Appeal No. 97-0767
Application No. 08/383,996
filled with air (albeit non-pressurized). Tanigawa discloses a
bat which may be made of plastic (translation, page 2, line 3)
having a hollow section that may be “provided only at the
internal area corresponding to the ball-hitting section”
(translation, page 2, lines 17 and 18), which hollow section may
be filled with pressurized air for the purpose of preventing
dents, cracks, etc. from occurring when a ball is hit with the
bat (translation, page 1, lines 18-25). Tanigawa further teaches
a one-way feed valve 7 which, although illustrated in Fig. 2 as
being in conjunction with a safety valve 5, may be separate
therefrom (translation, page 5, lines 17-20). Although Tanigawa
illustrates the valve as being placed within a container 4 which
in turn is placed in a recess 3 in the end of the handle of the
bat, it is stated therein that it “is possible to configure the
present invention without the container (4) by embedding the
other components of the valve mechanism in the grip of the bat’s
main body (1)” (translation, page 7, lines 21-24). In our view,
one of ordinary skill in this art would have found it obvious to
seal, and provide a valve for, the striker section 12 of the bat
of Fox in order that it can be pressurized so as to achieve
Tanigawa’s expressly stated advantage of preventing cracks.
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