Abstract:
The present disclosure is directed towards systems, devices, and methods for filling doughnut holes. The system comprises a conveyor system that transports doughnut holes between at least a loading section, a culling section, and an injection section. The conveyor system includes a plurality of links coupled together to form a belt. The loading section includes a feeding device that feeds doughnut holes onto the conveyor system. The culling section includes a culling bar that culls excess doughnut holes from the conveyor. The injection section includes an injector system that injects feeds doughnut holes with a filling.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field 
         [0002]    The present disclosure relates to systems, devices, and methods for filling doughnut holes, and more particularly, to automated systems and methods, for loading and separating doughnut holes, injecting the doughnut holes with a filling, and discharging the filled doughnut holes for additional handling, sorting, and packaging. 
         [0003]    2. Background of the Invention 
         [0004]    Doughnuts and pastries are a mainstay of breakfasts all around the world. Bakers have continually sought to innovate and provide increased value and variety to their goods, including doughnuts. Bakers have developed different sized and shaped doughnuts. They also started applying toppings to doughnuts and injecting fillings into doughnuts. Bakers can provide doughnuts in a number of shapes from the traditional toroidal or ring shape, to the doughnut hole, the flattened sphere, and the fritter, among others. 
         [0005]    Bakers traditionally use flattened, sphere-shaped doughnuts in their filled doughnut products, but recent consumer demand has led bakers to begin filling doughnut holes with creams, jellies, jams, and other fillings. The small size and spherical shape of doughnut holes has so far prevented the automated filling of doughnut holes. Bakers currently spend a great deal of time manually filling each doughnut hole. 
         [0006]    The manual process requires bakers to pick up each doughnut hole, place it on an injector, inject the filling, place each filled doughnut hole in a package, and then repeat the process as long as necessary to meet customer demand. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY 
       [0007]    What bakers need is a simple automated process for handling the unfilled doughnut, injecting it with filling, and providing the filled doughnut hole to packaging or other downstream equipment. 
         [0008]    The present disclosure is directed towards systems, devices, and methods for filling doughnut holes. The system comprises a conveyor system that transports doughnut holes between at least a loading section, a culling section, and an injection section. The conveyor system includes a plurality of links coupled together to form a belt. The loading section includes a feeding device that feeds doughnut holes onto the conveyor system. The culling section includes a culling bar that culls excess doughnut holes from the conveyor. The injection section includes an injector system that injects doughnut holes with a filling. 
         [0009]    The present disclosure is also directed towards a method of filling a doughnut hole. The method comprises configuring a doughnut hole filling machine for operation, loading doughnut holes onto a conveyor, culling excess doughnut holes from the conveyor, transporting the doughnut holes to an injection section, and filling the doughnut holes with filling. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a flow chart showing one embodiment of a doughnut hole filling process; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2A  is an isometric view of a doughnut hole filling system; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2B  is a cross-sectional view of the doughnut hole filling system of  FIG. 2A ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a side view of a portion of the of the doughnut hole filling system of  FIG. 2A ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 4A  is an isometric view of a conveyor link of the doughnut hole filling system of  FIG. 2A ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4B  is a cross-sectional view of the link of  FIG. 4A ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5A  shows side, top and back views of a doughnut hole injector manifold with injectors; 
           [0017]      FIG. 5B  shows an exploded view of a doughnut hole injector manifold with injectors; 
           [0018]      FIG. 6A  shows a partial view of a doughnut hole injector system; 
           [0019]      FIG. 6B  shows a partial rear view of a doughnut hole filling system; and 
           [0020]      FIGS. 7A and 7B  show views of a culling bar. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0021]    In the following description, certain specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various disclosed embodiments. However, one skilled in the relevant art will recognize that embodiments may be practiced without one or more of these specific details. 
         [0022]      FIG. 1  shows a flow chart of one embodiment of a process for filling doughnut holes  5 . The process may include the step of preparing a doughnut hole filling system for operation  10 . This may include tasks such as configuring the volume of filling the system injects into the doughnut holes. This step may also include the step of configuring the travel limits, including the upper and lower travel limits of the injectors. By adjusting the upper and lower travel limits of the injectors, the baker can configure the system to work with various sized doughnut holes. In some embodiments, this step may also include configuring the desired injection location within the doughnut holes. For example, the location of the center of a doughnut hole depends on the size of the doughnut hole. 
         [0023]    The process  5  may include the step of loading doughnut holes onto a conveyor  20 . In this step, a baker may load doughnut holes into a feeding device that feeds the doughnut holes onto a conveyor. In some embodiments, the feeding device may be a hopper, a tray, or an inclined ramp. In some embodiments, the baker may load the doughnuts directly into cups on a conveyor, while in other embodiments the feeding device may facilitate loading the doughnut holes into cups. 
         [0024]    The process  5  may include the step of culling excess doughnut holes from the conveyor  30 . The baker may cull the doughnuts by visually inspecting the conveyor and removing excess doughnuts. In some embodiments, the culling process uses a culling bar to knock excess doughnut holes off the conveyor or out of the cups. The process may also include rotating the culling bar in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the conveyor or cups. 
         [0025]    The process  5  may include the step of transporting the doughnut holes to an injector system  40 . This step may include the process of conveying the doughnut holes from one location, such as a loading or culling location, to a location for injecting the doughnut holes with filling. 
         [0026]    In some embodiments, the transporting step includes a quality control step. In some embodiments of a quality control step, the process includes inspecting the quality of the doughnut holes and removing doughnut holes that do not meet a baker&#39;s quality standards. In some embodiments, the quality control process includes inspecting the conveyor and adding doughnut holes in places that are missing doughnut holes, such as empty cups, and removing doughnut holes from places that have excess doughnut holes, such as when a cup has more than one doughnut hole in it. 
         [0027]    The process  5  may include the step of filling doughnut holes with filling  50 . In some embodiments, the step of filling a doughnut hole with filling includes the step of injecting filling into the doughnut holes. In some embodiments, this step includes the additional step of pausing the movement of a conveyor when a doughnut hole is near the injector system. In other embodiments, the conveyor may not come to a complete stop, but the injection process is configured to begin when a doughnut hole approaches the injector system. 
         [0028]    The filling step  50  may also include the steps of inserting a needle into a doughnut hole and injecting a filling into the doughnut hole. After the system fills the doughnut hole, it may unpause the movement of the conveyor. 
         [0029]    The process  5  may include the step of transporting the doughnut holes for further processing  60 . The step of transporting the doughnut holes for further processing may include depositing the doughnut holes into containers for sale, storage, or further transport. In some embodiments, the step may include additional transportation or conveyance to downstream equipment for additional processing, such as, for example, sugar coating. 
         [0030]    The process  5  may occur in the order of the steps recited above or the process may occur in another order. In some embodiments, some steps may be omitted from the process. Additional steps and embodiments are also described below. 
         [0031]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  show a preferred embodiment of an automated doughnut hole filling system  100 . The filling system  100  includes a loading section  110 , a culling section  120 , a quality control section  130 , an injection section  140 , an unloading section  150 , and a conveyor system. 
         [0032]    During operation, a baker loads doughnut holes into the loading section  110 . The system then feeds the doughnut holes into the rest of the machine. In one embodiment, the system feeds the doughnut holes onto a conveyor system  160  and transports them to the culling section  120 . 
         [0033]    The conveyor system  160  includes a conveyor  112  made up of a plurality of individual links  113  coupled together to form a belt. The conveyor may also include a drive system. For example, the embodiment of  FIGS. 2A and 2B  show a drive system that includes a motor  161  coupled to the conveyor  112 . 
         [0034]    In the culling section  120  a culling system  121  operates such that it helps prevent the conveyor belt from being overloaded. In one embodiment, the culling system  121  may prevent more than one layer of doughnut holes from passing beyond the culling system  121 . In such an embodiment, once a section of conveyor  112  passes the culling system  121 , the conveyor should only have a single layer of doughnut holes. After the culling section  120 , the conveyor carries the doughnut holes to a quality control section. 
         [0035]    The quality control section  130  of the doughnut hole filling system  100  provides a space for a baker to check the quality of the product and check for proper arrangement of the doughnut holes on the conveyor. If the baker sees any problems, they can correct them before the doughnut holes enter the injection section  140 . 
         [0036]    In the injection section  140 , injectors pierce the doughnut hole and then fill the doughnut holes with a filling. Finally, the conveyor  112  transports the doughnut holes from the injection section  140  to the unloading section  150 . 
         [0037]    In the unloading section  150 , the conveyor may deliver the doughnut holes to another conveyor for transport and additional handling, a container for storage, or directly into packaging for sale. 
         [0038]    Each section will now be described in greater detail. The loading section may include a structure for holding or temporarily storing the unfilled doughnut holes. The means may include a hopper, a silo, a conveyor belt, or an inclined plane or ramp. The loading section  110  of the doughnut hole filling system  100  includes a contoured ramp  111  for holding and dispensing the unfilled doughnut holes. 
         [0039]    During operation, a baker unloads or dumps the unfilled doughnut holes  105  onto the ramp  111 . Each doughnut hole then rolls down into one of the channels  119  and down the ramp  111  where the conveyor system  160  picks it up. 
         [0040]    As shown in  FIG. 2A , the ramp  111  may be contoured to include four channels  119 . In a preferred embodiment, the channels of the ramp align with cups on a conveyor. For example, as shown in  FIG. 2A , each of the four channels  119  of the ramp  111  aligns with one of the four cups  114  of the conveyor  112 . By aligning each channel with a cup, the cups of the conveyor may easily pick up a doughnut hole as it travels past the end of the ramp. In some embodiments the ramp  111  may include more than four channels  119  or less than four channels  119 . Some embodiments may include more than four cups  114  or less than four cups  114  on each link  113  of the conveyor  112 . In some embodiments the number of cups  114  on a link  113  may be the same as the number of channels  119  on the ramp  111 . In some embodiments, the number of channels  110  on the ramp  111  may be more or less than the number of cups  114  on each link  113 . In some embodiments, the ramp  110  may be flat. In such embodiments the ramp  119  may not have any channels  119 . 
         [0041]    The loading section  110  may also include a vibratory system  109 . The vibratory system  109  may include a motor with an unbalanced load that causes the ramp  111  and doughnut holes  105  to vibrate. The vibration may aid in loading the conveyor with doughnut holes. 
         [0042]    Because the baker may dump large quantities of doughnut holes onto the ramp  111 , the holes may pile up against the conveyor  112  and overload the conveyor  112  or overfill the cups  114 . By inclining the conveyor in the loading section  110 , the doughnut holes that are not contained in a cup or are otherwise overloading the conveyor are encouraged by gravity to roll down the incline of the conveyor  112  and back onto the ramp  111  where they wait until the conveyor has capacity to load the holes. 
         [0043]    Simply inclining the conveyor in the loading section does not guarantee that the conveyor does not get overloaded, nor does it ensure that a single doughnut hole is loaded into each cup. Therefore, a filling system may include a culling section. For example, filling system  100  includes a culling section  120 . The culling section may include a culling system that helps prevent the conveyor from getting overloaded with doughnut holes. In some embodiments, the culling system may include a stationary bar that knocks excess doughnut holes off the conveyor and back down to the ramp. 
         [0044]    In some embodiments, the culling system  121  may include a culling bar  122 . Shown in more detail in  FIG. 3 , the culling system  121  includes a rotating culling bar  122 , a drive unit  123 , and a drive chain or belt  124 . The culling system  121  works in conjunction with the conveyor  112  and the cups  114  to cull excess doughnut holes by rotating the culling bar  122  in a direction counter to the movement of the conveyor  112 . The counter movement causes the culling bar  122  to knock extra doughnut holes off the conveyor  112  and back down to the ramp  111 . 
         [0045]    The drive unit  123  may rotate the culling bar  122  and also move the conveyor  123 . In some embodiments the drive unit  123  may only drive the culling bar and a second motor, such as motor  161  may move the conveyor. 
         [0046]    The culling bar may have a length that substantially spans the width of the injector system or, more particularly, the width of the conveyor. As shown in  FIGS. 7A and 7B , the culling bar  122  may also have a paddle  125  that extends radially outward from a rotational axis of the culling bar. In some embodiments, the paddle  125  extends the width of the injector system. In other embodiments, the culling bar  122  may include a plurality of paddles that extend from a rotational axis of the culling bar with each paddle located along the length of the culling bar such that it aligns with the location of the doughnut holes or cups on the conveyor. 
         [0047]    In some embodiments, the culling bar&#39;s rotation can be linked to the movement of the conveyor. In such embodiments, the rotation of the culling bar may be timed with the movement of the conveyor such that a paddle sweeps over a cup  114  or doughnut hole location one or more times as the cup  114  or doughnut hole location passes by the culling bar. 
         [0048]    The culling bar  122  may be set at a selected height above the conveyor. In some embodiments, the height may be adjusted by raising or lowering the ends of the culling bar&#39;s  122  position within slots  129  (see  FIG. 6 ). 
         [0049]    In some embodiments, for example, as shown in  FIGS. 1-3 , the culling bar  122  may include a culling brush  126 . The culling brush  126  may have a length that substantially spans the width of the injector system or, more particularly, the width of the conveyor  112 . The culling brush  126  may have a plurality of bristles that extends radially outward from a central shaft of the culling brush  126 . In use, the culling brush  126  rotates counter to the movement of the conveyor  112 . The counter movement causes the bristles of the culling brush  126  to knock extra doughnut holes off the conveyor  112  and back down to the ramp  111 . 
         [0050]    In some embodiments, the conveyor includes a plurality of links, for example links  113 , shown in more detail in  FIGS. 4A and 4B . Each link may include one or more cups  114  for holding doughnut holes. The design of the cups  114  may aid in the culling process. In some embodiments, the cup may have sidewalls with varying contours. For example, the cups  114  have two differently contoured sections  115 ,  116 . The lower section  116  has a substantially conical shape. The substantially conical shape encourages the doughnut hole to sit in the center of the bottom of the cup  114  when the link  113  is horizontal, for example, when the link  113  is in the quality control section  130 . In some embodiments, the lower section may be spherically shaped or in another shape that encourages the doughnut hole to sit in the center of the bottom of the cup when the link is horizontal. 
         [0051]    The upper section  115  has a substantially cylindrical shape. The substantially cylindrical shape aids in preventing the doughnut hole from rolling out of the cup when the link  113  is inclined, for example when the link  113  is traveling up through the loading and culling sections  110 ,  120 . In some embodiments, the upper section may be conical or spherically shaped with a wall contour that aids in preventing the doughnut hole from rolling out of the cup when the link  113  is inclined. For example, the upper section&#39;s wall may be inclined, but at an angle less than that of the lower section, or the upper section&#39;s wall may be spherically shaped with a surface shape that aids in preventing the doughnut hole from rolling out of the cup when the link  113  is inclined. 
         [0052]    In embodiments of a cup with two sections, the sections may be discontinuous, for example, as shown in the cup  114 . In such embodiments, the two sections may intersect at an apex at their point of intersection  117 . In some embodiments of a cup with two sections, the sections may be continuous rather than discontinuous. In embodiments with two continuous sections, the two sections may have a common surface tangent or surface normal at the point of intersection  117 . 
         [0053]    In some embodiments, the cup may have only one section. In such embodiments, for example, the cup may have a substantially spherical shape with its equatorial plane at a point of intersection  117 . 
         [0054]    In some embodiments, the depth of the cup is substantially similar to the diameter of the baker&#39;s doughnut holes. For example, in an embodiment made for 1.5 inch diameter doughnut holes, the depth of the cup may be approximately 1.5 inches. In such an embodiment, the depth of the upper section is approximately 0.5 inches and the depth of the lower section is approximately 1 inch. 
         [0055]    The depth of the cup may be selected such that only one doughnut hole may fit within the cup. Should two doughnut holes fall into the cup and become overloaded, the first doughnut hole will sit within the cup, while the second doughnut hole may protrude out the top of the cup. As the overloaded cup passes the culling bar  122 , the culling bar  122  may contact the protruding doughnut hole and knock it out of the cup  114 . Once knocked out of the cup  114 , the doughnut hole may fall down onto the ramp  111  where it will sit until an empty cup  114  passes by and scoops it up. 
         [0056]    The cup may also include an aperture  118  at its bottom. The aperture  118  may also help center the doughnut hole within the cup. As discussed below with respect to the injection section, the aperture  118  may also help keep the links clean. For example, when an empty cup enters the injection section, the injector may still attempt to inject filling into the cup, even without a doughnut hole. The aperture  118  allows the excess filling that would otherwise collect in the bottom of the cup to simply fall through the aperture and into a catch tray  148  rather than collecting in the empty cup. 
         [0057]    While the embodiment of the cups  114  in  FIGS. 4A and 4B  include cups disposed within the link  113 , in some embodiments, the cup may protrude from the surface of the link. 
         [0058]    After traveling though the culling section  120 , the conveyor  112  moves the link  113  to and through the quality control section  130 . In the quality control section  130 , a baker checks each doughnut hole to make sure it meets their standards. If a doughnut hole does not meet their standards, then the baker may remove the lower quality doughnut hole from its cup and replace it with a quality doughnut hole. 
         [0059]    The quality control section  130  also provides the baker an opportunity to verify that each cup has a single doughnut hole inside of it. In the case where a cup is empty, the baker may fill the cup by hand, for example by taking a doughnut hole directly from the loading section. In the case where a cup has more than one doughnut hole in it, the baker may remove the excess holes and put them in the loading section. 
         [0060]    After the doughnut holes finish with the quality control section  130 , the conveyer takes them to the injection section  140 . In the injection section  140 , the injector system  141  injects the doughnut holes with a filling. 
         [0061]    Referring to  FIGS. 2A and 2B , the injector system  141  may include several components including a filler storage unit  145 , a volumetric dosing system  146 , a manifold supply line  147 , a manifold  143 , a pivot arm  144 , and a plurality of needles  142 . The storage unit  145  holds the filling for the doughnut holes and supplies it to the volumetric dosing system  146 . In the embodiment of  FIGS. 2A and 2B , the storage unit  145  is a gravity fed hopper. 
         [0062]    The baker configures the volumetric dosing system  146  to dispense a selected volume of filling into each doughnut hole. For example, when processing large doughnut holes, the baker configures the volumetric dosing system  146  to dispense a relatively large amount of filling into each doughnut hole, and when processing smaller doughnut holes, to dispense a relatively small amount of filling. 
         [0063]    The volumetric dosing system  146  pumps filling through the manifold supply line  147 , into the manifold  143 , then into the needles  142 , and finally, into the doughnut holes. 
         [0064]    The injection process may proceed through in a number of steps. First, the conveyor  112  moves the links  113  until a link  113  is located under the needles  142  of the injector system  141 . In some embodiments, the system may use a proximity switch or limit switch to indicate that a link is located under the needles  142 . Then, when a link  113  is located under the needles  142 , the system pauses the conveyor&#39;s  112  movement. 
         [0065]    With the conveyor  112  paused, the system inserts the injector needles  142  into the doughnut holes. In some embodiments, for example, as shown in  FIG. 2B , the injector needles  142  are coupled to a manifold  143  which is coupled to a pivot arm. The system inserts the needles  142  into the doughnut holes by pivoting the pivot arm  144  in a direction that lowers the manifold  143 . As the system lowers the pivot arm  144 , the needles  142  pierce the doughnut holes. With the needles  142  inserted into to the doughnut holes, the system initiates the injection process and fills the doughnut holes with filling. 
         [0066]      FIG. 5A  shows top, side, and back views of an injector manifold assembly.  FIG. 5B  shows an exploded view of an injector manifold assembly. The illustrated injector manifold assembly  200  includes to manifold halves  201 ,  202 . The two manifold halves  201 ,  202  couple together via coupler  210  and fasteners  212 . The fasteners may be thumb screws to allow for easy tool free assembly and disassembly of the manifold. The bracket  210  fits over the a portion of the tops of the two manifold halves  201 ,  202  and the thumb screws  212  pass through the apertures  213  of the bracket  210  and engage in a respective hole  211  in each of the two manifold halves  201 ,  202 . The bracket  210  may also include an alignment surface  214  to keep the two manifold halves  201 ,  202  aligned with each other. 
         [0067]    The manifold tubes  251  maintain fluid communication between the two halves  201 ,  202  via junction  215  and filling inlet tee  220 . In some embodiments, the junction  215  is hollow to allow fluid to pass through or may be solid to prevent fluid from passing. The manifold  200  may also include access plugs  241 ,  242 ,  243  that releasably engage with the manifold tubes  251  to allow for easy cleaning of the interior of the manifold, including the manifold tubes  251 . The manifold may be cleaned with one or more of water, soap, degreaser, and other cleaning agents. 
         [0068]    The manifold halves  201 ,  202  may also include a channel  231  that engages with a retention collar  232  of needles  230 . The collar  232  includes a notch  233 . To insert the needles into a manifold half  201 ,  202 , the needle inlet end  234  is inserted into a manifold aperture  235  that is in fluid communication with the manifold tubes  251  with the notch  233  aligned with the channel  231 . When the needle  230  is fully inserted into the manifold  201 ,  202 . The needle  230  may be rotated such that the collar engages with the channel  231  and thereby retaining the needle  230  in the manifold  201 ,  202 . 
         [0069]    The pivot arm  144  and the injector system  141  include a pivot adjustment system, for example, configurable limit switches, which allow the baker to adjust the motion of the pivot arm for use with various sized doughnut holes. This adjustment system allows the system to fill large doughnut holes by configuring the pivot arm  144  to retract into a higher position when the conveyor is moving. This positions the needles out of the way of the moving doughnut holes. The baker may also adjust the lower end of the pivot arm&#39;s  144  travel so that it positions the needles  142  at a desired location within the doughnut hole. In some embodiments, a desired location within the doughnut holes may be at or near the center of the doughnut hole. After the system fills the doughnut holes, the system removes the needles  142  from the doughnut holes and the system unpauses the conveyor  112 . 
         [0070]    In some embodiments, the travel of the pivot arms and injection needles may be adjusted using a threaded adjustment mechanism. For example, adjuster  256  includes a threaded stud that, by turning the stud, adjusts the height of the manifold, and thus the injection needles  142 . The adjustment mechanism may also include adjusters  255 . These adjusters  255  may also be threaded studs. The adjusters  255  act on the manifold  200  and level the manifold  200  with respect to the conveying means, for example, conveyor  112 . In some embodiments, the adjusters  255  act on the manifold  200  by pushing against the manifold  200  at the intentions  250  (see  FIG. 5B ). In some embodiments, the indentions  250  may not be necessary and the adjusters  255  may act against the surface of the manifold  200 . 
         [0071]    In some embodiments, the conveyor  112  may also be adjustable. For example, as portions of the conveyor  112 , for example, the links  113 , enter the injection section  140 , their height may change. In some embodiments, the height of the links  113  and/or conveyor  112  may be adjustable via chain guides  128 . The chain guides  128  act on the conveyor  112  and/or the links  113  to raise or lower the conveyor  112  or links  113  in a given section of the filling machine  100 . To raise the conveyor  112  or links  113 , the chain guides  128  are raised, to lower the conveyor  112  or links  113 , the chain guides  128  are lowered. In some embodiments, other adjustment mean may be used to adjust the height of a conveyor or links in a filling system. 
         [0072]    In the case where a cup  114  is empty while in the injection section  140 , the injector system  141  may still attempt to inject filling, notwithstanding the fact that there is no doughnut hole for filling. In such circumstances, the filling drops through an aperture  118  in the cup  114  and the system may collect the excess filling. In some embodiments, the system collects the filling in a removable tray, for example, removable tray  148 , shown in a removed position in  FIG. 2A . 
         [0073]    At this point, the conveyer  112  begins moving again. The conveyor  112  will continue to move until the next link  113  is located under the needles  142 , and the process repeats itself. 
         [0074]    The conveyer will continue to transport the filled doughnut holes from the injection section  140  to the unloading section  150 . In the unloading section  150 , the baker unloads the filled doughnut holes. In some embodiments, the baker allows the doughnut holes to fall out of the cups  114  as the link  113  moves around the end  151  of the horizontal conveyor section. In some embodiments, the filled doughnut holes fall directly into packaging for retail or wholesale sale. In some embodiments, the doughnut holes drop onto another conveyor or additional downstream handling equipment for additional processing, such as, for example, sugar coating. In some embodiments, the doughnut holes leave the conveyor and the baker stores them for future processing. 
         [0075]    The various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments. These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of the above-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by the disclosure.