Appeal No. 95-2600
Application 07/990,458
of the goggles in figure 6, the front shield, top of frame 20,
and frames 21A, 21B collectively enclose and form a housing
around the attachments 22A and 22B. Thus, Suwa has structure
corresponding to a "goggle-shaped housing for containing the left
and right optical blocks," as claimed.
Appellant argues that: (1) "the devices for producing the
images are mounted to the frame 20 and are not contained within
any housing" (Brief, page 12); (2) "even if the frame 20 could be
considered as both the claimed support frame and the housing, the
frame 20 does not 'contain' left and right optical blocks and
thus cannot be the claimed housing" (Brief, page 13); and
(3) "Suwa simply does not perform the 'containing' function
recited in applicant's claims" (footnote omitted) (Reply Brief,
page 4). Appellant is reading some limitation into the term
"containing" without explaining what it is or where the support
for the term is in the specification. We agree with the
examiner's position (Examiner's Answer, page 13) that blocks 22A
and 22B are "contained" within the frame 20 because they are
within the boundaries of the frame 20 and side frames 21A, 21B
and are not visible when the device is worn as shown in figure 4
of Suwa. Even the more detailed claims to the housing (e.g.,
claims 7 and 9) do not recite that the housing completely
encloses the optical blocks, so the fact that blocks may be
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