Appeal No. 95-1401
Application 07/885,364
optical axis direction.
The examiner relies on the teaching in figure 4 of Ohnuki,
which shows two guide slots 2', 2" circumferentially aligned and
offset in the optical axis direction. Appellant argues that
Ohnuki does not show identical arcuate cam grooves with cam
rollers received therein and there is no reason for modifying
Ohnuki to provide such a feature. The examiner concludes that
"one skilled in the art would have found a clear suggestion in
Ohnuki to provide duplicate cam slots and pins spaced axially
from each other in order to prevent undesired tilting of the
lens" (Examiner's Answer, page 6). The examiner states that "the
clear teaching of Ohnuki is that the provision of axially spaced
slots prevents skewing" (Examiner's Answer, page 9) and
"[a]pplicant's attempt to make a distinction between guide slots
and cam slots misses the point and also ignores the question of
obviousness" (Examiner's Answer, page 10). In our opinion,
Ohnuki discloses another solution to the problem of preventing
play or slanting of the movable annular member due to rotating
motion centering around the cam pin and the examiner has failed
to establish a prima facie case of obviousness for providing cam
grooves which are circumferentially aligned and offset in the
optical axis direction.
In the embodiment of figures 1-3 of Ohnuki, skew in a
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