Appeal No. 1997-0287
Application 08/263,034
machinery in association with a compressor on a shaft would
have the same problem of thrust imbalance and would have been
motivated to use a thrust balancing system as taught in Miura.
For the reasons discussed above, we conclude that
Appellants have not shown that the rejection is based on
insufficient evidence of prima facie obviousness. The
rejection of claims 5 and 14-18 over Andres and Miura is
sustained.
With respect to claim 11, Miura states (col. 6, line 66,
to col. 7, line 2): "An [sic] dead band 52 is provided in the
control line to the control valve 30 to correct the opening of
the control valve only when the deviation signal becomes
greater than a certain level, thereby preventing hunting."
Thus, Miura discloses a threshold, but does not disclose a
particular value for the threshold. One of ordinary skill in
the art, knowing that a threshold value should be selected to
prevent hunting is presumed to have had sufficient skill to
determine a specific value by routine experimentation. See
In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 276, 205 USPQ 215, 219 (CCPA 1980)
("[D]iscovery of an optimum value of a result effective
variable in a known process is ordinarily within the skill of
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