阅读说明：本技术 一种烟草物料成团、结块剔除松散装置 (Tobacco material conglobation, caking, removing and loosening device ) 是由 庞天航 郑利锋 刘茜 王晓燕 范勇 周孝明 沈成刚 刘珣 李冬 于 2021-09-29 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明属于烟草加工技术领域,具体涉及一种烟草物料成团、结块剔除松散装置,包括剔除装置和松散装置,剔除装置的两侧均设有安装座,剔除装置的一侧设置有驱动装置,驱动装置固定安装于安装座上,剔除装置包括提升组件和筛选组件,筛选组件包括套筒和多块筛选板,相邻筛选板之间形成通道,提升组件包括第一传动轴和多根第一传动带,套筒上开设有多个环形槽,多个环形槽内均安装有传动环,第一传动带上等距设置有多个钩齿,松散装置包括第二传动轴、筒体和多组第一松散组件,筒体的底部于入料口的两侧均开设有多个通槽。用来解决现有技术的松散装置使用时,成团、结块的物料容易从松散棒上脱离,松散效果较低的问题。(The invention belongs to the technical field of tobacco processing, and particularly relates to a tobacco material agglomeration and agglomeration removing and loosening device which comprises a removing device and a loosening device, wherein mounting seats are arranged on two sides of the removing device, a driving device is arranged on one side of the removing device, the driving device is fixedly mounted on the mounting seats, the removing device comprises a lifting assembly and a screening assembly, the screening assembly comprises a sleeve and a plurality of screening plates, a channel is formed between every two adjacent screening plates, the lifting assembly comprises a first transmission shaft and a plurality of first transmission belts, a plurality of annular grooves are formed in the sleeve, transmission rings are mounted in the annular grooves, a plurality of hook teeth are equidistantly arranged on the first transmission belts, the loosening device comprises a second transmission shaft, a barrel body and a plurality of groups of first loosening assemblies, and a plurality of through grooves are formed in the bottom of the barrel body on two sides of a feeding port. The loosening device is used for solving the problems that agglomerated and caked materials are easy to separate from a loosening rod and the loosening effect is low when the loosening device in the prior art is used.)

1. A tobacco material conglobation and caking removing and loosening device comprises a removing device and a loosening device, wherein mounting seats are arranged on two sides of the removing device, a driving device is arranged on one side of the removing device, the driving device is fixedly arranged on the mounting seats, the removing device comprises a lifting assembly and a screening assembly, the screening assembly comprises a sleeve and a plurality of screening plates, two ends of the sleeve are fixedly connected with the mounting seats, the plurality of screening plates are fixedly connected to the sleeve at equal intervals, a channel is formed between every two adjacent screening plates, the lifting assembly comprises a first transmission shaft and a plurality of first transmission belts, the first transmission shaft penetrates through the sleeve, one end of the first transmission shaft is in transmission connection with the driving device, a plurality of annular grooves are formed in the sleeve, transmission rings are arranged in the annular grooves and are fixedly connected with the first transmission shaft, the first transmission belt is coated outside the screening plate and is in transmission connection with the transmission ring, a plurality of hook teeth are equidistantly arranged on the first transmission belt, the loosening device comprises a second transmission shaft, a barrel body and a plurality of groups of first loosening assemblies, a feeding hole is formed in the bottom of the barrel body, a plurality of through grooves are formed in the two sides of the feeding hole in the bottom of the barrel body, and the through grooves correspond to the hook teeth one to one.

2. The apparatus for agglomerating, removing agglomerates and loosening tobacco material as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the both ends of barrel all are provided with the backup pad, backup pad and mount pad fixed connection, the second transmission shaft rotates and installs in the barrel, the one end and the drive arrangement transmission of second transmission shaft are connected, and the first loose subassembly circumference of multiunit is evenly connected on the second transmission shaft, first loose subassembly includes a plurality of loose parts, and is a plurality of the axial evenly distributed of loose part along the second transmission shaft, loose part and passageway one-to-one.

3. The tobacco material agglomeration, lump removal and loosening device as claimed in claim 2, wherein: the loose subassembly of a plurality of second of fixed mounting on the inner wall of barrel, the loose subassembly of second includes the loose pole of many equidistance distributions, loose pole and loose crisscross setting of piece.

4. The tobacco material agglomeration, lump removal and loosening device as claimed in claim 3, wherein: the pan feeding mouth department is provided with the shutoff subassembly, the shutoff subassembly includes the body of rod and many shutoff strips, many the shutoff strip rotates through the torsional spring to be connected on the body of rod, the shaft hole has been seted up in the logical groove department of keeping away from removing devices one side to the barrel, the shaft hole is worn to locate by the body of rod.

5. The apparatus for agglomerating, removing agglomerates and loosening tobacco material as claimed in claim 4, wherein: the loosening part is provided with an arc-shaped groove, an elastic sheet is installed in the arc-shaped groove, one end of the elastic sheet is fixedly connected with the loosening part, the bottom of the other end of the elastic sheet is provided with a protrusion, and the inner wall of the barrel body is provided with a plurality of convex strips at the position of the second loosening component, and the convex strips are distributed at equal intervals.

6. The tobacco material agglomeration, lump removal and loosening device as claimed in claim 5, wherein: the driving device comprises a driving motor, a driving gear is fixedly connected to an output shaft of the driving motor and meshed with the first transmission shaft, and a second transmission belt is tensioned between the output shaft of the driving motor and the second transmission shaft.

7. The apparatus for agglomerating, removing agglomerates and loosening tobacco material as claimed in claim 6, wherein: the two sides of the cylinder body are provided with baffle plates.

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of tobacco processing, and particularly relates to a tobacco material agglomeration, agglomeration removing and loosening device.

Background

The cut tobacco of the cigarette consists of cut tobacco leaves, expanded cut stems and cut tobacco sheets, and the cut tobacco leaves, the expanded cut stems and the cut tobacco sheets generally have the phenomena of agglomeration and caking in the processing technology. The agglomerated and caked materials need to be loosened manually, but the manual loosening efficiency is low and the loosening is not uniform, so that the labor intensity of operators is increased, the cigarette blending efficiency is reduced, and the quality of cigarettes is reduced.

Most of the prior art loosening devices are provided with two loosening rollers, the two loosening rollers are provided with a plurality of loosening rods, the loosening rollers drive the loosening rods to rotate, the loosening rods hook the agglomerated and caked materials on the conveying belt away from the conveying belt, the agglomerated and caked materials are scattered through the loosening rods arranged on the two loosening rollers in a staggered mode, and the agglomerated and caked materials are easily separated from the loosening rods, so that the loosening effect is low.

Disclosure of Invention

The purpose of the invention is: the tobacco material agglomerating and caking removing loosening device is used for solving the problems that agglomerated and caking materials are easy to separate from a loosening rod and the loosening effect is low when the loosening device in the prior art is used.

In order to achieve the technical purpose, the technical scheme adopted by the invention is as follows:

a tobacco material conglobation and caking removing and loosening device comprises a removing device and a loosening device, wherein mounting seats are arranged on two sides of the removing device, a driving device is arranged on one side of the removing device, the driving device is fixedly arranged on the mounting seats, the removing device comprises a lifting assembly and a screening assembly, the screening assembly comprises a sleeve and a plurality of screening plates, two ends of the sleeve are fixedly connected with the mounting seats, the plurality of screening plates are fixedly connected to the sleeve at equal intervals, a channel is formed between every two adjacent screening plates, the lifting assembly comprises a first transmission shaft and a plurality of first transmission belts, the first transmission shaft penetrates through the sleeve, one end of the first transmission shaft is in transmission connection with the driving device, a plurality of annular grooves are formed in the sleeve, transmission rings are arranged in the annular grooves and are fixedly connected with the first transmission shaft, the first transmission belt is coated outside the screening plate and is in transmission connection with the transmission ring, a plurality of hook teeth are equidistantly arranged on the first transmission belt, the loosening device comprises a second transmission shaft, a barrel body and a plurality of groups of first loosening assemblies, a feeding hole is formed in the bottom of the barrel body, a plurality of through grooves are formed in the two sides of the feeding hole in the bottom of the barrel body, and the through grooves correspond to the hook teeth one to one.

Further inject, the both ends of barrel all are provided with the backup pad, backup pad and mount pad fixed connection, the second transmission shaft rotates to be installed in the barrel, the one end and the drive arrangement transmission of second transmission shaft are connected, and the first loose subassembly circumference of multiunit is evenly connected on the second transmission shaft, first loose subassembly includes a plurality of loose parts, and is a plurality of loose part is along the axial evenly distributed of second transmission shaft, loose part and passageway one-to-one.

Further define, fixed mounting has a plurality of loose subassemblies of second on the inner wall of barrel, the loose subassembly of second includes the loose pole of many equidistance distributions, loose pole and loose piece staggered arrangement.

Further inject, pan feeding mouth department is provided with the shutoff subassembly, the shutoff subassembly includes the body of rod and many shutoff strips, many the shutoff strip rotates through the torsional spring to be connected on the body of rod, the shaft hole has been seted up in the logical groove department of keeping away from removing devices one side to the barrel, the shaft hole is worn to locate by the body of rod.

Further inject, the last arc wall of having seted up of loose piece, install the shell fragment in the arc wall, the one end and the loose piece fixed connection of shell fragment, the bottom of the other end is equipped with the arch, all be equipped with a plurality of sand grips, a plurality of on the inner wall of barrel in the loose subassembly department of second, sand grip equidistance distributes.

Further, the driving device comprises a driving motor, a driving gear is fixedly connected to an output shaft of the driving motor, the driving gear is meshed with the first transmission shaft, and a second transmission belt is tensioned between the output shaft of the driving motor and the second transmission shaft.

Further limit, the both sides of barrel all are equipped with the baffle.

The invention adopting the technical scheme has the advantages that:

1. through setting up removing devices and loosening device, during the use, the screening subassembly is earlier with the conglobation in the material on the conveyer belt, the caking material is rejected, the rethread promotes the subassembly with the conglobation, the caking material is sent into the loose device in, first loose subassembly in the barrel is carrying the conglobation, the caking material removes in the barrel, and in the cooperation of the loose subassembly of second, to the conglobation, the caking material is loose, the material after the loose falls back to the conveyer belt through the logical groove of barrel bottom, effectively prevent not loose conglobation, the caking material breaks away from the loose device, improve loose efficiency.

2. Through the shell fragment that sets up on the loose piece and the sand grip that sets up in the barrel, the shell fragment during through the sand grip, the shell fragment will be in one end time and last the vibration state, and then drive the group on the loose piece, the vibrations of caking material, to the group, the caking material is loose, afterwards through loose pole with the group, the caking material is torn, increase the group, the loose effect of caking material, and earlier with the group, the caking material shakes and tears after the pine again, can effectively reduce the percentage of damage of material.

Drawings

The invention is further illustrated by the non-limiting examples given in the accompanying drawings;

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a tobacco material agglomerating, caking removing and loosening device according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a tobacco material agglomerating, caking removing and loosening device according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural view of a loosening device in the tobacco material agglomerating, agglomeration removing and loosening device according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a disassembly structure of a loosening device in the tobacco material agglomerating, caking removing and loosening device according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a disassembled structure of a loosening member in the tobacco material agglomerating, caking removing and loosening device according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural view of a removing device in a bulk removing device for agglomerated and agglomerated tobacco materials according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a disassembly structure of a removing device in the tobacco material agglomeration, agglomeration removing and loosening device of the present invention. The main element symbols are as follows:

the device comprises a removing device 11, a lifting assembly 111, a screening assembly 112, a loosening device 12, a mounting base 13, a driving device 14, a conveying belt 21, a guardrail 22, a sleeve 31, an annular groove 311, a driving ring 312, a screening plate 32, a channel 33, a first driving shaft 34, a first driving belt 35, a hook tooth 351, a second driving shaft 41, a cylinder body 42, a feeding port 421, a through groove 422, a supporting plate 423, a convex strip 425, a first loosening assembly 43, a loosening member 431, an arc-shaped groove 432, a second loosening assembly 44, a loosening rod 441, a baffle 45, a plugging assembly 5, a rod body 51, a plugging strip 52, an elastic sheet 6, a protrusion 61, a driving motor 71, a driving tooth 72 and a second driving belt 73.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings and specific embodiments, wherein like reference numerals are used for similar or identical parts in the drawings or the description, and implementations not shown or described in the drawings are known to those of ordinary skill in the art. In addition, directional terms, such as "upper", "lower", "top", "bottom", "left", "right", "front", "rear", and the like, used in the embodiments are only directions referring to the drawings, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 1 to 7, the device for removing agglomerated and lumping tobacco material according to the present invention comprises a removing device 11 and a loosening device 12, wherein mounting seats 13 are respectively disposed on both sides of the removing device 11, and the removing and loosening device for agglomerated and lumping material according to the present embodiment is fixedly mounted on guard rails 22 on both sides of a conveyor belt 21 through the mounting seats 13. A driving device 14 is arranged on one side of the removing device 11, the removing device 11 and the loosening device 12 are in transmission connection with the driving device 14, the driving device 14 is fixedly installed on the installation seat 13, the removing device 11 comprises a lifting assembly 111 and a screening assembly 112, the screening assembly 112 is used for screening and intercepting conglomerated and caked materials in the materials on the conveyor belt 21, the lifting assembly 111 is used for transmitting the intercepted conglomerated and caked materials, the conglomerated and caked materials are sent into the loosening device 12, and the conglomerated and caked materials are scattered through the loosening device 12.

The screening assembly 112 comprises a sleeve 31 and a plurality of screening plates 32, two ends of the sleeve 31 are fixedly connected with the mounting seat 13, the plurality of screening plates 32 are fixedly connected to the sleeve 31 at equal intervals, a channel 33 is formed between every two adjacent screening plates 32, loose materials on the conveyor belt 21 can pass through the channel 33, and agglomerated and caked materials in the materials are intercepted by the screening plates 32 and cannot normally pass through the channel. The lifting assembly 111 comprises a first transmission shaft 34 and a plurality of first transmission belts 35, the first transmission shaft 34 is arranged in the sleeve 31 in a penetrating manner, one end of the first transmission shaft 34 is in transmission connection with the driving device 14, a plurality of annular grooves 311 are formed in the sleeve 31, transmission rings 312 are installed in the annular grooves 311, the transmission rings 312 are fixedly connected with the first transmission shaft 34, the first transmission belts 35 are wrapped outside the screening plate 32, the first transmission belts 35 are in transmission connection with the transmission rings 312, and preferably, the first transmission belts 35 are tensioned between the screening plate 32 and the transmission rings 312 in the embodiment. The first belt 35 is provided with a plurality of hook teeth 351 at equal intervals. When the device is used, the driving device 14 drives the first transmission shaft 34 to rotate, the rotation direction of the first transmission shaft 34 is opposite to the conveying direction of the conveyor belt 21, the first transmission shaft drives the first transmission belt 35 to rotate through the transmission ring 312, the hook teeth 351 on the first transmission belt 35 are inserted into the agglomerated and caked materials intercepted by the screening plate 32, and the agglomerated and caked materials are conveyed into the loosening device 12 along with the agglomerated and caked materials.

The loosening device 12 comprises a second transmission shaft 41, a cylinder 42 and a plurality of groups of first loosening assemblies 43, a feeding port 421 is formed in the bottom of the cylinder 42, the lifting assemblies 111 enable agglomerated and caked materials to enter the cylinder 42 from the feeding port 421, and the first loosening assemblies 43 are used for scattering the agglomerated and caked materials in the cylinder 42. On one hand, due to the arrangement of the through grooves 422, after agglomerated and caked materials are scattered, loose materials can pass through the through grooves 422 and fall back onto the conveyor belt 21 again; on the other hand, after the hook 351 of the lifting component 111 enters the cylinder 42, the hook 351 corresponds to the through groove 422 one by one, so that the hook 351 is prevented from abutting against the inner wall of the cylinder 42, and the normal lifting operation of the lifting component 111 is guaranteed.

The supporting plates 423 are disposed at two ends of the cylinder 42, and the supporting plates 423 are fixedly connected to the mounting base 13, so that the cylinder 42 is stably mounted on the mounting base 13. The second transmission shaft 41 is rotatably installed in the cylinder body 42, one end of the second transmission shaft 41 is in transmission connection with the driving device 14, a plurality of groups of first loosening assemblies 43 are uniformly connected to the second transmission shaft 41 in the circumferential direction, each first loosening assembly 43 comprises a plurality of loosening pieces 431, the loosening pieces 431 are uniformly distributed along the axial direction of the second transmission shaft 41, the loosening pieces 431 correspond to the channels 33 one by one, the loosening pieces 431 are staggered from the hook teeth 351, and when the loosening pieces 431 and the hook teeth 351 are staggered and pass by, the loosening pieces 431 can conveniently take off agglomerated and agglomerated materials on the hook teeth 351. The driving device 14 drives the first transmission shaft 34 to rotate and simultaneously drives the second transmission shaft 41 to rotate, the rotation direction of the second transmission shaft 41 is opposite to the rotation direction of the first transmission shaft 34, and the first loosening assembly 43 rotates along with the second transmission shaft 41; when the loose piece 431 passes through the hook teeth 351, the agglomerated and caked materials on the hook teeth 351 are taken off from the hook teeth 351 and are carried to move in the cylinder 42; when the first transmission shaft 34 continues to rotate, the hook teeth 351 will move towards the direction of the conveyor belt 21 through the through grooves 422, and the two side walls of the through grooves 422 will take off the agglomerated and caked materials remained on the hook teeth 351 from the hook teeth 351 and be trapped in the cylinder 42, so that the loose piece 431 is carried for loosening. When the loosening member 431 rotates to the upper half area of the cylinder 42, the agglomerated and caked materials fall under the action of self gravity to form impact to loosen the agglomerated and caked materials, and the loosened materials fall back to the conveyor belt 21 through the through groove 422.

The inner wall of the cylinder 42 is fixedly provided with a plurality of second loosening assemblies 44, each second loosening assembly 44 comprises a plurality of loosening rods 441 which are distributed at equal intervals, the loosening rods 441 and the loosening members 431 are arranged in a staggered mode, and when the loosening members 431 carrying the agglomerated and caked materials are staggered with the loosening rods 441, the loosening rods 441 forcedly tear the agglomerated and caked materials on the loosening members 431, so that the volume of the agglomerated and caked materials is reduced, and the agglomerated and caked materials are conveniently loosened.

The feed inlet 421 is provided with a blocking component 5, and the blocking component 5 is used for blocking the feed inlet 421 to prevent the agglomerated and caked materials from falling back to the conveyor belt 21 from the feed inlet 421. The blocking assembly 5 comprises a rod body 51 and a plurality of blocking strips 52, the plurality of blocking strips 52 are rotatably connected to the rod body 51 through torsion springs, and the plurality of blocking strips 52 correspond to the screening plate 32 in position, so that on one hand, the latch 351 is convenient to push the blocking strips 52 to rotate; on the other hand, the loosening prevention member 431 abuts against the blocking strip 52. The barrel 42 is provided with a shaft hole at the through groove 422 at one side far away from the removing device 11, and the rod body 51 is arranged in the shaft hole in a penetrating way. When the hook teeth 351 carry the agglomerated and caked materials to be upwards conveyed to the blocking assembly 5, the hook teeth 351 push the blocking strips 52 to compress the torsion spring and open the feeding port 421, and after the hook teeth 351 and the agglomerated and caked materials enter the barrel 42, the torsion spring enables the blocking strips 52 to rebound and block the feeding port 421 again.

The loosening member 431 is provided with an arc-shaped groove 432, an elastic sheet 6 is installed in the arc-shaped groove 432, one end of the elastic sheet 6 is fixedly connected with the loosening member 431, the bottom of the other end of the elastic sheet is provided with a protrusion 61, the inner wall of the cylinder 42 is provided with a plurality of protruding strips 425 at the position of the second loosening assembly 44, and the protruding strips 425 are distributed at equal intervals. In the process that the second transmission shaft 41 drives the loose piece 431 to rotate, when the loose piece 431 passes through the convex strip 425, one end of the elastic sheet 6 is upwards bounced because the protrusion 61 at the bottom of the elastic sheet 6 is abutted against the convex strip 425; when loose 431 is in succession through a plurality of sand grips 425, shell fragment 6 will be in the continuous vibration state in one end time, and then drives the vibrations of conglobation, the caking material on the loose 431, and to the conglobation, the caking material is loose, later will conglobation, the caking material is torn through loose pole 441 again, increases the loose effect of conglobation, caking material, and will conglobation earlier, the caking material shakes the pine earlier and then tears, can effectively reduce the crushing rate of material.

The driving device 14 comprises a driving motor 71, a driving gear 72 is fixedly connected to an output shaft of the driving motor 71, the driving gear 72 is engaged with the first transmission shaft 34, and a second transmission belt 73 is tensioned between the output shaft of the driving motor 71 and the second transmission shaft 41. So that the driving motor 71 drives the first transmission shaft 34 and the second transmission shaft 41 to rotate simultaneously, and the rotation directions of the first transmission shaft 34 and the second transmission shaft 41 are opposite.

The baffles 45 are arranged on the two sides of the cylinder 42, and on one hand, the baffle 45 is arranged to block the materials falling back from the through groove 422 at the bottom of the cylinder 42, so that sputtering is prevented; on the other hand, it is possible to further provide a stable supporting force to the cylinder 42.

When the tobacco material agglomerating, caking removing and loosening device is used, the driving motor 71 is controlled to work, the driving motor 71 enables the first transmission shaft 34 and the second transmission shaft 41 to simultaneously rotate, the rotation direction of the first transmission shaft 34 is opposite to the conveying direction of the conveyor belt 21, and the rotation direction of the second transmission shaft 41 is the same as the conveying direction of the conveyor belt 21;

when the materials on the conveyor belt 21 pass through the conglomerate and caked material removing and loosening device, the loosened materials can pass through the channel 33, and the conglomerate and caked materials in the materials are intercepted by the screening plate 32 and cannot normally pass through; the first rotating shaft drives the first transmission belt 35 to rotate through the transmission ring 312, and the hook teeth 351 on the first transmission belt 35 are inserted into the agglomerated and caked materials intercepted by the screening plate 32 and carry the agglomerated and caked materials to be conveyed into the loosening device 12; when the hook teeth 351 carry agglomerated and caked materials to be conveyed upwards to the blocking component 5, the hook teeth 351 push the blocking strip 52 to compress the torsion spring and open the feeding port 421, and after the hook teeth 351 and the agglomerated and caked materials enter the barrel 42, the torsion spring enables the blocking strip 52 to rebound and block the feeding port 421 again;

when the second transmission shaft 41 rotates, the first loose assembly 43 rotates along with the second transmission shaft 41; when the loose piece 431 passes through the hook teeth 351, the agglomerated and caked materials on the hook teeth 351 are taken off from the hook teeth 351 and are carried to move in the cylinder 42; when the first transmission shaft 34 continues to rotate, the hook teeth 351 will move towards the direction of the conveyor belt 21 through the through grooves 422, and the two side walls of the through grooves 422 will take off the agglomerated and caked materials remained on the hook teeth 351 from the hook teeth 351 and be trapped in the cylinder 42, so that the loose piece 431 is carried for loosening. When the loose pieces 431 continuously pass through the convex strips 425, the protrusions 61 at the bottom of the elastic sheets 6 are abutted against the convex strips 425, the elastic sheets 6 are in a continuous vibration state within a period of time, and then the mass and caking materials on the loose pieces 431 are driven to vibrate, so that the mass and caking materials are loosened; when the loose pieces 431 carrying the agglomerated and caked materials pass through the staggered loose rods 441, the loose rods 441 forcedly tear the agglomerated and caked materials on the loose pieces 431, so that the volumes of the agglomerated and caked materials are reduced, and the agglomerated and caked materials are convenient to loosen. When the loosening member 431 rotates to the upper half area of the cylinder 42, the agglomerated and caked materials fall under the action of self gravity to form impact to loosen the agglomerated and caked materials, and the loosened materials fall back to the conveyor belt 21 through the through groove 422.

The device for removing and loosening the tobacco material lumps and agglomerates provided by the invention is described in detail above. The description of the specific embodiments is only intended to facilitate an understanding of the method of the invention and its core ideas. It should be noted that, for those skilled in the art, it is possible to make various improvements and modifications to the present invention without departing from the principle of the present invention, and those improvements and modifications also fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention.