Appeal No. 97-1647 Page 7
Application No. 08/321,255
invention. If it is directed to a different purpose, the
inventor would have had less motivation or occasion to
consider it. Clay, 966 F.2d at 659, 23 USPQ2d at 1061.
Here, the problem with which the appellants are involved
is that of adjusting the height between the surface of a
magnetic disc and a slider in a magnetic disc storage system.
(Spec. at 2.) Because the slider functions to hold a head
over the disc, (Id. at 1), the purpose of the claimed
invention can be said to be adjusting the height between the
disc and the head.
Similarly, the purpose of the reference is to adjust the
position of a head in a magnetic tape storage system. Col. 1,
ll. 6-8. The head’s position includes an absolute head
height, which is the distance between a datum plane of a fixed
drum and a track edge of the head. Id. at ll. 20-22. The
head is positioned over a magnetic tape to write video and
audio signals and erase recorded tracks. Id. at ll. 12-13.
In short, the purpose of Murata is to adjust the height
between the tape and the head. Accordingly, both the claimed
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