Ex Parte Schreiber et al - Page 8



            Appeal 2007-3126                                                                               
            Application 10/359,275                                                                         

                  Zunick does not disclose placing any type of sensor inside tubular shaft 25,             
            let alone encasing such a sensor in an elastic compound different from the material            
            of which the shaft is formed, as required by claim 1.  Instead, the only sensor                
            disclosed by Zunick is a current pick-up 28 that surrounds contact bushing 6 (col.             
            3, ll. 5-57).                                                                                  

                                            ABDELGAWAD                                                     
                  Figure 5 of Abdelgawad shows a high-voltage vacuum switching device that                 
            includes a vacuum switch 62 (col. 4, l. 35) and a pull-rod 73 that is formed of any            
            suitable insulating material, such as porcelain or “Polysil” (col. 4, ll. 51-53), which        
            is identified as a trademark of the Electric Power Research Institute for a casting            
            material that is a mixture of inorganic fillers such as silica, and an organic resin           
            such as a polyester or methylmethacrylate (col. 3, ll. 62-65).  The Figure 5                   
            embodiment includes two types of sensing circuits, neither of which is contained in            
            the pull-rod.  The first sensing circuit is a transformer 90 that surrounds the upper          
            electrode 50 for sensing current (col. 5, ll. 27-29).  The transformer and upper               
            electrode are contained in an initial epoxy casting 138 made with a specially                  
            engineered epoxy (col. 8, ll. 11-18).  That engineered epoxy, which is also used to            
            form the second casting 170 (col. 8, ll. 27-31), “has a high dielectric strength, good         
            corona properties, and thermal coefficient of expansion characteristics to provide a           
            mechanically sound integrated electrical system” (col. 9, ll. 41-44).                          
                  The second sensing circuit is a voltage-sensing circuit, which is provided               
            because “current sensing alone is not a reliable indicator under circumstances                 
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