Appeal No. 2001-1682
Application No. 08/837,668
in appellant's claims on appeal. Thus, we look to the
specification of the present application to derive an
understanding of what constitutes an "attachment block."
On pages 43 through 46 of the specification, appellant has
defined the "receiving means" set forth in the claims on appeal
as comprising "a base plate and an attachment block" and directs
attention to drawing Figures 18-20 of the application for a
showing of such a means. In viewing Figures 18 through 20 we see
that the receiving means includes a surface mountable base plate
(501) and an "attachment block" (560) affixed to the base plate
by mechanical fasteners (502). The "attachment block" portion of
the receiving means is specifically described, at page 45 of the
specification, as including a base (506) and two parallel side
plates (507) which support a pin (508) therebetween. The pin
(508) is indicated to be engagable by the engagement portions
(356) of the hooks (352) of the support bar as depicted for
example in Figure 13.
It has been a long standing maxim of patent law that, during
examination, "claims are to be given their broadest reasonable
interpretation consistent with the specification" and, in
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