Appeal No. 2000-0730
Application 08/761,098
This is a decision on appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from
the final rejection of claims 1-19.
We reverse.
BACKGROUND
The invention relates to a lockout apparatus which allows
workers to assert and release control over the transition of a
system from one state to another using tokens, for example,
preventing a system from transitioning from a halted to
energized state while people are within a potentially
hazardous space.
Claim 1 is reproduced below.
1. An apparatus for allowing a plurality of users to
assert
and release control of the transition of a system
from a
first state to a second state, comprising:
a) token means for reading tokens, where each token
is
uniquely controlled by one user while such user is
asserting control of the system, and
b) lockout means for preventing the transition of the
system from the first state to the second state
until
a selected pattern of tokens has been read by the
token means.
No prior art is relied upon in the rejection.
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