Appeal No. 2006-0045
Application No. 10/190,473
60 of the stud in bearing relation. The end face 34 of the collar engages
the flat bottom face 65 of the knuckle 45. . . .
. . .
The main chamber 37 [of the boot] is continually vented . . . through
the passages provided by the axial grooves 35 and the radial grooves 36
in the collar 13.
Thus when excessive amounts of grease or other lubricant are
introduced through the fitting 49 into the socket 42 and flow from the
socket . . . into the boot chamber 37, the excess grease can be released
through the passages . . . .
The Teflon or nylon collar 13 provides low friction radial and axial
bearing surfaces which do not interfere with the free rotation of the stud
relative to the socket. The flexibility of the body 11 of course readily
accommodates free tilting of the stud in its socket [column 3, line 75,
through column 4, line 45].
In applying Templeton against independent claims 1 and 12, the examiner (see
page 3 in the answer) finds correspondence between the ball-end pin (or pin-member),
the flange (or flange member) and the protection cover (or boot member) recited in
these claims and Templeton’s ball stud portion 44, collar 13 and boot 10, respectively.
The examiner concedes, however, that the Templeton structure does not respond to the
limitations in these claims requiring a conical central orifice in the flange (or flange
member), a conical section on the ball-end pin (or pin member), and mating or matching
longitudinally-extending grooves and protrusions on the conical central orifice and in the
conical section. To account for these deficiencies, the examiner turns to Buhl.
Buhl discloses an automotive ball joint comprising an elastically deformable
sealing cuff which is fixedly connected to the ball pivot component of the joint. The ball
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Last modified: November 3, 2007