Appeal No. 2001-0083
Application 08/975,267
DISCUSSION
The Invention
The Appellants’ invention relates to an apparatus for forming a heated glass
sheet within a heated chamber of a housing. A heated glass sheet is held by a vacuum
to an upper mold which is in turn held by an upper mold support assembly which is
capable of cyclical vertical movement between upper and lower positions. A lower mold
shuttle which cyclically moves horizontally between an idle and a use position supports
a lower mold during transit. A lower mold support assembly provides support to the
lower mold during use while permitting horizontal alignment of the lower mold with the
upper mold to form a heated glass sheet between the molds.
The Rejection of Claims 1 and 5 Under 35 U.S.C. §103(a)
Claims 1 and 5 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103(a) as being unpatentable
over McMaster II in view of Kubo.
The Examiner has found that McMaster II teaches all of the elements of the
claimed subject matter except a lower mold support assembly to which the lower mold
is transferred from the mold shuttle. The Examiner has specifically found that McMaster
II teaches the glass sheet heating furnace, an upper mold support, a lower mold shuttle
and alignment means for the upper mold relative to the lower mold, referencing
McMaster II, column 3, lines 32, 54, and 61 and column 4, line 15. (Examiner’s Answer,
page 3, lines 4-8). We agree that McMaster discloses all of the elements of claim 1 as
recited by the Examiner, with the exception of the lower mold support assembly to
which the lower mold is cyclically transferred from the lower mold shuttle in the use
position.
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