Appeal No. 98-2150
Application No. 08/539,926
[w]hile the disclosure of Szymczak does not
specifically discuss a "lever point" and a "moment" 5
thereabout, since the structure of the housing,
connector and seal ring of Szymczak are the [sic]
like those of the claimed present invention, the
moment generated in the seal ring is considered to
be an inherent feature of the system. . . . The
portion 34 of the wellhead housing acts as a "lever
point" which is in engagement with the portion 30 of
the seal which the examiner views as the "lever
contact point" which is where the compressive forces5
are imposed by the wellhead housing and the wellhead
connector. [Page 7, footnote added.]
We must point out, however, the "portion" 34 to which the
examiner refers is a clamping shoulder or surface (see col. 3,
lines 6 and 7) which is directly opposed by a similar clamping
shoulder or surface on either the blowout preventer 16 or
production tree 66, which clamping structure would prevent the
surface 34 from being a lever point as the examiner suggests.
Moreover, the structure of the housing, connector and seal
ring of Szymczak are not "like" those of the appellant as the
examiner states. As is evident from Fig. 4 of the appellant's
drawings, the wellhead connector 21 (and ring seal surface
5We understand the recitation of "lever point" and
"lever contact point" in claim 8 to reference the claimed
structure when considered in cross-section inasmuch as the
support upon which the appellant's "lever" turns extends about
the entire circumference of the wellhead when considering the
claimed system as a whole.
10
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