Appeal No. 97-1761 Page 6
Application No. 08/380,223
The admitted prior art shown in the appellants' Figures
1-3 discloses a linear compressor 10. The linear compressor
10 comprises, inter alia, a housing 14 having a cylinder 16
defining a compression chamber, a piston 20 slidably located
in the cylinder, a motor 26 for causing the piston to
reciprocate, and a spring 38 having a single coil. The single
coil spring 38 has one end attached to a flange 52 fixed to
the housing 14 and the other end attached to retainer 54 which
is attached to the motor 26.
Yano discloses a coil spring. As shown in Figures 1-3,
the coil spring is an integral structure having an
installation section 3 (i.e., a first end member), an
installation section 4 (i.e., a second end member), and two
coiled wires 1 and 2 extending between the installation
sections 3 and 4. The installation sections 3 and 4 are
provided with screw holes 5 for securing the spring to other
members. The two coiled wires 1 and 2 are opposed to each
other (i.e., 180° out of phase with each other). Yano teaches
that a problem with a coil spring consisting of a single wire
is that such a spring generates a bending moment such that the
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