Appeal No. 98-1295
Application No. 08/325,361
capable of transmitting tensile loads between joined panels
under blast conditions.” This requirement of the claim is
not, in our opinion, disclosed or taught by either Veenema or
Powell.
Veenema is directed to a container assembly for a
transportation vehicle, and its objective is to assemble the
plurality of panels that comprise the container in mutually
perpendicular planes without the use of fastening devices such
as bolts or rivets (column 1, lines 4-9). The reference
contains no mention of the problem of attenuating the force of
a blast that occurred in the container. The assembled
container is shown in Figure 1. The manner in which the
panels are attached together is best shown in Figure 2,
wherein side panel 14 is attached to top panel 18 by inserting
the edges of each in moldings 60 which are installed in a
right-angled rail 40. Inwardly-facing teeth 64, which can be
augmented by an adhesive, permanently grip the edges of the
plywood panels when they are inserted into the moldings
(column 2, line 35 et seq.). While we do not quarrel with the
examiner’s position that this joint means provides a
relatively rigid joint between joined panels under normal
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