Disclosure of Invention
The invention mainly aims to provide a wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt with high strength, good wear resistance and excellent heat aging resistance and cold resistance and a preparation method thereof.
The invention provides a wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt which comprises a synchronous belt framework and synchronous belt films wrapped outside the synchronous belt framework, wherein the synchronous belt films are prepared from, by weight, 35-45 parts of chlorosulfonated polyethylene, 15-20 parts of epoxidized natural rubber, 25-35 parts of methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber, 5-8 parts of cellulose nanocrystalline, 10-20 parts of inorganic filler, 1, 3-bis (oxiranylmethyl) -5- (2-propenyl) -1,3, 5-triazine-2, 4,6 (1H, 3H, 5H) -trione 1-3 parts, 2,4, 6-trivinyl boroxine 2-4 parts, 2, 6-diamino-9H-fluoren-9-one 3-5 parts, 2-bis [4- (4-aminophenoxy) phenyl ] -1, 3-hexafluoropropane 2-4 parts, 1, 4-diacryloyl-1, 2,3, 7-dimethyl quinoxaline 1, 3-1.6-dimethyl quinoxaline, 0.0.0 part of a lubricant and 0.0.0 part of a scorch-preventing agent.
Preferably, the lubricant is at least one of glyceryl stearate, glyceryl oleate, and glyceryl trioleate.
Preferably, the scorch retarder is a scorch retarder CTP.
Preferably, the anti-aging agent is at least one of anti-aging agent NBC and anti-aging agent BLE.
Preferably, the vulcanizing agent is a mixture formed by mixing dipentamethylenethiuram tetrasulfide, vulcanizing agent double 25, benzoyl peroxide and dicumyl peroxide according to the mass ratio of 1 (0.5-1) to 0.6 (0.8-1.2).
Preferably, the coupling agent is at least one of a silane coupling agent KH550, a silane coupling agent KH560 and a silane coupling agent KH 570.
Preferably, the inorganic filler is formed by mixing carbon fiber and graphene oxide according to the mass ratio of 1 (0.8-1.2).
Preferably, the carbon fibers have an average diameter of 5 to 10 μm and an aspect ratio of (15 to 25): 1.
Preferably, the graphene oxide is single-layer graphene oxide, the sheet diameter is 0.5-5 mu m, and the thickness is 0.8-1.2nm.
Preferably, the length of the cellulose nanocrystalline is 100-500nm, and the diameter is 20-100nm, which is provided by Beijing NaXun technology Co.
Preferably, the methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber is methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber IOTA-120.
Preferably, the epoxidized natural rubber is at least one of epoxidized natural rubber ENR25 and epoxidized natural rubber ENR 50.
Preferably, the chlorosulfonated polyethylene is selected from chlorosulfonated polyethylene raw rubber with the brand CSM3305, provided by Jilin petrochemical industry.
The invention further provides a preparation method of the wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt, which comprises the following steps:
s1, placing chlorosulfonated polyethylene, epoxidized natural rubber and methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber into an open mill for mixing, alternately adding other raw materials, and uniformly mixing to obtain a synchronous belt rubber sheet;
and S2, carrying out corona discharge on the synchronous belt framework, then wrapping and attaching the synchronous belt film on the synchronous belt framework, then placing the synchronous belt film in a synchronous belt die for compression molding and vulcanization, and cooling to room temperature to obtain the wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt.
Preferably, the vulcanization in step S2 is specifically carried out at a temperature of 145-155 ℃ and 8-12MPa for 3-5min, and then at 160-170 ℃ and 10-15MPa for 1-2h.
Preferably, the number of times of corona discharge in step S2 is 10 to 20.
Due to the application of the technical scheme, the invention has the following beneficial effects:
(1) The preparation method of the wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt disclosed by the invention has the advantages of simple process, convenience in operation control, high preparation efficiency and finished product qualification rate, low equipment dependence, suitability for continuous large-scale production and higher popularization and application values.
(2) The invention discloses a wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt which comprises a synchronous belt framework and a synchronous belt film wrapped outside the synchronous belt framework, wherein the synchronous belt film is prepared from, by weight, 35-45 parts of chlorosulfonated polyethylene, 15-20 parts of epoxidized natural rubber, 25-35 parts of methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber, 5-8 parts of cellulose nanocrystalline, 10-20 parts of inorganic filler, 1, 3-bis (oxiranylmethyl) -5- (2-propenyl) -1,3, 5-triazine-2, 4,6 (1H, 3H, 5H) -trione, 2,4, 6-trivinyl boroxine 2-4 parts, 3-5 parts of 2, 6-diamino-9H-fluorene-9-one, 2-bis [4- (4-aminophenoxy) phenyl ] -1, 3-hexafluoropropane 2-4 parts, 1, 4-diacryloyl-1, 2,3, 4-tetrahydro-6, 7-quinoxaline, 0.8-1.3, 0.8 parts of a scorch inhibitor, and 0.0.0.0 part of a lubricant, and the wear-resistant adhesive has excellent wear resistance and good wear resistance. The chlorosulfonated polyethylene, the epoxidized natural rubber and the methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber are blended to be used as the base materials, and the advantages of the base materials are combined, so that the prepared product has better performance and better performance stability.
(3) According to the wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt disclosed by the invention, through reasonable selection of the types and the dosage proportions of raw materials for preparing the synchronous belt film, quinoxaline, fluorine-containing phenyl ether, fluorenone, borazine, oxazinone, chlorosulfonated polyethylene, natural rubber and methyl phenyl silicone rubber are simultaneously introduced into a molecular structure, and under multiple effects of an electronic effect, a steric effect, a conjugation effect and the like, the prepared product is high in strength, good in wear resistance, excellent in heat aging resistance and cold resistance.
(4) According to the wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt disclosed by the invention, through the addition of cellulose nanocrystalline and inorganic filler, the mechanical property can be improved, the internal compactness of the material is improved, and through the effect of a vulcanizing agent, an interpenetrating network structure is formed, so that the strength, wear resistance, thermal aging resistance and cold resistance can be further improved.
(5) According to the wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt disclosed by the invention, through corona discharge on the synchronous belt framework, the compatibility between a film and the framework can be improved, and the performance stability of the manufactured synchronous belt is improved, so that the service life of a product is prolonged.
Detailed Description
The following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention. The preferred embodiments in the following description are by way of example only and other obvious variations will occur to those skilled in the art.
Example 1
The wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt comprises a synchronous belt framework and a synchronous belt film wrapped outside the synchronous belt framework, wherein the synchronous belt film is prepared from the following raw materials, by weight, 35 parts of chlorosulfonated polyethylene, 15 parts of epoxidized natural rubber, 25 parts of methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber, 5 parts of cellulose nanocrystals, 10 parts of inorganic filler, 0.8 part of 1, 3-bis (oxiranylmethyl) -5- (2-propenyl) -1,3, 5-triazine-2, 4,6 (1H, 3H, 5H) -trione, 1 part of 2,4, 6-trivinyl boroxine 2 parts, 3 parts of 2, 6-diamino-9H-fluorene-9-one, 2-bis [4- (4-aminophenoxy) phenyl ] -1, 3-hexafluoropropane 2 parts, 1, 4-diacryloyl-1, 2,3, 4-tetrahydro-6, 7-dimethylquinoxaline, 2 parts of a coupling agent, 3, 1 part of a vulcanizing agent, 1, 4-scorch inhibitor and 1.4 parts of a rope framework.
The lubricant is glyceryl stearate, the scorch retarder is scorch retarder CTP, the antioxidant is antioxidant NBC, the vulcanizing agent is a mixture formed by mixing dipentamethylenethiuram tetrasulfide, double 25 vulcanizing agents, benzoyl peroxide and dicumyl peroxide according to the mass ratio of 1:0.5:0.6:0.8, the coupling agent is silane coupling agent KH550, the inorganic filler is carbon fiber and graphene oxide according to the mass ratio of 1:0.8, the average diameter of the carbon fiber is 5 mu m, the length-diameter ratio is 15:1, the graphene oxide is single-layer graphene oxide, the sheet diameter is 0.5 mu m, the thickness is 0.8nm, the length of the cellulose nanocrystal is 100-500nm, the diameter is 20-100nm, the coupling agent is provided by Beijing NaXie technology, the methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber is IOTA-120, the epoxy natural rubber is CSM 50, the sulfonated polyethylene is selected from the polyethylene chloride sulfonate of the brand of the polyethylene is provided by the GmbH 3305.
The preparation method of the wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt comprises the following steps:
s1, placing chlorosulfonated polyethylene, epoxidized natural rubber and methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber into an open mill for mixing, alternately adding other raw materials, and uniformly mixing to obtain a synchronous belt rubber sheet;
S2, carrying out corona discharge on a synchronous belt framework, wrapping a synchronous belt film on the synchronous belt framework, then placing the synchronous belt film in a synchronous belt die for compression molding, and vulcanizing, wherein the vulcanizing is carried out at the temperature of 145 ℃ for 3min under the pressure of 8MPa, then vulcanizing at the temperature of 160 ℃ for 1h under the pressure of 10MPa, and the number of times of corona discharge is 10.
Example 2
A wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt comprises a synchronous belt framework and a synchronous belt film wrapped outside the synchronous belt framework, wherein the synchronous belt film is prepared from the following raw materials, by weight, 37 parts of chlorosulfonated polyethylene, 16 parts of epoxidized natural rubber, 27 parts of methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber, 6 parts of cellulose nanocrystals, 12 parts of inorganic filler, 1, 3-bis (oxiranylmethyl) -5- (2-propenyl) -1,3, 5-triazine-2, 4,6 (1H, 3H, 5H) -trione 1.5 parts, 2,4, 6-trivinyl boroxine 2.5 parts, 2, 6-diamino-9H-fluorene-9-one 3.5 parts, 2-bis [4- (4-aminophenoxy) phenyl ] -1, 3-hexafluoropropane 2.5 parts, 1, 4-diacrylamide-1, 2,3, 4-tetrahydro-6, 7-dimethylquinoxaline 0.9 parts, 2.5 parts of coupling agent, 3.5 parts of rope, 1.5 parts of anti-scorch agent, 1.45 parts of rope and 1.5 parts of lubricant.
The lubricant is glyceride oleate, the scorch retarder is scorch retarder CTP, the antioxidant is antioxidant BLE, the vulcanizing agent is a mixture formed by mixing dipentamethylenethiuram tetrasulfide, bimetallic sulfide, benzoyl peroxide and dicumyl peroxide according to the mass ratio of 1:0.6:0.6:0.9, the coupling agent is silane coupling agent KH560, the inorganic filler is carbon fiber and graphene oxide according to the mass ratio of 1:0.9, the average diameter of the carbon fiber is 6 mu m, the length-diameter ratio is 17:1, the graphene oxide is single-layer graphene oxide, the sheet diameter is 2 mu m, the thickness is 0.9nm, the length of the cellulose nanocrystals is 100-500nm, the diameter is 20-100nm, the coupling agent is provided by Northkyin technology, the methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber is methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber IOTA-120, the epoxy natural rubber is epoxy natural rubber ENR50, the length of the epoxy natural rubber is sulfonated polyethylene is provided by the GmbH, and the CSM is selected from the group consisting of raw polyethylene chloride and the GmbH is provided by the GmbH 3305.
The preparation method of the wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt comprises the following steps:
s1, placing chlorosulfonated polyethylene, epoxidized natural rubber and methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber into an open mill for mixing, alternately adding other raw materials, and uniformly mixing to obtain a synchronous belt rubber sheet;
s2, carrying out corona discharge on a synchronous belt framework, wrapping and attaching a synchronous belt film on the synchronous belt framework, then placing the synchronous belt film in a synchronous belt die for compression molding, and vulcanizing, wherein the vulcanizing is carried out at the temperature of 147 ℃ for 3.5min under the pressure of 9MPa, then vulcanizing at the temperature of 163 ℃ for 1.2h under the pressure of 11MPa, and the number of times of corona discharge is 13.
Example 3
A wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt comprises a synchronous belt framework and a synchronous belt film wrapped outside the synchronous belt framework, wherein the synchronous belt film is prepared from the following raw materials, by weight, 40 parts of chlorosulfonated polyethylene, 18 parts of epoxidized natural rubber, 30 parts of methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber, 6.5 parts of cellulose nanocrystalline, 15 parts of inorganic filler, 2 parts of 1, 3-bis (oxiranylmethyl) -5- (2-propenyl) -1,3, 5-triazine-2, 4,6 (1H, 3H, 5H) -trione, 3 parts of 2,4, 6-trivinyl boroxine, 4 parts of 2, 6-diamino-9H-fluoren-9-one, 3 parts of 2, 2-bis [4- (4-aminophenoxy) phenyl ] -1, 3-hexafluoropropane, 3 parts of 1, 4-diacryloyl-1, 2,3, 4-tetrahydro-6, 7-dimethylquinoxaline, 3 parts of coupling agent, 4 parts of vulcanizing agent, 2, 5 parts of anti-scorch agent and 0.5 parts of lubricant; the synchronous belt framework is made of carbon fiber ropes.
The lubricant is glycerol trioleate, the scorch retarder is scorch retarder CTP, the antioxidant is antioxidant NBC, the vulcanizing agent is a mixture formed by mixing dipentamethylenethiuram tetrasulfide, double 25 vulcanizing agents, benzoyl peroxide and dicumyl peroxide according to the mass ratio of 1:0.8:0.6:1, the coupling agent is silane coupling agent KH570, the inorganic filler is carbon fiber and graphene oxide according to the mass ratio of 1:1, the average diameter of the carbon fiber is 8 mu m, the length-diameter ratio is 20:1, the graphene oxide is single-layer graphene oxide, the sheet diameter is 3.5 mu m, the thickness is 1nm, the length of the cellulose nanocrystal is 100-500nm, the diameter is 20-100nm, the methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber is methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber IOTA-120 provided by Beijing Nafast stock, the epoxidized natural rubber ENR50 is prepared by mixing the inorganic filler according to the mass ratio of 1:1, the average diameter of the carbon fiber is 20 mu m, the length of the graphene oxide is single-layer graphene oxide, the sheet diameter is 3.5 mu m, the length of the cellulose nanocrystal is provided by the GmbH, the GmbH is provided by the GmbH, and the GmbH is selected from the GmbH.
The preparation method of the wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt comprises the following steps:
s1, placing chlorosulfonated polyethylene, epoxidized natural rubber and methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber into an open mill for mixing, alternately adding other raw materials, and uniformly mixing to obtain a synchronous belt rubber sheet;
S2, carrying out corona discharge on a synchronous belt framework, wrapping a synchronous belt film on the synchronous belt framework, then placing the synchronous belt film in a synchronous belt die for compression molding, and vulcanizing, wherein the vulcanizing is carried out at the temperature of 150 ℃ for 4min under the pressure of 10MPa, then vulcanizing at the temperature of 165 ℃ for 1.5h under the pressure of 13MPa, and the number of times of corona discharge is 15.
Example 4
A wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt comprises a synchronous belt framework and a synchronous belt film wrapped outside the synchronous belt framework, wherein the synchronous belt film is prepared from the following raw materials, by weight, 43 parts of chlorosulfonated polyethylene, 19 parts of epoxidized natural rubber, 33 parts of methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber, 7.5 parts of cellulose nanocrystalline, 19 parts of inorganic filler, 2.5 parts of 1, 3-bis (oxiranylmethyl) -5- (2-propenyl) -1,3, 5-triazine-2, 4,6 (1H, 3H, 5H) -trione, 3.5 parts of 2,4, 6-trivinyl boroxine, 4.5 parts of 2, 6-diamino-9H-fluorene-9-one, 3.5 parts of 2, 2-bis [4- (4-aminophenoxy) phenyl ] -1, 3-hexafluoropropane, 3.5 parts of 1, 4-diacryloyl-1, 2,3, 4-tetrahydro-6, 7-dimethylquinoxaline, 1.2 parts of a coupling agent, 3.5 parts of a rope, 4.5 parts of a scorch inhibitor and 0.55 parts of a rope.
The lubricant is a mixture formed by mixing glyceryl stearate, glyceryl oleate and glyceryl trioleate according to a mass ratio of 1:2:3, the scorch retarder is an scorch retarder CTP, the antioxidant is an antioxidant NBC and an antioxidant BLE according to a mass ratio of 3:5, and the vulcanizing agent is a mixture formed by mixing dipentamethylenethiuram tetrasulfide, vulcanizing agent double 25, benzoyl peroxide and dicumyl peroxide according to a mass ratio of 1:0.9:0.6:1.1. The coupling agent is a mixture formed by mixing a silane coupling agent KH550, a silane coupling agent KH560 and a silane coupling agent KH570 according to a mass ratio of 1:3:5, the inorganic filler is carbon fiber and graphene oxide according to a mass ratio of 1:1.1, the average diameter of the carbon fiber is 9 mu m, the length-diameter ratio of the carbon fiber is 23:1, the graphene oxide is single-layer graphene oxide, the sheet diameter is 4.5 mu m, the thickness is 1.1nm, the length of the cellulose nanocrystalline is 100-500nm, the diameter is 20-100nm, the cellulose nanocrystalline is provided by Beijing Nas technology Co, the methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber is methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber IOTA-120, the epoxidized natural rubber is epoxidized natural rubber ENR50, and the chlorosulfonated polyethylene is selected from chlorosulfonated polyethylene raw rubber with the number CSM3305 and provided by Jilin petrochemical industry.
The preparation method of the wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt comprises the following steps:
s1, placing chlorosulfonated polyethylene, epoxidized natural rubber and methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber into an open mill for mixing, alternately adding other raw materials, and uniformly mixing to obtain a synchronous belt rubber sheet;
s2, carrying out corona discharge on a synchronous belt framework, wrapping and attaching a synchronous belt film on the synchronous belt framework, then placing the synchronous belt film in a synchronous belt die for compression molding, and vulcanizing, wherein the vulcanizing is carried out at the temperature of 153 ℃ for 4.5min under the pressure of 11MPa, then vulcanizing at the temperature of 168 ℃ for 1.8h under the pressure of 14MPa, and the number of times of corona discharge is 18.
Example 5
The wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt comprises a synchronous belt framework and a synchronous belt film wrapped outside the synchronous belt framework, wherein the synchronous belt film is prepared from the following raw materials, by weight, 45 parts of chlorosulfonated polyethylene, 20 parts of epoxidized natural rubber, 35 parts of methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber, 8 parts of cellulose nanocrystals, 20 parts of inorganic fillers, 1, 3-bis (oxiranylmethyl) -5- (2-propenyl) -1,3, 5-triazine-2, 4,6 (1H, 3H, 5H) -trione 3 parts, 4, 6-trivinyl boroxine 4 parts, 2, 6-diamino-9H-fluoren-9-one 5 parts, 2-bis [4- (4-aminophenoxy) phenyl ] -1, 3-hexafluoropropane 4 parts, 1, 4-diacryloyl-1, 2,3, 4-tetrahydro-6, 7-dimethylquinoxaline 1.3 parts, a coupling agent 4 parts, a vulcanizing agent 5 parts, 3, an anti-scorch agent and 3.6 parts of a rope framework.
The lubricant is glyceryl stearate, the scorch retarder is scorch retarder CTP, the antioxidant is antioxidant NBC, the vulcanizing agent is a mixture formed by mixing dipentamethylenethiuram tetrasulfide, bis25 vulcanizing agent, benzoyl peroxide and dicumyl peroxide according to a mass ratio of 1:1:0.6:1.2, the coupling agent is silane coupling agent KH570, the inorganic filler is carbon fiber and graphene oxide according to a mass ratio of 1:1.2, the average diameter of the carbon fiber is 10 mu m, the length-diameter ratio is 25:1, the graphene oxide is single-layer graphene oxide, the sheet diameter is 5 mu m, the thickness is 1.2nm, the length of the cellulose nanocrystal is 100-500nm, the diameter is 20-100nm, the methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber is methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber IOTA-120 provided by Beijing Nados technology Co, the epoxidized natural rubber R50 is sulfonated polyethylene chloride CSM is selected from raw polyethylene and the polyethylene chloride sulfonate is provided by the GmbH 3305.
The preparation method of the wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt comprises the following steps:
s1, placing chlorosulfonated polyethylene, epoxidized natural rubber and methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber into an open mill for mixing, alternately adding other raw materials, and uniformly mixing to obtain a synchronous belt rubber sheet;
S2, carrying out corona discharge on a synchronous belt framework, wrapping a synchronous belt film on the synchronous belt framework, then placing the synchronous belt film in a synchronous belt die for compression molding, and vulcanizing, wherein the vulcanizing is carried out at the temperature of 155 ℃ under the pressure of 12MPa for 5min, then vulcanizing at the temperature of 170 ℃ under the pressure of 15MPa for 2h, and the number of times of corona discharge is 20.
Comparative example 1
A wear resistant carbon fiber timing belt substantially the same as in example 1 except that chlorosulfonated polyethylene was used instead of epoxidized natural rubber and no 2, 6-diamino-9H-fluoren-9-one was added.
Comparative example 2
A wear-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt was substantially the same as in example 1 except that chlorosulfonated polyethylene was used instead of methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber, and 1, 4-diacryloyl-1, 2,3, 4-tetrahydro-6, 7-dimethylquinoxaline and cellulose nanocrystals were not added.
In order to further illustrate the beneficial technical effects of the abrasion-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belts related to the embodiments of the invention, the abrasion-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belts related to the embodiments 1-5 and the comparative examples 1-2 are subjected to related performance tests, the test results are shown in table 1, the test method comprises the steps of measuring the tensile strength of the synchronous belts according to GB/T10716-2012, the ratio of the thickness of a skeleton to the thickness of a film of each test sample is 4:21 for controlling variables, the carbon fiber ropes are all made of M55J-grade high-strength high-modulus carbon fibers, the aging resistance is that the synchronous belt rubber of each product is cooled to normal temperature after being manually accelerated and aged in hot air at 125 ℃ for 70 hours, the retention rate of the tensile strength of the synchronous belt rubber at normal temperature is tested and calculated, the retention rate is higher, the higher the aging performance is shown to be better, the tensile strength test of the rubber is carried out according to GB/T528-2009, the tensile rate of the tensile strength test is 100mm/min, the low-temperature resistance is that the synchronous belt rubber of each product is recovered to normal temperature rubber after being placed at-40 ℃ for 5 hours, the retention rate is calculated, and the retention rate of the tensile strength of the synchronous belt rubber is better than the tensile strength is shown by the GB/T528-2009, and the retention rate is measured according to the retention rate is higher than the retention rate of the value of the GB-16 mm. The tensile strength in table 1 is the tensile strength of the synchronous belt, and is a test result (the least significant bit is in hundred bits) modified according to national standard requirements.
As can be seen from Table 1, the abrasion-resistant carbon fiber synchronous belt disclosed in the example of the present invention has more excellent heat aging resistance, cold resistance and abrasion resistance than the comparative product, and has a greater strength, and the addition of epoxidized natural rubber, methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber, 2, 6-diamino-9H-fluoren-9-one, 1, 4-diacryloyl-1, 2,3, 4-tetrahydro-6, 7-dimethylquinoxaline and cellulose nanocrystals is beneficial to improving the above properties.
TABLE 1
The foregoing has shown and described the basic principles, principal features and advantages of the invention. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and that the above embodiments and descriptions are merely illustrative of the principles of the present invention, and various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.