Appeal No. 98-0516
Application No. 08/400,328
relationship when the filled bucket is lifted, so that the
material inside doesn’t fall out during transport. When
lifting forks are installed on the arms, the control system
can be set to maintain the forks level at any height, so that
the load is not dropped. See columns 1-4. While Tonsor does
disclose a control system in which the orientation of the
implement (forks, in the language of the appellants’ claims)
are controlled in response to the position of the arms that
hold them with respect to the vehicle, this reference also
evidences no concern for limiting the height to which an
implement is lifted, and does not inherently do so.
The mere fact that the prior art structure could be
modified does not make such a modification obvious unless the
prior art suggests the desirability of doing so. See In re
Gordon, 733 F.2d 900, 902, 221 USPQ 1125, 1127 (Fed. Cir.
1984). We fail to perceive any teaching, suggestion or
incentive which would have led one of ordinary skill in the
art to modify the Edelhoff machine in the manner proposed by
the examiner. It is our view that, at best, the teachings of
Tonsor would have suggested that the Edelhoff control system
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