U.S. patent application number 12/952390 was filed with the patent office on 2012-03-29 for battery cooling apparatus for vehicle and control method thereof.
This patent application is currently assigned to KIA MOTORS CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Hoseok Jeon, Hyun Kim, Sangha Kim, Junmo Ku, Heesang Park, Junekyu Park, Junghwan Yun.
Application Number | 20120073797 12/952390 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45804785 |
Filed Date | 2012-03-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120073797 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Park; Heesang ; et
al. |
March 29, 2012 |
BATTERY COOLING APPARATUS FOR VEHICLE AND CONTROL METHOD
THEREOF
Abstract
A battery cooling apparatus for a vehicle comprises a battery
mounted in a first line through which cooling air can pass and a PE
device mounted in a second line through which cooling air can pass.
The first line and the second line are connected in parallel as
opposed to in series. With the configuration, it possible to
implement the optimal cooling function.
Inventors: |
Park; Heesang; (Hwaseong,
KR) ; Kim; Sangha; (Hwaseong, KR) ; Jeon;
Hoseok; (Incheon, KR) ; Ku; Junmo; (Hwaseong,
KR) ; Park; Junekyu; (Hwaseong, KR) ; Yun;
Junghwan; (Seoul, KR) ; Kim; Hyun; (Hwaseong,
KR) |
Assignee: |
KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
Seoul
KR
HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY
Seoul
KR
|
Family ID: |
45804785 |
Appl. No.: |
12/952390 |
Filed: |
November 23, 2010 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/201 ; 165/59;
165/64 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B60H 1/143 20130101;
H01M 10/63 20150401; H01M 10/613 20150401; B60H 2001/003 20130101;
H01M 10/625 20150401; B60H 1/00278 20130101; Y02E 60/10 20130101;
H01M 10/486 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
165/201 ; 165/59;
165/64 |
International
Class: |
F25B 29/00 20060101
F25B029/00; F24F 7/007 20060101 F24F007/007 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Sep 27, 2010 |
KR |
10-2010-0093073 |
Claims
1. A battery cooling apparatus for a vehicle comprising: a battery
and a PE device which are mounted in separate spaces, respectively;
an intake duct provided to separately supply air from the interior
of the vehicle to the battery and the PE device; a discharge duct
provided to discharge the air passing through the battery from the
intake duct to the outside; a PE discharge duct discharging the air
passing through the PE device from the intake duct into the
interior of the vehicle or the outside; a first valve provided in
the intake duct separately supplying the air from the interior of
the vehicle to the battery and the PE device; and a second valve
provided in the PE discharge duct and adjusting the air passing
through the PE device to be discharged to the interior of the
vehicle or the outside.
2. The battery cooling apparatus for a vehicle as defined in claim
1, wherein a blower is disposed in the intake duct to suck the air
from the interior of the vehicle and send the air to the battery
and the PE device, the first valve is disposed at the downstream of
the blower, and the intake duct is divided into a battery supply
duct supplying air to the battery and a PE supply duct supplying
air to the PE device, at the position where the first valve is
disposed.
3. The battery cooling apparatus for a vehicle as defined in claim
2, wherein the PE discharge duct is divided into an interior
heating duct supplying air to the interior of the vehicle and an
external connecting duct connected to the discharge duct to
discharge the air to the outside, at the position where the second
valve is disposed.
4. The battery cooling apparatus for a vehicle as defined in claim
3, wherein an electric heater heating the air is further disposed
at the downstream of the second valve, in the interior heating
duct.
5. A control method of the battery cooling apparatus defined in
claim 2, comprising: a second valve control step that determines
whether to supply air cooling the PE device to the interior or
discharge the air to the outside of a vehicle, by comparing the
current interior temperature with required interior temperature and
then controls the second valve on the basis of the determination; a
heating-required first valve control step that determines whether
to supply the air sucked from the interior of the vehicle only to
the PE device, supply only to the battery, or supply to both of the
PE device and the battery, by comparing the current PE device
temperature with required PE device temperature and comparing the
current battery temperature with required battery temperature, if
it is determined at the second valve control step that the current
interior temperature is lower than the required interior
temperature; and a non-heating-required first valve control step
that determines whether to supply the air sucked from the interior
of the vehicle only to the PE device, supply only to the battery,
or supply to both of the PE device and the battery, by comparing
the current PE device temperature with the required PE device
temperature and comparing the current battery temperature with the
required battery temperature, if it is determined at the second
valve control step the current interior temperature is not lower
than the required interior temperature.
6. The control method as defined in claim 5, wherein control is
performed to determine whether to operate the blower in the
heating-required first valve control step and the
non-heating-required first valve control step.
7. The control method as defined in claim 6, wherein if it is
determined at the second valve control step that the current
interior temperature is lower than the required interior
temperature, the air that has cooled the PE device is supplied for
heating into the interior heating duct by controlling the second
valve, and if it is determined at the second valve control step
that the current interior temperature is not lower than the
required interior temperature, the air that has cooled the PE
device supplied to the external connecting duct.
8. The control method as defined in claim 7, wherein if it is
determined at the heating-required first valve control step that
the current PE device temperature is higher than the required PE
device temperature and the current battery temperature is higher
than the required battery temperature, the blower is operated and
the first valve is controlled to send air to both of the battery
supply duct and the PE supply duct, if it is determined that the
current PE device temperature is higher than the required PE device
temperature and the current battery temperature is not higher than
the required battery temperature, the blower is operated and the
first valve is controlled to send air only to the PE supply duct,
if it is determined that the current PE device temperature is not
higher than the required PE device temperature, the current battery
temperature is higher than the required battery temperature, and
the current PE device temperature is higher than the current
interior temperature, the blower is operated and the first valve is
controlled to send air to both of the battery supply duct and the
PE supply duct, and if it is determined that the current PE device
temperature is not higher than the required PE device temperature,
the current battery temperature is higher than the required battery
temperature, and the current PE device temperature is not higher
than the current interior temperature, the blower is operated and
the first valve is controlled to send air only to battery supply
duct.
9. The control method as defined in claim 8, wherein if it is
determined that the current PE device temperature is not higher
than the required PE device temperature, the current battery
temperature is not higher than the required battery temperature,
and the current PE device temperature is higher than the current
interior temperature, the blower is operated and the first valve is
controlled to send air only to the PE supply duct, and if it is
determined that the PE current temperature is not higher than the
required PE device temperature, the current battery temperature is
not higher than the required battery temperature, and the current
PE device temperature is not higher than the current interior
temperature, the blower is stopped.
10. The control method as defined in claim 7, wherein if it is
determined that at the non-heating-required first valve control
step that the current PE device temperature is higher than the
required PE device temperature and the current battery temperature
is higher than the required battery temperature, the blower is
operated and the first valve is controlled to send air to both of
the battery supply duct and the PE supply duct, if it is determined
that the current PE device temperature is higher than the required
PE device temperature and the current battery temperature is not
higher than the required battery temperature, the blower is
operated and the first valve is controlled to send air only to the
PE supply duct, if it is determined that the current PE device
temperature is not higher than the required PE device temperature
and the current battery temperature is higher than the required
battery temperature, the blower is operated and the first valve is
controlled to send air only to the battery supply duct, and if it
is determined that the PE current temperature is not higher than
the required PE device temperature and the current battery
temperature is not higher than the required battery temperature,
the blower is stopped.
11. A battery cooling apparatus for a vehicle comprising: a battery
mounted in a first line through which cooling air can pass; and a
PE device mounted in a second line through which cooling air can
pass, wherein the first line and the second line are connected in
parallel.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims priority to Korean Patent
Application Number 10-2010-0093073 filed Sep. 27, 2010, the entire
contents of which application are incorporated herein for all
purposes by this reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a battery cooling apparatus
for a vehicle and a control method thereof, and more particularly,
to a technology of cooling a batter mounted in a vehicle to supply
electricity for driving the vehicle and heating the inside of the
vehicle by using heat from the cooling process.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] Recently, vehicles have been equipped with electric motors
supplying at least a portion of driving force for the vehicles and
batteries for operating the electric motors.
[0006] The batteries generates heat in charging or discharging and
a PE device including an inverter and a converter connected to the
battery to control electricity from/to the battery also generate
heat in the operation, and the heat from them should be removed by
appropriate devices.
[0007] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a conventional cooling
apparatus for a battery 500 and a PE device 502 of a vehicle. The
battery 500 and the PE device 502 are connected in series such that
air passing through the battery 500 from a blower 504 can be
discharged outside after sequentially cooling the PE device
502.
[0008] A valve 506 is disposed at the downstream of the PE device
502 to select whether to circulate the air discharged after cooling
into the interior in order to heat the interior, or to intactly
discharge the air, and an electric heater 508 is provided to ensure
heating by applying additional heat when heating the interior.
[0009] The battery cooling apparatus operating with the
configuration described above, however, has difficulty in
sufficiently satisfying appropriate cooling conditions required by
the battery 500 and the PE device 502, because the battery 500 and
the PE device 502 are connected in series and sequentially cooled.
Further, harmful substances may be supplied to the interior when a
leakage is generated in the battery 500 when heating the
interior.
[0010] The information disclosed in this Background of the
Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the
general background of the invention and should not be taken as an
acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information
forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the
art.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] In one aspect, the present invention provides a battery
cooling apparatus for a vehicle comprising a battery mounted in a
first line through which cooling air can pass and a PE device
mounted in a second line through which cooling air can pass, in
which the first line and the second line are connected in
parallel.
[0012] An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a
battery cooling apparatus for a vehicle, which includes a battery
and a PE device which are mounted in isolated spaces, respectively;
an intake duct provided to separately supply air from the interior
of the vehicle to the battery and the PE device; a discharge duct
provided to discharge the air passing through the battery from the
intake duct to the outside; a PE discharge duct discharging the air
passing through the PE device from the intake duct into the
interior of the vehicle or the outside; a first valve provided in
the intake duct separately supplying the air from the interior of
the vehicle to the battery and the PE device; and a second valve
provided in the PE discharge duct and adjusting the air passing
through the PE device to be discharged to the interior of the
vehicle or the outside.
[0013] In another aspect, the present invention provides a control
method of a battery cooling apparatus, which comprises: a second
valve control step that determines whether to supply air cooling
the PE device to the interior or discharge the air to the outside
of a vehicle, by comparing the current interior temperature with
required interior temperature and then controls the second valve on
the basis of the determination; a heating-required first valve
control step that determines whether to supply the air sucked from
the interior of the vehicle only to the PE device, supply only to
the battery, or supply to both of the PE device and the battery, by
comparing the current PE device temperature with required PE device
temperature and comparing the current battery temperature with
required battery temperature, if it is determined at the second
valve control step that the current interior temperature is lower
than the required interior temperature; and a non-heating-required
first valve control step that determines whether to supply the air
sucked from the interior of the vehicle only to the PE device,
supply only to the battery, or supply to both of the PE device and
the battery, by comparing the current PE device temperature with
the required PE device temperature and comparing the current
battery temperature with the required battery temperature, if it is
determined at the second valve control step the current interior
temperature is not lower than the required interior
temperature.
[0014] According to the exemplary embodiments of the present
invention, it is possible to implement the optimal cooling function
appropriate to cooling properties of each device and preclude
harmful substances from flowing into the interior due to leakage of
a battery in heating the interior, because it is possible to
individually cool a battery and a PE device.
[0015] The methods and apparatuses of the present invention have
other features and advantages which will be apparent from or are
set forth in more detail in the accompanying drawings, which are
incorporated herein, and the following Detailed Description of the
Invention, which together serve to explain certain principles of
the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] FIG. 1 is a conventional block diagram of a battery cooling
apparatus for a vehicle.
[0017] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a battery cooling apparatus for
a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention.
[0018] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the
battery cooling apparatus for a vehicle shown in FIG. 2.
[0019] FIGS. 4 and 5 are views of the battery cooling apparatus of
FIG. 3, seen from other angles.
[0020] FIGS. 6 to 8 are flowcharts illustrating a control method of
the battery cooling apparatus for a vehicle according to an
exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
[0021] FIG. 9 is a view illustrating another exemplary embodiment
of the present invention.
[0022] It should be understood that the appended drawings are not
necessarily to scale, presenting a somewhat simplified
representation of various features illustrative of the basic
principles of the invention. The specific design features of the
present invention as disclosed herein, including, for example,
specific dimensions, orientations, locations, and shapes will be
determined in part by the particular intended application and use
environment.
[0023] In the figures, reference numbers refer to the same or
equivalent parts of the present invention throughout the several
figures of the drawing.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0024] Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments
of the present invention(s), examples of which are illustrated in
the accompanying drawings and described below. While the
invention(s) will be described in conjunction with exemplary
embodiments, it will be understood that present description is not
intended to limit the invention(s) to those exemplary embodiments.
On the contrary, the invention(s) is/are intended to cover not only
the exemplary embodiments, but also various alternatives,
modifications, equivalents and other embodiments, which may be
included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by
the appended claims.
[0025] A battery cooling apparatus for a vehicle according to an
embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to
FIGS. 2 to 5. The apparatus includes a battery 1, a PE device 3, an
intake duct 5, a discharge duct 7, a PE discharge duct 9, a first
valve 11, and a second valve 13. The battery 1 and PE device 3 are
equipped in isolated spaces, respectively. The intake duct 5 is
provided to separately supply air from the interior of the vehicle
to the battery 1 and the PE device 3. The discharge duct 7 is
provided to discharge the air passing through the battery 1 from
the intake duct 5 to the outside. The PE discharge duct 9
discharges the air passing through the PE device 3 from the intake
duct 5 into the interior of the vehicle or the outside. The first
valve 11 is provided in the intake duct 5 for separately supplying
the air from the interior of the vehicle to the battery 1 and the
PE device 3. The second valve 13 is provided in the PE discharge
duct 9 for adjusting the air passing through the PE device 3 to be
discharged to the interior of the vehicle or the outside.
[0026] That is, the air for cooling the battery 1 and the air for
cooling the PE device 3 are separately supplied to cool the battery
1 and the PE device 3 and the interior is heated only by the air
cooing the PE device 3, such that it is possible to structurally
prevent harmful substances from flowing into the interior due to
leakage of the battery 1.
[0027] A blower 15 is disposed in the intake duct 5 to suck the air
from the interior of the vehicle and send the air to the battery 1
and the PE device 3. The first valve 11 is disposed at the
downstream of the blower 15 and the intake duct 5 is divided into a
battery supply duct 17 supplying air to the battery 1 and a PE
supply duct 19 supplying air to the PE device 3, at the position
where the first valve 11 is disposed.
[0028] The PE discharge duct 9 is divided into an interior heating
duct 21 supplying air to the interior of the vehicle and an
external connecting duct 23 connected to the discharge duct 7 to
discharge the air to the outside, at the position where the second
valve 13 is disposed.
[0029] Therefore, the air discharged through the interior heating
duct 21 contributes to heating the interior and the air sent to the
external connecting duct 23 is discharged to the outside through
the discharge duct 7.
[0030] In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, an electric
heater 25 for heating the air is further disposed at the downstream
of the second valve 13 in the interior heating duct 21. The
electric heater 25 can allow the air discharged after cooling the
PE device 3 to be additionally heated and then discharged to the
interior, when the temperature of the air is not enough to heat the
interior.
[0031] A control method of the battery cooling apparatus described
above is described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8. The method
includes a second valve control step (S100), a heating-required
first valve control step (S200), and a non-heating-required first
valve control step (S300).
[0032] The second valve control step comprises determining whether
to supply air for cooling the PE device 3 to the interior or
discharge the air to the outside of a vehicle by comparing the
current interior temperature T.sub.CABIN with required interior
temperature T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.CABIN and controlling the second
valve 13 on the basis of the determination.
[0033] The heating-required first valve control step comprises, if
it is determined at the second valve control step that the current
interior temperature T.sub.CABIN is lower than the required
interior temperature T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.CABIN, determining
whether to supply the air sucked from the interior of the vehicle
only to the PE device 3, supply only to the battery 1, or supply to
both of the PE device 3 and the battery 1 by comparing current PE
device temperature T.sub.PE with required PE device temperature
T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.PE and comparing current battery temperature
T.sub.BAT with required battery temperature
T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.BAT.
[0034] The non-heating-required first valve control step comprises,
if it is determined at the second valve control step that the
current interior temperature T.sub.CABIN is not lower than the
required interior temperature T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.CABIN,
determining whether to supply the air sucked from the interior of
the vehicle only to the PE device 3, supply only to the battery 1,
or supply to both of the PE device 3 and the battery 1 by comparing
current PE device temperature T.sub.PE with required PE device
temperature T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.PE and comparing current battery
temperature T.sub.BAT with required battery temperature
T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.BAT.
[0035] In more detail, the second valve control step (S100)
determines whether to supply the air passing through the PE device
3 to the interior through the interior heating duct 21 or discharge
the air to the outside through the external connecting duct 23 and
the discharge duct 7 by comparing the current interior temperature
T.sub.CABIN with required interior temperature
T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.CABIN and by controlling the second control
valve 13 in accordance with whether the vehicle requires heating.
The heating-required first valve control step (S200) and the
non-heating-required first valve control step (S300) allow the
first valve 11 to appropriately distribute the air from the intake
duct 5 to the battery supply duct 17 and the PE supply duct 19 by
comparing the current PE device temperature T.sub.PE with required
PE device temperature T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.PE and comparing current
battery temperature T.sub.BAT with required battery temperature
T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.BAT. Control is performed to determine whether
to operate the blower 15 in the heating-required first valve
control step (S200) and the non-heating-required first valve
control step (S300).
[0036] At the second valve control step (S100), if it is determined
that the current interior temperature T.sub.CABIN is lower than the
required interior temperature T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.CABIN, the air
that has cooled the PE device 3 is supplied for heating into the
interior heating duct 21 by controlling the second valve 13. On the
other hand, if it is determined that the current interior
temperature T.sub.CABIN is not lower than the required interior
temperature T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.CABIN, the air that has cooled the
PE device 3 is supplied to the external connecting duct 23.
[0037] At the heating-required first valve control step (S200), if
it is determined that the current PE device temperature T.sub.PE is
higher than the required PE device temperature
T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.PE and the current battery temperature
T.sub.BAT is higher than the required battery temperature
T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.BAT, the blower 15 is operated and the first
valve 11 is controlled to send air to both of the battery supply
duct 17 and the PE supply duct 19, such that both of the battery 1
and the PE device 3 are cooled and the air that has cooled the
battery 1 is discharged outside through the discharge duct 7 while
the air that has cooled the PE device 3 is discharged to the
interior through the interior heating duct 21 to contribute to
heating. On the other hand, if it is determined that the current PE
device temperature T.sub.PE is higher than the required PE device
temperature T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.PE and the current battery
temperature T.sub.BAT is not higher than the required battery
temperature T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.BAT, the blower 15 is operated and
the first valve 11 is controlled to send air only to the PE supply
duct 19, such that only the PE device 3 is cooled and the air is
supplied to the interior for heating.
[0038] If it is determined that the current PE device temperature
T.sub.PE is not higher than the required PE device temperature
T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.PE, the current battery temperature T.sub.BAT
is higher than the required battery temperature
T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.BAT, and the current PE device temperature
T.sub.PE is higher than the current interior temperature
T.sub.CABIN, the blower 15 is operated and the first valve 11 is
controlled to send air to both of the battery supply duct 17 and
the PE supply duct 19, such that the battery 1 is cooled and the
air passing through the PE device 3 is supplied to the interior for
heating. On the other hand, if it is determined that the current PE
device temperature T.sub.PE is not higher than the required PE
device temperature T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.PE, the current battery
temperature T.sub.BAT is higher than the required battery
temperature T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.BAT, and the current PE device
temperature T.sub.PE is not higher than the current interior
temperature T.sub.CABIN, the blower 15 is operated and the first
valve 11 is controlled to send air only to the battery supply duct
17, such that only the battery 1 is cooled.
[0039] If it is determined that that the current PE device
temperature T.sub.PE is not higher than the required PE device
temperature T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.PE, the current battery
temperature T.sub.BAT is not higher than the required battery
temperature T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.BAT, and the current PE device
temperature T.sub.PE is higher than the current interior
temperature T.sub.CABIN, the blower 15 is operated and the first
valve 11 is controlled to send air only to the PE supply duct 19,
such that the air passing through the PE device 3 is used to heat
the interior. On the other hand, if it is determined that the
current PE device temperature T.sub.PE is not higher than the
required PE device temperature T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.PE, the current
battery temperature T.sub.BAT is not higher than the required
battery temperature T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.BAT, and the current PE
device temperature T.sub.PE is not higher than the current interior
temperature T.sub.CABIN, the blower 15 is stopped.
[0040] At the non-heating-required first valve control step (S300),
if it is determined that the current PE device temperature T.sub.PE
is higher than the required PE device temperature
T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.PE and the current battery temperature
T.sub.BAT is higher than the required battery temperature
T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.BAT, the blower 15 is operated and the first
valve 11 is controlled to send air to both of the battery supply
duct 17 and the PE supply duct 19, such that both of the battery 1
and the PE device 3 are cooled, and the air that has cooled the
battery 1 and the PE device 3 is discharged outside. On the other
hand, if it is determined that the current PE device temperature
T.sub.PE is higher than the required PE device temperature
T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.PE and the current battery temperature
T.sub.BAT is not higher than the required battery temperature
T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.BAT, the blower 15 is operated and the first
valve 11 is controlled to send air only to the PE supply duct 19,
such that only the PE device 3 is cooled and the air that has
cooled the PE device is discharged outside sequentially through the
external connecting duct 23 and the discharge duct 7. On the other
hand, if it is determined that the current PE device temperature
T.sub.PE is not higher than the required PE device temperature
T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.PE and the current battery temperature
T.sub.BAT is higher than the required battery temperature
T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.BAT, the blower 15 is operated and the first
valve 11 is controlled to send air only to the battery supply duct
17, such that only the battery 1 is cooled and the air that has
cooled the battery is discharged outside through the discharge duct
7. On the other hand, if it is determined that the PE current
temperature T.sub.PE is not higher than the required PE device
temperature T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.PE and the current battery
temperature T.sub.BAT is not higher than the required battery
temperature T.sub.REQ.sub.--.sub.BAT, the blower 15 is stopped.
[0041] The foregoing descriptions of specific exemplary embodiments
of the present invention have been presented for purposes of
illustration and description. They are not intended to be
exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms
disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are
possible in light of the above teachings. The exemplary embodiments
were chosen and described in order to explain certain principles of
the invention and their practical application, to thereby enable
others skilled in the art to make and utilize various exemplary
embodiments of the present invention, as well as various
alternatives and modifications thereof. It is intended that the
scope of the invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto and
their equivalents.
* * * * *