A casing for a handheld communication device includes a set of individual parts, each individual part being formed from the same metal. The set of individual parts have a purity of at least a hallmark purity level. The set of individual parts is severable from the casing without reducing the purity of the set of individual parts below the hallmark purity level.

In today's world it is important that design takes into account the destruction of a device at the end of its natural life as well as its appropriate, aesthetic and convenient operation. By including elements in the design of an article that allow for its disassembly at the end of its natural life some of the necessary conditions are in place for recycling. However, without legal compulsion it is difficult to ensure that devices are in fact recycled.


A method and an apparatus for requesting Uplink (UL) resource allocation in a beamforming-based wireless communication system are provided. A Mobile Station (MS) acquires UL beam pair information indicating a best MS transmit beam and a best Base Station (BS) receive beam for UL transmission, determines a best BS transmit beam for Downlink (DL) reception, selects a Bandwidth Request (BR) code and a BR channel from available BR codes and a designated BR transmit resource, wherein at least one of the BR code and the BR channel is mapped to at least one of the best BS receive beam and the best BS transmit beam, and transmits the selected BR code to a BS over the selected BR channel. The BS allocates a UL resource for transmission of a BR message and UL data considering the best BS receive beam.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system operating based on beamforming. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving a request signal for allocation of Uplink (UL) resources considering Base Station (BS) receive beams in a UL.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless communication systems have been developed to support a higher data rate in order to meet the continuously increasing demand for wireless data traffic. To support the increase in data rate, technologies for the wireless communication systems have evolved to mainly improve the spectral efficiency based on communication technologies such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), and Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO). However, the soaring demand for wireless data traffic may not be met only with the technologies for improving the spectral efficiency.
Recently, the increasing demand for smart phones and tablet computers and the explosive increase in the number of applications operating based thereon and requiring a high amount of traffic have more accelerated the demand for data traffic. One way to meet these demands is to use more frequency resources over a wider frequency band. Therefore, in order to secure a wider frequency band and apply it to wireless mobile communication, it is necessary to consider securing an ultra wideband frequency in the wider frequency band.
Wireless communication in a millimeter Wave (mmWave) band may suffer from an increase in propagation loss such as a path loss and a return loss due to the frequency characteristics of the mmWave band. As a result, the reach of radio waves may be reduced causing a decrease in coverage. On the other hand, the wavelength is very short due to the mmWave characteristics, making it easy to apply beamforming using a plurality of small antennas. Accordingly, the path loss of radio waves may be mitigated by applying beamforming technology to mmWave wireless communication, contributing to an increase in the reach of radio waves and an increase in coverage.
Transmit beamforming is a common method of increasing directivity by concentrating arrival areas of radio waves in a specific direction using a plurality of antennas. A set of the plurality of antennas is called an antenna array and each antenna included in the array is called an array element. The antenna array may be classified into a variety of types, including a linear array and a planar array. With the use of transmit beamforming, the directivity of signals may be improved contributing to an increase in transmission distance, and almost no signal may be transmitted in directions other than a desired direction, making it possible to remarkably reduce signal interference to users other than a specific user.
Meanwhile, a receiving side may also perform receive beamforming on received signals using a receive antenna array. The receive beamforming may also increase sensitivity of the signals received in a specific direction by concentrating received radio waves in a specific direction, and may block interference signals by excluding signals received in directions other than the specific direction from the received signals.
In a cellular system of the related art, best effort-based scheduling for a UL is achieved by allocating a Bandwidth Request (BR) channel in accordance with a contention-based operation through transmission of a BR ranging code, and by requesting a bandwidth over the BR channel and allocating UL resources. Specifically, such scheduling generally considers the contention due to a multiple access by multiple Mobile Stations (MSs). An MS desiring UL transmission anonymously transmits a randomly selected BR ranging code (i.e., BR code), and upon receiving the BR code, a BS allocates, to the MS, UL resources to be used to send a message such as a Bandwidth Request Header (BRH) including a Bandwidth (BW) allocation request of the MS, and then checks information about the MS from the BRH received from the MS and the requested UL resources, and allocates UL resources for data transmission.
The cellular system of the related art basically considers equi-directional or omni-directional transmission/reception of a BS and an MS. Therefore, UL and Downlink (DL) beamforming is not considered for transmission of a BR code over a BR channel, transmission/reception of UL resource allocation information for BRH transmission, and transmission of a BRH message. Therefore, there is a need for technology for efficiently performing a series of UL scheduling procedures in a beamforming-based wireless communication system.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present invention.

Method and apparatus for allocating uplink resources in beamforming-based wireless communication system


A system for cleaning vehicles that includes at least one drain beneath the vehicle for collecting spent water used in the cleaning of the vehicle; at least one filter for filtering the spent water; a storage tank for receiving and storing the filtered water; a boiler for receiving water from the storage tank, said boiler heating the water so as to produce steam that is useable in cleaning the vehicle; and an oil recovery apparatus for receiving oil from the vehicle and re-claiming the vehicle oil in order to operate the boiler.

There may be no greater assault on the environment than that which is delivered by a commercial truck wash. Each day hundreds of truck washes across America spew tens of thousands of gallons of toxic water into storm sewers, retention ponds, rivers, lakes and dwindling sources of fresh water. In an age of wide-spread water shortages, water conservation and pollution control are growing concerns in cities across the country. Polluted by road grime, degreasers, road salts, detergents and any number of environmentally toxic chemicals, the waste water generated by truck washes has become a high priority target for new city ordinances and regulations.
The typical truck car wash relies upon the use of degreasers and detergents in order to clean the truck. However, this can provide a significant pollution problem, in addition to the problem of materials that are already existing on the truck and that is washed therefrom.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved system for washing vehicles and in particular, for washing and cleaning commercial trucks.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a truck cleaning and washing facility that not only readily cleans the vehicle but also provides a clean environment.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a truck cleaning and washing station that does not use any chemicals for the cleaning and washing process and that furthermore recycles and conserves virtually all of the water used during the cleaning process.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a truck washing and cleaning facility wherein any road toxins or other materials deposited on the truck can be washed away and thus rid of in the environment once and for all.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a closed loop zero discharge filtration system that operates first by utilizing steam to clean the truck in association with a system for reclaiming and filtering the water so that it can be used over and over again.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a truck cleaning and washing facility that may be operated in conjunction with a large capacity retention pond to provide a potential main water supply for the truck wash boiler.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a truck wash and cleaning facility in which a boiler is used to create steam associated with a manifold arrangement for washing the trucks with wash guns.


A skin and tissue simulant including a gelatin composite block and an ether based cast polyurethane sheet. The gelatin composite block acting as the tissue simulant. The sheet acting as the skin simulant, the sheet disposed over a portion of the gelatin composite block.

The present invention relates to a skin and tissue simulant. More specifically, but without limitation, the present invention relates to a skin and tissue simulant for determining the potential of a given munition projectile to penetrate skin over a soft tissue area of the human body. The present invention also relates to a skin-tissue simulant physical ballistic penetration model.
The present method of determining the penetration potential of a munition projectile is to fire the munition projectile into uncovered or covered gelatin or clay materials. The material used in the covered gelatin or clay is frequently a T-shirt type fabric. Nominal 10% ordnance gelatin is considered to be the most accurate human tissue similant. However, this type of simulant does not replicate the significant resistance that human skin provides in preventing penetration into human tissue. This is a significant shortcoming in the present method of determining the penetration potential of munition projectiles. A more realistic penetration model would be a model that would simulate human skin over soft tissue areas of the human body. Such a model would include a skin simulant disposed over a tissue simulant. The tissue simulant that is universally accepted in the ordnance community is nominal 10% ordnance gelatin. However, the ordnance community has had difficulty finding a good skin simulant. Raw pigskins can be used; however, pigskins have wide variations in the skin characteristics, and present hygiene concerns. Natural rubber can be used, but it is not a consistently good skin simulant because of variations in raw materials.
The basis for judging a good synthetic skin/tissue physical penetration model is found in tests conducted on cadavers as noted in Table 9-1 on page 227 of the book entitled "Bullet Penetration, Modeling the Dynamics and Incapacitation Resulting from Wound Trauma" by Duncan McPherson. The data from testing by DeMaio on cadavers, reveals that a nominal 4.5 mm air gun pellet (BB) fired at velocities between 290 and 360 feet per second will penetrate skin over tissue areas of the human body. Table 9-1 is incorporated herein by reference. In addition, page 85 of the text contains the statement "the most representative known tissue simulant is 10% ordnance gelatin. The proper procedure for preparation and use of 10% ordnance gelatin has been well documented. Other tissue simulants are inferior and often invalid in penetration evaluation, but can be useful for testing of other parameters."
Thus, there is a need in the art to provide a skin and tissue simulant that incorporates the listed benefits without the limitations inherent in present methods. For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a skin and tissue simulant.

Skin and tissue simulant for munitions testing

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


String and support for light-emitting diodes having a capsule and, at a rear end of said capsule, electrical connecting pins, in which encapsulating blocks embed the rear parts of said diodes, said pins, the end parts of the connecting wires connected to these pins and the adjacent end parts of their sheaths. Also described is a chain of light-emitting diodes, comprising sheathed flexible electrical supply wires and a multiplicity of strings, of which the end wires are connected respectively to said supply wires. Additionally, a luminous device with light-emitting diodes, comprising at least one board having a multiplicity of traversing holes, at least one string of light-emitting diodes and/or at least one chain of light-emitting diodes, of which the diodes are engaged respectively in at least some of said holes of the board, from one side of the latter and are held.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the general field of visual devices, for display, for signaling or for the presentation of information with light-emitting diodes and in particular in the field of luminous signs with light-emitting diodes.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Currently, according to a first known variant, light-emitting diodes are attached to a printed circuit board in a particular arrangement corresponding to a luminous representation in two desired dimensions. Such a device requires the design of a printed circuit with the desired representation and the individual mounting of diodes on this circuit.
According to a second known variant, banks of light-emitting diodes are produced mounted in-line on a common support that is then attached to a support, the banks being connected by electrical connecting wires to an electrical supply component. Such devices require supports that are suitable for the attachment of banks and only enable representations to be obtained having straight parts corresponding to the length of the banks.
Moreover, the above devices require complementary sealing means so that they can be protected against the weather.

String, chain and luminous device with light-emitting diodes and light-emitting diode support


A latch of an integrated circuit is able to retain data at the latch when the integrated circuit is in a low-power mode. The latch retains data at a retention stage in response to assertion of an isolation signal. In response to a reference voltage supplied to the latch being restored to a normal operating voltage, indicating that the integrated circuit has transitioned from the low-power mode to a normal mode, a data restoration circuit provides the retained data at the output of the latch prior to negation of the isolation signal. This reduces the likelihood that a delay in negation of the isolation signal will result in the latch output providing incorrect data, thereby reducing the likelihood of the latch output causing errors in downstream elements of the integrated circuit.

Integrated circuits typically employ latches to store data. Some latches are able to retain data when the integrated circuit enters a low-power mode. When the integrated circuit changes to a normal or active mode, the retained data is provided at the latch output in response to an isolation signal indicating the mode change. However, errors can result from imprecision in the timing of the isolation signal. For example, if a latch provides an asynchronous reset control signal to downstream elements, a delay in the isolation signal can cause an undesirable reset of the downstream elements. The likelihood of such errors can be reduced by individually controlling the timing of isolation signals for each latch in the integrated circuit. However, this can require an undesirable number of individually controlled isolation signals, and can also require undesirably complex circuitry to control each isolation signal. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved latch device.

Latch device having low-power data retention


The present invention relates to a process for obtaining simultaneously several compositions comprising fatty acid alkyl esters (biodiesel), glycerol formal and fatty acid glycerol formal esters.

The world has recognized the critical need to decouple economic growth from resource impact. In particular, Europe is aimed at increasing industrial competitiveness whilst drastically reducing resource and energy inefficiencies. The underlying principle is to develop enabling technologies and solutions along the value chain to "do more with less".
The following objectives have been proposed:                1. A reduction in fossil-fuel energy intensity of up to 30% from current levels by 2030 through a combination of, for example cogeneration-heat-power, process intensification, introduction of novel energy-saving processes, and progressive introduction of renewable energy sources within the process cycle.        2. By 2030, up to 20% reduction in non-renewable, primary raw material intensity versus current levels, by increasing chemical and physical transformation yields and/or using secondary and renewable raw materials with proven sustainability advantages.
The traditional manufacture of biodiesel is an area where these principles are most relevant since biodiesel, along with bioethanol, is currently the major biofuel in the market and, in addition, its manufacture is resource inefficient because not all the oil feedstock is converted into biofuel.
The industrial method for biodiesel production currently involves the transesterification of triglycerides with excess methanol in the presence of a catalyst to yield fatty acid methyl esters (the desired fuel product) and glycerol (a byproduct without fuel properties).
The resource inefficiency in a synthesis process is quantified by the atom economy, a well known factor that measures the percentage of atomic mass of starting materials that is incorporated into the desired final product of a chemical reaction, fatty acid methyl esters in this case. The atom economy of biodiesel production is 90% which is an unacceptable value for a large-volume commodity.
On the other hand, obtaining glycerol is a problem since there is a huge uncertainty of a secondary market for large volumes of crude glycerol derived from biodiesel manufacture.
The low atom economy combined with the glycerol market uncertainty contribute significantly to decrease the profitability of a biodiesel manufacturing plant.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,890,364 B2 and US 2004/0025417 A1 to Delfort et al. disclose a process for producing glycerol acetals to be used in diesel fuels. The acetal oxygenate additive is claimed to reduce particulate emissions from diesel engines.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,917,059 to Bruchmann as well as U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,713,640 and 6,548,681 to Miller et al. describe a process for preparing acetals.
EP2476740 (A1) relates to a process for the preparation of a mixture comprising fatty acid alkyl esters and acetals with fuel characteristics. The reaction takes place in a closed vessel and comprises reacting a mixture, obtained from the partial transesterification of a triglyceride with a lower alkanol, comprising glycerol, monoglycerides, diglycerides, triglycerides, fatty acid alkyl esters, and excess alkanol with an aldehyde, ketone or diether as a glycerol acetal forming agent in the presence of a solid acid catalyst to form a mixture of the fatty acid alkyl ester and the acetal of the glycerol to provide the composition.
However, none of these documents provides a process for obtaining simultaneously several compositions comprising fatty acid alkyl esters (biodiesel), glycerol formal and the bioester of fatty acid glycerol formal ester, starting from natural oils (triglycerides). The importance for obtaining glycerol formal resides in two facts: the first is that glycerol formal is the lowest possible molecular weight acetal that can be prepared from glycerol; the second is that glycerol formal is the starting material for the preparation of fatty acid glycerol formal esters, a glycerol-containing bioester with fuel characteristics similar to biodiesel. The possibility for obtaining the lowest possible molecular weight glycerol acetal (glycerol formal) is extremely relevant for the fuel properties of the fuel compositions that can be prepared from these components as already disclosed in EP 2049623.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a flexible synthetic process that transforms efficiently triglycerides and glycerol into a variety of fuels whose actual compositions depend on the specific selection of raw materials and reaction conditions.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a range of compositions useful as bio fuels in both automotive and industrial applications (e.g. in industrial boilers).

INSTITUT UNIV. DE CIÈNCIA I TECHNOLOGIA, S.A.


A ladder support bracket (11) receives a rung of a ladder intended to be placed against the gutter (19) of a building and thus restraining it, and hence the ladder, from sideways or downwards movement. The bracket includes a first region (12) for affixing to a rigid portion of the building, a second region (13) which spans the gutter, and a third region (14) in the form of a cradle for receiving the rung of the ladder. The ladder support bracket preferably has the first region for fixing the bracket to a rigid portion of the building in the form of a relatively planar sheet like portion which may be attached by suitable fasteners, such as screws (22, 23) or the like, to the rafters (18) or other timber members of the roof support structure of the building, such as battens (21), this portion then being covered by the roofing material, whether tiles or metal roofing.

This invention relates to a support bracket for a ladder and in particular a support bracket to be affixed in the region of a house gutter to prevent a ladder from being dislodged when the ladder is being thus used against the gutter.
Although the following description refers to ladders generally, no limitation is intended thereby. Any related device including, but not necessarily limited to, step ladders, fixed length ladders, extension ladders, trestles, work platforms or scaffolding, requiring a ladder like element to be placed against a building, is also contemplated. Again, although the following description refers primarily to conventional houses or buildings having a gutter mounted on a conventional fascia, no such limitation is intended, and any analogous use of a ladder whether against a gutter or otherwise is meant to be included, where by suitable adaptation the invention may be so employed.
Of necessity, ladders are used on a variety of surfaces and in many instances the ground or surface on which they are used is uneven, sloped or stepped. This in itself makes the ladder prone to movement when a person stands on any of the higher rungs of the ladder, especially if the ground is soft or otherwise less stable than expected. Although some surfaces against which a ladder can be placed or leant do provide a degree of frictional contact to prevent sideways slippage, eg rough brick work or render, contact of a ladder against a gutter is especially problematic, as the ladder to gutter contact is often a relatively slippery one, being inherently metal to metal (or metal to plastics in some cases).
It should be noted that whilst it might be preferable to avoid leaning the ladder against a gutter at all, this is usually the only suitable way of gaining access to the roof above, if the person using the ladder requires to have such access. In other words using a ladder against a gutter in many instances simply cannot be avoided. However, it would also be useful if the ladder did not in fact contact the gutter at all, especially if the gutter is made of plastics or formed from aluminium, as the gutter may be damaged.
In any event, even when used on stable level ground there is still an inherent risk of the ladder, especially when used over longer reaches, sliding sideways when it is leant against a gutter, especially in situations where there might be sudden weight transference or over-reaching by the person concerned. Even the very mode of gaining access to the roof area means the ladder may be moved sideways as the user takes his weight off the ladder and steps onto the roof, or much more dangerously steps from the roof onto the ladder, which might unexpectedly move away.
It would therefore be extremely advantageous to provide a simple means of providing a safe way to prevent the ladder from moving sideways along the gutter in such situations, which is itself relatively easy to use and economical. It would also be advantageous if such means also meant that the ladder itself was not actually resting on the gutter.


A laser-based inspection tool (LIT) for disks that allows simultaneous inspection of disk surfaces for defects and curvature. The laser beam is directed by a rotating scanner, such as a rotating polygon mirror, to the input of a telecentric lens assembly that provides an output beam parallel to its optical axis as the beam is being scanned. The output beam from the telecentric lens strikes the disk surface substantially perpendicularly. The beam is then reflected from the disk surface and passes back through a collection lens to the sensing surface of an optical detector. The detector outputs analog signals that represent the X and Y positions on the sensing surface where the reflected light beam is incident, which thus correspond to the slope of the disk surface at the point where the laser beam was incident. A mechanical disk lifter moves the disk in a plane parallel to the disk surface so that different scan lines can be generated on the disk surface. A processor, such as a personal computer, receives the output signals from the detector and calculates the slope values, and from the slope values, the curvature of the disk surface. A large number of points on each scan line are sampled, and a large number of scan lines are generated, so that the disk surface curvature can be calculated at various locations and over various ranges of the disk surface. The large number of sample points and the rapid calculation of slope values enables the shape of disk surface defects to be determined, which allows the disk defects to be classified as pits or bumps.

Magnetic and optical disks require smooth flat surfaces with extremely low defect rates to function properly. A typical magnetic disk comprises a substrate on which multiple layers of various materials are deposited. For example, a glass or aluminum substrate might be coated with thin films of Cr as an undercoat, a cobalt alloy magnetic layer, and a hydrogenated carbon overcoat. Depending on the stage of the process, these surfaces are not necessarily uniform. For example, a small circular band on the surface of the disk may be textured using a laser to form microscopic bumps. This textured region is intended to provide a low stiction area for the sliders to rest during nonoperating periods. In addition to intentional variations, there may be undesirable curvature as well as various types of defects. As the disks progress through the manufacturing process, various tests and inspections are used to detect defective disks so that they may either be reworked or discarded. In addition to visual inspections, a disk may be subjected to magnetic read/write tests. However, due to high capacities of magnetic disks, it is typically not practical to magnetically test each bit which can be stored on the disk. Laser surface inspection of the disks, if sufficiently precise, may actually be superior to current magnetic tests in detecting defects. Magnetic defects are usually associated with visible defects, but the visible defects can be detected more efficiently through laser inspection even though the laser spot size is considerably larger than the area in which a bit can be recorded. Thus, laser inspection allows greater test coverage of the disk in a cost-effective manner.
It is also desirable to inspect the disk substrate before any coatings or additional processing steps are added. If disk substrates with undesirable curvature and/or surface defects can be detected at this stage, a great savings can be realized by not incurring the costs of additional processing on defective parts. In addition it is desirable to be able to determine the shape or geometry of physical defects for the purpose of classifying disk defects by type and distinguishing real defects from dust particles.
What is needed is a laser-based surface inspection tool for determining both the shape of defects on disk surfaces and the curvature of disk surfaces at various stages in the disk manufacturing process.

Laser-based inspection tool for disk defects and curvature

Internatioanl Business Machines Corporation


In a method for in situ cleaning a shield bearing of excess target material deposited in a physical vapor deposition chamber, during a cleaning cycle, a vacuum is created in the physical vapor deposition chamber. A gas mixture which includes a reactive gas is introduced into the physical vapor deposition chamber. The reactive gas is activated by plasma discharge. During the cleaning, the gas mixture is continuously removed from the vapor deposition chamber along with reaction products.

The present invention concerns the cleaning of shields in a physical vapor deposition chamber.
In physical vapor deposition (PVD) processes a target material, for example tungsten, is bombarded by a gas, for example argon. Material from the target is dislodged and sputters onto a wafer.
A PVD chamber generally includes shields in the area immediately around a wafer. The shields prevent excess material sputtering from the target from contaminating the remainder of the PVD chamber.
The build-up of excess material on the shields eventually results in flaking. At this point it is usually necessary to service the PVD chamber by replacing the shield. If shield replacement needs to be done at approximately the same time as target replacement, the service to the shield may be performed without too much inconvenience. However, if the shield needs to be replaced much more often than the target, this can result in extra down-time of the system which can seriously impair production throughput.
Several methods have been tried to reduce flaking and thereby lengthen the time between shield replacement. For example, some shields have been designed to have a specific expansion coefficient. Additionally, the surface of shields has been treated, for example, by sandblasting. Adhesion layers also have been laid down to prevent flaking. Finally, shield design may be simplified to facilitate easy replacement.

Apparatus for cleaning a shield in a physical vapor deposition chamber


An apparatus for unloading a moveable member comprises a ramp structure with an inclined surface. A lift tab of the moveable member advances along the ramp structure to the inclined surface while pivoting about a pivot point to undergo an increase in elevation above a base surface. The inclined surface has a slope determined in relation to angular deflection of the lift tab induced by said increase in elevation. Preferably, the slope of the inclined surface substantially matches an angle of the lift tab when the lift tab is disposed on the inclined surface. The inclined surface preferably constitutes a parking surface, and the ramp structure further preferably comprises an entry/exit ramp surface and a latch surface along which the lift tab travels to reach the parking surface. The moveable member preferably comprises a flexible suspension which supports a transducer adjacent a data storage medium in a data storage device.

The ongoing commercialization of digital data processing devices has generally resulted in successive generations of devices having ever higher rates of functionality and interconnectivity. To this end, mass storage capabilities are being increasingly incorporated into a number of different types of devices, particularly with hand-held portable devices such as cell phones, digital cameras, personal data assistants (PDAs), etc.
A disc drive is a type of mass storage device that generally stores data on one or more rotatable magnetic recording discs. A corresponding array of data transducers (heads) is selectively moved across the surfaces of the discs to transduce data therewith. During periods of device non-use, the transducers can be unloaded from the media to a safe parked position, such as upon a ramp structure disposed adjacent a peripheral edge of the media.
While a variety of ramp load/unload structures have been proposed in the art for use in disc drives and other types of devices, there remains a continual need for improvements that promote increased functionality and reliability, particularly in high vibration and mechanical shock environments. It is to these and other improvements that preferred embodiments of the present invention are generally directed.

Ramp structure with inclined contact surface


A device and a method for automatically inspecting objects traveling in an essentially monolayer flow. The device comprises a detection unit through which the object flow passes, consisting of the following: elements for applying electromagnetic radiation in the direction of the plane of conveyance of the objects and defining a lighting plane, the intersection of the lighting plane and plane of conveyance defining a detection line; a receiver device periodically scanning each point on the detection line and receiving radiation reflected by an elementary measuring zone, the plane defined by the detection line and the optical input center being known as the scanning plane; elements for transmitting the reflected radiation. The radiation emitted is concentrated in the region of the lighting plane and the lighting plane and the scanning plane merge, whereupon the joint plane is inclined in relation to the normal of the plane of conveyance.

The present invention relates to the characterisation and optionally the automatic sorting of objects, in particular recyclable domestic packagings, by their constituent materials and/or by their colour, the combination of a material or of a constituent substance and of a colour hereinafter being called a category.
It relates to a device and a method for automatically inspecting travelling objects with characterisation and discrimination according to their chemical composition.
The machine according to the invention is particularly but not exclusively suitable for inspection purposes and optionally for sorting, at high speed, various recyclable plastics packagings, in particular bottles made of PET, HDPE, PVC, PP and PS, as well as paper/cardboard, composite (drink packs) or metal packagings.
However, this machine may also be used for inspecting and discriminating any other objects or articles containing organic chemical compounds and travelling with a substantially single layer planar presentation such as, for example, fruits (discrimination by sugar content), and discrimination may be carried out on the basis of a major or minor chemical compound or of a plurality of chemical compounds.
In addition, said discrimination may end with separation of the flow of objects by sorting in categories or merely with counting and characterisation of said flow.
There are already numerous machines and numerous methods of the aforementioned type, in particular for sorting packagings according to their constituent material.
However, these known machines all have fairly serious drawbacks and significant limitations.
Therefore, the sorting of domestic packagings is still largely manual at present, particularly in European countries where sorting by material is demanded by the authorities responsible for recycling but also in other countries.
Significant automation of sorting has recently taken place in Germany, but in a very particular context, at least with respect to plastics materials. Sorting criteria do not concern the material but the shape (films, hollow bodies, or various mixed plastics). These existing machines therefore sort a "mixed plastics" category from papers/cardboards, after aeraulic presorting of the films and manual presorting of hollow bodies. Machines for the sorting of composite packagings or metal packagings are also found.
Existing machines differ greatly in terms of efficacy, depending on the type of mechanical preparation of the flow of objects to be sorted. Three main solutions may be distinguished:                complete individualisation with a single object per receptacle, without grasping an object;        a thread-form flow, the objects being aligned one behind the other;        a planar flow, the objects being spread in bulk over a mat which is much larger than their largest dimension and being distributed in a single layer.
Only the last solution has proven suitable, from the points of view of efficacy and productivity, for products which are as heterogeneous as refuse, in particular domestic refuse. In fact:                Complete individualisation has never been industrially proven. The prototypes developed with this type of presentation all ceased operating afterwards.        The thread-type flow already existed in industrial over-sorting machines in which the main flow was uniform and over-sorting involved removing a small percentage of undesirable objects. Applied to a heterogeneous flow of packagings, these thread-type systems operated on particularly clean flows. However, these machines have a limited throughput and necessitate the presence of manual operators upstream of the machine to remove objects likely to disturb operation, in particular large sheets of plastic and large containers. Therefore, they do not constitute a satisfactory solution for automation of sorting and have had little success.        Planar flows, on the other hand, have proven themselves as this is exactly the presentation of objects found in manual sorting. It is thus known how to carry it out simply in the context of domestic refuse, and the machines using this type of flow are suitable for bulk sorting conditions and have met with much greater success than the two other aforementioned types.
Only planar flow sorting, involving the currently most effective machines, will therefore be discussed hereinafter.
The document EP-A-0 706 838 in the name of the Applicant presents a sorting machine and method suitable for objects in a planar flow. This machine uses at least one artificial vision system to locate the objects and to recognise their shape and their colour, a robotic arm to grasp and handle the objects and at least one complementary sensor to recognise their constituent material. This complementary sensor is advantageously an infrared spectrometer.
This system has the advantage of being basically a multimaterial system since the main packagings are sorted by material and/or by colour and are distributed in a plurality of suitable containers. The same machine may therefore sort up to eight different categories. Furthermore, the individual gripping of the objects guarantees an excellent quality of sorting, typically one error per 1,000 sorted objects.
However, the sorting rate of this system is limited by the individual gripping of the sorted objects and does not exceed 60 to 100 kg/h per sorting module. The only way to increase this rate is to cascade a plurality of identical sorting modules, and this increases the overall bulk of the machine and its cost.
The document U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,576 presents a planar sorting machine which emits overhead the flow of electromagnetic radiation received by transmission below the flow of objects. The intensity of this radiation enables the materials to be distinguished according to their relative opacity in transmission. Thus, if the radiation consists of X-rays, this document mentions satisfactory separation of PVC which contains an atom of chlorine which is opaque to X-rays, in comparison with the other plastics which do not contain any, in particular PET. Depending on the result, a row of nozzles will or will not eject one of the classes of objects downwards.
However, this detection principle is too basic for complex cases: all objects have a degree of opacity, and it will be appreciated that multiple thicknesses of a material which is only slightly opaque (for example PET/polyethylene terephthalate) may not be distinguished from a single thickness of a more opaque different material (for example, PVC—polyvinyl chloride). There is therefore the risk of ejecting all these sparingly opaque objects at once in error. In addition, this system can only distinguish PVC from other plastics: it is incapable of distinguishing PET from HDPE (high density polyethylene) or PAN (polyacylonitrile). Existing machines according to this document have limited efficacy and low outputs (proportions of desired objects from among the ejected objects): of 10 to 30%. Finally, a significant drawback of the transmission assembly is that at least one of the two elements, the sensor or the transmitter, has to be below the flow. There is therefore a risk of recurrent soiling or blockage of the lower element, necessitating repeated interventions at relatively short intervals.
The document EP-A-0 776 257 describes a planar sorting machine which has a high throughput and is capable of recognising one material from a plurality of materials. The material to be recognised is selected at the time of construction of the machine by appropriate fixed calibration.
In this machine, mere infrared lighting is emitted overhead and the sensor is also placed on top, so it analyses the light which is scattered back vertically by the objects.
Reception is effected via a plane or semicircular concave mirror extending over the entire width of the mat, then by a polygonal rotating mirror. The point of measurement is therefore scanned cyclically over the entire width of the mat.
The light received from the measuring point is then divided by an assembly of semi-reflective mirrors in a plurality of flows. Each flow passes through an interferential filter centred over a specific wavelength, then ends at a detector. Each detector therefore measures the proportion of received light contained in the bandwidth of the filter. Analysis of the relative intensities measured by the various detectors allows a decision as to whether the material present at the point of measurement is or is not the desired material. The number of filters mentioned in this document is between 3 and 6.
The presence of a large-sized mirror of this type constitutes a fragile point of the overall structure, elongates the detection/ejection distance, increases the overall bulk of the detection station and is likely to lead to distortion and introduce inhomogeneities in the light flux recovered for analysis, leading to errors of detection.
In such architecture, the speed of detection is the main issue: there are 25 to 50 measuring zones per line, and 100 to 150 lines have to be analysed per second in view of the speed of circulation of the flow. The magnitude is therefore 5,000 measurements/s. Such a speed involves significant constraints:                the detection algorithm must be sufficiently simple (therefore few operations and simple processing) to be carried out in real time;        the reception electronics must be very fast;        the quantity of light received must be sufficient in a very short time.
The detection algorithm has to carry out two-dimensional reconstitution of the objects to be sorted before proceeding to eject them, and this necessitates a relatively large distance between the detection zone and the ejection zone, increasing the risks of erroneous ejection owing to a movement of the objects between detection and ejection.
The aforementioned problem concerning the quantity of light is critical and explains why the machine according to this document can only recognise a predefined material:                multimaterial recognition would necessitate the use of at least 8 to 16 wavelength ranges (or PLO) and not just 3 to 6 ranges;        in addition, the widths of the PLOs, which are relatively large in the example mentioned (32 to 114 nm) would have to be reduced in a range of 5 to 20 nm since a larger number of PLOs has to be distinguished in the same spectral width.
The two effects are added together: the greatest number of PLOs would divide the quantity of light received by each filter by approximately 3; the reduced width of each PLO means that each filter would allow a fraction, which is about 5 times smaller, of the received light to pass through. To maintain the same level of signal, the lighting power required for the machine would therefore pass from one to 3×5=15 kW. Such a power would not be realistic (cost, energy consumption, heating).
The document WO 99/26734 presents a planar sorting machine having a high throughput, with architecture which is fairly close to the previous document but discloses multimaterial recognition.
To achieve this, this document approaches the problem of the quantity of light differently: it proposes a vision system upstream on the conveyor of infrared detection, this system being quite comparable to the one mentioned in the aforementioned document EP-A-0 706 838. This system allows each object present to be located and, in the region of infrared detection, allows a single measuring point which follows the travelling object to be controlled by a set of position-sensitive mirrors. The analysis time available becomes relatively long, of the order of 3 to 10 ms, as a single point is analysed per object. Implementation, although not specified, may therefore use known technology which is compatible with this analysis time. For example, a spectrometer with a bank of photodetectors (typically 256 components, each corresponding to a wavelength) with resolution of 4 to 6 nm per detector may be used.
However, this solution also has several drawbacks:                it necessitates additional material, namely a vision system;        it is dependent on the selection by vision of the point of spectrometric measurement on the object, and this may be awkward in the presence of labels or soiling;        it is dependent on the immobility of the object on the mat: as the two detections are made on zones of about 1 m×1 m, the object moves by at least 1 m between its detection by vision and its detection by spectrometry, then by 0.5 m on average between its detection by spectrometry and its final ejection. Immobility is never ensured when the conveyor advances at 2.5 m/s, particularly if the objects are bottles which are likely to roll.
The machine described in this document is obviously more flexible but more expensive and much less effective than the previous one.
Finally, the document DE-A-1 96 09 916 describes a miniaturised spectrometer for a planar plastics sorting machine operating with a diffraction grating to spread the infrared spectrum over an output strip and a small number of sensors corresponding to wavelengths which are unevenly distributed in this output strip. It is mentioned in this document that 10 well-selected sensors rather than the 256 sensors of a conventional bank of photodiodes may suffice. However, each of these 10 sensors has an area equivalent to each sensor of a bank, in other words typically a rectangle of 30×250 μm2. A surface of this type gathers little light and limits the speed of analysis to 200 measurements per second. Therefore, a spectrometer of this type cannot analyse all the points of a high-speed conveyor with the above-mentioned speeds and resolutions.
This last document therefore proposes the production of a line of identical parallel microspectrometers for analysing a planar flow. According to the inventor, the cost of a spectrometer would be minimised by microsystem production techniques, but the necessary resolution involves 25 to 50 spectrometers on the line to cover the width of the conveyor mat: the total cost, like the maintenance constraints, are therefore very high. In addition, few details are provided in this document on the production of such a machine, and there does not seem to be any machine of this type currently in operation.
In addition to the drawbacks and limitations inherent in each of the above-mentioned devices and methods, one major drawback which is common to all these devices and methods should be mentioned, namely their inability to reliably process objects having a significant height, for example of about 10 to 30 cm, owing to the inadequate intensity of applied radiation at this distance from the plane of conveyance Pc of the travelling objects, or owing to the inability to recover the radiation to be analysed or else for both the aforementioned reasons.

Device and method for automatically inspecting objects traveling in an essentially monolayer flow


Disclosed in an olefin polymerization catalyst comprising a transition metal compound having at least two transition metals in which at least one of said metals is bonded to a ligand having a cyclopentadienyl skeleton, at least one of said metals is selected from Sc, Y, Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W and lanthanoid metals and at least on of the others is selected from the specific transition metals; and an organoaluminum oxy-compound or an organoboron compound. Corresponding to the kind of the metal combined with said metal selected from Sc, Y, Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W and lanthanoid metals, the olefin polymerization catalyst exhibit a property to give polymers having a wide molecular weight distribution in spite of the catalyst system using one kind of a transition metal compound, or to give polymers having high molecular weight and be excellent in the polymerization activity at low polymerization temperature.

A catalyst comprising a zirconium compound and aluminoxane has been recently proposed as an olefin polymerization catalyst. For instance, catalyst systems in which a metallocene compound having a pentadienyl group (e.g., cyclopentadienyl group), an alkyl group and/or a halogen atom as a ligand is used in combination with aluminoxane are described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publications No. 19309/1983, No. 35006/1985, No. 35007/1985, No. 35008/1985, No. 130314/1986 and 41303/1990. Also described is that these catalyst systems are highly active in the polymerization of .alpha.-olefin.
Other than such catalyst systems using a metallocene compound and aluminoxane in combination as mentioned above, those using a metallocene compound and an organoboron compound in combination are known to show activities in the polymerization of .alpha.-olefin ("Macromolecules" 1993, 26, 3239; "J. Am. Chem. Soc." 1991, 113, 3623).
However, if an olefin is polymerized by the use of the catalyst systems stated above (catalyst systems using one kind of a transition metal compound), a polyolefin having an extremely narrow molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn) of about 2 is produced. In this polyolefin, therefore, there are eagerly desired the improvement in moldability and in surface appearance of the molded articles.
To cope with those problems, processes for preparing polymers of a wide molecular weight distribution by the use of catalyst systems in which plural kinds of transition metal compounds and assisting catalyst components are used have been proposed and described in, for example, Japanese Patent 35006/1985, No. 35008/1985, No. 501369/1988, No. 283206/1992 and No. 230135/1993.
In these processes, however, polymers having different properties are produced from each transition metal compound catalyst components, so that the reaction process is intricate, and the molecular weight distribution of the resulting polymer is not always controlled easily. Therefore, in order to obtain a polymer of desired molecular weight distribution, complicated operations are required.
Accordingly, there is eagerly desired the advent of an olefin polymerization catalyst by the use of which a polymer having a wide molecular weight distribution can be obtained in spite of the catalyst system using one kind of a transition metal compound and an .alpha.-olefin can be polymerized with high polymerization activity. There is also desired the advent of a process for olefin polymerization using said olefin polymerization catalyst.
Moreover, the catalyst system in which the metallocene compound is combined with aluminoxane or the organoboron compound have been generally known to exhibit highest polymerization activity at a polymerization temperature of 60.degree.-80.degree. C. However, the molecular weight of polymers produced at such temperature is still insufficient for molding many kinds of products. While, in such case, the molecular weight of the polymer obtained can be improved by carrying out the polymerization at a temperature lower than the usual polymerization temperature, a sufficient polymerization activity cannot be obtained. Accordingly, there is eagerly desired the advent of an olefin polymerization catalyst which exhibits high polymerization activity at low polymerization temperature and can give polymers having high molecular weight, and a process for polymerizing olefin using said olefin polymerization catalyst.
The inventors have made extensive and intensive studies in order to cope with the above problems associated with the above prior art. In result, it has unexpectedly been found that these problems can be solved by using, in an olefin polymerization catalyst, a transition metal compound having at least two transition metals in one molecule, in which at least one of the transition metals bonds to a ligand having a cyclopentadienyl skeleton, at least one of the transition metal is selected from the group consisting of Sc, Y, Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W and lanthanoid metals, and one of the other is the specific transition metal selected from the same as or different from said metals.

Olefin polymerization catalyst and process for olefin polymerization


A plurality of document definition information for identifying documents, and format control information for recognizing a character recorded on a document corresponding to each of the plurality of document definition information are held beforehand, documents targeted for character recognition are identified as specific documents based on document images of the entered documents targeted for character recognition and the document definition information and, based on a result of the identification, character recognition is executed by using corresponding format control information. A document definition device adds a plane area of each of documents to be identified to the document definition. An OCR device checks the plane area on the document by using the document definition before check of a preprint accompanied by character recognition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a document identification device suitably applied to a character recognition device for processing a plurality of documents, and more particularly, it relates to a document identification device suitably applied when a plurality of documents in which character strings to be identified are not arranged in fixed positions are identified in accordance with document definition.
2. Description of the Related Art
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a document definition method which is used in carrying out document identification in accordance with a plurality of identification items set for each of a plurality of documents to be identified, and a document identification method for identifying a document in accordance with document definition based on the plurality of identification items.
Heretofore, in order to generally read characters recorded on a plurality of documents in the OCR, it has been necessary to prerecord (print) an ID number in a predetermined position for document identification, in the case of a document exclusively designed for OCR reading to enable the OCR to identify the document. In the OCR, format information (form information or format control information (FC)) corresponding to the ID number has been prestored, and format information corresponding to an identified type of a document (ID number) has been used to read characters from a target document. As format information, there is information for specifying a position of a field, in which a character to be read has been recorded, on a document, a number of digits of a character to be read, a character pitch, a type of a character recognition dictionary used for reading a character letter type, or the like.
On the other hand, recently, there has been an increase in requests for reading characters recorded on an existing document not designed exclusively for OCR reading. In order to read characters recorded on the existing document, it has been necessary to execute registration of format information in the OCR, manual sorting of a plurality of existing documents in accordance with types to form a bundle for each type, and specification of format information for each bundle (1 batch) to read the characters.
Furthermore, in order to read characters recorded on a document, coordinate information of a character writing section (ruled line) on the document and format information have been preregistered in the OCR correspondingly to each other, coordinate information of a ruled line has been obtained from an image of the document entered to the OCR, and compared with the preregistered coordinate information of the ruled line for each document to identify the document and, based on format information corresponding to the identified document, character reading has been executed. This method eliminates the necessities of manual sorting of documents in accordance with types before reading, and 1-batch processing of the same document during reading. Thus, a plurality of documents can be mixed to enable reading.
However, in the above-described method, if the entered document image is blurred, ruled line extraction cannot always be carried out accurately. Consequently, a problem of incorrect document identification occurs. Moreover, even in the case of documents of different types, if positions of ruled lines are completely identical, a problem of impossible identification of the documents occurs.

Document identification device, document definition method and document identification method


The invention relates to the new arginine salt forms of RS-(±)-9-fluoro-6,7-dihydro-8-(4-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl)-5-methyl-1-oxo-1H,5H-benzo[i,j]quinolizine-2-carboxylic acid, S-(−)-9-fluoro-6,7-dihydro-8-(4-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl)-5-methyl-1-oxo-1H,5H-benzo[i,j]quinolizine-2-carboxylic acid, R-(+)-9-fluoro-6,7-dihydro-8-(4-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl)-5-methyl-1-oxo-1H,5H-benzo[i,j]quinolizine-2-carboxylic acid, a process for their preparation and pharmaceutical formulations which comprise those arginine salt forms as the active ingredient for its use in treating microbial infections.

The chiral fluoroquinolone known under the name S-(−)-9-fluoro-6,7-dihydro-8-(4-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl)-5-methyl-1-oxo-1H,5H-benzo[i,j]quinolizine-2-carboxylic acid is described in JP Patent 63,192,753A, JP Patent 05,339,238A, and in our pending U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 09/566,875, 09/640,947 and 09/802,793 and WO 00/68229, PCT Application Nos. PCT/IN00/00111 and PCT/IN01/00097.
S-(−)-9-fluoro-6,7-dihydro-8-(4-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl)-5-methyl-1-oxo-1H,5H-benzo[i,j]quinolizine-2-carboxylic acid is an optically active isomer of the racemic compound which is claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,134.
S-(−)-9-fluoro-6,7-dihydro-8-(4-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl)-5-methyl-1-oxo-1H,5H-benzo[i,j]quinolizine-2-carboxylic acid has an aqueous solubility of 0.8–2.0 mg/ml over the pH range 8.0–9.5 at 28° C., thus creating problems in having to formulate the drug as a tablet or capsule, or in making formulations for gavage and parenteral injection. The need for a salt is clearly indicated, as the lack of an appropriate salt form can hinder the development of dosage forms acceptable for systemic use in mammals.
S-(−)-9-fluoro-6,7-dihydro-8-(4-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl)-5-methyl-1-oxo-1H,5H-benzo[i,j]quinolizine-2-carboxylic acid has a pKa value of 6.80 suggesting a weak acid character and thus an ability to form a salt with an appropriate base. Generally, conversion of a pharmacologically active compound into a salt form induces a change in the compound's physicochemical properties such as solubility, absorption velocity, etc.
Pharmaceutically more desirable salt forms may be selected by studying whether or not a crystalline or amorphous form, or polymorph or pseudopolymorph can be produced, and determining the properties including its physicochemical or biological properties. A pseudopolymorph is a polymorph that differs from a true polymorph by the incorporation of solvent (Solid-state Chemistry of Drugs, 2nd Ed. S. R. Byrn et al (Eds). SSCI, Inc. 1999, p-514).
Pharmaceutically acceptable salts of racemic 9-fluoro-6,7-dihydro-8-(4-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl)-5-methyl-1-oxo-1H,5H-benzo[i,j]quinolizine-2-carboxylic acid such as salts with inorganic bases and organic bases are mentioned in the text of Otsuka's U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,134. Besides salts with inorganic bases and organic bases, amino acid salts of S-(−)-9-fluoro-6,7-dihydro-8-(4-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl)-5-methyl-1-oxo-1H,5H-benzo[i,j]quinolizine-2-carboxylic acid are identified in our pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/566,875 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/640,947, WO 00/68229 and PCT Application No. PCT/IN00/00111. Arginine salt forms of S-(−)-9-fluoro-6,7-dihydro-8-(4-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl)-5-methyl-1-oxo-1H,5H-benzo[i,j]quinolizine-2-carboxylic acid are identified in our pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/802,793 and PCT Application No. PCT/IN01/00097. The subject matter of these applications is incorporated herein by reference. To date, no literature reference teaches about the amino acid salts of RS-(+/−)-9-fluoro-6,7-dihydro-8-(4-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl)-5-methyl-1-oxo-1H,5H-benzo[i,j]quinolizine-2-carboxylic acid or R-(+)-9-fluoro-6,7-dihydro-8-(4-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl)-5-methyl-1-oxo-1H,5H-benzo[i,j]quinolizine-2-carboxylic acid.
S-(−)-9-fluoro-6,7-dihydro-8-(4-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl)-5-methyl-1-oxo-1H,5H-benzo[i,j]quinolizine-2-carboxylic acid, L-arginine salt 0.25 hydrate and S-(−)-9-fluoro-6,7-dihydro-8-(4-hydroxypiperin-1-yl)-5-methyl-1-oxo-1H,5H-benzo[i,j]quinolizine-2-carboxylic acid, L-arginine salt, 0.75 hydrate described in Examples 7 and 8 of U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/566,875 and 09/640,947, WO 00/68229 and PCT Application No. PCT/IN00/00111 respectively are highly hygroscopic and turn into syrups on exposure at a relative humidity of 41%. Additionally, arginine salt forms described in our pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/802,793 and PCT Application No. PCT/IN01/00097 are either amorphous or only partially crystalline and are to a certain degree hygroscopic. Many hydrates and salts associated with water are susceptible to changes in humidity, are hygroscopic under adverse storage conditions and during pharmaceutical processing of them to medicament forms.
The amino acid salts, inorganic base and alkali salts and organic base salts and specially the arginine salt forms of S-(−)-9-fluoro-6,7-dihydro-8-(4-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl)-5-methyl-1-oxo-1h,5H-benzo[i,j]quinolizine-2-carboxylic acid were prepared and studied by the inventors and it was found that:
(a) an arginine salt may exist in a crystalline form having distinctive physicochemical, solubility and stability properties;
(b) the crystalline arginine salt is less prone than the sodium salt to absorb moisture at specified humidity levels;
(c) the crystalline arginine salt, possesses a lower propensity to cause phlebitis than the sodium and potassium salts as determined in rats by intravenous administration; and
(d) the crystalline arginine salt is less toxic in rodents than the alkali salt forms.
In summary, the crystalline form of the arginine salt of S-(−)-9-fluoro-6,7-dihydro-8-(4-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl)-5-methyl-1-oxo-1H,5H-benzo[i,j]quinolizine-2-carboxylic acid has been found by the inventors to have very desirable properties in possessing under specified conditions, less hygroscopicity, favourable aqueous solubility, a low propensity to cause phlebitis, and favourable acute toxicity values. This form is expected to be very useful as a pharmaceutical agent as compared with the previously described arginine salt forms, sodium salt, other inorganic base/alkali salts, organic base salts and other amino acid salts. These advantages will be apparent from the experimental data shown hereafter.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Crystalline fluoroquinolone arginine salt form


The present invention is directed to a spectrometer in which the electrical and optical components are connected to one another in a compact construction. A minimal expenditure on assembly and adjustment is achieved through a small quantity of individual parts. The compact spectrometer comprises an entrance slit, an imaging grating, one or more detector elements in rows or matrices, and elements of a controlling and evaluating unit. The detector elements and the entrance slit are arranged on a shared support, the elements of the controlling and evaluating unit being arranged on the free surfaces of the support. The entrance slit and the detector elements and the imaging spherical grating recessed into the spectrometer housing are arranged symmetric to an imaginary center axis of the support. Due to its compact size and the minimized expenditure on adjustment and assembly for its manufacture, the inventive spectrometer has numerous applications.

a) Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a compact spectrometer in which the electrical and optical components are permanently connected to one another. A minimal expenditure on assembly and adjustment is achieved through a small quantity of individual parts.
b) Description of the Related Art
According to the known prior art, miniaturized spectrometer systems are often needed so as to ensure a broad range of application. The combination of high-performance digital electronics with the optical components and the use of flexible light-conducting fibers results in spectrometers whose areas of application range from routine analysis in the laboratory to special tasks in process measurement technology and quality control in manufacturing processes. Consequently, numerous spectrometric systems for many different applications are known from the art.
An arrangement for measuring optical spectra is described in DE 198 36 595. In these spectrometers, the optical and electronic components are arranged one above the other in a sandwich-type construction and are permanently connected to one another, Owing to this manner of construction, these spectrometers are very compact and robust. However, the expenditure on adjustment of the optical components, particularly reflection gratings and mirrors, appears to be considerable.
The spectrometer described in EP 1 041 372 has means for connecting the individual optical components in a simpler manner in order to reduce expenditure on adjustment of the optical system, which is an important cost factor in the manufacture of spectrometers of this type.
Concentric spectrometers are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,181,418 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,995,221. Due to the concentric shape of the housing parts and other structural component parts, thermally-dependent expansion and stress can be kept well under control. The proposed solution reduces stray light and reflection spectra which substantially influence the sensitivity and measurement accuracy of the spectrometers. In this solution, expenditure on adjustment is also considerable due to the large number of individual parts.
In the solution described in DE 196 09 916, a miniaturized compact spectrometer is used for the detection and sorting of plastics in the recycling industry. For cost reasons, instead of complete lines of detectors, a small number of irregularly spaced detectors are arranged at the points of the generated spectrum that are sufficient for detecting and distinguishing sorts of materials. While this reduces the readout time and evaluating time, the expenditure on adjustment and assembly is increased due to the individual detectors.
Utility Model Application DE 299 06 678 describes a small spectrometer for determining the condition of surfaces of roadways and/or vehicles. The housing parts are manufactured in such a way that they have cutouts, grooves and pins, so that the other structural components parts can be brought into the pre-defined position in a simple manner. Accordingly, only a slight expenditure is required for fine adjustment.
However, the spectrometer arrangements mentioned above have the disadvantage that, even with optimized manufacture requiring only a fine adjustment of the optical components, the expenditure on assembly and adjustment is too high due to the quantity of elements to be adjusted. Accordingly, economical and effective large-scale production is impossible.


A rigid hydraulic control shaft for conveying a fluid from a hydraulic valve to a hydraulic chamber of a propeller comprises a main segment. The main segment has a hollow rigid outer tube and a solid rigid inner bar. The inner bar has an outer periphery and at least one longitudinal groove disposed along the outer periphery. The outer periphery is configured to move in rotation and translation with an inner periphery of the outer tube. The main segment is configured to move in rotation and in translation with a piston disposed adjacent to the hydraulic chamber.

It is conventional to use propellers that are arranged on a lift surface of an aircraft in order to propel it. By expelling the air passing through it, each propeller creates a propulsive or tractive force suitable for causing the aircraft to move forwards in translation. Thus, a propeller generally comprises a hub secured to a plurality of blades, the hub being covered by a conical fairing commonly called a "spinner".
In the early days of aviation, propellers were provided with a plurality of fixed-pitch blades, the blades and the hub forming a single block. Such propellers are therefore referred to as "fixed-pitch propellers". The pitch of the blades was consequently set permanently at a value that was determined at the time the propeller was fabricated. Depending on the intended mission, a pilot could choose to fit a propeller of small pitch for enhanced climbing, or a propeller of large pitch for enhanced cruising flight. In addition to it not being possible to have a propeller that is optimized for all missions, it will readily be understood that such propellers present difficulties in that the entire propeller needs to be changed in order to go from one configuration to another.
A significant improvement to that type of propeller is known. It comprises a second type of propeller known as a propeller of pitch that is variable on the ground. The pitch of the blades of a propeller can thus be adjusted on the ground. By unlocking a blade clamping collar, the blades can be pivoted into the desired position in order to change the pitch. Compared with the first type of propeller, the second type avoids the need to remove the propeller. Such adjustment, however, can clearly not be performed in flight.
A third type of propeller, known as a "variable pitch propeller" has also been implemented. The aircraft then has a system for controlling pitch variation that enables the pitch of the propeller blades to be changed in flight. Conventionally, such a pitch variation control system has a hydraulic pump that is activated by the pilot via a control, a hydraulic chamber provided under the conical spinner of the propeller, and a piston associated with the blades via a rod.
Depending on the order issued by the pilot, the pump injects fluid into the hydraulic chamber via flexible pipe. The resulting change of pressure in the hydraulic chamber causes the piston to move. The blades are then caused to turn about their pitch variation axes by the piston. That third type of propeller thus enables blade pitch to be varied while in flight so as to go from a small pitch on takeoff to a large pitch while cruising.
It should also be observed that in the event of the engine installation that drives a propeller in rotation breaking down, the blades can be oriented in such a manner as to minimize their relative wind resistance and thus minimize drag. This is referred to as "feathering" the propeller. Nevertheless, this third type of propeller is not totally satisfactory. If, during flight, the pilot pulls up the nose, the speed of rotation of the propeller drops and the aircraft loses speed.
Consequently, a fourth type of propeller has been implemented to maintain optimized propulsion, or optimized traction, as a function of the orientation of the propeller, this fourth type being referred to as a "constant speed" propeller. As with the third type, a hydraulic device is provided to vary the pitch of the propeller blades in flight. Furthermore, the pilot now controls a throttle to adjust the power delivered by the aircraft engine installation. Regulator means are implemented and control both the power from the engine installation and the pitch of the blades so as to maintain the speed of rotation of the propeller constant. Optionally, the aircraft includes a propeller control used by the pilot to set said speed of rotation of the propeller.
The pitch variation control system used by the third and fourth types of propeller is effective. Nevertheless, it can be difficult or even impossible to implement it. If the hydraulic fluid feed needs to pass via the power transmission shaft driving the propeller in rotation, then it is not possible to use a flexible pipe, which is needed to perform a rotary movement.
Similarly, for safety reasons, it can be necessary to duplicate pitch variation systems, which can be difficult. Consequently, the assembly comprising a pump and a flexible pipe has been replaced by a hydraulic slide valve and a longitudinally-pierced bar. The bar is constrained to rotate with the propeller, and it is fed via the hydraulic valve. The valve then fills the longitudinal borehole in the bar with fluid, e.g. oil, so as to cause the piston in the propeller to move and vary the pitch of the propeller's blades. Nevertheless, modern techniques enable boreholes to be made in bars of small dimensions only, with the piercing of bars of large dimensions leading to completely unacceptable departures from alignment. Conventionally, the person skilled in the art thus machines bars of small dimensions and assembles such bars together by welding them in pairs, the junction zones being covered by sleeves. This solution is burdensome and difficult to implement. Furthermore, it is not possible to pierce a large number of channels in a bar of small dimensions, thus limiting the quantity of fluid that can be conveyed by the transmission shaft and preventing the control system from being made redundant.

Rigid hydraulic control shaft and a control system for varying the pitch of a propeller


An electronic flasher unit for one or more flashing lamps activated by flasher switches is described. The flasher unit has at least three control inputs and an integrated circuit for controlling a flashing relay with relay contacts. In addition, further switching means are provided that can be used to alter the operating state of the integrated circuit as a function of the switch settings of the flasher switches and the ignition switch.

Flashing indicators in motor vehicles are still often based on mechanical flasher units, in which mechanical contacts are closed when the flasher switches (hazard warning flasher switch, turn indicator switch) are actuated, and the flashing function is made possible by bi-metallic contacts. For each lamp circuit, two separate units--a separate unit for each flashing direction--must be provided. In addition, there are already electronic three-terminal flasher units available that have only one control input, namely the turn indicator switch; the hazard warning flashing function is achieved with an additional mechanical switch.


A disk-shaped wafer is described which is based on an inorganic sorbent and a binder, with a thickness of less than 700 microns, which can be obtained by pressing a mixture of the inorganic sorbent, about 20 to 60% by weight of the binder and about 10 to 15% by weight water at a pressure of at least 70 MPa; and calcining the resulting green wafer at temperatures of at least about 500° C. until the water content is substantially removed.

The production of wafers, especially tablets, based on zeolites and binders is already known. Thus, according to JP-A-61 15 5216, zeolite tablets are produced by mixing a zeolite, a binder and a lubricant and extruding the mixture. They are formed as tablets with the same dimensions in all directions.
JP-A-56063818 discloses production of zeolite tablets for use as gas adsorbents. Powdered zeolite dried at 105 to 110° C. are mixed with 8.1% by weight bentonite power and are kneaded with a 4% aqueous urea solution. The mixture is tabletted, dried and calcined at 510° C. The increase in the compressive strength is dictated by the urea content.
JP-A-55 16 5144 discloses kneading zeolite powder for refrigerant aggregates in powder form with bentonite and water, extruding the mixture and forming round particles with a diameter from 0.8 to 10 mm.
According to JP-A-55 10 4913, zeolite in the Na form is mixed with 25% by weight clay, kneaded with water, extruded, calcined at 650° C., immersed in a calcium chloride solution, washed, dried at 110° C. and activated at 400° C. The tablets are used as desiccants.
According to JP-A-603 2572, zeolite powder is mixed with kaolin and Na (or NH4)-hydroxymethyl cellulose, shaped, dried and calcined at 650° C., in order to increase the strength of the zeolite tablets.
According to JP-A-21 44 121, deodorants are prepared by extruding zeolite powders or grains with calcium chloride or bentonite and water. The mixture is then tabletted and the tablets calcined.
According to JP-A-63 218 234, desiccants are produced by extruding a mixture of microporous particles (for example, gypsum, cement, ceramic powder) and an inorganic or organic filler, such as CaCl2, LiCl, bentonite, zeolites, PVA or other water-soluble polymers. The mixture is tabletted and then hardened.
According to JP-A-60 132 643, zeolite tablets are produced as desiccants using 20% sepiolite as the binder. The mixture is kneaded with water, tabletted, dried at 150° C. and calcined at 550° C. The tablets have an improved drying effect compared to bentonite tablets.
The tablets produced according to the prior art are unsuited for use under spatially restricted conditions and under mechanical stress since they are too thick and too heavy and in terms of mass and surface, have overly low sorption capability for toxic gases and vapors. With the processes and mixtures according to the prior art, overly brittle wafers are obtained which crumble especially after calcining.
It is known that electroluminescent devices work properly over a longer time only when a desiccant is present. This can be attributed to the sensitivity of the electrodes, especially of the cathodes, for example, to moisture (the cathodes consist of Ca or Mg alloys). Therefore these devices are sealed as well as possible under a protective gas.
In EP 500 382 A2 the use of a moisture absorber in an electroluminescent device is described. The desiccant in the form of a powder or beads is applied to a black silicone resin coating. According to the preferred embodiment the desiccant is placed in a gas-permeable bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,761 describes the use of a desiccant in an electroluminescent device. BaO is used as the preferred desiccant. See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,379 which discloses a coating for use with microelectronic devices comprising a desiccant powder blended with a binder.
The sorbents known from the aforementioned publications have the disadvantage that they can sorb only water vapor. An attack on the cathode can also be triggered by other gases which, in addition to water, form when the epoxy resin which is used for sealing sets (ammonia, volatile amines). In addition, the action of oxygen also can lead to failure of the luminescent components (oxidation of the cathode).
The object of this invention is to produce disk-shaped wafers based on an inorganic sorbent and an inorganic binder, with a very low thickness (less than 700 microns) which in spite of their low thickness have high strength and thus can be installed, especially in electronic components, in which only limited space is available and which can be exposed to vibrations (for example, electronic display devices in motor vehicles and mobile telephones).
This object is achieved by preparing a disk-shaped wafer based on at least one inorganic sorbent and at least one binder, with a thickness of less than 700 microns, which can be obtained by pressing a mixture of or a mixture containing an inorganic sorbent, about 20 to 60% by weight of the binder and about 10 to 15% by weight water (relative to the overall mixture) at a pressure of at least 70 MPa; and calcining the resulting green wafer at temperatures of at least about 500° C. until the water content is substantially removed.
The wafers as claimed in the invention have high strength, low brittleness, high sorption rate and high sorption capacity at low mass. They exhibit low thermal expansion, no wear and can be easily colored by adding pigments during manufacture.


High-speed interconnects for printed circuit boards and methods for forming the high-speed interconnects are described. A high-speed interconnect may comprise a region of a conductive film having a reduced surface roughness and one or more regions that have been treated for improved bonding with an adjacent insulating layer. Regions of reduced roughness may be used to carry high data rate signals within PCBs. Regions treated for bonding may include a roughened surface, adhesion-promoting chemical treatment, and/or material deposited to improve wettability of the surface and/or adhesion to a cured insulator.

Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are widely used in the electronics industry for the manufacture of electronic assemblies. PCBs may be assembled from stacks of dielectric layers (sometimes called "prepreg" layers prior to assembly) and/or laminates or cores. A laminate or core may include at least one planar electrically insulating layer and conductive foils or films on one or both surfaces of the insulating layer. Some of the conductive films may be patterned, using lithographic techniques, to form conductive interconnects that are used to make electrical connections within circuits formed on the PCB.
The dielectric layers, conductive films (patterned or unpatterned), and laminates may be formed into a multi-layer, integral "board" structure by pressing together a stack of layers and curing the prepreg layers. In some cases, there may be 10 or more interconnect levels in a multi-layer PCB. When fully assembled, the circuits may include a variety of circuit elements soldered to or otherwise attached to the PCB. The circuit elements may include, e.g., resistors, capacitors, inductors, transistors, fuses, integrated circuits (ICs) or chips, trim pots, electro-acoustic devices, microelectromechanical devices (MEMs), electro-optical devices, microprocessing chips, memory chips, multi-pin connectors, and various types of sensors, etc. Some of the conductive films may be left substantially intact and may act as ground or power "reference planes."
PCBs are routinely used in consumer electronics as well as custom applications. For example, PCBs may be used in smart phones to connect and enable data communication between processing electronics, signal transmitting and receiving electronics, and a display. PCBs may be used in laptops and personal computers for similar purposes. PCBs may be used in signal routers and data communication equipment. In such applications, large amounts of data and/or high-speed signals may be transmitted through interconnects of a PCB. Common insulating materials used in the manufacture of PCB dielectric layers support non-return-to-zero (NRZ) data transmission rates up to about 30 Gb/s. Because attenuation and speed of propagation of a signal along a trace depends on characteristics of the material surrounding that trace, more expensive, state-of-the art, high-performance insulating materials may be used to increase the transmission rates to nearly double that.


The system, method, and program of this invention enables construction of statements, including queries, programs, and commands, by using drag and drop templates. A predefined phrase template, which is generated and displayed to a user, imposes syntactic and semantic constraints in constructing the statement. Objects representing entities and objects representing subphrases can be dragged and dropped onto phrase receptacles within the phrase and subphrase templates. Complex statements can be constructed from a nesting of subphrases using the drag and drop technique. The constructed statement is displayed to the user along with the subphrase structure of the statement through nested panels.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the construction of statements including programs, commands, and queries, and more specifically, to an "easy-to use" graphical user interface that enables a user to construct such statements, and even more specifically, where such statements are query statements for information retrieval.
2. Description of the Related Art
Database system technology is growing in vastness and importance as more and more detailed information is being compiled into accessible databases. Advancements in many technologies including imaging, storage, and database technologies are allowing vast amounts of imagery to be digitized, compiled, and stored in databases. Examples of such digitized imagery include geographic imagery from satellites, imaged documents from vast library collections, and digitized imagery from x-rays. The technology advancements in database management systems is allowing such information to be accessed at optimized speeds and with increasingly more data integrity and reliability. However, all of these advancements in technology do not achieve their full potential usefulness unless everyday novice users can formulate queries to access the vast amount of information in the databases.
Information retrieval is an important aspect of database technology, and the ease of use in retrieving information is critical as more and more information is being retrievable by everyday, non-expert, users. This is becoming even more important as more and more information is being accessible via the internet. Everyday internet users are not necessarily experts in information retrieval. As such, the user interface for composing queries to retrieve information is an important component of database systems and other computer systems that involve information retrieval.
A central goal in user interface design for query systems has been the creation of easy-to-use interfaces that require minimal training. A wide variety of interface styles have been employed including menu-driven, forms-based, natural language, and structured language with automatic completion. Graphical styles have also been employed including: connection diagrams, flowcharts, nested windows, and iconic displays.
In a form based interface, a user fills in the blank fields in the form, and hits submit. Providing a form for a user to fill out makes it difficult to provide flexibility in creating a variety of different queries. It is difficult to take into consideration the number of searchable objects and all of the possible relationships among these objects within a form, thereby limiting the breadth of queries that can be generated from a form. An HTML document on the internet is an example of a form based interface.
In a natural language interface, such as where a user types in free-form English, there is usually not enough guidance that is given to a user. As a result, it is difficult for a user to formulate queries that the database system understands. A user can easily stray outside the vocabulary of the system. In such an unstructured environment, it takes more than a novice user to know what input the computer system can receive and process. The problem with a typical natural language interface is that it does not provide enough guidance to a user.
Although each of the above techniques has its strength, each falls short of the goal of a natural interface that is accessible to both novice and expert users.
"A Knowledge-Based Database Assistant with a Menu-Based Natural Language User-Interface," Xu Wu, IEICE Trans. Inf. & Syst., Vol. E76-D, NO. 10, October 1993, p. 1276+, discloses a query-pattern user-interface where an English-like sentence contains several parentheses such as: EQU fingsic! the ( ) of ( ) which ( ) the ( ).
For each blank-phrase, a constraint defines the valid value range. When a user selects the example query pattern to make a query, the system shows the user the available fillers of all blanks. By reviewing the available fillers menu, the user may fill the query pattern and make an English-like query expression as follows: EQU fingsic! the (name) of (department) which (located-in) the (London).
The advantage of this query-pattern facility lies in the query-pattern-based guidance facility which is based on the domain concepts model and the contents of the underlying database. However, such an interface with menus is essentially a static interface. It is not possible to build up a complex query from simpler components. In addition, reviewing all available options in a menu in order to fill in the blanks can be time consuming for a user and does not provide sufficient flexibility in constructing a query.

Computer systems, method and program for constructing statements by dragging and dropping iconic representations of subcomponent statements onto a phrase template

International Business Machines Corporation


A novel electrically power heater for heating samples to very high temperatures is disclosed. The heater includes a heater base having a plurality of concentric circular rings. Each ring includes a plurality of heat lamps coupled to the heater body. The height of each concentric ring is variable and be set during design to any desirable height. In one embodiment, the height of each of the concentric rings is adjusted so as to form a contiguous upwardly sloping arc from the outermost ring to the innermost ring. In another embodiment, the height of the concentric rings is adjusted so as to form a combination of upwardly and downwardly sloping arcs. In both embodiments, the lower surface of the heater body is shaped to form a reflector. The reflector for each ring consists of two portions, each substantially elliptically shaped so as to greatly reduce back reflections through the filament of the heat lamp. Utilizing circularly shaped rings of heat lamps functions to focus and more evenly illuminate the sample, typically a silicon wafer. The light intensity of each ring can be controlled individually permitting the fine tuning of the energy distribution over the surface of the wafer.

Heaters for the rapid thermal processing of semiconductor substrates during the manufacture of integrated circuits are known in the art. Such heaters are used for annealing, heating and other purposes during the manufacture of integrated circuits. Some conventional heaters are composed of a flat array of heating elements, such as halogen heat lamps. The combination of multiple heating elements electrically wired together is sufficient to provide the required amount of heat for wafer processing. However, with this type of heater, it is difficult to control the heat energy distribution falling on the wafer due to the characteristics of the individual heat lamp elements and their associated reflectors. This poor control of the heat energy distribution results in low power consumption efficiency.
Also known in the art is a heater configuration that uses an array of individual heating elements positioned in hollowed out cylindrical openings in the heater body. Each individual lamp can be considered a point source of heat illuminating a relatively small area of the wafer. This configuration permits greater control over the heat illumination of the wafer. However, this configuration is less efficient than the previous one described due to the large number of multiple reflections which can be responsible for an energy loss in the order of 30%. The multiple reflections are generated because the heat lamp is mounted inside a cylindrical cavity. Although the interior surface is a polished reflector, the geometry of the cylinder is such that a significant amount of the heat is not reflected directly out of the opening. Multiple reflections, besides being wasteful, cause unnecessary additional heating of the filament, reducing the life of the heat lamp, decreasing the efficiency of the heater, increasing the number of heat elements required and consequently the electrical power required. In addition, the machining required to form the cavities in the heater body is complex and expensive. Also, the angular energy distribution of such a heater is non homogeneous due to the geometrical restrictions of each socketed or cavity reflector.


A valve timing adjusting apparatus for an engine comprises a housing unit and a vane rotor rotatably housed in the housing unit. The housing unit comprises a front plate, a shoe housing and a sprocket, wherein those elements are fixed to each other. A position determination pin is inserted through a through hole formed in the shoe housing and into a tapered hole formed in the sprocket, to position the shoe housing at a desired position with respect to the sprocket. Since a forward end of the position determination pin is brought into contact with an inner surface of the tapered hole, the positioning of the shoe housing with respect to the sprocket can be surely attained.

In Japanese Patent Publication No. H9-60508, a compound structure is disclosed, in which a position of a sprocket to a shoe housing is determined by a position determination member. Japanese Patent Publication No. H9-60508 further discloses an apparatus for adjusting a valve opening and closing timing of an engine, in which a vane rotor is rotated relative to the shoe housing and the sprocket.
An apparatus shown in FIG. 8 is known as an apparatus for adjusting a valve (opening and closing) timing of an engine exhaust valve, in which the valve timing is adjusted by an oil pressure. In the apparatus shown in FIG. 8, when the engine is started in a severe application environment, operation oil mixed with air may be supplied to an oil-pressure chamber facing a vane rotor 1. In such a case, since dry dusting of a shoe housing 3 is carried out by the vane rotor 1 to which a torque of a cam shaft is applied, a knock pin 6 of a cylindrical rod shape is used as a position determination member to prevent a bolt for tightening a sprocket 4 to the shoe housing 3 from being loosened by the dusting.
In addition, in the apparatus shown in FIG. 8, a stopper piston 7 is provided to hold the vane rotor 1 at its most advanced position relative to the sprocket 4 right after the start of the engine. Namely, the stopper piston 7 is accommodated in the vane rotor 1 in a reciprocally movable manner, and a forward end 7a of the stopper piston 7 is inserted into a bush 9 of the sprocket 4 by a biasing force of a coil spring 8, so that a relative rotation between the rotor vane 1 and the sprocket 4 is prevented.
In the apparatus shown in FIG. 8, the forward end 7a of the stopper piston 7 is designed into a straight shape and the forward end 7a is positioned with a high degree of precision relative to the bush 9 so that, in a state of holding the rotational phase, the stopper piston 7 is not removed from the bush 9 due to a positive torque received from a cam shaft. For this reason, in a process of assembling the apparatus, the sprocket 4 is fixed to the shoe housing 3 by bolts by precise adjustment of a clearance between the forward end 7a of the stopper piston 7 and the bush 9. Due to a manufacturing tolerance in such assembling process, a hole 3a provided in the shoe housing 3 and a hole 4a provided in the sprocket 4 for inserting the knock pin 6 are mutually eccentric. In this case, since the knock pin 6 is no longer placed correctly, a positioning capability by the knock pin 6 is deteriorated. If each diameter of the holes 3a and 4a is made larger in anticipation of the manufacturing tolerance, the knock pin 6 is prone to saccadic movements. And thereby, the positioning capability by the knock pin 6 is likewise deteriorated.
Furthermore, in the apparatus shown in FIG. 8, when the knock pin 6 is inserted into the holes 3a and 4a of the shoe housing 3 and the sprocket 4, a hermetically sealed space is formed at a forward end of the knock pin 6. Since the air in the sealed space is compressed, variation of insertion depth of the knock pin 6 may occur due to a damper effect of the air in the sealed space. Such variation is not desirable, because it also deteriorates the positioning capability.