Tubular guide and support system

A length of elongate material such as rubber hose is supported and guided while being fed along a desired path of travel that extends through the hollow interior of a tubular structure. The tubular structure mounts an array of relatively closely spaced rollers that project into the hollow interior to guide and support the moving length of material. The tubular structure is formed as a "tube within a tube" assembly of "inner" and "outer" tubular members that closely interfit, and that sandwich roller support pins between overlying portions of the inner and outer tubular members. The roller support pins bridge roller positioning holes that are formed through the inner tubular member at an array of spaced locations. The rollers are rotatably mounted by the support pins and project through the positioning holes into the hollow interior of the tubular structure to engage outer surface portions of such elongate material as is being fed through the tubular structure to prevent the moving material from contacting stationary portions of the tubular structure. In preferred practice, a funnel-like roller-carrying end assembly is provided near one end of the tubular structure to define a constricted discharge opening through which the moving material discharges.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates generally to the use of a tubular assembly 
positioned to extend along a desired path of travel to guide and support 
movement through the hollow interior of the assembly of a length of 
elongate material that is fed along the travel path. More particularly, 
the present-invention relates to the use of a tubular assembly of "tube 
within a tube" construction that has roller supports sandwiched between 
outer and inner tube components for positioning rollers at spaced 
locations to project into the hollow interior of the tubular assembly to 
engage, guide and support outer surface portions of such elongate material 
as is fed through the tubular structure. 
2. Prior Art 
A wide variety of structures have been proposed for the purpose of 
supporting elongate lengths of material at spaced intervals along paths of 
travel that are to be followed by the elongate material in moving from 
place to place, for example between successive workstations where the 
elongate material is to be treated and/or combined with other components 
during the formation of articles of manufacture. Among previously proposed 
types of support structures are some that employ pluralities of rotatable 
members such as balls and rollers that are positioned to engage, guide and 
support outer surface portions of lengths of material that are being fed 
along desired paths of travel. 
Some previously proposed guide and support structures are of hollow, 
tubular configuration, and are intended to be positioned to extend along 
and about selected portions of paths of travel that are to be followed by 
lengths of material in moving from one place to another. Some proposed 
tubular guide and support structures have been characterized by relatively 
thin-wall construction--a characteristic that is highly desirable in 
applications where a variety of workstation mechanisms need a maximum of 
available space within which to operate and to be serviced to maintain 
proper operation. Stated in another way, a relatively thin-walled tube 
that relatively closely surrounds a length of material that is being fed 
through the maze of a crowded workplace tends to desirably occupy a 
minimum amount of required space, thereby maximizing the remaining space 
that can be utilized by other machinery. 
To the extent that previously proposed tubular support structures have made 
use of various types of rotatable elements such as rollers for engaging 
outer surface portions of lengths of material that are being fed along 
desired paths of travel, such proposals typically have been characterized 
by a number of drawbacks, not the least of which have involved failures to 
provide simple and inexpensive guide and support structures that are 
relatively easy to assemble, relatively easy to maintain, and relatively 
easy to disassemble and service when replacement parts need to be 
installed. 
During the production of elongate articles of indefinite length, such as 
reinforced hose of the type that typically is used to provide flexible 
conduits for pressurized fluids, there frequently arises a need to support 
and guide the movement of partially assembled hose material as it is fed 
along selected paths of travel between spaced workstations. Often it is 
desirable to protectively shroud the partially assembled hose material 
while it is being supported, guided and fed between workstations. While 
some travel-path-enshrouding guide and support structures have been 
proposed, most are not well suited for use with flexible rubber hose 
material that has a "tacky" outer surface that needs to be relatively 
gently guided and supported without having its "tacky" outer surface 
deleteriously affected as can occur if portions of its outer surface are 
permitted to "slide" along or "drag" against stationary structure. 
To the extent that previously proposed tubular, travel-path-enshrouding 
guide and support structures have made use of various types of rotatable 
elements such as rollers for engaging outer surface portions of lengths of 
material that are being fed along desired paths of travel, such proposals 
typically have proven to be unacceptable for use with lengths of material 
such as a length of newly formed flexible rubber hose that has a "tacky" 
outer surface. Among the shortcomings and drawbacks that typically have 
characterized prior proposals have been failures to properly coordinate 
the orientations of rollers with the orientations of travel paths about 
which the rollers are positioned, whereby detrimental "slippage" often has 
been found to take place between the rollers and roller-engaged outer 
surface portions of materials that are being fed along the travel paths. 
Also encountered have been failures to take sufficiently effective steps 
to minimize the possibility that detrimental contact can take place 
between stationary portions of guide and/or support structures and outer 
surface portions of the lengths of material that are being fed through 
such structures. 
Thus, a long-standing need that has been encountered in a variety of types 
of production environments has gone unsatisfied, namely a need for a 
relatively thin-walled tubular guide and support structure that will 
extend along and about a desired path of travel to protectively enshroud a 
length of material as it is being moved along the travel path from place 
to place, with the guide and support structure functioning in a way that 
minimizes and prevents damage from being inflicted on outer surface 
portions of the material that are "tacky" or that otherwise have 
characteristics that render outer surface portions readily subject to 
damage if they are "dragged," "slided" or "slipped" across or along 
portions of such structure as is employed to engage, guide and support the 
moving length of material as it is being fed along a travel path that 
extends through the hollow interior of the tubular guide and support 
structure. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention addresses the foregoing and other needs and drawbacks 
and of the prior art by providing a novel and improved tubular guide and 
support structure for protectively enshrouding a length of material as the 
material is fed along a path of travel that extends substantially 
centrally through the hollow interior of the tubular guide and support. 
A feature of the present invention has to do with the use of closely 
interfitting outer and inner tubular members that cooperate to define a 
thin-walled mounting for an array of rollers that project into the hollow 
interior of the tubular structure to guide and support the movement of 
lengths of elongate material therethrough. The resulting 
"tube-within-a-tube" construction occupies a minimum of space when 
positioned to extend along and about a path of travel that is to be 
followed by a length of material as it is fed along a travel path. 
A further feature of the present invention resides in the use that is made 
of a closely interfitted "tube-within-a-tube" assembly of outer and inner 
tubular members to sandwich therebetween (and to thereby mount) an array 
of spaced mounting pins that are selectively oriented and securely 
retained within planes that extend substantially perpendicular relative to 
the center axis. The the pins serving to rotatably mount and position a 
plurality of rollers that extend into the hollow interior of the dual-wall 
assembly of outer and inner tubular members to engage, guide and support 
outer surface portions of lengths of material that are fed along the 
travel path. 
In preferred practice, each roller is journaled for rotation by a separate 
one of the mounting pins; the mounting pins bridge holes that are formed 
through the inner of the aforedescribed outer and inner tubular members; 
the rollers project through the holes that are bridged by the mounting 
pins so as to extend into the interior of the dual-wall assembly of outer 
and inner tubular members (i.e., the rollers project beyond the inner 
diameter of the inner of the outer and inner tubular members) for a 
distance that typically is between about 1/5 to about 1/3 of the diameter 
of the rollers; opposite ends of each of the mounting pins are engaged by 
a separate roller positioning washer that is provided to surround and nest 
each of the rollers; and, the holes that are bridged by the mounting pins 
are arranged in a regular array that minimizes the distances between 
adjacent pairs of the rollers. By this arrangement, it is relatively easy 
to assemble a tubular structure that has a relatively dense array of 
rollers projecting into its interior; and, by providing a relatively dense 
array of closely and regularly spaced rollers, a highly effective tubular 
guide and support structure is provided that will tend to minimize and 
prevent material that is being fed through the hollow interior of the 
tubular structure from coming into deleterious contact with stationary 
portions of the structure. 
Thus, a number of advantages are provided by rollers that are mounted and 
deployed in accordance with the preferred practice of the present 
invention. One such advantage resides in the capability provided by such 
rollers of maintaining a spaced relationship between outer wall portions 
of material that is being fed along a travel path and the inner diameter 
of such stationary structure as is defined by an enshrouding tubular 
structure so that the material being fed does not contact the stationary 
structure. Another advantage results from orienting the axes of rotation 
of the rollers such that the axes all extend in planes that are 
substantially perpendicular relative to the center axis, by which 
arrangement the rollers are caused to rotate in synchronization with 
movement of the outer surface portions of the material that are contacted 
by the rollers, whereby "slippage" between outer surface portions of the 
material and the rollers that are in engagement therewith tends to be 
prevented. 
In preferred practice, the hollow interior of the tubular structure has an 
inner diameter that is substantially larger than is the diameter of the 
smallest type of material (such as rubber hose) that is to be fed 
therethrough. By this arrangement, if the material being fed comes into 
engagement with the guide and support rollers at any one location along 
the length of the tubular member, only one side portion of the material 
can be engaged at that one location, for the material being fed is not of 
sufficient diameter to engage rollers located on the opposite of the 
material being fed. A further advantage that results from forming the 
"tube-within-a-tube" type of tubular structure such that it has a 
relatively large diameter in comparison with that of the smallest diameter 
of material to be fed is that this also permits the tubular structure to 
be used with several larger sizes of such material (i.e., with material 
having larger diameters). 
In preferred practice, while the internal diameter of the tubular structure 
is larger than that of the material being fed, and while this holds true 
along the entire length of the tubular structure, a funnel-like discharge 
end assembly is releasably connected to the discharge end region of the 
tubular structure so that, just as the material discharges from the 
tubular structure, it is directed through a discharge opening that is 
sized to substantially center the cross-section of the discharging 
material with the centerline of the tubular structure. A variety of 
configurations of funnel-like end assemblies preferably are provided, with 
each having a differently sized discharge opening, and with each being 
formed from a pair of nested tubular components that sandwich-mount 
rollers in precisely the same manner as rollers are mounted by the 
tube-within-a-tube structure described above. Spring biased detents 
preferably are used to releasably connect each of the end assemblies with 
the tubular structure so that end assemblies can be readily substituted 
one for another when the cross-sectional diameter of material being fed 
through the tubular structure for discharge is to change.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIG. 1, a tubular guide and support structure that embodies 
the preferred practice of the present invention is indicated generally by 
the numeral 100. An imaginary centerline that extends centrally through 
the hollow interior of the tubular structure 100 is indicated generally by 
the numeral 110. Right end, central and left end segments of the tubular 
structure 100 are designated, respectively, by the numerals 102, 104, 106. 
A forward direction of movement along the centerline 110 for the passage 
of material through the hollow interior of the tubular guide and support 
structure 100 is indicated by arrows 108. 
Referring still to FIG. 1, a length of typical material that is to be fed 
through the hollow interior of the tubular structure 100 in the direction 
of the arrow 108 is indicated generally by the numeral 120. Right, central 
and left portions of the length of material 120 are designated, 
respectively, by the numerals 122, 124, 126. Inasmuch as the tubular guide 
and support structure 100 is particularly well suited for use in providing 
an enshrouding type of guide and support for directing the feeding of 
rubber hose (or partially finished components of a rubber hose that, when 
completed, will be reinforced with woven strands of material surrounding 
at least some of the rubber material of the hose) from place to place, 
such as between spaced workstations (not shown), the length of material 
120 that is depicted in the drawings takes the form of a relatively 
flexible reach of rubber hose that is of substantially uniform size along 
its length, and that extends contiguously through the full length of the 
tubular structure 100. 
In preferred practice, the outer diameter of the hose 120 is smaller than 
is the internal diameter of the tubular structure 100 so that, if one side 
portion of a reach of the hose 120 touches interior portions of the 
tubular structure 100 at a particular location along the length of the 
reach, it will not be possible for opposite side portions of the hose at 
such location to touch opposite interior portions of the tubular structure 
100 at such location. Thus, by forming the tubular structure 100 so that 
it has an inner diameter that may be as much as about twice the size of 
the outer diameter of the smallest hose that will be fed through the 
tubular structure 100, unwanted, deleterious contact between the hose and 
the surrounding tubular structure 100 tends to be minimized. 
A further advantage that results from forming the tubular structure 100 so 
that it has an inner diameter that is as much as about twice the size of 
the outer diameter of the smallest hose 120 that will be fed through the 
tubular structure 100 resides in the versatility that such an arrangement 
imparts to the tubular structure 100, enabling it to be used with a range 
of larger diameters of hose (not shown). 
A feature of the "preferred" practice of the present invention resides in 
the use of a roller-carrying funnel-shaped end assembly (such as the end 
assembly 250 that is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, with components thereof being 
shown in FIG. 5) that serves both to define a discharge opening 286 at the 
discharge end of the tubular structure 100, and to substantially "center" 
discharging hose material 120 about the centerline 110 so that, as hose 
material 120 discharges from the discharge opening 286, it is directed 
substantially coaxially about the centerline 110. To preserve the 
capability of the tubular structure 100 to guide and support hoses of a 
variety of sizes, a plurality of differently configured end assemblies 
(one of which is designated in FIG. 3 by the numeral 250') preferably are 
provided, each of which has a different size of discharge opening (such as 
the discharge opening 286' shown in FIG. 3 which is substantially larger 
in diameter than is the discharge opening 286 that is shown in FIGS. 1 and 
2). Also, each such "alternate" or "substitutable" end assembly (such as 
the end assembly 250') is provided with a funnel-like (frusto-conical 
shaped) internal taper (such as the taper 283' shown in FIG. 3) that is 
configured to form a smooth transition between the inner diameter of the 
"tube-within-a-tube" portions of the tubular structure 100 and the 
associated discharge opening. Thus, in FIG. 2 it will be seen that a more 
"pointed" sort of taper is defined by the surface 283 inasmuch as it must 
form a transition to a relatively small diameter discharge opening 286, 
while, in FIG. 3, a more gentle taper is defined by the surface 283' 
inasmuch as it connects with a much larger diameter discharge opening 
286'. 
To releasably but securely connect the substitutable end assemblies 250, 
250' to the outer tubular component 130 of the tubular structure 100, 
pairs of compression coil springs 253, 253' are inserted together with 
pairs of steel balls 254, 254' into sets of aligned holes 255, 255' for 
biasing each of the sets of balls 254, 254' in opposed, radially outwardly 
extending directions for the purpose of engaging one or more 
inwardly-facing formations 139 that open through the interior surface of 
the tubular structure 100. While, in FIGS. 2 and 3, a pair of formations 
139 are depicted that comprise holes that extend through opposite sides of 
the tubular component 130 near the left end region thereof, the use of 
such holes does not represent the preferred practice. Instead, in 
preferred practice, a formation 139 taking the form of a single, 
circumferentially-extending, inwardly-opening groove (not shown) that 
concurrently receives one of the sets of balls 254, 254' (depending on 
which of the substitutable end assemblies 250, 250' is inserted into the 
interior of the left end region of the tubular component 130) is 
preferred. If a pair of opposed holes is used to define inwardly-facing 
formations 139 to receive the balls 254, 254', the end assemblies 250, 
250' need to be carefully angularly oriented relative to the tubular 
component 130 so that, when the end assemblies 250, 250' are inserted into 
the left end region of the tubular component, the balls 254, 254' 
precisely align with and extend into the opposed holes. However, by using 
an endless, inwardly-opening groove to define the ball-receiving formation 
139, the end assemblies 250, 250' can simply be inserted into the left end 
region of the tubular component 130 without a need to angularly orient the 
end assemblies 250, 250' with respect to the tubular component 130. 
When one of the end assemblies 250, 250' is to be substituted for the 
other, the detent action that is provided by virtue of the steel balls 254 
or 254' engaging one or more inwardly-facing formations 139 is overcome 
simply by pulling the installed end assembly 250 or 250' out of the left 
end of the tubular component 130--an action that causes the steel balls 
254 or 254' of the installed component 250 or 250' to be depressed 
radially inwardly in opposition to the action of the associated springs 
253 or 253' so that the installed assembly 250 or 250' can be slided out 
of the tubular component 130 to permit the other of the assemblies 250 or 
250' to be installed in its place, with its associated balls 254 or 254' 
being permitted to move radially outwardly under the influence of the 
associated springs 253 or 253' into detenting engagement with the 
inwardly-opening formation(s) 139. 
While it would be ideal for the rubber hose 120 to extend perfectly 
coaxially, without deviation, about the centerline 110 during its movement 
through the tubular structure 100 (so that the typically "tacky" outer 
wall surface that defines the outer diameter of the hose 120 would at all 
times remain spaced from and therefore would not engage such structure as 
defines the interior of the tubular support 100 to thereby assure that the 
typically "tacky" outer wall surface of the rubber hose 120 is in no way 
deleteriously affected as by "scraping," "sliding," "slipping" or 
"dragging" against or along the interior of the tubular structure 100), in 
actual use the flexible nature of the rubber hose 120 permits portions of 
the hose 120 to deviate from precisely tracking the centerline 110. 
Indeed, as is depicted in FIG. 1, it is commonplace for the hose 120 to 
deviate sufficiently far to one side of the centerline 110 as to engage 
rollers 175 that project into the interior of the tubular structure 100 
from along one side portion of the interior of the tubular structure 100 
at one location along the tubular structure 100 while, at one or more 
other locations, other portions of the hose may deviate in different 
directions relative to the centerline 100 so as to engage rollers 175 that 
project through different side portions and into the interior of the 
tubular structure 100. 
In view of the foregoing discussion of what is "ideal" as compared with 
what more realistically can be "expected," it will be understood by those 
who are skilled in the art that, for purposes of simplifying the 
discussion herein, when such terms as "travel path" or "desired path of 
travel" are used in conjunction with movement of the hose through the 
hollow interior of the tubular structure 100, while an "ideal" travel path 
that exactly coincides with the centerline 110 is preferred, the actual 
travel path probably will deviate to some extent toward one side or 
another of the centerline 110. Thus, when a "travel path 110" is referred 
to herein, what is intended to be meant by such an expression is the path 
of travel that typically is followed by an actual hose (such as the hose 
120) in moving through the hollow interior of the tubular structure 
100--i.e., a path of travel that extends generally along but naturally 
tends to deviate a bit from the centerline 110. 
While a good many of the features of the components that comprise the 
preferred form of the tubular guide and support structure 100 already have 
been described, a "summary" or "overview" of the major components will be 
provided before completing the detailed description of remaining features. 
Referring principally to FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, the tubular structure 100 
includes "outer" and "inner" tubular members 130, 140, respectively that 
closely interfit one within the other, and that cooperate to mount an 
array of relatively closely spaced rollers 175 that project into the 
hollow interior of the assembled tubular members 130, 140 so as to engage, 
guide and support movement of a reach of material 120 that extends along a 
path of travel that ideally follows the centerline 110 as it moves 
therealong in the general direction of the arrows 108. The tubular 
structure 100 is formed in what will be referred to as a "tube within a 
tube" manner of constructing an assembly of the "outer" and "inner" 
tubular members 130, 140. 
The outer and inner tubular members 130, 140 are configured such that the 
three inner tubular members 140 (see FIG. 5) extend in end-to-end abutting 
relationship as they slip fit into the interior of the single outer 
tubular member 130. One or more threaded fasteners, such as the setscrew 
135 that is shown in FIG. 5, may be installed in aligned holes 137, 137' 
that are formed in the outer and inner members 130, 140 to prevent 
relative movement between the outer and inner members 130, 140. 
Alternatively, as those skilled in the art will readily understand, any of 
a wide variety of other fastening means may be employed to perform the 
same function. However, in preferred practice, regardless of the form of 
fastening means that is employed to establish a rigid connection between 
the outer and inner members 130, 140, it should be removable and/or 
releasable so that, if the rollers 175 or their associated mounting 
components need to be serviced or replaced, the inner members 140 can be 
withdrawn from the outer member 130 to provide easy access to the rollers 
175 and their associated mounting components. 
Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, the manner in which the rollers 175 are 
connected to the outer and inner tubular members 130, 140 involves 
utilizing overlying portions of the assembled members 130, 140 to sandwich 
roller mounting pins 195 and roller positioning washers 197 in what will 
be referred to as "pockets" 275 (see FIGS. 7 and 8) that are provided 
adjacent the holes 145 that are formed through the inner tubular members 
140. 
As is best seen in FIGS. 11 and 12, the roller mounting pins 195 have a 
square head formation 200 near one end region thereof, from which extends 
an elongate body 202 of round cross section that is terminated by an end 
region 204. Each of the rollers 175 has a hole 177 formed centrally 
therethrough to rotatably receive a body 202 of one of the mounting pins 
195, with the square head formation 200 and the end region 204 extending 
beyond opposite ends of the hole 177, as is best seen in FIG. 11. 
Referring to FIG. 12, each of the roller positioning washers 197 has a pair 
of opposed flat surfaces 210, 212 that are surrounded by a 
circumferentially extending surface 214. A hole 216 extends centrally 
through each of the washers 197 and opens through each of the opposed 
surfaces 210, 212. Referring to FIG. 11, the hole 216 has a diameter that 
is configured to receive portions of one of the rollers 175 when the 
roller has its mounting pin 195 extending through its mounting hole 177, 
and when the opposite ends 200, 204 of the mounting pin are in engagement 
with one of the surfaces 210, 212 of the washer 197. 
To mount each of the rollers 175 in one of the pockets 275, an assembly 
(indicated in FIG. 11 by the numeral 225) of a roller 175, a mounting pin 
195 and a positioning washer 197 is formed; the assembly 225 is inserted 
into a set of specially configured formations that defines one of the 
pockets 275 (see FIGS. 9 and 10); and, the outer and inner tubular members 
130, 140 are moved relative to each other to bring portions of the outer 
member 130 into overlying relationship with the roller positioning washer 
197. 
Referring to FIG. 7, the "set of specially configured formations" that 
forms a pocket 275 includes an enlarged diameter portion 149 of the hole 
145 that is provided to receive the washer 197 in a slip fit, and to 
permit the washer 197 to nest therein; and, groove-like formations 147 
that are provided to receive opposite ends 200, 204 of the mounting pin 
195. The groove-like formations 147 extend in planes that are 
perpendicular relative to the center axis 110, and to a depth that will 
position the mounting pin 195 such that about 1/5 to about 1/3 of the 
diameter of the roller 175 will project through the hole 145 and into the 
interior of the tube-within-a-tube assembly of the outer and inner tubular 
members 130, 140. 
Referring to FIG. 5, the outer and inner members 260, 280 that interfit to 
form the end assembly 250 have a series of stepped diameters 262, 282 that 
define the inner and outer configurations, respectively of the members 
260, 280. As is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4, the stepped diameters 262, 
282 are configured to permit the outer and inner members 260, 280 to slip 
fit together, with each of the outer diameter "steps" 282 of the inner 
member 280 being closely surrounded by a corresponding inner diameter 
"step" 262 of the outer member 260. Holes 145 that are exactly like the 
aforedescribed holes 145, and pockets 275 that are exactly like the 
aforedescribed pockets 275, are formed in the various stepped diameters 
282 of the inner member 280, and receive assemblies 225 (that each include 
a pin 195, a washer 197 and a roller 175) to mount rollers 175 to project 
inwardly from the holes 145 just as has been described previously. 
By the aforedescribed arrangement, the rollers 175 are rotatably mounted by 
the support pins 195 such that the directions of rotation of such portions 
of the rollers 175 as project through the holes 145 align with the center 
axis 110 so as to minimize "slippage" between a hose 120 (or other length 
of elongate material) that is moving through the interior of the tubular 
member 100 along the travel path 110 in the forward direction of the 
arrows 108. As has been described previously, the rolling contact that is 
made by portions of the hose 120 (or other material that is fed through 
the hollow interior of the tubular guide and support structure 100) with 
the rollers 175 serves to prevent the hose 120 (or other moving material) 
from coming into contact with stationary portions of the tubular structure 
100 while, at the same time, serving to guide and support the hose 120 (or 
other moving material) without deleteriously affecting the outer surface 
thereof, even if the outer surface is "tacky" (i.e., somewhat soft and 
notably "sticky"). As portions of the hose 120 (or other moving material) 
near the discharge end region of the tubular structure 100, the tapered 
surface 283 of the inner member 280 of the end assembly 250 centers the 
discharging portions thereof about the centerline 110 for discharge 
through the discharge opening 286. 
Although the tubular structure 100 and certain of its components parts are 
depicted in the drawings as extending substantially horizontally, it 
should be kept in mind that the structure 100 can be mounted for use in a 
variety of other orientations. Thus, while such terms as "horizontally 
extending," "left," "right" and the like are utilized herein, it will be 
understood that such terms are used merely to aid the reader in referring 
to features in the orientations in which they are depicted in the 
accompanying drawings, and are not to be construed as limiting the scope 
of the claims that follow. 
While the invention has been described with a certain degree of 
particularity, it will be understood that the present disclosure of the 
preferred embodiment has been made only by way of example, and that 
numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and 
arrangement of elements can be resorted to without departing from the true 
spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed. It is intended 
that the patent shall cover, by suitable expression in the claims, such 
features of patentable novelty exist in the invention.