Appeal No. 96-0873
Application 08/132,380
Appellant’s invention pertains to a spring balance mechanism to provide a balance
force for a vertically sliding window. Independent claim 10, a copy of which is appended to
appellant’s brief, is illustrative of the appealed subject matter.
The references of record relied upon by the examiner in support of a rejection under
35 U.S.C. § 103 are:
De Vries et al (De Vries) 2,577,953 Dec. 11, 1951
Maynard 2,729,418 Jan. 3, 1956
Claims 1 and 10-17 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable
over De Vries in view of Maynard.
Independent claim 10 is directed to a balance mechanism for a window panel
comprising telescoping tubes and an elongated spring within the tubes. The claim
requires that, in use, a combination of friction force between the telescoping tubes and the
spring force of the elongated spring provides the balance force that maintains the window
panel at a desired height relative to a window jamb. Independent claim 1 contains similar
limitations.
De Vries pertains to a balance mechanism for a window sash. The Figure 2
embodiment comprises telescoping tubes 1, 2, an elongated spring 3, 4, a pair of spiral
strips 9, and a tube member 7 having slotted ends. The elongated spring is located within
the tubes for applying a spring force to the tubes. Each of the spiral strips 9 have one end
secured to a respective telescoping tube and another end received in one of the slotted
2
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