Appeal No. 95-3566
Application No. 07/950,802
Abanaki Corporation Literature, "Oil Skimmers" (1989)
Appellant's claimed invention is directed to an apparatus
and process for skimming oil from the surface of a body of
water. The apparatus is transportable and comprises a tail
pulley that is immersed in the body of water which transports
an endless belt that removes oil from the surface of the
water. According to appellant,
[F]or the first time in such a transportable unit,
tension of the belt when in proper use is provided
solely by the weight of the tail pulley and the belt
itself. This weight tensioning is accomplished by
mounted [sic, mounting] the pulley such that is has
an ability to float freely relative to the skimmer's
stabilizer bar within a range of movement (paragraph
bridging pages 2 and 3 of Brief).
Appealed claims 1-7, 16, 18 and 20 stand rejected under
35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph. Claims 1-7 and 18 stand
rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph. Claims 1-3,
5 and 6 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) or, in the
alternative, under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over
Abanaki. The appealed claims also stand rejected under
35 U.S.C. § 103 as follows:
(1) claim 4 over Abanaki;
(2) claim 16 over Combrowski;
(3) claims 8-11 over Abanaki in view of Spurr;
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