Arc welding method and arc welding device

Abstract

An arc welding method of a consumable electrode type generating arc between a tip end of welding wire and a to-be-welded portion by feeding welding wire to the to-be-welded portion of a base material while supplying welding current having average current of 300 A or larger to the welding wire, to weld the base material, includes: feeding the welding wire at a speed of the tip end being inserted into a space surrounded by a concave melted portion formed in the base material by the arc generated between the tip end and the to-be-welded portion; periodically alternating between a small current period where the welding current has a small average value and droplet is transferred from the tip end to a bottom part of the melted portion and a large current period where the welding current has a large average value and droplet is transferred from the tip end to a side part of the melted portion; and controlling the welding current in the large current period so that droplet transfer from the tip end to the side part is performed a plurality of times in each large current period.

Claims

1. An arc welding method feeding welding wire to a base material while supplying welding current having an average current of 300 A or larger, comprising: feeding the welding wire at a speed of a tip end of the welding wire into a space of a concave melted portion formed in the base material by the arc generated between the tip end and the base material; periodically alternating a small current period where a droplet is transferred from the tip end to a bottom part of the melted portion, and a large current period where a droplet is transferred from the tip end to a side part of the melted portion; and varying the welding current in the large current period so that a droplet is transferred from the tip end to the side part a plurality of times in each large current period.

2. The arc welding method according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of pulsed currents are supplied in each large current period.

3. The arc welding method according to claim 1, wherein the large current period is longer than the small current period, and the welding current in the large current period is constant.

4. The arc welding method according to claim 1, wherein the welding current is increased step by step in the large current period.

5. The arc welding method according to claim 4, wherein the large current period includes a first stage and a second stage, the welding current in the second stage being larger than the welding current in the first stage, and a current difference between the welding current in the first stage and the welding current in the second stage is smaller than a current difference between the welding current in the small current period and the welding current in the first stage.

6. The arc welding method according to claim 1, wherein the large current period and the small current period are alternated at a frequency in a range from 10 Hz to 1000 Hz.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration example of an arc welding device according to Embodiment 1;

(2) FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of an arc welding method according to Embodiment 1;

(3) FIG. 3 is a side section view illustrating a base material to be welded;

(4) FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating how droplet is transferred by periodically varying welding current;

(5) FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating a variation of welding current according to Embodiment 1;

(6) FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating a variation of welding current according to a comparative example;

(7) FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating a variation of welding current according to Embodiment 2;

(8) FIG. 8 is a graph illustrating a variation of welding current according to Embodiment 3;

(9) FIG. 9 is a graph illustrating a value of welding current according to an example in Embodiment 3; and

(10) FIG. 10 is a graph illustrating a variation of welding current according to Embodiment 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(11) The present disclosure will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings illustrating the embodiments thereof.

Embodiment 1

(12) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration example of an arc welding device according to Embodiment 1. The arc welding device according to Embodiment 1 is a gas shield arc welding machine of a consumable electrode type that is capable of butt welding a base material 4 having a plate thickness of 9 mm to 30 mm by a single pass. In particular, the arc welding device according to Embodiment 1 is to control welding current Iw so as to move up and down the position of a tip end 5a of a welding wire 5 inserted into a buried space 6a (see FIG. 4) and to perform droplet transfer multiple times during the course of shifting of the position of the tip end 5a of welding wire 5 from a low state to a high state, thereby making it possible to suppress the occurrence of sputter while stably maintaining the buried space 6a.

(13) The arc welding device according to Embodiment 1 includes a welding power supply 1, a torch 2 and a wire feeding part 3.

(14) The torch 2 is made of conductive material such as copper alloy, and has a cylindrical contact chip which guides the welding wire 5 to a to-be-welded portion of the base material 4 while supplying welding current Iw required to generate arc 7 (see FIG. 4). The contact chip makes contact with the welding wire 5 penetrating into the contact chip, and supplies welding current Iw to the welding wire 5. Moreover, the torch 2 has a hollow cylindrical shape surrounding the contact chip, and has a nozzle for spraying shield gas to a portion to be welded. The shield gas is to prevent oxidation of the base material 4 melted by the arc 7 as well as the welding wire 5. The shield gas is, for example, carbon dioxide gas, mixed gas containing carbon dioxide gas and argon gas, or inert gas such as argon.

(15) The welding wire 5 is, for example, solid wire having a diameter of 0.9 mm to 1.6 mm, and functions as a consumable electrode. The welding wire 5 is, for example, a pack wire accommodated into a pail pack while being wound in a helical manner, or a reel wire wound around a wire reel.

(16) The wire feeding part 3 includes a feed roller that feeds the welding wire 5 to the torch 2 and a motor that rotates the feed roller. The wire feeding part 3 rotates the feed roller to pull out the welding wire 5 from a wire reel, and feeds the pulled-out welding wire 5 to the torch 2. Such a feeding method for the welding wire 5 is a mere example, and is not particularly limited thereto.

(17) The welding power supply 1 is connected to the contact chip of the torch 2 and the base material 4 via power supply cables, and includes a power supply unit 11 that supplies welding current Iw and a feeding speed control unit 12 that controls the feeding speed of the welding wire 5. It is noted that the power supply unit 11 and the feeding speed control unit 12 may be formed in separate pieces. The power supply unit 11 includes a power supply circuit 11a that outputs PWM-controlled direct current, an output voltage setting circuit 11b, a frequency setting circuit 11c, a current amplitude setting circuit 11d, an average current setting circuit 11e, a voltage detection unit 11f, a current detection unit 11g and a comparison circuit 11h.

(18) The voltage detection unit 11f detects welding voltage Vw, and outputs a voltage value signal Ed indicating the detected voltage value to the comparison circuit 11h.

(19) The current detection unit 11g detects, for example, welding current Iw supplied from the welding power supply 1 to the welding wire 5 via the torch 2 and flowing through the arc 7, and outputs a current value signal Id indicating the detected current value to the output voltage setting circuit 11b.

(20) The frequency setting circuit 11c outputs a frequency setting signal for setting a frequency for periodically varying the welding voltage Vw and welding current Iw between the base material 4 and the welding wire 5 to the output voltage setting circuit 11b. In the case of implementing the arc welding method according to Embodiment 1, the frequency setting circuit 11c outputs a frequency setting signal indicating a frequency in a range from 10 Hz to 1000 Hz, preferably from 50 Hz to 300 Hz, more preferably from 80 Hz to 200 Hz.

(21) The current amplitude setting circuit 11d outputs an amplitude setting signal for setting the amplitude of the welding current Iw which periodically varies, to the output voltage setting circuit 11b. The amplitude is a difference in current between the minimum current value and the maximum current value of varying welding current Iw. In the case of implementing the arc welding method according to Embodiment 1, the current amplitude setting circuit 11d outputs an amplitude setting signal indicating a current amplitude of 50 A or larger, more preferably a current amplitude in the range from 100 A to 500 A, more preferably a current amplitude in the range from 200 A to 400 A.

(22) The average current setting circuit 11e outputs an average current setting signal for setting average current of periodically varying welding current Iw to the output voltage setting circuit 11b and the feeding speed control unit 12. In the case of implementing the arc welding method according to Embodiment 1, the average current setting circuit 11e outputs an average current setting signal indicating average current of 300 A or larger, preferably average current in a range from 300 A to 1000 A, more preferably average current in a range from 500 A to 800 A.

(23) The output voltage setting circuit 11b generates an output voltage setting signal Ecr indicating rectangular wave-like target voltage so that the welding current Iw has a target frequency, a current amplitude and a target average current, based on the current value signal Id, frequency setting signal, amplitude setting signal and average current setting signal output from the respective units, and outputs the generated output voltage setting signal Ecr to the comparison circuit 11h.

(24) The comparison circuit 11h compares the voltage value signal Ed output from the voltage detection unit 11f with the output voltage setting signal Ecr output from the output voltage setting circuit 11b, and outputs a differential signal Ev indicating the difference between the signals to the power supply circuit 11a.

(25) The power supply circuit 11a includes, for example, an AC-DC converter performing AC-DC conversion on commercial alternate current, an inverter circuit converting direct current subjected to AC-DC conversion into required alternate current by switching, and a rectification circuit rectifying the alternate current obtained by conversion. The power supply circuit 11a performs PWM control on the inverter in accordance with the differential signal Ev output from the comparison circuit 11h, and outputs voltage to the welding wire 5. As a result, welding voltage Vw that varies periodically is applied between the base material A and the welding wire 5, and the welding current Iw flows. The welding power supply 1 is configured to receive an output instruction signal input from the outside via a control communication line (not illustrated), and the power supply unit 11 starts supplying the welding current Iw to the power supply circuit 11a using the output instruction signal as a trigger. The output instruction signal is, for example, output from a welding robot to the welding power supply 1. Moreover, in the case of a manual welding machine, the output instruction signal is output to the welding power supply 1 from the torch 2 side when a hand operation switch located on the torch 2 side is operated.

(26) FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of an arc welding method according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a side section view illustrating a base material 4 to be welded. First, a pair of base materials A to be joined by welding are placed at the arc welding device, and various settings for the welding power supply 1 are performed (step S11). More specifically, a planar first base material 41 and a planar second base material 42 are prepared and arranged at predetermined welding work positions while end faces 41a and 42a that are to be welded are butted with each other. The first and second base materials 41 and 42 are steel plates made of, for example, soft steel, carbon steel for machine structural use or alloy steel for machine structural use, having a thickness ranging from 9 mm to 30 mm.

(27) The power supply device 1 then sets the welding condition of welding current Iw within a range at the frequency from 10 Hz to 1000 Hz, the average current of 300 A or larger and the current amplitude of 50 A or higher.

(28) It is noted that the condition for welding current Iw may totally be set by a welding worker, or the welding power supply 1 may accept the implementation of a welding method according to Embodiment 1 to automatically set all conditions. Furthermore, the welding power supply 1 may accept a part of the welding conditions such as average current through the operation unit and determine the rest of the welding conditions conforming to the accepted part of welding conditions so as to semi-automatically set the conditions.

(29) After various settings are performed, the welding power supply 1 determines whether or not the condition for starting output of the welding current Iw is satisfied (step S12). More specifically, the welding power supply 1 determines whether or not an output instruction signal for welding is input. If it is determined that no output instruction signal is input and the output starting condition of welding current Iw is not satisfied (step S12: NO), the welding power supply 1 waits in the state of waiting input of an output instruction signal.

(30) If it is determined that the condition for starting welding current Iw is satisfied (step S12: YES), the feeding speed control unit 12 of the welding power supply 1 outputs to the wire feeding part 3 a feed control signal for instructing to feed wire, so that the welding wire 5 is fed at a predetermined speed (step S13). The feeding speed of the welding wire 5 is set within the range of, for example, approximately 5 to 100 meters per minute. The feeding speed control unit 12 decides the feeding speed in accordance with the average current setting signal output from the average current setting circuit 11e. It is noted that the feeding speed of welding wire 5 may be at a constant speed or may be varied periodically. It may also be configured that a welding worker may directly set the feeding speed of wire.

(31) Subsequently, the power supply unit 11 of the welding power supply 1 detects welding voltage Vw and welding current Iw at the voltage detection unit 11f and the current detection unit 11g (step S14), and performs PWM control so that the frequency, current amplitude and average current for the detected welding current Iw correspond to the set welding conditions and the welding current Iw periodically varies (step S15).

(32) Subsequently, the power supply unit 11 of the welding power supply 1 determines whether or not the output of welding current Iw is stopped (step S16). More specifically, the welding power supply 1 determines whether or not an input of the output instruction signal continues. If it is determined that the input of the output instruction signal continues and the output of welding current Iw is not stopped (step S16: NO), the power supply unit 11 returns the processing to step S13 and continues outputting welding current Iw.

(33) If it is determined that the output of the welding current Iw is stopped (step S16: YES), the power supply unit 11 returns the processing to step S12.

(34) Periodical variation of welding current Iw and droplet transfer will be summarized below.

(35) In the arc welding method according to Embodiment 1, the power supply unit 11 controls the welding current Iw such that the frequency thereof ranges from 10 Hz to 1000 Hz, the average current is 300 A or larger and the current amplitude is 50 A or higher.

(36) Preferably, the power supply unit 11 controls the welding current Iw such that the frequency thereof ranges from 50 Hz to 300 Hz, the average current ranges from 300 A to 1000 A, and the current amplitude ranges from 100 A to 500 A.

(37) FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating how droplet is transferred by periodically varying welding current Iw. If the welding current Iw is periodically varied under such welding conditions, a concave melted portion 6 is formed at the base material 4, which is made of the molten metal of the welding wire 5 and the base material 4 melted by the heat of arc 7 generated between the tip end 5a of the welding wire 5 and a to-be-welded portion. The arc 7 is photographed with a high-speed camera, to find that its state is periodically changed between the first state where the arc 7 is generated between the tip end 5a of the welding wire 5 and a bottom part 61 of the melted portion 6, and the second state where the arc 7 is generated between the tip end 5a and a side part 62 of the melted portion 6.

(38) More specifically, the state is repeatedly switched between the first state where the arc 7 is directed from the tip end of the welding wire W to the bottom part 61 of the melted portion 6 and the second state where the arc 7 is directed from the tip end 5a of the welding wire 5 to a side part 62 of the melted portion 6. A small current period with a small average value of welding current Iw corresponds to the first state whereas a large current period with a large average value of welding current Iw corresponds to the second state. The first state is a state where the droplet transfer for the welding wire 5 takes a form of drop transfer. The second state is a state where, for example, the droplet transfer for the welding wire 5 takes a form of rotating transfer or pendulum transfer.

(39) The drop transfer is an example of a form where droplet is transferred from the tip end 5a of welding wire 5 to the bottom part 61 of the melted portion 6, whereas the rotating transfer is an example of a form where droplet is transferred from the tip end 5a of welding wire 5 to the side part 62 of the melted portion 6. Furthermore, the pendulum transfer is a characteristic form of droplet transfer where the liquid column and arc 7 formed at the tip end 5a of welding wire 5 is oscillated in pendulum on the same plane while the plane gradually rotates as a whole with its central axis corresponding to the protruding direction of welding wire 5.

(40) Although the molten metal tends to flow in the direction in which the buried space 6a is closed and the tip end 5a of the welding wire 5 is buried, the arc 7 jumps to the side part 62 of the melted portion 6 in the second state, the molten metal of the melted portion 6 is pushed back in the direction of being separated from the welding wire 5, and thus the buried space 6a is stabilized in a concave state. In the right view in FIG. 4, as a result of droplet transfer at the tip end 5a of the welding wire 5 melted due to large current, the tip end 5a of welding wire 5 is shortened.

(41) The first state and the second state are switched from each other at a frequency ranging from 80 Hz to 200 Hz, which allows micro vibration of molten metal to occur at a frequency higher than the large corrugation frequency, suppressing corrugation formed on the molten metal.

(42) Now, control of welding current Iw and droplet transfer will be described in detail below.

(43) FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating a variation of welding current Iw according to Embodiment 1. The horizontal axis of the graph indicates time, whereas the vertical axis thereof indicates welding current Iw. Moreover, above the graph, a procedure of droplet transfer associated with the change in welding current Iw is schematically illustrated. Each schematic view illustrates the state of welding wire 5 and droplet transfer when the welding current Iw indicated by a dot circle is being supplied. Likewise, the schematic views in FIGS. 6, 7, 8 and 10 described below also illustrate the state of welding wire 5 and droplet transfer.

(44) In Embodiment 1, the power supply unit 11 controls the welding current Iw in the large current period such that droplet transfer from the tip end 5a of welding wire 5 to the side part 62 of the melted portion 6 is performed multiple times. More specifically, the power supply unit 11 controls welding current Iw such that pulsed large current is supplied multiple times during the large current period as illustrated in FIG. 5. For example, the power supply unit 11 supplies pulsed large current three times in the large current period. The magnitude of pulsed current is approximately the same for each time. The welding current Iw in the small current period is 200 A, for example, whereas pulsed large current in the large current period is 800 A, for example.

(45) In the small current period, as illustrated in the leftmost schematic view in FIG. 5, the tip end 5a of welding wire 5 is deeply inserted into the buried space 6a, and the arc 7 is directed to the bottom part 61 of the melted portion 6. When the arc 7 is directed to the bottom part 61 of the melted portion 6, deep penetration may be obtained.

(46) In the large current period, as illustrated in three schematic views in the middle of FIG. 5, droplet transfer is performed little by little from the tip end 5a of welding wire 5 to the side part 62 of the melted portion 6 to shift the state of the wire tip position from a state where the position is low to a state where the position is high. In the case where the tip end 5a of welding wire 5 is at a high position, the arc 7 is directed to the side part 62 of the melted portion 6 and thus the buried space 6a is stabilized. Since droplet transfer is performed little by little, the occurrence of sputter may effectively be suppressed.

(47) When alternated with the small current period again, the state of wire is changed from the state where the position of the wire tip end is high to the state where the position is low, as illustrated in the rightmost and leftmost schematic views in FIG. 5.

(48) Thereafter, the state change is repeatedly performed. By varying the welding current Iw as described above, in the buried arc welding, deep penetration may be obtained while the buried space 6a is stably maintained, and also the occurrence of sputter may be suppressed, allowing for stable one pass penetration welding of a thick plate.

(49) FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating a variation of welding current Iw according to a comparative example. The horizontal axis of the graph indicates time, whereas the vertical axis thereof indicates welding current Iw. Moreover, above the graph, a procedure of droplet transfer associated with the change in welding current Iw is schematically illustrated.

(50) In the comparison example, the large current period has the same length as the small current period, and required large current is supplied at a time steadily in the large current period. In the state where the tip end 5a of welding wire 5 is inserted into the buried space 6a, if the welding current Iw is rapidly increased and large current is supplied at a time, the welding wire 5 is rapidly melted resulting in formation of a long liquid column and a large droplet is transferred in the vicinity of the opening of the buried space 6a, as illustrated in the two schematic views in the middle of FIG. 6. In the drawing, at the time point indicated by the broken star, short-circuit occurs in the welding wire 5 and the melted portion 6, which thus generates large sputter particles.

(51) As can be seen from the comparison between FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, in the large current period, pulsed large current is supplied multiple times to shift the droplets little by little, which can suppress the occurrence of sputter.

(52) Accordingly, with the arc welding method and arc welding device according to Embodiment 1 configured as described above, in the buried arc welding using large current of 300 A or larger, the occurrence of sputter may be suppressed while stably maintaining the buried space 6a, allowing for stable single pass penetration welding of a thick plate.

(53) Moreover, even if buried arc welding is performed using large current of 300 A or higher, corrugation of molten metal may be suppressed by periodically varying welding current Iw, which can prevent disturbance and drooping of a bead from occurring.

Embodiment 2

(54) As the arc welding method and the arc welding device according to Embodiment 2 are different from those in Embodiment 1 for the method of controlling welding current Iw, the difference will mainly be described below. Since the other configurations and effects are similar to those in Embodiment 1, corresponding parts are denoted by similar reference codes and detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

(55) FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating a variation of welding current Iw according to Embodiment 2. The horizontal axis of the graph indicates time, whereas the vertical axis thereof indicates welding current Iw. Moreover, above the graph, a procedure of droplet transfer associated with the change in welding current Iw is schematically illustrated.

(56) In Embodiment 2, the power supply unit 11 performs control such that the large current period is longer than the small current period, and the welding current Iw in the large current period is constant. The length and current value of the large current period are a period and current value in which droplet transfer may be performed multiple times in the large current period. The welding current Iw in the small current period is 200 A, whereas the welding current Iw in the large current period is 500 A, for example.

(57) With the arc welding method and arc welding device according to Embodiment 2 configured as described above, droplet transfer of the welding wire 5 may gradually be performed, which can reduce the length of a liquid column and suppress the occurrence of sputter. Accordingly, in the buried arc welding, the occurrence of sputter may be suppressed while stably maintaining the buried space 6a, allowing for stable single pass penetration welding of a thick plate.

Embodiment 3

(58) As the arc welding method and the arc welding device according to Embodiment 3 are different from those in Embodiment 1 for the method of controlling welding current Iw, the difference will mainly be described below. Since the other configurations and effects are similar to those in Embodiment 1, corresponding parts are denoted by similar reference codes and detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

(59) FIG. 8 is a graph illustrating a variation of welding current Iw according to Embodiment 3. The horizontal axis of the graph indicates time, whereas the vertical axis thereof indicates welding current Iw. Moreover, above the graph, a procedure of droplet transfer associated with the change in welding current Iw is schematically illustrated.

(60) In Embodiment 3, the power supply unit 11 controls the output of the welding current Iw so that the welding current Iw is increased step by step in the large current period. For example, the power supply unit 11 increases the welding current Iw in three stages until it reaches the maximum welding current Iw, as illustrated in FIG. 8. The period during which required welding current Iw is output in each stage has substantially the same length as well as substantially the same amount of increase in the welding current Iw.

EXAMPLE

(61) Buried arc welding of the base material 4 is performed under such welding conditions that the welding wire 5 has a diameter of 1.2 mm, the welding power supply 1 has a feeding speed of welding wire 5 at 40 minutes per minute, the average current of welding current Iw of 540 A and the average voltage of 51V.

(62) FIG. 9 is a graph illustrating the value of the welding current Iw according to an example. The horizontal axis of the graph indicates time, whereas the vertical axis thereof indicates welding current Iw. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the welding power supply 1 supplies the welding current Iw of 200 A during a small current period and supplies the welding current Iw of 400 A, 600 A and 800 A that increases in three stages during a large current period. The frequency in which a unit waveform including the small current period and the large current period is repeated corresponds to 100 Hz. Since droplet transfer occurs once at each of the stages where the welding current Iw is increased during the large current period, the position of the tip of the welding wire 5 may be pulled up while suppressing formation of a long liquid column in the welding wire 5, which thus can stabilize the buried space 6a.

(63) With the arc welding method and arc welding device according to Embodiment 3 configured as described above, in the buried arc welding, the occurrence of sputter may be suppressed while stably maintaining the buried space 6a, allowing for stable single pass penetration welding of a thick plate.

Embodiment 4

(64) As the arc welding method and the arc welding device according to Embodiment 4 are different from Embodiment 1 in the method of controlling welding current Iw, the difference will mainly be described below. Since the other configurations and effects are similar to those in Embodiment 1, corresponding parts are denoted by similar reference codes and detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

(65) FIG. 10 is a graph illustrating a variation of welding current Iw according to Embodiment 4. The horizontal axis of the graph indicates time, whereas the vertical axis thereof indicates welding current Iw. Moreover, above the graph, a procedure of droplet transfer associated with the change in welding current Iw is schematically illustrated.

(66) In Embodiment 4, the power supply unit 11 controls the output of the welding current Iw so that the welding current Iw is increased step by step in the large current period. For example, the power supply unit 11 increases the welding current Iw in two stages until it reaches the maximum welding current Iw, as illustrated in FIG. 10. The former stage is longer than the latter stage, and the amount of increase in the welding current Iw in the former stage is larger than the amount of increase in the welding current Iw in the latter stage. Specifically, the period of the former stage is approximately twice as long as the latter stage, and the amount of increase in the welding current Iw in the former stage is approximately twice as the amount of the welding current Iw increased from the former stage to the latter stage.

(67) In the state where the tip end 5a of the welding wire 5 is inserted into the buried space 6a deeply or to a middle part, no sputter occurs even if the liquid column is long. The welding wire 5 is thus melted such that, when the tip end 5a of welding wire 5 is pulled up from a lower part to an upper part of the buried space 6a, the welding wire 5 is relatively rapidly melted for droplet transfer in an earlier stage and then increases the welding current Iw to further generate a small amount of droplet transfer, thereby more efficiently pulling up the welding wire 5.

(68) With the arc welding method and arc welding device according to Embodiment 4 configured as described above, in the buried arc welding, the occurrence of sputter may be suppressed while stably maintaining the buried space 6a, allowing for stable single pass penetration welding of a thick plate.

(69) It should be understood that the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative and non-restrictive in every respect. Since the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description preceding them, all changes that fall within metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalence of such metes and bounds thereof are therefore intended to be embraced by the claims.

(70) It is to be noted that, as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

(71) It is to be noted that the disclosed embodiment is illustrative and not restrictive in all aspects. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description preceding them, and all changes that fall within metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalence of such metes and bounds thereof are therefore intended to be embraced by the claims.