FLEXIBLE HARD COMPOSITE COATING, PREPARATION METHOD THEREOF, AND COATED CUTTER

Abstract

The present invention provides a flexible hard composite coating, a preparation method thereof and a coated cutter. The flexible hard composite coating includes an AlCrN transition layer and a nanocomposite layer sequentially disposed on the surface of a substrate, the nanocomposite layer having CrON layers and AlON layers sequentially alternately arranged on the surface of the AlCrN transition layer. According to an embodiment, AlCrN is used as a transition layer, for strengthening the connection between the nanocomposite layer and the substrate. The nanocomposite layer constituted by the CrON layers and the AlON layers increases the toughness of the coating and the successive alternation of the CrON layers and the AlON layers reduces the stress of the coating, increasing the crystal plane structure and the grain boundary of the coating and further improves the properties of hardness and resistance to high-temperature oxidation.

Claims

1. A flexible hard composite coating, comprising an AlCrN transition layer and a nanocomposite layer sequentially disposed on the surface of a substrate, the nanocomposite layer comprising CrON layers and AlON layers sequentially alternately arranged on the surface of the AlCrN transition layer.

2. The flexible hard composite coating according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of each CrON layer and a thickness of each AlON layer are independently 320 nm respectively.

3. The flexible hard composite coating according to claim 1, wherein a quantity of the CrON layers is 1050.

4. The flexible hard composite coating according to claim 1, wherein the CrON layer contains 3445 at. % of chromium, 1218 at. % of oxygen and 4050 at. % of nitrogen according to atomic percent.

5. The flexible hard composite coating according to claim 4, wherein the CrON layer comprises a CrN nanocrystalline and Cr2O3 amorphous nanocomposite structure.

6. The flexible hard composite coating according to claim 1, wherein the AlON layer contains 3543 at. % of aluminium, 1020 at. % of oxygen and 3848 at. % of nitrogen according to atomic percent.

7. The flexible hard composite coating according to claim 6, wherein the AlON layer comprises an AIN nanocrystalline and Al2O3 amorphous nanocomposite structure.

8. The flexible hard composite coating according to claim 1, wherein thickness of the AlCrN transition layer is 200500 nm.

9. A preparation method of the flexible hard composite coating according to claim 1, comprising: (1) depositing an AlCrN transition layer on the surface of a substrate; and (2) sequentially alternately depositing CrON layers and AlON layers on the surface of the AlCrN transition layer, to obtain the flexible hard composite coating.

10. The preparation method coating according to claim 9, wherein both of said depositing and said sequentially alternately depositing comprise high power pulse magnetron sputtering deposition.

11. A coated cutter comprising a cutter substrate and a coating disposed on a surface of the cutter substrate, the coating being a flexible hard composite coating according to claim 1.

12. The flexible hard composite coating according to claim 2, wherein a quantity of the CrON layers is 1050.

13. The flexible hard composite coating according to claim 2, wherein the CrON layer contains 3445 at. % of chromium, 1218 at. % of oxygen and 4050 at. % of nitrogen according to atomic percent.

14. The flexible hard composite coating according to claim 13, wherein the CrON layer comprises a CrN nanocrystalline and Cr2O3 amorphous nanocomposite structure.

15. The flexible hard composite coating according to claim 2, wherein the AlON layer contains 3543 at. % of aluminium, 1020 at. % of oxygen and 3848 at. % of nitrogen according to atomic percent.

16. The flexible hard composite coating according to claim 15, wherein the AlON layer comprises an AIN nanocrystalline and Al.sub.2O.sub.3 amorphous nanocomposite structure.

17. A coated cutter comprising a cutter substrate and a coating disposed on a surface of the cutter substrate, the coating being a flexible hard composite coating according to claim 2.

18. A coated cutter comprising a cutter substrate and a coating disposed on a surface of the cutter substrate, the coating being a flexible hard composite coating according to claim 3.

19. A coated cutter comprising a cutter substrate and a coating disposed on a surface of the cutter substrate, the coating being a flexible hard composite coating prepared by a preparation method according to claim 9.

20. A coated cutter comprising a cutter substrate and a coating disposed on a surface of the cutter substrate, the coating being a flexible hard composite coating prepared by a preparation method according to claim 10.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] FIG. 1 is a schematic structure diagram of a flexible hard composite coating of the present invention, wherein 1 is a substrate, 2 is an AlCrN transition layer, and 3 is a nanocomposite layer;

[0023] FIG. 2 is a schematic structure diagram of a flexible hard composite coating of the present invention, wherein 1 is a substrate, 2 is an AlCrN transition layer, 3 is a nanocomposite layer, 4 is a CrON layer and 5 is an AlON layer;

[0024] FIG. 3 is a TEM diagram of a nanocomposite layer in the flexible hard composite coating in embodiment 2 of the present invention; and

[0025] FIG. 4 is a selected area electron diffraction diagram of a nanocomposite layer in the flexible hard composite coating in embodiment 2 of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0026] The following further describes the present invention in combination with embodiments and drawings.

[0027] The present invention provides a flexible hard composite coating, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. The flexible hard composite coating provided by the present invention includes an AlCrN transition layer 2 and a nanocomposite layer 3 sequentially disposed on the surface of a substrate 1. The nanocomposite layer 3 includes CrON layers 4 and AlON layers 5 which are sequentially alternately arranged.

[0028] The flexible hard composite coating provided by the present invention includes an AlCrN transition layer disposed on the surface of a substrate. According to the present invention, the thickness of the AlCrN transition layer is optimally 200500 nm, more optimally, 300400 nm, and most optimally, 340360 nm. According to the present invention, the AlCrN transition layer can improve a binding force between a nanocomposite layer and a substrate, improve the use effect of a coating and prolong the service life of the coating.

[0029] The flexible hard composite coating provided by the present invention includes a nanocomposite layer disposed on the surface of an AlCrN transition layer, the nanocomposite layer including CrON layers and AlON layers sequentially alternately arranged on the surface of the AlCrN transition layer. According to the present invention, an outermost layer of the flexible hard composite coating is optimally an AlON layer. According to the present invention, thickness of each CrON layer and thickness of each AlON layer are independently 320 nm respectively, more optimally, 515 nm, most optimally, 812 nm. According to the present invention, quantity of the CrON layers is 1050, more optimally, 2040, most optimally, 2535.

[0030] According to the present invention, the CrON layer contains 3445 at. % of chromium, 1218 at. % of oxygen and 4050 at. % of nitrogen according to atomic percent, more optimally, contains 3842 at. % of chromium, 1416 at. % of oxygen and 4248 at. % of nitrogen, most optimally, contains 40 at. % of chromium, 15 at. % of oxygen and 45 at. % of nitrogen. According to the present invention, the CrON layer optimally includes a CrN nanocrystalline and Cr.sub.2O.sub.3 amorphous nanocomposite structure. According to the present invention, the grain size of the CrON layers is optimally 210 nm, more optimally, 36 nm. According to the present invention, the CrON layers have excellent oxidation resistance and toughness, and meanwhile has high hardness and thermal stability.

[0031] According to the present invention, the AlON layer contains 3543 at. % of aluminium, 1020 at. % of oxygen and 3848 at. % of nitrogen according to atomic percent, more optimally, contains 3842 at. % of aluminium, 1218 at. % of oxygen and 4046 at. % of nitrogen, most optimally, contains 40 at. % of aluminium, 15 at. % of oxygen and 45 at. % of nitrogen. According to the present invention, the AlON layer includes an AIN nanocrystalline and Al.sub.2O.sub.3 amorphous nanocomposite structure. According to the present invention, the grain size of the AlON layers is optimally, 312 nm, more optimally, 46 nm. According to the present invention, the AlON layers have excellent oxidation resistance and toughness, and meanwhile has high hardness and thermal stability.

[0032] According to the present invention, the CrON layers and the AlON layers are periodically arranged alternately, so as to reduce stress of a coating, increase the crystal plane structure and the grain boundary of the coating and further improve the properties of hardness and resistance to high-temperature oxidation. According to the present invention, the high-temperature stability of the flexible hard composite coating is higher than 1000 C., more optimally, 12001500 C. According to the present invention, the CrON layers and the AlON layers are alternately arranged, the outermost layer of the composite coating is changed along with the change of the thickness of the coating, and the outermost layer may be a CrON layers, and may be also an AlON layer.

[0033] The present invention also provides a preparation method of the flexible hard composite coating according to the foregoing scheme, including the following steps:

[0034] (1) depositing an AlCrN transition layer on the surface of a substrate; and

[0035] (2) sequentially alternately depositing CrON layers and AlON layers on the surface of the AlCrN transition layer in step (1), to obtain a flexible hard composite coating.

[0036] According to the present invention, an AlCrN transition layer is deposited on the surface of a substrate. According to the present invention, material of the substrate is optimally hard alloy or high-speed steel, more optimally, hard alloy. There is no special limitation to components of the hard alloy or high-speed steel in the present invention, just hard alloy or high-speed steel familiar to technicians of the field and used for machining may be adopted.

[0037] According to the present invention, deposition of the AlCrN transition layer is optimally high power pulse magnetron sputtering deposition. There is no special limitation to the operation of high power pulse magnetron sputtering deposition of the AlCrN transition layer, just a technical scheme of high power pulse magnetron sputtering deposition familiar to technicians of the field may be adopted.

[0038] According to the present invention, before deposition of the AlCrN transition layer, optimally, pretreatment, sputtering cleaning and activation are sequentially performed on the substrate. There is no special limitation to operation of the pretreatment, just a technical scheme for pretreatment familiar to a technician of the field may be adopted. According to the present invention, optimally, the pretreatment sequentially includes washing and drying. According to the present invention, the washing optimally includes ultrasonic treatment sequentially performed in acetone and absolute ethyl alcohol; time for ultrasonic treatment sequentially performed in acetone and absolute ethyl alcohol is optimally independently 1020 min, more optimally, 15 min. According to the present invention, the drying is optimally drying with clean compressed air.

[0039] According to the present invention, parameters of the sputtering cleaning are optimally: substrate revolving speed being 28 rpm, sputtering temperature being 300500 C., sputtering gas being argon, sputtering gas pressure being 0.31.0 Pa, bias voltage being 8001200V, and sputtering cleaning time being 1030 min, more optimally: substrate revolving speed being 46 rpm, sputtering temperature being 350450 C., sputtering gas being argon, sputtering gas pressure being 0.50.8 Pa, bias voltage being 9001100V, and sputtering cleaning time being 1525 min. According to the present invention, the sputtering cleaning can improve a binding capacity between a substrate and an AlCrN transition layer.

[0040] According to the present invention, optimally, after the sputtering cleaning is completed, opening a Cr target directly and adjusting all parameters to activating parameters to perform activation. According to the present invention, the activating parameters are optimally: substrate revolving speed being 28 rpm, sputtering temperature being 300500 C., sputtering gas being argon, sputtering gas pressure being 0.31.0 Pa, bias voltage being 300500V, average target material current being 210 A, target material peak current being 400800 A, target material peak voltage being 500900V, duty ratio being 27%, and sputtering cleaning time being 515 min, more optimally are: substrate revolving speed being 46 rpm, sputtering temperature being 350450 C., sputtering gas being argon, sputtering gas pressure being 0.50.8 Pa, bias voltage being 350450V, average target material current being 48 A, target material peak current being 500700 A, target material peak voltage being 600800V, duty ratio being 35%, and sputtering cleaning time being 812 min. According to the present invention, the activation increases an energy state of particles on the surface of a substrate by bombarding the surface of the substrate with Cr ions, to generate a metal layer, and strengthen a binding force between a coating and a substrate.

[0041] According to the present invention, optimally, after the activation is completed, opening a Cr target and an Al target directly and adjusting all parameters to parameters for high power pulse magnetron sputtering deposition of an AlCrN transition layer to perform deposition of the AlCrN transition layer. According to the present invention, parameters for high power pulse magnetron sputtering deposition of an AlCrN transition layer are optimally: substrate revolving speed being 28 rpm, sputtering temperature being 300500 C., sputtering gas being argon, reaction gas being nitrogen, sputtering gas pressure being 0.61.2 Pa, bias voltage being 100150V, target material peak current being 400800 A, target material peak voltage being 400700V, duty ratio being 37%, and sputtering cleaning time being 520 min, more optimally are: substrate revolving speed being 46 rpm, sputtering temperature being 350450 C., sputtering gas being argon, reaction gas being nitrogen, sputtering gas pressure being 0.50.8 Pa, bias voltage being 350450V, target material peak current being 450550 A, target material peak voltage being 500600V, duty ratio being 46%, and sputtering cleaning time being 1015 min.

[0042] After obtaining an AlCrN transition layer, according to the present invention, CrON layers and AlON layers are sequentially alternately deposed on the surface of the AlCrN transition layer, to obtain a flexible hard composite coating. According to the present invention, deposition of the AlON layers and the CrON layers is optimally high power pulse magnetron sputtering deposition. According to the present invention, the high power pulse magnetron sputtering deposition can further cause a coating to have an excellent film substrate binding force, so as to reduce internal stress of the coating and improve the crack-resistant performance.

[0043] According to the present invention, optimally, after deposition of the AlCrN transition layer is completed, closing an Al target, opening a Cr target, and adjusting parameters to parameters for high power pulse magnetron sputtering deposition of CrON layers to perform deposition, then closing the Cr target, opening the Al target, and adjusting parameters to parameters for high power pulse magnetron sputtering deposition of AlON layers to perform deposition, alternately opening and closing the Cr target and the Al target, until completing deposition of the nanocomposite layer.

[0044] According to the present invention, parameters for high power pulse magnetron sputtering deposition of the CrON layers and the AlON layers are optimally independently: sputtering gas being argon, reaction gases being oxygen and nitrogen, total gas pressure of argon and oxygen being 0.41.2 Pa, gas pressure ratio between nitrogen and oxygen being (13):(31), substrate revolving speed being 210 rpm, sputtering temperature being 300500 C., average target material current being 38 A, target material peak current being 400900 A, target material peak voltage being 400800V, duty ratio being 28%, and sputtering cleaning time being 18 min, more optimally are: sputtering gas being argon, reaction gases being oxygen and nitrogen, total gas pressure of argon and oxygen being 0.61.0 Pa, gas pressure ratio between nitrogen and oxygen being (12):(21), substrate revolving speed being 46 rpm, sputtering temperature being 350450 C., average target material current being 46 A, target material peak current being 500700 A, target material peak voltage being 500700V, duty ratio being 46%, and sputtering cleaning time being 35 min.

[0045] According to the present invention, optimally, after deposition of the nanocomposite layer is completed, cooling a product of the deposition, to obtain a flexible hard composite coating. According to the present invention, the cooling is optimally performed in an atmosphere of depositing. According to the present invention, the cooling final temperature of the product of the deposition in the atmosphere of depositing is optimally below 150 C., more optimally, below 80 C.

[0046] The present invention also provides a coated cutter, including a cutter substrate and a coating disposed on the surface of the cutter substrate, the coating being a flexible hard composite coating according to the foregoing technical scheme or a flexible hard composite coating prepared by a preparation method according to according to the foregoing scheme. According to the present invention, the material of the cutter substrate is optimally hard alloy or high-speed steel. There is no special limitation to components of the hard alloy or high-speed steel in the present invention, just hard alloy or high-speed steel familiar to technicians of the field and used for machining may be adopted. There is no special limitation to the shape and size of the cutter substrate, just a cutter familiar to a technician of the field may be adopted.

[0047] According to the present invention, the coated cutter is optimally prepared by taking a cutter substrate as a substrate and preparing according to a preparation method of the flexible hard composite coating according to the foregoing technical scheme, which is not further described herein.

[0048] The following describes a flexible hard composite coating, a preparation method thereof and a coated cutter provided by the present invention in details in combination with embodiments, but they cannot be understood as limitation to the protection scope of the present invention.

Embodiment 1

[0049] Uniformly fixing a hard alloy cutter substrate after pretreatment on a support, putting into a coating machine, adjusting the revolving speed of a workpiece support to 2 rpm, vacuumizing until ultimate pressure is 1.010.sup.3 Pa, meanwhile, starting a heater, rising temperature to 300 C.; opening an argon flow valve, adjusting a vacuum chamber to be about 0.5 Pa, and applying negative bias voltage 800 V to the substrate, to perform glow sputtering cleaning for 10 min;

[0050] then reducing negative bias voltage of the substrate to 300V, starting a high power pulse magnetron sputtering pure Cr target, adjusting average target material current to 2 A, peak current to 400V, peak voltage to 600V, and duty ratio to 3%, and bombarding the substrate for 5 min at high energy with Cr ions to activate the surface of the substrate;

[0051] opening a nitrogen flow valve, reducing substrate bias voltage to 100V, opening an Al target and an Cr target at the same time under conditions that film coating pressure is 0.6 Pa and temperature is 300 C., controlling peak current at 400 A, peak voltage at 400V, and duty ratio at 3%, and depositing an AlCrN transition layer for 5 min; and

[0052] introducing argon and oxygen, controlling total gas pressure at 0.4 Pa, with argon/oxygen ratio of 1/3 and workpiece support revolving speed of 2 rpm, alternately opening the Cr target and the Al target, adjusting high power pulse magnetron sputtering average current to 3 A, peak current to 400 A, peak voltage to 400V, and duty ratio to 2%, depositing a CrON/AlON layer for 4 min, turning off a power source, closing a flow valve, taking out the substrate after being cooled to 80 C. along with a furnace and then cooling at normal temperature.

[0053] A coating on the surface of a prepared sample is named as coating 1, with atomic percent and thickness of each layer as follows:

[0054] an aluminum-chromium-nitrogen transition layer: aluminum: 16 at. %, chromium: 28 at. %, nitrogen: 56 at. %; thickness: 200 nm;

[0055] an aluminum-oxygen-nitrogen coating: aluminum: 37 at. %, oxygen: 17 at. %, nitrogen: 46 at. %; thickness: 3 nm; and

[0056] a chromium-oxygen-nitrogen coating: chromium: 34 at. %, oxygen: 18 at. %, nitrogen: 48 at. %; thickness: 5 nm.

Embodiment 2

[0057] Uniformly fixing a high-speed steel cutter substrate after pretreatment on a support, putting into a coating machine, adjusting the revolving speed of a workpiece support to 8 rpm, vacuumizing until ultimate pressure is 5.010.sup.3 Pa, meanwhile, starting a heater, and rising temperature to 500 C.;

[0058] opening an argon flow valve, adjusting a vacuum chamber to be about 1.0 Pa, and applying negative bias voltage 1200 V to the substrate, to perform glow sputtering cleaning for 30 min; then reducing negative bias voltage of the substrate to 500V, starting a high power pulse magnetron sputtering pure Cr target, adjusting average target material current to 10 A, peak current to 800V, peak voltage to 800V, and duty ratio to 7%, and bombarding the substrate for 15 min at high energy with Cr ions to activate the surface of the substrate;

[0059] opening a nitrogen flow valve, reducing substrate bias voltage to 150V, opening an Al target and an Cr target at the same time under conditions that film coating pressure is 1.2 Pa and temperature is 500 C., controlling peak current at 600 A, peak voltage at 700V, and duty ratio at 8%, and depositing an AlCrN transition layer for 20 min; and

[0060] introducing argon and oxygen, controlling total gas pressure at 1.2 Pa, with nitrogen/oxygen ratio of 3/1 and workpiece support revolving speed of 10 rpm, alternately opening the Cr target and the Al target, adjusting high power pulse magnetron sputtering average current to 8 A, peak current to 900 A, peak voltage to 800V, and duty ratio to 8%, depositing a CrON/AlON layer for 200 min, turning off a power source, closing a flow valve, taking out the substrate after being cooled to 150 C. along with a furnace and then cooling at normal temperature.

[0061] A coating on the surface of a prepared sample is named as coating 2, the high resolution transmission electron microscope and selected area electron diffraction images of the coating are as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3[JT1], electron diffraction rings of nanocrystalline CrN and AlN may be obviously seen, and diffraction rings of Al.sub.2O.sub.3 and Cr.sub.2O.sub.3 are not found, speculating that it is an amorphous phase, therefore, an overall coating is of a nanocomposite structure with nanocrystalline being inlaid in an amorphous matrix.

[0062] Atomic percent and thickness of the coating are as follows:

[0063] an aluminum-chromium-nitrogen transition layer: aluminum: 20 at. %, chromium: 31 at. %, nitrogen: 49 at. %; thickness: 320 nm;

[0064] an aluminum-oxygen-nitrogen coating: aluminum: 39 at. %, oxygen: 14 at. %, nitrogen: 47 at. %; thickness: 6 nm; and

[0065] a chromium-oxygen-nitrogen coating: chromium: 45 at. %, oxygen: 11 at. %, nitrogen: 44 at. %; thickness: 8 nm.

Embodiment 3

[0066] Uniformly fixing a hard alloy cutter substrate after pretreatment on a support, putting into a coating machine, adjusting the revolving speed of a workpiece support to 4 rpm, vacuumizing until ultimate pressure is 2.010.sup.3 Pa, meanwhile, starting a heater, and rising temperature to 400 C.;

[0067] opening an argon flow valve, adjusting a vacuum chamber to be about 0.8 Pa, and applying negative bias voltage 1000 V to the substrate, to perform glow sputtering cleaning for 20 min; then reducing negative bias voltage of the substrate to 400V, starting a high power pulse magnetron sputtering pure Cr target, adjusting average target material current to 4 A, peak current to 500V, peak voltage to 520V, and duty ratio to 3%, and bombarding the substrate for 10 min at high energy with Cr ions to activate the surface of the substrate;

[0068] opening a nitrogen flow valve, reducing substrate bias voltage to 120V, opening an Al target and an Cr target at the same time under conditions that film coating pressure is 0.8 Pa and temperature is 500 C., controlling peak current at 400 A, peak voltage at 450V, and duty ratio at 3%, depositing an AlCrN transition layer for 10 min, introducing argon and oxygen, controlling total gas pressure at 0.8 Pa, with nitrogen/oxygen ratio of 1/1 and workpiece support revolving speed of 4 rpm, alternately opening the Cr target and the Al target, adjusting high power pulse magnetron sputtering average current to 4 A, peak current to 400 A, peak voltage to 400V, and duty ratio to 3%, depositing a CrON/AlON layer for 100 min, turning off a power source, closing a flow valve, taking out the substrate after being cooled to 100 C. along with a furnace and then cooling at normal temperature.

[0069] A coating on the surface of a prepared sample is named as coating 3, with atomic percent and thickness of the coating as follows:

[0070] an aluminum-chromium-nitrogen transition layer: aluminum: 21 at. %, chromium: 34 at. %, nitrogen: 45 at. %; thickness: 400 nm;

[0071] an aluminum-oxygen-nitrogen coating: aluminum: 41 at. %, oxygen: 16 at. %, nitrogen: 43 at. %; thickness: 12 nm; and

[0072] a chromium-oxygen-nitrogen coating: chromium: 39 at. %, oxygen: 17 at. %, nitrogen: 44 at. %; thickness: 6 nm.

Comparative Example 1

[0073] A sample only containing an aluminum-chromium-nitrogen buffer layer and prepared on a hard alloy substrate by adopting a method described in embodiment 1, named as coating 4.

Comparative Example 2

[0074] A sample only containing an aluminum-chromium-nitrogen buffer layer and an aluminum-oxygen-nitrogen coating and prepared on a hard alloy substrate by adopting a method described in embodiment 1, named as coating 5.

Comparative Example 3

[0075] A sample only containing an aluminum-chromium-nitrogen buffer layer and a chromium-oxygen-nitrogen coating and prepared on a hard alloy substrate by adopting a method described in embodiment 1, named as coating 6.

[0076] Performances of coatings obtained in embodiments 13 and comparative examples 13 are detected, results being as shown in table 1.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Performance detection results of coatings of embodiments 1~3 and comparative examples 1~3 Hardness Binding force Elastic Number (GPa) (N) recovery rate Coating 1 24 63 68% Coating 2 28 60 70% Coating 3 24 65 62% Coating 4 5 58 45% Coating 5 7 50 44% Coating 6 10 57 48%

[0077] It is known from the foregoing comparative examples and embodiments that the flexible hard composite coating provided by the present invention is high in hardness, good in flexibility, and strong in binding force with a substrate.

[0078] Descriptions of the foregoing embodiments are merely used for helping to understand the method of the present invention and the core thought thereof. It should be noted that a person of ordinary skill in the art may make some improvements and modifications without departing from the principle of the invention, and these improvements and modifications all fall within the protection scope of the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments are apparent to professionals of the art, and a general principle defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments under the condition of not departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention will not be limited to these embodiments shown herein, and conforms to a widest scope consistent to principles and novel characteristics disclosed herein.