Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to solve the technical problem of providing the edible oil centrifugal filtering equipment which adopts a centrifugal mode to separate solid-phase particles in crude oil, can push out the separated solid-phase particles, has high separation efficiency and is more convenient to maintain.
In order to solve the problems, the invention adopts the following technical scheme:
The utility model provides an edible oil centrifugal filtration equipment, includes the body structure to and adjust the control cabinet of rotational speed, install the storehouse lid in the upper end of body structure, the control cabinet integrated in on the storehouse lid, still include oil feed equipment, oil-well pump, centrifugal assembly, extrude subassembly, reserve tank, first drive arrangement, second drive arrangement and play oily device, extrude the subassembly with centrifugal assembly coaxial arrangement, centrifugal assembly with extrude the subassembly with the body structure rotates to be installed, first drive arrangement drive centrifugal assembly high-speed rotation, second drive arrangement drive extrude the subassembly and rotate slowly, the waste residue that the oil strain produced is taken out through extrude the subassembly in the centrifugal assembly, the edible oil after filtering is passed through oil outlet device draws to in the reserve tank, the oil-well pump is connected with oil pump and sends oil pipe, oil pump connection oil feed equipment, send oil pipe cooperation extrude the subassembly, pass through the control cabinet connection control oil-well pump, first drive arrangement, second drive arrangement and play oily device.
Preferably, the oil inlet device comprises an oil inlet barrel, an inner pipe body, a split cover and an electric heater, wherein a conical gathering part is formed at the bottom of the oil inlet barrel, a connecting pipe is welded at the bottom axis of the gathering part, the inner pipe body is in threaded connection with the axis of the gathering part, a slot is formed at the outer wall of the inner pipe body, a filter screen is welded in the slot, the split cover is in a truncated cone shape, the diameter of the split cover is gradually reduced downwards, a connecting part is installed at the bottom axis of the split cover, the connecting part is inserted to the upper end of the inner pipe body and fixed, the electric heater is connected with an electric heating pipe, edible oil split by the split cover falls down to contact the electric heating pipe, the oil pumping pipe is connected with the connecting pipe, a plurality of overflow holes are formed at the outer wall of the connecting part, and the overflow holes are exposed above the inner pipe.
Preferably, an oil inlet pipe is installed at the axis of the oil inlet barrel, a bracket is fixed between the oil inlet pipe and the oil inlet barrel, the oil inlet pipe is coaxial with the split cover, a concave hole is processed at the top of the split cover, a filter cartridge is fixed in the concave hole, and the oil inlet pipe feeds oil into the filter cartridge.
Preferably, the centrifugal assembly comprises a centrifugal barrel and a slag discharging box, wherein one end of the centrifugal barrel is provided with a hollow shaft, a conical barrel is fixedly arranged at the end, away from the hollow shaft, of the centrifugal barrel, the diameter of the conical barrel gradually reduces towards the direction, away from the centrifugal barrel, the tail end of the conical barrel is inserted into the slag discharging box, the extrusion assembly penetrates through the slag discharging box and then is inserted into the centrifugal barrel, the slag discharging box is fixed with the machine body structure, the slag discharging box is in running fit with the conical barrel, the hollow shaft is in running fit with the machine body structure, the oil discharging device is arranged through the hollow shaft, the first driving device is connected with and drives the hollow shaft, a slag discharging channel is obliquely welded downwards at the outer side of the slag discharging box and is inserted into the outer part of the machine body structure.
Preferably, an annular concave part is processed at a position, far away from the conical barrel, of the outer wall of the centrifugal barrel, edible oil separated under the centrifugal force of the centrifugal barrel is collected into the annular concave part, and the oil outlet device is matched with the annular concave part.
Preferably, the oil outlet device comprises an oil outlet pipe, a push rod and a triaxial cylinder, wherein the oil outlet pipe is coaxially inserted in the hollow shaft, the oil outlet pipe is in running fit with the hollow shaft, a bracket body is fixedly arranged between the oil outlet pipe and the machine body structure, a first connecting pipe is arranged on the side face of the oil outlet pipe, a first oil pump is in butt joint with the first connecting pipe, the first oil pump is connected with a three-way valve, a first oil outlet pipe and an oil return pipe are connected with the three-way valve, a branch control valve is arranged on the three-way valve, one branch control valve corresponds to the first oil outlet pipe, the other branch control valve corresponds to the oil return pipe, and the tail end of the oil return pipe is inserted in the oil inlet equipment; the first oil outlet pipe is corresponding to the storage barrel, the triaxial cylinder is fixedly installed through the bracket body, a connecting plate is fixedly arranged outside the push rod, the connecting plate is fixed at the movable end of the triaxial cylinder, the push rod is coaxial with the oil outlet pipe, the push rod is inserted into the oil outlet pipe, the push rod and the oil outlet pipe are in clearance fit, edible oil passes through the clearance, the tail end of the oil outlet pipe is connected with a pipe cover in a threaded manner, a sealing ring is clamped between the pipe cover and the oil outlet pipe, the push rod passes through the sealing ring and forms a seal with the sealing ring, the oil outlet pipe is inserted into the centrifugal barrel through a hollow shaft, a shell is arranged at the end of the shell, a shell cover is detachably installed at the end of the shell, more than two sleeves are annularly arranged at the outer wall of the shell, the movable pipe is slidably installed in the sleeve, spherical transitions are respectively arranged at the two ends of the movable pipe, through holes are respectively arranged on spherical surfaces at the two ends of the movable pipe, a limit cap is installed at the pipe orifice of the sleeve, the movable pipe is located the fixed spacing collar that is provided with of position department card of spacing collar the outer wall department of spacing collar is equipped with the sealing washer with form sealedly between the sleeve pipe inner wall the cover is equipped with the spring on the movable pipe, the spring acts on spacing cap with between the spacing collar under the effect of spring, the movable pipe slides towards sheathed tube inside, the push rod alternates to in the casing, the push rod alternates to that one end in the casing is fixed with the ejector pad, the ejector pad has the outer conical surface, acts on through the outer conical surface on the spherical surface of movable pipe, the outer end of movable pipe is located in the annular concave part.
Preferably, a bristle seat is fixedly installed on the outer wall of the movable tube, bristles are annularly distributed on the outer end face of the bristle seat, the spherical end of the movable tube is positioned at the center of a plurality of bundles of bristles, and after the movable tube is externally extended, the bristles act on the inner wall of the annular concave part.
Preferably, the extrusion assembly comprises an extrusion roller, one end of the extrusion roller penetrates through the slag discharging box and then extends into the centrifugal barrel, the end of the extrusion roller is sealed, a first hollow shaft is fixed at the other end of the extrusion roller, the second driving device is connected and drives the first hollow shaft, the hollow shaft is in running fit with the machine body structure, the extrusion roller is also in running fit with the slag discharging box, a straight pipe is inserted into the first hollow shaft, the straight pipe is in running fit with the first hollow shaft, a first bracket body is fixed between the straight pipe and the machine body joint, one end of the straight pipe is inserted into the middle position of the extrusion roller, the other end of the straight pipe is in butt joint with the oil feeding pipe, a spiral piece is fixed at the outer wall of the extrusion roller and is attached to the inner walls of the centrifugal barrel and the conical barrel, and a plurality of conical oil outlet nozzles are annularly distributed at the outer wall of the extrusion roller.
Preferably, a plurality of dispersing sheets are annularly arranged at the position of the extrusion roller corresponding to the slag tapping box.
The beneficial effects of the invention are as follows:
the device has the advantages that firstly, solid-phase particles in crude oil are separated out through centrifugal force, the particles adhered to the inner wall of the centrifugal barrel are pushed out in a spiral pushing-out mode, automatic slag discharge is realized, separated edible oil is accumulated on the left side of the centrifugal barrel under the action of gravity, and extraction is performed in a pumping mode of the oil outlet device.
The oil extraction device has the advantages that the extraction diameter of the oil extraction device can be expanded and contracted, and the residue of edible oil can be reduced.
The device realizes the preliminary filtration of crude oil through the oil inlet device, and reduces the blockage probability of the pipeline inside the equipment.
The device has the advantages of high separation efficiency, high self-cleaning capacity, more convenience in maintenance and suitability for popularization and use.
Detailed Description
All of the features disclosed in this specification, or all of the steps in a method or process disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except for mutually exclusive features and/or steps.
Any feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. That is, each feature is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features, unless expressly stated otherwise.
In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "one end," "the other end," "the outer side," "the upper," "the inner side," "the horizontal," "coaxial," "the center," "the end," "the length," "the outer end," and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings, merely to facilitate description of the present invention and simplify the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element being referred to must have a specific orientation, be configured and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as limiting the present invention.
Furthermore, in the description of the present invention, the meaning of "plurality" means at least two, for example, two, three, etc., unless specifically defined otherwise.
In the present invention, unless explicitly stated and limited otherwise, the terms "disposed," "coupled," "connected," "extending through," "connected," and the like are to be construed broadly, and may, for example, be fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrated, mechanically connected, electrically connected, directly connected, or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or in communication between two elements or in an interaction relationship between two elements, unless explicitly stated otherwise. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art according to the specific circumstances.
Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the edible oil centrifugal filtering device comprises a machine body structure 1, a control console 2 for adjusting the rotating speed, a bin cover 3 is installed at the upper end of the machine body structure 1, the control console 2 is integrated on the bin cover 3, the edible oil centrifugal filtering device further comprises an oil inlet device 4, an oil pump, a centrifugal assembly 6, an extrusion assembly 7, a storage barrel 8, a first driving device 9, a second driving device 10 and an oil outlet device 11, the extrusion assembly 7 is coaxially installed with the centrifugal assembly 6, the centrifugal assembly 6 and the extrusion assembly 7 are rotatably installed with the machine body structure 1, the first driving device 9 drives the centrifugal assembly 6 to rotate at a high speed, the second driving device 10 drives the extrusion assembly 7 to rotate at a low speed, waste residues generated by oil filtration are taken out from the centrifugal assembly 6 through the extrusion assembly 7, the filtered edible oil is pumped into the storage barrel 8 through the oil outlet device 11, the oil pump is connected with an oil pumping pipe 12 and an oil delivery pipe 13, the oil pumping device 12 is connected with the oil inlet device 4, and the oil delivery pipe 13 is matched with the first driving device 10 and the first driving device 11.
In the above technical scheme, the edible oil squeezed by the oil press is pumped into the oil inlet device 4 through the pipeline, and the edible oil in the oil inlet device 4 is pumped into the extrusion assembly 7 through the oil pump, and flows out of the extrusion assembly 7 into the centrifugal assembly 6.
The centrifugal assembly 6 is driven to rotate at a high speed through the first driving device 9, the rotation speed is 1500-3000 rpm, and solid particles in the edible oil are adhered to the inner wall of the centrifugal assembly 6 under the high-speed rotation of the centrifugal assembly 6.
The extrusion assembly 7 is rotated at a slow speed, which is lower than the rotational speed of the centrifugal assembly 6.
Through the rotation speed difference, the extrusion assembly 7 pushes out solid-phase particles adhered to the inner wall of the centrifugal assembly 6, and the liquid-phase edible oil is gathered on the left side of the centrifugal assembly 6 and is pumped out through the oil outlet device 11.
The device can separate edible oil from residues and push out the separated residues.
Referring to fig. 3, the oil inlet device 4 includes an oil inlet barrel 41, an inner pipe 42, a split cover 43 and an electric heater 44, wherein a conical gathering portion 45 is formed at the bottom of the oil inlet barrel 41, a connecting pipe 46 is welded at the bottom axis of the gathering portion 45, the inner pipe 42 is in threaded connection with the axis of the gathering portion 45, a slot is formed at the outer wall of the inner pipe 42, a filter screen 47 is welded in the slot, the split cover 43 is in a shape of a circular truncated cone, the diameter of the split cover is gradually reduced downwards, a connecting portion 48 is mounted at the bottom axis of the split cover 43, the connecting portion 48 is inserted down to the upper end of the inner pipe 42 and fixed, the electric heater 44 is connected with an electric heating pipe 441, edible oil split by the split cover 43 falls down to contact the electric heating pipe 441, and the oil pumping pipe 12 is connected with the connecting pipe 46. A plurality of overflow holes 481 are provided at the outer wall of the connection portion 48, and the overflow holes 481 are exposed above the inner tube body 42.
In the above technical scheme, the heating temperature of the electrothermal tube 441 is 70-80 ℃, and the viscosity of grease can be reduced by heating crude oil, so that the subsequent centrifugal separation is facilitated.
In the above technical solution, the crude oil is temporarily stored through the oil inlet barrel 41, and when the crude oil is pumped by the oil pump, the crude oil needs to pass through the filter screen 47, so that large particles in the crude oil are passively separated, and the probability of blockage of a pipeline is reduced.
By adopting the design of the split cover 43, the inflowing crude oil can be firstly contacted with the electric heating tube 441, the heating efficiency of the crude oil is improved, and when the liquid level exceeds the electric heating tube 441, the mode of dispersing the crude oil can make the temperature of the crude oil in the oil inlet barrel 41 more uniform.
By adopting the design of the overflow hole 481, when the filter screen is blocked, the oil level in the oil inlet barrel 41 rises, and when the oil level rises to the position of the overflow hole 481, the oil can overflow in an emergency.
Referring to fig. 1, 3 and 4, an oil inlet pipe 442 is installed at the axial center of the oil inlet barrel 41, a bracket 443 is fixed between the oil inlet pipe 442 and the oil inlet barrel 41, the oil inlet pipe 442 is coaxial with the split cover 43, a concave hole 444 is machined at the top of the split cover 43, a filter cartridge 445 is fixed in the concave hole 444, and the oil inlet pipe 442 feeds oil into the filter cartridge 445.
In the above-described embodiments, the crude oil is fed toward the center of the split cover 43 through the oil feed pipe 442, and when the crude oil is fed, the crude oil is first filtered through the filter cartridge 445, and then uniformly split along the split cover 43 after flowing out from the filter holes of the filter cartridge 445.
The filter cartridge 445 has a larger pore size than the filter screen 47.
In this embodiment, the filter cartridge 445 has a pore size of 20-30 mesh and the filter screen 47 has a pore size of 40-60 mesh.
Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the centrifugal assembly 6 includes a centrifugal barrel 61 and a slag discharging box 62, one end of the centrifugal barrel 61 is provided with a hollow shaft 63, the end of the centrifugal barrel 61 away from the hollow shaft 63 is fixedly provided with a conical barrel 64, the diameter of the conical barrel 64 gradually decreases towards the direction away from the centrifugal barrel 61, the tail end of the conical barrel 64 is inserted into the slag discharging box 62, the extrusion assembly 7 passes through the slag discharging box 62 and then is inserted into the centrifugal barrel 61, the slag discharging box 62 is fixed with the machine body structure 1, the slag discharging box 62 and the conical barrel 64 are in rotary fit, the rotary fit is obtained through the fit of a bearing and a shaft seal, the shaft seal is sealed at the inner side of the bearing, the hollow shaft 63 and the machine body structure 1 are in rotary fit, the rotary fit is supported by the bearing, the oil discharging device 11 is installed through the hollow shaft 63, the first driving device 9 is connected and drives the slag discharging box 63, the first driving device 9 is specifically a driving motor, the driving motor and the slag discharging motor and the hollow shaft are connected with the slag discharging box 62 by adopting a synchronous toothed belt 62 as a tilting channel 662, and the outer side of the machine body structure 662 is welded downwards.
In the above technical scheme, the slag box 62 is fixed with the machine body structure 1 and the bin cover 3 through the bracket, and besides slag removal, the slag box 62 can also play a role in centering the centrifugal barrel 61 rotating at a high speed, so that the stability of the centrifugal barrel 61 in high-speed rotation is higher.
The design of the cone 64 is adopted, so that the separated edible oil can only flow towards the oil outlet device 11 under the action of gravity.
Referring to fig. 5, an annular recess 661 is formed on the outer wall of the centrifugal barrel 61 at a position far from the conical barrel 64, the edible oil separated by the centrifugal force of the centrifugal barrel 61 is collected in the annular recess 661, and the oil outlet device 11 is matched with the annular recess 661.
The design of the annular concave part 661 can better collect the separated edible oil so as to facilitate the extraction of the oil outlet device 11.
Referring to fig. 5 to 10, the oil outlet device 11 includes an oil outlet pipe 111, a push rod 112 and a triaxial cylinder 113, the oil outlet pipe 111 is coaxially inserted into the hollow shaft 63, the oil outlet pipe 11 and the hollow shaft 63 are in running fit, the running fit is completed by the fit of a bearing and a shaft seal, the shaft seal is sealed on the inner side of the bearing, and the structure is such that the hollow shaft 63 keeps rotating, and the oil outlet pipe 11 keeps stationary. A bracket body 114 is fixedly arranged between the oil outlet pipe 11 and the machine body structure 1, a first connecting pipe 115 is arranged on the side surface of the oil outlet pipe 111, a first oil pump 116 is in butt joint with the first connecting pipe 115, the first oil pump 116 is connected with a three-way valve 117, a first oil outlet pipe 118 and an oil return pipe 119 are connected with the three-way valve 117, a sub-control valve 120 is arranged on the three-way valve 117, one sub-control valve 120 corresponds to the first oil outlet pipe 118, the other sub-control valve 120 corresponds to the oil return pipe 119, and the tail end of the oil return pipe 119 is inserted into the oil inlet equipment 4; the first oil outlet pipe 118 is fixedly installed corresponding to the storage barrel 8, the triaxial cylinder 113 is fixedly installed through the support 114, a connecting plate 121 is fixed on the outer portion of the push rod 112, the connecting plate 121 is fixed on the movable end of the triaxial cylinder 113, the push rod 112 is coaxial with the oil outlet pipe 111, the push rod 112 is inserted into the oil outlet pipe 111, the push rod 112 and the oil outlet pipe 111 are in clearance fit, edible oil passes through the clearance, a pipe cover 122 is connected with the tail end of the oil outlet pipe 111 in a threaded manner, a sealing ring 123 is clamped between the pipe cover 122 and the oil outlet pipe 111, the push rod 122 passes through the sealing ring 123 and forms a seal with the sealing ring 123, the oil outlet pipe 111 is inserted into the centrifugal cylinder 61 through the hollow shaft 63, a shell 124 is arranged at the end of the shell 124, the end part of the shell 124 is detachably provided with two or more sleeves 126, two ends of the movable pipe 127 are slidably installed in the sleeve 126, spherical transition surfaces of the movable pipe 127 are respectively provided with spherical through holes 129 at the two ends of the movable pipe 127, the movable tube 127 is located at a position in the sleeve 126 and is fixedly provided with a limit ring 130, a seal ring 131 is clamped at the outer wall of the limit ring 130, a seal is formed between the seal ring 131 and the inner wall of the sleeve 126, a spring 132 is sleeved on the movable tube 127, the spring 132 acts between the limit cap 129 and the limit ring 130, the movable tube 127 slides towards the inside of the sleeve 126 under the action of the spring 130, the push rod 112 is inserted into the shell 124, a push block 133 is fixed at one end of the push rod 112 inserted into the shell 124, the push block 133 is provided with an outer conical surface 134, the outer end of the movable tube 127 acts on the spherical surface of the movable tube 127 through the outer conical surface 134, and the outer end of the movable tube 127 is located in the annular concave 661.
The specific oil discharging mode of the oil discharging device 11 is as follows:
Through the movement of the triaxial cylinder 113, the position of the push rod 112 is adjusted so that the push block 133 acts on the outer end face of the movable tube 127, at this time, the through hole 128 located outside is located in the annular concave portion 661, but the spherical end of the movable tube 127 is not in contact with the inner wall of the annular concave portion 661, under the high-speed rotation of the centrifugal tube 61, the edible oil is separated from the solid phase particles, the solid phase particles are pushed out to the slag box 62 by the extrusion assembly 7, the liquid edible oil flows into the annular concave portion 661, and negative pressure is generated at the through hole 128 through the operation of the first oil pump 116, so that the edible oil gathered at the annular concave portion 661 is pumped out.
By adopting the design of the sub-control valve 120, when the content of the particles in the separated edible oil exceeds the standard, the oil can be directly returned, and the edible oil is injected into the oil inlet device 4 for direct secondary separation.
Referring to fig. 10 and 11, a bristle holder 14 is fixedly installed at the outer wall of the movable tube 127, bristles 144 are annularly distributed at the outer end surface of the bristle holder 14, the spherical end of the movable tube 127 is positioned at the center of a plurality of bundles of bristles 144, and after the movable tube 127 is extended, the bristles 144 act on the inner wall of the annular recess 661.
In the above technical solution, the movable tube 127 is continuously ejected by the continued outward movement of the pushing block 133, so that the bristles 144 are kept in contact with the inner wall of the annular recess 661, and the apparatus enters the cleaning mode.
In the cleaning mode, high-temperature water is injected into the oil inlet device 4, pumped into the extrusion assembly 7 through the oil pump, and flows out into the centrifugal barrel 61 from the extrusion assembly 7, and under the flushing of the high-temperature water, the centrifugal barrel 61 rotates at a speed of 500 revolutions per minute, and the attached fine solid particles are cleaned by the contact of the bristles 144 and the annular concave part 661, and the cleaned sewage is pumped out through the first oil pump 116 until the water flowing out from the first oil outlet pipe 118 is cleaned.
After cleaning is complete, the push block 133 is retracted, causing the spring to rebound, retracting the movable tube 127 into place.
The brush hair is thick brush hair with the wire diameter larger than 0.8mm, even if the brush hair falls off, the falling brush hair can be easily separated by adding a filter screen at the position of oil outlet.
Referring to fig. 2 and 12, the extrusion assembly 7 includes an extrusion roller 71, one end of the extrusion roller 71 passes through the slag box 62 and then extends into the centrifugal barrel 61, the end is closed, a first hollow shaft 72 is fixed at the other end of the extrusion roller 71, the second driving device 10 is connected and drives the first hollow shaft 72, the second driving device 10 is a driving motor, the second driving device 10 and the first hollow shaft 72 are also driven by a synchronous toothed belt, the hollow shaft 72 is in running fit with the machine body structure 1, the running fit is supported by a bearing, the extrusion roller 71 is also in running fit with the slag box 62, the running fit is completed by the bearing and a shaft seal, the shaft seal is sealed at the inner side of the bearing, the extrusion roller 71 is enabled to rotate more stably by the support of a double bearing, a first bracket body 74 is inserted in the first hollow shaft 72, the first bracket body 73 is fixed between the first hollow shaft 72 and the machine body joint 1, the straight pipe 73 is in running fit with the outer wall of the machine body 71, the spiral roll 71 is distributed at the other end of the straight pipe 73, the spiral roll 71 is abutted against the outer wall 75 of the centrifugal barrel 71, and the spiral roll 71 is abutted against the outer wall 75 of the spiral roll, and the spiral roll is abutted against the outer wall 71.
In the above technical solution, the rotation of the extrusion roller 71 drives the spiral sheet 75 to operate at a lower rotation speed than the centrifugal barrel 61, under the high-speed rotation of the centrifugal barrel 61, the solid particles adhere to the inner walls of the centrifugal barrel and the conical barrel, the residue is pushed out by the rotation of the spiral sheet 75, and the liquid edible oil is collected at the left end of the centrifugal barrel 61 along the spiral channel of the spiral sheet 75.
The rotation speed of the spiral sheet 75 is set according to the fluidity of the edible oil, and in the equipment debugging stage, the high-speed rotation of the centrifugal barrel 61 is maintained, the rotation speed of the spiral sheet 75 is independently regulated, and when the rotation of the spiral sheet 75 pushes the edible oil out of the slag box 62, the rotation speed of the spiral sheet 75 is excessively high, and the rotation speed needs to be reduced.
Referring to fig. 2, a plurality of dispersing tablets 771 are annularly provided at positions of the extrusion roller 71 corresponding to the tapping box 62.
The dispersion piece 771 is provided to disperse the residue when the residue is pushed out by the lump so that the residue leaks out from the tapping box 62.
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 without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.