Appeal No. 98-3125
Application Nos. 08/294,730, 90/003,655, 90/003,826 and
90/004,552
chain conveyor having a chain return headspool at its
discharge end," and the auxiliary feed means is further
defined as comprising "means defining a low friction region of
short length in the feed direction of logs and close to said
headspool for preventing trailing ends of logs from catching
in the return portion of the chain." A review of appellants’
specification reveals that the "low friction region" has low
friction relative to the main chain conveyor, provides a
region between the main conveyor and the drum inlet where
there is "minimal binding or jamming of trailing ends of logs
being rotated by the drum" (col. 2, lines 48-50), and also, in
the preferred embodiment, "permits logs pressed against the
roller to rotate, so the logs have less tendency to climb
across the roller and jam against other logs" (col. 6, lines
39-43). As for the "short length" recitation regarding the
low friction region, we note that the specification (col. 3,
lines 45-49) indicates that the low friction region "occupies
only a short longitudinal region between the main conveyor and
the inlet of the drum," while col. 6, lines 16-25, indicates
that the spacing for the roller or low friction region
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Last modified: November 3, 2007