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EP 3 524 536 B1 |
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EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION |
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Mention of the grant of the patent: |
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14.10.2020 Bulletin 2020/42 |
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Date of filing: 20.12.2018 |
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International Patent Classification (IPC):
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PALLET
PALETTE
PALETTE
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Designated Contracting States: |
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AL AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MK MT NL
NO PL PT RO RS SE SI SK SM TR |
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Priority: |
21.12.2017 PL 42399817
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Date of publication of application: |
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14.08.2019 Bulletin 2019/33 |
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Proprietor: RS ENGINEERING Sp. z o.o. |
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22-600 Tomaszów Lubelski (PL) |
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Inventor: |
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- RACZKIEWICZ, Krzysztof
22-600 Tomaszów Lubelski (PL)
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(74) |
Representative: Malcherek, Piotr |
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Rzecznicy Patentowi INVENT Sp. z o.o.
ul. Gen. Ch. de Gaulle'a 8 43-100 Tychy 43-100 Tychy (PL) |
(56) |
References cited: :
EP-A1- 0 892 748 KR-A- 20130 087 120
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EP-A1- 3 095 738 US-A1- 2003 164 318
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Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European
patent, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to
the European patent
granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall
not be deemed to
have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art. 99(1) European Patent
Convention).
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[0001] The invention relates to a transportation pallet and more specifically to a pallet
for transportation of boards or windows. The pallet is foldable, which enables transporting
many empty pallets within a confined loading space.
[0002] Utility model application
PL125189U discloses a standing rack designed for transportation of windows and having a structure
made up of a base connected pivotally with a backing stand where the stand can be
locked in vertical position by means of dedicated pins inserted into pivoting hinges.
In addition, the standing rack has two brackets to support the base after having it
folded onto the backing stand initially turned to the horizontal position, whilst
positioning studs are used to fix positions of empty racks after having empty racks
stacked to high heaps.
[0003] Patent application
DE4135677A1 discloses a cargo carrier with a rectangular shape with four poles in corners, the
pallet base and two open transverse sides as well as side walls. The right-hand side
wall is made up of two parts, i.e. a top one and a bottom one that are pivotally connected
and can rotate one against another around a common horizontal axis. Similarly, the
left-hand side wall is also made up of two parts, i.e. a top one and a bottom one
to enable rotation of them against a common horizontal axis. Both the bottom part
of the right-hand side wall and the bottom part of the left-hand wall are each fixed
to swivel about the axes on a holder.
[0004] Patent
FR2757831B1 discloses a pallet that is made up of a platform supported on four legs and a foldable
back frame. The frame is provided on one side of the platform and its two parts are
extended vertically to support goods to be placed onto the pallet. Detachable hinges
of frame type have sleeves to embrace a transverse bar that can be inserted to fix
the frame in vertical position whilst the posts are furnished with lugs to enable
easy handling.
[0005] Patent application
JPH111231A discloses a pallet that has a right-hand side and a left-hand side posts pivotally
attached to the base by means of hinges. These posts serve as supports for pinching
members that are movable seated on these posts and can be locked by means of a pair
of fixing devices. After placing a bay window under a vertical posture on the base,
the pair of pinching members are moved to supporting positions, so the vertical edge
parts of the bay window can be pinched.
[0006] Utility model application
CN204137553U discloses a shelf for storage of glass parts, which comprises a base, wherein the
base is defined by two longitudinal rods and two transverse rods and is of a frame
type structure. Triangular supports are correspondingly and fixedly arranged on the
two longitudinal rods, a cross beam is arranged between the tops of the triangular
supports, and a plurality of sliding bodies which are capable of relatively sliding
along the two transverse rods and the cross beam are arranged between the two triangular
supports. Each sliding body comprises a sliding beam arranged between the two transverse
rods in a sliding mode and a sliding support, wherein the top end of the sliding support
is arranged on the cross beam in a sliding mode, and the bottom end of the sliding
support is fixedly connected with the corresponding sliding beam. The upper planes
of the sliding beams are flush with the upper planes of the two longitudinal rods.
[0007] Patent application
WO2017069496A1 discloses a cassette and a method of packaging a plurality of glass plates. The cassette
comprises a bottom cover that serves as a support frame for bottom surfaces of the
plurality of glass substrates, and a back cover connected to the bottom cover and
designed to support the back surface of the cassette. The front surface, which faces
the cassette, of the back frame is a vertical surface and the upper surface, which
faces the cassette, of the bottom frame is a horizontal surface.
[0008] Patent
US5388532A discloses a pallet for moving and holding glass plates of various sizes, which include
a rectangular floor framework, a front stanchion inserted into a front stanchion support
disposed at each front corner of the floor framework. A rear stanchion is inserted
into a rear stanchion support disposed at each rear corner of the floor framework.
A rear framework is supported by the rear stanchions. Additionally a headrest is supported
by the rear framework. Longitudinally extending floor beams are supported by the floor
framework. An assembly of a bar and pin is designed for stepwise adjusting the levels
of the front stanchions, the headrest, the distances between the floor beams. Additionally
there is disclosed an assembly for transversely bringing down and pulling up the front
stanchion and stanchion supports and assembly for transversely bringing down and pulling
up the rear stanchion and stanchion support.
[0009] Patent
US2009071381A1 discloses a pallet designed to hold at least one window frame. The pallet includes
a base and movable sides pivotally attached to the base. The movable sides are positionable
to be substantially perpendicular to the base and are configured to hold the window
frame. Connectors attached to the base and the movable sides, respectively, prevent
the first and second movable sides from moving away from each other. A method for
using the pallet is also disclosed.
[0010] Patent application
JPH11227771 discloses a carry pallet for carrying objects. The pallet includes a receiver with
a roller for vertically mounting each opening member on a base panel of a pallet and
includes a cushioning partition sheet. The partition sheet is disposed in between
of opening members of the receiver base with a roller and bound with a belt to fix,
thereby allowing a bare opening member without packing to be carried.
[0011] Patent application
CN102363556A discloses a double-station frame for glass objects. It comprises a frame body for
stacking glass slantwise, and is characterized in that the glass frame body is provided
with a double-station stacking platform and a manual operation platform is arranged
in the middle of the double-station stacking platform.
[0012] Utility model application
CN203753630U discloses a glass transportation device that comprises a support frame. Wheels are
arranged at the bottom of the support frame, and a telescopic support is installed
on the support frame and is of a U-shaped structure. The telescopic support comprises
a leaning support. Additionally telescopic rods are arranged on two sides of the leaning
support, while vertical rods are arranged on the support frame. The telescopic rods
are installed in the vertical rods in an inner embedding mode.
[0013] Utility model application
CN203753630U discloses a glass transportation fixing frame. The glass transportation fixing frame
comprises a plurality of supporting rods and a horizontal bottom frame. The bottom
frame is provided with two parallel side rods and fixedly connected with a guiding
rod. The guiding rod is in sliding connection with fixing rods. Locating parts are
arranged between the fixing rods and the guiding rod. The supporting rods are tubular,
one ends of the supporting rods are connected to the side rods in a sliding mode,
and the other ends of the supporting rods are connected with telescopic rods in an
inserting mode. The free ends of the telescopic rods are connected to the fixing rods
in a sliding mode. Fixing parts are arranged between the telescopic rods and the supporting
rods. The supporting rods are connected with holding rods in a sliding mode.
[0014] The closest prior art is a patent
KR101384013B1, which discloses a pallet intended to transport and store glass or window frames.
The pallet has a loading table which is limited by supporting posts, supporting rods
and by a rear support platform, so the loading table is open at the front. The rear
support platform has an auxiliary support, which might be raised or folded according
to the height of the cargo and which is coupled to the upper end of the rear support
by a hinge pin. The pallet is stored in a folded state so the supporting posts, supporting
rods are folded toward the loading table and they are fixed by standing when they
are used. In each corner of the loading table there is a strut with assembled the
support post. Also each support post is provided at their lower end with shaft pin
about which the support post is turned at the time of folding. The slot, into which
the shaft pin is inserted, is cut into the strut. So each strut has a long hole formed
on each of the front surface and the rear surface so that the support posts can be
folded toward the loading table. The user lifts the support posts and pulls the lower
end of the support posts out of the struts and then turns the posts toward the cuts
in struts. At this time, the support posts rotate around the shaft pins. The rear
side support is connected to the left and right support posts by a connecting rod
provided on the inner side of the rear struts. The connecting rod includes a shaft
rod directly connected to each of the rear struts and a rotary shaft adjacent to the
shaft rod. There is also a stopper that is fixed to the shaft rod by passing a fixing
bolt through the rotary shaft. When the fixing bolt is tightened, the stopper moves
to rotate the rotary shaft and is brought into close contact with the shaft rod to
stop the rotation. The pallet is also equipped with a latch provided on the rear support
post in order to lock rear support platform, especially its auxiliary support.
[0015] The problem that is to be resolved consists in transportation of a plurality of products
that represent fragile items, for instance glass panels or windows, that are to be
placed on plurality of pallets and put into a confined transportation space, for instance
semitrailers of trucks. After delivery to the destination site, empty pallets are
returned and must take minimum space in a single, limited cargo space.
[0016] The invention relates to a pallet that is described in the preamble to the independent
claim No. 1. The invention consists in that a third beam is attached to an upper part
of the support, wherein in an unfolded configuration of the pallet said third beam
extends towards the base and an of the said third beam rests on an upper end of a
respective backing stand beam.
[0017] Preferably a safeguarding mechanism is provided between the second beam of the support
and the backing stand beam. In addition, a second safeguarding mechanism may be provided
between the first beam of the support and the second beam of the support. In addition,
a locking mechanism may be attached to a bottom end of the backing stand beam to fix
position of that beam with respect to the base. Moreover, a first engagement may be
attached to an the upper end of the backing stand beam and the said first engagement
is designed to engage with a second engagement attached to an end part of the second
beam of the support. In addition a gas-filled damping device may be provided between
the base and the support. Fixed feet extending upwards and /or foldable feet may be
attached to corners of the base.
[0018] The beneficial effect of this invention is the possibility to safely transport and
store goods with the possibility to fold empty pallets and move them inside a one
confined cargo space, for instance a truck semitrailer. Application of safeguarding
and locking mechanisms prevents from uncontrolled folding of the support. In addition,
the engagements make the connections between individual members more rigid, which
improves stability of the structure. It is important for pallets having large size
of whole structure. Application of such engaging members increases friction surfaces,
which enhances rigidity of the whole structure. Folded feet and / or feet extending
upwards enable steady stacking of pallets one on another in rectangular heaps, which
improves safety during transportation of empty pallets. Application of a gas-filled
damper device also improves safety of pallets handling.
[0019] An embodiment of the invention is presented in Fig. 8. Figures 1-7 show a pallet
which is not in accordance with the present invention, nevertheless illustrates a
plurality of features of the preamble of claim 1 and the dependent claims.
Fig. 1 presents an isometric top view of a pallet in the unfolded mode,
Fig. 2 is a front view of the pallet according to Fig. 1 in the unfolded mode,
Fig. 3 is a cross-section view of the pallet according to Fig. 1, taken at the A-A
plane,
Fig. 4 is a cross-section view of the pallet according to Fig. 1, taken at the B-B
plane,
Fig. 5 is an isometric top view of the pallet according to Fig. after the second step
of folding,
Fig. 6 is an isometric top view of the pallet according to Fig. 1 after the third
step of folding,
Fig. 7 is an isometric top view of the completely folded pallet according to Fig.
1,
Fig. 8 is an isometric top view of a pallet according to an embodiment of the invention
in the unfolded mode.
[0020] The pallet according to Figures 1-7 has a width for instance of 1.2 m, length of
2.4 m and the total height in the unfolded mode of 2.1834 m. The base is covered with
wooden planks. The first beam 3a of the support 3 is attached to each end of the side
beam 1a by means of the first hinge 2, and is foldable towards the center of the base
1. A second beam 3b of the support 3 is attached to each first beam 3a of the support
3 by means of a second hinge 4, and is foldable outwards of the base 1. In turn, one
backing stand beam 6 is attached to the base 1 nearby each end of the side beam 1a
by means of a third hinge 5. Beams 6 are foldable towards the middle of side beam
1a. Between the second beam 3b of the support 3 and the backing stand beam 6 there
is a safeguarding mechanism 7 designed as a lever handle. Similarly, between the first
beams 3a of the support 3 and the second beams 3b of the support 3 there are second
safeguarding mechanisms 8 designed as a lever handle. The bottom end of the backing
stand beam 6 is provided with a locking mechanism 9 designed to lock position of that
beam against the base 1. The top end of the backing stand beam 6 is provided with
a first engagement 10 that engages with the second engagement 11 attached to the end
part of the second beam 3b of the support 3. In the middle part of the side beam 1a
there are attached two central support beams 3d of the support 3 by means of fourth
hinges 18. The second support beams 3e of the support 3 are attached to the said beams
3d by means of fifth hinges 19. The support 3 comprises also a central beam 3c that
is provided between the first beams 3a of the support 3 and that has the third engagement
12 provided at its bottom end and engaged with the fourth engagement 13 fixed to the
base 1. The central beam 3c itself is T-shaped and two upper ends of the T bar are
attached to top ends of the central support beams 3d of the support 3. Feet 14 extending
upwards are mounted at corners of the base 1 at the side of the beams of the support
3 whilst foldable feet 15 are provided at the opposite side of the base 1. At least
one gas-filled damping device 17 is mounted between the base 1 and the support 3.
Specifically, the illustrated pallet has two said gas-filled damping devices 17, where
one end of said devices is attached to the base 1 and the other ends of them are attached
to bottom ends of the central support beams 3d of the support 3.
[0021] The embodiment presented in Fig. 8 shows the main feature of the invention. The pallet
has a width for instance of 1.2 m with the length of 1.5 m and the total height in
the unfolded position of 2.1834 m. Its design is similar to the pallet of Figures
1-7. In this embodiment the pallet does not have a central support beam 3c which is
substituted with one support beam 3d of the support 3 and one piece of the second
support beam 3e of the support 3. In addition, a third beam 16 fixed to an upper part
of the support 3, wherein in an and in unfolded configuration of the pallet, said
third beam 16 extends towards the base 1 and an end of the third beam 16 rests on
an upper end of a respective backing stand beam 6.
Key for figures:
[0022]
1 - base
1a - side beam
2 - first hinge
3 - support
3a - first support beam
3b - second support beam
3c - central support beam
3d - load-bearing beam of the support
3e - second load-bearing beam of the support
4 - second hinge
5 - third hinge
6 - backing stand beam
7 - safeguarding mechanism
8 - second safeguarding mechanism
9 - locking mechanism
10 - first engagement
11 - second engagement
12 - third engagement
13 - fourth engagement
14 - fixed foot
15 - folded foot
16 - third beam
17 - gas-filled damping device
18 - fourth hinge
19 - fifth hinge
1. Transportation pallet having a base (1) with a side beam (1a), where first beams (3a)
of a support (3) foldable towards the base (1) are attached to each end part of the
said side beam (1a) by means of first hinges (2), and where an end of each first beam
(3a) of the support (3) is connected by means of a second hinge (4) with a second
beam (3b) of the support (3) foldable outwards of the base (1) and each end part of
the side beam (1a) of the base (1) is attached by means of a third hinge (5) to a
backing stand beam (6), where said backing stand beams (6) are foldable towards the
middle of the side beam (1a), characterized in that a third beam (16) is attached to an upper part of the support (3), wherein in an
unfolded configuration of the pallet and said third beam (16) extends towards the
base (1) and an end of the said third beam (16) rests on an upper end of a respective
backing stand beam (6).
2. Transportation pallet according to Claim 1, characterized in that a safeguarding mechanism (7) is provided between the second beam (3b) of the support
(3) and the backing stand beam (6).
3. Transportation pallet according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a second safeguarding mechanism (8) is provided between the first beam (3a) of the
support (3) and the second beam (3b) of the support (3).
4. Transportation pallet according to one of the Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a locking mechanism (9) is attached to a bottom end of the backing stand beam (6)
and the locking mechanism is designed to fix position of said backing stand beam (6)
with respect to the base (1).
5. Transportation pallet according to one of the Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that a first engagement (10) is attached to the upper end of the backing stand beam (6)
and said first engagement is designed to engage with a second engagement (11) attached
to an end part of the second beam (3b) of the support (3).
6. Transportation pallet according to one of the Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that at least one gas-filled damping device (17) is provided between the base (1) and
the support (3).
7. Transportation pallet according to one of the Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that feet are mounted in corners of the base (1).
8. Transportation pallet according to Claim 7, characterized in that the said feet are fixed members (14) and extend upwards.
9. Transportation pallet according the Claims 7, characterized in that the said feet are foldable members (15).
1. Transportpalette mit einer Basis (1) mit einem Seitenbalken (la), wobei die ersten
Balken (3a) des Trägers (3), die sich zur Basis (1) hin falten, mit jedem Ende des
Seitenbalkens (1a) durch die ersten Scharniere (2) verbunden sind, und das Ende jedes
ersten Balkens (3a) des Trägers (3) durch ein zweites Scharnier (4) mit einem zweiten
Balken (3b) des Trägers (3) verbunden ist, der sich von der Basis (1) nach außen hin
faltet, und jeder Endabschnitt des Seitenbalkens (1a) der Basis (1) durch ein drittes
Scharnier (5) mit einem Rückenlehnenbalken (6) verbunden ist, und die Rückenlehnenbalken
(6) sich zur Mitte des Seitenbalkens (1a) hin falten, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass der dritte Balken (16) am oberen Teil des Trägers (3) angebracht ist, der sich in
der ausgeklappten Position der Palette zur Basis (1) hin erstreckt und das Ende des
dritten Balkens (16) auf dem oberen Ende des entsprechenden Rückenlehnenbalkens (6)
ruht.
2. Transportpalette nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass ein Sicherungsmechanismus (7) zwischen dem zweiten Balken (3b) des Träger (3) und
dem Rücklehnenbalken (6) vorgesehen ist.
3. Transportpalette nach Anspruch 1 oder 2, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass ein zweiter Sicherungsmechanismus (8) zwischen dem ersten Balken (3a) des Trägers
(3) und dem zweiten Balken (3b) des Trägers (3) vorgesehen ist.
4. Transportpalette nach einem der Ansprüche von 1 bis 3, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass ein Verriegelungsmechanismus (9) am unteren Ende des Rückenlehnenbalkens (6) angebracht
ist und die Position des Rückenlehnenbalkens (6) relativ zur Basis (1) verriegeln
soll.
5. Transportpalette nach einem der Ansprüche von 1 bis 4, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass eine erste Verzahnung (10) am oberen Ende des Rückenlehnenbalkens (6) befestigt ist
und diese erste Verzahnung für Mitbetrieb mit einer zweiten Verzahnung (11) am Endabschnitt
des zweiten Balkens (3b) des Trägers (3) vorgesehen ist.
6. Transportpalette nach einem der Ansprüche von 1 bis 5, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass mindestens ein Gasstoßdämpfer (17) zwischen der Basis (1) und dem Träger (3) vorgesehen
ist.
7. Transportpalette nach einem der Ansprüche von 1 bis 6, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Füße an den Ecken der Basis (1) befestigt sind.
8. Transportpalette nach Anspruch 7, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Füße Festfüße (14) sind, die nach oben gerichtet sind.
9. Transportpalette nach Anspruch 7, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Füße faltbare Füße (15) sind.
1. La palette de transport équipé d'un socle (1) avec une poutre latérale (la), les premières
poutres (3a) du support (3) se pliant vers le socle (1) sont reliées à chaque extrémité
de cette poutre latérale (1a) à l'aide des premières charnières (2), et aussi l'extrémité
de chaque première poutre (3a) du support (3) est reliée, à l'aide de la deuxième
charnière (4) à la deuxième poutre (3b) du support (3) se pliant vers la direction
extérieure par rapport au socle (1), et chaque partie finale de la poutre latérale
(1a) du socle (1) est reliée à l'aide de la troisième charnière (5) à la poutre d'appui
(6); les poutres d'appui (6) se plient vers le centre de la poutre latérale (la),
caractérisée en ce que la troisième poutre (16) est fixée sur la partie supérieure du support (3), en notant
qu'avec la position dépliée de la palette, cette troisième poutre (16) est orientée
vers le socle (1) et l'extrémité de cette troisième poutre (16) s'appuie sur l'extrémité
supérieure de la poutre d'appui (6).
2. La palette, selon la revendication 1, caractérisée en ce que le mécanisme de sécurité (7) est situé entre la deuxième poutre (3b) du support (3)
a la poutre d'appui (6).
3. La palette, selon la revendication 1 ou 2, caractérisée en ce que le deuxième mécanisme de sécurité (8) est situé entre la première poutre (3a) du
support (3) et la deuxième poutre (3b) du support (3).
4. La palette, selon l'une des revendications de 1 à 3, caractérisée en ce que le mécanisme de verrouillage (9) est fixé sur l'extrémité inférieure de la poutre
d'appui (6) et est destiné au verrouillage de la position de la poutre d'appui (6)
par rapport au socle (1).
5. La palette, selon l'une des revendications de 1 à 4, caractérisée en ce que le premier engrenage (10) est fixé sur l'extrémité supérieure de la poutre d'appui
(6) et ce premier engrenage (10) est destiné au fonctionnement avec le deuxième engrenage
(11) fixé sur la partie finale de la deuxième poutre (3b) du support (3).
6. La palette, selon l'une des revendications de 1 à 5, caractérisée en ce qu'au moins un amortisseur à gaz (17) est situé entre le socle (1) et le support (3).
7. La palette, selon l'une des revendications de 1 à 6, caractérisée en ce que les pieds sont fixés sur les pièces de coin du socle (1).
8. La palette, selon la revendication 7, caractérisée en ce que les pieds sont les pieds fixes (14) orientés vers le haut.
9. La palette, selon la revendication 7, caractérisée en ce que les pieds sont les pieds pliables (15).
REFERENCES CITED IN THE DESCRIPTION
This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only.
It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has
been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and
the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.
Patent documents cited in the description