Appeal No. 97-4206
Application 08/662,263
prior art with "an inside corner of approximately 90E having
effectively a zero radius of curvature," in view of the
teachings of either Brooker or Favreau. We observe, however,
that while Brooker and Favreau are both directed to latching
devices for pivotally mounted blades which have generally
perpendicularly extending flanges that can broadly be
considered to have an inside corner with a zero radius of
curvature, neither of the flanges are mounted on the end of a
spring arm. Brooker's flange 24 is formed on the end of a
rigid support unit 12 that is fixedly mounted on the handle in
such a manner so as to cooperate with a notch 19 on the blade
11 via a rectilinearly movable lost motion connection 14,18.
This lost motion connection includes a lock nut unit 14 which
must be loosened and re-tightened when moving the blade from
one position to another. Favreau's flange or engaging foot 20
is mounted one end of a rigid lever arm 18 that pivots about
an axle 19 and the engaging foot cooperates with ratchet teeth
17 formed on the base of the blade to position the blade in a
selected angular orientation. In order to secure the blade in
the selected orientation, the engaging foot is positioned in a
11
Page: Previous 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007