阅读说明：本技术 实验动物连续滴注药物用固定装置 (Fixing device for continuous instillation of drugs for experimental animals ) 是由 梅胜尧 孙宝海 张玉堂 杜同本 王姜飞 杜平安 吉淑君 姜晶 张国军 张玉全 于 2021-06-12 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开了实验动物连续滴注药物用固定装置,涉及生物实验设备技术领域。本发明包括支撑架、固定箱、滴注机构和控制面板,支撑架包括底板和立柱,底板的顶部固定有固定箱,立柱的顶端设置有滴注机构,立柱的中部设置有控制面板。本发明固定箱便于拆卸,动物便于放置和取出,放置架可随时取下进行清洁,通过第二电动伸缩杆、按摩电机和按摩头,使得该固定装置具体按摩功能,当实验动物需要长时间连续滴注时,可通过按摩头对动物进行按摩,通过设置抽气机构和进气机构,使得固定箱具有换气功能,提高动物的舒适性,便于长时间连续滴注,解决了现有的滴注药物用固定装置舒适性不够,内部清洁不方便的问题。(The invention discloses a fixing device for continuous instillation of a medicament for an experimental animal, and relates to the technical field of biological experimental equipment. The drip-feed device comprises a support frame, a fixing box, a drip-feed mechanism and a control panel, wherein the support frame comprises a bottom plate and an upright post, the fixing box is fixed at the top of the bottom plate, the drip-feed mechanism is arranged at the top end of the upright post, and the control panel is arranged in the middle of the upright post. The fixing box is convenient to disassemble, animals are convenient to place and take out, the placing rack can be taken down at any time for cleaning, the second electric telescopic rod, the massage motor and the massage head enable the fixing device to have a massage function, when experimental animals need to drip continuously for a long time, the animals can be massaged through the massage head, and the air exhaust mechanism and the air inlet mechanism are arranged, so that the fixing box has an air exchange function, the comfort of the animals is improved, the animals can drip continuously for a long time, and the problems that the existing fixing device for dripping medicines is not comfortable enough and the interior is inconvenient to clean are solved.)

1. Experimental animals drips fixing device for medicine in succession, including support frame (1), fixed case (2), drip mechanism (3) and control panel (4), its characterized in that: the support frame (1) comprises a bottom plate (11) and an upright post (12), a fixed box (2) is fixed at the top of the bottom plate (11), a dripping mechanism (3) is arranged at the top end of the upright post (12), and a control panel (4) is arranged in the middle of the upright post (12);

the fixed box (2) comprises a lower box body (21) and an upper box body (23), an air exhaust mechanism (24) is arranged in the lower box body (21), a placing frame (22) is arranged above the air exhaust mechanism (24), the placing frame (22) is lapped on the lower box body (21), and an air inlet mechanism (25) and three pressing plate mechanisms (26) which are distributed at equal intervals are arranged on the upper box body (23);

drip mechanism (3) including sliding sleeve (31), knob (32), connecting plate (33) and medicament bottle (34), sliding sleeve (31) rotate with stand (12) and are connected and lock through knob (32), be fixed with three connecting plate (33) along circumference evenly distributed on the cylinder of sliding sleeve (31), the end fixing of connecting plate (33) has medicament bottle (34), the top of medicament bottle (34) is provided with agitator motor (35) and charge door (36) respectively, the bottom of medicament bottle (34) is provided with drip pipe (37), drip pipe (37) insert to fixed box (2) in.

2. The fixing device for the continuous medicine instillation of the experimental animals according to claim 1, wherein the top of the wall of the lower box body (21) is provided with a first sliding groove (211) and a notch (213), the front surface of the lower box body (21) is provided with two symmetrically distributed operation ports (212), rubber gloves are arranged at the operation ports (212), and the inner wall of the lower box body (21) is fixed with a temperature and humidity sensor (28).

3. The fixing device for the continuous medicine instillation of the experimental animals according to claim 1, wherein a second sliding groove (221) is arranged at the top edge of the placing frame (22), the second sliding groove (221) is matched with the first sliding groove (211), a sliding rail matched with the sliding groove is arranged at the bottom of the upper box body (23), and a pressing plate through hole (222) and a vent hole (223) are respectively arranged in the middle of the placing frame (22).

4. The fixing device for continuous medicine instillation of experimental animals according to claim 1, wherein the cross-sectional shape of the placing frame (22) is set to be U-shaped, the placing frame (22) is overlapped in the notch (213) of the lower box body (21), and two sides of the placing frame (22) extend to the outside of the lower box body (21).

5. The fixing device for continuous medicine instillation of experimental animals according to claim 1, wherein the air pumping mechanism (24) comprises an air pumping manifold (241), air pumping branch pipes (242) and an air pumping pump (243), the air pumping manifold (241) is fixedly placed on the inner bottom surface of the lower box body (21), the top of the air pumping manifold (241) is provided with a plurality of air pumping branch pipes (242) which are distributed at equal intervals, one end of the air pumping manifold (241) penetrates through the side surface of the lower box body (21) and is fixedly connected with an inlet of the air pumping pump (243), and the air pumping pump (243) is fixed on the bottom plate (11).

6. The fixing device for the continuous instillation of the drugs in the experimental animal according to claim 1, wherein the air intake mechanism (25) comprises an air intake pump (251), a first air intake pipe (252) and a second air intake pipe (253), the air intake pump (251) is fixed on the top of the upper box (23), the outlet of the air intake pump (251) is fixedly connected with the first air intake pipe (252) and the second air intake pipe (253) through a tee joint, the first air intake pipe (252) and the second air intake pipe (253) are both provided with an electromagnetic valve (254) at the end close to the air intake pump (251), the first air intake pipe (252) and the second air intake pipe (253) are both provided with an air hood (259) at the end far away from the air intake pump (251), the first air intake pipe (252) is respectively provided with a heating module (255) and a refrigerating module (256), the second air intake pipe (253) is respectively provided with a humidifying module (257) and a dehumidifying module (258), the heating module (255), the refrigerating module (256), the humidifying module (257), the dehumidifying module (258) and the gas hood (259) are all arranged at the upper end of the interior of the upper box body (23).

7. The holder for laboratory animal continuous instillation of drugs according to claim 6, wherein a wind equalizing plate (27) is disposed under the gas hood (259).

8. The fixing device for the continuous medicine instillation of the experimental animal according to claim 1, wherein the pressing plate mechanism (26) comprises a first electric telescopic rod (261), an arc-shaped pressing plate (262), a buffering cotton pad (263), a second electric telescopic rod (265), a massaging motor (266) and a massaging head (267), the first electric telescopic rod (261) is fixed on the top of the upper box body (23), the movable end of the first electric telescopic rod (261) penetrates through the top surface of the upper box body (23) to be fixedly connected with the arc-shaped pressing plate (262), the buffering cotton pad (263) is arranged at the bottom of the arc-shaped pressing plate (262), a plurality of mounting holes (264) which are distributed at equal intervals are arranged on the arc-shaped pressing plate (262) along the arc-shaped contour, the second electric telescopic rod (265) is fixed in the mounting holes (264), the movable end of the second electric telescopic rod (265) is fixed with the massaging motor (266), the output shaft of the massage motor (266) is fixed with a massage head (267).

9. The holder for laboratory animal continuous drip drug according to claim 8, characterized in that the width of the arc-shaped pressing plate (262) matches with the width of the pressing plate through hole (222).

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of biological experiment equipment, and particularly relates to a fixing device for continuous instillation of a medicament for an experimental animal.

Background

At present, the time consumption is longer when carrying out medicine instillation to big animal for the experiment, needs special animal fixing device, avoids the animal emergency response to cause the instillation syringe needle to drop to influence the quality of whole experimental study and can't obtain reliable scientific research data.

Through retrieval, the notice number CN209203610U and the notice date 2019.08.06 disclose a fixing device for continuous instillation of drugs for experimental animals, the device comprises a box body, a box cover, a cloth sleeve and a lifting plate, wherein the box cover is hinged with the box body; four corners of the cloth cover are respectively fixed on the upper part of the box body, and four through holes for four limbs of the experimental animal to pass through are formed in the cloth cover; the lifting plate is arranged in the box body, can move up and down relative to the box body, and can be locked and fixed with the box body through a locking mechanism, a plurality of hollow holes are formed in the lifting plate, and four fixing belts used for binding four limbs of the experimental animal are arranged on the lifting plate; the box body is provided with a pair of operation ports, and the operation ports are provided with cover plates; a drip pump is arranged in the box body.

The patent has the following disadvantages:

1. the fixing device is not comfortable enough, the air circulation inside the box body is poor, and experimental animals are difficult to stay inside the box body for a long time;

2. the fixing device has the advantages that the box body is too deep, the inside is not convenient to clean, and the animal is fixed by the fixing pressing plate for a long time, so that the animal is easy to feel uncomfortable.

Therefore, the conventional fixing device cannot meet the requirement in practical use, so that an improved technology is urgently needed in the market to solve the problem.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a fixing device for continuously instilling medicine for experimental animals, a fixing box is convenient to disassemble, animals are convenient to place and take out, a placing frame can be taken down at any time for cleaning, the fixing device has a specific massage function through a second electric telescopic rod, a massage motor and a massage head, when the experimental animals need to be continuously instilled for a long time, the animals can be massaged through the massage head, and the fixing box has a ventilation function through arranging an air exhaust mechanism and an air inlet mechanism, so that the comfortableness of the animals is improved, the long-time continuous instillation is convenient, and the problems of insufficient comfortableness and inconvenient cleaning of the interior of the existing fixing device for instilling medicine are solved.

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

the invention relates to a fixing device for continuously instilling drugs for experimental animals, which comprises a support frame, a fixing box, an instillation mechanism and a control panel, wherein the support frame comprises a bottom plate and an upright post, the fixing box is fixed at the top of the bottom plate, the instillation mechanism is arranged at the top end of the upright post, the control panel is arranged in the middle of the upright post, and the control panel is respectively electrically connected with a temperature and humidity sensor, a stirring motor, an air suction pump, an air inlet pump, an electromagnetic valve, a heating module, a refrigerating module, a humidifying module, a dehumidifying module, a first electric telescopic rod, a second electric telescopic rod and a massaging motor and used for controlling the operation of each electric device;

the fixed box comprises a lower box body and an upper box body, wherein an air exhaust mechanism is arranged in the lower box body, a placing frame is arranged above the air exhaust mechanism, the placing frame is lapped on the lower box body, and an air inlet mechanism and three pressing plate mechanisms which are distributed at equal intervals are arranged on the upper box body;

drip mechanism and include sliding sleeve, knob, connecting plate and medicament bottle, the sliding sleeve rotates with the stand to be connected and locks through the knob, be fixed with three connecting plate along circumference evenly distributed on the cylinder of sliding sleeve, the end fixing of connecting plate has the medicament bottle, the top of medicament bottle is provided with agitator motor and charge door respectively, the bottom of medicament bottle is provided with the drip pipe, the drip pipe inserts to the fixed box in, is equipped with different liquid medicines in the three medicament bottle.

Furthermore, the top of the box wall of the lower box body is provided with a first sliding groove and a notch respectively, two symmetrically distributed operation ports are arranged on the front face of the lower box body, rubber gloves are arranged at the operation ports, and a temperature and humidity sensor is fixed on the inner wall of the lower box body.

Further, the top edge of rack is provided with the second spout, the second spout cooperatees with first spout, the bottom of going up the box is provided with the slide rail with spout matched with, the middle part of rack is provided with clamp plate through-hole and ventilation hole respectively.

Further, the shape of the cross section of the placing frame is set to be U-shaped, the placing frame is overlapped in the notch of the lower box body, and two sides of the placing frame extend to the outer portion of the lower box body.

Further, the air exhaust mechanism comprises an air exhaust main pipe, air exhaust branch pipes and an air exhaust pump, the air exhaust main pipe is fixedly placed on the bottom surface of the lower box body, the air exhaust branch pipes are distributed at equal intervals on the top of the air exhaust main pipe, one end of the air exhaust main pipe penetrates through the side surface of the lower box body and is fixedly connected with an inlet of the air exhaust pump, and the air exhaust pump is fixed on the bottom plate.

Further, the mechanism of admitting air includes the pump of admitting air, first intake pipe and second intake pipe, the pump of admitting air is fixed at the top of last box, the export of the pump of admitting air pass through the tee bend respectively with first intake pipe and second intake pipe fixed connection, the one end that first intake pipe and second intake pipe are close to the pump of admitting air all is provided with the solenoid valve, the one end that the pump of admitting air was kept away from to first intake pipe and second intake pipe all is provided with the gas cover, just be provided with heating module and refrigeration module in the first intake pipe respectively, be provided with humidification module and dehumidification module in the second intake pipe respectively, heating module, refrigeration module, humidification module, dehumidification module and gas cover all set up the inside upper end at last box.

Further, an air equalizing plate is arranged below the air hood.

Further, the clamp plate mechanism includes that first electric telescopic handle, arc clamp plate, buffering are cotton fills up, second electric telescopic handle, massage motor and massage head, first electric telescopic handle fixes at the top of last box, first electric telescopic handle's expansion end passes the top surface and the arc clamp plate fixed connection of last box, the bottom of arc clamp plate is provided with the cotton pad of buffering, be provided with the mounting hole of a plurality of equidistant distribution along the arc profile on the arc clamp plate, the mounting hole internal fixation has second electric telescopic handle, second electric telescopic handle's expansion end is fixed with the massage motor, be fixed with the massage head on the output shaft of massage motor.

Further, the width of the arc-shaped pressing plate is matched with the width of the pressing plate through hole.

The invention has the following beneficial effects:

1. according to the invention, the lower box body, the placing frame, the upper box body, the first sliding groove, the notch and the second sliding groove are arranged, so that the fixing box is convenient to disassemble, animals are convenient to place and take out, the upper box body can be pushed away when the animal dropping device is used, then the animals are placed on the placing frame, and after the dropping is finished, the placing frame can be taken down at any time for cleaning, so that the animal dropping device is more convenient to use.

2. According to the invention, the arc-shaped pressing plate, the buffering cotton pad, the second electric telescopic rod, the massage motor and the massage head are arranged, so that the fixing device has a specific massage function, when the experimental animal needs to be continuously instilled for a long time, the animal can be massaged through the massage head, the comfort of the animal is improved, and the long-time continuous instillation is facilitated.

3. According to the invention, the air exhaust mechanism, the air inlet mechanism, the air equalizing plate and the temperature and humidity sensor are arranged, so that the fixed box has an air exchange function, dirty air in the fixed box is exhausted by the air exhaust mechanism, fresh air is pumped into the fixed box by the air inlet mechanism, and the corresponding heating module, the refrigeration module, the humidification module and the dehumidification module are controlled to work, so that the temperature and the humidity of the air in the fixed box meet the requirements of animals, and the comfort of experimental animals is greatly improved.

4. According to the invention, the drip mechanism is arranged, so that the device has the function of blending liquid medicine, the medicine and the solvent are added into the medicine bottle through the charging opening, then the stirring motor drives the stirrer to uniformly mix the liquid medicine, and through the arrangement of the three medicine bottles, different types of liquid medicine are arranged in the three medicine bottles, so that the mutual mixing and pollution of different liquid medicines are avoided.

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 schematic view of the overall structure of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the holding box of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the holding box of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural view of a lower case and an air exhaust mechanism according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of the air inlet mechanism and the pressing plate mechanism according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a pressing plate mechanism according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural view of an air intake mechanism of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural view of the support frame and the drip mechanism of the present invention.

In the drawings, the components represented by the respective reference numerals are listed below:

1. a support frame; 2. a fixed box; 3. a drip mechanism; 4. a control panel; 11. a base plate; 12. a column; 21. a lower box body; 22. placing a rack; 23. an upper box body; 24. an air extraction mechanism; 25. an air intake mechanism; 26. a platen mechanism; 27. a wind equalizing plate; 28. a temperature and humidity sensor; 31. a sliding sleeve; 32. a knob; 33. a connecting plate; 34. a medicament bottle; 35. a stirring motor; 36. a feed inlet; 37. a drip tube; 211. a first chute; 212. an operation port; 213. a notch; 221. a second chute; 222. a press plate through hole; 223. a vent hole; 241. a main air exhaust pipe; 242. an air exhaust branch pipe; 243. an air pump; 251. an intake pump; 252. a first intake pipe; 253. a second intake pipe; 254. an electromagnetic valve; 255. a heating module; 256. a refrigeration module; 257. a humidifying module; 258. a dehumidification module; 259. a gas hood; 261. a first electric telescopic rod; 262. an arc-shaped pressing plate; 263. a cushion cotton pad; 264. mounting holes; 265. a second electric telescopic rod; 266. a massage motor; 267. a massage head.

Detailed Description

The technical solution in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 1, the fixing device for continuous drug instillation of experimental animals of the present invention includes a support frame 1, a fixing box 2, an instillation mechanism 3 and a control panel 4, wherein the support frame 1 includes a bottom plate 11 and a vertical column 12, the fixing box 2 is fixed on the top of the bottom plate 11, the instillation mechanism 3 is disposed on the top of the vertical column 12, and the control panel 4 is disposed in the middle of the vertical column 12.

As shown in fig. 2-3, the fixed box 2 includes a lower box 21 and an upper box 23, an air exhaust mechanism 24 is disposed in the lower box 21, a placing frame 22 is disposed above the air exhaust mechanism 24, the placing frame 22 is overlapped on the lower box 21, and an air inlet mechanism 25 and three pressing plate mechanisms 26 which are distributed at equal intervals are disposed on the upper box 23.

As shown in fig. 4, the top of the box wall of the lower box 21 is provided with a first sliding chute 211 and a notch 213, the front of the lower box 21 is provided with two symmetrically distributed operation ports 212, rubber gloves are disposed at the operation ports 212, and the inner wall of the lower box 21 is fixed with the temperature and humidity sensor 28.

As shown in fig. 2, a second sliding groove 221 is formed in the edge of the top of the placing frame 22, the second sliding groove 221 is matched with the first sliding groove 211, a sliding rail matched with the sliding groove is arranged at the bottom of the upper box body 23, a pressing plate through hole 222 and a ventilation hole 223 are respectively formed in the middle of the placing frame 22, the placing frame 22 is U-shaped in cross section, the placing frame 22 is overlapped in the notch 213 of the lower box body 21, and two sides of the placing frame 22 extend to the outside of the lower box body 21.

As shown in fig. 4, the air extracting mechanism 24 includes an air extracting main pipe 241, air extracting branch pipes 242 and an air extracting pump 243, the air extracting main pipe 241 is fixedly disposed on the inner bottom surface of the lower box 21, the top of the air extracting main pipe 241 is provided with a plurality of air extracting branch pipes 242 distributed at equal intervals, one end of the air extracting main pipe 241 penetrates through the side surface of the lower box 21 and is fixedly connected with an inlet of the air extracting pump 243, and the air extracting pump 243 is fixed on the bottom plate 11.

As shown in fig. 5 and 7, the air intake mechanism 25 includes an air intake pump 251, a first air intake pipe 252 and a second air intake pipe 253, the air intake pump 251 is fixed on the top of the upper box 23, an outlet of the air intake pump 251 is respectively and fixedly connected with the first air intake pipe 252 and the second air intake pipe 253 through a tee joint, one ends of the first air intake pipe 252 and the second air intake pipe 253 near the air intake pump 251 are respectively provided with an electromagnetic valve 254, one ends of the first air intake pipe 252 and the second air intake pipe 253 far away from the air intake pump 251 are respectively provided with an air cover 259, the first air intake pipe 252 is respectively provided with a heating module 255 and a refrigerating module 256, the second air intake pipe 253 is respectively provided with a humidifying module 257 and a dehumidifying module 258, the heating module 255, the refrigerating module 256, the humidifying module 257, the dehumidifying module 258 and the air cover 259 are respectively arranged on the upper end inside the upper box 23, an air equalizing plate 27 is arranged below the air cover 259, when in particular use, the air intake pump 251 is started, the air inlet pump 251 pumps outside fresh air into the fixed box 2 through the first air inlet pipe 252 or the second air inlet pipe 253, in the ventilation process, the temperature and the humidity in the fixed box 2 are monitored in real time through the temperature and humidity sensor 28 and are transmitted into the control panel 4, the temperature and humidity conditions are judged by the controller in the control panel 4, and the corresponding heating module 255, the refrigerating module 256, the humidifying module 257 and the dehumidifying module 258 are controlled to work, so that the air temperature and the humidity in the fixed box 2 meet the requirements of animals.

As shown in fig. 5 and 6, the pressing plate mechanism 26 includes a first electric telescopic rod 261, an arc-shaped pressing plate 262, a buffering cotton pad 263, a second electric telescopic rod 265, a massage motor 266 and a massage head 267, the first electric telescopic rod 261 is fixed on the top of the upper box 23, the movable end of the first electric telescopic rod 261 passes through the top surface of the upper box 23 and is fixedly connected with the arc-shaped pressing plate 262, the buffering cotton pad 263 is arranged at the bottom of the arc-shaped pressing plate 262, the width of the arc-shaped pressing plate 262 is matched with the width of the pressing plate through hole 222, a plurality of mounting holes 264 are arranged on the arc-shaped pressing plate 262 along the arc-shaped contour, the second electric telescopic rod 265 is fixed in the mounting holes 264, the massage motor 266 is fixed at the movable end of the second electric telescopic rod 265, the massage head 267 is fixed on the output shaft of the massage motor 266, when the electric telescopic rod 261 is used specifically, the first electric telescopic rod 261 is started, the first electric telescopic rod 261 drives the arc-shaped pressing plate 262 to press downwards, fix the animal on rack 22 through three arc clamp plate 262, at the instillation in-process, can start second electric telescopic handle 265 and massage motor 266, massage the animal through massage head 267, improve the travelling comfort of animal, be convenient for drip in succession for a long time.

As shown in fig. 8, the drip mechanism 3 includes a sliding sleeve 31, a knob 32, a connecting plate 33 and a medicine bottle 34, the sliding sleeve 31 is rotatably connected to the column 12 and locked by the knob 32, three connecting plates 33 uniformly distributed along the circumference are fixed on the cylindrical surface of the sliding sleeve 31, the medicine bottle 34 is fixed on the end of the connecting plate 33, the top of the medicine bottle 34 is provided with a stirring motor 35 and a feed inlet 36, the bottom of the medicine bottle 34 is provided with a drip tube 37, and the drip tube 37 is inserted into the fixing box 2.

One specific application of this embodiment is:

s1: selecting the corresponding medicine bottle 34 according to the type of the instilled medicine, and rotating the corresponding medicine bottle 34 to a side close to the fixed box 2;

s2: pushing the upper box body 23 away, placing the experimental animal on the placing frame 22, pushing the upper box body 23 back, and enabling the arm of the worker to enter the fixed box 2 through the operation opening 212 to correct the position of the animal;

s3: the pressing plate mechanism 26 is started, the animal is fixed through the three arc-shaped pressing plates 262, then the needle head of the drip tube 37 is inserted into the animal body, drip infusion can be started, the second electric telescopic rod 265 and the massage motor 266 can be started during drip infusion, the animal is massaged through the massage head 267, the comfort of the animal is improved, and long-time continuous drip infusion is facilitated;

s4: in the instillation process, the dirty air in the fixed box 2 is pumped out through the air pumping mechanism 24, the fresh air is pumped into the fixed box 2 through the air inlet mechanism 25, and the air in the fixed box 2 is kept to reach the temperature and the humidity suitable for animals;

s5: after the instillation is finished, the needle head is pulled out, the pressing plate mechanism 26 is released, the upper box body 23 is pushed away, the animal is taken out, the placing frame 22 is taken out, and the placing frame 22 and the lower box body 21 are cleaned.

The above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto, and any modification, equivalent replacement, and improvement made to the technical solutions described in the above embodiments, and to some of the technical features thereof, are included in the scope of the present invention.