Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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CLEANING NOTCHES AND PASSAGES FOR A FEEDING OR REFINING ELEMENT
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent
Application 62/635,143
filed February 26, 2018, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The invention relates generally to mechanical refiners and
more particularly to
flinger and refiner plates in such refiners, especially for pulping medium
density fiberboard
production and in mechanical pulping systems.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Mechanical refiners convert into pulp wood chips, recycled
paper, recycled
corrugated packaging material and other lignocellulosic materials
(collectively referred to as
"feed material"). The mechanical refiner applies pressure pulses, shearing
forces and other
mechanical forces to separate the feed material into separated fibers that
form pulp. The feed
material may have a high consistency, such as over 30% dry contents. High
consistency
cellulosic feed material may be refined to form medium density fiberboard
(MDF) or
mechanical pulps such as Thermo-Mechanical Pulp (TMP), Chemi-Thermo-Mechanical
Pulp
(CTMP) and other variations of pulp.
[0004] As the feed material flows through the refiner, fibers and
extractives, such as resin,
sap, pitch and other liquid or liquefied wood components in the feed material,
tend to
accumulate at certain locations in the refiner. These locations include the
trailing side of feeder
bars on flinger plates and the trailing side of dams between bars in refiner
plates.
[0005] The accumulations of fiber and extractives become dark, e.g., black,
and hard.
Occasionally, the accumulations dislodge from the flinger and refiner plates,
and enter the flow
of feed materials moving through the refiner. The dislodged accumulations may
break into small
particles and mix into the flow of feed material. The particles of
accumulations form dark specs
in the pulp material output from the refiner and in the final product, being
paper or board. Pulp
material with dark specs reduces the final product's desirability and sales
value. Accordingly,
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there is a long felt need to reduce dark specs in the pulp material produced
by mechanical
refiners.
SUMMARY
[0006] The inventors believe that the accumulations form due to low
pressure regions next
to trailing surfaces on the flinger and refiner plates. The low pressures are
believed to cause
stagnate flow of the feed material in what otherwise is a fast flow of
materials through the
refiner. Stagnate flow has low kinetic energy and thus low total pressure, as
compared to the
total pressure of fast flowing materials. Due to its low pressure, stagnate
flow traps material that
would otherwise flow through the refiner. The trapped material adheres to
surfaces on the flinger
and refiner plates adjacent the stagnate flow. These surfaces tend to be
trailing surfaces of the
bars of flinger plates, and trailing surfaces near or on dams in grooves of a
refiner plate. The
material remains trapped against the trailing surfaces and is blackened by the
heat in the refiner.
[0007] The inventors conceived of a solution to the accumulations by
increasing the
pressures in stagnate flow regions. The pressure can be increased by creating
notches and/or
holes in the bars of a flinger plate and holes in the bars of a refiner plate.
The notches and holes
extend from a leading edge of a bar to a trailing edge of the bar. The notches
and holes create a
passage through the bar between a high pressure region at the leading side of
a bar and a low
pressure region at a trailing side of a bar.
[0008] The holes in the bars of a refiner plate open on a trailing side of
the bar just behind a
dam connected to the bar. Pressurized fluid, such as steam, flows through the
holes to increase
the pressure of the stagnant flow. The increased pressure should add energy to
the stagnate flow
regions and thereby reduce the tendency of fibers and other materials to
accumulate behind
dams and on the trailing sides of feeder bars.
[0009] The new designs of notches or holes in the bar of a flinger plate
and holes in the bars
of a refiner plate should reduce the low pressure that usually exists on the
trailing side of feeder
bars and downstream of dams in grooves between refining bars. The reduction in
pressure
differential may reduce or eliminate the fiber accumulations that occur in
conventional flinger
and plate designs by reducing or eliminating stagnate pressure zones.
[0010] An exemplary flinger plate or refiner plate in accordance with the
present disclosure
comprises deep notches or holes in the bars of the plate. The notches or holes
in the bars allow
steam to flow from the high pressure leading side of the bar to the low
pressure trailing side of
the bar.
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[0011] The notches or holes in or through a bar of a flinger or
refiner plate may be oriented
to reduce the fiber entrained with the steam flowing through the notches or
holes. To reduce the
fibers in the steam flowing through the bars, the notches or holes may be
aligned
perpendicularly to the bars, or at an acute or obtuse angle to the bars.
[0012] An exemplary flinger plate for a mechanical refiner may comprise: a
front face, a
back face, a substrate separating the front face from the back face, a center
hub extending from
the front face, feeder bars extending from the front face, wherein the feeder
bars extend radially
outward along the front face from the center, a deep notch or hole disposed in
a feeder bar of the
feeder bars. The deep notch or hole extends through the bar and is configured
to allow fluid to
flow through the bar. The deep notch or hole may be oriented to reduce the
likelihood that fiber
will travel through the deep notch when the flinger plate is used in a
mechanical refiner.
[0013] The notch may have an opening at a leading side of the feeder
bar or refiner bar that
has a cross-sectional area which is smaller than a cross-sectional area of an
outlet of the notch at
the trailing side of the bar. Similarly, the cross-sectional area of the notch
may gradually
increase from the inlet to the outlet of the notch. Similarly, hole(s) in each
bar may have an
opening at a leading side of the bar that has a cross-sectional area smaller
than a cross-sectional
area of an outlet of the hole at the trailing side of the bar. The cross-
sectional area of the hole
may gradually increase from the inlet to the outlet of the hole. The holes may
be an alternative
to the notches or used in addition to the notches. For example, notches may be
in bars on a
flinger plate and holes may be bars on a refiner plate in the same refiner.
[0014] A mechanical refiner plate segment has been conceived and is
disclosed herein which
includes: a substrate having a radially inward edge and a radially outward
edge; a refining
surface including bars separated by grooves, wherein the bars and grooves
extend towards the
radially outward edge; dams in the grooves, wherein the dams in each groove
span between the
adjacent bars on opposite sides of the groove; and at least one open passage
extending through
one of the adjacent bars, wherein the open passage has one end adjacent or
near a trailing side of
one of the dams in the groove.
[0015] The mechanical refiner plate segment may have an open passage
with a cross
sectional area of at least nine (9) mm2 for an entirety of a length of the
open passage. The open
passage may be below a ridge of the one of the adjacent bars by at least 10%,
or 15%, or 25% of
the height of the one of the adjacent bars. The open passage may have an inlet
at a leading side
of the refiner bar that has a cross-sectional area smaller than a cross-
sectional area of an outlet of
the passage at the trailing side of the bar. Similarly, the cross-sectional
area of the open passage
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may gradually increase from the inlet to the outlet. Also, there may be an
open passage
associated with each of the dams in the refiner plate segment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] The foregoing will be apparent from the following more
particular description of
exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, as illustrated in the accompanying
drawings. The
drawings are not necessarily to scale, with emphasis instead being placed upon
illustrating the
disclosed embodiments.
[0017] FIG. 1 is a cross sectional schematic drawing of a portion of a
mechanical refiner
machine for pulping cellulosic feed material.
[0018] FIG. 2 shows a front face of a flinger plate.
[0019] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the flinger plate shown in
FIG. 2 taken along the
line 3-3 in FIG. 1.
[0020] FIG. 4 is a front view of a refiner plate segment.
[0021] FIG. 5 is side view of a portion of a cross section of the
refiner plate segment shown
in FIG. 4.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0022] FIG. 1 shows in cross section a conventional single-disc
refiner 10 having a housing
12 defining an internal chamber 14. A rotor disc assembly 16 in the chamber is
turned by a
shaft 18 driven by a motor. The rotor disc assembly includes a supporting disc
20, a circular
flinger plate 22 attached to a front face of the supporting disc 20, and an
annular assembly of
pie-shaped refiner plate segments 24 mounted to the front face of the
supporting disc 20. Inner
edges of the refiner plate segments are adjacent an outer periphery of the
flinger plate 22.
[0023] A similar annular array of plate segments 26 is arranged on a
supporting disc 28 of a
stator disc assembly which is fixed to housing. Alternatively, an annular
refiner plate may be
used instead of an annular array of plate segments. Further, the refiner
plates or plate segments
may be arranged in a disc generally conforming to a plane for a disc refiner
or as a frustoconical
plate or a frustoconical assembly of plate segment for a conical refiner.
[0024] The flinger plate 22 rotates with the rotor disc assembly 16.
The flinger plate accepts
feed material from a cellulosic material feeding screw (not show). Feed
material flows from the
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material feed screw, through at center inlet 30 to the refiner along a flow
direction (F) parallel to
an axis 32 of rotation of the rotor disc 16. The flinger plate 22 assists in
turning the flow of the
cellulosic material from an axial direction 32 to a radial direction that
leads a gap 34 between the
rotor disc assembly and the stator disc assembly. If the refiner disc is
conical, the flinger plate
assists in turning the flow to a conical path that leads to a conical gap
between conical refiner
plates.
[0025] As the feed material moves through the gap 34, the material is
refined by bars and
grooves on the opposing plate segments 24, 26 of the rotor and stator plate
assemblies. The
action of the bars and grooves separates the feed material into fibers and
thus into pulp. The pulp
flows out of the outer periphery of the gap 34 and into the chamber 14 of the
housing 12.
[0026] FIG. 2 is a front view of a flinger plate 100 for a mechanical
refiner comprising
feeder bars and deep notches 118, 124 disposed within the feeder bars. The
deep notches may be
oriented to reduce the likelihood that fiber will travel into and across the
notch. FIG. 3 is a side
view of a cross section of the flinger plate 100.
[0027] The flinger plate 100 includes a substrate 102 having a front face
104 and a back face
105 on an opposite side of the substrate. The flinger plate 100 has a center
axis (C) and a center
hub 106 centered on the axis. The center hub may protrude from the front face
104 of the
substrate and has a planar (flat) face. Alternatively, the center hub 106 may
be planar with the
front face 104 of the substrate or recessed with respect to the front face of
the substrate.
[0028] An outer annular periphery 108 of the flinger plate 100 defines the
outer edge of the
substrate 102. The flinger plate 100 may be a single circular disc or an
assembly of pie-shaped
plate segments that together form a circular disc.
[0029] Feeder bars 110 protrude from the front face 104 and extend
from the center hub 105
to the outer periphery 107. The feeder bars 110 are swept back from a radial
line in a rotational
direction R. The back sweep of the feeder bars 110 aids in flinging feed
material radially
outward. The flinger plate 100 and rotor disc assembly rotate in direction R.
The bars can also
be straight, either angled in a feeding angle, or arranged in a substantially
radial direction. The
flinger plate 100 is secured to the rotor disc 16 by fasteners (not shown)
that extend through
fastener holes 120 in the substrate 102.
[0030] The feeder bars 110 each have a leading side 112, a trailing side
114 and a wide ridge
116 spanning between top edges of the leading and trailing sides. Notches 118
extend through
feeder bars 110 to form grooves extending from the ridge 116 down towards and
possibly to the
substrate 104. Each feeder bar may have one, two, three or more notches 118
and/or holes 119.
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The inlet 122 to each of the notches or holes is on the leading side 112 of
the feeder bar 110 and
the outlet 124 is on the trailing side 114 of the feeder bar. A radially
inward notch 118 or hole
119 on each feeder bar may have an outlet 124 adjacent the center hub 106.
[0031] The notches or grooves may be grouped along the first half or
two-thirds of the radial
length of a feeder bar. The depth of the notches may be from the ridge 116
down half way of the
bar to the substrate, two-thirds to the substrate or all the way to the
substrate 104. The notch
may extend into the substrate. Similarly, the holes 119 may extend into the
substrate.
[0032] The notches or holes may be arranged such the inlet 122 is at a
shorter radial distance
from the center (C) than the outlet 124. The notches or holes may also be
perpendicular to the
bars, or have a reversed direction wherein the inlet is at a greater radial
distance than the outlet. .
[0033] The cross-sectional area of the inlet 122 to a notch 118 or
hole 119 may be smaller
than the cross-sectional area of the outlet 124. Similarly, the cross
sectional area of a notch or
hole may gradually, e.g., linearly, increase in area from the inlet 122 to the
outlet 124.
[0034] The notches 118 and holes 119 allow fluid, such as steam, under
pressure at a leading
side 112 of the feeder bar to pass through the bar to the trailing side 114.
The pressure at the
leading side 112 of a feeder bar 110 tends to be greater than the pressure at
the trailing side 114
due to the movement of the leading side into the feed material and the
movement of the trailing
side away from the feed material.
[0035] The greater pressure at the inlets 122 of the notches or holes
will cause fluids, such as
steam, to move through the notches and to the trailing side 114 of the feeder
bars. As the fluid
exits the notches, the relatively higher pressure of the fluid increases the
pressure at the trailing
side 114 of the feeder bars. This increased pressure at the trailing sides 114
reduces the tendency
of stagnate flow forming in relatively low regions adjacent the trailing sides
114 of the feeder
bar.
[0036] The notches 118 or holes 119 may be shaped to suppress fibers being
drawn into the
inlets 122 of the notches. The shape of the inlets 122 may include an obtuse
angle, a curvature
along the length of the notches or a hole, and an acute angle 128 at the
outlet 124. The obtuse
angle 126 may be in a range of 100 degrees to 160 degrees, 115 to 145 degrees,
or some other
degree. The obtuse angle may be measured at the radially inward edge 130 of
the inlet 122. The
obtuse angle causes flow moving in front of the leading side 112 of the feeder
bar 110 to turn
greater than 90 degrees to enter the inlet 122. The flow that makes this turn
should be primarily
liquids and not the fibers in the flow. The obtuse angle 126 at the inlet 122
also results in a blunt
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edge at the radially outward side of the inlet. The blunt edge reduces the
risk that fibers
impacting the edge are cut or otherwise damaged.
[0037] At the outlet 124, the acute angle 128 may be measured at the
radially inward 132
edge of the outlet 124. The acute angle 128 may be in a range of 90 to 30
degrees, 75 to 45
degrees or in another range of degrees. The curvature along the length of the
notches 118 or
hole 119 provides a smooth transition between the angles of the inlet and
outlet to the notch.
The angles of the channels are may be selected to prevent preventing feed
material moving
across bars and thus create a loss in the feeding performance. On the other
hand, notches or
holes that run perpendicular to the bars, or even in a direction towards the
outer periphery of the
flinger plate may be desirable in certain cases.
[0038] The sidewalls of the notches 118 or holes 119 may be planer and
perpendicular to the
substrate 102 or angled such that the notch opens from the substrate to the
ridge 116. The
sidewalls may also be curved, such as concave or convex, from the substrate to
the ridge.
[0039] The holes may be 119 similar to the notches 118, except that
the ridge extends over
the holes but not over notches. The holes may be individual holes 119 through
a feeder bar, two
or more holes that join at their inlet or outlets, and the holes may be
tapered such that their
cross-sectional area increases from inlet to outlet. The holes function
similarly to the notches to
provide pressure equalization across the leading and trailing sides of a bar
in a flinger plate.
[0040] The notches 118 or holes 119 may each have a cross sectional
area of at least 9 mm2
and may have a width less than the width of the feeder bar with the notch (or
holes). The width
of the notch or hole is from one side of the notch or hole to an opposite
side. The width may be
constant along the length of the notch or hole, except at the inlet and
outlets may expand. The
notches or holes may also have a variable width, such as being narrow on the
leading edge of the
bars, and extending towards the trailing edge of the bars. This prevents large
particles of the
feed material to enter the notches or holes, but also reduces the risk of
blocking the inlets s with
material.
[0041] The flinger plate 100 may be formed by casting metal into a
mold form of sand. An
imprint of the flinger plate is formed in sand molds which are clamped
together to form a cavity
that is substantially the same shape as the flinger plate. Metal is poured in
the cavity of the sand
mold to form the flinger plate. The flinger plate can also be cast without the
notches, and
notches can be made through machining of the bars with suitable tools. The
flinger plate can
also be a manufactured plate made of individually welded components. Holes can
be drilled,
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cast using cores in the pattern, or made with 3D printed sand molds. Holes can
also be made in
bars prior to making a welded assembly.
[0042] FIG. 4 is a front view of a refiner plate segment 200, and FIG.
5 is side view of a
portion of a cross section of the refiner plate segment 200. The refiner plate
segment 200 may be
conventional except for the holes in the bars described below.
[0043] The refiner plate segment 200 is pie-shaped and is assembled
with other refiner plate
segments on a rotor or stator disc. The refiner plate segments are attached to
the disc by
fasteners inserted in fastener holes 202. The refiner plate segments are
arranged side 204 to side
to form an annular assembly of segments on the disc. The outer edge 206 of the
refiner plate
segment 200 forms a circular perimeter when the plate segments are arranged in
the annular
assembly. The outer edge 206 of the refining surface of the refiner plate
segment. The inner
edge 208 of the refiner plate segment 200 may be located on the rotor or
stator disc adjacent an
outer edge of the flinger plate. The inner edges 208 of the assembly of
refiner plate segments
200 form a circle that surrounds the outer edge of the flinger plate.
[0044] The front face of the refiner plate segment 200 is a refining
surface. The front face
includes a substrate 210 that extends between the inner and outer edges 206,
208, and between
the sides 204 of the refiner plate segment. The substrate may be planar from a
disc refiner, or the
substrate may be arched for a conical refiner.
[0045] Extending outward from the substrate 210 are bars 212, 214 and
216 arranged in
groups. The radially inward most group of bars 212 are thick and spaced
relatively far apart. The
next group of bars 214 are narrower and relatively close together, and
radially outermost bars
216 are the narrowest and most closely spaced together. The bars in each group
may be
substantially parallel. Between adjacent bars are grooves that extend down to
the substrate 210
and up to the top (ridge) of the bars. The bars and grooves in each group
define a refining
sections of the refiner plate segment. The arrangements of groups of bars and
grooves shown in
Figure 4 is exemplary. Other refiner plates may have a single group of bars
and grooves, two or
more groups or bars and grooves that vary in shape and dimensions in a radial
direction of the
refiner plate.
[0046] The feed material flows radially outward through a gap 34 (Fig.
1) between the front
faces of opposing refiner plates or assembly of plate segments. The opposing
refiner plates or
assembly of plate segments may be a refiner plate assembly and a stator plate
assembly. Some
refiners may have two oppositely rotating discs on either side of the gap. The
bars and grooves
of one plate assembly face the bars and grooves on the opposing plate
assembly. The bars and
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grooves refine the lignocellulosic matter in the feed material by applying
pressure pulses and by
shearing the matter.
[0047] The grooves 217 between bars 212 in the inner refining zone,
the grooves 218
between bars 214 in the middle refining zone and the grooves 220 between bars
216 is the outer
refining zone provide passages for steam and liquids to flow radially outward.
While fibers also
may flow through the grooves, the fibers are refined by flowing over the bars
and in the gap
between the refiner plates.
[0048] To move the fibers out of the grooves and to slow the flow
through the grooves,
dams 222, 224, 226, 228 fully or partially block the grooves. Specifically,
partial-height dams
222 and full height dams 224 are placed are at various locations in the
grooves between the bars
214. Similarly, partial height dams 228 and full height dams 226 are at
various locations
between the bars 216.
[0049] As shown in Figure 5, partial-height dams 222, 228 extend from
the substrate 210
towards the ridge 230 of the bars, but do not reach the bars. Full height dams
224, 226 extend
from the substrate to the ridge of the bars. The dams divert material flowing
through the grooves
towards the gap between the opposing refiner plate assemblies. The dams also
slow the flow of
material through the grooves.
[0050] The dams create stagnate flow zones 232 in the grooves
immediately downstream
(radially outward) of the dams. Stagnate flow zones collect fibers and other
particles due to the
low pressures in the zones. These fibers and particles can adhere to the back
of the dams and the
sides of the bars near the dams. The accumulations of fibers, pitch and other
particles tend to
become hard and blacken due the high temperatures in the refiner. The
accumulations may
periodically break off into small black particles that can contaminate and
discolor the pulp
(separated fibers) being produced by the refiner. The accumulations also may
fill the grooves
and thereby reduce the ability of the refiner plates to refine material and
reduce the feed material
capacity of the refiner. Thus, the accumulations may require replacement of
the refiner plate
segments.
[0051] To reduce the accumulations behind dams, open passages 234 are
formed in the bars
and are each positioned radially outward of a dam. The open passages 234 allow
fluid to flow
from a high pressure in a region of one groove away from a dam through a bar
and into a
stagnate zone to increase the pressure in that zone. The increased pressure
reduces the tendency
for accumulations to form and thereby reduces the risk that particles of
accumulations will break
off and contaminate the pulp. There may be an open passage 234 associated with
each dam such
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that the outlet of the passage 234 is immediately downstream (radially outward
and adjacent the
trailing side) of the dam and the inlet opens to a portion of a groove that
does not have a dam.
The downstream direction of the feed material is shown by arrow 236 in Fig. 5.
[0052] The open passages 234 are below the ridge 230 of the bar. The
ridge of the bar
applies shear and pressure pulses to the feed material. A continuously ridge
over the open
passages 234 allows the ridge to continue applying shear and pressure forces.
Adding a notch to
the ridge to provide a passage through the bar would interrupt the ridge and
reduce the ability of
the bar to refine the feed material.
[0053] The open passage 234 may extend down to the substrate 210 as
shown in Fig. 5 or
may in a mid-section of a bar and not reach the substrate. The open passage
may extend towards
the ridge of the bar but should not interrupt the ridge. There may be a
substantial portion of the
groove, such as a quarter of the grooves height, between the ridge and the
open passage. Leaving
a substantial portion between the ridge and open passage will allow the ridge
to erode without
eroding into the open passage. The open passage may also be partially or fully
below (inside)
the substrate.
[0054] The open passage 234 may have a cross section that is square,
rectangular, circular,
oval, or any shape that allows steam or other fluids/material to flow from one
groove into the
next groove. The cross sectional area of the open passage may be 9mm2 or at
least grater than 7
to 8 mm2. For example, an open passage 234 may have a square cross of 3 mm x 3
mm. The
open passages 234 should not be too small, such as below 7mm2 to avoid
plugging of the
passage with material. Similarly, the open passages 234 should not be so large
as to weaken the
ridge or the bar. Open passages 234 having a dimension of 3mm to 5mm in a
direction from the
substrate to the ridge may be advantageous in provide a large opening and not
weakening the
ridge.
[0055] Moreover, the passages 234 may extend into the substrate such that a
portion of the
passage extends through the bar and a parallel portion is embedded in the
substrate, as shown in
Figure 5. Alternatively, the passages 234 may be entirely embedded in the
substrate such that the
passage extends below a bar and have the inlet and outlet at the bottom of the
grooves on
opposite sides of the bar.
[0056] The open passages 234 may be perpendicular to the longitudinal axis
of the bar, or
may be acute to the longitudinal axis. Moreover, the cross sectional area of
the open passage
may be constant along its length, or may be tapered from the inlet to the
outlet (or vice versa) to
achieve a desired flow of steam and other fluids through the passage.
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[0057] The refiner plate segment 200 may be formed by casting metal
into a mold form of
sand. An imprint of the refiner plate segment is formed in sand molds which
are clamped
together to form a cavity that is substantially the same shape as the flinger
plate. Metal is poured
in the cavity of the sand mold to form the flinger plate. The open passages
may be formed in the
sand molds by three-dimensional printing all or a portion of the sand imprint
for the refiner plate
segment. Additionally, the open passages may be made after the production of
castings using
drilling and machining processes, or standard sand castings can have sand
cores added to create
the open passages directly in the casting.
[0058] Except as otherwise expressly stated herein, the following
rules of interpretation
apply to this specification: (a) all words used herein shall be construed to
be of such gender or
number (singular or plural) as to circumstances require; (b) the singular
terms "a," "an," and
"the," as used in the specification and the appended claims include plural
references unless the
context clearly dictates otherwise; (c) the antecedent term "about" applied to
a recited range or
value denotes an approximation within the deviation in the range or values
known or expected in
the art from the measurements; (d) the words "herein," "hereby," "hereto,"
"hereinbefore," and
"hereinafter," and words of similar import, refer to this specification in its
entirety and not to
any particular paragraph, claim, or other subdivision, unless otherwise
specified; (e) descriptive
headings are for convenience only and shall not control or affect the meaning
or construction of
any part of the specification; and (0 "or" and "any" are not exclusive and
"include" and
"including" are not limiting. Further, the terms, "comprising," "having,"
"including," and
"containing" are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning "including
but not limited
to").
[0059] Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to
serve as a shorthand
method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the
range of within any sub
ranges there between, unless otherwise clearly indicated herein. Each separate
value within a
recited range is incorporated into the specification or claims as if each
separate value were
individually recited herein. Where a specific range of values is provided, it
is understood that
each intervening value, to the tenth or less of the unit of the lower limit
between the upper and
lower limit of that range and any other stated or intervening value in that
stated range or sub
range hereof, is included herein unless the context clearly dictates
otherwise. All subranges are
also included. The upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges are also
included therein,
subject to any specifically and expressly excluded limit in the stated range.
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