Appeal No. 96-2670
Application 08/232,677
page 1 in the examiner’s answer, Paper No. 8). Thus, the appeal as to claims 9
through 11 and 26 through 28 is hereby dismissed, leaving for review the standing
rejections of claims 1 through 8, 12 through 25 and 29 through 34.
The invention relates to a “hydraulic shock absorber for a vehicle suspension
wherein the hysteresis effects of the compressibility of the fluid employed in the shock
absorber can either be compensated for and/or employed to change the damping
characteristics as desired” (specification, page 1). Claim 1 is illustrative and reads as
follows:
1. A hydraulic shock absorber for a vehicle comprising a pair of relatively
movable members each adapted to be fixed relative to a respective relatively movable
component of a vehicle suspension system and defining a fluid chamber the volume of
which varies upon relative suspension movement of said components, a conduit for
transferring fluid to and from said chamber upon variations in the volume of said
chamber, a damping arrangement for controlling the rate of flow through said conduit
for damping said suspension movement, and compensating means for altering the
damping rate to reflect the effect of the compressibility of the fluid in said shock
absorber.
The reference relied upon by the examiner as evidence of anticipation is:
Bartholomaus et al., German Patent 3,742,883 Jul. 6, 1989
Document (Bartholomaus)2
2An English language translation of this reference is appended to the
appellant’s brief (Paper No. 7). An additional translation, prepared by the Patent and
Trademark Office, is appended to this decision for the appellant’s convenience.
2
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