Appeal No. 96-2612
Application 08/137,530
20. Appellant’s argument that Iten has only two prongs while3
he has three seems to assume that Iten’s members 36 are not
prongs which are part of the attachment means. However,
Iten’s members 36 meet the definition of “prong,” i.e., “a
slender pointed or projecting part,” and they participate in 4
the function of attaching the cartridge 12 to the handle 10.
See, e.g., col. 4, lines 10 to 14. Iten’s end prongs 36
also have a first at rest align- ment which is different from
the at rest alignment of center
prongs 20, in that they extend in different directions, as
shown in Fig. 2.5
3While Iten also discloses another center prong 20, use
of the term “comprises” in line 8 of the claim leaves the
attachment means open to inclusion of such a second prong.
4 Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (1971).
5Claim 1 does not specifically recite that the “first at
rest alignment” of the end prongs is different from the “sec-
ond at rest alignment” of the center prong, but we have read
5
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007