Appeal No. 2000-1472
Application No. 08/855,104
USPQ2d 1051, 1053 (Fed. Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 827
(1987).
With reference to the embodiment illustrated in the
appellant’s Figures 3 through 5, independent claim 1 requires
a piston 26 dividing a cylinder 22 into first and second fluid
chambers 27 and 28, a first and second series of apertures 42
and 45 extending through the piston from one fluid chamber to
the other, and a first plate type valve 43 for controlling the
flow through the first series of apertures and a second plate
type valve 46 for controlling the flow through the second
series of apertures, each of the plate type valves having a
plurality of separate plates in stacked abutting relation to
the respective series of apertures on opposite sides of the
piston and to each other and biased by their interaction to
positions preventing flow through the respective series of
apertures, at least one of the plate type valves comprising a
shim 49 interposed between the plates for controlling the
preload at which the one plate type valve opens to permit flow
through the respective series of apertures, the shim being an
annular member having an outer diameter that is not greater
4
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