Appeal No. 97-0275
Application 08/373,192
The invention relates to a sail particularly designed to be
reefed. Claim 23 is illustrative and reads as follows:
23. A sail arrangement, comprising:
a sail;
means for reefing the sail; and
an inflatable luff chamber forming an integral part of the
sail and defining a reefing axis, wherein the luff chamber is
formed as one of an aerodynamically profiled rubber hose and an
aerodynamically profiled plastic hose, and wherein the sail has a
pocket for receiving the one hose.
The references relied upon by the examiner as evidence of
obviousness are:
Ljungstrom 2,107,303 Feb. 8, 1938
Birchill 3,391,668 Jul. 9, 1969
Schmidt 3 G 86 24 010.2 Feb. 12, 1987
(German Patent Document)
Claims 12 through 14 and 23 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103 as being unpatentable over Birchill in view of Ljungstrom
and Schmidt.
Birchill discloses a sail 12 having an inflatable chamber 14
disposed along its luff portion, i.e., along its leading edge.
The chamber has an airfoil configuration and functions to prevent
3An English language translation of this reference,
prepared on behalf of the Patent and Trademark Office, is
appended hereto.
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