Appeal No. 2002-0500 Page 17
Application No. 09/258,320
part 21, which is formed by the outer cylinder 5 and the sleeve 2, by deformation of the
tip part 22 of the elastic body which is pressed-in and fixed onto the rotational shaft: 1,
when the tip part 22 hits the projected part 23 of the outer cylinder 5. . . ." Id. at 5-6.
The Figure also shows that the elastic body 20 is fitted into the concave part 21. We
agree with the examiner that "Suzuki clearly shows in Figures 1 and 2, that the sleeve
bearing 2 includes a smaller diameter portion which flares out inside a rib on the rotor
at 21." (Supp. Examiner's Answer at 10.)
The arrangement of an elastic body 20 and a flared sleeve 5 secures the
rotational shaft and the fan blades attached thereto. Specifically, "[i]n the state in which
the system is assembled, . . . there is no danger that the rotational shaft 1 can be more
than necessarily lifted to draw air into lubricating oil or the rotational shafts 1 can be
slipped off of the sleeve 2." (Id. at 6.) Such an advantage points toward combining the
arrangement with AAPA and Takahashi.
However, we "must consider the passages and references which point away
from the invention as well as those said to point toward it." General Tire & Rubber
Co. v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., 349 F.Supp 345, 359, 174 USPQ 427, 445 (N.D.
Ohio 1972). "A reference teaches away impliedly when a modification or combination
would render inoperable the invention disclosed in the reference." Lance Leonard
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