Abstract:
The present invention relates to a novelty and educational drinking instrument for human beverage consumption consisting of a series of interlocking, interchangeable or inter-connectable three-dimensional receptacles of varying shapes, sizes, colors, materials and exterior or interior coatings. Each receptacle has at least one connector of a predetermined size and shape that will couple and decouple from another receptacle. Further, each receptacle individually and multiple receptacles coupled together will form an elongated cavity, allowing liquid to be drawn through it from a beverage container or multiple beverage containers to an end consumer. The multiple receptacles link together via their respective connectors to spell out words, phrases, symbols, numbers or combinations of for use as a drinking instrument.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This invention relates to the field of drinking tubes. More specifically, the present invention relates to a modular drinking straw for transferring liquid. Instead of one solid cylindrical tube, this invention describes the construction of a drinking straw using modular, interlocking receptacles of varying shapes, sizes, colors, materials, interior and exterior coatings coupling together to form a straw. This invention is designed as a creative, fun and educational tool for children and adults to teach them about spelling, shapes, letters, numbers, holidays and colors. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    A drinking straw is a cylindrical tube having two open ends. One end is placed in a beverage and the other end is placed in a person&#39;s mouth. By applying suction through the end of the straw in the mouth, a small amount of the beverage is drawn up through the straw and into the person&#39;s mouth for consumption. 
         [0003]    This straw is also designed for use as a novelty toy at parties and social gatherings. A further intention of this invention is to teach counting and assist with spelling and language learning. A further intention of this invention is to be a fun way to show support for brands, marketers and logos using receptacle pieces in the shapes of branded content. 
       DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART 
       [0004]    Lipson in U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,315 describes a novelty straw with a planar insert having two loops that can slide around the cylindrical portion of a straw. However, Lipson does not teach interlocking building blocks to create a segmented straw. 
         [0005]    Cohen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,336, Lipson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,774, Butsch, U.S. Pat. No. 2,557,411, Gildersleeve, U.S. Pat. No. 2,063,803, and Horvath, U.S. Pat. No. 3,517,884 all teach novelty straws with spirals and curvatures. However Cohen, Lipson, Butsch, Gildersleeve, and Horvath do not teach using interlocking and interchangeable building blocks to create a novelty straw. 
         [0006]    Leung et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,129,292 teach a novelty straw with a character. However Leung does not teach interlocking building blocks to create a segmented straw wherein the building blocks are shaped as various shapes, letters, characters, symbols or objects. 
         [0007]    Smaczny, U.S. Pat. No. 3,260,462 teaches a drinking tube for drinking from more than one container (col. 1, lines 9-13, 17-20). Smaczny also teaches a drinking tube with a mixing chamber ( FIG. 3 , portion A) for mixing the contents of liquids drawn up through tubes b 3  and c 3 . However Smaczny does not teach a drinking tube with interlocking, interchangable building blocks wherein the building blocks are shaped as various shapes, letters, characters, symbols or objects. 
         [0008]    Shakur-Jenkins, U.S. Patent Application Number 2011/0057050 teaches an extendable and flexible drinking straw ( FIGS. 3-9 ) with connecting segments ( FIG. 11 ). However Shakur-Jenkins does not teaching that the segments are rigid and of fixed size, nor does Shakur-Jenkins teach making the straw segments in the shapes of letters, numbers, geometric shapes, characters, or symbols. Further, Shakur-Jenkins does not teach covering the interior walls of the drinking straw with a superhydrophobic coating. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The following is a non-limiting written description of embodiments illustrating various aspects of this invention. 
         [0010]    As used herein, the term building block broadly encompasses all three-dimensional receptacles. As used herein, the term connector encompasses any mechanism to attach to separate segments. 
         [0011]    This invention uses modular, building blocks to create a drinking tube wherein liquid can flow from the liquid container to the user via the blocks and the blocks&#39; connectors. Each block is a three-dimensional receptacle containing a cavity that liquid can pass through. The size of the cavity can be a cylindrical tube through the center of the receptacle or the cavity can be the entire interior surface area of the receptacle including the specialized receptacle shape or portions thereof. Each receptacle and connector is made of a nonhazardous material so that a human can imbibe the liquid after passing through the receptacle. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0012]    Each receptacle and connector can be made from a material wherein the color of the receptacle or connector changes depending on the temperature of the liquid passing through the interior cavity of the receptacle or connector. In one embodiment each receptacle is made out of or coated on the interior or exterior surface with a color changing material such as a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE). Specifically, the TPE can be a styrenic block copolymer (TPE-s), thermoplastic olefin (TPE-o), elastomeric alloy (TPE-v or TPV), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), thermoplastic copolyester, or thermoplastic polyamide. 
         [0013]    Further, each receptacle and connector can be made from a biodegradable plastic such as, but not limited to an oxybiodegrable or hydrobiodegradable plastic. Each receptacle can be made from any type of plastic such as, but not limited to low density polyethylene, polypropylene, and silicon. 
         [0014]    Further, each receptacle may contain at least one light-emitting diode (LED). Further, each connector may contain at least one light-emitting diode (LED). 
         [0015]    Further, each receptacle can be any color in the color palette, any combination of colors in the color palette, have any type of finish, sparkles, glitter, clear or colorless finish and illuminating enhancers such as phosphorescent compounds such as but not limited to zinc sulfide and strontium aluminate. 
         [0016]    In other embodiments, the interior of each receptacle or connectors can be prefilled with a liquid, candy, chocolate and other foodstuffs. 
         [0017]    In others embodiments, the interior of each receptacle or coupling can be coated with a superhydrophobic coating to prevent liquid, bacteria, foodstuffs or other germs from adhering to the interior facets of the receptacle or coupling. In a preferred embodiment, the cavity of the receptacle is coated with superhydrophobic nanoparticles such as manganese oxide polystyrene, zinc oxide polystyrene, precipitated calcium carbonate, carbon nano-tube structures, and silica nano-coatings. 
         [0018]    Further, each three-dimensional receptacle can be but is not limited to, the shape of a letter, numeral, geometric shape, pattern, logo, emoji, animal, cartoon character, household object, inanimate object, punctuation mark, facial expression, hair style, food, flag, national symbol, photographic image, photographic rendering of a person, hashtag, symbol, musical symbol, foodstuff, dingbat, webding, wingding, and common bullets. 
         [0019]    The shape of the letter can be from any standard or non-standard alphabet including but not limited to the following majuscule and minuscule alphabet sets: Afrikaans, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Basque, Belarussian, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Catalan, Cebuano, Chichewa, Cantonese, Corsican, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Frisian, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Haitian Creole, Hausa, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, Hungarian, Icelandic, lgbo, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kannada, Kazakh, Khmer, Korean, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Lao, Latin, Latvian, Lithuanian, Luxembourgish, Macedonian, Malagasy, Malay, Malayalam, Maltese, Mandarin, Maori, Marathi, Mongolian, Nepali, Norwegian, Pashto, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Samoan, Scots Gaelic, Serbian, Sesotho, Shona, Sindhi, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Spanish, Sundanese, Swahili, Swedish, Tajik, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukranian, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Welsh, Xhosa, Yiddish, Yoruba and Zulu. 
         [0020]    The shape of the letter or punctuation mark can be from all standard and non-stand fonts including, but not limited to Abadi MT Condensed Light, Allegro, Albertus Extra Bold, Albertus Medium, Antique Olive, Arial, Arial Black, Arial Narrow, Bazooka, Book Antigua, Bookman Old Style, Boulder, Calisto MT, Calligrapher, Century Gothic, Century Schoolbook, Cezanne, CG Omega, CG Times, Charlesworth, Chaucer, Clarendon Condensed, Comic Sans MS, Copperplate Gothic Bold, Copperplate Gothic Light, Cornerstone, Coronet, Courier, Courier New, Cuckoo, Dauphin, Denmark, Fransiscan, Garamond, Geneva, Haettenschweiler, Heather, Helvetica, Herald, Impact, Jester, Letter Gothic, Lithograph, Lithograph Light, Long Island , Lucida Console, Lucida Handwriting, Lucida Sans, Lucida Sans Unicode, Marigold, Market, Matisse ITC, MS LineDraw, News GothicMT, OCR A Extended, Old Century, Pegasus, Pickwick, Poster, Pythagoras, Sceptre, Sherwood, Signboard, Socket, Steamer, Storybook, Subway, Tahoma, Technical, Teletype, Tempus Sans ITC, Times, Times New Roman, Times New Roman PS, Trebuchet MS, Tristan, Tubular, Unicorn, Univers, Univers Condensed, Vagabond, Verdana, and Westminster. 
         [0021]    The numeric shape of the receptacle can be, but is not limited to the standard numeric digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 or any permutation of these digits and all fonts for these digits or permutations of. 
         [0022]    The geometric shape of the receptacle can be, but is not limited to a rectangular prism, triangular prism, hexagonal prism, pyramid, square pyramid, rectangular pyramid, triangular pyramid, hexagonal pyramid, cylinder, cone, and sphere. 
         [0023]    The animal shape of the receptacle can be, but is not limited to an aardvark, albatross, alligator, alpaca, amphibian, anaconda, angelfish, ant, anteater, antelope, ape, armadillo, baboon, barnacle, barracuda, bass, bat, bear, beaver, bee, beetle, bird, bison, boa, boar, bonobo, buffalo, bug, butterfly, camel, cardinal, caribou, cat, caterpillar, cattle, chameleon, cheetah, chicken, chimpanzee, chipmunk, clam, cobra, coral, cougar, cow, coyote, crab, crane, cricket, crocodile, crow, cuckoo, cicada, deer, dingo, dinosaur, dog, dolphin, donkey, dove, dragonfly, dragon, duck, eagle, eel, elephant, elk, emu, falcon, ferret, finch, firefly, fish, flamingo, fly, fowl, fox, frog, gazelle, gecko, gerbil, gibbon, gila monster, giraffe, goat, goldfish, goose, gopher, gorilla, grasshopper, guinea pig, hamster, hare, hawk, hedgehog, heron, herring, hippopotamus, hornet, horse, hummingbird, hyena, iguana, impala, jaguar, jay, jellyfish, kangaroo, kiwi, koala, koi, komodo dragon, ladybug, lemming, lemur, leopard, lion, lizard, llama, lobster, loon, lynx, macaw, mackerel, manatee, marlin, marsupial, mastodon, mollusk, monkey, moose, mosquito, moth, mouse, mule, nightingale, ocelot, octopus, opossum, orangutan, ostrich, otter, owl, ox, panda, panther, parakeet, parrot, peacock, pelican, penguin, pheasant, pig, pigeon, piranha, platypus, polar bear, pony, porcupine, porpoise, possum, prairie dog, prawn, puffin, puma, python, quail, rabbit, raccoon, rat, raven, reindeer, reptile, rhinoceros, roadrunner, rodent, rooster, salamander, salmon, scallop, scorpion, seahorse, shark, sheep, shrimp, silkworm, skunk, sloth, slug, snail, snake, spider, squid, squirrel, starfish, stingray, stork, sturgeon, swallow, swan, swordfish, tarantula, tasmanian devil, tiger, toad, tortoise, toucan, trout, tuna, turkey, turtle, unicorn, walrus, wasp, whale, wildebeest, wolf, wolverine, woodpecker, worm, yak, and zebra. 
         [0024]    In another embodiment the shape of the receptacle can be a punctuation mark such as but not limited to a comma, semicolon, colon, dash, hyphen, bracket, braces, parenthesis, hashtag, apostrophe, quotation mark, ellipse, full stop, exclamation point, exclamation mark, period, diacritic mark, diacritic mark on top of a letter, accent mark, and accent mark on top of a letter. 
         [0025]    In another embodiment the shape of the receptacle can be a foodstuff, such as but not limited to asparagus, apples, avocado, artichoke, avocado roll, bacon, bagels, bananas beans, BBQ, barley, beer, bread, broccoli, burrito, cabbage, cake, carrots, celery, cheese, chicken, catfish, chips, chocolate, chowder, clams, coffee, cookies, corn, cucumbers, cupcakes, crabs, cereal, dates, dips, duck, dumplings, donuts, eggs, eggrolls, fajita, falafel, fondue, French toast, garlic, ginger, gnocchi, granola, grapes, green beans, guacamole, gumbo, ham, hamburger, honey, hot dogs, ice cream, jelly, jalapeno, kale, kabobs, ketchup, kiwi, lasagna, meatballs, milk, milkshake, nuts, pasta, pizza, pepperoni, pancakes, quesadilla, quiche, sandwich, spinach, spaghetti, sushi, toast, tomatoes, waffles, wine, yogurt, and zucchini. 
         [0026]    In another embodiment the shape of the receptacle can be a holiday symbol such as a jack-o-lantern for Halloween or heart for Valentine&#39;s Day or gingerbread person. 
         [0027]    Further, each three-dimensional receptacle has at least one connector to attach one receptacle to another receptacle. The connectors form a leak-proof coupling system wherein liquid can flow from the beverage container to the connector through the coupling into the receptacle cavity or portion thereof and into another connector. Further, each receptacle can be attached to an extender which is a hollow tube of predetermined length and diameter that has at least one male connector with barbs or at least one female connector that can couple without allowing liquid or other foodstuff to leak from the extender to the receptacle. 
         [0028]    In a preferred embodiment, the receptacle has one female connector on one exterior facet and one male connector on an opposite exterior facet. The male connector is a double barb capable of being inserted into a female connector on another receptacle. 
         [0029]    In another embodiment the receptacle has two male connectors on opposite, exterior facets. Each male connector has two barbs. A cylindrical tube or connection piece can attach to each male connector to be link the two receptacle segments. 
         [0030]    Each of the interlocking receptacles can be designed for multiple use with care and regular cleaning. In a preferred embodiment, each receptacle is made of a recyclable material. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0031]    Embodiments of the invention are subsequently described in more detail based on drawing figures, wherein: 
           [0032]      FIG. 1 a    shows a top view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of the letter “a” from the Latin alphabet set. 
           [0033]      FIG. 1 b    shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of the letter “a” from the Latin alphabet set. 
           [0034]      FIGS. 1 c  and 1 d    show a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of the letter “a” from the Latin alphabet set. 
           [0035]      FIG. 2 a    shows a top view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of the letter “b” from the Latin alphabet set. 
           [0036]      FIG. 2 b    shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of the letter “b” from the Latin alphabet set. 
           [0037]      FIGS. 2 c  and 2 d    show a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of the letter “b” from the Latin alphabet set. 
           [0038]      FIG. 3 a    shows a top view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of the number “ 1 .” 
           [0039]      FIG. 3 b    shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of the number “ 1 .” 
           [0040]      FIG. 3 c    shows a side view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of the number “ 1 .” 
           [0041]      FIG. 4 a    shows a top view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of the number “ 2 .” 
           [0042]      FIG. 4 b    shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of the number “ 2 .” 
           [0043]      FIG. 4 c    shows a side view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of the number “ 2 .” 
           [0044]      FIG. 5 a    shows a top view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of an elephant. 
           [0045]      FIG. 5 b    shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of an elephant. 
           [0046]      FIG. 5 c    shows a side view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of an elephant. 
           [0047]      FIG. 6 a    shows a top view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of a gingerbread person. 
           [0048]      FIG. 6 b    shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of a gingerbread person. 
           [0049]      FIG. 6 c    shows a side view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of a gingerbread person. 
           [0050]      FIG. 7 a    shows a top view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of a telephone pound sign. 
           [0051]      FIG. 7 b    shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of a telephone pound sign. 
           [0052]      FIG. 7 c    shows a side view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of a telephone pound sign. 
           [0053]      FIG. 8 a    shows a top view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of an exclamation point. 
           [0054]      FIG. 8 b    shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of an exclamation point. 
           [0055]      FIG. 8 c    shows a side view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of an exclamation point. 
           [0056]      FIG. 9 a    shows a top view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of the Spanish letter “ñ.” 
           [0057]      FIG. 9 b    shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of the Spanish letter “ñ.” 
           [0058]      FIG. 9 c    shows a side view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of the Spanish letter “ñ.” 
           [0059]      FIG. 10 a    shows a top view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of the Mandarin character for plum. 
           [0060]      FIG. 10 b    shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of the Mandarin character for plum. 
           [0061]      FIG. 10 c    shows a side view of an embodiment of the receptacle in the shape of the Mandarin character for plum. 
           [0062]      FIGS. 11 a  and 12 a    show a top view of an embodiment of two receptacles coupled together, the first in the shape of the Latin letter “a” and the second in the shape of the Latin letter “b.” 
           [0063]      FIGS. 11 b  and 12 b    show a perspective view of an embodiment of two receptacles coupled together, the first in the shape of the Latin letter “a” and the second in the shape of the Latin letter “b.” 
           [0064]      FIGS. 11 c  and 11 d    show a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of two receptacles coupled together, the first in the shape of the Latin letter “a” and the second in the shape of the Latin letter “b.” 
           [0065]      FIG. 12 c    shows a side view of an embodiment of two receptacles coupled together with a connector, the first receptacle in the shape of the Latin letter “a” and the second receptacle in the shape of the Latin letter “b.” 
           [0066]      FIG. 13  shows a perspective view of the drinking straw with multiple receptacles coupled together to form a drinking straw spelling the word “congrats.” 
           [0067]      FIG. 14  shows a perspective view of the drinking system in use in a beverage container with multiple receptacles coupled together to form a drinking straw spelling the word “education.” 
       
    
    
     DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0068]    Referring to  FIGS. 1   a,   2   a ,  3   a ,  4   a ,  5   a ,  6   a ,  7   a ,  8   a ,  9   a , and  10   a  they are top views showing various embodiments of the shape of the receptacles, with a female connector on the left and a male connector with two barbs on the right. The double lines around the shapes of the letters “a”, “b”, “ 1 ”, “ 2 ”, the elephant, gingerbread person, telephone pound sign, exclamation point, Spanish letter “ñ” and Mandarin character for plum show the beveled edges around the three dimensional receptacle. 
         [0069]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 b , 2 b , 3 b , 4 b , 5 b , 6 b , 7 b , 8 b , 9 b , and 10 b    they are perspective views showing various embodiments of the shape of the receptacles. In  FIGS. 1 b , 2 b , 3 b , 4 b , 5 b , 6 b , 7 b , 8 b , 9 b , and 10 b   , the number denoted by 1 refers to the female connector, capable of connecting to a male connector on another receptacle. The number denoted by 6 refers to the three-dimensional receptacle. The number denoted by 2 refers to the top facet of the three-dimensional receptacle. The number denoted by 3 refers to the bottom facet of the three-dimensional receptacle  6 . The number denoted by 4 refers to the male connector of the receptacle  6 . The number denoted by 5 refers to the top facet of the three-dimensional receptacle  6 . 
         [0070]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 c  and 2 c   , they are cross-sectional views of the receptacle  7  of the letter “a” shape and letter “b” shape, respectively. The female connector  8  is on one facet of the receptacle  7 , the male connector  9  is on the opposite facet of the receptacle  7 . The male connector  9  has two barbs  10  for insertion into another female connector on another receptacle. Referring to  FIGS. 1 d  and 2 d   , the cavity of the receptacle  7  is hollow to allow for fluid to fill the space and flow from the female connector  8  through the receptacle  7  to the male connector  9  and into another female connector through another receptacle and eventually to the consumer. 
         [0071]    Referring to  FIGS. 3 c , 4 c , 5 c , 6 c , 7 c , 8 c , 9 c , and 10 c    they are side views showing various embodiments of the shape of the receptacles, with a female connector on the left and a male connector with two barbs on the right. 
         [0072]    Referring to  FIG. 11 a   , there is a beveled edge  9  around the shape of the receptacle. Referring to  FIG. 11 b   , the first receptacle in the shape of the Latin letter “a”  10  is coupled with a coupling mechanism  11  to the second receptacle in the shape of the Latin letter “b.” Referring to  FIG. 11 c   , the first receptacle  10  has a female connector  3 , and a male connector  4  on an opposite facet. The second receptacle  12  has a female connector  5  and a male connector  7 . The male connector  7  has two barbs  6  to help it couple and make a seal to prevent liquid from leaking from the drinking straw system  1  (in  FIG. 11 c   ). The beveled edge of the second receptacle  12  is seen at 2. Male connector  4  inserts into female connector  5  to form a coupling mechanism  11  (as seen in  FIG. 11 b   ). Referring to  FIG. 11 d   , the entire cavity of the first and second female connectors  3 ,  5 , first and second receptacles  10 ,  12 , and first and second male receptacles  4 ,  7  is hollow  8  and liquid can flow through the entire drinking straw system  1  by a user applying minimal suction at a connector  3 ,  4 ,  5  or  7 . 
         [0073]    Referring to  FIG. 12 b   , the receptacles  1  and  3  have a female connectors on either side. A connector piece  2  is of a different material of a higher density than receptacles  1 ,  3 . Connector piece  2  has a male connector on either side that can insert into the female connectors of receptacles  1 ,  3  to form a leak proof seal. There is a hollow cavity in receptacles  1 ,  3  and connector piece  2 , wherein liquid can flow from a beverage container to a consumer without leaking. 
         [0074]    Referring to  FIG. 13 , the entire drinking straw is shown linked together to form a hollow cavity wherein liquid can enter at interior cavity  1  and exit at the opening of hollow tube  13 . The interior cavity  1  with an opening can be inserted into beverage container or the consumer&#39;s mouth. There is a mouth piece  2 , and receptacle  4  in the shape of the letter “c,” receptacle  6  in the shape of the letter “o,” receptacle  7  in the shape of the letter “n,” receptacle  8  in the shape of the letter “g,” receptacle  9  in the shape of the letter “r,” receptacle  10  in the shape of the letter “a,” receptacle  11  in the shape of the letter “t,” receptacle  12  in the shape of the letter “s.” The coupling system  5  linking receptacle  4  receptacle  6  creates a leak proof seal between the two receptacle pieces  4 ,  6 . 
         [0075]    Referring to  FIG. 14 , the entire drinking system with modular building block pieces  4 . The building block pieces are coupled together to form straw  5  spelling the word “education” with the various shapes of their individual receptacles. A second drinking straw  2 , spelling the word “sally,” with receptacles linked together is seen in beverage container  3 . Drinking straw  2  has a female connector  1  on receptacle letter “s” that can be used as a mouthpiece for a user to consumer the liquid from beverage container  3 . 
         [0076]    Although only a few embodiments of the present invention have been described herein, it should be understood that the present invention might be embodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Therefore, the present examples and embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention may be modified within the scope of the appended claims.