CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/382,265, filed Oct. 20, 2023, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/091,268, filed Dec. 29, 2022, now abandoned, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/586,050, filed Jan. 27, 2022, now abandoned, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/030,362, filed Sep. 23, 2020, now abandoned, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/392,512, filed Apr. 23, 2019, now abandoned, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to garments, and, more particularly to garments with configurable shoulder sections. The shoulder sections may generally be configured in at least an open configuration and a closed configuration.

BACKGROUND

Garments such as pull-over shirts may sometimes be difficult to place onto a human body. The garments may first need to be pulled over one's head, and then the person may need to manipulate his/her arms into and through the sleeves. If the sleeves are somewhat tight or otherwise positioned close to the body of the garment, this may be uncomfortable and sometimes even harmful.

In one particular example, garments designed specifically for infants, while very important to keep the baby warm and safe, are often times difficult to place onto the baby's body without having to bend or otherwise manipulate the baby's head, shoulders and arms to fit within the collar and the sleeves of the garment. Knowing that a baby's body may be extremely fragile and delicate, this may cause discomfort to the baby and sometimes even damage to their body.

For example, placing a shirt or a onesie onto a baby may require the shirt or onesie to first be pulled over the baby's head. The neck of a baby may be very delicate and fragile such that this action must be done with great care to avoid hurting the baby. Then, when the garment is generally around the baby's neck, the baby's arms must be bent, twisted and manipulated to pull them through the sleeves of the garment. This action may be very unpleasant for the baby and may even cause damage to the baby's arms, joints and internal ligaments. It can also be seen that this same potentially harmful scenario may also be true for any type of person, not just an infant.

Accordingly, there is a need for a garment that may be placed onto a person's body in such a way that avoids the need to bend, twist or otherwise manipulate the person's body.

It is desirable, and an object of this invention, to provide a garment that may be placed onto a person in a safe and comfortable way that eliminates the need to manipulate the person's body during the process.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various other objects, features and attendant advantages of the present invention will become fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

FIGS. 1-3 show a garment with upper and lower flaps; and

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a baby placed into a garment with upper and lower flaps.

DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

As used herein, unless used otherwise, the following term has the following meaning:

A “mechanism” refers to any device(s), process(es), routine(s), service(s), or combination thereof. A mechanism may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, using a special-purpose device, or any combination thereof. A mechanism may be integrated into a single device or it may be distributed over multiple devices. The various components of a mechanism may be co-located or distributed. The mechanism may be formed from other mechanisms. In general, as used herein, the term “mechanism” may thus be considered to be shorthand for the term device(s) and/or process(es) and/or service(s).

The following detailed description is not intended to limit the current invention. Alternate embodiments and variations of the subject matter described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Garment 10 according to exemplary embodiments hereof is described with reference to FIGS. 1-5.

As depicted in FIG. 1, garment 10 may include an upper portion 100, a lower portion 102, a body 104, an upper opening 106, a lower opening 108, a top left shoulder portion 110, a top right shoulder portion 112, a front side 114 and a back side 116. Garment 10 may also include an inside area 117 that may be formed as the region between the front side 114 and the back side 116. In addition, garment 10 may also include a collar 118 that may be formed as an upper portion of top opening 106. The upper left shoulder portion 110 and the upper right shoulder portion 112 may also each include at least one upper flap 120 and at least one lower flap 122. That is, the upper left shoulder portion 110 may include at least one upper flap 120 and at least one lower flap 122, and the upper right shoulder portion may also include at least one upper flap 120 and at least one lower flap 122. It should be noted that in this specification, a single upper flap 120 and a single lower flap 122 on each of the left and right sides of the garment 10 may be used as a main example. However, it should be noted that any number of upper and lower flaps 120, 122 may be used on either the left or right shoulder portions 110, 112 of the garment 10.

Note that the left and right upper tabs 120 may generally be mirror images of each other, and that the left and right lower tabs 122 may generally be mirror images of each other. However, it should be noted that the left and right upper tabs 120 may not generally be mirror images of each other, and that the left and right lower tabs 122 may not generally be mirror images of each other, and that the tabs 120, 122 may be formed of any type of different shapes and sizes.

Note that in the configuration depicted in FIG. 1, top flap 120 may generally be an upper extension of the back 116 of the garment 10. The flap 120 may be formed of the same material as the back 116 section of the garment 10 such that the top flap 120 may simply extend up from the back 116 on the left and right upper sides. Alternatively, the top flaps 120 may be sewn or otherwise attached to the top of the back section 116 on the upper left and right portions of the garment 10. In this way, it can be seen that the top flaps 120 and the back portion of the collar 118 may generally form the top of the back 116 of the garment 10. Other configurations of top flaps 120 with respect to the back 116 of the garment may also be used.

In addition, the lower flap 122 may generally be an upper extension of the front 114 of the garment 10. The flap 122 may be formed of the same material as the front 114 section of the garment 10 such that the lower flap 122 may simply extend up from the front 114 on the left and right upper sides. Alternatively, the lower flaps 122 may be sewn or otherwise attached to the top of the front section 114 on the upper left and right portions of the garment 10. In this way, it can be seen that the lower flaps 122 and the front portion of the collar 118 may generally form the top of the front 116 of the garment 10. Other configurations of the lower flaps 122 with respect to the front 114 of the garment may also be used.

The top opening 106 of the garment 10 may be generally formed as the in-between space between the top flaps 120 and the back portion of the collar 118, and the lower flaps 122 and the front portion of the collar 118. That is, the left and right top flaps 120 combined with the back portion of the collar 118 may generally define and form the back side of the opening 116, and the left and right lower flaps 122 combined with the front portion of the collar 118 may generally define and form the front side of the opening 116.

It should be pointed out that the upper shoulder portions of the garment 10 may also be referred to as the yoke of the garment 10 and that in this scenario, the yoke may include the top flaps 120 and the lower flaps 122, individually or in combination (as will be described below).

In the example depicted in FIG. 1, top flap 120 may generally have two main positions, an upper position T and a lower position L. Note that in FIG. 1, the right upper flap 120 is generally in an upper position T and the left upper flat 120 is generally in a lower position L. In this way, the top left shoulder portion 110 and the top right shoulder portion 112 may be generally configured in at least an open configuration (e.g. when upper flaps 120 are in the upper position T) and in a closed configuration (e.g. when upper flaps 120 are in the lower position L).

With top flap 120 generally in an upper position T, top flap 120 may fold forward in the direction of arrow A to transition from an upper position T to a lower position L. In addition, when generally in a lower position L, top flap 120 may fold upward in the direction of arrow B to transition from a lower position L to an upper position T.

It should be noted that when upper flap 120 may be placed in a generally lower position L, a portion of the upper flap 120 may come into physical contact with a portion of the lower flap 122. This is depicted in FIG. 1 where the left upper flap 122 is in the lower position L and is generally laying over a portion of lower flap 122. In this configuration, a portion of the inner surface 124 of upper flap 120 may generally overlay a portion of the outer surface 126 of lower flap 122.

With top flap 120 and lower flap 122 in physical contact as described above, the top flap 120 and the bottom flap 122 may generally be attached or joined to one another in the area of their physical contact using one or more attachment mechanisms 127. In this way, the combined upper flap 120 and lower flap 122 may generally form the upper shoulder portions 110, 112. The left upper flap 120 combined and joined with the left lower flap 122 may generally form upper left shoulder portion 110, and the right upper flap 120 combined and joined with the right lower flap 122 may generally form upper right shoulder portion 112.

The top flap 120 and the lower flap 122 combinations (left and right) may include attachment mechanisms 127 such as hook and loop material, snaps, buttons, ties, zippers, magnets or other types or combinations of types of attachment mechanisms 127 that may be used to attach and join the top flap 120 with the lower flap 122 for each combination. In this way, the top flap 120 may be attached and joined to the lower flap 122 when it is folded downward into its lower position L.

In one example as depicted in FIG. 1, the right top flap 120 and right lower flap 122 may each include one or more attachment mechanisms 127 that may include at least one hook and loop section. For example, top flap 122 may include a hook and loop section 128 and lower flap 122 may include hook and loop section 130. It may be preferable that if hook and loop section 128 is hook material, that hook and loop section 130 be loop material so that the two sections 128, 130 may mate and generally attach to one another. Also, it may be preferable that if hook and loop section 128 is loop material, that hook and loop section 130 be hook material so that the two sections 128, 130 may mate and generally attach and be joined to one another. It may also be preferable that with top tab 120 in the lower position L overlaying lower tab 122, that at least a portion of hook and loop material section 128 may overlay at least a portion of hook and loop material section 130 so that the at least overlapping portions of sections 128 and 130 may attach and adhere to one another.

Note that in one preferable configuration, upper flap 120 may fold forward along an axis that may be generally represented by line C in FIG. 1. In addition, it may be preferable that the top edge of lower flap 122 generally follow line C as well so that the upper flap 120 may generally fold forward and down across the top edge of flap 122. Note that the top edge of lower flap 122 may be generally linear so that as upper flap 120 may fold across it, the fold in top flap 120 may also be generally linear such that upper flap 120 may fold uniformly downward over lower flap 122.

As shown in FIG. 1, hook and loop section 128 and hook and loop section 130 may generally be positioned in locations that may be mirrored with each other about line C. In this way, when upper flap 120 may fold forward along line C, its hook and loop section 128 may rotate downward into a position that may generally coincide with the position of hook and loop section 130 that may be configured with lower flap 122. This is depicted as dashed lines in upper left shoulder section of 110 of garment 10 in FIG. 1. In this configuration, it may be preferable that the majority of top section 128 may overlap with the majority of lower section 130, and that the respective sections 128, 130 may then be pressed together in order for the hook and material of each section to mate and adhere to one another. In this way, top flap 120 may be securely attached to lower flap 122 when in its lower position L. Note that the upper flap 120 and the lower flap 122 may each also include more than one hook and loop section 128, 130, and that the sections 128, 130 may be configured in different positions, locations and configurations.

It should be noted and appreciated that other types and numbers of attachment mechanisms 127 may also be used to attach upper flap 120 to lower flap 122 in a similar manner as described above. For example, upper flap 120 and lower flap 122 may be attached to one another using one or more snaps, with at least one side of the snap (e.g. the male side and/or female side) configured with the inner surface of upper flap 120, and at least one of the other side of the snap (e.g. the female and/or male side) configured with the outer surface of the lower flap 122. As with the example above regarding using hook and loop material sections 128, 130 as the attachment mechanism, each side of the snap on the upper flap 120 and lower flap 122 respectively may be configured to generally come into physical contact and mate with one another when the upper flap 120 may be folded forward into lower position L and the snap sections are pressed together.

In another exemplary embodiment hereof, one or more magnets 129 may be used to attach upper flap 120 to lower flap 122 in a similar manner as described above. For example, upper flap 120 and lower flap 122 may be attached to one another using one or more magnets 129, with at least one magnet 129 configured with the inner surface of upper flap 120 (e.g., sewn into a fold of the material), and at least one magnet 129 configured with the outer surface of the lower flap 122 (e.g., sewn into a fold of the material). As with the example above regarding using hook and loop material sections 128, 130 as the attachment mechanisms 127, each magnet 129 on the upper flap 120 and lower flap 122 respectively may be configured to generally come into physical contact and mate with one another when the upper flap 120 may be folded forward into lower position L and the snap sections are pressed together. Note that it may be preferable that the magnetic poles of each magnet 129 be arranged such that the magnets 129 may attract one another when in physical contact with one another as described. In this way, the magnets 129 may adhere to or otherwise hold one another thus attaching the upper flap 120 and the lower flap 122 together as desired.

Note that the descriptions above and the examples provided are meant for demonstration purposes to benefit this description, and do not limit the current invention in any way. In addition, those of ordinary skill in the art will realize and appreciate, upon reading this description, that other configurations of upper flap 120 and lower flap 122 may also be used and configured with other numbers and types of attachment members 127. For example, other attachment mechanisms 127 may include one or more latches, hooks, zippers, buttons, and other types or combinations of types of attachment mechanisms 127. In addition, the attachment mechanisms 127 may be configured in different positions and/or in other combinations of positions as compared to the positions described in the examples above or below. It is understood that the scope of the garment 10 is not limited in any way by the type, types or combinations of types of attachment mechanisms 127 that may be used.

It should also be noted that upper flap 120 may be folded downward along other fold lines that may be different than fold line C in FIG. 1. For example, upper flap 120 may be folded downward along a fold line that may be generally parallel to the x-axis as depicted in FIG. 1. In general, it should be appreciated that upper flap 120 may be folded downward along any position or fold line that may be in any direction with respect to the x-axis and y-axis of the figure.

As an alternative to the example depicted in FIG. 1, it can be seen that the left and right upper flaps 120 may be formed as upper extensions of the front 114 of the garment 10 instead of the back 116, and that the left and right lower flaps 122 may be formed as upper extensions of the back 116 of the garment instead of the front 114. In this example, the top flaps 120, being formed in the front 114 of the garment 10 may fold backwards and downwards instead of forward and downwards as described in the example above. The lower flaps 122 may reside on the back 116 of the garments and may receive the top flaps 120 as they are folded backwards and downwards. In addition, all or at least some of the characteristics of upper and lower flaps 120, 122 described with respect to the other examples in this specification also apply to this example.

In yet another example, lower flaps 122 may extend upward such that the flaps 122 may be joined and attached to top flaps 120 towards the top of left and right upper shoulder portions 110, 112 without the need for top flaps 120 to be folded downward. In this example, top flaps 120 and lower flaps 122 may generally extend to the same height and attach to one another at the top.

Note that none of the examples described above or in any other sections of this specification limit the scope of the invention in any manner and that other configurations, and combinations of configurations, of upper flap 120 and lower flap 122 with respect to the front 114 and back 116 are also within the scope of the current invention. In general, [Image Omitted]

As shown in FIG. 1, with the left top flap 120 configured with the left lower flap 122 as described, left side opening 132 may be formed. Left side opening 132 may be generally formed by the top flap 120 and the lower flap 122 combination and may extend from outside the garment on the left side of the upper left shoulder portion 110 to the inside 117 of the garment 10. In this way, left side opening 132 may form the opening of the left sleeve 134. It may be preferable that left side opening 132 be large enough to easily and comfortably accommodate the arm of the infant that may be placed into the garment 10.

Moving now to FIG. 2, the garment 10 with both the left and right upper flaps 120 configured with their respective lower flaps 122 is depicted. As shown, the left combination of left upper flap 120 and the left lower flap 122 may form the left opening 132 and the left sleeve 134, and the right combination of the right upper flap 120 and the right lower flap 122 may form the right opening 136 and right sleeve 138. Note that while left and right sleeves 134, 138 may appear to be short such that they may not extend out far past the left and right sides of the garment 10, sleeves 134, 138 may be longer and may extend well past the left and right sides of the garment respectively. In this way, the sleeves 134, 138 may be formed into what may referred to as “short sleeves” 134, 138 (i.e. sleeves that may extend a few inches past the left and right sides of the garment 10), “three quarter sleeves” 134, 138 (i.e. sleeves that may extend to just past the elbow region of a person's arm who may be wearing the garment 100, “long sleeves” 134, 138 (i.e. sleeves that may generally extend to the wrist region of the person's arm who may be wearing the garment), as well as other types of sleeves 134, 138.

It should be noted that sleeves 134, 138 may be of any length, shape, size or style, and may utilize the left and right upper flap 120/lower flap 122 combinations accordingly. It may be preferable that versions of longer sleeved garment 10 primarily include the upper and lower flaps 120, 122 in the top left shoulder portion 110 and the top right shoulder portion 112 of the garment 10. That is, the upper and lower flaps 120, 122 may not necessarily extend the full length of the longer sleeves 134, 138 but may instead be generally located in the shoulder regions 110, 112 where the arms of the person wearing the garment 10 may be most difficult to manipulate into the sleeves 134, 138. In this case, the portion of the sleeves 134, 138 in the areas that may extend out beyond the upper shoulder regions 110, 112 may generally include what may be viewed as typical sleeves (with an opening into the top of sleeve 134, 138 just beyond the upper and lower flaps 120, 122 and a lower opening that may coincide with the wrist region of the person's arm who may be wearing the garment 10). In this way, the upper and lower flaps 120, 122 may perform as described in this specification in the areas that may be most difficult to manipulate the user's arm/shoulders into the garment 10, and in the areas beyond this area, the person's arm may be more easily inserted into the outer areas of the sleeve through the top opening and out the lower opening. Note however that upper and lower tabs 120, 122 may indeed extend a portion or the entire length of the sleeves 134, 138 (of any length) as necessary.

In Operation

Turning to FIGS. 3-5, the use and general operation of the garment 10 will now be described by detailed descriptions and by means of example. In this particular example, the garment 10 may include a onesie garment generally used for babies or infants. However, it will be appreciated that this example is only meant for demonstration purposes and does not limit the scope of the garment 10 in any way. It will also be appreciated that the garment 10 may include other types of garments such as shirts, jumpers, one-piece suits, shirts attached to leggings, and other types of garments. It is also noted that the garment 10 may be used with any type of person including infants, toddlers, children, teenagers, young adults, adults, middle aged persons, senior citizens as well as any other type of person.

As shown in FIG. 3, garment 10 may have a front 114, a back 116, an upper opening 106, a lower opening 108, an inside 117, upper flaps 120 and lower flaps 122. Note that the lower flaps 122 may be folded downwards in this drawing but this may not be required. It should be appreciated that the upper opening 106 and the lower opening 108 may pass into the inside 117 such that the inner cavity 117 of the garment 10 may pass continuously from the upper opening 106 to the lower opening 108. In this way, the garment 10 may be placed on the body of a person (e.g. an infant 200 or any other type of person) and the portion of the infant's body that is meant to be covered by the garment 10 (e.g. the torso of the infant 200) may generally be configured within the inside 117 of the garment 10. This is depicted in FIG. 4. Note that the infant's left and right arms may be positioned generally above the lower flaps 122 and generally below the upper flaps 120. In this way, the left and right arms may be generally positioned in the area that will form left side opening 132 and right side opening respectively.

It is important to note that the garment 10 may be placed on the infant 200 (or other person) by placing the feet of the infant 200 through the top opening 106 of the garment 10 and then pulling the garment 10 up and around the baby's torso area as desired (for this particular type of garment). This may allow the avoidance of having to place the garment 10 over the baby's head area which may be preferable in order to avoid handling the baby's fragile neck, shoulders and head. However, given that the top and bottom openings 106, 108 may be large enough to easily accommodate the baby's head and shoulders, it may be safe to place the lower opening 108 over the baby's head and pull the garment 10 downward over the torso of the baby 200 as desired.

Once the infant 200 is placed within garment 10 as depicted in FIG. 4, the lower tabs 122 may be folded upward in the direction of arrow D, and the upper tabs 120 may be folded forward and downward in the direction of arrow A. In this way, the upper and lower flaps 120, 122 may overlay the baby's left and right shoulder and upper arm region as depicted in FIG. 5. The upper flaps 120 and the lower flaps 122 may be secured together utilizing attachment mechanisms 128, 130 (e.g. hook and loop material sections or other attachment mechanisms) such that the left and right upper flap 120 and lower flap 122 combinations may form the left and right sleeves 134, 138 respectively. Note also that the left and right upper flap 120 and lower flap 122 combinations may form the left and right openings 132, 136 respectively that may form the inner openings of the sleeves 134, 138. It may be preferable that the upper and lower flaps 120, 122 be configured in such a way that left and right openings 132, 136 and left and right sleeves 134, 138 be of a size and shape that may easily and comfortably receive and cover the baby's left and right shoulder and upper arm regions.

It is important to note that at no time during the placement of the garment 10 onto the baby's body was there a need to bend, twist, handle or otherwise manipulate the baby's left and right arms into the left and right sleeves 134, 138 since the upper and lower flaps 120, 122 were configured around the baby's left and right arms to form the sleeves 134, 138 without any movement required of the baby's arms. In this way, the delicate and fragile arms of the baby are safe from uncomfortable and potentially damaging manipulations into the sleeves 134, 138.

To remove the garment 10 from the person's body, the reverse procedure may be followed. The upper and lower flaps 120, 122 may be disconnected from one another in order to open up the top of the garment 10. The garment may then be easily removed, again, without having to bend, twist or otherwise manipulate the person's arms, shoulders or neck.

Note that in this example of a onesie that may be used with a baby or infant, the garment 10 may also include a lower center front flap 140 and a lower center rear flap 146 that may be configured to generally close the lower opening 108 of the garment 10 around the baby's leg and groin areas. The lower center front flap 140 and lower center rear flap 142 may each include attachment mechanisms 144 146 similar to the attachment mechanisms used in relation to upper and lower flaps 120, 122 (e.g. hook and loop material) to be secured to one another.

As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the lower center front flap 140 may be folded downward and the lower center rear flap 142 may be folded forward to be joined together in the area between the baby's left and right legs. In this way, the lower portion of the garment 10 may be generally closed such that the garment is secured to the baby's body. To open the bottom portion of the garment 10 in order to remove it from the baby's body, the lower center front flap 142 may be disconnected from the lower center rear flap 142 and the bottom opening 108 may be opened wide for the removal of the baby.

It is understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art that any and/or all of the aspects of any of the above described embodiments may be combined in any way, and that the system 10 is not limited in any way by any combination of the aspects of any exemplary embodiments.

While a particular form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited, except as by the appended claims.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate and understand, upon reading this description, that embodiments hereof may provide different and/or additional advantages, and that not all embodiments or implementations need have all advantages.

A person of ordinary skill in the art will understand, that any method described above or below and/or claimed and described as a sequence of steps is not restrictive in the sense of the order of steps.

Where a process is described herein, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the process may operate without any user intervention. In another embodiment, the process includes some human intervention (e.g., a step is performed by or with the assistance of a human).

As used herein, including in the claims, the phrase “at least some” means “one or more,” and includes the case of only one. Thus, e.g., the phrase “at least some ABCs” means “one or more ABCs”, and includes the case of only one ABC.

As used herein, including in the claims, term “at least one” should be understood as meaning “one or more”, and therefore includes both embodiments that include one or multiple components. Furthermore, dependent claims that refer to independent claims that describe features with “at least one” have the same meaning, both when the feature is referred to as “the” and “the at least one”.

As used in this description, the term “portion” means some or all. So, for example, “A portion of X” may include some of “X” or all of “X”. In the context of a conversation, the term “portion” means some or all of the conversation.

As used herein, including in the claims, the phrase “using” means “using at least,” and is not exclusive. Thus, e.g., the phrase “using X” means “using at least X.” Unless specifically stated by use of the word “only”, the phrase “using X” does not mean “using only X.”

As used herein, including in the claims, the phrase “based on” means “based in part on” or “based, at least in part, on,” and is not exclusive. Thus, e.g., the phrase “based on factor X” means “based in part on factor X” or “based, at least in part, on factor X.” Unless specifically stated by use of the word “only”, the phrase “based on X” does not mean “based only on X.”

In general, as used herein, including in the claims, unless the word “only” is specifically used in a phrase, it should not be read into that phrase.

As used herein, including in the claims, the phrase “distinct” means “at least partially distinct.” Unless specifically stated, distinct does not mean fully distinct. Thus, e.g., the phrase, “X is distinct from Y” means that “X is at least partially distinct from Y,” and does not mean that “X is fully distinct from Y.” Thus, as used herein, including in the claims, the phrase “X is distinct from Y” means that X differs from Y in at least some way.

It should be appreciated that the words “first,” “second,” and so on, in the description and claims, are used to distinguish or identify, and not to show a serial or numerical limitation. Similarly, letter labels (e.g., “(A)”, “(B)”, “(C)”, and so on, or “(a)”, “(b)”, and so on) and/or numbers (e.g., “(i)”, “(ii)”, and so on) are used to assist in readability and to help distinguish and/or identify, and are not intended to be otherwise limiting or to impose or imply any serial or numerical limitations or orderings. Similarly, words such as “particular,” “specific,” “certain,” and “given,” in the description and claims, if used, are to distinguish or identify, and are not intended to be otherwise limiting.

As used herein, including in the claims, the terms “multiple” and “plurality” mean “two or more,” and include the case of “two.” Thus, e.g., the phrase “multiple ABCs,” means “two or more ABCs,” and includes “two ABCs.” Similarly, e.g., the phrase “multiple PQRs,” means “two or more PQRs,” and includes “two PQRs.”

The present invention also covers the exact terms, features, values and ranges, etc. in case these terms, features, values and ranges etc. are used in conjunction with terms such as about, around, generally, substantially, essentially, at least etc. (i.e., “about 3” or “approximately 3” shall also cover exactly 3 or “substantially constant” shall also cover exactly constant).

As used herein, including in the claims, singular forms of terms are to be construed as also including the plural form and vice versa, unless the context indicates otherwise. Thus, it should be noted that as used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

Throughout the description and claims, the terms “comprise”, “including”, “having”, and “contain” and their variations should be understood as meaning “including but not limited to”, and are not intended to exclude other components unless specifically so stated.

It will be appreciated that variations to the embodiments of the invention can be made while still falling within the scope of the invention. Alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose can replace features disclosed in the specification, unless stated otherwise. Thus, unless stated otherwise, each feature disclosed represents one example of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The present invention also covers the exact terms, features, values and ranges, etc. in case these terms, features, values and ranges etc. are used in conjunction with terms such as about, around, generally, substantially, essentially, at least etc. (i.e., “about 3” shall also cover exactly 3 or “substantially constant” shall also cover exactly constant).

Use of exemplary language, such as “for instance”, “such as”, “for example” (“e.g.,”) and the like, is merely intended to better illustrate the invention and does not indicate a limitation on the scope of the invention unless specifically so claimed.

While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Although certain presently preferred embodiments of the invention have been described herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains that variations and modifications of the described embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.