Snowplow with positive rake angle cutting blade and ice scraper

Cross-Reference to Related Applications

[0001] The present patent application relates to an is claiming priority from United States Provisional Patent Application No. 62/753,328, entitled“SNOWPLOW AND ICE SCRAPER AND METHOD THEREOF”, filed at the United States Trademark and Patent Office on October 3 I ^st , 2018, the content of the‘328 application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention generally relates to snow and ice removing machines. More particularly, the present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted snowplow in which the snowplow is provided with a front pivot and optionally with an ice scraper.

Background of the Invention

[0003] Snowplow assemblies are commonly mounted to a variety of vehicles during winter season in order to efficiently remove snow from paths, sideways, roadways and other areas. Actually, now in the market, there are various kinds of vehicle-mounted snowplows. Examples of conventional snowplow assemblies are provided in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,109,618, 5,121,562, 6,073,371 and 9,359,734. However, the shortcomings are obvious for these snowplows.

[0004] The cutting blade of the snowplow is generally rectangularly shaped and positioned perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, near its ground- contacting portion, which pushes snow straight ahead instead of having the snow “rolling” in the snowplow. However, this kind of snowplow is easily susceptible to jamming. [0005] Moreover, as the snowplow blade does not have sufficient ability to remove efficiently ice that may adhere to the road, it is necessary to replace the snowplow with an ice rake and scrape the road a second time to remove the ice. This is inefficient and a waste of time and energy. [0006] Another drawback for existing snowplows is also evident when the snowplow encounters an obstacle as the bottom ground-contacting edge of the snowplow, more precisely the cutting blade, pivots to avoid the obstacle. Indeed, the cutting blade is pivotally mounted relatively to the support frame of the snowplow and is spring-biased to resiliently contact the obstacle. With its pivotal movement, the pivotable cutting blade moves downward pivoting toward the rear of the snowplow in a circular motion thereby allowing the snowplow to ride over the obstacle. This pivotal motion of the pivotable cutting blade vertically lifts the entire snowplow from its normal snowplowing position scraping to the road. As the cutting blade overcome the obstacles and the snowplow momentarily jumps above the road surface, it will leave a large area of snow which will not be removed.

[0007] Thus, there is still a need for an improved snowplow for more efficiently removing the snow and preferably the ice at the same time.

Summary of the Invention

[0008] The shortcomings of the prior art are generally mitigated by providing a vehicle- mounted snowplow with a positive rake angle snow blade, a segmented blade and optionally, an ice scraper.

[0009] In an aspect of invention, the snowplow generally comprises a snowplow with a ground scraping portion comprising one or more pivotally mounted cutting blade. The pivots are disposed above the cutting blade and mounted on the front facing surface of the plow to improve the cutting blade pivotal motion. When the snowplow encounters obstacles, the cutting blade pivotal motion pivots the cutting blade rearwardly without significant, or any, downward motion causing the snowplow to“jump” upwardly because the cutting blade pivot position is substantially vertically aligned with the cutting blade that is substantially located at its lowest position in regard to its pivotal motion. Indeed, the location of the cutting blade pivot allow the snowplow to ride over the obstacles while reducing the upward movement effect on the snowplow when the cutting blade pivots.

[0010] In another aspect of invention, the ground-contacting cutting blade comprises a plurality of widthwise-disposed pivotally mounted cutting blade segments that are adjoined and juxtaposed to one another. When the snowplow encounters obstacles, the bottom edge of the cutting blade segments which get in contact with the obstacles are pivoting rearwardly and thereby permit the snowplow to ride over the obstacles while the other segments will remain in contact with the road surface thus limiting or preventing leaving unremoved snow on the ground where the obstacle was and where the cutting blade pivoted.

[0011] In another aspect of invention, the supporting assembly also comprises an elongated shaft which one end is mounted to a first supporting frame member and which extends along an axis thereof though a center of a biasing member, such as a spring. The other end of the elongated shaft is connected to an upper connecting member.

[0012] In another aspect of invention, the snowplow also comprises two scoop wings located on opposing side walls of the snowplow blade. The pair of scoop wings are secured on the snowplow blade with a mechanism allowing some vertical movement to accommodate variations in the road surface while reasonably keeping the road-contacting portions of the snowplow in contact with the road.

[0013] In an aspect of invention, an ice scraper is optionally fixed to the plow assembly behind the snowplow blade. The ice scraper is generally made from a rigid material at the bottom of which there are a row of ice breaking teeth which dig into the ice. The ice scraper is disposed with the middle portion thereof more advanced in front of the snowplow to provide enough room on each lateral side for the pivotal motion of the two scoop wings that would otherwise interfere in their pivotal movements toward the rear.

[0014] In one aspect of the invention, a snowplow is provided. The snowplow comprises a frame configured to be attached to a vehicle with a vehicle attachment for pushing the snowplow in a longitudinal direction, a main blade connected to a forward portion of the frame, the main blade including a radius of curvature; and at least one cutting blade disposed at a bottom portion of the main blade in a ground-contacting configuration disposed in a positive rake angle in substantial continuity with the radius of curvature of the main blade, the at least one cutting blade being pivotable about a pivot axis, wherein the pivot axis is located in front the main blade in an horizontal and transversal direction. [0015] The pivot axis may be located vertically above the at least one cutting blade or may further be vertically located above a ground-contacting portion of the at least one cutting blade.

[0016] The ground-contacting portion of the at least one cutting blade may be located at an angle of about between 60-degree and 80-degree with the ground when the snowplow is in an operating configuration.

[0017] The at least one cutting blade may be operatively connected to a biasing member biasing the at least one cutting blade in a forward direction thereof. The biasing member is a spring and/or may include an axis thereof disposed in an inclined position. The axis of the biasing member may further be in a direction substantially virtually intersecting a ground-contacting portion of the at least one cutting blade.

[0018] The at least one cutting blade may be a plurality of cutting blades. The plurality of cutting blades may comprise a substantially similar transversal length.

[0019] The snowplow may further comprise a pair of lateral scoops pivotable between a front-facing configuration and a rear-facing configuration. Each of the pair of lateral scoops may comprise a ground contacting piece attached thereto; the ground-contacting piece being adapted to pivot in respect with a first part of the lateral scoop.

[0020] The snowplow may further comprise an ice scraper connected to the frame behind the main blade. The ice scraper may comprise a plurality of longitudinally offset ice- scraping portions. The ice scraper may further comprise a plurality of longitudinally offset ice-scraping portions includes two lateral ice-scraper portions located in a position allowing rearward interference-free pivotal motion of the pair of lateral scoops.

[0021] Other and further aspects and advantages of the present invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiments about to be described or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0022] The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0023] Figure 1 is a front right perspective view of a vehicle-mountable snowplow and ice scraper in accordance with the principles of the present invention and in accordance with at least one embodiment thereof;

[0024] Figure 2 is a right-side elevation view of the snowplow and ice scraper of Figure 1 with a biasing member in an uncompressed state in accordance with at least one embodiment thereof;

[0025] Figure 3 is a right-side elevation view of the snowplow and ice scraper of Figure 1 with a biasing member in a compressed state in accordance with at least one embodiment thereof;

[0026] Figure 4 is a right-side elevation view of the snowplow and ice scraper of Figure 1 with the snowplow blade and the ice scraper touching the ground at the same time in accordance with at least one embodiment thereof;

[0027] Figure 5 is a front elevation view of a snowplow in accordance with the invention with two scoop wings in a wide operating position in accordance with at least one embodiment thereof;

[0028] Figure 6 is front elevation view of the snowplow blade of Figure 5 with one of the scoops in a wide operating position in accordance with at least one embodiment thereof;

[0029] Figure 7 is rear-right partial perspective view of the snowplow blade of Figure 5 with the scoop wings in a forward operating position in accordance with at least one embodiment thereof; [0030] Figure 8 is a front-bottom perspective view of a snowplow in accordance with at least one embodiment thereof;

[0031] Figure 9 is a perspective view of a portion of the upper connecting member of the snowplow of Figure 5 in accordance with at least one embodiment thereof; and [0032] Figure 10 is a perspective view of the first supporting frame member with emphasis on the biasing member of the snowplow of Figure 5 in accordance with at least one embodiment thereof.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment

[0033] A novel vehicle-mountable front pivot snowplow will be described hereinafter. Although the invention is described in terms of specific illustrative embodiments, it is to be understood that the embodiments described herein are by way of example only and that the scope of the invention is not intended to be limited thereby.

[0034] A front pivot snowplow is provided. The front pivot snowplow generally comprises a snowplow blade with its bottom edge pivotally mounted to the plow blade by front pivots, an optional ice scraper and a vehicle attachment. During plowing, when the snowplow encounters obstacles, part of bottom cutting blades of the snowplow pivot and thereby permit the snowplow to ride over the obstacles. The location of the pivots is selected to limit as much as possible the upward movement of the plow when the cutting blade hits an obstacle, pivots and move downward and rearward with the object-avoiding pivotal motion.

[0035] Now referring to Figure 1, an embodiment of a snowplow 1 is shown. The snowplow 1 generally comprises a snowplow main blade 10, an optional ice scraper 20 and a vehicle attachment 30. The snowplow main blade 10 is generally embodied in rectangular shape and preferably curved from bottom to top to make the snow rolls in the plow main blade 10 instead of just pushing on the snow in front. In an embodiment, as shown in Figure 1, the snowplow main blade 10 has a rectangular front section and a curved profile with a substantially constant radius R. The merits of the curved plow main blade 10 is significant, while the main blade 10 moves forward, it rolls snow thereon and excess snow rolls off a side of the main blade 10 for being expelled from the main blade 10. At the bottom of the main blade 10, cutting blades 11 are pivotally secured to the main blade 10 by pivots 42 located above the cutting blades 11 and on the front facing surface of the main blade 10.

[0036] The main blade 10 is preferably embodied with a curved shape, at the bottom of which comprises a plurality of slots 14 which are substantially parallel to each other. A plurality of pivot assemblies 40 are attached to the bottom of the main blade 10. A front top portion of each pivot assembly 40 extends through its respective slot 14. The lower portion of pivot assembly 40 is also connected to the cutting blade 11 via a plurality of vertical supports 13 and lateral supports 15. In a preferred embodiment, each cutting blade 11 is attached to respective lateral supports 15 using fasteners, nuts and bolts or welding.

[0037] As can been seen, in some embodiments, the cutting blade 11 and associated support 15 comprise an aperture 12 adapted to receive a bolt and a nut to fasten the cutting blade 11 and the supports together. Preferably, the support 13 can alternatively be welded to the support 15. Other methods to attach or mount the cutting blade 11 to the supports 15 may be used and remain within the scope of the present invention.

[0038] Now referring to Figures 1 to 3, a pivot assembly 40 for pivotally connecting the cutting blade 11 with the snowplow blade 10 is illustrated. Generally, the pivot assembly 40 comprises a first supporting frame member 4la and a second supporting frame member 4lb. The second supporting frame member 4lb is fixed to the main blade 10 with a method such as welding. In a preferable embodiment, one end of the first supporting frame member 4la is welded to the rear side of the support 15 via vertical supports 13, and another end is pivotally fastened to the second supporting frame member 4lb. The second supporting frame member 4lb is directly welded to the bottom surface of the main blade 10 and the support 13 is also welded to the support 15. When the snowplow 1 encounters the obstacle, the cutting blade 11, the supports 13 and 15 and the first supporting frame member 4la will pivot about pivot 25 rearwardly and upwardly relatively to their normal position so that only the cutting blade 11 that is contacting the obstacle rides over the obstacle.

[0039] Now still referring to Figure 3, the pivot assembly 40 also comprises an elongated member 51, such as a rod but illustrated with a flat member of steel, to operatively secure a spring 45 in its axial direction. In the illustrated embodiments, the elongated member 51 comprises lower and upper ends. The lower end is mounted to the first supporting frame member 4la and generally extends along the axial direction of the spring 45 through a center of the biasing member, such as a spring 45 in the illustrated embodiment. The upper end of the elongated member 51 is be held in place by an upper spring flange member 52 and a pivot 44. In a preferable embodiment, the pivot 44 is engaged with the support 60 or inserted in an aperture of support 60. The generally circular upper spring flange 52 is secured around the upper portion of the elongated member 51 which contacts and secures the upper end of the spring 45. Compression of the spring 45 is made by translation of the elongated member 51 through the spring 45 and about a pin 65 moving through a slot 46 disposed in the longitudinal direction of the elongated member 51. A lock member 47 is further engaged in the uppermost portion of the elongated member 51 to lock the elongated member 51 in the spring 45. Removal of the spring can be achieved by simply pushing on the associated cutting blade 11 to pivot the cutting blade 11 and remove compression from the lock member 47 as illustrated in Figure 3. Once the lock member 47 is liberated, it can be removed and the spring 45 can be disengaged from the elongated member 51 upon releasing pressure from the cutting blade 11. As can been seen from Figure 3, the lower end of the spring 45 is fixed to the first supporting frame member 4la via a pivot 43 and the elongated member 51. In such operation, a preloaded or precompressed replacement spring (not shown) may be installed to easily replace the disengaged and removed spring 45.

[0040] The spring 45 is in its extended state when the snowplow 1 is in a snow-pushing configuration for pushing the snow without avoiding an obstacle, as illustrated in Figure 2. When the snowplow 1 encounters an obstacle 70, the bottom cutting blade 11 contacting the obstacle will pivot rearwardly and upwardly in relation to its pivot 42 and the spring 45 will be compressed so that the snowplow 1 rides over the obstacle 70 without significant upward reaction movement. Once the obstacle is overcome, the bottom cutting blade 11 will forwardly rotate back to its normal position to continue to scrape snow.

[0041] The location of the cutting blade 11 pivot in front of the main snow blade 10 is close, or preferably aligned, on top of the cutting blade 11 to prevent the cutting blade 11 to rotate and produce a substantial downward movement and influence the snowplow 1 to react and move upward in response to the pivotal movement of the cutting blade 11. The embodiment illustrated in Figure 2 illustrates the pivot almost vertically located above the cutting blade 11. Other embodiments where the pivot is vertically aligned with the cutting blade 11 is encompassed by the present description. Locating the pivot in front of the main blade 10 provides a geometry giving an angle to the cutting blade 11, like a positive rake angle, to more efficiently scrape the snow on the road and makes the snow roll in front of the main blade 10. The illustrated embodiment is of about 70-degree angle with the ground. This is in contrast where the pivot behind the main blade 10 to alleviate the vertical reaction of snowplow 1 with the pivotal motion of the cutting angle 11, would require the lower portion of the main blade 10 and the cutting blade 11 to be vertically or substantially vertically disposed. This configuration would fail to provide the positive rake angle to the lower portion of the snowplow, a neutral rake angle would be obtained, hence pushing the snow forward instead of making the snow roll and be more easily moved and extracted from the snowplow 1. The angle of the spring 45 is also inclined to reach under the curve of the main blade 10 to the pivot assembly 40 and the cutting blade 11

[0042] In a preferable embodiment, the cutting blade 11 comprises a plurality of widthwise-disposed blade segments 111, 112, 113, 114, and 115 that are adjoined to one another. Each blade segment 111, 112, 113, 114, and 115 has a desired width which depends on various factors, such as the width of the machine and the material of the machine and the anticipated size of potential obstacles.

[0043] Now referring to Figures 1-4, the illustrated cutting blade 11 is designed in five distinct parts to hold five blade segments 111, 112, 113, 114, and 115. However, it is possible to design the pivot assembly 40 with a different number of blade segments. In some embodiments, the snowplow blade 10 has similar supporting assemblies 40 for each blade segment 111, 112, 113, 114, and 115.

[0044] The merits using a plurality of blade segments may be various. Firstly, when the snowplow moves in a forward direction to remove snow and ice on the road and encounters an obstacle 70 which has a width that will contact only a limited width portion of the bottom cutting blade 11 and is strongly connected to the ground in such a manner that the snowplow 1 cannot plow it, only the corresponding blade segment(s) 111, 112, 113, 114, or 115 will be actuated and compressed to ride over the obstacle 70 while other blade segment(s) 111, 112, 113, 114, or 115 may plow snow normally. Secondly, the segmented cutting blades 111, 112, 113, 114, and 115 is allowing a limited number of cutting blades segment(s) to be actuated when contacting the obstacle 70 thus limiting the inertia of the mechanism and also limiting the force required to actuate the cutting blade(s) 111, 112, 113, 114, and 115 since all the cutting blades segments 111, 112, 113, 114, and 115 are unlikely to all be actuated simultaneously. Thirdly, when some part of the cutting blade is broken, it is easy and economical to just remove the broken cutting blade segment 111, 112, 113, 114, or 115 and to replace it with a new cutting blade segment. Another advantages of the segmented blades assembly provides the possibility to use different cutting blade materials over the width of the snowplow 1. For example, hardened steel might be used on the lateral sides of the snowplow 1 where it is likely more prone to contact foreign objects while urethane or other suitable polymer or composite materials could be used in the middle portion of the snowplow 1 to limit the scaping effects on the road.

[0045] Now referring to Figures 1 to 4, an ice scraper 20 is fixed to the snowplow frame. The ice scraper 20 is generally made from a rigid material, such as but not limited to compound plastics, carbon steel, etc. Understandably, any other suitable material known in the art may be used. At the bottom of the scraper 20, a number of teeth 21 are provided to help to dig into the ice and remove the resulting ice fragments. The detailed structure of the ice scraper will be described later.

[0046] The snowplow blade 10 and the ice scraper 20 may be operated simultaneously.

In some territories, such as Quebec, Canada, ice storms may cover roads with a layer of ice which cannot be removed using a snowplow alone. In such cases, the snowplow 1 may be tilted such that both the ice scraper 20 and the snowplow 10 will be in contact with the road, as illustrated in Figure 4 in contrast with a leveled position illustrated in Figure 3. It is also possible to tilt the snowplow 1 further such that only the ice scraper 20 will be in contact with the road although this configuration is not illustrated in the figures. If there is no need to remove ice, the control unit (not shown in the figures) will lift the ice scraper 20 and leave only the blade segments 111, 112, 113, 114, and 115 of the snowplow blade 10 in contact with the ground (shown as in Figure 2). [0047] Other means known to the people skilled in the art may be used to connect the ice scraper 20 to the snowplow blade 10. In a preferable embodiment, two horizontal connecting plates 22, 23 are used. An L-shaped connecting plate 24 is welded to the horizontal connecting plate 22 and the ice scraper 20 is fastened to the L-shaped connecting plate 24 by welding, bots and nuts, etc.

[0048] Now referring to Figures 1 to 4, a vehicle attachment 30 is used to connect the snowplow with an appropriate vehicle preferably a loader. In a preferable embodiment, the vehicle attachment comprises two hooks or brackets 30 which are disposed parallel to each other. Understandably, other suitable means known in the art may be used.

[0049] Now referring to Figures 5-7, in some embodiments, the snowplow may also comprise two scoop wings 101, 102 each located on opposing end walls of the snowplow blade 10. Preferably, the scoop wings 101, 102 are retractable and pivot along a vertical axis 101’, 102’ respectively on the side walls of the snowplow blade 10 so that the scoop wings can be moved from an operating position to a non-operating position and vise- versa. Detailed information can be seen from Figure 7. The scoop wings 101, 102 are fixed about the axes 101’, 102’ that allow them to pivot about said axis 101’, 102’. The first hydraulic actuator 103 and the second actuator 104 combine their efforts to make the scoop wings 101, 102 pivot forwardly or rearwardly at any selected angle between 90° and 180°.

[0050] When the scoop wings 101, 102 are rotated so as to be in substantially the same plane as that of the blade 10, the overall width of the snowplow 1 is increased by the respective length of each side scoop wings that is so extended. When the scoop wings 101, 102 are rotated forwardly so as to be in substantially perpendicular the plane of the blade 10, the overall width of the snowplow 1 will not change but the scoop wings 101, 102 will retain snow that would otherwise escape from the sides of the snowplow 1. Similarly, when the snowplow 1 rearwardly transports the snow, the scoop wings 101, 102 may be rearwardly pivoted such that they extend perpendicularly rearwardly of the snowplow.

[0051] In a preferable embodiment illustrated at Figure 5, the scoop wings 101, 102 are respectively made of three parts lOla, 10 lb, and lOlc. As seen in Figure 7, in the first part lOla, there are a plurality of slots configured to receive connection means 105, 106, 107. The height of each slot is larger than the length of the connecting means 105, 106, 107 which allows vertical adjustment of the lower pieces 10 lb, lOlc in respect with the first part lOla to match a desired height to properly cooperate with the road condition. Such pivotal and vertical adjustment is assisted by two spring mechanisms illustrated in Figure 7 at the right of the connection means 105 and at the left of the axle 10G to allow a degree of adjustment of the lower pieces assembly 10 lb and lOlc to keep the entire snowplow 1 as much in contact with the ground as possible despite the shape of the ground on the distalmost lateral portions of the snowplow 1. Further, the lower piece lOlc has functions analogous to the pivotable blade segments 111, 112, 113, 114, and 115 of the snowplow blade 10 to rotate around the lower piece lOlb. The lower piece lOlc, which acts as a pivotable edge of the snowplow blade 10.

[0052] Now referring to Figure 8, another embodiment of the ice scraper 20 is illustrated. The ice scraper 20 is divided into a plurality of portions 20a, 20b, and 20c. These three ice scraper portions 20a, 20b may be assembled in a longitudinally stagged configuration. Preferably, the first ice scraper portion 20a and the second ice scraper portion 20b are not longitudinally aligned with the third ice scraper portion 20c, the first ice scraper portion 20a and the second ice scraper portion 20b are located rearwardly in relation to the third ice scraper portion 20c. Also, when the snowplow blade 1 pushes snow rearwardly with the use of the scoop wings 101, 102 in the rearwardly pivoted configuration to prevent collision between the scoop wings 101. 102 and the ice scraper 20. These three ice scraper portions 20a, 20b, 20c may be made of strong materials, such as, but not limited to, polymer, plastics, steel and so on. At the bottom of the ice scraper portions 20a, 20b, 20c, there is also a row of teeth which allows digging into the ice when the ice scraper portions 20a, 20b, 20c are biased toward the ground and the snowplow 1 is pushed forward.

[0053] Now referring to Figure 9, the upper portion of a pivoting assembly 60 is illustrated. A first tab 61 and a second tab 62 are connected to the back side of the snowplow blade 10 by welding or any other mean known to the people skilled in the art. A third tab 63 and a fourth tab 64 are welded together where the fourth tab 64 is fastened to the upper end of the elongated member 51 of the pivoting assembly 60. The second tab 62 and the third tab 63 are fastened together by a bolt and a nut are used - although the second tab 62 and the third tab 63 are illustrated detached from one another in the illustrated embodiment of Figure 9. Each of the first tab 61 and fourth tab 64 is sized and designed to accommodate the pin 65 therein so as to retain the elongated member 51 therethrough when the second tab 62 and the third tab 63 are secured to the snowplow blade 10 structure with the required fasteners (not illustrated). The third tab 63 can be removed from the second tab 62 to remove the pin 65 from the first tab 61 when the spring 45 should be removed for maintenance.

[0054] Now referring to Figure 10, the lower end of the elongated member 51 is pivotally attached to the first supporting frame member 4la by a fastener or another mechanical locking pin 66. Preferably, the first supporting frame member 4la is capable of securely receiving the pin 66, or other like device, so as to engage the elongated member 51 to the first supporting frame member 4 la. When the resilient member 45 needs be removed, it is relatively easy to detach the pin 66 to remove the elongated member 51 from the snowplow blade 10. A locking mechanism 67 is used to make sure the pin 66 is not going to disengage when not required. The locking mechanism 67 typically comprises two perpendicularly intersected faces separately against to the plow blade and the pin 66 which create the force to keep the pin 66 engaged in the first tab 61 and from the first supporting frame member 4 la. Understandably, any other mean to attach and/or lock yet unlock the elongated member 51 remain within the scope of the present invention.

[0055] A method for plowing snow and ice is described. The method comprises the following steps:

[0056] Selectably attach an adjustable snowplow to a vehicle.

[0057] Lower the adjustable snowplow to the desired height relative to the ground beneath the snowplow blade.

[0058] Optionally, tilt the snowplow until the ice scraper is in contact with the ground.

[0059] Direct the vehicle to which the adjustable plow is attached in a direction to which it is desired to remove snow.

[0060] Displace snow and /or ice to the desired location. [0061] While illustrative and presently preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in detail hereinabove, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations except insofar as limited by the prior art.