A bottle-cage device for bicycle, comprises an anchoring portion (2), which is to be fixed to the frame (6) of a bicycle, a lower supporting portion (4), connected to the anchoring portion (2), for supporting the bottom of the bottle, and an upper annular holding portion (3), within which the bottle in introduced. The annular holding portion (3) is supported in a cantilever fashion by the anchoring portion so as to be able to elastically pivot with its axis with respect to the anchoring portion as a result of the introduction of the bottle.

The invention relates to a rotating electrical machine assembly (2) for a motor vehicle. The invention comprises a rotor (6) surrounded by a stator (5) which is solidly connected to a spacer (61) that is disposed between the casing (62) of the engine of the motor vehicle having a crankshaft (11) and a dome (14). The invention is characterised in that the dome (14) is used to house the casing (3) of a hydrokinetic coupling device comprising an axially-projecting centring nozzle (30) with a closed free end. Moreover, the invention is characterised in that a first drive unit (12) connects the crankshaft (11) of the engine of the vehicle to a hollow rigid support (13) bearing the rotor (6) and in that a second drive unit (15, 4) is connected to the casing (3) of the hydrokinetic coupling device. The invention is further characterised in that: said two drive units (12, 15) are interconnected by means of a link comprising complementary forms (241, 341) consisting of an axially-oriented contour (241) which is supported by the first drive unit (12)and which co-operates in a complementary manner with an axially-oriented counter contour (341) which is supported by the second drive unit (15, 4), and in that the contour and the counter contour penetrate the support.

The invention relates to a roller ( 21 ) from a refractory material, for example in vitreous silica, for transporting a flat article provided at its end with a new arrangement for rotationally driving it as well as to an assembly of such a roller and its driving device. This roller ( 21 ) comprises an external surface ( 2 ), an inner surface ( 5 ) and two side surfaces ( 12 ), at least one side surface having indentations ( 22 ) parallel to the roller axis ( 3 ) and spaced apart from the external ( 2 ) and inner surface ( 5 ) for receiving rotationally driving pins ( 8 ), it is characterized in that at least one of the indentations ( 22 ) of the roller is provided with a metal jacket ( 24 ). The invention permits to avoid the breakage of the roller around the driving indentations.

The device has an operating unit (11) with a rotary toggle (12) that is rotatable in an associated bearing (13), a signal arrangement for producing signals depending on a toggle position and/or change in position and controller for processing the signals to influence the electric equipment. The toggle can also be moved linearly in at least one direction and the signal arrangement can detect the linear movement (L).

A sensor device is capable of identifying any components of a mechanical force applied to a movable object. The sensor device includes a movable object including at least one magnetically encoded region having a magnetic field; a plurality of magnetic field detectors being placed around the at least one magnetically encoded region of the movable object at regular intervals; and a signal processing unit being connected to the plurality of magnetic field detectors. The plurality of magnetic field detectors are set up to convert changes in the magnetic field of the at least one magnetically encoded region caused by each component of the mechanical force applied to the movable object into corresponding electrical signals. The signal processing unit receives the corresponding electrical signals being representative for the respective components of the mechanical force applied to the movable object. The signal processing unit is programmed to identify the respective components of the mechanical force applied to the movable object on the basis of the corresponding electrical signals.

The invention relates to optical fibers incorporating cavities in their structure. This is an optical fiber comprising: a central core (1); a first annular region (ra) surrounding the central core (1); a second annular region (rb) surrounding the first annular region (ra) and comprising medium-size cavities (3) the cross section whereof remains strictly between a given first threshold and a given second threshold strictly higher than the first threshold; a third annular region (rc) surrounding the second annular region (rb) and comprising large cavities (4) the cross section whereof remains strictly above the second threshold; in a cross section of the optical fiber, any radius that goes from the center of the core towards the exterior of the optical fiber encounters at least either a medium-size cavity (3) in the second annular region (rb) or a large cavity (4) in the third annular region (rc); and the average distance between the outer perimeter (Ca) of the second annular region (rb) and the inner perimeter (Cb) of the third annular region (rc) is less than half the average dimension of a large cavity (4).

The present invention relates to a packaging machine (500) for packaging pourable food products and producing sealed packages, comprising means for longitudinally sealing a web of continuous packaging material to form a tube, and sealing means for clamping and sealing the product-filled tube at spaced intervals. Said sealing means comprises a first two sets of mutually cooperating first heat sealing jaws (10) and first counter sealing jaws (20) respectively, and a second two sets of mutually cooperating second heat sealing jaws (10) and second counter sealing jaws (20) respectively. The sealing jaws (10,20) of at least one of said first and second two sets are carried by chain conveyors which are manageable between a first and a second state to make the packaging machine operable in a first state and in a second state, allowing manufacturing of different types of packages.

A fitting for connecting two structural components. The fitting includes a locking device mounted on the first structural component and a support device mounted on the second structural component. A rotary member in the support device defines circumferentially extending conical surface against which the front end of the locking device is pressed when the two fitting devices are connected. The force exerted by the front end of the locking device causes the rotary member to be turned. The rotary member has a helical end face which is initially outside of the range of travel of the locking device. Upon turning of the rotary member, the helical end face comes into engagement with a countersurface of the locking device. The resulting connection can only be released by means of a tool. The structural components are pressed tightly together by a further turning of the rotary member. A piece of furniture composed of several structural components can be initially connected without the aid of a tool and can subsequently be tightened after the piece of furniture has been assembled. The fitting makes possible the connection of structural components where the tolerances in assembling the fitting devices are inaccurate or have been exceeded.

A method of providing a surface of a material with an image, includes applying to the surface an image sheet included (i) a flexible layer of a Shape Memory Polymer, and (ii) an image bonded to said layer by means of an image key coat. The image sheet is bonded to the surface by means of an adhesive and a process which involves heating of the Shape Memory Polymer to a temperature above its Glass Transition Temperature.

The invention relates to a method for preparing a polymer conjugate, in which a water-soluble polymer employed, the polymer having a linear or branched water-soluble polymer backbone and, at one end of the backbone, a branched moiety linked with two free reactive groups capable of covalent bonding to another molecule. Most specificly, it relates to an activated, substantially water soluble poly(ethylene glycol) having a linear or branched poly(ethylene glycol) backbone and at least one terminus linked to the backbone through a hydrolytically stable linkage, wherein the terminus is branched and has proximal reactive groups is reacted with active moieties in a biologically active agent such as a protein or peptide thus forming conjugates between the activated poly(ethylene glycol) and the biologically active agent.