore be provided with threely through its stay cord 14, and the one end of three stay cord 14 all with regulating block 12 fixed mounting, the other end of three stay cord 14 divide into the inner chamber that is located transmission pipe 10, and the material of three stay cord 14 is steel product, therefore adapts to three transmission pipe 10 through three stay cord 14 and transmits, simultaneously, the rope of steel product is far away the assurance driven torque.

The using method (working principle) of the invention is as follows:

according to the attached drawing 1, the driving shaft 11 rotates to make the driving pipe 10 under the action of torsion force, so that the three transmission pipes 10 are screwed together, and further the driving shaft cover 8 is driven to synchronously rotate, the shaft cover 8 makes the magnetic wheel 7 synchronously rotate through the driving shaft 6, therefore, through the rotation of the magnetic wheel 7, the receiving plate 2 generates induction signals, and further transmits the signals to the control computer through the contact pin 3, meanwhile, in the process of screwing up the driving pipe 10, the pull rope 14 can be synchronously screwed along with the driving pipe 10, and further the pull rope 14 moves to the right side through pulling the adjusting block 12, and starts to compress the reset spring 13, and meanwhile, the air flow on the right side of the inner cavity of the driving shaft 6 is forcibly pressed in the inner cavity of the driving pipe 10, so that not only the screwing strength of the driving pipe 10 is enhanced, but also, the pull rope 14 is synchronous with the driving pipe 10, and further a large torsion force can be transmitted, when the transmission shaft 6 is pulled to the right by the pull rope 14 and the transmission pipe 10, the transmission shaft 6 tends to move to the right, and then is forcibly pressed on the shell cover 4 through the bearing 5, so that the rotation of the transmission shaft 6 is ensured through the bearing 5, the transmission shaft 6 is centered through the bearing 5, and the phenomenon that the intensity of induced current is changed due to deviation between the magnetic wheel 7 and the receiving plate 2 in the induction process between the magnetic wheel 7 and the receiving plate 2 is avoided;

after a period of time, because the inner cavity of the shell 1 is in a sealed state, under the condition that the air flow in the inner cavity of the shell 1 is thermally expanded, the pressure pushes the adjusting block 12 to forcibly move towards the right side, so that the stability of the rotation of the transmission shaft 6 is ensured by the movement of the adjusting block 12 on the right side, meanwhile, when the pressure in the inner cavity of the shell 1 is gradually increased, the adjusting block 12 is caused to move to the rightmost side of the transmission shaft 6, so that the adjusting block 12 is pushed to contact the blocking balloon 16 and push the blocking balloon 16 to the ball groove 80, at the moment, the air leakage channel 120 is communicated with the air leakage channel 81, so that the inner cavity of the shell 1 is communicated with the outside air from the air leakage channel 81 after passing through the air leakage channel 60 and the air leakage channel 61, thereby realizing the release of the pressure and the temperature in the inner cavity of the shell 1, and then, after the temperature in the inner cavity of the shell 1 is cooled, under the action of the elastic force of the return spring 13, the return spring 13 pushes the adjusting block 12 to move to the left side until the twisting force of the return spring 13 and the pull rope 14 tends to balance, and meanwhile, in the process that the adjusting block 12 moves to the left side, the airflow passing through the air escape channel 81 flows to the right inner cavity of the transmission shaft 6;

after its drive shaft 11 stops, the casing 1 inner chamber after the cooling, under the state that the air current received the shrinkage, can lead to the pressure reduction of casing 1 inner chamber, and then the motion of pulling regulating block 12 left side, and when its pressure lasts the step-down, can make regulating block 12 pull reset spring 13, make reset spring 13 outwards stretch out and draw back, and simultaneously, make driving pipe 10 relax through pulling stay cord 14, finally, after its regulating block 12 moved to the leftmost side, its groove 61 of letting out gas can communicate with each other with the inner chamber of transmission shaft 6, the air current that gets into through the inner chamber of transmission shaft 6 realizes the balance of its casing 1 inner chamber pressure, and finally, through reset spring's 13 pulling force, pull back regulating block 12.

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

Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.