The disclosure relates generally to a weight plate retention collar. In particular, the disclosure relates to a weight plate retention collar that includes a dynamic ability to absorb weight plate and barbel vibration and impact and shock.
Several types of weight plate retention collars exist to secure the weight plates to a barbell sports equipment in a reliable manner. However, historically the weight plate retention collars do not have the ability to mitigate vibration and impact of the weight plates and barbell during use. Thereby, the weight plate retention collars loosen, move, or fail in exercises that require multiple repetitions which is particularly problematic for weightlifters who have loaded barbells with heavy weights. The falling off of the weight plates due to the failure of the used barbell collars can cause injury to others and damage to surrounding objects or surfaces. Thus, a dynamic weight plate retention collar with the ability to mitigate vibration and impact of repeated use that is also serviceable and repairable is still needed in order to improve the function, longevity, and user experience when using a dynamic weight plate retention collar.
The present description includes one or more non-limiting embodiment for a barbell collar that can absorb shock coming from high loads in the form of one or more weight plates on a barbell and prevents the weight plates from sliding off of the ends of the barbell. The barbell collar, in one or more non-limiting embodiments, may comprise a body collar, wherein the body collar comprises a front surface, a cavity extending through the body collar, one or more fastener holes integrated into a top outer surface of the body collar, one or more contact pockets integrated into one or more interior side walls of the body collar, and one or more adjustable contact patches. The one or more adjustable contact patches is removably held inside of and retained within the one or more contact pockets integrated into the one or more interior side walls of the body collar, wherein the one or more adjustable contact patches is removable and replaceable with another adjustable and removable contact patch. The barbell collar may further include one or more adjustable fasteners insertable into the one or more fastener holes integrated into the top outer surface of the body collar, wherein the one or more adjustable fasteners are configured to adjust a position of the one or more adjustable contact patches, wherein the one or more adjustable fasteners is configured to cause the one or more adjustable contact patches to advance forward to bite down onto a barbell and to retract away from the barbell. The barbell collar may further include one or more energizers, wherein the one or more energizers are positioned in front of the body collar. The barbell collar may further include a piston disk, the piston disk being movable in a forward and backward direction and is also rotatable when assembled in the barbell collar. The barbell collar may further include one or more adjustable fasteners that may comprise a handle and an attachable rotatable screw, wherein the handle is configured to tighten and release the attachable rotatable screw and is accessible from an outer surface of the body collar. In a non-limiting embodiment, the barbell collar includes at least two adjustable, removable dynamic contact patches and may also include a single non-dynamic, but removable and static contact patch.
The present description also includes one or more non-limiting embodiments for a barbell collar comprising a piston disk, whereby the piston disk is movable in a forward and backward direction and is also rotatable when assembled in the barbell collar. The barbell collar may further include one or more energizers and a body collar, wherein the piston disk and the one or more energizers are positioned in front of the body collar. In a non-limiting embodiment, the body collar comprises a front surface and a bore or cavity extending through the interior body collar. The body collar may further comprise one or more fastener holes integrated into a top outer surface of the body collar as well as an interior ledge surface that is recessed from the front surface of the body collar, wherein the piston disk and the one or more energizers are located in front of the front side of the body collar. The body collar may further include interior side walls protruding away from the interior ledge surface on a rear facing side of the body collar and a plurality of pockets integrated into the side walls of the body collar. The body collar may further include one or more contact patches, wherein the one or more contact patches is held inside of and retained within the one or more contact patches integrated into the interior side walls on the rear facing side of the body collar. The body collar may further include one or more adjustable fasteners insertable into the one or more fastener holes integrated into the top outer surface of the body collar, wherein at least one of the one or more adjustable fasteners and at least one of the one or more fastener holes are in alignment with at least one contact patch of the one or more contact patches. The body collar may further include a retention ring positioned behind a rear surface of the body collar and behind the one or more contact patches.
In a non-limiting embodiment, the one or more energizers are springs. In a non-limiting embodiment, the one or more adjustable fasteners comprise a handle and an attachable rotatable screw, wherein the handle is configured to tighten and release the attachable rotatable screw and is accessible from an outer surface of the body collar. Further, in a non-limiting embodiment, the one or more contact patches is replaceable and serviceable in the plurality of pockets. In another non-limiting embodiment, the piston disk comprises four rings of varying diameter, wherein the first outer ring is wider in diameter than a second interior ring, wherein the second interior ring comes after the first outer ring, and wherein a diameter of the third interior ring is smaller than the diameter of the second interior ring, wherein the third interior ring comes after the second interior ring, and wherein a diameter of a fourth ring is the same diameter as the second interior ring. In a non-limiting embodiment, at least one of the one or more contact patches are dynamically moveable forward and back using the one or more adjustable fasteners and a third contact patch of the one or more contact patches is static and does not move forward and back.
Further, in a non-limiting embodiment, the first pocket integrated on a configured to receive a first contact patch is aligned with a first adjustable fastener hole and a second pocket configured to receive a second contact patch is aligned with a second adjustable fastener hole on the body collar.
In a non-limiting embodiment, the contact patches comprise a top surface that acts as load bearing surface and a bottom surface that acts as a contact surface that contacts a barbell. The contact patch has a top surface that is wider in its width than the bottom element which protrudes down and away from the top surface of the contact plate. The contact patch may be approximately T-shaped. In a non-limiting embodiment, the lowermost surface and/or edges of the bottom element is straight edged, concave shaped, or convex shaped.
Other aspects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the appended claims.
For a more complete understanding of this disclosure and its features, references are now made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
The present description includes one or more non-limiting embodiments for a barbell collar having a number of superior advantages and features that allow the barbell collar to better handle heavier weight loads from a barbell, absorb shock and vibration, is serviceable with replaceable parts, among other notable advantages. Further details for the barbell are provided in accordance with the exemplary Figures further described below.
The barbell collar 100 is intended to be used to retain or hold one or more weight plates 804 in place, as shown in
A number of users 802 may benefit from using the barbell collar 100 as described herein in one or more non-limiting embodiments. Such users 802 may include, but are not limited to, power lifters, strong men and women, body builders, weightlifters, CROSSFIT athletes, and any weightlifters. The barbell collar 100 may be used in any type of venue, including, but not limited to, powerlifting gyms, body building gyms, weightlifting gyms, and/or any and all institutions or buildings or locations. This may include, but is not limited to, training facilities for amateurs, professionals, and/or students of any age or school level (e.g., high school and/or university). Advantageously, the barbell collars 100 can hold an extremely high load of weight plates 804, including in tests between 1000-2500 pounds of weight (or more).
As noted above, the barbell collar 100 as described herein may interchangeably be referred to as “a dynamic weight plate retention collar.” This may refer to the fact that the barbell collar 100 can dynamically absorb the shock transferred to the barbell collar 100 from the weight plates 804 on the barbell 560 as shown in
In a non-limiting embodiment, the type of adjustable fasteners 140 utilized as shown herein may be a turnbar screw having a sliding T bar handle (e.g., handle 160.) It is noted that other types of adjustable fasteners 140 may alternatively be used such as T-pins or other adjustable fasteners 140 that can be hand tightened by the user 802 from the exterior of the barbell collar 100.
At the front side 103 of the barbell 100, as shown in
Next, as shown in the exploded view shown in
The energizers 130a-130b are held in place between the rotatable and movable piston disk 120 and the body collar 110 as shown in the exploded view of
As shown in
Further, in a non-limiting embodiment, at least one adjustable fastener 145, as shown in
As shown in
In a non-limiting embodiment, the piston disk 120, the body collar 110, and the retention ring 190 are generally cylindrically shaped and include their own bores or cavities that extend through a center or body of the piston disk 120, the body collar 110, and the retention ring 190. As shown in the exploded view of
Turning to
As shown in
The pockets 204a-204c may be purposefully positioned also so that at least one or more of the pockets (e.g., 204a and 204b) are positioned on an interior side wall 220 in alignment with a removable fastener hole 142a and 142b (e.g., as shown in
The adjustable fasteners 140a and 140b are designed to be adjusted by the user 802 from the outside or exterior of the barbell clamp 100. In a non-limiting embodiment, the adjustable fasteners 140a and 140b may be hand tightened by the user 802 either rotating in one direction to tighten the barbell collar 100, which initiates a series of steps and resulting actions. When the user 802 rotates both handles 160a and 160b to tighten the barbell collar 100, as a result, the adjustable fastener elements 140a and 140b rotate inwards within the dedicated fastener holes 142a and 142b and make contact with the dynamic contact patches 150a and 150b as shown in
As shown in
In a non-limiting embodiment, the piston disk 120 is rotatable and movable inwards and outwards towards the body collar 110 in the direction of arrow 122 as shown in
The piston disk 120 is configured to contact directly against a given weight plate 804 when assembled on the barbell collar 100. However, it is also noted that if needed, the barbell collar 100 can be affixed onto the barbell 560 in a reverse or backwards position and the piston disk 120 may not touch the given weight plate 804 at that time.
The piston disk 120 has two mechanical degrees of freedom, including axial rotation and translation, both along the cylindrical axis of barbell collar 100 and the barbell 560. The provided axial rotational degree of freedom of piston disk 120 reduces load expectations on the barbell collar 100 by eliminating rotational loading or torque from the weight plates 804 to the contact patches 150a-150c. Further, any vibration and impact of the weight plates 804 along the cylindrical axis, through repetitive exercises, transfer from given weight plates 804 through piston disk 120, via its translational degree of freedom 122, to the included energizers 130a-130b (e.g., which may be in a non-limiting embodiment springs). As noted above, the energizers 130a-130b may include one or more components allowing for vibration and impact mitigation through a multitude of mechanical principals such as springs, friction, inertia, poisons ratio, viscosity, pressure, and electromagnetism.
Further, the
Notably, tightening of the adjustable fastener elements 140a-140b causes a number of follow up reactions from other components of the barbell collar 100. Namely, the adjustable fastener elements 140a-140b turn or rotate inwards and make contact with the contacts 150a-150b (e.g., as shown in
It is noted that the tightening of the adjustable fasteners 145 and the tightening (and/or turning in a particular direction) of the adjustable fastener elements 140a-140b may be useful for causing the dynamic contact patches 150a, 150b to move forward (advance towards the barbell 560) or to retract away from the barbell 560 while held within their respective contact patches 204a, 204b. The act of adjusting the adjustable fasteners 145 to tighten and/or loosen the adjustable fasteners 145 may affect the contact patches 150a, 150b but may be separate from the independent movement of the piston disk 120. During tightening or loosening of the adjustable fasteners 145, the piston disk 120 and the springs/energizers 130 are not energized and are in their unenergized position as shown in
This may be beneficial so that the user can easily replace any worn out contact patches 150a, 150b, and 150c with new, unused contact patches 150 that can be then slid into place or pushed into place within each respective contact pocket 204a, 204b, 204c. The contact pockets 204a, 204b, and 204c are uniquely sized and formed to closely fit the dimensions of the contact patches 150a, 150b, and 150c such that the contact patches 150a, 150b, and 150c are able to move as desired (e.g. dynamic contact patch 150a and 150b) or stay put as desired (e.g. stationary contact patch 150c). The retention of the contact pads 150 is assisted by retention ring 190. Retention ring 190 may assist in the retention of the contact pads 150 by interference fit or friction fit against body collar 110. Afterwards, the user 802 may replace the retention ring 190 to hold the new and/or replaced contact patches 150 in place within their designated pockets 204a, 204b, 204c within the body collar 110. Notably, neither the contact pockets 204a, 204b, 204c, nor the contact patches 150a, 150b, and 150c require a user to use a screwdriver or drill or another tool to disassemble or detach or remove either the contact pockets 204 or the contact patches 150 from the body collar 110 in order to replace and/or service the contact patches 150.
The overall design intent of the barbell collar 100 allows for the removal and replacement of the contact pads 150 and quick servicing of the contact pads 150, without having to interfere or dissemble any major components of the barbell collar 100. The quick and easy removal and replacement of the contact pads 150 is a key utility provided by the strategic design intent of the barbell collar.
In some embodiments, the load surface 502 may be concave shaped or alternatively may be convex shaped. The load surface 502 of each contact patch 150 may be connected to a bottom element 506 that protrudes down and away from the load surface 502 of each contact patch 150.
The contact patches 150 may have side surfaces 509 with edges 511 and may span the distance 512 beneath the top load bearing surface 502. It is noted that distance 512 refers to any point along the side surfaces 509 between the top surface 502 and the edge 511. In a non-limiting embodiment, the lowermost surfaces 508 and/or edges 511 may be concave shaped as shown or may alternatively be straight or curved or convex shaped. The contact patches 150 include a retaining side 504 on each side of the contact patches 150. Beneath the retaining side 504 there is a retraction side 510 on each side of the contact patches 150. Side surfaces 509 of the contact patches 150 joins with the bottom edges 511. The bottom surface 508 of the contact patches 150 is shown in
In a non-limiting embodiment, the top load bearing surface 502 has a wider width 580 than the bottom area (including retraction side 510) of the contact patches.
In a non-limiting embodiment, the barbell collar 100 includes at least three contact patches 150a, 150b, and 150c. There may be two dynamic contact patches 150a and 150b and a static contact patch 150c as shown in
It is noted that in other non-limiting embodiments, the barbell collar 100 may have only one contact patch 150 or two contact patch 150. In such cases, the dimensions of the contact patch 150 may be adjusted to cover a greater surface area of the barbell 560 than the size of the contact patches 150a-150c shown in
The dynamic contact patches 150a and 150b can be tightened to a level of tightness as needed using the adjustable fasteners 140 and handles 160 (in a non-limiting embodiment) to clamp down onto the barbell 560 and then can be loosened using the adjustable fasteners 140 and handles 160. Notably, the static contact patch 150c functions to prevent excessive wear to the interior surfaces 220 of the body collar 110.
One of the reasons that the body collar 110 and the barbell collar 100 is serviceable is that the three contact patches 150a, 150b, and 150c are all meant to be replaceable or serviceable with newer contact patches 150a, 150b, and 150c. This is one of the advantages over existing, conventional barbell collars. With existing, conventional barbell collars, their interior surfaces are regularly worn out from constant friction and contact with the barbell 560 holding heavy weight plates 804 and the user cannot repair the interior surfaces. Rather, the user has to purchase an entirely new barbell collar. With the barbell collar 100 shown in
The barbell collar 100 is advantageously configured such that the piston disk 120 is able to freely rotate even while the body collar 110 remains static and does not rotate. The barbell collar 100 is better able than conventional barbell collars to absorb the shock applied from the weight plates 804 on the barbell 560 due to the fact that the piston disk 120 can freely rotate ahead of the body collar 110 even though the body collar 110 can stay still. When the weight plates 804 rotate on the barbell 560 (which they can do sometimes through exercise movements), the piston disk 120 can absorb the shock from the weight plates 804 without transferring any rotational force to the body collar 110 and the contact patches 150a-150c.
At step 906, the user 802 may tighten the adjustable fasteners 140 to cause the dynamic contact patches 150a, 150b to push down and bite or clamp down onto the barbell 560 after the desired number of weight plates 804 have been slid onto the barbell 560 by the user 802. In a non-limiting embodiment, the user 802 may hand tighten the handles 160 of the fasteners 140 to cause the dynamic contact patches 150a, 150b to bite down onto the barbell 560 held within the interior 203 of the body collar 110 and also through the cavity of the piston disk 120. At step 908, when the user 802 no longer needs the barbell collars 100 to stay tightened and in position on the barbell 560 over either side of the weight plates 804, the user 802 can remove the barbell collars 100 by loosening and untightening the adjustable fasteners 140 and then slide the barbell collars 100 off of the barbell 560. Usefully, the barbell collar 100 may be put onto the barbell 560 either the correct, conventional way as shown in
In a non-limiting embodiment, the barbell collar 100 may be one pound or 0.45 kilogram and may be able to hold at least 2000 pounds of weight plates 804 in one or more non-limiting embodiments. Tests have shown that the barbell collar 100 may be able to hold about 2500 pounds of weight plates 804.
In other non-limiting embodiments, the barbell collars 100 can be scaled to a larger size. Advantageously, the barbell collars 100 can be scaled to weigh, for example, 2.5 kilograms or 5.5 pounds. The barbell collars 100 may be made aluminum or steel or another sturdy metal that can handle the weight of the weight plates 804. In other embodiments, the barbell collar 100 may be made of another material other than metal and/or in combination with other materials.
Notably, the barbell collar 100 can be used with a variety of exercise barbells 560 including curl barbells and loadable dumbbells. Another advantage is that the barbell collar 100 can be used with Olympic barbells. Olympic barbells have a sleeve diameter of 50 mm or 1.96 inches. However, there are also Strongman barbells which have a different shaft diameter than the Olympic barbells. Axle bars are meant to be used with Strongman sports and are made of special tubing that are 1.9 inches in diameter or 48.26 mm. Usefully and advantageously, the barbell collar 100 is designed such that the barbell collar 100 can be used with either the Olympic barbells or the Axle (Strongman) bar because the dynamic contact patches 150a, 150b expand and retract enough to clamp down onto either the 50 mm (Olympic Barbell) or the 48.26 mm (Axle Barbell). This is an advantage over existing conventional barbell collars, because the user would be forced to purchase multiple types of barbell collars that can fit either the shaft diameter of the Olympic barbell or the shaft diameter of the Axle barbells, as the conventional barbell collars were not interchangeable. It is noted that the barbell 560 is a standard barbell that has not had modifications made to the barbell 560 in order for the barbell collar 100 and its respective components to fit onto the barbell 560. Rather, the barbell collar 100 is mechanically adept and designed to fit onto each end of the barbell 560 without changes to the barbell 560 form or structure. Thus, the barbell 560 does not have to be customized to fit the barbell collar 100. Rather, the barbell collar 100 can fit onto each standard barbell 560 as noted above which may be either 50 mm or the 48.26 mm in nominal diameter.
In a non-limiting embodiment, the interior diameter for an exemplary barbell collar 110 may be 2.05 inches in diameter when the dynamic contact patches 150a, 150b are in their open positions and the static contact patch 150c is in place. When the dynamic contact patches 150a, 150b are in their closed position, the dynamic contact patches 150a, 150b may close down to 1.83 inches. The Olympic barbell is right around 2 inches in diameter and the Axle barbell is at 1.9 inches in diameter.
Advantageously, the barbell collars 100 as described herein is lightweight and may weigh approximately one pound in total in a non-limiting embodiment, but are able to hold a great deal of weight (i.e., in the form of load provided from the weight plates 804 as shown in
The barbell collar 100, as described above, in one or more non-limiting embodiments includes a number of advantages and features that are superior to the existing, conventional barbell collars. A first advantage includes that the barbell collar 100 may absorb shock and vibration for any kind of lifting. For example, even if a user 802, as shown in
Another advantage of the barbell collar 100 is that the barbell collar 100 is serviceable unlike the existing barbell collars. The contact patches 150a,150b, and 150c are the components of the barbell 100 that may wear out with time and use for multiple rounds of lifting. Advantageously, the contact patches 150a, 150b, and 150c are serviceable and replaceable. Accordingly, the user 802 can remove the retention ring 190 shown in
Advantageously, the barbell collars 100 are very strong and durable. In a non-limiting embodiment, many of the components of the barbell collar 100 may be made of steel, although this is non-limiting and other materials may be used. Notably, the energizers 130a-130b may be made of a spring like, lighter weight metal and/or rubber or another material.
It may be preferable that the barbell collars 100 are lightweight and not too heavy to carry in a user 802's bags or other storage container. Additional advantages of the dynamic weight plate retention collar include the ability to mitigate and reduce torsional friction and forces from the weight plates 804 away from the barbell sleeve 560 through the rotational degree of freedom provided by the piston disk 120. Further, the dynamic weight plate retention collar comprises of a vibration and impact absorbing mechanism using an energized component that mitigates vibration and impact through one or multitude of engineering principals including, but not limited to, springs, friction, inertia, poisons ration, viscosity, pressure, and electromagnetism. Further, the dynamic weight plate retention collar 100 includes components that remove the torsional loading requirements of the axial rotational degree of freedom along the barbell sleeve from the barbell anchor point to the weight plates.
In addition to the above, the barbell collar or dynamic weight plate retention collar 100 is configured to securely engage a single or multitude of weight plates 804 through repetitive movements that propagate high levels of vibration and impact to the barbell collar 100. The dynamic weight plate retention collar 100 is configured to anchors itself to the barbell 560 by transferring loads through load activated contact patches 150a-150c capable of reducing the inefficiencies of rotational friction of an adjustable rotatable fastener 140a-140b to a given barbell 560. The dynamic weight plate retention collar 100 contains a vibration and impact mitigation piston disk 120 that dynamically reduces transferred loads through the use of fundamental engineering principals such as springs, friction, inertia, poisons ratio, viscosity, pressure, and electromagnetism. Advantageously, the piston disk 120 is freely rotating so the piston disk 120 can absorb the linear and rotational loads from the weight plates 804.
Advantageously, the barbell collars 100 have a dynamic piston 120 and spring 130 system that allows the barbell collar 100 to absorb the shocks and vibration emitted from the weight plates 804 as the weight plates 804 and/or barbell 560 are dropped. This ensures the clamps/contact patches 150a-150c do not lose their grip prematurely as multiple reps are performed by the user 802.
Many advantages and benefits are offered by the one or more non-limiting embodiments of the barbell collar 100 as described herein.
In the Summary above and in this Detailed Description, and the claims below, and in the accompanying drawings, reference is made to particular features (including method steps) of the invention. It is to be understood that the disclosure of the invention in this specification includes all possible combinations of such particular features. For example, where a particular feature is disclosed in the context of a particular aspect or embodiment of the invention, or a particular claim, that feature can also be used, to the extent possible, in combination with and/or in the context of other particular aspects and embodiments of the invention, and in the invention generally.
The term “comprises” and grammatical equivalents thereof are used herein to mean that other components, ingredients, and steps, among others, are optionally present. For example, an article “comprising” (or “which comprises”) components A, B, and C can consist of (i.e., contain only) components A, B, and C, or can contain not only components A, B, and C but also contain one or more other components.
Where reference is made herein to a method comprising two or more defined steps, the defined steps can be carried out in any order or simultaneously (except where the context excludes that possibility), and the method can include one or more other steps which are carried out before any of the defined steps, between two of the defined steps, or after all the defined steps (except where the context excludes that possibility).
The term “at least” followed by a number is used herein to denote the start of a range beginning with that number (which may be a range having an upper limit or no upper limit, depending on the variable being defined). For example, “at least 1” means 1 or more than 1. The term “at most” followed by a number is used herein to denote the end of a range ending with that number (which may be a range having 1 or 0 as its lower limit, or a range having no lower limit, depending upon the variable being defined). For example, “at most 4” means 4 or less than 4, and “at most 40%” means 40% or less than 40%. When, in this specification, a range is given as “(a first number) to (a second number)” or “(a first number)-(a second number),” this means a range whose lower limit is the first number and whose upper limit is the second number. For example, 25 to 100 mm means a range whose lower limit is 25 mm and upper limit is 100 mm.
Certain terminology and derivations thereof may be used in the following description for convenience in reference only and will not be limiting. For example, words such as “upward,” “downward,” “left,” and “right” would refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made unless otherwise stated. Similarly, words such as “inward” and “outward” would refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of a device or area and designated parts thereof. References in the singular tense include the plural, and vice versa, unless otherwise noted. The term “coupled to” as used herein may refer to a direct or indirect connection. The term “set” as used herein may refer to one or more items.
Specific details are given in the description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. This description provides example embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention. Rather, the preceding description of the embodiments will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing embodiments of the invention. Various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Also, some embodiments are described as processes depicted as flow diagrams or block diagrams. Although each may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be rearranged. A process may have additional steps not included in the figure.
The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.
The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. The present invention according to one or more embodiments described in the present description may be practiced with modification and alteration within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Thus, the description is to be regarded as illustrative instead of restrictive of the present invention.
This continuation in part patent application claims priority to non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 18/370,341 which was filed on Sep. 19, 2023, which in turn claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent No. 63/444,671, which was filed on Feb. 10, 2023, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63444671 | Feb 2023 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 18370341 | Sep 2023 | US |
Child | 18734608 | US |