Appeal No. 96-4136
Application 08/157,688
the fork tube 85 will inherently be laterally displaced because
the core 84 bears against its inner surface. As the examiner
states on page 7 of the answer, he considers "the ability of the
material [of the fork tube] to expand when loaded to be the means
for allowing said fork tube portion to be displaced perpendicular
to its axis".
We agree with the examiner that when the inner core 84 of
Schneider is expanded, as disclosed, it would appear that its
pressure against the inner wall of the fork tube 85 would
inherently cause some expansion of the latter. However, since
any such expansion would be on a microscopic scale, we do not
consider that it would meet the quoted limitation of claim 1.3
It is fundamental that the claims of a pending application
will be given their broadest reasonable interpretation consistent
with the specification. In re Prater, 415 F.2d 1393, 1404, 162
USPQ 541, 550 (CCPA 1969). In the present case, taking into
account the fact that appellant's disclosed means for allowing
the fork tube to be laterally displaced constitutes slots 23 in
Since Schneider discloses that core 84 is preferably made of brass3
(col. 9, line 2), it would seem that any expansion of fork tube 85 would be
particularly small.
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