Appeal No. 96-3037
Application No. 08/252,474
alternating layers are disposed parallel to the bottom and top
surfaces, respectively, of a pair of spaced rails 35a and 35b,
and are coextensive therewith. The spaced inner edges of the
insulators, together with the bottom and top surfaces of the
rails, define the bore of the railgun. However, the elements of
the device are not defined so precisely in claim 1, which merely
requires that the laminated insulator be “comprised of laterally
positioned layers of insulation material separated by a
conducting layer.” While no reference point is recited in the
claim from which the layers of insulation material are “laterally
positioned,” the appellant and the examiner appear to agree that
the claim should be interpreted such that this reference point is
the longitudinal axis of the bore, a conclusion with which we
agree.
Thio discloses a railgun in which the components are
arranged in a circular array. As shown in Figure 4.1(a) the
centrally located bore of the gun is defined by a pair of spaced
upper and lower arcuate rails and a pair of spaced arcuate
laminated insulators (Figure 4.1(b)) interposed at the sides, as
shown. It is the examiner’s position that Thio’s insulators are
“laterally positioned” within the common definition of this
phrase, and thus meet the terms of the claims, since the
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Last modified: November 3, 2007