Appeal No. 2006-2276
Application No. 10/426,594
and showings in Schauer, any one of the sections or portions 12 per se may
be wound in a spiral because of its added length.
The additional argument at page 5 of the reply brief is also misplaced.
The ability of this claimed “a flexible reinforcing sheet” to be likewise
wound and unwound is clearly a function of the details of the actual use of it
as well as the last noted teaching regarding the variable length of Schauer’s
moldings 12, analogous to the claimed “a flexible reinforcing sheet.” The
reader of Schauer should not lose sight of the teaching value of column 1,
lines 25 through 30, which indicates that a cable would be wound as on a
bobbin and be automatically unwound and rewound under the action of a
spring after the release of a pulling force. Additional related teachings are
found at column 3, lines 31 through 40, indicating that the relative motion of
the cable itself between fixed point 6 and variably moveable point 8 is in the
manner of a spring housing of clocks. In use, the driver of a steering wheel
having an associated cable arrangement 10 associated with it is further
taught to be able to unwind and therefore wind up again a significant number
of times the cable and its attached molding sections 12. Additionally, in one
sense, appellants’ remarks at the middle of page 5 of the reply brief appear
to admit that Schauer teaches the argued feature. All these comments, with
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