A telescoping connector assembly comprising a hollow rectangular bezel adapted for mounting in a patch bay panel frame. A plurality of telescoping connectors are mounted in the bezel and are adapted for relative movement thereto between a rearward position and a forward position. For this purpose, each of the telescoping connectors illustratively comprises a subframe having a pair of upper and lower runners adapted to engage complementary pairs of upper and lower slots formed in the bezel. The runners are fabricated from a flexible material, which allows the connectors to be extracted from the bezel by applying a bending force to the runners.

The prior art discloses a variety of connector assemblies for use with patch bay panels allowing for the interconnection of cables terminated along a rearward face of the patch bay panel with cables received into sockets along the front face of the patch bay panel. Cables are typically terminated by a plug or the like which is inserted into the socket. Such plugs typically comprise a latch assembly which interlocks with the socket thereby reducing the chance that a cable is inadvertently removed from its respective socket. In the event that it is wished to removed a plug from a socket, the latch must first be actuated, typically by depressing an exposed portion of the latch using the fingers or a thumb. In many cases space within the patch bays is limited and as a result the density of cables which must be terminated within a given patch bay is steadily increasing. In order to accommodate the increases in density, the inter-spacing between the connectors of adjacent cables is typically decreased.
With inter-spacing sufficiently small, or when the receptacle is occluded by the sides of the rack or opening within which the connector is disposed, it becomes difficult or impossible to actuate the latches using the fingers or thumb. In order to overcome this problem, the prior art discloses using a sufficiently slim special tool to actuate the latch mechanism. Often, however, such a tool is unavailable. Additionally such tools are typically designed for use with a particular connector/plug type and therefore a multiple of such tools must ordinarily be carried.
Additionally, prior art devices are difficult to access from behind, making the termination of cables or the like on the rearward side of the connectors difficult or impossible.


A round baler comprising a baling chamber mounted on a main frame for forming cylindrical packages of crop material therein, the baling chamber being at least partially defined by a pair of side walls and an apron assembly having an inner run which is guided at the inside of a cylindrically shaped continuous wall, and an outer run which is guided at the outside of said continuous wall. The continuous wall is provided with an opening for the recuperation into the chamber of crop material which has been entrained by the apron assembly when the latter left the baling chamber and entered its outer run.

1. Field of Art
This invention relates generally to an apparatus for making cylindrical bales, commonly referred to as a round baler. More particularly, this invention pertains to a baler of the type having a fixed bale forming chamber which is at least partially defined by a conveyor which is guided along a continuous cylindrical wall.
2. Description of Art
Prior art balers generally have a bale forming chamber defined by an apron comprising an array of side-by-side belts, transverse slats trained on chains, a plurality of rolls or a combination of these various elements, e.g. rolls and belts. Crop material such as hay or straw is picked up from the ground as the baler traverses the field, fed into a fixed or variable chamber where it is accumulated and compressed to form a cylindrical package of crop material. The formed package, while in its compacted condition inside the chamber, is wrapped with net, plastic film, twine or the like, to produce a completed round bale which is then ejected from the chamber onto the ground for subsequent handling.
A baler having a fixed chamber, that is, a bale forming chamber that does not vary in size, is disclosed in UK Patent Application GB 2,001,231 A. The chamber is defined by a pair of floor rolls and a cylindrical wall along which the inner run of a conveyor is guided. This conveyor comprises a pair of opposing chains between which a plurality of slats is mounted for engaging and rotating the crop material fed into the bale forming chamber. The conveyor leaves the chamber at its front end near the crop inlet and runs upwardly and rearwardly along the outside of the bale chamber wall to the back of the baler from where it is guided downwardly to enter again into the chamber in the vicinity of the floor rolls.
A portion of the crop material fed into the bale chamber may become trapped between the slats of the conveyor and the cylindrical wall and may be pulled out of the chamber by these slats. Some material may fall back on the windrow in front of the pick-up unit and be recuperated by the same, but the rest is carried by the outer run of the conveyor along the upper surface of the bale chamber until it reaches the rear portion of the baler from where it falls onto the field and is lost.


The invention concerns a method for the chemical modification of a surface based on the reaction of photolytically generated reactive intermediates derived from azido heterocycles with said surface.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns a method for the chemical modification of a surface based on the reaction of photolytically generated reactive intermediates derived from azido heterocycles with said surface.
2. Technical Background
Various methods for modification of surfaces are known. Radiation-induced grafting of moieties to polymeric surfaces has been disclosed. In some of these prior art processes, multiple stages are involved and reproducability may be a problem.
F. Yamamoto et al., Journal of Polymer Science: Polymer Chemistry edition, Vol 16, 1897-1907 (1978), discuss the grafting of methyl acrylate onto the surface of polyethylene film under the influence of high energy electrons.
He Mingbo et al., Polymer Degradation and Stability, 18, 321-328(1987) discuss the grafting of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidinyl-methacrylate onto the surface of polypropylene under the influence of ultraviolet radiation.
A. Hult et al, Macromolecules 18, 1804-1809(1985), disclose a method for the surface modification of polymers that is based upon photoinitiated cationic polymerization under the influence of ultraviolet radiation.
Lednicer et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,583 disclose a process for coating materials which are susceptible to interaction with an aromatic sulfonyl nitrene which involves contacting an aromatic sulfonylazide with said material and irradiating. The types of radiation employed are said to include ultraviolet, ultrasound and X-ray radiation.
E. W. Meijer et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 110, 7209-7210(1988), discuss the ultraviolet light induced polymerization of phenyl azide and a series of substituted phenyl azides. He proposes a reaction mechanism involving formation of a nitrene followed by a ring expanding nitrene insertion reaction to form a seven-membered ring compound (an azepine), which then polymerizes. The polymerization can be carried out in an image wise fashion if the irradiation is performed through a photomask. There is no indication nor suggestion that azides other than phenyl azides, least of all heterocyclic azides, would react and polymerize in a similar fashion. There is no indication nor suggestion that surfaces other than silica might be suitable substrates for the formation of photopolymerized phenyl azide films.
Reiner et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,309,453 disclose a process for the covalent surface modification of a macromolecular substance comprising applying a solution of an organic monomeric compound having a hydrophobic linear chain having at least one azide or diazo group at one end of said monomeric compound and having at least one hydrophilic, hydrophobic, oleophobic and/or ionic group at the other end of said compound, to the surface and then photochemically activating said molecule to convert said compound to a nitrene or a carbene. One of the compounds specifically disclosed is a para substituted alkyl phenyl azide. There is no indication nor suggestion that azides other than alkyl azides and the disclosed phenyl azide, least of all heterocyclic azides, would react in a similar fashion.
It is known in the art that different classes of azides, for example heterocyclic azides, may undergo different types of reactions. Different yields of the various types of possible products are obtained. See, Azides and Nitrenes, E. F. V. Scriven, Editor, Academic Press, 1984.

Chemical modification of surfaces using heterocyclic azides


Disclosed is a resin composition which comprises a catalyst precursor for electroless plating to form an electromagnetic wave shielding layer. The resin composition comprises an organic polymer resin, a polyfunctional monomer having an ethylenically unsaturated bond, a photoinitiator, a silver organic complex precursor as a catalyst precursor, and an organic solvent. Further disclosed are methods for forming metal patterns using the resin composition and metal patterns formed by the methods. The methods comprise forming a pattern, reducing the pattern, and electroless plating the reduced pattern. A patterned layer of the catalyst formed using the resin composition is highly adhesive, a loss of the catalyst during a wet process is substantially prevented, and an increase in plating rate leads to the formation of a uniform, fine metal pattern after electroless plating. Electromagnetic wave shielding materials comprising the metal pattern can be used in the formation of films for shielding electromagnetic waves.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resin composition comprising a catalyst precursor for electroless plating to form an electromagnetic wave shielding layer, methods for forming metal patterns using the resin composition, and metal patterns formed by the methods. More specifically, the present invention relates to a resin composition comprising a silver organic complex precursor as a catalyst precursor, methods for forming fine metal patterns using the resin composition, and metal patterns formed by the methods. The metal patterns of the present invention can be suitably used in the formation of films for shielding electromagnetic waves generated from the front surface of a variety of displays, including cathode ray tubes (CRTs), plasma display panels (PDPs), liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and electroluminescence (EL) displays, and in the wiring of flexible printed circuit boards.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the recent development and practical use of various types of displays, serious problems, such as hazards to human health and the malfunction of devices, have been encountered due to electromagnetic interference (EMI) noise generated from displays. In an attempt to solve these problems, an electrically conductive shielding film is formed on the front surface of a display to distort the propagation direction of electromagnetic waves generated from the display, followed by grounding to emit the electromagnetic waves.
Many methods are known to shield electromagnetic noise generated from the front surface of displays, including CRTs and PDPs, for example, by depositing a metal or metal oxide on a transparent substrate to form a conductive thin film. According to the exemplary method, however, since the conductive film must be formed as thin as possible to achieve transparency, the surface resistance of the conductive film is excessively increased, which makes it impossible to attain sufficient electromagnetic wave shielding effects.
In addition to these methods, methods have been reported wherein a conductive paste is patterned by a printing technique, such as screen printing or offset printing, and optionally the patterned paste is subjected to electroless plating to form an electromagnetic wave shielding film. However, there is a limitation in increasing the accuracy of printed circuits and there is a problem in that conductive materials infiltrate into irregular portions.
Further, some methods have been proposed wherein a metal layer is formed by photodevelopment and is subjected to electroplating or electroless plating to form an electromagnetic wave shielding film. However, drawbacks of these methods are that the photodevelopment requires the formation of several layers and the overall process is complicated. Further, methods have been reported wherein a metal catalyst is mixed with a photosensitive resin, the mixture is developed, followed by electroless plating and electroplating to form an electromagnetic wave shielding film. These methods, however, require the use of expensive palladium (Pd) as a catalyst and suggest no specific solution to avoid problems associated with the formation of a fine pattern and the electroless plating. Although the electroless plating is carried out to improve deposition characteristics, there is no specific approach to solve problems arising from detachment of the pattern in an aqueous solution of a strong base.

Resin composition comprising catalyst precursor for electroless plating to form electromagnetic wave shielding layer, methods for forming metal patterns using the resin composition and metal patterns formed by the methods


According to one embodiment, an electronic device includes a cooling fan which is arranged in a case, a space being present between heat radiation fins and the cooling fan, and a case-contained member contained in the case. The case includes a second member which is detachably coupled to a first member and faces the space. The case-contained member faces the space on the side opposite to the second member. When the second member is coupled to the first member, the second member and the case-contained member cooperate to form a duct which guides air exhausted from the cooling fan to the heat radiation fins.

1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to an electronic device equipped with heat radiation fins and a fan.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electronic device such as a portable computer is frequently provided with a heat radiation structure including heat radiation fins and a cooling fan. When the electronic device provided with such a heat radiation structure is used for a long time, dust will be deposited on the heat radiation fins. The dust deposited on the heat radiation fins reduces an efficiency of the cooling by the cooling fan.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2-301192 discloses a control board for an elevator, which is capable of cleaning dust deposited on heat radiation fins. In the control board, the heat radiation fins are located in a cooling air passage, and an inspection window is formed in a part of a case at a position facing the heat radiation fins. The inspection window is covered with a covering member, which may be opened and closed.
A place of the heat radiation fins where dust tends to deposit are the side face of the heat radiation fins facing the cooling fan. In the case of the control board, the heat radiation fins and the cooling fan are closely arranged with each other. It is therefor impossible to clean the side face of the heat radiation fins facing the cooling fan. If a window and a space for the cleaning purpose are provided around the heat radiation fins, air flowing from the cooling fan to the heat radiation fins leaks to flow in untended directions. This results in decreasing the efficiency of the cooling of the heat radiation fins by the cooling fan.


A gripper a fuel element, comprises a housing, an inner part arranged inside the housing, the inner part and the housing being displaceable relative to one another in an axial direction, with the inner part movable between a first end position and a second end position, a catch member movable between a gripping position and a release position, a gripper spring between the housing inner part counteracting movement of the inner part from the second end position, or an intermediate position (Z) between the first and second end position, to the first end position, and a damping system comprising a first and second connecting member for connecting the damping system to the housing, inner part and/or the fuel element loading machine, and a spring member arranged on the first and/or the second connecting member counteracting movement of the inner part from an intermediate position (Z) to the second end position.

The gripper of a fuel element loading machine, which is used to transport fuel elements within a nuclear facility, comprises a housing for fastening the gripper to the fuel element loading machine, for example to a telescoping mast of the fuel element loading machine, and an inner part arranged to be axially displaceable inside the housing. For gripping and putting down the fuel element, the inner part is moved to a first end position. During the transport of the fuel element, the inner part is in a second end position. Arranged on the inner part are one or more catch members which are movable between a gripping position and a release position and engage a handle or bracket of the fuel element thereby establishing a force-closed connection with the fuel element when the latter is coupled to the catch members.
The housing of the gripper has guide grooves, typically two guide grooves, in which stop members fastened to the inner part, for example keys, are guided. The guide grooves here constitute lower and upper mechanical stops for the stop members in the first and second end positions of the inner part. This establishes the flux of force between the inner part and the housing. A block tooth system engages between the inner part and the housing, wherein, depending on the position of the catch members, i.e. gripping position or release position, a tooth projects into one of the two recesses of the block tooth system to reliably retain the catch member in its respective position. Further, a gripper spring which preloads the inner part relative to the housing via the stop members is arranged in axial direction between the inner part and the housing.
In normal operation, i.e. when operating without interference, the fuel element is, during transport, held at the gripper via the catch members, which are then in their gripping position. In this case, each stop member rests on the lower stop of its guide groove, and the block tooth system engages such that the catch member is retained in its gripping position. When the gripper makes contact, i.e. during gripping or releasing at the beginning or end of the transport, the fuel element stands on its base and the inner part presses onto the fuel element, i.e. its handle or bracket. The weight of the fuel element loading machine, i.e. its telescoping mast, causes compression of the gripper spring, so that the housing is displaced downwards relative to the inner part until the keys abut the upper stop of the guide grooves and the inner part is in the first end position. The block tooth system opens and the catch members can be opened, for example using a pneumatic piston.
During the downward movement of the gripper holding the fuel element, however, the base of the fuel element may potentially come to rest on an interfering edge, for example on storage racks present inside a fuel element storage pool, i.e. their top edges, or on so-called absorber ducts, with the result that the handle or bracket of the fuel element no longer rests directly on the catch member but is lifted off the latter. If the fuel element then slips off the interfering edge, there will be a short moment in which it is in a free fall, i.e. it falls into the catch members of the gripper. The resulting impact constitutes an additional dynamic load for the support structure of the fuel element, the gripper and the fuel element loading machine. Such an overload situation may cause damage to the fuel element, the gripper or the fuel element loading machine.
DE 10 2008 024 358 A1, for example, discloses a reactor crane or fuel element loading machine with a gripper for gripping fuel elements, wherein a device for overload protection is provided for said reactor crane or fuel element loading machine.
It is therefore an object of the invention to reduce an additional load caused by a fuel element falling into the catch members of the gripper in order to avoid damage to the fuel element, the gripper or the fuel element loading machine.

Gripper with damping system for gripping a fuel element


An optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative useful as an intermediate for synthesis of optically active tropane derivatives was obtained by reacting succindialdehyde with an organic amine and acetonedicarboxylic acid ester to obtain a tropinonedicarboxylic acid ester derivative, and then subjecting this derivative to enzyme-catalyzed asymmetric dealkoxy-carbonylation. Since anhydroecgonine methyl ester derived from the optically active tropinone-monocarboxylic acid ester derivative by reduction and dehydration had the same direction of optical rotation as in the case of anhydroecgonine methyl ester obtained from natural cocaine, it was proved that the obtained optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative had the same absolute configuration as that of natural cocaine. The yield of the optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative from the asymmetric dealkoxycarbonylation was 30 to 50 mol %, and its optical purity was 70 to 97% ee. In addition, it was found that a crystalline optically active anhydroecgonine carboxylic acid ester derivative can be obtained by reducing and then dehydrating the optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative and that its optical purity can easily be increased by recrystallization.

This invention relates to a process for producing an optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative which is an intermediate for synthesis of alkaloids having the same optically active tropane skeleton as the skeleton of cocaine having affinity for dopamine receptors or dopamine transporters as a pharmacological action.
In recent years, as the span of human life extends, patients with psychoneurotic diseases such as Parkinson""s disease, Alzheimer""s disease, etc. increase rapidly with a growth of the aged population, and the investigation of the cause of these psychoneurotic diseases and the establishment of therapeutic methods for them are accelerated at present. Parkinson""s disease is chronic and progressive and their main symptoms are tremor, myoatrophy, akinesia, and impediment in posture maintenance. This diseases is caused by the loss of the balance between dopaminergic nervous system and cholinergic nervous system which is attributable to a marked decrease in the dopamine content of the striata body and substantia nigra of extrapyramidal motor system.
Therefore, in order to treat, for example, Parkinson""s disease, it is necessary to supply the dopamine deficiency or control the cholinergic nervous system in an excited state.
On the other hand, cocaine is an alkaloid contained in leaves of, for example, Erythroxylon coca of South America growth, and was clinically used as a local anesthetic in 1877 for the first time by Koller. Cocaine has recently been found to have affinity for dopamine receptors or dopamine transporters, and it is being revealed that cocaine derivatives are useful as various tracer ligands. The basic structure of cocaine is its tropane skeleton. When cocaine is used as a starting material for a cocaine derivative, an optically active tropane skeleton having the same absolute configuration as that of the skeleton of natural (xe2x88x92)-cocaine can easily be derived as shown in the following reaction scheme A (A. P. Kozikowski, J. Med. Chem. 1995, 38, 3086):
As derivatives thus synthesized by using (xe2x88x92)-cocaine as a starting material, there are, for example, 2xcex2-carbomethoxy-3xcex2-(4-iodophenyl)-tropane (xcex2-CIT; U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,912) and its derivative 2xcex2-carbomethoxy-3xcex2-(4-iodophenyl)-8-(3-fluoropropyl)-nortropane (xcex2-CIT-FP; WO 96/39198) which have affinity for dopamine transporters and are noted as diagnotic drugs for Parkinson""s disease; (xe2x88x92)-ferruginine, an agonist for nicotine-like acetylcholine receptors; and (+)-knightinol.
Cocaine, however, is designated as a narcotic because of problems such as drug dependence, and there are various difficulties in obtaining and handling cocaine. Therefore, it is desirable to develop an economical and easy synthetic process of a cocaine analogue.
Attempts have been made to synthesize cocaine analogues since early times. Robinson et al. synthesized tropinone by condensing succindialdehyde with methyl amine and ethyl acetonedicarboxylate (Robinson R., J. Chem. Soc. 1917, 762-768). In 1991, anhydroecgonine methyl ester was synthesized from vinyldiazomethane and a pyrrole derivative by using a rhodium catalyst (Hum M. L. Davies et al., J. Org. Chem. 1991, 56, 5696-5700, Japanese Patent Application Kohyo No. 7-504665). The cocaine analogues synthesized by these processes are not optically active. As the synthesis of an optically active cocaine analogue, there is a case where (R)-allococaine or (R)-allopseudococaine was synthesized by saponifying cocaine or using as an intermediate, (R)-pseudoecgonine methyl ester obtained by optical resolution of (RS)-2-carbomethoxy-3-tropinone (F. I. Carroll et al., J. Med. Chem. 1991, 34, 883-886).
An example of enantio-selective asymmetric reaction without optical resolution is the syntheses of an optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester and anhydroecgonine methyl ester by the asymmetric synthetic reaction of tropinone with chiral lithium amide (Majewski M., J. Org. Chem. 1995, 60, 5825-5830). The thus obtained anhydroecgonine methyl ester, however, has an absolute configuration different from that of anhydro-ecgonine methyl ester derived from natural (xe2x88x92)-cocaine.
In view of such conditions, the present invention is intended to provide a process for producing an optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative useful as an intermediate for synthesizing an optically active tropane derivative without using cocaine as a starting material.
The present invention relates to a process for producing an optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative which comprises subjecting a tropinonedicarboxylic acid ester derivative represented by the following formula (1):
wherein Rxe2x80x2 is an alkyl group, an aralkyl group or an amino-protecting group selected from lower aliphatic acyl groups, aromatic acyl groups, lower alkoxycarbonyl groups, aralkyloxycarbonyl groups, aryloxycarbonyl groups and tri-lower-alkylsilyl groups, and R is an alkyl group or an aralkyl group, to asymmetric dealkoxycarbonylation in the presence of an enzyme to obtain an optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative represented by the following formula (2):
wherein R and Rxe2x80x2 are as defined above.
The present invention also relates to a process for producing an optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative which comprises reacting succindi-aldehyde represented by the following formula (3):
with an organic amine represented by the following formula (4):
Rxe2x80x3xe2x80x94NH2xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(4)
wherein Rxe2x80x3 is an alkyl group or an aralkyl group, and an acetonedicarboxylic acid ester represented by the following formula (5):
wherein R is an alkyl group or an aralkyl group; if necessary, converting the substituent derived from the substituent Rxe2x80x3 of the organic amine of the formula (4) to an amino-protecting group; thereby obtaining a tropinonedicarboxylic acid ester derivative represented by the following formula (1):
wherein Rxe2x80x2 is an alkyl group, an aralkyl group or an amino-protecting group selected from lower aliphatic acyl groups, aromatic acyl groups, lower alkoxycarbonyl groups, aralkyloxycarbonyl groups, aryloxycarbonyl groups and tri-lower-alkylsilyl groups, and R is an alkyl group or an aralkyl group; and then subjecting the tropinonedicarboxylic acid ester derivative to asymmetric dealkoxycarbonylation in the presence of an enzyme to obtain an optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative represented by the following formula (2):
wherein R and Rxe2x80x2 are as defined above.
The present invention further relates to a process for producing an optically active anhydroecgonine carboxylic acid ester derivative which comprises converting the substituent Rxe2x80x2 and/or substituent R of the optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative of the above formula (2) to another substitu-ent or other substituents if necessary, reducing the oxo group at the 3-position of this derivative, and then dehydrating the resulting compound to obtain an optically active anhydroecgonine carboxylic acid ester derivative represented by the following formula (6):
wherein R and Rxe2x80x2 are as defined above.
The optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative obtained by the production process of the present invention is useful as an intermediate for synthesizing a cocaine analogue without using cocaine as a starting material, said cocaine analogue having a tropane skeleton, the basic ring structure of cocaine, and having the same optical activity as that of a cocaine analogue derived from natural (xe2x88x92)-cocaine.
The tropinonedicarboxylic acid ester derivative of the above formula (1), the starting material in the production process of the present invention, may be synthesized by the process shown in the following reaction scheme B:
As shown in the reaction scheme B, the tropinonedicarboxylic acid ester derivative of the formula (1) is synthesized by reacting succindialdehyde of the formula (3) with an organic amine of the formula (4) and an acetonedicarboxylic acid ester of the formula (5) and, if necessary, converting the substituent derived from the substituent Rxe2x80x3 of the organic amine of the formula (4) to an amino-protecting group.
Succindialdehyde of the formula (3) is a well-known compound and is obtained, for example, by hydrolyzing 2,5-dimethoxytetrahydrofuran.
The organic amine of the formula (4) and the acetonedicarboxylic acid ester of the formula (5) are also well-known compounds and are synthesized by per se well-known processes. Each of the substituent Rxe2x80x3 of the organic amine of the formula (4) and the substituent R of the acetonedicarboxylic acid ester of the formula (5) is an alkyl group or an aralkyl group. Specific examples of the alkyl group are alkyl groups of 1 to 6 carbon atoms, such as methyl group, ethyl group, propyl group, isopropyl group, butyl group, s-butyl group, t-butyl group, pentyl group, isopentyl group, neopentyl group, t-pentyl group, hexyl group, etc. Specific examples of the aralkyl group are aralkyl groups of 7 to 10 carbon atoms, such as benzyl group, phenethyl group, phenylpropyl group, phenylbutyl group, etc.
The reaction of succindialdehyde of the formula (3) with the organic amine of the formula (4) and the acetonedicarboxylic acid ester of the formula (5) is per se well known. For example, when each of the substitu-ents R and Rxe2x80x3 is a methyl group (Me), a methanolic solution containing dimethyl 1,3-acetonedicarboxylate is added to a methanol solution of succindialdehyde in an ice bath under a nitrogen atmosphere, a methanolic solution containing methylamine is added dropwise thereto in an ice bath and stirred overnight, and the solvent is distilled off to obtain dimethyl 8-methyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2,4-dicarboxylate (1a: Rxe2x80x2=Me and R=Me in the formula (1)) in a yield of 70-90 mol %.
The thus obtained tropinonedicarboxylic acid ester derivative may be subjected as it is to the asymmetric dealkoxycarbonylation explained hereinafter. If necessary, the alkyl or aralkyl group as the substituent Rxe2x80x2 of the amino group at the 8-position derived from the substituent Rxe2x80x3 of the organic amine of the formula (4) may be converted to an amino-protecting group. The amino-protecting group includes lower aliphatic acyl groups, aromatic acyl groups, lower alkoxycarbonyl groups, aralkyloxycarbonyl groups, aryloxycarbonyl groups and tri-lower-alkylsilyl groups, etc. As the lower aliphatic acyl groups, there may be exemplified lower aliphatic acyl groups of 2 to 7 carbon atoms, such as acetyl group, propanoyl group, butanoyl group, pentanoyl group, hexanoyl group, etc. As the aromatic acyl groups, there may be exemplified aromatic acyl groups of 7 to 11 carbon atoms, such as benzoyl group, naphthanoyl group, etc. As the lower alkoxy-carbonyl groups, there may be exemplified lower alkoxycarbonyl groups of 2 to 7 carbon atoms, such as methoxycarbonyl group, ethoxycarbonyl group, butoxycarbonyl group, t-butoxycarbonyl group, etc. As the aralkyloxycarbonyl groups, there may be exemplified aralkyloxycarbonyl groups of 8 or 9 carbon atoms, such as benzyloxycarbonyl group, methoxybenzyloxycarbonyl group, etc. As the aryloxycarbonyl groups, there may be exemplified aryloxycarbonyl groups of 7 to 11 carbon atoms, such as phenoxycarbonyl group, naphthoxycarbonyl group, etc. As the tri-lower-alkylsilyl groups, there may be exemplified tri(C1-C6)alkylsilyl groups such as trimethylsilyl group, triethylsilyl group, tributylsilyl group, etc.
The conversion to any of these amino-protecting groups is a per se well-known reaction.
A desired optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative of the formula (2) is obtained by subjecting the thus obtained tropinonedicarboxylic acid ester derivative of the formula (1) to asymmetric dealkoxycarbonylation using an enzyme, as shown in the following reaction scheme C:
In this case, the optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative of the formula (2) obtained by enzyme-catalyzed asymmetric dealkoxycarbonylation of the ester group at the 2- or 4-position of the tropinonedicarboxylic acid ester derivative of the formula (1) is effectively used as an intermediate for synthesis of various cocaine analogues.
The yield of the optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative of the formula (2) from the asymmetric dealkoxycarbonylation of the tropinonedicarboxylic acid ester derivative of the formula (1) and its optical purity are affected by the kinds of the substituent Rxe2x80x2 of the amino group at the 8-position, the substituent R of the ester group at the 2- or 4-position and the enzyme used. In particular, the kinds of the substituent of the ester group and the enzyme used have a great influence.
As the enzyme used in the present invention, there may be exemplified liver esterases such as porcine liver esterase (PLE), rabbit liver esterase, horse liver esterase, etc.; and baker""s yeast (B.Y.). In particular, porcine liver esterase (PLE) and baker""s yeast (B.Y.) are suitably used.
A preferable combination of the substituent Rxe2x80x2 of the amino group at the 8-position and the substituent R of the ester group at the 2- or 4-position of the tropinonedicarboxylic acid ester derivative of the formula (1) is a combination wherein R is an alkyl group of 1 to 6 carbon atoms and Rxe2x80x2 is an aralkyl group, a lower aliphatic acyl group, an aromatic acyl group, an aryloxycarbonyl group or a tri-lower-alkylsilyl group; a combination wherein R is an alkyl group of 2 to 6 carbon atoms and Rxe2x80x2 is an aralkyloxycarbonyl group; or a combination wherein each of R and Rxe2x80x2 is an aralkyl group. More specifically, preferable is a combination wherein R is an alkyl group of 1 to 6 carbon atoms selected from methyl group, ethyl group, propyl group, isopropyl group, butyl group, isobutyl group, s-butyl group, t-butyl group, pentyl group, isopentyl group, neopentyl group, t-pentyl group and hexyl group, and Rxe2x80x2 is an aralkyl group of 7 to 10 carbon atoms selected from benzyl group, phenethyl group, phenylpropyl group and phenylbutyl group; a combination wherein R is an alkyl group of 2 to 6 carbon atoms selected from ethyl group, propyl group, isopropyl group, butyl group, isobutyl group, s-butyl group, t-butyl group, pentyl group, isopentyl group, neopentyl group, t-pentyl group and hexyl group, and Rxe2x80x2 is an aralkyloxycarbonyl group of 8 or 9 carbon atoms selected from benzyloxycarbonyl group and methoxybenzyl-oxycarbonyl group; or a combination wherein each of R and Rxe2x80x2 is an aralkyl group of 7 to 10 carbon atoms selected from benzyl group, phenethyl group, phenylpropyl group and phenylbutyl group.
Preferable examples of the tropinonedicarboxylic acid ester derivative of the formula (1) which have any of these combinations are the following compounds:
dimethyl 8-benzyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]-octane-2,4-dicarboxylate (1b: Rxe2x80x2=Bn and R=Me in the formula (1)),
diethyl 8-benzyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]-octane-2,4-dicarboxylate (1c: Rxe2x80x2=Bn and R=Et in the formula (1)),
diisopropyl 8-benzyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]-octane-2,4-dicarboxylate (1d: Rxe2x80x2=Bn and R=i-Pr in the formula (1)),
dibutyl 8-benzyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]-octane-2,4-dicarboxylate (1e: Rxe2x80x2=Bn and R=n-Bu in the formula (1)),
dibenzyl 8-benzyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]-octane-2,4-dicarboxylate (1f: Rxe2x80x2=Bn and R=Bn in the formula (1)), and
diethyl 8-benzyloxycarbonyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2,4-dicarboxylate (1g: Rxe2x80x2=Z and R=Et in the formula (1)).
The asymmetric dealkoxycarbonylation is carried out at pH 7-9 and at a temperature of approximately 10-40xc2x0 C. As a buffer solution, there are used phosphate buffer solutions, toluene-phosphate buffer solutions, Tris buffer solutions, HEPES buffer solutions, etc. The amount of the enzyme used is varied depending on the kind of the enzyme. For example, the amount of PLE is 500-5,000 units/mmol substrate, and the amount of B.Y. is 1-5 g/mmol substrate.
The optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative of the formula (2) is obtained by the asymmetric dealkoxycarbonylation. When the compounds described above as preferable examples of the tropinone-dicarboxylic acid ester derivative of the formula (1) are used, the following corresponding compounds of the formula (2) are obtained:
methyl (1R,5S)-8-benzyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2-carboxylate ((xe2x88x92)-2b: Rxe2x80x2=Bn and R=Me in the formula (2)),
ethyl (1R,5S)-8-benzyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2-carboxylate ((xe2x88x92)-2c: Rxe2x80x2=Bn and R=Et in the formula (2)),
isopropyl (1R,5S)-8-benzyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2-carboxylate ((xe2x88x92)-2d: Rxe2x80x2=Bn and R=i-Pr in the formula (2)),
butyl (1R,5S)-8-benzyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2-carboxylate ((xe2x88x92)-2e: Rxe2x80x2=Bn and R=n-Bu in the formula (2)),
benzyl (1R,5S)-8-benzyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2-carboxylate ((xe2x88x92)-2f: Rxe2x80x2=Bn and R=Bn in the formula (2)), and
ethyl (1R,5S)-8-benzyloxycarbonyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2-carboxylate ((xe2x88x92)-2g: Rxe2x80x2=Z and R=Et in the formula (2)).
The optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative obtained according to the present invention is a mixture of three kinds of isomers, i.e., enol form and two keto forms as shown in the following reaction scheme D. This fact can be confirmed by NMR data of the derivative.
Therefore, the optical purity of the optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative obtained according to the present invention was measured by converting said derivative to an xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated ester compound, a single compound by reduction and dehydration as shown in the following reaction scheme E, and then subjecting this ester compound to HPLC using a chiral column:
Specifically, for example, each of the above-exemplified compounds (xe2x88x92)-2c, (xe2x88x92)-2d, (xe2x88x92)-2e and (xe2x88x92)-2f, i.e., optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivatives obtained according to the present invention is converted to the above-exemplified compound (xe2x88x92)-2b, a methyl ester compound by transesterification, which is then converted to the xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated ester compound A by reduction and dehydration, and the compound A is subjected to HPLC using a chiral column (eluent: hexane:2-propanol=100:1), whereby the optical purity was measured. The optical purity of the above-exemplified compound (xe2x88x92)-2g having a benzyloxycarbonyl group as a protecting group for the amino group may be measured by removing the benzyloxycarbonyl group with trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), benzylating the resulting compound into the above-exemplified compound (xe2x88x92)-2c, and then converting the compound (xe2x88x92)-2c to the a unsaturated ester compound A in the manner shown in the reaction scheme E.
xcex1,xcex2-Unsaturated ester compound A in dl-form used as a reference standard compound was synthesized by hydrolyzing dimethyl 8-benzyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]-octane-2,4-dicarboxylate (1b: Rxe2x80x2=Bn and R=Me in the formula (1)) with LiOH, decarboxylating the hydrolysate into tropinonemonoester with 2N-HCl, and reducing this compound with NaBH4, followed by dehydration.
As to the absolute configuration, as shown in the following reaction scheme F, each of the above-exemplified compounds (xe2x88x92)-2c, (xe2x88x92)-2d, (xe2x88x92)-2e, (xe2x88x92)-2f and (xe2x88x92)-2g, i.e., the optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivatives obtained according to the present invention, is converted to methyl 8-methyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2-carboxylate ((+)-B), and this compound is reduced and then dehydrated to obtain anhydroecgonine methyl ester ((xe2x88x92)-C). On the other hand, as shown in the following reaction scheme G, natural (xe2x88x92)-cocaine was converted to anhydroecgonine methyl ester. When the anhydroecgonine methyl ester obtained from each of the above-exemplified compounds was compared with that obtained from natural (xe2x88x92)-cocaine, their directions of optical rotation were the same (xe2x88x92) in the case of all the above-exemplified ompounds. It was confirmed by this fact that the absolute configuration of the optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative obtained by the enzyme reaction according to the present invention is identical to that of (xe2x88x92)-cocaine.
The thus obtained optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative according to the present invention may be converted to an optically active anhydroecgonine carboxylic acid ester derivative represented by the following formula (6):
wherein R and Rxe2x80x2 are as defined above, by converting the substituent Rxe2x80x2 and/or the substituent R to another substituent or other substituents if necessary, and then reducing the oxo group at the 3-position, followed by dehydration. Such an optically active anhydroecgonine carboxylic acid ester derivative is useful as an intermediate for synthesis of drugs such as 2xcex2-carbomethoxy-3xcex2-(4-iodophenyl)tropane (xcex2-CIT) and its derivatives including xcex2-CIT-FP and tropane alkaloids such as (xe2x88x92)-ferruginine.
(+)-Ferruginine is an alkaloid isolated from Darlingiana ferruginea and D. darlingiana, and its enantiomer (xe2x88x92)-ferruginine is known as an agonist for nicotine-like acetylcholine receptors. The (+)-form and (xe2x88x92)-form of ferruginine have been synthesized from L-glutamic acid (H. Rapoport et al., J. Org. Chem. 1996, 61, 314).
For example, using butyl (1R,5S)-8-benzyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2-carboxylate ((xe2x88x92)-2e: Rxe2x80x2=Bn and R=n-Bu in the formula (2)), an optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative obtained according to the present invention, (xe2x88x92)-ferruginine may be synthesized as shown in the=Boc and R=Me in the formula (6)), an optically active anhydroecgonine carboxylic acid ester derivative. The methyl ester group and Boc group of the optically active anhydroecgonine carboxylic acid ester derivative obtained are replaced by an acetyl group and a methyl group, respectively, by well-known methods to obtain a desired compound (xe2x88x92)-ferruginine.
Physiological properties such as optical rotation, 1H-NMR, etc. of the optically active anhydroecgonine carboxylic acid ester derivative obtained above, i.e., methyl (1R,5S)-8-t-butoxycarbonyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-2-ene-2-carboxylate ((xe2x88x92)-6a), agree with the values described in a reference (H. Rapoport et al., J. Org. Chem. 1996, 61, 314). Thus, the synthesis of (xe2x88x92)-ferruginine has been achieved.
As shown in the following reaction scheme I, each of the drug 2xcex2-carbomethoxy-3xcex2-(4-iodophenyl)-tropane (xcex2-CIT) and its derivative xcex2-CIT-FP may be synthesized from methyl (1R,5S)-8-benzyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2-carboxylate ((xe2x88x92)-2b: Rxe2x80x2=Bn and R=Me in the formula (2)), an optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid methyl ester obtained according to the present invention. following reaction scheme H.
At first, butyl (1R,5S)-8-benzyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2-carboxylate ((xe2x88x92)-2e) is converted to methyl (1R,5S)-8-benzyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2-carboxylate ((xe2x88x92)-2b: Rxe2x80x2=Bn and R=Me in the formula (2)) by transesterification, and then the benzyl group as a protecting group for the amino group is removed by catalytic reduction and a t-butoxycarbonyl (Boc) group is introduced. The resulting keto-ester, methyl (1R,5S)-8-t-butoxycarbonyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2-carboxylate ((xe2x88x92)-2h: Rxe2x80x2=Boc and R=Me in the formula (2)) is reduced with NaBH4 and then dehydrated to obtain methyl (1R,5S)-8-t-butoxycarbonyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-2-ene-2-carboxylate ((xe2x88x92)-6a: Rxe2x80x2
In detail, the benzyl group of methyl (1R,5S)-8-benzyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2-carboxylate ((xe2x88x92)-2b) is replaced by a methyl group to obtain methyl (1R,5S)-8-methyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2-carboxylate ((+)-2a: Rxe2x80x2=Me and R=Me in the formula (2)). Thereafter, the obtained compound may be converted to methyl (1R,5S)-8-methyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-2-ene-2-carboxylate ((xe2x88x92)-6b: Rxe2x80x2=Me and R=Me in the formula (6)), optically active anhydroecgonine methyl ester by reduction with NaBH4 followed by dehydration. From this optically active anhydroecgonine methyl ester, xcex2-CIT or xcex2-CIT-FP may be synthesized according to a well-known process.
As exemplified above, the optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative of the formula (2) obtained by the process of the present invention may be converted to an optically active anhydroecgonine carboxylic acid ester derivative of the formula (6) which is useful as an intermediate for synthesis of drugs, by converting the substituent Rxe2x80x2 and/or the substituent R to another substituent or other substituents if necessary, and then reducing the oxo group at the 3-position, followed by dehydration. In this case, the conversion of the substituent Rxe2x80x2 and/or the substituent R to another substituent or other substituents may be carried out by a well-known reaction such as transesterification as is clear from the example described above. The reduction and dehydration are per se well-known reactions. For example, the reduction may be carried out with NaBH4 or PtO2, and the dehydration may be carried out with trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA), POCl3 or the like.
The anhydroecgonine carboxylic acid ester derivative obtained according to the present invention is optically active and is very useful as an intermediate for synthesis of drugs.
In general, the optical purity of an optically active substance used as a drug is very important in imparting a specific pharmacological effect and preventing side effects, etc. Easy production of an optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative having a high optical purity has been successfully achieved by carrying out the asymmetric dealkoxycarbonylation of a tropinonedicarboxylic acid ester derivative according to the present invention. In addition, it has become possible to obtain easily an anhydroecgonine ester derivative having a very high optical purity by synthesizing an anhydroecgonine carboxylic acid ester derivative by the use of the optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid ester derivative having a high optical purity. Moreover, it is possible to synthesize a crystalline anhydroecgonine ester derivative. Furthermore, it has become possible to produce easily a crystalline anhydroecgonine ester derivative having a much higher optical purity by purification by recrystallization.
For example, when as shown in the following reaction scheme J, methyl (1R,5S)-8-t-butoxycarbonyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-2-ene-2-carboxylate ((xe2x88x92)-6a: Rxe2x80x2=Boc and R=Me in the formula (6)) was synthesized by converting the substituent of the amino group of methyl (1R,5S)-8-benzyl-3-oxo-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2-carboxylate ((xe2x88x92)-2b: Rxe2x80x2=Bn and R=Me in the formula (2)) to a Boc group, and reducing the resulting compound, followed by dehydration, colorless needles (mp 79-80xc2x0 C.) were obtained. Thus, it has become very easy to increase the optical purity by recrystallization. Crystalline methyl (1R,5S)-8-methyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-2-ene-2-carboxylate ((xe2x88x92)-6b: Rxe2x80x2=Me and R=Me in the formula (6)) having a very high optical purity may be synthesized by replacing the Boc group of the compound (xe2x88x92)-6a by a methyl group.
The present invention is illustrated in further detail with the following examples, which should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.
Methods for measuring physical properties of substances obtained, common solvents, etc. are as follows.
(1) Melting point: Measured by using a micro hot-stage apparatus (Yanagimoto) and a directly heated capillary melting point apparatus (Mitamura Riken Industries, Ltd.).
(2) 1H-NMR: Measured with a Varian XL-300 spectrometer. Chemical shift values are expressed in ppm by using tetramethylsilane (TMS) as an internal standard.
(3) Optical rotation: Measured with Horiba Sepa-200.
(4) Infrared spectrum: Measured with Jasco IR-810 and SHIMADZU FTIR-8300. Frequencies are expressed in cmxe2x88x921.
(5) Mass spectrum: Measured with a JEOL AJMX-SX102AQQ mass spectrometer and a JEOL JMS-GCmate mass spectrometer.
(6) Elemental analysis: Measured with PERKINELMER Series CHNS/O Analyzer 2400.
(7) Silica gel for chromatography: Wakogel C-200 (Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd.), Silica Gel 60 PF254 (Nacalai Tesque, Inc.), Kieselgel 60 Art. 9385 (Merck), TLC-Kieselgel 60 Art. 11695 (Merck), Silica Gel 60 N (Kanto Chemical Co., Inc.) and SIL-60-S75 (YMC CO., LTD.) were used.
(8) Silica gel plates for preparative-TLC: Kieselgel 60 F254Art. 5715 (Merck, 0.25 mm) and Kieselgel 60 F254Art. 5744 (Merck, 0.5 mm) were used.
(9) Preparative-HPLC: JAI LC-908 was used. As columns, JAIGEL-1H, JAIGEL-2H and JAIGEL-SIL S-043-15 were used.
(10) HPLC for qualitative analysis: Shimadzu LC-10A was used. As a column, Daicel Chiral Column (CHIRALCEL OD) was used.
(11) Solvents: As an ether solvent or aromatic solvent used in each reaction, there was used one which had been made anhydrous by distilling from sodium benzophenone ketyl at the time of use. As chloroform, there was used one which had been mede anhydrous by distilling from CaCl2, after ten washings with water to remove a stabilizer ethanol at the time of use. As other anhydrous solvents, there were used those which had been made anhydrous according to a conventional method.
(12) The following abbreviations are used in the examples described below:
Ac: acetyl group, Bn; benzyl group, Bu; butyl group, Boc: t-butoxycarbonyl group, Z; benzyloxycarbonyl group, DMAP; 4-dimethylaminopyridine, Et3N; triethylamine, MeOH; methanol, THF; tetrahydrofuran, AcOEt; ethyl acetate, PLE; porcine liver esterase, PPL; porcine pancreas lipase, B.Y.; baker""s yeast, MS4A; molecular sieve 4A.

Process for producing optically active tropinonemonocarboxylic acid derivative


The present invention discloses a bandpass amplifier having gain and bandpass performance. The bandpass amplifier includes an input match unit for matching the gain of the amplifier and having a first filter response; a first bias unit electrically connected to the input match unit for driving the first terminal of the amplifier and having a first high pass filter response; a gain stage electrically connected to the first bias unit for providing the flat gain of the amplifier; a second bias unit electrically connected to the gain stage for driving the second terminal of the amplifier and having a second high pass filter response; and an output match unit electrically connected to the second bias unit for matching the gain of the amplifier and having a second filter response.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC), and more particularly to an amplifier having gain and bandpass filter performance for microwave and millimeter-wave wireless communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the microwave and millimeter-wave range, the high integration of MMICs is 3333 increasingly demanded for a variety of applications such as wireless broadband systems, mobile communication systems at 40 GHz and 60 GHz, high-speed millimeter-wave local area networks at 59-62 GHz, and automotive sensors at 24 GHz and 77 GHz. In typical RF transceivers, MMIC chips and off-chip filters are obtained to achieve maximum performance and lowest cost. But the off-chip filters, including band-selection filters and image-rejection filters, are bulky and relatively expensive to hinder the cost reduction. This concept of bandpass amplifier described by Nguyen et al in "A Si bipolar monolithic RF bandpass amplifier," IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 123-127, January 1992, has been proposed that the bandpass response is created by the resultant shunt resonator formed by the added inductor with the base-emitter capacitor. They showed an 8-dB gain and 6.4-dB noise figure at 1.5 GHz. A CMOS bandpass amplifier such as described by Wu et al in "The design of a 3-V 900-MHz CMOS bandpass amplifier," IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 159-1687, February 1997, was obtained in the 869-893 MHz range by using the positive-feedback Q-enhancement technique. For GPS applications, a 1.6-GHz CMOS bandpass amplifier such as described by Hernandez et al in "A 3 V, 1.6 GHz differential CMOS bandpass amplifier chain for a GPS receiver," 2000 Topical Meeting on Silicon Monolithic Integrated Circuits in RF Systems Digest, April 2000, pp. 33-37, was designed by incorporating a LC tank at the drain terminal to have bandpass effect. Although the above results show successful single-chip integration of a gain amplifier with a bandpass filter, it is limited below several GHz range. In the millimeter-wave range, a PHEMT bandpass power amplifier such as described by Sasaki et al in, "20-30 GHz broadband MMIC power amplifiers with compact flat gain PHEMT cells," 2001 IEEE MTT-S Int. Microwave Symp. Dig., June 2001, pp. 1067-1918, had 21-dB gain and 22-dBm PdB over the passband frequency from 20 to 30 GHz. A 4-GHz lowpass amplifier, having the Butterworth or Chebyshev filter approximation was described by Rooney et al in "A filter synthesis technique applied to the design of multistage broadband microwave amplifiers," 2002 IEEE MTT-S Int. Microwave Symp. Dig., June 2002, pp. 1915-1918.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,292 issued to Millen., entitled "Bandpass amplifier and receiver using bandpass amplifier", discloses that an active bandpass amplifier comprising a single stage operational amplifier, a bridged "T" network single-frequency elimination filter in the negative feedback path of the amplifier and a phase-shift-correcting capacitor associated with the bridged "T" network single-frequency elimination filter to generate a phase shift sufficient to maintain an appropriate feedback such that the amplifier is stable. The bridged "T" network single frequency elimination filter in conjunction with the circuit capacitances and phase shifts in the integrated circuits introduces a phase shift, which would result in the amplifier oscillating when the network is placed in the feedback path and the corrective capacitor generates a corrective phase shift to render the amplifier stable. Such a bandpass amplifier allows high gain and high "Q" and the gain is many times higher than that of a conventional single stage amplifier where gain is typically limited to approximately 5 and the "Q" is limited to about 25. In this case, the bandpass amplifier is capable of gains of greater than 10 and substantially higher "Q". Such an amplifier is advantageously used in a receiver and in a signaling system. The high gain capability of the receiver is particularly advantageous in a mining environment where the receiver can be used as part of a signalling system. United States Patent Application 20030184378 by Segawa, entitled "Mixer and differential amplifier having bandpass frequency selectivity", discloses a mixer and a differential amplifier are formed using simple circuit configurations such that the cutoff frequencies thereof can be easily changed. Each of the mixer and the differential amplifier includes an NMOS transistor to which an RF signal is fed, NMOS transistors to which an LO− signal and an LO+ signal are respectively fed from a local oscillator, and two parallel resonant circuits each serving as an output load and including an active inductor, a capacitor, and a resistor. However, it is not yet found on the single-chip bandpass amplifier design in the microwave to millimeter-wave range. According the above problems, the related filed need a new amplifier to overcome the disadvantage of the prior art.


In a control unit, when a digital input audio signal level is equal to and beyond the first given level at a first time, a delay counter starts the counting operation, and when the digital audio signal level is equal to and beyond the second given level at a second time, an inherent delay time is obtained by calculating the difference between the first and second times, wherein the time difference is compared to the predetermined delay time of a delay memory unit to obtain a time lapse, so that a start ID is recorded at a third time decided by the time lapse after the second time, and thus the start ID signal is recorded at an appropriate position coincident with the starting head of the digital audio signal, thereby realizing a high speed search thereof without an omission of a head portion of the digital audio signal when the digital audio signal is reproduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a start ID recording system for use in a digital audio information recording apparatus, and in particular to a start ID recording system for recording a start ID signal identifying a starting head of a digital audio signal such as a music signal, wherein the start ID signal is recorded on a recording medium at an appropriate position coincident with the starting head of the digital audio signal for realizing a high speed search thereof without an omission of a head portion of the digital audio signal when the digital audio signal is reproduced.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, a digital compact disc (DCD), mini disc (MD) and other similar recording mediums, as well as a digital audio tape recorder (DAT), have been introduced and put into practical use in various conventional digital audio recording systems. In such a conventional digital audio recording system, a start ID signal such as a specified code number or a head signal for identifying a starting head of a digital audio signal is recorded at a start head position of the digital audio signal so that a desired audio signal can be quickly searched by identifying the start ID signal in a reproduction operation thereof.
However, it has been difficult to precisely record a start ID signal at a precise start head position of a digital audio signal such as a music signal because of the reasons discussed next.
Namely, in a conventional digital audio recording system where a start ID is automatically recorded by detecting a level of an input digital audio signal, when a level higher than a predetermined threshold level is detected, it is determined that an audio signal such as a music signal is started and then a start ID signal is recorded at this point. However, in this type recording system, the predetermined threshold level should be set up sufficiently higher than an audio signal absent level (referred to as "silent level", hereinafter) in order to avoid inclusion of a noise component in detecting the audio signal level. Moreover, it is essentially required to integrate an input digital audio signal in order to remove a pulse noise component.
In consideration of these matters mentioned above, in order to detect the predetermined threshold level, it is indispensable that an inherent time delay (t.sub.D) is caused in a degree of zero point several seconds or more from the actual starting time of the input audio signal to the time of detecting the predetermined threshold level. Therefore, if the music signal is searched and reproduced at the delayed time of detecting the start ID, there has been a problem that a rising head portion of the desired music signal located before detecting the start ID is omitted from reproduction.
In order to eliminate this problem, another conventional digital audio recording system has been disclosed as shown in FIG. 11. In this conventional recording system, an input digital audio signal (As) is delayed by a predetermined delay time T.sub.D by means of a known delay unit to thereby obtain a delayed audio signal (As') after the predetermined delay time T.sub.D from the actual starting time of the input audio signal. The predetermined delay time T.sub.D for audio signal is set up to be equal to or slightly larger than the inherent delay time (t.sub.D) for generating a start ID at the time of detecting the predetermined threshold level (Ls).
However, in this conventional system, when the recording system is used in a moving condition, for example, for use as a portable apparatus or in a vehicle, erroneous effects of tracking jumps of a scanning optic and the like are occasionally caused due to shocks or vibrations and also high level noise components are possibly detected beyond a predetermined threshold level (Ls). Then, the noise components are erroneously detected and are confused with a rising portion of an actual audio signal level even though the predetermined threshold detection level (Ls) is set up high as shown in FIG. 12. As the result of this, a starting ID such as a music number is erroneously renewed.
Moreover, in order to avoid an erroneous operation due to high noise components, if the threshold level is set up excessively higher than the silent level (L.sub.O), when in a reproduction mode for reproducing, for example, classical music having a long lowest weak level in a beginning portion thereof and having a gradually higher portion thereof in level as shown in FIG. 13, the inherent delay time (t.sub.D) for a start ID generation becomes considerably large in length. Therefore, when the predetermined delay time T.sub.D for delaying the audio signal is set up to be suitable for general music such as popular music and the like, the predetermined delay time T.sub.D for audio signal is in some cases smaller in length than the inherent delay time t.sub.D for start ID generation. As a result, when the start ID is recorded after the inherent time delay t.sub.D from the actual starting time of the input audio signal and the delayed audio signal As' is generated after the predetermined time delay T.sub.D (which is smaller than t.sub.D) from the actual starting time of the input audio signal, a problem arises in that an omission of a head portion of an input audio signal such as in a classical music signal is undesirably caused in the reproduction operation mode thereof.

Start ID recording system for use in a digital audio information recording apparatus

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A plate structure of a generally L-shaped configuration includes a first plate portion coplanar with a second plate portion, with the first plate portion including a plurality of first plate portion apertures directed therethrough to receive fasteners for securement to the bottom surface of a chair arm of an associated chair assembly. In this manner, various computer components may be readily oriented relative to the chair assembly in proximity to a user of such components.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to computer accessory structure, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved chair mounted computer plate wherein the same is arranged to accommodate and support computer accessory components relative to an associated computer work station.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The utilization of computer accessories relative to a computer work station, such as the use of a "joy stick", computer "mouse", and the like typically position such components relative to a work table, wherein the instant invention attempts to address deficiencies of such prior art utilization by permitting positioning of the computer accessories in an orientation proximate to a chair arm to minimize fatigue associated with a computer operator bending and stretching for continuous use of such components and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


The quality of the briquettes granulated by a briquetting machine is improved. A briquetting machine control device samples the briquette that have been produced to measure an apparent density and a crush strength of the sampled briquette (step S10), and controls each operation set value adjusting unit (4, 6, 7) of the briquetting machine so that the actual measurement values come closer to predefined briquette quality target values (step S20 to step S60).

The briquetting machine produces the briquettes by successively supplying the materials between the pair of rotating rolls and applying the high-compressive force to the supplied materials (see Patent Documents 1 and 2, for example).
Conventionally, the briquetting machine for adjusting the briquette quality has been controlled by an operator to appropriately maintain the state of the briquetting machine, for example, the pressing load of the rolls, the power of the rolls, and the like. In this situation, as to the quality control in the production process of the briquettes by the briquetting machine, the operator regularly samples a part of the produced briquettes. The states of the sampled briquettes (briquette samples) can be determined as numeric values in consideration of the physical properties such as apparent density, crush strength, or the like. It is noted that the apparent density can be calculated by volume and weight of the briquette.

Furukawa Industrial Machinery Systems Co., Ltd.


A stereophonic sound image enhancement apparatus subtracts a right input signal from a left input signal and amplifies the subtracted signal to produce a difference signal, and also subtracts a right crosstalk signal from a left low-frequency-range enhanced signal obtained by filtering the left input signal. Then, the difference signal is added to this subtracted signal, and the added signal is outputted as a left output signal. Also, the left crosstalk signal is subtracted from a right low-frequency-range enhanced signal obtained by filtering the right input signal, and the difference signal is subtracted from the subtracted signal to output the subtraction result as a right output signal. Furthermore, a sound image control apparatus applies a left-channel head related transfer function to a monophonic input signal to output the resultant signal as a left input signal "Lin", and also applies a right-channel head related transfer function to this monophonic input signal "Min" to output the resultant signal as a right input signal "Rin". The sound image control apparatus performs a crosstalk canceling process operation with respect to these left input signal "Lin" and right input signal "Rin", and further mixes the left input signal "Lin" and the right input signal "Rin" with signals having phases reverse to those of the left/right input signals. Finally, the signals processed by the crosstalk canceling process and the mixing process are mixed with each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a sound image localization apparatus, a stereophonic sound image enhancement apparatus, and a sound image control system suitably used in various acoustic devices, for instance, electronic musical instruments, game machines, and sound mixers. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a sound image localization apparatus capable of realizing sound image localization by a loudspeaker by employing a simple analog circuit, to a stereophonic sound image enhancement apparatus capable of enhancing a sound image in response to a stereophonic sound signal in a two-channel loudspeaker reproduction, and to a sound image control apparatus for localizing a sound image to an arbitrary position in a three-dimensional space in response to a monophonic sound signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, such a technical idea is known in the field that 2-channel stereophonic signals are produced, and these stereophonic signals are supplied to right/left loudspeakers so as to simultaneously produce stereophonic sounds, so that sound images may be localized. In accordance with this sound image localization technique, the sound images are localized by changing the balance in the right/left sound volume, so that the sound images could be localized only between the right/left loudspeakers.
To the contrary, very recently, several techniques have been developed by which sound images can be localized outside the right/left loudspeakers. That is, in the first prior art to reproduce the sounds by way of the two right/left loudspeakers, the sound having the reverse phase with respect to the phase of the right-channel sound is mixed with the left-channel sound, and also the sound having the reverse phase with respect to the phase of the left-channel sound is mixed with the right-channel sound. As a result, the sound image may be localized outside the left/right loudspeakers. This sort of conventional technique is disclosed in, for instance, WO94/16538 (PCT/US93/12688) entitled "SOUND IMAGE MANIPULATION APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SOUND IMAGE ENHANCEMENT."
Concretely speaking, in this first conventional technique, the difference signal between the left-channel left input signal and the right-channel right input signal is produced. This difference signal is supplied to the band-pass filter while the amplitude of this difference signal is properly controlled. Then, the difference signal derived from the band-pass filter is added to a one-channel input signal, so that the output signal for this channel is produced. Similarly, the difference signal derived from the band-pass filter is subtracted from the other-channel input signal, so that the output signal for this channel is produced. The respect output signals are supplied to the right/left loudspeakers. In accordance with this first conventional technique, since the sound image can be localized outside the right/left loudspeakers, the sound stage can be greatly enhanced.
Also, as the second conventional technique, the sound image localization technique called as "Schroeder" system is widely known in the field. In this Schroeder system, the sounds which are produced from the left loudspeaker and then reach the right ear of the audience, and also the sounds which are produced from the right loudspeaker and then reach the left ear (will be referred to as "crosstalk sounds" hereinafter) are canceled, so that the sound listening conditions through the headphone are established. As a consequence, the sound images can be localized not only between the right/left loudspeakers, but also arbitrary positions, for example, a position on one side of the audience.
Furthermore, as the third conventional technique, such a technique is known that since the head related transfer function (head related acoustic transfer function) is added and the crosstalk canceling process is performed by way of the convolution calculation, the sound image can be localized at an arbitrary position (for instance, see "As to RSS" by Roland K. K. JAPAN, Japanese Acoustic Society volume 48, No. 9).
However, the above-described first conventional technique has the following problem. That is, when the sounds are heard at a position apart from the loudspeakers, the audience hears the sound images which are localized outside the right/left loudspeakers. To the contrary, when the sounds are heard at a position close to the loudspeakers, the audience cannot cleary discern where the sound images are localized.
Also, the first conventional technique has another problem. That is, when the mixing ratio of the other-channel sound having the reverse phase to one-channel sound is increased by controlling the magnitude of the difference signal in order to increase the sound stage enhancement effect, the sound quality deteriorates. This quality deterioration is caused because the comb filter characteristic is formed by the monophonic components of the input signal. This sound quality deterioration will appear as such a phenomenon that the audience hears the sounds from which the low frequency components are mainly cut off. When the sound quality deterioration becomes extreme, it becomes difficult to reproduce an input source.
Also, the second conventional technique has a problem that the audience hear the sound image which is close by, resulting in unnatural sounds. In addition, if the above-described crosstalk canceling theory by the Schroeder system is strictly applied to constitute the sound image localization apparatus by employing the analog circuit, then a very large amount of hardware is necessarily required. On the other hand, if the sound image localization apparatus is constituted by employing the software of the digital processor (DSP) or the CPU, execution is very different. As a consequence, conventionally, the sound image localization apparatus with employment of the Schroeder system could be limitedly applied only to the high-grade electronic musical instruments and the high-grade acoustic appliances.
Also, the above-explained third conventional technique owns another problem. That is, when the head related transfer function is added and the crosstalk canceling process operation is carried out by way of the convolution calculation, a large number of convolution stages is required, so that the hardware scale is increased. Conversely, if a total number of the convolution stages is decreased, then a different problem occurs. That is, the low frequency components of the signals which are processed by the head related transfer function are reduced, and also the crosstalk sounds canceled by the crosstalk canceling process are reduced.

Sound image localization apparatus, stereophonic sound image enhancement apparatus, and sound image control system


The invention disclosed comprises a combination ladder and stair for use by children which incorporates stair-like treads and risers with ladder-like rungs to achieve safe climbing activity. The combination ladder and stair is adapted to be used at a comparatively steep angle to the ground with the treads being maintained level. The rungs are placed adjacent to and level with each tread to afford additional security for the foot, and are spaced from the tread to allow the hand to grasp around the rung. In the preferred embodiment the ladder is incorporated into a split tube which serves as an entry to a children's play system.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to ladders, and more particularly ladders intended for use by children in conjunction with recreational equipment, such as playground equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are large numbers of installations of play equipment designed for children in conjunction with family, or "fast food", restaurant, and also in businesses which are primarily devoted to recreational activities. Inherent in use of the equipment is the need for the child user to frequently climb from one level to another.
Known climbing devices are generally classed as either stairs or ladders. Stairs typically cover a comparatively large amount of floor area for the amount of height traveled as seen by a climb angle of about 30.degree.. Ladders typically have a comparatively steep climb angle. Ladders tend to be difficult and somewhat dangerous for young children to use, because the rungs do not securely support the child's foot, but allow it to easily slip off the rung. It is recognized however that a ladder is a more interesting climbing apparatus than are stairs.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a climbing device which is easy and safe for children to climb.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a climbing device which occupies a small amount of floor space in comparison to its vertical height.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a climbing device which is attractive and interesting to children.
Other objects and advantages will be more fully apparent from the following disclosure and appended claims.


A safety apparatus for a vehicle includes a coupling device to couple an airbag device with a cowl cross bar. The coupling device includes a plurality of mounting brackets coupled with the cowl cross bar while being spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance, mounting b locks coupled with the mounting brackets, and fitting members protruding from an outer bottom surface of the housing and fitted on the mounting blocks.

In general, an airbag device is a safety device installed inside a vehicle to protect an occupant when external impact is applied to the vehicle. The airbag device is installed at the central portion of a steering wheel provided at the side of a driver seat or installed at an instrument panel provided at the side of a passenger seat to protect an upper body of an occupant. Alternatively, the airbag device is variously installed at a door of the vehicle or at a lower portion of the instrument panel to protect each part of a human body such as a side, knees, or a lower body of the passenger.
When the airbag device is installed at the lower portion of the instrument panel of the vehicle or installed in the instrument panel, the airbag device is coupled with a cowl cross bar provided in the width direction of the vehicle by using an additional mounting bracket.
Patent document 1: Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 2003-205814
Patent document 2: U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0217728.
The airbag device according to the related art has a problem in that a coupling work of coupling the airbag device with the cowl cross bar through the mounting bracket is complex. In other words, according to the related art, one end of the mounting bracket is coupled with the cowl cross bar, and an opposite end of the mounting bracket is brought into contact with a housing bracket provided in an airbag housing and coupled with the airbag housing by using a coupling member.
In this case, in the state that a worker brings the housing bracket, which is provided in the airbag housing, into contact with the mounting bracket, the worker must grasp the airbag housing with one hand and couple the coupling member.
In addition, since the mounting bracket according to the related art has an unstable support structure, the airbag device may be moved when an airbag is inflated at the high pressure, so that the airbag may not be deployed to a right position thereof.
Further, since the mounting bracket according to the related art has no strong support structure, the mounting bracket may cause noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH).
Since the mounting bracket according to the related art has an unstable structure, the instrument panel may be deformed or broken when the airbag is deployed.


In a process for the preparation of acrylic acid, a product gas mixture obtained by catalytic gas-phase oxidation of a C3-precursor of acrylic acid and containing acrylic acid is directly cooled with a quench liquid and then subjected to fractional condensation in a separation column provided with baffles, said product gas mixture ascending into itself and a crude acrylic acid being removed via a side take-off, and the acrylic acid oligomers formed are cleaved and recycled.

The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of acrylic acid, in which an acrylic acid-containing hot product gas mixture is produced by gas-phase partial oxidation of propane or propene and/or acrolein with molecular oxygen under heterogeneous catalysis over catalysts present in the solid state at elevated temperature, the temperature of the hot acrylic acid-containing product gas mixture is reduced by direct cooling by means of a quench liquid, the unvaporized part of the quench liquid 1 is circulated, if required via a heat exchanger providing indirect cooling, and a part of the unvaporized quench liquid 1 is removed as a purge from the circulation, and the cooled product gas mixture is then passed into a column equipped with baffles having separation activity, allowed to ascend into itself inside the column and subjected to fractional condensation, a crude acrylic acid being removed at the side take-off and bottom liquid containing acrylic acid oligomers and/or a high boiler fraction being removed via the bottom of the column and/or via a side take-off in the vicinity of the bottom and being used as quench liquid 1.
Acrylic acid is an important intermediate which is used, for example, in the preparation of polymer dispersions.
Acrylic acid is obtainable, inter alia, by gas-phase partial oxidation of propane or propene and/or acrolein with molecular oxygen under heterogeneous catalysis over catalysts present in the solid state, at elevated temperatures. Said starting gases, as a rule diluted with inert gases, such as nitrogen, CO2 and/or steam, are passed as a mixture with molecular oxygen, at elevated temperature and, if required, superatmospheric pressure, over transition metal mixed oxide catalysts and are converted by oxidation into an acrylic acid-containing product gas mixture.
By absorption into a suitable absorbent, for example water, or a mixture of from 70 to 75% by weight of diphenyl ether and from 25 to 30% by weight of biphenyl, a basic separation of the acrylic acid from the product gas stream can be achieved, (c.f. for example EP-A 297445 and DE-C 2136396).
Removing the absorbent by means of distillative separation methods usually gives an acrylic acid which is not yet a pure product and is therefore usually referred to as crude acrylic acid, which can be further purified in various ways.
However, the disadvantage of the abovementioned distillative separation method is that, in spite of the presence of free radical polymerization inhibitors, they give rise to the formation of such a large amount of acrylic acid which has undergone free radical polymerization in an undesired manner that the distillation apparatus has to be switched off periodically (as a rule every few weeks) to remove the polymer.
DE-A 19740253, DE-A 19740252, DE-A 19814421, 19814387 and 19814375 disclose a process, as described at the outset, for the preparation of acrylic acid, in which the basic isolation of the crude acrylic acid is carried out by fractional condensation of the product gas mixture of the gas-phase partial oxidation under heterogeneous catalysis. Such a procedure is also the subject of DE-A 19909923.
Surprisingly and incomprehensibly, it has been found that a major advantage of the abovementioned basic isolation of crude acrylic acid by fractional condensation is that, in the presence of free radical polymerization inhibitors, it is disturbed only to a substantially reduced extent by the formation of acrylic acid which has undergone free radical polymerization.
However, the disadvantage is still that acrylic acid in the condensed phase forms acrylic acid oligomers (Michael adducts) by Michael addition with itself and with the acrylic acid dimers forming (in this publication, the term acrylic acid oligomers always means the corresponding Michael adducts and not acrylic oligomers formed by free radical polymerization). The presence of water, the unavoidable by-product of gas-phase catalytic oxidative preparation of acrylic acid, at elevated temperature promotes the formation of acrylic acid oligomers.
Since acrylic acid oligomers have a higher boiling point than acrylic acid, they accumulate in the bottom liquid both during the distillative isolation of acrylic acid and in a fraction condensation of the product gas mixture of gas-phase catalytic oxidative acrylic acid production.
In principle, the formation of acrylic acid oligomers is undesirable since they reduce the yield of the desired product.
It is generally known that the formation of acrylic acid oligomers is a reversible process which can be reversed by the action of elevated temperatures (cf. for example, DE-A 4101879, DE-A 19701737, DE-A 19536191, U.S. Pat. No. 5,734,075, DE-A 2901783, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,086,046, 2,806,878, German Patent 1618129, Ullmanns Encyclopxc3xa4die der technischen Chemie, 4th Edition, Volume 7, Verlag Chemie, Weinheim, page 83, right column, and Ullmann""s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, Fifth, Completely Revised Edition, Verlag Chemie, Weinheim, Vol. A11, page 167, right column).
This thermal cleavage can be carried out under both acidic and basic catalysis or in the absence of catalysts (cf. for example, EP-A 717031).


A system for moving watercraft for storage inside a dry stack watercraft storage facility. The system includes a frame assembly, a cradle assembly and a rack assembly which closely interact with each other to precisely and securely position and protect watercraft stored inside the facility. The cradle assembly lifts a watercraft from the watercraft's center of gravity to position in the rack assembly. The rack assembly supports the watercraft through a pair of cantilever beams, and further includes a pair of cable guides used to guide the cradle assembly in the placement of the watercraft on the cantilever beams and to reduce the sway present during the positioning of the watercraft. The frame assembly supports and protects the other assemblies.

The present invention relates generally to a watercraft storage system. More particularly, this invention pertains to a dry stack watercraft storage system that uses a cradle assembly integrally with a rack assembly for depositing and retrieving watercraft within a protective housing.
Those skilled in the design and operation of dry watercraft storage systems recognize the need for implementing safer and more efficient dry watercraft storage systems. The present invention is a solution to this need in that a better storage system is built by integrating a standard bridge-crane loading system with a stack-rack system of storing boats. Many of the previous designs of dry boat storage use rack fork-lift systems that have limited stacking capabilities. At heights of over 40 feet, these systems become dangerous and unstable. Therefore, they are typically limited to stacking no more than four boats. Furthermore, they require a concrete ramp system, or a pre-lift conveyor or hoist system, which are impractical or even impossible to employ on bodies of water with high amounts of fluctuation. Other designs, like that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,979, use a fork-lift and have a higher stacking area, yet they require some type of elevating device such as a telescopic mast to be installed to position boats, and in addition to the elevating device, they require an added module to rotate the boat 180 degrees. Further disadvantages of using fork-lift systems include their expense, frequent breakdowns, and need for highly skilled operators in order to function properly.
Another design for boat storage is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,385,458, which lifts boats via an overhead hoist mechanism and slings. While this design provides for lifting boats without a fork-lift, the usefulness of this design is limited due to the minimal level of stacking available with the required honeycomb-type storage stack (no more than three boats stacked) as well as the difficulty of positioning the slings around the boat.
What is needed, then, and is not found in the prior art, is a safe and efficient system for the dry storage of boats that is available at a reasonable cost for consumers of dry storage systems. The present invention satisfies that long felt need in a new, novel and unobvious manner.


A drilling tool has a body with a main drilling region and a pilot drilling region, eccentric to the main drilling region. The main drilling region has main blades and the pilot drilling region has pilot blades. The main drilling region has a main pass-through diameter, centered upon a first axis, one of the main blades extending to the main pass-through diameter, the pilot region having a pilot gauge diameter, centered upon a second axis of rotation at least one of the pilot blades extending to the pilot gauge diameter, wherein part of a circle of diameter equal to the pilot gauge diameter and centered upon the second axis of rotation extends outside of a circle of diameter equal to the main pass-through diameter and centered upon the first axis.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a drilling tool, and in particular to a rotary drilling tool intended for use in the drilling of boreholes, for example for subsequent use in the extraction of oil or natural gas.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is sometimes desirable to incorporate, in a borehole, regions of increased diameter. Obviously, if a relatively large diameter portion is to be drilled beneath a smaller diameter portion, the bit capable of drilling the large diameter portion has to be able to fit through the smaller diameter portion. One type of drill it is used in such applications includes a number of moving parts to allow the effective drilling diameter of the bit to be increased. Another type of drill bit used in this sort of application is a bi-centre drill bit. Such a bit is designed so as to permit it to be driven about two different axes of rotation. Rotation or support of the bit about a first, central axis results in the bit drilling or being capable of being passed through a relatively small diameter hole, rotation of the bit about a second axis eccentric to the main body of the bit resulting in a larger diameter being drilled. A pilot region of the drill bit is centred upon the second, eccentric axis of rotation and serves to drill a pilot hole, engagement of parts of the bit with the wall of the pilot hole serving to stabilise the bit.
For maximum stability, it is desirable for the pilot region to be of large diameter. However, increasing the size of the pilot region results in the two axes being fairly close to one another, reducing the maximum diameter of hole that can be drilled for a given size of tool.
EP 0058061 describes a bi-centre drill bit of the general type outlined hereinbefore. Similar arrangements are shown in GB 2351513, U.S. Pat. No. 6,394,200, EP 1085167, EP 1039095 and US 2004/0099448.
In one aspect, the invention provides a drilling tool in which the disadvantages set out hereinbefore are overcome or are of reduced effect.


A trench shield has a pair of upright shields laterally spaced from each other with spreaders. Each shield has a frame supporting side walls and a horizontal earth penetrating blade. A pounding rail is releasably mounted on a channel top member of the frame. The pounding rail is an inverted channel member located in the channel of the top member. Rods secured to opposite sides of the pounding rail cooperate with the top member to retain the pounding rail on the top member and allow removal of the pounding unit from the top member. Collars secured to opposite ends of the frame accommodate the spreaders.

Trench boxes having side panels spaced apart with spreaders are used in trenches to hold out earth, mud, water and excavated debris so that work can proceed in the trench. The trench boxes are assembled at the work site. Lifting equipment is used to place the trench boxes into an earth opening. The trench boxes are pounded into the earth to a desired level by applying impact forces on top of the panels. These forces can damage the top members of the panels. Pounding rails having a tubular member filled with wood have been used as top members of the panels to help absorb impact during driving of the panels down to grade. The lower edge of each panel is beveled to facilitate penetration into the earth. An example of a trench panel having a beveled lower edge and a bar is disclosed by J. L. Griswold in U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,329. The trench box is moved along the trench as digging proceeds and the old opening behind the trench box is closed over the pipe or cable placed in the trench. The interior spaces between the side walls accommodate water impermeable low weight plastic foam to preclude the collection of mud and water in the panels. J. B. Cook in U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,028 discloses an example of a trench box panel having a foam plastic filler to prevent intrusion of water, mud and grime into the panel.


A method and system for determining local information which is dependent on a local runway state when the aircraft is in movement on the runway in order to update, in real-time, or practically in real-time, data used by a braking assistance system, according to whether the local runway state associated with the determined local information indicates a runway deterioration relative to a reference runway state used initially.

The present invention relates to a method and a system for assisting the piloting of an aircraft, and to an aircraft equipped with such a system.
During the phases of take-off and landing, and more generally of movement on the ground of the aircraft, knowledge of the surface state of the runway is of capital importance.
Indeed, prediction of braking performance of the aircraft depends on that knowledge. It is thus possible:
to estimate as best possible the distance required to stop the aircraft at the time of its landing, in the interest of safety,
not to overestimate that stopping distance required to immobilize the aircraft and thus not to excessively penalize the operations of use of the runway and of the aircraft.
Numerous assistance systems for piloting require precise knowledge of this runway state.
For example, documents FR2817979 and FR2857468 propose devices for assisting piloting during the approach and landing phases, known under the name Brake-To-Vacate (BTV), making it possible to monitor and control the braking of the aircraft via closed loop control laws. These control laws directly depend on the estimation of stopping distances based on the runway state.
Furthermore, documents FR2936077 and FR2914097 provide devices for assisting piloting during the approach and landing phases, known under the name Runway Overrun Protection (ROP) or Runway Overrun Warning (ROW), enabling detection of an overrun risk on the basis of the runway state, in order to warn the pilot either so as to incite him to perform a go-around, or to apply maximum braking.
However, the braking performance of an aircraft on a contaminated runway and thus the required stopping distance are difficult to predict on account of the difficulty of reliably and precisely knowing the runway state, which is decisive in the deceleration of the aircraft.
Conventionally, the runway state is determined by staff on the ground, or evaluated by a pilot on landing and entered in a landing report. This runway state information, sent to the aircraft in approach phase, is however of low reliability and may become rapidly out of date. To be precise, the runway state characteristics are highly volatile over time.
In order to render more reliable the estimation of a runway state, documents FR2930669 and FR2978736 provide solutions enabling the runway state for landing to be automatically estimated on the basis of measured landing performances of an aircraft on landing, this being independently of the aircraft type.
However, the runway state so determined and provided to the aircraft on approach phase does not enable such a possible runway degradation occurring between the two landings to be shown.
The present invention is directed to improving the assistance for piloting an aircraft in particular during the landing phase to take into account that possible runway degradation.

Method and system for assisting the piloting of an aircraft in landing phase