Appeal No. 97-3983
Application 08/506,851
answer (Paper No. 10) for the respective positions of the appellant and the examiner with
regard to the merits of these rejections.
Smith, the examiner’s primary reference, discloses an apparatus for the disposal of
undesirable and unsanitary substances, such as spit or saliva, from the passenger
compartment of a motor vehicle. The apparatus includes a funnel 20 connected to water-
supply tubing 23 and drain tubing 27. According to Smith,
[t]he tubing may be obtained in almost any desired size in rubber or any of
many synthetic polymers, such as nylon, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, and
polypropylene, for example. The funnel may be of similar composition or
may be made of glass or of a thermosetting phenol-formaldehyde or urea-
formaldehyde resin, for example [column 5, lines 38 through 44].
The water-supply tubing originates at a rinsewater bottle 32, continues to and past a water
pump P and terminates at the funnel. The drain tubing extends from the funnel through the
w
bottom of the vehicle (see, for example, Figure 2) or to an interim collection site within the
vehicle if external disposal of the waste substances is prohibited or undesirable (see
column 6, lines 28 through 35). The funnel is movable between a rest position partially
surrounded by housing 14 beneath the dash 13 and an extended, use position (see Figure
2). In its rest position, the funnel contacts an automatic switch S for the water pump. The
A
apparatus also includes a manual pump switch S . As shown in Figure 4, the funnel has a
M
hollow, double wall construction, the interior of which communicates with the water-supply
tubing 23. The inner wall of the funnel has a ring of openings therein for feeding the water
3
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007