Appeal No. 96-1639
Application 08/269,140
1. A method for the in-place testing of the shear strength of a rectangular area of a wall,
said wall having vertical and horizontal structural elements, said rectangular area having an upper,
first-side corner and a lower, second-side corner, an upper side, a first side and an second side,
and a lower side, said method comprising the steps of:
affixing a first shoe to the upper, first-side corner, said first shoe having a first strut-
supporting portion;
affixing a second shoe to the lower, second-side corner, said second shoe having a second
strut-supporting portion;
placing a length altering strut between the first and second strut-supporting portions;
altering the length of said length-altering strut; and
measuring at least one dimension of said rectangular area after the length of the length-
altering strut has been altered.
The examiner’s Answer cites the following prior art:
Deuar 5,051,919 Sep. 24, 1991
Westermo et al. (Westermo) 5,086,651 Feb. 11, 1992
OPINION
Claims 1-13 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as unpatentable over Deuar in view of
Westermo.
According to the examiner, it would have been obvious “to provide the pole tester of
Deuar with the measuring arrangement of Westermo et al, in order to measure all of the possible
deflection points in the wall specimen.” However, the only wall specimen in Deuar is a retaining
wall. There is no evidence that such a retaining wall would have the recited corners. Since Deuar
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